“Now in Birmingham, I found a Wilson AR for sale with tons of furniture,” Jason told him, and Arthur could picture the accessories or ‘furniture’ on the gun. “It was cheaper than brand new and I was trying to figure out a way to get it, but the world ended. So you see, Wilson broke my cherry and your first is always the most special,” Jason repeated. As Arthur drove, he was trying to figure out how to break his own cherry.
The closer they got, the more excited Jason became. When Arthur rounded a curve and a sign read ‘Wilson Combat Arms’, Jason lost his shit. As they pulled up to the closed gate, Jason vaulted out of the Suburban and darted over to the fence, then climbed the chain-link fence like a spider monkey before Arthur had even come to a complete stop. Landing in a run, Jason held his arms wide and hit the sign with a loud ‘bam’.
Watching Jason hug the sign, Arthur suddenly didn’t like Wilson anymore. Jason was his buddy.
Laughing his ass off, Shawn climbed out the back with bolt cutters and opened up the gate as Samantha opened the door of the MRAP. “You’re embarrassing the shit out of me!” she screamed at Jason, but he just kept hugging the sign.
Pulling in and stopping in the parking lot and looking at the offices, “I still have my gun cherry and I’m losing my buddy,” he mumbled and shoved his door open. “I’m beating the shit out of something.”
After adjusting his fedora and letting his rifle hang under his arm, Arthur turned to see Jason still hugging the sign but now, he was caressing it with his cheek as he smiled in bliss. “Oh, that’s cute,” Arthur laughed and pulled his camera from his thigh pocket. “Kirk,” he called out and Kirk skidded to a stop in front of him. Handing the camera to Kirk, “Follow Jason and take pictures,” Arthur instructed.
Feeling something rub against his leg, he looked down at Donald and Daisy leaning against him. “Well, you’re still my buddies,” he grinned at them, then glanced back and saw Shawn digging in the back of the Suburban. Wondering what Shawn was digging through, Arthur was about to walk to the back because he didn’t remember putting much in the cargo area. With a cry of joy, Shawn pulled out the ‘key’, or mini jaws they used to open doors.
When Shawn started for the door everyone stopped when Jason screamed, “NO!” Everyone, even the dogs, turned and saw Jason sprinting across the parking lot. He blew by Shawn and just before reaching the double glass doors he spun around, slamming his back to the doors and holding out his arms. “We can’t just rip the doors apart! That would be sacrilege!”
Cocking his head to the side, “Motherfucker! Since I woke up, I’ve listened to your ass for the last six hours talk about this place, I’m going inside,” Arthur informed him.
“Let me get my lock picks. We can’t destroy the door,” Jason whined. “We have to show respect!”
Glancing to his left, then right, “To who?” Arthur asked.
“The workers may be gone, but their spirit remains,” Jason replied and suddenly some of the mini-mes didn’t want to go in this place if there were spirits around. They watched movies and spirts were ghosts.
It suddenly dawned on Arthur; they were standing at Jason’s version of ‘Graceland’. “Put the key back,” Arthur sighed and pulled his lock picks out. “Robin picks a lock faster than you, Jason.”
In the same amount of time it took a person with a key, Arthur had all three locks open. He was expecting Jason to bowl his ass over, but Jason walked in with eyes wide with wonder. Seeing the building was mostly offices, Arthur started moving through them and found Jason coming out of a storeroom at the end of the hall carrying a stack of t-shirts. “You wear extra-large, right?” Jason asked and Arthur nodded.
“I got us six of each t-shirt and four polos each in all six colors they have,” Jason told him, and Arthur wondered why in the hell didn’t Jason just get them all. Taking one off the top as Jason passed, Arthur held up the shirt that displayed the Wilson logo on the front.
In forty minutes, they all watched as Jason came back with coffee mugs, ink pens, mousepads, glasses, and even lighters with the company logo, carrying them to the Suburban. Any minute, Arthur was expecting Jason to step out with condoms that had Wilson printed on them and load them up. And Jason was married. Nobody said a word as Jason went to a printer and got a ream of paper with the logo. Even his wife was looking at him like he’d lost his mind.
