“You think it could be that serious.”
“I can’t say just yet, Al. Depends what kind of information is floating around out there. What if word spreads that there’s a relief camp with plenty of food and water set up a day’s walk from here? How many might leave and never come back? Now suppose that camp doesn’t exist, it’s only a rumor put out there by someone with their head in the clouds and nothing better to do than fabricate stories out of thin air. Then we’ve lost valuable people over nothing.”
“Why didn’t you say that during the meeting?” Al asked.
“There wasn’t any point. If I start looking like the heavy, coming down on the personal liberties everyone is still used to, then we might not get anything done. I don’t have to be here, Al. I’ve got another place that’s far away and safe and could likely see me through this mess. I’m here ’cause I couldn’t stand the thought of leaving behind so many people in need.”
“We appreciate that, John, we really do. But it’s like you said. No one’s really sure what’s going on and none of them, including myself, are prepared just yet to give up the old ways of doing things.”
“Trust me,” John told him. “I get it. I’d been sending out feelers from the start about getting everyone on the street together for a meeting and none of them would have anything to do with it. They were more interested in eating hot dogs and drinking beer. It was only after we were attacked that they finally listened. That’s human nature, I understand that. And it’s precisely why I kept my mouth shut. You ever have kids, Al?”
There was suddenly a look of sadness in Al’s eyes. “No, only a younger brother. Eight or nine years between us. But we don’t talk anymore.”
John laid a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “I’m sorry to hear that. I’m sure you remember talking to him as a teenager, warning him to be careful, not drive too fast. How did that go?”
“They don’t listen,” Al admitted. “They don’t ever think anything bad’s going to happen, not to them at least.”
“There you go. The sad truth is most of us don’t really change. ‘It’ll never happen to me’ soon becomes shock and horror when the men with guns show up. Which is precisely why I need to find the men and women who are going to man the barricades and keep us from being slaughtered like sheep.”
“There’s a visual,” Al said, half smiling. “I’ll go find Curtis and see where he wants to start reaching out to the other neighborhoods.”
Chapter 18
Ten minutes later, John found the man he was looking for.
“I want you to be my head of security,” he told him.
Peter Warden’s eyebrows went up. “I’d be honored,” he said, smiling.
The choice wasn’t a difficult one for two reasons in particular. The first was that Peter was a gym teacher at the local junior high, which meant he was fit and had experience telling others what to do. The second and perhaps most important was something John had seen earlier when they had discovered the Applebys and Hectors had been attacked. John had told Peter to roll those stalled cars into position to create a barricade and Peter had done it enthusiastically and without questions. Those were the qualities John was looking for and he was thrilled when Peter accepted his offer.
“Have you ever served in the military or fired a weapon?” John asked.
“I shot at squirrels with a .22 on my grandfather’s farm years back. Does that disqualify me?”
John grinned. “Not at all. I’m sure you have more experience with firearms than most of the kids we’re going to recruit.”
“Kids?” Peter stammered.
John nodded. “They pick up quick and tend to take directions from authority figures. You know what they say about teaching old dogs new tricks?”
Peter laughed. He was stout with a thick neck and strong limbs. The longer they chatted, the more comfortable John was becoming with his choice.
“The other committee members are going to be looking to fill out their teams as well, so we’ll need to move fast. Including the two of us, I figure we’ll need another twelve deputies. Two for each barricade, two for patrols, one in the crow’s nest and their shift replacements.”
“Crow’s nest?”
John smiled. “You’ll see. About weapons, we’re gonna need to get half of the new recruits assigned straight away to scrounging up as many firearms as people can spare. I’ve got a couple Ruger SR22s, two Mini-14s and a Bushmaster AR-15 that I can donate. If we need to go on a run to Gold N Guns then so be it. I just hope there’s still something left.” John was quiet for a moment.
“What is it?” Peter asked.
“Oh, it’s just that I’ve spent a few years preparing for an event like this, but only for my family. I assumed I’d bug out at the first sign of trouble. The scale is so much larger when you include dozens more people. I feel like it’ll take years to get to a good place where we’re feeling secure.”
“After the attack this morning,” Peter said, “I have a sneaking suspicion we don’t have years, or even weeks.”
“It could be hours. Which is why we need to move it. Go find seven fit men and women between, say, seventeen and twenty-five, preferably unmarried, and I’ll do the same. If we get stuck we can always take a handful of older folks.”
Peter tapped John on the chest. “Older folks. That would be us, partner.”
An hour later they met back in front of John’s house. In the summer heat and scorching sun, his lawn was starting to show dry patches. So were some of the others on the block. But gone was a time when water would be wasted on such things.
Peter had done as John had asked and brought five young men and two women. For his part, John hadn’t been as lucky. He’d only managed to find three teenaged boys, one young woman and three men in their late fifties. Seemed like the rest were on water or food duty. They would have to do for now. If a crack shot with a rifle turned up later in Patty’s nursing candidates or in Al’s liaison team, then John would recommend they make a swap. There was something incredibly informal and rushed about the whole thing, and so these kinds of situations were to be expected.
“Any word yet on weapons?” John asked.
Peter didn’t look hopeful. “So far it isn’t looking good. Those who have them don’t want to give them up. Some thought we were confiscating their guns. Frank Dawson over by the cul-de-sac, he put up the biggest fuss.”
“Idiots,” John growled. “Can’t they see we’re trying to protect them, not take away their Second Amendment rights? I’ll head over there after and sort this out.”
One of the boys on Peter’s side tossed an armful of hockey sticks onto the ground. For a moment John wondered if they intended using them as clubs. Then he made the connection. The sticks were vaguely in the shape of a rifle and could be useful as a temporary substitute for drilling the recruits.
Before he got to that point, John began to lay out his plan. “Our security will consist of two shifts of seven people each. Two at each barricade, two on a randomized patrol around the neighborhood and the final deputy perched in a crow’s nest with a view of both barricades. Just like in a sub, it’ll be six hours on, six hours off. I suggest in your off-time you practice your rifle skills—cleaning, magazine changes and so on. If you fail to show up for a designated shift you will be punished.”
Their faces blanched.
“The recruit in the crow’s nest will be given a fog horn to raise the alarm should we come under attack. An approach or assault against the eastern barricade will be signaled by a single blast from the fog horn. Likewise, a threat or assault against the western barricade that protects access from the park will be met by two short blasts. A general breach of the compound will be indicated by three short blasts. I’ll spread the word to each of the other committee members so they can inform those under them. If someone approaches the barricades you give them an order to stop and identify themselves. If they keep coming you fire a warning shot. If that still doesn’t do it, you open fire.”