DEAD: Confrontation

by Brown, TW

  “That sounds like goodbye,” Gabe said as he shook Jon’s hand.

  “Well, with the base gone, I just figured you and your outfit would probably have someplace else that you wanted to check out.”

  “Not really,” Gabe said with a shrug.

  “Well then…” Jon shot me a look. I have no idea what he expected, but I really had nothing to say. “Let’s head back and introduce you to the folks.”

  ***

  As we came up the shoveled out path that led us through Death Alley, I heard a few appreciative comments. Of course I was still smiling (and trying to hide it) from the incident back at the lookout stand just as you come in to the park area. Actually, I was surprised myself to see somebody perched there, but the way Gabe’s group scrambled, a few even diving for cover, when Christina called down to us on the way by was hilarious.

  By the time we reached the cabin, everybody was waiting on the porch. As I crossed the parking lot, I was again reminded of how many we had lost just a short time ago. This group would double our numbers with a few extras.

  I was not surprised to see Dr. Zahn step down off the porch and greet our new arrivals. Actually, she didn’t really greet them…not really.

  “What do we have here?’ Dr. Zahn stood on the second step up so she could almost be eye level with Gabe Winters.

  “Miss Zahn,” Jon said, and I wasn’t the only person to notice, “this is Gabe Winters. Back when it mattered, he was a lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps.”

  “Now I’m just Gabe if you don’t mind,” the big man said. That velvety smooth tone was back and in full effect.

  “Gabe and his men were searching for Tranquility Base,” Jon said.

  This is the part where I hate being…a kid. I was seeing all kinds of stuff happen here that I did not really understand. I saw looks pass between the doctor and Jon, between Jon and Jake, and between Gabe and his people. The problem was that I had no idea what any of it might mean…if anything. Maybe I was being paranoid.

  “…is Melissa Hobart,” Jon was saying as he introduced Gabe and his people to our group.

  “Sorry to hear about your recent loss, ma’am,” Gabe said with a slight nod of the head.

  “My name is Thalia,” a tiny voice spoke up.

  I saw her push past between Melissa and Cheryl to get to the front. She stared up at Gabe and her mouth fell open. Perhaps she had not realized that the man was still standing on the ground and for the most part still looking everybody in the eye who was standing on the porch.

  “Are you a giant?” she breathed, taking a step back.

  “Some people think so,” Gabe said with a smile.

  He dropped down a bit to be closer to eye level with Thalia. To do this, he bent at the waist which also put him closer to the girl. She took an involuntary step back and tripped. In a flash, Gabe’s hands shot out and caught her.

  Everybody gasped. I can only speak for myself, but mine wasn’t for the fall. I did my best to make it look casual as my hand came away from the hilt of the blade on my hip.

  “So…” Gabe stood and looked around, his eyes lingering longest on Jon, “you folks have had some bad times lately. Okay, I get that. But as I look around, I am seeing a distinct lack of men. Now, I don’t want you ladies getting all riled up, got a few with me as you can see.”

  His arm swung to his group of soldiers clustered together all looking rather uneasy. I am pretty sure our reaction has them a bit nervous. After all, I wasn’t the only person who went to a weapon a moment ago.

  “Look,” Dr. Zahn spoke up, shooting Jon another look that I did not understand, “it is not that we would not love to bring you and your people in as part of our group. However, we are in a bit of a quandary at the moment and I have some concerns.”

  “Okay,” Gabe said with an easy nod. “So maybe if you share them with me, we can see what can be done.”

  Dr. Zahn glanced at Jon and Melissa and then nodded to Sunshine. Those three headed inside without a word.

  “Billy?” Dr. Zahn put a hand on my arm. “Brad is in the crow’s nest, would you be a dear and relieve him. Tell him to join me in the spare room.”

  “Spare room?” I didn’t know that we had one.

  “The room we just converted,” the doctor prompted.

  “I thought that was where—”

  “Just go get him, please.”

