I called Mo on the radio and told him that we’d drive the jeep around and pick them up. I then called Wit that was at the East roadblock and told him that he had work to do and that we’d pick him up. He called Brandy and told her to get ready.
“Santiago, can you drive the jeep?” He didn’t answer. “SANTIAGO!” He then looked up at me quickly.
“Listen, get ahold of yourself. You handle this kind of shit after it’s all over with but not until,” he nodded his head yes.
“I’ll drive the three-wheeler,” I said pulled the body off of it. I patted him down, pulled off the knife he was carrying, pulled him into the woods, covering him with some brush and then grabbed his handgun and the AK-47 and took them to the jeep.
As Santiago got into the driver’s seat, he asked, “You’re not going to just leave him there, are you?”
I stared at Santiago for a moment, “Santiago, No. We’ll bury him but not at the house. But right now, we have things to do, don’t you think?”
He nodded his head and started the jeep. I reminded him to pick up Wit. I then contacted Brandy and told her that we need the hospital bed moved out to the unfinished side of the car shed.
She argued with me a bit, but then I finally said, “JUST DO IT!”
While we were driving up to the house, Paul looked around and discovered what they were up to. He found a deer that was shot in the head, with what looked like a .22 caliber.
After dropping the ATV and motorcycle up at the house, we proceeded to their location. Mo, Wit, Tag and I pulled up as far as we could with the jeep. Paul actually had to pull the tractor out as the path to the dump area was so small. Paul told me about the deer, and then Mo told me how he had said that they were under orders and also told me to check out the .22.
I approached the man with the .22 in hand and said, “Very clever.”
“What the heck is that pop bottle for?” Paul asked.
“It’s a homemade suppressor so that no one around would really hear the shot. When you do that with a .22, it really muffles the sound. It’s most effective with the first shot, but sometimes it will work with a couple in a row.”
“Please mister, I need some help. This is really starting to hurt.”
“Oooh, I bet it do sonny boy. As long as it’s been, I bet that’s starting to hurt like hell. Well, don’t worry, we have our medic here but first, why don’t you tell us why with all the farmland and deer territory there is around here, why did you come to our place?”
“Mister, please. This is killing me.”
“Well, let me take a look. Mo, if he tries anything, shoot him in the head.”
He looked up with fear, and I moved to his leg and acted as though I was examining it. Then, I asked again, “Why are you hunting on our place?”
He just looked at me with fear. So I grabbed around the wound and pressed it against the sapling that had impaled it. He screamed with pain.
“Yeah, that seems to hurt. If I were you, I’d start answering some questions. As soon as you do, I’ll let our medic work on you.”
Paul had a look of horror on his face. He had seen stuff like this on movies but to watch your father do it is a whole different thing… He stayed quiet, though.
“Ok! Ok! We were sent out in teams to hunt for food. We have several teams out right now finding anything we can. Now, please mister, help me.”
“How many of you are there?
He just looked up at me and shook his head no. I reached for the wound again, and he closed his eyes and prepared himself for the pain. This time I squeezed hard. He screamed even louder and started to cry.
“You have to understand; if they know I’m telling you anything, they’ll kill my girlfriend and me.”
I looked him right in the eyes, “And you think we won’t? You shot at us. You’re lucky you’re not dead right now. The only thing that’s going to stop that from happening is for you to answer my questions. Now, how many of you are there and why did you pick here to hunt?”
He stared at me with fear for a moment, then replied, “I didn’t shoot at you guys. Alvin did that. I’ve never shot at anyone. All I do is hunt…. Ok! There is twenty-eight of us, and we were told to hunt here for two reasons. First of all, everyone knows you have a big deer herd on your property, but the main reason was….. we were told the more deer we pulled off of your place, the less you would have to eat.”