“Jason,” Arthur finally called out when Jason found a stack of calendars from last year, but was taking them. When Jason turned around, “Can we go into the working area now? I’m tired of the offices,” Arthur told him and reluctantly, Jason nodded. As they left Arthur grabbed Shawn, “Go to that storeroom and get all the shirts… no, just get everything,” Arthur told him and Shawn gave a grin before he took off.
Walking outside and around the offices to a very large building, Arthur started looking it over as Wendy moved beside him. “I expected more of a security door,” she said, looking at the normal metal double doors.
“They didn’t need it here,” Arthur said, and pointed at cameras and motion detectors.
“Think Jason will flip if we use the jaws on those doors?” Wendy asked.
Pulling out his lock picks, “Not risking it,” Arthur said going to work. It did take him longer to open these doors. When they were open, everyone filed in as Arthur studied the doors and then looked around inside from the door. “Fuck, I’ve seen some security measures before, but this shit is off the scale.”
Looking at the door, “You could’ve broken in here easy,” Wendy scoffed.
“No, I couldn’t have. When the power was on, those doors magnetically locked, and look around at all the motion detectors inside. From right here I count four different types,” Arthur stated, clearly very impressed.
“You think they had break-in problems in Carroll County?” Wendy asked because they’d never had any problems like that in Newton County.
“Babe, they made guns. Before anyone could do that, you had to let fifty politicians rape you and then rob you, after they’ve fucked you. Then the ATF comes along and you have to give a blow job to everyone in the ATF who works in this district. If I had to go through all that to start a gun business, Fort Knox would look like an ice cream stand compared to my business,” Arthur told her and Wendy started to nod but stopped.
Arthur turned and saw Jason was on one knee with his head bowed, paying homage to his Graceland. “I’m not getting down on one knee,” Wendy informed Arthur, and he could tell it wasn’t even open for discussion.
Walking around the massive building, they didn’t find many guns. Well, not what Arthur was expecting. But there were enough gun parts and blocks of aluminum and steel to make thousands. Standing in the main aisle, Arthur saw about sixty workstations. They didn’t assemble guns here, they made them just like he did at home, but here they had dedicated machinery and grade-A gunsmiths. Works of art were created one at a time, by hand, to perfection.
“Holy shit!” Arthur gasped realizing this wasn’t a plant, it was a crafting shop. “They do it all here!” he cried out as Jason walked past with his arms full.
“Yep,” he stated proudly. “The only way they could do more is to send a guy out with a shovel and pickaxe to dig up the ore.”
Watching Jason stroll off, Arthur started pointing out stuff to load up. It was an hour later when Jason found Arthur talking with Samantha. “Isn’t this great?!” Jason cried out.
“Yeah, babe,” Samantha responded without emotion.
Turning to Arthur, “Hey, can you cover for me for just a little while?” Jason asked in a very low voice.
“Why?” Arthur asked.
“I want to get freak nasty with Samantha,” Jason grinned.
“Here?!” Samantha cried out and Jason turned to her.
“Well, yeah. We’re at the pinnacle of weapons perfection and I have the most perfect girl in the world! It only seems right,” Jason replied.
Arthur jumped back as Samantha flew at Jason, wrapping her arms and legs around him,
locking her mouth over his, and knocking Jason to the floor. Spinning around, Arthur lifted his wrist up to look at his watch. “They’re going to be a while,” he mumbled.
Chapter Eight
Don’t spank the monkeys
After leaving Jason’s ‘Graceland’, they headed south because Arthur had to stop by Jill’s group. It wasn’t like they could load up anything else since their trailers were full but when they’d left Jason’s Graceland, it looked like they hadn’t taken anything. Shawn had suggested they come back and Arthur told him to fucking forget it. Jason was his buddy and Arthur didn’t like Jason going to Wilson’s house.
