The Next Ten: Beginnings Series Books 11 - 20

by Jacqueline Druga

  Closed mouth, Robbie shook his head. “I love you guys, Hal. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.”

  “I know that.”

  “Sometimes things happen. And we . . .we don’t mean them too but they’re the sort of things that happen, that no one would ever believe we did them without intentions.”

  “What did you do?”

  Robbie only shook his head. “Have a safe trip home.” He laid his hand on Hal’s shoulder as he passed him. “Night.”

  “Robbie . . .” Hal turned around and watched his saddened brother leave. He only looked back to Bev who–after a taunting goodbye wave to Hal--followed not far behind his brother.

  “Captain?” Elliott’s voice snapped him out of it.

  Hal quickly gave a twitch of his head and rubbed his eyes. “I’m sorry, Elliott. I zoned off. My head. What did you say?”

  “Do you know something?”

  After a slight hesitation and quick remembrance back to the Social Hall, Hal shook his head. “No.” He flashed a quick smile. “No, not at all.”

  ^^^^

  Beginnings, Montana

  In the pre-plague world, those who knew Ellen’s brother, Richie Martin, knew him as a meticulous guy, especially when it came to his hair. He was a quick witted, even tempered, and fun to be around person. In Beginnings, the ‘fun to be around person’ quality never left him, but only for different reason.

  “No.” Robbie grabbed Richie’s hand.

  In the Skills Room of Containment, they sat at the activity table. Once a place to process only survivors before they went into the community, Containment slowly became the new world equivalent of a mental hospital. They still worked with survivors, only in the recent times it became a home for those who were basically safe but just couldn’t live in the general population because they lacked the equivalent of low level sanity that the other Beginnings residents had.

  “No,” Robbie repeated. “No playing catch.”

  “F . . . Fun.” He spoke each word with a sense of rapidity. In typical Richie mannerism, he lifted his hand, smacked it down across the top of his head, and flattened his already flat hair, just before he rolled his chin against his shoulder. “Fun. Not . . . not fun.”

  “Work.” Robbie pointed to the paper. “You want to get well, don’t you?”

  “Well.”

  “See?” Robbie smiled. “Now. Home.” He showed a map of Beginnings.

  “No.”

  “No?” Robbie snickered. “Yes. Home.”

  “Home. Cleveland.”

  “Before. Now, it’s Beginnings.”

  “M . . . Middle. End.”

  “Funny.”

  Richie giggled. “I’m a, I’m a f . . .fun guy.”

  “You are. Now, try this again. Where is home?”

  “Cleveland.”

  “No.”

  “Cleveland.”

  “O.K.” Robbie shrugged. “Cleveland.”

  “Robbie.” Ellen’s voice carried into the Skills Room. “That’s not helping him.” She walked in closer, carrying a clipboard. “You know what Dean said.”

  “D-Dean,” Richie stated monotone.

  “Yeah, Dean.” Ellen looked at Robbie. “Work his mind. Don’t patronize him. He’ll never come back. Dean . . .”

  “Dean,” Richie interrupted. “Dean. Bev.”

  “Richie,” Robbie warned with a hint of a snicker.

  “Bad Dean,” Richie spoke as he rocked back and forth. “Dean and Bev. Dean loves Bev. Bev’s pretty.”

  “Yeah?” Ellen nodded. “You like Bev.”

  “Bev . . . Bev’s pretty.”

  “She’s dead.” Ellen grinned.

  Richie screamed.

  “Oh, look who’s not helping now,” Robbie said.

  “I’m allowed.” Ellen set down the clipboard in front of Robbie. “He’s my brother. Besides, I don’t really know if I want him like he used to be. Let the drug stay. I think he’s funny this way.”

  Henry’s gasp was the announcement that he was in the room. “El.” Henry walked closer. “That isn’t very nice.”

  “Yes, but I’m not a nice person.” Ellen smiled. “And I’m out of here. Watch Julius Caesar, Robbie. He thinks everyone’s trying to kill him today.”

  Robbie gave a thumbs up as Ellen left.

  “El?” Henry stopped her. “Are you mad at me or something?”

  Robbie made a scoffing noise, one that was repeated by Richie who began to draw on the map. After laughing, Robbie glanced up to Henry. “Henry, you made her leave. See, if you weren’t such a prick . . .”

  “Prick,” Richie spoke. “Henry. Prick.”

  “Oh, nice.” Henry shook his head. “Look what you’re teaching him.”

  “Did I teach you that, Richie?” Robbie asked. “No, right?”

  “No, right.” Richie nodded.

  After a huff, Henry spoke, “What are doing here, Robbie?”

