The Survivalist (Frontier Justice)

Chapter 18

Tanner and Samantha stayed inside the Mustang until early morning, neither of them willing to risk going back out into the dark, not even for a much-needed bathroom break. The dogs had left after an hour of incessant barking, but Tanner suspected they were never far away.

With the first rays of sunlight, both of them were eager to get out of the car and stretch their legs.

"Think the dogs will come back?" she asked, slipping on her backpack and adjusting the straps.

He looked around, yawning.

"I doubt it, but it wouldn't hurt to find a weapon just in case. Help me look inside these cars. Someone's bound to have a gun."

They walked down the centerline of the highway peering into cars. After only a few minutes, Tanner saw a large shotgun sitting in the backseat of an old Buick. On the front seat were the remains of a middle-aged couple. The dead man's arms were still wrapped around his wife's corpse.

"Here," he said.

Samantha came over and stood beside him. She peered into the window The bodies were in full decomposition, the soft tissue starting to fall away from the bones. Flies and maggots lined the entire front seat of the car.

"That's disgusting."

"Come on, it's kind of touching."

"Touching? There are maggots in that lady's ear!"

Tanner laughed.

"I'm serious," she said. "I'm not standing anywhere near you if you open that door."

"Suit yourself."

She made it a point to count out ten large steps away from him.

"If you get stuck in there," she called back to him, "I'm leaving you here. Just so you know."

"Where's my faithful kemosabe?"

"Way over here," she said, pointing to the ground.

Tanner opened the Buick's rear door and stepped back. Waves of buzzing blowflies swarmed out like bats emerging from their subterranean hideaway. When the black wave finally thinned, he held his breath and leaned inside the car. A Remington 870 Police Magnum shotgun, two boxes of triple-aught buckshot, and a case of bottled water lay on the back seat. He grabbed everything and carried it to the hood of a nearby car. Then he went back and closed the car door to prevent the smell from drawing the dogs.

When it was all done, Samantha walked slowly back over to him.

"It's a good gun?"

He picked up the shotgun and looked it over.

"It'll do."

"Will it kill really big dogs?"

"With these shells, this thing will kill Superman."

She nodded. "Good."

He loaded the shotgun with four shells, shucked one into the chamber, and loaded a final fifth round.

"Now, let's go find us a car."

***

The I-285 loop around Atlanta proved to be utterly impassable to automobiles. Tens of thousands of cars jammed the freeway like Christmas shoppers pushing their way into a Black Friday giveaway. Tanner and Samantha were forced to leapfrog their way around the city, driving a vehicle until it became gridlocked and then switching to another. In the end, they spent more time on foot than in a car.