Chapter 5
The sun was just rising and it would be a few more minutes before everything would be clearly visible in the cloudy morning light. Susan was the first to exit and had a pocket full of clips for her silenced forty five to guard them from the dogs. She looked from side to side and motioned the guys to come out. The three of them started walking toward the lake along side streets that were off the main street where they lived, through neighborhoods with Dave in the lead, Bob in the middle and Susan watching their backs. The clouds grew darker and it felt like it would soon be raining.
Each had to accustom their olfactory senses to the smell of rotting meat and their ears to the sound of buzzing flies but none said a word about it. Bones and bits of rotting flesh littered the neighborhoods.
It was five minutes of walking before they saw dogs and the dogs watched them from a safe distance. Dave decided to zero out the scope on his rifle on a small dog that was about four properties away showing its teeth and growling. It had started walking toward them. He went down into a prone position on a small grassy hill and took a scoped shot and missed. The dog continued to advance. The thud from the silenced rifle hadn't scared it away. Susan and Bob kept looking from side to side and checking behind them while Dave adjusted the scope, put another round in the breech and took another shot.
The next shot missed and passed through the grass beside the dog. The dog stopped for a moment, looked at where the bullet impacted and continued advancing and started growling more.
In normal life he wouldn't have even payed attention to the threat of the little ten pound mutt. Before the power had gone out, he would have gotten a shovel or a baseball bat or maybe even just gone back inside and called the owner on his cell.
Dave continued to adjust the scope while Susan saw two dogs come out from the left and across the road and start toward them. Susan aimed her forty-five and waited for them to get closer for an accurate shot. Bob kept looking around. Dave stayed on his target, loaded another round and took another shot and killed the small dog. The dogs Susan was watching turned away. Some of the dogs had learned to be afraid of the noise that suppressed firearms made and what had just taken place in front of them must have confirmed their fears.
Dave ran over to the dead dog and threw it into some bushes so its bullet wound wouldn't be seen by Red Shirts before other dogs smelled the corpse and devoured the evidence.
He zeroed his scope again, picking a spot on a fence further away while Bob and Susan kept an eye out for more dogs.
They continued walking for a few minutes as the cloud covered morning sun slowly made everything visible. Dave said that they should walk along the front of houses and not be seen before they had a chance to hide from any possible patrolling Red Shirts. It had become light enough outside for them not to trip on anything as they walked along the front of the houses and for the Red Shirts to start riding around the neighborhoods. He turned toward a driveway closer to the houses to reduce their visibility.
Dave suddenly whispered "Down, down, down!", he bent down, and ran behind a hedge toward a space between two houses. Bob and Susan followed but the Red Shirt saw Bob. They briefly found cover and crouched behind the end of the hedgerow between two houses. The Red Shirt rode up to the curb and pulled his gun out of the front pocket of his pants and started walking toward them. He took a shot at them through the bush and missed, the round went through leaves and small branches over their heads and put a hole in the wooden gate behind them. Little bits of the bush started floating down onto them.
The sound of the gunshot echoed through the neighborhood. Bob whispered to Dave "He saw me and he was close enough to see I didn't have a gun.". They were blocked from running any further by a tall fence with a locked gate behind them and between the houses. They looked at the advancing Red Shirt through the leaves.
Dave strapped his rifle to his back and ripped Susan's suppressed forty-five out of her hand, jumped out from behind the bush and put two shots into the chest of the Red Shirt before he could raise his gun again. The Red Shirt fell, grabbing his chest and started choking. Dave dropped the smoking gun on the ground in front of Susan.
Dave looked at Susan and Bob and whispered "Stay right here. Do NOT move" and ran over toward the Red Shirt. The Red Shirt was not breathing and looking at Dave trying to gasp for air as blood poured out of his mouth and chest. Dave didn't feel any inclination to help his enemy. He would be dead in seconds anyway.
Dave picked up what looked like an older teenager, threw him over his shoulder and ran to the opposite side of the house from where Bob and Susan were and threw him over the backyard fence. His body made a thud sound when it landed on the grass on the other side of the fence. Dave ran back to get the bike and gun and did the same thing with the bike, throwing it on top of his nearly dead enemy and kept the gun.
He ran back around to where Susan and Bob were and opened the gate so that dogs could get in and get at the body before anyone could recognize that the Red Shirt died of a gunshot wound. He handed the Red Shirts gun to Bob to put in his ready bag. He said that it had no silencer and was too noisy. He ran back into the backyard and tore the red T-shirt off the dead kid and threw it into some bushes and ran back to where Bob and Susan were at the side of the house again. He went to the front corner and peered around it.
