L Akers - Fight Like a Man

But for now, one problem at a time.

The women got very quiet.

Gabby couldn’t think past seeing her husband, Jake. He’d not been himself lately and she wondered if he was suffering from some sort of depression. He wouldn’t talk about it with her. She hoped he’d gone to Grayson’s as soon as the grid went down so at least he wouldn’t be alone.

Olivia was worried beyond belief about her husband, Grayson, and her stepdaughter, Graysie—not to mention her dog, Ozzie. Graysie was away at college an hour from home. Surely, she left before the gas was gone and the roads were gridlocked, but what if she didn’t?

And Emma didn’t dare mention her son Rickey, or her own husband, Dusty. She couldn’t even whisper their names for fear of breaking down. With Dusty’s job, he could be in more danger than all of them, and Rickey could be right in the middle of it with him.

Mei wasn’t interested in talking either. She went from sitting to standing to pacing in equal measure, driving them all insane with her inability to sit still for a moment.

Gabby packed everything away and stood up. “Let’s go.”

They’d lost a lot of time sitting next to the creek, but left with a little more oomph and one refilled water bottle. Now they were in near pitch darkness struggling through a stand of thick forest in single file. Finally, they found a small trail but had no idea how far it went. They could be in here all night.

Gabby ran straight into a branch and leapt back just before it gouged her eye out. “I think we need to turn around,” she said.

“No way. We’ve been in here almost an hour now. I’m not going all that way back,” Olivia answered. Olivia thought they were close to home. She was wrong… Gabby just knew it. It didn’t feel like home yet. Or anywhere near it.

She gave in. “Okay, but I’ve got to pee. You all go on without me, I’ll catch up in a minute.”

“You sure?” Olivia asked. “Aren’t you scared?”

Gabby shook her head, although not sure if Olivia could see her. “I’ve got the gun, remember? I’ll only be a minute. Just keep walking.” She was afraid if they stopped and sat down, they wouldn’t get back up.

The moon chose that moment to shine through the clouds and trees, throwing a patch of light onto the trail as Olivia, Emma and Mei slowly walked on.

Gabby stumbled around trying to find the perfect tree to squat in front of; a big one to lean against if she lost her balance, with a small one to hang onto next to it, hopefully with a patch of higher ground that would drain the pee away from her shoes; not on them.

Finally, she dropped her pack, removed the gun from the back of her pants, and hunkered down. As she emptied her bladder she wondered what kind of trail this was… a deer trail? A 4-wheeler trail?

It didn’t take her long to find out.

In a moment, a baby pig ran across the trail, and then turned and zigzagged back the way it’d come, nearly running right over Gabby’s feet.

Gabby gasped and froze, waiting to see if it came back. Her first thought was the bikers had found them, but this pig wasn’t wearing a skirt, and it wasn’t white. It was spotted gray and black.

It was a wild piglet.

And where there was a baby, there’d be a mama close.

She jerked her pants up in a hurry so she could warn her sisters.

Too late.

A piercing scream cut through Gabby’s heart and the woods came alive with the sound of running, squealing and snorting.

Gabby cupped her hands to her mouth and screamed, “Climb a tree!”

There was no way anyone could outrun a wild hog in the dark woods.

Her heart pounded as she gripped the pistol with one hand and blocked the branches from her face with the other. She flew down the trail guided by the tiniest bit of moonlight, feeling her skin being slapped and ripped with a torrent of limbs.

It’s going to kill them. It probably has tusks. I should have stayed with them. I’m the one with the gun… She could just see her sisters smeared with blood, laying in dripping heaps while wild animals gnawed at them. Her life would never be the same. Losing her twin sister would be like losing a limb. Losing both her sisters would be worse than death.

She shrieked again, loud and long, and raced after them. “ No! No! No!” Blindly, she raced through the dark woods with one arm out in front of her, slapping away the branches and brush. Here, the trees were spread apart more.

“Don’t run! It’ll catch you!” she screamed, knowing they probably couldn’t hear her.

Climb a tree Climb a tree Climb a tree

That was the last thought she had before darkness over took her.

GABBY PATTED the bandage on her head and silently thanked her husband once more. She promised herself if they made it home, she’d pay more attention to the details of prepping, and less attention to her passion for shooting. Now she realized there was more to being prepared than learning how to shoot a gun and spending time at the range. She and her sisters were barely more prepared than the average sheeple—as Grayson called them.

Quickly she thought about all their mistakes so far. None of them had the right clothes for an emergency hike down the road; they were wearing summer shorts for Pete’s sake. Olivia didn’t have any walking shoes. They had one small bug-out bag. More of a Get-Home bag really. She wasn’t familiar with what was in that bag beforehand. Everything should have been tested before an emergency. She wasn’t even sure if the Sawyer filter had ever been used before or if they’d done it right—were they supposed to clean it before using it? Was she supposed to use another filter before drinking it? Filter it twice? She had no idea; she’d faked it earlier because she was too thirsty to figure it out. It was still possible they could all end up squatting for hours later for all she knew. And that would be her fault, too. Also, they hadn’t kept the gas tank topped off. She was sure there were many more mistakes and Grayson would be sorely disappointed in all of them before it was over.

She was just thankful her other half had been listening to Grayson when he stressed the importance of an emergency pack. Jake didn’t care much for shooting, but he’d obviously took the whole prepping thing more serious than she had. He’d come through in the end as the half of their marriage that saved the day, just by packing that small bag.

The first aid kit had come in handy again, especially the sterile alcohol wipes, antibiotic cream, and the roll of bandage. When she’d first opened her eyes to find Olivia, Emma and Mei staring at her, she’d forgotten where she was, and who the strange Asian girl was. It’d taken her a minute to assure herself she wasn’t dreaming. Her sisters were alive, well, and in one piece. She took another few minutes to get on her feet and find her bearings.

The sow had run right past her sisters, who’d heard it—or something—coming and had all jumped up on a huge rock, clutching each other. They’d watched it run past in a blur followed by a litter of babies. They’d called out to Gabby that they were okay but in her frenzied state, she hadn’t heard them.

She’d flown through the trail directly into disaster, tripping over a root and knocking herself out. Now she and Olivia would be twins again, both having nearly identical cuts and bumps on their heads.

They’d also put salve on Mei’s burn and wrapped it, much to her indifference.

Back on the trail nearly an hour now, they were exhausted. They’d all thought they were in great shape with their hot yoga, exercise dance classes, and daily walks. But the uneven terrain and long, steady pace was different than flittering around on a gym floor or walking through the neighborhood.