Chad's boots kicked up small clouds of dirt as he stepped inside the barn. The space smelled like old hay, musty and slightly sweet, but with an underlying scent of motor oil. The silhouettes of various shapes near the doorway were outlined by sunlight streaming through the door. Without windows to allow light in though, Chad had to squint to make out additional details.

Annie coughed. "I swear. Can't we just be done with the damn dust already..."

Chad chuckled. "Sorry about that. Like I said, no one's touched this in ages."

"Right. Let's hope there's not too many critters hidin' under the tarps, then."

He stepped further inside, reaching toward one of the nearest tarps. Its blackish-green surface lay irregularly across a broad shape that stood at least two or three times taller than Chad. With a smooth motion, he pulled it off to reveal a large excavator.

"Huh. He's got one of these?" Chad cocked his head in confusion. The beefy yellow machine's arm bent toward the ground in an upside-down "U" shape, its claw curled toward the chassis. "Weird. I've never seen him use it..."

"Maybe he picked it up when you weren't around?" Annie crossed the room toward another shape -- an old tool bench.

"Kinda doubt it. Not sure what he'd even do with it... They haven't done much landscaping."

They continued exploring the space, uncovering various toolboxes, workbenches, gardening equipment, and power tools. Annie found a couple of flashlights to help in their search, allowing them to see better. It also kept them from stumbling into more than a few scoripons and spiders. Annie was more than happy to dispatch the things for easy experience.

After squishing a particularly angry scorpion, she sighed, looking around again. "Welp. Not gonna lie, I'm a little disappointed."

"Yeah..." Chad agreed. The most interesting thing they'd found was some welding equipment. That, and the key to the excavator. Everything else seemed far too... normal. Although they hadn't quite finished looking yet.

Chad aimed his flashlight toward the back of the workshop. There, a large wall separated the front of the barn from the back. Instead of the wood that made up the rest of the space, though, this wall was composed of metal. The light reflected off another pair of double doors, secured by an even heavier padlock and chain this time.

"Well... wanna check back there?"

Annie nodded. "Might as well. I think we've searched things pretty thoroughly here."

Out of curiosity, Chad tried the hidden key on this door one more time. The padlock opened with a soft snick.

Huh. Guess we found what one of these is for, at least.

He pulled one of the doors open as Annie reached for the other one. He heard her grunt in surprise. "Damn. This thing's heavy."

"Is it?" Chad glanced at it. Sure enough, the door was made of thick steel. "Huh. Here, lemme get it."

Once the doors were open, they shined their flashlights inside.

At this point, Chad wasn't expecting too much. Sure, the second section of the place had an air of mystery around it that felt promising, but that's what he had thought about the first section. Maybe they were overthinking things. Maybe this really was just a workshop the old man had liked to keep for himself.

That all went out the window in an instant.

Compared to the dusty, cobwebbed interior of the front, this section had a sleek and modern appearance. Its interior was lined with the same thick metal as the door, belying the place's barn exterior. The beams of their flashlights glinted off of barrels and stocks of various firearms where they hung along the walls to either side. Yet what really caught their eye was what sat in the back.

"Chad?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell me that's not a tank."

The shape was covered by tarps, but its outline was unmistakable. Especially given the telltale tube sticking out from its front.

"Uh... maybe?"

Annie's head swiveled to either side until she found a switch set into the wall. Flicking it on, a row of bright white bulbs came to life above their heads. A couple spluttered and flickered, but the rest were more than enough to illuminate the whole space.

"This is..." She breathed. "Shit. Holy shit Chad."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

He didn't respond. The sheer number of firearms hung on either side short-circuited his brain for a moment. Pistols, rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles, even machine guns -- weapons of every size, shape, and description decorated the space in neat rows.

What the actual fuck, Paw Paw?

Had he seen a number of these guns individually? Of course. He'd even fired most of them at some point. But those were one-off events. He'd assumed that the man borrowed or sold them, something like that. Not kept a stockpile with multiples of each.

He shook himself, returning to the present as Annie began to explore. She spun around, taking in the room with awe. "This is... the hell? Was your gramps trying to start his own army or somethin'?"

"Don't think so. He just liked guns." Chad said weakly.

Annie's head whipped toward him. "'Liked guns'?! Chad, I dunno if you noticed, but that's a fuckin' tank."

"I mean, we're not sure, right?" He stepped forward and pulled the tarp off to reveal the boxy beige vehicle they'd both expected. He bit his lip. "...Ok, yeah, that's a bit weird. But it's basically a big gun on wheels!"

