Chapter 5

We walked all day. Rebecca and Taylor took turns walking point with me. That evening, we found a barn.

We camped there for the night. After eating, Rebecca snuggled in on one side of my body and Taylor did the same on my other side. I hoped this wouldn’t develop into trouble. They were both nice people but neither really excited me as a partner for romance.

The three of us slept together the night through. I woke without moving and listened. I could hear the regular breathing of my two sleep partners as well as Roy and Leslie who were a few feet away. I continued to listen while I breathed easily as if still asleep. I didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary and wasn’t sure now if I had heard something or just woke naturally.

I slowly and gently moved Rebecca’s and Taylor’s arms from my body. They settled quickly and without a fuss. I sat up and moved away from them crawling. I had my pistol and rifle. Staying down, I looked around to determine if there had been any change in the barn. Nothing looked any different from when we went to sleep. Staying low, I walked to the barn door that had been left half open. I looked out and saw nothing different again. I was beginning to hope that I had just woken naturally. It looked quiet and peaceful. Pushing the door just a little and very slowly, I eased out the door staying low and moved to cover at a water trough. I looked around some more. I almost decided that I had just woken naturally. I was still alert when Taylor came through the door that she thrust open. A single rifle shot downed her. I returned fire to the spot and heard a pained sigh that told me that someone was hit. I stayed low. I knew everyone inside was warned by the shots. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement and took a shot hitting that person.

I waited. Taylor hadn’t moved but I didn’t know the extent of her wound. Rebecca crawled out of the barn to Taylor. She saw me. She reached Taylor and shook her head. Staying down, she crawled to another spot that would provide cover. She had brought her rifle and assumed a firing position. She swung her rifle to respond to a sound and fired. I saw the shape fall back when the bullet hit it. I decided that I needed to get out and pick the bad guys off. I decided that they were bad guys since they were shooting at us. I really didn’t need much more reason.

I started working my way around. Rebecca was taking shots when offered the opportunity. She was keeping under cover. I got further away from the barn and circled our enemies. I found four men, two of them wounded. I took aim and quickly shot the two healthy ones. I waited and it was quiet. I heard movement to my right and checked it. There was another and he, too, was wounded. I cured his problem with a single shot. A shot came from the barn and one of the wounded jerked as a bullet went into his head. The other one was coughing blood. I continued to look around as he wheezed out his life.

It was very quiet. After a while I saw Rebecca crawling toward the dead men. I rose to meet her. “Taylor?” I asked.

“She’s dead. They got her through the heart. She had no chance. Riley, I can understand shooting at you. Why Taylor? She was obviously female and not bad looking.”

“I don’t know. They’re all dead so we can’t ask them. I think maybe it was more reflexive than intentional. We’ll collect their arms and supplies. I think we need to get moving soon. There has been too much activity here.”

We did that. They had little in the way of supplies though had plenty of firepower. I found a shovel in the barn and buried Taylor in a shallow grave. We gathered up everything we wanted and left.

We walked most of the day through woods only occasionally seeing any sign of former human life or habitation. It was a long, lonely day. In the afternoon, we stopped to camp. Rebecca had walked with me but had spoken very little.

She said, “Riley, why is there so much violence between people when there are aliens to fight?”

“I don’t truly know but my guess is that people feel helpless and scared. They fight for everything even when there is more than enough for all right now. It’s a tragedy because gathering together to fight off the aliens is what would be best. Sometimes, it’s hard to see the big picture. If someone is shooting at you, you tend to shoot back. It’s going to take a while for any leadership to be established. I only hope there are some military folk who can put together some kind of plan. Otherwise, we all become guerrilla fighters. It’s going to take some big efforts to dislodge the aliens. Rebuilding our world will be harder after that and take a long time.”

The four of us spent the night in the woods under cover of some trees and bushes. It was quiet. Rebecca had snuggled in beside me. The night ended and a ray of sunshine woke me as it shone on my face. Rebecca had an arm over me which I gently removed. I slowly stood up while I looked around to be sure that it was just the four of us. The woods were quiet in the early morning.

I quietly wandered around the area as the sun rose higher in the sky. I looked around to verify what our quick look last night had shown. There was a road about a hundred yards from our sleeping spot and I watched the road for almost an hour. There was no traffic.

I returned to our little spot as Rebecca and Leslie were waking up. Leslie stayed with her dad while Rebecca joined me after giving the area a slow look for anything she didn’t like.

She said, “Good morning, Riley. I hope you slept well. I did. It looks quiet this morning. I hope it stays that way.” I nodded.

A few moments later, she asked, “What are we going to do today?”

“I guess we’ll walk some more. I would like some wheels but those would put us on the road and make noise and heat. All are bad things.”

Roy said, “Riley, why don’t we talk about some goals?”

I chuckled without mirth. “That makes sense. I picked up a highway map at our last stop. Since I have it, I guess we should look at it and make some real plans.”

We gathered together on the ground. I opened the map to the general area we were in. I said, “First, we know that Atlanta is gone but not how big the area of destruction might be. Second, we don’t know if there is a land base for the aliens or, if there is one, where it might be. Third, this is about where I think we are located.”

All three of them nodded. Rebecca said, “I would like a safe shelter most of all. That includes protection from aliens and from raiders. It needs a water source and a supply of food.”

Roy said, “That all sounds good. I don’t know that we will find it all but we can search and hope. I’m getting a second wind but all this walking is taking a toll on my body.”

I said, “There is a little creek down that way according to the map. We could take a day off and plan what we want to do and figure out what we could hope to find.”

Rebecca said, “That would be good. I would like a bath if it’s not too cold.”

I said, “Give some time for the sun to warm it. It won’t be hot but it should be tolerable.”