“What?”
Geram simply pointed to the Barrett. Clayton let out a bellowing laugh and exclaimed, “Isn’t it a work of art? It’s already paid for itself in spades out here.”
Geram huddled up to the gun and swung it left and right, testing it out. He turned and said to Jake, “This thing is perfect, it puts you head and shoulders above anyone else out here. A three-man team would be nearly invincible: one on the gun, one with a rifle and the operator – I could get used to this.”
Jake flashed a smile and shot back, “He always thinks of everything, doesn’t he?”
As they pulled alongside the staircase and tied the boat off, Claire stepped out the front door. She squealed in delight upon seeing the three. She rushed down the stairs and met them as they were coming up. She wrapped her arms tightly around all three of them and wept with joy.
Claire fixed a late night dinner of catfish and cornbread. The family ate and laughed and talked about life in the past few months. For a short while, the sorrows and realities of recent events disappeared. Sasha and Moses were exhausted from the long night; they both lay head to tail in front of the door. After several hours of celebration, Claire and Kate retired, so the men took their conversation outside.
Clayton leaned against the railing and stared off into the faintly illuminated swamp. The blue hour of twilight was just beginning to break the shadows of the night. The brothers sat on the stairs in quiet contentment. It felt strange to not have a goal or task that need completing in the morning. They were where they had strived to be, their journey was over.
“I know I’ve said it before, but I can’t tell you both how good it feels to have you here.”
“It feels good to be here.”
“We’ve worried about you so much.”
“It’s over now; we’re here. We can relax for a while.”
Clayton moved closer and paused for several minutes, enjoying the silence before continuing, “I really don’t want to bring this up, not tonight, but I don’t have a choice.”
“What is it, Dad?” Jake asked.
“I’m not asking you boys to come. It’s not your fight, but I have to go. We’ve been planning it for several days now, the sheriff, several others and me. Tomorrow night we’re raiding a camp just north of town. Not long ago some people moved in and they’ve been causing a lot of trouble for everybody.
Several people in town’ve been killed and they tried their hardest to get me a little over a week ago. They were foolish enough to follow me up into the swamp and I managed to take one alive. By the time I got to him, he was ready to tell me his life story. We’ll all be deputized and are going in under the pretense of making arrests, but if they try to fight back, all bets are off.”
Geram interrupted, “So you’re telling me somebody tried to kill you last week and you’re going to get the people responsible for it, and we can just stay here?”
“It’s not your fight. I don’t want you to get involved.”
“We’re already involved; it’s as much our fight as it is yours. We’re in, like it or not.”
Cha pter 25
Reese
Houston, Texas
The Humvee slowly drove down Main Street in downtown Houston. Reese opened the top hatch and emerged with a megaphone. He noticed how empty the city looked. It was almost as if the city had already been evacuated. No one went outside anymore; it was too dangerous these days. Soon enough, he reasoned, the streets would be awash with panic-stricken mobs.
“Attention residents of Houston, this is not a test, this is not a drill. An imminent terror threat has been detected within the city. The governor has declared a state of emergency. By order of the governor, all citizens should evacuate immediately. I repeat, all citizens should evacuate immediately.”
He paused to listen for a moment. It sounded as if his voice was echoing all across the city, but he knew it was not. Those were the voices of nearly twenty other men in as many Humvees performing the same drill all over the Houston metropolitan area.
“Please do not panic. Listen to the following instructions and perform them in a calm and orderly fashion. If you do not have a means of evacuation, please report to the nearest METRORail station to be transported to Reliant Park for evacuation by bus. Every able-bodied member of your family should pack a backpack or suitcase full of nonperishable food, toiletries, a change of undergarments and bottled water.
If you do have transportation, please calmly evacuate the city. First responders on the ground will direct you onto the evacuation route that is designated for your area. Your cooperation is required and appreciated. Thank you.”
He paused to listen again and heard the varying instructions from the other distant megaphones, depending on the area of the city. Those nearest to the METRORail would be directed to board it, but other areas would be collected by school bus or public transit. A select few closest to the airports would be shuttled there and flown to DFW, and the remaining evacuees would be collected by freight trains, semis and flatbed trucks. Those that were deemed able would be forced to walk out on foot. They would continue this cycle until everyone was evacuated, the city fell into complete anarchy or the nuclear device was detonated. Reese shivered at the thought.
Before the start of the Greatest Depression, Houston was the fourth largest city in the country with over two million people. It also had the fifth largest metropolitan area with over six million people. No one knew how many people were left in the Houston area, but Reese reasoned at least four million, still far too many people to expect to follow the instructions without incident.
He watched as the first of the panicked citizenry flooded out onto the streets, without any of the items that they were instructed to bring. Reese knew the frenzy would spread chaos and terror among the others that would otherwise try to remain calm and act as instructed. He prayed that they did not start to-
He cursed as he watched the first storefront window shatter. It was a small convenience store. A mob of looters rushed in to grab anything they could. Within mere moments, they began to fight each other over the sparse items remaining on the shelves. It was a horrible start to their plan, and it was just the beginning.
Reese radioed for reinforcements along Main Street as the anarchy intensified. He shouted into the Humvee and was handed a pump shotgun chambered with less than lethal ammo. He fired several quick volleys of rubber shot into the raucous crowds to disperse them. The rounds were not deadly at the distance they were fired from, but they were still excruciatingly painful. The crowd begrudgingly dispersed, for the time being. He knew the sound of gunfire would be unnerving to those that were properly preparing for the evacuation as instructed, but the sight of chaos in the streets would have been even worse.
Within several minutes, reinforcements arrived in Humvees and police cruisers to further disperse and control the crowds, just as they began to flare up again. Reese breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the mixed group of soldiers and officers. He climbed out of the vehicle and handed the megaphone to a young guardsman that was to take over his post.
Families were beginning to filter out of the surrounding apartments and make their way to the METRORrail stations. The presence of the armed officers and soldiers was both unnerving and comforting to them at the same time. Reese flashed a nervous smile and a nod to some soldiers standing nearby as he walked to the back of a pickup truck with Harris County Sheriff’s Department emblazoned on the side. Several officers were unloading the three motorcycles that he had requested off of a trailer. He thanked them as he climbed on the first bike and sped away to the near east side of the city. Two Texas Rangers followed closely behind him on the remaining bikes.
The city’s light rail system, METRORail, was just beginning to collect the first of its passengers as Reese left on the bike. The route started at the University of Houston-Downtown on Buffalo Bayou. It led south eight miles through the vibrant downtown district along Main Street, past Herman Park, through the sprawling Texas Medical Center and ended at the aptly named Reliant Park. From there, a portion of the city’s more than twelve hundred buses were staged to evacuate south along Highway 288, on several reserved lanes. Once out of the city, the buses were routed to the coastal communities from Galveston to Corpus Christi.