by Payne, T. L.
"I…"
The man began to protest that statement, but Maddie cut him off.
"I get it. That would be my first choice too. I certainly would rather feed hungry children than murderers and rapists. But, food is what is keeping them from fanning out over the countryside and making their way to that shelter in Rolla and points beyond. So, you see, we have to have what is left to bribe them and hire volunteers."
The man was quiet for a long moment.
"I understand,” he finally replied.
"Good," Maddie said, the corners of her mouth curling into a smile.
"James," the man yelled, "Load them all up. Take them over to the prison. These folks will be handling the distribution from here on out."
Maddie blinked hard and furrowed her brow.
"Let's load up and head back to Rolla," he continued.
"What? You're leaving?"
"There is nothing more we can do here. We were here to distribute food and water. It looks like you guys can accomplish that mission without us. We are heading where we are more needed."
Maddie shrugged her shoulders.
"What about the water trucks?"
"We'll leave those as well. Only one of them has a pump. We've been going to the river twice a day," the man said, turning to go.
"I've been told that the water you've been giving us is untreated. Is that true?"
The man stopped and looked over his shoulder.
"We ran out of our supply of water treatment chemicals about a week ago."
"Damn," Maddie said under her breath.
"Rank, we're going to need to bring water from the cabin to the volunteers," she said.
"We could bring the Berkey high-capacity filter unit from the farmhouse,” Rank said.
She thought for a moment.
"That would work. We'll need to pre-filter the water from the river, though. We don't have that many replacement filters for the Berkey, and those filters won't do as much volume as the LifeStraw high-volume purification filter at the cabin, but it will work for now,” Maddie said.
Maddie and Rank followed the FEMA workers out to the truck. After it was loaded, one of the men reached out to hand to keys for the truck to Rank. Maddie intercepted them and walked around to the driver's door. The man shrugged and walked off.
"You walking?" Maddie asked as she climbed into the truck.
"Hell no. My feet hurt from trying to track down your bigfoot this morning."
"Bigfoot?" Maddie asked as she put the truck into gear.
Chapter 19
Houston, Missouri
Event + 23 Days
After a stop at the prison to unload most of the MREs, Maddie and Rank drove down Highway 63 to Houston, Missouri. When they reached the checkpoint on the outskirts of town, no one was manning it. Maddie weaved through the cars and drove toward downtown. The streets were deserted. Maddie was unsure where to start looking for Jacob. She drove to the only place she knew to ask—the courthouse.
Margaret would know.
As they pulled into the parking space in front of the courthouse, a man ducked inside the building.
"Will you be okay in there on your own?" Rank asked. "I think I should stay with the truck."
"Yeah," Maddie replied, as she opened the drivers' door.
"Radio check?" Rank asked.
"Yep."
Just inside the door, Maddie pressed the mic on her handheld radio.
"I'm in. How copy?"
"Loud and clear. Over," Rank's voice said through the radio.
At the top of the steps, Maddie again pressed the mic.
"At the top of the stairs. How copy?"
When she didn't hear a response, Maddie stopped and waited. After a long pause, she heard the crackle of the radio.
"Loud and clear. Might want to make it snappy in there. The truck has attracted attention. Over."
“Roger,” Maddie said as she rounded the corner approaching Margaret's office.
The door was open. A young woman stood in the doorway. When Maddie reached the office, the woman stepped back and let her inside. Margaret was on her knees, loading books into a box.
"Hello, Margaret," Maddie said, looking down at the woman.
"Hello, dear."
She tried to get up and was having difficulty. Maddie and the young woman rushed over, and each grabbed her by the arm. Back on her feet, Margaret used both hands to brush strands of gray hair from her face. She patted the oversized bun on the back of her head and tugged on the bottom of her flower print blouse.
"You heard?" Margaret asked.
"Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry for your loss."
"The whole community lost a great man today," Margaret said, lowering herself into her office chair.
"Margaret, unfortunately, I don't have much time to talk. I'm looking for Jacob," Maddie said.
"Prison business?" Margaret asked.
Maddie nodded.
"He's over at the Justice Center. He is trying to rally as many of the city police as he can to stop ole Edgar Guffey from taking over the town, now that the judge isn't here to stop him."
"Thank you, Margaret," Maddie said as she turned to go.
"Margaret, you've lived here all your life, right?" Maddie asked, turning back to face her.
"I sure have. All seventy-three years of it. Why?"
"Well, my family has been considering opening our place up to folks who may want to get out of the city. I'd like your input on who to invite, so we can avoid trouble-makers."
"Oh, honey, I'll tell you all about the trouble-makers. There's those Allens over on Chestnut Street. Laziest bunch of sons-a-bitches..."
"I have to go find Jacob right now, but hold that thought. Do you think I could come by a little later and have you point out a few folks you think would be okay to invite?" Maddie asked.
"Sure, dear. If I'm not here, I'll be at my home. I live just over on Hawthorn. It's the big, blue-and-white house on the corner."
"Great. Thanks, Margaret," Maddie said as she headed for the door.
