“Brian doesn’t have a working vehicle, and they live a good twenty klicks from here, so he’s not coming back tonight anyway. You’ve got time to get over there to talk to him. He’s got to work things out in his own head in the meantime. I think he’s more concerned about getting his son’s body back so he can be properly buried.”
“Oh,” Mac said with a cringe.
“Yeah. It’s still at the hospital. The power went down before any autopsy could be done,” Gilles said, his face contorted into a grimace. The thought wasn’t a pretty one. Without freezing or embalming, there wouldn’t be much of a body left. Mac didn’t know much about human decomposition, but she knew it wouldn’t be something any loving parent would handle well.
“He can’t go there and see that,” she said.
“No, you’re right. If he doesn’t have something to bury, though, he just might at that. Not that I really want to see it myself, and I’m sure Chuck won’t either, but we’re probably the two with the most responsibility to do something about it. We chose to be cops, and we knew it wouldn’t always be speeding tickets and community relations. The question is fuel. Do we really want to spare it for something like this?”
“That’s something I wanted to talk to you about anyway. What do you know about vegetable oil conversions?”
“Huh?”
“Okay, well that answers that question. I’m guessing not much.”
“Vegetable oil conversions of what?”
“Diesel engines. Do you remember on the news a few years back, there was a surge of people converting their diesel engines to run on used deep-fryer oil? They were getting it free from the restaurants,” Mac said, trying to prod his memory.
“Now that I know what the hell you’re talking about, yeah. I actually know quite a bit about it. I was considering doing that with a car, but unless you could get the oil for free it wasn’t really worth it. I think restaurants started charging for it in some cases, and buying the vegetable oil new cost at least as much as paying for diesel, if not more. So I never bothered. And burning diesel wasn’t any harder on the environment.”
“Not burning it, no. But it was the fact that it was a fossil fuel, rather than something more sustainable like sunflower oil that made the conversion better for the environment. Anyway, I made sure I had seeds I could grow so I’d have cooking oil in the future, and I bought a press for the same reason, so technically we can provide our own fuel if we can find a way to convert the diesels. We’ve got three trucks that run on it. It would have been better to have cars, since they don’t burn as much fuel, but maybe we can find something that’s been abandoned later.
“The real reason I’m asking is for getting down to Cleveland, since we already have pretty much everything we need right here on the farm. A lot of boat motors run on diesel, and I’m pretty sure the waterway goes from here all the way down to Lake Erie. I just have to double-check a book I grabbed from the library to see if there are any locks or canals that might be a problem on the way.” Mac chewed her lip worriedly as she thought about it.
“Weren’t you planning to use a sailboat?”
“I’m not real confident of my ability to operate one without killing myself, and Neil isn’t any more knowledgeable than I am. Sails are a complication I’d rather not deal with if I don’t have to. An engine is something I can understand. I’d like to find something that’s got both, just in case, but if I have to pick one or the other I’d rather go with a motorboat if we can get the fuel together for it. Thankfully diesel doesn’t go bad as easily as gasoline, but whether or not people used it up is another story.”
“Let me think about it, and see what I can come up with. I do remember that the oil has to be pre-heated in order for it to work, so maybe I can jury-rig something,” Gilles said. “How are you planning to get the oil for now, though? It’s gonna be a while before you can harvest enough seeds for that.”
“Looks like I’m going to be breaking into a bunch of fast-food joints. I have to wonder if it’ll matter whether or not the oil is rancid, though. I mean, that oil has been sitting there for a number of months now. Will it break down and become unusable, do you think?”
“No idea,” Gilles said with a shrug. “Guess we’ll just have to find out. If I can put something together to make this work, we should have a test engine to mess around with, not one of the truck engines or a boat engine you’re planning to use. No point fixing something that ain’t broke, until we’re sure we’re not going to be breaking it.”
