“They did some horrible, horrible things,” said Sara, her face contorting in the memory of it all.
John looked at Cynthia briefly, but she didn’t seem to want to relive the memory of her husband’s death by talking about it. Not now, at least.
“The real problem is the leader,” said John. “Apparently he was in the joint for years and years. You’ve never seen someone like him. Missing half his teeth. Tattoos all over him. Just huge. Spent all his years locked up working out. He’d gone in for a triple homicide. Goes by the name Kor. Don’t ask me what it means. Some kind of prison nickname, I don’t know.”
“You saw him?” said Cynthia, sounding scared.
“Well, not personally. Or we probably wouldn’t be here. But the rumors were crazy.”
“Do you know anything else about him?” said John.
John knew that the more information they had, the better off they’d be. Even though the rogue militia was far away from them, they could still be a threat.
“Well,” said Derek. “The word is that they’re looking for communication devices.”
“Communication devices?” said Cynthia. “You mean like cell phones? I thought everyone knew those don’t work.”
Derek nodded. “They don’t.”
“The towers aren’t going to work,” said John.
Everyone nodded.
“Right,” said Derek. “But a shortwave radio would work.”
“It’d have been ruined in the EMP,” said John. “It was so powerful that even small electronic devices were affected.”
Derek nodded. “They’re looking for one that was shielded by a Faraday cage. You know, a metal cage inside another metal cage. It blocks all electromagnetic signals.”
“Who would have put their shortwave radios in a Faraday cage?” said Cynthia.
“Well, people who were very prepared,” said Derek. “But think about it, not that many people have shortwave radios to begin with these days. They’re pretty rare.”
“So what’s the deal? What does this Kor guy want with a shortwave radio?”
“Rumor is he thinks he can gain more power,” said Sara. “Basically he wants to expand his little empire. And unfortunately, he’s pretty savvy. He knows that communication is going to be crucial for what he wants to do.”
“Shit,” muttered John. “This isn’t good.”
“At least we’re pretty far away,” said Cynthia.
“I don’t know how much good that’s going to do,” said Sara. “Word is they’re sending scouting parties out. We narrowly avoided one of them.”
“You’re lucky to be alive,” said John. “Hiking all the way out from the suburbs. We did the same thing, but it was tough.”
“We know all the little trails,” said John, giving a half-smile. “Better than most.”
“Sounds like you’re pretty prepared yourselves,” said John. “I had nothing when I started out.”
“Well, in a way, yeah. But we need weapons.”
John thought for a moment. They seemed like good people. And they were pretty relaxed and easygoing, considering the situation. He knew they weren’t going to try to hurt him or Cynthia.
“Maybe we can help you out with that,” said John. “But what are your plans? Staying around here?”
“No,” said Derek, shaking his head. “We’re going to keep going.”
“We want to get out as far as we can,” said Sara.
John frowned. He wondered if he and Cynthia should be doing the same thing. Maybe the farmhouse wasn’t the best option.
“You can help us get weapons?” said Sara. There was eagerness in her voice.
Looking at her, no one would have ever thought she’d be so enthusiastic about the possibility of getting a firearm. Even with the dirt from weeks on the trail with no bathing facilities, she still had a glimmer to her. Derek did too. They looked like they’d been living quite the life back in the suburbs.
“We have a lot of guns,” said John. He explained how they’d arrived at the farmhouse to find all those dead bodies, and he told them about the guns. “I don’t see the harm in parting with two of them. There’s more than we can use. But would you consider staying at the farmhouse with us? There’s room to grow food. And we could use more people to help us defend it.”
“That’s tempting,” said Derek. “The thought of continuing on, and not knowing what’s coming next is tough.”
“Very tough,” said Sara.
“Why don’t you come over, rest for a little while? Get a good night’s sleep in a real bed, and then decide in the morning. No pressure.”
“Deal,” said Derek and Sara together.
They all shook hands and grinned as best they could at each other, considering the grim circumstances.
“Hey,” said Sara. “Do you hear that?” She perked her head up, almost like an animal.
They all fell quiet.
“Sounds like a car engine,” said Cynthia, speaking in a low voice. “A big one.”
John motioned for everyone to move farther away from the road.
Could it be that the militia had sent a scouting party out this way already?
Really, it could be anyone. With any intentions.
To John’s horror, the car didn’t keep going. From the sound of the engine, the vehicle had clearly stopped. Right near them.
“What do we do?” whispered Derek.
John held up a hand, letting them all know to stay quiet. His knuckles were white from gripping his handgun. He wished he’d spent more time practicing before venturing out from the farmhouse.
There was the sound of a door opening, and slamming closed.
Shit.
5
“We’ve got to find him,” said Max. “We’ll split up. Mandy, you come with me in the new car. Georgia, you take your kids in the Bronco. We’ll meet back here in twenty minutes. Keep your eyes peeled. And your hands on your guns.”
“What if we don’t find him?” said Sadie. She seemed worried about Chad’s fate.
Mandy wasn’t worried about him.
She felt guilty about it. But as far as she was concerned, losing Chad would actually be a benefit to the whole group.
Sure, he’d saved their lives one time, as Max had said. But how many other times had he put their lives in danger? And how many more times in the future?
“We’ll find him,” said Max. “But if we don’t, we’ll move on.”
Mandy was surprised. So far, Max had done everything he could for Chad. Hard love, though, that was what he’d given him.
Then again, Max seemed like he’d do almost anything for any of them.
Mandy looked at Max’s battered face, badly bruised, and wondered just how far he’d be willing to go for them. And for her.
“Come on,” said Max gruffly, as he got into their new vehicle.
This wasn’t the time for pretty words. This was the time for action.
The car was lower to the ground than a normal car. It took Mandy some effort to get into the passenger’s seat.
“This is our new car?” she said, examining the flashy interior. Not just the dash was altered. The seats were aftermarket, too, those racing bucket style seats, with seatbelts meant for track-only use. On the rear windshield there were all sorts of logos and stickers.
“It’s what we’ve got,” said Max, cranking the engine. “It’s too low for going off-road, unfortunately. And it’ll probably be terrible on gas. But the acceleration might come in handy. Maybe.”
“Hopefully not,” said Mandy. “I don’t know what we’ll do if we run into guys like those scary guys in the Ford Bronco.”