“Why did you shoot at us?” Harper sidestepped left toward the edge and yelled, “Clear to get Josh!”
“Aww, hell,” said the man. “Everyone’s always tryin’ ta steal my shit. I foun’ this place. ’Tis mine. And yer boy there pointed his rifle my way. Should I have waited for him to fire first?”
“We’re not looters. We wouldn’t have attacked you to take your things. You ever hear of talking first?”
“Talkin’s how ya get dead real easy. People lie a lot these days.”
Roy and Marcie sprinted to Josh and dragged him behind the truck cab.
“Well, I’m not lying to you. If this Safeway is yours, we’re not going to attack you to take anything. We’re from Evergreen, just looking for food to survive.” Her entire body trembled from vast amounts of adrenaline in her system. She stared at his hands, begging the universe that he wouldn’t go for a weapon. The instant he reached under that poncho, she’d fire. “Since this is your place, we’ll leave in peace, okay? You don’t fire at us anymore, we don’t shoot you.”
“Not sure if I believe ya. Ya seem seven shades o’ terrified, sweetie.”
“I’m not scared. I’m shaking because I’m expecting you go for a handgun or something and forcing me to shoot you in the face. I really don’t want to.”
The man smiled, revealing a brutal row of yellow-brown teeth. “Can’t say I fancy being shot in the face either, so we got that in common.”
“Harp? What’s going on?” yelled Marcie.
“Having a chat with…” she shouted, then lowered her voice back to normal. “What’s your name?”
“Lonnie Blanchard.”
“Lonnie,” shouted Harper.
“Shoot the son of a bitch,” rasped Josh.
“We don’t kill people to take their stuff. This guy claimed the Safeway already.” A tremor started in Harper’s left arm from squeezing the shotgun too tight. She relaxed the grip a little. “Right?”
“He attacked us!” shouted Josh.
“He says he only fired because you aimed at him,” yelled Harper.
“Son of a…” Josh gasped. “He’d already pointed his rifle at me!”
“All right, who attacked who is a bit of a grey area,” said Deacon.
“Are you the only one in Idaho Springs?” Harper kept her attention on the old guy’s hands, twitching when he rubbed a finger under his nose.
“Reckon I am. Or was. You all are here now.”
This guy has the entire supermarket to himself. Though that didn’t seem at all fair while people in Evergreen struggled, she couldn’t murder a guy for food when they still had options to search other places. He could probably last a good long time on the canned goods, being alone. Assuming he lived long enough to eat all of it.
“It’s probably lonely. That’s an awful lot of food for just one person. Why don’t you come with us back to Evergreen instead of staying here alone?”
“Why should I leave? Got plenty of food here. Everything I need.”
“Do you? Cans will run out eventually. What about water? Even someone to talk to? What if a group of thugs finds you when you’re sleeping? We’ve got a farm. Going to have food that lasts a long time.”
“Then what do ya need mine for if’n ya got a fancy ol’ farm?”
“I’m not hearing any gunshots!” rasped Josh.
“Because I’m not gonna murder an old man,” yelled Harper before saying, “Our farm is too new to produce food yet. It’s a couple months short. We need something to keep us going until then.”
“He freakin’ shot me! Ow!”
“Stop squirming until I get this bandage set up,” said Roy. “It’s a through-and-through. Missed the bone at least.”
Harper’s arms grew tired. “Lift up the poncho a sec? You got any guns under there?”
“Aye.” He peeled the plastic garment up, revealing a large revolver on his hip.
“Can we call a truce here? Will you promise not to shoot me?”
Lonnie ran a hand over his head, pushing his hood back and scratching his greasy hair. “I ain’t wanna shoot no kid. Why don’t you relax?”
For the first time in her life after turning sixteen, Harper didn’t mind someone calling her a kid. “If I believe you won’t shoot me, I’ll relax.”
“You’ve killed already, haven’t ya. Can see it in your eyes.”
“I don’t like kidnappers.”
Lonnie laughed into a cough. “You’re an interesting mix, sweetie. Cute and deadly.”
“I’m only deadly when cornered. I hate having to shoot people. Even people who laugh at hurting others.”
