by Payne, T. L.
“What’s up, Ron? Did you miss me?” Rank asked as he slid in next to Maddie on the bench seat.
“I came to see if Lugnut would ride over to the sheriff’s office with me this morning. I wanted to see what he has discovered about…”
He’d barely spoke the words before the sound of a dirt bike approaching interrupted him.
Maddie heard Buster growling in the bedroom down the hall. A second later, the dog streaked past the door to the kitchen and ran toward the front door.
They all rose and walked out onto the front porch as Jacob rode up. Ron held onto Buster’s collar as the dirt bike came to a stop.
“What now?” Maddie asked.
“The boyfriend, Derek, is missing now,” Jacob said, removing his helmet and setting in on his seat.
His dark brown hair stood straight up. Maddie snickered under her breath. She added that to the things to dislike about him.
His hair is too long.
It was shorter than her last boyfriend, but she hadn’t discovered any other major flaws to help to distract her from flushing every time she saw him.
Yep, that’s it. His hair is too long.
She had to look away. The hair thing wasn’t working.
“What? How long?” Ron asked, stepping down to stand beside Jacob.
“Henry woke before daybreak and went in to find his room empty. Some of the cousins went from house to house looking for him, but he was nowhere to be found.”
“What is the sheriff thinking?”
“He thinks the Jewell girl and her brother may have come after him,” Jacob said.
“I know you folks have stuff you need to tend to, but the sheriff hoped you could come to help look for him,” Jacob said, turning to Lugnut.
Lugnut looked at Ron and nodded.
“I’ll go.”
“Good. We should take the jeep this time. It will be faster. I have a feeling we don’t have much time—if he is even still alive,” Ron said.
Rank stepped off the porch and approached the men.
“Maybe I should go with you guys too,” Rank said. “It sounds like you’re anticipating trouble.”
“You really should be taking it easy with the shoulder. I’m serious, Rank. Your survival may someday depend on having full use of your arm,” Ron said.
“You medical types are always so dramatic.”
“I agree, Rank. We will need you at 100 percent this winter,” Maddie said.
Rank turned, climbed back up the stairs, and stood on the porch beside Maddie.
“Yes, boss,” he said, looking down at her.
“I gotta go. So, I’ll tell the sheriff to expect you two,” Jacob said, picking up his helmet.
“Why don’t you leave your bike here and ride in the jeep with us, unless you have somewhere else to go from here,” Lugnut said.
Jacob lay his helmet down on his seat and approached the stairs.
“That would be fine.”
Zach came out of the guy’s bunk room as Lugnut, Ron and Jacob pulled off in the jeep.
Maddie was pulling breakfast items from the pantry shelves as Zach entered the kitchen.
“Did I hear the Jeep startup?”
“Yeah. The sheriff asked Lugnut and Ron to go look for the Henson girl’s boyfriend,” Maddie said.
“The boyfriend? What the hell?”
“He’s missing, and the sheriff believes the Jewell girl and her brother came after him,” Maddie said.
“I still say I should have gone with them. Scenes like that can turn ugly fast,” Rank said, pouring coffee grounds into the percolator and setting it on the wood cookstove.
The fire Ron had lit had been just enough to heat the water but not overheat the house—something Maddie had yet to master. Her fire building skills were still lacking, but she suspected they would all become experts before spring.
Maddie poured water into the bowl filled with powdered eggs. When Harmony appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, Zach had already started frying the Spam. Maddie was dropping the biscuit dough onto the baking pan as she waited for the water to boil for the gravy mix.
“What’s going on, guys?” Harmony asked.
“The Henson girl’s boyfriend went missing. They think the killers came after him,” Zach said as he scooted over to give her room to sit beside him.
“We don’t know that for sure,” Ryan corrected him.
