Novel Grid Down: 101 Ways To Survive Book One Reality Bites Chapter 10

"America -- This Will Remain The Land Of The Free Only So Long As It Is The Home Of The Brave." -- Elmer Davis

Grid Down: 101 Ways To Survive

Book One

Reality Bites

Chapter 10

George Johnson Jr.

'Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea'~Breitbart

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Junior was up by next years wood pile holding the rifle tightly aimed at the three bad guys by the front door. He was waiting to hear his dad say there were five guys out here with him. That was the signal to shoot in front of one of them. Why won’t they just leave? Why are they here? What could they possibly want? None of this made any sense at all. The world had just ended. These guys couldn’t need anything yet. It had only been a couple of hours since the EMP had hit us. The sun was shinning brightly making all the colors of the leaves and trees very vivid and vibrant. What is taking so long? Then he heard the words he was waiting for. He squeezed the trigger and a loud bang echoed through the woods. A small amount of dirt in front of the three bad guys shot up into the air. All three of the bad guys reached for a gun and started shooting at his dad. He aimed and shot each of them twice making them fall in slow motion. He looked over at his dad and he was on the ground and a woman was lying moaning not too far away with a rifle on the ground next to her. Next thing he knew he was running down the hill towards his fallen father and he just couldn’t seem to get there. He was running and pumping his legs with everything he had but it just seemed that no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t reach him. He screamed out, “Dad, dad.” There was blood splattered everywhere and running down like little streams. The red color was everywhere and over shadowed the whole clearing shining very clearly and bright like in a painting. He reached down and touched his dad and drew his hand back at the cold feeling of his body. Blood was dripping off his hand. The drops of blood were very clear and large. He screamed out, “No, oh God no.”

He jerked and sat up looking at the clock by the bed. It was 11:30 pm. “Coffee. I need coffee,” he thought running his hands over his face wiping away the sweat and tears that had gathered and was running down his chin. He got up and went into the kitchen and put a pot of coffee on. His hands were shaking so hard he spilled coffee all over the place. “Sh*t, damn it,” he thought looking at the mess. When he slept either the dreams were of the good times they had or no dreams at all. But sometimes his dreams were of what happened in a very weird distorted version of the events. They always consisted of him trying to kill the bad guys before they could shoot his dad. It never worked no matter how hard he

tried. It didn’t matter what order he killed the bad guys they still managed to kill his dad before he could shoot them all.

He sighed deeply. The only thing that could have changed the events that happened was if Marion and Gayle had been there with rifles too. Then it would have been a more even fire fight. If Marion would only have listened when his dad had pleaded with her to come with them he might still be alive today. “Marion deserves whatever happens to her in town,” he thought feeling anger and bitterness towards her. Well, Gayle didn’t deserve to have anything bad happen to her but she had stayed with her mother so whatever happens is her own fault. He had decided that it would be better for all of them if he didn’t go check on them in town at all. He wasn’t sure he could control himself from doing something he might regret later to Marion. “Might regret was the key phrase,” he thought with anger. If he saw her now there was no telling what he might do to her. It is just better for all of us if he keeps his distance from them. Who knows maybe someone will get tired of her big argumentative mouth and take care of the problem for him. Poetic justice is what that would be. Like life is ever fair or filled with justice. He snorted at that thought. All his life he had known there was no such thing as a life of fairness or justice. His dad used to tell him, “Life is not fair. Anyone who says different is either in la la land or they are just plain out right lying. Life and the word fairness should never be used in the same sentence. It can never be.”

It had been ten days since the world had ended and his dad had died. Feeling clear headed for the first time since it happened he started thinking about what he should be doing. Realizing what needed to be done was to go set out some muskrat traps and get a small trapline going for meat and animal fur to tan. It is what his dad and he would be doing if he hadn’t died. Feeling more human right now then at any time since it had happened. The last ten days felt more like being in a waking dream or a robot programmed to go through the motions of getting up and going to bed than anything human. His dad would be very disappointed in him at the way he had been acting each day since it happened. This was the busiest time of the year. There was hunting and trapping for the meat and for the fur to tan that needed to get done. Looking seriously at his dad’s chair setting there and vowed he would right there and then make his dad proud and use the skills and knowledge he had taught him all his life. Going to the garage and getting his traps ready to set first thing in the morning was his top priority now. After all he felt he had already done the hardest thing he possibly ever could by burying his Dad.

He stared at the clock for a long while lost in his thoughts of better times. All of a sudden it dawned on him that the lights were working. They shouldn’t be. An EMP should have taken them out. Now that it came to his attention he realized that everything was still working in the house. It must be like his dad had said. The house was built into the hill. The hill must have protected the house and garage from the EMP. Shaking his head in amazement. Wow, his dad had built one he*l of a place. Needing a shower very badly he got up and went into the bathroom and jumped into the shower. The water really felt good. Afterwards looking at him self in the mirror and not recognizing his reflection. A stranger starred back at him from the mirror that looked like some kind of a deranged person from a B grade movie. He chuckled a bit at that and thought of the things his dad would have said if he could see him now. That thought sent a shock through him. He had better get his act together and show that he was worthy of the time and knowledge his dad had given him. His stomach growled and he realized he was very hungry. How long had it been since he’d eaten anything? He couldn’t remember the last time food had mattered to him. It must have been before all of this had happened. It’s time to eat a real meal. As he prepared something solid to eat he made a mental list of what needed to be done to get ready to set out some traps tomorrow.

Junior went into the garage checking the walls to see if there were anymore hidden surprises his dad had in the walls. So far he had found a few things but nothing like the hole that his dad had stashed the rifles in. Refilling the ammo pouches and cleaning the rifles made him feel like that would make his Dad proud of him. Putting one rifle back in the hole for backup he would carry the other rifle all the time just in case he needed it. You just never knew when you might need the semi automatic SKS. Events had already proved that fact to him.

At first light he gathered up everything needed to go to the lake and start his trapline. His first job was to find the active muskrat huts. It felt good to be out in the crisp autumn air again. The leaves were changing and the brilliant yellow and orange colors brightened his mood. The Canada geese were over head honking and looking up he saw the V high in the sky. They were heading south. For a quick moment he wondered if that was a good idea. Maybe he too should be heading south before the winter snows come. Upon reflection and respecting his dad’s survival instincts on picking this location he decided it would be better to just stay put right where everything that was needed was already here. In fact, he had more than most people do right now. Not only was there a working truck but power for lights and things. His dad had spent many years getting this place ready for any type of a disaster to happen. He had done an excellent job at it too.

He approached the marsh like an old friend. He felt at home here. The smell of fresh mud and finding the first muskrat hut caused excitement to build inside of him. The first one was a large round mud and cattail hut. It was built about three feet tall and about four feet around at the base. It had fresh mud and a slide off the top heading into deeper water. There were only twelve traps to set. He took six number 1 longspring traps and Six Number 110 Conibear Traps with him this time. The leghold traps were set up with drowning slides and needed two stakes. One stake was needed near the trap and one stake would be out in the deeper water. He remembered when he was little his dad trying to explain to him what deeper water meant. He chuckled at the memory of thinking it meant over his head in about five or six feet of water. He smiled remembering the look on his dad’s face. It was one of those looks dads give their sons when they are thinking, “He can't really be my son.”