  “Working.”

  “Working,” Richie mocked.

  “You’re supposed to be working in Mechanics,” Henry told him.

  “Not now. El’s busy. I’m working here with Richie.”

  “With me.” Richie continued to draw.

  “Robbie, I need you to do maintenance check ups on heaters for winter. Can’t you get someone else to work here?” Henry asked.

  “No. Richie needs special therapy.”

  “But I was up all night,” Henry complained. “You would think you would try to help out.”

  “Whine. Whine. Whine,” Robbie instigated.

  Richie whined.

  Robbie laughed. “Good job, Rich. Anything else, Henry?”

  “No. Forget it.” Henry tossed his hands up. “Don’t think I won’t tell Joe.”

  “Tell him,” Robbie said.

  “Tell him,” Richie repeated.

  Growling, Henry turned and walked out.

  “Bye.” Richie waved then tapped his pencil on the map. “Work.”

  “You wanna work?” Robbie smiled. “Cool. O.K., back to what we were learning. Where is home?”

  “Beginnings,” Richie answered proudly.

  Robbie made a buzzing noise. “Sorry, Rich, Wrong answer. Seattle.”

  Richie moaned.

  ^^^^

  Emergency Community Meeting at three.

  Jess Boyens traced his finger over the posted memo right on the board by the little ‘Joe Park’. No reason for the emergency afternoon meeting was given, but Jess figured out what it was about. Bev. It was the only thing everyone talked about, Bev’s murder and her relationship to the Society. But those things weren’t where Jess’s mind was. His mind kept going back to the note she had typed up and left for him on his locker. A simple note stating, ‘You know why you are in Beginnings. It’s time. The Society needs you’. It was a note that could be Jess’s downfall. Not only did the note give hint to an alternative reason why Jess was in Beginnings, but it was a means to a possible motive.

  “You look deep in thought,” Henry said as he approached Jess.

  “I am,” Jess answered then pointed to the memo. “Do you know what this is about?”

  “Yeah. I am on Council.”

  “Bev’s murder?” Jess asked.

  Henry nodded. “The community has a lot of questions. Joe is giving a lot of answers, or at least he’s gonna try.”

  “Is he going to discuss an investigation?”

  Henry hesitated in answering. “To be honest . . .” He scratched his head in thought. “Joe didn’t say.”

  “He didn’t say? To you? You’re on Council.”

  “Maybe he figured I was busy.” Henry shrugged.

  “Or he didn’t say anything on purpose.”

  Henry snickered in disbelief. “Jess, please.”

  “You’re a suspect.”

  “How do you figure?” Henry asked.

  “How do you not?” Jess came back. “The way I’m guessing, every single one of us who were at your house that night is a suspect. All of us who
found out what she did and who she was are prime suspects. And Henry, Danny told everyone in that room that she was blackmailing you.”

  Henry closed his eyes. “But Danny doesn’t know why and neither does anyone else. Except . . . except you and Frank.”

  Jess nodded. “And someone else.”

  “Hector.”

  “Exactly. We’re all gonna have to come clean, Henry,” Jess said. “All of us on why we were in that room. Maybe you ought to sit and talk to Hector because if both of you go under investigation, there’s a possibility that what happened could come out.”

  “I don’t want that,” Henry said firmly.

  “Don’t take that attitude,” Jess told him. “Really, don’t. Just be open and honest if it is brought up. No one is gonna care. Trust me.” He started to walk away. “And a bit of advice. Don’t try to cover it up. If you do, people are gonna think that you’ll go to any means to keep that information a secret.”

  Henry nodded as Jess left, looking as if he were in total agreement on what Jess said, but he wasn’t. If people were going to think Henry would go to any means to keep the secret, then in Henry’s mind, people were right. With the thought of a possible deep investigation, Henry decided to seek out Hector.

  ^^^^

  Ellen was shuffling around the back room of the Clinic lab and Dean peeked in to make sure she was still busy. Hurriedly, he went to his computer. He bit his nails as he looked at the screen. He watched the progress indicator move slowly. “Come on. Hurry up,” he whispered.

  “No,” The deep voice answered.

  Dean stood straight up. His eyes shifted then he turned around. Frank stood there, two M-4 rifles strapped to him, a hunting knife across his thigh, a cross bow over his left shoulder, and enough ammunition strips to kill an army. “Frank,” Dean snickered his name.

  “Hey.” Frank shut the lab door. “See. I’m busy and all, but I’m still punctual. One o’clock.”

  Dean looked at his watch. “Good for you, Frank. You’ve mastered telling time.”

