Gray Panthers: Battle for Earth Read Online Free PDF Page B

rope to the upper level was child's play as the newfound muscles and vitality only increased his good mood.  The Earth was at risk of invasion and he could only think about how he felt better than he had in his entire life!  Quickly locking the gate to the mine, and re-covering the camouflage to the entrance, the cool fresh air was nirvana, as he realized the sun was setting and he had a two-hour drive in his cart.  Second thoughts immediately made Dan hesitate as driving well outside city areas after dark was considered bad for your health with all those who preyed on travelers. Nah, he’d be safe just this once.  He breathed in deeply and felt like running the entire distance home.  Maybe I will get a real truck with profits from my load of antiques Dan mused.  The drive across the desert was uneventful as he crossed onto Highway 60 and turned right towards Surprise, and home.
       Half way there, the hair on the back of his neck started to pinprick as he realized he was being followed by an old pickup truck loaded with Outsiders, those who had given up trying to be part of society, and instead were nomads in the desert robbing those who were easy pickings, and the occasional remote house. 
    Looking behind him, he realized his M1 was buried under treasure, leaving only the small pick from his belt sitting in his passenger seat as a weapon and an ancient pick handle that was starting to work its way loose from under the tarp covering his treasure.  Anger started to burn in his cheeks and spread through him.  "I am not going to get fucked!" he thought to himself as he turned off the road sharply, seeing the truck tip on two wheels almost spilling its cargo of outsiders.  Dan turned sharply again pointing the cart straight for the outsiders. Adrenalin pumping, he felt his face muscles tighten in a smile as he hollered at the outsiders, while barreling down on them,  "Come on you assholes, let's dance!"  He braked hard in front of the truck as it nearly hit him as it slid to a stop.  The first Outsider that jumped out of the truck laughed as he saw before him the gray hair and beard of the old man, as he charged towards him with a baseball bat.  He did not see or hear the whirr of the pick ax handle as it knocked into his arm shattering the bone as he dropped the bat.  Those behind him stopped so fast it was comical to Dan as he sized up the rest of the ambush party and came up with his plan on the spot.  "Aiiieee! You're not going to steal my firewood you crazy sons' a bitches!"  Dan hollered as he hit the fender of the truck, then the ground ahead of him making a spectacle of himself.  "Who's next damn it?  My fire is going out and I want to go home, let's get this dance goin!'"
    The Outsiders, as one, immediately respected the balls of the old man ahead of them, and believed he was both crazy and dangerous, not worth the trouble for an old solar cart or a load of firewood.  If anything, by the quality of his filthy old clothes and demeanor, the old man would probably be an Outsider soon anyway.
      The outsiders parted like magic as their bald leader walked to the head of the pack.  Almost seven feet tall, his black skin was so dark it appeared almost blue in the truck’s light; his one eye seemed to twinkle in the darkness. "Let's get moving boys, help Jimmy to the truck.  Enjoy your evening granpa, we're leavin!" the leader of the bunch said as he backhanded one of his men who was drawing a bead on Dan with an old cowboy six-shooter.  "Put it away Juan, ain't nothing here worth killing over."  He took one last long look at Dan as his men climbed back into the truck; he raised his hand to the brim of his cowboy hat half in salute as he turned back to the truck.
      Dan watched them drive off as he went from silently laughing to himself to laughing louder as he tried to make his legs move him without buckling as the last of the adrenaline left him.  He arrived home an hour later and after a quick