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Chapter 38
Rod and his group spent the next couple of months getting better acquainted. During this time Jill realized she’d gotten pregnant. The news delighted Rod, but he was concerned as well since they had no doctor and no one there knew anything about birthing a baby. Still, he’d always wanted a family and he hoped things would somehow work out.
The group had come together well during the winter, becoming a family of sorts. Mike and his wife Barbara were also expecting, and she was pretty far along. None of the group really knew when she was due; they figured the baby would come whenever it was ready. But the idea of delivering healthy babies weighed heavily on Rod, as he was in nominal charge of the group and felt responsible to make sure everything turned out ok for them. He simply had to figure out a way to get someone with medical training to join them, not that there were many chances available. They’d seen no one at all since he and Jill had joined the others.
Another problem was figuring out where to move the group to when the snows melted. They’d need a place that was secure and easily defended, yet had enough land to allow them to farm. He had only a vague idea of how to go about planting crops, only what he’d picked up in school and from TV, but he knew it was imperative if the group was going to live. The food in the Sam’s club was mostly unfit to eat by that time, and what was still good was running low.
He was thinking about the problem of land while snuggling with Jill atop the store one evening in mid march when he was startled to see a sudden flash in the sky to the northwest. A few moments later they heard a low rumbling noise, followed quickly by another flash. Realizing something extraordinary must have happened, he and Jill got up quickly and went downstairs to let the others know what they’d seen.
“But what could have caused it?” Billy asked.
“I’m not sure,” Rod said, “an explosion of some sort I guess. It came from the direction of Mayfield, maybe someone attacked them.”
“Wow.” Vicki said. “I can understand why someone would do that, but who is there left in the world that’s strong enough? The town had a big defense force when we left.”
“Yeah, and they added several A-10’s before we took off.” Jill added.
“I don’t know,” Rod continued, “but I can’t imagine what else it could be. If it was just the one I’d think it may have been an accident, but there was another flash as we were coming downstairs, which seems to mean more than one blast.”
“Well,” Vicki said, “whatever happened I think we’d all be better off to keep under cover for a few days, even if it was an accident or even if the people who may have attacked them were friendly to us, I don’t think we can afford to take any chances. From this time forward, no one goes outside for any reason.”
“I agree Miss Vic, we all need to keep our heads down for at least a week. We can see what’s going on outside with the security cameras anyway.”
The others voiced their understanding of the directive, even though a few grumbled about it. The weather had finally improved enough for them to enjoy going outside and they were reluctant to remain indoors anymore after the long winter.
After two weeks there was still no sign that anyone knew they were there and Rod decided they could lift the restriction on going outside. He warned everyone to take precautions and remain alert when they were in the open however, as they had no way of knowing who might be out and about. Several of the young people cheered at this announcement and he grinned, as sick of being cooped up inside as anyone.
The first day out was spent taking care of needs. Both their water and fuel supplies were low and had to be topped off. After they finished Rod got with Vicki and Mike and discussed a plan for finding a new place for the group to live. They discussed the requirements for such a place and agreed that each of them should take one other to help provide security and cover a different section of the city. That way they’d cover the town more quickly and wouldn’t overlap each other.
The next morning, Rod and Jill took the hummer and began their sweep of the western portion of town. Vicki and Billy took the northern part and Mike and Eddie took the southeastern section. The groups had agreed to return to the store for lunch so they could report on their progress, as well as to let the others know they were ok. They also carried GMRS radios they’d found in the store. But they weren’t sure of the range so they didn’t rely on them.
One thing Rod failed to take into consideration was the possibility that other people may have moved into town during the several months his crew had been forced to remain inside because of snow. In fact there were two different groups that were new to town and both were refugees from Mayfield, but only one of them was peaceful.
