Take Gramps Word For It

[sarawolf]

Take Gramps Word For It

Prologue

Reese looked around, “lets get on with this while we have the surprise on our side and before they can do something to your people David.”

They split up almost immediately and headed their different directions. They all knew they really didn’t have much time. As they were all headed into the trees a scream came from where the wagons were further in the forest. David knew it was Olive, but he knew if he rushed in there he may get someone killed, so he held onto William who was about to run that way.

“We can’t run in there, son that would spoil getting them all loose from those dirt bags. I know it’s hard but we have to have patience in this. Now let’s get to where they can’t see us and wait for that birdcall.”

David had a hard time keeping a steady pace especially when another scream sounded through the forest.

Chapter 1
Gramps Word


Reno Nevada:

Olive looked out of her car window, as she sat at the school waiting for the boys to come out. It had been a very long day, she had more meals to cater today then she had expected, and still had an 8 PM delivery to make tonight.

At least she had time to pick up their twin boys, make them and her husband David a good meal, before she had to leave again. He would see to it that any homework was finished and that they went to bed when they should. With her sister Kate here now it helped, she was good at helping the boys with any homework David couldn’t. She could see the boys now running down the steps of the school, towards the car. Olive popped the locks on the doors as they neared. They opened the doors yelling, “hi mom” in unison.

She said hello to the boys and asked if they had a good day, it was their first year at the Junior High.

“Yeah sure, great mom.”

Kate was already home from work when Olive pulled in, good that helped a bit.

She could help the boys get started on their homework then, while she got dinner going.

David wasn’t due home till around 5:30, then at about 7 PM she would run out to the shop to pick up the already prepared meal to take to the Henry’s home, they would heat it at their home themselves.

“Hi Kate, we're home, Olive yelled out to her sister.

“I’m back here Olive, throwing in a few clothes to wash.”

Time went by quickly, and before she knew it David was walking in the door, she looked at the clock he was a whole hour and a half early tonight no wonder the time seemed to have flown past, it hadn’t. She went over to give him a hug and a kiss, and to see what was up to get him home so early.

When she looked up at him the look on his face was one of shock, “David what’s wrong,” she said.

“The news, they just said were about to be nuked, I was listening to the car radio on the way home and they said we have incoming missiles.”

Olive said, “You sure it wasn’t a joke of some kind David?

“No, no way it was, people were beginning to panic at the store, oh I quickly stopped at Wal-Mart and bought all the freeze dried foods I could get my hands on, a Coleman stove and several cans of fuel, sleeping bags, matches and other camping gear, water cans and gas cans. The gas cans I stopped and filled and toped off the tank on the van, then I stopped at Safeway and loaded up on canned meats, vegetables and canned fruits”

He seemed to come out of it then, and started to pull her outside, “wait, he said and turned and yelled at the boys and Kate to come help get things out of the van.”

He had them all outside starting to unload and yelled, “Stop.”

“What,” they were all saying since the boys and Kate didn’t know what was going on in the first place.

“Back in the house everyone, start packing winter clothes, shoes, gloves, anything you think you will need for a couple months. Olive pack kitchen stuff also, pots and pans things like that and stuff to eat off of that won’t break easily.”

Olive yelled, “Wait, what do you mean, pack, I have clients to take care of yet tonight.”

David told her, “Not tonight you don’t, this country is about to be nuked and were in a bad place, being in the city, we need to get out of here, and were going to gramps house up in the hills.”

The twin boys Tyler and William along with Kate just stood there and repeated “nuked, were being nuked?”

David yelled, “Get in the house and start packing now, go and hurry, I want us out of here in less then 30 minutes.

Everyone started to move then including Olive, she really hadn’t believed him until now. David wasn’t one to yell at anyone. About 35 minutes later he had them in the van, he wondered how long they had left as he pulled out of the driveway. David had the petal to the metal as he took the back roads to the highway; he was headed west as fast as he could go.

Olive looked over at him and said, “David what in the world are you doing, you never drive this fast, were going to end up with a speeding ticket.”

“No way am I slowing down, I don’t know how much time we have left before something hits, and we need to get as close to gramps place as we possibly can, David said to her.” By the end of that conversation they were pulling onto the freeway, she could see the knuckles on his hands were deathly white on the steering wheel, so she decided she best tell him to slow down and relax a bit, they would be there anyway in 30 minutes at normal speed, so she did.

He glanced over at her, “You don’t understand do you,” as he continued to speed down the highway, looking for the cut off to the first back road to grandpa’s ranch.

Olive looked over at him cringing at the speed he took the corner, “what don’t I understand?”

David told her, “As soon as a nuke hits anywhere near us, we will get an EMP, it stands for electro magnetic pulse, then everything electric will cease to work, unless it’s in a faraday cage or other wise protected.”

“But why should that bother us were in our van.”

David was patient and said, “Honey all vehicles run on electrical systems, the EMP will fry all of them and not one will be running afterward.”

She got a shocked look on her face turned to him, “Step on it Dave.”

He swerved in and out of traffic, and was soon to the cut off, he felt like he took the corner on two wheels.

Meanwhile the boys and Kate in the back of the van had heard the exchange of words and just sat quieter then they have for years in a car. Kate was in a state of shock of all her own, her parents had told her for years that this kind of thing could happen at a moments notice, or a natural disaster, and to always be prepared both physically and spiritually. She just had never believed them; she had thought her parents were a bit kooky. That kind of thing just didn’t happen these days, this was the twenty first century after all, yeah sure there were the hurricanes and earthquakes, but the government was taking care of those people, so why won’t they take care of everyone for this.

But then she did remember something her dad told her, the words came back to haunt her, he said, if there was a real big disaster there would just be to many people for the government to help, most people would be on their own for some time. Now she wished she was back home in Washington at the new home after all, back in the boonies as she told her parents, she had told them she did not like living in the boonies, her social life was the pits there. Now it meant safety.

They were five minutes from gramps ranch in the Sierra’s when they saw a bright flash coming from behind them just beyond the mountain range and one ahead of them just barely lighting the sky, the van just quit. The one thing that David was worried about was which way the wind was blowing, would it blow fallout this way? They continued to coast down the hill and came to a stop part way up the next hill. David put on the brakes and set the emergency brake.

“Well that’s it, he said, looks like we walk from here.

“He turned to look at his wife and her face was white, “It’s ok Olive were only about three miles from the ranch, a couple of the hired hands will come back with me and help push the van to the ranch.”

He turned to the kids in the back, “Ok Kate, boys, grab your backpacks and or whatever else you what for right now that you can easily carry for a couple of miles.”

They all filed out of the van, everyone looked around first when they got out, and they had never seen the world so dark. Then they realized after a few minutes that it wasn’t so dark after all, the moon made shadows in the night, they hadn’t realized that it could. David thought they would need flash lights to see their way down the road, but now he knew they wouldn’t.

They started their walk and 20 minutes later they were walking up the ranch driveway and across the cattle guard, finally they all felt safer. As they neared the house they all heard a click, some one came out from behind the porch post and then a gruff voice said, “All right far enough, what’s your business here at this time of night?”

“Juan you ol codger, it’s me David and the family,” David returned.

“David that’s you, guess my eyes aren’t so good anymore, your grand dad will be glad you got here, go on in son, and sorry about that.”

The family all climbed up on the porch one by one David taking up the rear; Olive gave two knocks on the door, opened it and entered the living room.
Theodore O’Dell came up out of his chair, Olive saw he was sitting and reading by an oil lamp. Theo was 68 years old, half Irish and half Spanish, 6 feet tall, brown eyes, and had a dark complexion, he had been born on this ranch, and lived on the ranch all his life, except for the short tour of duty at the end of the Korean War, when he was in the army, he had never been much of any where else.

Theo turned to look at the door that had just been opened “I thought I heard voices outside, I knew ol Juan would take care of it, I am sure glad to see you, I was hoping David would haul you all up here.”

He was headed to give the family members a hug and greet them right.

“I didn’t hear your van, well that’s stupid, he said to no one in particular, “ the EMP would have taken care of that.”

You must have gotten out of Reno in good time, how far did you have to walk?”

David went over to his gramps and said, “gramps we got out about 40 minutes before the crap hit the fan, I’m afraid I broke a lot of speed laws along the way, then about 20 minutes ago the EMP hit and the van stopped, so we didn’t have a real long walk.”

“Gramps,” David said as he gave his grand father a hug, “I need a couple of the ranch hands to help me push the van here.”

Theo looked at Dave, “Heck boy we can do better then that, I’ll have Duke get 2 of the horses, Kicker and Black Boy and they can pull that van of yours back to the ranch, and one of you can ride one back while the other steers the van.”

“I’ll be back in two shakes,” said gramps, “Make yourselves at home.”

Out the door he went and half way to the bunkhouse they could hear him yelling for Duke and Red, and a far away door slamming and some one yelling back at gramps.

He was right a few minutes later gramps was coming back into the house.

“Ok that’s done they should have those horses saddled and the harness’s on them in a few minutes David, and you will be ready to go. Dukes bringing some good heavy rope, those two big Clydesdales should have no trouble at all pulling the van back.”

Gramps then turned to Olive and the kids, “Lets get you all settled into your rooms, we have more then enough room in this old house for everyone.”

Up the stairs he headed, then turned around and said when no one had moved to join him, “Well come on what’s holding you back, you glued to the floor?”

The boys both grinned and said, “Were coming gramps,” and started to run up the staircase.

Olive and Kate then headed up behind gramps and the boys, after Olive gave Dave a quick kiss, and he went out the door.

Dave could see the silhouettes of the 2 horses and Duke as he led them over to the ranch house.

“How you doing Duke, some times isn’t it,” said Dave.

Duke’s deep voice came out of the dark beside one of the horses, “It sure is at that Dave, I guess were in deep crap for awhile, glad you got here safe.”

“I concur with that one Duke, I found out what gramps and my in laws have been saying the past few years were right on the head after all.”

Duke and Dave talked about the turn of world events as they rode to the van, and were there in no time. Duke and Dave made quick work of tying the front fender to the harnesses, then Dave got in the van as Duke leaped to the back of Kicker, and had a hold of Black Boys rein. The trip back to the ranch was uneventful, which Dave was very glad of he had enough excitement for one day. They pulled the van over to the garage and left it there and then Duke and Dave untied the horses and Duke took the horses off to the corral.

Dave made his way back to the house; he remembered to grab his other backpack and Olive’s suitcase. After he got to house he went on in, the family was back in the living room and was telling gramps about the flashes of light they had seen in both sides of the sky.

Gramps started to talk, “I was watching the news today, I like to watch Fox and when the alert and news of the impending nukes hitting, I wouldn’t let the ranch hands go on into town like they like to on Friday nights. They were a bit ticked at me until I told them about the nukes. We’re pretty well set here with animals and stored hay and also grains for them and us. I have had an ideal we were on a short string as far as world politics for some time now and have been storing things away a bit at a time.”

Dave just stared at his grandfather with awe, “You knew something like this was going to happen?”

“Son with the things that I have seen happening the last few years you would have to be blind not to have seen the signs.”

Dave got kind of red in the face then, “Gramps, I guess I was just plain not paying attention, or didn’t want to see. I won’t do that anymore, cause I think we are in for a world of hurt when people start to get hungry.

“We, and that includes me and my family, are spoiled.”

Dave hung his head and then continued, “ If it hadn’t been for knowing we could come here, we would be some of those people, in a few days we would have been getting hungry and desperate, and I have to apologize to you and my family for now having to come here and live off of you, I do promise gramps, I will work hard to make this up to you and pull my own weight, and I promise my family will pull their own weight too, gramps.”

Olive, Tyler, William, and Kate looked at Dave then, they now knew their world had really changed.

He looked at his family and said, “The world is a different place now, you will not and I repeat will not go anywhere except right here by the ranch house and buildings by yourselves. You will listen to whatever gramps has for you to do; we will be working hard now to keep body and soul together. Plus, we will most likely have to protect this place against invaders and poachers. Anything else gramps that you have to add?”

“Yes,” gramps said, “Tomorrow you will all start shooting practice no exceptions, no if ands or buts about it, you will learn on both pistol and rifle. You also will be called on to help protect this ranch and each other.”

Olive butted in, “But gramps the boys are to young to do that kind of thing.”

Gramps said, “BULL HOCKY, I was shooting deer for the family at their age, they will learn.”

Olive didn’t say another word about it after that.

“Well,” said gramps, ”Tomorrow is going to come early. I think we all best hit the sack, night to you all.”

Off he went around the stairs to his bedroom and Dave said, “I guess he is right we all best get to bed, lets go, boys go on.”

Everyone got up and made their way up the stairs, Olive and Dave in the first room, Kate in the next, and the boys at the end of the hallway.

Their first of many long days had ended.

End chapter 1

[sarawolf]

I wish someone would say something; like the story, don't like it; something.

Chapter 2
New Blood



In the Sierra’s:
The morning had dawned cooler then normal for this time of year, two weeks had now passed since their world had changed. Each new day seemed to get harder, doing all the washing, dishes, cleaning, repair of clothes, and leather work by hand and then learning to work on the ranch. David didn’t know when things would get easier he hoped it wouldn’t take too long for him to get the hang of things. What was funny was as much as Olive hated doing things the old way; she sure seemed to do ok. Must have been the way she was raised after all, even Kate knew how to do things he didn’t. They even knew how to handle the guns and rifles better then he did. He guessed he should have spent more time out here with gramps growing up then he did. Everything in town seemed to be more interesting especially as a teenager. He sure didn’t remember much of his time out here as a child. Now he regretted that immensely.

The twins Tyler and William seemed to be taking to the gun practice with a vengeance, they loved it, and old Juan had brought his bow out to have the boys give that a try. He really seemed to take a shine to the boys, Juan said they reminded him of his boys, when they were alive. David hadn’t known that old Juan had even been married, let alone had a family and lost them to a car accident back in 1970. He explained he had just stayed a bachelor after that, he never could find another good woman that could stand him.

Gramps thought it wouldn’t take too much longer for them to start seeing a few drags of society coming their way. Sooner or later they always showed up he said, even way out here.

The ranch hands Duke and Red were showing him just what to do and how to handle the horses, how to repair the straps, rigging, saddles and so on. Then in the spring he would have to learn how to handle them for plowing. Today as every other day he did target practice. He got three shots with the pistol and then the 30.06; they didn’t want to waste too much ammunition. He was getting much better and could almost hit the bull’s eye now. They also had him easing into working with the cattle.

Tyler and William had gone out into the hills with Gramps this morning to learn stealth in hunting and how to track game, which would work for the two legged kind too if it came down to it. David was coming back from the shooting range they had set up not far from the ranch, when he saw his wife out back of the house hanging a basket of clothes. Talk about a different way of life from one week to the next, who would have even imagined it. He just stood there for awhile watching her, he enjoyed seeing her move.

She looked around a shirt she was hanging and saw him standing off to the left of the house.

“I see that smile on your face David, what are you thinking.”

His smile got even deeper, “I was watching my beautiful wife hang clothes.”

He walked over to her and gave her a big hug and just held her.

At that time Olive’s sister Kate walked out of the back door with another basket of clothes, “All right you two get a room for that kind of stuff.”

David and Olive broke apart laughing and Olive went back to hanging clothes and David went inside to clean the rifle. These days everyone wore a pistol when they were awake and at night it stayed beside their beds. No one was exempt from this, gramps insisted on this fact.

David went on to his next chore which was muck out duty down at the stable, this was not what he had envisioned for himself for the future. Their one hope though was that the fallout had missed them. This was a very big worry of Olive’s because of their boys. Everyone seems to be fine; none of the animals were sick or showed any signs of illness of any kind. The winds had been blowing northeast since the bombs went off and they were behind a mountain that split the winds, so gramps thought they were most likely okay. If they were David thought, it was shear dumb luck. He noticed gramps had more stuff around then one family and a few ranch hands could use in several years, in the basement and the sheds. But he hadn’t asked yet what that was all about. All he wanted to do is get through each day right now. By the end of the day he just fell into bed dead tired.

He didn’t have to ask gramps the whys for all the different supplies after all; at dinner gramps laid out just why he had the things he did on the ranch, besides what he had told them the first night.

After gramps said the dinner prayer, and prayed for the family, and those that still were in harms way he started to explain.

“Like I told you the other night, I have been planning for quite some time on having you here with me if possible when this finally came down, and a blind man could have seen the writing on the wall. Sorry no condemnations on you son, but you were worse then that. But at least you remembered where to come when the going got tough. I have also planned for gardens and crops we need to plant to get through a few years or maybe indefinitely if we have too.”

That brought a shocked look to the family, they had hoped after a few months things would get back to normal and they could go home and go back to their life, and told gramps so. David, Olive, and Kate were all trying to talk at once. Juan, Duke, and Red already knew all of this and so they just waited for gramps to go on.

