Viral Misery: Book One
Date: 2017-10-04 04:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Adventure; Horror; Post Apocalyptic; Apocalyptic; Survival; Fiction
Description: Humanity is at the tipping point and nature will be its downfall. The bird flu out of China has mutated. Now able to latch on and replicate within humans, the virus will spread swiftly throughout the world. When you spread a virus before you even know you have it, everyone becomes a carrier. There is no preparation, and there is no cure. You can only hope that you are one of the few who are immune, or can survive long enough to fight. Wendy and Arthur have spent their lives in service to others. Having raised one child, and learned to live off the land, their only wish is for their son to give
Publisher: apocpress

VIRAL

MISERY

Book Three

REVELATIONS

. . .

THOMAS A. WATSON

TINA D. WATSON

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Copyright © August 26, 2020

THOMAS A. WATSON

TINA D. WATSON

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Credits

EDITED BY SABRINA JEAN
www.fasttrackediting.com

––––––––

COVER ART BY CHRISTIAN BENTULAN

This book is a work of Fiction. People, places, events, and situations are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or historical events, is purely coincidental.

This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the written consent of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Thank you for acknowledging the hard work of this author. If you didn’t purchase this book or it wasn’t purchased for you, please go purchase your own copy now.

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Acknowledgements

Thank you to each of you for all of
your help in getting this one ready.

Anna Shirley

Arthur Maybee

Beth Mayo

Cheryl Deariso

Claude Franks

Cora Burke

Fleur Wilkinson

Heather Everette

Jaala Wickman

James Mayo

Jan Tice

Johnny King

Joseph Ruffolo

Kathy Roberts

Leslie Bryant

Margaret Wankel

Nicole Revis

Rebecca Larsen

Sandra Welch

Tina Rush

William Beedie

Yalonda Butler

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter One

Double Date

It was the second week of October in this new world of viral misery. Four miles to the southwest of Snowball, Arkansas, and thirty miles from their ranch, Arthur barely shifted his weight while scanning the collection of buildings across the valley below him. There was a large house, for a lack of a better term, a humongous barn and then what looked like fifteen double wide mobile homes. The mobile homes were set up just like a trailer park, side by side in a perfect row, but they all looked new. No other homes were within three miles of this group. This site was as remote as the ranch, but Arthur actually liked their location better. After all, LL had only found them after catching some of the people who lived there on the trail cameras.

Thirty miles east of the ranch and in the county of Searcy, by using trail cameras they had narrowed down where to search for this group. LL had taken a group out yesterday with Joseph and gathered up all the trail camera cards. Viewing the cards, LL was finally able to track this group down.

Of all the groups and people, not that there were that many left, this group piqued everyone’s interest. It was very easy to see who belonged to the group; everyone wore camouflaged chemical suits with NBC (Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical) gas masks. Just from the pictures, anyone could see the suits and masks were current issue military grade. Another thing anyone could see, not everyone in the group was in the military. Arthur was just trying to figure out where in the hell this group had found masks and suits that fit kids because he had seen the pictures of young teens wearing NBC suits, riding in pickups with adults.

Even now as he laid there in the early morning dawn, Arthur was looking at four kids in masks. The kids weren’t in the suits when they played in the yard, but there were several adults in suits moving around the small compound. His group was on the west side of the valley atop the ridge and a small river or large creek was below them on this side of the valley floor. He made a mental note to check for the name of the creek when he got home because there wasn’t one on his topo map. There was about a thirty acre field before the small community that sat at the base of the east ridge. Three hundred feet down the slope from Arthur was a footbridge over the water that looked large and sturdy enough to handle ATVs and even the Jeeps they’d seen the group in as they moved about. The group didn’t ever move far, and unless they moved east, Arthur had never found them on any camera more than ten miles away from the hidden community.

“Why in the hell are they wearing all that shit?” Arthur asked again for the hundredth time. “The virus has run its course and if they survived any mutation that spawns they’ll have immunity, at least that’s what Sutton says.”

On Arthur’s right side and looking through his own binoculars, Jason shook his head. “I have no idea but paranoid or not, those folks have a nice setup.”

“That’s why I can’t see them being that paranoid,” Arthur huffed. Spread out in a line in the field in front of the compound were twenty greenhouses. Using his range finder, Arthur knew they were all twenty feet wide and forty feet long. He could see a nice chicken coop that had to have at least a hundred chickens in it. Just past the chicken coop was one of the biggest rabbit farms he’d ever seen.

Also looking through her binoculars, “There has to be three hundred rabbit cages down there,” Wendy stated on Arthur’s left side. Feeling cold air hit her neck, she adjusted her shemagh. Cold weather wasn’t unheard of in Arkansas this early, but they’d already had two very hard frosts. The first one had been September 29th, the day she’d tried to talk to Sutton about Alicia but just couldn’t. “I’m not thinking about her today,” Wendy mumbled.

On Jason’s left was his wife Samantha. “Has anyone noticed the front porches? Not just the house but the mobile homes?” she asked. Each had a porch that was wrapped in heavy plastic. There wasn’t a true door in the plastic sheeting, just a hanging curtain on each one. “I swear, they all look like decontamination rooms.”

Never lowering his binoculars, Arthur couldn’t help but grin. He and Wendy were nurses, Jason was an emergency room doctor, and Samantha was a nurse practitioner. “We definitely have medical staff on this outing,” he mumbled, but it wasn’t loud enough for anyone to hear.

“Damn, babe,” Jason mused, “now that you say it, they do look like decontamination areas. All the windows are covered with plastic, and here I was thinking it was some redneck form of insulation for winter.”

“Shit, I should’ve thought of that,” Samantha chided herself.

Lowering his binoculars to look over at his wife, “Redneck isn’t down there, babe. That’s why I was having a problem figuring it out. Those mobile homes are very nice. That solar array they have has to be at least a thirty-kilowatt setup. There are over a dozen windmills on the east ridge above them and then there’s the ten water wheel stations,” Jason pointed out, but Samantha never lowered her binoculars.

Shifting his gaze, Arthur looked at the water wheels and even guessing with the best set up, each one could only generate five hundred watts, but there were ten to make up for low output. That was five thousand watts of continuous power. There was one structure Arthur thought was a battery house because he could see conduit coming up from the ground and going into the building.

“Yeah, there’s no doubt they have power,” Arthur said, lowering his binoculars. Getting to his knees, Arthur put the binoculars in his pack. “I see two antennas, so they have radio.”

Dropping his binoculars, Jason popped the scope covers on his AR-10 scope as he got behind the rifle. “Bitch, don’t ruin Date Night by getting shot. This is the first time Samantha and I have ever double dated,” Jason warned him and Samantha gave a snorting chuckle.

Checking his weapons, the throat mic for his radio, and his fedora, “Donald, Daisy,” Arthur called out and both dogs jumped to their feet. “There isn’t enough ammo they can shoot at me to ruin Date Night,” Arthur huffed, walking away down the slope toward the small bridge followed by the dogs.

“Adam, Eve, alert,” Jason called out and Wendy glanced back at the two blue German shepherds. Both had belonged to a deacon at their church and were some of the dogs they’d collected from homes of their friends, ‘acquaintances’, Wendy corrected in her mind. Like the Rottweilers, Beauty and Beast, who’d belonged to their pastor, most had been trained by Arthur. Jason and Samantha had taken Adam and Eve. Beauty and Beast had been taken over by Joseph because he’d helped Arthur train them when he was home on leave two years ago.

Watching Arthur stroll down the slope with the dogs, Wendy couldn’t help but grin as she got on her own AR-10. She hated this virus, but it had presented them with the large family she’d always wanted to give Arthur. But not even she could’ve predicted it would also give Arthur what she’d always hoped he would have, a buddy.

She knew everything about Arthur’s life and that was one thing he’d never had, not even when he was a kid when you were supposed to have buddies. Partly the reason was that Arthur was always moving between foster homes, but also, Arthur had never met anyone he trusted enough. Wendy knew because she’d asked about some of the kids Arthur had mentioned in his life. That day in July when Jason walked outside with Arthur, she had seen it instantly. Arthur trusted Jason, something she’d never seen Arthur give, other than to her and Joseph. What was so awesome, because Jason and the others had passed out almost immediately after arriving, Arthur didn’t really meet him until Jason had stepped outside. She would never come out and say it because it would piss Arthur off, but in her mind, it was ‘buddy at first sight’ for Arthur and Jason.

LL was also a buddy, but because he had saved her, Arthur just worshipped him. That was one thing Wendy was thankful for. LL wasn’t the type of person to take advantage of it in any form. There wasn’t a doubt in Wendy’s mind that if LL wanted to sit in a chair and just eat and do nothing else in life, Arthur would allow it and dare anyone to say anything simply because LL had saved his Wendy.

Arthur at times acted like a twelve-year-old boy with his first buddy and Wendy loved it. More than once during the mornings, Arthur would look up the stairs to see if Jason was coming down so ‘the buddies could talk, you know’. Since Wendy had friends and even buddies growing up, but because Arthur didn’t trust anyone like that, she’d held back. There were a few women since they’d been married that Wendy would’ve liked to have been buddies with, but she wouldn’t go that far in her friendships. She was Arthur’s buddy and she never wanted him to feel jealous, even though she didn’t think he would. There wasn’t a doubt in Wendy’s mind how much Arthur loved her, and she wasn’t going to risk hurting him in any way.

Besides, the best buddy she’d ever had was on the other side of Jason. She and Samantha didn’t bond as fast as Arthur and Jason, it wasn’t until that first evening Wendy realized how much she liked Samantha. Looking at Samantha one could easily see a princess, but the fact that Samantha lived in a funk, taking care of babies and kids while having running gun battles, was something that held Wendy in awe. Wendy knew she herself was pretty and not because of Arthur always telling her, before the virus she’d seen men looking at her, but Samantha was a damn knockout and built like a brick shithouse.

Watching Samantha gear up for war was like watching Barbie strap on guns, but Samantha could sling hate and didn’t think twice about doing so.

Wendy wasn’t stupid. Before Samantha ever told her, Wendy knew Samantha had gotten into guns only because of Jason. Because Jason REALLY loved guns, and he was good with them. She and Arthur had done three-gun competitions like Jason and Samantha and they could shoot very well. They liked guns and owned a lot of them before the virus. But Wendy looked at guns like Arthur did, they were tools they grabbed to accomplish a task. Until Jason came along, they just grabbed a rifle from their gun racks before they went outside.

Oh, but that changed real fast the first afternoon Arthur and Jason took the kids who were going to be tested to carry weapons to the range. First on the line, Arthur had put the gun timer on his belt. When the gun timer beeped, from twenty-five yards, Arthur had put all ten rounds from his 1911 into the ten ring in five-point-six seconds and was happy with that. Jason had called out ‘that was good’. When Arthur turned around, he’d found Jason gluing ten pennies, a foot apart, to a 2x4 board. Then Jason had taken the board out and set it at twenty-five yards. Grabbing the gun timer Jason got ready at the line, when it beeped he drew and hit each penny once with his 1911, and he’d done it in three-point-four seconds.

With their jaws hanging open, Arthur and Wendy just gawked. Not really impressed but telling her husband ‘good job’, Samantha informed Jason that he didn’t drop his shoulder on the draw because he was trying to show off. That was when Arthur and Wendy had found out all of Jason’s guns were fine-tuned works of art.

Immediately, Arthur had asked to see Jason’s pistol and when Jason handed it over even Wendy was impressed. But when Arthur had told her it was a four thousand dollar Wilson Combat tactical custom 1911, she’d nearly fainted. That’s when they’d heard Jason’s mottoes: ‘Buy once, cry once’ and ‘Never trust your life to cheap’. Then they heard Samantha’s motto: ‘Don’t ever tell your wife what you spent because she would make that one cry last forever because you didn’t buy cheaper’. Only when they’d learned the fact Jason had an array of pistols and rifles, each an expensive, fine-tuned work of art, they’d understood Samantha’s motto. Jason didn’t believe in skimping on anything that he was going to entrust his and his wife’s safety with.

After the gun range test for the kids was finished, Jason had asked Arthur where he could set up a gunsmith bench. It was when Arthur replied, ‘In our workshop, dummy’ that Wendy had fought not to cheer. Arthur’s shop was his pride and joy. The fact he’d declared it ‘our workshop’ that very first day, let Wendy know she had seen correctly. Arthur had a buddy at long last.

It did take some effort for Wendy to not bust out laughing when Arthur had led Jason away. They were both acting like two little boys. Jason was impressed with Arthur’s gunsmithing area but over the next week, sought out other things to add. Jason was a fair machinist and an excellent gunsmith. Arthur was an excellent machinist and a fair gunsmith. When Jason showed Arthur how to make the tiny springs by hand, Arthur was in awe of his new buddy.

Jason had grabbed five AR platforms and went to work so his new buddy could also have fine works of art. Setting the ARs up for different scenarios, Jason mated the bolt to a match grade barrel for each one then redid the triggers, and added ambidextrous safeties, magazine releases, and bolt releases on all five. Then Jason had gotten the pistols Arthur carried, from the XD to his 1911s, even Arthur’s pride and joy, his self-made Damascus folded 1911.

Wendy and Samantha had been in the shop when Jason took the Damascus 1911. When Jason found out Arthur had ‘made’ everything but the springs, Jason was in awe. Grabbing his tools Jason had found the barrel that Arthur made was match grade, so he went to work on the rest. He replaced the cheap springs and Wendy was so thrilled when Jason chastised Arthur for putting cheap shit in such a work of art. Jason skeletonized the hammer and trigger, then fine-tuned the gun.

When Arthur finally shot the 1911, even Wendy was in awe seeing the grouping of all ten shots at twenty-five yards. All ten shots were touching in a very tight circle. After testing all the guns Jason had reworked for him, Arthur found the accuracy improved on all of them. Very jealous, Wendy leaned over and whispered to Samantha, wondering if she could get Jason to do that to her guns. Samantha, being Samantha, didn’t ask shit. She went and got Wendy’s guns and handed them to Jason. “Do that for these. You have until tomorrow so the girls can practice at the big people range,” she informed her husband and Jason did. Now Wendy and Arthur loved their guns, but still not at the same level of love, or lust if you listened to Samantha, as Jason had for them.

Feeling movement, she turned to see Jason getting to his knees. “I’m moving twenty yards to the right so I have a better line of sight on that guard on the slope near the wind turbines,” he told them, shifting his AR-10 and pack. With his AR-15 slung across his back, Jason moved off.

Turning to see Arthur was halfway down the slope, Wendy leaned back over her scope and then heard Samantha scoot closer. Lifting herself, Wendy saw Samantha getting situated on her rifle. “Are you worried about Arthur? I only ask because I would be about Jason,” Samantha whispered.

“Nope,” Wendy scoffed. “One thing I can say, Arthur never bites off more than he can chew. And I don’t even feel sorry for any who try him.”

Pulling the stock into her shoulder, “Oh, I can’t say that about Jason. He can usually chew up what he bites off, but not before nearly choking,” Samantha smirked. “I’m so glad our boys are buddies.”

“Remember, Arthur grew up alone and learned to make plans because he had nobody to back him up until I came along,” Wendy reminded her because she and Samantha talked a lot. “But I do feel in time, Arthur will overextend more than he ever has before. He had me to watch his back but, don’t tell him I said this ever,” Wendy paused, “I overload my ass thinking I’m just as tough as he is, but I also know Arthur will bail me out. Now that he has a buddy who he trusts, I think Arthur will start to overextend himself, but I could be wrong.”

“Let’s hope it’s after Jason figures out how to limit himself,” Samantha replied, shifting her rifle. “Is that man to the right in that deer stand at the base of the slope holding... an Uzi?”

Moving her scope, “Holy shit, he is,” Wendy gasped.

“His field of fire across the valley is four hundred yards and he has a machine pistol. They have to be stupid,” Samantha scoffed.

The fact that the ‘women’ were talking about the other side’s weapons, and making fun of them, almost made Wendy laugh. “Maybe he’s a pussy,” Wendy snarked.

“Well, the other three guards have long guns, but shit, he’d be better off taking the bullets out and just throwing the damn things,” Samantha added with a grin and continued scanning. “You know, Jason almost cried when Arthur gave him that Damascus 1911 yesterday.”

Wendy had to bite her bottom lip for a second to keep from laughing, then said, “I nearly died when LL got his and said if either of them offered sex, he was using his new gun to shoot ‘em.” Jason was the baby of the bunch in his mid-thirties, with Arthur the middle buddy in his mid-forties, and LL was the elder buddy in his mid-fifties. It was clear to anyone, LL was homophobic. That fact led to daily tormenting from Jason and Arthur as they poked fun at LL. “I’m glad Jason liked it because Arthur was nervous about giving it to him. I swear, he was acting like he was giving Jason an engagement ring.”

“Well, Jason said ‘I do’. We can’t help but love our boys,” Samantha chuckled softly. “I’m so thankful we got here. Not only did we find heaven and a new family, Jason and I both found buddies.”

“Yep, I just wish you could’ve gotten LL to come sooner,” Wendy said as Arthur reached the bottom of the slope. She and Samantha became serious, pulling their stocks tighter in their shoulders.

When their earbuds went off, both jumped as Jason’s voice sounded. “The one near the wind turbines just spotted you, Arthur.”

Opening her left eye but not pulling back from her scope, Wendy saw Arthur was on the bridge and then heard his voice over her earbud. “Damn, they’re pretty good.”

Wendy was glad Arthur only had to talk and not move his hands to use the radio because she could see movement at the compound as two women came out, ushering the kids who’d been playing outside into the barn. Then bodies started coming out of the line of trailers and spreading out. “Shit, that’s quite a few,” Wendy mumbled. Keeping her right hand on the grip and not moving her eye from the scope, she dropped her left hand to make sure her spare magazines were laid out where she’d put them. Touching them, Wendy gripped the rifle and saw the four men from the greenhouses fan out while looking at Arthur.

Suddenly, one turned around waving one arm over his head, then used it to grab something and lift it toward his mask. “Okay, one on the far left with the greenhouse group just used a radio,” Jason called out and Wendy made a mental note. She wanted a scope that could see that kind of detail from four hundred yards. There had to be one in storage because Arthur had emptied hunting and shooting sections in a bunch of stores.

The four from the greenhouses clearly became non-threatening by slinging their rifles and started walking towards Arthur. Quickly dropping her aim for a second, Wendy saw Arthur’s weapon was pushed to his back and he was holding his hands wide. “Bitch, I don’t feel that comfortable around them,” Wendy spat out and was tempted to get on the radio and let Arthur hear that.

“You said Arthur doesn’t bite off more than he can chew,” Samantha reminded her.

“He doesn’t,” Wendy said and nearly added, ‘but I do’. “I don’t feel that comfortable with him not having his hands on his weapon, but for some reason he does.” Scanning the others around the compound in defensive positions, it suddenly clicked. “That motherfucker!” she spat.

“What?” Samantha asked.

“They’re in protective suits and masks. Unless you train hard and constantly for that, you can’t shoot for shit. I’ll bet that’s why Arthur’s so comfortable. Joseph told us that after he had to do it when he went through survival school.”

Understanding instantly, Samantha was about to reply when Jason came over the radio. “Arthur, you’re a hundred yards away from them. Tell them that fucker on the right end of the row of windmills needs to get his fucking finger off the trigger or I’m removing his fucking head!”

“I want a fucking scope like Jason has,” Wendy moaned in awe since the other ridge was over eight hundred yards away.

“Oh girlfriend, he’s on his spotting scope,” Samantha informed her. “He still hasn’t told me what he paid for it. When we got out of Birmingham and Jason told me the quad tube night vision goggles we have cost twenty-two thousand each,” Samantha paused, taking a breath and letting it out slowly, “I nearly hit him, but he was wearing his goggles and I damn sure didn’t want to break ’em. Don’t get me wrong, I love those things, but holy fuck! One is worth a car!”

Watching and hearing over her earbud Arthur yell out to relay Jason’s request, damn near word for word, “Um, how did he buy shit that expensive and you didn’t know? Not to mention all the ones I’ve seen were for military and law enforcement sale only?” Wendy asked.

Through gritted teeth, “Fucker got credit cards I didn’t know about and had the bills sent to another e-mail account,” Samantha growled, watching the same man with the greenhouse group use a radio. “Some men get credit cards to hide purchases because they’re having an affair. No, my husband gets them to hide purchases of guns and gear. How he got around the military and law enforcement requirement, well, one of Jason’s high school buddies was a Texas State Trooper. They bought some and Jason asked his buddy to get two more. Jason very quickly pointed out he got ours at a discount because Texas bought over a hundred to use along the border and for their SWAT teams.”

Wendy really wished she and Arthur had met Samantha and Jason earlier so some of Jason’s, ‘buy well-made shit’, could’ve rubbed off on Arthur. Wendy would’ve gladly given Arthur the credit cards to do it. Arthur would try to build it himself or buy it cheap and fix it up to resemble and function like something well-made. Wendy just wanted to buy the well-made stuff, be it guns or cars, without having to work on them. “Samantha, don’t be mad at me, but I’m glad Jason did it. With the good shit, you had an edge and were able to get to us,” Wendy told her.

Pulling back from her scope for a second, “Damn, very valid point,” she mumbled. “Okay, we do wild freak nasty at the end of Date Night and I’ll tell him I’m proud he did,” Samantha relented, getting comfortable again as on the hill across from them, the man at the end of the windmills jumped to his feet holding his hands in the air above his head.

In the valley, Arthur stopped when the four approaching him were thirty yards away to let them pick the distance they were comfortable with. When they stopped ten yards away Arthur was glad because he was about to move back. Not because he was worried about them, but because they had on chemical suits. He didn’t know what they had been playing with and really didn’t want to get closer.

“We aren’t a gang, Caravan Man,” the one with the radio called out with his voice muffled by the mask. “But please don’t come any closer.”

Knowing the man had to nearly shout for him to hear, Arthur just nodded. “Oh, I know you’re not a gang, otherwise you’d be dead. I don’t talk to gangs,” he informed them. “No, I’ve been scoping you out and finally had to ask, why the suits? You never go further than ten miles, but has someone let loose some new evil?”

The four men looked at each other, then radioman turned back to Arthur. “Um, no, there’s the flu,” he stated.

“A new strain going around for the fall?!” Arthur cried out and was tempted to head back to beat the shit out of Sutton and Skannish.

Shaking his head, “No, not that we know. The same virus that hit in March,” radioman replied.

Letting out a sigh of relief, “Guys, once you get it you’re immune,” Arthur told them.

“We’ve never had it,” radioman responded.

“Well, you don’t ha-,” Arthur froze mid-word as the realization set in. “You’ve been in chemical suits and clean environments since March?!” he shouted.

“That’s why we don’t want you coming closer,” radioman stated, and Arthur took a step back. If they’d been under lockdown that long, he damn sure didn’t want to be responsible for giving them anything. He knew he wasn’t a carrier because he still thought he’d never had the flu. If the group before him had known Arthur was one of the very few lucky lottery winners who’d gotten the mild strain, they would’ve stripped naked and asked him to spit on them.

Admiring the effort and preparation the group had, “Um, we actually have two of the scientists who developed a vaccine for the flu,” Arthur said and all four jumped in shock. “I just set them up a lab last month. I’m not going to lie, the only reason I did was so Skannish would quit fucking whining like a bitch,” Arthur moaned and the three people on the ridge behind him nodded in agreement.

“But,” he continued, “We traveled the state and got most of what they asked for, but after meeting you, I’ll tell them it’s a priority they get back to work.”

Radioman leaned over putting his hands on his knees, with just the hope they could walk in the world again without the NBC suits filling him with a sense of relief. “Thank you, Caravan Man,” he panted out and Arthur barely heard him. “Why are they with you?”

Shrugging, “The government wants to kill them so the rest of the country doesn’t find out the president left them to die after he got his shot,” Arthur responded, and by body language alone he saw all four become tense. “I don’t know how long it’ll take, but I’ll find out.”

Moving his hands slowly to his back, Arthur pulled out a handheld radio. “Can you disinfect this?” he asked.

“Oh, we can fumigate it without hurting it,” radioman replied.

“It’s encrypted and only two other sites have one. Anyone looks like they’re going to mess with you, call me, I’ll handle them,” Arthur told them and it seemed to shock them. “Guys, you’ve been in rubber, charcoal-lined suits, breathing through biological gas masks for seven months. That’s tough. That you even had that shit to put on is awesome and hell, the least I can do is lend a hand and make sure you get out of the rubber one day.”

Behind him Jason busted out laughing at, ‘get out of the rubber’, but the four couldn’t hear him. “Caravan Man, it’s not like we have much choice when death is the reward for not wearing rubber,” radioman replied. “All of our families are in rubber when we go outside. There aren’t many birds, but we still see some around and just don’t want to risk it. Our chickens have stayed isolated in the coop and none have died, so we’re hopeful.”

Knowing what radioman was implying, Arthur nodded. Birds weren’t exactly rare, but you noticed them now because they weren’t everywhere. “I promise you, it will become a priority for those lab rats to make some of the vaccine. I’m sorry, I can’t even guess how long it’ll take them,” Arthur told them as Jason came over his earbud.

“Dude, we just got that shit! They haven’t even set the lab up and I’m sorry to tell you, the shit we got isn’t what they had. Sutton and Skannish come from labs that would compare to Formula One race cars and we got them 1970 Pintos! It’ll be a year at the soonest.”

Holding his hand up to the four Arthur told them, “Talking to my group.” Then he addressed Jason, “If that’s what Skannish and Sutton tell me, then that’s what I’ll tell them. You’re a doctor, I’m a nurse. Neither of those equal virologist. Shit, Sutton has so many degrees I doubt he can name all of them off the top of his head.”

Only hearing Arthur’s side of the conversation, the four nodded as Arthur dropped his hand and noticed Donald and Daisy easing up to his sides. They didn’t feel any threats he could tell, they just wanted to be petted because they did a good job and felt Arthur was relaxed. Reaching down and patting both, “Go to momma,” he told them.

Both dogs took off as Arthur looked up at the four. “Sorry, they might have wanted you to pet them and I’m not going to be responsible for passing you anything,” Arthur stated flatly and the four liked that. “If you need anything or if we can do anything for you, let me know.”

Shaking his head, “We just need the vaccine. We still have another two years of food in storage, and the greenhouses, chickens and rabbits are producing,” radioman told him.

“I understand, but can you give me a number for the vaccines? I don’t know what or how they have to do it, but I don’t want them to waste time going too high or low and I don’t know what they have to do for kids.”

The four turned to each other talking low for a few seconds, then radioman faced Arthur. “Caravan Man, you’re the only thing we’ve heard about that’s any good in this new world. My name is Chad. I’m over the group and we agree, you can be trusted. There are seventy-four of us. Thirty-eight adults over eighteen, five kids between four and six, and thirty-one kids between seven and fifteen,” Chad reported.

“Families that survived together intact,” Arthur gasped in shock, then got down on one knee. “I swear to you, I will do what I have to, to get you those vaccines.” The four didn’t know how to respond to such a vow and just remained quiet as Arthur stood back up.

“I’ll be back at my group tomorrow morning. I’m with some others and my wife. It’s Date Night and we’re hitting a gang near Dover and then checking on a farm that got hit yesterday north of Hunt. I should have something to tell you around ten tomorrow morning. If I don’t understand what Sutton and Skannish are saying, I’ll still call you and let you know what’s going on,” Arthur told them and the four seemed very confused that Arthur was hitting a gang on ‘Date Night’.

“When I have a timeline, I’ll tell you my name. I would like for you to join the little band of communities we’re setting up, but only after we get this vaccine. I really don’t want any of you doing shit until then,” Arthur told them, and that seemed to perk them up even more.

“We would be honored, Caravan Man,” Chad stated as Arthur waved bye and headed back to the others. When he got back, he saw they were all packed up waiting.

Knowing how Arthur felt about ‘family’, “Babe, we’ll do everything we can,” Wendy told him, holding her hand up. “But we aren’t going back to the East Coast to that underground bunker unless Sutton and Skannish can convince me, that’s the only place we can get what they need. If it is, we’ll go,” she offered. “We could go back to the ranch now, if you want?”

Looking at Wendy like she was crazy, “And ruin Date Night on our first double date?” Arthur scoffed. “A few hours won’t make a difference and we need to hit that gang. They move around too much. I would radio back but that would be a long transmission so, let’s get Date Night rolling.”

Glancing up at the morning sun, “Shouldn’t we say Date Day?” Samantha asked.

“No,” Arthur huffed. “The real fun part of Date Night doesn’t start until after the work is done.”

With a nod, Samantha spun on her heel heading for the Blazer. “Let’s kill some fuckers!” she barked, and Jason broke into a jog and passed her.

“Oh, no kids around to worry about waking up and we’re clean? It’s on like a chicken bone!” he called over his shoulder.

Breaking into a jog to catch up, “Yeah, those quickies suck ass,” Samantha stated and found Wendy jogging beside her. “Thank you so much for telling me about the spot in the loft of the barn.”

“That’s where Joseph sends us,” Wendy chuckled as all four dogs flew past. “Donald, Daisy, it’s not like you two try to hide freak nasty!”

Chapter Two

Evil abounds

With the sun high overhead, Jason and Samantha were prone on a small hilltop as each scanned the area. They were currently north of Dover, but yesterday the gang had been set up in a house east of Dover. That was why Arthur wanted to hit them now; the gang moved and did it a lot. Like most gangs, it was just a collection of people, mostly males with some females, numbering about thirty in all. This gang had some prisoners but less than a dozen. It didn’t take long to find them again, since the gang had generators running. Even if the generators hadn’t been running, they would have been easy to find as the gang always had fires going even though it was only in the fifties at night.

Smirking, Jason cut his eyes over to his wife and grinned to see her using a laser range finder getting ranges to the cinder block building where the group was at. Eleven of the gang were outside around a steel drum that had a fire burning. Three women and one older teen boy were also there, and it was very easy to see they weren’t there by choice. They had leg shackles on.

Lowering the range finder, “Are you seeing this shit?” she snarled, and Jason cringed. They were set up over two hundred yards away, but her voice was still kind of loud. “That shackled bitch on the right is sitting right beside an AK-47. Two of them at the barrel raped her ass not half an hour ago. She’s not handcuffed, she could take down those eleven and still have half a magazine! I’m tempted to cap the stupid bitch,” Samantha declared. It had been hard watching the young woman getting raped, but she had seen that and much worse when they’d scouted the Heavenly Disciples.

This wasn’t the first time out with Arthur for Jason and he didn’t want to inform his wife that docile captives were pretty common now. Three days ago, Jason and Arthur had hit a house with nine hostiles and sixteen prisoners, and not one had been tied up. They’d hit the building killing eight in mere seconds then moved to the back room. The last man of the gang had grabbed a young woman, who looked barely twenty, held a gun to her head and hid behind her, yelling for them to back off. Jason had actually hesitated for half a heartbeat before pulling the trigger on his AR.

Since the man had been crouched down and hiding behind his human shield, Jason had to shoot through the girl’s neck. All three rounds punched into the man’s head and he was dead before he hit the floor, but not the girl. Seeing his target was dead, Jason had scanned the room for threats, didn’t see any, and then looked at the young woman trying to breathe. His first instinct, as a doctor, was to yank out his first aid kit and get to work, but because he was a doctor, Jason knew he would only be wasting supplies.

From across the room, Arthur had punched a hole between the girl’s eyes with his rifle. ‘Took your time pullin’ the trigger,’ he’d popped off at Jason. On the very first patrol with Arthur, he’d told Jason to never hesitate if a hostage got in the way. But Jason had been thinking, ‘I’m with the Caravan Man. What happens if I kill a hostage?’

When one of the other female hostages started screaming that they’d killed Milly, Arthur calmly lifted his rifle and shot her in the face, then asked if anyone else had complaints. Most shook their head while the others just stared at the two dead females. What did shock Jason was when Arthur told the fourteen left to get in the vehicles and leave the state, he didn’t want to see them again. When Arthur had said that, all of them turned to him and Arthur coolly stated, “You’re all fucking worthless and nobody around here needs to waste their time on you.”

It wasn’t until they’d gotten back to the ranch when Jason had realized that nothing that’d happened disturbed him. That was the first person he’d ever killed who wasn’t armed. Since he didn’t know how Samantha would react, Jason had omitted the fact that he’d killed the last gang member by shooting through a young girl’s neck. Now hearing his wife, Jason concluded he would tell her, but after Date Night. He wasn’t messing up freak nasty time for shit.

Even though he knew the ranges because the laser range finder in the scope on his AR-10 told him ranges, “What’s the range?” he asked. The building looked like it had once been an old store. It was made of cinder blocks with two large boarded-up windows and a door on the front. Where he and Samantha had set up, the only blind area was directly behind the building.

“Two hundred and thirty-two yards to the front of the building, two hundred and nineteen yards to the fire barrel,” Samantha told him. “Did you hear me? That bitch is sitting beside a loaded AK and isn’t doing shit. Hell, the two women in the gang who were cheering for her to scream louder when those two raped her aren’t even armed now. At the very least, the bitch needs to kill them!”

“They’ve been cowed down, babe,” Jason offered. He was so proud of Samantha, even though he never would’ve believed what he was hearing coming out of her mouth.

“You don’t think they’ll offer them a spot, do you?”

Knowing what Samantha meant, “Babe, Arthur would never offer a spot to anyone like that. Don’t be shocked, but your buddy? She may just cap ‘em,” Jason told her. Even though he’d never been on patrol with Wendy, others had. Everyone had told Jason that Wendy was a badass, and Jason could see it. Arthur had told him that morning before they’d left, ‘Don’t be shocked by how Wendy acts on Date Night’.

“Samantha, I was there when Wendy told you, ‘You have the power to throw people out’. They wouldn’t bring anyone back you didn’t like,” Jason told her. The fact he and Samantha had been moved to the upper echelon in rank with Arthur and Wendy unnerved him. What bothered Jason was if someone who was brought in became a problem, he and Samantha were as much at fault as Arthur and Wendy. He didn’t know about Samantha but if that happened, it would be like a kick in the balls that he’d let down Arthur.

Just hearing it had made Samantha pause. She hadn’t wanted to be in charge of something this big. She loved being a part of it, but not one of the ones in charge. The five ruling members were Arthur, Wendy, Jason, Samantha, and LL. When Arthur had made the announcement just a month after they’d gotten there, Samantha had asked Wendy why Joseph wasn’t on the ruling board. “He still has to grow up,” Wendy had replied.

“Jason, do you and Arthur kill people every time you go out?” she asked, peering through her scope.

“Not gang members every time out, but we do kill,” Jason told her. “I haven’t been out with him when we didn’t kill at least two crazies. Last week, we killed like forty dogs that had run down two men.”

Just hearing ‘crazies’, Samantha gave a shiver. “And you keep right on killing the crazies,” she told him. At the end of summer they had noticed crazies grouping together but after the weather turned cold, there was no denying it. Nobody spotted a crazy alone anymore. Jason had told her about the two men who’d been taken down by a pack of dogs. One had had a double-barrel shotgun and the other a Glock 17. The pack had numbered over fifty and they’d just swarmed the two men. Jason and Arthur had come upon the scene later. Scanning the area Jason figured from the bodies, they’d missed the attack by less than an hour.

“That’s where we’re going after we hit this group,” he told her. “Spotted a group of crazies yesterday north of Lamar in a house that looks like it’s been vacant for decades.”

“Maybe the dogs got ‘em,” Samantha stated, but she damn sure wouldn’t have a problem dropping a crazy. Reports on the radio had started coming in as the temperature dropped of crazies hunting and attacking people. Crazies never used guns. They attacked with bludgeoning weapons, knives, bare hands, and teeth.

“You set?” Arthur called over the radio.

Grabbing his PTT, “We’ve been set up, brother,” Jason answered. “Have eleven hostiles out front with four captives.”

“Stupid ass captives,” Samantha mumbled.

“We have two hostiles at the back east corner, can you see them?” Arthur asked and Jason didn’t even shift his aim because he’d already spotted them.

“Yeah, they’re smoking. Need us to take ‘em?”

“Nah, we have ‘em. If you can, those you hit out front, try to wound? Just make sure the wound is enough to take them out of the fight,” Arthur asked and Jason could tell he was grinning.

Having a very good idea why, “We’ll try,” Jason replied.

As Jason let his PTT go, “Um, babe? What’s ‘wound them enough to take them out of the fight’?” Samantha asked.

“Chest and gut shots, but if any pose a threat, take their head off,” he answered.

This attack was only Arthur’s third during the day. Gangs now knew from the stories over the radio from rescued prisoners that he loved attacking during the night, so that’s when they were most vigilant now. Arthur had told Jason if he’d still been working alone, he’d still be attacking only at night, but with Jason joining him, he wanted to let others know danger was also around during the day.

“Moving,” Arthur called over the radio in a low voice, and Jason tried to keep his heart rate down by breathing steady.

He soon spotted Arthur slinking out of the trees toward the building with Wendy behind him. Donald and Daisy were behind both. Watching Arthur move, Jason was reminded of a cat. Shifting his eyes to Wendy, Jason could instantly tell she’d been taught by Arthur, but didn’t have his grace. It was very apparent; Arthur was used to moving without being seen.

At the corner of the building, the two smoking were looking at each other while they talked. Not realizing it, Jason let a breath out he didn’t remember holding. From where they were, Arthur, Wendy, and the dogs could be seen by the group at the front and the back corner. More than one at the front turned in their direction but didn’t raise an alarm, so Jason knew the hostiles didn’t spot them because they were talking and the camouflage blended in very well. “Have to love Multicam,” Jason mumbled because all of them were wearing it. When Arthur reached the back of the building Jason felt more at ease, since now only the two at the side could spot Arthur and Wendy. The two at the side kept talking, and Jason couldn’t hear it but could see them laughing in his scope.

He gave a startle when Arthur lunged out taking one down. Slapping his hand over the man’s mouth, Arthur drove his knife into the man’s chest on the right then yanked it out and shoved it in the left side, collapsing both lungs. “Fucker knows how to kill with a knife pretty damn good,” Jason mumbled, then saw Wendy lunge at the other one with her right arm extended, holding the knife out like a spear.

In slow motion Jason watched Wendy bury the blade in the man’s throat, right on his Adam’s apple. When the tip of her blade met his spine, Wendy pulled to the right with the cutting edge. Jason was sure the man would’ve dropped on his own, but Wendy kicked out his left knee as the man grabbed at the left side of his neck while blood pulsated out of his half-severed neck. Just as the man dropped to his knee, Wendy flipped the knife over in her hand so the blade was facing out and lashed out hard at the man’s throat again.

“Whoa,” Jason mumbled as the head teetered on the only thing still connecting it to the body, the spine. Like she was proving it, Wendy grabbed the man by the hair and yanked back and down. The man’s arms started thrashing about as the back of the man’s head touched between his shoulder blades. Finished with her target now, Wendy kicked the man in the back. The body hit chest-first and then the head flopped back over like a hanging piece of skin, burying the nose in the dirt.

“She made a ‘Nearly Headless Nick’ like on Harry Potter,” Samantha blurted out, then noticed Wendy was coated in blood and she could swear Wendy was smiling. “You remind me to never piss that bitch off.”

“I will, and you damn sure better remind me,” Jason replied as Wendy and Arthur disappeared behind the store, heading for the back door. “Wait for the flash bang and remember Arthur and Wendy are inside, so check your shots.”

“Duh,” Samantha droned out, but he could hear a quiver in her voice from the adrenaline.

A muffled but loud ‘BLAM’ sounded in the store. Those at the burn barrel all jumped but before they could turn, two of them gave jerks and let out cries as 7.62 hollow points hit them in the chest. Before the others registered what had happened two more were hit, followed by others in the space of heartbeats.

Now realizing they were under attack, the remaining three started to drop but two more were hit. The last gang member, a woman, hit the ground trying to hide behind the burning barrel. Samantha’s crosshairs rested on her hip. Squeezing the trigger, Samantha gave a chuckle watching the woman jerk and roll from behind the barrel holding her hip.

“What the fuck?!” Samantha cried out, watching the hostage she’d watched being raped run to one of her rapists, trying to offer first aid.

Seeing the captive in his scope trying to save one of her rapists, Jason shifted away to cover the side of the building in case any ran out the back. If any of the gang escaped and stayed right behind the store, he and Samantha didn’t have a shot until they got nearly eight hundred yards away.

Hearing the ‘Ppfft” of Samantha’s suppressed AR-10, Jason shifted back and found the captive clutching her chest and falling backwards. “Ooops, my finger slipped. My bad, babe,” Samantha told him.

Knowing Samantha’s finger didn’t ‘slip’, Jason gave a chuckle seeing some of those they’d shot were still rolling around, but none were going for weapons. Jason and Samantha both jerked when the front door burst open and partially dressed bodies began pouring out. “Don’t shoot until they get away from the building,” Jason called out.

“I’m not stupid,” Samantha replied, following the group as they started to fan out in a dead run. She counted six men and one woman. None were wearing shirts and only half had on pants. Before Jason or Samantha could ponder the reason, Wendy appeared in the door with her pistol in her hand.

Bracing in a classic weaver stance, Wendy started firing. ‘Pop, pop, pop, pop’ then she shifted to another, ‘pop, pop, pop, pop’. The unsuppressed shots were so fast it was hard to count them and they watched as Wendy kept shifting her aim and the group melted under her gunfire.

“How many bullets does her fucking pistol hold?!” Samantha cried out in awe as the last one dropped to the ground nearly doing a cartwheel.

Watching the scene, Samantha knew Wendy had shot each of the seven at least four times. Shifting her scope, Samantha saw Wendy ejecting a magazine and slapping in a new one before releasing the slide, letting Samantha know Wendy’s gun did have a limit.

“Arthur made some extended high capacity magazines for her XD that hold thirty-two rounds,” Jason chuckled.

“I want magazines that hold that many,” Samantha informed Jason as she watched Wendy calmly walk out the door. Some of the ones by the burning barrel were still moving but Wendy ignored them, breaking into a jog and shoving her pistol into her thigh holster.

“Jason, Samantha, cover her please,” Arthur called over the radio.

“We are,” Jason answered and saw Wendy yank her knife out. It was clipped to her vest at the left shoulder and hanging down. Before they’d pulled out that morning, Arthur had told Wendy she needed to move it because it could interfere with shooting from her left with her AR. Wendy had promptly replied, ‘fuck off’.

With her scope on one of those Wendy had shot, Samantha noticed it was a man and he wasn’t moving his legs, then she shifted her sights to another and found the same thing. When the woman rolled on her side, Samantha saw four tiny entry wounds in the small of the back, right at the pelvis. The first thing in Samantha’s mind was, ‘Nice grouping’.

“Ah, Jason? I think she shot all of them in the small of the back at the base of the spine to take out their legs,” Samantha reported.

“Oh, she did,” Jason chuckled as Wendy reached the first one, grabbing the man by the hair and yanking his head back. Wendy lashed out with the blade across the man’s throat nearly severing the man’s head off. Letting his hair go, she trotted over to the next one.

When Wendy was close the man reached out quickly and Jason nearly dropped his finger to the trigger, but Wendy didn’t need him. She grabbed the man’s arm at the wrist then drove her knee out as she dropped. Jason and Samantha heard the scream as they watched the man’s elbow bend the wrong way.

“Oh, she is so teaching me how to do that,” Samantha exclaimed in awe. Hearing his wife say that made Jason happy because it was one area Samantha never bothered with, hand-to-hand. She would do guns, go to competitions and to the range, but Jason couldn’t get her to take hand-to-hand classes.

Wendy moved over on top of the man with her knees on his shoulders, pinning him down. If the man could’ve moved his legs and his right arm hadn’t been destroyed, he might have been able to throw Wendy off because he was nearly twice her size. They both watched as Wendy leaned over his face and rested the tip of her knife over his heart.

When they heard her voice in their earbuds, both jumped not expecting it. “Hey, you were shoving stuff in that little boy’s body. Tell me what it feels like when I do it to you,” Wendy told the man rather cheerfully.

Agonizingly slow, Wendy shoved the blade down as the man howled. “It can’t hurt that bad, I still have more to put in,” Wendy told him when half of the blade was inside his chest and she could feel the man’s heart pulsating through the knife.

“It feels good to me, doesn’t it feel good to you?” Wendy asked leaning over the man’s face. “Don’t you like my hot shaft in your body? Unlike you with that little boy, I went slow so it wouldn’t hurt, don’t you like this? Won’t you respect me tomorrow?”

Shifting on her gun and nearly panting, “Jason, next Date Night, we’re taking the building,” Samantha informed him.

“Babe, you have to know how to fight hand-to-hand before doing room assaults,” Jason told her, again. Quickly, Wendy yanked the knife out of the man as he howled, then Wendy put the knife over the man’s mouth like she wanted him to bite down on it. Jason gave a startle watching Wendy shove the blade across the man’s mouth, slicing through both cheeks.

As the man’s jaw flapped open Wendy stayed leaning over his face, “You didn’t like my hot rod in your mouth? I went fast so I wouldn’t choke you,” she told him in a soothing voice.

Shaking her head as Wendy watched the light slowly leave the child rapist’s eyes, “I don’t know how or why, but for some reason, I’m so fucking horny,” Samantha stated, and that got Jason to take his eye off his scope for a brief second to glance over at his wife. Somewhat in shock, he saw Samantha peering through her scope.

“You couldn’t keep that to yourself? You just had to say it out loud,” Jason huffed, getting back on his scope. “Now my motor is really cranked up.”

Wendy leapt to her feet and ran over to the woman, dropping on her chest. Jason gave a wince as Wendy grabbed the woman’s right tit, stretching it out and slicing it off at the base. As the woman screamed, Wendy shoved the nipple of the woman’s severed tit in her mouth. “Suck it, bitch!” Wendy screamed. “You were telling that boy to suck your tit while the fucker raped him! I heard you, whore! You were laughing while forcing that little boy to suck your tit!”

“That does it,” Samantha said, jumping to her feet. Leaving her AR-10 behind, she pulled her AR-15 from her back and broke into a jog toward the building.

“We’re on cover!” Jason called out to her.

Turning to shout over her shoulder, “You’re a big boy and have two fucking dogs behind you! I’m watching this shit up close and hoping Wendy will let me help!” Samantha told him as the woman Wendy was holding down tried to get her own severed tit out of her mouth.

Not wanting to ruin the freak nasty later, Jason didn’t say anything else and keyed his radio. “Arthur, is the building clear?” he called out.

“Yeah, I have two hiding in a closet with a captive thinking I don’t know they’re in there,” Arthur replied. “You can move up because I feel Wendy’s going to need a minute. Donald is heading outside to Wendy.”

Getting to his feet and grabbing his sniper rifle, Jason pulled his AR-15 to his front then grabbed Samantha’s sniper rifle, slinging it. “Um, you need me for any wounded?” Jason asked, seeing Donald running out the door heading over to Wendy.

Knowing what Jason was asking, “No, we didn’t shoot any captives on entry, but the boy the man was raping was dying. He couldn’t have been much older than five,” Arthur replied. “There’s nothing we could’ve done to save him without major surgery, so I ended his pain.”

“Adam, Eve, come,” Jason called out, heading to the building with a seething anger building. He saw Samantha reach Wendy and watched her grab the woman’s arms as she fought Wendy to get her severed tit from her mouth. Grabbing the woman’s arms, Samantha held them above the woman’s head and pinned them with her feet.

“Suck that tit, bitch!” Samantha screamed.

Holding the bloody, severed breast with blood-soaked gloves was proving somewhat of a challenge to Wendy, but she was managing. “You heard her! Bite down on the nipple just like you wanted that little boy to do!” Wendy screamed.

Suddenly, Samantha dropped down with her knees on the woman’s arms and Jason heard the woman scream out around the tit Wendy was forcing into her mouth. Angling his walk more to the side to get a better view, Jason saw Samantha had pulled her spring assisted knife out and had buried it in the woman’s bicep and was twisting it. The way the woman was screaming, Jason was certain his wife had hit the bone. “Suck your tit, bitch!” Samantha screamed.

When the woman started sucking her own severed tit, Samantha stopped twisting the blade, and the woman sucked harder. Wendy leaned over the woman’s face grinning. “See? Just like you told that boy, sucking on your tit would help with his pain and make you feel better,” Wendy told her in a soothing voice. The fact that Samantha wasn’t crying, Jason knew it meant his wife was at a level of anger she had never reached before.

“Samantha, can you hold her tit so she can keep sucking it?” Wendy asked but never took her gaze off the woman’s eyes.

Grabbing the lump of flesh, “Gladly,” Samantha answered and saw Wendy grab the other breast by the nipple and pull, stretching it out. The woman stopped sucking and Samantha twisted the knife. “Keep sucking because I’m a nurse practitioner and my husband’s an ER doctor. I can keep your ass alive for a fucking year exposing you to new wonders of pain every day,” Samantha warned and the woman started sucking away like a newborn.

The woman squealed around the lump of flesh in her mouth as Wendy slowly sawed away with her knife, removing the other breast. Samantha lifted her eyes and saw bite marks from a tiny mouth on the breast Wendy was sawing off. With the ease the knife was cutting through flesh Samantha could tell it was very sharp and wished the knife was dull. When she was done, Wendy held the other nipple to the woman’s mouth. “Suck both of them,” she smiled. “I’m sure it’ll make you feel twice as good,” Wendy told her, having never looked away from the woman’s eyes.

Ten minutes later, Wendy saw the light leave the woman’s eyes and she stood up. Not saying a word, she moved over to the next one and Samantha followed. Samantha could see the exit wounds at the pelvis, below the man’s belly button, as he cradled the spots where the hollow point 9mm rounds had blown out. “He was a cheerleader in there,” Wendy sneered, dropping on the man’s chest. “I want you to cheer for me.”

Really wanting to watch the show, Jason knew they were still exposed and kept scanning the area for any hostiles. The other three captives who were outside were all huddled into tight balls whimpering quietly. All of those beside the burning barrel that he and Samantha had shot, except two gang members and the captive trying to save her rapist, were now dead. For the first time, Jason really looked at them. For all intents and purposes, they looked like normal people. Then he looked at the seven Wendy had shot. Only one had pants on. Two had underwear and the woman had panties but other than that, they were naked. Except for the two Wendy and Samantha had already visited, the others weren’t covered in their own blood yet.

None of the bodies had jailhouse tattoos. The tit woman who’d only had panties on did have a tattoo. It was like tattoos many women, including his wife, had. The kind commonly called a ‘tramp stamp’. It was a rose in the small of her back that was now surrounded by four 9mm entries.

Nearly thirty minutes later, Wendy and Samantha stood up over the last one as he died. Samantha was bloody, but Wendy looked like ‘Carrie’ from the movie of the same name. Wendy was literally dripping blood from her clothes.

Grabbing his PTT, “They’re done, Arthur, if you want to let the captives go now,” Jason called over the radio.

Shoving her knife back in the scabbard, “Those inside aren’t going any goddamn where except hell,” Wendy snarled walking past Jason. He watched as Wendy pulled her AR from her back and walked inside and he followed with Samantha. There were five women with shackles around their ankles kneeling along one wall with their hands on their heads. All were crying and looking down at the floor as Daisy stood in front of them, watching for any movement.

Jason saw a propane heater on the floor where a bunch of sleeping cots were arranged in a circle. In the middle of the circle, he saw a towel draped over a tiny body. Cradling her AR across her chest, Wendy gracefully walked over to the line of women. “You fucking whores were laughing while that little boy cried,” Wendy growled.

“They told us to,” one whimpered loudly.

“Oh,” Wendy nodded then looked off. “I guess that’s okay then,” she replied, then turned back to face them as a few stopped crying and looked up. “You did as you were told and laughed as you watched a little baby boy getting raped so bad he had no chance to live through the blood loss.”

The ones who looked up got frightful expressions seeing Wendy’s bloody face looking at them with dead eyes. “Well, I’m telling you, die screaming and tell Satan to rape your asses when you get to hell,” Wendy snarled, then swiveled her AR. Not even bringing the gun to her shoulder, a green laser shot out from the foregrip. When it landed on the first woman’s chest, Wendy squeezed the trigger. A muffled cough sounded from her AR and the woman jerked as the round punched into her chest. Wendy moved down the line sending one round into each of the women’s chests.

“Wendy, it’s kind of hard to scream when you shoot them in the chest,” Arthur chuckled, and Jason saw Arthur was looking toward a closet in the front corner. “Yeah, they have to be idiots to think I didn’t see them run in.”

For the first time, Wendy gave a cheerful chuckle. “The one with the knife was screaming ‘The Caravan Man’ in an octave only a little girl should be able to reach.”

As Wendy slapped in a new magazine, “Want me to send some rounds through the door?” Jason asked, really wanting to.

“Nah, the one with the knife is going to be Wendy’s new bitch,” Arthur replied.

Turning to Arthur and batting her blood-caked eyelashes, “You always get me such nice gifts,” Wendy told him.

“You still want to hunt one?” Arthur asked, and Wendy nodded rapidly with an open mouth grin.

Giving Wendy a wink and then motioning for everyone to spread out, “You in the closet, come out slowly,” Arthur called out.

“We’ll kill this bitch if you don’t leave!” a man’s voice shouted back.

“Jason, send one over their heads,” Arthur called out and Jason sent a round through the door about six feet up and everyone heard cries of alarm in the closet.  “As you can see, I don’t give a shit. The five out here are dead. I don’t let captives go who laugh when little boys are raped. I let my wife have ‘em,” Arthur called out then grinned. “But, since I’m running out of witnesses on this raid, one of you will be my wife’s bitch for the day. If you answer all the questions she asks and are a good bitch, promising her you’ll tell everyone you meet about how the Caravan Man and his merry bunch took out your old friends, you’ll be set loose.”

“Let both of us be her bitch,” another male voice cried out.

Nodding at Jason then the door, Arthur chuckled as Jason sent another round in almost the exact same hole left by the first one. “No, my wife only gets one bitch. The other gets a very special treat. For the first time ever, I’m going to let one go. You’ll get a one minute head start, then my wife will chase you with her knife. If she catches you, then it’s game over. But if you can stay out of her reach for thirty minutes, you’re free to run your ass out of the state,” Arthur offered.

After thirty seconds and the door still didn’t open, “My patience is wearing thin, fuckers. I’m about to send in the dogs. I do that and both deals are off. I’ll patch up one outside who’s still alive so they can spread the word,” Arthur warned. No sooner than he stopped speaking the door opened.

A naked girl who looked around fifteen came out with a knife to her throat, and two naked ‘men’ who didn’t look much more than two or three years older than her, cowered behind the teen with wide-eyed fear. “Compliance, that’s a good start,” Arthur crooned. “Now, toss the knife away.”

“No, let both of us run away,” the knife holder demanded.

In the space of a heartbeat Arthur brought his AR to his shoulder and the girl’s legs gave out as she fainted. As the girl started to drop, a muffled pop sounded and the knife holder twisted as a round punched into his right shoulder joint, nearly severing his arm. The young gang member let out a howl of pain as he dropped to the floor and all of a sudden, his buddy was looking down the barrels of four rifles and had four dogs growling at him.

“Look who gets to be the rabbit for my hunt!” Wendy sang out as the one standing slowly raised his hands over his head.

“Jason, you got that torch handy?” Arthur asked with a smirk.

“Filled it up before we left,” Jason answered, digging in his left thigh pocket. He pulled out a micro butane torch and then pulled the trigger to release a very narrow blue flame.

“Can you tend to Wendy’s new bitch while I let her hunt this rabbit?”

Giving a nod, “I’ll make sure her new bitch will be ready to serve after her hunt,” Jason stated proudly. “You do remember we still have three cowering out front, right? There were four,” Jason grinned. “Samantha’s glove was wet so her finger slipped.”

Knowing that was bullshit but that Samantha had a reason to drop a captive, Arthur didn’t give a shit. “We’ll get Samantha some new gloves,” Arthur said, motioning the rabbit to the back door.

“I get one minute, right?” he panted out with wide eyes.

Shaking his head, “No, your buddy didn’t drop the knife, so now you only get a thirty-second head start,” Arthur answered. “Hey, if your buddy would’ve hurt the girl, you wouldn’t have even gotten a head start.”

As Arthur and Wendy led the rabbit to the back door, Samantha moved over with Jason and saw the girl had a small cut on her throat, but it wasn’t any worse than a long razor nick. The young man was rolling around and moaning as he cradled his destroyed shoulder and Jason dropped on his chest with his knees pinning the young man down. “Be still,” Jason said, holding up the torch and then pressing the button to send out the flame.

The bitch tried to struggle as Jason lowered the torch and Jason felt Samantha drop behind him to hold the young man’s legs from thrashing about as Jason cauterized the wound. “You really need to stop moving so I can do this properly,” Jason advised in a pleasant tone, as flesh started to sizzle. “I’m not enjoying this any more than you are,” Jason lied with a smile.

As he moved the torch slowly around the wound the young man suddenly froze, and Jason looked over at his face to see wide eyes looking up at the ceiling as the young man breathed through pursed lips. “Oh, good boy. You’re going to be tough,” Jason chuckled.

“No, he’s a pussy,” Samantha said behind him. Swiveling his head around, Jason found Samantha had pinned both legs. Jason then moved his gaze upward to find Samantha squeezing the young man’s entire cluster so tight it was turning white.

With an uncomfortable wince, Jason turned back around and continued to cauterize the wound. “I’m just telling you this for future reference. Cauterizing isn’t the best method to use, but you were being a bad bitch,” Jason chided as the young man panted through pursed lips with sweat pouring from his face.

Never loosening her grip, Samantha leaned up to Jason’s ear. “I want to do the entry next time so you can get me a bitch,” she whispered, and Jason busted out laughing.

Chapter Three

Heebie Jeebies

Coming out the back door, Arthur told Donald and Daisy to sit then turned to the rabbit. “You have thirty seconds. On your mark, get set, go,” Arthur smirked, and the young man took off in a sprint that Arthur was sure would’ve won an Olympic medal.

“Fuck,” he gasped watching the naked man sprint off. “Let me wound his ass...just a little?” he asked as Wendy moved in front of him.

“I can catch him,” Wendy scoffed glancing at her watch. “I’m proving a point. I let my rabbits go unarmed. You let yours go and give chase while they shoot at your ass.”

“You do remember the last time you did a rabbit hunt you sprained your ankle,” Arthur reminded her.

“That was seven years ago and I still caught the fucker, didn’t I?”

Nodding, “Yes, but I had to carry your ass off over my shoulder before any neighbors showed up,” Arthur grinned.

Not replying but blowing Arthur a kiss, Wendy spun and took off. Letting Wendy get a ten-yard lead, Arthur took a deep breath and looked down at the dogs. “Donald, Daisy, heel up,” Arthur commanded. He broke into a run with the dogs running at his sides.

Wendy pushed her legs seeing the young man already entering the tree line. “Little bitch can run,” she panted out and leaned forward. Knowing she could run faster than this, Wendy started wondering if the Earth’s gravity was stronger in Dover, Arkansas. She was back to her normal speed on the treadmill and her jogs around the ranch proved she was back to her normal strength.

Entering the tree line, Wendy saw the young man already cresting the small ridge that was behind the building. Pulling her AR tight to her chest, Wendy felt her magazines strapped across her vest. In that instant she realized why she was moving slower, she was carrying over sixty pounds of extra weight with all her gear and weapons. “Should’ve dropped the damn vest,” she panted out.

Reaching the crest, she saw the young man ahead in a small glade at the base of the ridge, but she had gained on him. He was barefoot and rocks were everywhere in Arkansas. She pushed harder as her rabbit started up another hill covered in tall grass. Before he reached the top Wendy saw him trip, landing hard. In an instant he bounced up and took off, giving a quick glance back to see her giving chase.

When Wendy reached the top of the hill she saw a cul-de-sac at the base of the hill with cookie-cutter houses around the circle and lining the blacktop road into the cul-de-sac. “Wendy, stop!” Arthur called out behind her. Wendy saw her rabbit reach the blacktop then caught a musky odor she could taste as she gulped down air. No longer running on broken ground and rocks, her rabbit picked up speed and she could hear his bare feet slapping the blacktop. Getting ready to lean forward to build momentum down the slope, Wendy heard squeaking below.

Arthur saw Wendy lean forward to push her legs hard down the slope to gain some speed. “Wendy, stop or I’ll get Daisy to trip your ass!” Arthur called out and lunged ahead.

Arthur’s hand grabbed her shoulder as Wendy slowed, watching her rabbit get away. “Motherfucker, I can catch him!” Wendy snapped. Turning to Arthur with a snarl and waving her hand out as her rabbit gained all the distance she had made up, “He’s not getting away from me!” she growled.

Trying to catch his breath, “Your rabbit’s already dead,” Arthur panted.

Wondering what he was talking about, Wendy turned back and saw her rabbit was just out of the round cul-de-sac and on the road leading in. “What the hell?” she mumbled. From the houses around the cul-de-sac, she saw ‘things’ bouncing out of open doors. A few at first, then it became dozens and then hundreds as a steady stream of small things bounced out.

On the hilltop sixty yards away and above the small cul-de-sac, Wendy heard the squeaking getting very loud. Lifting her eyes up past her rabbit to the beginning of the street, Wendy saw the doors to all the houses were open. But ahead of her rabbit, more small things were bouncing out of the houses and forming into what looked like a brown flowing mass converging on the street.

Flipping the magnifier over for her holographic sight, Wendy brought her AR to her shoulder. “What the fuck is that?” she asked as Arthur got his breathing back under control. “Holy fuck!” Wendy gasped.

“Rats, babe. That’s why I told you to stop,” Arthur told her.

Wendy could see her rabbit had damn sure noticed the rats now ahead of him converging on the street and turning toward him like a brown flowing stream. “Arthur, that’s thousands,” Wendy gasped.

“No, tens of thousands,” Arthur corrected, looking at the scene below. “Maybe a hundred thousand, but we aren’t counting,” he informed her.

Her rabbit saw the brown wave to his front and stopped to glance back, and saw another wave coming from behind. With the yards to his sides filled and moving toward him, the rabbit charged forward, hoping to run through the mass of rats.

When the rabbit’s feet landed in the mass Wendy gave a heebie jeebie dance, dropping her AR. When the shiver left she was about to lift her AR again, but found Arthur holding out his binoculars. Bringing them up, Wendy really didn’t know if she wanted to see that much detail.

She saw bodies leap at her rabbit and latch onto his legs, and still her rabbit churned his legs on. After three strides it looked like her rabbit was wearing brown pants with pink tassels. A blood-curdling cry sounded from her rabbit as he slowed to swat at the rats latched onto his legs biting and clawing.

Wendy didn’t know if her rabbit could’ve made it without stopping, but stopping sealed his fate. In the blink of an eye her rabbit disappeared under the brown mass that was converging on the street, with her rabbit at the very center. The only thing Wendy was happy about was the streams of rats from the houses had stopped when all the rats ran to catch her rabbit.

There were so many rats, it looked fake to Wendy’s mind. Her rabbit was only a thrashing, fur-covered mound now and the squeaking was very loud. So loud in fact, Wendy started to wonder if her hearing protection would cut off. In less than a minute her rabbit collapsed under the weight of the rats that were swarming him. “Fuck me,” Wendy gasped lowering the binoculars. “How did you know?” she asked turning to Arthur.

“You don’t smell it?” he asked.

Wendy inhaled deeply through her nose and gave a jerk, smelling a sharp pungent musky odor. “Is that rat?” she asked because she’d damn sure never smelled it before.

Nodding, “Yes, and when you smell it, don’t get near any structure,” Arthur warned. “Your rabbit was caught and I’m sure given the choice, he would’ve chosen to be killed by you.”

Thinking that should’ve offended her, Wendy pondered and finally had to agree. Death by rats would be damn near at the top of her list on the way not to get killed. Last month she had seen a dog get taken down, but it had only been taken by maybe two hundred rats. The rats had cornered the dog in a dead-end alley on one of their trips to Little Rock. After seeing that, Wendy had been ready to go home. She had a hard enough time dealing with ants on a biblical scale, which were thankfully hibernating with the cold. But rats on a biblical scale weren’t something she wanted to deal with at all.

Turning back to the street, the spot where her rabbit had gone down was a six foot tall mound as the rats continued to pile on after smelling blood. “Next time, make Daisy trip my ass,” Wendy informed Arthur. “Why are all those doors open? I swear, if you tell me rats opened them, we’re heading to the Arctic Circle, buster. North or south, I don’t give a shit,” she informed him.

Shaking his head and grinning, “No, they don’t open doors, Wendy,” Arthur told her. “I noticed it in July. When people search a house, they leave the doors open so they know and to let others in their group know what’s been searched. Stupid, I’ll admit, but effective.”

“That just gives rats a shelter,” Wendy groaned.

“No, babe,” Arthur told her. “Door open or closed, rats will get inside if they want, but with the doors open they can get out very fast, as you saw. Saw a crazy get taken down in Russellville in September like that.”

Holding up both hands, “You never said the crazy was swarmed by a flood of rats!” Wendy snapped.

“Babe, Jason and I were inside Russellville. We weren’t going to wait and find out how many showed up,” Arthur scoffed. “There were enough rats to cover the crazy and I told Jason our patrol of Russellville was over. I told Jason I didn’t give a shit what was moving about in town because we were leaving.”

Not looking away from the mound of rats, Wendy saw no problem with Arthur’s reasoning and was very proud that he had left. “Arthur, we’re in Dover,” she huffed. “Not Clarksville, Russellville or Little Rock... Dover, and look at that shit!” she cried out, waving her hand toward the rats.

“Babe, they’re out of food in the cities so they moved out. The further they move out, the more the rats will disperse. But if you smell that musky odor near any structure, you leave and let me know so we can avoid it,” Arthur told her.

Finally turning away, “Let me go introduce myself to my bitch,” Wendy grinned and they headed the mile back to the building. When they got back, they found Wendy’s bitch still on the floor and passed out. Jason and Samantha had moved the three captives who were outside inside and had them sitting against a wall with the teen girl.

“Fucker must’ve been able to run,” Jason chuckled and when Arthur turned to face him, Jason stopped laughing.

“No, rats are in that tiny subdivision a mile to the south,” Arthur told him.

“We went through there just a week ago!” Jason cried out.

“Oh, remember Russellville?” Arthur asked and Jason just shivered violently. “It was worse. I mean rats in the tens of thousands.”

Moving over to stand between Jason and Arthur, “I say, let’s get Wendy’s bitch and get the fuck away from here,” Samantha offered then nodded toward the captives. “What do we do with them?”

Turning to the four, “After we leave, they can load up in one of those trucks outside and leave. I suggest they get far away because anyone who gives up is worthless,” Arthur replied, and the four never looked up at him. Then Arthur turned to Wendy, “Start asking your bitch what we want to know,” he told her.

Giggling, Wendy bounced over on her toes toward her bitch, but stopped when Jason blocked her path. “Wendy, may I see your sidearm?” he asked, and Wendy pulled her XD from her holster handing it over.

Looking at the holographic sight Jason let out a moan because it hadn’t been on there when he’d reworked the gun. “Arthur,” Jason whined very hard. “Why did you put this piece of shit on here? These damn things only cost forty dollars for a reason.”

Smiling proudly, “Not if you buy six at one time. Then you can get them for twenty-eight dollars each,” Arthur proclaimed with pride.

Looking at the sight, Jason could tell Arthur had done some work to ruggedize the housing and had even put a pressure switch on the side, so when Wendy pulled the gun from her holster it turned on. “Arthur, if you polish a turd, it’s still a turd. No matter what you do, this sight is a piece of shit. There’s only one other on the market that’s worse,” Jason moaned.

Giving a shrug, “I only found one cheaper, but they didn’t have six in stock,” Arthur replied.

“Why didn’t you put a good sight on here? Hell, you have boxes of them. I’ve seen ‘em.” Jason asked. “I just reworked this gun. Hell, I would’ve done it.”

Shrugging, “Never used them,” Arthur answered.

Knowing Arthur bought cheap and fixed the object up to improve it, Jason could understand on some things, but there wasn’t anything that could be done for the piece of crap sight on Wendy’s gun. The one he’d just reworked into a work of art.  “Arthur, have you ever bought an EOTECH, Trijicon, or Holosun and took them apart to see what they do to make them so well?” Jason asked.

Letting out a gasp, “Are you insane?!” Arthur cried out. “Some of those sights cost a grand! After I took it apart it might have stopped working, and then I’d have to spend even more to fix the damn thing!”

With a deadpan expression, “You have some at home and tomorrow, I want you to take one apart and see the craftsmanship they put in them. You pay for quality,” Jason told him, then got an idea. “Tell you what, if you take one apart and show me you can upgrade this piece of shit sight to the same quality, I’ll babysit Robin for a week.”

Just hearing someone offer to take the little nudist, Arthur nodded. “Deal.” He loved Robin, but in the last few months her nudist colony had expanded beyond Nolan. There were now six toddlers in the nudist colony, and everyone just gave up trying to keep clothes on them. The only thing that’d helped was the cold weather coming early. Oh, outside the nudists would wear clothes but as soon as they got inside the house or car, they stripped. And just like Wendy and Arthur suspected, Robin would help them strip if they had problems.

When Jason handed her gun back, Wendy shoved it in her holster. “Jason, I’ve tried for nearly three decades to get him to buy quality and it’s like beating my head against the wall,” Wendy told him, then moved over to her bitch.

Skipping over, “Can I help?” Samantha asked with a grin.

Wendy grinned and jerked her hip to the side to bump hips with Samantha. “He can be our bitch, girlfriend,” Wendy chuckled.

It only took half an hour to find out what bitch had to offer for information. They then shackled his ankles together and tossed him on the hood of the Blazer. Then to show Samantha and Jason, Arthur drove around to the subdivision and sped down the road to the cul-de-sac before stomping on the brakes. There were still some rats about but no more than a few hundred roaming the yards, and the only sign of Wendy’s rabbit was a wet spot on the asphalt. That changed the second Arthur locked the tires up on the road. Once again, rats poured out of the houses as the bitch flew off the hood. By the time the bitch hit the road Arthur was already in reverse and popping the clutch, making the tires squeal as the massive mud grips burned rubber. Before they reached the end of the road, the bitch was under a rat blanket. They didn’t wait to see how thick the blanket was going to get as Arthur slammed the shifter into first, taking off.

