03: A Few Things on the Way Home

The threesome got as far as the next exit, which wasn’t that close. Ellen suggested they stop and see if anyone had any news so they could see how much damage had been done to the local community. The roads were badly torn up, and there were damaged and abandoned cars all along it. They’d been too afraid to stop and check each one for bodies, figuring anyone in them would have seen their lights and flagged them down. Despite reports of massive forest fires sparked by the meteor shower, they’d seen none, largely because it had rained the previous week and the nearby timber wasn’t that dry.

When they exited the highway and came around the corner, they saw the beginnings of the local community, and it wasn’t a pretty sight. There was a gas station that was still burning wildly, the gas tanks having been ignited and no one having been able to do anything about it. Several buildings were damaged, some completely leveled. A car dealer had practically its entire inventory destroyed. There might be a couple undamaged, and maybe a few more that could actually be driven, but the rest were either nonfunctional or so heavily damaged they’d be considered junk.

They reached the burned out husk of a tractor trailer which blocked the road, cutting off the nearby community. Not having seen many people, and not wanting to invest a lot of time getting into a town they didn’t know anyone in, they made a U-turn and headed back to the highway again.

The rest of the trip was similar. Some areas were relatively intact, while others had the nearby trees flattened and the roadway heavily torn up. Alice pointed out pieces of cars in the trees a good 30 feet from the roadway, apparently thrown there by the force of the impact that destroyed them. They each remained quiet as they tried to fathom the extent of the damage this solitary storm had done to the country. Multiplying the damage they saw times the amount of communities scattered across its path provided frightening numbers.

Although no one said anything about it, David felt himself growing increasingly frustrated and angry at the world in general. He wanted to help someone, but so far all they’d seen was damage, no one actually requiring help. What’s more, he was more concerned with getting Alice and Ellen somewhere better protected.

They turned off the highway at the town of Wayne’s Quarters. It was the nearest large town to David’s house, although it was another twenty-seven miles away. This town, like the other, had extensive damage, but since they arrived later the residents had had more time to recover and there were more people out surveying the damage. Although this was the town that David did his shopping in, he had no plans to pick anything up tonight, having done all his shopping before he went to pick his daughter up.

Building after building was extensively damaged, but most were still standing, and while they’d take a lot to make them habitable again they were still structurally sound. While some of the buildings had people working on them the majority of them stood silent, though they didn’t know if it was because the inhabitants were asleep, hurt or missing.

As they traveled slowly through the town, hoping to avoid hitting something, they saw some people running into a nearby drug store. It was a large chain store, but it was one that David was familiar with. A huge section had been ripped out of one wall leaving the building exposed, and a bunch of scruffy looking young men could be seen entering the damaged building. David knew exactly what that meant.

He knew it would be safer avoiding it, but he just couldn’t. He couldn’t leave this to the police because it would be a long time before they got around to checking up on the various empty businesses. He quietly pulled into the parking lot, parking a short distance from the car they’d seen the young men running from.

“Stay here,” David told the girls. He got out and went to the back of the car and opened the back gate. Removing something, he returned to where the girls were.

“Take this,” he told Alice, handing her a sharp awl. He knew she’d seen one before. “I’m going inside. Don’t follow me, and try not to attract attention. I want you to use this to prevent them from leaving before I’m finished.” He looked at his daughter to make sure she knew what he was telling her to do. She swallowed and nodded so he went on.

“When you’ve flattened the tires, get back in the car, lock the doors and keep your head down. Again, don’t leave the car no matter what you hear. If anyone comes after you, sound the horn.” He glanced at both Alice and Ellen, and when they nodded he headed towards the building as if he was going for a pack of gum.

But David reconsidered, coming back to his vehicle, opening the back and grabbing a two-by-four. Since he frequently worked on his house, his SUV was frequently loaded with various building supplies. He checked once again that the girls were OK, and then headed off; watching for any lookouts the kids may have left. He didn’t see any, apparently the perpetrators were either stupid or sure no one would ever interfere with them. But then, David had never had any illusions about the intelligence of criminals.

