When the Pain is Gone Read online

  Gary dropped the grin, looked at her, and shook his head. “I truly don’t know, Angie. After what transpired, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it went to hell, and knowing how cantankerous Monroe can be, I’d be more surprised if he said yes now, to be honest. And I can’t say I’d blame him at all.”

  “What are we going to do about feeding the townsfolk if he backs out? Do we have any other avenues or options?”

  “Not at the moment. We’ll see what he says. I plan on going back out there in a couple of days. I know we don’t have time to waste, but we have to give them time to grieve.”

  “Of course, that makes perfect sense. On another note, though related: I want to see who in town is in the worst shape and start handing out some of these food and water rations. I’m thinking we can surely give them three meals per person plus water pouches. I know that isn’t much but hopefully it will help. We don’t even know how many folks are still around or alive, for that matter. We need a town meeting as soon as possible. I’d like to get a thorough count of the supplies today and hand it out tomorrow. Is that doable?”

  “I don’t see why not. And I think three meals apiece is a good number. Then, if we have leftovers, we can knock on some doors if the folks don’t get to the meeting and distribute them. But, I have to get back out to the Warren place day after tomorrow, no later. We have to know where we stand and, if they decide to rescind their offer, we have to come up with a backup plan. Fast.”

  Angie stood up and opened the door. She looked at Gary with conviction. “We’ll do whatever we have to do, Sheriff, to take care of our town and our people. Now, let’s go do inventory.”

  Tim was coming out of the break room with both hands full of cereal bars, instant oatmeal, and water packets. Angie put her hands on her hips and huffed disgustedly. “Excuse me, Deputy, but just what do you think you’re doing?”

  Tim looked at her and said simply, “Breakfast.”

  Gary stepped in and took all but one oatmeal pack and one water from him. “This is not an all you can eat buffet, Tim. We eat just enough to get by. Even that’s going to change real soon.”

  “What do you mean? What’s happening?” Tim’s voice trembled with either anger or fright—or both.

  “You’ll find out tomorrow, when everyone else does. We need to get a current count on everything food and water related right now. Pick one MRE for tonight, and that’s all you get today.”

  “One meal? How am I supposed to live on that?”

  Angie brushed past him on her way into the break room. “I guess you’re about to find out.”

  ****

  Clay did not get any of the food rations, aside from three meals each for himself and his mother. He was disappointed, especially when the sheriff locked the break room door after the inventory was done, but there was no way he was breaking into a room inside the sheriff’s office building. Damn it! Now I’m gonna have to figure out some other way to get Momma some food. He was contemplating how to do that when the sheriff addressed him.

  “Clay, you’ll continue to clean up here, as well as pick up trash outside. I’m going to request that everyone keep the street in front of their home clean here in town, so you will be responsible for the street out front. Once we start working the gardens, and the crops start coming in, you will get a portion for yourself just like everyone else working there. Your work is mandatory, but you’ll still receive food rations. It will only be for you, but you can share it with your mother. If she chooses to try to work the garden, she can get her own portion.”

  Clay was surprised at the sheriff’s offer. “Really? I get food, even though this is my punishment? That’s great, Sheriff. But, as far as my momma goes, I don’t know if she’d be able to help, what with being disabled and all.”

  “Anybody with two hands can sit in a chair and shell peas or shuck corn. But, it’s up to her. You let her know.”

  “I will, Sheriff. Just don’t hold your breath.”

  Chapter 4

  “Guys! Look! I see smoke! Can you smell it? Something is burning and it’s big!” Brian yelled down from the tree house to Bob and Ben in the foxholes.

  Bob pulled out binoculars as he was climbing out of the hole. “I can’t see anything from down here. Can you tell where it’s coming from?”

  Brian looked through the set of binoculars we kept in the overlook. “Yeah, I think so. You better call up to the house. I think it’s the Dotson place.”

  Bob got on the radio and hailed Millie in the kitchen. “Aunt Millie! Get Jim and Monroe! Get Russ and Mike! Hell, get everybody! It looks like Jim and Charlotte’s house is on fire!”

