Hope Stumbles by Harley Tate

Author:Harley Tate [Tate, Harley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Post-Apocalyptic | EMP | Survival
Published: 2018-09-24T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

COLT

Unidentified Farm

Near Truckee, CA

4:30 p.m.

“I say we blow it all up like in Eugene.” Dani sat on a cleared spot of ground, sheltering Lottie from the cold.

Larkin shook his head. “And lose the potential? No way. It’s a working farm. It might have animals, seeds, a bunch of food stored. If we go in there and light it up, we’ll lose all that.”

“Larkin’s right. We need to conserve and focus on getting Walter out with the least amount of damage. Who knows, maybe at some point we can launch an attack and take it over.”

“Or they could chase us down and kill everyone.”

“I love your optimism.”

Dani stuck her tongue out and Colt laughed. “They’ve got grain silos, Dani. They could be full of enough grain to feed an entire town.”

“Then we should do it now. Take everyone out and claim it.”

“We don’t have the bodies.” Larkin stood beside an open door to the Jeep, inventorying their weapons. “With only three of us, we have a good chance to get Walter out, but that’s all. Focus on what we can do, not what we want to do later.”

Dani turned a lighter over in her hands. “If we can’t burn them out, how about smoke?”

Colt perked up. “What do you have in mind?”

“We could draw them out with the threat of fire. Then at least we could scout the place out and see what’s there. We might get a handle on their numbers, too.”

Larkin nodded. “I like the sound of that. There’s plenty of wet wood around here. If we can get some lit, there will be tons of smoke. Set it up on the edge of the farm and they’ll have to put it out.”

Dani flicked the lighter on and watched the flame. “While they’re busy, we swoop in.”

Colt thought it over. “Not a bad plan, but what do we do with her?” He motioned to Lottie.

“We can fill up the hot water bottle and build her a sleeping bag nest like last time.” Dani lifted her thumb and set the lighter on the Jeep’s bumper. “But we need to leave a window open.” She glanced at Colt. “In case we don’t come back.”

“Agreed.” Larkin pulled out the readied weapons one by one: three rifles, six backup handguns, spare magazines. He set them all on the tailgate and shut the driver’s door. “We can lower this window and muffle some of the cold with a fabric drape. She’ll be able to get out if she has to, but the water bottle should keep her warm overnight.”

They talked over the strategy of how to approach and where to go first and a backup plan in case something went wrong. After everyone agreed on the best course of action, they broke up.

Larkin and Colt set to harvesting wood. Thanks to a kit they kept in the Jeep at all times, they had everything they needed. Taking turns with a shovel, the men dug out enough fallen branches to burn for hours and laid them on a tarp.

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