by David Spell
The Northeast Georgia Technical College, Lavonia, Georgia, Saturday, 1400 hours
McCain had gone back to the dorm to see what Beth was doing. She hadn’t been in her room, so he’d walked over to the fitness center and lifted weights for an hour. Chuck had the facility to himself. It had been several weeks since his last gym session and his muscles were enjoying the burning sensation of being worked hard.
After not lifting in a while, McCain knew not to fully exert himself, so he went for about eighty percent of his normal load. He had worked his chest and was just wrapping up training his biceps when he heard the front door open.
“I figured this was where you’d be. It’s a good thing none of the other girls on campus know you’re in here or this place would be packed out,” Elizabeth said.
“You think so?” he asked, breathing hard after finishing a set of heavy preacher bench curls.
“Oh yeah. So, let’s just keep this our little secret. I don’t need any competition.”
“You have nothing to worry about,” Chuck said, grabbing Beth and squeezing her in a sweaty hug. “I think you’re probably the only girl on campus who has a thing for older guys.”
“Ooh, you’re all wet and smelly,” she laughed, trying unsuccessfully to pull away. “Yuck, let me go!”
“Never,” McCain said, kissing her.
They walked back to the dorm together. Since the plumbing was only turned on three evenings a week, a fifty-gallon drum of water was kept in the large bathroom located on each floor. The one on the second level was designated for women and the first floor’s was for men. Chuck took a sponge bath and then joined Elizabeth in her room, having decided, for now at least, not to worry her with the news of people watching the campus.
McCain took Benton through a familiarization of her new Glock pistol. After he got her comfortable with the function of the gun, he had her dry fire it. Chuck saw that there was already a new confidence in the way that Beth handled the firearm. He needed her to focus on developing this skill-set so that he wouldn’t have to worry as much about her while they were apart.
When she put her holster on and started practicing her draw, Elizabeth saw Chuck’s approving look. She was already beginning to read his face, seeing in his eyes that he was impressed with her improvement, or maybe my figure, she mused. Or more likely, both.
Her thoughts returned to the task at hand as she heard Chuck say that if she could become more proficient, he’d be much less worried about her safety. Something clicked inside of the young woman. She continued to draw and dry fire the Glock more purposefully, every repetition programming Beth’s muscle memory. After over an hour of training, though, she needed a break. McCain was standing just behind her, patiently making small adjustments to her stance and grip.
“I know why you’re standing behind me,” she said, thinking he was going to give her the technical answer about needing to be in a good position to see what she was doing wrong.
He smiled. “It’s the best position to be in to make adjustments to your stance but, I have to admit, the view is pretty nice as well.”
Feigning insult but secretly pleased, Elizabeth said, “What kind of firearms instructor are you? Are you trying to take advantage of me?”
“Maybe. The thought has definitely crossed my mind,” he acknowledged with a laugh, reaching for her.
A loud knock came from across the hall at Chuck’s room. Disappointed, he opened Elizabeth’s door to see Jake holding his two glass tumblers. Nicholson turned and saw McCain coming out of Benton’s room.
“You ought to just move in with her, McCain,” Nicholson said, smiling. “It’d save you a lot of time and energy.”
Beth came out into the hallway and saw the glasses Jake was holding. “So is this male-bonding time?” she asked, looking at Chuck.
Nicholson answered for him. “I showed your boyfriend around the perimeter this morning. Now, he’s going to let me know his thoughts and recommendations. Over a glass of bourbon, of course.”
Beth smiled and shook her head at the two men.
“You’re welcome to join us,” Chuck said, with a twinkle in his eye. “Although, I doubt you want Mr. Nicholson to see you after you’ve had a little whiskey.”
The girl slapped his arm and laughed. “That’s mean! Well, you fellas enjoy and I’ll see you later.”
She reached up and kissed Chuck on the lips, smiled at Jake, and disappeared back into her room.