Rank pulled the truck into a spot in the center of the parking lot of the Texas County Justice Center. Maddie felt a quiver in her stomach as she exited the vehicle. As hard as she tried, she was unable to stop herself from looking at the three ropes dangling from the trees where the two Jewell sisters and their brother, Mark Jewell, were hanged. She tightened the grip she held on her rifle and headed toward a set of double doors.
"I'm heading in. How copy? Over,” Maddie said into her radio.
“Lima Charlie. Over," Rank replied.
Once inside, Maddie didn't have to guess where to find Jacob. The loud voices down the hall leading to the sheriff's office were all she needed.
"I found him. Heading into the Sheriff's Department. How copy? Over."
"Still loud and clear. Over."
Maddie was unable to see inside the office door. It was blocked by several, rather large men. At first, she questioned if she should wait for Jacob to finish and come out, or just barge on in. But time didn't allow for waiting. They were running out of time at the prison, and with people stalking the cabin, she didn't want to wait around there listening to bickering about town politics.
"Excuse me," Maddie said, lightly touching an older gentleman on his shoulder.
He turned, looked Maddie up and down, then returned his gaze to the men arguing in the office beyond.
"Excuse me. I need to pass," Maddie said, pushing her way between the man and a taller, younger guy.
She continued to weave her way through the throng of men blocking the doorway until she stood just inside Jacob's new office. She couldn’t see him, but guessed he was seated behind the desk, as that was the direction all the people were looking.
Maddie sidestepped and hugged the wall as she made her way closer. She hit her shoulder on the corner of a bookshelf. Looking down, she could see that no one had cleared Sheriff Stoddard's belongings from the office. A framed photo of the man wearing a fishing hat a
nd holding up large bass still sat on the top shelf. When Maddie looked back up, she saw a middle-aged man in slacks and loafers wagging a finger in Jacob's direction. Maddie's hand dropped to her holster.
"I don't think it will come to that," a short, teenaged boy said.
Maddie turned to her right and looked down at him.
"They's just ranting and raving. He'll get them calmed down. You'll see."
Maddie hoped so. She wasn't in the mood to kill anyone today.
Jacob raised his voice as he stood.
"We have to pull together. If Guffey takes over, we all know what life will be like around here," Jacob said.
He glanced over and acknowledged Maddie's presence with a nod.
"Now, if you will all return to your posts and continue to do what you can to keep our community safe, I assure you we can resist this attempted takeover by Guffey and his people."
Jacob stepped out from behind his desk and weaved his way over to Maddie as the rest of the men exited the office.
"Is something wrong. Was there an escape?" Jacob asked.
"No. Not yet, anyway. I came to give you an update and see if we could get those volunteers back on the job at the prison."
Jacob ran his hands through his dark brown hair and wiped sweat from his brow. He shook his head as he turned toward the door. When the last of the residents had exited the office, Jacob shut the door.
"I'm not sure what the hell we are going to do now, Maddie. I don't know if you heard, but …"
"I heard. I know that Guffey is trying to assert dominance with the judge gone. I'm sure you need all your people here to withstand his attempts, but frankly, if that prison falls, it won't much matter who is in charge here because the inmates will be."
Jacob turned and walked over to the window. He thought for a moment before responding. Maddie tapped her fingers on her legs. She wanted to be patient and let him have time to process the fact that the town was screwed, but they didn't have time. Time was their enemy.
Jacob turned back to face her.
"The thing is, I'm in over my head here, Maddie. I don't think there is anything I could say or do now that would convince those people to go back to guard the prison."
"I know. That is why Rank and I brought a bribe."
Jacob wrinkled his brow and looked sideways at Maddie.
"We've brought food for the families of the men and women who decided to stay at the prison. It's not much. We broke open some MREs hoping it will look like more than it is. I want to make a show of it for the ones who walked away. Then I want to announce that there will be no more food deliveries except to the families of the people guarding the prison."
"Why would they believe you? They know that the FEMA truck comes once a week. I mean, the Guffeys took control of the senior citizen center where the judge had stored what was left of the communities food rations, but—I mean…"
"FEMA pulled out this morning. They only had enough MRE's to feed the inmates for two more days, at most. There was never going to be another delivery to the town."
"Shit!" Jacob said, closing his eyes and tipping his head back.
He ran his hand through his hair again and shook his head.
"What the hell are we going to do now?” he asked.
"We have to make them think that we now control the food. If they don't want to be ruled by Guffey and his men, they need to stand up to them and then get their asses over to the prison. I think we have bought ourselves a day or two, but we can't hold that place by ourselves much longer than that."
"How? What did you do?"
"We've bribed one of the prison gang leaders with food and liquor. You remember all that moonshine Rank and Lugnut found at the Grayson farm after the raid on the convicts?"
Jacob winced.
Maddie had forgotten what a sensitive topic that was for Jacob. He still felt responsible for the death of all his deputies.
"Anyway, Rank had the idea to offer the moonshine in exchange for the gang leader keeping the inmates under control," Maddie continued.
"Smart. I think that could work. Until you run out."
