Cities on Fire

by A J Newman

  “Will, I like you but don’t get greedy”

  “I like you too.”

  “Come on; let’s get in the water before it gets too hot up here.”

  Will spun around and walked into the water. She followed him in and went under the water.

  “Oh shit. This water is cold,” Maddie said.

  Will swam around her testing for logs and then went under the water, and then surfacing directly behind her. He put his arms around her and drew her close. He kicked his feet to keep them above water, and she relaxed in his arms.

  “You feel so warm, and the water feels so good. I haven’t been this relaxed in days.”

  Will replied, “Reminds me of a country song about holding your body against me.”

  She replied, “Hold me close and never let me go.”

  They climbed back up the rock stairs and jumped into the water several times until they were exhausted. Will spread his clothes out on a large flat rock and they lay under the waning sun beside each other. Will tried several times to steal a kiss, but she turned her head each time.

  “I thought you liked me, “said Will.

  “I do, but you are moving too fast.”

  “Look the sun is above the fork in the tree,” Will said.

  “Forget the sun and kiss me.”

  “I thought I was moving too fast.”

  “You are. I like to call the shots.”

  “Some people would call that controlling or bossy.”

  “Not if they want to kiss me. Shut up and kiss me.”

  ✼

  Chapter 12

  Day Five – Family Surviving

  The person walked along the edge of the field in the moonlight and kept in the shadows to avoid drawing any attention. There was dew on the ground and mist in the early morning air as the dark-clad figure headed towards the river. This was a scouting trip to determine if there was a way to get across the river in and out of the Horse Shoe.

  The east side of the Horse Shoe would be surveilled before daybreak; the shadowy figure would go home and then search the west side the next night. Sneaking in and out of the house was easy since everyone was always tired these days and only one guard was posted. Avoiding the guard was not difficult, and after the local trash had been taken out, the black-clad figure would lobby for more security for the compound but not yet.

  There was a noise up ahead, and it came from two men in a Jon boat. They rowed silently across the river from the far bank and talked as they paddled.

  “Bo, I heard these folks have a shit load of food, guns and medical supplies.”

  “Yes, I was in the first meeting when they made plans and started robbing the hardware and gas station. They kept everything for themselves and told us tough shit.”

  “We can rob that barn a couple of times if we are careful.”

  They reached the shore, and the man in the front of the boat stepped out and pulled the boat up onto the ground.

  “Jerry, I have to see a tree,” the man said as he stepped into the shadows to relieve himself.”

  The figure dressed in black slipped up behind him with a knife, grabbed him from behind and cut his throat before he could make a sound. The Wraith let him fall to the ground and waited for the other man to search for his friend.

  “Jerry. Where are you, Jerry? This ain’t funny. Come on out from behind that tree. If you try to scare me, I’ll shoot your sorry ass.”

  Bo carefully walked into the darkness and didn’t hear the person slip up behind him. He pulled the trigger on the Glock 21 just as his jugular vein was severed. The report was very loud, so the Wraith quickly dragged both bodies to the river, placed a note in both men’s pocket that just said, ‘The Wraith,” and pushed them away from the shore. The boat was a good find that night and was hidden in the bushes several hundred feet downstream. The boat would come in handy later to help take out the trash.

  The black-clad figure walked quietly down the hall and into the room. Making almost no noise, the person undressed, got in bed with a big smile and went to sleep. It was only 3:00 am and the first night was a success. There would be many more nights, and many more vermin were sent to meet their maker. All went to Hell.

  Will woke up earlier than usual and had to use the bathroom, so he quietly walked through the living room to the bathroom. When he finished, he opened the door and was surprised to see Maddie looking at him.

  She shoved him back into the tiny bathroom and shushed him to be quiet. She grabbed his face, kissed him on the forehead, and then she then said; “Now that’s your good morning kiss. Now get out.”

