Annette said to me, “I can tell Doctor Robbins totally pissed you off. Are you over it?”
“Yeah, I’ve had my say.” I cast a pointed look at Vicky. “I hope he understands if he ever touches me again, I’ll break the part that does.”
Annette said, “You’ll have help.”
“I don’t need help?”
Annette grinned, “Shut up Tempest. I think the best thing for you would be a cool-off period. From what I understand, we’re out of food here. Besides that, back at the ranch they must have started to worry about us by now. You should make a supply run and let em know what’s going on.”
I’d already planned to do that, but didn’t say so. Let her think it was her idea.
“I’ll do that. What I need to do is bring a few others with more trucks for another trip to the Walmart.”
“Go for it, but don’t dally. When I say “Out of food,” I mean that they are out of food.”
I gave her a smile, “When have I ever dallied?”
“I’m craving some applesauce.”
*******
I let Jeffry know I was leaving on a supply run to the ranch.
He said, “Just so you know, if I’d known what Doctor Robbins was up to when he left the kitchen this morning, he’d have never made it to you. I may have inadvertently caused him to go off. He asked about your trip to the Walmart and I began with; ‘She killed every one of them except the children and their teacher’.
“I don’t think he understood the totality of the evil those sons-a-bitches were up to. I just finished making sure he does. The doctor is a good man, but he’s—.”
“Everybody keeps saying that, but it wasn’t their body his foot was kicking. His problems are his, not mine. I’ve made myself clear what will happen if there’s ever a repeat. I’m over it.”
Jeffry nodded and pointed to the coffee table, “Good. Hey…, I cleaned your pistol and rifle.”
“Thanks. Take care of these people while I’m gone.”
He flipped me a sloppy salute. “Yes mam, Captain Tempest.”
In tune, I said, “You need to tighten up, soldier. Work on that salute.
Climbing into the dump truck, I heard my name called and turned to see Doctor Robbins running toward me.
Out of breath, he said, “I wanted to catch you before you left. Tempest, there is no excuse for my behavior this morning and I won’t attempt one. I want you to know that I am sorry, to apologize. I hope—.”
“Consider it done. Listen, I know you’re going through a personal mess. These are dangerous times. You’ve been secluded here, but the world you knew is no more. Bad people are roaming and bad people are killing. Those I killed yesterday were the murderers, not I, but they found judgment day.”
The doctor shuddered, “I don’t know how to relate to you. You’re a young girl, but you are… you are….”
“Let me say it for you. My appearance is disarming, but my psychotic attitude is freaking scary. Does that nail it?”
He shuddered again. “Yes.”
“Be glad I’m on your side because know this; I will continue to kill anyone who poses a danger to me or those under my watch. That is how I am approaching the mess that crazy old rich people have laid on the world.
“Here’s how bad it is out here. Anytime someone is out of your sight, that last time you saw them might be the last time you’ll see them.”
“Jeffry has made that clear. He also told me about the unbelievable horrors you’ve experienced. Be careful Tempest. Don’t let this be the last time I see you.”
“You’ll see me again. I have great confidence that I will persevere and triumph over all adversity and will continue to live life with great vigor and vitality.”
He started to respond, but I beat him to it. “I was messing with you. I’ll be careful.” I waved him toward the house. “I’m done talking now.”
I did the maximum speed the twisty roads allowed. Forty minutes saw me climbing from the dump truck in the circular drive in front of the ranch house. Those inside had heard my arrival and poured out to greet me.
Jules was the first to reach me. With worry written on his face, he asked, “Why are you alone? Where are Jeffry and Annette?”
“We ran into trouble up in Jackson. Annette has a bullet hole in her chest. She and Jeffry are in Henderson at Doctor Robbins’s clinic.”
Abby, was right behind Jules, but missed what I’d said. “You’d better not have bad news. Where’s my husband?”
Jules answered, “Jeffry’s all right but Annette was shot.”
