“What's so damn funny?” He asked. Roosevelt reached into the box and pulled a bank stack of money. The slip around the money read 100,000 dollars.
“There's got to be a couple of million bucks in here.” Roosevelt said, still laughing.
“Great! We can just go buy everything we need now!” Johnny replied with his own laugh.
“I wonder why they kept their money hidden in a box in their basement. A bank would have been a much better choice.” Roosevelt said. Johnny looked around the room seeing the people for what they were now.
“Preppers man. They were doomsday preppers. Shelves full of food, boxes full of cash and I bet you 100 grand that inside that safe is a ton of weapons and ammo.” Johnny stated. Roosevelt looked at the safe for a long second and then turned back to Johnny.
“Guess we better find the combination for that big bastard then,” he said.
“Might be in the dead guys wallet.” Johnny said, moving toward the stairs. When they reached the top, they cut for the kitchen where the two dead bodies lay prone on the floor.
“Roll him over.” Johnny said after checking the back pockets. Roosevelt muscled the round man onto his back and then shuffled through his front pockets.
“Nothing.” Roosevelt stated as he stood up and backed out of the room. The bodies were starting to smell and neither of them wanted to be near the things.
“What about the bedroom?” Roosevelt asked.
“Didn’t see anything earlier when we searched it.” Johnny shrugged.
“Well, maybe we missed it.” Roosevelt said as he rounded the staircase for a second time. Pictures of the old couple and with the child lined the hallway walls as they headed for the couple’s bedroom. When they entered the room, they each headed for a nightstand. Johnny yanked open the drawer on his side and shuffled through a bunch of old receipts and trash.
“Nothing here.” He said as he slammed the drawer closed in frustration. A picture that sat atop the stand fell face down making a clapping sound as it hit the wood. Johnny picked up the picture and looked it over. The picture was of the same three people, all wearing birthday hats and blowing on kazoos. The bottom of the picture read Marshalls 12th, 06/19/2047. Johnny stared at the date for a long minute repeating the numbers in his head as he counted back twelve years from 2047. He turned to Roosevelt with a huge grin.
“06/19/35!” He said excitedly before darting out of the room and down the stairs. By the time he made it to the basement he was leaning over, hands on knees sucking in deep breaths. Roosevelt came down the stairs and stopped in front of him.
“What the hell are you talking about?” He asked. Johnny pointed a finger at the safe.
“06/19/35.” He said in between breaths. Roosevelt quickly caught on to his thinking and moved over to the safe. He spun the dial several times before putting in the first number. He twisted the dial to the second number and finally the third. Johnny stepped up next to him and looked down at the door handle.
“You do the honors.” Johnny said. Roosevelt reached out and placed his hand on the handle and then glanced back at Johnny.
“On three. One, two, three.”
Chapter Nine
4:11 p.m. January 2, 2049
Inside the old farmhouse
Tennessee
Roosevelt twisted the safes handle to the left and the door gave an audible CLUNK before it crept open a few inches. They each looked at the other with wide eyes, not believing they had managed to open the safe. Johnny reached forward and pulled open the door revealing stacks and stacks of plastic tubes and small tin containers placed on the shelves inside. Johnny grabbed one of the plastic tubes and dumped the contents on the workbench. A stack of gold eagle coins slid out onto the table. Roosevelt grabbed one of the tins and sat it next to the coins.
“Damn thing is heavy!” He said as he popped open the lid. Inside sat two small silver bars. They each looked at the stash of riches and shook their heads.
“Any other time this would be fantastic, but we need weapons not cash and precious metals.” Johnny said in a disappointed tone.
“We haven't gone through the entire safe yet.” Roosevelt replied before stepping back over to the safe. He spent the next couple of minutes moving the tubes and tins around. When he found nothing on the top shelf, he moved down to the second. He pushed more tins to the side and spotted a short walnut box in the back. He pulled the box out and sat it on the workbench next to the gold and silver. He flipped the latch up on the walnut box and pushed the lid open to reveal a set of nickel-plated revolvers set in a red velvet insert inside of the box.
“Bingo!” Roosevelt said, pumping a fist in the air.
“Really? Bingo? Explain to me what in the hell we’re going to do with these relics?” Johnny chuckled while grabbing one of the large revolvers. He pressed the big .44 magnum out and aimed it at the far wall to test the trigger break. BOOM! The gun exploded sending sharp pains in both of their ears as the concussive blast reverberated in the small basement.
“What in the holy sheep shit!” Roosevelt shouted as he held his hands over his ears.
“Johnny held his own hands to his ears and leaned forward pressing in on his skull to try and relieve some of the pressure.
“Probably should have checked to see if it was loaded. That's my bad.” Johnny said sheepishly.
“No shit, you should have checked that damn hand cannon! Bout blew my goddamn eardrums out!” Johnny gave a light chuckle.
“If it helps any my ears
