Nomad Omnibus 01_A Kurtherian Gambit Series

by Craig Martelle

  “Indeed we have. I hope you all don’t mind sleeping in beds and by all that’s holy, we need to get you some real clothes. And you know what?” she asked them, keeping them off balance, “These people who helped put this together are going to establish a restaurant. When’s the last time you went to a restaurant?” Char asked the pack.

  The pack looked relieved, sighing with content.

  “Clyde!” Terry yelled. The big coonhound stopped barked, but showed his teeth and growled, hackles up as he stared at the Werewolves. “Here, boy.”

  “Real clothes,” Sue said dreamily. With the acceptance of their new alpha, the attitudes changed, old grievances forgotten, and a new future was promising. The alpha set the tone, and Char wanted to keep the pack happy by showing them glimpses of a civilization that they used to know. “And a dance club!”

  Char chuckled. “Not quite yet, but that would be nice, wouldn’t it? Come on, let’s introduce you to the mayor.”

  ***

  Billy was watching from the side as Terry and Char ran from the stage and headed down the street. He handed Marcie to Felicity and dashed inside and up the stairs. From his bedroom window he watched as seven people dressed in little better than rags walked toward his house. Terry and Char intercepted them, and there was some posturing.

  Billy judged the newcomers to be dangerous. They didn’t walk like refugees. They walked like Terry and Char walked, confident and proud.

  A man in the lead confronted Terry. After a brief period of time where the two were face to face, Terry lifted the man and slammed him into the ground. The impact must have been intense, judging from the amount of dust kicked up. Then Char picked the man up and threw him bodily into the newcomers.

  More posturing and finally, the group came together and seemed genuinely happy to talk with Terry and Char, with back-slaps and handshakes.

  “I can’t wait to hear what the fuck just happened,” Billy said, then looked around quickly for Felicity, relieved at not having to apologize for swearing.

  He raced back downstairs to join the party, finding Felicity and Claire directing people through the food line, while simultaneously talking about food preparation.

  Felicity is trying to learn how to cook! Billy thought happily, while watching for the newcomers to arrive.

  ***

  Terry and Char walked in front, hand in hand, as Sue and Shonna told her how wonderful she looked in her wedding dress. Char beamed. Wonderful and badass. Terry grinned at her while casting wary glances over his shoulder. Timmons was healing, but he was still in a great deal of pain. The other men were helping him, but none would look at Terry.

  It was bad form to make eye contact with the alpha during the challenge phase of pack leadership, or so Terry thought. He was good with that. After all, it was his wedding day too, and he hoped to be done with confrontation.

  “I never liked Star Wars!” he repeated her earlier statement as they walked, dismissing the pack from his thoughts.

  “I thought you’d appreciate that, but really, at the altar, you’re thinking about sex?” Char replied.

  “After twenty-two years of monk-like adherence to abstinence, and then fireworks with you… Yeah, I think about sex a lot,” Terry said, nodding.

  “I told you how much of life you were missing out on, but no, Terry Henry Walton is always right. Me. Big man. Me. Always right. Get me a beer, woman!” Char said, trying to sound like a caveman.

  “I resemble that remark!”

  The noise of the crowd greeted them, then lessened to silence as the people of New Boulder saw the newcomers, who looked like refugees yet not. They were beautiful people, four men and three women, dressed in rags.

  Terry jumped onto the stage, an ill-advised maneuver as the stage swayed and finally caved in. Terry hit the ground and rolled, coming back to his feet as if he meant to do that.

  “Listen up. Some new refugees just arrived and we want you to welcome them as you welcomed us!” Terry bellowed, then introduced them one by one with their professions. The engineer made a beeline for them, angling to talk with Timmons and Shonna. Billy tried to get to them as well, to formally welcome them.

  He wanted to get a closer look at the stunning women.

  Felicity worked her way to the front of the crowd because she wanted to get a closer look at the stunning men.