“I hear you, but I don’t think it’s going to go back to normal, not for a long time if it ever does. So you can stop thinking it will, right here and now. Now where was I, oh yeah, we will be planting a large garden and wheat this spring, but I got off my train of thought. The extra things are also for others that may join us and I hope more do. There is no way if we were hit even by 20 men we could defend ourselves for a great length of time if they were well armed. I do have more guns and ammunition but we can shoot only so many at a time. We have to have more people. What I am going to do is have two of you go out and in a ten mile or so radius, see if any other ranch or other people would like to move here and join up with us. I know there are some cabins higher in the mountains that people live in and commuted to the city. That’s where I think I will send you first, starting tomorrow. David and Duke will be the first to go out, you will take a rifle each besides the pistols you already wear and food for three days, just in case you can’t get back right away for some reason.”

Olive had stopped eating; she had lost her appetite with the thought of David going out into an unsafe world.

David noticed, “Look honey I have to take my turn too, if I am one of the first so be it. I need to hold up my end and learn to do what needs to be done, that’s just the way it has to be.”

“I know David but I didn’t think it would start this soon, I thought we would just hold out here and wait for things to get better, it’s very disappointing.”

They finished the meal and Olive and Kate did the dishes both in somber moods. Then Kate went out to the cool room in the ground that gramps and his men had dug some time ago and got the eggs out for breakfast in the morning. The cool room was like other peoples root cellars as far as Kate was concerned; looks like gramps always did things in a big way. She also helped with the chickens, De Ja Vue she thought, she had done this most of her life back home in Washington. She was somber because one of her thoughts was, was there going to be someone for her, she didn’t want to end up an old maid out here in the sticks. So she sure hoped that some of the other families that joined them had young men.

The boys Tyler and William went out and helped bed the horses down for the night and do a walk around the buildings, to make sure all was ok for the night, while Juan and Red got ready for guard duty, they would do 7 to 11 pm. Gramps and Olive would do a four-hour shift from 11 to 3 am. Then Kate and Duke would do three to daylight then when everyone was up, they would head to bed again for a bit more sleep. This was a revolving duty, and tonight was different because of the two going out at daybreak, looking for others to join them and see what was up around them.

David shivered in the cool dawn air as they rode, winter was in the air and he knew it would be cooler the higher they climbed into the mountains. He could see snow at the tops of the mountains and that made him colder just looking at it. It was now two hours after dawn and they should be coming upon the first cabin gramps talked about soon. Duke was in the lead, they had both looked at the map gramps had marked the cabins, homesteads, and ranches on and Duke had just put it back in his saddlebag.

“It should be around this next bend David,” Duke said.

He was right, as they rounded the bend they could see smoke coming though the trees in the distance. The cabin was back up off the road in the trees. The two of them rode up the driveway. Duke didn’t know how smart that really was, he would rather have scouted the place out first to make sure everything was in order here, then just ride up in full sight. He would let David have his way this time, but that was it, safety first from now on, this gave him the willies.
A shot went over both their heads but Duke didn’t know by how much.

“Stop right where you are,” a man’s voice came from behind a tree off on the right of the cabin.

“Not another step if you both want to keep your heads and don’t make a move for your guns either.”

A man with a couple of week’s old growth of salt and pepper beard stepped out from around the tree. He was dressed in a thick flannel red and black checked shirt, jeans, boots, and a Seahawks cap. David estimated him to be about 55 and he was holding a wicked looking 12 gauge shot gun on them. No wonder the boom had been so loud.

“Toby, Ruth get out here,” he bellowed.

A middle-aged women and a young man came out onto the porch of the cabin, both armed with rifles.

“Keep your guns on them, both of you,” he said to them.

The man looked at David and Duke and said, “Now what are you two doing here and what do you want?”

David cleared his throat.

“Ah sir, well I’m David O’Dell and this is Duke Ledbetter, were from the Double O ranch down the mountain. My grandfather Theodore O’Dell sent us up here to contact folks, and see if they would like to join us at the ranch to live for the time being and help each other. At least have a place to go if things get bad or you see yourself about to get over run. That’s if you can get to us in a time that is.”

The man lowered the barrel of his rifle halfway, and just stood there for a few moments thinking.

“O’Dell you say, I have met your grandfather a time or two, seemed a decent sort, friendly. By the way I’m Greg North, this is my wife Ruth and son Toby.”

Then everyone’s attention was drawn to Ruth standing on the porch.

“Well why don’t you all come in for something hot to drink, you men would stand here talking all day, as for me I am getting out of the cold.”

With that Ruth turned and went into the cabin.

“Might as well come ahead and come in,” Greg said, “the missus is right.”

Dave and Duke got down from their horses and led them to the right side of the cabin and tied them to a pine tree, there was some grass for the horses to nibble on so they should be happy for now. Greg stood on the porch and went into the cabin behind them. He stopped by Toby who stood inside beside the door.

“Toby I am putting you on Guard duty while we talk, go on get dressed and go on out.”

Toby didn’t look any too happy with having to go out and not be in on what the two men from down below had to say. The family had been up here for an extended weekend when things went to pot and he hadn’t seen another soul but his parents, that was a real bummer. He slipped on his warm coat, hat, and gloves and slipped out the door. He knew better then to sass his dad and make a fuss about being inside. He also knew things weren’t the same now and he was considered one of the protectors of the family. That did make him feel better about having to be outside with company in the cabin. Now he was one of the men of the family.

Ruth got them all a cup of tea; they were out of coffee and had been for two days now.

Greg sat down opposite Dave and Duke, “Ok gentlemen now what’s this about, this invitation to come down to a ranch?”

David looked up and into the Greg’s eyes.

“Like I said Mr. North, my grandfather wanted to invite good folk down to the double O ranch to live, work, and generally help each other out. No other strings attached just a mutual help each other out verbal contract. You are to bring whatever you can get to the ranch, so you can help take care of yourselves. To join in with the work and chores with the planting, and animals, or whatever there is to do. That’s right from my grandfather. Now I know your family needs to talk and think about this, so we’re willing to go do a little bit of guard duty for you while your family talks this over, or we can just be on our way and you can still think about it and come down when and if you want.”

Greg looked over at his wife, they had been talking about this very thing only this morning, and they were both worried about how much longer they were going to be able to hold out up here. They had always meant to bring more supplies up here, but some how never got that done. It was always we would do it next time, and the next time came and they were too tired to bring more but the normal supplies. Now they found themselves in a real pickle and thought they would have to go down to a town in another week. He had used the cabin for hunting so they had more then most people had on hand, but it just wasn’t going to be enough to get by for the winter, even with hunting.

Ruth nodded her head at him with the go ahead.

“Well gentlemen believe it or not we already talked about this not but a couple hours ago. We had already come to the conclusion we wouldn’t be able to stay here much longer; we don’t have to think about it. We will take you up on it. Our only problem is getting our things down to the ranch. We don’t have any horses, so I don’t know what were going to do.”

David sat there and thought for a moment.

“All I can think of is you all start packing, we will go ahead with our rounds and see if there is anyone else that would like to join us and when we get back to the ranch we will come back up with help and a wagon and get you and your things, how’s that? Oh before I forget I will draw a map of where the ranch is, just in case you need it in case you don’t remember.”

Both Greg and Ruth smiled broadly. Greg shook both David’s and Dukes hands.

“You have a deal, my family will be ready when you get back.”

Greg felt a weight lift off his chest; he had been so worried about what they were going to do. He couldn’t believe things had turned out like this. It was just amazing.

Nobody brought up the idea that this could be a trap of some kind, and that Greg and his family had just been suckered, you have to think, that kind of thing could happen. It would be one way for the scum to get what other’s had. Greg was going on what he felt; these men seemed like good men, there weren’t any shady looks to them, sidelong glances at each other. They seemed very sincere with what they had told him and Ruth. He was betting his families lives on it.

Duke and Dave got up from the table, Duke hadn’t really said much up to this point and he wanted to now.

“Before we leave I wanted to make sure while your family is packing that you still keep watch. I don’t know anything about any of your neighbors, but I think some may be getting desperate about now and that’s not a good thing. Some of them may shoot first instead of just asking for a hand out and that will be too late for you folks.”

“Well thank you Duke, I wouldn’t have let our guard down but thank you anyway, yes it’s easy to get lax about this sort of thing when your not used to it and need a different frame of mind.”

Greg then walked over and opened the door for them and led them out and over to where the horses were tied.

“You men be careful now, we want you to be coming back, if you don’t make it back here in three to five days we will walk down to the ranch and tell them you were by and send out a rescue party, how’s that?”

Duke looked at Greg, “I sure hope that won’t be necessary Mr. North but thank you, we’ll see you soon.”

“You two call me Greg, all that formal stuff is for the birds when you’re gonna be living with someone, isn’t it?”

Both Dave and Duke nodded and grinned, said goodbye and headed off for the next place. From what Gramps had drawn on their map it was about one mile further north. How in the world gramps knew these places were up here David couldn’t figure out, gramps was one smart cookie, which is the opposite of what he thought as a teenager.

“Boy was I stupid, or rather naïve,” he mumbled to himself.

Duke turned in his saddle, “what was that David, I didn’t hear what you said?”

“Oh nothing Duke just grousing at myself.”

“I do that all the time these days myself, don’t worry about it.”

In about 15 minutes they were nearing the next place, all was quiet, this time they did it Duke’s way. They got down from their horses and took different paths to the house. Duke had David go to the left and go behind the place and Duke was going to go straight and come into the side. David was trying to be as quiet as he could and it seemed like almost every time he stepped, he crunched. He wondered how loud his walking really was, it sure seemed loud to him. It took him around eight minutes to go around and head into the back of the house. He still felt like he was telegraphing every move he made and someone had to know he was coming.

Soon he spied the back of the small home, it was a one story wood frame house, painted white. He looked off to the right to see if he could see Duke anywhere and await some kind of signal to go closer to the house. Finally he saw Duke peek out from behind a tree and look his way. Then Duke waved his hand forward and David began to make his way closer to the house. By the time he got to the back of the house Duke was already there and looking through a side window. Greg looked into one of the back windows a bedroom; no one was inside that he could see. Duke was walking around the house towards him.

“Nobody home that I can see, how about you?”

“I haven’t seen a soul Duke, looks like no one was home when things went to heck and gone, or this was just a weekend retreat and they didn’t have time to get here.”

They went back to their horses and decided to eat something, then saddled up again and went on their way to the next place. This one was closer just a half mile from this one. You had to swing around to the left and it was on the other side of the mountain. They had only gone a few yards when they heard the dull sound of gunfire. Duke and David exchanged looks at each other. They spurred their horses faster, they had to see what was going on and if they could be of any help. The horses weren’t even breathing hard by the time they got close enough to get off their horses and make there way closer to the gunfire. They both slid their rifles out of their scabbards on the saddles and dismounted.

This time they stayed closer to each other, just a few feet apart and made their way as not worrying too much about how quiet they were in the process. There was so much gunfire, no one could have heard them. They got lower as they could see the top of the house over the bushes. They found themselves across the road from the house, which was only about 60 feet off the road. There in front of both he and Duke were three men divided by about ten feet each, they were behind pine trees. Their backs were clear targets. Duke got a big smile on his face; he thought this would be like shooting ducks in a barrel. He took in the men’s clothes; long t-shirts, jeans, tennis shoes, and that they were filthy. Nope, no way these were the people that lived here and invaders had gotten in and things were reversed. Duke raised his rifle.

“David I’ll take the one in the middle, you shoot the one in front of you.”

“Wait Duke, how do we know these are the bad guys?”

David didn’t see Duke roll his eyes, and the longer they took to take these guys out the more likely someone in the house was gonna get killed. Duke lowered his rifle and whispered to David.

“Look how their dressed David, no way anyone with sense would be up here dressed like that and dirty to boot. No these guys have been on the road. They don’t belong here and they are trying to take what they want. Now lets take them out before they hurt anyone else.”

With that Duke raised his rifle and David did too, a second later and they both shot, then Duke turned and took out the guy on the left before he understood what was going on. David turned around and threw up in the grass, he also wondered if this would be the first time of many he would have to kill someone. All that target practice had paid off, he had gotten the guy right threw the heart. He stood up and wiped his mouth on his sleeve.

“I can’t believe I had to shoot someone in the back I always thought cowards did that, I guess I watched to much TV.”

“We have to do what we have to do sometimes David, and I think your granddad is right, we’re in for a world of hurt, if we can’t cope and get on with what we need to do.”

They both went around the bushes and went over to the bodies to inspect their work. They were careful to make sure the men were dead so they didn’t get shot by a wounded man.

Duke raised his hands and cupped them to his mouth.

“Hello in the house, it’s all right now, we’ve taken them out.”

From the house they heard a man’s voice.

“How do we know you’re good guys and you won’t shoot us and take what you want like those others tried to do?”

“We’re from the Double O ranch a few miles from here, I have Mr. O’Dell’s grandson with me, does that work for you?”

They didn’t hear another word, but then the door opened, and a man stepped out and stood half in and half out of the doorframe.

“Show yourselves and make sure you don’t have a gun pointed my way or I will take you out.”

Both David and Duke stepped out from behind trees and into the road, their rifles pointed at the sky lying on their shoulders. They then started to walk towards the house.

“All right you two lay down those rifles at the road edge, I am a bit nervous at the moment.”

Duke yelled back, “I would be to if someone had been shooting at me and mine.”

They laid down their rifles making sure it wasn’t in the dirt, and walked closer to the house. Some how David felt a bit naked without that rifle at this moment. He never in a hundred years thought he would feel that way about a gun. He had heard that saying in old movies but he thought it was just bull hockey. Well, live and learn.

When they were fifteen feet from the man at the door, he told them to stop. He stepped out and saw they both had holsters on. He was a large man six foot four if he was an inch and around 290 pounds, not flabby at all, it looked like all muscle, he had salt and pepper brown hair and laugh lines around the eyes and mouth. His rifle had been lowered but came back up.

“Ok boys I want you to lose those pistols and holsters too.”

Duke just stood there in front of him; David didn’t know what to do.

Then Duke spoke up.

“No sir, this holster stays right where it is, I will not be without protection of any kind. I laid my rifle down for you but I draw the line there. We are who we say we are, and you don’t seem very grateful for us taking out your problem across the road.”

The guy just stood there and to David it seemed like an eternity. But it was less then a minute.

“All right keep um on, I believe you somewhat, but we will keep a close eye on you, come on in the house.”

He lowered his rifle barrel again and turned and went inside. David let out his breath, man alive I bet I’m turning gray ahead of time he thought. Then he thought the guy said we, so then he knew they might still have guns on them.

Duke and David went the rest of the way and stepped into the house, Duke was first through the door. David stepped inside and out of habit closed the door behind him.

As he looked around for a few seconds, the family was gathering, he saw light coming through the bullet holes that had been put in the house. Windows had been smashed, and many things ruined. He then heard, “Bert and Tammy you scramble out there and collect any guns and ammo those scum had, then high tail it back here, you got that?”

David saw a boy of about 17 or 18 and a girl of around 14 to 15, paying close attention to their father. The Boy Bert was about six foot three and 180 pounds, brown hair and blue eyes with tanned skin. The girl was around five foot six, 135 pounds, no stick but not heavy either, shoulder length light brown hair and blue eyes and also a slight tan, like she had been working outside.

“Yes dad,” was said in unison and the two teenagers went out the door.

A woman was coming into the room who looked about 60 or so, white hair, no coloring to try to mask that she was growing older. She looked to be about five foot three inches, 150 pounds, dressed in jeans, t-shirt and a blue flannel shirt over that. She carried a 30.30 and it looked like she was a real hand with it. On her right hip she wore what looked like from where he was a 38 special, one deadly grandma.

“Reece can they be trusted,” she said this as she looked in Duke and David’s direction, her rifle in her right hand, barrel only slightly lowered. David just knew that if they made one wrong move she wouldn’t hesitate to take them out. Her family had been threatened; she was a real she bear.

Reece turned to Duke and David, “my name is Reece Porter this is my mother in law Carla Lang. Now, I will thank you gentlemen for taking out those no account bushwhackers. I didn’t mean to seem ungrateful, I just needed to make sure of a few things first. Which were mostly you two. Mom here had my back covered while we watched how you acted, no insult intended.”

Duke nodded at David, so David stepped ahead and reintroduced himself and Duke again to make sure there weren’t any mistakes as to whom they were.

“No insult taken Mr. Porter,” David noticed there was no Mrs. Porter but he figured that was Reece’s private business. So he went into why they were there. My grandfather is extending an invitation to all those we talk too, to come down and join us on the ranch for mutual safety. Make no mistake, it won’t be to just take care of you but for you and everyone else that’s there and comes there to help work to take care of and protect each other.”