“Damn,” Samantha panted from the backseat. “I never even imagined there could be that many rats on the planet, much less a tiny little town.”

Turning off the blacktop road onto a dirt road, Arthur’s eyes scanned around as he drove along. “I’m sure hundreds if not thousands of people died in New York this summer from rats. I can say the numbers, but my mind can’t produce the images.”

“My mind doesn’t want to produce the images,” Wendy huffed out, reaching in the back and pulling a jug of water to her lap. Taking off her gloves, she started cleaning the blood off her hands then did her face.

She didn’t have nearly the blood on her that Wendy did, but Samantha scooted over to clean off as well. “You think Albert and Jill have seen the rats?” Samantha asked.

“I know they have. That’s why Jill went searching for me,” Arthur answered. Jill was the girl he’d found when he’d hit the gang’s house looking for Dean. She was a mid-thirties black woman and Arthur had killed the three gang members holding her down and raping her. At the time Arthur was only thinking about Taco Bell, since the marijuana smoke throughout the house had given him the munchies from hell.

It was the middle of August as he, Jason, and LL were making runs to collect shipping containers and supplies when they saw Jill again. All alone, she was sitting on the side of the highway beside a truck with a white poster sign. ‘Caravan Man, can I please talk to you?’ was printed in bold back letters. Intrigued to say the least, Arthur was in the lead driving the Suburban and told the others to keep going.

When he’d gotten out of the truck he vaguely remembered her, but it was her eyes that Arthur really remembered. They had the will to live. The very same eyes he’d seen when he’d stopped and talked to Albert, the man pushing the shopping cart. Unlike Albert, Jill didn’t ask for Arthur to take her in, she’d just asked for pointers and ideas. But Arthur did want to take Jill in because she had persevered and kept on pushing. Arthur asked how many were with her, thinking at the very least, he could get them into Albert’s because Albert had the drive, but was having trouble managing such a large operation. By July, Albert had four hundred and thirty-one people. They all worked and worked hard, but Albert couldn’t direct all of the tasks laid out at the same time.

Jill had told Arthur she was set up outside Cravens at a small resort and had three hundred and eleven in her group. For several minutes, Arthur had just stared at her then asked her to repeat the number to confirm he’d heard right. After she’d repeated it, Arthur asked Jill where she’d found everyone. Jill had said they’d found the group she had left with and others just kept showing up. If they didn’t help they were told to leave, but they’d only had to do that a few times. Telling Jill to wait, Arthur had gone to the Suburban and grabbed another leather-bound notebook like he’d given Albert. He hadn’t really expected to give this one away.

He had offered the same deal to Jill that he’d done for Albert. Unlike Albert, Jill didn’t snatch the chance, instead she’d asked questions which impressed Arthur greatly. In ten minutes Jill had held out her hand, saying she accepted. It was then he’d found out Jill wasn’t even from Arkansas.

She was originally from Georgia and had been in Russellville for a business convention when the virus hit. The day she had arrived for the convention was the start of the travel ban, so she’d stayed in the hotel until the government had turned off the power, trapping everyone in place.

Since she wasn’t from the area, Arthur had gotten another map from the glove box because he wasn’t giving his away. He’d showed a spot to Jill that was north of Pettigrew, in Madison County, for her to set up operations. Studying the map, Jill nodded and gave a startle when Arthur told her to take the map. Jill then opened the notebook to see the diagrams laid out and lists of supplies to gather. Very impressed, Jill had closed the notebook and folded up the map. Arthur had told her he would be by in five days, and if the group was serious, he’d bring people to build the fence.

It surprised him when Jill had said her group should do it, but was thankful for the offer of help. When Arthur made the trip to check on them, he’d been blown away. Most of what he had laid out on the lists was there, and it was placed neatly around the area. It had taken only eight days to get the fence up and for Arthur to put in the small hydro stations on the stream.

Drying her hair off, Wendy saw Arthur was in ‘remote mode’. He was driving and scanning around but she could tell he was thinking about something. At first, she wanted to ask if he’d taken his medicine but for some reason lately, Arthur was very diligent about taking it. “What are you thinking about?” she finally asked.

“Jill’s group,” Arthur answered. “If I had known she was staying in the area, I would’ve given her Albert’s site and sent Albert to hers.”

Having met Jill, Wendy understood very well. “Albert’s doing much better,” she offered. “The second fence should be up before November.”

Giving a nod, Arthur watched a herd of deer bouncing through a field. Each site would put another fence up to expand their enclosures down into the valleys that would be used to house the lakes for real power generation because each site now was only getting twenty kilowatts from their hydro stations. Well, except for Jill’s site. She had sent groups out to get any and all solar panels they came across and was now generating forty kilowatts with the sun shining and the hydro.

Albert wasn’t lollygagging. He had sixty people working every day on the fence Arthur had put up. Like Arthur was doing, Albert was reinforcing it with another. Where Arthur was using concrete, Albert’s crew was building a rock and mortar wall behind the original fence. It was very apparent Albert wanted security but Arthur had to remind him, ‘being safe don’t mean shit if you don’t have food’. Albert had greenhouses, but they were barely producing enough to feed his masses, and Arthur knew production would go down as the weather turned colder because Albert didn’t have the power to heat the greenhouses. Both Albert’s and Jill’s sites would eventually have similar setups, but Arthur knew they needed safety and needed food growing fast so the rest of their projects were laid out to do this winter.

“They’re doing all right. You worry about the ranch,” Wendy told him.

“Oh, I am,” Arthur chuckled, and the chuckle caught in his throat as he tapped the brake. “Look at that!” he gasped with a grin. A massive pack of Basset Hounds crossed the road in front of them. Unlike other packs that had all kinds of dogs, it was only Basset Hounds in this one.

Pulling up between the seats, “Arthur, you think they came from Razorback Hunting Lodge?” Wendy asked.

Arthur remembered the lodge very well because one of the members of their church had been a member of the lodge and had asked them to go hunting one weekend with him two years ago. The lodge had the most Basset Hounds he’d ever seen, and the dogs were used by the members to hunt. “That’s the only place I can think of that had that many Bassets, but that damn lodge is near Horseshoe Mountain. That’s like sixty miles to the south,” he replied.

“They’re so cute,” Samantha cooed, pulling between the seats with Wendy. “There has to be a hundred or more.”

“They had over two hundred when we went hunting there,” Wendy said as the end of the pack crossed the road. “Those dogs can run forever and track anything.”

“Why aren’t there other dogs with them?” Jason wondered out loud.

“Wondering that myself,” Arthur admitted and released the clutch to drive on. Twenty minutes later, Arthur stopped and pulled off the road. “The house we saw the crazies using is up that ridge,” he pointed out to the right but Wendy and Samantha had already been shown the spot on the map and satellite photos, along with other areas they were scouting. After the areas had been pointed out earlier, Wendy and Samantha started committing them to memory.

Everyone got out, checked their gear, and then followed Arthur into the trees moving slowly and quietly. It didn’t take them long to reach the dilapidated house. Easing to a stop, Arthur looked down at Donald and Daisy just panting and knew the crazies weren’t there.

At the back of the group, Jason knew why Arthur was looking at the dogs and he turned to see Adam and Eve just looking around with their ears standing up but relaxed. “It was worth a try, Arthur,” he said and Arthur continued on to what was left of the house. Most of the roof was caved in and only three walls were standing. What was left of the roof and walls made a shelter Arthur saw as he stopped.

“Well, they used this place for more than a few days,” he said over his shoulder and the others moved up to see piles of bones in the corner. Nobody said anything about the different sized human skulls in the pile. “Fuck,” Arthur sighed.

“We’ve been hearing the crazies were cannibals on the shortwave,” Jason reminded him. He could tell just like Arthur, those skulls weren’t virus victims. Every skull he could see was cracked from a blow to the head.

“Let’s go check out the house where the attack happened,” Arthur sighed.

“Maybe the crazies did it?” Wendy offered hopefully.

It was a few seconds before Arthur replied. “No, there were four adults and nine kids there. All the adults and two of the kids carried guns. Albert said the bodies weren’t touched.”

“Why weren’t they with Albert?” Samantha asked.

Scanning around, “They didn’t want to join. Albert asked them a few times,” Jason answered from the back. Seeing Arthur was thinking again, Wendy was tempted to tell him they just needed to go back to the ranch for the rest of Date Night.

Holding off as she cut her eyes around the area, “It feels like we’re being watched,” Wendy mumbled as she followed Arthur through the trees.

Chapter Four

I’ll take dogs for a thousand Alex

It didn’t take long for them to walk back to the Blazer. Arthur couldn’t help but grin as Wendy grumbled when she opened the driver’s door and used the steps mounted under the door to climb up and into the back seat. Opening the tailgate, Arthur tapped the floorboard. Donald and Daisy both crouched and jumped up into the cargo area followed by Adam and Eve. Loading the dogs in the back cargo area, Arthur thought about installing a step for them to use, then looked up to see Jason scanning around. “You see something?” he asked.

“Arthur, I grew up in the country and we’ve been out day and night. I don’t hear any insects. Yes, it’s been cold, but I don’t hear shit. Birds, I understand, but it sounds like the world is dead,” Jason commented, but Arthur thought Jason looked too tense for that explanation.

“Mice are eating insects, and rats are eating them,” Arthur offered, hoping to get Jason to admit what was bothering him.

Feeling Arthur stare at him, Jason turned to face him and lowered his voice. “I swear, it feels like we’re being watched, and not by rats or mice.”

“Yeah, Wendy said the same thing on the way back,” Arthur said, closing the tailgate. “I really don’t want to move around on foot to find out, but I think both of you are right.”

“Hey, bitch,” Jason snapped. “We aren’t moving around on foot through the trees. We run into a pack of dogs, we would have to slug it out with them because Adam, Eve, Donald, and Daisy can’t climb a tree with us.”

Giving a nod, “My thoughts exactly,” Arthur agreed and they both headed to their doors and climbed in. Arthur laid his rifle on the dash and then cranked up.

“How tall is this thing?” Samantha asked about the Blazer. “I swear, it feels like you’re climbing on the roof of a house when you’re getting inside.”

“Thirty inches off the ground,” Arthur laughed, pressing the clutch and slapping the shifter in reverse.

“Why didn’t we take the Suburban?” Wendy asked as Arthur pulled out on the dirt road.

“Too big,” Arthur replied. “I wanted something smaller so I can move off-road and through trees, but we won’t have the Jeeps done for a month or so.”

“I can’t believe you want to ride around in Jeeps,” Wendy scoffed.

“The full doors and hardtop will stay on and be reinforced,” Arthur shot back. “I’m not riding around unless I’m enclosed. I want the Jeeps because they’re much easier to move through the woods. Hell, there’s UTVs that’re wider than Jeeps.”

Thinking about that, Wendy gave a nod as she watched out her window. “Oh, well, that does make sense, but I don’t want you or anyone else taking one of them out until you feel comfortable with the protection.”

“I told Arthur I wanted to take a tank, Stryker, or one of the Bradleys out,” Jason chuckled. “They go through trees, not around them.”

“If they were quieter, I’d be tempted to patrol in them,” Arthur replied in a serious tone, and Wendy knew for a fact something was bothering him. Feeling Arthur tap the brake, she turned to see him shift into neutral and as she looked ahead she heard Arthur.

“What the hell was that?”

Everyone looked ahead of them as the Blazer rolled to a stop. On the right side of the dirt road was a very large oak tree surrounded by bushes. The trees on both sides were twenty yards from the road except for the lone oak tree ahead. “What?” Wendy asked.

Jason lifted his hand, pointing at the lone oak. “Something was there,” he replied. “It moved like a cat, but it was just a little bigger than Kong.”

Slowly scanning with his eyes, Jason saw a slope that started and rose rapidly on the left side of the road, and on the right side the ground was more or less flat. “Well...” he started.

‘BAMMM’ sounded from the left side of the Blazer and Jason felt the Blazer rock to the right from an impact. Before he could turn, a blood-curdling scream sounded and he found Arthur had come over the center console and was in his lap. The instant Jason realized it was Arthur screaming, a deep ‘ROAR’ sounded from the left. The dogs started barking from the back, the two women started screaming, and thunder filled the Blazer.

With Arthur pinning him in the seat and his ear protection shut off, Jason had to weave his head around Arthur’s shoulder to see what was happening and found Arthur’s arm extended, shooting at the driver’s door with his 1911. Before he could shift his eyes, Jason felt thunder from the back seats and Arthur was slamming in a new magazine. When his eyes passed by the driver’s door, he saw the window was shattered and holes were being punched through it at a phenomenal pace. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Wendy and Samantha had their pistols out, shooting at the driver’s window from the back seat.

Not knowing what spawn of hell was outside, Jason wanted a fucking gun in his hand. Depending on what was outside would dictate whether if he used the gun on it or himself. Pushing against Arthur in his lap, Jason maneuvered his right hand to his holster and then weaved his head back around Arthur’s shoulder to see why he couldn’t pull his pistol. Before his gaze reached his leg, his eyes stopped at the view outside his window.

Twenty yards away was a white tiger, crouched low and creeping up with its ears folded down and mouth open. In that instant, the tiger looked about the size of a semi-truck. With adrenaline pumping, gunshots, screams, and dogs barking, Jason thought the white tiger could swallow the Blazer.

Yanking his pistol out, and with Arthur still in his lap pinning him, Jason turned his wrist and started squeezing the trigger, wondering why everyone was shooting out the other window when they had a white tiger that could kill a T-Rex coming from his side.

The first round punched through the door and Jason saw it impact ten yards to the front and right of the tiger. He moved his hand, squeezing the trigger and walking the impacts toward the giant. The white tiger saw the impacts and bounced back, but Jason kept sending bullets through the door until his slide locked back.

Not even trying to push Arthur off his chest to get a mag from his vest, Jason leaned to the side and looked at Arthur’s vest as Arthur was reloading and saw one more extended 1911 magazine. Snatching it off Arthur’s vest, Jason weaved his left hand around Arthur until it finally reached the pistol and changed magazines blindly as he looked out the window. Catching movement, he saw the white tiger dart in front of the Blazer across the road.

“Another one!!!” he heard Samantha scream, and holes started getting punched through the front windshield. Jason was very impressed at how fast Samantha squeezed the trigger sending hate out, but she wasn’t leading the tiger. All nineteen rounds impacted behind the white tiger before it reached the trees.

Suddenly, Jason’s ear protection turned back on and the sound of dogs barking threatened to shut it off again. “Stop!” Wendy shouted and the dogs quit. All four were panting hard and scanning around, waiting to see what else was coming.

“Arthur, I got your last pistol mag. Move so I can give you one of mine in case it comes back,” Jason said turning to look out his side.

Wondering what the fuck Jason was talking about, Arthur looked down and then around. “How the fuck did I get over here? Did you pull me over?” he panted out.

As Arthur slid back across the center console, Jason turned to the driver’s door and saw most of the driver’s window was gone and there were bullet holes in the door panel, a lot of them. “No, you suddenly appeared in my lap. What was on that side?” Jason asked, pulling a pistol magazine from his vest and handing it to Arthur.

“A tiger!” Arthur cried out, then noticed bullet holes in Jason’s door. “What was on your side?”

“A white tiger that was bigger than this truck!” Jason answered.

“That orange one was the size of the house!” Arthur replied shoving the magazine in his vest. Well, trying to, but his hands were trembling from the adrenaline rush. He had six dual mag holsters for his AR across his chest and four pistol mag holsters strapped to the front of those. Seeing his target and forcing his hand to stop trembling, Arthur shoved the magazine in one of the empty pistol magazine holsters. “They attacked us in a fucking truck!” Arthur panted out, slowly scanning around and even checking the mirrors.

Hearing two sharp intakes of breath behind him, Arthur shifted his eyes as a white tiger and an orange tiger stepped out of the trees to the left, fifty yards ahead. “That tiger’s too small to be the one I was shooting at,” Arthur stated with certainty.

For the first time in his life, Jason understood acute stress response, commonly called ‘fight or flight’. The reaction floods chemicals to the body to enhance all systems. In deer hunting it’s called ‘ground shrinkage’, the deer’s antlers look humongous before you take the shot but seem much smaller when you walk up to the deer. He had never experienced it when something was trying to eat him, and part of his mind was convinced there was a giant white tiger still out there.

Both tigers were just sitting down looking at them and Jason did conclude they were still pretty damn big. “Jason, get on your AR and shoot them,” Samantha instructed.

“Fuck you!” Jason responded. “Tigers can run at fifty miles an hour! That means they can reach here in two seconds and in that time, I would only get eight aimed shots off. That’s not enough to do shit to one of them, much less two.”

“Motherfuckers,” Arthur growled and crawled between the seats, pushing both wives to the side. He dug in the cargo area, pushing the dogs to the tailgate. When he crawled back and dropped into his seat, Jason saw Arthur had a lever-action 12-gauge shotgun. It reminded him of the T2 shotgun, and Jason knew the gun wasn’t legal without a tax stamp, and also knew for a fact Arthur hadn’t gotten one.

Putting a box of shells on the dash, Arthur dropped the lever and started feeding rounds in the tube magazine. Glancing at the box, Jason saw they were three-inch sabot slugs. “I got something for the kitty cats,” Arthur growled.

Everyone heard meowing barks and looked up to see both tigers were doing it. From the bushes around the oak tree, five orange tiger cubs and four white ones bounded across the road to their moms. Realizing now why the tigers had attacked, Arthur stuck his head out and shouted out the window.

“You’re shitty moms letting your kids play near the road!” he shouted out and none turned as Jason rolled his window down sticking his head out and yelling.

“Your kids are ugly and you have fat asses, whores!” he bellowed then pulled back inside. The two tiger families paid them no mind as the mothers led the cubs into the trees.

Tossing the shotgun on the dash with his AR, Arthur leaned back in the seat panting hard. “Holy fuck, I’ve never been that scared in my life. That tiger’s mouth was right outside my window when she roared and I swear, I could’ve stood inside her mouth and had room to move around.”

“Do we really need to look at the attack site?” Wendy asked and saw Samantha grabbing their magazines from the floorboard. All their vests were set up the same and Wendy looked down and saw all of her pistol magazines were gone, but Samantha handed them to her. “Don’t remember shooting that many times,” Wendy mumbled.

With his head leaning back on the headrest, staring at the ceiling, and still panting hard, “Yes,” Arthur replied. “I need to know who... or what attacked that farm. Shit, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was aliens right now. Tigers, fuck me.”

“You knew they were around here,” Wendy reminded him, but was in just as much shock. She didn’t like the fact Arthur was shaken, and had never seen him shaken. But in this instance, she could understand.

“Knowing and seeing, baby. Knowing and seeing,” he repeated, and everyone understood. Knowing something and seeing it were entirely different things. Reaching up to the dash, Arthur grabbed the shotgun and set it in his lap. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the steering wheel and shoved the shifter into first. “I read a book about boys in a zombie apocalypse when I was young that had tigers. I have to agree with Ian, I don’t like big pussy.”

“I’ll take dogs after my ass over big cats,” Jason huffed as Arthur sped up to his normal driving speed of forty-five. The air rushing into the shot-out window made Jason feel very exposed. Needless to say, all four people and the four dogs were on edge as the sun neared the horizon.

After passing through the small village of Hunt, Arthur weaved along the dirt road until he reached the house Albert had reported. “Yeah, I’m pulling in close. I want to have a place to run to so we can get the fuck out of here,” Arthur told everyone, and nobody had any complaints.

The house sat at the far back corner of a field with a forest starting right behind it. Parking in the front yard, Arthur saw the house looked intact and just the same as the last time he’d seen it. All the windows were boarded up and he knew the group who’d been there had done it.

Leaning across the center console, Jason shoved Arthur’s pistol magazines that he’d reloaded back in the holsters. “You taking the shotgun?” he asked, grabbing his door handle.

“You’re goddamn right I am,” Arthur replied, grabbing his AR off the dash. Climbing out, Arthur put the one-point sling over his head and let the AR hang under his right arm but kept the shotgun ready in both hands.

They spread out and Arthur found the front door closed but unlocked. Opening the door, the smell of death washed out. “Oh, that’s rank,” Jason coughed.

“Donald, Daisy, search,” Arthur called out and the dogs bounded inside and then returned, letting Arthur know nothing inside was alive. Walking in, Arthur saw the body of a man slumped over on the couch. Pulling a flashlight off his vest, Arthur shined it over the man’s body. “Hit ‘em in the head, then cut his throat,” Arthur mumbled and then shined the light at the floor. Bloody shoe prints were everywhere. Small bloody prints.

Everyone else turned on flashlights and followed Arthur through the house. They found the body of a five-year-old little girl in the hall. Kneeling by the body, Arthur scanned it with the flashlight, “Jason, see if you can find a wound on her?” Arthur asked getting up and headed into a room. Inside, he found a fifteen-year-old boy who had been hit in the head and his throat cut.

Arthur scanned the room and saw dressers opened and clutter on the floor. “Fuck,” he mumbled and when he walked out heading to another room, Wendy and Samantha walked in.

Both shined their lights around slowly, “What did Arthur not like?” Samantha asked in a low voice.

Shrugging, “I have no idea,” Wendy replied. She could see three other empty beds in the room but nothing that seemed abnormal, except the dead teen in the bed.

Heading to the next room they found Arthur had already left, but Jason was looking at the bodies of a man and woman in a king-sized bed. Like the boy and man on the couch, they’d been hit in the head and their throats cut. “How did the little girl die?” Samantha asked.

“Blunt force trauma, she was stomped to death,” Jason mumbled, then turned away from the bed shaking his head and walking out.

They found the last man on a cot in the last room and unlike the others, his throat hadn’t been cut. There were wounds in his chest, deep wounds. “What caused that?” Wendy asked as Arthur stood up from leaning over the bed.

“Axe,” Arthur said, shining his light around the room as Jason walked in. Pulling out a digital camera, “Jason, will you take pictures of the shoe prints? Not all of them, I just want a good picture of each print so if any of us see them again I’ll know,” Arthur stated. “I’m going to patch something over my window.”

Giving a nod and taking the camera, Jason asked Samantha to come with him to shine the light so they could get good pictures. In the living room, Wendy looked over at the other room Arthur had left. It was a bedroom with five beds, and she could tell it’d been kids who’d stayed there, but there weren’t any bodies. Remembering Arthur studying the front door, Wendy moved over, closing it and shining her light along the door slowly.

On the doorknob she saw blood, and right beside the knob on the door, she saw a small handprint. Continuing up the door, she stopped on the deadbolt and saw the lever was smeared with blood. Moving the light from the door to the floor, she saw bloody shoe prints, small bloody shoe prints. “No way,” Wendy gasped and headed outside to see Arthur at the Blazer pulling a toolbox from the cargo area.

Before she reached him, Arthur headed over to a vacant chicken coop. Slowing her pace, Wendy gave a sniff and could smell chicken shit, so the coop had held chickens recently. Watching Arthur pull out wire cutters, “Arthur, did they have chickens in there?” she asked to confirm she was right.

“Yep,” Arthur replied as he cut away a section of chicken wire.

“Arthur, do you think kids did this?”

Giving an impressed nod, “Yep,” Arthur answered. “Knew you’d figure it out.”

“Is that what has you acting...,” she paused, not knowing what words to use to describe how Arthur was acting. Finally giving up, “weird?” she asked.

“Some of it,” he said, standing up with a 4x4 foot section of chicken wire. “I told Jason if we came across another site that looked like kids hit it, we’d go back to all the sites I’ve found where people were killed  and go back over them to check them out.”

Somewhat pissed Arthur hadn’t told her, “So, this isn’t the first?” she asked, and Arthur shook his head. “Just how many sites have you found people killed at?”

Picking up his toolbox, “A lot. I don’t have my map I’ve been marking, it’s in my office,” Arthur told her. “I know you’re pissed I didn’t mention it sooner but, babe, I wanted to be certain. No, fucking positive I was right before I told anyone that we have some Lords of the Flies running around,” Arthur told her stopping at the Blazer.

The last kids brought in by Arthur had been back in September and he’d told Wendy they would be the last. She’d been with him, along with several others including Arthur’s ‘mini-mes’. Unlike other times, Arthur had asked everyone if the kids gave them funny vibes. The oldest was thirteen, youngest seven, and there were only eleven of them. Wendy hadn’t felt anything and everybody had said the same, but Wendy had seen Shawn eyeing the new kids with suspicion. When she’d asked why, Shawn had said the only other time Pops had asked that was with Dean.

Now knowing why, Wendy understood. If Arthur had told her killer kids were about, none would’ve been brought back, and they had two hundred and eight now at the ranch with twenty-eight adults. Just thinking about the kids they’d picked up since LL had arrived, Wendy shivered to think about them being left. They were all good kids, and she moved over to Arthur’s back as he held the wire up to the window. She hugged him from behind, “You were right not to tell me. I’m sorry I got angry.”

“We have to tell the other groups not to bring in kids until we know how many are out there, and which ones are involved,” Arthur told her, patting her hands. “I just warned them to stop bringing in anyone in September.”

Letting Arthur go, “Maybe some gangs have used kids to get inside and hit other sites?” she offered.

Digging in the toolbox and pulling out a cordless impact drill, “There was. You and I hit them in Russellville on Date Night,” Arthur told her then turned to look her in the eyes. “Wendy, it’s more than one group of kids,” he told her flatly.

Taking the chicken wire from Arthur, Wendy held it over the shot-out window. “It’s Date Night, I don’t want to know more until you’ve figured it out,” she responded. Pulling out some self-tapping screws, Arthur went to work tacking the wire over the window. For the top, he had to sit Wendy on his shoulders so she could do it.

When she had the last screw in it was dark, and as Arthur put her down Wendy saw Samantha outside shining two flashlights at the ground, with Jason on his knees taking a picture of the ground. “When you hunt them, I’ll come,” Wendy said watching Samantha motion Jason over to another spot in the yard to take a picture.

“If it calls for it, you can come, but I know of one spot the kids have hit that people needed to die,” Arthur told her. “The three men and four women on Dugan Road, they needed to die. Someone hammered wooden fucking stakes in their chests, and it was younger people, kids.”

Having seen them on patrol with Arthur, “Why? They seemed fine,” Wendy responded.

“Yeah, until you went inside that shop. Holy fuck, you wouldn’t believe the child porn in there. I’m not talking home movies and pictures. There were actual production movies and subscription magazines of child porn. If that didn’t give it away, there were cages in the shop and nude photos of kids in those cages on the walls everywhere,” Arthur told her. “I noticed I hadn’t seen them out in a few weeks, so Jason and I stopped by. All of them were dead and the cages were empty. I view that as a rescue operation by the killer kids. I don’t know how much food was there, but there were several empty rooms you could tell had been used for storage. That was the spot that made me go back and question another site and Jason agreed. Kids hit it, but those there weren’t child predators, or they didn’t have it displayed.”

Arthur paused, turning in the darkness to the house. “I talked to these people and have been inside and so has Albert, and they weren’t predators. They loved those kids.”

Patting Arthur’s face and then handing back the impact drill, “When you figure it out, I’ll go with you,” she said and would, but hoped the kids would just leave the area if they were killers.

Jason and Samantha came over looking at the wire over the window, “Sorry I shot so many times,” Samantha said, cutting her eyes to the front windshield because she alone had done those.

Scoffing, “I’m not!” Arthur blurted out. “You see tigers trying to eat our asses, you shoot as much as you want, girlfriend! Spare no fucking ammo!”

Knowing Arthur loved his Blazer, “I’ll help work on it,” Samantha offered.

“Nah,” Arthur grinned. “I’ll get Jason to help patch her up. You and Wendy have enough shit to do at the ranch.”

Rolling her eyes, “Like you and Jason don’t,” Wendy moaned, and she knew there would be no ‘patching up’ on the Blazer. When Arthur was done it would look like it had before, brand new.

“Let’s end Date Night at the swimming spot,” Arthur laughed and opened his door. As Wendy went to climb in, he picked her up, lifted the back of his seat up, and put her in. Clapping her hands Samantha took off to run around to the other side, only to have Jason catch her and throw her over his shoulder. After he pulled his seat up, he put her inside.

“You weren’t getting away,” he chuckled.

Pulling the seat back so Jason could get in, “Get away!” Samantha cried out as everyone put on night vision goggles. “You better get your game face on, bitch! There will be no ‘making love’, we’re having sex! I don’t have to be quiet hoping the kids don’t wake up, walk in the bathroom or wonder what that ‘noise from the loft of the barn is’ and climb up in the loft to find out.”

“Quickies suck,” Wendy laughed as Arthur pulled out on the road.

Samantha was about to agree when Arthur punched the accelerator, pinning everyone in their seats. On the dirt road in front of them, she saw two figures walking away until they heard the supercharged 454 engine roar behind them, and they turned around. She wasn’t the least bit surprised when the crazies charged the blacked-out Blazer barreling down on them.

Wendy was surprised because Arthur was steering right at the two in his precious Blazer. The massive off-road front bumper hit the two and one’s head exploded on impact when it hit the bumper and the other went sailing back as the bumper hit her chest. Hitting the dirt hard, she never had a chance to move as the forty-inch tires ran over her.

Everyone turned to see Arthur laughing and he just shrugged, “Got to work on it anyway, what’s a little more damage to knock out?” he said and jerked the wheel going off the dirt road, and everyone saw another crazy running through the field away from them. It fell under the massive tires and Arthur plowed through a wooden fence and back onto the road. “Let’s see how many we can get before reaching the ranch,” he challenged.

The other three threw up their hands cheering, seeing another crazy in the distance. Crazies weren’t the only things that came out at night.

It was nearly midnight when they pulled through the south gate and Arthur drove them around the house to the south creek that was filling the lake and parked. The creek here formed a pool and was just known as ‘the spot’. Everyone climbed out but the wives stopped after seeing a picnic table, grill, ice chests, and tiki lamps beside the pool.

“In the bags, you’ll find towels and stuff to get cleaned up,” Arthur said, and Samantha turned to Jason.

“I brought your shampoo,” he grinned at her. “We decided our girls needed a dinner on Date Night,” he winked.

Looking at the stream that fed the pool, “That water has got to be fucking freezing,” Samantha gasped.

Reaching over and pulling Samantha toward the pool, “No, that’s why it’s so wide here, the spot’s fed by a hot spring. You can see the floating digital thermometers. Look at the one in the center, the water’s one hundred and seven there and that’s the hottest spot,” Wendy told her.

“Holy shit,” Samantha moaned then started shucking gear off and Wendy joined her.

As the women hit the pool, Arthur started the grill and Jason opened one of the coolers. When he saw one-liter bottles of beer that had metal flip-top lids, Jason groaned. “I hate German beer.”

“So do I,” Arthur chuckled. “That’s beer we brew. We use those bottles because we can reseal ’em.”

Snatching one up, Jason grabbed the metal lever and flipped the top off. Not even sniffing or testing, Jason turned the bottle up. When half was gone, he came up for air. “Man, that is good,” Jason stated, smacking his lips.

“Hey, quit being pussies!” the girls shouted. “We’ll eat later, come here!”

Running to the pool, they both pulled off what they could before jumping in, then threw what they didn’t get off out on the bank. Sacrifices for Date Night had to be expected.

Chapter Five

Well, I couldn’t just leave it

The sun would be up shortly Joseph knew, standing out on the back porch. He lifted his left arm, holding a coffee cup, and breathed in the aroma. With his right hand he pulled Sarah, who was snuggled into his side closer, hugging her tight. “Can’t believe you let the kids get in the bed,” Joseph chuckled, looking down at her.

In the crook of Sarah’s left arm, cuddled between her and Joseph, Nicole was looking around with a smile as Sarah took a sip of coffee. “Jo Ann and Sally looked pitiful when you told them to lay on the floor,” Sarah told him. “I can’t believe you even entertained the idea of putting Nicole in a crib.”

“Hey, Jo Ann and Sally have a room in the dorms and do sleep there some nights. And for your information, Nicole has slept in a crib,” Joseph stated with a nod.

Looking down at Nicole with a smile, “Jo Ann and Sally may have started nights off in their dorm room but they’ve never slept there all night,” Sarah sang out, making Nicole laugh. “And little princess Nicole has never stayed longer than an hour in her crib before Pops gets her out, has she?” Kicking out her feet as she squealed, Nicole informed the world that she loved Sarah talking to her.

Becoming profoundly serious, “Sarah, what if I had rolled over on one of them?” Joseph asked.

Looking up into Joseph’s eyes, “You didn’t move last night,” she told him. “I’m just glad you don’t let your dogs sleep in the bed.”

“I could have. I sleep wild and wake up turned sideways in the bed,” Joseph informed her. “My dogs won’t sleep in the bed. I left them upstairs so Robin would have someone to talk to when she woke up.”

Thinking that was smart, “You do remember, I sleep in your bed, right?” Sarah asked and Joseph grinned. “I don’t know why you think you’re an Olympic wrestler after you go to sleep. You can’t change positions more than four times during the night. You should’ve been worried about me rolling on the kids.”

Squeezing her tight, “You’re light enough the kids would only think someone threw a heavy blanket on ’em,” Joseph chuckled then kissed her forehead. “Thank you for not waking up Robin.”

The smile fell off Sarah’s face. “You think I want to piss off Little Momma?!” Sarah cried out. “You’ve lost your fucking mind.”

Like she’d known someone was talking about her, hearing the back door open, they both glanced back and saw Vicki walking out. Joseph couldn’t help but grin. Little Momma was wearing one of his grey t-shirts that had ‘NAVY’ printed across the front. It’d been two weeks after he and Sarah had hooked up that one evening Vicki had just walked into his room. Ignoring Sarah sitting on the bed, Vicki had looked at Joseph and told him, “I want a t-shirt to sleep in.”

Giving a nod, Joseph didn’t say shit, he simply turned to his dresser and opened both t-shirt drawers and said, “Choose, and take how many you want.” Smiling at Joseph, Vicki had sorted through until she’d found three she liked and then skipped out of the room.

Even though it was chilly outside, Vicki was only wearing crocs with her sleep shirt. She moved around to see Nicole smiling up at Sarah and Vicki lifted her eyes up and studied her, like Sarah had put mojo on Nicole. “You’re very good with Nicole, Sarah,” Vicki stated, and Sarah fought the desire to curtsey to the ruler of the little people.

“I fed her a bottle, wiped her down, and put this outfit on her before Pops gets here,” Sarah told her. “I think this is the one she chose, but she squealed when I held up two. I think she was nodding to this one, though.”

When Sarah finished, Vicki busted out laughing and bent over holding her stomach. Not knowing why, Sarah wondered if that was good or bad. Still laughing, Vicki threw her arms out, wrapping them around Sarah and hugging her. “Oh, that was good,” Vicki chuckled. “I’ll have to tell everyone I do that for the little ones.” Joseph knew Vicki thought Sarah was joking. He knew for a fact Sarah wasn’t. For some reason, Sarah thought if you lowered your voice and cooed using baby talk, babies and toddlers understood every word you said.

“Want me to take Nicole?” Vicki asked letting Sarah go and then it hit Joseph, he’d never seen Vicki hug Sarah before.

“Um, can I keep her? I want to show Pops we took care of the kids all night and didn’t even wake up Robin,” Sarah stated with pride.

Turning to Joseph, “Thank you for telling her,” Vicki said.

“Anyone wakes that kid up besides Mom, I’ll punch ’em,” Joseph declared and meant it. The little nudist was ruthless in her torment. “I’m sorry. I tried to get Ryan to eat some oatmeal. But he just put the bowl on his head. I was going to wash him, but Chloe stopped me and took Ryan.”

“You don’t put Ryan’s bowl where he can reach it, and Joseph,” Vicki called out, crossing her arms over her chest, “When you bathe a little boy, that doesn’t mean you put aftershave on him, and he doesn’t need underarm deodorant.”

Getting nervous from the serious stare and taking his arm off Sarah’s shoulders, “Um, Nolan. I don’t know what the hell he ate, but it didn’t like him and he didn’t like it. I wanted to make sure the smell was gone before Mom got home,” he stated nervously.

Nodding, “Okay, but just don’t do it anymore,” Vicki told him and Joseph smiled. Quickly he reached out, grabbing her and pulled her to him, hugging her tight.

Seeing Vicki smile in bliss as Joseph hugged her, Sarah had the funniest feeling she wasn’t the only one in love with him. The back door opened and Shawn came out with Jo Ann and Sally holding hands. “I think Pops is going to shit,” Sarah declared.

“Nah,” Joseph smiled adjusting his hat. Watching Shawn lead the twins over, Joseph saw movement coming around the side of the house. “Kong, go somewhere that isn’t here before your girlfriend shows up!” he shouted. Kong never acknowledged him as he strolled to the back porch and sat down regally.

Everyone looked around for Medusa. Medusa was a female, long-haired gray cat who was just a tad bit smaller than Kong, but because of the hair, looked bigger. Much bigger. Medusa had shown up one day last month, and nobody knew how since there was a fifteen-foot fence around the farm with electric wires at the top. It was Arthur who’d named the cat Medusa. One morning he’d come outside and let out a scream seeing two giant cats sitting on a dead opossum that was huge. Wendy had come out and told Arthur to leave both the cats alone. It had been wise on her part to come outside because Arthur had already pulled his pistol.

The backdoor opened and more people came outside. “Joseph, does your mom love me enough that I could get away with killing that cat?” Sarah asked because she was terrified of Kong and his new girlfriend.

“Hon, Mom loves you more than me, and the answer is no,” Joseph stated with conviction. “And the thing is, you can’t do it because it would lead to the worst fight ever between Mom and Dad. Why, you may wonder? Well, Dad isn’t going to let Mom hurt the one who’s going to give him grandbabies and you may have noticed, Dad always gives in to Mom, but he won’t let her touch a hair on your head over Kong.”

Groaning, “Will you please beg Pops to stop asking me if I’m pregnant every fucking morning?” Sarah whined, and Shawn snorted as he slapped a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing.

Taking a breath, “Hon, be glad he isn’t making you piss on a stick in the dining hall every morning in front of everyone,” Joseph told her, and Sarah’s face paled as the others giggled. Looking around at all the hats, Sarah could actually see Pops pull her to the front of the dining hall to piss on a stick, just so he could shout out to everyone if it was positive; he had a grandbaby coming.

Coming out the back door and adjusting his hat, “They were only out one night, but I watched them drive in the gate before midnight, so I didn’t have to call the law,” LL grinned then sipped his coffee.

“Compared to the last time they had Date Night, this is tame,” Joseph said winking at Shawn. “Um, where’s Kirk?”

“Robin wanted him to hold her,” Shawn stated, and Joseph felt sorry for one of his dad’s mini-mes but in truth, Joseph was glad it wasn’t him who Robin claimed for the day. Every adult there had mini-mes and the minis were part of the eight kids each adult was responsible for. Joseph was still happy Dad had told everyone the name tags were staying on until the end of next year.

Donald, Daisy, Adam, and Eve ran onto the back porch and moved about the group to let them know they were fine, and any love would be welcomed. When Adam got to close to Kong, Kong gave a low growl, then hissed. All four dogs and six kids bolted off the porch. Vicki stomped her foot, letting out a yell and all six kids froze, even though all were older than Vicki, the oldest being sixteen and the youngest twelve. “Get your butts back on this porch!” Vicki demanded.

All six looked at Kong, then Vicki, and moved back to the porch. It was clear they would rather face Kong than Vicki.

Hearing an engine coming, everyone turned to see the Blazer round the house and pull up behind the back porch. Everyone gasped at the shot-up Blazer that had blood, and what looked like an arm hanging from the front bumper near the winch. “Oh, I’m so glad Dad’s truck got messed up on Date Night and not on a patrol,” Joseph sighed out.

“Joseph, Pops loves that truck!” Shawn cried out.

Nodding, “Like I said, I’m glad it happened on Date Night,” Joseph informed him. “If it’d happened on a patrol, we’d be killing everyone we saw and burning down every building in the state.”

Glancing at Joseph, “You’re kidding, right?” Sarah asked.

“Nope.”

In the truck, Arthur looked at the throng of kids and a few adults and saw several dozen of the older kids and everyone but Sarah wearing a black fedora. “I’m so going to hurt LL,” Arthur groaned because LL was the only one who could’ve gotten them. He led patrols on his own with his mini-mes and one other adult to ‘show them the ropes’, as LL put it.

Jason jumped out of the Blazer, “You’d better have one for me!” he shouted over the hood, and Wendy laughed.

“I think it’s cute,” she informed Arthur.

Turning around until he could see her, “LL isn’t doing it to emulate me, babe. He’s doing it so nobody can target me,” Arthur told her.

Leaning up and shoving her face in the chicken wire over Arthur’s window, “You’d better have a fucking hat for me!” Wendy shouted and Samantha chuckled, pushing the passenger seat up and climbing out.

Not in the mood, Arthur climbed out with his towel wrapped around his waist and headed straight for LL. Before he spoke, LL raised his palm. “I’m a man and make my own choices. Those with hats go out on patrols and make their own choices. I’m warning you now, if we have to step to the side, I’m bringing Wendy as my backup,” LL let him know.

Gasping at the blatant threat, “Dude, that’s just cold,” Arthur moaned.

“You got shot at?!” Jo Ann and Sally cried out, and Arthur turned to them seeing fear etched on their faces as they looked at the truck.

Moving over to the twins, “No, girls. Tigers attacked us,” Arthur told them.

In abject horror, they locked eyes with Arthur. “Tigers use guns?!” they screamed.

Looking off and wondering how they’d jumped to that reasoning, Arthur gave up and faced them. “No, a tiger was trying to get in the truck, so we shot out of the truck to let the motherfucking tiger know we didn’t have room for the whore.”

“Did you kick that whore’s ass?” they asked together.

Tucking her towel around her, Wendy sighed, “My sweet little girls have been corrupted.”

Shaking his head, “Nope. Like a punk ass bitch, I jumped out of my seat into Jason’s lap and started sucking on his tit like a little baby,” Arthur declared, and everyone on the porch but Joseph looked at Arthur in shock.

Barefoot and with a towel around his waist, Jason walked over chuckling. “He did jump in my lap, but a tiger was trying to get in his window, and Arthur wasn’t sucking my tit. He was slinging lead to let that tiger know we don’t pick up hitchhikers.”

Making sure her towel was tucked, Samantha put her arm over Wendy’s shoulders. “Jo Ann and Sally are still your sweet little girls,” she assured Wendy.

“Did you hear them?” Wendy gasped.

Stopping and turning Wendy to her, “Wendy, they weren’t emulating Arthur, they were emulating you,” Samantha told her with a grin. “You may have watched your mouth when Joseph was little, but you don’t so much now. I will say, Arthur is the most potty-mouthed person I’ve ever met, and being in the medical field, that’s a statement. The only ones who curse more than we do are soldiers. Now, your language is harsher when the kids aren’t around, but you curse more than you realize.”

With a long sigh, “Yeah, I won’t punch him in the face,” Wendy droned, realizing Samantha was right.

Arthur hugged the twins and looking over the back porch, was about to move through the kids and hug them all when his eyes stopped. Letting the twins go, he moved over to Shawn, spun him around, and yanked Shawn’s XD-M from his thigh holster. With death in his eyes, he started for the porch and everyone cleared a path.

Leveling the pistol, a green laser shot out landing between Kong’s eyes. “You told your big friends where to find us, didn’t you?” Arthur shouted at Kong and Joseph groaned.

Clutching her towel so it wouldn’t fall off, “You leave Kong alone!” Wendy shouted and took off with her flip flops sounding like machine guns.

“He told them where we were! Didn’t you see Red Dawn? This is how you deal with traitors!” Arthur shouted back as Wendy reached him. Grabbing Arthur’s arm, she pushed it until he was aiming at the sky.

“Kong is my bitch. He’s a good bitch. That’s why I got him a bitch that’s my new bitch,” Wendy stated.

Arthur rolled his eyes up, thinking out what Wendy said and trying to follow who was who’s bitch, then replaying it, he jerked, dropping his eyes to Wendy. “What the fuck do you mean, ‘got him a bitch’?!” Arthur shouted as the door opened and everyone else came out, filling the back porch. Seeing Pops, Robin almost took off for him but stopped, seeing Momma and Pops looking at each other mad.

Bobbing her head side to side, “Just what the fuck I said. I got him a bitch because Kong has been a good bitch. You reward your bitches,” Wendy growled. “I saw the one you named ‘Medusa’ at the Kercher farm when I was there with a group finishing off where you hid the road. I called to her nicely and the cat hissed at me then tried to bite me,” Wendy told him narrowing her eyes.

From the back of the group, Joseph let out a low whistle. “Oh, Medusa is mom’s bitch for life.”

Dropping his arm that was still aiming the gun at the sky, “Come on! We already have one mutant fucking psycho cat! I don’t want another,” Arthur moaned then stopped. “Is that where my leather welding stuff went?”

Nodding, “Yep. I put that leather jacket, chaps, and gloves on and chased Medusa half a mile till I caught her. Then I beat the shit out of her and took her to the creek and kept dunking her in the water till she acknowledged me as the queen bitch! I put her down, and every time she ran away I caught her and we started over,” Wendy told him.

Handing Shawn’s pistol back, “Hold up. Someone would’ve told me this,” Arthur stated.

Squaring off with Arthur, “I sent everyone back because I had a bitch to break. Don’t start on safety, you were a mile away on patrol and I had my dogs and guns, I was fine. I don’t say shit when you go out alone, so don’t say shit when I’m right outside the fence breaking in my new bitch,” Wendy replied as she tensed up. Seeing Wendy bow up at Arthur, for some reason, Jason didn’t want Wendy to teach Samantha hand-to-hand combat.

Pushing his fedora up to tilt it back on his head, “I’m telling you now, I have another big ass cat try to climb in my truck, I’m killing one of your bitches. Seems their species doesn’t like you making some of them your slave bitches and they want to take it out on me,” Arthur reasoned.

For a brief second Wendy looked off then turned back, “You can kill one if that happens,” Wendy offered. “But I get to decide which one and when.”

“Keep on and we won’t have the next Date Night till next year,” Arthur threatened.

“Bullshit!” Joseph shouted and Wendy grinned at Arthur.

“Fine,” Arthur said then grinned. “Find some whipped cream because you owe me.”

Moving up and standing on her toes, Wendy kissed him. “You know I don’t like it when I want an animal to come to me and they don’t,” she reminded him.

Knowing that very well, Arthur didn’t even reply, he just turned and started hugging kids. Seeing Pops hugging others, Robin squealed out, pushing through legs, biting one knee and two ankles until everyone parted, allowing the three-year-old through. Nearly yanking Arthur’s towel off, Robin let him know he hadn’t picked her up.

Looking down at Robin, in pink boots only, “It’s fifty degrees,” Arthur informed her.

“Up,” Robin moaned, holding her arms up.

Picking her up, Arthur continued through the crowd until he hugged all the kids. When he was done, Robin informed Arthur that he could put her down and she headed inside with the others. Arthur moved over to Sarah, looking at Nicole who was smiling at him.

“Are you pregnant?” Arthur asked and Sarah groaned.

“No!”

Taking Nicole, “You two can take the day off and get busy since you had all the kids last night,” Arthur suggested.

For a brief second Sarah was tempted, but a little voice in her mind told her if she did, Arthur would make her pee on a stick in the morning in front of everyone. “Pops, it’s Sunday. Since everyone volunteered for work on the day off, I declared no work,” Sarah informed him, crossing her arms over her chest. “I said there will be no work done until after lunch. Then I’ll let crews continue on the concrete wall and the Tomb.” Then a grin sprang upon her face. “I told Skannish he was playing after breakfast.”

Arthur, Wendy, Jason, Samantha, and LL all busted out laughing. A week after LL had arrived, Skannish, at long last had saved the slut princess. He’d jumped up and down cheering his accomplishment as Sarah left the room. Everyone congratulated Skannish until Sarah had come back in carrying a Super Nintendo. She hooked it up and turned it on and Skannish let out a cry seeing ‘Super Mario Bros. 2’. Handing the controller to Skannish, Sarah told him, “Bowser said you’re a punk.” And so began a new war for Skannish. Even though he could play as the princess, Skannish still called her a slut because of the hell she put him through.

“Where are Sutton and Skannish? I need to talk to them,” Arthur asked as Wendy moved over and under his left arm.

“In the dining hall,” Vicki answered, and everyone turned to see her standing beside Joseph with her arms around his waist. “I told them to help watch the babies with Chloe.”

Biting her lip, “I’m going to get some clothes on,” Wendy snickered.

Carrying Nicole and looking down, talking to her as he walked inside, “Did Joseph make my baby sleep all alone in the crib last night?” Arthur asked in a baby voice.

“No, he didn’t,” Sarah announced behind them as they walked in the dining hall.

Spinning around, Arthur kissed Sarah on the head. “You can be such a sweet girl,” he smiled, then dropped the smile. “Get pregnant,” he stated flatly.

Stomping her foot, “Will you stop?” Sarah whined. There wasn’t a doubt in Sarah’s mind now, she didn’t want to kill Joseph, she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. Known only to Joseph, Sarah still had six months before her implant wore off and she could even get pregnant. Joseph told her that nobody, not even Doc, was to know because Mom and Dad would dig that shit out of her arm and would feel completely justified to amputate Sarah’s left arm below the elbow. Never in her life had Sarah even thought about getting married or having kids, she’d planned to be a professional woman. That had changed the instant she’d been forced to kiss Joseph. All she could think about now was growing old with him and having kids, just not being asked every fucking morning if she was pregnant.

“Dad!” Joseph barked. “You and Mom didn’t have me right away so give us time!”

“You two owe me!” Arthur declared to one and all. “For thirty-eight days you two drove me fucking insane, and I had a fight with Wendy twenty-three of those motherfucking days after I had a fight with both of you! Seventeen of those days I had to break you up from killing each other more than once! You two will not be forgiven until I have four,” he shouted then held up four fingers. “Four grandkids who are sitting on my lap! You aged me more in those thirty-eight days than Wendy has in nearly thirty years!”

Both were staring at him with open mouths as many in the hall snickered. “You have over two hundred kids now, Pops,” Sarah pointed out.

“Yeah, they are my kids! And guess what, when they get older, they’d better give me grandkids! But you two... it’ll take four just to get me to forgive you! Any extra you two have will be to resolve any hard feelings I still have,” he added finally lowering his voice.

Meekly, “We were that bad?” Sarah asked and everyone in the hall spoke up.

“Yes!”

Tilting her head to look up at Joseph, Sarah turned back to Arthur. “We’re sorry, Pops. We’ll give you lots of grandbabies, just let us get settled first. I promise you,” she told him.

Walking in and adjusting some jogging pants she had put on, “You’re not making her pee on a stick every morning, Arthur, so drop it,” Wendy educated him and Sarah went pale hearing it from someone other than Joseph. Noticing Sarah getting pale, “I wouldn’t let him do that to you, Sarah baby,” Wendy smiled.

“I’ll lock your ass in one of those shipping containers, Wendy. Then how will you stop me?!” Arthur barked and spun around. With his bare feet slapping the concrete he stopped, looking at Sutton and Skannish as Vicki took the babies they were holding. Arthur had to admit, the two were getting good with the kids.

“How long would it take to get that lab set up and crank out a vaccine?” he asked, and Sutton just balked.

“Arthur, we haven’t even started, and Wendy wanted us to start on medicine. We will have to start over, but we do have a map with our research. I’m just guessing, but at the soonest would be a year,” Sutton told him, and Skannish tried to speak but Sutton shushed him.

“No, this takes priority. We found a group that hasn’t been exposed to Rudolph. They’ve been living in isolation, hazmat suits and respirators since March,” Arthur told him.

“Whoa,” Sutton gasped.

“Yes, make a list as soon as you can if you need anything, and get me the best timeline,” Arthur said.

“How many are there?” Skannish asked, and Sutton nodded because he was about to shush him again.

“Seventy-four total. They’re intact families,” Arthur answered, and everyone in the hall mumbled in excitement.

“We would need to give one a dose to make sure he developed antibodies-,” Skannish started, but Sutton cut him off.

“We have to make the vaccine first!”

“We’ve already developed one!” Skannish shouted back.

“Are you senile? Even with our full lab we had at the bunker, and it was the best we ever had, with the information it would take us six months starting from scratch! If you remember, we weren’t starting from scratch, we brought our culture batches from the CDC!”

“That’s why I said we would have to test one! I’m sure what I brought was stored correctly, but I want to make sure!” Skannish shouted and Sutton stumbled over, dropping in a chair.

“You said you were going to get your watch when I went to get some of our medicines,” he mumbled.

Holding up his wrist to display a gold watch, “I did, but the media I set up was still producing. The attack only destroyed the ventilation system, not the power,” Skannish told him, then turned to Arthur. “My wife gave me this watch. It was her last present to me before she passed,” he mumbled.

Putting his hand on Skannish’s shoulder, “I’m glad you got your watch. Even now with that group needing the vaccine, I’m glad you got your last gift more than I’m glad you got the vaccine,” Arthur smiled. “Those we remember, never die.”

“How much did you get?” Sutton asked.

Shrugging, “I don’t know, I didn’t measure it. I couldn’t just leave it. I’m sure it’s between a hundred and fifty to two hundred doses,” Skannish answered and Sutton just stared at him. “It’s two, fifty cc multi-dose vials, but they’re ‘almost’ full. I know we were down there over forty days and the cultures should’ve put out four doses a day, but I think the nutrient injectors malfunctioned.”

Knowing Skannish would, and have no trouble, going on for an hour or more, Arthur cleared his throat. “Ahem, how long will it take you to set up to test antibodies?”

“Two days,” Sutton answered and Skannish nodded. “That’s a very easy part.”

Turning to Arthur, “I’m 99.9% sure the vaccine is viable. It can be stored at room temperature, but I kept it in a cooler on the ride down until you brought us over here. Then I got a room with a little refrigerator in it,” Skannish explained. “I want to test it on one because with this vaccine, Scott and I can use it even if it’s not viable as a better map to develop one using some of your chickens.”

Arthur grinned because even Skannish avoided saying Alicia’s name or bringing up anything remotely associated with her. It wasn’t because of Sutton, it was because of Wendy. Wendy just couldn’t believe Alicia could be a member, much less one of the main ones in charge of the Heavenly Disciples. Wendy didn’t doubt Jason, Samantha, or LL. In Wendy’s mind, Alicia had been brainwashed. On the other hand, Arthur had no fucking trouble believing Alicia was a Heavenly Disciple. He knew Wendy had gone to talk with Sutton the morning there’d been a hard frost, but she just couldn’t do it. In his heart, Arthur knew Wendy had interacted with Alicia because she’d felt sorry for her. Despite how tough she’d become, Wendy still had a tender heart for some. Arthur didn’t, and had no trouble telling anyone he hated the bitch, including her own brother.

Bringing his mind to the here and now, Arthur looked around with a grin. “Let me get on the radio and deliver some good news,” he said and headed out of the hall. Pulling Nicole up to his chest, Arthur couldn’t help but chuckle seeing Joseph and Sarah sitting together at the table, cuddling. “Thank you for watching the kids,” he told them leaving the dining hall.

“We need to tell them about my implant,” she whispered to Joseph.

“No, I like you having two hands. They can wait,” Joseph told her.

“It’s not you he’s going to make piss on a stick in front of everyone,” Sarah replied. In her mind’s eye, Sarah could see Arthur holding her down and tickling her with one hand every morning as his other hand held a pregnancy test, waiting.

“What the hell are you worried about? Mom has your back,” Joseph scoffed, and that put Sarah at ease.

Chapter Six

What am I going to wear?

Getting up an hour earlier than normal and after working out, Arthur was sitting in his spot at the table with a map, satellite photos, and notebooks spread out on the table. In his lap, Nicole, now ten months, was grabbing at the map and notebooks trying to help. “Give me that,” Arthur grinned, taking the notebook that was heading for Nicole’s mouth. “You aren’t a billy goat.” In the dining hall, tables were in neat rows side by side and could seat everyone at the same time.

Seeing Nicole wanted him to talk Arthur just talked, saying random words as he studied the map and others started coming in. With so many people, the gym was hit in shifts, which was why Arthur got up early. There was plenty of space in the gym but not enough equipment, but that was being addressed and solved in the months ahead. The kids loved the gym, even the little ones, because Arthur had made Joseph appropriately-sized dumbbells, weight benches, and other exercise equipment when Joseph had been a kid. When Joseph outgrew one set, Arthur would make another set a little bigger. The only equipment Arthur had never made Joseph was a treadmill. If he wasn’t in school, Joseph was running around the property, so Arthur figured Joseph got all the cardio he needed.

Some of the kids, along with Jo Ann and Sally, had come to Arthur and asked for a smaller treadmill they could use like Momma. Straight to the shop Arthur had gone, even though there were other tasks going on, he started on one and kept on the other tasks. Three days later, he’d delivered four child-sized treadmills to the gym. Ten fights broke out immediately.

Stopping the fights, Arthur had brought in a bowl filled with numbers and those wanting to use the treadmills had to draw one. The one with the lowest started and then the rest worked up through the numbers with a ten-minute time limit. In truth, Arthur had expected it to be a fad and the kids would stop using them but every morning as groups changed out, kids still ran over, drawing numbers to see who’d go first.

Walking in, Jason found Arthur babbling words and Nicole hanging on every one as she held her hands clasped together, looking up at Arthur as he studied the map. Jason was a doctor and at first he’d thought Nicole suffered from dwarfism, but she was in proportion and very healthy. At the ranch, he was only a backup doctor. Colton, who’d come in with Joseph, was the ranch’s doctor and that was fine with Jason. Colton was the only one called ‘Doc’.

Plotting out Nicole’s growth in the lower twentieth percentile had made Jason worry. It was only after Wendy had told him how big Nicole’s parents had been and shown him pictures when Jason had quit worrying. There wasn’t any denying it, Jason found himself guilty just like everyone else, he treated Nicole special. She’d saved Arthur and he’d saved them. Yes, in time he and LL could’ve built a group if they hadn’t come here and joined this one, but Arthur thought of shit before it was needed.

What Jason didn’t want to admit to anyone was when they’d arrived with LL, he’d been at the end of his rope. It was pure luck that he, Samantha, and LL hadn’t made a mistake and gotten them all killed. Then, they’d arrived in this ‘Ranch of Eden’ and had help and support.

Setting his coffee mug down before dropping in a chair, Jason held out his hands to Nicole. “What’cha doin’, dude?” he asked, as Nicole sang out and climbed up on the table and crawled over. Picking her up, Jason was sure the dump he’d taken last night had weighed more than Nicole.

“Since we’re driving over to Chad’s to drop off the first vaccine, I figured we could run around and grab some stuff. But there’s not much out in the sticks we haven’t already grabbed,” Arthur told him.

Playing with Nicole, “Why not just come back and continue on?” Jason asked, and Arthur leaned back in his chair watching Jason play with Nicole.

“Where’s Duke?” Arthur asked because Jason carried Duke around nearly as much as Arthur carried Nicole. Two months younger than Nicole, Duke already looked like a toddler and Arthur felt in a month or two, Duke would be carrying Jason around.

“Little Momma was feeding him when I got back from the gym and wouldn’t let me have him back,” Jason chuckled.

Watching the line of kids filing into the hall for breakfast, he noticed most were showered after working out. Then Arthur saw Shawn and waved him over. “How’s our group?” Arthur whispered.

Grinning, “The only one I haven’t checked on is Nicole and Jason’s playing with her,” Shawn answered, then noticed the map. “Are we going with you today?” he asked with anticipation.

“Unless you want to stay here,” Arthur chuckled and saw Shelia enter the hall with his other mini-me, Kirk. It was very easy to spot Shelia because there were only four with red hair, and hers was the brightest and reddest. “I’m noticing Shelia’s hanging out more with you and Kirk.”

Cringing, “Yeah, Pops. I think she wants to be one of your mini-mes,” Shawn admitted. Arthur spent time with those in his group, and Shawn suspected Wendy assigned those in Arthur’s group for a reason; they didn’t need supervision. Not that Pops just turned them loose, but they listened and did what he said while the other kids took a little more reining in. The only one in Pop’s group who Wendy didn’t assign was Robin. Technically, Robin was in Wendy’s group, but Robin had assigned herself to Arthur.

“She’s good on the range and can drive anything I tell her to,” Arthur nodded. “You think she can handle running with us?”

Nodding, “Sure, Pops. She’s tough,” Shawn replied.

“Tell Shelia to let Sarah know that she’s coming with us today and to get her stuff ready,” Arthur said, and Shawn took off.

“So, we’re taking the mini-mes?” Jason asked.

“Yes. Some of them need to know how to move around outside the fence if anything happens to the adults,” Arthur answered, and scanned the hall for Jason’s mini-mes and found them. He knew they had joined with Todd, but couldn’t remember the twin boys’ names. Giving a groan and digging in his pocket, he grabbed his folded papers and started going through pictures. “You don’t want to take Cody and Kyle?” he asked finding their pictures.

Knowing what Arthur was doing with the folded pages, Jason chuckled. “Yeah, they’re good enough, and for thirteen-year-olds, they’re excellent.”

Grabbing a pen, Arthur scratched out their age because he remembered their birthday party last month, just not their names. They weren’t in his own group, so he forgave himself. In time, Arthur was sure he would know everyone by face, but knew it would take time for over two hundred kids. Hell, there were nearly thirty adults here, and he still couldn’t recall nine of their names unless they had their ID tags on or he had his list.

Leaning over the table to look at the map, Jason saw Arthur had it folded so only north of the ranch was displayed. He still hadn’t gone north yet. “LL coming?” he asked as the wives joined them. Both were wearing workout clothes and had a line of mini-mes behind them.

“No, I asked him to stay here. I don’t like all of us out,” Arthur answered, and Jason raised his eyebrows. “Yeah, Joseph is coming.”

It wasn’t the first time Joseph had been out since coming back. Over Arthur’s and Wendy’s objections, Joseph and the pilot he’d flown in with, Becky, had taken off to the airport at the end of July. At the time, Jason had thought Joseph was pushing too hard because he still looked drained from his bout with Rudolph. But Joseph and Becky had flown back two twin-engine planes and then the next day, brought back two helicopters. The planes were at the same farm Joseph had landed at initially, but the choppers were on a farm on the north side of the ranch until the runway at the ranch was finished.

“Um, is Sarah?” Jason mumbled and Arthur shrugged, letting Jason know he didn’t know. “Arthur, she needs a lot more time at the range. Ninety percent of the kids here can shoot better than Sarah.” That fact alone left Jason in awe. There were two ranges. One was called the ‘Big People Range’, the other of course was the ‘Little People Range’.

The Little People Range was one of the most awesome places Jason had ever seen. It had been built earlier by Arthur for Joseph to start shooting. Arthur had one goal, to make shooting as much fun as possible. And each year Arthur had added more. It reminded Jason of the largest shooting gallery he’d ever seen, like miniature golf for guns. Only .22s could be shot there and Jason went there as often as he could. It was that fun. All the targets were steel and rang out when hit, but some turned on lights while others performed an action when the target was hit.

There were so many targets that moved, it made the shooter wonder where to begin. There were four hundred targets in the fifty-yard-wide and hundred-yard-long range, with the shooting line twenty-five yards back from the start of the range, and over half the targets moved. The coolest one to Jason was a two-foot-long metal biplane that hung suspended from a cable and would zip from side to side. If you hit it, the plane would flip upside down and return to where it started.

Kids would spend hours when they were allowed, and it was part of what Arthur wanted them to do. At the Little People Range, there was more whining than anywhere else. It was fun and the kids didn’t want to leave. Jason just wished his dad had built something like it, but his dad couldn’t have afforded to buy the ammunition he would’ve used. There wasn’t a doubt in Jason’s mind, he would’ve found a job at ten years old to buy bullets to use at the range.

That first week, Jason had been flabbergasted when he saw the kids go through twenty thousand rounds of .22 ammunition. He’d told Arthur they had to ration it out. Yes, he knew they needed to shoot, but there was only so much. Arthur told him they could handle it, and Jason said even reloading would end and they needed to ration. Laughing, Arthur had led Jason past the textile barn into the woods, stopping at the doors of two shipping containers buried in the hill.

Walking in the containers, Jason had frozen. It wasn’t a reloading area. It was a bullet assembly line. Checking the lines, Arthur had turned them on. Inside the two containers, the machines cranked up. The left side made centerfire rounds, and Jason had watched as brass was punched from sheets, then stretched out to make the casing, then moved down to be loaded with a primer. From the other end, lead wire was chopped and formed into copper jackets to make hollow points. Each station did five at a time, so five rounds dropped out every minute.

Turning to the right, Jason had watched .22 rimfire rounds being punched out, primer put in, then powder, and finally capped off with lead. Arthur said he could make copper jackets for the .22s but it hurt the steel targets more on the Little People Range.

The centerfire line could pump out three hundred rounds an hour. The rimfire line could pump out four hundred an hour. Compared to an ammunition plant, this wasn’t anything to write home about, but this was housed in two shipping containers for a single person. Jason had toured several ammunition plants and they could pump out hundreds of thousands of rounds an hour.

Knowing Arthur had a foundry set up in their workshop so he could make the metal, Jason had been about to ask and Arthur had just waved him outside, leaving the lines running. Continuing down to a container buried in another hill, Arthur had opened the door and walked in. Inside Jason saw it was two containers, but one was completely buried in the hill behind the first.

Jason had watched as Arthur turned on a machine that punched out primers, then loaded them with red mercury. Leading Jason to the back container, Jason had noticed heavy steel welded up to form blast walls. He’d known what they were because he’d toured ammunition plants. Here, Arthur had shown Jason where he made smokeless gunpowder or what the rest of the world called ‘cordite’.

“What the hell are you thinking about?” Arthur asked, breaking the memory.

“Your damn ammunition plants,” Jason laughed. “As a kid, I don’t think I would’ve left that range.”

“Shit,” Arthur laughed. “Joseph’s scout troop came out three times a year. That first year there were fourteen boys and I had five thousand rounds for each one. I expected it to last them all weekend. Those boys had that gone the first day.”

The only thing Arthur had changed since the outbreak, the Little Range was now covered with asphalt and Jason had helped with that. It made sweeping up all the lead shot to melt back down much easier. Just thinking about the Little Range, Jason wanted to go shoot down the plane. “If I’d been one of Joseph’s friends, I would’ve begged to move in,” Jason declared.

“Most did,” Arthur laughed, walking up behind Jason and sitting down. Holding her head high, Sarah walked to the end of the table and looked down at Arthur.

“I’m not pregnant,” she stated, then spun around and sat down beside Joseph. Jason busted out laughing and Nicole joined him.

“He tries to make you piss on a stick, come find me,” Wendy said winking at Sarah, and Arthur flipped Wendy off as a small yell sounded and Robin flew to Arthur, seeing his entire lap was empty.

Even pulling Robin onto his lap, Arthur kept his finger up to make sure Wendy saw it. “Sarah?” Arthur called out, and Wendy finally flipped him off and Arthur dropped his hand. “I don’t really want you going today.” When Sarah went to speak, Arthur cut her off. “You’re not ready yet, but you will be,” Arthur told her.

“I wasn’t going, Pops,” Sarah sassed rolling her eyes. “Joseph said I’m not good enough on guns yet, but I should be ready soon.”

In awestruck wonder, Arthur stared at Sarah. The fact she’d said it was what amazed Arthur. Sarah was so much like Wendy, it made him wonder about his son. Wendy wasn’t the same person who’d grown up with her parents, shy and timid. With Arthur, Wendy had turned into someone who was never scared to take chances, outgoing, and very headstrong. Sarah had come out of the womb with the personality Wendy had now. That’s why Arthur was awestruck. Sarah had said it out loud that she wasn’t ready.

Arthur loved how strong emotionally, mentally, and physically Wendy was, but she could overload her ass in the blink of an eye. “Oh, you chose wisely, son,” Arthur mumbled.

Knowing damn well what Arthur was getting at, “I know my limits,” Wendy barked.

Nodding, “Most of the times,” Arthur offered. “But others, you know your limits after your ass has been overloaded.”

Waving her hand out toward Arthur, “What the hell do I have you for?” Wendy scoffed.

As food was put down, Samantha fixed a plate staring hard at Jason. “Don’t say it,” she warned, looking at her husband directly across the table from her.

“Hon, you very rarely overload your ass,” Jason chuckled.

Giving Jason a big smile, “That’s sweet, thank you,” she told him. “You do know women recognize when men are just saying stuff to be nice, right?”

Setting Nicole on his side as he gasped, “I’ve never lied to you with any compliment I’ve ever given you!” Jason nearly shouted.

“That’s bullshit,” Samantha scoffed with a chuckle.

“Name one!” Jason challenged.

“That purple dress I tried on to wear for that dinner party?” Samantha threw out.

Jumping to his feet, “You looked hot as hell in that dress!” Jason did shout now, and Arthur stood up and took Nicole. He’d had a similar fight with Wendy before on the same subject, but it’d been a black skirt, and he knew this one was going to escalate.

Bobbing her head to the side, “I looked like a hooker,” Samantha told him.

Copying Samantha and bobbing his head side to side, “I’ve never seen a fucking hooker who looked that fucking good and they came into the ER all the fucking time!” Jason shouted.

Jumping to her feet, “I know you say shit to make me feel good, that’s all I’m saying!” Samantha screamed.

“I don’t lie when you ask me! I’ve told you, more than once, an outfit you were wearing didn’t look good!” Jason countered. Samantha didn’t know how this had turned into a fight, but she was going to show Jason somehow. She knew he was just being nice and it was okay, but he was pissing her off.

“That casserole I made for Thanksgiving sucked, but you said it was the best in the world! Even my mom gave a shiver eating it!” Samantha screamed.

Crossing his arms over his chest, “I liked it! I ate it at the table and finished that entire pan off the next day, did I not?” Jason threw out.

Slapping the table hard, “You were being nice and I know it! I’m just saying, I liked it but you don’t have to always say something is great when it’s not!”

“No compliment I’ve ever given to you has been a lie!” Jason bellowed and several sitting near the two started scooting away. “I told you years, years ago mind you, that you could learn self-defense and kick a man’s ass! You didn’t believe me until you saw Wendy do it! I would never lie to you! If I tell you something, I mean it! If you think back, if I think what you ask is going to hurt your feelings, I don’t say shit! If you press me, I do tell you! I told you that necklace looked like shit on you!”

