America's Sunset: A Post Apocalyptic Fight for Survival (20 page)

“I did wonder, when most of my old squad went missing, it felt like something was wrong. We weren’t that close after we came home, but we did have the occasional communication. When everyone disappeared, it seemed like something from the movies, so I just dismissed it. Figured it was an overactive imagination. I guess not. So, where are these guys now?”

Maggie looked to Jake, who just shook his head. “No idea,” he replied. “They could be in custody, or they could be on the loose. Like I’ve said, the government doesn’t share a lot with me. My gut reaction is they just stepped in because of the kids. Their primary goal is still the top leaders … not these little guys.”

“We never saw the kidnappers after we got in the government van,” Chase said as he and Veronica joined the group. “They did something with them. They had them tied up, but they never got into the van with us. I figured they just shot them or left them on the side of the road.”

“I sure as hell hope not,” Dawson said. “If the government has resorted to public executions, then things are a lot worse than I thought.”

“It wouldn’t make sense,” Jake said. “At the very least they would have detained them for questioning. So far, they've been content to observe and collect information. Taking real action hasn’t been their approach.”

“Well,” Dawson said. “Nothing like a little urban terrorism and exploding water towers to change the state of things. Maybe now they’re finally doing something.”

Maggie was pacing back and forth during the whole conversation, looking agitated. Finally she spoke up. “We can’t go back to our place. We need to change things.”

“What are you talking about?” Jake said. “The bunker’s all set for us. We’ve got room and supplies for everyone. It’s the best place to be right now.”

“I know you’re not going to like hearing this, Jake,” Maggie replied, “but that’s exactly what these terrorists will expect us to do. They’ve already scoped out our place, that’s obvious from the shots they took at us. We don’t know if they know about the bunker or not. We don’t even know if they’ve been taken into custody or if there are others. If we go back there, we could be walking into a disaster.”

“I don’t want to go home if those men are going to take us away again,” Veronica said, her voice filled with fear. Dawson picked her up and held her.

Maggie continued. “We need to do something they won’t expect, and go somewhere they won’t expect us to be.”

“Maggie,” Jake pleaded. “Don’t you think you’re overreacting? What about our kids? They’re going to expect us to be at home, at the bunker. If we’re not there …”

“If we’re not there, they’ll know exactly what to do. We raised smart kids that know how to take care of themselves. They know about the bunker … probably more about it than I did.” She looked at Jake, who didn’t disagree with her. “They’ll hunker down and wait for us. If those goons are watching the place, they won’t know who they are. They’re not looking for them anyways. They’re looking for Dawson. When we don’t show up there, they’ll start looking elsewhere.” Jake just shook his head. He knew there was logic to her argument, and she was right about their kids. “At least for a few days to get our wits about us. Long enough for us to get a plan of our own together.”

“We should get a few things first.” Dawson said. “If we're going to be away for a while, it makes sense to stock up.” Maggie looked skeptical. “It won't take long. Trust me. We’ll be in and out of the bunker in no time.”

Chapter 36 ~ The Calvary

The transport rolled down the road unabated, as Ahmed struggled with his restraints and Harish resigned himself. The agents sitting across from them weren’t talking. Harish let Ahmed do the talking. Not that it helped. Ahmed had given up asking questions half an hour ago when it was clear the agents weren’t going to respond. Even Ahmed’s struggling with his restraints was more a display of defiance than an escape attempt. What was he going to do? Overpower half a dozen armed guards and dive from a moving vehicle? The big agent with the long non-regulation hair cut couldn’t hide his amusement with Ahmed’s struggles. Ahmed didn’t seem to care.

“We’re going to spend the rest of our lives rotting in a prison cell Ahmed, stop wasting your energy. You’re only making a fool of yourself in front of these clowns.” The big agent shot a menacing look at Harish. “What?” Harish fired back as menacingly as he could. “You know it’s true. This country is heading back into the dark ages. You’ll barely be able to keep your fat elite upper crust population alive, let alone prisoners of the state. If I were you, I’d be more concerned about yourself and your family, then taking us wherever it is we’re going.” The agent looked away from Harish, determined not to engage. Harish turned his anger back towards his brother. “I never should have listened to you in the first place. At least back home, I would have had a chance. Maybe not a great one, but I’m street smart enough. I knew how to lay low and avoid the wrong people. Which for the record included cops, like these idiots here.” He shrugged towards the agents, who spoke quietly amongst themselves.

Ahmed stopped struggling, and turned to smile at Harish. “How many times do I have to tell you about having little faith brother?”

“You need to stop with that Ahmed. Are you totally oblivious to our situation? Faith isn’t going to change any of this. We’re practically dead and buried.”

“Dead, in the holy war against these infidels? Dead in a struggle that will only bring us to a higher glory?”

“Yea. Maybe.”

“Faith Harish, faith. You shouldn’t disparage Allah so quickly. He knows our purpose.”

“I just wasn’t ready for it to come today. That’s all. Maybe you’re right, and maybe we will end up in a better place, I just didn’t want for it to be today.”

Ahmed grinned and motioned for Harish to look out the front window. “You’ll get your wish for today Harish. That I can assure you. Our war is far from over.”

Their van slowed, as Harish looked through the windshield. The road was blocked, and littered with vehicles and a dozen or so men with bandannas covering their faces. They carried military grade weapons big enough to take out a tank. In the rear view mirrors, Harish could see more vehicles moving in to block the way they had come.

“Allah will provide.” Ahmed said. “Praise be to Allah.”

Chapter 37 ~ Back Door

Given the recent circumstances, the drive back home was remarkably quiet. The kids and Dawson relaxed in the back.

Maggie broke the silence. “We need to stop. Now!”

