10
After making sure that everyone knew the plan, Jake, Billy and Leon began the task of splitting people into teams, and then each man took a team and went over the details of his team's duties. They'd ended up with a fighting force of forty - ten each in the flanking / lookout groups and twenty on the front line. The plan was to lure the attackers into the vineyard where the many fences would make it difficult for them to run any way other than the ways the Lazy H fighters wanted them to. They would be broken into groups of eight and spread out in a half moon shape, everyone with strict directions on firing and avoiding friendly fire. Once the enemies turned to retreat, the main force would back off and maintain the line while the flanking forces cleaned up. The hope was that the retreating forces wouldn't be more than a half dozen or so that would be easy to pick off.
By the time everyone knew their jobs and was properly armed it was early afternoon. After feeding everyone an early supper the troops were off so that everyone had enough time to get into place before they expected any forward scouts from the enemy. Billy went out with the group of spotters that would become a flanking unit; Ellie went with the other flanking group while Jake and Leon stayed with the main attackers. Once people settled into place, the only thing left to do was wait.
It was sometime just before sunset when the first attacker was seen. The lookouts quietly reported back that there were fifteen heavily armed men coming from the direction they'd assumed and heading in the direction they'd wanted. They lookouts were in no danger of being discovered, so everyone just got comfortable and settled in for the long haul. The attackers eventually settled in to a well concealed area about halfway between the two flanking groups.
When the scouts radioed in that there were only fifteen men in the attacking force, Leon became agitated and started pacing around, running his hands through his hair every so often. "What's a matter," Jake asked. "Our plan still works."
"Our plan still works as long as those other five aren't out there waiting to flank our flanks," Leon stated angrily. "Jake, why don't you take five people and try to get out and around them now, before the fighting starts."
Jake didn't like the sound of that. "Leon, man, think it through. We can't get out there undetected. Our guys have a better chance if they ain't expectin' nothin'. We go out there an' get seen tryin' ta move into position they'll know somethin' is up an' we lose the element of surprise. Billy an' Ellie will prep their people on how fifteen changes tha plan," Jake said.
Leon continued to pace but seemed to hear Jake and slowly his pacing came to a stop. "I hope you're right," Leon said.
One hour passed, then another before the sun was completely down and night had taken over. The scouts radioed in that they were seeing activity in the enemy camp, about half of the group was moving in the direction of the main force at the road. Final checks on weapons were made and people began taking aim through their night scopes. They had enough for one in five to have a night scope, so each group had at least two. Jake hoped it would be enough.
Leon began moving up and down the line making final checks on their troops. He was to take charge of the left and Jake the right. They'd made sure to tell everyone not to shoot until the signal - once they moved forward to a certain point Jake's group had a flare gun that they were going to fire directly at the enemy group, hoping to blind them since they were using night vision goggles. They hoped to gain a thirty to sixty second advantage in taking out the group while they couldn't see to fire back.
It all happened at once: the enemy group hit the spot, the flare was fired and muffled silenced shots could be heard up and down their main line, followed shortly by the screams of the dying and injured. The attackers in the main group never fired a single shot as the seven men were cut down before they even knew what was happening. Before the last body dropped, Jake heard the crackle of the walkie at his waist. He held it to his ear to try to catch the transmission. "... another… moving your way," was all he could make out.
Jake grabbed the gun of one of the men with a night scope and took a look around while telling the others to do the same. "Someone radio Leon and tell him there's more comin'," he growled as he continued to look around. "Someone keep an eye on our rear, keep an eye out for heat signatures," he called.
"Zach says Leon took off towards the fallen bodies as soon as the shooting stopped," Seth reported. "He wants to know what they should do."
Jake could kick something. Fucking Leon. "Tell Zach ta make sure those with night vision are keepin' an eye out all around them, we think they're gonna try a sneak attack," Jake said. He still didn't see anything out there that told him where they were coming from.
"Jake! Over there," someone called, "down the road to the right! They're coming!"
Jake spun to look that direction through the scope. Sure enough he made out the shapes of six men coming their way. "Tell tha other group ta keep an eye on their left flank," Jake told Seth. Jake took aim and started firing shot after shot, taking out three of the men while the rest of his group took out the other three. Jake could hear firing further down the line, hopefully at the other group. After a moment, the muffled sounds quieted and the walkie crackled. The other team reported success repelling the attack and no injuries or losses, other than Leon disappearing. Now it was up to the flanks to clean up the rest. By Jake's count they had five to eight men left to deal with.
