"Doc still hasn't checked in. I think we should head down into town and have a look. He may have had a breakdown, or they might have too many patients at the clinic to leave." Deacon said.

"I wish he'd quit treating that clinic like a hospital. It doesn't have the resources and sometimes people are better off in a bigger center." Deacon's mom said.

"I agree, but old army doctors likely share a lot with old country doctors. Stubborn as all heck, and used to doing everything with nothing."

"Sure enough, but he isn't going to help anyone if he gets sick with whatever this is."

"Well, we'll find him and let you know what's up."

Deacon turned to Jimmy. "We'll take a couple of people in each truck and scout the clinic. If we can't find him, we'll check his house, then the rec centre in case they started using it as a shelter. I doubt it, but we'll check. If we can't find him and no one knows where he is, we'll pick up whatever supplies we can and head back. He knows where to come, if he can. We'll also check out his place to make sure his truck is working, so bring some tools and fuel, just in case."

Jimmy nodded and leaned over to the guys behind him. "Tools, fuel, and the doc's small gun bag. If we find him, let's make sure he at least has a pistol and ammo. Grab a medical kit for each truck." He turned to Deacon. "Should we bring Annette?"

"Good idea. I'll ask her. Any idea if she has any firearms training?" Annette was Deputy Smith's girlfriend, so she'd likely appreciate the chance she might see him during the trip. Besides, it never hurt to have a medic along for the ride.

"Nope, I didn't get much of a chance to talk with her last night after dinner. The ladies all kind of took her under their collective wings and reassured her she was welcome and all that."

"Well, she's part of the family now."

"I'll ask her." Deacon said. No sense getting her in over her head on the second day.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

The two trucks rolled into town an hour and a half later. Deacon rode shotgun in the first truck, while Jimmy was in the second. The town was nearly deserted. It was like everyone was away for a big holiday or something. It wasn't like the apocalypse movies where cars were parked all over the place and garbage blew through the streets. The few cars that were still there were parked in regular parking places. The stores were all closed, but nothing was boarded up.

The clinic was in the same big public services building as the sheriff and fire departments, so that was most of the places they wanted to go, all in one stop.

Deacon got out of the truck and stretched his legs. They hadn't seen anyone so far, so they were hoping to find who they were looking for inside.

"Let's leave the long guns in the trucks. We don't need to be spooking folks, or surprising the sheriff." Deacon cautioned. "Jimmy, you stay here with the trucks and watch our backs in case any out of towners think our trucks look inviting. You two come with me." Deacon said to the pair who had ridden up in his truck. Paul and Samantha were as unalike as brother and sister could be. She was the all-star jock, playing rugby in high school and college. Paul was the nerd, but somehow he'd ended up on the university biathlon team up north, so he could certainly shoot.

"Let's see who's inside." Deacon headed towards the door.

Jimmy waved his shooters up into the backs of the pickups, where they had a better field of view across the parking lot.

The front door was unlocked. The lobby had a halfwall of bullet resistant glass directly in front of them. Deacon had thought it was a shame when the big city sensibilities came to their small town, but the people paying for the building had certain ideas about what a police station was supposed to look like, even out here in the boonies. To the right was the fire hall, with it's own bullet proof window. To the left was the clinic. Less armour plating, more sterile hospital. Doc had grumbled, but in the end the people writing the cheques had their way. On the upside, the public washrooms were on his side.

Deacon knocked on the clinic door and pushed it open. The lobby was empty, and the back area was quiet. "Paul, watch the door."

Paul nodded and moved behind the counter. Cover was better than concealment, but concealment would have to do for now.

Deacon and Samantha pushed through the doors to the exam areas. It was a mess. Apparently someone had decided to loot the place. Deacon drew his pistol and started pushing open doors. Samantha had her HK-PDW in both hands, covering his back. There was no one in the clinic.

Deacon was puzzled. The clinic had an open door policy. No one would have been turned away, and all the locals knew Doc. There was no reason to trash the place. Another puzzle to go with the pile that had been building up over the last few weeks.

"Let's go. If we need to come back, this stuff will all be here. We need to focus on people right now."

Samantha nodded and followed. They collected Paul on the way back to the lobby.

