by Robert Boren
“Thanks,” Juan Carlos said. He helped Madison up, and the four of them went to the door.
“What’d he say to you?” Madison asked.
“He said good luck, and that you’re gorgeous,” Juan Carlos said. “He’s right.”
She smiled at him as she hobbled along.
“I don’t see any line,” Brendan said.
“Not out in the hallway, at least,” Hannah said.
“What are we gonna do for rings?” Juan Carlos asked.
“Don’t worry about it,” Madison said. “We’ll get rings when we can.”
“Yeah,” Brendan said.
Hannah nodded in agreement. “Another thing to look forward to.”
They went in the door. Richardson and Lita were sitting on chairs which were lined up against the wall.
“Great, you’re here,” Lita said. “We’re lucky, there’s only one couple in front of us, and they should be almost done.”
“Perfect,” Hannah said. “How’re we gonna do this?”
“One at a time, and we can witness each other,” Lita said. “We don’t have rings yet.”
“Yeah, we were just talking about that on the way over here,” Hannah said. “We’ll get them soon enough.”
“Yes,” Madison said.
A couple, all smiles, burst out of the double doors and hurried out into the hallway.
“Lita and Richardson?” asked the Justice of the Peace.
“That’s us,” Richardson said, standing up.
“Right this way.”
“C’mon, guys,” Lita said. She took Richardson’s arm and they went inside. The others followed, sitting down in the front row.
“Up here,” the Justice of the Peace said. “In front of the lectern. Do you have rings?”
“Not yet,” Lita said.
“Okay, not a problem. I’ll just cut that part out.”
Richardson and Lita stood side by side as he spoke the words, saying their I dos, both of them misting up. They kissed, then turned around to face their friends.
“We have two spaces for witnesses to sign on the Marriage Certificate. It’s not required in this state, but many couples want it. Who would like to sign?”
“I’ll do it,” Hannah said, getting up.
“Me too,” Brendan said.
“Sounds good,” Lita said.
“Fine.” The Justice of the Peace watched as Brendan and Hannah got up and signed the document on the lectern. “Okay, who’s next?”
“Go ahead you two,” Madison said. “You’re already up there.”
“Okay, thanks,” Hannah said, looking up at Brendan. He nodded yes, and they took the spot in front of the lectern, as Richardson and Lita sat next to Madison and Juan Carlos. The ceremony was over in a couple of minutes, their kiss lasting almost too long.
“Can I sign this one?” Madison asked.
“Of course,” Hannah said.
“Yeah, you too, bro,” Brendan said to Juan Carlos.
Madison got on her crutches with a little help from Juan Carlos. They went to the lectern and signed, then took Hannah and Brendan’s place and did their ceremony, Madison crying through most of it. They kissed tenderly. Hannah and Brendan signed for them.
“Good luck to you all,” the Justice of the Peace said.
The three couples went into the hallway.
“We did it,” Madison said softly, staring into Juan Carlos’s eyes.
“Yes we did,” he said, eyes brimming with tears. “You’re everything to me.”
Hannah and Brendan went by the windows and kissed again. Lita watched them for a moment, but then Richardson pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
“Let’s go home,” Madison said. “Okay? We need some us time.”
Richardson smiled at her, and pulled out the concierge’s card.
“This is the happiest day of my life,” Juan Carlos whispered to Madison.
“You don’t have to whisper anymore,” Madison said, pulling him in for another kiss, almost losing her balance on the crutches.
“Be careful you two,” Lita said, laughing.
They walked slowly back to Dolorosa street. The shuttle was already waiting for them.
Chapter 7 – Picnic Table
Amanda drove the bobtail into its parking spot next to the still, Curt watching her in the dark cab. She stopped the engine and put on the brake, then noticed him looking.
“What?” she asked.
“Oh, nothing,” he said. “Sorry.”
“You were checking me out,” she said, a self-satisfied look on her face. “Weren’t you?”
