Power Outage by Douglas H. Plumb
Chapter 2
After several days of settling in and speculating on the lack of activity outside except for the now feral dogs was creating boredom and anxiousness. Small fights and insults erupted over meaningless things that would normally not even deserve mention or attention. Their lives were easy and lacked purpose. They needed purpose and eventually found only frustration and boredom in the books, music and movies and games that they had as their reality in the powered society.
These sources of occupation had no cultural context. Sitcoms were no longer relevant or funny, movies became meaningless. Books were about a time that had past and no one was in the mood for music. Only Jennifer's exercise program gave them purpose each day, but it was a blind purpose. Why exercise? Why even go on? None of them said it out loud. The kinds of entertainment they had were only a last resort to relieve boredom. They had no plans for a post shelter future. They had no idea what a post shelter future could hold and none dared to speculate. The dogs had them confused.
Dave had suggested that it would still be dangerous to go outside, and not only because of the dogs. They could still be discovered. If they were discovered they may have to kill or be killed. A human enemy was far too dangerous, especially if that enemy knew where they lived. Anyone hungry or desperate for even just company could become an enemy. They didn't need to go outdoors.
Sometime in the weeks or months ahead they would need to see the outside world. They needed to check on Susan but for now it contained nothing but darkness and danger.
A loud knock at their door echoed through the shelter loudspeaker in the middle of an otherwise quiet and uneventful afternoon. They had all been laying around quietly after an hour doing exercises and aerobics with Jennifer. Dave went to see what it was on the video.
He watched a girl knock at the door and walk around the house to look in the windows of the basement on the video display while he switched cameras to follow her. He knew she could not see the shelter entrance area from any of the basement windows and would not be able to see any of the cameras. She sat down on the front steps, periodically getting up to place her ear against the doorway then scan the property carefully. He watched her get up and look around at some trees as if she was looking for camera's then knock on the door and sit back down again as if she was waiting for someone.
They all heard barking and growling dogs. It was louder than most of the other times they had heard the dogs and sounded close to the house. Lisa came out of the bedroom. Dave called Bob and Jennifer who had already started to make their way over after hearing the sound of all the dogs over the speaker. They watched as a pack of seven dogs surrounded the girl on the porch.
The girl reached behind her head, into her knapsack and pulled out a suppressed handgun from a holster in the knapsack top. She extended her arm, set up her stance and lined up one of the large dogs that was close. They heard the thud sound of a suppressed weapon over the speaker as they saw the flash on video. She had put a round into its chest. The other dogs started backing away toward the driveway and sidewalk.
Bob said "That's the girl that came with Susan!".
He paused and added "I don't know what she is doing here and as far as I know she knows nothing about our shelter. Susan had agreed not to tell her about it.".
The girl sat in a lawn chair on the porch and looked from side to side as well as in front while she held the gun ready, aiming upward in front of her chest and expecting a dog to sneak up or advance at any moment, from any direction. She stood up with the handgun and slowly aimed in the direction of the camera trained at the front of the house and took a shot. A small dogs yelp and quick silence could be heard over the speaker but it was out of video range.
Dave commented that it had to have been at least a fifty plus foot shot that sounded like a bulls eye. Most people couldn't have done that at a ten foot range.
Bob thought out loud as he was considering what to do about the girl "We have to let her in. It looks like she can take care of herself, we have the space, she could be an asset. She knows we have a shelter and is expecting us to let her in. She must have a reason for wanting in, maybe something happened to Susan. Susan must have told her...must have had a good reason to tell her.". Bob asked Dave if he thought she could be dangerous, Dave said she would have killed the dogs elsewhere, who were probably tracking her and kept the gun hidden before getting to the house if that was the case.
They all looked at Bob and he said "OK, I'm letting her in" while looking back at them with the understanding of the weight of the decision, waiting to hear objections.
