“But who here could do that?” her asked. “I don’t think I could shoot a man in the head when the man was defenseless and tied up. It just isn’t in my personality. Maybe Deputy Doug could do it, but remember when he had a shot at the one guy, he instead shot the gun to remove the threat, and not the man.”
“‘Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord,’ or something like that,” he said. “I’m a God-fearing man even if I’m not religious and don’t buy into most of that stuff. The only time I went to church was when my wife dragged me on Easter and Christmas. But I can’t think of anything more precious now than a human life. If we take their life from them, there is no recourse. They lose their life forever and they don’t get a second chance. Death is the end of this life and killing them is an end to our troubles, but it is the end of them forever.”
“All it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing,” Lisa paraphrased, reminding Russ of the opposite side of the death penalty argument. “When we allow them to kill, and we know they did, and get away with it, they have taken the life of some innocent who survived the plague. What gives them the right to take someone’s life and then allow them to breathe and eat and sleep while someone is dead forever?”
“But we don’t know for sure. You saw a truck with a body strapped to the hood, but you don’t know if they personally killed the woman or the other two people they had with them. You and I both know they probably did it, and when they crashed our barbecue, they threatened us and we knew what they were going to do, but we stopped them.
“They probably are guilty of any number of crimes and the United States we are trying to restart has laws,” Russ said to Lisa, but mostly thinking out loud for her benefit. He was trying to get his thoughts in straight.
“And the last law was martial law, from the last authority to give it, the president.” Lisa countered. “And that gives you, as the highest ranking military man we know about, the right to try and convict people like those two…those…criminals.”
“You’re right, of course, as far as that goes. It means we’re assuming the United States is still a union. We would have to believe I am still in the Army, even if I was retired, I am technically still on inactive ready reserve, and I am in command of a military unit and not just a man with a rank,” Russ reminded her.
“I think our choices are simple and we should keep them simple while we decide what we should,” said boiling down their options to three. “We can kill them and be done with it. We can keep them in those cells for the rest of their lives. We can send them away and order them to never return under the punishment of immediate death.
“But whatever we do, we must do it with a trial. A trial as legal as we can make it.”
Somewhere on the base they could hear animals fighting. It was a ferocious fight which sounded like dogs and something else.
“Tomorrow morning when we have our meeting, I’ll listen to what everyone has to say about the kind of community with which they want to be a part, but right now, I think we should go inside before we get another fight at our door.”
“You’re a smooth talking man, Russ,” Lisa said, a wry smile at the corner of her mouth. Russ knew it was her way that wasn’t really flirting, but innocent teasing.
The only lights she’d left on were in the kitchen. Russ started the water in the sink to wash the dirty dishes, two ice cream bowls and spoons, a cup from the tea she was drinking while he and the captain were restraining the prisoners for the night and the coffee mug he carried with him most of the day.
He washed and she dried the dishes. Neither of them spoke. They were lost in their own thoughts.
With dishes done, there were no chores left for them for the night. Lisa walked into the living room and was running her fingers over books. She must have finished the one from the previous night.
Russ sat down at the laptop Todd had installed late in the day. It was one of dozens he’d found in a room in the armory, still in the box. He opened the cover and waited as it booted. At the login screen, he typed in his name as the password Todd had given him.
The desktop was a simple dark blue screen, but Todd had installed open source programs from a thumb drive he had taken to carrying around. Russ double clicked the word processor and opened a new document. In his years of military service he’d written thousands of reports and the habit came back with ease.
He detailed the two days he’d been in command of this “unit.”
Lisa found a book and ran her hand across his shoulder as she headed upstairs to bed. “A lot to get done tomorrow. Don’t stay up too late,” she said as she headed up the steps. In Russ’ mind he could see the woman doing that same thing to her husband a month ago. He stopped typing and thought about how his wife would have waited for him to join her before going up to bed.
He finished his writing. Saved the document with a password and stored it on the server Todd had installed in the armory. He’d make a point of journaling each day he could. He wanted to chronicle his decisions for the people of the next generation, if there would be one, so they would understand what he was thinking as he developed and built a community from who was left in the world.
He closed the laptop’s cover and turned off the lights. Going upstairs to his room, Lisa’s door was cracked open. Russ didn’t mean to look, but his glance saw Lisa in her bed, sitting up, pillow behind her back and reading. She’d let her hair down and in the bass relief of the light off to her side creating shadows, in the brief half second of what he saw, he noticed she was a very attractive woman.
In his room, getting ready for bed, he reminded himself he was a 62-year-old man who was easily 10 to 15 years older than her. Her innocent flirtations were just that – innocent flirtation to keep the seriousness and tension of their situation from becoming overwhelming.
Russ climbed into bed and turned off the light on his nightstand. The digital clock / radio clicked over to 11 p.m. on the nose. Russ reached over and turned on the radio. He rotated the dial, listening for anything other than static. The silence of the full range, both on the AM and FM bands saddened him.