Spike and what was left of his gang had been on a wild ride during the past year. They’d taken over an improvised shelter in Albany, New York from a bunch of idiot townspeople led by some politician. The politician hadn’t seen the need to arm the group, being one of those liberal types spike had always found so useful back before the sickness. When the gang discovered the shelter they’d simply stormed in, guns blazing, and overwhelmed the townies, eventually killing all but the youngest women.
It didn’t take long for even those prisoners to die, although many wished they’d been killed outright before it was over. One of the last to die was a girl of only fifteen or so who had hung on despite being raped repeatedly by most of the gang. Pleading with them to kill her, she offered them information in exchange for her death. That information had to do with a town of thousands out in Idaho where the gang could have everything they wanted.
Spike had promised to kill her quick if she’d contact the people and arrange for them to be picked up, which she gladly did. Once arrangements were made she asked them to shoot her but he said that was a waste of ammunition and instead ordered her raped again, only this time they weren’t to stop until she was dead. It took over twelve more hours for her to die, screaming and cursing them the entire time.
Arriving at the town they found things to be a lot like the world before the plague. There were security people around keeping the peace, and the water and lights were working. Still, it didn’t take long for his people to get bored and start causing problems, but unlike before the sickness they weren’t arrested or jailed. Instead, they were approached with an offer of becoming security personnel themselves, an offer that baffled Spike.
It was explained to him that most of the old security force had abandoned their posts and other people were needed…stronger people. He was also told that he’d be given free reign to allow his men to ‘enjoy’ themselves on occasion, as long as they restricted their activities to people outside the town itself. He’d agreed immediately, still barely able to understand how they’d gone from being criminals to being in positions of authority so quickly.
For the next few months life had been good. The town sent them out to fight and enslave smaller groups in the area, and even gave them some of the outsiders for their enjoyment. That mayor, Sylvia, had been sure to let them know it was her decision to let them enjoy themselves, and they were loyal to her because of it.
Then, while out looking for more outsiders to exploit, they’d been shaken by the attack on the town. Spike didn’t know much about nuclear weapons, but he figured they didn’t need to stay too close by, especially as the town looked to be pretty much destroyed. Making a snap decision, he called his gang together and told them to get their stuff and move out, they were going to put some miles between themselves and the remains of the town.
To their surprise their vehicles wouldn’t start. They didn’t know why but the fact that every truck they had was now dead scared them. Motivated now by fear of the unknown, the gang had headed out, moving along the highway toward the southeast. It took the better part of two weeks to make it to Twin Falls but upon their arrival they’d immediately seen signs of other people around. They took that as a sign that their fortunes had changed for the better, and settled down in a deserted motel to plan their next course of action.
“I don’t see why we need to move anyway.” Eddie griped. He had developed the reputation of being a complainer, a reputation that was well deserved in Mike’s opinion.
“For one thing that store is too big to defend.” Mike began for the third time that day. He wished again that Rod had stuck him with someone else; Eddie was more of a pain than he was worth. “And it’s a prime target if anyone comes along, heck that big sign out front can be seen for miles.”
Rod had mentioned to the group that they should knock down the big “Sam’s Club” sign as it was an open invitation to anyone who saw it. As he’d said, no one would know everything inside was mostly used up and they would be drawn to the store with dreams of everything they might find there. Following his reasoning the others had agreed, but that was as far as it had gone. They’d tried to knock it down, but no one knew how to use a cutting torch, much less where to find one. And without a torch there was no way to move it as it was mounted atop huge steel pipes. In the end they’d agreed that the store just wasn’t suited to their needs anymore and planned to look for someplace new as soon as they could.
“Maybe, but moving is so much work!” the boy complained again, making Mike sigh.
“Look, there’s gonna be a LOT of work in the world from now on. If we have to do everything ourselves then we’re all gonna have to pitch in and help.”
As the two continued to argue they almost didn’t even see the young man standing outside an old rundown motel. As they passed him Mike did a double take and hit the brakes.
“What’d ya do that for!?” Eddie chimed in.
“Look! Did you see that guy? He ducked around the corner when he saw us!”
