by Eric Vall
If these guys took us to the camp in Burlington, there was no way we would make it out.
“We’re just passing through, if you want a bag of coffee you’re welcome to it,” I said with a smile in a last ditch effort to bribe them and keep things amicable.
“Much obliged to take you up on that offer, but first we need to know where you live and how many people you got with you,” he replied bluntly, and I saw his partner shift his stance nervously.
“I don’t think we’re comfortable answering any more questions today,” I told the soldiers. “But we’d like to pass without any trouble.”
“Get off the bike,” Sunglasses ordered, and he moved to lift his rifle, but before he could get it up Paige pulled out her pistol and put a bullet through his eye, then she turned to the other soldier and put one in his neck before he could even react.
“Good shots,” I told her as the man she shot in the neck fell to his knees and bled out. My ears were ringing from the shots going off right next to me, but I was proud of Paige for acting when she did.
“Thanks,” she said. “The second guy was taller though, I should have adjusted my aim.”
“You did great,” I grinned at her. “A neck shot is just as effective.”
“I guess so,” the pretty brunette smiled and looked at the ground.
“Let’s see if these assholes have anything of use on them,” I said and then I hopped off the bike and started checking the guys’ pockets.
“I found a lighter and some cigarettes,” Paige smirked as she held up the contents of Sunglasses’ pockets.
“All this guy had was a half-eaten MRE,” I laughed.
“We can still take the guns,” Paige shrugged.
“Yes, we can,” I smiled, and we threw the guns on the back of the bike before we hopped on.
“Hopefully we don’t run into any more of those,” Paige said as we rode down Highway 7.
“Yeah,” I nodded. “I just want to get home.”
“Me too,” she sighed. “We can’t forget about the horses though.”
“Somehow I thought you didn’t like them that much,” I said.
“Oh, I’m kinda terrified of them,” Paige laughed. “But I’m going to check out the library for some books on horses when we get back.”
“Good call,” I told her. “We’ll need a pen of some sort to put them in too.”
“Oh yeah,” Paige said. “I’m sure Rolly will know what to do.”
“Right you are,” I chuckled. “That old man is pretty good at anything that requires a tool.”
“I’m sure Betty would agree,” Paige laughed.
“Wow,” I laughed. “Tara really is rubbing off on you.”
“Yeah,” she said. “But it’s nice not feeling like you have to worry what other people think.”
“Yes, it is,” I smiled, and we continued down the highway.
The rest of the trip to Lanceton was short, there weren’t any other checkpoints, and when we reached the graveyard, I could see that the horses were right where we left them, so I pulled the bike onto the side of the road and hopped off.
“You’re riding them back right?” Paige asked.
“Well, I’ll ride one,” I grinned.
“Aren’t they supposed to have saddles?” Paige asked, and her brown eyebrows pulled together.
“A saddle would be nice,” I said. “But bareback will be fine too.”
“Oooh, bareback,” Paige grinned, and she wiggled her eyebrows at me. “Maybe you can ride me bareback later.”
“You are too much,” I laughed, but I truly was a bit shocked at how raunchy Paige had been today, though I couldn’t say I didn’t like it. She was so shy and quiet when I first met her, but now she had really started to come out of her shell and find herself.
“I think you can handle it,” Paige rolled her eyes at me. “But the other horse will follow right?”
“I’ll tie the other horse to mine,” I told her.
“Okay,” she nodded. “How long will the ride take?”
“Well,” I started, “since they’ll be tied together, I don’t want to push them too hard. I’d say maybe an hour or so.”
“Hmm,” Paige pursed her lips as she moved to the front of the bike. “I don’t want to leave you.”
“You can ride ahead of me if you want,” I told her. “Just go slow so you don’t lose me.”
“Okay,” she said. “Do you need any help getting the horses ready?”
“No,” I smiled. “Just wait here, I’ll be right back.”
“Alright,” she smiled back at me.
I walked over to where the two horses were grazing and I clucked to them as I approached.
“Hey pretty girls,” I said, and I reached my hand out so the gray lady could smell me, then I grabbed her lead and untied it from the tree so I could tie it to the red-brown horse. Once the two were tied together, I clucked to the red-brown horse and grabbed her mane to help pull myself up. The girls were trained well and neither of them moved as I mounted the red-brown girl.
“Good girl,” I cooed to the red-brown horse as I patted her neck, then I tapped her belly with the heel of my foot and led her to the road. The gray lady came along easily, and as soon as Paige saw me heading that way she fired up the bike and slowly started down the road.
It had been several years since I had ridden a horse, but the feel of the creature below me was familiar and soothing. We walked along leisurely, and I rubbed her neck and cooed to her as we rode, but it seemed the gray lady was jealous, and she nudged my arm with her head, so I reached over and scratched her ear.
The trip was short, and I smiled as I thought about how excited the girls would be about the horses. My team had a long road ahead, but I was almost home, and that was enough for the moment.
Chapter 21
A few hours later, Paige turned the bike and headed up the hill toward our little sanctuary. It was only just past noon at this point, and as I followed the brunette up the hill, I remembered that I had promised the girls we would have a barbeque when Paige and I returned. There was still enough time in the day for me to do some hunting so we could have fresh meat, and I smiled as I thought about the people that were waiting for me at the top of the hill.