He set the first leghold trap at the right side of the slide where the muskrats were climbing out. He staked it in deep water that was about three feet deep. The drowning swivel was an ingenious invention. It only allowed the trap to go down to the deeper water. Once the first set was finished he started to feel a whole lot better and more like his old self. As he walked in front of the hut in deeper water he hit a deep trench almost falling into the water. Stopping he realized he found the entrance run to the hut. Using the hip boots he felt in the mud and traced the trench right up to the underwater entrance to the hut. Grabbing one of the Number 110 Conibear Traps and stakes he set the trap on the run quickly and quietly. Once the trap set was completed he walked off looking for the next hut. He found a huge feed bed. In the cattails he set two leghold traps. One trap for each trail leading up to the feed bed would do the trick for this spot. He remembered his dad had him watch Buckshot's Water Trapping DVD before he would let Junior put out some traps of his own when he was young. It was so he would understand what he was doing and not just copying his dad. Looking the sets over a feeling of confidence overcame him. They were pretty near perfect.

Before long he finished setting the rest of his traps. As he looked around and decided it was clear the marsh had plenty more huts to set. But it wasn’t wise to be away from the house too long. He would just keep moving these traps every fourth day just taking the cream of the crop of muskrats. Seeing a Mallard duck swim by he considered shooting him but changed his mind. No sense telling the world where he was with the noise of a bullet. The whole idea of using traps and snares was to be silent but very effective.

He was averaging about four muskrat’s a day. He would gather up the guts, tail and feet and set them out about three hundred yards from the house to bring the predators in close. His dad had always harped on the myth of the hug a predator crowd that believed nature was somehow perfect without mankind interfering with it. They didn’t understand that Mother Nature wasn’t a kind old woman that loved animals and trees and such. Mother Nature was a very hard and unkind mistress. Mother Nature’s way of dealing with over population of animals was to use disease and starvation to skim down the herds to manageable proportions for each area. The animals suffered horrible deaths. Mankind by harvesting each fall the meat and fur of animals makes healthier herds possible. This way there was enough food to go around for all of them and they would be healthier and less disease to hurt and kill them. Mankind was much kinder and more humane than Mother Nature could ever be. Nature actually thrives from mankind’s involvement in managing the harvest of the fur. Anyone who studies ecology knew that fact too. His dad had no tolerance for fools who refuted this fact.

Every time he thought about being a modern day Mountain Man an image of a coyote mountain man style hat came to mind. This was the year he was going to catch the coyote that would be volunteering for his new hat. The plan was to tan and sew it by hand. The day started with waking up before daybreak and go out to check his muskrat traps. He would change the location of the traps that were not producing much fur to a new area with more active signs. Going home and bringing the days catch always being careful to watch for intruders was a bit challenging at times. It was easy to forget that it wasn’t safe outside. He would skin the days catch and put the guts and unused parts out for the predators in the bait pile then eat and go to bed. It became a routine for him and kept him busy doing something productive.

After the chores were done it would be time to check the garage for intruders. There was a nice hidey hole built into the brush where he could watch the road safely and no one would notice if anyone was there. “Work the plan,” his dad had said. That meant waiting for at least six months before venturing out to the town to see what was left. It had now been three weeks since the world ended and his dad died. Those two events will always be side by side in his mind together. So he had five months and one week to wait out before going anywhere. He checked the radio for a signal every afternoon. At night he watched DVD movies or the movies they had made as a family and remembered what life used to be about.

He had plenty of food, water and warmth. He only burned a small fire at night in the woodstove and let it go out as he slept. With only one wall exposed to the elements it was a brilliant plan on his dad’s part for holding the heat inside. It worked really well too. He was enjoying going out now in the fall while he still could because once the snow started he wouldn’t be leaving the camp. It was much too dangerous to leave a snow trail right to his door.

In the morning checking his muskrat traps he was bent over picking up a muskrat when the sound of two people came to him long before there was any sight of them. City people always sounded like a freight train going through the woods. Sitting down at the side of a muskrat hut he watched and listened for them. Cattails were all around him and whoever they were they would not notice him sitting there. The two people stopped about fifty yards away. They could be seen clearly and their loud argument between them could be heard for a long distance. They both were very loud. “What morons,” he thought.

The first one said, “You said you knew how to hunt and we would have no trouble surviving in the woods. That is why we came here. I am starving. We have only had one rabbit to eat in three days. I am losing weigh like mad. We can’t go on like this much longer.” The second one said, “Well, if you wouldn’t have missed that deer yesterday we would be eating real well right now.” The first one said, “Well, you missed that deer last week so you have no room to talk.” The second one said, “I am starving. What the he*l are we going to eat when winter comes? Tree bark?” The first one said, “We will have to give this hunt up and go back to my dad’s house. Maybe they got some emergency supplies from the Government or something. I agree with you that we can’t live like this much longer. There is no food out here.” The second one said, “I’ll tell you what, if we don’t get a deer in two days we will head home, okay?” The first one said, “Okay.” The second one said, “Let’s hunt around this lake here and maybe we can get lucky.” They took off walking.

Junior kept his eye on them. There were still a few traps to check before heading back home. He finished up as quickly and quietly as possible so those two men wouldn’t see or hear him. As he threw the four muskrats for the day in his pack he was careful leaving the marsh area not to toss any mud or leave tracks that other’s could see and lead them back to the house. Arriving home and hurrying inside he kept to his routine and started to skin the days catch.

As he was skinning the muskrats he was thinking about what those two men had said. They were stupid fools. They were surrounded by food. They were so blind to everything around them. They were in hunter mode. They could have cooked up the cattail roots and caught a few muskrats to eat. Did they even look around the area and see what was available to eat? No, they did not. They were stuck in the mighty hunter mode. He figured they had to be backpack survivalists. That’s the only idea that made sense. His dad had warned him about those kinds of people and their mentality. Their way of thinking was to fill up their backpacks with mostly useless equipment and head to the woods with no food and magically they will be able to hunt enough food to survive. Like walking out in the woods is like going to a nature supermarket. Like anyone can just walk out in the woods and the deer or whatever will just appear right in front of them and they can shoot it and eat it. Nothing to it. Nothing at all. Anyone can do this. They are the mighty hunters. Don’t they realize how many times they have gone out hunting and not returned with any game to eat? Or went a whole deer season and not been able to bring one deer home? How would they eat in the mean time? They had no cabin. He bet they were living in a tent too. Yup, they were morons.

Well, they will hopefully be gone in a couple of weeks anyways, one way or another. He was really hoping they would leave in the two days they were talking about. Snow was coming soon. They wouldn’t survive out there if they were still there when the snow started to fall. He took his skinned muskrats and put them on stretchers thankful there would be plenty of fur to tan this winter. He needed to get out and collect three buckets of acorns to use to tan the hides with too. You boil them down for tannic acid. That should keep him busy this winter and keep him from going stir crazy when he was house bound.

