A Private War Read Online Free PDF

winter was coming on and that they would be raiding nearer to the town to get the supplies they needed to get them through the severe storms in this part of the Country.
    "I think you're right, it doesn't look like the pirates have the means to get through the winter without equipping themselves even better than they have already. And with the weather already starting to turn bad, it won't be long before they come back. I'm going to call up more patrols and also get the men to build a few more watch towers around this area here" he explained as he pointed on the larger map, " and I'll have my reaction team on alert for any trouble. With the men I have, that's about all I can do, except warn the people to expect trouble in the coming months."
    "Can't you get more men from the other towns?" Kate asked.
    "Hell, they are already afraid of their own shadows, asking them for help is a lost cause. The farms around here are already short handed, so that's out too. I guess we'll just have to make do." He explained with a sigh, "If you can think of anything, it would sure help."
    "We'll do what we can, you know that, now how about something to eat! You've had us here all day and my butt is killing me. Is Sally still cooking for you at the mess hall?"
    "Yes, she is and she is always asking about you!"
    "Oh," Kate asked with raised eyebrows, "one of your many conquests Gaylon? And here I though you lived in that Granite House of yours like a monk."
    "I'd like to fill you in later," he replied as he looked at Samuels, "but I'm certain Samuels would be more than happy to tell you all about it. He can act like a chatty old lady at times!"
    After leaving the School, they walked down the street toward the local hotel building that was now used as a mess hall and barracks. On the way there, Samuels told Kate about a woman named Sally Morrison. During the first night of the war, Sally had been home and had seen the fire across the heavens of incoming missiles and the glow of the distant fireballs as they fell on the missile silos, military centers, and large cities to the north, south, and west. She raced to her basement and opened the door to her root cellar that had been there since the house was built more than a century before. The apples and potatoes that were stored there made room for a cot, candles, radio, and other supplies as Sally prepared for the deadly fallout she knew was coming. She readied the cellar with everything she could think of except for one thing, a gun. The one of the very first pirates found her cellar not long after the fallout had started to rain down. He had a fun time waiting for it to be safe again. By the time Gaylon had found her, Sally had been more dead than alive. Burns covered her naked body and blood ran from her nose and mouth from the many beatings. The countless rapes had also almost destroyed her mind and it was weeks before she could walk again. He gently nursed her back to health and when she was better, had helped her track down the man and kill him. Now every time he comes into town he stops by the house where Sally lives and spends a few hours with her. As Kate listened to the tale she cast a quiet look at Gaylon and saw there was more to him than she had first thought.
    The hotel, now mess hall and barracks, was crowded and Kate saw that the meal being served was much better than she expected it would be. Gaylon informed her that Sally had ran one of the best restaurants in town before the war and that she had asked for the job after she had recovered from what had happened to her. As they entered the line to be served a woman ran up and threw her arms around Gaylon's neck. She thought that the woman had been very beautiful before the war, but now a long puckered scar ran down the right side of her face and one arm was twisted and covered with scar tissue.
    "Gaylon, it's so good to see you! The boys told me you were back in town so I cooked you up something special, and who is this with you?"