by Payne, T. L.
“Some what?”
“Meals ready to eat. I don’t think they taste all that great, but Alan insists on stocking them. There are plastic grocery bags in that doohickey over the back of the door. You take some for you and your group.”
Isabella’s mouth fell open as she entered the pantry. There had to have been enough food in there to last for months, if not years. There were canned goods and stacks of five-gallon buckets of rice, beans, wheat, sugar, and numerous other things. One whole wall had jars of vegetables, likely from their garden. Isabella loaded six MREs into grocery bags and placed them by the front door.
“It’s very generous of you to share your food with us,” she said.
“I like to repay kindness when I can. There’s not much of it left in the world and I am truly grateful that the Lord sent you our way. I was getting so tired of eating rice and beans out there by the creek.”
Isabella took a seat in the recliner next to the sofa. “I’m glad we could help. I hope your ankle heals soon.”
“Me too. Alan is already talking about heading out to find our boys. I’ll need to stay back and take care of the ranch. I got too many chores to do to be laid up in bed.”
“Where are your boys?”
The door banged open before she could answer and Alan flew past them. As he disappeared down a hallway, Will and the others hurried through the door.
“What’s wrong?” Isabella said, getting to her feet.
Will grabbed Cayden and shoved him to the floor near the sofa. “Stay down,” he said.
“Will, what’s wrong? What happened out there?”
Alan returned with an armful of rifles. Will grabbed two and shoved one into her arms. Alan handed a third to Walker. As Alan disappeared again, Will, Walker, Monte, and Tanner all began checking and loading ammunition into their rifles.
Glory sat up. “Isabella, open the top of the coffee table for me.”
Isabella pulled on the top, and it hinged open. Inside were two ArmaLite style rifles and several pistols, all laid out on black Polyethylene foam.
“Give me the AR-15 on the right and one of the handguns. I’ll need a couple of magazines for the rifle too.”
Who are these people? thought Isabella. They weren’t the sweet old couple she’d thought them to be.
“You better take a couple of mags for yourself,” Glory said. She pointed at Cayden. “Can you shoot?”
Cayden nodded and reached for a pistol. Isabella grabbed his arm. “No. You need to ask your dad.”
“I’ve been shooting since I was five years old. I know how to handle a weapon. My dad taught me the four laws of gun safety.”
“Will?”
“Take the 9mm but keep it on safety until I tell you to take it off,” Will said.
Isabella straightened and clapped her hands loudly several times. “Stop! Someone better tell me what the hell is going on here.”
“There is a car at the gate,” Monte said.
“A car? What about it?”
“Men with guns got out of it,” Will said, matter-of-factly.
“That would be Ricky and the rest of Lyle’s family,” Glory said.
“Who the hell are Ricky and Lyle? Why are they here with guns?” Isabella said, moving toward the window.
Tanner stuck his arm out and blocked her. “Stay away from the windows.”
“The guys we killed out on the road were Ricky’s brothers. They must have been waiting here for us to return or something.”
“Let’s just go, Will,” Isabella said.
“We can’t. They’re blocking the gate.”
Alan rushed through the living room and flung open the door. “I’m going out to the barn. I’ll draw their fire. You guys go around the back of the house and try to get to your truck. Drive through the field. Knock down the fence if you have to.”
Glory tried to stand. “Alan, no. You can’t go out there alone.”
“They aren’t going to just go away, Glory. I have to draw them away from the house. I’ll lead them off toward the Muellers’ barn. You go with them. They can drop you at Doc Townsend’s, and I’ll be in town shortly.”
“Hell no!” Glory said, hopping across the floor toward him. “I go where you go. It’s been that way for twenty-five years, and it ain’t about to change now.”
“I don’t have time to argue with you, woman. You have to go with Will and Isabella. They’ll get you to town.”
“She’s right. You can’t go out there alone,” Walker said.
“What are you going to do, ranger? You going to stroll out there, flash your badge and arrest them?” Monte asked.
His tone took Will aback. He wasn’t sure where all that antagonism was coming from.
“You’ve got the right idea about drawing them away from the house. If you draw them out into the open, Tanner and me can pick ’em off," Monte said.
“That’s murder,” Walker said.
“No, that’s self-defense. The man has a right to protect his family and property—Castle Doctrine.”
Will suddenly realized the lawman’s morals and ethics were still grounded in the pre-attack-on-America world.
“I ain’t got time to stand around here debating. You’re free to arrest me, ranger, but I’m not going to let those asshats hurt my wife or take what’s mine,” Alan said as he exited.
“I’m coming with you,” Tanner said. “I ain’t running like a scared kid. You coming, Monte?”
Monte glared at Walker as he stepped past him. “Hell yeah!”
“Alan!” Glory called after him but received no response before the door shut.
Isabella grabbed Will’s arm. “Will?”
“I think we should hunker down here. It’s too risky to try to get to the truck.”
Glory hopped over to the window and parted the curtain. “We need people at the windows and doors then. If they don’t go after Alan, they’ll likely set the house on fire and smoke us out. We need to see them before they get close enough to do that.”
“What makes you think they’ll do that?” Walker asked.