“I figured you was thieves.”
“So you just shot Josh? Before we even said one word?”
“He pointed a high-power rifle at me. Only real threat. Had to neutralize him first. Gave him a nice little wound to disable, not hittin’ the femoral or smashin’ the bone. Two handguns, submachine gun, and a kid with a shotgun can’t get me up here.”
Harper fidgeted. “Kid with a shotgun did get you up here.”
“You ain’t shot me, right?” He grinned the ruin of his teeth at her again. “I was right. Y’aint a threat. And, I believe you ain’t thieves. Thieves would’a shot me already, even a kid. You really gonna leave my shit alone if I ask ya to?”
“Yeah. My little sisters… all the kids in town are wasting away slowly. Lori’s like forty pounds.”
Lonnie glanced off to the side, grumbling. “Tryin’ the guilt now, eh?”
“There could be enough food in this place to keep us from getting sick. But we’re not going to steal it.” She lowered the shotgun. “I probably should tell you to toss your weapons aside so you don’t shoot me while I leave, but I believe you really don’t want to shoot a kid.”
“I don’t, but yer too trusting. Someone not like me would pop you in the back as soon as you looked away.” Lonnie gestured at the wall. “Tell ya what. You convince yer friends what we had was a misunderstandin’, and you’re welcome to the store. Maybe I’ll take ya up on that offer o’ movin. Does git kinda lonely here.”
Harper’s heart swelled with hope. “Oh, thank you! Hang on.” She approached the roof edge, still keeping half an eye on Lonnie. “Guys… he says we’re welcome to the food if he can come back with us and live in Evergreen.”
Josh cursed up a storm.
“The boy sounds upset,” said Lonnie.
She raised an eyebrow at him. “You did shoot him. That would upset most people.”
“You make a fine point.” He emitted a wheezy chuckle.
“He willing to come down here and talk?” called Roy.
Lonnie nodded.
“Yeah. He is.” Harper picked up the rifle he’d been using, a bolt action 5.56 with a battleship-grey housing made of plastic. She stared into his eyes for a moment. Trusting her gut, she handed the weapon back to him. “Is there an easier way down than climbing the wall?”
“Heh. Yeah. Stairs, right over here.” Lonnie ambled off toward a small structure beside the HVAC machine, carrying the rifle at his side.
Kooky old man. One minute he’s laughing and shooting at us, now he’s like the weird old friendly grandpa.
She followed him down the stairs to a deserted supermarket with an eye-wateringly horrendous stench in the air. The mixture of rotting seafood and meat forced her to breathe in tiny sips. That’s one way to fix starving. I won’t be able to think about food again without throwing up. Gah.
Lonnie shoved a barricade of magazine racks out of the way of the front door, revealing Roy, Marcie, and Deacon right outside the sliding glass door, which Lonnie unlocked. The old guy struggled to pull it open, so Deacon put one hand on it and pushed, moving it aside.
“Whoa, dear. You’s a big’un.” Lonnie blinked up at him.
“Damn, it’s ripe in there.” Deacon waved back and forth past his face. “I can see why the guy wants to leave.”
“Roy Ellis, former Denver PD.” He offered a handshake.
“Lonnie Blanchard, former just about everything except doctor, lawyer, and dentist. Course, now I s’pose all that matters is USMC sniper, ’78 to ’88.”
“Semper Fi.” Roy fist-bumped him. “2009 to 2015.”
“So, the little lady here tells me ya got a bunch of starvin’ kids.”
“Well, starving is maybe a little strong, but it’s not too far off the mark.” Roy nodded. “Things are lookin’ real lean at the moment.”
“Heck is that damn smell?” asked Marcie.
“Seafood aisle’s a bit past the expiration date,” said Lonnie. “I tried tossin’ it, but the fish has become liquid.”
Everyone made discomfited noises.
Harper stepped outside for fresh air. Roy and Lonnie got into an easy conversation about their respective time in the Marines. Eventually, he got the nod. Harper figured Roy wanted to feel the guy out to measure the crazy before agreeing with her suggestion to invite him back to Evergreen, and he passed.
