Legion of Despair: Book Three in The Borrowed World Series (23 page)

“Will,” Gary said, turning toward his son-in-law. “I want you and Dave to pull every vehicle over here as close to the house as you can get them. One of you drives, the other maintains watch. After they’re all here, I want you to keep watch until dinner is ready,” Gary said. “We’ll eat in shifts. We do not leave these vehicles unguarded. That’s our life and our future out there.”

“Got it,” Will said.

“I’m going to go make that radio call right now, before it gets any later,” Gary said. “Then I’ll be back and we’ll come up with a watch plan for tonight.”

Gary grabbed the radio from his pack. It was part of the set that he, Jim, and Randi had taken from the ranger station on Mount Rogers. He went upstairs and stood in the window of the bedroom, hoping that it would give him just enough reach. The hilltop upon which his home sat was in a bowl-shaped dip atop the hill. Not only did the signal have to climb out of that bowl, it had to clear a significant ridge, then go fifteen miles beyond that to reach Jim.

Gary brought the radio up to his mouth, embarrassed that he, Jim, and Randi had not taken the time to establish some type of radio protocol. They’d been on the move then, and even establishing
this
means of contact was kind of an afterthought. They’d not had time to establish any codes or anything like that. As a result, they were on an open channel discussing their activities. He could only hope that that they were vague enough that nothing too critical hit the wrong ears.

“Jim?” he said. “You read me, Jim?”

Gary waited a moment and stared out the window, his eyes scanning the tree line.

“Jim?” he repeated. “You read me, Jim? It’s Gary.”

There was a crackle of static and then a voice. “Gary, it’s Jim. Good to hear your voice, old buddy.”

Gary breathed a sigh of relief. “Transmitting from home this time, Jim. I wasn’t sure if I’d get you or not.”

“Not as loud as the last time,” Jim said. “But I can hear you. What’s going on up there?”

“We’re bugging out.” Gary paused a moment, almost unable to believe that the words were coming from his mouth. “We just can’t hold this position. Too risky, and it keeps getting worse. I want to do what we talked about last time.”

“Everything on my end is done,” Jim said. “I won’t go into the details on here, but when you get to my house it’s taken care of.”

While this had been the plan, he’d had no assurance until this moment that everything he and Jim had talked about had been arranged. There was a home on a farm and they could work with Jim and his family to make the best of things. Gary felt a wave of emotion despite the distance they still had to go. It was the most hope he’d felt in days.

“When should we expect you?”

“I hope to be out of here first thing in the morning if there’s no trouble. Give us an hour to get there. So, hopefully by 8 or 9 a.m.”

“We’ll be watching for you, Gary,” Jim said. “I’ll have the radio with me just in case you get in a jam. If that happens, don’t hesitate to call.”

“Anything going on over that way that we need to be worried about?” Gary asked. “Any hazards or highwaymen?”

“I don’t know about any hazards on your end of the road,” Jim said. “There’s a roadblock at the Route 19 and Route 80 intersection near here. A couple of days ago, it was manned by a trooper named Travis I went to high school with. I don’t know if he’s still there or not. The road between my house and there was clear when I took Randi home but I can’t make any promises. Use caution and we’ll be ready to come help you on the road if you need us.”

“Appreciate it, Jim,” Gary said. “You’ve got no idea how much.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” Jim replied. After a pause, he added, “Okay, maybe you do have to thank me. I prefer it to be in the form of a pie or cobbler. We can work out the details once you get settled.”

Gary grinned. “If you wanted one of my wife’s pies all you had to do was ask, Jim.”

“Okay, I’m saying,” Jim replied. “I’ll see you when you get here. Out.”

Gary signed off, turning off the radio to conserve batteries. He would turn it back on in the morning and keep it on until they got to Jim’s house. He stared out the window, watching the tree line, trying to catch a glimpse of anything out of place. At this time of day, with the angular light casting long shadows, it would be hard to detect someone hiding, especially someone in dark clothing hidden back in those shadows. Especially someone with a mask.

“Dinner’s ready, Dad!” Karen called from the bottom of the steps. It would be their last meal in this house for who knew how long. He turned away from the window.

Had he lingered there a moment longer, he might have caught the movement, the shadow that was
not
a shadow moving among the trees.

*

A watch schedule was agreed on by the end of dinner. With their long, hectic day, time had crept up on them and the sun was already setting. Everyone was exhausted and lethargic. Muscles were sore and stiffening. Even the children were fussing and over-tired. Gary bagged the dinner trash and set it outside the back door. He normally wouldn’t do that because of animals getting into it and scattering it around the yard. Now, he thought it might not matter. Let the animals tear into it, let the wind blow it – he didn’t care. All the cooking gear and uneaten food was packed into the vehicles. In the morning, they would not eat until they arrived at their destination. The goal was to leave as quickly as possible, before most of the world awoke.

Will and Sara would take the first watch of the night and be on duty until midnight. Dave and Charlotte would take the second watch, from midnight until 3 a.m. Gary and Alice would come on at 3 a.m. and stay on until the whole group bugged-out. Debra and Karen would not pull a shift as they were staying in a room with the children, both of them armed and the door to the room locked.

Gary had spent some time discussing his watch plan with Will. Their goal was to make sure no one approached the house and no one stole the vehicles. Their lives were in those vehicles now. Gary had even thought about sleeping in the truck but knew that he needed to get at least a few hours of comfortable sleep if he could. The next best thing was to place the female guard of the team on top of the box truck armed with a shotgun. It would give them a high point where they could see all the vehicles and a good part of the yard. Hopefully it would also keep them out of the way if things went bad. The male guard’s duty would be to walk a circuit around the house and vehicles.