  Dr. Zahn was giving me one of those looks now. She turned to Gabe which basically meant that I was excused.

  “Now, Gabe, if you would care to join me,” she looked past him at his team, “and perhaps bring one or two of your people.”

  I headed in and went to go tell Brad that his presence was requested. I saw Jon, Sunshine, and Melissa talking by the door to the room that we had kept Shelly in; by the looks of things, Melissa was annoyed and Sunshine seemed to be trying to calm her down.

  After Brad climbed down, I plopped on the perch seat. My eyes could not help but drift to the rafters. Jamie had hung himself right here. I didn’t believe in ghosts or anything, but I always got a strange chill any time I came up here now.

  An hour passed. Finally, Melinda Cribbs came up to take over. I asked her what was going on and she just mumbled something about having to set extra places for dinner. I climbed down to see a few of Gabe’s people sitting around one table.

  I was hungry, but more than that, I just wanted to clean up and slide into my bunk. I had plenty of time to think while I was up there, and to put it bluntly, I was sick of being treated like a kid half the time and like one of the soldiers when they needed to send somebody to the nest or out on a mission. If Jon was going to call me “one of the men” and felt like I was capable of handling my business out in the wild, then I think it is only fair that I be let in on what is going on around here.

  “Billy?” Dr. Zahn’s voice stopped me in my tracks. “Could you come here for a moment, please?”

  I turned around and headed to her office. She ushered me in and pointed to a chair. I thought about refusing it. Maybe I would start sticking up for myself. I saw Steve stand up to the doctor more than once; eventually she started treating him like somebody in charge.

  “We don’t have long, so please sit down,” the doctor insisted.

  I took the seat she indicated. Maybe I would make my stand later. I had no idea what to expect. Dr. Zahn had a peculiar look on her face.

  “I need you to do me a favor,” the doctor said. I shrugged. I guess I would say yes or no once I knew what she wanted.

  “I need you to keep an eye on the newcomers for a while until we get a handle on them.”

  Okay, I didn’t expect that.

  “I don’t understand.” Well…I didn’t.

  “I am not saying that these are bad people, it is just that we need to know more before we can trust them.”

  “But Jon seemed to know Gabe at least. When we ran into them, they were like old friends.”

  “And perhaps years ago, or even months ago, they were. But this is a new world now, Billy. People have changed. They do things that they would have never considered before all of this happened. We can’t be sure until some time has passed.”

  “So why me?” I asked.

  “Because they will not see you, my boy.” I imagine the look on my face told the doctor all she needed to know—I didn’t get it. “I realize that you were a bit perturbed when we sent you off like a child when we had our little meeting, but if we took you serious in front of the newcomers, they would see you as one of the adults. They may not drop their guard, but they are more likely to do so in front of you if they see you as somebody less important.”

  I guess I understood. It made sense, at least more sense than a lot of those looks earlier. I figured now was the best chance I would have of getting any answers.

  “So what is going on between you and Jon? There is some really bad feelings between you,” I said.

  The doctor stared at me for a moment and I thought that she was going to com
pletely blow me off. Then she did something that made me regret ever asking or thinking that I could ask anything. She smiled.

  “So you picked up on that, did you? Seems like we chose the right boy…er…young man,” Dr. Zahn said with a laugh.

  I have no idea what she is talking about, but I figure the best thing to do is keep my mouth shut. Maybe, if I am lucky, she will make this as clear as mud for me.

  “Jon and I simply have a difference of opinion in regards to a few things,” Dr. Zahn sighed. “I don’t want to burden you with a bunch of nonsense that we will probably be able to handle between ourselves. Just, do me a favor?”

  “Yes, ma’am?”

  “Be careful. We don’t know anything about these people. The only reason that I even agreed to involve you is because Jon has so much on his plate right now, and I don’t believe that he will be as vigilant with these people as he should.”

  I left the doctor’s little office even more confused. So at least I know that there is something going on between her and Jon. I was worried that I might be imagining things.

