Compass Call: Survival & Awakening (The Gatekeeper Book 3) (59 page)

“Insulted?” asked John.

“Well, you’re right. He counter-insulted. Blackbeard and his boys were throwing some pretty hearty insults at Paul. But it didn’t seem to bother him,” Pete answered for Paul.

“It didn’t. To be honest, I don’t remember hearing them,” interjected Paul. “I was only focused on . . . the giant.” Paul made finger quotes when he said the word, “giant,” and it made everyone chuckle.

“Are you telling this story, or am I?” asked Pete, standing straight and looking intently at Paul.

“Sorry,” said Paul. “Please continue, master narrator.”

Pete bowed and resumed his ready stance, “After said insults were delivered, the ‘
giant’
quickly approached. He raised his machete high into the air and brought it down hard . . . straight for Paul’s head.” Pete stopped and looked at everyone for dramatic effect before continuing, “I wish I could say it was a long, drawn out battle, where both men fought each other against many blows, wounding each other severely, and nearly faint at a loss for blood . . .”

“Pete!” said Bonnie and Marissa at the same time. Everyone laughed and Pete collected himself to continue. “Sorry, m’lady,” said Pete, and he bowed to Bonnie. He did the same for Marissa and asked, “How was that, Paul?”

“Good, Pete. You learn fast,” replied Paul, with a grin.

“So, as I was saying, it went really fast. One minute Blackbeard had a right arm, and the next minute he didn’t. In fact it happened so fast I still can’t believe I actually saw it,” said Pete, as he nodded to Paul. “Then Blackbeard falls to his knees,” added Pete, as he dropped to his knees while pretending to hold a hand over his bloody stump of an arm. “I don’t think Paul even broke a sweat. Anyway, he looms over the midget . . .”

Everyone screamed “Pete!” and laughed while shaking their heads.

“Right. So Paul stands over Blackbeard and asks him to surrender . . .” said Pete.

“Yield,” said Paul.

“Huh?” replied Pete.

“I asked him to yield,” replied Paul.

“Right. Yield,” said Pete, with a smile. “Do you yield?” he looked at Paul and asked, “Like that?”

“Close enough,” chuckled Paul.

“Well of course the fool doesn’t yield, so then Paul mentioned something about the terms of the battle. And the next thing I see is
Blackbeard’s head rolling on the ground at his feet. Then Paul charged into the gang of bikers like . . . like a fox raiding a henhouse,” finished Pete.

“You’re not going to tell them the part about how you tried to blow my foot off?” asked Paul.

“What?” cried Pete in mock surprise. “I told you that shot was only meant to get your attention.”

“Whatever,” scoffed Paul, and he began to clap his hands in appreciation of Pete’s colorful rendition of the sword fight. The other’s joined in, and John studied and admired Paul’s demeanor, not so much for the superb display of swordsmanship, but because the entire event seemed to completely change Paul. It restored his manhood, his identity even, and given him back a sense of pride and self-worth that was taken during the home invasion. John thought maybe Paul never really had a sense of pride before the fight, but he sure did now, and he was very happy for him.

The meeting moved on to the next point of discussion, that of their departure preparations. For this, Jenna opened with a breakdown of their travel rations. She said they had two weeks of prepared daily rations, and based on John’s packing list requirement, they felt they should take an additional thirty days of rations as a backup. She looked at John and added, more as a subtle question than a statement, “That should be more than enough food to get us where we’re going.”

John picked up on her concern but didn’t respond to it. If they wanted to take more food it was fine by him, as long as they had the room. He didn’t want to sacrifice other valuable equipment, like fuel, water and ammo, for a few extra days of food. John was acutely aware that it bothered Jenna to leave so much food behind, but he knew they wouldn’t need it, that they’d end up abandoning it along the way because they couldn’t carry it when they ended up walking. As far as he was concerned, it was a waste either way, taking it or leaving it. Of course, he hadn’t shared that news with the entire company, only Pete,
and he knew his friend didn’t want to think about it either. John’s plan was to delay the inevitability of walking for as long as possible.

