Tom digested what the man had said. “Thank God the winds blow west to east out here.”
“Where are you going?”
Tom lied to protect the location of their home and the route they’d take. “Out to Eureka to our homes. We were caught on vacation in the San Francisco area.”
“Damn the bad luck. I have a well if you need water. We only have enough food for ourselves.”
“Thanks, we’ll take you up on the water.”
The man and his wife were friendly, but Tom saw a glint of light from the barn roof and a shed. He was sure snipers were watching them. Tom saw the small orchard loaded down with oranges and apples. “I know you said you were short on food, but could you share some fruit? We have a few apples left, but some oranges would be great.”
The man asked his wife to fetch a couple of bags and allowed Tom’s crew to pick a half bushel of apples and oranges before leaving. Tom thanked the man. “This fruit will help us get home. Thanks, and you can call off your snipers. I would have done the same if you showed up at our place. Stay safe.”
“How did you see them?”
“I didn’t. They didn’t cover their scopes, and I saw flashes of sunlight where none should exist. The sun behind them would make it difficult to see them and would eliminate the sunlight glancing off the glass.”
“Thanks, and watch your backs. We’ve run off some tough-looking folks this week. The SOBs snuck back at night and stole fruit and grain we had stored for planting,” the man said.
Granny B watched the Tactical and Shooting store through her field glasses from a clothing store across the street. “It hasn’t been on fire, but all of the windows are broken. The door has been forced open, so we know it’s been looted. Tom, take Bill and Jackie with you. You know what to do. We’ll take any weapons you find, and ammunition would be great.”
Tom motioned for his sister and Bill to join him. He checked Bill’s and Jackie’s weapons and then said, “Empty your backpacks and take one of the bags with you. Let’s hope we fill them.”
They looked both ways to make sure no one watched and ran across the street to the store. Tom had Bill stay just inside the door, watching for anyone trying to sneak up on them. Jackie and Tom walked inside to see all of the long gun shelves empty, and the glass display for pistols shattered. Not a pistol or rifle was in sight. Jackie stepped in further and slipped, falling to the floor. Jackie yelled, “The darned floor is covered in bullets! The bastards ransacked the place and didn’t bother to pick up loose bullets. I see plenty of 9mm, 12 gauge double aught buckshot, .22s, and a few others.”
Tom bent over and pocketed as many of the 9-mm as he could find around him. “Let’s find something to shoot these other bullets,” and then helped his little sister to her feet.
“Tom, look over against the far wall, archery stuff. I’m heading over there.”
The archery section was more promising since they could see several compound bows still hanging on the racks. Arrows and quivers were plentiful.
“Look! Tom, there’s a woman’s bow.” She nocked an arrow, pulled the bowstring back, and let the arrow fly. “I can use this one. I was pretty good with a regular bow.”
Tom took the best men’s bows and a youth bow to Bill and then went back to scrounging. He went behind the counter and into the back room. This room was divided into storage and gunsmith service. Tom took several small gun-cleaning kits and bore snakes for every caliber from .17 HMR to 12 gauge.
Jackie saw the shelves filled with empty long gun boxes and wondered what was behind them. She hoped to find a safe. She was surprised when she moved several dozen empty boxes from the pile. “Tom! Oh, Tom! Come here, big brother! I have a big surprise for you!”
Tom looked at the boxes. “Empty boxes don’t thrill me.”
“But full boxes would.”
“Huh?”
She pulled a box from the top of the remaining pile and pitched it to him. “Hey, it’s got a gun in it. Darn, It’s a nice little bolt action Savage .22 Magnum. What’s in the others? We need some ARs and a couple of shotguns.”
There were eleven full boxes, and none had an AR. They found four Ruger 10/22 22 LR semi-automatics, two Savage .17 HMR bolt actions, two .22 Magnums, two bolt action Savage .308s, and one Mossberg 12 gauge pump shotgun. Tom looked over the booty. “I wish there had been some AR15s, but these .308s will reach out a lot longer with more power. I see some scopes over there. We need ammo for these. Hey, Bill, go bring the others over. We need someone sorting the bullets.”
Lucy, Greta, Sam, and Brenda gathered and sorted the bullets scattered across the shop floor. Lucy found several boxes of 9mm and .22 long bullets that had been kicked under the display case in the turmoil. While the bullets were picked up, the others searched for slings, magazines, and scopes for the rifles. They found several red dot and regular 3 x 9 power scopes and one excellent night vision scope.
Tom read the instructions for the night vision scope. “The night belongs to us. We need some more of these.”
Granny B had a doubting look. “What makes you think that thing will work since it has all those fancy electronics?”
“Because it is working. I
