Home: A Stranded Novel (8 page)

“I don’t know what they are going to use that for. I can’t see these guys caring about more housing for our people so maybe it’s for food storage. They will need somewhere to put the harvest when it comes in. What I do know is that it won’t matter. We are going to take these bastards out and I think I have an idea on how to do that!”

Emily smiled at Alex’s fierce expression. “Well, pull up a piece of trough and fill me in!”

Alex sat down and thought for a minute before explaining. “Ok
ay, so far it looks like there are six guards at each farm. We will have to see what Josh and David find out but let’s just say I’m right. Cooper was told that there are around sixty bad guys in the gang so we have twenty four on the farms and we took out seven on the highway leaving twenty nine or thirty still in town. That’s still way too many for us to take on so we have to get that number down. Follow me so far?” At Emily’s nod, she continued. “Okay, so Dr. Mack said the guards rotate out on Sunday when they take everyone to town. What if on Saturday night we take out the guards on each farm? There’s only six at each place so we should be able to manage that many with all of us. Now here’s the tricky part. We need to make it look like those guards all took off. When no one shows up in town on Sunday, they will either send a couple guys out to find out what’s going on or they will send the whole guard rotation. Either way works for us. We fill our people in on the plan and split up all the guns we have between the farms. Our people will need to stay locked in the barns and pretend that they were locked in and left there when the first group of guards took off. If only a few guys come out to check on them, then they play possum until the six man team comes out. Once the full team is back in place then our people spring the trap and take them out. So let’s do the math. The first group of twenty four guards, the second group of twenty four guards and the seven we took out on the high-way leaving how many in town?”

Emily was nodding. “Five
.”

“That’s right, five
bad guys against the eight of us and all the freed people from the farms.” Alex finished.

Emily thought about it for a minute before responding
, “Okay. Here’s the flip side of that. They managed to take over our whole town and have kept control for just over a month so whoever is in charge is not stupid. He might believe that something happened to his guys on the road or that they took off but is he going to believe that twenty-four of his men just took off? Doubtful. Next, say they
are
idiots and the first part of the plan works perfectly. Now there are five very desperate bad guys in town with most of the women and children as hostages. What’s to stop them from killing them one by one until the town surrenders again?”

Alex scowled in frustration. “Damn it! We need to know what’s happening in town. Hopefully Cooper and Dara will get some good info and we will be able to figure that out. All I can come up with is infiltration.” At Emily’s confused expression
, she explained, “While everything is going down out on the farms, the eight of us are in town. The girls find a way to get into the school with weapons and the boys take up positions around the school. We take out whoever is in the school from the inside and then lock it down to keep the women and kids safe. The boys take out anyone outside of the school. Anyway, it’s just a rough idea for now. Run it by the others when you get back to base and we will see what the others found out today.”

Emily frowned at the reminder that Alex was going on a solo mission. She realized that it was getting late in the afternoon and if she wanted to get to base and back before Alex made her move
then they’d have to get a move on. She stood up and shouldered her pack.

“Come on. Let’s get out of here. We still have to make it back across the fields
, and if you’re going to get to Mrs. Moore’s house and then back by dark, we have to move it.”

“You
're right, let’s take a scan around in all directions before we move out,” Alex agreed.

They scanned all the directions around them and made the quick dash back down the rise. Once they were through the fence they backtracked the way they had come and were quickly
back in the half-cover of the gully. The trip back seemed to take a fraction of the time now that they weren’t anxious about what they would discover. They made the last dash to the tree line without seeing anyone and both of the girls found comfort being back in the cool, dim protection of the forest. When they made it back to the clearing where they had lunch, they dropped their packs and drank from their water bottles. A quick snack of beef jerky was had in silence. Alex’s thoughts were back on her father and the medicine he desperately needed. Emily was plotting the fastest route back to the bikes. She didn’t have to backtrack the way they had come this morning so she would make better time getting back. She was dreading Quinn and Josh’s reaction when they found out what her stubborn best friend had planned.

