Apocalypse in the Homeland: The Adventures of John Harris (14 page)

“There are over 50 ARs, numerous large caliber hunting rifles, shotguns and pistols.”

“John, this was the best gun shop in the area. People drove down here just to see the guns and shop for accessories even if they didn’t need the latest and greatest AR.”

“Load it up and let’s get back home.”

They were halfway done when there was a loud explosion southwest of their location followed by three more massive explosions.

Tom looked up and yelled, “That’s over by our new home.”

John scanned the skyline and saw a large black cloud rising into the air from the direction of their compound and said, “Drop what you’re doing and let’s go back home.”

Just then, Tom’s walkie talkie squawked and a voice said, “Help, everything just blew up.”

***

“Tim, the guards are dead.”

“Good bring up the trucks and aim them into the garage doors and set the timers for three minutes. Put them in drive and shove the gas pedal down with the steel rod just as we practiced. Now jump in the ditch.”

They watched as the trucks sped the last 50 feet to their targets.

“The dynamite covered by a ton of nuts and bolts will kill them all.”

Two of the trucks turned slightly and hit the outside wall, but the other two crashed through the street level garage doors and disappeared inside the warehouse. Just a few seconds later the trucks exploded in massive fireballs firing shrapnel in all directions. The two that stayed outside blew an enormous hole in the warehouse wall that completely obliterated the office area. The two that penetrated the warehouse blew the roof into the air and deposited the remains all over the land around the area.

Tim Woods had ducked during the explosion, but climbed out of the ditch and was laughing at how the explosions were much larger than he expected.

“Damn, you might have to settle for an arm or a leg of a woman. I don’t think anyone lived through that blast.”

They started walking towards the damaged building when gunfire erupted from several of the doors and the large hole in the building. They were caught by surprise, 12 men were killed and 4 wounded in seconds.

“Get back in the ditch. They’re killing us.”

“Hank, take what’s left of your men and attack from the back of the building. We’ll keep them busy out here.”

Tim still had over thirty men who could fight and he thought that there could be only a few lucky survivors in the building. He was right, but the six remaining ones were pissed and well armed.

***

They were on the road in minutes and everyone was armed to the teeth with extra M4s, 1911 Colts and 12 gauge riot guns. They were driving much faster than the trip up to Lockwood since they had cleared many of the cars that had blocked Highway 90. They arrived at the warehouse complex in just half an hour, but John made them stop behind the closest building so they could recon the area instead of blindly charging into the ongoing battle. They heard the gunfire and saw the enemy firing at the warehouse from a ditch about halfway between their location and warehouse home.

“Men, they will cut us to pieces if we try to charge their position without any cover. Let’s attach those two dumpsters to the front of two of the trucks and use them for cover as we advance. Our people are dying, so hurry.”

They quickly found it was much easier to tie the dumpsters to the back of the pickups after a short trial and error exercise. Then they started backing the trucks around the corner of the building and steered towards the thugs. The thugs saw the dumpsters moving towards them and started firing on them. John and Tom were lying on top of the dumpster on the right and Paul and Walt were in the one on the left. The rest of the men were shooting from the sides of the containers as they walked beside them.

The thugs had dropped below the edge of the ditch and could not be seen.

John yelled, “They are trying to escape.”

He and Tom stood up and could see the thugs crawling on their bellies trying to make it to a drainage pipe that ran under the parking lot. They were only a few feet from the pipe when John and Tom started firing.

“Kill the bastards before they get away.”

They stopped all but two of the thugs, however those two crawled into the pipe and escaped.

John stuck his MP15 into the large opening and fired off two full magazines before giving up.

“I might not have killed them, but their ears will be ringing for a month. Paul, take your men and go to the back of the warehouse and we’ll go in from the front.”

They pushed the dumpsters around the ditch and advanced on the warehouse as fast as the drivers could keep the dumpsters on line. There were no more shots fired and they quickly arrived at the large opening created by the blast.

There were only five men and one woman guarding the front of the building. John had seen all of them before, but didn’t know them.

Tom walked up to them and said, “Harry, how many are still alive and how many wounded?”

Harry had a dazed look on his face and shrugged his shoulders. He had a wound on his left side and three of the others were wounded.

John asked, “Has anyone seen Kristen?”

Tom joined in, “Has any one seen my wife, Brenda?”

This was met by shrugs and blank stares.

John tore off into the warehouse with Tom and Paul following him.

