GW
There was almost no cover between the ridge line, and the town. Bob decided that he and Alex would have to brazen it out. They walked slowly down the slope to the town. Once on the outskirts, they separated. Bob went down one side of the main street, while Alex took the other.
"Remember," Bob had told his son when they started down the hill, "Check every window, every door, by poking your head around the edge. Get a quick glance, and pull back. DON'T stand there and look. Just in and out. If you see anyone, call me. If there are bodies, do not go near them. We don't know what has happened here, so we don't want to take any unnecessary chances."
Now they were both doing the same thing. A quick peek, and pull back. They worked their way down the street, until about half way, when Alex reached the general store. He peeked in the window, and when he pulled back, he noticed a piece of paper posted in the window. After reading it, he called his father over to him.
"What is it?"
"Take a look at this."
"I'm sorry son, I left my reading glasses back at the truck. What does it say?"
"It says that this town is to be evacuated by the government."
"Evacuated? Why?"
"It says that the government can't spare troops to protect a small town like this. So, they are all being taken to another place where they will be put in a 'protective facility' along with people from other small towns. That way they can be more easily protected."
"I wonder if they are still alive?"
"Dad? Don't you think that calling Tim would be a good idea? It's been about forty minutes already."
"Right you are." Bob pulled the walkie talkie from his pocket. "Tim, it seems to be alright down here. Bring the vehicles and park them out of sight, where ever you can."
"On our way."
When the vehicles arrived, Bob was only a little surprised to see Tom driving the small car owned by Alex. They were soon out of sight, in alleys between the mostly wooden buildings, and everyone started to get out.
"Tim, I'd like you to come with me. Everyone else stay near the cars until we make sure it's completely safe."
The younger children were disappointed at losing the chance of exploring this ghost town, but Kathy made sure that they stayed close to her. Alex walked back to his car and as young men do, started proudly talking about his car with Tom.
Tim and Bob had covered most of the town, when they found a small adobe building with windows that had been locked shut with stout wooden shutters, and a flat roof. Strangely enough the decaying bodies of several dogs lying scattered over a large area outside.
They tried the door. There was no door knob, only a draw rope high up on the door, and found that the rope refused to raise the bar on the inside. There was a sliding panel to allow whoever was inside to open it and see who was outside, before opening the door. It too was securely fastened.
"What do you think?" Tim asked.
"Mighty curious. Do you think you can boost me up on the roof? A lot of these places had a trap door up there, and it might be open."
"Lets' find out."
Together they pulled a nearby box up next to the wall, climbed up on it, and Tim cupped his hands for Bob to step into. They he hoisted Bob high enough to grab the edge of the wall, and he pulled himself up and over, onto the roof.
Bob quickly surveyed the scene around the house. Just as out in front, there were more dead dogs lying on three other sides of the house. At a guess, he placed the number at around twenty to twenty-five of the animals. Then he found what he had hoped for. The trap door was located to one side of the roof, and it too had a draw rope. Unlike the door below, this one worked easily. Before dropping down into the dark interior, he called to Tim.
"I found it. But stay on your toes. There's' a lot more dead dogs out there, and I'm getting a bad feeling about this."
"Will do."
Bob opened the door, and the foul odor of death came up to meet him. Carefully felt around with his foot. He found a ladder with it, and climbed down. Once inside, he paused for a moment to allow his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He located the front door, and moved to open it. The cross bar was slightly warped, but with a little effort, he lifted it, and opened the door. Once the door opened, the light that came in was enough to see the entire room. He saw two more dogs on the floor, and the body of a man sitting in a chair. Leaning against the table next to him was a shotgun and three spent shell casings were on the floor. One leg was wrapped in a bandage, that was dark brown with dried blood. Cradled in the mans hands was a clear glass jar, tightly sealed, with a piece of paper inside. He was so absorbed by the scene, that he jumped when Tim's' feet scuffed the floor as he came in.
"What happened here?"
"Lets see if he can tell us."
Gently, Bob pulled the jar from the dead mans hands, opened it, removed the paper, and started to read aloud.
"I, Todd Johnson, do declare this to be my last will and testament. I leave all my property to whoever finds them. I pray that it is a Christian. Especially my rifle, and shotgun. They are good weapons, and have killed most of the dogs that have killed me. Beware of the dogs. I hid when the town was evacuated. People had to leave the dogs behind. They have gone wild, and are hunting in packs like wolves. You will find ammunition for these weapons and my pistol in the cabinet next to the stove.
I had to get water from the well, when they came back for me. I had already killed a bunch of them, and thought they had gone. Two got inside with me. I did them in, but not before they got to me. I'm losing lots of blood, and don't know how long I will last. So I write this in hopes that it will help whoever finds me.
Todd Johnson"
Bob folded the paper, and put it in his pocket. Then he sniffed, wiped a tear from his eye, and looked at Tim. Only to find him doing the same.
"We'd better get back."
Tim was about to agree, when they heard the child scream. They nearly ran over each other trying to get out of the door.
