EMP (The Districts Book 1) (14 page)

Sutherland looked out the window as the last of the sun kissed the ground below them. He couldn’t believe it, but they had made it off the ground and had been flying for the better part of three hours or so.

He glanced over at Avery, who still had a huge smile on his face. Sutherland couldn’t tell if it was because he was getting to fly a plane or because he hadn’t killed them all… or some combination of the two. He knew it was early to get his hopes up, Avery had told him the flight would take almost six hours, but so far the kid was doing well.

“Sir?”

Sutherland felt the air leave his lungs as he turned his head toward Avery. For the first time since they had taken off the young man didn’t have a smile on his face.

“Avery… please don’t tell me something is wrong.”

Avery tilted his head back and forth while a sort of cringe formed on his lips.

“I knew it,” Sutherland said, “we’re going to fucking die… should I tell the men to get their parachutes on?”

“Eh… no.”

“Why not?”

“Well… I don’t think there are any on the plane… and that’s not going to solve our problem.”

Sutherland stood up. He felt like his head was spinning.
This is it… I’m going to fucking die here and never get to see Cynthia again
, he thought.

“Sir?”

Sutherland brought himself back to reality and turned his attention to Avery. He felt like the young man looked far too calm considering their impending doom.

“Yes?”

“The problem is that we… I didn’t know the range of this plane and well… we aren’t going to have enough fuel to make it.”

Sutherland tilted his head back. It was something he hadn’t even considered, but it certainly was a problem.

“Alright,” Sutherland said. “Is there somewhere we can land?”

“I… yeah… I guess we could land in Minneapolis… we
should
have enough fuel to make it that far.”

“Should? I need you to be very certain, Avery.”

The young man turned back to the instruments and did a quick check of them before turning his head back around.

“Yeah… we have enough.”

“Good.”

Sutherland nodded as a sense of relief passed through his body. Avery seemed like a good kid, he thought, but he was on the verge of causing Sutherland several nervous breakdowns and they weren’t even there yet.

“Sir?”

“Yes, Avery?”

“Well… the thing is, Sir… the moon is fairly bright tonight… but it’s still going to be the only thing I can use to land because the strip obviously won’t be illuminated.”

Sutherland bit the inside of his cheek. It was something so obvious… and yet he hadn’t thought about it before agreeing to take a plane flight just before the sun went down.

“How long do we have until we reach Minneapolis?”

Avery shrugged and turned back to the instruments.

“I would say about thirty or thirty-five minutes. We need to drop some altitude, so I’m going to have to start that in a few minutes.”

“Fine. Do whatever you need. I’m going to go tell the men and then I’ll be back to help with whatever you need.”

Sutherland walked into the cabin of the plane and cleared his throat. The engine noise was loud enough that the men didn’t hear him and continued on with their small private conversations. Sutherland curled his bottom lip and whistled as loud as he could. The men all snapped to attention, their eyes locked on him.

“Men… I wanted to let you know… we’re going to be landing to refuel in about thirty minutes. Hopefully it will be quick and we can get back into the air quickly. Any questions?”

The men shook their heads and Sutherland watched as a few of them strapped back in. They didn’t seem nearly as worried as he was… maybe because they knew Avery… or maybe because they didn’t know Avery, he wasn’t sure.

Sutherland went back into the cockpit and sat down next to Avery, who quickly glanced over and flashed him a pearly smile. Sutherland forced a smile on his face, but let it quickly fade as the young man turned his attention back to the controls.

Avery was right… the moon was somewhat bright and Sutherland could see the ground as they started their descent. It only took a few minutes until they were flying uncomfortably low considering the circumstances.

“It’s weird flying and not seeing any lights, isn’t it?” Avery said.

Sutherland just nodded in response, his full attention was on the ground which seemed to be coming closer much too quickly. He braced and took a deep breath. There was nothing he could really do… he knew he had to just let go and surrender to the fact that Avery was holding all their lives in his hands. Sutherland just hoped the young man had a good grip.

There was a loud clunk and Sutherland quickly looked around the cockpit, but Avery didn’t seem the slightest bit worried.

“What was that?” Sutherland said.

“Landing gear.”

He nodded. He felt like a little bit of an idiot for even saying anything… it certainly wasn’t the first time he had flown on a smaller plane. Sutherland looked out the windscreen of the plane… there was something off in the distance that looked like a light.

“What’s that?” Sutherland said.

Avery leaned closer to the windscreen.

“It… it looks light a light.”

