Chapter 3
The girls crept up beside him and he handed Susan the binoculars. She looked through them and found what Bob was looking at. Susan handed the binoculars to Emma and she looked and handed them back to Bob and said "We should maybe meet them. They are about three hundred feet away. How accurate is that twenty-two?". Bob looked at Emma "Lets try not to shoot anyone OK?" She looked at him in seriousness and agreement, took the backpack off, put the forty-five in its holster and continued on to take the rifle out of her backpack. Susan told her the scope was good for a hundred yards.
Susan had her backpack off and was pulling her rifle out as well. Bob said "They don't look well equipped, except for their guns and the swimming pool filled with water...they look harmless.".
Bob suggested they watch them for a while. They took turns with the binoculars while hiding behind a bush near the top of the hill. They watched as a man grabbed a dead raccoon by its paw and carry it across the street and into a backyard of the house. The woman that was watching him from the front of the house started following him toward the backyard, continuously looking around. It looked like she was watching for dogs.
None of them suggested going past the house quietly and moving on. They could see how some of the outside world was doing by watching these people for a while.
They hid their backpacks and bikes in the bush at the road side. Bob carried binoculars and his sidearm stayed in its holster. Emma and Susan each carried their rifles and a bottle of water they each got from Susan's ready bag. They crept along a steep bushy slope near the top of a fifty foot hill and walked along the side of the ridge opposite to what they had seen for about a hundred feet and decided to peer over the top to look into the backyard of the house. Bob went up the small slope and laid down in the vegetation and trained his binoculars on the picnic table in the yard. The woman was slicing the raccoon open, they were butchering it and getting ready to eat it.
Bob handed the binoculars to Emma who had crept up beside him, she looked through the binoculars and whispered "Yuck, raccoon! Have you ever tried raccoon Bob?". Bob looked down at Susan and said "No", Susan added "I haven't tried it either. We're just simple city folk Emma.". Susan remained standing below, watching for dogs.
Emma said "Why don't they just have squirrel?" and she went on to answer her own question, thinking out loud "Maybe they haven't tried squirrel. Maybe they can't shoot well enough to hit one. Maybe they didn't like it. My brothers and mom hate it but me and my dad have it when we are alone in the bush and can't catch any fish. You gotta let it soak for a few hours before you eat it. My cousin says that I have an iron stomach. I wonder if they will eat that thing right away.".
Emma went on "They aren't even draining its blood before cutting into it. They have no idea what they are doing.". Bob looked at Emma and put his finger up to his mouth "Shhhh". Emma went quiet and continued to look at the scene below. They watched as the couple butchered the raccoon.
Emma started in again about food. "I guess you city folk are just used to eating hot dogs, cheeseburgers, pizza, chips and candy breakfast cereal all the time." Bob and Susan just looked at each other.
Emma went on "We have chickens and we eat the eggs. Once in a while we have chicken too but when we are in the bush we eat what we catch or shoot and I am usually the first person to wake up so I go shoot a couple of squirrels with my CO2 rifle if I can't catch some fish in the morning before everyone else gets up.".
She paused to take a drink of water and went on "I learned to shoot squirrels with my high powered pellet gun, I shot my first one after I got my first pellet gun for my sixth birthday. My dad helped me clean it and he showed me how to prepare and cook it.".
She paused for another moment and added "Squirrel is better than raccoon, no one I ever met likes coon. Most people won't even try it.".
Bob looked at Emma and put his finger on his mouth and she quieted again. She handed the binoculars to Susan. Susan climbed up to have a look.
Susan changed the subject as she was looking through the binoculars "The woman just came out with four plates and put them on the table. I think she is going to the garden to get some vegetables." Bob said "Yeah we can see that.". He added "Do you think one of us should go down and talk to them?"
Susan said "Yeah, OK. I vote for you. Emma and I will cover you from up here." Bob agreed but said they needed an actual plan. He added "It looks like the woman is his daughter.".
Bob watched the older man light the barbecue and suggested that he go out front of the house with his bicycle and backpack, fire a shot, say it was at a stray dog to anyone that came to investigate and see what happens next.
