“Looks like three injured hikers to me,” Norman joked.
Michelle punched him in the shoulder. “I’m not sure why you think this is funny, but I’m not laughing,” Michelle said.
“Calm down, babes,” Norman said. “If that man meant them harm, I certainly can’t tell it by the looks on their faces.”
After a few minutes, Lauren, John, and Christian were standing just in front of Michelle and Norman, along the lower portion of the trail. Michelle ran to Lauren, wrapping her arms around her daughter in a tight embrace. While she did, Michelle kept her eyes open, so she could glare hard at the stranger who stood just behind her daughter. In the black uniform he was wearing, he looked just like one of the DHS storm troopers that had paid a visit to her family in Woodstock before coming here. Christian paid no attention to her scowl and simply continued looking all around them, taking in a good view of his surroundings. Occasionally, his eyes met hers and when they did, he offered her a friendly smile.
“Thank God you’re safe,” Michelle said as the embrace ended. “Where in the hell have you been? What happened to your foot?”
“It’s a long story, Mom. Please don’t be mad,” Lauren said, immediately noticing her mother staring at the man behind her, while her hand rested on top of her sidearm. Not wanting to postpone the pleasantries any longer, Lauren said, “Mom, Norman…this is Christian.”
Norman placed both hands on John’s shoulders as a sentiment to show he was pleased that his son was home. He was truly glad he had been right—that John would find Lauren and bring her back with him. As he touched John’s right shoulder, John cringed and Norman quickly moved his hand upward to his neck.
“Damn, son,” he said. “What happened to you?”
“I got shot,” John said with a smile. He looked back at Christian, whose look of guilt was beginning to form. “But, I’m ok. It’s just a flesh wound.”
Norman then turned his attention to Christian and held out his hand, noticing the body armor the man was wearing, and the ripped up fabric and molle webbing on his chest. He looked down and noticed the dressing on Christian’s calf.
“Looks like maybe you’ve taken a bullet or two as well. There must be something going around. It’s nice to meet you, Christian,” Norman said. “I’m Norman.”
Christian shook his hand. “Pleasure to meet you, sir,” he said.
“Don’t give me that ‘sir’ shit,” Norman said. “Call me Norman…or Norm. Anything, but sir.”
“Ok,” Christian said. “Pleasure to meet you, Norman.”
Christian’s attention turned to Michelle, who was still eyeballing him with her hand on her holstered pistol. Michelle finally took her hand off of it when she helped Lauren remove her backpack and set it down on the ground. She then looked back to her daughter and soon gazed down at her foot.
“Are you shot, too?” Michelle asked with a slight sense of urgency in her voice.
“Sprained,” Lauren said. “It’s just sprained, Mom.”
Michelle turned to see Lee at the bottom of the hill, who had noticed the excitement and approached them with his rifle at low-ready. He nodded to John, who smirked and nodded back.
“Lee, get on the radio and call the Perrys,” she told him. “Let Kristen know we have two gunshot wounds and a bad ankle sprain.”
“Ok,” Lee said with a nod. “Welcome home, Lauren.” He turned away and slowly walked back to the ATVs where he had left the radio.
“It’s good to be home. Thanks, Lee,” Lauren said.
“Radio?” John asked. “What radio?”
“You left yesterday before we had a chance to tell you,” Norman explained. “Everyone in the valley has a radio now. We met up with more of those bikers yesterday and ended up in a gunfight at the barricade. We need to fill you in.”
“We need to fill Christian in, too,” Lauren said as all eyes went to her. “He saved my life yesterday, Mom. He’s lost everything and needs a place to live. I invited him here to stay with us.”
Michelle’s scrutinizing look slowly changed to one of compassion. She looked up at Christian, who seemed a bit embarrassed. “Is that true?” she asked Christian.
“I’m not one to take full credit, ma’am,” he replied. “We ended up in a dangerous situation and I had a part in getting us both out of it.”
