asked.
“I kind of have my hands tied right now,” he said, covered in blood from helping Sara.
“What about the windows?”
“What about them?”
“They are setting fire to business buildings.”
City Hall was made of brick but it wouldn’t have stopped them throwing Molotov cocktails through the glass windows. We would die from smoke inhalation. The moment we stepped outside they would hack us to death.
Murphy with a dead serious face just pointed to the doors. “Go and do as I’ve asked.”
Everyone start grabbing chairs, tables, anything they could find and dragging them into the hallway. We began stacking them up in front of the main doors which were just glass and steel. It wouldn’t take them long to put two and two together and see that all that shit was there to protect those inside. City Hall was attached to the police station. One of the older women mentioned making a hole in the wall through to the station so that we could expand it and create an escape route. But that idea vanished when the officer said that there was a two-foot thick brick wall between the two buildings.
Once the doors were barricaded, some of the oldies started looking for anything that could be used as a weapon. In City Hall there was nothing except office furniture. Some of them broke off pieces of wood from chair legs and wrapped up shards of glass in towels.
The guys from the lumberyard paced back and forth.
“I don’t like this. I say we move now, while they are still gathering. We could get out of town through the forest.”
“What do you say?” They posed the question to Murphy who was still helping the wounded officer.
“No, we need to stick together,” Brett said.
“We will. But leaving on foot.”
Sara spoke up. “This man is too injured. He can’t and I’m not leaving him.”
“That’s not our problem,” one of the men spat back. “I’m not losing my life over one man.”
Murphy spun around.
“You want to leave. Go now. No one is stopping you. But we are staying to help.”
A few of their wives began to cry as they told them to get moving. Fear had taken hold as the harsh reality bore down on us all. People would divide as the fight-or-flight instinct kicked in. Edgar was right, even if we could hike out, we wouldn’t survive long. We had zero food, no protection from the elements and currently no weapons. The harsh mountainous terrain would have kicked our asses long before we had managed to get to safety.
In many ways leaving would have been like an extreme version of Camp Zero.
“No, he’s right, Murphy. A few of us are going to have to venture out. It won’t be long before they make their way down here. If there are over two hundred of them, those doors are not going to hold,” Bill Robertson said, still sporting a terrible bloodied gash on his face. “I have kids to think about. C’mon, Rachel. Hey! Hold up,” he shouted to the lumber guys who were in the processing of removing what we had stacked on twenty minutes earlier.
“Where do you live, Murphy?” Edgar asked.
“On the west side.”
“Shit.”
The thought of trying to make it across town with groups of skinheads searching for survivors only added to the anxiety we felt.
“I have a home on the edge of town.”
“Let me guess, you are one of those prepper types with everything stored up?” Corey asked.
“Actually no, that’s Dan. I have weapons. Beyond that I have stocked up on a few things mainly because Dan badgered me but no, I wish I did.”
“What about the fallout? Radiation and shit like that? Shouldn’t we be down in some bunker or something?” Luke asked. “I’ve heard that if you don’t die from the blast, you can die from radiation?”
Murphy didn’t reply. I don’t think it was because he didn’t know. I think there was little he could do. There was little any of us could do.
“You don’t think they would set one off in this town, do you?” Billy asked.
“I highly doubt it, they
“I kind of have my hands tied right now,” he said, covered in blood from helping Sara.
“What about the windows?”
“What about them?”
“They are setting fire to business buildings.”
City Hall was made of brick but it wouldn’t have stopped them throwing Molotov cocktails through the glass windows. We would die from smoke inhalation. The moment we stepped outside they would hack us to death.
Murphy with a dead serious face just pointed to the doors. “Go and do as I’ve asked.”
Everyone start grabbing chairs, tables, anything they could find and dragging them into the hallway. We began stacking them up in front of the main doors which were just glass and steel. It wouldn’t take them long to put two and two together and see that all that shit was there to protect those inside. City Hall was attached to the police station. One of the older women mentioned making a hole in the wall through to the station so that we could expand it and create an escape route. But that idea vanished when the officer said that there was a two-foot thick brick wall between the two buildings.
Once the doors were barricaded, some of the oldies started looking for anything that could be used as a weapon. In City Hall there was nothing except office furniture. Some of them broke off pieces of wood from chair legs and wrapped up shards of glass in towels.
The guys from the lumberyard paced back and forth.
“I don’t like this. I say we move now, while they are still gathering. We could get out of town through the forest.”
“What do you say?” They posed the question to Murphy who was still helping the wounded officer.
“No, we need to stick together,” Brett said.
“We will. But leaving on foot.”
Sara spoke up. “This man is too injured. He can’t and I’m not leaving him.”
“That’s not our problem,” one of the men spat back. “I’m not losing my life over one man.”
Murphy spun around.
“You want to leave. Go now. No one is stopping you. But we are staying to help.”
A few of their wives began to cry as they told them to get moving. Fear had taken hold as the harsh reality bore down on us all. People would divide as the fight-or-flight instinct kicked in. Edgar was right, even if we could hike out, we wouldn’t survive long. We had zero food, no protection from the elements and currently no weapons. The harsh mountainous terrain would have kicked our asses long before we had managed to get to safety.
In many ways leaving would have been like an extreme version of Camp Zero.
“No, he’s right, Murphy. A few of us are going to have to venture out. It won’t be long before they make their way down here. If there are over two hundred of them, those doors are not going to hold,” Bill Robertson said, still sporting a terrible bloodied gash on his face. “I have kids to think about. C’mon, Rachel. Hey! Hold up,” he shouted to the lumber guys who were in the processing of removing what we had stacked on twenty minutes earlier.
“Where do you live, Murphy?” Edgar asked.
“On the west side.”
“Shit.”
The thought of trying to make it across town with groups of skinheads searching for survivors only added to the anxiety we felt.
“I have a home on the edge of town.”
“Let me guess, you are one of those prepper types with everything stored up?” Corey asked.
“Actually no, that’s Dan. I have weapons. Beyond that I have stocked up on a few things mainly because Dan badgered me but no, I wish I did.”
“What about the fallout? Radiation and shit like that? Shouldn’t we be down in some bunker or something?” Luke asked. “I’ve heard that if you don’t die from the blast, you can die from radiation?”
Murphy didn’t reply. I don’t think it was because he didn’t know. I think there was little he could do. There was little any of us could do.
“You don’t think they would set one off in this town, do you?” Billy asked.
“I highly doubt it, they
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