by Hayden James
“Will he be able to keep up with us?” Liam asked. “He’s small, but we might get tired of carrying him.”
“That reminds me! I have something that we could put to good use,” shouted Prue as she got up from the floor, going to her bedroom closet. She returned with a blue and white polka dot doggie backpack. Liam laughed at the sight of this outrageous thing. Prue interrupted, “Stop laughing. It was a white elephant gift for Christmas that my sister gave me. I never expected to actually use it since Chew prefers to walk, but there is no way he can keep up with us on the trek from Nashville to Townsend.”
“You’re right, you’re right. It’s purely technical gear,” Liam said to extend the joke.
Prue put Chewy in the pack and strapped it to her back and the two were off once again.
They both left Prue’s apartment and headed down the street, making their way to the main highway. This time, as they sought to leave Nashville, Liam was overtaken by the somber mood of the city that he had grown to love. The very place that he had made his home and fell in love with country music even more and the camaraderie the musicians shared with one another, helping each other book gigs and get record deals were lost. In Nashville, Liam never felt more alone. Anarchy had plagued the city, and the future looked bleak and dismal.
As they left Prue’s neighborhood, Liam asked Prue, “Do you have a gun?”
“No,” replied Prue. “Why?”
“I’m sure I am just overreacting, but I have a very uneasy feeling right now. I know how to shoot thanks to the summers I spend with my grandpa while I was still in middle school, I have a fairly decent shot. Let’s keep a lookout for a gun shop and see if we could pick one up on our way out of Nashville,” explained Liam.
Just then, four men who were passing Liam and Prue from the opposite direction purposely bumped into Liam. “Hey man! Watch where you are going!” one of the men shouted at him, pushing him with his hands.
Another man in the group grabbed Prue by the wrist and said, “Hey, Steve, we could use the backpack this guy is carrying and we could have fun with this blonde beauty all night!” The man dragged Prue away from Liam a few steps.
As Prue was being dragged by the burly man, she used the momentum she had with the pulling of her arm and with her other hand struck the man with the base of her palm right on the bridge of his nose.
“Ouch!” the man yelled as he let go of Prue to tend to his nose. The man appeared to be in a great deal of pain. His eyes watered as his tear ducts emptied, streaming down his face. Blood emerged from his nostrils and his nose appeared to be broken. “That fucking hurt, bitch!” the man yelled through his hands which closed around his face as he crouched down in pain.
Liam attempted to hold off the other three men who surrounded him, but he was clearly outnumbered and outmatched since he is not much of a fire. Just as Liam was ready to surrender the backpack full of supplies, gunshots filled their eardrums.
Fearing for their lives, the four men took off running in the opposite direction, the injured one running while he held his nose. Liam and Prue both hit the ground, frightened as what was to come next.
After a few moments, Liam looked around, squinting his eyes open scared of what he might see. To his surprise, he saw an elderly woman wielding a handgun. Prue was already to her feet and she helped up Liam, who was still shaken. The woman who stood in her front yard asked Liam and Prue, “Would you two like to come inside. I just made some sweet tea.”
Both Liam and Prue, speechless, nodded their heads and followed the woman inside her house. The elderly woman continued, “This will also give you some time to relax and to make sure those thugs disappear before you start back out again. I’d hate for them to bring some of their thug-like friends to find you two for retaliation.”
The woman led them inside her one-story house, both Prue and Liam looked visibly shaken. The adrenaline was starting to wear off, but they were still left feeling overwhelmed by the attack. The woman suggested, “Why don’t you two sit out on the patio while I go get the tea?”
Both Liam and Prue took a seat at the table on the patio while they waited for the elderly woman to return. “Goodness, what in the hell happened,” Prue said, breaking the silence.
“Let’s see, you bravely defended yourself while I was a blithering idiot,” replied Liam.
Prue giggled at his joke and responded, “It wasn’t that bad.”
“It was.”
The elderly lady returned with a tray and atop of the tray a pitcher of ice cold sweet tea and three glasses filled with ice. “Let me introduce myself. My name is Mrs. Grandy. I’ve lived in this house for over fifty years with my husband before he passed.”
“Sorry to hear,” Liam said empathetically.
“I miss him every day,” Mrs. Grandy replied. “We were high school sweethearts. We moved here just after we got married out of high school.”
“Awe, that’s so touching,” Prue said, placing her hand on her heart.
“Will you be evacuating because of the fires?” Liam asked.
Mrs. Grandy paused and then said, “No, not yet. My grandson always told me that if something like this happened, to wait in my house and to use the stockpile of food he gave me until he could come to get me.” Mrs. Grandy took a sip of her tea and then continued, “We have an emergency plan that if something like this were to happen, where all communication was lost, then I was to wait for Mike to arrive. He has an old jeep that should work since it has little wiring in it. It doesn’t have the fancy computers the cars today have. He always said he would get to me as soon as he could, but it would not take him longer than two days, so I’m expecting him today or tomorrow.”