Both men stared at it for the next few seconds when suddenly a second appeared not far from the first. Before either could say anything a third and then a fourth came on. Within a minute Sutherland turned to Avery, who had a huge grin on his face.

“It’s a runway… holy shit,” Sutherland said.

He looked back out the windscreen and shook his head. He almost didn’t believe it, but there was roughly ten lights on either side of what he could only guess was one of the runways at the Minneapolis airport.

“Who… who do you think is doing that?” Sutherland said.

“I’m not sure, but we’ve gotta land and they are giving us a much easier way to do it.”

Sutherland realized it was a blessing, but there was also some danger that someone was waiting on the airstrip waiting to take advantage of a plane which was being forced to make an emergency landing. He stood up from his seat and headed back to the other men.

As soon as he walked toward the men they all snapped to attention and looked at their commander.

“There’s been a little bit of a… development. It seems like someone has lit fires of some kind along the runway we are going to land on. I don’t know what their intentions are… so be ready, men.”

He nodded and turned his back to them. The sound of them lifting their weapons and checking them over tickled his ears as he headed back to the cockpit.

“The men are ready,” he said, as he sat down.

“Good… we’re landing in just a minute… you should buckle up.”

Sutherland did as Avery told him. The takeoff had been fairly smooth considering the young man had never flown a real plane before, but Sutherland was more than aware of the fact that landing the plane at night on a barely illuminated runway was an entirely different story.

Sutherland looked out the side of the windscreen as they approached the runway. He saw them flash over a river as they got even closer to the ground. Sutherland held his breath and closed his eyes as the ground got within a few feet. His body shook as the wheels of the plane touched down on the runway.

The initial landing was hard enough to bounce the plane back off the tarmac and Avery had to wrestle with the controls to get it back under control as he touched the plane down a second time. He was able to make his second attempt stick and Sutherland opened his eyes just in time to see Avery throttling the engines down and bringing the plane to a stop near the end of the runway.

“Holy shit… you fucking did it,” Sutherland said.

He turned to Avery, whose smile was brighter than the moon… he had never seen anyone so proud of their accomplishment. Sutherland slapped the young man on the back, unbuckled himself and went to check on the men. They were already formed up around the door and just waiting for his signal.

“Let’s get out there, men,” Sutherland said. “It’s dark, but there’s some moonlight… try to be on the watch for whoever lit these fires. We have to assume they aren’t hostile, but if they fire at us… I expect you men to put down every fucking last one of them without a second thought. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Sir!” the men said, in unison.

Sutherland nodded and the man in front opened the door. The twelve men poured out through the door and spread out across the tarmac surrounding the plane. Sutherland turned around to see Avery standing behind him.

“You wait here… and be ready to leave. I’m going to find the fuel and be back as soon as I can. Understood?”

“Yes, Sir.”

Sutherland exited the plane and looked around. He didn’t see anyone near any of what turned out to be barrel fires along the edge of the runway. He peered into the darkness toward what he thought looked like the radio tower. There was a loud crack and Sutherland hit the ground as a high caliber bullet slammed into the side of the plane just inches from where he was standing.

The men returned fire in the general direction from where the shot came, but whoever fired at Sutherland didn’t do so a second time. Sutherland knew from experience the barrel fires combined with his men shooting their rifles provided prime targets for whoever had missed their first shot.

“Hold your fire!” Sutherland said, yelling at the top of his lungs.

His men held their fire and they all listened for signs of their nighttime attacker. He knew it wasn’t ideal… and he instantly wished they had waited at Ft. Drum until the following morning.

“Find cover!”

The men ran for cover, four of them retreated to the other side of the plane and the rest to a ditch on the far side of the runway. Sutherland rolled to his left, popped into a crouch and ducked behind the tail of the plane.

Sutherland waited for more shots to land near him, but everything was calm for the next minute… which made him even more nervous.

“Don’t move!”

It was a booming voice projected from a loudspeaker. Sutherland held his breath as he waited for them to speak again. His best guess was it came from the tower, but it was hard to tell since he was on the opposite side of the plane.

“We won’t kill you… but you need to drop your weapons and walk to the other end of the strip and off the airport premises. There is a sandbag bunker there with guards who will hold you until daylight… when you will be released.”

Sutherland shook his head. He knew if they put down their weapons, even if the person had good intentions, they were good as dead.

“Get on the plane!” Sutherland said.

The men ran toward the plane. A shot rang out and one of the men collapsed as he reached the door. Two of his comrades grabbed him and drug him into the plane. Sutherland rushed toward the cockpit as the rest of the men got in.

“Avery… get us airborne.”