They spent the next hour rapidly wheeling shopping carts of canned goods out to the trailer. Josh lay in the sleeper cab, his leg wrapped in a field dressing. Roy checked on him every few minutes, but seemed satisfied with his condition that he didn’t demand they cut things short and rush him back to the doctor’s.
Once every bit of usable space in the trailer and cab had been packed full of cans, boxed pasta, flour, crackers, usable dry goods, soap, toothpaste, and coffee, Rafael pulled back onto the road. No one mentioned ‘looter’s privilege,’ content to let all the food go into the pool for the town. The Safeway had more than could fit in one trailer load. Being that only a half hour ride separated the spot from Evergreen, everyone planned to return for more after they unloaded. Everyone except Josh of course.
Harper leaned back against the wall in the sleeper cab, eyes closed, and tried to decompress from the OMG factor of rushing at a sniper’s nest. The carefree life she’d never really appreciated had been pulled out from under her like a tablecloth magic trick… only all the dishes had smashed on the floor.
But… things could be far worse. Her present situation didn’t seem all that bad. She could make Evergreen work. She had to. For Madison, for Jonathan and Lorelei… and for herself.
She bowed her head. I’m doing it, Dad. Whatever it takes to keep Maddie safe.
25
Dinner Guest
Harper accompanied them on two more runs to the Safeway in Idaho Springs, clearing the place out of everything remotely useful—even the paperback novels on endcaps.
That night, she and her family ate a big spaghetti dinner complete with jar sauce, enough that everyone moaned and grabbed their bellies afterward. By Monday afternoon, Liz and her team had finished cataloguing the haul and upped the food distribution back to ‘normal’ levels. While eating to stuffed every night wouldn’t happen, they’d have enough food not to be constantly hungry, at least until the farm kicked in.
Josh would limp for a while, and required a blood transfusion, which the doctors had to do live from a donor once they found someone compatible. Lonnie donated his rifle as well as a box containing 538 rounds of 5.56 ammo to the militia as a show of trust, declining to join due to his age.
Monday, Harper had an uneventful patrol until the school let out, then walked her siblings plus Becca and Mila back to the house. The ‘creepy girl’ continued to maintain her weird attitude, but stopped saying overly morbid things and appeared to be gradually opening up, allowing others close.
The kids spent most of the afternoon playing in the yard. Between the children laughing and the peace of mind that came with knowing her name had gone back to the bottom of the list for scavenging, Harper felt genuinely happy for the first time since the skies burned. A note of sorrow still tainted everything about life, as she’d never forget losing her parents, friends, and the security that modern society offered. But no amount of being angry or glum about it would undo the effects of idiots pushing ‘the button.’
Harper left the kids playing in the yard and headed to the quartermaster’s to collect the supplemental ration assignment they’d been giving out. Upon returning home, she packed away the cans and boxes, as well as another loaf of bread. Bobby had put together a big wood-burning oven in his backyard, and had become the town’s primary source of baked goods. Considering they’d brought in roughly half a tractor-trailer of flour, people would have bread for a while.
Within the next few months, there would also be vegetables from the farm. Naturally, Madison didn’t much like the idea of cows and chickens being raised for food. Milk and cheese didn’t bug her, just meat that required killing the animal. However, when informed about the venison community meal tonight, she’d only offered a glum ‘that sucks but okay’ stare.
Harper hadn’t quite decided if she should feel guilty for encouraging her to eat meat or grateful she’d accepted it a harsh necessity of the world they’d found themselves in. She considered talking about how these animals weren’t being raised on cruel mass-production farms that kept chickens in tiny cages or whatever, but her sister mostly objected to the killing. The cruelty merely iced the cake.
She really would rather choke down that horrible oat flake cereal than have a hamburger. Well, the farm should let her stay vegetarian if she wants to.
All the children’s giggling turned to screaming in an instant.
The back door blasted open; Becca sprinted inside, shrieking. She ran up to Harper, babbling and pointing at the back door, too freaked out to form words.
Harper started to run outside, but stopped short with one foot on the little concrete porch.