“That’s quite an emergency plan you have there with your family. Where is he going to take you too?” Prue asked.
“He’s going to pick me up and take me to his farm in northern Mississippi. He is prepared for something like this,” explained Mrs. Grandy. Taking another sip of tea, she looked at both Liam and Prue, “Where are you two headed?” she asked.
“We are headed to Townsend, TN. My grandpa has his home there. He’s prepared for this sort of thing as well. From what I’ve heard from my dad, he built a cave system through his barn that is backed-up to the hillside of the Smoky Mountains. He also has livestock for meat and eggs and a garden.”
Prue became astounded at hearing all of this information, “Wow! I had no idea he had all of this.”
“That’s why we are going there,” explained Liam. “The wind-up radio and backpack full of freeze-dried food didn’t tip you off?”
“I guess its all making sense now,” Prue said.
Mrs. Grandy chimed in, “Townsend? That’s over two hundred miles away.”
“Yes, it’s about that,” Liam answered.
Mrs. Grandy continued, “It’s going to you a few days at least to get there. Goodness, you are going to need to protect yourself. I’ll tell you what, I will sell you that old handgun I sued to scare off those thugs. It’s a Colt Delta Elite. I think I have just one box of ammo for it. I’ll be right back.” Mrs. Grandy went back inside her home to find the box of ammunition for the gun.
Liam whispered to Prue, “I hope she doesn’t want too much money for it. I want to hold on to our cash in case we need to get more supplies or need to barter with someone.”
Prue responded in a whisper, “We’ll be honest with her. She’ll understand.”
Mrs. Grandy came back outside on the patio with the box of 10mm Auto ammunition. “I found it, it’s only one box, but it’s more than nothing,” she said. “Here take a look at it, see if it’s something you could use.”
Liam picked up the old pistol. It was the blued version Colt Delta Elite with an eight-round magazine. “It feels nice, Mrs. Grandy. But we have to be honest with you, we can’t afford too much. I’m trying to conserve our cash.”
“I understand my dear,” Mrs. Grandy said, looking sad. She paused and then said, “How about I sell it to you for a dolla
r?”
“A dollar?” Liam asked.
“Yes, a dollar. It would allow me to record it as a private sale in case anyone ever asked me where the firearm went.”
“Wow! A dollar! For the ammo too?”
“Yes, everything for a dollar!”
“I feel much better now hiking to Townsend,” replied Liam as he took out his wallet and extracted a single dollar bill. “You saved our lives,” Liam looked at Prue and continued, “well, my life and now you selling us your firearm for a dollar. I could I ever repay you?”
“You don’t have to repay me at all. Think nothing of it. I only wish that I had more ammunition to give you other than this one box.”
“I’ll make sure I use them sparingly,” replied Liam. “Wow! It’s getting dark. I’m glad we have a gun now,” Liam said as he noticed the sun set and the sky turn to dusk.
“My gut tells me that this is only going to get worse,” Mrs. Grandy started. “I wish I could tell you two that the attack you had was a one-off, but I’m afraid that these type of attacks will become the norm. People are going to become more and more desperate as they run out of their stockpiles and resources. This is going to ignite panic and that will result in us acting like beasts rather than civilized people. When I was a little girl, they used to teach us about the end times in the Bible. I am afraid that time is now.”
“I agree with that,” Liam said.
Mrs. Grandy quoted the Bible, “You know the Bible states in Matthew, and ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.”
Liam paused as that verse sounded similar to what they were experiencing. He replied to Mrs. Grandy, “Yes, that does sound like what we are going through right now.”
Mrs. Grandy continued, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations’ and then shall the end come. When ye, therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house: neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them, that vie to suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight is not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: for then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
Liam, overwhelmed by the Bible verse that Mrs. Grandy quoted said, “I believe the end times are here.”
Chapter Seven
Rachel Conner
N. Indiana Ave
Sellersburg, IN
11:33 AM
After Rachel crossed the Indiana border, she pedaled further into Indiana, trying to get home. Her legs grew tired and stopping off in Sellersburg may not be a bad idea. It would give her time to purchase some supplies. As Rachel pulled off Route 31, she rode into town looking for a store that might be open.
Rachel turned the corner on N. Indiana Ave and saw some shops that were open as crowds of people flooded inside of them. Upon dismounting her bike, she walked it into the store closest to her.
The store was a small mom and pop shop. Rachel made her way to the cash register with her bicycle and asked the cashier, “Do you take credit cards here?”
“No ma’am, we are only accepting cash at this time,” the cashier replied. Before leaving that store she took a look at the price of a gallon of water. Thirty dollars! They must be out of their minds, she thought. As she walked her bike out the exit, crowds, and crowds of people nearly pushed her over.
“Hey, watch where you’re going!” Rachel shouted at an incoming customer her smacked right into her.
The man who bumped into her shouted back, “Get the hell out of my way!” Not wanting a further confrontation, Rachel quickly left that store and headed to one down the street.
