Anthony Newman - American Survivor

“Jane we have to give these guys the slip, and the going might get rough. I’m going to head up and over the hill in front of us. Then I’ll turn back toward town. I will get out with my rifle and let you go on down the hill so I can ambush the men following us. Double back and then come back up between the two hills to our left and wait for me.

Joe got out, and Jane sped on down the hill in the dark. He lay prone on the ground in some bushes and waited for the vehicle to approach. He had to wait for twenty minutes before an old Ford F100 came toward him with a guy on top shining a searchlight into the woods. The truck was going slow and made a great target. Joe shot the man on top then shot the two men in the cab before they could draw their weapons.

He didn’t see the man in the back of the truck until it was too late. He saw the flash and hit the ground shooting as he fell. The Mini 14 spat out four shots as Joe fell and the man bled out from two bullets in his legs. Joe lay on the ground with the wind knocked out of him by a bullet that struck the binoculars hanging from his neck. The bullet drove the binoculars into the bottom of his ribs on his left side. A second shot hit the rocky ground and sprayed his legs with bullet fragments and rocks. He struggled for air and couldn’t sit up for several minutes.

Joe finally sat up and used his hiking light to check his chest and legs out. The binoculars had saved his life but left him with a huge bruise. He rolled up his pants and saw numerous cuts and holes in his legs. All except two had stopped bleeding, and he held pressure on the last ones until they quit.

He limped to the truck and found three nice Glocks, three AR-15s, and extra magazines for all of the guns. Joe walked over the next hill and down the valley to find Jane and the Jeep. He limped along for half an hour before deciding that he should have walked up the mountain to find her. He rested for a few minutes then continued his trek until he knew he’d gone too far.

Joe noticed that his calves didn’t bother him anymore and that he could walk for hours without tiring. If it weren’t for the pain from his wound, he would actually enjoy the hike. He knew he had lost a considerable amount of weight, which made walking up and down the mountain trails so much easier. The apocalypse had forced him to exercise and eat less.

Joe’s only thought was that she had pulled into a stand of trees and didn’t see or hear him walk up the narrow valley. He didn’t want to carry the guns any longer and was tired, so he found some dense bushes and found a place to sleep until the sun came up.

Joe didn’t sleep much but rested his injured legs until there was enough light to see the tire tracks. His chest still hurt each time he took a deep breath. He crossed the narrow valley and didn’t see any tracks, so he started down the valley searching for his Jeeps tracks. He was only a quarter mile from the road at the bottom of the valley when he saw the tire tracks. The tracks headed off into the brush, and he saw the Jeep had cleared a swath of brush through the south side of the valley. He found the Jeep up ahead and was surprised to hear the engine running. He got closer and saw Jane asleep with her head slumped down over the steering wheel.

“Jane. Hey Jane,” he called, but she didn’t move.

He opened the door, realized that Jane was unconscious, and slumped over the steering wheel with a bloody spot below her shoulder. The bullet had traveled through the back seat, a large box full of seeds, and the front seat before it pierced Jane’s jacket and back. She was lucky because the .223 bullet would have ripped a large hole in her chest as it exited if it hadn’t been slowed down. Joe took a quick look around him to make sure there was no danger and turned his attention back to Jane.

He lifted her head and checked her chest for an exit wound, but the bullet didn’t pass through. He found his First Aid kit, checked her injury, and found there was a bullet fragment lodged about an inch deep against her back upper ribs. He poured alcohol on the hemostat and then the injury to help sterilize them. Jane didn’t move as he probed for the jagged bullet fragment until he dislodged it from between two ribs. Joe finished tending to her wound and decided to make her comfortable. He laid the passenger seat back and made Jane as comfortable as possible. He covered her with a blanket and checked to make sure no one was around. Daylight was only a few minutes away, and they were stuck there until dark.

He knew Jane had been lucky the wound stopped bleeding on its own, or she would have bled out and died. He remembered one of the survival manuals mentioned a powder that could be poured on a wound that stopped the bleeding. He would look for a supply of that on his next trip into town.

He heard something move and quickly raised his rifle, but no one was around. He searched the area and saw footprints heading across the hillside. He tracked the person with the intent to kill him slowly for shooting this woman. To his surprise, he came over the top of the hill and saw a body lying in the next valley.

He walked down to the valley and saw the tire tracks of the F100 going right over the dead man. The ones following him had accidentally robbed Joe of the opportunity of killing the man who shot his friend.

He went back to the Jeep and added gas from the Jerry Can to the gas tank. He hoped he was far enough away from the dead men so they wouldn’t be found. Joe made himself comfortable so they could hide until the sun went down in nine hours. He couldn’t afford anyone following him back to the cabins so he wouldn’t travel in the daytime. Jane stirred a couple of times, and he was able to get her to swallow some pain pills and a glass of water. She didn’t wake up until late afternoon. Joe spent the day watching for intruders and reading a book on farming that they found at the Co-op. He catnapped a bit but couldn’t sleep with the Jeep so far from home.

“What happened? My chest hurts almost as much as my head,” Jane said as she opened her eyes and stared at Joe.

“Take it easy and don’t move. You were shot in the back below your shoulder. I removed the bullet and stopped the bleeding. I guess you hit your head on the steering wheel when the Jeep stopped against the tree. You’ll be okay in a few weeks,” Joe said.

“Where are we?

“We’re stuck on a hillside a few miles from your cabin. I was afraid to move during daylight for fear of being spotted. We also have to cut south several miles and come in from below the cabin. An experienced tracker could find us in a few hours, but I think these men are just trash from Medford. It will be dark in a few hours, and I’ll take you on back to your kids,” Joe said.

“Thanks for taking care of me. I really appreciate your help.”

“I’m just sorry that I allowed you to go into harm’s way. I should have made you stay home,” Joe replied.

Jane held back for a minute then said, “Joe your protective streak is adorable, but I’m a grown assed woman and can do what I damn well please. If you hadn’t taken me along, I would have gone by myself. Going with you probably saved my life or at least kept me from becoming a gang’s love slave.”

“Yeah, okay, I’m sorry, but I was raised to be protective of women and children. I don’t mean to offend you but only to protect you,” Joe said.

“I can see why Cobie is so pissed at you. She’s been making a life for the two of them for many years without anyone protecting her, and you come along all macho taking charge. It was a big change that she didn’t have time to adjust to,” Jane answered.

“So, I just let you make mistakes that get you killed.”

“No, dumbass. You offer training and then act as an equal in a partnership to protect each other. Yes, some women want their big strong man to protect them while they wash clothes and cook supper but most of those women will die off quickly as things get rougher,” Jane preached to Joe.