“Is it ready to go?” she asked as he approached.
“I think so. I’ll let Ted know that we can take her out tomorrow. We have our fishing crew ready with their net, some backup fishing lines with short poles, and hopefully the material in the sail will hold. Outside of that, it’ll be the skill of her sailors that’ll take her out and bring her home safely every day.” Terry looked back at the ship. That particular boat had flipped over and was half-submerged. Another boat was on top of her, and those two things protected her hull more than anything else.
Cobbled together bits and pieces peppered the superstructure of the sailing boat, making her look less than stellar, but she was functional first. The mast was from a second boat that stayed upright after the fall, but had run ashore and ruined the hull.
The sail, when it unfurled, was quilted together from anything they could find with an old recovered sail on top as a second layer. The old sail had been new decades ago, at the time of the fall, and even though it had been sealed in a case, time had weakened it. They coated it with fish oil to limber it up with the hope that it would resist shredding.
Animal fat helped the sail on Ted’s former boat, up until he wrecked it after Kae and Aaron went overboard. That sail had smelled pretty bad, and the fish oil wasn’t much better.
Although there was only one mast and one boom, the boat was designed to use two sails. They didn’t have enough material for two, but Ted said he could sail it with one, though it would probably be sluggish. No one cared about that except Ted. Terry only cared whether it would help them catch fish.
Char hugged Terry, after which he took the baby, carrying Cory while Char checked out the boat.
Terry, Char, and Ted had talked about who would crew the new addition to their fleet of one. Ted didn’t want Terry and Char on board because of the perceived slight from last time they borrowed his boat. One fish-blood handprint on a railing was enough to get them banned for life, according to Ted. But the lack of qualified sailors earned Terry a reprieve, along with a stern warning that Ted would be watching him.
The hand print had been Char’s, but Terry took the heat, so she was allowed on board, too. Aaron and the kids would remain ashore during the first voyage, which was perfectly fine with Aaron, but not Kaeden.
“I’ve sailed a bunch of times. I know what to do!” the little boy cried. His sister Kimber seemed good with going or staying, although Kaeden was playing up the sailing ship’s majesty and it piqued her curiosity.
“You shouldn’t come, just in case something happens,” Terry tried to explain.
“But we’ll stay out of the way. We promise!” Kae replied.
“Well, there will be plenty of room…”
Char put her foot down as soon as Terry started to waffle.
“Not on this trip, little sweetheart, but soon. Our intent is that this fine sailing ship goes out daily to catch fish. It will be a working boat. You have my promise that you will get to ride one or more of those times as long as you’re willing to work as a fisherman,” Char offered.
“Dad taught me how to fish with a spear and Uncle Ted showed me how to fish with a rod and line. I like fishing!” Kaeden said excitedly. “Can’t I go on this trip?”
“No, and that’s the end of it,” Char stated firmly.
As she laid down the law, she pinched Terry’s butt. Adams and Merrit snickered from their place on the boat.
She looked at them over Terry’s shoulder. “You miscreants are needed in the power plant,” she told them nonchalantly. “That’s the reason I came down here in the first place. All righty then, off with you now!”
Hand in hand, Terry and Char walked from the marina, one child in hand, two in tow, with Aaron walking alongside.
“Whodathunkit?” Adams asked.
“Not me, that’s for damn sure,” Merrit replied. “And she’ll still kick our asses if we don’t do what she says, but how urgent do you think it is that we get over there?”
“Timmons is probably watching us right now,” Adams said, twisting his mouth as he thought of ways they could goof off. He didn’t come up with anything. “He knows that Char has come and gone, and if he yells, we’ll hear him, so I think we’d best meander our way over there. Remember, we could have been cleaning out the waste treatment plant. Wouldn’t that have been some shit?”
“Maybe we got over with boat duty, my friend,” Merrit suggested.
***
Chief Foxtail sat on one of the metal chairs in Billy’s office. He shifted uncomfortably, then decided it would be better to stand.
“How are the new quarters coming for your people?”
“I don’t think they are going to work for us,” the chief said pleasantly, while wearing a sad expression.
“I screwed it up, didn’t I?” Billy said forlornly, looking down and shaking his head. “I went out of my way to provide the very best quarters that we had, but that’s not it, is it? These are on the other side of the base, farther inland and that’s the issue, isn’t it?”
“You are most perceptive, Mayor Billy Spires.” The chief sat calmly and watched the man who had saved him from a beating when he was at a low point in his life, the man he considered to be his friend. “We don’t want to be apart from the town. Black Feather lived a long life and of all the things he could have said for his final words, he chose, one land, one people. I cannot go against what he spent his life to tell us.”
“Then we’ll do something different. Let’s take a walk and see what we can find,” Billy offered, standing and waiting for Felicity. The chief watched her closely.
“What?” she asked more pointedly than intended, looking straight at the chief. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to be on your bad side, that’s all. It seems we got off on the wrong foot all those months ago out in the middle of nowhere.”
“Indeed.” Foxtail stood as Marcie escaped and ran around the desk and collided with his legs, holding her arms up. He lifted her, taken by her smile and golden blond hair, fine as corn silk. “I may have been mistaken. You have done wonders with your family, Miss Felicity.”
