The Ranch

by Sean Liscom

“Jack is up to something and I can’t pin it down. It’s like he’s hell bent on going after the ARK and nothing else matters. Not his family, not the ranch, nothing! It’s like this incessant need, like an addiction. I can’t explain it!”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s like he’s convinced himself that he’s the only person on the planet that can stop them. He won’t back away from that either.”

  “Maybe he is. He’s been there, he knows how they work.”

  “Maybe, but I keep thinking about something your dad said earlier.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He said that this was personal for Jack. He said that Jack was the kind of guy that never left a mission unfinished and that’s why he has to go back there.”

  “What would make it so personal? Was it the mission or something else?”

  “That’s just it, I don’t know.”

  “And Jack didn’t give you any indication?”

  “No, he didn’t.”

  “Can I ask what you guys talked about?”

  “He said the ARK’s still have people out roaming around, all over the world. His grand plan is to expose them and destroy the biological weapons. He asked me again to come to the ARK with him.”

  “And?”

  “It’s not just that he wants me to come with him. He wants all of us to come down and move in. he wants us to abandon everything here. I told him no, again, but he said it was the only way he could keep all of us safe. Then he went off on this tangent about how bad things are going to be if we stay here. He said a darkness was coming.”

  “What’s that mean?”

  “I don’t know. He tied it to the notion that the elite and the ARK’s wouldn’t go down without a fight. The only thing I can think of is that once he’s completed his mission, they will lash out in an attempt the maintain control. That’s the only thing that makes any sense.”

  “He’s probably right. We’ve already seen it with the Coalition forces in the attack on the group that came up from Lund.”

  “I’m sure he’s right but he made it sound like the world was gonna end, again. He also told me that he walked away from the ranch in Fortuna because a lot of the people were falling in line with the new dictator and he didn’t want to be a part of that.”

  “He abandoned Fortuna?” she asked.

  “According to him, those that left did so on a volunteer basis. Nobody was forced into a decision. What I don’t get is that he sat here and talked about defeating the evils of the world, yet he walked away from a two-bit dictator in Costa Rica. Does that make sense to you?”

  “Jason?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Do Kari and Isabella know why they left Fortuna?”

  “He said he told them.... No, wait. He said he asked them if they wanted to come here.... Honestly, I don’t know if he told them why they left or not. Why?”

  “You might want to ask them today. They sat at the table, talking about how much they missed their home and couldn’t wait to get back. I don’t think he told them the real reason they left.”

  “Shit,” I muttered under my breath. “That’s why he hasn’t told them about staying here when he goes for the ARK.”

  “They’re staying here?”

  “He didn’t want to leave them in Costa Rica because it wasn’t safe, and he only came here to make sure it was. He doesn’t want to take them when he makes his assault on the ARK.”

  “But he sat there and said that they might have been safer had they stayed behind. Remember?” she asked.

  “He did, didn’t he? That’s two lies I’ve caught him in now!”

  “Two? What was the first one?”

  “The zip drive that Paul told me Jack had sent him the day of the EMP. I asked him about it, and he said it was just dumb luck that Paul was outside that night,” I explained.

  “Maybe he really didn’t know and maybe he didn’t tell the girls because he was afraid they wouldn’t come with him.”

  “I don’t know what to think anymore, babe. If he was lying about it, why. How do I know if he’s being honest or yanking my chain?”

  “I don’t know, hon.”

  “See why I’m so frustrated? He’s been talking about things that don’t matter and dodging the questions that do. The guy is slicker than pig snot when it comes to diversion and redirection. I can’t keep up with him!”

  “Maybe you should quit trying,” she offered. “You’re trying to beat him at his own game. A game he’s been playing for 40 years. Step back a little.”

  “I gotta figure out what he’s up to! He can’t just show up here and run the show! He has no idea what we’ve been up to or what we’ve been through!”

  “Jason, let it go. He’s going to do whatever it is he’s going to do. I don’t think he would do anything to hurt any of us or compromise this ranch. You can’t read his mind and certainly can’t change it.”

  “I know, but what if he goes and gets himself killed?”

  “Can you stop him? Outside of physically restraining him, can you stop him?” she asked.

  “No,” I replied grudgingly.

  “Then stop over-thinking it, stop trying to outsmart him and let him do whatever it is he needs to do. He’s a grown man and he’s lived a long time in a business where very few old men exist.”

  “I know….”

  “Jason, I know he’s your father and I know that makes this 10 times harder than it has to be,” she put her arm around my shoulders. “He wouldn’t leave his daughters here if he was going to do anything to endanger the ranch. He was looking for somewhere safe and he found it here. That tells me he trusts you and Braden far more than he will ever say.”

  “That’s the problem though. I’m not even sure he is my father.”

  “What?”

  “Just before he walked away, he told me the man I knew as Jack Sterling was dead. He said it when he was rambling on about what was coming, the darkness.”

  “But....”

  “I don’t know what to think anymore, babe. It’s like.... Jesus, I don’t know. He said Jack Sterling died because he’d lost his way, he thought he could do it all on his own. Whatever that means.”

