The Guardians (36 page)

"Pretty quiet," Daryl replied.  "I went by the Muncie place this morning and took a peek through my spotting scope.  It looked just like the night we left it, except not a soul was there."

"Well, that's because those scumbags don't have souls," Jason joked as he took a sip of coffee.

"Yea, very true," Daryl said with a laugh.  "Let's just say there were no living bodies there then," he replied.  "So what do you guys think?  Do you think they moved on?  Or did we get them all?"

Evan took a sip of coffee and replied, "Well, I guess it is possible that our barrage on the house killed more on the inside than we know.   However, when Griff and I ran out there to check the place out, there was a fresh burn pile in the backyard that we could only assume was to dispose of the dead bodies.  That indicates that there were survivors.  Has anyone else see hide or hair of them?" Evan asked.

"Not a thing," Daryl replied.  "I stopped by Lloyd's yesterday morning, and then Jimmy's place in the evening and they were asking when we were gonna start the barter runs up again.  I guess the talk is a few of the folks are getting low on some of the things we had come to depend on
, and are anxious to get our trade going.  Everyone is wondering how long we need to stay hunkered down before getting back to business as usual.  My guess is that they ran off after that butt whoopin' we gave'em."

"That's a good question," Evan replied.  "I guess we need to somehow get a consensus from the group."

"Do we want to get a meeting together in person, or just start using the CB's again?" asked Jason.

"I think the CB's would be a good way to start, instead of getting people out on the road," Evan said.  "Let's get Judith back on the radio with her daily updates for a few days and get the chatter going again.  After everyone is comfortable, we'll get back down to business.  We can't, and shouldn't, hide from those bastards forever."

"Amen to that!" Daryl replied.  "Well, Gentlemen, I've got to get going, My chores have been slacking and I've got to get some firewood cut before the winter gets here."

With that, the men said their goodbyes as Jason and Evan escorted Daryl back to the front gate and saw him on his way.  They went back inside the house and gave the women an update on the status of the other homesteads, and asked Judith to return to her daily CB radio updates from what she learns on the HAM.  She was excited to do so, as she had missed the sense of community that had been building prior to the attacks.  Molly asked Linda to stay with them for just a little while longer, until they were sure everything had blown over
, and Linda agreed under the condition that they would put her to work sewing and mending clothes to earn her keep.

By the next day, everyone was chatting on the radio again and the community was starting to feel as if it had returned to normal.  People had begun making deals over the radio for Evan and Jason's next barter run.  The list was getting quite long, as people had gone without their routine deliveries.  With that in mind, Evan and Jason agreed to resume their deliveries the following day.

Amidst the chatter on the radio, Charlie Blanchard chimed in and called for Judith.  Judith replied, "Yes, Charlie, I'm ready to copy," assuming he was merely placing an order for supplies from one of the other homesteads. 

"No Judith, I'm not in need of anything, I'm just relaying some news for you.  Pastor Wallace from the Del Rio Baptist Church just informed me that you have a few visitors waiting for you there."

Judith nearly passed out in disbelief.  She was speechless.  She didn't even reply to Charlie she just got up and ran through the house screaming "They are here! They are here!  My boy's have found me!  Oh thank you lord my boys are here!"

All of the other women rushed to see what
all of the commotion was about. She was nearly hyperventilating with excitement as she told them the wonderful news.  Molly went over to the radio, called Charlie back, and got the details.  She told him she would talk to Evan and get right back to him to relay to Pastor Wallace when to expect an escort to arrive to get them.

The joy at the Homefront was overwhelming.  Molly found Evan and explained everything to him. "We should have enough daylight to get t
here and back today," he said.

"I think this is a good occasion to burn some gas," added Jason.

"That's a damn good idea," replied Evan.  "We've not used a highway vehicle in so long I've almost forgot we even had them as an option.  Del Rio is too far for a tractor run, and my guess is our new guests are going to be pretty darn exhausted from their travels."

"Mine or yours?" asked Jason.

"Let's take Molly's Suburban," said Evan.  "We will need the third row since Judith will surely want to go with us."

"
That'll work," Jason replied.

Evan and Jason went out behind the work
shop where the Suburban was parked.  It had been connected to a solar battery tender; they were pleased to find it charged adequately to start right up.  All of their vehicles had been stored with full fuel tanks to help avoid condensation in the fuel.  They had also treated the fuel with a commercially available fuel stabilizer to keep the gasoline from varnishing.  They started it up and the truck ran as smooth as when they parked it.  They topped off the tires, which had lost some air since it had been parked, but otherwise they were ready to go.

Evan drove the Suburban down to the house where they found Judith anxiously waiting.  Peggy was standing along beside her and asked, "Is it OK if I come along?  Judith wants me there for emotional support on the way," Peggy asked.

"That's fine with us," replied Evan.  "Is Zack squared away?" he asked knowing that little Zack usually had a hard time whenever Peggy wasn't around.

"Yes, all of the other women offered to help watch him.  He's playing with Hal
ey now.  He's quite fond of her.  She's like his big sister now."

"Well, that sounds like a plan.  Let's get moving," he said.  "Oh, and Molly, go get Jake, he can be our trunk monkey."

Peggy and Judith climbed in the middle row, Evan took the driver's seat, Jason rode shotgun up front and Jake sat in the cargo area with a VZ58 to cover them from the rear. They had to take their time, driving around a few downed trees, and wash outs as the roads hadn't had any maintenance since the beginning of the collapse.  The drive to Del Rio only took about twenty five minutes in the Suburban.  They had almost forgotten how easily one could get around in a regular vehicle.  They just didn't have the fuel reserves to do it any time other than a special occasion such as this.

