“Frank,” her voice was low.
“No.” He shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. I was confused, only I confused myself.”
“Frank, stop it.” She lowered her hands in frustration to his rambling and snapped, “Stop. You weren’t wrong, OK?”
“What?”
Ellen’s eyes widened and she lifted her head in panic. “I mean ...”
“El? What are you saying?”
“Nothing. I mean, you uh ... you were wrong, but ... you uh.”
“El, too late. You said it.”
“Said what?”
“That I wasn’t wrong.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Yes it was.” Frank nudged his shoulder into her.
“No.”
“Yes it was.” Frank drew a smirk upon his face as he stared forward. He was silent for a second and then he turned his head to her with a smile. “El? You still love me, don’t you?”
“Frank.”
“Tell me.”
“No.”
“Come on tell me.”
“No.”
“I still love you.”
“Frank.”
“All right.” He chuckled and picked up his cloth sack. “Sunflower seed?”
“Yes.” She let out a silent breath and grabbed a few. “Frank, can I tell you something.”
“What’s that?”
“I am sorry I aimed at you last night. I was thinking about it and I’m sorry.”
“I was thinking about it too.” Frank ate a seed. “And don’t apologize. You had every right to aim at me. Not to shoot the gun, but to aim and try to scare me. Which ... which you did.”
“You didn’t show it.”
“You think I would?” Frank took a breath. “I should not have gone after my friend like that. I shouldn’t have. I was wrong, really wrong.” Frank tossed out the seeds and his head dropped as he folded his hands. “I still feel really bad about it. In fact, more than you realize, I feel guilt over it.”
Ellen slid her hand, first down his forearm then to his joined hands, slipping her fingers in between them. “You’ll get through this.” She leaned to him then rested her head against his arm. “If you need to talk ...”
“I know.” He released her fingers and brought his hand to her face, holding her against him for a second, then tilted his head in to her and kissed Ellen on the forehead. He smiled after. He saw, through the corner of his eyes, Ellen looking up at him and he lowered his head. As he did, Ellen raised hers and he just stared at her. Opening his mouth to say something, anything at that moment, Frank’s entire view shifted from Ellen when Dean’s call for her came from the lab. “You uh ... you’d better get back to him.”
“You wanna come in?”
“No. That shit is boring. I’ll see you at Receiving when the new Survivors get here.” Frank chuckled when he heard her whine. He squeezed her hand. “I gotta go.” He stood up, holding Ellen’s hand. “Thanks for the talk.”
Ellen looked up as she still sat on the step. “Thank you too.”
“Anytime.” Frank gave that cool appearance then stepped back, ready to release her hand. Before he did, he stepped into her, raised her fingers to his mouth and kissed them. “Friend.”
Ellen smiled at him. “Friend.” She stood up clutching his hand once more and feeling every bit of his skin as he slipped his hand slowly from hers. “Bye, Frank.”
Frank watched her start to go into the lab. “Hey, El?”
“Yeah?” She turned to look back, opening the door.
“If you run into Andrea in town, can you tell her I’m really busy?”
“Sure. I know Dean’s vision is a secret. I won’t tell her you’re helping him.”
“No, that’s not it. She wants to measure me.”
“Measure you? For the wedding?”
“No. Get this. For a sweater.” He heard Ellen laugh. “Yeah. She says I’m in need of a good sweater for the winter. Me, a sweater. What is up with her lately? She is all fuckin loopy and shit.” Frank dramatically shuddered. “Anyhow, cover for me.”
“I will, only because I can’t envision you in a sweater.”
Raising his eyebrows high, Frank waved. “See you at Receiving.”
She watched him briefly while holding the door open, then Ellen went into the mobile lab and chuckled as she did. “A sweater.” She pulled the door closed and stopped cold. “What is up with Andrea lately?”
