Chapter 7
When the curfew went into effect and I basically lost my job I only waited for my final check to clear the bank before I left the city. I was ready to leave anyway before the curfew because of all the violence here in Atlanta. I don’t really know why I waited as long as I did though the violence did take place some distance from my location. At work I always parked my old pickup in a spot that I could see from the counter where I was always working.
Twice I did go out and run people off that showed too much interest in that old truck. Neither time was there any altercation. One look at the old truck and they knew it was not worth stealing and certainly would contain nothing of value.
I left town in the middle of the month and had to forfeit the remainder of that months rent though luckily they did give me back the damage deposit. I closed out my bank account which I had never kept much money in anyway. I trusted the banks as much as the next guy but wanted my cash close so if I wanted or needed to leave in a hurry I would have the cash on hand.
I did not really have much for personal belongings to pack up. Half or more was all the camping gear I had just recently bought. I bought some large plastic tote boxes at a couple of thrift stores and put everything in them so nothing would get wet in the back of my old pickup. My last two purchases in town were a fill of gas and a new detailed road atlas of the United States. I tied everything down well and left town heading west with absolutely no destination in mind.
I had never taken a road trip before in my life. And other than going to a couple different military bases I had never traveled anywhere in the United States at all. So this would be a whole new experience for me. Traffic on the highway seemed lighter than I expected though I had no experience to judge it by.
Since the terrorists had downed those planes all air travel had dried up with people afraid to get on a plane. Of course many people now had very little money to do anything with, whether it was buying plane tickets or just buying food. I found it rather pleasant driving and seeing new stuff all along the way. I did not drive near as fast as the few other cars seemed to be driving.
I was in no hurry and besides this old truck was not exactly a race car. But people did not seem to mind and just whizzed past me. I was careful not to go so slow that I was a menace on the road but most it looked like they were traveling well over the speed limit. They were obviously in a hurry for some reason known only by them. I never saw any police cars on the highway, whether that is normal or not I don’t know.
This pickup got pretty good mileage but I stopped fairly often to stretch my legs and top off the fuel tank. I rather liked the old truck but it really wasn’t the best choice for someone my size I don’t think.
I drove quite a ways that first day and picked the Tombigbee National Forest as my stopping point for the night. I found a camping spot that in an area that looked like I had to myself though there were spots here for many other campers.
I set up my tent and decided to cook over an open fire instead of using the small camp stove I had purchased with the rest of the camping gear. I got a very small fire going and cooked my meager supper on it. Most people don’t realize just how small a fire you need just to cook a simple meal. It does not have to be bigger than your cooking pot that’s for sure.
I had eaten and cleaned up what dishes I had used when another camper pulled in and parked about as far from my spot as they could. Nice of them I thought to myself at the time though it was still was not very far away from me.
It was late when they pulled in and full dark when the noise started. When I heard a woman scream I shoved my pistol in the small of my back and started walking that direction. On the way I heard the woman scream a couple times and what sounded like someone being hit. They had a lantern going and when I got close enough I could see the three of them plainly.
There were two men and a woman. The woman looked very worse for wear and was only about half dressed. When one man slapped her and shoved her down and then looked like he was about to kick her I spoke.
“It might be best if you did not treat a woman like that.”
None of them had any idea I had walked up there and all three looked in my direction at the sound of my voice.
“This is none of your concern. Get lost so you don’t get hurt.”
“I don’t rightly see how I can do that. Why don’t you just step away from the woman and we will see if she would rather come with me.”
“I will not warn you again. Back off now or get dead. Is that plain enough for you?”
As he spoke he pulled a pistol from his belt. I assume he could see me but the bright lantern was between me and the three of them and it was much closer to them than to me. When he started to bring the pistol up to point in my direction I drew mine and as soon as it was pointed at him I pulled the trigger twice. The shots were not aimed as I could not see the sights but this close it was impossible for me to miss his large torso. As soon as I shot the two shots into the man I turned slightly toward the other. This one had a pistol also and by this time he had it pulled out and was swinging it in my direction when I shot two more times. Both of my bullets struck home and he did fire one shot but it did not come anywhere close to me.
The woman was pretty quick and grabbed the fallen gun from the first guy I had shot. She had her finger on the trigger and it was pointed directly at me.
“Easy. I am not your enemy. Keep the pistol pointed at me if you wish but please just take your finger off the trigger. I won’t hurt you.”
As I was talking I put my pistol away again so it was out of sight. She kept the gun pointed at me for I think a whole minute before I saw her remove her finger from the trigger.
“Thank you. I can turn around and leave now if you want me to. My camp is just a little ways away. If you want I will stay for a bit and help you. It is totally up to you. I only came here because I heard you scream. Do you want me to leave?”
“You killed those men.”
“Yes I did but they were hurting you and then it looked like they were about to try and kill me.”
“But you killed them.”
“Yes I did. I’m sorry if that upset you.”
“They were awful men.”
“I gathered that fact all by myself, ma’am.”
“You killed them.”
“Look at my face. You are safe now. Safe.”
The woman moved her head slightly and looked directly at my face instead of just in my direction and said or did nothing for some time. Then the blank look on her face changed and she dropped the gun. When she looked like she was about to fall down I walked over to her and slowly put my arms around her. That’s what they always did in the movies so that is what I did here.
She did not resist or really do anything. I just held her for quite some time and at one point I realized that I was supporting most of her weight which was not much because she was very small and thin. I don’t know how long I held her like that before I felt her stir some and I felt that she again was standing on her own and I was no longer holding her up.