“Let’s have a look at the place first. If there are trees to one side, then we can feint at the front, and take him out with a flanking manoeuvre.”
“You’re going to have to explain that to me in English,” Lea said.
“You and I will approach the front of the house; we’ll keep a reasonably safe distance and act like we’re survivors, just having a look around. Hopefully, we can flush out whoever is in there. Once we get attention, Jack can move in from the side.”
“He might recognise me, I’ll go with Jack.”
“Good point, you take my rifle. I’ll go to the front of the property with your Beretta.”
“On show? That might set off alarm bells, what if he just shoots you?”
“No, he won’t shoot first, as he doesn’t know who I am or if there’s anyone else around. If I make him think I’m alone, it will make me his main focus. That’s when we execute the move. I’ll make the Beretta ready and carry it in one of the bags you took from the garage; it will look like I’m just carrying supplies.”
“Then what?” Lea said.
“Then we take whoever is there, dead or alive. It depends on the situation,” Jack replied.
As I finished my can of beans and threw it down onto the side of the highway, I felt a speck of rain hit my cheek and looked up at the light grey sky above us. It didn’t look particularly threatening, but the distant sky was much darker. I pointed towards it.
“I don’t want to carry out this assault in the rain, let’s get going.”
“Should we go now? It’s still pretty early,” Lea said.
“Even better, if we catch Anthony in bed, I’ll bring some rope. Just remember, Jerry told us about this place, be ready for a nasty surprise,” Jack replied.
I took Lea’s Beretta; slipped off the mag, and thumbed out four rounds, I was sure it would be enough with the cover of two fully loaded rifles. I reloaded the magazine, cocked the Beretta, and then placed it in a plastic bag amongst three packets of nachos. Jack gave Lea a quick lesson on how to use the AR-15, and then they slung the weapons, ready to move.
“We’ll follow the wires until we can see Hogback Road, from there, we can creep up through the trees and have a look. Ready?”
Jack and Lea nodded.
We walked off the highway, crossed another minor road, and started hiking through the long clearing, below the overhead wires. I heard a rumble of thunder in the distance.
As we reached a bend, I paused and raised my hand, Jack and Lea stopped behind me. I edged forward and could see the road about half a mile ahead of us.
“Through the trees from here guys.”
The breeze through the trees was creating a light background noise; this enabled us to move quite quickly without fear of being heard from a distance.
A twig snapped behind me on the ground, I turned to look, Lea had paused.
“It’s not a landmine, keep moving,” Jack whispered from behind her.
A few minutes later, I could see the road ahead through the trees. I crouched down and crept closer, ducking between the trees as I went. The junction was about forty yards to our right, according to Jerry’s directions; the house was just beyond it. I could see where the tree line stopped, so he was probably telling the truth, at least about a property being there. I wondered if he would be making his way here to warn Anthony and set-up a trap for us.
I waved Jack and Lea forward.
“I think that’s the entrance to the place over there.”
“It’s quiet, let’s go over and have a look through the trees on the other side of the road,” Jack said.
I nodded and led the way, running in a low position diagonally over the road, and into the trees on the other side of the junction. We slowed our pace and crept towards our destination. After two minutes, we reached the edge of a property.
I looked through a gap and saw a two-storey rectangular house, brick built with timber boarding around the first floor, set back a hundred yards from the road. To the left hand side, a gravel drive overgrown with grass led to a double garage. Parked forty yards in front of it was a black Range Rover. I looked to my left where the cover went far enough along the side of the property for Jack and Lea to carry out the flanking move.
We crouched in a huddle.
“We’ll stick with the plan. You get into position, and then I’ll walk casually over and see what happens, I don’t plan on getting too close and will try to keep the Range Rover between myself and the house. If there’s no sight of him, then we move in from different directions.”
“Right. If the shit hits the fan, we’ll R.V back at the Chevy,” Jack said.
“R.V?” Lea asked.
“Rendezvous, meet back there. Harry, give us five minutes to get there and find a decent angle to attack.”
“Good luck.”
“Cheers, same to you.”
Jack and Lea disappeared amongst the trees and I waited.
I watched the second hand rotate around my watch five times, stood, and walked back to the road. I tried to look as casual as possible, appearing in front of the property, stopping and looking towards the house.
I started wandering down the driveway, trying to look through windows but could only see reflections. I looked over towards the garage as Jack and Lea crept from the trees, and stood with their backs against the wall, out of view from the house.
I pulled out a bag of nachos, opened it, and started eating. If I was being watched, the bait wasn’t being taken yet, so I decided to provoke a reaction. I walked to the Range Rover, still putting nachos in my mouth at regular intervals and started looking through the windows; the keys were in the ignition. I pulled open the driver’s door and heard the house door open behind me.
“Stop right there. Put your hands up.”
I pretended to drop the bag of nachos in surprise, slipped the bag off my wrist, and placed it sideways on the ground next to me. I raised my arms and turned around. During the turn, I glanced over at the garage, Jack held his thumb up and started to edge backwards.
“Don’t shoot. I’m just trying to find other people.”
Lea’s comparison of Anthony to Larry David was a good one. He had an AR-15 on his shoulder, looking through the sights directly at me. He moved forwards slowly.
“Finding people or taking their wheels?”
“You’re only the third person I’ve met who isn’t dead. I’ve a car a mile down the road. I was just looking to see if I could find a radio, anything.”
“And before Monday? What were you doing?”
“I’ve no idea what day it is. One minute, I was on holiday at the Great Lakes, the next, I’m on the side of a highway with dead people everywhere. I’m not from around here.”
I was thinking on my feet, hoping he’d swallow my story. He lowered the rifle slightly and looked over the sights.
“I can tell you’re not. Who were these other two people?”
Over his shoulder, I saw Jack move across to the left wall of the house, he was close enough now to take Anthony out. I could pretend to duck and tie my lace, giving Jack a clear torso shot. He was cornered; it was now just a case of choosing the right time to strike.
“Have you been out and seen anything? It’s crazy out there.”
“Who were these other two, answer me.”
“A couple heading to New York, they didn’t know what was happening either. They thought it might a dirty bomb attack or something.”
“Why didn’t you go with them? Why did you come here?”
“They were on a motorbike; they said it was easier to travel that way. I’ve been to a few houses around here… What’s with all the questions anyway?”
I had previously toyed with the idea of a motorbike, but dismissed it as being too unsafe on roads filled with debris, and the potential of killers being around. A car was a much safer option.