Reece looked over at his mother in law, “well Carla they have given us something to think about, we just sort of saw what could happen and imagine if it had been more then three scum ball’s, we wouldn’t have lasted long I am afraid.”

One of the teenagers gave a hoot right then, Reece went over to the window and gave a hoot back, a minute later the teens came back in with rifles and pistols stuck in holsters in their arms.

They brought them over to their dad who was still standing by Duke and David in the middle of the small living room. Carla was still off to the side near the kitchen door.

David was curious about something, “excuse me Mr. Porter I have noticed there aren’t any vehicles in your driveway or anywhere by the house, did you all walk up here?”

“Oh that yeah, we were headed up here in one big hurry in my pickup and trailer, we got a mile away and it stopped running, we had it packed to the gills, it took us days to go back and forth bringing our things here. Made me wish I had given into Tammy here and gotten a horse.”

Tammy was smiling, “told you so dad.”

“Don’t be a smart aleck girl,” Reece told his daughter with a grin.

She stuck her tongue out at him and then said, “Oh wait, this was hanging out of one of the dead guy’s pockets.”

She pulled a gold locket on a chain out of her jacket pocket and on the chain was attached five rings, four women’s and one mans diamond ring.
Reece’s face was drawn, “I wonder who they stole these from, sad state of affairs people’s belongings ending up on some thief, and I just hope the folks weren’t home when they took these. Kids these men have asked us to join them and their family over at the Double O ranch, he looked over at Carla, do you have your two cents to put in Carla?”

Carla needed to know a few things first.

“First off, I want to know if there are any women folk at this ranch of your grandfathers or is it all men? Then what kind of housing would we expect to have? Then how do we get our things down to your ranch if we decide to come?”

She stared at David with her arms folded, but at least her rifle was now leaning against the wall next to her.

David at first had a hard time answering her as he looked into those cold eyes, “ah yes, to the first question, there are women, my wife and her little sister Kate. For the second question I will turn that one over to Duke here, my family and I are also new comers to the ranch and he knows more about that then I do. But the third is we come up here with horse drawn wagons and get you, we will be coming up to get the North family as it is. They live about a mile and a half from here around the mountain and they have decided to come down to the ranch.”

David then looked to Duke and Duke took over.

“We have small cabins built for just this, Mr. O’Dell was very forward thinking, they look like sheds so no one will get curious, nothing fancy but are built strong and insulated well.”

David could hardly believe what he was hearing but now that he thought about it, he began to look at the ranch in a different way and did remember some old large sheds here and there around the place. Who would have known, he certainly hadn’t, he just thought they were for supplies and such and the odd things a ranch needs.

Reece then looked to his son and daughter, “well you two can have your say also, you’re going to be adults now and will be treated as such.”

Bert was trying to think of something to say that sounded adult and he just couldn’t come up with something.

“If my dad and grandmother agree to go then I think that’s fine, I think we will need more people to really protect ourselves, today was a real eye opener for me. I thought we wouldn’t have a problem taking care of ourselves up here but now I know that’s not true. So whatever dad and grandma say it’s fine with me to go down. Oh yeah, how old is your wife’s little sister?”

Bert was thinking if this man is say in his 30’s then the wife must be too and the little sister can’t be too old, or can she?

David smiled and said, “Kate is her name and she’s 19, the baby of the family.”

Now that brought a grin to Bert’s face, until he thought, oh no what does she look like. But David was way ahead of him and had brought out his wallet to show them a picture of his family.

“Here take a look at this, he was passing the picture around, that’s my wife Olive, our twins Tyler and William, and Kate there on the right.”

Bert just so happened got the picture last and was trying not to show how much he wanted to see it. But everyone could tell anyway and his sister held onto the picture as long as she could, and then finally handed it over to Bert with a smirk.

He was glaring at her, “what’s that smirk about Tammy.”

“Oh nothing, just nothing.”

She then turned to David, you have a nice family, Carla and Reece concurred with that. Bert who was still holding and looking at the picture thought I’m not being picky with what girls are around, honestly I am not, he was telling himself, he hadn’t realized how much it had mattered to him.

Kate was a nice looking girl, but! “Ah David does she really have purple hair with white streaks?”

David had a good chuckle over that one, “no she doesn’t anymore, she’s a dark blond in real life and she had her sister put it back to it’s natural color so it would be easier to get a job.”

David was taking the picture back and slipping it back into his wallet.

Tammy was sitting there thinking too.

“Well dad, I see I won’t be the only girl, that’s nice, but are there any older boys?”

She said this as she turned to David and Duke.

Her dad slapped his right hand to his forehead, “is that all you kids worry about, if there are other people your age of the opposite sex?”

David decided to answer, “there will be, the North’s have a son around your age Tammy.”

“Far out, sure it’s ok with me if we go to the ranch too dad.”

She was going up and down on the balls of her feet by now.

David looked back at Carla and saw how warm her eyes were when she looked at her granddaughter. There was no steel cold woman here now.
Reece sat down on the sofa behind him, everyone just stood there waiting for him to talk. After about three minutes Reece looked up.

“All right boys, I have made up my mind, were coming and if we can, it will be lock stock and barrel. Carla what do you say now?”

“I say fine, I think it’s a smart thing for us to do. We were just showed we won’t be able to go it alone, even up here where we thought we would be away from all the trouble.”

A soft moo was heard from out back, “Oh man,” Reece said, “I forgot all about poor Annabelle.”

Tammy was already high tailing it out the kitchen door and headed for the back yard. David and Duke could hardly believe the family had a cow. They all went out the back kitchen door and there standing by a shed in a small corral 50 feet from the house was a miniature Jersey cow and a calf. Tammy was already getting the cow and calf some fodder and water. The water running a few feet from the corral where there was no animal manure run off. The spring had been dug out on higher ground further away so there wouldn’t be a problem with that.

Reece was talking, “we were so lucky when we found this place and that it had a natural spring on it. We dug it deeper so we could bucket water out for any animals we might get. We brought Annabelle and Turk up with us in the pickup, everyone needs an experience like that I tell you.”

The whole family was smiling when he mentioned their trip up here with the cow and calf.

David saw the calf was a bull.

“How do you plan to breed her, this is her calf isn’t it?”

Reece answered that question.

“No, it’s not her calf, we thought of that, we just bought Turk two weeks ago. We have a five-acre place on the outskirts of town and thought these were just the right size for us. That’s also why we we’re so packed with feed; we threw on a lot of 50-pound bags of grain for winter and a few bales of hay. We had just bought a bunch of feed for these two. That’s about all that was in the trailer. We had planned on getting an animal trailer in the spring, guess I should have just gone ahead and bit the bullet and bought one. Hind sight I guess is always 20-20 they say.”

Reece then turned to Duke and David, “you boys going to stay the night?”

David looked around and couldn’t believe it was almost dusk, man, talk about time flying.

“What do you think Duke, it’s better then sleeping outside tonight?”

“Fine with me David, but right now I am so hungry I could eat one of these mini cows. Lets go get our horses and packs”

Tammy was busy milking Annabelle, who just stood and ate as she was being milked.

Carla turned toward the house, “the least we can do for you is feed you a decent meal, that all right with you Reece?”

“Yes fine with me, these boys deserve it.”

David was shaking his head, it had been a long time since he had been called a boy, then it had started with his grandfather a few weeks ago and now again. He felt younger and younger.

After a great meal of camp stove beans and Spam, Duke and David were given the living room to spread out their sleeping bags. The horses were outback in a separate corral, beside Annabelle and Turk, saddles off and had been fed and watered. They had decided who would take guard shift with whom and sacked out for the night except for Reece and Duke. David felt like he had just lain down and closed his eyes when he was being shaken awake.

“Mr. O’Dell it’s me Bert, you’re suppose to take this shift with me.”

“Right, right Bert be right with you, give me a second to unkink.”

Bert was thinking, old men, gee hope I’m not that bad when I get that old.

David was up about two minutes later; Duke was already in his sleeping bag and beginning to snore. David was thinking, somehow I don’t even think that would have bothered me one bit. He was sitting on the sofa and groaned as he slipped his boots on and tied them. He felt like he had worn them without a break for weeks, not two days. He looked up to see Bert going out the front door and Reece coming in as David slipped on his coat and hat and followed the young man out the door. Good thing he had to move from time to time, it was getting darn right cold here in the mountains. He tried not to do or be in the same place more then twice, he and Bert tipped hats and the next time they would get close and say ok, and make their rounds again.

Time was up and Bert slipped in to make sure his grandmother and sister Tammy were awake to relieve them. His grandmother was getting Tammy up and was ready to go out, so she walked out and relieved David. It would only be for two hours, then they would all be up, but David thought that was better then nothing.

David woke up later and turned to see Duke sitting on the sofa putting on his well wore dark brown cowboy boots. He smelled food cooking and sat up.

Duke looked at him, “how did your guard shift go last night?”

“No problems it was nice and quiet.”

He moaned some as he rolled up his sleeping bag, he wasn’t used to all this ground and floor sleeping.

Duke grinned, “I like the hard floor, my bunks real nice and hard too.”

From the kitchen, “Ok you two, stop your gabbing and come and eat.”

It was Carla, and Tammy was helping get the plates and silverware out.

Carla was taking scrambled eggs and ham TVP (textured vegetable protein) off the Coleman stove. David felt a cool breeze and saw the kitchen window was open a bit, funny he had been so hungry last night he hadn’t even noticed that.

“How did you keep these eggs for so long, he had noticed they didn’t have chickens. Did you keep them in the spring?”

Carla answered, “no but I sure wish we could have done that, but these happen to be powdered eggs.”

Reece decided about five years ago he didn’t like the way things were going in the world, so after he bought this place he bought grains, beans, rice, and dried foods, we kept some at home and some up here. So we can feed ourselves and contribute to the ranch when we get there. I didn’t see his point of view at first but the more I saw happening in the world after he pointed things out to me, the more I thought he wasn’t nuts after all.”

Reece was walking into the kitchen at this point.

“You mean you finally approve Carla, I think I will faint.”

He put the back of his right hand to his head and staggered around a little.

Carla rolled her eyes; “you call your daughter a smart aleck, now I know where she gets it from.”

Reece was chuckling by now and so was Carla, the kids were walking into the kitchen and asking, “what’s so funny?”

“Oh your father is just trying not to faint,” and Carla laughed some more at the looks on their faces.

Tammy was heard saying out loud, “old people are weird.”

That brought even more laughing by the old folks.

“Time for us to say goodbye,” said David after breakfast; “we sure are thankful for the dinner and breakfast. We will be back in three or four days if not sooner. We have to be onto the next place, which I think is the last home to check.”

They all shook hands and wished each other good luck after the horses were all saddled, and then Duke and David got on their way.

After riding another forty minutes they did a repeat of getting off their horses and walking in and around the house. They found no one home but the place had been ransacked.

Duke who was standing beside David said, “this must be where those guys got the jewelry, at least I hope it is. We best be getting back to the ranch, we can take this road around and down it brings us right back near the ranch.”

It was just a dirt road, unimproved but it worked for the people up here.

Before three hours were up they were nearing the turn off for the ranch. David felt like he had been gone for more then two days, it didn’t really seem possible it really had been such a short time. Thirty minutes later they were stopped at a gate at the front of the ranch, that gate hadn’t been there when they left. A very heavy well made gate, to David it looked like it was made out of galvanized pipe.

“Is that what I think it is,” he said as he looked to Duke.

Yes David it sure is, that was one of our plans, your grandfather collected scrap pipe for this very thing, there will be one at the back of the farm also and as you notice the fencing may be painted brown but it isn’t wood.”

Duke leaned over and rang a bell that was hanging off to the right side on a post.

No, David hadn’t noticed that fact, he had just assumed it was wood; he hadn’t even really looked to see that it was round and had joints like pipe would have.

“We have been working on this for years, I know you noticed the ranch proper was all fenced in and then corrals, then additional fencing after that. We can’t do the whole ranch of course that’s 15,000 acres. I guess we should have talked more on this trip. Your grandfather has had us dig foxholes and a few bunkers here and there around the ranch also. There are maps at both the bunkhouse and the main house; you had to have seen it as you came in right by the front door. We won’t be using this bell long to announce someone is at the gate long either I don’t think any way, it’s way to loud, in fact I am surprised there isn’t a guard here.”

“Yes I did see a paper with x’s and squares, but I never bothered to ask what it was. I guess I will now.”

“That’s partly our fault too David, we were so busy trying to bring you and your family up to speed on things and teaching you to shoot, we just took some things for granted. I best talk to Theodore about this.”

They saw Juan headed down from the bunkhouse, rifle in hand and a set of binoculars hanging around his neck. He waved to them and both Duke and David waved back. Olive was stepping down off the porch; he could tell it was her even from here. She had on her favorite green flannel shirt of late, one of his. They went straight to the horse trough, which was close to the horse corral and started to take the saddles off the horses and let them drink. Olive came near and threw her arms around David.

“Oh David it felt like you had been gone forever. I was so worried.”

“Olive it’s not like I haven’t been gone from you before for a couple of days.”

She raised her head and looked up into his eyes, “David it’s different now, you never know what you will find out there or who, and they may ambush you to take what they want. Now it is so very hard to wait at home while you’re away. I could hardly believe how I felt myself, but the way things are really sank in while I was waiting for you to come home.”

The horse taken care of Duke said he would put them in the corral, and the saddles in the tack room. David took his saddlebag and Olive by the hand and headed up to the house. He did notice around the back of the house on the left side, a mound of logs had been built, like the kind you could hide behind; the mound was about four feet high, give or take a few inches. That also was new.

That afternoon they gathered together, that is whoever wasn’t keeping an eye on things outside, and they were filled in later, about what went on during Duke and David’s trip into the higher mountains above them.

Granddad O’Dell was happy to hear of the two families that would be joining them, but he had hoped more had been home to be able to do so. Maybe they would just have to go further a field. The whole family was shocked to hear of the Porter family being attacked and David and Duke taking out the bad guys. David didn’t mention the interest of Bert Porter either; he thought he would just let Bert be a surprise to Kate.

Duke also explained he thought they best tell the family what all was at the ranch and around it, where supplies were buried and the covered foxholes and bunkers were. Gramps thought that was a good thing to do and they would have a better tour of the ranch and what was in each building before the evening was out. Then they all broke for chores, dinner started, and to get things ready to head out in the morning with three wagons.

End chapter 2

[FrANkNstEin]

Great start! I´m looking forward to read MOAR!

Can´t shake the feeling that this story could be tied to your last one, just set many many years prior.....

[teachermom44]

Great so far! I too am waiting for more! I've been reading your story instead of making lesson plans. Lesson plans aren't so interesting compared to your story.

[sarawolf]

Thank you for your comments, here is your reward.
Chapter 3
Capture


Gramps was having David go back up so the folks up there would have a familiar face. Juan would drive a wagon and so would Tyler and William, they would be trading off and on driving the wagon and riding a spare horse. Juan had them practicing while their dad was away. David was the green horn at it and it showed. Olive was sitting beside David on the buckboard; gramps hadn’t assigned her to go, when he said who was going she chimed in.

“I’m going too, no way I am staying behind this time, not with my husband and boys going along, no way.”

Gramps tried to talk her out of it and she wouldn’t have anything to do with it. Gramps gave up and remembered to tell David and Olive that the folks might not need to bring beds, there were three in each cabin but if they had more to bed down bring an extra bed, and that they already had sofa’s, chairs, and tables in the cabins.

The wagons pulled out at 6 am the next morning, gramps thought the sooner they got those folks down to the ranch the better, especially if the attacks had already begun.

That left very few at the ranch and they wouldn’t get as much done, those at home could continue reinforcing the fence line with heavier pipe and painting it, and making sure those bunkers and foxholes had the supplies that was needed in them.

The bunkers were 8 by 10 feet and the height in the center was 6 feet, they were rounded and sloped down so they looked like small hills that blended in with the other real hills in the landscape. They had been lined with boards that had been water proofed and there was camouflage netting over the gun and look out slots. Rifles, ammunition, water, food, a couple blankets, and small propane stoves with camping cookware were the name of the day in them, and don’t forget the corner five gallon bucket with a lug-a-b-loo toilet seat snapped onto it. The foxholes weren’t quiet as nice but better then just an open hole. Gramps had the holes partly covered on two ends with camouflage netting and the middle with plywood and rebar, with a layer of concrete over it all, then some dirt, and planted on top with plants and grass on them like the bunkers. They were slightly raised and you could see out and put a gun out at a place on the sides also they were 8 by 8 and had been dug five feet down, so they weren’t real tiny and could hold some supplies also, including a toilet bucket.

Riding on the buckboard Kate was thinking about what she had to do for the day. Besides her normal chores now and a few more with Olive being gone, but at least there were fewer to cook for and gramps helped out with that. It wouldn’t be for very long the others would be back before much time passed. Duke and Kate were riding on a small horse drawn wagon with supplies and they were going from foxhole to foxhole and the bunkers making sure the supplies in them were still ok.

