SURVIVING ABE: A Climate-Fiction Novel (26 page)

Jennifer went to the front window for a better look at the approaching vehicle and said, "It's Sam, and he has Melissa and Leo with him."  She continued to the front door and opened it.

Deputy Sam was supporting the arm of
Melissa, who carefully carried their four-year-old son, Leo, along the ice encrusted front walk.  "Glad to see you," Sam said when Jennifer opened the door.  "We figured you'd be here when there was no one at your place, things are turning bad, it's good to know you're safe."

The family safely negotiated the ice and entered the house as Jennifer closed the door behind them.  "We're just finishing breakfast and the cooks made plenty, anyone hungry for a hot meal?" she asked.

"I'm hungry, Aunt Jen," Leo said reaching for her.

"Sam, did Reb forget to pay her parking tickets?" Tye asked.

"Probably, but that's not why we're here.  Our house and neighborhood flooded.  We went to Jennifer's house first, at Melissa's suggestion; the house isn't flooded, but some areas around it are.  When we found no one there we decided to come out here to check to make sure she was here and safe."

"Melissa, you and Leo are welcome to stay here with us," Reb said putting more plates on the table.  Sam, it'll cost you to stay; payable in information."

Sam smiled at Reb, "Careful what you wish for.  There isn't much good news, unless you count the pipes that haven't frozen and burst yet.  The County is at a standstill this morning, not even able to assess damage, or make estimates of when power or municipal water will be restored.  As you can imagine tensions are high with people needing governmental help, and we're almost out of resources at the local level.  And to top it off there is some sort of electronic counter-measures going on that have jammed radios around here.  The tech guys think the military is responsible, and that they are trying to prevent more cyber attacks.  We'll probably be sending up smoke signals, as soon as we can get some fires started."

"You're not
serious, no radio communication between cop cars?" Andy asked.

"
It's serious, we're handicapped while our radios are being jammed.  Since I have one of the few vehicles with chains, I need to go.  If Melissa and Leo could stay here, it would take a big load off my shoulders," Sam said.

"You know better than that, they're family to us and always welcome.  Melissa just about grew up in this house," Reb said.

"Reb, Tye, thank you for taking in my family.  I'll be back tonight, late probably."

"Andy and I will walk you out," Jennifer said.

Once outside, Jennifer cornered Sam.  "Straight up now, what's going on out there and at the store?"

"The cold is bad
, and keeping most people indoors and huddled up, but home fires are increasing, and there's nobody to fight them.  Those left homeless from the fires and flooding, like my family and me, have overloaded our public service resources.  As to your store, all the low area around it is flooded, and no one has been out to the hill.  But it's highly likely there is looting going on out there, so plan on it being a total loss, and you won't be disappointed."

"That's what I've been thinking,
but we had such a run of customers the day before yesterday, there wasn't much left to loot.  Anyway, be careful," Jennifer said, as she gave Sam a hug.  Then she stood beside Andy, and they watched as Sam drove toward town.

"Sorry about the store, but on the bright side
, neither of us is out there fighting with people over the last burrito.  I think we're really lucky to be here on your family's farm."

Andy went over to
the truck and started to pry open a frame-mounted toolbox under the flatbed. "Your dad mentioned there are tire chains in here, if I can get it open."

"Andy, I just had an idea.  While you do that
, I'm going to run in and tell them we're taking a ride to check on the cows."

In the house Jennifer gave Melissa a hug, then went toward Leo to give him a hug, shying away from his syrupy grip at the last moment.  "I'll hug you later after Grandma Reb gets done with you.  I'm going to show Andy around the place while you finish eating,
be back before you know it."  On the way out of the house she picked up the shotgun and a handful of extra shells.

Andy got the toolbox open after beating it with a tire iron to break the ice.  He laid the chains out individually, making sure they weren't twisted
, before draping them over the tires.

When Jennifer had returned and was in the truck he asked, "Jennifer, can you pull forward a couple of feet?"  After she'd done so
, Andy made sure Jennifer had the one-ton out of gear before he finished connecting the chains.

He got in the cab and said, "We'll probably need to tighten them after we drive a bit.  Try it."

The old truck lumbered along with no trouble and proceeded a few hundred yards before Andy signaled a halt.  Then he went to each wheel and took up a link where he could, making sure the chains fit snuggly against the tires.

Andy climbed in the cab and slid over next to Jennifer until only the shotgun separated them, "Not often you find a bench seat as big and comfortable as this one."

Jennifer looked over and up at Andy beside her.  She snuggled up to Andy's warmth considering her reply, when the sound of gunfire reached them.  Motionless and nose-to-nose, they listened to the increasing rate of fire.

"That's coming from the direction Sam went," Andy said, after he
had leaned out of the cab to better hear where the sounds came from.

"We need to find a way to see wh
at's going on," Jennifer said, as she floor-boarded the truck out across the field.  When they arrived at a gate she asked Andy to open it and leave it open.  After passing through the gateway she turned toward a high spot in the pasture that allowed a view of the two county roads that led to town.

Once there they got out and saw that the intersection of the two roads had been blocked by a four-door pickup
, parked in the middle of it.  The Sheriff's vehicle that Sam had been driving was stopped at an angle, thirty yards away from the blocked intersection, with the front of it angling into the ditch alongside the road.

From their vantage point they could see four men lying prone, and taking cover
, behind the pickup that blocked the crossroads.  Alternately, the men were rolling out far enough to shoot in Sam's direction, and then ducking back for cover.  Andy and Jennifer couldn't see Sam, but could hear shots coming from the front of the stopped Sheriff's vehicle.  They did see the impact of Sam's bullets on the pickup the men used for cover; the tires were flat, and liquid leaked from under the engine compartment.