Deacon stuck his head out the door and hollered to Jimmy. "Do a lap of the building. Doc isn't here and it's a mess."

Jimmy gave him the thumbs up and closed the door to the truck.

Deacon pounded on the glass between the lobby and the police reception. No answer. He pounded again. No answer.

He raised an eyebrow as he headed for the fire department. Same lack of response.

Someone should have been here at this time of day. For the entire building to be empty was strange.

They walked out the front doors again. The trucks were back from their scenic drive.

"What's up back there?"

"Nothing." Jimmy said. "Locked up tight, no vehicles outside, no signs of any fights."

"This is fucked up. There's no way every one of the town's emergency services left without at least checking in. Too many of them were supposed to head up our way."

"Maybe the Feds have them on a roadblock somewhere?" Jimmy speculated.

"I dunno, the fire department too?"

"Let's take a spin through town and see what's up at the Doc's house. We can check in on the Sheriff and Deputies as well."

"Let's keep our eyes open folks, we don't know what's going on, and we don't want to spook anyone we're friends with. Bad things happen that way."

They all nodded.

"Alright, let's go to Doc's place and see if he's watching the game."

"Yeah, that sounds like Doc." chuckled Jimmy.

"Anything on the radios?" Deacon asked his driver..

"Nope. The Emergency Broadcast System is still wailing out the 'shelter in place, avoid contact, report your condition if you're sick, wait for aid' message that's been going out for days. I doubt anyone is actually running it."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because if they were, they'd come on from time to time and reassure people that someone was still in charge. No one is doing that, so it's unlikely anyone can."

"Likely not far from the truth. I wonder where they can broadcast from? Does it have to be the White House or certain locations, or can any major network send out information."

"No idea. Never thought about it beyond making sure we can listen and watch."

"There's Doc's place, up ahead. Looks quiet."

"Yeah, just like in the movies before it all goes to shit."

"Here's to life not being like the movies."

"I hear that."

Deacon waved Jimmy to stop well back of the house to cover them as they approached. Then they rolled up past the house and parked in front of the neighbours. Deacon got out and headed towards the house.

"Cover me." He said to Paul and Samantha. This way the two trucks could cover each other without being in danger of each other's over penetrations, and anyone in the house would have two targets to worry about.

Deacon strolled up to the front door, acting a lot more casual than he felt. With all the missing pieces in town, he half expected zombies to burst out of the door and make lunch out of him.

He knocked on the door. No answer. He knocked again and put his ear up to the door.

"Hey Doc!" Deacon yelled. "It's Deacon! I come to check on you and see if you need a lift!"

There were some faint noises inside, but no one called out.

"Doc! We went by the clinic and it's tore up pretty bad, but no one is there. We got to worrying about you."

No answer.

"We'll be back later to check on you again."

Deacon waved the lead truck to back into the driveway.

"Let's check on his truck. At least we can make sure he has a full tank. Get Doc's spare opener from the glove box."

Paul dug through the remotes in the glove box for the one labelled 'Doc' and pushed the button.

Doc's garage door opened revealing his SUV and pickup truck.

"This is getting weirder." Samantha said.

"Okay, we close it down and move along." Deacon's tone brooked no disagreements. Samantha knew what that tone meant. Deacon had a plan, but he didn't want to discuss it here. They closed the door and casually walked back to the truck. Deacon waved the other truck to follow and they both drove off down the street.

Out of sight of Doc's house, Deacon said, "Pull over here."

Jimmy and the others trotted up to Deacon's truck. "What's up? Why are both of Doc's trucks there? Why am I asking you?"

"I don't know. I don't know. ...aaaand I don't know." Deacon shook his head. "But I think something is wrong in Doc's house. It sounded like someone was trying to keep quiet. I think we should go back and take a look."

They all nodded. Doc was one of them, and had saved more than a few townsfolk over the years.

"Jimmy, I want you to take the trucks back to just up the street, but out of sight. If you hear shooting, come running right up on the lawn and block the front. I'll take Paul and Sam in the back, quietly and see what we can see. If it goes bad, or we see Doc in trouble, we'll breach from the rear. Paul and Sam have been in Doc's place recently, so they know the layout better than most of us. I'll support them."

"Perils of Doc's weekly gaming nights." Paul shook his head.

