“What’d you tell the camp?”
“I told them why you were in the woods. How you threatened me, what you did to Sarah,” I saw his shoulders hunch a bit, “how you threatened Robert’s family, everything.” He walked with downcast eyes, “You can’t hide from your past Adam, no matter how recent it might be.”
I could see that this was an important moment in Adam’s new life. I remember when some of my friends talked to me about Marine boot camp. How their drill sergeants broke them down, utterly destroyed them, and then built them back up. Instead of making Adam do pushups, run obstacle courses and crawl under barbed wire, I tied him to a tree and forced him to choose whether he lived or died. Now that I had broken him down I had to start to build him back up. “How many people follow you?”
“What do you mean?”
“How many people are in your crew, your gang, whatever you call it? How many people follow you?”
He let out a weak chuckle, “My crew? I don’t know, uh fifteen I guess. Why?”
“Well, if they’re as loyal to you as the rest of the camp is to your father, and you two don’t start getting along then you’re going to have a major problem. But if you can change the way you lead them, change the way you deal with your dad and change the way you appear to others then you’ll make your entire camp stronger and you’ll stop being a bully and start being a leader,” I said as we emerged from the woods and back into camp. “Just something to think about,” I finished before leaving him.
I had planned to talk to Luke before leaving, but before I could even start towards his office, I was stopped by a group of three, big bandaged George at their front. “Well if it isn’t the murderer,” he said sarcastically.
“Morning George. How’s the arm?”
“It’s fine.”
“Good to hear it. I see you brought some friends with you this time. Was the gun not enough? I know, I’ll turn around again, maybe it’ll get your courage up,” I said putting my arms to the side and turning around. I knew it was probably a bad idea to goad him but I was tired, and I didn’t give a shit. As I turned around I smiled, Adam was making a beeline for the group and me. I finished my circle and faced George.
I saw his eyes look past me and lock onto Adam. He grinned and pointed, “Looks like you’re all talk James.” Adam came and stood at my side. “Hey, Adam looks like you were right. He is just a big mouthed punk.” George’s confidence was bolstered by his leader’s presence “Maybe next time he visits he’ll bring his slut along.” I didn’t even need to lift a finger to take out George, Adam did it for me. He cocked back his right hand and decked George square in the mouth. The big man hadn’t been expecting the punch, not from Adam, and he fell to the ground with a grunt.
Even in his tired state, Adam was able to knock George on his ass and as he stood over him, George gaping up at him, “I was wrong about him. I shouldn’t be alive right now, but I am. And it’s not because James decided not to kill me it’s because he gave me a second chance. If I hear anyone speak poorly of James, Sarah or any of his people I’ll do more than just put you on your ass. Understand?” he finished looking at each of those in attendance. They nodded wide-eyed. “Good. Make sure everyone else knows. Now…”
I left Adam to talk to his people. At least he’s making progress, I thought as I headed directly to Luke’s office to talk to him about his son. I knocked on his door, and it flew open. “Luke,” I said quietly.
“James. I take it that… “
“No. Well, yes and no. Hopefully, the Adam you knew is dead or at least dying, and a new man is walking around.”
Luke did something that surprised me, he hugged me. “Thank you, my boy. Thank you.”
I returned the hug oddly and held him at arm’s length, “Don’t thank me. Thank yourself.”
“What do you mean?”
“It was your faith in him that convinced me to give you another chance. But I want you to know if he messes up again. I won’t give him another chance.”
“I understand,” he said sadly, “Now,” he said switching topics and emotions, “you must want to get back to your people or at least one of them,” I smiled.
“You would be correct,” I said smiling back.
“Good. Feel free to have some breakfast before you leave. I would see you off, but I would like to go speak to my son.”
“Of course, don’t let me keep you.” He left me standing in his office as he hurried out. I cracked my neck and left the small office to go home.
As I drove home, I felt my eyes grow heavy. I didn’t know why I was so tired, I had been able to grab a few hours of sleep, and that should have been enough to get at least get me home. I shook my head and focused on the road. I made it home without falling asleep and was bombarded by questions and comments as soon as I walked through the front door. “What happened?” “What’d you do to Adam?” “How’s Luke?” “You look like shit.”
I raised my hands to attempt to ward them off but before I could even open my mouth to begin to explain Sarah came to my rescue. “Alright, can’t you see he’s wiped? Let him catch his breath for a few hours before you decide to attack him again.” She grabbed my hand, and I let her lead me to our room. I sat on the edge of the bed and was about to fall asleep sitting there, but she knelt down and began unlacing my boots.
“Don’t, I can do that.”
“Shhhh. I won’t be doing this all the time so just be quiet,” she said smiling at me.
“God, now I know why I love you,” I said groaning as she pulled off my boot.
She let out a laugh that seemed to wash away the unpleasant business of last night and this morning like a crisp spring shower. “Don’t get used to it.”
“Oh, never,” I groaned again.