A black bear meandered around the middle of the yard, about six feet away from Madison, who struggled at the base of a tree, trying to climb but unable to pull herself up. Jonathan clung to the branches about twenty feet off the ground. Mila had vanished entirely.
Lorelei stood next to Madison, smiling, no trace of fear in her at all. “Hi, Mr. Bear.”
Madison grunted and hurled herself at the tree trunk, but kept sliding down.
“Don’t run! It’ll chase you,” yelled Jonathan.
The bear shifted to the right, disregarding the two girls at the bottom of the tree, sniffing toward the burn barrel that held the scrapings from lunch, breakfast, and last night’s dinner.
“Shoo,” whispered Harper. “Bear. Shoo.” What the hell am I doing? She dashed into the house, grabbed the Mossberg from the dining room table, and ran back to the yard.
Lorelei walked toward the bear, raising her hand as if to pet it. “Mr. Bear, you’re so fuzzy!”
The bear’s attention went from the barrel to Lorelei.
Madison gave up on climbing and spun to put her back to the tree, hyperventilating in panic.
“Lori! Get back!” shouted Harper.
The bear flinched, jumping to the side before swiveling to face Harper.
“Aww… bear?” asked Lorelei with a sad expression. “He’s fuzzy and cute. I wanna hug him.”
“He’ll eat your face,” yelled Jonathan.
“Back!” shouted Harper. She didn’t bother pointing the shotgun at it, since a bear wouldn’t understand the threat. But if it moved toward either child, she’d empty the weapon into it as fast as she could pull the trigger.
The bear edged away from her, appearing startled at her yelling.
Harper yelled, “Back!” again.
The bear flinched. She yelled random nonsense at it, merely attempting to be loud. A moment later, the bear bounded off to the rear corner of the yard.
“C’mon into the house,” whispered Harper. “Move slow.”
Madison stared at the bear, her whole body shaking.
“Bye, Mr. Bear.” Lorelei waved at it and walked to the back door.
Harper pulled the child behind her. “Where’d Mila go?”
“Up here,” said Mila from directly above her. “On the roof. Bears don’t climb houses, but they can climb trees.”
“Now you say that?” ask
ed Jonathan.
The bear turned back, briefly sniffing at the air, but lost interest in the burn barrel and climbed over the fence out of sight.
“Aww… bear.” Lorelei waved at the fence. “Bye.”
Madison sank to sit on the ground at the base of the tree, shaking. Jonathan slid down, moving from branch to branch with ease.
“What the hell…” Harper huffed all the air out of her lungs and sank to sit on the edge of the concrete slab, head down, shotgun across her lap.
“Why didn’t you climb?” asked Jonathan.
“I never climbed a tree before,” replied Madison in a quivering voice.
“Never? Wow. Seriously?”
“There’s no trees in Starbucks,” said Harper.
The sound of a raspberry came from Madison’s direction.
“I gotta teach you how to climb a tree. What kind of kid can’t climb trees?”
“The kind who doesn’t want to break their arms,” said Mila from the roof.
“Get down from there,” muttered Harper.
“Okay.”
“C’mon,” said Jonathan. “Hey didn’t you take gymnastics? Climbing a tree ought to be easy for you.”
Madison looked up at him. “There’s no trees in gymnastics either.”
He tugged her to her feet. “Okay, I’ll show you how to do it.”
“That was a bear.” Madison grabbed two fistfuls of his shirt at his neck. “That was a bear. I wanna go inside for a while in case it comes back.”
“Why did Mr. Bear leave?” Lorelei tilted her head. “He’s fuzzy. I wanted to hug him.”
Harper stood, ushered all the kids inside, then closed the door. “We don’t hug real bears.”
“Why?” Lorelei gazed up at her.
“Because bears are afraid of people, and when people get too close, they bite them.” Harper set the shotgun on the kitchen counter, then picked her up. “Hug me instead.”
“Okay,” chirped Lorelei, clinging.
“Becca?” called Harper.
“In here,” said a small voice under the sofa. “I’m okay.”
The World That Remains (Evergreen Book 2) Page 25