The five of them crept through the weeds, bodies low, rifles trained on the distant silhouettes that strolled toward the bunker—not that they could have much accuracy from this angle. As they got closer, Hatfield could feel and hear the pounding of his heart. Gazing at the kids, he reminded himself how important it was to things right.
THE BUNKER’S door was open when the gang got there. They strutted inside, guns out. “Anybody home?” Nathan called, provoking laughter. A quick check revealed the place was all theirs. “Okay, guys. We got a couple of those flamethrowers, but where were those big guns you were talking about?”
Zan led everybody down a dark hallway until they reached a compartment under the floor. After wiping the dust from the left side, a door handle became visible. They tugged at it, and after some effort, the door snapped free and swung open with a long creak.
Nathan whistled long and low when he saw what was inside. Flame throwers, assault rifles and—underneath everything, dug well into the dirt—the gigantic turret of what looked to the leader like a long, narrow cannon. “I do believe that is our missile launcher.”
“Actually, it’s a howitzer,” a bearded gangbanger said.
His boss shot him a glare.
“I’m ex-military,” he said, his voice softer, more humble, probably sensing Nathan didn’t like being corrected. “I’m not sure if it can operate after the attack, but I guess we’ll find out.”
“So the plan is we get out of here and come back with the rest of our stuff. Let’s go!”
They howled their way out of the bunker, the feeling of victory already buzzing through their veins.
HATFIELD WASN’T PREPARED to risk anything. He counted the gangbangers as they left, making sure there couldn’t be anyone remaining. Any surprises would be bad surprises. After waiting for them to get far enough from the bunker, he gestured for everyone to follow him inside the open door.
Once inside, they weren’t done being cautious. He gestured for the family to remain tucked in a protective corner while he and Lazenby gave the place a sweep. Happy to see they were alone, he shut and locked the door, then pulled the smuggled food from his backpack as his fellow homesteader did the same.
“Oh, bless your hearts, you gentlemen are so generous.”
“I believe you have the captain to thank, ma’am,” Luckily, he doesn’t know it.
“We’ll be back with more, provided we can sneak away.”
“You know, we can repay if you like,” she said.
“No offense, ma’am, but your money’s no good here. In fact, nobody’s is.”
“No, no, I don’t mean with money. I mean medicine.” She pointed to a cabinet over his head.
He opened up and took a look. It was stocked with bottles with names he couldn’t pronounce or grasp the purpose of. “Maybe later. If we need something, we can come back and trade, if that’s okay with you.”
“It’s more than okay. I insist. Jake always felt one of the most important things to teach the kids is self-reliance. Begging for help just won’t do. That was really important to him.” Her voice cracked a little on the last few words.
Hatfield squatted to the family. “Now, are you completely sure this place is impregnable?”
“Trust me,” Jade answered, “when the door is properly sealed shut, there’s no way in. We’ve had a number of people who’ve tried.”
“Okay. Just make sure you don’t open that door for anybody—except us. And we’ll have a special knock.” He demonstrated on the floor. “Can you remember that?”
“I got it.”
“How about you, Lazenby?” he called down the hallway. “Is that something you can remember?” He got no answer. “Lazenby?”
“Holy Toledo Ohio!” Lazenby gasped. “Check out what this place is insured by, Mr. Hatfield.”
Once there, he saw the door wide open and the giant hole underneath it. A turret poked through a pile of various military artillery. “Nice.”
“Yes, that’s the missile I was talking about.”
“Actually, ma’am,” Lazenby said, “that would be a howitzer. Although, you get too close to that little rascal, and I don’t suppose the difference matters much.”
“There was more,” she added.
“Excuse me?”
“There were more guns, especially more of those weird-looking, thick things.”
Hatfield lifted up a flame thrower. “One of these, you mean?”
Jade nodded, eyes wide as if taking a close look at it for the first time.
“Not great news,” Lazenby said. “The last thing we want is those dudes packing fire.”
“I’d say that makes stopping these guys a pretty big priority. And that means making sure they don’t get their hands on anything else.” He turned to Jade. “I know we’ve been through this, but let me repeat it: Do not open that door for anybody unless it’s us. Keep it locked and shut at all times.”
Lazenby asked, “You think maybe we should do something with these—just in case… something happens?”
Rapidly approaching laughter from outside got the attention of everyone inside. “We might have a better way to handle this.”
“What do you mean?” the younger man asked.
Hatfield lifted a hand, crept to the door, and stole a peek from it. The gang was a good distance away and taking their time to reach the target. “Jade, does this place have a panic room?”
“Kind of,” she said, her eyes getting restless and scared. “There’s a closet we can hide in. Um… do we need to hide? Please say we don’t need to hide!”
He gave her shoulder a gentle stroke, keeping his voice low and unhurried. “No, no, settle down. If Lazenby and I do our part as we should, there will be no need to do anything but stay away. I know you and your children have been through hell, but if all goes well, this is the last time you’ll need to be strong for your children. I promise.”
She took the shaky hands of her kids and raced toward the closet as Hatfield took glances through a sliver of the front door. Lazenby took a few peeks himself, then asked, “You’re not looking to take these guys on, are you?”
“It’s not as crazy as it sounds.”
“I hope not!”
“Here’s how this works. These guys come back to the bunker, see the door open just the way they left and walk inside, not a care in the world. They are not expecting us. We are expecting them. If they have more than one functioning brain cell between them, they will know how stupid it would be to continue to charge inside blindly.”
“And if not? If they really are the idiots we think they are, and they keep charging in?”
“Then they’ll get wiped out one by one. That good enough for you?”
Lazenby’s breath grew loud and out of control. “It’s a tricky plan.”
“Let’s look at it this way: If they come back and the door is closed, they may think somebody will soon be on their way out—just like before. And they’ll do just like before: wait for him to come and gun him down.”
Lazenby shook his head slowly, mouth wide.
“So really our options are—face them now with the element of surprise or later without it.”
“I guess so. Let’s do this.”
“Great!” Hatfield opened the front door, making sure it was positioned similar to the way it was before. “You’re going to be here.” He grabbed Lazenby by the shoulders and moved into position behind a protective pile of rubble. “I’ll be next to the door firing away. The second things get too hot, I’ll slam the door shut, got it?”
“I suppose so.”
“Don’t need you to suppose; I need certainty.”
“Okay, yes, I’m certain. Whatever you need.”