It took over an hour to reach Jill’s group in south Madison County. When they were met by a lookout ten miles away, Arthur was very happy. He used video to do that, but Jill was using people. But she also had the most bodies now. Following the guide, they soon pulled up to the gate and saw work going on to reinforce the wood fence.
“Damn, that’s smart,” Jason mumbled.
“Where’s Jill?” Arthur asked and the guide pointed. Arthur saw Jill and her aides approaching. When she was close, “Ask your people to stop,” Arthur told her.
“Why?” Jill asked.
“Jill, please,” Arthur said and Jill turned around, talking into a radio as Jason got out moving next to Arthur. He saw they were using something like HESCO barriers, but the ones Jill’s group were using they had made. The four corners were steel with reinforcing in each corner to form a 5x5x5 box. The box was filled with dirt and packed down, then another was set on it, filling it up and packing it down until they were stacked three high. On the front of the wall, a sheet of steel was welded so when the HESCO wall came down, it would look like there was a steel wall in place.
As work stopped Jill turned to Arthur, “Why did you stop us?” she asked.
“Jill, you don’t have any footings! That’s dirt you’re stacking those barriers on. Each section will weigh over twenty tons and be fifteen feet tall!” Arthur cried out.
Nodding, “Yeah, nobody could get through that,” Jill stated with pride.
“I could breach your wall with Shawn, Kirk, Shelia, and a firetruck in half an hour,” Arthur told her, and all pride dropped off Jill’s face.
Thinking Arthur was being a little too hard on Jill, Wendy came up beside him. “How could you breach with your mini-mes?” she asked.
“How they’re set up now? Easy. Drill a hole in the plate covering the bottom box, stick a high-pressure water hose in and turn the water on. The water will wash the dirt out and I could knock the wall over or do a few more beside it and let the wall fall over by itself,” Arthur explained.
He looked at Jill and saw hopelessness wash over her. Ripping off his gloves, Arthur moved over and cupped her face to look at him. “Jill, you’re doing an excellent job. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine. You asked me to come and see how you were doing the reinforced wall. I should’ve come over sooner. Jill, with you leading this group, they’re going to live and be able to have kids and a future. You may have sought me out, but I knew you had the spark and intelligence when I first saw you. That’s why I gave you the notebook and offered my assistance. Don’t let this get you down. You called but I’m sorry, I had other things going on. After you’re set up, this time next year this’ll be a thriving community,” Arthur told her in a gentle voice, and Jill sighed.
Just looking at Jill, Wendy could tell Jill felt like she was carrying the weight of the world and was terrified, but she would do it and do her best at it. “Now, you can keep going like you are. This is a good idea, so good I almost did my wall like this,” Arthur told her. “Now, walk with me and let me show you.”
He led her to the wall and now a very large crowd was there. Arthur said they needed to weld the boxes together, then stack another row two-high just behind the first one, then do another row of one, to form steps. This way even if someone washed out the front, there was another row right behind it and the weight of those behind the front wouldn’t let the wall tip over.
A man stepped up to Arthur, “Mr. Caravan Man, it’s my fault,” he stated. “Jill asked me to come up with something we could do fast so we could concentrate more on building all the greenhouses and clearing more land for livestock.”
“Are you an engineer?” Arthur asked, and the man shook his head.
“No sir. I was a soldier, infantry, and this is how we made walls in the desert,” he answered.
“Desert, equals no water to wash out your shit. Yes, they use these for dams, but they don’t use one line stacked fifteen feet high. You were using your head, and this is the fastest way to secure your wall. That’s why I was going to do it.”
Back under control of her emotions, “Why didn’t you?” Jill asked.
Shrugging, “I wanted concrete, and I want those with me to know how to work with it,” Arthur answered. Looking at the community inside the wall, he could see buildings being put up to house the group. As he’d dictated in the notebook, they were building dorms. Unlike Arthur’s, Jill and Albert were building them out of wood. He didn’t know if any knew how to work with concrete, but they would eventually learn and the wood dorms would be turned over to storage when concrete buildings went up.
