Will of Man - Part Two Read Free

Dad held both hands up signifying for them to stop and wait. They kept walking towards the house. Dad yelled for them to stop, but they didn’t.
     
    I remember being scared, but also realizing Dad was in his underwear and looking really silly. He turned to Tanner and told him to run inside and to tell Mom to go into lockdown. Lockdown was our code for securing the house.
     
    We have interior shutters made of treated two-by-six boards. They are hinged above each window of the basement and first level. They just swing down and lock in place. The doors have similar set ups. We actually lock them in place each night in case someone tries to break in at night while we’re sleeping.
     
    There are peep holes for looking out. Each room has a fire extinguisher in it in case of fires. Miscellaneous weapons are hidden in floor boards for each room with extra ammunition.
     
    We practiced lockdowns a few times and everyone knew exactly what to do. It reminded me of fire and tornado drills at school (probably where Dad got the idea).
     
    I wasn’t prepared to shoot anyone, but I was prepared to act like I could. I took my post and stuck my rifle barrel out the peep hole and aimed it right at those men.
     
    Dad realized these men weren’t listening to him and were not going to stop. So he back stepped his way to the house and closed the final unsecured door of the house. He told me to run up and sound the alarm.
     
    The alarm is a flare gun, and in the case of danger or an emergency, we fire a flare in the air. Anyone who notices the flare must, by community rule, arm themselves and respond as quickly as possible. They gather everyone they can on the way.
     
    There were only so many flare guns available; so only certain families were given one. The others have bells or horns they can sound, and then those with flares who hear the bells or horns shoot a flare to notify everyone that can see the flare.
     
    The flares have only been used twice and those were for house fires. They’ve never been used to signal a confrontation with strangers.
     
    I was worried no one would see the flare since it was daytime. But once I shot it, it went high in the air and let off a big boom. I felt confident the cavalry would soon be storming across the fields.
     
    The men saw Dad go into the house and they must have heard or saw the flare. But they still kept coming. They were walking slowly, each with a blank stare on their face. They looked like zombies. No reaction to anything.
     
    They finally reached our front door. I didn’t know what to expect. Were they going to shoot through the door? Were they going to just keep walking and leave us alone? What did they want? Why didn’t they heed Dad’s warning?
     
    I waited at my post on the second floor of our house. I couldn’t see them since I was guarding the back of the house. But I could faintly hear a weak knock at the front door. I could hear Dad calmly asking them what they wanted and that they needed to leave their weapons at edge of the yard if they wanted to talk.
     
    The conversation was hard to hear, and I was more focused on looking for anyone trying to sneak up from the back of our house. I could hear Dad repeating himself and telling them to leave their weapons at the edge of the yard.
     
    The conversation went on for a while when finally I could see locals coming to our rescue. I was impressed with the quick response and how many were coming. They were closing in from all directions. Some were coming down the road. Others were emerging from the woods and out of the corn field. These strangers didn’t stand a chance if they meant to do us any harm.
     
    I ran down to Dad and whispered to him the house was surrounded with locals. He nodded and motioned for me to go back to my post.
     
    Dad told the men they were in danger and needed to drop their weapons. He explained that the house was surrounded and they were in danger of being shot if they didn’t drop their