"Seth," Jake called. Seth appeared at his side from the shadows. "Tell tha flanks that we've taken thirteen, they need ta worry 'bout tha other nine an' they need ta protect their backs," Jake barked. Seth immediately began trying to raise someone in the other two groups. Before they could get a response, gunshots broke through the night.
"That ain't us," Jake said, looking back through the scope in the direction the shots came from.
"Jake," Seth called excitedly, "I've got Ellie!"
Jake spun around and grabbed the walkie from Seth. "El, what's goin' on out there, over."
There was a moment of quiet before Ellie's voice crackled over the radio. "We just took down four over here. Those shots come from you guys, over," she asked.
"Not us. Must be Billy's group. Take yer group an' try ta get close enough ta help Billy, over," Jake said.
"Copy," Ellie said,
"Any luck on getting through ta Billy's group," Jake asked Seth. Seth shook his head. "Tell Zach ta bring tha rest of tha group back here, round everyone up. We need ta split up an' move, now!"
Jake quickly formed a plan, they would split the twenty in half - ten to remain to guard the line and ten to go with Jake to help Billy's group. By the time everyone converged on Jake, he had already selected the ten he wanted to take with him. He rattled off the names of those staying, giving Seth directions on what to do to hold the line. Jake gathered the group that would be going with him, filled them in quickly on what he wanted to do and they moved out.
It took ten minutes for them to stealthily make their way to Billy's location. In that time they heard three more unsilenced gunshots but nothing else. That had been five minutes into their walk. When they finally reached the location where Billy's group should have been, there was nothing. Maybe Jake had gotten the location wrong. He looked around, trying to see anything in the moonlight that would help him figure out where Billy's team was. His team looked through their night scopes, searching the area around them.
"Over here," Zach whispered to the team. They moved through some tall grass and found a body crumpled in the grass. The team moved into a circle, facing out, around Zach, Jake and the body and kept watch, sweeping the area with the night vision scopes. Before they could roll the body over, another member of the group called out. "There's another over here," James said.
They quickly turned over the first body, relieved to see that it was not a familiar face. They moved to the second body and rolled it over. It was Billy. He was covered in blood. Jake forced himself to get over the shock and looked the body over. He'd been shot three times, twice in the chest and once in the gut. He clearly had gone down fighting - in his hand he still clutched his knife and both it and his hands were covered in blood.
"Zach, go check tha other body's wounds, see if he's been stabbed," Jake ordered. "Tha rest of ya, keep yer fuckin' eyes glued ta those scopes. Someone call back ta Seth; see if anyone's reported back yet."
Zach returned and reported that the man was indeed stabbed. "Looks like Billy did a number on him before he went down. Man's tore up," Zach finished.
"I got Seth," Brett said holding the walkie out for Jake.
"What's tha word, Seth? Over," Jake said.
"Ellie just radioed in and said they shot killed three more men while trying to reach Billy. We still haven't heard from anyone in Billy's group. Over," Seth said.
"We found one that Billy killed, so that should take care of tha fifteen we saw an' six of tha other seven we expected. We got one unaccounted fer. Start callin' people back in. We're gonna take another look around; see if we can find tha rest of Billy's group. Everyone be careful, there may still be one out there. Over," Jake said.
"Will do. If we don't hear from you sooner, I'll let you know when everyone gets here. Out," Seth said.
"Come on. Let's see if we can find tha rest of tha group," Jake said. They spread out in a line and began walking towards the area Billy's group had waited for the enemies to arrive.
After fifteen minutes and nothing to show for it, Jake turned his group back towards Billy's body. He was pissed that they'd lost Billy, pissed that the rest of his team was unaccounted for and pissed that they had no idea whether or not this had been worth it. And where the fuck was Leon? When they reached Billy, he was beginning to show signs of reanimation, his fingers were flexing and his eyes had just reopened. Jake shone his flashlight on Billy's face. His eyes were cloudy and he started snapping his jaws at Jake. Jake quickly put his knife through Billy's temple and closed his eyes.
Zach made to help Jake lift the body, but Jake waved him off, so Zach stepped back and let the man do it himself. Jake got Billy up and over his shoulder in a fireman's carry and the somber group set a steady pace towards home.
"Jake, you copy," Ellie's voice broke through the walkie when they had almost reached the road.
"Zach here. Jake's got his hands full at the moment so I'm holdin' the radio for him. Over," Zach said.