“I’m telling you, McCain,” Nicholson said, as he picked up his glass of bourbon and lightly clinked it against Chuck’s, “I’ve never seen that girl so happy. Even before everything, I mean, I don’t know how to say it. I know she’s dated some other guys, but she’s a different person since you came into her life.”
The two men relaxed in McCain’s sitting room, sipping their whiskey.
“It’s going to be tough to leave her in a couple of days,” Chuck said, solemnly. “Did you talk to your team about the intruders?” he asked, wanting to change the subject.
“I did. We’re going to run an extra patrol starting immediately. I think one of our problems is a lack of focus. These kids have never seen combat. Other than the couple of times we’ve had some zombies show up, there hasn’t been too much to be concerned about. When I mentioned the possibility of an imminent attack, it seemed to shock everybody. And that’s not a bad thing.”
Dining Hall, The Northeast Georgia Technical College, Lavonia, Georgia, Saturday, 1800 hours
Chuck and Jake had spent two hours going over the existing campus security plan. McCain was impressed with what Nicholson had done with some students and middle-aged faculty members but saw several areas for improvement. Chuck diplomatically went over his observations and suggestions, mostly related to increased training, as they enjoyed a couple of glasses of bourbon in the dorm room.
Dinner was served at 1700hrs on Saturdays as opposed to 1600hrs during the week. Beth explained to Chuck that Saturday nights were designated as Community Night and everyone was encouraged to stick around after they ate to play board games, chat, and have a beer or glass of wine. Mr. Nicholson kept the alcohol locked up because many of the residents were still teen-agers. On Saturday nights, however, he relaxed the rules.
McCain would have much preferred some alone time with Beth, but he had to admit, these were good people and he was enjoying his time on campus. While Elizabeth was making her rounds after dinner, three pretty, young female students cornered Chuck, peppering him with question after question about himself: where he was from, his law enforcement career, and how he had rescued Miss Benton. They were clearly enthralled with the big stranger in their midst. One of the girls asked to feel his bicep. Of course, then they all had to do it, clearly impressed, giggling to each other as they squeezed the bulging muscle.
“Hi, ladies,” Karen the nurse said, slipping up behind them.
The three students jumped, realizing they’d been caught flirting with the newcomer.
“Thanks so much for keeping Mr. McCain entertained for Miss Benton. I’m sure he really enjoyed talking to you,” she said, putting extra emphasis on ‘really.’
Karen handed Chuck a beer, took his arm and steered him away from the laughing girls to a nearby table.
“I would say thanks for rescuing me, but I’m not sure that I needed to be rescued,” Chuck said, laughing.
“Trust me,” she said, tapping her beer bottle to his, “you needed to be saved. They’re sweet girls but being confined to this campus with the same crop of people, and especially the same crop of men, for several months has been tough on all of us. So when a tall, handsome mystery man shows up, look out.”
McCain laughed again and took a swallow of his beer. “Beth told me how you helped her to start working through her depression. It takes a real friend to confront someone over something as serious as that.”
“And she’s a good friend,” Karen nodded. “We’ve become very close. She told me that talking to you was what really helpe
d to lift that black cloud off of her.”
“Well, we had a lot of time to talk, being snowed in for a couple of days.”
“Yeah,” Karen smiled, raising her eyebrows. “Talking is a good thing to do when you’re trapped in a snowstorm in a freezing house. That’ll keep you warm.” She put air quotes around ‘talking.’
McCain grinned and shook his head, knowing what the nurse was implying. “I did work with her on her firearms handling, too. But, I’m a pretty good listener and I’ve been through some similar things. We’ve both lost people that we love. Really, since the zombie virus was released, who hasn’t lost someone?”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Karen acknowledged, touching Chuck’s arm. “And I was just kidding. Elizabeth told me you were the perfect gentleman and really treated her right.”
Chuck nodded, taking another drink. Karen acted like she had more to say so McCain waited.
Finally, the woman looked into his eyes, as if measuring him. “May I ask you for a really big favor? If you say ‘no,’ I’ll understand. But I have to ask.”
