“I’m not splitting anything with you, because you don’t have anything now. Understand?”
“I don’t understand,” Michael whined, staring at the rifle.
Robert opened the front door wide and stepped back to make room for them to walk through the open doorway. He pointed outside with the rifle.
“Through this door is exactly what you gave my children: nothing. Go, and don’t come back. If I see you around here again, I’ll kill you.”
Michael dropped to his knees and waddled toward Robert, begging for mercy. “We have no place to go. We’ll starve to death. You can’t do this!”
“Yes, I can!” Robert drove his knee into Michael’s perfectly veneered teeth, knocking him to the ground. When Michael sat up, he felt his mouth and the gap where a tooth used to be. Robert pushed him out the door with his boot, then Becky crawled out and sat next to her husband on the front porch. They held each other, whimpering loudly.
Robert put the end of the barrel at the back of Michael’s skull. “You better leave now before I change my mind.”
The couple ran away, not looking back. Robert watched them disappear into the darkness, toward the stream that fed the nearby lake. He went back into the house to retrieve the flashlight and some candles from the kitchen. He opened the pantry and the garage entry door one more time to look at the pile of food, just before he ran back home to his children. He hurried home as fast as he could and pushed his front door open. Kyle, Alexis, and Jim were there. Alexis had made some cold oatmeal for the children, and he could see their weakness in the way they chewed the food so slowly. He placed the candles on the kitchen table and lit them.
“You’re safe now,” Robert said, as he touched their boney shoulders gently.
Brad looked up at his father. He finally smiled. His mouth was full of food. From the opposite side of the table, Robert leaned forward to get a closer look at his children in the candlelight. Jennifer touched his wrist. Robert turned to her and smiled. She smiled back. Then the children, so fatigued from their hunger, drifted to sleep at the table. Robert gently picked them up and carried them to their beds, covering them with blankets to keep them warm through the night.
Robert sat at the dining table facing the other three adults in the flickering candlelight.
“I didn’t want to say anything in front of your kids. What did you do after we left?” asked Kyle.
“That asshole won’t be coming back.”
Jim laughed and said, “I wish I could’ve seen that.”
“He took my food and starved my children.” Robert shook his head angrily. “He got better than what he deserved.”
“That’s where all the food went?” asked Alexis.
“Yes, and he had a lot more than that. He took from everyone he could.” Robert pointed at Jim. “We can take some of that food and split it among the people who are still in the neighborhood. I don’t know who needs it, or who deserves it the most. Do you have any ideas?”
Jim nodded his head, saying, “I could use some of that food, myself.”
“We need to go move that food back here tonight,” said Robert. “Michael is a snake in the grass, and he might come back for it. Jim, I want to do this quick, tonight. Can you come back tomorrow, too? I want to know about everything that’s happened here since I’ve been gone.”
“Sure, I’ll come back at daybreak.”
“Thanks, Jim. Now, take the wheelbarrow, and you and Kyle get started. I’ll be right behind you.”
They left, and only Robert and Alexis remained at the table.
“Thanks for making them something to eat.”
Alexis smiled and said gently, “They’re going to be okay.”
“I’m going to make sure of that. They’re all I have now.”
Robert stood up, retrieved the flashlight from his pocket, and handed it to Alexis.
“It’s going to get dark in here when the candles go out, so you should take this.”
“You won’t be afraid of the dark?” Alexis asked, sarcastically.
“I’ve got nothing to fear.” Robert held the rifle up for Alexis to see.
“I prayed for bullets last night,” said Alexis.
Robert walked to the front door, stopped, turned around, and said with a somber expression, “I hope you did.”
Robert opened the door and stepped outside.
“Hold on, Robert. You should be happy now. It was a long journey home and we made it.”
“We made it here, but our journey isn’t over yet. It has just gotten started. Keep praying for bullets, Alexis. We’re going to need them.”
He shut the door and walked into the darkness.