"We've got most of Billy's group here. We're just missing Billy and Amy. Over," Ellie said.
"We've got Billy, he didn't make it. Didn't see any sign of Amy when we took a look around. We're about five minutes out; we can make a plan then. Out," Jake said when Zach held the walkie to his face with the button depressed.
When they reached the rest of the group, Ellie burst into tears when she saw Jake carrying Billy. They'd been pretty secretive about it, but Jake knew that the two of them had been close, spending more nights together than apart over the winter. He laid Billy's body down as gently as possible and Ellie threw herself over it on the ground. She lay there sobbing. Jake put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it, not really knowing what to say. After a moment, he stepped away from her to meet with the rest of the group.
"Who was the last person to see Amy," Jake asked the group at large.
"I was," Sarah said quietly. "We were waiting for the attack; Amy was next to me the whole time. We saw them coming through the scopes and we radioed it in… then we waited. When they started to move, we called it in again and then everything was happening all at once. We saw the flare go off and heard the attack happening, and then suddenly there were men behind us shouting at us to put our weapons down… I don't know what happened. Someone started shooting and the next thing I knew there were bodies on the ground… when I looked up Amy was gone and Billy was fighting with a man, trying to stab him. I don't know how they got so close… Billy saw me and told me to run and call for back up. I don't know how I ended up with the walkie but it was already in my hand. I tried to call, let you know more were coming. Someone grabbed me from behind, there was a shot and I was released. I couldn't see who shot the man so I kept moving and eventually ran into Ellie's group. I should have tried to find her or helped Billy," she finished with a sob.
Several members of the group moved to support and comfort Sarah, which Jake was glad for since he had no idea how to comfort a hysterical woman. "Anyone else see anythin'," Jake asked the group.
"I don't know if it was Sarah, but did see two figures in the night scope, a big one and a smaller one, probably a man and a woman… it was right after everything went down, I was looking for someone to shoot, I figured they were ours since they didn't have any women with them and it didn't look like she was being forced to move. But I don't know if it was her. They were headed that way," James said pointing to the southeast.
"I'll head out once it's light enough an' see if I can pick up a trail," Jake said when no one else offered any further details. Jake looked around and realized that Leon was nowhere to be seen.
"Anyone seen Leon," he asked.
"I haven't seen him since he took off after the first assault," Zach said.
Everyone else shook their heads no.
"Alright, so we've lost one for sure and have two MIA… great," Jake said.
Ellie had called for trucks to come pick them up after her walkie conversation with Jake and they could hear the trucks rumbling down the gravel road. Everyone began collecting their gear and readying for transport. When they got in the trucks it was three a.m. Jake knew there wasn't going to be any sleep for him. Dawn would start to break in the next hour and a half and he wanted to be out looking for clues as soon as there was enough light to see.
He sat in the back of a truck with Ellie and Billy's body. They didn't have anything to wrap him up in and his body was in bad shape. He must have been shot point blank - the two shots to the chest basically exploded his chest cavity, the gaping wounds clear in the moonlight. Ellie sat cradling Billy's head in her lap; Jake sat next to her smoking.
"I always had a thing for him, ya know," Ellie whispered. "Never had the guts to say anything to him… and then I ended up here and things just fell into place… I can't believe he's gone," she got out before she started sobbing again. Jake put his arm around her shoulders and offered her his handkerchief. Ellie took it and offered him a small smile.
After a moment she gathered herself and took a deep breath. "I guess I should be thankful that I got to have something beautiful in this ugly world, even if it was just for a little while. Funny how it took the end of the world for me to realize what beauty really is," Ellie said sadly.
Jake exhaled a large cloud of smoke and chewed on his lip while he thought about what Ellie said. "Mmmhmm," he hummed in agreement. "I know whatcha mean… end of tha world changes yer perspective on thangs," he said.
"Make sure you don't take Alex for granted, you never know when the last time is…," Ellie choked out.
"Ya don't gotta tell me, I almost lost 'er 'nough times ta know how precious tha time we got is," Jake drawled.
They spent the remainder of the drive in silence. When they arrived at the ranch practically everyone was waiting outside the barn for them. Tim had tears freely dripping down his face as did several other members of the group. Billy was well liked and respected. Losing him was a big blow to the group. Tim helped Jake carry Billy's body to a sheet that had been placed on the ground to wrap his body in before they buried him. Once Billy was secured, Jake retreated from the small group that had gathered to allow them their time to grieve. Jake saw Kathy and Doc on the outer edge of the group near the barn and made his way towards them.
