Final Dawn: Book 4    

THE SIEGE

By Darrell Maloney

This is a work of fiction. All persons depicted in this book are fictional characters. Any resemblance to any real person, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Copyright 2014 by Darrell Maloney

A recap of FINAL DAWN, the first book in this series

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    Sometimes the gods of fate smile upon you, and bestow on you a treasure of such magnitude, such wonder, that you pinch yourself over and over until you finally believe it’s really real.

     And sometimes those same gods bestow upon you a bowl of smelly, steaming crap.

     They seldom do both within the same week.

     Mark Snyder seldom played the lottery himself. He considered it a hopeless waste of money. But the love of his life, Hannah Jelinovic, played regularly. And sweet Hannah had been sick in bed for two days and hadn’t been able to get out.

     So on a lark, Mark picked up a ticket for her. The right numbers came up and Hannah and Mark were suddenly multi-millionaires. Things seemingly couldn’t be better.

     But not so fast. The very next day Hannah went back to work as a contractor for NASA, tracking meteorites and asteroids in the heavens. She discovered a new one. One that was heading for earth. And it was bigger than the one that wiped out the dinosaurs four million years before.

     For her efforts, Hannah was demoted and threatened with prison if she disclosed the information to anyone.

     “But why?” she asked.

     “Because it won’t be here for almost three years. We have plenty of time to divert it or destroy it. Telling the public will just cause panic.”

     But Mark and Hannah knew better than to trust the government. They began using their newfound wealth to prepare for Armageddon.

     The couple enlisted the help of Mark’s brother Bryan and her best friend and co-worker Sarah. They purchased an abandoned salt mine that would afford them the protection they needed to survive deep underground.

     Then it was just a matter of getting it ready. They created a list of those they’d take into the mine with them. Those family members and close friends who made the cut would become part of the forty who would spend five to seven years underground. Waiting for the dirt kicked up by Saris 7 to fall back out of the atmosphere, so that the sun would shine through again and thaw a frozen earth.

     There were a million and one things to consider. It wasn’t just a matter of buying food and water for forty people for seven years. That would have been tough enough. But to do so secretly required a lot of planning.

     And there were other things as well. The group had to plan for electrical power, fuel, supplies, medicine, and a thousand other things we take for granted until faced with not having them anymore.

     Meanwhile, Hannah and Sarah waited for their employer to do the right thing… to tell the public what was coming, and let the world prepare for it. They heard from an insider that there are no plans to save the world. The President of the United States had a place to hide, in the cold war bomb proof shelters beneath the streets of Washington. And he had plans to take four hundred or so others with him. Family, friends, and cronies. For the rest of the United States, they’d be on their own.

     For Hannah and Mark, Sarah and Bryan, that just wouldn’t do. The girls risked prison to go on national television to tell the world. Then they went into hiding in the mine.

     The federal government, of course, tried to discredit them and claimed it was a hoax, until other scientists began speaking publicly around the world to support Hannah’s claims.

     Faced with undeniable evidence of the truth, the President had to backtrack. He shifted to his plan B… another lie.

     “Don’t worry,” he told his citizens. “We have a plan. We’ll work with the Chinese. By combining their rockets with our nuclear warheads, we can send up a weapon capable of diverting the meteorite onto another path.”

     The world was conflicted. They desperately wanted to believe. No one wanted to die. But they knew they couldn’t trust the governments of the world. Some panicked. Some rioted. Some calmly accepted their fate.

     And some, like Mark and Hannah, continued to prepare for the end.

     A few days before impact, the mine was finally ready. The group gathered up family and friends and gave them shelter. It wasn’t a tropical paradise, but it would enable them to survive.

     Final Dawn ended when Saris 7 collided with the earth. Around the world, millions were dying. But hidden deep within an old salt mine outside of Eden, Texas, these forty would survive.

A recap of HIDDEN, the second book in this series

     For five and a half years, the world grew dark and cold. Outside the mine, the survivors struggled to stay alive. The worst of mankind reared its ugly head, as men fought each other to the death for meager provisions and belongings. But the better side of mankind was also present. Neighbor helped neighbor and strangers sometimes banded together for mutual strength and protection.

     Inside the mine, the group of refugees were better off than most. But they weren’t insulated from either the violence or the pain.

     But there were joyful times as well. New love sprouted. And Hannah’s baby, Markie Junior, was a chip off the old block. A handful to be sure, but one who spread joy and cheer to everyone around him.

     The group welcomed two more into their fold amidst tragic circumstances. And it wouldn’t be the only pain they felt. Mark’s mother died while in the mine. A tragedy no one saw coming.

     For years they planned and prepared. Watched the skies for relief from the haze that covered the sun and kept the earth from thawing. And when the sun finally returned, they broke out from their subterranean prison, to take up residence in a compound they’d built before the disaster.

     Most of the world was dead now, and many of the people who remained were little more than animals. For a long time they followed no laws and offered no quarter. They learned to take what they wanted and to kill whoever got in their way.

     The group in the mine had planned carefully. Had grown a limited number of crops in greenhouses for the purpose of providing seeds for crops. They raised livestock in the mine in limited numbers. Eventually, after the breakout, the animals would provide their primary source of protein. And once free of the mine, when the herds were allowed to expand, they would help feed others outside the group as well.

A recap of BREAKOUT, the third book in this series

     The group of forty one thought they’d made it. The world was warm again, and they were able to come out of the mine and feel sunshine for the first time in many years. Little Markie, especially, was excited. At six and a half, he’d finally feel grass beneath his feet for the first time. He’d be able to look up at night and see the moon and the stars and the clouds. And for the first time in his young life they would be real, not just photographs.

     The compound they’d prepared before going into the compound was dusty and dank. But once it was cleaned up and given power it proved to be a nice home, and a vast improvement over the cramped confines of the mine.

     A hundred miles to the south, Frank Woodard and his band of survivors began to expand their horizons as well. They reached out beyond their neighborhood to help others who were struggling. And Frank even paid a visit to the Salt Mountain area in search of deer.

     And in doing so, he stumbled upon the compound.

     Frank and John became fast friends. As two retired law enforcement officers, they had much in common. And the group of forty one made sure that their new friends in San Antonio were taken care of.

     Frank returned to the decimated Alamo City with a truck full of live chickens and fresh food… and seeds for crops. A chance to start anew, and to bring renewed hope to the city’s downtrodden citizens.

     But others found the compound as well.

     A band of convicts, released from a nearby prison when Saris 7 hit the earth, stayed in the local area and made it their home. They survived by taking over the prison and its vast stores of food, supplies and fuel.

     And now that the earth was warm enough to come out of their self-imposed exile, they journeyed out to see what else was available.

     Through happenstance, they discovered the compound. By climbing Salt Mountain, they were able to get a good view of what the compound contained.

     There was no other place in the area, or the whole world, for all they knew, that had livestock and fresh produce.

     And they wanted it for their very own.

     Breakout ended when the compound came under attack. The group evacuated, and went back into the mine, to nurse their wounds and plan their next move.

     Right was on their side. They wouldn’t give up what was theirs. Not without a fight.

Here, in The Siege, is the fourth book in this series…

Chapter 1

     Everyone knew what to do. They’d been drilled on it many times in recent days. All of the children and the elderly were evacuated to a hidden part of the mine. Most of the women accompanied them.

     Sarah, Brad and Bryan took up positions behind a barricade at the main entrance of the mine, in case they were attacked from both directions at the same time.

     David, Mark, Jacob and Joe took up positions at the bunker overlooking the mine’s entrance to the tunnel.

     John and Sami manned the security desk. John would coordinate operations. Sami would keep an eye on the monitors and keep everyone advised of what the enemy was doing.

     In the compound, Alvarez was briefing his crew.

     “Okay, we’ll go quietly until we start acquiring our targets. They should be mostly asleep.”

     “Shoot all the men on sight. I don’t care if they’re old or not. Even old men can carry guns. Kill all the kids also. I’m not a damn babysitter.

     “The only ones I want to spare are the women. If you have to kill them, do it. But try to take them alive so we can look them over and pick the ones we want to keep.

     “McMillan, you take point. We’ll give you a couple of minutes. Then we’ll follow.”

     “What’s point?”

     “You go first. You’re our best shooter.”

     They pried up the false floor to the tunnel and McMillan looked down at the staircase.

     “What if I don’t want to go first? If I’m first in there, I may be the first one shot.”

     Alvarez put his weapon to McMillan’s chin and growled, “And if you don’t follow orders I’ll shoot you myself.”

     “Okay, okay.”

     McMillan crawled under the raised floor panel and timidly crept down the stairs.

     The assault was beginning.

     Sami watched the monitors intently at the control center and struggled to keep her voice steady.

     “The first man is in the tunnel. He’s looking around, but not moving forward. Like he’s looking to see if anyone is in it.”

     Mark was at the opposite end of the tunnel, where it entered into the mine. The tunnel was empty. But the man at the far end wouldn’t know that. It was over two hundred yards long, and the lights at Mark’s end had been purposely turned off. If McMillan had perfect vision, he might see that far. But he wouldn’t be able to tell who or what was sitting in wait in the darkness.

     Sami found her mojo. In a relaxed tone, she went on.

     “Okay, he’s finally moving forward. Very slowly. The other men are starting to come down the steps behind him. They’re also moving very slowly and cautiously.”

     John, Sami’s father, put a hand on her shoulder. It was his turn to speak.

     Sami released the key on the microphone, and John keyed his walkie talkie.

     “Mark, are you at the box?”

     “Affirmative, John. It’s unlocked and open and ready to go.”

     “10-4. On my go.”

     “Roger.”

     They had considered the feasibility of posting men in the dark end of the mine. They’d have the advantage of being able to see the approaching invaders without being seen themselves.

     But they ruled that option out. There was a better way.

     Their logic was sound. It’s always better to avoid a firefight whenever possible. Once the bullets start flying, anything can happen. Especially in the small confines of a tunnel. Bullets can ricochet off of conduit or even the hard packed walls of the salt tunnel itself if fired at the right angle.

     And even though the bad guys would be firing blindly into a patch of blackness, they might get a lucky shot or two that actually connected with their target.

     No, this way was better. It was a feature they’d built into the tunnel from the beginning.

     For just this occasion.

     Sami’s voice came over the radio again.

     “The first man is spraying bullets all the way down the tunnel. He’s not aiming at anything. He just appears to be firing blindly, from his hip.”

     Mark couldn’t help but smile.

     “Just like John Wayne in the movies. That’s fine. Let him waste his ammo.”

     Time seemed to stand still, and the tension in the mine was palatable.

     Sami went on with her play by play.

     “Brad, there’s still no activity outside the mine entrance. The ones in the tunnel are passing by camera seventeen. Oops. They just saw the camera and shot it out.

     “That’s okay, though. I can see them on sixteen. There are seven of them, still moving slowly. Still firing occasionally in our direction.”

     After she released the microphone John leaned over and kissed the top of his daughter’s head.

     “You’re doing great, sweetie. Like a real trooper.”

     Sami smiled. She was wounded in the skirmish as they’d evacuated the compound two weeks before. Her shoulder still hurt, and she’d carry nasty scars on both sides of her body for the rest of her life. David had put in a total of forty one stitches, and she now considered herself ugly and flawed. And she was furious with the men who shot her. She wanted them all dead.

     Mark still hadn’t heard any shots, but he wasn’t surprised. It was a long tunnel, and the salt was very good at absorbing sound. Even something as loud as a gunshot.

     “I count seven in all, still in a tight group.”

     Mark spoke up again.

     “Sami, can you estimate how much space between the first man and the last?”

     “It’s hard to say. They’re still fifty yards away from camera sixteen. I’d guess no more than fifteen yards.”

     Mark was standing in front of a metal box, mounted on the mine’s wall near the tunnel’s entrance. The box had been there since they’d finished the tunnel, secured by a padlock and never opened, until now.

     His finger rested lightly on the first of four toggle switches, awaiting John’s “go” signal. It shouldn’t be long now.

     Sami said, “Brad, still no activity at the front of the mine. Mark, they’re nearing camera sixteen now…. Now they’re starting to pass under it.”

     They were now in the center of the tunnel. John gave the word.

     “Okay, Mark, go for it.”

     Mark hit the first of the toggle switches. Immediately, the group gathered at the tunnel’s entrance heard a muffled rumble in the distance, felt the slightest of shudders. Forty yards inside the tunnel, two sticks of dynamite had been detonated in the tunnel’s ceiling. Tons of salt, rock and dirt immediately came crashing down, burying the tunnel from floor to ceiling for fifteen yards.

     On the camera, Sami and John watched as the blast wave shot down the narrow passageway, knocking the invaders off their feet, and then obscuring them in a dense cloud of white dust.

     “The lights have gone out now. Cameras sixteen and fifteen are still working and have switched to heat sensor mode.”

     At that moment, Mark flipped the second switch. This time the thick pile of debris near the front of the tunnel muffled all sound. The only way Mark knew the second detonation happened was by listening to Sami’s words.

     “Okay, we just had another blast wave coming from the other end of the tunnel. It knocked them all down again. No cloud of dust this time, though.”

     Mark smiled. He wasn’t the smartest tool in the shed, but he knew a little about physics. He knew the dust cloud didn’t come because to couldn’t push the air out of the way. The first blast had sealed the tunnel completely. It was now air tight.

     In the compound, a puff of salt and dust came up through the tunnel’s exit, and coated most of the feed barn. If anyone had been left in the feed barn, they’d have heard a muffled roar, and felt the floor shake as the force of the explosion dissipated at the tunnel’s end.

     But there was no one there to hear it. No one there to see it. The rest of Alvarez’ gang was in the big house.

     They hadn’t a clue what just happened.

Chapter 2

     Inside the collapsed tunnel, the seven men were stunned. They were instantly rendered deaf, their ear drums shattered by the force of the first blast. They felt the wrath of the subsequent blast as it knocked them down a second time, but they couldn’t hear it.

     Now they were in a heap, laying on the tunnel floor in pitch darkness, struggling to clear their heads and their lungs of the thick blanket of white dust that had overtaken them.

     Alvarez coughed mightily, struggling to clear his lungs and regain his breath. He’d inhaled just as the first blast wave hit them, and both lungs were full of chalky and sticky salt dust.

     McMillan, on the other hand, had the wind knocked out of him when the blast sent him flying. He was coughing, but not to the same degree. Mostly he was crawling, in dazed desperation, to get away from the direction the second blast had come.

     On hands and knees, in total silence and in inky blackness, he crawled to the pile of dirt and debris that blocked his way to the mine. His eyes, wide in terror, couldn’t be seen by the others. They had their own problems to deal with.

     In mere moments, these vicious monsters of men were reduced to quivering and confused animals, stuck in a cage that would eventually cause their deaths.

     They had no plans to show mercy on the innocents awaiting them in the mine. But here, now, it was a different story. Several of them began to cry out. Two of them whimpered, and then wept.

     McMillan prayed, not knowing if God would hear his words. As many men are wont to do, he decided to wait until his worst time of desperation to go to God to ask for help. He hadn’t been to church since he was forced to as a small boy. He made a habit of scoffing at those who believed. Now, in his hour of need, he was of a different mind. He was begging for the mercy that he wouldn’t have shown the others.

     Alvarez finally got the salt out of his lungs by standing up and leaning against the side of the tunnel. Salt dust didn’t rise, as smoke would have done. It was more dense, heavier than air. It therefore sank as it began to settle. By rising above the dust, Alvarez was able to get oxygen into his lungs again.

     He still couldn’t stand straight. He still leaned on the wall for support, to keep from tumbling over again. He was dazed, and very confused, and still unsure what had happened.

     The others lay on the tunnel floor, still covered in dust, still hacking, not discovering what Alvarez already knew. If they’d merely stand up, they’d find the oxygen they desperately needed. Alvarez, even if he had a mind to, couldn’t tell them. None of them could hear him even if he’d screamed at them.

     And they, McMillan and Alvarez, stood, on opposite ends of the turmoil, leaning against the same tunnel wall, as the five men between them passed out, one by one.

     Inside the mine, at the control center, Sami felt many things.

     Relief was chief among them. The seven men were no longer a threat to the group. They’d been rendered impotent. No longer a danger to anyone.

     She also still felt an almost unbridled anger. She’d had an unscarred body prior to the shooting. She felt pretty. She knew that she appealed to Brad, and she relished in that.

     Since she was shot, though, she was covered in scars. Her body was no longer pristine, no longer attractive. In her mind, she was incredibly ugly. She insisted on undressing in the dark now, and refusing to let Brad see her naked. One of those bastards, there in the tunnel, took away her dignity. He caused her pain and made her ashamed of who she was.

     And although she didn’t know which one of them had done it, she hated them all.

     But beyond that, she also couldn’t help feeling a bit of pity for them. Not much, but it was there.

     She held her composure and continued to inform the others what was going on.

     “Okay, the cloud is starting to settle now. I’m beginning to get a clearer view.”

     Mark spoke up with a question he was desperate to know.

     “Sami, can you see both piles of rubble? Do they go all the way to the ceiling?”

     “Yes. Both of them do.”

     Mark smiled. Now it was just a matter of time.

Chapter 3

     John continued to study the monitors, as he keyed the mike.

     “Why don’t you guys at the tunnel entrance stand down and head back here? Both piles of debris are several feet thick and go all the way to the top of the tunnel. They’re not going anywhere.”

     Bryan called from the bunker at the mine’s main entrance.

     “What’s our situation here, John?”

     “Still nothing on the monitors, Bryan. I’d like for you guys to continue to man the post, though. Now that the tunnel’s blocked, that’s our only other attack point, if the rest of them have any fight left in them. We’ll send you some relief in a little bit.”

     “10-4.”

     Two minutes later Mark walked up to the control center.

     “Are those guys laying on the tunnel floor dead, you think?”

     John had been wondering the same thing, but was doubtful.

     “I don’t think so. I think they just passed out. There’s enough oxygen in the tunnel to survive, or the other two would be on the ground as well. I think they just lost consciousness because they weren’t smart enough to try to stand up. The clean oxygen was up high, not down low, as it would have been had it been smoke. They stayed down low, and were getting more salt in their lungs than air. I think they’ll probably come to once the salt finishes settling.”

     As if on cue, one of the men on the floor began to stir, then sat up. What they were watching now, in the total absence of light in the tunnel, were the heat images given off by the men’s bodies. The camera’s view lacked detail and sound. But they could tell by the man’s violent shaking that he was in the midst of a terrible coughing fit. His body was still trying to rid itself of the salt dust in his lungs.

     They could also see the warm spew of vomit the man expelled as he retched.

     A couple of the others were starting to move now.

     McMillan, the point man, was back on his hands and knees, crawling toward the front of the tunnel. He was still dazed, and frequently bumped into the tunnel walls. He reminded John of a drunk driver, weaving from side to side as he drove down the road.

     Alvarez, meanwhile, was heading in the exact opposite direction. Their fearless leader, now scared and as helpless as a newborn kitten, no longer had any desire to fight. All he wanted to do was to get the hell out of the tunnel, and back into the compound.

     To get there, he worked his way back through the blackness of the tunnel, using his right hand on the tunnel wall to guide him.

     The people at the control center watching the monitors saw it coming. They knew what was about to happen. But they wouldn’t have warned him even if they had the ability to do so.

     As Alvarez shuffled quickly though the tunnel, they saw him approaching the debris pile. And they watched with just the right amount of satisfaction as his feet caught the outer edge of the pile and tripped him up. They watched as Alvarez fell face first into the muck, then came up quickly to try to clear it from his airway.

     Then they saw him sit on the pile, his elbows resting on his knees and his head in his hands.

     They didn’t know it, couldn’t have possibly known it.

     But Alvarez finally realized how desperate his situation had become. And he began to cry.

     Sami asked John, “What do you think they’ll do next?”

     John had no idea that the blast rendered the invaders all permanently deaf. If there had been light in the tunnel, he’d have been able to see the trail of blood streaming from some of their ears and put two and two together. But the vision on the screens now, of pitch blackness punctuated by the men’s body heat signatures, lacked detail.

     “I suspect that once they get over their shock, they’ll regroup and come up with a game plan. I think the leader will get them together on one end or the other and tell them to start trying to dig their way out.”

     “Do you think they’ll be able to?”

     “No. The debris fields are too wide. I think it will take several days for us to clear them, and we have shovels. All they have is their bare hands and the stocks of their rifles.”

     Mark asked, “How many hours of oxygen do you think they have?”

     “I don’t know. A lot depends on whether or not the leader can get them to calm down and relax. You breathe much faster when you’re panicked. Also, you breathe much faster when you exert yourself, and when you’re hot. They’ve got all those things working against them. The longer they’re down there, the hotter it’ll be, and the faster they’ll breathe while their bodies try to cool themselves.

     “Also, the harder they work, trying to dig their way out, the faster they’ll expend their oxygen. This is just a guess, but I’d say they have a day’s worth in there, maybe two. But no more than that.”

     Alvarez was in full panic mode now, back on his feet and feeling his way down the wall of the tunnel in the opposite direction.

     As far as he knew, he was the only one left alive. He couldn’t see or hear anyone else, and he thought he was trapped in this miserable tomb, doomed to die a solitary and agonizing death.

     So he should have been relieved to a degree when he stumbled into one of his men who was struggling to his feet, halfway to the other debris pile.

     But he wasn’t. He knocked the man down again and kept going, working desperately toward the front of the tunnel. Even if he was shot as soon as he emerged, he reasoned, it was still a better option than this.

     Forty yards in front of him, at the debris pile, McMillan was screaming at the top of his lungs.

     But no one could hear him.

     He couldn’t even hear himself.

Chapter 4

     Back in the compound, the rest of Alvarez’ gang was on edge. Although they had no clue of their leader’s plight, they were expecting an attack from outside the walls.

     Martinez, Hance and Bennett had all spent time in the army. Hance, especially, knew a little about military tactics.

     “I wish we knew how many of them there were.”

     “How come? What difference does that make?”

     “Because if they have enough men, it would make sense to them to do a counter attack, while half of our guys are out there in the woods looking for them. They’d have to know that’s when we’re weakest here, and they could more easily attack us.”

     “Do you think they’re coming?”

     “I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not. It depends on whether they have the men and the firepower. I’m just saying it would be a smart move on their part, and that we need to stay on our toes. That’s all.”

     “How long do you think it’ll be before Alvarez comes back?”

     “I don’t know. I guess it depends on how long it takes him to find them. Alvarez is a stubborn bastard. He won’t give up until he does. When he does find them, we’ll be able to hear the gunfire from the roof. Who’s up there, anyway?”

     “Douglas.”

     “Go tell Douglas that if he hears any gunfire off in the distance, to fire a single shot into the air so we’ll know the battle has started. And tell him to stay on his toes in case we’re attacked.”

     Bennett muttered, “Who the hell put you in charge?”

     Hance, who’d been lifting weights in prison yards all over the country for twenty years, loomed large over Bennett.

     He looked at Bennett and just clenched his teeth.

     “Just go,” he said.

     Bennett went.

     Martinez asked, “What if the tunnel doesn’t lead to the woods? What if it leads to some underground safe room?”

     “Then I expect Alvarez will be back any time now. He’ll shoot all the men and kids, then look over the women to see which ones he wants to keep. If I know Alvarez like I think I do, he’ll want to sample a couple of the women just to see what they can do. Then he’ll drag them back.”

     Martinez smiled.

     “Yeah, just as long as he doesn’t use them all up. I want me a taste too.”

     “Why don’t you go to that building,. The one with the trap door. I don’t think it’ll happen, and if you tell Alvarez I said so, I’ll kick your ass. But just in case Alvarez is outgunned and gets shot, and they come out of that tunnel looking for us, I want somebody there to cover it. You go cover the tunnel, and I’ll head over and help O’Neal on the gate.”

     Martinez was a bit smarter than Bennett, and a bit more able to hold his tongue. He ran off without another word.

     Martinez made his way out of the building, across the open compound, and to the feed barn. The false floor to the tunnel entrance was still propped up with a two by four.

     He cautiously peeked down into the hole and saw the steps that descended into a black abyss.

     The entire building smelled of recently disturbed dirt. He looked around and noticed that the area around the tunnel entrance was covered with a thin coating of a salt and dirt mixture.

     He thought it a bit odd, but otherwise paid it no mind.

     Even if he had put two and two together and figured out that the tunnel had collapsed, he still would have held his ground.

    Even if he knew that Alvarez and McMillan, in a desperate attempt to survive, were feverishly clawing at a twelve ton pile of dirt and salt and muck, it wouldn’t have mattered.

     There was no way in hell he would go down those steps to help, or even to see what was going on.

     Martinez was claustrophobic. He’d rather stay here and watch the tunnel exit, than to step into the tunnel itself.

Chapter 5

     Mark stood at the security desk, mesmerized at the eerie figures on the monitors, fighting for their very lives inside the tunnel. He wondered why he felt no sympathy for them, or any remorse for having detonated the explosives that put them in their dire situation.

     He should, by all rights, have at least a bit of empathy for their plight. If he didn’t, was he something less than human?

     The truth was, he didn’t feel any sympathy for them because they didn’t deserve any. He felt no guilt because they were on their way to kill and plunder those that he loved.

     So no, he didn’t feel anything but curiosity for these men. He wanted them to die and he wanted them to rot in hell. He was just curious to know how long it would take for that to happen.

     Hannah walked up behind him and put her arm around him.

     “Hi, honey. Where’d you come from?”

     “David relieved me. He said if they attacked through the front door he wanted to be where the action was. He told me to go bake some cookies or something.”

     “And you let him live? If I said something like that, you’d have pummeled me.”

     “Well, he can get away with it because he’s the only dentist we have. And I might have a toothache someday. So he might come in handy.”

     “And I won’t come in handy?”

     “Well, yeah. Maybe. But it’s been so long since you’ve come in handy, I can’t really remember how, exactly.”

     “Maybe I’ll show you later.”

     “I’d like that. For you to show me later, that is. But for now, explain to me how come they look so funny.”

     She was referring to the ghostly images on the security monitors from inside the tunnel.

     “The lights went out when we collapsed the ends of the tunnel. The cameras automatically switched over to thermal mode. What you see is their heat signatures. The reds and yellows indicate how much heat their bodies are giving off.”

     “How come only two of them are digging?”

     “Don’t know. Maybe the others are injured from the blast. Or maybe they’ve given up. Or, more likely, they’re working two by two, in shifts. That’s got to be hard work, after all, clawing through tons of salt and rock and dirt with just their fingers. My guess is that when the first two get tired, they’ll switch off with two of the others.”

     He gave the men in the mine too much credit. Alvarez hadn’t given the digging operation any thought at all. The truth was, he didn’t even know where most of his men were or what they were doing. He didn’t even know who was beside him, digging with him in the silky blackness.

     He was panicking on a grand scale. He couldn’t see, he couldn’t hear. He wasn’t sure if his men were alive or dead. He couldn’t even be certain that he was alive himself. He might have been blown away and sent straight to hell. Maybe this was what hell was like.

     All Alvarez knew was that he was going to claw his way out, no matter how long it took.

     His hands were bleeding and raw. He didn’t even feel them. Tears were rolling down his face. He was pleading with a God he’d never known to spare his life. The big bad leader of men… the heartless bastard who was so willing to take the lives of innocents without so much as batting an eye, was now reduced to a quivering vessel of jelly.

     And he wanted his mama.

     “So, why are the men who are digging brighter and more visible than the men who are laying there? Is that because they’re working and sweating?”

     “Exactly. They’re putting out way more body heat because they’re exerting themselves. The other men are at rest or already dead. They’re not physically active, so their bodies are putting out very little heat. Heat is the only thing the cameras key on in this mode.”

     “So how do you tell if the ones on the floor are dead or just sitting there?”

     At that moment, one of the men on the floor stumbled to his feet and started feeling his way toward the back of the tunnel.

     “Well, I’m pretty sure that one is still alive.”

     He turned to Hannah and grinned.

     “No shit, Sherlock. Seriously, how do we know that the other four aren’t dead?”

     “Well, truth is, we don’t, until we see them move. What we’ll do is watch them over the next few hours. If they never move, and if their heat signature starts to dim, then we’ll be able to assume they’re probably dead. When their heat signature disappears completely, and we can’t see them at all, then we’ll know for sure.

     “The ultimate goal is for all of their heat signatures to fade away to black. That’ll mean all of them are dead.”

     Mark turned again to look at Hannah, and saw a look of concern on her face.

     “What’s the matter, honey?”

     She hesitated.

     Then she said, “Mark, I don’t feel right about this at all. I know those are bad men in there. I know they tried to hurt us, and they shot Sami. But they’re human beings. What kind of animals are we if we just stand here and watch them die a slow and miserable death?”

     John spoke up.

     “I know how you feel, Hannah. But the sad fact is that those men have no morals or empathy. They shot my daughter, and they could just have easily have shot you or your son.

     “The fact that they chased us over here means that they weren’t content to just take over our compound. They could have settled for that, but they chose not to. And God only knows what they wanted when they decided to pursue us, but I can venture a guess.

     “My guess is that they were going to kill most of us and use the rest for their pleasure or convenience.”

     “How so?”

     “Hannah, I was a policeman for a lot of years. I’ve seen the evil that men like that are capable of. You are a beautiful woman. So is my Sami. I cannot bear to think what would happen to the two of you if you were taken alive by that bunch. It’s my hunch that you’d spend the rest of your lives being brutalized, passed from one barbarian to the next, until they just wore you out. Then they’d dispose of you like last week’s garbage.”

     “But…”

     “Let me finish. You need to hear this. We’re assuming that these men came from that prison in Eden. If that’s the case, then they were locked up for a reason. There are some bad sons of bitches in our prison systems, Hannah. Some of them did some very ugly things to get put there. And not all of them like women. Sadly, many of them prefer young girls, like your nieces.”

     He put emphasis on his last sentence.

     “Or little boys, like your Markie.”

     Hannah teared up at the thought. She was convinced. But she still didn’t like the idea of watching helpless men die.

     Mark took over again.

     “There’s another reason too, honey. These men were bad before. They’re still just as bad, only now they’re surely pissed off and desperate. We could dig from our end to help them. And as soon as we broke them free we would probably be rewarded for our kindness with a bullet to the head. And what would that solve?

     “And even if we did rescue them, then what? We couldn’t just let them go. They’ve seen what we have and they want it. And they’re probably the type of men who’d try to exact revenge upon us. If we let them go, they’d just rebuild, find more men. And then they’d come back at us even stronger. Only this time they’d know the layout of the compound, and know not to go into any tunnels.”

     Hannah gave up.

     “I know all that. And I know we couldn’t keep them prisoner for the rest of their lives. It’s just that… well, I don’t feel it’s our place to act as their executioners. That’s all.”

     She started to cry, and Mark wrapped his arms around her.

     “Honey, don’t you worry about those men. They signed their own death warrants when they stepped into that tunnel with the intent of killing us. We have the upper hand now, and we’re going to use it to reduce their numbers. Whenever you feel pangs of guilt, just remember John’s words. He was a cop for a very long time. He knows what he’s talking about.”

     He wiped her tears.

     “Honey, our son survived what could have been a terrible confrontation. He will live to see another day. And I’m sure he’s worried about you. And me. Why don’t you go get the children and the rest of the adults and tell them it’s safe to come out of hiding now. And tell Markie his Daddy loves him, okay?”

     Hannah’s tears kept flowing, but she didn’t argue. She nodded her head and headed to the back recesses of the mine.

     “Is she going to be okay?” Sami asked.

     “Yes. I knew from the beginning that she’d struggle with this. But she’ll be okay. It would help if you and Sarah spent some time with her. I sense that she needs to talk it out with someone who will listen to her arguments, and she knows my mind is made up.”

     “Well, my mind is made up as well, but I’ll let her cry on my shoulder. She’s like a flower when she’s stressed. So delicate, so sensitive. But she’s got a good head on her shoulders. She’ll agree with us in the end.”

     John said to Sami, “Go ahead, sweetie. Go find her and be there for her. I’ll have somebody relieve Sarah so she can join you.

     “And I think we need to keep her away from these monitors for the next day or two. It should be a moot point after that.”

Chapter 6

     On Buena Vista Drive in north San Antonio, Frank Woodard had no idea of the troubles his friend John faced at the mine.

     Frank had met John while on a hunting trip near Salt Mountain. John had watched that day on his security monitor, as Frank drew a bead on a majestic white tailed buck just outside the compound’s walls.

     But Frank didn’t fire. As John watched him lower his weapon, he wondered why.

     And John, being a retired police detective and a curious man by nature, went outside the gates to ask him.

     “As desperate as my people are for protein, this is the only surviving buck I’ve seen. I’m afraid it may be the last one in the area. If I shoot it, I may doom the deer population in these parts to extinction. It was a beautiful animal, and it pained me to let it go. But I felt I had to.”

     The men became fast friends. Frank was also a retired lawman, and they had much in common.

     John made sure that Frank didn’t go back to San Antonio empty handed that day. To compensate him for the protein he’d given up when he lowered his rifle, he was given several chickens to take back with him.

     Later, they also shared some of their cattle, with the agreement that Frank would grow a small herd and then share a small number with another group of survivors.

     “Resist the urge to eat them all,” John had said. “Instead, let them grow, so that in a generation there will be small pockets of cattle all over the area.”

     The survivors on Buena Vista Drive now had a steady supply of milk and eggs, and a bit of fresh meat on occasion. Only Frank had ever met John personally, but to Frank’s people John was a saint.

     Frank still stayed in touch with John by ham radio, but hadn’t been able to reach him for several days. He was becoming worried.

     “Johnny Bravo, this is Frank Furter. Haven’t heard from you for awhile, just doing a check-up call.”

     He got no response, but he didn’t expect one. He and John never talked on the radio real time. They just left short messages, several hours apart. It was John’s idea, and the intent was to keep the government or anyone else with the ability to track radio signals to get a bead on their location. By talking only in short bursts, they’d hoped that outside tracking equipment wouldn’t have time to work.

     Normally, Frank would have expected to hear a short message from John a couple of hours after his own call went out. Usually, John’s message would sound something like, “Johnny Bravo to Frank Furter, all is well on this end, hope same is true for you.” The two were careful never to mention livestock, or crops, or anything else that marauders or looters might be interested in.

     Frank turned to his wife Eva and said, “I’m getting concerned, hon. This is the fifth time I’ve called in the past few days, and they still haven’t responded.”

     “Oh, don’t fret, Frank. This is about the time of year that farmers plant their crops. You said they had big fields to plant corn and wheat in. This is probably one of the busiest times of their year. I’m sure he just hasn’t had time to turn on his radio lately.”

     “But he said that his ham radio was on twenty four seven. And that it was in his security control center, which was always manned. Surely someone would have heard my messages and let him know I was calling.”

     “Honey, don’t be an old mother hen. If something was wrong with your friend, I’m sure someone would have let you know by now. Just keep trying. They’ll eventually answer, I’m sure.”

     “Maybe I’ll take another hunting trip up that way. Maybe check on the deer population and see if it’s growing.”

     Eva laughed.

     “The last time you went hunting for deer up there you came back with chickens instead. Why would this trip be any different?”

     “Because this time I could check on my friends.”

     It turned out that Frank’s words were being heard at the compound. But not by the good guys.

     Davey Douglas, a three time felon who was serving forty to life before the meteorite hit the earth and gave him his freedom, heard them. He was sitting in an easy chair adjacent to the security console and eating a sandwich when Frank’s concerned voice came across the airwaves.

     But they meant nothing to Davey Douglas. He was much more interested in his sandwich.

Chapter 7

     Little Markie looked at Hannah with the saddest of eyes.

     “Mommy, how long are we gonna have to stay here this time?”

     “I don’t know, little sailor. Why?”

     “I used to like it here. But now I don’t. I like the other place better. I like the grass. It was cool. Especially when you took me out to play with the Frisbee or Daddy played football with me. And I liked the swing that Uncle Bryan hung in the tree for me. There’s not much to do here.”

     “Oh, that’s not true. Everything you used to do before we left this place is still here. You can watch movies or read your books or play your video games. You can still play basketball.

     “I know how cool it is for you to run and play outside, because you weren’t able to do it for so long. But you’ll get to do those things again, I promise. Just as soon as it’s safe again.”

     “Safe from what, Mommy?”

     They’d been careful to shelter little Markie from the ugliness of the situation. He knew the basics, of course – that bad men had chased them out of their new compound. But he didn’t understand the whys and hows.

     Maybe it was time he did.

     “Well, honey, we’ve always taught you that you have to be careful in life, because not all people are friendly and good, right?”

     “Right.”

     “Well, some of the people who aren’t friendly and good saw that we had a nice place to stay at the compound. They saw that we had chickens to chase, and cows to look at, and that we grew lots of yummy things to eat.

     “And these bad people, well, they got jealous. So they didn’t ask us if we would share with them. Instead they just decided to take everything away from us.”

     “That wasn’t very nice, was it?”

     “No, sir, it wasn’t. Especially when they used guns and shot at us, and shot Sami in the shoulder.”

     “I love Sami. She’s nice and she always lets me win at checkers.”

     “Yes, honey. We all like Sami. She is a wonderful woman. That’s why we’re so mad at the people who shot her.”

     He seemed to sense that she was carefully selecting her words, and gave her time.

     “These bad people, Markie, they won’t just leave on their own.”

     “Not even if we tell them we don’t like them, and they have to go away?”

     “No. Not even then. We tried asking them nicely to leave, but they won’t.”

     “So how do we get them to leave?”

     A tear formed in her eye, but she tried to hide it.

     “We have to make them leave, honey. We have to use guns and other things, just like they did, to make them go away.”

     “Are we going to shoot them, like they did to Sami? That wasn’t very nice, when they shot Sami.”

     “Well, we might have to, honey. Sometimes, with some bad people… well, you have to be mean to them back.”

     “Will they shoot Sami again?”

     “Oh, honey, I hope not. But… well, it’s possible that some more people we love will get hurt too.”

     Markie pondered the thought.

     “I hope not, Mommy. I love Sami and everybody else here. But especially you and Daddy. You and Daddy won’t get hurt, will you?”

     “I hope not, little sailor. We’ll try our best not to.”

     “Mommy, can I ask you a question?”

     “Sure thing.”

     She braced herself for what she was sure was going to be a question about death, or dying, or angry men. But he surprised her.

     “How come you call me little sailor? I mean, I read books, and sailors have boats. I don’t have a boat. I’ve never even been on a boat, or seen the ocean or even a lake. So how come you call me little sailor?”

     She smiled, glad for the break in the tension.

     “Well, a long time ago, right after your Daddy and I first met, I was very much in love with him, but he didn’t know because I kept it a secret.

     “But he was trying so hard to make me fall in love with him. So this one time, not long after we met, he asked me if I wanted to go sailing. He was trying to pretend that he was a great sailor, but he really wasn’t. He was just trying to impress me.

