Compass Call: Survival & Awakening (The Gatekeeper Book 3) (51 page)

John emerged from the house to cheers and applause. He looked at Pete with a slightly confused expression, and then squinted his eyes in annoyance before slipping on his sun glasses. Pete tried to innocently shrug off John’s glare and said, “What? I just told them you were spending a little quality time with Jenna.”

“Aren’t we a little old for this kind of thing?” replied John. He knew Pete well enough to know that his friend most likely embellished his time with Jenna to the group of waiting men for the sake of levity. And though it annoyed him, he understood why Pete did it. Few people liked waiting around for someone they knew, let alone didn’t know, especially when it involved something important.

“OK. Well . . . I might have said something about your romantic intentions, but lord knows you need a distraction,” replied Pete, as he arched his eyebrows up and down several times.

“Seriously, Pete. We needed to talk,” replied John.

“Hey, brother, it’s OK. No one blames you for taking a personal moment,” said Pete.

“I wasn’t taking a personal moment,” answered John, and he desperately wanted to change the subject before the strangers began to gather around them. “This is a big turnout,” he said, and then acknowledged Jeff with a nod and a handshake.

“Twenty-three people . . . not counting you and Pete,” replied Jeff.

Parked in the street was the all too familiar, white painter’s van, plus two pickups, a luxury SUV, and a large four-door sedan. John studied the faces of the men gathered around him, looking for people he recognized. Most of the men he saw were the same ones standing with Jeff during the meeting, but Randy was also present. John heard someone call his name from behind and he turned. Adam was coming up the path behind him, apparently carrying some important news, so John met him halfway. “Dad, can I go with you since Paul decided to stay?”

John considered his son’s request and replied, “If it’s OK with your mom, and Paul.”

“Cool. Thanks, dad. Should I bring my rifle?”

“Of course, but don’t rush. We need time to organize . . . probably about ten or fifteen minutes,” replied John. Adam smiled and turned to run back into the house.

When John turned around, Pete was standing next to Jeff talking to the guys about the mission, “The purpose of reconnaissance is to explore unknown areas,” said Pete. “Areas usually controlled by the enemy. In the army, we conduct recons to learn about the terrain, as well as the enemy and their capabilities and limitations.” Pete paused a moment when John arrived, but when John didn’t take over the briefing he continued, “Reconnaissance is very important for commanders. A commander can’t see everything, so he relies on his reconnaissance patrols to report back to him . . . to confirm known intelligence, and to provide intelligence on things he doesn’t know. The point I’m trying to make is that recon patrols are small and quiet . . . they need to travel virtually unnoticed. Stealth is important. We don’t know what to expect, so we need to take it slow and easy.”

“That sounds like a waste of time to me,” said one man.

“In this case, I’d say a waste of time is better than a waste of life. We need to know what we’re going up against . . . in case we have to fight for access to, or possession of the train. Charging blindly into a
fight can get us all killed. So the plan is to approach from an unlikely route, stop a good distance from the objective . . . which is the train, say about a kilometer or so . . .”

“What’s a kilometer?” asked another man.

Pete sighed and said patiently, “A kilometer is a thousand meters. It’s about the length of ten football fields, or a little over half a mile.”

Jeff interrupted, “Sorry Pete, but I can see we’ve got too many people.”

John was impressed with Jeff’s ability to quickly see through Pete’s subtle effort to reduce the size of their force without insulting anyone, or crushing their enthusiasm. “You’re right. We won’t need this many people, not for this first mission anyway,” replied Pete.

Grumbling began to fill the ranks, so John spoke up, “Look, men, I know all of you want to help. I can’t tell you how excited I am to see so many of you willing to step up and help the neighborhood, but there’s a lot of work that has to be done here as well.” John pointed in the direction of the neighborhood entrance and said, “For one, we need to move the motorcycles and build a better barricade. We also need to set up local security patrols. Speaking of which, who here needs a weapon?”

Several hands went up and John said, “OK, I’ve got captured weapons to pass out before we go. But does everyone understand what I’m talking about . . . there’s plenty of work to go around? The train reconmission should be a small group.”

“I’ll stay and organize a defense,” offered Jeff, “if someone tells me what to do.”