Everyone turned as Ryan limped into the room. He had been mostly out of it since being shot at the self-storage unit where they’d retrieved the humvee. To conserve what little pain medications they had, Ryan had been self-medicating with moonshine and marijuana provided by Ron. Ron said the sheriff had given it to him and that the sheriff had taken it from the evidence locker of his department. Regardless of how Ron had come by it, Maddie was grateful that it was working to alleviate Ryan’s pain.
“How did you sleep?” Zach asked, turning the Harmony.
“I had some trouble getting to sleep, but I got a few hours, I guess,” Harmony said through a yawn.
“You did toss and turn a lot,” Maddie said.
Maddie handed Harmony a can opener and pointed to the table where four cans of mixed fruit sat.
“You didn’t sleep much either,” Harmony said as she opened the fruit and poured it into a bowl.
“You could tell?”
“Yeah, you have nightmares when you sleep.”
Nightmares weren’t new to Maddie. She hadn’t slept well in years. Not since her dad had died.
“What’s up with Jason?” Maddie asked. “It’s not like him to sleep in.”
“He is up in the loft of the barn,” Rank said.
“Why?”
“He is on watch,” Rank said.
“You put Jason on watch duty?” Maddie asked. “He can’t even shoot.”
“He doesn’t have to shoot anyone. He only has to let us know if he sees anyone approaching.”
“Like a guy on a dirt bike?” Zach asked.
“I’ll go check on him,” Rank said.
“Should have known he’d do that with you training him,” Ryan laughed.
“I never fell asleep on watch. That was a joke between Greg and I. That shit is serious, and that is what I am going to school ole Jason about now.”
Maddie didn’t find the situation funny in the least. She’d been so exhausted, and her mind so wrapped up in the day’s events, she had not even thought about who had watch. She had curled up in her bed and went fast to sleep. Maddie was concerned that Rank had put Jason in charge of all their safety.
“Please don’t kill my doc,” Ryan teased.
The back door opened, and Jason walked in. His clothes and hair were wet. Everyone turned to look at him then quickly looked away. Maddie wanted to laugh, but she also knew the seriousness of someone falling asleep on watch.
“I’m sorry. I leaned over to get a look at the dirt bike approaching and fell into the horse water trough.”
“You’re bleeding,” Harmony said, picking up a kitchen towel and handing it to Jason.
“I hit my head. I think I was out of it for a moment.”
“It’s a wonder you didn’t drown,” Zack said.
Jason didn’t say anything as he walked past them and down the hall to the bathroom.
“I’ll go stand watch,” Rank said, laughing under his breath.
“I’ll take watch, Rank,” Zach said.
“Okay, I’ll take Lugnut’s watch,” she said as she poured the gravy mix into the boiling water and slid the drop biscuits into the oven. She checked the temperature gauge, then stoked the coals in the firebox.
“I can take a watch, Maddie. I can shoot with my good arm. Let me take Lugnut’s watch in the barn loft. You guys take the crow’s nest out by the road.”
Maddie and Zach looked at each other and then to Ryan. Ryan shrugged and returned his attention to his coffee mug.
“Okay, but no taking a dip in the pool like Jason,” Maddie chuckled.
; “I’ll take the southeast corner,” Zach said.
“What am I doing?” Harmony asked.
“You’re with me learning gun safety,” Ryan said, as Harmony spooned mixed fruit on his plate.
There were six outer perimeter guard posts on the property. Three of the guard posts were along the highway but hidden back in the woods. Deer stands had been placed at the other three corners of the property. Her father had planned another four interior lookouts, but they had yet to construct them. They didn’t have the people to man them, so they had not made them a priority yet. The cabin sat in the middle of the 300-acre tract, surrounded by the Mark Twain National Forest.
