by P. A. Glaspy
“No, you don’t! Amanda will go. She’s a better shot than you anyway.” Carly had tears running down her face. “I’m supposed to protect you. That’s how it works.”
Aaron wrapped his free arm around her and squeezed. “Things change, Mom. Our world has turned upside down. We have to change, too. I’m doing this. Stay safe.” He kissed the top of her head as Elliott opened the door. The four of them stepped out onto the porch. Amanda turned back to close the door behind them and caught Carly’s eye.
“I’ll watch out for him, Carly. You watch out for your mom.” She pulled the door to behind her.
Elliott stopped at the top of the steps. Ethan was on his right, Aaron to his left. Amanda was left of Aaron, her rifle trained on the engine area of the van.
“Not sure who you are or what you’re after, but y’all need to get off my property,” Elliott called out calmly. Lexi had her hackles up as high as they would go, growling and straining against the hold Ethan had on her.
Cody peeked over the hood. “Hey there, Elliott. We weren’t properly introduced earlier because you were kinda rude, like you’re being now. But we found someone who knows you and knows all about how nice your place is. He didn’t tell us you had anyone as hot as the gal on your porch there, though. Yeah, this place is damn near perfect for our needs.”
Laughter could be heard from behind the engine block. Elliott was unfazed.
“Unfortunately for you all, it isn’t available. I’ll say again — get off my property now before someone gets hurt.”
“Well, things are a little different now. We’ve got some more people with us who need a place like this, too. Step out and say hi fellas.” Cody leaned back so that he could see the other three men. None of them moved. “I said, step out and say hi! Don’t be rude like Elliott there.”
Taylor, Jason, and Devon leaned around the back end of the van. Elliott peered at them.
“Taylor? Are you the one who told them about our place? And to think, I was going to help you.”
“I-I’m sorry, Elliott! I didn’t know what they were planning to do! I don’t want to be a part of this, but they threatened my wife and kids. I just —”
“Shut up, Taylor!” Cody yelled. “Get back behind the van and keep your trap shut!”
Before they moved back, Devon called out, “We’re not part of this, Mr. Marshall! They made us come at gun point. Our guns aren’t even loaded. We aren’t a threat.”
Cody stood up. “All of you shut the hell up! He’s lying, Elliott. They’re just as a much a part of this as we are. Now, drop those guns and come on down before this gets ugly.”
“It’s already ugly,” Amanda replied. “You, the situation, all of it.”
Aaron laughed nervously, which enraged Cody. “You think this is funny, bud? Let’s see who laughs now!”
Cody raised his handgun and aimed it at Aaron. He pulled the trigger and all hell broke loose.
Watching the scene unfold, Ethan released his hold on Lexi. Lexi took off like she had been fired from a gun herself toward the men hiding behind the front of the van. Ethan pushed Elliott out of the way as he dove in front of the oncoming bullet that was headed for Aaron. Shielding his son from the round, it hit Ethan in the back just below his heart. He fell against Aaron and they both went down on the wooden porch.
At the same time, Amanda crouched as she raised her rifle and aimed it at Cody. Her shot was true and hit him between the eyes. He dropped out of sight. She lined up to the right of where he had been standing, knowing his cohorts were in that vicinity. One of them rose enough for her to see the top of his head. She hit him but had no idea if the shot was fatal. He disappeared.
Elliott righted himself and scurried over to the corner of the house where the porch connected to it. Bracing himself against the wall, he aimed his shotgun at the van. Someone was screaming unintelligibly on the other side. He could hear Lexi growling and snarling, as well as the sound of material being shredded. Finally, he could make out what was being said.
“Get this dog off me! She already killed Bo! Please, help me!”
“Lexi! Come!” Elliott called out. He waited a moment then yelled again, “Lexi! Come!”
Lexi came around the front of the van with blood covering her muzzle. She went up the steps past Elliott and straight to Ethan, who was still lying on top of Aaron. She stuck her nose against his face and nudged. Ethan didn’t move.
Adrenalin running high, Elliott raised his voice again. “Whoever is left over there better come out now with your hands up! I ain’t gonna tell ya twice!”
Taylor, Jason, and Devon hurried out from behind the van, hands raised as high as they could get them. The man responded, “I can’t raise my left arm. Your damn dog ‘bout ripped it off!”
“Then come out with your right one up and don’t make any sudden moves.” Elliott watched as the man rose slowly, his right hand held up.
“Elliott.” Amanda said quietly.
Without taking his eyes off the man, Elliott replied, “Yeah?”
“I’ve got this. You need to check on them.”
