The Guardians (14 page)

"Leave it to a man to ruin the moment," Judith said with a laugh.

"Yep, they always do," replied Peggy.

Just then, a doe deer bolted across the road ahead of them.  Evan stopped the tractor and shut off the motor.  "Listen up," he said.  "That thing was running from something the way it tore across the road without paying us any mind."  They all sat there quietly and heard a disturbance moving through the brush at a high rate of speed.  Just then two large mutt dogs, one with characteristics similar to a Rottweiler, and one a little more lean and hairy like a German Shepherd, both obviously mixes, came bolting out of the woods in pursuit of the deer.  The first dog ran right across the road as if it didn't notice the tractor full of people, the second one slid to a stop in the middle of the road and turned to face the tractor.  It was obviously malnourished.  It was so lean its ribs were all in clear view and its hair had been falling out it patches.  It had a possessed look on its face.  Nothing at all like a well-adjusted dog one would meet in the park.  Evan had shouldered his VZ and held his aim on the dog.  The dog's hackles were raised and it took an aggressive posture. 

"Smoke it," said Jason with a calm whisper.

"Not if I don't have to," Evan said calmly.  "I don't want to pop off a shot out here and give our movement away for miles.  Everyone just remain still and calm."

The dog began to back away, never letting down its guard.  As it neared the side of the road, it turned and darted off into the woods to rejoin the pursuit.

"We need to start bringing Molly's crossbow along with us for silent shots," Evan said, relieved that the situation with the dog worked itself out.

"Or I need to start bringing my can," Jason said referring to the suppressor he has back at the Homefront for the threaded barrel on his rifle.  "That thing looked feral," he added.

"Feral?" asked Peggy.

"A feral animal is a domestic animal that lives in the wild, and has reacquainted itself with life without humans," he replied.  "Feral dogs have been known to attack and kill people quite often.  They no longer look to humans as a source of food, but rather a food source.  They attack livestock as well as people and can be very dangerous."

"Yea, especially because people are used to dogs seeing themselves as subservient to humans so they let their guard down," Evan added.  "A feral dog may as well be a wolf, albeit not quite as capable as a wolf, but the premise is the same.  I would say that over the past year quite a few dogs have been abandoned by their owners who simply couldn't spare the food to feed them, or their owners themselves didn't make it and they found themselves on their own.  Either way, if you see a dog, don't think of it as merely a stray.  You could find yourself in a world of hurt these days with that old mentality," he said.

He then fired the tractor back up and said, "Well, let's get the heck out of there before they lose the deer and come back for us.  I don't want to have to get into a gunfight with a pack of dogs today."  They once again continued for the Thomas Farm, but now they all kept a little better eye on their surroundings.

As they approached the Thomas farm, Evan dismounted the tractor and Jake took the controls.  As was their standard operating procedure, Evan proceeded to the house alone to ensure the situation was secure before bringing everyone else up the driveway.  Jason crept off into the woods to cover him with his .300 Win Mag, while staying within sight of the tractor to cover Jake and the ladies as well.  Evan was met by Ollie and gave the signal for Jason to proceed with the others.

Ollie met Evan in the driveway and said, "How was the trip?"

"Good, except that we ran into a couple of wild looking dogs that crossed our path chasing a deer.  It was a tense moment, but all is well.  It definitely makes you think twice though about rustling bushes," he said with a laugh.

"Yep, I had to shoot a dog not too long ago," said Ollie.  It was raiding the chicken coop.  It was a mangy looking old thing.  I see you brought a few more people with you this time."

"Yes Sir, that's my son Jake, he's near Haley's age, so we figured it might make her feel good to have other kids around.  The young lady is Peggy.  We've told you all about her, and of course you know Judith.  She's here to give Haley her new clothes and make sure they all fit and don't need any alterations.  She brought some sewing items just in case."