He chuckled. “Does that offend you?”
She smiled and slid close to him on the bench seat, getting onto his lap, her arms around his neck. “What do you think?” They kissed passionately.
“I guess you’re not offended at all,” he said.
“I’ll be offended if I can’t get you out of those clothes in a hurry,” she said as she came in for another kiss, longer this time.
“Well, why are we hanging out here, then?” he asked.
“Good question,” she said. “C’mon.”
Curt opened his door and lifted Amanda off his lap, sliding out and then pulling her into his arms outside. They walked towards the toy hauler.
“Uh oh, what’s everybody doing there?” Curt asked.
“What?” Amanda asked.
“Look, some of my friends are sitting on the picnic bench next to Jason’s rig. They don’t look happy. Maybe we’d better go find out what happened.”
“Yeah, I think you’re right, honey,” Amanda said. They walked over hand in hand.
“Everything okay?” Curt asked. Eric, Kim, and Carrie looked up at him and shook their heads no.
Jason looked up at him, grim look on his face. “Kate lost the baby.”
“Oh, no,” Amanda said, eyes welling with tears.
“No,” Curt said. “The battle?”
“Probably,” Carrie said, “but it happens for no reason at all sometimes. Especially when it’s this early.”
Kyle came out of his trailer, closing the door slowly to be quiet. He walked over.
“I’m so sorry, man,” Jason said.
“So sorry, Kyle,” Curt said, on the verge of tears. Amanda pulled him close and nodded in agreement, not knowing what to say.
“Yeah, we all are,” Carrie said. “How’s she doing?”
“The sedative the doctor gave her knocked her out pretty good. I’ve been watching her sleep for a while. Needed to come out and get some air.”
“You’ll have to give her a lot of support,” Carrie said. “This happened to me once. Your hormones go nuts for a few days.”
“Yeah, my sister went through it too,” Kim said. “It’s hard.”
“Yes, I know,” Kyle said. “Don’t worry, I’ll be there for her. I feel so stupid.”
“Don’t blame yourself,” Carrie said. “Sometimes it happens in the best of circumstances. This wasn’t either of your faults.”
Kyle sighed, tears running down his cheeks. “It doesn’t feel that way now. I should have protected her better.”
“She wasn’t going to let you go into battle alone,” Jason said. “She made that pretty clear to all of us.”
“I know,” Kyle said. “Still bothers me. We’ll need some time to work through this.”
“Yes, and see that you take it,” Kim said. “She’s got to be your priority for a while.”
“I feel like somebody hollowed me out,” Kyle said. “I’ve never been in love with somebody so much before. Maybe I’ve never really been in love.”
“It’s easy to see how you feel about her,” Kim said. “I saw it from the first day I met you guys.”
“Seriously,” Eric said.
“You want to talk for a while, man?” Jason asked.
“No, I’m going back in a sec. I don’t want to leave her alone for more than a few minutes.”
“Okay,” Jason said. “You know w
here I am. Anything you need.”
“Yeah,” Carrie said. “You know that. We love both of you so much.”
“I know,” Kyle said. “You know how we feel. I’m gonna go back. Try to get some sleep. Tomorrow is gonna be crazy again.”
“Forget about it,” Carrie said. “We have this. Be with your woman. She needs you more than anybody else does.”
Kyle nodded, his eyes like a hurt little boy’s. He went back to the trailer.
“He’s taking this hard,” Curt said.
“I know, but he’ll be all right,” Carrie said. “So will she. This happens.”
“We’re going back,” Eric said. “See you in the morning.”
The others nodded as he and Kim walked away.
“We should be getting inside too,” Carrie said. “Chelsea will be up bright and early, I’m sure.”
Curt and Amanda watched as they got up and went into their rig.
“Let’s go to bed, honey,” Amanda said. “It’ll be okay.”
Curt nodded to her, and they went to the toy hauler hand in hand.
