Cities on Fire Read online

  They finished feeding the animals and walked back up to the house when Bob said to Maddie, “Will was just asking me if I thought you’d like to walk over to the river this evening. It’s really pretty this time of year with the Dogwoods and Redbuds blooming along the bank. I told him, of course, you would.”

  “Will I’d love to walk to the river with you.”

  “Great, we’ll head out once we get our chores done after supper.”

  They walked into the house and saw everyone was seated around the table. They took their seats, and Bob started the first family meeting.

  “Jo in addition to being on the security team with Jane, I need you and Jane to take on additional duties. I want you two to take ownership of training the teens in survival skills. I suggest you use Maddie, Will, and Missy to help with the classes. I believe Betty Lou told me there are 21 young people between the age of 12 and 17 in the Horseshoe now that the last families have moved in to stay. They need everything from gun safety to how to skin a deer.

  I also want you two to lead at least two scavenging trips this week and next week. That will give us a total of ten trips. As you would think the useable goods will taper off dramatically over the next two weeks.”

  “Bill, you will have your hands full setting up our little hospital and taking care of sick and injured people; however, I need you to also teach a First Aid Class a couple of times a week until everyone above ten years old has been trained.”

  “Dad, do we have any books or training supplies?”

  “Yes, I have several good First Aid manuals and a couple of Army field manuals on First Aid.”

  Will, I also want you to do double duty helping with the fence building. Starting tomorrow, we will be working from sun up to sundown. I want y’all to get settled in today and only work half a day.

  Jo called Maddie to her bedroom and showed her some clothes that were lying on the bed.

  “Pick out one outfit that you like plus a pair of my jeans. I think I’m a bit larger in the waist, but you’re a bit bigger in the bust size. There are a bra and panties that should also fit One of our scavenging trips will focus on finding some clothes that fit all of us. Bill is lucky because all of his Dad’s clothes fit him and are only a size too big for Will. Us ladies will need to do some serious shopping.”

  “Thanks so much for taking care of me. It’s helping me to have you with me since I lost my mom,” Maddie said as tears rolled down her face.

  Jo sat down beside her on the bed and consoled her for a while until the tears stopped and Maddie said, “I have to stop blubbering and move on with my life. I’ll miss Mom, but I have to be strong and not a burden to you or your family.”

  Jo corrected her, “It’s now your family also. You are now a part of us.”

  Bob caught Will before lunch and took him to his garage. He opened a large gun safe and handed Will a Springfield M&P15 and a Ruger P95 9mm with a holster.

  “Will grab that tactical vest hanging on the wall. It served me well many times, and I want you to have it. There are three 30 round AR Mags and three Magazines for the Ruger. Here are a bayonet and a .380 Keltek for a backup pistol. Use the leg holster and wear long pants anytime you are on guard duty. Always expect trouble. Take these boots too. They're about a half size too big, but you can wear double socks if needed.

  You are a man now living in a dangerous world. Keep your weapons within arm’s reach at all times. I’ll outfit Missy and Maddie later this afternoon, but I expect you to watch over them and keep them out of trouble.

  Anyone can pull a trigger and kill a punk. It takes a good man to know when to kill and when to retreat and live to fight another day. I’ll give you my opinions, but you have a good head on your shoulders and will do well.”

  “Thanks, Papaw. I needed better weapons and won’t let you or the others down.”

  “Now all I want in return is for you to live a long and bountiful life and you and your wife give me some great grandkids to mow my grass and tend the horses.”

  “Papaw. I don’t even have a girlfriend.”

  “Maddie is one hell of a woman and beautiful to boot.”

  “I don’t know if she even likes me.”

  “Trust me, she does.”

  Bob and Will went to join the fence building crew after lunch and Bob introduced him to the team. The leader gave Will a pair of gloves and a posthole digger and showed him where to dig the next ten holes. Bob went on to the road to see how the construction of the gate and guardhouse was going.

  “Bob, I’ll bet you are happy to see all of your family back under your roof,” said Greg.”

  “Yes, it allows me to stop worrying and lets me focus on what we need to accomplish. We also gained a Policewoman, a Nurse and three young adults who can contribute labor, survival skills, and brain power.”

  “I was impressed with your Grandson, Will. He has a lot on the ball. How old is he?”

  “He’s 16 and will be 17 in June. He’s very mature for his age, and I have had him down here for a month every year and taught him about survival, hunting, fishing and a thousand other things. I need to teach him more about how to court a young lady.”

  “I figured that he and Maddie would hook up eventually. He’d better move fast there are half a dozen men and boys interested in that young lady,” replied Greg.

  “I think he’ll seal the deal this evening.”

  There was a commotion behind them, and they turned to see the guard arguing with three men.

  “I asked you what you want, and until you tell me, I’m not getting anyone to talk to you.”

  “Screw you. Get Bob Karr over here right now.”

  Bob walked over to the gate and said, “I’m Bob Karr and why are you so rough on Izzy?”

  “We know you stole all of the food from all of those trucks and we want our share.”

  “What make you think you deserve a share of anything we have?”

  “Because we need it to survive and you have more than you need.”