  I stopped by the table and scooped up a bowl of soup. After only a couple of spoonfuls, I was done. I gave up expecting something rich and hearty a long time ago. But this was just barely above dishwater. It was thin and had almost no flavor. Slipping in to the back, I ran in to Melissa and Cheryl. They were standing just inside the storage closet.

  “How’s everything?” I asked as I walked up. I took a peek inside the closet without trying to make it obvious. Just as I suspected. The shelves were looking pretty bare.

  “Oh, hi there, Billy,” Melissa said with a glance my way.

  Even in that quick look at her face, I could see that her eyes were still rimmed with red and kind of swollen. I wonder if she will ever reach a point where she is okay. I remember when we first found her. She was a total basket case. In fact, we almost left her behind when we were evacuating that FEMA shelter at my high school. If it wasn’t for Teresa…I doubt that Melissa would be here now.

  “Getting stuff out for dinner?” I asked as I reached down and picked up the plastic container full of cans.

  I noticed a variety of canned vegetables. But it was mostly those ones like the kind my mom would give away at canned food drives. I saw garbanzo beans, refried beans, string beans, lima beans…well I guess I knew what we were having for dinner. Maybe I would take the night watch. The sleeping quarters would be ripe tonight for sure.

  “Yeah,” both ladies said with distant voices.

  I carried the tub to the counter and set it down. They didn’t even seem to notice. Maybe the doctor is right. Maybe I don’t exist on anybody’s radar. I headed back out to the main room. A few of Gabe’s people were over at a table. It looked like they were cleaning their weapons, sharpening blades, that sort of thing. I went over to a chair nearby and flopped down.

  “…we were going to try and make it to a real outpost,” one of the soldiers was saying. “This place is a bunch of women and kids. He can’t seriously be thinking of staying here.”

  “It looks like it,” another soldier said. This one was a female. She had a jaw that stuck out, and a smashed in face that made her look more masculine than most of the guys sitting around the table with her. But her eyes; they were this bright blue. Probably the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen in my life. “But maybe it won’t be so bad. These people got pretty decent security in place. You see that trench? That had to take some serious work.”

  “I just don’t want to be a freakin’ babysitter for the rest of my life,” one of the other men grumbled.

  “You wanna take your chances out there with the stiffs? Spend every night hoping you can find a place that is defensible enough to get a few hours sleep?” the female shot back. “Me, I’m ready to settle in. This place ain’t too bad…we could do worse…we almost did.”

  “Well if that soup is any indication, this place is running low on supplies.” This guy looked Asian. And I don’t know how he was managing it, but his head was shaved smooth. Not even the slightest bit of stubble showed.

  “Yeah, I was noticing that,” the female said.

  Well, this was boring. I got up and headed out to the porch. Looking around, I saw a Jon, Gabe, and a few other soldiers down at the far end of the parking lot. They were in a pretty deep conversation by the looks of it. Glancing around, I saw that I could actually move down the far end of the shoveled out lot and be just on the other side of a bank of snow from them.

  A tingle of adrenaline started churning in my belly. Of course that made me immediately have to pee. I ignored the building pressure in my bladder and went to the far end of the porch where I eventually passed outside the field of vision of Jon or the others. I went to the edge of the parking lot and started heading their way. Halfway there, I realized the flaw in my plan. Looking up, I could see the crow’s nest. Melinda was still on watch, but she just seemed to be leaning on the edge and staring out into space.

  I moved up until I could start to hear voices, then crept in as slow and quiet as possible. I could already tell that the conversation was a heated one.

  “…and this Zahn lady just let her go while you were on this run?” I hear Gabe. His smoothness is gone and I am starting to wonder if that thing he does with his voice is something that he switches to on purpose when he meets people to try and set them at ease because he is so damn huge.

  Then another thought hits. I realize that I have not seen Shelly since we got back. I guess I didn’t think about it because she is always kept locked away. But that room is where the so-called meeting of the adults took place. Why would Dr. Zahn let her go?