     “When we were in the middle of a big lake, he stood up in the middle of the sail boat, just as the wind changed direction. The sail swung around and knocked your Daddy right off the boat and into the water.”

     Markie smiled.

     “And I laughed so hard, and I helped him back in the boat and he laughed so hard too. And then he looked at me with his beautiful blue eyes and said ‘I guess you can tell I’m not much of a sailor after all, huh?’

     “And I told him, ‘ya think?’

     “And we just laughed and laughed. And ever since then I’ve called your Daddy my sailor. And you, little sir, are just like your Daddy in every way. So you’re my little sailor.”

     “Daddy is pretty silly sometimes, isn’t he?”

     “You’ve got that right.”

     “Do you think I can ever ride on a boat someday?”

     “Oh, yes. Your Daddy and I will make sure of that.”

     “But I don’t want to fall in the water. I don’t know how to swim.”

     “Well, we’ll make sure to teach you how to swim too. As soon as we can find a lake and a boat, we’ll do both.”

     Markie was satisfied with that and went off to play.

     Hannah stayed behind, in deep thought, with a wry smile upon her lips.

     She was remembering that day on the lake, and the part of the story she hadn’t told little Markie. She hadn’t told Markie that once Mark was out of the water, he was chilled by the late afternoon breeze, and began to shiver.

     She didn’t tell Markie that his father’s apartment was many miles away, but that hers was close by. And that she offered to take him back to her apartment so she could wash and dry his clothes.

     Or that he walked around in her ratty old pink housecoat while the laundry was being done. The housecoat had once belonged to her grandmother, and she couldn’t bear to part with it.

     But she had to admit that it looked good on Mark that night.

     That was the night she and Mark had made love for the first time, and he didn’t go home until late the next morning.

     But that was a part of the story that little Markie didn’t need to know.

Chapter 8

     It was the third day since the assault on the mine. Hannah hadn’t been back to the security console and still had mixed feelings about letting the men in the tunnel die. But she resolved to herself that she would not interfere. As guilty as she felt about men dying such a horrible death, she’d accepted the fact that they as a group were safer for it.

     And she owed her allegiance to her friends and family. Not to a gang of criminals who’d have done them harm.

     At the bank of monitors, Mark stood shoulder to shoulder with Sarah and Bryan, watching the camera feeds from the tunnel.

     There were only two patches of heat now. The others had died, and their bodies had cooled to the point that they simply vanished from the screen.

     They were unsure which two of the men were left. They knew none of their names, of course, nor their positions within their group.

     “We think the one on the left was one of the diggers, but we’re not sure. They kind of got mixed up when they started crawling around together at the end of the first day.”

     Bryan observed, “Well, whether he was a digger or not, he’s not digging any more.”

     It was a true statement.

     The two remaining men alive in the tunnel had given up and abandoned all efforts to escape what would soon be their tomb. Now they just sat in the silent darkness and waited their turn to die.

     Inside the tunnel, Alvarez leaned up against the side of the tunnel and dozed off and on. He’d scratched at the pile of rock and dirt and salt for twenty straight hours. He ignored the fact that he quite literally wore his fingers to the bone. The pain was inconsequential in his desperation to get out, and the dirt packed tightly against his fingertips helped deaden the nerves and slow the bleeding. When it was finally apparent to him that he was getting nowhere, he’d taken a deep breath, cursed as loud as he could, and passed out.

     He came to some time later to find himself face down in the dirt pile. His nostrils were full of dirt, and of the dried blood rendered when he fell face first after passing out and broke his nose.

     Now the nerves in his fingers were wide awake and screaming. He knew his fingers were still there, though he dared not touch them to see how much was left. He was in agony, every muscle in his upper body stiff and sore and crying out in pain.

     His nose throbbed, and his head pounded.

     But what he wanted most wasn’t for the pain to go away.

     What he wanted most was a drink of water.

     Now, many hours after the explosions, he no longer felt his comrades bumping against him as they moved about in the tunnel.

     Blind, deaf, and in agony, he just wanted it to be over. His throat was so parched it hurt to swallow. The saliva in his mouth had become thick and sticky.

     He could no longer open his eyes. His eyelids were so dry they just stuck to his eyeballs now. So he just kept them closed. There was nothing to see but blackness anyway.

     He went in and out of consciousness. Each time he awoke he briefly wondered if he was dead yet, then quickly had his answer as the pain struck him anew.

     He just wanted it to end. He knew he was going to hell. He’d raped and robbed and killed. Men like him didn’t get to heaven. Oh, sure, preachers liked to preach forgiveness and second chances. But they just wanted suckers like Alvarez to come to their services. To fill their pews, and their collection plates. To help buy the preacher a new suit. To buy their way into heaven.

     But Alvarez wasn’t having any of that. He’d accepted long ago that he was hell-bound. In fact, he wore it as a badge of honor, telling the others that he feared no one. Not even the devil.

    Now he just wanted it to be over. In his mind, hell couldn’t be worse than what he was going through his last hours on earth.

     A few feet away from him, Rob Linkes was taking a vastly different approach to his impending death.

     He didn’t dig, like Alvarez and Casarez had done. He’d done nothing but lay on the tunnel floor since the first blast.

     The dynamite had obliterated one of the wooden railroad ties that lined both walls of the mine, and held the ceiling braces up. A huge splinter of wood, two inches thick and eight inches long, had pierced Linkes’ abdomen and shredded his stomach and one of his kidneys. He’d gone down immediately and hadn’t moved since.

     He was suffering the same agony as Alvarez, and he too wanted it to be over.

     But Linkes wasn’t a badass by nature. Sure, he’d gotten hooked up with a bad lot, and had been dragged into a killing mission. But he’d gone along partly because he was terrified of Skully and Alvarez, and partly because he was highly susceptible to peer pressure.

     On the outside, he was a mousy accountant. He was in prison for white collar crime- cooking the books of his clients to make a better life for himself.

     When his crimes caught up with him and he went to prison, Linkes was scared to death. For the first few weeks he refused to come out of his cell except for chow. And then he quite literally trembled with fear.

     In time, though, he slowly began to venture out. Prison was a brutal place and he wasn’t well liked among the other inmates. He was forced to do things that no man should ever do. And when he tried to rebel he was beaten into submission.

     Linkes finally decided that the only way to survive his ten year term was to go along with the others. To become one of the gang so he no longer stood out. And it worked to some degree. But it also meant he’d get caught up in their schemes even when he didn’t want to.

     Now, his decision to play ball was going to get him killed.

     But Rob Linkes knew he had a place in heaven, even after all he’d been through and done. He’d prayed every single night he was in prison, and every single night since. Often silently and to himself. But he never missed a night.

     He didn’t know Alvarez was still alive. He thought he was the last one left. The bodies on either side of him were cold now. He somehow realized that it would be up to him now to finally deplete what was left of the oxygen. It was the only thing he could do to hasten his departure from life for better things beyond it.

     And it occurred to him that by singing, he’d use up more of the thinning air around him.

     Alvarez didn’t know it, but just a few feet away from him, Rob Linkes lay on the tunnel’s floor, singing Shall We Gather at the River over and over again, in a cracked and dry voice.

     And he was smiling.

Chapter 9

     In the compound, Hance was fit to be tied.

     First, that scumbag Skully had to go and get himself killed. But that was okay. Nobody liked Skully much anyway. Everybody just pretended to because they’d seen his wrath and they were afraid to challenge him.

     But now, Alvarez and his crew disappeared without a trace. It had been four days now, and it was obvious they weren’t coming back.

     Hance himself braved the entrance to the tunnel, taking a fully automatic AK-47 he’d taken off a dead drug dealer, and a flashlight. The other men had balked at going into the tunnel. After all, that was the last place Alvarez went, and he never came back. And Alvarez was a lot tougher than they were.

     Sure, Hance could have bullied and threatened them into going. But he considered himself in charge now. And it was important to show the others that he had the guts to do what they wouldn’t.

     It only took a couple of minutes for him to figure out what happened. The pile of debris blocking the tunnel from floor to ceiling was hard to miss, even in the dimness of the flashlight.

     He returned with grim news.

     “The tunnel collapsed. It must have buried them alive. We’ll have to press on without them.”

     Martinez wasn’t so sure. Alvarez was his best friend, and his cellie for nine years.

     “Maybe they made it out the other side. Maybe they’re in the woods on the outside of the wall.”

     “No. It’s been four days. If they found the others, we’d have heard shots by now. If they didn’t find anybody, Alvarez would have come back long before now. They didn’t take any provisions with them, remember?”

     The men looked at each other grimly. It was sound logic, and something they couldn’t argue against.

     Hance went on.

     “I’m taking charge now. If anybody has any beefs with that, say so now.”

     Nobody had any problems except for Bennett, who disliked Hance immensely. But he said nothing out of fear.

     “Okay, we’re gonna continue on like we did before. Bennett, you continue to feed the animals every day. Eventually this is gonna get settled, and I don’t want everything we came here for to die. Water those plants in the greenhouses too. We might as well eat good while we’re here. And by the way, you’re the cook now too. I know that’s a lot of work, but look at the bright side. You only have to pull guard duty when you ain’t feeding pigs or cooking or whatever. So there’s less chance of you getting shot. So just do it and don’t whine about it, okay?”

     Bennett nodded his head but didn’t say anything.

     “Answer me, so I know you understand.”

     “Okay… yes, sir.”

     Hance had reasserted his role as the alpha male. And Bennett had accepted his role as Hance’s bitch.

     “Okay, the rest of you listen up. They outnumber us now. We’re gonna have to be on our toes, because if they want their camp back, they’ll attack us in force and try to surprise us when they do it.

     “From here on out we’re on twelve hour shifts. Six to six. Martinez, you and I will pull days. Douglas, you and O’Neal will pull nights. You two go get some sleep. Douglas, you relieve Martinez at six. O’Neal, you’ll relieve me and you’ll be in charge of night shift. O’Neal, you and I will guard the roof twenty four seven. Martinez and Douglas, you’ll man the gate. Davis, you float. I’ll tell you where I need you day to day.

     “Bennett, you’ll work day shift so I can keep an eye on you. Do your chores and bring us our meals so we don’t have to leave our posts. And be sure you cook enough extra food before you go off duty so that the night shift can eat before they come on.

     “And take a case of drinking water to the roof and another to the gate. We won’t have the luxury of going for a drink whenever we want, like you can.”

     Hance looked at all the faces. He could tell he had their rapt attention. His takeover was complete. No one would challenge him in his new role.

     “Okay, when you’re off duty, keep your door open so you can hear the gunfire. First sign of shots, you bastards better come running. Any questions?”

     There were none.

     “Good. Go.”

Chapter 10

     Marty Haskins and his friend Lenny Geibel were manning the front counter at the Trucker’s Paradise truck stop when the group of four men walked in.

     It was obvious they were bad dudes. They had the swagger usually reserved for members of a motorcycle gang, a street gang, or convicts.

     They were too old to be gang bangers, and they drove up in a Chevy Tahoe. So Marty guessed they were part of the group of convicts set free from the Eden Federal Penitentiary just after the sky went black.

     He’d heard they’d been terrorizing the people of Eden ever since, forcing half the town to evacuate for safer cities.

     “Good morning, gentlemen,” Marty said.

     The biggest one, and probably their leader, grunted.

     “Some place you got here.”

     “Yep. It’s all stolen from the trailers parked along the highway. And since it’s against the law to traffic in stolen merchandize, none of it’s for sale. It’s all free. Take what you need.”

     “That’s a lousy way to run a business. If you don’t mind me sayin’ so.”

     A smaller man behind him chuckled.

     “Yeah, well, we’re not trying to make a living at this. Money’s no good any more anyway. We were truck drivers by trade, and that business has gone straight to hell. So now we’re just providing a service, trying to help the world get back to the way it used to be. And we gotta do something. Might as well do this.”

     Lenny joined in the conversation.

     “Are you guys looking for anything in particular?”

     “Fresh beef. Not frozen, or dried. Fresh. Like from real cows.”

     Marty managed a laugh.

     “Well, if we had such a thing we’d cook some right up and join you. But as far as I know, all the beef cattle are dead in their fields or slaughtered for food a long time ago.”

     “Okay, some information then.”

     “About what?”

     “A friend of ours, goes by Smitty. Big black dude, ugly old fool. Maybe you know him.”

     “Nope. Can’t say I do. Lenny?”

     Marty turned to Lenny, who just shrugged his shoulders.

     “Smitty came to us a few weeks ago. Said he knew of a compound around these parts, somewhere close. Said it was surrounded by a high black fence. He said there were some cattle and pigs inside, and some greenhouses with fresh produce.”

     “Do tell?”

     “Yeah. Smitty asked if we wanted in on the bunch that was gonna go get it. We said sure. Then Smitty and some of the other fellas just up and disappeared. We’re thinking they went without us. And we ain’t none too happy about it.”

     “Well, I’m sorry to hear that, fellas. But people around these parts come and go all the time. Most of ‘em ain’t from around here. Maybe Smitty and the others just got homesick and went back to wherever they called home.”

     “Not likely. Not this bunch.”

     “Sorry. Don’t know what to tell you.”

     “Are you sure you don’t know where this compound’s located?”

     Marty wasn’t intimidated, and held his ground.

     “Positive. Feel free to look around. We don’t have any fresh meat or produce. Everything we have comes off those trailers out there. But if you find that compound, we sure would like to have some fresh meat. We’ll barter you some of this other stuff for it.”

     “I thought you said this stuff was all free.”

     “Not if you have fresh beef to trade.”

     The man found this funny and laughed a lot harder than he needed to.

     “Oh, we’ll find it. And we’ll be back. And we may just have Smitty’s head on a stick when we do. But we’ll see you again.”

Chapter 11

     Marty and Lenny watched as the four men left without taking anything from the shelves.

     It was obvious from their demeanor that they were used to controlling others through fear. But Marty wasn’t intimidated or afraid. Marty was an old school trucker. He’d seen and dealt with badder men than these before.

     Lenny, though, was glad to get rid of them.

     And he was also curious.

     “Marty, back in the days just before the freeze, you and Joe went scouting the area for a safe place to stay when the meteorite hit, remember?”

     “I remember. Why?”

     “You told me a year before, you delivered a load of steel to a construction site deep in the woods off of Highway 83. You said they wouldn’t tell you what they were building there, but I remember you mentioned greenhouses and said they were building a high wall around it.”

     “How come your memory isn’t this good when it comes to remembering to do your chores around here?”

     Lenny just looked at him.

     “Yes. I remember. I said it might be a good place to ride out the cold, until we set up our own camp here instead.”

     “Well, do you think it’s the same place?”

     “Probably. I don’t reckon there’s too many places with greenhouses hidden in the woods around here.”

     “Well, do you want to go check it out?”

     “And do what? Risk getting shot? Usually people put up high fences to protect what’s theirs. And sometimes when they protect what’s theirs, gunfire comes into play. Yes, I’d like to have a fresh steak, and we could probably barter some of this stuff to get some. But chances are equally good that we’d get shot trying. So as far as I’m concerned, if they happen to have fresh produce or livestock in there, then good for them. If they want to barter it, they can come over here. I won’t shoot them on sight like they may do me.

     “Besides, that was seven years ago now. I’m not even sure I could find the place again if I tried.”

     That night, as he lay in bed, Marty struggled mightily with his memory and his conscience.

     He remembered delivering that load. He’d driven past the turnoff twice and had trouble reaching the buyer because cell phone service was spotty in the area. He finally got through, and was told the turn-off was an unnamed gravel road, marked by a lonely piece of orange surveyor’s tape tied to a tree.

     He’d gone back for a third pass, and was finally able to spot the tape and deliver the load.

     He tried to remember exactly where that gravel road was. The problem was, there were dozens of such roads along Highway 83, unnamed and seldom used. Many of them led into the woods and to ranch houses, where old geezers with shotguns might not take too kindly to visitors. Many others led to old oil drilling sites, or were service roads for the power lines that went through the area.

     Finding the same road again after seven years would be difficult, even if he had a mind to.

     And what he told Lenny was true. He’d like to have a big juicy steak or some fresh tomatoes, but it wasn’t the end of the world if he didn’t get them. He and Lenny and carved out a fairly comfortable life here. Despite what the sign out front said, it wasn’t quite a paradise for truckers. But he was surviving from day to day on dry stock stored in the abandoned trailers along the highway.

     And they were performing a needed service to other survivors by providing them necessary provisions as well, at no cost.

     And the old farmer out in back of the truck stop, well, he was starting to get some things to grow from old seeds preserved by the long freeze.

     So all in all, it seemed like a fool’s game to go traipsing off to find some kind of utopia hidden in the woods. And even if he found it, it wouldn’t necessarily mean the people inside would share or barter with him.

     In the end, he decided that nothing in the fenced compound would be worth the effort of finding it.

     That left him with just his conscience, telling him he needed to warn the people in the compound that bad men were looking for it. And that they had plans to take it by force.

Chapter 12

     Hannah was applying mineral oil to the stitches on Sami’s back. She was due to get them out in a couple of days, but in the meantime, they itched like crazy, and she couldn’t reach them to apply the oil herself. Her boyfriend Brad was on duty at the control center, so that left her best friend.

     “Sure,” Hannah had said. “It’s the least I can do. After all, it was nice of you to volunteer to get shot so I didn’t have to.”

     “Yeah, sure. Let’s go with that.”

     As Hannah applied the oil and gently rubbed it in to soothe the itching, Sami asked her, “Hannah, I can’t see the wound on my back. I’ve tried to see it in the mirror but I can’t. Tell me the truth, is it ugly?”

     “You want the truth truth or the ‘gotta spare my best friend’s feelings' truth?”

     “I want the truth truth.”

     “Okay. The truth truth is that it isn’t pretty. David might be great at making sutures in people’s mouths after he extracts teeth, but he’d never make it as a plastic surgeon. Please don’t tell him I said that.”

     “I won’t. But he already knows. The whole time he was stitching me up he was apologizing to me. He said he knew he wasn’t the best stitcher-upper in the world, but that he was more concerned with stopping the bleeding. And after all, he saved my life, so I could never be upset with him.”

     She suddenly laughed out loud.

     “I’m sorry, did I hit a ticklish spot?”

     “Oh, no. I just remembered something else David said when he was stitching me up. I told him I was worried that Brad would find me ugly when he saw my scars.

     “He told me not to worry. That Brad was a man. He said anytime I was self conscious about my scars, just to get naked. And as soon as Brad saw my boobs he’d forget all about the scars.”

     She looked at Hannah and giggled.

     “And guess what? After I finally got brave enough to let him see me in the light, I found out it works!”

     Hannah shook her head, then wiped the oil from her hands and put a new dressing on Sami’s wound.

     “You’re hopeless, you know that?”

     “Yep. I know.”

     “So, when are you and Brad gonna get married and stop living in sin?”

     “It’s funny you bring that up. We were going to ask Bryan to marry us that day they attacked the compound. Then it kind of got shoved on the back burner. I asked Brad yesterday if he still loved me, even though I’m ugly and scarred.

     “He said that despite the scars I’m still the prettiest girl in the world, and that he still wants to marry me as soon as all the fighting is over.”

     Hannah grinned.

     “The prettiest girl in the world, huh? He must have forgotten about me.”

     “Yeah, right. Very funny.”

     “Knock knock! Anybody home?”

     Sarah walked into Sami’s RV.

     “Hey, brats. I thought I could find you here.”

     “Hi, Sarah.”

     “What are you two laughing about?”

     “Oh, Sami was just telling me how Brad said she was the prettiest girl in the world.”

     Sarah scoffed and said, “He must have forgotten about me then.”

     Hannah burst out laughing and said, “See! Great minds do think alike. That’s the same thing I said.”

     Sami was having none of it.

     “Wait. Go back a minute. I must be hearing things. For a moment I thought I heard you referring to yourself and Sarah, and saying something about great minds. I must have misunderstood. Surely you were talking about great big butts.”

     “Oh no, you di’ent.”

     “Seriously, girlfriend. You are beautiful, inside and out. If Brad doesn’t mind the scars, then nobody else matters. If he still loves you even though you have big feet and snore, then he’s a winner. Grab onto him and make him yours.”

     “I don’t snore!”

     Hannah and Sarah looked at each other, then back at Sami. In perfect harmony, they said, “Yes. You do.”

     “Really? Brad never mentioned it.”

     “Well, if Brad doesn’t mind, then he’s definitely a keeper. Marry that man before somebody else does.”

Chapter 13

     Sarah stretched and watched from the bunk in the RV as Bryan dried himself off and got dressed.

     “What’s on your agenda for today?”

     “We’re going to start digging out this end of the tunnel today, so we can remove the bodies and bury them before they decompose too badly. If we leave them in there too long, they’ll stink up the tunnel and the smell will never go away.”

     “Where are you going to put them?”

     “We still have that huge mound of salt in the back of Bay 24, from when we originally dug the tunnel. We’re going to put them back there and cover them with salt. The salt will absorb the bodily fluids as well as the smells, and will mummify them over time.”

     “Can the tunnel be repaired?”

     “Oh, yes. We still have plenty of railroad ties and arched ceiling braces in the back of that same bay. We’ll shore it up as we go. Should only take a few days to dig out the first debris pile. Then we’ll replace the damaged cameras and rerun power for the lights.”

     “What about the second pile of dirt? The one at the other end of the tunnel? If you take it out, they might attack us again.”

     “I’m not sure about that one. John wanted to have a meeting today with Mark and Bryan and me to discuss our next move. He wants to meet in the dining bay at ten. Why don’t you bring the girls so y’all can have some input too?”

     “Okay. I’ll make sure we’re there.”

     Bryan walked over to the control center. Joe was on duty.

     “Anything going on?”

     “Not a thing. It’s been quiet all night. The bad guys slaughtered one of the pigs first thing this morning. He’s hanging in the barn now. I guess they’ve decided they want pork chops for dinner tonight.”

     “That just ain’t right. They’re over there living high off the hog, on our livestock, and we’re stuck over here eating eight year old MREs.”

     Bryan looked at Joe and smiled.

     “Did you catch what I said there? Living high off the hog? Get it? Eating our pigs? High off the hog?”

     “Don’t quit your day job, Bryan. And John asked me to remind you of the ten o’clock meeting when I saw you.”

     “No problem, I’ll be there. Have you seen Brad and Mark yet?”

     “No, why?”

     “Whenever they haul their lazy asses out of bed would you tell them to meet me at the tunnel? I’m going to move a couple pallets of arches and ties over to the entrance so we can get started with the digging and repairs.”

     Bryan walked to the entrance of the tunnel and entered it to get a look at the job ahead. The debris field stretched from floor to ceiling and sloped downward. It was easily several tons and would require a lot of digging.

     When they dug the original tunnel they’d done it by hand, filling one five gallon bucket at a time and then hauling them out of the tunnel entrance one by one. It had taken them almost two years to finish the project, but back then they weren’t in a hurry. They knew it would be five to seven years before the earth thawed out enough to reinhabit, so they had time to burn.

     Now, though, they were anxious to get out of the mine and go back home. They had plenty of water and diesel fuel for the generators. They had enough MREs to last them at least six more months. But none of them wanted to stay here that long.

     Karen wanted to get back to the plants in her greenhouses before the men she called “heathens” managed to kill them all.

     Bryan and Mark wanted to get the corn, wheat and sorghum crops planted so they had time to harvest and plant a second set of crops before mid summer.

     Everyone else just wanted to go home again.

     “What do you think, little brother? Think we can whip it out in a couple of days?”

     Mark and Brad had walked up behind him.

     Without turning, he said, “I’d guess more like three or four, but we won’t know until we get started.”

     “A true statement if I ever heard one. Joe said you were going to fetch some ties and arches?”

     “Yep. I’m heading that way now.”

     “Okay, then. We’ll get some buckets and shovels and get started while we’re waiting for you.”

     By a quarter of ten they’d made a good sized dent. They were sweaty and covered in dirt, and needed to take a break to meet with John.

     In the far end of the bay, out of sight of anyone walking down the main passageway, they had a makeshift shower system set up. It was nothing but a two by four mounted on the wall, to which three shower heads were fastened.

     Each shower head was fed by a garden hose, which went through a small water heater. Mounted on the wall high above the shower was a fifty gallon water tank which provided their water.

     They utilized the shower daily when they were digging the tunnel, but this time they chose to pass it by. None of them had thought to bring a change of clothes, and they were going right back into the tunnel anyway. So instead of utilizing the shower, they dragged their dirty selves down to the dining room to meet with John and the others.

     Hannah couldn’t resist commenting.

     She said, “Well, that’s a sexy look for you guys.”

     Mark walked in her direction and pretended to take it as a compliment.

     “Well, thank you, baby. How about a big sloppy kiss?”

     “Na-uh. Not me. Y’all went and played in the dirt together, you can kiss each other if you want to.”

     “Oh, come on, honey. You always said you liked it when I got dirty.”

     “Not what I meant. Not at all.”

     John cleared his throat.

     “Okay, you two. How about you save it for later so we can get down to business?”

Chapter 14

     “As I see it, we’ve got a couple of options. There are only six of them left, once we get the bodies out of the mine. We outnumber them now. Plus, we have the element of surprise. And they still haven’t figured out that the security cameras are still working over there. We can see them and they can’t see us. We have radios and they don’t.

     “So as I see it, the odds are in our favor.”

     John spoke up.

     “That’s true, Mark. But let’s not get overconfident. As a general rule, it’s harder to take ground than it is to keep it. Any general will tell you that.

     “And even though there are only six of them now, they’re still doing a pretty good job of standing guard. They haven’t left the roof or the gate unattended for the last three days now. It’ll be hard for us to sneak up on them.”

     “We can go through the tunnel. They’re not guarding it.”

     “Maybe. How soon before you can get it clear?”

     Mark looked at Bryan, who merely shrugged his shoulders.

     “I’m guessing three to four days to clear the first pile and get the lights and cameras working again. Half a day to move the bodies and cover them up with powdered salt. Then we’ll get a chance to look at the second debris pile.”

     Bryan said, “One of the problems is we haven’t been able to see what the second pile looks like, because they shot out the camera on that end of the tunnel, and the other side of the pile was in the darkness. It could be about the same size as the first, or it could be much larger.”

     “True. So let’s say five to six days on that one. Or less. So we’ll have the tunnel cleared in ten days or so.”

     Sarah spoke up and expressed her concern.

     “Who’s to say they don’t meet you there in the tunnel as soon as you clear out the far end, and shoot you on the spot?”

     “Well, as we said, we outnumber them now. We can post armed security down there with the diggers to defend against such an attack. Plus, we haven’t seen them go anywhere near the feed barn for the last three days, except for the one man who’s feeding the livestock twice a day. And he hasn’t lifted up the floor to the tunnel access.”

     “But just to be on the safe side, we’ll have a radio with us. Whoever’s on duty at the console can alert anyone in the tunnel if they make a move toward the feed barn. Once we clear the tunnel we can install a lock on the underside of the feed barn’s trap door so we can open it from the inside but they can’t open it from their side.”

     “We won’t be able to get radio reception from the far end of the tunnel. We’ll have to post someone else with a radio at the tunnel’s entrance to relay transmissions back and forth.”

     “That’s easy enough. We can post one of the girls there. Unless, of course, they’d rather dig instead.”

     Sarah said, “Uh…no. We’ll man the radios. There’s no way I‘m coming out of that tunnel looking like you guys.”

     Bryan stuck his tongue out at his wife and went on.

     “I guess the big question on my mind is, what happens when the tunnel is clear and secured from the inside? Is that our main line for attack? And when do we hit them? During the day or at night?”

     “I’m a little bit concerned, frankly, about the man on the roof. We’ve been watching him closely, and he’s doing a great job of looking in all directions. He moves from side to side and then front to back of the building constantly. He never sits down and never stands still like most other sentries.

     “Even worse, he changes direction frequently, so we never know which side of the building he’s going to peek over next. Instead of performing the same sequence, he’ll frequently stop dead in his tracks and head in another direction. Yesterday I saw him stop short, then go back and look over the east side of the building three times in quick succession before moving on to the north wall. Sneaking in on him will be tough, because we’ll never know when he’s going to peek over the side of the building in the direction of the feed barn.”

     “It sounds like he’s had some military training. And if he catches us in the open, or in the barn, we’re in trouble. The feed barn is mostly empty, except for sacks of grain. We could hide behind them, but I don’t know if they’d stop a bullet or not.”

     “What about the night shift guy? Is he as thorough?”

     “Almost, but not quite. The first day after we blew the tunnel, the day shift man stayed behind after his shift and trained the man on nights to use the same technique. That’s why I believe that the day shift roof guy is their leader. He seems to know what’s going on, and he seems to spend a lot of his off-duty time training the others on tactics.

     “Anyway, he trained the night shift guy to use the same techniques, and for the most part he does. But he does sit down and rest occasionally, and he walks slower than the day shift guy. Also, when he looks over the side of the building, he tends to look longer. So, for example, once our team is out of the tunnel, we can have them wait until he’s at the north end of the roof. Then we can give them the go signal, and they should have ten to fifteen seconds or so to make it across the open area to the back of the building.”

     “Will that be enough?”

     “It’ll be close.”

     “How about if we wait for a heavy rain, and then use that for cover?”

     “We could be waiting for weeks.”

     “How about a moonless and overcast night, where the visibility is next to nothing?”

     “Good idea. We’ll incorporate that into the plan. We’ll get everything ready to go, and then wait for the first moonless night.”

     John spoke up for the first time. Everyone stopped to listen. John was not only a former Dallas police detective, he also pulled duty years before on the Dallas SWAT team. And before he joined the force he served a stint in the U.S. Marine Corps.

     If anyone in the group knew tactics, it was John.

     “Before we try any kind of assault, I think it would be wise to thin their ranks a little bit more.”

     “What do you mean, John? Thin their ranks how?”

     “By using a little bit of guerilla warfare.”

Chapter 15

     John went on to explain his logic.

     “I’m pretty sure we’ll eventually have to do a full assault against them… go in there and take the compound by force, with guns blazing. The only way to avoid it is by them leaving on their own, and I don’t see them doing that. They’ve had a taste of what we have, and they obviously want it bad enough to die for it.

     “We also know that the odds are in our favor, for a number of reasons. We’ll go eventually. And when we do, it’ll be a well coordinated attack, in the dead of night, and we’ll wear night vision goggles. They have some over there, but they haven’t found them yet. So in addition to everything else, that’ll give us a great sight advantage for night fighting.

     “But that’s not to say some of us won’t get hurt. So we need to soften them even more if we can. They have six men left over there. Let’s whittle that down a little more before we go in.”

     “Okay, John, but how? You said guerilla fighting. I’ve heard the term, but I’m not familiar with it. Aren’t those the tactics the bad guys used in Vietnam? Don’t we like, need a jungle or something for that?”

     John laughed.

     “Not necessarily. Guerilla means ‘little war’ in Spanish, and it’s been used in every war to some degree, whether there’s a jungle or not.

     “Guerilla warfare is nothing more than unconventional attacks on your enemy. Traditional warfare means two armies shooting at each other trying to annihilate each other. Guerillas work in small pockets, sometimes behind the lines, to take out the enemy a few at a time. They use various means to do so. Like booby traps and snipers and ambushes.”

     “So, in essence, blowing the tunnel on top of them was a guerilla tactic.”

     John smiled.

     “Exactly. So in reality you’re already guerilla fighters. By blowing the tunnel we’ve already whittled their forces by half. More than that. Now we need to whittle them down even more.”

     “Okay. Well, I don’t really think they’re going to try the tunnel again. So what’s the next plan?”

     “We’ll send out a small team, two men, to take a couple of them out. It’s been several days now since they lost seven men in the mine. When their men first disappeared, they were on high alert. Now, my guess is they’ve started to relax a bit. Several days of pulling guard duty for twelve hours a day and not seeing anything has probably made them a bit complacent.

     “Complacency means sloppiness. They’ve probably let their guard down, to some degree. And that’s the best time to hit them.

     “So we’ll send a two man team out to take out a couple more of them. Then we’ll back off and bide our time, and let them get sloppy again.

     “The idea is to deplete their numbers as much as possible, so that when we actually do our assault there’s only a couple or three left.”

     Bryan was uneasy with the idea, and said as much.

     “I have to tell you, John, it sounds good in theory. But I don’t much like the thought of sending just two of our own out there. I mean, if something goes wrong, they’ll be on their own. What if they get pinned down, they’re getting shot at, and we can’t get to them to help them? Or, even worse, if they get shot and we can’t get into the compound to get them back out?”

     “Who said they’d be in the compound?”

     Bryan looked puzzled.

     John continued.

     “Look, Bryan, I understand your concern. There’s a right way and a wrong way to do this. We’ll do it the right way. And it’ll be well coordinated. We won’t go until we’re positive we can make it back safely. In wartime, and make no mistake about it, this is a war we’ve got here… in wartime, nothing is ever guaranteed. Nobody can say for sure that nothing will ever go wrong. But we’ll do everything we can to ensure our safety before we go. And I won’t ask you to go if you’re not comfortable.”

     “Oh, crap, that’s not what I’m saying, John. I’m not afraid to go. I just don’t like the idea of splitting up, when thus far we’ve stayed as a group and we’ve done quite well.”

     John was irked.

     “We haven’t done that well, Bryan. In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve had to evacuate our home. Bullets were flying. Sami almost died. And it was just by the grace of God that she was our only casualty. This is the way to go. We strike them one or two at a time, we strike them hard, and then we get the hell out of there. And then, when their numbers are lessened, we go in as a group.”

Chapter 16

     John and Bryan made their way through the woods on the west side of the compound on a four wheel drive Gator. The Gator was essentially a two seater quad runner on steroids, with a tiny pickup bed in the back for hauling feed, seed, manure, or anything else a farmer might need to haul. It was made by the John Deere Company as an all-terrain utility vehicle for farmers and ranchers.

     And it worked equally well for two men who were determined to get back what was taken from them.

     Strapped to the bed of the Gator were two sixteen foot extension ladders. Collapsed, they were still eight feet in length, and hung over the tailgate a considerable distance. But tie down straps kept them from going anywhere, and they only scraped the ground a couple of times when the machine climbed up the steep grades of the arroyos.

     Both men had their radios turned on and wore ear pieces to listen to Mark, who stood in the open doorway of the mine.

     Mark was blind to the goings on inside the compound. In fact, he couldn’t even see the compound from his position, but that was okay. His sole purpose on this mission was to relay information from Hannah.

     Hannah’s radio wouldn’t penetrate the thick walls of the mine to the outside. But they would reach to the mine’s door, and Mark’s signal would reach to the west side of the compound.

     Hannah kept her eyes on the bank of monitors, and gave a report every thirty seconds. Sometimes more often, if there was any movement.

     “Okay, two men still at the gate. One on the south side of the roof. One in the dining room, and the others are in their rooms.”

     Mark dutifully passed the information. “Two men at the gate. One on the south side of the roof. One in the dining room, the others in their rooms.”

     Thirty seconds passed.

     Hannah reported, “No change.”

     Mark relayed, “No change.”

     Finally, John and Bryan made it to their destination. Directly ahead of them, and about fifty yards away, was the west wall of the compound. They were still in heavy brush, and could just barely make out the wall, and only because the late afternoon sun was at their backs and shone its dying beams upon it.

     John turned the Gator completely around, so that it was pointing back toward the way they’d come. They’d need every second they could to make a fast getaway.

     “Okay, we’re in position.”

     “They’re in position, Hannah.”

     “Okay. No change. Still two on the gate. Looks like they’re doing shift change. One is on the south side of the roof, one in the dining room and two in their rooms.”

     Mark relayed the information, then added, “It’s a go whenever you’re ready.”

     John and Bryan waited another five minutes, until they were sure they’d have the setting sun at their backs.

     Then they carried the extension ladders across the clearing to the face of the wall, extended them, and leaned them against the wall four feet apart.

     They climbed up the ladders until they could peek over the wall. They knew the sun directly behind them would hide them from anyone looking their way. However, they thought it prudent to maintain a low profile anyway.

     From their position, they had an unobstructed view of the two guards a hundred and twenty yards away, on the opposite side of the compound.

     They took their AR-15 rifles and propped them upon the rungs of their ladders to steady them. Then they sighted in their targets.

     “I’ve got the one on the left.”

     “Okay, I’ve got the right.”

     “Let me know when you’re ready.”

     “I’m ready.”

     “Okay, three… two… one… fire.”

     Both rifle shots went off simultaneously. Both of their targets fell to the ground.

     John and Bryan dismounted the ladders and laid them down. They had served their purpose for now, so there was no need in trying to take them back.

     Within seconds they were back on the Gator and hauling ass back to the entrance of the mine, while listening to Mark’s words in their ears.

     Hannah said, “One appears to be dead. He was shot right between the shoulder blades and hasn’t moved. The other was shot in the upper chest. He’s on the ground, convulsing but still alive.”

     She paused long enough for Mark to relay the play by play to the shooters.

     Then she went on.

     “The one in the dining room has moved to the hallway and is looking out the window toward the gate. He appears to be afraid to go outside. The one on the roof is still there. Two others came out of their rooms and are now out in the hallway with the other one. I think the second man at the gate has died. He’s not moving anymore.”

     Mark passed the info onto the shooters.

     John responded, “10-4. We’re about five minutes away.”

     “10-4, John. Hannah, let me know if anything changes. John, I’ll open the door as soon as I have you in sight.”

     A few minutes later the Gator came out of the woods and Mark opened up the mine’s overhead door. David and Brad stood by with weapons at the ready during the thirty seconds the door was open. Mark reclosed it immediately after John and Bryan came speeding in and screeched to a halt.

     Mark called back to Hannah and said, “All secure. Everyone accounted for.”

     Then he gave his brother and John each a high five.

     “Two more down. Nice going, guys.”

     The two men on the Gator had each just taken a human life. But they weren’t bothered by it. It wasn’t the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last. Instead of remorse or guilt, they each felt a sense of accomplishment.

     It turned out that despite their initial reservations, guerrilla warfare suited them quite nicely.

Chapter 17

     Mark looked over at Hannah. She was sound asleep. He’d always said she looked like an angel when she slept. Early in their relationship, he set his alarm clock ten minutes before he had to get up in the morning, just so he could watch her in peaceful slumber.

     He carefully drew the covers to one side, with the intention of crawling stealthily out of bed without waking her.

     It didn’t work.

     As soon as he drew his body away from hers, she placed her arm around him.

     She said, “Uh-uh.”

     “Uh-uh what?”

     “Don’t leave me. You’re nice and warm.”

     “But I told John I’d meet with him and the security people this morning.”

     “You didn’t ask me first.”

     “I didn’t know I had to.”

     “Of course you have to. I’m the boss of us. Have you forgotten that?”

     He chuckled.

     “Apparently I didn’t get the memo. When did that happen?”

     “The day you said you did.”

     “The day I said I did what?”

     “The day you said ‘I do,’ silly. It’s in the ownership papers.”

