by A J Newman
“Joe I can’t wait to get home also. I had to bite my pillow last night several times. We need some alone time,” Cobie said as she kissed his neck.
“Mom, Joe, get your clothes on. Breakfast is ready. You can’t live on love alone,” Emily said from the hallway.
Cobie and Joe got dressed and joined the others for a modest breakfast and a lively discussion.
“So you are the phantom called Joe who singlehandedly killed the gangs in Medford and Ashland. I always thought you’d be taller. I also heard you were dead and that you were killed in that big assed explosion at the Medford Armory. What did you use C4?” Earl asked.
“I don’t know about all of that. I think there were several others including Cobie and Emily out there helping get rid of the thugs and rapists. Oh, I made a fertilizer bomb. That was what blew up the Armory,” Joe replied.
“You did a good job. The Armory and half of the Walmart disappeared in that little explosion. You killed over twenty of the top gang leaders from five of the gangs in the area. They were holding a meeting aimed at joining forces. You ended the meeting,” Earl said.
“Earl, why don’t you, Sally, and the kids go with us when we leave? There are plenty of abandoned homes and land to farm. There are still a lot of dangers down here in the valley,” Cobie offered.
“No, I talked it over with Sally last night, and we decided to stay here and help rebuild Ashland. There is one thing that I do want you to consider though. Ashley asked Sally to see if you would let her stay with us. She owes her life to you and doesn’t want to hurt your feelings,” Earl said.
“Ashley, I just want you to be safe and happy. You can come with us or stay with Earl and Sally. It’s your decision, not mine. I’m just happy that you will have someone that loves and cares for you,” Cobie said.
“Thanks, Connie, I mean Cobie.”
“I get confused myself at times. Losing your memory is a bad thing, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone,” Cobie said.
“I’m afraid you won’t be leaving tonight. The Boss has tripled the patrols looking for the ones that killed his brother Mal and set the slaves free,” Earl said.
“How do you know this?” Joe asked.
“Wes dropped by on his way home this morning from a scavenging trip. He will be back here after dark today to fill us in on what’s happening in Ashland. He has a friend who just started working for the Boss at the courthouse. The Boss’s group has added over fifty new men and women since the explosion wiped out the gangs’ leaders. He sees himself as a benevolent dictator that we need to survive the apocalypse. I think we are trading ten thugs for one smarter and more dangerous criminal,” Earl informed the group.
They passed the time sleeping, reading, and playing Monopoly. Joe and Cobie stole away to nap and practice the Braille method of getting to know each other twice during the long day. As it turned out Emily was better at cheating at Monopoly than Joe was. Joe had to send her for a glass of water to steal from the bank while Cobie and Ashley were distracted. They all had a great time but placed Joe and Emily on probation when the cheating got out of hand.
Joe kept whispering in Cobie’s ear about wanting to play strip poker and neither left the other’s sight all day. The girls were embarrassed by the constant touching and sexual tension.
“You two need to get a room or go on a honeymoon,” Emily protested. “Do you behave this way in front of Cloe?”
“Err … no. I’m sorry, but I thought she was dead and am so happy to see her. We just got together the day Cobie was kidnapped,” Joe said.
“Wait a minute. We didn’t kidnap her. She ran out of the woods and ran into the path of Rob’s truck. My mom insisted on bringing her with us so we could take care of her,” Emily said.
“I’m sorry. I thought she had been kidnapped. I wish I could thank your parents for saving her life,” Joe apologized.
“Joe, I’m sorry for jumping on you, but I wanted you to know that my parents would never hurt anyone. Mal was the pervert who attacked Cobie and had the sex slaves,” Emily said.
Joe reached over to Cobie and started to talk when Cobie said, “I’ll fill you in later. It was not as bad as it sounds. Mal and his partner were perverts and had several sex slaves. They had also killed several women.”
Earl was listening in and said, “Damn, it’s worse than I thought. Mal’s brother, Tom, is the new leader of Ashland. He’s the Boss everyone keeps talking about. He has a lot of people fooled.”