They found several wounded people and carried them out to a trailer in the parking lot that was being set up as a jury rigged hospital. They went in several times and found most of their friends dead. Many were in the aisles running to the front to confront the attackers when the bombs exploded. The bodies were shredded from the impact of hundreds of nuts and bolts from the bombs.

Tom finally heard a weak voice coming from under a trailer on the far front side.

“John, Paul, there’s someone under this trailer. I think it’s Brenda.”

They removed some debris and pulled her out from under the trailer. She had several wounds and a broken arm.

She tried to talk a couple of times and finally said, “Kristen is under……”

John crawled under the trailer, moved several large pieces of sheet metal and found Kristen. He called for Paul and they gently slid her along the floor until they got her clear of the trailer. She also had several shrapnel wounds and a gash on the side of her head. She was breathing, but had a weak pulse.

“Kristen, you are going to be okay. We’ll get you medical help and you’ll be back on your feet in no time.”

“Jim, I love you. Please don’t let me die.”

She closed her eyes and lay limp in John’s arms. He knew that they didn’t have a doctor and had to get her to one quickly. Cody had a doctor.

“Tom, we have to get her to a doctor or she will die. Brenda also needs better medical attention than we have to offer. Let’s go to Cody now. There is a doctor there and we can join my team and be safe for a change.”

There were only thirteen adults and six kids left from the community and they all wanted to travel to Cody as John recommended.

“Tom and I are going to leave now to get the women to a doctor. We have three trucks loaded with food, weapons and ammo from our scavenging trip so load up what you can find on the other trucks and follow us to Cody as fast as you can.”

John walked out to the parking lot and selected an old ’49 F1 panel van to haul Brenda and Kristen to Cody. He fired the customized truck up and drove over to them. Paul fetched a large mattress from one of the trailers and placed it in the back of the van. They carefully loaded the women into the van and prepared to leave.

“John, we gassed up the trucks and are ready to go all together. The trucks are loaded down and they won’t hold much more. Let’s go. It’s about a hundred miles to Cody and it could take four hours or four days depending on the road conditions.”

John and Tom decided they should be in the middle of the convoy since they had the wounded and less ability to assist in case they were attacked. Paul and two more armed men were leading the convoy in an ATV and were staying a half mile in front of the rest in case there was a roadblock or ambush. They were traveling at a good pace and had already gotten off Highway 90 onto Highway 310. They were averaging 45 mph due to stalled cars and one stop to make sure the coast was clear when they approached the city of Laurel, which was traversed without issue. They were now cruising at 55 mph on the two lane road without any problems. People in the country pulled their cars off the road when the engines died. Those damn city people just coasted to a halt in the middle of the streets and highways.

John looked back at the lady attending to Kristen and Brenda and realized that he didn’t know her name. He had become the leader of this group and didn’t know her name. It bothered him. Kristen’s head was just behind Tom’s seat and John reached back and stroked her hair.

“Ma'am, how is Kristen doing?”

“Jim, she’s in bad shape. I’ve stopped the bleeding from the shrapnel wounds in her legs, but she must have a concussion from the wound on her head. She won’t wake up and her eyes are dilated. It doesn’t look good. She’s alive and that’s all we can count on for now.”

“Thanks.”

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✼

Chapter 17

The morning sun was just peaking above the hills chasing away the last vestiges of night. Beth had sweatpants and a hoodie on since it was still early spring. While the days were warming up, the nights were still just above freezing. She sipped her coffee and wondered how she could survive without John. The team was taking care of her, but she knew that she would eventually have to find a mate to survive up here in this wilderness. If only she could get back to Mobile and her family. John had been missing for over two months and everyone else thought he was dead. Beth was sure she would never see him again and was ready to have Jan introduce her brother. She had seen him on several occasions and thought that he was good looking and everyone liked him. He was a mild manned guy that had a small ranch on the outskirts of town.

Janet saw Beth and was almost afraid to talk to her. Beth had been grumpy and a bit sarcastic since the loss of the baby.

Janet swallowed and asked, “Hello Beth, how are you doing this morning?"

“Oh, Janet. Please join me. Isn’t this such a beautiful morning? I love to watch the sunrise, don’t you?”

“Yes, it’s the best time of the day.”

Janet sat down beside Beth and they chatted for several minutes when Beth said, “I know that I’ve been a bitch since I lost the baby, but the old me is back. I now know that I must shake off the bad and find some good in life. John is dead and I must move on.”

“That is great. I’m glad that you are in better spirits, but don’t you think it’s a bit early to give up on John?”

