Tom’s head shook side to side, and his fists were clenched. “I’ll find every one of them and kill them for doing this.”
Rick carefully patted Tom on the back. “I’ll help you kill the sorry bastards for burning down your family home. I recognized a couple of the men who could be seen by the firelight. That big one who left on the motorcycle is Jock, the leader. The one who left with him is Skinny Pete. He’s Jock’s enforcer. He’s a ruthless murderer.”
Tom’s mood changed, and he had a wicked grin. Rick asked, “Tom, why are you grinning like a shit eating dog?”
“Oh, no reason. Was I grinning?”
Something moved beside the barn, and then Duke limped out in the open and could be seen in the light of the fire. “Duke has been injured.”
Tom held the Beagle while Rick checked the pup’s wound. Rick saw the gash on Duke’s back. “A bullet grazed him. This dog is almost as lucky as you are.”
Tom tended to Duke’s wounds and laid him on a pile of hay. They continued to watch the house burn.
Tom watched his home burn to the ground for a while after the gang members had left. It didn’t take long for the top story to crash down into the first floor as the smoke rolled and flames licked the sky. The structure slowly melted downward until the two massive chimneys fell like a tree felled by a lumberjack. Tom winced when he wondered what Grandpa would think.
Rick checked the area to find any more wounded, but none of the previous intruders was left alive. Several men’s bodies were strewn about the ranch. Tom had seen the attackers load the women and children into a truck and haul them off. “Rick, you know that Jack and James are lucky we found them when we did. They’d be dead, and June and Alice would be prisoners.”
“I was thinking the same thing. I guess we’ll have to bury the dead later today.”
Tom replied, “We need to give that some thought. If the gang comes back, they’ll expect to see the rotting bodies.”
“Crap,” was all Rick could think to say.
Tom wasn’t sure what to do, but he knew he wanted to move back down to the ranch. “We’ll move back down here and set up our headquarters.”
Rick’s head shook back and forth. “And sleep in the barn?”
“No.”
Rick gazed at the pile of embers and ashes and started to question if Tom was in denial or shock. Before he could ask Tom to explain, Tom pointed up the hill. “Let’s go join the others. I need some food and a short rest before we bring the others down here. Granny B will be pissed when she sees what’s left of her home.”
Jackie saw the dog in Tom’s arms and rushed to his side. “Poor Duke. What happened to him?”
“One of the gang members shot him. He’ll be okay.” Jackie placed him on the couch against Granny B’s objection.
They listened to Tom describing what Rick and he had seen down at the ranch, and everyone except Jackie and Granny B was shocked by the carnage and destruction. Granny B held up her hands to draw attention. “Everything’s okay. My husband planned for this event, and we’ll be fine. Trust me.”
The other ones new to the group joined Rick in thinking Granny and Tom had slipped a cog or two. Brenda openly questioned why the family wasn’t as upset about losing their home and supplies. “Granny B, you seem almost relieved to hear the men burned the home down but left the barn.”
Granny B replied, “Of course we’re upset about our home burning, but it’s not the end of the world. Not one of us was injured, and we gained four great people. Now, stop and listen. My husband started us on the path to prepare for this day over thirty years ago. Every year we got better at prepping and spent every extra dime making the ranch self-sustaining and a fortress. Only the surface has been scratched.”
Jack frowned. “Granny B, I’ve been working for you for over four years. I’ve never seen any extra preparation.”
Granny B snickered. “Because everything we accomplished since you joined us was done right under your nose with you helping us. You dug several of our ponds and stocked them with fish. You dug the trenches for the shipping containers we buried to hold the extra horse and cattle feed. You planted many fruit trees, and June tended the garden and canned tons of vegetables, berries, and apples. You were prepping and never knew it.”
Rick was still curious about living accommodations. “But the home burned. Where will we live?”
“The ranch house was just the tip of the iceberg. We don’t have time, but I’ll show you our new home when we get there. It’s much nicer than this cabin.”
June slapped her knee. “Jack, I told you several times that we put away a lot more food than we could ever eat. That root cellar is overflowing with home and store-bought canned goods.”
Rick jumped into the conversation. “But where do we sleep?”
Jackie replied, “In our beds. Grampa always had a plan B just in case thugs overran the ranch. Our grandpa started burying shipping containers when Tom and I were about ten years old. The entire backyard is one big labyrinth of side-by-side and end-to-end shipping containers. There’s enough room for our entire family. We had two
