Calamity in America (23 page)

We were almost back at the main camp and I was carrying yet another rabbit for our supper when Beth saw someone approaching.  She certainly has a pair of sharp eyes.  She also moved her left arm back into the sling again.  She always wore the sling but now she seldom used it anymore.  The man or woman continued their approach, walking down the road into the community.  As they got closer I could see that it was indeed a man. 

We had remained in place ever since Beth had seen someone coming.  I had laid the rabbit at my feet so both my hands were free to use.  I also removed the thong that held my pistol in place.  Then we waited as the man approached us.  He had no pack and no weapon that I could see.  Not even a water bottle or canteen.  That made no sense at all.

“Hello folks.  I was hoping you could spare a meal for a weary traveler?”

“Sorry we give out no handouts here.  Best that you continue on your journey.”

“That’s not very neighborly of you.  Surely you can share a little of that rabbit?”

“No handouts.  Move along.”

“You’re downright ornery it seems.  No offense though.  Is it just you and your pretty woman with the broken wing here in this big place?”

“I am not an information center and I’m about done telling you to leave.  Don’t make me give you the bum’s rush.”

“That is big revolver you got there.  Are those really loaded shells for it?  Been a long time since I saw that many loaded shells in one place.”

“You had best pray that you don’t find out if the shells are real or not.  Now leave while you can still walk.”

“No need to get hostile.  I’m just a common traveler.  Thought we might share a meal and what news we hear.  I travel a lot and always have fresh news.”

I said nothing but took two steps in his direction.

“Okay.  I’m leaving.  Sheesh, you sure don’t like strangers.  I get it and I’ll be leaving hungry.  Goodbye then.”

The man turned and walked back in the same direction that he came from.  I watched him until he was out of sight before I turned to Beth.

“Could you find your way by yourself at night to the camp by the windmill that is straight north of here?”

“I’m sure I could, but I have no intentions of doing so.”

“He is not alone.  He had no gear of any kind with him, not even any water.  He left the same direction he came from.  He was in good physical shape and was not suffering from any hardships of travel.  He only asked questions the whole time he was here.  I think he was sent in as a scout.  I think there is a good chance that whoever sent him will attack tonight—or tomorrow night at the latest.  You should leave right after dark tonight and get to that other camp where you should be safe.  Take all your gear and whatever food you can fit in your pack.”

“And as I run away and hide what exactly will you be doing?”

“I will be setting up a few surprises just in case I am right and someone does attack this place.”

“Well that would go faster if two of us are doing that, don’t you think?  I ran once when the last place I was at got attacked.  I will not run again.  You have been more than just kind to me and I will hardly leave while you face an unknown number of people by yourself.  Now, how about if I get our meal ready while you work on the other preparations.  After we eat we can work together to get as ready as we can for what may be coming.”

I looked at her and I could tell right off that arguing with her would be totally pointless.  While I wanted her out of here and someplace safe, I did not have enough time to tie her up and take her to the nearest camp.  I also kinda think tying her up would be quite a chore.

“Okay.  I won’t argue with you.”

“Smart man.  I like that.  I’ll hurry with our meal so we will both be free to work on our defenses.”

She picked up the rabbit and started off towards her motor home without a backward glance.  I took the hint and went to get what I could ready for defenses.  I had known this day might come and I had put a fair amount of thought into what I could do with what I had to work with.  I had worked off and on whenever a new idea had come to me, and I had a fair amount of nasty things ready and waiting to be deployed.

There would be about a half moon tonight, so there would be some light to see by, but not all that much.  There were some thin clouds in the sky right now and I hoped they would stay overnight to keep things just a little darker.  I had a lot of work to do and I hoped I had enough time to do it all.  Or I hoped none of it was even needed.  That would be much better, but I had a bad feeling that this would be a very long night.  I set off to work.