“That’s what I have been thinking for months, but let’s faces the truth. John loves our children and me and would fight and kill every bad guy on earth to get back to us. No, he’s dead. That’s the only thing that explains him not coming back to me.”

“What are you going to do?”

“How well do you know Jan’s brother? Jan has been trying to fix me up with him. His wife died when the lights went out and he has a cute ten year old daughter. He has his own ranch and can certainly provide for his daughter and me.”

“Beth, I don’t know him, but he is well thought of in town. I want you to be happy, but don’t marry the first guy that comes along.”

“Dear, there are two to three women for every man in this new world. I don’t think that I can be overly picky. No wife beaters, drug addicts or alcoholics and I should do fine.”

“Damn, this new world takes getting used to.”

“I know. I miss my phone, TV and movies.”

“I meant life without John.”

***

The trip had mainly consisted of dodging stalled cars and a few thugs trying to rob them along the way. The groups of three to four thugs were quickly shot and the convoy barely slowed down. They were only 20 miles from Cody, but Tom wanted to check out the Powell hospital. They made it to Powell by noon and drove off route to check out the hospital and found a couple of doctors and nurses still treating people. The doctors agreed to examine the women only if they were paid up front in food, weapons and ammunition.

“What happened to that oath that doctors adhere to?”

“Sorry, but you can’t feed or protect your family with an oath. We tried treating everyone for free and were starving. We were attacked a couple of times when the patient died. You are lucky to have travelled through town without being robbed. The gangs own Powell.”

They unloaded the women, took them into the hospital and hid their vehicles from view.

John asked Paul to post guards while he and Tom waited on the doctor to work on their women.

“Tom, we need to talk these people into moving to Cody where we can protect them and then come back and wipe out the gangs.”

“I thought you would be hell bent to get back to the ISA.”

“This country has been part of the ISA since my plane crashed. I am the president of the ISA and my team that you've heard about consisted of my wife, Beth, one of our governors and my security team. We planned to annex this area early next year due to the low population, but I plan to send several groups up here to train ya’ll how to build your own state militia. The rangers and 82
nd
Airborne units will be able to wipe out all of the large gangs and train you to handle the smaller groups of thugs and criminals.”

“John, are you sure that the hit to your head didn’t affect your memory? You are kind of rough and tough to be a president, aren’t you?”

That’s what I told Admiral Jones when he appointed me to the job. His reply was that we need good men who are honest and tough enough to clean up the country and stand up to the old USA’s tyranny. That’s exactly why I think you will be great at the job. Hell neither of us will what the country needs once we get rid of the bad guys, however, we do need men and women who aren’t afraid of killing every gang member and thug. Damn the political correctness and whining liberal scumbags who coddled criminals and paid people to vote with government handouts."

“I can’t speak for everyone, but I’d like that for my family and friends.”

“I’d like for you to be the area’s first governor to serve until the area is stable and we can have elections.”

“I don’t know if I can handle all of that bureaucracy.”

“There won’t be much of that crap. We adhere strictly to the Constitution and stay out of local business as long as you obey the Constitution. Our government only has a few admin type people, all others actually work for a living. We won’t have all of those Departments of BS that tried to run roughshod over the people. We want to be good stewards of our environment and treat people right, but we don’t need millions of Federal Government people on the dole telling you what to do."

“I’m in.”

They had been waiting for over two hours when the head doctor came back in the waiting room.

“Tom, Brenda is going to be fine and her arm will be recovered in six to eight weeks. I wish I had better news concerning Kristen. We don’t have real surgeons here and did the best we can, but she had five major shrapnel wounds. We removed four and repaired the damage the best we could, however the fifth penetrated her skull and punctured her brain. We removed it and repaired the area as much as possible. Only time will tell if she will live and if she does live, will she ever wake up from the coma?”

Tears came to his eyes as he thanked the doctor.

“John, is this your wife?”

“No, but she is very special to me and our family. We need to travel on to Cody. How soon can we move her? Cody will be much safer for her and the rest of our people. Ya’ll should come with us.”

“I’d wait a couple of days. Great idea. We were going to ask if your group could use some doctors and nurses.”

This started John on his speech about the ISA and how the area would soon be under its control and the thugs dealt with.

***

Beth slowly worked up the nerve to tell Jan that she wanted to meet her brother and see what happens.

“Jan, why hasn’t he taken another wife before now? There are many women who would love to live on that ranch with him.”

