Day One (Book 3): Alone (11 page)

“That was stupid!” I shouted and pounded my fist into the steering wheel. It hurt and felt even more stupid for hurting myself through my own anger. “I should have shot him! I should have put several bullets into his face,” I added as I turned the truck down a side road and hurried away. Those in the school complex would have seen the situation unfolding, even from a great distance and I needed to put as much space between them and I before the kid could get back and alert them of my presence or help look for me. Deep down though, I hoped that he took my advice and left town for good. I hoped anyway.

Chapter Five.

Miles away and safe, Johnny scanned the darkness one more time before pulling the large hanger door shut, diminishing what little light swept into the large area down to almost nothing. The door engaged with the locking mechanism and he moved back to the chopper and checked in on Kember who was still fast asleep in the backseat. He held a slight giggle in, as a smile swept across his face. He was amazed at how good she was and how easily it was for her to just go to sleep.

The large hanger comprised mostly of storage space with a narrow set of wooden stairs on the far left side ascending to an office area. The room was no bigger than a typical bedroom and it didn’t need to be. Whoever owned the hanger would not use it to live in, but simply to park and store their aircraft, so the office would be used to lounge in while a flight plan was being filed or a waiting area as passengers arrived one at a time.

With each step, Johnny neared the top and he brought the M-4 into his shoulder in case he was to find they were not alone, as he’d first thought. At the top of the stairs he pushed a glass door open and with the weapon light could see a large oak desk in front of him, a bookshelf behind it on which many flight manuals and flight logs were situated in order.

The room expanded further right than he expected and cut even further, ninety degrees from there into a whole new area complete with another oak desk and bookshelf, several couches, a coffee table, a refrigerator, and a small bathroom. It could easily be transformed into a hideout if need be and if the fridge had any food within, he could easily stay here for days without anyone knowing he was even there.

From there he made his way to the rear of the room and found two large shutters that opened inward and looked down upon the hanger floor. He could see the chopper sitting silently untouched, and then moved to the fridge to find it stocked with drinks – cans of soda, cold coffee drinks, pre-made sandwiches in packages, a large bottle of liquid creamer, a five pound bag of sugar, and an unopened case of juice box drinks. Another smile swept smoothly across his face as low thunder rumbled somewhere off in the distance. “This will work,” he said. “This is perfect.” And it was. They had a comfortable place to sleep, food and drinks, not to mention the fact that if anything bad were to happen, Johnny could have the chopper turning in no time and they’d be long gone.

The falling rain, which had picked up, hit the metal roof of the hanger and if he were to try hard enough, could probably find the tranquility in its constant lulling
ping.
He pulled from trying it and made his way toward the rear of the lounge once more, noticed what looked like shutters above the sink and opened them slowly, peering out into the rainy night. Far below he could see two expensive Merc’s, a Range Rover sport, a Cadillac, and a huge SUV that dwarfed the Rover by several feet in all directions.

“Plus, I have a variety of vehicles I could use as well,” he added before turning and making his way back to the chopper.

More thunder rumbled across the drenched sky. Daylight was still hours away and Johnny had to make sure that the hanger was secure before then, so there was much to do and very little time to get it all finished. The only real concern he had at the moment was if any light could be seen from outside the hanger? The light on his M-4 worked fine, but if he were going to use the place for more than a few hours, lights would be needed. Only problem with that was he would have to turn them on and then go outside to see for himself.

Three silhouettes cautiously moved along the end of the single runway, after having crossed a vast expanse of open ground from the tree line. They had heard an aircraft of some type arrive or fly over the small airport, less than twenty minutes prior and had remained within the safety of the thick woods until they were positive that it was safe to emerge and investigate.

The end of the runway was only one hundred and seventy some odd yards from the interstate, which would have been packed with vehicles of all different sizes and shapes had it not been the end of the world. There was no one passing by to see them lurking about, so they were free to moves hastily, yet still in a manner of complete safety.

“Are you sure this is a good idea, I mean there could be a shitload of guys. Hell it could have been the military for all we know,” the Man in the rear asked the two ahead of him.

“It didn’t sound big enough to be military,” the Leader announced.

“The military
does
have smaller birds, man. Plus there is also the possibility of it being law enforcement, if it wasn’t military, which makes a lot of sense,” the Second Man added.

The Leader quickly stopped and the other two, worried more about their surroundings than where they were going, ran into him. He pushed them back and the Last man almost fell, caught himself, and shoved his eyes toward the Leader.

“What the hell?” The Last Man said in a loud whisper.

“Watch where you’re going,” the Second man said to the Last Man and pushed him further away.

“Will you two clowns shut the fuck up?” He hissed at them. “Yes, it could be a smaller military bird or even a police chopper or possibly Elvis, hoping to make a comeback, but unless you two enjoy living in the woods and eating cold cans of beans every damn day, it could also be a way out of here. A better place to sleep at night without fear of running into those things, and a better shot at actually surviving.” He scanned the darkness near the base of the small control tower and saw nothing out of the ordinary, and then turned to face them. “I don’t like any of this shit – running around out here in the darkness like a bunch of damn thieves any more than you guys do. We haven’t seen any other people in days, it’s been raining nonstop, and I’m sick and tired of being cold and tired all the damn time. So unless you two have a better idea, then we’re heading up to those hangers to see if we can see something and maybe find out who and what that was that flew over.”

