Afraid of the Dark

by Chris Hechtl

  Shane grimaced. “So the clowns really are running the show for real over there. Joy.”

  “She should be fine in a few days as long as we can get her proper therapy. Thank you for asking,” Jerry said smiling a little. The others nodded. The woman must have been through hell, there were rumors of what she'd gone through flying all through the population. “About that proposal I had earlier. I'd like to do it. We need more space,” he said.

  “You're full up now doc,” Jayne said shaking her head. “We don't have any more space in the mall to give up. Too many bodies,” she said simply.

  A few people nodded. Bob grimaced. He didn't like the crowding. It was playing merry hell on the equipment. They'd had to have a service AC tech work on the air conditioners twice in the past two weeks. “What do you propose doc? Expanding the store?”

  “Upwards?” Wayne asked, wrinkling his nose.

  “That's certainly an option, but it would displace our current...” Jerry looked thoughtful for a moment and then shook his head. “No, we'd be in a pickle you said.”

  “And I don't think the structure could handle an additional floor or two,” Bob said as the others glanced at him. “I can't be sure without checking the foundation and wall structure. We'd need an architect to confirm it.”

  “Um...”

  Bob waved a hand and tossed his own stylus on the desk. “Oh I suppose we could retrofit it, Put some sort of steel exoframe on the outside to support the additional floors.”

  “No, I think Jerry's leaning to his original proposal actually,” Shane said giving the doctor a look. “Aren't you doc?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Jerry said nodding. “The more I think about it, the more it becomes a necessity. Implementing it is the problem though,” he said.

  “Implementing what?” Jayne asked.

  “Re-acquiring and reopening the Day Street Riverside Medical Clinic. Also the clinics in the area if possible,” Shane said.

  “That's....” Wayne shook his head. “Doc that place is a mess. Shredded,” he said rubbing his brow and shaking his head.

  “I know, but we've got a lot of highly motivated people,” Jerry said.

  “No way can we defend it. We can't tie that into the defenses. The perimeter is too wide as it is!” Bob said. “We don't have the material to go that far out!” he said looking from Shane to the others. They had planned to include it as part of the final outer wall, but that was stage three. They were still knee deep in stage one, building the individual forts.

  “I know,” Jerry said nodding. “If you'll let me finish?” he asked, raising his voice as others started to talk. The room quieted momentarily. “As I was saying, I proposed that we open a day clinic there. A day clinic. We'll open an hour after sun up, and close an hour before dark. That way people in the area can get in and out before dark. No need to fortify it.”

  “Um, no offense doc, but not all predators are nocturnal. We've been running into a few that aren't all that afraid of the sun. Or at least seem that way,” Wayne said. He shrugged as others looked at him. “Oh not many, singles really. And yes, they do prefer the night. But there is a Felhound creature that's totally blind. We haven't run into many here, but I've got word of packs of them roaming during the day from people in Perris and Hemet.”

  “Felhound?”

  “A relative of the Hellhound no doubt,” the deputy said shrugging. “It’s totally blind. It uses scent and some ultrasonics apparently. That's the theory. Scavenger mostly,” the deputy said. He looked at Jen who shrugged. She didn't have any data more data on it.

  “Great, that's all we need,” Bob muttered.

  “Then of course there are our friendly neighborhood raiders. I'd really like to avoid a few coming in and tearing the place up. Stripping you clean while the teams are out in the field.”

  “That's... a problem,” Jerry admitted.

  “You're telling me! I'm going to need security on my work crews now!” Bob said disgustedly. Tamara patted his arm.

  “Let's not work ourselves into a funk,” Shane said resting a hand on Bob's other arm. “What we can do we will. Doc, you realize that the clinic is pretty close to the Bay-Day intersection right? Edgemont in other words. That's a heavily populated alien habitat,” he said looking at the doctor. “People can't just stroll down the street through it.”

  “I know,” the doctor said nodding.

