The Day America Died Trilogy Read online

  “I know just how to play Bert and the others. I also have a couple of my own ideas. I’ll catch you after the meeting.”

  “Great. Paul, I need you and Callie to start taking joy rides as often as possible. Hell, what young couple doesn’t want to get away for some privacy? Now what you will really be doing is sneaking our weapons, explosives and any booby traps that we don’t need here to the hideout.”

  Callie replied, “You can count on us.”

  “Mike strip the SAW’s from the Humvee and replace them with broomsticks or something that will fool someone sneaking up in the dark to steal the Humvee. Take the SAWs to the hideout and work with Paul to booby trap the Humvee. I love the thing, but it draws too much attention.”

  Ally looked at me and said, “I love this place. Do you really think we have to leave?”

  “Darling, I think that we can start a war, attack them first and win in the long run. My best guess is that we’d lose 50-60 percent of the people around this table. I think we set a shit load of booby traps, make one hit and run attack and disappear. Then we can start a guerilla war in the spring.”

  “Why wait until spring? We can hit them all winter unless it snows. We don’t want anyone following our tracks in the snow back to the hideout.”

  “Don’t we need to let our friends know owe are leaving?”

  I replied quickly and firmly, “No. If our plans go perfectly, everyone including our enemy will think we are all dead. We can’t have them searching the whole county for us. The bastards could trip over our hideout, and then we might have to bug out all over again. I know I sound like a dictator, but I can’t bear the thought of losing any of you.”

  We continued working out our plans for several hours and broke away for the day with each team member having several assignments to accomplish before the next meeting. It was only a week before the harvest started and a week or two afterward that all of the crops would be in the barns and root cellars. Most of the fruits and vegetables had already been canned.

  Joan caught me when Chuck finished and hit me up about encouraging Callie and Paul to sneak away from us.

  “Damn, Zack. There are trailers with beds in that hideout. What the hell do you think is going to happen?”

  “I think that they will hold hands, kiss a lot, deliver the goods and come back here without doing anything else. I just told them that we consider them to be adults and we trust them with our lives. I think they will live up to that trust.”

  “And what the hell were we doing at their age when we got off alone?”

  “I think Callie has higher morals than you did.”

  “You dirty SOB; I should shoot you for that comment.”

  Ally caught me later and said, “I heard what you told Joan. I agree, our kids have grown up and have to be trusted. I know they love each other and regardless of what they do, they will have a great life together.”

  Chapter 14 - Harvest Moon

  The Farm

  “So Johnson doesn’t expect a thing, and we just have to wait until the harvest is done to raid his farm and wipe those bastards out. I want Joan and Callie brought to me in Anderson. They are mine; don’t harm them.”

  “I’m sure he thinks that I have taken over Owensville through immoral and illegal methods, but he appears to have tucked his tail between his legs and stopped pestering the other farmers to join him against us. Kidnapping the kids or wives of the outlying farmers and Bert has made this a cakewalk. We’ll kill all of them before they can mount their spring offensive.”

  “Are there any young girls in the bunch?”

  “Look, Todd, I believe we can work together and rule this area together, but I’m not going to help you rape kids. What you do over in your town is your business, but don’t try to screw around with the kids over here.”

  “But, you’ll give me Joan and Callie.”

  “Yes, but it will be the last time. I don’t want kids molested, and I don’t buy or sell women. If a woman wants to work in our brothels, that’s her business, but I’m not forcing any to do that.”

  “So you are a gentleman criminal.”

  “Todd, I’m not a criminal. I have just taken power to help these people survive this disaster. You are a crook and a pervert.”

  “Keep tabs on Johnson and Norman and don’t underestimate them.”

  “I have been and will continue.”

  ***

  Without drawing any attention, we doubled up our efforts to get the hideout ready in case of TSHTF for the second time. We spotted the men shadowing Mike and me right away and made sure we never headed to the hideout without them thinking we were in my house or barn. We tested them several times, and they only followed Mike and me, which freed up the others to complete our bug out preparations and finish taking supplies to the hideout. Paul had manufactured several dozen IEDs for our booby traps and for roadside bombs.

  Since there were only three old combines for all of the farms, the harvest took much longer than we forecast. We didn’t have a wheat thresher, so we placed the wheat on big tarps and had the kids stomp on the wheat to knock the grain off the stalk. Then we took shovels and tossed the grain up into the air to let the wind blow the chaff away. This was fun at first but became hard work after the second day. Thank God, the combine had a built in corn shelling device, or we would have never got the crops in before winter. We were lucky the weather stayed fairly warm, and there was no rain at all during the harvest. We used an old 1949 Ford to haul grain to our hideout right under the eyes of the spies. We placed the grain in bags and stuffed them in the trunk and backseat, and then Paul would take Callie out in the woods for some privacy. They would drop the grain off at the hideout and head back home.

  ***

  Callie asked Paul to pull over beside the road a few miles from the farm so she could relieve herself.

  “Sorry, I can’t make it back to the farm. It’ll be just a minute.”

