American Revenant: Hometown Exodus by John L. Davis IV Page B

other fell into
a ditch, climbed up the other side and kept running.
    Heroes of the moment, the rescuers
went quickly to the shed.  “Allen, Mary, if you’re in there don’t shoot.  Its
Rick, Jimmy and Calvin are with me.  We’ve come to get you.”
    Death can become a cold
acquaintance quickly in a dark and diseased world.  This rapid adjustment to
the horrors of the flesh can often mean the difference between sanity and the crushing
realization that human life can be very fragile.  No matter how comfortable or
numb one becomes with blood and pain, seeing someone you cared deeply about in
a state of gory death will always have a sickening and paralyzing effect.
    When they pulled open the shed door
the first sight they saw were the bloody bullet punctured bodies of Mary and
Allen Tanner.  All three men felt the rising knot fear and anger in their stomachs,
only one was able to keep that knot from rising up and out.  Jimmy stood in
stunned silence while the other two men took a moment to compose themselves.
    Standing crowded in the door of the
tiny shed, ears still ringing from the gunfight, the men could not decide what
they should do.  Should they find a way to take the bodies back, or bury them
here and now? 
    Fearing that the marauders would
return with friends they opted to shut the door and return to the school.  
They heard the whimper of a tiny voice just as they closed the door.
    Inside, lying on the dirt floor
behind the door, covered in their parent’s blood and gore were the two Tanner
children, Trish and Tyler.  Trish lay curled tightly around her little
brother.  Just a bit over eight years older than her eight year old brother,
Trish had always been fiercely protective of him.  Just last year she had been
suspended from school for a week for breaking a boy’s nose when he shoved Tyler
down in front of the school-bus. 
    Rick stepped into the shed, lightly
touching Trish’s shoulder.  “Trish, honey, it’s Rick.  Trish?”  He gently shook
her and got no response, though Tyler began to cry quietly in her arms.  Rick
put his fingers to Trish’s neck, feeling for a pulse.  Through the blood and
fear sweat he felt it, strong and steady. 
    “Guys, Trish and Tyler are alive. 
Trish is out of it, she’s got blood all over her, but I don’t see any injuries. 
I’ll get Tyler.  Cal, can you get Trish?  Jimmy,” Rick had to pause for a
breath, his throat tightening, “can you do a quick sweep, please?  Don’t leave
anything behind that sick bastards like that can use against us later.”
    Rick reached down, gripping the
boy’s arms as gently as possible.  His crying began to get louder.  “Tyler, its
Rick, I’m here to help.”  More tears came, and louder yet.  “Tyler. Hey, Tyler.” 
Rick paused, then, “Hey Tartar, its Auntie Rick.  You hear me Tartar?”  Hearing
words that meant something special to him, from a voice he knew, Tyler looked
up at Rick.  His eyes unglazed for a moment, he reached up to Rick, allowing
himself to be folded into strong and comforting arms.
    3
    “You guys were lucky that the
gut-suckers were still moving pretty damn slow.  But that was over a week
ago.   There are a lot more of them now and they aren’t quite so sluggish. 
Getting twenty people to the river is going to be enough of a challenge, even
though the river is less than a mile away from where we sit, at a straight
run.” 
    “You’re right about that Mike. 
That’s why we can’t just gather up and head out to the river.  We have to plan,
send out a group or two to find the boats we need, get some kind of transport
to move everyone.  We can’t half-ass this.” 
    After several hours of discussion
with time for something to eat, groups had been formed, and goals set for each
group. 
    Group one would be Rick, Gordy
Fletcher, his son Calvin, and Jack Addams.  They were to look for boats,
preferably larger pontoon style boats that could be used to move twenty