The sound of gunfire grew in volume and intensity as she approached the intersection, then she got a look at the grocery store.
The parking lot was jammed full of angry people, all of them facing a small group of well-armed men who were guarding the entrance. One of the men was firing a rifle in the air, trying to deter the crowd from coming any closer. Katie didn’t know if the men guarding the store were actually protecting it, or if they had seized the building and were intent on keeping all of the food for themselves. Either way, she said a small prayer of thanks that she’d gotten in and out with supplies when she had.
Pushing on, she sadly noted that her assessment of depending on the police had been accurate. There was zero police presence, and the mob scene was repeated at another grocery store she drove past. A few vehicles whizzed by her, traveling in the same direction at a high rate of speed. One of them with two men in the front slowed to look her over. Driving with her left hand she drew the pistol with her right, but fortunately they decided to go on about their business, suddenly accelerating away.
“What the hell am I doing?” Katie said to herself.
Her friend was a single woman, divorced actually, but the boyfriend du jour had just moved in with her so Katie knew she wasn’t alone. Checking her mirrors, she stepped on the brakes and cranked the big truck through a U turn. Time to go back home before something bad happened.
She had only driven half a mile back to the east when she looked in the mirror and saw a car rapidly approaching from behind. It looked like the same Buick with the two men that had slowed next to her, but she couldn’t tell for sure. Resisting the impulse to accelerate, Katie held her speed steady with an eye on the rearview as the car quickly caught up.
A few moments later it swerved to the side, the driver braking to match her speed and put it in position alongside the truck. The passenger leaned out his window and shouted.
“Hey! You look like you could use some help. Pull over so we can talk to you!” He was pointing to the right side of the road.
“I’m fine. Just on my way to pick up my husband.” Katie shouted back, hands starting to shake as adrenaline dumped into her system.
“We can help you find him. Just pull over and we’ll help you.” The man shouted back.
The Buick drifted closer to the truck and looking down from the cab Katie could see a shotgun resting across the man’s lap. That didn’t mean anything. She was armed too and didn’t have any bad intentions. Just because they had guns didn’t mean they were bad guys. But she wasn’t naïve, and wasn’t about to trust them.
“He’s just up the road. Him and his brothers. Thanks anyway.” She shouted back, knowing her pitiful ruse would most likely not deter them.
She wanted to step on the gas. Go faster. Run away from the men, but there were a couple of big problems with that idea. On pavement there was no way the truck could outrun or out maneuver the much nimbler car. And assuming the men were willing to hang back and follow her, she wasn’t about to lead them to her house.
Katie was watching from the corner of her eye and the man made the decision for her when he raised the shotgun and stuck it out his window. Yanking the steering wheel to the left she smashed the truck into the side of the Buick. The man barely got his weapon and arms back in the vehicle before the side of the Ford struck the car hard enough to shatter glass and send it spinning across the oncoming lanes.
The truck weighed roughly twice as much as the car and Katie had delivered a solid blow. The car’s driver fought the wheel, trying to get them back under control, but he ran out of road before he could stop their slide. The Buick came to a stop in a rock filled water retention basin a few feet off the side of the street. The rear tires spun uselessly when he tried to accelerate back onto the pavement.
Katie was shaking all over, but managed to control herself and floored the accelerator. The engine roared as the truck sped up. She hadn’t covered