"We have to get back.". Dave whispered to Bob as Susan kept her eye out.
He saw two more Red Shirts ride toward them, obviously looking for the source of the earlier shot. He stayed low and motioned for Susan and Bob to stay hidden behind the bush at the side of the house. He peered out from the side of the house again after they rode past and watched them continue down the road then turn around and come back. They were carefully looking at the fronts of houses and the spaces between the houses for the source of the shot. He got his rifle ready.
"These guys are monsters. I will kill any one of them that sees us. They initiated and made R.O.C." Dave said as he motioned Bob and Susan to stay low after they rode past. Susan whispered "R.O.C.?" Dave looked at her and said "Rules Of Combat. They see us, I shoot them. They shot at Bob who they saw wasn't armed.". He paused for a moment and looked at them and added "Stay low and shut up until I tell you otherwise", turned and continued looking through the bushes. Susan and Bob went silent and stayed low, looking at each other.
They were well concealed by the big shrubs and the Red Shirts turned and passed by again without seeing them. Dave watched as they went up the road further, turned around and rode back scanning the spaces between the houses on the opposing side of the street. Susan picked up her silenced weapon off the grass where Dave dropped it and held it at the ready.
Dave whispered "They won't give up. They will ride around here until they figure out where the shot came from. They may get off the bikes and look around by foot.".
A few moments later, he watched them put the bikes down and started walking together around each house moving toward them on their side of the street, starting from a few houses away.
Dave said "Backyard!" he opened the gate slowly to avoid making it squeak and ran into the yard. Susan and Bob followed. He ran to the fence on the opposite side of the backyard. Dave jumped up on the fence and looked over into the next backyard. He jumped back down and cupped his hands to help them over. Susan put her foot in his hands and he shoved her upward, she quickly went up, rotated herself on the fence top, and over, landing on her feet at the other side. Bob jumped up and pulled himself over the fence as Susan went over. Dave took a quick look back and jumped over the fence.
He ran toward the front of the house through a small side yard and peered around the corner, followed by Bob and Susan. Dave whispered "Stay back." The three crept into the backyard again.
The yard they were now in had a low fence separating it from the adjacent backyard. That backyard had a shed and some wood near the back that they could hide behind. Dave whispered "Follow me. Stay quiet." and the three ran and went over the small fence and toward
the woodpile and shed to hide. They crouched behind the woodpile beside the shed. Dave said "Stay down. Do not look up. I'll be watching for you.".
He looked at the next backyard and saw that they had a short fence to hop and another high one at the next yard. He saw a small ladder in the adjacent yard. He stopped to think for a moment.
Then he whispered "OK we're going to stay hidden here until they search this yard and go past us and into the yard we were just in, then we are going over that small fence and then over the taller one. Bob you are going to grab that ladder over there, set it up against the tall fence very quietly and you and Susan are going over. Susan, give me your gun. I will cover you while you go. I will tell you when to go, be ready." She handed Dave her hand gun and Bob and Susan stayed low while Dave strapped his rifle to his back and looked through a hole that was formed between pieces of the stacked wood. The three were breathing hard. After a minute their breathing settled to nearly normal. They heard the Red Shirts walking around the house surrounded by the high fence they were going to be climbing up and over with the ladder.
The Red Shirts moved to the next house, getting closer as Dave watched. The Red Shirts didn't spend much time in the yards and soon they were walking along the back of the house they were in and giving the shed a cursory look. Dave saw that one had a twenty-two rifle, the other had a handgun. He put Susan's gun down and got ready with his rifle. Susan quietly picked up her gun again and held it ready while she stayed down.
In a hurry to get to the next house, one said to the other, "Maybe there is a gate on the other side." as they eyed the fence surrounding the next property, the property that had their dead friend in its rear yard. The Red Shirts left the yard to go the front of the next house and around to the other side where the gate was, where Dave had left their comrade. They carelessly swung its gate open and went into the rear yard. Dave, Bob and Susan heard the gate squeak and slam against the side of the house.
Dave said "OK go!" Bob and Susan climbed over the small fence ran toward the high fence in the next yard. Bob grabbed the ladder and set it up quietly, Susan went up and over, followed by Bob while Dave gave them cover then Dave ran over and went up the ladder and over the fence.