“Huh?” Elliott turned around and looked behind him. “Who?” Noticing the blood pooling beneath them he dropped his shotgun and rushed over to his son and grandson as Carly and the rest of the family spilled out the front door.
“Aaron!” Carly screamed. “Oh my god! He’s dead! No, no, no!”
She reached them at the same time Elliott did. Will stepped in. Together, he and Elliott lifted Ethan’s still form off of Aaron. They were both covered in blood.
“Nooooo!” Carly’s mournful wail filled the winter air as she placed her son’s head into her lap. His eyes were closed, and he wasn’t moving. Carly brushed his hair out of his eyes as she rocked back and forth, her tears falling on his face. “Who did this? Who killed my son? Was it one of them?” She pointed an accusatory finger at Taylor and his friends.
“No, Carly. The one who did that is dead.” Amanda made the statement very matter of fact, never taking her eyes off the men in the yard. “Those three said they were coerced. That one,” she pointed the barrel of her rifle, indicating the man with the mangled arm, “was with the dead one. Whether or not he lives is still up in the air.”
As they were talking, Aaron stirred in Carly’s arms. She gasped as his eyes fluttered open.
“Mom? What happened?”
“He’s alive! You’re alive! Dear Lord, thank you! Where are you hurt? There’s so much blood!”
“I don’t know about anything else, but my head is killing me. I think I hit it on the porch when Dad … wait … where’s Ethan?”
Aaron struggled to sit up. As he did, they all heard a strangled cry. It was Elliott. He was kneeling beside Ethan’s blood-soaked body, Lexi at his side whining softly. Ethan was still alive though blood was streaming from his mouth. He seemed to be trying to speak. Elliott leaned over to his face.
“A … A … Aa … ron?” he managed to whisper.
Elliott patted his cheek. “He’s alive, son. You saved his life. You saved your boy.”
Ethan’s blood-stained lips turned up at the edges. He closed his eyes as he smiled. Elliott’s body was wracked with sobs as he watched the life slip from his only child.
“Nooooo!” Cameron rushed to his father’s side and grasped his hand. “You can’t die now! We just found each other! Don’t leave, Dad!”
Aaron crawled to his father’s side, wrapping his arms around his little brother. Carly joined them, and all three of them held each other. Ethan’s eyes fluttered open again. He looked at them with a tear running down the side of his face.
“So … sorry … left … you … hurt … you. Always … loved … you …” He closed his eyes again, trying to take a breath that never came. His hand went slack in Cameron’s grasp.
Cameron fell atop Ethan’s body, his tears mixing with the blood. Lauri tried to comfort Carly and the boys while Joel knelt beside Elliott, who was consumed in the grief of a father’s loss. Ell
iott leaned into his friend and wept.
Will had joined Amanda. “What do we do with these guys?” he asked hesitantly, seeming afraid of the answer. He looked at her and saw that she had tears streaming silently down her face as well. He laid an arm across her shoulders. “Are you okay?”
She swiped the tears away and said gruffly, “Yeah, I’m fine. I can tell you what I’d like to do with them. It’s not like we can call the cops or the sheriff.”
Devon, overhearing their conversation, took a step toward them. Amanda pointed her rifle at him.
“Stay where you are! One more step and —”
“I just want to talk,” Devon said, cutting her off. “I think we can help each other.”
“We don’t need any more of your help!” Carly yelled across the heads of her sons. “You murdered this man. He was the father of my children. He was a son. He was a person!”
“That wasn’t us, ma’am,” Devon said, shaking his head. “We weren’t able to stop them. We didn’t have the tools or the numbers. But I believe we can work together and make everyone safer, especially from people like them.”
Elliott had been listening to the conversation. He slowly stood up, pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his face. He walked out into the yard and approached Devon, Lexi at his side. Devon held his hand out for the dog to sniff. She did and started wagging her tail. She then turned to look at Doug who was now cradling his mangled arm in his good one and raised her hackles, emitting a growl deep in her throat. Elliott stared into the stranger’s eyes for a moment, then extended his hand.
“Lexi’s a pretty good judge of character. If she says you’re okay, you must be. I’m Elliott Marshall. This is my place.”
Devon shook the elder man’s hand and smiled. “Devon Brown. I’m very sorry for your loss, sir. These are my friends, Jason Caton, and I think you’ve met Taylor.”
Elliott furrowed his brow as he glared at Taylor. “I have. Wasn’t impressed.”
Jason faked a cough to cover a laugh and Devon didn’t try to hide his. “Yes, sir, I get that. But he really is a good guy. He just doesn’t always use his brain in the manner in which God intended.”
