Reduced

by Robin Tidwell

  The woman turned her head from side to side, taking in the four people directly in front of her, all with guns trained in her direction. “Oh, hell,” she said, and set her rifle down.

  As the others relaxed their guard a bit, she took off her gas mask. “I s’pose if you all can breathe the air here it’s safe after all. Name’s Millie,” she added. “Don’t imagine you all can tell me what in tarnation’s going on?”

  Brad holstered his gun and approached the woman; the girls stood by, ready for trouble if it came. He stopped several feet from her, and studied her face. Nothing. Well, nothing except a few wrinkles and some faint age spots. She appeared to be well past retirement age, although feisty and rather spry. He frisked her as a matter of protocol, then stepped back, gathering his thoughts.

  “Well, sonny, dontcha have any questions for me?” asked Millie.

  “Uh, yeah,” Brad cleared his throat. He could feel the girls smirking at him from behind his back. He cleared his throat again and looked at Millie. “Are you alone?”

  “Yep,” said Millie. “Except for Bob. Hey, Bob!” She put two fingers to her mouth and whistled long and loud. Everyone jumped, guns brought back to firing position.

  A very large, very black German shepherd came bounding around the corner. “This is Bob,” said Millie.

  Janey was annoyed at herself for being so tense, and annoyed with Millie for scaring the daylights out of everyone. Abby and Lorie felt rather the same way. Brad, however, was smiling and rubbing Bob’s ears.

  Lorie stayed outside, keeping watch while Brad questioned Millie at length. Janey and Abby returned to the electronics store to search the storeroom.

  Satisfied at last that Millie was indeed exactly what she appeared to be, Brad joined the two inside. As per his instructions, the three of them began carting boxes of two-way radios and CBs out to the trucks. They also raided the store’s supplies of batteries, particularly rechargeable ones. Abby found two cases of heavy-duty cable, and Janey found three packed with outdoor LED lights.

  Last on their list were the binoculars and high-powered telescopes, but when they finally had everything packed, Millie asked, “Didja see my solar panels back there?”

  “What?” Lorie turned to look at Millie. “They don’t carry those; you have to special-order them.”

  “I did,” said Millie. “Well, Ed did, rest his soul.”

  “Who’s Ed? And where is he? I thought you said you were alone!”

  “I did and I am. Ed’s my late husband. He passed two weeks ago yesterday. I was sure they’d be here by now, and a good thing too.”

  “But . . . never mind,” said Lorie. “Hey, Brad! Check that storeroom again. Millie says there might be solar panels back there.”

  “Hang on.” Brad trotted back into the store, returning quickly. “Janey, Abby, come give me a hand with these!”

  Sure enough, Millie’s panels were there. They loaded the boxes along with everything else and were ready to move on. Bob jumped into the front seat next to Abby; Brad shrugged and got into the back with Millie.

  “Where to, boss?” asked Abby.

  Brad mulled over the question for a minute. On the one hand, they still had some ground to cover; on the other, they now had Millie with them…and Bob.

  “Let’s head back to camp. We’ll decide after that.”

  The two trucks pulled out onto the four-lane and turned north. There was no need to move vehicles on this wider stretch of road, so they made good time. Before long, they were inside the camp gates and Sandy had called Meg to tell her about the extra passenger. Cal and Meg met them at the old office building. They were prepared for almost anything, handguns at the ready.

  “Bob,” said Millie. “Stay here. I’ll be back in a jiffy.” She got out of the truck a little stiffly and waited to be introduced, hands at her sides. She wasn’t dumb.

  “So,” boomed Meg, “What’s going on?” She and Cal assessed the group and, not seeing any signs of duress or force, relaxed a bit. Especially when they got a good look at Millie, in her dowdy housedress and sensible shoes.

  “This is Millie,” Brad told them. “We found her… um, she found us over at the electronics store.”

  “What’s your story, Millie?” asked Cal.

  Millie reiterated what she’d told everyone else earlier. Brad nodded at Meg. All the details matched, and Millie didn’t sound like she’d rehearsed; she was about as threatening as a loaf of bread. Which, Brad thought, reminded him that they’d missed lunch.