  Paul sat patiently in the car when Callie returned, got in the car and moved over and pulled herself onto Paul’s lap.

  “Paul, slide the seat back. The steering wheel is killing my butt.”

  He adjusted the seat and Callie began kissing him. They held each other trading kisses and telling each other how much they were in love for about fifteen minutes when she saw someone walking towards the car. Callie slid off Paul’s lap and saw Frank and another man walking towards them laughing. She quickly unfastened Paul’s belt, unbuttoned his jeans and pulled his zipper down as she whispered in his ear.

  The man in black spoke, “Get out of the car on this side and keep your hands where I can see them. Paul opened the door and stepped out while attempting to keep his pants from falling down. Callie got out behind Paul as he zipped his pants and buttoned them. His face was red as a fire truck and looked like he’d been caught red handed.

  Frank said, “Boy, get your clothes on. Well, I guess this is one thing that hasn’t changed since the lights went out. Young lovers still sneak away in daddy’s car to make out.”

  The deputy in the black uniform asked, “What do we do with them. Should we run them in or let them get back to what they were doing?”

  Frank looked Callie in the eye and said, “Let them enjoy themselves. Carrie, I have to tell Mary about this so you might want to tell her before I do. I’ll wait until tomorrow morning. Now go on home.”

  Paul fired up the Ford and headed on to the farm.

  “Frank knows both of us. Why did he mistake you for Carrie?”

  “He didn’t. He was protecting us from the other man. My gut says that he would have kidnapped us if he knew who we really are. Frank may have saved our lives.”

  “You could have warned me before you unzipped my pants. I didn’t hear them walking up, and my mind was racing.”

  “Stop the car.”

  Paul pulled to the side of the road and looked over to Callie.

  “I whispered in your ear that men were behind you and to play along with me.”

  "Ca
llie, I just felt your lips on my ear and felt you unzipping my pants. What did you think I was thinking?”

  “Oh darn Paul; you never make the first move. I guess you thought I was attacking you. Half the time you act as if you are afraid of me. I have to kiss you first before you even kiss me back. Don’t you love me?”

  “I do love you, and I want to make out with you, but I like you too much to hurt you and besides your dad said that he and your mom would kill me if I hurt you.”

  “Dad is a big teddy bear, and I can handle mom. You need to start acting like my boyfriend.”

  Paul pulled her to him, kissed her and said, “How old do you have to be to get married in post-apocalyptic America?”

  “I don’t know, but you can kiss me again. Don’t get too greedy. I was just kidding about being able to handle mom.”

  Paul didn’t ask for permission for what happened next.

  ***

  “Ally, can we talk for a few minutes while dad and Uncle Mike are out in the barn with Paul?”

  “Yes, darling, what’s on your mind?”

  Callie began telling her the whole story about the deputies, the unzipped pants and Frank mistaking her for Carrie.

  “Well first, I guess Paul about killed himself getting out of the car.”

  “Yes, his pants fell down, but he recovered.”

  “Callie that was quick thinking. You kept them from wondering what y’all be doing out in the car and possibly finding the hideout.”

  “How old were you when you got married?”

  “I got pregnant, quit school and was married before I turned sixteen. Life was hard, but we made it okay. What’s on your mind? You’re not pregnant are you?”

  “No, I mean I don’t think so. We love each other, and I want to be his forever and have his children one of these days.”

  “Well, I’m glad that you don’t think you are pregnant. Are you asking me if you are too young to get married? That’s something you need to ask your mom and dad. I will say that you and Paul are much more mature than I was when I had Paul. I’ll support you two getting married.”

  “Thanks, but what I’m trying to get to is that I know dad, and you love each other and will get married. I just want to be married to Paul before you two get married.”

  “Why rush just to beat us getting married?”

  “Ally, if you marry Dad, Paul will be my stepbrother and marrying your stepbrother sounds like a creepy country song. I can’t make love to my stepbrother.”

  Ally stifled her laugh and replied, “I understand and will have to think about this. Can I get back to you tomorrow? Tell your dad about Frank mistaking you for Carrie.”

  “Yes, that’s okay. Ally, I wanted dad to get back with mom until I got to know you. Dad loves you, and you two are good for each other. If you have children, I want a baby sister.”

  Ally kissed her on the forehead, and they talked until supper.

  “Hon, Frank was sending a signal to your daughter while protecting her from one of Prescott’s men.”

  “I agree and thank God that was the last trip that they have to make to the hideout. Did she tell you anything else?”

  “We talked a lot, but I gave her my word that I would keep it in confidence. On another different topic, Paul and Callie are madly in love, and it’s just a matter of time before things begin moving very fast. What do you think about them getting married? I think the sooner, the better.”

  “Damn, I thought we’d be married for years before that came up. My little girl is a woman and oh crap, is this you asking or did Callie bring it up?”

  “You know I can’t answer that. Wait a darn minute. You never asked me to marry you. We just moved in together a few weeks ago, and I don’t know you that well.”

  “Well, I’ll tell you all about myself in bed tonight.”

  “Whoa. Let’s just say that if we get married tomorrow. What does that make our kids?”