They continued to watch, no one moved from in front of the video monitor. Bob quickly ran over and hit the switch to open the hatch. He ran back over to watch the screen as the hatch was lifting. As soon as it stopped lifting he ran to the hatch and unhooked and placed the tracks across the shelter entrance. He ran back to the switch to lower the hatch wheels onto the tracks and ran back to watch what was happening on video as the hatch wheels lowered onto the track. The barking and growling continued. The dogs were beginning to move in on the girl again.
He heard the hatch rest onto the tracks he ran over, up the stairs, and pushed the heavy hatch out of the way as quickly as he could then climbed the rest of the stairs and pushed the hatch back into place over the opening on its wheeled track. He grabbed the magnet from the tool box and raised the hatch wheels above the tracks to put the tracks under the hatch on the hooks. He hit the switch to close the hatch and put the magnet in his pocket. After the hatch was fully closed he ran upstairs and opened the front door. He was not yet completely sure about letting Emma see the shelter and wanted to talk with her first.
She was in front of the door and didn't turn around when he opened the inside heavy wood door. He opened the screen door and she moved out of the way then slowly backed in, still looking from side to side as if a dog could appear at any moment. A dog suddenly walked around the corner of the house and was trotting toward her and growling, she turned and carefully aimed putting a bullet into its body. The dog stopped when it reached the bottom of the stairs and fell over. Emma backed in a little further, turned to Bob and said "That one could have gotten inside the house. I didn't want to kill a dog inside. Too much of a mess.". Emma took the door, backed into the house and quietly closed the screen door then the wooden door.
She whispered calmly "I'll clean up the dogs when I leave.".
Bob stood there stunned.
Emma whispered "Thanks a lot" and went on, whispering "I guess I have some explaining to do.". She stood still for a moment to catch her breath, took off the knapsack and kneeled down to place her gun back into its holster and put the strap on it.
She stood up and said "I know I am not supposed to know about the shelter. I do know and I have a very good reason to know and you will be glad that I was allowed to know. I have good news for you and will soon be on my way.".
Bob said "Back to Susan's?".
"No" She replied."I will explain everything but I don't want those dogs coming back and circling the house, hearing us and drawing all kinds of attention. This is going to take a little while to explain. You want the dogs gone...right? ".
Bob, still stunned, said "OK, follow me", as he went toward the stairs with her following him. He asked her to step into the laundry room while he opened the hatch. She stepped in and closed the door. He quickly swept the clean floor then got the magnet from his workshop and opened the hatch while she waited in the laundry room out of sight of the hatch switch location.
"Did you wipe your shoes, are they dirty?" He asked through the door, she replied "I will just take them off". Bob asked "How is Susan?" she replied back "Susan is fine." She paused and added "Physically. She wanted to be alone, she sleeps and cries most of the time. I wanted her to come with me, she said she wanted some time but she will be OK I think. We have something to discuss.".
He finished opening the hatch after a few moments of silence between them and called her to follo
"First of all, Susan is fine physically, she is shaken mentally from all this, as I'm sure we all are.".
"I'm partly here to find out what you smart people know about what happened. Susan said that you might have figured it out by now. She wanted me to tell you that she was OK.".
Bob explained that they didn't know anything that she didn't know. He added that they hadn't heard any airplanes or helicopters over the speaker and hadn't seen anything in the sky on the videos. Emma said she or Susan hadn't seen anything and that one of their cameras allowed a lot of the sky to be seen on their video display.
Bob said "If you are not going back to Susan's, where do you intend on going?" She said "Home.".
"Home is where...Portland?" he added incredulously, she replied "No, Bellingham. I was headed to Portland when the power went out and I met Susan.".
Bellingham was two hundred miles away. Dave looked at Emma and said "Tell us about yourself Emma.".
She replied "I was on my way to Portland to meet my cousins to go and stay out into the bush for a few days. We do this all the time, but at my house." She went on "This year I decided to go down there since my parents would let me.".
Dave asked her what she thought she would find at home if she went there and she explained that they had everything and they were also survivalists. They would have gone into their shelter as soon as the electricity and phones went out. She explained that her family knew where she was when the power went out and that they would be expecting her and worried.