To keep the discussion rolling, John asked what they proposed for a load break-down of the food. Jenna recommended a three-day supply of rations for each vehicle, with the bulk of the remaining food to be carried in a single vehicle that would serve as a sort of chuck-wagon. He knew the ladies were hoping to complete the trip in three days, but it took Pete that long to travel one-third their planned distance to the mountains. John thought it would take them a month to reach their haven, but again, he didn’t want to upset the company with his prediction. His was, after all, a worse-case assessment.

John turned to Pete and asked, “What’d you have in mind for the passenger break-down.”

“I was thinking of maintaining family units . . . with Corbin riding point with me,” said Pete. When John didn’t reply he added, “Is it safe to assume the extra food will go in the back of my truck?”

“I was thinking that’s the best place for it,” replied John.

“Then my truck can’t be the point vehicle . . .” Everyone looked at Pete as he silently considered a revised passenger load plan. He looked at John and asked, “Are you thinking Paul should run point?”

“No. That’s not what I was thinking. No offense to you, Paul, but it takes experience to recognize dangers when no dangers are apparent.”

“None taken,” replied Paul. John thought he actually sounded relieved.

He looked at Pete and said, “I think you’re the best qualified to run point.”

“You’re right, and I have experience. I’ll drive point . . . with Adam and Corbin. Marcus can ride with me too . . . if Paul and Marissa agree.” After a short pause he added, “I’ll drive the van, and Paul can drive my truck. Since it will have the food it should be the trail vehicle.”

“Paul, are you OK with that proposal?” asked John.

“It makes sense to me. So what’s the complete passenger breakdown again?”

“Pete will be in the lead vehicle with the boys. Where do you stand on having Marcus ride with Pete?”

“I can’t think of a safer place for him to be,” replied Paul, and Marissa heartily agreed.

“OK. The lead vehicle will be the van, with Pete and the boys on point. I’ll be the middle vehicle, with Jenna, and Bonnie. And Paul will drive Pete’s truck with Marissa and the little ones. I think Abby will want to ride with you as well, Paul,” finished John, as he scanned the faces around the table. “Does everyone agree with the passenger list?” Everyone either nodded or said, “Yes.”

John cleared his throat and said, “Now, let’s move on to the subject of group and personal protection. Does anyone here resist the idea of carrying a weapon at all times?”

“I do,” answered Marissa without delay.

John looked at her and saw that Paul wasn’t interested in pushing the subject, so neither was he. In fact, he doubted he would need weapons much longer; at least weapons on the physical side of business. After dispatching the thugs in the roadhouse, John began to question his need to ever carry a weapon, but old habits were hard to break. Guns comforted him, they made him feel prepared, ready to survive any and all challenges. Guns gave John a sense of survivalness better than any other tool. He chewed on the word, ‘survivalness’ for a second and decided he liked it. He would hold on to his guns for a while longer because they communicated capability and intent. He also knew they would be extremely valuable as barter items, so they would go.

Marissa smiled at John, and he smiled back. “Will you consider carrying a knife?” asked John. She looked surprised, which told John she hadn’t considered all possible self-defense options.

“A knife? Like a pocket knife?” she asked.

“Pocket knives are more tools than weapons. I think you’ll find you can’t live without one now that things have changed. But I was thinking of something a little more lethal, like a fixed-blade. I’ve got several you can choose from,” said John.

“I don’t know . . . I can be so clumsy at times,” replied Marissa. “What do you carry, Jenna, Bonnie?”

“When I go hunting with John I carry a hunting knife, but I don’t know if I could use it on someone in self-defense,” said Jenna.

“Same here,” said Bonnie. “I’d probably end up dropping it or having it taken from me and used against me.”

