Preppers of the Apocalypse - Part 2: Post Apocalyptic EMP Survival (2 page)

“The
badge doesn’t mean shit now, darling,” he said, with a voice like sandpaper.

“What
do you want?” said Chad.

The
taller man grinned. “A toll. This is our road now and we have a mind to let you
cross. But we need something to persuade us.”

“Like
what?” said Ash.

Ginger
Beard nodded at the pick-up.

“Half
your supplies,” he said.

Ash
felt like leaping across the bonnet and punching him, but the tip of the arrow
poking out of the end of the man’s crossbow kept him in check.

“How
about you have some common decency?” he said. A second after saying the words,
he realised how hypocritical they were.
Common decency. As if I had any
decency when I swindled people out of their savings.

The
man scoffed. “Politeness, decency, helping each other. It’s all a thing of the
past, and you better get used to it.”

Without
a word, Ellie reached into her pocket, pulled out her pistol and pointed it at
the taller man’s head. When he saw the gun he stepped back. He still held the
crossbow but his grip was less certain than it had been before. Ellie’s eyes
became black balls and she stared down the sights of her gun.

“Drop
it, broomstick” she told the taller man.

He
dropped his crossbow so quickly that Ash was surprised. He was expecting more
of a fight than that. Ash bent over and picked it up from the grounds beside
the man’s feet. It was heavier than he thought.

Ellie
nodded at Ginger Beard. He still held his crossbow, and his grip was surer than
his friend’s.

“You
ever actually used that thing?” said Ellie.

Ash
pointed his crossbow at the taller guy to keep him in check, but judging by the
panicked look on his face, it wasn’t needed. He pointed at Ginger Beard.

“You
have two weapons drawn on you now,” said Ellie. “So even if you’re a novice
with that bow of yours, you still ought to know it can only fire one bolt at a
time. Whether you shoot me or my jackass friend, you’re still getting your head
split open seconds later.”

Ginger
Beard’s shoulders sagged. He looked to be considering his options, but his
finger was nowhere near the trigger. Ash noticed that the hunting jacket that
he wore still had its store tags on. He’d bought in a sale at Turner’s Outdoor
Supplies.

“So,”
said Ellie. “Are you gonna shoot me, or listen to me? Make up your mind. You
got two seconds.”

It
only took him one second to decide.

“Listen
to you,” he said.

Ellie
grinned, but her smile wasn’t warm. She looked tiger-like.

“I
can’t exactly arrest you, so I’m going to teach you a lesson.”

She
looked at Chad.

“Pass
me a can of something from the trunk.”

Chad
walked to the back of the pick-up and rummaged around the trunk. He threw a can
of spam toward Ellie, who caught it and passed it to the disarmed hunter.

“Take
this and go stand by that tree,” she said, pointing at an ash tree thirty
metres away.

The
man looked confused. Ellie shifted the crossbow in her arms. Ash couldn’t help
but think that the weapon suited her, and he completely understood how she’d
got the job as sheriff. If you were going to uphold the law you had to be tough
and you needed an air of authority, and Ellie Ashurst sure had that.

“My
finger’s getting itchy,” she said.

The
man walked over to the ash tree with the spam in his hand. Just five minutes
earlier he had been a brigand armed with a crossbow, and now he was a scared
man taking orders from the sheriff. He got to the tree and then turned to look
at Ellie.

“Good,”
she shouted, her voice echoing through the forest. “Now stand with your back
against it. No slouching.”

As
the man positioned himself, Ellie turned to his taller friend. Ash started to
see where this was going, and he wasn’t sure he liked it. He held the crossbow
in his hand and wondered if he was going to have to step in.

“Okay,”
said Ellie. “I know you probably bought your bow so that you could go turkey
hunting with your buddy here. And I’m guessing that you never thought to
practice using it. So we’re gonna have some target practice.”

She
turned and looked at the man stood by the tree in the distance.

“Put
the can on your head,” she said. “And then stay still.” Then she nodded at Ash.
“Give him his bow back.”

Realisation
of what Ellie intended dawned on Ash, and he felt emptiness in the pit of his
stomach. He could only imagine how the two men felt, and judging by the
paleness of the man with the bow, he knew full well what Ellie had planned for
him.

“Now
raise your bow,” said Ellie.

The
man’s eyes widened. His skin was concrete-grey, and his knuckles had turned
white as he gripped the weapon. Ash looked at Ellie’s face and saw nothing but
stone.

“Raise
it,” said Ellie, and pointed her own bow at the man’s head.

He
slowly raised his weapon to eye level. His movements were jerky and his hands
shook. He looked across the forest at his friend, and Ash saw the man’s Adam’s
apple move as he gulped. The pair of them needed to be taught a lesson, but
this was going too far.

“Now
look down the sights and pray to whatever god you like,” said Ellie. “I want to
see a bolt go straight through the can on your friend’s head.”