“Earl, this is why I don’t want to live in or close to a city,” Joe said.
There was a knock on the basement door, and everyone grabbed their guns. “That’s Wes’ knock.”
Earl opened the door, and Wes entered with his wife and two others. Earl introduced everyone, and they let Wes bring them up to speed on events in Ashland.
“The Boss went berserk when he found his dead brother in the hallway of the hotel. He has placed a bounty on the two women who killed Mal and released the sex slaves. They are literally searching every house, shed, and shithouse in Ashland for the women. We need to get Cobie and Emily out of here tonight. They are working to a grid Tom drew out on a map of Ashland. Thank God South Ashland is last to be searched,” Wes informed them.
“We are ready and can leave with ten minutes notice,” Joe said.
“Earl surely you and Sally will come with us now,” Cobie said.
“No. The assholes won’t find anything when they search this place. We’ll be okay,” Earl replied.
“Well, consider this notice. Chris, Ellie, and their kids have already left, and my wife Jill and the two girls will go with us. They will meet us at Emigrant Lake on the way out of town. Joe, I guess we’ll have to walk to your house. If we try to drive out they will swarm on us,” Wes said.
“Maybe not if we give them something to distract them and keep them busy. I have about ten pounds of Ammonium Nitrate and several homemade blasting caps in my backpack. A few timed explosions would keep them busy for hours. Hell, it might make them think they are under attack by a new gang,” Joe said.
“Joe, could you make half dozen smaller bombs for me? I want some in case I change my mind and want to get out of here,” Earl asked.
“It will only take a few more minutes if you get me some pipes and caps,” Joe said.
“Joe, if and when we decide to leave, we’ll head to your place. Three bombs will distract the assholes so we can escape. The others we’ll drop behind us when they try to follow. That will be your notice that we’re coming in hot,” Earl said.
Joe made the bombs in a house three doors down just in case of an oops. Then Earl took the other half of the bombs to the University of Southern Oregon where the Boss has set up his headquarters in the University Admin Building. He set bombs in cars in the parking lots of the Admin building, Hannon Library, and the Music building. The bombs were staggered to go off five minutes apart. He then set a bunch of firecrackers with a time-delayed fuse in the area to make the Boss think he was under attack. Earl fled for his home and Joe’s group made their escape out of Ashland when the bombs started going off.
The firecrackers accomplished their job of drawing most of the searchers back to the town center. The searchers were certain one of the gangs had attacked in retribution for the Boss’s cruel extermination of the gang members. Some deserted, but most ran to help protect their leader from this dastardly attack.
Wes took his wife and the two girls in his old four-wheel drive Blazer while Joe took his family out of town in his Jeep. They were sitting in their vehicles when the first bomb exploded and drove urgently out of town. They stopped at the designated place at Emigrant Lake, picked up the rest of Wes’ group, and began the slow drive up into the hills in the dark without lights.
The Boss stood at a window looking to see where the gunfire originated from when a car exploded a hundred feet from the outside of his window. The blast wasn’t huge but sent pieces of the car hurling out in all directions. A door handle struck the window the
Boss was standing beside and exploded glass all over him.
The Boss jumped across the room in fear then scrambled to his feet and watched as the next two bombs exploded.
“This isn’t an attack. Those fucken’ bikers would have shoved those bombs up our asses. These bombs were either a warning or a diversion. Tell our men to watch for anyone trying to escape the city,” the Boss screamed.
☆
Chapter 11
Joe had made the drive up and down the mountain several times and knew the way even in the dark. Wes and his son Chris followed in their vehicles. A few hours later, they stopped about a hundred yards from Dan’s cabin. Joe had intended to walk on up and find the roving guard to let them know friends were approaching. Joe stepped out of the Jeep and Dan shined a red light in his eyes.
“Who goes there? What is the password?” Dan shouted.
“It’s me Joe, and I don’t know the password.”
“Hey, Dan it’s Cobie, and I’m back to stay.”