He stopped by the crumbling remains of the southern wall, first listening to see if anyone was there. He considered what he was doing. He knew it was clearly stupid, and that the police and the courts wouldn’t look favorably on vigilantism. If caught he’d likely spend time in prison for it, but he couldn’t see ignoring such clear lawlessness. The police couldn’t be counted on in the near future, so if someone didn’t step up anarchy was likely to result. But more than that, he realized he was feeling frustrated by what had been happening and he felt a need to act out on it. As much as anything else, he was going after these men simply as an act of rebellion against nature. It was just these jerks bad fortune that they happened to have stumbled across his path. Besides, the owner of the drug store was a friend of his.

Standing by the gash in the wall he heard someone approaching, so he stood back and waited. Just as the nameless figure crossed the threshold David swung his two-by-four and struck the young man in the face, sending him sprawling back into the store, scattering a large bag full of pill bottles he’d been carrying.

David hoped he hadn’t alerted the other thieves. However he was pretty sure they were still busy looting the business, sending one at a time to ferry the drugs they stole out to their waiting car. The others would likely be trying to find the locked Class A prescriptions. David surmised the young men inside were likely drug addicts looking for a quick high, who saw the devastation everyone had encountered as their chance to get high quality drugs without having to work for it.

Walking inside, David glanced around before focusing on the man he’d struck. The side wall of the store had collapsed. The gap was in the newsstand/toys/bottled water section. Thus there was scattered paper, pools of water, and toys strewn all around, making walking treacherous. However the sounds of the rustling paper and the wind blowing into the store masked much of the noise he was likely to make.

Seeing no one else around, he approached the stunned figure. He was scruffily dressed, bedraggled and pretty ratty looking, but the biggest thing about him at the moment was his broken nose, damaged eye socket and the blood splattered over his face.

The guy appeared to be unconscious. Although David had hit him hard, he wasn’t sure it was hard enough to knock him out, so he didn’t know if the guy had a glass jaw or if he had possibly struck his head on the hard tile floor. He hadn’t wanted to kill the guy, after all, addicts managed to recover all the time. But what he did want was to prevent the creep from taking advantage of others. Stepping up, David slammed the two-by-four down across the man’s chest. He knew if he left the man lying there he could wake up at any time, and that would leave someone to attack him from behind, which he didn’t need right now. However he knew he hit him hard enough to at least break several ribs, making moving around quite painful. This guy wouldn’t be likely to be looking for any trouble for a little while. Seeing the guy hadn’t moved after he struck him he looked up, moving farther in the dark business.

He knew where the criminals would be, they’d be searching behind the closed off druggist area. It looked like the guy that David had struck had been carrying the easy to grab cold medicines, those used for making crystal meth. That meant that these guys hadn’t been here long, thus the ones left wouldn’t be as likely to be coming out quite yet. It also meant these guys, being either associated with or ‘meth-heads’ themselves, would likely be more desperate and less concerned about repercussions than typical criminals.

It was slow going trying to find his way in the dark expanse, but he was guided by the noise of several men rummaging through the back of the store. There were occasional flashes of light, so David supposed they’d grabbed flashlights to help them in their search for drugs. This helped David, since he could easily spot them, and if he could disable the light their night vision wouldn’t be as good as his was.

David had no combat experience whatsoever, had never gotten into fights as a kid, and was really ill prepared for this type of encounter. He knew his opponents would be much more adept at confrontations than he was. After all, David’s history was with intellectual pursuits. However, all the construction he’d been doing the last couple of years had helped his physique, and he decided his best bet was to overcompensate.

He knew the biggest downfall of most amateurs was in pulling their punches. However he had so much built up frustration over not being able to control what had been happening to him, his daughter and Ellen last night, that he didn’t think that would be a problem. He also planned to hit anyone he came across that much harder, just to make sure they didn’t get up again. He figured he might be able to get away with a slight miscue, but any serious mistakes would likely cost him his life here.