She grabbed my hand and dragged me to my feet. She pulled off my gloves and dropped them on the floor. She slipped off my jacket and unbuckled my holster, hanging it on my desk chair. She helped me pull off my t-shirt, and I bent down and kissed her. She put a hand on the center of my chest and pushed me on the bed. I fell back and let out a groan when she jumped on me. She kissed me and curled up next to me with her head on my chest. Now that I was next to her sleep was the last thing I wanted to do. Unfortunately, my mind had a better idea. I felt as my eyes grew heavy and I was calmed by Sarah’s gentle breathing. Somewhere between awake and asleep I felt Sarah kiss me on the cheek and cover both of us with a blanket. I heard her sigh and rest her head back on my chest. After that, I’m pretty sure the world ceased to exist for the several hours that I was unconscious, Sarah in my arms once again.
I woke alone, still covered in a blanket and feeling a lot better. Standing, I cracked nearly every joint in my body and let out a huge groan. I put on a clean pair of clothes and buckled on my holster. Cracking my neck again I headed out to the living room. I wasn’t bombarded by questions again like I had expected but the living room was filled with eager ears. I could tell they wanted to ask but would wait until I decided to say something. I snagged a cereal bar and a Gatorade. I scarfed down the bar and drained half the bottle before I decided to tell them all about what happened last night. I explained to them my decision regarding Adam, his reaction and my hopes that Luke was right. I left out the part where I discovered Adam crying but made sure to explain in detail how he stood up to his own people.
“How do you know he isn’t just playing you?” asked Matt.
I thought about my answer, trying to figure out how I could convince him, “The truth is that I don’t know for sure. I trust Luke enough to know his own son.”
“I hope this doesn’t come back to bite you in the ass,” said Justin.
“Yeah, me either,” I said running a hand through my hair, “But the thing is, if it does work out we’ll have a very strong ally.”
“Let’s hope it work out then,” said Justin before walking away.
My explanation and subsequent comments made seemed to be enough to satisfy the group’s curiosity, and they faded away
like early morning mist. I didn’t really know what to do, it was a little late in the day to start work on the storage, and there wasn’t much to do inside. I went to my room and changed into a pair of workout clothes. I went out to the front yard and sat calmly on the long grass. I breathed deeply and ran through the moves of the form that I planned to do. I heard someone open and close the front door. I heard their footsteps as they got closer and felt their shadow fall on my sitting form. I smiled, “Hey, Sarah.”
“Hey,” she said as I heard her sit down.
“What’s up?”
“Nothing. How’d you sleep?”
“Great. Thanks for protecting me in there,” I said winking.
“Well, you looked like you needed it.”
“I did, thank you.” She looked like she wanted to ask a question and was fighting herself not to ask it. “I know you want to ask me something. Go ahead.”
“It just, how do you know?”
“Know what?”
“How do you know Adam has actually changed?”
“What do you see when you look into my eyes?”
“What?”
“My eyes. What do you see when you look into them?”
She looked at me and frowned, “I…I don’t know what you mean.”
“I know it’s going to sound weird but when I had my knife under his chin and forced him to look at me. I saw sadness, regret, and fear, but I also saw defiance, a desire to prove me wrong and his father right. I saw it in his eyes, and it made me give him a second chance. The truth is that I didn’t do anything, all the torture took place in his own mind. He did a good job breaking himself down, he needed a chance to be built back up.”
“But…”
“You didn’t see him, Sarah, you didn’t hear him sobbing.”
“I know James but…”
“Sarah, do you trust me?”
“It’s not you that I don’t trust.”
“And I’m not asking you to trust him. I’m asking you to trust me and my judgment.”
“Ok James, I do.”
“Thank you.” She sat there in silence. I smiled, “Something else?”
“Well, I was wondering, since you’ve rested up if we could spar?”
I popped my neck and watched as she cringed. “Sorry. Yeah, we can spar. Go get changed.”
“Yes,” she said and kissed me on the cheek before racing off to change.
I yawned, trying to shake off any clinging feelings of sleep, and stood to get ready. She came out a couple minutes later wearing workout clothes, and her hair pulled back. We stretched and took a quick jog around the house to warm up. “Alright,” I said getting into a fighting stance, “you ready?”
Her answer was to immediately attack with a quick right hand. I blocked with my left hand and moved past her guard. Continuing my forward movement I put pressure on the back of her head and made her lose her balance by kicking her back right foot like a soccer ball. She landed on her side, air rushing from her lungs.
“How many times have I told you to wait? Don’t be in such a hurry.” She stood up frowning and came back at me. She didn’t attack, only circled with me. “Better,” I said going for a palm strike to the sternum. She moved faster than I thought she would and slapped my hand strike down and brought her right hand up and smacked the side of my head with the back of her hand. “Oh, fuck,” I said backing away and grabbing my ear as it grew hot. “You hit me in the ear. You’ve been practicing.” She grinned at me and nodded “Good,” I ignored the heat in my ear and continued sparring. We threw softened blows back and forth, blocking the best we could and Sarah was moving faster than I had ever seen her. She wasn’t faster than me, but the scary part was that I thought she could be faster. We each got knocked down a few times, but she never scored another hit like she did on my ear.
Sarah was breathing heavy when we finished and grinning, “I got you.”
I laughed and rubbed my ear, “Yeah you did. Good job.”
