by Chris Hechtl
She made a grimace. “I wasn't going to mention it yet,” she said. “But now that you have, you still reek,” she said waving her hand in front of her nose.
“Funny,” he said. “Fragrance of pig, or whatever the hell that thing is,” he said pointing to the animal. She glanced that way and then coughed.
“Okay.”
“Block in some time this afternoon to plan out the mall. We're going to need to change the layout soon. Did you work on the bunk bed idea?”
“Yeah, its a good one. I've got groups cleaning out the rest of the stores and sorting the goods. Most of it will be boxed and stuck out on the perimeter. We'll sort it later,” she said with a nod. “I've got a good crew going through everything we've got from the stores. We'll hit the furniture stores either today or tomorrow. Art said he could have some of the carpenters throw some bunks together in a couple of hours with the right materials.”
“Treat it like a recon thing Jayne,” he said. She paused and cocked her head. “Have Wayne or Hernandez or one of the others take a team in and secure it. I don't want anything that might be nesting inside to eat anyone,” he said. She nodded and shivered. After a moment she nodded again, made a note and then waved her fingers and walked off.
He got up, brushed his hands off and then rolled his shoulders. “Now who do I annoy next?” he murmured walking to his truck.
...*...*...*...*...
“How are the kids holding up?” he asked later the next morning.
“The kids?” she asked. “Surprised you asked,” she said, not looking at him as she folded laundry. “I didn't see you at breakfast this morning,” she said not looking at him still.
“Jen...” he said, hand out.
“No, no its okay. The kids are fine. I didn't mean it like that,” she said not looking at him. He sighed again.
After a moment she put the dress down and relented. “Nick is in Game-stop every chance he can get. I've had to threaten to lock the shop up if he and his new friends don't work. I can't blame them; they are in heaven in there.”
He snorted shaking his head and looking in the direction of the shop. Trust his son to find like minds.
“The twins are in their glory, they have conspired to try on every outfit in the entire mall. Not that they haven't already,” she said, lips puckering. He snorted. Typical girls. He glanced at Jen.
“Nice outfit,” he said. She looked down and then laughed. She was wearing a sequin blouse and tight jeans. He was pretty sure it wasn't in her wardrobe, or at least it hadn't been.
“This old thing?” she asked. He shook his head.
“Yes, that,” he said smiling at her. She dimpled a little at the look and went back to folding. He realized it was their clothes when she shook out one of his favorite T shirts.
“I stopped at the house with Wayne to pick up stuff yesterday. Not that we needed it. But I cleaned out the pantry, fridge, and medicine cabinet, grabbed the hunting and camping gear you left behind, and grabbed clothes for each of us since I doubted you and Nick would like wearing dresses.”
“You thought right,” he said with an amused laugh.
“Clever man, think of that all on your lonesome?” she teased. He snorted.
“What the hell?” he said, looking in amusement as Puss chased a chicken down the main corridor. A woman brushed the cat off with a broom then scooped the chicken up and walked off.
He turned to Jen who was smiling. She shrugged. “What?” She asked.
“Where'd the chicken come from?” he asked, voice pitched up high in surprise as he indicated the departing bird. It was so comical the way he said it that she flashed him a surprised smile and snort. The snort turned into a barely suppressed giggle.
“Some of them I picked up from the animal control offices nearby.”
“You did?” he asked surprised. He raised an eyebrow at her. “When?” He hadn't been aware she'd left the complex. He wasn't sure he was comfortable with that. Wait, she said she went with Wayne to the house... he grimaced. After a moment he realized how absurd that was and put the thought aside.
She glanced at him and then went back to what she was doing. “When you were out and about yesterday dummy. They needed to be fed and well...” she indicated the place.
“Wait, wait,” he said, hand going to his forehead. “How many?”
“A dozen dogs and the same number for cats, a couple of lizards, a couple of bunnies, some chinchilla's, a goat, A parrot, a couple of pot bellied pigs, a snake, the chickens... some wild animals...” she looked up thoughtful.