"Anyone seen Al, she's supposed ta be back by now," Jake asked.
They both shook their heads. "No, haven't seen her or Sally since they took off yesterday afternoon," Doc said.
Jake ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "Damn it," he muttered to himself. He pulled out another cigarette and lit it before he started pacing back and forth.
"You shouldn't worry so much. She's a tough girl. Probably just got carried away with training and they'll be along any time now," Doc said kindly.
"Nah, somethin's wrong. She's never shown up late, not since Aaron…" Jake's voice trailed off. "I can't even go look for her, not until I check out the fight scene and see if I can figure out what happened to Amy and make sure there ain't anyone out there we missed. GOD FUCKING DAMN IT," he yelled as he threw a punch at the barn wall. His fist was no match for the plywood, however, and all he succeeded in doing was bruising his knuckles. The pain made him feel better for a minute, until his knuckles started throbbing.
"Now, don't go being stupid," Doc said. "You're no good to anyone if you get hurt. You should take a minute and go get something to eat. If you want to lie down for a while I'll come get you at first light," Doc offered.
Jake shook his head. "Nah, no way I can sleep. I'll jus' grab somethin' ta eat an' head back out… no use sittin' 'round here waitin' fer tha light. Might as well be in place when tha light hits. I'm takin' a walkie with me, will ya let me know if she comes back while I'm out," he asked Doc.
"Of course," Doc said. "Don't you worry about her; she'll be back before you know it."
Jake went back to Tim and Ellie, placing a hand on each of their shoulders. "I'm gonna head back out, start lookin' fer Amy at first light. I got a walkie. I'm gonna take Zach an' Brett with me," he finished.
"Thanks, Jake," Tim said. "Be careful out there, we can't lose anyone else."
Jake nodded to them and went to find Zach. The kid was stuffing his face in the bunkhouse like he hadn't eaten in years.
"Hey, Jabba, wanna be my backup? Gonna go look fer Amy," Jake said.
Zach wiped his face with the back of his hand, gulped down the mass of food in his mouth and grinned at Jake. "Sorry man, I didn't realize how hungry I was until I put something in my face," he explained. "Then I just couldn't stop. Sure, I'll come with ya. I can be ready in five."
"Meet me in front of tha barn, I'm gonna go look fer Brett," Jake said.
He found Brett who quickly agreed to join them. Jake gathered a few things and then met the boys at the front of the barn. They jumped in Jake's truck and set off.
They parked at the end of the road and went the rest of the way on foot. By the time they reached the place where they found Billy the first grey light of dawn was beginning to ease across the night sky. They waited silently, each looking around for clues and trying not to disturb the area any more than they already had. It always amazed Jake how quickly the world changed from dark to light - it wasn't long before there was enough light for him to see by and they began their search in earnest.
Jake quickly found the trail that belonged to Billy. He backtracked a bit and found the point of contact, where Billy had been ambushed by the attackers. There were bodies littered around the area. Jake looked at the bodies, trying to figure out how they'd managed to escape detection with the night scopes, but didn't notice anything unusual. They moved through the area, heading southeast in the direction James said he saw people heading.
Jake eventually found a trail that seemed to match James' description - heavy steps and large feet followed by smaller feet and lighter steps heading away from the action. Jake whistled to the boys and they fell in behind him before following the tracks. After thirty minutes of walking Jake paused to reevaluate the trail at the creek where he and Tim had killed the hunting party. The prints had remained consistent - the pace was never increased or decreased, neither party seemed to be under duress, not dragging feet or trying to avoid continuing on. Jake was sure that if this was Amy she was willingly following whoever the other tracks belonged to. He had more questions now than ever. The tracks were clearly heading back to the enemy compound and Jake hoped that didn't mean something sinister was afoot.
They eventually reached the place where Jake and Tim had followed the road on their fateful scouting trip. As they were about to step out onto the road, Jake heard the unmistakable rumbling of a tractor trailer coming down the road.
"Get down, stay back," Jake called to Zach and Brett. All three of the men crouched low in the bushes, waiting. The sounds of the truck got closer and closer. Soon they could see the thing slowly making its way down the road. It was one of the tankers they wanted to take from the oil company! Jake couldn't believe it. Someone had beaten them to it, after they'd done all the hard work and even lost people. He was pissed. He'd be damned if he was going to let some opportunistic asshole steal what they'd worked so hard for. Jake stood up from the bushes and stepped out into the road, gun raised and aimed at the driver. As the truck approached, the driver applied the brakes, bringing the rig to a stop. Jake now noticed a pickup truck behind the big rig, also slowing to a stop. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.
