Holding Their Own IV: The Ascent (18 page)

“Bishop, that’s a great idea. Are you sure we can use the gas?”

“It’s Christmas! We’ll figure out how to get more gasoline later.”

An hour later, after all the tripwires had been reset, Bishop pulled out onto the highway and surprised Terri yet again. Putting a CD into the
truck’s stereo, Bishop turned up the volume, and the cab was immediately filled with Mannheim Steamroller’s
Carol of the Bells
.

The first thing Bishop noticed as they entered Alpha was a change in the people. While the outskirts of the small West Texas burb still looked like a ghost town, the closer they
drew to the church compound, the more citizens were seen out and about.

The people walked with purpose, often carrying boxes, bags, or even pushing a wheelbarrow with shovel handles sticking over the side. Bishop was so enthralled with the activities going on that he almost became involved in the village’s first post-collapse traffic incident. He was gawking at a group of child
ren playing in a neighboring park when he nearly sideswiped an electric golf cart as it went speeding through the intersection. Both drivers stopped to apologize and verify everyone was fine after the near collision.

The couple continued to the church without further incident and found Deacon Brown preparing for her Christmas morning service. After an exchange of hugs and warm greetings, Terri decided to stay and help Diana get ready and made it clear that Bishop should find company elsewhere.

Bishop meandered through the main hall of the church, impressed by the bustle of activity and the attitude of the people. The choir was in full regalia, sporting royal blue robes with white collars and gold buttons. Candles adorned the sanctuary, accenting the beautiful colors generated by the building’s large stained-glass windows and the early morning Texas sun. Every pew was shined, and the carpet looked freshly swept. It was an entirely different atmosphere than when this same building had been a fortress of last resort just a few short weeks ago.

Bishop found Nick loitering in the lobby of Deacon Brown’s office, the big man going through a box of secondhand clothing, trying to find a jacket that would
accommodate his massive shoulders.

“It’s not going to do you any good, pal. I don’t care how pretty of a jacket you find, it’s not going to make you the best looking guy at the service
, now that I’m here.”

Nick, already frustrated by the hunt for clothing, pivoted to address his antagonist. When he saw Bishop, his grimace turned into a huge smile. “Bishop! What a surprise. How are you
?”

The two men traded greetings and hugs. Nick
remarked, “I’ve worried about you a dozen times since the president was killed and those army dudes hauled you back to Bliss. Diana asks me every day if I’ve heard anything.”

“I’ve got hours of boring stories to tell you
, my old friend. We’ll have to catch up. Hey, I really noticed a difference here in Alpha as we drove through.”

Nick nodded, “We’ve been working hard, but I’m still concerned. It seems like every single day m
ore new problems arise than we can solve.”

“How’s Diana holding up?”

“Oh, she’s a trooper, Bishop. That’s one strong woman there—but then, you already knew that.”

Bishop nodded and smiled in agreement. “You’d better mind your Ps and Qs, brother, or she’ll kick your sorry ass.”

Nick smirked, “A truer statement has never been made. But then again, that makes two of us.”

Piano music drifted from below, a sure signal that the services were about to begin. Nick gave up on a jacket, hoping his plain white dress shirt wouldn’t get him in hot water with the preacher.

The service was beautiful, and the choir exceeded expectations. With every seat full, Diana delivered a heartwarming sermon on the true meaning of Christmas, during which Bishop and Terri exchanged knowing glances.

A potluck brunch was announced, and the worshipers
ambled toward the main dining area to feast on tables full of covered dishes. Bishop bragged to Nick about Terri’s breakfast while Nick boasted about the battery-powered helicopter he had secured for Kevin.

After filling themselves on potato salad, beef brisket, and freshly sliced apples, Nick wanted to walk off his meal, and get some fresh air. Bishop decided it was an excellent idea and tagged along.

After catching up on the all the latest events in Alpha and Meraton, Bishop paused for a second and looked at Nick. “Hey, I know this isn’t the best time to ask, but I can’t figure out any other way. I need some hardware and there’s nothing at the market in Meraton like what I’m looking for. I was thinking Alpha might be a better place to scavenge.”

“Hardware?” Nick chuckled, “With all those soldiers after you, what you need is a mini-gun, land mines, a couple of battle tanks, and artillery support. Sorry, pal, but I’ve not seen that sort of hardware lying around in Alpha.”

Bishop grinned. “Yeah … a couple of tanks would be nice, but I can’t afford the insurance or the gas. No, what I’m thinking about could probably be found in the average pre-collapse hardware store.”

“Oh, you mean regular hardware, hardware.”

Bishop nodded. “I’ve got an idea for an irrigation system that I can install at the ranch. I think over time Terri and the kid are going to need more greens. I’m sick of pine nuts myself and want to expand the garden at the hacienda.”

