Apocalypse Law 2 Read online

  Looking bewildered, she looked out past Deni. “Where are they?”

  “Over there, dead. No one will hurt you now. Come on out.” The girl did not move, so Deni moved closer. “Let me help you.” She reached into the cage.

  The girl kicked at her with both filthy feet. “Stay away. I’ll get out when I’m ready.”

  “Both of you need a bath, medical care, and food. There is no need for you to stay here.” Deni stepped back. “See if you can get out and walk.”

  Still timorous, she stuck her head out of the cage and looked around inside the shipping container and outside at the trees. Gaining courage, she slid out of the cage onto the edge of the trailer and pulled her numb legs around with her hands, so her feet could fall to the ground. She moaned with pain as she straightened her back, and her eyes swept the area in front of her. “Where are they?”

  Deni pointed. “You’re safe now.”

  She leaned far enough to see. Her body shook with tremors. A wave of comprehension washed over her face and, with it, a toothless smile. Her cut lips began to bleed.

  Deni handed her the T-shirt Nate had taken off one of the dead men. “Put this on. It’s big enough to cover you until we get you home.”

  Still smiling, she slipped it over her and pulled it down to her waist. When she tried to stand so she could pull it down all the way, her legs buckled.

  Deni was not quick enough to catch her. “Why don’t you stretch your legs out and sit there a few minutes, so your blood can circulate?”

  The girl said, “I’m dizzy.” She held her hands to her head.

  After a few minutes, she managed to get up, with Deni’s help.

  “It hurts.”

  “I know. We will soon have you all cleaned up and fed and in a soft bed. How long have you been locked in there?”

  She did not answer.

  They got both the woman and the girl on the front of the trailer. Nate closed the container door, while Deni watched them.

  He climbed into the driver’s seat, started the Cat, and had them heading for his farm, leaving the dead men where they lay.

  Chapter 2

  Brian heard them coming. He ran out of the barn to meet them. This time he did not gape at the shirtless woman.

  Martha followed him. She braced herself and walked up to the trailer. “We have a tub for each of you in the barn. Water’s not too cold. Then we’ll take care of those wounds.”

  Brian handed Nate two glasses and filled them from a canteen.

  Nate handed them to the girl and woman. Both drained their glasses in seconds.

  “Go in the house and get the medical kit ready. Clear the kitchen table,” Nate told Brian.

  “We already did that. I told them—” He motioned with his head. “—about them.”

  “Good. Now go and keep watch out of the east windows. You never know when someone may come along looking for trouble.”

  Brian rolled his eyes, sighed, and walked into the house with the empty glasses.

  ~~~~

  The woman cleaned herself, but Martha had to wash Carrie while Deni kept her rifle ready.

  Outside the barn, Nate whispered to Ben, “Stay close. They may need your help. Both of them are about half-crazy, especially the girl.” He motioned for Ben to follow, and they walked to the back of the trailer.

  Ben stared at the stinking cage. “Holy hell!”

  “No telling how long they had her locked in there. They were beating the woman. I mean, they were going to beat her to death. As soon as they walked away from their rifles, I killed them.”

  “I don’t blame you.” Ben stepped back from the stench. “Why? Why turn animal just because there’s no law? What’s the point of this kind of cruelty?”

  Nate had no answer. “I don’t trust them. Better get close to the barn, just in case.”

  “Right.” Ben walked to the closed barn door.

  The girl was whimpering. “It hurts.”

  Martha said, “I’m sorry, but those gashes are festering. They have to be cleaned. It’ll be over soon, and you will feel a lot better.”

  The men looked at each other with pallid faces.

  Nate grabbed the cage, all one hundred pounds of it, yanked it out of the trailer, and flung it against a pine tree.

  Ben watched.

  Nate headed for the water pump to wash his hands.

  Brian came out and pumped the handle for him.

  When Nate was finished, he stood and looked at his son.

  Brian looked up at him. “What?”

  Nate patted him on his left shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “I…I just want you to know that I’m proud of you. You’re a good son, but you’ve got to start doing what I say. It’s dangerous to disobey me like you have several times today. We can have a good life someday, but we have to be careful until it gets better.”

  “I don’t see any sign it’s going to get anything but worse. If people would just leave us alone, we would do okay. It’s not so bad on this farm for us, at least.” He pointed up the drive and then the barn. “But others don’t have it so easy.”

  “It’ll get better. There are five fewer…”

  “I guess the bad ones are being thinned out.”

  “Yes.”

  “By people like you.”

  Nate glanced down the driveway for a second. “Go inside now, and watch the east side. Cindy is still out there. She will have to be relieved soon.”

  Brian looked up at his father. “Did they rape them?”

  Nate did not answer.

  “I guess I’m supposed to be too young to talk about it.”

  Nate’s chest lifted high and held for some seconds. “They didn’t spare them anything else.”

  Brian went back into the house.