“I KNOW IT DID! I JUST WANTED TO HEAR YOU SAY IT!”

Lowering his tone, “I don’t lie to you, Samantha, and I never will,” Jason growled with his face turning purple.

“Bullshit! We watch pornos and you say I’m better than those women! No woman can do fellatio like that without some kind of fucking training! You have to go to some special school to suck a dick like that! It can’t feel good for either of them! I know you’re just being nice! You-,” Samantha froze, remembering where she was and what the fuck had just come out of her mouth. Instantly her face, neck- any exposed skin turned bright red.

Holding her bright red chin high, Samantha spun around and strolled out of the dining hall as many were now trying not to laugh.

Jumping to her feet, “Hey, girl! Don’t be shy!” Wendy shouted and took off after Samantha. “They belong to us, and we can do whatever the fuck we want with ’em!”

In a state of shock, staring at the empty air where Samantha’s face had been, “I can’t believe she just shouted that shit out,” Jason mumbled.

“Bitch, you get embarrassed over that, I’ll take away your guns,” Arthur threatened, and that shook the shock off Jason.

“That doesn’t embarrass me,” Jason scoffed, “But Samantha’s a prude. She nearly passed out when you and Wendy dropped at the other end of the beach.”

“Wendy tripped my ass and threw me down saying I was taking too long,” Arthur corrected. “Wendy doesn’t give a rat’s ass who sees if we’re on our land.” Seeing Joseph take a breath, “You and the kids don’t count,” Arthur snapped. “When your kid just walks in the bedroom while the freak nasty is going, yeah, grown-ups scream. Wendy jumped up and took off so fast I thought she’d been hurt. I didn’t know you’d come in the room and tapped her leg. I know that fucking door was locked.”

Trying not to grin, “It was, but I wanted some bacon and wasn’t allowed to cook it yet,” Joseph snorted.

“How old were you?” Sarah laughed out.

“Eight. I knew Mom and Dad were awake and if you turned the doorknob just right, it popped open. I tapped Mom to get her attention because it looked like they were wrestling. Mom let out a scream I’m sure was heard ten miles away.”

Even Jason laughed as he sat back down. “Samantha does that with anyone. That’s why she pulled me further down the beach behind those trees,” he said.

“Shit, then put deadbolts on your bedroom door,” Arthur advised. “To this day, I can’t see how Wendy moved that fast. One heartbeat she was right there with me, the next she was gone and the bathroom door slammed with a blood-curdling scream filling the room. I sat up really thinking she’d rolled off the bed because somehow or someway she’d been hurt. How? I don’t know because we weren’t doing anything extravagant. When I sat up and looked, there was Joseph at the side of the bed holding a package of bacon.” The entire hall roared with laughter.

Glancing around the hall and raising his voice, “I would really appreciate it if no one teased Samantha about this. What little sex I have in my sex life is going to dry up for a while,” Jason informed them. “Damn, I just wanted her to know I don’t lie to her when I compliment her, and it turned into a fucking brawl.”

Leaning over and patting Jason’s shoulder, “Been there and done that,” Arthur informed him. “Hate to tell you, but in a few more years you’ll have the same argument.”

Clearing his throat, “Um, both of you have watched pornography with your wives?” Skannish asked.

Very shocked, “Duh, yeah,” Arthur sang out. “Shit, Wendy can find some good movies.”

Nodding, “Shit, I couldn’t find the site Samantha got the last ones from, and I looked for it,” Jason chuckled.

Somewhat timid, “You do know pornography is vulgar,” Skannish told them.

“Hey, I’m not talking about animals, BDSM and stuff. I’m talking about wild rolls between men and women!” Arthur shot back. “Oh, so Jason and I, with our wives alone, supported a fifteen billion dollar a year business? You have never, not even once, looked at pornography?” he challenged Skannish. Leaning back in his chair, Skannish’s mouth moved but no words came out.

“Exactly. If it embarrasses you, then grow up. You’re an adult and can watch what you want. I hate to tell you, Skannish, but sex is part of life, a very fucking important part of life. Don’t spout that shit ‘it’s to be for procreation only’ because that’s what it is, shit,” Arthur popped off. “If someone wants to do that, fine. Shit, before I met Wendy, I was going to be a porn star. I’m not ashamed of shit I do.”

With her arm around Samantha’s shoulders, Wendy led Samantha back into the dining hall. “Hey, I’ve told Arthur those bitches get degrees to do that shit,” Wendy said.

In Arthur’s lap, “Shit!” Robin repeated very loud and very clear.

Closing her eyes, “Oh, that was so on me,” Wendy groaned.

“Robin’s said shit seven times that I know of, and the first was with me,” Arthur stated proudly. Then turned to Robin, “Don’t say it until you learn how to use it correctly,” he told her in a very gentle tone and Robin squealed and hugged him tightly. It was on the tip of his tongue to beg Robin to put on panties at the very least, but Arthur just gave up.

Leading Samantha back to their chairs, “Thank you, babe, but that was on me,” Wendy told him to let everyone know she’d broken her own rule and wasn’t letting Arthur take up for her.

Shifting Robin to his side, “I’m not Jason. I’ll chase your ass down to continue this fight until I win, and I will win it. I said, she learned that from me,” Arthur stated somewhat proudly.

Sighing, Wendy turned to look at Arthur and saw Arthur wasn’t going to give in and this fight would last years. She smiled, “Okay, you’re right, but I still shouldn’t have said it.”

“You used it correctly to convey meaning of a derogatory nature to stress the knowledge and training you believe others achieve at a higher institution that doesn’t exist,” Arthur told her.

At the end of the table, Jo Ann and Sally groaned. “Can’t you just cuss?” they both moaned.

Turning to the end of the table and looking at the twins, Arthur grinned. “The use of correct linguistics to express the meaning to be conveyed should be used appropriately at all times to let everyone recognize you have the intelligence to do so. Otherwise, your denotation may become vitiated.”

The shocked look the twins returned made Arthur bust out laughing. “Did we piss him off?” Jo Ann whispered to Sally.

“I don’t think so because he’s smiling,” Sally mumbled.

In the middle of the table that Arthur was sitting at, Shawn nodded. “He conveyed his meaning very elegantly.”

Smiling at Shawn, “Fuckin’ right, I did,” Arthur laughed, and the entire hall busted out laughing.

Really wanting to ask Samantha if there were no hard feelings, Jason decided to play the safe card, ignore it and talk in private. Leaning over, looking at the map, “So, where are we heading?” he asked.

Shrugging, “There’re a few farms and storage sites we can explore,” Arthur said, and Jason jumped to his feet stabbing a finger at the map.

“Berryville!” he screamed.

Having no idea what caused this, “Um, yeah, it’s like fifty miles away as the crow flies,” Arthur told him. “It’s a nice small town,” he added, in case his buddy liked the town.

“Berryville, Arkansas!” Jason screamed with wide eyes staring at the map. Suddenly, Samantha groaned and rolled her eyes.

Not taking his eyes off Jason, “Yeah, it’s okay. They did have a nice livestock auction down the road,” Arthur offered because it seemed Jason loved this town.

“I thought it was near Little Rock!” Jason bellowed never taking his finger off the map.

Shaking his head and easing Robin from his lap because it looked like Jason was about to stroke out. “No, it’s been right there since we moved here,” Arthur informed him, wondering why Jason thought Arkansas moved a small town from Little Rock. Taking a deep breath, “Um, what’s so special about Berryville? There’re other small towns and some of them had nice attractions,” Arthur offered, hoping to learn the reason Jason was freaking out.

“Wilson Combat Arms is there!” Jason screamed with foam at the corners of his mouth.

Glad to finally have a reason behind Jason’s excitement, “It’s not in the town, it’s outside of town to the south,” Arthur told him, and finally Jason’s eyes left the map and locked onto Arthur. For a brief second, Arthur wanted Jason to look back at the map. Only Wendy had ever looked at him like that, and it was very rarely she did so.

“You’ve been there? Why didn’t you tell me?!” Jason cried out like Arthur had broken his favorite toy.

“I haven’t been inside. I’m sorry but until I met you, I would’ve never spent that much on guns, but you’ve shown me the errors of my past. Real quality has a price and there’s a huge difference in craftsmanship quality and mass production quality,” Arthur offered, hoping Jason would stop looking at him like that.

“We have to go there! Like now!” Jason screamed in a pant.

Holding up both hands, “We will. I’ll take you there today. We’ll drop off the vaccine and head straight there,” Arthur offered, but it sounded like a plea.

Panting hard and looking around with wide, wild eyes, “I have to get dressed,” Jason panted. “Oh my god, what am I going to wear?! Wilson Combat Arms!” he cried out. There wasn’t a fast shuffle, Jason sprinted to the door.

“Is it me, or did that sound very pansy?” Samantha asked, and Arthur was glad she’d said it and not him.

Taking a deep breath, “Jason, nobody’s there!” Arthur shouted. “Wendy and I drove past it last month and we’ve driven by there on most of our trips to Missouri!”

“I can’t go there looking like shit!” Jason screamed from, upstairs in his room and it was very clearly heard. Not saying a word, Samantha leapt up and sprinted out to remind her husband; that’d sounded like shit she should say.

“Shawn,” Arthur called out. “Get dressed and meet me at the vehicles. We’re taking three long trailers. If Jason wants to haul back the buildings, we’ll figure something out.”

“Pops, one of those buildings was really big, like, acres big,” Shawn pointed out.

Getting up, “If Jason won’t leave it, we’re bringing the damn thing back,” Arthur told him.

For the first time, Wendy was having doubts about Arthur having a buddy. “Babe, are you joking?” she asked because it didn’t sound like it.

“Nope. If Jason wants this place so bad, we’ll figure out a way to get it here,” Arthur told her and left with his mini-mes in hot pursuit.

“Damn, Dad’s got a buddy,” Joseph laughed getting up. Liking the sound of that, Wendy let that thought go and got up as the ranch moved to start another day.

Chapter Seven

My gun cherry?

It was just after 8 a.m. when Arthur handed over one vial to Chad. “Half a cc in the muscle,” Arthur told him again and Chad took the vial as though Arthur had just handed him the Holy Grail.

“We have a nurse and a veterinarian,” Chad told him and the three with him looked at the vial with longing.

Looking at the four in chemical suits and masks in the cool morning, Arthur thought on cold days that suit might not be so bad. “You picked the first?” Arthur asked as a car horn sounded behind him, again.

Leaning to the side to look past Arthur at the line of trucks hauling trailers, a Stryker, an MRAP, with a gray Suburban in the lead that Arthur had gotten out of, “Yeah, I’m going to be the first,” Chad told him.

“Dude, you’ll be fine. Skannish is ninety-nine-point-nine percent positive the vaccine is fine. If it isn’t, you’ll just get a water shot. But those numbers from that old prude means the shit is good. In six days, I’ll come back to draw a blood sample and by that evening, you’ll know if the others can take the shot,” Arthur told him as a car horn tooted and then someone laid on it.

“They’re big boys and girls! You gave them the shit! Let’s go!” Jason screamed out the passenger window.

“He sounds as excited as we are,” Chad laughed behind his gas mask.

Shaking his head, “I’m beginning to think he has you beat,” Arthur sighed as the horn sounded again.

“God damn it, you gave it to them, I can see one holding it! Let’s go!” Jason bellowed and Arthur turned around to see Jason leaning out the window with binoculars. Behind the Suburban in the MRAP with Wendy, Samantha slid out of the passenger seat to the floorboard, trying to hide.

“If you don’t mind, what the hell is he so excited about?” Chad asked. “Sorry to ask, but if it’s that good, after we’re vaccinated, we may want to do it.”

Shaking his head, “Sorry, but I just can’t explain it,” Arthur sighed, and the four chuckled as the horn started honking in steady random beeps. “I’ll see you in six days. I don’t know if I’m bringing Jason again.”

“Arthur, that’s Morse Code,” Chad told him.

Nodding, “I know, he’s saying, ‘move your ass’, break, ‘we are about to leave without you’,” Arthur said, then gave a wave as he sighed and headed back to the caravan.

“About fucking time!” Jason shouted, then started bouncing around in the seat. “YEEESssss!”

When Arthur climbed in, his mini-mes, Shawn, Kirk, and now Sheila, were in the middle row seats and Jason’s mini-mes, Kyle and Cody, were in the third-row seat, with the dogs in the cargo area. All the mini-mes were laughing at Jason.

Not even calling out on the radio, Arthur just drove off. He didn’t understand why Jason was acting crazy. In July, they’d emptied four gun stores and in August, emptied two military armories. Jason hadn’t acted like this then. Granted, he’d been giddy, but so was Arthur.

Getting comfortable in his seat, “Okay, Jason,” Arthur called out and Jason stopped cheering and bouncing. “What’s so special? We’ve gotten guns before. Yes, I know they’re Wilsons but come on, why are you so ecstatic?”

“Yes, Wilson makes great guns. But they’re special to me because that’s what I lost my cherry to,” Jason explained.

Scooting towards his door and turning to Jason, “Your what?!” Arthur cried out. Suddenly, he didn’t want to know what Jason did with his Wilson guns.

“My gun cherry,” Jason said slowly. “It takes a special gun and when you grab it, you know. It’s part of you and where you aim is right where the bullet hits. It’s like magic. I know there’re other custom manufacturers, but I lost my cherry to a Wilson. The first is always the most special.” Thinking something didn’t sound right, Arthur replayed what Jason had said and scooted back to the center of his seat. Arthur had shot tens of thousands of rounds and he’d never felt what Jason just described.

“For some it takes years and sadly, others who shoot don’t lose their cherry. Most of the time I’ll admit the gun is customized, but even guns that’re mass-produced will turn out a fine work of art where all the pieces align perfectly, like a master gunsmith assembled the gun. That’s what LL lost his cherry to, a Browning,” Jason said.

Suddenly realizing he still had his gun cherry, for some reason Arthur felt cheated and used. He’d shot hundreds of guns and many he’d built himself, but they’d never taken his cherry, they’d just used him. “Okay,” Arthur said, not liking his new discovery. “Why in the hell did you think Wilson was near Little Rock?”

“Because they’re one of the top custom gun works in the world. Shit, I never expected them to be in the middle of fucking nowhere!” Jason cried out.

Just hearing it, Arthur could find the logic in that. “Okay, then why aren’t all your guns Wilsons?” he asked.

With a very long sigh, “Because I spent nearly sixty grand on those damn PNVG-18 goggles,” Jason moaned. “I knew any day my wife was going to find out,” he stated and grabbed his crotch, “and remove these fuckers from my body. I got our Wilson pistols because during normal life, your pistol will serve as your primary means of defense and that was the most probable scenario. But if something bad happened and you get on a long gun, your pistol’s function is to be a backup if your long gun goes down. If you ever have to go to a secondary weapon from a long gun, your day has gone to shit. So I figured that’s where we needed the best; our pistols. Samantha and I both have two Wilson pistols. I bought her one for concealed carry but she whined it was bulky, so I took her to Lyles and she picked out an XD slim. Before you ask, no, I didn’t sell the first Wilson I’d bought for her, she still uses it. I felt then and I feel now that selling that gun would be like someone giving you a piece of the Ark of the Covenant and you pawning it for material gain.” Now Arthur was feeling cheated because he still had his cherry and didn’t have a Wilson, as Jason continued.

“I built all of our AR-15s and I’m happy with them. But I knew if we needed to go long I wanted the best, so that’s why Samantha and I both have Wilson AR-10s. That’s what Samantha lost her gun cherry on, her AR-10. After we sighted-in her gun, I set a coke bottle down eight hundred yards away and she nailed it on the first shot.”

Finally hearing the price of the night vision from Jason, “Hold up, you said you spent forty grand on those quad tubes,” Arthur pointed out.

“Duh, Samantha was close!” Jason cried out. “I didn’t lie because I only had forty-two thousand left to pay off the credit card I’d bought them on when the world died. I did get them at a discount, six grand off the retail price,” he stated proudly. “Was it a mistake? In my eyes, no. That wide field of vision at night saved our asses seven times that I can remember, just off the top of my head. One was an ambush in Birmingham. I might’ve spotted them with a monocular, but I spotted their asses from two hundred yards away and caught sight of them at the corner of my field of vision.”

Having used both, Arthur had to agree the quads were in a world of their own. But he knew without a doubt, if the world hadn’t succumbed to viral misery, he never would’ve even picked up a pair after seeing the price tag.

“Arthur,” Jason said in a normal voice. “That Wilson I shot and bought that day? I tried to break it. Remember a few years back when the last ammo scare happened and there was a huge glut on the market like all the other scares?” Jason asked and Arthur nodded. He’d sold some of the ammo he’d made.

“I bought ten thousand rounds and made a commitment, I was going to shoot a thousand rounds a day through my 1911 for five days,” Jason told him. “Holy fuck, I never knew your finger and forearm could get so tired from squeezing a trigger. But, I had more ammo malfunctions from bad primers than I did gun malfunctions. Then for the next week I tried burying it in sand one day, another in mud, next in water and so on, then each day shot five hundred rounds. The fucking gun just kept right on going. Fuck the Energizer Bunny in the ass! My Wilson just kept going and going and going. After two weeks, I did look at my Wilson and it looked like shit. The bluing was marred and scratched. It was coated in burnt powder, but it still functioned flawlessly. I wrote Walt, the executive who’d come down and showed off the gun. Well, I wrote him and sent pictures and video of what I’d done trying to break my Wilson and told him my Wilson had just laughed. Walt asked me to send the gun to them and they would rework it free of charge if they could use the pictures and my statement. I said, ‘hell yeah’. That’s why I know they’re in Berryville, Arkansas. Two weeks later, my gun came back and it looked like it was brand new! Samantha thought they’d sent me a new one, but I showed her the serial number was the same.”

“So, all of their guns are this good?” Arthur asked now intrigued.

“Dude, they sell an AR they guarantee will hit any target at one thousand yards!” Jason cried out. “Yeah, a little 5.56 at that range is only a paper puncher, but you can hit. I’ve shot several and loved each one, but after my foray into night vision, I stuck with building our AR-15s. I do have one H&K AR and I love it. I found it in a pawn shop and it was a steal. It had less than a thousand rounds through it and they wanted six hundred dollars for a three-thousand-dollar gun. If they would’ve had more, I would’ve bought all of them on the spot.” Even Arthur agreed with a nod, he would’ve also.

“Now in Birmingham, I found a Wilson AR for sale with tons of furniture,” Jason told him, and Arthur could picture the accessories or ‘furniture’ on the gun. “It was cheaper than brand new and I was trying to figure out a way to get it, but the world ended. So you see, Wilson broke my cherry and your first is always the most special,” Jason repeated. As Arthur drove, he was trying to figure out how to break his own cherry.

The closer they got, the more excited Jason became. When Arthur rounded a curve and a sign read ‘Wilson Combat Arms’, Jason lost his shit. As they pulled up to the closed gate, Jason vaulted out of the Suburban and darted over to the fence, then climbed the chain-link fence like a spider monkey before Arthur had even come to a complete stop. Landing in a run, Jason held his arms wide and hit the sign with a loud ‘bam’.

Watching Jason hug the sign, Arthur suddenly didn’t like Wilson anymore. Jason was his buddy.

Laughing his ass off, Shawn climbed out the back with bolt cutters and opened up the gate as Samantha opened the door of the MRAP. “You’re embarrassing the shit out of me!” she screamed at Jason, but he just kept hugging the sign.

Pulling in and stopping in the parking lot and looking at the offices, “I still have my gun cherry and I’m losing my buddy,” he mumbled and shoved his door open. “I’m beating the shit out of something.”

After adjusting his fedora and letting his rifle hang under his arm, Arthur turned to see Jason still hugging the sign but now, he was caressing it with his cheek as he smiled in bliss. “Oh, that’s cute,” Arthur laughed and pulled his camera from his thigh pocket. “Kirk,” he called out and Kirk skidded to a stop in front of him. Handing the camera to Kirk, “Follow Jason and take pictures,” Arthur instructed.

Feeling something rub against his leg, he looked down at Donald and Daisy leaning against him. “Well, you’re still my buddies,” he grinned at them, then glanced back and saw Shawn digging in the back of the Suburban. Wondering what Shawn was digging through, Arthur was about to walk to the back because he didn’t remember putting much in the cargo area. With a cry of joy, Shawn pulled out the ‘key’, or mini jaws they used to open doors.

When Shawn started for the door everyone stopped when Jason screamed, “NO!” Everyone, even the dogs, turned and saw Jason sprinting across the parking lot. He blew by Shawn and just before reaching the double glass doors he spun around, slamming his back to the doors and holding out his arms. “We can’t just rip the doors apart! That would be sacrilege!”

Cocking his head to the side, “Motherfucker! Since I woke up, I’ve listened to your ass for the last six hours talk about this place, I’m going inside,” Arthur informed him.

“Let me get my lock picks. We can’t destroy the door,” Jason whined. “We have to show respect!”

Glancing to his left, then right, “To who?” Arthur asked.

“The workers may be gone, but their spirit remains,” Jason replied and suddenly some of the mini-mes didn’t want to go in this place if there were spirits around. They watched movies and spirts were ghosts.

It suddenly dawned on Arthur; they were standing at Jason’s version of ‘Graceland’. “Put the key back,” Arthur sighed and pulled his lock picks out. “Robin picks a lock faster than you, Jason.”

In the same amount of time it took a person with a key, Arthur had all three locks open. He was expecting Jason to bowl his ass over, but Jason walked in with eyes wide with wonder. Seeing the building was mostly offices, Arthur started moving through them and found Jason coming out of a storeroom at the end of the hall carrying a stack of t-shirts. “You wear extra-large, right?” Jason asked and Arthur nodded.

“I got us six of each t-shirt and four polos each in all six colors they have,” Jason told him, and Arthur wondered why in the hell didn’t Jason just get them all. Taking one off the top as Jason passed, Arthur held up the shirt that displayed the Wilson logo on the front.

In forty minutes, they all watched as Jason came back with coffee mugs, ink pens, mousepads, glasses, and even lighters with the company logo, carrying them to the Suburban. Any minute, Arthur was expecting Jason to step out with condoms that had Wilson printed on them and load them up. And Jason was married. Nobody said a word as Jason went to a printer and got a ream of paper with the logo. Even his  wife was looking at him like he’d lost his mind.

“Jason,” Arthur finally called out when Jason found a stack of calendars from last year, but was taking them. When Jason turned around, “Can we go into the working area now? I’m tired of the offices,” Arthur told him and reluctantly, Jason nodded. As they left Arthur grabbed Shawn, “Go to that storeroom and get all the shirts... no, just get everything,” Arthur told him and Shawn gave a grin before he took off.

Walking outside and around the offices to a very large building, Arthur started looking it over as Wendy moved beside him. “I expected more of a security door,” she said, looking at the normal metal double doors.

“They didn’t need it here,” Arthur said, and pointed at cameras and motion detectors.

“Think Jason will flip if we use the jaws on those doors?” Wendy asked.

Pulling out his lock picks, “Not risking it,” Arthur said going to work. It did take him longer to open these doors. When they were open, everyone filed in as Arthur studied the doors and then looked around inside from the door. “Fuck, I’ve seen some security measures before, but this shit is off the scale.”

Looking at the door, “You could’ve broken in here easy,” Wendy scoffed.

“No, I couldn’t have. When the power was on, those doors magnetically locked, and look around at all the motion detectors inside. From right here I count four different types,” Arthur stated, clearly very impressed.

“You think they had break-in problems in Carroll County?” Wendy asked because they’d never had any problems like that in Newton County.

“Babe, they made guns. Before anyone could do that, you had to let fifty politicians rape you and then rob you, after they’ve fucked you. Then the ATF comes along and you have to give a blow job to everyone in the ATF who works in this district. If I had to go through all that to start a gun business, Fort Knox would look like an ice cream stand compared to my business,” Arthur told her and Wendy started to nod but stopped.

Arthur turned and saw Jason was on one knee with his head bowed, paying homage to his Graceland. “I’m not getting down on one knee,” Wendy informed Arthur, and he could tell it wasn’t even open for discussion.

Walking around the massive building, they didn’t find many guns. Well, not what Arthur was expecting. But there were enough gun parts and blocks of aluminum and steel to make thousands. Standing in the main aisle, Arthur saw about  sixty workstations. They didn’t assemble guns here, they made them just like he did at home, but here they had dedicated machinery and grade-A gunsmiths. Works of art were created one at a time, by hand, to perfection.

“Holy shit!” Arthur gasped realizing this wasn’t a plant, it was a crafting shop. “They do it all here!” he cried out as Jason walked past with his arms full.

“Yep,” he stated proudly. “The only way they could do more is to send a guy out with a shovel and pickaxe to dig up the ore.”

Watching Jason stroll off, Arthur started pointing out stuff to load up. It was an hour later when Jason found Arthur talking with Samantha. “Isn’t this great?!” Jason cried out.

“Yeah, babe,” Samantha responded without emotion.

Turning to Arthur, “Hey, can you cover for me for just a little while?” Jason asked in a very low voice.

“Why?” Arthur asked.

“I want to get freak nasty with Samantha,” Jason grinned.

“Here?!” Samantha cried out and Jason turned to her.

“Well, yeah. We’re at the pinnacle of weapons perfection and I have the most perfect girl in the world! It only seems right,” Jason replied.

Arthur jumped back as Samantha flew at Jason, wrapping her arms and legs around him, locking her mouth over his, and knocking Jason to the floor. Spinning around, Arthur lifted his wrist up to look at his watch. “They’re going to be a while,” he mumbled.

Chapter Eight

Don’t spank the monkeys

After leaving Jason’s ‘Graceland’, they headed south because Arthur had to stop by Jill’s group. It wasn’t like they could load up anything else since their trailers were full but when they’d left Jason’s Graceland, it looked like they hadn’t taken anything. Shawn had suggested they come back and Arthur told him to fucking forget it. Jason was his buddy and Arthur didn’t like Jason going to Wilson’s house.

It took over an hour to reach Jill’s group in south Madison County. When they were met by a lookout ten miles away, Arthur was very happy. He used video to do that, but Jill was using people. But she also had the most bodies now. Following the guide, they soon pulled up to the gate and saw work going on to reinforce the wood fence.

“Damn, that’s smart,” Jason mumbled.

“Where’s Jill?” Arthur asked and the guide pointed. Arthur saw Jill and her aides approaching. When she was close, “Ask your people to stop,” Arthur told her.

“Why?” Jill asked.

“Jill, please,” Arthur said and Jill turned around, talking into a radio as Jason got out moving next to Arthur. He saw they were using something like HESCO barriers, but the ones Jill’s group were using they had made. The four corners were steel with reinforcing in each corner to form a 5x5x5 box. The box was filled with dirt and packed down, then another was set on it, filling it up and packing it down until they were stacked three high. On the front of the wall, a sheet of steel was welded so when the HESCO wall came down, it would look like there was a steel wall in place.

As work stopped Jill turned to Arthur, “Why did you stop us?” she asked.

“Jill, you don’t have any footings! That’s dirt you’re stacking those barriers on. Each section will weigh over twenty tons and be fifteen feet tall!” Arthur cried out.

Nodding, “Yeah, nobody could get through that,” Jill stated with pride.

“I could breach your wall with Shawn, Kirk, Shelia, and a firetruck in half an hour,” Arthur told her, and all pride dropped off Jill’s face.

Thinking Arthur was being a little too hard on Jill, Wendy came up beside him. “How could you breach with your mini-mes?” she asked.

“How they’re set up now? Easy. Drill a hole in the plate covering the bottom box, stick a high-pressure water hose in and turn the water on. The water will wash the dirt out and I could knock the wall over or do a few more beside it and let the wall fall over by itself,” Arthur explained.

He looked at Jill and saw hopelessness wash over her. Ripping off his gloves, Arthur moved over and cupped her face to look at him. “Jill, you’re doing an excellent job. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine. You asked me to come and see how you were doing the reinforced wall. I should’ve come over sooner. Jill, with you leading this group, they’re going to live and be able to have kids and a future. You may have sought me out, but I knew you had the spark and intelligence when I first saw you. That’s why I gave you the notebook and offered my assistance. Don’t let this get you down. You called but I’m sorry, I had other things going on. After you’re set up, this time next year this’ll be a thriving community,” Arthur told her in a gentle voice, and Jill sighed.

Just looking at Jill, Wendy could tell Jill felt like she was carrying the weight of the world and was terrified, but she would do it and do her best at it. “Now, you can keep going like you are. This is a good idea, so good I almost did my wall like this,” Arthur told her. “Now, walk with me and let me show you.”

He led her to the wall and now a very large crowd was there. Arthur said they needed to weld the boxes together, then stack another row two-high just behind the first one, then do another row of one, to form steps. This way even if someone washed out the front, there was another row right behind it and the weight of those behind the front wouldn’t let the wall tip over.

A man stepped up to Arthur, “Mr. Caravan Man, it’s my fault,” he stated. “Jill asked me to come up with something we could do fast so we could concentrate more on building all the greenhouses and clearing more land for livestock.”

“Are you an engineer?” Arthur asked, and the man shook his head.

“No sir. I was a soldier, infantry, and this is how we made walls in the desert,” he answered.

“Desert, equals no water to wash out your shit. Yes, they use these for dams, but they don’t use one line stacked fifteen feet high. You were using your head, and this is the fastest way to secure your wall. That’s why I was going to do it.”

Back under control of her emotions, “Why didn’t you?” Jill asked.

Shrugging, “I wanted concrete, and I want those with me to know how to work with it,” Arthur answered. Looking at the community inside the wall, he could see buildings being put up to house the group. As he’d dictated in the notebook, they were building dorms. Unlike Arthur’s, Jill and Albert were building them out of wood. He didn’t know if any knew how to work with concrete, but they would eventually learn and the wood dorms would be turned over to storage when concrete buildings went up.

“You’re building a five-mile-long wall of concrete?” the man asked in awe.

“Hell, no. Twelve miles,” Arthur answered. “I did my entire wall at one time. You have to get secured and don’t have that kind of time. That’s why you have a five-mile wall around you. Then, you’ll tack on six more to join to this one. You can take your time then.”

Turning around and looking out the gate at the valley, Arthur could see crews on each ridge already building the wall that would connect to the community. “Arthur, we won’t be able to grow enough food here,” Jill told him again.

“In two weeks, my hydro levee will be on and you won’t have to worry. We’ll be able to help you through the winter. I should have enough fuel until then but if I don’t, like I told Albert, you may have to send some fuel. I would go and get it, but can’t spare the resources now,” Arthur told her.

“We lost seven on patrol to get some supplies near Fayetteville yesterday,” Jill told him.

“A gang?!” Arthur cried out.

Shaking her head, “Rats,” Jill said and everyone, including Arthur, shivered.

“I told you, no big towns. You don’t want to get near any place that had a population over five thousand. But I’ve also seen large groups of rats ten miles away from large towns,” Arthur told her.

“They were ten miles away from Fayetteville getting supplies from a construction site. Then from a building a block away, a wave of rats came in. Arthur, it had to be close to half a million. Everyone took off for the trucks, but seven didn’t make it,” Jill explained.

“Shit,” Arthur grumbled. “We’re going to have to start on yours and Albert’s lakes this winter.”

“What’s so bad about doing that in winter?” the man asked.

“This is Arkansas and it rains in the winter, but this year we’ll be getting snow and lots of it for this area,” Arthur explained. “Jill, there’s another reason I came over. I don’t want you taking in any more people. I don’t care who, not even kids. I know I told you last month to be leery but now, I mean no one.”

With a look of profound sadness, “You found the gangs of kids who’re killing,” Jill stated, and Arthur was shocked that Jill had known kids were in groups, killing.

“How did you know? And no, I haven’t found them yet.”

“A patrol went out last month and found a group we check up on in Combs all dead. The woman over the patrol said there were small bloody handprints on the walls. Since the group had kids, I just thought they’d been killed or taken and those handprints left when they struggled. But in the last month, two other patrols have seen similar attacks. Nobody fought back and most were killed in bed. Thing is, each site we’ve found, we know had kids with them but only found a few bodies,” Jill told him.

Cocking his head to the side, “Bodies of small kids like toddlers and older teens who would fight back?” Arthur asked and Jill’s eyes got wide, then she nodded. “All the older teens were killed in their beds like the adults, and the toddlers were elsewhere in the house?” Arthur continued, and Jill nodded again.

“Fuck,” Arthur sighed.

“Jill,” Jason called to get her attention. “Sorry, I’m Jason, one of the Caravan. Just why are you contacting others around you?”

“Sorry, Jill,” Arthur said and turned to Jason. “I instructed them to in my notebook. It’s an early warning system and to find out what they’ve seen. I’ve done that already for those small groups around us, and I’ve shown you the ones near Sand Gap and the other group near that gorge. I don’t like either of them, but they’re playing by the rules, otherwise they’d be dead cocksuckers. As you know, Albert’s group is the closest to us, only ten miles to the southwest. I also wanted them to find out who was around because I’ve been concentrating mostly in Newton County, for obvious reasons, and along the I-40 corridor. Our problems will come from the south, and more than likely on the interstate. When we get time, I’ll check out those that Jill and Albert have spotted and didn’t like. Albert took out a group in July near Watalula. They were fucking cannibals, and can you believe Albert apologized for not telling me first?”

Holding up her hand, “I was going to tell you, we took out that camp east of Japton,” Jill said.

“Well, at least you didn’t say you were sorry for not contacting me,” Arthur grinned. “I would’ve gotten to them in time, but when I’d found them it was just me. I was getting ready to gather up Jason and a few others to hit them in a week or so.”

“Bitch, you need to start telling me this shit!” Jason shouted. “How many have you spotted or think we need to take out?”

“Off the top of my head, I’d say nine or so. We took out the closest on Date Night. The others are over forty miles away by map, double that by road. If you want to know what I’ve found out, read that blue padfolio you see on my desk, or go into the computer and open up ‘Area Control’. It’s a topo satellite map that I’ve marked with locations of survivors, hostiles, and other stuff. I’ve just got to add a spot for the tiger attack,” Arthur ended with a grin.

Before Jason could respond, Jill and several others yelled out, “You’ve seen the tigers?!”

Nodding, “Oh, we got to see them up close when one tried to bust out my window and climb inside my Blazer,” Arthur informed them.

“We saw a really big white male kill like thirty dogs in Hazel Valley,” Jill said.

“We saw his girlfriend and their kids, and just a word of warning, there’s an orange tiger with the white one and they don’t like shit near their kids. See them? Leave them alone,” Arthur advised, then grinned at Jill. “You’re memorizing the area very well.”

“Study the map every night,” Jill stated proudly.

Turning away with a grumpy face, “I can’t even memorize the names of all the kids,” Arthur mumbled.

Jill laughed, “Well, I took your advice,” she said, tapping her chest that had an ID card with her name.

Groaning, “They aren’t always where I can see ’em. I know who they are, but just can’t remember their names. I can tell you when they got there, who brought them in or if I found them, and where I found them, but their names just won’t stay in my brain,” Arthur admitted.

“As much as you’ve done, I hope none are mad about their names,” Jill said and Wendy chuckled.

“Jill,” Arthur sighed. “None of the kids care. As long as I love on them, teach them, and talk to them, they don’t care. I just want to be able to think of one’s face and the name be right there.”

“It will,” Jill said. “Now that we know how to build a wall the Caravan Man can’t knock down, can I tell my crew to start back up?”

“By all means,” Arthur smiled.

Wendy moved over and hugged Jill, shocking the shit out of her. First the Caravan Man showed affection and now his wife? “You’re doing great. He’s very proud of you,” Wendy told her in a low voice.

“Thank you,” Jill said, really needing to hear that.

Loading up they headed home, and no one talked as they just kept watch. Reaching the south gate, Arthur hit the control and the massive steel gate slid open, allowing the caravan to safely return home. Taking the road that led to the house Arthur slowed, seeing the rear drawbridge was down. “They can see us on the camera, Pops,” Sean offered from the backseat.

“They aren’t supposed to lower it until we call,” Arthur mumbled, but was willing to overlook it since he couldn’t even remember the kids’ names. Driving over the drawbridge, Arthur glanced down at the rushing water in the moat. “One of my greatest ideas,” he said proudly.

“I’ll say,” Jason agreed and felt Arthur slow much sooner than he’d expected. Looking up, he saw the black 3500 Chevy 4x4 dually that LL always used parked at the back of the house and there were kids around it. Then Jason noticed there was something in the bed of the truck. “I thought LL was staying here?”

“LL can do what the fuck he wants and you know that,” Arthur laughed.

“Duh, I told you I would rub his nipples when you played his trombone,” Jason chided, and the mini-mes behind them busted out laughing. “I mean, if he had somewhere to check up on and you said you wanted someone here, hell, I would’ve stayed.”

Arthur slammed on the brakes slinging everyone forward. Spinning in his seat, “Bull-fucking-shit!” Arthur shouted. “You were going to see your Graceland if I had to tie your ass up and carry you on a skateboard!”

Thinking about that, Jason grinned. “That was my Graceland.”

“This isn’t the house,” Wendy called over the CB.

Not even responding, Arthur just drove up and parked. “Jason, tell them where you want this shit. After they get it unloaded, have them pull the vehicles down to the parking area,” Arthur said climbing out, and was hit by Vicki as she wrapped her arms around him.

With her face buried in the bottom of his vest, “Don’t let them spank the monkeys please!” Little Momma begged. Images filled Arthur’s mind, and none were correct, but he steeled himself to beat every boy at the ranch for upsetting Little Momma.

She lifted her face up smiling, “They’re so cute,” Vicki sang out.

Blinking rapidly, “Vicki, what are we, no, you, talking about?” Arthur asked.

“The monkeys,” she told him and grabbed his hand, pulling him over to LL’s truck. Surrounding the back of the truck were forty kids and Arthur had the funny suspicion that it was the same forty kids who were supposed to be inside for class. He found LL sitting on the lowered tailgate and Arthur froze, looking in the bed. There were two huge dog cages and in those cages were white-faced capuchin monkeys.

“You went to Central America while we were gone?” Arthur asked in utter astonishment.

“No,” LL laughed as the others in Arthur’s group ran over. “I told you I was going to find those monkeys so nobody could spank them, and Little Momma didn’t have to worry about them.”

Stunned to say the least, “Um, I could’ve helped,” was all Arthur could think of.

“Boy, you move in ten different directions, I wasn’t going to add another one on when it was something I could do that wasn’t vital,” LL said as Vicki let Arthur’s hand go and climbed up in LL’s lap. “Wendy says you’re a thousand times worse without that medicine, and never in my life have I ever told a friend what to do. But you, you stop taking that shit, I’ll shove it down your throat,” LL warned.

Knowing just how to get under LL’s skin, “I’ll shave my legs for you, baby,” Arthur winked.

“Goddamn, don’t talk that shit to me! You have a hot wife!” LL shouted jumping to his feet, and the monkeys in the cages went ballistic.  Jason came over to stand beside Arthur and started rubbing the front of Arthur’s vest.

“We’ll ask you to join us when the wives go to sleep,” Jason said seductively.

“What is wrong with you two?!” LL cried out and Arthur turned to see Wendy and Samantha on the ground, rolling around and laughing with quite a few others.

Getting serious, “Those aren’t pets. No monkey is,” Arthur stated. “I lived with a family who had three of these and other monkeys. Those fuckers can bite and won’t hesitate to do it.”

Finally calming down, “Oh, I know that,” LL informed him. “Had one bite clean through my welding glove, but I didn’t spank him because it would’ve hurt Little Momma’s feelings,” LL said, looking down at Vicki.

“I would’ve shot the fucker,” Arthur mumbled and meant it. “You aren’t bringing them inside the house or dorms. Monkeys aren’t pets. Professionals can keep them, but we don’t have any here.”

“I know, Arthur. That shed over on the east side at the end of the draw? I was going to turn them loose there and feed them. I’ve read up on them. They can forage and we can let the kids go over with adults to feed them,” LL said.

“LL, they start going after our chickens and bees, they’ll slowly disappear,” Arthur warned. “I’ve had enough trouble with fucking raccoons. Like I said, I lived with some for over a year and they’re smart.”

“If they can take getting shocked by your electric fences from hell, I’ll cook them chicken,” LL declared.

Grinning, “LL, I told you, don’t touch the fence,” Arthur reminded him.

“Well, I didn’t think it would knock me on my ass!” LL shouted out.

“Please, Pops. If they’re here I can make sure nobody spanks them,” Vicki pleaded, and that was all Arthur had to hear.

“I want you to understand, they aren’t pets but we’ll let them live on the other side of the creek in the fence,” Arthur told her. He knew the shed LL was talking about very well, it was near the ‘spot’. “LL, take Little Momma so she can see they’re going someplace where people can’t spank them.”

Just like a monkey, Vicki leapt from LL to Arthur, hugging him and ignoring all the crap on his vest that was poking her. “How in the hell did you find them?” Arthur asked because he just couldn’t think of a way to search without the internet.

“Been visiting veterinarian offices,” LL answered. “Finally found a note at one about a family who raised small monkeys. There were two others, but I wasn’t getting my ass kicked by chimps at one or orangutans at the other. It was only when I got there did I realize it was the organ grinder monkey.”

“Where?” Arthur asked.

“Not here,” LL responded.

“How far did you travel?” Arthur asked.

Shrugging, “Not that far,” LL answered.

Realizing LL wasn’t going to tell him because it would probably piss him off, Arthur chose the wise road. “Fine, take Vicki and show the monkeys their new home,” he said. “How many?”

“Twenty-three. Had a net trap that’s used for turkeys set up and got all of ’em in one go,” LL proclaimed with pride.

Turning away, “Where the fuck were you when I was getting my ass kicked by raccoons?” Arthur mumbled.

“Where are you going Arthur?” Wendy asked.

“To change and go see how I can help at the Tomb,” Arthur replied, since there were still a few hours until supper.

When he came back with the work crew from the Tomb, Arthur saw all the vehicles were out of the backyard. Hearing squeals, he turned to see a group of kids in the pool. It was heated, but getting out in the cold air sucked. There were too many at the ranch now for everyone to swim in the pool at the same time so shifts were set up, but that was going to be addressed after the Tomb was finished.

Grabbing his tool belt, Arthur headed to the shop to hang it up as the kids and the few adults on the work crew headed inside. They hung their tool belts up in their rooms. Everyone had a set of tools and their name was engraved in each tool so they had to keep up with them and couldn’t just grab someone else’s if they lost one.

Knocking off the dust before walking in, Arthur saw the kitchen crew working away and Wendy was at the griddle on the kitchen island, flipping meat over. “Damn, smells good,” Arthur sang out and moved over to kiss Wendy.

“Hey,” Jason said walking in the kitchen. “Go change.”

Turning to look at Jason, “Yes, dear. What am I changing for?” Arthur asked, and Wendy had to step back as she chuckled at the two.

“It’s time to lose your cherry,” Jason grinned, and Wendy immediately stopped laughing.

She was beyond shocked that Arthur seemed excited. “You really think so?” Arthur asked.

“Oh, I set up everything. It’s perfect with lots of choices. If you don’t lose your cherry tonight, I’ll throw away everything I own of Wilson Combat,” Jason offered, and Arthur gave a cry of joy running for the bedroom. Wondering what the fuck was going on, Wendy watched Jason follow Arthur into the bedroom.

Not liking anything her mind was providing for her, “Arthur?” she called out and he acknowledged. “Babe, you lost your cherry a long time ago.”

“No, I didn’t! You wouldn’t understand!” he shouted back.

Jason laughed as Arthur changed and he looked at the walls with all the guns now hanging up. On each side of the bed, rifles were in racks. Arthur’s on his side, Wendy’s on hers. The pistols were all mounted on wooden dowel rods from the barrel and Jason was impressed with the selection. He’d been in their room before and was still setting his and Samantha’s growing collection up like Arthur’s and Wendy’s.

At the end of the bed where the two dressers were, Jason saw pistols hanging from the wall with a spear gun over them and an M4 under them. The pistols weren’t hanging for use. They were displayed hanging from their side. “Arthur, why do you have Glocks displayed like this? I thought you didn’t like them,” Jason asked.

“Don’t like Glocks. I have several but like I told you, when I pick one up it just doesn’t feel like it has a soul. It’s just a hunk of metal,” Arthur told him again.

“Then why are there three Glocks proudly displayed with a spear gun and an M4?”

“Oh, those are what got Wendy home. They took care of my girl, so they get a place of honor,” Arthur explained.

Understanding that very well, “We need to build a glass display case for them,” Jason suggested.

“I’m ready,” Arthur said and went to grab his plate carrier vest, but Jason shook his head.

“Won’t need it. Just bring a gun you feel good with if we’re attacked going to the Big Range,” Jason told him.

They walked out and Wendy saw both smiling. Arthur gave her a kiss. “Supper’s almost ready,” she told him.

“This is important,” Arthur replied, and Wendy watched him follow Jason out.

“Where’s Pops going?” Shawn asked walking in from the dining hall.

“I don’t know,” Wendy admitted.

“Can I go?” Shawn asked with a grin.

“No!” Wendy cried out and Shawn gave a startle. “I don’t know what they’re going to do, and I don’t know if I want you to see,” she said and Shawn looked at her, clearly not understanding but neither did Wendy.

“Where’s Jason?” Samantha asked, walking in carrying a baby. Shoving her spatula in someone’s hand and telling them to take over, Wendy flew around the kitchen island, grabbed Samantha by the arm, and pulled her to the bedroom. “What?!” Samantha cried out in shock.

“Samantha,” Wendy started but didn’t know how to ask so she just blurted it out. “Jason took Arthur to lose his cherry.”

“Oh,” Samantha shrugged, but saw the worry on Wendy’s face. “What the fuck do you think they’re doing?” she asked furrowing her brow.

“I don’t know, do you?”

Nodding, “Yes, Jason said it was time and he had what it took now for Arthur to lose his cherry,” Samantha told her and watched Wendy’s face pale.

“Is Arthur going to be okay?”

“Wendy, they’re going to shoot guns. Arthur’s going to lose his gun cherry,” Samantha stated and was glad to see color return to Wendy’s face, but Wendy still looked utterly lost. Then Samantha explained it to Wendy as Jason had explained it to her.

“You lost your gun cherry?” Wendy asked.

Nodding, “Yes, I felt something but not at the level my husband did, and I feel cheated,” Samantha told her. “Jason says with all those quality weapons, the odds that Arthur can’t find one to break his cherry doesn’t exist.”

“What if I want my gun cherry broke?!” Wendy cried out.

“I’m taking you up after supper. Jason said Arthur got to go first. Don’t ask me why, but Jason says this is a special moment and there shouldn’t be a lot of people there. Don’t even ask me why,” Samantha replied.

Walking onto the range, Arthur saw seven folding tables set up. Some held AR-15s, two held AR-10s, and the rest held rows of 1911s. “These all came from my Graceland,” Jason said with pride. “Take a look, Arthur, because on one of these tables is your gun cherry.”

Shoving his earmuffs on Arthur ran over, grabbing a pistol. It was on the third pistol Arthur picked up and shot that he finally understood what Jason had been talking about. He lost his gun cherry.

After supper, Wendy came up and for some reason, felt cheated. She’d wanted to be there when Arthur lost his gun cherry. This sounded like an event they should’ve shared. Having shot with Arthur so much Wendy did have her doubts about this, but Arthur had come in grinning like a schoolboy who’d found his dad’s Playboys. Picking up the first gun and shooting it, Wendy did admit to herself it was accurate and handled nicely. It took Wendy five guns before she found the one that took her cherry.

Chapter Nine

Gathering of Clans

Staring out over the valley, Wendy watched a bald eagle soaring the air currents and just hovering in place. “You go after my sheep and I’ll shoot your ass,” Wendy mumbled caressing her Wilson AR. Yes, the same one that’d taken her gun cherry. Standing on the rise in front of the house above the valley, Wendy just smiled at the security she felt here and it was from the sense of ‘family’, though the big ass fence around them did offer comfort.

It was nearly Thanksgiving and the work had kept them busy. The day before Halloween Arthur had declared the water in the lake deep enough and for the first time, opened the valves to the hydro station. When the five twelve-inch pipes coming out of the cinderblock hydro station had started spewing water, Wendy just smiled. Arthur had always said ninety kilowatts and that’s what he’d built for. Only Wendy knew Arthur had always based the hydro output operating at twenty percent efficiency. Everything Arthur had ever read said always plan for fifty percent efficiency, so Arthur always planned for twenty percent efficiency.

When Skannish saw the power output staying constant from the five turbines at three hundred kilowatts, he’d nearly shit.

But now they had power and with that, they could turn the generators off. Turning to the northwest and looking across the still dry stream bed from the spillway to the power station, where she could see the lake still hadn’t crested to use the spillway, Wendy looked at the four colossal buildings, the last of which had been finished in September. Each covered ten acres. Three were twenty feet tall and the other was thirty. This one they’d stored the cement in because Arthur was tired of running back and forth to the cement plant. Arthur had then led a group and brought in a small mixer plant from Clarksville that could do one cement truck at a time. Now when they returned to the cement factory, they could damn sure tell a difference in the vast storage building. But Arthur was tired of sending trucks that far out with the crazies grouping up. When they were done using it to store cement it would be used just like the others, as a grow barn.

Grow barns was misleading because the buildings each covered ten acres of land and that’s what they’d planted in. That was what Arthur had to have all the heavy steel beams for. There was a deep concrete footing all the way around for support but the floor was dirt. After the buildings were up, the dirt was dug out to six feet deep and then all the rocks were sifted out. Those would be used for the wall. All along the bottom, pipes were laid to supply nutrients and water directly to the soil. Then all the dirt was put back but mixed with rich topsoil made from all the methane cubes, which were just big composters that collected the methane.

The first grow barn was completed in August and was set up with dikes, then flooded and planted with rice. She and Arthur had grown rice in greenhouses before, so they had a foundation to build on. But inside the grow barn, they controlled everything. If the sun wasn’t shining, grow lights came on. There was snow on the ground now, but inside the rice barn it was still eighty degrees. The rice had been harvested last week. On a rice farm that was outside, the average yield was over seven thousand pounds of rice per acre. The grow barn did nine thousand per acre. That was what had been eating so much of their fuel until the hydro-power station had come online, fuel for the generators. This week, they would be replanting the rice because they could grow year-round.

The last two grow barns grew soybeans and corn, and both would be harvested this week. A farm average for corn was one hundred and sixty bushels an acre. Last week Arthur had gone through the corn and said they would double that easy. Wendy had been in the grow barn much more and was expecting three hundred per acre. On the soybean estimate, she did agree with Arthur. A farm averaged fifty bushels an acre and Arthur again said they would double it. But unlike a regular farm, they would replant a few days later. The pipes in the ground let them replenish what nutrients they needed.

They would eventually change crops, but they needed food now. That’s why Arthur had pushed the grow barn project. Albert and Jill had taken in more people than Arthur had expected. In truth, he hadn’t expected them to find so many. Until they had hydropower, neither site would be able to grow enough food to feed their people. Oh, they had chickens for eggs. They still didn’t have enough chickens to eat yet, but they were working on that. Another thing each site had enough of was cattle for beef. They also had dairy cows and had milk and cheese, but they couldn’t grow enough vegetables. Wendy was certain by spring those at both sites would be tired of rice, beans, and corn, but it was food. At the ranch, their diet would be more varied but not like before because the basement pantry was empty. What vegetables they ate now were brought in the night before. In the next few weeks, they planned to start storing food from the new greenhouse.

Turning to the north and looking at the huge slope across from her, Wendy just stared in awe at the new greenhouse. It ran up the south facing slope two hundred yards, and was a hundred and twenty-five yards wide. Inside, it was tiered in steps with a large area filled with elevated beds to grow in. The higher up you went, the higher the temperature got. It had been finished at the end of July and was the only reason they’d gotten the chance to plant the rice barn. It was just now starting to produce food in the amount to feed those here at the ranch, and that filled Wendy with relief.

More than once, Arthur had talked to her about going out to huge truck depots and looking for food, just in case. The fact Arthur knew those were high targets was what worried Wendy. It wasn’t a question of if they would be attacked, but how many times, when they got the food.

Just thinking of ‘attack’, Wendy thought of the Tomb. It had come online just this week. By Arthur’s original plans, they weren’t supposed to start on the Tomb until next year at the earliest. And Arthur hadn’t planned on it being completed until summer. All that had changed when LL, Jason, and Samantha got there. It wasn’t until the first of November when every adult who’d come in with Joseph could actually work, because Rudolph had been very hard on them. Even now, three of the adults still got short of breath, but Doc said it would go away. Doc had a clinic that any doctor would love to have. He could do tests, X-rays, ultrasounds, and after Jason and Arthur had taken off and come back with a portable CT scanner in a tractor-trailer, there was now a CT machine, and that’s what Doc was basing his findings on. Their lungs were improving, but it was slow. Even Doc admitted they would never be back to their normal before Rudolph. Since they now had a CT machine, Jason and Arthur had taken off and also found an MRI unit in a trailer, but it wasn’t hooked up yet.

The Tomb, for all intents and purposes, was just a bunker. A thirty-thousand-square-foot bunker buried forty feet deep to the southwest of the house. It was located just under the peak of the highest point inside the ranch. Arthur had only planned on burying it twenty feet deep, but Joseph had told his dad it needed to be forty. Not about to ask Arthur because he’d make her feel like the kids when they asked a question, Wendy had asked Joseph, “Why deeper?” With a very sad face, Joseph had answered, “Bombs, Mom.”

Oh, Wendy had hightailed it to Arthur then. Arthur had explained that anyone who would attack them would try to do it without hurting the ranch as much as possible. The Tomb was mission control, and as a last resort, a bunker to ride out an assault. He called Joseph in and they both explained ninety percent of all jets would take a phenomenal amount of work to get in the air. Jets were high maintenance, and with the world flooded with rodents that loved to chew on shit, not many would be up to the task. Prop planes could be repaired though, and it wasn’t nothing to lash a bomb to one.

There wasn’t any part of the fence surrounding them that couldn’t be monitored from the Tomb. One wall in the Tomb was covered with hundreds of monitors and when motion was detected, the screen would flash. Along with the game cameras Arthur had out, wired cameras were being strung out because they now had power to spare. She’d seen the map for the cameras and was still having trouble seeing how they were going to put up a hundred outside the fence. Then LL and Jason had gone over to the map and added more. Cameras and cable they had aplenty. It was putting them up outside that worried Wendy. Dogs were a very big problem now and she knew in time, they would become a much, much worse threat.

Because of the ranch, Jill and Albert’s groups would survive the winter and then next year, they would have hydropower like the ranch had. Next winter they would be able to supply their own food. She didn’t count the new group which Arthur called ‘Chad’s bunch’. They already had food.

She, along with Arthur, LL, Jason, Samantha, and Joseph liked the new group. After Chad had taken the shot, Arthur had driven over and drawn blood from Chad. When he’d called back four hours later reporting antibodies were present, everyone in Chad’s group had lined up for shots. Skannish had told them to stay in isolation for fourteen days, and they did. Wendy, Arthur, Jason, Samantha, LL, Joseph, and Sarah all went over for formal introductions on the fifteenth day. They saw kids just running in circles outside, happy to be out of the suits and masks. Many kids just walked around smelling the world once again. Chad’s group all voted to join up with Arthur. Unlike Jill’s and Albert’s groups, Chad’s group didn’t need anything.

Arthur did tell them Jason would be coming over to survey because they needed a fence, and showed them what he was setting up for Jill’s and Albert’s power. Chad had nearly fainted when Arthur asked if they wanted to put a real power station there. Wendy had no idea what those in Chad’s group had done before, but that group could work. Jason had gone over and surveyed the land, mapping out where the fence would go.

The next day, Arthur had brought the equipment and the crew. Wendy still laughed to think of when everyone in Chad’s group had gasped in shock at the kids operating the heavy machinery. Every kid in Chad’s group had wanted to do it too. For two days they’d watched how a hundred-yard path was cleared, trees cut down, poles selected, and boards cut. At the end of every day Arthur and the crew would come home, leaving the machines. Then go back after sunup and start the day.

When Arthur had shown up with the crew on the third day, they’d found Chad’s group on the machines, the adults only. They’d worked through the night and the six-mile-long fence was done by the fourth day. What surprised everyone was when Chad’s group swept the inside area, they’d found and killed over a hundred dogs in the twelve hundred acres.

Another thing that separated Chad’s group from Jill’s and Albert’s groups, every adult there could shoot, along with every kid who was old enough. Wendy wasn’t stupid; she knew if the ranch wasn’t part of the deal, Chad’s group wouldn’t have joined up with Jill and Albert. When she’d told Arthur he agreed, but pointed out that it would’ve been a mistake. In a year, Jill’s and Albert’s groups would be a major bonus. Seeing Wendy didn’t understand, “They have numbers, and in a year will be able to fight. In any fight, numbers are an advantage,” he’d told her.

Hearing Jason holler at one of the kids outside the house, Wendy still couldn’t help but grin. Arthur was still acting like a twelve-year-old kid with his buddy. One thing Wendy didn’t like about Jason, just like Joseph, Jason could look at Arthur’s drawn-out plans and do it without Arthur explaining. But what really chapped her ass, Jason could make changes on the fly to Arthur’s plans and they always worked. Not even Joseph could do that. A part of Wendy still believed Jason only did it to piss her off because her ‘on the fly’ changes sucked and she knew it. But at the time, they’d always looked really good and seemed to make sense. Just thinking about it irritated her, and she kicked the snow around her feet.

The first week in November it had snowed. Then they’d gotten more snow a week later and snow still covered the valley and trees. Arthur had constantly said, “It’s going to be a bad winter.”, but many just thought he’d been talking about ‘bad’ meaning over ninety percent of the globe was dead. Now, most were agreeing with Arthur with snow this early, but Wendy knew the hard part of winter Arthur was talking about was still to come.

On the radio, snow was being reported all the way to Houston. Even Gulfport, Mississippi had gotten an inch of snow this week.

“Hey, they’re almost here!” Arthur called out behind her. Wendy turned around watching Arthur walk through the gate in the chain-link fence that surrounded the twenty-five acres around the house, carrying Nicole of course. Cutting her eyes to the dorm, Wendy shook her head. There were two more wings now. One on each side between the first two legs of the H. When Arthur had laid out the area the new wings were being built on, Wendy had noticed there was six feet between the walls of the old wings to the new ones. Seeing that, Wendy knew Arthur had planned it that way from the start. Since most kids slept two to a room, they still had empty rooms, but for some reason, Wendy felt those rooms would only be filled by babies who were born here. She didn’t think they’d pull in any more.

Thinking about babies, “What did Sarah report this morning?” Wendy grinned.

“No,” Arthur barked. “Tell Joseph to watch some pornos, maybe he’s not doing it right.”

“That’s the daddy’s job with boys,” she grinned.

“He knows where they are on the server, tell him he won’t get in trouble,” Arthur fumed, and Nicole stretched out her hands to the snow. “You didn’t like it a few minutes ago,” Arthur reminded Nicole.

“They need time, babe,” Wendy said, thinking she sounded very grown up and was proud of herself.

“How long before we take steps?” Arthur asked as Nicole babbled, still reaching for the snow.

Thinking for a minute, “Next Christmas,” Wendy answered, and Arthur just gawked. “Then we tell Doc to start running tests whether they want them or not.”

Seeing Wendy wasn’t going to shorten the timeline, “Fine,” Arthur moaned. “Nicole, I let you down in the snow and you started crying. Why do you want back down?” he asked, holding her up to his face.

Wendy had no idea where in the hell Arthur had found a pink snowsuit for Nicole, one that fit her tiny body, complete with snow boots, but he had. The bulky outfit made tiny Nicole seem smaller with her little face surrounded by a ring of faux fur. When she’d asked, Arthur just shrugged and was just hoping Wendy never went into Joseph’s room in the old house. When Joseph had taken Sarah down to see his room, he could barely open the door. Stacked chest high all the way around the room were baby clothes, mostly baby girl clothes that Arthur and others had collected on outings and patrols. Baby boy clothes were in the guestroom.

With Nicole grunting now as she reached for the snow, Arthur got down on his knees and sat her down in the snow. Nicole quickly informed him she didn’t want to be that close. Picking her up, Arthur held her face first over the snow and this Nicole liked as she investigated this white wonder that was everywhere.

Tilting her head back to look at the sky, “Thank you so much for making Joseph a boy,” Wendy told the heavens.

“You know I heard that, right?” Arthur chuckled as they both heard Jason yelling again from the back of the house. About to inform Arthur she wanted him to hear and ask what Jason was yelling about, Wendy just groaned seeing Robin round the corner of the house wearing her pink boots and nothing else. Running full bore, Robin was churning up snow as she ran. Before Wendy could say anything, Noah came around the corner followed by eight other toddlers, naked and running through the snow. The only thing any had on were boots.

“Fuck, they’re increasing in number,” Wendy whined and just felt like crying.

The line of naked toddlers was kicking up snow and laughing as Jason rounded the corner of the house with two naked kids under one arm already. “I should just let you freeze!” he screamed, and caught the one at the back of the pack. It was very clear on Jason’s face as he came to a stop, he couldn’t carry any more as he watched the nudist kids passing the front porch.

Moving to the gate, “Are you going to help?” Wendy asked.

“I’ve caught the little shits twice today already. I’m at quota,” Arthur informed her as Nicole finally stuck her mitten clad hands in the white stuff and gave a squeal.

The front door flew open, “Robin!” Little Momma screamed, holding an infant that looked half her size on her hip. Robin skidded to a stop so fast, she fell face-first into the snow and disappeared in the foot-deep white fluff. Seeing their leader had stopped and then vanished, the others halted in a perfect single-file line behind Robin. “Get your little naked butt in here!” Little Momma shouted. “That goes for all of you!”

It was blatantly clear, the other nudists were scared of Little Momma because the single file line bolted for the front door as their leader was just getting back to her feet. “Just because the door is open doesn’t mean you run out!” Little Momma shouted at the line as she stepped to the side, letting them file past. Not even brushing the snow off her skin, Robin took off for the door before Little Momma came outside. “If you were bigger, I would give you double duty!” Little Momma snapped as Robin shot past her. “All of you, put your noses on the wall and stay there till I get tired!”

With a thankful sigh, Jason set down the three tiny nudists he’d caught and they flew inside before Vicki unleashed on them. It was just for his own curiosity, Jason leaned to look in the door over Vicki’s head. The three he’d put down had run in and stood with the others, putting their noses on the wall without being told. “Thank you, Little Momma,” Jason said with reverence and leaned down, kissing her on the head.

“I told you to shut the gate,” Vicki said, but smiled with the kiss.

“I’m sorry. Let me take Duke,” Jason said reaching for Duke on Vicki’s hip and she turned her body, blocking Jason from taking Duke.

“I told you, Duke has a runny nose and isn’t going outside today,” Vicki told him in a very adult-sounding voice.

Yanking his hands back like Duke was suddenly hot, “Well, it’s clear drainage, so I wasn’t worried,” Jason told her.

“He wasn’t runny yesterday, so Duke stays inside today. When Duke is sick, he’s a pain in the butt,” Vicki informed Jason, lifting her chin high. “If his nose dries up, you can take him outside tomorrow. I told Doc to give Duke some Benadryl to dry him up.”

With wide eyes, Jason’s arms just fell to his side listening in awe. An eleven-year-old knew Benadryl was an antihistamine and knew to tell an adult to get the medicine. There wasn’t a doubt in Jason’s mind, if he went to look for Doc he would find Doc getting some Benadryl. On a hunch, “How much should Duke get?” Jason asked.

Rolling her eyes and adjusting Duke on her hip, “Twelve point five M, Gs to every K, G, Duke weighs, and Duke weighs ten point three K, Gs. You can only give Benadryl three times a day and it has to be more than eight hours each time,” Vicky stated. Jason just stared at her in awe, wondering what they did to kids around here. Vicki said M and G for milligram and K and G for kilogram, so Jason knew Vicki had committed it to memory after hearing an adult spout the pediatric dose out, 12.5 mg/kg every 8hrs.

“Do you know how to measure medicine?”

“Ms. Judy said I’m not allowed, and I know Duke can’t get a full dropper, but I know how to do math to see how much,” Vicki told him, then cast her eyes down like she was ashamed. “I have to do the math on paper. I can’t do it in my head,” she told him like that was something an eleven-year-old girl should be embarrassed about.

“Vicki, I’m a board certified emergency room doctor and I don’t do pediatric doses in my head,” Jason told her, and that really perked Vicki up. “We’ll see if Duke can go out tomorrow,” Jason mumbled in amazement of Little Momma.

Shifting Duke again on her hip because he was heavy and long, Vicki smiled before reaching to close the door and true enough, Jason saw Doc coming up behind Vicki with a dropper of medicine. When the door was closed, “That little girl is better than some of the staff I’ve worked with,” he gasped.

Still in a state of shock, Jason turned around and walked over to the gate at the small drawbridge over the moat. Wendy was waiting at the end of the drawbridge for him and saw the awestruck wonder on Jason’s face. “Vicki knows the pediatric doses for several medicines,” Wendy grinned. “She caught Todd giving a full teaspoon when it was supposed to be ¾ of a teaspoon. Oh, Todd thought he’d almost killed a baby, but Arthur told him it was fine and to watch how much he gave in the future.”

“I almost told Vicki she could do the medicine,” Jason stated, and it felt weird that he was comfortable letting Little Momma give medicine.

With a long groan, “No,” Wendy told him. “I’ve had this talk with Arthur. Can Vicki do it? Yes. But if she ever made a mistake, it would kill her. I’ve told Little Momma her job is to check how much we or Doc give. I promise you, when Vicki feels comfortable, she’ll ask to do it.”

It sounded so simple and intelligent; Jason looked at Wendy in shock. He could hear Samantha say the exact same thing. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask where in the hell girls learned this shit but stopped, he didn’t want to know. “Chad’s group had to stop. He called over the radio and said there was like a thousand cattle on the road where it runs through a valley. He was going to try a different route but the cows are moving, so he’s just going to let them walk past,” Jason told her and saw Arthur holding what looked like a pink stuffed doll over the snow. Only when the doll moved did Jason realize it was Nicole. “I need a suit like that for Duke but blue... with a Wilson Combat logo,” he mumbled, then turned around heading back inside.

Closing the gate, Wendy moved back over to Arthur as he talked to Nicole. “If you want to touch it, why don’t you sit in it?” Arthur asked and again tried to put Nicole down in the snow. But as soon as his hands left her, Nicole informed him this was unacceptable. Groaning Arthur dropped down in the snow and crossed his legs putting Nicole in his lap. Nicole gave a laughing coo that this was acceptable, then leaned over to pat the fluffy stuff around them.

“Do you have an outfit in Joseph’s old room or guestroom that would fit Duke?” Wendy asked and noticed Arthur cringing. “What?”

“When did you find it?” Arthur asked.

“The week I got back,” Wendy replied, and she could see Arthur thought she’d be mad. “Babe, who do you think has been taking shit out and putting it in the containers? I’m the one who started putting the little shoes in Joseph’s old room.”

“I knew there should’ve been more in there!” Arthur cried out. “I just thought I’d grabbed the shoes and forgot about putting them in,” he shrugged. “I’m not the only one who puts little girl clothes in there. Shawn told me the baby boy clothes couldn’t go in the same room. Why? I don’t know, but if it looks like a girl outfit, I put it in Joseph’s old room and if not, it goes in the guestroom.”

“I know, there hasn’t been many here who I haven’t seen putting something in there,” Wendy laughed. They had containers full of clothes and one was just for babies, boys on the right, girls on the left. She knew Arthur loved dressing up Nicole to look like a little girl, but being a guy, he couldn’t admit that.

Sitting down across from Arthur, Wendy scooped some snow up and held it out to Nicole. She wasn’t hard on Arthur anymore about Nicole because everyone treated her different and Arthur had made a point to spread the love around, so all the kids knew they were loved. Expecting Nicole to reach out to the snow in her hands, Wendy laughed when Nicole leaned out and planted her face in the handful of snow.

“You could’ve done that without me sitting in the snow,” Arthur told her as Nicole jerked back, realizing that white stuff was cold. Because the suit was so thick, she couldn’t even bend her arms to reach her face. Wendy dropped the snow seeing a pouty face starting and wiped the snow from Nicole.

When the snow was gone, Nicole was happy again and leaned out from Arthur’s lap. They both watched as Nicole buried her face in the snow and sat up. Again the pouty face started but Wendy wiped the snow off and wasn’t surprised to see Nicole moving to bury her face again. “Great, she’s got your stubborn streak,” Wendy groaned.

“Shit, she got that from you,” Arthur corrected as Nicole sat up with her face covered in snow. Not even waiting for the pout, Wendy wiped the snow off. When Nicole leaned to do it again, Wendy was reminded of a glass bird she had that rocked back and forth dipping its beak in a cup of water.

“You really never heard of a ‘gun cherry’?” Wendy asked, again.

“Hell, I’ve told you everything I’ve ever learned. I’ve never heard that. If I would’ve known I had one, I would’ve spent the money to get rid of it,” Arthur proclaimed. “But I knew the second I lost it, even though I never knew I had it.”

There was no aim to the left and up an inch because that was the gun’s impact zone. She’d just aimed and that’s where the bullet hit. As soon as she’d picked up the AR it’d just felt like an extension of her body. Losing her cherry wasn’t the earth-shattering revelation to her that Jason described, but Wendy had known when she’d lost hers. “Did you feel what Jason described?” she asked.

For a brief second, Arthur drew his bottom lip between his teeth in apprehension as half his face contorted. “Kind of,” he finally said. “Jason compared losing your gun cherry to sex. Now, it felt good, but it didn’t feel that fucking good. I got tingles and have to admit, shooting is more fun now, but my toes didn’t curl up and my ass didn’t clench up tight enough to turn a lump of coal into a diamond.”

With a serious face, “Don’t be mad but if shooting ever felt like sex, I would be cranking rounds down range every day,” Wendy told him.

When Arthur lifted his eyes to her face, Wendy thought she’d irritated him. “We’d be fighting over the bullets,” Arthur told her.

Not even thinking about it, Wendy reached over and wiped Nicole’s face off and she promptly buried it in the snow again. “Ready to go inside?”

“Depends. Has Skannish turned his Nintendo off?”