They had built their shelter to protect themselves from the global starvation, war, pestilence and disease that would be the final result of the United Nations Agenda 21. They were going into the shelter if things became dangerous, for whatever reason.
"Susan knows my dad. She said she was up at our house when my brother was giving a presentation.".
She went on to explain that they had a big shelter with room for lots of people. She said that with her cousins nearby, her brothers, their families and some close friends, thirty or so people would all be at their shelter. She explained that her dad knew other people who also had shelters. She didn't know if the cousins she was planning to visit had shelters. She added that her cousins were too far away from where she lived for them to bother telling. She added "My dad told them to build shelters and they probably did.".
Bob asked her how they built their shelter.
She explained, "My Dad flew workers in on a private jet and paid them using offshore accounts. We fed and housed them in our basement while they worked for a few weeks at a time then we hired others with different trades. They all had different jobs. None of them had any idea where we were because they were brought in by a windowless truck from the airport and could not see where they were going. They were taken back the same way." She also said that could not tell Bob or anyone where her families shelter was unless they agreed to some terms.
They all looked at each other as the girl was explaining all this. Bob asked her "Does your family own a private jet?", To this Emma answered "No, I don't know how my dad got it, I guess he rented it.".
Lisa said "Tell us more about your background Emma.".
She didn't appear to feel uncomfortable and went on. "I grew up being home schooled and have spent a lot of time in the bush. My family, uncles and cousins all thought something bad would more than likely happen one day soon because of the economy and how the money system is set up. My dad is a monetary reformer.".
Bob said "Yeah. It was getting kind of crazy. Lucky we escaped." Emma replied "My dad would say that too.". Dave said "Yeah, I guess that's true. We should probably be thankful all this happened.".
She went on.
"I was preparing to write my university entrance exams and taking a break with my visit to Portland.". She stopped to drink some water.
Dave asked "Where did you learn to shoot like that?" Emma smiled and said "I've already shot just about everything with everything. I mean from squirrels to bears with anything from a high velocity twenty-two caliber, a three-o-three long range or my forty-five cal handgun. I practice all the time and was on a shooting team with my CO2 pellet gun. My whole family shoots. We have our own shooting range on property that we own in the bush.".
She asked where the bathroom was. Lisa pointed to it and Emma walked over into the bathroom and closed the door.
Jennifer smiled and whispered "Its like she is twenty five or something." They all agreed. Bob whispered "She was built like a young girl except for her height. She hasn't really finished puberty yet.". They all agreed and waited quietly for her to return.
Emma came back, sat down and went on.
"In between school and friends I go out into the bush with my cousins and we shoot or catch all of our meals for as long as a week or even longer at a time." She smiled proudly and went on "I have had private tutors and home schooling all of my life since grade three when my dad took me out of public school.".
She added "I can live in the bush indefinitely." with a sense of dignified superiority. She paused and looked around the table as if to take on any challengers to that.
"My cousins that I was going to visit are mostly vets, nurses and doctors, one is an electrician and owns his own company. They are all married and are all older than me. Sometimes they come up from Portland and me and my brothers and sometimes my dad goes out into the bush with us. We always go out camping for days whenever they come up. Sometimes I get to be the guide.".
"Sometimes we stay at the house on Sundays and have dinner at the philosophers stone." Bob asked "Is that a restaurant?". She said "No, we built a picnic area with a roof and a barbecue and we eat up there on the hill.". So he asked "Why do you call it the philosophers stone?" She said "My brother had made the stone as a gift to my dad after my dad got him a car when he graduated law school." Bob asked "Does it say anything?" Emma responded "Yes, it does. But you will have to see it. If my dad likes you enough he will show it to you. I'm sure he will, if you ever meet him."
She said that she didn't have many friends except for her cousins and family and had spent little time in the city. This trip was her first time in the big city alone and her parents had told her that she couldn't stop for anything other than food as she drove through. They were watching her phone on GPS.