  ~~~~

  Dark of night blanketed their farm by the time they'd fed the woman and girl and got them settled down enough to sleep.

  Martha sat at the kitchen table to rest for the first time since the girl and woman arrived. She cried and held her little boy. Talking to Cindy in the kitchen, she said. “We had to cut all their hair off, so the gashes and cuts could be cleaned.” Holding Tommy to her, covering an ear with her hand, she said, “It’s going to be hard feeding them since they can’t chew.”

  Cindy stopped doing dishes and left Nate at the sink, who had just brought in more water from the pump outside. She held her mother and brother for a while and then went back to work.

  “It seems they finally comprehend their ordeal is over,” Martha said.

  From the sink, Cindy said, “Things will never be the same for any of us. The plague was just the beginning.” She shook her head in amazement. “Why did so many people go crazy as soon as there was no police? All that rioting and killing! And I had no idea it was possible for our country to run out of food so fast.”

  Nate joined the conversation. “None of it surprised me. I’ve seen riots reported on the news where local police were overwhelmed by just a few hundred yahoos. Imagine tens of millions all over the country going nuts from fear. I’ve read many times that America had only about four days’ worth of food in the pipeline at any time. Without trucks, and people to load and drive them, nothing moves. And without fuel, they don’t move anyway. During the Depression, most Americans knew how to produce at least some of their own food.” It was not common for Nate to give a speech, so the others listened intently. “When the sickness came, only one percent had any idea where food came from. As far as they were concerned, it came from a grocery store.