The day wasn’t bad in the 50’s and partly cloudy with a slight wind, a nice semi warm day. They weren’t finding many things that had to be replaced in the bunkers and foxholes thank goodness. An animal had managed to get in one and had made a mess, it had some how gotten a plastic bin open and eaten some of the less well wrapped foods and a couple MRE’s. It took about 45 minutes to clean it up and get things replaced and then on to the next one.

Gramps and Red were building more log barriers at places around the main house and the ranch yard at different places like the bunkhouse and the cabins that looked like old sheds. They didn’t want the buildings to stand out so they also built a few barriers by the barn and corrals. All together there were fourteen log barriers, each barrier was 10 foot long by 4 to 5 feet high depending on how thick the logs were. They had 2x4 supports holding them up. They had driven for each barrier 4-6 foot 2x4’s into the ground 12 inches apart at two ends and had slipped the logs into them so they wouldn’t have to worry about holding them there with long nails and making it more complicated. Duke and Kate had headed to the bunkers after the others had left for the mountains and loading the wagon, and now it was almost noon.

Gramps thought the two should be back shortly. They showed up around 1 pm and told him all the foxholes and bunkers had been fine but one, and that an animal had gotten into it. Gramps had already stopped and made lunch and he and Red were eating when Duke and Kate got back. So gramps held off getting back to work while Red went out and did a look see making sure there was no one around that shouldn’t be, Red would hear later what had happened. They had kind of done away with a constant guard while they were so short of people.

That’s how the day went on the ranch plus taking care of the animals and seeing to them.

Mean while on the road.

The wagons seemed slower then his horse thought David and they couldn’t take short cuts with them. It took over four hours to get to the North’s cabin. They did stop one-quarter mile back and David went by foot to the North cabin to make sure all was as they left them. When he got to hollering distance and watched for a few minutes both the front and back door all seemed to be ok. They were hauling some things outside to be stacked and ready for putting in a wagon.

“Hello at the house, it’s me David O’Dell.”

Things were dropped and pistols came out of holsters.

“Man alive David you about scared the pants right off me, that was Greg. Come on in.”

David stepped off from behind the Ponderosa pine he was behind and walked over to Greg.

“Greg we have wagons and people to help get you to the ranch but I have to tell you we have another family were getting too, and they have more things, so I hope you won’t have to leave to much behind. But if you do we can come back up and get it maybe in a few days. Oh, granddad said there is some furniture in the cabins and three beds in each. So you won’t have that to worry about.”

“Well David since we really got caught with our pants down so to speak, we don’t have all that much to bring anyway. But I am glad we can leave the furniture. I wonder if the other family can use another bed?”

“Yes they might there’s four in there family, two kids one boy and one girl, the dad and the mother in law. I best get back and tell the others to bring the wagons on in, see you in a few minutes.”

With that David went back off through the trees to the waiting wagons. He stepped through the trees where he had gone in. He saw everyone on the wagons had been looking for him the way he had gone and they had their guns in their hands just in case.

They all looked relieved when he stepped through the trees, they holstered their rifles and he saw a smile on Olive’s face as he walked up to the wagon.
One of the boys (William on the spare horse) called, “hey dad everything ok over there?”

“Yes son everything is fine, they’re waiting for us, let’s go.”

A few minutes later they were pulling into the driveway, all three wagons could fit with the horses even though they all weren’t needed. Juan had the boys see to the horses before they met the family, water and then feed bags put on the horses. When the boys went up to the house they were the only ones not introduced. The boys looked to their dad who was doing the talking.

“Greg, Toby and Ruth North these are our sons Tyler and William. Tyler and William, this is Greg and Ruth North and their son Toby.”

Tyler and William shook hands all around and both boys thought it was nice that Toby wasn’t too much older then they were. They would be thirteen next week; Toby looked about fifteen years old. They just hoped he wasn’t the bossy type because he was older.

They all pitched in getting the North’s suit cases, kitchenware like dishes, pots and pans, sheets, towels, bathroom supplies and so forth on the wagon, most were in boxes that had been stored broken down then retaped and plastic tubs full of things. Greg had two - 12 gauge shot guns, 30.30, 30.06, 3-Glock 17’s and extra ammo for them, besides what they wore on their hips. Ruth wore a 22 pistol but Greg and Toby both wore 45’s. It ended up all they needed was one wagon and there was still some room left in it, two hours later they were on their way to the Porters.

Ruth was looking back at the cabin with tears in her eyes; she sat behind the buckboard next to her husband on Olive and David’s wagon. Greg noticed the tears and put his arm around her and let her have a cry. He knew they would most likely not see their home in town again and now this place. Maybe a few years from now it would be safe enough again to live up here by themselves, but then she thought by then we would be too old to live like this, roughing it. Toby was sitting beside Tyler who was having his turn driving the wagon.

It took better then an hour to get to the Porter home, they repeated David going to warn the folks they were coming so no one would accidentally get shot.
But now they also had more people to stay at the wagons to protect them.

David stood behind a tree again, he was just playing it safe, he didn’t want to get shot because he showed himself and someone got excited and shot before asking.

“Hello at the house, it’s me David O’Dell.”

“Yo David come on in,” Bert was standing guard and stepped out from behind a tree himself, close to the house.

David made his way to the house he had been about 125 feet away.

“Hey Bert how are things coming, and did you have any more trouble after we left?”

“Everything is humming along, we’re almost ready for you, and no we haven’t had any more trouble since you left. Just a second,” he then gave the all-clear whistle and told David to go on in.

David stepped into the house to be met by Reese.

“Good to see ya boy, where’s your people?”

“I just wanted to let you know we were here, I’ll go tell them now they can come on in, be right back.”
* * *
Wilbert and Rod were out doing some hunting, their friend Stick had a cabin way back here in the woods, they had come up here to party with Stick and a few other friends where the law wouldn’t pop by. It had been a great weekend of drugs booze and five girls when someone had caught the radio message of the country being bombed, and not long after that the lights went out. It had been by accident, Rufus had gone out to his car to get some more weed and decided to listen to music while he tried to find where he stashed it. That was when the song was interrupted with the warning. He had been a bit fussy about it but had managed after he woke up the next day to tell them what he had heard and why the lights and nothing else worked. No shower, no running water, nothing, at least the stove was propane and they found matches in a drawer to light it with.

The cabin belonged to Sticks older brother Sam, it was his hunting cabin, they found canned goods, and a few other things including some guns and ammo. One was a shotgun with a few cartridges, one 30.30 and two 30.06’s. Now they were almost out of food and they were going to try to hunt. One thing they weren’t out of were drugs, Stick had a big stash up here. So Wilbert and Rod were still on the high side when they went out to hunt. Rod thought, if Sam could do it, why can’t we, bet it’s easy. They had been looking for several hours just making bigger circles around the cabin so they wouldn’t get lost. They were both getting very thirsty and hungry when Rod spotted the wagons and horses just sitting there in the road, they had forgotten to bring even water with them. As they stood behind some bushes their drug stupor having pretty well worn off walking around in the woods, Rod started talking to Wilbert.

“You know Wilbert, I just had an idea, remember that old movie Mad Max, well I think now we’re in that or something like it. We can rule this area and get more people to join us and then go take over a town. There won’t be any pigs to stop us; if there are we’ll get rid of um, we will be kings. How about that?”

“Oh wow Rod far out, I hadn’t thought of that, but your right, we can take what we want with no one to stop us. But right now I’m very thirsty and I bet they have water and food.”

Their plan worked, Rod came in from the front and Wilbert from the back and caught the group on the wagons chatting away about something. They had them all throw down their weapons and get off the wagons and lay on the ground. Rod went over and saw a canteen lying on a seat and grabbed it and took a long drink before handing it over to Wilbert who kept an eye on the prisoners. But he was thinking, that scum is going to drink it all, why does he think he’s first.
* * *
David went on out and headed back through the woods and saw the wagons through the trees, but he saw no one on the seats, he stopped dead in his tracks. Something was wrong big time. No way they would all be off the wagons when they knew he would be right back to get them. He slowly backed up trying to be as quiet as he could and slipped behind a tree. He looked around the tree first on the left and then on the right and didn’t see a soul. He slipped up to the next tree heading to see behind the wagons. He still couldn’t see anything, so he went to another tree that was closer and further behind the wagons.

There on the ground laid Olive, Tyler, the North’s and Juan; he didn’t see William his other boy anywhere. Standing off to the right and beside his people were two men, both had rifles of some sort. David couldn’t tell what kind, he wasn’t the best at telling things like that yet. How in the world had they gotten the drop on us, I guess we’re just too sloppy and still think it can’t happen. Boy do we have a lot to learn, either that or we’re dead. He started to head back out of sight and turned to go back to the Porters house to get help. Just as he turned he ran smack into William who had been trying to go to the Porters when he spied his dad slipping through the trees. They both gasped and David held onto William for a few seconds for support and for his heart to go back where it belonged. He then whispered into Williams’s ear.

“How in the world did they not get you son?”

“Well dad,” William whispered back, “I was out taking a leak when I heard the commotion at the wagons.”

“Ok William, we will talk more but we have to get to the Porters before these guys find out their there and spoil our surprise.”

They went as quickly and as quietly as they could. David stepped out to see Bert standing by some things that had been piled by the driveway and watching his Dad haul another box out of the house. Reese looked up as he set the box down and saw William and David coming through the woods and he knew something was wrong. They should have been coming with the wagons.

“Bert looked at his dad, David and one of his boys are coming, there must be trouble.”

Bert turned and saw David and the boy and as David got closer knew for sure there was trouble by the look on David’s face. The boy looked like he was scared out of his wits.

David was out of breath by the time he made it to Bert and Reese.

“There’s trouble, my wife and other son along with the rest have been taken by two men that I could see. He turned to William, is that all there were William?”

“Yes dad, that was all, just two.”

Reese turned back to his son after listening to David and his boy.

“Bert go get Tammy and your grandmother, quick, the sooner we get over there the better. We don’t want to give them time to find us here and have hostages to threaten to shoot if we don’t give up.”

Reese could see both David and his son had 45’s on their hips, good he thought I’m glad they at least have that much sense.

It didn’t take but a few minutes for Bert to gather up Tammy and Carla, they had worried looks on both their faces as they came to meet up with Reese and David. To David those few minutes seemed very long. Reese filled them in on what was going on.

“Tammy I want you to stay here and guard the place just in case there are more men around. We don’t want to be taken by surprise too. Carla we need you, you’re the next best shot in the family next to me.”

All Carla did is nod her head at him. No need for talking now, she knew she was a good shot, no need to go on about it.

“David do you mind if I take this little party over,” Reese asked, he didn’t want to step on David’s toes as this was his family.

“No Reese that’s fine you go ahead, you have more experience then I do, I’m still new to all this.”

David didn’t know yet that Reese was a Veteran and a crack shot. Reese had led many a patrols and had saved many of his men; they weren’t just cannon fodder to him.

“Ok here’s how it will go down, we will split and do what they most likely did, but I bet they don’t think there is anyone around to do the same thing to them. Plus we’re going to come on them three ways. Reese knew how the road was and David showed him by drawing on the ground just where the wagons were. Bert and Carla will come from the South, David and William from the East and me, I will come in from the West. That leaves them with only the north to run to if they get away somehow. When I am ready I will give a call like this, he gave a birdcall, it of all things was a whip-o-will call. Which they didn’t have out here, but he didn’t think the scum would stop to think about it. I will wait about one minute then start on in on my side. Wait a minute.”

He ran back to the house and came out a minute later carrying two rifles, David’s jaw dropped, those rifles he did know, and both of them were M16’s.

“Here ya go, you two,” and he threw David and William both a rifle. William could hardly believe he was holding a M16 and his Dad David felt the same way.

Reese saw the look on David’s face; he had expected that on Williams. But David’s look delighted to no end. (And in all this William had noticed Tammy and how cute she was, but was desperately trying not to show it.)

“I don’t know how to operate one of these and neither does William.”

Reese took David’s rifle from him and went through the basics and handed it back to him.

“You both have that now?”

Both said Yes, and David said, “wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be; good thing gramps had me practicing with different kinds of rifles.”

William thought the world going to pot was different and sometimes hard but some of it was great.

Reese looked around, “let’s get on with this while we have the surprise on our side and before they can do something to your people David.”

They split up almost immediately and headed their different directions. They all knew they really didn’t have much time. As they were all headed into the trees a scream came from where the wagons were further in the forest. David knew it was Olive, but he knew if he rushed in there he may get someone killed so he held onto William who was about to run that way.

“We can’t run in there son, that would spoil getting them all lose from those dirt bags. I know it’s hard but we have to have patience’s in this. Now lets get to where they can’t see us and wait for that birdcall.”

David had a hard time keeping a steady pace especially when another scream sounded through the forest.
* * *
Olive was on the ground now and she had given Rod some nice long scratches down his right cheek and he had slapped her in turn, her shirt was torn and her jacket half off. He was trying to control her and unbuckle her leather belt at the same time. It wasn’t working very well and he was getting tired. They had just had a few bites of the food these people had with them and then Rod wanted to claim this woman as his. He thought it would be a good start to his harem. Wilbert was having a good laugh at Rods expense and wasn’t paying real good attention to his surroundings. Tyler had started to get up to help his mom and Wilbert shoved him back down with his booted foot and now had a boot on the boys back with his rifle pointed at the others as he glanced back and forth at the activity on the right and then back at the prisoners. Greg was red in the face with anger and was trying to calm himself down, how could he have been being so inattentive he thought. Ruth beside him was crying softly, this just seems to be going from bad to worse, were her thoughts.

“Hey Rod if you can’t handle her turn her over to me.”

A strange birdcall could be heard off in the woods, but Wilbert didn’t pay any attention to such a small thing, what was happening here in front of him was too entertaining.

Rod had both Olive’s hands in his left hand in front of her, she finally got her left hand lose and cuffed him on his right ear as hard as she could, he released her for a second to grab his ear and she rolled over and started to get up. He quickly grabbed her left ankle and she went back down to the ground and rolled onto her rear, but what he didn’t expect was the good swift kick to his head with the bottom of her right foot with that nice heavy hiking boot of hers. Rod let out a short loud scream, rolled back and was out cold. The scream was for the pain in his neck, it must have been turned just right because when Olive kicked him he heard a crunch, and he felt a sharp pain, then the lights went out. Wilbert was laughing hard when he felt the cold steel slide along his neck. The deep voice sounded like death had come for him.

“Drop the gun and stand back off that boy NOW.”

Reese moved with Wilbert as he backed up and dropped the rifle.

“Hands folded on top of your head boy and sit down slowly and no quick moves.”

As Wilbert sat down he saw he was surrounded. A older women, a man helping the woman up off the ground, a boy that looked like the one he had his foot on, and another older teenaged boy. Crap we really stepped in it this time he thought, I should have just stayed at the cabin with the others.

Wilbert looked over at Rod and finally noticed Rod hadn’t moved since the woman kicked him, he seemed to be turning a deathly shade of white too.

Bert was helping the others up off the ground and they were brushing themselves off. Tyler ran over to his mom Olive and was saying, I’m sorry mom, over and over again with her arms around him, and David’s arms around them both. William joined them and soon the whole family was in tears. Ruth came over to the group and joined in.

Greg just stood there not knowing what to do with all the emotions he was feeling with Toby at his side. Carla walked up near the family and checked the scum lying on the ground, dead as a doornail. Carla had seen the killing kick and thought good for her.

Carla then went over to Reese and motioned Bert to come over too.

“That scum ball she kicked is dead as they come and isn’t it about time we get this show on the road back to the house isn’t it? I don’t think we should leave Tammy alone any longer then necessary.”

Reese looked at his mother in law, he didn’t say a word about the tears in her eyes, and she wouldn’t like to be reminded on how softhearted she really was as she watched the reunited family.

“Yes your right, they have had a few minutes, now it’s time to get back home. David we need to get back to the house, he called. Then we can meet and greet and figure out what to do with this piece of crap we have on our hands.”

Olive turned to where the scum she had kicked still laid on the ground.

“How about that one, what are we going to do about him?”

Carla took a few steps over to Olive and David and told them quietly that the scum on the ground was dead. Olive looked shocked and then she straightened up and headed over to the wagons.

Olive stated as she walked, “If that’s how it had to be, that’s how it is, I am not going to cry over the likes of him.”

David followed her over and climbed into the back of the wagon beside her wrapping his left arm around her.

Reese pointed towards home and Bert took off for the house, he had young fast legs, and he would warn Tammy everyone was on their way back. Reese had the dirt bag get up and walk in front of him, “Follow that boy.”

Wilbert turned his head to look in Rods direction.

“How about my friend are you just gonna leave him laying there?”