Dave asked, "What does your dad do for a living?" She explained that he did property law full time, as did one of her brothers. She added that her other brother ran their internet business and was writing a book about a bunch of communists trapped in an elevator.
Bob asked her how she got there from Susan's. She explained that she and Susan had talked and gotten to know each other and that she explained everything to Susan that she just told them. She said that Susan gave her the forty-five with four clips of ammunition, a bicycle and Joe's get away bag that had everything she needed for a long bike ride.
She explained that she had anticipated problems with dogs, after seeing a few around Susan's, but not with so many of them. She said she thought that maybe she would see a pack on the way, or maybe some people. She saw four packs of dogs and they all came out after her.
She went on, "I saw two old people together and they were in trouble, they looked hungry and in bad shape. I couldn't help them so I left them my bottle of water. They were the only ones I saw. They were unarmed." She sadly added "I guess the dogs will get them."
She explained "I met the first pack of dogs with the forty-five Susan gave me shortly after talking with the old people. I used Joe's bicycle, and on the last half of the ride I had to ride very fast. Halfway to the house the dogs and groups of dogs started coming out all over the place, I
She went on "There weren't many dogs out by Susan but they were all over the place the in the city. I could outrun them on my bike if I was shooting their leaders as they ran up behind me as I went.".
"Out of your ten or so shots, how many hits?" Dave asked, "Well I only intended to scare the first two away but they had kept coming and I had to shoot them both, so I killed about..." she stopped to think and said "twelve or thirteen dogs, including the ones in front of your place when I stopped.". She stopped to take a breath and drink some more water.
"When the packs come after you, you just have to go after the big one and the rest give up the chase, at least that's what my dad always said, but I think that was talking about a different kind of dog.".
She stopped to think for a moment while they remained quiet and attentive. "I used two clips plus I have two rounds in one clip plus another full one so I guess I used over two and a half clips to get here. My range for the shots was usually about three or four feet, I'd let them get right up near me before I took a shot. I injured one ten feet in front of me as I was pedaling and almost ran into it when it fell over, the rest I let get to within a few feet to the side or behind me before I shot them.".
She stopped to take a drink of water again as they looked at her, silent, and in amazement. "I was really thinking I was going to run out of ammo at your place. I was going to shoot the door lock with my last two rounds. I couldn't have gotten into my pack to get the last clips before the dogs could get me if you hadn't opened that door.". Bob said "The door was open.". She smiled "Good thing you came.".
Bob asked her how long she wanted to stay. She explained that she was going to go straight up home after stopping and talking with them for an hour or so, maybe back to Susan's before leaving, depending on what they had to say about the offer she was about to give them. She had planned to leave quickly to get out of the city while it was still light out and continue on her way, stopping occasionally to camp or stay in an empty house if it rained.
She said there would be too many desperate people near any body of water and that she wouldn't go there and risk having her bike, her camping gear or her gun taken. She figured the trip would take her five or ten days on a bike, depending on the weather. She would find water in puddles and ditches and had a water filter in Joe's bag.
She asked "The dogs are dangerous, can I stay with you for a few days or until they go away? I can't make it out of here, even back to Susan's with those dogs and the ammo I have left.".
Lisa and Jennifer looked at Bob. Bob told her to relax and that they had lots of forty-five ammunition and that they would make sure she was reloaded before she left. He added that she was welcome to stay but had to put her gun away with theirs while in the shelter in case of an accident.
She agreed but asked if she could clean the gun first, saying she had dropped it in some mud when reloading. She got her gun from her getaway bag and sat down at the table, took the clip out and emptied the chamber, putting the chamber round back into the clip. She asked if they had a gun cleaning kit and Dave got up saying he would get her what she needed.
Dave got her a cleaning kit and put it on the table. He watched as she started dismantling the gun as if she could do it and put it back together in the dark in under twenty seconds.
Bob built her a three wall bedroom between the other two rooms with the walls and bed that were intended for Joe and Susan, if they had moved into the big shelter. He suggested that she might want to go in and change. Jennifer told her that they had some warm sweats that would almost fit her and be comfortable.
