I’m back inside the house in which she and Jaxon are staying. Skie is still laughing about the reason I came to see her.
I can’t believe you want to hear about the first time Jaxon spoke to the world. What a day. I can’t believe that he did what he did.
“To be honest, I don’t think anybody can believe what he did.”
True enough. Well, for days we argued. Like I said before, I didn’t want my husband playing hero anymore. Obviously, I eventually relented. I don’t really think I had much of a choice. It wasn’t something Jaxon wanted to do; it was something he had to do. Denying him this would be denying a fundamental need.
“Still, it couldn’t have been easy.”
It certainly wasn’t, but I got over it. They needed a name. It was Mr. Hardin’s idea. He figured that since they were already in the media, they should have a name for the team. That way Kingsley, Dudley, Georgie and Javie would have the same kind of respect that Jaxon had when they were on missions. Also, it would be a team that was officially sanctioned by the government with many, many privileges.
“Is this when Jaxon received his badge?”
Yeah, they all have one. It lets them override all the red tape and the idiots who enjoy getting in their way. We’ve spoken about it before, it lets him take control over any police force or military body etc. etc. etc. when a threat to the public is possibly underway. It also prevents him from being detained or arrested at any time. There was a lot of debate about that in the news.
“Tell me the name they chose?”
They called themselves the Regulators. It’s off of a group in the late eighteen hundreds who fought during the Lincoln County war. Billy the kid was a member.
“What happened next?”
Mr. Hardin scheduled a press conference in New Mexico. They chose the college in Las Cruces for the event. Jaxon wasn’t happy about it, he hates public speaking and no amount of bribery on anyone’s part was able to convince him to wear a suit for the event. That really drove me insane…I wanted my husband to look nice for his first public speech.
“What did he wear?”
Jeans and a t-shirt…oh, and his black boots and after he dressed that way, all the Regulators followed suit. I wasn’t happy. Everyone else was, but not me.
We were all driven to the press conference in one of those large Hummers. The boys passed the time by picking on the driver. Jaxon kept telling him how Jeeps were better for off-roading than a Hummer could ever hope to be. The driver wasn’t happy and kept arguing back. It was actually a fun time. Nothing serious, everything light hearted. In fact, when we got out of the Hummer, the driver even asked for Jaxons autograph.
“Why were you driven to the press conference in a Hummer?”
Protection, all of Las Cruces was packed with people trying to get a look at Jaxon. There were literally thousands upon thousands of people screaming out for us the minute we entered the campus so we were also provided with a police escort. It was like we were rock stars or something. They even had the National Guard present for crowd control.
The walk to the building was more than a little wild as well. They had cordoned the sidewalk off, so we could walk to the building without being molested, but each side of the sidewalk was lined with people reaching out for Jaxon. Everyone wanted to touch him, to take a picture with him, to shake his hand, to tell him that he saved a friend or relative. It was surreal. Jaxon and the rest of the Regulators were having a blast signing autographs and letting young girls kiss them on their cheeks.
Ivana, Lucy and I were hanging back from them and just laughing at how popular they were. Some girls were even throwing their bras at them. It was a crazy time. It was fun. We even got to sign some autographs as well…I loved it. I loved that people were being so nice. I loved that people appreciated what everyone had gone through. I loved that they were getting the rewards of hero’s. They deserved it. They earned it.
That’s when Jaxon got the news.
“And what news was that?”
Calvin, who had been up and down the country since the moment he was released from the decontamination unit, telling anyone that would listen what an animal my husband was and how he was responsible for the loss of more lives than he could ever hope to save, was also going to be there and he was speaking after Jaxon.
“Why exactly was that?”
I never asked. Obviously, whoever planned the press conference didn’t know my husband. Mr. Hardin was also furious, but he was reluctant to do anything about it since the press had already been informed that Calvin was going to speak.
“Should I ask about how furious Jaxon was?”
Very, he was thinking that Calvin was going to try and turn things into a debate. Calvin was an experienced public speaker. Jaxon was not.