  "No, none of it is that surprising. You just have not been on this earth long enough, Cindy. And the cruelty, while sickening, is not surprising to me. I’ve seen it before in other countries. In some societies, women are just slaves. Without the force of law, all of the old demons are unchained. The only thing between us and animals like them—” He pointed toward the driveway. “—is a gun. But a gun is useless if you let your guard down. We have no
choice but to maintain twenty-four/seven security.”

  ~~~~

  Carrie slept in Brian’s bed, the woman on the floor in the same room. Her swollen hands caused her much pain, and she moaned for hours before falling asleep. She seemed to be trying to be as quiet as possible, but the pain was too much now that blood flowed to them and reawakened nerve endings.

  Brian slept on the floor in the living room.

  Nate stayed up all night, keeping watch for danger outside and from Brian’s bedroom.

  Ben slept five hours, then ate a quick meal, grabbed his rifle, and walked out into the dark night to man the observation post on the field’s east side. From midnight to false dawn were the hours when most raids come.

  Deni slept on a couch in the living room. She woke four hours before dawn.

  Nate cooked breakfast for both of them. They talked quietly as they ate.

  “I’m afraid they both may die, despite all we did,” Deni said.

  “That’s possible. They need a doctor and hospital. Both have broken ribs, probably internal injuries.”

  Deni’s eyes filled. “Why?”

  “They were just sadistic assholes. I don’t know any more than you.”

  She looked at him from across the table. “Yes, you do. You’re a man.”

  Nate’s chair scraped on the floor. He stood up, his face hard, and left the dining room.

  “Oh, I didn’t mean…I’m sorry.” She started to reach out as he passed but stopped short.

  He was silent as he kept walking. He went into the living room and lay down on the bare wood floor by Brian, his rifle beside him.

  Just after sunrise, screaming came from Brian’s bedroom.

  First through the door, his revolver in hand, Nate stood there watching the girl scream. The woman had stumbled and fallen against Brian’s dresser, causing a gash to bleed again.

  The girl sat up in bed, staring off into space at some invisible horror, turning her lungs inside out. She looked at Nate and recoiled in fright. Her screaming grew more intense.

  Nate gently took the woman by her shoulders and pushed her past Deni and Martha, who stood at the foot of the bed looking aghast at the girl.

  They continued down the hall to the dining room. “Sit here, Caroline. It will be okay, stay calm.”

  She shrugged. “Too far gone. Nothing you can do. Been through too much pain and terror. Should be dead. Death is the best kindness she’s got waiting for her.” She smiled up at Nate, careful not to show toothless gums. “That was the first time a man called me by my name since they killed my husband and baby three weeks ago.”

  Both could hear Deni and Martha trying to console Carrie.

  Brian walked in from the living room, eyes full of sleep, and his face showing concern. “What is it, Dad? She having a nightmare?”

  Nate’s voice rose. “Where is your shotgun? Never walk away from your weapons.”

  “It’s right there on the floor where I was sleeping. We’re in the house.”

  “It doesn’t matter. Your pistol and rifle are locked in the safe for a reason, and your shotgun should be in your hands or slung on your shoulder at all times.”

  With his voice also rising in anger, Brian said, “Even when I sleep?”

  “Yes! God damn it, yes.”

  “Shit. I just woke up ‘cause of her screaming. And you’re pissed already.”

  Caroline sat at the table looking at Brian. “You’re a cute little boy. You should do what your father tells you.” She looked at Nate. “Maybe he doesn’t understand that Carrie’s dangerous.” Turning back to Brian, she said, “She’s crazy. Been through too much. She’s not tough like me. I lost my Carl and Jacob, but—”

  “We don’t need to hear that now,” Nate said.

  “First, they made Carl watch as they used me. Then they made me watch as they killed Carl slow. He screamed for hours. Burned and cut him. After that, they cut Jacob’s throat. Got tired of hearing him cry for me. That’s what they said, but I think they would’ve done it no matter how quiet he was. They didn’t have any use for a baby, but enjoyed the hurting.” She shook her head, eyes cold. “But I’m not crying about it. You see me crying? No way. They did things. But I’m not crying.”

  Cindy stood in the dark hallway, listening, her cheeks wet. She went to her mother and Martha saw. She left Deni alone with the girl and took Cindy to the bathroom where they talked in private until Tommy woke and cried out for his mother. Martha and Cindy both went to him.

  Nate walked over and put his hand on Brian’s shoulder. “Get your shotgun. Deni and I have already eaten, but I’ll cook breakfast. Everyone is awake now anyway.”

  Brian came back with his shotgun slung over his shoulder and Nate’s rifle in his hands.

  Nate looked up from scrambling eggs on the wood stove.

  “You left your rifle,” Brian said.

  “You were there.”

  “Yeah, never admit you made a mistake.”

  “I make plenty of mistakes.” Nate smiled. “And don’t be a smartass.”

  Brian looked away, a smirk on his face.

  Caroline shrieked with laughter. “You don’t know about mistakes, but you’ll learn.”

  Nate stopped stirring the eggs. He and Brian both stared at her.

  ~~~~

  The sun inched up over the eastern tree line. Nate and Brian worked in the field.

  “Dad, you shouldn’t be out here. You’ve been up all night.” Brian leaned on his hoe. Sweat ran down his face.

  “I pulled security yesterday while Ben and you worked. Now it’s my turn,” Nate said.