John nodded, again impressed with Jeff’s willingness to cooperate and lead by example, but he said, “I think your knowledge of this train will be important, so you should go. But can you recommend someone to take charge while we’re away?”

Jeff put a hand on the shoulder of the man standing next to him and said, “My neighbor, Lyle. He can run things while we’re gone. He’s a construction foreman, and knows how to work with people.”

“For sheet metal workers,” replied Lyle, and then he added, “That doesn’t make me a Soldier.”

“You don’t have to be a Soldier,” replied John, “You just have to sometimes be willing to follow orders, and sometimes be willing to take charge.” John turned to the group and said, “Does anyone here have a problem with Lyle taking charge?” Nobody challenged the proposal, so John said, “Good.” He then looked at Lyle and said, “Before we leave we’ll give you weapons and a priority of work. Can you handle it?”

Lyle scratched his head and said, “I can work with these folks if they can work with me.”

“Excellent,” said John. “Now Jeff, let’s talk about the train. What can you tell us about its possible location so we can plan a route?”

“It would be easier if I had a map,” replied Jeff.

“We’ll need a route that’s not too obvious, something good to navigate. If you tell me where it is then I can help you reach it. From where we stand, do you know the direction to the train?” asked John.

“Yeah. I know where it should be sitting,” replied Jeff, and he pointed to their west-southwest.

“Good,” said John. “Do you think you can draw a map?”

“Sure, but I don’t have a pen or paper with me,” replied Jeff.

John bent down and picked up a stick, and in the settled ash of the drainage ditch, he began to scratch out what he knew of the general area. When he finished he pointed to a small two-inch square with the stick and said, “This represents our neighborhood, and this is north.” As everyone gathered around, John began to add roads and other recognizable terrain features to his map, and he named them as he worked. “This is not to scale, but does everyone understand this map?” John looked up to see nods when he heard only a few verbal acknowledgements. “Good,” said John, and he turned to Jeff to ask, “Where are the tracks in relation to our neighborhood? I know where the nearest railroad crossing is . . . here, but not how the rail line actually runs through the area.”

Jeff studied the map for a moment and said, “Not to scale, as you say, but the line runs something like this.” And taking John’s stick, Jeff scratched out the rail line. “It runs along the river . . . in the valley over yonder,” he finished, while pointing with the stick to the southwest.

“And where do you think the train is in relation to the tracks?” asked John.

“Well, she’s a long one, more than seventy cars, so I think we’ll see her anywhere from here . . . to here,” said Jeff, as he scratched two ‘X’s’ in the hard packed surface of the ash. “I’ve driven the tracks many times, so I know we can access them from the crossing, but that’s not a very . . . what did Pete call it . . . stealthy approach?”

“I agree with Pete. We should avoid drawing attention to ourselves. Does anyone know a cross-country route from here to the valley?” asked John.

“I’ve hunted the area,” said one man. “It’s mostly open pasture, with a few clusters of trees and such. There are a few dirt roads we can drive, but we’ll have to cut gate locks, and maybe even a little fence. We might have to cross the river too.”

“Nope,” said another man. “And it’s not much of a river . . . not a big one anyway. It’s on the other side of the tracks, but there are a lot of trees on both sides.”

“On both sides of the tracks, or the stream?” asked Pete.

“Both,” said the man. “It goes trees, track, stream, and trees. But the drop into the valley on our side is better than on the other. On the other side it’s more like a cliff to a bluff.”

“Thank you, gentlemen.” John turned to Pete and asked, “So . . . what’s your plan?”

“Keep it simple,” replied Pete. “We’ll take three vehicles . . . four men each. Twelve men are more than enough to handle any threat we might encounter, and pull security when we stop. I think the two pickups, and the SUV are all we’ll need.”

“What? Not my SUV . . . not cross country,” said a clean-cut man in fresh blue jeans and a light-green chambray shirt.

“You want food, don’t you, Ross?” asked Jeff.

“Of course I do,” snapped Ross, “but my Escalade is not going off-road. I paid a lot of money for it and I’m not about to scratch it up driving through trees and rocks.”

“Fine,” said Jeff, and in an equally calm and measured tone he added, “You can go home now.”

“What do you mean?” asked Ross.

“I said you can leave. If you’re not willing to help us, then we no longer need you.”