  Russ grabbed the radio in the kitchen and replied, “Shit! Are you sure? We’re on our way!”

  Everyone grabbed their rifles and packs, and burst through the front door in a beeline to the gate. Mike, the former Marine, was in much better shape than most, and beat everyone there. In their defense, he was already outside and heard the commotion so he had a head start. He was already up in the overlook checking the area. He called down to the rest of the group, reporting what he was seeing.

  “Yep, it looks to be coming from Jim’s place. Man, it looks bad. Sorry, Jim.” He looked down to where Jim was standing with his daughters, trying to catch his breath along with everyone else. Charlotte was in no shape to walk out here, much less run. Ashley and Carrie started crying and hugging each other. Their dad wrapped his arms around both of his daughters.

  “It’s just a house. Four walls and a roof. Thank God, we weren’t there. It’ll be okay, girls.” He tried consoling his daughters with words that might ease the pain of their loss. That house was the only home they had ever known. Every memory of their childhood was within those four walls. And even though he was trying hard to be strong for his girls, you could hear the pain and heartbreak in his voice.

  Ryan calmly headed for the gate. “I’m going over there to see if whoever started it is still there.” He wasn’t asking anyone for their input. He was stating a fact.

  Mike climbed down and hurried after him. “Hold up, buddy. I’m going, too.”

  At that, Russ and Bob joined their group, with Jim bringing up the rear. His daughters started after them as well, but Jim stopped them. “Girls, please stay here with your mom. I don’t want her worrying about all of us. I’m sure if someone is responsible for this they are long gone but we’ll take a radio. We’ll let you know what we find.”

  Reluctantly, they complied with their father’s wishes. Ashley took over Bob’s spot in the foxhole. Carrie turned toward the house to go let her mom know what was going on, not something she was looking forward to. She turned back, taking them all in, then lingering slightly on Ryan. “Be careful. Don’t take any chances. Call if you see anybody there. We’ll bring the cavalry.”

  The response was a round of thumbs-up and a small smile from Ryan. Janet grabbed Bob by the arm and spoke low to him. “Why don’t you guys take a truck? It is not safe out there. I’ve got a bad feeling about this fire. You need to be able to get away fast and you can’t do that on foot.”

  He looked at her, then Russ, who gave a slight shake of his head. Russ replied, “Because we’d have to ‘unlock’ the gate to get a truck out, which would mean moving the center post and leaving it out until we came back. I’m worried about the cause of this fire myself. What if it’s meant to be a distraction to get us to open the gate? A bunch of us leave to go check it out and now our manpower defenses are reduced as well as leaving the front door open. We can get over there in about twenty minutes at a jog, maybe less. Keep an eye on things here. Put everyone on alert until we find out what happened.”

  She nodded grimly and hugged her husband fiercely. “Be safe. Come back to me.”

  Bob hugged her back, dropped a kiss on her forehead, and grinned as he let go. “Always.” He headed for the gate where the rest of the group were already climbing over. Janet stood there chewing on a cuticle watching them walk away.

  ****

&n
bsp; I hugged Russ and blew him a kiss, which he caught, then waved as they made their way off the farm. I walked up and linked my arm in Janet’s. “C’mon, sister. Let’s get everybody in their designated places for Defcon 2.”

  She looked at me with worry and fear. “Are we ever going to be able to relax and just live a decent life, Anne? Or is it always going to be one issue, one emergency, one catastrophe after another? It’s barely been a few days since we buried Pete and Bill. I can’t handle any more pain, loss, or death right now.”

