Anthony shook his head as he locked the door to his bedroom. There was only one key to the room, so he had taken to keeping it on a piece of string around his neck. He knew it wouldn’t stop any of the men from going in his room if they really wanted, but he wanted to make it as difficult for them as possible.
Steve was at the end of the hall when Anthony reached it. He looked giddy, which Anthony found off-putting for a rough looking guy with such a large scar on his face.
“What?” Anthony said.
“I know of a place ripe for raiding.”
“And?”
Steve frowned, but he forced the look off his face just as quickly as it had appeared.
“I… I need a truck.”
“Fine… take the new one.”
Steve turned and started to walk away.
“I think maybe you and I should go on the raid.”
That got Steve’s attention. He turned around, a pissed look on his face… but Anthony didn’t give a shit. He held all the cards and he wanted to make sure he could trust Steve before he just sent him off with one of their two trucks.
“Fine. And my guys?”
“They can stay here with my men.”
Steve nodded. It was clear he had given up, but Anthony was certain it was just an act. He knew if he was in Steve’s place he wouldn’t be happy playing second fiddle… he would be constantly thinking of some way to take over, whatever the cost.
“Meet me out back,” Anthony said, “I’ll go get the keys.”
“Sure.”
Anthony watched as Steve headed to the back of the store. He pulled the truck keys out of his pocket and headed toward the corner of the store where he figured Rick would be. Anthony found him reading the last copy of Guns and Ammo to ever be printed.
“Rick?”
He set the magazine down and looked up at Anthony.
“Yeah?”
Anthony moved closer and lowered his voice to a whisper.
“I’m going with Steve… he says there’s a ripe place he wants to hit. I want you and the twins to keep eyes on his boys while I’m gone. If they try anything funny, I want you to put them down.”
Rick nodded, picked up the magazine and went back to reading. Anthony turned and headed to the janitorial supply closet, which they had turned into their armory. He picked up his AR-15, checked to make sure it was loaded, and grabbed two extra magazines. Anthony walked toward the door and winced as he put too much weight on his still injured leg. It was getting better, but it would still be a while before it completely healed. It was something he hadn’t considered before—if any of them got seriously injured, there was a good chance they would die. He needed to be more careful moving forward.
Anthony headed outside and found Steve leaning against the passenger side door of the pickup.
“Do I get a gun?” Steve said.
“No.”
Anthony unlocked the truck, put his rifle in the space between the seat and the cab. He climbed in and buckled his seat belt as Steve got in.
“Why not?”
“Why not what?”
“Do you expect me to go in there without a gun?” Steve said.
“Do you expect me to trust you already?”
“Fair enough… what if things get dicey?”
Anthony started the truck, drove out of the loading area and headed for the main road.
“Is that what you’re expecting? Is there something you want to tell me?”
Anthony looked over, but Steve was looking out the window. He hoped Steve didn’t have some grand plan and that this raid wasn’t some kind of trap, but he knew it was a possibility. All the more reason to take the one rifle and put Steve at a disadvantage if he decided to try something.
“No… but you never know.”
“You should,” Anthony said. “You told me this would be easy… so why do you need a gun?”
“Fine… but if shit goes south you better have my back.”
Anthony nodded. He hoped it didn’t come to that because he wasn’t about to risk his life for Steve, but he didn’t want to risk his own life. Anthony had no qualms about leaving Steve behind if that’s what he had to do. He knew Steve would do the same thing if their roles were reversed, which made the decision even easier in his mind.
“Where we going?” Anthony said.
“Right.”
Anthony turned right as they reached the main road. There were a few cars parked on the edges of the road, but he didn’t see anyone around.
“Turn left at that next intersection,” Steve said.
They were only a couple of miles from the store when Anthony turned left. He was skeptical of the area… it seemed abandoned and the first few houses they passed had clearly already been looted.
“Slow down.”
Anthony slowed the truck and came to a complete stop when he saw Steve point. There was a house ahead on the right at the far end of a development and there were clearly still people in it. There were sandbags around the front door and the windows had been boarded up. Anthony didn’t like it one bit, it looked well fortified and he wasn’t about to risk his life for some supplies.
“What do they have?” Steve said.