The door to the pharmacy was standing open, and the flashlight inside was moving around so rapidly it was easy to see what was going on inside. David reached over and grabbed some items off a nearby counter. He had no idea what he’d picked up, but that wasn’t important at the moment. He wasn’t much interested in making any purchases. Stepping cautiously inside the door he saw three scruffy looking men. Two of which were older, easily in their 40s, the other was a young kid like the first one was. Luckily they were so distracted looking for the ‘good drugs’ that they weren’t paying attention to much else. The biggest guy had a crow bar they’d found somewhere that he was trying to use to pry open a safe. David just shook his head, criminals just don’t come very smart, he reminded himself.

Walking up quickly but quietly, he tossed whatever he’d picked up into the far corner, and before it hit the ground he started his swing. The sound of the small packages hitting the floor caused the three men to stop what they were doing and turn toward the sound. The biggest guy, the one with the crowbar, looked up, but left the crowbar lodged in the crease in the safe. David’s two-by-four hit him with a solid crack in the back of the head. He was aware that such a blow might very well be fatal, but he was also aware not taking the man out would surely be fatal for him. The man collapsed to the floor instantly, not making a sound aside from the large crack the two-by-four made when it struck his head.

The other two jerked back at the noise, turning to observe their friend, as the crowbar he’d been using clattered noisily to the floor. However David was already spinning around, turning almost 280°. Just as the two noticed him standing behind their fallen comrade and they started to turn on him, he finished his swing, connecting solidly with his two-by-four against the side of the farthest of the two men. There was another loud crack as the two-by-four split in two, and the man stumbled back making a sickening wheezing sound.

However the last man was now aware of what was happening, and he’d be much more dangerous, especially now that David was essentially unarmed. The last figure, another older man, lunged at him, grabbing his arm just as David was spinning again, trying to build momentum to spin out of the man’s reach. David did, in fact, spin away from him as intended, but the man held onto his arm, causing him to over spin and collapse onto one knee. The man slugged David in the side of the face, knocking him to the ground as the pain of the blow flashed across his eyes. Although the man was scrawny and undernourished, he was still pretty big and evidently plenty strong.

As David hit the ground he heard the other man gasping loudly, he couldn’t see him at the moment as he was facing the wrong direction staring at the floor, but it sounded like he was suffering from a collapsed lung. David, knowing he had to move quickly, tried to push himself up and used the motion to shove himself over into a roll. Just as his head cleared the floor he saw the kick aimed at his side. Luckily the blow got him after he was already moving. It hurt like hell, but the blow augmented the action he’d already begun, rolling him over and away from the man.

David realized he hadn’t thought this out very carefully, since he didn’t have any backup plans. He hadn’t thought to carry another weapon, or even anything to distract his opponents with.

His roll carried him a short distance away, and when he hit the nearby metal cabinet he grabbed the edge and spun around it, using his own momentum to keep him moving farther away. However the motion and the punch to his face left him feeling dizzy, so he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to stand. Instead he rolled/crawled towards the door to the pharmacy, hoping to get out of the close confining environment. But as he was almost to the door he felt another kick to his side, knocking him sideways, causing him to hit the door at an odd angle. His momentum again caused him to spin around and through the door, but it also caused him to spin wildly once through the door, so he tumbled to the floor again, sliding along the cold tile floor.

“Bloody Fucker,” the man shouted, “I don’t know who the hell you are, but that was the biggest mistake of your life. I’m going to kill you and leave your bloody corpse for your kids to find.”

David didn’t bother listening to the man, knowing it wouldn’t help him. He was trying frantically to think of something he could try, something he could grab to help him, but nothing came to mind. Probably because his mind wasn’t working very clearly yet, and he was still moving too fast in the darkened room to see much of anything. He heard his opponent bellow behind him, accompanied by the gasping wet breath of his companion. It sounded like the man David had broken his two-by-four against was spitting up blood, which would mean that man, at least, wouldn’t be as much of a threat.

