When George tried to talk to Joe about it, like everyone else, Joe blew off what George was saying.
“They aren’t moving, Joe, they dug in,” George told him. “Don’t you think this can wait until after the funeral?”
“I need a focus, this is a focus.”
“Frank said …”
“Frank is wrong. Jess reported two civilians. Two. That’s not a lot.”
“Jess also reported he couldn’t see the whole camp without compromising his presence.”
“They’re there, they need to go. I’m following Frank’s plan. We have scouts, and as soon as we get that leader, get the information that confirms they’re hostile, Johnny is on the first plane to take them out.”
George understood, In fact, he as a leader would probably not even take that general. He’d take Frank’s plan under advisement, but when the moment the scouts reported they were a military camp, George would take them out, as well. After all, they knew before what the twenty-four hundred were when they were in Canada. He was pretty sure nothing had changed except their position.
A landing plane diverted his thoughts and George watched as the aircraft came to a halt on the runway.
Just as it did, he heard the squeal of brakes, looked over his shoulder and saw Dean stepping from the jeep.
“You made it,” George said.
“Yeah, it’s kind of hectic back home. We just lost Patrick.”
“Oh, my God. The flower?”
“An autopsy will reveal, but I’m pretty certain that’s what it was.”
“Did you tell Joe?” George asked.
“About Patrick? No. He has enough on his plate today. I did tell him we had a problem with this and that more have come down with the illness.”
“What did he say?”
“Take care of it,” Dean said. “Hence why I’m here.”
“That doesn’t sound like Joe.”
“Joe doesn’t sound like Joe, and if you mention anything about Robbie, he’ll bite your head off.”
“Yeah, I know that.” George faced the plane. “Here they come.”
The passengers on the plane debarked, the first one off was Lars Rayburn. He was followed by Mike Manis, Bertha Callahan and finally Tigger.
George waved and they all walked his way, greeting him.
“This is Dean Hayes,” George said. “This is Bertha, Mike, Tigger, and you know Lars.”
Mike held out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Sorry it was under these circumstances.”
“Thank you,” Dean shook hands. “It’s really nice of all of you to come for Robbie’s service.”
“It’s the least we can do,” Mike said. “It was Robbie.”
Lars cleared his throat and stepped to Dean. “Well, I received your text, I will refrain from sarcasm until I know what it is you have to tell me. What is it?”
Dean hesitated, then waved Lars away from the others.
“Ah, a private talk,” Lars said. “Go on.”
“I need your help.”
“What?”
“I need your help. We have something bigger than anything we’ve tackled. I’m drawing a blank.”
Lars’ eyes widened. “The all-knowing, ever right, Dean Hayes is stumped.”
“I asked you not to be sarcastic.”
“It’s not sarcasm as much as it is shock. You’re asking for my help, you of all people are asking me, it must be bad.”
Dean exhaled. “It is, and it’s only the beginning.”
<><><><>
Andrea wore a simple navy blue dress. No fanfare, no hat. She crossed through the living room, after leaving the kitchen, pausing by Jimmy. “You both look so handsome.”
“Ben from Fabrics did a fantastic job,” said Hal. He wore a black suit jacket and slacks, a white shirt and black tie. The exact same outfit as Jimmy and Frank.
“Ben has been working nonstop for all of us,” Andrea said. “Thank you for coming here to go with us.”
“We wouldn’t have it any other way,” Jimmy said.
“I’m going to see what’s going on with your father.” She laid a hand on Jimmy’s face, then Hal’s and walked away.
Jimmy continued fixing his tie.
Hal looked around, peering toward the hall way that led to the bedroom. “Where is he?”
“I don’t know. He said he’d be here,” Jimmy replied.
“Do you think he’s alright?”
“I do.”
Hal lifted his suit jacket. “Of all days for him to go to that camp. All days.”
“He wanted to pull Jess. He said Jess needed to be at the viewing and he has a better person to put there.”
“A better person?” Hal asked. “And why in the hell is he doing this now?”
“I don’t know. Did you tell him what Dad is saying?”
“No. Absolutely not. Our brother needs to focus and it doesn’t have to be on how our father is going behind his back on things.”
“Hal, you really should tell him what Dad said.”
“I can’t do that. I can’t.” Hal clenched his jaw, then exhaled when the front door opened and Frank walked in
“Thank God.” Jimmy placed on his jacket. ”Everything alright?”
“Yeah, sorry,” Frank said. “I went home to shower and change. I should have called or sent a text.”
Hal reached out and gripped Frank’s arm. “It’s okay. You’re here. “
“I just …” Frank stopped talking and looked to the hall at the sound of his father’s voice.
“I got it, I got it, Andrea, now stop,” Joe quipped, adjusting his tie as he stepped into the living room. He paused and looked at Frank. “Nice of you to finally show up.” Without saying anymore, he walked out.
Frank sighed heavily and his head hung low.
“Let it go,” Hal told him. “We’re all tense for today.”
