Free Breakout (Final Dawn) by Darrell Maloney

world and there’s nowhere else to go. We’re just running the place because there’s nothing else to do with our time, so maybe we can help others out. Just take whatever you need, and I’m a pretty good mechanic. I’ll take a look at your car and make sure it’ll make it to wherever you’re going.”
         The man smiled for the first time.
         “Oh, don’t bother. I stole a brand new car off an abandoned Chevy dealer’s lot in Kerrville. I figured they were just sitting there gathering dust, and like I said I expect to burn in hell anyway.”
         Marty laughed.
         “Well, we’ve got the pumps up and running, and filled the underground tanks with the gasoline from a tanker left on the highway. The sign out front says Fina, and the truck said Exxon, but it works just the same.”
         Within another week or so, they were averaging twenty people a day. Each had their own story to tell, of heartache and suffering. And nearly all of them had lost loved ones. Marty thought back to that first family who’d come in. The ones who’d lived in a school for six and a half years. And he wondered if they realized how truly lucky they were to have all survived.
         They’d heard the same stories over and over of men commandeering abandoned trucks along the highway and trading the goods for silver or gold. It sickened them to know that there were those who continued to prey on people who’d been through so much already.
         They rationalized that, although what they were doing wasn’t all that different, at least they were doing it to help others, instead of getting rich.
         And they helped in other ways, too, besides providing food and clothing. Marty was able to get the truck stop’s boilers working, as well as its well pumps. Travelers had a chance to get a hot shower and a new set of clothing after they’d filled their bellies.
         And over and over again, they’d tell Marty and Lenny that it was the simple things in life they’d missed the most. The simple pleasure of being clean, with a full belly. For many, it was the first time they’d felt human in years.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 16
     
         Hannah was fascinated. She’d never used a ham radio before. She was getting ready to pull her first shift at the console since they’d started monitoring broadcasts from around the world.
         John was briefing her on how to use it.
         “Is it safe to talk on it?”
         “No. We’re not ready to risk that. Not just yet.
         “ Stay off the microphone and just listen. And log in anything you think might help shed some light on what’s going on in the outside world.”
         “Pardon me for saying so, but you sound just a little bit paranoid. Do you think there are people out there who would do us harm?”
         “The short answer is ‘yes.’ If you want the long answer, here it is. We have things that most people don’t have. Farm animals we can eat. Seeds we can grow crops with. Equipment we can harvest our crops with. People have gotten used to just taking what they need to survive, even if they have to take it at gunpoint. And if word gets out that we have these things, it’ll spell trouble. I think people will come from near and far to take them from us.
         “I’m also concerned about the government coming. You know that old joke about people just showing up at your doorstep and saying they’re from the government and they’re here to help you?
         “Well, I also think there’s a possibility of that happening. That the government will try to come in and take our livestock and say it’s for the good of the people. Just so they can take it and kill it and feed their own families and cronies.
         “You asked a five cent question and I gave you a twenty five dollar answer. And yes, I might be a little bit paranoid, but that’s what I’m afraid