He knew if the people here had survived, others in other parts of the U.S. had survived and gave him hope that some day they might make contact with others, but the static on the radio made him feel alone. In the darkness of his room, the silence of the house, Russ sighed heavily.
In the morning he’d have to make some very difficult decisions, maybe some of the hardest of his life, but he’d be making them with other people around him and he wouldn’t be alone. It was different before he knew there were other people, when he was living in the house his wife and he had purchased. Then he was waiting to die like everyone else. Now he believed he was going to live and the thought of being alone again, or for their little community to be alone in the world, brought heaviness to his mood.
He was running through the AM band again, hoping to hear anything bounced off the atmosphere from somewhere in the world when there was a knock at his door.
“Russ? Still awake?”
Russ sat up and turned on his light. “Sure Lisa, what can I do for you?”
“Don’t ask loaded questions to a lonely lady at your bedroom door,” she said with that elfish smile she liked to favor him with.
Russ didn’t know how to respond so he turned off the radio. “What’s bothering you, Lisa?”
She took his statement as an invitation and came into his room and sat down at the foot of his bed. “I don’t know, Russ. I was in my room reading in that big bed and I was missing my husband so much. My husband was my best friend and more than just a guy I loved and promised to cherish forever, I liked him. He was unique and he was quirky and he smoked too much, but by the Grace of God, he was a man I loved.”
Russ watched her face. Tears fell from her dark green eyes and her hands wrung in an effort to bleed off energy.
Russ didn’t know how to help her. His wife had always been so strong and able to muddle through the separations b
ecause of duty and she wouldn’t’ve ever said anything about Russ like Lisa was saying about her late husband.
Russ watched Lisa. Her head was bowed and silent tears fell.
Just on the hope he was doing the right thing, He pulled the covers down and patted the pillow beside him. She climbed into bed and Russ turned off the light. There was nothing sexual with her hugging him. Russ knew it was just a way for Lisa to reaffirm there was someone else alive who cared for her.
“Thanks, Russ. You’re a good guy,” she said as they got comfortable in the twin bed.
“Thanks, Lisa. You’re okay yourself,” he told her as she rearranged a pillow on his arm.
The room grew quiet for a few minutes. Lisa kept re-adjusting how she was laying until finally she told him. “We’re going to have to switch sides. I can’t sleep on this side of you.”
“I was hoping you’d say that. You’re on the wrong side of me too.”
In the darkness, instead of climbing out of bed and moving to the other side, Lisa climbed over his body. Russ was careful with his hands to guide the woman crawling over him in the darkness. She smelled good and felt good. Even at 62, the feel of a woman this close, wearing nothing but a nightgown, was enough to stir primal feelings. He was fortunate she moved quickly across his body.
They got comfortable and Russ admitted, it felt good to have her warm body against his and now on the correct side.
“Don’t piss me off tomorrow, and maybe I’ll let you sleep in my room tomorrow night. The bed is bigger.”
“I’ll do my best to avoid pissing you off,” he said, just above a whisper. “Good night.” She tapped three fingers on his side to acknowledge him and the two of them fell asleep together.
That was the extent of their interaction the rest of the night except for the occasional “sorry” when one accidently pulled to hard on the covers. Lisa was up first, minutes before the clock turned over to 6 a.m. Russ waited until she left for her own room before getting out of bed. They’d held each other through the night and he was sure each of them dreamed of long times passed. He didn’t want to have to face her with an awkward situation after such a pleasant night of rest.
He showered and put on a clean uniform. It was new like the others Lisa had found. He ran a quick brush over his boots to knock the dust off and went downstairs. He must have been much faster than Lisa because he had coffee made, eggs in a frying pan and toast popping out of the toaster by the time she came down stairs.
It was an awkward meeting so Russ pushed passed it with “How do you like your eggs, ma’am.”
“Busted yolk between buttered toast,” she replied, pouring coffee.
“They’ll be ready in three minutes,” he said, breaking the yolks on her eggs and putting the cover over the frying pan and started buttering her toast.
“Is this something you usually do,” she waved a hand at the breakfast meal, “or only after a night of sleeping with a strange woman?” she asked. She had moved over to the table.
“No ma’am. I once made breakfast for my whole staff after we spent a night hiding in a dumpster in Botswana. I think it helps keep everything in perspective that no matter what happens, a good breakfast is the best way to improve morale after night of fear.”
There was a pause while Russ loaded up the plates and walked them over to the table. “I wasn’t afraid last night, Russ. Okay, maybe a little. I was feeling more like we had all these great plans that were almost destroyed because we were just hoping that no more bad could happen.
“Now we know it can and we have to be more careful.”
Russ nodded, his mouth full of food. When he swallowed he said “that’s an excellent point I would like you to bring up at the morning meeting.”
“Oh you bet your striped boxers I will.” Russ could hear the impishness return in her comment.
“How did you know I was wearing striped boxers?” he asked, knowing she had probably checked to make sure he had clean clothes and that included his undershorts, but by giving her an opening for her flirtatious side, allowed the woman to be who she was.