She said that they had all been very kind to her and that she intended to share the kindness. She explained that she could take some of them back to her families shelter. What happened after that would be up to her parents and relatives.
She explained "They would let you go after inviting you in, if you wanted to come back here. They would know from me that you have a good shelter of your own and that you have no reason to pose a threat to us.".
"Also", she went on, "You let me leave and probably saved my life, and you don't need anything from us." She paused and looked around at all of them. "My family would like to meet you I think.".
She added "After talking with Susan I know that you are on the same page with us in all of this. You are a lot like my family.". She put the gun back together after cleaning it and handed it and the clip to Bob who went to put it in the storage container in the battery room with their others.
Bob explained that she could stay as long as she wanted and that he thought it would be a few days before the dogs ran out of other animals and started to cannibalize each other as he came back out of the gun store and battery room. The dogs would leave the city after they killed the available prey. "We aren't feral dog experts, we don't really know what to think of the dogs", he added.
She responded "I think my family would be happy to meet you and want to thank you for saving my life. There is room for more as far as I know. My parents would not send you away with nothing after saving me and getting me home.".
Dave said "I think they would know that you didn't need us to get home.". She responded "I needed the gun and the water Susan gave me. I was already really thirsty and heading to a store to get water before everything happened. I probably would have been robbed of my backpack without a gun, or maybe killed by dogs or people on my way home. I had nowhere to go.".
Bob said "By the way" and he paused for a moment to get her attention, "It would be utterly stupid for you to think you can get home alone just because you are armed. Highwaymen and thieves will get you before you even know they are there or could get a shot off in defense. Don't even think that you could make a journey like that alone without being robbed. You have never experienced a situation where people may...probably would be hunting you. Its not the same thing as hunting animals.".
Dave agreed saying that he hadn't thought of that and emphasized the point, "They will look for people traveling alone, especially ones with guns or other valuables such as a bicycle or maybe even just water.". The point seemed to be lost. She wanted to get home and she seemed willing to wait because of the dogs anyway.
Lisa asked Emma about Susan and her position on all of this and the girl explained that Susan would like to be one of the ones to go with her. She could take two more or three of them without Susan. She said Susan would go with her alone if none of them want to go. Susan didn't want to be alone for long, she just wanted some time to herself. She would take Susan to her house or Susan could stay at the big shelter with all of them.
They made dinner after talking with Emma for a few more hours and telling her about themselves and inquiring more about her. They gave her a tour of their shelter and she commented that none of the rooms in her families shelter were as big but it was warmer. She explained that they had a normal electrical system with regular plugs and they had normal plumbing.
Emma explained that she was concerned that Susan may, after being alone in the shelter for a while, decide to come up and that she would be attacked by dogs. They agreed that they would go back and get Susan before dark. Bob said that he was the only one who had not yet experienced the outdoors since the power had gone out and suggested to Jennifer that he should go with Emma. He pointed out that Dave's ankle had not fully healed.
Jennifer didn't disagree with his suggestion so Bob said he would go and they would start planning the trip and leave immediately. He said they had bicycles and would get back long before it got dark. Emma told Bob that Susan had another bike she could use to ride back with them.
Bob asked Emma if they had everything working in the shelter and she said that Susan had everything that they had and it was all working while glancing over at their computer monitor and radio set. She asked if they had picked up anything on the short wave and Bob said it wasn't working, it had been connected to an antenna outside when
Dave said that the dog situation could get a lot worse as it got later in the day. Leaving sooner would be better to be sure they got back before dark. He suggested that they should try and make contact with anyone who may be stable and responsible.
Emma asked if they had a small sighted rifle with a strap and asked if she could carry that in addition to her forty-five for the trip. Dave said they had a semi automatic sighted twenty-two she could use. Bob would carry an eight millimeter handgun with fourteen shots in a clip and some clips to make noise and scare dogs away. He explained that he couldn't hit one at five feet while standing on his feet and could never hit anything while riding a bicycle. He explained that they didn't want to create any noise near either of the two shelters.