The short walk up the drive felt like an eternity, and halfway up I decided I couldn’t wait any longer, so I clucked to the horses and tapped my heel into the mare’s stomach to bring her to a trot. The gray lady followed suit, and as we reached the top of the hill, I could see everyone gathered around Paige, hugging her and laughing while Winchester ran around excitedly.
“Oh. My. God!” Tara yelled when she saw me.
“Wow!” Bailey exclaimed, and both of the girls ran over to me as I slowed the horses and hopped off.
“We have horses now?” Tara asked, and she put her hand out for the gray lady to sniff.
“Yup,” I laughed, and Winchester ran over to me and put his front paws on my waist, so I bent down to scratch him and let him lick my face.
“Oh my god,” Tara exclaimed again. “My very own pony! My dad would never get me one as a kid.”
“Hey,” Bailey laughed as she rubbed the red-brown horse’s muzzle. “You have to share.”
“You can have that one,” Tara said, and she grinned at the other blonde.
“Deal,” Bailey chuckled.
“We all have to share,” I laughed. “They’re broke, but we don’t have a saddle.”
“I prefer bareback,” Tara said, and she winked at me.
“You’re as bad as Paige today,” I chuckled.
“She beat me to the bareback joke?” Tara asked with wide eyes, and then she feigned tears. “I’m so proud.”
“I guess I’ll get to ride one of these things finally,” Anna said with a smile as she joined us, and then she moved to hug me. “Happy to have you home.”
“Happy to be home,” I said, and I kissed the top of her head.
“Oh, right,” Tara blushed, and then s
he hugged me as well. “I got a little excited about my own pony.”
“That’s okay,” I laughed as I breathed in the platinum blonde and hugged her tightly.
“Me next,” Bailey said, and she held her arms out to me.
“Come here my little hippie,” I grinned and pulled her into me.
“I’m not a hippie,” she protested against my chest, and I laughed at her mumbled response.
“Got enough hugs left for one more?” I heard Rolly ask, and I looked up to see him walking toward me with Betty beside him.
“Get over here, old timer,” I said, then released Bailey, and yanked Rolly into me.
“Careful now,” Rolly laughed. “Or you’ll break my old bones.”
“You’re tougher than that,” I told him, but I let him go and pulled Betty in for a hug. “Betty, I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Well it’s just hard to part with Rolly,” Betty laughed after I let her go. “I hope that’s okay.”
“You’re always welcome here,” I grinned.
“As long as you don’t break Rolly’s heart,” Tara joked.
“I think I can manage to keep it intact,” Betty smiled, and then she kissed Rolly on the cheek.
“How did everything go?” Rolly asked.
“We have good news, and bad news,” Paige said as she approached us carrying her bag.
“Let’s do good news first,” I smiled. “We can talk bad news later.”
“So what’s the good news then?” Anna asked with a raised eyebrow.
Paige reached into her bag and pulled out a couple of chocolate bars.
“Oh my god!” Tara squealed. “This day just keeps getting better and better.”
“Where did you find that?” Bailey asked, and she grabbed one of the chocolate bars and started reading the label.
“We made a pit stop on the way back,” Paige grinned.
“I don’t know how you feel about chocolate Rolly,” I smiled, “but we got something I know you’ll like.”
“What’s that?” the old man grinned.
I nodded to Paige, and she pulled out a small bag of coffee from her pack and tossed it to the old man.
“Oh, thank god,” he smiled. “We were running low.”
“Oh, that’s not all of it,” I laughed. “We have a box full of goodies.”
“Well let’s see the box,” Tara smiled.
“Let’s find somewhere to put these girls,” I laughed, and I held up the lead I still held for the horses.
“Right,” Bailey said, and she pulled her eyebrows together.
“I’ll go grab some rope,” Anna said, and then she headed for Rolly’s tool shed.
I led the horses to a small area near our fire pit that had some trees, and plenty of grass.
“We can make a little fence,” Anna said as she found me and held out some rope.
“That should work for tonight,” I said.
“I’ll work on a pen for them tomorrow,” Rolly smiled, and he reached out to pet the gray horse.
“We might have some extra panels at the house,” Betty offered.
“Thanks,” I smiled. “We’ll check with the civilians at the farm too, there might be some there they won’t need since they don’t have any livestock.”
I helped Anna create a makeshift fence as the horses grazed, and then I removed their halters and hung them on a nearby tree branch.
Just then Bailey and Tara joined us, and they carried two five-gallon buckets of water.
“Good thinking,” I told the girls as they set the water inside the fence.
“So, when can we ride them?” Tara grinned at me.
“Let’s give them a rest for today,” I laughed.
“Alright,” Tara pouted.
“What are their names?” Bailey asked.
“We figured you could name them since I named Winchester,” Paige said with a smile.
“How about Buttercup?” Tara smiled.
“That’s the most cliché horse name ever,” Anna laughed at the platinum blonde.
“Well what would you name them?” Tara asked, and she put a hand on her hip.