David knew his primary opponent had followed him out, so he rolled over, turning to watch for a coming attack. However David’s previous planning had come into play. The kid with the busted lung had been holding the flashlight, and while the pharmacy was still lit, his opponent was now trying to see him in the dimly lit aisles, which his flashlight adjusted eyes weren’t able to work well in.

The delay allowed David to once again spring up and roll to the side. The man following him detected the motion, but couldn’t make out what he was doing. He cautiously followed, allowing David to gain some ground as well as giving him time to clear his head and think clearly again.

Reaching the end of the display David felt around, searching for some tool to use to help defend himself. He found something and tried to ready himself. He crouched against the display aisle, which in the dark managed to hide him fairly effectively. The other man cautiously approached, feet spread wide so he’d be able to react to any attack he’d encounter. As the man neared, David threw a small bottle of something at his face. The man’s first instinct was to protect his face, so he raised his arms to block whatever David had thrown. However the motions were too late as the small plastic bottle smacked him in the face. The little plastic container was hardly heavy enough to do any damage, but the surprise caused the man to step a half-step back, which was all the assistance that David needed.

David once again swung with all his might, this time hitting the man in the shin with the umbrella he’d picked up, causing him to spin slightly. The combination of the spin and his off balance position caused him to slowly fall to the side.

David took the opportunity to jump to his feet again. The other man landed on one knee, stopping his fall, but he was facing away from David and hadn’t had the opportunity to prepare himself. Getting to his feet, David used the umbrella to knock some packages to the floor, causing the man to flinch away from him, which David followed up by lunging at him, driving the point of the umbrella into his kidney.

The man cried out, but the impact broke the fragile umbrella already weakened from David’s previous attack, causing it to bow in the middle. Tossing it over the aisle divider, David took a step forward and kicked hard, connecting with the man on the floor’s jaw, jerking his head back and causing him to rise into the air, landing with a resounding thud on the tile floor. He didn’t seem to be moving after that, but David was aware he still had another man left, and the others might possibly have recovered by now, so he had to get things under control quickly.

David glanced around, once again looking for something he could make a plan with. He rushed back to the pharmacy, trying to move quietly. Entering the pharmacy, he saw he needn’t have been so careful. The other man lay against the wall, holding the pry bar while panting in a wheezing, labored breath. David simply faced him for a moment as they both tried to take the other’s measure.

“OK, you rest here. I’m going to take care of your friends, just so they don’t surprise me. When I get back I’ll take care of your lung. In the meantime you can decide if you want to fight me, or whether you’d like to live. It’s up to you, since I don’t particularly care one way or the other.” With that David turned and left the guy alone with his crowbar, placing the alarm clock and the jar of ointment he’d picked up to disable the guy with on a nearby counter. He didn’t think he’d need them now.

He grabbed the guy he’d knocked unconscious outside of the pharmacy by the feet and dragged him towards the hole in the wall they’d entered through. He was more likely to wake up than the one he hit in the back of the head with the two-by-four. When he got him by the younger man, still lying quietly bleeding in a pool of water, he dumped him beside his pal and calmly walked out to his SUV.

When he opened the back of the truck both Alice and Ellen jumped. Despite their being wary, neither one had noticed him approaching the vehicle.

“Damn, Daddy, don’t do that!”

“Watch the language, young lady,” David warned her, although he wasn’t as concerned with her language as he was in other things at the moment.

“Sorry, but you scared us half to death. You’re always doing that. You move so damn quietly,” Alice complained. Her father just glared at her and she stared back, not worried about using the wrong language given the circumstances. David eventually gave up and looked away.

“What happened?” Ellen asked, more worried about what dangers David may have been facing than in blaming him for surprising them.