She paused and saw Chuck motion for her to continue. His expression, though, had gone from warm to neutral.
The nurse took a deep breath and continued. “It’s my parents. Elizabeth told me that you thought your daughter was in Hendersonville. My mom and dad live between here and there. It wouldn’t be that far out of the way if you could check on them and let them know I’m OK. I’m sure they’re fine. My dad was in the army in Vietnam and he’s always been a bit of a prepper. They have a few acres of land and enough food and ammo to weather this thing. I haven’t been able to get in touch with them for a couple of months, though, and I know the uncertainty of whether or not I’m still alive is killing them.”
Karen hesitated, seeing the blank look on Chuck’s face. “Is there any way you could go by and let them know where I’m at and that I’m fine? And for what it’s worth, it would be a good rest stop along the way. They’d give you a safe place to stay and my mom is a great cook.”
McCain saw the pleading expression in Karen’s eyes. He looked around the room and spotted Beth chatting with Alicia and two other women on the far side of the cafeteria. Back behind Elizabeth, in the shadows, McCain glimpsed Bradley Thomas watching her while sipping a beer.
The police officer looked back at the pretty nurse who had just asked him to extend his trip while searching for his daughter. Why couldn’t this be a man asking him for a favor? He always had trouble saying ‘no’ to women with puppy-dog eyes. Chuck sighed and shook his head.
“I’m not going to make you any promises. I’ll tell you what I need and then we’ll see how feasible it looks. I’m also going to ask you to do something for me.”
McCain saw hope come alive in the woman’s eyes and she grabbed his hand. “Thank you! What can I do?”
“First of all, make me copies of maps for the area. I’m sure you have those in the library here. You and I can go over them together so I can see if it’s on my route, and I’ll need detailed directions to your parent’s house. While you’re at it, pull maps for the entire way from Hartwell to Hendersonville. Plus, I want you to write your mom and dad a letter introducing me and let me have some background information on you so that they’ll believe you actually sent me.”
“That makes sense. What else?”
Chuck leaned in towards Karen and locked eyes with her. “Promise me that you’ll stay close to Elizabeth. I don’t want her dropping back into depression. There’s no telling when I’ll be able to get back here, but I will come back for her. While I’m away, I need to know that she has a friend, who just happens to be a nurse, looking out for her.”
Karen nodded. “I promise, Chuck. I’ll take care of her.”
Elizabeth slid up behind Karen, putting her arm around her friend’s shoulders. “Well?” Beth asked her.
“He said he’d try. I’m going to get maps and directions for him and he’s going to take a look.”
“Didn’t I tell you he was wonderful?” Benton said, throwing her arms around Chuck and kissing him.
After they came up for air, McCain looked around and saw that Bradley had disappeared into the night. Chuck also realized that he hadn’t seen Jake and Tina since dinner.
“Any idea where Tina and Jake are?”
The two women looked at each other and laughed. Karen said, “I can guess what they’re doing.”
Elizabeth shook her head at her friend and looked at Chuck. “I think they’re in the command post. They hung out here for a while and then left to keep an eye on things.”
“Ok, I need to go talk to Jake about something. Karen, we’ll chat more tomorrow. Maybe in the afternoon we can go over those maps? Beth, I’ll see you back at the dorm.”
He kissed her and hurried over to Admin.
Jake responded to the knock at the door, Kimber .45 in hand. When he saw that it was Chuck, he motioned him inside. The windows were covered to keep anyone outside from seeing in and the office was illuminated with a camp lantern.
“Where’s Tina?” McCain asked.
“I love having her here with me but she pushes herself to the point of exhaustion. I sent her to back to get some sleep. She’s going to be speaking at the memorial service tomorrow and I want her to be fresh. What’s up?”
“Bradley Thomas. He’s starting to creep me out. I saw him standing in a dark corner a little while ago, watching Elizabeth. Later, she got excited about something and kissed me. When I looked around again, Bradley was gone. What do you think? Is he harmless?”