  Will started to go when Maddie said, “Oh, I saw someone slipping into the house a few minutes ago. Does Bob have a secret girlfriend? Now go.”

  Will snuck back down to his end of the trailer, got dressed, grabbed his guns, and headed over to the house. The sun hadn’t even thought about coming up, but a mixture of adrenaline and testosterone had Will keyed up and ready to go.

  He quietly walked into the house and used his small flashlight to maneuver around the house to see who might have had company. He saw wet footprints leading to his Grandma’s room. There was a faint light coming from under the door. He thought who would be sneaking into Granny’s room. He scratched his head and walked into the kitchen.

  Will fumbled around the kitchen in the dark and found the coffee and the coffee pot. He started a pot of coffee and grabbed a left over biscuit to chew on while the coffee perked. The sound of the coffee perking in the old steel pot on the Coleman stove sounded reassuring to him because that was the first thing his Papaw did every morning when they were camping.

  “Son, you’re up early this morning,” said Bob.

  “Good morning Papaw. It’s a glorious day. I’m ready to get to work building the Great Wall of Jack.”

  “Now that’s funny. How did your date go?”

  “Great. She told me she likes me and we kissed a few times.”

  “That’s great. She’ll be your steady girlfriend soon. Now, son, I know that at your age your hormones are raging, but don’t do anything that can’t be undone.”

  “Papaw, are you going to give me the sex talk.”

  “Hell no! I hope your Dad did that years ago. I’m just the guy to remind you to not do anything that would be causing you to change diapers for the next several years.”

  “Mom gave me the talk; Dad’s not good at that stuff. Wait until your Mom tells you about reproductive organs, proper use of rubbers, and being a gentleman.”

  “Whoa, I’m too old to be learning that stuff. Seriously, I know that you know the mechanics of sex. Just don’t knock her up until we have a real doctor around here.”

  “Dad, that was not what a mother wants to hear her father in law telling her young son,” said Jo as she entered the room.

  “Then stop sneaking up on men when they’re talking about women. You could get an embarrassing ear full.”

  “I heard enough of that crap around the locker rooms and bars with my Police friends. I apologize for listening to your conversation and will try not to do it again; however, I do agree with pop. Don’t knock her up.”

  Jane rounded the corner and said, “Who are y’all not going to knock up? Will have you been bad?”

  “Oh shit. Now both of my Grandparents and Mom are discussing if I got laid last night. We only kissed, and I don’t even think she likes me.”

  The screen door banged and everyone shut up at the same time as Maddie and Missy walked into the kitchen. Missy looked from one to the other and said, “Y’all are talking about us; aren’t you? Maddie, they shut up when we walked into the room.”

  Bob quickly replied, “No Jo hit her finger on the sink and said the F word.

  Later that morning, Will saw his Grandma in the backyard tending to the garden.

  “Grandma, I don’t know how to say this err…”

  “Just spit it out, boy.”

  “Do you have a boyfriend?”

  “What, no and what
brought up that question?”

  “Well you jumped in on Papaw and Mom picking on me this morning about my love life, and Maddie saw a person dressed in black slip into the house early this morning. The grass was wet with dew, and I followed footprints to your bedroom door. I thought that you might be calling the kettle black.”

  “Shit, Will I went for a walk this morning when I couldn’t sleep. Don’t tell anyone because your Grandfather thinks all us women need to be protected. I can take care of myself. Wait a minute. I’m a grown woman and can slip around and err… visit men if I want to. I didn’t but I can if I ever find one. You worry about your love life and don’t worry about your Grandma’s love life.”

  Will turned red in the face and said, “Grandma, I’m sorry if I offended you or embarrassed you.”

  “And I’m sorry for jumping your ass. Let’s just say we’re back to normal and I won’t tease you about getting laid, and you won’t mention my nightly forays.”

  “Okay,” Will said, and then thought nightly means more than once.

