EMP Catastrophe , Hamilton, Grace [phonics readers txt] 📗

louder. “Slowly. If you aim that gun at me or my daughter, it will be the last thing you ever do in this life.”

The paisley man looked startled by her threat and carefully slipped the gun out of its holster. He extended it limply toward Kathleen’s outstretched hand. She snatched it from him and then turned her gun back to the leader. “Not going to hurt me, huh?” she asked. “What do you call that?”

“We were just looking for food and supplies before your crazy turned up,” the man with the tattoo said, sounding angry. “You’re acting insane. Can you blame us for trying to defend ourselves?”

Kathleen gritted her teeth again and glared at the tattooed man. She wanted to trust him, but she’d learned that kindness couldn’t be counted on. She needed to keep her guard up.

She studied the bikers. They watched her attentively. They didn’t have any water bottles or many packs strapped to their bikes that she could see. They had no reason to become so protective of the van unless they were hiding something in it. There was no reason for them to claim they were looking for supplies and yet have limited ways to carry them.

Realization dawned on her as though she’d been thumped on the head. Of course. They were most likely planning to raid the hotel where Kathleen’s family would be. Why else would they be so far up the mountain and so close to the hotel? They probably thought this van was the first prize waiting for them.

She couldn’t let them get to the hotel. Yet, at the same time, she couldn’t let them hurt Allison. She was outnumbered. There was only one thing left to do to protect them both.

“Allison?” She said her daughter’s name softly.

“Yeah?” Allison responded. She sounded breathy, as though her own fear had stolen her voice.

“Remember what we discussed earlier?” Kathleen asked.

“I won’t leave you, Mom.”

“You promised you would. You promised. Now is that time. Get out of here.”

There was a moment when she thought Allison might disobey her. But thankfully, she heard the clatter of the bike falling to the ground and the sudden crunch of gravel as Allison shot past Kathleen and began running up the mountain road away from the bikers and Kathleen. Toward the River Rock Hotel. Toward family and help.

“You all need to turn around and head back to Galena,” Kathleen said to the leader. “There’s nothing here for you. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

The leader looked exasperated. His hands trembled from being held up for so long. “I promise you. We’re just here to get some food. We have friends and family to look out for that need these supplies. I know it looks bad, but honestly, Jack wasn’t going to hurt you or your daughter. We wouldn’t do that. He was just defending us.”

I can’t be sure of that, Kathleen thought. “Why would you be this far up the mountain, anyway? Why weren’t you down at the grocery store? Who comes all the way up the mountain looking for supplies?”

The leader went quiet. Distress was painted on his face. “The grocery stores have already been cleaned out. I swear to you. We weren’t going to do anything.”

“You know about the hotel,” Kathleen hissed. “You’re trying to raid my home.”

“No, we aren’t—”

“Shut up,” Kathleen said, taking a step back even as the gun remained steady in her hands. “First you steal from this van. Then you pull a gun on me. And now you’re telling me that you’re just out here for a nice ride through the mountains?”

The man’s face seemed to fall.

“I know you’re trying to get to the River Rock Hotel,” Kathleen said, and she curled her hand around the trigger. “I know you’re here to try to hurt my family. If you don’t leave, I’ll do whatever it takes to keep them safe.”

“Listen, I swear to you—”

“Don’t swear to me. Turn around and leave.”

Only, the bikers didn’t leave. The leader put his hands down, and the rest of the gang closed in around him and faced Kathleen with stonewall expressions. Kathleen pursed her lips. She was severely outnumbered, but she’d do whatever it took to keep her family and her home safe.

2

Matthew put his arm around Patton and hugged him closer. With a relieved sigh, he looked over his shoulder and thought about what had just happened. He’d had Samuel West held at gunpoint on the ground. The man had tried to take over their home, and Matthew had barely managed to kick him out.

He couldn’t believe that he and his father had walked all the way from Madison to Galena. The fact that they’d finally made it home hadn’t quite sunk in yet. Neither had the feeling that they were safe, but hope still swelled within him. Things he once thought impossible had actually become possible. He listened to the birds chirping and the rustling of leaves overhead and…screaming?

Was that screaming?

He paused and listened hard. He heard it again. A high-pitched shriek. He turned to his father with wide eyes and asked, “Do you hear that?”

Concern crossed David’s face, and he cocked his head to the side as if trying to hear better. Ruth, Patton, and Jade all went quiet as they listened for the shouting. “It’s getting louder,” Patton whispered.

Matthew squeezed his son’s shoulder and then stepped off the front porch. He still held the shotgun tight in his other hand. He lingered on the steps, peering into the road that led down the mountain.

“—ad! Dad! Help me! Dad!”

The screaming got closer. Matthew’s heart leapt in his throat as a lanky teenager burst around the corner and ran for the hotel. He’d recognize that wild blonde hair anywhere. Allison ran as though she had wolves chasing her. One of her hands was up in the air and waving frantically.

“It’s Allison,” Ruth said breathlessly from behind Matthew.

“Allison!” Matthew cried out. He bolted toward his daughter. He didn’t know what had happened, but Allison wouldn’t be