     “I don’t think I ever said, ‘I do, silly.’ And I’m pretty sure I never signed any ownership papers.”

     “The marriage license, silly. It was in the fine print. It said the husband would do whatever the wife wanted him to do forever and ever and always, amen. You mean you didn’t read it?”

     “I guess I overlooked that part.”

     “Trust me, it was in there. You do believe me, don’t you?”

     “Uh… sure.”

     “It also said it applied especially when you had an early morning meeting with John and the security people…”

     Mark smiled and started to get out of bed.

     Hannah continued, “…and your wife wants to make love to you instead.”

     Mark stopped.

     “You want to make love to me?”

     “Over and over again.”

     “Well, why didn’t you say so?”

     “It was more fun to drag it out.”

     “Is there really any fine print on the marriage license?”

     “Oh, Mark… just shut up and kiss me.”

     Sometime later Mark walked over to the security console, where John was watching the monitors and cleaning two of the AR-15 rifles.

     “Sorry I missed the meeting, John. Anything good?”

     “No, not really. We just had a debate on when we wanted to do our next move.”

     “What did we decide?”

     “WE decided to do it tonight, if there’s no moon. If there’s a moon, we’ll go the first night there isn’t one.”

     “Sounds good. I’ll be ready at midnight.”

     Mark walked over to the kitchen area and grabbed three MREs. He took them to Bay 8, where Hannah and little Markie were snuggling on a couch watching Hannibal and the Little Princess.

     “Hey, you two. Spaghetti and meatballs, pork patty or beef stew?”

     Little Markie said, “Daddy, shush. I’m trying to hear.”

     Mark sat on the other side of Hannah and put the MREs in her lap. She looked at him with a mild look of amusement, and whispered, “Yes. Shush. This is the best part.”

     Mark just shook his head. But he did indeed shush as they watched a seven year old boy on the screen turn beet red as a seven year old girl kissed him on the cheek and said she loved him.

     Markie announced loudly to both of them, “Okay. You can talk now.”

     Hannah laughed and said, “Well, thank you, little sailor. Why was that part of the movie so special that we couldn’t talk?”

     “Oh, Mommy. That’s when my girlfriend says she loves me. Well, she doesn’t say it to me. But she will someday.”

     “Pamela what's-her-name is your girlfriend?”

     “Mason, Mom! Pamela Mason!”

     Little Markie grew exasperated.

     “And she’s not my girlfriend yet. But she will be when we meet, but before we get married. I told you that.”

     Mark gave Hannah an inquisitive look. Hannah just shrugged and said, “Well, okay then.”

     Mark asked, “Son, why do you want this girl to be your girlfriend?”

     “Because she’s pretty, just like Mommy. And I’ll bet she’s soft and smells good, just like Mommy. And her hair is never messed up and I’m old enough to have a girlfriend, aren’t I?”

     “I guess. But I think this movie was made in Hollywood.”

     “What’s Hollywood?”

     “It’s a city far, far away.”

     “Is it farther than the ocean?”

     “Well, as a matter of fact, it’s right by an ocean.”

     “Good. Is there a beach at the ocean? You said you’d try to take me to the beach and to the ocean.”

     Neither Hannah or Mark knew where he was going with this.

     “Well, yes, there are some very nice beaches right next to Hollywood. Why?”

     “Because you guys said you would try to take me to the ocean and to the beach someday. So we can just call Pamela and she can meet us there and then we can be married. On the beach. And she can kiss me and tell me she loves me, just like she did to Hannibal in the movie.”

     “But what if she already loves Hannibal in the movie?”

     “Oh, she really doesn’t.”

     “But how do you know?”

     “Because she’s my girlfriend. She has to love me.”

     Markie’s cousins, Robin and Sandy, came by and asked if he wanted to go to the playground to play. He said, “Sure!” and was off like a shot.

     “Mark, I’m worried about him sometimes. Should we talk to him seriously about his crush on Pamela Mason?”

     “Why?”

     “Because she’d probably dead. And even if she isn’t, she’s in her twenties now. This movie is fifteen years old. And I never promised him we’d take him to the ocean. I said we would try. And I was thinking somewhere way closer than Hollywood. Like maybe Padre Island in the Gulf of Mexico.”

     “It’s just a harmless crush. Don’t burst his bubble.”

     “Are you sure? He’s watched this movie a hundred times. And every single time he seems to love her more.”

     “I’m sure. He’ll have crushes on a hundred other girls by the time he’s grown. We could tell him she’s probably dead, or at least way too old for him. But it would break his heart and serve no real purpose. He’s too young to understand the realities of what the world has become.

     “Let’s let him be a boy a little bit longer.”

     “Okay. I hope you’re right.”

     “I’m always right.”

     “Um… sure. What did John say?”

     “We’re going tonight. I’m going to go to bed early, and set my alarm for just before midnight. We’ll be back before you wake up.”

     “Promise me you’ll be careful. Markie and I would be lost without you.”

     “Honey, Nothing’s going to happen to me. I’ll be around to serve you breakfast in bed on your seventy fifth birthday. That’s a promise.”

Chapter 18

     The situation in the compound had rapidly descended into chaos after Martinez and Douglas were shot. Hance suddenly had a near-riot on his hands. Davis refused to go outside at all. Bennett only went out to care for the livestock and produce at the point of a gun. And the promise that Hance would beat him to death if he didn’t.

     The bodies of Martinez and Douglas were left where they fell, four days earlier. They were starting to rot, and the smell began to be pulled into the building through the ventilation system’s air intakes.

     Since there were only four of them now, security had became a major problem. And it would prove to be their downfall, eventually.

     Smarter men would have abandoned their mission and left. They could have snuck back to Eden and tried to regroup and make new plans.

     But finding new reinforcements wasn’t an option. Most of the convicts in Eden lit out for other places when the temperatures finally warmed. There were rumors that federal troops were going to come around and round them up, so they could put them behind prison walls again.

     Hance figured they were false rumors, started by the citizenry of Eden in the hopes it would scare the cons away. And if that was the intent, it worked to some degree. Most of them were gone now.

     The ones that were left couldn’t be trusted. Hance was a hated man in the joint, because he took no crap from anybody. In fact, he was regarded as a bully, and one who would kill even his friends if they betrayed him.

     The problem with being a tough guy is that somebody is always wanting to take you down to enhance their own reputation.

     So sending someone for reinforcements wasn’t an option.

     Neither was abandoning the compound. Now that Hance had a taste for what was there, he wasn’t giving it up. Not even if it cost him his life.

     Since Davis refused to go outside, Hance posted him at the corridor door on the east side of the building. He could see the gate through the door’s window, and was far less likely to be taken out by sniper fire.

     “You’ll work night shift. You’ll also bunk in the first room, right there at that same end of the hallway, so you’ll be close by if they charge the gate during the day.”

     He turned to Bennett.

     “You’ll man this door during the daytime. I still want you to go out twice a day to feed the livestock and water the plants in the greenhouse. Whenever you’re out doing that stuff I’ll see you. And while you’re away from this side of the building I’ll hang out directly above us. I can see the gate from the roof, and will try to cover the gate and the rest of the compound until you return. Don’t worry about cooking everybody grub anymore. We’ll fix our own and eat when we’re off duty. Any questions?”

     “What if they don’t come through the gate? What if they shoot us from the fence, like before?”

     “They won’t shoot you, Bennett. For one, you’re a waste of a bullet. For two, I’m guessing they’re smart enough to know that you’re the only thing keeping their chickens and livestock from dying. Davis, you’re indoors now where they can’t see you. If they come after anybody it’ll be me. But it’s a lot harder shooting from fence level upwards, toward a three story building’s roof, than shooting directly across the compound. Besides, I can see the fence line from the center of the roof. I’ll stay away from the edges, so they can’t have a full body shot. The only part of me they’ll see is my head. And they’d better be a hell of a shot if they’re gonna hit my head at a hundred fifty yards or more.”

     Hance wasn’t as smart as he thought he was. He thought that being atop a three story building would give him the advantage of the high ground.

     He was also wrong about the size of the target he’d be presenting to his adversaries.

Chapter 19

     This time they left the Gator behind, and instead made their way by foot through the woods. They moved slowly. It was just after one a.m. and time was on their side. They had several hours of darkness ahead of them and only one shot to make. Two if the opportunity presented itself. So there was plenty of time to do it right.

     This time it was the brothers, Mark and Bryan. Bryan because he was the best shot in the group, and Mark because it was his turn to go. He’d wanted to go on the previous mission. He felt his was his duty to protect his family and the rest of the group. After all, setting up the compound was his idea, and he oversaw the construction. It was, in a way, his baby. He felt it only fair that he should help in getting it back.

     The only reason he hadn’t gone on the first mission was because John also insisted on going. And because Mark lost the coin toss.

     This was a different type of mission entirely. They only had one target this time: the man on the roof. And to get him, they’d have to take the high ground. Even higher than the three story roof which Hance thought gave him the advantage.

     First, they had to visit the west side of the compound to retrieve one of the ladders they’d left behind on the previous mission. It had made no sense to drag it back. It would have slowed their getaway. Plus, they thought that the ladders might come in handy for future missions.

     Like this one, for example.

     Both men wore night vision goggles, which enabled them to see through an eerie green glow. But at least they could see. It was almost pitch black outside, and Hance was reduced to watching for signs of movement in the darkness.

     Bryan and Mark were also equipped with radios and ear pieces. But they wouldn’t do any talking. Talking on such a still and quiet night might give them away.

     They reached the ladder on the west side of the wall and gingerly picked it up. Then they skirted the wall with it, all the way around the compound and to its opposite side, on the east, not far from the damaged gate.

     They could easily smell the putrid and decaying bodies of the two men they’d shot on their previous mission. The bodies were still heaped on the inside of the fence, covered with maggots and beetles. It almost turned Mark’s stomach.

     Slowly, carefully, they leaned the ladder against the wall, just twenty feet or so from the gate. When he climbed atop the ladder, Mark would command a view of the east side of the big house, where they knew a man would be standing guard.

     Once the ladder was up, the two paused to catch their breath.

     Mark reached for his radio and placed his thumb on the microphone. Then he pressed it two times in quick succession.

     Two keys of the mike. Two brief bursts of static coming across the previously silent airway. And everyone on the team, both inside and outside the mine, knew what it meant.

     “They’re at the wall,” John muttered to a group of seven people assembled at the control center. “So far, so good.”

     They watched the monitors above their heads, but didn’t see much. The cameras on that side of the compound didn’t have night vision capability. An oversight on Mark’s part, and one he planned to correct someday soon after they got their home back.

     In the absence of something to see on the monitors, the group in the mine focused instead on the radio console to keep them informed of the progress of the mission.

     Bryan left Mark at the ladder and slowly made his way to the base Salt Mountain. Salt Mountain was a misnomer, of course. It was given that name by a geological survey team with a sense of humor. It wasn’t a mountain at all, at only three hundred ten feet high. It was more a significant hill.

     But it was high enough.

     It was slow going. He knew he had the cover of darkness on his side, but he also knew that this side of the mountain was covered with loose rock. And if he knocked too much of it down, it might attract the attention of the sentry on the roof.

     He wasn’t worried about getting shot at, necessarily. He was more worried about the man on the roof getting spooked, knowing that someone was out there who he couldn’t see. If that happened, he might fire blindly in the direction of the falling rock, sure. But the chances of him connecting with a lucky shot weren’t likely.

     No, if he had heard some sound from the mountain to the east, it was more likely he’d go to ground. Hide behind the wall bordering the top of the roof. Or even worse, leave the roof completely.

     If either of those things happened, the mission would be wasted.

     It took Bryan a full twenty minutes to make his way to a spot where he had a clear view of the roof. Along the way he passed the body of Smitty, the bastard who’d shot Sami in the shoulder, and was in turn shot off the mountain by Mark.

     Smitty’s body was pretty much reduced to bones by now, picked clean by flocks of central Texas turkey buzzards and coyotes who somehow survived the freeze.

     Once Bryan was satisfied his new firing position was stable, he began to prepare himself.

     In the mine, the group watching the monitors for movement still saw absolutely nothing. The third floor hallway camera showed no activity from the stairwell leading to the roof. The sentry was still up on the roof, but they had no idea what he was doing.

     John wondered if the man had an inkling when he went up on the roof that he might die tonight.

     The man on the roof, Toby Hance, was in fact on the west side of the roof, gazing out over the compound. He squinted his eyes, trying to make out any movement in the darkness. He was growing restless and wanted something to shoot at. Anything.

     He was tired of walking this roof every night, knowing that something was going to happen. But not knowing what or when. That was the thing that irked him the most… the not knowing.

     Finally, Bryan was ready.

     The weapon had already been charged in anticipation of a firefight. Bryan knew that. But he checked it anyway. Then he used his right thumb to flip the safety selector switch from “safe” to “fire.”

     He reached up to the small Motorola radio that was clipped to the epaulet of the camouflage field jacket he wore, and he keyed the mike three times.

     Three short bursts of static suddenly went over the airwaves of channel five, and everyone knew he was in position and ready to fire.

     On cue, Mark climbed up the ladder and peered over the wall. He knew he couldn’t be seen in the darkness, but he kept a low profile anyway.

     Mark’s role in the mission had nothing to do with the man on the roof. His role was to provide cover fire for Bryan as Bryan climbed back down off the side of the mountain.

     There were only three other men in the big house now besides the man on the roof. Mark didn’t know their names, of course, or anything about them. But he did know that one was standing guard in the hallway, just inside the east entrance. Mark could see him, behind the glass, leaning nonchalantly against the wall in the hallway.

     The other two were off duty. One was asleep in the adjacent apartment. Apartment 101. It used to be Sami and Brad’s place.

     It would be again.

     The fourth was across the hall in apartment 102. He was off duty, but couldn’t sleep. He was watching a movie.

     Mark knew the two unseen men would hear the gunfire and would be come running. After that, there was no way of knowing where they would go or what they would do.

     Mark drew a bead on the man inside the door. As soon as he heard Bryan’s shot from the mountainside, Mark would fire three quick rounds through the door’s window, and into the body of the man posted there. Because of the angle, he knew there was a chance the first bullet might ricochet off the heavy glass. But surely it would shatter it, so that the second bullet wouldn’t be impeded. The third shot was just for good measure.

     After the three shots, Mark would hold his ground, in case one of the other men exited the building. If he did, he’d be taken out as well.

     The seconds ticked by. Mark had the man’s upper torso in his sights, and waited for the crack of Bryan’s rifle.

     Then the man made the most unexpected move imaginable. And the most boneheaded as well. Obviously complacent from many hours of inaction, he got sloppy. He leaned his weapon against the corner of the hallway.

     And he stepped outside to pee.

     “Well, I’ll be damned,” Mark said under his breath. How could anyone be so stupid? He wanted to take the shot, but couldn’t. If he shot first, the man on the roof would take immediate cover. And Bryan’s shot would be ruined.

    So instead he kept his composure, and kept his sights locked on his target, awaiting Bryan’s gunshot.

     On the side of the mountain, Bryan had his own sights set on Hance’s chest.

     Hance was sitting on a galvanized steel ventilation box in the center of the roof, smoking a stale Marlboro Red. He knew enough to move away from the edge of the building before lighting up, thinking that no one would be able to see the bright red glow on the tip of his cigarette.

     But Bryan could see it clearly in his StrikeFire scope.

     What Hance couldn’t see as he stared off into the sky was the red dot glowing in the center of his chest.

     And after all, how often does a man lean over and look at his own chest?

     Bryan had once studied theology in college and had flirted with the idea of being a minister. He was still devoutly Christian. He said a brief prayer, and asked God to forgive him for what he was about to do.

     Then he moved his index finger from the trigger guard and rested the pad of the finger firmly on the trigger itself. He adjusted his stance one last time, took a deep breath, and exhaled half of it.

     Then he squeezed the trigger.

     Hance instantly tumbled from his perch, the cigarette expelled from his mouth and sent flying. He lay upon the asphalt roof on his right side, eyes glaring at the glow of the still burning cigarette.

     But he couldn’t see it. He’d never see anything again.

Chapter 20

     Joe, standing in the feed barn at the entrance to the tunnel, heard the shots and keyed the radio mike four times. The group at the security console heard the signal and understood its meaning: the deed was done.

     Now, they collectively prayed that they’d hear nothing else. Five bursts on the radio would mean there was a firefight going on.

     Immediately after Bryan fired, Mark did as well. Davis never had a chance. He crumpled to the ground, dead, his body blocking the exit door he’d walked through just seconds before.

     Hance and Davis were the only two men in the decimated gang who’d had any backbone. And now they were gone.

     Bennett, the man who’d been unable to sleep, ran to the center of the building, to the lounge area next to the dining room. And he hid behind a couch.

     Bennett was a scared little rabbit. He knew that Hance would have returned fire from the roof, if he was still alive.

     But there was no return fire. Only the single shot, from outside the compound. He put two and two together. And two plus two equaled a dead leader.

     There was only Bennett and O’Neal now. And they had no radios. There were spare radios in the compound, but they were well hidden and only Mark and John knew where they were.

     So the two had no way to communicate. They froze into place, Bennett behind his couch and O’Neal in Sami’s apartment, trembling. Sure that an assault was imminent, and that they’d seen their last sunrise.

     At the console, the group couldn’t see O’Neal. The apartments didn’t have cameras. But they could see from the hallway cam outside of Sami’s apartment that he had never come out.

     And another camera showed Bennett, curled up in the fetal position behind the couch. They could clearly see the look of terror on his face.

     Brad commented, “Look at that fool. He ran off so fast he didn’t even bring his weapon with him.”

     Brad continued, “Maybe we should have sent in a couple more people to storm the building. Before they get their wits about them again. We could have taken him easily, probably without firing a shot.”

     “No,” John said. “The guy in 101 is still a wild card. He could come out of there at any time, guns blazing, and catch one of us dead to rights in the hallway. It’s better to back off, formulate our next move, and then hit them again when they’re not expecting it.”

     Brad appeared visibly disappointed.

     “So now we wait a few more days?”

     But John had another trick up his sleeve.

     “No. That’s what we did the last two times, after the tunnel collapse and the ambush on the men at the gate. It’s what they’ll be expecting. So we’ll throw them another curve ball. We’ll go back later today. In the daylight. You guys go get some sleep. Meet me back here at thirteen hundred.”

Chapter 21

     “Did everybody get a chance to eat their lunch? I don’t want any stomachs growling and ruining my meeting.”

     John’s attempt at humor fell flat. There was a lot of tension among the group. Some of them were having their reservations.

     “Look, this isn’t a dictatorship. I’m not the boss. As the head of security, I’m giving you my best effort at an effective strategy. I know some of you aren’t comfortable with going over there in the daytime. All I ask is that you keep an open mind. Let me explain my logic, and my plan. Then we can debate it, and if I’m outnumbered I’ll back off. Fair enough?”

     He looked around at the group. A couple nodded their heads. A couple more shrugged. He noticed that Sami was hanging on to Brad’s arm with a death grip.

     “Here’s my logic… the biggest advantage we have is the element of surprise, and thus far it’s worked quite well for us. But there are a couple of other things we have working in our favor today that may not be there tomorrow.

     “One is that neither of them have slept in quite awhile. The one who was hiding behind the couch last night has been up for more than twenty two hours, according to the log book at the security desk. We know he couldn’t sleep before the shooting, because we saw him on the monitor coming to the doorway to shoot the breeze with the door guard several times.

     The other one, the one who was in apartment 101, disappeared into the room and out of the camera’s eye at just after 2200 hours. That means he had at best three hours sleep.

     “While you all were snoozing this morning, David sat at the console and kept an eye on them. Neither of them got any sleep after the shooting. I knew they wouldn’t. They’re both too tense. The second man eventually came out of apartment 101 and low crawled to the kitchen and found the other one. They’ve been huddled there ever since.

     “Here’s another thing that’s to our advantage. They’re both scared shitless. You can tell by the way they’ve stayed in the same close quarters for hours. One of them even went and pissed into the kitchen sink because he was afraid to leave the kitchen area to find the bathroom. Those fools are terrified.”

     John suddenly smiled. It was uncharacteristic and out of place under the circumstances. He grinned like a Cheshire cat. Like he knew a great secret that no one else knew.

     “And here’s the best part. When the second guy came out of 101 and low crawled to the kitchen, he took his AK with him. But he left the magazine in the room.”

     He stepped up on the security console and pointed at the rifle, in the corner of monitor 7.

     “It’s been leaning against a table in the kitchen ever since. And neither of them has noticed that it has no magazine in it.”

     Mark pointed out the obvious.

     “There could still be a round chambered.”

     “That’s very true, Mark. They may have one shot. But the other guy isn’t even armed. So at best they have one shot between them.

     “I think if we go soon, before they get over their fear, while they’re exhausted and confused, we may be able to take them without firing a shot.”

     “When do you want to go, John? And who?”

     “I’ll go myself, if two of you will volunteer to go with me.”

     Mark and Bryan stepped forward immediately.

     Brad looked at Sami and then stepped forward too. He said, “How about three of us?”

     Sami’s hand immediately went to her mouth, but she didn’t say anything. She wanted to scream, but she stayed strong.

     John said, “Okay. We have our team. The girls can do the coordination and spotting. I wanted to wait until this evening, to give them more time to get worn out, maybe even doze off. But I think the missing magazine is a gift from heaven, and something we can’t pass up. I say we go now.”

     Bryan said, “Agreed. Let’s go.”

     He looked at Mark, who didn’t say anything, but who walked over to the gun rack next to the security console. He took an AR-15 from the rack and handed it to Brad. He handed two more to Bryan and John and then took another one for himself.

     For the next half hour, the group put their heads together and formulated their plan.

Chapter 22

     Just after four p.m., the group of four approached the same section of wall where Bryan left his ladder a few hours before. The ladder was still in position, precisely where he’d left it.

     All four of the men had radios clipped at their shoulders, and ear pieces stuck in their ears. At the control center, Hannah was providing a running commentary of the goings on in the big house every thirty seconds, unless there was a significant change.

     Since reception was spotty between the compound and the deeply recessed mine, Joe stood just outside the mine’s entrance and relayed Hannah’s words.

     The team of four stood by the ladder while Joe recited the latest update.

     “One man is in the kitchen and appears to be making a sandwich. The other man is in the lounge, on a chair, with his head in his hands. The one in the kitchen is about twenty feet from the rifle. The rifle still has no magazine.”

     John knew that neither of the men could see their activity. This was a good time to go. He waved to Bryan, who picked up the ladder and moved it about forty feet west north along the fence line.

     Once the ladder was in place, he climbed to the top of the fence and looked over, to the right and to the left.

     Then he scrambled back down the ladder, moved it another twelve feet, and repeated the process.

     He was trying to line the ladder up with a similar ladder on the inside of the fence.

     Each of the four interior walls had a ladder leaning up against it. The ladders served a dual purpose. Their main intent was to throw any attackers off their trail if they had to evacuate the compound through the tunnel. The thinking was that if the evacuation took place before the compound was breached, the invaders would assume that the group evacuated over the walls instead of through the tunnel. They’d waste their time searching in the woods for them, when they were actually in the safety of the mine.

     To that regard, the plan worked perfectly. They were able to get away unnoticed when they evacuated. It was only the sharp eye of Alvarez and their muddy footprints in the feed barn that gave them away several days later.

     The other purpose of the ladders was to serve as a real evacuation method if the tunnel was ever inaccessible or compromised for any reason.

     The ladders on the inside walls were never expected to allow them to reenter the compound after the evacuation. But they would serve that purpose as well.

     On the third attempt, Bryan was able to line up the two ladders, so that the men could climb up one ladder and down the other.

     They waited to go until the latest update from Joe:

     “No change. First man is in the kitchen. He appears to be cooking something in the microwave to go with his sandwich. Second man hasn’t moved either, except that he’s leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed.”

     John said, “Let’s roll.”

     Bryan was already at the top of the exterior ladder. As soon as he stepped over the top of the fence and onto the interior ladder, Mark scrambled up behind him. It took  no more than a minute for all four men to clear the wall.

     Once inside the compound, they took refuge beneath a 53 foot trailer, emblazoned with the Walmart Logo.

     They couldn’t see the big house from their new position. But that was a good thing. That meant that no one in the big house could see them either.

     They waited until the next update.

     “Okay, sandwich guy took his food out of the microwave and stuck his finger in it. Apparently it’s still cold. He stuck it back in and punched the keypad. Three times, but Hannah couldn’t make out the numbers. The second guy is still sprawled back in his easy chair. He may have fallen asleep.”

     John gave the go signal again, and the four ran to the east entrance of the big house and flattened themselves against the wall just adjacent to the doorway. Bryan grabbed the shirt of the dead man blocking the doorway and dragged him out of the way.

     Again, they waited for the next update.

     “Okay, sandwich guy is on the move. He’s leaving the kitchen. Again, he’s leaving the kitchen. He’s going to the far end of the lounge area and into the men’s room. The rifle still hasn’t moved.”

     John smiled. O’Neal’s timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

     “Okay, guys, let’s sit tight. He’ll either be right back out, or he’ll be there for a few minutes. Let’s hope for the latter.”

     They continued to monitor the updates, and after a full minute, sandwich man still hadn’t returned from the restroom. It was time to go.

     Mark moved quickly to the door and used a master key on a chain around his neck to unlock it. Then he eased it open as the other three quickly entered the hallway. Mark followed them in, closing the door quietly, and grabbing the AK-47 in the corner. He had no intention of taking it with him. It would hinder his ability to fire his primary weapon if he was carrying a second one.

     Instead, he removed the magazine from the AK-47 and slipped it into his pocket, quietly ejected the round in the chamber, and placed it back in the corner.

     The next update came over the radio.

     “No change. Sandwich guy is still in the bathroom. Other guy is still sprawled across the chair.”

     John said, “Mark, you and Brad take the bathroom guy. Bryan and I will get the sleeper.”

     Then he took off like a shot, down the hallway and into the common area of the building. The others were mere steps behind him.

     In the mine, the rest of the group cheered when they saw their team rush into the lounge, getting the drop on Bennett, who had indeed dozed off in the easy chair.

     O’Neal had finally finished his business and was walking out of the bathroom when Mark and Brad swooped down upon him, weapons leveled at his chest. He had no option but to surrender.

     Hannah swelled with pride as she saw Mark force the man to the floor and frisk him as Brad held him at gunpoint. Then Mark reached into his pocket and removed a heavy duty electrical zip tie to bind his bands.

     The siege appeared to be over. And, just as John had predicted, they were able to capture the last two without firing a shot.

Chapter 23

     Bryan and Brad took the prisoners to one of the utility rooms in the basement. They took two metal folding chairs and duct-taped them together, back to back.

     Then they sat the men into the chairs and bound them tightly with rope. Since their hands were zip tied in front, and were resting on each of the men’s laps, Bryan made sure the rope’s knots were behind and beneath them, far out of reach.

     Brad commented, “It’s a good thing you just went to the bathroom. You’re gonna be here awhile.”

     Bennett, ever the whiner, immediately complained. “What about me? I need to go.”

     “Hold it, you son of a bitch.”

     “Hey, you got it wrong, mister. I didn’t shoot anybody. I just came along because they made me.”

     “Shut up. Nobody made you do anything you didn’t want to do.”

     Brad had no sympathy. He had fire in his eyes and wanted revenge. Revenge for them shooting the woman he loved. Revenge for leaving her scarred and self conscious. Revenge for the misery his friends and family had suffered at the hands of these fools.

     And whether these two killed anybody or not, it didn’t matter. They were part of the same bunch of scum.

     John walked in.

     “Mark’s up there in the security center now reconnecting the cables for the base radio and the surveillance cameras. He says he has some wireless cameras in his storage closet. He’s going to set one up in here and program the signal into one of the security monitors. Until then we’ll have to guard them.”

     Bryan was afraid to leave Brad alone with them.

     “I’ll take the first shift.”

     O’Neal looked at the older man, John, and assumed he was in charge.

     He pleaded, “Please don’t hurt us, mister. It won’t do you any good to kill us. Please, just let us go. We’ll walk away and never come back, I promise. And we’ll never tell anybody about this place. You have my solemn word.”

     John just looked at him and said, “Shut up, or I’ll run some duct tape around your head a couple of times to shut you up. You have no say here, not anymore. And none of us want to listen to your crap.”

     John was Sami’s father, and Brad’s future father in law. He, like Brad, had little sympathy for the plight of their prisoners.

     Bryan looked to John and asked, “What, exactly, are we going to do with them, John?”

     “Right now they’re going to sit here in their own piss. We’ll get the key players together tomorrow and discuss their future…”

     He looked at O’Neal directly when he finished the sentence.

     “… and if I were them, I’d worry.”

     Their radios suddenly came to life.

     “John, this is Mark. The base station is working again. So are the monitors. We’ve reestablished contact with the others. They’re awaiting instructions.”

     “10-4, Mark. I’m headed back your way.”

     John double checked the knots on the ropes, and the zip ties on the prisoners’ hands. Satisfied they were secure, he gave Bryan a few terse instructions.

     “I don’t want them out of the chairs for any reason. Not even to go to the bathroom. They can sit in their own crap. They deserve no less, and we can clean up the mess later. Stay far away from them. Keep your weapon charged and trained on them, safety off. If either of them tries to work their way free, don’t hesitate. Do what you have to do.”

     John and Brad made their way back upstairs to the security console. John sat in the controller’s chair for the first time in two weeks and keyed the heavy microphone in front of him.

     “Hannah… Sarah… Sami…”

     Hannah answered.

     “Go ahead, John.”

     “We’ve got too much to do to reconcile anytime soon. We have a room to room search to do, and bodies to bury before we bring the kids back over here. It’s too much to do today.

     “The four of us are going to get started, and we’ll stay here tonight. Tell the others they’ll have to spend one more night over there, but that it’ll be the last one. Tell them to pack up in the morning and we’ll try to have them back home by lunchtime tomorrow.

     “In the meantime, continue to man the security station and to watch the monitors. Notify us immediately if you see anything suspicious.”

     He could hear the disappointment in Hannah’s voice. She wanted to come back to the compound. But she understood.

     “10-4, John. I’ll make sure everyone gets the word.”

     “Mark, we’ll only need two men on security each shift. One here watching the monitors, and the other guarding the prisoners. After you hang the wireless cam in the utility room, I want you and Brad to get some rest. The two of you can relieve us at midnight.”

     “Then what?”

     “Once you relieve us, Bryan and I will start the room by room search. I want every pillow turned over, every bed looked under. I know there aren’t any more men here hiding, but God only knows what they might have left behind. I don’t want any of the little kids coming across a loaded hand gun or a hand grenade and start playing with it.

     “At daybreak tomorrow, whoever is fresh enough can take the Bobcat out by the trash pit and dig a grave. I want to get all the bodies away from the building and hose everything down real good.

     “We can bury them all in one grave. They’re past the point of caring, and even if they found a way to object, I’m not in the mood to listen.

     “One last thing I want to do is to get the welding rig out of the barn and over to the drive through gate. I want to weld that sucker shut until we can figure out how we’re going to repair it. I don’t want anybody else trying to drive through it while it’s weakened.”

     “Once those things are done and our search is finished, I’ll feel comfortable about letting everyone else come home.”

Chapter 24

     By daybreak, the four of them were exhausted. John relented and let Sami and David come over to pull security duty, while he and Bryan napped for a couple of hours. The room by room search was completed, and they were exhausted. Bryan had gotten two hours sleep in the previous thirty six hours. John had none.

     While Bryan and John slept, Mark and Brad went into the compound as soon as the sun came over the horizon. Brad jumped on the Bobcat and used its bucket attachment to dig a grave for the body on the roof and the others on the east side of the building. Their prisoners were left locked in the utility room, unattended but watched closely on the monitors.

     The bad guys had thrown their own dead into the trash pit after they took over the compound, and burned them with the garbage.

     It was ironic that these men would get a more dignified burial from Mark’s group than they would have received from their own comrades.

     The Bobcat’s bucket was narrow, at sixteen inches. But it would suffice.

     While Brad was digging, Mark fed the livestock and apologized to poor Bessie, their milk cow. She hadn’t been milked in almost two weeks, and she was in misery. Her body had mercifully stopped producing milk, simply because her udder had no more capacity to accept any. Now the udder was swollen and sore, the teats dripping milk. She was beside herself.

     Mark took a milking stool and spent a few minutes with her. He doubted the milk would be any good, so he poured it out immediately. He stood next to her after he’d drained two gallons from her udder and stroked her neck. She looked at him with her big brown cow eyes, but he couldn’t tell if she was angry with him for abandoning her for so long. Or grateful for the relief to her pain.

     He finished the feeding and went to the greenhouses to survey the damage.

     Bennett had done a half-ass job of caring for the plants. It was obvious which berries and vegetables he personally preferred. They were the ones still succulent and well watered. The things he wasn’t fond of, like the squash and cucumbers and lettuce, were dry and parched. Some of the plants were withered and dead.

     He had faith that Karen could repair most of the damage. She was a magician when it came to plants.

     He gave everything a good soaking, and then went back into the big house to retrieve some white sheets.

     By the time Brad finished digging the grave, Mark was finished wrapping the bodies in sheets. The easiest way to do so was merely pulling each man’s feet until the body was straight, and then laying each arm by his side. Then he laid the sheet next to the body and simply rolled it, collecting the sheet as he went, until the body looked like a large cocoon.

     Brad called on the radio.

     “Mark, this is Brad. Where are you?”

     “On the roof. Come give me a hand, will ya?”

     Five minutes later the two were standing side by side on the roof, looking down at what used to be Toby Hance.

     Mark said, “I’m at a loss. This guy must have been lifting weights in prison for years. He’s got to be close to three hundred pounds, and it’s all muscle. How the hell do we get him down?”

     “Do we have any equipment that’ll reach this high?”

     “Nope. Even the big forklift only goes up to the second story.”

     “Can we drag him down the stairs?”

     “If we want to use every last bit of strength we have left, and waste an hour or more.”

     For several more minutes, they stood looking at each other, and at the body.

     Finally they formulated a plan.

     Brad ran down to the workshop and brought back a roll of duct tape. They used it to wrap around the body at the neck and feet so that the sheet didn’t come off while they were moving it.

     Then they struggled to drag Hance to the edge of the roof. Mark even tried to find a bit of humor in the situation, grunting, “Man. This gives a whole new meaning to the term ‘dead weight.’”

     “Shut up and lift, funny man.”

     They got Hance to the short wall which surrounded the edge of the roof, and managed to prop his back up against it.

     “Now remember, don’t ever tell the girls about this. They would freak out big time.”

     “You got it. I’ll never tell a soul.”

     With that, they both reached their arms beneath Hance’s knees, locked their wrists together and lifted, tossing Hance’s body over the wall and to the ground three stories below. He landed with a sickening thud.

     “Just tell yourself he didn’t feel it.”

     “Hey, it wouldn’t bother me if he did. I have no pity for any of the bastards.”

     Back downstairs, Brad took an all-terrain forklift from the back of the pig barn and used it to pick up an empty wooden pallet outside the barn. One by one, they used the forklift to carry the bodies to the trench he’d dug, and then rolled them into it.

     The Bobcat didn’t dig deep trenches. It maxed out about four feet deep. There was no way they could have stacked the bodies on top of each other. So Brad had done the next best thing. He dug the trench long enough to accommodate all of the bodies, laid end to end.

     It was a grisly task, made ten times worse by the stench the two decomposed bodies put off. The flies followed them every step of the way, buzzing around their heads and landing on them covered with all sorts of disgusting bodily fluids.

     Finally, when the bodies were in place, Mark said, “Why don’t you cover them up, and I’ll hose everything down?”

     “No problem.”

     Brad used the second Bobcat, which had a blade attachment on the front, to shove the piles of loose dirt into the hole. It was a lot faster than digging the trench, and he actually finished up before Mark did.

     They met back at the big house. Brad said, “I need a shot of whisky after that. You want one?”

     “What I want is a hot shower. My hands are covered with blood and God knows what else. Then I’ll come back and down a couple.”

     Both men went to the respective apartments and tried to clean themselves of the disgusting thing they’d just had to do. When they finished and met back in the lounge, all the grime was gone. The memory, though, would be with them forever.

     Especially, Mark suspected, the sound of the awful sound that Hance’s body made when it hit the sidewalk after being tossed off the side of the building.

Chapter 25

     “How big of a mess did they make in your apartment?” Brad asked after the two met back at the control center.

     “Oh, it’s trashed. But Hannah will have it back together in no time. She’s a real clean freak. Which, in this case, is probably a good thing.”

     “I wish my girlfriend was a clean freak. Mine’s a real slob.” He smiled and winked at Sami, who was sitting in the controller’s chair behind the console.

     “You better watch it, Buddy. I’ll come over this counter and kick your little ass. And I won’t even feel bad about it.”

     “Oh, I’m not afraid of you. You hit like a girl.”

     “I’ll show you who hits like a girl, tonight, when you’re laying in bed thinking you’re gonna get lucky. Then, wham! To the moon, Alice!”

     Mark looked at Brad and smiled. Then he observed, “That’s a real tiger you have there. Maybe you better quit poking her with a stick.”

     Brad blew Sami a kiss and said, “Hey, a guy’s got to have a little bit of fun. Especially after what we’ve all been through lately.”

     “True. I just hope it’s over now.”

     Mark turned to Sami and said, “Would you give the others the all clear and tell them to start coming over through the tunnel? Tell the security team to take a head count so they don’t leave anyone behind, and to be the last ones out.”

     “That’s a message I’d be happy to pass on. Do you want them to turn the lights and everything off?”

     “No. Tell them to leave everything on. Bryan and I will go over later and shut down all the systems and the generators and make sure the water lines are drained. First, though, I want to spend some time with my sweet wife and son, and then get a nap in.”

     Brad looked at the monitor from the utility room where their two prisoners were being kept. It was hard to tell, but Bennett appeared to be crying.

     “I guess it sucks to be them around now. What do you think we should do with them?”

     “I don’t know. John wants to meet tomorrow to discuss it, after we’ve all had a good night’s sleep. If it were up to me, I’d drive them down to the Gulf of Mexico, put them on a motor boat, lock the rudder, and send them out to sea, still tied up.

     “Whatever we decide to do, I’m glad I’m not in their shoes.”

     Mark went to the feed barn and propped open the false floor that led to the tunnel. Then he walked down the steps and waited, as the refugees began returning home.

     “Welcome back,” he said to each one as they came into view.

     Most of the women and children hugged him as they went by. Some of the men gave him a fist bump or a “good job.”

     Among the last of the returnees were his wife Hannah and son Markie. Markie came running as soon as he saw his father.

     “Daddy!” he squealed.

     Mark picked him up and held him, as Hannah came up and hugged them both.

     She had tears in her eyes.

     “Hey, what’s that all about?”

     “Oh, shut up. I’m entitled. I just sent my man off to war and he survived.”