“Hey! Standing right here,” Taylor said with a pout.
“We’ve got some things to take care of today. I’ve got to bury my son,” Elliott paused, a hitch in his voice. When he had composed himself, he went on. “But I’d like to hear your idea, son, because we surely aren’t safe. How about you boys come back tomorrow, and we’ll talk?”
“That’d be great, sir. Thank you.”
“Call me Elliott. This here is the rest of my family.” Elliott stood and pointed to each one giving their names. Joel joined them and shook the men’s hands. No one else left the porch.
“We’ll help you bury these guys if you tell us where you want them,” Devon went on. “If it’s okay, we’d like to take the van with us. We’ll take Doug, too.” He indicated the man standing off by himself.
Elliott shook his head. “I don’t want those thugs on my land, dead or alive. Take ‘em with you. I don’t care what you do with their carcasses.”
“What are you going to do with him?” Joel asked as he eyed Doug.
Devon stood thinking for a moment, then said, “I’m not sure yet. I’ll let you know tomorrow.”
Acknowledgments
First, let me say thank you all so much for sticking with me. I know this one took a while, much longer than I intended. I hope it was worth the wait.
My life is different now from where I was this time last year. Any of you who follow my personal page on Facebook know I made a big change in my health this past year. In doing that, I found a new passion I didn’t know I had. I lost over sixty pounds — the first fifty of that in five months — and have drastically improved my health. Now, I help other people do the same. The reason is simple: if SHTF, how long could you live in your current state of health without medications? If you rely on prescriptions to keep your blood pressure or blood sugar in check, how would you fare when you could no longer get those drugs? If there was a collapse and you had to leave your home, how far could you get on foot? For me, those answers were not well and not far. At almost two hundred pounds, I couldn’t walk the short distance to my mailbox without taking a break. Now, I walk twelve thousand steps a day. I feel fantastic, and I want everybody I know to feel as good as I do. If you’d like to know more about this amazing program, message me on Facebook. I’d love to share it with you!
If I got any of the military actions wrong, please forgive me. I never served, though many in my family have. I try to research as much as I can, and I don’t claim to be an expert. I don’t know if, in a situation like I have created, our military and its leadership would behave this way. I just hope and pray they would.
The names I gave the politicians were meant to be tongue-in-cheek. It was supposed to be funny. Some people didn’t take it that way, according to some reviews I’ve gotten. Seriously, people — it’s fiction. They are characters in a story I made up. They don’t exist. If this were a real-life situation, would politicians act this way? Probably not. Again, I hope and pray they would put we, the people, first. I hope we never have to find out whether or not they would.
I know my thank you list seems redundant, but when you have a great tribe, why change it? My husband, Jim, blew me away with this cover. I’ve been told my covers don’t look like others in the genre. That’s my goal and that’s what I like about them. I want them to stand out in the crowd. Thank you for taking my idea and making it beautiful. I love you, Baby.
My Aunt Carol continues to keep my scattered brain’s rambling looking like a professional did it. She goes through the books multiple times to help me deliver quality work. Her editing is amazing! Thank you, sweet aunt.
My advanced reader team comes through every time. They read so fast I can send the book to them and hear back in as little as twenty-four hours. They’re reading machines and I know my books are better because of them. You guys rock. Thank you so much for taking the time to help me tell my stories better!
And then there’s the rest of you. The ones who heap praise on me on Facebook, in emails, and the thing that helps the most – reviews. You guys and gals are the ones who make all of this possible. You devour the words and beg for more. You call me out on situations that you don’t think are plausible. Even if we don’t agree, you’re still there, waiting impatiently for the next installment. I never thought my books could or would reach so many people, and I am humbled by your love of my work. I hope I can continue to entertain you for many more years.
There will be a book five. It may be the last in this series, but I won’t know until it’s written. I don’t want to drag the story out until it gets boring, but I don’t want to leave anything unsaid either. I don’t plan the story out ahead of time. It takes me where it wants to go. We’ll see where it leads. I’ll be starting on it about a month after this one launches, and fingers crossed it gets done in a lot less time. I wish I could give you a time frame, but my brain just doesn’t work like that. As soon as I can is the best I can do.
Last, and most important, I give the glory to God that He blessed me with this gift to tell stories people want to read. I placed my life in His hands and all I have is because of Him. Thank you, Lord, for the many blessings you bestow upon me every day.
Please take a moment and leave a review for any of my books you’ve read. Reviews are written gold for indie authors. Thank you in advance!
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