“Is she dead?”
I answered, “No, but she’s too injured to move.” I turned to the gathering crowd of people. “I’m thirsty. I hope there’s coffee. I have toilet paper and dog food in the cab of the truck. Let’s grab it and go inside. I’ll fill you in on everything that’s happened. It’ll need to be quick because there’s a lot to get done today.”
Maggie, standing with Vikas and Preeja took my hand and spoke to the children on the fringe of the gathering. “You young’uns make yourselves useful and bring in the toilet paper and dog food.” Then speaking to me, she said, “We’ll put on a pot. Are you hungry?”
“I could eat.”
Every adult wanted to know what happened while Jeffry, Annette and I were out; they fed me in the dining room where everyone had a seat. Cramming real food and gulping fresh brewed coffee, between swallows and gulps I told the saga of our venture from the ranch.
During the telling, their expressions went through changes, anger, mad, sad, and disbelieving. I left out my clashes with Jeffry and Doctor Robbins because it was none of their business. In the end, it boiled down to the entire bunch including children, were packing for a trip to scavenge the Walmart. They would gather the teacher and children, reclaim the tanker of diesel fuel, pick up Annette and Jeffry, and then move the Robbins, clinic and all to the ranch.
Per Jules, “We haven’t had a visitor ever since you and Annette showed up. The ranch will keep itself.”
Per Preeja, “We must take copious supplies to the clinic. You will leave me there while you go to the Walmart. I will feed our Annette and the Robbins’ back to health.
Per Deborah, David’s wife, “That many children will fill the bunkhouse to overflowing.”
Per Jules, “There are several places along highway 45 that sell storage buildings and unfinished modular houses. We’ll bring in some of those. I’m sure we’ll find resources at the building material supply in Henderson to finish them out.”
Per me, “You all had better plan on several days and a great number of trips back and forth.”
Per David, “If the tow truck can tow a tanker surely it can pull a container. We’ll hook to an empty one and use the propane lifts at the Walmart to load it at the dock.”
I’d told them about blowing up the snipers den, but I don’t think they could picture the nasty mess back on the loading dock of the Walmart.
Again, per me, “All of that is going to take time to organize. I’ll use my four-wheeler and run over some immediate supplies to the Robbins’s. Is there warm water for a shower?”
Maggie said, “Always, now that we have power. Oh, David hooked two of the tow-behind solar units into our system. The other one he parked next to the well. The well now has its own dedicated power unit.”
I nodded to David and said to Maggie, “I’ll take that as a yes on the shower. Could you have someone hook my trailer to the four-wheeler and top off the fuel tank?
“Preeja, Maggie; Annette is on a soft diet. She sends a request for applesauce. Add anything else ya’ll think’s appropriate.”
Two hours later, on my way to the clinic with a trailer load of food and other supplies, I discovered that being on the four-wheeler was like being with an old friend… it felt right.
Passing by the shoved aside barricade at the community, I stopped and studied the scattered remains of the man I’d shot; the plague ridden suffering one who couldn’t kill hims
elf because he felt the sin of it would keep him from joining his family in some sort of afterlife.
Varmints and buzzards had torn the skeleton apart; several pieces were missing… I found myself having to block a silly rhyme, ‘Here a bone, there a bone, everywhere a bone, bone,’ that hooked onto my mind.
I got off the four-wheeler to examine the, bug, varmint and weather-cleaned skull. My bullet went through the back of his head and out over the brow of his left eye. I’m sure his death was quick. I almost tossed his skull to the pavement, thought better of such disrespect, not that it mattered, but decided to set it on top of a hay bale… turned it so his eye sockets had a view of an open field bordered by trees.
On a whim, instead of using State Route 100 to take ne directly to highway 45, I turned off at Main Street to drive through Henderson. Passing by the library, I noted myself, ‘Soon go there and take the books you want’.
At the armory, I turned into the entrance drive but stopped before making the turn leading to the rear of the warehouse. On foot, I approached the forced rollup door.
