Family Survival

by A J Newman

  “Jack, I’m good as I’ll get for a year or so and I need something to help keep me from sulking in a corner. Killing a few scumbags will brighten my day.”

  “Great, just let me know how I can help or assist with supplies or people.”

  “The only thing I’ll ask is that you let me do it my way. I’ll need about ten good fighters from our community to join my force. I’ll use Jo, Maddie, Will, and Joan plus what you give me. I’d like Tony, Harold, and Ned if you can get them to volunteer.”

  “I can’t promise, but I’ll twist some arms.”

  “Jack thanks for getting Harold, Tony, and Ted, but do you think Matt is up to this mission? I don’t know the other five real well, but they all have military or police backgrounds. Hell, now Missy wants to go with us.”

  “Bob, you have told me many times that we have slid back in time to the old west days. Missy and Matt would be married and have a kid or two by now, and Matt would be expected to fight the Indians or other hostile forces. We need these teenagers to be ready to take over from us in the next ten to twenty years, and they won’t be ready unless we train them and give them the experiences they need to survive.”

  “Damn, did you practice giving my speech? I know I’ve said all of that many times, but Jo has just lost Jake and Jane. I'm not sure if she can survive another loss.”

  “Why don’t you ask her? Here she comes with Missy and Matt in tow.”

  “Pop, tell these two love birds that they will not be assigned to the same scout group.”

  Bob shook his head and said, “Jo, are you okay with Missy going on this mission?”

  “Of course, how else is she going to learn; however, I don’t want her and Matt playing grab ass when they need to be concentrating on watching for enemy activity.”

  “Mom!”

  “Mrs. Karr!”

  “Shut up! Start acting like adults or neither of you will go on this mission with us. Matt, you go with Harold. Missy, you go with your Mom. You obey their commands, or I’ll horsewhip the both of you. Are you good with that?”

  They both responded, “Yes, Sir!”

  Bob waved for all of the team to join him at the picnic tables and told them what teams they were on for the mission.

  “Joe has Missy and Zeb. They have Dixon Springs. Will has Maddie and Oren, and they have south of the Horseshoe across the river. Harrold has Matt and Sally, and they have the community south of the racetrack on Highway 25. Tony has Ted, Sue, and South Carthage. I have Joan and Shorty, and we’ll take North Carthage. Our mission is to find the spies and capture or kill them. We would like to catch a few to interrogate, but I don’t care if you kill most of them. They will try to blend into the locals but won’t quite fit in as well as they want to.

  Look around the tables. Harold, you have lost fifty pounds in two months, and you are lean and fit for the first time in twenty years. Hell, I’ve lost twenty pounds. The rest of you are gaunt, and even the women are well toned and a bit muscular. We don’t overeat, and we work from dawn to dusk every day. I expect the spies have had it very easy for the past three months and will stand out if you look close enough. Any of the Walkers you will see are starving and filthy. Hell, they plumb stink. If you see a dirty person that doesn’t stink it’s probably one of the spies.”

  Harold added, “I think we should move out to the fringes of our area, blend in with the trusted locals, and watch for newcomers.”

  “That’s exactly what I had in mind. You will only carry a hidden pistol and knife while keeping your rifle and other gear hidden in a safe place. Each group will have twenty sticks of dynamite, a .308 or .338 hunting rifle for sniping and food for a week. You’ll keep your walkie-talkies hidden, and you will report to Jack at a set time for each group. If you miss two call-ins, we will send a team to rescue you. Set up a base in an abandoned barn or house close to your target area and don’t tell the locals anything about your mission.

  I wish we had a better way to find the bastards but using your common sense, noticing people who ask too many questions about our community, and keeping your eyes out for someone who doesn’t quite fit in is all we have for now.,” added Bob.

  Joan walked away for a minute and came back with a small bag for each of the group.