Ash
turned and saw Chad behind him, but the army recruit didn’t show any emotion. 
The woods were so silent that he could hear the breaths of the man as he
pointed his crossbow and squinted through the sights. His stance was slouched,
his shoulders weak. Ash knew that as soon as he fired, the bolt was going to go
anywhere but its intended direction. Suddenly the woods seemed cold, and even
the whistles of the birds stopped as they waited for the man to shoot.

He
couldn’t let this go on. Ash was about to step in, when Ellie broke the silence
with a laugh.

“Put
the bow down, you asshole,” she said, with a grin spreading across her face.

The
man wheezed as though all the life in his body was leaking from him, and he
lowered the bow. All his confidence had left him, and his forehead was covered
in sweat.

“Just
remember what happens when you cross folks in the forest,” said Ellie. “This is
a tough world now, and your hide is too soft for it enough for it.”

Chapter 2

Further
into the mountain the road became rougher, as though nature was angry at their
progress through the pass and did its best to resist them. The wheels of the
pick-up dipped into pot holes and rumbled over rocks without complaint, and Ash
realised why Tony Shore seemed to have such a fondness for the vehicles. As
they went deeper into the tree-covered landscape, sandwiched on both sides by
stony cliff-sides, Ash wondered about his friend at the ranch. He hoped he was
okay.

Ellie
wound down a window, lit a cigarette and breathed out smoke as the greens of
the trees and greys of the rocks passed them by.  Ash turned his head slightly
toward her, making sure his eyes were still on the road.

“You
went too far back there,” he said.

He
could still picture the smaller man’s wide eyes as he stood against the tree,
and the suspicious looking dark patch that had spread on his crotch.

“People
pounce on weakness,” Ellie said. “You learn that the first day you get your
badge. If you’re gonna teach someone a lesson, if you’re gonna make them feel
pain, then you better do it without mercy. Give them a lesson they’ll remember
for the rest of their lives.”

Ash
turned his full attention back to the road. It seemed like he and Ellie were
fundamentally different people, or he liked to think so at least. Then again,
was what Ellie had done any crueller than Ash’s past actions? He had spent the
last few years travelling from town to town stealing life savings from gullible
people. He’d never been physically violent, but he’d hurt plenty of folks
beyond repair.

“Ash,
look out,” said Chad at the back.

Ash
pressed the brake and brought the vehicle to a halt. The road ahead of them was
rough and narrow and it would have been difficult to pass even in normal
circumstances, but it was made all the more difficult today. Somehow, an ash
tree had fallen over and it completely blocked the road ahead. Ash slammed his
hand against the dashboard.

“Damn
it,” he said.

“Can
we get round it?” said Chad.

“Impossible,”
said Ellie. “The road’s here for a reason. It’s the only safe route through the
mountains in a vehicle.”

“And
there’s no goddamn way I’m abandoning the pick-up,” said Ash.

“What
about going back?” said Chad.

Ellie
gave him a look that showed what an idiot she thought he was.

“Go
back to the ranch? And then what? The tunnel to the city is blocked. This is
the only way through.”

Ash
stared at the fallen tree. It was thick and large enough to cover the road, but
it looked hollow. There was a hole in the middle of the trunk the size of a
plate, and he could see the road ahead of them through it. If the tree was
hollow then it would be lighter than it looked.

He
remembered a camping trip when he was twelve. It was Ash, his dad, and his
dad’s friend, Chester. While his dad loved survival and camping, Chester
couldn’t get enough of science, and he’d spent the entire trip trying to give
Ash an introduction to physics. It was like he and his dad were fighting for
Ash’s attention. So while dad showed him how to skin a rabbit, Chester taught
him the principles of motion.

“We
can move the tree,” said Ash.

Ellie
turned in his direction. This time her stupid look was reserved for Ash.

“Just
when I think you can’t be more of a dumbass.”

“Listen,”
said Ash. “How do you think the pyramids were built? How do you move a large
weight?”

Chad
leaned forward. “With thousands of slaves, if you’re talking about the
pyramids.”

Ash
shook his head.

“No.
You don’t use brawn. You use brains.”

“Unfortunately
you guys are lacking either,” said Ellie.

Suddenly,
Ash could hear his dad’s voice in his head.

 The
biggest brain beats the strongest muscle every time. You listening, Ash? No?
Well if you’re not gonna listen to me with your brain, then you can work your
muscles and see which you prefer. 500 burlaps, now.

Ash
remembered that a hundred burlaps later, he was so tired he wanted to be sick.
This time he was more in the mood to listen to his dad and Chester. It was a good
thing too, because now he realised how they could move the tree.

It
was funny how long-forgotten lessons could resurface. Back when he was a kid,
Ash had hated listening to his dad as he droned on about survival skills. All
these decades later, now that he really needed them, he wished he’d listened
better. Maybe he should have appreciated his dad more. He should have picked up
the phone to him, once in a while. Had it really been fifteen years since
they’d spoken?

