The Next Ten: Beginnings Series Books 11 - 20

by Jacqueline Druga

  “So are you.”

  “Frank!” Hal blasted. “What do you have? It’s a goddamn radio report. Why are you making this so difficult?”

  “Does it bother you?” Frank asked with loud sarcasm.

  “Yes.”

  “That’s why.”

  With a huff and a rub of his head, Hal looked at Elliott. “I hate him.”

  The grin was shitty as Frank pulled the mouthpiece a little from his mouth, adjusted the overhead controls, and then gave a tilt to the helicopter. “I just left the range, flew south, then headed due west and circled around as requested. The Savage camp is still steady. There’s no movement west and the numbers still look sound. They look dug in. Definitely no major movement.”

  “Come back on that ‘numbers look sound’?”

  “Yeah, Ryder and Robbie stated there were approximately three-fifty. I’ll go with that.”

  Hal covered the radio and peered at Elliott. “Good Lord, he’s making an attempt to count beyond ten.”

  “I heard that,” Frank said.

  “No you did not.”

  “Then I read your mind.”

  Hal grunted. “Are you on your way back in?”

  “Roger that. I’m flying twenty degrees southeast. I can make a turn and swing by Jordan.”

  “No, you’re good. Come on in.”

  “Good. I should be hitting Beginnings in about . . .” Frank’s voice dropped to a discovery whisper. “What do we have here?’

  “What’s going on Frank?”

  “I have movement in the woods. Let me lift up.”

  Hal listened to the chopper noise. “Elliott, he has movement. Look at that map. From his ridiculous coordinates, could he possibly be . . .”

  “Very much so, Captain.”

  With concern, Hal grabbed the radio. “Frank, where exactly are you?”

  “On the path of the forest, fifteen miles northwest . . . OK, I’ve good a good aerial but not as good as I’d like. There are three packs. It looks like eight in a pack. There’s distance between them. I can’t get a good visual on the leader pack. It’s looks as if they are moving in waves.”

  “Can you see beyond the trees?”

  “That’s a negative,” Frank responded. “Not yet. I’ll will in sec. Now where in the fuck are they running to in such a hurry?”

  The newly constructed hatch slammed against the slates of the roof and Robbie emerged. His M-16 and crossbow were strapped over his head. Robbie lifted himself to the roof. “I’m not seeing anything, El. Give me a direction,” he spoke through their ‘in house’ radio system.

  “There’s eight and they’re behind us. West. Yeah, west,” Ellen said from within the house.

  Four look out crow’s nests were built on the roof and Robbie took the one that faced west. “I see them.” He swung around his M-16.

  “Robbie, there are two more groups. Eight in each.”

  “I have to deal with these.” Robbie aimed. “Fire up the beams.”

  “Got it.”

  “Don’t forget to shut down the house switch. If there’s not enough juice, we’ll . . .”

  “Fuck!” Ellen screamed.

  Robbie winced. “You blew the breaker.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said, panicked.

  “Don’t worry about it.” Robbie had a clear scope. He shot a Savage and took him out. “Go to the basement and reset the box.” He fired again. “When it’s reset, turn off the house then turn on the beams.”

  “Got it.”

  “Hurry.”

  “Robbie.”

  “Now!” Robbie shot again.

  “Robbie. The other packs are close.”

  “We can’t worry about them.” Robbie fired, eliminating out one more. “These ones are in.” Robbie watched them emerge through the trees and past the point where the beams would have torn them to shreds. “Get that box on now, El.” Robbie lifted the M-16. They darted too close and away from his view. He could pick them off, but how many of the four would make it into the house. “Fuck it.” Hoping that Ellen would somehow get the beams back on before the other packs made it in, Robbie tossed the M-16 over his shoulder, grasped onto the long bungee style rope, placed his foot in the loop, held on with his only hand, and leaped from the roof.

  The swing was outward and as the cold winter air pelted him in the face, Robbie grinned. He saw the leading two Savages near the house, and knew his aim of motion couldn’t have been more perfect if he tried.

  The rope swung out quickly. Seeing the first Savage in sight, with the momentum, Robbie revved back his free leg and just as he arrived at the Savage, he power-housed a kick that sent the Savage back a good fifteen feet.

