Ed turned around. ‘Listen,’ he said, ‘those raiders out there undoubtedly outnumber us. They sure as hell outgun us. If we tried to hold them off, they’d either starve us out, burn us out, or simply shoot their way in. Well – you can take your pick, senator, when it comes to the kind of death that you want. But right now, I personally don’t feel like dying at all, and I don’t suppose that a whole lot of the folks who work on my farm feel like it either.’
He turned to Dyson, and said, ‘They got Willard, and they got Jack, and they got that garage-hand you sent out there. I don’t even remember his name.’
Dyson said unhappily, ‘When they didn’t come back with you, I kind of assumed that was the way it was. Damn it, Ed, that really makes me feel like hell.’
‘Me, too, Dyson,’ said Ed, laying his hand on his shoulder.
Dyson said, ‘That young boy’s name was Gerrity – David Gerrity. He was the best we had when it came to stripping a tractor. Well, so Willard told me. I’m only the pilot.’
Ed looked back at Shearson. ‘We’re going to have to make a break for it,’ he said. ‘You can either come along with us, or you can stay behind. That decision is entirely up to you. But we’re going to load our wagons with all the remaining foodstuffs on this farm and head for the west coast.’
‘The west coast?’ asked Della. ‘Surely it makes more sense to head for Washington. They’ll have government there – some kind of law and order. And besides, I want to turn Senator Jones in to Charles Kurnik in person There’s no point in going to the west coast.’
Ed said, ‘My wife and child are out on the west coast. I want to find them. Once I’ve done that, I want to try to get out of the United States, either through Mexico or by sea. Believe me, Della, you only have to listen to the news bulletins. You only have to see what happened tonight to two of my closest friends and workmates – Willard and Jack. There’s no point in pretending that things are any better in Washington. They can’t be. They’re probably worse. And what the hell is the point of holding on to a fraud suspect in a nation where they don’t even have enough police to stop people murdering each other?’
There was a burst of gunfire outside, and somewhere across the yard a window broke.
Karen said, ‘I believe we ought to stick together. I think we’ll have more of a chance that way.’
Peter Kaiser rolled up his eyes. ‘No wonder history has no eminent lady philosophers,’ he said. ‘With the possible exception of Xaviera Hollander.’
Karen looked up at him. ‘Do you want to stay behind?’ she asked. ‘If all the rest of us go to the west coast, do you want to try to make it to Washington on your own?’
Peter looked back at her, and then shrugged. ‘It depends,’ he said sulkily.
Ed said, ‘Dyson – how many wagons do we have? And how many cars?’
‘We’ve got the Chevy wagon you brought back from Fall River. Then there’s the Big Dooley that Carson’s left here when they were shifting tree stumps. And four – maybe five family pick-ups and sedans. One El Camino for sure, and a Mercury Marquis.’
‘Okay,’ said Ed, ‘this is what we’re going to do. We’re going to load the pick-ups and the trunks of the family cars with as much food as we can. We mustn’t forget water and fruit juices, too. Then we’re going to get everybody into their cars and ready to go, and pull out of here in a convoy, shooting all the time. With any luck, we should be able to clear the farm without any casualties.’
‘With any luck,’ echoed Peter Kaiser, sarcastically, pulling a morbid face.
Shearson said, ‘Listen, Mr Hardesty, I may be technically the prisoner of your fancy-woman here, formerly my fancy-woman, but that doesn’t mean I have to take instructions from you. It’s essential that Mr Kaiser and I return to Washington; and if you’re not prepared to come with us, then I’m afraid we shall simply have to go without you.’
‘You wouldn’t get ten miles,’ said Ed. ‘Don’t you watch the television? Haven’t you seen what it’s like out there?’
‘Your concern for my well-being is touching,’ replied Shearson. ‘However, I’ve been looking after myself for a considerable number of years, often through situations that have been a good deal stickier than this one, and I think I can manage without you, thanks.’
Della said, ‘Really, Ed, we ought to try to make it to Washington. I know your wife and daughter are in Los Angeles, but I have to take Senator Jones in to the Bureau. There won’t be any hope of arraigning him if I drag him out to California. He’s probably thought up twenty ways of killing our indictments anyway – unusual and stressful arrest, that kind of thing. We really ought to try.’
Ed looked at Dyson, who shrugged, and then at Karen. ‘Going back to Washington doesn’t make any kind of sense,’ he insisted. ‘The whole city is practically under siege, the way they’re telling it on the news. Right now, we need to get ourselves somewhere with a good climate, fertile soil, in case we have to resettle and start growing our food again from scratch; and somewhere that’s close to the ocean and the border. Sure, I want to go to Los Angeles for personal reasons. But it’s going to be safer, too, to stay in the West. I’d stay right here in Kansas if I could – but it’s dry, and the winters can be hard, and from what’s going on outside, I’d guess that we can expect raiding and looting parties for a long time to come.’
‘Do you seriously think that California’s going to be any better?’ asked Shearson. ‘Los Angeles is burning, San Francisco has turned into a latter-day Sodom, with plenty of Gomorrah thrown in; San Diego’s become a looters’ paradise.’
From outside, there was a crackle of heavy, sustained shooting. They heard upstairs windows break, and the sound of running feet. Dyson Kane went to the window again just as one of Ed’s farmhands came into the room, carrying a shotgun that was still smoking, his face bright with sweat and excitement.
‘Mr Hardesty, sir,’ he said, breathlessly. ‘It don’t look like we can keep ’em back much longer. Jerry’s been hit in the arm, sir, and the rest of the boys ain’t really up to gun-fighting.’
‘All right,’ said Ed. ‘We’ve wasted enough time as it is. Dyson – can you get those vehicles loaded up, and parked in a line, ready to roll? Mr Kaiser – Karen – you want to get out there and help?’
‘I’m not doing anything until we’ve settled which direction we’re heading,’ said Peter, folding his arms.
Ed turned to Shearson. The senator gave him a fat, condescending smile ‘The same goes for me, Mr Hardesty; and you know darn well that if I stay, and Mr Kaiser stays, then it’s your fancy-woman’s bounden duty to stay too.’
There was more shooting outside, and a child screamed. Ed snapped at Dyson, ‘Get moving. I want those wagons loaded up before it’s too late.’ Then, without hesitation, he tugged his Colt automatic out of his belt and held it up in front of everybody in the room as if he were demonstrating it to a group of benighted natives.
‘I’m going to make one thing straight,’ he said. ‘On this farm, I’m in charge of everything and everybody. I’m in charge, and I’m also responsible. That’s the way it is, even when we don’t have a crisis on our hands. But right now, we have, and that increases my authority even more. This country isn’t safe for people to wander around on their own, particularly women, and particularly obese senior senators with a price on their heads. Our society’s broken down into tribes, and the way I see it, each tribe has to hold together to survive. This is our tribe, and unless anybody wants to argue about it, I’m the chief. Now, we’re ail getting out of here, we’re all helping to load up the wagons, and then we’re all heading west.’