"Well that's just wonderful," Ollie said.  As Jake brought the tractor to a stop, Ollie looked at him and said, "You must be their extra security." Jake just smiled.  He was a little shy as he had not been around many new people in quite some time.  "OK then, everybody come on in.  Mildred and Haley are around back on the screened in porch," Ollie said welcoming them all to his home.

As Judith, Peggy, and Jake visited with Haley and Mildred, Ollie looked at Evan and Jason and said, "Let's take a walk," as he led the men back outside.

"Did you ever find those missing cows?" asked Evan.

"No, that's what I wanted to talk to you about," Ollie replied.  "As a matter of fact, I'm missing four total now.  I found some boot prints out in the back pasture that don't match anything of mine, and they don't look like yours either.  I tracked them a little ways off in the woods.  Someone has definitely been accessing the property on a fairly regular basis.  There are tracks of a different degree of erosion, so you can tell they've come and gone between rains.  I didn't track'em very far, because well, being by myself I didn't want to accidentally catch'em.  If anything happened to me, Mildred and Haley would be sitting ducks."

"Have you seen any signs that they have been near the house?" asked Jason.

"No, thank God," Ollie replied.  "For now it looks like they have been staying out of sight of the house.  I'll betcha that's where my missing cows are.  Someone is rustling them, probably just right through the woods.  It should be easy to track them, for several well-armed men that is." 

"Let's check it out then," Evan said.  "I couldn't live with myself leaving here today with that kind of uncertainty for you guys.  You need to know what's going on, and they need to be stopped."

"I'm game," added Jason.

"Well, let's do it then.  I'll tell Mildred we're gonna go out and check the fence line so that they don't expect us back any time soon," Ollie said as he walked towards the house.

Jason looked at Evan and said, "Why is it that every time things seem to stabilize, we get thrown a curve ball?"

"I know what you mean," Evan replied.  "As soon as we start feeling like a safe little community, something comes up.  But then again, it will probably take quite a while to shake
everything out, if it is going to shake out that is, before the dust truly settles.  That or we just build a fence around all of our combined properties and live like it's a zombie apocalypse."

"Sadly, zombies would be much easier to deal with, or aliens," Jason replied.

Evan just chuckled and smiled remembering the situation they were in the last time Jason said something like that.  Just then, Ollie came out of the house with his Ruger American rifle slung over his shoulder and the .45 that Evan had given him on his side.  Evan looked at him and said, "Do you always go checking the fence line armed for battle?"

"Oh, she knows I was fibbing to keep the kids from worrying," replied Ollie  "That woman knows what I'm gonna say before I say it."

"Funny how that works," replied Evan.

"Yep, and if you don't say what they thought you would say, they just change your mind for you," added Jason as all three of the men chuckled.

Ollie walked over to his old red Massey Ferguson tractor, which had no implements attached at the time, and fired it up.  "Climb on boys.  Each one of you stand on a lower link.  We ain't goin'n far.  You won't fall off."  Evan and Jason just looked at each other, shrugged and hopped on.  Each of them stepped up on a lower link of the three point hydraulic hitch and leaned back on their respective fender as Ollie let go of the clutch and with a lurch, they were off.  Ollie drove them out past the barn and beyond his back pasture.  He pulled up alongside the tree line and came to a stop, shutting off the motor.  He then looked at Jason and Evan and said, "Right over there is where I found their footprints."

Evan and Jason hopped off of the hitch and followed Ollie up the tree line, quietly observing the area as they walked.  They knew they were not sneaking up on anyone due to the sound of the tractor's engine, but there was still no reason to be reckless.  "Right there, there they are," said Ollie pointing to the ground.

Jason kneeled down and inspected the tracks.  "Looks like several sets of boots to me," he said.  "These look like old G.I. issue jungle boots, and so do these over here, but they are from different sized boots.  This one over here looks like a more modern hiking boot.  At a glance I'd say you have three trespassers at the least."

"It looks to me like they were coming and going through the creek.  You can see their tracks come out again on the other side," said Ollie pointing into the woods across the creek.