  She pulled a mason jar out of one of the bags and said, “Of course plying a stranger with some booze might help loosen their tongues. I have two mason jars full of moonshine from my first batch. Bob and I have cut it in half and mixed it with powdered orange juice and lemonade, and it tastes almost good and has a bite.”

  Bob added, “Save some for the intended purpose and don’t drink it all on the first night. Now, any questions?”

  There weren’t any, so Bob said, “Jo, you head out with your team after lunch, and the rest of you leave here every two hours until all have left the Horseshoe. Happy hunting.”

  Will caught his Papaw and asked, “Oren is ten years older than I am; will he balk at taking orders from me?”

  “Son, I talked to him and asked him that question, and he replied that he was a good soldier and would obey your orders. He did say that he would appreciate it if you would listen to his advice when he gives it.”

  “Of course I would listen to his advice, but Papaw you know the bottom line is I will do what I think is the right thing to do at the time.”

  “I’m counting on that son.”

  Jo went back to her house and found Bill home alone since Missy and Matt went to his place until time to leave. She walked into the living room and heard the water running in the small bathroom; Bill was in the shower. She quickly stripped her clothes off and joined him in the lukewarm water.

  “Hello good looking. I knew if I waited long enough a beautiful naked lady would join me in the shower.”

  “I’d better be the only naked woman in your shower,” Jo replied and then led him to their bedroom.

  An hour later, they lay on the bed wrapped up in each other’s arms while they discussed the upcoming mission and their Gung Ho daughter.

  Bill said, “I’m not comfortable with Missy going out on this raiding party even if she will be with you. Damn, she’s only a teenager.”

  “She’ll be 16 this month, and we have to get her ready to survive if something happens to us.”

  “I know all of that, but we just lost Jake, and she’s my only little girl. I hate this screwed up world that robs kids of their childhood.”

  “Bill, do you really think that Missy and Matt wouldn’t be sneaking out behind our backs if they’d met before the lights went out?”

  “Teens have sex all the time, and the smart ones don’t get knocked up. I mean having to kill or be killed. I only wish my biggest fear was worrying if a boy had my baby girl in the back seat of a Mustang and not if she’d kill or be killed.”

  “Darling, make love to me again and get that out of your mind because there ain’t a thing we can do but fight beside her and always have her back.”

  “The family that fights together stays together or something like that is our new motto. I’m sorry, but I’m not in the mood.”

  Jo quickly changed his mood and got him thinking about her instead of the screwed up world. She was ten minutes late leading her group off to war, but Bill had a big smile on his face the rest of the day.

  While the spy hunting teams were getting their orders, Jack met with his team to further beef up the security at the Horseshoe and the newly annexed area to the east of the Horseshoe. This mainly consisted of adding more guard towers and some barbwire fences along with a cleared path across the top of the new area to give the tower guards an unobstructed field of fire.

  Jack knew the goal was to expand their joint communities out to the surrounding area as time went on so permanent fortifications would be a waste of time. He wondered if they would ever get to a time where they wouldn’t have to be on guard every minute of the day.

  The first day of the mission was uneventful and most of the time was spent settling in at their base
camps, hiding their gear, and making initial contacts with a few trusted local people.

  Will’s team drove the VW down Highway 25 after dark, hid the car in the woods and walked to an abandoned farmhouse about a half mile below where Pleasant Shade Road ends on Highway 25. They spent the first night setting up their observation post in the old house and hiding their gear. Oren took the first watch from 10:00 pm until midnight. Maddie had the second watch from midnight until 2:00, and Will had the third watch from 2:00 until 4:00 when everyone would get ready to move out before daylight to their positions to observe the local people and determine what the normal routine was for the north end of Carthage.

  Nothing unusual happened during Oren and Maddie’s watches; however, about 3:45, Will saw someone heading across the woods with a flashlight in the dark to a barn. Then a few minutes later, he saw another flashlight bouncing along to the same barn from a different direction. Will woke Maddie and Oren up on schedule and asked Oren to stay behind while he and Maddie went to see what was going on in the barn. They walked carefully through the darkness and arrived at the barn in about 15 minutes.