Trying not to grin, “No, Sarah took it away from him,” Wendy snickered.

“Hey,” Arthur snapped but Wendy kept grinning. “I told Shawn not to play the damn game. He has three different platforms in his room. But if he had to play Super Nintendo, to wait for Skannish to go to bed.”

Wiping Nicole’s face off, Wendy got up and held out her hand. “Come on,” Wendy smiled.

Grabbing her hand and standing up, “Shawn sucks at playing games. He just asked me to help get Mario past a spot,” Arthur told her.

Nicole let out a shout to let them know she wasn’t finished, so Wendy bent down to grab a handful of snow in her right hand and hold it in front of Nicole, who promptly shoved her face in it. “You got Shawn through the first three worlds in an hour and Skannish is still on the first,” Wendy smirked and wiped snow off Nicole’s face with her left hand.

Shrugging, “Well, Shawn kept asking how to play it,” Arthur said. “If I would’ve known Skannish would start crying, I never would’ve touched his game.”

They walked to the house and Wendy had to get more snow in her hand, holding it so Nicole could plant her face in it. “Skannish has spent every hour he’s not working trying to catch up. Last night around midnight, Vicki turned the TV off while Skannish was still playing and told him to go to bed.”

Reaching the porch, Arthur realized he wasn’t even shocked that he didn’t ask if Skannish had gone to bed because Little Momma told him to. He knew Skannish had gone to bed. Oh, he’d probably sulked and did his shuffling feet routine, but Arthur knew Skannish had carried his sulking ass to bed.

Stopping at the door, Arthur spun Nicole around and held her out to look at her red face and huge smile. “Enough snow, we’re going inside,” he told her, and Nicole saw Wendy drop the snow in her hand. Nicole looked at Wendy like Wendy had thrown her blanket away.

“AAAhh!” Nicole cried out, reaching for the snow.

“Hey!” Arthur snapped, making Nicole jump. “You don’t get to act like a bitch.”

Slapping Arthur’s arm, “You watch how you talk to her,” Wendy warned, but then heard Nicole laughing at Arthur. “Oh, this one’s going to be a potty mouth of epic proportions.”

“No, she’s not,” Arthur scoffed, then pulled Nicole to his chest. “She’s going to be a cute little princess who can kick anyone’s ass,” he stated proudly.

“With a potty mouth,” Wendy added, opening the door. Going in they saw the living room, aka, daycare area, packed with kids. The twins were in the daycare area helping Little Momma and Chloe since it was their assigned day. Along one wall they saw eleven naked kids with their noses touching the wall. “I want the kids to mind me like they do Vicki.”

“You figure that out, you let me know,” Arthur said, pulling the snowsuit off Nicole. Wendy grinned seeing Nicole had tiny overalls on under the snowsuit.

Stopping in the daycare, they both dispensed hugs and kisses. When Chloe walked past, Arthur sighed at her now pink hair. He liked it much better than that black shit she’d been dying it. Without the makeup, dog collar, and bulky black clothes, Chloe was a pretty teenaged girl, but Arthur just wished she would choose a hair color found in nature. This was the third color to don Chloe’s head.

As Chloe picked up an infant, Arthur reached out and pulled her to his chest startling her. “Pink, really?” he asked, then hugged her tight. Wendy was looking at Chloe’s face and saw the astonishment from the hug turn to contented bliss as Arthur hugged her tight. Wendy knew this was the first hug from Arthur that Chloe had gotten. They’d both given her praise on her work and even pats on the shoulder. But it seemed Arthur had thought it was time to show Chloe she was part of this family and Wendy agreed.

“The kids like it, Pops,” Chloe said, tilting her head to the side against Arthur’s face.

Letting her go, “Well, I guess I can’t say anything then,” Arthur laughed as Vicki walked past. Stunned that she wasn’t carrying a kid, Arthur lunged while tucking Nicole under his arm and taking Vicki to the floor. She gave a squeal as Arthur started chewing on her neck.

“Pops!” she squealed out, trying to push him away. Then Arthur grabbed her wrists, holding them above her head.

“Get her, Nicole,” Arthur said, putting Nicole on Vicki’s chest. Lifting her head up, Vicki saw Nicole coming up her chest with drool dripping out of her mouth.

“Nicole!” Vicki cringed as Nicole rubbed her mouth all over Vicki’s face, giving what she interpreted as kisses.

Lifting Nicole off, Arthur used the bottom of his shirt to wipe the baby drool from Vicki’s face. “Have the little nudists been punished long enough?” Arthur asked and Vicki turned to look at the clock on the wall.

Nodding, “Pops, if they run outside again naked, they’re going to bed without supper,” Vicki told him.

Not even thinking about it, “I’m good with that,” Arthur agreed as he got up and picked Vicki up off the floor. He watched the ruler of the little people stroll over to issue her warning. Vicki had told him and everyone to stop trying to force Robin and her merry band to wear clothes because it would only make them not want to even more. Wendy agreed, but it seemed the nudist factor was increasing among the knee-high tribe.

Stepping over the fence, Arthur realized Nicole wasn’t in his arms. Letting out a gasp, he spun around and found Nicole in Little Momma’s arms. “How in the hell did she do that?” Arthur mumbled in wonder. Not about to ‘take’ a kid from Vicki’s arms unless she said to, Arthur headed into the dining hall to see most of the ‘big’ people sitting down with what he called the leaders at the end of the table where he normally sat.

The only one absent was LL. He was waiting with the ‘older’ kids, mostly mini-mes, to lead the visitors in. Arthur had told each group to send over five people to discuss the surroundings and plans. They didn’t have to send the one in charge, but Arthur had highly encouraged it. He was making plans and had to have everyone on the same page. Jill had asked first because some of her captains wanted to bring significant others and Arthur could understand that, so he’d told all the groups they could, but to put a cap at twenty for each group and suggested they travel in ‘at least’ three vehicles. With everyone somewhat of a specialist now in moving around, Arthur didn’t think he had to tell them, but he’d felt it better safe than sorry.

Even with the sixty coming today, the hall could accommodate the extra bodies. It was only now with the Tomb up and running, the entire group wasn’t present at every meal. Ten were always manning the Tomb day and night, and one of those manning was always a ‘big’ person or adult. Meals were taken to the Tomb and Arthur had pointed out to Wendy that they had thirteen-year-olds he trusted to run the Tomb with a group. But Wendy had wanted an adult so there’d be no complaints about who was in charge. Oh, did a fight ensue.

Arthur had informed Wendy that when Sarah gave him the schedule list, he or one of the chiefs would mark who on that shift was in charge and everybody better like it. Since the event had taken place in a greenhouse, everyone had left because it was clear, neither was giving in. An hour later, against his will, Joseph was herded inside the greenhouse and the door was shut behind him, to break up Wendy and Arthur. In the end a compromise had been reached, but only because Joseph was there. For the first month, a ‘big’ person would stay in control until everyone had done shifts. Then the one listed, despite age, would be in charge of the shift. There were patrols inside the fence and while these were more for training, they did check the fence. But those patrols returned to the dining hall for meals.

As he sat down and found his notes and computer were still at his spot where he’d left them at breakfast, Arthur started going through his notes. He knew how much Wendy loved his new friendship with Jason, but there was one thing everyone had found out in July that Wendy didn’t like about Jason. Just like Joseph, Jason could look at Arthur’s plans and do it without any explanation from Arthur. What really chapped Wendy’s ass, Jason could and did make changes to the plans sometimes in the middle of construction, on the fly, and every change Jason did, even Wendy saw, it was an improvement.

Since Jason had worked in construction in high school, he had a foundation. The only thing Jason couldn’t do was survey, but it had only taken four days with Arthur and Jason was out surveying work sites. Wendy had bit her tongue the first time for an hour after Jason had made major changes to a plan. He’d changed the plans on the heating and cooling system for the first grow barn. But when she’d asked Arthur, he’d taken her to the side and shown her how much of an improvement it had made, and Wendy wondered why Arthur hadn’t done it like that the first time. He’d just shrugged and admitted he hadn’t thought about it. Joseph would make changes and they were never anything earth-shattering, but it was always an improvement.

The very first improvement that came from Jason was the construction of the cement rock fence. Instead of doing five feet at a time, Jason had his crew build ten-foot boxes, fit rebar in, then pour in several feet of cement. After that, the front end loader came in dumping rocks. When the level of cement stopped rising, Jason poured in more cement and repeated. The top five feet were put up like Arthur had done. The top was boxed in, and a conveyor belt moved up to run the rocks in. In July, they’d put up a thousand yards of concrete rock fence. In August, they had done two thousand yards. In September and October, they had added nearly three thousand yards each month. Arthur had told Wendy that by the end of next year, the fence would be done. Wendy was expecting it to actually be completed in the summer.

Shawn came running in smiling. “They’re here!” he cried out.

Chapter Ten

Company’s here

It was on the tip of Arthur’s tongue to tell Shawn to show them in, but he looked around at the excitement on all the kids' faces. With the exception of the mini-mes and a few who had helped set up fences at the ‘new’ places, these were the first friendly faces many had seen in some time. Those who were deemed ‘good enough’ to patrol outside the fence never ‘met’ those they saw. Granted, there weren’t many out there to even see.

Getting up, Arthur saw Jason chuckling at the excitement of the kids. “Well, they are nice groups,” Jason said, holding Samantha’s hand as they followed Arthur outside the backdoor to find Wendy already there with a small group of little people.

LL’s truck pulled around back and was followed by a line of Suburbans, Expeditions, and Escalades, eighteen in all. The one thing they all had in common, they were all new. One of the Suburbans and two of the Expeditions still had the glue on the driver’s window where the sticker had been removed. Kids directed the vehicles where to park so the road from the south gate that ran through to the house area wasn’t blocked off.

“Grrreeoowwwooo,” Arthur heard and yanked his pistol as kids scattered, because everyone knew what that sound was. A fluffy, big ass, gray cat was at the side of the back porch near the mound of snow that had been shoveled off with its back arched, hissing. “Medusa, I can say I hate you more than Kong,” Arthur stated as a green laser shot out, hitting Medusa between the eyes. With her long hair, Medusa looked bigger than Kong, and when she was hissing and her ears were laid back, Arthur would argue that Medusa was nearly the size of Donald and Daisy.

“Medusa!” Wendy shouted and Medusa dropped to her belly, looking around innocently.

“Meow,” Medusa sang out loud, like ‘it wasn’t me’.

“I’m going to kill that cat,” Arthur vowed, shoving his pistol in his holster.

“Don’t you dare. Medusa just had babies, she’s allowed to be temperamental,” Wendy replied.

Casting his eyes to the heavens, Arthur just sighed because there was no doubt who the daddy was. For a week, every night, Kong and Medusa went freak nasty on the back porch with screeching yowls. To Arthur, the two were rubbing it in his face that they were spawning more just like them and announcing it to all.

“Holy shit,” Arthur heard someone gasp out and turned to see Jill looking at Medusa. “Is that really a housecat and not a small tiger?”

“Wait till you see her boyfriend,” Arthur scoffed. “She’s the small one.”

“Damn, I thought we had some big cats roaming around in the compound,” Jill stated still staring at Medusa. She only stopped when kids stepped up to introduce themselves. Jill smiled, shaking each one’s hand.

“We need to bring our bags?” Chad called out, walking over to Arthur.

Having a lot to cover, Arthur had told everyone to pack a bag and just stay the night because he didn’t want to be rushed. “Yeah, we can get them later,” Arthur said, holding out his hand and shaking Chad’s.

“I brought Isaac, Toby, Miguel, and Victor for my captains,” Chad said letting Arthur’s hand go, and they turned to see them walking up on the back porch. It was soon apparent there were more than twenty in each group because Chad’s group had their wives and kids with them. In that, Arthur understood completely. Jill’s and Albert’s groups had kids because there were some they were responsible for and weren’t leaving them behind. There were even a few siblings and single parents with kids at Jill’s and Albert’s compounds. Even with the extra bodies, they still had plenty of room.

As Isaac, Toby, Miguel, and Victor came over with their families, for the first time Arthur noticed all their weapons were Wilson’s. He went to each one and actually lifted some up or turned the person just to make sure. It was Chad who figured out what Arthur was doing and chuckled. “Yes, we’re all carrying Wilson Combat, just like you and Jason. Toby and I, along with two others, still worked there, but a few others in our group have worked there at one time or another,” Chad told him. “In fact, that’s where I met my wife Christina. She worked in the front office.”

“I didn’t start carrying Wilson until last month when I had to carry someone up there,” Arthur scoffed.

The rest in Chad’s group all turned to Arthur, hearing that. “So, you’re the one who got in?” Chad asked.

Nodding, “Yes,” Arthur sighed and saw Jason from the corner of his eye, looking at the group in awe. A small part of Arthur’s mind didn’t know if he liked Chad’s group anymore.

“You didn’t get much,” Chad informed him. “Not that I’m complaining, but why did you lock the building back up?”

“Feel lucky because someone wanted to leave traps to make sure their ‘Graceland’ wasn’t violated by those unworthy to enter,” Arthur droned, and Samantha burst out laughing.

Suddenly, Chad looked embarrassed. “Um, not that I mind but, someone had a ‘real’... good time on my workbench,” he got out with a cough.

“There’s no way you could know that!” Jason shouted. “I cleaned up everything!”

Shaking his head, “There was a pair of thongs on my bench,” Chad informed Jason as Samantha stopped laughing and punched Jason in the arm rather hard.

“You said you found ‘em!” she shouted at Jason.

“I did! I thought I shoved them in my pocket and they fell out in the washer,” Jason replied.

Everyone laughed and Chad wiped tears from his eyes, “Well, I had keys so I didn’t have to break in. We loaded up mainly the tools and machines, but let us know if you go back because we did leave traps,” Chad told them.

Suddenly Jason gasped, “Is-,” he started, and Chad held up a hand.

“No, the owner isn’t in our group,” Chad said remorsefully. “He and his family had a location with some others. That’s what saved us. We all worked in the plant, so we never had to travel. Everyone in the front office was spread out over the states in March. With the SHOT show in January, they were out taking orders. The boss had friends who informed him to get in a hole in March before the government announced the breakout. He shut the plant down over the phone. He got in touch with us in April by satellite phone. Every executive was infected and three didn’t even make it home. Boss told us everyone in his compound had Rudolph. I told him I was sorry, but Boss said he was with family and that’s all that mattered. He said if it blew over, for the workers who were left to carry on the company. Like I said, it was luck none of us got it, but because Boss shut us down so fast, we headed to our compound and locked down. Boss and most of those execs worked in the plant, building guns at their own workstations, so if they would’ve come back, we wouldn’t be here.”

Jason nodded with a smile, “I’m glad you guys made it.”

“Come on, let’s eat,” Arthur said, leading them in.

Everyone filed into the dining hall as the friends looked around, taking in the Caravan Man’s home like they were at a secret base. Arthur instructed the adults who’d come to sit at the first table because after lunch they would start. Many headed back outside and returned with laptop bags and notebooks. After everyone fixed plates and returned to the table, Arthur noticed Jill looking at the plate of food with guilt.

“Jill, you’ll be taking food back, so eat,” Arthur told her, and Jill gave a startled gasp.

“You said, and in the notebook...,” she started, but Arthur cut her off.

“I know what I said and what I wrote. I’ll explain when I start the meeting,” Arthur told her as Vicki, Jo Ann, and Sally came in, leading a line of toddlers to their table. Arthur was tickled pink to see the nudist colony had on underpants. Vicki carried Nicole to Arthur and he took her. “Where have you been?” Arthur cooed and Nicole reached out, grabbing his face with her hands and showing her toothless smile.

“Pops, can I say something and you promise not to get your feelings hurt?” Vicki asked and was clearly nervous.

“Baby, anything you say, I promise won’t hurt my feelings and if they do, I give Wendy permission to kick me in the nuts every day for a year,” Arthur vowed and Wendy nearly choked as she took a bite. “What do you want to say, Little Momma?”

“Um, I like that the daycare will be moved to the old gym when the new one is put up, and since the small pool has a fence not even Robin can get through, which is great, but,” Vicki paused with a cringe. “I don’t want the kids to get wet if it’s raining or snowing when we bring them in to eat. Can we, like, put a tent up between the daycare and the back porch?”

“Vicki, that’s a great idea,” Arthur stated in awe, wondering why he hadn’t thought of that.

Cocking her head to the side and her face contorting, “Really?” Vicki asked.

Pulling Vicki close, Arthur glanced over at Wendy as she finally swallowed what she had nearly chocked on. “Wendy, can you think of every fucking thing we need to do?”

Scoffing loudly, “Shit, I wish I could just think of ten percent of the crap we need to do.”

Turning to Jason and Samantha, “Jason, Samantha, how about you two? Can you think of everything we need to do?”

“No,” Jason chuckled.

“I would be happy to come up with just one percent of what we need,” she said, then nodded to Jason. “He can’t even remember to get my thong,” Samantha popped off.

Fighting the urge to burst out laughing, Arthur looked down to LL. “LL, can you think of everything?”

Shaking his head as he let out a long sigh, “Son, when I come down in the morning for breakfast, if I’ve remembered to tie my boots, I feel great because there’s so much I know we need and I can’t think of it,” he stated.

Turning to Vicki, “Baby, that’s why I tell everyone, if you think of something, let one of us know,” Arthur told her. “I know some of the others have asked for a laser cannon and robots to protect us, but I can’t build those. I really wish I could because they were good ideas.”

“But we already have so much to do,” Vicki whined, and Arthur felt like whining right along with her.

“Yes, but this will protect the little ones from getting wet and maybe keep them from getting sick one time. That’s more than worth the effort. We’ll put a roof over the back porch and build a hallway to the daycare, and even put in a paved or cement path so they don’t have to walk through mud,” Arthur told her with a smile, putting Nicole in her bouncy chair on the table.

Throwing her arms around Arthur’s neck, Vicki hugged him tightly. “I’ll try to think of good ideas, Pops,” Vicki told him, then kissed his cheek and took off to help the little ones eat.

Looking over at the toddler table, “Now that’s an effective means to get Robin to eat,” Arthur commented.

Everyone turned to see Jo Ann had Robin in a headlock as Sally held Robin’s arms with one hand and lifted a spoon to Robin’s mouth. “I think Robin’s pushed the twins a bit far today,” Jason laughed as Wendy jumped up.

“Jo Ann, not so tight!” Wendy called out, walking to the table fast. The fact Wendy was telling Jo Ann to not hold Robin so tight but also not let go made everyone laugh.

“The twins are turning into copies of Mom,” Joseph chuckled, watching Wendy only check that Robin could breathe. Seeing Wendy wasn’t going to make the twins stop, Robin opened her mouth taking the spoonful of food. The next bite Robin opened her mouth, and Jo Ann let the headlock go seeing Robin give in. “I wonder if they could get her to wear clothes?” he mumbled.

Looking around the dining hall at the tables of kids, “How many kids do you have here?” Chad asked.

Giving a long sigh, “Two hundred and eight after the last bunch we found in September. Right after that was when I told everyone to stop. Eight point three kids to adults, so some adults are responsible for nine and everyone has eight. We call that adult ‘primary parent’ for those under them,” Arthur answered.

The first thought in Chad’s mind was complete awe that the adults weren’t insane. “Hey, if you need us to, we can take in some,” he offered, but wasn’t expecting the response.

In a state of near panic, Arthur jumped to his feet with wild eyes. “These are my kids!” Arthur shouted. “This is all I’ve ever wanted, a big family! I’ve killed for them and I’ll die for them! Every kid here is mine! It doesn’t matter if they aren’t in my group. We do that just to keep up with everyone. They’re also Wendy’s, Jason’s, Samantha’s, LL’s...” then he pointed at the other tables where the other adults were. “They’re theirs, too.”

Then he pointed at Joseph and Sarah. “They don’t have any kids here, but they better goddamned well get busy and give me some,” Arthur snapped. Leaning over, Sarah groaned as her head hit the table.

Holding up his hands, “Hey, I was just offering!” Chad cried out in shock. It was very apparent Arthur loved these kids.

“There’s only been one I’ve wanted to throw out and it would’ve hurt, but she pulled her head out of her ass and I’ll kill anyone who even looks at her funny because she has pink hair,” Arthur stated, and everyone turned to see Chloe in tears with a big smile.

“Arthur, I didn’t mean take them. I was just saying if you wanted us to help out,” Chad clarified.

“I’m a shitty Pops!” Arthur howled out. “I can’t remember all their names! I try! Every night I go over the pictures, repeating their names and think I have it! Then I wake up, walk out in the kitchen...” he paused. “I see one and I can’t recall the name! What kind of Pops am I? I can’t even remember all my kids’ names! Even with name tags I can’t remember! I suck ass!”

All the guests were looking at Arthur in stunned shock, thinking he was being much too hard on himself. “Arthur,” Chad said carefully, “I’ve known every kid in our group since they were born. And more than once, I’ve forgotten their name. Three days ago, I forgot Isaac’s sixteen-year-old son’s name, Gabe. I’ve known that kid since birth. Don’t be so hard on yourself, dude.”

“Pops, we know you love us and you know each of us!” a small voice cried out and a chorus chimed in agreement.

The sound of a chair scraping across the floor sounded as Jason stood up and stepped over beside Arthur. He pointed at Cynthia, a ten-year-old girl who’d come in with him and LL. Not asking the name, “What story does she like read to her at night?” Jason asked. He, Arthur, LL, Joseph, and a few other ‘daddies’ would go to the rooms of the smaller kids to tuck them in every night with the ‘moms’, but the daddies would read a story in a room and each would rotate so all the kids had storytime with daddies.

Looking at Cynthia, he strained his brain but couldn’t remember her name. Giving a sigh, “She likes Harry Potter, but you have to change your voice for the characters,” Arthur answered. Jason pointed at another little girl, “She loves Alice in Wonderland,” Arthur said.

Scanning the tables, Jason pointed at Jermaine, an eleven-year-old little boy they’d found in a store. “Him?” Jason asked.

Grinning, “He loves any story that has cars, and you have to make engine sounds,” Arthur stated and Jason pointed out six more at random, and Arthur recited what stories they liked.

Dropping his arm and nodding his head, Jason held out his hand to Arthur. “Give me your papers,” Jason demanded, and there was more than one gasp. Arthur’s ‘papers’ were the pages of the names with pictures he always carried.

Reaching back and covering his back pocket where the pages were folded up and kept, “No!” Arthur cried out and Wendy knew it was actual fear and took off to stop Jason from taking them because Arthur would fight his buddy over those papers. “I’ll forget all their names!” Arthur cried out, panting hard.

“Arthur, brah, you’re trying too hard!” Jason snapped, still holding out his hand. Seeing Arthur not moving, he dropped his hand to his prized 1911 Wilson pistol. Pulling it out he laid it on the table. “I’ll make a deal with you. If, in two weeks, you don’t feel you know the kids’ names or have gotten worse, I’ll give you my cherry breaker,” Jason offered and Samantha slid out of her chair as she fainted. Even Wendy nearly tripped hearing that, then moved over to see about Samantha.

That declaration shocked Arthur out of his panic. Jason never bet his cherry breaker on anything, not even his bet with Joseph and Sarah. Lifting his hand and holding it out to Arthur, “If you don’t take it, I’ll melt it down,” Jason vowed, but there wasn’t any worry in his voice. “You’re trying too hard, Arthur. Shit, you know Kathy doesn’t like pigtails, but loves her hair French braided. You reminded me just last night that Kenny wants you to check the closet after you tuck him in,” Jason said, and many turned to eight-year-old Kenny who was in the last group Arthur had brought in.

“Monsters hide in the closet,” Kenny informed everyone looking at him.

Recognizing what he’d said and where, Jason cringed. “Sometimes, Kenny, and did I not pull the pistol I laid on the table and turn the tactical light on and clear your closet?” Jason asked in a loud voice, and Kenny beamed with a smile nodding his head. “Arthur, you’re trying too hard. You want it so bad, but dude, these kids think you’re the best thing since sliced bread. Trust me, give me the papers.”

Taking his eyes off Jason, Arthur turned to the gun on the table. “Take your gun back,” Arthur begged. He couldn’t be responsible for letting his first buddy’s most prized possession be destroyed because he couldn’t remember the kids’ names.

Knowing he had Arthur’s attention now, “No. If you don’t give me the papers, I’m taking it to the shop and cranking up the blow torch,” Jason warned, and saw Arthur’s hand reach in his back pocket but not pull the papers out. “I’ll record every second I melt that gun down and play it every night for a year. You know I’ll cry like a bitch every second,” Jason stated and watched Arthur pull the folded pages out as he stared at the gun, but didn’t hand the pages over because Arthur was thinking how he could get the gun and take off and just hide it so Jason wouldn’t melt it down.

“Arthur, I know you’ll start to remember the kids’ names, trust me,” Jason pleaded, and saw Arthur’s face perk up as he held the pages close to his chest. “No, I’m not taking the bet back, but I’ll make one change, you don’t even get my cherry breaker, I’m melting it,” Jason said, and saw the perk leave Arthur.

Never taking his eyes off his buddy’s pistol, and still wondering if he could grab it and make the door, “I want a month,” Arthur finally offered.

Keeping his hand held out, Jason looked off and up to the ceiling, rolling that around, then shifted his eyes back to Arthur. “Deal, but you can’t print another one,” Jason countered and saw Arthur’s shoulders slump. “I want your word you won’t print a list and you won’t sit in our office staring at the computer monitor going over photos.”

As Wendy helped Samantha back into her chair, she was about to grab Jason’s pistol and take off running. She could feel Arthur’s anxiety that his buddy was willing to destroy something he loved in this bet. “Arthur, trust me and hand them over,” Jason finally said, and Arthur took his eyes off the pistol, looking down at the folded papers. Slowly, he extended his hand over to put them in Jason’s.

Putting the papers in his back pocket, “You’ll see I’m right,” Jason grinned.

“Holy fuck,” Samantha gasped and saw Wendy turn to her. “I asked Jason last week if Arthur was his best buddy ever and Jason said ‘yeah, Arthur was his brother’. Shit, Jason wouldn’t do that even for his brother.”

Now really feeling like shit, Arthur groaned because Jason was going to melt his 1911 down because he couldn’t remember the names of his own kids. “Please take the pistol from the bet?” Arthur begged.

“Nope,” Jason smiled, then reached over and put his hand on Arthur’s shoulder. “There’s only one here who knows the kids better than you,” Jason stated, and Arthur turned to Wendy.

“Don’t look at me, bitch,” Wendy snapped. “I tried putting ketchup on Beth’s fries two days ago and you went ballistic because Beth doesn’t like ketchup.” Slowly Arthur’s mind started moving and he realized there was one Beth, it was Shawn’s sister, and she hated ketchup on her fries, she liked mustard.

When Arthur turned to see Jason still smiling at him, “The only one here who knows the kids better than you is Little Momma. Now, I won’t bet you anything that you or anyone will ever know them as good as she does, but you know Vicki better than anyone,” Jason stated with his grin getting bigger.

Feeling better but still wishing Jason would pick up his pistol, “They’re great kids. I should be able to remember their names,” Arthur mumbled.

“I’m telling you, you’re trying way too hard. You want it so bad and that’s why you can’t do it. Now, without your ‘papers’ you’ll relax and see, your best buddy knows he’s right,” Jason chuckled. “Don’t try so hard, you’ll see.”

“Whoa,” Chad mumbled in awe. “That’s a true buddy, willing to give up his cherry breaker,” he declared, then dropped his eyes to the pistol. Suddenly he stood up, leaning over the table and looking down at the pistol. “Holy shit!” he gasped snatching the gun up, and Arthur almost attacked him.

“You’re Jason Harris?!” Chad screamed and everyone in his group jumped to their feet, moving down to look at the pistol Chad was holding. The only reason Arthur stopped from charging Chad for touching the pistol was he’d yelled Jason’s full name, and they’d never told him Jason’s last name.

Confused, Jason turned to Chad. “Yeah, my name’s Jason Harris,” he answered.

“I rebuilt your gun!” Chad cried out, lifting his gaze to Jason. “We have the pictures and video you sent us trying to break it in the lunchroom!”

Somewhat pissed off that Chad could remember a fucking gun when he couldn’t remember the names of his kids, “You know each gun you build?” Arthur asked, not really liking Chad at the moment.

“Not all of them, but this one I do,” Chad laughed as one of the others took the gun, looking at it. “I’ve only seen those we pull off the line go through torture tests like that, not a gun someone bought. For a month, we had a TV in the lunchroom playing the video of Jason shooting this gun. We have a machine to pull the trigger and all we have to do is change magazines. My hand was hurting just watching Jason.”

Turning to Jason and then to Chad, “You’ve seen him before today,” Arthur stated, now mad that Chad hadn’t remembered his buddy.

Seeing Arthur seemed hostile, “Well, Jason’s hair is longer, and he’s lost a little weight,” Chad offered.

Laughing, “I lost my gut,” Jason stated and flipped his long hair off his shoulders. “Yeah, my hair is longer,” he admitted and turned to Arthur. “It was two years ago when Samantha and I started working out. Then this shit started and Rudolph. Then I get here, working out every day and busting ass, I’m buff and have a fucking six pack now.”

Appeased that Chad had a reason to not know Jason by sight, “You can’t cut your hair because Julie, Betty, Kandy, Carrie, and both Karens love it. And, I think, Robin likes it,” Arthur stated, and Jason fought not to point out what Arthur had just done.

Wendy fought not to grin because she’d damn sure heard it. A part of her was disappointed she hadn’t tried that, but when Arthur had wanted to learn something in the past, that’s how he’d always done it, beat it into his brain until it stuck. Granted, it’d never taken him this long, but there were two hundred and eight kids.

The one child he never forgot let out a squeal from her bouncy chair on the table. “What?” Arthur smiled and Nicole laughed. Letting out a gasp, Arthur dove at the chair and everyone moved wondering ‘what the fuck now’. Arthur started trying to pry Nicole’s mouth open, which it seemed she didn’t want to do, “Is that a tooth?!” Arthur cried out. He stuck his finger over in a glass of tea that wasn’t even his, then put it in Nicole’s mouth as Wendy moved around the table. “Holy shit, you got a tooth, Nicole!” Arthur cried out and picked her up.

Running over, Vicki skidded to a stop. “Are you sure? I’ve been checking. It felt like one was trying to come in because Nicole’s been grumpy,” she said and realized Arthur wasn’t letting her see. Grabbing his chair, she pulled it back and climbed up in it. Popping Arthur’s hand that was holding Nicole’s head to his shoulder as he hugged her tight, “Let me see,” Vicki told him, and Arthur watched as Nicole opened her mouth for Vicki. “She does have a tooth,” Vicki declared.

“Well, you had a reason to wake me up last night and you weren’t hungry,” Arthur told Nicole.

“I agreed with you, something was bothering her, but I figured she would be okay and we didn’t need to wake up Jason and Doc to CT Nicole,” Wendy laughed and could see the tiny white sliver on Nicole’s bottom gum.

Dropping the grin fast, “CT?” Jason blurted out.

Rolling her eyes, “When I said she was fine and that was a lot of radiation, someone wanted to go and wire up the portable MRI you brought in that’s still parked in the field,” Wendy grinned.

Turning to Arthur with a deadpan expression, “You aren’t allowed to make medical decisions for our kids,” Jason stated flatly and Arthur gasped.

“Don’t feel bad because he told me the same damn thing!” Samantha cried out. “I told you, Duke didn’t need to have an IV.”

Holding his chin up, “He got one and after fluids he felt better, so drop it,” Jason declared. “I cried more than Duke when I put the IV in, so back off.”

“I cried more than both of you!” Samantha shouted and many chuckled.

Slowly everyone sat down and enjoyed the moment. It wasn’t often happiness abounded in this world of viral misery, but at that time at the ranch it was overflowing, and all those present relished the feeling.

Chapter Eleven

The Ugly Truth

After lunch was done and tables cleared, some of the younger kids left with the younger guest kids. Kissing Nicole, Arthur handed her to Chloe who gave him a big hug. Wendy had everyone sitting on the left side of the tables grab chairs and move them to the right, so they could see the left wall where two eighty-inch flat screens hung. Then Arthur had the younger kids move to make room for adults and instructed the older kids who had notepads to take notes, just like he did. Arthur couldn’t help but grin, watching Shawn pull out his laptop and then saw Jill pull out one to set it up, as did two of her captains. Only one of Albert’s captains had a laptop but all, including Albert, had notepads.

Sarah came in carrying a stack of binders and started passing them out to the main guests and then to the captains in their group. Since she hadn’t made that many, Sarah passed out the remainder to the older kids and mini-mes who were taking notes and told them to share with the others.

“First,” Arthur said getting up and tapping his laptop. “You all know the main reason I called this meeting and I’ll get there, but I want to go over everything we’ve discovered here. Before you ask, yes, we’ll take you around to show you most of the ranch.”

“Oh, thank you,” Albert sighed out. “I can’t figure out how to make a command and control area, I need to see yours.”

Scoffing, “Fuck you,” Arthur snapped. “I said most,” he clarified. “You need to read that notebook. I clearly say, ‘No one who isn’t in your group EVER needs to see, know the location of, or function of your command and control area’,” Arthur quoted. “If you tried to show me yours, I’d punch you in the dick.”

Hearing that declaration, Albert’s face went pale and his mouth moved but nothing came out. “Albert,” Arthur said holding up a hand. “I told you in the notebook and to your face, I don’t want to know where you put it. I gave you suggestions, and I think in your area I suggested four locations, but I would have to check, and yes, I do have a copy of what I gave you. That’s how I made a notebook for Jill.”

Realizing he hadn’t made Arthur mad, Albert relaxed. “Albert, if I know, that means my wife, Jason, and my mini-mes at the very least, would know. I know for a motherfucking fact, I’m not going to be taken alive by an attacker because I carry a hand grenade for that reason alone. I can’t vouch for the others. What happens if we’re attacked here at the ranch? What if one of them is taken alive? That command area is how you’ll direct your fight. If they know what you have, where it’s at, and how well it’s guarded; I’m sorry, nobody lasts forever against torture. That’s why in each notebook I say, tell all your people to report anyone who asks about your command area. Eventually, we’ll get others around us and I’ll get to that, but you want your people to always stay vigilant. The only reason someone would ask about it would be for nefarious reasons. Now, do I believe you have nefarious reasons, Albert? No, I don’t. I think you want to see it to get ideas on how to set yours up, but what happens if you’re taken alive? We call ours ‘the Tomb’ here and it’s up and running. There are feeds to over a hundred cameras now and by the end of December that’ll double if we don’t get buried in snow. My goal is three hundred, but there are other things in the Tomb that can be done and I gave you ideas in your notebook, like remote charges and other things. I don’t care if you don’t do any and choose other ideas on your own.”

Understanding very well now, “Sorry I asked,” Albert mumbled.

Grinning, “Jill wasn’t going to ask, but I’m sure one of her captains was. This is new to you,” Arthur said. “I know there’re all kinds of rumors, but I’m not a retired government agent, I’ve never been in the service, and I don’t have cybernetic implants.”

Raising her hand and then motioning to Chad and his captains, “Are you helping them like us?” Jill asked.

Giving half a shrug, “I’m offering assistance, but they don’t need my help,” Arthur told her. “They prepped for disaster to a degree I never would’ve believed. But, they agreed to join this merry little coalition. I’ve offered advice along with assistance and they’ve taken it.”

Clearing his throat, “You keep right on with your advice, Arthur,” Chad chimed in. “None of us would’ve thought of building a fifteen-foot wall around us until we were hit by a mass of dogs, and by then it would’ve been too late.”

Jill was still surprised Chad’s group had joined. She could look at them and tell they were fighters and could think. They had a great chance to survive without help, while her group was struggling to learn this new world. She and Albert were a drain to all of them, but Arthur gave them a hand. Then it occurred to her, Chad and his group had joined up because of Arthur and this group.

Staring at Jill, “Jill,” Arthur called softly, and she looked up at him. “No group can survive this alone, but now we have to start watching those around us and choose wisely on those we ally with. What’s the total at your group now?”

“641,” she answered.

“Albert, your current number?” Arthur asked.

“431,” Albert answered.

Turning to Chad, “How many did you bring in?” Arthur asked, causing Albert and Jill to gasp because Arthur said to bring in no one because of the killer kids.

“Eight groups for a total of sixty-nine. We’re at one hundred and forty-three,” Chad answered. “You’re right, that group north of Hasty...” Chad paused, “something’s just off about them. They have kids and such but... we watched them for a week and didn’t see anything, but something just doesn’t feel right.”

“Told you,” Arthur said tapping his computer. “The groups Chad took in were in Newton County, and I’ve been watching them since April. Chad asked and the only reason I mentioned the one group near Hasty is because they’re the closest group to him at twelve miles, and I wanted Chad to scout them.” One of the screens behind Arthur blinked and a map was displayed. Jill smiled seeing it was a topographical map with a satellite overlay of the area. The fact she even knew that made her very proud.

One wavy outline popped up like a kid was trying to draw a circle. Jill knew that was her group and the wavy line was the fence. “That’s my area,” she stated proudly to let Arthur know she was trying as hard as she could.

“So right, Jill girl,” Arthur laughed, and another outline came up below Jill’s and she knew that was Albert’s area. She hadn’t been inside, but had seen it from the outside. The reason she hadn’t been inside wasn’t because Albert was trying to keep his area secret, Jill just never had the time when she was close. But others in her group had been inside Albert’s, just like some of Albert’s group had been inside her compound. “That’s Albert’s and this one’s mine,” Arthur said as another loop appeared and it was much bigger than either Jill’s or Albert’s.

Lifting his eyes to Jill and then turning to Albert, “When I say distance, that means in a straight line, not how far you actually have to travel,” he said still looking at Albert. “It’s fourteen miles from me to Jill and ten miles from me to Albert,” Arthur stated as another loop popped up at the edge of the map. “This is Chad’s group. They’re thirty miles away in Searcy County.”

Finally turning from Albert and running his eyes over the group. “I say this, because every month I want us to meet up at one of these locations,” he told them. “We need all of our people to get to know each other. We can’t expect everyone to fight for each other if they don’t know each other. Next, I want us to know ‘SOME’,” he stressed, cutting his eyes to Albert, “of the layout of each other’s compounds. If Chad has to send fighters to Jill’s because a gang is scouting her, don’t they need to know the inside of the compound?”

They all nodded in agreement. “Now, as of right now, Jill, Albert, neither of you have enough food to take in such large groups and feed them. Chad, I know you have a stockpile, but you aren’t producing enough in your greenhouses yet for us to meet at your place without eating from your storage,” Arthur said. “No, we don’t have much of a stockpile here now, but we’re replenishing ours at a rate none of you can match, so for the next few meetings, we’ll do them here.” When he’d finished, Jill sheepishly raised her hand.

“Arthur,” she cringed. “I’m going to have to cut back on food. You told me to tell you before I did, but we aren’t going to make it through the winter if I don’t.”

Shaking his head, “No, that’s why we’ve been busting ass here,” Arthur replied. “When you and Albert leave tomorrow, each of you will be hauling back ten tons of food: rice, beans and corn.”

Hearing the amount, Jill just stared in shock. Yeah, Arthur had said he would help and she’d been expecting a few hundred pounds, but not tons. “We don’t want to put you short,” she offered.

“The only reason you’re not taking more back is you can’t haul it,” Arthur chuckled then stopped. “The fucking drums the food is in, you’ll take care of ‘em. When they’re empty, return them because we aren’t going to get anymore.”

“No fucking shit,” Jason blurted out.

“Yep, my asshole puckered up so tight on that run, it took me three days before it loosened up to take a shit,” LL proclaimed.

“We would’ve helped,” Albert stated.

Shaking his head, “You would’ve died and might’ve gotten some of us killed. I’ll show you later, but take care of those drums,” Arthur repeated.

“Arthur,” Jill called out looking at the map. “Can I ask, how did you choose where you set us up?”

Nodding, “Yes, you can ask and I’ll answer since we’re in that part of the discussion,” Arthur grinned. “I had a list of criteria each site had to meet. First, was remoteness. Next, the site had to be easy to defend. Then came water, was it there? And also, did it have sufficient flow to generate power? After that, was there land that could be developed downstream to generate larger amounts of power with sufficient elevation for water drop? There was one more criterion, can you figure it out? The reason’s right outside your wall, but when you expand your wall out to enclose the valley to the west, it’ll be inside your walls. Albert’s was already inside his first fence.”

Dropping her eyes to the table but not looking at it as she ran through her mind what was in the valley, all Jill could see were two farms. Albert was doing the same thing and finally shrugged, “The oil well?” he asked.

Slapping the table hard, Arthur watched Jill jump in her chair. “Very good!” Arthur cried out and Jill remembered the oil well in one of the fields of the farms.

“You’re going to make gas?” Jill asked in awe.

“No, I’m going to show you how to make fuel,” Arthur told her. “We’ll be making our own here.”

“How much gas can we make?” Albert asked with excitement.

With his palms to Albert, “Hold up,” Arthur chanted. “This is North Arkansas, not East Texas. There are three wells inside my fence, and all three together only put out like twenty-two barrels a day. The oil company only turned them on when oil got above eighty dollars a drum which was pretty rare,” he told them and saw some of the excitement gone. “Guys, they only started drilling up here in the last ten years. There are only two other wells in Newton county and they aren’t close together. Madison County only has five producing wells and I never found out about Johnson County, but like I said, this is North Arkansas. I do know with the price of oil fluctuating so much, the oil companies weren’t planning many more drill sites.”

“So, we’ll have fuel?” Albert asked and Arthur nodded. “Better some than none.” For a split second, Arthur almost told Albert he was happy that he hadn’t asked how much they could make at the ranch. Albert worked hard, but was a dreamer. He’d already proven his loyalty to Arthur, but Arthur just wished Albert was a little more, macho.

Glancing at his notes, Arthur tapped the computer and the boundary for Newton County appeared on the map, and then blue dots sprang up scattered about the county. “In case you didn’t know, that’s Newton County where my group is located. I used this as the base of my count. I have to say, the projected death rate was pretty damn close here. I’ve been to every house in this county. It started off as scouting around me, then morphed into who was alive and finally, a project to see what we’re dealing with,” he paused.

“Now, in those binders that Sarah, Wendy, and Samantha put together for you, it gives you the breakdown by age group, but for people over fifteen, ninety-two percent around the globe are dead. I know, Sarah,” Arthur said sensing Sarah about to object getting to her feet. “I’m being general. You give specific breakdowns of each age group, but I’m not here to lecture, okay?”

Arthur didn’t even turn to see Sarah nod as she sat back down. “Those under fifteen, eighteen percent survived. Now, I started my rounds in Newton in the beginning and found several people who weren’t sick, but I came back a few weeks later to find them dead from Rudolph. Now, I’m about to use numbers, I’m rounding,” he said slowly, cutting his eyes to Jason. “My buddy is a math junky,” Arthur informed everyone, making them chuckle. “When he got here in July, I showed him what I was working on. Several times a week we’ll sit in our office and add what we’ve found to see if numbers change.”

Wendy nearly hit the floor laughing hearing, ‘our office’. The first week Jason had been here, Arthur had moved another desk in for him.

“In Newton County, there was a population of ten thousand,” and he saw several around the room raising their hand or in the process of raising their hand. “I’m rounding!” Arthur snapped. “I know there were a few more, but I like whole numbers.”

Seeing everyone understood, Arthur waved at the screen. “Those blue dots ‘were’,” he stressed, “people who had survived Rudolph. Now, not all homes were occupied because as we all know, people left heading to other places if they had a place to go. No, I’m not suggesting everyone who left were preppers, but if they were going to die they’d want to be near family or check on family. But many ran out of food, and with the power off they had no water so they had to leave. Since my buddy is a math junky, he compared that to what we found in Johnson and Franklin counties, and it seems sixty percent of survivors left their homes for who knows where. But for this briefing, we’re going on a ten percent survival rate across the board for all age groups. Now, those who left, are they alive? Don’t know and don’t care,” Arthur said.

“Even if they are alive, this area wasn’t home to them and I’d be surprised if any came back,” Arthur said, glancing at Wendy and saw her eyes narrowed. “And if they come back, they can live by the rules we set or they can fuck off and keep their goddamn mouth shut.”

Knowing damn good and well Arthur was talking about Alicia, Jason cleared his throat. “Yeah, can you keep going?” he asked before this turned into a battle royale between Arthur and Wendy.

“Okay. Here in Newton, I found evidence or have spotted eight hundred and forty-six who’d survived Rudolph,” and he saw hands go up. “Goddamn it!” Arthur growled and all the hands dropped. “The next fucker who raises their hand on numbers, you get math class with the math junky for six months,” Arthur warned. “I know using my rounded numbers that isn’t a survival rate. Rounding, remember but listen, and I’m not kidding about questions on the numbers,” he warned.

Hoping to explain why he offered, “If you have a hundred people in this neighborhood and a hundred in another, one neighborhood might all die, and the next half live. The ratio is based on a whole and for your information, Franklin County balanced out with Newton because more than ten percent survived there. Now the reason I’m bringing this up isn’t Rudolph, it’s about those who survived. And this is where Jason and I have a disagreement. Yes, I said ‘a’ because we’ve had more than one, but I’ll give both points and you decide for yourself. And if you have an idea, tell us. Now, many of those here in Newton County right now didn’t live here, they’ve just taken up residence.”

After running his eyes over the room, Arthur tapped the computer and a lot of the blue dots turned orange. “This is the shitstorm. At each of those orange dots, we’ve found evidence those there were murdered,” Arthur said looking around. “I say murdered because they died by humans, so change it to what word you like; killed, expired, toes up, but they didn’t die of Rudolph. And before anyone asks, yes, we’ve found places where people killed themselves, starved, or died of other causes. Jason found one in Pope County where a man died because he broke his leg and he was alone. I said good riddance because he was alone and there’re kids out there who needed guidance. No, he’s not the only one we’ve found alone or who even died alone. Wendy and I were checking on a man in north Newton County who was living alone and found that a bear got him and his dog. From the scene, it looked like the bear was laying right outside his door and when the man opened his door, walking out, the bear got lunch. No, I didn’t talk to him because he was alone. If he was such an ass to not help kids, I didn’t want to talk to him but he wasn’t threatening anyone, so I let him be. But, fuck the cocksucker,” Arthur snapped his last words.

“There are one hundred and eighty-two orange dots,” Arthur stated and saw all the adults and many of the older kids jerk. “Yes, nearly a quarter of those who survived were killed by humans. I’ve been asked many times by my kids here ‘are we going to go extinct?’ and I’ve always said, ‘No, humans are resilient’. It wasn’t until Jason and I started compiling the numbers that I actually started having doubts. Mine and Jason’s difference is, this is Newton-fucking-County-Arkansas! This is the middle of nowhere and people are capping each other!”

“People are people no matter the location,” Jason sang out.

Ignoring Jason, “My thoughts were killings are worse the closer to more civilization, cities. Jason says no. Since the closest ‘city’ we have data on is Russellville, I can’t say because the numbers are still holding up, a quarter are dying by other humans. And we’re still at the beginning of this shit, with the first winter starting. What Jason and I both agree on, people are going to become more violent. A hungry motherfucker will kill for food, to get it or protect it, and not think twice.”

Scanning the leaders and captains, “No, we didn’t go to every house in the other counties, but we got samplings. Don’t understand? Ask math junky,” Arthur stated bluntly. “I took statistics in college and Jason found me rereading my book to start compiling what I’d found. Well, Mr. Math Junky has the fucking thing memorized, so I didn’t have to reread it. Then you throw in Sutton, Skannish, and Sarah who have fucking degrees in statistics, I didn’t have to worry about brushing up,” Arthur grinned.

Tapping the computer again, the orange dots vanished along with many of the blue ones. “This is what’s left in Newton County. No, I didn’t add us, and thank you for not pointing it out,” Arthur said turning to the screen. “There are sixty-one locations, but more than one person’s there with the mean being...” Arthur moved to look at his notes.

“Five,” Jason answered.

“Math junky,” Arthur laughed and looked up to see Kirk, one of his mini-mes, with his hand up. “Yes, Kirk?”

Slowly lowering his hand, “Pops, not all of them are cruel,” Kirk offered in a low voice just in case Arthur forgot he’d liked some of those they found.

“No, mean can also be used as –average. You’ll understand because you’ll be starting advanced math in February,” Arthur said, and saw everyone in the three groups startle. “All kids have ten hours of class work a week to learn books. They also have ten hours of shop time to learn hands on,” Arthur told them.

“Shit, we weren’t starting classes until next year,” Chad stated. “We’ve been teaching kids how to fight.”

Shrugging, “I don’t count that because we do that every day, and each person here has to put in thirty hours of work each week, but so far we’re averaging seventy hours a week per person,” Arthur replied, then turned to Albert and Jill. “Those in your group will be doing this but right now, I want to make sure they live through the winter.”

Very happy Arthur had more plans for them outside of the notebook, they both nodded as Arthur continued. “Now, the average,” he grinned and winked at Kirk, “in these groups is five, but I have to take eight of these down because they’ve moved in with Chad and they were the biggest.”

“Are you going to give out more notebooks?” Albert asked.

“No,” Arthur replied flatly. “I will say this, any, who I don’t agree with that you bring in, we sever ties. It’s your choice, but I didn’t offer those I’ve found, and many I’ve talked to, to join a group. Those who’re out there in Newton and around the area that I’ve met, I don’t trust. In time, I feel they’ll fall to the Caravan Man.”

Albert’s face paled, “I took in some that you didn’t say I could.”

Giving a long sigh and casting his eyes up, “I wonder if that’s why I wanted to meet them, Albert,” Arthur replied. “I knew, well, I’ve seen most you’ve brought in and I didn’t cap them, so they didn’t give me bad mojo and they kept breathing. Jill’s brought in two groups I’ve never seen. I met them and didn’t say anything but both of you know, if you don’t throw out freeloaders, and you know just what the fuck I mean by ‘throw out’,” Arthur stated darkly. “The bodies better not move when they’re tossed out. You’re at the stage now where a person can give information to others who can hurt you.”

“So later, people can leave if they want, right?” Albert asked.

“Have you read that fucking notebook?!” Arthur snapped making Albert jump. “Your group can’t fucking fight yet and there are other ‘bad’ groups out there who can! You throw a fucker out now and one of those groups gets them, your ass will get overrun!”

Staring at the table as he thought about the notebook, “Oh, that part makes sense now,” Albert mumbled.

“Excuse me?” Chad asked.

“In the notebooks, I tell them they’re vulnerable until they can fight and that doesn’t mean shoot. First you learn to shoot, and then you learn awareness. Next you learn to move with awareness and shoot. Finally, you learn to move maintaining awareness with others, shoot and communicate, and then you can fight. I stress in the notebook many won’t be there until the end of next summer,” Arthur answered.

Arthur could see by the look on Jill’s face that she had doubts on even that timeline. “Jill, I assure you, they’ll learn because everyone knows their first mistake will be their last, and more than likely, cost the lives of others,” Arthur assured her. “No, they won’t be tier one operators, but neither will their opponents. In time, those alive will be at that level because everyone will learn.”

“Now,” Arthur sang out, “back to the numbers. We’re starting to hear about outbreaks of other diseases over the radio. The government compound is having outbreaks of Hanta and I can believe it because we’re hearing several of those. The good ol’ Heavenly Disciples are still having an outbreak of cholera. From the reports of those around the Disciples, it’s hitting them rather hard.”

Lifting his hand as he asked, “You don’t really think they’re dying in the thousands, do you?” Chad asked. “That’s what we’ve heard on the radios, but come on, that many?”

Understanding very well what Chad was really asking, “Oh, yes, I do believe they have the numbers to be dying in the thousands. Some here scouted them in June. Even that far back, they were reporting numbers in the tens of thousands of survivors. I assure you, Mr. Math Junky was being conservative with his numbers, as were Samantha and LL. I never doubted what they reported, but being around my buddy as long as I have, now I know he was going,” Arthur paused, lowering the octave of his voice, “low.”

“I got Wendy and Samantha to put an outline in the notebook about the Disciples,” Arthur said, and saw the new groups start flipping pages. “Hey!” he called out and they all looked up. “They are a threat, but we have much more shit closer that ranks a lot fucking higher. Shit, even when they told me about them, I ranked ants higher than the Disciples. I had personal reasons to rank them higher and in time will address that, but it’ll be some time before I do.”

He chuckled seeing everyone shiver at just the mention of ‘ants’. “Guys, the ant problem is gone, but I’ll cover that.”

Tapping the screen, the boundaries of all the counties came up and blue dots scattered about the screen. “These are all the survivors we’ve found or have been reported,” he said and tapped the screen and some of the dots turned green. “These are the only ones that someone here has talked to,” Arthur told them. “Yes, others here do make contact. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, others here are wearing hats just like mine. You’ve all heard on the radio the reports of Caravan Members. That’s who they’re talking about. Now you understand, why last week my lovely wife, who I’m going to kick her ass, asked you to get hat sizes for your ten top captains and yourselves. You’ll be leaving with hats like mine because I was outvoted in the group. Yes, I changed hats because the hats LL makes were much better than the ones I bought,” Arthur grinned, pointing at LL but winking at Jason.

“You guys, to repay LL, all you have to do is give LL a blow job and girls, all you have to do is clap and cheer them on,” Arthur stated with a smirk and LL levitated out of his chair.

“Goddamn it, you freak! What the hell is wrong with you?!”

Glancing at the others, he saw Chad and his group were laughing their asses off, but the guys in Jill’s and Albert’s groups had a worried expression, along with Albert. “Make sure you cover your teeth,” Jason chuckled. “He slapped me once.”

With bloodlust in his eyes, “You ever even try that with me and I’ll show you an ass beating!” LL shouted to inform everyone that Jason hadn’t touched him.

“We’ll swallow next time, LL. Will that make you happy?” Arthur asked, trying not to laugh.

So mad he couldn’t even speak, LL just dropped in his chair then calmed down, turning to the new groups. “The hats are gifts. The first to try that shit with me won’t have a head to put the hat on,” he warned. Now realizing they were only picking on LL, Albert breathed a sigh of relief with the others.

“Seriously,” Arthur called out. “You don’t have to wear the hat, but it’ll let others know who you’re part of.”

“I advise wearing it,” Jason stated looking around, ignoring the middle finger Arthur was giving him. “It provides more protection than it does risks. Another thing it does, the Caravan Man can’t be singled out, and that scares the shit out of gangs.”

“Um, Arthur?” Jill called out, raising her hand then lowering it. “Did you, um, really kill that group south of Dryfork in July?”

Nodding, “Wendy helped,” Arthur answered. “One of the fuckers shot me, so all but three died. And yes, before you ask, the three we let go were kids and no, we didn’t offer to let them come here. Someone in your group shoots at me, I’m killing. The only reason I let three live was I wanted everyone to know, I don’t give a flying fuck who, age, race, nationality, or gender shoots at me. You’re dead, along with your group.”

Jill looked a little pale, but gave a slight nod. “Yes, that’s why I told you the day we met that the group west of Purdy couldn’t ever be offered to join. That’s where the kids went to. In time, that’s one group I feel could join, but we’ll see,” Arthur told her. “Yes, three adults and five kids were killed.”

Getting to her feet with narrowed eyes, “You were going to let more go, but bullshit!” Wendy shouted at Arthur. “He shot you when you wanted to talk! All he had to do was say, ‘We don’t want to talk’, but what does that fuck do? Shoots you in the fucking chest!”

Looking to the heavens, “I’m a humble man, you can stop any time now,” Arthur confessed, then dropped his eyes to Wendy. “He shot me with a 30-30 in the chest of one of my vests that I made.”

“He could’ve missed, and I would’ve torched the entire planet,” Wendy growled.

“Since your dick is dragging the floor, will you take mine and put it in the closet?” Arthur grinned and saw Wendy slowly calm down. The others looked at Wendy and were starting to get the idea of what those at the ranch already knew, she could be much worse than Arthur.

“You approached them like you did us?” Chad asked.

Nodding, “Yep,” Arthur answered. “I hold my hands out and stop way back to let the other side dictate how we proceed. I can come closer or go away. Sorry, but that’s why Jason was getting edgy when we met you. He saw someone getting steady on a scoped rifle and that means they’re fine-tuning their aim at a specific target. Since I didn’t have any more of my vests, I was wearing what we’d gotten from the military.”

“My finger never went inside the trigger guard,” Isaac informed everyone. “I was actually aiming at the ground in front of you, Arthur, just in case you tried to get closer. Sorry, but we didn’t want exposure.”

“I understand,” Arthur nodded.

“Yeah,” Chad sighed. “WE had to shoot several people who tried to come closer, who wanted food and wouldn’t stop even after a warning shot.”

“Fuck if I would’ve given a warning shot after a verbal warning,” Arthur chuckled.

“Well, we knew it was a risk and they didn’t stop but we’d all agreed, we didn’t want to piss off the Caravan Man because even then we’d heard you didn’t travel alone,” Chad told him. “But I, for one, will wear the shit out of my hat. That alone will tell others we aren’t there to take, so leave us be.”

“Okay, we got off topic again,” Arthur said turning to the screen. “Now, I’ve asked everyone to talk to those in your group, asking where they came from,” Arthur said. “Except Chad, he knew where they were from without asking.”

Picking up his padfolio, “Again, it backs up the numbers Jason and I came up with. If you add up all four groups, less than thirty percent lived within fifty miles from here, so that’s why I’m not worried about people returning,” Arthur stated, and saw Jason shake his head slowly to warn Arthur to stop trying to piss Wendy off. “The reason I bring this up is because by next summer, people moving will be presenting another level of danger here. Very few will be travelers looking for greener pastures. Most will be looking for greener pastures to take over.”

“Arthur, we’re practicing as hard as we can,” Jill told him.

“Yes, and both of you are doing a good job. I’m only sending you five thousand rounds of .22 a week because I don’t want you to commit so hard to training right now. In December, we’ll be increasing it to ten thousand a week and then you’ll start on your real guns,” Arthur told her, and Jill liked the fact Arthur had this shit planned.

Lifting a hand up to get Arthur’s attention, “Hang on to what you got. We can give them that,” Chad offered.

Shaking his head, “No, you keep yours because those you brought in need training,” Arthur replied.

Laughing, “We make our own ammo,” Chad stated proudly.

Nodding, “So do I,” Arthur answered.

“No, we make it. Yes, we reload, but we make our ammo from brass up, including caps,” Chad said with pride.

Again nodding, “So do I,” Arthur repeated, and he was impressed but not shocked at Chad’s statement. “How much .22 can you make in a week?”

Arthur may not have been in shock, but Chad was. “You’ve told me a dozen times you weren’t a prepper,” Chad mumbled.

Shrugging, “Never have been,” Arthur admitted. “We lived this way so I could fuck the government back some as much as they’ve fucked me. So, we grew our own food, made clothes, made guns, made alcohol, made tobacco, so I didn’t have to pay them for my choice to do what I want on my land, to my fucking body. So, how much .22?”

With blatant awe stamped on his face, “You’re so fucking awesome,” Chad mumbled then shook his head. “Never ran the machines that long, but the .22 line can put out 500 an hour.”

“Mine can almost do that,” Arthur said.

“Can you make centerfire?” Chad asked.

“7.62, 5.56, .45 ACP, and 9mm,” Arthur answered. “I could make others, but I would have to make the die presses. Now by hand, I can make others, but I don’t count that because it takes fucking forever.”

“That’s why LL is in hog heaven, you liked to fuck with the feds,” Jason laughed.

“Hey,” Arthur snapped. “Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be the name of a club, a cool-ass club, not a government agency. And yes, when they proudly started to add the E for the ATFE, that’s when another container was buried, and I learned how to make explosives. You don’t tell me I have to ask your fucking permission to do shit on my land.”

“Oh fuck, you’re growing tobacco?” Chad panted in ecstasy.

Holding up both hands, “Whoa,” Arthur called out. “Yes, but that’s LL’s. You want some talk to him. I dip every once in a while, but I learned to grow it just to show I could. Pissed those fuckers off when I sold bags of tobacco labeled ‘display only’ because I grew it in the greenhouse. Didn’t even have to go to court. Judge ruled it was clearly labeled and I wasn’t selling in enough quantity to be labeled as anything other than a curio,” Arthur stated proudly.

“You didn’t have to take an ad out in the paper,” Joseph chuckled. “And the only time you dip is when you really want to piss off Mom.”

Feeling the glare from Wendy, “And it works,” Arthur said not looking at her. “I can give you some seeds.”

Grinning, “I’ll swallow,” Chad offered, and Arthur busted out laughing as LL went ballistic. It took a minute, but LL finally sat back down.

“Okay, now back to the numbers. Just from what I’ve found and shown you, a quarter of those who survived were killed. And quite a few did commit suicide. Jason is putting that number between thirteen and seventeen percent. I didn’t feel comfortable enough to even try putting that on paper. As everyone has noticed, others aren’t growing food but they’re killing animals so starvation isn’t going to be that high, but a meat-only diet is hard on the body.

“Now as many here see, this winter is starting hard but it’s not going to get difficult till January. Now these are only projections, but I feel good about them because of how I see people living now. We feel by spring, another twenty percent will have died off. So that original ten percent of survivors who didn’t die off from Rudolph, we’re going to be under half. In Arkansas, using a three million population, using round numbers,” Arthur stated quickly, “three hundred thousand survived Rudolph. Now just using what we’ve found, that means by spring we’ll be at or under a hundred fifty thousand, but the killing won’t stop and neither will the dying.”

“So, the dogs are going to be more of a problem?” Albert asked. “They’ll attack now but, I’m a city boy and I know they aren’t really hunting us now.”

Nodding, “Very good, Albert, because they aren’t really, but that’ll change and I can’t give a timeline,” Arthur said, tapping the computer and the other screen came to life.  “The day before Halloween, Jason and I were out on patrol with the wives,” Arthur said and heard snickering. “It wasn’t Date Night,” he said looking up. “I’ve gone out on how many patrols with Wendy? Date Nights are special, and we don’t even have to worry about cops.”

“Hey, babe?” Wendy called out and Arthur turned to her. “Another Date Night needs to get in the works, I’m just saying.”

Giving Wendy a wink, “Jason and I will work on it, babe, but it may be a bit. I don’t like going that far out with snow on the ground.”

Nodding, “That’s good, I just wanted to put it on your schedule now,” Wendy said as Samantha blew Jason a kiss. “Double dating rocks.”

Laughing as a paused video image came on the screen, “We’ll see what we can come up with,” Arthur said. Many kids breathed a sigh of relief as the other members got worried expressions, they knew what happened on Date Nights. Well, they knew shit died and it never died pretty. They didn’t know how Date Night ended, and how much better Wendy acted afterwards.

When Arthur hit play, everyone saw the large pack of Bassett Hounds in the distance. “Hey, we saw those!” Chad cried out. “Yvonne is a vet at the compound and I asked because only Bassett Hounds are in that pack. She said they were probably raised on a hunting camp together.”

“They were, Wendy and I hunted there,” Arthur said as the video cut off and came back on. The camera was looking down a hill at a nice-sized, lone house some six hundred yards away. The Bassett Hounds were a hundred yards away from the house just outside the overgrown yard. The grass looked around four inches tall, but the cow patties dotting the area explained why it wasn’t taller. The dogs suddenly stopped barking and spread out, and a lone dog bounded over to the house. The front door looked like it had been torn down by man or animal, but nobody could tell from the video.

“Smell it?” they heard Arthur say on the video.

“Yes, I do, and I want to know why we’re so fucking close,” they heard Wendy respond on the video.

“I’m telling you, I’m right and this is more than enough distance to get away,” Arthur answered on the video, and everyone started wondering what the hell was in the house as the lone dog eased up on the porch while the other dogs had formed a rather large half circle at the front of the house.

The lone Bassett trotted up on the porch and started barking at the door. Even with the camera so far away, the barks were loud, but everyone could hear the squeaking from inside the house. Bouncing off the porch and still barking, the lone dog stopped. At the door, brown and black bodies of rats started pouring out.

“Run dog!” one of the kids in the hall shouted, making Arthur chuckle.

Before the rats reached the ground, all the other dogs started barking and the lone dog kept bouncing away, barking. Some rats continued after him, but the others spread out like an oil spill, fanning out across the yard and still a stream was coming out from the house. Fifty yards away from the house, the rats didn’t look like a solid carpet anymore and you could see individuals as the dogs kept barking, but the camera never left the door.

It took a few minutes, but finally the stream of rats stopped pouring out of the house and Arthur panned the camera. The Bassett Hounds were staying right at the edge of the rats. Then they would lunge, grabbing one in their mouth and dart a few paces away. From every side, the dogs were doing the same thing. The camera zoomed in on the closest and when the dog grabbed a rat, the video left no doubt the dog was biting hard enough to kill the rat. Running just yards away the dog dropped the rat, bit at the butt and pulled. The furl came up like the dog was skinning the rat, then the dog got a few bites and went back, grabbing another.

When Arthur tapped the computer, the video paused. “Did you notice how the dog ate?” Arthur asked.

“I swear, it skinned the rat,” Chad mumbled. “Please tell me I’m not imagining it, but rats weren’t that big before the virus.”

Shaking his head, “No, on average before the outbreak, they weighed about a pound, but Jason and I’ve been doing our own research and now the average is two pounds three ounces, there was lots of food but that’s stopping. We’ve found more than a few rats that weighed three pounds, and one monster that weighed five. I feel by the summer rats will be back down to a pound or so because they’ll have to work for their food,” Arthur said. “Yes, it was skinning in a way but like bears, the dogs were eating the most nutrient packed parts. Skin for fat and skull for the eyes and brains, in bears it’s called ‘high-grade’ feeding. I skinned a rat for Wendy to show her how much fat was on the skin. I would show you the picture, but I was warned to never show it if she was around.”

“Once was enough,” Wendy nodded. “It’s just the fact that rat was so fucking big you didn’t have any trouble skinning it. That’s what I don’t like seeing.”

“How did millions of rats fit in that house?” Jill asked in awe. “Yes, we’ve smelled them, but I’ve never seen a million come out of a house that size.”

Shaking his head, “Jill, that wasn’t even five thousand rats,” Arthur replied very confidently. “That’s why I stayed focused so long on the door. There were between twenty-three to twenty-eight hundred rats in that house. Later in the program, I’ll prove it.” The others looked at each other in disbelief but noticed nobody from the ranch had any problem accepting that number.

Seeing the others were finding that hard to believe, “Guys, I’ll show you images of tens of thousands, then hundreds of thousands, and finally millions of rats,” Arthur told them. “But I wanted to show you Albert was right. I knew animals would be eating rats, but never that thoroughly or with such a plan. We watched the dogs for the better part of two hours,” Arthur said and tapped the computer and the video left and a picture filled the screen. “This is the same dog, as you can tell. The image on the right is a still shot before the house, the one on the left is when the pack finally left.” On the right the Bassett was trim and looked lean, but on the left his belly was so swollen it looked painful.

“In case anyone’s wondering, Math Junky counted the bodies of rats left behind and the dogs took out five hundred and seventeen,” Arthur told them then cocked his head. “But, the parts of the rats the dogs didn’t eat, the other rats did, cleaning up the battlefield.”

Giving a shiver, “I don’t need to see the picture,” Jill informed him.

“Now, I bring this up because I’ve found bears eating rats, and I sat and watched one eat twenty in an hour. He didn’t go in a house, he caught a group moving. Sorry I don’t have video but it was just neat to watch. He would run over, bite one, bounce back, eat it, and repeat.”

“Um, since you seem to have put thought into this,” Chad said looking in the binder. “This figure you have for rat population, you think it’s correct?”

“Shit no, that’s low,” Arthur scoffed. “I told Sutton and Skannish to use numbers of one rat per person, because that’s the accepted standard before the virus, but told them stay on the low end.”

“You mean to tell me there are ten billion rats in America?” Chad asked, trying not to shiver.

“No,” Arthur replied shaking his head. “There are more. I told them to stay low, remember.”

It was clear Chad was having trouble getting to that in his mind. “Chad, three hundred million people died, round numbers, remember? I know there were lots more, but I like round numbers. Just staying low again, let’s say everyone who died weighed a hundred and fifty pounds. The national average was higher, but again, round numbers. That’s over forty-five billion tons of food that was just lying there. Rats and mice can respond with numbers, and only insects can produce faster. That’s why ants formed carpets that covered acres this summer. Unlike ants, rats and mice can move out further and find food, therefore survive in massive numbers longer. Mice will eat seeds and such. Like I’ve told everyone, America is mostly grassland now. Mice will be here a while before they get back to equilibrium with nature and rats will have a supply of food.”

“How long?” Chad panted out.

“It’s just a guess, we’re thinking five years, but I’m sure rats will be under a billion in two years,” Arthur answered.

Letting out a gasp, “That’s why you have that moat!” Albert cried out in wonder. “Does it work?”

“Fuck yeah, it works,” Arthur sang out. “But I put it in for ants and rats. Luckily, we only had one colony of ants find us and we spotted them when they came over the south fence,” Arthur said tapping the computer. “Now, we did cheat and lead them there because I didn’t want them getting the beehives or chickens.”

An image sprang up of an aerial view of a field. “That dark spot across the field running back to the trees isn’t a shadow of a cloud, that’s ants. This image was taken from one of our drones,” Arthur told them, and Shawn got up and left.

“I’ll be back, Pops,” he said walking out, trying not to shiver.

“That’s fire ants. They’re moving in a group that’s one hundred and ten yards across and extends back two hundred and thirty yards. Not even math junky tried to come up with numbers because he doesn’t want to know any more than anyone else,” Arthur explained. “We led them to the moat, and it took sixteen hours once they reached it till they were all in. Like fire ants do, they formed huge clusters making rafts and were pulled to the pumps. That one army filled, filled with ant bodies, three fifty-five-gallon drums. No, I didn’t weigh them because I didn’t want to know. I poured fuel in and burned their bodies and let me tell you, that many burning ant bodies makes a smell you’ll never forget and I don’t want to smell again.”

“I’m good if you skip anything else about ants,” Jill mumbled. “You said we didn’t have to worry and I have enough stuff in my mind for nightmares, I don’t need extra.”

“Thank you,” Arthur said tapping the computer and the ant pictures left the screen, and Shawn came back in.

“Sorry, Pops. I just don’t like seeing them anymore,” Shawn admitted heading back to his chair.

