“I'm glad, cause those little ones need a safe place to live and play. This would make a wonderful...”
“What's that?” Yelled Mandy and both Mason and I jumped up, in point. Back to back we looked for the 'that' that Mandy had conditioned us for. The only time it wasn't trouble was when Duke found his Dukemobile. So we were ready for danger. Well, Mason was, since he was armed, I was ready to Kung Fu the 'that' to death. But I didn't see anything.
“I don't either,” Mason said, proving he was once again hearing my thoughts. Tension made his voice squeak, so he cleared his throat.
“Oh, shit, not him again.” Hazel said pointing to my left. We were so close that her finger was two inches from my nose and the smell of onions made me remember when my mothers hands always smelled like onions. Most people wouldn't like it but that meant she was cooking and when she cooked you knew she loved you.
My head followed the finger in question and I looked over the top of the fort's wall. There coming at us at a pretty good lick of speed was a hot air balloon. A Darth Vader mask hot air balloon. I agreed with Hazel, not him again. The very same balloon crashed landed in our yard at the lodge one rainy day. A muddy, miserable looking human being covered in mud announced he was there to save our souls. It was only after we'd fed and watered him that I remembered he was actually Micky the Mutton-head, a clown in the Bozeman fair a few years before. He'd quit the clown business to give hot air balloon rides at $25 a pop about the time young female children started to disappear. No one ever proved he was the pervert in question but after the way he ogled Mandy and Clarissa, we dumped him back in his balloon and sent him on his way. Now here he was again.
“I don't see anyone in the basket.” Hazel said, shadng her eyes with her hand.
“Mandy honey would you go inside and get everyone for me?” The sound of running feet announced they'd already gotten the message. Flynn and Clint ran up the steps to the catwalk with binoculars while the balloon dipped and tilted back and forth.
“Crap, it's gonna hit the fort.”
“Yeah, like it couldn't just land in the courtyard. Or no that would be too easy.” I think that came from George, my cousin.
I cringed as it dipped below the fort wall and then it hit, making us all duck. I don't know why we ducked but there it is. I looked up at Flynn while he checked the road. “It's clear,” he finally said and we rushed the gate. The damned thing was made of logs so was heavier than a boatload of elephants. We managed to get it open enough to squeeze through and then rushed to the crash site.
Darth Vader was melting over the fort wall, while the basket underneath lay on its side against the logs. Mason dug his way through the balloon and disappeared under it.
“Joe. Give me a hand.” he yelled, his voice muffled by the balloon. Joe rushed by me and disappeared into Darth Vader. Well, hell, this is getting old. I couldn't take it anymore and started to follow Joe when Sandy, his nurse, pushed by me with an old fashioned stretcher. How did she know he needed it? I thought. So I started in again when everyone came out. I must be getting slow.
Mickey the Mutton-head was laying on the stretcher. He'd taken a hell of a beating. I couldn't tell if he was alive or not but from the way they were acting I'd say yes. They hurried to the clinic while the rest of us busied ourselves with trying to close the gate again. There had to be a better way of doing it and I'd have to talk to Duke when he had some time. Getting the security cameras up and running was more important right then.
I looked up and found Flynn, Randy, Clint, Riley and Ken walking the catwalk with binoculars although I don't know what they were looking for. Everyone else was standing around the clinic entrance to see about the pervert. Jeez, we haven't officially moved in yet for all this crap to be happening. When we lived at the lodge there was one thing after the other, militants, wildfires, walkers of course, even mountain lions but I'd hoped to get a bit settled before hell started to break out here. I guess the guys on the catwalk were looking for whoever had beaten the Mutton-head into a pulp. I crossed my fingers that who ever it was wasn't going to follow the balloon straight to us. I glanced out front and saw Darth Vader had deflated all over the wall and into the yard. We'd have to do something about that but only after everyone was sure it wasn't followed.
