by Bobby Akart
Major took a deep breath, and his eyes adjusted to the rising sun. He tried to remind himself that all of the thoughts running through his mind were reasonable, practical, and totally understandable.
As he mindlessly stared, watching another day arrive, he heard sniffling behind him. Major turned and found Lucy bundled in her housecoat, standing at the foot of the stairs. She was crying.
Major rushed to her side. “Honey, what’s wrong?”
“It’s my job to make my husband coffee,” she mumbled in between sniffles.
Right or wrong, sometimes reactions could be spontaneous. Major burst out laughing. It wasn’t his intention to demean his adorable wife, but rather, in that moment, he thought she was cute as could be.
“Well, oh my gosh, Miss Lucy. For one day, I think we can cut you some slack on making coffee. For Pete’s sake, you’ve made coffee for me every day for, I don’t know, thirty thousand days or some such.”
Lucy pouted and wiped her tears off on her robe. Major had purchased one of those plush, Nordic fleece robes that came with the Vermont Teddy Bear from PajamaGram one Christmas. He’d never forget the day he got the courage to call the toll-free number on your television screen after watching one of those sex kittens curled up in a pink onesie they called a Hoodie Footie. He was going to buy his wife one of those but opted instead for something she’d be more likely to wear. The Vermont Teddy Bear was a bonus, which had earned him more praise than the robe. Now, in her robe, crying and vulnerable, he’d never loved her more.
“I feel so worthless.” Lucy continued to sniffle, but the teary eyes had begun to subside. “Major, there’s so much to do, and I can’t really help. Palmer and Sook have both warned me not to do too much.”
Major kissed her on the cheek. “I really love you a lot today.”
Lucy chuckled and managed a smile. “More than yesterday?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Major, who was aware Lucy was having difficulty gripping things, wrapped his arm around her and helped her drink from his coffee mug. She took in the aroma before taking a sip.
The comfort, and normalcy, of a sip of morning brew seemed to wash away her melancholy mood. Maybe that’s the key, Major thought to himself.
Lucy looked around the empty room where their furniture once stood. Even if they could remove the bloodstains from the chairs and couches, they didn’t want the memories in their home. The guys had started a massive pile of furniture, bedding, and rugs away from the ranch house to be burned later in the day. Afterwards, Major would use the backhoe to dig a hole, bury all the debris from the barn and the house, and mound dirt over it as a grave reminder of what had happened.
They moved to the fireplace together, and Major helped her sit. He had decided to open up about his thoughts when she came downstairs.
“I’ve been thinking about all of this,” he began as he waved around the room. “It seems so overwhelming, doesn’t it?”
Lucy nodded and motioned toward the coffee.
Major helped her with another sip; then he continued. “We survived, and now it’s time to rebuild. We have to believe that today is day one, where we establish some order out of the chaos, beauty out of the ugliness, and life where there has been death.”
“Get back to normal,” interjected Lucy.
“Yes, Miss Lucy. Exactly! We need to get some normality back into our lives. It’s time to put the past behind us and look to the future.”
Lucy frowned a little. “Dear, we can’t hide from the realities we now face. I’m not talking about a lack of furniture. I’m referring to the fact that we’ve lost Preacher, who ran the ranch. We’ve lost many of our ranch hands, who helped him and acted as protection during these crazy times. Then there are the minor inconveniences like no windows and, yes, a lack of furniture.”
“I don’t disagree, and I’m not hiding from reality. All I’m saying is the universe has a way of creating beauty out of ashes. What we’ve just endured is a mere chapter in our book. It’s by no means the end.”
Lucy looked into Major’s eyes and stretched her neck to get a kiss. “Okay, mister profound author, what’s the next chapter look like?”
“Happily ever after,” teased Major, which earned him a kick to the leg.
“Great,” said Lucy with a laugh. “I could’ve written that. How do we get from tragedy to happy?”