Reese scowled and pushed the guy on towards the trees.

“That friend of yours won’t be going anywhere from now on.”

Wilbert kept his mouth shut after that, but his thoughts were going a mile a minute.

Carla also went back through the trees; they didn’t want to miss anything around the area in case there were more dirt bags lurking about. The others climbed into the wagons and William untied the horse from Tyler’s wagon and mounted. Greg North drove the wagon this time with his wife beside him and David with Olive in the back, Toby was back over with Tyler and Juan was again driving alone.

Juan hadn’t said a word in all this mess, he was so relived David had the brains to do what he had done instead of trying to come in guns blazing, and he would tell young William what a great job he had done for not panicking and finding his dad instead. Things could have turned out very different if anyone had panicked.

The walkers made it back through the woods before the wagons came around the corner and Tammy was waiting for them with Bert standing beside her. He was filling her in on how things had gone and that no one had been hurt, well none of them or the wagon party anyway.

End chapter 3

[Nancy1340]

Olive looked over at him and said, “David what in the world are you doing, you never drive this fast, were going to end up with a speeding ticket.”


Beulah looked over at him cringing at the speed he took the corner, “what don’t I understand?”

Olive or Beulah?

Thanks for another story.

[sarawolf]

Olive looked over at him and said, “David what in the world are you doing, you never drive this fast, were going to end up with a speeding ticket.”


Beulah looked over at him cringing at the speed he took the corner, “what don’t I understand?”

Olive or Beulah?

Thanks for another story.

Lol thanks, I reread it and missed it.

[teachermom44]

Glad I was rewarded for doing my lesson plans. Thanks a bunch!

[bad_karma00]

Excellent, just excellent. Looking forward to more when it's available.

[sarawolf]

Notice; I hurried and got this up today without rereading. Hubby is home ill today and I didn't know how much time I was going to have. So I hope it isn't to off lol.

Chapter 4

Murder By Daylight



Reese took his prisoner to the middle of the yard and had him sit down; Carla was beside them in case the scumbag tried anything. Wilbert looked up into the face of the old lady and saw the look of cold hate in her eyes and quickly looked back down, he was sure he was a goner. How in the world had he gotten into this, they had started out today just trying to find something to kill for food and he had been sure they could do that, he let Rod talk him into being kings in this new world, how stupid could I get.

Reese was mulling over what they were going to do with this creature, and they needed to know where these guys had come from, and if there were more of them.

The wagons pulled up and every one got down and went over into the yard by Reese, Carla, and scum boy.
Carla turned to David.

“David take your wife on into the house, there is water in the kitchen by the sink she can clean up with, I know she would feel better, then come on back out, don’t worry we won’t start without you two.”

David and Olive went on into the house and Olive took a few minutes to wash her face, neck and hands.

“She was right, I do feel better, let’s get back out there.”

They walked back outside hand in hand and over to the others. Olive looked at Carla and smiled.

“Thank you, I do feel better.”

“I knew you would,” and Carla smiled back at Olive and then turned her attention back to Reese and the prisoner.

Reese started in, “first lets all introduce ourselves to each other. I am Reese Porter and this is my mother in law Carla Lang, my son Bert next to her, and then my daughter Tammy.”

Next Greg North, Ruth, and Toby introduced themselves, then Juan; then David introduced himself and his family. Reese looked down at scum boy.

“We need to ask you a few questions, who are you and where did you and your friend come from?”

Wilbert looked up and around at all the faces staring down at him, he was getting more and more scared, he figured the best bet was to just tell them what they wanted to know and then just maybe they would let him go. Anyway he was too scared to try and make something up. His mind just didn’t work that fast under pressure.

“My names Wilbert Guess, me and some friends were up at Sticks older brother’s cabin when we found out bombs had been dropped and then all the electricity went out. We just kept partying and then Rod and I came to some, and noticed we was running out of food so we decided we would try and go hunting. Sticks brother kept hunting stuff there at the cabin and he had quite a bit of canned goods too, but they are about gone, we figured if he could hunt we could too. We were out hunting for hours and that’s when we came on the wagons and Rod got this big idea that we could just take what we wanted now cause there wasn’t any pigs to stop us anymore, like in that old movie, Mad Max. We got the drop on the wagon people pretty easy and after we had something to drink and eat Rod decided he wanted this woman here for his harem he was gonna start and she was pretty so he thought she would make a good start. That’s when you people came along and stopped it all”

Wilbert was hanging his head now and had run out of steam. After he talked about what he and Ron thought and did he felt pretty foolish. Plus the longer he was off the drugs the clearer his mind was becoming.

Reese looked down at the young man.

“Now son are there any more where you came from? We need to know if we’re going to have problems from anyone else of your party.”

Wilbert looked up at his captor, “well there are three more guys and five girls that came to the party. I don’t think the girls would be any trouble but Rufus, Stick and Larry might come looking for us if they ever come too enough to see we’re gone.”

Reese made a decision.

“All right were going to have to go see and take care of this trouble before it comes for us to. David and Bert will come with me and escort this young man to the cabin where his friends are. The rest of you can guard and pack, Carla and Tammy know what’s going and the how to’s of it all, if that’s all right with all of you?”

Everyone said that was fine, they would be glad to help out here while they went to the cabin with Wilbert.

“Ok up boy, lets get this over with, Tammy would you run in and get three canteens and some protein bars this may take awhile.”

“Sure dad no problem,” and she took off for the house, she knew right where things were because they had been getting things out to ready themselves for the trip to the ranch. Reese had Wilbert walk ahead of him and they headed back to the road after Tammy gave her dad a small pack and everyone a canteen to throw over a shoulder.

“I don’t know if I can find my way though the woods to the cabin but I can if we walk the road, I know I can get to it that way.”

It took them over one and half-hours to get to the cabin by walking the road; it wasn’t as far as Wilbert had thought after all. As they approached the cabin, Reese, Bart and David saw cars sitting in the driveway and a couple sitting in the front yard. Apparently they had been going to the bathroom outside of the cabin but had not been going very far from it to do so, it really smelled around the place. No one was outside at the moment and it seemed very quiet around the cabin.

Wilbert turned to his captors.

“They’re most likely high and sacked out in the cabin.”

The three men followed Wilbert across the yard and to the cabin, it smelled horrid and it didn’t look like things were any better in the cabin either. Wilbert opened the cabin door and an awful smell assailed their senses.

“Man I can’t believe I was in here this morning and didn’t notice the smell, I must have been high still when we left and didn’t even realize it.”

He stepped into the living room area and Reese, Bert and David walked in behind Wilbert. The place smelled to high heaven but also they saw the place had been stripped of anything useful and lying on the sofa was a body.

“Oh man that’s Stick and it looks like he’s been shot in the head.”

Reese went ahead of Wilbert now and looked down at the man on the sofa, he then looked up at Bert.”

“Bert you get on outside and keep guard this doesn’t bode well.”

Then he reached down and felt Stick, cold as stone.

“He has been dead awhile, David you go to that room over there to the left and Wilbert and me will go to the other door.”

Oh man, thought David I don’t want to do this, I hope I don’t find anything.

But fate wasn’t with him. He swung the door open and started to gag. Besides the smell, two people were laying on the bed, a young man and a girl, their blood had soaked into the bedding and then had run onto the floor, they like their friend in the living room had been shot in the head. He looked around and noticed the closet door was open and it was empty of all contents if there had been any. The dressers also had been pulled open and were empty. Then on the other side of the bed David could see a pair of legs on the floor, he went as far as he could to see if the person was a live. But he pretty well knew what he was going to find. It was the other young man, but this young mans throat had been cut.

David backed out of the room and stood shaking for a few seconds and then ran for the front door. He was wiping off his mouth with his sleeve when Reese and Wilbert came out the front door. Wilbert didn’t make it as far as David did before he bent over and lost the contents of his stomach. Reese was white but seemed to be able to control himself. It had been awhile since he has seen this kind of death, but he was no stranger to it.

“You watch Wilbert here David, I’m going back in.”

David nodded and Reese turned around and went back into the cabin. Cabin, Wilbert called it. To Reese it was a good-sized house. It had two bedrooms plenty of closet space a large kitchen and a large panty. Whoever had killed these kids did a good job of taking what was in the house, all the food, linens, pots, pans, utensils, dishes, clothes, and any of the guns and ammo that had been left by this Sticks brother Sam were all gone. Only the furniture and the bodies were left behind. Reese had seen enough they needed to get back home and as fast as they could.

Outside David was asking Wilbert what they had found in the other bedroom even though he pretty well knew what that answer was going to be.

“We found the other girls their throats had been cut it was an awful mess in there. They hadn’t even been fooled with if you know what I mean. Looks like they were just plain slaughtered, had to have happened while they were high. It didn’t look like there was any kind of fight. The dresser drawers were open and the closet and the clothes and other things were gone. Someone just killed them all and cleaned the place out.”

They heard a noise and both jumped, it was Bert coming around the cabin from the left.

“I found tracks, looks like they had horses and a couple of wagons. But I also found motorcycle tracks, they must have gotten one or more running.”
Reese walked out the front door about then.

“I found some tracks dad, horses, wagons and motorcycles, they were headed down to the road and turned away from our place.”

“That’s a relief, because there is no way we could make it home to our folks if we had just happened to miss them and they were headed our way. But we need to make double time back to the house and we can do that going through the woods this time. So lets book it and right now.”

As they headed towards the trees Bert asked his dad if everyone in there had been killed or if some had gotten away.

“Dead son all dead, no one got away, just stupid kids in the wrong place at the wrong time doing stupid things and they paid the price.”

This time Wilbert was between Reese and Bert with David taking up the rear. He wasn’t in as good a shape as the Porters but neither was the drug head and they did stop from time to time so Wilbert and David could take a couple minute breather. Their short cut through the forest took forty-five minutes off their trip back; they came into the back behind the coral. Reese and Bert stopped and Reese gave a birdcall this time a Bobwhite call.

“Come on in Dad alls clear.”

They went on into the back yard, with Wilbert staring at the mini cow and calf as they walked past the corral.

Tammy ran up to her dad and gave him a big hug.

“I’m sure glad you are back safe, she looked at her brother, you to brat boy.”

“Oh gee little sis I’m all choked up.”

“Ok that’s enough you two we have more important things to do right now then take snips at each other.”

By that time they were across the yard and Reese stepped into the back door to the kitchen and started on through the house, he was checking to see what had been done while they were off on a walk about to the drug heads friends. He noticed all the furniture was still in the house, well he hadn’t expected to take all of it but it was ALL still in the house. He walked out the front door and noticed both wagons were packed tight. He also noticed his bed was apart and on one wagon also his dresser, so he was wrong, not all the furniture had been left in the house. Reese turned around and went to his bedroom, he had wanted to take the gun cabinet, but he saw it was empty. Maybe sometime they could come back after it or even at some time move back up here. He was going to leave his buried cache where it was 100 feet behind the corral in the woods and another one 100 feet after that one. You never knew when that would come in handy and for now they didn’t need any of it.

By the time he got back outside Annabelle the cow and Turk the calf had been tired to the back of a wagon. He went around back and opened the storm cellar doors and went down in, nothing, it was empty, I guess they did a good job without me he thought, well good for them. He was smiling when he got back up out of the cellar.

Wilbert was sitting right behind a wagon seat on supplies and was being tied up hands behind his back, yelling, “why tie me up I have nowhere to go. All my friends are dead and the city is too far away for me to get to alone,” then he started to cry.

Greg was doing the tying and frowned.

“Look son what you did was wrong; you held us at gunpoint, stole from us when all you had to do is ask. Your friend attacked one of ours and you just told him if he couldn’t do it right you would take over. You are a criminal and will have to meet your punishment. There are consequences now for your actions. More so then before, you won’t be able to get off cause it’s your first offence or because of your upbringing or any such idiotic excuse. Being on drugs is no reason either; you pretty well knew what you were doing by the time you found us. No son you will not be treated like the victim. I don’t know what will be meted out and we can’t get you to any law enforcement so it will be up to our community.”

Greg then hopped off the wagon and left Wilbert to wallow in his grief and feeling sorry for himself.

Reese was very glad they had gotten on the ball and had them pretty well ready to go, but he should have known that would be the case with Carla in charge. He walked up to Carla who was just adding the last of her clothing to the wagon and helping to tie it all down on one of the wagons.

“Carla,” he said as he helped grab a robe end and tie it down.

“Yes,” was her reply as she worked?

“Can you tell me why so little furniture is being taken, I saw my bed and dresser are on but no one else’s, is it cause of so little room or what?”

“We’re not taking it Reese because we have been told the cabin we will get has some furniture, all we needed was one more bed and dresser. So we elected to take yours. The North’s offered us one of theirs but it may be needed in the future for someone else. You will be working hard and doing far more then Tammy and me I am sure because I know how you are. We need to make sure you get a good night’s sleep to keep you going. When it comes to Bert he’s young and can sleep about anywhere and get up feeling good.”

Reese was all choked up that Carla and Tammy thought about this and put him first over themselves, and he knew they were right about Bert, oh to be young again.

“Carla, thank you I don’t know what else to say.”

“Oh Reese don’t mention it, the rest of us will be just fine. This is one time we are putting you first.”

The last items were on the wagons and people were climbing aboard and sitting where they could. You could get three on a buckboard so that helped. They were off and should be to their new home this evening.

As Olive climbed onto the buckboard and sat next to David she thought of how she would sure welcome a bath, she had changed her shirt after washing up earlier but she still felt dirty. It would be good to be home and feel a bit safer to.

They all snacked as they rode along, no one wanted to stop so it would take more time to get to the ranch, as it was it would be getting on pretty good into the evening when they got there.
* * *
Red came running up to the house where Theodore was stitching a saddle while he sat in his favorite chair on the porch, Red hadn’t wanted to use the bell at the gate, “I hear motorcycles Theo,” Red huffed through trying to catch his breath.

“Rats in a hat,” Theo said as he put down his work and picked up his rifle.

“Run tell Buck and I’ll go get us some extra ammo just in case.”

They both left in different directions and were both hoping for the best, being down to just four of them they didn’t know how much of a chance they had against a group. Theo was hoping this wouldn’t happen until they had several more people on the ranch to protect it and them. But he guessed it had been enough time for people to start to over come some of the problems and go looking for good pickings elsewhere. He had shoved his money into fortifying the ranch, animals, feed, seeds, food, guns, ammo, a water-pumping windmill, hand pump, lamps, oil, treated kerosene, and extra places for people to live and all that went with it. He wished he had, had the money for things like 4-wheelers and motorcycles to get around quicker but all that money to store treated gas or diesel he just didn’t have it.

“Well can’t cry over spilt milk, there is just nothing I could do about it all, and here I go talking to myself again.”

He went down the cellar stairs and opened a cabinet door and started to pull out metal ammo containers, he lugged two up the stairs and then went back for the third and fourth. He had decided to do it right and just get them each a box of 500 rounds right off. He still hoped this wouldn’t be needed, but if hopes and wishes were dimes he would be rich.

By the time he came up with the third box he could hear the engines also. Buck and Red met him as he brought the third box of ammo. They each grabbed one and went to their pre-assigned log wall. Each wall had a cooler with water and snacks inside waiting for when needed. He went and told Kate who was working in the kitchen what was going on and to stay in the house and he would use her as backup as he handed her a ammo can.

Buck was at the closest one to the gate right beside an old shed looking building, the back of it to the road. It was also new even though it didn’t look it. It gave the appearance of a shed, but was really a dugout with a roof so whoever was at gate guard could be out of the sun or rain but had enough slots as to see the area well. The log wall was more bullet proof but you could throw yourself into the dug out part if need be and shoot from somewhere else to give any attacker a surprise. Buck sure wished the others had gotten back to the ranch, but he guessed they would have to do their best come what may.
* * *
Death By De-Fence

Stinger Lukas spotted the ranch awhile ago in his binocular, he hadn’t seen anyone around until they stopped the second time so he could have another look at it. Then he had seen a lone man running up to the ranch house. He turned to his partner Karen on her bike beside him. Luke was one mean looking bear of a man. Black hair ran over his shoulder blades and a black beard to match that grew to the middle of his chest. He wore all black leather and steel. He considered himself death walking.

“Looks like easy picken’s hon, this shouldn’t be any problem at all.”

“Don’t count on it before hand Luke, we never can tell now can we.”

That’s what he liked about her; she had a level head on her shoulders. He put his hand in the air and gave the hand signal for the rest of the Devils Hornets to ride and he and his women took off in the lead.