  “Weird.”

  “Right?”

  “What else did he say?”

  “Olivia’s dead. He said cancer killed her.”

  “But.... He referred to her in the present tense when asked about her.”

  “Habit. That was his reason for doing that. That was his excuse anyway.”

  “Why didn’t the girls correct him then?”

  “Maybe he does it all the time and they’re just used to it,” I shrugged my shoulders.

  “That’s probably what it is then. Can I give you my opinion?” she asked.

  “Of course.”

  “You need to take a step back from this whole situation. You need to realize you cannot stop Jack from doing anything. If he’s gonna go after the ARK, let him. He’s a grown man and he’s a professional in his line of work. Let him do what he has to do. I know you have more questions for him and you have to face it, you may never get the answers. It’s obvious he trusts you or he wouldn’t consider leaving Kari and Isabella here.”

  “You’re very different people who haven’t seen each other in years,” she continued. “It’s natural that you’re not going to see eye-to-eye on a lot of things. Circumstances and experiences make it an impossibility. Let it go. Just leave it alone, at least for a little while. Get some sleep tonight, go for a horseback ride and get a new perspective. You said you’re in over your head. It’s time for you to come up for some air. You’re too close to the problem to see the big picture.”

  “You think so?”

  “I know so. The answer you’re looking for is probably a very simple one but you’re over-thinking the question. Backup and regroup. Get you head clear and come at it from a different angle.”

  “Yeah, you’re right,” I admitted. “C’mon, let’s go to bed,” I said a
s I stood and extended a hand to help her up.

  Saturday, September 2nd, 2017

  I got up and got my shower about 20 minutes before the old, wind-up alarm clock went off. By the time it rousted Jill from her peaceful slumber at 6am, I was dressed and walking back into the bedroom with a steaming cup of coffee for her. There was an inside joke amongst the members of the ranch; if there was coffee, we could deal with the end of the world. It made me smile as I set the porcelain mug on her nightstand. The coffee we brought back from Vegas plus the promise of future deliveries ensured we would be in business for a long time to come. Jill smiled at me and pushed herself up so her back was resting against the headboard and she just continued to smile.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Today’s the day.”

  “It is!” I glanced at my watch. “In about an hour, I hand the keys to the kingdom over and you and I can have some semblance of a normal life,” I returned her smile.

  “Regrets?”

  “Not a one.”

  “You’d tell me if you did, right?” she reached for her cup and took a sip.

  “You know I would. I think this is the best thing for us.”

  “I’m glad you....” her face suddenly contorted into a mixture of fear, concern and panic. She kicked off the sheet, threw her legs off the bed, and bolted past me into the bathroom. I could hear her begin to vomit into the toilet. I went after her and found her on her knees, forehead resting on the seat as another round hit her.

  “Jesus! You okay?” I moved behind her and pulled her long, sandy blonde hair back to keep it out of her way. She released her death grip on the seat with her right hand and held up a single finger in the signal to wait.

  After one more round of throwing up, she sat back and reached for a hand towel off the counter next to her. She wiped her face and flushed the toilet at the same time.

  “Crap! Sorry,” she apologized, standing up.

  “You okay? I repeated the question.

  “Yeah,” she rinsed her mouth with a handful of water from the sink. “I think it’s just all of the crap we’ve been through in the last couple of weeks. Over-tired, over-stressed…. Phew!”

  “We can put the ride to the tower off for another day if you want.” I offered.

  “No, I’m fine. Maybe it was something I ate?”

  “Alright, but before we leave this morning, I want you to go see Doc or Samantha. Can’t start my semi-retirement with you being sick,” I joked.

  “I’m fine!” she insisted. “If it happens again, I’ll go see Sam.”

  “Okay. If you’re sure,”

  “I’m fine!” she repeated and turned to face me. She put her hands on my shoulders. “Big day today, lots of nerves. I’m okay. Now, let me get myself cleaned up, get dressed and then we can go have a great day!”

  The morning staff meeting began on time and we discussed the current state of the ranch. Dale, Jill’s oldest brother, informed us that the summer crops had been harvested and that he was planning on turning the fields sometime in the next week. The greenhouses were also set to be in full production over the course of the winter months and things, in general, couldn’t have been any better.

  Her other brother, Mark, filled us in on his plans for refresher training for the three Teams and ranch regulars. He had been working closely with Dale’s wife, Susan, to do some emergency medical training. Jeff Owens and Jake Fields had been working tirelessly on a new curriculum for the upcoming 4th and 5th Teams. Even with everything that happened in the past couple of weeks, they were proud to report they were still on track to begin training on the 1st of October.

  Dan reported that Team one had returned from the ambush site at 3:30am and had been given the day off. Team two would pull a 12-hour day shift and Team three would pull a matching night shift. All ranch personnel were released from active security details at the current time. The Teams would handle the watches.