  When they arrived at the front of the crowd from two different directions, they ran into each other. “Really?” they said simultaneously, then laughed, shaking their heads. Billy held out an arm, which Felicity took while balancing the baby in the other.

  Char introduced the mayor and his wife as equal partners who made sure the city ran flawlessly. The pack seemed disinterested in political power. But Billy wanted to know more about Sue’s background and if she could help him get his notes and paperwork under control. Felicity remained attached at his side for the entirety of the conversation, then offered to find the seven new people clothes that would be more fitting.

  The She-Wolves tried to stay in the shadows, newly embarrassed at how they looked.

  They shouldn’t have been. None of the men at the reception saw anything out of place. Everyone was cordial as Terry and Char led the pack to the end of the line, despite the townsfolk offering to put them at the front.

  Terry could never eat before the people.

  Real leaders eat last.

  Billy and Felicity joined them. Terry’s stomach growled again. Clyde barked, still unsure of the newcomers. Char kneeled down and spoke quietly to Clyde.

  “The dog whisperer,” Terry told Billy. That term had no context for him, but he understood what Terry was getting at. When Char stood, Clyde’s tail wagged and he panted happily.

  “Pet him,” she ordered the pack. They looked at her strangely. Billy and Felicity noticed the change in her voice when she talked to them.

  More questions for later, Billy thought.

  One by one, they reached down and ran a hand down Clyde’s back. Sue took the time to ruffle his ears, too. He wagged his tail furiously and tried to lick her, but she stopped him. “No licking, my wonderful little man!” she told the dog.

  “He’s not…?” Timmons started to ask, trying to be cryptic while in the midst of humans.

  “No. He’s just a dog, but he’s our dog and we love him,” she said matter-of-factly. “We can’t have him constantly barking at you, so we’re all in the same pack here. Clyde’s pack.”

  They made small talk with the guests as the line wound its way through the area. When they were getting close to the front, Felicity showed up with an armload of clothing. “Let’s get you dressed,” she drawled, looking at the men. “Be a dear, TH, and keep their place in line. We’ll be right back, unless we’re not.”

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  Billy held Marcie in his arms, standing on the top step of the three that led to the back door. He propped the door open against his back as he made to follow Felicity and the newcomers into their house. They showed the women into the same room that Char had used to change.

  The men, Billy, and Felicity waited in the hallway.

  “Where did you come from?” Billy asked.

  “Most recently? From Cancun, actually,” Ted replied.

  “Cancun? Where the hell is that?”

  “The Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. The place is still functioning—power, water, food. It’s civilized. They even had music, but most of it was mariachi,” Sue added.

  “It sounds far away. But they’re still functioning? How have they done that?” Billy asked, wondering if they could merge their efforts.

  “It’s thousands of miles from here. We almost didn’t make it out of Mexico because the heat is so bad this year. But we did, made it back into the mountains where it’s cooler, where there’s game and other food,” Timmons said, gingerly holding his chest.

  “You were the one that TH body-slammed? What was that all about?” Billy asked pointedly.

  “That’s none of your fucking bus
iness.” Timmons growled, looming over Billy, leaning close and trying to intimidate the smaller man. Although the Werewolf was hurt, he could still snap Billy like a twig.

  Billy could feel the heat radiating from the bigger man. Billy knew the man was a Werewolf. He knew they were all Werewolves, and his safest course of action was to ask Terry and Char, not anyone from this group.

  “I am sorry,” Billy apologized. “Look, they’re done. If you would be so kind as to get dressed, we’d like to rejoin the party. How about that? Char and Terry married and the whole town turns out to see it!” Billy said, forcing a smile as he tried to calmly back away from Timmons.

  The Werewolf shrugged, looked appreciatively at the She-Wolves, and then headed into the room where a stack of clothes lay on the bed.

  Shonna, Sue, and Xandrie looked much better. They’d also availed themselves of the makeup that Felicity had left on the dressing table. The dark blue eye shadow seemed to be a favorite as all three of the beautiful women had applied dark blue closest to their eyes shading it a lighter blue higher up. The black eyeliner made the yellow in their eyes striking. Billy caught himself staring. He shook it off and excused himself, handing Marcie to Felicity who was oohing and ahhing with the She-Wolves.

