Muzzles flashed.
Caden rolled the window down and returned fire.
The Humvee pull back to the curve, stopped across both lanes, and the soldiers jumped out and returned fire.
Glancing quickly to his side he realized they were at the off ramp to Hansen. “Pull in there,” he ordered. The other three trucks followed them into the empty parking lot. Everyone was out of their vehicle in a second.
Caden tossed the M4 to the young soldier and pulled his pistol from the holster. “You guys,” he said pointing to the men from the trucks, “stay here and guard the supplies.” With the soldier from his car he moved forward into the forest. “Radio the others and tell them we are on the right flank in the woods.”
The young man nodded and reported in with the others at the Humvee.
Minutes later Caden was just off to the side of the makeshift roadblock. “Have the men hold their fire.”
When the shooting stopped, Caden crawled up to the barricade. There was blood, but no bandits.
Turning to the man with him he said, “Tell everyone we’ve secured the blockade. Have them clear it from the road and secure the perimeter. Also tell them I’m heading back that way. I don’t want to get shot.”
Caden jogged along the highway to the lot. Throwing up the back hatch of the car, he pulled ammo boxes toward him grabbed several magazines and reloaded others. Out of the corner of his eye he glimpsed two of his soldiers escorting a civilian. “Are you guys okay?” he asked without turning.
“Yes sir. The shooters appear to have run off. The only one we captured is this old guy.”
Caden turned and locked eyes on a grey-haired man that, weeks earlier, would have been dismissed as a bum.
The old man’s eyes widened. “Son?”
“Dad?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
The face was gaunt, the beard scraggly. Disheveled grey hair topped his head and he wore a heavy tan jacket that needed a wash. But under the dirty hair and grime Caden could see the face of his father, Trevor Westmore.
The older man stepped forward and embraced his son. “I’ve been worried about you ever since that first horrible day.”
Caden hugged his father. “I was worried about you too, Dad.”
“I thought… I, well… you’re alive, thank God.”
Stepping back from his father, Caden asked, “What are you doing here? I expected you to be somewhere along the North Road. You didn’t shoot at us did you?”
“No! Well, not exactly. I was up on the hill there,” he said pointing, “watching the guys at the blockade from behind. I had only been there a few minutes when I heard the sound of trucks coming. I was certain they would ambush whoever came down the road. When the lead Humvee rounded the bend I knew I had to act and fired my shotgun. At that range I was sure it wouldn’t hurt anyone, but that you would hear it and probably see the muzzle flash. By-the-way, when did you go back in the Army?”
“I’ll tell you all about it later, but right now I need more answers, like did you find Peter and Susan?”
Suddenly his father looked much older. “I never found Peter, but I did find Sue. She is in a backroom of the church,” he said with a nod toward the building across the street. “I left her there while I checked out the blockade.”
“Come on. Let’s get her. We need to get moving before the bandits decide to come back.” Caden ordered the men to finish clearing the barricade then regroup in the convenience store parking lot. “Keep an eye out for shooters and be ready to move when we come out of the church.”
His father retrieved a pump shotgun from the soldier beside him and pulled a flashlight from his pocket. Caden followed as his dad led across the street and through the church parking lot. As they went his father asked questions. “How’s your mom? Have you seen Lisa? Has there been any more looting?”
Caden did his best to answer the questions. Near the convoy there had been sufficient light, but as they approached the church darkness closed in. He turned on his own flashlight. “Do you think Peter was too close when they detonated the bomb?”
“I hate to think about what might have happened to him. Susan and I were almost too close to the blast. I can’t see how your brother would have survived. I saw the flash and then both of us heard and felt it before seeing the mushroom cloud rise over a line of trees to the north. My old truck was the only auto that was still running. It amazed me how many people were in the area. As we sped away from the growing mushroom cloud, everyone ran in a panic toward my truck.”
The front doors to the church had been broken open. Caden pulled his pistol from the holster as he crossed the threshold. Automatically he flipped a light switch inside, but nothing happened. By flashlight the two men proceeded. Trash and debris were scattered on the floor of the lobby.
“This way,” his father whispered as he moved to the left.
Looking at the empty water bottles, beer cans and food wrappers that littered the way, Caden asked in a low voice, “Are you sure no one is in here?”
“I checked earlier. We were going to spend the night here and then push on to Hansen in the morning.”
“If it’s deserted why are we whispering?”
His father chuckled. “I don’t know. By-the-way, Sue is armed with a pistol.”
As they passed a lavatory the smell of human waste hung heavy in the air.
Reaching the middle of the hall his father stopped. “Susan it’s me. I’m with Caden.”
There was no answer. Slowly he opened the door.
Susan stood just inside. Her hair was a mess and she was wearing a heavy old army coat, but Caden was focused on the pistol she was only slowly lowering to her side. With her free hand she put one finger to her lips and said in a barely audible whisper. “There are other people in the building.”
The two men stepped in the dark room. Caden stayed near the door and watched the hall.
“How did I miss them earlier?” his dad wondered out loud.
“They came in after all the shooting,” she said. “They ran down this hall, but I don’t know where they are now.”
“They must have circled back,” Caden said. “They probably left supplies or something else important here.”
“You don’t have a radio on you do you?” his father asked.
“No.” Caden thought for a moment then said, “I’ll lead the way out. Whoever is in here is either avoiding us or hoping to trap us. Either way, I don’t want to encounter them, but if we do I’ll shoot. That should bring the soldiers.”
“Why not just shoot now and alert them?” Trevor asked.
“I don’t want to pull them away from the convoy unless it is necessary. We have three trucks full of food, ammo and medicine and a fueler out there.” He took one more look down the hall then said, “You two stay low.”
“That’s a little hard to do right now,” Sue said.
Caden wondered what she meant, but he pushed it from his mind and focused on the immediate task of getting out of the building.
His father picked up a bulging army backpack and slid it on. Caden turned to the hall, looked both ways, then carefully stepped from the room. With Susan in the middle the three moved silently toward the lobby.
Arriving at the end of the hallway, Caden leaned slowly forward leading with his pistol.
A shot rang out splintering the wood just above his arm, but not hitting him. He dropped and fired two shots at a figure silhouetted by light from the convoy.
A man screamed in pain.
Another shot hit the wall near Caden.
His father stepped to the corner and fired his shotgun.
Caden heard running and then a muffled shot. He waited several seconds and then cautiously looked around the corner. Two headlights now illuminated much of the lobby. Caden used his flashlight to fill in the dark areas and discovered a body on the floor near the entrance.