     “Okay. Should I wonder whether they’re tears of happiness or tears of disappointment?”

     She punched him in the arm.

     “Yeah, you big jerk. You wonder about that. I so love you. Are you okay?”

     “Yeah, and I so love you too. And what about you? Are you okay?”

     “I am now.”

     Mark put his son down and held Hannah, kissing her passionately.

     Markie rolled his eyes and said, “Ah, come on! Get a room, you two.”

     Hannah was shocked.

     “Markie! Where in the world did you hear that?”

     “That’s what you tell Uncle Bryan and Aunt Sarah, Mommy. Every time they start kissing and stuff.”

     Hannah looked at Mark and said, “Don’t you dare say a word.”

     “About what?”

     “Exactly.”

     “Come on, gorgeous. Let’s get out of this tunnel and go home.”

Chapter 26

     The following day, school was back in session for the little ones. Karen was back in her greenhouses, trying to fix what she could of the damage done to her plants. David assembled a team of volunteers to start prepping the fields for the crops they’d be planting in a few days, and Joe took it upon himself to give the barns a much needed cleaning.

     Things were beginning to get back to normal again, except for one thing.

     There were two men tied to chairs in the basement, and there wasn’t a consensus on what to do with them.

     Most of the adults not busy with other duties had gathered in the dining room at John’s request.

     “I called you here because we need to deal with the problem at hand in the utility room. I’ll be honest with you. I never thought we’d take them without a fight. I knew we had the advantages on our side. I knew we’d take them. I just didn’t think we’d take them alive.

     “I thought that by now they’d be in the same hole that their buddies are in out there. And to be honest, it would have been much easier that way. Taking them alive presents a whole new problem.”

     Mark asked, “Well, John, we asked you to head up our security program because you’re the only expert we have in that area. We’ve trusted your judgment before in all matters pertaining to security, and you’ve always been right on the mark. Since you’re the expert in this area, what do you propose we do with them?”

     John selected his words carefully.

     “Some of you won’t like what I have to say. Those of you who had a chance to see these men up close and talk to them may share the opinion that they’re a broken and pitiful lot.

     “But that don’t change the fact that they came here to do us harm. They raised weapons against us and would have shot us if they had the chance. One of their group, and I’m assuming it was the dead man on the mountain but it might not have been, shot my Sami. They could have just as easily shot any of you. Or any of yours.

     “It also doesn’t change the fact that if we let them go, they’ll likely go back to the environment they were in before. They ran with a rough crowd of convicts and criminals before, and they’ll go back to that.

     “Right now, they’re scared shitless. They may be too scared to recruit more people for a second shot at taking the compound. But as time goes by they’ll get bold, and hungry. And they’ll be back.

     “We have no choice but to get rid of them.”

     Sami was aghast.

     “Dad, do you mean kill them? Surely you can’t be serious.”

     “I am dead serious, sweetie. If we set them free, in all likelihood we’ll see them again at a later time. Only this time they’ll have learned their lessons. They’ll come back with a much bigger force. They’ll be better armed. And they’ll have the knowledge they didn’t have the first time. They’ll know the layout of this building, and of the compound. They’ll know about the escape tunnel. If they hit us hard and fast, and swarmed all over us, they might capture the tunnel before we could evacuate next time. Then all they’d have to do is cut our power and water lines and wait us out. Or pick us off a couple at a time, like we did to them.”

     Bryan was having none of it.

     “But John, they’re criminals. Who says we have to set them free? Why can’t we turn them into law enforcement?”

     “Come on, Bryan, you’ve been monitoring the ham radio just as much as me. You’ve heard the broadcasts. There is no more law enforcement. The police departments in San Antonio, Kerrville, Junction and Eden have been decimated like everywhere else. Most of the officers are dead or long gone. And those that are left have no authority to arrest people. Not without judges to issue arrest warrants and courts to try them. There are no sheriffs or county marshals either. Most of the towns are ruled by vigilante committees or not at all.”

     “No.”

     It was Hannah, and all heads turned to look at her.

     “John, we’ve been through an awful lot. You and Sami have suffered more than anyone else. I know that. And I know it just as easily could have been me, or Mark, or Markie who got shot. But I’m sorry. I refuse to be a party to murder. And even though they are evil men, let’s make no mistake about it. Let’s call it as it is. Killing unarmed men, no matter how evil they are, is murder. It’s not right. I say no.”

     John walked to Hannah and hugged her.

     “I’ve loved you like a second daughter. I still do. You love Sami and she loves you. I know that too. I couldn’t bear to lose either one of you. I’d have a hole in my heart as big as Texas.

     “But if you and the others prevent me from doing this, we’re making a dreadful mistake. A mistake that will very likely cause more lives. And I’m not talking about the lives of more evildoers. I’m talking about us. You, or Sami, or Brad, or one of the children.

     “I’m not asking any of you to have a hand in this. I am quite capable of taking care of it myself.

     “All I’m asking is that none of you try to stop me. Because if you do, and I’m right, then there will come a day when we are burying our own. And I won’t say I told you so. But each of you will know that if you’d let me do what I knew needed to be done, they’d still be alive. Only then it’ll be too late. And each of you will be haunted for the rest of your lives, because you’ll know in your heart you could have prevented the tragedy.”

     Debbie spoke up, attempting to be the voice of reason.

     “Look. Seven years ago when we first assembled in the mine, we set up a form of government like those of the old Indian tribes. We agreed to get everyone together to settle key decisions. We agreed to let everyone who wanted to speak have their say. Then we agreed to let every adult cast a ballot and take a fair vote. And if the vote ended in a tie, we agreed to let the three elders make the final decision.

     “As I look around, I see only a handful of the adults. We’re violating the very rules we put into place, that have served us well all this time. Not one of the elders is here to join in the debate. I propose we send food and water down to the prisoners and resume this discussion tomorrow, with everyone present, so we can do it the right way.

     “I mean for God’s sake, those are men down there. Yes, they may be evil, but they are human beings. They’ve been there for more than twenty four hours with no water, no food, strapped upright in a metal chair. We don’t even treat our animals that poorly. And we’re better than that.”

     Mark nodded his head.

     “She’s right, John. We’re violating our by-laws by trying to make such a decision without a quorum and without the elders. Let’s get everybody together after breakfast tomorrow. Our heads will be clear. We can let everyone have a turn to state their opinion, and we can put it to a vote.”

     Everyone else nodded or affirmed their agreement with the idea.

     Everyone except John.

     The group disbanded. Some of them went back to their apartments, or to the kitchen for a snack. A couple of them went to shoot pool in the recreation room, and some went to the lounge, where several of the school kids had taken a “field trip” to hear Joe Kenney play the guitar and sing silly songs for them.

     John slipped away quietly, unnoticed.

     Hannah, tired from spending the previous day cleaning her apartment, asked Sami and Sarah if they wanted to join her for a picnic lunch later.

     “We can go to the orchard and sit under the apple trees. Just sit there and feel the wind in our hair and enjoy the beautiful day.”

     “Should we invite the guys?”

     “Let’s not. They’ll just fart and burp and talk about boobs. They’ll spoil the whole thing.”

     The place was getting back to normal again, and the sense of serenity was returning.

     Then two gunshots rang out, a few seconds apart.

Chapter 27

     After the first shot, everyone froze in place.

     After the second, chaos ensued.

     It was obvious that the shots came from inside the building. Everyone except Helen, sitting at the control center, thought they were under attack again.

     Joe Kenney immediately stopped playing and told the kids to run to the kitchen and hide in the storage room.

     Hannah ran to the lounge to make sure that little Markie and the other children were okay.

     Sami, Mark and Brad immediately drew their side arms and started looking for the threat.

     Those who had returned to their apartments immediately locked their doors and turned on their radios for updates, just as they had been trained to do.

     Bryan ran to the security control desk to get a rifle and make his way to the top of the building.

     And John… well, John was nowhere to be found.

     As Bryan approached the security control desk he could see that Helen was distraught and close to tears. She pointed at the monitor from the basement utility room, and Bryan saw John untying the rope that held the two prisoners.

     And he watched as the two bodies tumbled to the floor.

     “I saw the whole thing,” Helen said. “I watched as he walked into the room and said something to David, who was standing guard. David left, and John stood there in his place. I just thought he was relieving David so he could get some breakfast.

     “Then, after David was gone, he locked the door, walked over to the prisoners, and took out his gun. And he just shot them in the head.”

     Bryan keyed the microphone on the base radio and said, “Everyone stand down, we’re all clear. Please go back to what you were doing. Mark, Brad, please meet me at the security desk.”

     David came around the corner and said, “What the hell was that all about?”

     “David, what did John say to you?”

     “He said he had nothing to do and was bored, so he was going to relieve me early. I said thanks, and left. Then I was down the hallway, almost to the stairs, and I heard two gunshots. I ran back and the door is locked. What happened in there?”

     “He executed the prisoners.”

     Mark and Brad arrived just in time to hear Helen say those chilling words. Hannah, Sarah and Sami were right behind them.

     All of them watched the monitor as John laid out the dead prisoners on the floor. Bright red blood rolled from the entry wounds in their foreheads, brain matter fell from the exit wounds in the backs of their shattered skulls.

     John unlocked the door and entered the hallway, then walked up the stairs. The group followed his every move, unsure where he was going or what was going to happen when he got there.

     John walked directly to the security control center, removed his pistol and holster from his belt and laid them on the counter, and turned to face the group.

     “Some of you may hate me for what I’ve done. I hope you live long enough to understand that sometimes you cannot place decisions like this in the hands of the faint hearted or meek. Sometimes when you feel so strongly that you’re right, you have to take matters into your own hands. Even when popular opinion is against you.

     “I resign as your security chief. And if you vote to banish me from your group, I will exit quietly and cause you no grief. If I fry in hell for what I’ve gone, at least I’ll do so with a clear conscience. I did what had to be done.”

     With that, he turned on his heels and walked away. Sami broke into tears and ran after him. The rest of the group stood there, pretty much in shock, not knowing what to do.

     No one said anything for a full two minutes. Again, they watched the monitors as John walked into the basement supply center they’d nicknamed “Walmart.”

     He walked directly to the shelf holding the bed sheets and selected two packages.

     Sami was behind him every step of the way. The group couldn’t hear the conversation, but she appeared to be pleading with him.

     He stopped long enough to hug his daughter, and to hold her. It appeared they were crying together.

     Then he held her at arm’s length, wiped her tears with his thumb, and kissed her on the forehead. Sami left him there, and he headed back to the utility room.

     Hannah was the first to speak.

     “Oh, John! What have you gone and done?”

     Sarah said, “I’m going to post a flyer on the dining room door. I want to call a meeting for tomorrow to discuss this.”

     Sami reentered the room, to find the group still watching the monitor. John was wrapping the bodies in the sheets. Bryan started to leave, saying “He’s going to need some help.”

     “No.” Sami was adamant. He said to tell you all this was his idea, and he will deal with it alone.

     But Bryan was just as adamant.

     “Screw that. We’re a team, right or wrong. And whether he was justified in what he did, we’re still a team. There are no isolationists in this group, no matter what the circumstances.”

     He walked out the door.

     Sami looked at the group and said to no one in particular, “I just want to go on record as saying that if you banish my father from the compound, I’ll be going with him.”

     She looked at Brad, unsure how he would react to her statement.

     She needed not worry. He walked to her and took her hand, and said “So will I.”

     Sami and Brad walked away, and the group fell into dead silence. There seemed to be nothing left to say.

Chapter 28

     Bryan went to the barn and retrieved the same all-terrain forklift they’d used to move the previous batch of bodies to the grave site. He drove it over to the west exit door of the big house and killed the engine.

     Then he walked into the big house and to the stair case that led to the basement, to find John struggling to drag the first of the bodies up the stairs.

     Without a word, he walked past John, and picked up the body by its feet.

     The two carried the body out the door and placed it upon the wooden pallet on the front of the forklift.

     John faced his friend, but didn’t say anything. Bryan put a hand on John’s shoulder and rested it there for just a brief second. It was all that was needed to be said. John wasn’t in this alone.

     The two brought the second body up the stairs and placed it on the wooden pallet next to the first.

     Bryan climbed back in the driver’s seat and fired the forklift back up. John climbed on the running board and held on as Bryan slowly drove across the bumpy ground to the trash burn area. Neither said a word along the way.

     They arrived at the place where they’d buried the other four bodies, only to find Mark on the Bobcat finishing up another trench.

     It took the three of them just a few minutes to place the bodies in the grave and cover them up with the second Bobcat.

     John said, “Thank you for your help. I’ve still got some mopping and cleaning up to do.”

     He turned to walk away, but Mark called out to him.

     “Hey, John!”

     John stopped and turned around.

     “We’re with you on this.”

     John didn’t say anything. He merely nodded his head, then went to finish his task.

     There were two distinct camps.

     One side saw John’s act for what it was: a desperate attempt to protect the people he loved from further attack.

     The other side only saw the brutality in what he did. Shooting unarmed men, regardless of the circumstance, was against God’s laws and the laws of civil society.

     The mood remained somber the rest of the day. John skipped lunch entirely that day. He’d simply lost his appetite while dragging the bodies of the men he’d killed.

     For dinner, he chose to stay in his room instead of joining the rest of the group in the dining room.

     Sami and Brad got their own food, fixed an extra plate for John, and retired to John’s apartment to have dinner with him.

     John stopped eating after the third bite. He still had no appetite. He looked at Sami and said, “If I go, I want the two of you to stay here. There’s no reason for you to be outcast. You did nothing wrong.”

     Sami said, “Neither did you, Dad. The only thing you were guilty of was using your brain to think things through to their logical conclusion. The others were thinking with their hearts and not their heads. If they used their heads they would have come to the same conclusion you did. Those men had to go. There was just no other way.”

     Brad, to lighten the mood, tried to inject a bit of levity into the discussion.

     “We have to go with you, John. I’ve eaten your cooking. It’s disgusting, and you’d starve to death within a week without Sami to cook for you.”

     It fell flat.

     After dinner, the three watched two movies in John’s room. There were several knocks at the door, but they went unanswered.

     When John announced he was tired and wanted to get a shower and go to bed, Sami and Brad finally left.

     They retired to their own room, where they stayed up long into the night. Between the two of them, they killed half a fifth of Jose Cuervo and commiserated about the sorry state of the world.

     And how quickly friends can turn on each other when both parties have their hearts in the right place, but don’t see eye to eye.

     Throughout the rest of the building, debates were raging. John’s act pitted husbands against wives, hawks against doves, humanitarians against the more aggressive.

     And Christians against non believers.

     It was quiet in Hannah and Mark’s bed. There was no animosity between them, though.

     Nor any anger.

     Hannah knew which side Mark came down on.

     She, on the other hand, hadn’t decided where she stood. She was torn between her conscience, which said the killings were pointless and tantamount to murder, and her love and respect for John.

     She knew that John was convinced in his own mind that the men would be a major threat if they were released. And perhaps he was right. Perhaps he was the only one clear minded enough to do what had to be done.

     Perhaps.

Chapter 29

     It was obvious that Bryan and Sarah were arguing over the matter. From the time they walked into the dining room for breakfast, neither of them spoke to another soul. The snarling faces each of them wore bore a definite “stay back” message, and the others were more than happy to oblige.

     There was a sense that to address either of them, even in the friendliest of manners, might result in getting one’s head bitten off.

     They sat at the same table during breakfast, but said nary a word to each other.

     Several in the crowd hoped that this wouldn’t damage their relationship. They’d always been a considerate and loving couple. In fact, no one had ever really seen them argue before.

     The mood was grim, and would have been even without the troubles that Bryan and Sarah were obviously having.

     Word had gotten around that following breakfast, there would be a meeting of grave importance. The group would be asked to debate, and then to decide whether to banish one of their own.

     For more than seven years they’d been together. They’d endured some very hard times and ridden out some very tough storms. But never before had they been asked to consider such an option.

     And no one took it lightly.

     John was one of the senior members of the group, and one of its father figures. He was always the first to lend a hand and the first to say a kind word. In short, he was loved by everyone.

     But this… this thing that he had done…

     Some things just cannot be forgiven.

     When John came into the room, flanked by Sami and Brad, the room fell completely silent.

     They sat in a corner table, far from the group, as though banishing themselves from everyone else’s company. That was fitting, for all three of them felt like outcasts.

     Within a minute of their arrival, Bryan quietly got up and moved over to John’s table. He asked to sit in the fourth chair, and John nodded.

     As Bryan sat down, a collective gasp went through the room. Bryan had chosen his side, and it wasn’t with his wife. A couple of the women began to weep.

     For Sarah’s part, she retained her composure. Bryan’s action might cause a permanent rift in their relationship. It might mean she’d make his life a living hell for a very long time.

     It might even mean her heart was breaking. But she’d never show it. She was resolved to stay strong, and finished her meal in silence.

     Even when Hannah got up and took Bryan’s seat, and placed her right hand atop Sarah’s, she didn’t look up.

     She couldn’t. She was on the verge of losing it, and all it might take would be the look of sadness on her best friend’s face.

     John, Sami and Brad chose to skip breakfast. They just wanted to get this over with. Breakfast didn’t mean much after you wore out your welcome. In their minds, there was only one question that needed to be answered: did they still have a home here?

     After most of the trays had been returned to the dishwasher’s table, Mark stood up and walked to the front of the group. Seven years before, when the group was getting settled in their new home and selected their form of government, they’d selected Mark as their speaker. It was an honorary position, and had no real power behind it. It just meant it was his job to start the meetings and to keep them flowing in an orderly fashion.

     “Good morning all. I’m looking around and I notice that most of you have finished eating. I don’t want to rush anyone. If you’re still eating, please continue. I want to go ahead and get this over with.”

     John stood up in the back of the room. In a flashback to his days as a U.S. Marine, he stood at rapt parade rest, his feet shoulder length apart and his hands cupped behind his back. He said not a word.

     Mark continued.

     “You all know why we’re here. I won’t pretend it’s not a sorry reason to be here. I know that every single one of us wants to be somewhere else. But several of you have requested a meeting to discuss what happened yesterday, and our bylaws require us to comply.”

     He turned in John’s direction and said, “John, you’re the first to stand. Does that mean you’d like to speak first?”

     He merely nodded.

     “Very well, then. The floor is yours.”

     John took a deep breath and got started.

     “You all know me well. You know I’m a man of few words, so I’ll make this brief.

     “You also know I’m not a man who begs for anything. I will not beg you to let me stay here, and I will not beg you to forgive me, for two different reasons.

     “I won’t beg you to let me stay because I am too proud to. Pride is a wonderful thing. But it can also be a terrible hindrance. In this case I’m not sure which one applies.

     “This is my home. I’m happy here. I love each and every one of you, and I’d like to stay. But if that’s not to be, then I will leave quietly and find my own way. I will survive out there, and quite possibly thrive out there. I’ll need no pity from anyone, and will accept no help.

     “As for your forgiveness, I refuse to ask any of you for that, for a simple reason…

     “Because I was right in what I did. And when one does something he knows to be right, there is nothing to forgive. No matter how distasteful it may be.”

     “I’ve seen the worst things that one man can do to another. I once saw the aftermath when Iraqi rebels hung a woman by her feet and gutted her like a fish. While she was still alive. Just because they suspected her of speaking with American soldiers. When I worked homicide I saw people who’d been decapitated. Burned to death. Gang raped unmercifully, and then killed in ways I won’t even discuss here.

     “I, more than any of you, know first hand what bad men are capable of.

     “And here’s the thing with bad men…

     “When they are cowed, like when they’re in shackles in jail or in a suit in a courtroom, they can appear to be almost civilized. Almost human. They can even appear to be sympathetic, or harmless.

     “But you can’t let that fool you. You can never let your guard down. You must always be wary. Because when those same men are back in their element, with the shackles and suits off, they will always go back to being bad men. It’s at their very core. They simply cannot help themselves.

     “In my heart I know I did the right thing. In my heart I know I saw things in those men that most of you could not see. Does that mean I broke one of God’s commandments? Certainly. Does that mean I broke the laws of our state? Certainly.

     “Would I do it again? Certainly.

     “Because my first allegiance is to all of you. Before the state of Texas. And as much as I hate to say it, before the commandments of God. I am willing to let God judge me for that, and He will someday. Of that I am certain. And if he finds me wrong for what I did, then I will accept my fate. I will not beg God for forgiveness, any more than I will beg you.

    “I want you to know that I did what I did because my conscience told me to. Now you all have a very important decision to make. Do what I did. Go with your conscience. I love each of you. You’ve become my family. I won’t hold it against any of you if you think me unfit to be in your company.

     “In fact, so that my presence doesn’t sway your judgment or pressure you in any way, I am going to excuse myself from the rest of the proceedings. I assume that after your decision is made, someone will inform me of my fate.”

     With that, John turned and walked out of the room.

     Sami and Brad looked at each other, unsure what to do. They hadn’t expected him to leave. They’d expected him to stay and answer the others’ questions, to restate his position if he had to.

     For a few precious seconds, they struggled with a decision, to stay or to follow him out. If they left, they gave up the opportunity to advocate on his behalf. And to vote. If the vote was close, they might be the deciding factor.

     But Sami knew her father well. If the vote was that close… if that many people no longer wanted him around, then he’d rather leave anyway.

     In the end, Sami and Brad got up from the table and walked out behind John.

     Bryan felt foolish and abandoned, but he kept his seat. By God, there would be at least one person in the room who would be fighting for John’s side.

Chapter 30

     Mark cleared his throat and said, “Very well, then. We’ll give everyone a chance to say what’s on their mind, as long as it takes to get this done. Then, when everyone has had their say, we’ll put it to a vote. Who’d like to go first?”

     Karen stood up, and started speaking before even being recognized.

     “You all know me. You know I almost never get involved in the politics of running this place. I usually just sit back like a quiet little mouse and teach the children and water my plants and seldom get involved. But I will say this… John is a good man. A decent man. And probably the most honest man I’ve ever met. If he says those men were a threat to us, then I believe him without reservation. I don’t like the way he dealt with it. But if he felt that was the only option open for him, then I support his decision.”

     She sat back down.

     Sarah raised her hand, and Mark nodded in her direction.

     “Karen, I love you like my own mother. You are a very dear friend and I would do anything for you. But you’re missing the point. John was right when he admitted that what he did was a crime. And beyond that, it was a sin against God. He broke one of the commandments. He didn’t cheat at poker. He didn’t eat more than his share of the pie. He killed two men who were not only unarmed, they were tied to chairs. And he shot them point blank. How can we expect our children, and their children, to live honest and decent lives, if we tolerate such behavior? However well intentioned John’s actions were, they were just wrong. Legally, morally, and in the eyes of God.”

     She sat back down.

     Joe stood up and asked to speak next.

     “I like John as much as anyone. He’s done a great job in keeping us safe. But Sarah is right. If we allow this thing to go unanswered, if we allow people to be murdered when they don’t have the means to resist, then aren’t we just as bad as the men who attacked us? If we pick and choose which laws and commandments we want to obey, and break the others, then what kind of people have we become?”

     “Let me tell you what kind of people we’ve become,” said Bryan, standing and walking to the front of the room.

     “We’ve become the kind of people who are facing a new reality in a newly dangerous world. We are doing what we have to do to survive, and to protect those closest to us.

     “We are the type of people who have come to accept that the legal system no longer exists. That there are no longer police departments who can swoop in with their lights flashing and their sirens blaring to rescue us from evil. We have to do that ourselves now. There is no more 911.

     “And in the absence of laws and lawmen, we have to make decisions that we think are the best way to go to protect our loved ones and property. That’s all John did. Whether you agree with him or not, that’s all he did. He made a decision based on his own experience and what he believed the threat to be.

     “He didn’t turn into a mass murderer who is going to shoot us all in our sleep. He didn’t take his morals and his religious beliefs and cast them aside as though they no longer mattered. He is still a man of God. And the fact that he risked an eternity in hell to protect our lives has got to account for something.

     “I love my wife dearly. Even though we don’t always agree with things. But I find fault in something she said. She said that John committed a sin against God by shooting two men who couldn’t defend themselves.

     “But if that is the standard we’re going by now, then I’m just as guilty. I shot one of the men at the gate, then the man on the roof. Neither man was an immediate threat to me. Sure, they would have been in the future, but at the time I killed them one was standing at the gate and the other was sitting down smoking a cigarette.

     “So by your standards I committed two murders just like John did. Are you going to banish me too? Because that’s what needs to happen if you’re going to be consistent. If you banish John for killing others to protect you, then you have to afford me the same punishment.

     “But by the same token, if you give me a pass for killing men who were no immediate threat, but would have been in the future, then you have to give John that same pass.”

     Bryan walked back over to Sarah’s table and sat down beside her. He held out his hand and she took it. Then she scooted her chair over to his and placed her head on his shoulder.

     Mark added his own two cents to piggyback on what Bryan had said.

     “There is some merit to Bryan’s words. I threw the switches that collapsed the mine that killed seven men. And I shot and killed a man during the first assault. A lot of us have killed since this ordeal began. Many of us will likely kill again. And more of you who haven’t yet taken a life may be called upon to do so. Why don’t we save the judgment for God, and not presume that we have a right to judge a man for trying to save us from what he perceived to be a real danger?”

     The meeting dragged on for two hours. Everyone who wanted to had their say. Some stood two or three times.

     And finally, everyone was talked out.

     Mark took his turn again.

     “Okay, I guess it’s time to vote. Because of the sensitivity of the issue, we have the option of voting by secret ballot. That way no one will know for certain how anyone else voted, and it should cut down on the animosity afterwards. That’s an option. Or, we can make it an open vote, so everyone knows where everyone else stands. I’d like to take a vote on that first. By a show of hands, everyone who would like to vote by secret ballot, please raise your hands. Karen, we all trust you. Would you take the count, please?”

     Karen looked around the room and counted hands.

     “We have twenty one votes for a secret ballot.”

     “Very well. The motion carries. Hannah will pass out slips of paper and pencils to everyone. Debbie, I understand that Helen asked you to vote by proxy on her behalf, since she’s got all the kids at the schoolhouse. And also Jason at the security desk. Is that correct?”

     Debbie nodded her head.

    “Hannah, please give Debbie three slips of paper.”

     He waited until Hannah passed the paper and pencils to everyone in the room and looked around to make sure she didn’t miss anyone.

     “Very well. Let’s make this simple. Please write the word “STAY” if you want John to remain in our group. Write the word “GO” if you want to banish him. Then fold your paper in half, and Hannah will come back around to collect them.

     In the end, even after all the deliberation, the vote was unanimous. John was still part of the family, and was still wanted in the group. There were those among them who would never forgive him for what he did.

     But no one wanted to see him go.

Chapter 31

     Mark went to share the news with John, Sami and Brad. He found them sitting under the largest apple tree in the orchard.

     He approached them with some apprehension. He knew that as the spokesman for the group, he would be the recipient should John lash out in rage over the process.

     But John sat stoically, as was his habit. He was a man who didn’t get upset easily, regardless of the circumstances.

     Sami, on the other hand, was a fireball. If the vote had gone the other way, Mark fully expected that John and Brad would have had to drag her off of him.

     “It was unanimous,” he said. “Everyone wants you to stay.”

     John exhaled, and the others noticed for the first time that he’d been holding his breath. He was relieved. Sure, he was capable of surviving on his own in the world outside the compound. And as he told the others, he might even have thrived.

     But this was his home now, and these people had become his family.

     And he didn’t want to leave.

     Mark reached behind him and removed a gun and holster from the back of his belt.

     “And I’d appreciate it if you’d consider resuming your role as security chief. No one else wants the stinking job, and no one else would be anywhere near as good as you.

     “You’ve kept us all alive to this point. I suspect you’ll keep us all alive long into the future.”

     John took the weapon from Mark’s hand and studied it. Without looking up, he asked, “Does everyone else share your view?”

     “I don’t know, John. We didn’t discuss it. I suspect most do. I also suspect there are a few who don’t. But as you said, you can’t always make important decisions based on public opinion. Those who don’t will get over it, I reckon. This is just a personal request from me, to one of my very best friends.”

     John stood and clipped the holster to his belt.

     “I expect there’s a lot of healing to be done. I imagine time will take care of that.”

     He looked of in the direction of the big house, and saw Sarah approaching them at a fast clip. His gaze got the attention of the others, and they watched her as she crossed the field to them.

     No one knew her intent. John braced himself for what she might say. Brad and Sami stood to protect him if necessary.

     But as she got closer, they could see the tears streaming from her eyes.

     Instead of harsh words, she reached out her arms and hugged John.

     “Oh, John, I’m so sorry. I was just so caught up being my judgmental self that I didn’t even consider your point of view. I haven’t been a friend to you, and that was stupid of me. I’ve been a total bitch.”

     She held John and noticed Brad and Sami watching her, intently.

     “You two can argue with me about the bitch part if you want.”

     Sami pulled out a respectable impersonation of former President George H.W. Bush and said, “No… not gonna do it…”

     Sarah smiled. She drew back from John, and he smiled too.

     He said, “Hey, you don’t have to back away so soon, you know. It’s not often an old codger like me gets to hug on a pretty young woman like you.”

     Sami looked shocked and said, “Dad!”

    Sarah hugged him once again quickly and backed away again.

     “We’ll have to wait a little bit longer to start our crazy love affair, John. My husband and I still aren’t on the best of terms. We’re walking on thin ice right now.”

     “Well, I suspect there’s going to be a lot of that going on over the next weeks and months.”

     “Would y’all come back in now? It’s way too late for breakfast, but I’m sure you’re famished. The kitchen staff is just about to ring the lunch bell.”

     Sarah hugged Sami too, and apologized again.

     “I don’t know what I would do if you had left. A part of my heart would have gone with you.”

     “I know, girlfriend. I would have felt the same way. So let’s put it behind us and move on. And let’s go get something to eat. For the very first time in your life you’re right about something. I am famished.”

Chapter 32

     The tension was heavy the next few days, but things eventually got back to normal. Even those who refused to forgive John for what he’d done accepted it. And no one could argue his point that he’d seen far more ugliness in the world than anyone else in the group. And perhaps he indeed had a unique perspective that no one else could muster.

     Another thing that helped clear the tension was that it was a very busy time. For nine straight days following John’s reprieve, every adult in the group, except for the two school teachers and the security staff, was in the fields helping plant crops.

     They’d been unsure whether their seven year old seeds would even come up. But Karen had planted test crops in her greenhouse before the assault and evacuation. And she reported that more than eighty percent of the seeds sprouted. It wasn’t the best case scenario, but it could have been much worse.

     And considering that they didn’t expect to actually consume much of this crop, it was an acceptable figure. The bulk of this crop would be put aside, to provide more and newer seeds the following season. In the meantime, they still had plenty to eat to get them through another year. The plants in the greenhouses would get them by, when coupled with the fruit and nuts in the orchard, the dry stock they still had in their food stores, and the poultry and livestock in their barns. The animals had plenty of sacks of feed as well, and the fourth field would be allowed to go to hay for bailing in case the feed ran short.

     And in a couple of weeks, their three main fields would be lush with the green seedlings of the corn, wheat and sorghum plants.

     All was well.

     Or so everyone thought.

     But as is often the case, an idyllic situation is frequently shattered. After all, this bunch had never had it easy. The gods of fate apparently liked that arrangement.

     John was helping Bryan hook up the two inch aluminum sprinkler pipe running from the well pump to the irrigator when a frantic call came over the radio.

     “John, Mark, Bryan, Brad, come to security immediately. We have company.”

      Marty Haskins had led a sometimes rough life. He’d been expelled from high school his senior year for fighting and never graduated. He eventually got his GED, but only after he’d developed an affinity for driving a truck. It was something he was good at, it paid fairly well, and he didn’t need a “stinkin’ college degree” to do it.

     The life of an over the road trucker wasn’t an easy one, though. For years he wasn’t in a relationship that lasted for more than a few months. Women need more than a man can give them for two or three days out of ten.

     When he was thirty, he finally fell in love with a woman he thought loved him back. And he almost gave up trucking for her. Almost, meaning he switched from over the road to local so he was home every night. The marriage resulted in a quick pregnancy and a bouncing baby boy came the following spring.

     Everything seemed well, until the baby died of SIDS at six months old.

     It was nobody’s fault, the doctors told them. It just happens sometimes. Erin, the wife, went into a deep funk that lasted for months. Marty himself lost all faith in God and parenthood. He decided that he missed the road more than he’d miss being married. So as soon as Erin was well enough to care for herself again, he bid her farewell.

     She took it well, and was remarried within a year. Within five years she had a healthy brood of four children. Marty always said she was the most fertile woman on earth. Or maybe she was just trying to cover her hurt at the loss of her first.

     Marty went back to satisfying his needs with an occasional one night stand with a bar room pickup. In his forties, he traded that for something akin to a sailor’s life: a girl in every town. He stayed on good terms with all of them. Lavished him with praise and gifts and treated them like queens. They were always happy to see him when he came.

     But oddly enough, they were almost as happy to see him go.

     Through it all, it would have been easy for Marty Haskins to become cynical and mad at the world. But he’d managed to keep his good nature and his sense of right and wrong.

     And that’s what brought him on this day to the narrow private road which led from Highway 83 to the compound. It’s what led him to take that road, and to park his Kenworth tractor in front of the high black fence.

     And it’s what made him approach the security camera on top of the fence and hold up a hand made sign that read:

I MEAN YOU NO HARM.

I JUST WANT TO TALK.

     The signs placed on the fence every few yards warned that the facility belonged to the United States government.

     It warned that entry would be dangerous, that there were deadly biological agents stored inside.

     It was a ruse that Bryan and Mark had hatched right after the compound was built, to help scare away prowlers.

     Bryan, at the control center watching on a monitor now, said, “Give him a minute to notice the signs. Then he’ll get the hell out of Dodge.”

     John said, “No, he won’t. He had that sign made before he got here. He didn’t just stumble across the place. And he walked with a real sense of purpose. He knows the signs are bogus. The question is, how much more does he know and what does he want?”

     He turned to Mark and Bryan, and said, “I’m going out there. He doesn’t appear to be armed. I’ll take him at his word for now. But you two get on the roof in case he’s got friends in the woods and something ugly happens.

     Mark and Bryan grabbed rifles from the rack behind the console and headed for the stairs leading to the roof.

     Brad, you come with me to the walk-through gate and lock it behind me. Don’t let me back in until Helen tells you I’m alone and not under duress.

     Helen, sitting behind the console, asked, “Do you want me to step aside and let someone more experienced take the desk?”

     “Oh, no, dear. You’re a fine controller. Just keep your eyes open and report anything you see that’s suspicious.”

     Hannah also came to see what the commotion was all about.

     “I’ll stay here and assist you if you need it, Helen.”

Chapter 33

     “Here,” John said to Brad as he handed him the gun from his belt. “If he really is a friendly, I don’t want to spook him.”

     John exited the walk through gate and walked down the fence line toward the stranger with the sign.

     As he drew closer, he called out, “Hello, stranger. How can I help you?”

     “Actually, I’m here to help you. My name is Marty.”

     Marty extended his hand. John saw no reason not to take it.

     “John. I’m the chief of security here. Help us in what way?”

     “My partner and I run a truck stop a few miles away in Junction. The Trucker’s Paradise truck stop.”

     “I remember it well from before the freeze. I ate at the diner many times.”

     “Well, these days the diner is closed. Not much to cook. We keep the shelves stocked with pastas and other edibles from the abandoned trucks at the truck stop and along the highways. We consider it corporate America’s contribution to getting the country back on its feet.”

     Marty was obviously a friendly sort, and as such sometimes took the long way to get to his point. John was patient and didn’t interrupt.

     “Anyway, most of the folks who stop in to see us are friendly and appreciative of what we’re doing. But occasionally we get a glimpse of the ugly side also. Occasionally bad men come in. Men who would just as soon kill you as look at you.

     “And that’s why I’m here… to warn you that some such men are looking around these parts, trying to find you.”

     “I don’t understand. Why?”

     “There were four of them. Led by a big fella. Brown beard and pony tail. Looked a lot like Grizzly Adams, except his arms were both covered in tattoos.

     “They came into the truck stop not long ago. Said they were told of a place with a high black fence around it. Said this place had livestock and greenhouses for growing produce.”

     “So what made you think that might be us?”

     “Several years ago, when this place was under construction, I drove a load of steel out here. I might be wrong. It was a long time ago, and my mind plays tricks on me sometime. But I could have sworn the invoice said the steel was for a greenhouse.

     “Now, like I say, it was a long time ago. And I might be totally wrong. But these men, they were pretty upset. They said the people who told them about the place were going to leave them out in the cold. And they said they were determined to find the place and raid it, and take whatever was in it.

     “I thought you might want to know that.”

     Marty turned and started to leave.

     “Hold on a minute. You could have walked into an ambush if their friends already raided us. Why would you risk your life to warn us? You don’t even know us.”

     Marty turned and walked back.

     “Oh, I don’t know. I wasn’t going to. I mean, my fighting days are long over. Mostly these days I just try to keep a low profile and avoid trouble.

     “But over the last few days it’s been hard for me to sleep at night. My conscience has been arguing with my common sense. My common sense says to stay out of it and mind my own business. And my conscience says there’s been way too much killing already. And if I can do something to help save some innocent people I should do it.”

     John sensed the sincerity in Marty’s voice. He held his hand out again and said, “Thank you, friend. If what you say is true, you may well have saved the lives of twenty women and children.”

     “Well, my conscience will be happy to hear that. And you know what? I’m glad my conscience won the argument.”

     “Me too. In any event, I feel I owe you a debt of gratitude. I’ll come and see you after the dust settles and return the favor.”

     “Oh, you don’t have to do that. I was just doing the right thing, that’s all. I haven’t always done that in my life. I’m glad that this time I was able to help. It’s a good feeling.”

     And with that he climbed back in his Kenworth tractor and drove away, leaving John watching the black diesel exhaust rolling from his chrome smokestacks.

Chapter 34

     John’s plan was to go back to the security console and call in all the key players to assemble there. But they beat him to the punch. Everyone was already gathered around the console, anxious to find out what the visitor wanted.

     Helen observed, “Well, whoever he was he looked like a friendly enough sort. You shook hands twice and seemed to have a friendly conversation.”

     “Oh, he was amiable enough, but he brought bad news.”

     “Uh oh. How so?”

     “He said there’s a second group of men who know about us and are out there looking for us.”

     Hannah covered her mouth. Sarah gasped. Sami said, “Oh my. What do we do?”

     John spoke as though he had considered the possibility and had already formed a game plan.

     Or maybe because of his background, he just thought faster than the others.

     “I want to be more proactive this time. No more just sitting here like fish in a barrel waiting for someone to attack. We’re gonna fix some holes in our security system.”

     “Okay. Like what, John?”

     “Mark, you told me once before that you’ve got some night vision cameras in a storage room somewhere, right?”