“Good point. Alright, let me know what you come up with. In the meantime, by all means take Chuck to get Gerry’s body. Wait until I’ve had a chance to talk to his father, though. I’ll let him know what you’re doing and maybe that will ease things between us all. This is a tense situation, and it could get bad if we’re not careful.”
“What the ever-loving fuck, Cameron?” Mackenzie snapped furiously, the instant Cam walked through the kitchen door. The recipient of Mackenzie’s temper hunched her shoulders.
“Uh, I take it you talked to Gilles,” Cameron said hesitantly. Obviously she didn’t want to get specific, just in case Mac was pissed about something else.
“Did you suddenly become a commando when I wasn’t looking?”
“Uh, no.” The hunch in Cam’s shoulder’s only became more pronounced, and it pissed Mac off even more.
“So, what exactly made you think you should confront a potential intruder all by yourself then? Have we got a hidden supply of testosterone that I’m unaware of?” The sarcastic remark instantly offended the other occupant in the room.
“Bad decision-making isn’t solely the province of masculinity, thank you very much,” Neil cut in.
“Maybe not, but the majority of it is.”
“Okay, well you have me there, but I don’t think that’s the issue this time, so let’s stick with the problem at hand, shall we?”
Mac shrugged a shoulder and turned back to her daughter to await her defense. It was a while before anything came out of her mouth, and what did come out was hardly satisfactory.
“I was pissed off and wasn’t thinking straight.”
“Great. Let me guess. You were still sulking about not being able to go on our little scavenging trip, weren’t you?”
“Something like that,” Cam responded with a half-shrug of her own. “Besides, it’s not like I’m the only person around here who’s made a bad decision.”
Mac almost choked on her ire. And the worst of it was that her daughter was right about her risky choices, which was a very bitter pill to swallow. Not that she felt it excused her. After all, her decision hadn’t led to any disastrous consequences.
“Is that how we’re going to start living? Every time someone makes a mistake or a choice the others don’t agree with, everyone else gets to make one, too, just so we’re all even? Is that what you think we should be doing? Or do we play a game of one-upmanship, where we try to outdo one another? Never mind the fact that you made your decision based on a childish need to get back at me for something.”
Rather than shouting at Cam, Mackenzie’s voice went really quiet. Cold, rigid logic poured from her mouth, rather than temperamental fury. The longer she spoke, the less sarcasm she used, until there was nothing left beyond the hard words.
“Did you realize at any point that you were making a mistake?” she finally asked. Cam took her time responding, and Mac knew it was because she was trying to swallow her own temper.
“Yeah, but it was too late by then. Brian was already behind me, telling me to put down my bow.”
“I want the details. All of them. What did you do then?”
“I ducked behind a tree as I was turning around to aim at him.”
“Alright. That was the smart thing to do. What then?”
Cam gave her the whole story, and as Mac listened to her daughter the tension eased from her shoulders. Cam might have made a poor decision, but from that point forward Mac couldn
’t find fault with any of the other choices she’d made. She wasn’t even sure if she would have thought to fire a few rounds in the air to bring help herself, and so she nodded her approval.
“Okay. All we can do now is see what this guy has to say for himself. Gilles, Chuck, and even Neil here, think Brian isn’t going to cause problems, but I want to see for myself what he’s like.” Mac glanced apologetically at her husband.
“I’m sorry. I trust you. I do. But this is my daughter, and I don’t even want to trust my own judgment where she’s concerned. I’ve got to do whatever I can to make sure he’s not a threat,” Mac said, appealing to Neil for his forgiveness.
“Honey, I’m not hurt or offended. Your first priority is Cam right now, not my feelings, so do whatever you have to do.”
Mac heard sincerity in Neil’s words, but by the same token she figured he’d prefer it if she was willing to take him at his word. Whatever his preferences, however, she was still going to do what she felt needed to be done. If it caused problems between them, then they’d have to deal with those later. Neil must have seen the doubt on her face, because he went on.
