December 27, 2007
GW

Tim felt sick. Just like many Americans, he'd seen the war movies. When veterans talked, he heard the stories. But nothing he had seen or heard prepared him for this. He just wasn't ready for the reality of just how much of a mess that a bullet could make of a man. Nobody had ever mentioned the horrible smell either.

"Check the pockets for spare magazines and ammo." Bob called out. "Try not to miss anything of value. Anything we can use to defend ourselves. Radios, knives, anything at all. That one closest to the door was the first one I put down. I saw him stick a handgun in his waistband before he started on the glass. Roll him over and get it."

Tim noticed the bullet had hit the dead man in the back of the head. He rolled the body over, and made the mistake of looking at what was left of the face. This time he did get sick.

"Tim, Are you O.K. now?"

"I think so. Are we done here?"

"Yeah, we're done. Lets' go."

As they again carefully crossed the street Tim spoke again.

"Bob, how long do you think it will be before we can move back into our home? After that mess is cleaned up I mean."

"Tim, I wouldn't recommend that. We've been lucky so far. They got badly hurt the first time. They are licking their wounds right now, but they will be back. And in greater numbers. Your place is totally indefensible. There are too many windows, and other places where it can be broken into. Thin walls, those glass doors that lead out to the pool. I'll bet you don't even have the first sheet of plywood to cover any of that glass, do you?"

Tim shook his head.

"Even if you could secure that place, you have no food to speak of, no generator to power the stove, or any other means of preparing food. And you STILL need to learn how to shoot. With just a few handguns, and a pump shotgun, you won't last long when they do come back."

"What about you? You're only one man. Your house has a lot of glass as well. Aren't you worried about it?"

Bob smiled grimly.

"I may have gotten out of the service many years ago, but I know a few tricks. Have you noticed how any opening big enough for a man to get through has been either boarded up, or the opening has been at least partially blocked off?"

"What about the front door? It is still wide open."

"Yes, it is. I WANT them to come to that door. You can't get close to it without being in the open. That makes them a perfect target. Truth is, Son, that I've arranged for them to come that way. I'm channeling them into a shooting gallery."

"You are still just one man."

"Yes, but have you ever heard of something called 'force multiplication'?"

"No."

"We'll discuss it later. Right now, back inside so we can get started on your education."

After what Tim had said earlier about unloading weapons to keep the children safe, Bob had no illusions of how things were going to go next.

"Bob! You can't be serious. Sammy and Tommy are just BOYS. They aren't ready for anything like this." Kathy exploded.

"Kathy, they WERE boys. After today, that childhood is at an end. From here on out, they are young men. How old are they now? 14? 16?"

Kathy nodded.

"You know as well as I do that in some places your older boy would already be looking for a wife. Both of them would be expected to contribute to the welfare of their tribe or whatever, by hunting, and even fighting should that tribe be attacked."

"But this is America! We aren't some third world country."

"This WAS America. The world we knew and loved is as dead as a stone, or hadn't you noticed? There are foreign troops patrolling the streets. Does that sound like the 'Land of the Free, and Home of the Brave' to you? It sure doesn't to me. You two better understand right now, all bets are off. NOTHING will be the same ever again. With those two having at least a handgun, we have doubled our chances of surviving. An extra two sets of eyes will help keep us safe."

"But that doesn't mean they have to have a gun!"

"Well, you tell me. What if something happens, and we get separated from one of them? And what if they run into people like those from this morning? Wouldn't you want them to be able to defend themselves? What if something happens to YOU?"

Kathy searched for something to say. If this were as little as two months ago, she would have just called the police. Now there were no police.

"Those young men NEED to learn how to shoot. Lives will depend on it."

Shortly after this, Tim, Kathy, Sammy and Tommy, were gathered around the dining table watching as Bob explained the basics of handguns. Soon they were all able to load, unload, arm, and disarm the pistols. Bob was about to go into the workings of the pump shotgun when one of the younger children came out of the back room.

"Mr. Bob? Why is there a car battery in your hallway?"

"I had to leave it there for a little while. I didn't want those bad people to get it."

"Oh. Mom, Dad, Mr. Bob, I think I saw some of those bad guys."

"Where did you see them?"

"By the end of the house."

"This is it!" Bob said, "Everyone grab a weapon. Remember what I told you. You don't have training to be marksmen, so just try to get the bullet somewhere close enough to scare them."

Each person old enough to carry a weapon, picked up one from the table, and moved to a separate view slit in the boarded up windows. It was Sammy that spoke up first.

"I see two of them out back. They just seem to be looking at the house, they aren't trying to get in."

"Nobody on my side." Kathy called out.

"Those two in the back yard are starting to go back where they came from." Tommy shouted from the far end of the house.

"Mike? What about you?"

"Nothing yet. Wait a minute. they are sneaking towards the front door. They are right up against the wall."

Anything in the mirror?" Bobs' home was L shaped. The front door was located at the crook in the L. He had placed a small curved mirror above the door, so that a person in one part of the L could use it to see what was coming up on his blind side.

"Yes! I can make out at least three."

"Tim? Do you remember me saying something about 'force multiplication'?"

"Yes."

"When they get within six feet of the door, tell me. Then get down."

"NOW!"

Bob touched three certain wires of several sticking our of the wall to the car battery. From the crook in the L, booby traps, buried just an inch under the ground, exploded. Bits and pieces of broken glass, nails, even small stones fired outward and traveled along the outside walls in both directions. The gang members were lifted off their feet, and were thrown backwards. Only the ones nearest the end of the line got up to limp away.

"THAT'S what I was talking about."

After the bombs had been blown, a second group started to rush the back side of the house. A shouted warning from Tom and Sam was all that was needed. Two more explosions' went off in the back yard, with the same kind of result. The gang bangers backed off. NOTHING in that house was worth these kind of losses. Soon there was nobody left outside, that was still breathing.

GW, Vietnam Vet