  “Ha, ha, ha, asshole. Our meeting, remember? You said to bring it here at one. I have it. Do you have the program . . .”

  A loud ‘shh’ by Dean interrupted Frank when he remembered about the meeting.

  “O.K.” Frank lowered his voice. “You said to bring it . . .”

  “Frank.”

  “What?”

  “No.” Dean pointed to the back room.

  “No what?” Frank asked. “I have . . .”

  “Why are you dressed like that?” Dean asked then peeked toward the back room.

  “Huh?” Frank looked down at himself. “Oh, yeah. I was playing the mighty fuckin hunter up by the back gate.”

  “What were you hunting?” Dean asked.

  “A grizzly bear. Now . . .”

  “A grizzly bear?” Dean laughed.

  “Dean,” Frank said annoyed. “I have to get back up there. I don’t want to miss the opportunity.” He stepped closer to Dean. “Now are we gonna do . . . do . . .” Frank looked down as Dean leaned closer to him. “What are you doing?”

  “Smelling you. You smell sweet.”

  “I am.”

  “No, Frank. Why do you smell sweet?”

  “Bait.” Frank nodded proudly. “I mixed honey and sugar with water and sprayed it on me.”

  “Why?”

  “Dean.” Frank rolled his eyes. “I’m hunting a fuckin grizzly bear. Honey? Get it? Sugar? Didn’t you ever see Winnie the Pooh?”

  “Yeah, Frank, but if you’re hunting a grizzly bear, you don’t need honey. The smell of your flesh is good enough. In fact, if you were bleeding it would help.”

  “Thanks. I’ll remember that. Anyhow . . .”

  “A grizzle bear?” Dean asked. “Frank, I don’t think they live in this part of the country.”

  Annoyed, Frank snapped, “It’s a different fuckin country now. Everything’s changed. Now do you have the program ready so we can check out the disk of El’s bedroom or what?”

  “Frank.” Dean dropped his voice to a clenched jaw whisper. “Ellen’s in the next room.”

  “What?”

  “Ellen’s in the next room.”

  “Dean, I can’t understand you.”

  “He said . . .” Ellen spoke up. “Ellen’s in the next room.”

  “Thanks,” Frank said then looked back at Dean. “Is the program ready to view the disk? Shit.” Frank realized Ellen was there.

  Dean cringed.

  Ellen walked closer. “What disk?”

  “Um . . .” Frank shifted his eyes. “A video disk. Yeah. Me and Dean were gonna watch a movie.”

  “What movie?” Ellen quizzed.

  “Rambo.”

  Ellen laughed. “Yeah, right. Rambo?”

  Dean held out his hand to Frank. “Yep. Frank even dressed for the occasion.”

  “No I didn’t,” Frank corrected. “I’m bear hunting.”

  Ellen’s eyes widened. “Bear hunting? Where?”

  “At the back gate.” Frank walked to her. “Here, smell me. I have on bait. But I think I’ll cut myself to draw him in.”

  “You’re serious,” Ellen said. “There’s a bear in Beginnings.”

  “Twenty foot grizzly. It even scares the killer babies. Speaking of predators I have to go.” He backed up. “Dean.” Frank, behind Ellen’s back, opened his jacket and lifted the disk into view. He mouthed the word ‘later’. When Ellen turned around, Frank flashed a grin. “I’m gone. See you guys at the meeting.”

  Confused, Ellen watched Frank. “Dean, what was he . . .” A beep of the computer interrupted her.

  “Hold on.” Dean rushed to his computer. “Stay there. Don’t look.”

  “Look at what?”

  Dean reviewed the results. “Yes.” He smiled and hit the print button.

  “What’s going on?” Ellen asked.

  Holding up a finger Dean walked to the printer and took the sheet that came out. “All right. Yesterday morning we ran those tests on Elliott’s biopsy. We gave him the results of our new treatment.”

  “Yes. We told him things were good. No increase. No change.”

  “We made a mistake in reading them.”

  “What?”

  “The count didn’t look right to me. It wasn’t consistent with the blood count, so I ran the test again on the biopsy cells.” Dean took on a dead serious tone. “There . . . there was a change, El. A big one. I wanted to be the one to show this to you.”

  Ellen was afraid. She apprehensively, with a beating heart, took the sheet. Her eyes were closed as she brought it to her.

  “Look at it, El. All the experiments we do in our lab, the demented ones that we always say are for the future. No matter what people make us out to be, I make us out to be brilliant. Look.”

  Ellen slowly opened her eyes. “Oh my God.”