"Shit, I forgot to move the ladder" Dave whispered. Susan whispered "They won't connect the dots that fast." Dave said "OK, follow me.". Dave ducked and ran to where gate was in the yard they were in, and slowly opened the heavy wooden gate to get to the front corner of the house. Bob and Susan followed. Dave pointed at the bikes the Red Shirts left lying at the curb "See those bikes? Take them and ride them around the corner two houses down to that white house on the corner on this side". He paused and went on "I'll cover you from here until you are around the corner, then I will hop over the next two fences in the backyards and open the gate at that house from the inside if it's locked and you two ride into the backyard with the bikes. If you get into anything you can't handle or you get spotted by a Red Shirt, make some noise. Break a window with a rock and hide. I'll be right there....or Susan just shoot the bastard".
He stopped to breath for a few moments and Bob and Susan began to move, he said "Wait a minute." They waited catching their breath looking at Dave. They overheard the Red Shirts: "Hey, Dickhead! look at this!" they heard "Holy shit!".
Then Dave whispered "OK go!" They ran out toward the two bikes. Dave watched the front of the neighborhood with his rifle at the ready, covering Bob and Susan as they went and got on the unlocked bikes and quickly rode away. He ran to the back of the house again to look through the small cracks of the fence to see the Red Shirts still standing over the body and talking in low voices.
He hopped the next two fences and ran toward the gate at the corner house backyard and slowly opened it. Bob and Susan were waiting at the other side with the bikes, the gate had been locked from the inside. They went into the yard, keeping their heads down as they went in. Dave opened a rear sliding glass door slowly and said "OK quietly, Susan, hand me your gun. Lift the bikes and carry them in...quietly. Help Bob carry the bikes upstairs.".
He stood guard outside with his rifle ready and trained at the yard where the Red Shirts were while Bob and Susan brought the bikes into the house. If the Red Shirts looked over the fence from the yard they were in and saw him he was ready to shoot. Surrendering had not been part of his experience in the army. The risk in taking their bikes eliminated the need for him to shoot them if they decided to ride away to get more Red Shirts. They would be back in the shelter and safe before the Red Shirts could get back to the river or find help on foot.
As Susan and Bob carried the bikes past him he whispered "Bob. Find some tools, take the bikes apart if you can so they fit under the beds upstairs, I'll deal with these two. Stay quiet. Move slow. If I yell up and say something, do not answer, just do what I tell you.".
Dave stood at the outside of the sliding glass doors listening to the two Red Shirts then slowly and quietly closed the sliding door. He decided to ambush the Red Shirts when they went over to get their bikes to maybe get some useful information and prevent them from firing shots in the air when they saw that their bikes were gone and that they may be in trouble. He ran over to the yard where they left the bikes and hid behind a large bush.
The two Red Shirts came running over to where the bikes were and started looking around for a few minutes. Dave waited for them to start walking toward the river before he held them up from behind. Dave had his forty-five trained on the one that had been carrying the handgun, they turned around toward the sound of Dave cocking his weapon. The one with the handgun turned around quickly and died instantly from Dave's gunshot. The one with the rifle slowly put it down on the sidewalk and put his hands in the air.
Then Dave looked him straight in the eye "How many dogs?" The kid was silent for a moment then said "Thousands of people came down to the river and half of them had dogs and they...we... took every dog.".
Then Dave added "So you are sending the dogs into the neighborhoods, right?" The kid looked down at the pavement and said "Yes." Dave added "Why?" The kid explained that their leader had said everything needed to be organized so they needed to have the people down by the river so they could take care of them and make sure everyone followed rules. The leader had said that sometimes you have to do the wrong thing for the greater good and that we didn't really have to understand it.
Then Dave asked about why so many people had gotten sick. The kid said "I don't know but I think it's because they are emptying the portable bathroom waste up the river. I don't know but one of the other guys told me about this." Dave said "Did he say why?" and the kid said "There were too many people and they were walking around the river and to the lake away from where we could keep them safe and prevent everything from going into chaos. We boiled the water and fed everyone with what we hunted or got from farms and herded with our guns and bikes. Our leader wanted everyone collected so he could talk with them and they could be safe. He even sent some of us to the grocery store to get cake for everyone yesterday.".
Then Dave asked "Do you see anything wrong with this at all?" The kid said "I don't know but I had to join them and do whatever they said so that my girlfriend and kid could have water and be safe.".
