“Lance, you can’t show this to anyone,” Heath panted, moving back until he could lean against the wall.
Uncrossing his arms and letting them fall to his side, “You think I would show this to just anyone?” Lance asked, and Heath just panted, trying not to pass out. “Heath, you let your kids come here,” Lance said in a respectful tone. “You and Dwain entrusted us with your kids. That is a sign of trust I don’t know if I could ever give, and I am a kid. But I’ve heard my mom and dad talk about it, and you did it. Ian and I will never break that trust,” Lance finished and then grinned. “Even the man code excludes your kids being loaned out.”
Feeling very prideful, Heath pushed off the wall, turning to Lance. “We knew they were safe with you,” Heath confessed and then turned his head, looking side-to-side with wide eyes. “Hell, they are safer here with you than anything we can provide.”
“In time, you will,” Lance said, walking past him and heading out. “You guys need to stop thinking so rigidly and start learning.”
“We set up that laptop you gave Denny and started,” Heath assured Lance, following him out. Inside the shop, Heath had seen doors that looked like shipping containers on the wall behind the stacks of munitions. He knew Lance wasn’t telling him everything, and he was thankful because he wasn’t asking. Heath was flattered at the trust, but if he ever got captured by someone, he didn’t want to know what all was here. There was no doubt in Heath’s mind, if something happened to him, Lance and Ian, teenage boys that acted like men, would protect his family.
As they walked to the cabin, Lance pointed at the two RV awnings on each side of the cabin. “We’re enclosing those to make storage rooms, but it will be a little bit before we start that,” Lance said, and Heath looked at the stacks of stuff along the ATV shed, like everything else, stacked neatly.
“Why did you dismantle that truck?” Heath stopped, pointing at a frame with little else.
“Recycling metal, dude, and getting the electronics,” Lance laughed. “There was another one, but it’s all gone.”
They walked onto the porch as Dwain walked out with Ian, carrying sheets of steaks. Heath saw the slabs of marinated meat and his mouth watered instantly. Walking over, Ian opened the grill and placed the slabs on the racks. “Jennifer is still ranting about us burning the steaks,” Ian grumbled, closing the grill.
“Ian,” Dwain said, taking the pans. “Trust me, let it go.”
Nodding as Dwain moved to the door to carry the pans back in, “I’m finding that out,” Ian admitted, moving over with his key and opening the door for Dwain.
When Dwain went inside, Heath moved to his side by side. “Oh, guys, found something you asked me to keep an eye out for,” Heath said, stopping at the bed of his side by side and grunted, picking up a five-gallon bucket and carried it over before setting it down on the cement slab which formed the porch.
They looked inside to see the bucket was filled with silver coins. “That house had a safe and I finally got inside. That’s fifty pounds of silver,” Heath told them with a grin.
“We can stop looking for silver now,” Ian chuckled.
Watching Lance grab the tongs and open the grill, Heath chuckled as Lance inspected each steak and then closed the lid. “When will the next batch of bots be ready?” Heath asked.
“Three days, because we are making more changes,” Lance answered, putting the tongs down.
“What about bot one, are you going to rebuild it?” Heath asked.
“Would like to, but we think it would be faster to just make two new ones. The newest ones we put out I have programed to radio out the specs of what it did. The hydraulic bots are much more efficient but runs hotter, so we need to put a bigger fan in,” Lance said, and Heath looked at him, worried. “The radio is only a one watt, so unless they are close, we don’t have to worry.”
“How about you let us take the patrol area for the next few days?” Heath asked, expecting the boys to jump at it.
“Well, you don’t know how we patrol,” Lance said, grabbing the tongs again and this time, flipping the steaks.
Moving beside Lance and watching, “If we showed you, I guess, but we check the houses and area to see if anything has changed,” Ian said, breathing in the smell of steak.
As Dwain came out and Lance closed the grill, “Guys, we want to make a proposal,” Heath suggested, and Dwain nodded.
“What?” Ian asked, turning around.
