Home Coming (The Survivalist Book 10) by A. American (best business books of all time .TXT) 📗

“I think it’ll be the safest way. Probably the quickest too.”

“Probably would be. We could probably do it in two days. Three tops,” Danny replied.

“That’s what I was thinking. Hell, we could probably get there in one day. Barring any trouble on the river. We’ll take sufficient hardware so that any trouble we do encounter can be squashed pretty quick.”

“I’m in. When do you want to go?”

“In a couple of days. There’s a lot to do first. I want to get this hog butchered and make damn sure there are no surprises waiting for us anywhere. Then we’ll go.”

Danny stood up and drained his glass. “Where you want to butcher the hog?”

I looked over at the shop and said, “Figured we’d set the tub up over there and do it like before. I want to scald this one, get every ounce off it we can.”

“Alright. Let me take care of a couple of things and I’ll meet you guys over there.”

I left Danny to go find Thad. As I was walking down the road, Mel passed me in the Suburban and slowed to wave and say, “I love you.” I waved, and they continued on, turning to go to the old man’s place. All those Russian medical supplies would come in very handy in town. I knocked on Thad’s door, but there was no answer. So, I opened it and called out. The house was quiet, and it was obvious he and Mary were not there.

Leaving his house, I walked to Sarge’s place. There were a lot of people there. The gear we captured was still being sorted and they were trying to decide on a place for an armory. Seeing the stuff now, I was shocked at just how much there was. Thad and Mary were there helping, and I got Thad’s attention.

“You want to butcher a hog today? We’re out of sausage and soap.”

He smiled, “Sure. When do you want to do it?”

“The sooner, the better.”

As we talked, Mary walked up. “Thad, I’m going to town with Mel and Jess to help at the gym. We’re taking the medical supplies there and going to spend the day doing what we can.”

“Ok, just be careful.”

Mary smiled, “Sarge is sending an escort with us. Ian and Jamie are going as well. Plus, we’re all armed.” I felt better hearing they were going to have an escort. And it struck me as I thought about it. I’d never seen Mary armed before. I remembered her being so fragile when she came here. This was no longer so. Maybe she was absorbing strength from Thad. Whatever the reason, I was glad to see it.

Leaving Thad and Mary, I found Mel and asked if they had a radio. She held it up and replied, “Yes. Everyone keeps asking. We have a radio.”

I smiled and patted her ass, “Just checking, babe.”

As we were discussing their trip, Danny walked up. He looked around and headed for the garage. Watching him, I said to Mel, “I’ll be right back.” And I headed towards the garage. As I stepped through the door, I saw Danny talking to Wallner. The three prisoners were sitting on the floor, paying very little attention to the two as they talked.

Then in a swift motion, Danny drew his pistol and shot one of the men in the top of the head. Wallner jumped and I ran forward and wrapped my arms around Danny. The garage was quickly filled with people as everyone came running to the sound of the shot. Danny didn’t struggle and remained quite calm. I took his pistol without resistance.

The old man came running in. “What the hell is going on?” He shouted as he came in. Then seeing the dead man, he said, “Oh for fuck sake!” He looked at me, holding the pistol, and said, “Dammit, Morgan! Would you stop killing all of our prisoners! I told Eglin I had these people and they want them! How the hell am I supposed to explain this?”

“It wasn’t me!” I shot back.

“I shot him,” Danny replied calmly. “They owed me a life.”

Sarge shook his head. “I get it, Danny. I really do. But if you’d been at the auction, you’d see they paid dearly for every person they killed or injured. This is all that’s left of them.” Sarge looked at the Colonel and asked, “How many men did you have?” But he wouldn’t answer. “It doesn’t matter now. They’re all dead. If you want to stay alive, I suggest you answer the question. Or I’ll just let this man have your ass.”

“This is how you Americans treat prisoners of war?” The Colonel asked.

“Fuck you, Ivan.” I said. “You’re an invading force. Besides, you have no ground to talk about how to treat prisoners. Look at what your people did to the Germans after the fall of Stalingrad. You’re lucky to be alive, so shut the fuck up.”

He smiled at me and replied, “As you wish, bureaucrat.”

“Colonel,” Sarge said, “you might want to stop fucking with him.”

I pointed at the Colonel. “You’re going to talk your way into hell. Maybe I should take him to the pig pen for a while.”

“No dammit!” Sarge shouted. “I’m turning him over to Eglin!”

“You better do it quick,” I replied and turned to leave. Danny followed me out and I handed him his pistol back. As he holstered it, I asked, “You feel better now?”

“Not really. I wanted to set him on fire. But I had to do it, an eye for an eye.”

I slapped him on the back. “I know, buddy. We’re going to get a hog and we’ll be over shortly.”

“I’ll get the tub set up and a fire going under it.”

I glanced sideways at him and asked, “Is this what you said you needed to take care of earlier?”

He nodded. “Yep.”

Mel, Jess, Mary and the girls loaded most of the medical supplies into the Suburban before heading out. Jamie and Ian would escort them in a Hummer there and