  “You have to sleep sometime.”

  “I will. While you and Deni pull security tonight.”

  “Shit. You wouldn’t let me go without sleep.”

  “That’s true. But I’m your father, so you don’t have any choice. If you feel sorry for me, milk the cow and put her in the pasture for today.”

  Brian looked up at his father from under his boonie hat brim. The sun’s heat would soon beat down with no mercy, and his T-shirt already clung to him. “What about the girl and woman?”

  “What about them?” Nate knew but asked anyway.

  “You know. You’re scared they’re going to grab one of our guns and kill us.”

  Nate stopped hoeing. “We have to watch them.”

  “You left your rifle this morning.”

  “I had my .44, and I knew they were in your room.”

  Brian had a half-smile on his face. “Yeah, right. One of them could’ve snuck out while we were asleep.”

  “Deni was up.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Not to change the subject, but what you did yesterday was stupid. Stupid, because it was dangerous.”

  Brian looked hurt.

  “I don’t mean you are stupid; what you did was.”

  “So I was supposed to leave you up there alone?” Brian kicked at a clump of dirt. “Bullshit.”

  “You are supposed to stay with standard operating procedure. There’s a reason why we all went over how to handle emergencies, and it’s not so you can just ignore SOP when you’re worried about me. I know why you did it. But—”

  “You would’ve come running faster than me. I’ve seen it before. No way would you have stayed in the house while I was being shot at.”

  “I have a responsibility. I’m your father.”

  “I’m your son. And you made me…So don’t give me anymore shit about running to help and not staying in the house.”

  “I know I’m asking a lot. The world is what it is. I’m sorry. I told you yesterday you’re a good son. I meant it. But you still should have stayed in the house.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “And if you’re going to come running, for God’s sake, don’t come running right up in the open. If I had been dead or wounded and down, they would have just killed you, too. What’s the point of that? Stay behind cover—always. Deni did it right. She came in careful, Army-style.”


  Brian looked away. “I guess you didn’t train me to not give a damn about my father. And I was never in the Army. I want to be a fighter pilot anyway.”

  “I have the feeling you will be someday, but if you want to be in the military you must learn to obey orders.”

  “I’m not in the Air Force yet.”

  “You won’t be if you don’t start using your head more. We can’t depend on luck. Sooner or later, our luck is going to run out. We were lucky yesterday.”

  Brian looked up at his father. “You killing them before I got there was not luck. You’re as tough as they come.”

  “Not when it comes to you.” Nate looked his son in the eye. “You need to control your emotions—and your mouth. Lately, you’ve become enamored with the word shit. I’ve been lenient because of all that you’ve been through with the loss of your mother and little sister. But I can’t keep letting you talk back to me like you’ve been. If I let my emotions go and my mouth run like you do, you would be a sad boy from all the cussing and put-downs.

  "In the military, you are expected to remain calm under stress. That means you keep a level head when scared, worried, or angry. You can’t think straight when you let your emotions run your head for you. To be the pilot you want to be, you have to be an officer, and an officer must have a level head under stress. You will be evaluated on that very thing. Spouting off is immature, and in the military it’s unprofessional. Control your emotions.”

  “So I’m not supposed to care about you anymore?” Brian looked toward the house.

  “I didn’t say that and you know it. You’re my son and I’m your father; that will never change.”

  Brian’s face reverted back to his usual boyish self as he turned his head and then looked up at his father. “So I can forget everything you just said?”

  “Uh, no. Smartass.” Nate knocked Brian’s hat off. “This conversation is going in circles. Get back to work.”

  Brian picked his hat up. “But what about them? We can’t watch them all the time. And how can we feed them?”

  “They can work in the house and field after they’re well.” Nate kept his doubts the two could do much heavy labor after the injuries they suffered to himself.

  “We didn’t plan on two more mouths to feed.” Brian reached down to pull a weed growing close to a tomato plant. “It’s too late to plant more this year.”