The girls stood and embraced each other before pulling apart. Emily yanked Alex’s cap further down on her head.

“Keep your head down and be safe!”

Alex nodded and held up her hand for a slap.
“Cake!”

Emily slapped her palm.
“Pie!”

And with a cheeky grin
, they both said, “Don’t split!”

Once again
, the best friends split up in this dangerous, new world.

Alex took a deep breath of the cool moist air in the trees. This was her favorite time of year in the forest. Everything was new and green, but the mosquito population hadn’t exploded into a flying menace yet. She moved quickly and with confidence down the familiar trail. She knew the exact route to take that would get her closest to Mrs. Moore’s house without having to leave the trees. She wondered if anyone had looted her teacher’s home and felt a pang of sadness at not knowing her fate. She smiled to herself as she pictured the formidable older woman. If anyone could survive in the city, it would be Mrs. Moore. It was hard not to dwell on the state of the world and how nothing would ever be the same, but she pushed those thoughts away and tried to stay focused on her own little piece of the world and what needed to be done. She was relieved to know her father was alive but her mind kept going to her mom and what she was going through. How hard it must be for the people trapped in town, not knowing what was happening to their husbands. She prayed that the men holding them weren’t abusing the women and the rage that flashed through her at the thought had her quickening her pace.

As Alex approached the next road she had to cross, she slowed down and listened for any sounds that would alert her to danger. Hearing only the birds in the trees
, she stepped out of the trees and looked both ways. As soon as she saw that it was clear, she dashed out and jumped over the ditch and across the road and into the trees on the other side. She wasn’t as familiar with this area, but she knew that there was one house between her and Mrs. Moore’s property. Alex didn’t want to approach the houses from the front so she planned on circling around behind them and coming from the rear. That way she could stay in the trees and watch the house before getting closer.

It only took a few minutes for her to see the first house through the trees and she paused to listen for any noises. Hearing nothing
, she continued on until she saw the outline of a shed behind Mrs. Moore’s home. Keeping the shed between her and the house, she moved closer to the tree line and the backyard. Kneeling behind a bush, she scanned the ground behind the shed looking for the cellar doors that Mrs. Moore had told her about. The grass had grown a bit wild and it was hard for Alex to see what she was looking for from her location, so she moved parallel to the yard and took a good long look at the house. Her heart sank when she saw the back door standing open. Someone had been to the house and that meant there was a good chance that all of the supplies had been stolen. She just had to hope that no one had discovered the cellar hidden somewhere behind the shed. Movement caught her eye and she almost laughed when a squirrel scampered out the open door and rose up on its hind legs on the back step. It chittered away for a few seconds before turning and going back into the house. That was all Alex needed to see to know that there were no humans in the house.

Taking one more look around the yard and trees that surrounded the yard, she
rose and walked across the grass to the back door. She climbed the steps and pushed the door open even farther. It was dim, but she could see a mudroom and an open door that led further into the house. On soft feet, she made her way through the mudroom and peeked around the corner into a ransacked kitchen. Hearing no sounds from within, she stepped into the room. All of the cabinet doors were hanging open and most of the drawers had been pulled out and their contents dumped on the floor. There were empty shelves in some of the cabinets and Alex guessed that food had once been stored in them.

Angry squirrel chatter filled the room making Alex turn towards an archway that led to the dining living room combo. She shooed the critter away and inspected each room on the main
floor. The place was a mess and no care had been taken when whoever had searched the place went through it. She had to stop herself from cleaning up the disaster. If anyone came back here it had to remain as they left it.

Once she had cleared the main floor
, she took her flashlight from her pack, and opened the basement door. Alex knew that Mrs. Moore’s supplies would be gone but she felt the need to make certain before she went for the teacher’s backup supplies. She shined her light down the unfinished basement steps and was happy to see that it wasn’t completely black down there. Alex ignored the shudder that ran down her back as countless teen horror movies came to mind. Her head screamed out the classic “don’t go down into the dark basement” line as she stepped down onto the creaky stairs. By the time she made it to the bottom, her heart was pounding and she gave a little laugh at herself when the scariest thing she saw was spilled laundry soap dusting the floor.