“How many rats has your moat caught?” Chad asked.

Shrugging, “Have no idea, but it caught them and grinded their asses up,” Arthur replied, then gave a brief description on how the moat functioned.

Leaning closer to his group when Arthur was done, “We’re making a moat around the living quarters,” Chad told them. “I don’t care what we push back, but we’re building a fucking moat.” They all nodded in agreement as Arthur continued.

“As of right now, masses of rats haven’t made it this far out. If you look for the page with a rat on it, we outline how we’ve trapped them, and rats are still staying near civilization. Not all, mind you, but most are. My traps are drums where rats crawl up a little ramp and into holes at the top because they smell food. Once inside, they drop into shredders and optical sensors keep track of the numbers. Traps set up within five miles of the interstate can catch eight hundred in a night. I’m certain it would be more, but that’s all the ground-up rat my drum will hold. Now if you move just two more miles out, the traps only catch four hundred, and each mile after that continues to drop. Outside our fence, we catch twenty or thirty. Inside, three. No, it’s not the wall, we have a fucking army of cats.

“Before this started we had about thirty cats, but by May it was a hundred and before the wall was finished, holy shit. We have three cat colonies and last count was nearly three hundred cats. They’re having babies out the ass so if you need some, we can hook you up,” Arthur told them, and all three groups raised their hands.

“You’re not giving away Medusa and Kong’s kittens,” Wendy informed him. Arthur wanted to object, but all three groups clearly didn’t want mutant cats.

“Fine,” Arthur droned. “Now, before I continue, did any of you notice there were more snakes this year?”

Slapping the table hard, “I told you there were more snakes at the compound than ever!” Chad cried out looking at Isaac. “Granted, most were little but there’s been a shit load of ‘em.”

Tapping the computer, “There’s a rattlesnake I named Dolly I spotted ten years ago. When she has babies, she always goes to a draw to the east in a small cave just outside the fence. I’ve never seen her have babies in back to back years. Well, this year, I fucking did,” Arthur said, and a picture came up of a rather large rattlesnake in a rocky hole and lots of little snakes around her.

“Wendy doesn’t go there because any snake she sees, she’ll unload whatever gun she’s carrying. Doesn’t matter if she hits them with the first shot, she’s emptying her gun,” Arthur said.

“You get bit by a copperhead and then talk to me, bitch,” Wendy told him.

“I killed it,” Arthur replied and looked at the others. “It was in our yard at the old house lying beside the front steps. Wendy went out after me and it struck her. Now in her defense, any snake near the house, barn or structure we have, I kill it. This is my shit. I only kill snakes out in the woods if they strike at me or try to chase me so if you know snakes, yes, I’ve killed some in the woods. But this year...” he paused tapping the computer, and everyone jumped seeing Arthur holding a thick-bodied snake with a beautiful pattern.

“This is a copperhead and I’ve never seen a snake this full. If you look closely, there are six bulges from mice he or she has eaten. Don’t know how to tell sex and the only reason I know Dolly’s a girl is because she has young’uns. This damn snake didn’t even care that I was there and never struck at me. I’ve never seen a copperhead that wasn’t pissed at the world. They aren’t as bad as water moccasins, but they’re close. I can continue to show pictures, but I don’t pick up water moccasins until the head is removed from the body. The snakes are eating mice like crazy. I’ve seen them let mice go because they just ate, but not now.”

Raising his hand, “Well, since there’re so many mice, they’re probably killing the snakes in hibernation,” Isaac offered. “Contrary to belief, mice will eat snakes, but individual mice have a hard time killing them.”

“That makes sense because unlike rats, mice are out in numbers much further away from civilization,” Arthur nodded. “Just an FYI, we’re projecting fifteen to twenty mice for every rat, you do the math. Oh, one thing I’ve learned, fucking capuchin monkeys eat mice and are outstanding at catching them. They use a stick to pin the head down and take a bite, wait till it dies, and eat it. Coolest shit I’ve ever seen,” he grinned.

“Um, you have monkeys?” Chad asked.

“Yep, so nobody can spank them,” Arthur stated proudly. Each captain made a note on their pad to ask about that later, as Arthur continued, wondering who wanted to spank monkeys.

“Now, bears. Wendy and I hunted before this and to the east there’s a pretty little valley that has the lushest grass you’ll ever see in the wild. It looks so good I had to eat some, but I didn’t like it. We would scout bears there because every fall you’d see sometimes seven bears there, all eating at the same time. But this year, there hasn’t been one. No, they didn’t come when we weren’t watching, I left cameras. So, what does that tell you?”

“Oh, you didn’t even need to bring it up,” Chad told him. “We’ve taken pictures of the bears and have seen several around the compound. Thankfully, outside the fence, and holy hell, have they gotten fat.”

“Yep, and they have an abundant supply of meat which is more calorie dense than plants, so if it’s there, bears will dine,” Arthur said. “Notice anything else about your bears?”

Nodding exaggeratingly, “Every female has at least two cubs, but we’ve seen two that had four,” Chad answered. “I’ve never seen a black bear with four cubs. Well, not going into fall. Never known bears around here to have enough food to keep all the cubs alive through the summer. Yvonne said the cubs she knew were only eight months old, but looked like they were eighteen months old they were so big.”

“My wife said the same thing,” Arthur admitted. “Yes, this is all going somewhere, but I want everyone to understand what we’re up against. In that binder you’ll find lists of how many domestic animals were in the US. Now, I’ll admit, I made a mistake. Shawn asked me awhile back if anything had surprised me and at the time, I’d answered wasps. But I’ve gotten another surprise. I never expected the pig population to revert to feral so fast. This is Arkansas and we aren’t even a top pork area, but Missouri is. I feel sorry for anyone in Iowa, they were the top. There were like seventy million pigs in the US. Now, like most farms animals, corporations bought them out and now pigs are raised in huge yards. We have two not far from here, one east and the other west. I’m talking farms that housed five thousand pigs, and those are considered small, if you’re wondering. But we, Jason and I, have been chased by pigs several times. They’re just like dogs, you can shoot one and the others still keep coming. I swear, they’ve learned if they turn away more will die, so they just keep running at the gunshots. I have video of pigs eating rats, a lot of rats.

“So now we have another predator to worry about with the pigs,” Arthur told them. “But make no mistake, rats are predators and we’re on the menu. I’ve watched rats swarm over dogs, people, cats, and even a deer. Yes, a white-tailed deer!” Arthur cried out in shock.

“I’m sure everyone has seen rats attacking shit bigger than them, right?” he asked, and everyone nodded. “You’ve seen how they jump on. I thought they were trying to bring the animal down but oh, no. Those you see jumping on, yes, they’re biting, but they’re also eating. I watched a dog actually make it out of a flood of rats. It was the first animal I’ve seen that didn’t try to slow down and dislodge the first few that jumped on. The dog said ‘fuck it’ and just ran. Well, when he cleared the rat carpet, he had over a dozen on him and it took some very serious effort to get them off. Seeing the dog was literally soaked with blood, I shot him and went for a closer look,” Arthur paused as he gave a shiver.

“The rats that’d been on the dog had eaten divots into his body. I’m not shitting, one divot was already into the bone of a shoulder blade and another was in its gut. Not through the skin, there were actual intestines exposed. Those fucking rats were only on that dog for seventy seconds. Yes, I have it recorded. I’ll give you a copy because I’m not watching that shit again,” he told them flatly.

“I don’t want to see,” Albert stated, and the others agreed.

“The rats aren’t working communally. I’ve had to beat off four rats that just jumped on my ass,” Arthur cried out. “Fuck yeah, I screamed like a pussy and once shit my pants! If a bunch jump on my ass, I’m pulling the pin on my hand grenade. But Jason and I were searching a building and saw three rats. Yes, we were shocked in seeing only three, but those three took off running away from us. It was Sutton who offered the answer and I have to say, I agree. Those rats remembered humans being the dominant predator and knew to avoid us. Unfortunately, those rats are very much in the minority and will all be dead by next year.”

“We’ve run into rats. Granted, they were in small groups and they didn’t attack us, but they didn’t run away either,” Chad stated.

“Oh, I’ve seen hundreds in small groups that didn’t attack me, but I’ve also had a single rat charge me and latch onto my pants leg. Before I could knock it off, Donald bit it in half. That fucking rat weighed two pounds, it wasn’t starving. One thing we’ve learned, you run up on a group of rats that number in the hundreds, if you’re close enough, they always attack, in mass.”

Taking a break for a second, Arthur grabbed a bottle of water draining nearly half of it. “Now, as I’m sure you know, we’ve made runs into Little Rock,” Arthur said.

“All of you are fucking crazy,” Albert panted.

“Well, Albert, if we hadn’t gone, most in your group and Jill’s entire group would’ve died from starvation before spring,” Arthur replied. “You took in more than I told you to,” Arthur said, and for a second thought Albert was about to cry. “No, I’m glad you did, and we’ll get to that.”

“When I started compiling the numbers, I realized humans were in deep shit and we needed more in our groups. That’s why I didn’t tell either you or Jill to stop until last month. I changed the plan here to help your groups. The grow barns weren’t going to be started on until November, but we started on them this summer so we could grow food for your groups. That’s why we had to go into Little Rock.”

“Dad,” Joseph groaned. “I told you we could find the shit somewhere else and we did.”

Slapping the table, “Hey!” Arthur barked but Joseph didn’t even twitch. “I knew the metal we needed was there and where it was at. Yes, we found other locations but that was later, and it would’ve put us behind schedule. Not to mention Albert and Jill having to cut down on food for their groups.”

Waiting for a second to see if Joseph was going to respond, Arthur tapped his computer. “My ideas worked and kept the rats at bay,” he stated proudly.

“Fuck,” Wendy scoffed. “Yes, your ideas did work, but how many of us shit their pants while we were holding off hordes of rats?!” Wendy popped off.

Shrugging, “I shit mine twice,” Arthur admitted and saw the new group staring at him in horror. “We rigged up semi-trucks with tandem trailers, then ran propane burners all the way around the trailers and trucks. Then on the trailer, we put a thousand-gallon tank with a high-pressure air compressor. When those burners were turned on, they shot out flames three feet across the ground, surrounding the truck with fire. Shit, it looked like the trucks should’ve launched in the air and flown,” Arthur chuckled.

“Everyone on the ground was wearing fireman suits and then all seams were completely taped up. Some on the ground had tanks of propane and compressed air backpacks for torches. Others outside used torches connected to bigger tanks on the vehicles. The suits protected against rat bites for a little bit, but someone could also come over and blow the rats off. When I say blow off, I mean someone would come over with a propane blow torch and douse you. One thing we learned, rats are fucking terrified of fire.”

“So am I,” Jason replied. “My mini-mes ran over when I’m beating rats off and doused me in fire. Oh, I filled my pants and boots up, I shit so much.”

Sitting right behind Jason, Cody and Kyle both cast their eyes down. “You were covered in rats, Jason!” Samantha cried out with a shiver. “I fucking told them to roast you. I figured you would rather die from burns than rat bites. With that suit on, you couldn’t even feel when someone doused you with fire.”

Glancing back at the twins, “And they did a great job,” Jason winked at the twins. “No, just seeing a wall of fire cover you and even when you take off running, the wall of fire stays on you, will make anyone shit their pants. I completely forgot about the rats.”

One of the screens came to life showing a view from a hovering drone. Below was a line of semi-trucks and just like Arthur had said, everyone was expecting them to launch skyward any second, seeing the wall of flame around each one. They watched bodies move from trucks and forklifts drive off trailers. At first, they could see small brown and black bodies darting around the area, but all were moving toward the group.

Then like a party was announced, a flood of rats moved in from out of camera view and Arthur paused the video. “Looks like a lot, doesn’t it?” he asked the new groups.

With sweat dripping from his face, “It’s millions!” Albert gasped.

Shaking his head, “Nope, that’s barely ten thousand,” Arthur replied tapping his computer. A picture came up on the other screen showing Jason and his mini-me twins, Cody and Kyle. All were wearing work clothes standing near what looked like boards placed in a rectangle. “See that outline of boards near Jason and his mini-mes?” Arthur asked and everyone nodded. “That’s twenty feet by forty feet,” he said, then lifted his gaze to Shawn. “How many square feet is that, Shawn?”

“Eight hundred,” Shawn answered with a grin.

Tapping the computer, the picture changed and this one showed Jason and his mini-mes, along with Arthur and his mini-mes. All were carrying rats by the tail, “Yes, they’re dead,” Arthur answered the unasked question, then tapped the computer changing photos and everyone could see the group was placing the dead rats in the outline.  When the next picture came up, the outlined box was full of rats, making many shiver at the ‘rat carpet’.

“Looks like thousands, don’t it?” Arthur asked. “It took seven hundred and thirty-two rats to cover that eight hundred square feet, forming a rat carpet. Like I’ve pointed out, rats are twice as large now. This is how we can judge how many rats are coming at us.”

All eyes moved from the picture to the paused video. “Fuck me,” Chad gasped as the numbers he was looking at hit him.

Arthur hit play and the video continued. “Now, I did have two UTVs that had actual flame throwers. They spit out gelled fuel to form walls to hold back the tide some, but the gel burns off faster than you’d think. But now I’ve added oil to the mix, so if we do that again, the fire will last longer,” Arthur said as one UTV skidded to a stop and flame shot out in a long arc.

“How fucking far is it shooting?!” Jill cried out.

“Damn near a hundred yards,” Arthur stated proudly. “In case you’re wondering, the flame throwers never doused anyone because that would’ve killed us.”

On the video they saw forklifts hauling out twenty-foot-long I-beams and other metal, stacking it on the trailers, then hauling ass back into the yard for more. They all turned to the bottom corner of the screen as a forklift started spinning in a circle. “Kirk’s throwing off rats,” Jason told them, then the forklift stopped as figures came over with torches. Clouds of flames shot from each individual, covering the forklift and they watched hundreds of burning rat bodies run off in every direction.

Once clean of rats, the forklift took off back into the yard. In spellbound wonder, they watched the group hold back waves of rats as the forklifts moved quickly to load the trailers. Then in the top corner, they saw two small figures running over to a larger figure, dousing him in flames. Many flaming rats jumped off the figure taking off, but so did the figure, and the two mini-mes chased him down.

“Yep, that was me,” Jason stated as the mini-mes caught up to him and all headed back using torches to keep the rats from surging over them. Then another UTV skidded to a stop and the three broke into a run. When they passed the UTV, a stream of fire shot out and the wave of rats rebounded. The mass ran back a hundred yards from the wall of flame but didn’t leave.

“Now, in case anyone’s wondering, the rats are making so much noise, you can’t hear any of the engines,” Arthur told them. “We all had ear mics in for our radios and even with the volume all the way up, we could barely hear the radio.”

He tapped the computer and a high-pitched squeaking filled the dining hall, then suddenly stopped when Arthur tapped the computer again. “Okay, I didn’t predict that one, but I did correct it on the next outing.”

Watching the video and drunk from shock alone, “You went back?” Chad slurred.

Nodding, “Four times,” Arthur said, then looked at Albert and Jill. “On the last trailer you’ll see them loading steel drums. Now you know why we won’t go and get anymore.”

Pointing at the screen, “And that’s only ten thousand?” Albert asked.

Turning back to the screen, “No, now there are over a hundred thousand there, but as we load up, Joseph takes the drone higher and you’ll see half a million,” Arthur replied. It took an hour for the trailers to get loaded and then the group loaded up. When the trucks pulled out, the drone rose up and spun north as the group headed south.

“Suck my ass!” Chad cried out, looking at a four-lane highway that was black with a moving carpet of rats.

“Oh, save your rants,” Arthur chuckled. “Wait till you see the bridges coming from downtown.”

The drone spun and took off. On the far side of the screen they could see the convoy picking up speed and all the jets of flames from the vehicles turned off. When the drone slowed and pivoted, a collective gasp filled the dining hall.

“That, to our best estimates, is sixteen million rats,” Arthur stated calmly. The interstate bridges were packed side to side and the carpet extended for miles.

When he tapped the computer turning off the video, the new group was still staring at the blank screen panting hard. “So, they won’t come here?” Albert asked.

“Fuck if I know,” Arthur shot back. “Rats aren’t that intelligent. Anything could happen, but rats aren’t natural sprinters, so I doubt it. Even if that group would head straight for us, half would die before reaching us. They still have to hunt and a group that size would have to spread out, and rats aren’t collective pack hunters like lions.”

“I still say those groups near Little Rock will be dead before the New Year,” Jason stated.

Tentatively shaking his head, “I still think it’ll be February before the rats reach them,” Arthur replied, and the others just looked from one to the other. “Sorry, all around Little Rock there are ‘Shanty Towns’. I don’t know what else to call them. But it’s survivors. They’ve just set up close to Little Rock, close being twenty miles out.”

“You know this?” Albert asked.

“Wouldn’t have fucking said it otherwise,” Arthur droned. “My son finished his runway last month and moved his planes in,” Arthur said, then held up his hands. “No, he isn’t flying anyone anywhere. Becky,” Arthur pointed at the pilot who’d flown in with Joseph, “she left in August to check on family in Houston after she and Joseph gathered up some aircraft and equipment. No, she didn’t fly, she drove,” Arthur told them.

“Flying is all good but you have to land and when you land, evil shit, meaning people, can find you rather easy. Joseph and Becky found that out when they were gathering up aircraft,” Arthur told them. “Now, I warned Becky not to go, but there’s only one person here who isn’t allowed to leave,” Arthur said turning to Sutton.

Groaning because it seemed Arthur was determined to get Wendy cranked up, “Arthur, stop,” Jason begged.

Nodding to Jason, “Okay,” Arthur said, then looked at the new group. “Becky left with Ellie and Shanna who came in with Sutton and them. Now, they left in an MRAP. They promised they’d return but in all reality, I never expected to see them again. But as you can see, I was wrong, they did come back, ten days later. They had three vehicles shot out from under them, the first being the MRAP.”

Turning around to look at Becky, “Did you find your family?” Jill asked.

“Dead,” Becky mumbled. “I had to know but it was stupid, I’ll admit that now.”

Sitting beside Becky, “Bitch, I told you that you weren’t going alone,” Ellie popped off. “Shanna’s big enough to make her own decisions.”

Grabbing Ellie’s hand and giving a smile, “And I’ve thanked you, have I not?” Becky asked.

“Yeah,” Ellie scoffed. “When we got back, but bitched every hour we were gone.”

“I’m just glad you all made it back,” Arthur smiled.

“So am I,” Wendy grinned, “because we were leaving to find you on day fifteen.”

Becky and Ellie both turned to her in shock. “Fuckin’ right, we were,” Arthur admitted, and they turned to him. “Yeah, you’re both women and Shanna’s big enough to make up her own mind. Each of you can do what you want, but you’re part of our family and we were coming for you.”

Wendy turned to the new groups. “They took a HAM radio to keep in touch but lost it when the MRAP got shot up. Arthur and I almost left then when they didn’t check in, but finally agreed to wait,” she told them, then cut her eyes back to Becky and Ellie. “We just wanted to make sure you were safe.”

Leaning her head on Becky’s shoulder, “I love this family,” Ellie beamed.

Clearing his throat and getting everyone to turn back to him, “Wendy put an outline of what they faced in your binder, so if any in your group thinks about it, you can tell ‘em it’s hell out there,” Arthur stated.

“Do you think we’ll ever be able to travel without fear?” Jill asked.

Turning to Jason, “Um,” Arthur mumbled as he thought out timelines. “Maybe in a decade?” he offered and Jason agreed with a nod. “Radio is going, but others are finding out bad shit can track down a radio broadcast. That’s why I want landlines tying all of us together. Like Chad’s group, we have radio towers miles away we use to transmit on and for Joseph to fly his UAVs.”

“Real UAVs?” Chad asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Joseph sang out. “Using a cell tower twenty miles south of us, it’s on the tallest peak in the area and I can send drones out a hundred plus miles.”

Raising his hand, “So, you’ve checked on Dean at the estates?” Albert asked.

“They left the estates two months ago,” Arthur chuckled. “They moved to Heber Springs and are using the hydro station at the dam for power.”

“They got the power station working?” Chad asked.

Giving Chad a confused expression, “Why would they have to work on it?” Arthur asked. “The power was just turned off. Now, they did have to cut lines out of town so the station wouldn’t burn out when it tried to repower everything after they turned the power on.”

It was clear Chad was confused. “Chad, the government turned the power off to limit movement. Harsh, yes, but with millions dying an hour, they had to do something to limit the spread. Do I agree? To a point, but I wasn’t asked. But if I had been asked, I would’ve agreed. Yes, food stocks were hurt, but that doesn’t mean shit if you can’t stop people from spreading Rudolph.”

With a halfhearted shrug, “I never knew, but it makes sense,” Chad admitted. Very aware of who Dean was because others at the ranch had told him, “You think we need to hit Dean?”

“He stays where he’s at, I’ll let him be,” Arthur grinned and Wendy gave a sigh of relief. “I sent word back telling Dean what I claim. Well, we claim for our area.”

“Um, what do we claim for our area?” Chad asked.

Tapping the computer, the map came back up but was zoomed out. A highlighted box overlaid on the map covered a huge section of North Arkansas. “From I-40 to the south, I-49 to the west, the Missouri line to the north and to the east, a line from Mountain Home to Conway,” Arthur replied. “I figure that’ll give us room to grow.”

“There’s no way in hell we can patrol an area that motherfuckin’ big!” Chad shouted.

“True,” Arthur nodded. “But that just gives gangs an area to avoid, and lots of room for Date Night.”

“Any guess as to how many survivors are in our area?” Albert asked.

“Around ten thousand, plus or minus a thousand,” Jason answered. “That doesn’t include us.”

“Arthur,” Chad called out. “Are you done with the animal part of the briefing? I ask because we saw a pride of lions right before the snow.”

Watching Chad dig through his notebooks and papers, “A pride, a real fucking pride of lions?” Arthur mumbled.

Pulling out 8x10 glossy photos from a stack of papers Chad nodded, handing the photos to Arthur. “They were just lying in a field sunning, west of Dennard. Isaac and I spotted them. We had an AR-10 but I just didn’t feel comfortable even attempting a shot. Lions seem much bigger when there aren’t bars or a fence between you and them,” Chad said. “Yvonne did some work at the cat sanctuary and is certain that’s where the pride came from. She said the two tigers that went after you came from there also.”

“She’s seen them?” Jason asked.

Shaking his head, “Said she didn’t need to,” Chad answered. “The white one is Tink and the orange one is Stripes. They never leave each other, and that’s why Yvonne said she didn’t need to see them. Yvonne also said there are three ligers, a male and two females, and you should avoid them or shoot them on sight. The sanctuary rescued them years ago, but they’re very hostile. In the ligers’ defense, they were abused from birth. They attacked several handlers at the sanctuary.”

Holding the photos but not looking at them, “Ligers,” Arthur mumbled in shock. It was a cross between a male lion and female tiger and the largest of all known felines.

“Yeah, Yvonne showed us pictures. The male is over eleven feet long and eight hundred pounds,” Isaac stated with a shiver. “I’m not shooting at that fucker with anything less than a fifty cal.”

“Yvonne did say she was surprised Tink and Stripes attacked because they were very friendly at the sanctuary, even with their cubs. The staff would let visitors pet the cubs and the moms were right there,” Chad said.

“Fuck,” Arthur groaned finally looking down at the photos. “Motherfucker,” he gasped and everyone saw Arthur flip through the photos stopping at one and moving a finger over the picture, counting. Jumping to his feet, Jason rounded the table.

“Oh, come on!” Jason shouted looking at the picture.

“Two males and ten females,” Chad replied and saw Arthur’s finger still counting. “Fifty-seven cubs,” Chad offered.

Shoving the photos in Jason’s chest, “This is bullshit!” Arthur shouted, spinning around and started pacing.

“Yeah, for some reason, big cats scare me a thousand times more than dogs,” Chad admitted.

“Where the hell was this sanctuary?” Jill asked.

“Just outside of Roland,” Chad answered, and Jill just stared at him. “Twenty miles northwest of Little Rock,” he offered, and Jill nodded.

“How many cats did they have?” she asked.

“Over four hundred,” Isaac answered. “The sanctuary was six hundred acres. Hell, the cats there had more room than those you see in zoos. Mainly lions, tigers, and panthers but they also had jaguars, leopards, snow leopards, cougars, and cheetahs. The real bummer is, over half were female and none were sterilized. Yvonne is certain there are over a thousand cubs now, and that’s just from the sanctuary. Yvonne took care of privately-owned big cats. Just going from memory, Yvonne could name another hundred-plus cats in Eastern Arkansas and Western Tennessee and Mississippi.”

“Why couldn’t people just raise hamsters?!” Arthur cried out, throwing up his hands.

Still looking at the photos, “Arthur,” Jason said. “I’m surprised you didn’t raise big cats because the government put so many restrictions on them.”

“Fuck that!” Arthur shouted. “I don’t like pets that see me as a fucking snack!”

“Well, I’m sure you know, but the zoo in Little Rock turned their animals loose,” Chad stated.

Nodding, “Yeah, I heard that on the radio in May,” Arthur replied. “Someone reported elephants near Lonoke at the end of summer.”

“So Yvonne specialized in exotic pets?” Jill asked.

“No,” Chad answered. “She had a practice and took care of regular animals, but there aren’t that many veterinarians that’ll treat exotic pets because exotic pets aren’t really pets. Yvonne refers to them as wild animals that live with humans. She really loves animals.”

“She better not bitch when I kill the next kitty cat that comes after me,” Arthur announced.

Laughing, “Oh, she doesn’t love animals that much,” Chad replied. “She’s the one who told everyone to carry shotguns. Her words were, ‘It shoots a really big projectile that can stop the charge of a really big animal’.”

Cutting his eyes to Wendy, “Um, you do know there are other exotic pets around, right?” Chad threw out.

Nodding, “Yes, LL found several private sanctuaries that housed monkeys. Well, apes, chimps, gorillas, and orangutans,” Arthur acknowledged.

“No,” Chad replied, keeping his eyes on Wendy. Feeling Chad look at her, Wendy turned in her chair to face him. “I mean reptiles.”

“I know people kept snakes, Chad,” Wendy said.

Cringing, “Well, yeah, but I’m talking about the private collection a man had near Searcy. He had over two thousand venomous snakes. He sold venom to pharmaceutical companies to make antivenin,” Chad told her, then lowered his voice to a mumble before he continued. “He had over a hundred king cobras alone. Yvonne said there wasn’t a venomous snake on the planet he didn’t own.”

Levitating from her chair, “We’re burning the fucking place down!” Wendy screamed.

“It’s empty,” Isaac informed her. “No sooner than we could move around without our suits, Chad and I loaded up to do just that, but all the cages were empty. We did kill two king cobras and a black mamba that were lying in the front yard.”

“Arthur, figure out a way to kill all the snakes,” Wendy panted out.

“Babe,” Arthur sighed. “I’m sorry, but they’re out now and it’s up to nature if they survive.”

Squaring off with Arthur, “Motherfucker! You see a damn cobra, you’d better shoot that bitch! I don’t care if the fucking snake is minding his own business reading a book and drinking a cup of coffee! You kill that cocksucker and any of his friends!” Wendy screamed.

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Arthur scoffed. “The only reason I’m not hunting big cats is because we need them to hunt dogs. I thought it would take longer but in two years cats around here will actually be able to start working on keeping the dogs in check. But any kitty cat that looks at me wrong gets a lead injection.”

He waited as Wendy took deep breaths to calm down. “Every animal from around the globe is roaming free in America now, hun,” Arthur told her. “We’ll deal with them. Hell, you know Teddy from church kept twelve pythons, four boas, and two anacondas. Not to mention he was one of the few people to have Komodo dragons.”

Giving a gasp, “Oh, tell me you killed them,” Wendy panted.

“Nope, the cages were empty and so were all of Teddy’s bird cages. I don’t know if they’re alive but their cages were empty. I went to get his pugs, but they were gone,” Arthur told her.

“Fucking snakes probably ate the dogs,” Wendy mumbled with a pale face.

Seeing Wendy was pale, “How fucking big were these snakes?” Jill asked.

“The smallest fucker was nine-foot,” Arthur huffed. “Those damn anacondas were so fucking big, they looked fake. They aren’t from here and in the wild, I hope they just fucking die off, but I’m not going to hold my breath,” Arthur admitted. “One thing nature is good at is survival.”

Tossing the photos on the table, “How many Komodo dragons did this fucker have?” Jason asked.

“Don’t know. Ten years ago was the last time Joseph and I went to Teddy’s house when his last kid was born. I’m sure you understand why Wendy didn’t go,” Arthur stated. “Then there were two dozen. Teddy raised them like the snakes. Since the Komodo was listed as endangered, he could only sell them to zoos or other licensed handlers. Teddy inherited his collection from his dad, so he was grandfathered in.”

Heading back to his seat, “Well, the dragons should die off without someone providing a heated shelter for the winter,” Jason said dropping in his seat.

“Jason, you realize this is Arkansas, right?” Arthur asked. “Caves are every-fucking-where. All they have to do is find one. I can take you to a cave right now that’ll be fucking packed with rattlesnakes. And the thing is, there are thermal springs around here. Those fucking Komodo dragons have just as much of a chance for survival as anything. Shit, everyone said alligators couldn’t survive in Missouri but low and behold, they caught some near Jasper. Nature doesn’t give a shit what mankind says.”

Scanning the faces of shock across the dining hall, Arthur nodded. “Now all of you understand, we’re going to be fighting nature just as much, if not more than humans. To live in harmony with nature, you have to fight. That’s what nature is, a constant battle to survive. Kill or be killed. There’s no ‘harmony in holding hands’.”

“I fucking hate mother nature,” Wendy growled. “She can take her snakes and shove those fuckers up her nasty twat!”

“On that note,” Arthur grinned. “For the reason I wanted to talk to everyone; the groups of kids we have running around.”

“Um, I don’t want to sound like an asshole, but we can’t really refer to them as kids,” Chad cautioned. “After you pointed it out, we’ve found a few sites that were taken down by kids and they were bloody, damn near evil.”

“Oh, I’m not saying we go easy, I refer to them as kids because of their age. They’re growing up in nature, and like we just pointed out, nature’s a bitch and a harsh mother. But the kids are surviving the only way they know how,” Arthur replied. “Unlike adult gangs, they don’t hit everything and I haven’t found evidence of rape from the kid attack sites. I’m sure it’s occurred, but I haven’t found evidence. Shit, at that house near Hunt, two of those women were fine,” Arthur stated and many in the room gave a startle, cutting their eyes to Wendy expecting her to blow up.

“What?!” Arthur cried out. “Wendy was the one who said that redhead was so fine she would’ve slept with the bitch.”

“I swear, I thought her tits were fake,” Wendy huffed.

“Any tit that needs two hands to hold, it’s too fucking big,” Arthur chimed in then became serious. “They didn’t even try to rape. The kids just cut their throats, took supplies and some of the kids, and left. They do kill kids, but only those I think they perceive as a problem or could become a problem. Like older teens and young kids who won’t stop crying after their new caregiver has been murdered.”

“Have you located any?” Chad asked.

Shaking his head, “Nope, and that tells me they know how to hide,” Arthur emphasized. “I’ve gotten pictures of groups of kids on the game cameras since I started putting them out. I just didn’t associate them as gangs. I categorized them more as packs.”

After Arthur tapped his computer, both screens started slideshows. In every picture was a kid or a group of kids. “If you look at the time and date stamp on the photos, you’ll see the longer this goes on, the more kids group together,” Arthur told them. “By midsummer when ants and rats took over towns, I noticed I wasn’t getting as many pictures of kids. To be honest, I thought they were dying off but Jason pointed out that in the photos I’d captured kids on, the cameras were set up on roads, paved roads, leading into towns or inside of towns. So we started repositioning some cameras,” Arthur paused tapping the computer.

The screen on the left stopped the slideshow and changed to display a map. “As you can see from the screen on the right, I’m still getting pictures but nowhere near what I was getting. Like I told Albert earlier, there should be nearly ten thousand survivors in the ‘Caravan Domain’. Nearly seventy percent of those should be under the age of fifteen but,” he paused to look at the group. “Not as many kids were killed as adults. Well, murdered. So again, the survivor curve skewed more toward the younger survivors. Kids started grouping together faster than adults and like I said earlier, they can hide.”

Tapping the keyboard, everyone saw the right screen change to a photo of four kids on bikes in single file. “They move across the countryside, dirt roads, pipelines, and we even have pictures of kids using stream banks to move around,” Arthur told them and many were impressed. “They learned to stay off the beaten path,” he pointed out. “Now, look at these four. Notice each one is carrying a bow and arrows? Each one has a rifle and pistol. Two are armed with Ruger 10/22s and one is armed with an AR, and the last is carrying a lever action rifle. Yes, I’ll say it out loud. Those little fuckers are crazy as hell to be riding bikes with masses of dogs running around at the time of that photo.”

The next picture of the four was them closer to the camera. “I caught them on a camera using a small trail next to a creek north of Hector,” Arthur continued as the map screen showed the area. Then the picture changed to show a lone kid on an electric standup scooter in the lead and a line of four golf carts loaded with kids. When the image changed again, the kid in the lead wasn’t in the picture and the carts were much closer.

“Look at the carts, they’ve surrounded them in chicken wire,” Arthur pointed out. “Those carts can outrun most dogs but that’s what the wire’s for, in case they’re jumped by dogs. Notice all the carts except the first are loaded with kids. The one in the lead has an empty spot. Now, it’s speculation on my part, but I think that’s for the kid who’s leading. We have some of those electric scooters like the scout was using and they can only go thirty miles per hour, so he can’t outrun dogs if they’re close.”

He paused, looking around. “What does just that picture alone tell everyone?” Arthur asked.

“That group of kids there has power set up to recharge,” Chad answered clearly impressed. “You think they’ve lost some to dogs?”

Shrugging, “My honest answer for the group those kids in the picture belong to is no,” Arthur replied. “I think they watched, talked to other kids, knew dogs were becoming a problem and took steps.”

Grabbing the mouse, Arthur used it to navigate his laptop and both screens changed pictures. The pictures were displayed in multiple rows and soon, many could tell the screen on the right was the same brown-haired boy, who looked around twelve or so, taken from different cameras. Then the first picture enlarged for a second, then returned to the row as the next image expanded. There were different kids with the original kid in each photo. Some pictures were at night and others during the day. Then the screen on the left started doing the same thing, but these were pictures of a young, teenaged girl with black hair.

“Over the last two months I’ve had people here go through pictures tracking certain kids and holy shit, that was an undertaking. At any one time, we have four hundred game cameras out and average a thousand photos a week of people moving about. It wasn’t until last month when we realized some of the kids were driving cars, so we had to adjust cameras higher to get images of those driving. So far, we’ve identified six different groups and still have kids, hundreds at least, unaccounted for.”

Arthur stopped as Chad raised his hand. “You have photos of groups intermingling?” he asked.

“Only one,” Arthur answered and tapped his computer. The screen on the right changed and many were shocked to see a video play for a second and then pause. It was clear the video had been taken from really high in the air. “In September, we started putting out cameras on boom lifts. Most of the lifts extend up a hundred and fifty feet, but we have two that’re at two hundred feet. This one is west of Clarksville sitting on a hilltop. We can move, pan, tilt, and zoom in. These fucking cameras are awesome. We liberated the cameras from federal buildings. At one mile, you can zoom in enough to recognize a face.”

“Whoa!” Chad cried out. “That kind of transmission power would make it very easy to track back to you.”

“Please,” Arthur scoffed. “We use directional antennas to relay the image to the same cell tower we use for all transmissions. The transmissions are then carried to us by hardline. You can’t get within a mile of the cell tower without us knowing.”

“You leave a very clear message on those boom cameras,” Albert chimed in.

Nodding, “We saw your group on the scavenging run near Batson, but at that time, the cameras weren’t monitored around the clock. It was only on playback when we spotted you,” Arthur chuckled.

“What does the message say?” Jill asked.

Clearing his throat first, “This is my shit. Leave it alone and find your own shit. Fuck with my shit and I’ll kill everyone you know before killing you and leaving you in shit, The Caravan Man,” Albert quoted.

“How’re you powering them in the field?” Isaac asked.

“Solar panels and battery banks,” Arthur answered. “We have eight out now and are working on another ten.”

When Arthur clicked his computer the video played and in the distance, they could see a line of six UTVs driving along a dirt road, coming from the east. Then coming from the west, they saw another group of electric buggies. When the two caught sight of each other, both slowed and Arthur paused the video. “The road is half a mile away from the camera. No, the camera wasn’t pointed at the right spot, but the Tomb was operational. When the group on UTVs were spotted, the camera followed them, then caught sight of the other group. Watch how they interact at first. It’s clear the groups know each other, but they’re very wary. But in fifteen minutes, everyone’s standing around talking,” Arthur told everyone as he resumed the video.

Everyone was staring at the screen as the two groups slowed and stopped some twenty yards apart. As the camera zoomed in, it was very clear the two groups of kids seemed ready to kill each other. Then one from the buggies stood out and waved. One from the UTVs stood out returning the wave and both approached, meeting in the middle. The camera panned along both lines and it was evident both groups were still ready to kill.

As the two apparent leaders talked in the middle, the rest of each group just eyed each other. Ten minutes after the encounter began, like a switch had been flipped, both gangs relaxed but the two apparent leaders were still talking and never addressed their respective group. “What caused them to relax?” Chad asked because the change in mood of the groups was very obvious.

“Have no fucking idea,” Arthur admitted.

It was a few minutes later that the other members of the gangs got out of their rides like they were just stretching their legs. The two leaders of the patrols were still talking when a few from each gang moved up closer to the leaders and everyone could see they started talking to each other, but it wasn’t like the leaders. “They talked for half an hour then parted ways,” Arthur said tapping the computer, and the video skipped to show the leaders shaking hands and the gangs getting back in their rides. “The gang going west still goes west and the same for the one heading east. They don’t seem to care about others in their area but for all I know, they were both in another gang’s area.”

Isaac lifted his hand, “You catch any interactions with adults?”

Shaking his head, “Nope,” Arthur replied. “I have video of them hiding from groups of adults, even though the kids outnumbered them. I have photos of them passing groups of adults when the adults outnumbered them. I can’t make rhyme or reason from their actions.”

“You have any photos or videos of them hiding from you?” Isaac asked.

A sly grin crept up on Arthur’s face. “Oh, that I have both of,” Arthur answered. “They avoid me like the ghost of Christmas Past. They don’t avoid any of you yet, but we’ve seen some try to shadow you. Again, they impress me; they know each of you, so watch your backs so they don’t follow.”

“Shit,” Chad sighed out and Arthur nodded.

“What?” Jill asked.

“Jason, tell Jill why we think they avoid us,” Arthur said.

“They know the Caravan Man and the Caravan kills gangs, and they view themselves as gangs,” Jason stated.

“We’re going to have to kill all those kids?!” Jill cried out in horror.

“They keep acting like punk ass bitches, you’re damn right we are!” Arthur snapped. “But I want to run something by all of you. I think they’re just kids. Granted, kids who’ve killed unnecessarily, but still kids. With no one to show them they’re going down the wrong path because that path leads to the Caravan Man in their future.”

So not in the mood for this, “What do you propose?” Chad asked and Jason just groaned.

“Jason and I are going to track them down, and I want to schedule a meeting with them,” Arthur replied, and saw many jaws in the dining hall drop.

“Um,” Chad started. “Why not let one of us? I’m not saying you or Jason can’t, but they see you as a threat already.”

“Because they see the Caravan Man as a threat is why,” Arthur answered. “They know shooting at me brings a world of shit on them. We know they kill and choose targets wisely. I want to tell them to stop that shit. They must learn to kill to defend or remove a threat, not to take. They need to work with everyone in this area. I’ll give them that choice, leave, or go toes up.”

“Dude!” Isaac cried out. “You tell teenagers that shit and they’ll start killing just to prove a point!”

“No, I’ll let them know we’ll ally with them to a lesser degree. If they play nice, we’ll even teach them things they need to know,” Arthur said. “But right off the bat, I’m going to tell them because of how they acted, we don’t trust them, so they aren’t joining any of our groups.”

Rolling it around in his mind, “That’s a big risk on your part,” Chad pointed out.

“That was my wife’s idea and trust me, it needs to be me talking to them and not her,” Arthur responded. Many from the ranch turned to Wendy in utter shock because she always seemed ready to drop lead, but her wanting to approach the kid gangs and tell them to be nice seemed to go against her character.

Feeling the stares, Wendy just shrugged. “Killing kids isn’t fun,” she admitted. “But they keep on and I’ll make it fun.”

Cutting his eyes to Isaac, “That bitch is cold,” Chad mumbled, and Isaac nodded.

“She’s moved to the top of my ‘Do not fuck with’ list,” Isaac confessed.

Clearing his throat and getting Arthur’s attention, “Um, why are you even asking us?” Chad wondered. “Dude, you’re the Caravan Man. Yes, my group can fight, but we’re riding your coattails with the reputation you’ve built.”

With a grin spreading on his face, Arthur was glad Chad had said that. “True, but now you’ll have to carry on the Caravan. You see bad shit in our area, you ventilate it. The reason I put this forth, like Isaac pointed out, I give a message to some teens like that, they’ll fight regardless. Many teens have no fear and will fight just to prove a point. Stupid, very, but that’s the definition of a teenager. Even I would’ve fought us at that age if someone would’ve thrown that in my face. I’ve proven the shits can hide so if we do this, all of us will have to be extra vigilant and if need be, go to war.”

Jill leaned back in her chair. “Arthur, I don’t give a shit if a toddler is shooting at one of my group. I’ll cap that bitch,” she threw out. “If you think it’s worth the risk, I say do it. I’m sorry, but I can’t even judge if it’s worth the risk. All I can think of is getting my group set up and secured. Sorry, but I don’t even want to devote the brain power to weigh the risk and benefits right now.”

Very impressed with that statement, “I understand, Jill, but if this goes bad, we’ll be fighting huge numbers of psycho kids,” Arthur replied.

Shrugging, “The way I see it,” Albert started. “If we don’t give them a chance to act nice, we’ll be fighting them in the future regardless.” It was on the tip of Arthur’s tongue to tell Albert that was rather ‘macho’, but Arthur held it in and just smiled at Albert and gave a nod.

“When you say, ‘teach them’, what would we be teaching them?” Chad asked.

“How to survive, grow food, tend livestock, offer suggestions on how to improve their defenses,” Arthur answered, then tapped the computer and a map came up on the second screen showing all four group locations. “If they prove themselves, I want to offer them a chance to join the coalition. I feel we should reward good behavior.”

Nodding, “I can agree with that,” Chad stated.

Motioning to the map on the screen, “I’m not giving any more notebooks out, but this is a site I want everyone in the coalition to help build,” Arthur said, and a box sprang up on the map at Hagarville. It looked bigger than any of the other current fences but after everyone stared, they realized it wasn’t bigger, it was just a perfect rectangle. “I want this to be a trade town,” Arthur told them. “Each group will have a detachment there to oversee it. If the kids act nice, they get the option of living there for their permanent site.”

Arthur could see all three groups were very uneasy with that, and it was understandable. “Now, why would I want to put such a huge area up for a trade center?” Arthur asked.

Slapping the table hard, Chad scared the shit out of everyone as he shouted, “It’s a target!”

“Yep,” Arthur said. “With that there, people won’t be searching so hard for other locations.”

“Arthur, yes, it’s a good idea but,” Chad paused to word his statement. “Isn’t it a big risk to offer to let the kids move there? That would be a hardened location they could use to search us out if they became hostile. Or a really large gang could come in and take it over and do the same.”

Nodding, “That’s why I want to build it,” Arthur stated. “I want attackers to go after it. We can build escape areas, so anyone there can get out before it falls and let the attackers have it,” he grinned. “I promise you; I’ll be able to kill everyone inside those walls in two hours after it falls.” The shock was evident on everyone’s face at that statement.

“Um,” Isaac coughed. “What if the Heavenly Disciples take it with eight thousand? You said they have tens of thousands.”

Shrugging, “Then I’ll kill eight thousand,” Arthur sang out. “The cool thing is, I won’t even destroy the site and we’ll be able to move right back inside in a few weeks.”

“How?” Chad asked.

Shaking his head, “I’ll only tell the commander over each site and they’ll never tell anyone except the one who’s replacing them,” Arthur replied. “Yes, Jason knows, as will Wendy, Samantha, and LL. Sorry, but the ranch is the most sought-after target because that’s where the Caravan’s main base is.”

“Chemical weapon?” Chad asked.

“Hell no!” Arthur snapped. “Yes, my son did bring back nuclear-armed cruise missiles, but I flat out told him there wouldn’t be any chemical weapons here.”

“How many?” Chad panted out.

“Sorry,” Arthur smiled. “You don’t need to know. I will say, not many others will be getting nuclear weapons.”

Hearing that, everyone was confused. “As Joseph was gathering up planes, they flew down to Shreveport. Oh yes, I was pissed when I found out later,” Arthur informed everyone. “But Joseph found out something about all the ammo storage bunkers that house nuclear weapons,” Arthur paused as he shivered. “It seems the military opened several warheads, exposing the radioactive material. The area’s so hot with radiation, you can’t get near them. Even with protective gear, anything in the area is soaking up rads so even if someone got it, they can’t do anything with it.”

“How in the hell did Joseph get some then?” Isaac asked.

“He knew where some ‘ready weapons’ were stored. Ready weapons were kept near the line so they could be loaded up rapidly and only one base had those,” Arthur answered. “There’re places at the Air Force base in Bossier Parish where humans won’t set foot for thousands of years.”

Liking that fact but still drawing a blank on how Arthur could wipe out a base, “You’re that certain you could wipe out the base if it falls?” Chad asked.

Jason busted out laughing, “OH, fuck yeah!” he howled. “I’ll never shoot another Wilson if Arthur’s plan doesn’t work.”

Taking that statement to heart and motioning to the map, “Just how big is that site going to be?” Chad asked.

“Six square miles inside the fence,” Arthur answered. “It’ll take us five months to build if we get five hundred kids to join up.”

“Why not smaller?” Jill asked as she cringed.

“I want it to be a target worth taking,” Arthur smiled. “We have to set up a trade area. One, it would be much easier to get others to gather what we need and barter food to them. Next, it’ll let us know who’s around us and finally, it makes those around us much friendlier. They’ll tell us of strangers asking questions and be ready to defend the area.”

Staring at the outlined box on the screen, “I say make contact with the little shits in the area then,” Chad stated.

Watching everyone nod in agreement, “Okay then,” Arthur grinned. “Let’s show you around the ranch.”

Chapter Twelve

Happy Thanksgiving

It was late afternoon as Wendy stood outside staring over the valley below the house. ‘Burrrrrrr’, Wendy heard to the west and gave a sigh. For the last month Arthur had been testing his idea of using different caliber Gatling guns to use as indirect fire, like artillery. The 7.62 they found out, could take out targets three miles away. Granted, you had to saturate the area to make sure you hit the targets, but it did work. The fifty caliber could reach out seven miles, and the twenty millimeter they were testing today could reach out eleven miles.

Wendy was a little upset because as soon as Thanksgiving dinner was over at two o'clock, Arthur and many others had taken off to continue to fine-tune the weapons, even though this was supposed to be a day of rest. She had just stepped outside to clear her head and enjoy the sunshine. A ‘warm spell’ of fifty-degree temps had rolled in and most of the snow was gone now. There were reports on the radio of a cold front heading toward them, so Wendy wanted to enjoy the weather.

Sensing someone to her right, she turned and saw Sutton walking around outside the house. She could tell from his expression, he was also just enjoying a stroll. With a deep breath Wendy headed to the gate, crossed over the small drawbridge, and caught up to Sutton.

“Scott,” she called out and he gave a startle, spinning around.

“Yes?” he replied with a smile.

“Enjoying the day?” she asked, and he gave a nod and cast his eyes around.

“I never have been a fan of the cold,” he told her, and they both walked side by side following the moat.

Coming to a stop as she took a deep breath, “Scott,” Wendy blurted out. “Do you really think Alicia could be in the Heavenly Disciples willingly?”

Somewhat startled at the out-of-the-blue question, “Um, yes, I do,” Sutton answered. Wendy gave a startle with his answer, and Sutton turned to face her. “Wendy, yes, Alicia was a quiet kid until she was a teenager, but she has always been spiteful. I’m afraid I place a lot of that blame on our parents. They babied her to no end. I’ll give you an example. Alicia wanted to be a cheerleader in junior high school. She tried out and didn’t make the team, so my parents sued the school board, the teacher over the tryouts, and the state. We weren’t a rich family, but we did have money. My father owned a furniture-making business and employed several hundred people. Oh, they all backed down and Alicia was put on the cheerleading team. I wish that was the only time I could use for an example, but it isn’t.”

Letting that roll around in her mind for a few minutes, “I think she’s changed,” Wendy offered.

Nodding in agreement, “Oh, she has,” Sutton replied. “She is much worse now. That’s why I don’t like being near her.”

“You haven’t been around her in years,” Wendy huffed.

“Damn right I haven’t,” Sutton sighed out, seeing Wendy was getting testy. “I follow her pages on social media and check the messages she leaves when she calls. She is much worse,” he stated with conviction.

Just hearing the certainty in Sutton’s voice, Wendy took a step back. “Wendy,” he continued. “That land where Alicia lives, it was left to me by our Uncle Earl. I was in my last year of medical school during finals and just couldn’t up and leave. That did hurt me because I had loved Uncle Earl. He left that land to me. Want to know why?”

Numbly, Wendy gave a nod.

“He, along with everyone else in the family, hated how much my parents spoiled Alicia,” Sutton told her. “By family, I mean both sides; grandparents, aunts and uncles. Hate is a strong word, but what the family had toward my parents over Alicia was much worse.”

Trying to work her mind around the fact the entire family hated Alicia and her parents, “So, that land’s yours?” was all Wendy could come up with.

Shaking his head, “No. When the will was read, both of my parents and Alicia didn’t get anything from Uncle Earl. When Alicia heard I got his hunting land, she informed my father she wanted it,” Sutton told her, then held up his hands. “Let me rephrase, she demanded my father have that land put in her name. I was twenty-four and Alicia was sixteen then and my parents lived in Kentucky. To this day I don’t know how, but my father got Alicia on that deed as half owner to land that was left solely to me. One of my aunts told me my father had tried to put the land in Alicia’s name only, but the state of Arkansas wouldn’t allow that.”

Turning away to just stare out over the valley, “Maybe she was jealous?” Wendy offered.

“No,” Sutton stated flatly. “Alicia believed it was owed to her. Wendy, I was always an honor student. I never got in trouble as a kid and worked at the furniture plant from the age of twelve until I left for college. For the first year when I was at college my parents sent me money to help out, then my sophomore year they stopped. My car broke down and I called my father to ask for help, but he said no. His words were, ‘You need to learn how the real world functions without a safety net’,” Sutton paused and looked off.

“Yeah, that hurt, and I had a suspicion Alicia was involved, but Aunt June, one of my mother’s sisters, came to visit me at college. She gave me the money and confirmed my suspicions. She had been at the house the day Alicia had told my parents they babied me too much and should stop giving me money. I was a man after all and shouldn’t need help.”

Snapping her gaze to the side of his face, “Whoa, hold up. You mean to tell me your mom and dad let Alicia dictate something like that?” Wendy nearly shouted.

Giving a long sigh, “Wendy, from the age of eight Alicia was the ruler of that household. I don’t know why, but they adored and fawned over her. Alicia could do no wrong. If she got a bad grade, it was the teacher’s fault. When she got arrested, the cops were trying to plant something. Oh, I could go on for hours, and I will if you want me to. You may think, ‘He’s just making this up and I can’t verify it’, but you would be wrong,” Sutton told her.

He turned to look Wendy in the eyes. “At her house, she has filing cabinets filled with letters and newspaper clippings of the exploits she was in but always got out of. Then you could go into her bedroom and read her diaries. She’s kept them since she could write. Alicia likes to read them like a conqueror,” Sutton explained. “I haven’t seen Alicia since my mother died and yes, that’s the only reason I ever met up with her after I left the house. I never went to visit her. She always chased me down, wanting to meet up. When they were alive, my parents would hound me day and night to talk to my sister. If I kept brushing her off, Alicia called my parents and they would torment me until I gave in.”

Staring into Sutton’s eyes, Wendy could tell he was speaking the truth. “She wasn’t like that with me,” Wendy stated.

Nodding, “Not as bad,” Sutton told her and saw Wendy give a startle. “Wendy,” he paused. “You always gave in to her. Granted, not as fast as my parents, but you did. I can tell now, you felt sorry for her. You can think ill of me, but I love Arthur’s outlook on my sister. She is a bitch who needs to be tied up in a bag and tossed in the river.”

Taking a step back that a brother hated his sister that much, “Being a bit dramatic, aren’t you?” Wendy asked.

“Nope,” Sutton replied and looked off. “You’ve been friends with Alicia for over a decade, and are one of the few she has had as a friend that long. Don’t get me wrong, Alicia had friends but most eventually saw through her façade. One thing all of the friends she had for long periods of time have in common, you all felt sorry for her. I hate to tell you, but everyone who hates Alicia has a very good reason. Damn, if Alicia would have become a lawyer, she would have won every case. She loves to talk and wants people to see her point of view, and only hers. I don’t know how but Alicia can make so many people, if not like her, accept her.”

Scoffing, “Not Arthur or Joseph,” Wendy huffed. “For Arthur, it was hate at first sight. Joseph, I think he doesn’t like her because of Arthur.”

“No,” Sutton said, and Wendy narrowed her eyes. “Oh, you’re right they both hate her, but you’re wrong on Joseph. Well, not now. But when Joseph first met her, I think he was about twelve, he liked Alicia. He didn’t start hating her until he was fourteen.”

“How in the fuck could you know that?!” Wendy cried out.

With a flat expression, “Wendy, you have been around my sister. Hell, you have been around her more than I have. She talks,” Sutton told her. “And it shouldn’t surprise you, but Alicia hated Arthur with a holy passion because she could never get him to like her, no matter what she did. She tried and was still trying to get Arthur to like her.”

Blinking slowly, “Huh?” Wendy grunted.

“Wendy, Alicia has met very few in her life who hated her from first sight, but none who hated her with the conviction Arthur has. What really pissed Alicia off, she couldn’t get you to rein Arthur in because you loved him so much,” Sutton explained. “Now that I learned for a fact from Alicia’s diaries, but I already knew it.”

Cocking her head to the side, “You read her diaries?!” Wendy teased.

“You’re goddamn right I did!” Sutton shouted, making Wendy jump back. Realizing he’d scared her, Sutton calmed down. “Sorry,” he apologized. “That car I told you that broke down in college? I had bought it myself. Do you know why?” he asked and Wendy shook her head.

“My father took back the brand new Camaro he had bought me when I graduated high school. Why? Alicia wanted it. Yes, my father had the right, he had bought it and Alicia had a Pathfinder, a new Pathfinder. But she wanted a sporty car to drive around high school,” Sutton told her. “You would think Alicia would have asked for a new Camaro but no, she only wanted mine. My father sent two employees from the plant up to my college and they drove it back. Before you ask, no, I didn’t get the Pathfinder. Alicia told my parents she needed something that could hold more of her friends, so a sophomore in high school had two brand-new cars.”

Still finding it hard to believe but having no doubt Sutton was telling the truth, Wendy caught something. “Sophomore?” she asked.

Nodding, “Oh, yes. Alicia failed twice. The first time for grades, but my parents were able to sue the school board for ‘maltreatment of a minor’. They won the court case and Alicia was allowed to go into the eighth grade. But she was held back in the ninth grade because she missed, well, skipped school too many times, and my parents lost that case in court.”

Having a hard time believing they were talking about the same person, “I would’ve seen a person like that,” Wendy stated.

“Wendy, Alicia is as two-faced as they come. Most saw exactly what Alicia wanted them to see. It took time for most to see just what she really was, a cold-hearted bitch,” Sutton said with a flat expression. “You wouldn’t believe how much she hated me,” he said, and that got a reaction from Wendy. “Yes, she hated me and the older I got, the more she hated me. I always did well in school, graduated high school and college as valedictorian. I became one of the best and most famous viral researchers in the world and Alicia couldn’t get me to stay under her thumb.”

Turning away as she shook her head, “I would’ve seen a person like that,” Wendy mumbled.

“You weren’t looking,” Sutton told her. “I think if you would’ve ever taken Arthur’s side over Alicia, she would have shown you her true face, but that wasn’t going to happen.”

Scoffing, “You say that, like, Alicia liked Arthur?” Wendy doubted.

“That’s how her husband number two and three acted, they didn’t like her,” Sutton replied and Wendy’s face turned red. “I will say, Arthur hates her while they just didn’t like Alicia. Arthur is unique. He can see past the front most people put up to how they really are.”

Locking eyes with Sutton, “Are you trying to tell me Alicia wanted Arthur?” Wendy asked.

Nodding once, “I know she did, but I have confirmed it in her diaries,” Sutton answered. “When I say she’s cold-hearted, I’m not exaggerating. Husbands number two and three, once she married them, Alicia put them through a living hell for not fawning over her the instant they saw her. Just to let you know, she knew what she was doing to both of them. She waited, biding her time as she tormented them and when they found another woman, Alicia had private eyes with cameras waiting. Alicia’s not stupid and knew that’s what would happen. In her eyes, she had won. They had done what she wanted, and Alicia got money from both. Lots of money.”

Wendy just stared at Sutton in disbelief. “Wendy, the only reason Alicia moved onto that property was to make sure I never did,” Sutton told her. “And you ask, ‘Can I believe she’s part of the Heavenly Disciples?’ It’s not even a stretch of my imagination. I know she is. This is a dream coming true for her. Others have to listen to her and do her bidding.”

“But there are others over her,” Wendy pointed out.

Giving a long sigh, “Wendy, you haven’t been listening. Alicia never wants to be ‘the center of attention’. She wants to be right there close to it because she doesn’t have to worry about everything and is never the one in charge, for that reason alone. If she was the one in charge, Alicia couldn’t run to tell someone in charge to get them to fix something,” Sutton told her. “I want you to think. Everything you did at church and for the community around here, was Alicia a part of that before or after you?”

Several instances popped in Wendy’s mind and her eyes got wide. “Yes, it was always after you started that Alicia followed but she always wanted to be noticed, and was. Even you took up for her to Arthur. Granted, you never reined him in. At least, not in front of Alicia or others,” Sutton said and a smile sprang up on his face. “I’m going to tell you something. Arthur alone, almost made me visit the area many times, and I had never even met him or seen a picture because he was blocked on all of Alicia’s pages. Alicia would rant each and every time we talked about Arthur, and how he had yelled at her and she couldn’t get him to like her. I wanted to come and meet him, but I still didn’t want to be near my sister.”

Panting hard as her mind continued to fill in the blanks proving that Sutton was right, “Why did you even come here then, if you hate her that much?” Wendy asked.

Shrugging, “To be honest I figured she was dead, and it was the only place I could think of going that was secluded,” Sutton told her. “Between you and me, I was going to kill the bitch if she was still alive when I got here,” he stated bluntly.

Hearing no doubt or remorse in Sutton’s declaration, “Whoa,” Wendy gasped. “Did you bring Alicia’s diaries here?” she asked.

Shaking his head, “No, I left them at her house,” Sutton answered.

‘Burrrrrrrrrrr’ sounded to the west, and Sutton turned to see a string of red tracers shooting up in the sky. “I’m in awe of your husband,” Sutton smirked. “He taught Skannish and me how to hotwire a car and thinks of things most don’t. After meeting him, I really wish I had come here before the outbreak just to have met him earlier.”

With so many thoughts in her mind, Wendy just nodded as she reached up and patted Sutton’s face. Hearing how bad she’d been duped, Wendy was questioning everyone and everything in her life. “He likes you,” was all Wendy could really say and be honest about. Not saying anything else, she turned and walked off in a stupor.

“I’m glad you asked, Wendy,” Sutton called out to her as she walked off. “I have wanted to tell you but I have learned, don’t try to tell others about Alicia until they ask because none will believe me.” Seeing Wendy never pause her slow gait, Sutton held his tongue. He was about to explain why Alicia had just started working out because in the diaries he knew Alicia had been about to ask Wendy if she could start coming over to work out with her.

The fact Alicia had put on over a hundred pounds in the last two years, on purpose, as part of her plan to bond tighter with Wendy, Sutton didn’t feel Wendy was ready to know. Alicia was the definition of conniving and deceitful. Alicia would plan out schemes years in advance to get what she wanted, and Sutton was just glad Wendy at long last had finally asked the question. Until the weight gain, Alicia had the best body money could buy and had used it to her advantage.

Crossing the moat and heading through the gate, Wendy walked down the slope to the barn. Kit and Kat bounded out through the open gate following her. Once they reached Wendy both labs bounced around in excitement, wondering where Wendy was going. Reaching out, Wendy patted both dogs. “Hey, guys,” she droned, lost in thought.

Walking past the barn and crossing the fields she headed toward the old house as her mind fired away on random events over the past years, confirming what Sutton had told her. “Wendy!” she heard behind her. Spinning around, she saw Samantha jogging down the driveway from the house.

“Something wrong?” Wendy asked before Samantha skidded to a stop.

Barely winded from the mile jog, Samantha shook her head. “No, I came outside earlier and saw you talking to Sutton. When he came inside, I saw you on the monitor at the barn and noticed you looked upset,” she answered.

Not even making an attempt to disagree with that, Wendy gave a shrug. “Sorry, I just found out Arthur’s been right about Alicia all along.”

“Shit,” Samantha scoffed. “I love Arthur, you know that, right?” she asked and Wendy nodded. “Wendy, after getting to know Arthur, I’m amazed he let any of us adults in. I’m still trying to figure out how in the fuck my husband got past Arthur’s defenses. Arthur’s not anti-social, but he damn sure doesn’t let many in. Very few of those he does let in, Arthur still doesn’t give them his trust. Jason had it all that first day.”

Wondering where this was going, Wendy gave a slight nod and Samantha continued. “It took a while, but I figured out LL isn’t included in that. The only way I can put it is, Arthur just worships LL because he saved you. I honestly  think if LL just sat on his ass, Arthur would walk around just daring anyone to say something.”

Now nodding vigorously, “Oh, you’re so right on that, but LL would never do it,” Wendy replied still wondering where this conversation was going.

Mistaking the expression of confusion on Wendy’s face for distraught, Samantha stepped up and put a hand on Wendy’s shoulder. “I know, Wendy. LL’s still trying to get Arthur to blow it off, but I don’t see that happening,” Samantha said forcing a grin. “Wendy, what I’m getting at, Arthur expects the worst of people from the very beginning...” Samantha paused, “Except for Jason,” she amended. “People have to prove they’re better than what Arthur thought of them. Talking to you over these months lets me know very few ever move up in Arthur’s mind. Wendy, you aren’t like Arthur. Granted, you don’t think everyone is your friend, but you approach each person with a blank slate.”

Not able to argue Wendy relaxed with a little smile, and that made Samantha feel better as she continued. “Listening to you talk about Alicia and Arthur talk about Alicia, I would have trouble thinking they were the same person but,” Samantha paused raising her other hand up and pointing one finger to the sky. “That goes for every person from yours and Arthur’s past, not just Alicia.”

“Samantha, I just found out Alicia really is a bitch! She wasn’t acting ditzy. Well, she was, but it was on purpose so those around her would let their guard down,” Wendy cried out and Samantha dropped her hand pointing to the sky back to her side.

Now, it was Samantha nodding. “Oh believe me, I can see that,” she said and Wendy gave a startle. “Wendy, I’ve seen and heard Alicia, remember? I listened to her sermons and got close enough several times to listen to her talk to people in her quarters. That bitch is conniving to a degree I never knew existed.”

Throwing her hands up, “I should’ve seen it!” Wendy shouted.

Grabbing Wendy’s shoulders, “Wendy, if I had met Alicia in a normal setting, she would’ve fooled me,” Samantha confessed and Wendy scoffed. “I’m serious,” Samantha told her. “Alicia is extremely intelligent and uses that bimbo attitude to lull people into her confidence. Only because of how Arthur views all people is the only reason she never fooled him.”

“Alicia wouldn’t have fooled you,” Wendy challenged.

Dropping her hands from Wendy’s shoulders and giving a shrug, “I’m being honest when I say if I had met Alicia before this, I think she would’ve,” Samantha said. “Wendy, I’ve known women like Alicia, granted, none were nearly as intelligent, and they fooled me for a time.”

Cocking her head to the side, “Samantha, did you talk to Sutton about Alicia?” Wendy asked.

“Yes,” Samantha answered. “I asked his ass that week after Jason saw her in the picture and no, I wasn’t going to talk to you about her until YOU talked to Sutton about Alicia. Sorry, but I didn’t want you mad at me.”

“I wouldn’t get mad at you,” Wendy chuckled, but stopped seeing the deadpan expression on Samantha’s face.

Giving a nod, “Then you’re a better person than me,” Samantha replied. “Ask Jason about Pam. She was a conniving bitch we knew. Granted, not to the degree Alicia was, but she fooled my fucking ass and even Jason’s ass. I will say, around three months after we met Pam, Jason saw through her but I didn’t. Oh, when Jason started telling me what type of person Pam was? Holy shit, did a fight start and yes, I’m the one who started it. I couldn’t, no, let me rephrase. I wouldn’t admit I could be that blind, but in a year I saw Pam for what she was, a bitch who was trying to fuck my husband.”

Feeling sorry for the fact Samantha had gotten duped, Wendy felt worse because she’d never seen through Alicia with her own eyes. “Um, just how did you, ah, get your eyes opened?” Wendy asked hesitantly.

Anger washed over Samantha’s face and Wendy regretted her question. “Jason proved his point,” she growled out. “A year before we moved to Birmingham, we went to a party one of the doctors Jason worked with was throwing. An hour into the party, Pam pulled Jason outside and he used his phone to record Pam talking dirty while she pulled him around the swimming pool toward the pool house. That bitch was telling him what she was about to do to him and let me tell you, that whore must have watched every porn movie on the planet because she was leaving nothing out!”

Hearing the tale, Wendy’s mouth fell open as Samantha took a deep breath to calm down from the memory. “Well, Jason proved he was mine and mine alone because he told Pam he needed to check on something and he would meet her in the pool house. Jason came back inside, pulled me away from some friends, and played the recording on his phone,” Samantha snarled. “I am proud of Jason because he didn’t rub it in my face right then that he was the one who’d been right about Pam. I asked where that whore was and he told me the pool house. I kicked my high heels off and stormed my ass outside.”

A look of utter shock laced with hate filled Samantha’s face before she continued. “Wendy, I opened that door and she called out, ‘Come get some real pussy, Jason’.” Samantha paused as she trembled in rage before continuing. “Pam was butt-ass-naked with her legs spread wide and her fingers...” Samantha paused as the shock left and her face was only filled with hate. “Let’s just say, Pam was being slutty and leave it at that,” Samantha offered, and Wendy nodded.

“Oh, I jumped on that bitch. I would give anything if I would’ve known then just what you’ve taught me now. But I still stomped that naked whore’s ass!” Samantha shouted.

Cocking her head to the side, “I would’ve killed the bitch,” Wendy replied.

“I was trying!” Samantha cried out. “But Pam’s date came over and tried to pull me off when I was strangling the slut. Needless to say, Jason broke his arm and once again, threw my ass over his shoulder and took off running because four people had called 911. As we were leaving the neighborhood, we passed the cops. We stayed in a motel and called a lawyer the next morning, then went down to the police station.”

“Pam didn’t file charges?”

“She tried, but the recording Jason had made somehow ended up on the internet,” Samantha said as the hate finally left her face and a grin appeared. “Let me just say, Pam was very graphic and clearly stated she knew Jason was married. The DA refused to file criminal charges, calling it mutual combat and a civil matter. Pam tried to sue, but the judge threw it out after the evidence was presented.”

“I’m glad because that could’ve come back to hurt you and Jason. State boards are full of assholes, I’ve come to find out,” Wendy said, and Samantha nodded. “I’ve had to deal with a few grand juries, but never had to appear before one.”

“Eww, that sounds like some stories I’d like to hear,” Samantha crooned.

Looking off, “Since the old world is dead, I don’t think we can get in trouble. I should be able to, but I have to make sure Arthur agrees. His first rule, ‘Nobody knows it was you unless you talk’,” Wendy replied and Samantha wasn’t shocked. She knew Wendy had hidden things in her past like most did, but Samantha was certain some of what Wendy had hidden was criminal. Not that Wendy ever mentioned anything, but just some instances she’d heard during interactions between Wendy and Arthur.

Lightly punching Wendy in the arm, “I hate to admit it, but Jason and I have never done anything that bad. But I’ll tell you what we’ve done, even if Arthur doesn’t want you to,” Samantha offered.

Getting an idea, Wendy turned to look Samantha in the eyes. “I need to make a trip. You want to come?”

Shrugging, “Sure, where’re we going?” Samantha asked.

“Alicia’s,” Wendy answered, and Samantha raised her eyebrows. “Alicia kept diaries. From what Sutton told me, they’re more like tally logs on her plans as well as diaries.”

Nodding while reaching out and grabbing Wendy’s hand, “Sure, I’ll go, but Wendy, you aren’t going to Mississippi to get the bitch. That’s suicide and I’ll die trying to stop you,” Samantha warned.

Scoffing, “That bitch isn’t worth that much effort,” Wendy replied. “But!” she barked, holding up her other hand, “If all that I’ve found out is true, that bitch shows up around here, I’ll dismember her body with dental floss while she’s still alive.”

Images filled Samantha’s mind with the threat, making her body go numb and her hand slipped out of Wendy’s. “Fuck, I thought I could get medieval,” she gasped.

Grabbing Samantha’s hand, Wendy led her over to the old house to get on one of the electric carts. “Let’s get geared up and take a road trip,” Wendy declared, feeling much better.

“Want to ask the boys and make it a small double date?” Samantha grinned clasping Wendy’s hand.

Shaking her head, “Nope,” Wendy responded. “I don’t think Arthur would rub it in, at least not right now. But if he did, the fight would be....” Wendy paused and just couldn’t come up with a description so she just left it alone. “The only time Arthur rubs it in my face when I’m wrong is when he’s mad, and usually I’m the only one who can make him mad. So, for the sake of our relationship, I don’t want him coming.”