"There are more people in the house, there are four plates on that table, they could come outside and we could get robbed. It will take us another hour to get around this house through the bush with the bicycles.". They saw two children looking into the yard through a basement window, Susan commented that they were probably not waiting or watching for travelers to rob. Bob said for Emma to follow him and find some cover where she could see everything on the front lawn of the house from across the street and for Susan to cover the backyard. He said if the woman left the backyard or more people came out Susan could follow by going down the hill and hiding somewhere along the side of the street in some bushes and advance toward the property to help Emma give cover.
He suggested that if either of them saw him put up his hands, or get his hands tied, they were to shoot to kill whoever had the gun pointed at him. Other than that they would stand down. Bob wasn't good with a real gun but was excellent in first person shooter games, especially for leading his enemies into kill zones.
They agreed to the plan, Bob and Emma quickly and quietly walked back to the street along the slope of the hill, Emma with her new suppressed twenty-two. Emma found cover across the road in the bush between two properties while Bob picked up his backpack and put it on. Emma gave Bob the thumbs up and he got on his bicycle, rode down the hill, stopped and fired a shot in front of the house and put his gun back in its holster then got off his bicycle.
He waited, pretending to be looking down the road and away from Emma, a man came around the corner of the house followed by a woman. Bob put the bike down and walked onto the lawn so that both would be facing him and have their backs to Emma as they walked toward him. The man kept a rifle relaxed but pointing down in Bobs general direction without his finger near the trigger and asked him what had just happened. The old man carried the gun in a way that looked like he knew how to use it.
Bob explained that he had just scared a dog away and that he was going to Mill Creek where his family lived and asked if they had any water. He saw Susan quietly run across the road without her shoes on to where Emma was out of the corner of his eye as he was talking to the man. The woman appeared unarmed but they had already seen that she had a handgun in a rear holster while watching her in the yard from the ridge.
The man introduced himself as Richard and Bob introduced himself and shook the man's hand. Richard explained that they didn't have any water to give away but he knew where they could get some. Bob asked him "How are you getting along? Do you know what happened?" Richard replied "Well I guess it had to be the Mayans or the Martians and I don't know what happened. Maybe it was the Red Chinese or those godless Russians. Maybe somebody pushed the wrong button somewhere. All I know is nothing works, not even a tube type shortwave radio I have. We haven't seen anything in the sky except birds, the sun, the moon, stars and clouds..oh....and Sputnik.". He seemed friendly.
Richard asked if any of them knew anything about electronics. Bob said he was an electronics engineer and didn't know anything more about what happened than anyone else and that he probably couldn't fix anything yet.". "And we may not be able to for a very very long time" he then added.
Bob asked him if he had seen anyone else and Richard explained that Bob was the first person he had seen in several days, except for a young couple walking down the road three days ago wh
o said they were headed toward the river. A few people had tried to steal his water during the first few days, usually at night. Other than that he said a lot of the people quickly ran out of water on the first day and had all been heading toward the park at the river. He hadn't seen any come back, except to find family and friends to tell them they could go to the river park for food and safety. He had been using the pool in the yard as a cistern and didn't need to go for water yet.
Richard explained that he was at the house looking after his two grandchildren and that the woman standing beside him, who he then stopped to introduce as Wendy, was from up the street. She had started staying with them the day the power went out. Her husband was in Iraq. He said the father of his two grandchildren was in Afghanistan. He said that he just lived a mile away and hadn't gone home since the power went out. He was babysitting the kids for their mom who had left for Poland for a few days to visit some family a day before the power went out.
Then Richard went on "About that water, how about you and I make a trade? I'll give you all the water you can carry and you give me that bicycle.". Bob said "I'm not giving up the bike.".
Richard seemed to understand. The woman reached around her back for the handgun and suddenly had it pointed at Bob "We insist." she said. Richard backed away and started to move behind her. Bob instinctively put up his hands in fear. He saw Susan push Emma's gun toward the sky and aim her own scoped and silenced three-o-three. The bullet passed through the woman's chest. Her knees buckled and she fell over and landed on her back as he heard the thud from Susan's gun. The man quickly set his rifle down while looking at Bob. He put his hands up. He looked down at the woman lying still on the ground. He turned around and saw the two armed women walking over. Bob pulled his weapon out of his holster and the man turned to face him.