He gathered up all the guts and parts and went outside. The coyotes and raccoons had been getting into the bait pile. There was evidence of this as he tossed the new guts into the pile. Good he thought. A few days after those yahoos leave will be the time to set out some snares for the coyotes and raccoons. On the way to walking back to the house he kept thinking of those two guys’. Why do people think they can head off into the woods and survive? They have no skills and no experience. He shook his head. They were acting really stupid. He was so glad his dad had taught him how to survive out in the woods from as far back as he could remember. Even with all of his experience he wouldn’t be foolish enough to think of just heading out in the woods and surviving with just a backpack. It took planning, equipment and a whole lot of experience. He shook his head again. The sooner the backpack survivalists get out of here the better it would be for him. He figured that as soon as the snow starts falling there would not be many of those kinds left around in the woods. Well, at least not alive anyways.

The next day he was very cautious as he headed out to check his traps. Walking a little bit then stop to listen and make sure it was clear for him to approach his traps. Getting into the cattails as quickly as he could was his first priority. They would hide him from sight. Slowly he would step in the water making sure not to make a splashing noise. Today he was armed with a Ruger Mark 11. It was his 22 pistol. He walked around very slowly so as not to cause ripples in the water and give his position away to anyone that might be around. He wanted to keep as low of a profile as he could. He needed to move some of the traps to better locations but was worried about the two guys’ he had seen yesterday. He decided to wait until tomorrow to move them. He had gotten only three muskrats today. He carefully made his way out of the cattails unto dry land.

He stepped out and heard a voice say, “Freeze.” Junior reached his hand slowly down to get the Ruger and the voice said, “Don’t try it kid. I will shoot you.” The two yahoos from yesterday walked out of the brush towards him. They both had a rifle with a scope mounted on it. The other one said, “We saw you leaving this area yesterday from across the lake. We waited this morning to see if you would come back here today. What are you doing? Duck hunting? Junior said, “No.” He looked them over and saw how unkempt they were and how unhealthy they looked. He hoped they wouldn’t notice that he had on clean clothes and that he didn’t smell like they did. He hoped the hip boots and his old Army field jacket covered up this very obvious fact. If they were the least bit observant it would be as clear as day to them. They seemed very oblivious to this just as they had been blind to the fact of the food around them yesterday. Junior then asked them curiously, “What do you want?”

The first one that had spoken to him said, “We want to know what you are doing here on our lake?” Junior’s eyebrows lifted in surprise at that answer. Junior said, “Your lake. The last time I heard the State of Wisconsin owned this lake.” Junior was starting to dislike these two arrogant yahoos. Junior asked, “You guys from the city?” The second one said, “Yes, but we come up here hunting ever year. So this is our lake now.” Junior asked them, “So, what are you doing? Are you trying to rob me? What is it you want?” The first one said, “Nope we aren’t robbing you. We are not criminals. We are just telling you to stay away from our lake from now on. We own it now not the State of Wisconsin.” Junior was disgusted with them at this point in the conversation and said, “Fine, whatever. I will be on my way then.” He started to take a step and the second one said, “Wait a minute. What do you have in that pack?” Junior said, “None of your business. Unless you are lying to me about being criminals and intend on robbing me.” The first one said, “If what you have in that pack has to do with this lake then we aren’t robbing you seeing that we own it now. So it is very much our business of wanting to know what is in that pack.” Junior said, “Fine, lower your rifles and I will show you.” They cradled their rifles in their arms. Junior took the pack off and pulled three muskrats out of the pack.

The first one said, “Rats. You’re eating rats. You must be starving too.” Junior wanted to scream at them that they are not rats you morons. They are muskrats and not just big rats. Instead he said, “I will give you each one so we all have something to eat. It is better than nothing.” The second one said, “Rats. Well, why not. I’m starving and the thought of eating a rat is better than the nothing we have been eating. In fact I never thought I would say this but they aren’t looking all that bad at the moment. It must be the hunger talking.” The first one said, “Wait a minute. How did you catch these rats? I don’t see any bullet holes and we didn’t hear any shots.” Junior said, “I caught them in rat traps. My dad has a dozen of them.” Thinking real fast on his feet he added, “My dad should be watching you two right now.” Both of them looked around real quickly in all directions. The first one said, “You’re bluffing. We don’t see anyone but you.” Junior smiled at them and said, “That is the plan.” It was as if the Grace of God had shined down on him at that very moment. They had all heard a very loud cracking of a branch behind them in the woods.

The second one said, “Okay. We don’t want any trouble and if you don’t mind we would like to have a rat to eat as you offered. Is that okay? We are starving.” The other one said, “Yeah, please we don’t want any trouble. Okay? One of them rats to eat will be right down neighborly of you. We meant no real harm to you and your dad.” Junior looked at them and then tossed each one of them a muskrat and put the other one back in his pack. Both men said, “Thank you.” Junior started walking away then stopped and turned around to the two men. He had been thinking as fast as he could about what he could do to scare them away. They were standing there holding on to the muskrats as if they had never seen food before. They looked up at him. Junior said, “For your own safety don’t try to follow me. My dad is a real security conscious type of guy, know what I mean? He’s retired from the military has set traps all over the place around here. For your own safety, just don’t try to follow us. I don’t even know where all the traps he set up are at.” He turned around and continued down the trail at a normal walking speed making sure not to show any concern at all. Both men again said, “Thanks for the rats. We appreciate it.” He didn’t acknowledge them at all and kept on walking. As soon as he knew they couldn’t see him anymore or hear him he took off at a fast trot. It would be hard to run all out when he was wearing hip boots but he wanted to put as much distance as he could between them and him before he stopped. He wasn’t taking a chance of tripping with these hip boots on. That was all he needed right now.

After he had run past the second hill he stopped and got off the trail to keep watch to make sure they hadn’t tried to follow him home. He found a comfortable spot and sat down and waited for two hours. He decided that tomorrow night after dark he would return and pull all of his traps until these two yahoos left the area. He was thinking about the two men and how lucky he had been with this situation. Tomorrow he had better scout around and find where these two yahoos camp was at and keep a watch of what they do and where they go until they left the area. The house was just a mile down the trail. It wouldn’t be too hard for them to find it if they got determined to do so. Yup, the house was too close for comfort with these two clowns trampling around the woods. It would be better just pull all the traps tomorrow night and seal the house up tight and wait them out. He wouldn’t be able to keep up the belief that his dad was around if they set up a watch on the house.

He got home and sealed everything up tight and pulled all the stutters down on the windows. That way no one would see any lights or anything. They would walk right by the place and not notice anything. He had grabbed some brush and swept out all the tracks from the trail and outside the house. He had scattered leaves all over the place. It looked natural and untouched. Yup, these two would walk right on by and not notice anything at all. He skinned the muskrat and put it up on the stretcher. He was getting tired of eating fried muskrat anyways. He had smoked up a lot of it too and stored the smoked pieces in air tight containers. They would be a good source of meat throughout the winter for snacks or soups and stews. Thinking of food made him hungry. He decided to make an early dinner today and save some to eat later tonight. His appetite was back. After he ate and got everything cleaned up it was dark outside. He decided to go get the traps now and not wait until tomorrow night. Then he would seal the house up and that would be that. He started to think about the two morons and their rifles.