The two small windows let enough light in that she didn’t really need her flashlight
, but she kept it clutched in her hand anyway. There wasn’t a lot to see. In one corner was a pair of laundry machines and a small utility shelf with all of its cleaning supplies thrown on the floor. Turning away from it she panned her light on the area furthest from the windows and saw a small sitting area. There was a table with a knocked over sewing machine and some bolts of fabric and that was it. She was disappointed that there was nothing that she could use and turned away to leave but something in the back of her mind made her stop and turn back. She looked over the small area again and frowned. Why was it so small? The laundry and sewing area didn’t even make up half the size of what a basement should be. Mrs. Moore had told her that the basement was full of supplies so where would they have been stored? Other than the utility shelves, the walls were bare. Her teacher wouldn’t have just piled her things on the floor so where was all the shelving or storage containers? Alex scanned the walls more closely looking for another door but came up empty. Three of the walls were bare concrete. The only finished wall was behind the sewing table and it was wallpapered with an ugly pattern. That one wall was so out of place from the rest of the unfinished room that she couldn’t stop looking at it. She finally walked over to it and started to run her hand along it. As soon as she felt the slight bump in the wall, the answer clicked in her head and a grin broke out across her face.

Alex stuffed the flashlight into her pocket and used both hands to feel the wall. It
took only seconds for her to find the second bump and she gave the area between the bumps a fast push. She laughed out loud when the section popped out a few inches and a door was revealed. She shook her head in admiration of her crafty teacher. Someone as prepared as Mrs. Moore wouldn’t have left her valuable supplies laying around for anyone to find.

She pulled the door open and
pointed her flashlight inside. The room was completely blacked out, but her light’s beam showed her five rows of floor to ceiling shelving. As she moved further into the room she could see metal cabinets attached to the walls. Alex opened the first cabinet to her right and shone her light at its contents. Five large battery operated lanterns took up the main shelf so she grabbed one without much hope that it would work. Finding flashlights that worked had been hit or miss for her group and she didn’t really think that the pulse had spared these lanterns. Flicking the switch on, she almost dropped it when bright light pulsed out of it.

Alex was giddy with delight as she tried all five of the lanterns and the room slowly lit up. She sighed sadly that such a small thing as light could give her joy in this new world. Stowing her
now unnecessary flashlight, she explored the rest of the cabinet. The top shelf had two rows of four walkie talkies sitting in bases. She smiled ruefully at them and though about how handy they would be now that cell phones were obsolete. She still unconsciously reached for hers sometimes to dash off a quick text. Alex reached up and pulled one down. It was one thing for a simple lantern to survive the pulse but she knew that the hand held had much more complicated and delicate wiring. Ghosts of the old world had her thumb pushing the dial up on the side and she stared in wonder at the soft green glow as the power button came on and the digital readout that told her it was set to channel one.

After being stunned by what she held in her hand she lunged forward and flipped the switch on all of the handhelds. When eight green eyes glowed back at her
, she closed her eyes and sent prayers and blessings to Mrs. Moore. Alex didn’t know how they had survived the pulse. Maybe it was because they were stored underground or in a metal cabinet, but she really didn’t care. She was so happy she wanted to dance on the spot. Being able to communicate would make things so much easier in their mission to free their town.

After carefully shutting off all the
walkie talkies, she took a lantern and started to take an inventory of everything that was in the room. She kept shaking her head at the sheer amount of goods piled up on the shelves. Rack after rack was filled with dried and canned food. One whole unit held nothing but candles and Sterno fuel cans. When she came to a section that was filled with medical and first aid supplies she huffed out a happy breath. There were many boxes of different sizes of bandages and shallow boxes filled with blister packs of pills. Alex was worried that she wouldn’t know what type of pills her farther would need until she opened one of the pill boxes and saw a four by four inch index card that listed the different ailments that the pills would be used for.