“We have a gray lady and a brown lady,” I said. “How about we start there?”
“I like that,” Bailey smiled. “Gray Lady.”
“That’s what I’ve been calling her in my head,” I chuckled. “We don’t have to name her that.”
“That’s my pick,” Bailey grinned. “Tara can name the other one.”
“Buttercup,” Tara said with a serious face.
“Oh my god,” Paige laughed.
“Okay,” Anna chuckled. “Buttercup it is.”
“I think Buttercup is a fine name,” Betty said, and she reached out to pat the platinum blonde on the arm.
“Thank you, Betty,” Tara said, and then she sneered playfully at Anna. “At least someone appreciates my ideas.”
“I guess I’m going to have to ride Gray Lady,” Anna grinned. “I don’t think Tara’s going to let me ride Buttercup now.”
“You’re damn right,” Tara said, and then she turned to Buttercup and spoke to her in a baby voice. “You don’t want that mean redhead to ride you now anyways, do you Buttercup?”
“You’re incorrigible,” Anna laughed, and she pushed the platinum blonde.
“And damn proud of it,” Tara laughed, and she pushed her friend back.
“Come on,” Paige said as she walked back toward the motorcycle. “Come see what else we got.”
I followed the rest of the group, grabbed the box and my pack, and then led us to the firepit so we could sit down.
“Okay,” I smiled, and then I dumped out the box and the contents of my pack. “Behold our treasures.”
The girls squealed and dropped to their knees to inspect the profits of our trip.
“This is awesome,” Bailey smiled.
“What’s the coconut milk for?” Anna asked as she held up the boxed milk.
“Hot chocolate,” Paige grinned.
“Oh my god,” Tara sighed. “I haven’t had hot chocolate in forever.”
“Is ‘oh my god’ your new favorite phrase?” Bailey teased the platinum blonde.
“I’m just really excited today,” Tara laughed.
“Don’t be too excited,” I said. “We still have the bad news to discuss.”
“Right,” she frowned.
“So, what did you find out?” Anna asked, and she moved to sit next to Rolly and Betty.
“We found the Burlington camp,” I said, and everyone in the group became quiet.
“What’s it like?” Bailey asked with a soft voice.
“It’s not good,” Paige said with a frown.
“They’re treating the civilians like slaves,” I said. “And the place is a lot more organized and well defended than the outpost, and a lot bigger.”
“I’m sure we can come up with a plan to free them,” Rolly said with a smile, and his wrinkles grew deeper.
“But that’s not all,” Paige said with a low voice.
“What else?” Tara asked.
“The National Guard is defending the border to Canada,” I said.
“Don’t they have better things to do?” Anna asked with an eye roll.
“That’s what we thought too,” Paige said. “But there’s a lot of people over there that are trying to get in.”
“Well if we take care of the guard then we can help those people too, right?” Bailey asked.
“No,” I shook my head. “There’s too many. Probably a hundred thousand or more.”
“We’d run out of supplies fast trying to take care of all of them,” Paige nodded.
“But we can still save the people in the camp right?” Tara asked, and her blonde eyebrows pinched together.
“No,” Anna shook her head. “If we take out the guys at the camp, there’s nobody to defend the border.”
“Anna’s right,” I nodded.
“So what do we do?” Rolly asked, and he leaned f
orward out of his chair.
“I’m not sure,” I sighed. “Those people are going to get across the border at some point.”
“You don’t think the Guard can hold them?” Betty asked.
“No,” Paige shook her head. “It looks like they’re losing the battle of attrition as it is.”
“How long do you think they can hold them off?” Rolly asked.
“A few weeks, maybe a couple of months at most,” I answered conservatively.
“We need to fortify the camp,” Anna said. “And help the others do the same.”
“We should try to help the people in the camp at least,” Bailey protested.
“We need to protect our own,” Anna stated.
“Both of you are correct,” I said and I held up my hand to deter any further arguing.
“Can we bust the people out?” Tara asked.
“The place is too well protected,” Paige said.
“We did run into a few people on the way there who had escaped though,” I remembered.
“Oh yeah,” Paige said. “Do you think we could find them again?”
“Yeah,” Bailey agreed. “Maybe they could tell us how they escaped.”
“It’s worth a try,” I smiled.
“I still think we need to fortify our campus,” Anna frowned.
“We do,” I nodded. “But we’ll find a way to help the civilians as well.”
Bailey looked at me and smiled wide, I knew she was thankful we had decided to help the civilians.
“For now,” I said. “I think I’ll go on a hunt and try to find some fresh deer for us to barbeque.”
“Well, actually...” Anna grinned. “We already did that.”
“You bagged a deer?” I asked, impressed.
“Well, Rolly did,” Anna answered, and I turned to look at Rolly.
“I’m impressed, old man,” I smiled.
“It was nothing,” Rolly said.
“How’d you get the deer back?” I asked, concerned. “You didn’t carry it did you?”
“Oh lord no,” Rolly told me with a wave. “I brought a wheelbarrow with me, but I didn’t go far into the woods either.”
“We told him we would’ve helped,” Tara added. “But he was already dressing it when we got up.”