One man had a .300 Weatherby Magnum Rifle with a Leupold Mark 4 Extended Range Tactical M1 Rifle Scope Price $2049.00

* Sear engagement factory set at .008 to .014, with let-off weight set at approximately 3.5 pounds. Additional sear engagements must be performed by a Weatherby Service Center or qualified gunsmith.

Leupold Mark 4 Extended Range Tactical M1 Rifle Scope 30mm Tube 8.5-25x 50mm Side Focus First Focal TMR Reticle Matte Our Price: $1,899.99

® Mark 4® Long Range/Tactical riflescopes are arguably some of the most dependable, highest performing riflescopes you’ll find anywhere. Their accuracy is proven in the field. Their rugged and absolute waterproof integrity is unquestionable. They are everything a tactical shooter, long-range shooter, target shooter, or hunter could ask for.

It's no surprise that a Leupold® Mark 4® Long Range/Tactical riflescope was chosen as the primary day optic for the US Army's M-24 rifle system.

The other man had a Ruger M77 Hawkeye Bolt Action Rifle 7164, 270 Winchester, 22", Realtree Hardwood HD Stock, Stainless Finish, 4 Rds with a Leupold VX-II Rifle Scope Price: $643.12

Leupold VX-II Rifle Scope 3-9x 40mm Duplex Reticle Gloss Price: $299.99

What a fool the one that bought the Weatherby was. He could have bought a Remington SPS Tactical 308 Black Hogue Stock with V-II Leopold for under a $1500.00 and saved almost $3000.00. He could have then spent it on food. Those two would be sitting well supplied right now. But the fantasy of backpack survivalist’s has nothing to do with reality. Their mentality is it is better to say I can hunt and fish to survive instead of getting properly prepared to really survive. Living in a tent come January with no food that rifle is going to look pretty useless. As Duncan Long said in his book, “Survival Rifles”, “A good garden and traps will feed you better then a wealth of hunting rifles." Unfortunately for many people the truth of that statement had to be learned the hard way with deadly consequences and way too late to make amendments to one’s thinking and supplies.

Junior thought this was a much better outfit for around $1500.00 with sling, scope mounts and ammo.

Model 700 SPS tactical rifle with Hogue overmold soft touch stock, dualpoint piller bedding for solid foundation to bed action. All black oxideblasted finish with 20" heavy contour tactical style barrel.

The Leupold VX-3 4.5-14x50 Scope Boone & Crockett 66310 will be at home on your favorite rifle, whether you are hunting whitetail from a treestand, or stalking sheep in rugged terrain. The VX-3 4.5-14x50 Scope Boone & Crockett 66310 is loaded with optical technology: Xtended Twilight Lens System, DiamondCoat 2 lens coating, blackened lens edges, second generation waterproofing, twin bias spring erector system, and cryogenically treated adjustments.

He went outside and stopped to listen and smell the air. If they were up wind of him he would smell them long before they got close. Those two were pretty ripe smelling. He made his way slowly and as quietly as the heavy frost would let him. Each step he took was followed by a crunch sound. He certainly hoped those two wouldn’t be around and cause anymore trouble. He still shook his head at them telling him they owned the lake. What arrogance and nerve they had. He neared the lake. It took him over an hour to get there. He went at a snails pace. He could see their fire across the lake. Well, that explained why he ran into them twice in a row. He approached the cattails. Walking in the swamp was hard enough in the daylight and doing it by the light of the moon was even harder. He had to keep feeling his way with his foot first before he could take a step forward. There were some deep holes around here and if he wasn’t careful he could fall into one by accident. He went to take a step and a muskrat dove in the water right in front of him scaring the crap out of him. He stood there for a few minutes waiting to get his heart beat and breathing down to a normal level from the adrenaline running through his body. He found all his traps and only one had a muskrat in it. Well, the most important thing right now was to get the traps and get home and not worry about how much he caught. He just tried to stay calm and keep an eye on the two men at the campfire. He kept telling himself to remain calm and get done and go home.

He was just making his way out of the cattails when the wind shifted and he could faintly hear the two men talking. He couldn’t understand what they were saying. He gave them a glance and started walking home. The voices must be coming with the wind across the lake. Those two have no sense at all. If I was intent on harming them they would be very easy targets. He shook his head and continued on. He was bone tired and the night air seemed so very cold to him. He made it to the house and waited a few minutes listening to see if anything was amiss here. Everything seemed to be fine. He went inside and sealed up tight and heated up what was left from dinner. He kept yawning. He decided to finish everything else up tomorrow. He was just too tired right now to deal with anything else. He made his way into his bedroom and grabbed an extra blanket and threw it on the bed. He was just too tired to make a fire tonight. He climbed in and closed his eyes.

The two men sat by the fire trying to keep warm. It was very cold out tonight and the wind really chilled you to the bone. They could feel the dampness coming off the lake too. They got into their sleeping bags to get warmer. Neither man felt very good. They had eaten the rat the kid had given them but they were still hungry. They hadn’t seen a deer or rabbit in days. If they didn’t get something in the next couple of days to eat they were going to have to head back to the city and see if there was any government help with food. They didn’t know what else to do. They had always hunted and they didn’t know what else to do to get meat. Never once did it cross their minds to get some traps or snares to get game with. Each time they went out hunting they burned up more calories getting nothing to replace the calories with. They were starving.

Glen sat in his sleeping bag trying to get warmer to stop the shivers he had. Carl was shivering too. Glen the shorter of the two said to Carl, “That rat sure tasted good didn’t it?” Carl said, “It tasted a better then I thought a rat ever could.” Glen said, “I wonder if that kid will be coming back to the lake tomorrow? Maybe we can get another one of those rats from him? He*l we’ll take them all from the kid because this is our lake now.” He laughed and Carl joined in the laughter too. Carl said, “Ya, we’ll take all he’s got because this is our lake. We’ll let him do all the work and we will eat everything he has. I wish I knew when he was coming back. I’m still hungry.” Glen said, “Ya, me too.” They both thought for awhile then Carl said, “We should go around the lake in the morning and hide. Then when he tries to leave with the rats we’ll take them from him. What do you say to that? Isn’t that a good plan or what?” Glen said after a moment of thought, “We’ll follow him back to where he’s from and take that over too. It will get us some shelter and heat. Maybe there is some food where he is at. That is a better idea don’t you think?” Carl said, “Ya, that’s a much better idea. I like that one the best. We’ll just follow him to where he’s from and then if that kid’s father shows up we will just have to kill him so we can take that place over. We have to so we can survive. We’ll make that kid keep providing us with food too. What do you think about that?” Glen said, “That is a very good plan. We better get some sleep so we can be up before the sun and get into position before that kid shows up.”

