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  “Have everyone ready to march in two days. We’ll roll out by 2300. Have a Humvee and a deuce and a half stocked with food, weapons, and ammo. It’s time to put our operation into phase one. Tell Lieutenant Smith to come to my office.”

  Lieutenant Smith arrived at the Major’s office a few minutes later, and the Major asked Smith to join him in a glass of whiskey. Smith asked, “Sir what’s the occasion?”

  “Dick, you are being promoted to Captain and will take command of the camp tomorrow. It would please me if you wore my Captain’s bars that I received upon my promotion to Captain.”

  “Sir this is a surprise.”

  “Yes, son, it is. I have been called back to headquarters for a new mission, and I will take several high-value detainees with me. Headquarters has been looking for these people all week, and they arrived a day ago. It’s hush hush, or I’d explain in more detail.”

  “Thanks for the confidence. I won’t let you down.”

  “I know you won’t. Dismissed.”

  “Sir, how did it go with the Lieutenant?”

  “I gave him a promotion to Captain and placed him in charge of the camp.”

  Hines laughed and said, “I’ll bet he almost peed himself like a puppy when you put the bars on his collar.”

  “Yep, the brown nosing bastard thinks he’s the big man on campus. Too bad the campus is closing its doors in a couple of days.”

  ***

  “Mrs. Karr, keep talking to him to keep him awake. We will check on him frequently to make sure that he doesn’t have a concussion. The blow only glanced off his head with the full impact on his left shoulder. Sorry, we don’t have any of the x-ray, CT scan or other equipment working, so it’s back to the turn of the century medical practice for the foreseeable future.”

  Maddie thanked the doctor and looked down at Will as the doctor left to perform his daily rounds. She looked into his eyes and felt such a fool to have told him that he was not her type. She wanted him to be her boyfriend, but he used the love word, and that scared her. Thanks to her piece of crap father, she didn’t trust any man.

  “Maddie, what happened after I kicked the gun out of the soldier’s hand?”

  “Two soldiers came up from behind, and one of them hit you with his rifle, and then the medics brought you here.”

  “I guess I’m in big trouble with the Army.”

  “Maybe, but you are a hero to me. That asshole grabbed my ass and tried to fondle me. I tried to fight him off, and then you flew through the air and tackled him.”

  “I couldn’t stand him putting his hands on you.”

  “So I’m your official girlfriend now.”

  “That’s what you said when you got jealous when I was talking to that cute girl.”

  “She was homely at best and not up to your high standards.”

  “You are right. Now we both have been hit in the head with a gun. I wonder who has the hardest head.”

  “No question about it; you do.”

  They were interrupted when Sergeant Hines walked up and introduced himself, “Mr. and Mrs. Karr, I’m Sergeant Hines, and I’m here to apologize for the inexcusable behavior of Private Wells. He has been disciplined for the attack on Mrs. Karr.”

  “Thanks, I’m surprised at the apology but very thankful,” said Will then he added, “What’s going to happen to us. We have a great community that is farming over a hundred acres and working with the surrounding people to expand that by tenfold. We don’t need to be taking your food or time.”

  “I like that. You got straight to the point. Now I have to do the same. What do we do to a young man that attacked one of my soldiers?”

  “I don’t know what you will do, but you should give Will a medal. What would you do if the same soldier had his hands all over your wife’s ass,” asked Maddie?

  “Lady that was the mitigating factor. Any man worth his salt would have beat the soldier senseless. I have recommended that we give Will a slap on the wrist in front of the detainees and a handshake for helping us get rid of a Congressman’s worthless piece of shit son who was good at getting away with violations such as you encountered. No one would stand up for themselves.”

  Will added, “The only thing we are guilty of is taking some clothes from a shop that had been looted and vandalized. I don’t know if the Army got the message, but the world went to shit several days ago and won’t ever be the same again.”

  The Sergeant thought for a minute then asked, “Would you ask your uncle if the both of you could meet with me and the Major to discuss a mutually beneficial solution to both our troubles?”

  “I will be glad to ask as soon as I get out of here.”

  “I’ll tell the doctor to release you now and have a medic check on you at your bunk a few times.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I’ll check back with you after breakfast tomorrow.”

  ***

  “Hi, Papaw and Grandma. We’re back,” Will said as Maddie helped him walk to their bunk.

  Bob and Jane were surprised to see Will and Maddie back that night. Jane rushed over and helped Maddie get Will into the bed and under the covers.

  Will said, “Y’all do know that I’m okay and just got a bump on my head. My shoulder took the full blow. My shoulder hurts, but the pain meds have that dulled down.”

  Bob shook his hand and said, “I’m surprised they don’t have you chained to a hospital bed since you beat up that guard.”

  Maddie said, “Bob, Sergeant Hines gave us an apology from the Major who runs this camp for his man assaulting me. They will only tell the camp that Will was protecting me and should have used better judgment before attacking the soldier.”

  Will waved for his Grandma and Papaw to come closer so they wouldn’t be overheard, and then said, “The Major wants to meet with Papaw and me tomorrow to discuss a mutually beneficial solution to both of our troubles. He mentioned you by name Papaw.”

