Day 30
Herbert Brinker put his head down and wiped the sweat from his face. “I see a couple of them.” He took a deep breath and stared at his rifle.
“We need to leave,” Pheebz, his wife, said. She was next to him in the runoff ditch, her dress filthy and caked with mud. “There’s nothing here for us now.”
“I won’t leave her,” Herbert said. They’d gotten within sight of the lookout tree, but it was still too dark to make out if anyone was up there. After the shooting had begun, he doubted Darlene Bobich was going to stay put. She’d have come to investigate.
Maybe she’s already dead, Herbert thought. Taken in the first wave like so many others.
It was an amazing bit of luck Herbert and his family had gotten out. He’d been restless and was out back with his sister Rosemary’s boys, Aiden and Austin. Talking quietly when he saw the initial movement.
Men and women with rifles spreading out through the tents and near the closest barn.
Herbert had sent the boys inside to rouse Pheebz and Rosemary, knowing in his gut they were in trouble.
They’d managed to get out of the house and try for one of the vehicles, but by then it was too late to simply drive off.
The road leading to the house was filled with motorized vehicles, pickup trucks and trikes, all driving in at once.
The Sawyer clan had invaded the homestead, and it looked like they’d had some inside help, too.
Herbert managed to take his family to the far field, where they slowly crawled parallel to the farm and watched as first their home was set ablaze, and then the shooting had begun.
The boys had been brave. They still hadn’t made a sound.
Aiden and Austin are only ten years old, Herbert thought. Way too much death and violence they’ve seen already. Heck, in the past few days, they’ve seen more than any ten year old oughta see. These boys will need some serious counseling once this is all over.
Herbert didn’t necessarily believe in shrinks and all their mumbo jumbo, but he knew Rosemary did. She tried anything and everything at least twice before she went on to the next Big Thing. He remembered when she’d announced she was a Buddhist and wanted to travel to Tibet to study under some baldheaded man wearing a robe.
“We need to regroup,” Pheebz said. “Find a safe place and hole up for awhile.”
Herbert shook his head. “We don’t have time for it. They’ll sweep across the farm and then spread out looking for us. We’ll never be safe. There are too many of them, too. We need all the allies we can muster. I say we stay put. I’ll go for Darlene.”
Rosemary, his sister, grabbed his arm. She’d been crying quietly, hugging the boys. “We’re here. We’re alive. Help us. If you go off on a wild good chase… we’ll have no one to protect us.”
Herbert knew she was right. If he saw where Darlene was, maybe then he could go to her. See if she was holding her own and fighting the good fight. He took another peek and shook his head. It was too dark to see if she was still up there, and the problem was going to be when the sun came up in a few hours. Everyone would be able to see them.
“Fine. We move as one unit. Stay low. No talking. Watch where you step. I don’t want anyone falling down or making a noise,” Herbert said. “We don’t stop until I say so. Are you ready?”
When they all nodded at him, Herbert rose in a crouch, expecting to take a bullet at any moment. He started to move, using the cover of the ditch until he got closer to the fence.
He moved quickly, knowing his family was right behind and keeping pace.
It was too dark to see too far ahead, and Herbert knew that was dangerous. A hole in the ground to step into and twist an ankle, a snake looking for its next meal, stray barbed wire forgotten in a field.
At the fence he stopped and made sure no one was hiding on the other side. The bulk of the shooting was still around the house, the tents and the barns.
By the time he helped everyone over the fence and they’d begun moving through the field, the shooting had stopped.
That was a bad sign.
It meant they’d begin to sweep the property, looking for those hiding. The main road would be filthy with the Sawyer clan, too, and their allies. They’d need to stick to the fields and hope the moonlight didn’t give them away.
Herbert knew they needed to move quickly, but his wife and sister weren’t going to be able to keep pace. He took a deep breath and started heading across the field, not knowing where he was heading.
We can’t go into town, Herbert thought. It’ll also be filthy with those who want to hurt us. Our neighbors came to us for protection.
He felt like a fool. He’d rounded everyone up and led them to the slaughter. Offered protection in the egotistical idea he could protect anyone, including his own family.
Now his farm was bathed in blood. The Sawyers would leave the bodies to rot in the California sun. They’d torch the buildings and take all of the supplies.
What would they do once they realized Herbert and his family had escaped?
They’ll come after us, he thought. They won’t stop until we’re dead.
The women and children were having a tough go of it, tripping over the occasional tree root or ruts in the dirt, but no one complained. No one made a sound.
Herbert was proud of them, especially the boys. Aiden and Austin would need to grow up quickly if they wanted to survive. They had no choice. He hoped Rosemary was going to let them, too.
He stopped from time to time, every few minutes now, and everyone stopped with him, listening for sounds of pursuit or more shooting.
At least no more gunfire means everyone that needs to escape is gone now, Herbert thought, trying to be positive but knowing what it really meant: everyone had been killed. Dozens of bodies, their blood sinking into his property.
“How far are we going?” Pheebz asked in a whisper.
Herbert stopped and looked around, making sure no one was following. He could see the fires on his property and heard another shot.
He hoped it was resistance and someone firing and killing a Sawyer. He knew he shouldn’t feel that way. Maybe God would strike him down for the evil in his heart when it came to the Sawyer clan. Maybe this was already payback as they ran for their lives.
“We go until we drop,” Herbert answered. “At this point, we keep running until we can’t run no more.”