Not expecting to see anyone, I peered around the edge and did see someone. An old man was pushing a grocery cart loading it from the pallets of food. Slung from a shoulder was a rifle, an old one. Holstered at his side was a pistol.
I stepping into view and leveled my rifle on him. “Are you the old man who’s been shooting at people?”
I startled him. His hand moved toward his pistol. A shot fired onto the concrete beside him and my shout, “Draw it and you’re dead,” convinced him not to.
“I ain’t bothering you, girl. Leave me alone.”
I ignored his request. “I’ve seen you around town before this mess started. You were homeless.”
“No, I’ve never been homeless. Homeless is a state of mind. Leave me alone, goddamn you!”
“I’ll respect that, but you may want to consider not shooting at people. Eventually someone will find you in their sights and pull the trigger.”
“You just want me out of the way so’s you can finish robbing the town of food. There are us here who need it.”
I lowered the barrel of my rifle to point at the pavement. “Then rest assured that we won’t take much more. We may come for more heavy equipment from the county works.”
“I don’t give a damn about the equipment, just make sure you leave us plenty.”
“I’ll give you my word. Will you give yours not to shoot at us?”
“Have you all got a real place to live where it’s safe?”
“We’re working on making one.”
“How about taking the kids I got. I ain’t the parenting sort.”
“Where’d you get the children?”
“They’s ones left alive from the sickness what’s parents are dead. I come across them now and then. Found a baby way back at the beginning but I reckon I killed it out of ignorance about em. It was a little bitty thing. I fed it milk, but it got to crying one day and cried itself to death.”
“How many children do you have?”
“Three; there’s two boys and a girl. They ain’t much bigger than babies, but they walks. I wish they didn’t because I get addled drunk and sometimes they wander off and I have to go looking for em. I ain’t no fit daddy for em. I could leash em with collars, but that ain’t even fit treatment for a dog.”
“Are there any other grownups in town?”
“A few, but they don’t wander far from their homes. I asked’em to take the children but they told me to fuck off.
“How many is a few.”
“Five,” was his definitive answer.
I mentally gave him credit for being an honest man without self-delusions. “If we take the children, will you promise to stop shooting at people?”
“You’ll have to take all of em; one’s as bad as a bunch.”
“You can call it a done deal. The next time we’re in town and you hear three gunshots in a row, that’ll be the signal to bring them to us.”
His toothless smile showed I’d taken a load off his incapable shoulders. “I’ll do that. I’m tired of talking to you now. I’m getting back to moving some of this before some other greedy mother fuckers show up.”
Hey, he was a man after my own heart. “That’s good, because I’m tired of talking to you.”
Instead of continuing through town, I returned to the highway and made a beeline to the veterinary clinic. Jeffry was on guard near the door and heard my arrival. He came out to greet me, saw the loaded trailer, waved to it and said, “In the nick of time. Without this, supper was an MRE divided three ways with a dollop of canned turnip greens as a side.”
“How is Annette?”
“She’s having difficulty drawing breath, but she’s in good spirits. How about you; are you in good spirits?”
“If you’re asking if I’m over the way Doctor Robbins treated me this morning, yeah, I’m good. As much as he pissed me off, I have to keep in mind that he saved Annette’s life and that he’s the nearest thing we have to a real doctor… Oh yeah, how about some joyous news, you can add another three children to the menagerie you want to load up on.”
“How’s that?”
“I’ll tell you about it inside.” I pointed to the back seat of my four-wheeler. “Let’s take in a load. Grab the basket on top. Maggie sent some sort of casserole and homemade bread.”
He lifted the basket from the top of a box of other supplies. “I can tell by the smell that Preeja had a hand in the cooking.”
Lifting a box of canned goods, I said, “Yeah, and I’m starving. Let’s go eat. We need to hurry at it. The entire bunch from the ranch could show up any minute.”