"Load up. Let's go." Deacon said. Sam always carried her PDW, and Paul picked up a matching one from the backseat. Deacon grabbed a shotgun and a bandolier of mixed shotshells. He unloaded and made sure the first three wounds were breaching rounds for the hinges, and backed them up with non-lethals. Sam and Paul were waiting by the time he finished.

"Let's cut through the neighbour's backyards and stick close to the buildings. This could all be a stereo left on, but it could be something worse."

"Let's go find out." Sam said.

Jimmy led the trucks back around into position as Deacon set off with Sam and Paul in tow.

"Part of me is glad everyone evaced when they were supposed to, but part of me wishes more of them had bug-out hides."

"Yeah, not going to happen. Too many people still asleep at the switch. Too many people happy to keep droning along. The future seems happy when you don't question too much." Sam said.

"Ain't that the truth." Paul muttered.

"Okay, hold up here." Deacon paused at the corner of the closest neighbour's house. "Let's watch for a bit."

"Living room at this end of the house, kitchen in the back?" Deacon asked.

Sam nodded.

"Okay, if we have to go, I take the kitchen door, and you two breach through the hole. I'll cover rear and back you up. Doc's two kids would have been home before the evac, so they may still be there and hiding...or they may be hurt."

Paul snapped his fingers and pointed at the back windows.

"Movement. At least two figures. In the Kitchen." he whispered.

"Crap, I was almost hoping no one was there and the kids were out for a drive with Doc."

"Yeah, the world doesn't love you that much Deacon." Sam said.

"Okay, keep close to the shadows and we move to the deck."

The trio moved across the grass like the hunters they were. Deacon led them up the stairs, pausing as his head cleared the top to watch the windows. No movement.

He waited. Crouched on the stairs, they made for sitting ducks if anyone started shooting out the back, but right now concealment close to the breach point was better than hard cover farther away.

Movement inside. Two figures. Tall. Bulky. Not Doc's kids.

They moved past the window and around to the front of the living room. Yup, those were weapons. The bulky clothes suggested body armour underneath. They hadn't made any attempt to communicate or be seen when Deacon banged on the front door and they seemed to be making laps of the interior. The question now was, were they guarding anyone, or laying in wait for someone to return?

If there were additional shooters guarding the kids in the rooms he couldn't see, breaching now might give them time to hurt the kids. Almost as bad, they could catch Sam and Paul in a crossfire between them and the two in the front rooms.

Either way Deacon didn't have enough information to breach yet. He waved them back down the stairs and under the deck.

When they were out of sight and hearing of the door and windows Deacon whispered, "Which rooms do the kids sleep in?"

"Last I heard the older one moved out for school, and the teenager moved into their room downstairs. The guest bedroom is upstairs, so that's the option if they came home when shit went sideways." Sam said.

"Okay. Sam ghost up to the teenager's window and see if anyone is visible. Paul, cover her. I'm going to check out the other windows."

Sam nodded and moved out with Paul trailing.

Deacon tried peering into the gloom, but he couldn't see much. On the upside, he figured it was unlikely anyone would be sitting around in the semi-dark basement.

As he circled back to their hide, he saw Sam and Paul waiting for him.

"Looks like Sadie is visible in the room, and just the hall light on." Sam said. "No one guarding her, but she's just sitting on the floor beside the bed. I'm guessing she's not there by choice."

"Okay, without any more information, I'm going to say we have armed men in Doc's house with at least one of his kids unable to answer. Not a good situation." Deacon whispered.

"Here's the plan... I'm going to mosey up to the front door and re-introduce myself with the trucks parked on the lawn. I'll give them the option of coming out peacefully. You two stay here and be ready for my signal. If anyone starts shooting or they threaten Sadie, you breach and protect her. I'll leave you the shotgun. It has three breachers followed by non-lethals, so use it then drop it. If they don't open up, I'm going to force the door. When you hear that, breach and head for Sadie. If they come out peaceful-like, we'll have a conversation and see what happens from there."

Sam and Paul both nodded and gave Deacon the thumbs up. Deacon shed the shotgun sling and handed it across to Sam. She'd breach the hinges and and follow Paul in.