  Will and Maddie saw that one of the side doors was ajar on its hinges, so they went to the door and listened to tell what the people were doing.

  “Shush, Will I hear movement and grunts. I think they are stealing some pigs,” said Maddie.

  “I don’t know about that. I heard someone praying to God. Look there is a faint light, let’s take a look.”

  They heard, “Oh God. Oh God,” before seeing the naked couple doing what naked people do.

  “Oh shit, their screwing,” Maddie said.

  “Wait, we need to find out who they are. Pull back. I don’t want to watch, but I want to hear their conversation. This isn’t a husband and wife. This is two people cheating on their spouses, and that gives me an idea.”

  A short while later, Will said, “Come back and listen. You’ll like this.”

  “You are a pervert.”

  “Come on and listen.”

  They heard the woman say, “Damn that was good. If Henry catches us we’re dead.”

  “The man replied, “Hell if Ethyl catches me she’ll neuter me and kill you.”

  “Well, Mr. Assistant Police Chief you just need to keep fighting crime in this barn with me, and she’ll never know.”

  “Are you still slipping Henry a sedative?”

  “Yep, it works every time. He is happy because he gets more sleep lately.”

  Will nudged Maddie and said, “Let’s move in.”

  “They don’t have their clothes ….”

  “Will stood up walked up beside the couple who were still naked and wrapped around each other and said,” I just recorded your conversation, and you are going to help us, or I’ll play you grunting and talking about cheating on your spouses to your spouses.”

  The man started for his service revolver when Maddie came up behind him and poked the business end of her AR15 to his head and said, “You can do what he says or die now. We just want your help and nothing more. I don’t care if we shoot you or tell your wife. It’s up to you. I’d rather have you listen to what we want you to do, and then decide if you want to live or die.”

  Will picked up his gun and searched their clothes before throwing the clothes on their laps.

  The man replied, “I’ll do anything to keep this secret.”

  “Okay, put your clothes on, and we’ll talk.”

  They quickly dressed while Will and Maddie made sure they didn’t try to escape or pull a fast one.

  “Okay, we need you to be our spies in your community. We need to know if any strangers have drifted in and stayed. Stuff like that.”

  The man said, “That’s all?”

  Maddie said, “Yes. We don’t care what you are doing, and you can keep screwing in this barn. We don’t care; however, we expect you to tell us everything going on in North Carthage and as much as possible about what you hear from Carthage.”

  “Why do you want to know these things?”

  Maddie replied, “We think some terrible people are going to filter into the area, learn about our communities, and then attack us and take what we have. You can help us find their spies and neutralize them before they attack.”

  “If we do this you won’t tell anyone about us?”

  “We promise,” Will said.

  “Okay, we’ll do what you want just, please don’t pass this on. Hey, I just remembered that the Chief told me a couple of days ago that an officer from DHS showed up in town two days ago and he is showing the officer around the area this week.”

  Will answered, “Thanks, that’s just the kind of info we need. The DHS guy might be the real deal, but there are also fake DHS people casing towns so they can take them over and make the people slaves to farm their plantations. Keep an eye on him and make up your own mind, but keep us informed on what you hear. We’ll meet you both here at 5:00 every other morning so you can fill us in on anything new.”

  “We’ll be here replied the woman.

  “We’ll it’s nice to know that people still have their priorities in balance,” Maddie joked with Will.

  “Did you actually think I was going to watch them make love,” Will asked.

  “They were screwing. That was like two dogs in heat.”

  “I thought you didn’t watch,” replied Will.

  “Maddie pinched his side and replied,” I’d rather do than watch anytime. That’s one thing we’ll need to catch up on when this mission is over.”

  “Damn that hurt. Is sex all you think about,” Will said as he got out of her reach. Now seriously we need to get back to Oren and report back about the DHS person.”