  “I still haven’t gotten much out of Miss Zahn,” I hear Jon say.

  I realize right then that he is very good at being a great big liar. I would have to think every time I spoke to keep from calling her a doctor. The fact that he is still keeping that a secret is probably important. I just wish I could figure it out.

  “She let the girl go the morning after we left. So at least she was smart enough to realize that the girl could be a threat,” Jake spoke up.

  “Don’t seem to me like you got a real handle on this place, man,” a voice thick with what sounds like a New York accent—and by that I mean he sounds like Tony Soprano—says with what can only be anger. But then, from what I ever saw on television, people from New York are always mad…so that may just be how he talks.

  “I already told you, I don’t run things here,” Jon says. “We are a group. Our decisions are made as a group. We try to keep a little democracy alive.”

  “A lot of good that seems to have done you,” Phony Soprano snorts. “Lost all your men and got nothing left but women and children to handle your business.”

  “Easy, Gino,” I hear Gabe say, and I almost blow a lung trying not to laugh. The guy is a living stereotype. “These people have done pretty well for themselves. They have at least the basics covered with security. There is a ready water source, if my guess is correct on the boxes that I saw in that one corner, they at least have some of the stuff in place to put in a solar power set-up. And that trench is an engineering marvel. Your people must have been busting humps all summer long.”

  “Yeah, and our only shortcoming is supplies. The problem that we have is not having any way to get enough of what we need up here. We have one Snow Cat with a small flatbed trailer. It looks like a lot of food when you load it down, but we go through it much faster.” I could hear something in Jon’s voice that sounded like real concern. So the food situation was at least as bad as I imagined. Score one for the kid.

  “Why not hit someplace like La Grande?” Gabe asked. “According to the map I have, it isn’t that far from here. There has got to be some stuff worth plucking from there.”

  “First…it’s farther than it looks. Not too many transport trucks making runs these days. We have made a few trips to the edges, but we can’t get in deep,” Jon explains. “The problem has always been that it is only two or three of us
on a run. Not enough to deal with what I have been seeing.”

  “Which is?” a female voice pipes up. It must be the blonde with the real pretty face. I say this because I know where the manly looking one is and the other female is Hispanic and has a thicker accent than little Thalia.

  “There are some organized groups forming down in the valley. These are not friendly types. I have seen two separate engagements between what must be rival factions…” Jon explained.

  This was all news to me. I had never heard anything about it being this serious. I wonder if Steve knew. I wonder if Dr. Zahn knows. It seems to me like maybe Jon is keeping secrets. Then I hear something that sinks its hooks into the part of my brain that pays attention.

  “…if we establish control here and take charge, then I think we can really make this place into something,” Gabe says.

  “I’m not sure these folks want military control over their lives,” Jon argues.

  “They ain’t gotta like it…they just gotta accept it,” Gabe replies. “The way I see it, they need us more than we need them. If we up and left, I’d be willing to bet we could return in six months to find this place empty.”

  “And that’d be a real shame,” Gino said with a tone to his voice that made the hair on my neck stand up. “Couple of those little chickens look ripe for plucking. Hell, even the pregnant one still looks nice.”

  “You are a pig, Carlucci,” the female voice mutters.

  “Yeah, Nelson?” I hear Gino retort. “Well I bet if you wasn’t getting’ the bone from Gibbs on the regular, you’d probably be itchin’ and bitchin’ yourself.”

  “And you know what, Carlucci, I still wouldn’t fuck you.”

  “Lesbian.”

  “Greaseball.”

  “Enough, you two!” Gabe snaps. “We have more pressing issues.”

  “I got an issue needs pressing,” Gino Carlucci mutters loud enough to be heard.

  “I said stow it!” I hear Gabe bark. I also hear a bit of noise like somebody getting smacked. “We have things that need to be settled…and in a hurry. I don’t want people to wonder what is up. If that watch up in the tower was paying any attention, folks would probably already be getting a bit curious.”