  “Do y’all have plenty of seeds to plant in your gardens?”

  “No. We’re not farmers.”

  “Then how do you expect to live when your food runs out?”

  “We’ll get our share of your crops and the other farmers around the area.”

  “So you’re willing to help plant, tend, and harvest the crops?”

  “Hell no. We been on welfare for our whole lives. You rich people got to feed us.”

  “Where are you from? I don’t think I know you. Greg do you know any of these men?”

  “Never seen them before.”

  “We’re from Nashville, and if you don’t give us food, we’ll take it,” the man said as his hand went for his pistol.

  Bob beat him to the draw, shot the man, and turned to see a pistol aimed at his chest. Before the man could pull the trigger, there was the sound of two shots and both of the remaining men confronting Bob dropped with holes in their chests. Bob turned to see who had saved his life and saw Will about 75 yards away with his AR in his hands running toward the gate. Greg was standing there dumbfounded that he didn’t get a shot off before the three men were dead.

  There was the sound of gunfire from up the road and bullets struck the gate and the unfinished guardhouse wall. Will dropped to his knee, steadied his rifle against a post, and returned fire along with the guard. Three men took off out from behind a tree and were running back toward town.

  Will shot three times and two of the men dropped to the ground, and the third kept running.

  Will walked over to his Papaw and said, “Papaw, are you alright. I saw that asshole go for his gun and had to drop the posthole digger and grab my rifle to shoot the other two. Damn, if I had a scope I could have shot the one that escaped.”

  “Bob, get the man a scope for that rifle. Boy, you saved our lives. That scum was going to rush the gate and take what they wanted. The five of them could have killed us.”

  “Papaw there’s another two dead in the weed
s where the men were hiding.”

  Bob, Will, and Greg walked out to the hiding spot and saw the two bodies. Sure enough, Will had killed one and wounded the other.

  Bob yanked the man up by his shirt and said, “Why did you come here. Who told you about this place?’

  “The sign up on Highway 25,” was all the man had said before he died.

  Bob yelled over to Izzy, “Izzy, please go get a dump truck and a couple of men with long guns. We’re going to town, and we need to be ready for a fight.”

  Izzy drove the dump truck with Greg in the passenger’s seat and Bob, Will and the two extra men in the bed of the truck. They all had ARs and shotguns. The dump bed was like having an armored vehicle. That is except for the driver and passenger.

  They drove past the Post Office and on to Highway 25, and as the man said, there was a big sign that said,

  Food this way →

  Rich People Won't Share.

  Bob and Will jumped down from the truck, tore the sign down, and then Bob set it on fire. While they watched it burn several men with dirty clothes walked up and watched. One poked the other one and laughed.

  Bob held his AR in front of him and said, “I don’t know why six men dying because they tried to steal our food is funny. I will personally hunt down and kill the son of a bitch that puts another sign like this up. Do you two scumbags hear me?”

  The men were high on something and could only laugh and mumble their words.

  Then Bob noticed that there was a group of people walking toward the dump truck. They were pushing grocery carts, wheelbarrows, and handcarts. It looked like something from a third world country.

  One of the men walked toward Bob and asked, “Mister, do you have any food that you can spare?”

  I’m sorry; we barely have enough to feed ourselves. Try Carthage on down Highway 25.”

  “Are there any empty houses that we can live in around here? We need a place to stay. There wasn’t any food in Cincinnati or Louisville.”

  “Sir, I don’t think you understand. There isn’t any extra food here either. Keep walking south.”

  “We have cash. We can pay for food.”

  “Money is worthless since the lights went out. Keep heading south.”

  A woman from the group walked over and said, “So you will let my three kids starve instead of helping us.”

  “Woman, if I give you my kid’s food then they will starve. I’m not going to let my kids starve because you need food. Not get your asses out of here before I lose my temper.”

  The group walked away after shouting a few obscenities at Bob. Greg, Izzy, and Will joined Bob as they watched small groups of people walk by them. Most of the people were dirty, and there was no gleam in their eyes. They just kept putting one foot in front of the other and walked down Highway 25 toward Carthage. Only a few were heading north.

  Greg mentioned, “Do y’all think we need to place guards up here to keep people from coming down the road to the Horseshoe?”

  Will pointed behind them toward the Horseshoe and said, “Those people came down Dixon Springs Circle Road and came out behind us. We need a checkpoint south of the junction. I’d also post some Dead End signs up and maybe some Biohazard signs. Thousands of people will be coming down this road for the next few weeks. As time goes by they will get more desperate and dangerous.”

  Greg replied, “I’ll go house to house and let the ones living between us and the roadblock that they are free to come and go, and that we are just trying to stop the hordes from getting down our road.”

  “I’ll get a crew to bring up some barricades and stage some dead cars for cover,” replied Bob.

  Will added, “We have an unlimited supply of water in the Horseshoe. Let’s place some drums of water by the checkpoint and let them fill their bottles. Then we can pump them for news about the rest of the country or maybe find some decent people with skills we need and get them to join our community.”

  “Both are damn good ideas. Get er done,” replied Bob.