  “I... I think we can cover the windows,” Bob said. “Shutters maybe. Maybe. I'm not sure about an outer wall. I'd have to take another look.” He shrugged.

  “That's not the only problem,” Wayne said shaking his head. They turned their attention to him. “To do this we'd have to temporarily abandon the place every night. It could become occupied during the night or early morning. That means anything inside could be contaminated, and the place could be a death trap. We'd have to sweep it every morning,” he said.

  “Um,” Gabriel said raising a hand.

  “What? This isn't kindergarten Gabe,” Wayne said testily.

  “I know that, I was thinking,” Gabriel said nettled. “I was thinking that we could rig the place with generators and tap into its surveillance network. Maybe even rig up some electric fences or booby traps or something. Keep someone on watch here and if something moves in at night, we know,” he said.

  “That's an idea,” Shane replied nodding. “Does anyone have any other ideas on how to make this work?” he asked.

  “Why are we doing this anyway?” Bob asked.

  “Because it's the right thing to do!” Jerry said throwing his hands up in the air. “Not everyone has medical care. Most of the enclaves have squat. A few have a nurse or someone if they are lucky. If you get sick or hurt you die. We need to change that. We need...” He looked at the others in raw appeal.

  “We need to re-establish our civilization,” Shane said softly. The others looked at him. Bob sighed. He knew which way the wind was likely to blow.

  “You two are talking about a major expenditure of resources you know,” he said. “People aren't going to help us with supplies,” he said holding up a callused finger. “Mark my words. They'll come all right, free shit. Surer than shit they'll come. Free food? Medical care? We'll drain ourselves white helping them. For what?” he asked throwing his hands up in the air. “They aren't going to help! All they are going to do is sit on their asses and bitch!”

  “So that gives us the right to do the same?” Jayne asked, sounding disgusted. “We do what we can with what we've got. Doc, you've got the skills. We can set up some sort of trade system to help maintain resources right?” she asked.

  Reluctantly Jerry nodded. “I... okay, yes for some stuff. But I'm not turning people away if they don't have it,” he said determined.

  “Not asking that. What I am asking is we ask for donations to keep the clinic open and make it clear to people that we need them,” she said stressing the donations part firmly. “And yes, some sort of payment is nice. I value your work highly doc, but we need something to replace used resources. Even if they are improvised,” she said.

  “Like what?” he asked.

  “Well, we're re-using cloth dressing and tools after we wash and sterilize it. I wonder if anyone is sitting on medical supplies we can use?” she asked. “Or sitting on something we can use as medical supplies? Stents, or surgical implements or whatever,” she said with a shrug. “Just brainstorming here,” she said holding up her hands.

  “Its a thought,” Shane said with a nod. “We can ask people for volunteers to staff the clinic. People to work in the clinic and people to support it. That will shave off a hundred or so people here during the day,” he said smiling a little.

  “That alone is worth the effort,” Bob said with a nod. “Let me take a look at the place and we'll see,” he said.

  “Me first,” Wayne said, glancing at Hernandez. The private nodded.

  “Okay, we'll go together. While you're cleaning the inside of creepy crawlies I'll take a look at the perimeter. Maybe we
can dig a moat or trench. Add a berm wall or something,” the builder said.

  “Maybe.”

  “Next you'll be wanting to re-open the courthouse,” the builder grumped. Shane snorted and then he sat back suddenly, eyes lighting a little.

  “Now that you mention it...”

  “Shit, more work for myself. Me and my big trap,” Bob grunted. “Seriously?” he asked plaintively.

  “Not this week of course, but we can put it on the agenda certainly Bob. We need a firm grasp of the law for our people to go by,” Shane said slowly. “A framework for our police officers,” he said nodding to Wayne who froze and then nodded slowly.

  “Okay, I'm for that. I took a few law classes in college. Well, one anyway,” the deputy said.

  “I think we can find some professionals in our midst that would be more than willing to do that. There is a courthouse right near the medical complex. We could do day work there as well,” Shane said with a nod.