“You are going to approach that group to the north. Let us do it,” Heath offered, and saw the boys frown. “Guys, we can’t lose you and I’m not ready for it. Nobody in my group wants to die, but let us take some risks like that. You can talk to them at the meeting like you did with us, but let us set up the meeting. Please. I’m not kidding. If they even looked at you two wrong, we would kill the entire group. Your group can teach us how to live through this.”
“How are you going to do it?” Lance asked.
“Leave them a message like you did for us,” Dwain said.
Lance and Ian looked at each other and nodded. “Okay,” Lance huffed, and Heath sighed with relief.
“Ian showed me the thermal camera you’re making,” Dwain said, and Heath looked over in shock. “Never thought I would see someone build one.”
“Don’t know why. You sound like Jennifer,” Lance scoffed. “If you can buy it, you can make it. Before this, it was just cheaper to buy it. Now, we have to make stuff just to have stuff.”
“Lance, you mind if I show Dwain what you showed me?” Heath asked.
“No, just don’t go where we didn’t,” Lance answered as Ian grabbed the tongs.
“On my word,” Heath vowed, heading for the greenhouse. Like Heath, Dwain was blown away. When they entered the shop, Dwain looked around while Heath explained. “They are something else, aren’t they?”
“I want to know what their parents did to make them like this,” Dwain mumbled.
“Whatever it is, it’s contagious. Hell, you know the trouble we had with Denny in school. He’s twelve years old and until coming here, had to use his fingers to do the multiplication table. Dwain, he’s inside studying on his own!” Heath cried out in pride.
Nodding, Dwain looked at Heath. “I know. Jodi told me all they did yesterday. Heath, she told me about helping build an electrical motor, and explained why there had to be so many loops of wire. I don’t know if she’s right, but damn it, it sounds good,” Dwain told him.
“Yeah, even Robin wants the kids to come back soon,” Heath grinned.
Staring at Heath for a few minutes, Dwain took a deep breath. “I’m asking Lance and Ian if Jodi can stay here with them,” Dwain admitted in a puff of air.
The grin fell off Heath’s face. “Kathy will kill your ass,” Heath warned.
Shaking his head, “She’s the one who told me to ask,” Dwain admitted in disbelief. “She told me the kids aren’t learning with us. Here, they are. Plus, we don’t have to worry about them wandering off.”
A dark look filled Heath’s face. “I swear, if Denny had been older, I would’ve beat his ass with my fist for sneaking off,” Heath growled. “We had just killed three stinkers in the yard and then he leads the others kids off to explore.”
Nodding vehemently, “Now we’ve seen lions, and they have tigers here. Who knows what else is roaming out there with the stinkers and marauders? It will be a long time till our place is as secure as this one is and even then, we can’t teach them like they can,” Dwain exclaimed.
“You think they will?” Heath asked, and Dwain shrugged.
“I don’t know, but Kathy said we would do whatever they asked, if Jodi could stay. They seem to like teaching and didn’t mind the kids being here, so I’m optimistic.”
Heading to the door, “Let me get Robin off to the side and talk to her,” Heath said. “We can ask them together.”
“Heath, we can never teach our kids what they can,” Dwain grunted, then cocked his head to the side. “Well, I guess we coul
d, but we would have to learn it first and then teach it, but by then, they wouldn’t be kids anymore.”
Glancing back to see Dwain following, “I know, Lance was explaining stuff like a military commander crossed with a scientist, and all I could do was nod,” Heath chuckled, seeing Ian flipping the steaks. “Those are going to be the most tended-to steaks we’ve ever eaten.”
When the steaks were done, they carried them in and found the table set and filled with food. The table was big enough for Ian and Lance’s family with extra room, so it fit the group with ease. It made them feel good to see most of the table occupied, since they normally only ate at one end.
With Lance and Lilly sitting at one end and Ian and Jennifer at the other, everyone sat down, and Robin did a double-take to see Lance open a bottle of red wine. Lance saw her look and cocked his head to the side. “It’s Sunday lunch. Don’t you have wine at Sunday lunch or supper?” he asked, and Robin looked at Heath and then back at Lance.
“Um, no,” Robin admitted.
“At least they put the good wine out here,” Allie smiled as Lance poured some in her glass. “I don’t like that dark red stuff, it tastes like paint.”