“Cause that is what they’ve been doing for the last decade to settle feuds.”
Isabella moved to the kitchen and peered out of the window over the sink. There were very few trees or shrubs near the back of the house. She found that unusual. Their cooling bill must have been expensive without trees shading the house from the brutal sun. Isabella pulled the rifle up to her cheek and checked the scope. At about two hundred and fifty yards, there was a barbed-wire fence. Hanging on it was a metal target with several bullet holes. It seemed that Alan had sighted in his rifle for that range, so she knew she could be accurate to the distance. She scanned back and forth and saw no one.
“You should move your son to the bathroom down the hall. That’s the safest place—no windows,” Glory said.
“Cayden, you—” Will started to say.
“I’m not hiding this time. I can shoot. I’m thirteen, not three.”
Will blinked a few times and stared at him in silence for a long moment. “Let me see that pistol,” he said finally, holding out his hand. Cayden held it out, and Will took it, flicked the safety off, dropped the magazine, and ejected the round in the chamber. He reinserted the magazine and snicked the safety back on before handing it back to his son.
Cayden defiantly took the pistol off safety and chambered a round. “Cocked, locked, and ready to rock,” he said as he pushed the safety back up with his thumb. “I’ll take the back door.”
Everyone stared at him as he walked into the kitchen. He placed himself against the wall between the back door and the wall of the pantry. He nodded to Isabella. “I’ve got from twelve o’clock to three. What do you have?”
Isabella looked back over her shoulder. Will was still standing there, staring at Cayden with his mouth agape. Walker had moved to the front door. She could no longer see Glory. Isabella returned her gaze to the window and the backyard. “I’ve got nine to twelve o’clock.”
She scanned through the scope and once more stopped at the target on the fence. Her gaze traveled a well-worn path to about fifty yards out, where a lonely bird bath sat surrounded by flowers. She was ready but unsure about the rules of engagement.
“Um—ranger?” She couldn’t recall his name and didn’t feel comfortable calling him Walker. She wasn’t sure if Monte had meant it in a derogatory way or not. “If they have a gun in their hands and I shoot, is that legal?”
“If they’ve got a gun, you better shoot. They won’t hesitate to fire at you,” Glory called from down the hall.
“I—” Shots rang out, and Walker never had the opportunity to finish his sentence.
“Two down on the south side near fifty yards from the barn,” Will called out from the side door.
“Alan’s up in the loft,” Glory said, glee in her voice.
“They’ve got rifles,” Will said.
A second later, a round shattered the front window. Everyone dropped to the floor. Isabella scrambled over to Cayden and threw her arm around him. “We have to move.”
He shook her off. “We have to guard the back door. We can’t let them get inside.”
“Cayden, get to the bathroom. This shit is serious,” Will yelled.
Cayden stood and returned to his post by the back door. “The backyard is still clear.”
Walker moved to the broken window and returned fire. That was when the seriousness of their situation hit Isabella.
“Fire! Fire!” Glory called out. “The bedroom is on fire.”
Isabella dropped down and pulled open the door to a cabinet under the sink. She groped around and grabbed the fire extinguisher before racing down the hall meeting Glory just outside the entrance to the back bedroom on the right. “I heard a crash and then saw the room go up in flames.”
“You open the door and I’ll spray,” Isabella said, holding up the extinguisher.
Glory turned the knob slowly and then shoved open the door. The heat was intense already, and the smoke stung Isabella’s eyes. She pulled the pin, pointed the nozzle into the room, and released the locking mechanism. Isabella squeezed the lever and sprayed into the room, sweeping from side to side before moving toward the opposite wall. Within a minute or two, the flames were out, but the smoke and fine powder from the extinguisher made it hard to breathe. Isabella backed out of the room and closed the door.
When she returned to the kitchen, Will and Cayden were missing, and the back door stood open.
Eighteen
Will
Day Seven
“I’ve got one on the west side coming out from behind the barn. He’s armed with a pistol,” Will called out to Walker.
“There’s two out by the truck,” Walker said.
A shot rang out, and Cayden yelled. “Dad! Tanner’s hit.”
Will ran to the back door and pushed Cayden back toward the pantry. “Stay down.” He scanned the side yard to the stables and spotted Tanner on the ground, attempting to crawl back to the house.
“We have to help him,” Cayden said.
Will couldn’t see a shooter and assumed they’d moved back around the barn. He ran back to the side door to see if he could tell where the man had gone then shifted to the left side of the door to get a better view of the side with the lean-to and heard the back door open. “Cayden!”
Will got there just as Cayden sprinted off toward Tanner firing his pistol as he ran. He screamed his son’s name and ran after him. Will reached him just as he was helping Tanner to his knees. Two gunshots rang out, and Will dove on top of Cayden and Tanner. He rolled off and scrambled to his feet, pulling on Cayden’s arm as he did. Tanner tried to stand but only made it up on one knee before a round struck him in the torso. Will grabbed Cayden by the shirt and ran for the shed.