As they pulled into the church, Peggy nearly had to hold Judith inside the vehicle until it came to a complete stop due to her excitement.  As Evan put the truck into park, Judith jumped out and began running for the door.  The door to the church opened and out walked Pastor Wallace
, accompanied by two grizzled men in their mid to late twenties and an attractive young woman.

Jud
ith nearly jumped into the men's open arms.  The all began crying tears of joy as the young woman stood and watched the reunion with tears in her eyes.

"Oh thank you Lord, thank you for bringing my boys back to me!" she said over and over.  As they gained their composure, Luke wiped the tears from his eyes and in
troduced Rachel to his mother.

Nate looked at his mother, wiping the tears from his own eyes and asked, "Mom, what about Dad?"

"Oh boys I'm sorry," she said.  "Your father died over a year ago when it all began."  Nate and Luke both hugged their mother again and shed a few more tears together.  "I'll explain everything during the drive home," she said.

Evan and Jason had walked over to Pastor Wallace during the emotional reunion.  "God truly does work miracles, doesn't he?" said the Pastor.

"He certainly does," replied Evan.  "San Diego to East Tennessee in the midst of all the chaos.  That's an amazing journey."

"She rasied some damn fine men, that's for sure," said Jason.  "Oh, sorry for the D word Pastor," Jason said sheepishly.

"Oh that's OK, it was a heck of a journey," the Pastor replied.

Evan then walked over to the group and said, "We had better get going, the sun will be going down soon and it will be safer traveling in the daylight."

Peggy had been watching from the back seat of the Suburban.   She could not help but notice how handsome both of Judith's sons were, especially the older one she thought, as she could not help but stare at Nate.

Peggy and Nate climbed into the third row with Peggy, while Luke and Rachel took the middle row.  As they settled in, Judith brushed up against Nate's prosthesis and was startled.

Nate said, "Oh, yea, it wasn't an uneventful trip to say the least." He then went on to detail his journey, and how he had found Luke and met Rachel.  Judith then shared with them how she and their father escaped Norfolk in the Little Angel, and how that led to meeting their group.  Nate looked at Peggy and smiled as Judith explained how important she had been to her over the past year.  Peggy blushed and returned the smile.  Judith could not help but already think of how wonderful a match the two would be.

Once they reached the Homefront, while Griff and Greg handled the security duties, Molly and the other ladies had been preparing a wonderful feast to celebrate their arrival.  Molly even broke out some wine that she had squirreled away for such an occasion.  Judith would have loved to spend all night sitting up with her boys catching up, as well as getting to know
Rachel; however, she could see that they were extremely fatigued.

The women set up some temporary accommodations for them for the night for their
much-needed rest, with plans to figure something more permanent out the next day.  Everyone was in such a festive and glowing mood they had nearly forgotten the troubles they have had as of late.

As Evan was preparing to relieve Griff as the roving patrol, Mildred approached him.  "Evan," she said.

"Yes Ma'am," he answered. 

"I've got an idea, she said.
  "You and Molly have been extremely gracious offering shelter to anyone who has needed it, and now there is even more.  Now that Judith's boys and the one's lady friend have arrived, perhaps we should consider, after all of this Muncie gang stuff blows over of course, having Judith and her family move into my home with Haley and me over on the farm.  I can teach her sons to work the place, and we, as in everyone here included, would have double the food production.  I include the young lady Rachel in that of course."

"Ma'am, that is wonderful idea and is very gracious of you," Evan replied with a smile.  "As soon as we get past our security concers, we should definitely discuss that with Judith and her boys.  I'm sure you are anxious to get back home too."

"Yes I am, actually.  Ollie and I spent a majority of our lives there, and I want to be back there with him," she said.  Evan just gave her a hug, and then went on to relieve Griff and assume his duties.

****

It had been a week since Judith's family had been reunited at the Homefront.  They quickly acclimated to the homesteading life, and had immediately become welcome additions to the group.  Nate and Luke had been trained in the security procedures at the Homefront, and had been thoroughly briefed on the security concerns of the community, as well as the recent events involving the Muncie gang.  Evan, Griff, and Jason were pleased to have two more well trained and experienced men onboard, in the event of future hostilities.

In addition, the entire community was overjoyed to have Rachel and Nate around for their medical expertise.  In the short time they had been there, several people from the other homesteads had already been asking for medical advice from their new community doctor.

Evan and Jason had resumed their barter runs between the other homesteads, and life had finally appeared to be getting back to normal.  It was now nine o'clock in the morning
, and Evan and Jason were getting ready to head out on their weekly run.  As they were getting the tractor hooked up to the trailer, Judith came running out of the house yelling, "They are shooting up the Smith place!  They are shooting up the Smith place!"

Evan and Jason both dropped what they were doing an ran to meet Judith to see what was going on.  "What?  What is it?" Evan asked.

Judith paused for a moment to catch her breath and said, "We just got a mayday call from Lloyd Smith's wife.  Their home is under attack."

"Is it the Muncie gang?" asked Jason.

"They don't know, they are just pleading for help," she said frantically.

Evan looked at Jason and said, "The Suburban is ready to go, let's take it and go.  Go grab our rifle
s and some ammo.  I'll grab Luke in case anyone in the house over there is hit."

"On it!" answered Jason sharply as he ran for the house.

Evan ran out to the shop where Luke was working on a project for his mother and said, "Come with me, one of the other homes is under attack and we may need you."

Evan and Luke then ran from the shop towards the Suburban.  Mo
lly came out of the house to see what was going on.  Evan told her, "Have Judith try and radio the other homesteads for help.  Tell them we are on our way, and tell Griff what's going on and to lock this place down!"