"What the hell are you doin' in the middle of the road," Leon called as he leaned out the driver's window.
"What tha fuck, man?" Jake called, relief spreading across his face. "We thought you went AWOL."
"Nah man. I just couldn't take it. I thought I could Rambo it; take 'em all out myself, rescue the hostages and the fuel, hopefully cut down on the casualties. Couldn't stand the thought of losing any more men," Leon said. "Amy's got the hostages in the truck behind me."
"Fuck, she was with ya tha whole time," Jake asked.
"Yeah, came across her as I was makin' a break for it to try to get behind the enemy line. They'd ambushed the group and no one knew what to do, Billy was nowhere to be seen. I grabbed her and told her to come with me, she didn't argue. We cleaned out the few men left at the camp then we liberated the fuel tankers. There's two more, full and ready to go. We just need to get back there and get them ASAP," Leon said.
"Shit. Let's get back ta tha ranch an' we'll get a team back out there right away. We'll ride with Amy," Jake said.
Leon pulled out, Jake, Zach and Brett climbed in the back of the truck with the newly freed women and children and made their introductions. The overall mood of the newcomers was one of relief. They didn't seem scared, just genuinely happy to be alive and free. Jake did his best to fill them in on what happened to the men that had held them captive and what they could expect at the ranch.
Jake suddenly realized that Leon had said the prisoner said there were eleven captives, there were only nine of them in the truck. "We were under tha impression that there were eleven hostages. What happened ta tha other two," he asked.
"We lost one of the little girls and her older sister," a young woman replied. "They tried to escape just before the mean man left last night… he made us watch…"
Jake held his hand up to stop her. "'S okay. Don't gotta tell me anymore. What's yer name," Jake asked her.
"I'm Becky," the young woman said. "This is my little sister Ava. We were here visiting our cousins when everything happened… lost my cousins and aunt… our uncle was the one that got us to this group, thought they'd help us… ended up killing him in front of us after making him watch… what they did…" the girl's voice wavered and dropped off, leaving the sentence unfinished. Jake didn't need her to finish it. He knew what happened.
"Well, we ain't like that. We got plenty of room and lots of friendly people. Lots of work, we expect everyone to pitch in. But it's as safe as anything we've found so far and we haven't lost anyone to a dead one since before the winter," Jake said.
The ride home was much quicker than the walk out and within the hour they were back at Jake's truck and then driving back to the barn. They were greeted by a large, dreary crowd, the women getting the newcomers settled and fed while Leon and several others figured out what to do with the fuel truck. Tim and Ellie were still absorbed in their grief, Billy's body still sat where Jake had left it. He needed to do something; they needed to get it together before their grief started to spill over to the rest of the population.
"Zach, do me a favor, go find Doc, James an' John. Tell 'em I need 'em here pronto. Brett, can ya back my truck up over there? Near tha body? Then grab two shovels and a couple pickaxes an' put 'em in tha back," Jake asked. Zach nodded and took off at a trot while Brett jumped into the truck and moved it where Jake wanted. Jake went to Tim and Ellie.
"We gotta move 'im," Jake said quietly. "We're gonna dig a grave fer 'im down by Sally's little brother. You two need ta get some rest. Let me take care of this fer ya," Jake said.
Brett dropped the tools in the back of the truck and helped Jake pick Billy up and place him in the bed of the truck. Just then Zach arrived with Doc and John. "James is out on perimeter watch," Zach said.
"What's going on, Jake? What do you need us to do," Doc asked.
"Tim an' Ellie need rest. With Billy gone we need someone ta step up an' make sure shit keeps gettin' done 'round here. Doc, you got a pretty good idea of how Billy an' Tim were doin' thangs, right," Jake asked.
"A pretty good idea, yes," Doc replied.
"Ya think you an' John can keep thangs afloat 'fer a couple a days, jus' 'til we can get thangs figured out? I don't know where tha fuck Alex is an' we need ta get out there an' gather all tha bodies from tha fight. I'm not even sure if we killed 'em all," Jake said.
"Whatever we can do to help we will," Doc said, John nodding in agreement.