Gary still had the body armor he’d worn on his trip home. While it was not as substantial as a military-grade plate carrier, it was all he had. It was better than nothing, and he planned that each man on foot patrol should wear it. When he explained this to Dave and Will, they disagreed.

“I won’t wear a protective vest when my wife doesn’t have one,” Will said.

“Same here,” Dave agreed.

“The women will be in a concealed position,” Gary said. “They’ll be out of sight on top of the truck. The man on patrol will be the one exposed to fire.”

“Not going to happen,” Will said.

“Nope,” Dave said. “Not going to happen.”

After Gary relented and agreed that the women could wear the vest, they developed four patrol patterns that the man on foot duty was to utilize. Each was assigned a letter from A to D. Each shift, the first pattern walked would be the A, then the B, then the C, then the D. Then B-B-C-D, followed by C-B-C-D and D-B-C-D. Although Gary and Will had no training in tactics, they knew it was important that the patrol be randomized and less predictable while still systematic enough to cover all the ground that needed covering.

Gary hated to expose anyone to the danger of patrolling the property but he didn’t know what else to do. His biggest fear was of someone setting the house on fire with all of them inside it. Someone
had
to keep watch and he didn’t know of any safe way to do it. He didn’t want the foot patrol to go too near the bushes or anywhere else that someone might be lying in wait. At the same time, having them keep away from cover forced them to walk in the open. Even though he’d instructed them not to use a flashlight unless they absolutely had to, there was still enough of a moon that anyone out walking in the open would be silhouetted by it. Despite his unease, he didn’t know what else to do. He was nearly dead on his feet with exhaustion. They only had to make it another ten hours or so and they could hopefully start over in a more secure location.

*

The first shift went off without a hitch. At midnight, Sara climbed off the roof of the truck box using the blue fiberglass ladder that Gary had left for that purpose. She went inside and woke her sister and Dave. In less than five minutes, they were out in the cool night air, switching places. Sara handed the body armor over to her sister and helped her get it adjusted properly.

They also received the pair of walkie-talkies Will and Sara had used to maintain contact with each other during their shift. Charlotte climbed the ladder, the shotgun slung over her shoulder, and Dave started his foot patrol. Every few minutes, they made radio contact, and touching base with each other made them feel a little better about being out there alone in the dark.

At around 2 a.m., Charlotte heard the door to the house unlock and swing open. She immediately went on alert.

“Charlotte?”

Charlotte twisted around on the roof. She was laying on a blanket to keep her from getting chilled by the dew-soaked metal of the roof. “Yes, who is it?”

“It’s Alice.”

Charlotte relaxed a little. “What are you doing up?” she asked. “Your shift doesn’t start for another hour.” She crawled to the edge of the tall truck box and looked down at Alice, who was standing there in sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt, but no shoes. She was clutching both arms around her stomach.

“These stupid cramps woke me,” Alice said. “I need to go to the bathroom again.”

“There’s a camping toilet in the bathroom in the house,” Charlotte said. “It’s there so you don’t have to go outside at night. Dad doesn’t want anyone out here.”

“I know,” Alice said. “But it’s
really
bad and I’d like a little more privacy, if you know what I mean.”

Charlotte took one look at Alice’s face and knew instantly what she meant. It was that explosive diarrhea her dad had been talking about.

“You want to use the outside toilet?” Charlotte asked.

Alice nodded. “Yes. Preferably without getting shot.”

“Let me get on my radio and tell Dave,” Charlotte said. “If you get shot, diarrhea will be the least of your problems.”

“Please hurry,” Alice pleaded.

Charlotte crawled across the roof of the truck and picked up her radio. “Dave?”

His response was immediate. “Everything okay?” he asked, concern evident in his voice.

“Yeah, it’s fine,” she said. “Alice is out here and she wants to use the outside toilet.”

“Why? There’s one inside.”

“You know, the explosive diarrhea thing.”

“Oh yeah,” he replied. “I got it. Does she need me to come get her and make sure she gets there safe?”

“No,” Alice said from the ground since she could hear Dave. “I just don’t want to get shot.”

“She’s good,” Charlotte said into the radio.

Knowing she was safe now from being shot, Alice tore across the yard barefoot, running for the toilet tent that still sat behind the storage building. It was little more than a folding camp toilet over a hole in the ground but it didn’t have to be emptied, which made it preferable to using the toilet inside. Out of necessity, it would be one of the last items packed. Alice gratefully unzipped the door and stepped inside. She started zipping the door back closed behind her, but the urgency of her situation was upon her and she did not have the time to finish it. She abandoned the task and focused her attention on getting her pants unbuttoned.

Through the unzipped door, she saw a shadow, a flash of movement.

“I’m in here,” she said, taking a seat. “It’s occupied. I’ll be out in a minute.”

There was no response.

“Dave?” she asked. “Is that you? I’ll be out in a few minutes. Give me some privacy.”

Still no response.

In the tight quarters of the tent, the door was within arm’s reach. She leaned forward, grabbed the tent flap, and pushed it to the side. Immediately outside the tent stood a figure in black, its face a grinning skull.

She screamed as loud as she’d ever screamed. While the scream was a fear reaction, it was also an attempt to summon help.

On the far side of the house, Dave had altered his foot patrol to allow Alice her privacy. At the sound of her scream cutting through the quiet night, he felt a surge of terror. He could not tell who the scream came from but his first concern was for his wife. Not being of the mindset that usually ran toward danger, Dave did not react as a person with tactical training might. He did not ready his weapon and go into fight mode. Instead he reacted out of instinct and fear for Charlotte’s safety. Wanting to get to her as quickly as he could, he slung the rifle over his shoulder and took off running blindly toward the garage end of the house.