  “Stepchildren? Oh, crap, stepbrother, and stepsister. Damn, that’s creepy.”

  “Just like a creepy country song.”

  I laughed, and she punched me in the belly.

  “Give me a day or two to figure out how high Joan will jump when I tell her that our kids are getting married. They do want to get married, don’t they? Isn’t this what you and Callie have been talking around? Is she pregnant?”

  “I can’t say what Callie told me, but boy do I have a funny story to tell you after they’re married. Oh, and I don’t think she is pregnant.”

  “Think?”

  ***

  “What do you mean you think you almost had the Johnson girl? She is the number one target along with her mother. Did you see her or not?”

  “Boss, Frank and I were patrolling southeast of the Johnson place when we saw an old Ford car parked on the road with two teenagers in it. They were making out, so it was easy to sneak up on them. Frank said that he recognized one of them to be Carrie Linton. He didn’t say who the boy was.”

  “What makes you think that the girl was Callie Johnson?”

  Later in the day, I saw Bart coming back from surveilling the Johnson place, and he mentioned seeing this Cherry Red 1949 Ford pull into their barn. He said that he had seen the Johnson girl and a boy leave in it and return a couple hours later. I’m putting two and two together, and I’m wondering why Frank lied about the girl.”

  “So it was the Johnson girl.”

  “The timing fits perfectly.”

  “Bring Frank in to see me now. Tell Bart to come in first and to be prepared to arrest Frank.”

  Frank was standing by his patrol car and saw the guy he’d been on patrol with go up to another of the black uniformed men and point in his direction. The guy called Bart went into the office, and the other came towards him checking his pistol as he walked. Frank knew he was in trouble and had to get the hell out of Dodge. He beat the other man to the draw, shot him twice to knock him down and once in the head to keep him down. Frank jumped into his car, started the motor and quickly sped away from the Sheriff's station when the bullets began to pepper the back of his car. He felt intense pain of the slug as it passed through his lung and out the front of his chest. Blood was spurting out of his chest as he tried to plug the hole with his finger. He was dying and knew he couldn’t warn the others. He turned the car around and drove it straight back to the station gaining speed until he was going over 90 miles per hours. Bullets began spraying the car again, but they were too late. The car hit the corner of the pole barn with the office and tore through the wall killing four men outside and the three inside when the gas tank erupted into flames and exploded. He died with a smile on his face.

  “Why the hell would Frank Carpenter make a suicide attack on the Sheriff’s station? We knew he was not totally on our side, but he appeared to be doing a good job.”

  “Alan, he is close to Chuck and may be closer to Joan Norman that we thought, but I never figured him for something like that.”

  “Bert, if you ever want to see your daughter again, you’d better flush out any deputies that are not loyal to me. Do you hear me? I’ll give your daughter to Todd if this happens again and then kill the rest of your family. That bastard killed five of my best men and two of yours.”

  “I’ll take care of it right now.”

  “You’d better.”

  “Alan, Alan, your army is shrinking by the minute. I thought your guys were Special Forces hot shit. How did they let a hick town deputy kill five of them without firing a shot?”

  “Okay Todd, you’ve had your laugh, now let’s get down to business. We are taking the two women and their Humvee tonight, and when they’re licking their wounds, we’ll hit them with our full force and kill every one of those bastards. After that, we will go farm to farm and let them know who’s boss. I’ll keep them alive and able to work, but after this visit, they will tow the mark and crap their pants when my men appear at their doors.”

  “Don’t hurt my women. Kill the rest for all I care.”
<
br />   ***

  All the crops were harvested and the only thing left was to thresh the wheat, barley, and oats. The wheat was almost threshed and stored away, and we estimated it would take two more days to finish the remaining grain. The entire community was worn out, but ready to throw a Harvest Dance two days after the last of the grain was stored. We went through the motions of planning and prepping for the dance just to keep the bastards from knowing our real intentions.

  I prepared my team to bug out tomorrow night, which was the last day of the harvest, before Prescott’s men could attack. Mike and I would sneak out and shoot the men surveilling the house and then we would all get in our vehicles and bug out to the hideout. We were loading up the cars and trucks today in the barn and workshop and could hit the road with five minute’s notice.

  “Dad, we have to remember to set the horses free before we leave. I don’t want cooked horses.”

  “Don’t worry; Sally is moving them to the back pasture after lunch. You can help her. How many dogs are you bringing? That’s a lot of dog food stacked in the bed of that old Ford truck. You know we stored a ton of the stuff from the warehouse at the hideout don’t you?”

  “Yes, but I don’t want my pups starving.”

  “I guess Paul hated to leave the ’49 Ford behind. Where is it?”

  “We gave it to Carrie, so she and her mom would have transportation.”

  “Good thinking.”

  “Paul is very kind.”

  “Remember to bring all of your winter clothes. It’s shorts weather now, but icy weather is just a month or two away. Hey, tell Ally that I’m driving over to Sam’s, so I can draw my escorts away from the farm so you can change vehicles to be loaded. Don’t move any until Uncle Mike says the coast is clear.”