A few minutes later Cloe came running out of the house. “Momma is that you?” Cloe hollered.
“It’s me Baby Girl.”
“Where is Joe,” Cloe yelled as she smothered her mom in hugs and kisses.
“I’m here Baby Girl. I missed you,” Joe replied.
They were all too keyed up to sleep with all of the new people to meet and stories to tell, so the coffee and stories flowed the rest of the night. Wes and his people were divided between Jane and Dan’s homes until they could take them to a couple of homes close to Ben and Sarah’s place.
Cobie introduced Emily to Cloe, and they hit it off as expected. After breakfast, Cloe took Emily up to their home. They cleaned and emptied two rooms in the basement so Joe could put beds and furniture in them. They caught Cobie and Joe when they arrived and stopped them at the door.
“Dad, Emily, and I want to move to the basement so we can have our own rooms. This will give you two an extra room upstairs to use as you wish and will give you newlyweds some privacy. Please let …”
“Baby Girl you had me at privacy. We need to find an extra bed and dresser from one of the abandoned homes, and we’ll get you two set up. Until then you can share a bedroom,” Joe said.
Cobie and Joe thoroughly enjoyed the privacy that night and started the work of building their family the next morning over breakfast.
The girls assisted Cobie making breakfast while Joe brought in firewood and pumped water for the day. The solar power was able to power the well pump, but for some reason, the pump would not hold a prime and Joe had to hand prime it with a bucket of water for each use. They ate a hearty breakfast, and then Cobie started the meeting.
“Girls, this is the first day for this group as a family. Joe and I aren’t married yet, but we will be the mom and dad. You are both children by the old laws and thinking. Twelve and fifteen-years-old are difficult years where your bodies and minds are growing in strength and wisdom by the day. How we treat you depends on how you behave. We plan to treat you as young adults as long as you act that way. Any questions before I continue?” Cobie said.
“What do we call you two?” asked Emily.
“You have been calling me Cobie, and that’s okay with me. Cloe calls me mom and you can too if you want to. Cloe had been calling Joe by his name, but I noticed since I’ve been back that she calls him dad. Either of the names is okay but choose one and stick with it please,” Cobie answered.
“What are the rules,” Emily asked.
“Everyone works, everyone protects the family, and everyone is honest and respects the other family members. The rest can be found in the Ten Commandments,” Cobie replied.
Joe cleared his voice and said, “Girls, you know right from wrong. We want to treat you as much as possible as adults. You will be armed every day of your life from now on. You may have to shoot people who try to harm us. We won’t treat you like kids unless you act like kids. I’ll leave the sex talk to you, mom, but my father gave me some good advice. Don’t screw up anything that can’t be unscrewed and when in doubt ask for help. I’m new at this father stuff, so I’ll be telling you the same advice my dad and grandfather gave me. Oh, I’ll also share my grandma’s wisdom with you.”
Emily retrieved a notepad from the kitchen counter. “Joe, what are our chores and when do they need to be done?”
“Cobie, could you assign the chores while I think about it for a minute?” Joe asked.
Cobie covered everything from cleaning their rooms to bringing in the firewood and then looked at Joe.
“Girls, I need you to help run the traps, hunt, fish and pull guard duty. I also need you to attend the family meeting every Tuesday after supper. Your job is to honestly express your needs, any recommendations, and be prepared to vote on changes in rules or improvements suggested by the family. Most of what we do will be a family decision. Sorry, but a few things will be because your mom or I said so,” Joe said.
“What about dating rules?” Emily asked.
“Got your eye on one of the boys?” Cobie asked.
“Too soon to tell, but I like Butch even though Cloe isn’t too fond of him,” Emily answered.
“I don’t want to embarrass you, but first, I’ll give you the sex talk even though your parents covered it with you a long time ago. Then we’ll have a practical talk. We aren’t babysitters, and you will be alone with these boys on hunts and guard duty. You will have to be your own gatekeeper. Having a baby and becoming a mom at fifteen will not be pretty. We don’t have hospitals and haven’t found a doctor yet. I’ll talk with you and Cloe in private after this meeting,” Cobie said.