  Chuckling a ‘whew’ of excitement, Robbie swung back and rappelled into the house enough to let the rope head outward again to the second Savage. Instead of a kick when he met the savage, Robbie let go and the force of his moving body blasted into the Savage.

  He rolled out of it quickly, jumped to a stand, jolted his body, brought forth the M-16, and fired.

  “Robbie, I found the box.”

  Wondering ‘she’s only in the basement now’, Robbie turned to see the two remaining Savages.

  “How do I work this?” Ellen asked.

  With the thought, “remind myself to never let her help again.’ Robbie fired forward taking out the rest of that pack.

  “Oh! Oh!” Ellen said like an excited child. “I think I found it. Oh. This is it. Got it.”

  “Good now . . .” Robbie peered up. “Shit.”

  Eight more Savages raced through the woods.

  “Robbie?”

  “More just ran in.” Robbie raised his weapon again and just as he did and readied to fire, he smiled big time.

  “I’ll hurry. I’ll get them on.”

  “No need, El.” Robbie started to fire. “Listen. Just . . . listen.”

  HE didn’t know how but somehow in the midst of his adrenaline filled excitement, he failed to hear the chopper. In the slight distance was the sound of rapid fire joining his shots. Even in his battle, Robbie could see the wide and bright glow of the shots in the woods, sparking out as they sailed from the close hovering helicopter overhead.

  “Robbie? Is that a chopper?”

  “Not just a chopper. It’s . . . it’s Frank.”

  With a tremble, her hand retracted from the circuit break box and Ellen lost all breath. Her stomach twitched and her eyes moved to the basement ceiling. “Frank,” she whispered out, spun around and raced to the stairs

  In her charge up, she could hear the slowing of the shots and just as she reached the top of the steps and flew into the kitchen, she froze. The helicopter grew faint. “No.” She shook her head. “No.” She hurried out of the kitchen.

  Robbie lowered his weapon in the after silence of the mini war and peered up to the sky. He recognized the sound the helicopter made and ran to the other side of the house.

  With his eyes still on the sky, Robbie saw the return of the Beginnings chopper, flying low enough to whip around the wind and allowing for Robbie to see the pilot was Frank. He raised his arm high, smiled to his brother, and gave a thumbs up.

  Frank tilted the helicopter and returned that thumbs up and then his heart dropped to his stomach when he saw Ellen racing from the house.

  “El,” he whispered out, controlling the chopper to hover just for a moment. He watched her step before Robbie and look up. Her arm waved slow and high as she held the other hand to cover her eyes to shade the wind.

  Tilting the helicopter more before he could fly off, Frank leaned against the pilot side window and placed his hand against the glass. “Merry Christmas, El,” he whispered as he just took that moment to stare.

  Ellen’s heart pounded and rang into her gut. Her body sunk when Robbie moved closer behind her and Frank flew away. “Merry Christmas, Frank.” She closed her eyes. “Merry Christmas.”

  “Frank,” Hal called out. “Frank come in. What’s going on?”

 
; Frank spoke like his mind was elsewhere. “Situation . . . Situation under control. All Savages are out.”

  “Frank . . .”

  “I saw her, Hal,” Frank rasped. “I saw her.”

  Silence.

  Hal got it together. He didn’t know what else to say.. “You did good. Come on home.”

  “Roger that, Small Squaw.”

  “Christ,” Hal winced vocally over the airways. “I told you not to call me that”

  “And I told you to call me by my code flying name.”

  “Frank.” Hal ignored the curious looks Elliott gave him.

  “One time, Hal. Come on,” Frank beckoned.

  “No.”

  “Please. I’ll call you Captain Slagel.”

  “No, Frank.”

  “Be a pal, Hal,” Frank snickered. “Do it.”

  “No, Frank, no!” Hal grew aggravated. “I am not calling you ‘Stud’.”

  “Thank you. Over and out.”

  Hal shuddered and set down the radio.

  “Stud?” Elliott questioned. “Stud?”

  “Oh go figure.” Hal shrugged.