  I pulled my arm from hers and wrapped her in a hug. “I don’t know, honey. I honestly don’t know if this is what our lives will be from here on out, or just for the next few months, or even the foreseeable future. Nothing in the world out there is getting better. More and more people are running out of food and water. They are becoming desperate to feed themselves and their families. There will be lots of people on the roads trying to find something, anything to eat. If they’ve lasted this long, they either had supplies or are really good at finding them. However, there’s only so much prepared food out there. There are no more deliveries. From now until whenever everything gets fixed and functioning again, food will come from the source: the plant, the animal, whatever the case may be. Unfortunately, there are so many people—most of them, in fact—who know absolutely nothing about how to grow those things. We will have to stay vigilant at all times. If a large group of people outside of this place knew we were here and what we have, we’d be overrun and most likely lose a lot more of our family. I wish I had something more positive to say but this is what we do now to take care of us.”

  Janet wiped her eyes with the tail of her shirt. “Yeah, I figured as much. I guess I just needed to hear it out loud. It really sucks, you know?”

  We started walking toward the house. I kept an arm around her shoulders. “It does, indeed, suck.”

  ****

  Mike led the way at a brisk walk, stopping every fifty yards or so to listen for any sound that didn’t belong. The closer they got to the Dotson farm, the stronger the smell of smoke was in the air. The wind was blowing against their backs, so they weren’t getting the full effect of the smoke cloud. As they got to the edge of the property, they could see the house engulfed in flames. There was no saving it, not that they had a chance to with no running water. There was a well on the place, but of course the pump was electric and since the Dotsons weren’t really preppers, they hadn’t considered having an alternative way to get water out of the ground. Alert to anything out of the ordinary, besides the house burning down in front of them, they skirted around the inferno checking the area. The heat from the flames had them cutting a wide path around the house. They were looking for whatever might have started the fire, and Jim found it.

  “Guys, over here.” The group hurried to where Jim was standing. At his feet were two five-gallon gas cans, lying empty on their sides.

  “I was thinkin’ the whole way over here it had to be deliberate. I flipped the main breaker off when we left, just in case the power came back on, not that I expected it to. Shut off the gas line, too. No way the place caught fire with no one here. Someone set this fire, wasting precious gasoline in doing it, I might add. But why? What would they have to gain from it?” Jim looked confused and angry as he gave one of the empty cans a kick that sent it skittering several feet away.

  “Who would do this? It had to be just for sheer meanness.” Bob was angry as he said it and this wasn’t even his home. But when you’ve worked hard your entire adult life for everything you have, you can understand and imagine how you would feel if it were your property that had been destroyed, apparently out of spite. Everyone tried not to think about what kind of shape the homes they had abandoned were in, or if they were even still standing. No one talked about it much because it just led to a bunch of what-ifs there was no time for now.

  “I was talking about this right before we left,” Russ said. “It could be this was set to try to get us to open the gate and drive over to investigate it. With the gate open waiting for our return, and us gone, the farm would be more vulnerable. I don’t know if that’s the reason but it’s a good theory, in my opinion.”

  Ryan immediately brought his rifle to his shoulder to scan the area through the scope. “You think they’re watching us now?”

  All the men went on alert and quickly followed Ryan’s example. After a thorough scan in all directions, none of them saw anyone else in the area so they relaxed just a bit after a minute or so. “I don’t see anyone, but let’s keep our eyes and ears peeled, gang,” Mike commented as he continued to survey the surrounding landscape.

  “Seems like your idea is a pretty sound one, Russ,” Mike replied. “My money is on those assholes that killed Pete and Bill.” He looked over at Ryan, who turned to them at the mention of his brother’s name.

  “I hope it is them. I hope they’re close, watching us right now,” Ryan said with a deadly calm, then went back to scanning the area through the scope of his rifle. “I’d just as soon finish this now as later. They’re going to pay for murdering my brother. That’s a given. The only unknown now is when.”

  Mike acknowledged the comments with a curt nod. “Yes, they will, buddy. And when the time comes, we will handle it, together. Agreed?”

  Ryan turned to Mike, seemed to consider what he had said, then gave him a nod in return. “I’d like that. My only condition is I get to take out the leader. Cool?”

  Mike glanced over Ryan’s shoulder to where the rest of the guys were watching the interaction with concerned looks on their faces. He refocused on Ryan. “Okay, Ryan. He’s yours.”