  Will helped Bob and Greg set up the checkpoint and then hauled water up from the closest well to fill the two 50 gallon drums. He was busy working when his Papaw walked up and said, “Will don’t you have something to do this evening?”

  “Oh, yes, I do. I’m going to take the ATV and head back to your house and get cleaned up before supper.”

  Will snuck into the trailer and took a bath the best he could with cold water and a washrag. He looked in the mirror and saw a wind-burned face with a four-day growth of stubble. He looked for a razor and couldn’t find one, so he snuck in the house and borrowed his Papaw’s razor and shaving cream. Now he was clean and clean-shaven.

  He went to the kitchen to see if he could help set the table and saw his Grandma and Mom preparing dinner while Missy was lying on the couch resting. He asked his Mom if he could help with anything and she told him, “Go watch TV until supper.”

  “Mom, you told me to go watch TV.”

  “Darn, I guess you can read one of Papaw’s old hunting magazines.”

  He looked around, didn’t see Maddie anywhere, and sat down beside Missy.

  Missy whispered, “Maddie is in Mom’s room getting dressed up for your date.”

  Will threw a pillow at Missy, and then acted as though he was reading one of the magazines. A few minutes later Maddie came out of the bedroom, said hi and went on into the kitchen to help the other women. Will thought she was beautiful; he had only seen her with a dirty face and hair stuffed under a ball cap since he met her a few days back.

  Bob and Bill arrived a few minutes before time to eat and quickly cleaned up for supper. As usual, Bob said grace, and then they ate. The conversation was lively since so much had transpired since the morning and everyone wanted to hear any news. There were no TV or radio newscasts, so things were sliding back in time to the time before newspapers and the five o’clock news. Most news was now passed on at the supper table or across the back of a pickup bed.

  Bob interrupted the conversation to say, “I guess Will filled you in on how he saved my life this morning and kept several others of our group from being ambushed.”

  Jo and Bill both replied, “What happened?”

  Bob filled them in on the events at the gate and ended by saying, “Jo and Bill, you have raised one hell of a young man. He shot the two that were about to kill me and then picked off two more over a hundred yards away that were shooting at the work crew. Will you are my hero.”

  Jane listened and said, “Well I’m not surprised at all. Will was a major factor in getting us down here safely. Son, you have grown into a man right in front of our eyes. I am very proud of you.”

  Bill and Jane hugged their son and were very proud but concerned parents. No 16 year old should have to kill to survive. It was a new world, and everyone would have to adapt or die.

  They finished eating, and Jo went over to her son and said, “You and Maddie are excused from cleaning up. Have a good time.”

  Will went over to Maddie in the living room and said, “Maddie will you come with me for a walk.”

  They walked out the back door and cut across the fields to the river. Maddie and Will were silent for a few minutes, and then Will said, “Maddie this is the first time I’ve seen you without a baseball cap or a dirty face. You took my breath away when I saw you before supper.”

  Maddie just giggled and took Will’s hand as they walked on toward the river. They chatted about their recent journey then talked about how dating would change now that there were no movies, malls or teen clubs. Will then told her about the history of the Horseshoe and the early settlers. Before they knew it, they were close to the river.

  There was a spot south of Bob’s house where the land was higher than the surrounding terrain. Also, a rocky cliff was perfect to jump off into the deep water below. There was also a tree close enough to have a rope to swing out over the water.

  “The water is a bit cold now, but in a few weeks, it will be warm enough to sw
im comfortably. We came here most days and swam or fished most of the day. Papaw has a couple of canoes, and we would go all up and down the river. See the beautiful Redbuds and Dogwoods blooming in the woods.”

  “Will do you have a girlfriend?”

  “No, but I did have one a few months back. She decided I was too boring. I don’t like going to clubs or parties where the kids get drunk and do drugs. I like fun but nothing like that.”

  “Me neither. I guess we’re both squares.”

  “See that tree over there.”

  “The one with the fork sticking up?”

  “Yes, the sun always sets in the middle of the fork. We have about two hours before it sets.”

  “That’s plenty of time to swim and get dry before going back home.”

  “We didn’t bring swimsuits,” Will replied.”

  “We don’t need them.”

  Will’s face turned red, and he got a big smile on his face.

  “Get that goofy look off your face there won’t be any skinny dipping until I get to know you better. We can swim in our underwear. Mine covers more than my Bikini. Come on let’s swim.”

  “It will be cold.”

  “Chicken.”

  Maddie took her socks and shoes off then pulled her t-shirt over her head and laid it on a rock. Will stripped down to his briefs while she took her jeans off.

  “Will, are you sure there are no rocks below that will kill us when we dive in.”

  “Sorry, I should have mentioned that we need to climb down the left side and walk into the water and make sure there are no sunken logs. The water is a bit murky to see very far into it.”

  He had tried to keep looking away from her as he followed her down the rocks to the water but caught himself sneaking peeks at her. When she got to the bottom, she turned abruptly, and he bumped into her. She put her arms around him, he drew her close, and they kissed.

  “She looked into his eyes and said, “I was wondering when you would kiss me.”

  Will kissed her again for a longer time and then said, “I won’t wait so long for the next one.