The McClane Apocalypse Book Five (36 page)

“He’s doing good, man,” John answers. “Has a
bunch of kids, the wife, the whole thing.”

“Yeah?” Dave asks rhetorically. “What about
you, Dr. Death?”

“Yep, married, kid, the whole nine yards,
too,” John says and gets punched in the shoulder by Dave. “Kelly,
too.”

“What the fuck?” Dave nearly shouts with
laughter. “What’d you find the last blind woman left after the
apocalypse, Hulk?”

Silence ensues. A pin could be heard
dropping. Kelly and John don’t laugh at all. John looks at his feet
with an uncomfortable frown.

“Actually, I did, dickhead,” Kelly says dryly
and then cracks a smile.

“Seriously? Fuck! Sorry, man,” Dave
apologizes quickly. “Makes sense, though. You gotta admit. It
wasn’t like you were ever gonna get one that could see your ugly
mug.”

Everyone starts laughing again, but Sam
doesn’t. He’s her older, adopted big brother, and Kelly is hardly
ugly. He’s such a dashing, handsome man. Sam allows her eyes to
scan the crowd of men. A few of them are looking at her, looking at
her with interest. They aren’t looking at her in a sinister manner,
but it still makes her uncomfortable. Simon has relaxed slightly
and slung his rifle over his shoulder. He takes her hand into his
own in a protective way. Perhaps he is showing that Sam is his
territory. She’s not sure, but Sam does appreciate it. She doesn’t
like strange men, even ones who are ex-military and probably have
good hearts. She presses against his side. He pulls her even
closer. These men may be friends of John and Kelly, but that
doesn’t mean they are
completely
trustworthy, not in her eyes. Simon
apparently
feels the same.

“So, where are you holed up now, man?” Dave
asks of John.

“Got a small farm, not far from here. It’s
safe, protected,” her adopted big brother answers. John must trust
this man implicitly if he’s talking about the farm.

“Cool, bro. We’re hunkered down up above
Hendersonville. Got the same kind o’ setup. Gunny’s folks had a
place there. It was too late when we got there. Somebody killed his
parents, but we’re set up on his farm. It’s good, different.”

They talk for a short while in the
middle of the street, completely oblivious to danger or threats. Of
course, two of the men are standing in the bed of the big truck
with
huge
machine
guns.

“There’s about thirty of us up there now,”
Dave tells them.

“We run a medical clinic over in Pleasant
View if you ever need help with that sort of thing. My wife and her
grandfather are the doctors,” John tells his long lost friend.

“Yeah? Married a doctor, huh? She ever figure
out what the fuck’s wrong with you?” Dave jokes.

Sam even smiles at this one.

“Not even close,” John says. “But if you ever
need help, come over. We’re securing the town so it’s getting
safer.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Never know when one
of the kids in our group’s gonna get sick. But at least I don’t
have to worry about my kids being safe; we’re locked down tight
over at our place. Got three of those little fuckers now. Keep me
up at night with that responsibility shit, that’s for sure,” Dave
swears, earning more laughter.

“Yeah, we hear ya,’” Kelly confirms.

“Does your wife do sterilizations? Think I
need gelded. Don’t need any more of those little shits to worry
about,” Dave asks with an ornery grin.

John laughs loudly. Kelly shakes his head and
slaps Dave on the shoulder.

“That ain’t right, man,” Kelly says,
still chuckling. “So you guys are doing
all
right
then?”

“We’ve got supplies that we trade for shit
when we need it,” Dave offers with a friendly nod.

“Yeah? Like what?” Kelly asks.

“Ammo, drugs- not the fun kind- toilet
paper,” Dave says
with
a
wink.

They all laugh again. Sam can understand why
they like him so well. He has an easy, infectious way about
him.

“Toilet paper?” Kelly asks. “What the
hell, man? You’re a bonafide
pirate
.”

“Yeah, well, it’s a good gig I guess. Better
than tracking down terrorists in the Middle East sweatin’ my balls
off,” one of the other men says.

“No shit,” Kelly agrees.