“Okay,”
he said. “I know how to clear the way. But you need to listen to me. First we
need to snap as many branches off the tree as we can, get rid of some of the
weight. Chad, that’s your job. Then we need something to use as a lever.
Something long and durable. We need something else to use as a fulcrum. A
smaller log or something like that.”

“This
ain’t going to work,” said Ellie.

“Nothing
works unless you try it,” said Ash. “And I don’t think your sarcastic put-downs
are gonna clear the road.”

“How
do we move it then, Davy Crockett?”

“The
lever and fulcrum will multiply the force we apply when we push on them. If we
do it right, it should be enough to move the tree.”

“It
makes us stronger than we are?” said Chad.

“This
is starting to sound like an after-school special, but no. It makes the weight
easier to lift. Just trust me on this.”

“I
don’t trust you an inch,” said Ellie, leaning against the bumper with her legs
crossed.

“When
the tree lifts, you’ll change your mind”

Ellie
and Chad walked into a patch of forest to the left of the pick-up. While they
looked for something to use as a lever, Ash dragged a smaller log from the edge
of the road. The effort strained him more than it should have, and once again
he was struck with the feeling that his father would be ashamed of the way he’d
turned out. Not only had he forgotten most of his survival lessons, but he had
let his body turn to jelly. He used to be a soccer player who could run for 90
minutes without feeling it, and now he’d get out of breath walking up a hill.

A
scream came from the forest. Ash walked to the pick-up and grabbed his crossbow
from next to the driver’s seat. He made sure the bow was cocked and then ran
over to the forest. For a second he expected the two guys from earlier to have
come back and for them to have shot Ellie or Chad, but instead he saw Ellie sat
on the muddy floor with her hand around her ankle.

“Son
of a bitch,” she shouted.

Chad
turned to Ash.

“She
tripped,” he said.

“Over
a goddamn vine,” said Ellie.

Ash
held his hand out toward the injured woman, but she batted it away. She put her
hand on the floor and tried to push herself to her feet, but as soon as she put
weight on her injured ankle she shouted out in pain so loudly that a sparrow
flew from a nearby tree and flapped itself up into the air. Ellie begrudgingly
accepted Chad and Ash’s support, and they walked back toward the pick-up.

They
helped her into the passenger seat. Ash rolled up Ellie’s trouser leg and
carefully pulled down her sock, which was stained with sweat. Her ankle was red
and it was already showing signs of swelling.

“What
I’d give for some ice right now,” said Ash. “This is gonna swell.”

“If
you find some ice, get me a Jim Beam to go with it,” said Ellie.

***

Together,
Ash and Chad used the lever and moved the tree out of the way. It took them
from noon until the end of the afternoon, and the sun had fallen from the sky
by the time the road was clear. Ash’s body was so slick with sweat at the end
of it that he felt like he needed to drink a full crate of water to replenish
himself. Instead he disciplined himself and drank a quarter of a bottle.

 With
the last of their labour done, Ash sank to the floor and rested against the
tree.  Chad joined him, and the pair of them looked up at the starry sky and
tried to catch their breath. The young army recruit caught his much quicker
than Ash.

“I
hope your wife’s okay,” said Chad.

Ash
nodded. “I’m trying not to think about it.”

“Don’t
blame you.”

“Why
did you want to come along?” said Ash. “You’d have been safer at Tony’s ranch.”

“I’ve
never been a homebody,” said Chad. “I’ve always been travelling. When I
enlisted I thought the travelling bug would calm down, but my feet got even
itchier.”

“Do
you have family?”

“An
aunt and uncle, like I said. That’s it, really.”

“Must
be hard.”

Chad
picked a twig from the floor and started to snap it.

“I’m
used to it. My parents died when my older brother, Dirk, and I were kids. The
state put us in separate homes, for some damn reason. I didn’t see him for
years, so long that I even started to forget what he looked like. When I was
fourteen I put a request through the adoption agency for me and Dirk to write
letters to each other, but Dirk said no.”

“Any
reason why?” said Ash.

Chad
looked at the floor and shook his head.

“Jeez.
That’s tough. Why didn’t your aunt and uncle take you both in?”

Chad
threw the twig to the floor. His fists were clenched now.

“They
have kids of their own, my cousins, and they didn’t want to take two more on.
It was only when I turned sixteen that they let me go live with them for a
couple of years, but on the condition that I got a job and paid them three
hundred dollars a month.”

The
sky above them was the colour of tarmac, and a wind picked up in the air and
ruffled the leaves of the trees. Somewhere deep amongst the trees a bird cried
out, and the chirps of insects filled the air like a backing chorus. Ash turned
to Chad and squeezed his shoulder. The young recruit looked tense.

“Better
get some sleep,” he said.

The
road ahead was clear again, but the journey seemed longer than ever before.