Nick tilted his head and grinned at Bishop, “I can’t wait to hear this one.”

Footfalls from behind the two men drew their attention, a happy Deacon Brown approaching across the lawn. “What are you two boys up to?”

“Plotting to rule the world,” Nick replied.

“That wouldn’t surprise me at all,” she grinned.

Nick ga
ve Diana a warm hug, “Bishop has a plan that I actually think might work. He needs some supplies though, and we were just talking about where he could find them. We both think he might be able to scavenge what he needs from Alpha.”

Diana’s face showed a scowl.
“What kind of supplies?”

Bishop said, “I need some hose, a garden sprayer and a few fittings. Stuff a garden supply place or a hardware store would carry.”

Diana thought about Bishop’s list for a moment. “I suppose no one in Alpha would have a problem with it. Ownership of any sort of property is a touchy subject. You’ll forgive me Bishop, but as time goes on, any little thing might become critical to our recovery.”

Bishop nodded his understanding. “I could barter, I suppose.”

Diana shook her head, “We are weeks, if not months behind Meraton when it comes to trade. Right now, our biggest task is just to make the place secure and feed everyone. I wouldn’t know what to trade, how to value it, or even who to trade with. You helped us secure the town and beat those criminals, so I don’t think it’s a stretch to pay you back with some pipefittings or whatever you need. We’ll call it even for your help.”

Bishop smiled and bowed, “Glad to be of service, ma’am.”

Diana swatted him playfully on the shoulder, and then became serious. “I can’t spare any men to go with you, and there’s still a lot of this town we don’t control. You’ll be on your own.”

Terri’s voice sounded
from the front steps of the church. “What’s my husband up to now?”

Bishop winked at Diana, “Don’t worry honey, Diana and I were just planning a shopping trip for you in Alpha.”

“Shopping?” Terri’s voice sounded as she stepped toward the gathering. “I’m always up for shopping. Let’s go!”

A short time later, Diana motioned for two passing men to join their little group. After explaining what he was looking for, Bishop watched the two men think over his request.

“The Home Mart store out on the edge of town was where most folks shopped for home improvement stuff,” replied one of the men.

The other agreed. “No one’s been out there as far as I know. We’ve still got our hands full around here. If you want to take the chance, that’s probably about the best place if it didn’t burn down or get looted to the floor tiles.”

After thanking the men for their advice, Bishop asked Terri if she were up for a little adventure.

“What adventure
?” she replied. “Either the stuff you want is there or it’s not, right?”

Diana spoke up, “Well, maybe. Don’t forget this place was ruled by ro
gue criminals just a few days ago. There are still plenty of desperate people around.”

Terri shrugged
. “I’ve got my rifle; I’m not worried about it. Oh, and Bishop’s along—he can help take care of any light work, if need be.”

Diana picked up on the girl-power direction the conversation was
steered, and before Bishop could protest, agreed. “That’s a good point Terri, but you need to keep an eye on him. He hasn’t been watching his diet lately, or so I hear.”

Bishop rolled his eyes. “Well, Miss Bodyguard. If you’re ready, we should get moving.”

Alpha, Texas

December 25, 2015

Like many small towns, Alpha had experienced growth on the fringe of the city limits. Cheaper real estate and less congestion lead to strip malls, box stores
, and fast food restaurants built away from the city center. Showing almost a herd mentality, these businesses tended to cluster together in order to take advantage of each other’s customer traffic.

Alpha’s Home Mart was no exception. Located on the outskirts of town, Route 67 experienced a burst of growth a few years before the economy had tanked. Rows of department stores, restaurants, car repair shops, and dry cleaners had initially hurt the downtown area. Shoppers, lured by the newer, larger facilities, began spending less and less time in the core of the city. Mom and pop hardware stores had suffered badly, unable to compete with the volume purchasing power of the big
, national chains.

The free enterprise system was dynamic though. Downtown changed, adapting to take advantage of its strengths—quaint shops, sidewalk cafes, and theme restaurants began reversing the trend. The citizens of Alpha benefited from both areas, a quick need being satisfied by the big stores, a day of more pleasurable shopping
available in the downtown district.

The new area of development had begun after Bishop had moved away from the town years ago. As he and Terri slowly maneuvered the truck away from the city center, he
commented, “When I was a kid, this was all barren land out here. I can’t believe how much it’s been built up.”

The view out the truck’s windows was engrossing. Highway 67 was four lanes here, the expansion being required with all of the new construction. Each side of the roadway was lined with businesses ranging from dentist offices to gas stations. For the most part, the buildings, signs, and parking areas were intact. Bishop noted that every single door appeared to have been vandalized, no doubt by looters
foraging for a meal.