     “Yes. Both traditional light expansion and heat sensitive. Why?”

     “How long would it take to replace all the cameras on the fence, and to add cameras in key places in the woods? So we can spot people trying to sneak up on us, even when it’s dark?”

     “I don’t know. A couple or three days. I can also put a three hundred sixty degree array on the ham radio antenna on Salt Mountain. The heat cameras have a range of three hundred yards, so that’ll give us a good birds-eye view of the whole area.”

     “Okay, good. Would you work on that? Have Bryan and Joe provide cover for you while you’re out there, and keep a ladder up against the fence so you can scramble over real quick if you have to.”

     “Brad, those tractor trailers parked by the truck stop on Highway 83. Didn’t you say that some of the drivers left the keys in the ignitions when they abandoned them?”

     “Yes, we saw a few of them like that. Why?”

     “Do you think they’d start after all this time?”

     “Maybe. Maybe not. We’d have to agitate the diesel fuel in the tanks to mix it. By now the gunk in the fuel has settled to the bottom and would clog the filter and kill the engine fairly quickly.”

     “Any way around that?”

     “Well, we can add some fuel stabilizer, poke a stick down in there and stir it up as best we could. Clean the fuel filter and drain some of the gunky fuel. Then add some fresh diesel. Ether the hell out of the engine to get it cranked. Should be able to get it going.”

     “Think the batteries would still be good?”

     “I seriously doubt it. They would at least be deader than doornails, and maybe completely shot.”

     “How would we get around that?”

     “We can take our own tractor out there and try to jump it.”

     “You can jump start an eighteen wheeler?”

     “Sure. You can jump start just about anything, unless the batteries are shot. Then we’ll have to switch out the batteries with good ones.”

     “Okay. You sound like you know what you’re doing. If we can pull one of those trucks down here from the truck stop, can we park it across the end of our road, and make it look like the truck just broke down there?”

     “Sure. We can put out some warning triangles, raise the hood like a trucker would do if he were disabled.

     But why are we going to go through all that trouble?”

     “If they’re coming, I want to deny them use of our road. I know they can just park their vehicles there and come in on foot. But making them do that will buy us some time. And it’ll prevent them from doing what they did last time and ramming our gate.”

     “Okay, makes sense.”

     “I’ll work with you on this project while the other guys are changing out the cameras. Once we’re done with both projects we’ll start digging again.”

     Mark asked, “Digging? To where?”

     “Remember that abandoned cabin just west of the camp? About fifty yards or so, in thick trees?”

     “Yeah, I remember. An old hunting shack that hasn’t been used in decades. Pretty much falling apart, as I recall.”

     “Yes. I want to build a second tunnel that exits underneath that cabin floor.”

     “Why?”

     “So if they set up camp or rendezvous in the woods around us, we can come and go quietly without being seen.”

     “Okay, but why?”

     “For search and destroy missions. We’re shifting from a purely defensive mode to one where we can play offense too.”

Chapter 35

     The cameras only took two days to replace. They now had the capability to see anyone approaching, from any direction, day or night, for up to three hundred yards.

     “Ain’t no way anyone’s getting in here without getting spotted.” Mark remarked.

     John was a bit more skeptical.

     “Don’t get too excited, my friend. Knowing they’re coming is a good thing. But we still have to repel them.”

     Moving the eighteen wheeler from the highway in front of the truck stop to block the road to the compound was a bit more of an effort. There was so much gunk settled in the bottom of the fuel tanks that it kept clogging the fuel filters.

     Brad finally drilled holes in the bottoms of the tanks to drain them. Then he plugged them with chewing gum and added just enough clean fuel to get them the few miles they needed to go.

     When he got to the road leading to the compound, he pulled over to the shoulder to block its access. Then he got out of the rig, raised the hood, and put orange warning triangles behind the truck.

     “What can we do to make sure nobody does the same thing we did, and just hotwire it to move it out of the way?”

     “Trust me,” Brad said. “When I’m done with this, they won’t even be able to drag it out of the way.

     Brad crawled underneath the trailer and cut the air lines. Without compressed air the brakes would not release. The trailer was instantly turned into a forty ton paperweight.

     But he wasn’t done yet. He cut the lines to the tractor as well. Then he drained the oil from the engine and removed the chewing gun from the fuel tanks to let what was left of the diesel pour onto the ground.

     “I doubt the EPA will be coming around to fine us,” he told John. “If they even exist, I imagine they’ve got better things to worry about.”

     They were just finishing up and getting ready to walk back to the compound when David’s warning came over the radio.

     “Vehicle approaching on Highway 83, westbound. It’ll be at your location in about a minute or so.”

     The pair took refuge in heavy shrubs, weapons at the ready, in case it was the attack they’d been waiting for.

     But it was just an old man in a pickup truck full of boxes. Apparently food and supplies he’d looted from one of the trailers at the truck stop.

     He passed them by without even slowing down, and from what John could see didn’t even give their disabled truck a second glance.

     It occurred to John that there were still families out there struggling to find food to survive. Most of the wildlife population was still decimated, so there wasn’t much meat to hunt.

     He figured that there was a new type of hunting now. Hunting through abandoned trucks and supermarkets looking for whatever food was still edible after seven long years.

     And he wondered how long it would be before the world returned to the way it once was.

     Once it was obvious the pickup truck wasn’t going to turn around and go back, David gave them the all clear.

     They finished up and started walking back to the compound.

     John’s radio came to life again.

     “John, this is Bryan. Come in.”

     “Go ahead, Bryan.”

     “Hey, I just wanted to see if you wanted to help me take some measurements when you’re finished.”

     “Measurements of what?”

     “Measurements from the old cabin to the fence line.”

     “Sure. We’re finished up and heading back in now. If you’re ready now I’ll just wait out here for you.”

     “10-4. I’ll be out in three minutes.”

     It took five, but it wasn’t a problem. It was a nice day, and John enjoyed being outside the compound’s walls. Even though there was an element of danger in being out, there was also a sense of freedom.

     It occurred to him that this was what it must feel like for a man getting released from prison after several years.

     Bryan came through the gate with an electronic tape measure, a long steel rod, and a sledge hammer. He met John and Brad as they were approaching the compound.

     “I saw on the monitor where you placed the truck. Good job. That should do a pretty effective job of keeping vehicle traffic out of here.”

     “Let’s hope so. So exactly what measurements are you looking for? And what’s the rod for?”

     “I have to measure the exact center of the cabin’s floor in relation to the corner of the compound’s wall, so we can plot the coordinates of the new tunnel.”

     Brad chuckled.

     “You have to plot the coordinates? Like, so you can boldly go where no man has gone before?”

     “Oh, shut up, bonehead. We have to plot the coordinates so that we don’t dig right past it and miss it. Our GPS will get us real close, like within nine feet or so, but that’s not good enough. We have to do it the old fashioned way, with precise measurements and geometry and other concepts your little brain just don’t understand.”

     John couldn’t resist joining in. “Well, excuse me, mister college graduate. So what’s the steel rod and sledge hammer for?”

     “Remember when we were digging the tunnel to the feed barn? We hammered this rod into the ground underneath the barn’s floor. It was what we aimed for. When we finally hit the steel rod, it told us to stop digging horizontally and dig up instead. We’ll do the same thing again. We’ll pull up a couple of floor planks, hammer this into the ground, and then put the planks back into place. After we finish the tunnel, we’ll revisit the cabin and make some kind of false floor that we can pull up to enter and exit through.”

     “Well, all righty then. Let’s get started.”

     Bryan took several measurements from different angles. The other two just watched, bored, not really understanding the science of marking a spot above ground so they could find it again from down below.

     But they trusted him to know what he was doing. He’d done the same thing with the feed barn’s tunnel, after all, and they were able to dig a perfectly straight tunnel almost three hundred yards and hit the rod dead center.

Chapter 36

     “Johnny Bravo, this is Frank Furter. Come in.”

     “Hi, Frank. This is Hannah Banana. Johnny is out and about right now. Can I pass a message to him?”

     “Yes. Tell him I’ve been worried about you guys. I’ve been trying to call you for a couple of weeks, and haven’t gotten a response.”

     “We had some problems with some bad guys and were away from the radio for a short time. But it’s resolved now and everything is okay again.”

     “I’m sorry to hear that, Hannah. If you ever need some help with bad guys again, let me know. And tell him I’m glad everything is okay again.”

     “Will do, Frank. And thank you”

     “You’re welcome. Frank Furter out.”

     Brad and Sami walked up to the console about that time.

     Sami said, “Go home, sweetie. I’ll take over now.”

     Hannah was surprised to see them.

     She double checked the shift schedule, hanging on the hall on a clipboard.

     “No, Karen is supposed to relieve me. Says so right here.”

     “We all know you can’t read, Hannah. And that schedule doesn’t have any pictures on it. So how do you know what it says?”

     “Funny. Not very. But a little bit.”

     “And Karen has a headache, so I told her I’d pull her shift.”

     Brad leaned over and kissed Sami and said, “Well, I wish I could stay here and watch the cat fight, but I have to go. We start digging the new tunnel this morning.”

     He started to walk away, and almost made it out of the lobby before Hannah’s words stopped him.

     “Hey, Brad!”

     He turned around.

     “How long are you guys going to be digging today?”

     “We’ll do what we did last time. We’ll stop at five sharp every day so we can make it to dinner at six.”

     “Okay. Kiss my husband for me, will you?”

     Brad grinned.

     “Well, that definitely ain’t gonna happen. But I’ll tell him you said hello.”

     He turned and walked away.

     Hannah turned back to Sami and said, “You know, Brad’s kinda cute. How’d he end up with you, anyway?”

     “I don’t know. He’s incredibly lucky, I guess. Why do you ask?”

     “Oh, just wondering.”

     Hannah got on the base radio and made a call.

     “Sarah, you got your radio on?”

     “What do you want, oh evil one?”

     “Sarah, do you have a minute to stop by the control center?”

     “Sure. Be there in a minute.”

     Sami studied her friend carefully. She could tell by the look on Hannah’s face that she was up to something.

     “Okay, girlfriend. What kind of plan are you hatching that’s likely going to get us into trouble?”

     Hannah feigned shock.

     She channeled her inner Scarlett O’Hara and managed a deep southern drawl.

     “Why, my dear Samantha… I just don’t have a clue what you’re referring to.”

     “My ass.”

     Sarah walked up.

     “Uh, oh. This is a bad sign. You two miscreants in the same room? Obviously trouble.”

     “Hi, Sarah dear,” Hannah started. “I had a lovely idea just a few minutes ago, while I was watching Brad walk away and noticed how good he looked in his Levis.”

     Sarah interrupted her.

     “I’ve noticed the same thing. I’ve always wondered why he settled for Sami.”

     Sami pretended to be offended.

     “Hey, you two. I’m right here, you know…”

     Hannah said, “Sami, did you ever tell Brad that we hid and watched them showering when they were digging the first tunnel?”

     “Are you kidding? He’d have killed me.”

     “Sarah, did you ever tell Bryan?”

     “Nope. I’ll take that secret with me to the grave.”

     The light came on in Sami’s head.

     “Hannah, are you suggesting…”

     Hannah grinned from ear to ear.

     Sarah said, “I don’t know. As much fun as that was, I’m afraid we already saw all the eye candy at the candy store. I doubt if the merchandize has changed any. And by the way, I was traumatized by that affair.”

     Hannah and Sami just looked at her.

     Hannah asked, “Really? Traumatized how?”

     Sarah smiled.

     “Ever since that day I’ve been jealous of Sami. And nobody in this world should ever be jealous of Sami. I mean, look at her… she’s Sami, for crying out loud.”

     “You’re just mad because I have better toys than you. You’re gonna be, what… six years old next month?”

     Hannah said, “You’re wrong, Sarah. The candy has changed at the candy store.”

     “How so?”

     “They’re stocking more candy now. Jason is helping them this time, remember?”

     All three of them laughed out loud. Jason was Debbie’s oldest son. A strapping young man of twenty two, he bore a striking resemblance to Brad Pitt.

     He was the object of Sarah’s desire the day she asked Bryan if they could convert to the Mormon faith so she could have more than one husband.

     Bryan had said, “Um… I don’t think that’s the way it works.”

     She’d countered, “Rats. Well, a girl can dream.”

     Now Sami and Sarah just looked at Hannah, trying to assess whether she was serious.

     Hannah said, “Hey, I’m just thinking out loud, okay?”

     Sami looked at Sarah.

     Sarah said, “Well, it is something to think about, isn’t it?”

     Sami smiled.

     “Let’s put it on the back burner and see how things play out.”

Chapter 37

     Two more weeks went smoothly by. The group was getting complacent, and John was starting the wonder if the threat was real. Marty Haskins had described the man at the truck stop as looking like Grizzly Adams, with a brown ponytail and a brown beard. Further, he had tattoos on both arms.

     But Marty hadn’t described any of the other men who came to the truck stop with him.

     John had assumed that since none of the men they’d killed at the compound looked like Grizzly Adams, that it was a different group of men.

     Was that an error on John’s part?

     He’d already seen that the men who attacked the compound lacked any sense of discipline. They were rag tag at best, and seemed to have no sense of camaraderie or group loyalty. They proved that by leaving one of their wounded outside the fence to die, and then shooting him when he crawled back for help.

     He had watched on the monitors as Hance yelled at Bennett. He couldn’t hear what was said, since none of the cams were wired for sound. But it was obvious from Hance’s body language that he didn’t like Bennett and was abusive to him.

     In such a group of men, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine a possibility that the group somehow fractured.

     Perhaps Grizzly Adams visited the truck stop before Hance and his bunch attacked the compound. Perhaps they were part of the same band, and Grizzly Adams argued with Hance. Perhaps Hance shot him and carried on the attack without him.

     Perhaps.

     But he couldn’t count on it.

     If a band of four men was indeed searching for the compound in the hill country around Junction, it wouldn’t be an easy task. There were literally hundreds of private roads and long driveways within a five square mile area. Many of them were service roads which led to overhead power lines, cell phone towers or radio antennas. Others belonged to utility or energy companies and led to oil and natural gas wells or wind turbines.

     Hundreds of others led to farms and ranches, or hunting lodges or girl and boy scout camps and church retreats.

     Finding one particular compound in the tangle of private roads in the area could take months. Or it could take days. It all depended on how lucky the men were.

     John smiled when he considered the possibility that some of the area residents might take care of the problem for them.

     Farmers and ranchers in Texas are an independent and defiant breed. They don’t cater to strangers showing up unannounced on their land, and generally consider them all thieves and troublemakers until they prove otherwise.

     Something else Texas farmers and ranchers share is a love for guns. And the willingness to use them when needed, to protect their property.

     John hoped that the four men, if they did exist, wandered upon the wrong ranch. And that the ranch, full of survivors and livestock they wanted to protect, sent the group away a few members short.

     In any event, the security measures needed to be done anyway. Whether these four men would attack soon or not, they’d identified holes in their security system during the first attack. The actions they’d taken recently, and the second tunnel currently under construction, would plug those holes.

     And even if these four men never attacked, they would always be susceptible to attack from outsiders. As long as they had things that others desperately wanted.

     “Hi, Dad. Anything going on?”

     Sami walked up and broke his train of thought.

     “Hi, honey. No, it’s actually pretty quiet. Are you here to relieve me already?”

     “Yes. I’m a little early, I know. But I was all caught up with my chores, and had nothing better to do. So happy early birthday.”

     He groaned.

     “My birthday’s not for another week. And to be honest, I was hoping you were going to forget.”

     “Oh, Daddy, that’s never gonna happen. How can I forget the birthday of the most wonderful father on earth?”

     “Honey, when you get as old as I am, you’ll realize that birthdays are nothing to celebrate. All they are is reminders that I’m getting older. How’s the shoulder, by the way?”

     “Good. I’m not wearing a bandage on the entrance wound anymore. Debbie says a few more days on the exit wound and she’ll stop bandaging it too. It’s still a little stiff, and I can’t lift the arm as high as the other one. But all in all I’m doing well.”

     “You got lucky, honey. I hope you know that.”

     “I know, Daddy. Getting shot sucks, and I don’t ever want to do it again. Once is enough.”

     “Well, since you’re here early, I think I’ll walk on over to the tunnel and see how the guys are doing.”

     “Don’t forget to wear your respirator. I was over there yesterday and they’re kicking up quite a bit of salt dust.”

Chapter 38

     John walked to the feed barn and slipped under the false floor, which had been propped up. He could instantly smell the salt.

     The first time he’d entered the mine, the smell surprised him. He’d never associated salt with having a smell. But it wasn’t an unpleasant smell, and he got used to it. Now, after being out of the mine for a few days, it seemed to draw him back. Like an old friend.

    At the foot of the steps someone had placed an old wooden coat rack. But the rack didn’t hold coats. It held hard hats and respirators.

     He tried on several of the hard hats and they all fell down and covered his eyes. He muttered that the men working the tunnel all must have big heads as he tightened the strap on the inside of one of them.

     Then he took a respirator off the rack and carried it into the tunnel, past a very noisy ventilation fan.

     Seventy yards into the tunnel he came to a branch he’d never been in before. The boys were moving fast. They’d only started the new tunnel two weeks before, and they were already so far into the new tunnel extension he couldn’t see them. Of course, the thick white cloud of fine powdered salt didn’t help his vision much, either.

     He put on his respirator and walked slowly into the milky white cloud. He could only see three or four feet in front of him, and moved at a snail’s pace so he wouldn’t crash headlong into one of the tunnelers.

     About fifty feet in, he finally came upon Bryan, using a commercial boring machine to drill holes at random ninety degree angles on the tunnel’s face.

     John stood and watched, fascinated by the process, for a full five minutes before anyone noticed he was there. Brad saw him out of the corner of his eye and waved, but didn’t say anything.

     The noise from the drill was deafening. John noticed that the four men were wearing ear plugs. He hadn’t thought to bring any, but he didn’t expect to be here long. He just wanted to check on the progress and see the process in action.

     After Bryan drilled a dozen or so holes, Mark tapped him on the shoulder and relieved him on the heavy drill. Mark drilled another dozen holes, until the entire face of the tunnel was pockmarked with holes about eight inches deep.

     Then Mark put the borer off to the side, and Bryan and Jason each took a heavy metal bar and inserted them into two of the holes.

     Working the metal bars up and down and then to each side, they were able to break off huge chunks of the hard packed rock salt, which fell to the floor in a debris pile. As the chunks fell, Brad dragged them back out of the way with a heavy metal garden rake.

     Brad then used a snow shovel to scoop up the debris and dump it into a long line of orange Home Depot paint buckets that were queued up along the tunnel wall.

     Bryan wiped a heavy coating of salt dust from his wristwatch and then tapped each man on the shoulder. When they looked at him he pointed to his watch.

     The international symbol for “break time.”

     John turned to exit the tunnel with them, until Mark yelled at him. John turned back to see Mark pointing at the filled orange buckets, and then held up two fingers.

     The bastards were putting him to work.

     He picked up two of the heavy buckets and headed back to the main part of the tunnel, then continued into the mine. Up the steps and to the right he went, with the four men behind him, each of them carrying their own buckets. They stopped just long enough to remove their respirators, and for the four tunnelers to take the plugs out of their ears.

     Halfway down the mine’s Bay 24 they came to a huge pile of tunnel debris. John dumped his buckets onto the pile and then placed the empties onto a stack. The others followed suit.

     “Welcome to hell, John!” Mark shouted. “Nice to see you.”

     “If I knew you were going to put me to work, I wouldn’t have come by to visit.”

     “Hey, it’s the rule. Nobody leaves the tunnel for any reason without carrying out two buckets. It’s how we keep the filled buckets from backing up on us in there. Anytime we take a break, anytime we go to lunch, anytime we take a leak… two buckets go with us.”

     John couldn’t resist a smile.

     “Do you know how ridiculous you guys look?”

     The four tunnelers, to be sure, were a sight to behold. Covered with a thick coating of salt dust from top to bottom, except for their heads and faces. Those had been covered with their respirators and hard hats.

     They more resembled walking, talking snowmen than human beings.

     “Oh, laugh if you will, John. If you stayed in there for more than a few minutes you’d look like this too.”

     “No, thanks. I have enough trouble retaining my dignity already without looking like the Michelin man.”

     Then he got serious.

     “That’s quite a system you guys have going in the tunnel.”

     “Yeah. We’ve learned a lot since the first tunnel. The method we’re using now goes a lot faster, and it’s a lot less labor intensive. We’re moving right along at a pretty good clip.”

     “How long before you think you’ll finish?”

     “Maybe a month. Maybe a little bit less. We’ve got a big logistical problem we’re going to have to solve first.”

     “What do you mean, a logistical problem?”

     “We inventoried the railroad ties we’re using to line the walls and hold up the ceiling arches, and we’re not going to have enough of them. All the ones in the main part of the tunnel are flush up against each other. The ones in the new branch are an inch apart. That’ll reduce their usage by ten percent, without affecting the stability to a great degree.”

     “Is it safe?”

     “Well, Mark there says it is. He’s the engineer in the family, so I have to assume his calculations are correct. The problem is that even leaving one inch gaps between them, we still won’t have enough.”

     “Uh, oh. So what’s the game plan once you run out?”

     “We’re going to start gradually tunneling up, grading the tunnel by about five degrees, until we’re only about three feet or so below the surface. We’ll be underneath the woods by the time we get to that point, and the root systems for the trees will help stabilize the ground.

     “When we run out of ties we’ll start using pallets from the trailers in the yard.”

     John was puzzled.

     “Pallets? I’m sorry, I’m not familiar with the term.”

     “Pallets are the wooden frames that cargo sits on in the back of tractor trailer rigs. They’re forty inches wide, forty eight inches long, and four inches high. They put the cargo on the pallets so that it can be loaded and unloaded easily with forklifts and pallet jacks.

     “Anyway, some of the pallets are junk, but a lot of them are very well made, with doubled up stringers and hard wood. When we run out of railroad ties, we’ll start using those, doubled up on each side of the tunnel and standing on their ends.

     “The tunnel will be lower, going from six feet to forty eight inches high. So we’ll have to duck down as we move through it.”

     Mark added his two cents.

     “It’ll also be narrower. Since the pallets won’t bear as much weight, the last fifty five feet of the tunnel will be about shoulder width. That’ll reduce the amount of weight bearing down from the top. So when we enter or exit, we’ll be ducking down, single file.”

     “And you’re sure it won’t collapse?”

     “Not unless we want it to.”

     “Are you wiring the new part with explosives?”

     “Not the narrow part, no. But just after it transitions into the wider part we’ll have two sticks of dynamite hidden behind the ties to blow the tunnel if we need to. We’ve already got two sticks in the other end, just before it connects with the main tunnel. So if we get followed, we can blow the two and trap the bad guys like we did before.”

     “Is there anything I can do to help?”

     “Well sure, since you asked. We don’t need any more help inside the tunnel. It gets pretty crowded in there sometimes already with the four of us, and we try to choreograph everything so we don’t bump into each other.

     “But what we do need help with is gathering the pallets. If you can assemble a team of two or three helpers and gather them for us, we can focus on the digging instead.”

     “Okay. What do we do with the stuff that’s on top of the pallets?”

     “I started a project before, but then got distracted and had to abandon it.

     “When we brought all of those trailers into the compound, we put an empty one on the end. We took everything out of the trailer next to it and put it into the empty trailer, only we put the pallets off to the side. We stacked the merchandize from floor to ceiling, with an aisle down the middle for when we wanted to get access to the stuff at the front of the trailer.

     “Once the second trailer was empty, we put the stuff from the third trailer into it. And so on and so forth. I think we got as far as the fourth or fifth trailer before we got sidetracked and never finished the project.

     “But here’s the thing… not all of the wooden pallets are suitable for our use. Some are made of flimsy wood and not very sturdy. We only want the ones with multiple stringers, made of hard woods. They’re several times stronger than the cheap ones.

     “If you and your team can go through the trailers and stack all the pallets outside in a big pile, we can go through and select the ones we think will work. Later on we can dismantle the others and use the wood for other projects.”

     “Okay, Mark. I’ll do that. It just so happens a couple of the guys have been coming to me lately looking for something to do. We’ll get started this afternoon.”

     “Thanks, John. You’re a lifesaver.”

     Mark guzzled the last of his bottle of water and asked the others, “You guys ready to get back to work?”

     None of them said anything, but all of them got up and started moving toward the tunnel. Bryan grabbed one of the stacks of empty buckets to carry back in with him.

     John followed them as far as the new tunnel entrance, then continued down the original tunnel and exited through the feed barn. Once outside, he paused long enough to get a deep breath of fresh clean air. It never smelled so sweet.

Chapter 39

     It was time to hatch Hannah’s evil plan. Like delinquent school girls up to no good, they giggled as they assembled in the lounge area at precisely four p.m.

     Sami’s father John and his crew were outside going through trailers. They’d made a lot of progress in recent days and would be done with the project soon. But for now they were tied up, and much too busy to ask why Hannah, Sarah and Sami might be sneaking off into the tunnel.

     Everyone else seemed to be busy doing their own chores or projects, or enjoying some leisure time.

     It seemed like a good time to go.

     Helen, on the security desk, saw the three walking toward her.

     “Well, hello, ladies,” she said. “What are you three up to today?”

     Sami said, “Oh, not much, dear. We just thought we’d head to the mine and look through the library over there. There’s a book that Sarah’s been looking for that she can’t find in the library here. So we’re helping her look for it.”

     Helen was nothing if not helpful.

     “Oh? Which one, dear? Maybe I’ve seen it.”

     All eyes turned to Sarah, who didn’t perform well under pressure. So she named the first book that came to her mind.

     “Um…  Gone With the Wind.”

     “Oh, that’s a great book. I’ve read it several times myself. But I haven’t seen it lately, I’m afraid. I think you’re right. It’s probably part of the collection we left over there.”

     The three breathed a collective sigh of relief. Helen seemed to be buying it.

     “Well, you girls have fun over there. And be careful in the tunnel.”

     “We will, Helen, and thank you.”

     Helen watched on the monitors as the girls came into view in the tunnel. As they snuck past the intersection where the new tunnel branched off, she wondered what they were really up to.

     She strongly suspected they were on a mission to pull some kind of prank on someone. But their hijinks were always harmless and no one ever got hurt.

     Everyone else in the group had come to expect these three to get into mischief every once in awhile. It was just part of who they were.

     In the back of Bay 24, about two hundred yards away from the main part of the mine, Mark and Bryan set up portable showers. The showers dated back to their early years in the mine, when they started digging the main tunnel. At the end of every work day, they were covered in a thick layer of powdered salt. They obviously had to have a way of washing it off before they returned to the mine proper and resumed their daily lives.

     The problem was that water for showers was strictly rationed back then. And they certainly didn’t want to alienate anyone or hear cries of “how come they get to shower every day and I can’t?”

     The solution was to set up showers at the back of the bay where the tunnel started. No one other than the tunnelers ever came into the area, and the showers were far enough back and hidden behind a huge mound of tunnel debris. So they couldn’t be spotted by anyone just strolling by.

     And it wasn’t like they were showering in luxury. It was nothing fancy at all. Basically just a series of water hoses attached to a two by four on the wall, with shower heads screwed into the ends of them.

     But they served the purpose.

     Hannah and the girls had discovered the showers during a rare visit to the area, and were just a little bit peeved at their men for keeping it a secret from them.

     So out of revenge, and perhaps a bit of curiosity, they hid in the darkness at the end of the bay and watched when their men came out of the tunnel to clean up and change.

     That had been three years before now, and they’d done a very good job of keeping their secret. They’d discussed it many times over the previous three years and debated whether it was the proper thing to do. Sami and Hannah always viewed it as good clean fun. And no different from the dozens of pranks the guys had pulled on them over the years.

     Sarah went back and forth between the “good clean fun” argument and feeling guilty.

     Lately, she’d been able to convince the other two that it wasn’t a very nice thing to do, and they all felt just a little bit guilty for having done it.

     But not so guilty that they wouldn’t do it again.

Chapter 40

     They were surprised at how little had changed in the previous three years, although they shouldn’t have been. There was no real need to change anything.

     The bank of showers was still in the same place, of course. So was the huge mound of salt debris.

     The last overhead light in the bay hung directly over the showers. Beyond the showers, the bay extended another hundred yards into the darkness of the mountain, but the bulbs had been removed from the light fixtures. There was simply no reason to waste electricity lighting a long corridor that wasn’t used.

     Just inside the dark area, though, were several pallets of construction supplies for the mine and the tunnel. Stacks of railroad ties and arched ceiling supports, miscellaneous lumber, boxed light fixtures and the like.

     The darkness, combined with the stacks of assorted supplies, made it easy to hide, with a clear view of the open showers.

     The girls had been friends even before Saris 7 struck the earth seven years before and rendered them all captives of the underground. Now they’d bonded into something more akin to sistership. They shared the same sense of humor, the same need for laughter, the same love of practical jokes.

     This, in fact, was merely one in a long line of pranks they had pulled on their men during the course of their stay in the mine and after.

     It wasn’t all one-sided, though. In fact, the guys had started it not long after they all came into the mine after the disaster began.

     “It’s to lighten the mood,” they’d said after the first couple of pranks. “It’s to try to make you laugh and forget all the ugliness that’s going on in the world outside.”

     After the third or fourth prank, the girls finally figured out they were being played, and were the victims of pranks done solely for the boys’ amusement.

     So they started striking back.

     On that day, so long ago, they stole every left shoe the men had. Every single one. And in a note tucked inside the favorite right shoe of all three of their men, they left the same written message:

     “This means war.”

     When their men complained, the girls said simply, “Hey, it’s to try to make you laugh and forget all the ugliness that’s going on in the world outside.

     Turnabout, it’s been said, is fair play.

     The one unique thing about this plan was the inclusion of Jason in the prank. Sarah wondered aloud a couple of days before whether it was fair to include an outsider in the equation.

     Hannah said, “I don’t know why not. He’s hanging out with our men now. They’re all becoming great friends, and it’s just a matter of time before they start including him in their pranks on us.”

     They looked to Sami for her opinion. She simply commented, “Who cares? He’s dreamy.”

     And with that the matter, and Sarah’s concerns, were put to rest.

     The girls were in position, hiding together behind a high stack of railroad ties, and Hannah checked her watch. It was 5:02. It wouldn’t be long now.

     And sure enough, on the far end of the lighted part of the bay, four figures emerged. Encased in white, they seemed to be jubilant that another workday was coming to a close. They were laughing and carrying on, and debating whether John Elway or Roger Staubach was the better quarterback. And which one would have won the Super Bowl if they’d played in the same era and their teams had met there.

     The men disrobed, not having a clue they were being watched.

     The girls jockeyed for position as the men turned on the showers and stepped beneath the water.

     Sarah remarked first, whispering, “Oh, my gosh, Sami. I am so jealous of you.”

     Sami giggled and said, “I know, huh?”

     Hannah said, “You two hush and check out Jason.”

     Sami just sighed.

     Hannah said, “And I hate to admit it, Sami girl, but I’m jealous of you too. That’s something I never thought I’d say. Being jealous of Sami, of all people.”

     Sarah asked, “Okay, who’s hotter? Brad or Jason?”

     It was Hannah’s turn to giggle.

     “It depends on where you’re looking.”

     Sarah said, “I think we should draw straws to see who gets to take Brad home tonight.”

     Sami shook her head and whispered, “Me. End of discussion.”

     Hannah turned and looked at her and said, “Hey, the two of us can take you in a fair fight. We can tie you up and gag you and tell Brad you ran away. Then we can console him to soothe his broken heart.”

     Suddenly the men froze.

     Then the girls did too.

     Bryan said, to no one in particular, “Did you guys hear that?”

     “Hear what?”

     “Turn the water off.”

     They turned off two of the showers, and waited for Mark to finish rinsing the shampoo from his hair before turning off the third.

     “What did you hear?” Brad asked Bryan.

     “I don’t know, exactly. It sounded like voices.”

     The men looked around in all directions, and almost chalked the incident up to Bryan just being crazy.

     Almost.

     But then Jason caught a glimpse of movement in the darkened part of the bay, behind a stack of railroad ties.

     “There!” he shouted, and pointed toward the girls.

     Sami and Sarah instantly took off like scared rabbits, bolting blindly into the dark abyss of the interior of the mountain.

     Hannah cowered as best she could in the shadows of the railroad ties, hoping to blend in.

     It didn’t work.

     The men bolted after them, discovering Hannah immediately.

     Bryan picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.

     “I’ve got one of the little twerps!” he shouted as Brad, Mark and Jason chased Hannah’s accomplices into the darkness.

     It didn’t take long to catch them. The darkness was their ally, but they were both giggling so hard they gave themselves away.

     After a minute or so, Brad came back, carrying Sarah under one arm like a sack of potatoes. She was laughing and making inappropriate comments every time he took a step.

     Sami was the only one who put up a fight. She kicked and squirmed and said she wasn’t going anywhere, until Mark grabbed her feet and Jason grabbed her hands and they carried her back into the lighted part of the mine.

     As she came within view of the other girls she smiled and winked at them, and all three began laughing uncontrollably.

     “What do you think we should do with these clowns?” Bryan asked.

     Mark led Jason over to the showers with Sami and said, “I think only one thing would be appropriate. After all, they seemed to have an interest in the showers.”

     Sami squealed, “Oh, no! Don’t you dare!”

     Mark let go of one her ankles just long enough to reach up and turn on the first of the showers. Sami was instantly blasted with a deluge of icy cold water, and spit and sputtered while trying to catch her breath.

     But they didn’t stop there.

     Mark deliberately walked backwards, pulling Sami out from beneath the water.

     But her reprieve was only temporary. As he walked backwards, Mark turned on the other showers, soaking her again and again.

     Brad and Bryan took their prisoners and stepped beneath the showers, turning slow pirouettes until every inch of their bodies were soaking wet. The girls never stopped laughing through the entire ordeal.

     When they finally had enough revenge, the men backed away, leaving the girls looking like drowned rats in a writhing, giggling heap on the shower floor.

     The men dried themselves and dressed in dry clothes while the girls shivered and made rude comments.

     Mark said, “We’re going back now. You can come with us if you want.”

     Hannah, by now slightly indignant and regaining her cockiness, said, “No way, Jose. We’ve got towels and dry clothes in our RVs. As soon as you boneheads are out of sight we’re going to go change.”

     “Suit yourself. Just don’t take too long. We’re going to wait about two minutes after we get to the feed barn. Then we’re going to lock the trap door from the outside. For security purposes, you understand. John would have our heads if we didn’t.”

     With that, the men walked toward the tunnel, headed back to the compound.

     Sami finally found her tongue again and yelled, “Bradley Clyde Spencer, I hope you’re not in the mood for romance tonight. I’m not giving you any for a week!”

     Sarah responded with, “Hey, if she won’t, I will…”

     The girls burst out in a new round of side splitting laughter, until Sarah finally asked, “They won’t really lock us in here, will they?”

     The three sprang up and walked at a fast clip through the tunnel, Hannah asking Sami, “Is his middle name really Clyde? Nobody’s been named Clyde since the 1930s.”

     They were relieved when they got to the trap door and found it still open. The boys didn’t lock them in the mine after all.

     What they did do, though, was run through the first floor of the big house and gather everyone they could find. By the time the girls made it back in the building, the hallway was lined with twenty people, who laughed and applauded them as they sloshed and dripped slowly toward their apartments.

     None of the seven ever shared the exact details of how they came to be in such a condition. But none of them would ever forget their shameful perp walk either.    

Chapter 41

     As it turned out, the attack came when the tunnel was a mere twenty yards from being completed. The team had run out of railroad ties, as they’d expected to. By shifting to a narrower passage and reducing the amount of weight overhead, they were able to shift to their new method of using wooden pallets to line the walls.

     They selected only the sturdiest of the pallets. And they were doubled up, two on each side, for extra strength.

     But their new method required a major learning curve, and was not without its hazards. With the pallets, they had to dig out forty inches of tunnel before they could secure each new section, instead of the ten inches they’d dug out before placing each railroad tie.

     The change in their process resulted in a couple of minor cave-ins and some scary moments. But they adapted, and would get the tunnel finished.

     Just not before they really needed it.

     Sami was on security duty when she saw them. Four identical quad runners coming up Highway 83 in single file formation.

     A quarter mile away, they turned down a utility company access road, and she lost sight of them. She was on the radio in seconds.

     “Dad! Mark! Bryan! Brad! Come quick. I need you at the security console asap.”

     The primary security team sensed the alarm in her voice and came running. Everyone else sprung into action too, and started locking doors, looking for their children, and heading for their wartime battle stations.

     They’d been through the drill so many times since Marty Haskins’ visit they could almost do it in their sleep.

     The primary team assembled at the console. Sami pointed to monitor number fourteen and explained what she saw.

     “There were four of them, on ATVs. They slowed down and looked down that road right there. Then they all turned and went down it.”

     “How long ago was that?”

     “About two minutes. Maybe three.”

     “Mark, do you know where that road leads?”

     “Yes. Pretty much to nowhere. It belongs to AT&T. It wanders around for half a mile or so and then dead ends at a cell tower.”

     “Okay, that doesn’t give us much time. They may be methodically checking each road as they come to it. If that’s the case, we’re next.

     “Bryan, you and Brad take positions on the roof. Be sure you take extra magazines.

     “Sami, could you tell if they were armed?”

     “No, I’m sorry. I couldn’t tell from that distance. I didn’t see any rifles slung over their shoulders, but I can’t guarantee they didn’t have any.”

     “True. They could have been tied to the rack or in sheathes on the side of the runners. We’ll assume they’re heavily armed, and we’ll assume they’re headed our way.

     He got on the radio.

     “Okay, people, this looks like this may be the real thing. Karen, make sure everyone is accounted for and non essential personnel are in the safe room. Let me know as soon as you’ve counted everyone.”

     “10-4, John.”

     “Joe, go to all the exit doors. Make sure they’re all locked. Hannah, check the key desk. Make sure we didn’t leave any of the keys in any of the vehicles. Karen, make sure all of the kids have their shoes on and tied and are ready to run if we need to.”

     He turned back to Mark.

     “Let’s hope these are joy riders out for some fun, or hunters out looking for game.”

     “Yeah, let’s hope.”

     “Shame you guys couldn’t get the tunnel finished.”

     “Yeah, well, this may be a false alarm. We may finish it yet.”

     “Yeah, let’s hope.”

     “Maybe when they come back they’ll go back the same way they came.”

     “Yeah, let’s hope.”

     But all the hoping in the world wasn’t going to change fate. A few seconds later, the four returned, turned right onto Highway 83, and headed their way.

     They slowed when they came to the disabled tractor trailer blocking the access road to the compound.

     One of them got off his wheeler and used the butt of a rifle to break the metal seal on the trailer door. Then he opened the rollup door to see what was inside.

     Sami breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Whew. Just looters.”

     John was less confident.

