Miracles

by Thomas A. Watson

  “We were in a building across from the quartermaster supply complex. We never came outside, just watched you from the upstairs window.”

  Grabbing his radio, “Continue loading,” Arthur called out, moving his gaze from the soldier to the kids and then back to the soldier. “We scouted around here pretty good and didn’t find anyone.”

  Shaking his head, “Most troops left to check on family. Those that didn’t pulled out a few weeks ago. Orders came over the radio for all troops to report to Denver,” the soldier said. “Anyone alive around here avoids the base because they were shot on sight.”

  “I’m not being a smart ass, but why didn’t you go with them?”

  Jerking his thumb toward the Hummer, “I wasn’t allowed to take the kids,” the soldier answered. “They aren’t military dependents. I found them over a month ago on patrol and hid them in one of the outlying buildings,” the soldier replied, and then his voice became softer. “We were under orders to shoot anyone not inside their home. I didn’t agree with the orders, so I broke off from the patrol and hid them. I tried finding them a group to stay with but from what I’ve seen, that was easier said than done, until I saw your group.”

  Letting out a long sigh, Arthur crossed his arms over his chest. “You seem to be managing just fine.”

  “Sir,” the soldier pleaded. “I’m an only child. I don’t know crap about kids.”

  The soldier turned to look past Arthur, watching the track steers loading pallets onto the flatbed trailers. “So, will you run off to Denver if I talk my group into accepting the kids?” Arthur finally asked.

  “Hell, no,” the soldier snapped, jerking his eyes back to Arthur. “People are trying to survive, and we had orders to just shoot anyone outside. Granted, some of those outside needed to be shot, but it’s a small percentage thankfully.”

  “A bigger percentage than you think,” Arthur huffed. “So, you thinking about heading to check on your family?”

  Shaking his head, “No, sir. Right before I got sick, I found out Dad and Mom had died in the first weeks of the outbreak back in March,” the soldier answered. “I’ll just try to find me a spot and hold up, I guess.”

  Staring at the young soldier for several minutes, Arthur finally turned away to look back inside the Hummer. “You and the kids can come with us. My wife is the boss and I’m next. What we say goes,” Arthur said.

  The soldier gave a hard sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

  “It’s not a free trip by any means. All of you will have to work, just like we are,” Arthur said, turning back to the soldier and could see the relief.

  Waving a hand back and motioning toward the Hummer, “Most of the time they do great, but they were excited when I told them we were going to meet with you,” the soldier said. “My name’s Todd Reed,” he said, holding out his hand.

  Uncrossing his arms over his chest, Arthur shook Todd’s hand. “Name’s Arthur. The boss is my wife Wendy, and she’s on the hill to the east watching us through a sniper scope. How old and how many?” Arthur asked, nodding toward the Hummer.

  “Three, sir. Two boys and a little girl. Cody and Kyle are twelve. Lindsey is nine,” Todd answered, casting his eyes to the east and giving a casual wave. “Cody and Kyle are twins.”

  Nodding as he turned around, “Yeah, we have a set of those too,” Arthur replied. “Tell your kids to come on.”

  Leaning back into the Hummer, “Let’s go,” Todd said, helping Lindsey out of the back.

  Jogging to catch up to Arthur, they saw Andrea and Shawn step away from one of the storage bunkers. “Shawn and Andrea,” Shawn told Todd when they walked over.

  “Todd,” Arthur called out beside one of the flatbed semitrailers while Todd was introducing his group.

  “Go, Pops doesn’t like to wait. I’ll walk them around and introduce them to everyone,” Andrea told him, and she motioned the kids with Todd to follow her.

  Letting his M4 hang at his side, Todd stopped beside Arthur and took a surprised step back, looking at a car dolly at the back of the semitrailer. Stepping closer, Todd saw a ball hitch had been welded to the back of the trailer. “Never seen that before,” Todd mumbled.

  “That Hummer you’re driving in good working order?” Arthur asked.

  “Yes, sir,” Todd answered, stepping back beside Arthur.

  “What was your MOS?”

  “Eleven Bravo, infantry,” Todd answered.

  “I trust you can drive something other than a Hummer then?”

  “Yes, sir,” Todd grinned. “If it has wheels or tracks in our inventory, I can drive it.”

  “Good. Pull your Hummer up on this hauler. We need to stop anywhere for you to pick up anything?”