Bob said "I wasn't making any trouble for you mister. This woman was going to rob us", with his gun now pointed at the man nervously.
Richard bent down to the obviously dead woman and closed her eyes. He said that she had started to be a problem as he stood up again, she was on medication and it had run out. He wasn't sure what he was going to do with her. He explained that he thought she may have become a threat to his grandchildren and had been on anti-psychotic medication since she had been home from Iraq.
He looked down at her body, bent down again and rolled her over so that her face couldn't be seen from the front window of the house. She had died almost instantly, a small amount of blood stained her blouse in the front. He started tearing up and said he was sorry to Bob. Susan and Emma continued walking toward them. Emma's eyes were wide open and looking at the body on the ground. Susan remained looking at the body then Richard, then the body again as she made her way over. She hadn't put her shoes back on.
Richard looked at the two women, and said that it was OK as they walked over and that he understood why they did what they did and said that the woman had become dangerous.
He felt bad for her, she was a veteran and had seen terrible things. He explained that his step son had told them during an earlier visit that the police had been called to her house more than a few times and that she was often a problem neighbor.
Richard went on "She was twenty seven. She had been dead for the year since she got back I think. She just happened to be still breathing.". Susan put her hand on Emma's shoulder and Emma hugged Susan as they stood looking at the body while the men talked.
He said that he only let Wendy join them because he was a veteran as well and that he felt bad for her. He said this feeling grew after some of the stories she had told him while she stayed. He said that they had stayed up in the dark after the kids had gone to bed trading war stories. He added that her stories were much worse than his own as a young soldier in the seventies, invading small countries for the banks and their UN.
Richard invited the three inside and said that he would take care of the woman shortly. The three went inside and Richard opened the basement door to call two boys, Richard and Lawson upstairs to the kitchen. Two kids came running up the stairs. They looked to be about fourteen or fifteen and eleven or twelve years old. Richard introduced them as Richard The Third and Lawson and Susan introduced Bob and Emma.
They followed Richard and the kids to the table and talked for a few minutes, sitting around the kitchen table. Richard excused himself, glancing at Bob as he got up from the table. Bob, Susan and Emma talked with the kids for a minute. Bob got up to wander into the living room after he heard Richard go out the front door and watched the old man carry the young woman's body across the street and carefully lay it down inside a garden shed. Richard had forgotten about the danger of the dogs and could be in some kind of shock, he thought. He didn't know what to think of Emma seeing the woman shot. He heard Emma and Susan talking with the two boys in the kitchen.
Richard came back in and Bob quietly followed him into the kitchen, putting his hand on his shoulder. The younger of the boys asked where Wendy was and Richard told him that Wendy left with some others to go to the river. The two boys seemed not to care.
Richard The Third asked Richard what was wrong and he said that he just got some dirt in his eyes and couldn't get it out.
Bob got up and said, "I'm really sorry about everything that happened. I think we can help you in a big way but we have to leave for now. Are you staying here for as long as a few more days or a week?" Richard said they wouldn't be going anywhere and had food and water.
Susan, Bob and Richard talked for a for a few more minutes about what they thought would happen next. Bob explained the threat of the dogs in the city while Emma and the two boys stayed quiet.
Bob shook Richards hand and the three walked out the door to get their bicycles and continue on their journey home. Susan had forgotten her shoes until she had gone to pedal her bike and had to run and get them where she took them off to get across the street. Emma and Susan had nothing to say about what they had seen. Emma was acting as though she saw nothing. Susan had walked down the road, forgetting that she wasn't wearing shoes. Bob was wondering why he himself was so calm and decided that he had seen thousands of people shot in video games and that had perhaps prepared him for what he saw.
They had three more miles to ride. Bob rode in front while the two women followed him on either side. When they got to be within a mile of the house, dogs started appearing again, and in packs.