“Why don’t you use that SUV,” said Ross, pointing to John’s Suburban, “or that truck,” he added, pointing to Pete’s dually. “They’re both already beat up.”

“Speak for yourself, pal,” quipped Pete.

“Because,” said Jeff, raising his voice in irritation, “they’ve already done more than enough for us. It’s time we pulled our own weight. Don’t you agree, guys?”

Most of the men agreed, and a few even expressed their thanks and support to John and Pete again. But not Ross, he put his hands on his hips and said, “I don’t understand why it’s necessary to take my Escalade, especially when there are two old beaters sitting right there. I spent a lot of time and money on my truck, and I want it to last a while.”

“Like I said, they’ve already done enough for us,” repeated Jeff. “We wouldn’t have drinking water if it wasn’t for John. And the biker gang . . . dang, Ross, weren’t you at the meeting? Everybody here knows what John and Pete did for us, and it’s time we got off our asses and pulled our own weight.”

Jeff faced Ross and said, “Besides, do you honestly think your SUV is worth anything now, or will be worth anything tomorrow? Let me ask you this . . . would you be willing to trade your Escalade for some food or water?”

“I . . . I . . . yes, of course I would. That’s a stupid question. But I would have to get a lot for it,” replied Ross.

“Really?” asked Jeff. “It’s interesting you still think your SUV is worth more than the food and water you need to survive. The truth is, your Escalade isn’t worth a hundred dollars in . . .”

“Seventy-four-thousand dollars,” interrupted Ross, as if put off by Jeff’s ridiculously low assessment.

“I was going to say a hundred dollars in wheat, but anything will work. Do you honestly think your SUV is worth seventy-thousand dollars in food? What do you think the value of food is right now, or even gas? I wouldn’t give you a canned ham for your SUV,” finished Jeff, obviously irritated with Ross’ shortsightedness and stubborn selfishness.

Ross huffed in anger and looked ready to launch into a new tirade when he saw everyone staring at him. He seemed to swallow his tongue when he saw their mixed expressions of contempt, disgust and pity. After apparently coming to terms with the reality of his situation, Ross lowered his chin and said, “You’re right . . . you’re absolutely right. I’m sorry. I’m still adjusting to the disaster. We can take the Escalade . . . but I’ll drive.”

Jeff ignored Ross’ apology and turned his attention back to the group. Pointing to John and Pete he said, “Thanks to these guys . . . and their willingness to risk their lives for us . . . we’re free to act for ourselves. That might not seem like a big deal to some of you, but it’s a big deal to me. You know how I felt about Tony, and I definitely didn’t like the biker gang. But what did we do about it? We didn’t do anything! We sat on our butts and watched things as they unraveled around us.” Jeff cleared his throat and continued. “We can’t do that anymore, guys. We can’t wait for things to happen, or for help to come. From here on out we’ve got to handle our own survival. And the only way we’re going to survive is if we cooperate.”

He turned to face Ross again, and said, “If we’re going to survive we have to work together. We have to let go of selfishness and cooperate. We don’t need your SUV, Ross. Go home and wash it for all I care,
but don’t expect us to bring you any food. You’re either fully invested in our survival, or you’re not.”

“I already said you could use it,” replied Ross, clearly agitated at still being the center of attention.

John was impressed with Jeff’s handling of the situation, and curious to see how it would turn out, so he only watched and listened carefully. He was also pleased that Jeff was emerging as the group’s leader, and that he was displaying some very noteworthy leadership qualities. He wasn’t about to interrupt, so he studied the map with Pete and waited patiently for the matter to resolve itself, or to be called upon to comment.

“Conditionally,” replied Jeff. “You offered your truck conditionally, and in my book that’s not cooperation.”

“Sure. Fine. Here you go,” replied Ross, and he tossed his keys to Jeff.

Jeff caught the keys and tossed them back “We don’t want your Escalade, Ross, we want you,” he said firmly.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re SUV isn’t important, but you are. I’m not Tony. I’m not going to coerce anyone into serving me, or this neighborhood. If you don’t want to work with us then you’re free to go, but if you don’t pull your weight around here you won’t be included in our survival community. You’ll be on your own, Ross, like now,” finished Jeff.