Enforcing Home (3 page)

“Pretty much, I mean it’s not like healed completely, but I don’t have to bandage it now.”

Fred patted Aric’s shoulder, “It’s a lot better now. Doc said it’s healing really well. I’m glad we don’t have to bandage it anymore.”

“You dodged the infection bullet; lucky,” Danny added.

Aric nodded his head, “Way lucky. I’m lucky to be alive; an infection would have killed me.”

I laughed, “You’re lucky the old man didn’t kill you out of spite for shooting him.”

“No shit, I’m really glad he’s better too; not even using that cane anymore,” Aric replied.

“He still uses it from time to time; but I think it’s because he wants to, not because he needs to. And I wouldn’t call it a cane either,” I said with a chuckle.

Aric smiled, “Oh yeah, walking stick; it’s a walking stick.”

Off in the distance the sharp crack of a .22 barked. I looked off in the direction of the sound, “Looks like the girls are getting me something for my feeder.”

Jess looked at the bucket again, “I still don’t want to know.” She was shaking her head as she walked away; I couldn’t help but laugh.

A sudden clanging caught everyone’s attention. I looked over at the house and saw Bobbie on the porch working a short piece of rebar inside a triangle made from the same. “Lunch is ready!” she shouted.

“Where’d that come from?” I asked.

“I made it,” Danny said. “Had some half inch rebar lying around, and used a propane torch to heat it and bend it.”

Thad had finished his cleaning and joined us. “That’s pretty neat; like old times,” he said with a smile.

Everyone slowly filtered into Danny’s, taking seats at the tables on the back porch. Lunch was a stew of sorts, as were most meals these days, along with some Kudzu chips. Danny hurried through his lunch, as he and Sarge were scheduled to relieve the guys at the barricade after lunch. Everyone had some sort of chore for the day, and talk focused around those tasks. Sarge was sitting with Miss Kay at the end of one of the tables; they were spending more and more time together.

“I’ll give you guys a ride up to the barricade if you want after dinner; I’m going up into Altoona,” I said.

“What are you going down there for?” Tyler asked.

“Just going to check in on Gena and Dylan, then go to the Kangaroo and see what’s going on up there.”

“I’ll go with you; I don’t have anything on the schedule for a few hours.” Tyler said.

“Sure man; I need someone to go with me.”

“Daddy, can I come?” Little Jase asked. He was sitting beside Tyler at the table, with stew dripping from his chin.

Tyler looked at me; and I shrugged, not seeing anything wrong with it. Tyler looked down at his son and smiled, rubbing his head; and he replied, “Sure thing little buddy.” Jase smiled and kicked his legs, making him bounce in his seat. “Just finish your lunch.” The little boy began to shovel the stew into his mouth.

“You sure about that?” Brandy asked.

Tyler looked at me, “We’re not doing anything dangerous; just riding up the road. I don’t see why not.”

I nodded, “Yeah; it’s just a short ride.”

Not looking totally thrilled with the idea, Brandy nodded, “Ok.”

The air was suddenly split by the sound of automatic weapons fire. My head snapped around. The weapon paused after about ten rounds, then started again; and this time it was joined by another. Without saying a word, everyone began moving. Danny and I both ran towards the ATVs parked under the pole barn. Danny was a little faster and got there first; so I hopped on behind him, shouting, “Go, go, go!”

The two weapons were stuttering in alternating spurts of fire as we sped out the gate and down the road. I glanced over my shoulder to see Thad and Tyler following right behind us. As we bounced down the road, I pulled the charging handle on my carbine back to check the chamber. Seeing the brass, I released it, and thumped the forward assist knob with the palm of my hand, and then verified the safety with my thumb. By the time that was done, we were almost to the barricade. The guys there were pointing to the south; so Danny swung into the driveway of my old place.

Racing through the property, I saw men rushing through the trees along the rear fence; and tapped Danny on the shoulder, pointing. He nodded and raced towards them. They paid no attention to us, and I quickly realized why; it was Sarge and Ted. I looked in the direction they were running and saw another man in front of them. Mike was running like his ass was on fire. Danny quickly realized who they were and was already changing course. It’s amazing how much you can perceive in such a short amount of time; this all happened in seconds.

As I looked over Danny’s shoulder, I saw Little Bit running towards us. She looked scared, but not in a terrified kind of way; it was kind of odd. As we skidded to a stop, I jumped off and ran towards her.