<><><><>
The moment Robbie stepped off the helicopter, he could see the distress across Cole’s face. Not that Robbie cared whether Cole was upset or not, but he could see it. Unloading the extra ammunition, Robbie instructed Johnny to power down the chopper and hang out for a few minutes while Gene got everything together. There was no reason, if there was going to be trouble, to pull a seventy-year-old man with tuxedos into it. It didn’t take long for Gene to be ready. He was more than willing to take the short route home. Loaded down with his tuxes, shoes, and shirts in plastic bags, Gene anxiously awaited Johnny to take him home. Johnny’s reputation for causing airsickness wasn’t even on Gene’s mind.
Johnny slid the side door closed. “So, Uncle Robbie, you want me to hang out a few minutes more.”
“Nah, go on. But make a sweep around and keep in radio contact with me. Got it?”
“Yep.” Johnny put on his sunglasses. “Be careful.”
“Got it.” Backing away, Robbie gave a thumbs-up as he watched his nephew get into the helicopter, then he himself walked over to Cole as the noisy bird lifted. “Cole.”
“Robbie.”
“How’s the metal run going?”
“Good. Another hour and we’ll be ready to head out.”
“So I see our dead SUTs. Where are our hero Survivors?”
“Get this.” Cole raised his eyebrows. “Getting ready.”
“Getting ready? Getting ready for what?”
“To go to Beginnings. They want to make a good impression. They heard we’re picky.”
“We are.”
“They’re weird.”
“No kidding?” Robbie grinned. “When aren’t Survivors weird? Pretty whacked-out then?”
“Did you ever sit in a room with Ellen and Henry for about, say ... two minutes?” Cole asked.
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“They are worse. Ten times worse. Only one problem though, Robbie. They’re civilized, completely civilized. You can tell by looking at them they had lived in a civilization for a while, among people. They just don’t have that look.”
“And now they’re getting ready.”
Cole nodded, looking so annoyed. “I think the one is getting a haircut.”
This shocked Robbie. “A haircut?”
“Oh sure. One of them was a barber.”
A grin, a wide grin. “You do know, Cole, we don’t have a barber in Beginnings.”
“It never fazed me, Robbie. I just shave my head when my hair gets to me.”
“Yeah, but you’re not attractive.” Robbie playfully elbowed him.
“Ha, ha, ha. According to Danny, the new guy, I don’t smell very nice either.”
Robbie leaned to him and sniffed. “Come to think about it you ...” Across the street, the figure of the thin man backing up caught Robbie’s attention. Robbie squinted, focusing against the bright sun. “That looks an awful lot like ...” He watched Danny, no shirt, wearing only his jeans, back up and look to the sky, watching the helicopter. As his head tilted back, his black hair looked even longer. “It looks like Henry.”
“That’s because he has that long-ass hair,” Cole snipped. “Wait until he turns around.”
When Danny did, Robbie agreed. “I see. Hey!” Robbie called to him, then motioned his hand for Danny to come over. “What’s he doing?” Robbie asked Cole, when he saw Danny go back into the building and come out with Bentley. “Look at these two.”
Danny was bright and upbeat when he walked over to Robbie. “Hey.” He held
out his hand. “Danny Hoi. Nice to meet you.”
“Robbie. Robbie Slagel.” Robbie shook his hand then shook Bentley’s. “You’re coming with us?”
Danny nodded with a raise of his hand. “If you’ll have us.”
“We’ll have you, especially since you helped out our men. I’m in Security in Beginnings.”
“Security? So this place is pretty safe?” Danny asked.
“More so than anywhere in this country,” Robbie spoke with certainty.
“Let me ask you this,” Danny said, “are there, are there women in your town?”
“Oh yeah.” Robbie saw Danny grin wide. “But ... unfortunately they’re all taken. Some have two or three men.”
“Can we talk to them?” Danny asked. “I mean strike up a conversation, sit with them, or do we run the risk of getting killed.”
“Not many of our women show violent tendencies.” Robbie smiled at the same time Danny did. “Of course you can talk to them. Some you may not want to but you’ll weed the weird ones out.”
“Excellent. It has been forever since I spoke to a woman.” Danny shook his head. “Over a year since I’ve seen one and the ones before, that I did see, you couldn’t even look at them.”