  Billy stopped at the end of the hallway when the door opened. The men emerged and the clothes were a combination of some pieces too tight while others were too big, but they looked less like refugees from the Wasteland.

  “Back to the party, shall we?” Billy called. He saw how Felicity fit in with the beautiful people far better than with him. There were four males and three females. He walked sullenly through the kitchen and held the door for the pack to pass. Billy stopped Felicity and shut the door after the others had gone outside.

  “I know that I’m not much compared to people like that, but I love you, Felicity, and I will fight for you,” Billy pleaded.

  “Why, Billy Spires, look at you!” Felicity drawled, looking up at her husband. “I’m not going anywhere, and definitely not with any of them. Did you get a whiff of that? My, oh my. They need dunked in the trough every bit as much as that dog, Clyde!”

  She leaned to the side with Marcie squashed between them as she gave Billy a long kiss that promised more once the guests were gone.

  Billy was more relieved than he let on. “Why yes, Felicity, I am the cat’s meow. I don’t know what I was thinking. Let’s rejoin our guests before they forget who we are.”

  ***

  Terry and Char were mingling as they edged closer to the front of the line. Terry let any people going through a second time ahead of them as they waited for the pack to return. His stomach growled constantly.

  Char hugged him and chuckled. “I know, poor baby is starving. Beating up people takes so much energy. Soon, lover, soon.”

  Terry rolled his eyes as the pack emerged from the mayor’s house, looking very much human. The crowd parted as they made a beeline for Terry and Char. The pack didn’t acknowledge any of the guests as they walked by.

  Char stopped them by holding her hand out like a traffic cop. “I would appreciate it if you made nice with the good people of New Boulder.” The pack apologized and immediately started smiling and greeting people as they slowed and casually worked their way into line. Terry showed them to the table first.

  They filled a plate full of fresh food, vegetables and such, and a second plate with meat. Terry had forgotten how much Werewolves were capable of eating. Timmons looked back and smiled as he took the last of the ham, which was the last of all the meat.

  Char almost ordered him to put it back, but Claire magically appeared carrying two steaks that looked like pot roasts. She’d been holding them back, ready to cook them on an outside fire when the time was right. Char smiled at Timmons and shooed him away from the table.

  Claire also delivered a cooked bone for Clyde, who took it and ran under the food table so he could gnaw on it in peace.

  Claire even had a cake, a small one, made especially for the newlyweds.

  Terry and Char joined the pack at a table that had suddenly cleared of people. The seven newcomers ate like they were starving. Char tapped a fork on the table to get their attention. “Manners, please. When’s the last time you ate at a table?”

  “Cancun,” Sue answered, straightening up to eat without shoveling.

  “Cancun? I’m looking forward to hearing about that, but for now, let’s enjoy our meals like good little humans,” she said in a low voice, meant only for their ears.

  Terry snickered as he cut far too large pieces from his steak and stuffed them into his mouth, chewing slowly.

  Leave it to Claire to give them the choicest cut from the fatted calf. He never asked for it, didn’t think he deserved it, but he appreciated it.

  Terry stood up and ran to the old woman, picking her up in a hug and spinning her around in a circle. He put her down and hurried back to his steak before either Clyde or Timmons could get it.

  “Eat, my pretties, because tonight, we’ll be working our asses off and I really don’t care how far you’ve run today. There’s work to be done, and you are going to help us do it,” Char told them.

  “After being able to eat like this? I’m good with anything,” Adams said. Ted nodded in agreement, while watching Clyde break his bone apart.

  The others nodded. Both Terry and Char watched the group dynamic intensely. Terry had never been associated with a pack, he didn’t know how they would act, but they seemed to have all fallen in line. Although Timmons was trying to pee a little higher on the fencepost than the others, he was appropriately cowed.