The kid told him that he would show him where a pile of guns were if he would not shoot him. Dave said "OK", the kid pointed to a yard and explained that there were guns hidden under a tarp in its shed in the backyard. Dave followed the kid to the yard to see the guns. "What should I say about Jim?" he asked. "Tell them that your partner went into a yard and was attacked by dogs and that you couldn't get there in time to stop it.", He paused to emphasize his next point. "Don't say anything else.".
Dave went on and said "If you start giving your leader information that he doesn't want other people to know than he may have no choice but to kill you to prevent it from getting out. Are you understanding that?" The kid stood still without saying anything.
He paused and went on to say "If you, your kid and your girl
friend can get away from the Red Shirts then do that OK?" The kid said "I will.".
Dave emptied the rifle clip, save two rounds and said "OK, here is that gun back and you go now." Dave watched the kid walk to the road and in the direction of the river carrying his rifle for defense from dogs. He watched the kid look back at him as he walked away. He wondered what the kid would say about the fact that he had lost both bikes when he got to the river but it didn't matter. That kid would have shot him earlier if he had the chance and they would all be safe in the shelter before he could get to the river. The kid wouldn't waste any shots by firing shots into the air to attract his comrades. He may get attacked by dogs after using up his two rounds, Dave thought to himself.
After the kid had turned a corner and was out of sight, Dave collected and hid the pile of guns he had been shown and picked up the body of the kid he had shot and threw it over a fence where it couldn't be seen from the streets. He made sure that dogs could easily get into the yard to destroy the evidence of what happened. He got the bike that was left from the first Red Shirt he had shot over to the house where Bob and Susan were. He brought it in the house for Susan and Bob to dismantle and hide. They had robbed the Red Shirts of three bikes.
He heard Bob and Susan still working on the bikes upstairs in the bedrooms as he entered the house carrying the other bike. He went up and Susan asked what had happened outside. He explained that he was dealing with some Red Shirts and found out what they needed to know. He said they should go back to the shelter after they finished dismantling and hiding the bikes. They didn't ask any questions about what happened to the Red Shirts as they finished. They didn't look up from what they were doing to notice the blood stains all over Dave's clothes.
Dave said he would be downstairs guarding the house while they finished. He looked at his bloodstained clothes and wondered how he could explain it. He decided that moving the one body that Bob and Susan already knew about could do that. He went back upstairs and asked Bob if he had any cigarettes in the ready bag. Bob got up and gave him a cigarette and a lighter.
Bob and Susan, having finished with the bikes, walked down the stairs, following Dave out the back. Dave sat down against the back of the house on the patio stone and told them to sit down beside him. He explained that he had seen and talked to these Red Shirts and that they were dangerous. He said they would get back to the house safely by going from yard to yard and got up and went over to the fence where the ladder was and picked it up, brought it back and put it down quietly in front of Susan and Bob. He asked Bob for the backpack and told him to carry the ladder.
Then he said "Wait here, I'm going to look at the neighborhood. Don't go anywhere." He went to the area between the houses and sat concealed behind a shrub and smoked a cigarette. He sat, looking up at the sky with his eyes closed, finished the cigarette, then got up to get Bob and Susan.
Together they went from yard to yard, using the ladder as necessary with Dave keeping a careful lookout for Red Shirts. They heard a couple of gunshots in the distance. They took fifteen minutes getting through the yards and over some fences and Susan shot a few dogs that were in a yards with her silenced forty five as they made their way home. They got to the backyard of their house and Dave told them to hide behind the garage, while he peered around the corner of the house and the garage looking for Red Shirts. He ran back and got Susan and Bob to follow him into the house where it was safe.
The hatch began opening as they went down the stairs. Bob swept the floor and the hatch top as it was opening, Dave helped him push it out of the way. They followed Susan down the stairs. Emma and Lisa stood at the table tennis table, having stopped playing while the hatch opened. Jennifer stood by the stairs and looked them over as they came down. She saw Susan and Bob uninjured then saw Dave almost covered in blood and gasped. Lisa came running over followed by Emma, both looking at Dave.
Dave said he was uninjured and said that the bloodstains were just from dogs that he had picked up and hidden after they had shot them. Jennifer asked "Are you going to close the hatch?" and proceeded to close it with help from Lisa. They had been gone a little less than an hour.
Dave said that there was a developing situation outside and that he would explain it as they all sat down. He said that they couldn't turn on the generator, leave the shelter or empty waste water for a few days.
