L Akers - Fight Like a Man

He opened the refrigerator and then quickly slammed it shut, cursing his laziness. Something stunk. Gabby would probably kill him over not throwing away all the food or cooking what could be saved. He hadn’t done a thing since the power went out. It wasn’t like him.

He cursed the demon on his back, grabbed a Gatorade and ate a bowl of dry cereal, and then he hit the road. Grayson would have plenty of food later.

Loose rocks spun through the air as Jake slid the four-wheeler to a sudden stop on the dirt road. He’d heard a woman scream. He looked over his shoulder at the woman standing in the middle of the road waving at him; she must’ve stepped out of the woods as he passed by. He backed the ATV up and turned it around, and sped back to her.

“Hi,” the woman said in a friendly voice. “I saw your hat. It matches mine.” She pointed to her head. “See.”

The woman wore an exact replica of Gabby’s favorite hat, with the TSS Logo; she also wore a pistol in clear view, holstered to her side. He watched her carefully but her hand didn’t hover anywhere near it.

“You’re with The Shooting Sisterhood?” he asked, in confusion.

“Yeah, like what are the chances of that, huh?” she answered and laughed. “My friend and I were here for a shooting competition. Power went out. No gas to get home. We’re sort of stuck.”

The shooting range was on the way here, although he hadn’t passed it himself. He’d taken a short cut to get this far.

Jake took his hat off and looked at it to be sure. Perfect match. “This is actually my wife’s hat. Her name is Gabby.”

“Gabby is your wife? I know her! Well, from our group on Facebook. We chat sometimes. We were hoping to meet her in person while we were here but we didn’t see her at the shoot. My name’s Tina.”

“We?

“Yeah, I have another friend with me. She’s in there.” The woman pointed her thumb toward the trees.

“What are y’all doing out here?”

She shrugged. “Camping out. What else? The only motel we could find in this area was a hole in the wall. Toilets were overflowing. People were getting upset. We don’t know another soul there, so we headed out of town limits to be safer—get away from the crazies. Been camping here for a few days now.”

Jake thought about it. The odds of running into two of Gabby’s friends, on the way to Grayson’s house, during an apocalyptic event such as this were probably a million to one. But he did know the motel she was speaking of, it was the only hotel near them in York County without walking a very long way, and she was right. It was a rat hole even before the power went out.

But the paranoid side of Jake wondered if Gabby had mentioned the homestead as a bug-out location to her. Women who liked to shoot were more times than not also preppers, and it could’ve come up in a private conversation. Maybe they’d set up camp here on purpose, hoping to run into Gabby.

“What’s your plan?” he asked suspiciously.

Tina threw her hands up in the air. “To get home. But we have to wait for the power to come back on or find some gas. What else? Don’t have much choice,” she said and laughed.

Jake raised an eyebrow. For a woman, she didn’t seem all that panicked about being stuck away from home, squatting in the woods. This wasn’t passing his smell test. Grayson had always warned about The Golden Horde ; people who hadn’t prepared that would eventually come creeping out of the chaos of town into the country; people who’d do anything to get to your food and supplies if the shit ever hit the fan.

Tina watched him carefully and laughed again. “Look, cowboy. We’re not looking for a knight in shining armor. We both have one of those at home and we intend to get back to them. I was going to quietly watch you go by like I have a dozen other people, but I saw the hat. That’s all. Thought it was weird and before I realized it I called out. You can get back on your way.” She stepped out onto the road and held a hand out. “Tell Gabby that Tina and Tarra say hi.”

Jake took her hand and slowly shook it, looking into her face for any sign of duplicity. He saw none. Now that he thought she might not want his help, he couldn’t just ride away without seeing if they were okay, even though she looked healthy enough. Actually, more than that. She was attractive with her long hair and cat-shaped eyes. She wore a tight black T-Shirt, emphasizing strong arms, and camo pants covering a shape that would definitely turn heads. She wasn’t dirty or desperate at all.

A woman like this shouldn’t be stranded far from her knight in shining armor , as she put it.

“You ladies have food and water?” he asked.

Tina gave him an almost patronizing smile and nodded. “Yeah, we’ve got plenty.”

How could they have plenty if they’d walked here and been camping for days? Surely any food they’d had with them—and water—would be gone by now. Jake wasn’t aware of a river or creek anywhere near. Maybe that was her pride talking?

His conscious pricked at him. What if Gabby and the girls needed help right now wherever they were stranded? He’d been hoping and praying for days that someone would step up and help them, if and when they needed it. He’d be a hypocrite to not do something for these women now.

“Can I meet your friend?” he asked, hoping to get a look at their campsite and see how they were faring before making any decisions.

“Sure. Come on.” She tilted her head toward the woods. “Here’s a wide enough opening to get your 4-wheeler through.”

Jake waited for her to get out of the way, and then drove the ATV through the ditch, and just into the edge of the woods, hiding it from view. He got off and followed as Tina quietly stalked through the woods, admiring her skills. She barely rustled a leaf, quiet as a mouse.

He sounded like a herd of elephants as he walked.

They approached the campsite from behind, and he saw the other woman, Tarra, who was doing something that nearly blew Jake’s mind. She had a small piece of wood tapped into a tree, and under that she was tying an empty water bottle to the trunk, held tightly to the tree with a boot shoelace.

In just a moment, he watched in astonishment as clean, clear water began to drip into the bottle.

“How’d you do that?” he asked, startling the woman, who reacted by whipping around and reaching for her own pistol, quick as lightning.

Jake flinched. These women were no shrinking violets.

Before she pulled the gun free, Tina stepped in front of Jake. “Wait, Tarra. This is Gabby’s husband. He’s okay.”

It took Tarra a moment before her face fell into a friendly smile and Jake studied her. Strong chin and clear hazel eyes, she wore a ReelCamo Girl tank top with tight blue jeans and boots. The headband she wore with her bouncy pony-tail was also ReelCamoGirl. Jake recognized the brand, as he’d been forced to look through pictures of women on Facebook wearing it when Gabby decided she wanted some for her birthday. She looked clean enough to have just finished a photo session. She also didn’t look as though she needed his help.

These women couldn’t hold a candle to his Gabby, but they were both attractive women; too cute to be out on their own in a strange town living in the woods. Grayson might get mad, but Gabby would never forgive him if he just left them here.

And he was more afraid of Gabby then Grayson; by a long shot.

Jake tried to make friends with Tarra, feeling terrible for catching her off guard. “Can you show me how to do that? Is it a special tree or something?”