The parking lots were empty for the most part. Unlike most
municipalities across the country, Alpha’s death knell hadn’t been due to riots, starvation, or fires. When the power grid had failed, a tremendous explosion at the town’s chemical plant had covered much of the area in a poisonous cloud of lethal gas.  The deadly vapors had been released early on a Sunday morning, descending on thousands while they prepared for church or slept in.

Those who survived had waited for days, hoping for rescue from the outside. Little did they know that the entire country had slid off the edge of the abys
s. Eventually desperation had set in, and hunger caused the remaining populace to begin scrounging for food. Bishop imagined it had been the same almost everywhere, the primary difference here being that much of the population had died immediately rather than over time. 

Terri remained silent, her head pivoting left and right, taking it all in. It took Bishop a moment to realize that with the exception of Meraton, his wife hadn’t been in any sort of town during the daytime since the
downfall. They had left Houston at night and avoided civilization as much as possible the entire trip west. He almost chuckled at her girlish amazement at the sights passing by.

She finally commented on her surroundings.
“Bishop, this is so weird. It’s like all the people just disappeared into thin air and left everything right where it was.”

“Appearances can be deceiving. Look closely at the doors. They are all busted open. This area has been looted, at least for food.”

The statement caused his wife to pay a little more attention to their environment. A tone of concern crept into her voice, “Do you think there still might be people around?”

“Hard to tell, babe. My guess would be this area was picked clean pretty quickly, but we need to stay frosty.”

“Frosty?”

“Calm, cool, and alert.”

“Oh.”

Up ahead, Bishop could see a huge sign advertising Home Mart. The lofty logo brought back memories of dozens of trips made to the Houston version of the same franchise. He and Terri had scraped, struggled, and done without to purchase their home
- no easy feat in the middle of the Second Great Depression. The real estate brochure had been absolutely accurate in its claim that the place required a little “tender loving care.” The home’s condition had resulted in a seemingly infinite number of improvement projects and repairs. Bishop felt like he had beaten a path to Home Mart.

“In a way I feel like I’m entering familiar territory, Terri. I know the layout of these stores like the back of my hand.”

Terri smirked, her recall of Bishop’s frustration with being a handyman still fresh in her mind. “If you had spent a little more time learning some basic carpentry skills and less time shooting, you could have cut the number of trips in half.”

Bishop
grinned and threw a glance at his mate. “Well, given that we had to abandon the house, I guess you’re just lucky that I spent so much time at the shooting range, huh?”

Pulling into the empty parking lot, Bishop’s state of readiness elevated. His eyes darted from the weeds growing through cracks in the
pavement to the shattered glass surrounding the front door. As expected, someone had been here as well. He asked Terri to drive completely around the building once. It took a bit to circle the property. The complex included an office supply store adjacent to the Home Mart. It appeared to have been ransacked as well.

Bishop asked Terri to
leave the truck close to the Home Mart’s main entrance. He had to laugh when she started to pull into the first row of painted spaces. “Terri, seriously, move up next to the building—a few feet away. We don’t have to use the parking spaces anymore.”

“Sorry. Habit.”

Bishop ducked down from his defensive position sticking out of the truck’s sunroof. Before exiting the back seat, he explained, “Terri, I’m not sure what we’re going to find inside. I know you can handle yourself, but I want you to safety that rifle and stay behind me until we’re sure the entire place is unoccupied. Please keep your flashlight off and stay at most three steps behind me.”

Reaching to
ward the floorboard, he retrieved Terri’s body armor and handed it to her. “Please put this on, too.”

“Are you really expecting that much trouble? I hate this thing
. It cramps my fashion style.”

“I know, but better safe than sorry. Please just wear it until we’re sure no one is inside.”

Terri agreed, mumbling under her breath while putting the heavy vest over her blouse. “Does this body armor make my ass look fat?”

“Makes you look hot as hell, darling. Do
you think they sell mattresses in here?”

The come-on earned Bishop a swat on the shoulder.

Moving toward the door, the first thing that struck Bishop was how dark the interior was. The sun’s illumination brightened the first 10-15 feet of the entrance, after which, a wall of blackness met the couple’s gaze.

“It will take a
bit for our eyes to get used to the darkness. Until then, I’m going to use the night vision. Try squinting really hard for 10 seconds after we get inside. I’ve heard it helps.”

“Seriously?”

“Yup. Some Special Forces guys told me that once, and it seems to work. Otherwise, it’ll take your eyes about 30 minutes to adjust.”