“I don’t know Brian all that well. I’ve given you my impression of him, but I could be wrong, so I’m really not bothered that you want to form your own opinion. We were never close friends. Just enough that I felt comfortable talking to him about his son when he first started stalking you. We didn’t really socialize or anything.”
“Since the world kinda fell apart right after we met, I have no idea what you did to socialize around here. You didn’t talk about having any really close friends, except maybe Carol and Samantha,” Mac said.
“At the time even they were mostly friendly with me simply because I was Sam’s boss. The odd coffee or dinner maybe. I wasn’t anyone’s idea of a party animal,” Neil said with a self-deprecating smirk.
“You sound like my twin. All I did was work and plot and plan. Sort of like a criminal mastermind, but without the criminal element,” she joked. Then she turned back to Cam.
“Since you realized you were making a mistake before anyone had to tell you, can I assume you won’t be doing something like this again? No matter how pissed off you are?”
“I might make mistakes, mom, but I’m not stupid. If there’s another alert, I won’t go out to check it without letting someone know, or taking someone with me. I was thinking I need to learn something about bush tactics, though. Even if I go out with someone else, I don’t want anyone getting the drop on me,” Cam said, her tone hesitant. Mac almost smiled at the lingo her daughter had almost certainly picked up through movies or first-person shooter games.
“I’d rather you didn’t go out to check sensors at all, but it’s not an ideal world. Gilles would probably be the best person to teach you that, or maybe even Neil. What do you think, cowboy? How extensive is your hunting experience?”
“I think Gilles is probably far more capable in that respect. I haven’t gone hunting since I was a little kid. He used to go every season, didn’t he?”
“Yeah, alright. I’ll talk to him. Besides, we won’t be here for a couple weeks. It’s best that she learn what she can, as soon as she can. She and Billy are going to be running this place when we’re not here, so who knows what they’ll have to deal with? When we get back with Ian, though, I’m going to ask him to teach her jiu-jitsu.” Mac watched her daughter’s face light up.
“Seriously?”
“Absolutely. There’s no one I’d rather have teaching you. He was the acknowledged expert and master in his style, so you might as well learn from the best. It’ll keep him out of trouble while he’s here, what with learning how to make his own insulin at the same time,” Mac said with a shrug.
“While he’s here? I kinda figured he would just stay with us like everyone else does,” Cam said.
“He’s still got family outside Cleveland, so he’s not going to want to stay. Aside from the insulin, and very limited electricity, he’s got a pretty good situation there. His relatives have a small farm where they have some laying hens. Not sure about veggies and stuff, but we can send him back with plenty of seeds if they don’t already have a garden of their own. He’s got his pond with tons of fish in it, too. He had it stocked years ago, and then never fished in it, so they multiplied like crazy. Must be a pretty deep pond, because Cleveland winters used to be pretty cold. A shallow pond would have completely frozen. Then again, I have no idea whether or not fish survive being frozen. I wouldn’t think so, but what do I know?”
“You’re rambling, mom.”
“It’s your fault. You’ve got me all freaked out,” Mac replied in a snarky tone.
“Hang on,” Cam said, and trotted off toward the hall that led to the main door. Mac looked after her in bemusement, and then glanced at Neil who merely shrugged in response.
“Where did Billy disappear to? I would’ve thought he’d want to be here for when Cam got chewed out. I’m sure he must have something to say about it,” Mac said.
“Maybe he already said something, since we were gone a pretty long time, and Gilles said this happened almost immediately after we left. I’m not sure where he is now, though. I checked earlier to see if he was in his room, but he wasn’t there. Probably hiding from Katherine somewhere. That girl is tenacious.”
“I know, eh? Granted, she’s fourteen, so that’s to be expected. Thankfully you raised Billy to be a decent guy who won’t take advantage of her. There are plenty of guys who would, jailbait or not. Of course, that was back when there were actually plenty of guys. Now? Not so much,” she concluded sadly.