Deacon left them to get into position and snuck across to the neighbour's yard and around the far side of their house. Once out of sight of Doc's house, he broke into an easy jog towards the trucks.

"It looks like Sadie is alone in the downstairs bedroom. Sam and Paul are going for her if things get hot. We don't know if Max is home, but if she is, I'll clear the upper floor with her in mind." Deacon pointed at Steve "You follow me. Jimmy and Franco provide overwatch from the trucks and keep our rear clear. Is everyone clear on their jobs?"

Everyone nodded.

"Okay, let's go. We drive up slow and easy. Franco parks my truck across the driveway, Jimmy up the lawn. I get out and head up to talk. Steve stays at the truck until I signal, but be ready to cover that lawn on the double."

Steve nodded.

They rolled the trucks slowly down the street. Now that he was paying attention to the shadows inside the house, Deacon saw movement as the trucks approached. Shadows that disappeared into deeper shadows. The trucks rolled into place and Deacon jumped out. He headed back up to the door again.

"Hello the house. Doc, if you're in there, we're here to pick you up. Those other fellas in there with you are going to have to come out and talk with us, because we aren't leaving until we're happy you're okay."

"As far as you other fellas are concerned, we're not the most patient of sorts, so hows about you come out here and have a talk so we don't have to come in and mess up the Doc's rugs. He likes those rugs."

"Yes, we know you're in there, and we're not to happy that you're in there and the Doc isn't. We need to sort that out and then we'll be on our way."

"Step back from the door." came a voice from inside.

Deacon stepped back off the landing. He had no issues standing below someone, and it gave Jimmy a clearer shot in case things went sideways...well, more sideways.

The front door opened and a large man stood in the doorway dressed in dark tactical gear without any insignia.

"How can I help you?" he said.

"Well, for starters, you can explain where the Doc is, and then you can move on to why you're here."

"The doctor is working on a government project, and we're here watching over things until he gets back."

"Watching over things? ...or holding his daughter in case he decides he's not interested."

"I think it's time for you to leave and take your people with you. Now."

Deacon smiled, folding his hands behind his back. "I don't think that's likely to happen without us talking with Doc, or Sadie. When she's out here talking with us, we'll consider your request."

"No. Goodbye." he started to close the door.

Deacon stepped forward and stuck his foot in the doorway. The door banged up against it. "Last chance." He said.

The speaker placed his hand on his holstered pistol and said, "You should leave now before you get hurt. We work for the government, and you're a bunch of rednecks. We win. Go away."

Deacon shook his head. "You're some guys with zero proof of anything in a private home owned by a good friend of ours. We're a dozen neighbours who happened to see some people looting a friend's house."

"You want to leave before our backup gets here and things go badly for you."

"Look around. Things are already about as bad as they can get."

"I'm not going to warn you again."

"Boss!" Deacon heard Sam's voice call out from behind him.

Puzzled, Deacon turned his head to see Sam standing by the neighbour's front walk. The man inside couldn't see her, but he watched Deacon's reactions.

"Papa Bear says let's go." she called over.

Deacon had no idea what was going on with Sam, but he knew she would have only left the back door for something urgent.

"Until later." Deacon said to the man in the house.

"Bring backup next time." the man said dismissively.

Deacon walked over to where Sam was standing as the others backed the trucks into the street and in front of the house next door.

"Follow me and don't look back." Sam said.

"Where's Paul, and that the hell is going on?" Deacon asked.

"Paul's with Sadie, three doors down behind the hedge. If they stay in the house, we should be able to get her out of here without them seeing."

"How the..." Deacon started before Sam cut him off.

"Sadie heard you guys arguing, so she tried to sneak out the window. I saw her and she recognised me. We beat it across the back yards and hid them while I came back for you. She was alone in the house. Max was supposed to be here, but didn't show up. Apparently Doc got picked up by some guys claiming to be government, but they left the baby sitters here with Sadie, and possibly Max, if she showed up."

"Shit." Deacon exhaled.

There was a loud crash behind them as the door to Doc's house was flung open and three armed men ran out on to the lawn looking the way Deacon and the rest had gone.

"I guess they went to check on her." Sam said.

"Mount up!" Deacon yelled.