Junior woke up and it was dark. But with the house sealed up tight it was always dark in here. He looked at the clock. It said 10:00 am. Wow had he overslept. He went into the kitchen and got his traps and took the one muskrat and skinned it and gutted it. He took the guts and unused parts out to the bait pile. He covered the bait pile with leaves again. He had the strangest feeling he was being watched. He quickly made his way back inside. He dropped the steel plate into place over the doors and windows. He grabbed the bolts and using a socket wrench he tightened them down into the solid wood frame. Now he had better stay sealed in here for two weeks or so just to be sure that the two guys’ were gone before he emerged outside again. He really didn’t keep track of the days but glancing at the clock would tell him what day it was. Each day he grew more and more restless.

Marion was standing by the living room window keeping watch while Gayle gathered up the things they had decided to take with them and putting them in the backpacks they were taking to George’s place. He must still be mad at her because he and Junior had not come back for them. She sighed deeply feeling like such a fool for staying here. She was really sorry for the things she had said. He was right about the situation. Everyday it got worse and worse out there. There was so much violence; stealing and true down right evil going on that it had shaken her belief in humanity. They had as a community gathered all the available food and supplies and put them in one place. She and several others tried to keep everything together and ration foods and goods out as needed. They were trying to have some sort of order until the government could get things running again and help them out some. It had been going pretty well at first then people started breaking into the storehouse they had used for the supplies and stealing food and things. If that had been the only problem she wouldn’t be leaving now at all.

Then people who were sick started dying. At first they didn’t think much of it because people get sick everyday and some do die after all. Then her best friend Katie came down with pneumonia and died. Katie had been fine with just a little cough and Dr. Anderson gave her some antibiotics to clear it up. Katie was fine for a few days then she started to get worse and Dr. Anderson had to give her an IV with antibiotics in it twice a day. Katie was getting better and improving. The fever was gone and she just had a small cough and had said she was feeling much better. Then yesterday morning she went and checked on Katie and she was dead. She went to Dr. Anderson office to tell him and heard Dr. Anderson and the Mayor arguing. Dr. Anderson had found out that the Mayor was going around and first chance he had to get the sick person alone he was injecting them with a lethal dose of something that killed the person. The Mayor didn’t want Dr. Anderson wasting the medicine on what he called second hand citizens. She had known the Mayor was an assho*e but she never even suspected he was down right evil. She had went and got the sheriff and he and a deputy went with her back to Dr. Anderson’s office. The confrontation wasn’t pretty. One of the people to die had been the sheriff’s eleven year old daughter. The sheriff had arrested the Mayor and took him to jail. It was like a nightmare.

Then this morning when she was on the way to the store house to do her shift of watching the supplies and handing out what was necessary there was a shootout. It seemed her neighbors and friends had had enough and they stormed the jail to kill the Mayor. The talk had been all over town about what the Mayor had done. When it was all over twenty three people were dead including the Mayor, the sheriff and the two deputies and she didn’t even know how many were wounded and hurt. Some people had stormed the store house too and taken most of what they had gathered there for supplies. She didn’t even know who had done that but they had killed Dr. Anderson, Stuart the pharmacist, and three other people who had been there to get supplies and Henry who had been on watch there. She had come back home and Gayle and her talked over the situation and decided it was time to get out of Dodge before anything else bad happened. It had been hard for Gayle not to say, “I told you so.” Gayle had been saying daily that they had to get out of town and go to Georg’s place before people got out of hand. She had just not been able to believe people could act like this. She sighed again deeply and tears welled up in her eyes. George and Gayle were right the world they had known was gone and people had gone insane, completely and truly insane.

Gayle came back into the living room with the backpacks and handed one to her and she reached out and took it. She looked around at everything wondering when or if she would ever see her house again. She picked up the double barrel shotgun and walked to the door with Gayle right behind her. She walked out to the road and turned and looked at her house as the tears rolled down her face. Gayle grabbed her arm and gave it a squeeze and said, “The first step of a journey into the unknown is always the hardest.” She smiled at Gayle remembering the day Gayle got that quote out of a fortune cookie. Gayle was always using that quote as often as she could. It was a joke between them. She nodded at Gayle and turned around and started walking down the road.

Junior felt he should be out there trapping and snaring the predators. He was pacing around the living room. He was going crazy being cooped up in here. He needed the hides he would trap so he could tan more at a time. He really wanted to make that coyote hat this year too. He kept thinking about those two clowns saying they owned the lake. It was just him so he couldn’t take a chance of opening up and going outside. What if they broke in while he was gone? It was a chance he couldn’t take. He paced some more. They would be gone soon. They will run out of food and go back to the city where they belonged. He just needed to be a bit more patient and wait longer to be sure. A lot was at stake. Correction everything was at stake here including his life. He had to remember that.

After a week of pacing around and bemoaning the fact he couldn’t go outside he was thinking of taking a chance and doing it anyways. He was going to go insane if he stayed inside any longer. He started pacing again. It was now three weeks since the world had changed. He felt very alone and needed to have a conversation with someone, anyone. He had never been on his own this long before. He was starting to dislike his own company. He chuckled at that thought. A psychologist would have a field day with him. He paced some more.

Little did Junior know that the two yahoo backpack survivalist’s had followed his foot prints in the frost right back to the doorway to the house. They had stuck out like a neon sign that said follow me home. They had started watching the place. They had shot a deer the afternoon after he had given them the muskrats to eat. So they had food to settle in and wait until he came out. They thought they were quite clever by finding his footprints to follow. They had a place now to take over if he would just come outside. They had been waiting and waiting for him or his dad to do so. They couldn’t figure out how to get in. They had tried a few times but everything was shut down tight. They hadn’t tried real hard yet. They were trying to be quiet so it would be a surprise when they did come outside. They would have to come out eventually. It was getting real cold out too. Well, it was just a matter of time after all.

Junior was pacing again in the living room had just decided to go reheat the coffee up when there was pounding on the door. Junior jumped a few feet into the air being startled by the noise. He quickly went to the door thinking it was the two guys’ out there. His dad had put in a cool spy camera so he could see who was at the door. Marion was standing there carrying a double barrel 12 gauge shotgun and Gayle was carrying an old Marlin bolt action eight shot 22. He unbolted the door and used the pulleys to raise the steel plate up. He told them to come in. As soon as they walked in he practically pulled them the rest of the way to get them out of his way so he could reseal the door up behind them.