“Where are we putting them all, may I ask?” he asked in exasperation. He knew better than to object. He was just tired and realized he'd put his foot in his mouth. Fortunately she didn't call him on it. Yet.
“Same place Julio did. We put them in the store over there,” she waved to Fun one. “I sicked Trina and Tori on it while I'm too busy. We've got a couple of other animal lovers helping out too. They are managing the reptiles.”
“More? Wait Julio?” he spun in confusion, dodging a pair of giggling kids.
“Yes dear, Julio. He's quite the scrounger you know. Scoundrel, scrounger. Try saying that a few times,” she said smiling. He shook his head. “He and Consuela brought in a couple of pit bulls and some chickens. Roosters mostly. I'm betting they are from a cock fighting ring.” She shook her head. “I heard Richards was trying to get intel for a bust for months. So much for that,” she said in disdain.
“Um...” he looked and then grimaced at the rooster sounding off. “Jen...” he turned to her imploringly.
“Don't give me that,” she said firmly, eyes flashing. He felt a sinking sensation. “They need protection like everyone else. More, they can't fend for themselves out there. Besides,” she flashed him a smile as she kept folding clothes. “We'll put them to use.”
“We will?” he asked dumbly.
“Silly!” she said shooting him an amused look. “Chickens dummy! You do like the occasional omelet right?”
Suddenly he chuckled, tension released. She had it right. They had enough food for everyone for a couple of months but if no more came in... He smiled. “Always taking the long view huh?”
“Well, someone else has to plan for the future,” she said lips puckering. He snorted. Since her Leukemia had gone into remission last year she'd been hell bent on that. “That's why I've got Alfredo and the others looking into moving the fruit trees tomorrow and getting all the seedlings and seeds we can over so we can start gardening in greenhouses I'll have Bob set up,” she said. “I'm going to get Jayne to get a crew over to the nurseries on Sunnymead to get as many plants as we can too.”
He looked at her then shook his head. His wife was always one step ahead of him. “All right, you win, I'll behave,” he said, smiling a little as his hands went up in surrender.
“Better,” she mock growled, coming over to him and swatting him. He snorted. “I'll get them in cages I promise. Pens at least, for tonight. We're working on it. It's, well... she shrugged as Mr. Whiskers came by with a puppy in tow. Trina was giggling as she chased them both. “Its a work in progress,” she said after they had passed. She was clearly amused, running her hands through her hair.
“Get them sorted out before nightfall Jen, away from the windows. Keep them under cover and above all QUIET,” he said firmly, hands going out and back and forth in an out motion.
She looked dubious. “Um...”
“Use those shock collars if you have to Jen, figure it out. Muzzle the mutts. Muzzle the birds. Tape them shut if you have to. Whatever it takes. We need total quiet at night. Nothing to give away our position,” he said firmly. He was more concerned about animal noises making people panic. The last thing they needed was for a flash hysterical mob scene.
“Okay,” she sighed running her hand through her hair again. “I'll see what I can do. At least its got the kids occupied.”
“Okay,” he said giving her a kiss then starting to walk off. He felt a slap on his
flank. “Hey!” he said turning. She looked at him laughing. He made claw hands. “Naughty!” he mock growled. She giggled and pretended to shrink away as he caught her. He tickled her for a moment, making her giggle.
A passing couple smiled, and then rolled their eyes at each other. He kept the tickling up until she got a hand in and retaliated.
“Okay, okay you win,” he said chuckling.
“I always, do,” she said sweetly. He brushed her hair aside. She pulled his head down to kiss him. He kissed her and then kissed her nose. “Be good, we'll get it done,” she said.
“Better,” he said softly. He kissed her hair and then slowly released her. “Later,” he said.
“We'll hook up. Make it a dinner date,” she said as he walked away.
“Yes dear,” he said shaking his head. He felt a cloth hit him on the back of the head. He hunched his shoulders as he shrugged it off laughing.