Jake took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. “You’ve seen him. He’s a little skinny, scrawny guy, and he hates guns. I don’t think he’d ever harm Elizabeth but he can certainly be a pest.”
“It sounds like he has too much time on his hands,” Chuck said.
“You have something in mind?”
“I know you said you were going to put him on the looting roster. How about sentry duty, as well? Has he pulled any shifts?”
Jake laughed. “That boy’s worthless. I’ve asked him to pull duty several times before and he had eighteen excuses about why he couldn’t do it.”
“Maybe you could stroke his ego a little bit and tell him how much you need him since you lost those three people last week. I wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. Maybe if he’s a little busier, he’ll leave Beth alone.”
“I’m good with that. I’m actually a person short on tomorrow night’s schedule. I was going to pull it myself, but I think I’ll have a little talk with Bradley instead and tell him he’s been volunteered.”
Elizabeth’s dorm room, Saturday, 2045 hours
“Thanks for hanging out after dinner and talking to people. Everybody enjoyed meeting you,” Beth said. She sipped a glass of wine, leaning against Chuck on her small love seat.
Before he could respond, she continued with a smile, “Karen told me she had to rescue you from three of the female students. Were they really squeezing your bicep?”
McCain laughed. “They sure were. They kept saying, ‘We’ve never seen one that big.’ But I hated every second of it.”
Elizabeth giggled and elbowed him in the side. “Oh, I’m sure you did. It’s a good thing Karen showed up or that might’ve gotten out of hand. They might’ve kidnapped you and done who-knows-what?”
They sat quietly for a few minutes, holding each other. Elizabeth finally asked, “When do you think you’ll be back? I’m already missing you.”
“I’ve been thinking about it. If I get to Hartwell and there’s nothing from Melanie, I’ll turn around and come right back. If she’s left me the location of wherever she’s ended up, that’s where I’m heading. If I can get by Karen’s parent’s place, I’ll do that, too, but I’ve got to get to Mel.
“After I’ve reconnected with my daughter, I’ll evaluate again. If she’s in a safe environment, I’ll stay with them for a week or two and come back for you. I’ll have a better idea of what things are like on the outside by
then. If the travel situation isn’t that bad, I’d love to take you back to wherever Mel’s at. If you want to, of course.”
There was no hesitation on Elizabeth’s part. “I’ll follow you wherever you go.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Plan
Outside of Lavonia, Georgia, Sunday, 1500 hours
Neil Dodd’s gray Jeep Wrangler pulled down Wesley’s driveway and parked behind the other vehicles assembled there. Don Lester and Hoss Harper went out to greet the newcomers and bring them inside. Joey and Wesley had just returned from a trip to another of their safe houses, this one on the west side of Lavonia. They had driven two cars and taken four of their accomplices with them to restock food, guns and ammo.
Dodd entered the house, followed by two other men. Neil looked to be in his mid-thirties and was a little bigger than 5-0 had been, Joey thought. His muscles bulged under his tight long-sleeve t-shirt. I wonder if he was juicing as much as Carter was? Lester wondered. The corrupt deputy had been known as the guy whom serious bodybuilders and power lifters utilized to get a little extra help in building muscle.
The two men with Neil were tall and lean and bore a striking resemblance to each other, Joey noticed. Dodd introduced them as his cousins, Kevin and Mark Anderson.
“They worked for 5-0, too, but in a secret capacity,” Neil said.
Joey and Wesley nodded, having no idea what he meant by ‘secret capacity.’ Don offered Neil and the brothers a beer and they all moved to the living room.
Hoss and Wesley rounded everyone up and told them it was time to talk. Greg Davis was still asleep. The meth addict had slept almost twenty hours since they had picked him up the day before. Don woke him up and Davis staggered into the living room, shirtless, wearing only blue jeans. The Andersons were visibly surprised to see him.