by Payne, T. L.
“August is right about organizing folks. Together, we can put up barricades at the ends of the road, post guards, and patrol the area. If we put up resistance, they’ll likely move on to some easier target,” Jason said.
“But they’re using the residents of Sugar Hill to do their dirty work. They won’t care if a few get killed,” Rod said.
“A lot of us could be killed if we just charge up on them, guns blazing. They’re entrenched in that community. They’ll use the women and children as human shields. Could you live with that?” Jason asked.
Savanah hadn’t thought much about the families in there. Up until that moment, she’d thought of them as the enemy—a threat to her children. But now she understood that they were as much the victims in all this as she was. She couldn’t live with herself if her actions got children killed.
“I vote for barricading the road. We could use the tractors to move cars and trucks to block them,” Savanah said. “Maybe we could build a wall even, like the one they have around their community.
“I think we’re going to regret not taking the fight directly to them. They can just wait and pick us off one by one like they’ve been doing,” August said.
“Maybe we should all just pull up stakes and leave—let them have the place,” Rod said.
That was an option. They could load up everything they could carry and flee. But where would they go? She couldn’t go into town even if the Blanchards didn’t take over. Her ex-husband and the mayor’s henchmen were there.
“I honestly don’t think it will come to that. I’m telling you, if they see resistance, they’ll move on,” Jason said.
“Yeah?” August asked. He glared at Jason. “I guess you’d know better than anyone how your family operates.”
Jason looked away. He’d left that life behind, but the shame appeared to follow him. It had to be very difficult for Jason now thought Savanah. He could get caught in the middle with neither side trusting him. Could that make her and her children targets? It was so difficult to know the right thing to do in these situations. They needed Jason and he needed them. She couldn’t turn her back on him now though she did worry that it would make her an enemy to the rest of her neighbors if they saw Jason as a threat.
“Let’s just go and talk to some of the other neighbors and see what they say. After that, we’ll form a plan,” Jason said.
Rod nodded. August turned and crossed the road.
Savanah took one last look over her shoulder as she stepped onto the blacktop to follow him. She prayed that her neighbors would get involved, otherwise, she’d be picking up her children and fleeing with no idea where they could go to be safe.
August chose to stay home, claiming they’d have better luck convincing residents to join them if he weren’t there. Savanah wasn’t sure why he felt that way, but if there was a chance it was true, she was grateful he recognized it and stayed away.
Savanah, Jason, and Rod stopped at the house closest to Sugar Hill. As they approached the walkway leading from the garage to the house, Savanah got the sense that no one was home. The side door stood open and clothes and papers were strewn about the porch as if someone had left in a hurry.
Jason stuck a hand out and halted Savanah. “Wait. This could have been them.”
Savanah stopped in her tracks. She couldn’t bear the thought that the Herberts could have become victims like the Robertsons. They had small children.
“Stay here. I’ll go,” Jason said. “Rod, you coming?”
Reluctantly, Rod joined him and the two cautiously entered the house through the side door. The waiting was torture.
So many horrible scenarios ran through Savanah’s mind and she fought to rein in her imagination by trying to come up with ways to build a fortress around their community. She pictured medieval castles and wild west military forts.
A moment later, Jason poked his head out of an upstairs window.
“It’s empty. It looks like they packed up and left on their own.”
“How can you tell?” Savanah asked.
“All the family photos are missing from the walls and there are kids’ toys in trash bags like the children wanted to take them all, and the parents said no.”
That would be her daughter, Kylie. She would throw such a fit if they tried to leave without her toys. Savanah hoped to avoid that confrontation, but if other residents had fled, what hope was there of securing the neighborhood. She began contemplating how she could take the animals with them and then stopped herself. They hadn’t lost yet. If it came to it, she’d find a way, but she needed to focus on saving her farm. That was their best hope.
Their second stop was the next homestead over. A young couple had just moved in a few months prior, and Savanah hadn’t really got to know them yet. A split-rail fence surrounded the small single-story house where chickens roamed and scratched on the back lawn. Ducks swam in a small pond. A large garden was set out in rows filled with fall vegetables. Several unfinished building projects were in various stages of completion to the east of the house. They approached the door with caution, not wanting to be mistaken for Sugar Hill residents. Before they reached the house, the back door flew open.
“You’re trespassing,” a twenty-something man said. He was holding a shotgun, pointed at the ground.
Savanah was glad that he wasn’t a shoot-first type of guy.
“Hi!” Jason said. “We’re your neighbors. This is Savanah Fontenot. She lives three farms over. This is Rod. He’s two farms over.”
“I know who you are,” the man said as he set the shotgun in the crook of his elbow and leaned against the door jamb. His super skinny jeans and long beard gave off a hipster vibe. Part of his long blond hair had been pulled back into a Viking-style man braid, revealing large gauges in his ear lobes.
“We wanted to check in on you and make sure everyone was okay. There’s been some trouble since the lights went out, and—” Jason said.
