Stabbing the rod a foot and a half deep in the four directional points around the original found more nothing. Tom had pushed the rod into the ground about a foot away from the center point. Sam stuck a stick in each of the holes, while Tom made four more holes straight out from the center a foot from the others. “Well, this sucks. I remember burying these drums, and they’re only a foot deep.”
He changed to sticking the probe in the ground at forty-five-degree angles from the other probed spots but again, found nothing. “Has there been an earthquake, or did my memory get wiped out?”
Sam stood there, looking at the metal rod and then the marker sticks. Her head looked up toward the sun, which was now barely above the horizon. “What time of year and day did you step off the distance?”
“I remember it well. It was mid-summer and around 11:00 in the morning.”
“Did you use a compass?”
“Of course.”
“Well?”
Tom’s face flushed. “Granny B! Could you bring a compass?”
Granny B took a minute to fetch a compass from her bugout bag and had a bewildered look on her face.
Tom took the compass and backed up to the well. He paced off ten steps heading east. He was shocked that every step took him a few inches off his original direction. He was two feet north where he first turned south. He aimed the compass and saw a tree positioned exactly south of his current position. He began pacing the steps and was amazed at how far off he was from the search's original center.
“Darn, I should have known to use a compass,” Tom said as he raised his hand for a high five with Sam. Then he patted her on the back. “Good job.”
Sam didn’t smile and walked over to fetch her pile of sticks. Tom only stuck the rod in the ground three times before hitting something. “Pay dirt!”
Rick and Tom began digging with the knives to loosen the soil, and then Tom scooped a bucket of dirt away when they’d loosened enough to fill the bucket. They piled the earth close to the hole to refill the hole and help keep the barrel hidden for future storage. “Hey, we can move the handle now.”
Tom moved the small locking tab and pulled the handle away from the drum. The locking band loosened, and he pulled the top away. “There’s a list of the contents in this baggie. I’ll read it.”
He read the list, which was mainly food, but the barrel did have two older Ruger P95 pistols, three magazines, and a thousand rounds of 9mm bullets. Tom began passing their new weapons and supplies to the others. When he’d picked off all he could reach, he pulled a string loose from its tape on the side of the drum. He pulled several boxes of MREs out and passed them on to the others. “Grandpa planned to make removing the contents as easy as possible. He also knew to place the guns on top, just in case we needed them more than food.”
Sam and Jackie weren’t thrilled with the contents of the first barrel. Jackie wanted some ARs, and Sam wanted something better to eat than the MREs. “Tom, we need some ARs or AKs. What’s in the next barrel?”
“I ain’t sure, but I think we placed a couple of rifles in the barrel along with some Wise 72 hour meal boxes. I do know where our last six barrels are, and they all have at least one AR. I bought expensive ones with the lottery winnings, but two are buried in the barn, and the rest are buried too close to the ranch house to dig up now.”
Sam carried the last load over to the cabin. “Granny B, why don’t we go down to the house and tell those people to leave. Tom said they were probably his ranch hand’s family and friends.”
Granny B wondered if the girl had a brain. “Dear, what happens if they don’t want to leave and have AK47s and AR15 rifles? They’re both semi-automatic and can have thirty round magazines. We have one AR, two .308s, and some dinky rimfire rifles. They would massacre us.”
“We have a bunch of 9mm pistols.”
“Honey, a pistol is only a means to get a rifle. A rifle is only a means to get an AR or AK. It’s all about firepower and range. Don’t worry, you’ll learn if you stick with us,” said Granny B.
Sam read between the lines. “I plan to stick close to Tom and all of you. I feel safe with you because you know so much about survival.”
The second container had one of the older AR15s, two hundred rounds of ammunition, dehydrated camping meals in bags, several bags of beans, rice, sugar, and salt. It also contained some small survival tools such as fire starters, thermal blankets, and knives. Tom gave the AR to Rick. “You have the most training with these. I’ll keep my AR15 and give my .308 to Jackie. We can provide backup and snipe while you cover for us. I want to see if Jack, our ranch hand, is there and try to get him off to the side. We need to know what we’re up against.”
Tom discussed his plan to catch Jack away from the others and find out who had taken over the Clarks’ ranch. Tom explained it might take several days to find Jack by himself. He told everyone to be patient and then asked Jackie and Rick to join him on the team to interrogate Jack. Granny B and Sam volunteered to be on the team, but Tom politely let them down. Telling Granny B that they might