Jaxon was fuming as we went inside one of the bigger buildings. We had our own waiting room. He got even angrier, when we passed Calvin’s name on a door at the end of the hallway, the jerk had his own room as well.
“What the hell did he do to deserve that?” asked Dudley. “Aside from crying like a baby and abandoning his friends to the zombies, he should be arrested and these assholes gave him his own room.”
Mr. Hardin dropped us off at the waiting room and went to see what could be done about preventing Calvin from speaking. That was a good thing, what wasn’t a good thing was the fact that Jaxon and Dudley never made it into the waiting room. I thought they were right behind me, but to my surprise, they were nowhere to be found.
“Did the rest of the Regulators know where he was?”
Probably, but they weren’t talking.
When Mr. Hardin came back to the waiting room, he also had no idea where Jaxon and Dudley had gone off to. We began to wonder if the two of them had just up and left the press conference.
“But they hadn’t left, had they?”
Unfortunately they had not left. They returned to the waiting room about ten minutes after Mr. Hardin. Both of them were disheveled and grinning like Cheshire cats.
Mr. Hardin had exercised some muscle and had two choices for Jaxon. Either Calvin would be prevented from speaking, or the Regulators could abandon the press conference all together. I really began to worry when I heard Jaxons answer.
“I think every man deserves to be seen and heard,” said Jaxon. “So don’t do anything.”
With that, we were lead to the conference room on the fifth floor. It was a huge auditorium with large windows running the length of the wall opposite the podium…at the moment; automatic shades had been lowered along all those windows, blocking what would probably have been an excellent view of the campus.
After a brief introduction, Jaxon found himself at the podium in front of everyone. I’ll never forget that moment. He became the General. The laughter and whatever mischievous schemes he came up with on a regular basis had all disappeared. He was a leader of men now and every one of the thousands of reporters who had gathered in the auditorium was ready to listen.
“I’m not much for public speaking,” said Jaxon. “But, I wanted to inform everyone of our decision.”
Jaxon paused before continuing to speak. Flashes of light bounced around him as photographers snapped his picture.
“In ten days time,” continued Jaxon. “I’m declaring war on the undead of El Paso. Tell your friends, tell your family members to hold out for ten more days. Help is coming. I have the manpower. I have the weapons. I’m coming for all of them. I plan to eradicate the threat of zombies from my city and the assault will commence in ten days.”
After that, he answered questions for about a half an hour. He did really well. He wasn’t entirely comfortable, but he got through it easily enough…and then, things became…entertaining.
“That’s one way of putting things.”
Right…anyway, right before he left the podium, Jaxon took the opportunity to introduce the next speaker.
“The man speaking after me has become quite popular as of late. As far as I know, he has b
ecome my biggest detractor. I’m not especially fond of him. In fact, he reminds me of something I’d scrape off the sole of my boot. I found him to be the worst kind of coward and I hold him personally responsible for a number of needless deaths. Regardless of that, I believe that everyone deserves their fifteen minutes of fame. Ladies and Gentleman, I give you the biggest douche bag I’ve ever had the misfortune to meet.
With that, the shades were drawn on the opposite wall. What I thought would have been an excellent view of the campus was marred by a completely naked and hogtied Calvin. He was hanging upside down outside the window, suspended by a single rope and dangling out over five stories of empty air. His feet and his mouth had been gagged by what I believe were his own socks.
There were gasps of horror, followed by the flashes of hundreds of cameras. The noise in the room became deafening as the reporters started shouting out questions to Jaxon. Yet, he was already surrounded by the rest of the Regulators and every single one of them was too busy laughing to answer anything.
I chanced a look at Mr. Hardin who was standing there in shock. Our eye’s met and he gave me a look that spoke volumes. He was worried that this was the typical behavior he should be expecting from my husband and his friends. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that it was.
“It was pretty bad public opinion wise that they did that to Calvin wasn’t it?”
Not as bad as when the laxatives kicked in.
Table of Contents
Title page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Epilogue
El Paso Under Attack - 01 Page 34