  “Did he mention what the troubles were?”

  “No, he was kinda’ mysterious. I told him I would discuss it with you and give him an answer in the morning,” Will replied.

  Jane asked, “Do they know that none of us are actually married?”

  “I don’t think so, but does that matter. You and Papaw are getting married soon, and Maddie and I are committed to each other. What concerns me is that they know a lot more about us than we do about them,” Will said as he placed his finger over his lips and motioned for a pencil and paper.

  He wrote, “Could this placed be bugged?”

  Bob answered with, “Yes! Look for bugs after lights out.”

  Bob changed the subject and said, “We definitely want to meet with the Major and see what he is thinking. Now it’s just about lights out, and Will needs his rest.”

  Jane added, “Maddie tell me about being committed to each other in the morning,” as she hugged her Grandson goodnight.

  All four searched their bunk area for bugs for several minutes when Maddie poked Will and whispered, “There is an odd object on the bed frame above our heads.”

  Will threw a sock and hit Bob. Bob looked over, and Will pointed to the bed frame above and pointed at his lips and ears. Bob gave the okay sign.

  Will felt Maddie moving and wiggling in the bed behind him and rolled over to see what was wrong. Maddie pressed her naked body against him and whispered in his ear.

  “Will I love you and I’m sorry for being such a bitch. I’ll take good care of you from now on. Kiss me.”

  ✼

  Chapter 2

  Day 8 – The Walkers

  By the eighth day, more and more people had either run out of food or were driven from their homes by starving people trying to steal their food. Of course, there were small pockets of preppers across the country that had prepared for this very situation and had plenty of food, water, and guns. For the most part, they were keeping their heads down and letting the “Big Die Off” run its course.

  A third of the country didn’t have a wee
k’s supply of food in their houses. They were the ones who joined in the looting of the Kroger’s, Walmart’s, and other grocery stores. The fifth generation government assistance people who relied on food magically supplied by their EBT cards caused the worst issues. Many had never worked a day in their lives, and others had been employed at jobs that didn’t prepare them for survival.

  The icing on this crap cake was that the hoods, thugs, biker gangs, and criminals had guns and were organized. They took what they wanted in the cities and took charge of most large supplies of food, water, medical supplies, drugs, and alcohol.

  The stores were looted first, and then warehouses and finally private homes before the masses from the city began leaving to find food in the countryside. Many city people thought that every farm had cows, pigs, and chicken along with a cornucopia of fresh vegetables just for the picking. The progressive liberals who fought so hard for gun control had no guns; the scumbags who they wouldn’t keep in jail quickly killed them off. Many died because of that wrongheaded thinking. Karma is a bitch!

  ***

  “John, I ran into a roadblock above Lebanon where one of the guards told me about a farming community below Dixon Springs that had food, water, women, and electricity.”

  “And Tiny, exactly why did this want to be cop tell you this story,” asked the leader of the drug gang.”

  “John, I traded that red head to him for some 9mm ammo, and he did me a solid,” replied Tiny who then added, “It’s on our way. Let’s check it out.”

  “On that, I agree. We’ve added twenty fighters and seven chicks to the family. We got to feed them somehow. I want to start my own kingdom down here in the south. That place could be it. Send ten of our best to scout out the place.”

  ***

  “Jack, the number of Walkers, has begun to dramatically increase, and many are dirty, hungry, and mad as hell at the world. I talked with a few, and they are from as far north as Cincinnati. They all tell the same story of looting, riots, and violence. They all hope to find a farm with plenty of food. The funny thing is that we also have about a quarter of the people heading north to find food.”

  “Yeah, the whole damn country is in the same boat.”

  “So far we’ve been able to scare most away with a few shots over their heads, but these people are getting more aggressive and demanding entrance to our community. I don’t know if the guards can actually shoot these poor people.”

  “The first thing is to stop thinking of them as poor people. They will kill you for your food. I’ll go to the gate and give the guards a pep talk and increase the number of guards until the flow subsides. It’s just a matter of time until they try to overpower us and dozens get killed,” Jack responded.

  Greg replied, “I just don’t know if our team can shoot hundreds of starving people. Several have mentioned sharing our food.”

  “That would be a disaster. They will do what it takes to keep their kids and loved ones from starving. Feel sorry for the Walkers but don’t give them food. That would cause the herd to crash through the gates. Who wants to share our food?”

  “The Nelsons and the Grinnells.”

  “They would have been my first guess. We have to keep their bleeding heart crap from infecting the rest of the team.”

  “Several others are listening to them.”

  “Damn.”

  ***

  The night before a messenger showed up on Jim’s doorstep with a note from his old friend Ben.

  The message said, ‘I received your letter concerning the people in the Horseshoe. I agree that we need to hook up with them and form an alliance. Meet with them and develop a relationship. Can you hold Lebanon off until we arrive? Send your reply with the messenger. She can be trusted. Ben.’

  Jim wrote his reply and decided that he needed to go visit Bob and the people in the horseshoe and see what Karr’s people have done since the shit hit the fan.