     “Don’t relax just yet. Wait until they’re gone.”

     But they didn’t leave.

     The group watched on the monitors as one of the men, with a Grizzly Adams beard, pointed at the narrow road hidden by the big rig. He led the way, driving his quad runner around the rig and down the road. The others followed single file behind him.

     John uttered just one single word, but it seemed to adequately describe the situation.

     “Crap.”

     The four disappeared momentarily behind a stand of trees, and then came into view on another monitor. It was the one assigned to the camera on the corner of the ten foot high black fence surrounding the compound.

     Mark said, “Well, if we can see them on the fence cam, then they can see us. If it’s the same four who showed up at the truck stop, they’ve succeeded in finding us.”

     John replied, “Yep. Now the only question is, what are they gonna do now?”

     Karen called in on the radio.

     “John, everyone is present and accounted for. All the doors are locked and Hannah says all the keys are accounted for. We’re all ready to head for the feed barn at your word.”

     “Thank you, Karen. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Chapter 42

     Marty Haskins wasn’t the first man who described John Sabol as looking a lot like Grizzly Adams. A lot of people called him that. In the joint, he was known simply as “Bear,” and most of his fellow inmates didn’t even know his true name.

     Nor did they care.

     He bore both names as badges of honor. Grizzly Adams was tough as nails. So was John Sabol. And he’d been described as being mean as a bear by people who’d crossed him in one way or another.

     When Sabol came around the corner and saw the tall black fence he’d been looking for, he was overjoyed. They’d been searching a long time for this place.

     Then, when he read the sign warning of deadly biological agents, he had second thoughts.

     He was mean, and he was tough. But he didn’t live into his forties in an incredibly harsh world by being stupid.

     His number two, Bandera, pulled up beside him.

     “What do you think?” Sabol asked.

     “I think this is not something I signed up for. No steak is worth dying for.”

     Sabol took the bandana off his head and ran his hands through his sweaty hair to slick it down. While he refolded the bandana and reapplied it, he was processing his options.

     “This whole thing seems fishy to me. Why in hell would the government put a test facility out here in the middle of nowhere, miles away from people?”

     Bandera replied, “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because it’s out in the middle of nowhere and miles away from people?”

     Sabol felt stupid. And he didn’t like being made to feel stupid. He glared at Bandera, and Bandera made a mental note to use his sarcasm more judiciously in the future.

    “Okay, there are several possibilities here. One, Alvarez and his crew came here and attacked this place and took it over. And they’re inside now eating steak for supper every night and watching us right there on that little camera.

     “Or, they came here intending to take over the place, and the feds busted all of them and shipped them off to prison somewhere.”

     “Or…” Bandera offered his own theory, “…they broke in, opened some bottles they shouldn’t have opened, and they’re all dead now of biological poisoning.”

     “Maybe. But I doubt it.”

     Sabol huffed and fired his wheeler back up again, then motioned for the others to follow him.

     They slowly traveled the entire perimeter of the fence line.

     It took almost ten minutes, but they were in no hurry. And they wound up right back where they started.

     Again, Sabol studied his options. Before they decided to assault the place, he wanted to make sure there was something inside worth the effort.

     “Gomez, you got your radio on?”

     “Yes, jefe.”

     “Cut it out with the jefe crap. Speak English.”

     “It’s on.”

     “Good. We’ll wait here. You drive back to that tower we passed on the mountainside. Climb up it until you can see what’s inside this damn fence. Then call me.”

     “Si, jefe. Dame veinte minutos”

     He smirked and drove away.

     Sabol yelled after him. “Make it fifteen minutes, smartass. We ain’t got all day.”

     He turned to the other two members of his crew.

     “Bandera, you and Murrow go into the woods. See if you can find a dead tree to drag over here and lean up against this fence. Something we can shimmy up to climb over.”

     John got back on the radio.

     “One of the men is heading back down the fence line toward Salt Mountain. I think he’s going to climb up the wind turbine to get a better view. You guys on the roof get in the blinds, out of sight. Use your own judgment, but make no doubt about it. Once they see what we’ve got in here, we cannot let them leave. If we do these attacks will become an ongoing thing.”

     Bryan and Brad looked at each other. They both understood perfectly what John was implying. That if they got the chance, he wanted them to take the first shot. To play offense instead of defense. To kill the bad guys before they had a chance to kill one of their own.

     Sarah, hunkered down with the others, heard John’s words and winced. The words opened up an old wound. She had apologized to John for doubting him before, but she was never comfortable with him executing those two prisoners. Now he wanted Brad, and her husband, to start the battle.

     She tried to convince herself that this time was different. That this time these men were armed, and intent on doing them harm. That these men had the ability to fire back.

     And she definitely couldn’t argue one thing. If anyone had to die today, it was better to be the bad guys than one of their own.

     Bryan and Brad had been together in one of the two sandbagged duck blinds on the northeast corner of the roof. That made sense before, since the men were all grouped together on that side of the compound. But if they were going to exchange gunfire with a man on Salt Mountain, it made more sense to split up.

     Bryan left and went to the other blind, on the southwest corner of the rooftop.

     But once he got there, he looked in the direction of the wind turbine. And he didn’t like what he saw.

     “Crap!” he muttered to himself.

     He got on the radio.

     “Hey, Brad, can you see the turbine from your location?”

     A few seconds ticked by.

     “No. It’s past the tree line. I can’t see it at all.”

     “John, this is Bryan. We have a problem. The sun is directly behind the turbine. I can’t even see the turbine, much less anybody climbing up it.”

     Mark offered a suggestion. “What if I went to the south lot, where the trailers are stored? If I climbed on top of one of the trailers, I’d get a different angle. I might be able to see the turbine without the sun blocking my view.”

     John nixed the idea.

     “No. You might be able to see him. You might not. But he’d definitely be able to see you. And you’d have no cover on top of a trailer. You’d be a sitting duck. Let’s just wait and see what they do.”

     “Bryan, this is John. He’s out of camera range, and we don’t know where he’s at. Maintain your position. If you move now, and if he’s already on the turbine, he’ll have a clean shot at you. Just stand by until we see what their next move is gonna be.”

     “10-4, John. Standing by.”

     Gomez was a small man, quick and agile. He’d grown up in Lubbock, in west Texas, climbing all the elm trees in his neighborhood. His mom used to say he was part monkey, the way he scampered up and down those trees with ease.

     Even now, as a grown man, he could scale trees faster than a chimpanzee.

     And wind turbines too.

     The turbine had wrought iron ladder rungs welded into its side so workers could climb up to do maintenance. Gomez was too short to easily reach the first rung and had to stand on the seat of his wheeler to grab it.

     But then he was off to the races, climbing sixty feet in less than a minute.

     Once he was high enough, he turned and looked over the compound.

     And he liked what he saw.

     He got on his radio.

     “Holy crap, man. It’s like a farm on the inside. There’s all kinds of stuff growing in there, like fields. I see what looks like corn, and other stuff too. There’s several buildings and… holy shit. I see cows and pigs too.”

     Sabol smiled.

     He had his confirmation. This was indeed the place Smitty had told him about. And whether Smitty and Alvarez and the rest of their bunch now owned it, or the original occupants were still there, it didn’t matter to Sabol.

     It would soon he his.

     “Come on back here, Gomez. We’re all going in together.”

Chapter 43

     Four minutes later Gomez was once again in the camera’s view, driving his four wheeler back to the front of the compound.

     John was back on the radio.

     “Okay, Bryan. He’s headed back to the rest of his gang. We have to assume he was able to climb the tower and see what’s in the compound. Move back to the other blind and wait there.”

     “10-4.”

     As Bryan moved back to join Brad at the other blind, John and Mark watched Gomez link back up with the man they called Grizzly Adams. They wondered about the two men who’d gone off into the woods, but weren’t overly concerned. The perimeter cameras on all sides of the fence would pick them up if they came out of the woods at a different place and approached the compound.

     They worked to formulate their own plan.

     John said, “Okay. So we have to assume they know what we have now, and that an attack is imminent. Once the other two come back out of the woods, let’s you and I get out there.”

     Sami suddenly got a look of horror on her face.

     “Dad, you can’t be serious. You’re safe in here with us. Why in the world do you need to go out there?”

     “Because once the shooting starts, they may turn tail and run. We need to get them in a cross fire so they don’t get away.”

     John looked at Mark to see if there would be any comment or dissent to his plan.

     Mark merely shrugged and reached for one of the AR-15s in the gun rack.

     “Ready when you are, John.”

     John got on the radio again.

     “Joe, this is John. Can you make your way to the control center?”

     “Be right there, John.”

     Joe hadn’t been watching the monitors as the others had. He had no idea where the threat was. So he took no chances, low crawling through the building’s lobby toward the security console. It wasn’t until he saw the others standing together, watching the monitors, that he straightened up and walked normally.

     “Whatcha need, John?”

     “Joe, Mark and I are going to leave the compound in a few minutes and make our way into the woods. We need you to open the small gate and let us out.”

     “No problem. You want me to hang out there to let you back in?”

     “No. Once the bullets start flying they could go anywhere. A lucky stray bullet might find you there, and the fence wouldn’t do much to protect you. Come back in after you let us out, and we’ll let you guys know when we’re ready to come back.

     “And when we do come back, don’t just open the gate because you hear Mark or me telling you to from the other side. Wait until Sami makes sure we’re not under duress, and she’ll give you the all clear.”

     “What do you mean, under duress?”

     “They may try to capture one of us alive, so they can use us to get into the gate. Don’t open it back up until Sami verifies that we’re alone and tells you to.”

     “Okay. Got it.”

     John picked out his AR-15 and stuffed two extra magazines into his leg pockets.

     He looked up at the monitors, just in time to see Bandera and Murrow dragging a long dead tree out of the woods.

     “Yep. They’re going to scale the wall. Sami, once you get my word, give us the play by play. Update us constantly, but pause every ten seconds or so in case one of us needs to reply.”

     “Be careful out there, Dad. I don’t want to lose you.”

     He kissed her on the forehead and said, “You won’t, sweetheart. I promise.”

     Then John turned to Mark and Joe and said, “Let’s roll.”

     Just under a minute later, John called back in on the radio.

     “Sami, is it clear outside the gate?”

     “Yes, sir. All clear.”

     “Okay. Start with the play by play.”

     Hannah was with the others, and suddenly realized that Sami was now alone in the control center.

     That just wouldn’t do. She needed to be with her friend to provide moral support, and to back her up if something bad happened. She made her way to the console and winked at her friend. It was a nonverbal statement that said, “You can do this. I’m right here with you.”

     “Okay, all four of them are on the center of the fence. They’re leaning a dead tree against the fence. One of the men is climbing up the tree. Now he’s looking over the top of the fence. He appears to be looking at the ladder that’s leaning up against the fence on the inside of the compound.”

     She paused for a few seconds, then continued.

     “He’s back off the tree now. He’s talking to the guy with the beard. Okay, now they’re moving the tree in the direction of the ladder.”

     She paused for a few seconds and John jumped on the radio.

     “Okay, we’re in the woods now, working our way around to that side. You guys on the roof, try to wait until we’re in place before you fire. If there’s a chance they’ll make it to the cover of the pig barn, though, don’t wait. Go ahead, Sami.”

     “Okay, they’ve moved the dead tree to the new position. The smaller guy is climbing up it again. He’s looking over the top of the fence, and talking to the men below. They appear to be arguing about something.”

     She paused again and John got on the radio.

     “Okay, we’re in position now, probably eighty yards away from them. We’ve got a clear line of sight. You guys on the roof, wait until two of them are on the ground inside, and the third one is on the ladder on the inside. Then take all three of them out. But take the ladder guy out first so he doesn’t scramble back over.”

     Bryan keyed his mike and said, “10-4, John.”

     “Okay, Sami. You’re doing great. Just keep it up.”

     “Thank you, Dad.”

     While Sami continued the play by play, John turned and spoke to Mark.

     “You’re a better shot than I am. You aim for the last man’s head, and I’ll aim for his torso. Once the third guy goes over the fence, he belongs to Bryan and Brad. When our man is all alone, we’ll fire on my count. If one of us happens to miss, he’ll still go down and can’t run away in the woods. The three in the compound don’t have anywhere to go, so they can’t get away.”

     Mark smiled and said, “You mean if you miss.”

     “Whatever…”

     Everyone, including those listening in the compound’s safe room, grew more tense as Sami continued.

     “Okay. The first man is on the ground inside the compound now. He’s not moving away from the fence. It appears he’s waiting for the others. The second man is moving from the tree on the outside of the fence to the ladder on the inside. The third man is waiting at the bottom of the dead tree, waiting for the other guy to clear the fence and get out of his way.”

     She paused for a few seconds, but heard nothing but silence from the others.

     John had the fourth man, the one they called Grizzly Adams, in his crosshairs. His sights were centered squarely in the center of the big man’s chest.

     He asked Mark, “Are you ready?”

     Mark, his sights aimed at Sabol’s head, said “yep.”

     Sami continued.

     “Okay, the second man is off the ladder and on the ground inside the compound. The third man is at the top of the fence, getting ready to move over to the ladder… okay, now he’s on the ladder and starting to climb down. The last man is climbing up the tree now.”

     John never took his eye off the target, and calmly said, “On my go… three… two… one… fire.”

     Two shots rang out in perfect harmony, and both bullets found their marks. Sabol tumbled from the dead tree and into the gravel below the fence. He was dead before he hit the ground, his head having fairly exploded and a gaping hole being ripped through his heart and out his back.

     A split second later, as Sabol was falling, more shots rang out from the roof of the big house.

     The small guy, Gomez, was the first to fall. The little monkey had climbed his last tree. Bandera and Murrow panicked, running in two different directions.

     Bandera tried the ladder. He decided this was someplace he didn’t want to be after all. He was on the third rung when Brad’s bullet tore through his upper back, went through the upper left lung, and passed through to go through the fence and lodge into the ground outside the compound. Bandera held tightly onto the ladder as he leaned back, and fell crashing down beside Gomez.

     The ladder fell on top of him and pinned him to the ground. He couldn’t move, but he wasn’t dead yet.  He looked to his right in a wild panic, to see Gomez’ glassy eyes staring him in the face from mere inches away.

     It was the last thing Bandera would ever see. His head exploded a fraction of a second later.

     Murrow tried a different tactic. He lowered his AK-47 and fired four shots blindly in the direction of the big house, although he didn’t hit anything. Then he ran full bore toward the pig barn, hoping to find cover there.

     He only made it halfway, before he was cut down by a clean through and through shot in the abdomen. It didn’t kill him, but it brought him to a stop. The second shot, through the right side of his heart, killed him.

     Sami, to her credit, described every shot, every action, through moistening eyes. Her voice cracked a little as she not only witnessed the grizzly deaths of four men, but described them to the others as well.

     Finally, as Murrow’s face fell into the dirt, she stopped. Hannah held her head in her arms and took over.

     “It’s all over. All four of them are dead.”

     John said, “Bryan, Brad, you okay?”

     “We’re fine, John. How about you guys?”

     “We’re okay. We’re going to drag that dead tree back into the woods and clean up out here. Hannah, is Sami okay?”

     Sami got back on.

     “I’m fine, Dad.”

     “You did great, sweetheart. I’m proud of you. I’m proud of all of you. Let’s hope this is the last time we have to do this.”

     Sami burst into tears, but John never heard them. Hannah continued to hold her.

     “Hannah, have Joe standing by to let us back in, but don’t give him the all clear until we’re at the gate. Also, watch those monitors in case the gunshots attracted any more bad guys.”

     “Okay, John.”

     John and Mark shouldered their weapons and worked together to drag the dead tree back into the forest. Then they drove two of the quad runners to the walk-thru gate.

     “Think they’ll fit through the gate?”

     “It’ll be close, but I think they’ll make it with an inch or two to spare.”

     They walked back to the front of the compound, dragged Sabol’s lifeless body across the rack on one of the two remaining wheelers, and drove them back to the gate.

     Hannah, watching them on the monitor, asked, “John, are you ready to come in?”

     “Yes, ma’am.”

     “Joe, this is Hannah. All clear. You can open the gate.”

     The last battle of the siege was over. There was some cleanup to do, of course. Bodies had to be buried, and the tunnel had to be finished. Sami would have to be pampered for a time because of the trauma she suffered by witnessing the deaths of four men. All four of the shooters would struggle off and on with their consciences in the weeks ahead.

     But in the end, every one of them would come to the conclusion that they did what they had to do.

Chapter 44

     Life in the compounded shifted into a lower gear for a short time after the assault. The men went ahead and finished the tunnel, hiding the opening beneath the floorboards of the old hunting shack.

     On the inside of the tunnel, where the new branch of the tunnel connected with the old one, they installed a security door. Just in case someone other than them ever discovered the tunnel entrance and decided to see where it led. They could get the door open quickly enough if they ever had need to defend the front of the compound again. But any outsiders would need heavy axes or dynamite to breach the heavy door from the outside.

     Other than that, the place took on the feel of a family farm. The adults all pitched in to care for the crops and the livestock. They decided that the herds were of sufficient size to allow the slaughter of two pigs and a bull, and they started having outdoor barbeques each Saturday afternoon.

     Bryan and Joe used a cutting torch and a portable welding rig to repair the damage Skully and his crew had caused when they crashed their own Hummer through the main gate. When they were finished it squeaked a little bit, but otherwise worked fine.

     Mark, ever the handyman, even made picnic tables from the wooden pallets they’d had left over from the tunnel project.

     He placed them in the orchard, underneath the apple trees they’d planted two years before the big freeze. They were growing well now, and starting to put out considerable shade. It was a good spot for the group to socialize and relax.

     It was at one of the barbeques that John came to Mark and asked him, “I’m going on a top secret mission tomorrow. I’ll be gone for a couple of hours. Would you like to come along?”

     Mark didn’t even hesitate.

     “Sure, John. Where are we going?”

     “What part of ‘top secret mission’ don’t you understand, son?”

     “You want me to go, but you won’t even tell me where we’re going?”

     “Let’s just say I have a debt to pay.”

     The following morning John and Mark drove one of their Hummers to the poultry barn. They carried four dog carriers they removed from one of the Walmart trailers, and placed three hens and one rooster into the carriers.

     Then they opened the hatch on the back of the vehicle and threw in ten sacks of chicken feed.

     They left the Hummer idling inside the gate and ran inside for a minute.

     Sarah was manning the security console.

     “Hello, beautiful. Would you see if you can scare up a body to let us out of the compound?”

     “John, I’ll do anything you want as long as you call me beautiful. Where are you going?”

     “Anything?”

     “Sure. As long as you don’t tell my husband.”

     She winked at him.

     “I can’t tell you where we’re going. It’s a secret mission.”

     “Oh, really? Not even a hint?”

     “No, sorry. Not even a hint.”

     She got on the radio.

     “Joe, this is Sarah. Do you have a minute?”

     “Sure thing, Sarah. What’s up?”

     “Can you go to the drive-through gate and let John and Mark out?”

     “Sure thing. I’ll be there in a minute.”

     Hannah heard the radio chatter and came running over to the console. She confronted her husband.

     “Where you going, bub?”

     Mark threw a thumb in John’s direction.

     “Beats me. Ask Mr. Secret Agent over there. He says it’s top secret.”

     “John, you’re not taking my husband out to hunt for cheap floozies, are you?”

     Sarah interrupted before John could answer.

     “Nah. He’s already married to a cheap floozie.”

     Hannah stuck out her tongue at Sarah. Sarah just smiled.

     “Seriously, now,” John said. “I’m not going to tell you where we’re going. We’ll be back in about two hours, and it’s nowhere dangerous. And that’s all you need to know.”

     Sarah and Hannah looked at each other in resignation.

     “Okay, have it your way.” Hannah said.

     As John and Mark turned to leave, Sarah stopped them with a request.

     “Hey, John! Since I did you a favor, would you do one for me?”

     “Of course, beautiful. What do you want?”

     “Would you tell Mr. Haskins thanks from Hannah and I as well?

     It turned out John was way too transparent to be keeping secrets.

Chapter 45

     Mark drove the Hummer to the Trucker’s Paradise truck stop in Junction, a few miles away from the compound.

     “Man, it looks like nothing’s changed since before the big freeze.”

     They looked around and were impressed. A couple of cars and a big rig were at the fuel pumps, topping off their tanks. A family of four stepped out of the truck stop and headed for their car, the youngest child smiling from ear to ear because of the candy she carried.

     It did, indeed, remind them of a normal world that they hadn’t seen in many years.

     They parked the vehicle and walked inside.

     John recognized the man behind the counter as Marty Haskins instantly.

     Marty looked at John with a slight sense of recognition, although it took him a bit longer to remember. Then the light came on, he smiled, and walked around the counter.

     John extended his hand and said, “Hello, Marty. Remember me?”

     Marty said, “Yes. But it took me a minute. I see a hundred new faces each and every day, so it took me a moment to remember where I’d seen you before. How are you?”

     “We’re doing real well now. That’s why we’re here. Do you have a minute?”

     John glanced around furtively, looking for people who might overhear their conversation.

     Marty recognized the sign, and suggested, “Why don’t we step into the back office. We can talk in private there.”

     He turned and yelled across the store.

     “Hey Lenny, can you watch the counter?”

     A reply came back immediately.

     “Sure thing.”

     Marty led them into the office and seated them in front of his desk.

     “Can I offer you guys a cigarette? They’re stale, but better than nothing if you’ve got the habit. Or I can pour you a drink. Jack Daniels never goes bad.”

     “No thanks on both, Marty. So, how’s your operation running? Are you still giving away everything for free?”

     “Yes. It doesn’t belong to us, so we wouldn’t feel right about selling it. I suppose it’s a very fine distinction, but giving it away to help others somehow seems to make it all right.”

     “What other services do you offer?”

     “Well, we keep the pumps running and the underground tanks filled. Also free of charge. I understand we’re the only operating service station within five hundred miles. Our customers are happy to see it. Those who are going long distances have been having to siphon gas from abandoned cars.

     “We also have two mechanics who are volunteering their time and services because they have nothing better to do. They even have a tow truck to use in case someone breaks down out there and has to hitch in.”

     “We give out directions to people who are lost because they no longer have a GPS to use and can’t download directions on-line any more. You’d be amazed at how many people don’t know which states border Texas.

     “Most of what we give out, though, is hope. Hope that the world will eventually get back to normal. I hear that at least ten times a day from people passing through. And I can count on at least one or two women kissing me on the cheek or hugging me, each and every day.

     He winked.

     “It’s the simple things in life that make it worth living.”

     “Marty, we came here to repay a debt to you.”

     “Me? What did I do? I just told you that some bad dudes were looking for you. I didn’t even offer to help you with them.”

     “If we hadn’t known they were coming they’d have caught us off guard. Since you warned us, we made some changes to our security procedures. And we watched out for them. And when they came, we were ready.”

     “Are all your people okay?”

     “Yes.”

     “Should I assume I won’t be seeing Grizzly Adams around here anymore?”

     “Not here, or anywhere else either.”

     “Well, honestly, that doesn’t break my heart. He didn’t strike me as a pillar of the community. But you owe me no debt. Heck, I don’t need anything but your friendship. I’ll accept that. But this place gives me everything I need. A roof over my head, food to eat. A sense of purpose. Even, like I said, kisses and hugs from a couple of ladies every day. What more could I possibly want?”

     “How about being able to open your diner again?”

Chapter 46

     “Well, I’ll be damned.”

     Marty never thought he’d see live chickens again in his lifetime.

     John and Mark had led Marty and Lenny to the back of the Hummer and opened it. The chickens in the dog carriers immediately started clucking.

     “You’ll have to let the flock grow, of course, or you’ll only have enough eggs for a couple of meals. Do you have access to some farm land, or know somebody who can raise some crops for you?”

     “Yes. As a matter of fact, there’s an old farmer and his family who live behind the truck stop. They were nice enough to let us camp on his land during the freeze. But he’s not doing a lot of farming these days. Most of his old seeds aren’t growing well, and all his livestock froze to death. These days he’s just getting by like the rest of us.”

     John pulled a shoebox from the back seat of the Hummer.

     “This is a gift from a good friend of ours. Her name is Karen, and she’s not only the sweetest woman in the world, she’s also got the greenest thumb I’ve ever seen.”

     He took the lid off the shoe box to reveal its contents.

It was full of zip lock bags full of seeds. Each bag was marked with its contents and growing information.

     Marty took one out and read it aloud.

     “ROMA TOMATOES: Plant in loose, well drained soil. They like lots of sun. Plant time to harvest is around sixty days.”

     His mouth instantly watered and he looked at the others.

     “Do you know how many years it’s been since I had a fresh tomato?”

     He looked through the box. John said, “There are forty two different seed packets in there. Everything from squash to corn, to cucumbers and strawberries. The only thing Karen asked is that when your crops start to grow well, that you share some of the seeds with others. And ask them to do the same thing.”

     Mark spoke up.

     “You might want to be careful who you tell about this. It’ll be at least a year before you have enough chickens, beef and pork to sustain a diner. Same with the vegetables. As soon as the word gets out, you’ll have a lot of customers who will come to see you, and you may have to limit the number of meals you serve each day. At least initially.”

     Marty said, “Agreed. We’ll have to be smart or we’ll run out the first day and go out of business before we have a chance to get started. But did you say beef and pork?”

     “Yes,” John replied. “Bring an empty truck to our compound the next few days and we’ll give four cows and a bull. Also four sows and a boar. If you let them breed, within a year or so you’ll be able to butcher them in limited numbers and still grow your stock. Again, though, we’ll ask you that once your stock is sufficient for your needs, that you share the wealth with another farmer or rancher. Be sure you get the same commitment from him.”

     “We will. And thank you, my friend, for doing this for us.”

     “No thanks are necessary, Marty. You didn’t have to come and warn us that the bad men were coming. You may have imperiled your own life in doing so. If they found us before you came, and if they succeeded in taking our camp, they probably would have shot you on sight.

     “So you may well have saved the lives of my daughter or my friends. And that’s worth a hell of a lot more than a few animals and seeds.”

     Marty jumped on a golf cart and led the Hummer down the bumpy dirt road to the farm house behind the truck stop. They found Mason Bennett, in his once lush corn field with one of his teenage daughters.

     They were looking gloomily at a handful of pathetic corn plants they were trying to make grow from old seeds.

     Marty dismounted and made all the introductions. Then he handed the grizzled farmer the shoe box full of seeds.

     The old man’s eyes instantly teared, but he wasn’t ashamed. He looked at John and Mark, and struggled to find words. Nothing he could think of seemed adequate to convey the gratitude he felt.

     He finally stammered, “Well, you two sure don’t look like angels. But you must have been sent down here by God Himself.”

     Marty laughed and said, “You ain’t heard the half of it. Is your old chicken coop still capable of holding a brood of chickens? And are your fences still in good enough shape to keep livestock in?”

     Mason began to blubber. A tear rolled down his cheek but he didn’t care. And once again, he lost his words. He did the only thing he could think to do, and hugged John.

     A mere handshake just wouldn’t do.

Chapter 47

     The trip back to the compound was relatively quiet. The chickens were gone now, feeling their way around their new home in Mason Bennett’s chicken coop. The interior of the Hummer now smelled like chicken droppings, but it didn’t dampen the men’s spirits. They’d done an incredibly good deed, and they felt good about it.

     And, truth was, they were still a little choked up over Mason’s outburst of emotion. John and Mark were both men who were a bit more guarded about their feelings. They were afraid that if they talked about reducing Mason and his young daughter to tears, that they might tear up themselves.

     And that just wouldn’t do. So instead they drove along in relative silence, the windows down to air out the Hummer, enjoying the fresh breeze on their faces.

     As they came around the last curve on Highway 83 before the turnoff to the compound, Mark looked out the window and said, “Well, I’ll be darned. Would you look at that?”

     Off in the distance, approaching them at a relatively fast clip, was a U.S. Army Huey helicopter. It was like a scene from an old Vietnam war movie, the chop chop chop of the propeller getting louder as the helicopter approached, its nose angled slightly toward the ground and lower than its tail rotor.

     It flew almost directly over their heads, and continued on in the direction they’d come, to parts unknown.

     It was an unexpected treat for both of them.

     John commented, “I haven’t seen one of those in many years. I didn’t even know the Army still flew them. It looks like an antique compared to the Blackhawks and Apaches.”

     “I think some of the National Guard units still flew them before the freeze. I wonder what they’re doing in this area?”

     “I don’t know. Training missions, probably. I imagine they’re pretty rusty after all those years of not flying. I’m sure they also lost most of their members during the freeze too. My guess is that they’re either training new pilots or the old ones are trying to regain their proficiency.”

     “Well, in any event, it’s nice to see them up there. Maybe they’ll declare martial law in some of the most violent cities and get some of the crime under control.”

     “Yeah, maybe.”

     John suddenly had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. After the joy he felt at the truck stop, it came out of nowhere to dampen his mood.

     He’d had premonitions all his life. Many times they were just fleeting episodes of paranoia. But surprisingly often, his premonitions had merit, and often foretold dire events.

     Usually his premonitions were specific, though. And this one… well, this one he couldn’t put his finger on. He just felt a sour feeling in his stomach, and a feeling that something bad was on the horizon.

Chapter 48

     Five minutes out from the compound, Mark keyed his radio and said, “Sarah, are you still on duty?”

     “No, Mark. This is Karen. I relieved Sarah a little bit ago. What did they think about the stuff in the box?”

     “Let’s just say they thought it was a nice gesture. I’ll give you more details when we get back. We’re about five minutes away. Is the highway clear of traffic?”

     “Yes it is. I’ll let you know if anything comes into view. And I’ll send somebody outside to open the gate when you get here.”

     “Thank you, Karen. See you soon.”

     “Oh, yeah. When you get in, come to security. We’ve had a bit of excitement here while you were gone. I don’t want to talk about it on the radio, but I’ll tell you when you get here.”

     “10-4.”

     A few minutes later John pulled the Hummer off the road and drove across the hilly ground to get around the stalled tractor trailer at the end of their access road. He then pulled up to the gate, and heard Karen say, “We’re all clear, Hannah. Go ahead and let them in.”

     The gate rolled to one side and they slowly drove through.

     Hannah blew Mark a kiss as they drove by.

     Even after all the years they’d been together, this beautiful creature still took his breath away.

     “Hi, honey. I missed you.”

     She pounced on him as soon as they parked the vehicle and got out.

     “I missed you too, doll.”

     “We have some news to tell you, but I lost the coin toss so I’m not allowed to mention it. That lucky gooberhead Karen gets to tell you. I think she probably used a rigged nickel.”

     Mark laughed.

     “What?” she asked.

     “You. Every time you lose a game, or a contest, or even a coin toss, you claim that somebody cheated.”

     “Well, she probably did. After all, I am supposed to win at everything I do.”

     “Is that right?”

     “Yep. Indubitably.”

     Hey,” John said. “Watch your language.”

     “Indubitably isn’t a bad word, John. It means the same as undoubtedly.”

     She looked at John, who was grinning.

     “Oh. I guess you already knew that, huh?”

     “Yes, kinda. I taught you the word about a year ago, remember?”

     She thought for a moment and said, “Oh, yeah.”

     They got to the security desk and Karen nodded in Hannah’s direction.

     “I hope that big blabbermouth didn’t already tell you about our excitement while you were gone.”

     Hannah stuck her tongue out.

     “No. What did we miss?”

     “There was a great big green helicopter that paid us a visit. First it just flew over us. Then it turned around and came back, and just hovered over the compound for about five minutes. It was so low that the girls all ran up to the roof, and could see the faces of the three men on the inside.”

     Hannah, the big blabbermouth, couldn’t resist any longer. She interrupted, saying, “We waved at them and they looked at us, but didn’t wave back. I thought the army was supposed to be friendly.”

     John had a very uneasy feeling.

     “Are you sure it was the military?”

     “Oh, yes. It said U.S. Army on the side, and the men all had uniforms and helmets on.”

     Karen saw the look of concern on John’s face.

     “But, that’s a good thing, right, John? I mean, isn’t that a sign that the world is getting back to normal, and that the government is running again? I mean at least the military part of the government is out there protecting us again. That’s good, right?”

     John kept his thoughts and feelings to himself. There was no sense in spreading panic at this point. But Mark saw his face too, and read something there he didn’t like.

     “John, I’m gonna go wash out the inside of the Hummer, to see if I can get that chicken smell out of it. Would you mind giving me a hand?”

     “Uh, sure…”

     Karen objected.

     “Wait! Before you go, you promised to give me some details about the people you visited.”

     John couldn’t disappoint Karen. They had grown quite close in previous months, and he did indeed promise her a report.

     “Those guys up there are going wonderful work. They’re looting all the tractor trailers that were abandoned before the freeze, sure. But they’re not doing it for themselves. They’re dispensing much needed food and supplies for travelers who are getting out and headed for their homes to see if they have any relatives left. And for the locals who’ve run out of everything.

     “Most of all, they’re dispensing hope for those who need it the most. Hope that things are going to get normal again. That someday soon there will be others like them who are sharing their time and talents to help the other survivors.

     “By far the best part of the journey was seeing the old farmer cry, unabashedly and without shame, when we gave him your seeds. He fell to his knees and looked up at the sky and thanked God that he could finally grow crops again.

     “He called you an angel. And I think he’s right. Of course, for a very long time I’ve thought you were the rock that holds this whole tribe of miscreants and misfits together. He just confirmed my suspicions, that’s all.”

     Now it was Karen’s turn to tear up.

     “Now stop it, Karen. Don’t you start getting all blubbery on me now too. Geez, what’s the world coming to, if everybody’s gonna start bawlin’ at the drop of a hat?”

     He said it with a smile, of course. And that made Karen laugh, despite the tear starting to roll out of the corner of her eye.

     “Thank you for that, John. You just made my whole day.”

     John went over and hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.

     “Good. Then I have accomplished my mission.”

     John turned and started walking out, turning his head and saying to Mark, “Well, what are you waiting for, dude? We’ve got a vehicle to clean.”

     “Did you just call me ‘dude?’ Nobody’s said ‘dude’ since the ‘60s, John.”

     “Yeah, well, call me old school.” John said as they walked out.

     Marked muttered, “Old… something…”

Chapter 49

     “Well, what is it exactly that concerns you? I mean, I see it as a good thing. If the military is active again, then that’s a very big sign the world is getting back to the way it used to be.”

     “Maybe. But for starters, we don’t know for sure it was the military. It could have been some weekend warriors who just know how to fly one. Maybe they stole the helicopter from an abandoned national guard base. Maybe they’re using it to scope out places to rob.”

     That was a possibility Mark had never thought of.

     He suddenly adopted the same serious look John had on his face.

     “But that’s not the worst of it,” John said.

     “The worst of it is that is they had enough access to the base to steal a chopper, then they probably had access to the armory and munitions storage area too.

     “That means if they’re bad guys, they’ll not only have the means to land in our own back yard, but they’ll be heavily armed too.”

     Mark was suddenly stunned.

     “Uh, oh. Should we tell the others?”

     “No. Let’s keep this under our hats, for now. But get Brad and Bryan together and set up a discreet meeting between the four of us. You can invite the three girls if you want, but swear them to secrecy and tell them to leave their silly sides behind. This is a serious matter.”

     “Okay, will do.”

     The group met at the picnic area, under an apple tree, later that evening. For the casual observer it was just a bunch of friends enjoying each other’s company on a beautiful late spring evening.

     But the topic of discussion was anything but beautiful.

     “Look, I know I’m a pessimistic old fool sometimes,” John started. “But my background is security. It’s pretty much all I’ve done all my life, first as a Marine and then as a cop. After that long I’ve learned to look at everything as a possible threat.”

     “But John, isn’t it possible that it was just a bunch of Army pilots on a training mission who happened to fly over by accident. And then were fascinated by our crops and cattle enough to want to come back and admire them for a minute?”

     “Yes. That’s entirely possible, and that’s why I want to keep this under our hats. There’s no reason to panic the others unnecessarily. But I wanted to get us together because every organization has a core. A group of individuals who do the bulk of the thinking and the planning and the getting things done. For this organization that’s you guys.

     “So the first thing I want you to do is consider whether my concerns have merit. If all of you pretty much agree that I’m just a suspicious old fool, and that my suspicions have no merit… then I’ll drop the whole thing.

     “But on the other hand, if you think this threat could be real, it could be the biggest threat we’ve faced so far. And if that’s the case, we need to revamp some of our security procedures even more.”

     He drew a deep breath.

     “The Huey helicopter can carry a thirty caliber machine gun. Hell, it can be fitted with two of them if they want to. Those bullets come fast and furious, and can tear through normal walls like butter.

     “If we decide as a group that I’m not just being a worrisome old fool, and this threat is real, then we need to do at least two things.

     “We need to revamp our safe room. The walls in the current one will stop most bullets. But not these kind of bullets.

     “And, we need a way of getting from the big house to the mine without going outdoors.

     “Right now we have to evacuate by running from the big house to the feed barn and into the tunnel. And that’s an acceptable evacuation route if the attack is coming from the ground, outside our walls.

     “But if the attack is coming from up above, from a helicopter hovering above the compound, then it won’t do. It’ll cut us down by machine gun fire as we run between the buildings.”

     Hannah grew alarmed. She had an ugly vision of Markie falling over in front of her with a bullet wound in his tiny chest.

     “You’ve got my full attention, John. And I don’t think you’re an old fool. I think you’re doing what you do best. You’re seeing things that none of the rest of us can see. Because you more than any of us know what bad men are capable of doing. So I for one am behind you a hundred percent.”

     Bryan said, “Me too. As far as I know, your hunches have been right on every time so far. I don’t like the idea of marauders in helicopter gunships, but if it’s a possibility it’s something we need to deal with head on.”

     John looked around the room and could tell by the nodding heads and concerned looks. Everyone was in agreement.

     If he was a pessimistic old fool, he wasn’t the only one.

     He looked at Mark and Bryan.

     “You guys are the engineers. Any thoughts?”

     Mark started, “Well, structurally, the strongest part of the building is in the basement. The walls are thick concrete and heavy duty steel rebar. They have to be strong to support the rest of the building. That’ll be the hardest part for bullets to penetrate.”

     Brad added his two cents.

     “And the farther to the interior of the building the better. We’d want multiple concrete walls separating us from the outside.”

     “Right. What about the empty storage room across the basement hallway from the ‘Walmart?’ It’s big enough to accommodate everybody. It’s smack dab in the center of the building too.”

     “It has an outer wall we’ll have to reinforce, though. How many sandbags do we have, and where are they?”

     “Oh, we still have a boatload of sandbags. About a pallet and a half, probably a thousand at least. They’re in the very back of Bay 22, with the extra plywood.”

     “We can fill them with the tunnel debris in Bay 24. Salt is denser than either sand or dirt, so it’ll be good for stopping bullets. Getting them filled and into the building is going to be a major undertaking, though.”

     “Anybody got any ideas on how to accomplish it?”