The one thousand feet of the highway frontage was open pasture bound by a standard barbed wire fence. The only opening was the hidden gate which consisted of a wooden post that could easily be lifted out of the ground and pulled back, allowing vehicles to drive across the pasture to a year-round creek. On the other side of the stream, a dirt trail ran through the woods leading to the clearing where the cabin sat. Three sides of the property were wooded. One side of the property ran along Slabtown Road—the road where Ron lived. That side of the land was heavily wooded and had no vehicle access to the cabin. There was once a good trail for ATVs and horses, but it needed maintenance.
Maddie yawned and wiped flour on her shirt as she thought about what Ron and Lugnut might run into while looking for the Henson girl’s boyfriend. She worried that they were constantly being pulled into problems that weren’t theirs and wondered how long before that brought trouble to their door.
Chapter 11
Joint Field Office
Springfield, Illinois
Event + 14 days
The move to Springfield, Illinois, was as efficient as any Aims had ever witnessed from the military. FEMA and DHS headquarters were set up at the Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in the same configuration it had been back in Marseille. The Joint Field Office, however, was much more heavily guarded. National Guard soldiers patrolled the over two-thousand-acre facility that, prior to the EMP, had been home to the 183d Fighter Wing of the Illinois Air National Guard. Now, huge white tents were erected along the runways to house FEMA Region Five and Department of Homeland Security staff, as well as the five hundred or so soldiers and their families.
Although Aims didn’t feel much like eating, he left his new office and walked the half mile to the dining facility that was centrally located within the grounds. He hadn’t seen Perez, Dempsey or Mitchell since he’d arrived. Administrator Harding had left to meet with the governor, something he hoped to keep quiet from Dempsey.
Harding’s plan was to get the governor to reject Dempsey’s continuity of government plan in favor of remaining with the official plan. He hoped to play on the governor’s ego since the official plan gave the governor authority over Dempsey.
Aims took a bowl of stew-like substance from a food server and sat down at a table where he could see the door. He’d never felt comfortable not being able to see who was coming and going.
“Robert, did your folks all get settled in okay?” Aims asked as he sat down across from his Logistics Chief, Robert Baker.
“All settled in,” Baker replied.
As they ate, Aims looked around the enormous dining tent.
“Where are all the military guys today?” Aims asked, “There seem to be a lot fewer guardsmen eating with us today.”
“From what I hear, they are on some big mission to put down some trouble over at the port in Peoria. I overheard a couple of them talking about it yesterday. They weren’t at all happy about going up against fellow guardsmen. One guy said he had a cousin in the Peoria unit,” Baker said.
“I can’t believe it has come to that,” Aims said, pushing the tasteless stew to the center of the table.
“Are you not gonna eat that,” Baker said, pointing to the bowl.
“No.”
“Can I have it? This rationing shit leaves me starving. It takes a lot of food to fill this gut,” the plump man said, rubbing his large abdomen.
“Sure. Help yourself,” Aims said, standing.
Aims hitched up his pants that once fit perfectly but now drooped on his slender frame. He wasn’t sure how many pounds he had lost in the last few weeks, but he figured it was a lot less than the average person outside the JFO without FEMA resources.
Aims left the dining facility in search of Perez. He needed to know what the military was up to in Peoria. He could not believe that they would order troops to fire upon fellow soldiers and innocent civilians. Not even for the resources they claimed the group was holding.
“Stanley, have you seen Samone today?” Aims asked as he poked his head inside his deputy director’s office.
“Not since this morning. I think she headed over to the military side of the JFO to see General Dempsey.”
Aims stepped inside and approached Stanley’s desk. He peeked around a partition to see who was at their desks. Seeing that most were still out for lunch, Aims pulled out a chair and sat down across from Perez’s administrative assistant.
“So, what do you hear about this mission in Peoria? You think we’ll get control over the port or what?” Aims asked, leaning back and trying to act casual.
“From what I hear, that is the goal. Dempsey wants to set an example in case any other community decides to steal government resources.”