“Where the heck did you guys get everything?”
John asks.

“We found a tanker truck full o’ gas up on
the freeway ‘bout ten clicks from here,” Dave tells them. “Been
usin’ that for about a year now. We trade some off now and then for
shit we need.”

“Good, that’s smart,” John says.

“Found a semi full of shit laying on
its side over in Virginia in this
massive
cluster-fuck pile-up of cars. We loaded all
that shit into a deuce and a half and brought it back here,” Dave
explains. “It was full of meds and toilet paper, just about
anything a pharmacy would have. Glad we checked it out. Lucky
find.”

“Yeah,” John agrees, “no kidding. I don’t
think we’ve ever thought of that. We’ve raided about every town in
this part of the state. We’ve been lucky, too.”

“Good. We should set up trade with your
town. We might have some shit you need and
vicy
-
versy
,” Dave
jokes and stamps out his cigarette on the pavement.

“That’s a real good idea,” Kelly agrees.

John adds, “We trade medical care with people
sometimes if they have anything they can give. We don’t enforce it.
My wife’s grandpa wouldn’t go for that. He’s too generous to
enforce it. But people are pretty good about offering
something.”

“That’s cool. Yeah, I figured you guys were
still out there somewhere. Shit, what’s it been since we last saw
each other? Four years, five?”

“Right,” Kelly says. “It was when we were
last in Bragg.”

“I think you’re right, man. Time flies when
the shit hits the fan,” Dave jokes.

“Have you had trouble with people, groups?”
John asks.

“Not too much anymore,” Dave says. “We
were gonna go after these dickheads over in
Coopertown
holed up in a fucking Target store of
all places. One of those fuckers killed one of our guards about six
months ago or so when he was watching the farm at night. Someone
beat us to it, though.”

John and Kelly raise their right hands with
smirks.

“Guilty,” John says with a full smile.

Dave laughs and slaps John on the back, “Ha!
Looked like your handiwork, guys. Torched it, too, I saw.”

“Yep, scores were settled,” Kelly says.

“You guys went full-on fucking scorched earth
on those pricks. Fuck them, man,” Dave adds. “They were real
shitbag turds if you ask me.”

“There’s still a few stragglers out there
somewhere, so watch your asses,” Kelly advises.

“Got it.
Good
to know. Haven’t had any target practice in a
while. Well, not the moving kind. Right, Gunny?” Dave says with a
wicked grin, shouting to one of the men on the back of the
truck.

The man doesn’t say anything but salutes
casually and gives a curt nod. He looks over at Sam and winks. She
can barely manage a friendly half grin. He seems nice, but she
clenches Simon’s hand more firmly.

John explains why they’ve come to the
city. He tells them about the CNG idea for the gas trucks and why
the ‘kids’ have
come
with them.
Dave laughs and says that Cory and Simon don’t look much like kids.
Then he calls them badass looking mother-hummers. Cory laughs, but
Simon does not. They agree to meet again soon. Then Dave’s crew
leaves as noisily as they came in.

Kelly and John talk a few minutes more,
reminiscing some of the fun times they’ve had with Dave the
Mechanic. Then they all get back to work. She and Simon return to
their position in the building but this time on the roof. Cory and
Paige return to their street corners. The men work for nearly an
hour to get two of the trucks running and the compressor system
that is attached to the wall unhooked and placed in the bed of one
of the trucks. They call them in again.

“Simon and Sam will take the Suburban from
here,” John dictates.

Simon utters a single, “Yes, sir.”

“We’re heading back. You kids are on your
own,” Kelly says. “Cory, you and Paige get your gear out of the
Suburban before Simon leaves.”

“Yes, sir,” Cory answers. “We’re on it.”

A moment later they are all standing in a
circle. Sam walks over to John and hugs him and then Kelly.

“Be careful, kid,” Kelly tells her. “Keep an
eye on the Professor for us.”

“Yes, sir,” Sam says and gives him a silly
salute. He ruffles her hair, probably messing up her braid.

“Call if you need us,” John instructs,
referring to the satellite radios.

“Got it,” Simon says.