Bishop mounted his night vision onto his rifle, pushed the power button for the light amplifying device, and began scanning the interior of the cavernous space. The first thing that caught his attention was the long row of cash registers lining the front of the store. Each drawer had been pried loose and flung to the floor. Given the store was closed when the failure occurred
, Bishop thought the whole endeavor was just plain stupid. There wouldn’t have been any cash in the drawers, and you can’t eat money. Why bother wasting the energy?

Moving a few steps further inside, Bishop started scanning the aisles. Double decker, heavy metal shelving was used to display most of the store’s wares. It looked to Bishop as though the pilfering had
been random, with some passages almost completely blocked where scavengers had pulled items from their storage areas. Other sections seemed untouched, ready for the next day’s shoppers to browse.

Hanging from the ceiling were
directional signs advertising the general category of goods located on each row. It didn’t take long for Bishop to figure out what people had found valuable during their rampage, and what they had ignored.

The section with pesticides and gardening tools appeared untouched while the display of electric home generators was completely bare.
Damn
, thought Bishop,
Alpha could use all the generators they can get their hands on.

As the couple walked down the main path behind the cash registers, Terri whispered, “Look at the candy displays, Bishop. Picked clean to the bone.”

Bishop pretended disgust. “You mean they’re out of beef jerky? Dag nab it.”

After passing the length of the store, Bishop turned to Terri and said, “Okay, I don’t see or hear anybody. Let’s check out the back of the store and all of the offices. If those are clear, I’ll get to work on my list.”

“What about
my
list?”

“If the place is empty, you’re welcome to shop all you want. Just don’t go over your VISA limit.”

“Funny.”

The couple walked down the corridor containing lighting displays, light bulbs
, and ceiling fans. This area was undisturbed; apparently, no one needed a new chandelier. At the end of the aisle, they came to the appliance department where rows of washers, dryers, and refrigerators sat on display.

“Oh, Bishop, they’re having a sale on those new high capacity washers. Do we have time to take a look?”

Bishop was about to retort when a noise echoed through the store. He immediately crouched and began scanning with the night vision. Terri moved a little closer to his side.

It was impossible to tell where the sound had originated, but Bishop’s instincts told him it came from the back of the store. After listening for a while, he began moving toward the rear of the retail area, passing displays of tile, wood flooring, and carpeting. It took a bit of searching before they found an entrance to the non-public portion of the building.

Bishop quietly opened a steel door labeled, “Loading Dock,” and scanned the area with his optic. 

Not seeing any threat, the couple cautiously entered the warehouse and dock area. Several concrete truck ramps lined the rear wall of the building, complete with huge garage doors. Three yellow forklifts sat parked, their electric recharging plugs secured to the wall.

Looters had visited this area more so than the main retail section of the store. Practically every box had at least been opened, many having their contents dumped on the floor. The large expanse of concrete was littered with paper, plastic wrap, and scraps of garbage.

From the far end of the warehouse, a scraping noise broke the silence, quickly followed by a sound that resembled a door slamming. Bishop motioned for Terri to stay close and began stalking the source of the disturbance.

Halfway there, the scrape … bang echoed through the space again.

Cautiously, Bishop peered around a stack of boxes and s
pied a pool of light on one of the loading ramps created by an open emergency exit door. He could make out two people on the ramp.

Scrap
e … scrape … bang!

Bishop figured it out on the second glance and exhaled. He reached behind him and motioned Terri to come up and have a look.

Scrape . . . scrape . . . scrape . . . bang!

Te
rri moved beside Bishop, and peeked over his shoulder. When she finally discerned the source of the noise, she grinned and rested her head on his shoulder in relief.

Two young kids had a skateboard and were trying to ride it down the ramp. From what Bishop could see, they weren’t very good and kept falling off. Each time the
y lost their footing on the toy, it would flip over and slam into the wall, producing the bang.

“What do you want to do?” Terri whispered to Bishop.

“I think you should leave your rifle here with me, and go talk to them. A woman probably won’t freak them out as much as a man.”

“Little do they know at such a young age, eh?”

Terri handed Bishop her weapon and slowly ventured closer to the children. She cleared her throat to get their attention.

The two boys froze immediately, their eyes growing wide. Without a word, both of the
m bolted for the exit door, all trace of them evaporating into thin air. Bishop could hear their running footsteps fade into the distance.

Terri turned around
and looked at her husband, making a motion of “What the heck?”

Bishop whispered, “Maybe your reputation preceded you.”

“Bishop, did you see them? They were filthy little ragamuffins. Their clothes were torn and covered in dirt. I think they live here.”

Bishop handed Terri back the rifle and then moved to the door. Peeking through the small glass window, he couldn’t see anything but the empty back lot of the loading dock. He started to turn away when the distant sound of a slamming door sounded from outside.