“What guy…what are you talking about?” the younger boy whined.
“Wait, I’ll show you.” With that, Mike slung the vehicle around and headed into the parking lot of the motel. Once past the office the two of them saw they’d entered an effective ambush. From nearly every window on the bottom floor and several on the top a rifle barrel protruded. And there was no place to go, the driveway they’d entered being the only way in or out. Realizing they were trapped, Mike stopped the truck and got out, raising his hands above his head. A minute later Eddie joined him and mike could see the boy was close to tears.
As the two stood there unsure what was about to happen a door opened in front of them and the same guy Mike had seen before stepped out, a rifle in his hands, pointing at them.
“Who are you and wha’da’ya want?” the guy shouted.
“I’m Mike and this is Eddie…we uh, we didn’t know anyone else was in town. We were surprised, that’s all. If ya want we can leave.”
“Not just yet. Are you armed?”
“No, our rifles are in the truck.” Mike replied, mentally kicking himself for getting into such a predicament.
“Good, leave them there. One at a time I want you to walk over here. Go slow and don’t make any sudden moves, we don’t really wanna kill anyone.”
Mike nodded his head and started walking slowly towards the man. When he was a few feet away the man told him to stop and turn around, then shouted to Eddie not to move or he’d be shot. Mike could see the boy now and thought he looked like he was about to run. He hoped these people wouldn’t take that as a bad sign and kill both of them, but there was nothing he could do about it right then.
The man had come up behind him and patted him down. When he was finished he called for Eddie to come forward as well, still pointing the rifle at both of them. Eddie hesitated for a moment and looked even more like he was about to run away, but finally gave in and walked forward as well.
After patting him down also the man told them they could turn around and put their hands down. After a minute Mike began to relax, apparently these folks weren’t going to kill them just yet.
“My name’s Dave, we just got here about a month ago. We’re from a town about a hundred miles west of here.”
“You mean Mayfield, right?” Mike spoke up.
“Yeah, how did you know?”
“We’re from there too, all of us.”
“How many of you are there?” Dave asked, looking more relaxed as he learned that these guys were the same as his people.
“About a dozen…how many in your group?”
“Close to twenty. Where are you all staying?”
Mike really didn’t want to give away such important information, especially to such a large group, but he didn’t know what else to do. “In the Sam’s club. We’ve been there about five months.”
“Wow! The Sam’s club! I bet you have everything you need there, huh? We don’t have much at all here, in fact we were wondering how long the food would last.”
“Well, if ya’ll don’t want to cause trouble, we’d be happy to take you in. most of the food’s gone but we have electricity and water and we’ll share everything we do have.” Mike saw this as an opportunity to increase the group’s numbers. Rod had said several times that they needed more people, and here were a bunch more! He only hoped these people weren’t dangerous, they sure did have a lot of guns. But then again, he thought, so did his people.
“Oh, we don’t want no trouble, believe me. We just want to keep on getting by. How do we know you won’t try to take us prisoner once we get there though? You know, force us to work for ya?”
Mike thought about that for a minute. “I guess you don’t. All I can do is tell you that we wouldn’t do that. After that you’ll just have to trust us.”
Dave thought about it for a moment, then decided he’d have to take the chance. “Tell ya what. I’ll go with ya and meet the rest of your people. If everything works out I’ll come back and get the others. If not, you’ll only have me and these guys will fight ya if you come back here.”
“Sounds fair enough, Rod will probably want to talk to you anyway.”
“Who’s Rod?”
“He’s sort of our leader, I guess.” Mike replied.
Dave went inside the room and talked with several others for a moment, and then a young woman came outside. “We want one of you to stay here, in exchange for Dave.”