  Will caught Maddie and they took one of the ATV’s up to the wall so Will could join the crew and Maddie could be trained to be a guard. They chatted during the short trip to the wall and Will filled her in on his conversation with his Grandma. Will also told her about being told not to get Maddie pregnant.

  “So the Karr family just talks about me like I’m some kind of tramp trying to steal their baby boy,” Maddie said.

  “No, it was mainly Papaw teasing me. Please don’t take offense. Papaw just wanted me to be cautious and not ….”

  “Get me pregnant.”

  “Well yes. I politely told him to mind his own business.”

  “Did you tell him that you can’t get pregnant from kissing? Besides you are too young for me and not my type at all.”

  “No. I was tongue tied and trying to get out of the conversation when the others walked into the room. I’m only a few months younger and what is your type?”

  “So they think we did it yesterday down by the river.”

  “No, I told them we just kissed. I would never discuss anything we do with anyone. Well except kissing.”

  “Will I was just teasing you. Look I like you and like being with you, but you are not boyfriend material. I want an older more mature man in my life. Besides you might end up to be a wimp like your dad.”

  “Well I….”

  “Hold on, I’m still talking. I also want to say that you have been a gentleman. Any other boy would have tried to feel me up while we were lying on the rocks.”

  “So I should have grabbed a feel, and you would like me more.”

  “No, I would have broken your fingers.”

  “You are crazy. Do you have any idea what you really want?”

  “Hey, before you drop me off. The person dressed in black that I saw sneaking into the house had an AR on her shoulder and a mask over her face. I saw her silhouetted by the porch light. Looked more like a Ninja warrior than a grandma to me.”

  Will drove off mad, dazed, and confused. His heart was broken.

  The fence was up, and the guard shack and gate were complete. Now the crew switched to building the wall by driving steel poles and roadside barrier metal into the ground and then bolting more metal barrier to the uprights. The wall would be six feet high and a thousand yards long. The wall was fifty feet south of the fence, had one emergency opening on the east side, and would have a chute up to the guardhouse and gate at the road. Two guard towers were placed about 250 yards from the riverbank on each side of the Horseshoe.

  There were two crews working from the opposite riverbanks pounding steel uprights into the soft earth and two more bolting on the barrier rails. The work progressed quickly, and by noon, over three hundred total feet of the wall had been installed.

  Will’s team took a thirty-minute break for lunch, and he drove the ATV over to the gate to have lunch with his Papaw. He drove up to the gate and saw Izzie instructing Maddie and several other young adults. Izzie saw Will and waved at him. Izzie said, “It must be lunch time. Be back in thirty minutes.”

  Maddie walked over to where Will was sitting and joined him. Bob saw Maddie sit down beside Will and quietly went over to eat with Jack and the crew. Maddie and Will ate their sandwiches without speaking for several minutes.

  “Will, I’m going to try to get Jane to talk Bob into sending out a scavenging team to find some women’s clothes and hygiene products. You men don’t want to have stinky women in the camp. We also need to stock up on TP. I’ll be dammed if I’m using a corn cob or leaves.”

  “Why should I care if you stink? I’m not your type.”

  “Will I didn’t want to hurt your feelings. I like you and want you as my friend. I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

  “Look, I like you also and that hurt. I guess I like you more than you like me. I’ll be your friend and move on to find a girlfriend.

  Back to what you said, as much as Grampa and I talked about an upcoming apocalypse, I never thought about feminine hygiene or toilet paper. I guess it’s easy to take that stuff for granted.”

  “I guess it’s easy to forget until you get Poison Ivy on your balls or your period starts. Men think about food, beer, guns, and ammunition.”

  “Don’t forget beautiful girls named Maddie,” replied Will as he said goodbye and went back to work.

  Will’s face was red, and he hurt down deep. He had fallen for Maddie, and she only wanted a friend.

  The crew worked until the sun was hiding behind the trees that evening and Will was dead tired when he drove up in the ATV to pick Maddie and Bob up.