Chapter 15

I was busy getting things moved around until I realized it was almost dark and I had been working for well over an hour.  I headed back to the motorhome to find Beth more or less patiently waiting with our supper just staying warm on the dying coals of the small fire in the grill. 

“It will go faster if you let me help you.”

“I know. I just lost track of time.  Sorry.”

“Not a problem.  I just want to help.”

“You have to be involved so you know what I am doing so you do not get hurt from the stuff I am doing.  Let’s eat quickly and we will work together.”

She just nodded and set to eating the simple meal she had ready.  We did no clean up when we were done and instead I took her with me and ran over what I had done so far and had her help me with everything else that I had prepared much earlier but had never hoped to see deployed.

We were only slightly hampered by the darkness.  We were both very familiar with this area because this is where we spent the bulk of our time.  When I showed her what I had done so far she got the idea right away and she helped with setting up the rest.  I’m not sure how long it was before we were done but I would guess about midnight maybe at least.  When the traps were all set I stepped very close to her and whispered in her ear.

“Do you know how to shoot?”

“I haven’t shot in at least four years but I used to be fairly good.”

We went and I retrieved a hidden .22 rifle that I had stashed away.  It was a semi-automatic so she could shoot it with one hand, and it was light enough that, if she wanted, she could use it without even touching it with her left hand.  When I handed it to her she brought it up to her shoulder several times using her left arm to support the front end of the rifle. 

“It only has ten shells left in it.  Here is the safety and here is how to eject a bad shell if you have a dud.  The shells are old and it is always possible that you will get a dud or two.”

“I can handle it fine.”

Next we went to a different place and I extracted a small revolver from its hiding spot and gave it to her.

“This is for your last resort.  It will not be very accurate and it is not very powerful.  It has three shells left in it.  Just pull the trigger, but only use it if you are very close. And I mean very close.”

She looked the small gun over and then just nodded as she shoved the small gun in her waistband.

“What about you?”

“I have my big revolver and enough shells.  This will be over fairly quickly if it happens at all.  Let’s go to our spots.  Don’t worry about me, just about yourself.  If necessary, and if things go sour, just hide out during the daylight and try to get away when it gets dark again.”

She looked long at me then nodded her head and was gone in the darkness.  It was darker than I expected because the clouds had thickened slightly instead of breaking up.  I quietly climbed up the ladder to my hideout spot and now the only thing to do was to wait.

Hard to believe but I guess I fell asleep.  I woke up with a start when I heard the scream.  It was a man’s scream and it was not unexpected with all the traps we set up.  It just meant that I had been right that someone would attack tonight and that one of my traps had actually worked as I had planned.  There was now sobbing or wailing but it was getting weaker.  Then I heard the next sound in a new spot.  This time it was a grunt, and then cussing. 

This went on for a several minutes.  A few more grunts and more cussing and one more scream that cut off abruptly.  The noises were from many different spots.  I don’t know how long I was asleep but it was lighter out now but still the sun would not be up for awhile yet.  Then I heard a noise almost under me.  By this time I was wide awake and ready. 

I peered over the edge of the roof with my bow already drawn back.  I saw the black shape of a man and I let the arrow fly.  The arrow had little ways to travel and the grunt and the falling body told me that my aim was true.

It was just a short time later that I heard the .22 rifle go off.  Just one shot. Then silence.  Then about two minutes or so later one more shot followed quickly by another and another.  Then silence again.  When I heard another slight noise near me I had an arrow already nocked on the bow string.  This time it was off to the side and all I had to do was raise up and take the slightly longer shot.  The man screamed when the arrow entered his body.  He fell and I could vaguely see him thrashing around some and moaning below and to one side of me.  After a bit he was quiet and did not move again.

Another shot from the .22.  Just one this time.  I realized I was smiling, knowing that Beth was still alive.  More cussing well off to one side.  Far enough away so I could barely hear it.  Then it was quiet again.  I waited and listened intently.  I had my mouth wide open so I could hear better.  I made no sound because I did not move at all.  Slowly, very slowly the sky was getting brighter. 