Surprised, Mike knew he should have thought of that himself. Answering quickly he agreed, thinking to himself that, even if they lost Eddie, it wouldn’t be that bad, at least the whining would stop. Grinning to himself as he thought this, he and Dave got in the truck. Dave noticed the grin and wondered about it, but didn’t say anything, resolving to simply remain alert for possible trouble. Once back in the truck, Mike reached for the GMRS radio, explaining to Dave that he was supposed to call in if anything unusual happened. Holding the button in he tried several times to make contact with someone, to no avail.
Throwing the handheld back on the seat in frustration, he said “well, I guess they’ll just have to be surprised.” And pulled out of the lot.
They arrived at the store just in time for lunch and consequently the others had returned as well. When Mike informed the others of what he’d found they were excited, and Rod and Vicki took Dave off to have a talk with him in private. Half an hour later they returned and ate lunch, informing the rest that his group would be joining them that afternoon. The two groups merged easily, with several from one group finding they knew people from the other. By the end of the day they’d settled down and gotten comfortable with each other.
Spike’s people had decided they needed information first and foremost, and to that end he’d sent them out in two man patrols to try and learn where other people might be holed up. They continued to see signs of people everywhere and by the end of the second day one of the patrols announced they’d found them.
“We heard what sounded like an engine running and followed the noise.” One of the men reported. “You wouldn’t believe where they’re at, the Sam’s club! They got the generator running non-stop, and have a whole tanker of fuel next to it.”
“How sure are you that it’s them?” Spike wanted to know. He figured the guys wanted to get into the store and see what was inside, and he didn’t want that to happen until they made sure no one was going to bother them.
“Positive. They’s got cars pulled in front of the doors an’ I saw one of them go out the back to a fire truck they’s got and start it up.” The man said.
Spike thought about that a moment, then said “ok, first I want you to go back and watch them for at least a day. Be careful and don’t let them see ya, and if everything’s as you say it is, we’ll hit them the day after.”
The gang was eager to get in the store and looked forward to some more ‘fun’ with whoever was inside, but they saw the wisdom in Spike’s decision. Getting themselves killed by attacking a superior force wouldn’t get them what they wanted. Still though, every one of the gang was looking forward to the coming festivities.
Rod and his group spent the next couple of months getting better acquainted. During this time Jill realized she’d gotten pregnant. The news delighted Rod, but he was concerned as well since they had no doctor and no one there knew anything about birthing a baby. Still, he’d always wanted a family and he hoped things would somehow work out.
The group had come together well during the winter, becoming a family of sorts. Mike and his wife Barbara were also expecting, and she was pretty far along. None of the group really knew when she was due; they figured the baby would come whenever it was ready. But the idea of delivering healthy babies weighed heavily on Rod, as he was in nominal charge of the group and felt responsible to make sure everything turned out ok for them. He simply had to figure out a way to get someone with medical training to join them, not that there were many chances available. They’d seen no one at all since he and Jill had joined the others.
Another problem was figuring out where to move the group to when the snows melted. They’d need a place that was secure and easily defended, yet had enough land to allow them to farm. He had only a vague idea of how to go about planting crops, only what he’d picked up in school and from TV, but he knew it was imperative if the group was going to live. The food in the Sam’s club was mostly unfit to eat by that time, and what was still good was running low.
He was thinking about the problem of land while snuggling with Jill atop the store one evening in mid march when he was startled to see a sudden flash in the sky to the northwest. A few moments later they heard a low rumbling noise, followed quickly by another flash. Realizing something extraordinary must have happened, he and Jill got up quickly and went downstairs to let the others know what they’d seen.
“But what could have caused it?” Billy asked.
“I’m not sure,” Rod said, “an explosion of some sort I guess. It came from the direction of Mayfield, maybe someone attacked them.”
“Wow.” Vicki said. “I can understand why someone would do that, but who is there left in the world that’s strong enough? The town had a big defense force when we left.”
“Yeah, and they added several A-10’s before we took off.” Jill added.
“I don’t know,” Rod continued, “but I can’t imagine what else it could be. If it was just the one I’d think it may have been an accident, but there was another flash as we were coming downstairs, which seems to mean more than one blast.”