  Bob climbed into the back seat and said, “Maddie, do you know where I can find a slightly older edition of you. It gets lonely, and I think I’m getting jealous of Will.”

  “I’m surprised that you and Jane haven’t hooked up. She’s witty, charming, and beautiful. You two would make a great couple.”

  “Funny that you should say that. I asked her if she was interested in seeing me the other day and she didn’t say no, but neither did she say yes. We like each other, and I have been interested in her for a while, but she doesn't seem to care much for me.”

  Bob sniffed under his armpit and added, “Perhaps a bath every now and then would change her mind.”

  “Bob that would be a great start. You might also take her for a walk to the swimming hole. I understand it’s a very romantic place to court a lady. The sun going down is beautiful.”

  “I’ll give that a try. I think at times I need to be a bit more romantic and not so much of a tease.”

  “Yes on the romance but I find the teasing to be very attractive. If I were a couple of years older, I’d dump Will’s ass and let you chase me until I caught you.

  I just had a thought. I saw you talking with Mary this morning when she brought water around. You need to have Jane see you flirting with her. That will get her motor started.”

  “I’m not good at the romance game.”

  “Practice. I’ll give you some tips.”

  Will walked with Maddie to the trailer and said, “You said that you’d dump me for Papaw.”

  “I was just kidding.”

  “What I’m getting at is to dump me we have to be going together.”

  “Boys sure are dumb. I was just joking.”

  “I was going to ask you to be my girlfriend tonight.”

  “Well, I’m sorry. I want to be your friend, just not a steady girlfriend.”

  Jo fed Jake but held supper until everyone came home from the hospital and work crews. Even Bill was dead on his feet from tending to patients with everything from a broken wrist to sunburns. There wasn’t much conversation going around the table when Maddie said, “That widow woman, Mary, is real nice. She brought fresh water around three times today.

  Will, she kinda hung around your Papaw a lot. Bob, you’d better watch out. I think she has designs on you.”

  Will caught on and added, “Papaw, a man once told me to be carefu
l not to do anything that couldn’t be undone. That’s probably good advice for you also. Yep, she was making eyes at Papaw.”

  Bob smiled and replied, “I’m not saying she flirts with me, but I’m invited to her house for dinner on Sunday after church. Anything else is nun ya biznez.”

  Will kept an eye on his Grandma, and she definitely reacted to the story. Her face turned red, and she started fidgeting with her meal.

  Maddie caught Jane after supper and Maddie said, “Jane, we need to set up a scavenging trip to focus on women’s clothes, feminine hygiene products, and toilet paper. We need to find some of the same for the men. Bob’s interest in Mary reminded me that Will needs some aftershave or cologne.”

  Jane responded, “I’ve been thinking the same thing. I’ll get permission from Bob and Jack. Don’t worry about Romeo Bob. I’ll pick something out just for him.”

  “You do that, but I wouldn’t wait until Mary shares her dessert with him after dinner.”

  Maddie almost choked when Jane replied.

  “I get your meaning, and Bob’s only getting dessert at my kitchen table,” Jane said as she walked to the back porch where Bob was sitting.

  Jane joined Bob and soon had a glass of whiskey in her hand. They were laughing and swapping stories when Maddie and Will walked out to the gazebo by the garden and watched the moonrise.

  “Will, what do you think happened?”

  “I don’t know. Perhaps the Iranians set off some EMP blasts above the USA. We might never know. I just hope we don’t get invaded by another country like Russia or China. It’s been five days, and we haven’t seen a single airplane. I can’t believe any country destroyed our entire military and government.”

  “It’s like a science fiction movie where everyone in the government just disappeared,” replied Maddie.

  “I asked Papaw, and he said that he has two working radios and he isn’t getting anything from the emergency channels. He said the short wave has several people talking every day, but they are just surviving like us and haven’t heard from the government either.”