Avery spun his head around and nodded when he saw the panicked look on Sutherland’s face. There was an understanding between the two men in that moment… they each knew they didn’t have enough fuel to reach their destination, but the alternative was almost certain death.

Sutherland strapped himself in as Avery fired up the engines. A bullet pierced the glass of the cockpit and Sutherland looked over at Avery… the young man looked calm and collected as her turned the plane around and got them moving forward.

Six more shots ripped into the fuselage of DC-2 by the time they were airborne. As soon as they were off the ground Sutherland got out of his seat and went back to check on his men.

“Is everyone OK?”

He quickly counted and got eleven men who seemed to be alright. Sutherland let his eyes follow the heads of the men as they all turned toward the door. On the floor was the man who had been shot and there was already a large pool of blood around his body.

“Strap in… we don’t have enough fuel to make it all the way so we are going to get as close as we can and make an emergency landing. Any questions?”

“Sir?” one of the men said.

“Yes?”

“I… I have a map, Sir, and some basic navigation training.... I should be able to figure out where we might be able to land if I can talk to Avery.”

Sutherland nodded toward the cockpit. The soldier jumped up and pulled a map from his vest as he passed. Sutherland took the seat of the man who had gotten up. He closed his eyes… he knew trying to even sleep for a few minutes wasn’t likely, but he would take it if he could get it because he knew it was going to be a very long night.

Sandra shook her head as she stood over the two shopping carts sitting in her front yard. Nathan and Manuel were still sleeping, which made sense once she saw how much stuff they had pushed back.

She removed everything but the seeds from one of the carts and piled it on the porch. Sandra pushed the cart around the side of the house and sorted the seeds into piles. There were more seeds than she could imagine planting, but that was definitely a good thing—she could can whatever they didn’t eat.

“How’d we do?”

Sandra turned around to face Nathan, who was standing on the porch. He smiled at her, ran his hand through his hair and sat down on the top step as he covered his mouth to yawn.

“Amazing… I… I can’t believe how much seed you got.”

Nathan chuckled and nodded.

“It’s more than we could ever grow… let alone eat.”

“We’re going to need it.”

Sandra nodded as she turned her attention back to sorting the seeds.

“I guess I’ll just can as much as possible.”

Nathan got up from the porch, walked down the steps and stood next to Sandra. Her eyes flicked up and caught him looking off into the distance. When she was young she had a massive crush on him… but he had always seemed so old. Sandra didn’t actually know how old he was, probably ten years older than her, but he still was as handsome as she remembered… he was just a little worn looking from years of manual labor.

“I doubt you’ll have to do that,” he said.

“What? There’s… hundreds of packs of seed here. This is enough to feed an army and there’s just the three of us.”

“Look.”

Sandra looked up and tried to focus on what he was pointing at. Sandra was worried at first. She couldn’t quite make it out, but it looked like a couple of people walking across the field of her neighbor.

“Is… is that?”

“Yes.”

Sandra turned and started toward the house to grab her shotgun. Her heart raced as the worst flashed through her mind. She thought of the people who robbed the Stevenson’s as she mentally prepared herself to defend her land. She wasn’t going anywhere… they would have to kill her before she gave up the last remnants of her parent’s legacy.

She rushed back out onto the porch with shotgun in hand and looked toward the people. Sandra froze when she saw Nathan walking toward them, nothing in his hands.

“Nathan!” she said, yelling at the top of her lungs.

He didn’t turn around. Sandra took a deep breath and prepared herself. She ran down the steps and put her head down as she ran… she knew she had to catch up to Nathan before he got too close.

By the time Sandra reached Nathan they were less than a hundred feet from the edge of her property and the group of people were just starting to crest the hill that marked where her land ended.

“Nathan… what the hell are you thinking?”

He turned to her and smiled.

“They… they could have guns,” she said.

Nathan reached toward her and attempted to pry the shotgun from her hands. She didn’t want to let go of it, but she looked into his eyes and felt a calm move over her body. She let go of the shotgun and Nathan quickly ejected four shells and put them in his pocket.

Sandra turned her attention to the people as they came into view and she finally understood why Nathan seemed so calm. It was what looked to be two families, a total of two women, two men and five children between them. They looked run down and hungry like they had been walking for days.

“How did you know?” Sandra said.

“I had a feeling people would show up eventually. You are an oasis in the desert that our country has become.”

Sandra rolled her eyes and shook her head. It was cheesy, but she still liked that he had said it. She hadn’t even thought of the possibility that people would show up looking for shelter and food, but it was pretty much what Nathan and Manuel had done.

