pistol. I saw there was no arguing.
“Okay,” I said, “but we have to have a plan.”
-30-
Danni picked up one of my .45 caliber Glock pistols. She held it like a venomous snake that might strike at any moment.
“You’re going to need to get over those feelings real quick,” I said, pointing towards the handgun. I took the gun, chambered a round and checked the safety. “There’s already one in the chamber, so when you’re ready to shoot just make sure the safety is off, point and squeeze the trigger.” I gave her a crash course in how to reload the gun and chamber a round. Danni nodded, but I could still tell she was scared.
“Don’t pull the trigger, Mom, just squeeze it,” Jared added. I was glad to see that he remembered some of the pointers I had given him. It still made me sick to think about bringing him into a shoot out, but what other choice was there? We needed to fight to stay alive. Life had always been that way, especially in prison, but it was never as crystal clear as it was now. These people were going to kill us if we didn’t kill them first.
I picked up the second Glock and tucked it into a side pocket. My Mossberg was fully loaded and my pockets stuffed with extra shells.
A few other guns hung on the rack, but I didn’t want any anyone to be loaded down. There were a few knives as well. Danni and Jared wouldn’t need those. The last thing I wanted was to see Danni or Jared in a hand-to-hand combat situation. I grabbed a push knife and buckled its sheath around my belt. The knife was shaped like a capital letter T and had a double-sided blade. Holding the handle in my fist, the blade would extend between my middle and ring fingers. The blade wasn’t good for slashing, but thrust into the side or back of someone’s head, it was deadly. I figured it would work equally as good on humans or husks.
Images of Wolverine cut through my mind. Kara loved the X-Men movies and characters, especially Wolverine. I loved watching those movies with her, Lisa not so much, but she would humor the two of us. It was just nice to have everyone together. After the movies, Kara would run around the house pretending to be a mutant hero battling monsters and evildoers, slashing them with her imaginary claws. She never could have imagined how real that scenario would be some day.
“What’s the plan?” Jared asked.
“Plan?” I muttered as I chased memories of Kara and Lisa out of my head.
“Yeah, the plan?” Jared motioned with his hand like he was talking to a toddler.
“Sorry,” I said. “There are more of them than us, so surprise is our only advantage. I’ll go out back near the Hummer. That way the side of the house and the fence will limit how many can get through at once. I want the two of you on the roof.”
“I don’t think I’ll be able to hit much from up there,” Danni said.
“Don’t worry about shooting until you have to,” I said. “I’ve got something in mind so you won’t need to worry about aiming; just make sure you avoid our cars.”
The three of us quickly went over the remaining details of the plan and headed for the bunker door.
Static popped and crackled on the radio at the far end of the dial. My first reaction was to ignore it and write it off as nothing more than white noise. Then Senator Heathway’s voice came through and our entire plan went to shit.
-31-
“Lucas, Lucas, are you there?” Senator Heathway’s voice rattled through the radio. “I have amazing news, Lucas!”
“What is it?” I asked. “We’re kind of in the middle of a clusterfuck over here.”
“Oh, I’m terribly sorry,” Senator Heathway said, still very much a politician. “I’ll be quick then. We have made contact with a group of survivors in your area. They were taking refuge in an auto assembly plant on the outskirts of a nearby town. I let them know that there were other survivors in the area.”
“Did you tell them where you were?” I
“Okay,” I said, “but we have to have a plan.”
-30-
Danni picked up one of my .45 caliber Glock pistols. She held it like a venomous snake that might strike at any moment.
“You’re going to need to get over those feelings real quick,” I said, pointing towards the handgun. I took the gun, chambered a round and checked the safety. “There’s already one in the chamber, so when you’re ready to shoot just make sure the safety is off, point and squeeze the trigger.” I gave her a crash course in how to reload the gun and chamber a round. Danni nodded, but I could still tell she was scared.
“Don’t pull the trigger, Mom, just squeeze it,” Jared added. I was glad to see that he remembered some of the pointers I had given him. It still made me sick to think about bringing him into a shoot out, but what other choice was there? We needed to fight to stay alive. Life had always been that way, especially in prison, but it was never as crystal clear as it was now. These people were going to kill us if we didn’t kill them first.
I picked up the second Glock and tucked it into a side pocket. My Mossberg was fully loaded and my pockets stuffed with extra shells.
A few other guns hung on the rack, but I didn’t want any anyone to be loaded down. There were a few knives as well. Danni and Jared wouldn’t need those. The last thing I wanted was to see Danni or Jared in a hand-to-hand combat situation. I grabbed a push knife and buckled its sheath around my belt. The knife was shaped like a capital letter T and had a double-sided blade. Holding the handle in my fist, the blade would extend between my middle and ring fingers. The blade wasn’t good for slashing, but thrust into the side or back of someone’s head, it was deadly. I figured it would work equally as good on humans or husks.
Images of Wolverine cut through my mind. Kara loved the X-Men movies and characters, especially Wolverine. I loved watching those movies with her, Lisa not so much, but she would humor the two of us. It was just nice to have everyone together. After the movies, Kara would run around the house pretending to be a mutant hero battling monsters and evildoers, slashing them with her imaginary claws. She never could have imagined how real that scenario would be some day.
“What’s the plan?” Jared asked.
“Plan?” I muttered as I chased memories of Kara and Lisa out of my head.
“Yeah, the plan?” Jared motioned with his hand like he was talking to a toddler.
“Sorry,” I said. “There are more of them than us, so surprise is our only advantage. I’ll go out back near the Hummer. That way the side of the house and the fence will limit how many can get through at once. I want the two of you on the roof.”
“I don’t think I’ll be able to hit much from up there,” Danni said.
“Don’t worry about shooting until you have to,” I said. “I’ve got something in mind so you won’t need to worry about aiming; just make sure you avoid our cars.”
The three of us quickly went over the remaining details of the plan and headed for the bunker door.
Static popped and crackled on the radio at the far end of the dial. My first reaction was to ignore it and write it off as nothing more than white noise. Then Senator Heathway’s voice came through and our entire plan went to shit.
-31-
“Lucas, Lucas, are you there?” Senator Heathway’s voice rattled through the radio. “I have amazing news, Lucas!”
“What is it?” I asked. “We’re kind of in the middle of a clusterfuck over here.”
“Oh, I’m terribly sorry,” Senator Heathway said, still very much a politician. “I’ll be quick then. We have made contact with a group of survivors in your area. They were taking refuge in an auto assembly plant on the outskirts of a nearby town. I let them know that there were other survivors in the area.”
“Did you tell them where you were?” I
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