"Slow down, I told you not to move." She said, adjusting the thick, teal glasses resting on the bridge of her nose.
"I'm sorry ma'am. My name is Johnny…" he started.
"Truman!" She said, realization washing over her face. "I recognize you from the T.V. My husband would have loved to meet you," she said.
Johnny nodded.
"This is my friend, Roosevelt Parker. Did you say soldiers killed your neighbor?" He asked
"They sure did!" She exclaimed, hoisting the shotgun up a little higher.
"What kind of soldiers?" Roosevelt asked over his shoulder, his hands still raised above his head.
"Put your hands down." Johnny scoffed, noticing his friend hadn't moved a muscle.
"She got a gun?" Roosevelt asked.
"Yeah, but…"
"Nope." Roosevelt replied flatly.
"Go ahead and put 'em down," the woman instructed.
Roosevelt lowered his hands and slowly spun around in place to face the woman.
"I'm Peggy." She said, still pointing the shotgun in their direction.
"About these soldiers?" Johnny asked.
"Oh, well let me tell you what happened." Peggy replied.
"Want to lower that weapon first?" Roosevelt said.
Peggy looked down at the shotgun in her hand, shook her head and pointed it toward the ground.
"Not even sure the dang thing shoots. It was my husband's. Y’all want anything to drink?"
Both men politely declined the offer.
"The soldiers?" Roosevelt asked once again.
Peggy sat down in a nearby armchair, grabbed a coffee mug and took a long sip of whatever was in it. Johnny couldn't quite tell, but judging by the face she made, he surmised that it was probably some sort of liquor.
"Well, a couple of brown trucks drove down the street, real slow. The soldiers in the truck were shooting those things. They stopped in front of our neighbor’s house, a group of the monsters had 'em holed up in their house since yesterday. The Thompsons, a real lovely young couple, had two of the prettiest twin girls you ever seen. Anyway, these soldiers stopped and cleared the porch off real quick. The Thompsons came rushing out of the house, thought they had been saved. The soldiers though, they opened fire and shot them too. Then they just hopped in their trucks and drove away." She said, taking another long sip from her mug.
"Jesus Christ!" Roosevelt exclaimed.
"Yep, that’s when Joe said it was time to get lost. We loaded up with our two boys and came out here. Hadn't been here long when three of them things came outta nowhere and turned my boys into whatever they are now." She said, wiping a tear from her eye with the collar of her loose leopard print shirt.
"And now here we are." She finished, turning the ceramic mug up and emptying it into her mouth.
"Here we are." Johnny repeated.
"I'm sorry to hear that ma'am" Roosevelt said, briefly lowering his head.
The sound of engines across the lake echoed through the calm afternoon air.
"One on the roof!" A man's voice shouted, followed by several doors opening and then closing.
Roosevelt jumped up and crept over to a small window at the back of the boat. He parted two sections of the blinds and peeked through.
"Coast guard." He said, straightening up and wiping the dust from his fingertips on his shirt.
Two shots rang out, followed by the sound of something crashing into the roof above them.
"Got him!" The man's voice shouted.
"Nah that was all me!" Another man's voice argued.
"Knock it off and clear this area, shred the boat!" A woman commanded.
Roosevelt and Johnny looked at each other wide eyed as they realized what was about to happen. Before they could react, Peggy was up and at the door. Shotgun at her hip, she burst out the door. Johnny scrambled toward the door to catch her. She rounded the corner and across the deck stopping before the rusty iron rail.
"You sonsabitches! The Thompsons never did nothin' to nobody!" She screamed, squeezing the trigger two times, hitting nothing that Johnny could see. The soldiers looked on for a brief moment in silence, before raising their rifles. Johnny managed to grab the small woman and drag her backwards, she kicked and screamed and shouted, her words becoming mostly unintelligible at this point. The soldiers opened fire, bullet after bullet pelting the boat.
Johnny managed to pull Peggy around the corner, just as a few bullets hit the ground where they were moments before, splintering the wooden planks on the deck.
"Come on!" Roosevelt hissed, motioning them over with his hand. He was crouched at the shore side of the short boarding deck. Johnny dragged Peggy who hadn't stopped struggling to break free.
"Help me with her!" Johnny shot back.
Roosevelt sighed, and stayed low, running back up the deck. He reached out and grabbed the woman, effortlessly lifting her up and throwing her over his shoulder. He straightened up and charged back down the ramp. Peggy lost her grip and the shotgun she had been carrying fell from her hands, hit the deck, and tipped over the edge, splashing into the water before sinking from view.
"This way!" Johnny shouted, running past Roosevelt who was slightly encumbered carrying Peggy's flailing body. Gunshots continuously echoed through the area, hitting the boat and the ground behind them every step of the way. Several yards later, the two men, and Peggy on Roosevelt's shoulder broke the tree line and disappeared into a thick forest of pine trees. Limbs and sticks whipped across their necks and faces as they sprinted through the forest. The pain came only as an afterthought while they ran.
“Put me down!” Peggy shouted as she repeatedly slammed her fists into Roosevelts strong back. Her blows didn’t even register in his mind until they were what they hoped was far enough away from the shoreline. Barking dog caught Johnny’s attention as they