“I peeked before you woke up,” she said and he knew without looking she would be looking innocent and pious if he chose to look.
“Uh huh,” he said and finished his breakfast. The two washed the dishes making small talk and avoided discussing any community business. Russ, like Lisa, wanted to keep this house they were living in as free of the troubles of the outside world as best they could.
Russ was wiping off the counters and looking in the refrigerator to see what foods they had in stock when he noticed some of his neighbors were already heading over to the armory. He called to Lisa who was upstairs doing something and she was already coming down the stairs. She had his field jacket with her so he went around turning off any lights and took his field jacket from her. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“You’re welcome, sir,” she returned with a smile and made sure it looked good. “Can’t have the commander looking like JSTRB.”
“What in God’s name is JTR whatever you said?” he asked opening the door to a brisk Indiana spring morning.
“No, JSTRB. It’s what my husband used to call the enlisted men on his staff when they came in looking less than proper military. It stands for ‘Joe Shit the Rag Bag.’ He used to be real big on military decorum and how to wear a uniform.”
“Well then, I’ll do my best to make sure I always look my best when in uniform.”
Russ and Lisa walked with Deputy Doug, Fred and Sgt. Bare to the armory. The three of them had taken up residence together. It wasn’t any of Russ’ business why they chose that arrangement, but he thought it an unusual trio. Doug and Erica both saluted the former colonel and he returned their salutes smartly. Fred slapped his chest three or four times and breathed in deeply before saying “It’s gonna be a good day.”
Lisa warmly wished them all a good morning.
They walked down the middle of the road, the five of them. Fred was sharing some of his stories of what he’d find in cars that came into the shop where he worked for 11 years. Erica and Doug were laughing because for being a minimum-wage earning oil changer, he had a knack for telling stories that were interesting and entertaining and often outrageously funny.
Fred hit the highlight of his story just as they were walking up to the front door. “…and I shit you not, ladies and gentlemen, the guy could not understand why I couldn’t put plastic bags of drugs inside the oil filter so he could get them across the border.
“No matter how many times I told him, he still tried it and two weeks later he was busted in his busted down car. The cops found the drugs in the oil filter.”
The entire group laughed at his tale. Whether it was true or not, they didn’t care. It was funny enough to sound true. Captain Eldred was opening the door for them even as Doug was reaching for it.
“Morning everyone,” the cherubic little man said to them. “And there’s Jennie and her group coming now,” he said indicating the three who hadn’t showed up, including Jennie the farmer and Todd the computer expert. “Coffee’s on in the conference room. It’ll start warming up in here soon enough. Pvt. Lucien got the generator started and furnaces going straight away. He’s a pretty smart kid.”
At 8 a.m. everyone was in the conference room, seated and with their morning drink of choice. All but Lisa and Russ were armed with an M16 or M4 rifle. Russ carried Colt Python .357 in a shoulder holster that Doug had found. Lisa carried a small .38 caliber in a similar holster.
“Welcome everyone. Let’s get down to business because I know we have a lot of work to get done today.
“Yesterday we salvaged enough fuel to keep our houses, the armory and the big freezers in the commissary running for several hundred days. Eventually, next year probably, we’ll have to design and install some type of power system that is sustainable without having access to oil.
“This morning, I’ll finish running power to the commissary,” Russ told them, standing up to his whi
te board to fill out their current projects with details. “I’m going to need a hand from Bob,” he added, nodding in the direction of the vending machine repairman.
“While you get that running, we’ll finish transporting the non-perishables to the store house at the end of the cul-de-sac,” Lisa told him.
Todd told the group every house would be fully set up with computers by the end of the day and the main server was already installed and running. He was going to bring in at least four more for information storage. He’d printed instructions on using and accessing the server.
Sgt. Bare said she’d found the radio equipment she’d need to set up a decent transmitter, but was going to need an antenna moved to the area. Hilario asked for Devon’s help to find drilling equipment for long-term water for the community. Russ said the three should work together today, focusing on getting Bare’s project up and running.
When everyone was sure of what projects they’d all be working on, some of the people started getting up to attend to their jobs. Before they could Russ raised his hand to get their attention.
“One more thing,” he said, “I’d like to make sure everyone who feels comfortable with it, carry one of the M16s or M4s Deputy Doug cleaned and prepared yesterday. Keep them ready. We found out last night, that not everyone who comes here is going to be peaceful.” This was the point he wanted Lisa to bring up, but since people looked like they were getting ready to leave, Russ wanted to make his point as well as address their other concern.
“We have two prisoners right now and we have to think of how we are going to deal with people like them….”
“Um, colonel,” Sgt. Bare interrupted him, her smooth, gentle voice playing contrast with the firm deep baritone of Russ’. “We had us a little pow wow among us enlisted and those living with us, which is everyone, but you, the captain and Lisa, while you were locking up those two guys last night. Some of us thought you were taking them somewhere to kill them.
Hell Happened (Book 3): Hell Released Page 18