  ^^^^

  Lodi, Ohio

  His huge frame barely fit in the beat-up swivel chair in which he rocked back and forth. His booted feet were propped up on the table used for taking notes. If he were going to take a shift in that bank vault, positioned in the town’s communication center for safety sake, Mike Manis preferred to be comfortable. He wore old and rugged Levi jeans, a tee shirt, an over shirt, and his shoulder harness. He always dressed that way.

  “Hey, Chief,” the male voice called out with a knock on the metal door.

  “Hey, Buzz.” With a slightly tainted country accent, Mike brought down his feet and stood. He stretched some the stiffness he had gained from lingering in that chair for so long. He limped a little from exhaustion and boredom as he approached Buzz. Buzz was a big man but looked little in comparison to the mass and six foot-five height of the town’s leader. “Gonna have to get Sanders up to the roof,” Mike said. “We’re getting a lot of static. It’s probably dish three again.”

  “It snowed,” Buzz responded.

  Mike snapped his fingers. “That would do it.”

  “I wanted to let you know that our men have returned. The bike escort took our Society visitors safely to the UWA border.”

  “Excellent. Southern Kansas?”

  “You got it. They know the Society is looking north for them,” Buzz stated.

  “I’m glad our man picked that up,” Mike said. “That was really valuable. So when . . .”

  “They’ll rest up. They have enough supplies. They want to stay low for a while and settle. You know as well as I do the Society is gonna be watching Beginnings for them. They’ll head on in when things look clear.”

  “They know not to say anything about us, correct?’

  “Yes. It could ruin things. They know we have to be silent.”

  “Good. Good.” Mike nodded. “Hey, you have a cigarette.”

  Buzz grumbled as he took one from his pocket. “You’re gonna have to start rolling your own. I can’t be supplying your big ass.”

  With a ‘hmm’ Mike snatched the cigarette from Buzz. “All right. I’ll get a hold of Major McClure and let him know what’s happened. Have the second gates put up just as a precaution tonight.”

  “Do you think the CS is gonna hit?”

  Mike shrugged. “They might. Not that they’re really worried about us now, but let’s be safe.” He headed back to his chair.

  “Anything?” Buzz asked and pointed to the lit receiver.

  “Nah. A little Savage action. I want our men alerted as well. If they’re back on that side of the country, they’re back on this side.”

  “I’ll take care of that satellite.” Buzz stepped back. “Let me know what the major says.”

  “Will do.”

  “Hey, Chief.” Buzz paused. “You have a smile on your face. Did something happen in Beginnings?”

  “No not really. It’s just the antics between the two brothers again, that’s all. It’s humorous. Then again . . .” Mike settled into his monitoring chair. “It’s Beginnings.”

  ^^^^

  In the main corridor of the clinic, Joe looked down to his watch with annoyance, then he shook his head and peered back up to Hal who stood next to Andrea. “What in Christ’s name is taking so long? I want to get out of here, it’s Christmas Eve.”

  Hal tossed up his hands. “I haven’t a clue. Frank said he’s on his way.”

  “It’s a mile from the hanger. What is taking him so long?”

  “Joe,” Andrea scolded. “You need to calm down. You just had your treatment.”

  “Andrea, I’m fine. I just want to get home,” Joe told her. “I have a lot to get ready for tomorrow and speaking of which . . .” Joe pointed at Hal. “Your ass better home for Christmas.”

  “Being that it is the first one in eight years to be with you, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  Andrea let out a whispering, ‘ah’. She smiled “Isn’t he sweet, Joe.”

  “A pip. Now where is . . .” Joe jolted at the bang of the glass doors. “Never mind.” He turned to see Frank strutting down the hall.

  “Hey.” Frank grinned and took off his gloves. “Did you see the fuckin snow? Is it awesome or what? Hal, want to build a snowman?”

  Hal smiled, then shifted his eyes to Joe. The smile left. “Um, no Frank. That’s awfully immature.”

  “Come on,” Frank beckoned. “We’ll build one tonight and pretend it’s Dean. We’ll blast it with snowballs.”

  With another ‘ah’, Andrea grinned. “Aren’t they sweet?”

  Joe rolled his eyes. “Frank, forget about the snow . . .”