“It’s not that way in Beginnings. And ... you picked a good day to arrive. Our women are on a feminine kick today. Clothing Division just made them all these little flat shoes, only they aren’t flat. They have a heel. All of them are dressed up today. They look good.”
“Clothing Division? Whoa. I can’t wait until I get there.” Danny started backing up and grabbed Bentley’s arm. “In fact with women there, I’d better cut this hair. I hope you guys can find a use for me in there. I can be useful.”
“What exactly did you do in the old world?” Robbie called out asking as Danny walked away. Expecting for certain Danny would say waiter, actor, something like that.
“Oh.” Danny stepped closer. “I was an ...” A beeping sound stopped Danny from speaking and immediately a panicked look took over him. “Shit. Bent, our guns.” The beeping grew louder as Danny reached behind him to the back waist of his pants.
“What ...” Robbie looked around. “What is that beeping?”
Danny pulled out what used to be a handheld video game. “Shit.” He looked at the display. “They’re close.” He looked up at Robbie. “You guys have guns, right? Get them ready.” Danny looked down again.
“What? What are you rambling about?” Robbie tried to remain calm.
“Those things.” Danny pointed to the SUTs. “They’re coming. Twenty ... twenty-two of them.”
“Twenty-two?” Robbie was stunned. “How do you know?”
“I know.” Danny looked at his contraption. “And close. Shit.” He spun around. “Get your guns. North, south ... west ... seventy-five feet, seventy feet ...” The beeping grew faster and Danny hurried back. “Bent, we’ll hit the roof.”
“Hold it.” Robbie positioned his M-16. “Cole, you and your men follow them. Danny,” Robbie called to him. “Can you really tell when they’re closing in?”
“They are.”
“Can you stay here? I guarantee you’ll be safe. I need you to let me know when they are right here.”
Danny looked at Bentley and then motioned his head to him to show Cole and his guys the roof. “All right.”
“Thanks.” Robbie loaded up his M-16 203 with a small gas can. “Tell me when they are within fifteen feet and give me an approximate. I need to get close.”
“I can point you right at them.”
Robbie grinned widely. “If you can do that and I take them out with little problem, I’ll get you hooked up with a woman in Beginnings.”
“Just don’t get me killed right now. All right?”
“All right. Give me a direction.”
“Over by the bank.” Danny held out his hand. “Over there.” He pointed in another direction. “By the park.” He turned Robbie again. “And masses over by the old McDonald’s.”
“How far?”
“Thirty feet.”
Robbie rotated. “Too far. Anything closer?” He asked as he readied three more cans of gas.
“No. It’s like they’re all in synch.”
“No problem. Hold these.” Robbie handed him the gas cans.
“Twenty-five feet. What are these?”
“Called Phase Out.” Robbie lifted his radio. “Johnny, Johnny, come in. We have SUTs. Twenty-two. Head back and get ready to fire on them. You copy?”
“Got it, Uncle Robbie.”
Robbie hooked his radio on his belt. “How far now, Danny?”
“Fifteen feet.” He saw Robbie smile. “You see them?”
“I see them. When I tell you, you hand me the cans. And be fast. Ready ...” Robbie aimed upward. “Say goodbye.” A soft pop and a whistle emanated from the M-16. “Gas.” Robbie held out his hand, loaded the gun, shifted in a turn, and fired. “Gas!” Click, clank, shift, pop. And another turn. “Gas!” Again Robbie loaded and again Robbie fired. Whistles filled the air, then the sound of the gas cans letting loose. He grabbed hold of Danny’s arm and ran with him to the buildings, grabbing his radio as he did. “John. John, you read me?”
“Got you, Uncle Robbie. I see the gas working. I also see eleven of them not going down, unaffected.”
Boom! Robbie kicked forth the door of the building. “Can you get them?”
“Negative, they’re covered.”
“Can you see them now?” Robbie placed an ammunition clip in his weapon and lowered the radio. “Danny, go to the roof.”
Johnny came over the airwaves. “They’re hitting center town. They’re coming to that building you ran in. They saw you.”