“Hello,” Nathan said, his voice booming across the open field as the refugees drew closer.

Sandra hung her head, ashamed that she had made such an effort to get the shotgun and catch up to Nathan. She finally looked up and her eyes met with a little girl, her face covered in dirt, who looked to be three or four.

“I… I’m sorry… but do you have any water or food you could spare?” one of the men said.

Sandra took a step forward and smiled at the group.

“Please… come to the house. You look like you could use a rest.”

A collective sigh passed through the four adults, the ordeal didn’t seem to have the same effect on the children. Sandra smiled again, turned toward the house and started walking.

“You’re a good matron,” Nathan said.

“What makes you say that?”

Nathan smiled and put his hand on her shoulder. She wondered if it were possible… she always felt like there was a reason she never became a mother and now Nathan was implying she would be good at it.

She glanced over her shoulder at the flock. Sandra wondered if there would be more people showing up… more people seeking food and shelter in the coming days and weeks. Sandra chuckled… Nathan had been right, they were going to need all that seed and now they had people to help take care of the extra fields they would need to plant.

As they reached the house Sandra realized she was getting ahead of herself… the people might already be heading somewhere and could leave after getting a bite to eat and some water.

“Do you want to come inside and rest?” Sandra said.

One of the women nodded, but then looked at her husband. She saw his eyes flick to the shotgun in Nathan’s hands.

“No,” the taller man said, “we would be very appreciative of any food and water you could spare and then we’ll be on our way.”

Sandra took a deep breath and nodded. She felt somewhat responsible since she was the one who ran toward them toting the shotgun, but decided not to try and convince them of her true intentions. Sandra turned and went inside. Manuel was standing in the kitchen, looking out the window at the people.

Sandra grabbed two water pitchers and glasses and put them on a tray before heading back outside. Nathan put his hand on her arm and lowered his head to her ear.

“I’ll go get the water… you talk to them. If they leave here they will stand almost no chance out there on their own. Here they have a chance to make a new life.”

She nodded as he took the tray from her. Sandra knew Nathan was right…they looked to only have the clothes on their backs and a couple of backpacks of supplies between them.

“Where are you coming from?”

“Fort Morgan,” the shorter man said.

Sandra nodded. It was about sixty miles east of her farm. Not that far, but it was clear it had taken a toll on them… a toll which may not have been just the walk, but also the things they had witnessed.

“That’s a bit of a walk,” Sandra said.

The adults all nodded in response. Sandra felt like she was dancing around, not really wanting to invite them to stay since they seemed so skittish. She wondered if they had seen something so horrific they weren’t ready to trust anyone yet.

Nathan came back with the pitchers of water and handed the glasses out to all of them. He filled their glasses and went back to refill the pitchers. They all downed their water before he could even come back, the small glasses not even touching their dehydration.

“So… I’m not sure where you are all heading,” Sandra said, “but we have plenty of room here. It’s not much, but it’s a roof and we have plenty of water and more than enough food to go around.”

One of the women opened her mouth to speak, but the smaller man who seemed to be her husband cut her off.

“Thanks,” he said, his voice cold, “but we are already heading somewhere.”

“Well, if you change your mind… or if this other place doesn’t turn out to be exactly as advertised… you can always come back here.”

None of the four adults even seemed remotely pleased with her offer. Sandra was starting to wonder if there was something else going on they didn’t want to tell her about.

Nathan came back with the water pitchers and filled their glasses a second time. They drank more slowly, taking their time as if they knew it would be some time before they had water that fresh.

“We should go,” the tall man said.

“Wait,” Sandra said, turning toward the house, “let me grab some food for you.”

She darted up the stairs and into the kitchen. She quickly cut up some carrots and found a box of crackers that hadn’t quite reached their expiration date. She wished it was more, but it was at least something to give them a boost for the rest of their journey.

Sandra turned toward the door and was met by Nathan, who had a disappointed look on his face.

“What?” she said.

“They left… they thanked me for the water and left.”

Sandra sighed, set the box of crackers back on the counter and bit into one of the carrots. It was so strange… she wished she could have helped them, but she felt like it wasn’t her place to insist they stay.

“It’s my fault… I shouldn’t have run out there with the shotgun.”

Nathan shook his head and put his hand on her arm.

“No, it’s not. They were clearly trying to make it somewhere and this wasn’t it. There will be plenty more people looking to take refuge in the coming weeks… don’t you worry, you’ll get your chance to help many more people.”

Sandra nodded. She hoped he was right because she hated to think of those small children having to keep walking with no food or water… almost no chance of making it to wherever they were headed.