Michelle’s countenance began to show signs that she had finally started to relax. She smiled. Her daughter was back home and now she was being told that this man in the black uniform had had a hand in getting her here. “Well, you can tell us all about it when you’re ready to. I’m Michelle,” she said to Christian. “Lauren’s mom.”
Christian held out his hand to shake hers, but Michelle bypassed the gesture. She moved closer and gave him a hug, much to his surprise.
“Thank you for bringing her home,” she said.
Christian didn’t know what else to do but accept her hug and return it. Holding his rifle in one arm, he used the other to hug Michelle.
“So, how did you guys both get shot?” Norman asked curiously. “What did you do? Shoot each other?”
John and Christian looked at each other and shrugged, then exchanged grins.
“Funny you should say that…” Christian trailed off as John spoke.
“It’s a long story,” John said. He noticed the three Hondas sitting in the driveway, no longer housed in the shed. He began to wonder why, but decided not to ask.
As the group began to descend the final few yards of the trail back to the property, Grace noticed them from the porch and came running out to meet them. She hung her rifle over her shoulder and ran directly to Lauren, hugging her tightly with an enormous smile on her face. Lauren in turn, wrapped her arms around her sister.
“Holy shit, it’s good to see you,” Grace said excitedly. “We’ve been going nuts around here.”
“I figured you guys were pretty pissed,” Lauren said. “I’m sorry it took so long to get home.”
“Not anymore—just glad you’re home,” Grace said as she looked at the tall bearded man behind her sister. “Who’s this?”
“Oh. Grace, this is Christian,” Lauren said as she pulled away from Grace and turned her body, so her sister could meet him. “Christian, this is my sister, Grace.”
Grace flipped her hair and raised her eyebrows at Christian. He smiled at her. He moved a bit closer and held out his hand. Grace hesitated and then took it in hers. The two gazed at each other for a few seconds before saying anything as if they were instantly smitten. Michelle noticed and said nothing. The others noticed and offered sheepish grins.
“Are you the reason that my sister has been away for so long?” Grace prodded.
Christian smiled as he contemplated how to answer. “Yes,” he said humbly. “She made me aware of her curfew, but there were extenuating circumstances.”
“I see,” Grace uttered. She nodded and pursed her lips.
“He’s also the reason I made it back, Grace…so cut him some slack,” Lauren said, smiling at her sister.
“Let’s get you guys in the house and wait for Kristen to come and patch you all up,” Norman suggested.
Grace picked up Lauren’s backpack and shouldered it, realizing quickly that it was heavier than she had guessed. She then moved to Lauren’s weak side and pulled Lauren’s arm over her shoulder, to help her walk back to the cabin. The two took the lead with everyone else following not far behind. Grace shot a look at Lauren.
“Damn, girl,” Grace said, “you sure know how to pick them.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lauren asked.
“I mean…he’s hot,” Grace said. “Leave it to you to go out into the woods and find some hot guy to bring home to us.”
Lauren shook her head and gave her sister a cynical look. “Really, Grace? I mean, seriously…”
“What? I can’t help it. The guy is seriously good looking,” Grace admitted.
Lauren sighed and shook her head again. She slowly began to remembe
r when Grace had first started dating as a teenager and how ‘boy crazy’ she had always been. Some things never changed.
“I guess I’ve been too busy trying to get home to notice,” Lauren said.
“Sorry, girl,” Grace said, this time with sincerity. “I am truly glad you’re back.”
“Me too,” Lauren agreed.
Once inside the cabin, Christian set his gear down on the living room floor and took a seat in the recliner. Leaning back, he set his feet on the footrest and put both hands behind his head, exhaling loudly. “I could definitely get used to this,” he said with a grin.
Lauren took a seat on the couch and began unwrapping her ankle. She looked around the cabin for a moment, realizing how truly good it felt to be home, and at the same time, realizing how close she had come to not making it back. Grace took Lauren’s things and set them in her room. Walking back to the living room, she cocked her head at Christian, who was busy making himself at home.