That almost threw me back. Someone had a strategy to try and run us out of food. I looked at the guys, and they had a stunned look on their faces as well. I took a moment and finally said with a fake smile,
“Now, that wasn’t that hard, was it? I’ll tell you what. You answer one more question, and I’ll let our medic work on you, and then we’ll even take you up and help you all we can.”
He looked up, “Anything mister. Please.”
“Who told you that? Who gave you your orders?”
He had complete fear come over his face.
“Adam Pauley.”
I had no idea who Adam Pauley was.
“Thank you. Wit, why don’t you help….., I guess I forgot to ask your name. What’s your name?”
“Brian, my name is Brian.”
“Ok, Brian. Wit, why don’t you help young Brian here.”
Wit jumped into the ditch and said, “Paul, give me a hand with him.”
Wit padded around the wound with gauze and then used a bone saw to cut the sapling off. When you're impaled with something, unless you know for sure it is very minor, you leave whatever the object is in the wounded area until you’re moved to wherever you’re going to be treated.
I had climbed out of the ditch, and as I approached Tag and Mo, I rubbed my forehead due to a very intense headache. My shoulders were killing me, my lower back was sore, and now a headache that I knew wasn’t going to go away for a while.
“Are you ok?” Mo asked.
“Yeah! Just hurting a bit.”
“Do you know this Adam Pauley?”
“No! I’ve never heard of the son of a bitch. But it sounds like he knows us.”
I headed towards the jeep and yelled out, “Damn it!” I knew that new trouble was upon us.
The guys pulled him out of the ditch, and we drove him back to the house. Paul and Tag finished unloading the trash and loaded the deer and drove the tractor back. We immediately put him in the hospital bed that was in the unfinished side of the carport that Santiago and Tag had been working on.
I walked into the house and Kim met me at the door. I gave her a kiss and asked her to get me two Oxy and a headache pill.
“You must be hurting bad.”
“Oh, I’m hurting a bit,” is all I said.
As she was grabbing the pills, I grabbed some of the flex-cuffs out of the storage bench. Kim grabbed me a couple of Ritz Crackers and a small glass of milk and handed them to me along with the pills. I downed all three of them at once, ate the crackers and drank the milk.
“You ought to lay down.”
“I wish I could, but trouble is coming.”
I carried the cuffs out to where they were treating Brian. Mo was standing guard, while Wit and Brandy continued to work on his leg.
“How’s he doing?”
“Not bad. It didn’t hit the bone or an artery, but we’ll have to suture it up. It will take a long time to heal, but he’ll eventually be ok. He’ll have a pretty good scar after this.”
I looked at Mo, “As soon as they get done, I want him cuffed.”
“Sure but being cuffed to that portable bed isn’t going to do much good.”
“Well then, when they get done, move the bed next to the beam there and cuff him to the beam.”
Brandy spoke up, “He’s not going anywhere for a while and if you put the bed…..”
Wit said sternly, “BRANDY!”
I glared at Brandy and then looked at Mo, “Make sure it’s done, ok?”
Mo nodded, “You got it.”
I walked out the door, then stopped and t
urned back and opened the door and said, “Brandy, just as soon as you can get away, I’d like to speak to you, please.”
She looked at Wit with a timid look and Wit said, “I got this. Go ahead.”
Her eyes opened wide as though she was saying, “Really?”
She pulled off her gloves and followed me outside. I turned to her, and with a very stern but low voice, I said, “Brandy, the next time I tell you to do something, I expect you to do it. I don’t want to hear any arguments. Just do what you’re told to do. I don’t have time to explain to you everything that’s going on.” I then exhaled loudly and continued, “The shit could hit the fan at any time. At times like this, just do what you're told. Do you understand me?”
With tears forming in her eyes, she replied, “I’m sorry Vince. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Ok…. just don’t ever do it again,” and I turned and walked away.
Brandy walked back in with tears. She wasn’t crying, but she was as close as she could be.
