299 Days: The Stronghold Read Online Free

duty,” Chip said. “To be honest, I don’t like being in a house with a crying woman. Reminds me of my first marriage.”
    That was interesting. Grant didn’t know that Chip had been married before, or even a couple of times.
    He realized that he and Chip hadn’t really had time to talk much in the past few days. They’d been so busy.
    Grant was hungry. He’d been up all night and had been walking. He didn’t want to wake anyone up, though.
    “Dude, I’m starving. It’ll be a long time before breakfast,” Grant said.
    Chip fished around the guard shack and pulled out two brown plastic packages.
    “Beef ravioli or chicken with salsa?” he asked with a grin. MREs. Chip must have stashed some of his out here.
    “Hmmm…beef ravioli,” Grant said. “Not sure a midnight snack is the best use of food that can store for fifteen years, but I’m pretty damned hungry.”
    Chip said, “Chicken with salsa for me, then.”
    They opened their MREs. Grant’s had beef jerky, fruit, crackers, jalapeno cheese spread, and, the prize of prizes, a fudge brownie. Chip had Mexican rice, which was pretty good, crackers, jalapeño cheese spread, short bread, and prize of prizes, Skittles.
    “Dang, an MRE kicks ass, especially when you’re hungry,” Chip said. He was right. That meal was fantastic. Grant’s stomach was growling as he ate.
“So, Chip, you have a family out here now, don’t you?” Grant asked.
    “Yep,” Chip said with a smile. “Yep, I do.”
    “Hey, remember when I first came into Capitol City Guns? Did you ever think we’d be doing this?” Grant asked.
    “Not at all. Not at all,” Chip said and then changed the subject. “Hey, what are we going to do with those goodies in the basement?”
    Grant had almost forgotten about the ARs and ammo that Chip brought from the gun store before the looting started back in Olympia.
    “I dunno,” Grant said, “but I have a sneaking suspicion that we’ll find a use for them.” He had more than a sneaking suspicion. He knew exactly how they’d use them but the time wasn’t right to spring that on Chip. The guns were, after all, Chip’s, and they were worth their weight in gold right now.
    “Who knows,” Chip said casually, “Perhaps a friend will show up and have a use for them.” Chip was looking off in the distance, down Over Road.
Grant knew what Chip meant and who the friend was, but he didn’t want to blurt it out. Subtlety was required in situations like these. One doesn’t openly talk about these things, even with people they trust. Blabbers get people killed. Besides, Grant didn’t want to be wrong and have Chip laugh at him. Or be offended that Grant had a plan for Chip’s valuable goods that Chip didn’t agree with.
    Grant and Chip spent the rest of the night talking about everything and nothing. It was great to be talking to an old friend, especially with a good buzz going. All the problems were far away. Grant was where he wanted to be with the people he wanted to be with. He couldn’t ask for much more than that.
    The sun started coming up, along with the sound of birds chirping. There was a very distinctive early morning bird chirp in western Washington. Every time Grant heard it, he was reminded of good times. He recalled searches he went on while in CAP, camping trips, late night drinking in college. All good memories.
    “Well, we have a funeral to plan,” Grant said. He knew that this was an important community event, not just a way to honor Mrs. Roth and saw it as a chance to show the community that he and the other leaders were providing important services to the community. He could show them that the Patriot way was the best way.
    John walked up to the guard shack with a cup of coffee. He probably didn’t get much sleep the previous night, either, with Mary Anne being so upset.
    After exchanging “good mornings” and inquiries about Mary Anne’s emotional state, Grant said, “I’ll get the funeral going. Right after I