Aims cringed inside. He wondered how many other staff felt that what Dempsey was doing was for the benefit of the recovery efforts. The thought that Stanley believed that a community retaining food and supplies located in their jurisdiction was stealing shocked Aims. But maybe he didn’t realize that Dempsey had no intention of providing any assistance to that community—or any other for that matter.
Aims stood, stretched, and turned back toward the door.
“You want me to have Ms. Perez come to your office when she returns?” Stanley asked.
“No, I’ll speak to her at our next staff meeting. Don’t tell her that I dropped by. She’ll think I was checking up on her. You know how it is,” Aims said over his shoulder as he approached the door.
“Sure thing, Mr. Aims.”
Aims felt sick to his stomach thinking about what might be happening seventy miles away in Peoria. He knew that no matter the outcome of Harding’s conversation with the governor, it would be too late for that community and the soldiers who would be required to carry out the order against their fellow Americans. He feared that such actions were only the beginning of Dempsey’s play for power. And with the way things were, who was there left to stop him.
As Aims walked toward Harding’s group of tents, he glanced over to the fence line. Soldiers were speaking to a group of civilians at the gate. Aims stood and watched. Although Aims was too far away to hear the conversation, he could tell it was not a civil discourse. One soldier was waving his hands around wildly before two others raised their rifles and pointed them at the group.
Men, women, and children walked away with their heads down. No doubt they had come seeking assistance, only to be turned away empty handed. Aims' heart hurt for them. At that moment, he felt like the biggest failure of all time. It had been his job to make sure his team provided the assistance those parents needed to feed their children, and due to General Dempsey’s interference, he had failed them.
Maybe it is time to switch sides. Someone has to do something to stop Dempsey before it’s too late.
Chapter 12
Langston Cabin
Evening Shade, Missouri
Event + 14 days
Maddie heard the Jeep before she saw the dust cloud it caused on the gravel road. As the vehicle slowed to stop at the hidden gate, darkness began to overtake them, temporarily blocking Maddie’s view and covering the Jeep in dust.
While Maddie climbed down from her perch, Zach pulled the post and dragged the fence panel back. Maddie sprinted over to them. It was the first time she’d ran since they’d arrived at the cabin. She pictured the trails that o
nce crisscrossed their property and wondered how long it would take her to get them in shape enough so that she could start running again.
As Maddie approached the vehicle, she noticed that a fourth person was inside. When she reached the Jeep, Maddie recognized the Henson girl’s brother, Austin.
Maddie waved them through the gate, and Zach replaced the fence post. Maddie and Zach ran behind the Jeep back to the cabin. It felt good to run. She had missed it.
When they broke through the tree line, Maddie could see Ryan, Harmony, and Jason by the big oak tree, guns in hand. Rank came out of the barn.
Lugnut put the Jeep in park and got out. Jacob and Austin exited the back seat. Maddie stopped in her tracks. They were all covered in blood. Jacob had his hand wrapped around Austin’s left bicep.
“What the hell happened?” Maddie asked as she approached the Jeep.
Austin looked up, then back down to his feet.
“Where can I put him?” Jacob asked.
“In the cabin,” Rank said as he approached them.
As Jacob and Rank took Austin inside the cabin, Lugnut and Ron turned and walked toward the barn without a word.
“What is going on, Lugnut?” Maddie asked.
“Let us get the Jeep in the barn then we’ll come and fill y'all in on what happened,” Ron said.
As soon as the door shut behind them, Maddie asked again.
“Someone please tell me why you brought Austin Henson here and why all of you are covered in blood.”
Ron was at the sink washing up, and Lugnut was drying off with a shop towel he retrieved from a shelf in the mudroom.
“The sheriff and his men went over to the Jewell farm,” Ron said over his shoulder.
“And?” Maddie said impatiently.
Zack, Harmony, and the others all took seats at the table.
Maddie stood with her hands on her hips.
Ryan cocked his head to the side and his lips formed a broad smile.
“What?” Maddie asked.
“Nothing. You just look so much like your mother when you do that.”