  Terry locked eyes with Timmons, but the Werewolf looked away first. He ate without comment. Terry had eaten a great deal, but had almost half his steak remaining. He sliced off a hunk and slapped it onto Timmons’s plate once it was empty.

  The beta looked at him questioningly, but then accepted it with a nod and dug in.

  “Steak…” he said, savoring his first bite. “I can’t remember the last steak I ate.”

  “We have cattle and buffalo here. I think you’ll be good for a treat every now and then, but we count on deer and elk for the majority of our meat. And of late, bear, too.”

  Meat that they didn’t have to hunt and kill themselves. They liked the hunting, but not day in, day out. That was surviving, not living.

  “What’s the work that you need us for?” Merrit asked.

  “The power plant is running hot. The engineer needs to take it offline, pull the generator apart to service the turbine, the brushes, all of it. We’ll need to check and clean some valves and piping. And then we need to bring it back online in short order because it powers all the freezers and even a few water pumps. We need all of that running because we can’t afford to lose the stuff we’ve stocked for winter.”

  “The Ants and the Grasshopper,” Shonna said, staring into space after devouring everything she’d taken, leaving not a speck on either plate. “Natural gas fired, boilers, ten thousand rpm turbine, something like that?”

  “Something like that,” Terry answered. He couldn’t remember if the engineer had told him how fast the turbine spun.

  The crowd moved away from Terry, Char, and the pack. A few tables were relocated to the side. Out of sight down the road, Terry heard the unmistakable command.

  “Platoon, A-ten-HUT!” A short delay. “Ri—ght Face! For—ward, ‘arch!” Mark called a couple steps of cadence as he marched the platoon down the road toward the gathering. The townsfolk watched with wide eyes as the group marched in lock-step. They halted smartly in the road and faced left.

  “Hand, salute!” Mark called. The group snapped their fingertips to their eyebrows. Terry jumped to his feet, knocking his chair over. Char was not far behind. She felt stupid standing barefoot at attention in a cocktail-length wedding dress. They both saluted the platoon.

  Terry called the command in a whisper, “Ready, Two.” They dropped their salutes at the same time. The pack watched, wondering. Ted h
ad served in the United States Navy a long time ago. That was where he first learned about nuclear power. He appreciated the crisp actions of a well-drilled military.

  Mark bellowed the command, “Or—der, arms!” The platoon snapped their arms to their sides. Mark turned the platoon and marched them toward the power plant.

  There was a minor scuffle near the food table.

  “Jezebel!” Claire called as she chased Clyde out of the vegetables. He ran off with green beans hanging out of his dog mouth.

  “Time to go,” Terry told them. They stood as a group, but Claire and Felicity had other ideas.

  “You need to cut the cake and throw the bouquet,” Felicity advised. Terry rolled his eyes, earning him a sunspot bright glare from both Felicity and Char. At least no one punched him.

  Not yet anyway.

  Terry smiled pleasantly as he followed Char to the food table where the younger Weathers’ kids were trying to block Clyde from helping himself to anything else.

  Margie Rose stood next to Claire, beaming with pride as the newlyweds did as they were supposed to. Tears ran down the old lady’s cheeks as she remembered how long it had been since the last real wedding. Too long. She wanted more of this, more celebration of life, a return to the normalcy of what they had before.

  Char stepped away from Terry to hug Margie Rose. The two whispered back and forth. She ended with, “Yes, Margie Rose, we’ll have children and you will be their grandmother.”

  They hadn’t talked specifically about kids, but if they came, Terry promised that he wouldn’t be absent this time. He sat down quickly. The memories filled his mind before he could hold them off.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

  “What the fuck do you mean, come with you?” Terry yelled at the man dressed in camouflage standing on the doorstep of Terry’s home. He hated it when people showed up uninvited.

  They’d lost power the previous day. He’d seen the missile trails crisscrossing the skies. He knew it was the end of days and didn’t want to leave his wife. Melissa stood behind him holding their daughter.