Now the sun was just about ready to pop up and it was bright enough to see very well.  I had slowly been turning and looking in every direction.  I had seen no movement so far.  Then I heard the .22 again.  I spun to look in that direction.  There were two shots that sounded normal, then a small pop, followed by silence.  The last noise was obviously a dud.  Likely the bullet had lodged in the barrel of the gun.  I doubted there would be any more shots from that gun.  I knew Beth was in trouble.  She had obviously shot that shot for a reason and that dud round would have only given away her position without hurting whoever she had aimed the shot at.

Without thinking I was scrambling off the roof I was on and heading in her direction.  I was trying my best to look in every direction at the same time.  I had an arrow nocked in my bow and I could draw and shoot at just a moment’s notice.  I could see no targets but kept looking everywhere as I made my way closer to where Beth had hidden.

There was no further noise from her direction.  I took that as a good sign.  If someone had tried to climb up to where she was they would have seen the open barrel of the small revolver that I had given her.  No sounds of shots meant that she was laying low and biding her time.  At least I hoped that was the case.

I came to the first body and just a glance at it showed me the small hole in the head with little blood coming out.  She did still know how to shoot.  The body was very close to where she had hidden.  They had never expected us to be on the roofs.  It was an edge for us and gave us good visibility in all directions.  And as long as the bad guys kept looking at or near ground-level, the rooftops would be a safe location.

I stopped at the house she had been on and listened carefully but I heard nothing.  I moved around a corner and found another body.  Then, a little ways away, another body.  And still no sounds at all.  I knew she had used a light aluminum ladder that she had pulled up on the roof with her.  This was to help keep her location a secret and to prevent a bad guy from having easy access to the roof.

I peaked around another corner of the house and saw movement.  I ducked back and pulled the bow to full draw as I stepped around the corner.  The guy saw me almost as soon as I made it around the corner, but it was way too late for him as my arrow was already streaking in his direction.  By the time the arrow had fully buried itself into his chest I had another arrow in my hand and was trying to nock it without taking my eyes off the one I had just shot.

His eyes had gotten really big when the arrow had impacted his chest.  I watched those eyes glaze over as he was falling to the ground with hardly a sound.  I then risked a glance down and got the arrow on the bow string ready for another shot. 

“Drop the bow or the pretty girl dies.”

I looked up and a mountain of man even bigger than me was holding Beth with one arm around her neck and his other hand easily holding her good arm.  He had his big arm around her throat and it was obvious that she was just about to pass out from the lack of air, and just then she did go limp.  Before I could even think about dropping the bow several things happened.  When she went limp the monster holding her released her arm and with what must have been her last bit of strength she drew a knife and plunged it into his groin area.  She must have been playacting the fainting spell.  He dropped her when her knife went into his body, and in that second I drew back and released the arrow that sank deep into his belly with just the feathers visible.  The arrow entered his body at a steep angle because I was almost directly below him.

I scrambled for another arrow as he dropped off the roof and landed next to me, clubbing me with one massive fist on the way down.  The hammer blow hit my left shoulder and knocked me down.  Mortal wound or not he then grabbed me by the leg and threw me over.  I had dropped the bow and was trying to draw my pistol as he crawled over to me and at the same time was pulling me closer to him with his death grip on my leg.  I had fallen on my side with the revolver under me and I was having quite a time trying to get moved enough to draw the gun with him steadily pulling me under him. 

Several things then seemed to happen all at the same time.  I got my hand on the butt of my revolver and he managed to get first one, then the other, of his big hands around my neck and he started to really squeeze.  I was pulling the pistol up and cocking the hammer when, looking at him, I saw the handle of a knife materialize in his neck and blood come pouring out.  I was still moving the pistol up and now the hammer was back and the gun was pointed in his general direction as I pulled the trigger and I blacked out at the same time the gun finally went off.