“Danny hit the roof!” Robbie held up his M-16 and peered out the window seeing the SUTs moving toward him. “Fuck it.” Taking a deep breath, Robbie flung open the door to the building, held up the weapon in its automatic state, and ran out firing his weapon in a spraying motion, letting the searing, rapid bullets of the gun take out the SUTs loudly and with a slicing action.
Standing in the street amongst his single-man massacre of SUTs, Robbie, slightly out of breath, heard laughing. Wiping the back of his hand across his forehead he turned to the laughing to see Danny coming out of the building.
“That was great!” Danny came out. “That was really great. You must really be in practice or up against those things a lot. I’m up against those things a lot and I can’t take them out like that. Of course, I don’t have an M-16 either. Or that shit you fired in the air.” Danny ran out toward the bank. He saw a reddish-brown bubbling substance by the building. “Is that what’s left of them? What was that shit you fired at them? Holy hell.”
Robbie chuckled at Danny’s enthusiasm. His slight show of dementia told Robbie that Danny would get along just fine with him and Frank in Beginnings. Though Danny stood amazed, looking at what Robbie had done, he was clueless to the fact that Robbie stood amazed looking at Danny. Yes, Beginnings had the weapons, the gas, and the practice that Danny may not have had. But Danny had something Beginnings was nowhere near having. What they had been looking for, a possible first line of defense against the SUTs. Danny held that literally in the palm of his hand.
<><><><>
Ellen closed the last rabbit cage. “Ready to break for lunch, Dean? If I see any more rabbit puke, I’m not going to want to eat and you know how I get cranky when I don’t eat.”
“Yes, I know.” Dean felt his way to stand and made his way over to the sink to wash up with Ellen.
“All I had was a few sunflower seeds when Frank was up here.”
“Yes I know, Ellen, and I had to hear you bitch about how your lips are numb.”
“They aren’t numb now, Dean. Want to kiss me?” She didn’t get an answer. “Maybe not.” She flicked her wet hands at him, watched his annoyed look on his face, giggled, and walked to the door. “I’ll see you there. I brought us ...”
“El, you wanna wait? I still need you to gui
de me over there. I fell twice today on those steps between the mobiles. Stop laughing, it isn’t funny.”
“Sorry.” She grabbed his arm. “I’ll lead the way.”
“So what did Andrea want? She never comes up here.”
“Actually she wanted to measure you.” Ellen led him from the mobile “Step. She has learned a new ... step ... trade. Knitting.”
“Knitting?” Dean said with shock.
“She says she’s going to make every man ... step ... a new sweater. I told her ... step ... that’s a lot of sweaters.” She opened the trailer door. “I do see you in a sweater though, Dean. We’re in the hall of the trailer.”
“I gathered.” He reached his hand out feeling the wall to learn it. “Ellen, I just counted two steps down and two steps up.”
“Yes.”
“So why this afternoon, when I went to use the bathroom, did you tell me there were three steps.”
Ellen laughed. “Sorry.”
“It’s not funny.”
“I know. Sorry.” She brought him into the living area and then into the kitchen. “Chicken sandwich or jam?”
“Which one do you want?”
“I can’t decide. You decide.”
“I’ll have the chicken.” He heard Ellen whine. “Then I’ll have the jam. If you wanted the chicken why didn’t you say so?”
“I was being nice.” Ellen opened the refrigerator. “Frank made the sandwiches.”
“Swell.”
“You know what he said, Dean?” Ellen pulled out the lunches. “He said that if he and I were together when you lost your sight, he would let me help you.”
“And you believed him?”
“Oh sure I did. Milk or water?”
“Water. El ... Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad that Frank wants to help me, but he’s gonna really get in the way of us when I start to become self-sufficient.”
“I guess that’s something you’ll have to deal with.”
“Like him going on and on about you wearing a ...” Dean paused. “Are you really wearing a skirt today?”
“Sure I am, Dean.” Ellen replaced the milk back in the refrigerator. “You don’t believe me?”
“Well ...”
The Big Ten: The First Ten Books of the Beginnings Series Page 292