“We know about the trouble. We heard it,” the man said.
“We’ve just come from the Sugar Hill neighborhood. We believe that armed thugs have moved in there and are forcing the residents to commit crimes for them,” Rod said.
“Oh yeah? How are they doing that?”
“Holding their families as hostages,” Savanah replied.
“You saw this?” a woman of a similar age to the man asked as she appeared beside him in the doorway. She was petite and attractive in her oversized prairie dress and white socks. Her hair was in pigtails.
“We did. The group holding them is from a local crime family. They’re quite dangerous,” Savanah said.
The couple looked at one another. “And we’re all in danger?” the woman asked.
“Yes. That’s why we stopped by today. We would like to get your help,” Jason said.
“Help? How can we help? You need to get the cops,” the man said.
“The cops aren’t coming to help us. We need to look out for one another. If we work together, we can defend all our homes,” Savanah said.
The couple was quiet for a long moment.
Savanah took in all the improvements they’d made to the place since moving in. Surely they wouldn’t want to have to leave it all behind. They had to know that trouble would come for them eventually.
“What can we do?” the man finally responded.
“We want to barricade the road on the east and the west ends. We’ll use cars and trucks to form a wall. We’ll need people to guard them and do patrols,” Jason said.
“That sounds too easy. What will stop them from shooting their way in?” the young woman asked.
“They won’t. When they see we are willing to defend our property and it’s too difficult, they’ll go find someone easier to target.”
“That doesn’t seem right, just letting them do this to some other community,” she said.
“Our only other choice is to do nothing and let them pick us off one by one. They’ve already killed several families.”
The man whispered something then the woman nodded. “All right. We’ll help. Just let us know what you need us to do,” he said.
“Do you have any other weapons?” Jason asked.
“Yeah, a hunting rifle and a .38 caliber pistol,” the man said.
“Ammo?” Rod asked.
The man nodded. “Some.”
Savanah was relieved. She was hopeful that they could succeed if the other residents were as easy to convince.
“Good. We may need it if others don’t have weapons,” Jason said.
“How many others do you have?” the woman asked.
“Just you so far, but we’re going from door to door, so hopefully a lot more by nightfall,” Jason said.
“What if they come for us before then?”
Jason didn’t answer her.
“You can come to my house. There’s safety in numbers,” Savanah said. She couldn’t tell them her theory that the Blanchards might spare her place because they and Jason were family.
“We could do that,” the man said. “I’m Luca. This is my girlfriend, June.”
“I’m Savanah. I’m sorry we had to meet under these circumstances.”
“We should go,” Jason said.
“Can we grab our go-bags?” Luca asked.
“Of course,” Savanah said.
Savanah took one last look over their garden and livestock. They were set up to make it long term. They appeared to be honest, hardworking people. She was happy to be adding them to their new little crew.
Savanah’s four-year-old son, Karson, ran across the pasture to greet them. Kendra hadn’t said anything, but she looked relieved that they were home. Savanah didn’t want to worry them and wasn’t keen to leave them again. If convincing the neighbors hadn’t been so crucial to their safety, she would just stay behind with her four children and let the others handle rounding up the neighbors.
“Seeing a woman with us might disarm some folks who might otherwise not be inclined to open their doors,” Jason had argued. He was right. It was just difficult to leave the kids.
“But why can’t we come,” Kylie whined, staring up at Savanah with her big brown eyes.
“Because you need to stay here and make sure the pigs don’t get out and that your kitten behaves himself with the hens.”
Kylie huffed and stomped off without a word.
Mrs. B handed Savanah a bundle of freshly made cookies. “She’ll be fine. I’ll keep her occupied.”
The children seemed to be loving having a grandmother figure again. It had been five years since her mother had died and Kylie and Keegan didn’t even remember her. Savanah regretted not getting to know her neighbors better before all this. There never seemed to be enough time in the day. There was always so much work to be done that visiting hadn’t seemed possible.
“Thanks for looking after them,” Savanah said.
Karson squealed loudly as June swung him in a circle by his arms. She seemed good with kids. Savanah took a quick glance around at the little community that was forming. She’d always heard that it took a village to raise kids and knew there was no way she could manage now without one, not and protect them from the evil that had descended upon them.
“You ready?” Jason asked.
Savanah lifted the rifle that dangled from the sling hung around her neck and fell in behind him. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
Eleven
Will
Day Six
Will knew he should say something. Isabella had just discovered her boyfriend had been heinously murdered. There just weren’t any words that could fix that. As soon as they returned to her apartment, she retreated to her bedroom and locked the door. Will understood. He’d done the same after Melanie died. It was horrific what those psychos had done to Kevin. All he could do was be there for her.
Thirty minutes later, Jaz arrived and stood outside Isabella’s bedroom door. “Please, Izzy, let me in.” She tried the knob, but the door was locked. Jaz threw her hands in the air and walked to the front door. “Please tell her that I’ll be downstairs if she needs me.”
Will nodded.