“John’s right,” said Pete. “You should all carry a knife and a gun, but if no gun, then definitely a knife. As for using one, well, I can show you how. Of course, that won’t make you a knife fighter if you believe you’ll drop it, or something like that,” replied Pete, obviously irritated at Bonnie’s comment.

“We’re not all like you, Pete,” said Bonnie. “We all haven’t been to knife school.”

“You’re right. My apologies Bon . . . everyone. It’s just that knives are important survival tools, and they’ve been around since the dawn of man . . . for a reason. It’s not just about stabbing someone, it’s about cutting, and just about everything you come across will need cutting. I suppose you can carry scissors, but they’re for specialized work. You can’t skin a deer with a pair of scissors . . . well, maybe in a pinch, but that’s not the point.” Pete turned to Bonnie and said, “And I didn’t go to knife school.”

“Sure. Well, you’ve been trained to kill with a knife, and I haven’t. And neither have Jenna, or Marissa,” snapped Bonnie.

“Well . . . that’s not entirely true. John taught me knife combat, but that doesn’t mean I’m ready for it. The thought of sticking a knife in someone scares me a little,” added Jenna, in an effort to settle the rising argument between Bonnie and Pete.

“It is a different feeling,” said Paul. “I mean . . . I never fought anyone with a real blade until recently.” Paul looked off in the distance, as if carefully considering his choice of words, and said, “But in a life or death situation, I don’t think there’s anyone here who wouldn’t use a knife to defend themselves if that’s the only weapon they had.”

“Good point, Paul,” said John. “I won’t make anyone carry a knife or gun if they aren’t completely comfortable with it. I just ask that each of you consider the implications of group protection. Any one of us, at any time, may need to step forward and protect a group member from an unknown threat. And we’ve all seen how such threats can pop up out of nowhere. But enough of weapons right now . . . let’s move on to the last topic of the night, because I’m tired and need rest. I think we should be gone before first light, so let’s backward plan our timeline from there.

The group spent the next ten minutes discussing wake up and packing procedures. When all was said and done, it was decided that the men would rise and begin packing at zero-three-thirty, and the ladies would handle the watch until that time so the men would be alert while on the road. As soon as the men were up, the ladies would prepare the house for departure, and everyone would be on the road no later than zero-five. Following nods, verbal agreements, and a few yawns, the party broke up to go their separate ways.

John retrieved a road atlas and returned to the table with Pete. Paul saw them studying the map book and asked, “Do you need me for anything else?”

John smiled and said, “Get some rest . . . you’ve earned it. We’re just considering a few possible routes. Once we identify the route we’ll brief you.”

“Thanks, John. I’m glad you’re back safe,” and putting a hand on John’s shoulder, Paul added, “I’d follow you to hell and back, if that’s what it comes to. I just want you to know that.”

John turned to face Paul and nodded his reply. Then, after a short moment of solemn eye contact, he added, “That means a lot to me, Paul. I’m glad we’ve come together. I know it’s been a rough road for you and your family, but I really appreciate your company.” Then they embraced, slapped each other firmly on the back a few times, and returned to their tasks.

“So, which way are we going?” asked Pete.

“As direct as possible, so northwest,” replied John. “I was thinking we’d start by taking highway 114 to 82, and then west towards Lubbock. But I want to avoid all built-up areas . . . maybe pass somewhere between Lubbock and Amarillo,” added John, as he circled the area with his finger.

“Then up through New Mexico into Colorado?” asked Pete.

“Yeah. I figure we can enter Colorado around here,” said John, as he stabbed the map with his finger, “near Trinidad. If we can stay to the roads it will be around six-hundred miles to the Colorado border, and then another three-hundred to our destination near the Grand Mesa National Forest.”

Pete nodded and asked, “How long do you think it will take to get there?”

“That’s a question I was hoping you could help me answer. We’ll have twice the amount of food we should need . . . do you think we can make it there in thirty days?” asked John in turn.

“I sure hope so. What’s the elevation in that area?”

“Between five and ten-thousand feet, give or take,” replied John.