Major had contemplated when he was going to tell his wife about President Burnett’s offer. He was about to speak when the sounds of footsteps coming down the stairs interrupted him.
Chapter 30
January 25
The Armstrong Ranch
Borden County, Texas
“Good morning,” announced Duncan as he arrived at the foot of the stairs. He was wearing jeans and a plaid flannel shirt, a look that was totally out of the ordinary for him. His uniform had been soaked with blood and was soaking in a wash bucket outside.
“Good morning, my son the rancher,” quipped Lucy. “This is a different look for you.”
“Yeah, I had to raid my brothers’ closets looking for clothes. Coop’s Wranglers fit me better, and Riley’s flannel shirts gave me more room in the chest.”
“When you think about it, Duncan, over the last five or six years, the ranch was more of a stopover for you than it was a home. Gradually, more and more of your clothing left when you did for another assignment.”
Cooper and Riley emerged from the downstairs bedrooms. “Good morning, y’all!”
Everyone greeted them, and finally, the girls descended the stairs to join the morning gathering.
“Well, I reckon everyone should grab some coffee and a chair from wherever you can find one,” said Major. He patted Lucy on the thigh and told her he’d be back with a refill. After some conversation in the kitchen regarding replacement windows, everyone joined the Armstrong matriarch of the family.
“Miss Lucy, I must change your bandages soon,” said Sook, who sat on the hearth next to her patient. “Are you having pains?”
“No, no pains. Only frustrations.”
Sook appeared puzzled but then smiled. “I understand. Palmer and I are here for you.”
Dining chairs were slid into the room, and the Armstrong children formed a semicircle around the fire. Major was the last one to take his seat.
“I woke up this morning thinking about my day, as I always do. For the first time, I was at a loss. Usually, I can reel off five or six must-dos and another dozen wanna-dos. When the list of must-dos exceeds twenty, it’s easy to lose count and priorities. Just before your momma joined me this morning, I had a revelation of sorts. I decided to bring back a sense of normalcy to the ranch.”
Palmer jumped in. “A routine, right, Daddy?”
“Yes, honey, a routine. But it will be a new normal.”
“That’s confusing as heck, husband,” said Lucy.
Major set his coffee to the side and wiped his face with both hands. He wasn’t tired, as he’d rested well the night before. The magnitude of what he was about to say was beginning to overwhelm him.
“I have every confidence in this family’s ability to pull itself out of this crisis and make a life for ourselves under the circumstances God has put before us. But I also believe that an opportunity has presented itself that can make our lives much easier, and safer.”
His children looked to one another in surprise and confusion. Lucy never took her eyes off Major’s. She knew him well and was beginning to realize that he’d withheld something from her.
He decided to just blurt it out. “While I was in Austin the day before yesterday, Marion asked me to accept the position as the vice president of Texas.”
“Wow!” shouted an exuberant Riley, who immediately exchanged high-fives with Cooper. “Daddy’s gonna be runnin’ things!”
The boys’ excitement died down when they realized that nobody else was dancing in the streets with them.
“Have you already accepted her offer?” asked a perturbed Lucy.
M
ajor knew he was treading on thin ice by not telling her sooner, but he’d honestly put it out of his mind under the circumstances, and he hadn’t wanted to overshadow yesterday’s emotional burial ceremony. “No, honey. I haven’t responded, although Marion is expecting an answer from me today.”
“What’s your answer gonna be?” Lucy asked. Major knew she was angry with him.
“That’s up to all of us to decide. As a family.” Major looked to Duncan, who was the most mature contribution to the conversation.
He picked up on his cue to help. “Dad, are you in a position to ask for conditions of employment? You know, perks beyond a paycheck?”
Major had given this a lot of consideration. “I think I am. I haven’t raised any of these issues with Marion, and in light of what has happened here, I’m in a strong position to write my own meal ticket.”
“Enhanced security?” asked Lucy, whose mind was starting to consider the possibilities.