To the west, ‘Burrrr’ sounded again as another test shot fired off. Reaching a golf cart, Samantha let Wendy’s hand go and climbed in the passenger side. “I wish I could keep a clear head like you when I get pissed,” Samantha stated. “We won’t have to go near the impact area of where they’re shooting, will we?”

Dropping into the driver’s seat and turning on the key, “Shit,” Wendy huffed, pulling away from the old house. “When I’m pissed, I don’t think, that’s the problem. I’m only mad now, but I’m sure when I read some of those diaries I’m going to get pissed. No, Alicia’s house is west and the impact area where they’re shooting is southeast.”

Holding on as Wendy sped up the driveway, “Um, we aren’t staying there until you read them all, are we?” Samantha asked hesitantly.

“Hell no!” Wendy cried out as they reached the drawbridge. “From what Sutton said, I only need to read the last few pages to find out if I misjudged Alicia that badly.”

“You’re not taking the diaries?” Samantha asked.

Coming to a stop in the parking area, “If I find out I was wrong about Alicia, I’m taking all of them,” Wendy said turning the key off. “I would burn the house down, but that would only let Alicia know someone was pissed.”

Both headed inside, grabbed gear, and Wendy notified the Tomb where they were going and that they’d be in radio range the entire time. When they reached the back door to leave, they found Jo Ann and Sally geared up and waiting. Wendy fought not to grin at the twins with their fedoras pulled low, but the pigtails sticking out each side of their head under the brim was making that difficult.

“Where are we going?” Jo Ann asked with a grin, but there was a little challenge in her voice.

Hearing the challenge, Wendy’s grin turned into a smile. “Just making a short trip,” Wendy offered, wanting one of the twins to state the obvious.

“We can go, right?” Sally asked in a steady voice but was excited. Besides Arthur’s mini-mes, the twins had more time outside the fence than some of the adults.

Letting her rifle hang off her shoulder, Wendy reached out caressing each one’s cheek. “If you want, but remember, if you don’t listen, we turn around and come home. Trust me when I say, today would not be a good day for that.”

Simultaneously, Sally and Jo Ann’s face went to shock. “When haven’t we listened?” they asked in unison.

“Both of you have always listened, I just like reminding you,” Wendy told them. She was glad the other two of her mini-mes were still in daycare. All four of Samantha’s mini-mes were in daycare with the oldest six but Wendy had to admit, she liked the twins going outside with her when they could. The ranch offered safety but it could be lost, and they needed to have experience.

Putting her fedora on, “But I’m driving,” Wendy said dropping the grin, and the twins’ shoulders slumped in sadness. “Girls, you’ve driven cement trucks, dump trucks, excavators, bulldozers, semi-trucks, and other equipment. I know you can drive, but I want to get there fast but safely.”

Both perked up and spoke together. “Can we take turns driving on the way back?”

Moving past the twins and opening the door, “We’ll see,” Wendy offered. “Kit, Kat,” she called out and the labs bounced around the corner of the house.

Following Wendy to the cart to drive down to the field where the vehicles were kept, “Why do you take Kit and Kat?” Sally asked, climbing in the backseat. “They can’t attack like Donald and Daisy.”

Turning the key on, “I’m certain if something tried to attack us, they would fight it but more importantly, they’ll let me know if something’s around,” Wendy said backing out.

With her AR resting across her lap, Samantha nodded. “Yes, they’re very good at letting you know if something’s close. You want me to get Adam and Eve?”

Speeding along the driveway, Wendy shook her head. “No,” she answered. “Going to the other side of the ranch would add twenty minutes. I want to get to Alicia’s and get back.” Hearing the tremble of anger in Wendy’s voice, Samantha made a vow if Alicia did ever show up, she would personally tie the bitch up and gift wrap her for Wendy.

Chapter Thirteen

Evil Uncovered

It was late in the afternoon when Arthur and Jason climbed out of the front Suburban. His and Jason’s mini-mes got out of the back followed by the dogs. “Pops,” Kirk called out as he closed his door. “You aren’t mad at Momma for leaving the ranch, are you?”

Tilting his hat back and giving a chuckle, “No,” Arthur answered. “She’s a big girl and even knows how to tie her own shoes.”

The other mini-mes busted out laughing as Cody turned to Jason about to speak, but Jason just held up his hand stopping him. “Why in the hell would I be mad at Samantha?” Jason asked looking at Cody and then over to his twin Kyle. “They notified the Tomb they were leaving, who was with them, where they were going, and what radio frequency they were on.”

“Told you,” Shawn mumbled to Kirk, then he turned to Arthur. “I tried telling him the only reason you told Momma that she couldn’t go out when she first got back was because she wasn’t physically ready yet after being sick.” Turning to Jason and shrugging, “I have no idea why in the hell Cody and Kyle asked that about Samantha,” Shawn confessed.

Cody and Kyle turned to Shawn. “Pops and Jason don’t like just a group of girls going out because boys might go after them,” they stated.

Amazed they’d spoken in unison but not surprised, Arthur nodded as he headed toward the rows of electric carts. “Ye-,” he started as his eyes fell on his newest mini-me, Shelia, and the only girl. “You hang with us, so don’t be offended,” he blurted out, then turned to look over his shoulder at the others. “That is true. But do you know why we don’t want groups of only girls going out?”

“Yes,” Cody and Kyle mumbled while Shawn and Kirk nodded.

Almost spitting out ‘men’ he paused, “Guys,” Arthur said, remembering to be politely correct because of Shelia. Be damned if he was calling it politically correct. “Wendy and Samantha can fight better than many of the others here, so why should we be worried?”

“Um,” Kirk stammered. “You say Momma’s jaybird ass overloads her alligator mouth.”

Stopping at his cart, Arthur chuckled. “Kirk, I was referring to me. Hand-to-hand, I’m certain I’m the only one at the ranch who can take Wendy.”

When they heard that, Cody and Kyle whipped their eyes to Jason. “She can kick my ass,” Jason declared with no shame. “Boys, I studied hand-to-hand for three years. Wendy has been studying over two decades. I didn’t get back in shape until three years ago. Wendy has always been in shape. The only thing I can say for certain, I could’ve taken her in hand-to-hand for a few months after she recovered.”

Arthur dropped in the passenger seat of his cart with his mini-mes and Jason climbed in his cart with Cody and Kyle.  Shelia got behind the steering wheel and glanced around to make sure everyone was ready and took off. With Cody driving Jason’s cart and following, the four dogs sprinted ahead.

Reaching the house, they parked in the line of carts and found Donald, Daisy, Adam, and Eve standing rigid and staring at the back porch. “I so hate those fucking cats,” Arthur mumbled.

Climbing out slowly, “Where are they?” Shelia asked gripping her rifle tight.

“On the porch somewhere,” Arthur sighed as he got out. “Kong or Medusa are the only things that can stop all four dogs.”

As he got out, Jason froze. “Whoa!” he gasped. Cody and Kyle jumped out scanning around and finally turned to where Jason was looking.

“Holy shit!” Cody cried out and everyone turned.

At the back of the porch, where supplies were stacked to enclose the porch and put in a walkway to the old gym that was being turned into a daycare, Kong and Medusa were both lounging on a stack of lumber. Along the edge of the porch laid in a neat row were rats, big rats.

Counting fifteen rats, Arthur shrugged, “Okay, sometimes you two do some good, but I still hate you.”

Hearing Arthur shift his AR, Jason didn’t even look over. “Arthur, you shoot those cats and you’ll have Wendy and Samantha all over your ass,” Jason warned. “Man code rules say I can’t take your side.”

Letting his AR go to hang under his arm, “How could you let Wendy get Samantha to like those cats?!” Arthur shouted over at Jason as he got a small tote bag out of his buggy.

“Let!?” Jason cried out but didn’t turn toward Arthur. “Let,” he said again in a normal tone. “Bitch, there’s no Let involved in one’s wife, as you well know,” Jason said strolling for the back door with Cody and Kyle following. “I’ve learned one thing. If I didn’t want Samantha to do something and was adamant about it, you can damn sure believe she was going to try it. That’s how I got her to shoot shotguns, and I should’ve done that with hand-to-hand but didn’t.”

Watching Jason heading for the backdoor and still not looking over at him, “Jason, those cats were rubbing on Samantha’s legs yesterday. The only other person on the planet Kong has done that to is Wendy. I know because Kong has been here since he was a kitten,” Arthur cried out. “I’m certain the same is true about Medusa, but I can’t say for certain.”

Finally stopping and turning around, “If my wife wants to befriend Your,” he stressed very hard, “Wife’s feline bitches, then you must think I’m stupid if you want me to tell Samantha otherwise.”

Hearing it put that way, Arthur looked off slowly nodding his head. “Oh,” he mumbled, “my bad.”

“Arthur, I hate those two damn cats as much as you, but I have no desire to become both Wendy’s and now my wife’s bitch if I hurt them. I secretly hope they’ll bite Samantha so she’ll leave them alone.”

Cody and Kyle both snickered and Jason rotated his head to the boys who’d stopped behind him. “That’s not going to happen,” Kyle chuckled. “Last week Kong growled at Miss Samantha as we were going to the textile barn, so Momma took Miss Samantha to the shop and made her dress up in the welding leather. After she was dressed, Momma picked up Kong and told Miss Samantha how to make him her bitch.”

“Yeah, and Momma wasn’t wearing anything leather when she picked up Kong!” Cody laughed out in awe. “When Momma handed Kong over to Miss Samantha, he went crazy. It took Miss Samantha like five minutes for her to get a tight hold on him, then they went swimming. After half an hour, Kong just started loving all over Miss Samantha.”

Looking at his mini-mes with utter distress, “Where the hell was I?” Jason asked.

“You and Pops were scouting,” Cody answered.

“Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”

Shrugging, “We thought Miss Samantha would tell you,” Kyle reasoned. “If we had made Kong our bitch, we would’ve told you.”

Pointing over at the cats, “The shop is back there and you know where we keep the leather welding suits. Go get some on and make them your bitches,” Jason offered.

Both shook their heads violently, “Screw that!” they both cried out.

“Without Momma here?!” Cody shouted. “Miss Samantha didn’t even have to do that to Medusa! Momma just picked Medusa up when Miss Samantha was getting out of the pool after showing Kong he was her bitch too, and Medusa just laid in Miss Samantha’s wet arms and meowed. She wanted no part in pissing off Momma.”

Spinning on his heel, “I’m going to eat leftovers!” Jason declared heading for the door. “You coming?!” he shouted over his shoulder at Arthur.

“Yeah, I’m going to get some stuff from the shop first!” he called out as Jason reached the door. When Jason and the boys were inside he turned to Shawn, Kirk, and Shelia. “Did you know about that?”

“What? Momma showing Miss Samantha how to make Kong her bitch?” Shawn asked and Arthur nodded. “Yes,” Shawn answered.

Tilting his head back to look at the sky, “I’ve proven I love my wife with all my heart, Lord. You don’t have to send tests to assess how much I love her and that’s what those cats are, tests,” Arthur sighed and dropped his eyes to his mini-mes. “Go on in, I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Pops,” Shawn said. “Are we going with you and Jason scouting any of the kid gangs this week?”

Reaching over and grabbing Shawn’s shoulder, “You sure you want to come? If you do go, I’m sorry, but you’ll only be guarding our ride,” he answered. “That’s a very important job because when we’ve gone out before, I’ve just armed it to blow up if anyone messes with it. Granted, that would suck because we’d be stuck on foot until someone here could come and get us.”

Glancing at the other two, Shawn looked Arthur in the eyes, “That’s an important job and we want to go.”

“Then let me talk to Jason but tonight, go to bed early and get your gear ready,” Arthur chuckled.

“Pops,” Shelia called out meekly. “Why isn’t Momma going out to scout with you?”

Turning to look at Shelia as he crossed his arms over his chest, “You want the bullshit answer or the truth?” Arthur asked.

Giving a startle at the question, “The truth,” Shelia answered.

“Wendy’s good enough on stealth but doesn’t know how to avoid or look for traps, and she gets sidetracked very easily. When I say ‘sidetracked’, I mean if something pisses her off, Wendy’s first instinct is to kill it, and I love her with all my heart but once my wife opens up a can of ‘whoop ass’, she doesn’t know how to stop killing. And trust me; some of these groups of kids are so large all she could do would be to die fighting.”

None of them had any trouble believing a word Arthur told them, and they all knew Pops was toning down Momma’s reaction when she got pissed.

Out of curiosity, “What was the bullshit answer?” Shawn asked.

“It’s not really bullshit,” Arthur corrected. “Wendy’s never seen scouting and learning a target as being ‘bad’, but that’s the most important part. She likes getting hands-on, so that’s why on Date Nights I just take out gangs I’ve, well, now Jason and I’ve scouted. She doesn’t have to scout, she just has to kick ass. Can she scout? Yes. If she got control of that wild hair that crawls up her ass when she gets pissed off.”

“Momma has scouted with you and taken others before,” Shelia objected.

Shaking his head, “Wendy has patrolled with me and led patrols around, scouting the area. Wendy has observed targets with me, but not scouted them,” Arthur explained and saw Shelia was confused. “Shelia, ‘scouting a target’ means getting close and going inside buildings. Learning where traps are, how many are there, where guards are, and things like that, but from the inside. ‘Observing a target’ is doing all that from the outside.”

Understanding, “Jason can move around like you already?” Shelia squealed out in shock.

“Not yet,” Arthur replied. “Jason covers me while I move close and get inside. He’ll know when he’s ready.”

Holding his chin high, “I won’t be good enough to do that for a few years, Pops. Sorry,” Shawn stated with no hint of shame.

Squeezing Shawn’s shoulder before letting go, “I figure in a year or two, you’ll be good enough to try,” Arthur stated. “Head on in, I’ll be there in a bit.” They headed inside as Arthur walked off to the shop.

When they walked in the dining hall they saw Jason had stripped off his gear and was holding Duke. “Damn, that kid’s big,” Shawn chuckled as Jason held Duke up in the air making him laugh.

After putting his AR in a gun rack and hanging up his vest, Shawn turned around and saw Wendy and Samantha sitting at the table reading books. On each side of them were stacks of books. Moving closer, Shawn saw the text was handwritten and realized the ‘books’ were bound notebooks. Getting excited, “Are those some of Pops’ notebooks?” he asked. Arthur had bound notebooks like that. Some he had put together for Wendy and Joseph on how to do cool things like steal cars or break into safes. Others were more like manuals that explained how to operate things he’d built.

Never lifting her eyes from the book, “No,” Wendy growled.

Never taking her eyes from the notebook she was reading, Samantha reached over and patted Wendy’s arm. “Relax,” Samantha told her.

It was very clear Wendy was mad. Having doubts if he wanted to sit at the same table, Shawn was about to move off when Jo Ann came over and pulled his arm getting Shawn to lean down. When Shawn was lower, Jo Ann whispered in his ear. “Those are diaries from Sutton’s sister, Alicia,” Jo Ann told him. “I don’t know what’s in them, but Momma doesn’t like it. After Momma broke into the safe and read the last few pages of one, she went around the house breaking stuff. Then went outside and shot up Alicia’s car.”

Like everyone at the ranch Shawn knew damn well who Alicia was, how close Wendy had been to her, and that Alicia was now a ruling member of the Heavenly Disciples. “Oh, shit,” Shawn gasped, really hoping Pops would hurry the hell up.

When Jo Ann let his arm go Shawn stood back up as Jo Ann headed back to Sally who was sitting at the next table behind Wendy. The fact Wendy’s mini-mes weren’t at the same table like they usually were made Shawn look around for a place to sit as Joseph and Sarah walked in the dining hall.

Stopping at the door, “Joseph, she doesn’t need to read them,” Sarah whispered.

“Be fucking damned if I ask her to stop,” Joseph scoffed.

“Joseph, she wanted you to get in a plane and bomb Alicia’s house,” Sarah whispered harshly.

“And if Samantha hadn’t changed Mom’s mind, I would’ve loaded up, taken off, and blown that damn house up,” Joseph clarified just where his loyalty and fear rested. Grabbing Sarah’s hand, he pulled her toward the table, and it was very clear he was pulling Sarah not guiding her. Not really wanting to sit at the same table with Wendy, Sarah finally stopped trying to pull away when they stopped directly across from Wendy and Samantha. Sarah’s reasoning was Wendy was in predator mode, and predators always gave chase out of reflex to anything that looked like it was attempting to flee.

When Joseph dropped in his chair and shoved Sarah in hers, Jason finally sat down holding Duke. Leaning over, Jason read a page from the book Samantha had in front of her. It only took him a few lines to understand what Samantha was reading. Finishing a page Jason shook his head. “That bitch is cold,” he stated.

“I’m going to take that whore apart with fingernail clippers,” Wendy snarled, never taking her eyes from the book as she flipped the page.

Making plans to bring popcorn and a video camera to watch that, Jason turned to look at the side of Samantha’s face and could tell she was angry. “May I ask why you’re reading them?” he asked, then quickly added, “No, scratch that. I know, and it was dumb of me to ask.” As long as Samantha wasn’t angry with him, Jason didn’t care.

Flipping to a new page, Samantha patted his arm. “I’m so proud of you,” she told him.

Sitting at the other end of the table playing with the toddler in his lap, LL laughed. “Don’t know what’s in those books, but it’s got both riled up and ready to stomp ass.”

About to reply but catching movement at the door, Jason turned to see Arthur walk in carrying two duffle bags. Only when Arthur had shown up did Shawn and the other mini-mes move down the table and sit at their normal spots. Stopping at the head of the table, Arthur put the duffle bags down and unzipped them. Reaching in, he pulled out two Mossberg 500 Compact Cruiser shotguns and laid them on the table. End to end, each was only seventeen inches long, and Arthur pulled two more out before laying them on the table.

He continued pulling out other brands of shotguns and putting them on the table as LL, Jason, and others around the room got up and came over to look. All the guns he put on the table were shotguns. Some were pumps, others lever action, double-barrels, and the rest were automatics. The only thing in common was they were all short. What many people called, ‘sawed-off’ shotguns.

Now excited, Shawn got up and moved down to watch as the stack grew. Then Arthur pulled out weird-looking shotguns that Shawn had never seen before. “What are those?” he asked as Arthur laid them on the table and grabbed two more just like them from the duffle bags. Shawn glanced down at the bags and saw they were now both empty.

“Shotguns I made,” Arthur replied. Since being at the ranch, Shawn had been around and shot many different guns. The four guns resembled an HK MP7 in appearance. But the barrel was much bigger, the grip was further back, and a magazine was in front of the grip. The collapsible stock seemed much more heavy-duty than the one on the MP7, as was the fold-down front grip. It was very clear from the size of the magazine that it held big bullets. Shawn shook his head and pointed at the four black compact shotguns.

“I know you made these, but what are those? I’ve never seen shotguns like those, even on video games.”

Nodding, “Shotguns I made. I named them Taz,” Arthur repeated. “Most of these we collected, but some were mine that I altered.”

With a huge grin because he loved guns, Jason was about to reach for one of the Tazs but stopped. There were over twenty shotguns on the table, but Jason instantly knew five had belonged to Arthur. Why? Because Jason found where Arthur had put the other cheap-ass holographic sights he’d bought, like the one that used to be mounted on Wendy’s pistol. Oh, he’d looked for them, but Arthur had shit stored everywhere and Jason had never come out and asked Arthur where they were.

“Arthur,” Jason whined, picking up a lever-action shotgun like the one Arthur carried in his Blazer. He pointed at the sight, “Stop with the shit!” Jason cried out.

Shrugging, “Sorry, but I mounted those the day I got them. The one I put on Wendy’s XD was put up after you did your work on it, she asked me to put the red dot on,” Arthur replied.

Dropping the lever-action, Jason snatched up a Taz. “Arthur, this is a work of art on the same level as Michelangelo. I’m comparing this to Michelangelo’s masterpiece statue of David,” Jason moaned, then pointed at the cheap-ass sight. “And you put on a turd! A lump of cold shit on a fine work of art! Do you know how embarrassed I would be if Chad or any of his group were here to see this?! I mean, look at the craftsmanship and the lines! I thought your Damascus 1911s were your masterpieces, but I was wrong. I’d be willing to have your baby to create something like this!”

Caught off guard and with his mouth hanging open, “Um, I’m sorry?” Arthur got out, and fought the urge to tell Jason, a board-certified emergency physician, about the birds and the bees.

Pulling the Taz shotgun to his chest and studying it, “Arthur, you’re a master craftsman to create a work of art like this. Only to degrade it is beneath you,” Jason said in a breaking voice and Arthur was just speechless.

“Babe,” Samantha called out, but didn’t look up from her book. “Chill out, it’s a gun. A neat and very cool gun, but still a gun. You don’t compare a gun to the statue of David, I don’t care how cool it is.”

Prying his eyes off the shotgun and turning them to Samantha, “You want to sleep the fuck outside?!” Jason barked. “This is a work of art!”

Slowly, Samantha lifted her gaze from the book up to Jason’s eyes. “And who the fuck will make me sleep outside?” Samantha asked, getting to her feet.

Putting the shotgun on the table very gently to show his respect for the weapon, “I fucking will,” Jason told her. “How many fucking museums have you dragged my ass to? Any motherfucker who spends millions on a painting is a stupid asshole! At least with a statue, I can hang shit on it! But I went and agreed with you that some of the paintings were nice but very few, like, two were what I’d call true works of art.”

Looking into Jason’s eyes, Samantha knew this wasn’t going to be a fight. It was going to be a war, and a big one. Jason wasn’t going to give in, and she wasn’t in the mood, nor did she think the topic was truly worthy of a fight between them. Throwing up her hands, “Fine,” she sighed out, and dropped back in her chair and continued reading.

Shifting the toddler he was holding to his left hip, LL reached down and picked up another Taz. “It does look cool, but I think shooting it would suck,” LL stated. Seeing the mood Jason was in, LL didn’t even address or react to the ‘baby making’ comment.

“It’s much better than the others. The recoil buffer takes a lot away,” Arthur offered, but was looking at Jason. “I’m sorry I left those red dots on,” he said hoping Jason would forgive him. “You can put any sight on them and get the first choice.”

Liking that, Jason gave a nod. “Deal. But I want you to show me where all your guns are. I mean, even the ones you still have buried,” Jason said. “I don’t want anyone to see something like this again.”

“Okay, but we were going to scout tomorrow.”

Shaking his head, “Nope,” Jason challenged. “This is more important. Fuck those little Lords of the Flies. I’ll skull drag all those fuckers.”

“We’ll start digging them up right after breakfast,” Arthur offered, and that seemed to cheer Jason up.

“Pops?” Shawn asked and Arthur turned to see Shawn picking up a double-barrel shotgun that was only a foot long. “Why did you bring these out?”

Picking up a Taz, “I want those who go out, who can shoot one of these, to carry one. Just in case a puddy tat, bear, or something big gets too close,” Arthur replied.

Putting the Taz down, LL grabbed one of the small pump shotguns. “I’ll take this one,” he said with a grin and headed back to his chair.

Since it seemed Jason had already decided on the Taz he’d first picked up, Arthur didn’t object. “Which one are you getting, Pops?” Shawn asked looking at the other three Tazs.

“I already have a Taz. It’s the first one I built.”

Quickly, Shawn picked up one of the other Tazs. Joseph grabbed another but pushed the last one over in front of Wendy, who was still reading. Looking at the guns and then at Samantha, Jason finally pushed a small pump shotgun over to her spot. Then Arthur called out names of bigger kids and some adults to choose a gun. Everyone in the hall fought not to snicker because not once did Arthur hesitate or have to look at a name tag, he’d just spouted off the names.

“I’ll have to work with Samantha on shooting it,” Jason said picking up his Taz and moving back to his seat as Little Momma led the daycare group in.

Hearing boots Arthur looked up and fought not to cry out in joy, seeing Robin wearing a t-shirt but nothing else with her pink boots. Picking her up, Arthur sat Robin on his hip as Chloe carried Nicole over. “Hey, blue eyes,” Arthur cooed, taking Nicole in his other arm.

Only then did Arthur finally turn to look at Wendy who was still reading. He hadn’t been told, but had a very good idea of where Wendy had gone and what she was reading. “Babe, you know now, so just close them for the time being,” Arthur advised, and Wendy flipped him off but never took her eyes from the pages.

“Pops,” Shawn called out from down the table. “Did you have trouble killing Rudy?” he asked since everyone knew that’d been the first person killed by Arthur defending the ranch.

“No. Why?” Arthur chuckled out.

“I’ve heard the first time you kill is the hardest,” Shawn answered, and the hall grew quiet since someone was asking Pops questions.

Grinning, “Shawn, Rudy wasn’t my first and I didn’t feel any kind of remorse on my first. In fact, I felt relief and joy. I made the decision to kill on each and was fine with it, otherwise they wouldn’t have died,” Arthur said. “If you get technical, Rudy wasn’t even the first I’ve killed in self-defense.”

Shawn’s mouth fell open as did many others hearing the statement. “How many have you killed?” he blurted out then amended, “Well, before Rudy?”

Finally, Wendy lifted her eyes from the book and turned to Arthur. “I wanted to talk to you about that,” she said, then stretched out with a groan. “I don’t think we have to worry anymore about getting caught, so does the vow of silence still have to be maintained?”

“I would advise the ones we did, don’t give out the names,” Arthur answered, and Wendy cocked her head to the side as she finished her stretch. “I doubt they have relatives or friends in the ranch, but we don’t know about the other locations in our coalition.”

Shrugging, “Fuck ‘em if they do,” Wendy huffed, then dropped her eyes back to the book as she flipped the page.

Sitting behind Wendy, Jo Ann and Sally were turned around looking at the back of Wendy’s head in shock. “You killed someone before Anthony?” they asked.

Nodding as she read but didn’t turn around, “Yes, but I will admit, killing Anthony gave me the best rush I’ve ever felt,” Wendy confessed.

Many in the hall were in shock finding out Arthur and Wendy had killed before the outbreak but a few weren’t. One of those who wasn’t was Todd, and he wasn’t even remotely shocked. “Arthur, may I ask, who was your first?”

Turning to look at Todd, “I told you the day we picked up Joseph. Ms. Penderton,” Arthur answered.

“You told me she was the first person you actually considered killing,” Todd replied.

Nodding, “‘Actually considered’ means I thought out, planned, and carried out the action,” Arthur stated. “If I hadn’t killed her, I would’ve said I ‘wanted’ to kill the old bitch.”

“How? You were twelve,” Todd asked.

Rolling his eyes, “I didn’t sneak in and stab the old bitch with a stake through her heart,” Arthur scoffed. “I did sneak in one night that winter, but I worked on her heating unit damaging the vent. I laid out some of her tools like the old bat had lit her heater and done the damage. Then I took the batteries out of her carbon monoxide detector and replaced them with dead ones, and I mean ones that had no charge to even give little chirps. Then I snuck back out to the foster house and climbed in bed. Old bitch fell asleep and never woke up.”

Todd was certain no one, especially little Arthur, had ever been questioned about the death of the old bitch, and Todd was glad the hag had died before her time. “Pops, if I ever piss you off, let me know so I can apologize.”

“Son, you’re family,” Arthur laughed out, then turned to see Wendy flip a page as she read. “Babe, please stop,” Arthur asked very tenderly.

Throwing her hands up, “Go ahead! Say that you saw that bitch for what she was!” Wendy yelled, making everyone but Samantha, Jo Ann, and Sally jump. They had been around the outbursts all afternoon, so they were accustomed to them now.

Feeling Robin trying to get down, Arthur helped her and Robin took off running to Little Momma. “Wendy, even I’ve been fooled by people,” Arthur told her.

Slapping the table with both hands, “You were ten fucking years old!” Wendy screamed. “When normal kids should be playing, you were learning about the duality of mankind! I’ve never even heard of a ten-year-old who could spot a liar but after that fucker got you in trouble, you damn sure could! It took me how long to figure out two-faced cocksuckers and you did it when you were ten!”

Knowing the hurt Wendy felt, Arthur just tucked Nicole into his side as he got up and walked over to her. She pushed his arm away when he tried to pull her close, but gave up and let Arthur hug her tight. “I felt sorry for her and that’s what Alicia wanted everyone to do,” Wendy said in a breaking voice.

As Arthur held Wendy tight and she cried in his chest, Nicole reached up to pat the tears on Wendy’s cheek. “Yes, and I could’ve made a big deal out of it, but I knew it would be an argument that would’ve put a bad stain on our marriage. A stain that Alicia wasn’t worth. In time, I knew you’d see through Alicia’s lies. I would’ve been hurt by the pain you’d feel, just like I’m hurting right now, but I knew you had to see it on your own.”

“In time?” Wendy moaned. “Arthur, we’ve known that whore over a decade and a half.”

“Yes, I’ve called Alicia a dumbass, but how many times have I said that bitch is conniving and intelligent?”

Burrowing her face into Arthur’s chest, “I can’t even begin to make a guess. But I just couldn’t see it. Alicia always acted so ditzy. I mean, even when you yelled at her during church to ‘shut the fuck up’, she never got mad. I thought only a simple-minded idiot would react like that,” Wendy admitted.

“Oh, Alicia got mad but never acted on it,” Arthur chuckled, and Wendy lifted her head to look at him.

“Alicia said something and you never told me?”

“No. I saw the anger more than once in Alicia’s eyes, but Alicia knew I saw through her lies and didn’t trust her,” Arthur told her.

“That just makes me feel worse,” Wendy sniffled. “I didn’t even listen to my husband, the father of my baby, my soulmate. What kind of person am I?”

Hugging Wendy tight, “The best person,” Arthur laughed. “Wendy, you wanted Alicia as a buddy and no matter what you say, Alicia was a very dear friend to you.”

“She wasn’t a buddy,” Wendy snapped. “Samantha is a buddy.”

“Yes, but if I wouldn’t have put up a fight, Alicia would’ve been a lot closer to you. I knew in time you’d find out what she was and the closer Alicia got to you, the more it would hurt. So my mission was to do what I could to stop that,” Arthur said and Wendy stopped sniffling as events played out in her mind.

Using his forehead, Arthur pushed Wendy’s head until she was looking up at him. “Wendy, I’ve never understood what you were talking about all these years about having a buddy. I mean, I wasn’t married to them so why would I trust someone on that level? I think you know, but I’ll tell you anyway. It wasn’t until Jason got here that I finally understood what a buddy is. Now that I have one, I’m glad I stopped Alicia from getting closer to you because if she’d gotten to the buddy stage, I don’t think I could deal with the pain you’d have.”

Leaning back in her chair, Samantha looked across the table at Jason and saw tears in his eyes. “Jason, take notes,” Samantha told him. “This is how you tell your other half they were wrong.”

Hearing Samantha, Wendy gave a small grin. “I should’ve listened to you,” Wendy said, then pushed her face back into Arthur’s chest.

“If we’re going that route, then I should’ve fucking listened to you about buying cheap-ass shit the first year we were married. But no, I bought cheap trying to save. I should’ve listened to you then,” Arthur said. “Would’a, could’a, should’a.”

Wendy’s head fell back as she looked up at Arthur in shock, “Wow,” she mumbled. “We should’ve done more travel nursing. We might’ve found Jason and Samantha sooner.”

Smiling, “What did you tell me right before we finished this house?” Arthur asked. Wendy did attempt to remember, but couldn’t even prioritize the memories.

“I have no idea,” she finally said.

“You were complaining that I didn’t have any buddies again, and I said I would go and find one. You replied: ‘You don’t find buddies, they find you’. And holy shit, you were right again. I mean, what’re the odds we’d each find a buddy and they’d be married to each other, and then the last one would be an old homophobe.”

“I’m not a homosexual!” LL screamed. “I like pussy, so get that through your fucking head!”

Many busted out laughing as Samantha turned to look down the table at a snarling LL. “Homophobe means you aren’t gay and don’t like being called gay, LL,” she stretched the truth a bit.

The snarl fell off LL’s face as he looked off. “I didn’t know there was a word for that,” he admitted.

“So, will you quit reading those books for now?” Arthur pleaded. “Trust me. Let your anger settle down, then read them.”

“I’ll agree to that if you make a deal with me?” Wendy offered. “If Alicia shows up, I get the bitch.”

Shocking Wendy, Arthur pushed her away and pointed down at her chair. “No,” Arthur replied. “The right page flipped, so turn it back before you start reading again. If that’s the deal, no. I can run faster than you, so I’ll reach her first.”

With her mouth hanging open and her face splotchy from crying, Wendy just gaped at Arthur. “I’ve watched that bitch weasel her way into our lives and get close to you. Forget it, I’m killing the whore,” Arthur stated.

Hearing a chair scrape, everyone turned to see LL get up and hand off the toddler he’d been holding, then walked down to them. “Sorry to both of you,” LL said with a grin. “I’ve never asked either of you for anything, but...” he paused and both Arthur and Wendy felt panic.

“I ask that I get the tingles from killing the bitch,” LL finally said. “If you two consider that repayment, I’ll take it, and after she’s dead, I’ll be on my way.”

Hearing that, most let out gasp and a few kids yelled ‘no’.

With a look of hurt, “You’re not leaving, but I’ll give you my Blazer,” Arthur offered.

“My BMW has less than two thousand miles,” Wendy countered.

Narrowing his eyes as his grin got bigger, “Let’s see just how bad you two want that whore,” LL cackled. “I’ll forgo my request to put the bitch in the dirt if.... You name me as the grandparent to Joseph’s and Sarah’s first baby.”

Both took a step back and Wendy moved to Arthur’s side. They both turned from LL to look each other in the face for several minutes. Neither said a word and they both nodded and turned back to LL. “You can have the bitch,” they both said.

Digging her fingernails into Joseph’s forearm, “We have got to tell them about my implant,” Sarah whispered.

“Ow, that hurts, damn it,” Joseph hissed at her. “We will,” he whispered when Sarah quit digging her fingernails into him. Hearing she could come clean, Sarah gave a sigh as Joseph added, “After you get pregnant, we’ll tell them what took so long.”

When she dug her nails in again, Joseph pried her hand off his forearm. “You might not like having two arms but I do like you having two arms. Trust me, you tell Mom and Dad, peeing on a stick in front of everyone will be the least of your worries,” Joseph warned.

As images filled her mind of Arthur and Wendy sitting in chairs at the end of the bed every night with flashlights on their heads, giving them instructions on how to make babies, Sarah started to hyperventilate. Even though that’s not what he’d in mind, Joseph was glad to see Sarah get worried. He just didn’t like the panicked breathing.

Pushing back, Joseph got up and Sarah grabbed his arm. “Don’t tell them,” she begged in a whisper.

“They’ll only find that out from you,” Joseph told her. “I’m going to get Nicole. Mom and Dad need a night alone.”

As Joseph left, Sarah couldn’t help but smile. Wendy and Arthur were Joseph’s parents and had raised him very well, but the three were also buddies.

Walking up, Joseph just took Nicole from Arthur. “You two go for a walk. Sarah and I will take the kids tonight,” he told them.

Wendy scoffed, “You and Sarah can’t make babies if there’re babies in your bed.”

“Ever think we might need a time out, Mom?” Joseph countered and Wendy looked up at Arthur.

“I didn’t think of that,” Arthur admitted.

Giving a wink, “Thanks, son,” Arthur said with his arm around Wendy and he led her out as Jason stood up nearly in tears.

“I’m sorry I got mad at you for putting cheap shit on the guns!” Jason wailed out.

Walking out the back door, “My buddy acts so weird at times,” Arthur sighed.

“Hon, all buddies do, and yes, you also act very weird around Jason. But just the fact you don’t care how your buddy acts, lets you know how much your buddy means to you.”

Taking a deep breath, “Wendy, I have to tell you, when we went to Wilson Combat Arms, I didn’t like that place anymore,” Arthur confessed and was shocked when Wendy started laughing.

“Arthur, the rest of us were shocked when you didn’t blow the place up before we left,” Wendy snickered. “It was written all over your face. You thought Wilson was trying to steal your buddy.”

Feeling ashamed he was that transparent, Arthur looked down at Wendy. “I couldn’t have blown up Jason’s Graceland. He never would’ve forgiven me,” Arthur told her and Wendy busted out laughing.

“Oh man, I love the way you act now. For the first time in your life, Arthur, I think you’re acting like a kid,” Wendy told him.

Thinking that should’ve irritated him, Arthur realized it didn’t in the least. “Where’s your Graceland?” he asked.

Reaching over and slapping Arthur’s chest lightly, “The same place yours is, dummy,” Wendy smiled. “Right here. The ranch we built and gathered up our family at.”

Chapter Fourteen

Ohh, puppies.

Forcing his legs to go faster, Arthur gulped down the cold air as he ran. To his left, he saw Donald running at his side and then Arthur glanced back to see Jason and his dog Adam hot on his heels. There were no clouds in the sky and the moon and stars were so bright he didn’t need his night vision goggles as he weaved around the few trees that were growing on the ridge he was following.

“We aren’t going to get far,” Jason panted out behind him.

“Well, climbing a tree is out of the question,” Arthur replied.

After leaving the mini-mes in the Suburban, they’d moved off to get eyes on another kid gang location several miles away. The highest temperature since Thanksgiving had been thirty degrees and tonight it had been minus ten when they’d left the Suburban. They were halfway to the camp when Arthur had stopped on the ridge with the wind blowing hard from his back. He’d looked out over the valley below them and felt his asshole pull to the back of his throat. Nearly a mile away a vast field was below them, and it was filled with dogs. The first thought in Arthur’s mind had been hundreds but as his ass pulled to his throat, he realized it was thousands.

When he’d felt Jason stop beside him, Arthur was about to say ‘we’re going home’ but stopped. Not a hundred yards away a dozen dogs started barking and howling. Before Arthur even lifted his AR up, Jason already had his on his shoulder and was firing. Suppressed shots broke the cold night air as Jason cut loose, killing five before Arthur even squeezed the first round off. In six seconds they were all down, but the valley below was filled with barks and howls.

Before turning to run Arthur had glanced back out over the valley. “It’s like a doggie Woodstock down there!” he’d gasped and took off.

After running flat out for a mile, Jason glanced back catching glimpses of dogs through the trees. “Arthur, they’re faster than we are,” Jason reminded him.

“We’re making for the cliff face we passed,” Arthur told him never breaking stride.

Remembering the spot, Jason glanced back again. “Arthur, we have less than sixty seconds.”

“Relay, I’ll start it off!” Arthur cried out, skidding to a stop and Jason ran past him. Lifting his AR, Arthur was shocked to see just how fucking close the leading edge was. When the dogs were three hundred yards away, he opened up. After the first few aimed shots Arthur realized he didn’t even have to aim. There were so many dogs packed close together, he just had to get the range.

When he saw the first one tumble, Arthur just emptied the magazine and was shocked to see the leading edge turn into a rolling mass, as the ones that went down tripped others. Before he could celebrate, the other dogs behind the edge just jumped the pile. “Not good,” he said spinning around and keying his radio. “Out,” he said, taking off and glancing down to see Donald running along with him. “At least we left Daisy and Eve with the mini-mes,” Arthur said, changing mags and dropping the empty in his dump bag.

Sixty yards ahead, Jason stopped and spun around lifting his rifle. Seeing Jason aiming toward him, Arthur had to fight the urge to dive for cover. When Jason started to fire, Arthur could hear the bullets pass by him. Before Arthur reached him, Jason had dumped two magazines into the pack.

Coming to a stop where Jason was, Arthur spun around and saw the pack was two hundred yards away and he wondered why they weren’t closer as he started to pull the trigger. When dogs started dropping Arthur realized they weren’t really running anymore, they were loping. Changing magazines fast, he continued pouring rounds out as he glanced down each side of the ridge.

The underbrush along the slopes was very thick and he could see dogs, but they were much further back than those at the crest since there was no underbrush up here. “Out!” he called out spinning around and changing magazines, and already heard the sonic cracks of Jason’s bullets pass him to hit the leading edge of the pack from hell.

“Dammit, Dad! Move your ass!” Joseph shouted over the radio in his earbud.

The cold air hurt Arthur’s lungs as he gulped down air and saw Jason changing magazines. Before Jason opened up, Arthur skidded to a stop and spun around as Jason took off with Adam. Taking aim and firing, Arthur saw the leading edge was only a hundred and fifty or so yards away. Slapping in a new mag he opened up again, sending thirty rounds out in fifteen seconds. “Ready!” Jason called out and Arthur took off.

He yanked the magazine out and tossed it in his dump bag. Not reaching to his vest, Arthur dropped his hand to his left thigh where three sixty-round magazines were held in pouches. Yanking one out, he slapped it home.

“The pack’s surrounding you!” Joseph screamed over the radio and Arthur cut his eyes left and right down the slopes but didn’t see any dogs.

Grabbing his PTT, “Are they ninja dogs?” Arthur panted out.

“No, the bulk of the dogs are in the valleys on either side of the ridge. They can’t run through the undergrowth. I already told Shawn and the others to get in the Suburban because the dogs will reach the Suburban long before you will,” Joseph answered. Hearing not even the bulk of the pack was on the ridge startled the shit out of Arthur because it looked like a shit load of dogs chasing them.

When Arthur skidded to a stop Jason didn’t take off, and Arthur turned around to see the closest dogs were less than a hundred yards away. He lifted his rifle and opened up. The dogs melted under the rain of lead, letting out yelps as Jason and Arthur hit over a hundred in thirty seconds.

The pack faltered and stopped, but Jason and Arthur kept sending out rounds and dogs kept dying. After twenty seconds the dogs on the ridge turned and started bounding away, but the two didn’t stop shooting until their magazines ran dry.

Patting the front of his vest Arthur felt all eight mag holsters were empty. Like his hands were lying, Arthur looked down so his eyes could confirm. “Oh, fuck,” he said grabbing another sixty-round mag from his thigh. He glanced over at Jason and saw not only was Jason’s vest empty, but also the three sixty-round mags were gone, with the last one in Jason’s AR.

“Goddammit!” Joseph bellowed. “Fucking run now!”

With his brain on autopilot Arthur took off, letting his AR dangle under his arm as he reached back with his right hand to his backpack and unzipped the side, pulling out a bandolier of ammo as his left dug out empty magazines from the dump pouch. Something he’d never done or even considered doing, Arthur started feeding stripper clips into the magazine as he ran as fast as his legs would carry him. Shoving the topped-off mag in his vest he yanked out another, feeding rounds into it as the slope of the ridge got steeper.

“You’re a hundred yards from a clearing! You’re going to have to make a stand there! You’ll have groups coming from the north and south!” Joseph shouted. Struggling to breathe, Arthur wanted to tell Joseph that’s where the cliff face was and that’d been his plan from the start. With the bandolier empty Arthur grabbed another, not remembering shoving a hundred rounds in magazines as his brain filled in that north and south at the clearing would be right and left.

Feeling a tug at his left hip Arthur nearly panicked thinking a dog was on him and he turned, only to see Jason digging an empty magazine from his dump bag. Before he turned back around, Arthur saw Jason was loading his magazine, then noticed all of Jason’s mag holsters on his vest were filled again.

Wondering how in the hell Jason had loaded all his magazines that fast, Arthur made a commitment that if he survived this, he would start practicing loading magazines as he ran. Grabbing another magazine, he could tell by feel that the fat magazine was the sixty rounder as Jason reached over shoving the magazine he’d loaded in an empty holster and grabbing another.

When it was loaded, he shoved it in the empty spot on his thigh as Jason shoved his magazine in the last empty holster. Feeling the bandolier still held rounds Arthur just tossed the strap over his head letting the bandolier hang and grabbed his dangling rifle. Through the trees ahead he could see the bright area of the fifteen-acre clearing. The barking was so loud around them, they could feel the vibrations on their skin.

It seemed like he’d been running forever as Arthur sprinted out into the clearing and saw the hundred-foot-tall cliff face on the northeast side. “The first ones will be on you in less than two minutes,” Joseph told them.

They skidded to a stop and put their backs to the rock wall and the dogs couched down beside them. “Joseph, can you give me a guess on how many are coming?” Jason panted out on the radio.

It was several seconds before Joseph replied, “A lot of them.”

Turning to Arthur, “You didn’t teach your son how to count?!” Jason asked gulping air.

Before Arthur could answer, Joseph did. “Jason, there’re too many and they’re too close together. Sutton is here trying but one thing’s for certain, more are coming from the south. This is only a guess, but from the north there’s like three hundred... From the south, about three times as many.”

Taking a deep breath, Jason let it out slow and turned to Arthur, holding out his hand. “It’s a good day to die,” Jason said.

Shaking Jason’s hand, “It may be, but I’m not in the fucking mood today,” Arthur responded. “Since we’ve been married, Wendy always promised me she would wax the taco. To date she never has, so I plan on making it out of this to hold her to it.”

Despite the situation, Jason busted out laughing. “Well, damn. That’s a promise a buddy has to help you see through, so I guess we have to put off dying for some other day.”

They both froze as Joseph sounded over their earbuds. “Will you two just climb a tree till we get there?!” Joseph called out.

Keying his radio, “Son,” Arthur said. “Donald can’t climb trees and I’m not hauling his hundred and fifty pound ass up, so fuck that. Adam may weigh less, but Jason isn’t in the mood to try and haul him up in a tree either.”

Reaching down, Jason patted Adam. “Yeah, they’re part of the family, and you don’t abandon family.”

The barking from the north grew louder and they turned. Two hundred yards away, a mass of dogs charged from the tree line barreling toward them and the two opened up with their rifles. Since they weren’t running anymore they just ejected magazines, letting them fall to the ground and slapped in new ones. In one minute, nearly two hundred dogs were hit causing the charge to stop, but Arthur and Jason didn’t stop shooting.

Under the withering fire, the dogs fanned out as another hundred were hit, and this made the dogs bound back toward the trees. As Arthur slapped in a new magazine he saw several dozens of dogs fighting and suddenly realized why. Taking aim, he shot a large dog in the gut as it was running away and the dog let out a yelp and lunged, attacking a dog that was close to it.

“You just figure that out?” Jason asked as the bulk of the north pack reached the trees.

“Sorry to say, but yes, I did,” Arthur said bending down to pick up his five magazines from the ground and pulling rounds from the bandolier.

Feeding in the stripper clips, Arthur saw the fights were breaking up as the wounded dogs limped for the trees. Arthur glanced over at Jason and did a double-take. Jason was reloading so fast his hands were a blur. Jason had fired six magazines and they were all reloaded before Arthur had two of his done.

Reaching over, Jason took one and reloaded it for Arthur. “How in the fucking hell can you reload that fast?” Arthur asked.

“It doesn’t do any good to learn how to shoot and fight if you can’t fucking reload during a fight,” Jason shot back, then reached over moving Arthur’s AR. “The suppressor was touching your pants and starting to smoke.”

Looking down at the black spot on his pants, “Catching fire would suck,” Arthur admitted, shoving his last reloaded mag back in the holster.

“Less than a minute!” Joseph called out, but they didn’t need the warning. The thundering sound of the barking was so loud now they could see the dirt around them vibrating.

A solid wave of dogs spilled out into the field and was greeted by 5.56 hollow points. In ten seconds, over sixty dogs were hit since some bullets passed through one dog to hit another. Not grabbing a magazine from his vest, Arthur grabbed a sixty from his thigh. Slapping it home, he flipped his selector to the rear and held steady.

Holding the trigger he just swept the line, causing an entire section to halt, but in three seconds his magazine was empty and he was ejecting it to slap in another sixty. When it was seated, he raked the line with full auto again, moving the arc of his fire along the line to hit as many dogs as he could.

Jason was on mag number five when Arthur slapped in the second sixty rounder and opened up. This caused the wave of dogs to falter and come to a stop. With Jason squeezing off rapid single shots and Arthur pouring steady streams of lead, the dogs realized they were dying really fast and survival instinct took over.

The pack turned, spreading out with some heading for the trees as the two kept firing. Feeling his bolt lock back, Arthur ejected the magazine and slapped in a new one hearing a growl from his side. Giving a glance, he saw Donald lunge away and lifted his gaze. Charging him from the north was what looked like a pit bull. Arthur didn’t get to see much more before nearly the entire head of the attacking dog was inside Donald’s mouth.

Donald whipped his head, tossing what looked like an eighty-pound dog around like a rag. Not seeing anything big coming, Arthur went back to work on the south side but flipped back to semi-auto. When he went to change again, he glanced over and froze. A Dachshund with its teeth bared was charging him.

Shifting his weight to punt the little wiener dog, Arthur gave a chuckle as Donald caught the wiener dog by the head and lashed around with it. “Don’t get off the porch unless you want to play with the big dogs,” Arthur mumbled as he opened fire again.

When Arthur slapped in another mag Jason reached over, stopping Arthur from opening back up. “Save the bullets. We still have a mile to go to reach the Suburban,” Jason told him.

About to object, Arthur looked down and saw only two loaded magazines in his vest. “I swear, you’re shooting some of my magazines,” Arthur said, reaching down and grabbing empties.

“I wish,” Jason grunted, grabbing his own. “That was smart thinking, going to full auto. That caused them to stop when so many started getting hit at once.”

“Never thought I would get the chance to use full auto with so many targets,” Arthur admitted, digging out another bandolier. “I hate to ask, but how many rounds do you carry in your pack?”

“A thousand, you?”

“Eight hundred, but I’ll start carrying a thousand,” Arthur answered, and looked over at Donald and saw there were six dead big dogs along with the pit bull and two dead smaller dogs with the Dachshund. “You’re getting a nice treat,” Arthur vowed.

“Your damn dog’s the size of a tank,” Jason laughed, and Arthur turned to see Adam sitting down by three dead dogs with throats missing around him and another five had been shot in the head. “Yes, I had to help Adam out because he can’t kill a dog by grabbing hold of the head and snapping the neck.”

“Donald learned that on coyotes,” Arthur said as he finished loading his magazines.

Grabbing his PTT, “Son, how bad is it going to the Suburban?”

“Not good,” Joseph answered. “How many bullets do you two still have?”

“We might have six hundred rounds between us.”

“You have five times that many dogs around you,” Joseph replied. “Between you and the Suburban, maybe five hundred.”

“Pops, let us try to get to you,” Shawn called over the radio.

“Shawn, that Suburban would flip over long before you could even get close and that’s if you could maneuver it through the trees,” Arthur told him. “Are dogs around you now?”

“Yes, sir, but only a couple of dozen.”

“What I want you to do is turn the Suburban around and you get in the back on the mini gun. Have everyone else aim out the windows and start shooting any dogs you see. When we get closer I’ll call out and no more shooting back along the ridge, but try not to shoot along the ridge unless you have to. We’ll be coming back the same way we left.”

Reaching over, Jason grabbed Arthur’s arm. “That’s all good but if Shawn doesn’t keep the dogs from massing between us and our ride, we’ll have to plow a road through.”

Nodding, “Yes, but the Suburban is armored and our little 5.56 won’t punch through it if we happen to miss,” Arthur pointed out. “That damn mini gun spits out four thousand rounds a minute and our vests won’t stop but a few if that’s where we’re hit.”

“I like your plan better than mine,” Jason said. “You know, the largest pack of dogs we’ve seen up until now was like two, maybe three hundred, and we spotted it near Hector with the Predator UAV. It sucks that the first pack of thousands we see, we run up on and we’re on foot.”

“That shit won’t happen again,” Arthur vowed, feeling something cold on his neck. Reaching up, he felt his sweat-soaked hair that hung off the back of his head was frozen. Afraid to take his hat off in case his hair was frozen to it, Arthur motioned with his head that he would lead. Heading west as the slope still increased Arthur slowed, hearing a short ‘Brrrr’ off in the distance ahead of him.

“I figure we’re about three quarters of a mile from ‘em. What do you think?” Jason asked.

Another short ‘Brrr’ sounded ahead as Arthur scanned around and answered. “About that but more importantly, they’re four hundred feet higher than we are.”

Hearing another burst, “Shawn has great trigger control on the mini gun,” Jason commented.

Fighting not to shiver, “I reminded him how long it takes to reload every time we shot it,” Arthur said.

It was only when his gloved hand crunched his ice-encrusted hair that Arthur remembered it was cold outside. Now that his body was soaked in sweat, he felt the cold trying to creep under his clothes. Grabbing his shemagh, Arthur wound it around his neck and tucked it in his shirt.

The slope lessened and Arthur could see through the trees for over fifty yards, and that he didn’t like because if he could see that far, dogs would have no problem charging them. Before he could think of anything else to do that would help get him warm, Donald let out a low growl. Lifting his rifle, Arthur saw movement coming from ahead and on the left. “Eleven o’clock!” he called out.

When the red cross of his sight met the first bounding form, he squeezed the trigger and didn’t stop to watch the dog cartwheel down the slope. He continued firing as Jason called out, “Eight o’clock!”

Moving his aim from dog to dog, Arthur kept squeezing the trigger as the bounding forms got bigger and closer. Knowing he was close to empty and the dogs were nearly on top of him, Arthur ejected and slapped in a new magazine as the thundering bark of a 1911 sounded behind him. Arthur picked back up where he’d left off shooting the dogs and had all but five down before they reached twenty yards. Donald took off charging the group, and this caused the dogs to stop their charge and converge on him as Arthur felt his bolt lock back with the last shot.

Yanking his pistol, Arthur shot the one furthest to the right as a huge St. Bernard-looking dog locked up with Donald. In an instant Arthur knew the St. Bernard had the weight over Donald, but Donald was stronger. When the St. Bernard bit the sharp-studded collar around Donald’s neck it let out a yelp and let go, and Arthur had two more down. As the St. Bernard moved to back away from Donald, a .45 slug punched into its head, dropping the dog in its tracks.

Donald spun as another dog that looked to weigh about fifty pounds bit his back leg, and he latched onto the dog’s neck. The dog let go of Donald’s leg, trying to get away, but Donald spun again and the dog’s feet left the ground. Donald thrashed his head back and forth, beating the dog against the ground.

Shooting the last dog as it charged at Donald’s back, Arthur ejected his magazine and yelled, “Break!” Donald let the dog go in mid-thrash and the dog went sailing a few yards through the air. Before it hit the ground, two slugs hit its chest. When the dog landed, Arthur saw it was moving but not getting up, and he wanted to save what bullets he could.

Changing mags in his pistol, he holstered it and glanced around while lifting his AR and changing the empty mag. Seeing no movement to their front, he turned to see Jason gathering empty magazines, and a blood-caked Adam sitting down panting. It was only then that Arthur’s eyes registered numbers. There were over sixty dogs behind them that Jason and Adam had taken down.

Turning around, Arthur saw just as many dead or dying dogs that he’d taken down, but didn’t remember that many. “Dad, the trees are too thick where you are and I can’t see you, but I have a good idea where you are because I can see dogs heading up the slope for you!” Joseph called out over the radio.

Looking around at the large cedar and pine trees they were walking under, “You ready?” he asked over his shoulder.

“Bitch, I’ve been ready,” Jason shot back, and Arthur could hear Jason reloading.

“I’ll wait until you’re done before reloading my magazines,” Arthur suggested as he eased up the slope.

“Fuck that, I’ll load your shit. You take too fucking long,” Jason shot back, and Arthur felt Jason digging his empties out of the dump bag.

“Well, excuse me,” Arthur huffed. “I never thought I’d have more fucking targets than I had loaded magazines.”

“Now you know,” Jason replied, moving up and shoving the loaded magazine in Arthur’s vest and started on the next. “I’m thinking we make a Date Night and just kill some fucking dogs,” Jason suggested.

Liking the sound of that, Arthur had a thought and keyed his radio. “Joseph, what was in that field where the dogs were?”

“A herd of two hundred and thirty-four cows. Dead cows,” Joseph replied. “The dogs swarmed them so fast and with so many numbers, the herd never had a chance to circle up, and no, none got away.”

“Shit, that’s over three thousand dogs,” Jason said, shoving the last magazine in Arthur’s holster.

“I’m betting closer to five thousand,” Arthur replied, then swung to the right. “Two o’clock!”

He opened up and heard yelps of pain as rounds struck home. In twenty seconds, twenty-two dogs were hit and the rest stopped and bounded away. Changing magazines, Arthur heard Jason call out “Ten o’clock!”

Slapping the mag home, Arthur caught Donald looking back and he spun his head and saw another group charging. “Six o’clock!”

As Arthur opened up, “One o’clock!” Jason shouted and widened his arc of fire to start on the new group.

“Four o’clock!” Arthur shouted catching more movement, but the six o’clock group was now within thirty yards. With a dozen dogs still coming in the six o’clock group, again, Donald charged ahead. This time there were too many and they swarmed Donald, taking him down.

A small terrier didn’t join in and charged at Arthur who punted the mutt through the air. “Get off my goddamn dog, shit eaters!” Arthur screamed and charged ahead, shooting those at Donald’s back. When eight were down, Donald sprang up with a dog’s head in his mouth and he started thrashing it about.

Knowing he couldn’t help Donald anymore, Arthur turned to the four o’clock group as he slapped in a new magazine. “Shit,” he mumbled, as he started pulling the trigger as fast as he could aim. Thirty dogs were down in half a minute but at least that many were still coming, and they were only fifty yards away.

Just as Arthur opened up, a black form zoomed past him, charging the group. Squeezing the trigger rapidly and cutting down the wave, “Dammit, Daisy,” Arthur mumbled. Even though she was fifty pounds lighter than Donald, Daisy was still a formidable force and never hesitated in locking up with the biggest dog still alive.

Changing magazines, Arthur watched the mass of dogs swallow Daisy up and Donald charged over diving on the pile, yanking a dog off. Shooting the bodies that weren’t black and tan, Arthur whittled the numbers down until his bolt locked back and he yanked his pistol.

With the mass off her, Daisy was up with a dog’s throat in her mouth. Donald moved behind her and they fought back to back. This kept the other dogs at bay and Arthur took them out in ten shots.

“Twelve hours!” Jason screamed, and Arthur slapped in a new magazine and holstered his pistol as his brain told him dogs were coming from every angle.

“Donald, Daisy, heel up!” he called out, and as they came over he noticed both were limping but still moving fast. “I have the bottom half!” Arthur yelled out and started from the left at three o’clock and moved through an arc ending at nine o’clock. Changing magazines he reversed his field of fire, then again changing magazines when he reached six o’clock.

“Goddammit, Eve, it’s dead! Heel up!” Arthur heard Jason shout behind him and then heard Jason’s 1911 firing rapidly.

Seeing no end to the dogs still coming, Arthur yanked a sixty from his thigh as his bolt locked back. Slapping in the big magazine, Arthur went back to work. He felt Donald and Daisy leave his side, but couldn’t turn as he tried to stem the tide.

As he was changing magazines, Arthur felt fire in his calf. He looked down to see a dog latched on and thrashing about. “Fuck you,” Arthur said, pressing the barrel to the dog’s head and pulling the trigger. Before he could turn, he was hit from the side and Arthur went down as fur covered him. Letting his AR go, Arthur pulled his knife out and started slashing. Long yelps of pain sounded over the barks and howls around him, but Arthur heard none as he felt a dog bite through the fedora on his head.

Reaching back he slashed out, cutting deep on the side of the dog’s neck. With that, the dog let go and Arthur shifted his knife to his left as his right pulled his pistol. Not aiming, he just touched the barrel to the dogs still trying to pile on him.

He just kept moving his shots to bodies and as his brain screamed to reload, two large black bodies bowled into the mass that was trying to cover him. Arthur scrambled to his feet as Donald and Daisy bought him time to change magazines. Killing those closest, Arthur kept moving his aim, expanding out and changing magazines until he reached to his vest and didn’t feel any more pistol mags.

Dropping the 1911, he reloaded the AR and continued on, glancing over to see Donald and Daisy again, back to back. This kept the dogs closest to him busy and also from swarming Donald and Daisy. This gave Arthur the chance to kill those still coming. Aiming and firing, Arthur worked fast and then felt two forms rush past and into the group surrounding Donald and Daisy.

Adam and Eve moved to the center and joined Donald and Daisy as Jason moved to Arthur’s side. With both firing, the mass melted and more yelps of pain filled the woods. This caused the pack of dogs to pull back and bound off.

Panting hard, Arthur remembered he’d been cold before this but now, wanted to take off a few layers of clothes. Patting his vest and not finding a mag, he moved to his thigh and found it empty as well. Glancing over at Jason, Arthur saw him reloading the snub nose .357 Jason carried in the small of his back. Like Arthur, Jason had no loaded magazines.

Reaching back Arthur gave a shiver, feeling only two bandoliers in his pack. He pulled out his last two hundred rounds and went to work reloading as Jason holstered the snub nose and joined him. “You good?” Jason asked.

“Don’t know, and until we get in the Suburban, I’m not looking,” Arthur answered, reloading the sixty round magazines first. Using what was left, he loaded what thirty round magazines he could, then pulled out a box of .45 and reloaded his pistol mags.

When the first pistol mag was loaded, he found his pistol under a dead dog and shoved the loaded mag in before holstering it. “Donald, Daisy!,” he called out and they limped over. He could see several bites, but none looked to be bleeding so bad as to need attention now. When Adam and Eve limped over to Jason, Arthur could tell they were hurt worse but still moving.

“Your arm’s bleeding,” Jason said moving over, and Arthur looked down at his right arm as Jason put a pressure dressing on his triceps area. “It looks like a cut and not a bite.”

“I think I cut it on a rock when they dragged me down,” Arthur answered and ran his eyes over Jason. Parts of Jason’s pants had been ripped open and he could see punctures from bites, but none were bleeding heavily. Several spots on Jason’s vest looked like a dog had latched on, tearing it, but none had reached skin. Moving his eyes up to Jason’s head, “One get your hat, too?” Arthur asked as Jason finished the dressing.

“A fucking Irish Wolfhound,” Jason scoffed. “Big fucker knocked me down and then dragged me five yards by my head till I shoved my pistol down his throat and let him know I didn’t like that.”

Bending down and getting his crumpled hat off the ground, Arthur shoved it on his head. He was about to get Jason’s hat, but saw it was torn nearly in half. “Let’s move as fast as the dogs can,” Arthur offered, and Jason nodded, having no problem with that.

Stepping over and walking on the bodies of dogs to their front, they moved out in a jog and found out the dogs could still move much faster than they could. Nearing the rise where the Suburban was parked, they could soon hear the sonic crack of suppressed shots ahead and Arthur grabbed for his PTT, but didn’t find it. Looking down he saw it was gone, then he realized the earpiece and throat microphone were also gone. Reaching over his back, he pulled the radio out of the pouch and unplugged the connection to the PTT.

Pressing the button, “We’re below the rise and coming up!” Arthur called out over the barks, howls, and lots of yelps and whining ahead.

“Well, come on! We’re ready to go!” Kirk shouted back. “Are Daisy and Eve with you?!”

“Yes, they found us. Thank you for letting them come,” Arthur answered.

“WE didn’t. They climbed out the hatch when Shawn was shooting the mini gun,” Kirk answered. “Hold on, Shawn said he’s going to hose the area around us. The dogs don’t like that and move back. When he stops, get up here.”

Clipping the radio to his vest, “I fucking love mini guns,” Arthur said as a long ‘Brrrrrrrrr’ sounded ahead and they saw tracers ricocheting off into the sky and over their heads. The barks turned to bays of panic as the dogs broke and took off. When the mini gun stopped, Arthur and Jason took off in a sprint.

Reaching the top of the rise they saw the Suburban sitting at the end of the road they’d stopped on, already turned around and ready to go. As they neared, the front doors opened and they let the dogs in first then dropped into the seats, slamming the doors.

“Pops, Joseph and Mom have been calling you on the radio for, like, ten minutes before you called us,” Shawn said, lowering the mini gun back inside and closing the hatch.

“Not my fault I didn’t hear them. Dogs ripped my PTT, earbud, and throat mic off,” Arthur answered as he cranked up the Suburban and hit the gas. Leaving the lights off, he drove down the dirt road rather fast. A few dogs jumped out of the woods to give chase, but Arthur didn’t slow or try to hit them. Not out of chivalry, Arthur just didn’t want to risk wrecking or getting stuck.

Grabbing the hand mic for the radio mounted on the dash, “This is Arthur. Jason and I are in the Suburban and coming home,” he called out.

“Are you okay?!” Wendy screeched over the radio.

“We got some bumps, bruises, cuts, bites, and scrapes, but could still run. Can you call Chad and see if we can bring the dogs over so Yvonne can look at them?” Arthur asked.

“Okay,” Wendy answered much calmer and Arthur turned to look at the radio.

Lifting the mic to his mouth, “Wendy, why do I hear engine noise on your end?” Arthur asked.

“Because Samantha and I loaded up in a Stryker, motherfucker!” she shouted. “We’re at the bottom of the road waiting for you!”

The first thought in Arthur’s mind was it’d taken Wendy an awful long time to reach them since they were only forty miles away from the ranch. Turning his eyes to the clock on the dash Arthur stared at it, not believing what his eyes read. Taking his left hand off the steering wheel he looked at his wristwatch and saw the same time, 2334.

It had only been twenty-six minutes ago when they’d first taken off running. Arthur had been expecting the sun to be coming up soon. Now, he was very impressed at the speed in which Wendy and Samantha had reached them.

Noticing Arthur glancing at his watch, “Yeah, we didn’t even play with the dogs for half an hour and still got our asses kicked,” Jason chuckled.

“Bullshit,” Arthur spat. “We killed a lot of them and they didn’t kill any of ours. We dictated the battle. At best, they can only claim a tactical retreat.”

Seeing smoke pouring off the barrel of Arthur’s AR laying on the dashboard, “They hurt my dogs. They get points for effort, and I’m going to unleash on their asses for that,” Jason replied.

Lifting the microphone, “Wendy, we need to get in the Stryker to look over the dogs. Shawn can drive the Suburban and follow,” Arthur called out.

“Okay, Joseph called Chad and he’s bringing Yvonne and a group over to the ranch right now.”

“Damn, a vet who makes house calls after an apocalypse,” Jason sang out as Arthur slowed for a curve. It was only a few minutes later when they spotted the Stryker pulled to the side of the road, waiting.

Throwing the shifter in park, “Shawn, you’re driving,” Arthur said getting out. Moving to the back Arthur opened the back hatch to let the dogs out. None of them jumped out, they all eased to the edge and used the bumper to get down gently. Even with the overhead lights turned out in the Suburban, Arthur could see the blood caked to the bodies of all four dogs.

Wendy came running up and skidded to a stop beside Arthur. “What the fuck?” she gasped, looking Arthur over. “You said you were okay!”

“I am,” Arthur answered turning to her.

“You’re covered in blood and your clothes are torn to shit!” Wendy shouted and moved up, running her eyes over his body very slowly. Even with the bright moon and stars, she wasn’t satisfied. Grabbing Arthur’s arm, she pulled him to the Stryker.

Jo Ann and Sally were at the back ramp waiting, and both let out gasps when Arthur moved into the light coming out of the Stryker. “Pops!” they cried out and moved toward him.

“No!” Wendy barked stopping them. “Jo Ann, get on the gun and stay there. Sally, get on the radio and tell Doc to get his hospital staff up.”

“Overreacting, don’t ya think?” Arthur sighed as Wendy yanked him in the back

Ignoring the remark Wendy pushed him in a seat, laid her rifle down, and grabbed a first aid kit. As she opened it up, she turned to see Samantha had Jason’s right arm twisted behind his back, forcing Jason to go where she wanted.

“You need to chill, chick,” Jason winced as Samantha pushed him in the back of the Stryker.

“Move when I fucking tell you!” Samantha snapped, letting go of Jason’s right arm and then shoving him in a seat. Staring at Jason, Wendy still hadn’t moved. If Arthur looked bad, Jason looked like he should die of blood loss any second. What was left of his shredded pants were blood-soaked. Any exposed skin was painted in dried and clotted blood. The right arm sleeve was gone and Wendy could see several bites.

“You need help?” Wendy finally asked and opened the first aid kit.

“Let me do an assessment,” Samantha said, dropping her rifle to the floor.

“Close the ramp and let’s get the fuck out of here!” Wendy shouted and knelt in front of Arthur.

Wendy used shears to cut the shredded vest off Arthur before he could even move to take it off. “Who’s driving?” Arthur asked because from the look in Wendy’s eyes if he made a comment about her overreacting, she would probably use the trauma shears on him.

“LL,” Wendy barked as she cut his shirt, but stopped seeing the pressure dressing on his right arm. “What’s that?”

“Cut from a rock when the dogs knocked me down,” Arthur answered as the ramp started to close. He glanced out the back and saw Shawn standing by the open door of the Suburban.

With his mouth hanging open Shawn just looked at the interior of the Suburban. The front seats, doors and dash were coated in blood from Arthur and Jason. “Shit,” he gasped and climbed into the bloody seat, shutting the door.

In the Stryker, Arthur tried to move and examine the dogs, but Wendy shoved him back in the seat. “I wanted to look over the dogs!” he shouted.

“Motherfucker!” Wendy shouted. “I’ll do it, but let me take care of you first! You’re my priority, bitch. So shut the fuck up!”

Tired and sore, Arthur just flopped back and let Wendy work. Shifting his gaze, Arthur did a double-take. Samantha had cut all of Jason’s clothes off and he was sitting butt naked in his seat. “Damn, your wife moves fast,” Arthur declared.

With Jason naked, Arthur could now see several large gashes on his hands, legs, arms, and ass. “You didn’t tell me dogs bit you on the ass,” Arthur popped off as he felt the Stryker take off.

“Screw my ass!” Jason cried out. “They were going for my groin! I flipped over on my stomach and covered the jewels. If I was dying, they were going to be the last thing the dogs got.”

“I told you to start wearing a cup, and even gave you three brand new ones,” Arthur reminded him.

As Samantha worked away cleaning the largest gashes, “Oh, you can be damn sure I’ll wear one now and every day for the rest of my life,” Jason vowed.

Feeling his legs move, Arthur looked down to see Wendy had just cut the laces off his boots and was pulling them off. Then he realized the only thing he had on was the right sleeve of his shirt where the pressure dressing was. “You haven’t undressed me this fast since our honeymoon, woman!”

“How bad is that cut?” Wendy snapped as she examined the bites to his legs.

“Fuck if I know. I was ready to move, but Jason wanted a dressing on it. He’s the doctor, so I just stayed still until he was done.”