“But we’re almost there.” Chase protested. “I can see the house from here.”

“Jake, stop the truck here please.” Maggie put a hand on his shoulder. “I have a bad feeling about this. Call it female intuition, or just plain crazy, but this feels like a bad idea.”

Jake pulled over by the side of the road. “What’s on your mind?” He asked looking openly at Maggie.

“I think … I think it wouldn’t hurt to be cautious. Right? Maybe I’m wrong, and there’s no reason to worry about coming back here, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be cautious. Let’s not go barging back in, like it’s business as usual. A lot of things have changed.”

Dawson piped up. “It makes sense. We could send a few of us in on foot, just to check things out. See if there’s anyone around that shouldn’t be. Our world is not business as usual any more, so there’s no reason why we should be.”

Both the kids were hanging on Dawson’s every word. He looked back and forth at them. Veronica’s eyes showed fear, and Chase was doing his best not to show anything, but his head nodded no.

Sensing their concern, Dawson offered another suggestion. “On the other hand, maybe we should just stick together. I’ve spent more than enough time separated from these two.” Dawson could feel Chase and Veronica’s bodies relax. “Is there a back door into the bunker? One that nobody would know about?”

“Of course.” Jake answered. “We can walk there from here.”

Twenty minutes later, they were creeping through the wooded area behind Jake and Maggie’s property.

“Isn’t this about where the sniper would have been shooting at us from?” Maggie asked.

“It is actually.” Jake answered. “Whoever was doing the shooting, was closer to a jackpot than they realized.”

“We should be able to get a good vantage point from here to the house.” Dawson said. “If I could get up high enough, I’d be able to survey the property without being seen.”

“Good idea.” Maggie said. “If the sniper had a clear shot at us, I’d bet it was from that tree over there.”

Dawson made his way up the tree, while everyone else remained concealed. A few minutes later he came back, looking unimpressed.

“I made out at least a dozen armed men on the property. None I recognized, but I’m pretty sure they’re not good people. Definitely not police or federal.”

“What the hell?” Jake said. He motioned in the direction of the back door.“Are any of them in that area?”

“I didn’t see any, but I’m not sure I spotted everyone.” Dawson answered. “They’re searching in a pattern, and moving in this direction. Even if we managed to get into the bunker, we might be spotted.”

“Do we or don’t we have time to make it?” Jake asked. Maggie shot him a look of concern.

“We might. We might not. If they caught us between here and there, we’d be sunk. They’re heavily armed, we’re not. Plus, there’s a lot more of them. Who knows what they want.”

“We can’t take the risk.” Maggie said. “Think about the kids Jake. They’ve been through enough already.” Jake hesitated. “Look, I understand what this place means to you Hon, but it’s pointless if we’re not alive to use it. We can come back. Let these guys poke around, and do their thing. When they don’t find anything, they’ll give up. Eventually.”

“I’m with her.” Chase said. “If these are some of the same guys that took us, I don’t want to have to spend another second with them. They were scary enough the first time.”  Veronica, with a closed mouth, nodded adamantly in agreement.

The sound of approaching voices startled all of them. They were speaking Arabic. Maggie whispered sternly “
lets go”
, and immediately started making her way back to the truck. It wasn’t a question up for discussion, as they all followed.

Chapter 38 ~ On the Road

“I don’t care what you think is best for him, or if you think you’re going to lose your job and hurt his damn feelings or something. We need to do this. It’s not a question of maybe or maybe not. We need to get out of here. It’s no longer safe. You’ve seen what those assholes are capable of. I don’t know where they came from, but the bunker has been compromised. That thing was never designed to be a fortress built to keep out the army, or terrorists, or anyone really hungry enough and determined enough to get in. In time, anyone could. That place was supposed to be secret. We need to move and get to higher ground. If you can’t ask him, then I will,” Jake said.

“Look, I get that you’re pissed. I would be too, if I’d lost what was mine, but there’s got to be a better way of doing this. We can’t just throw the guy off his land. Have we really sunk that low already?” Dawson said.

“We don’t have to throw him out, he just has to cede some control of the property to us. He won’t be able to take care of it on his own for much longer. Not the way things have changed around here. For all you know, he may be grateful for the extra help. He needed you just to keep things going, and you haven’t been there in a while.”

“He may want help,” Dawson agreed, “but he sure wouldn’t admit to it. That’s his land. That’s the only thing he has. It’s been in the family for generations. He’s barely holding on now, with the big outfit in Dallas trying to pull it out from under him.”

“Whether he wants help or not, he’s going to get it. We need some place. Who knows how many more of these desert rats are going to start showing up. We need to regroup. Everyone’s pretty shaken up. They could all use a good night’s sleep in a safe place.”

“I know, I know. Let’s do this. Let’s go talk to him.”

They weren’t the only ones on the road these days. The majority of the people they passed on the way were hiking back into town. People instinctively wanted the support and comfort of others when things started to go bad. Crowds can be comforting to some. Even if they’re not family. It’s why we like cities. We’re drawn to them. At times like this when people are desperate, being in a crowd can be dangerous. People will turn on you if they think you’re standing between them and survival. It’s ironic that our survival instinct to seek out the comfort of others can actually get us in a lot of trouble.

They drove through the front gates of Bert’s farm just as daylight was breaking. Bert was already up and doing chores. He saw the group led by Dawson making his way down the road. He grabbed the shotgun from the kitchen table and made his way out the door and down the road to meet them.

“Been wondering where you’ve been the last few days, Dawson. You’re behind on getting things done around here,” Bert said.

Dawson eyed the shotgun in Bert’s arms. “Yeah, about that. We need to talk, Bert. About a few things.”