  This was the first time that the young Alex Perez had sat in on a staff meeting. He was very nervous about being amongst the senior leadership. The reason he was here this morning was so he could fill us in on the security measures he began working on when Braden was in charge. With a crew of 12 former conscripts from Ray Judge’s army, he had managed to set up four observation posts in a ring around the ranch. When they were done with the manual labor, the men agreed to stay on and man them in return for clemency. Alex was going to head up what was now being called “The Chain Gang”.

  “Doc and his daughter, Samantha had their usual warnings about taking care of yourself and staying hydrated. Doc, also our veterinarian, reported that the livestock were doing exceptionally well. So well, in fact, that we were going to have to start harvesting a few more of the animals every month to keep their numbers in check and healthy.

  It was my turn to speak so I stood from my chair and pushed it back in so I could stand behind it. I took a moment to make eye contact with every member of the staff. The only two people in the room, Dan and Jill, knew what was coming sat quietly and waited.

  “Let me begin by saying; all of you have exceeded every expectation I’ve ever had from you. Every one of you, no exceptions. I also have no doubt you will continue to do so. However, the time has come for me to make some changes around here,” the last statement was met with confused looks. “Effective immediately, I will be stepping down from my position as Operations Manager and handing the reins to Dan Hawkins.”

  “Everyone else will continue in their current posts. The only thing that changes is that you will contact Dan instead of myself if an issue arises,” I looked directly at Braden for the next part. “Braden and I will continue to act as the main leadership for the ranch when something requires our attention or decision.”

  “Any decision that I can make, Braden can also make. While he may have been a little behind the ball when he got here, he has since earned his place. If you trust in my decisions, you can also trust in his. As always, my door is still open, I’m not going anywhere. It’s just high time I allowed you to do that voodoo that you do. Besides, I need a break,” I finished.

  I could see genuine respect in Braden’s eyes. I know he had felt like he was playing second fiddle to me, but I let him know that we were equals. He accepted his place in the hierarchy with a nod of his head. So many years of bad blood between us had just been washed away.

  Once it was signaled that the meeting was officially over, everyone started to file past me out of the room. Everyone except my brother. He continued to sit in his chair and look at me.

  “I’ll wait in the hall,” Jill said and excused herself.

  “Thank you, Jason,” he said, once the door had closed.

  “For?”

  “For having a little faith in me. Lord knows, I spent a lot of time doing anything but earning your trust.”

  “Well, you’ve earned it in spades. It’s a new world out there, bro, and I think it’s time we left the past exactly where it should be. Don’t ya think?”

  “Yes, absolutely. Now if we could just get the other artifact from our past to leave….”

  “Jack?” I asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “When we get back this evening, I need to talk to you about him. Maybe, between the two of us, we can nail down what he’s up to.”

  “You know where I’ll be,” he chuckled and stood from his chair.

  “How’s it coming with the journals?” we started toward the door.

  “Slow. It’s mind-numbing work. It’s exhausting.”

  “Well, now that I have a little free time, maybe I can start helping out. You going with us today?”

  “No. The girls are. They’re out getting horses ready. You know how much they love to ride,” he smiled and stepped into the hallway. Jill was leaning against the wall. He was about to say something but stopped short. He stared at Jill for a moment before the slightest smile broke at the corners of his mouth.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Nothing. You guys ha
ve a good ride today,” he looked back at me with the same expression. “Talk when you get back?”

  “Yep. Probably after dinner,” I replied.

  CHAPTER 8

  Saturday, September 2nd, 2017

  We rode out of the back gate of the ranch a little after 8am. There were seven of us all together. Kalin and Allison, my nieces, quickly took the lead, riding a hundred yards or so ahead. Jill, Megan and Isabella were riding three abreast and giggling like schoolgirls. Kari and I were bringing up the rear, riding in an uncomfortable silence for the first mile.

  “Your horse, she is small. Beautiful, but small,” Kari broke the silence, finally. “What is her name?”

  “Horse.”

  “Yes, what is her name?” she asked again.

  “That IS her name,” I chuckled, I spent the next few minutes telling Kari how I had gotten the mare. “She’s a mustang. She might be small, but she saved my butt on a couple of occasions.”

  “She is a good horse for you then. I found my horse at a farm in northern Mexico. He is a Quarter horse,” she patted his withers.

  “You rode him all that way?”

  “Most of it, yes.”

  “Why?”

  “There were many groups in Mexico, mostly gangs, they kept trying to ambush travelers. We got smart to this and got some horses to ride out ahead of the convoy by a day or so. We would shadow their route and most of the time, we could ambush the ambushers. It worked out well for us and allowed us to pick up our pace a little.”

  “Smart move,” I replied.

  “It was my.... Our father’s idea,” she corrected herself.

  “It’s alright, Kari. You can refer to him as your father. It doesn’t offend me.”

  “I am sorry, Jason.”

  “Don’t be. It’s like he said at the table the first night, you and Isabella didn’t ask for this situation. That’s why I’m here. I want to get to know you, to know my sisters.”

  “Thank you. We would also like to know our brothers. Can I ask you a question, Jason?”

  “Sure.”

  “Braden, is he hard to get to know? He hasn’t been around very much.”