“Well,” Vicki said, “whatever happened I think we’d all be better off to keep under cover for a few days, even if it was an accident or even if the people who may have attacked them were friendly to us, I don’t think we can afford to take any chances. From this time forward, no one goes outside for any reason.”
“I agree Miss Vic, we all need to keep our heads down for at least a week. We can see what’s going on outside with the security cameras anyway.”
The others voiced their understanding of the directive, even though a few grumbled about it. The weather had finally improved enough for them to enjoy going outside and they were reluctant to remain indoors anymore after the long winter.
After two weeks there was still no sign that anyone knew they were there and Rod decided they could lift the restriction on going outside. He warned everyone to take precautions and remain alert when they were in the open however, as they had no way of knowing who might be out and about. Several of the young people cheered at this announcement and he grinned, as sick of being cooped up inside as anyone.
The first day out was spent taking care of needs. Both their water and fuel supplies were low and had to be topped off. After they finished Rod got with Vicki and Mike and discussed a plan for finding a new place for the group to live. They discussed the requirements for such a place and agreed that each of them should take one other to help provide security and cover a different section of the city. That way they’d cover the town more quickly and wouldn’t overlap each other.
The next morning, Rod and Jill took the hummer and began their sweep of the western portion of town. Vicki and Billy took the northern part and Mike and Eddie took the southeastern section. The groups had agreed to return to the store for lunch so they could report on their progress, as well as to let the others know they were ok. They also carried GMRS radios they’d found in the store. But they weren’t sure of the range so they didn’t rely on them.
One thing Rod failed to take into consideration was the possibility that other people may have moved into town during the several months his crew had been forced to remain inside because of snow. In fact there were two different groups that were new to town and both were refugees from Mayfield, but only one of them was peaceful.
Spike and what was left of his gang had been on a wild ride during the past year. They’d taken over an improvised shelter in Albany, New York from a bunch of idiot townspeople led by some politician. The politician hadn’t seen the need to arm the group, being one of those liberal types spike had always found so useful back before the sickness. When the gang discovered the shelter they’d simply stormed in, guns blazing, and overwhelmed the townies, eventually killing all but the youngest women.
It didn’t take long for even those prisoners to die, although many wished they’d been killed outright before it was over. One of the last to die was a girl of only fifteen or so who had hung on despite being raped repeatedly by most of the gang. Pleading with them to kill her, she offered them information in exchange for her death. That information had to do with a town of thousands out in Idaho where the gang could have everything they wanted.
Spike had promised to kill her quick if she’d contact the people and arrange for them to be picked up, which she gladly did. Once arrangements were made she asked them to shoot her but he said that was a waste of ammunition and instead ordered her raped again, only this time they weren’t to stop until she was dead. It took over twelve more hours for her to die, screaming and cursing them the entire time.
Arriving at the town they found things to be a lot like the world before the plague. There were security people around keeping the peace, and the water and lights were working. Still, it didn’t take long for his people to get bored and start causing problems, but unlike before the sickness they weren’t arrested or jailed. Instead, they were approached with an offer of becoming security personnel themselves, an offer that baffled Spike.
It was explained to him that most of the old security force had abandoned their posts and other people were needed…stronger people. He was also told that he’d be given free reign to allow his men to ‘enjoy’ themselves on occasion, as long as they restricted their activities to people outside the town itself. He’d agreed immediately, still barely able to understand how they’d gone from being criminals to being in positions of authority so quickly.
For the next few months life had been good. The town sent them out to fight and enslave smaller groups in the area, and even gave them some of the outsiders for their enjoyment. That mayor, Sylvia, had been sure to let them know it was her decision to let them enjoy themselves, and they were loyal to her because of it.
Then, while out looking for more outsiders to exploit, they’d been shaken by the attack on the town. Spike didn’t know much about nuclear weapons, but he figured they didn’t need to stay too close by, especially as the town looked to be pretty much destroyed. Making a snap decision, he called his gang together and told them to get their stuff and move out, they were going to put some miles between themselves and the remains of the town.