“He is finally over the death of his wife and son. Some thugs caught them away from the house, killed the boy, then raped and killed her. He found them and killed all three of the SOBs.”

“I’m sorry for his loss and would like you to introduce us.”

“Come to my house tonight for supper and you two can chat and see if there is any interest.”

The dinner was excellent and Beth and Phil went outside to sit on the deck. There was no moon and the black sky framed the millions of stars. Both sat for a while, too bashful to strike up a conversation.

Beth looked at Phil and said, “What’s your daughter’s name?”

“Rose. She is ten as of last month. She is very smart and asks so many questions that I can’t answer.”

“I’d like to meet her.”

“Do you have any children?”

“Yes, I have two girls and a boy. Kristie is 17, Randy is 15 and Jenn is 1. I also have little Gus and Lindsey who we found on the side of the road south of Nashville and adopted. I miss them so much. They are safe in Mobile.”

“Why are you up here in Wyoming?”

“My husband was an official with the ISA and we were flying from San Diego to Mobile when our plane was hijacked and then crashed when we fought to take back control of the plane.”

“What is the ISA?”

Beth gave him a brief update on the ISA and the world events outside of Wyoming.

“Wow, who would have thought that our own president would nuke his own country. I’m sorry to say that I voted for the socialist bastard. He fooled us all with his promises and charm.”

“Phil, are you ready to move on? Are you over your wife?”

“As much as possible. I miss her, but realize that I have to move on with my life. How about you?”

“I am grieving, but also know that in these times one has to suck it up and move on quickly or die.”

“Ranch life can be very hard, but I think it has many more rewards than problems.”

“Phil, hard work and struggling to survive won’t scare me off. I want a man who will treat me as an equal and do his fair share making a life. Love is great and if it happens my life will be much better, but I have to be realistic that alone I won’t survive.”

He laughed and said, “So you need to choose the best of the worst.”

She punched him in the ribs and replied, “That’s not what I mean. I would like to go on dates to nice restaurants, walk along the beach and get to know you, but we just made the jump back to the 1870’s where marriage and family means survival if we all pull together.”

“I was just kidding, but we think alike. How about going on a picnic with Rose and me to one of my favorite places?”

“I’d like that. We need to see how Rose reacts to another woman in her life.”

“I must tell you that my wife was a Lakota Sioux Indian and Rose is half Indian.”

“That’s not a problem. My two adopted children are black, as is our vice president and several of our governors in the ISA. Race is not an issue in our new country.”

***

Steve and Joel were interrupted by a call from the guards on the northeast side of town. A convoy of trucks had approached the town on Alternate Highway 14. They stopped and waved white flags and asked to see Steve Jones.

“Did they say who they were?”

“Yes, the man said that he was John Harris and he was a representative of the ISA.”

“Well let’s go out and meet this man claiming to be our fearless leader and good friend. Move some snipers into locations that can cover us. Be prepared for anything.”

Steve and Joel slowly drove up to the convoy prepared to make a run for it if things went south.

They got within 50 feet and Steve recognized John. He had lost weight and had a beard, but it was John.

Steve ran up to John and gave him a big bear hug while exclaiming, “You bastard, we all thought you were dead.”

“Well I am alive and these folks need help and are joining our team. Please have everyone welcome them. It’s good to see you again. Where is Beth?”

Steve thought for a minute and said, “Beth is out of town on an errand. I’ll send for her. Damn it’s good to see you.”

“Have you had any contact with the ISA or Chosen People?”

“None at all. Most of us are resigned to the fact that we are on our own and John Harris is dead. We have started mixing in with the locals and making our home right here in Cody.”

“Well I am heading back to Mobile once I get rested up and we get our friends recuperated. I’ll tell you about the last few months over dinner once I find Beth.”

John shook hands and hugged his team as they came to see him rise for the dead.

“I have to see Beth first and then I’m going to tell you about my last few months. I also will be introducing the people that I lived with in Billings, Montana. I have become very close to these people and I want you to welcome them into our group.”

***

Phil had three horses saddled and ready to go when Beth arrived at his ranch. He introduced her to Rose, and they hit it off right away. They rode north to a place on the river with a stand of trees and a sandy beach. They ate and Rose went down to the water to play. The water was still very cold so she played in the sand on the beach.

“I’m glad that you two are getting along so well. It’s not easy to blend two families together.”

“I was lucky John only had one boy, Scott, who was grown and my kids love him more than they cared for their deadbeat father.”

Phil reached over and held Beth’s hand and soon she was in his arms just watching Rose play.