Chapter 14
Sheila scowled at the trio, pissed that they had somehow found a six pack of long necks and were busy sucking them down and bitching about the heat instead of working like the rest of the people around them. The three women were something else, spending the time doing their nails or make up instead of helping to unload. Heaven forbid they actually do something helpful.
All three were dressed like two dollar whores too. Short leather miniskirts, tight blouses knotted under ample breasts, and high heels. High heels of all things, she thought with a snarl. Stupid.
“Julio,” she said in an aside to him. The Hispanic teen turned to her and she nodded her chin to the trio. He hid a snort at the sight of Vanessa doing her nails and Courtney popping gum.
“What do you want me to do about it chica?” he asked.
“Do something. They are your team, your responsibility,” she said quietly.
“I know that. But...”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Vanessa called over to him in Spanish. “Stay away from that bitch, we've got enough competition,” she snarled. She didn't like having to compete for Julio's affections.
“Well...” Julio said. He looked at Roberto. The big guy just put his hands up and shook his head as he ducked away. No help there. “She's just telling me I should have women who can go the distance instead of sit on their ass and get fat,” he said as inspiration struck.
Consuela was on her way to sucking down her second beer and sputtered. She wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand as she glared balefully at him. He returned her basilisk gaze with one of his own. If there was one thing he knew, a Latin didn't back down from a challenge.
“Well, it's not that bad,” Courtney said, looking at Consuela's rear. The girl turned, eyes flashing. “What?” Courtney said rearing back as Consuela's hands curved into claws. “What'd I say?” she asked stupidly.
“Maybe we should all be working instead of sitting around,” Jayne growled coming out of the building and looking around. Bill and another armed guard were with her. Mateo, Julio thought. Not a guard, a freaking soldier. Not someone any of the women wanted to take on.
“There a problem here?” Mateo Hernandez rumbled, looking at the women. “Don't you ladies have something to be doing right now? Other than sitting on your fat asses?”
“Shit,” Vanessa said getting up. She threw the bottle at Julio who ducked behind a concrete berm. The glass smashed near Sheila who cried out in surprise, ducking away from the shards of glass.
“Stay away from my man abuela or you'll be pushing up daisies. You reading me chica?” she snarled.
“I think she got the message,” Courtney said looking nervous. She rubbed at an arm. “I'll ah...”
“You'll all be going,” Jayne said, hands on her hips. They sulked off. When they were gone she went over to check on Sheila. “You okay?” she asked.
Sheila nodded, biting her lip. “Any of the glass get you?” Jayne asked concerned. Sheila checked her arm and winced. She had a small cut on her right arm. Jayne's face worked for a moment and then she reached into her pocket. “Here,” she said, pulling out a band-aid and then handing it to her.
“Thanks,” she said taking it. She still couldn't meet Jayne's intense gaze.
“No worries. Just remember to carry some just in case. Clean it or it will get infected,” she said looking at the scratch. “It's not deep,” she said.
“Thank you,” Sheila said again. She didn't know why she was getting like this. Okay she did, she didn't want to admit it though. She had a crush. She could tell. It always hit her... strong women in positions of authority. It didn't help that Jayne was a looker in her own right. The women had some nice legs and seemed to always look picture perfect. Damn.
“Don't worry about them. It takes all kinds I guess. We'll deal with them later if they keep it up,” she said.
“Some women do all their work on their backs,” Sheila said with a growl.
“Yeah, but you can't tell it to their face without getting your eyes clawed out. Or worse. So watch yourself,” Jayne said patting her arm.
Sheila looked up and nodded. After a moment Jayne started to move away and she sighed. “See...” Jayne turned back as she paused.
“See, I saw it, but knew confronting them directly wasn't going to do much. So I, well, I went to Julio...”