Robin relaxed, seeing Lance only pouring small amounts in all the wine glasses as he walked around the table. Just the way Lance was pouring it, she could tell he was copying a family tradition he had been taught. “I must say, this group was taught very well,” Robin smiled, looking at Heath.
“I never drank wine till I got here,” Lilly laughed.
“We never had soda in the house, but there was wine at every Sunday dinner,” Jennifer said as Lance sat down. “Bring a soda into our house, you got in trouble.”
The parents were shocked when everyone, including their kids, reached out to hold hands. Holding hands with the person next to them, they bowed their heads as Ian said grace. When grace was done, Lilly turned to the corner, “George, Judy, stop whining,” she snapped, and the German Shepherds laid down, sulking.
“They’re hungry,” Carrie whined.
“And they will eat later,” Lilly sighed, grabbing her glass of tea and hoping a battle wasn’t about to start.
Everyone dug in and enjoyed the atmosphere. When the meal was over, Heath and Dwain asked Lance and Ian to go outside. As they walked out, Lance saw Robin clasping her hands with her eyes closed like she was praying.
Sitting down with Heath and Dwain on the porch, Ian saw they were both nervous. “What’s wrong?” Ian asked.
“Okay, just hear me and Dwain out, but whatever you two decide, we will live with it and no hard feelings,” Heath blurted out and started talking. Several times, they had to tell him to slow down and relax. Then Dwain started. For over an hour, Lance and Ian listened to them beg, plead, reason, and justify about letting their kids stay.
Finally, Ian held up his hands for them to stop. When Ian did that, Heath and Dwain slumped down in their chairs in defeat. “Guys, we were going to ask you if they could stay,” Ian told them, and Dwain and Heath looked up in disbelief.
“Heath, Dwain, I’m sorry, but your kids don’t know shit,” Lance said with sympathy. “In the old world that didn’t matter, but your kids would die without you in minutes. I mean, they didn’t even brush their teeth two times a day.”
“Shit, Jodi looked at the ladybugs like they were crazy when they flossed before bed. Granted, they use the water pick more, but still,” Ian sighed with regret. “They stayed up late, teaching her how to floss.”
“Okay, that’s on me,” Dwain said. “I should’ve taught her better.”
“Dwain, if you don’t take care of the body, it won’t take care of you,” Lance said, and Dwain furrowed his brow, thinking something about that didn’t sound right, but it did sound good.
“So, what do we have to do to repay you?” Heath asked with relief.
“Tell them they have to follow the rules here,” Lance shrugged. “But I will say, when our parents get here and if they have a problem, then that’s the way it will be.”
“I understand,” Heath said, making quick calculations. “That will be almost two months, and I know that will make a huge difference.”
“Hey, they might not say they have to go, but we are just letting you know,” Ian explained.
“Aren’t you going to talk to the others?” Dwain asked.
Shaking his head, “No, we did that last night,” Ian told him. “Sorry, but we agreed they need to learn.”
“We will bring some clothes over for them tomorrow,” Heath said, feeling much better.
“No,” Lance stated flatly. “Lilly and Jennifer are going to show them how to make clothes. Sorry, but the stuff you’re wearing doesn’t hold up well and they will be working here. We know where to get other stuff they need, like boots and good tennis shoes.”
Ian looked over at Lance. “We can let them start on making some dressers tomorrow,” Ian said, and Lance nodded.
“Make?” Dwain mumbled.
“Yeah, make,” Ian said. “Of course, Jodi will get lots of help, but this will teach them you can make what you need. But most importantly, it will show them how to build and think.”
“I don’t want you going out to get stuff for my kids!” Heath cried out. “Tell me what you need for them.”
“That’s the problem,” Lance said. “You have to let them see they can do it. I didn’t say ‘I’ was going. But if you want to help, we need lumber. Real lumber that’s been treated.”
“What kind?” Dwain asked, pulling out a notepad and saw the boys looking at it. “You two always carry one and now, so do we.”
“Nice,” Lance grinned. “1x6s, 2x4s and 2x6s mostly, because they will have to make desks as well.”