“Everything you could want… it’s a family and they seem to have some idea of what they are doing.”
“I can see that… and you think this would be an easy raid?”
“Yeah… they’re still just scared people.”
“I don’t know. I think it’s not worth it.”
“It’s worth it… trust me. They know me… they’ll let me in.”
Anthony’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the house. That put a new twist on the whole thing and it made him think twice about ever trusting Steve. The only thing that made sense to Anthony was that perhaps Steve thought by betraying someone he knew it would somehow show Anthony he was serious about their arrangement.
“Alright… but if this turns out poorly….”
“I know.”
“So what’s our move?” Anthony said.
“I walk up to the front door… they let me in… and then I’ll give you a signal once their guard is down and you come in.”
“Are they armed?”
“Yeah, but it won’t be a problem.”
“No?”
“I’ll take care of it,” Steve said.
“Fine. How many people inside?”
Anthony was uneasy about the whole thing, but he knew there was a chance they could get a decent haul of weapons and other supplies that could keep them for another few months, which would be worth the hassle and the risk.
“Three. It’s a husband and wife and their son.”
Anthony nodded and turned the ignition off. He didn’t like the prospect of being out in the open, but he hadn’t seen anywhere less obvious to park. He hoped they hadn’t noticed him pulling up.
“I’ll signal you once it’s clear,” Steve said.
“Fine.”
Steve got out of the truck and started walking. Anthony pulled out his rifle from behind the seat and checked to make sure it was ready to go. He wasn’t about to get caught with his guard down.
Anthony watched as Steve approached the house. He noticed the curtain in one of the upstairs rooms being pulled back just enough so someone could look out, but he couldn’t tell who it was.
Steve knocked on the door, which opened almost instantly. Anthony watched as the person inside held the door open for Steve and let him right in. The door quickly closed again. Anthony looked around as he waited, but the streets all seemed to be empty. He wondered where all the people had gone, not that he really cared.
The sun went down an hour after they arrived at the house, but there was still no signal from Steve. Anthony was beginning to grow impatient.
A flicker of light appeared at the front door of the house. It wasn’t much… he figured a lighter or a match and it was quickly gone. He assumed it had to be the signal from Steve. Anthony thought about driving up to the house… it would make a getaway quicker if Steve wasn’t being honest, but he didn’t want to risk them knowing where he was if that was the case. He got out of the truck, grabbed his AR-15 and moved to the other side of the road.
Anthony slowly made his way to the house, hiding behind trees and bushes in front yards as he went. The moon had just begun to rise and it was still almost pitch black, which helped hide his approach. There was no other indication of life from the house as he got closer. Anthony had a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that something was wrong, but greed prevailed and he kept going.
He paused across the street from the house, readied his rifle and raised it to his shoulder before crossing. He approached the front door from the left side and paused next to the sandbags. Anthony raised his rifle to his shoulder and pointed it at the door.
“Steve?” he said, trying to keep his voice low.
“Yep… it’s clear.”
Anthony walked around the sandbags and to the door, which was already open. He stepped inside and Steve closed it behind him. Anthony kept walking and turned around to face Steve. He certainly didn’t trust the man enough to have his back turned for any length of time.
Steve sparked a lighter and used it to light a candle which was sitting on a table next to the front door.
“Follow me,” Steve said.
“Where… where are the people?”
“I took care of them… I told you I would.”
Anthony followed Steve into the kitchen, where the counters were piled high with supplies. There was dehydrated food, bottled water and a few first aid kits. There was also a pistol and a shotgun on the counter, each with several boxes of extra ammunition.
“Good work,” Anthony said.
He was quite impressed by what Steve had been able to do, but was still wary about the man’s methods.
“Thanks… this is everything I could find.”
“And the people? What happened to them?”
Steve chuckled and set the candle down on the counter.
“Well… the man, he struggled a little… so I took care of him. The son, he didn’t put up much of a fight when I decided to have a little fun with his mom.”
Anthony nodded. It wasn’t his place to judge what Steve had done, especially after killing Paul and taking Beth.
“Should we load up?” Anthony said.
“Yeah… do you want to get the truck or carry it all?”
“I would just assume carry it and make a few trips… I don’t want to start the truck until we are ready to go… there could be other people around waiting for exactly that.”