It didn’t take long for her to locate the medicine and painkillers her father would need and she took only enough to treat him and left the rest on the shelf. Mrs. Moore’s words on the import
ance of these supplies had stayed firmly in her head. As much as she felt like a kid on a shopping spree, she knew that these supplies had to be left here for a greater emergency and she had high hopes that Mrs. Moore would someday return home and need them.

Looking over the rest of the medical supplies
, Alex found small trays that had sterilized suture kits and scalpels. She grabbed two and added them to the pills and bandages she had already put into her backpack. With her father’s needs taken care of and time to kill before dark, Alex wandered through the room and marveled at everything Mrs. Moore had accumulated. There were so many things that Alex had taken for granted in the old world, from big bottles of different vitamins to boxes of chocolate bars. There was a section that held nothing but different types of clothing and winter gear and even a selection of boots in different sizes. The huge amount of storage in this room had Alex wondering what was in the storm cellar. How many years had it taken her teacher to accumulate all of this and where had she gotten the funds to purchase it all? She didn’t know, but was grateful for the medicine that would help her father.

Thinking of her Dad made Alex check the time on her old windup watch.
It was just after five o’clock and being surrounded by all this food made Alex’s belly rumble. Deciding to stay here until closer to dark, she closed the door to the rest of the basement and found a desk to put her things on. She didn’t think it would be too bad to help herself to one meal from Mrs. Moore’s stock as all she had left in her pack was water and some beef jerky. She grabbed one of the small fuel cans and a cooking frame to go over it and selected a can of chunky beef stew for her meal. The stew warmed in its can as she did some more exploring. Seeing all the food on the shelves made her think of Dr. Mack’s weight loss

The guards obviously weren’t feeding the workers much and she wished she could find a way to get food to them
but her pack would only carry so much and she wanted to take the handheld radios with her. Boxed cases of power bars caught her attention and she pulled one from the shelf, testing the weight. The box contained fifteen bars and hardly weighed anything. She might not be able to feed her neighbours a real meal but she could at least give them this.

Alex emptied her
backpack and sorted out what she would need to keep. The handgun would go in a holster on her belt and she would wear the extra sweat shirt she had brought. She repacked the hand held radios and medical supplies and then filled her bag with seventy power bars.  Thrown in loose the bars didn’t take up more than half her bag so she started to hunt through the shelves for something else she could take the half-starved townspeople. Alex found what she was looking for in cellophane wrapped sesame snaps. They were small but high in sugar and protein. She dumped them in on top of the power bars, added the binoculars and closed her pack. She lifted it to test the weight and was happy to feel it only slightly heavier than before she had started.

The smell of her dinner filled the room and she found a spoon and dug in. It was far from gourmet
, but the warmth filled her and satisfied her after a long day of walking. She cleaned up her small meal as best as she could and topped up her water bottle from one of the many jugs stored in the room. Alex couldn’t stop thinking of her dad. The guard had told Dr. Mack that he wouldn’t eat if he didn’t make a quota but she hadn’t seen her father working at all. Doing another quick search of the room, she found a small camping pot and filled it with water before placing it on the stove frame to boil. There were four stainless steel thermoses on the camping gear shelf so she grabbed one and carried it over to the desk. Once the water was boiling she added six bouillon cubes and made beef broth before pouring the mixture into the thermos and adding it to her pack.

Alex
checked her watch and saw that she still had an hour before she wanted to head back to her farm so she searched through the desk and found sheet after sheet of inventory on the supplies in the room. Alex spent the next thirty minutes leafing through the papers and contemplating what would happen in the night to come. She was getting more anxious by the minute and finally gave up waiting and moved around the room, shutting down the lanterns she had lit.