  Shaking his head, “No, sir. Like I said, we moved each night and always took our stuff,” Todd answered, and Arthur turned to him. “Learned fast, don’t stay in the same place too long.”

  Flipping up the monocular, Arthur almost knocked his fedora off. “It’s Arthur, please.”

  “Okay,” Todd nodded, and Arthur flipped his monocular back down. “Wondered how you got those armored Suburbans from the armory,” Todd said, waving at the car hauler.

  “What were those doing here?”

  “Those were used by some official’s security team here when the outbreak started. Not sure who, but the MPs moved them from the airfield to the armory,” Todd answered and then grunted, “Surprised you found the keys.”

  “Didn’t find them, and why in the hell does anyone need a minigun in a Suburban?” Arthur more stated than asked.

  Shocked about the minigun and that Arthur hadn’t found the keys, Todd’s eyes grew wide when he slowly turned back to Arthur. “Drive your Hummer over and let’s get it loaded,” Arthur told Todd, then moved away.

  Following Arthur with his shocked stare, Todd watched Arthur help a group of kids strap the long stacks of pallets down. “Holy shit,” Todd gasped, finally realizing how much was stacked on the trailer. “Bet Arthur was a Green Beret,” Todd mumbled, jogging away.

  “Come on in,” Arthur called over the radio, then moved back and guided the front wheels of the Hummer onto the car dolly. Todd climbed out of the Hummer to help strap down the front wheels, but two kids were already doing it with Arthur standing over them.

  Then he realized, those kids weren’t older than the ones with him. Glancing around, he saw Andrea and Shawn were the tallest, after Arthur. “I knew you had kids, but not this many. I just figured the adults were where we couldn’t see them,” Todd blurted out.

  “Nope,” Arthur said, turning to face Todd. “I’m only saying this once. If you let anyone hurt these kids, they better do it stepping over your dead body. Am I making myself clear?”

  “Crystal,” Todd nodded. “That’s how I found Lindsey. A man was ripping her clothes off and I heard her screaming inside a house.”

  Spinning on his heel and walking off, “Trust me, men aren’t the only evil out here,” Arthur told him. “I’ve killed dozens of women just as evil.”

  Todd let out a gasp that made Arthur stop and turn around. “You’re the Caravan Man!” Todd cried out looking at the fedora, and all the pieces fell together in his mind.

  “How the flying fuck do you know that?” Arthur snapped.

  “We’ve heard people talking about you on the radio: A man wearing a black Indiana Jones-type hat with a bunch of kids and two big-ass Rottweilers. They said to stay out of your way and you hunt gangs down,” Todd muttered in shock.

  “I’m over two hundred miles from home,” Arthur grumbled when Wendy and the twins walked up.

  Shaking his head to clear the shock, “Yes, sir,” Todd said, and Arthur gave him a glare. “Sorry,” Todd mumbled. “Word on the radio is you move around Northern Arkansas and Southern Missouri. Almost every night we heard something about you.”

  After Arthur introduced Wendy, he turned back to Todd. “Hear anything else that’s been repeated like that?” Arthur asked.

  Shrugging one sho
ulder, “Just some preacher from Mississippi,” Todd answered. “He broadcasts every night he-”

  “Yeah,” Arthur said, cutting Todd off. “We’ve heard his speeches.”

  “If I hadn’t found someone to help with the kids in the next few weeks, I was thinking about heading there,” Todd admitted. “I don’t like the religious fervor in his speeches, but I knew I was over my head.”

  “Shit,” Arthur chuckled. “Your kids are old enough to help out. Over two dozen of ours aren’t.” The smile died on Arthur’s face, realizing none of the kids that had joined them over the last two weeks had added any more infants. The youngest were dying off because the kids left looking after them just didn’t know what to do besides feed and change them. The last two infants to be brought in, the kids looking after them were mixing the formula wrong by adding to much water. Now with eleven infants and over a dozen under the age of five, Arthur knew it wouldn’t be much longer before the seasons changed and clean water started vanishing and the toddlers would start dying off. Then the Angel of Death would slowly move up the age ladder.

  Noticing a foreboding look on Arthur’s face that she damn sure didn’t like, “Where to now?” Wendy asked, slinging her AR10 over her shoulder. Watching Arthur shake the gloom off, Wendy gave a sigh.