It wasn't even eight in the morning yet, but Jake knew they needed to get a move on. The ranch was in chaos; without their leaders the people were scared and confused. Jake needed to get things under control now before everything they worked so hard for was lost for good.
"Zach, ya know where Billy keeps his book," Jake asked. Zach nodded yes. "Can ya grab it an' give it ta Doc?"
"Sure thing, man," Zach said before trotting off.
"Between tha records that Kathy is keepin' an' Billy's notebook ya should have everythin' ya need ta keep us goin' a few days. Don't think we need ta worry 'bout anythin' other than the basics - gatherin' food an' watchin' tha perimeter. I'll take a small team out ta collect tha bodies an' dump 'em, once I figure out whether we missed anyone we can make a plan. If we got 'em all, we don't gotta worry 'bout another attack - from them at least - an' I can go out lookin' fer Alex an' Sally. If it looks like someone got away we'll have ta deal with them before I can go lookin' fer them," Jake explained.
"We got things here handled," Doc said. "We'll get the teams out in the garden and the orchards and the perimeter team should be coming in to change shifts soon anyway. We'll get them where they need to be."
"Thanks, Doc," Jake said. "Hey, Leon," he called out to the man across the way. Leon came running over.
"What's up," he asked.
"How many men did you take out, before you got to the enemy camp," Jake asked.
"Just killed the one that had grabbed Amy, took her with me and we took out the six at the enemy camp," Leon replied. "Why?"
"Jus' tryin' ta get our count right… we only accounted fer twenty one of tha twenty two we expected. Now it all adds up," Jake said. "Thanks."
Jake gathered ten people to go out and collect the bodies. They worked quickly and by the time they were finished they had accounted for and collected all twenty two bodies. They drove the bodies to the designated dump area, tossed the bodies in a waiting pit and pushed a few feet of dirt in to cover them.
Back at the ranch Jake was pleased to see that Doc and John had things running smoothly; teams had moved out shortly after Jake's team left and were now working hard in the garden and down in the orchard. Kathy, Shelly and Maggie were all helping get the new women and children settled in, showing them around and helping them set up a trailer of their own.
"Looks like we accounted fer all of 'em," he drawled as he walked up to Doc and John. "Looks like ya got thangs goin', any problems," he asked them.
"Not a one," Doc replied. "Everyone has been great, volunteering to fill in as needed. Billy's loss is going to be felt for a long time, no doubt about it. Tim and Ellie declined any help in digging his grave. They've been down there since you left."
"We need ta get out there an' get tha rest of tha tankers," Jake said. "I can't worry 'bout them right now. Will ya keep an eye on 'em fer me while I finish this up," Jake asked Doc.
"You bet. I'm gonna take them some water and food myself in a little bit," Doc said.
"I'm gonna need ya ta come with me, James," Jake said looking at the man. "Yer one of tha only people we got that can drive a semi an' we got two ta bring back. Guess I'm drivin' tha other one. I'll meet ya back here in a few. Gonna get tha rest of tha team together. Still nothing from Alex," he asked Doc hopefully.
Doc shook his head. "Sorry son."
Jake kicked the dirt at that but recovered quickly and gathered the rest of his team. Zach, Seth, Amy and Max piled into the back of Jake's truck, Jake driving and John riding shotgun.
It took them three hours to get the tankers back to the Lazy H. They'd had to clear out a half dozen dead ones that had been wandering near the entrance before they could enter the compound, but other than that they'd had no issues, human or dead. Both of the tankers were full but needed to be hooked up to tractors and they'd had a hell of a time getting them to line up right. The logistics of getting the tankers hitched and moved was difficult, but they finally got both trailers hooked up and back to the ranch.
Jake stood away from the chaos of the barn below him as he watched everyone work together to get the semi's into place. He looked at his watch for the millionth time in the last ten minutes - Alex was eighteen hours late. Something was definitely wrong. Their group hadn't spent much time to the west other than to clear the closest properties. Jake worried that Alex and Sally had run into some other survivors. It was a bit after noon, if Jake left now he could reach the general area his girls were headed.
Jake sighed and began walking to the barn. There was no way he could leave this place right now. The group's morale had hit a serious low and they had to make sure the leaders that were left were visible and clearly in charge making the right decisions. As much as he needed to go find Alex, he couldn't just walk away from his duty to these people. He decided to wait until the morning to go after her and spend the rest of the afternoon trying to help Tim and Ellie so they could get back on track. He just hoped they would be able to move on.