  “Millie, you’re welcome to stay here with us, but I want to cover a few ground rules first,” Cal told her. “Meg and I are in nominally in charge, but there are a group of us who act as the central command; you’ve already met these four. Sandy is our head of security; she’s the one who called in for clearance.

  “You’ll be assigned a tent, and a work crew. You do nothing on your own, but report to us whenever you see or hear or find something unusual.

  “Why don’t you ride back to the campsite with me, and Meg can follow us; that way I can answer any questions you might have.”

  Millie looked tired, but relieved. “Sure, I’ll be happy to stay. No one’s left back in town, far as I could tell. And I can follow directions and take orders, if I have to—I’m a hard worker, been one all my life. But what about Bob?”

  “Who’s Bob?” asked Meg. Abby opened the truck door and Bob came bounding out to stop directly in front of Meg. He sat down and wagged his tail.

  “Meet Bob,” said Millie.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Abby and Brad ate sandwiches, brought by Cal, as they all drove back to town for the third time that day. Millie had given them a description of her house, along with directions. She said they couldn’t miss it, since the front yard was full of the pink flamingos that Ed had, inexplicably, been fond of since his retirement.

  “Full” was perhaps an understatement. Even Janey gawked at the sight. Lorie just laughed. “I had a grandmother who loved those things,” she said. “Her neighbors weren’t very happy, though.”

  Brad punched in the alarm code that Millie had given them. In spite of the older woman having told them that she’d seen no one at all for several days, at least no one who was alive, they still moved cautiously.

  Abby and Janey moved through the small house, room by room, checking for intruders. Assured that all was well, the four congregated in the sunny kitchen.

  “Under here,” said Brad, “Is Millie’s storm shelter. Let’s get this table and rug moved, and see what we can find.”

  Within half a minute, the four of them were descending the wooden stairs, flashlights on, stopping at the bottom in a concrete bunker. Janey switched on the overhead light. They all blinked.

  Three walls of the room were lined with metal shelves, bolted and anchored. The shelves were filled with canned goods, batteries, flashlights, bottled water, coffee, and packages of freeze-dried meals. Two entire units were devoted to boxes of ammo, all types. The fourth wall was covered in gun racks. Fully stocked.

  One corner held a comfortable-looking bed, unmade; in the center were a small wooden table and two chairs.

  “Wow,” said Lorie. “Ed must have been expecting a war.” “Yeah, well . . . that’s kind of what he got,” said Janey. “Come on, let’s start moving all this stuff. Looks like we hit the jackpot!” Almost everything was still packed in its original cardboard case, which made the task much easier. Still, it took an hour just to heave it all up to the kitchen where the group stopped for a few minutes to rest.

  “Looks like we’ll miss dinner, too,” grumbled Brad, looking at his watch. “Up and at ‘em, folks, let’s go!”

  Abby stood up. “What’s that?” They all froze. “Did you hear anything?” They strained to listen.

  “Probably a cat,” said Lorie. “I’ve been wondering what happened to all the animals, you know, pets.”

  “Starved or running wild, most likely,” said Brad. “I’m not going to go around rescuing cats,
anyway. Yuck.”

  “There it is again. It sounded like . . .” Abby moved to the back door; they all drew their weapons. Easing the door open just a crack, Abby paused. She heard it again. There was movement behind a bush near the steps; a flash of pink. Abby quietly walked down the stairs, toward the sound.

  Silence.

  “Hello?” said Abby. “Is somebody there?”

  She heard a sniffle, and then a tiny voice said, “Grammy?” She clicked on the safety of her .357 as she realized that Lorie was just steps behind her. Slowly she reached forward and moved just one branch.

  A small, dirty, tear-streaked face looked back at her. Tangled blond hair and big blue eyes stared at Abby; the eyes, fortunately, appeared normal and there were no wounds on her cheeks. The small girl, perhaps four years old, hiccupped.

  “Where’s my grammy?” she asked.

  Having replaced Millie’s rug and kitchen table, the four of them sat down to discuss the newest member of their group. Member she was, since she seemed to be permanently attached to Abby and refused to let go of Abby’s neck. None of them quite knew what to say or do.