When he had the door secured he turned around to them. Just Gayle was standing there looking at him. It hit him then that they didn’t know about his dad. Marion walked back into the living room and asked him, “Where’s George? Is he outside trapping or something?” He gave Marion an angry glare. Gayle walked over to the couch and sat down. Marion was just looking at Junior. He went to walk past Marion to get away from her and she reached out and grabbed his arm looking him straight in the eyes and said, “Tell me where George is. I have to apologize to him right now. I was so wrong about all of this.” Junior looked at her and tears welled up remembering that if she and Gayle would have come with them with their guns maybe his dad wouldn’t be dead right now. Marion stepped back from him and said, “Don’t tell me he is still mad at me. Did he say he never wanted to see me again? Is that why you’re acting strange and angry?” Junior shook his head no. The tears started to roll down his face. Marion looked at him then looked over at Gayle and then back at him. Junior wiped his eyes with his hands and said resentfully, “It would be a little hard to apologize to him now. He’s dead. He died as soon as we got home and three bad guys were waiting here to rob us. We could have handled them but they had a woman hidden in the woods. She stepped out and surprised my dad. That is what got him killed. No, I correct that statement. My dad died because you didn’t come with us and bring your guns. If you would have come with us as he asked you too none of this would have happened.” He turned from her and walked away before he did or said something to her that he would possibly regret later and went into his room and slammed the door.

He finally decided to get up and face them. Not like he had much of a choice in the matter unless he wanted to throw them outside and tell them to get lost. Even as mad at Marion as he was it wouldn’t be right to do that to her and especially he couldn’t do that to Gayle and if Marion left Gayle would go with her. That much was pretty well guaranteed since that is what happened last time. But, that didn’t mean he had to be nice to Marion and he wouldn’t be. There would never be any forgiveness for what she caused to happen to his dad. The best he could come up with in regard to Marion was to ignore her and pretend she wasn’t even there. That would be the best way to handle this situation because if he started yelling at her and got really angry he didn’t know if he could control him self not to hurt her and he wasn’t going to cross that line and start hurting women. He walked into the living room and looked down and saw the bolts lying on the floor where he had put them after taking them off to let them in. He had secured the door but hadn’t sealed it up tight. He grabbed the socket wrench and starting tightening the bolts down. Marion was crying and Gayle had her arms around her mother on the couch talking quietly to her.

After Junior walked away from Marion she just stood there in shock at the words he had said and the angry way he had delivered them to her. George was dead. He had been dead for over a month now. That couldn’t be right. She looked at Gayle to see if she had heard the same thing she had. Gayle got up and came over to her giving her a hug and said, “I’m sorry mom, I know you really liked George.” “Really liked,” she thought. No she had fallen in love with him almost from the first moment she had seen him. He couldn’t be gone. Gayle led her over to the couch and sat her down. Gayle handed her a tissue and she realized tears were running down her face. She wiped her face but the tears wouldn’t stop falling. She sat there and thought about the all things they had shared together and said to each other. There was no way in he*l George was gone. No, not again. After losing her husband she had made sure not to get too close to anyone because it is just too painful when they are gone. George had slipped right through all her defenses as if they weren’t even there. He made her feel like a teenager again. They just clicked in everyway. No way could he be gone. Deep sobs escaped out of her mouth shaking her whole body. Gayle rocked her and held her tight.

Gayle looked up from embracing her mother when Junior came into the living room and walked right passed them as if they weren’t there. His grief was deep too. It was etched all over his face. He looked a lot older and sadder than he had the last time she had seen him. She wished there was a way to give him comfort too. He had been out here alone all this time. It was a wonder he wasn’t insane by now. He had seemed a bit stressed when they first got here and now she knew why. He blamed his dad’s death on her mother. “Oh my God,” she thought. He had to have buried his father by his self. She didn’t know what to do or how to act. She had liked George. She thought he had been gallant in his efforts to get her mother to chance her mind. What should she do? What should she say? She had no idea. She made up her mind to just play it by ear. After all what else could she do?

Later that night Gayle got her mother calmed down enough to go lay down on George’s bed. Hopefully she would be able to rest for awhile. She went into the kitchen to see what was there to make to eat. She started dinner and put more coffee on. She grabbed a cup for her and one for Junior and knocked on his bedroom door with her foot as softly as she could. He said for her to go away and leave him alone. She said, “Okay I just brought you a cup of coffee and I am making some dinner. It will be ready in about fifteen more minutes.” She set the coffee cup on the floor and was turning to leave when Junior opened the door. He looked both ways and saw she was alone and then reached down and grabbed the coffee cup off the floor taking a sip. He said, “Sorry I thought you were your mother and I don’t want to talk to her.” She said, “I can understand needing to be alone at a time like this. I was the same way after my father died. I didn’t like talking to anyone. I just wanted to be alone and remember all the things we did together. I also felt no one could possibly understand how much I miss him and how my heart felt like a big empty hole without him around.” She reached out and touched his arm and then said, “I’m sorry you lost your father. I liked him. I thought he was quite gallant. But, I know how it feels to lose a father and I am here if you need to talk about it. I just wanted to let you know that. You don’t have to be alone anymore. I can’t imagine what you’ve been through here doing all of this on your own with no one to talk to or help you with things. I’m here if you need me. I’ll leave you alone now and stop bothering you.” She stepped back to leave and Junior reached out and pulled her into a hug.

He hugged her real tight. They stood in the hall for a long time in that hug. Junior finally released her and said with a ragged breath, “You have no idea how good that felt. I always thought I was a loner and enjoyed being by myself. I have come to realize it’s not that I’m a loner. It’s that I didn’t want to be around the people that were in my life before except my dad. Thank you. That meant a lot to me. It has been real hard getting used to being without my dad.” She smiled at him and said, “You’re welcome anytime. You need to talk or a hug just let me know. I’m available. It’s not like I’m going to be going anywhere.” He smiled at that statement. She looked at him real seriously and asked, “Do you feel like living dangerously?” He looked at her for a moment than answered, “What did you have in mind?” She smiled and said, “Are you hungry? I’m cooking. Dinner will be done probably right now. I’d better go check on it.” As she walked away she heard him chuckle just a little bit. It was a start. It was a small step but a very important one.

The next morning while Gayle and Junior were eating breakfast Marion walked into the kitchen and said in a very raspy voice, “Junior I need to see George. Please take me to see him.” Junior looked over at her and she looked terrible. It kind of reminded him of what he had seen when he looked into the bathroom mirror when he had finally woken up after his intense grief and taken a shower. He nodded his head yes. They got up and prepared to go outside to the gravesite. Gayle put her arm around her mother as they walked down the trail. Junior noticed how Marion kept stumbling all the time and was unsteady on her feet. He didn’t notice that it was the tears in her eyes that made it hard to see where she was going.

