Home Fires Burning (Walking in the Rain Book 2) by William Allen Page B

neighbors and you know their family.  The Kellers are good people, and they’ve taken in complete strangers, so surely they would help you.”
    For a long time, I thought Mrs. Trimble would not answer, and I feared my question had made her withdraw again.  Then she spoke as if no time had passed.
    “You came for us.  When I was through begging God to save us, you came.  I was praying to die, Luke.  I wanted to die, and for my girls to die, to stop their suffering.  When I had no more hope left, that’s when you showed up.  I know it doesn’t make any sense, but I think that’s why.”
    The sensation on my cheeks warned me of the tears as they fell, but I felt no shame.  How could I feel shame after what this woman endured?  After a beat, she spoke again, her voice low and ragged again, like rough stone.
    “I saw you, when you killed Jimmy.  No hesitation, no expression on your face when you stuck that knife in his eye.  You didn’t enjoy it, but you did it just like anybody would, doing a dirty chore.  Like chopping off a chicken’s head or cleaning out a horse stall.  I hope you will teach me how to do that, to kill and feel nothing.  I will learn to protect my girls, and this will never happen to us again.”
    For the first time, I heard iron in her raspy voice and a little hope began to grow inside.  If she could recover from her physical trauma, I thought she might be able to find her way back from what happened.
    “I’ll teach you everything I can, ma’am.  As soon as you feel up to it, I promise.”
    When Mrs. Trimble squeezed my arm in reply, I had to bite to cheek not to call out.  Crap, that burn still hurt.  But, I thought darkly, it did distract me from the ache in my chest.
    “There’s something else, Luke.  Something you should know.  I know you said you aren’t from around here, and for me that isn’t a bad thing.”
    We were nearly at the truck when Mrs. Trimble finished telling her story, and my blood was near to boiling as I helped her step up into the truck bed.  When I looked around, I saw the other truck was piled high with materials, mainly stacked rifles and cases of ammunition.  Nick and the rest of the farm contingent had not been idle as I tended to the Trimble family.
    “Ya’ll ready to roll?” Nick asked, his normal good cheer somewhat restored at the idea of getting the hell out of here.  I wondered how he would be feeling when I shared Mrs. Trimble’s last bit of news with the council.
    “Let’s get going.  We’re wasting daylight.”
               
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     
          
        
    CHAPTER FOURTEEN
    “Nineteen?” Darwin whispered, looking from face to face as we sat in the study once again.  With me were the rest of our team, Darwin Keller, Sid Stevenson, and Stan Schecter and a few more of the grayhairs I still couldn’t reliably put a name to match the face.  Bruce was out on patrol and my good buddy Gary Keller was only notable to me in his absence.
    “Yes, sir.  According to what we saw and our witness on site, we didn’t get them all either.  We could have even missed the leader of the gang, but I’m confident that we did get the bulk of them.”  Nick explained.
    “And the Trimble family?  Sean’s dead, and his wife and daughters forced to…”
    Darwin paused, at a loss for words.  Then he looked at me.
    “Is this what it is like, out there?  Casual murder and the widespread destruction of lives and homes?  Is this what you were trying to warn us about?”
    I thought for a moment before answering, and gave Nick an apologetic glance before opening my mouth.
    “Yes sir.  Partly.  You haven’t seen the mobs of starving city dwellers yet, but I fear they are coming.  You may have some time before those mobs work their way into the countryside around here.  And Mr. Keller, I don’t know how to say this, but I think you have another problem I hadn’t anticipated.”
    “Well, that can’t be