"Well...there's only one way to get an answer without sitting here for days," Evan said.  "Let's follow them."

****

Chapter 14: Road to Recovery

Nate was awoken by a local woman volunteering as a nurse's aid.  "Hello, my name is Lucinda.  I'm here to bring you something for your pain, and to see if you need anything."

"Thank you Ma'am," Nate responded.  "Any idea when a doctor or something may be by?  I've got a lot of questions."

"I'll go and ask your brother.  He's checking on a few of the patients now," she said as she handed him a couple of pills and a glass of water.  "This is for the pain and the swelling.  I think your brother is going to bring you some antibiotics also so that your leg doesn't get infected."

"Thank you Ma'am, you're too kind," he said returning her smile.  He swallowed his pills, laid his head back down on the pillow, and just stared at the ceiling for a while.  A lot had happened over the past few days.  Everything in his world had been both accomplished and turned upside down simultaneously.  He now had his brother, but his body was not the same as it once was, and he was not sure where his brother's heart would lead him.  He found himself feeling depressed, and for the first time in the past year, his mission in life was uncertain.  In the state he was in, he was not even sure if he could make the journey alone to Virginia.  He had of course seen many people deal with an amputation and overcome every challenge that came before them afterwards.  However, he had no idea what his limits would be now, so things were just harder to imagine.

After about an hour had passed, Luke entered the room with a young lady in her late twenties to early thirties.  She was an attractive strawberry blonde whose smile lit up the room.  "This is Doctor Stewart," Luke said.  "She's the one who patched your busted butt back together."

"Thank you Ma'am," Nate said as he reached out to shake her hand.

"My privilege Mr. Hoskins," she replied.

"That's the first time anyone has called me Mr. Hoskins in a long time...if ever actually," said Nate.  "When I joined the Navy I was too young to be a Mr.  As I got older, since I was enlisted, I didn't warrant a Mr. or a Sir, I was always Petty Officer or hey Sailor."

She just grinned at his jokes and said, "How does your leg feel today?"

"There is some dull pain, and it feels like it is still there," he responded.

"Yes, that is normal.  It's called a phantom pain or a phantom sensation," she replied.

"Yea, I think I saw that episode of M*A*S*H when I was a kid," he said with a grin.

"Well, at least you are in good spirits," she said.  "Other than that, your temperature is a little high, that's normal for this point as your body fights off any infection trying to set in.  We would like to get you up and about as soon as possible to avoid pneumonia or any other complications.  Do you feel like you can use crutches?" she asked.

"Yes Ma'am, I feel up to that for sure," Nate replied.  "I'd rather hobble to the restroom than use a bedpan."

"Well good, that's the attitude we like to hear," she said with a chuckle.  "So your brother tells me you have made quite the journey to get here."

"You could say that," Nate replied.  "So how long am I stuck here, in bed that is?"

"As long as infection doesn't set in and your wound heals quickly we should have you on a prosthesis in a couple of weeks if we can find you one," said Dr. Stewart.  "With things the way they are these days, we don't really have access to a typical medical supply chain, but we do have a few supporters who used to work for several prosthetics manufacturers here in Texas.  Prior to
the collapse, due to our business friendly environment in the state, we were blessed with the fact that we had sixty-one manufacturers in Texas that made prosthetics.  One thing that has made our efforts here with the TSG so successful is that we have sought out key people who used to work in such industries, and created partnerships in order to have them provide us with support in exchange for a mutually beneficial relationship.  What that is varies, but our Texan's are generally patriotic people and believe in what we are doing.  Anyway, we will take some measurements and make an estimate of what you will need and try to get something in the works for you.  In some cases, we have some previously issued units that we can get even sooner if the measurements work out.  They are nothing fancy, but they are functional.  Your brother is a pretty popular fellow around here, so maybe with it being you we can pull a few strings," she said as she shared a flirtatious look with Luke.