When they reached the tree Marion saw the marker and let out a sob and held her hand up to her mouth as if to hold in any noise she might make. She slowly walked up to the grave and sat down and placed her hand on the dirt there. She hung her head crying. Junior didn’t know quite what to do. Gayle walked up and sat down next to her mother and put an arm around her shoulder hugging her. Marion didn’t even seem to notice. They stayed like that for awhile. Then Marion said in a low whisper, “Leave me here for awhile. I want to be alone with the man I loved.” Gayle said, “No mother. I will not leave you here alone.” Marion said, “Go. Just go and leave me alone with George.” Gayle looked to Junior as if to say, what should I do? Junior walked up by the marker and looked at Marion down on the ground and said, “Gayle let’s go.” Gayle said, “No. I will stay here with you mom. I won’t leave you alone here.” Marion reached out and grabbed Gayle in a tight hug and said, “I need to be alone with George for awhile. I, I have to talk to him. I don’t want you here. I need to be alone with him. Go to the house. I’ll be alright.” Gayle got up very reluctantly and turned to Junior. She didn’t want to leave her mother here by herself. Junior reached out and took her arm and led her down the trail. Gayle kept looking back at her mother. She seemed so small and alone next to that big grave. Junior said, “She will be alright. It just hasn’t sunk in yet. I was the same way. I used to come and spend hours sitting next to the tree just to be close to him.” Gayle stopped and reached out and put her arm around him and hugged him. He hugged her back. They stayed there for quite some time. Then they heard Marion start to talk to George. They stepped apart and hurried down the trail. Neither one of them wanted to hear what she had to say to him. It was a private conversation not meant for anyone to hear but George.

They got back into the house and Gayle heated up the coffee and brought them both a cup. She sat down on the couch. Junior sat down in his chair. They talked quietly about meaningless things like school and stuff for awhile. Gayle finally asked the question that had been on her mind since they got back to the house, “How long should we let her stay out there?” Junior said, “If she isn’t back by the time it starts to get dark we will go get her okay?” Gayle feeling reassured said, “Okay. But should we leave her out there that long?” Junior said, “Yes, she will come back when she is done. Don’t worry too much about it.” Gayle said, “This has hit her real hard you know. She was sort of like this when my dad died but not this bad. At least I don’t remember her being hit as hard as she is now. But I was lost in my own grief at the time too and maybe I just don’t remember it right. I never would have made it through if it hadn’t been for her. She was my tower of strength at that time. She kept me right by her side all the time and refused to let me be alone and lost in my grief. She used to tell me the reason she kept me right by her side was so she wasn’t alone but I know better. She did it for me. I was a daddy’s girl and he was my whole life. I hadn’t even realized that fact until he was gone and I saw how much closer I was to my dad then I had been to her. We have gotten close since then. I’m worried about her.” Junior said, “I don’t know the right thing to do. I have never lost anyone close before. I guess she will grieve as much as she needs too. It has hit her harder than I thought it could. She said she loved him. I didn’t know that before. But I think my dad loved her too.” Gayle felt a little better since Junior wasn’t so hostile towards her mother right now. She decided a change of subject was in order before they both ended up crying.

She looked around and asked, “When is the last time you cleaned this place up? The dust must be a half inch thick.” Junior looked around as if just now noticing how dusty and messy the place was. He was a bit shocked at how he had let the place get so dirty. He didn’t know what to say in answer to Gayle’s question. She realized this and said, “I’ll tell you what. We’ll split the chores up and have this place spic and span in no time.” Junior looked relieved and agreed. They both got up and got to work on the house.

When Marion got done talking to George she was emotionally spent. She just sat there for awhile convincing herself to get up and go to the house. She was so very tired and her heart hurt. It hurt to breathe. She slowly got up and stood there looking around at George’s most favorite spot in the world. She touched the grave marker and gave it a kiss and slowly made her way down the trail towards the house. She knew Gayle was worried about her but she had important things to say to George things that were none of those two kids business. Things that were just for George to hear and no one else. Things she had to say to him. Personal things she needed to say to her lover. She felt so bad that the last time they had been together they had argued. She would regret that most of all for the rest of her life. She felt bad that Junior blamed her for George’s death. She didn’t know what to do about that. When she complained to George in her talk to him that he had to go and leave her to be with both of those kids she swore she could hear his mischievous laugh. What in the world was she going to do with those two? She didn’t know the first thing about raising a boy. What if Junior never got over blaming her? Her mind was going around in circles and at the core of it all was always the thought of how was she going to go on without him. He had filled up so much of her life that she felt like she had lost most of herself with his passing. She knew he forgave her for not going with him just as she would have forgiven him if the situation was reversed. She knew him almost better than she knew her self. They had been real soul mates. They each filled out the other to make a whole person. They used to joke about that so much. God, she missed him so much.

She was almost at the fork in the trail when a man jumped out and grabbed her. He said, “You are my ticket to get inside that place. Walk real careful like or I will shoot you. Do you understand me?” She shook her head yes thinking about how bad this man smelled. He said, “Good. Just keep walking and go up to the door and tell them to let you in. Then we all will go into the place real nice and friendly like. You got that now?” She said, “Yes, I got that.” He pushed her in the back with the rifle he was holding. She started walking and thinking at light speed on how to warn the kids that something was wrong. Than and idea formed in her mind. There was a man off to the side in the trees on the right and the guy behind her hung back a ways. Maybe she could get inside before they reached her. Well, she would try anyways. She walked right up to the steel plate that covered the whole doorway because the outside door was already left opened for her and she stepped as close as she could almost hugging it and said, “Susie tell your father to unlock the door and let me in.”

Junior and Gayle had gotten the house all cleaned up and also done a load of laundry. They hung up the wet clothes on the clothes line George had just for that purpose. Junior was cooking something in the slow cooker for dinner. They both felt satisfied with how the house looked and how productive they had been. They were sitting in the living room drinking coffee and just talking quietly about silly things that had happened to them in their lives. Junior was speaking when they both heard Marion say, “Susie tell your father to unlock the door and let me in.” Junior and Gayle shared a puzzled look. Then it dawned on Gayle that something was wrong. She said very quietly, “Junior something’s not right.” Junior said, “Ya, let’s look outside and see what is going on.

Junior looked out with the spy camera and saw the two yahoos that had told him they owned the lake. One was a ways back on the side and the other one was a little ways back behind Marion. Junior thought real fast. Gayle said, “Sh*t two guys are out there with my mother and they both have rifles.” Junior said, “I saw that. Now listen to me very carefully. Tell her that your dad can’t get the door open just yet or something.” Gail said, “Okay mom I’ll tell dad. He’ll be here in just a minute.” Junior said, “I’m going to stand right by the door and you pull on the rope to raise the door up and I will hank your mother in here. As soon as I do this let go of the rope and the three hundred fifty pound steel door will slam down closed and then we will put the bolts in it and totally secure it so they can’t get in. Now while I’m getting everything ready to do this tell your mother that your dad can’t find the socket wrench. I’ll signal you when I’m ready to grab your mother. Okay?” Gayle nodded and said, “Mom dad can’t remember where he set down the socket wrench at. It’ll just be a few minutes more until we find it. Okay?” Marion said, “Okay. Just hurry its cold out here.” Junior just had an idea and motioned to Gayle to come closer. She leaned in close to him and he said, “You raise the door half way up and we will pretend it’s stuck. When the door is half up call out to your mom to bend down because the door is stuck. After you see me yank your mother in just let go of the rope. Okay?” Gayle looked at him strangely. Junior just motioned for her to do it. Gayle raised the door up half way and said, “Mom, dad can’t get the door all the way opened up so you’re going to have to bend down to get in. Okay?” Marion said, “Okay I’m bending down now.”