     “The only way I can think of is having a team in Bay 24 filling them and then tossing them into the tunnel entrance. We can have a second team in the tunnel, loading them onto a wheelbarrow and rolling them to the other end. And a third crew with another wheelbarrow moving them from the feed barn to the big house, and into the basement.”

     “Figure two men on each team, on an eight hour shift we should be able to move a hundred bags or more.”

     Mark said, “Why don’t we run two eight hour shifts? It’s all heavy lifting grunt work, but we have enough men to do it.”

     He looked at the girls and added, “That’ll leave you women to run everything else. Unless you’d rather work the sandbags instead.”

     Hannah looked at Sami and then at Sarah.

     “I think I can safely speak for every woman in the camp when I say that we’ll gladly run everything else and leave the sandbags to you guys.”

     Sarah added, “I’ll start working with the others. Once the room is finished we’ll start doing drills and having everyone who isn’t essential run to the basement when the panic alarm goes off.”

     John said, “Let’s make this our first priority. After it’s done, I want to put our heads together and see if we can figure out a way to dig a tunnel directly from the basement of the big house. If we can connect it to the main tunnel, we can evacuate the big house if it starts getting ugly and go to either the mine or the woods without ever going outside.

     “Again, I apologize for leaning on you engineering types so much. But I don’t know a tunnel from a pot hole. You guys are much more qualified to devise a way to do that than I am.”

     “We’ll be throwing back and forth ideas while we’re filling sandbags. Once the safe room is done, we can get back together again and make plans for the tunnel.”

Chapter 50

     There was a lot of stress in the compound when faced with the possibility of an airborne assault. But it wasn’t all work and no play.

     Mark and Hannah both worked the first shift on the project, getting up in time to be at work at six a.m. He went to the mine to fill sandbags, she went to the control center to pull security duty.

     Little Markie wasn’t so little anymore. He could be trusted now to wake up on his own, get himself dressed, and go to the communal dining room for breakfast. After checking in with his mom at the security desk and giving her a good morning hug, of course.

     The nice thing about the arrangement was that Hannah and Mark came off duty in the early afternoon, while Markie was still in school with Miss Helen and the other first, second and third graders.

     And that gave them some time alone.

     On the third day of the sandbag project, Mark went to Sarah and asked for a favor.

     “Would you mind picking Markie up from school and babysitting him for us? We’ll be back before dark.”

     “Sure. But where are you going?”

     “I can’t tell you. It’s a secret. But Hannah will tell you all about it when she gets back. And if you want to know more about it, I’ll show Bryan where it is and he can take you too.”

     She thought momentarily and said, “Okay, it’s a deal. But I have to keep it a secret, even from Hannah?”

     “Especially from Hannah.”

     At two p.m., Hannah was coming off her shift and in the process of doing her outbrief with Debbie, who came in to relieve her.

     Mark walked into the control center with a smile on his face and a backpack on his back.

     Hannah looked at the clock and then at Mark and asked him, “How’d you get off and get showered so quickly?”

     “Oh, I talked Joe into relieving me a little early. Are you about done?”

     Hannah looked at Debbie, who nodded her head to indicate she was ready to take control.

     “Yep. What’s with the backpack? And why are you grinning like a possum eating poop?”

     “What backpack?”

     “Um… that would be the one on your back…”

     Mark looked over his shoulder.

     “I don’t see any backpack. Were you sipping tequila under the security console again?”

     “Very funny, bucko.”

     She reached for the backpack, and he quickly turned and grabbed her wrist.

     “Well, you’re awfully jumpy for a man who doesn’t have a backpack on his back.”

     He released her wrist and kissed her.

     “Hush. You’re imagining the backpack. Just keep telling yourself it isn’t really there, it really isn’t there…”

     “Uh huh. And where are we going, anyway?”

     They were nearing the feed barn.

     “We’re just taking a romantic stroll, that’s all.”

     “A romantic stroll… in the tunnel?”

     “Sure. After all, it’s dimly lit, private and quiet, rather cozy…”

     They walked down the steps and started walking through the tunnel and a minute later Brad came rushing past them with a wheelbarrow full of sandbags.

     “Hello, you two,” he yelled as he passed.

     “Uh huh… private and quiet. Rigghhhtttttt…”

     He just looked at her and smiled.

     He led her into the new extension to the tunnel. She’d never been in it before, and was impressed. Even when they got to the part where it transitioned into a narrower and shorter tunnel, she was amazed at how much they were able to do in so short a time.

     They came out underneath the floor of the old hunting shack. Bryan lifted the trap door and helped her out, then resecured the door in its original position.

     “So, where are we going, exactly?”

     “I could tell you. But then it wouldn’t be as much fun.”

     “Oh. Okay, so I should just place my life and well being in your hands and trust that you’ll take good care of me?”

     “Yeah, something like that.”

     They walked through the woods in a seemingly random and circuitous route. Hannah began to be concerned that they might get lost.

     “Shouldn’t we be, like, dropping breadcrumbs or something?”

     “Have faith, my love. You’re in my very capable hands, remember?”

     “I don’t recall ever using the word ‘capable.’”

     The truth was, Mark knew exactly where he was going, and he didn’t need a path to get there. He was careful to always keep the hulking vision of Salt Mountain on his left, catching an occasional glimpse of it through the cover of the trees.

     He knew it was just a matter of going around the mountain, to a sweet spot he’d seen years before, when he was mounting cameras on top of the wind turbine.

     He’d never told Hannah about it, because he wanted to spring it on her at just the right moment.

     They’d been through a lot lately. And if John’s suspicions were right, they’d be going through a lot more in the weeks and months ahead.

     It was time for a break. A break for just to two of them.

     It was time for them to fall in love all over again.

     And he knew the perfect place.

     As they broke from the woods into a clearing, Hannah’s jaw dropped. She put her hand to her open mouth, and she looked at her husband.

     “Oh, honey, it’s beautiful. How did you ever…”

     She didn’t finish the sentence. It didn’t matter how he’d found the place. They were here, and all alone, and that was all that mattered.

     Before them stood an idyllic pond, about two acres in size, surrounded by grassy shores and tall trees. It was a perfect location to be alone with a loved one.

     She turned and put her arms on his shoulders.

     “Thank you. It’s perfect.”

     And then she kissed him.

     He said, “But wait. There’s more.”

     He removed the backpack and opened it up, then took out a red blanket.

     “I couldn’t find a picnic basket, so this had to do.”

     They laid the blanket on the grass and sat upon it. Mark took out a container of fried chicken and another of Cole slaw. A third container held biscuits that Karen had baked fresh that morning.

     Then, he took out two white athletic socks.

     Suddenly the mood changed.

     “Why the socks?”

     But she wouldn’t be disappointed. Not today of all days.

     From each of the socks he slid a wine glass.

     “The socks were to cushion them, so you wouldn’t hear them clinking together. It would have ruined the surprise.”

     And last but not least, he pulled out a bottle of wine. A 1976 Spatlase. Her favorite.

     “Oh, my goodness! Where in the world did you get that?”

     “Shhhh… I can’t give away all my secrets, you know. I was saving it for just the right moment. And since this is our anniversary, it seemed the perfect time.”

     Hannah laughed out loud.

     “You sweet, wonderful, silly man, you. Our anniversary is four months away.”

     “No, doll. Not that anniversary. This is the anniversary of the day I was in the Baylor Administration building, signing up for my summer classes. Do you remember what happened after I left the building that day?”

     “Is that the day you stumbled down the steps and dropped your books and I stopped to help you pick them up?”

     “Yes. It was the first time I ever laid eyes on you. And the very last time my heart belonged to me. It was yours from that moment on. I fell in love with you instantly, even though I didn’t even know your name.”

     She smiled, and blushed just a little.

     “And the rest, as they say, is history.”

Chapter 51

     The couple finished their picnic lunch and a good portion of the wine. Mark wanted to polish it off, but she said, “No. This is too good to guzzle all at one time. It’s like true love itself. It should be taken in small doses, and savored.”

     Mark reinserted the cork and placed it back in the backpack. Then he cleaned up the mess and stuffed everything except the blanket away. They had other plans for the blanket.

     He lay on his back, his arm around his gorgeous wife, her head on his chest. And as the afternoon sun started to dip in the western horizon they watched the clouds roll by.

     Hannah pointed skyward. “Look there. That one looks like a puppy. See his ears?”

     “Nope, sorry, I don’t see it.”

     “You can’t see a puppy?”

     “Nope. All I see is a beautiful princess.”

     She stared hard at the cloud.

     “How in the world do you see a beautiful princess?”

     She turned to look at him. And he was staring directly at her.

     “Oh. Why, thank you, handsome man. And I guess that makes you, by default, my dashing prince.”

     “At your service, m’lady…”

     She leaned over and kissed him.

     “Thank you, baby, for making this day so wonderful.”

     “Are you really having a good time?”

     “Only the best time ever. Are you?”

     “My best time ever is wherever you are. You know that. It’s always been that way.”

     She smiled.

     “Baby, I know we’ll have to start heading back soon. Can we walk around the pond first? Do you think we have time?”

     “I think so. It’s less than a mile back to the compound. And if we get stuck in the darkness and get lost in the woods, it’s not the worst thing. We can spend the night snuggling and making love in the great outdoors.”

     “Um… with the lions and tigers and bears?”

     “Oh my…”

     “I think not, mister. Let’s get started so we can get back before dark. And we can finish the wine in front of the fireplace after Markie goes to bed.”

     “That, my love, is an invitation I cannot refuse.”

     Halfway around the pond, though, they stopped short.

     They stumbled across a twelve foot aluminum rowboat.

     Painted on the bow, obviously by someone with a sense of humor and a love for old television, were the words “S.S. Minnow.”

     The small craft was grounded in high grass twenty feet from the water, underneath a towering pine tree.

     It obviously hadn’t been used in many years, judging from the several inches of pine needles and cones in its bed.

     Hannah asked, “Do you think it’s still seaworthy?”

     “I’m guessing probably so. I mean, aluminum doesn’t rust. It corrodes, but it would take many years of corrosion for the integrity of the hull to be compromised.”

     He lifted it up and turned it over, then examined the boat’s bottom.

     “It looks sound. I wonder who left it here.”

     He turned it back over. Without the pine cones and needles he’d just dumped out, they could get a better view of the boat’s interior.

     On one of the two bench seats that went from one side of the boat to the other, Hannah spotted some words.

     She rubbed off the dirt and grime that had obscured the words for many years.

     Then she read it aloud.

     “Feel free to borrow. Please return when finished.”

     Mark remembered how generous and gracious fishermen are in general. Most of them share a kinship with one another, and help each other whenever possible.

     “This must be a fisherman’s favorite spot. I’ll bet he left this here so he didn’t have to drag it back and forth whenever he came. And he was nice enough to let others use it in his absence.”

     There was something else, too. Fastened to each side of the boat were two wooden oars. They were weather-worn, but still sturdy enough to do the job.

     Hannah looked at the sky, and asked, “Do we have time to take it out?”

     Mark thought for a moment and looked at his watch.

     “No, we’d better not. We’ll be cutting it close as it is. Help me find a couple of dead logs to prop it up on. I wish the last user had stored it upside down so it wasn’t so full of junk.”

     They dragged two small fallen trees out of the forest, and placed the boat upside down on top of it.

     “I wish we had a bit more time, but it appears to be in good shape. We’ll come back another time and bring Markie and some fishing gear. And some cleaning supplies so we can get all the gunk cleaned out of it.”

     “Oh, Mark, that’s a great idea! Do you think there are fish in the pond?”

     “Yes. I know for a fact there are.”

     “How can you tell?”

     He took her by shoulder and slowly turned her around. It was close enough to nightfall so some of the evening bugs were coming out now.

     “Just watch the surface of the water.”

     It took a couple of minutes, but there was a sudden ripple in the distance, perhaps forty yards away from them.

     “What was that?”

     “A dumb dragonfly or mayfly landed on the water to get a drink and became a tasty treat for a fish. They’re in there, all right. I don’t know what kind or how big, but they’re there.”

     “Oh, honey, I can’t wait to see the look on Markie’s face when he catches his first fish!”

     “Neither can I, doll. Neither can I.”

Chapter 52

     A week went by since the helicopter had dropped in to visit. Most of the group forgot about it, or considered it just a cool memory. Much like spotting a rarely seen animal.

     Even John and his suspicious mind began to relax a little bit. But he’d never let on.

     They were still on what John called their “wartime footing.” The girls thought he was overdramatic when he used that term, but he used it often anyway. He wanted to convey the severity of the situation, and thought the term summed it up rather nicely.

     The safe room was ready. Four thick layers of sandbags, filled with dense salt powder, were lined against the outer basement wall of the room. The wall itself was concrete, ten inches thick, reinforced with half inch steel rebar. Would it catch thirty caliber bullets and prevent them from entering the room? Nobody knew for sure. But John believed it would.

     The side walls weren’t sandbagged. But the room was in the interior of the building, and bullets coming from either side would have to penetrate several other concrete walls to get to the safe room itself.

     From up above, if the helicopter chose to shoot down on the building, bullets would have to penetrate the roof and three floors, and all of the furniture and equipment and anything else that got in the way.

     “Do I think it’s safe?” John commented. “I think it’s safe enough to put my daughter in during a firefight.”

     Knowing what Sami meant to John, everyone else knew it would be safe to put their own loved ones there as well.

     Staying on John’s wartime footing meant that the two work shifts per day continued. But now work shifted to the new tunnel. Even though Mark, Brad, Bryan and Jason were quite experienced in tunnel digging now, there were some rather unique features about this third tunnel. First of all, it wasn’t as deep as the others. There were only two feet of soil that separated the top of the tunnel from the air of the compound above them.

     Second, it, like the end of the second tunnel, was narrow, just about wide enough for average men to walk through single file. But unlike the end of the second tunnel, the entire length of this tunnel was dug in such a manner.

     The most unique thing about this tunnel was that they were able to dig this one from both ends at the same time.

     The most difficult part of planning this project was  figuring out how to hide the entrance to the tunnel inside the basement of the big house. Obviously, if they ever had to evacuate, their invaders would want to know how they got out. Hopefully they would assume, like Alvarez and his thugs did, that the group used ladders to get over the wall.

     But they got lucky when Alvarez attacked, because Alvarez and his crew were blatantly stupid. They couldn’t rely on their next attackers being so as well.

     So their tunnel entrance had to be very well hidden.

     It would also be helpful if there were reasons for their attackers not to look too closely at the tunnel’s entrance.

     Like the possibility of getting electrocuted, for example.

     Months before, when they were going through the trailers they’d pulled off the highway, Mark found a huge electrical cabinet. It looked like a typical breaker box found in millions of houses around the country. Only this one was made for the electrical room of a very large building. By Mark’s estimation, it probably would have wound up in the basement of a very large high rise somewhere.

     But then the freeze happened. And instead of a high rise it was sitting in a truck in a hidden compound not far from Junction, Texas.

     Go figure.

     When they stumbled across it, Mark scratched his head, wondering if they might ever find a use for such an electrical box. He determined they wouldn’t, and they put it aside as something to haul to the trash pit at some point.

     But as fate would have it, they never got around to disposing of it. It was still sitting on the back of one of the trucks, mixed in with a pile of other unnecessary “stuff.”

     “Okay,” Mark said as he shared his plan with the others. “The wall to our electrical room is an exterior wall. It had to be to give the load wires an easy access to the room from the ground below. So there’s only one wall between the electrical room and the compound.

     “It won’t be a very big hole. The size of the electrical box is five feet high and twenty four inches wide. The hole in the wall will have to be just a bit smaller than that. Also, we can’t put the electrical box on the floor. It’ll look suspicious.

     “So what we’ll do is cut a hole in the wall twenty two inches wide and four feet ten inches high. There will be a six inch step to step over. It’ll be tight, especially for the men. But it’ll be big enough for everyone to squeeze through one at a time to get into the tunnel.”

     Bryan was intrigued by the idea, but still couldn’t picture it in his mind.

     “So, how exactly are you going to mount it? And how are you going to secure it?”

     “We’ll build a two by four box frame around it. When the hole in the wall is finished, we’ll mount it with heavy duty box hinges, but they’ll be hidden on the inside of the two by four frame. It’ll swing open, like a door, when we need it to evacuate.

     “We’ll secure it by means of an electronic lock. I’m going to install some green and red activity lights on the panel at random places just to make it look like it’s live and has power running to it. In reality, the little LED lights will use only a tiny bit of power, and will run off a battery pack we’ll install behind the box.

     “The electronic lock will be hidden from view, of course. It’ll be powered through the regular electrical system. We’ll run conduit from the top of the fake box, along the ceiling to a real breaker box on the adjacent wall. There’s conduit running all over that room anyway, so it won’t look out of place at all. To unlock the fake box, we’ll just go to the real breaker box and trip a certain breaker that only we will know. The fake door will unlock and we can swing it open like a door. Then we turn the breaker back on to reactivate the lock. When the last one walks into the tunnel, he or she will simply pull the door closed behind them and it’ll relock.”

     Bryan smiled. He couldn’t see a single flaw in Mark’s plan.

     “I love it. It’ll have electrical shock warning signs and high voltage stickers all over it. So nobody will want to mess with it. And if anybody does get curious enough to open the door panel, the LED lights will convince them it’s live and nothing to fool around with. I guess my big brother did get a little bit of the family intelligence after all.”

     “Right. We’ll have to be careful. I’m pretty sure what gave away the tunnel entrance last time was the muddy footprints on the false floor of the feed barn. We cannot make the same mistake here. Any time we work in this tunnel, or open it for any reason, we need to sweep and mop the floor in front of the door thoroughly. We want the entire room spotless at all times, so it doesn’t raise any suspicion.”

     “Mark, do you have copies of the floor plan? Can you safely knock a hole in that wall without hitting any electrical or plumbing lines?”

     “Yes, and yes. And since the electrical room is such a small room, the walls on either side will provide plenty of support. So we won’t weaken the structure to any degree by making the hole.”

     “After the hole is made, can we work on both ends of the tunnel at the same time?”

     “Yes. The ground underneath us right now isn’t salt. It’s dirt. It doesn’t transition to salt until about halfway between us and Salt Mountain. That’s good in a way, because we can dig it out faster. But it’ll require more bracing and will leak more after a hard rain. But that’s minor. What we’ll do is take empty sandbags to the electrical room to put the dirt in. We can move them with a dolly down the hall to the safe room to provide a couple extra layers of protection. We’ll dig from both ends until we meet in the middle.”

     And that’s exactly what they did.

Chapter 53

     It took Bryan and Mark three days to make the hole in the outer wall of the electrical room. The hardened concrete resisted the power of their hydraulic drill, and they kept hitting pieces of rebar embedded in the wall. Once the drill broke up the wall, they were able to break the concrete out in chunks. Then they cut out the rebar with a cutting torch, careful to cut the rebar into the concrete so there were no jagged edges. They didn’t want anybody to cut themselves while evacuating. In wartime, a casualty is a casualty whether it’s generated by friend or foe.

     To soften the concrete’s edges, they covered everything in the electrical room with heavy plastic and then brought in a sandblaster. They had a hell of a mess to clean up when they were finished, but at least they’d have a doorway to the tunnel that wouldn’t rip people to shreds as they squeezed through it.

     By the time they were finally moving dirt in the electrical room, the other end of the tunnel was moving at a fast clip. Brad and Jason were expert tunnelers now, and under their leadership the back end of the tunnel was advancing at a rate of ten to twelve feet a day. At just over seventy yards, it would be their shortest tunnel to date.

     And their fastest, too.

     The third tunnel was finished in two and a half weeks, from start to finish. Every adult in the group helped in one way or another. By day twenty, everyone had been taken into the electrical room a couple at a times and shown how to operate the door.

     “The door is behind that huge electrical panel over there,” Mark said each time he held a demonstration. “But to unlock it, you have to come over here.”

     He led the small group to one of several smaller breaker boxes on another wall. He opened the door and pointed to the second breaker switch on the left side.

     “Remember it’s the second switch from the top. If you forget which one, look at the guide sheet. It’s marked “Walk-In Freezer.” You might recall that we had a walk-in freezer in the mine. However, we don’t have one here. That’s what Blue would call ‘a clue’ and it’s a subtle way to say that’s your safe passage to the mine.”

     He flipped the switch.

     “Once you flip the switch it will let you open the panel one time, and it will automatically relock when it closes again. You’ll need to trip this switch each time you open the door, so it’s a good idea to keep it open until everybody has gone through it.

     “If you’re the last one through the door, simply close it behind you. The electronic lock will secure it.

     “As you’re going through the tunnel, watch your head. If you’re tall, you’ll have to bend over. Go through single file, and don’t panic.

     “After seventy two yards, this tunnel will open up into the main tunnel. There will be someone there with a clipboard taking a head count. Be sure they see you so they can check you off as being safely out of the compound. This is very important because if we don’t check you off before you go to the mine, we may consider you missing. And someone may go back into the compound to look for you, at great peril to themselves.”

     He looked around.

     “Are there any questions?”

     Rachel meekly raised her hand and asked, “I’m claustrophobic. I’m afraid I might panic in the tightness of the tunnel. Can I just climb over the wall instead?”

     Rachel’s question caught everyone totally off guard. It had never occurred to anyone that someone might have such an issue.

     “But you evacuated through the main tunnel before. You didn’t have a problem then?”

     “I wasn’t comfortable, but I was able to get through it. But remember, the main tunnel is different. It’s much wider. Wide enough to where I can hold my arms out and not touch the walls. The way you describe this tunnel, it’s not like that. I’m afraid if I can feel the sides of the tunnel as I go through it, I might freak out and freeze.”

     Hannah said, “Why don’t I work with you, dear? We’ll go into the main tunnel and I’ll walk a little ways into the narrow tunnel with you. If you feel uncomfortable we’ll turn around and go back. Maybe if you take it in small doses and get used to it a little at a time you can get the confidence to do it.”

     “That might help. Thank you, Hannah.”

     Jason put an arm around Rachel’s shoulders. “Don’t worry, Darlin’. If you try that and can’t do it, let me know. When we evacuate, I’ll find you and we’ll climb over that wall together.”

     She hugged him and said, “Thank you…”

     Mark said, “In the coming days Brad and I are going to take the Kenworth out and see if we can find a trailer full of railroad ties or four by fours. There are hundreds of abandoned trailers out there, so there’s a good chance we’ll find one. If we can, we’ll use it to widen the tunnel so it’s the same size as the main tunnel.”

     A couple of days later, Marty and Lenny came to call, driving their own rig. It was the first time the group had entertained guests since John’s friend Frank Woodard came to call, and they were fine hosts. While Mark and Bryan were helping Marty herd a handful of cows and a steer into the back of his trailer, Helen was cooking  up a batch of her southern fried chicken. It had become a favorite meal among the residents of the compound.

     Hannah would comment later that the best part of the meal was watching Marty and Lenny wolf down the first home cooked chicken dinner they’d had in over seven years.

     Mark mentioned that they’d be out looking for railroad ties, and Lenny said, “Shoot. Don’t bother. I know where there’s a whole flatbed full of them. He looked at Marty, who asked him, “You mean the ones on the back row of the field, next to that load of pipe?”

     “Yep,” Lenny said. “Don’t even bother breaking out your rig. I’ll haul it over here about this time tomorrow. Is there anything else you’re looking for?”

     “No, actually, we’re pretty well set on everything else.”

     “Consider it done. It’s the least I can do in exchange for this meal.”

    Marty asked Helen for the recipe.

     “Are you a cook, Mr. Haskins?”

     “Me? No, ma’am. But eventually we’re going to open up that diner. Occasionally we get offers from the local folks who get bored because they no longer have jobs to go to. I’ll eventually find a good cook. And I want her to serve something like this to our guests. We’ll put it on the menu as ‘Miss Helen’s Heavenly Fried Chicken.’”

     Helen blushed.

     “Well, in that case, Mr. Haskins, I’ll be happy to jot it down for you.”

Chapter 54

     On Buena Vista Drive in San Antonio, things weren’t quite so rosy. For three nights in a row, their night sentry had reported seeing shadowy figures off in the distance, appearing to show an interest in them. But never approaching closely enough to challenge or call out to.

     Of course, it could have been the same man on three different occasions. Perhaps a homeless scavenger looking for food. There were hundreds of those now, out and about every night begging for scraps from the neighborhoods who’d been successful in growing crops.

     They were only homeless in the technical sense. The number of vacant houses in the city outnumbered them at least five to one, and no one would have challenged them if they’d just chosen one and taken up residence there.

     But these men, called “wanderers” by the community, were modern day nomads. Instead of settling down, they drifted from place to place, sleeping in a different abandoned house every night, eating whatever they could find or whatever sympathetic growers would give them.

     In a sense, the city had become a society of growers and beggars. There was a little bit of tension between the two at times, especially when the beggars tended to hover around a particular place too long. Some were not unlike a stray dog who accepts a meal and then starts coming back every night for more.

     As a general rule, though, it seldom resorted to violence or name calling. The beggars were pretty good at sensing when they’d worn out their welcome and normally moved on before any trouble arose.

     That was why Frank and Jesse were puzzled by the reports from the sentries. It just didn’t make any sense for someone to be hanging around. If the man, or men, wanted food, all they had to do was ask. If they didn’t, they should move on. It wasn’t a complicated process.

     Things were going fairly well in San Antonio of late. The violence had mostly subsided. Frank and his group seldom heard gunshots anymore. And they were starting to hear an occasional police or fire siren. That meant that city services were beginning to normalize. Frank seriously doubted that the justice system was working yet, though. He knew how complicated that process was, with judges and courts and certified court reporters all required to make the system work. And lawyers. Lots and lots of lawyers, who Frank never really cared for.

     “I doubt if enough of those people survived to get the court system working again,” Frank told Jesse the first time they’d heard a police cruiser go wailing by. “Lawyers, especially, aren’t what you’d call a hardy lot. Essentially they’re a bunch of sissies in bad suits. I doubt many would have the toughness it took to ride out the storm.”

     Jesse had laughed.

     “Gee, Frank, why don’t you say what you really feel? And by the way, how come you hate lawyers so much?”

     “Oh, I don’t hate all of them, necessarily. I’ve seen a handful of good ones. But most of the civil attorneys were nothing but bottom feeders, taking advantage of peoples’ pain or misfortune to take way too much of their money for the work they did.

     “And on the criminal side, I saw too many lawyers become public defenders and take money from the state to put murderers back on the streets to murder again.”

     “But that’s the way our system works, buddy. Or did work, anyway. Every man deserves a fair trial and a good lawyer. Even if he’s guilty as hell.”

     “It sounds good in theory, Jesse. But you’d feel differently if you had to explain to a grieving mother that the man who murdered her baby should have been in prison for two previous murders. And only got off because a public defender browbeat a good eye witness into getting confused and impeaching himself, just so his client could walk. If you ever saw the look in that mother’s eyes, you’d feel differently about our legal system. That kind of pain never goes away. And in my book, it can never be justified. I for one hope that when and if they get the courts up and working again, that they make some serious changes to the way they conduct their trials.”

     “Well, if the court system isn’t working any more, Frank, then where are the cops taking the bad guys? And what’s happening to them once they’re there?”

     “I don’t know. I’d like to find out. I’ve been thinking about taking a drive downtown one of these days, just to check it out.

     “It may be that there are a couple of judges who are going from jail to jail and holding court. Hearing the evidence and passing sentence on the spot. And telling the police or sheriff to either haul their prisoners to the nearest prison or set them free. That’s how it worked in the old west, and I understand it worked pretty well.”

     “Do you really want to go back to the days of the wild west, Frank? Things were a lot simpler back then. But they were a lot dangerous, too.”

     “Oh, I don’t know. I know it was a hard living. Even harder than what we’ve been through over the last few years. But there are things that were good about it, too. Neighbors banded together for support and mutual protection. If bad guys came around, they worked together to chase them away. And if the bad guys caused trouble, they gave it right back to them. There was no 911. There were no probable cause hearings or arrest warrants. The good guys just banded together to take care of business. If a marshal or a sheriff happened to be in the neighborhood, they’d turn the bad guys over to him. If not, they’d deal with them without the courts. It was called frontier justice. It wasn’t always pretty. But it was pretty effective.”

     “What do you think those guys are looking for?”

     “Damned if I know. Maybe it’s the same guy, and we’ve just seen him at different times. The guys said he’s  never come close enough to make out any features. Maybe he’s just an old codger who’s lost his mind and is just wandering around with nowhere to go. Maybe he’ll eventually come out of the shadows and ask for our help, and we can help him.

     “At least I hope that’s what it is. That would beat the hell out of the alternative.

     “But just to be on the safe side, let’s extra cautious until he either comes closer or goes away.”

Chapter 55

     Rachel was a mere girl of sixteen when she came to the mine to live with the group three years before. She and her younger sister Roxanne saw their father shot in front of their very eyes, on the highway in front of the mine.

     Hannah and several of the others saw it too – on the security monitors, although they were helpless to stop it.

     Still, they had to do something. So they sent out a team to bring the girls back with them. And they buried their father in the back of the mine until the thaw. Then they reburied him in a small family plot in the corner of the compound. Right next to Mark and Bryan’s mother.

     Rachel and Roxanne were welcomed into the group and became part of the family.

     But like all families, there were secrets. Not earth shattering ones, of course. But secrets which were kept that way simply because to expose them would cause embarrassment or discomfort.

     Roxanne, for example, had been madly in love with Hannah’s husband Mark since the first time she laid eyes on him. But she had no plans to act on that love, or to even divulge it. Mark’s love for Hannah was strong, and she suspected it would last forever. And Hannah had been good to her. They were closer than sisters now. And Roxanne wasn’t the type of woman who would try to steal her sister’s man.

     Her sister Rachel, on the other hand, had fallen for Jason. Jason was just a bit older and was single, and was a much more realistic crush than Mark was for her sister.

     Of course, Rachel never told anyone. But the girls – Hannah, Sarah and Sami, knew. They could tell by the way she looked for just a split second too long any time Jason walked by. They knew from the way she was always bringing his name up in casual conversations. They knew from the way she was always asking them innocent questions about him. Did they know when his birthday was? Did they know where he was born? Did they know his favorite color? What music he liked? What hobbies he had?

     Jason had no idea. Men aren’t that smart when it comes to crushes and other affairs of the heart.

     But the girls knew.

     When Rachel had confessed a fear of tight spaces and said she might have trouble evacuating through the narrow tunnel, Hannah had offered to help her.

     So had Jason. He had no other intentions, of course, other that just wanting to be helpful. But Hannah had another idea.

     Hannah believed that the heart sometimes dragged its feet when it should have been rushing headlong in love. She was a big believer in helping the heart along under such circumstances.

     Mark considered her a busybody and would sometimes tell her to mind her own business.

     But then she’d remind him of the day he was struck by her beauty on their college campus. So struck, in fact, that he stumbled and dropped his books.

     “I was infatuated too,” she’d tell him. “So much so that I stopped and helped you pick them up. If I hadn’t given my heart that little shove, if I had just kept on walking, we never would have met.

     “And you. You said you were so fascinated by me that you searched the whole campus looking for me again. If you hadn’t shoved your heart into doing that, we’d both be married to other people now.”

     It was logic he couldn’t argue with.

     “Sometimes,” she told him, “the heart just needs a little help.”

     And so, when she went to get Rachel to help her get comfortable with the tunnel, she invited Jason to come along.

     “I just wanted to show you that the tunnel is wider than you think it is. For example, see how broad Jason’s shoulders are? I sure wish Mark’s shoulders were that broad. I think broad shoulders on a man are very sexy, don’t you think?”

     “Yes… I guess so…”

     Jason, of course, was a little bit embarrassed, and even blushed.

     And Hannah immediately pounced on that fact to shovel it on a little deeper.

     “Oh, look,” she told Rachel. “Look at him blush. I’ve always loved men who blush. It means they have no pretense. They’re honest and forthright. I’ve often said that a man who blushes is a man who will never lie to you or cheat on you… and you have to admit that a little blush looks good on such a handsome face, huh?”

     Rachel started to wonder if Hannah had lost her mind. But she admitted aloud that maybe she was right.

     “Well, he is pretty handsome.”

     “Okay, here’s what I thought we’d do. To prove that the tunnel is not quite as confining as you think it is, we’re going to have you follow Jason into the tunnel. We’ll let Jason go first, then you can follow him, and I’ll follow the two of you.

     “And just so you feel like you’re not alone in this exercise, I want you to place your hand on Jason’s upper back as we go through the tunnel. It’ll be like a support system for your subconscious. Like a constant reminder that you’re not alone, that someone bigger is going through it with you.”

     Hannah had Jason turn around so she could demonstrate.

     Hannah placed the palm of her hand on Jason’s back, just below the nape of his neck.

     She said, “Oh, my gosh, Jason! I never knew how strong and muscular you were. Why, I can just feel those muscles rippling through your back. Rachel, put your hand right there.”

     Rachel did what she was told. Jason couldn’t see it, but Rachel now had a wicked smile on her face. She’d finally figured out what Hannah was up to.

     Jason, for his part, still didn’t have a clue. He was a man, after all. He was starting to think, though, that Hannah needed to be committed.

     Rachel’s hand was on Jason’s back now, and Hannah extolled Jason’s physique.

     “Can’t you feel how rock hard and strong those muscles are, Rachel? Not only is he trustworthy, but he’s a mountain of strength, too. One of these days he’s going to find himself a girlfriend, and she’s going to be one lucky lady, for sure.”

     They were finally ready to go, and Hannah said to Rachel, “Okay, we only want you to go as far as you’re comfortable. The minute you feel the slightest bit of discomfort, just say the word. We’ll all turn around and go back the other way. We’ll take baby steps, a little at a time, until you’re okay with going all the way through.”

     Hannah was expecting to go mere yards into the tunnel before having to go back. But Rachel surprised her. She made it all the way through with her hand on Jason’s back.

     “Hooray!” Hannah said when they made it to the wider part of the main tunnel. “Are you okay?”

     “Yes! And I’m not only okay, I think I’d like to go back again. Just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke.”

    She smiled, and Hannah thought she caught a glint of mischievousness in Rachel’s eye.

     So they went back through the tunnel, back to their original starting point.

     Then they repeated the process three more times.

     “Just to be safe,” Rachel said.

     By the last time through, Rachel was gently massaging Jason’s upper back with her fingers. It didn’t escape Hannah’s notice.

     A couple of days later, Rachel and Jason began holding hands around the compound and quickly became an item.

     Sometimes love doesn’t happen on its own. It has to be very gently pushed.

     Or shoved.

Chapter 56

     Karen was in the middle of the wheat field, giving Mark and Bryan a lesson on how to tell when a wheat crop was ready to harvest.

     “See how the head is dry and starting to lean over, and the leaves are starting to wilt?”

     “Yep. Does that mean we haven’t been watering it enough?”

     “Nope. That means it’s mature and wants to be harvested. It’s telling you, “Come and get me, big boy. I’m all yours. Bring that big ole harvester in here and chop off my head.”

     “Yeah, well about that… we bought a small wheat thrasher, but didn’t want to invest in a harvester for just half an acre of wheat. We priced them, and they cost more than a good sized house.”

     “I know. They’re not cheap. That’s why many professional wheat farmers don’t own their own. They just contract out with a harvesting company to come in and harvest their fields for them. Those traveling harvesting companies are busy people at harvest time.”

     She corrected herself.

     “Or at least they used to be, before the freeze. Hopefully the wheat states are working again now and growing wheat for the masses.”

     “So, how’s the best way to harvest it without the harvester?”

     “We’ll do it the same way people did it for centuries. By hand. But don’t worry. It’ll go quicker than you think. We’ll cut it and carry it by the bundle over to the thrasher. Then, ordinarily I’d say we could pull all the plant stumps up by the roots and give them to the cattle for feed, then plant a second crop.

     “But this crop got a late start because we were hiding in the mine and couldn’t plant as early as we should have. And I’m not sure a second crop would have time to mature before our first freeze. So we’re probably better off just saving the seeds until springtime. That being the case, instead of pulling up the plants, we’ll just leave them in the field. After we harvest the wheat, and then the corn and sorghum, we’ll just let the cows graze in the fields all winter. They’ll eat the stumps and provide fertilizer all winter long. Then you can plow it all under in the spring before we do the next planting.”

     “So, if we get, say, ten people out here, how long do you think it’ll take to harvest and thrash the wheat?”

     “If we work from dawn to dusk, I’m guessing four to five days from start to finish. And we’ll need to push it, because the corn’s about ready to harvest too. So we’ll need to go right into that when the wheat’s done.”

     “Wow. No break?”

     “Welcome to the life of the American farmer.”

     “How about the sorghum?”

     “I checked it yesterday. I’m guessing it needs a couple more weeks to mature. It was the last thing we planted, remember. So if we work hard on the wheat and corn, we should have a couple of days to recuperate before we do the sorghum.”

     “And the hay?”

     “Let the hay wait until last. We’ll mow it after everything else is done. Do you have a hay bailer?”

     “Yes, but nobody knows how to use it.”

     “Did it come with instructions?”

     Bryan cut his brother off.

     “Yes, but he doesn’t know how to read them.”

     Karen winked at Mark.

     “Well, Bryan, I guess we’ll have to leave it to you to figure out how to use the bailer, then.”

     Bryan muttered, “Boy, that backfired…”

     Mark asked, “So, how much wheat should we get?”

     “The average yield for this strain is around forty five bushels an acre. We’ve got a little more than half an acre, the plants are fairly tight, and we’ve had plenty of water and sunshine. I’d guess we can expect at least twenty five bushels.”

     “That doesn’t sound like much.”

     She laughed.

     “I think you’ll be amazed at how much bread we can bake with twenty five bushels of wheat. Also, remember we were only able to plant one crop because of the evacuation. This strain of wheat takes about seventy two days from planting to harvest. If we plant earlier next season, we’ll have time to grow a second crop in the same season.”

     A call suddenly came over the radio.

     “Mark, Bryan… Your friend Marty just pulled up in a big truck with a bunch of lumber on the back.”

Chapter 57

     Marty had the guys open the gate for him, and deftly backed the flatbed trailer into the yard, around the corner of the big house, and into an open spot in the north storage yard.

     Then he climbed out of his rig to shake hands with the brothers.

     “Well, good morning, friends. How’s life treating you?”

     “Things are going pretty well these days, Marty. Thanks for asking. How’s the truck stop running?”

     “Couldn’t be better. People ask me all the time if we’re ever gonna open that diner back up, and I want to share the good news with them. But I know it’ll be at least a year and if I tell everyone too early they’ll bug me about it every time they come in. So I’ve been able to keep my mouth shut. I’ve got something for you guys in the cab.”

     “Do tell…”

     He led them to the passenger side of his rig and opened the door, then took a cardboard box from the floorboard.