Bob fired shots at the packs to disperse them out of the way in front while Emma and Susan made kill shots as the dogs came up near the bikes while they rode. Emma had shot three dogs and Susan had shot two, only injuring one of them. Bob hadn't hit any of them. He didn't want himself, Emma or Susan running into a dead or injured dog in front of them with their bicycles as they rode while looking off to their sides or behind them.
They turned into the house and watched the dogs in the area quickly disperse as they went up the driveway. The shepherd that Emma had shot was in pieces all over the neighbors yard and had almost disappeared into the stomachs of hungry dogs. Bob and Susan put all three bikes into the garage and locked them together with a bike lock while Emma stood guard. Emma shot a curious dog that started walking up the driveway while they were in the garage.
Bob picked up the dog by one of its legs and threw it far onto the adjacent property before going to the house.
They walked into the house, took off their shoes at Bobs request and carried them downstairs. The hatch was opening and Bob grabbed the broom, swept the top of it as it was opening, then the surrounding floor. Jennifer helped him push the hatch out of the way from inside and the three went down into the shelter.
Susan thanked them all for letting her into the shelter. The three began to explain what happened. Emma said that she wanted to go down to the river and Bob agreed that they should have a closer look at what was going on. Dave said he would go with them and have a look in a day or so, when his ankle had healed up a little better.
Dave explained that they didn't need anything so there was no reason
to actually go down to the river edge and that they should keep their distance, lay down in some brush with some binoculars and watch for a few hours if they did decide to go. Dave looked like he was just thinking about it all and said "These dogs all over the place, sure is strange isn't it?".
They talked about the dog situation and they all thought it would get a lot worse before getting better. They watched the video as the dogs went toward the one Emma had just shot and began to tear it up. Dave said the dogs had been feeding on the dead ones since they had left and that they may not leave soon since there was food in the area. Dave said that he and Susan could check on Richard in a few days and decide about the other shelter.
Jennifer said she had been in the shelter now for over a week and wanted out. She said "I can shoot, maybe not quite as well as Emma and I'm a little out of practice but I have shot thousands of rounds as part of my phys-ed minor.".
Emma said that she was in a hurry to get home, her family would know where she was and how long it would take her to get back and that they would really start to worry if she was late by much more than a week. She explained she would be leaving in a few days, even if the dog situation got worse. Bob said "We will figure it out Emma." to her, dismissing the idea of her leaving alone.
Lisa suggested that they get the bikes back into the shelter. She added "I should open a fucking bike dealership when the shit blows over and the damned dogs are gone." she added "Ooops, sorry Emma.".
Emma said "Its OK. I don't fucking blame you for swearing." They all looked at Emma, she just looked back at them and said "Sorry.".
Bob and Dave went and looked at the video display and decided to wait until the dogs went away and then to get the bikes out of the garage and into the shelter before they got stolen. The dogs had stayed around for a few more minutes while they watched. Dave got the things to do list he had written earlier and they went to siphon the remaining fuel in Bobs truck and to get more of Dave’s tools and spare materials from the garage while they were outside getting the bikes after the dogs were gone.
Afterward they sat around watching some old sitcoms for the rest of the day, Emma had never seen the shows, not being allowed to watch much TV at home. She found them amusing for a while at first, but she didn't understand or was embarrassed by the sexual humor, then she started looking around at all their books.
She walked from one end of the shelf to another and read every title and said "My dad has a lot of the same philosophy books." She disappeared into the bedroom with Rousseau's Emile and a Harlequin Romance.
Lisa said "Should she be reading that stuff?" Dave said "What do you mean, Rousseau?" smiling. Jennifer said "Probably not, but she will learn that stuff somehow." Bob said "If she can read Rousseau she can be allowed to read a trashy novel as far as I'm concerned." Lisa said "I wonder if she even knows how babies are made." Jennifer thought that was a good point and Susan got up and went into the room. She came back moments later with the Harlequin in her hand and got a copy of Henry David Thoreau's, "Where I Lived And What I Lived For" to give her.
Emma stayed in the room and read for a while and others started watching The Matrix. Susan got up and went into their room. Emma and Susan came out and they all sat down to watch the movie.