“I just wish he looked at me with other than hatred,” Frank said. “We need our father.”
“And more than he’s saying,” Hal replied. “He needs us.” He took a deep breath. “Now, it’s time. We need to do this.”
“Let’s do this,” Jimmy said.
“Yeah,” Frank nodded sadly. ‘Let’s do this.”
One by one, sticking close together, they walked out. Joe was waiting in the van Danny had found them and the three of them quietly got inside.
One hand on the steering wheel, Joe stared out for a moment, then lifted his eyes to the rear view mirror. They were and tired, not only were the lines on his face more predominant, there were more there. Joe exhaled heavily. “Let’s do this.” He started the car and pulled out.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“What time does the viewing start?” Lars asked Dean, as he stood before the counter in the cryo lab.
Dean continuously dropped folders, then slid over a laptop. “Here is everything we have done.”
“Specimen in the back?”
Dean nodded.
“Again, what time is the viewing?”
“I have to be there …” Dean looked at his watch. “Shit. In twenty minutes. Then public viewing is starts in an hour and a half.”
“Go. I got this. I have time. I will handle this. Let me review and see what I come up with.”
“Thank you.” Dean rushed to the door.
“Dr. Hayes,” Lars called out. “No … thank you. I have waited many years for you to give me a nod of sorts. Asking for my advice means a lot.”
Dean paused in the door frame. “You know, we both have extensively worked on viruses, but you, Lars have far more experience with the way they effect people. I can’t touch that. I am hoping, truly hoping you can find a better connection for infection and spread than we have. Nothing is concrete.” He tapped the door frame, and paused. “No… I’m not hopeful. I am optimistic.”
“Go to the viewing.”
“I’m going.”
Dean left.
“Wow,” Lars said, shaking his head and shuffling through papers. �
�He’s being too nice. This has to be bad.”
<><><><>
Even though Joe was still working, Danny knew he wasn’t fully working. Joe focused on the twenty-four hundred, placing all his attention on that. Danny still had other leader responsibilities to uphold, including division checks and rounds.
He finished up in a good amount of time, he likened that to the sluggish way that people had been working. As if they had no motivation. He expected all that to change once they had the funeral for Robbie. Productivity was at an all-time low. Even Gemma wasn’t baking enough.
Not that baked goods were all that important, but they helped moral.
Danny, like Joe, rarely dressed down when acting leader. So simply, he needed to just grab a suit jacket before heading to Bowman. He wanted to get there early, be first for the public viewing because he knew he couldn’t stay long
He raced to his own office in mechanics, grabbed the jacket and was heading out when he saw Jenny.
“Hey, what brings you up here?” Danny asked. “Did something break?”
“No. I know you’re headed to Bowman. I’m upset.”
“We all are.”
“Not just about Robbie. And typically, I would say this is a bad time, but is there an ever really a bad time when it comes to the safety of our families.”
Danny nearly chuckled as he placed on his jacket. “Jenny, what are you talking about?”
“I won’t say how I heard, but is it true the Great War is starting and there are twenty-four hundred soldiers positioned outside of Beginnings, ready to attack.”
Danny went into full freeze mode. He didn’t move.
“I would have a hard time believing it, I mean that’s a lot of soldiers out there. But Joe keeps going below to communications. The only thing that makes me think it’s not true is Frank is showing no indication.”
“Jenny, where did you hear this?”
“I told you I wasn’t going to say. And don’t blame my husband, he’s been in Bowman. He has no clue. I asked him about it and he said it was crazy, that Joe would never let that happen. So is it true?”
“Jenny, there are some thing that can’t be divulged.”
“Then it is.” She folded her arms. “I understand strategy being kept a secret, but this … this needs transparency. Hiding it is as bad as not doing anything about it. We’re not idiots. We deserve to know.”
“You’re right. It’s not my place to tell you anything,” Danny said. “Except that if it is true, things are being done.”
“When? Every hour that passes is another we’re in danger. This is the first time ever I can recall not feeling one hundred percent safe.” She inhaled sharply. “And I’ll leave you. I am going to put my faith in you that things will be handled.”
As Jenny walked away, Danny mentally blasted her in his mind. It was Robbie’s viewing and day before the funereal and she was questioning the way things were run? Then it hit him, she truly did have every right. Thinking about it the way she put it, placed the situation in perspective. Whether there were twenty-four hundred soldiers or two hundred soldiers and the rest civilians, they were a foreign entity, unannounced on American soil with war weapons perched a one day ride away.
It never dawned on him that they should tell the people of Beginnings. Keeping them in the dark was keeping them ignorantly blissful. That wasn’t the best thing.
They treated the residents of Beginnings like fools and blind sheep, in reality they had every right to know what was going on.
Even though it seemed it at times, Beginnings wasn’t governed under a dictatorship. The town and provinces belonged to the people and they had a voice in decisions.
Once she was out of sight, Danny lifted his phone and dialed. “Hey, Sergeant Ryder. We may have a situation.”