  “Load up some Hummers and stop at one store,” Arthur replied. “Todd, you’re riding with me,” Arthur said, pointing at the first semi. Giving a nod, Todd watched his kids load up in other vehicles and then jogged off.

  “Babe, we need to finish the rooms. Most of the kids are sleeping on cots in the hall,” Wendy told him. The fact they’d had a fight about putting some of the kids in Joseph’s room didn’t surprise her. Arthur had finally relented, but told those in the room not to mess with Joseph’s things.

  “I know,” Arthur sighed. “But we needed another big person who can shoot that we don’t have to train. Each kid over the age of five is some kind of help and we need bodies that can function independently on tasks. We can’t handle more, but we need a big person.”

  She understood because they hadn’t turned down any kids since Wendy had come back, neither counted the seventeen to nineteen-year-olds as ‘kids’, and the only sixteen-year-old Arthur had turned down was Dean. Wendy stepped closer and grabbed his hand. “Arthur, I’m not saying we shouldn’t have taken them in, just that we need to finish that dorm you tacked on the house,” Wendy told him. “You’re pushing yourself too hard. Which means, we’re all getting pushed too hard and they’re just kids,” she explained, then added with a thankful sigh. “Our only saving grace, you’re on Adderall again.”

  Nodding while he leaned over and kissed her cheek, “I know, but we have too much to do and not a lot of time to get it done.”

  Patting Arthur on the butt, “Well, let’s get moving,” Wendy chuckled, moving over to the MRAP with Arthur. The back door opened, and Vicki handed Nicole to Arthur and Noah jumped into Wendy’s arms. “I wasn’t going to forget,” Wendy chuckled when Noah kissed her cheek.

  Putting the baby sling on, Arthur glanced over at Noah riding on Wendy’s hip with the twins, Sally and Jo Ann, standing on each side of her. “Glad I’m not the only one with a kid attached at the hip,” Arthur mumbled as Vicki handed him a bottle.

  Kirk and Pat drove the track steers up on the trailer behind the MRAP and jumped off and both patted their little brother Jim who had watched them with longing wanting to do what they were. “Very good job,” Arthur told them, watching the boys flip up their night vision goggles.

  “I don’t like loading bombs,” Pat shivered.

  “Hand grenades,” Arthur chuckled. “Load up.”

  The two took off while slinging their ARs over their shoulders with Jim following behind and Arthur headed to the lead semi and climbed in the cab. “Arthur,” Todd said when Arthur closed the door. “You don’t have little kids driving the semis, do you?”

  “Nah,” Arthur replied, cranking the engine. “They can’t reach the pedals of the big trucks yet. I do have twelve-year-olds driving those trucks with the gooseneck trailers, though,” he grinned.

  When Arthur pulled away, Todd felt the weight from the trailer and watched as Arthur operated the semi with one hand while the other held a bottle, feeding a baby. “Sorry, Arthur, but I need both hands to drive something this big,” Todd stated.

  “Someone bitches if I don’t hold the bottle,” Arthur chuckled. They stopped at a motor pool and loaded up Hummers on the other car dollies before heading off.

  When Arthur stopped on the road just off the base, Todd let out a chuckle while looking at a tactical store. “Yeah, they have some nice gear but unless you’re going to use explosives, we aren’t getting in. The damn store’s built like an air raid shelter inside a bank vault. I know because I’ve shopped there. We came here a few weeks ago, seeing crazies running this way and spotted someone trying to get in. All they managed to do was to bend some bars.”

  Shutting the engine off, Arthur opened his door and glanced over at Todd with a grin. “Want to bet I can’t get in?” Arthur asked, jumping out like he had been insulted. Cradling Nicole so she wouldn’t jar, Arthur landed and looked down the line of vehicles while the others climbed out. He watched the turret mounted on the MRAP slowly scan around them.

  “That’s the only thing the kids operate that makes me nervous,” Arthur mumbled, turning back and opening the cargo door under the sleeper cab. He pulled out his ‘key’ and turned around to see Shawn walking up with a huge grin, carrying a much bigger ‘key’.

  “Remember, Pops, you said I could use it,” Shawn reminded him.

  Arthur just chuckled as he nodded and walked across the parking lot. The double front doors were covered with thick, steel prison bar doors. The top corner of one of the steel doors was bent outward. A thick chain was still wrapped around the bars. “Amateurs,” Arthur huffed.