  “The cancer wasn’t stable in this lymph node region. It didn’t increase. It decreased big time. You give this news to him when he comes in. You tell him, but tell him with pride.” Dean pointed to the results. “Finally, one of our ‘for the good of the future’ experiments is paying off. We’re not just saving your friend, El. We’re doing what doctors have been trying to do forever. The impossible.” Dean smiled. “I believe we’re finally beating cancer.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Johnny found the task annoying and attributed his having to do it more to the fact he was a flunky rather than the reason Jason gave him of being trusted. He was cleaning out Andrea’s desk and organizing everything there. Andrea left it as if she expected to return after the trail and continue on. Andrea had such high hopes. How badly her hopes were shattered.

  He took a box with him to Andrea’s office because he knew the way she was. Probably a dozen or so, if not more, missing files would be found. As Johnny expected, a bin set on top of her desk. Files marked ‘confidential’ laid in there. Reaching for them, Johnny rolled his eyes at the inventory sheets Ellen left on top of the desk as if Ellen som
ehow thought Andrea would magically rise up from the grave and fill out those inventory requests.

  The confidential files were about all women. Sloppily, he’d lift one at a time and drop it in the box with an irritated look.. Perhaps it was fate that he did it that way. If Johnny had been more careful setting the files in the box, he wouldn’t have smiled at that moment.

  The file fell in crooked and when Johnny went to fix it, not only did he see the name, but he saw the unmistakable pink paper. Wondering if it was from two years prior, Johnny pulled out the file then opened it. The grin widened. It was exactly the leverage he searched for. Reading over Andrea’s notes, the find got even better.

  The roll of the partition curtain in the hospital room made John Matoose shift his eyes., the only part of his body that could move or show emotions. And John Matoose did. Horror filled his eyes and they widened when he saw Johnny pull a chair up to the bedside.

  “Hey ya, John.” Johnny smiled. “No, no. Don’t try to talk, you’ll only frustrate yourself. How are you feeling? Better I suppose huh?” Johnny sat back with an arrogant look. “Probably wondering what you’ve been injected with. Don’t worry about it. Dean is still trying to figure that out. He won’t. No way. Anyhow . . .” He let out a breath. “Here’s the deal. I was a bit worried, just a bit, see, that I wouldn’t be able to keep injecting you. They found out about Bev. She’s gone, John. Someone killed her. So with Bev gone and Andrea gone, there’s no one supposed to be left in Beginnings working for the Society. You get injected again, someone will catch on. So I worried, until this.” He held up the folder. “It’s your wife’s medical file. Quite the vat of information, it is.” Johnny opened it and laid it over John’s still legs. “Here’s the deal.” He laid his hands over the open folder. “I am gonna let you come out of the drug. Yep. I’ll let you wake up. In a day, you’ll breathe on your own, talk, and all that good stuff. They’ll figure . . .” Johnny shrugged. “Since Andrea and Bev are gone, there will be no more drug. You, John, will confirm one of them gave you the drug. You, John, won’t say it’s me. I need some help in Beginnings now. There are some tasks left to complete. Guess who is gonna help me?” He winked. “You. Yep. Why? I’ll tell you.” With an exhale, Johnny lifted up to read the folder. “Seems, when you confessed to my Pap and became the man who wanted to come clean, you really didn’t, did you. You left a few things out. Conveniently. Like, you forgot to tell my pap how a while back we went through the time machine and sent those letters to help George change time. But I am grateful you took the rap for being up in that mobile lab that night with Moses. I couldn’t let them find out it was me. Getting back to my point. You’ll help me. You won’t open your mouth because you want to stay in Beginnings. If you open your mouth, I’ll open mine. But before I do . . . bet me . . .” Johnny’s voice graveled in a whisper. “Bet me, that I not only kill your wife, but the baby she’s carrying too.” He dropped the folder to the bed. “Yep. Jenny’s pregnant. It’s a secret, you know. Five months along. Why is it a secret? It’s yours. Jenny wasn’t with Patrick at all for two months and she didn’t want anyone to know she was pregnant by you with all that you did. She was ashamed,” he gasped out with a shake of his head. “But, knowing how Caroline is . . . dead.” He snickered. “You’ll want this baby. So does Jenny. But screw up John, don’t help me, and . . . the baby goes first. Stillbirth. Second will be Jenny. If I have to . . .” Johnny shrugged. “I’ll do both. After all, someone took Bev and my baby from me, so what the hell do I care?” He slowly stood up and let out a loud breath. “Well, I must get back to cleaning out Andrea’s office. I don’t want to be missed.” He walked to the door and stopped. “Oh, John. It’ll be good to have your help again.”