To their surprise their vehicles wouldn’t start. They didn’t know why but the fact that every truck they had was now dead scared them. Motivated now by fear of the unknown, the gang had headed out, moving along the highway toward the southeast. It took the better part of two weeks to make it to Twin Falls but upon their arrival they’d immediately seen signs of other people around. They took that as a sign that their fortunes had changed for the better, and settled down in a deserted motel to plan their next course of action.
“I don’t see why we need to move anyway.” Eddie griped. He had developed the reputation of being a complainer, a reputation that was well deserved in Mike’s opinion.
“For one thing that store is too big to defend.” Mike began for the third time that day. He wished again that Rod had stuck him with someone else; Eddie was more of a pain than he was worth. “And it’s a prime target if anyone comes along, heck that big sign out front can be seen for miles.”
Rod had mentioned to the group that they should knock down the big “Sam’s Club” sign as it was an open invitation to anyone who saw it. As he’d said, no one would know everything inside was mostly used up and they would be drawn to the store with dreams of everything they might find there. Following his reasoning the others had agreed, but that was as far as it had gone. They’d tried to knock it down, but no one knew how to use a cutting torch, much less where to find one. And without a torch there was no way to move it as it was mounted atop huge steel pipes. In the end they’d agreed that the store just wasn’t suited to their needs anymore and planned to look for someplace new as soon as they could.
“Maybe, but moving is so much work!” the boy complained again, making Mike sigh.
“Look, there’s gonna be a LOT of work in the world from now on. If we have to do everything ourselves then we’re all gonna have to pitch in and help.”
As the two continued to argue they almost didn’t even see the young man standing outside an old rundown motel. As they passed him Mike did a double take and hit the brakes.
“What’d ya do that for!?” Eddie chimed in.
“Look! Did you see that guy? He ducked around the corner when he saw us!”
“What guy…what are you talking about?” the younger boy whined.
“Wait, I’ll show you.” With that, Mike slung the vehicle around and headed into the parking lot of the motel. Once past the office the two of them saw they’d entered an effective ambush. From nearly every window on the bottom floor and several on the top a rifle barrel protruded. And there was no place to go, the driveway they’d entered being the only way in or out. Realizing they were trapped, Mike stopped the truck and got out, raising his hands above his head. A minute later Eddie joined him and mike could see the boy was close to tears.
As the two stood there unsure what was about to happen a door opened in front of them and the same guy Mike had seen before stepped out, a rifle in his hands, pointing at them.
“Who are you and wha’da’ya want?” the guy shouted.
“I’m Mike and this is Eddie…we uh, we didn’t know anyone else was in town. We were surprised, that’s all. If ya want we can leave.”
“Not just yet. Are you armed?”
“No, our rifles are in the truck.” Mike replied, mentally kicking himself for getting into such a predicament.
“Good, leave them there. One at a time I want you to walk over here. Go slow and don’t make any sudden moves, we don’t really wanna kill anyone.”
Mike nodded his head and started walking slowly towards the man. When he was a few feet away the man told him to stop and turn around, then shouted to Eddie not to move or he’d be shot. Mike could see the boy now and thought he looked like he was about to run. He hoped these people wouldn’t take that as a bad sign and kill both of them, but there was nothing he could do about it right then.
The man had come up behind him and patted him down. When he was finished he called for Eddie to come forward as well, still pointing the rifle at both of them. Eddie hesitated for a moment and looked even more like he was about to run away, but finally gave in and walked forward as well.
After patting him down also the man told them they could turn around and put their hands down. After a minute Mike began to relax, apparently these folks weren’t going to kill them just yet.
“My name’s Dave, we just got here about a month ago. We’re from a town about a hundred miles west of here.”
“You mean Mayfield, right?” Mike spoke up.
“Yeah, how did you know?”