Susan went to bed soon after they started the movie, saying she was tired. Shortly after this Emma went in to see if the was OK and came back and said she was crying in there. Dave understood why and got up and went into her room knocking first, he poked his head in and said "You saved Bob's life, maybe all of you, including Richard. That woman pointing that weapon was an act of violence in itself." and he closed the door again.
He came back and told the others that Susan was upset about what had happened and everything else and looked at Emma "Killing someone is not as easy as it first seems.".
Dave explained that most people simply could not do it, even after they made their minds up to do so and that soldiers were often young and impressionable and the army had ways of making them into actual killers using psychological manipulation and propaganda. He added that Susan had probably never even played first person shooter games on the computer and so in no way was ready for it.
They ate following the movie and talked about it over some pine needle tea after dinner while Susan remained in the room. Emma didn't really understand the movie and had a lot of questions that none of them felt like answering. Lisa said that she would explain more about it another time. Emma soon after went to bed and the adults, without Susan, sat around with a couple of bottles of wine and talked about the next few days, Susan, Richard, his two boys, Wendy, and Emma.
Jennifer said "You know, we really shouldn't let Emma near those two boys. I think that it may go badly for Emma." Lisa agreed. Lisa expressed concern for Emma going home and talked about how they could get her there. They all wanted to meet Emma's family and saw the value of the association with them. They needed to form associations to know what was going on outside. They couldn't stay in the shelter forever and wouldn't if things went calm outside. They would need people to trade with eventually. They would need to produce wealth themselves.
Jennifer suggested that they should all go up to Mill Creek, stop there and wait for Dave and Susan to finish getting Emma home and catch them on their way back after the dogs went away.
If they couldn't find her friends at Mill Creek, she and Bob could go back to the shelter. Jennifer talked more about her friends at Mill Creek and emphasized that it would be a good idea to link up with them as well as Emma's family. Susan came out of the room and sat down quietly with them.
Bob suggested that he, Dave and Susan should ride back to see Richard when Dave was up to it. He added "He was a colonel in the army wasn't he?" Susan reminded him that he was and Bob said that maybe Richard could keep the shelter running until they got back from getting Emma home. Dave said "Telling him about one empty shelter tells him we have two doesn't it?" He added "I'd like to get to know him before we do anything like that.".
They started talking about the river. Dave said that he would go down there first thing in the morning to have a look.
They all woke up the next morning when the alarm light came on at seven AM. They explained what was going to happen that day to Emma and she said she wanted to go to the river. Jennifer said "Look, we are getting you home and we don't want you getting killed or all of us getting killed and preventing that from happening OK?" Emma accepted that and continued eating with a bit of a sulk.
Dave said "I'm going to go down to the river alone with Emma's forty-five and Susan's rifle. I'll go on foot.". He looked at them in seriousness and said "I don't want any of you coming with me, I don't think any of you would be ready for what could be happening down there. This dog situation is very strange. I think that what I see at the river or the lake might explain it. I've been on real reconnaissance missions, I've seen the worst of humanity. You need some serious training on how to stay hidden and to know what to look for and I can't do that and watch one of you as well.".
Dave had a night scope that he could mount on the rifle but didn't want to risk being seen with that with him since it was battery powered.
Bob mentioned that they should never, ever, take anything that was electrical out of the shelter because if they got seen with it they would be watched, maybe even robbed or killed for it. They watched Dave get ready.
Dave went to the shelves and got his military camouflage and went into the bedroom to change. He put the silenced forty-five in Emma's holster, put a leather strap on the three-o-three and got his gun tools and a scope. He mounted the scope in a few minutes and got a bike and his go bag ready and asked Bob to help him out with the bike. Dave kissed Lisa before he left and told them all he could be gone for the day and maybe the night or even longer, depending on what happened. He explained that he would take very little risk, and only if absolutely necessary.
Dave left with the girls watching him on video and Bob closing the hatch.
Bob aske
d Emma how far she got in Rousseau and she said she didn't really like it and would put it back on the shelf. She said she picked up that book because it was one her dad had told her older brothers to read. She said she liked Thoreau and had read it before.
They sat around the shelter reading, watching TV shows and playing games on the computer. Just another day, but this time quietly waiting for Dave to come back with news.