"I was wondering. Sheriff Stoddard had provided Ryan with some seized weed for pain control while he was recovering. It got me thinking. If you still had some in your evidence lockers…"
"Right. I see where you're going. We keep them fed and high, and they won't want to escape," Jacob said as he inserted a key into his bottom desk drawer and pulled out a larger set of keys. "Wait here."
A moment later, Jacob returned with a black duffle bag over his shoulder. Maddie tipped her head back and threw her arms up over her head.
"Whoop, whoop!" she called.
She wanted to do a little happy dance, but refrained.
Jacob turned back to his desk, picked up a bull horn and followed Maddie to the truck. Rank drove around to the sheriff department’s motor pool building behind the Justice Center and dropped Jacob off beside an ATV. Maddie and Rank followed Jacob back around the building.
As they sat in the parking lot in front of the Justice Center, they could hear Jacob as he drove up and down the residential streets. Jacob used the bull horn to inform the town that in thirty minutes, an important message about food distribution would be given at the Justice Center parking lot.
Thirty minutes later, Jacob and Maddie stood on the hood of the FEMA food distribution truck that the town had come to rely on to feed their families. Rank stood off to the side, his rifle in the ready position, no doubt still aware of what had occurred the last time things got out of control in that parking lot.
Although there were rumblings and groanings from the town’s people, there wasn't a repeat of the lynching.
"We can work together and overcome all these obstacles. We can set up a trade center here in town where farmers and people in surrounding communities can bring food and items to trade. We can help one another discover skills—valuable skills that can be used to trade for food and necessary supplies. But we can only do that if we are free—free from the threat of the prison inmates and from wanna-be dictators," Maddie yelled into the bull horn.
She looked out over the crowd. They didn't know her. They had no reason to listen to her, except that she offered them a solution. She wanted to offer them hope.
Maddie handed the bull horn back the Jacob and stepped down as he called the names of the family members that were to receive their rations in exchange for their loved one's service at the prison. There were a few groans and mumbles from those not called. Whether the visual worked to gain them more workers for the prison was yet to be seen. First, they needed to deal with the pressing issue of small town politics. Maddie wasn't sure how that would turn out. But she hoped, for all their sakes, that enough of the residents grew a pair and stood up to the town bullies this time. She hoped they knew that no one was going to do it for them anymore.
Chapter 20
Henson Farm
Evening Shade, Missouri
EVENT + 23 Days
Jacob didn't wait to find out if the town's residents would indeed prevail over Edgar Guffey and his men. He loaded up his father and grandmother and moved them to the Henson's farm down the road from the Langston cabin. Maddie believed Austin wouldn't have minded. What was left of Austin's family had left the farm in such a hurry, fleeing the terror of the wrath from the rest of the Jewells' kinfolk, that they'd left a whole basement full of food—food Austin had offered to contribute to Maddie's group after she'd invited him to join them.
Maddie looked up and down the shelves lined with cans and boxes and mentally inventoried the contents. If they rationed, it could be enough to get them through the immediate crisis. Maddie climbed the stairs and walked out onto the back deck overlooking a vastly overgrown pasture. Maddie counted at least six houses and mobile homes on the property. She doubted that the Hensons would return.
Jacob appeared beside her, startling her from her thoughts.
"How many people used to live here?" Maddie asked.
"I don't know. Fifteen, maybe."
"It's a lot of land," she said nodding to the fields.
"Yep. It is."
Maddie turned to face Jacob.
"Do you know where we could find travel trailers?"
Jacob looked at her wide-eyed.
"We'd probably need one of those big pickups to pull them out here, but…"
"You're thinking of moving people from town out here, aren't you?"
Maddie smiled and turned to go inside. Jacob grabbed her arm and started to pull her close when his grandmother slid the glass door open and called his name.
"Jacob, sweetie. Would you mind getting some water? This place needs a good cleaning."
Maddie let out the breath she held as she slowly slid free of Jacob’s grasp. He slid his fingers down her arm and intertwined his fingers in hers. She didn't want to look up. Her heart raced. She didn't want this. She didn't want to feel. She didn't want to love. And lose. She pulled her hand free and quickly walked to the door.
"I have to get back to the prison. I'll let Jacob fill you in on our plan," Maddie said as she brushed past Jacob's grandmother.
"Okay, Maddie. I hope you and your kin will stop by for dinner soon. I'd love to meet your parents," Mrs. Rawlings said.
"I'll get your water, Grand, and then we have to get back. I'll check in on you guys when I can," Jacob said as he followed Maddie out of the front door.
Maddie waited in the FEMA truck with Rank while Jacob fetched the water.
"We need to find a pickup truck that can haul a travel trailer," Maddie said as she climbed into the cab of the vehicle.
"It's bubba land. I'm sure there are hundreds of pickups out here."
"Yeah, but what about fuel? We are nearly out at the cabin, and there isn't much left at Ron's.
"What about there?" Rank said, pointing to the enormous barn to their left. Attached to the barn was a shed, at least fifty feet long, filled with huge farm equipment. It was all modern stuff controlled by computers, and likely none of it still ran.
"I mean. It is a working farm. Don't they keep diesel and gasoline for those things," he said, pointing to the big green machines.