“Exactly,” added Duncan. “Think back to pre-EMP days and the security detail assigned to presidents and vice presidents. President Bush’s ranch was protected like a military installation during and after his days in office. Why should Texas treat its leadership team any different?”
“Are you applying for the job, son?” asked Major.
“Well, um, not necessarily. But I sure would like to help set the security team up.”
Major thought for a moment, and then Palmer asked, “Daddy, would you live here or in Austin?”
“Not sure,” he replied. “It depends a lot on what she will have me doing.”
“Maybe you can dictate that as well.” Lucy was now fully engaged and appeared to be over her hurt feelings as the possibilities began to be bantered about.
“I’ve thought about that as well. My first inclination was to request an important role with the military. I hit it off with the generals at both the funeral and during one of my trips to the Mansion. However, at the end of the day, I’d always defer to the generals’ judgment, and I wouldn’t have that much of an impact.”
Duncan issued a reminder. “Dad, there’s still General Lee and his commandos to deal with. If we could track him down, you know, cut off the head of the snake, the rest of the Lightning Death Squads would flounder, especially in Texas.”
“Same question as before,” started Major. “Are you applying for the job of hunting down General Lee?”
“I’d do it as a service to my country, without pay or accolades,” said Duncan with a lowered voice. “Let me pick my team, which will include Sook, of course.”
Palmer pounced on his last statement. “What? C’mon, Duncan. You can’t take her away from us to fight these guys.”
“Hold on. Hear me out. Yesterday, as Espy’s men rounded up the bodies, they also gathered up all the radios. Further, under light interrogation—”
Duncan was interrupted by laughter. He’d never fully described his techniques in detail, but because he always got results, the family assumed his repertoire was extensive.
He continued as he held his hands up in surrender. “I swear. The guy Riley hog-tied told us everything he knew about Lee’s next move. With Sook’s interpretive abilities, we can track Lee down and end this.”
“I, for one, don’t want to look over our shoulders anymore,” added Cooper.
Sook reached for Duncan’s hand and held it tight. Apparently, he’d caught her off guard with the proposal, but her devotion to him was obvious. If he asked, she’d join him in battle again.
“So far, I’m losing two of my men and my new daughter to the government,” said Lucy. Everyone grew tense and quiet, as they expected Lucy to use her all-powerful veto. She surprised them. “For years, we’ve stayed out of politics other than complain’ about it when the news was on or sendin’ the occasional check to a politician’s coffers. That said, I believe that you two are best suited for the jobs you described.”
“Thank you, honey. I just wanna add this. I plan on going to Austin to make a real difference in the Texas recovery effort. I trust Duncan to create the utmost security for our ranch, and I will insist that Marion give him everything he needs so we can all sleep at night. In exchange, he will offer his services to rid our new nation from these killers who’ve destroyed our power grid and put fear in every Texan.”
“Daddy, what do you plan on doin’ as vice president?” asked Cooper.
“I’m gonna spearhead the recovery effort. I will free up Marion to deal with Washington and the administrative roles that she understands. Let me use the organizational and preparedness skills we’ve used at the ranch and apply it on a larger scale to the nation.”
Lucy struggled to stand, and Major helped her. Her approval was powerful.
“If I’m going to commit the lives of my husband and oldest son, together with his fiancée, to a cause, let that cause be Texas!”
Chapter 31
January 25
The Armstrong Ranch
Borden County, Texas
The ranch was bustling with activity as snow flurries filled the air. It had been a dry winter and not all that cold. Thus far, they’d avoided the nasty weather, which could descend into West Texas from the Rockies quickly. Duncan worked with Espy to get in contact with President Burnett’s chief of staff. Major took over from there and explained what had happened. He also asked to be picked up as soon as possible because he had an answer for the president on her offer but needed to discuss it with her in person. He also insisted Duncan be allowed to make the trip with him.