  ***

  Jack drove north to the gate and saw hundreds of people yelling and screaming at the guards.

  “How do these people know to turn south at Dixon Springs and come here?”

  “There are signs east of Dixon Springs that tell them to come here. One man told me the Hartsville Police said there was food here.”

  Several guards came over to Jack, and the leader said, “Jack we need to give them some food, so they’ll move on.”

  “That would be a disaster. There are a couple of hundred piled up along the fence, and if you tried to give out food, they would overwhelm you and take over the Horseshoe. There are millions of people on the roads looking for food, and we can’t feed them all. Any food you give them is food that could have fed our families. One day we will have extra, and we will trade it to our neighbors for things we need.”

  “What if we decide to give some of our own food to these poor people?”

  “That would be very kind of you and also idiotic. We only have enough food to make it until the crops come in. Besides, you would be overrun and trampled to death.”

  “Hey, Jack! Look!”

  Jack turned and saw several men had a telephone pole and they were heading toward the gate to ram it down.

  Jack yelled for his men to run to the gate as he shot three times into the air.

  “Put that pole down and get the fuck out of here. All of you. We don’t have any extra food, and you have been tricked.”

  One man responded, “You can’t shoot all of us. Ram the gate.”

  “I’ll shoot you first, and then any man or woman who tries to go through the gate.”

  The mouthy man yelled, “Ram the gate,” and a dozen men ran with the pole aimed at the gate. Jack leveled his AR, aimed, and pulled the trigger three times. The leader and his most vocal supporters dropped dead. Jack killed the last armed man then yelled at the people on the ground cowering in fear, “Get the fuck out of here, or we will shoot you.

  Jack fired several bullets into the ground, and the people fled. One man waved his fist and yelled, “We’ll be back.”

  Jack shot him in the face and yelled, “If you want to die come on back. We will kill anyone who approaches our fence from now on. Get going.”

  The area was quickly deserted, and Jack went to see how the wounded guard was doing. The lady had a wound to her right arm and was bed ridden for a week while she mended.

  George Nelson and Gig Grinnell walked up to Jack and George said, “That was murder. You had no right shooting those men. They just want to feed their families.”

  Jack replied, “You two were invited to join the community and can be sent packing if you keep this shit up. We are not going to share our food with those outsiders. If you keep this crap up, I personally will run your asses out of the Horseshoe and send you back to your homes in Dixon Springs.”

  “You can’t do that.”

  “I can and I will. Get out of my sight before something bad happens to you whiny, assed people.”

  The two ran away and complained to everyone they saw on their way home. Greg had joined in shooting the attackers but wasn’t happy with how Jack handled the two.

  “Jack, don’t you think we should use a bit of diplomacy handling the people of our community?

  “No, I don’t, those people need to be run off before they get us killed or give our food away.”

  “Jack, I know they are wrong but why make enemies out of them?”

  “They are enemies of the community, and we should never have let them live here. Everyone knew they were bleeding heart liberals and would cause problems. Why let rattlesnakes loose in the chicken coop?”

  George Nelson and Gig Grinnell went door to door telling everyone that Jack executed several innocent people who just asked for food to feed their starving children. They also planted the seeds that Bob and Jack should be removed from power. Most of the people knew these troublemakers and ignored them and their false statements; however, a fourth of the community was very concerned that their security people were gunning down poor innocent
people.

  A large handful of people complained to Greg and asked for a community meeting to see what had actually happened and what Greg was going to do about the alleged massacre. Greg told them that they had only heard half-truths and that he would schedule a town meeting in two days to discuss the issues.

  ***

  Jack went back home and vented on his son Tony and both of their wives. They agreed with him, and Tony said, “Dad, we may have to leave this group if those idiots get their way. The first attempt at a food giveaway will be a total disaster. Thousands of people will hear about it and flood the place. We could all be killed. Dad, don’t back down from this fight. If Bob were here, he’d slap some sense into these bastards.”

  “I know we are right, but Greg is too nice, and I’m afraid he’ll listen to those do-gooders and do something stupid before Bob gets back,” Jack replied.

  “Dad, what can we do? The Walkers are getting bolder, and I’ve seen signs that someone may be directing them to come to us for food.”

  “I agree. It probably is the same people over in Hartsville. We may have to go over there and clean their clocks when Bob gets back. I think we need to split up and have one of us on the wall all of the time.”

  “I think that’s a good idea. I’ll take the night shift since old people need their rest.”

  “Thanks, son.”

  Jack had only been asleep for a short time when Tony called him on the walkie-talkie, “Dad, you’d better get over here quick. I’m on the east bank about halfway to the wall. The bastards drug twenty or thirty boats down to the water and are coming across to attack below the wall. We’re lucky our horseback patrol saw them.”

  “Greg, Izzy, get your teams and meet me there. We need to shoot them before they get ashore.”

  Jack arrived, and Tony gave him the binoculars to scan the shore. Jack saw a few men and women milling around and wondered where the invasion force was. There was barely enough people to fill one boat much less twenty.