She rolled her eyes. "Sure. Let's go with that. But seriously, I've seen gun stores with less stock than this. I can't imagine how much it's all worth..."

Chad walked around the room as if in a dream. His gaze passed over everything with a detached sort of interest.

Ok, I guess I get why Paw Paw didn't want me to know about this. He peeked into a pile of crates near one wall. They were filled to the brim with ammo. I definitely would've snuck stuff outta here. Or tried to. But... why the hell does he have a tank? How? That's not just a thing you have!

He continued nosing about until he found another tarp-covered object. Peeking underneath, Chad found a dozen cylindrical shapes secured vertically against the wall. They came in various sizes, from about three to five feet long, and resembled a long pipe with caps at either end. Their matte green surfaces bore a few protrusions that seemed to function as shoulder mounts.

...I think those are missile launchers.

For a few minutes, they both simply took in the space. No words were exchanged as they simply processed their find.

"What should we do with this, Chad?" Annie called. She lifted a sleek sniper rifle off the wall, inspecting it gingerly. "I mean... we can use this stuff."

"Yeah..." He nodded in agreement. "What do you think?"

She paused for a moment. "I think... I think we get this to the sheriff and Tom's volunteers. Maybe the rest of the town if they need em'. As for the tank..." Annie glanced up at the massive vehicle. "...I don't even know how to drive one of those. Though... do you think this is what your other keys are for?"

With a flash of realization, he felt at the keys in his pocket. No way... there's no way. Right?

The shock of discovering the hidden weapons stash began to fade. In its place grew a feeling of childlike excitement. A slow grin finally spread across Chad's face. "One way to find out, right?"

***

The good news was, the keys were indeed for the tank. At least, one set of them. The other two sets were still a mystery. The bad news was that it needed gas.

Guess that makes sense, Chad admitted. It's been sitting here for... what, seven years at least? I'd be shocked if the gas was still good.

How much gas a military tank needed exactly was another problem. But maybe it was one that could be solved by bribing that Gas Station Attendant with some more coffee.

In the meantime, Chad and Annie grabbed a few more guns, put together a rough list of what the "workshop" contained, then locked it back up. The last thing they wanted was for someone to steal all this. Hopefully, the hidden nature of the barn would help to prevent that.

Once they were satisfied, they put all of their haul in an old wheelbarrow and headed back toward the house. Unfortunately, they couldn't lock up the front of the barn, so Chad did the next best thing. He found a sufficiently big rock and rolled it in front of the door.

The pair began their trek back, Chad pushing the wheelbarrow while Annie trailed behind. Eventually, the masseuse broke the silence.

"...So. Intelligence, huh?"

Chad frowned in confusion. "Huh?"

"Your gramps," she clarified. "You said he was in intelligence?"

"Yup. At least, as far as I know. He didn't really talk about what he did too much."

"...Yeah, I think I'm starting to get why..." Annie muttered. "Did your gramma know about this?"

Chad could only shrug. "No idea. Probably not? She didn't talk about it, at least. Maybe you should ask her?"

As Annie opened her mouth to respond, her eyes flicked upward, then narrowed to a squint. Chad noticed the look and followed her gaze.

Above, a small pinprick in the sky slowly grew as it descended towards them. He saw Annie briefly reach for her gun before relaxing with a sigh. "Looks grey. I think it's Squawkers."

Sure enough, the bird's familiar shape began to resolve as he dove toward them. His wings remained tucked tight to his sides as he sped down like a homing missile. Chad stopped pushing the wheelbarrow to wait for him.

Just before reaching them, the bird's wings shot out to either side, slowing his descent with a series of frantic flaps. He landed on Chad's shoulder, panting.

"Hey, Squawk!" Chad scratched the bird's chin. "How're you doin'? I found a couple of berries for you, as promised..."

"Boat..." the bird spluttered as he caught his breath. "Big... boat..."

Chad frowned. "A boat?"

The parrot bobbed his head. "Boat... headed this way... big one..."

"How? We're inland, buddy."

"It's a flying boat, dammit!" The bird cried in panic. "It's in the sky! One of the ones from the broadcast! And it's headed right this way!"

Chad's head whipped toward the sky, squinting in the direction that Squawkers pointed. He couldn't see anything.

"Here, let me look..." Annie pulled out a sniper from the wheelbarrow and pressed its scope to her eye. After a few moments, her face paled. "I see 'em.

She passed the scope to Chad. Looking through it, he soon spotted a speck of deep maroon on the horizon. Thin sticks protruded from its sides like the legs of a millipede, rowing and undulating in sync with each other.

Well, shit.