“Well, looks like Mickey finally pissed someone off.” Hazel said from behind me. I jumped, again. Man, I needed to settle down or slow down on the coffee. Nope, the coffee stays. It's all the excitement that's putting me on edge.
“Yeah, the last time I saw him I said I'd kill him myself if he came back. I guess someone had less patience than I did.”
“Well, the good Lord will decide if he's ready for him or not. I almost hope He is. That man is just plain nuts.”
“Aw, come on Hazel, quit dancing around what you really mean and tell it like it is.” Duke said from behind me, making me jump again. Why does everyone sneak up on me? Geez.
Hazel laughed and actually patted Duke on the head, making him frown. “Don't be frowning at me, young man. I show affection when I want and how I want so deal with it.” She hobbled over to one of the many benches lining the walkway in front of the cabins. There were small tables made of logs and branches every little way with dead plants, their dry leaves moving slightly in the breeze. One table had a mug sitting on it but it looked like it'd been there for ages. I could picture pretty plants on the tables, with soft cushions on the benches and plants hanging off the porches ever few feet. It would look great. Duke frowned at me although I have no idea why, then headed towards the hot air balloon. It looked sad all deflated like that and I had no idea what we were going to do with it, but I'm sure Duke will come up with something. His mind never rests.
I sat next to Hazel, at a loss as to what I could do. The kids were all playing on the playground, now the excitement was over. Andy and Kevin were climbing all over Darth Vader while the older girls were watching the kids. I watched the men on the catwalk watch, whatever, while everyone else was inside doing, whatever to Mickey. I sighed and leaned back against the log wall, Hazel did to and we just enjoyed the moment. Of course, when you really relax and enjoy something, that's the time for someone to interrupt you.
The door opened and Mason stepped out, closing the door behind him gently. “It doesn't look like old Mutton head is going to make it. Joe said it looked like too much damage was done to his insides. So now we are the proud owners of Darth Vader.” He walked to the edge of the walkway, and put his hand on the wall looking out at the balloon. “What the hell we gonna do with a hot air balloon?” I don't think he was really asking a question so much as talking to himself. Hazel and I looked at each other and shook our heads. I had no idea either.
While he stood there, his forearm on the post, one foot crossed over the other, I was able to admire his form. His blue tee shirt was stretched tight across shoulders that tapered down to a small waist. His hips and legs were encased in tight blue jeans that seemed to go on forever and emphasized the muscles there. But it was his hips that held my interest as I remembered how they felt in my hands the night before and I felt my face heat up. I heard a soft chuckle next to me and turned to Hazel who just smiled, knowingly and I blushed harder. She patted my leg and walked over to a bench near the playground. Mason finally finished his musings and sat beside me where we watched the kids.
“I think I'm liking it better here all the time. It's quiet and peaceful and safe. What do you think, Brat?”
“I think you're right. Once we get the security cameras in and supplies it might get downright boring and I can live with that.”
Just then Duke came up very excited. “I just heard from our kids in New Mexico. The reception is great and I'm hoping I can set something like Skype up so we face-time them. They're all doing good. Bruce has learned to fly and a couple of the kids are learning. They have several more cows and hogs so their food supply is looking good. They said to say hey to everyone.”
“Good, I was just thinking about them.”
Mason looked at me and winked and I knew he felt me thinking about him a few minutes earlier. I stuck my tongue out at him. He laughed then sobered when the door to the clinic opened.
“Mickey didn't make it. Didn't even regain consciousness.” Joe said, as he wiped his hands on a towel. “We need to figure out what to do with him. Start a cemetery or find a ravine, I don't rightly care but with the way its warming up we need to do something soon.”
“I've almost got the turbines running. I was just taking a break to tell y'all about the kids in New Mexico.” He turned and ran back to the shack near the wall, his gun holster flapping against his leg as he ran. He was always armed and since his name was Duke, he dressed like a cowboy everyday, although, the Hawaiian print shirt and ball cap distracted from the costume. And who cared that his cowboy boots stopped at his knees and his jeans were cutoffs. He was the man. He would be over the moon when I tell him about John Wayne and the retreat.
