Chapter 7

The morning of their departure dawned like millions more had in the Smoky Mountains. As the mist crept up from the valleys the birds and small animals began making their daily rounds, unaware that civilization was slowly dying around them. Junior took his cup of coffee to the window, staring out across the valley he mentally went through his checklist again. As his mind checked off the things he had packed his eyes scanned the terrain. He watched as a vibrantly colored male cardinal flitted to land on a gooseberry bush. When the bird suddenly veered away, he sat his cup carefully on the window ledge. While his eyes scanned the rest of the terrain visible to him he picked up the rifle leaning against the wall. Holding the gun in his right hand he picked up his cup and resumed sipping his coffee. Within five minutes, he had pinpointed three spots where he believed someone was hiding. The cardinal had given away the first, a rabbit the second. The third he chose because it was where he would be if he were laying in wait outside his front door. When Sarah made her way into the kitchen moments later she found him standing beside the window, rifle butt resting on his thigh, calmly sipping coffee.

Pointing to the rifle she asked, "Trouble?" At Juniors shrug she walked up behind him. He held his arm out to prevent her from standing directly in front of the window, careful not to splash her with hot coffee.

"I think we have at least three people watching the place from the tree line." Reaching out, he pulled the steel shutters closed, bolting them in place. "I'll go out the back and take a look around." He made his way down the hall, stopping beside a set of steel rungs set into the rock. "I'm going up here; it opens on top of the hill above the house. The opening is screened by bushes. Once outside I'll try to flank them and see what is going on."

"Do you think they could be the guys that were here the other day?" Sarah asked. At Juniors shrug she took his coffee cup, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Please be careful, and let me know it's you before you come back in, I wouldn't want to shoot you by accident." Junior nodded and began climbing the ladder, the scoped .308 slung on his back.

Thirty minutes passed while Sarah grew more and more anxious. Junior had closed the shutters on the window, and now she didn't even have that small opening to see outside. She had heard him close the steel hatch at the top of the ladder, but did not know if there was a way of locking it from the outside. She had retrieved the Benelli M3 Tactical Shotgun that Junior had given her in place of the 870 as soon as he was outside. Checking to make sure she had a round chambered she had moved into the hallway so she could cover the exit Junior had used and the door from the garage. Since the garage door was the only other entrance, she felt confident no one could sneak up on her. Every little sound she heard startled her at first, until she grew accustomed to them. The problem was that hidden behind four feet of solid rock, a full blown war could be going on outside, and she might not hear a thing. She contemplated going into the garage, hoping the foot thick steel door would allow more sound through. She even started to climb the ladder in an attempt to make sure the door was locked. However the thought of being in that small area if someone beside Junior opened the door changed her mind. She began to shift her weight from leg to leg to loosen muscles tightened by standing too long in one position. As she chewed on her lower lip her mind played through a dozen different scenarios, all ending with Junior killed or injured, with her trapped here unable to help him. She had almost made up her mind to do something, anything, when she heard the whine of the large electric motor that opened the garage door. She swiftly moved down the corridor, stepping to the other side of the hallway leading to the garage area. This allowed her to look down the corridor by peering around the corner without having to turn her back on the ladder leading to the back door. When the door had stopped opening, she heard Junior shouting her name.

"Sarah, I'm coming in and I've got some people with me. It's alright, they are friendly." She heard footsteps entering the garage before four people in full camouflage came into view. Although their hands were empty they were all armed. Two had what looked like M16's strapped across their chest, while the other two had a smaller gun she had seen in movies, but did not know what it was called. Finally Junior came into view, his rifle carried casually in his hand, barrel pointed at the ground. Seeing she maintained her position at the corner, her shotgun pointed slightly down but ready for immediate use, he smiled. "It's OK babe. Remember I said my contact at the Pentagon was sending some people this way. Well here they are." He proceeded down the hall, leading the newcomers into his home. Once they were all in the living room they pulled off their helmets. Sarah was surprised to learn that three of them were women. Because of the bulkiness of their body armor and gear she had missed the curves that would have been her first clue. As she looked them over she realized she was mentally sizing them up as rivals for Junior's affection.

Junior introduced the man as Wayne Carr. He appeared to be about Junior's height, an even 6 foot, but heavier at 220 lbs. His salt and pepper hair and the lines on his face showed his age, which Sarah guessed to be his late 40's. He introduced the three women starting with Juanita Mendez.

Mendez had dark hair, pulled back in a French braid, and brown eyes. She was short, at 5' 4" and didn't appear to be carrying any extra weight. Of course the BDU's and gear she carried could be hiding any number of flaws Sarah told herself.

Next was Jessica Bishop, who topped Sarah's 5'8" by an additional inch. She had short blond hair and the greenest eyes Sarah had ever seen. Sarah admitted to herself she was pleasing to look at, even as jealousy caused her to glance at Junior to see if he was smitten by the blond. Junior just nodded as she was introduced and turned to the third woman.

Janet Panelli was a buxom brunette, large enough at 6'2" for Sarah to forgive herself for mistaking her for a man. She carried her weight well, her figure rounded nicely in all the right places. Her hazel eyes regarded Sarah coolly, and Sarah had no doubt the woman could take care of herself in any kind of fight.

"Ed James was in charge when we headed out," Carr told them. "He bought it in a fire fight with a group of bikers back in West Virginia. We also had clashes with two other small groups on the way here. One appeared to be locals who were stopping everyone on the road. We simply drove right through them, all they had was small arms, and our Hummers have been up armored. The others tried to slip up on us at a fuel station, but Janet saw them coming and warned us. They beat feet when we opened up on full auto."