While they waited for the helicopter to arrive, Duncan filled in Espy on his proposal to the president. Without giving him the information about his father becoming vice president, Duncan let Espy know there was an opportunity for him to head up the security detail at the ranch. He warned Espy it might be boring in many respects, especially in light of the action they’d seen with the TX-QRF around Lubbock.
Espy, however, didn’t hesitate to jump at the offer. He and Duncan really meshed as a team, and Espy had grown fond of Palmer. He wasn’t timid about broaching the subject with her oldest brother either. Short of asking Major for his daughter’s hand in marriage, Espy knew gaining the permission of his commanding officer to court his sister was an important prerequisite to pursuing a relationship with Palmer.
Espy was thrilled following the conversation, in which Duncan gave the green light to the relationship. He did give Espy some friendly advice. His sister was a beautiful woman on the outside, but she was a wildcat underneath, just like her mother. If Espy crossed her, then he’d have momma bear to deal with and most likely Sook comin’ at him from behind.
After seeing the look on the young man’s face, Duncan didn’t think it was necessary to throw in what the Armstrong menfolk might do. He patted his sergeant on the back and let him get back to work. He caught up with his dad and brothers, who’d gathered around some sawhorses and plywood sitting out in the front yard.
“What’s goin’ on, Dad?” he asked.
“Son, I think I’ll let Coop explain.”
Duncan and Riley reached into the horse-drawn wagon and removed a large sheet of plate glass. They grunted a little as they carefully set the heavy glass on top of the plywood table they’d created with the sawhorses. Then the guys donned a pair of safety goggles and stood opposite one another around the glass.
Cooper changed gloves from the leather ones he used around the ranch to a pair with a mesh back and rubber grips. As he did, he described their project. “This is the first of the fixed-glass windows we’ll be removing from the Reinecke buildings. We lost a lot of windows, obviously, during the fight. With cold weather moving in, Riley and I decided it would make sense to get our shelter secured first, and then focus on the other things on our mental to-do list.”
“You’re gonna make your own windows?” asked Duncan, who was somewhat skeptical.
“Yeah, and without a glass cutter, too,” replied Riley. “First, we cleaned out the windowsills and surrounds. After measu
ring, we took the wagon over to Reinecke and identified windows that could be removed as replacements for our broken ones.”
“What’s that for?” asked Major. He pointed to the ground at a sheet of plywood with a two-by-four surround nailed to its edges. The guys had a large piece of eight-millimeter plastic sheeting inside it, which created a makeshift bladder filled with water.
“That’s the next step,” replied Cooper. “Watch. First, we measure for our cuts and mark the line with a Sharpie. Then Riley will use this carbide-tipped saw blade as a scoring tool. Once he’s dug in enough to get us a good cut, I’ll tie this kite string around the glass to match up with our initial cut.”
“Are you gonna snap it like a chalk line?” asked Major. “I don’t think that’ll do it, boys.”
Cooper laughed and shook his head. “No, Daddy. Watch. Ready, Riley?”
“Let’s do it.”
Cooper and Riley wrapped the string around the glass so that it matched up with the scored indentation. Cooper reached into his pocket and retrieved a lighter. He set fire to the string and it began to burn across the top of the glass. As soon as the string was entirely ablaze, Cooper shouted, “Now!”
The guys quickly lifted the glass and set it into the water trough. They placed a cut two by four just below the cut line and simultaneously thumped it with the back of their fist. The glass broke along the score and snapped cleanly.
“Wow! Would ya look at that?” exclaimed Major.
“So what did the water do, exactly?” asked Duncan, who was impressed and now curious about the process they followed.
Cooper responded, “Setting it in the water does two things. For one, the blow was softer and more evenly distributed to avoid shattering. The water also lessened the vibrations through the glass so that we end up with two clean pieces.”
He and Riley pulled the smaller of the two pieces out of the water and set it back on the table. They slid it to the edge so the cut side could be polished with a whetstone, which was kept around the barns to sharpen knives.