The Hornets had been holed up in a small town 50 miles from here; things had gotten worse and worse in the town after their big party and his crew had pretty well burned it to the ground. That’s after taking what they wanted too, which hadn’t helped matters on that front. They had burned themselves right out of a place to stay. The local shops all two of them had all they needed to get their bikes rolling again first off, and it had felt good to get back on the road. Most of the people in town had just run and hid and the few that stood up to the gang were no longing standing, not in this world anyway. He had lost five of his men in that town but then the town had lost a lot more people and their homes as well in payment. This was going to be some life, doing what they wanted, taking what they wanted and not being chased by any pigs. This was a dream come true that was for sure.

One half a mile from the ranch Stinger Lukas called a halt and decided which battle plan to use.

He was watching the place again and he didn’t see a soul moving around. He knew whoever was on the ranch had to have heard them coming he wasn’t stupid after all. He knew others could hear them coming from a long way off.

His second in command Buzz was standing beside him and with Buzz’s aid, Colt beside him. They thought they had come up with a good plan, they would ram through that old brown wooden fence, no way it would hold the likes of their Hogs. It would snap like twigs under their weight.

The rammers rode up until they were 100 feet from the gate and front fence and took up their area, ten bikers with huge Hogs staggered out every fifty to sixty feet, and making sure they were in between posts they roared off on the leads signal. The rammers were special built bikes with metal shields they could hook on the front that covered the front tire and bumper, but with a slot for them to see where they were going. They were sure of themselves they had rammed their way into buildings after Jake had come up with this idea. They were on their way and at full speed and hit the fence almost all at the same time.

Hit is right, the shielded Hogs hit the improved fencing and stopped dead smashed against the fence, but the riders didn’t. The fence was dented and a little bent, fence one bikers zero.
* * *
Buck was trying to contain himself, he wanted to give a loud rebel yell, but he did mange to hold it in. He didn’t want to give himself away at this point. He wished he could give them all points for who flew the furthest. The bikers crashed and burned onto the nice hard ground and no one got up for awhile. A few would never stir from this point on. Buck watched the fallen bikers and down the road with his binoculars to see what was next. He knew Theo and Red would be watching too so he didn’t have to keep a real keen eye on the men on the ground.

Buck heard a shot beside him to the left and a sitting biker went back down. Buck grinned, so much for their superior force. Another six shots were heard around him; no more bikers would be trying to get up. The three that didn’t stir after they flew must have been killed right off.
* * *
Luke and Buzz’s jaws dropped when the rammers hit the fence, along with the other bikers who were watching with rapt attention. The fence didn’t budge but the bikers on the Hogs did, they flew into the air over the fence and landed hard several feet later.

Now Luke was mad, no one did this to his men. They, no matter who they were would not live to see another dawn.

“THIS MEANS WAR,” he bellowed at the top of his lungs. The bikers gathered to have a council of war around Stinger Luke. The problem was they were now down to fifteen men and eight women, and they had to come up with something that wouldn’t get any more killed then necessary. They all turned when they started to hear the gunshots, Lukas got even madder when he saw his men on the ground on the ranch land picked off as they stirred.
* * *
The people on the wagons were getting a bit excited about reaching the ranch. They were only an hour from home and something to Juan just didn’t feel right. He hadn’t voiced this to anyone but he felt it in the air, it was wrongness, or a smell he just didn’t know how to describe it. A few more miles went by.

He couldn’t stand it any longer.

“David I need to talk to you can we stop for five minutes?”

David knew it had to be important for Juan to speak up, he hadn’t said much of anything on this whole trip, Juan just wasn’t a talker.

David turned to both Reese and Greg, “come on guys, you’re in on this too, this has to be really something for Juan to want to stop and talk about it.”
That was a surprise to both Reese and Greg as they climbed down from the wagons they were on; they had thought the older follow was just along to drive a wagon.

“Sorry David, and you are welcome to be here to Reese and Greg. I have to tell you I have put this off for a few miles now. I didn’t know how to tell you. I have had this awful feeling for a spell now, something’s wrong, it’s in the air. It’s not what you fella’s found back there either that’s giving me the heebby jeebby’s, it’s something else, something we’re riding into. I know it is but I didn’t want to sound like a fool.”

The funny thing was it was in the wind, the exhaust fumes from the big hogs were very low level by the time the wind wafted them to the wagons, but it was enough to trigger something in Juan’s brain and have him start thinking trouble.

David was shocked he hadn’t heard Juan speak this much ever and plus he didn’t know what to say to this. Reese looked over at Juan.

“As for me I always go with my feelings, I can’t tell you how many times it saved my rear in the war. Never put them away or second guess about how you’re feeling, especially not now, we all live in a life or death situation. Some of us saw that first hand today in more ways then one.”

Greg also spoke up, “I’m with Reese we best heed this, and to ignore it may be to ride right into a bad situation. I haven’t done this before, I rode a desk in the Vietnam War but I had the training, I say if Reese thinks this is important I do to.”

David thought for a moment.

“I have great respect for you Juan and I will go along with you and the others, I am a green horn and I know it. So I won’t go against what the rest of you think. But now what do we do?”

Everyone put their thinking caps on and Olive, Carla, Ruth and not to mention the younger set, wanted to know what was going on and why they had stopped. So they were quickly filled in.

Juan turned and looked down at Reese from his wagon seat.

“Reese since you have experience, and I do but don’t get around so good anymore, you decide what’s the best route to take with this.”

Reese never figured he would have to be an acting commander as a civilian. This was just one big nightmare he just couldn’t seem to wake up from. But if he was going to keep his family alive and his new extended family, he was going to have to shake it off and get his brain where it needed to be.

End chapter 4
And I know it's another bad biker gang, but honest I do have a story or 2 that have good bikers.

[engineer1371]

[sarawolf]

Hubby is feeling better so that gave me a bit more time today .

Chapter 5

Death Rides a Hog




Stinger Luke was incensed, no one does this to him and his crew and gets away with it, they were going to pay.

“Buzz you take eight of the crew and go around to the back left, Colt you take eight and go over to the right side, you’re gonna all have to go on foot we want to surprise them. That leaves seven for me to go over the gate. I will wait one and a half hours then I will send off one shot and that’s the signal to attack. No way they can take care of three sides at once. We will overwhelm them in no time.”

Both Canker and Whitey had a new woman, both taken from the town they had burned. The women weren’t willing to come along, but no longer fought and tried to run away. Someone was always around to keep an eye on them. But no way the two men wanted to just leave them because they knew the women would try to get to the ranch. You could see the minute look of hope in their eyes. Canker walked over to his hog and pulled a robe out of his saddlebags.

“Hey Whitey this will do it, I’ll cut this robe in half and we can hog tie them that way they can’t even hop off anywhere.”

“Far out Canker you sure have the brains, hurry up and give me half, we have to get going in a few minutes.”

They each helped the other tie up their new motorcycle mamas; the women didn’t hardly fight at all anymore, so it didn’t take long.
* * *
The three men on the ranch knew the motorcycle gang had to be up to something, and Theo had an idea what it was what he would do. He took a whistle out from under his shirt and blew three short blasts. For now he thought they had some time that was the signal for the boys to come to him. A few minutes later they had made it to his log wall.

“We need to make this fast boys, so we can get to our positions. I think they are trying to surround us and we don’t know how many there are, so they could be coming in on three or four sides at once. What we will do is a triangle formation. We have enough places to do it and while you’re at it send up your prayers boys were going to need um.”

Both Buck and Red, told Theo, “gottcha boss,” and headed out to their walls.

“Good luck boys, I will either see you later or on the other side now let’s lock and load.”

Theo quickly went to the house and had Kate come out to a log wall so she could help keep an eye on the back of the ranch, then went on his way.

Gramps, Buck, and Red didn’t know if they were being watched or not so they did their best to weave here and there on the ranch to keep out of sight as they tried to get where they were going. First Buck and Red had to go back and get their ammo boxes. They had brought their rifles with them to the meeting and some extra rounds just in case. Buck ducked behind the front wall he picked up the ammo box and an extra rifle and took them over to the shed back and into the dugout. He wasn’t in much of a different place but they wouldn’t expect a different location then he was before. That’s if they even knew he was here in the first place.

Red was headed from his first place of concealment with his ammo box zigzagging his way to a side dugout on the left of the ranch not far out from the main barn. He slipped under the cover and took a bottle of water out of the plastic tub; he took a few swallows and sat it next to him. He opened the ammo box and made sure he could get to the bullets easily. He was nervous as all get out, he couldn’t wait for it just to start and be over with. He scanned the area to the front and sides of him.

THERE, to the left front he saw movement, then he saw a hunched down figure run behind a bush. Theo was right they were sneaking up around them.

Theodore was the last one to his place of ambush, he swore each day he was getting slower. He went into a bunker on the right side of the ranch he was 1000 feet from the house. He had tried to go from bush to bush and was glad there were a few hills and dales here so he couldn’t be seen from the road or real well from anyone coming onto the ranch from this side. But that also meant he couldn’t see them sneaking up on the ranch either. Boy these ammo boxes were getting heavier to; he rubbed his right arm as he sat the box down under the front view slit. The slits were pretty big really cause you had to be able to see and shoot out of the things, there was only about an inch or two then another slit started.

“I’m getting to old for this stuff,” he grumbled.

At the wagons not far from the ranch.

Bert had been given directions and directive to take the spare horse and get close to the ranch to see if he could see anything going on while the wagons plodded onward towards the ranch. He stayed off the road even if it was dirt it still was hard enough to make more noise then the grass fields would. He stopped when he saw the top of the ranch house from a hilltop. He slid off the horse and went up another incline when he got closer. Bert picked the binoculars up off his chest where they were hanging and peered through them. Bert started scanning the ranch. What he saw shocked the heck out of him. Motorcycles, big ones were down along the front fence, it looked like they had smashed head long into something really hard, but the only thing there was the old brown fence. He started to scan the area better now and saw movement just after a hill on the road coming in past the ranch. A group of bikers looking at the ranch through binoculars, he couldn’t see all of them they were behind the hill.

What in the world was a motorcycle gang doing on this road? Well that was one question he asked himself he sure couldn’t answer, like those motorcycles laying on the ground where they were. He looked off to the north and he could see tiny figures running to surround the ranch.

“OH NO.”

Then he quickly scanned to the south, it was hillier on this side but he did manage to make out a couple of people trying to come in on the south side of the ranch. He had to get back to the wagons and quickly to tell them what was going on. This scared the crap out of him but he knew he couldn’t panic; too many lives depended on him right now.

“Welcome to manhood,” this isn’t how I thought it would be.

He crawled back down off the hillside and mounted the horse and at first just went slow so he wouldn’t make to much noise. Then when he thought he was far enough he set the horse to a good gallop towards the wagons, he skirted the road so he wouldn’t miss them.

Reese was on the lead wagon with Carla and Tammy taking his turn at driving when he spotted Bert high tailing it back to them along the roadway on the grass. That brought a smile to Reese’s face, good, the boy remembered, and another thing he was going to have to stop thinking of him as a boy in this new-troubled world. Bert would be taking on the full roll of a man now and all the obligations and responsibilities that it brought with it.

Reese held up his right arm which signaled the other wagons behind him to stop and then pulled back on the reins, “whoa there,” and the horses came to a stop.

Bert came to a stop beside his dad. Reese could tell by the look on his sons face that something was wrong, he had held out his hopes that it was all a false alarm but no such luck.

Dad there’s big trouble at the ranch, a motorcycle gang is attacking it. It looks like they already tried once by smashing through the fence with special made bikes. But smashed into something harder then they thought it was, and their bodies are lying beyond the fence. It’s amazing dad because the fence just looks like an old wood fence. I saw bikers surrounding the place too; it looks like they are going to make a three-prong attack.

Reese was thinking, why in the world couldn’t things just have been dull and boring for awhile and give them time to settle in, but oh no, things just had to go from bad to worse.
By this time everyone had gotten off the wagons and was discussing what in the world they were going to do. Everyone was excited and trying to talk at once.
“All right, all right, we have to do something and quick,” Reese took control quickly.

“Ok let’s get going we don’t have time to stand here, I will tell Bert what were going to do and he will relay it back to the rest of you now let’s go.”

Bert stayed on the horse, thinking hard of their options in this.

“Bert stay close so you can hear without me getting to loud.”

He then went over his plan as it came into his mind. He hoped it would work for all their sakes. Bert then went on back and repeated to each wagon of people what his dad had come up with.

It only took another twenty minutes to get within range of the ranch; Reese wondered how much time they had left before all Hades let loose. He figured it wasn’t long.

“Okay all of you spread out and get where you will do the most good and let’s hope this works.”

Wilbert looked around at the folks getting out of the wagon.

“Hey; what about me? You can’t just leave me here by myself all tied up,” and he started to get louder.

Reese walked back over to the wagon.

“You had better quiet down, you know Wilbert your lucky we don’t use you as bait. I was trying to decide what to do about you but you helped me solve that.”

Wilbert’s face went white; he hadn’t thought of that when he spoke up.

Reese reached into his pocket and drew out his handkerchief, and then he hopped up onto the wagon beside Wilbert, and gagged Wilbert really good and tight. Reese made sure Wilbert was tied to the wagon and couldn’t get loose to go join and warn the bikers if he was so inclined.

Reese jumped back down and said, “Don’t go anywhere I wouldn’t, Wilbert,” and then Reese walked back over to the others. Wilbert’s eyes were as big as they could get. They were going to leave him all alone with murderers on the loose and a gang of murderous bikers over the hills.

The folks off the wagons went their way with a prayer in their hearts even if those hearts were pounding loudly in their ears or stuck in a throat or two. They worked their way around behind the bikers to the whole back of the ranch hoping that they weren’t spotted. No one had a whole lot of ammo on them but they had opened Reese’s supply and doled out what they could for certain guns. They each had about 100 rounds on their persons, and I mean everyone.

David was so scared he could hear his knees shaking, at least it seemed that way to him, his stomach was tied in knots and he feared he was going to throw up at any time.

His sons weren’t far from him, they being young men, didn’t have as much fear this was so exciting. After all youth is immortal. They were about 150 feet on each side of their dad, their mom Olive on the right of William, then Tammy and so on. That’s the distance they tried to keep in between everyone, Reese and Greg took up the ends. They wanted it to seem like there were more people then there really were.

Juan was doing his best to keep up and realized he was in better shape then he thought he was after all, all this country living. Man that Carla was one fine looking woman kept running though his mind. He chided himself, come on Juan keep your attention on your surroundings and not on that fine looking woman.

Ruth North didn’t think she would be able to take another step, she was thinking, I need to sit down I can’t do this, but I have to, this could mean our lives and our future. Most of it was really her fear; she was shaking so much she was using too much energy. She came to a small hill and slowly went up it, at that moment a single gunshot was heard echoing though the hills. She gave a small squeal and threw herself to the ground; she noticed she wasn’t the only one going to ground.

In the Theo’s bunker:

Theodore heard the lone shot and with it he saw men running towards the ranch from the hills in front of him, one man coming right at him, one off to the right and one to the left of the bunker. He quickly shot the one coming right at him and then the one on the right. The biker on the left threw himself on the ground when he realized what was happening.

Buzz hadn’t seen where the shooter was, he should have been able to, there was just no real place to hide here. A few small hills and bushes yes, they had helped hide him as he snuck closer to the ranch, but he should have seen someone get up and shoot, at least a head and the gun or bushes move. He arm crawled his way over to the back of a hill and stuck his head up just a touch to look around. He wasn’t being very observant or he would have noticed there was something funny about that hill. As the saying goes, he couldn’t see the forest for the trees, he was so busy looking for a man and his hiding place he didn’t notice the slits under his belly.

Grandpa Theo saw the shadow come upon the bunker, he thought he had given himself away and the scumbag had seen where the shots had come from. But no nothing like a bullet came through the slit and he saw the scumbag was lying on the bunker. A sly smile came onto Theo’s face; the biker was going to find out real fast what he was laying on. “Bam,” went Theo’s rifle and the scumbag rolled off the hill holding his stomach. Theo looked out of the bunker at the biker who turned and with a surprised look on his face finally saw Theo’s eyes through the slits. The biker was in the process of bringing his pistol up when Theo shot the man again this time in the head.

“Teach him to fool with me, now on to the next scumbag, hunting time is here.”

Theo climbed out of the bunker and went hunting.

The other bikers were past Theo’s position trying to find someone to shoot at. They couldn’t figure out why no one was shooting at them when they had clearly heard shots close by just a short time ago. They heard shots off to the north, but they seemed to be sporadic. They didn’t know there were only five left on their side

End chapter 5

[Hudsonhawk777]

Man o man Sarawolf you and Kathy are some appear writers I can't even keep up.

Thanks for this story it really is well written entertaining and quite enjoyable.

[MaconCJ7]

Loving it Sara! Keep after it, this is a great story!

[FrANkNstEin]

[sarawolf]

Chapter 6
Well Praise be



Over on the north side of the ranch Red was having trouble of his own, he had shot two bikers before they found out where he was and now the rest were taking pot shots at him and trying to work around in behind him to take him out.