Andy looked at Jennifer and said, "Since we're behind them, if I can sneak within shotgun range
, I think I can make them drop their weapons."

"What if they don't?  You ready to shoot them?"

"Time to find out.  You get ready to take off in the truck to get to your Dad if this doesn't work, okay?"

"No Andy—"

"Jennifer, we don't have time.  Sam has four guys shooting at him, he needs our help,
now
."  Andy pulled her into a tight hug, kissing her passionately, but briefly.  Then he was off, hunching over and moving as fast as he could, trying to keep his balance across the icy field.  He racked a round into the chamber, as quietly as possible, as he progressed across the frozen pasture, taking advantage of any concealment he could find.

A few minutes later Andy slid under the fence
, and estimated his distance to the men behind the vehicle at less than fifty yards.  Andy stood up and fired a round into the cab windows of the truck, showering the area with glass, and immediately pumped in another round yelling, "Drop your weapons."

Two of the men nearest Andy, at the front tire, locked up and didn't move; at the rear tire one of the men rolled over
, firing a pistol at Andy.  The roll had put him even closer to his partner, and Andy fired back knowing both men were in the pattern of the shot; without thought he pumped and fired again.  Then, after loading the next round, he hesitated on the trigger.  Seeing the men he had shot at on their backs facing skyward, he shifted his aim to the other two men.  They remained prone on their backs with their hands above their bodies, watching Andy intently.

"Sam," Andy hollered at the top of his voice, never taking his eyes off the prone attackers.
"You alright?"

"Andy?"

"Yeah."

"I'm hit, what's the status of the shooters?"

"Two down, shot and bleeding.  The other two dropped their weapons and have their hands in the air."

"Good. 
If any of them so much as blinks, shoot them; and keep shooting till they stop moving.  Can you get to their weapons?"

"No.  But I hear Jennifer coming in the one-ton; when she gets here we can do that.  How badly are you bleeding?"

"I'm okay for now."

"I'm here," Jennifer said
, jumping out of the truck and coming up behind Andy.

Andy kept the shotgun on the two men, he didn't know where all their weapons were
, and didn't want to approach until he did.  "I want you two to stand up, one at a time, one nearest me first.  Do it!  Assume the position—lean against the truck and spread your legs.  Now, you on the ground, do the same."

Andy gave Jennifer the shotgun and approached the two, car
efully keeping out of her line of fire, while picking up a pistol and an AR-15.  He pulled and then reinserted the AR's magazine, making sure it held rounds, and then he fired one in the air verifying the weapon was functional.

"What was that?" Sam hollered.

"A test, now both Jennifer and I are armed, but I only have two weapons here with four men," Andy answered.

"You check under the men that are down?"

"I'll do that now."

"Be careful, but not gentle," Sam said.

"Okay, now I've found four weapons and one dead body, one about to be."

"Jennifer, can you come over here while Andy watches them?"

"On the way."

Jennifer crossed the road and found Sam lying in a pool of steaming engine coolant
, under the front of the now well-ventilated Sheriff's vehicle.  She could see the red blood, dripping from a wound in his leg, was mixing with the green-colored pool of antifreeze, staining it orange.

"Now we'll see how much I learned from that first-aid course you taught," she said
, as she approached him with a look of concern that belied her attempt at humor.

"First, in the back of my rig there's a blue duffle bag w
ith a bunch of zip-ties in it for handcuffs.  Take those to Andy, have him cinch those down tight on their wrists, behind their backs, and then search them again for knives or any other weapons."

Jennifer went back to Andy and relayed Sam's instructions, adding, "I'll cover you while you do it, okay?"

She watched as Andy commanded the two unwounded men back onto their bellies.  Once they were on the ground he approached them, again being careful to stay out of Jennifer's line of fire.  First, he secured each man's hands, and then he put zip-ties around the men's ankles.  After Andy had secured the wounded man in the same manner, the need to hurry and help Sam overcame Jennifer's patience and she said, "Please hurry.  We need to help Sam."

"Okay, I don't think we need to worry about these guys, but we still need to keep an eye on them; I didn't search them for anything other than obvious weapons."

"Agreed, Sam is bleeding and we don't have time."

When they got
to Sam they decided to stop the bleeding and move him out of the wet conditions in the pool of antifreeze, before he went into shock or hypothermia.

Andy re
moved Sam's duty belt, stripped the gear off of it, and wrapped it around a towel Jennifer found in the back of Sam's vehicle.  With the belt and a handful of zip-ties, they bandaged the mid thigh entry and exit wounds on Sam's left leg.  Sam's ragged breathing, forced through his clinched teeth, was the only indication of the pain it caused him.

"Jennifer, how about you bring the flatbed over here while I help him up.  Then we'll get him to the house to warm him up and treat his leg."

"Okay."

While she was gone Sam paled noticeably and started to shake from the cold, or shock, or both.  Andy told him of their plan
, and he just nodded with his jaw clamped as he dealt with the pain.

"Back of my r-rig, cat litter-r for traction," Sam said, shivering.
"Gather all the weapons, from my r-rig too, leave nothing."

Andy could hear sounds of Jennifer
maneuvering the one-ton.  Soon she came rushing up, arms wide out for balance, "It's as close as I could get it.  What's next?"

"I'll help Sam up on the flatbed while you gather up all the weapons, including the ones in Sam's truck, anythin
g that could be used against us.  Then you drive us to the house."