“Nothing much. Stopped a couple of looters. Stay here, same rules. I’ll be back in a bit. Oh,” he said after a moment’s thought, “if you hear anything unusual, don’t look back. You won’t like it much.” With that he shut the back of the vehicle.

Of course, as soon as he said that they both turned around and watched him walk away.

David knew stopping a couple of punks rummaging through an accessible and unprotected drug store wouldn’t stop the next drug addicts who happened to wander past. No, he’d need something to dissuade others from trying the same thing. But he thought he might have just the thing. He briefly glanced at the two unconscious men, deciding they’d be likely to remain that way for a few moments, but he tied the one man’s hands with some scarves he found for sale nearby. Then he returned to the pharmacy.

When he entered the closed in room the wheezing addict glanced at him warily, but he’d lain the pry bar aside. The man was badly dressed, somewhat dirty with greasy hair, with a wispy beard and a sunken gaunt look to him. David didn’t think he had many alternative career options open to him.

“Are you ... are you gonna help me now?” he asked.

“Not yet. I’ve got to take care of your friend first,” David advised him. “You realize there isn’t much I can do, though, don’t you?”

“I was wondering what you were going to ... try,” the man admitted, sweating heavily. However David saw he still had good color, so he didn’t think the collapsed lung was affecting his blood pressure yet. The big danger was if the lung caused the blood pressure to lower, triggering heart damage. If that didn’t occur, then the next worry was permanent damage to the lung. But without an ambulance or any police service David didn’t know how likely they were to get any help. He knew he wasn’t about to drive for another couple of hours in dangerous conditions to walk into a strange hospital carrying someone he’d waylaid and intentionally injured. He’d help as much as he could, but he wasn’t planning on putting himself in danger trying to help him either. He figured the creep brought the trouble on himself.

“I’m going to try to inflate the lung. It’s likely to only be marginally successful. Basically I’m going to try to get the lung to inflate on its own. But you need to rest, you’ll need to save your strength.”

“Wait a ... minute,” the kid gasped. “First you attack us, then you try to save ... me. Now you’re dragging the other guys away. What’s ... what’s up?”

“There aren’t any police, stupid. As you’ve guessed, there’s no law enforcement or ambulance service at the moment. In cases like this individuals have to step into the breach to help the community. I stopped you from stealing supplies needed by the community, so there’s no need to kill you. But if you try something like this again, I’ll do just that. You understand?”

The guy nodded quickly, despite the effect it had on his breathing.

“I’m sorry, man. I just thought—”

“No, you weren’t thinking. You saw an easy opportunity, and like the lazy jackass you are you figured you’d take it, despite the fact others are injured and hurting nearby. Now leave me alone, I’ve got another asshole to take care of,” David replied as he dragged the other unconscious older man out of the room by his feet, heedless of how his head occasionally banged into the nearby cabinets.

When he got him by the other bodies, he quickly checked all three. The one kid, the first one he’d attacked, seemed to be coming around. He grabbed his face, opened his eye to see just how awake he was. Seeing he was coming to, he addressed him briefly.

“Sorry about this, but believe me, you’ll appreciate being out for this,” he told him. Then he hit him full in the face again, knocking him out once again. Once he was sure he was out he grabbed the most dangerous of the men first, the one who’d come after him. He dragged him outside, and with great difficulty stood him up against the intact wall beside the large gap in the stores wall and stretched his arm over his head. At that point he pulled the nail gun he’d grabbed from his car. It was handy working on his home so much, as he had plenty of tools available for all kinds of situations. Holding the man up with his own body and holding his hand steady, David proceeded to nail the man’s hand to the wall, making sure he didn’t puncture anything vital. When he saw the hand was attached to the side of the building successfully, he did the same thing to the other hand. The guy was unconscious for the first one, but began to wake up and moan while he was positioning his other hand. When he shot the second nail through his hand the man came fully awake, screaming piteously. David ignored him, making sure he was secure, then stepped back to make sure he wouldn’t pull free from the building.