Joshua Gayou - Commune - The Complete Series - A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Box Set (Books 1-4)

“Well, yes. More or less.”

There was a beat of silence as Billy processed this and I noticed something during this space of time. There was a subtle gap of space in the group of men down by the trucks, as though there were actually two groups instead of one. The group on the right were standing behind Howard, and the group on the left seemed to be crowded around who I assumed was Doug. I also noticed that, as Howard discussed their reasons for choosing the valley with Billy, the people in Doug’s group fidgeted, sighed, and rolled their eyes. These people had a rift, and it looked like blossoming into something ugly.

On top of this, I disliked the fact that there were no women with them. With a woman in their company, I would have been better able to gauge what kind of men they were; if the woman or women looked healthy, relatively happy, and unharmed, there was a good chance that the men were okay. Without that indicator, I wasn’t excited about Lizzy and I suddenly becoming the only females in such a large group of strange men, some of whom appeared hostile. I prayed silently that Billy could see all this and that he had reached the same conclusions as me.

Billy finally said, “The thing is this: you all seem well enough, but we don’t actually know you. I get where you’re going; you’re suggesting we partner up. We’re not opposed to that, but I don’t think we’ll be jumping in head first without looking either. I think it’s best if we get to know each other.”

More sullen muttering from Doug and his group.

“I understand,” Howard said. “What do you suggest?”

“This isn’t the only house in Jackson,” Billy said. “There are hundreds out here in these hills that are open to any who happen by, many of them nicer than my place—I wasn’t the only guy interested in retiring in this backcountry. Why don’t you boys go set up at one of these places for the next little while? I can mark a few nice ones out on a map for you. We’ll meet back here next morning, maybe have some breakfast, and talk it over some more. Kind of work things out over time and see what happens.”

Howard was nodding his head at this like it made sense, but Doug wasn’t having any of it, apparently. Unable to contain himself, he finally burst forth.

“Can anyone explain to me why we’re standing around discussing this bullshit? It’s late. We’ve been driving all fucking day…”

“God damn it, Doug, will you shut your fucking mouth for once?” Howard shouted.

“Hey, fuck you , Howie. I’m about over this. I’m in no God damned mood to go out looking for another bed in the middle of the motherfucking night when I know good, and God damned well that we have some right here.” The divide between the two groups of men began to widen during this exchange. “Now, I see two assholes on that porch and seven of us. Someone explain that fucking math to me. Someone explain to me why we don’t just subtract these dickheads right now.”

“God damn it, Doug, you fuckwit…”

Jake chose this time to break his silence. “I really think it best if you all head out of here.”

One of the men in Doug’s group swiveled and pointed a handgun toward the house off to my left and said, “Hey, put that fucking rifle up, asshole!”

Billy leveled his shotgun at the man holding the pistol. In response, the rest of the men had their guns up with the muzzles jerking between Billy and Jake… all of them except Howard.

“GOD DAMN IT, STOP!” he shouted, standing between his group and ours with his palms extended out toward both. “We don’t have to do this! You just be patient for a bit, and no one has to get shot up.”

“Been plenty patient with you so far,” said someone next to Doug in a deep voice. “Not much to show for it.” This seemed to puff Doug up even more.

“What does it end up being tomorrow, huh, Howie? We have to go out to collect food for these pricks to offer up in tribute so we can join their secret fucking faggot society? There’re only… fucking… two of them.”

“I said to lower that fucking rifle!” a man barked, sounding as though he was on the edge of panic.

My heart was slamming against my chest. I had held out hope that the situation would either stay calm or get back under control, but things didn’t look like getting calm any time soon. The fatal flaw in this whole group appeared to be a weak leader… a weak leader that was going to be relieved of command within the next few seconds if someone didn’t do something fast.

Intuiting this fact for himself, Billy lowered his shotgun and said, “Okay, look, let’s all calm down, guys…”

“Oh, fuck all of this,” said Doug. He shot Howard in the back of the head.

Gunfire erupted instantly from all directions. Doug was the first man in the group that I killed; I had kept my dot on his chest as soon as I understood how the balance of power was distributed among them. I put several rounds in his chest, but I can’t remember the exact number anymore; at least three. I killed another man standing next to him as well before the group realized that they were dealing with more than two men and started to scatter.

At some point during my shooting, I heard and felt two grunting explosions from Billy’s shotgun, one of which caved in a man’s chest; the other blew his neighbor’s leg off at the knee. The shotgun ceased firing abruptly after that and I saw Billy slump, falling backward into the front door, which rattled it on its hinges. Gunfire of varying intensities continued, belching clouds of smoke out into the air and obscuring the view in the light of the lantern. Out on the edges of the smoke, I saw the shadowed form of two men running off in opposite directions around either side of the house. The sound of Jake’s AK-47 followed after them and then ceased.

Presently, I heard his footsteps rush across the porch and low, urgent talking, all of which sounded like it was coming to me through packed cotton. I realized my ears were ringing. Slapping sounded at the front door, and I could hear Jake call, “Let us in, Amanda! Hurry!”

I rushed to the door, unlocked the bolt, and wrenched it open. I was met with the sight of Jake’s back, so slender in those early days, bent over Billy’s huge burden of a body and straining as he struggled to haul him back into the house. As he pulled him back over the threshold, I saw Billy’s hands were clutching at his abdomen and covered in dark black blood. They were shaking, and I thought he might be going into shock. I noticed he also had wounds in his right thigh and shoulder.

Jake dropped him onto the entry rug and ripped off his own over shirt while I slammed and locked the door behind him. He pulled out his Ka-Bar from behind his back, cut the shirt in half down the middle, and wadded one half up to jam into Billy’s gut. Billy half groaned/half growled at this and snarled, “God damned rednecks…”

Jake looked up at me with wide eyes. “I have to keep this packed on him; he’s not strong enough to hold it. There are two left. They ran around the back of the house.”

“Don’t worry,” I said. I shouldered my rifle and had a moment’s hesitation. The right hallway leading to the bedrooms all had windows that could be accessed from outside, but so did the rear living area of the house; the dining area even had a sliding glass door that opened out to the rear of the property. There was no way to get to the rear common area through the bedroom hallway; the hallway went to a dead end at Billy’s library. I could choose one direction or the other but not both easily.

I heard a noise from the rear of the house, which made my decision for me. “Keep an eye on that hallway,” I said. He nodded to me as I made my way toward the kitchen. When I reached the entryway, I looked all around but saw no obvious movement anywhere. The curtains were drawn across all but the sliding door, and there was no light out back; any available moon or starlight being obscured by the tree cover at the rear of the home. There was no way to see any silhouetted shadow moving behind those curtains.