“What about the kids in New Mexico?” Joe yelled after him but Duke just waved as he went back inside. Joe turned to us with a frown but lightened up when we told him the story. I left them to figuring out the dilemma of poor Mickey and went in search of the ladies. We had lists to collaborate on and collect. Then we had to figure out where we were going to fill those lists. First, though, we needed electricity and there is only one person we knew fit that bill. I knew he was busy working on the problem so I wasn't worried. If it was broken he would either fix it, rebuild it or get rid of it and get a new one. He was also training Mandy and Andy about the turbines so I don't know what we'd do without him.
Jill came out of one of the middle cabins with Tony. “I told Ken he can cut some holes in the walls up high and put in some windows so we can have some air. We are not using air conditioning because it uses too much power so putting a few windows in isn't going to kill him. You know Ken, though, he had to whine about it.”
“He knows you're right. The whine is all show.” I said, as I crooned at Tony. He had his mama's eyes but Kens chin and the softest, strawberry blond hair I've ever felt. He also had a set of lungs that would tell the people in the next county when his pants were full. He was just plain adorable.
“Yeah, I know what you mean. All the women are gonna want windows in their places too so the guys better gear up. Where are they anyway?”
“Joe told us we need a burial detail for Mickey, so Ken is security on the walls while the rest of the guys take care of it. I would like to stay here tonight but we don't even have electricity...” and just like that a light went on over Jill's head, literally. “How does he do that?” I wondered aloud.
“Scary isn't it?” Jill said, laughing softly while she gently rocked the sweet baby in her arms. Just then I could here a celebration of noise erupting from the turbine shed. We looked at each other and laughed. Sarah came out of the cabin nearest the dining room saw us and waved. “He did it again, I see.” She yelled, then waved again and went back inside.
“We don't have supplies either, so I guess we'll stay at the haunted house one more night.”
“Did you really see a ghost this morning or were you just saying that to make Sally feel better?”
“I saw him and he saw me. He was an old geezer, bib overalls, battered cowboy hat and maybe six feet tall. I really don't know if he was that tall or he was just hovering in space but it doesn't matter. I don't why we're all getting paranormal abilities all of a sudden but that is one I could do without. Scared the crap out of me, although I don't know why I was scared. It didn't seem to bother Sally at all.”
“Kids are naturals. They haven't been told they aren't supposed to see ghosts and they haven't watched a boat load of scary movies either. None of the other kids said anything about it, so I think so far it's just Sally. She just chocked it up to another adult in the room and that was it. Like the lady she was talking to in one of the rooms earlier in the day. I don't think they will hurt anyone, they just want to be noticed.”
“I guess, but with the 'skills' I already have I don't need anymore. What the hell is that noise?” I suddenly remembered our 'friends' in the sky and start searching for a silver disk. No one else seemed to be bothered, so, I stepped out in the yard to look some more. The noise stopped. Back on the porch and there it was again. Then I saw it. An electrical bug zapper hung in the corner of the porch, it's blue light shimmering softly in the dimness of the corner and its little motor humming away. I started laughing and was soon joined by Jill. We were still chuckling when Mason returned. I let him think I was just plain happy to see him, though. A mans feelings are hurt so easily don't ya know.
Chapter 15
We couldn't talk Hazel into spending the night in the fort so we all went back to the 'haunted house' for dinner and a shower. Baby was thrilled to see us but when he came barreling at Hazel she just laughed as he skidded to a stop right in front of her. It's as if he knew she was fragile. The rest of us scooted out of his way just in case. Bubba came up to him and had to get on his hind legs to give Baby a kiss, Monster just avoided all of us by climbing into the rafters of the porch. I ignored them all in favor of a shower. We had some planning to do and I wanted to be fresh for it. Seems like everyone had the same idea so it didn't take long before we were seated at the big dining room table.