Around at the front gate the bikers had stormed it at a run, and were trying to climb over the fence and gate. Buck just smiled and shot three of them before they got over the fence. The other one he got as he came over on the other side. He saw they were down to four; the only thing that really bothered him was they had women with them; he hated killing women that just plain went against his grain. A large black haired woman raised her rifle and shot his way, he gritted his teeth and shot her right between the eyes.

“Dang it I hate this.”

A huge lumbering biker gave a bellow and ran over to the downed woman, he turned Bucks direction and Buck could see a shear look of rage and hate. No way could he let this one get close.

At that moment they were both stunned by rebel yells and guns going off behind the ranch, it sounded like a whole Army had just beset the ranch.

Stinger Lukas got an evil smile on his face, roared and charged Bucks position. Buck saw his death in the big mans hands so he raised his rifle and it barked, then again, and again, but the last one hit Luke’s forehead and his momentum carried him forward another four steps before he hit the ground ten feet from Bucks hiding place. Bucks fear had nearly gotten him killed.

The last two bikers saw their gang leader go down. They had been shooting at the shack but couldn’t seem to get the shooting from the shack to stop and with all the yelling and shooting looked at each other, shook their heads, turned tail and high tailed it back across the fence. Of course Canker and Whitey always made sure they weren’t the first ones to go in anywhere when there was danger of getting killed, they always tried their best to take up the rear.

If Buck hadn’t been so shocked at missing a killing spot on the big biker so many times at such an important moment he would have shot the two bikers he saw going over the fence when he looked up from the body at the noise by the fence.

“Idiot that could have gotten me killed to, stopping and not paying attention to what and who’s around me in a battle.”

Canker and Whitey never even stopped to get their new women; just shot past them jumped on their hogs and roared off as fast as they could. The two women were surprised they had almost reconciled themselves to this fate. But now they were lying by the side of the road all tied up and who knows how long they would stay that way. But until all the bikers were gone or never came back they weren’t going to get their hopes up that much.

Red looked through the right side slot in time to see a biker coming at him, he raised his rifle only to realize from the noise on the left that there was another biker doing the same thing, there was a thud behind him. The biker back there had tripped over a rock.

“I’m a dead man, better start saying my prayers,” he knew he wouldn’t be able to take them all out before one of them got him. Red shot the one on the right who was closest and was turning his rifle when all kinds of heck let loose, he jumped and accidentally pulled the trigger on his rifle and the bullet went into the side of the dugout.

Good thing it wasn’t pointed at my foot he thought. But it brought his attention back to what he was doing again and away from all the rebel yells and shooting. Red quickly raised his rifle and shot the man outside at the back of the dugout in the stomach, he went down groaning.

The biker on the left and the three behind him were watching to see how things went, didn’t like this at all, so one of the women named Kit ran back over to the others. They came to the conclusion there was no way that was their men yelling. A larger gang then theirs must now be attacking this place. Colt was lying on the ground shot in the stomach and they weren’t going to get killed for him or the other gang bosses, they turned and started to back track the way they had come. All they wanted was to get back to their hogs and get the heck out of here.

Reese and Bert came over a hill at that moment and ended that thought for two of them, one man, one woman. The other two women started to zigzag and beat feet out of there. They made it back to their hogs thirty minutes later, saw the two women laying tied up on the side of the road, hopped on two hogs and left.

Reese and Bert with Greg not far away continued their search for more bikers.

During the same time all this was going on with Red and Buck, Theo was having a good ol time in his hunting, this was his land and he knew it like the back of his hand.

The next biker went down sneaking behind a false shed and dug out, he never knew what hit him. Theo got him right in the heart from the back. He didn’t care if he was back shooting any of them he knew they would kill him and his family without a thought.

All of a sudden all kinds of shooting and rebel yells could be heard at the whole back and sides of the ranch coming closer. Theo stopped in his tracks but at least he was standing behind the shed. What did they have even more gang members and they were coming in a surprise attack. Theo saw a head pop up from behind a bush to the right of him and forward, so the biker hadn’t seen him or if he had hadn’t gotten a shot off at Theo before all the yelling and shooting started.

Wait the biker seemed to look surprised too and was looking around her. Another biker ran up and squatted down beside her. Theo raised his binoculars; there he could pretty well see their faces.

“Well I’ll be darn, their scared. So this isn’t part of their biker gang, wonder what we're in for now?”

Theo looked around; there was another two bikers around here somewhere. He scanned the area around the ranch, he needed to know where the other two were also, when the two behind the bush darted out and started running back to the hills away from the ranch. Theo didn’t like the idea of them staying alive to come back another day with more people. So he ended that ability by these two. He would have to come to grips with having to shoot women later, for now it could mean their lives not to do it.

“There are more here somewhere, now where are you.”

He stayed where he was and just watched his surroundings. Meanwhile the shooting and yelling was getting closer and closer. A biker popped up from behind one of the walls they had put up fifty feet from Theo and closer to the ranch house. The biker was also scanning the area, he had to heard the two shots that took out the two bikers Theo had just put down, but he may not have seen it happen or where the shooting came from or the whys of it.

The biker shot out from behind the wall grouched down and trying to zigzag his way across the open ground. Theo got a bead on him and another biker slide onto the ground.

“Okay last one; show yourselves to grandpa.”

This last biker had seen his buddy fall to the ground, he was standing on the back side of the ranch house and was sure enough gonna get the heck out of here. This had been a very deadly mistake. He went to the middle back wall of the ranch house and went to the left trying to stay out of the shooters sights.

What he missed was David coming in from the left of him. Not to mention Kate. He was shocked when he heard shots and saw a couple of blood stains start to spread across his chest and then another, he looked up to see a man walking in, but never saw Kate, and fell to the ground.

Theo had heard feet running across the ground behind the house and had started that way; he came around the house to see David standing over that biker he heard running.

He yelled trying not to be too loud, “David get out of there, who knows how many more there are, get over here.”

Then Theo saw Kate with a wicked smile on her face pop up from the log wall.

David ran over to his grandfather and gave him a hug.

Theo groaned, “Watch it boy you re gonna break my ribs, good to see you too, and where did you come from?”

Theo realized he didn’t hear anymore yelling or shooting.

“I don’t hear anymore yelling and no more guns going off, who is attacking us at the same time as the bikers, I wonder who and where are they, gall dang it who would think we could be attacked by two different groups at the same time? I just wonder how many bikers there are still around and now how many for this new group. I sure am glad you’re back boy, now where is everyone else and the people you went to get, we sure could use their help.”

Theo looked over and saw the huge grin on David’s face.

“What in the world are you smiling about at a time like this? You look like the Cheshire cat.”

The families were still paying attention to their surroundings not knowing if there were more bikers or not, but David decided he best tell Gramps who the other gang was that was whooping, hollering and shooting.

“Well I will be horned swaggeled; it was all of you all along, well praise be.”

Neither one of them had heard any more shooting since David and Kate took out the biker lying in the dirt not far from them. Theo saw movement coming from the left back but realized it was one of his great grand boys. He saw the boy was being careful and was trying to keep down as he moved. He spotted someone else further over and he didn’t recognize this person but she was young, another teenager and dressed in a heavy flannel green and brown shirt, jeans and she didn’t look like a biker to him. They had been dressed mostly in leather. “Idiots”

Another 20 minutes went by and no other bikers were seen sneaking around. Most of the family and new family were somewhere around the ranch buildings by now, everyone was keeping low.

Red hadn’t seen anyone else in awhile and he was sure grateful for the men that took out those bikers. It sure was gonna be good to have other men around to help handle things if anything like this came up again, not to mention the ranch work, as his grandma used to say many hands make light work.

After another 20 minutes gramps started to whistle the all clear and he sure hoped it was.

“David would you find Olive and you and her go out to the northwest bunker and get Red, she knows where it is. Tell him I think it’s safe to come in.”

Buck was all ready trotting up to the ranch house and was sure glad to see Theo in one piece. Kate came out from the log wall and made her way to her new gramps

End chapter 6

[223shooteresc]

good chapters, thanks for your work

[sarawolf]

Chapter 7
Clean Up


After David and Olive brought Red in, everyone was introduced to everyone else. Theo thought it would be a good idea if they split up in teams and checked out how many bikers were lying around the place and meet up and go over to where the bikers had their hogs. Theo got a gleam in his eyes.

“I know everyone would like to stop now for the night and I wish we could but we can’t, this has to be done before we can eat and get cleaned up, and get some rest. When the boys get back with the wagons maybe we will know just how many bodies we will have to collect and then at least eat. Then we will unload a wagon and pick the bodies up before the animals get a taste of human meat. Now there are a few horses we broke last month so I don’t know just how gentle they are. But I am sure that would be preferable to walking back out there and looking around on foot, I know it is for me.”

It looked like they were going to have some motorcycles after all.

That brought a smile to most of their faces as they headed out to do a hard job.

Reese called William, Tyler and Bert over and the three were dispatched to go get the wagons, which included their very own scum bucket and bring them in. He turned to talk to Carla and realized something.

“We forgot to tell Theo about Wilbert, but I guess that isn’t going to hurt, he will be here soon enough.”

Then both of them headed over to the corral to see if there was anything left for them to ride. An hour and a half later they were all back to the ranch house, the wagons were sitting in the yard and the boys had been taking all the stuff off of one. Reese saw that Wilbert was tied over at the ranch house to the front porch rail with his gag still intact, where they could see him. The sun was setting; it looked like the rest of the work tonight would have to be done in the dark.

“Hey Dad and Grandma,” Bert said as Reese and Carla road up and stepped down to the ground.

William and Tyler also said Hello and finished taking the last items off the wagon and hauling them into a cabin. At least Reese thought it was a cabin, from this point it just looked like an old broken down extra large shed.

Reese looked over to the ranch house and nodded towards Wilbert.

“Has he been gagged the whole time?”

“Naw Dad, I ungagged him and gave him a drink and then he tried to get us to let him go and whined and whined so I just gagged him again. I think he is just a big spoiled brat, who has never had to face the consequences for his actions, and now he is going to learn the hard way and he can’t seem to understand that.”

Reese smiled at his son, he sure was proud of the man he had become but he was sorry his son and the other boys here would have to grow up much faster now. He didn’t voice what he was thinking, the boys didn’t need to hear any of that kind of thing, they were showing it by their actions and he was sure it was running though their own minds anyway.

Theo had Kate help him and they were breaking out the Coleman and old hurricane lanterns. Olive had gone into the house taking Ruth and Tammy with her and they were making sandwiches and cool-aid. The lantern on the kitchen table helped but Olive had normally been trying to get dinner before it got dark, she found it made things much easier. It was so good to be home, she hadn’t realized how scary it was out there now, so much for the I can take care of myself thing, that was for the old world, this one was totally different. Her parents had warned her if there was trouble in the world and the modern conveniences were gone it would revert to this, she hadn’t believed them. Who knew, she sure hadn’t, she thought this being the 21st century people were more civilized then ever before. She hadn’t taken into account the other side of life and the people who weren’t civilized. She had just gone on her merry way with life and didn’t bother to really think about what could go on, she thought her parents were just paranoid with there self sufficient living, at least trying to be.

Everyone else was coming into the living room and spreading out; David came into the kitchen to help haul the food out to the dining room table. As Olive came into the dining room she saw Wilbert being tied to a dining room chair, his hands were untied and the gag was being removed.

Olive frowned; well I sure won’t be eating in here. She set her tray of sandwiches down on the table and went back into the kitchen.

It didn’t take long for the family to scarf down the food and drinks and head back out the door. While they were eating David told gramps what was up with the kid they had tied to the dining room chair and what he and his friend had done to the others and Olive.

Gramps scowled over at Wilbert, “maybe we should just do the world a favor and take him out back and put him in the wagon where were going to put the rest of the garbage.”

Wilbert heard this and nearly gagged on his sandwich.

Theo saw this, “what’s the matter boy, you didn’t realize in this new situation we’re in you are either on one side or the other, good or bad, and you started off by picking the wrong side and now you have to pay for picking that side. The scum of the earth may win a few battles but in the long run its people like us that win the war.”

Theo started to get up, “ok family are we ready for this, the sooner we get out there and get this over with the better off we will be and the sooner we can get cleaned up and go to bed. Another thing don’t leave that thing tied to my chair, take him over to the barn and tie him to a post and make sure he is tied good. I want to get a good nights sleep and not have to worry about him roaming around. Toby and Bert you take him to the barn and yes he can be sitting down, we won’t take crap from him but we’re not darn right cruel.”

David had been thinking, they needed to leave a couple of people here at the ranch to keep an eye on things here, another group to go get those bodies and another to go check out the motorcycles.

He spoke up and mentioned that very thing to his gramps. I had that very same idea son. I would never leave the ranch unattended.

“Lets divide up and take care of all this at once, as for me I sure am tuckered out, and I bet the rest of you are to. Buck, Red, Greg, Ruth, Toby and I will go get the bodies, Juan, Olive, Carla, Kate and Tammy will hold down the homestead while Reese takes the rest and heads over to the motorcycles and checks them out. Maybe it would be a good idea to start wheeling those into the ranch yard too, now that we got them we don’t want someone to come along and steal them now do we.”

They divided up the lanterns and waited for Toby and Bert to be done tying up Wilbert and then split up headed for their different chores. Climbing back in the saddle took some effort. Everyone had come down from their adrenalin highs and were beginning to drag, well mostly the older folks.

Picking up the bodies was a grisly chore but necessary and by the time they got to the last of them the coyotes were all ready tearing at the bodies.

The other group headed across the yard and opened the gate; it was locked again behind them. They decided it was best to walk over to the hogs especially since they would be pushing or rather trying to push the motorcycles back to the ranch. They didn’t have far to walk; the gang had stopped a half-mile from the ranch in between low hills so they couldn’t be seen well from the ranch. At least a few strange looking ones we at the fence line.

As they neared the motorcycles Reese thought he heard something, “Stop a second I think I hear something.”

Now all of them could hear weeping and someone trying to yell for help.

“Ok everyone be more vigilant then we have been since we left the ranch, we shouldn’t have been taking it for granted everything was clear, and that’s partly my fault. I’m tired and should have known better then to let us let out guard down so soon. David you go around away from us and come in from the left. Bert you do the same from the right and the rest of us will split apart here so were not crammed together like sitting ducks walking down this road.”

Everyone did as Reese instructed, they looked around at each other and realized he was right; they were all walking side by side. David and Bert split off and went around on different sides and came in on the motorcycles. As they got closer the weeping and yelling got louder. They couldn’t see anyone around the main part of the bikes but a bit further down the road were two young women laying on the side of the road when a light was shone on them.

David and Bert held their lanterns over the girls and the weeping and calling had stopped. One of the girls was saying, oh think goodness I thought no one was going to find us for days. They had both been hog tied and that’s why they couldn’t yell very loud as they both had a rope around their throats that got tighter if they moved to much. Reese reached to his thigh and took out his bowie knife and started to cut the girls bonds. It didn’t take him long to get that done and help the girls sit up. As the girls turned and sat up Reese had them rub their legs and arms to help the circulation.

“William and Tyler, you come here and help these girls back to the ranch house for the women to take care of, then high tail it back here and remember to watch and listen for anything out of the ordinary, you got that boys?”

“Yes we have it,” they were good about saying things in unison.

Reese just shook his head at the two and smiled, he watched them let both the girls lean on them, and walk back down the road to the ranch and into the dark with just the lanterns showing rounds of light in the night. Then Reese, David and Bert started to look the motorcycles over.

Bert was grumbling as he walked over to a hog, “I can’t believe they just left those girls here tied up on the side of the road. Makes me feel like going back and shooting them again, grumble, grumble.”

Reese looked over at his son because he couldn’t quite hear what Bert was saying, just a word here and there.

“What in the world are you saying over there Bert?”

“Nothing dad, nothing, just grousing.”

About 25 minutes later the two boys came trotting back.

“All delivered safe and sound, Mr. Porter,” they said together.

David just grinned and turned his face, he knew the boys liked to say things together and unnerve people, to the boys it was a big joke.

David didn’t know much about motorcycles, and he had never even been close to this type before. Most were chopped or really had extra stuff added to them or changed depending on what the owner had dreamed up. Quite a few looked as if some of the changes were resent. It would be easier to see tomorrow in the day light.

“Hey Reese I hope you or Greg know something more then I do about these motorcycles, I sure don’t.”

Reese chuckled, “I sure do, ran a couple of summers with a group of bikers in my young days before going off to war.”

Bert stood up quickly; he had been leaning over a hog with shielding built in front of the legs and along the bottom of the windshield.

“WHAT, I never heard about this dad, no way. I don’t believe you could be a part of something like this, not you.”