“Thanks,” she said moving in close. She placed a hand on my ear, “How does it feel?”
“I’ll live.”
She kissed me on the cheek and smiled, “Good.”
I brushed a piece of sweaty hair out of her face, “Go clean up beautiful. You stink,” I winked.
She rolled her eyes and walked away. I smiled and followed her inside. I grabbed a bucket of water and used it to wash up. Walking into my room, I was greeted by a half-dressed Sarah. “Sorry,” I said backing out.
“This is the second time you’ve done this,” she said pulling on her shirt, “I’m beginning to think you’re doing it on purpose,” she winked.
I raised an eyebrow and walked into the room. “You caught me.”
“Do you like what you see?”
“I could do to see a little more,” I said smiling at her.
She smiled at we sweetly and said, “Maybe later,” and kissed me on the cheek and leaving
I stood in the middle of my room, mouth slightly open, staring at my door. I shook my head and went about changing into some clean clothes.
That night at dinner we talked about what happened after the raid. “So did you guys go back for a second time?”
“Yeah, we went back and filled another five cars,” replied Jessica.
“Why only five?”
“It was getting a little late and to tell you the truth, there’s not a lot of room left to store it.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“So how much food do we have?”
“Several months’ worth,” said Matt.
“Damn. Well, I guess we won’t need to go shopping for a while.” Some of them looked a little disappointed. “Oh, come on guys. I didn’t say we were just going to hang around the house.”
“What do you have planned?” asked Jason.
“You’ll have to wait and find out. Ladies, did you get a few things to wear?”
They looked at each other and laughed, “Yeah we got plenty,” said Hannah.
“Try armloads,” said Thomas.
“Good. Now that we have clothes and food and some free time I want to bring up a few projects. We’re going to need some lumber for the storage, and I want to make a larger oven so we can cook more food. Also, I want to add to the fence around the property, make it a little more secure.”
“What do you want to do first?” asked Justin.
“I figure we should finish the storage just because we have so much food. Then the oven since it shouldn’t take long and then the fence.”
“Why the fence last?” asked Christina.
“It’s already in place, and all we’ll be doing is making it stronger so I think we can do it last.” She nodded. “Any more questions or comments?”
“Where are we going to get the lumber for the storage?” asked Matt.
“The local lumberyard and hardware store. That means we have to make another trip into town.”
“I guess that makes sense,” said Jason.
“Anything else,” I asked, looking around. “No? Alright, we can start planning tomorrow,” I said getting up from the table.
We relaxed for the rest of the evening, and I began to fall asleep in my chair when Sarah put a hand on my chest. “Come on babe, let’s go to bed.”
“Give me a minute,” I said with my eyes still closed.
“No, come on. Get up,” she said grabbing my hand.
I groaned and got up, “Ok, fine.” She led me to our room and closed the door. “I thought you were done taking care of me?”
“Yeah well, you can take off your own stinky boots.”
“Do my feet really stink?”
“Not really but I’m still not taking them off.”
“Oh alright,” I smiled and kicked off the boots. We climbed into bed. “Sweet dreams beautiful.”
“You too.”
I loved having her in my arms, I loved having her rest her head on my chest, and I loved to listen to her fall asleep. I smiled and k
issed her on the top of her head. It didn’t matter how sweet my dreams were, they’d never be as sweet as having her by my side.
Chapter 5
We spent the next day planning out the multiple raids that we would need to go on, and I planned to incorporate Luke’s men again. Other than planning and working on the storage we didn’t have much to do. We seemed to have put the whole Adam business behind us, but I had a feeling that some people were still a little unhappy that I hadn’t actually killed Adam. They couldn’t understand why I gave him another chance, but they hadn’t seen what I had.
“So when do you want to start?” asked Matt.
“I don’t really know. I mean we don’t really need much except the lumber for the storage, and we can do that without Luke’s help.”
“So when?” asked Justin eagerly. I don’t think he caught it, but I saw that Jessica’s fists were clenched and she was looking at Justin like he was the dumbest person on the earth.
“Are you really that eager to go? Can’t we just relax?” I said smiling.
“Yeah, but we have to get the storage done, right?”
“That’s true, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take a break every once in a while.”
“Yes, but…”
“We’ll get it done, don’t worry about it.” I could tell he didn’t like my answer, but I couldn’t please everyone. It didn’t make a lot of sense for us to go looking for trouble. I got up and headed to my room. Sarah moved to follow me, but I stopped her with a small hand motion. I gestured for Justin to follow me. He frowned but rose and followed. I closed the door as he walked through and offered him the only seat in my room that wasn’t my bed, “Why are you so eager to find danger,” I asked him pointedly.
“What? I’m not looking for anything.”
I smiled “Yeah you are. I can see it on your face.”
“What’s the big deal?” he asked indignantly.
“Are you and Jessica still together?”
This caught him off guard and seemed to drain him of any anger he might have stored up. “W…what? What does that have to do with it?”
I laughed, “Pretty much everything. So tell me, are you?”
“Uh yeah.”
Survivors Series (Book 2): Heroes Never Die Page 5