Dave got Emma her gun and the twenty-two out of the battery room. She picked up the twenty-two, tossed it from hand to hand to feel its weight then looked down the barrel sight with the stock against her shoulder in stance and cocked it "No ammo" she said. Dave said "I will get you some ammo when you leave, you can have a few ten round clips for that." She picked up the forty-five and put it in her pack holster, leaving it unstrapped.
Bob asked her about her unique holster at the top of her backpack and she said she had sown it out of leather and was bringing it to her cousin for his birthday. "I made it to fit the same gun and a suppressor." she said. Bob put a waist holster on and his gun inside. He quietly hoped that he wouldn't end up shooting himself or Emma.
Emma said "Well, the Lord doesn't favor those who wait" and smiled, looking at Bob. Bob looked at the others and shrugged his shoulders and walked over to hit the switch to open the hatch. He kissed Jennifer and hugged Lisa and said that he would be back in less than a few hours or so to Dave.
She ran into the bathroom with her ready bag and changed into a pair of jeans and tossed the sweat pants on the couch. Lisa looked at Jennifer but didn't say anything.
Bob told her they had two bikes in the garage and she said she had hers in the yard. Bob would have to go into the garage and get his while she stood guard.
Dave explained what they should do on the way to Susan's. Bob would ride in front and scare anything away with his gun while she would make the kill shots from behind and the sides. Dave explained that if they saw a pack in the distance in front that they should stop and she could use the rifle to shoot a few of dogs at long range while Bob watched her back for any others.
Bob got the hatch open and gave her five clips for her forty-five and three ten round clips for the rifle. Emma loaded the rifle and jammed the stock to the bottom of her backpack with the barrel sticking out of the top. She took the forty-five out of its holster, put a clip in it and put two clips in each of her back pockets "Don't want to get stuck having to look for one of these." she said.
Bob walked quietly up the basement stairs, opened the door slowly and went out into the garage. She followed him, closed the house door quietly and proceeded to the garage door with her gun at the ready. Bob turned the knob slowly and quietly to open the old wooden side door and went into the garage and brought his bike out and walked it over beside hers. He whispered "Get on, ride out into the streets and I'll be right behind you. When I go past you, follow me. OK?".
He watched her ride out onto the street as he got on his seat. He heard a dog bark, got off his seat and ran out front, gun in hand. Dogs had been fighting over the bones and bits of the dogs she had killed earlier and were running away from their meals at the sight of her. They should have checked the video before coming back out, he thought.
Emma suddenly had her rifle out and the bike on the ground. Bob whispered over to her "Use only the silenced gun around here. We don't want any noise." She put the twenty-two down and reached back for her forty-five, knelt down on one knee, aimed carefully and shot a German Shepherd that was watching them from sixty feet away. The dog yelped, fell over, got back up and started limping away. "We don't want them hungry when we get back.". Bob replied "Good idea, there are too many of them for us to shoot, we need them to start eating their own.".
Bob got on his bike and began to pedal, looking back to see that Emma got on hers. Bob whispered while looking at her "Keep pedaling, don't stop pedaling or the clicking from your wheel will make noise.". She began to speed up past Bob. Bob put his hand up and whispered "Slow down. We need to conserve energy in case we need it. Its a ten or fifteen minute ride.". She slowed.
They could hear dogs growling, a few began to advance toward the injured Shepherd as they both looked back for a moment while riding away.
The two continued to pedal for a few minutes with Emma behind and to the left of Bob. Bob kept looking straight ahead while Emma kept looking at the sides and rear. Bob looked back and whispered "Big dog, six o'clock" Emma looked back. "Lets speed up and see if he follows." Bob said. The dog trotted along for a while and gave up chase. It had looked exhausted and alone.