“You’re building a five-mile-long wall of concrete?” the man asked in awe.
“Hell, no. Twelve miles,” Arthur answered. “I did my entire wall at one time. You have to get secured and don’t have that kind of time. That’s why you have a five-mile wall around you. Then, you’ll tack on six more to join to this one. You can take your time then.”
Turning around and looking out the gate at the valley, Arthur could see crews on each ridge already building the wall that would connect to the community. “Arthur, we won’t be able to grow enough food here,” Jill told him again.
“In two weeks, my hydro levee will be on and you won’t have to worry. We’ll be able to help you through the winter. I should have enough fuel until then but if I don’t, like I told Albert, you may have to send some fuel. I would go and get it, but can’t spare the resources now,” Arthur told her.
“We lost seven on patrol to get some supplies near Fayetteville yesterday,” Jill told him.
“A gang?!” Arthur cried out.
Shaking her head, “Rats,” Jill said and everyone, including Arthur, shivered.
“I told you, no big towns. You don’t want to get near any place that had a population over five thousand. But I’ve also seen large groups of rats ten miles away from large towns,” Arthur told her.
“They were ten miles away from Fayetteville getting supplies from a construction site. Then from a building a block away, a wave of rats came in. Arthur, it had to be close to half a million. Everyone took off for the trucks, but seven didn’t make it,” Jill explained.
“Shit,” Arthur grumbled. “We’re going to have to start on yours and Albert’s lakes this winter.”
“What’s so bad about doing that in winter?” the man asked.
“This is Arkansas and it rains in the winter, but this year we’ll be getting snow and lots of it for this area,” Arthur explained. “Jill, there’s another reason I came over. I don’t want you taking in any more people. I don’t care who, not even kids. I know I told you last month to be leery but now, I mean no one.”
With a look of profound sadness, “You found the gangs of kids who’re killing,” Jill stated, and Arthur was shocked that Jill had known kids were in groups, killing.
“How did you know? And no, I haven’t found them yet.”
“A patrol went out last month and found a group we check up on in Combs all dead. The woman over the patrol said there were small bloody handprints on the walls. Since the group had kids, I just thought they’d been killed or taken and those handprints left when they struggled. But in the last month, two other patrols have seen similar attacks. Nobody fought back and most were killed in bed. Thing is, each site we’ve found, we know had kids with them but only found a few bodies,” Ji
ll told him.
Cocking his head to the side, “Bodies of small kids like toddlers and older teens who would fight back?” Arthur asked and Jill’s eyes got wide, then she nodded. “All the older teens were killed in their beds like the adults, and the toddlers were elsewhere in the house?” Arthur continued, and Jill nodded again.
“Fuck,” Arthur sighed.
“Jill,” Jason called to get her attention. “Sorry, I’m Jason, one of the Caravan. Just why are you contacting others around you?”
“Sorry, Jill,” Arthur said and turned to Jason. “I instructed them to in my notebook. It’s an early warning system and to find out what they’ve seen. I’ve done that already for those small groups around us, and I’ve shown you the ones near Sand Gap and the other group near that gorge. I don’t like either of them, but they’re playing by the rules, otherwise they’d be dead cocksuckers. As you know, Albert’s group is the closest to us, only ten miles to the southwest. I also wanted them to find out who was around because I’ve been concentrating mostly in Newton County, for obvious reasons, and along the I-40 corridor. Our problems will come from the south, and more than likely on the interstate. When we get time, I’ll check out those that Jill and Albert have spotted and didn’t like. Albert took out a group in July near Watalula. They were fucking cannibals, and can you believe Albert apologized for not telling me first?”
Holding up her hand, “I was going to tell you, we took out that camp east of Japton,” Jill said.
“Well, at least you didn’t say you were sorry for not contacting me,” Arthur grinned. “I would’ve gotten to them in time, but when I’d found them it was just me. I was getting ready to gather up Jason and a few others to hit them in a week or so.”
Viral Misery | Book 3 | Revelations Page 11