He told them all what he had learned from the Red Shirts about the dogs and the water. He explained that Red Shirts were riding around on bikes with guns and ready to shoot people that had things they wanted, or just people they had seen. Emma spoke up and said "They can't hit anything like that." and Dave replied "I know, pretty stupid, but just because they are stupid doesn't mean they aren't dangerous. And...they could get off those bikes before they were seen and sneak up on us. Cavalry used horses a long time ago and bikes are probably better, especially on paved roads.".
Susan said she wanted to go see Richard soon. Dave said that he would go down with her and wanted to meet Richard. He said they could stay in Susan's shelter for the night after talking to Richard, or stay at Richards. They could bring food to him.
After talking for a while about the Red Shirts, Emma went to use the bathroom.
Susan looked at him while Emma wasn't there and said "So how many Red Shirts did you kill this morning?" Dave looked at Susan and the rest and just said "two" and said he didn't want to talk about it.
Emma came out of the bathroom and they heard heavy rain and loud thunder start over the corner loudspeaker. Dave said "This weather would give us excellent cover to go to Richards. There won't be Red Shirts riding around on bikes in this. Jennifer and Lisa, you haven't been out of the shelter and now may be the safest time for a long while" Bob said "I'm going with you.".
Dave added "Its going to be four or five hours to get there, we are going through backyards until we get into the bush and we may have to stay the night at Richards or continue on to Susan's shelter or camp outside in the wet cold.".
Dave went to the storage closet. He came out with a military knife, fatigues, three small canisters of war paint, the scoped semi automatic high velocity twenty-two, first aid kit, his military backpack containing a tent and sleeping bag, his handgun, and his boots. He sat down and applied the war paint to his face and told the others to find dark clothes. He looked at the others as they watched him to convey a sense of seriousness to what they were doing, to scare them out of coming along. Not coming along had to be their idea.
He told Bob to get his backpack. Susan sat down and started crying "I don't think I can do this anymore. I want to help Richard but I just don't think I can do this." Lisa replied "Emma needs you here. You told me what happened with Richard and I don't think you owe him anything." Susan looked at Lisa and said "Maybe you are right. Too much has happened. Joe died." Susan went into her room and was followed by Emma.
Bob looked at Dave and said "What do you want Dave?" Dave said "I want you all to stay here but I am not the king around here and that didn't seem to be an option earlier so I volunteered an idea.".
He paused and looked at them and added "This is not an adventure that I am going on. Its going to be cold, dark and wet tonight." Lisa said "I'm going crazy in here but I can manage to cope.". They decided to stay in the shelter.
Dave looked at Lisa then walked to the bedroom, she followed and they sat down on the bed. He said "This mission isn't as dangerous as I made it out to be, and it will be a lot safer for me if I go alone. The people I will face are nothing but punks but it could get dangerous if I had to continuously look out for the others. I don't like doing this and I don't want to but I have to and I will be back, I promise.". He kissed her goodbye and she followed him out of the room.
He knocked on Susan's bedroom door, Lisa waited outside while he went in and got her instructions on how to open her shelter. "I also need your two suppressed guns. I don't know what I'm going to do until I talk with Richard. I'm going to brief him on the situation with Emma and the Red Shir
ts and see what he thinks.". Emma came in, he looked at Emma and said "Don't worry, we are going to see that you get home, just be good and take it easy on Susan OK?" Emma hugged him as he got up to leave the room. Susan said "Joe has enough weapons in storage to start world war three.". He looked at Emma and said "I'm going to take your holster OK?" She said nothing as she looked at him and nodded. She said she was afraid the dogs outside would get him at night. "I'll be on a roof or in a house" he replied.
He came out of Susan's room, got Susan's guns and ammo out of storage and put away his own. He walked over to the stairs with Lisa following and took the holster Emma made, strapped it onto the handle at top area of his backpack and put the suppressed forty-five in it. He put the backpack on and carried the three-o-three rifle but could reach behind his back in a fraction of a second for the handgun. Bob opened the hatch for him then said "Wait.". He got the binoculars and put them in a side pouch on Dave's pack. Dave kissed Lisa and walked up the stairs of the hatch with Bob following. Bob swept the hatch and floor then closed the hatch while the others watched Dave exit the house on video.
Bob, Lisa and Jennifer watched as he went to hop over his first fence in the yard and disappear from the camera. No dogs were barking nearby but they could hear them off in the distance.