“What is it?” I shouted as I scanned the area behind her.

She slammed into me and looked back, “There’s men; they were after us!”

“Where are your sisters?” I asked as I started to move in the direction she pointed.

“They’re over there. They told me to run!” She said as Danny, Thad and Tyler sprinted past me.

I looked back quickly and asked, “Are you okay?”

Clutching her rifle tight to her chest, she nodded; so I turned and ran on. I found everyone standing around a body on the ground. Danny had his arm around Lee Ann; and Taylor was squatted down in front of a large oak. Smoke was rising from the muzzle of her H&K that was lying across her lap. She was crying, her face red as she rocked back and forth. Seeing she was ok, I looked back at the body with Ted kneeling beside it.

I went over to Taylor and asked, “Are you alright?” She nodded; and I asked, “What happened?” She just stared at the body on the ground.

I walked over to Lee Ann and Danny. “What happened?” I asked her.

Unlike her sister, she wasn’t crying. Lee Ann was staring down at the man on the ground, seemingly indifferent. “We were sitting down for a minute, waiting to see if the squirrels would come out; and all of a sudden, there they were, running right at us.”

I looked down at the man on the ground. He was thirty-ish; and, unlike most people today, had shaved in the last couple of days. His hair was kind of raggedy, in a bad haircut kind of way; someone who had no idea how to cut hair had apparently had a go at it. He was still alive, though bleeding profusely, the source of which I couldn’t determine; and Ted was questioning him.

“If you want help, answer my questions. What were you doing?” Ted asked calmly.

He didn’t answer; just looked at Lee Ann and raised a finger to point at her, then looked at Taylor. While he didn’t say it, I for one knew what it was about.

“Women, you’re looking for women?” I asked.

He nodded slightly in reply, “Yes, now help me.” He raised a blood-covered hand and looked at it.

“Where are you guys from?” Ted asked.

“You’re not going to help me are you?” The man asked, watching blood run down his fingers.

Ted pulled a battle dressing out of his vest. “I told you I would, if you answer all my questions.”

Sarge kicked the man’s foot, “You from around here; you guys holed up around here?”

Before he answered, Mike trotted up, “Found a blood trail; if we move fast we can follow it.”

“Go ahead, we got this,” Sarge said.

“Thad you come with us,” Ted said.

“I’ll come too,” Tyler said.

The four of them quickly ran towards the ATVs, and soon were speeding towards the road, leaving Sarge, Danny and me with the girls and a dying man. Sarge squatted down beside the man and smiled, “So, you were telling us where you’re holed up.”

I turned and went over to Taylor and squatted down. She wasn’t crying now, but was still rocking back and forth. “You ok?” I asked.

She nodded again, then said, “I peed my pants.” It was then I noticed the wet stain on her jeans.

“That’s alright kiddo; we’ll get you home and you can clean up. You were scared; and it’s alright.”

“I wasn’t scared, really. I mean, not in a normal way. It wasn’t until after I shot him.” She looked at me and said; “I shot him.” Tears began to run down her cheeks again.

I looked back at the man who was obviously in even more pain, if that were even possible. Sarge was applying his unique brand of persuasion; so it was more than possible. Looking back at Taylor, I said, “You did what you had to. Remember, we talked about this before; I said it would be hard.”

“I can’t believe I peed my pants. I wasn’t scared when I started shooting. I saw them running towards us;” she paused and looked at the man, and her eyes narrowed. “He had this really creepy smile on his face.” She looked back at me, “it went away when I picked up my gun.” Looking back again, she said, “it went away quick.”

I patted her knee, the dampness reminding me of her embarrassment. “It’s ok; you did good. You protected your sisters.”

She looked right into my eyes, “I don’t ever want to do it again.”

“Neither do I,” I said with a smile. “And that’s a good thing; if you liked it, it would be a problem. You’re fine.”

She looked at Lee Ann, “She shot one too I think.”

“How many were there?” I asked.

“There were three of them; I think Ashley even shot at them.”

“Did they have guns?”

“Yeah; someone shot at us as they were running away, I think. It’s hard to be sure; the guns were so loud. I know it’s weird; but when I was shooting, it felt kind of good,” Lee Ann replied.

“It felt good because you didn’t just have to be a victim. You had a choice; you had your own power.”