  “And Sams is near too. We could have them go there for the night. It’s got stone walls,” Bob said nodding. “Well, cement anyway.”

  “And a trench on the 215 side. Steep slopes if I remember right,” the deputy said nodding. The others looked at him. “Could work. I think we need to take another look at the area Bob. We could probably squeeze a couple of thousand people into that store,” he said.

  “Right now we're just using it as factory space,” Walt cautioned. “I'm not sure how many people will be willing to work and live there under the same roof.”

  “The factory isn't run at night. Some people can bed down anywhere. Give them sleeping bags,” Jayne said with a shrug.

  “True,” Jen said with a nod.

  “And we left a lot of stuff there we didn't need,” Jayne said amused. “We took the food and things we could use here, I bet we could put a lot of the other stuff to use there or elsewhere,” she said.

  “Okay, we clearly need to organize this. We've grown too big for our britches. So, tomorrow, can you three, four,” Shane said glancing at Bob, Hernandez, Jerry, and Wayne. “Rearrange your schedules so you can take a look at the area together. I'm not saying dig in right away, but get a feel for what's needed and draw up lists. Wayne and Hernandez can clear the buildings if they need it.”

  “We swept them four days ago, five,” the private said looking thoughtful. “Not that that matters to the aliens,” he said grimacing. “But hopefully there aren't many inside.”

  “We'll find out,” Wayne said with a smile.

  Chapter 39

  Bob looked out over the work and had to admit, they had made quite a bit of progress. So much that he and his crews were actually adding additional touches. The work didn't feel like it was slap dash any more. They had even torn down sections they had hastily erected in the first week to rework them into better wall structures with proper foundations and supports.

  “How's it going?” Shane asked coming up behind him.

  He glanced back and snorted softly as Shane bobbed a nod. “You need a hard hat,” he said.

  “Got one,” Shane said pulling his helmet out from under his arm and putting it on over his ball cap. “Better mom?” he asked. Bob snorted.

  “What brings you here?” Bob asked, looking back at the group pouring cement for a section of wall. With this last section Towngate center was secure. Towngate, Lowes, the mall, Costco, Winco, and the hotels were occupied. It didn't seem real sometimes, seeing moats and giant twenty to thirty foot high walls topped with spikes and barb wire.

  “I think Jerry's right,” Shane said watching the crew maneuver the hose to get to another section while work crews moved in with aeration tools to work the air bubbles out of the mix. A crew further down was putting the finishing touches on rebar and steel struts.

  “You do?” Bob asked not looking at him as his jaw worked. After a moment his anger spilled over and his eyes flashed. “Seriously, that's not possible. Damn it!” Bob said spitting and then turning on Shane.

  Shane smiled. “Actually, I think we can do more than just wall in the clinic. Much more.”

  “Seriously, we're...”

  “I think we can wall in the entire Towngate plaza. All of it.”

  Bob blinked at him for a moment and then is eyes narrowed in suspicion. “We meaning me and my boys.”

  “And girls. Don't forget the ladies,” Shane said nodding to a pair of women wiring and welding sections of rebar. They were obviously pro's they had no wasted motions. A quick tuck, flip twist with the tool, fold the ends down and then move onto the next junction.

  Bob looked and then snorted. “How could I forget? Like they'd let me,” he growled.

  “Bite me,” a woman nearby said brushing past them. Shane snorted in amusement as she kept going. Bob ducked and then stepped to one side. He pulled a map out and unfolded it. “Now look you're talking about the entire perimeter. Which is...” His fingers traced along the perimeter.

  “Actually, I was thinking we're going to do three satellite projects. The people who live in each will have to do the work for them. But we're also going to throw a wall around here,” Shane said, leaning over to point. “Along the 60, turn where it intersects the 215 and follow the 215 to Eucalyptus. Follow that down to Memorial way. Then back here. The 215 side already has a moat.”

  “Um...”

  “We can run a steel wall here, along this upper edge of the apartments. Run stringers and supports directly to the walls if we have to.”

  “Shit man...”