“Everyone clear?” Kelly asks one last
time.

“Yes, sir,” Cory says in a serious tone.

Kelly walks over, lays a hand on his
brother’s shoulder and turns to leave. They don’t communicate their
emotions very well, or openly, or much at all. Most of the men in
the family are the same. Sam, on the other hand, hugs Paige
goodbye. She doesn’t like to leave the people in her life without
at least a hug. Tomorrow is never guaranteed. She’s learned to tell
her friends and loved ones farewell.

She and Simon get in the SUV. Kelly comes
over to the window.

“Call if you need help. Cory’s gonna be
closer. Call him first. Then call us,” Kelly instructs.

Simon
bumps
his fist to Kelly’s and says, “Yes, sir.”

Cory comes over next and says, “We’ll meet at
eight o’clock, ok?”

These plans have been gone over many times,
but she knows they just want to be one hundred percent clear on
them.

“See ya’, kid,” Cory says to her.

“Bye, Cory,” Sam says. “Keep Paige safe for
us.”

“You got it,” he says.

“We’ll meet you at eight and have a nice
dinner in the city together,” she jokes as Simon starts the
vehicle. Cory laughs.

“That’s a plan, kid,” he says and taps twice
on the roof before stepping back.

Simon pulls away, his mind
clearly
occupied with the mission and
not their lighthearted jesting. He’s always the
most serious
one in their group. They will be
skirting the city and heading northwest. There is a hospital and
two smaller medical facilities in that area which they need to
raid.

Sam stares into her rearview
mirror.
A cool
rush of air hits
her from the open window. It causes a shiver to course through her.
Another one ripples down her spine as she watches her family
disappear from her line of sight. She pulls the collar of her
jacket closer as a feeling of impending disaster comes over
her.

“Don’t worry, Sam,” Simon says beside her as
he steers the vehicle around debris in the road.

Sam attempts to say something positive in
return, but the words get stuck in her throat and all she can
manage is a grim nod.

Chapter Fifteen

Paige

Once John and Kelly pull away in the gas
company pick-up trucks, Paige experiences a moment of panic. She
stares longingly down the street until she can no longer see their
white trucks. Cory tugs her arm.

“Come on,” he says. “Let’s move.”

She swallows hard and nods.

“It’ll be ok,” he assures her with
confidence.

They walk down the streets together,
using side roads and alleyways when they can. Suddenly, Cory grabs
her arm and hauls her into the doorway of a
six-story
apartment building. A moment later, a man
on a motorcycle speeds by.

“Did he see us?” Paige asks nervously.

“No way,” he answers. “We’re cool.”

“Where are we going?” she asks before peeking
around the corner.

“Shopping,” Cory says with a grin over his
shoulder at her.

He opens the door to the apartment
complex, looks around before entering and ushers her inside. The
building has seen better days, or in this case, years. Water lines
must’ve burst at some point because the first floor carpeting is
covered in black mold, the walls, too. He doesn’t stop or turn to
leave, though. Cory continues forward until he’s reached the other
end of the long hallway where he turns left. He keeps his rifle in
front of him as he checks corners and dark areas. People have fled
this building quickly because some of their dropped belongings are
scattered here and there in the hallway, and many of the doors to
the individual apartments are standing open. They come to an exit
door where the sign overhead no longer glows. He presses on
the
door
, but it must be
locked.

“Now what?” Paige asks quietly.

“This way,” he says and leaves the hall,
forcing Paige to trail after him.

The first apartment door he comes to is
locked. The second is unlocked, so Cory lets himself in. This makes
Paige edgy. People could still be squatting somewhere in this
building. He gives her the signal to stay put as he makes a fast
search of the small apartment. He returns a few seconds later and
motions her inside. The owner is no longer occupying the space, and
neither is anyone else. Dust clings to every surface. It’s as if
someone has painted a still life of what the world would look like
if people just suddenly disappeared from earth.

“Why are we in here?” she asks.

“Taking a different way out. Don’t know who
the guy on the bike was, but I don’t wanna’ run into him
again.”