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Chapter 21
Southern Oregon – The Clark ranch.
Tom was deep in thought when he saw the two figures sprint across the yard to the barn. They crouched in the dark beside the barn, and then two more people ran to meet them. The four took off in the direction Tom had told Jack to go. He was happy they each had a rifle until he wondered if they were the bad guys and not Jack’s people.
Tom nudged his sister and woke her. “Wake your boyfriend and get ready to travel. Four people just left the ranch house heading southeast to the powerline tree break.”
Rick woke and was on his feet quickly. “Do you think it’s Jack and his folks or a trap?”
Tom kept watching the ranch, and there wasn’t a guard or any movement. “We’ll know soon enough. Let’s go so we can get ahead of them.”
Thirty minutes later, Jackie huffed and puffed, trying to catch her breath. “Can we stop for a minute? Running up and down these steep hills is killing me.”
They were halfway to the meeting place, so Tom said. “We’ll take a break at the top.”
“Crap,” Jackie muttered and kept her tired legs forging forward. They made the top of the hill, and all of them lay on the ground breathing hard. Jackie said, “You know darn well, Jack and his crew are walking to the meeting. Why do we need to run?”
Tom shook his head. “Sister dear, we want to get ahead of them so we can verify who they are, and then watch behind them to see if they’ve been followed.”
“Oh, I see now. That makes sense. Can you and Rick come back and get me once you make sure all is okay?”
“That’s enough rest. We’ll walk down to the dry creek bed at the bottom and wait for them to pass. Sister, it’s all downhill from here.”
“Oh, my aching calves. Downhill kills my calves and butt,” Jackie lamented.
Tom punched Rick on the arm. “Don’t say what you’re thinking.”
Rick laughed, then went to offer a hand to Jackie. “Come on, beautiful. We need to race down the hill.”
“Nope, I’d trip, fall, and roll all the way down, hitting every tree on the way.”
Tom led the way, with Jackie and Rick flirting a few steps behind him. Tom stopped abruptly. “Can you two keep your pants on until we get back to the cabin?”
Jackie’s eyes flew open, and her face flushed in the dark. Her brother had never talked to her like that. Then Tom said, “Well, that’s what Granny B would say. I’m going to say, talk less and walk more. There’ll be time for kissy-face later. Rick, the girl, is in love with you. Don’t make me have to shoot you for breaking her heart.”
Tom walked off, leaving the other two speechless. Jackie wrapped her arms around Rick, and they kissed. “That’s all for now. You heard my brother.”
Jackie got after Tom when they had to wait twenty minutes for Jack’s crew to make it down the hillside. Jackie recognized June walking beside Jack. “Tom, that’s James and Alice with them.”
Tom had to think for a minute. “Aren’t they the ones who ran the second-hand bookstore in Ashland?”
“Yes, she’s June’s best friend. They’re good people.”
Rick watched them pass and whispered, “How long do you think we should wait before joining them?”
“Offhand, I’d say about fifteen minutes. If I were worried about them setting a trap for us, I’d watch them a lot longer. I don’t think Jack spilled the beans, or he wouldn’t have brought June with him. He would have changed the story to protect her.”
No one passed by them, so they walked on to the meeting place where they saw Jack and three others sitting on the old homestead’s porch. Tom whispered to the other two to keep hidden and observe their friends while he went around the cabin. Tom left them and went deep into the tree line until he was behind the house. Tom snuck up to a window and couldn’t see anyone, so he used the night vision scope, and no one was in the small place. He then opened the back door and walked through the kitchen to the front door.
Tom pulled the door to him, hoping it wouldn’t squeak. “Jack, I’m glad to see you made it okay.”
“Damn you, Tom. You scared the dog crap out of me. Why are we meeting here?”
Tom didn’t answer. “June, I’m glad you’re safe, and I see you brought some friendly faces. Good to see James and Alice.”
They all shook hands, then Jack said, “Surely, this isn’t our new home?”
“No, it’s north of our ranch. We used this place to meet just in case they followed you.” Tom watched to see how Jack reacted. His grandpa had drilled into him to only trust what you can verify during an apocalypse.
“We snuck out while I was supposed to be on guard duty. It’ll be another two hours …”
Gunfire split the night from the direction they’d all come from. Tom ducked along with the others. Then he noticed the gunfire was a long way off. “That shooting is back at the ranch. Jackie, please take them up to our hideout while Rick and I check out the ranch and see who’s fighting who?”
This time the hike was mostly uphill, and they were already tired from the previous walk. The gunfire continued, and there were two explosions. One made a massive fireball up into the air that Tom could see. “Crap! That had to be our fuel tank or the propane tank. The small explosion might have been one of the propane tanks for the grill.”
Tom picked up the pace, and they made the two-mile uphill