Jayne pursed her lips and then snorted. Trust the little spic shit to get scarce. He'd ducked behind the temporary barricade and was probably half way to elsewhere before the bottle fragments had hit the ground. Which in a way was smart of the guy. Tangling with Spanish women wasn't something you did on a whim. “Yeah,” she said shaking her head. “He's about as useful for some things as a two dollar bill. We'll figure it out. Get that cleaned up and then check on the Western side. I'll handle things here for a while,” she said.
“Okay,” Sheila said with a smile and nod.
“Go on,” Jayne said, smiling a little back.
...*...*...*...*...
Bill nodded as the last person came in uncertainly. He pointed to an empty chair near the door. The border agent suppressed a yawn as he took a seat. Someone nearby pushed a cup of steaming coffee over to him. He smiled and took a sip, grimacing because it was black.
“Carter Johnson right? Agent Johnson?” Bill asked. Johnson nodded.
“What's this about?” he asked taking another sip and then sitting back and netting his fingers together.
“Its about getting organized. We've got to do that. We're the security for the mall and Towngate area,” Bill explained.
“Ah,” Johnson said nodding. “I've been trying to get a word in with higher, but...”
“Phones are shot. The aliens take out any cell tower for some reason. Electrical, anything tech as far as we know. Its disrupted our chain of command.”
“Which is pretty shot anyway,” someone else muttered. “Those that survived are just trying to keep living like us.”
“Exactly,” Bill said with a nod. “Which is where we started this conversation. Staying alive and keeping as many people alive as we can. Alive and functional.”
“I want to kill aliens,” Johnson growled. He was pretty sure his surviving family was dead now.
“Which Hernandez is doing. What we're doing is protecting our perimeter. Our border,” Bill said locking eyes with the border agent.
“What about hunting them? At night I mean?” Carter asked.
“Not an option,” Bill said shaking his head. The room broke into muttering at that. “Not. An. Option.” He spelled it out, looking around the room. “Look folks, at night its dark, they can see a hell of a lot better than us, they have the initiative and are pretty damn hard to kill. We'd be walking into ambush after ambush.”
“So we just give up?” a voice asked, tone pitched as an accusation.
“No one's saying that,” Bill said as people glared. “Hernandez, Torres and Wayne are taking the fight to the enemy. By day,” he said. He paused and waited for them to digest that, then nodded. “That's right. Day. The aliens will be sleep
ing then. We're also being selective about our hunting. We're hunting predators. Not the plant eaters.”
“Why the hell not?” Someone demanded.
“They aren't the biggest threat,” Johnson said catching on finally. He nodded to Bill as people looked at him. He drummed a finger on the table top. “I see. We need to conserve assets. To train our people.”
“Right. We also need to conserve ammo. Which is where we come in. At an hour to sunset its lock down here. Martial law. Everyone indoors. We're going to have a perimeter wall with lights and defenses. Electric fences, a moat if we can manage it.”
“I saw what they were doing at Lowes,” a gal said. They looked at the blond. She shook her head. “Bet Caltrans will be pissed when they see that they are ripping up the ramps.”
Bob had a team tearing into the corner area with abandoned construction equipment. They were both forming a moat on that corner and throwing up a berm wall to protect the shopping complex. With it tied into the channel along the 60 it was hoped that they would have a moat around that side of the perimeter.
“They have to do something. Right now we don't give a shit what the paper pushers somewhere else say. We're trying to survive,” Bill growled. Others nodded in agreement.
“So...”
“Agent Johnson, you've got the most night experience here. You, Leon and I are tasked as head of security. I'll handle afternoon shift. You get the night watch.”
“Ah,” Carter said nodding.
“Adrienne,” Bill nodded to a heavyset woman. “Adrienne is, or should I say was a marine MP. She's going to handle afternoon security,” he nodded to the woman who nodded back but didn't say anything.
“Ross and Leon are going to take on training and working on securing the other sites like Lowes.”
“Each of us will have teams assigned to sectors to secure the perimeter. We'll also have video surveillance and if possible eyes in the sky. Leon and Gabe are working on integrating it now.”
“A UAV?” Johnson asked, surprised. Bill nodded.