  Ryan almost smiled. “I can’t wait.”

  There was nothing they could do there so they decided to get back home. As they were walking away, Jim kept looking over his shoulder, toward the burning house. His expression was pained and angry. When the roof caved in, there was a loud crash causing all of them to stop and turn to watch the carnage. The last semblance of what had been a loving, happy home collapsed before their eyes. Jim let a tear run down his cheek as the flames roared, engulfing the remnants of the roof, feeding the greedy appetite of the fire. He wiped his face, set his jaw, and turned back toward home—their new home.

  “Four walls and a roof. Without a family in it that’s all it is. Home is where your heart is, where your loved ones are. We all got a new one now. New home and a new family. Guess we’d best get back to it.” Jim headed for the farm. He didn’t turn around again.

  ****

  Alan and Rich watched from the edge of the trees as the guys headed out on foot. He slammed his hand against the nearest one, causing Rich to jump. After much berating from Alan, he had gotten out of the truck and joined him.

  “Dammit! They’re walking! I just knew they’d open the gate and drive over there. We don’t know any more now than we did before, except they have at least five guys. You can bet your ass there’s more inside. Dammit!” Alan hissed this under his breath to Rich, who appeared to be trying desperately to bear his pain in silence.

  “So, what now, Al? We heading out to find more guys then? They for sure got us outnumber two to one. Could be three to one or more. What do you want to do?” The act of speaking caused him more pain but he gritted his teeth and grimaced through it.

  “We got no choice but to go find more guys. C’mon, get in the truck. We gotta go pick up Steve and get to lookin’.”

  Rich, thankful to be going back to the truck where he could rest again, nodded and followed Alan, then hesitated. “But, those guys are headed to where Steve is. Aren’t we gonna wait ’til they come back before we go head that way?”

  “Nah, I figured we’d drive right up on ’em over there. Of course, we’re not goin’ straight back there, you idiot. We’re gonna wait down the road from the fire place ’til they leave. Get it? Fire place? Hahahahahaha! I crack myself up!”

  Rich gave Alan a half-hearted grin and climbed in the cab, grateful for the cushioning. “Yer a riot, Al, that�
�s for sure.”

  Alan was still laughing at his own wit as he pulled out onto the road. “Fire place. Ha!”

  Chapter 5

  Gary awoke to a loud banging on the front door. He had no idea what time it was, since his digital watch got fried in the pulse, but he could see the sun coming through the blinds over the window in his office. He got up, grabbed his pants, boots, and gun belt, and headed out front. There appeared to be at least a dozen people at the door. What now? he thought as he hopped into his boots. He unlocked the door and opened it wide.

  “Morning, folks. What can I do for you?”

  A large man named Doug stepped forward, apparently acting as spokesman for the group. “Sheriff, we need to know what the government is gonna do about feeding folks around here. Everybody is out of food and there ain’t no stores selling any. Isn’t that something tax dollars are used for? Didn’t the government plan for something like this? It’s been weeks since everything went off. Y’all got some way to contact Washington, I’m sure. We need to declare a state of emergency or something if that ain’t been done yet. This is one of those situations they’ve been preparing for with that Homeland Security crap, ain’t it? Where is the National Guard with supplies to help out? We know the mayor has been stayin’ here, and we want to hear from her what’s being done to take care of the people of this town. That’s her job. That’s your job, too. We need to feed our kids. And don’t give us any of that ‘we’re workin’ on it’ bullshit either. We need food now. So, what are you gonna do about it?”

  Gary took in the expectant faces looking at him. He’d been waiting for this and was actually surprised they had taken this long to show up. He had to handle this situation tactfully. The last thing he needed was an angry, hungry mob going after the mayor or himself. He addressed the group as a whole. “I know y’all are in need. We’re working on a couple of different plans to grow food for the town. But that’s not an overnight thing. You know it takes weeks, even months, for some plants to grow to harvest. In the meantime, I’d suggest you all pool your resources. If you can help each other—”