Chapter 39
Marty, Ron, and Al, made short work of unloading the trailer and getting the furniture moved into the house. After assembling the beds, the ladies took over and began replacing curtains and giving the house a good spring cleaning. Marty told Martha, that he and Ron had a few errands to run and would be back in the afternoon. “If you need us, we will have the radio on,” said Marty as they left.
“Ron, we need to get some sort of security for our place as well as Al and Barbara's. I am thinking some night vision cameras that can be run wireless and operated from solar panels and batteries. We have been too lucky for too long,” said Marty.
“I've been thinking the same thing,” replied Ron. “I think wired camera will be OK for us to use at the house, but the wireless cameras will be a better choice for locations away from the main house. We should also look for cameras that will transmit audio.”
“There was a security supplies store over in Meridian, I think we should start there. If by chance they are open, I have six rolls of quarters and a bag full of paper dollars, if they are dumb enough to take them, I will sure let 'em,” laughed Marty.
The once busting city of Meridian was a virtual ghost town. There had not seen a single person or even one running automobile. “Keep a sharp eye out, Ron,”cautioned Marty, being as we are the only thing moving, we are going to draw a lot of attention.”
Marty located the shop they were looking for and noticed the plate glass door was broken out. “Better lock and load, Ron, it is evident someone has been here,” Marty said.
They parked on the sidewalk and both men exited out of the truck from the door closest to the entrance, being careful not to expose themselves to the street side any more than was necessary. Entering the building, Marty switched on his head lamp, finding this allowed him to keep both hands free, he and Ron both had switched from flashlights to head lamps. The front of the store had been ransacked, but as they entered the back room, they found a lot of merchandise that had not been unpacked. They began going through all of it and found almost everything they needed.
“Let's get this loaded and then I want to go by the motorcycle shop,” said Ron.
“If you want a motorcycle, we need to come back with a trailer, said Marty. “I wasn't planning on bulky items.”
“I want to get some motorcycle batteries,” said Ron, “the smaller batteries will be easier to conceal and will provide plenty of power for the cameras. We also need to see if we can find some smaller solar cells or even those solar sidewalk lights, we can always remove the lights and parallel the panels to keep the batteries charged.”
“When did you get so much smarter than me, Ron, I always thought I was the smarter brother,” joked Marty.
After rounding up all they needed to complete the camera installation, Marty and Ron started back to the farm. Marty noticed a glint in the rear view mirror and knew someone had a rifle scope trained on them. “Ron, don't look back, but we are being watched through a scope, I just saw the sun reflecting of the lens in the rear view mirror. Do you want to check it out, or should we just keep going?”
“Turn left at the next corner and let me jump out, then see if you can get behind them,” said Ron.
“They are on the second floor of the four story brown building just off the corner of 1st and Main.” Be careful and keep your radio handy,” said Marty.
Ron slipped out of the truck and entering the first multi story building he could find, he climbed to the top floor and searched for an opening to the roof. Finding a comfortable perch, he began scanning the second floor of the building Marty had pointed out. It didn't take but a minute and Ron saw the barrel of a rifle protruding from a raised window. The barrel was following Marty's truck as Marty wove around in a seemingly random pattern as if he were searching for a specific store.
Marty heard his radio break squelch twice, the prearranged signal the Ron was in position and had located his target. Marty drove directly to the building that he had spotted the glint in and stopped the truck. He climbed out, empty handed, and stepped into the middle of the street in plain view of the 2nd story window. He saw the barrel withdraw and them reemerge, only this time, it was pointing down directly at him.
“Hello in the building,” Marty called out, “we don't want any trouble. Care to come out and talk a minute?”
“I can hear you just fine,” came the reply. “State your business.”
“We are here trying to find a few things to help us out on the farm, if you want to come down and talk face to face, I will be glad to answer your questions, but, I am not going to stand out here and yell at someone I can't see, that has the bad manners to be pointing a rifle at me.”
It was a few tense minutes later when a reply came back, “OK, I am coming out, but no funny business, my wife and kids know how to shoot and they will be covering you.”