Five minutes later he was backing up into the garage. He walked inside, gave his daughter a huge hug and told her he loved her. She was in tears and he was too. He nodded toward Linda then wiped his face, walked over to Mike and said “Good job old man; can you spare one of those?” Mike poured him a couple fingers of Jack. Haliday drank it quickly and put the empty glass on the table.
Mike looked up at Haliday and was speechless. He hadn’t expected anything like what he had just seen. He finally told Haliday that when he saw that AR pointing at him he rolled over a few times and laid there and prayed he wouldn’t die. He had wanted to just run at that point. It was one thing to fire at guys to scare them, but another to actually kill them.
He asked Haliday how come it didn’t bother him. “Look Mike,” he said. “I don’t have time for it. Suffice to say that my daughter, hell you guys too, all needed me. I did what I had to, not for me, but for you guys.” Haliday looked at Linda and Mike and said, “I guess we have some business to talk about now.”
Chapter 9
Haliday’s parents had heard the exchange in the morning and waited it out while drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes, not knowing what was transpiring or sure they wanted to know. Dawn had listened in as well, but had a better idea of what had most likely taken place. All of them were glad they heard his voice and knew he was ok right now. They also decided to leave him alone until he called them.
Haliday was looking at Mike and said, “Wait a minute, before we talk, what the hell happened to you?” Mike told him they made everyone stay at the plant for almost four hours until they realized the power wasn’t coming on any time soon. They all started to leave and Mike cleaned out his locker. He started the walk home and was going well around the hood. He hadn’t gone far enough away from it.
He ran into a group of four punks that were shaking people down for drug money. Pickings were good with everyone walking to wherever they needed to go. He told them he didn’t have much and tossed whatever cash he did have down on the ground. One crack head said "What, we ain’t good enough for you to put it in our hands?"
“That’s all I have,” he told him, “no offense but I don’t want any trouble.”
The punks circled him and started making threats. Mike tried to push his way through thinking they were bluffing, but they weren’t. They jumped him quickly and started throwing punches. He dropped to the ground and they kicked at him. He managed to grab one’s leg and push him off balance, and then Mike got up.
They threw more punches and Mike had fought them off the best he could and he managed to get away and started to run. He ran through a hole in a fence into an old tire factory. He managed to hide himself and sat there while they searched for him. They would kill him if they found him.
"We’re going to kick your ass when we find you." they yelled. They searched for almost an hour, but didn’t find him. Mike stayed hidden for hours though before he would venture out. Once out, he got as far away as he could and finished the walk home. It was slow going; he was sore as hell and had bruises everywhere. His face was a mess and he had lost a couple teeth in the fight. Haliday looked at him. “Sucks to be you,” he said.
Getting back to business he put it as plain as he could. “I brought some food that will get you by for a little while.” He got up and walked around looking in their cupboards. They had quite a bit of food. Linda was a food hoarder of sorts, always stocking up on sales, but not prepping. “With all the corn around these parts and this, you should be able to make it until spring,” he told them.
“Whether you can find a FEMA camp or not before then, if they even exist, is up to you. I don’t trust them. I can leave you an AR and about 500 rounds. You have Mike’s bows and if you can hunt enough to help, that might work out ok. But game will become scarce very quickly with everyone hunting. Flat lands and cornfields won’t yield many animals.”
Kayla started to tear up. Mike and Linda just kind of hung their heads low. Haliday said if he had any way of supporting them he would take them back, but there was no way they could make it adding two more adults to the mix. Haliday walked over and opened the freezer and saw it stacked with meat.
He grabbed a package and read the label, it said venison. “Where did you bag this deer Mike?” Mike said he got it on his friend Bill’s farm. “In Michigan right?” Haliday remarked.
Mike said, “Yes; couple months ago when we were in to visit.”
Kayla said, “Dad, please, can’t they come with us? Mike and Mom helped get you here.” That was partly true, especially about half an hour ago.
Kayla was crying steadily now, “Dad please, can they stay with us?” Haliday sat down and motioned for her to come over to him.
“I don’t have room and food sweetie.” He looked at Mike and Linda who also were now in tears. “I’ll tell you what though. I’ll take them back to Michigan and get them to their friend Bill’s farm if they know for sure he’ll take them in.”
Mike said he was positive Bill would take them in. He offered many times before that they could come and stay if they ever wanted to return to Michigan. He was even more convinced he could use their help with the farm in this situation. They were sure of it and Haliday was convinced as well.
Linda gave him a quick hug and said thank you. Kayla gave him a bigger hug. Mike told him anything he needed him to do, let him know. “Good, because there is a lot to be done. Grab some paper and write this down.” Linda grabbed a notebook and took notes. Haliday left them very specific instructions on what to do. He told them what to pack, no more, no less, what to do with the food in the house and the rest of what he wanted them to grab.
Mike said, “We’ll put it all in the truck.”
Haliday said, “No, put it next to the truck. When I get up we are going to repack the load in the Tahoe.” Haliday went over to their ham and told Dawn and his folks he would be off the net for a few hours. “I’m going to go get some sleep. Wake me in three hours and we’ll finish getting ready.
“You have the list, get it all done and make sure someone stands guard. Don’t let anyone in, including your neighbor the deputy.” Haliday went into the living room and laid down on the couch. Just before he passed out, he was thinking it would be nice to have the extra guns on the trip home, but questioned if they would do what it might take if it came down to that.
“What the hell?” he said as he jumped up. Something was licking his hand as it dangled off the couch. Haliday looked down at the ground at this mutant dog. He couldn’t figure out if it was supposed be a Chihuahua, border collie, Pomeranian or what. Kayla said, “Good morning Dad.”
“Kayla, what the hell is that?” he asked.
“That’s Max.” Haliday thought great, by the time I get out of here that damn Tahoe is going to look like something out of the Beverly Hillbillies.
“Kayla, you expect to take him or can you leave him with the neighbors?”
Here came the argument. “Did you give Romeo to the neighbor?” Haliday thought about that a minute. Romeo was his Siamese cat that he had had for over 12 years and he was 16 years old now. He, however, could be left for days on end and could fend for himself. He had a two gallon watering dish and a gravity feeder that held enough food for a month. He’d be fine; he was there now doing fine.
“Ok,” Haliday said, “but if it comes down to it, Max is BBQ.” Kayla threw a shoe at it him for saying that.
Haliday grabbed a bottle of water, went into the bathroom, took care of business and then gave himself a quick wash down covering the vital areas. He walked out to the kitchen where everyone was sitting. Haliday was livid. “Who the hell is watching the place?” he yelled? No one said anything.