As soon as Marion bent down in the doorway Junior reached out and grabbed Marion and yanked her inside and Gayle let go of the rope. It happened as fast as a blink of an eye. Marion went sailing across the floor and Junior was trying to get the bolts back lined up to tighten them. There was a loud pounding on the door that made all three of them jump. Junior looked out at the spy camera and both of the men were standing right in front of the door. One guy said, “Hey buddy you got any more spare food for us? How about you give us one of those women?” In his nervousness and anger at the two men Junior couldn’t get everything lined up straight again. In frustration he said to Gayle, “Push the button down and I will talk to them. Marion, help me get these threaded through so I can tighten them up again.” The two women scrambled around to do what he said. Gayle pushed the button down and Junior said, “Get the he*l out of here or this woman here will shoot your dumb asses.” Gayle grabbed the shotgun and racked a shell in the chamber and said to them, “That will be a cold day in he*l before either one of us goes with you. I will shot your asses before you even get close to the door.”

Junior finally got the bolt lined up right and reached for the socket wrench to tighten it and then moved to the next one. One of the guys’ outside said, “That isn’t very nice at all. We come up here all friendly like and you treat us like this. Hey, we can make a deal. You can let us inside and we will help you defend this place. What do you say about that offer? We’re good shots you know.” Junior started to crank the bolts down tight and the other man outside hearing the noise said, “I take it you don’t want us to come in huh?” They both backed up a little ways and shot at the door. A bullet ricocheted off the door and hit the one on the right in the stomach. The man bent over and fell to the ground. The other one left standing bent over his friend and said, “What happened? Are you okay?” He then turned to the door and said, “Why in the he*l did you shot him?” Marion rolled her eyes and yelled out at the two men, “You moron. You shot him. The bullet ricocheted off the steel.” The man standing there just stood still and silent for a few moments and then said, “It never would have happened if you would have only opened up the door. This is your fault. Now I am going to kill each and everyone of you.” He backed up some more and started shooting the door again. He was acting like a mad man. His face was squinted up into a grimace and his teeth were tight against his mouth. His neck was sticking out and bulging. You could see the veins clearly. Another one of the bullets ricocheted off the door and hit his friend on the ground in the head killing him instantly. In his rage he never even noticed at all. He reloaded and emptied the gun into the double fourth inch plate steel again. The ringing inside the house was very loud. The man backed away from the door and turned and left.

Junior wasted no time in getting the rest of the bolts down tight. He let out a relieved sigh when the door was secured once again. He turned to the two shocked women and said, “I meet those two yahoos last week. We were lucky this time.” He told them everything that had happened. He then thought for a few moments and said, “I don’t know how he found this place. Maybe they followed you two here.” There was silence. There wasn’t anything to say to that statement. There was no way to know for sure. Marion glanced at the spy screen and said, “Look at what that crazy fool is doing.” She pointed to the screen. The man was marching back up to the door with his arms full of wood and brush. All three of them looked at each other. Marion pointed up to the loft area and said, “There is a shooting port up there. It is twelve inches by eight inches. Your dad used to shot deer from it. You are going to have to kill that crazy man out there. He isn’t going to stop. Did you see his eyes? You better do it now before he sets this place on fire. You have no choice. He is acting insane and stupid. He will kill all of us if you don’t stop him now.” Junior looked at Marion and said, “I don’t know if I can just shoot him.” Marion said, “You have no choice now. He is crazy and won’t stop unless you stop him. Do you understand that?” Junior grabbed the Remington 870 that was loaded with three inch magnum triple ought buckshot. He climbed up to the loft and slid the panel back as quietly as he could. He could just barely see out. But he could see the rage filled man coming with an arm full of wood and brush again. The opportunity to take the shot quickly passed. The man banged on the door and said, “This is your last chance. Open the door up or I am going to burn you out and kill you all.” The man marched back out to the woods again. Junior couldn’t shoot him in the back.

A few minutes later the man came back in to view with his arms full of sticks and brush. Junior aimed at the center of the man’s chest and yelled out, “Stop right there and drop the brush. Turn around and leave or I will shoot you.” The man ignored him and kept on walking to the door. Junior pulled the trigger. The barrel was outside and it wasn’t as loud as Junior had thought it would be. The pellets tore through the sticks and brush right into the center of the man’s chest. He arched back a bit then fell to the side and lay down on the ground. This was not like a Hollywood movie where you shoot someone and they fly back ten feet and fall over dead. They use pulleys and a harness to make it appear like that in a movie for a special effect. This was real life. Junior waited to make sure this man was not getting up again. He could hear moaning. He climbed down from the loft. He walked over and put the shotgun away. He grabbed his 22 pistol that was in a holster on a belt and strapped it on his waist and leg. He pulled the tabs tight. Marion said, “What are you doing?” Junior ignored her and got the socket wrench and opened the door up. He went outside and shot the moaning man in the head and dragged the body over to the area he had used before to burn the bodies. He walked over and shot the other man in the head just to be sure he was really dead. He holstered his 22 and grabbed one leg and one arm and started dragging the body over to the area where he had tossed the first body. He then walked over to the garage and got two old tires and threw them on top of them. He gathered up brush and wood and sticks and covered the bodies up.

He walked back into the house. He looked around and the two women were just looking at him. Marion said, “What did you do?” Junior looked at her and said very clearly and emotionlessly, “I dragged the bodies over to the burn pile. We have to burn them. You have to keep the fire burning hot. It is best not to leave it too long or the smell is really bad.” Marion said in a very shocked voice, “What do you mean burn the bodies? What are you talking about?” Junior said in a strong clear voice, “You have to burn the bodies. You don’t want them rotting, stinking bodies around the place spreading disease. They could contaminate the ground water too. So, you burn the bodies to keep the place clean.” He looked at them and then said, “You two are going to help me right?” Both women backed away from him shaking their heads no. He shrugged his shoulders and turned around and hooked the door open and went outside to start the fire.

As he tended the fire he was cold inside. Survival of the fittest lowered these bodies to two legged predators that needed cleaning up. They were no longer people, just predators. They were pests that had to be taken care of. He looked around and thought with a worried expression about how the area was starting to look like a battlefield. Burned up area and bullet holes in trees and now the door was looking a bit worn too. He sighed. We need spring to get here so the fresh new grass can grow and hide all of this.

In a couple of hours there was just bones left in the pile. He went and got the wheel barrel and shovel. He scooped up the bones and went down farther and dug a hole to dump them into. He returned everything to the garage and went back into the house. He secured the door. He turned around and looked at the two women setting on the couch close together and said, “This door stays secured at all times. I will be the only one to open it up. I don’t intend to open it up until Spring.” He started walking towards the kitchen then stopped and looked at the women again and said, “I’m going to go clean up and get some coffee. Would either of you like some?” The two women just looked at him and didn’t say anything. Junior shrugged his shoulders and continued walking out of the room.

These Vital Survival Skills Will Be Mentioned A lot In The Coming Chapters !

Every two weeks two chapters of the Novel Grid Down: 101 Ways To Survive Book One Reality Bites