As they ran down the street, they heard the boom of a shotgun, followed by two more. Reaching the intersection they had turned down to get to Todd's' home, they stopped and looked around the corner. The smaller children were nowhere to be seen. Alex was standing on the hood of the SUV with a pistol, trying to get a bead on a dog moving around him, trying to get a shot at him. Kathy was standing, with her back to the door of the general store, shotgun in hand, with one dog down in the street in front of her, and two more moving back and forth waiting for the right moment to attack.
Tim pulled up the rifle in his hands, sighted and fired. One of the animals in front of Kathy flew sideways as the bullet stuck home. The second dog stopped, and looked in the direction of Tim's' shot. He barred his teeth and made a fearsome growl. Kathy saw her chance and took it. The shotgun boomed again. The second dog went down.
"Kathy, are all of you alright?" Tim shouted.
"Yes. The kids are in the store. Alex? How are you doing?"
"O.K. I think. The one over here took off when the shooting started up again. I don't see him, and don't know where he went."
"Stay where you are, let us check it before you come down." Bob called to him.
"I ain't going nowhere."
First, Bob laid down, at a distance, and checked under the 4X4. On Bobs' signal, Tim took one side of the alley, while Bob took the other. They moved slowly ahead, checking every place the animal could hide. They looked behind every box, into every doorway, until they reached the end of the alley. Looking out onto the hillside beyond, there was no further sign on him.
"Lets' get to the store. Come on down Alex. It's clear."
After they had gathered in the store, Bob found out why the dogs had gotten so close. At first, they seemed like the kind of pets that they were used to seeing around. It wasn't until one of the children got a little to close to one, that the mistake was realized. Kathy was the only one with either shotgun or rifle, and had to wait until the running child was out of the line of fire, before she could shoot him. The first shot only wounded it, so she made sure the second finished him.
Most of them had already been in the store when everything started, and Alex had been checking windows up and down the street when Kathy shot the first time. He had seen the two other dogs coming at her, and picked up a pistol from the front seat of the SUV when he heard another dog growling behind him. He didn't know how it happened, but with one leap, he found himself on the hood. Turning, the dog was right behind him. In panic, instead of shooting, he had kicked the dog in the head, and sent it crashing back to the ground. By the time he remembered the handgun, the dog had gotten up next to the 4X4 and he couldn't get a shot.
"From now on, nobody old enough to carry a weapon goes anywhere without one. That INCLUDES going to the bathroom." Bob told them. "We got lucky today. Nobody got hurt. Next time we might not be so fortunate."
"What about bathing?" asked Kathy.
"We post guards. Obviously, Tim will guard you, otherwise we'll work it out as we go along."
"Bob, speaking of that sort of thing, do you think we can stay here a day or two? No offense to anyone, but some of us could really use a bath, and I know we could all stand to have some clean clothes."
Bob smiled, "I noticed the same thing. I just didn't want to mention it. Alright, as long as we can, we'll stay here. Tim, Alex, and I will look around and find the most defensible place, and we'll set up shop there. No sense in letting the dogs have another go at us. That reminds me. From now on, nobody travels alone. Everyone has someone to watch their back while we do what needs to be done. Oh and one more thing. Kathy you are the one with the most medical training. I noticed that this place had a doctor. Would you go to his office and see if there is anything that we might need that we can take with us. Drugs, bandages, that sort of thing."
Kathy agreed. She was in fact a dentist. How she managed to carry on a practice, and still manage to care for four children and her husband was a mystery to Bob, but her children were all well mannered and polite. Their clothes always clean, and everyone well fed. Bob admired her for that. And, in all matters medical deferred to her judgment. After all it was good that a man knew his limitations.
"Alright, the visit to the doctors office can wait for tomorrow. Right now, I want Tom and Sam to stand guard while you and the other children look through this place for anything we might need." He sniffed again, smiled and said, "Especially soap. Lets' get to it. I'd like to be ready in time for tonight's broadcast."
The President sat at his desk looking over the notes for his nightly radio broadcast. Since radio required less power than television, and most of the places that still had power on a regular basis, didn't have television stations, radio was seen as the best way to accomplish his plans.
"Mr. President, your on in 4, 3, 2, 1." the director pointed at the President to let him know he was on live.
"My fellow Americans, Once again I come before you with troubling news. Today I have been given undeniable proof, from the Taiwanese ambassador, that The Peoples Republic of China has begun preparations for a full scale invasion of the island nation of Taiwan.
I have advised them that America finds these actions to be unacceptable. We have mutual defense treaties with the Taiwanese government, and will honor them. Therefore I have ordered our naval forces to send four carrier task forces to the region.
It is hoped that the government of the Peoples Republic will see that even in our current condition, America will not abandon her partners in democracy. We hope that they will give up on these plans of conquest, and return to the peaceful path of negotiation.
In the event that they refuse to do so, they must be made aware that this nation will not stand aside while they conquer their neighbors, in total disregard for the wishes for freedom loving peoples everywhere.
Therefore, I have authorized the over all task force commander to take whatever actions he deems necessary in order to protect the nation of Taiwan.
I ask all Americans, everywhere to join me this night in prayer for the fate of not only the Taiwanese people but all those who love freedom. Thank you, and good night."
Once back in his private quarters, the President smiled to himself. He knew that the Chinese submarine, with the nuclear weapons to destroy the task force, was already on station. Just waiting for the order to fire.
GW, Vietnam Vet