“Glad you like it,” Grace said to him, “because it’s where you’ll be sleeping for the time being—until we can set you up with other accommodations.”
“I don’t have a problem with that,” Christian said. “I appreciate the hospitality.”
Grace looked down at the huge pile of things that Christian had been carrying with him, including all three rifles, one of which she knew belonged to her sister. She shook her head at the disarray, which she wasn’t fond of. John, Norman, and Michelle walked inside, with Lee following shortly after.
“I radioed the Perrys—Kristen should be here shortly,” Lee said. “I told everyone that Lauren and John were home safe, too.”
“Thanks, Lee,” Michelle said.
Lee nodded and walked over to Christian. Holding out his hand, he said, “I’m Lee. John’s brother.”
Christian sat up with a slight grunt and took Lee’s hand. “Christian,” he said. “Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise,” Lee said. He then turned around and walked back outside, closing the door behind him.
Grace took a seat beside Lauren on the couch. John walked over to Lauren, put his hand on her shoulder and kissed her on the top of her head. Lauren smiled at him as his hand left her shoulder.
“Guys, I hate to be a party pooper, but I’m going to die if I don’t get some shut-eye,” John said.
“Don’t you want Kristen to check your shoulder?” Michelle asked.
“It’s not bleeding anymore,” John admitted. “She’ll just tell me to change the dressing daily and keep it clean. I already know that much.”
“Go get some sleep then,” Michelle said with a smile.
“We’ll get you up later and fill you in on what happened yesterday,” Norman said.
“See everyone at dinner,” John said as he nodded to everyone and walked back down the hallway to his room, closing the door behind him.
“John told us about Mrs. Ackermann,” Lauren said, then asked, “Did something else happen? Was it the bikers again?”
Norman nodded. “Yes. Things are going to be different around here for a while, but we’ll talk about it later,” Norman assured. “You two just relax for now. Let’s get you and Christian patched up—we’ll get everyone on the same page tonight at dinner.”
“Are we in danger?” Lauren prodded.
“We’ve always been in danger, sweetie,” Michelle said, “ever since day one.”
“Mom, that’s not what I mean and you know it,” Lauren asserted. “Who are these biker guys? What do they want?”
Norman couldn’t help himself. He wanted to wait, but he knew that Lauren would not stop persisting. It wasn’t in her nature. He began divulging to Lauren and to Christian what he and his sons had found at the Ackermanns after they had been attacked. Lauren closed her eyes when he began explaining the details. Grace put her hand on Lauren’s shoulder, in an effort to console her.
“For what it’s worth, Sis, when they told me, I didn’t take it well either,” Grace said.
“What the fuck is wrong with people?” Lauren asked rhetorically in a highly irritated tone.
“When we told everyone at the meeting, we decided things had to change around here,” Michelle said. “Our daily lives can’t continue without security being increased.”
“How did they get here, Norman?” Lauren asked.
“The barricade,” Norman replied. “We went there yesterday after the meeting. Someone had moved the stones we’d put there to let them in. Fred and I, Peter and Michael got caught in a gunfight with three more of them. We killed one, one got away, and we took one prisoner. He’s locked up at the Mason’s house—probably tied to a tree or something.”
Christian sat up in his chair as if to get closer to the conversation, although he had heard everything well.
“Is he cooperating?” Christian asked, looking at Norman.
Norman presented his knuckles to Christian, close enough so that Christian could see the mild bruising that had begun as a result of him punching the biker’s lights out. “Not really,” he said.
A vehicle horn was heard outside the house. Norman opened the door to see that Lee had opened the gate to allow an old white pickup truck to pull down the driveway.
“Kristen is here. Mike is with her,” Norman said.
A few minutes later, Michael and Kristen Perry walked into the cabin. Kristen was carrying a large medical backpack and a paramedic’s “tackle box.” She looked around the room, as if visually triaging everyone there. She soon set her stuff down near the couch where Lauren was seated and gave Lauren a hug. Michael nodded to Norman who nodded back, and smiled at Lauren and Grace. He was carrying a small white bucket.