“Wendy,” Jason called out and she turned to him. “It’s deep with exposed muscle. Don’t remove the dressing. Let Doc do it.”

“You didn’t say it was that bad!” Arthur popped off.

“You were still using your arm!” Jason responded in kind. “With that much muscle torn, you shouldn’t have been able to extend your forearm. I didn’t want to say anything because the puppies still wanted to play.”

They all leaned as LL took a turn fast. “LL, this isn’t a Ferrari!” Arthur shouted and gave a wince when Wendy found a deep cut on the back of his leg.

“You shut the hell up and don’t tell me how to drive!” LL shouted back, and everyone heard the fifty caliber in the remote firing station mounted on the roof open up.

“Jo Ann, what the hell are you shooting?” Arthur asked.

“Mangy shit-eating dogs!” she screamed back.

Looking down at Wendy as she started wrapping a dressing around his leg, “You need to talk to our daughters,” Arthur told her calmly.

Never stopping her work, Wendy glanced up at him. “Says the man who taught them how to use ‘Fuck’ properly as a proper noun, adjective, and a descriptive adverb,” Wendy responded but for the first time, gave him a small smile.

“Hey, Sally was only using ‘fuck’ as a modifier, and that’s a poor use of the English language,” Arthur replied.

Hearing a sharp intake of breath, they turned to see Samantha had Jason on the floor with his ass in the air as she cleaned the large laceration across his entire left cheek. “Oh, this better not leave a bad scar,” Samantha said with a tremble in her voice as she fought to maintain control.

“I can’t see it,” Jason said, sucking in a breath.

Gritting her teeth hard, “You have a pretty ass! How many times have I told you that? If this leaves a nasty scar, I’m going hunting, asshole!”

“Hey, babe? They wanted my cock and balls! I would rather have them and no ass!”

Lifting the large flap up, Samantha irrigated the area as best she could and then grabbed pads and tape, going to work. “Okay, you chose correctly on that,” she finally admitted, and even tried to grin.

“Shit, I was ready to go down fighting, then gather the dogs close and pull the pin on a hand grenade when we ran out of bullets, but Arthur says nooo...” Jason paused with a grimace as Samantha pulled the tape tight across the wound. “Wendy owes him, and I had to stick around to help.”

Just hearing Jason was ready to die, tears started running down Samantha’s face but she kept working. “You fucking leave me alone with all these kids, you’d better pray I never find you in the afterlife,” she warned.

Lifting his head off the floor, “Okay, now I feel like shit because I never thought about that and I’m sorry, Samantha,” Jason admitted. “I just didn’t want to get eaten alive,” he confessed.

Wiping tears off her cheek, “You’re back and I have to agree, even I would think about going out with a bang before getting eaten alive by dogs,” she told him.

With a big smile, “You wanted to come back to me?” Wendy asked in a little girl voice.

“Duh, yeah,” Arthur said then added, “You promised me something and I’m staying around till you deliver.”

Stopping her work and leaning back until she was sitting on her heels, “I’ve carried through with every promise I’ve ever made,” Wendy informed him.

“Nearly all, but one promise I remind you of every year.”

Biting her lip and looking off, Wendy racked her brain trying to remember. Suddenly her eyes got bright, “We did that two years ago on the way home after visiting Joseph,” she stated proudly.

“Babe, that was your request, not mine,” Arthur chuckled. Wendy was about to object, then realized he was right. She shrugged and went back to tending his wounds but did look at him with an arched eyebrow, letting him know she had no idea. “It involves wax,” was all Arthur said.

Jerking back, “That’s going to hurt like a motherfucker!” Wendy cried out.

“You wax your eyebrows and legs all the damn time!”

Working away on Jason, Samantha nodded, knowing damn well what they were talking about. “The first time’s the worst. Holy shit, I had two bottles of wine in me and when that oriental bitch yanked that cloth away... I was instantly sober and wanted to kill her ass.”

“You hear that?!” Wendy cried out going back to work. “I did go to a salon once to have it done,” she reminded him.

“And ran out screaming when you heard another woman yell out from the back,” Arthur told her.

“Wendy,” Samantha called out and Wendy turned to see Samantha working on Jason’s arms. “When you want to do it, fuck getting drunk. There’s no DEA anymore. I’ll sedate you with drugs,” Samantha offered.

Really liking the sound of that, she turned to look Arthur in the eyes, “Deal,” Wendy said, then got up. She started digging through Arthur’s blood-caked hair looking for wounds. After a few minutes she just gave up and went back over his body, making sure she hadn’t missed anything.

Chapter Fifteen

You got some things wrong

When they arrived at the ranch there were stretchers waiting. Needless to say, Arthur and Jason both went ballistic. Instead of getting on the two stretchers they had the dogs climb on them, Donald and Daisy on one, and Adam and Eve on the other. Butt ass naked and barefoot, the two walked to the hospital area in the dorms. The entire way everyone was shouting at them that they were acting stupid, with Wendy and Samantha being the most vocal.

Two hours later, with over a hundred stitches for the various cuts, forty staples in his scalp closing up lacerations, and wrapped in enough gauze to pass for a mummy, Arthur walked out of the care area. Wendy just snarled at him, saying she needed a cigarette. Watching Wendy storm off, the last time Arthur remembered Wendy smoking a cigarette had been when Joseph was eight and had broken his arm.

Joseph had climbed on the roof of the barn with an umbrella to see if he could use it like a parachute. Arthur was just glad Joseph had gotten the beach umbrella they used and not one of the rain umbrellas.

He walked into the dining hall to see it was nearly empty. Only his table had people there, drinking coffee. He found Joseph and Sarah talking to Chad, LL, Yvonne, and her husband Tim. Only Yvonne could call him Timmy. For a man, Tim was short, barely five-foot-six, but it was very clear he liked to push iron. The twenty-inch arms, fifty-inch chest and tiny thirty-inch waist were a dead giveaway. Yvonne’s parents had been professors who had emigrated from Brazil to the US before she was born. Yvonne’s skin looked bronze, like a dark tan, and her hair Wendy had told him was called ‘Brazilian Blonde’. In contrast, Tim’s skin was so pale and white it seemed to glow. His hair was thick, curly, and very red, not orange, a dark red. The fact Tim kept it cut in a Mohawk with a long tail at the back just tickled Arthur. He liked Tim, even though he’d only spoken to him a few times when they’d worked on the fence. Tim presented what he wanted to the world and dared anyone to say something about it, so Arthur had no choice but to like him.

They all turned as Arthur walked over rather stiffly to the table. “Damn, Dad. Why don’t you get in bed?” Joseph told him.

Sitting down slowly, “It’s nighttime. Why aren’t you upstairs making me some grandkids?” Arthur countered and Sarah rolled her eyes, letting her head drop to the table.

“Dad...” Joseph started and just gave up as the others snickered.

“How are the dogs?” Arthur asked Yvonne.

Looking at Arthur, “Better than you and Jason, I think,” Yvonne answered. “I lost count of the stitches and Adam has a small hairline fracture to his front left leg, but it doesn’t need casting. Just let him rest along with the others. I’d recommend at least a few weeks.”

Very slowly, Arthur leaned back in the chair. “I don’t have a problem with that,” he confessed.

Because Arthur was his dad, Joseph caught very clearly what Arthur had just said. “Where’s Momma?” he asked.

“Went to find a cigarette,” Arthur answered, and Sarah yanked her head off the table.

“Momma doesn’t smoke, Pops,” she told him bluntly.

Looking Sarah in the eyes, “Are you sure?” Arthur asked.

“Dad, Mom hasn’t smoked... shit, I can’t even remember how long ago,” Joseph said to keep Sarah from unloading.

“You should remember,” Arthur chuckled. “You’d just jumped off the barn with that big beach umbrella.”

With his cheeks going red, “Oh, forgot about that,” Joseph admitted.

Leaning over the table, Chad cleared his throat. “Arthur, Joseph showed us the video. You and Jason are lucky to be alive.”

“Oh, I’ll agree to that,” Arthur said with no shame. “I should’ve had Joseph sweep the area with the UAV before we took off, but in my defense, we’ve never seen or even heard of a pack of dogs that fucking big.”

“It was multiple packs,” Yvonne said. “They had all converged on that herd of cattle at the same time.”

Somewhat happy to hear that it had been a bunch of packs that’d come together, “Can you even guess why they attacked? Yvonne, we were over a mile away on a ridge and a dozen or so near us started howling. We shot them and the doggie Woodstock charged,” Arthur finished.

“Arthur, I’m seeing behavior in animals I’ve never heard of or even read about,” Yvonne told him. “I took a tip from you and started setting out trail cameras, but I’m using them to watch animals. I’ve seen mountain lions ... well, they’re called pumas around here, but they’re moving together. I’m not talking about a mom and cubs. I’m talking about males and females in small packs. They’re normally solitary animals and they don’t do that.”

Giving a nod, “There’s a lot of shit out there now. Mainly dogs that’ll hunt and kill them,” Arthur offered.

“That’s a good theory,” Yvonne agreed. “Arthur, I’ve read the report you gave to Chad and the others. Well, I’ve read what you’d put together about the animals and things. Don’t be mad, but I think you’re wrong.”

With a shrug, “I went low on my numbers,” Arthur told her.

“I know, and that’s only one part where I think you’re wrong. The main thing is your timeline. Your theory on their population numbers is correct but low. You have animals taking years and decades before they become apex predators to humans.”

Trying to remember what he’d written, “It takes time to breed, Yvonne. I’m certain I’m close on the timeline,” he finally said.

“Arthur, there have been studies that show when a ready food supply was abundant, mammals can respond much faster than you’ve predicted. You have large cats taking a decade and black bears, like, six years before they have a large population,” Yvonne told him and Arthur nodded. “Arthur, large cats already have a thriving population. Next year, we’ll see another explosion. I don’t know what text you were using, but in times of plenty, feline and ursus mothers don’t raise their young over years.”

Seeing Joseph cock his head, “Ursus Americanus, American black bear,” Yvonne replied and Joseph nodded.

Turning back to Arthur, “Arthur, we’ve seen one-year-old cubs leaving their mothers already, and they aren’t making any attempt to hibernate. This far south that’s not uncommon but with this cold weather, they should at the very least slow down and they aren’t. Normally at one year, black bear cubs weigh around a hundred pounds. I haven’t even gotten pictures of one that small yet. One I know was a year old I had Tim kill it because I wanted to see just how big he was, and that one-year-old cub was two hundred and eighty-eight pounds. Before you say that’s a fluke, it wasn’t. That one was on the smaller end of the scale,” she told him.

Not liking what he was hearing, Arthur nearly got up and went to bed. “How far do you think my numbers are off?”

“Rats, I think you’re thirty percent too low, but I do think your timeline on them is correct and they’ll be under a billion here within two years,” Yvonne said then continued. “Mice, I think you’re low by fifty percent, but their numbers will decrease in line with the rats. Bears, you are way low, like, fifty percent.”

“Hey,” Arthur said with a wince as he moved too fast. “There weren’t even half a million, so I feel good on those numbers.”

“In the states, yes, but Canada had just as many, and I hate to tell you, without humans interfering, many will migrate south because there’s much more food here. You also didn’t take into account sows breeding more than once every three years. This is just guessing on my part, but I think sixty percent will breed every two years, with the rest breeding every year.”

Feeling sick, “For how long?” Arthur asked.

Shrugging, “On that, I can’t even guess because I feel your numbers and theory on herbivores is very sound. America is mostly lush grassland. Just using the basic rule of thumb, for every one cow and calf, two acres will maintain them for a year. Deer and other herbivores don’t need that much. Only because of humans could they get to numbers as large as they did and without humans to control them, they’ll only get bigger. With herbivores’ populations getting bigger, that means the carnivores will respond in kind. This summer we’ll see huge herds of animals and the predators right along with them. To be honest, I think we won’t see a balance in our lifetime, unless there’s a huge drought for several years.”

Letting his head tilt back as he sighed, “Dogs,” was all Arthur said.

“Your theory on dogs I think is correct, but on the low side. Next summer, there will be nearly a billion here. Dogs are opportunistic and will eat a wide variety of animals. They can kill rats, raccoons, sheep, goats, pigs, deer, cattle, and just about anything else that walks, so they can exploit the entire range, but I think that’ll be their staying point for several years. Then they’ll decline to around half a billion as other predators start preying on them.”

“You think I left anything out or overlooked something?”

Taking a sip of coffee, “Yes,” Yvonne answered, putting her cup down. “You left a lot out, but the main ones I’m thinking of are wolves and brown bears.”

Jerking his head up to look at Yvonne, “There weren’t that many of either of those to become a threat that fast,” Arthur countered.

Holding up a hand, “Think about the environment, Arthur, not numbers. Before the virus, the wolf population was estimated at around twenty thousand. Without humans and with such an abundant source of food, I can guarantee you that number has tripled at the very least. There won’t be the eighty percent mortality in the wild. I say this because wolves are very smart. Not even the smartest breed of dog can compare to the intelligence of the average wolf. I assure you, there are wolf packs around here even now,” Yvonne told him and saw Arthur scoff. “Arthur, big cats weren’t the only animals that had sanctuaries. Not to mention the zoos just opened the cages letting the animals go. I know of one wolf sanctuary in Tennessee that had several packs. In Arizona, I worked at a grizzly sanctuary that housed over thirty bears, and those aren’t the only ones.”

“With all the dogs, don’t you think the wolves will breed out?” Joseph asked.

Yvonne shook her head, “No,” she answered. “Oh, there will be some crossbreeding but remember, wolves live in packs and only the dominant alpha pair mate. Normally, they kill other pups in the pack and any they come across, but in times of plenty like now, the beta pair will also breed. But what I think we’ll see is a shit ton of packs being formed with four wolves. In time, when a female wolf in heat that’s wandering around crosses paths with a dog they’ll breed, but that’ll be the extent of it.”

“You honestly think there are sixty thousand wolves already? They don’t even breed until winter,” Arthur said.

Tilting her head in compliment, “Very good, but not in times of plenty. The pups that were born last year only had to survive a few months before the virus hit and then there was plenty of food. Even going low with an eighty percent survival rate, you’d come up with a population of fifty thousand. In two years, there will be over a million wolves ranging all across America,” Yvonne stated.

“Grizzlies don’t have large litters,” Sarah said, shocking Arthur and Joseph. “I watched the Nature Channel.”

“True, and they normally aren’t sexually mature for five years, but I think that’ll drop down to three years. And like black bears, I don’t think the cubs will stay around for three years. The only thing that kept grizzlies in check was man, and by the time a grizzly is three, only another grizzly can kill it.”

“I think I would rather have zombies to deal with than Mother Nature,” Arthur moaned.  “Anything else you find in the report that didn’t make sense?” he asked and saw a look of panic on Yvonne’s face. “Relax, Yvonne. I put that together to give us an idea of what’s coming. Shit, I’m all for finding out now that I was wrong. Finding out in three years that we should’ve been expecting grizzlies after a few people or some of our animals die would be too late.”

Cutting her eyes at her husband, “Asshole,” Yvonne whispered, and Tim busted out with a huge grin.

“I told her you wouldn’t be mad and would love to know other people’s opinions, just to make plans,” Tim said, and Arthur held up a bandaged thumb.

“Well,” Yvonne said. “I think you put the number of people dying from animals this year and next way too low. I’m sure rats alone killed over a million before now. Not by taking down people, but I’m sure many were. I think most people got bit multiple times by rats and died from an infection. Then like what happened tonight, dogs do have food and ample prey to hunt but when they revert to feral, they’re unpredictable and will kill even if they have food.”

“Since we’re talking about it, what do you think about large land animals that were in zoos like elephants and hippos?” Arthur asked.

“They’ll survive, but elephants and hippos won’t reach large populations for many years,” Yvonne said. “Hippos shouldn’t survive much further north than the top of Louisiana, but I think they’ll learn to adapt. Elephants, I think, will wander wherever the hell they want to.”

Very happy he’d gotten that right, Arthur just let his mind wander until Yvonne cleared her throat to get his attention. “One more thing. You were right on alligators, but you are way low on your numbers. With man gone they can spread out, and that means the population is going to explode. This will be the last year people can just jump in a lake or river without worrying about getting attacked.”

Seeing only Arthur wasn’t shocked, “There were over two million in Louisiana alone and they breed in the spring, which was when this hit. Without mankind keeping them in check, remember they can spread out, and older alligators kill more young than anything. If momma goes to where there aren’t any alligators, most of her young will survive and one female can lay fifty eggs. Using a fifty percent survival rate with only those alligators in Louisiana breeding, and if the females only laid twenty-five eggs, alligators just added fifteen million to their numbers this year alone.”

“Yeah, I went too low on my numbers, but what did you think about my range theory?” Arthur asked.

“I think you’re very correct. We’ll see alligators around us within two years, if not sooner,” Yvonne stated with certainty. “In college, I helped trap several alligators in Tennessee.”

“Native Americans lived with wild animals. We should do okay,” Sarah stated.

Looking at Sarah and shaking her head, “Native Americans didn’t live with the numbers and diversity we’re going to be dealing with,” Yvonne told her. “Mankind altered nature. It’s what dominant species do if they want to survive. But because we altered the land and environment, raising huge herds of animals for food, and clearing vast areas to farm, we’ve done something nature could’ve never done on such a large scale, altered the abundance of available food.”

“We need to keep lots of bullets,” Chad said with a nod, then turned to Arthur. “How many kid gangs have you found?”

“Seven, and Joseph spotted another eight for me to check out,” Arthur answered, and it seemed to shock Chad. “Hey, after we tracked one with a UAV to a camp, that’s what we started looking for; camps in the middle of nowhere. They live way back off the grid, but one thing they all have so far is solar panels.”

“Shit,” Chad scoffed. “You’d be hard-pressed to find one house in five around here that didn’t already have solar panels after the last government mandate.”

“True, but so far the kids are collecting them in large arrays. I’m talking about 60kw arrays,” Arthur replied. “I was going to scout that one camp, but we were heading for another to attempt first contact and to get information. The camp we were going to make contact with is freaking awesome.”

“Awesome?” Tim asked.

“They have a hundred-kilowatt solar array and a dozen wind turbines. Granted, the turbines are small, around three kilowatts, but it shows they diversified,” Arthur answered.

“Since you’re down for a few days, want us to check on some?” Chad offered.

Just staring at Chad for a few seconds, Arthur finally nodded. “If you’re up for it, but we don’t want them to know we were there. We need pictures and estimates of size.”

“I think we can evade kids,” Chad smirked.

Arthur didn’t even grin. “They aren’t kids anymore and if you underestimate them, we’ll be going to war with them,” Arthur said. “I haven’t found a group yet that hasn’t laid traps around their camp. I mean some very complex traps that would make the Goonies proud. They’re complex, dependable, and most are deadly.”

The smirk fell off Chad’s face as he nodded slowly. “We’ll take care and that was stupid on my part to underestimate them.”

“Don’t feel bad because I did the same thing before scouting the first one we’d found. Nearly got impaled by a harpoon,” Arthur told him. “One thing I can say, I haven’t found one group yet that moves outside their perimeter at night.”

“Shit, I don’t like moving around outside our fence at night,” Tim mumbled.

“Dad,” Joseph cut in. “You know Mom will kick your ass if you don’t take downtime, and if you push, Jason will also.”

“I will, son,” Arthur promised.

Motioning to Chad, “If you let them scout, Mom will want to scout,” Joseph stated.

“Son, if your mom ‘asks’, then I’ll tell her to knock herself out. But I won’t ask or tell her. In case you haven’t noticed, when Wendy asks, or more appropriately, volunteers to do something, she never gets ambitious or overloads her ass. If I ask her or tell her, she’ll make changes in the plan when there isn’t a need. She’ll do more than she has to or should, or not do something because she thinks it’s unnecessary. And before you ask, I would make damn sure Samantha goes with her if your mom asked. She’s scouted for weeks at a time inside the Heavenly Disciples compound and stayed hidden. If I’d asked your mom to do that, she would’ve killed people just to prove she could. Son, your mom can scout, when she ‘wants to’. The only thing I ask of everyone, don’t try to breach and scout the interior unless you know you can. And I shouldn’t have to say it, but I am, let me make contact first.”

Slapping the table, Chad busted out laughing. “We don’t have a problem with that. Three days ago we were ransacking the trailers of a bunch of parked semi-trucks and a group came up on motorcycles. They took one look at three of us wearing caravan hats, and I shit you not, they squealed rubber getting the hell away from us!”

Really wishing Chad would’ve told him about that sooner Arthur let it slide, having never taken his eyes off Joseph. “Son,” he said softly. “No matter who goes on these scouting missions, from now on, you’re in charge of them.”

Joseph’s eyes got wide and his mouth fell open and before he could speak, Arthur started to explain. “The group going will give you a location, and using your drones you’ll scout the area first, making sure nothing like what Jason and I ran into today is in the area. If there’s a large pack of dogs, herd of cattle or pigs, shit, if you see fucking anything you don’t like around the target, you will stop the mission.”

Understanding now what his dad was saying, Joseph, relaxed and gave a nod. “Yes, sir,” he replied. “Dad, how big of a pack do you think you and Jason could kill? What I’m getting at is, how big should the threat be for me to scrub the mission?”

Thinking for several minutes before answering, “If that pack had only been two hundred strong, which is the biggest we’ve ever seen, Jason and I would’ve wiped them out. And to be honest, I would’ve continued to scout that group and then headed south to the next one,” Arthur replied. “I was averaging hitting forty to fifty dogs a minute at two hundred yards, and Jason was hitting more. The closer they got, the more we were hitting. At fifty yards I think we were each killing about a hundred a minute, with me barely doing that and again, Jason getting well over that. I’m not ashamed to say that fucker shoots better than me. But I will say, I’m going to work on that very hard, and I’m adding more training on the gun ranges. Everyone will learn how to reload magazines under fire, under stress, and while moving.”

Before Joseph could reply, “You didn’t do that?” Chad asked in surprise.

Not able to flip Chad off with his right hand since all his fingers were bandaged up, Arthur flipped Chad off with his left since only the palm was wrapped up. “Bitch, I told you we weren’t preppers. Yes, we did three gun, and even Joseph did some in high school, but reloading magazines in combat isn’t something I ever considered,” Arthur replied. “I’m lucky as shit Jason practiced that shit, otherwise I would’ve pulled the pin on my grenade.”

“That was over five thousand dogs,” Yvonne blurted out.

“Won’t find me arguing,” Arthur replied, and everyone nodded in agreement. “I learned real fast to hit to wound because most of the time, the dog shot would attack the dog closest to it. When they came up from the south in that clearing, I bet there were over a hundred dogs fighting in that first two minutes from the ones we wounded. That kept the ones behind from just charging us and bought us time.”

“That’s good to know,” Chad said, looking at the bandages covering Arthur. “I’m telling you now, we ever see a group of large cats that big, I’m not leaving our area, ever,” Chad declared. “I’ll extend the height of our wall to a hundred feet and stay behind it until I die.”

“Chad, I’ll agree with you on that,” Arthur chimed in.

Chapter Sixteen

I Caught a Pokémon

With only a few clouds in the night sky, crouched low, Wendy eased through the trees slow and steady, trying to ignore the bone-chilling temperature. The quad tube night vision gave the forest a sinister and eerie feeling that she damn sure didn’t like. Waiting for a day after Arthur and Jason had run into the pack of dogs, she and Samantha had volunteered to go when Arthur didn’t ask them. Wendy had been waiting for Arthur to ask, since Chad and others in his group had gone out that night. When Arthur didn’t, Wendy had told him she and Samantha were going to scout the next night. Many in the group had been surprised Arthur had only told Wendy to ‘keep her head on task’. Every night since then, Wendy and Samantha, along with LL taking another team, had headed out from the ranch as two teams had left with Chad’s group, but nobody had gotten out of the vehicles until Joseph had given the all-clear.

This was the seventh-night scouting, and the temperature was negative eighteen when she and Samantha had left the twins and Shawn in the Suburban. It did surprise Wendy when she’d asked Shawn to go, the twins had never complained.

Feeling Samantha stop, Wendy froze and just shifted her eyes to Samantha. Her gaze confirmed that Samantha was stopped and looking off to her right. Rotating her head slightly Wendy saw where Samantha was looking, fifty yards away and twenty feet in the air. It looked like a treehouse, but it was actually a guard post for the group they were currently scouting. This was the largest group that’d been found and so far, had been the most scouted.

Wendy let Samantha watch the guard house as she turned her head to the left to keep watch on the area. With her AR held low and ready, she fought not to shiver and really wished they could move a bit faster, just so they could keep warm. The adrenaline rush had dissipated hours ago at the first camp they’d scouted. When they saw no changes in routine from the group of kids at that camp, they’d headed back to Shawn and the twins and had driven south.

This group was near Ross, which wasn’t anything. There wasn’t even a crossroad only a T-intersection, and at the intersection there wasn’t even a stop sign, much less a blinking light, only a yield sign. They had all driven through here nearly a dozen times since the outbreak but unless you took a dead-end dirt road, you weren’t going to find the camp.

In all reality, they should’ve thought of the area because it used to be a youth camp, but it had closed the year before the outbreak. A kid had gotten stung by a wasp and the family had sued the camp and won. It’d made national headlines, and the thing that was fucked was the kid hadn’t even been allergic to stings and was fine. But the judge had ruled ‘A safe environment’ hadn’t been maintained. So, the county and group of churches who’d owned the camp had let their insurance settle the suit and they’d just closed the camp.

Feeling Samantha move, which meant the guard house was empty, Wendy eased ahead and was very proud of how she was moving. There wasn’t any doubt, if a sloth would’ve been moving with them, the sloth would’ve won. That was why Kit and Kat were in the Suburban. Neither had ever grasped the concept of ‘sneak’, no matter how many times she and Arthur had tried to teach the labs. Donald and Daisy could sneak, but Kit and Kat, they were a lost cause.

Moving her left leg forward, she angled more to the side to miss the covered pit to her front, and could tell Samantha was going around on the opposite side. All the kid locations they’d scouted so far had traps around the perimeter, but this group had the most, both in quantity and type. The pits had been dug out with mini excavators, ten feet deep and then filled with spikes. Not wooden spikes, three-foot-long, quarter-inch round, metal spikes that had ground-down needle sharp points. They knew mini excavators had been used because on Arthur’s first trip here, one pit was still being dug at 2300 hours. This group just kept adding more traps and every morning a group came out, making sure nothing had been caught or a trap triggered.

And that was how Arthur had learned where to move. By watching those patrols, he’d made a map that Wendy had committed to memory before her first trip. After she’d gotten here to scout, Wendy realized she would’ve seen many, if not all, the traps placed throughout the woods and fields outside the perimeter. They were kids, but not woodsmen by a long shot, and they damn sure weren’t Arthur because when he set a trap, even he had a hard time finding it. That was how Wendy and Joseph had learned to look for traps, Arthur would set some up and take them in the woods to let them find what he’d put out.

Of all the kid camps they’d found, this was the one that’d impressed Arthur the most. When he’d told Wendy what all was there, she’d really thought he was just blowing smoke up her ass, but he wasn’t. The one thing that awed both of them was the moat the kids had built. It was ten feet wide but only three feet deep. After his first trip, Arthur had admitted that if it hadn’t been for all the traps, he might’ve just stepped in the moat. He still almost did, but had smelled the heavy aroma of salt.

Getting to his knees and sniffing, Arthur had realized it was coming from the water. That night he’d had to use night vision goggles and had a hard time looking in the water. Finally moving away, he’d found a spot where he could turn on a UV light that couldn’t be seen by any guard post, since some of the kids had night vision goggles. Before Arthur had turned on the light, he’d seen the bodies of rats floating in the water.

Very nervous, Arthur had turned on the UV light and saw the moat was lined with heavy-duty plastic and at the bottom, he saw suspended cables. Realizing he was looking at exposed electrical lines, Arthur had shut the light off and taken a step back. Not wanting to tempt fate, he’d moved back to Jason and they’d headed home. The next night he’d returned with a voltmeter and had found that the current in the water was enough to kill.

Across the moat, a ten-foot-tall chain-link fence stood right at the edge. There wasn’t enough room to land if one did attempt to jump across. After he’d discovered the electrified water, Arthur had studied the fence closer and finally spotted strands of wire running along the face of the fence and realized it was electric fence wire.

There were two primitive drawbridges across the moat. Well, primitive to Arthur, but something very cool for the kids inside the perimeter. One was for vehicles and the other was used to walk or drive buggies and ATVs across. That night, the small one was down and when nobody was looking, Arthur had slipped inside. He’d tested the wire along the chain-link fence and had found it was just an ordinary electric fence. Anyone who jumped across and tried to latch onto the chain link fence would get the shit shocked out of them and let go. Thereby falling into the moat from hell and dying.

After moving around inside for a few hours, Arthur had found he couldn’t use the small bridge to leave because it’d been raised. The camp sat in a huge oxbow formed by the river, and the kids had sealed the end off with the two-mile-long moat from hell. Since he was inside the perimeter, Arthur had decided to map the inside and found the moat water wasn’t taken from the small river around the oxbow, it was circulated from the ends back to the center.

The river was the same one that ran through the ranch but traveled forty miles to make it to here, twenty-eight miles from the ranch. Along its route, over two dozen creeks emptied into the river. Before the fall it’d been a small river. Now, it was a nice-sized river. As the lake at the ranch had been filling up, they’d checked where Piney Creek emptied in Lake Dardanelle, and couldn’t really tell a difference in the flow.

After exploring, when Jason called him over the radio saying it was time to pull out, Arthur had moved to the river and found another chain-link fence, but at the bottom, quarter-inch mesh had been placed and ran halfway up the ten-foot-tall chain link fence that was now topped with barbed wire. On the outside, where the mesh ended was the electric fence, and Arthur knew the reason for the mesh was rats and mice. Having no desire to test the electric wires on the fence, Arthur had climbed the fence and just jumped. Only when he’d hit the water had he realized that hadn’t been the smartest course.

Moving around the pit Wendy couldn’t help but grin under her shemagh, remembering Arthur still shivering when he and Jason had gotten back to the ranch. He’d taken off and jumped in the hot tub, and had stayed there for two hours.

Stepping over a tripwire, Wendy eased along. Suddenly to her right she heard a dog yelping loudly, then it stopped. “Puppy tried to get across the moat I’ll bet,” she mumbled and continued easing through the forest.

Tonight, their target was the trail that was used from the perimeter to the tallest point outside of Ross. It was over eleven hundred feet high and gave a very nice commanding view of the area for miles. Wendy had no doubt the kids here had watched the Caravan Man drive the roads and pass right under their lookout spot. To be honest, Wendy had expected Arthur to have reservations about her plan, but he’d just smiled at her and had told her to try it. But, he’d told her to only go through with it just as she’d planned and explained to him, no making changes on the fly.

Twenty minutes later, Wendy slowly went to one knee as Samantha eased up and knelt beside her. “We’re early,” Samantha breathed, and Wendy just gave a nod. It wasn’t even midnight yet. There wasn’t a set time to change the lookouts, but they usually moved from the camp to the lookout spot between 0100-0230.

The only problem Wendy had with waiting was, it was as cold as fuck. They were in the middle of a large belt of booby traps, so she wasn’t that worried about animals. “I’m going to set up,” Wendy replied and Samantha just gave a nod, taking a deep breath to deal with the cold as she covered Wendy and waited.

Dropping to her belly and cradling her AR, Wendy crawled forward as Samantha went prone. Thirty yards ahead after crawling around another trap, Wendy stopped a few yards back from a well-used footpath. Tucked under a six-foot-tall cedar tree, Wendy could feel the chill fighting through the layers of clothes she had on. Like Samantha, she was wearing a fedora. Wendy had put on a skull cap, then the fedora. With the shemagh wrapped tightly around her face, Wendy had no exposed skin. Samantha had on a ski mask and then her shemagh. At the time Wendy had thought the ski mask would hinder more than help, but she was having serious doubts about that issue now.

After an hour, Wendy was again talking herself out of just going to the camp and grabbing a kid. The only thing that stopped her was she’d promised Arthur she wouldn’t deviate from her plan. Curling her toes in her boots to get feeling back in her feet, Wendy nearly jumped to her feet and took off running when Samantha’s voice sounded in her earbud. “Three coming.”

Taking a deep breath to calm down and answer in a steady yet shivering voice, “Copy,” Wendy answered.

It wasn’t long before she saw the three figures walking abreast along the path. With her night vision goggles she could see two were wearing night vision, but it was the cheap first-generation kind. The kid in the middle was carrying a low-lumen flashlight. Not surprised, Wendy noticed he was the one having the least amount of trouble walking. One thing that had impressed her was the light discipline all the kid gangs showed. At night, they didn’t have bright lights out. Just a bunch of low-lumen lights around their areas.

Even now, there were pinpoints of light across the countryside from solar-powered lights on homes. There were even stretches of interstate lit up from the solar lights on the highway.

“None of these three are the ones we wanted,” Samantha called back, and Wendy almost jumped to her feet and shot the three kids still a hundred yards away. They, Arthur and Jason, had watched this group and spotted sixteen kids who’d seemed very high up in the command. Of those, seven had been spotted going to the lookout spot.

Pressing her PTT, “One of the shits is coming with us. I didn’t freeze my tits off to come back empty-handed,” Wendy replied, fighting to not let her teeth chatter.

“Hey, I’m with you,” Samantha replied. “Let’s just grab all three.”

Thinking about that and very tempted, Wendy pressed her PTT. “No, I’ll grab one and we’re getting the fuck in the truck with the heater on high.”

When the three came closer, Wendy confirmed they were all boys. She’d thought that by how they were walking, but this group had both boys and girls. Gripping her AR tight, she waited until they were ten yards away and rose up slowly.

Suddenly not cold anymore, “Aim at me and I’ll kill all of you,” Wendy warned in a steady voice. The three froze as a shadow appeared from the ground. Well, to the boy in the middle without night vision goggles, it was a shadow. The other two saw a green blob.

Not surprised to see all three armed, Wendy noticed the two with goggles had stepped up and in front of the boy in the middle without goggles, shielding him. “Can you guess who I’m with?” Wendy asked, lowering the muzzle of her AR so she wasn’t aiming at the boys and this seemed to make them relax just a bit.

All three nodded as the one in the middle answered, “You’re with the Caravan Man.”

Stepping out on the path, Wendy nodded. “Very good. He wants to talk to you,” she said. Then, based on the way the boys were acting, she chose her target. “The one in the middle.”

The boys on the outside tensed up and Wendy’s AR came back up. “Boys, I’m not alone, and movement like that’ll get you killed,” she advised them. “If we wanted you dead, you’d all be dead. Think.”

Reaching out, the boy in the middle put his hand on the shoulders of the other two, “Golem, Blastoise, don’t,” he told them, and both eased their hands away from the weapons they were reaching for.

“Very good,” Wendy said with a grin, keeping her right hand on the AR grip but letting the rifle hang under her arm. “What’s your name? Sorry, but we only have pictures,” she somewhat lied, they just didn’t have his picture.

“Drew,” the boy in the middle answered.

“Drew, I’m taking you to meet the Caravan Man. You can keep your guns but if you try to use them on us, it won’t go well. I’m promising your friends you’ll be back here tomorrow, but you try to shoot any of us and I’ll be bringing you back with gunshots to your legs. We aren’t going to hurt you if you don’t try to hurt any of us.”

“What about others in the Caravan?” Golem asked.

Turning to Golem on the left, “None would dare try. But if they do, I’ll give their head to Drew to bring back with him tomorrow,” Wendy replied.

Drew stepped up moving between Golem and Blastoise. “What does the Caravan Man want?” he asked clearly afraid.

“To talk, and to give you the rules of this area for you to bring back and talk to the others about,” Wendy answered. “If you all agree to them, we’ll offer you our assistance if we can. As an example, like if you’re attacked or have questions. Provided you accept what the Caravan Man offers.”

The three looked perplexed as they glanced at one another, then Drew turned to Wendy. “But, we’re a gang,” he stated. “The Caravan Man kills gangs. Everyone knows that.”

Despite the situation, Wendy laughed. “Oh, boys,” she said, pulling down her shemagh to expose the lower part of her face. “We only kill gangs who rape and pillage.”

All three seemed to understand ‘rape’ but, “We only take vitamins, no other pills unless Nurse Joy tells us to,” Drew told her.

“No, ‘pillage’ means to run around and destroy other people who’re just trying to survive. Like capturing people and making them slaves,” Wendy explained briefly.

“Slaves are forbidden here in Pokémon, even for Team Rocket,” Drew informed her rather proudly.

Hearing the name of the largest kid gang, Wendy fought not to bust out laughing. “That’s why I’m here, Drew, and why the Caravan Man wants to talk to you,” Wendy told him.

“How do we know you’re really with the Caravan?” Blastoise asked boldly.

Scoffing, “Shit, if I’m not, just get on the radio, any frequency, and announce someone’s acting like they’re with the Caravan Man,” Wendy told him. “You’ll see the Caravan Man rolling across the land like a demon from hell.”

Drew took his eyes off Wendy to look at Golem and Blastoise, “Nobody’s that stupid. Not even the Witchers,” Drew told them with confidence, then turned back to Wendy. “You promise I’ll be back by tomorrow?”

Knowing why Drew asked, “Yes, Drew. We know your group is having a party every night until Christmas, with the first one starting tomorrow. That’s why I’m here tonight,” Wendy told him, and all three boys let out gasps. “Guys, the Caravan Man has been inside your camp. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here. I’ll give Drew some pictures to bring back to prove it. The Caravan Man goes where he wants to, when he wants to, and kills those he wants to. So you see, you’ve passed the first tests. You’re a gang, but so is the Caravan.”

“I’ll go, you don’t have to worry,” Drew said, then turned to the others. “Tell Mew I’ll be back tomorrow, and to get the elite and gym masters ready for a meeting.”

When Drew turned around, he saw Wendy pull something from her jacket and hold it out to Golem. “Drew will call you and give you updates,” Wendy said, and the three looked down in utter shock at a smartphone. “The phone I’m giving Drew is in the contact list as a saved number, but don’t you dare call it until he calls you,” she warned. “I don’t want a flood of dogs or lions coming to find out what’s ringing in the forest.”

Golem took the phone and tapped the screen. “Golem, it’s off. You really don’t want to turn it on out here. Yes, we’re in your security zone. But as bright as that thing’s going to be, it could be seen from a good ways off, not to mention your lookout spot,” Wendy told them.

Reaching over, Drew slapped the back of Golem’s head. “Idiot,” Drew spat, and Golem just grimaced as he put the phone in his pocket. It was clear Drew was younger than the other two but was a higher rank, or whatever the Pokémon went by. Wendy was guessing Drew’s age at around thirteen.

“Golem, Blastoise,” Wendy said grinning at the names. “You need to tell your people not to shoot if they see us leaving with Drew. I promise I’m bringing him back tomorrow but if anyone shoots at us, I’ll be dropping Drew off at a pile of bodies. We don’t like people shooting at us, as you should know.”

Both nodded, “Nobody’ll shoot at you,” Golem said, and Wendy motioned Drew to follow then grabbed her PTT.

“Samantha, moving to you,” she said still holding the PTT. “Shawn, crank up the Suburban and have the heater on high. I want you to move to the road and we’ll meet you there.”

“On the way,” Shawn replied as Wendy saw Samantha stand up and she stopped.

“Um,” Drew said, moving up beside Wendy. “I don’t know my way through the Safari Zone.” Hearing that, Samantha and Wendy turned to him, “the area we laid traps,” Drew clarified.

“Oh, we know where they are,” Samantha grinned. “At least we don’t have to fucking sneak out.”

Wendy noticed Drew didn’t even show any sign of shock. “So, Drew, what are you called by the others?” she asked.

“Pikachu,” Drew answered.

When Joseph was little, she and Arthur had played Pokémon with him. One year they’d even used an app on their phones, running around the property playing the game. “I finally caught a real one,” Wendy said with a grin. “I’m taking a picture.”

Chapter Seventeen

Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?

It was midmorning as Arthur watched everyone getting ready for the meeting. “Okay,” he said turning to Albert, Chad, and Jill. “We invited a visitor over last night.”

Wendy stood up, “Samantha and I caught Pickachu!” she announced with pride. Albert, Jill, and Chad just looked at her. “Oh, come on,” Wendy groaned, dropping back in her chair.

“Isn’t that a...” Chad started. “My son used to talk about a Picka something,” he mumbled, racking his brain.

“Chad, it’s a Pokémon,” Arthur told him.

Getting a smile, “You brought one here?” Chad asked, and Wendy just mumbled.

“Yes,” Arthur smiled cutting his eyes at Wendy. All his stitches and staples were out as were Jason’s, but they both still had obvious bruising. “I’m going to give you the breakdown,” Arthur said, tapping his computer. “There’re way more gangs than what I’d first thought or found. But to our credit and Joseph’s, we did find and scout the biggest ones.”

“I have to say, some of those kids are good,” Chad said, leaning back in his chair as Jill and Albert turned to him. “What? Arthur and Jason tried to fight all the dogs in the state, so I offered to help check out some of the spots.”

When Jill and Albert turned to Arthur they found him holding up both hands. “Nobody in your groups is even remotely ready to scout,” Arthur told them flatly.

Dropping his hands to let them know it wasn’t open for discussion, “From what Drew told me-,” Arthur stopped as Wendy chimed in.

“Pickachu!”

Shifting his eyes to Wendy, “I’m not calling him a yellow rat that shoots lightening,” Arthur told her bluntly, then continued.

“Drew helped put the pieces together for me and is certain the Pokémon will meet to discuss joining the coalition. First, we way underestimated the number in the kid gangs,” Arthur said, tapping his laptop as a map came on one of the huge screens on the wall and ten dots sprang up. “These are the biggest,” Arthur said, and tapped another key and thirty more dots appeared. “These are the ones Drew knows about. He doesn’t really know how to read a map so he did the best he could as to their locations. Drew also gave us the names of more gangs, but had no clue where they were.”

“The Witchers?” Chad asked.

“Shit, I knew where they were when I heard those kids talking about them on the radio three weeks ago. I didn’t even need Joseph to look for them,” Arthur replied. “They’re at the castle.”

Chad’s eyes got big, “On that mountain in Van Buren County?!” he cried out.

“Duh,” Arthur sang out. “Didn’t you read the books? Watch the series that was done years ago? Where else would they go?”

“Witchers, here?! In a castle?! In Arkansas?!” Jill cried out totally lost.

Nodding, “Yeah,” Arthur answered. “It was built before World War Two by some oil tycoon. The outer walls enclose, like, fifteen acres. The castle and walls are built from granite. The castle is three stories tall with a basement, has over sixty rooms, and like, twenty bathrooms. Shit, in the basement there’s a swimming pool and bowling alley. The four bastions at each corner of the wall house apartments for the staff, and I can’t even remember how many rooms,” Arthur admitted, turning to Joseph.

“I don’t remember,” Joseph shrugged. “I didn’t like going to the servant quarters.”

“How many times have you been there?!” Chad shouted, looking from Arthur to Joseph.

“Over a hundred,” Arthur answered looking at Joseph, who gave a nod in agreement. “Stayed there a few dozen times I know of.”

“You knew the owners?” Chad panted out in shock.

“Pfft,” Arthur huffed. “Some old actor bought it in the eighties but died, and it’s owned by a mortgage company now. Nobody lives there, and staff only came up on weekends to clean and maintain the place. The alarm system isn’t that great, especially for that place.”

“A castle?!” Jill cried out again.

“Yes, Jill. It’s a real castle, but there isn’t a moat,” Arthur told her.

Flipping open a notepad, “Who are the Witchers?” Albert asked, just giving up on the castle part, and he’d lived around here.

Turning to Albert, “Sorry, we’ve been hearing a lot on them. The Witchers are a problem we’re going to deal with,” Arthur replied. “They’re a pretty large group, between four to five hundred strong. Older teens, boys and girls.”

Setting his ink pen on the table, “Boys and girls?” Albert asked.

“Chad, let me catch them up, since you’ve been going out with your group gathering information,” Arthur sighed. “Yes, some of these kid gangs are co-ed. Some, like the Slayers, Glamour Girls, and PLL, that is, Pretty Little Liars, are just girls, from toddlers to age eighteen. There’re no adults in any of them. Sorry, but I don’t count the eighteen-year-olds as adults, but in the Slayers, hell, most of those girls act like adults. Of all three girl gangs, the Slayers are the biggest with between five to six hundred. The PLLs have around four hundred. Those numbers are from our scouting, not what... Pikachu told us,” Arthur said with a grin and heard Wendy giggle.

Albert said nothing as he just stared at Arthur. After a minute, “So, some gangs are just boys?” Albert asked.

Nodding, “Yes, the Cowboys and Dudes are just boys,” Arthur answered. “Each number five to six hundred, with the Cowboys being the larger one. Like the girl gangs, they have toddlers to late teenagers, but the Cowboys do have at least four adults. Men, of course.”

Wondering if he was dreaming, Albert reached over and pinched his own arm and gave a wince. “Okay, I’m awake,” he assured himself. “Why aren’t there more adults?”

“They don’t want adults, and when I say ‘men’, I mean by age only. Shit, one of those guys with the Cowboys acts more girlish than most girls. Pikachu answered some of that. It seems some of the adults thought they were in charge and started dictating what was going to happen. Well, you don’t tell kids to do all the work when you just sit on your ass,” Arthur told Albert, then gave a shrug. “The kids either shot or shanked their asses. Yes, the Pokémon killed three who tried that shit, then outlawed the rest of the adults from being in charge. That’s when they became the Pokémon. From Pikachu’s timeline, I think that was in May. I don’t know about the others.”

“So they’re like ‘The Lord of the Flies’?” Albert asked.

Shaking his head, “No, for the most part, most of the kid gangs get along really good and function well,” Arthur said, then gave a glance at Chad before turning back to Albert. “If you’re wondering about bullies, there aren’t any in most of the kid gangs. I told Chad that but he didn’t believe me, so I asked Pikachu and he confirmed what I’d thought. An older kid isn’t going to bully another kid when that kid has a pistol or rifle strapped on. Yes, kids have killed bullies, and don’t you know that shit stopped really fast,” Arthur chuckled. “Now before you jump to conclusions about anarchy, Pikachu said when a fight happens and one is hurt or killed, there’s a trial where everyone takes part. If it was justified, nothing’s done, but if the action wasn’t warranted, someones thrown out. When I say thrown out, they’re stripped naked, tied-up, taken to a town, and thrown out.”

Albert’s face went pale as Arthur nodded and continued. “Yeah, the group who drops them off usually sees the animals, mainly rats, coming out before they get out of sight. Needless to say, they don’t have to do that much.”

“For kids, they’re doing really well,” Chad said.

Smacking his lips to get his mouth wet, “What about the attacks?” Albert asked.

“Didn’t really ask outright, but all the groups have killed, some more than others. I hinted around the subject, but the kids avoid the Caravan Man because they knew I killed gangs. Like Pikachu said, the Pokémon are a gang and they thought when I found them, I’d kill them. So they just fucking hid, and that pretty much goes for the others. That’s why I didn’t outright ask. I didn’t want them to get scared,” Arthur told him.

“But they killed some good people,” Jill tossed out.

Nodding, “Some of the gangs did, maybe all of them, but they were trying to survive. Jill, remember me saying I’d underestimated the numbers?” Arthur asked and she nodded. “Just with our scouting and what Pikachu gave us, there’re over nine thousand kids in the Caravan Man’s territory. If they were killing to survive, with that many kids around here, there wouldn’t be any small groups surviving, but there are. Pikachu did admit, well, I don’t think he knew he admitted it,” Arthur said the last part in a low voice. “That the Pokémon killed one small group because they asked the four adults there for help on how to set up a greenhouse.”

Jill gave a gasp, “Eddy? The group north of Lamar?”

“Yes. I don’t think Pikachu realized he’d admitted to an attack, but I mean, fuck, I would’ve killed the assholes if I knew they didn’t even try to help some kids. Pikachu said they went there and talked to Eddy, even calling Eddy by name. They just wanted to look at the ones Eddy and his group had set up, and wanted Eddy and them to explain what to do. Eddy and one of the other men threatened to kill the Pokémon if they didn’t leave and if they saw them again, they were just shooting first. Jill, they just asked for help. I can understand why the kids attacked them.”

Sitting a few chairs down from Jill, Albert leaned back to look at her. “Jill, I can see Eddy saying that,” Albert confessed. “I wanted to look at his ventilation system for his greenhouses because I couldn’t understand what Arthur had drawn out, until Odie joined us and he understood Arthur’s diagram. But anyway, Eddy told me to fuck off. His group had found that place and it was theirs. It took a bit, but I just sat and talked to Eddy and he finally agreed to let me look. Then four days later we found Odie and those seven kids he was traveling with and he took over the greenhouse construction, so I didn’t even have to do that.”

“Hold up,” Arthur said, looking at Jill and then Albert. “From now on, when someone around here acts hostile towards you, I want to know. When I say, ‘I want to know’ that means, like that fucking day!” Then Arthur turned to Chad. “When you see a large group riding around in our area, I want to know, that fucking day!”

“They took off,” Chad shrugged.

“Have we, and I mean this group here at the ranch, not notified each of you when we spotted something? Like that group of travelers in trucks and cars that was parked near Bullfrog Valley last month? Then that weird motherfucking group near Purdy where everyone has a shaved head? I’ve had some cocksuckers give me the creeps, but those bitches are at the top of the list. Point being, we see something that seems off when we’re out, we let others, all of you know. Why? So you can be on the lookout for them. You should always have your guard up, but you need to tell us shit that seems off,” Arthur said.

“Shit,” Chad groaned, rubbing his face with both hands. “Okay, that was a big fuckup on our part. It won’t happen again.”

“So, we aren’t mad about them killing Eddy and them?” Jill asked. “They killed, like, six adults and I think one older teen.”

“I’m not mad,” Arthur clarified. “Pikachu never offered why they killed the older teen, but I’m certain it’s because he fought back. In case you’re wondering, the eleven other kids were offered a chance to join up with the Pokémon. They did and are still there. It turns out even getting the stuff from the greenhouses, the Pokémon couldn’t set it up. So, now this is the cool part. They got help from another gang, the Slayers.”

Smiling as he continued, “It turns out the Slayers needed help from the Pokémon, and they traded resources. The Pokémon are very good at setting up power, well, a group within the Pokémon. Turns out Pikachu did a science project on tying solar and wind turbines together. Several others did projects on hydropower. That’s why, out of all the groups we scouted, they have the best power set up. They have a fucking electrified moat blocking off that oxbow.”

Pausing, Arthur was happy to see impressed looks from the groups. “Has anyone else noticed batteries missing from cars?” he asked, and everyone nodded. “The Pokémon hauled mobile homes into that summer camp, and two doublewides are packed with car batteries. I’m talking thousands wired in relay, series and parallel, to store power. Now, get this, normally when you’re generating power, you set up something like a heater to dump excess power so you don’t hurt your batteries. Oh, not the Pokémon. The excess power is dumped into that moat. With the solar, wind, and hydro at peak operation they’re generating over a hundred and fifty thousand watts, and the extra is dumped in the moat.”

After several seconds Chad gave a grin. “You’re fucking with us, aren’t you?”

“Nope,” Arthur said and tapped his computer. One of the other screens cut on to show pictures of the moat and the dead animals floating in it. “Pikachu and a few others went to the Slayers to help set up power. Turns out several of the girls in the Slayers had worked at greenhouses. Now, since I’m talking about the Slayers, the Pokémon and many of the other gangs are scared of them. Why? I don’t know, and couldn’t get the reason out of Pikachu. I think he was embarrassed of being scared of a girl. One thing he was very clear about, nobody just goes to visit the Slayers. If you want to talk to them, you go to a spot near their camp and wait. They’ll come and see what you want. If you just head to their camp, you aren’t coming back no matter who you are.”

“Maybe they’re the main attackers?” Albert offered.

“They’re the ones who got that child molesting group,” Arthur admitted. “And now, I know of one other group they killed, but I don’t know why. They leave a calling card. In at least one of the bodies, they drive a wooden stake through the heart.”

“Whoa!” Albert cried out. “PLL, Glamour Girls, Slayers, you mean like Buffy the Vampire?” Albert asked and Arthur nodded. “That show was on nearly three decades ago! My sister, my baby sister, watched reruns!”

Shrugging, “Hey, if something’s good, you find it,” Arthur offered. “Yes, the kid gangs are named after shows, video games, and books.”

He tapped the computer as names sprang up at some of the dots. “The Digimon are the next biggest group with nearly two and a half thousand. Then for the other major gangs, you have the Vault Dwellers, that’s from Fallout. Skyrim, that’s a game, up near Tomahawk. The Dungeon Masters, that’s from Dungeons and Dragons. Teen Titans, you should know. Runaways, a TV show. Fortnite, game. PUBG, that stands for Player Unknown Battle Grounds, game. Now the Cowboys and Dudes, I’m not sure because there were movies, but knowing boys, they could’ve just picked those names. And last are the Terminators.”

When he said that, everyone grinned. “I should tell you, they’re the only gang who didn’t name themselves. The other kid gangs named the Terminators. Of all the gangs, they’re the most militaristic and they’ve fought more adults than all of the other gangs combined. We’ve heard the other kid gangs talking on the radio about that and Pikachu confirmed it. I should tell you, the Terminators have even gone after me,” Arthur said, and the smiles fell off as mouths dropped open.

“Pikachu let it slip. Turns out some of the kids I spotted running away were traps set up by the Terminators. Why? Because they thought I was killing all gangs. They had ambushes set up if I would’ve chased after those kids,” Arthur said, and turned to the back and saw Shawn’s face was red with anger.

“Shawn,” he called out, and Shawn’s narrowed eyes glared at Arthur. “They thought I was trying to kill them. I’m not mad, and you need to let that shit go. Not all the kids I, or we saw run away were ambushes. But I can tell you, if they’d ambushed me, I would’ve killed them and then I would’ve gone after the Terminators. It was luck on their part that didn’t happen because they only set up the ambush when they knew it was the Caravan Man.” Arthur waited for several minutes and could tell Shawn wasn’t letting it go, and made a mental note to pull Shawn off to the side and have a talk.

“The Terminators are the smallest of the large gangs, around three hundred or so. They’re co-ed, but none are under ten years old and there are no adults. There used to be more than three, but they were killed this summer in a battle with a gang. From what Pikachu said, I’m certain it was Dean’s little clusterfuck.”

“Arthur,” Chad called out, and several in his group tried to shush him. “I just can’t see a sixteen-year-old boy holding that kind of fear over hardened ‘men’ criminals.”

“Bitch!” Arthur shouted out startling Chad. “I said the same fucking thing! But I’ve talked to people who had no desire to lie and they told me that. Then one of my kids,” Arthur paused looking around the dining hall, but didn’t see Chloe.

“Babe, she’s in the daycare,” Wendy sang out.

Rolling his eyes, “That was so stupid on my part,” Arthur mumbled, then turned to Chad. “Chloe knew the little bastard before the virus and told me and Wendy the same thing we got from others. I don’t know how the little cocksucker scares people but when I catch the slimy ass eater, I’ll find out.”

Sensing, more than seeing Arthur was getting riled up, Chad put on a passive expression. “Dude, you want to launch an attack, my group is in. I’ll bring the popcorn and beer to watch when you talk to the little bastard.” Taking several deep breaths Arthur calmed down as Wendy came to the realization, Arthur would never stop hunting the asshole and when he had time, Arthur was going to find Dean. Wendy was certain it was because others were afraid of Dean, and Arthur wanted to make sure he was the only one around these parts who was feared.

“Okay, now those gangs I mentioned are the main ones around here. The only one I don’t have numbers on are the Glamour Girls because they’re south of Interstate Forty. From what Pikachu said, I’m guessing near Midway, and they number around five hundred. But the Pokémon have only been there once and Pikachu wasn’t with them,” Arthur said, and tapped the laptop.

“Now there are other kid gangs, and this is where it gets tricky. They’re smaller, but affiliated with one of the big gangs. Why? I have no fucking idea, and Pikachu just said ‘the smaller gangs needed big friends’. The kid gangs don’t really fight each other with the exception of the Witchers. Everyone is fighting the Witchers,” Arthur said, and Joseph held up his hand.

When Arthur nodded at him, Joseph lowered his hand as he spoke. “Dad, it was clear the Pokémon don’t get along with the Digimon.”

Leaning towards one of his captains, “What the fuck is a Digimon?” Albert asked, but Joseph answered.

“Digital monster,” Joseph said. “Think of them as another form of Pokémon that someone could make money from. I never got into them as a kid.”

When Joseph turned to his dad, he found Arthur holding up a hand. “Son, your mom and I learned Pokémon for you and at that time, there were only like six hundred. Shit, Pikachu said there’re over three thousand now. We played the board game and the video game with you. Then you got your mother,” Arthur snapped, “hooked on that fucking app on her phone where you two run around the property hunting Pokémon! One fucking night her phone vibrated, and Wendy shot out of the fucking bed running for the door and holding her phone, yelling, ‘Charizard is near the barn!’”

Slapping the table hard, “I caught the son of a bitch!” Wendy shouted.

“You ran out of the house butt naked! I ran after you to see you holding your phone out in front of you, running around the pasture, and the cows running to get out of your way!” Arthur shouted back.

“We live at the ass end of nowhere! Who the fuck could see me?!”

Turning to Joseph, “And that’s why when you came to me with Digimon, I told you to find something else,” Arthur confessed.

“You’re one to talk!” Wendy continued to yell. “When we took Joseph to that Pokémon convention, you were ogling teenage girls!”

Snapping his head back to Wendy, “They didn’t make sixteen-year-old girls like that when I was a teenager! They walked by with their tits hanging out! What the fuck was I supposed to do?! Look away?! Fuck that!” Arthur bellowed.

“You let our eleven-year-old boy follow them around and take pictures!”

Everyone in the dining hall was trying not to laugh as Jason finally stood up, but before he could talk Samantha did. “You say one word agreeing with Arthur, and we duke it out, buddy.”

Looking at Samantha, Jason undid his rig, taking off his pistol belt and tossing it on the table, then threw several knives down. “After you,” he said, waving toward the door.

Getting to her feet, Samantha turned to Wendy. “I’ll be back in a minute,” she stated rather confidently.

“Yes, you will,” Jason said then added, “with a whopped ass.”

Heading out the door Samantha shouted, “You don’t look at teenage girls like that!”

“We were at a fucking beach! A dime was bigger than any patch of cloth on those bikinis! Goddamn it, you were looking just as hard!” Jason shouted following her out.

“You were drooling!”

“I’m a fucking man!”

Turning from the door back to Wendy, “We’ll continue this later,” Arthur offered.

Shaking her head, “No. If you hadn’t looked, I would’ve worried about you. I just got mad that you didn’t say something to Joseph. Those pictures could’ve gotten us in trouble,” Wendy told him.

“I gave Joseph my camera because it took pictures in HD. Why would I tell him not to?”

Getting up, “I’ll remind you of that when one of our girls has a man following them, drooling,” Wendy said heading for the door.

“One of my girls dresses like that while she’s a teenager and I’ll stomp her ass!” Arthur snapped and Wendy did a stutter step. “Now, when they’re seventeen, I’ll make exceptions,” he offered calmly.

With a pale face, Wendy turned around to look at the packed dining hall and all of their teen girls now and soon to be. “Oh, fuck,” Wendy moaned, realizing the fights ahead that she was going to have with Arthur over the girls. “I’m going to stop Samantha,” she said with dejection, heading for the door.

When Wendy was gone, Arthur turned to Joseph. “Don’t you ever tell her I erased those pictures,” Arthur told him.

“I won’t,” Joseph grinned. “I made copies before I gave the camera back to you.”

Shaking his head, Arthur turned to the others and saw everyone laughing quietly. “Let’s continue,” he said. “We were on the Witchers. Now this group we’re hitting, and we’re hitting them tonight.”

When he said that, all the laughter stopped instantly. “Why the rush?” Chad asked.

Turning to Jill and Albert, “The Witchers are the worst of the lot. Co-ed, like I said, but for lack of a better word, evil,” Arthur told them. “To join the Witchers, a new recruit has to torture several animals for two weeks. The goal is to see how long they can keep the animal alive and then they let them torture a person. They have a bunch of captives in the stables inside the castle walls. There were sixty there when I snuck in two weeks ago. Basically, they’re training sick ass psychopaths and doing a pretty good job.”

“You snuck in the castle?!” Chad shouted.

Nodding, “With Joseph,” Arthur replied. “Like I said, we’ve been there many times and even spent nights there. We know the layout very well.”

Realizing Arthur wouldn’t do anything he wasn’t certain he could pull off, Chad just nodded in acceptance. “What are we going to do with the castle after we wipe out the Witchers?”

When Arthur pulled his pistol out and laid it on the table, many got nervous. “I’m telling everyone here. That castle belongs to Joseph,” he told everyone point-blank. “He’s told me since he was eight years old, he was going to buy it and live there. If anyone worth a fuck was there, I would try and talk him out of it but since the Witchers have to go, the castle belongs to Joseph.”

Standing up, “I second that,” Albert declared in a loud voice.

“I agree,” Jill said getting up.

Not getting up but turning to Joseph, “I’ll help ya clear out the bodies,” Chad told him.

When Arthur holstered his pistol, Jill and Albert sat back down. “Are we going to help?” Jill asked.

Nodding, “Yes, that’s why I told you to bring your ten best shooters,” Arthur said.

“Arthur, that castle is huge! Like you said, over seventy-five thousand square feet of living space! Jill’s and Albert’s groups aren’t good enough yet to do room clearing, and do we really want to go room to room with that many psychopathic teenagers?” Chad asked, which made Jill and Albert happy that he’d pointed it out and they didn’t have to.

Giving a chuckle, “I’m not going room to room until I’m certain most are dead,” Arthur replied. “Jill’s and Albert’s people will be on the walls shooting those who run out.”

Having no idea what Arthur had in mind and not certain he wanted to know, Chad just nodded. “This is how we’re doing it,” Arthur said, tapping his laptop.

Chapter Eighteen

Breaching a Castle

With thick clouds overhead and the sun down, the darkness was so thick it seemed like you could cut it with a knife. Jason stared out over the plateau where the castle sat with his night-vision goggles. They were over two thousand feet up and the view had been breathtaking before the sun went down. Sitting in the trees nearly three hundred yards away from the castle, Jason turned back to look at the ominous structure.

He and Samantha had been to Europe twice and had seen castles, and the one in front of him looked like it’d been transplanted from medieval times into Arkansas. Even from this far away, he could hear the loud music. It seemed the Witchers were having a party, and there was more than one type of loud music playing.

They’d moved in an hour before sunset and everyone had gotten to witness the demonic actions of the Witchers. It was hard to believe they were kids, but trust Arthur to set everyone straight. Right outside the front gate, several hundred had gathered around two men staked out on the ground. Four teens had been brought up while the crowd hooted and hollered. The oldest of the four Jason thought looked fifteen and the youngest, Jason didn’t even think was thirteen.

It was Arthur who’d told everyone that the four were new recruits wanting to join the Witchers. When the crowd had grown silent, one of the Witchers in charge had come up and announced something they couldn’t hear, and the four teen recruits had pulled out knives. Jason had looked at the one in charge and even from here, he’d been able to tell the boy hadn’t even been old enough to grow much facial hair or buy cigarettes before the virus hit.

When the one in charge had quit speaking, the recruits started cutting into the two men. Not stabbing, just cutting away on the bodies. The scene had made him sick and Jason had known none of the cuts were life-threatening. They’d only had one purpose, to cause pain without killing. By the time the sun was down the recruits were led away from the screaming men, and each recruit had been branded with a hot iron on the left deltoid. That’s when Arthur had told everyone, “They all stopped being kids when they joined with this group.”

In the glow of his night vision, Jason could still see the men staked to the ground, thrashing about. Sensing movement, Jason turned to see Arthur kneeling beside him. “I’ll lead. You stay on the outside of the line to make sure nobody gets near the tree line,” Arthur told him in a low voice. Jason was certain Arthur could’ve yelled and nobody at the castle would’ve heard him over the music.

Before Jason even nodded Arthur was moving and Jason just grinned, hoping he could move like that one day. Jason had been to the castle with Arthur before, but he’d been overwatch. All Arthur had said was he was going for a closer look. Twenty minutes later Jason had nearly fainted, watching Arthur toss a rope with a grappling hook up to the top of the wall where a battlement was. Making sure the hook held, Arthur had scurried up the wall. Jason knew that was no easy feat, even with the way Hollywood portrayed it.

Turning around, Jason watched Wendy, Joseph, Samantha, and LL follow Arthur. Behind them was Jill and her group, then Albert and his. Bringing up the rear was Chad and his group. Chad had the back because they’d shown they knew what the fuck they were doing. Letting the group move off Jason paralleled them, making sure none in Jill’s or Albert’s groups deviated from the line.

Like most of the kid gangs, the Witchers just couldn’t fathom someone coming in from anywhere other than the road or close to it. Arthur led them in from the north because it was the longest and hardest route. On that first trip, Jason had found out there weren’t even lookouts posted on the north side. Of all the groups they’d scouted so far and found, that covered only three of the sixty of their area, were the Terminators, Pokémon, and the Slayers. Of all the groups, only the Witchers were so egotistical as to not to post lookouts at the high vantage points around them.

Adjusting the five-gallon jerrycan of diesel he was carrying on his back, Jason practiced moving like Arthur. Seeing Arthur in the lead and Wendy right behind him, moving almost as fluidly as Arthur, Jason was going to remember to get Arthur to show him how to train doing that.

He glanced over at the only gated entrance or ‘portcullis’, which was located on the west wall. It’d been lowered down just after dark, and he could see a few Witchers inside near the gate and more on the walls. There were also two wooden doors that could be closed behind the gate, and Jason wondered why the Witchers hadn’t closed them. They’d done that the last time he and Arthur had come up and scouted.

Seeing one of the Witchers holding something, Jason gave a pause in his step as the young teen took a long drink from a beer and grimaced. They were kids acting, or trying to act like adults. Then Jason corrected that thought. They were adults but being young, they tried to look older. He saw one trying to smoke and nearly cough up his lungs when he inhaled.

That’s when it hit Jason. That’s why Arthur was moving so early. He knew the kids couldn’t hold their liquor or any of the other drugs Jason saw some doing.

When they reached the back of the castle, Arthur motioned everyone down and then waved Jason over. Taking a knee beside Arthur, “How in the fuck did you know they were going to party?” Jason asked.

“Saw flyers all over the castle. Party every night until Christmas, but they aren’t celebrating Christmas. They’re going to hit that group near Mountain View on Christmas,” Arthur replied, never taking his eyes off the back wall in front of them. There was only one entrance, the huge gate at the front, and it was big enough to allow semi-trucks to pass through with ease. Jason couldn’t even imagine the capital and will it’d taken to build this place.

“I’m going to ask Joseph if Samantha and I can have a room here to come and visit,” he mumbled, watching Arthur scanning the wall.  “What’re you looking for? You went up right there just a few weeks ago,” Jason asked.

“Making sure they didn’t put in traps, and I don’t see any,” Arthur said, then turned to Jason. “Expect when you’ve broken into a place that they’ve discovered it, so always expect changes.”

“Your first rule is, ‘any time a crime you pull off is discovered, you’ve failed’,” Jason reminded him.

“Yes, but always think they know you’ve been there,” Arthur told him with a grin. “You sure you’re up for this?”

Jason nearly spun off, then remembered just where in the hell he was at. Despite the walls, music, and how big the place was, he wasn’t going to be stupid. Then he saw actual concern on Arthur’s face and realized what he was asking. “Harsh way to die, but I’m good,” Jason finally said.

He turned to look at the smoke generators Joseph, LL, and Chad were carrying that Arthur had made. They were beyond simple. A fire was lit in the main chamber and diesel was pumped up in tubes over the heat and a shit load of smoke was made, then forced out by a fan. When they’d tested it at the ranch, Arthur had only used half a gallon of diesel and it’d filled an acre very fast with thick white smoke.

“Dead is dead. Doesn’t matter how you kill ‘em, as long as your enemies are dead,” Arthur had shrugged.

With a shiver, Jason sent a mental thank you to Wendy because he was certain Arthur wouldn’t have remained on this side of the tracks without her. There wasn’t a doubt in Jason’s mind. If he was going to go against Arthur, he’d pack his shit and just fucking leave. And the worst part of the thing was, Wendy was more blood-thirsty than Arthur. Wendy gave Arthur a reason to stay on the right path. He’d shown Wendy just how easy it was to walk off the path and embrace the dark.

“Better them than us,” Jason countered as some in Jill’s group set down duffle bags.

“I’m ready,” Wendy said coming over carrying a duffle bag.

Flipping his quad tube up as he turned around to look at Wendy, Arthur found out he couldn’t see her even five feet away. Flipping the goggles back down, “You’ll stay on my ass and remember, everything is stone so watch your shots,” he warned her.

“I loaded hollow points,” Wendy replied, but was looking at the castle walls. “How dare they just move into Joseph’s home,” she spat. “He called that when he was eight years old.”

“Babe,” Arthur said shaking his head. “You and I wouldn’t have made enough money in thirty lifetimes to buy it for Joseph.”

“I know that, but now he gets to have his dream home,” Wendy stated very cheerfully.

Knowing Wendy, Arthur just shut up and reached to the center of his chest. Because the holder clipped and held the laser light attachment, the pistol looked like it was just stuck to Arthur’s chest. He had his XD mounted there with a suppresser already attached. On his thigh he still carried his 1911 but he’d wanted more bullets because when it started, it was going to be close work. That’s why the XD had an extended magazine holding twenty-five rounds. Even Jason had his XD mounted and set up like Arthur, as did Joseph. Samantha and Wendy had their XDs in 9mm mounted like the guys, but Wendy always had extended thirty-two round magazines in her sidearm. And now, so did Samantha.

Checking the red dot Jason had mounted on his XD, Arthur just shoved it back in the clip holster and checked his other weapons. “You want to check the mask and tanks again?” Jason asked.

Shaking his head, “No, we checked them when we left the trucks. If one doesn’t work now, that person just stays back,” Arthur answered as he finished. He almost turned to tell Donald and Daisy to sit, but all the dogs were back at the trucks with the mini-mes and other guards from the ranch.

