by David Achord
All of our cameras had USB ports. So, it was a simple matter of plugging them up to my laptop and having a look-see. Over the morning, we checked eight cameras. There was the usual wildlife and five or six vehicles, all of them belonging to us, but no zeds, which was always a good thing.
After we got back, I walked with them to the barn.
“If you two would take care of the horses, I want to go to the kitchen and figure out what’s going on with the food waste.”
Fred nodded, knowing I needed to address the issue immediately.
“Alright, I’ll see you two in a little while,” I said. I then made a beeline to the kitchen and found out who the work crew was. There were four of them.
“You guys have been the dayshift cleanup crew for the last three days, correct?”
“That’s right, who’s asking?” one of them said.
His name was Charlie Mac. He and another man by the name of Kass were found by a scout team a couple of years ago on I-81 in a broken-down RV. When they were brought to Weather, they were emaciated and pitiful looking. Now, they looked like the kind of guys who spent their weekends drinking beer and watching TV.
“The dayshift cleanup crew is responsible for hauling the waste barrels to Harold. You haven’t been doing it,” I said.
“We’ve been overloaded with work,” he retorted. “There’s no reason the evening shift can’t handle it.”
“Because, we don’t want people going out at night.” I pointed to three barrels sitting in the corner. “Stop what you’re doing and two of you get those barrels over to Harold right now.”
“We’ll get to it if we get to it,” Charlie Mac said with a scowl. “And you ain’t the one to tell us any different.”
I made pointed eye contact with Charlie Mac, who acted like I was an irritating pest, and then the rest of them. The other three refused to meet my gaze, but I could see a little concern on one of them, Becky Hardin. She used to be exempt from work crews back when she was an aide for Senator Conrad Nelson, but after the good senator impregnated her, they parted ways. Now, Becky was a single mom who had nowhere else to go.
“Do you like living here, Charlie?” I asked.
His scowl deepened. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means, Mount Weather is a small community of people who depend on each other, and everyone knows who shirks their duties and makes it harder on everyone else. If you don’t want to pull your weight around here, I’m going to put you out.”
Charlie Mac barked out a short laugh. “If you think you have that kind of power, big boy, you just go ahead and try it.”
I looked again at the rest of them. “Charlie may not realize it yet, but he has made his decision. If the rest of you don’t want to join him, get those barrels to Harold’s place, and don’t make me have this conversation with you again. It won’t be as pleasant next time.”
“You got it, Zach,” Becky said.
As I walked out, I heard Becky call Charlie Mac a dumbass. I let out a deep breath in an attempt to dispel my anger. There was a time when my anger would have gotten the better of me and I would have smashed a fist into that smart mouth. I actually paused a moment and thought about going back into the kitchen and doing it anyway, but decided now was not the time and headed to the elevator. I guess I was maturing and controlling my temper better these days.
My job today was to check the main heating system and service it. I thought about Charlie Mac as the elevator descended. I’d decided to get my work done, enjoy my birthday, and take care of it in the morning.
I stopped off at the office and picked up my tool belt before heading down to the bowels of Mount Weather. The coils of the heating unit were unusually dusty and it took a solid two hours before I got them clean. By then, it was time for lunch. I grabbed a plate and instead of sitting with everyone, I headed to the office. Parvis, who was absent during my earlier visit, was now sitting at his desk.
Parvis Anderson was the Director of Operations. When I’d arrived at Mount Weather, some five years ago, Parvis took me under his wing and acted as my mentor. Eventually, I took on the role as his assistant, the president giving me the official title of Assistant Director of Operations. It entailed much more than simply making sure Mount Weather hummed along smoothly. We were also tasked with the creation of a new United States of America. It was a lot of work.
“You need to eat,” I chided as I dropped my tool belt and headed toward the restroom.
“My stomach is disagreeing with me at the moment. I’ll grab something later,” he said. “How’s your day been?”
I finished washing my hands and then filled him in as I ate, including the incident with Charlie Mac.
“There have been other complaints on him lately,” Parvis said. “Are you going to evict him?”
“Damn right I am, but not on my birthday. I’ll do it tomorrow.”
“Don’t forget about Ohio,” he said.
I frowned. “No problem. I’ll take care of it before breakfast.”
Parvis nodded thoughtfully and got on the phone. There were only two people who called the president by his nickname and Parvis was one of them.
“Hey, Abe. We have a small issue that’s come up and I wanted to give you a heads up.” He went on to explain about Charlie Mac. After a minute, he hung up.
“He agreed and said for you to take care of it.”
I nodded. I didn’t think President Stark would disagree. Like I said to Charlie Mac, everyone knows who is who and who does what around here, including President Stark. I finished lunch, pushed the tray aside, and logged on my computer. I had a lot of work to do. After an hour, Parvis slid back in his chair.