Doctor Robbins and Vicky were on the porch waiting for us. Vicky saw the basket Jeffry carried and said, “Tell me you’re bringing something ready to eat.”
Beside me, Jeffry chuckled, shouted, “Yep,” and said to me in a low voice, “Wait until they sample the fare we eat at the ranch. That’ll cement their commitment to move.”
Inside, I set the box of food on a kitchen counter. Vicky began going through it. “Food for our patient. I know you’ll want to see Annette. Take a bowl of applesauce with you. I’ll warm a can of tomato soup.”
She opened the applesauce and spooned half of it into a bowl. “Lord I’m so hungry I could finish this off from the can.”
I took the bowl and spoon from her hands and said, “Have at it. There’s a case in the trailer.”
Annette’s face lit when I entered the room. With a raspy, weak voice, she asked, “How was the trip? Is everyone okay at the ranch?”
“Good and yes. I got your applesauce.”
“I’m under doctor’s orders not to sit up. You’ll have to spoon it… Christ, this sucks. Have you ever had to do your business in a bed pan?”
“No, and I’m glad of it. You look better than you did this morning.”
“I feel better, but I’m short of breath any time I try to move. Doctor Robbins says the bullet hole in my lung will heal itself. The heavy bleeding came from a severed blood vessel. He’s worried his supply of antibiotics might be too old to be effective, but I’m on em anyway.”
I spooned a spoonful from the bowl. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah, feed me, mama.”
Moving the spoon to her lips, I said, “I thought you city folks had mothers.”
That was it for talking. She’d swallow and immediately open her mouth for another spoonful. Vicky came in with a bowl of tomato soup toward the last of it. I took the bowl from her.
“I’ve got this. You and the men should eat the casserole we brought.”
Annette said, “I want some, just a little bit after my soup.”
I looked to Vicky. She said, “I’m sorry. We can’t take a chance on her coughing.”
To Annette I said, “No casserole, but if you’re still hungry after the tomato soup, we can warm a can of chicken noodle soup and strain out the chicken and noodles.”
We watched Vicky leave and the
n Annette made a disappointed face. “Crap, I hate this.”
I patted her arm. “I know you do, but there is a bright side. There’s more for the rest of us.”
She stuck out her tongue. “As soon as I can draw a full breath, I’m going to punish you for that.”
“Good luck with that. Don’t bring your martial arts to a gun fight.”
She swallowed a spoon of tomato soup. “Do you know what I think we should do? We should find pistols and holsters made for quick draw and practice until we can draw and fire in a blur of speed.”
“You want us to be gunslingers?”
“Yeah, we’ll be gunslingers.”
“I laughed. “ They’ll write sagas about us, ‘Tempest of Tennessee and her sidekick, Annette’.”
“No, Annette of Tennessee and her sidekick, Tempest.”
I shook my head. “Say em both out loud. Yours has the wrong ring to it. It’s my way or the highway.”
“Shut up and spoon me some soup.”
I gave her more to shut her up. One thing struck me. Her idea was a good one. I’d find us some proper holsters and pistols for quick drawing.
From Annette’s room, I followed the odor of fresh-brewed coffee. Entering the dining room, the three at the table, empty plates in front of them, greeted me. Vicky waved me to a chair with a steaming cup and a steaming plate in front of it.
“Be careful. I had it in the oven to warm, but it’s hot instead. Jeffry said you take your coffee black.”
I looked at the size of the empty casserole dish and the oversized serving on my plate and knew the Robbins’s were still hungry. Sitting, I said, I’m sorry, I meant to tell you I’d eaten before I returned. I will take the coffee though.”
Already reaching for my plate, Vicky asked, “Are you sure?”
Picked up my cup and blew across the top. “Yeah, I’m good.”
She moved the plate toward Jeffry but he waved it away. “I’m stuffed.”
Tempest of Tennessee (Episode 3): Tempest of Tennessee Page 8