  “She’s not infected,” ventured Lorie. “And we certainly can’t leave her here, alone.”

  “Duh,” said Janey. “Guess we just figure it out as we go.

  Maybe one of Ted’s girls can babysit or something.”

  Abby loosened the little girl’s arms just a bit so she could breathe better. “She asked for her grammy. Do you think that’s Millie?”

  Janey got up and stretched. “Dunno. S’pose we’ll find out when we get back and, speaking of back, we need to be heading that direction.”

  At this point Brad, who had been lost in thought, jumped up too. “Janey, you and Lorie go get the trucks and bring them around back. We’ll get loaded and head out. Ab, guess you’re babysitting for the time being.” He grinned.

  “Great,” Abby said.

  Thirty minutes later, they were ready to roll. Brad drove this time, as it was impossible for Abby to do so with a small child still holding on tightly to her neck. As they pulled out of the small driveway, Brad called Meg to let her know they were on their way.

  “Oh, and Meg?” he said. “We have an extra passenger . . . about three years old.”

  “Wonderful,” said Meg. “Don’t tell me it’s another dog. Bob already knocked over a pot of Ted’s stew and since I was the one who hollered at him, he’s stuck to my side like glue now.”

  “That’s okay,” Brad told her. “Abby’s babysitting this one. See ya soon.” He laughed when he broke off the connection.

  Abby absentmindedly stroked the little girl’s back. “I wish she’d talk, Brad. This doesn’t seem right.”

  “Well, I don’t know,” Brad said. “She must’ve been through quite a lot the last few days. I wonder where her folks are . . .” His voice trailed off.

  “Yeah, let’s not go there.” Abby hugged the little girl, who had begun to sob quietly. “She was at Millie’s house, and asked for her grammy, don’t forget. I assume that Millie knows who she is; maybe she can get her to talk?”

  Brad shrugged. “We’ll know soon enough.”

  They arrived back at camp without incident. Abby was relieved, as she thought they’d had enough of those today anyway. And, they were in time for dinner, which made Brad happy.

  As soon as they stopped, and Abby disentangled herself and her passenger from the seat belt, Millie rushed over to her. “Oh my goodness gracious, you poor little thing!” she said, and took the small girl from Abby. Abby massaged her neck for a moment as everyone crowded around, asking questions.

  “This,” said Millie, “Is Miss Juliet. No, she’s not my granddaughter; Ed and I never had any kids, but she comes over to play all the time. Well,” she corrected herself, “She used to . . .”

  “Now, you all just go on and eat. I helped out Mr. Ted there with dinner and it’s something awfully good. I’m gonna take little Jules here and get her cleaned up and all.” Millie marched off to the shower house with her young charge before anyone could ask any more questions, Bob trailing behind.

  Abby started over to the fire pit, noticing that Ted looked a bit harassed. She heard him muttering as he served her plate, something about “that woman,” but she let him be and focused on her dinner. She sat down next to Pops, who was eating diligently.

  “So,” she said, “How’s it going over at Number 2, Pops?” “Just fine,” he answered around mouthfuls of cornbread.

  “Damn, this is good. That woman sure can cook.” Somehow, Abby didn’t think that his comment and Ted’s about “that woman” were at all similar. She grinned.

  “I don’t know, Pops, looks like Ted’s a little bent out of shape over there.”

  “Eh, whatever,” Pops retorted. “Kid could still stand to learn a thing or two.” Ted, the kid in question, had had his 30th birthday several years ago. “Anyways, I like her. She speaks her mind and does what’s needed. Don’t have to keep after her like I do some people.” He glanced across the way at Candy.

  “That one, for example. Not a day goes by already that I don’t find her slacking off, wandering around. We gotta keep an eye on her, Abby.”

  Hmm. Interesting. Abby hadn’t paid much attention to Candy; she barely knew her, in fact. The younger girl struck Abby as being a little entitled, a little lazy perhaps, but not particularly a bad person. However, after Pops’ comment, she decided she better keep a lookout just in case.

  Emmy walked over and sat down. “Hey, Ab, heard you had some excitement today.”

  “Yeah, you could say that.” Abby filled Emmy in on the day’s activities.