Deacon and Sam made for the back of the rear truck while Paul popped up from behind a brick retaining wall at the end of a hedge with Sadie and sprinted for the front truck. Doors flew open from the inside on the front truck just in time for Paul to shove Sadie in and vault into the bed. Deacon and Sam braced as both trucks raced down the street and around a corner.

The three men stopped running as they realised they weren't going to catch them on foot. The leader turned and started yelling at the other two. One of them ran back into the house while the other ran to an SUV parked in the driveway beside Doc's.

Shit, Deacon thought. He had ignored the other vehicles on the street, assuming they belonged to the neighbours. Since there wasn't anything parked at Doc's, he had assumed the heavies had been dropped off, or were relieved in rotations. That assumption was going to come back to bite them.

Deacon banged on the rear window of the truck. He gestured to pull up alongside the lead truck.

Once he could yell at Jimmy and Paul's truck, he shouted "Get her to base. We'll discourage them."

Jimmy flashed a thumbs up and floored it.

"Let them get enough looks at us to keep them following." Deacon yelled at the driver. "Head for downtown."

He was answered by a tap on the brakes and a thumbs up.

Behind them the black SUV that had been parked beside Doc's came around the corner on two wheels before settling down and accelerating towards them.

Deacon slid towards the tailgate as the driver mashed the gas.

The passengers in the SUV leaned out each side with weapons. Muzzle flashes sparked and Deacon could hear the bullets as they passed by. These folks were serious and pissed. He drew his pistol and snapped off a couple of rounds at the grille. Right now it was more important to stop them than kill them...but killing them stopped them just as well.

Kneeling beside him, Sam snapped off short bursts. Deacon could see the grille and hood perforating as her rounds chewed it up.

The return fire increased as they tried to put a stop to Sam's withering fire before she scrapped their engine.

Too late, as the radiator ruptured and a wall of steam erupted over their front end. Unable to see, the SUV driver slowed down.

Deacon signalled the driver to take a left up ahead. If their pursuers were stranded, they had a better chance of getting some answers. After they rounded the corner, the truck slowed. Deacon jumped out and Sam followed. Through the open window he called, "Take the next right and stop. Dismount and be ready to cover us."

He got a thumbs up and the truck accelerated off.

“Behind that dumpster. Let's wait here for a few and see if they nurse that thing any further."

They could hear the SUV's death rattle as the engine finally gave out. Immediately following was a long string of curses that made even Deacon's eyebrows lift. Sam just shook her head.

From around the corner they could hear voices. "Well I don't give a shit! GO look to see if they're waiting for us, or if they kept going."

'Both' Deacon thought.

They kept their heads down and one of the voices called back, "No one here. No truck. Nothing."

"Shit! We lost the girl and we didn't get a single one of them to show for it. This isn't going to go well if they need to persuade the doctor to open that bunker.”

"That's enough for me." Deacon said to Sam. "You start from the right, I start from the left. If you can pick out the leader, try to keep him alive for now." She nodded back.

They eased up to the corner and peeked around it. Three men standing beside the SUV arguing.

"...aaaand, GO!" Deacon said quietly.

They stepped around the corner, weapons up and started firing. The men didn't have time to respond before they were hit multiple times and on the ground.

Deacon nodded forward and he and Sam moved together as one, weapons still trained on the downed men. He nudged Sam to step to his right and cover him. He approached the closest one and kicked his foot. No response. He reached down with one hand, keeping his pistol trained with the other. He dragged on the ankle and pulled the body away from the others. He quickly checked for a pulse. Finding none he moved on to the second body. He found a weak pulse. He bound wrists and ankles before moving on to the last figure. No pulse there.

"Go get the others. We need to get these out of the way, then strip and torch the truck. If anyone comes looking, they can't find anything. I doubt they were government...at least not legit government, but regardless, they're part of a larger group with guns...and that's a possible worry for us.

"Gotcha." Sam headed in the direction the truck had gone. She waved at the two covering them from the corner. They ducked back and shortly the truck came around the corner.

"Get those two out of their gear and into their truck. Front seats. Strip anything useful from the truck and we'll douse it and torch it."

Ten minutes later they were on the road back home. Behind them flames reached higher into the sky.

"Let's get back and hear what Sadie has to say about all of this."