Outnumbered series Box Set | Vols. 1-6

attitude. Moved back in with his folks about eight or so years ago. He was a surprise baby when his momma was too late for kids. She almost died giving birth and was sickly afterward. She died maybe six years ago, and his daddy passed about a year later. They were decent people, nothing like Marc."

"We're going after them. We have twenty-five people; do you want to join us?"

Willie looked to his sons. They each nodded. "Yeah, we'll go. We've got nothing but bolt action hunting rifles, but we're all good shots out to three hundred yards or thereabouts.”

Willie nodded toward the way we'd come. "I guess you left vehicles out on the road. Bring everybody up to the house and meet the family."

I said, "Not yet." My eyes met Shane's. "Check it out."

Shane stepped forward. "Willie, we don't know you from Adam, so everybody just stay right here while Ed and I check out what you told us. For all we know this could be Ridder's compound and we'd be walking into a trap."

Willie stood tall and barked emphatically, "Don't you dare hurt my family." Ed and Shane stepped into the woods and disappeared.

We were all silent for several minutes until I asked, "Where were you headed?"

"Going to a parts store in Pierre to find a muffler for this truck and look for food. Can't find much food no more."

"We're seeing the same thing. Most of it has frozen or been ruined by rain."

A loud voice broke the stillness, "What's going on down there?"

Two women, one heavy set the other slender stood in the road with shotguns pointed toward us.

Willie yelled, "Mabel, put those shotguns down and walk over here. We're okay"

Shane and Ed stepped out of the woods behind the women. Shane said, "Ladies, we'll take the guns, just so no one gets hurt accidentally."

I spoke to Shane, "What do you think? Is it safe?"

"We were close enough to see through the trees. There's a small house and a couple of out buildings. I don't think they're a threat." Ed nodded his agreement.

Willie questioned Mabel, "How come you came out here like that."

"We heard that noisy ole truck shutdown before it hit the road and knew something was wrong, so we grabbed the guns and came running."

I called our backup crew and told them to all come up the drive. Willie introduced us to his wife, Mable and Richard's wife, Carmen. Barlow started the pickup and backed it toward the house as we all made small talk while we walked under the bare canopy of overhanging tree limbs.

After our group parked the vehicles at the edge of the clearing, we gathered near the front porch. The house was an old log house with a standard shingle roof that was going bad. It looked like maybe six rooms at the most. It would be crowded for nine people to live in. Another pickup and a mid-sized Chevy sedan sat under a lean-to shelter near a small wood barn. Chickens ran loose and pecked the ground, and I smelled hogs when an errant breeze blew the pungent odor toward us.

I drank a dipper full of cool water from a bucket ten-year-old Bryan pulled up from a well and waited for everyone else to quench their thirst. We sat on the ground in a semi-circle with the Jones clan in the middle. I looked to Willie and Mabel. "How are you making it here on your own?"

They looked at each other before Mabel spoke, "It gets harder every month. If it ain't zombies, it’s Ridder's gang killing us off. And food gets scarcer all the time."

Richard added, "We grow what we can, but we never were farmers and don't know much about it. We're learning but it's not easy."

I looked around our group's faces. "What do you think? Should we invite these people?" Smiles and nods indicated a positive reply.

"We have a large compound in central Iowa; there are currently forty-four of us. Would you like to come with us when we leave? Take your time to talk it over and let me know later."

Willie glanced at Mable and then the sons and daughter-in-laws. All nodded.

"No need to wait," Willie said, "we're going."

"How far is Ridder's place, and how long will it take to get there in the dark? Willie looked to Mabel. "We're going with them to root out Ridder's bunch, me Richard and Barlow." He turned back to me. "He's about thirty miles north. Maybe an hour or less in the dark. Then there's a twenty minute walk off the main road to the lake."

Ed asked, "What kind of place is it. How's it laid out?"

"Before the zombies hit, it was a fancy resort. The main lodge burnt down about then and wasn't rebuilt. There's a bunch of small cabins by the lake and a larger building where seminars and corporate meetings were held. I think most of them stay in the bigger building, but Marc and some of his cronies and their girlfriends might use the cabins."

"Do you have any idea what kind of firepower they have?" Ed wanted to know.

Richard spoke up, "I saw assault rifles and pistols, but I didn't see any big stuff like machineguns or mortars or the like. They've got a bunch of pickups. I guess maybe ten."

I looked to Ed and Shane. "First light is around seven-thirty. Leave here at four-forty-five; get there around six to six-fifteen? The three of us go in to recon, and everyone should be in position before seven-thirty. Wait for first light and hit them hard?"

Shane and Ed nodded before Shane said, "We'll fuel up tonight before dark, leave the trailers here except for the one with weapons, and go in with minimum food and water but heavy on weapons and ammo. If we're