  “Well,” said Emmy, “We had a little fun here today too. First, Millie’s arrival created something of a disturbance; Pops’ jaw dropped when he saw her and well, I think he likes her, don’t you?” She poked him playfully in the ribs, grinning.

  “Aw, Emmy Lou, I don’t either. And stop poking me!” Pops turned his attention back to his food, his face reddening. “But she sure can cook!”

  Abby got up and took her plate to the dish bucket at the other end of the shelter. She looked up and saw Millie and the little girl coming her way and, when the Juliet saw Abby, she broke into a run.

  “Juliet,” Millie called. “Mind your manners!”

  Juliet skidded to a halt and dropped her eyes. After a moment, she looked up at Abby and took a deep breath. “Pleased to meet ya, Miss Abby.” Then she threw herself into Abby’s arms. Again.

  Abby had to admit that having a small child hanging on her was a bit more pleasant when said child had had a bath and was wearing clean clothes. She smiled when she saw the girl’s outfit of an extra-large camp t-shirt that Lorie had found somewhere in the commissary.

  Millie finally caught up and coaxed Juliet to come with her and eat some supper. It didn’t take much convincing; the little girl was evidently very hungry. However, she was still barely speaking.

  Juliet cleaned her plate and used her napkin, setting it carefully to the side when she was finished. When she saw Noah approaching the table, however, she ducked her head.

  “Come on, honey, let’s go to our tent now,” said Millie. “Dr. Noah here wants to take a look at you.”

  Juliet shook her head vehemently, curls hiding her face. “Want Abby,” she said.

  “But honey, Grammy’s here. Come on.” Millie stood up and tried to pry the girl from the bench, but it was no use; Juliet stubbornly refused to budge.

  “No,” she said. “Abby.”

  Millie looked over at Abby and shrugged. Abby sighed and walked around the table to Juliet. “Let’s go, little one.” She picked up Juliet and turned to follow Noah. This should be fun.

  Millie walked along beside them and the four went down the road to Site 2. A crew had moved another cot into Millie’s tent and delivered a bundle of bedding for Juliet. Abby sat down on the cot, still holding the little girl.

  “Juliet,” Millie said, “Dr. Noah is just going to take a look
at you and make sure you’re feeling okay. You know, just like Dr. Dennis used to do.”

  Noah opened his standard black bag and took out a roller thermometer. Abby was always slightly surprised when she actually saw Noah being a doctor—back in the day, she never would have imagined it. She pried Juliet’s arms from around her neck and, in one smooth motion, turned the little girl around to face Noah. Bob the dog laid in the corner, watching with interest.

  “Okay, little one, let’s take your temperature, real quick-like.” Noah looked in Juliet’s eyes, her ears, and her nose. He examined her hands and her arms and legs; he listened to her heartbeat and her lungs.

  “Well, there you go, Juliet. Best I can tell, you’re fit as a fiddle.”

  Juliet smiled, shyly.

  “And,” said Noah, “Here’s the obligatory lollipop!” “Thank you,” said Juliet.

  Abby helped Juliet unwrap her treat while Millie and Noah stepped outside to talk. Abby sat with Juliet, just holding her, as the light waned and katydids began to sing.

  Finally, she realized that Juliet had become quite heavy. She looked down, and the little girl was fast asleep. Abby stood up and laid Juliet on Millie’s bed while she spread out the sheet and light blanket and put on a pillowcase. She moved Juliet into her own bed and tucked her in, then lit the kerosene lantern and turned it down low. She tiptoed outside to tell Millie and Noah good night.

  They’d finished their conversation and Millie went inside for the night; Noah insisted on walking Abby back to Site 3.

  “It seems Millie has known Juliet’s family for a number of years,” he told Abby. “I’m assuming her parents are gone; Millie said she never saw them, and for the last few days she’s been scoping out most of the town.

  “At any rate, if her parents are still alive they weren’t doing a very good job of taking care of her. And she’s four years old, by the way; just had a birthday a few weeks ago.”

  “So what happens to her now?” asked Abby.

  “Well, Millie has agreed to take care of her, as much as she can. Juliet knows her well, so that’s good. And Ted has said a couple of his helpers would be willing to babysit sometimes.”