Land by Theresa Shaver

dumped his stuff with the rest.
    Seeing that he had been outside Quinn was surprised and asked, “Where did you go man?”
    With a cocky grin Cooper announced, “Just doing a little looting for the common good. I went over to the home improvement store but there was no one there so I broke a window and grabbed some stuff we might need.” Nodding down at the stuff he brought in, he explained, “We might need to get around roads if they aren’t passable so I got us some wire and bolt cutters as well as two crowbars. I was thinking of chain link fencing and pad locks.” he bowed for applause.
    Alex couldn’t help but smile at his cocky attitude and in truth it was good thinking on his part. The others thought so too and applauded him.
    “Great job man, that will really save us time if we get stuck.” Quinn praised. “Okay guys that’s it. Let’s load this stuff up and we can spread some of it around the backpacks. Everybody make sure the water bottle holders are full and take an extra bottle in your pack. Also we have four guns and a can of mace, so let’s figure out who’s going to carry them. Does everybody know how to work a gun?” he looked around to take a poll. All three of the boys had fired handguns before and Alex was surprised when Dara said she had as well.
    “I guess that leaves me out of the club.” she said. “I can shoot rifles and shotguns but I’ve never shot a handgun before so why don’t I carry the mace and you guys take the guns. When we get out in the country we can have a practice.”
    “Sounds good,” Quinn said “You shouldn’t have any problem learning the difference and I know you’re great at target practice with a rifle so we can sort that out when we hit the countryside.”
    They all got waist packs and stored the weapons and extra clips in them, except for Cooper who had taken the holster and belt off one of the cops outside. He pulled his shirt closed to cover it and then everybody got busy loading gear up. Within ten minutes Alex was locking the front door and dropping the keys in the slot.
    “Well, shopping spree is over,” she thought, “now it’s time to physically pay for it.” Hitching her backpack into a more comfortable position and tightening the straps, she climbed onto her bike and followed the others down the road.
     

Chapter 6
     
     
    Four hours later Alex was definitely paying the price. Her thighs burned and her shoulders where the pack’s straps rested were rubbed raw. She had gone through her bike water bottle for the second time and was in desperate need to relieve her bladder. She was very thankful that her bike wasn’t pulling one of the child carriers and felt bad for the extra weight that Quinn and Josh were pulling.
    They had come a long way with only a few issues. The Orange freeway was heavy with car crashes but luckily, except for a few spots, it was a wide 5 lane freeway that had open sides and in some places even a pathway that ran beside it. In one of the tight spots they had had their first problem.
    A man wearing an expensive suit and standing beside a fancy sports car that was across two lanes tried to wave them down. When he realized that the group wasn’t going to stop he jumped out to block the road forcing the group to come to a halt.
    “Hey kid, I want to buy your bike!” he exclaimed.
    “Sorry Mister, it’s not for sale. Can you move out of the way please?” Cooper answered.
    “Of course it is,” said the man with a smirk, “everything has a price, name it and I’ll pay it.” he said waving a cheque book around.
    “Really, we aren’t selling, so please move!” Cooper said again with more force.
    “Listen kid, do you know who I am? I’ve got an important meeting with the star of the next Lethal Action movie and I can’t get my cell working. I need your bike to get to the studio, so how much? You guys have five bikes so you can double up.”
    When Cooper just stared at the guy shaking his head the man got angry.