“Oh, office chairs,” Ian added quickly. “Try to look for nice ones because they will be using them. We will keep an eye out too.”
“Don’t bother, I know where some are,” Dwain said, writing. “How much lumber are we talking about?”
“A lot,” Ian said. “How much you bring, decides how much they build to make their lives easier.”
Writing on the pad, “Heath, we can get the lumber from the Dunstan place, they were building that new shop addition and the chairs from the office. Both are secluded, so we can get it and go.”
“Where are these places?” Ian asked.
Heath pulled out the map Lance had given him and unfolded it. Moving over beside Lance and Ian, Heath pointed. “Same place, just across a parking lot. This is the new shop and here is the office,” he said.
“Dude, that’s two miles north of you!” Lance cried out. “That means it’s two miles outside our patrol area. We don’t know what’s up there.”
“Like you’ve said, I know it’s there and I don’t have to look around here,” Dwain said, looking up.
“When was the last time you saw it?” Ian asked.
“Rhonda saw it the day before we met you. She has been that far hunting,” Dwain told him.
“Yeah,” Heath chuckled. “She’s a country girl, as you can tell. We lived on the farm, and she grew up there. Dwain and I left the farm as soon as we could. She always went that way because there were fewer stinkers.”
“That could be good or bad,” Lance said.
“Bad how?” Dwain asked quickly.
“Are there a lot of stinkers around here?” Lance asked. “Why? Because we patrol and take out those in the woods where we stay.”
“Didn’t think of that,” Dwain sighed.
“Or it could just mean, the terrain there funnels them out naturally and from the looks of the map, that’s very possible,” Lance explained. “The point is, we’ll go with you. If for nothing else than pulling guard.”
Not liking Lance and Ian going, but knowing they were right, Heath nodded. “Okay, let’s tell the kids,” he said, getting up.
“No, let us,” Lance corrected, standing up. “You will present this as a free gift that’s not earned. We will present it as a commitment they must pledge to follow. No
thing given is respected, and what you earn is.”
Dwain moved to the door, waiting for them to open it. “Fine by me. My little girl was trying to explain how an electrical motor worked and I just nodded.”
Opening the door and walking inside, Lance called the kids to the sectional and looked at them with Ian standing beside him. “Lori, Denny, Jodi,” Lance said, looking at each one. “Your parents have asked us if you could stay.” The three sucked in breaths, clasping their hands hopefully.
“You’ve seen how we work here and it doesn’t stop. Learning is part of the work,” Ian told them and they all nodded. “We do take time off, like watching a movie at night, but if we stop, we will die. I want you to listen and think. Can you do what it takes to stay here if we agree?”
“Yes!” the three cried out, almost vibrating on the couch.
“If at any time, you interfere in our tasks, we will take you home and that’s the end of discussion,” Lance warned. “We will teach you and you don’t have to learn at our pace, but you do have to learn.”
With a huge smile, Denny looked at his sister and Jodi, then turned to Lance. “We will do our best to be our best,” Denny vowed.
“Okay, when our parents get here, if they say this ends, it ends,” Ian said, and saw the three’s excitement drop just a bit. “Will they? I doubt it, but it’s their call to make. Only rarely do we go against the prime directive, and this will not be one of them.”
Lilly jumped at hearing that and turned to look at the ladybugs standing beside her, holding hands and bouncing on their toes. “So, that confirms where the prime directive comes from,” Lilly mumbled to herself. “Nobody ever asked them if they broke the prime directive, so they’ve never lied.”
“You will have to work to set your area up. That means build your own desk, a dresser, and a chest like we did. We will help, but you will do it,” Lance said, and Jodi raised her hand.
“I hit my fingers with the hammer,” Jodi confessed in a small voice with her bottom lip trembling.
“You will use a screw gun, with us helping. We don’t use hammers much,” Lance told her, and Jodi sighed with relief. “Now tonight, Jennifer and Lilly are starting clothes. Our parents or I should say, our mothers, bought bolts of cloth for clothes. You will learn how to make pants like we wear, gloves like we wear, and vests like we wear. We will help, but you will do it.”
Forsaken World (Book 4): Dark Crossing Page 26