“Fine… I’ll go get the bitch… she can help carry it.”
Anthony was a little surprised the woman was still alive and that she perhaps might escape with her life, even if her husband and son hadn’t been so lucky. Steve lit another candle and walked out of the kitchen and toward the stairs they had passed in the entry hall.
There were a couple of duffle bags on the floor that Anthony filled with supplies while he waited. He put the shotgun and pistol in one… he wasn’t sure if those were really the only weapons and was still going to keep his eye on Steve.
Anthony heard Steve coming down the stairs and he turned. Steve pulled the woman into the room and pushed her to the floor. Her hands were tied and she had a strip of tape across her mouth. Steve went into the kitchen and came back with a paring knife. He cut the tape from around her wrists and pulled her to her feet.
Tears rolled down her eyes as Steve held her up. The woman had clearly lost her will to live and Anthony almost wanted to just finish the job and put her out of her misery, but didn’t think it was his place since Steve knew her.
“Grab some supplies… you need to help carry them if you want to live through the night.”
The woman fell to the floor, her body heaving as she cried. Anthony let out an exaggerated sigh to let Steve know his patience was running thin. It was clear to Anthony that Steve had other motives for keeping her alive. She was all right looking, in her early forties with long auburn hair. Anthony had a feeling she was pretty when she was younger, but looking at her didn’t do anything for him.
“Get up… now.”
Steve bent down and slid the blade of the paring knife across her forearm. Her scream was muffled by the duct tape as Steve forced her back onto her feet.
“I can make the rest of your life short and miserable if you don’t start helping us.”
Her whole body shook as she walked to the bar and picked up two bags of supplies. Anthony grabbed as much as he could while still holding his rifle in one hand. Steve picked up two bags, which left enough they could get the rest in one more trip. They would have to go back once more, but it was worth it to Anthony… it wouldn’t draw as much attention as the headlights of the truck.
By the time they reached the truck Anthony was already tired of the woman. She had cried the entire time and dropped the supplies twice. She was a wreck and his patience was growing thinner by the second. They loaded their supplies into the back of the truck and started back toward the house.
Halfway back to the woman’s house she bolted. It wasn’t something Anthony expected and by the time he could even raise his rifle she had already disappeared behind a row of bushes. Steve was off and running just behind her. Anthony heard a scream a few seconds later. He could tell the woman had ripped the tape off her mouth to breathe easier as she tried to flee, but her effort was in vain.
The scream quickly trailed off and it was quiet again. The moon was a little higher in the sky and Anthony was able to spot Steve as he came jogging back toward him.
“Sorry about that….”
“Hey!”
Someone down the street was calling out. Steve and Anthony turned and saw a shape a hundred feet away.
“Stop there!”
They both turned and ran for the truck. A single shot rang out in the night. Anthony heard the bullet whiz by them. He tossed his rifle into the back of the truck and jumped into the cab. He threw the truck into drive and drove over a curb to turn the truck around. He slammed his foot to the floor as another gunshot rang out in the night.
Anthony wasn’t sure if the man was alone… he didn’t want to start shooting if there were other armed people around. It was exactly the kind of thing he had worried about when they first arrived. He was just glad they had made it away unscathed and with most of the supplies.
Anthony turned on the headlights as they reached the main road and he turned the truck in the direction of his store.
“Fuck ya! Now that was a fun night!” Steve said.
Anthony just grunted in response. He was fine with their haul, that was nice, but he never wanted to take gunfire unless it was absolutely necessary and he could see who was shooting at him.
“I was hoping to bring that bitch back for the other boys… she pretended she didn’t like it, but I think she wanted it.”
“We would have never been shot at if you didn’t want her to help carry the supplies. You know we could have done it in two or three trips, which would have been the safest way. Your greed put me in danger… don’t let that shit ever happen again.”
“I won’t.”
Anthony shook his head. Steve had done a good job securing the supplies, but he had cost them some because he wanted to show off to Anthony the power he had over a woman. Anthony didn’t like it and it certainly didn’t inspire a feeling of trust in him. He was going to keep an even closer eye on him as time went. He had no problem with putting a bullet in Steve if that’s what it took.