They finished working on Brian and then bandaged him up. Just as soon as they were done, they helped him to stand, and they moved the bed next to the beam, and after helping him lay back down, they immediately cuffed him to the beam as instructed. Wit then handed him two pain pills and a glass of water and told him to take it.
“What is it?”
“Pain pills. Trust me; you’re going to need them.”
Brian was shocked that he was being so well taken care of so he looked at Wit and sincerely said, “Thank you.”
“Don’t expect too many of those. Now, I suggest you get some sleep.”
Wit looked at Mo and Mo gave him a sign that he’d watch Brian, so he took Brandy outside. As soon as she stepped out the door, she started to cry a bit.
“I’ve never seen Vince that way. I didn’t mean to argue with him. I thought I was just doing my job.”
Wit smiled, “Brandy, remember when I told you that you had to wait until the right time, to never do that during the heat of battle?” she nodded her head, yes and Wit continued, “Well, you did.”
“I wasn’t trying to question him. In my mind, I was just pointing things out.”
“Brandy, don’t take it personally. He’s hurting right now, and he’s worried something is about to start. It wasn’t necessarily you; it’s everything. Combine the pain and the worry, and he can get this way.”
“I didn’t know.”
“I know that, but most times you won’t know completely what’s going on. You’ve just got to learn to trust him. Sometimes there isn’t time to tell everyone, and sometimes he won’t tell you stuff to protect you.” He whispered, “Just like we’re supposed to keep the California deal to ourselves.” Then in a normal voice, he continued, “I’m sure he’ll fill everyone in on this, but until he does, I’d suggest going in and apologizing to him. I guarantee he’s not holding anything against you. Remember what I said, he feels responsible for everyone here. Remember, this isn’t normal times.”
Brandy thought for a moment, “Thank you, Wit. I’ll talk to him.”
“Well, I know he’s going to go talk to Jake. I’d wait until he gets done with everything.”
“Ok, I will, thank you again.”
When I walked into the house, Mia and Kim were waiting for me. They could tell I was mad.
“What’s going on?” Kim asked.
I basically slammed down my gear, “You need to talk to Brandy. All she seems to be able to do is argue lately, and I’m sick of it.”
Kim walked up to me, “Hey, I know you’re hurting. All she seems to be doing lately? Are you sure you’re not exaggerating just a bit?”
I snapped my head around towards her with a stern look. She returned a smile that basically was saying “Really?” I immediately felt guilty and then smiled a bit myself “Well, maybe I am. But she needs to learn.”
Mia spoke up, “Vince, she doesn’t know you that well. She’s learning. We all are. Please don’t be too hard on her.”
“Why don’t you go lay down for a while,” Kim suggested.
I tensed up, “I can’t. As I said, I have to go talk to Jake but I will when I get back.”
Kim gave me a quick kiss and handed me a cup of coffee, “Here, you haven’t had much caffeine today. I’m sure that isn’t helping your headache any.”
I smiled and said thank you and took a sip. It was good. I drank the coffee down as fast as I could, grabbed my M-4 and headed off to Jake’s.
I decided to walk, and on the way down, I decided to pray. But I knew that this prayer wasn’t going to be received well, being said in anger.
“Father, WHY? I know I’ve disappointed you my entire life but why can’t we have a little bit of peace. I just don’t understand. I’ve seen such miracles from you. We have a life so much better than 99% of other people, so I know you’re with us. But why do we keep running into situations that bring this group into danger? God, maybe I’m wrong, but I know this situation is going to turn ugly. Why are you allowing this? Please God, how many times are we going to be tested? Damn it, God, why?”
I then had a strong sense of guilt overwhelm me. I mean it was like a bolt of lightning hitting me. I can’t explain it completely, but it was like God was saying, “How dare you approach me this way!”
I felt like I had to drop to my knees and beg for forgiveness. I moved over by the ditch, which with the way the gravel road was built was out of sight of both our house and Jake’s. I dropped to my knees and continued.