The chief shifted Marcie to one arm and he led the way out of the mayor’s building.
“How about right in the middle of it all, as long as you don’t mind getting up early,” Billy said. “And as long as you don’t mind that it’s not single family homes.”
“A home is what you make of it, is it not, Billy Spires?” Foxtail asked.
“It is,” Felicity drawled, putting herself into the conversation, staying close to her daughter while Billy walked on the chief’s other side. “It’s a new world where the old ideals no longer make sense. A car in the driveway, chicken in the oven, two kids and all that—that’s someone else’s idea of what a perfect family is. Screw that. What I’ve learned is that your family is what you make it, not who was born where.”
“And that is why we must move. Someday, maybe we’ll move back, but only if others join us. Let there be nothing between us, Billy and Felicity, not people, not a road, not a fence.” Foxtail looked at his two companions.
Marcie reached her small hand up and grabbed the chief’s lip, tugging on it until he carefully removed her small fingers. She then went for his nose and that was when Billy relieved the chief of his small blond bundle.
“I couldn’t have said it better myself, Foxtail,” Billy added in his gruff voice. “And you’ll be close to the women who were rescued. They are starting to integrate, but we need help making them feel like part of the family. They’ve been keeping mostly to themselves, and you just said what we have to have. A bunch of separate groups won’t build this town into a city. There’s no room for any of that.”
Billy shifted Marcie from one hip to another. She was getting big and he was having difficulty carrying her for long distances. He stopped and put her down, holding her small hand as she tottered alongside.
“Let me introduce you to Mayra, she’s kind of like the mother of the group,” Billy said as they slowe
d their pace to accommodate the toddler. Past the dining facility and into the building that the Force called the barracks. Someone had found paint that was still good and had used it to neatly write the letters FDG next to the main entrance.
The four walked in, Felicity picked up Marcie, and they climbed the stairs to the second floor. Billy stopped before walking into the hallway. He leaned forward and shouted. “It’s me, Mayor Billy Spires, and I’d like to talk with Mayra please!”
The chief wore a questioning look.
“They asked for no surprises and especially that no men enter the floor without being escorted by one of their own. It seemed the right thing to do to agree with those conditions. The entirety of the FDG is on the first floor to secure the building and ensure their safety if needed,” Billy explained as he waited.
Felicity squeezed past the men and walked casually down the hallway. She tapped softly on the door where they knew Mayra was staying. With a shrug, Felicity walked back to see the men. A door opened along the way and two faces peered out, a young woman and a small child.
They greeted Felicity warmly. She put Marcie down and took their hands in hers. Neither Billy nor Foxtail could hear what they said, but they could tell that this wasn’t the first time Felicity had talked with the young woman.
“I think someone has already worked their magic here,” the chief suggested.
“I believe you are right, my friend,” Billy replied.
Sounds in the stairway said that someone was on their way up. The men turned to give the person room, and found Mayra standing behind them.
“We just came to see you,” Billy started, shifting to the side of the landing in case she wanted to reach the safety of the hallway, but she stayed where she was.
“Oh?” was all she said in reply.
“We’d like to put Chief Foxtail and his people in the building next door and were hoping that some of the people here would be able to help their transition. They’ve been in the houses on the other side of the base, but that’s too far away. We need to be together, but barracks living is different. They could use a hand, that’s all,” Billy said, trying not to sound like he was pleading.
“We’d like to start a school for the children,” Mayra said as if Billy hadn’t spoken.
“That is an incredible idea. What do you need from us to make that happen?” Felicity asked. Chief Foxtail smiled at Billy and winked.
CHAPTER FOUR
Terry visited the motor pool to say hi to the oldsters working there. The men were filling out because of getting enough food and working out with the younger warriors of the FDG. They looked good, and they wore the scars from the Forsaken like badges of honor.
Terry stopped by as often as he could to talk with them about nothing and everything, thank them for all they did to give the others hope.
It was inevitable that Terry stopped by the dune buggy, not the wrecked one but the one with the fifty cal. He thought of that weapon as the epitome of tactical unit firepower.
“How are you, my little mod deuce?” he asked.
Corporal Heitz leaned on the roll bar, looking like he wanted to say something. “Out with it, Heitzy,” the colonel told him.
“You know that we don’t call it the mod deuce. We call it ma deuce,” the corporal said softly.
“We use both terms. Homonyms, colloquialisms, alternate nicknames, that kind of stuff,” Terry tried to explain. “What’s your name, Heitzy?”
“The name’s Max, sir. We don’t call it anything else in the grunts. Were you a staff officer or something?” Corporal Heitz asked.
“Not at all, and that’s pretty insulting, Max. I was front lines all the way, but we were light, traveled only with what we could carry.” Terry slapped the man on the shoulder to show that he wasn’t upset. He didn’t want the men to think they couldn’t talk with him. “I like me a big gun, but that bitch was too heavy to hump all over God’s creation. We tried taking the M60 once, but it was a ball buster once you added the bipod and cans of ammunition. We melted that fucker with a thermite grenade after burning through two cans of ammo.”