<><><>>
The front waiting room of the funeral home wasn’t modern, but it wasn’t old fashioned either. A chair railing ran across the midline of the wall, wooden paneling under and cream painted walls above. Various pictures hung on the wall. The Slagel family waited in the front room. It was quiet, not a sound or music. Joe sat on a chair staring forward to the closed double doors, knowing what was behind them, what was waiting.
He and his sons, along with Andrea, Ellen and Dean would enter the visitation room first, they would see Robbie first.
Joe wasn’t ready for it. How could he ever be ready to see his youngest son in a coffin?
A huge part of him was angry for his sons for planning a funeral. They didn’t have funerals anymore and for good reasons. They prolonged things.
Some claimed the entire ritual was to help the family transition to the loss, to say goodbye. Joe didn’t see how holding off burying someone was helping.
At least in his case, it prolonged the torture and now he had to add to that by seeing Robbie ‘laid out’, as if he needed a visual reiteration his son had died.
He was all too aware.
Frank bit his nails as he paced back and forth in a small area waiting for the doors to open. No one really said anything to anyone, it was tense.
When the double doors slightly opened, Frank felt that nervous twinge. Harv slipped out into the waiting room.
Harv’s huge shoulders hoisted upward with a deep breath, as he spoke softly. “Robbie is ready to receive you. I hope that everything is to your liking. This is often a shocking moment for the family, so please prepare yourself. Also, as you know, unlike in the old world, there are no flower shops, but I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the outpour and how the community has pulled from Mother Nature to make this a beautiful moment. I was overwhelmed how much arrived. Now, please … after you.” Slowly he slid the doors open.
They all stepped forward at the same time.
Everyone reacted.
Frank couldn’t see them, but he could hear.
Andrea gasped. He heard a sob come from Ellen. His father cleared his throat, probably to clear emotions. Hal groaned.
Frank didn’t believe he made a noise, he was far too much in shock. The room wasn’t that large, yet the coffin seemed so far away as if Frank was viewing it with tunnel vision.
Track lighting lit the open silver coffin and two huge bouquets of roses were on each side. They came from only one place that Frank knew of, the Miguel Rose garden. In fact, the entire room was filled with flowers. It was an amazing display.
Somehow, though, Frank could not bring himself to look directly at Robbie. He couldn’t. He saw the shape of his brother, but it was too difficult to get a good luck.
Suddenly, standing center of the room, everyone walked by him to the coffin.
Frank just froze.
“Frank?” Hal whispered. “You alright?”
Frank nodded.
“You coming?”
“I’ll ...” he cleared his throat. “I’ll wait. I’m not ready.”
Dean stepped up beside Frank. “I’ll hang back with you.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I want to.”
Hal nodded at them both, gave a firm squeeze to Frank’s arm and joined the others who surrounded the casket. Frank was grateful for that. They blocked Robbie. Frank looked at the floor.
“So handsome,” Andrea said. “He did such a good job.”
“And his hair,” Ellen added. “Robbie would be so happy.”
“Bentley did it,” said Jimmy.
“He looks peaceful,” said Johnny.
“Yeah,” Hal said. “He does. He’s smiling.”
“My boy was always smiling,” add Andrea. “Joe?”
Frank’s head lifted suddenly and he looked to Dean when he heard his father’s voice.
“What the hell is he wearing?”
CHAPTER TWENTY
To Jimmy the funeral home had a reminiscent feel of the days that had passed. The days before the virus brought the population down to a fraction of what it was. Everything took him back to those days.
The flowers, line of people waiting
, kneeling and praying at the coffin. The exchange of words and condolence, handshakes and kisses, laughter and tears.
It seemed to Jimmy they were all there to not only grab a little bit more of Robbie, but to grab a part of life that had long been forgotten.
It was slightly different though. The background music wasn’t organ themed and sad, but more acoustic guitar and folksy. Whether he was joking or not, Robbie had expressed to Harv about what he wanted to wear when he was buried.
Harv took the request very seriously and since Ben from Fabrics was present in the mess hall when Robbie said it, the master of fabric designed and recreated the clothing in one day. He was honored to do so and did a fantastic job. A royal blue, collarless, zip up jumpsuit, complete with the zipper arm pockets and burgundy brown utility belt.
The jumpsuit Charlton Heston wore in the infamous death scene of the movie Omega Man. It was an exact replica. The movie was in the time vault of Beginnings and Ben was able to watch it, freeze frame it and make it.
Everyone complimented it, stating, ‘It was so Robbie to ask for it.’
They spoke about something called the Neville competition. Jimmy wasn’t around for that and hoped someone would tell him the story.
He was sure he’d hear it at some point.
He knew it was going to be a long day when Harv asked if they could open the doors to the public as the line was growing. He and his brothers took shifts greeting and thanking people. His father stayed inside by Robbie, only leaving to get some air out back or have a cigarette.
There were so many people, so many Jimmy didn’t know. It reminded him of when they believed his father had died and his body lay in repose, closed casket, in a Bowman theater.
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