Amanda turned on the lights. “Want a quick bite to eat?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “You?”
“I don’t care,” she said. “I just want to be close to you. Even if we don’t do anything.”
“Me too,” he said.
Curt shut off the light and they went into the bedroom, Amanda sliding the door shut behind them. She switched on a small lamp, then turned towards him, pulling him to her. “I’m so sorry about your friend.”
“I can’t believe that happened,” Curt said. “I’ll never forget the look on Kyle’s face before he walked away.”
“I know, honey,” Amanda said. “Get undressed, and let’s get into bed.”
“You sure?” he asked. “We haven’t even seen each other naked yet.”
“No, we haven’t,” Amanda said. “I want the comfort. I need you next to me. Like I said, I don’t care if we do anything or not. Let’s just let nature take its course. If we just sleep, it’s okay, but I want to be close.”
“Okay,” Curt said. He pulled his dirty shirt over his head and tossed it aside, and slipped out of his pants. When he looked up she was before him, a curvy Viking Princess.
“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “Get into bed.”
He nodded, unable to take his eyes off of her. She shot him a soft loving smile and got under the covers, reaching for him, their naked bodies touching for the first time.
“Oh, God,” Curt said. He kissed her gently as they tried to mold their bodies together.
Amanda broke the kiss, breath coming fast. “I can feel you. You want me.” She kissed him again, more passionate this time, Curt rolling on top of her. It was time. They both knew it, and they wouldn’t be denied, bringing each other up to a fever pitch and down again.
“That was better than I could have dreamed,” she said.
“It’s never been like that for me,” Curt said softly.
Chapter 8 – Social Media Warriors
Don and Sydney were exhausted, watching their even more exhausted crew as they continued online chatting with the citizens.
Alyssa walked over. “You two look beat.”
“You find out anything?” Sydney asked.
“There were militia and Islamists in the battle,” she said. “Mostly Islamists.”
“I figured,” Don said. “Wonder if this Simon Orr character was with them?”
“Nobody knows what he looks like,” Alyssa said. “He’ll come after us again if he lived, won’t he?”
“Impossible to say, honey,” Don said. “Don’t drive yourself crazy worrying about it.”
“Okay,” she said. “The good news is that we won, and maybe we woke up the people.”
“You’re wise beyond your years,” Sydney said.
“I’m just scared most of the time,” Alyssa said. “How much longer should we keep going?”
“Not long,” Don said. “You still seeing a lot of traffic?”
“Yeah, and it’s expanding outwards from this area,” Alyssa said. “Lots of interest in the Dallas area, and even in Austin and San Antonio.”
“Good,” Don said. He looked over at Sydney, who was fighting back a yawn. “You’re done, aren’t you?”
“I’m pretty tired,” she said. “It’s been a good day, for the most part.”
“Did something bad happen?” Alyssa asked.
“I heard that Kate lost her baby,” Sydney said quietly. “That’s why the doc was here earlier. Well, that and a couple minor injuries.”
“Some people got killed, though, right?” Alyssa asked.
“Three of Gray’s people in the tank, plus a local and one of the rednecks in an off-roader,” Sydney said. “I’m sure some citizens got killed or wounded too. We probably won’t know about those right away.”
“Not good,” Don said. “It’ll be like this for a while, I’m afraid.”
“Battles?” Sydney asked.
“Losing people,” Don said. “I was so relieved when I heard that Dirk, Chance, and Francis lived through this.”
Chloe walked up. “People are finally signing off. Maybe we ought to stop for the night.”
“Yes,” Don said. “Everybody’s tired.”
“Let’s end it, then,” Sydney said.
Don went on stage and turned on the microphone. “Everybody, listen up. Great job tonight. We’re going to shut down. Go get some sleep. Thanks so much. You turned the tide.”
There were sighs of relief in the room, as people started shutting down.