  Todd came to a stop, looking at the ‘key’ Arthur was carrying. “Where did you get mini jaws of life?” he asked.

  “Made ‘em,” Arthur said, handing the small ‘key’ to Andrea. She stepped up and shoved the wedge in the gap between the door and frame. She flipped the switch and the wedge slowly spread apart with a deep electrical whine.

  The arms stopped moving and the whine turned into a vibrating growl. “That’s good,” Arthur told her, and Andrea flipped the switch to close the wedge back up.

  Staring at the half-inch gap the ‘tiny key’ had made, Todd shook his head when Arthur said, “Told ya.”

  “Had to make room for the ‘big master key’,” Arthur smirked and Shawn stepped up, setting the ‘big key’ down. Yanking a pull cord, Shawn let it go when an engine fired up. It was a gas-powered engine, but was very quiet.

  Watching Shawn pick up the ‘big master key’, Todd was amazed at how quiet the lawn mower engine was. Stepping up, Shawn shoved the much larger wedge into the gap the ‘small key’ had made and the wedge slowly split apart. The engine started bogging down and the hydraulic whine increased when the metal door and door jamb bent with the wedge.

  Shawn gave a startle when Arthur tapped his shoulder. Flipping a switch, Shawn made the jaws close while Arthur reached over his shoulder and opened the heavy cell door. “Oh,” Shawn said, realizing he’d already opened it. “I was waiting for it to pop open.”

  “The ‘big master key’ doesn’t pry open doors. It destroys them,” Arthur grinned, then stepped in the gap between the jail bars and the roll-up door. Andrea stepped in with the ‘key’, shoving the wedge in three heavy padlocks and popping them open. “The damn armories on the base weren’t secured this well,” Arthur mumbled, helping Andrea roll up the door.

  He stepped out while she worked on the inner glass doors. Shawn gave a chuckle when the door popped open.

  “Why didn’t you just try the back?” Todd asked, following Arthur inside.

  “The loading door would’ve taken a dozer to open. The side door would’ve taken explosives,” Arthur said, flipping his monocular up
and pulling out a flashlight. “White light!” he called out, and waited for everyone to turn their night vision devices off.

  Walking around the store, Arthur pointed out the priority stuff and stopped beside a rack of tactical pants. “Oh, these are nice,” Arthur nodded, pulling a pair off the rack when Wendy walked over, looking around.

  Hearing Arthur let out a gasp, Wendy whipped her head around. “Five hundred and thirty-seven dollars?!” Arthur cried out, looking at the price tag on the pants. Surprised, Wendy reached over to the rack to feel the pants and had to admit, they were very well made.

  Glancing back at Arthur, she saw him looking over every inch of the pants. “What are you looking for?” she asked.

  “A button to push that makes the wearer have an instant orgasm,” Arthur snapped.

  “Go give Nicole to Vicki, so we can get home before sunrise,” Wendy sighed, but was wearing a grin.

  “Yeah, thought flies would take a bit longer to get to swarms that size,” Arthur admitted. “But that’s why I wanted to do this at night.”

  Picking up one of the boxes behind the counter Arthur had pulled out, Shawn gave a gasp. “Twenty thousand dollars! Is it gold?”

  “No,” Arthur said, still looking over the pants. “Wide field vision night vision goggles like the ones we got from base.”

  Looking at the four boxes, Shawn was actually scared to carry them, knowing how much they were worth. Then he saw other boxes stacked on the counter that had price tags in the ten grand range. When a group of seven to nine-year-olds came over to collect them, Shawn held out a hand. “I’ll load these,” he told the group.

  Since they had loaded guns and other stuff into the trucks, the group all stood up on tiptoes wondering what Shawn was holding. “I don’t know how fragile these are and we need them,” he told the group, still not opening any of the cases.

  Able to read the side, “We’ve loaded night vision stuff at the bases and didn’t break any,” Jim protested and the others nodded.

  Shaking his head, “Jim, I’ll load these. You guys get the other stuff Arthur has out,” Shawn told them. Giving a shrug, Jim led the group to another area and grabbed ammo cans. “Pops has enough to worry about and not worry about stuff like this getting broken,” Shawn mumbled, grabbing a few of the cases.