     “Your wife… Hannah, was it? She took me aside and asked me if there were any trailers full of liquor and wine at the truck stop. I told her there were two that I knew of. She slipped me a piece of paper and asked me to look for something in particular.”

     He took out the crumpled and worn sticky note Hannah had smuggled to him and handed it to Mark.

     Mark opened it up and read it. It said:

Marty, if you can find a bottle of EifelerPlatz 1976 Spatlase for Mark’s and my anniversary, I’ll trade you a homemade apple pie for it. Thank you. –Hannah-

     “Well, I like apple pie. In fact, I love apple pie. But I have to tell you, I never worked so hard for an apple pie in my life. Neither trailer had manifests that I could find, so I had to go through case by case, looking at every label. I finally found this about halfway through the second trailer.

     “Happy Anniversary.”

     He handed Mark a full case of twelve bottles of Hannah’s favorite wine.

     “Don’t tell Hannah this, but there are two more cases of this stuff back in that trailer. I’ll hold onto it for you, so she thinks this is the last of it. Someday, when you’re in the doghouse, or just want to get lucky, let me know and I’ll bring it over to you.”

     He smiled broadly.

     “Now, then, if you will tell that pretty little wife of yours that I’ve earned my apple pie, I’ll come back to pick it up whenever it’s ready.”

     “Thank you, Marty. I don’t know what to say. I’ll make sure that Helen bakes the pie. And I’ll have her bake a second one for Lenny too. My wife is sweet and wonderful. But God didn’t bless her with baking talents, I’m afraid. If I let you eat one of Hannah’s pies you’d probably end our friendship. Please don’t tell her I said that.”

     “Oh, I won’t. It’ll be our secret.”

     “In fact, let’s go inside. You can relax a while and shoot some pool and we’ll see if we can get Miss Helen to whip up a couple of pies you can take back with you. She’s a sweetheart. I’m sure she’ll be happy to, if she’s not too busy doing something else.”

     “I’d love to, but I promised Mason I’d help him repair some of the fence on his back forty today. He’s afraid one of those cows you gave us might be able to get out and wander away if we don’t get the wire back up.”

     “Well, then, I’ll deliver the pies to you myself in a couple of days. How’s that?”

     Marty held out his hand.

     “Sounds like a deal. We’ll see you then.”

     Mark and Bryan helped him lower the trailer’s landing gear and disconnect the air line and electrical pigtail. He pulled his tractor out from underneath the trailer and drove over to the gate.

     While Mark was waiting for the “all clear” from security so he could reopen the gate, Marty leaned out of the window and chatted with Bryan.

     “I don’t know if you guys realized it, but you’ve got the best oasis in ten counties. I know that for a fact, because I’ve been driving around these parts a lot lately, trying to get a feel on how the other communities are doing. This is the only place I’ve seen that has both livestock and crops. You guys have done a great job, and my hat’s off to you both.”

     Bryan managed a modest tone, which was quite unusual for him.

     “We didn’t do it alone. It took a lot of help from a lot of people. And with the help of good folks like you, we’ll be able to share the wealth in the coming years until everybody in the area can have an occasional steak or two.”

     Marty waved goodbye and drove off.

     Mark just got the gate secure when Joe’s voice crackled over the radio.

     “John, this is Joe. I need you to come to the security desk pronto.”

Chapter 58

     Mark and Bryan reentered the building and were walking down the main hallway when John rushed past them.

     Bryan asked his brother, “Wanna see what’s going on?”

     “Of course, don’t you?”

     They weren’t the only ones who were curious. By the time they got to the security center Hannah and Sami were already there.

     “What’s up, Joe?”

     “John, some lady called on the ham radio a few minutes ago. She said she’s Frank Furter’s wife and something has happened to him. She wants you to call her.”

     John picked up the coiled microphone from the ham radio unit.

     “Johnny Bravo to Mrs. Furter, come in.”

     Nothing but static.

     “Johnny Bravo to Mrs. Furter, come in.”

     “Hi, Mister John. I’m sorry, I’m not used to using this thing myself. I usually stand behind Frank and give him a hard time when he uses it.”

     “You’re doing fine. Eve, right?”

     “Close. Eva. I’m sorry to bother you, John. But I don’t know where else to turn.”

     “How can I help you, Eva? Is it Frank? Is he hurt?”

     “He’s been shot. They came in the night. They killed most of the people on the block. Even two of the children. They went house to house, just shooting people. Then they took the cows and the chickens and put them in a big truck and left again. They shot at me but missed, and then the man’s gun wouldn’t work. It jammed or something. So he cursed me and went away and never came back.”

     “How is Frank?”

     “I don’t know. He keeps going in and out of consciousness. He’s asleep right now.”

     John told Joe, “Call Debbie and David. Tell them I need their help stat.”

     He went back to Eva.

     “You’re doing the best thing you can do by staying calm, dear. Are there any hospitals operating in the area?”

    “We’ve heard there’s one. The general hospital downtown. But we’ve heard that they only have two surgeons and that most of the patients are dying because they’re not seen quickly enough. Also because they have no blood.”

     Debbie and David walked up within seconds of each other.

     “Okay, Eva. I have two people here with me. One is a paramedic and the other is a dental surgeon. I want you to tell them as much as you can about Frank’s wounds.”

     He stood aside and handed the microphone to Debbie.

     “I’ll try. He was only shot one time, in the stomach area. The bullet went through him all the way, and came out his back. It bled a lot at first, but it seems to have mostly stopped now. It’s kind of seeping on the bandages, but not a lot.”

     “Eva, my name is Debbie. I have some questions for you, if you can answer them the best you can. You said the stomach area. Was it below his belly button?”

     “Yes. A little below.”

     “And was it on his right side or left side?”

     “On his right side, probably just to the right of his spine.”

     “Very good. Okay, you said the bullet came out his back. Did it leave a great big hole or a little bitty one?”

     “A little one, about the same size as the hole in the front.”

     “Okay, that’s good. Was there anything protracted, or hanging out from the hole in his back?”

     “No, nothing. Just the ugly hole.”

     “And it missed his spine?”

     “Yes, ma’am.”

     “Okay. You’re doing fine. Is he awake?”

     “No. He was a few minutes ago, but then he drifted out again.”

     “Okay. No problem. That’s just his body’s way of helping him fight the wound. Do you have a watch with a second hand?”

     “Yes.”

     “Okay, good. I want you to take his pulse for me. Do you know how to find the artery in his neck?”

     “Yes, I think so.”

     “Okay, I want you to place two fingers on that artery. Not your thumb. Be sure to use your fingers. Once you feel a beat, start timing. Don’t count that beat, but tell me how many more beats you feel in ten seconds, okay?”

     “Okay. Hold on.”

     While she was waiting, Debbie asked the others, “Can we get everybody together for an emergency meeting? To ask if anybody objects to bringing him here?”

     Joe looked around, and nobody seemed to argue the idea.

     Joe picked up the microphone and prepared to speak, until Mark waved his hand across his throat.

     “Don’t make that announcement. We’re bringing their wounded here if they can make it. I’ll take the heat from anybody who doesn’t like it. Too many people have died already.”

     Eva came back on.

     “It beat four times in ten seconds.”

     Debbie frowned.

     “Okay, Eva, now I need for you to count his respirations. I want you to bend over him and put your ear next to his mouth. Count the number of times he exhales in ten seconds.”

     She was back in half a minute.

     “Three times in ten seconds.”

     “Very well. Do you have a way to get him here? Someone who can drive the two of you?”

     “Yes. One of Jesse’s sons said he can drive us.”

     “Very well. Did you say Frank is in and out of consciousness?”

     “Yes, ma’am. He’s awake sometimes and he sleeps sometimes.”

     “Very well. When he’s conscious, is he coherent? Is he able to speak without being confused or unsure of things?”

     “Yes, ma’am.”

     “Very well. When he comes to again, I want you to ask him for directions to where we are. Write them down. Tell him to be as specific as he can. Just before you leave, call us back and tell us what type of vehicle you will be in so that we can watch out for you, okay?”

     “Yes ma’am. I’ll do all that.”

     “Now, while you’re waiting to transport him, I want you to do some very specific things. When he is unconscious, keep him on his back with his feet slightly elevated. Keep a blanket on him so he stays warm. Check his wounds periodically to make sure they’re not bleeding again. If they start, apply a bandage directly to the wound and press down firmly on it. Don’t do that unless it starts bleeding, though.

     “Check his pulse and breathing periodically. They will both speed up when he is awake and that’s okay. If they change significantly when he is unconscious, call me back and let me know, okay?”

     “Yes, ma’am.”

     “Now, then, when he’s awake, I want him to sip water. Not too much. But enough to keep him hydrated. Small sips. When he’s unconscious, if he starts to gag or throw up, roll him over onto his left side. Not the right one. I know that’s a lot to remember. Can you handle all of that?”

     “Oh, yes. I’ve been writing it all down.”

     “Very good. Now, when you transport, he needs to lie on something fairly soft. Tell the driver to avoid unnecessary bumps. Okay?”

     “Yes, ma’am.”

     “Okay. Now tell me about your other wounded people and the nature of their wounds, one at a time.”

Chapter 59

     It was almost a full hour before the victims were stabilized and ready to transport. Frank hadn’t regained consciousness at all.

     But they couldn’t wait another minute.

     “Just tell your driver to head west on Interstate 10,” John told her. We’ll watch out for their vehicles and motion for them to follow us once they get here.”

     Forty two more minutes ticked by before Bryan and Brad, parked in a black Humvee on the shoulder of the highway, saw an F-150 and a Suburban slowly creeping up the mountain west of Kerrville.

     They waited until the vehicles passed, then drew up alongside.

     Bryan leaned out of the passenger side window and held a handmade sign that said “FOLLOW US EVA.”

     The driver of the F-150 nodded her head, and Brad pulled in front of them.

     By the time the convoy made it into the compound, the situation was dreadful. Frank was now in a coma, induced by loss of blood. Another child, a girl of seven, died enroute from a massive head wound. An old woman the group called Widow Spencer was in great pain, her femur shattered by a hollow point bullet. It was obvious her leg couldn’t be saved. Luckily, someone had thought to put a tourniquet on it and almost certainly saved her life.

     The two patients were taken quickly into the first floor apartment set aside as the big house’s clinic. It was poorly equipped to handle emergency trauma surgery. But it was the best they could do and it was staffed by four people who’d move heaven and earth to save their patients.

     David, the dental surgeon, took the lead on Frank while Debbie got Widow Spencer stabilized and sedated. She loosened the tourniquet momentarily to lessen the chance of clotting, and then reapplied it. Once the old woman was resting more or less comfortably, Debbie patted her hand and said a prayer for her.

     “You hang in there, old girl. It’s not your time to go yet.”

     Then she went to help David, who was exploring both of Frank’s wounds to try to determine the extent of the damage.

     Their helpers, Helen and Sarah, knew next to nothing about medicine. But they could follow orders, and weren’t afraid to get their hands bloody, so they made for passing nurses. At least in an emergency situation.

     “Sarah, did we gather up all the people in the compound with B Positive blood?”

     “Yes. They’re waiting outside in the hallway.”

     “Debbie, would you draw samples and do cross matches on them? I’m guessing at this point that the blood loss is our biggest concern. How’s patient two doing?”

     “She’s sedated and resting comfortably. I’ll keep an eye on her until you’re ready.”

     Debbie stepped into the hallway and took the first of her volunteer blood donors into the small lab they’d set up in the apartment next door.

     As soon as she walked into the hallway, Eva looked at her in anticipation. She wanted more than anything else in the world to hear news that Frank was going to be okay. But she could tell by the look on Debbie’s face that it was still way too soon.

     Eva paced up and down the hall with Hannah, recounting the dreadful battle they’d endured in the wee hours of the morning.

     “They came in a great hoard, like a pack of wolves. I don’t know how many there were. It happened so fast, and it was so dark, and there were so many of them.

     “Jesse’s son, Bobby, told me they shot his father first. Shot him through the head. They shot him like a dog, he said. He said Jesse fell back, and Bobby instantly knew he was dead. Bobby fought back, and shot a couple of them. But they just kept coming and coming.

     “And they came from different directions. While they had Bobby and Frank and Michael pinned down at one end of the street they attacked from the other end as well. They went from house to house, just killing for no reason. They shot the children, and then Bobby’s mom, Jesse’s wife. In cold blood.

     “They tried to shoot me too, but the gun didn’t work. I think God spared me so I could ask your help for Frank.

     “I was a coward. I was hiding in my house when the shooting started. They tell me that Frank and Tony tried to make their way to our end of the street to save us. Tony was killed. Frank was shot, and struck his head on the curb when he went down. I thought he was dead too, but after the shooting stopped Bobby found him unconscious in the street.

     “It was dreadful.”

     It was a ferocious battle and took a tremendous toll. The day before, the block was full of life. It was joyful and thankful for all they had, and the population numbered seventeen men, women and children.

     Now the six survivors were broken and bloodied. All of their joy was gone, and with it much of their hope for the future.

     Eva turned to Hannah and asked poignantly, “Where are the babies? And how are they?”

     The “babies” were the two surviving children of the attack, Bobby’s young nieces. Five and seven, the girls had lost both parents within a few minutes of each other. They watched their mother draw her last breath in front of them.

     They, perhaps more than any of the others, would suffer the most in the years ahead. They’d never get the vision of their mother’s death out of their minds, no matter how hard they tried.

     They’d never understand why they were spared, when so many of their friends and loved ones were taken.

     And most of all, they’d never understand how some men thought it perfectly okay to kill and maim innocent people, just for the purpose of taking a few animals.

     Hannah held Eva in her arms.

     “Sami and Hannah have them in the lounge,” she said. Rachel and Roxanne are there too. They went through something similar when they were young. They’ll know what the girls are feeling, and will do whatever they can to help them get through it. Would you like to see them?”

     Eva nodded her head, and Hannah led her to the lounge.

     Amy and little Rebecca looked shell shocked, but they recognized Eva and clung to her. Their Uncle Bobby was nowhere in sight, and Eva was the only other face they knew that wasn’t presently on an operating table.

     As for Bobby, he stumbled outside and sat by himself on the front steps of the big house. John and Mark had approached him several times to try to tend to him, but got nowhere.

     Bobby simply offered no response to their offers. He stared off into space, seeing things only he could see, and reliving a dreadful battle that no one should have had to have gone through.

     They were a group who’d been through hell. If he survived, Frank would carry the scars on his body for the rest of his life.

     The widow Spencer had a less serious wound. In better times, at a fully staffed hospital, there would have been no question she’d survive.

     But she was an old woman. She was frail and weak even before she was shot.

     And she was under the care of a dental surgeon who’d never amputated a limb. And he had to do so with out of date antibiotics and anesthesia. The lidocaine and saline bags that dripped fluid into her arm were ancient, and there was no way to tell whether they had been tainted.

     There was only one other person in the compound, Jason Connor, who shared her O Negative blood type, and he might not be a match. Even if he was, David would refuse to take more than one pint from his body.

     And one pint of whole blood almost certainly wouldn’t be enough if there were complications during her surgery.

     Even if the old woman and Frank both survived, there would be other scars, unseen, that would likely be much worse than the visible ones.

     They had survived a massacre, yes. But their ordeal was just beginning.

Chapter 60

     As far as David could tell, the bullet that tore through Frank’s body managed to miss his major organs. His white blood cell count was relatively normal and there wasn’t any blood mixed with any of his body fluids.

     “He doesn’t show any signs of hemorrhaging,” he told Eva. “It may be that since it was a high speed bullet and put off a lot of heat, it actually cauterized some of the vessels as it passed through his body. Either that, or his dehydration thickened his blood and made it clot like hell.”

     Eva countered, “No. It wasn’t either of those two things. It was God watching out for my Frank. Either for the things he did during the freeze to help others survive, or because he’s destined to do more of God’s work. In any event, he will wake up tomorrow.”

     David smiled.

     “I certainly hope you’re right. But how on earth could you know that for sure?”

     “Because we’ve been married for thirty one years. And because tomorrow is my birthday, and Frank would never let my birthday pass by without wishing me a happy day. You watch. He’ll wake up tomorrow, you’ll see.”

     David turned to Debbie and asked, “Okay, your opinion, doc…”

     “In my opinion, it wouldn’t be prudent to search for repairs to make internally if he’s already hypotensive and shows no signs of hemorrhage. We could restart the bleeding and put him at unnecessary risk. I say let’s zip him up, restrict him to bed for awhile, watch his numbers and hope for the best.”

     “And pray,” Eva added. “Don’t forget to pray.”

     David said, “I concur. With both of you. Help me roll him onto his good side. Debbie, would you rather have the entrance wound or the exit?”

     She examined both bullet wounds carefully and then said, “I’ll take the entrance wound. It’s cleaner, and you’ve had more practice at this than I have.”

     It took more than half an hour to get everything sutured. David inserted two drain tubes and ordered a week of bed rest. He would be administered saline and intravenous vitamin B-15 and B-6 to promote the generation of new blood cells. He’d also be given antibiotics for the same reason and to head off any infection.

     Widow Spencer’s surgery was a lot more involved and a lot more gruesome. They took the leg, mid-thigh. She’d be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. But she was having trouble getting around of late anyway, only going a few steps at a time with the aid of a walker. Eva hoped that she’d make the transition to a wheelchair easily, once she found that it actually gave her added mobility, not less.

     Medically, David and Debbie worried. She’d lost some blood, but it could have been a lot worse if someone hadn’t applied a tourniquet rather quickly.

     Unfortunately, the tourniquet was in place for several hours, without being loosened occasionally.

     David’s primary concern was a blood clot in the hip area, which might break free and make its way to her heart or brain. If it did, it could cause a stroke or death. He prescribed blood thinner and the same course of vitamins that Frank would be getting.

     To ease her psychological shock when she awoke and found her leg gone, he also prescribed something rather unusual. Someone was to sit with her, holding her hand, twenty four seven, until she woke up. He didn’t want her to be alone with her own thoughts before he had a chance to talk to her.

     He needn’t have worried. If he’d known Widow Spencer at all, he’d have known she was one tough old bird.

     “Oh, heck,” she said later. “As soon as I looked down and saw my leg hanging there in pieces I knew I was going to lose it. I was just happy to wake back up again.”

     And sure enough, Frank did indeed wake up the following day. Like Eva predicted, his first words were, “Happy birthday, honey.”

     Then he drifted back to sleep for awhile. He woke up again later, and Eva softly explained to him that his best friend Jesse was dead, along with most of the others on Buena Vista Drive. After all they’d been through, one horrific night had destroyed it all.

     When Frank nodded off the second time, he cried himself to sleep.

Chapter 61

     The group had a monumental decision to make. From the beginning, they’d decided on a government similar to one used by native American tribes. The group would be called together on occasion to discuss important issues.

     Every man who had something to say would be given the opportunity to do so. Once all the words were spoken, each issue was put to a vote. In the event of a tie, the three man council of elders would make the decision. Children were encouraged to attend, to watch the process, but must remain silent and could not vote.

     There were some modern day modifications to their version of the process, though. In old Indian culture the braves made the decisions. In this group, women were allowed an equal opportunity.

     Also in this group, the council of elders, instead of being the three wisest men in the tribe, was simply the three eldest persons. Regardless of gender.

     This method of government had served them well since the early days in the mine, even before Saris 7 struck the earth and changed things forever.

     Almost everyone gathered in the dining room for the meeting. The children were released from school for a “field trip” to the proceedings.

     There were a few missing, however. Hannah and Sarah hosted a “picnic” in the apple orchard for Eva and Bobby and Bobby’s two little nieces. Joe manned the security console, keeping due vigil on the monitors.

     And Debbie stayed in the clinic, watching over her two patients.

     Each of them had selected a trusted friend to debate their position on their behalf, and then to cast their votes by proxy.

     Hannah and Sarah tried to portray the picnic as nothing but a chance to relax and get to know each other. If Eva and Bobby knew there was a specific reason for it, they didn’t let on.

     So as the six of them sat at a wooden picnic table under the largest of the apple trees and munched on sandwiches, the meeting was called to order in the big house.

     As was the usual procedure, a call would be made for topics of discussion. And a couple of minor grievances might be brought up. But everyone knew there was only one major issue at hand.

     Would the visitors stay or would they go?

     They wouldn’t be sent anywhere, of course, until they’d healed. It just wouldn’t be the right thing to do, to send sick or injured people out to fend for themselves. If they were to be outcast, it would be after they were well again, and they would be given the essential things to survive on their own. Transportation. Weapons. Enough food and supplies to get them settled elsewhere.

     Or, they might be allowed to stay. There had already been precedent for this, when Rachel and Roxanne suffered a similar tragedy and were welcomed into the fold. But precedent didn’t always mean much. Since the camp was invaded, a general pall of mistrust of strangers fell over the group. No one knew how that mistrust would play into the decision they had to make.

     Mark was expecting to be sanctioned by some members of the group. After all, he’d been the one who made the decision, on his own, to bring the wounded people into the compound for treatment.

     He fully expected to get some grief for making a decision that wasn’t his to make, and he was willing to accept it.

     But in the end, the meeting was brief and rather unexciting. No one challenged Mark for making the decision he made. There was a general sense that a decision had to be made quickly under the circumstances, to keep injured people from dying. No one faulted Mark for stepping up to the plate to make that call. In fact, most of them would have made a similar decision under the same circumstances.

     The opposition had basically one key concern: would there be enough resources to support the additional people if they were brought in permanently?

     In fact, that was the first question asked.

     Karen, the one everyone pretty much recognized as the camp expert on all things food, stood to address the question.

     “Right now the corn and wheat crops alone would feed us for the next year if it had to. And we still have all the livestock, all the plants in the green houses, all the dried foods in the trucks parked in the yard.

     “So food is definitely not a factor. We could easily feed two dozen more people if God sent them our way.”

     It was easy to see, even before the vote, which side she was on.

     Mark, the man who worked with architects to design the compound, pointed out that they’d intentionally left room for growth.

     “When we designed this building, we allowed plenty of room for our numbers to grow. We didn’t have any idea how long it would take for society to get back to normal. We knew it might take awhile.

     “So we took that into consideration. We had the place built with only the highest quality materials, so it would last at least a hundred years. And we built it a lot bigger than we had to. That’s why the entire third floor, and most of the second floor, is used for storage. All of those extra apartments were meant not for us to use, but for our children, and grandchildren, and great grandchildren. And, yes, for anyone from the outside that we elected to bring in to join us.”

     David stood up and made a point that no one else had considered.

     “Many of us are related in one way or another. Many of us share the same bloodline. Obviously, if we want to continue to expand our population, many of us cannot bear children together. If we are going to grow our numbers in the years ahead, it is essential that we bring in others who do not share our bloodlines. And if not now, then when?”

     Perhaps the most poignant statement was made  by Rachel, herself taken in under similar circumstances.

     “For a long time after I came here I felt like an outsider. It wasn’t that you guys didn’t show me love and comfort. You did. It was just that I wasn’t part of the original group, and I felt I was not one of you. So for the first two years I pretty much kept my mouth shut. I had no voice.

     “But now I’m comfortable enough to speak my mind. I love each and every one of you. I’ve come to consider you my family. And each and every night I get on my knees and thank God I was given the opportunity to join you.

     “You had this same choice to make when you saw Roxanne and I standing out on that highway. We knelt over the body of our murdered father, abandoned. Alone, and afraid.

     “I honestly don’t know what would have happened to us if you hadn’t taken us in. We would have wandered off, I suppose, and either starved to death or been murdered ourselves. We simply had no tools or knowledge to survive on our own.

     “But we didn’t have to face that, because you were kind enough to take us in. And now you tell me all the time that I’m one of you. That I’m like a sister or a brother or that weird cousin that everybody tries to avoid. But I’ve become part of the family.

     “I appreciate that. I really do. You did the right thing, and Roxanne and I owe you our lives.

     “I know in my heart that the same thing will happen again. Let’s welcome these people into our group. Let’s give them sanctuary. A safe place to live. Let’s take those orphaned children and raise them as our own. We didn’t put them in the dreadful situation they’re in. But we can darn sure take them back out of it.”

     After Rachel finished, the two others waiting in line to state their case sat back down. There simply seemed to be nothing else to say.

     “Okay,” Mark announced. “It’s time to vote. Who has proxy for Hannah and Sarah?”

     Sami stood up.

     “I do. They both want the newcomers to stay.”

     “Very well. Who holds proxy for Debbie?”

     David stood.

     “I do. She votes to let them stay.”

     “Okay. Who holds proxy for Joe?”

     John stood.

     “I do. Joe votes for them to stay.”

     “Very well. We have four proxy votes for the newcomers to be allowed to stay. Now, for the rest of us, we’ll need to see a show of hands. Karen, would you do the count?”

     “Certainly.”

     “Thank you. Now, for everyone who is in favor of allowing these people to live here permanently, and become permanent members of our group, please raise your hands.”

     A few minutes later Sami went bounding out to the apple orchard and whispered in Hannah’s ear.

     Eva said, “I assume the votes have been counted, and you’re here to tell us of our fate.”

     The girls looked shocked.

     Hannah gasped, “You knew?”

     Eva smiled.

     “Of course I knew. I figured it out when I saw everyone starting to gather in your dining area about the same time we were coming out for our picnic. You must remember, sweet child, that I am much older that any of you. I’d like to think that with age comes wisdom.”

     “I’m sorry. We shouldn’t have kept it from you.”

     “Nonsense. You kept it from me to spare my feelings. So I wouldn’t be stressed, knowing that the fate of my husband and I was in the hands of others. I totally understand why you kept it from me, just as I understand the reason for having the meeting and taking the vote to begin with.

     “Now then… are you going to keep me in suspense all day, or are you going to tell me what my future holds?”

     Sami said, “It was unanimous. Every single person wants you all to stay and be part of our family.”

Chapter 62

     There was but one thing left to do.

     It wasn’t anything anyone wanted to participate in, but it obviously had to be done. And there were no shortage of volunteers.

     In the end, Bobby chose Bryan and Brad to go with him. They were healthy and strong, and both were capable of defending themselves if there was trouble.

     While the three were gone, several of the others prepared the gravesite. There were eleven victims, but only six graves. The children would be buried with their parents, the husbands with their wives.

     Karen was busy working on the markers, which consisted of small white crosses with their names hand painted. On the children’s crosses she added a teddy bear.

     When the team returned, with the bodies wrapped in linen and placed snugly into the back of two pickup trucks, there was little ceremony or fanfare. The pickups were simply backed up to the graves and the bodies were gently and lovingly placed inside them.

     Bryan, the closest thing the group had to a minister, said a separate prayer for each one of the departed. Then the women of the group took the survivors away, to comfort them. It fell to the others to seal the graves and install the markers.

     For the first time since her ordeal began, the Widow Spencer was able to come out into the sunshine. She was in a motorized scooter now, still trying to get used to it, and trying not to get it stuck in the soft ground of the tiny graveyard.

     Frank was beside her in another scooter, holding her hand during the service. Eva was on the other side of him, holding the other.

     Frank was still technically on bed rest, but had insisted on seeing his best friend and the others buried. He’d return to bed as soon as it was over, he’d promised. And he’d be a good boy after that.

     A couple of days later, Karen had Bryan carry a large white rock from her workshop to the burial spot. It was a monument she’d made for the fallen, and she’d have carried it herself but it was just too heavy. She asked Bryan so they could say a prayer together after the stone was placed.

     It said simply:

     These are the fallen in the massacre at Buena Vista Drive. May there come a time when man allows others to live in peace and harmony, and without fear. A time when greed no longer drives men to kill. God bless and watch over these good people.

     Thank you for readingTHE SIEGE.It was a fun book to write, and I sincerely hope you enjoyed it.

     Please enjoy this preview of The Army Comes Calling, the next installment of the Final Dawn series.

THE ARMY COMES CALLING

     The Huey hovered over the compound for several minutes. John, against all good judgment, went up to the roof and watched. It was a very bold and possibly very stupid move. If they had wanted to take him out, a short burst from their door gunner would have done the trick quite nicely.

     John wasn’t even sure why he went up. He supposed it was to show the Army he wasn’t afraid of them. To show them that if they wanted a fight, they had one.

     Inside the safe room, it was deathly silent. The bulk of the compound’s residents were lost in their own silent thoughts.

     Many of them were wondering if they’d seen their last sunrise. Many of the parents were wondering if the children would be spared, and what might become of them. Many of the children were close to tears, but didn’t want to be the first to start sobbing.

     At the control center, Sarah was doing the play by play.

     “Still no other activity on any of the other monitors. Even the long range cameras show no activity on Highway 83 or Interstate 10. I still can’t see the helicopter, it’s still out of camera view, but I know it’s out there. I can hear it.”

     John didn’t tell anyone he went up to the roof. He’d left the security center without saying a word. The key players in the security center probably assumed he went to check on the women and children.

     The women and children certainly assumed he was manning his usual station at security, plotting his next move.

     But here he was, standing on the roof, glaring at the invaders who’d had the nerve to violate the sanctity of their home.

     And wondering what the hell they were doing.

     He suspected they were looking for a place to land. But there just wasn’t sufficient space in the compound to do so. All the open space was now covered with crops.

     Perhaps they didn’t want to do damage to the plants. That might not be a bad sign, depending on their intentions. It might mean they were friendly, just paying a courtesy call, and didn’t want to do any damage to the property.

     Or, it could mean that they didn’t want to cause any damage to the wheat crop that would become theirs after they blew everyone away.

     After a few minutes the chopper suddenly rose and banked sharply. It flew directly over John’s head, and then hovered over the clearing at the front of the compound.

     Sarah gave an update.

     “Okay, the helicopter has moved to the south side of the compound. It’s hovering now, just a few feet above the ground. I can count three people in the back, and two pilots in the front.”

     Mark, Bryan and Brad stood with her, watching the monitors but not saying anything.

     John, before anyone else, knew they were coming to call. He was already off the roof, and working his way down the stairs, unbuckling his web belt along the way.

     He would go out alone, and unarmed. A handgun wouldn’t do him a lick of good against a machine gun. But it would give them cause to shoot him if they thought he was hostile.

     He might be walking into a certain death. But if that was their intention, it would happen whether he had his handgun or not.

     Sarah’s voice changed. She was obviously more excited now.

     “Okay, now they’ve landed. They’ve landed on the south side of the compound. The propeller blades are still moving, but slower now. Two men have stepped out of the back. The third man in the back is still sitting behind what looks like a machine gun. The two pilots are just sitting there.”

     When she paused, John took his turn on the radio. “One of you guys meet me at the walkthrough gate. I’m going out to see what they want.”

     Sami, in the safe room helping take care of the children, suddenly felt faint. She felt as though someone had punched her in the gut. Why John? Why her father? Why was he always the one putting his life on the line?

     Hannah recognized the cues and went to her friend and held her. So did little Markie.

     Mark tapped Bryan on the shoulder and motioned for him to come along. They met John at the gate and Mark said, “I’m going too.”

     Bryan said, “Oh no, you’re not. You have a kid. I don’t. I’m going.”

     Ordinarily Mark would have argued. But he had the sense there wasn’t enough time. And there was something in Bryan’s voice that told him he’d already lost the argument.

     John said to Bryan, “Lose your weapon. I don’t want to give them any reason to gun us down.”

     Bryan complied, and felt naked without his sidearm. But John made good sense.

     Mark called in.

     “Sarah, are we all clear?”

     “Yes. You can open the gate.”

     She watched on the monitor and caught her breath as she saw her husband step through the gate with John. This was something she hadn’t expected.

     But Sarah was a trooper. She kept doing her job although her heart was breaking.

     “Okay, the two men standing outside the helicopter are just watching, like they’re waiting. John and Bryan are walking down the fence line, but they can’t see each other yet. Okay, now, John and Bryan are around the corner. They are approaching the helicopter with their arms stretched out to their sides. I hope you all are praying, because these guys need all the help they can get.”

     John and Bryan were within twenty feet of the visitors now. John immediately recognized the gold oak leaf insignia on one of the men’s brown flight suit. Sewn onto the other man’s flight suit was a blue eagle, its wings outstretched.

     Nothing on the men’s faces gave any indication whether they were friend or foe.

     John nodded at the man wearing the gold leaf and said, “Hello, major.”

     Then he turned to the taller of the men, the one wearing the eagle, and said, “Colonel, my name is John. This is my friend Mark. How can we help you?”

     “Are you two in charge of this place?”

     “We have no real leaders. But we represent the group.”

     “We have orders from the President of the United States of America to take possession of your livestock. You and your people are welcome to stay here if you wish. But we will be here with transport vehicles by 1400 hours tomorrow to load your animals. Please have them ready to go.”

     John was unswayed.

     “Colonel, may I ask by what authority President Sanders thinks he can take livestock that doesn’t belong to him?”

     “It’s not President Sanders. Sanders died a long time ago. It’s President Clark. Call it an executive order for the essential health and welfare of the American people.”

     He was obviously not a man who enjoyed backtalk or debate. With a cockiness common of military officers who knew they could snuff out lives with a simple nod of their head, he turned on his heels and returned to his helicopter.

     His major followed without so much as a word.

     John and Mark held their ground as the Cobra lifted off, swirling dust and leaves all around them. It rose to a level just above the treetops, banked sharply to port, and flew off to the north.

     Mark looked at John and could see he was seething.

     “Now what, John? Now what do we do?”

     “Well, we’re not giving up our livestock. That’s for damned sure.”

The Army Comes Calling will be available on amazon.com and through Barnes and Noble Booksellers in October, 2014.

      Please enjoy this preview of Countdown to Armageddon, available now on Amazon.com in paper and Kindle formats. Also available through Barnes and Noble Booksellers.

COUNTDOWN TO ARMAGEDDON

     Scott Harter wasn’t special by anybody’s standards. He wasn’t a handsome guy at all. He wasn’t dumb, but he’d never win a Nobel Prize either. He had no hidden talents, although he fancied himself a fairly good karaoke singer.

     His friends didn’t necessarily share that opinion, but what did they know?

     No, if those friends were tasked to choose one word to describe Scott Harter, that word might well be “average.”

     If Scott excelled at one thing, it was that he was a very good businessman. And he was also a lot luckier than most.

     And it was that combination – his penchant for making a buck, and being lucky, that led him here on this day to the Guerra Public Library on the west side of San Antonio.

     To research what he believed was the pending collapse of mankind.

     Twenty three years earlier, in 1990, Scott had done two things that would change his life forever. Even back then, he was just an average Joe. He’d had plans to become a doctor, but his average grades weren’t cutting it. So he dropped out of college halfway through his junior year.

     He’d have loved to have married a beauty queen, but his average looks certainly did nothing to attract any. Neither did his average amount of charm. So instead he started dating Linda Amparano, who was a sweet girl but somewhat average herself. They seemed to make a perfect, if slightly vanilla, couple.

     The second thing Scott had done that year was buy a dilapidated self-storage unit on the north side of San Antonio. It was one of those places where people rent lockers to store their things when their garages have run out of space. Or their kids go off to college. Or when they just accumulate so many things that they’ve run out of room to put them all.

     Pat, the guy who’d sold the property to Scott, was a friendly enough sort, but not a businessman at all. He didn’t understand some of the basic principles of running such an operation.

     Not that Scott was an expert. At least back then he wasn’t.

     But even back then, Scott knew the value of curb appeal, and that a fresh paint job and a few repairs could attract a few more customers. And a few more customers would help supply money for advertising, and special offers, and long-term lease discounts. No brainers, actually.

     So by the end of that year, two things had happened. Scott had turned around the business and turned it into a money-making operation. And he had married Linda.

     The pair had said their vows on December 17th of that year. It was bitterly cold that day. The coldest December 17th on record for that part of Texas.

     If the cold was an omen, though, neither of them saw it. If either of them had, and had gotten cold feet, their lives would be so much different today.

     But they just laughed it off, as young couples in love are wont to do. And they went ahead with their nuptials and started their lives together and never looked back at that cold day in December when they ran headlong into a marriage that shouldn’t have happened.

     The marriage lasted nine years. It produced two great sons, so there was that. And Scott and Linda remained friends. That was something else. So there was a good legacy, of sorts, left behind by their mistake that cold December day.

     Scott adored his boys. There was Jordan, his oldest, who was intelligent and talented and a bit of a goofball. And there was Zachary, who Scott was convinced would someday become a scientist or a highly successful engineer. Zach was always taking things apart and making other things with them. His curious mind never stopped working, and he loved exploring new things and new ideas. Zach was sweeter than a bucket of molasses. He was everybody’s best friend.

     Yes, Scott was lucky as a father. No problems with his boys at all.

     He was also lucky in that he lived in Texas at the time of the divorce. Texas wasn’t an alimony state. So he wasn’t saddled with monster alimony payments like his brother in Atlanta was. His brother Mike was divorced the same year as Scott, and was ordered by the court to pay forty percent of his before-tax income to a wife who had cheated on him multiple times.

     No, Scott had no such problem. He voluntarily paid child support when the boys occasionally stayed a summer with Linda, and was always on time with it. And he doted on his boys and bought them nice things.

     But since he didn’t have to pay alimony, he was able to take that money instead and use it to build his business.

     After the first storage facility was turning a healthy profit, he was able to buy a second. Then a third. And with each one he followed the same business model. He’d do some cosmetic improvements to attract a few more customers. Then he’d turn that additional income into air time on the local radio station, or ads in the local paper. Getting the word out drew more customers, which in turn would supply more money for special deals and discounts. Which would provide more money for another new facility.

     It was a business model that had served him well.

     And now, twenty three years later, Scott Harter owned a chain of thirty one storage facilities spread throughout San Antonio and nearby Houston.

     So even though he wasn’t as handsome as a movie star, and would never be a candidate to join Mensa, he was doing all right. And that was good enough for him.

     Linda had remarried within a year. The marriage only lasted two years and was full of problems. She waited a bit longer to marry her third husband, and the third time seemed to be the charm for her. The third husband, Tony, was a good man, who treated Linda and the boys well. At least it appeared that way to Tony. He didn’t know that since their divorce, Linda had gotten very good at putting on airs and keeping secrets. Keeping the ugly truth from Scott made it easier for Scott and Tony to be casual friends. Scott eventually found out that Tony was a con man and a user, who’d taken Linda for pretty much everything she had.

     It was Scott who helped her get back on her feet. She banished Tony from her life, and swore off marriage forever.

     From that point on, Linda chose a life less complicated. A life with an endless stream of boyfriends who didn’t provide a sense of stability. But they were a lot easier to get rid of when they didn’t work out.

     Their boys had been brought up in a stable environment, which meant they were well behaved and relatively problem free. Neither of them ever got into drugs, or ran away from home. Neither of them had gone to jail, or left a string of broken hearts. Both of them were good kids, who had bright futures ahead of them. Or so they thought. Actually, there were problems ahead, which none of them knew about, but which their father would soon discover.

     Yes, all in all, Scott was a lucky man, despite his being just an average guy. And he was living a pretty comfortable life.

     That was about to change.