Rick stopped carrying boxes. “Sam, what do you need? You’ll have to be quick; we’re almost ready to leave. Another hour and you would have missed me.”
“I want another M21 sniper rifle, a .22 caliber semiauto rifle and another .40 caliber Glock and more ammo for all those.”
“Let’s go to the basement and see what’s left. I’ve been busy the last few days; I sold a ton of stuff. Guess you heard about the zombies in Lawton today?”
“Yeah, I’ve already shot seven since noon. They’re close by here now, so we’re heading north. You need to be on the road in the next hour or be ready to defend yourselves.” As an afterthought, he added, “I suppose you know only a head shot to the brain will stop a zombie; don’t waste your time and ammo on center mass shots.”
They entered the garage and started down the stairs to the basement as Rick said over his shoulder, “Yes, I heard that earlier today from a customer who learned it the hard way. A zombie attacked his wife. Then he had to shoot both of them. I passed that on to several customers earlier as well as my family too. Jean and the girls are excellent shots and are capable of brain shots if they can stay calm and not get overly excited. We’ll be ready to leave as soon as my they load the last refrigerated and frozen food stuff in coolers. They went grocery shopping twice today and stocked up heavily for our trip.”
In the basement gun shop area, Rick checked his inventory, then said, “The last M21 went out today. How about a straight M14? It takes the same ammo as the M21s. It’s been inspected just like the 21s and it’s accurate; it’s got a good quality scope on it too.’ He turned to the handgun display case. “Also, I’ve only got one Glock left. It’s a G 41 .45 caliber. I have .40 caliber in other brands though. But the .22 rifle is no problem.”
“I’ll stick with the Glock in .45 caliber.”
Sam picked up the M14 with a swing away scope. “Okay I’ll take those and two cases of hollow point ammo for each, even in the .22 cal. if you have it.”
“I may have the ammo; most people settle for the full metal jacketed because it’s half the price. I wish I’d had more customers like you who know what they want and are willing to pay for it.”
JR was shouldering a semiauto shotgun. Sam said, “What do you have there?”
JR turned to him. “A Winchester 20 gauge. It fits me good.”
Rick was putting the rifles in soft cases. Sam said loudly, “Rick, I’ll take the 20 gauge shotgun and a case each of slugs, .00 buckshot and number 4 shot, if you have those for it.”
“Ammo shouldn’t be a problem. I received three huge shipments during the past month. I’ll lose my ass on that when I have to leave it behind.”
While Rick gathered everything, Sam and JR picked out camo hats and winter gloves, vests, coats, 12 gauge Bandoliers, cleaning kits, and other assorted gear. Several dog chains hung on pegs, and Sam grabbed two.
As Rick wrote a receipt, Sam started counting currency.
Rick stopped him. “I don’t want dollars. I’ll take gold or anything else of equal value, but not paper money.”
Sam shrugged dejectedly. “Sorry to waste your time. Paper money is all I have. Let’s go JR. We’ll have to stop somewhere else along the way.”
They clomped halfway up the basement steps before Rick relented. “Shit, I can’t take any more of this with us anyway. I’ll have to leave what’s left when we pull out shortly. Thieves will get what’s left for free as soon as they know I’m gone. Give me the currency.” He looked up dejectedly from the paperwork. “Get rid of the paper money as quick as you can. I guarantee it’s soon going to be worthless.”
Sam nodded knowingly as he motioned to JR to be quiet. He’d pulled a bluff with Rick and didn’t want her to screw it up. He turned and stared quizzically at Rick. “ Would you happen to have any explosives on hand, like dynamite?”
“No. I don’t deal in explosives. They’re too dangerous. Wait! There are a few hand grenades. Would you want them? Do you know how to use a grenade?”
“Yeah. Charlie Wilcox told me about them. Pull the pin, throw fast and far, and duck low.”
“I’ve got a box of a half dozen or so, maybe eight of the old M2 pineapples. I got them in a large estate deal I bought last year. I’ve actually been wanting to be rid of them because it cost too much for a license to own them legally. Although, I guess that doesn’t matter now with laws and enforcement soon going to be a thing of the past.”
Rick helped lug the weapons and ammo cases to Sam’s trailer. He said good-bye, then turned and added, “Hope to see you in Canada or the Yukon.” He turned toward his wife as she said, “We’re packed and ready and the girls are strapped in. Lets hit the road before someone else stops.”
Rick said, “Let’s you and I make one more check to see if we missed anything.”
After loading three magazines with .45 ammunition, Sam slid the new gun into his holster.
Rick started his truck’s engine as Sam