“We’re from there too, all of us.”
“How many of you are there?” Dave asked, looking more relaxed as he learned that these guys were the same as his people.
“About a dozen…how many in your group?”
“Close to twenty. Where are you all staying?”
Mike really didn’t want to give away such important information, especially to such a large group, but he didn’t know what else to do. “In the Sam’s club. We’ve been there about five months.”
“Wow! The Sam’s club! I bet you have everything you need there, huh? We don’t have much at all here, in fact we were wondering how long the food would last.”
“Well, if ya’ll don’t want to cause trouble, we’d be happy to take you in. most of the food’s gone but we have electricity and water and we’ll share everything we do have.” Mike saw this as an opportunity to increase the group’s numbers. Rod had said several times that they needed more people, and here were a bunch more! He only hoped these people weren’t dangerous, they sure did have a lot of guns. But then again, he thought, so did his people.
“Oh, we don’t want no trouble, believe me. We just want to keep on getting by. How do we know you won’t try to take us prisoner once we get there though? You know, force us to work for ya?”
Mike thought about that for a minute. “I guess you don’t. All I can do is tell you that we wouldn’t do that. After that you’ll just have to trust us.”
Dave thought about it for a moment, then decided he’d have to take the chance. “Tell ya what. I’ll go with ya and meet the rest of your people. If everything works out I’ll come back and get the others. If not, you’ll only have me and these guys will fight ya if you come back here.”
“Sounds fair enough, Rod will probably want to talk to you anyway.”
“Who’s Rod?”
“He’s sort of our leader, I guess.” Mike replied.
Dave went inside the room and talked with several others for a moment, and then a young woman came outside. “We want one of you to stay here, in exchange for Dave.”
Surprised, Mike knew he should have thought of that himself. Answering quickly he agreed, thinking to himself that, even if they lost Eddie, it wouldn’t be that bad, at least the whining would stop. Grinning to himself as he thought this, he and Dave got in the truck. Dave noticed the grin and wondered about it, but didn’t say anything, resolving to simply remain alert for possible trouble. Once back in the truck, Mike reached for the GMRS radio, explaining to Dave that he was supposed to call in if anything unusual happened. Holding the button in he tried several times to make contact with someone, to no avail.
Throwing the handheld back on the seat in frustration, he said “well, I guess they’ll just have to be surprised.” And pulled out of the lot.
They arrived at the store just in time for lunch and consequently the others had returned as well. When Mike informed the others of what he’d found they were excited, and Rod and Vicki took Dave off to have a talk with him in private. Half an hour later they returned and ate lunch, informing the rest that his group would be joining them that afternoon. The two groups merged easily, with several from one group finding they knew people from the other. By the end of the day they’d settled down and gotten comfortable with each other.
Spike’s people had decided they needed information first and foremost, and to that end he’d sent them out in two man patrols to try and learn where other people might be holed up. They continued to see signs of people everywhere and by the end of the second day one of the patrols announced they’d found them.
“We heard what sounded like an engine running and followed the noise.” One of the men reported. “You wouldn’t believe where they’re at, the Sam’s club! They got the generator running non-stop, and have a whole tanker of fuel next to it.”
“How sure are you that it’s them?” Spike wanted to know. He figured the guys wanted to get into the store and see what was inside, and he didn’t want that to happen until they made sure no one was going to bother them.
“Positive. They’s got cars pulled in front of the doors an’ I saw one of them go out the back to a fire truck they’s got and start it up.” The man said.
Spike thought about that a moment, then said “ok, first I want you to go back and watch them for at least a day. Be careful and don’t let them see ya, and if everything’s as you say it is, we’ll hit them the day after.”
The gang was eager to get in the store and looked forward to some more ‘fun’ with whoever was inside, but they saw the wisdom in Spike’s decision. Getting themselves killed by attacking a superior force wouldn’t get them what they wanted. Still though, every one of the gang was looking forward to the coming festivities.
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