“It wasn’t the same son, we had hogs and choppers yes, but we didn’t get into trouble and worked ourselves across the country working odd jobs, baling hay, helping to bring in crops, whatever we could get. It was harder to do that in the 1970’s there was more automation but it still could be managed. There were and are a lot of biker gangs that weren’t evil, but I think now you will find the only ones on the road will mostly be the bad kind, out to loot and kill and for what ever they can lay their hands on. Everyone else will be busy trying to stay alive and feed their families and themselves. There might be a gang or two who were on the road and they will look for a place to join and settle, it will be way to hard to be on the road now for any reason that’s good.”

“Wow Dad, it’s good to hear you couldn’t be with a group that could do things like this. I don’t know if I could have believed it even if you had said you had been young and dumb and did things you shouldn’t have and hurt others; I don’t think you could have ever been that dumb. I am not saying you didn’t do anything dumb, you say sometimes that’s how we learn life’s lessons.”

“Well thank you son, I think.”

Reese continued to chuckle at his son’s remarks.

“Me and my mouth will get me in trouble some day,” Reese quietly said to himself.

The men conferred about the motorcycles, they found they were in good shape and all had a great deal of work done on them lately. Reese thought for a second after they were finished.

“I don’t think we ought to start the hogs and ride them back sorry to say, who knows who is still about around here, it’s not good to make a whole lot of noise after all the shooting that went on around here. We don’t want to attract anyone else. I am still thinking about those kids we found murdered not far from my place that sure doesn’t make me feel good. I know it will be hard but lets just push these back to the ranch, alright?”

Both David and Bert went along with it, but they would have rather have tried their hand at riding a hog.

David thought about it and knew Reese was right and on top of that being a new rider and being on one of these babies in the dark wasn’t the thing to do. Survive the battle and get hurt or killed awhile later doing something stupid wasn’t going to help him or anyone else.

David pushed a hog behind his sons, William and Tyler had to help each other with one hog, they weren’t big enough yet to hold that weight by themselves.

There were nine more to bring back, the last ten were sitting right here at the fence line from when the bikers tried to ram through the so-called wooden fence. Apparently some of the women had ridden double with their men and that’s why there were more bikers then hogs. They got back with the second batch of four bikes as the wagon rolled in with the bodies. Everyone looked exhausted; it had been a very long day. Theo gathered both work crews together for a moment.

“Let’s say the rest of us help get those hogs back here and the ones by the fence in if they are not too damaged to be moved, then hit the sack and do the burials in the morning. I talked to Buck and Red and they have all ready volunteered to do the first guard duty, who wants the next one? Or should I rephrase that, who will do it?”

Bert spoke up, “I’ll do it.”

Theo looked at Reese.

“I don’t want to insult you Bert but I need to ask your dad something first. Reese does he have enough experience to do guard duty?"

Reese looked in his son’s direction as he talked with Theo.

“He sure is Theo, he won’t let any of us down, I have every confidence in him.”

Theo glanced over at David and David gave a nod.

Reese spoke up, “I’ll volunteer also, might as well, then after that I can just sleep.”

That got a chuckle and as it was late only two guard shifts would be needed until daybreak.

Reese and Bert had smirks on their faces Theo noticed and by doggy that boy was gonna grow up to be the spiting image of his dad.

“Hope I didn’t insult you young man,” Theo told Bert.

“It’s not an insult Mr. O’Dell I understand,” Bert said, “Dad will tell you.”

“Bert’s right Mr. O’Dell, he knows how important this is, Bert is well trained and I would stake my life on it.”

“Ok your word is good as gold Reese, another thing, please all of you call me Theo or the younger set can call me gramps, I can’t take all this Mr. O’Dell stuff. We’re all family now and all of you need to know that, that’s my final word.”

They all left to get the rest of the hogs down the road and had them back to the ranch in short order. The family found the bikes lying by the fence were a bugger to lift up off the ground, but after some grunting and groaning and lots of help had those inside also. Everyone was very happy to go to sleep somewhere, and it didn’t matter where.

Theo thought oh yeah, “Juan can you go out and take care of our own scumbag before you sack out?”

Juan didn’t look too happy about it, but said, “Fine, fine I’ll do it, no problem Theo.”

Juan didn’t like it at all. All he wanted to do is lay down, but he went ahead and fed, watered, out housed, and then retied their prisoner before he sacked out for the night. How did he get to be in charge of the scumbag anyway? Guess I am just tired.

End chapter 7

[223shooteresc]

thanks for the new chapter

[sarawolf]

Chapter 8
Settling



Most of the older set found themselves stiff and sore in the morning, the teenagers just bounced out of bed or out of sleeping bags rearing to go. Reese and Bert were allowed to sleep a couple of extra hours and so were the two now non captive women while the others ate some breakfast and the shovels were taken out of the shed, corral lean-to, and the barn. Theo liked shovels in different places so they were easy to get to for farm chores such as mucking out the barn stalls and other miscellaneous jobs.

The morning chores were done and then the two cows were milked which included the new addition of the mini Jersey. Theo just couldn’t get over such a small cow; he just stood there staring amazed at it while Ruth milked it. It made his Brown Swiss seem huge.

“Darndest thing I have ever seen, who would have thought they could shrink a cow like that.”

Tammy just smiled and watched gramps walk back out the barn door.

Reese and Bert were awakened so they could eat and then guards were picked to be left at the ranch, while the rest went to dig and dispose of the bikers in a mass grave. Gramps had Red and Buck throw a couple of bags of lime on top of the bodies to sprinkle over them later when they were deposited in their last resting place. The two new women continued to sleep, Tammy had been left in the house to watch over them, she spied gramp’s library of how to books and dove into reading to pass the time.

About forty-five minutes later one of the ladies came up from the basement and needed to know where the bathroom was. Tammy showed her out to the nearest outhouse and waited outside for her. As they were coming back in the kitchen from the back door the other woman was standing in the doorframe of the basement steps.

Tammy looked up at the first one whose name was Louise and asked her if she would be ok alone in the kitchen while she showed Betty to the outhouse.

“Sure I will be just fine go on ahead.”

Louise sat down at the table crossed her arms and laid her head down on her arms. She had just been through a nightmare and she just wanted to soak in the quiet and feel the safety. After a few seconds she raised her head and began to look around her at her surroundings. The kitchen was a nice soft yellow with light yellow flowered and green curtains. It had a homey feel, and it was kind of on the big size with lots of cupboards and shelves, which were all full, and two long counters, part of the counter was board setting over what looked like a propane stove. It looked like the board had hinges so it could be opened and the stove used. The wood stove was nothing like she had seen before, of course she hadn’t seen many; her grandmother had talked about cooking on her own grandmothers. Looks like time had made a spin backwards and she would be telling her grandkids about cooking on wood stoves, how funny. It was a huge black metal thing with chrome and said Monarch at the bottom.

There weren’t any of the normal things you would see in this modern age on the counters. But if anyone was smart those things would have been put away by now. Her eyes went back to the sink; there by the sink was an old fashion hand water pumps like she had seen in the old western movies. These people were really set up right as far as the kitchen went. Propane and wood stove backup, water and she would bet anyone at this moment they had pigs or chickens or both for getting rid of the scraps. She hadn’t heard any dogs but most ranchers had them to help with the animals, cattle dogs were normal out here. The door opened startling her and she jumped, her heart going to her throat. Betty and the little teenager Tammy were coming into the kitchen while she had been lost in thought.

“Here you go Betty, you go sit down by Louise and I will get you both some breakfast. I hope eggs, bread, and sausage are ok?”

Both women said that sounded very good to them, the last three days all they had been eating was oatmeal bars and jerky.

Louise then noticed there wasn’t anyone else around.

“Where is everyone?”

“Yes,” Betty said, “it seems awful quiet around here.”

“Everyone is out doing chores and burying the dead of the biker gang, they should be back in about an hour or so, I would think.”

Tammy was talking and warming up the sausage on the propane stove that had been cooked at breakfast for the rest of the family, the next pan she added a bit of bacon grease and started to crack eggs into it.

“Hope breads ok to go with your breakfast too, we have butter and homemade jam to go along with the bread. Oh, do you two want some milk?”

Louise looked up in unbelief, “you have milk, how?”

Tammy smiled at the question, “Cows, we have cows, gramps O’Dell has a Brown Swiss and we brought a mini Jersey with us.”

“But how do you keep it cold,” this was from Betty this time; it just sounded like a fairy tale. “With no electric for a refrigerator how do you keep it from going sour?”

“There is a spring house here, the milk is put into milk cans then those are put in the cold spring, keeps it really nice. Same with the butter and some of the left overs if were going to eat those the next day.”

Now Tammy had just learned this fact this morning when she had gone to the springhouse with Kate. Now she talked like she was an old hand at it. She also had helped Kate collect the eggs this morning as they had left them yesterday with all the trouble. Most of the chickens were all ready out of the coup scratching in the dirt around the area by the time they got out there to collect the eggs, chickens were very early risers.

Betty hated to see someone work so hard in her behalf, a stranger at that and her just sit around, but she just felt exhausted.

“If it wouldn’t be too much of a inconvenience, I would love some milk,” she looked over at Louise, who said “me too if it’s not to much trouble.”

“No trouble at all, Tammy dished up the ladies food and laid the loaf of bread and knife, with the butter and a jam on the table, and went out the kitchen door with a half gallon pitcher in her hands, I’ll be right back.”

Tammy was back within a few minutes with the pitcher of milk, the cream had all ready been skimmed off the milk before she got to the ranch and there was one milk can waiting to be skimmed and another cooling from this morning. Some of the milk in the spring house would be made into cheese. There was more then enough but with the growing family none would be wasted now, well the pigs had loved the waste. They hadn’t gotten their full scale cheese making going yet as everyone was learning the ropes. Theo, Buck, and Red had been so busy teaching so many things, the cheese making had fallen behind. When Theo had found he had waited to long to make cheese out of a can of milk he had given himself a good talking to.

The two young women had never had fresh milk in their lives, only the watered down stuff that came from the store as most people today.

Louise and Betty couldn’t believe how good the milk was; they had been all set to not like it because it wasn’t from the store. Louise realized something.

“You know Betty, I think I am going to have to start changing my way of thinking about things, I must have been pretty spoiled. Before all this happened, I wouldn’t have touched something that didn’t come from a store with a ten-foot pole. I considered vegetables from a garden as dirty and milk from a cow, forget it. I was pretty ignorant I guess.”

“I was too Louise not that bad but spoiled enough, my mom had a garden but I turned my nose up at a lot of stuff and the things she was trying to teach me about growing things. I told her, OH GADS mom none of those things will happen, we will always have stores to go too, learn to grow my own food, get a life mom. Now I wish I could apologize to her,” tears slide down her face when she thought of her mom and how the bikers had killed her when she stood up to them when they tried to take her little girl.

Louise reached over and squeezed Betty’s left hand slightly, Louise understood, only it had been her new husband that the bikers had killed. They had been married one year last month. Louise didn’t even look like the same person as last month, she had lost thirty pounds and was now way to thin for her 5 foot 8-inch frame. Her brown hair was chopped off at the shoulders and she could swear there were white streaks at the sides by her ears. She was twenty-four years old and now felt like she had been through the wringer. The biker Canker didn’t know she was twenty-four years old or he wouldn’t have taken her. At that time she looked more like she was18-19 years old. She didn’t use much make up to enhance her looks and so that made her look younger.

Louise had known Betty in High School, they had lived all their lives in the same town; the whole senior class was 150 students the year Louise graduated.

Betty Brown had blond hair that had been hacked off close to her ears by Whitey; she had green eyes and had graduated fourth in her class two years after Louise. Betty also was now pretty thin, she had been on the solid side and liked it, not too thin not too heavy, she enjoyed working out to keep some muscle and hated dieting. You wouldn’t know that now, part of the girl’s punishment for not cooperating was to not feed them but make them watch the others eat. After several times of that in the last month it had worn them both down, but the oatmeal bars and jerky had only staved off that empty feeling later when that’s what they were allowed to eat with the rest of the gang.

Louise jumped again, Tammy had asked her something, gads too much wool gathering, as she sat thinking of the past few weeks.

“Louise would you like some more milk with breakfast?”

“Oh no Tammy thank you, I am stuffed to the gills, I haven’t eaten that much in over a month at one sitting.”

Tammy had all ready asked Betty, and Betty had also declined.

“All right then, Betty and Louise I am going to take this milk back to the spring house, I’ll be back in a second.”

As Tammy was headed back into the house she could see Toby going around the barn on his rounds, she didn’t know where Carla was, but Tammy knew she had to be close and having her grandmother around made her feel safe. Man I wonder what my friends are doing back in the city; I guess I should say how they are doing. Some of those girls are freaking out I bet cause they can’t blow-dry their hair. I wonder if we will ever be able to do things like that again?

When Tammy stepped back into the kitchen she found the two women washing their dishes and cleaning things up. They were slow but they were doing it, Tammy thought good, the sooner they help and get on with things the sooner they will feel better. Both women were black and blue with old and new marks and that’s just the ones Tammy could see.

Noise could be heard outside like a lot of people coming up on the porch.

“Wow, they’re back.”

Tammy took off for the living room as the door was being opened and Olive was the first through the door. Louise and Betty were walking in behind Tammy and felt out of place, it wouldn’t take them long to not too.

David came in after Olive.

“Man alive I sure am glad to have that chore done, I know it won’t most likely be the last time but I sure hope so.”

Gramps was standing beside David, with a strange look on his face.

“What’s wrong gramps, you looked worried about something.”

“I am David, those four bikers that got away have me worried, the last thing I want is for them to get more people together and come back for revenge. I think we need to be extra vigilant for awhile maybe a few months, I just don’t like it that they got away.”

The family that was already in the house took in what Theo had said and thought he had a good point, this should worry them all. Later they talked about it with the others so they could make sure everyone was more watchful during guard duty for quite awhile.
* * *
If only they had known at the ranch what was being told around to the different biker gangs that first Canker and Whitey had met up with and then Big Bertha and Chrissie. The main theme was you didn’t want to go to a certain place in the Sierras; a very large gang had taken over a ranch there off the main highway a little over an hour from Reno and had wiped the road up with the Hornets. They were the only ones left; yep just the two of them had survived. Each duo thought they were the only survivors.

It was about eight months before Canker and Whitey met up with Big Bertha and Chrissie at a bar in Barstow, California. The bar was lit by lantern and had homemade moonshine and the town had pretty well been taken over by bikers. They made a big night of it and Bertha and Chrissie joined up with the new gang that the men were in, well old one really. They were all in the Hells Angels together now and the only way out was death and that didn’t take long to happen. A fight broke out between the Hessians and the Hell’s Angles who had been enemies for decades and half of both gangs died with three days of all out war including the former Hornets.
* * *
Back at the ranch Toby found five two-week-old wolf pups when he was doing a round of guard duty further out on the ranch weeks later; they were nearly starved to death. He brought them in and he and the others helped hand feed them. They turned into the most loyal dogs a family could have.

As things go six months later Red married Betty and Buck married Louise.

It was more of a hand fast double marriage with Theo officiating until a real preacher came along some day, but that’s all they had. Then a month later Juan asked Carla for her hand in marriage and she accepted. Juan walked around every day with this huge grin on his face.

Life got into a pretty good routine at the ranch, the mini calf grew up and now they have two more mini cows.

Theo’s fears were never realized about being attacked by a bigger Biker gang and Kate and Bert were fixing to marry in June of the New Year. They made contact with the Carleton ranch twelve miles away to the north and the families traded milk, eggs, cheese, one wolf, and chickens with the O’Dell ranch. They bred the Brown Swiss with the Carleton’s Guernsey bull and are waiting to see what the calf looks like. The O’Dell ranch now has three sheep, one ram and four ewes traded for a mini cow. Theo thinks that mutton doesn’t taste so bad after all, he wondered about it after being a cattleman all his life.

After five months of labor and a small shack he was locked up in every night Wilbert became a ranch hand, you wouldn’t have recognized him, he didn’t recognize himself. Healthy again, muscled and he even started going to Theo’s Sunday morning Sunday school. He couldn’t figure out how he had gone so wrong and been so stupid. He apologized to Olive and the rest of the family for the trouble he had helped cause. Wilbert had started to date a girl from the Carleton ranch, and went back to the things he had been taught as a child, manners for one, and consideration for others.

They still fight off a few men now and then and stopped some cattle rustlers but that was the extent of the battles for the next few years. The wolves were good guards and alerted the family to most people before they got too close. Word got around, don’t bother the O’Dell ranch or you will end up six feet under in a pit. But you know some people they never listen.

End

[Nancy1340]

Thanks Sara.

Remember, there is a difference in a gang and a club.

[teedee]

I just found the board and read your story. VERY well done! And thank you for the pleasure that your hard work has given me.

[Nancy1340]

Waaaaaaa I thought maybe Sara had decided to add on to the tail end of this story.

[Narshalla]

Nice story. Thanks