“Father, please forgive me. I rebuke these feelings I had in Jesus name. I’m so sorry. I know how good we’ve had it and it’s all due to your blessings, protection, and inspiration.
Please forgive me for this attitude and what I said. I know I don’t have the right to question you. We’d be dead or starving without you.
I know that some of us may die. To us, it is tragic but what do we know? Only you know what’s in our future. Maybe, when you allow one of us to die, it’s almost a blessing for that person, as they won’t have to face the hell that’s ahead of us. I know, to those that die, it’ll be like a blink of an eye to them, and they’ll be resurrected into your presence where there is perfect love.
Father, please forgive me for my anger and fear. Please bless all of us with the gift of faith. Now, I ask this in the name of your son and our savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.”
I actually felt better, but I still felt ashamed. This wasn’t the first time I’ve had an outburst towards God since all of this started. After Carmen’s death, even though I’d say short prayers, I realized that I was angry with God. I didn’t blame God, but I was angry for her death. I knew though that all of us think so selfishly when we lose someone.
How many of us have had a loved one die and we just couldn’t understand why God would allow this? A person could be living with agonizing pain, due to something like cancer and God may have mercy on that person where he allowed them to die to escape that pain, but all we think about is ourselves and how they’re no longer with us. Then many times, we question God on why he didn’t heal that person.
Why should he, especially if we aren’t doing what he asks of us. So many people think they should be able to do whatever they want, which may be completely against God’s law but then we question him why he didn’t intervene. We have all become so arrogant.
Then I remembered, that’s why everything that’s going on, is happening. God is showing us all what happens when we turn our back on him and treat each other with hate. It was another reminder that we all deserve what is happening.
When I approached Jake’s, I could see him in his shop working on some new project. Jake seems to constantly figure out a way to make something that makes life just a little better. As I walked up, his dogs came running out to greet me and him seeing the dogs run by, he knew someone was there.
“Hey, is everything ok?” he asked.
“Well, no, it sounds like we have more trouble coming into play. We caught two guys on our property hun
ting for deer. That by itself is not that big of deal but they opened up on Mo and Paul with a fully automatic AK-47, and the one that survived says they were under orders to hunt on our property for not only the large deer herd but the more they could kill, the less food we’d have available to us.”
“Is Mo and Paul alright?”
“Yeah, they’re fine, but I can’t say the same for one of theirs. Believe it or not, Santiago got the guy.”
“How’s he doing?”
“It shook him up pretty badly. He’s having a hard time that he shot someone so young while he was trying to get away. The kid was only about twenty-one or so, so that bothers him a bit.”
Jake grunted a bit, “Well, that’s a shame, but I hope you reminded him that most of our troops in the service are around that age.”
“Yeah, I know, but he isn’t looking at it that way. The age of the guy has some to do with it, but I really think it’s just the idea that so quickly he’s already had to kill two people. I’ll remind about the average soldier's age though.”
“So what do you think all this means?”
“Well, obviously someone has an agenda that’s a lot bigger than hunting for food. Have you ever heard of a guy named Adam Pauley? That’s the name of the guy apparently giving the orders.”
“Hmmm! Yeah, I know of him, but I’ve never met him. He lives about two miles to the south of here. By what I hear, he’s basically a hermit. He only lets a select few even on his property. Not much of a socialite.”
I laughed, “Kind of like me, huh?”
“No, he’s a real recluse. Well, in the past have you ever heard those shots to the south of us on a regular basis and a lot of times its automatic gunfire?”
“Yeah, two or three times a week.”
“Well, that’s him. He’s a gunsmith that also has a Class Three Federal Firearms License.”
A jolt hit me, and I said with despair, “Great! Someone that legally has access to fully automatic weapons and the possibility of who knows what.” I paused for a couple of moments thinking and then added, “And this guy we captured says there is about twenty-eight of them.”
You could tell that upset Jake, “Well, you guys faced more than that against the Pine City crowd.”
Into the Apocalypse Page 30