Neither of them two Men disagreed with him, instead they crawled back into a single file line and followed him across the wet runway, a small patch of emerald green grass, well kept, and down a taxi way toward a small building where the airport lights and communication hookups were located. Beyond that was a large tanker truck and an open hanger with a crop duster sitting quietly inside, never again would it have the freedom to barrel down onto a field, just feet off the ground, and spray chemicals. Instead, it would sit there for all eternity and rust away to dust. Insects of all kinds would infest every inch of it as the weeks and years went by, turning it from a man-made object into a luxury bug condo.

At the small building, the Leader used hand signals to tell his friends what to do. With each signal, one of them would nod their head and continue to listen for further orders. When everything had been spelled out, the Leader broke into a sprint and crossed the short distance to the tanker and took a kneeling position at the rear, hauling the long hunting rifle into the ready position and watching the tower for any signs of movement. When he was certain that no one was above them, he waved and one by one they filed across the open and hid with him.

The lights of the airport were still very much operating and the small doors near the base of the tower were lit brightly with two flood lamps hidden within a small flower bed on either side of the sidewalk leading up to the glass door. The runway was lit also, but the lights were spread far enough apart that they had been able to pick a dim area and cross relatively unseen. There next major hurdle would be getting past the hangers, which had large flood lamps on their arches and shown down upon the asphalt in front and behind. And going further out just brought with it the glow of the street lamps near the highway, so they needed to proceed with extreme caution and be weary of even the slightest noise.

The Leader pointed toward the tower base and his two friends headed out while he took up the rear and made sure they were not being followed or perhaps chased by anyone. The falling rain and rumble of thunder masked any sounds they inadvertently made along the way and they tried to stay as close to the hanger doors as possible, yet still far enough away as not to be seen in the glow of the hanging lights.

Any further away and they’d be directly within the light – a lit target to anyone looking for the slightest hint of movement would stand out like a sore thumb, and they were all smart enough to know that others didn’t mean safety. Not anymore. The world was a far different place now than it had once been. Other survivors would kill anyone they presumed to be a threat to remain alive, and three shadowed figures lurking through the dim darkness was fair game.

The silent three moved past two hangers and were in the middle of a third when the Last man accidently kicked a small stone, which bounded forward, hit the heel of the Second Man and sent it into the large metal door. They all froze instantly, looking back at the one who had started it all.

Johnny crossed the floor, after taking Kember upstairs and laying her on one of the couches. He’d put a blanket over her and she had fallen back to sleep almost instantly. At the bottom of the stairs he made his way to the chopper to give it a quick inspection and then begin the process of refueling her with a hand pump. It had been built by someone with an engineering background, equipped with wheels, making it mobile to be used in or outdoors. The jet fuel was combustible, as any fuel was, but its rating was lower and safer to use indoors than other types.  Suddenly something hard hit the hanger door. His M-4 rested in the front seat of the chopper and was far out of reach, so he withdrew the revolver from his waist and looked toward the gap at the bottom of the door. He could see three bundled shadows, just barely visible because of the direction of the flood lamp on the arches above. He pointed the gun in their direction and slowly crept toward the large door to get a better idea of what he might be up against. If it was bad he would need time to get the chopper ready, however, if it wasn’t, then he needed a plan to deal with the people outside. At the moment, silence was his perfect weapon and as long as he remained that way, they might not even know he was there.

“Watch what you are doing,” a male voice said in a whisper.

The revolver offered him the ability to shoot without first having to cock the hammer. All he had to do was pull the hard trigger and the bullets would do the rest.
Please don’t let her wake up crying suddenly.
His mind prayed.
Wait… if this shit jumps off. How are you going to deal with it? Are you going to get her and then start the chopper or vice versa?
His mind added to the already overstressed situation he was in, although it
was
a good question. If he started the chopper first, then he would have to leave it to retrieve Kember, but if he got her first, and then started it, what would the outcome be? “Dammit,” he whispered as quietly as a mouse moving through a darkened house.

“Are you trying to give our position away?” The same male voice asked.

“No,” another male voice answered.

Shit! They are right outside of the hanger door.
Johnny’s mind told him.

“Then watch what you’re doing,” a third voice said harshly.

He was certain he could handle one of them – two at best if he could get the jump on them, but three was pushing it far beyond any level of comfort he wanted to endure. As far as he could tell they didn’t know he was in the hanger, and that gave him the element of surprise, but if he had learned anything in the past week and a few days, is that nothing went exactly the way it was ever planned or looked. For all he knew – a great possibility – they knew he was in there and was trying to draw his attention toward the large door while a few others raced around the side to the back door and were about to burst in on him. A direct attack from the front is what he expected and was prepared to deal with. An attack that simultaneously came from the front and rear all at once was a nightmare of impossibility.

Before he had put the chopper down, his gut had told him that landing here probably wasn’t the best idea, especially so close to the highway and interstate. He was here now and could go nowhere at the moment, so he’d have to make due with what he had currently and worry about what was to come, if anything was coming at all, when it happened.

The gap… oh shit, the gap! If you can see their shadows under it, then they might be able to see us if they drop low enough to the ground!
His mind raced and abruptly he wanted to be off the hanger floor, although that was easier said than done considering he was smack dab in the middle and the chopper was the only heightened object nearby. But even climbing onto it would not hide him, as from their angle if they were to peer under, everything would be visible to them.

“Not good,” he whispered and slowly began to move forward, apparently not fully aware of what he was doing until he was at the small door built into the larger door on the left side of the hanger, if you were looking out toward the runway.