Joe laughed and said, “I just need to know which boy to shoot if they get out of hand.”
Cobie joined Joe on the porch and sat down next to him. “Well that came off kind of corny didn’t it?” Joe asked.
“No, not at all. The girls need to know their rules and boundaries. Even young adults need to know their parents love and respect them but also have standards,” Cobie replied.
“Please coach me and help me with being a dad to young women. I feel lost,” Joe said.
“Joe parenting is just common sense and knowing when to draw a line and when to bend. Sometimes teens need to have enough room to learn from their mistakes as long as there is no permanent damage done. They are both good kids and will do well. We laid out the rules and have to be ready to enforce them,” Cobie told Joe.
“They didn’t ask for an allowance,” Joe noted.
“Or a new iPhone. Perhaps an apocalypse isn’t all bad,” Cobie added as she laid her head down on Joe’s lap.
Cobie looked up into Joe’s eyes and then pulled his head to her for a kiss. “Joe, how are we going to get married? You do want to marry me and make me an honest woman don’t you?” Cobie asked.
“I want that very much. I guess we ask Dan to perform the ceremony for now. Perhaps later, when we find a pastor we can get officially married. I’m just guessing. What do you think?” Joe asked.
“I can’t think of anything better. I guess women just want something formal. I never wanted a big fancy wedding. I just wanted a man to commit to me and mean it forever.” Cobie said.
“Cobie I loved you from a few days after I met you and love you more every day. Please always tell me when I do something wrong and don’t make me guess what stupid thing I did,” Joe asked.
“I will but promise me the same. We always need to communicate and clear the air, so things don’t fester,” Cobie added.
“But we don’t need to nitpick.”
“Nope.”
“Okay, we are now officially a family,” Joe said.
“Oh, no boy. We’re not official until I get a ring on my ringer,” Cobie laughed.
“Oh shit. Where do we get rings?” Joe asked as he cringed.
Cobie disappeared for a minute and came back with a small box. “Joe this was my Mom’s ring. I’d like to use it if okay with you.”
“Yes, I’d like that. Would you mind
if I made my ring?” Joe asked.
“How would you do that?” Cobie asked.
“I bought a bunch of gold coins before heading out to the mountains, and I think I can shape one into a ring. It will take some work, but I’m sure I can fashion a plain gold ring,” Joe answered.
“That would be fantastic and very sweet making your own ring. Could you make me a matching ring?” Cobie asked.
“I would love to make one for the most beautiful woman in the world.”
Three days later and a lot of drilling, filing, and polishing later, Joe produced two nice rings for their wedding. Dan performed the ceremony, and Jane and Ginny prepared a wedding luncheon. They danced and drank warm wine and beer to toast the bride and groom. There wasn’t much of a honeymoon trip, but Joe did carry Cobie across the threshold, and they send Emily and Cloe to stay with Jane for a couple of days.
Two days later, they were gathered at the family meeting when Cloe asked, “Are we going to have a little brother or sister in nine months?”
Cobie’s face turned red, and Joe coughed water out on the table. Cobie regained her composure and simply said, “Girls, do you remember the sex talk about not having sex until you know it’s the right man?”
“Yes.”
“I married the right man, and my mom told me how babies are made. Trust me that we won’t have any more children until Joe and I are ready,” Cobie said. “Now let’s get to the usual family business.”
After the meeting, Cobie asked, “Joe we never talked about children. Do you want children?”
“Only if you do. I love Cloe, and I am becoming attached to Emily, but I don’t have the urge for a baby right now. I hope that doesn’t upset you. Of course, if you want one I’d love it and be the best father possible,” Joe replied.
“Joe to be perfectly honest, I do want a little Joe running around; however, I don’t want a baby until we tame this area a bit. I want a doctor when I give birth, and I’d like to know we have proper medicine if little Joe gets sick,” Cobie said.