The young woman from across the hall followed after her. “You sure you should go back down there? What if they come back?” she asked.
“I’m packing my shit. As soon as Gus gets back, we’re getting the hell out of here,” Jaz said.
“What? Where are you going to go?” the woman asked.
“My mom’s in Liberty. That’s where we should have gone when they called for an evacuation. But Gus felt he had an obligation as the manager of the complex.”
“That’s a long way. How on earth are you going to get there without a vehicle?”
“Walk if I have to. I’m not staying here,” Jaz said as she exited the apartment.
Three of Kevin’s bandmates lined the sofa. Two more leaned against the wall by the door. They all looked devastated.
Cayden sat across from Will at the kitchen island, chewing his thumbnail. Will’s first thought was to grab his son and get the hell out of there. They could be in Deer Park by nightfall if they left now, putting him closer to his sister in Vincent, Louisiana. They could stay the night at the high school’s football stadium. They’d find a dry spot to sleep in the bleachers.
“We should go too,” Cayden said.
Will did a double-take. He couldn’t believe what he’d heard.
“We’re safe in here, Cayden. We have guns, and there’s too many of us for them to break in. They can’t hurt you.”
“I’m not worried about me,” Cayden said. “It’s Isabella. We need to get her away from here. She can’t stay here like this.”
“We can’t make her come with us,” Will said.
“She might want to go. She might want to leave behind the memory.”
“Now isn’t the time to ask her. Besides, she’s locked herself in her room.”
“Maybe I should ask her?”
It was as Will suspected. He wasn’t going to get Cayden to leave without Isabella.
“We should wait until the morning. You can ask her then,” Will conceded.
“Okay,” Cayden said. “What do we need to do to be ready?”
Will stared at him for a long moment. Cayden was such a bright and kind person. Melanie would be so proud. “We should gather all the food and water we can find. I’ll inventory my pack and see what else we need. I know we could use more flashlights, matches, or a lighter. I’d like to put as much as we can of that medication Gus and I found in a bag and take it. We may never find more.”
“We need a shopping cart to carry everything,” Cayden said.
“It’s too dangerous to go back to the grocery store. It would be great to find a bicycle with a trailer like your mom had. RemembeCayden shook his head. He’d been too young to recall it.
Tears stung Will’s eyes as he pictured Melanie pedaling down their street with Cayden seated in the bike trailer. “She used to take you to the park on her bike. She had this cart thing that attached to the rear tire,”
“I’ve seen those. Our neighbor had one,” Cayden said. “I bet we could find one. How much weight would it hold?”
“I think it was rated to like eighty pounds, maybe. We’d be able to carry almost ten gallons of water if we found one like that.”
“We should go look for one,” Cayden said.
“Not a good idea.”
“Why not? You have a gun.”
“What if Isabella needs us?” Will asked.
Cayden glanced around the room. “We won’t go far.”
“It’s just not a good idea. Not until the killers are found.”
“You think they stuck around? That’s kind of dumb. They had to know everyone would know they did it.”
“It’s not a chance I’m willing to take and no one’s looking for them,” he said, pointing to the band. After making a quick stroll through the neighborhood, Kevin’s bandmates had returned to Isabella’s. From the looks of the bedrolls, it seemed they
intended to stay awhile. “When Gus gets back, I’ll have a talk with him. He may know which apartment might have that bike we’re looking for,” Will said.
Will reached across the island and rested a hand on Cayden’s shoulder. “Listen, Cayden, it’s going to be hard out there. It may be worse than what we encountered on our way to the storage facility. People will be even more desperate now. They’ll be hungry and willing to fight for even a small amount of food.”
Cayden looked him in the eyes. “I know. I can handle it. We’ll be all right.”
“I know you can. I just don’t want to take unnecessary risks. We’ll do what we need to do to get to Aunt Savanah’s, but we have to be smart about it.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing them.”
Will smiled. “Me too!”
“What do you think it’s like there?”
Will’s shoulder lifted in a half shrug. “I imagine things are pretty much normal for them. They have solar for their well and refrigerator. They have a garden and animals.”
“How long will it take to get there?”
Will ran a hand over his stubbled face and did the calculation in his head.
“A week. Maybe more.”
Cayden wrinkled his nose. “A week? It’s gonna suck, isn’t it?”
“I’m afraid so. It’s over a hundred miles. We can’t travel very far in a day on foot.”
“We need a car. I wish we still hand Granddad’s Jeep.”
“Me too. Sorry about that.”
“It’s not your fault.”
Will believed it was. He thought every bit of it was his fault. If only they’d left sooner, they would have arrived at the lake house before the EMP strike. They would have been away from all the chaos here in the city. It was comforting to hear that Cayden didn’t blame him—at least for losing the Jeep.
While Cayden retreated to the guest room to read, Will searched the drawers for a pen and paper. He was seated at the island, making notes about what they needed for the road, when one of the bandmates shouted, “It’s Gus. He’s back.”