“Hey! I’m right here, you know? From my perspective it’s not as though you need a bunch of guys. You’ve already got me.” Mac was saved the need to answer by Cam’s timely arrival, ferrets in hand.
“Here. Have a ferret,” she said, thrusting Pickle at her mother while she nuzzled Squeaker. Mac would have liked to have made some sort of retort, but her daughter knew her well. It was a given that her attention would be drawn immediately to the furry bundle in her arms. It was well known that she was as bad as a dog with a squirrel, when it came to the distraction provided by ferrets. Seeing them reminded her of something, though.
“I take it you got Lisa and Jake settled okay?”
“They’re fine, though I wouldn’t doubt Lisa’s taking a well-deserved siesta,” Neil replied.
“Who are Lisa and Jake?” Cam’s bewilderment made Mac laugh.
“A lot happened while we were gone, and it wasn’t just here on the farm.” So saying, Mac filled her in on the rest of the details.
“So, basically you just encountered the real-life version of the zompoc,” Cam said when her mother was finished.
“The what? Oh, wait. You mean the zombie apocalypse?”
“Yeah, that.”
“Near as I can figure, however, they’re nothing more than crazy cannibals at this point. The only way they’re the walking dead, is the fact that they’re most likely going to be dead in a short while. Kind of like that death row thing. You know? Dead man walking,” Mac prompted when Cameron looked blank at the reference.
“Is that what that means?”
“Well, yeah. How can you not have known that? You saw Green Mile more than once, did you not?” Mac was incredulous.
“A few times, sure. I guess I just never made the connection. Weird,” Cam said with a shrug. And it hardly mattered anymore. It wasn’t as though there was still any such thing as popular culture. There would have to be enough people in the world for something to actually be considered popular. The few that were left were probably so scattered throughout the world, that what was known in one culture was just as likely to be unknown in another. Movies might be the exception, but properly translating a turn of phrase was a complicated thing.
“Anyhoo, let’s just worry about the world we’re actually living in, shall we? We have more than enough on our collective plates without worrying about a system that no longer exists,” Mac said.
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“Okay, so I take it these people will stay on the farm with us? Lisa and Jake, I mean. Not the cannibals,” Cam clarified with a smile.
“Definitely not the cannibals, no. I’m assuming Lisa will want to stay, and we’ve already discussed building another small cabin. The Bowflex and treadmill have been put in here for now to keep Jake safe, though it means not letting Pickle and Squeaker run around. I don’t fancy them having a chew-fest on the rubber part of the treadmill.
“Now, take the boys back to the bedroom for me,” Mac said to Cam, once she’d taken a turn snuggling Squeaker. “Neil and I need to discuss strategy for tomorrow’s little meet-and-greet.” Mac waited tensely, until she was sure Cameron wasn’t going to argue the decision.
Mac woke up mid-morning, which was unusual for her, but she’d had an anxious sleep waiting for the events of the day to unfold. A quick breakfast of mushroom and goat-cheese omelet was enough to set them up for a few hours, and they were on their way less than half an hour after climbing from their bed.
When they knocked on the Newmans’ door twenty minutes later, her stomach was tied in knots, and her Glock was tucked in its holster, situated very visibly in the front of her jeans. She really hoped Brian was the kind of person everyone was saying he was, but she knew that kind of hope was dangerous. It might lead her to miss things if she wanted so much for it to be true. She stepped to the side after knocking, in case there was a shotgun behind the door, though Neil remained where he was. She glared at him for it.
When the door opened fully, with no weapon in evidence, it was a little anti-climactic for her. Her hand stopped hovering over the Glock after she’d given him a good scan. His son had looked like him, she noticed, though the father was a lot cleaner. It made her wonder what they were doing for water.
“You look like her,” he said, staring straight at her. The similarity of his words to her thoughts was almost enough to make her laugh. Almost.
Tipping Point (Book 2): Ground Zero Page 7