“We’re glad you’re home, Lauren,” she said. She pulled away and looked down at Lauren’s thickly wrapped ankle. “What have you done to yourself?”
“It’s just a sprain,” Lauren said.
Kristen removed the bandage from Lauren’s swollen ankle. She said, “That’s a pretty bad sprain.” She turned to her husband. “Just set it down here.”
Michael set the bucket on the floor near his wife and stepped back. Kristen opened the top to expose the contents.
“Instant ice packs are hard to come by and we don’t have ice, so we’ll have to improvise with cold water from the stream,” Kristen said as she reached inside her backpack for a cloth. She dipped it into the bucket and wrung it out, then placed it on Lauren’s ankle. Lauren jumped a bit, not realizing how cold it would be. “You’ll need to keep this as cold as you can. Luckily, this time of year the water is pretty cold. There’s not much we can do with this, other than keep it elevated and keep the swelling down.”
“And you’re going to have to stay off your feet,” Michelle said to her daughter. “I know that will be hard for you.”
“It’ll be damn near impossible for her,” Grace said jokingly.
“Do you guys have any ibuprofen?” Kristen asked Michelle.
“We do,” Michelle replied. She then walked to the bathroom and pulled out a large bottle of Kirkland ibuprofen from the medicine cabinet. She plopped four of the brown pills into her hand and placed the bottle back into the medicine cabinet.
“Give her four of them every few hours or so for the pain and to help with the swelling,” Kristen said, as Michelle handed the pills to Lauren. Lauren popped them into her mouth and swallowed them without needing to chase them down. Kristen continued, “It’s imperative that you stay off this foot and keep it elevated, Lauren.”
“Ok—I got it,” Lauren said, not sounding convinced or happy with her situation.
Kristen looked up at Norman. “Where are the GSWs?”
Norman pointed at Christian, who was sitting up straight now in the recliner. Kristen peered at him, smiled uncomfortably, and then looked down at his calf.
“This man here has a hole in his leg,” Norman explained. “John was shot too, but he said it wasn’t serious.”
“Lee made it sound a bit more urgent than this,” Kristen said, sounding ju
st a little bit annoyed. She crawled over and began assessing and working on Christian’s injured leg. She introduced herself while she worked and Christian did the same.
“Looks like you’ve reinjured this,” Kristen said. “There’s a lot of damaged muscle here.”
“We didn’t exactly have a choice, ma’am,” Christian said.
“You’re going to have to stay off your feet for a while, too,” Kristen said. “If this gets infected, you’re going to be in a lot worse shape than you are already. You need time to heal.”
Once done cleaning and redressing the wound, Kristen reached into her tackle box and pulled out a small bottle of prescription medication. She handed it to Christian, who read the label and smiled. She then handed him another bottle.
“The first bottle is Vicodin,” she said. “Only take it if you need it—and honestly to me, it looks like you need it. The second bottle is Clindamycin. It’s a pretty strong antibiotic. If it gets infected, you’ll need to start a dose of these. Don’t take them unless you’re certain it’s infected, though. We don’t have a lot of these to go around.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Christian said. “I appreciate this. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Kristen said with a smile. Noticing that her patient seemed to be having a bit of trouble breathing, she placed her hand on his chest, causing him to immediately cringe. “What else is wrong with you?” Kristen asked.
Christian lifted up his shirt enough to expose what appeared to be several fairly well bruised ribs. Kristen looked around the room. Norman’s eyebrows were raised. Michelle had a sudden look of concern on her face. Lauren quickly went on to explain what had happened earlier that morning as the room listened intently. Kristen began pushing around on Christian’s ribs to verify if any were broken. He grimaced with every push.
“Guess that explains why your body armor looks like it took a round of buckshot,” Norman said.
What's Left of My World (Book 1) Page 27