They continued riding for a while and Bob saw a pack of six dogs at the top of their next hill. He told Emma, who saw it as well, to pull over. She pulled over, jumped off the bike, reached back to her knapsack and grabbed the twenty-two, laid down in the grass and took aim in one fluid movement. She shot the smallest dog. They heard a yelp after the loud report of the shot. She took aim again and injured a larger dog with a second shot. The pack started running away toward a house and off the street with the injured one limping behind. A small dog lay still on the road.
Bob said "We are going to have to go up and down that hill fast, are you ready?" Bob accelerated and she kept up. They maintained a good jogging speed to the top of the hill, leaving them both nearly out of breath then glided down the other side and out of the city area. They exhausted a few dogs that came out from between houses to track them.
They arrived at Susan's having not seen anyone or any more dogs during the last half of the journey. Bob put the bikes in the garage while Emma stood guard, then they both went into the house and went downstairs to see the hatch already lifting.
Bob helped Susan open and close the hatch then walked down the stairs and hugged her. He put his arm around her and told her that she was welcome to come stay at the big shelter for as long as she wanted to. He checked the hatch over carefully for a good seal. They went to sit down and he explained that the five of them could discuss who was going to go with Emma when they got to the big shelter.
Emma got a pitcher of water and some glasses and sat down. Susan thanked Bob for coming and stayed quiet while the two rested for a few minutes to catch their breath.
Bob and Emma both drank more water. They were still sweating after the hard ride in the hot weather and needed to cool off. Bob asked Susan to wait a few more minutes so they could tell her about what they will encounter of the way back and make sure she was ready for it. "We can get back safely if we are careful but it isn't safe.", he said to her.
Bob and Emma told her about the dogs and she said she wasn't afraid of dogs and was a good shot and had a rifle and handgun, both with lots of ammunition.
After a few minutes of talking about shelter operation, she got up to get her ready bag and her guns. She returned from the store room and handed Emma a silenced twenty-two and went back to put the other one in storage. Bob didn't object to losing his twenty-two to Susan in the trade, he wanted to have the silenced weapon and he knew Susan was doing him and Emma a favour.
Susan went and picked up a couple of books, some clothes, and a handful of clips to put in her ready bag. She went into the bathroom to change into some lighter clothing and put on some running shoes. She came out, got her guns and put her rifle in the backpack, got a shoulder holster and put the silenced handgun inside. Bob asked her about the silencers on both her and Emma's forty-five and Emma's new twenty-two and she explained that every single one of Joe's weapons had suppressors and that they had the guns for protection from an economic collapse and that Joe was never much of a hunter.
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Susan explained to Bob that she knew of Emma's family and had been out to their house. She explained that Joe had bought a law course from them on video and that she had actually met Emma when she was much younger but neither had remembered that until they got talking in the shelter. Emma said her last name was Fitzpatrick, said her dad was Dan Fitzpatrick and she asked Bob if he had seen their video. He said he had heard of them and their courses and talks about law and property rights and thought he may have seen the video on the internet.
Bob changed the subject and explained to Susan how they would ride up. He could watch the front while the two of them stayed back and on either side. Susan agreed to the plan, they checked the video displays one more time, and shut everything off in the shelter except for the air handling system and meat freezers. Susan had replaced the solar cells and they could give power to keep the air handling system on for a few hours a day as well as keep the batteries topped up and the freezers cold.
Susan opened the hatch and the three left the house. Emma went out first and had her forty-five at the ready, then waved for Bob and Susan to follow after seeing no dogs. Susan and Bob went into the garage to get the bikes while Emma stood guard.
They got on their bikes and quickly rode down Susan's driveway and made a sharp turn with Bob in the lead and began to pedal down the empty highway straight toward the Bob's shelter. No dogs were around.
After they had ridden part way up a hill for a while, Susan and Emma fell behind while Bob continued to keep pace. Bob got close a the hill top and they heard a loud gunshot. Bob stopped put his bike down and bent over to keep his head down. He motioned for the girls to put their bikes down and to get down. He took his backpack off and reached in for a set of binoculars and walked up the hill slowly until he could get a view to the scene on the other side of the hill from behind some brush.