  “We can do it,” Shane said.

  “Damn man, that's a lot.”

  “Which we can do in stages. I'm not expecting miracles overnight Bob. We've got crews in Sams and the other sites now. They are all agitating for more security.”

  “This is a lot of material. I'm not sure we can do this. I mean the foundations alone...” Bob mused.

  “I take it Robertson's ready mix is tapped out?”

  Bob gave him a quick stare and then shook his head. “Shit,” he drawled. “We tapped out the piles there the first week. We've been stripping other sites. We're about out of them now.”

  “Which is what we'll do here. I wanted to dozer that apartment complex on the other side of Eucalyptus but apparently there is a group of people trying to occupy it. We dozered the one up here on the corner of Fredrick, but the one across from the plant is occupied now.” He sighed and shook his head.

  “Seriously?” Bob asked, eyebrows going up. He'd heard something along those lines but he'd been too tired to care. He stared at Shane who shrugged. “Who?”

  “A group of survivors and some people from that section of town who banded together apparently. Also some of our own people have joined them.”

  “Really?”

  “A couple of hundred.” He shrugged at that. “It's the crowding Bob. Its hard on some people; we're not really built to be packed in cheek by jowl. A lot of people can't handle it after a lifetime of being in a big house.”

  “If they want to live they'll get used to it,” Bob growled.

  Shane shrugged. He was pretty sure after a generation or two it would be fine but now... then the thought of this going on for generations made him depressed. He shuddered a little and then grimly focused on the here and now. Right now, that was all that really mattered.

  “What I'd like is to start with this wall here,” he said indicating the wall around the apartments. “I know we had planned on dozering the entire thing. I'd like to. But we've got a major petition in the works from the people not to. To salvage it. Jen and Jayne are getting bombarded by people who want to go in and clean it out. Apparently the women are getting behind it as well.” He shook his head at the very thought.

  “Yeah, someone else. Someone else do the dirty work while they live high off the hog,” Bob growled.

  “Tell that to Tamara, she signed it too,” Shane said looking at him.

  Bob blinked at him and then shook his head. Shane smiled and nodded and then shrugged as Bob's scowl deepen
ed and then he rubbed his hand over his face. “Damn women,” he muttered. “Trying their level best to get us killed. Or give us an ulcer and a hernia.”

  “Always throwing a monkey wrench in our plans,” Shane said with mock sympathetic feeling. He couldn't help smiling a little. Women always did find ways to keep the men in their lives on their toes. Like this for instance.

  “Tell me about it,” the builder sighed. He slapped his gloves on his thighs a few times. “Did they even think about this shit before they opened their mouths?”

  “No. Typical mob mentality. We see something we like, we don't like what's here, let's go there. If you try to talk to them, to reason with them they whine about it, then it get's ugly. The best we can do is try to get ahead of it and steer them the best we can.”

  “Shit man, it ain't going to... fuck me. To do this, we'd need a thirty foot high wall, minimum. It'd need to be at least a foot thick. Eighteen inches at the base at a minimum. The apartments would have to be rebuilt. All the...”

  “I know Bob, I know,” Shane said nodding. “I figure we can strip metal from commercial buildings or metal fencing. That should help a bit for rebar and for metal supports. Hell, we might even get away with using it as a frame work to tack on sheets as temporary walls. At least at first,” Shane said.

  Bob turned in place, muttering and not looking at anything in particular. Occasionally he would rub his jaw or slap at his thigh. One time he took his hat off and scratched his nearly bald scalp. Shane could hear his dirty nails digging into the scalp from six feet away. Dandruff drifted like snow around him. He was like that for a good bit before he grunted.

  “I'll need to survey. I've got a couple of crews that can do it. Right now we're tripping over ourselves here,” he said finally; not turning around. He looked over to one group who were lounging about. Shane followed the look and snorted softly. It was a typical thing, something most people were used to seeing with any construction crew. One or two people worked while the rest stood around and shot the shit. They took turns pacing themselves.