  Bob laughed and said, “You caught them doing what? Oh well everybody needs a little loving every now and then.”

  Joan asked, “What was that about? What did Will catch someone doing?”

  “The Assistant Police Chief was doing someone else’s wife.”

  “I’ll bet that was embarrassing for everyone.”

  “Especially the ones with the bare asses,” Bob replied.

  Bob, Joan, and Shorty drove the same route as Will had taken that day but went on further south and then east of the city by taking several back roads. Bob’s goal was to get as close to the Smith County Police Station and Court House, which were in the same complex. The closest place they could find a place to base their operations was an abandoned mine just 300 yards north of the Jail.

  Bob had received Will’s report about the DHS person visiting Carthage, and the cheating cop and asked Shorty, “Hey do you know anyone in the government in Carthage?”

  “Hell, most of the people died months ago that I was friends with. I do remember a man who worked with my wife a few years back that became a deputy sheriff. We played cards at his home one night, and I think I can find where he lived back then.”

  Bob answered, “Let’s walk over to the Sheriff’s Department and see if he is at work.”

  It was a short walk over to the Sheriff’s office, and while they walked, Bob decided that they would just walk in as if they owned the place and ask to talk to the Sheriff. Bob would use the ruse that they were looking for a thief who had stolen a hog and headed south on Highway 25 toward Carthage.

  “Hey, Bob, what’s an old Army puke like you doing in a big city?”

  Bob did a double take and saw the man who hailed him, “Well if I ain’t a monkey’s uncle. It’s my old friend George Pratt. What’s a crooked supply Sarge doing in a one horse town like Carthage?”

  “The same story as most people have these days. I was managing a gun shop on Highway 41 Alternate just outside Fort Campbell when the shit hit the fan. We were attacked the third day, and the owner was killed, so I loaded up every gun and box of ammo I could get in my old deuce and a half and headed south. I’m working here part time as a deputy just for a place to live and three little meals a day. How about you and who is this beautiful lady,” he replied as he kissed Joan’s hand.
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  “Be careful George that lovely lady is my new girlfriend and I already claimed her,” slipped out of Bob’s mouth before he could stop. He went on to say, “Would you like to move down to our community? We need another Army puke to help with our security, and you would get your own place to live and great grub. There are also some more lovely single women there but none as pretty as mine,” Bob said as he found Joan’s hand in his.

  “Are you sure? I don’t want charity,” George spoke as a smile came over his face.

  Joan spoke up, “Bob’s community took me in, and I can assure you that you will work your ass off, but everyone works, and everyone fights when needed.”

  “Damn, sign me up.”

  “I have George, and I just had a brainstorm. Could you take us to a place where we can talk?”

  “Yes, I’m on a smoke break, and we can go out to the benches under the tree over there.”

  Bob filled George in on the Horseshoe, the recent events and their mission in Carthage while the others kept watch.

  “You can leave for the Horseshoe now, but I’d like you to stay here and keep your ear to the ground for a while to see if the town is being infiltrated.”

  “I’ll be glad to handle that for you. By the way, the Police Chief asked my boss if I could give this DHS asshole a tour of the area, which includes the Horseshoe. I met the man, and he seems more like a thug than a DHS government official. Too rough around the edges to suit me.”

  “That’s great; the rest of us will snoop around the highways coming in and out of town for strangers. Hey Shorty, ask George if your friend is still in the area.”

  Shorty said, “Do you know Eddy Sikes?”

  “Hell yes, I know that brown nosing SOB. Is he a close friend of yours?”

  Shorty grimaced, as he replied, “No my wife used to work with him, and we played cards at his house once. I knew he was a deputy over here, so we were going to pump him for information.”

  George laughed and said, “If anyone has the scuttlebutt it would be Eddy. He has his nose six feet up the Mayor and Police Chief’s asses. I don’t like the bastard, but he will know what’s going on if anyone does.”