Rachel found herself at a grocery store called Dale’s Deals. These were regional chains and she hoped they were not price-gouging the customers and that they accepted credit cards. Noting the prices on her way in, she saw canned black beans were fifteen dollars a can. What are they thinking? She wondered. She made her way to the checkout counters and asked the clerk, “Do you take credit cards?”
The clerk who was quickly ringing up products for other customers shook his head. The customer who he was checking out yelled at Rachel, “Wait you turn, ma’am. There is a line.”
Caught off guard by the aggressive nature of the people, Rachel turned and headed for the exit. The prices were outrageously marked up and the people here seemed to be on edge and more worried than they were in Louisville. This became troublesome for Rachel.
Heading to the Smart Mart, a national chain, she was hoping that they took credit cards. She did not want to spend thirty dollars of her cash for a gallon of water, but she was also reasoning if she did not get that water now, she may never have another opportunity to stock up on supplies. Once again making her way to the checkout lanes, she asked the clerk if they were taking credit cards. As the clerk rang up the items for the customer she was helping, she nodded her head. Relief came over Rachel’s body and she walked her big over to the store aisles to gather supplies.
Gathering peanut butter, crackers, canned salmon, nuts, and water, she headed to the check-out counter. Rachel noted the items that she was purchasing and kept wondering if she should get more. The pack that Paul gave her had a lot of freeze-dried food, a space blanket, first aid kit, face mask, various tools such as pliers, water disinfectant, matches in a waterproof container, and a mess kit with a cup, fork, knife, and plate. She figured she would only be on the road for several more hours and should arrive in Indianapolis by sundown.
After checking out, Rachel took to the road again, turning once more on Route 31. She was able to fit all of the items in the pack and now her only focus was getting to Indianapolis. Despite the people of Sellersburg seeming distressed by the event, the stop seemed to be fruitful.
Rachel was making good time as she rode down Route 31. Pedaling at a steady pace, her attention was drawn to two people who were riding bicycles behind her. They crept closer to her, and when they became uncomfortably close to her, riding nearly up on her tires, her nerves became riled up. As panic took over her body, she felt her blood pounding in her ears and heard her heart thump in her chest. Her hands shook as these two men grew closer and closer to her bicycle tires. Her vision became disfigured as when that occurred she knew she was having a panic attack.
These two bicyclists behind her set alarms off in her body, and Rachel needed to do something about it. She glanced back at the two men who were riding the bicycles to get a good look at them. They both had dark hair, dark beards, and were big and burly. One had on black shorts and a green jacket, and the other blue shorts and a white jacket. They did not say anything, making the encounter even more awkward, because Rachel was not sure of what they wanted.
Attempting to speed up to lose them, Rachel rode as hard as she could to pull away from them. Since her bicycle was lighter and faster than the bicyclists who were trailing her, she was able to get away.
Taking advantage of the distance she was able to put a good distance between her and the other cyclists before she pulled off of Route 31.
Quietly exiting a road that veered to the right from Route 31, she ensured she pedaled smoothly by keeping her weight evenly distributed on the bike and not to have her pedals click or breaks squeak as she made her stealthily exit. Then Rachel ducked into a copse of trees on the side of the road, hiding from sight.
From the protective covering of the trees, Rachel observed the bicyclists ride by. Perhaps they were not even following her after all. Paranoia is common during disasters such as this, Rachel may begin feeling the stress of t
he catastrophe and maybe becoming overly suspicious of other people and their actions. Rachel began to think all of the apprehension of the way those cyclists behaved was all in her head.
Rachel was about ready to emerge from the trees when she saw the two men returning in her direction. Clearly, they had turned around, and there was no doubt that they were looking for her. Feeling around for something to use to protect herself, all she has available to use are tree branches.
Not wanting to inadvertently tip off the bicyclists where she hid, she painstakingly held her breath. Only taking soft and shallow breaths each time she inhaled or exhaled and then holding it again for long periods of time, not to make any noise each tie the rode by her. She waited, clenching the tree branch she was able to secure as a bludgeoning weapon if they figured out that she was hiding among the trees they were circling. Through the branches, Rachel watched the cyclists ride back and forth several more times.
An hour went by, and from what Rachel could tell, they were gone. However, this incident had a pivotal consequence on Rachel’s psyche. She became consumed by fear and petrified to leave the safety of the tree covering. What if they returned? What if they were hiding nearby, waiting for her to emerge?
Another hour had passed, and Rachel did not see any sight of them. What could they have wanted with her? Did they want her backpack full of supplies? Or worse?
Finally, Rachel mustered the courage to leave the confines of the trees and to head back on Route 31. She let go of the tree branch that she held onto as her protection if things had become dire and the cyclists had figured out where she was hiding. Wanting to make her exit as quickly as possible, she launched the bike and the weight of her body through the trees and onto the road, pedaling as fast as she could, not looking in either direction as that would only slow her down. Rachel was not certain that they had given up on her, but she was willing to take the chance to get back to her family.