The man let out a yelp and Taylor jumped. I looked back to see Sarge pushing a rather large piece of hickory into the guy’s torso; it was hard to tell exactly where. I looked back at Taylor, “You and Lee Ann go back over towards the house and stay with Little Bit.” I pointed, “she’s just over there behind the juniper trees.”

Danny had already ushered Lee Ann away from what was taking place, thankfully. As Taylor walked over to her sisters, I waved Danny over. “Hey man; can you take them home?” I asked as the poor bastard dying in the dirt continued to cry out. Sarge could be heard from time to time adding emphasis to his questions.

He nodded, “Yeah, they don’t need to be around this.”

“No, they don’t. Do me a favor; check Little Bit’s rifle.”

His head cocked to the side, “For what?”

“See if she fired it.”

He looked back at her, “Did she shoot too?”

“Taylor thinks she might have; just check it and see.”

Danny nodded, “Alright, I’ll see you back at the house.”

“Thanks,” I said as I turned to head back to the task Sarge was currently engaged in.

As I walked up, Sarge was squatted by the man’s side, wiping blood from his hands on the man’s jeans. Looking down, it was obvious the questioning had come to an end.

“He tell you where they were?” I asked.

“I’ve got a pretty good idea; you’ll probably know where it is from the description.”

I shook my head, “How do you convince a dying man to tell you anything?”

Sarge looked at me and with a straight face and said, “By not letting him die as fast as he’d like. There are worse things than death, my friend.” He slapped me on my shoulder, “come on; let’s go to the barricade and wait on the guys to get back.”

“What the hell’s going on?” Doc asked as we walked up.

“Some guys tried to grab the girls,” I replied.

“No shit; did you guys get them?” Jeff asked.

“We didn’t; but the girls did,” Sarge said.

Jeff and Doc both looked at me. “Taylor shot one of them; and Lee Ann may have hit another one,” I said.

With a look of concern, Doc asked, “How are the girls dealing with it?”

“Taylor took it pretty hard. She pissed her pants, and was pretty shaken up,” I replied.

Doc nodded, “I bet; I’ll talk to her later. The first time you’re engaged in that, it can really affect people. She needs to talk about it, and air her feelings.”

I nodded, “I’d appreciate that. I will talk with her too; but it would be good if you did first.”

Sarge had walked out to the road and called out, “Here they come; looks like they got one of them.”

We walked out to the road and could see a man walking down it towards us. Ted was right behind him sitting on the front rack of the ATV as Tyler slowly drove behind the man. Thad was following on the Polaris. We waited as they approached.

“He ain’t bleeding,” Sarge observed. I looked closely at the man. “There was a blood trail. This guy ain’t bleeding; so there was at least one more,” he added.

When they were within shouting range, Sarge called out, “Where’s the other one?”

Ted was just behind the guy with his weapon at low ready. He jerked his head and replied, “Lying on the side of the road back there; dead.”

“You sure he’s dead?” Doc asked.

“Oh yeah, he’s dead,” Thad called out.

In a moment they were before us. The prisoner stopped and took us all in, obviously unsure of what was about to happen to him. I was looking him up and down; and he was surprisingly calm considering what he’d just attempted.

“What do you notice about him, Morg?” Sarge asked.

I looked back at the guy, and some things began to really stand out. “He’s clean, recently shaved; and his hair’s been cut by someone, like the other guy.”

Sarge nodded and looked over at me grinning, “Good eye Sheriff.” He looked back to the guy and started questioning him, “What were you guys up to?” He didn’t answer. Sarge stepped towards him, “Let’s just cut the bullshit now; you can play all macho, but I assure you I’ve broke harder men that you. Just answer the questions, or we’ll move on to the hard way.”

Mike and Tyler walked up. “And he likes it the hard way,” Mike said as he passed the guy. Then he looked at Sarge and said, “I think I know where more of his people are.”

“Do tell,” Sarge replied.

“There are some guys up at the old store on the corner; they gave us the stink eye as we rode by.”

“How many were there?” Ted asked.

“We should know soon!” Tyler shouted. We all looked to where he was standing in the road. “Looks like they’re on their way here.”

The prisoner looked at Sarge, “Now you’ll see who’s the hard man.”

Sarge replied by swinging the muzzle of his carbine and hitting him in the mouth. He yelped and grabbed his face. It had to hurt like hell. Ted, Mike and Thad walked out into the road, all three were shading their eyes against the sun’s glare. “Two, no three ATVs headed this way,” Ted said.