“Just letting you know, sir. I’m glad you took it well, so you won’t call it that anymore? You’ll get it right?” Corporal Heitz pressed with a half-smile.
“You ever hear it called the big hurt? That was my favorite, but didn’t go over too well on the radio. I love this weapon, Heitzy. A dune buggy with a fifty cal. It don’t get no better ‘n this, does it?” Terry appreciated the oldsters and what they brought to the game. He trusted them completely and they were undyingly loyal. He could ask for no better. “We’ll compromise. I’ll call it the fifty cal and you call it the ma deuce. Deal?”
“That will work, sir. Semper fi,” the old man said.
“Semper fi, Max. Stay proud, Corporal.” Terry shook the corporal’s hand, before returning to the dune buggy to play with the fifty cal, inspect it, and clean it if need be.
***
Timmons was tapping his foot when Adams and Merrit showed up. They walked casually, as if they had all the time in the world.
“Any time you buttstains want to join us commoners, we’d appreciate it!” Timmons yelled from the second catwalk up. Adams gave him the thumbs up as they headed for the stairs.
Timmons watched impatiently as the two Werewolves talked and climbed.
“I have to say, Timmons, old chap, you have worked wonders with this old boar hog. It is simply marvelous!” Merrit offered in a contrived English accent.
“I’m glad you approve, asshat!” Timmons answered.
“I think we’ve been insulted! Cast down thy gauntlet, knave!” Merrit continued. Timmons didn’t see the humor in it.
“I hope you don’t think you’re done working for the day, because the hard shit hasn’t even started yet. We’re in a tough place with the last bit of piping and we need you two to lift it into place so we can get the chains on it,” Timmons said pleasantly.
“Lift a pipe. That’s it? How hard can it be?” Adams wondered.
Famous last words, smartass, Timmons thought.
***
At the appointed time, Ted and Gene fired up the small power plant on the base and threw the bayonet switch that sent power surging toward the Waukegan plant where Timmons and the others were working to finish up piping in one of the subsystems.
They were getting closer to having power.
Ted was upset that he had to run the small plant instead of working with the Mini Cooper. They’d established the tie-ins that would allow them to keep the small reactor on the tracks.
Ted and Gene were ready to move the Mini Cooper to its new home on the north side of the plant, using the last spur of track. Timmons had two people perform repairs to tighten the track down and make sure it didn’t come apart as they moved the train in.
None of that mattered while they were trapped in the power generating station on the base.
“This is running fine, Gene,” Ted said casually as he made one final adjustment on a water feed. “Let’s move the Mini Cooper to the old plant. Maybe Timmons will improve his pace if he sees the modular reactor sitting outside his plant, waiting to be turned loose.”
“This boring. We go drive train now, my small friend,” Gene said throwing a crescent wrench down and heading for the door without looking back.
Ted looked and listened one last time before joining Gene. When he made it outside, they both started to run for the train.
When the system alarm sounded in the plant, no one was there to hear it.
***
“Lo, righty, lo!” Mark sang as the platoon ran in formation, in step to the Jody call. They were on their second circuit of the base when Ted and Gene sprinted past with the bear cub and wolf pack hot on their heels.
Mark pointed for the group to follow and off they went, picking up the pace and still falling behind.
It wasn’t long before Ted and Gene reached their objective, climbed aboard the steam engine, and started stoking t
he coal.
Mark slowed the formation to a march, then halted it, executed a left face, and let the warriors fall out to stretch and catch their breath.
James, Charlie, and Lacy joined the platoon sergeant as he approached the engine.
“Hello!” Mark called. Ted was engrossed in what he was doing and didn’t hear, but the ever ebullient Gene worked his way out of the cab and waved.
“Watch out, we drive train down tracks,” Gene warned them. Ted shook his head.
“We need to build up steam first, then we’ll drive the train down the tracks. And we need to switch out up ahead since we need the engine behind the Mini Cooper, not in front of it. We need to unhook the tanker cars as well. Run ahead and be ready to switch the track for us,” Ted directed, handing down the pry bar needed to manually switch the tracks.
Mark wanted to ask a question but Ted returned to whatever he was doing inside the cabin of the old steam locomotive.
The corporals looked to Mark for direction.
“I guess we help move the train,” Mark said, not sounding confident. He’d had a training plan for the day and this would impact it. He had intended to take the platoon shooting, if the colonel approved the place they’d chosen for their rifle range. Everyone needed practice with the M4 carbines. They were shepherding the remaining ammunition for the AK-47s as they were finally starting to run low with only a few thousand rounds left.
The platoon had more than thirty warriors with the natives added in, allowing Terry to form three fire teams per squad. They also created the rank of lance corporal for the fire team leaders.
The military organizational structure was taking shape. Terry wanted to create a weapons platoon too, but had to wait until after he could get back to Cheyenne Mountain and load up some of the heavier gear, fifty caliber machineguns, mortars, and even man-portable rockets.
Mark wasn’t sure what that kind of weaponry was used for, but the colonel knew things that none of them did, and if he wanted the firepower, there had to be a good reason.
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