  “Oh!” He snapped his fingers. “Hal, we can make it obnoxious like we did when we were kids and give him a huge erection.”

  Andrea gasped, “Sweet Jesus.”

  Hal’s eyes widened in warning to Frank.

  Joe looked at Frank then Hal. “You boys did that? You told me Jeff Robinson and his big brother did that. I raised hell and got into a fight with their old man.”

  Quickly Frank looked from Hal to Joe. “Um, did I say that? No, I didn’t say that. We didn’t do that. Jeff did.”

  “Yeah, right.” Joe shook his head. “Forget the penis on the snowman. Tell me, Frank.”

  Frank stared for a second. “Tell you what?”

  Joe lost it. “About Robbie, Ellen, and the Savages!”

  “I saw her,” Frank said.

  “Yes we know. What about the Savages?” Joe asked again harder.

  “Oh.” Frank bobbed his head. “Everything’s fine. He took out eight. I took out eight and then together we took out eight more,” he said nonchalantly. “Not a problem.”

  “You told Hal they made it on the property,” Joe stated. “How is that possible? Did Danny’s beams fail?”

  “No. I was able to pick up what they were saying over their radios. Good thing they couldn’t hear me. I was bitching,” Frank explained. “Seems, Robbie had El help and she blew the circuit. The beams never went up.”

  Joe whistled. “Bet that won’t happen again. If the beams would have been up, do you think there would have been any problems?”

  “Nah.” Frank shook his head. “I hate to say it but Hal, Danny, and Sgt. Fuckin Ryder did good with that place. I don’t think . . .” Frank stopped talking and looked around.

  Watching Frank look back and forth confused Hal. “What in God’s name are you doing?” he asked.

  “Dean.” Frank continued to look about the empty hall. “He’s not here.”

  Hal’s head flung back in irritation. “You’re just noticing this now?”

  “Yeah,” Frank answered.

  “How did you miss him?” Hal asked.

  “It’s easy Hal. He’s three feet tall.” Frank walked a few steps to the lab and looked in, “Where is he?”

  Softly and with almost too much despair
and sadness, Andrea answered. “Where he’s been for the past two days.” She sighed. “He’s missing Ellen and refuses to leave that cryo-lab. It’s pitiful. Sad and pitiful.”

  “Ok.” Frank turned and started to walk away.

  “Frank?” Joe called out. “Where are you going?”

  “To see Dean.” Frank reached for the door. “I mean, more than ever he needs cheered up, right? Well, if he’s missing Ellen, think how happy he is gonna be when he hears I saw her.”

  “You think that’s gonna make him happy?” Joe asked. “You really do. Dean’s down in the dumps and you saying you saw her is gonna cheer him up?”

  “Yeah,” Frank said. “He’ll be glad.”

  “Uh-huh. You wanna take some salt with you to add to his wounds while you’re at it?”

  “Why, is he hurt?”

  “Go,” Joe instructed.

  After a shrug, Frank walked out.

  Whistling softly, Joe faced Hal and Andrea. “Oh, yeah, Dean’s gonna be real happy.” He grumbled, “Christ.”

  ^^^^

  Her full figure felt perfect and comforting as Dean held her. Perhaps it was wrong to steal a hug, maybe even a bit demented, but somehow she made him think of Ellen. She liked Dean and nuzzled against him as his hand stroked her back. With his eyes closed and REO Speedwagon playing on the player, all Dean could think about was Ellen.

  “Fuck, that’s sick,” Frank said as his announcement as he walked into the cryo-lab. “You ought to be ashamed of yourself.”

  Dean didn’t turn round. He rolled his eyes. “I’m looking at her like a doll.”

  “Fuckin ugly doll.”

  “She reminds me of Ellen.”

  “I’m telling.”

  Dean huffed, “Because she’s Ellen’s, Frank. That’s why. Now what do you want?” Dean stood up slowly and returned Majestic to her cage.

  “I came to cheer you up.”

  “I doubt that but you can try.”

  “Guess what?” Frank grinned. “I was flying a surveillance for the Savages, and guess what? I saw Ellen. Yeah.” His voice upped in enthusiasm. “She waved. I waved. I saw her, Dean. I saw her.”