“Mine doesn’t work, I’m taking yours,” Wendy told him bluntly.

Moving over to the duffel bags that some in Albert’s group carried, Arthur unzipped one and started assembling a ladder. “Will you take your dick off your shoulder?” he nearly begged.

“Arthur, it’s fucking cold out here...” Wendy paused to look at the thermometer on her wristwatch. “It’s eight below zero. My dick on my shoulder keeps me warm so my tits don’t freeze and fall off. I can cut glass right now and I’m not even playing.”

Finished with one ladder, Arthur set it to the side as he looked up at Wendy with a shit-eating grin and she brought up both fists. “Motherfucker, they hurt now, so don’t you even think about touching my tits,” she warned.

“I won’t touch the whole boob,” Arthur clarified as Jason snickered, pulling over another bag and starting to assemble another ladder.

“I know. You want to touch the nipple and that’s the part that hurts,” she replied, still holding her fists up. She dropped her fists as Joseph started assembling another ladder. “I’ll make a deal. If you promise to give me your mask if mine doesn’t work and you stay back, I’ll chew on a piece of wood and let you touch them before we get home.”

Not even thinking, “Deal,” Arthur said standing up. All of Albert’s and Jill’s groups gave a startle, as did a few in Chad’s group.

“Guys,” Joseph chuckled. “Mom’s been here just as many times as I have. This is the place where Dad taught us how to bypass magnetic door sensor alarms.”

“Joseph, baby,” Wendy smirked. “Your dad and I have been here more than you have,” she told him, and Joseph looked up in shock. “Hey, you joined the Navy and weren’t here.”

“How many times?” Joseph asked with a hurt face.

Shrugging, “At least half a dozen, but probably more. We stayed here for Valentine’s weekend last year,” Wendy answered. “I kicked his ass bowling that weekend.”

Clearly excited, “They finally fixed both the pinsetters in the bowling alley?” Joseph asked.

“No, Arthur brought his tools and fixed them,” she replied, and Jason stood up.

“So,” he said looking at Arthur. “You broke in, fixed the bowling alley, and stayed a weekend? Arthur, why didn’t you just apply to be a caretaker? You’re the only person I’ve ever heard of who breaks in and fixes stuff.”

Turning to look at the castle, “When Joseph was a kid and we stayed here the first time, it was winter. So, I fixed the heating for the second and third floors. They had pipes running through the floor carrying hot water, but the pumps were broken. The third-floor furnace I damn near had to rebuild,” Arthur told him.

“You can break into my house any time,” Jason replied. “The company that owns this place must love the gremlins. Hell, even if you would’ve gotten caught, they wouldn’t have pressed charges. They probably would’ve offered you the job of caretaker and just given you the keys.”

Giving an ‘I don’t give a shit’ shrug, Arthur turned again to Wendy. “You put fuckers down. I don’t care what you see or hear, you shoot to kill. If your knife comes out and your gun still works, I’m going to lift you off the ground BY your hard nipples,” Arthur nearly snarled, making Wendy take a step back and Joseph moved closer to his mom.

“I will, Arthur. Don’t worry,” Wendy assured him.

“Dad-,” Joseph started, but stopped when Arthur held up his hand.

“Everyone,” Arthur called out softly. “I’m hoping most of the shit the Witchers do they’re inside doing it because it’s so cold, but I smell fire so I know some are out in the bailey, the open area inside the castle walls. I promise you, these fuckers do some evil shit that even shocks me.”

Hearing that, nearly everyone wanted to just head back and do what Joseph had proposed. Fly one of his planes over and just bomb the place. But Arthur wanted the structure because it provided a good base for them to operate from.

Stepping closer, Wendy put her hand on Arthur’s arm. “Arthur, don’t worry. Everyone will do what needs to be done or Samantha and I will take them for a jog through town,” Wendy offered. Arthur turned to look at each person. Only his group and a few in Chad’s group had the quad tube goggles, but everyone else had at least fourth generation night vision goggles or monoculars.

When he got a nod from each person, Arthur just picked up a ladder and moved away with Wendy following. When they broke the tree line, Joseph grabbed another and followed with LL, as Chad motioned for everyone to move to the tree line and cover them.

Reaching the wall, Arthur maneuvered the ladder up. Two cloth-covered hooks at the top latched onto the battlement. Tugging at the ladder first to make sure it was set, Arthur eased up as Joseph hung his ladder on the wall. Even from right next to Arthur, Joseph couldn’t hear his dad’s footsteps on the rungs. Before Joseph’s ladder was set, Arthur was already at the top of the twenty-foot wall.

As Joseph tested his ladder, Wendy started up and he could barely hear his mom’s footfalls on the rungs. “Damn ladders don’t even squeak,” LL whispered, very impressed.

“Duh, that’s the way Dad made them. These are how we’ve always gotten inside. Jason’s using Mom’s ladder,” Joseph said, then started up. Before Joseph reached the top, LL turned to see Jason and Samantha coming with the last ladder.

Reaching the top, Arthur eased over the battlements his ladder was hanging on with the XD in his hand. Hearing the soft scrape as Joseph hung his ladder, Arthur glanced to the left and right as he knelt. At each corner was a fortified tower that stood twenty feet above the wall and housed apartments and storage rooms. The towers were just referred to by location. Northeast was the rear right back tower, like the southwest was the front left tower.

Each wall was nearly two hundred and fifty yards long and Arthur was sitting in the middle of the east or back wall. He didn’t spot anyone near him or standing outside the towers. As he dropped his eyes to the bailey area behind the castle, he saw the swimming pool, tennis and basketball courts, but also several fires with groups around them. Along the inside of the north wall was a glass greenhouse that ran the entire length. Inside, Arthur could see dim lights and just groaned as Wendy joined him.

Putting his XD away and moving left to make room for the others to come up, Arthur lifted his AR aiming to the left as Wendy put her back to his, aiming to the right. Before Joseph joined them, Jason had set the other ladder, and then LL was with them. Not saying anything, Arthur turned and tapped Wendy on the shoulder as he moved past her, heading toward the tower she was covering to the north. Lowering her AR to the ready position, Wendy eased up in a crouch and fell in behind Arthur to clear the northeast tower.

The top of the wall was six feet wide with battlements that were two feet wide and four feet tall on the inner and outer wall. Hearing the scream of what could only be a little boy down below, Wendy just gritted her teeth as loud laughter could be heard over the music. When Arthur neared the double wooden doors, Wendy’s step faltered. Sitting right beside the doors were four Segways, parked neatly against the wall.

“Arthur was telling the truth,” she mumbled, then saw Arthur let his AR hang and pull his XD. After Wendy did the same, she tapped his shoulder to let him know she was set. Arthur gently eased the left door open just a hair. When very little light came out, he peered inside to see a common sitting room for the two apartments above and the one below. Each tower had five levels. At the bottom was a storage room, then moving next came the first apartment, then the common room, and then going up the next two levels were the top two apartments. From their previous visits, he knew all the apartments were just over eight hundred square feet. There was a living room connected to a kitchen and small breakfast nook and then on the far side, two small bedrooms with a bathroom between them. Not spotting anyone in the common room, he eased in and saw the light was coming from the winding stairwell in the corner.

They stayed there waiting on LL so those coming up wouldn’t be surprised, while Jason and Joseph moved to the southeast tower. When LL joined them, he tapped Wendy’s shoulder and she tapped Arthur’s. They all flipped up their goggles since the staircase was filled with light. In a single file they moved to the spiral staircase, with Arthur and Wendy shifting their aims up the stairwell and LL aiming down.

LL stayed in the common room to cover the stairs and the door to the north wall walkway as Wendy followed Arthur up until they reached the landing. Arthur gripped the door handle and eased it open to hear voices, and stopped the door from opening more. Hearing three voices talking and laughing, Arthur continued opening the door.

When the door was open a few inches, he saw the living room and kitchen area. A teen boy was standing in the middle of the room laughing with two people sitting on the couch, but Arthur could only see the backs of their heads. Having targets, he pushed the door open, lining up on the standing teen. Moving through the door, Arthur rested the red dot on the boy’s nose and pulled the trigger.

The XD coughed as Arthur shifted his aim to the back of the closest head, pulling the trigger before the standing boy had hit the floor. Still moving into the room, Arthur shifted his aim as the last head started to turn around, and he saw it was a teen girl just as he pulled the trigger. The bullet hit her in the temple and blew out the other side, taking half her skull off.

Sweeping the room with the XD he didn’t see any more targets, then he checked to make sure the three he’d shot wouldn’t get back up. Since all three were missing most of their heads, Arthur aimed at the three doors on the far wall.

With Wendy standing just inside the door to cover the stairs from someone coming down from the apartment above, Arthur eased to the first bedroom. Just before he opened the door, he heard the muffled scream from a small child from behind the other bedroom door.

Ignoring it for now because he knew Wendy would shift her aim to cover the other bedroom door, Arthur gripped the handle and entered the room fast. The room was filthy but empty. Moving over, he checked under the bed and in the closet. Finding all empty, he stepped back out in the living room and then checked the bathroom in the middle.

If the room was filthy, Arthur didn’t even know what to classify the bathroom as. He was a boy and wouldn’t have even pissed in it. Leaving the door open, he moved to the last bedroom door, taking a deep breath as another muffled cry sounded from behind the door, and Arthur started getting sick as to why the three dead teens in the living room had been laughing.

Throwing the door open, he saw five naked teens around the bed and started pulling the trigger of the XD. In two seconds, the five were down and as Arthur started to sweep the room, he saw a naked teen boy and girl in a chair in the corner. They paused doing the tube snake boogie, staring in shock at their five counterparts he’d shot. Before either could shift their gaze to him, Arthur shot each in the head. Finishing his sweep of the room, he pulled two of the bodies that’d fallen on the bed off, letting them hit the floor.

Arthur jerked back in shock to see two naked girls, who couldn’t have been older than ten, trapped under the bodies. Then Arthur shifted his gaze to the bodies on the floor and realized he had pulled boys off and just what they’d been doing. He turned back to the bed and only then realized there was also a naked boy on the bed between the little girls. At most, Arthur put his age around six.

“Stay here, hide under the bed. I brought my friends and we’re going to kill all of them,” Arthur told them as all three stared at him wide-eyed and trembling. It took a minute, but Arthur realized they were looking at his hat and not his face. He scanned their bodies and saw they were covered in small cuts and burns. Some were fresh and others looked weeks old.

“Hide now. One of the Caravan will come and get you when they’re all dead, but don’t leave this room because you might get shot,” Arthur told them, then went around the room putting two more slugs into each body.

When he was done, he ejected the magazine and tossed it in his dump bag as he headed for the door. Walking out, he saw Wendy was moving to the room because she’d heard more shooting. She stopped as Arthur slapped in another extended magazine, heading for the door. Knowing damn well Wendy wanted to know what was in the room, Arthur just grabbed her and pulled her to follow.

“I’m coming,” she told him in a low voice, then realized Arthur was leading but she was supposed to clear the top apartment. “It’s my turn,” she told him.

Moving out the door and aiming up the stairs, “No, you’ll cover and you’ll like it, understood?” Arthur told her, not waiting for her reply as he moved up the stairs.

Not liking it, but Wendy wasn’t about to argue. She knew from the way Arthur was acting, she wouldn’t have dealt well with what he’d seen. For all her blustering, Wendy knew she let things get to her too much and couldn’t push them back like Arthur could. So she aimed up the stairwell, following him.

Reaching the landing, Arthur stopped when the door opened and two teen girls stumbled out, obviously very drunk. Never pausing, Arthur shot both in the face. They fell back through the open door and he stepped on one’s body as he entered the apartment. He saw a large group in the living area playing quarters on a coffee table, and started squeezing the trigger as he felt Wendy move up on his right.

The group melted under the fire as Arthur caught movement from the breakfast nook near the kitchen and saw another game of quarters in progress, but this group only had six players. All six were stumbling to their feet as Arthur swung his XD over and snapped off shots. Only two managed to stand before he shot them, and Arthur cleared the kitchen as he swept back to the living room with Wendy still firing.

When his aim reached the living room, he saw the last one diving to the floor and saw Wendy hit him twice in the head before he’d finished his dive. Dropping his magazine Arthur slapped in a new one, moving to the bedroom on the left as Wendy moved to the one on the right. They both opened the doors and stormed in. Arthur saw a Witcher boy and girl doing the funky monkey on the bed. They didn’t stop, and neither even turned when he stormed in.

Never pausing, Arthur shot both in the head and cleared the room, hearing Wendy shooting in the other room. “Oh, I hope she didn’t see what I did,” he mumbled, moving back out in the living room. Throwing the bathroom door open, he found it empty but rather clean.

When he came out of the bathroom Arthur found Wendy in the living room changing magazines. “You do realize there were seventeen around the coffee table, right?” she asked.

Shrugging, “I have four extended magazines and six regular mags, so I hope they all group up like that,” Arthur challenged, turning to look at the carnage of bodies in the living room and the five in the breakfast nook. “I had two fucking. What was in your room?”

“Four girls and a boy fucking,” Wendy replied. When Wendy didn’t offer more, Arthur was glad that it’d only been Witchers that Wendy had dealt with.

Heading for the door, Arthur pulled a box of ammo from the bottom of his small backpack. Walking down the stairs, he had one extended magazine reloaded before he reached LL. Putting it in the holster on his left thigh, he reloaded the other, noticing Wendy was reloading a magazine.

“Sounded like a party up there,” LL said, holding his pistol low but aimed between the door to the wall walkway and the stairs.

“Not anymore,” Arthur replied, shoving the topped-off mag with the others. “I’m lead,” Arthur said and headed down the stairs.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Wendy groaned and followed him down.

Arthur never paused and just walked into the apartment and only found three kids inside smoking weed. He dropped them and cleared the rooms, then headed down to the first floor. Finding the storeroom packed with food and boxes of whiskey, Arthur just walked over to the double door and locked it.

Wendy watched his every move and could tell he wasn’t angry, maybe a little upset. “I’m a big girl, Arthur, and you taught me well,” she said, following him back up the stairs.

“I know, and that’s why I’ll clear the apartments,” Arthur told her when they reached LL. Before Wendy answered, he turned to face her. “I don’t want you to get medieval on any of the Witchers.”

Cocking her head to the side, “I told you I wouldn’t,” she reminded him.

“Wendy, I know you. If you’d seen what I saw, you’d still be up there with your knife,” Arthur told her, then moved to the doorway of the north wall walkway. “LL, see if our relief is here so we can move on,” Arthur asked, and waited until LL stepped away to open the door they’d first come in.

Turning to Wendy, “Wendy, you go Freddie Kruger on the Witchers and it’ll eat at you later, and I don’t want that,” Arthur told her. “You like dealing retribution.”

Not even attempting to deny that, “Arthur, I told you I wouldn’t,” she repeated. “I don’t care what I see, I’ll never break my word to you, babe. Have I ever?”

Arthur grinned, “Nope.”

LL opened the other door, letting some of Albert’s group cover this tower before they moved to the northwest tower. “I hope you know, we’re going to the spot when we get back to the ranch,” she told him.

Shaking his head, “Babe, parts of your body get hard in the cold. You should know by now, nothing on my body gets hard out in the cold,” Arthur told her, grabbing one of the door handles.

“The damn pool is over a hundred degrees,” Wendy moaned, watching Arthur holster his XD and get on his AR.

“Yes, in the pool,” Arthur laughed as LL moved to them. When LL reached them, Arthur opened the door and flipped his goggles down. He gave a shiver as the cold air hit him like a hammer. Slipping out, Arthur saw electric scooters parked outside this door as well. Not crouching over but staying near the outside battlements so those in the bailey couldn’t see him as easily, Arthur headed towards the tower. In a single file behind him, Wendy and LL followed.

Wendy looked out over the bailey at the small fires, and she saw several were actually propane burners. Since she’d been here so many times, Wendy knew the gang had raided stores for those. Midway to the tower, they passed the stone bridge that ran from the north wall to the castle. The bridge was supported by stone archways and ended at a balcony that wrapped all the way around the castle. On the south side there was an identical bridge. There were a few lights, mostly small solar yard lights, scattered throughout the bailey and the bridge, even though this place had power. There’d been solar panels and wind turbines here before the virus. After the Hollywood actor had bought the castle, he’d turned it ‘green’ and the off-grid setup was more than capable of supplying the castle’s power needs.

The solar lights brought a thought to Wendy’s mind. There were plenty of normal outside lights in the bailey to light up the entire ten acres, with enough light a person would think it was noon. Yet, there were no outside lights on. From what she could see, the brightest light looked about twenty lumens. Even as badass as the Witchers thought themselves, they still didn’t advertise where they were. That alone showed they had some intelligence among the group. As high as this castle was, if it’d been lit up with bright lights, it could’ve been seen from many miles away.

Reaching the tower, Arthur led them in and they cleared it the same way, but Arthur let Wendy take the lead with LL to clear the upper apartments. It was only in the lower apartment, with Arthur backing her up, that Wendy found scenes she would have in her nightmares until she died. After clearing the bottom floor and reloading magazines, they headed back up.

“These little bastards are evil,” LL said, opening the door to let in those who’d hold the tower.

“I won’t argue against that,” Arthur admitted, watching Wendy as she breathed through pursed lips.

“Be calm, be calm...” Wendy mumbled to herself over and over in a mantra.

Glad Wendy understood, Arthur headed back out to the north wall walkway. To LL and Wendy’s shock, Arthur climbed on an electric scooter. “Fuck if I’m walking back if I don’t have to,” Arthur told them and took off. LL looked at the two wheels on each side of the deck with a handlebar jutting up from the deck.

“I’ll walk because that thing just looks like it takes more balance than I can muster,” LL declared.

Wendy chuckled, climbing on another scooter. “LL, they have self-righting mechanisms built in. If you can stand straight on the ground, you can drive a Segway. When Joseph was thirteen one of his friends had one, and you wouldn’t believe what it took to make the scooter tip over. Just don’t try to ramp off anything and you’ll be fine,” Wendy told him, showing him the throttle and then she took off.

Getting on the scooter very hesitantly, LL eased the throttle open and found it wasn’t hard at all. It was actually easier than standing. When he rejoined Arthur and Wendy at the northeast tower, “I’m taking one,” LL said, climbing off.

“No, we’ll take some of the ones they have in the basement,” Arthur grinned, walking into the common room. The bags Jill’s people had carried in were laid in a line on the floor, along with two of the smoke generators and four five-gallon cans of diesel. Kneeling beside one of the bags, Arthur unzipped it and pulled out a firefighting breathing apparatus. LL and Wendy moved to their bags doing the same, and Arthur could still hear Wendy mumbling her mantra.

Taking off his fedora, Arthur set it on the empty duffel bag and then pulled the facemask straps over his head. After checking the seal of the mask to his face, Arthur reached back to turn on the air and found it working. Then he reached up on the mask and flipped down the thermal scan eyepiece. It was common equipment among firefighters. Well, firefighters who worked in areas that could afford them. The unit was rugged and could see through smoke to find people inside burning, smoke-filled buildings. Even tiny firefighting departments had handheld units. These units had a small screen in the mask that displayed an image from the camera mounted on the side of the mask, keeping the firefighter’s hands free. Hands-free was why Arthur had collected them.

When the three were ready, Arthur was about to radio to see how long the others would be when the south door opened, with Joseph leading in Samantha and Jason. “I’ve seen and heard some shit in my life, but this takes the cake,” Jason admitted, closing the door. “I hope like fuck we don’t see much more of that inside.”

“They don’t take prisoners inside anymore,” Arthur said, taking off the respirator.

Turning to look at Arthur, “What?” Jason asked, finding that hard to believe after what he’d seen.

“In the basement there’s a torture chamber and a dungeon. Granted, it was put there when the castle was built, to stay with the theme, I guess. The stuff in the chamber are antiques from the Spanish Inquisition, but the dungeon’s all Hollywood props. That’s where the Witchers used to store prisoners, but found out those bars and shackles in the dungeon may seem real, but aren’t. Several prisoners got out, and you know what else the Witchers stored in the basement? Weapons,” Arthur told them. “The prisoners killed several Witchers, but none of the prisoners got away. After that, they didn’t keep them in the basement anymore. Then, they found out there’re many hiding places in the castle, so they don’t even bring little kids in the castle anymore.”

“You said the Witchers never found the passages,” Joseph groaned, pulling his gear from a duffle bag.

“They hadn’t when I was here. That’s how I moved around,” Arthur answered as he waited on them.

“I can’t wait to see real secret passages,” Samantha exclaimed with a grin.

“They aren’t real secret passages,” Arthur told her. “The secret passageways in this castle are what builders refer to as ‘servant passageways’. That way, servants could move about without being seen. They have similar setups in hotels and cruise ships and even Disneyworld, they just don’t hide the doors to the passageways for the workers. Here, like in many castles and mansions, the doors are hidden in plain sight in the rooms where royalty moved about, like behind mirrors, paintings, walls and such. If they’re done correctly, unless you know where they are, you can’t find them. Normally, in the servant areas, the doors are normal doors because royalty didn’t go there, like kitchens, the laundry, and servants quarters. But here, they hid those doors as well. They still find secret passageways in old buildings in Europe all the time. Hell, even in the House of Commons in England.”

Checking her mask as she listened, “Never knew that,” Samantha admitted.

When Arthur turned to Jason, he found Jason just staring at him. “What?” Arthur asked.

“Why didn’t you mention the fact that’s why the Witchers don’t bring prisoners into the castle anymore?”

Shrugging, “It’s not really relevant to the attack. But even if they’ve changed, I didn’t want anyone trying to save a prisoner inside once we started,” Arthur answered.

Letting out a long sigh, “You’re so full of shit,” Jason groaned. “The only way you could’ve found that out was you talked to a Witcher, and it wasn’t over a cup of tea.” Wendy stopped her mantra as she stifled a chuckle at Jason’s irritation. “What did you do with the body? Because you damn sure didn’t carry it out, and I know you didn’t leave them alive.”

Sheepishly looking away, “Um, I buried her in the compost heap for the greenhouse,” Arthur answered in a mumble.

“And that’s what took you so long here?” Jason more accused than asked. “I never understood why it took you so long to scout this castle since you’ve said how many times all of you’ve been here.”

“Sorry, just wanted some answers. I knew you were up in that tall oak tree, so I didn’t have to rush,” Arthur confessed.

“Don’t you think I might’ve wanted to ask some questions?” Jason moaned, and Wendy thought any second Jason was going to start stomping his feet.

Refusing to look at Jason, “I got what she knew,” Arthur told him.

“I might’ve just asked her what fucking shows she watched before this, but I would’ve used goddamn pliers and a hammer to check her answers. At the very least, I would’ve given her a psych exam using a blow torch,” Jason snarled.

Finally turning to Jason, “I’ll get you a Witcher to interrogate,” Arthur offered.

“After tonight, they’ll be extinct,” Jason more or less pouted.

Making no attempt to hide her giggling, Samantha stood up and turned to the boys. “Do I need to make you two kiss and make up?” Jason flipped her off and Arthur ignored her, moving to the door.

Glancing at Wendy, Arthur saw she was chuckling silently as she got to her feet. “You didn’t share your plaything with your buddy,” she smirked.

Pouting in his own right, Arthur grabbed his PTT. “Chad, how much longer do you need?” Arthur called out.

“We’re ready and been waiting on your call,” Chad answered immediately.

Glancing at the others and getting nods, “We’re heading out to the castle,” Arthur replied, and picked up a smoke generator. It weighed nearly as much as one of the five-gallon diesel cans, but Arthur just carried it in his left hand while pulling his XD out with his right. LL and Wendy each grabbed a jerrycan, throwing a strap over their head to help suspend the can from their left side but still used their left hand to keep the can from moving and banging around.

Joseph grabbed the other smoke generator while Jason and Samantha grabbed the other two jerrycans. “Okay, son,” Arthur nodded, and opened the door heading out. He was tempted to use the scooter again, but scratched that idea because he would have to holster the XD.

Leading along the walkway until they reached the north bridge across the bailey, Arthur scanned the balcony and still didn’t see anyone on it. Crossing the bridge, they could hear those partying under them very well. Not surprisingly, many of the Witchers were already trashed.

“Samantha said there weren’t this many out on the south side. How many you guess are outside?” Wendy asked in a low voice behind him.

Turning just enough to speak over his shoulder, “Maybe hundred and fifty,” Arthur whispered, and that seemed to appease Wendy. Reaching the castle, Arthur stopped at two ten-foot-tall massive wooden doors. One of the two had a normal-sized door mounted in it. Sticking the XD under his arm and flipping up his goggles, Arthur grabbed the handle and waited until he felt Wendy tap him that they were ready.

With a deep breath he opened the door, and bright light nearly blinded him. Ahead, he looked and found the hallway clear and he moved inside. The hall ran for ten yards, then opened up into a huge room that Arthur knew was the ballroom, or if this had been a real castle, it would’ve been the throne room.

Not moving very far down the hall Arthur turned to the right, stopping at a picture of a knight who was eight feet tall. At one time it’d been a nice painting, but the Witchers had drawn and spray-painted all over it. Feeling along the edge of the painting, he found the latch and pressed it, causing the painting to swing out. Moving into the exposed passageway, Arthur had to flip his goggles down to see.

He stopped far enough inside for everyone to enter the passageway. “The door’s closed,” Joseph called from the back. “Want me to turn on the lights?”

The servant passageways had their own lights, but Arthur turned around. “No. Some of the doors in the rooms aren’t sealed at the bottom and light can be seen. They don’t know about them so let’s keep it that way.”

Setting down the smoke generator, Arthur moved back and put his hand on Joseph’s shoulder. “Keep your head and stick to the plan,” Arthur told him.

“Dad, I’m not Mom.”

Wendy nearly popped off, but held her tongue as Arthur gave Jason and Samantha a nod. Grabbing the smoke generator, Arthur headed to a spiral stairway and started down, leading his team of Wendy and LL. Joseph moved to the front and led his team of Jason and Samantha. Following Joseph, Jason noted the passageway wasn’t that big compared to the castle. It was just wide enough that two people walking opposite ways could pass without running into each other.

Thinking of a question that’d just popped in his mind, “Joseph, in case the fuckers find the passageways, you think the smoke’ll fill them?” Jason asked.

“Where Dad’s setting his, oh yeah,” Jason answered. “The air conditioner ventilation system that feeds the entire castle is in the basement, and Dad’s going to open it up.”

“That’s one big ass system,” Jason scoffed.

“Yep, it was put in when the castle was built and still works great. The damn condenser unit in the basement is the size of a box truck. The outside unit’s hidden by a fake wooden building by the back-patio landing,” Joseph told them. For a second Jason wanted to ask more because Joseph knew this place, it seemed, just as well as Arthur did. Holding his tongue, Jason just followed to get this night over with.

After walking down three flights of stairs, Arthur was glad to see the basement. The spiral stairways in the passageways were very narrow, bordering on claustrophobic. He stopped at the door and set down the smoke generator. From the other side of the door, they could hear and feel the hum of a generator.

“Why are they running the generator?” Wendy asked putting her jerrycan down.

“Hon, yes, the solar and wind combined can generate nearly eighty kilowatts, but they lose most of that when the sun goes down. The heating system for this place consumes three quarters of that,” Arthur answered.

“You said that was the most economical way to heat this place,” Wendy reminded him.

“It is. If they had to use a central heating unit it would consume, at the very least, twice that.”

Stepping up between them, “That’s all very interesting, but can we carry on?” LL asked. “You think we’ll find any on the other side of the door?”

Shrugging and gripping his XD tight, “Doubt it, this is the generator room. That’s why we came in on the north side, but you never know,” Arthur said, flipping his goggles up and then easing the door open. The engine noise got much louder and bright light washed over them. Able to see the entire room and it was empty, Arthur led them in.

Following Wendy in, LL stopped, looking at the huge engine. “Holy shit, that’s a 1939 EMD 567 twelve-cylinder!” LL cried out over the noise. Despite its age, the engine looked new, with the green paint from the factory showing no real signs of use. “They used these to power locomotives.”

Very impressed LL knew that just by looking at it, because he’d to inspect the engine to find that out, “Yep, and the engine was put here and the castle was built around it,” Arthur replied with a raised voice to be heard over the engine. “The fuel tank’s out back. Down the hall, Mr. Hollywood filled a room with lithium batteries. It’s controlled by a computer and cuts on when the batteries are low. With the temperature outside, I’m sure it’s running for twelve hours a day.”

They grabbed their stuff and moved to an eight-foot-wide, thick metal door that led out of the room, and LL turned to look back at the door they’d used. On this side, it was hidden by a peg board that had tools hanging from it. When he turned back, he found Arthur looking at him and Wendy.

“Let me move out there to check the hall. I can do it faster alone,” he told them.

Having been out with Arthur on patrols, LL knew that was a fact so he just nodded. Wendy didn’t like it, but couldn’t argue against it and nodded. Just before Arthur slipped out, the massive engine shut down, startling all three. “Just be a minute,” Arthur said opening the thick door and was soon gone.

Scanning over the room, LL saw an electric panel for the castle on the west wall. Along the floor was a line of transformers. Just looking at those, LL knew they were all new. “I just didn’t think a person could have the money to build something like this,” LL admitted. “It has to be the biggest residence in the country.”

“Please,” Wendy scoffed. “The largest private residence in the US is nearly two hundred thousand square feet. Adding the apartment footage to the castle, this is barely a hundred thousand square feet.”

“You do realize that’s nearly three acres, right? Under a roof, heated and cooled?” LL pointed out, then realized just how big the damn room was but with all the large equipment, it seemed cramped.

“Yes, I do,” Wendy said keeping her eyes on the door. “Two years ago, some computer guy offered the mortgage company thirty million for the castle and they turned him down. They’ve rented it out a few times for movies, a wedding, and to rich people staying for a week or so, but I’ve never been able to find out how much for.”

“More than I would’ve ever seen,” LL said as the door opened up and Arthur eased back inside.

“We’re good,” he said, taking the harness off his head that held his night vision goggles. Shoving them in his backpack, Arthur pulled out the firefighter’s mask. “I radioed and Chad’s moving into position and Joseph is waiting on the signal. The air unit’s in the next room. I’ve propped the door open already.”

“Let’s do this,” LL said, pulling on his mask as Wendy did the same. They grabbed the stuff and Arthur moved to the door. Arthur led them through the hall to a set of double doors.

“Through those are the indoor swimming pool, and there’re Witchers swimming,” he told them, setting down the smoke generator. “Cover me,” he said as they put down the jerrycans. They covered Arthur as he worked fast, setting up the smoke generator. Connecting hoses to spigots on each jerrycan he hooked them to the smoke generator. “Make sure your mask is seated,” he told them, pulling out a lighter.

When the fire was going in the metal cylinder, Arthur flipped a switch turning the smoke on and almost instantly, they were covered in smoke. Getting up and looking at the small screen that displayed the thermal image, Arthur had no trouble moving through the smoke to the double doors. He yanked them open and smoke billowed out.

Cries of alarm and screams were heard as smoke started to fill the pool area, and Arthur shoved wedges in the doors to keep them open. Even though the ventilation system would spread the smoke throughout the castle, this just helped it along.

They jogged back to the engine room with the electrical panel and Arthur flipped the main breaker, shutting off the power. Now they couldn’t even see the smoke outside their masks in the pitch-black darkness, and only had the tiny thermal screen to navigate by. Pulling the breaker out, just in case a Witcher made it down here, Arthur set it on the table.

“Smoke on,” Joseph called out, followed by Chad.

Turning to LL and Wendy and seeing their images on the tiny screen, “Wendy, let’s show LL around the castle,” Arthur said.

“All right,” Wendy cheered, and LL couldn’t help but chuckle.

Chapter Nineteen

Slayers

Two hours before the sun rose, in a large restaurant area at a resort ranch Linda Vahun dropped down in a chair at one of the many tables, feeling a hundred years old, despite the fact that just two months ago she’d celebrated her sweet sixteen. The girls had made a cake and there was a nine-year-old girl who’d had the same birthday, so Linda had to share her party. The ‘party’ consisted of eating a small piece of cake and getting the afternoon off from work.

Work!

It never seemed to stop, Linda thought, putting down the stack of notebooks she used to keep up with what was going on. Linda was the head of the seven-member council of the Slayers. She’d been one of the first who’d showed up at the resort ranch where the Slayers had set up operations. The ranch was near White Oak Mountain and her parents had brought Linda here several times, along with her brother and sister. She’d watched her entire family die in the span of two weeks in April.

They’d lived in a nice suburb called Maryland Heights outside of St. Louis, and Linda had tried to get someone to come and get her family so they could be buried. What she soon found was the world had changed. Bodies were everywhere and those people still walking around, many weren’t nice. Using her mother’s gardening tools, Linda had dug graves in the backyard and buried them herself. Linda had then made the journey to the other side of Maryland Heights, using her dad’s bike, to her best friend’s house, only to find her best friend naked in her room with her throat cut.

Pedaling as fast as she could, Linda had returned home. Her mom didn’t like guns, but her dad still had some. Even then, Linda felt guilty about opening the gun safe and taking out the pistol that her daddy had used to first teach the kids to shoot. She’d looked at the .22 revolver and then at the Glock her dad said was used to protect the family. Being a good daddy, he’d taught all his kids how to use all of the guns he had, all four of them.

Packing the backpack she’d used for school, Linda hadn’t known where to go but she knew she had to leave. Her mom’s family was in Florida and her dad’s lived in Oregon. That was when she’d remembered the Ozark Family Resort. For the last four years, her family had gone there and stayed for a week. There were zip lines, horse rides, fishing, a huge swimming pool, water slides, tennis courts, and a golf course for her dad and mom. There were no streams close, but you could load up in a van and they’d take you to several rivers to float down.

She didn’t know how to get there but knew the address. After burying her family, Linda soon discovered her cellphone wouldn’t connect most of the time so she couldn’t use the map app on it, but her dad’s GPS worked. At first, she’d thought about riding her dad’s bike, but when she’d seen the ranch was over two hundred miles away, she’d scratched that idea. Scared and hoping she wouldn’t get in trouble, Linda had loaded up her mom’s BMW SUV.

The trip was easier than she’d thought it would be and when she had reached the resort, she’d found it empty. Over the next week, others had shown up. They were mostly kids and like Linda, had visited there with their families. Others from the area showed up, mostly kids, but there were two men and one woman. The ‘grown ups’ had tried to take all the guns away, saying the kids only needed them when they left the resort. Having seen people who’d been killed by others, Linda had just told them she didn’t have any. Four days after the men and the woman had gotten there, Linda had shot all three after catching them raping two sixteen-year-old girls. They’d been the last grownups to stay at the resort. In the beginning there’d been boys at the resort but soon, many of the older boys were acting like the girls belonged to them. Since there were twice as many girls as boys, the boys had been thrown out in May. From then on, only girls were allowed at the resort.

Meeting other kids as they explored the area and learning the kids were naming their groups, the girls had met up and for two days tried to come up with a name for their group. Linda had never even heard of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but when a DVD collection was found and the group had watched every episode, they’d become the Slayers. Seven were chosen to run the Slayers and Linda was voted on the ‘Slayer Council’. Then, the council voted her leader. Linda hadn’t even wanted on the council, much less to be head of the thing, but the others saw she had the knack and intelligence to know what had to be done. But the most important thing, everyone knew Linda would kill for them. The fact she was easy to work with was a great bonus.

With nearly five hundred girls, ranging from ten months to eighteen years in the two hundred rooms at the resort, Linda really hated her job, as did everyone on the council. There were some girls who’d tried to get on the council just to be in charge, but they soon found out they’d have to work more than anyone else. The Slayers soon learned if only a few didn’t do what they were assigned, everyone’s work increased tenfold to pick up the slack.

Staring at the stack of notebooks, all Linda could think about was she should be practicing her cheerleading routines, going to basketball practice, and dance class. But no, she had to go over every area at the resort. Making sure there was food, and what was being cooked for the week. Did the horses have enough food and were they being tended to? What were the patrols finding? Did anyone miss guard duty? Was everyone doing what they were assigned? Was training still going on for everyone with guns, and where could they get more bullets? Along with a hundred other tasks. Then Linda had to do her main job of tending horses. The others on the council and those the council had put over specific areas, all did extra work like Linda was doing, and they did it before going to bed, but they didn’t do as much. Linda had tried that and found she would toil away all night. Doing it in the mornings at least gave Linda a stopping point when she had to go to ‘work’.

Really wanting to cry, Linda took a deep breath and brushed her light brown hair from her face before grabbing a notebook to go over the supply list. This had to be done daily so the patrols going out knew what the priority to be on the lookout for was. Ammo was always on the lists, but they really needed more feminine products.

Working away, Linda gave a startle when nine-year-old Cathy ran up to the table out of breath. It was blatantly obvious that Cathy adored Linda. Putting down her ink pen, Linda turned to Cathy with a little pang. Cathy wore glasses and would need new ones very soon, but Linda didn’t know how to deal with it. Reaching over and brushing Cathy’s long black hair from her face, Linda noticed Cathy hadn’t brushed her hair yet. Before she could mention it, Cathy caught her breath.

“You need to come outside!” Cathy blurted out.

Glancing at her wristwatch, something Linda had only started wearing when she’d been placed on the council, she saw it was nearly 0630 and wake up would soon begin. “Cathy, you know what I have to go over every morning, I’m almost done,” Linda told her, tucking Cathy’s hair behind her ears. One of Cathy’s jobs, along with a dozen other younger girls, was tending the cats. A fucking army of cats. Since Cathy slept in the same room with Linda, she got up when Linda did and started feeding and tending to the cats. Any cat that wouldn’t let Cathy pet it, Cathy would chase around, keeping it away from the food bowls until it let her pet it.

“No, you really need to come now!” Cathy panted out with a wide smile as she bounced on her toes.

Knowing it would be easier to just go outside to see what Cathy wanted instead of trying to explain, again, Linda pushed back from the table. Before Linda held out her hand Cathy grabbed ahold of it, leading her to the hall and the front entrance, only slowing for them to pull coats on. Feeling the excitement from Cathy, Linda couldn’t help but grin and was certain she was being led to see yet another litter of kittens. One thing Linda had come to find out, cats could breed.

Looking down at Cathy as they pushed through the doors, Linda’s mind was going over what she still had to do and wasn’t prepared when Cathy just stopped outside the door under the awning-covered courtyard that guests used to drive up to. Glancing around the courtyard for kittens, Linda didn’t see any.

About to ask where they were as she looked up Linda froze, and stopped a startled yelp from escaping her mouth. Even though the sun wouldn’t be up for a few more minutes, Linda had no trouble seeing in the dim light. Standing in the circular driveway was the Caravan Man with his two dogs. Another person was standing beside the Caravan Man and Linda thought it was a woman, but with all of the gear on, she was making that guess based on the figure’s stance.

“See?!” Cathy cried out in joy, pointing at the Caravan Man. “I told you that you wanted to come out!”

A part of Linda felt fear, because all she had was the pistol that she’d taken from home on her hip. Another part of Linda didn’t even care if Caravan Man killed her, just hoping he would do it fast and she wouldn’t have to worry if she was making a mistake in her job. Cathy turned from the Caravan Man to Linda and thought she looked scared.

“Remember the radio?” Cathy whined out. “If he shows up outside, he wants to talk. He’s already killing people if that’s what he comes for and you know, it’s the Caravan Man.”

“I prayed the Pokémon weren’t lying,” Linda mumbled, trying not to cry. She just wanted a little help from someone who could tell her how to do things. Slayers had already died, and others had been captured because of mistakes Linda had made. She just stood there staring at the two as the sun’s light exploded over the area, and for the very first time, Linda didn’t dread a new day.

Not even caring what she looked like, Linda gripped Cathy’s hand tight and led her out from under the awning to the circular drive. She stopped ten feet from the Caravan Man and could now see it was a woman with him. Then she nearly gagged from the smell of diesel the two reeked of.

“Mr. Caravan Man,” Linda said with a smile. Yes, like all the other kid groups, the Slayers were terrified of the Caravan Man because he didn’t just kill gangs. He wiped them out. And the Slayers, like all the others, thought of themselves as a gang. It was only yesterday when the Pokémon had sent a group over, saying one of them had met with the Caravan Man and said that he wanted to meet with some of the gangs in the area. Not to kill, but to join into a coalition with him. Then the Pokémon had said the Caravan Man would offer them some aid. Just hearing that, Linda had been ready to go and find the Caravan Man.

“Linda,” Arthur replied, and the smile fell off Linda’s face. She turned and looked down at Cathy to find out if she’d told the Caravan Man her name, but saw the shock on Cathy’s face as well. “No, I’ve been around here checking you out and know many names here,” Arthur told her, and Linda slowly turned her wide eyes back to him.

“We have lookouts and patrols. We even started putting in traps like the Pokémon and Terminators taught us,” Linda panted out.

Nodding, “And they’re impressive and should work on the average asshole, but I’m a bit above average,” Arthur told her, and Wendy chuckled.

“Babe, you are off the asshole scale. Unless you piss me off and I move you back on it,” Wendy told him.

Tilting his head to Wendy, “The love of my life, my wife,” Arthur told Linda and Cathy.

Getting her emotions under control, “I hope you didn’t see something that pissed you off,” Linda managed to get out.

“If you did,” Cathy blurted out, then paused for a second, “don’t hurt the kitties,” she begged.

Bending down to Cathy’s eye level, Arthur reached out pushing her glasses back up on the bridge of her nose and was shocked when Cathy didn’t even jump. “Cathy,” Arthur said, and that made her jump. “Just a little advice. You’re feeding the cats too much. You want to feed them but not too much, so they’ll kill the rats and mice.”

“Holy shit!” Linda gasped, realizing just how fucking close the Caravan Man had been able to get. But on the plus side, Linda found out they could cut back on cat food. “Um, I thought you were going to set up a meeting for us, not come and visit,” Linda blurted out, but was thankful he had shown up.

Shrugging, “We were in the neighborhood,” Arthur chuckled standing back up, and Linda turned to Wendy as she spoke.

“Yes, we took out the Witchers last night,” Wendy told her and Linda just blinked, suddenly convinced she was still asleep and dreaming. They knew the Witchers were to the north somewhere because they were one of the biggest threats to the Slayers. Linda and many others were convinced the only reason the Witchers hadn’t tried them in the last few months was because the Slayers started talking and trading with the Terminators.

Closing her eyes, “If I’m asleep, I don’t want to wake up,” Linda stated firmly, and opened her eyes to still see Mr. and Mrs. Caravan Man there. “Thank you,” she offered, but it seemed insignificant for what the Caravan Man had done. “The Witchers are the reason we’ve had to double patrols to the north, and that cut down on how many we could send out to gather stuff.”

Nodding because he’d known that, “A word of advice on your patrols. Have them overlap each other and not stop when they reach the edge of another group’s patrol. That leaves seams open in your defense, and just makes it easier for someone to sneak in,” Arthur told her, and saw tears well up in Linda’s eyes.

“I read four books on tactics and even read another by some colonel that had to be the most boring book ever written,” Linda blurted out on the verge of crying. She was trying as hard as she could and no matter what she did, it was never enough. “I swear, I’m trying! But for everything I find out, it only lets me know there’s more we need to know and do!”

Stepping closer, Arthur put his hands on Linda’s shoulders and she looked up at his face with tears now leaking down her cheeks. “You’re doing an excellent job, Linda. You and all the Slayers. That’s why we’re here, and why we went ahead and took out the Witchers. I’m not being an ass when I say, I didn’t expect teen girls to be doing the things you’re doing, but you are. This group never makes the same mistake twice. You all work together and I hate to say it, and only just learned this, for teen girls that’s an accomplishment I’m in awe of,” Arthur told her, and that made Linda feel better.

“Our daughters aren’t that bad,” Wendy said, but was trying not to laugh.

Not turning around, but speaking over his shoulder so he could still look at Linda, “Wendy, Izzie broke down two days ago because someone washed towels with shirts. Then Shelia and Michelle nearly started fighting on how silverware should be placed on the table. I can go on but like I told them, who gives a shit?” Arthur told her.

“Oh, you wait till more of our daughters reach that special time in life,” Wendy snickered, since Shelia was one of Arthur’s mini-mes. The fact that Arthur had just whipped off names wasn’t lost on Wendy, and she was pissed that it’d taken her a few minutes to even place Izzie as one of the teens brought in during the summer.

Finally taking his eyes off Linda and looking up into the partly cloudy sky, “Lord, I’m begging for more patience, so please grant me that,” Arthur pleaded.

Dragging her forearm across her nose, “Try living here,” Linda challenged. “There’s not a single day that at least ten aren’t in that time of the month. Near the end of the month, try seventy at a time.”

Still looking at the heavens, “Lord, patience all around for everyone,” Arthur amended his plea, then looked down at Linda again. “You’re trying, doing your best, and doing a very good job at it,” Arthur told her with a grin. “Will you send Cathy back inside to tell some of the others, so someone doesn’t come out here and get nervous?”

Dejected she hadn’t thought of that, Linda turned to Cathy. Without being told by Linda, Cathy let Linda’s hand go and took off. “Mr. and Mrs. Caravan Man, could you please give us some ideas or hints on what we’re doing and if we’re doing it wrong?” Linda begged, turning back to Arthur.

Dropping his hands off her shoulders and stepping back beside Wendy, “That’s why we came to visit, Linda,” Arthur told her.

“You really are doing a very good job,” Wendy told her.

Having heard so much about the Caravan Man and lately the Caravan, Linda knew they didn’t offer aid, but what the Pokémon had told them seemed to contradict that. “We don’t want stuff. Just tell us, or me what I’m not doing right,” Linda said, and thought she saw Wendy’s mouth twitch. “I mean, if you give us something, we’ll take it if we need it but...” Linda just stopped and dropped her eyes to the ground. “When I make a mistake, someone could die. Some have died because I made a mistake.”

“Linda,” Arthur started as the doors burst open and girls poured out, clearly excited. “We’ll do what we can but I’m sorry, nobody, not even I can think of everything. We just do the best we can,” Arthur told her. “Can we offer you some advice that’ll make your lives easier and safer? Yes, and that’s why we’re here,” Arthur told her as the first of the group reached them, stopping behind Linda.

The other six girls from the council pushed through the throng to stand in a line behind Linda. All six nearly left when Arthur called them by name as he nodded to each one. “He’s been close, watching us,” Linda replied over her shoulder in much better spirits, but still a little depressed.

“Linda,” Arthur said, and she turned to face him. “I need you to call the guards on the road and let them know to let my Caravan drive in,” Arthur told her. Linda didn’t appear nervous about that, but a few behind her did. “The Caravan is donating some gear to the Slayers,” Arthur said, and that got everyone’s attention.

“I’ll do it!” one behind Linda said, and took off to the resort.

Stepping close to Linda again, “Linda, one of my new daughters is with us today. I only mention it because this week her hair is purple,” Arthur paused with a sigh. “We didn’t get along at first but now I love her dearly and if anyone makes fun of her hair, it would really fucking piss me off,” he warned.

To Arthur’s surprise, Linda started chuckling and turned around at the mass of girls. “Quinn, can you come up here?” Linda called out, then added eight more names before turning back to Arthur. “I promise you, Mr. Caravan Man, nobody will make fun of your daughter,” she told him, trying not to laugh.

Shifting his eyes from Linda as the group parted and a tall girl made her way to the front, Arthur’s eyes got a little wide. By her face Arthur knew she was around fourteen, but she was taller than Wendy. The girl was pretty but her hair, on the right side it was blue, the middle was bright green and the left was neon orange. The colors were so perfectly separated Arthur wondered how in the fuck Quinn had even done it. Then he saw eight other girls come up with dyed hair, but theirs were solid colors from red to metallic gold.

Turning to look over his shoulder at Wendy, “Is Chloe going to do that?” Arthur asked. “I thought it was just Chloe, but other girls dye their hair in vivid colors, too. Is it going to spread to all of my girls?”

“Babe, only three of our daughters have changed the color of their hair to a color not found in nature,” Wendy smirked, then looked at Quinn. “I like it!” Wendy winked and got a huge smile from Quinn.

Linda and many others were joyful that Arthur cared so much for his new daughters. They’d heard all about the kids the Caravan Man had taken in. Hearing the love in Arthur’s voice made some even envious of those kids. “How many daughters do you have?” Linda asked.

Letting out a long sigh, “One hundred and twenty-one,” Arthur moaned. “And eighty-seven sons.”

“Your girls love you,” Wendy smirked.

“So much so, they try to drive me crazy,” Arthur countered. Reaching up and taking off his fedora, Arthur looked at Linda then ran his eyes over the large group. “Slayers, I want to tell you all, I’m very sorry,” he told them, holding the hat over his chest.

Many turned to look at each other, wondering what he’d done to be sorry for. It was Linda who asked, “For what?”

“I was fooled, and some of you paid for it,” Arthur said bowing his head. “That group on Dugan Road. My buddy and I met them. I’m sorry I didn’t kill them then. They did give me an uneasy feeling, but it wasn’t enough to make us investigate them. Because of that, some of you paid for it. On behalf of the Caravan and myself, I’m sorry.”

The group just looked at Arthur in stunned silence. It was the fact the Caravan Man felt obligated to provide protection to others in a world gone insane that just blew them away. All looking at Arthur knew it bothered him.

“I told him he was doing the best he could, as we all were,” Wendy said, and all the eyes turned to her, but Wendy was looking at Linda. “I never met the group or talked to them, but I saw them several times on patrol and I’m just as guilty as he is. You do the best you can, and try to never make the same mistake twice.”

Understanding, Linda gave a nod and turned to Arthur. “Mr. Caravan Man, we got the ones back the same night they’d taken them. Don’t feel too bad because we’d traded with them before. It was luck that a Pokémon saw the group take our patrol, knew who they were, and let us know,” Linda told him.

Still dejected, “My group is bringing in gifts, but I’m asking for those who were taken by that group to get first pick,” Arthur stated. “I’m sorry, but I don’t want to know who, and you can think of this as a Christmas gift from the Caravan. But I do ask that you don’t tell the other groups about this, at least not yet.”

“What are you bringing?” Linda asked.

“A lot of things, but mostly guns and ammunition,” Arthur replied, and Linda felt faint.

“How much?” she panted out because they barely had three thousand rounds now and couldn’t let anyone practice shooting except with the pellet guns.

“A hundred M4s, sixty 9mm pistols, twenty .22 pistols, thirty .22 rifles, eighty thousand rounds of 5.56, five thousand of 9mm, and a hundred thousand rounds of .22,” Arthur replied and Linda gave a stumble, catching herself on Cathy before her legs gave out. “The .22s are to train on,” Arthur added.

Before the virus, Linda and many of the others wouldn’t have known what Arthur just listed, but they damn sure did now. “How did you know?” was all Linda managed to get out.

“Linda, there has to be like a hundred different calibers of rifles you guys are using. Shit, my buddy counted sixty-three Henry Rifles, but in eleven different calibers. I didn’t even know they made that many calibers of rifle,” Arthur replied. “In time I’ll help you get more, so everyone’s using the same caliber. That’s very important when you’re fighting.”

Filing that away, “So, you want the Slayers who were taken to get first choice of guns?” Linda asked for clarification.

Nodding, “Yes, but make sure they know how to shoot. I’ll be sending over some stuff to help on that as well,” Arthur said then smiled. “This is for the Slayers. You don’t trade it, not even the ammo, to the Terminators.”

That got a collective gasp from the group. Nobody traded ammo, that’s what everyone wanted. The only one any of the kid groups traded ammo to were the Terminators. That’s all the Terminators wanted, more bullets, but they did use those bullets to kill those who threatened the groups the Terminators were allied with. So everyone always traded what ammo they could to the Terminators.

For the first time, Wendy stepped up to Linda. “There are also several boxes of feminine pads,” Wendy grinned. Now really convinced she was asleep and dreaming, Linda was catatonic.

“You’ll need to organize groups to offload the trailers. I’m sorry, but we’re tired after dealing with the Witchers,” Arthur told them. One of the other girls on the council grabbed Linda by the shoulders and shook her out of her shock, and Linda quickly told them what’d happened to the Witchers while Arthur talked to Jason on the radio.

Everyone turned to see an MRAP top the rise and follow the road into the valley where the resort sprawled. Other vehicles followed pulling trailers, with a Stryker bringing up the rear guard. The excitement from the Slayers was like electricity in the air. Not only was the Caravan Man here with his wife, the Caravan was here, and they’d brought them gifts. Not toys or novelties, they’d brought things to help them survive in this world of viral misery.

Linda couldn’t help but grin when a girl got out of a Suburban with shiny purple hair, who she assumed was Chloe. Then the grin slowly faded as Linda realized Chloe was dressed like the Caravan Man and his wife when Chloe put on a fedora hat. She was wearing the same kind of gear like the Caravan Man, his wife, and the Terminators. Then Linda saw other kids getting out dressed the same way. When Jo Ann and Sally climbed out of the MRAP Linda was in awe because it was obvious the Caravan Man taught those he’d brought in.

Staring at the kids, Linda totally missed adults getting out. That was, until Joseph walked over to his dad with Sarah. The excited chatter of the Slayers died almost instantly as the nearly five hundred girls followed Joseph with their eyes. Sarah glanced around and couldn’t help but notice the Slayers gawking at Joseph. “What did you do?” she whispered to him.

Looking around the area as he headed over, “I have no idea,” Joseph shrugged.

When Joseph reached his mom and dad, Arthur introduced him and Sarah to the council. None even looked at Sarah, since Arthur didn’t introduce her as Joseph’s other half or the future mother of his grandchildren. Pushing past Sarah, Linda was the first to step forward, holding out her hand to Joseph. “Nice to meet you,” Linda smiled at him.

“So, you’re the head Slayer Dad told me about,” Joseph chuckled. Not only Linda but all the Slayers did a double-take at Joseph, then as one they turned to Arthur.

“He’s our son by birth, but all the kids belong to us and another couple, Jason and Samantha,” Wendy answered because Arthur was turned around watching Jason and Samantha walking over. It wasn’t heated, but it was very evident they were arguing.

Turning back to Joseph with a bashful face, “I’m trying to do my best,” Linda smiled out.

Laughing, “Hey, the Slayers impressed my dad, so that’s an accomplishment,” Joseph told them, and that filled all of them with pride. “We got the stuff here,” Joseph told them, jerking a thumb at the trailers.

Despite the cold, Joseph was only wearing a light long-sleeved shirt under his vests. “Are you going to be one of the trainers the Caravan Man sends over?” Linda asked hopefully.

Giving Linda a wink, “I’ll come over,” Joseph told her, and a collective chorus of long sighs sounded out from the Slayers.

“Linda?” Arthur called out, and saw Linda literally tear her eyes off of Joseph. When she finally turned to him, “You need to get the stuff. I’m sorry, but we’re tired. The reason we came over so soon was the Witchers had at least one patrol out. We wanted you to have the guns and ammo to deal with them.”

Turning to look at Joseph and Sarah, “We have beds. You can lie down here if you want to rest,” Linda said, but it was clearly aimed at Joseph.

“Are you hungry, Joseph?” another girl called out, and Arthur gave a long sigh.

Taking the hint, Linda turned and told the others it was time to start and led them over to the trailers. Grabbing his dad by the arm, Joseph pulled Arthur away and Jason followed them. Sarah was looking at the Slayers unloading the vehicles, and many were following Joseph with their eyes until it was their turn to grab a load.

Samantha stopped beside Sarah as Wendy headed over to Jo Ann and Sally. Sarah was still watching the Slayers ogle Joseph. She knew Joseph was cute, but thought the young girls were being a bit dramatic. Glancing at Samantha at her side, Sarah cleared her throat.

“Ahem,” then asked, “Samantha, why are they staring at Joseph like that? They aren’t looking at Shawn or the other guys like that.”

Shifting her body until she was facing Sarah, Samantha chuckled. There wasn’t a doubt by any that Sarah was intelligent. Most of her life Sarah had moved around people with power, and Samantha knew a lot of that wasn’t because of Sarah’s intelligence. Sarah was very pretty. But Sarah couldn’t connect what was right in front of her.

“Duh,” Samantha sang out, making Sarah startle. “Joseph’s a fucking hunk, girl!”

Cocking her head and thinking that Samantha was making a joke, Sarah saw she wasn’t. “He’s nice- looking, but a hunk?” Sarah blurted out.

Biting her lip, wondering how to deal with this because Samantha really liked Sarah, but if Sarah didn’t notice something, it wasn’t in her world and therefore didn’t exist. Throwing caution to the wind, “Yes, a hunk, Sarah. That’s the reason you acted like you hated him at first sight,” Samantha replied.

Getting pissed, “He was an asshole,” Sarah growled.

“Oh, I’m sure he was because he had his own reasons to act like he hated you,” Samantha replied, taking the anger out of Sarah. “Sarah, I know why you hated him. Granted, not that day, but after getting to know you, I so fucking saw it.”

Crossing her arms, “Oh, do tell,” Sarah challenged.

“Sarah, you had your life planned out. You were going to change the world or as much of it as you could, and you were going to do it alone,” Samantha told her and Sarah gave a startle because she hadn’t told anyone here that, but it was true. “You were going to marry, but only when it suited you, and to someone who could help your career. You didn’t believe ‘love’, real love truly existed, except between a parent and child,” Samantha continued, and Sarah got a look of panic on her face that Samantha was able to read her so well.

Nearly telling Samantha to shut up, Sarah just gave a nod in agreement. “This virus didn’t really change your plans in life. You just figured you were going to have to work harder to do what you set out to do,” Samantha told her, and Sarah’s face went pale. “Then you met Joseph, and your world stopped. He’s smart and a total hunk. Sarah, he could be a men’s model and you know it. You just try to tell yourself he’s not that good-looking because you don’t, and never did, think you could ever land a man like that without political connections.”

Noticing Sarah’s face was pale but she wasn’t arguing, Samantha continued. “You acted like it was Joseph’s fault for making you desire him and throwing a wrench in your plans because you wanted him. You wanted him to be a part of your life. Everything you wanted to accomplish, a part of you was willing to throw away, just for the chance at a life with Joseph, but the rest of you hated that. It was like you were sacrificing your life’s work and plan, so you hated Joseph for having the nerve to be a hunk and make you desire him.”

With wide eyes, “How did you find this out?” Sarah mumbled.

“Just got to know you, Sarah,” Samantha smiled.

Then Sarah remembered, “You said that’s why Joseph hated me?”

Nodding, “Because you acted like you hated him, which was why you got Joseph to take you seriously as a rival,” Samantha told her. When Sarah furrowed her brow, “Joseph has never had to work to get any girl, Sarah,” Samantha stated bluntly.

Then Samantha busted out in a wide grin. “Until you came along, Sarah. You didn’t give in to him at any point. Not once did you coo over him or just go along with what he said. I know because I asked Wendy and yes, that’s why Wendy liked you, because you stood your ground and didn’t fawn all over Joseph.”

“Joseph really does love me,” Sarah stated proudly.

“Girl, that boy is head-over-heels for you,” Samantha clarified. “Now, if Arthur hadn’t made you two kiss, I’m sure by now, one of you would be hurt and the hate would be real. Because neither of you were willing to take the chance, but Arthur took care of that.”

Looking over at Joseph talking to Arthur and Jason, Sarah put a hand on her chest. “Is it normal to love someone so much it hurts?” Sarah asked timidly.

“That’s when you know the love is real,” Samantha told her. “Sarah, remember when Joseph said he loved mayo last week when he was helping make sandwiches for the little ones and Little Momma agreed with him? Even putting mayo on her sandwich?” Samantha asked, and Sarah nodded. “Sarah, Little Momma hates mayo but Joseph likes it. That’s been happening all of Joseph’s life, and he was looking for a woman who could think by his side and not follow his lead.”

Understanding now, “I think Vicky might be in love with Joseph,” Sarah stated.

“No, Little Momma is in love with Joseph, as is nearly every girl at the ranch,” Samantha corrected.

Jerking her head toward the Slayers, “They don’t act like them,” Sarah pointed out.

Giving a long sigh, “Sarah, they’ve been around him daily, so the blatant goo-goo eyes stopped, but Joseph still gets them, I assure you,” Samantha told her. “Have you looked at the pictures of the girls Joseph went out with in high school?” she asked because they were displayed around the house.

Curling her lip, “I’ve looked at some,” Sarah admitted with a growl.

“Hey, if it wasn’t for you, in a few years I probably would’ve shot Joseph,” Samantha told her, and Sarah gave a startle. “Sarah, bitches just threw themselves at him and he would’ve lost all respect for women. I can tell you the only reason he still has it is because of Wendy. In Joseph’s defense, it’s hard to respect the other sex when they just lay down for you.”

Trying to find a fault in that theory but couldn’t, “What about the pictures?” Sarah asked.

“Have you noticed how those girls were built?” Samantha asked.

Shrugging, “They were pretty,” Sarah replied.

“Yes, but how were they built?” Samantha repeated and Sarah just shrugged. “Those bitches had bodies built for sex,” she stated. “Hourglass figures with hips and a rack.”

Like she’d never looked at her own body Sarah looked down but with the vest and gear on, Sarah thought she looked like a boy. “No, you don’t have that type of body,” Samantha confirmed for Sarah. “You have a slender athletic build. But you landed Joseph anyway because he saw something more than just sex in you. Yes, you’re very pretty, Sarah, so don’t get alarmed but don’t worry about it. Joseph’s in love with you and thinks the world revolves around you.”

Suddenly, Sarah turned to run her eyes over the Slayers, looking for one built for sex and ready to fire a few shots at them to let them know Joseph was hers. Spotting a blonde who fit that description, Sarah might have done it if Samantha hadn’t stepped in front of her. “He’s yours, Sarah. Don’t worry,” Samantha grinned.

Feeling better but going through the people at the ranch, “Anyone at the ranch built like that?” Sarah asked, just so she could give them a warning.

“Yeah, dummy,” Samantha laughed. “The one you refer to as your mother-in-law.”

Sarah couldn’t help but give a shiver at the implications in her mind. “No, there’s no Oedipus complex involved. Joseph wanted someone with the will of his mother. I don’t know how Arthur and Wendy met, but I can guaran-damn-tee you Wendy’s body is what caught Arthur. She’s pretty, but she’s the definition of a body built for sex. Wendy grew into her persona with Arthur, but her fucking body caught his ass, I don’t give a shit what that man says. I’m a nurse practitioner and would diagnose Wendy as a nymphomaniac, but Wendy didn’t turn into that until Arthur.”

“You haven’t asked how they met?” Sarah asked. “They met at a party.”

Shaking her head, “Oh, there’s much more to the story, girl, and if you ask you don’t really get the story, you get a nice tale. If you let them tell you, then you get the real meat and potatoes story,” Samantha schooled her.

Looking Samantha in the eyes, “You just called your buddy a nympho,” Sarah pointed out but seemed a bit nervous.

“Shit, Wendy told me the second day we talked that she was. She admits it rather proudly,” Samantha said with a slight grin. “It took a week or so before I believed it, and now I certainly do.”

“Um,” Sarah mumbled, trying to think of something to say before Samantha figured out Sarah had something else in common with her mother-in-law. “What are Pops, Jason, and Joseph talking about?” was all she could come up with.

“Have no idea,” Samantha replied with a grin. Out of the corner of her eye Sarah saw the grin as Samantha looked at the side of her face, and Sarah was certain Samantha already knew.

Turning to Samantha with fire in her eyes, “How in the hell did you know?” Sarah whispered harshly. “Does Joseph talk about it?”

“Not that I know about, and on the ranch we would all know,” Samantha told her, trying not to laugh. “You do realize mine and Jason’s room is across from Joseph’s, don’t you?”

With her cheeks turning red and not from the cold, “You can hear us?” Sarah gasped.

Nodding, “OOOOHhhh, yeah,” Samantha replied.

*****

Pulling his dad away before Sarah had started talking to Samantha, Joseph stopped and turned to Arthur. “Dad, this place is shit,” Joseph declared as Jason walked up. “Yes, they have structures to live in and fields for their horses, since that’s what the Slayers use to patrol, but there isn’t a stream,” Joseph said, pointing to the west at a tiny stream running down a gentle slope into the valley to a manmade lake.

Dropping his hand, “That’s not a stream they can get power from, and the closet one is seven miles to the west. Even if we build a fence to enclose what they need, the land between there and here will take too much effort to make it useful,” Joseph said, then pointed at the resort and all the outlying buildings.

“Dad, if an enemy ever gets close, they can’t defend this even with five hundred shooters. Where it’s at in the valley gives all the advantages to the attacker!” Joseph cried out as Jason looked around.

“I keep having to remind myself you’re Arthur’s son because no Navy pilot could ever point that out,” Jason said. “But you’re right.”

“Yeah, so?” Arthur shrugged.

“Dad, heeellllooo?” Joseph sang out. “These are teenaged girls here, who the fuck do you think is going to get hit around here first? The Pretty Little Liars are at that 4-H camp and shit, I could hold off a company of Army Rangers with just twenty trigger pullers there. They can hold off an attack until help arrives and it would take hours, even under the best of circumstances, for the attackers to move in. Here, even if they had a fence up now, if an enemy got in, by the time the Slayers called us, they’d be in deep shit. And before we could roll out, most would be dead or captured.”

“You really think I don’t know this, son?” Arthur asked.

Squaring off with Arthur, “We aren’t using them as bait,” Joseph stated firmly.

Holding up his hand, “That was never my plan,” Arthur assured him. “But I don’t tell people where they have to live even if it is stupid. Defensively, this place is just about as bad as you can get. But from a teenager’s, and not just girls, any teenager’s perspective, it has everything they need.”

“I want you to ask them to move,” Joseph told him.

“Hold up,” Arthur snapped. “We can’t take in five hundred girls even if we split them up between everyone and I can assure you, they wouldn’t go for that.”

“No,” Joseph said, shaking his head. “I want you to ask them to move to the castle.”

Arthur just stared at Joseph for several minutes not saying or doing anything. “Dad,” Joseph called out softly, reaching out to tap Arthur’s shoulder. “You okay?”

“You want to give them your castle after I threatened to shoot anyone in our group who tried to call dibs?” Arthur asked in shock.

“It’s not mine, Dad,” Joseph said, but did grin. “I have a home. That castle could be held for months and there’s a river down in the valley that’ll give them more power than we can make.”

“Son, it’s winter, and you’re talking about uprooting them and moving them twenty miles to set up all over again,” Arthur pointed out.

“No, the Witchers had food stores and the castle’s already set up. Granted, it’s got to be cleaned, but that’s it. You, Jason, and I can go over and show them how to put in cameras and where guards need to be so it can’t be taken like we did.”

“You really think the others aren’t going to take some of that food?” Arthur asked.

Nodding, “Yes, I told them the castle was mine, and thank you for capturing it, but the stuff in there belongs to me,” Joseph answered.

Turning to Jason, “What do you think?” Arthur asked.

Motioning to Joseph, “He’s put some serious thought into this, and his reasoning’s very sound. Any gang who saw it was only young girls here... Oh, they’d be willing to sacrifice lots of bodies to take ’em. At the castle, the Slayers could hold them off for weeks,” Jason offered.

“You talk this over with Sarah?” Arthur asked.

“Pfft,” Joseph puffed out. “She told me we weren’t leaving the house, even to build one on the ranch, until we gave you three grandbabies. She told me we had a home and I agreed with her.”

“Your son shows amazing intelligence when it comes to women,” Jason confessed.

Nodding, “Learned from Dad and Mom to choose my battles wisely, and make sure what I was willing to fight for was worth the cost,” Joseph told him.

“Glad you learned,” Arthur laughed. “If that’s what you want, it’s fine. But you’ll tell the Slayers, not me.”

Realizing his dad wasn’t going to give away something he’d cherished his entire life, Joseph nodded. “I’m going to make a condition that they keep a room open, so Sarah and I can visit.” When Arthur nodded, Joseph gave a relieved sigh and headed off to talk to Linda.

As Joseph walked past Sarah, everyone from the ranch was shocked when she just walked over and kissed him, because Sarah didn’t really show affection in public. “I hope Joseph knows Samantha and I will be using that room sometimes,” Jason said, and Arthur nodded in agreement.

“Chloe!” They heard a girl scream and Arthur’s pistol was out, turning in the direction of the scream.

“Milly!” They heard screamed back by a voice they knew was Chloe.

They saw purple hair running toward the throng of Slayers and one girl with brown hair running toward Chloe. Holstering his pistol, “Chloe can’t move out till she’s twenty,” Arthur dictated.

“I want to see someone make her try even then,” Joseph challenged. “I don’t care who that is, they aren’t important enough for Chloe to give up what she’s found.”

Turning to Joseph, “Chloe will ask you if that girl can move in before she’ll ask me. You tell Chloe you think you can convince me,” Arthur told him and just walked off.

“Damn, he’s cool,” Jason laughed, and headed toward Samantha.

“Yep, I have the best Mom and Dad ever,” Joseph smiled.

THE END
of

Book Three

Other books in this Series

Viral Misery-Book One

Viral Misery-Miracles

Viral Misery-Revelations

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Other Series by Thomas A. Watson

Blue Plague

Dark Titan

Stolen Liberty

Thanos

Forsaken World

Forgotten Forbidden America

Vengeance in Blood

Bonner Incident

Join Thomas & Tina Watson on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/APocPress/

Go to Apocpress dot com to find other works by Thomas A. Watson

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Also by Thomas A Watson

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Blue Plague:Survival

Blue Plague: Sacrifice

Blue Plague: Rage

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Blue Plague: The War Years-Countdown ( Book 8)

Blue Plague: The War Years-Uno: Book 9

Forgotten Forbidden America

Rise of Tyranny

Patriots Reborn

Storm Front

Revolution

Forgotten Forbidden America: Sin Eaters (Book 5)

Sinners

Forgotten Forbidden America: Highway to Hell

Forgotten Forbidden America: Sin Consumed

Forsaken World

Forsaken World: Innocence Lost

Forsaken World: Coming of Age

Forsaken World: Rite of Passage

Forsaken World: Dark Crossing

Forsaken World: HomeComing

Forsaken World: Redemption

The Bonner Incident

The Bonner Incident

Joshua's War

Viral Misery

Viral Misery

Viral Misery: Miracles

Viral Misery: Revelations

Watch for more at Thomas A Watson’s site.