Anger mixed with fear as he shoved his son back against the side of the weathered building. Will raised his rifle and peered around the corner to see if the shooter had followed them. Will stepped out and fired when he spotted a man sprinting from the front of the barn to the back of the truck. The first round struck the man in the arm but didn’t seem to faze him. The second round struck him in the leg. He turned to fire at Will, and when he did, Will squeezed off another shot, hitting the man in the chest.
Isabella screamed, and Will dropped back behind the barn. A previously unseen shooter fired, hitting the side of the old wooden structure only inches from where Will had just been standing. He pushed Cayden to the ground and covered him. When the shooting stopped, Will pointed to the west corner. “Stay behind me. We’re going to try to make it to the shop.” He needed to get Cayden out of the line of fire. They were cut off from the house. The only other structure was the metal shop building over a hundred feet from the old wooden barn. The galvanized steel building wouldn’t stop a bullet, but Will hoped something inside could provide them with sufficient cover.
His thoughts were a jumbled mess. His first priority was to Cayden, but Isabella’s scream continued to ring in his head. Not knowing if the men had made it into the house was torture.
“Where are Alan and Monte?” Cayden asked.
“I don’t know. Stay close. We have to make it to the shop.”
Just as they reached the edge of the barn, Will heard Alan calling for them. “Will, over here.”
Will stuck his head around the corner. There weren’t any shooters visible but the range between the buildings would put them out in the open too long. It was too much distance to cover.
“Will, I’ll cover you,” Monte yelled.
Will looked up. Monte’s face appeared in a loft window.
“Do you see them?”
“Two are by our truck. The others are dead. Come on over. They can’t see you from where they are.”
Relief washed over Will. If Monte had eyes on the only two gunmen left alive, then Isabella was safe. He reached down and took Cayden’s right hand. The two ran to the side door as quickly as possible. When they reached the metal building, Will rammed his shoulder into the side of it and nearly passed out from the pain. He pushed through it, reached for the doorknob, and turned. It was locked. They were exposed where they were and would need to go around to the front to get inside, but that would put them in the line of fire for the shooters.
“Monte, the door is locked.”
A second later, it opened, and Alan appeared. “Get in.”
“Tanner’s gone,” Will said, moving through the shop. His eyes journeyed the space, landing on the 1951 Chevy truck parked in one of the bays. “There, Cayden. Go sit over there behind the truck.” Will moved to the front of the building and pressed back against the wall between the bay doors and a window. He leaned slightly to take in the area between the shop and the driveway. Their truck was about one hundred and twenty-five feet away. Will scanned the space around the back of the vehicle. He saw no one. “Monte,” he yelled. “Do you still have eyes on them?”
“No, they dropped down on the passenger side out of view.”
Shit!
“Would you see them if they made a break for the house?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
You think so?
“I’m going to go around the back of the barn and try to make it to the house,” Alan said. “You two stay here.”
“Monte should go and cover you. I’ve got this side.”
“Good idea,” Alan said. “Monte, follow me back to the house.”
“Coming down,” Monte said. A second later, his legs appeared on the ladder leading to the loft.
“We need to get back inside and make sure they can’t get to the women,” Alan said.
Monte dropped his magazine and inserted a fresh one before moving toward the side door.
“Monte, Tanner is down. He’s near the lean-to.” Will hated to tell him that his friend was dead, but he didn’t want him coming across him in the middle of bullets flying and get distracted.
“Dead?”
Will nodded.
Monte hung his head an
d shook it. Without a word, he made the sign of the cross and pulled open the door. “All clear,” he said and stepped outside.
Alan looked back at Cayden and then at Will. “We’re going to finish this, don’t you worry.” He took off running, leaving the door standing open.
Will returned his attention to the truck. He still couldn’t see anyone. He waited and listened. Seconds passed that felt like hours, and then one of the men rose slightly. He was near the front passenger door. He raised his rifle and steadied it on the hood of the pickup. He was aiming toward where Tanner had fallen. Was he waiting for them to come retrieve the body?
The report of a rifle boomed, and the man dropped out of view. A second later, another man stood and took off running toward the road. Walker came into view. He was giving chase. The man turned to fire when Will was halfway out the door. Walker was still running toward the man, his pistol gripped with both hands. Will raised his weapon, lined up the shot, and began moving his finger toward the trigger guard. He heard the sound of the rifle a second before the man dropped. Walker looked back. The shot had come from behind him.
Nineteen
Isabella
Day Seven
The rifle shook in Isabella’s hands but she did her best to keep her sights on the torso of the man on the ground in front of Walker. It had all happened so fast. From the moment she realized that Walker hadn’t seen the man raise his pistol until she’d squeezed the trigger had occurred in a fraction of a second. Isabella hadn’t had time to think. She’d just reacted.
She felt Glory brush against her, and then her hands slide down her arm. “It’s over now,” Glory said, pushing the barrel of Isabella’s rifle toward the ground. Isabella slowly looked up and met Glory’s gaze. “Let’s go back inside, and I’ll get you something to calm your nerves.” Isabella was trembling so hard that she was almost immobile. Glory had to help her turn back toward the door. She didn’t recall going inside or taking a seat at the kitchen table. Somehow she glanced up, and Will and Cayden were standing over her each with a hand on her shoulders. Tears began to flow when she saw the concern on their faces.