“We’re going to Francis and Sherry’s trailer,” Alyssa said.
“Okay,” Don said. “See you tomorrow.”
“Sleep in, dad, all right? You look beat.”
“Okay, sweetie,” he said, watching her walk away with Chloe.
Don shut down his laptop, Sydney doing the same with hers.
“Did you decide?” Don asked softly.
“Decide what?” Sydney asked, trying to hide her smile.
“C’mon,” he said.
Sydney sighed. “I’ll spend the night in the trailer, but no promises. You gonna be okay with that?”
“Yes, of course,” Don said.
“Good,” she said as she closed her laptop. “I’m ready.”
They watched as the rest of the team slipped out the door. “I’ll get the lights,” Don said.
Sydney nodded, picking up her laptop. They walked to the door together, Don taking one more look before he shut down the lights. They walked out into the cool darkness.
“Do you think things will settle down for a while after this battle?” Sydney asked.
“I doubt it,” Don said. “I think things will get worse. We should brainstorm ways to keep the local citizens engaged, and how to win over people from other areas too.”
They walked silently for a moment.
“You okay?” Don asked.
“I’m scared,” she said. “I’m afraid something’s gonna happen to us before we get together.”
“We can’t worry about that, honey,” Don said. “We just have to go along at the pace we’re both comfortable with. If it’s meant to be, we’ll have each other. If not, there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“I’m still afraid,” Sydney said as they got to the trailer.
Don unlocked the door and held it open for her. She went up, him following.
“The light switch is right here,” Don said, reaching for the switch above the kitchen counter, right inside the door. He flipped it and several lights came on around the coach.
“Everything working?” she asked.
“Can’t get the TV antenna switch to work,” Don said. “I’ll mess with it when we have some down time. That’s the only thing I’ve had problems with so far. I suspect the house batteries will need replacement before too long. They took a long time to charge up.”
“We don’t need them if we’re plugged in, do we?”
<
br /> “No, but it’ll matter if we have to move,” Don said, sitting on the couch. “I want to get them fixed before something happens.”
“Something happens?”
“You know, like we have to evacuate in a hurry,” Don said. “We need a hitch on the SUV. That’s my top priority.”
Sydney sat down next to him on the sofa. “The walk woke me up a little.”
“Me too, but the sleepiness will be back with a vengeance,” Don said. “Trust me on that.”
“I know,” she said, leaning against him.
“Want something to drink, or a snack?”
“I’m still full from that food the women brought over earlier,” Sydney said. “Rather not have a drink. I’d rather stay clear-headed.”
“Fine, honey,” he said. “Want to just go to bed?”
“Yeah,” she said.
“I’ll make up the bed out here,” Don said. “You can take the bedroom.”
“No, you take the bedroom and I’ll sleep out here,” she said. “It’s your place, after all.”
Don searched her face. She looked tired and scared. “Of course, whatever you’re comfortable with.”
“You disappointed that I’m not going to bed with you?”
“No,” Don said. “Really. I’ll go as fast as you want to go. It’s okay.”
His look calmed and warmed her. When she locked eyes with him, feelings came in a rush.
“You look like you’re in love with me already,” she said.
“Don’t worry about it. We go at our own pace.”
“Are you?”
He was silent for a moment. “I don’t think we should talk about it tonight. You all right with that?”
She nodded yes. “You don’t want to know how I feel?”
“Not until you’re ready to tell me,” he said. “I’m not going anywhere unless you send me away.”
She chuckled softly, then looked him in the eyes. “That’s the last thing I want to do. We’ll just leave it at that. How does this bed work?”
Don got up and folded the front bed out, pulling sheets and a blanket out of the overhead cabinet above it.
“I can make it,” she said, smiling. “You go ahead and get your bed set up.”
“It already is,” he said, watching her.
“Then give me a goodnight kiss,” she said.
He moved to her, taking her into his arms, kissing her softly but with passion. “Good night.”