Lacy was busy consolidating the many lists. Some things were written down several times and we needed to narrow it down and decide where we were going. Duke was busy checking the internet for the locations of all the warehouses in the area. We had the choice of Whitefish, Libby, Columbia Falls, and Kalispell before we started looking outside our comfort zone.
The one thing we took advantage of was toilet paper. I dreaded the day we couldn't find any more. I was willing to go miles out of our way just to get it. We would store it in large plastic totes, to keep the mice out. They loved toilet paper for their nests. We were going through it like water now that our group had expanded, so we needed lots of it right away. I knew there was a place in Missoula that was a pulp mill and made toilet paper, so we may have to make a trip there. We also stored a lot of Kleenex, paper towels and feminine products for the same reason. We'd left almost all of our plastic totes in New Mexico, so we had to get a whole bunch of them, again. Yea, for plastic.
Duke brought us a printout of the warehouses in the area and went back to see if he could hack the computer system at the pulp mill. That would tell him if there was a trailer of toilet paper there or not. He was good about that kind of thing. He was printing paper out by the reams and since I could only wonder at what he was doing, I ignored him.
Mason and a few of the guys along with Andy was perusing some maps at another table, while Howard and Samantha was checking out the nearest trucking companies to see what they had in the way of cargo. Everyone was busy, as it took us all just to get things figured out. Sarah with her kitchen supplies, Joe with his medical, Melody and Mercy with the garden . It seemed everyone had a job. I would put myself almost anywhere I was needed but mostly hunting, fishing and warehouse runs. I could shop until I dropped. I also fought the walkers better than some of the others. Lucy killed one but for days afterward she was sick and weepy. I know Jill and even Sarah could chop and dice with the best of us but they were more useful elsewhere.
We had a school to set up this time too, so that was something new we had to figure out along with the electronics, always the electronics. Seemed everywhere we went we had to find cases upon cases of electronics. Everything for security and medical along with wind turbine and solar panels. We shouldn't forget ink for the printer either since our lists were long and planning took most of the long day we'd already had. The morning would find us planning the rest of the trip, but for tonight I had a sexy Mason that needed to be shown just how much he means to me.
When I finally stumbled into the dining hall the next morning, everyone was already eating, getting ready for the trip to town. I glanced real quick in the corner of the room but it was empty so I got my coffee and sat next to Mason
. He put his hand on my knee and squeezed and I smiled. Yeah, I remember last night. I can't forget it, Brat. I don't think my back was supposed to bend that direction. I blushed, which made Lacy, who sat across from me, smile.
Randy cleared his throat, which told me he was getting the byplay between us, and I had to squelch the urge to run to my room. Geez.
“JD, would you like to go with us today?” Mason asked. We'd fought numerous times about them planning to go on these trips without me. Now, he asked as if he didn't already know. We discussed it at length last night and I finally decided to stay behind only because I planned to go to the fort with the rest of the ladies and do some major cleaning. They would return to the fort with the supplies.
“No, thank you for asking. I plan to join the ladies at the fort today. Maybe next time.” I smile sweetly at Randy who had the good sense to blush then turned to Mason.
“Hon...”
“JD! I need to talk to you.” Nevada proceeded to grab my arm and pull. “Now, JD, it's real important.” Pulling and tugging with the strength of three men, I shrugged at Mason and allowed Nevada to pull me into the restroom near the dining room. As soon as we were safely inside she burst into tears. At a loss of what to do, I finally pulled her into my embrace and whispered into her ear. “What's wrong pumpkin?”
She mumbled something, but I couldn't make it out so I put my finger under her chin and pulled her tear stained face up to me. “I'm dying, JD. I'm so scared.” I felt my eyebrows climb into my bangs and blinked a few times.
“What makes you think you're dying, sweetie?” I whispered.
“Because I started bleeding this morning and it won't stop. I think I have cancer. I didn't cut my self or anything so it has to be that, doesn't it?”
Seeking Sanctuary (Walkers) Page 13