Compass Call: Survival & Awakening (The Gatekeeper Book 3) Read Online Free PDF

the wall while Pete studied the area for several minutes. He dropped the flap and asked, “When’s sunrise?”
    “Around 07:30,” answered John. He raised the flap to look. The sky was just beginning to turn a deep bluish-purple color. A few of the brightest stars endured the challenge, but not for long. It was now light enough to see without the help of his night-vision scope. “The sun will set around 19:00,” added John, “so that gives us about twelve hours of daylight. Why? What are you thinking about?”
    “I’m just thinking about all the work we have to do on this house, and at the entrance to the neighborhood. Twelve hours isn’t going to be enough,” replied Pete.
    “My sentiments exactly,” said John, “but can you be more specific about what you think we need to do?”
    Pete leaned back in the chair and said, “If we’re going to stay here for any length of time, we should do a few things around your property as well.” John nodded and Pete continued. “First off, your plywood covered windows are a dead giveaway that you’re different from everyone else. You stand out, so you might as well take the gloves off and put up additional . . . more direct security measures.”
    “Like what?” asked John. He had a few ideas of his own, but he really wanted to hear what Pete had to say. Pete always stopped to visit whenever he and Bonnie passed through the area, so he knew John’s property, and his neighborhood, very well. But it was Pete’s military experience with physical security that was highly respected by John. Given the change, that skill was invaluable.
    Mark, John and Pete’s friend and longtime hunting partner, also knew the property because they did most of their game processing out back in John’s shop, but Mark wasn’t a Soldier. A good shooter, yes, but not a military man. However, John did respect Mark’s down-to-earth, no nonsense survival skills.
He would have been another welcome addition to the company
, thought John, as he listened to Pete talkabout what to do around the property. He wished Mark was with them, but he knew San Antonio was close to five-hundred miles away. Pete’s home in Belton was about Mark’s half-way point, so John doubted he would ever see his friend again. Then again, he didn’t think he would see Pete either.
    Pete’s Military Police background centered on physical security before his retirement, so he had a great deal of practical experience from Iraq and Afghanistan to draw upon, but he knew so much about physical security that he often thought everyone around him was dull for not seeing and taking obvious steps to protect themselves from threats. He was doing it again, but John was so happy he was here that it didn’t annoy him in the least. Despite their many differences, they were always aligned. In all ways but motherhood, Pete was John’s brother. He trusted Pete with his life.
    Pete continued to talk as he looked through the window flap. “For one, I would fortify the alcove window. And it wouldn’t take much to shoot through the walls up here, and here,” said Pete, as he pointed around the alcove. “You can expect your upper floor windows to be targets for anything from rocks and bullets, to Molotov cocktails. Do you have something we can use to cover them without limiting visibility?” asked Pete.
    “Chicken wire,” said John.
    “That will work for the rocks and bottles,” said Pete.
    “I have two rolls in the shop,” said John.
    Pete nodded and said, “Good. We also need to do something to keep vehicles from driving across the front yard. We’ll have to do something to slow them down or stop them . . . the same with people. We should include early warning devices.”
    “How can we stop a car?”
    “Easy,” said Pete, “A berm or ditch . . . or both.”
    “Sounds like a lot of digging,” said John.
    “Not as much as you might think. It doesn’t take a very deep ditch, or a very high berm to stop a car,” replied