“I think I’m going to try to eat something.”
“Good,” I said. “Would you take my dirty dishes back for me?”
“Of course. Why don’t you take the rest of the day off? It’s your birthday after all.”
I smiled. “I’m almost finished. I was thinking about getting in a workout before Kelly and the kids got home.”
He smiled, as if remembering a time when he had the energy for heavy physical exertion. “I think I’m going to eat and then, if I can hold it down, take a nap.”
“Sounds good, buddy,” I said. “I’ll see you this evening.”
A few minutes after Parvis left, he walked back in. I looked up in puzzlement.
“There are a couple of people at the elevators who would like to talk to you.”
“Who?
“Charlie Mac and Becky,” he said.
I nodded. “Let them come down,” I said. “And then you go eat. I have a feeling I’m about to have a come-to-Jesus meeting with Charlie.”
Parvis nodded. “Do you want me to stick around? You know, just in case?”
I shook my head. “Nah, I can take care of him if he shows his ass.”
“Okay. Good luck with him.”
Certain areas of Mount Weather were restricted, and Charlie Mac did not have authorization to come down into the lower levels. So, Parvis had to use his key card to allow them access. A minute after Parvis left, I heard the ding of the elevator bell.
“Come on in,” I said loudly.
I heard the approaching footsteps, and a moment later, Charlie stuck his head in. I motioned him to come inside. Becky was close behind him, looking anxious. I always thought she was a rather plain-looking woman. Over the years, she’d put on weight, another side effect of a good food supply here. She had given birth to a son a year after Mount Weather went on lock-down. It was Senator Conrad Nelson’s son, even though it was supposed to be a secret and he never acknowledged the son as his.
Charlie was rather plain-looking as well; average build, brown hair that was starting to thin out on top, and a moderate pot belly. I had no doubt what precipitated this visit. Someone, Becky probably, explained to him how he’d stepped on his dick when he smarted off to me. The main question was how he planned on proceeding. I had a gun in my desk drawer, and another o
ne in the crotch of my pants, but I didn’t think I’d need either. If it came to fists, Charlie didn’t stand a chance against me, but I wondered if he knew that.
“Do you have a minute?” he asked tentatively.
“I do,” I said. “In fact, I’m glad you’re here. I suppose there is no reason to surprise you, so I’ll go ahead and let you know now. We’ll be escorting you off of Mount Weather premises first thing in the morning.”
His face paled and Becky gasped. “Uh, I was hoping to talk to you about that,” he said.
I purposely waited a long moment before speaking. “Alright, I’m listening.”
“First, I want to apologize for earlier. I wasn’t in a good mood and you caught me at the wrong time.”
“I would not have caught you at all if you’d been doing your job. I don’t know if you are aware of it, but there have been other complaints on you over the past few months.”
“There have?” he asked, as if this were news to him.
“Yes, it’s notated in your personnel file. Your work ethic and your interaction with other people here leaves a lot to be desired.”
He grumbled and I could see he wanted to say something negative, but Becky grabbed his hand and squeezed. He held his tongue. I continued.
“Your file says you’re forty-four now, and back before you worked in the insurance business. Is that correct?”
“Yes, my primary job was a bond underwriter,” he said, and then shrugged. “It was decent money, but it seems like a rather worthless occupation now.”
“And there are no other specialties listed.”
“I was a scratch golfer, but it doesn’t do me much good these days.”
I looked at his bio on my laptop. “A graduate of Western Kentucky with a degree in business, correct?”
“That’s right,” he said. “What’s with the questions?”
“I’m trying to find something here, but you’re not fitting in here, Charlie,” I said. “You’re not getting along with people, and I’m thinking you’re too old to change your ways.”
He grumbled some more under his breath and Becky squeezed his hand tighter. The two of them exchanged a glance before he looked directly at me. “Well, anyway, I apologize for my behavior.”
He turned to walk out. There were tears in Becky’s eyes and she gave me a silent, plaintive look. I did not know Charlie Mac all that well, but I knew Becky. She was a nice woman with a pleasant personality and she adored her son, who often played with Frederick. She must see something special in Charlie Mac, even though all I saw was a lazy smart ass. I made a split decision.
“Have a look at this,” I said as I stood. He stopped in his tracks and turned back toward me. I motioned him over to one of our dry erase boards.
“This is a list of pending projects for Mount Weather,” I said as I waved a hand at the board. “Oh, that reminds me.” I grabbed a dry erase pen and wrote down Harold’s request for a new smokehouse.
“I suppose this is our Mount Weather business model, in a manner of speaking. Has anyone ever told you what our goal is?”
“To rebuild America,” he said. “Yeah, everyone knows that.”
“Yeah, silly question, I know, but what I’m trying to get at is this is the base of Mount Weather business model. We have to keep it running at peak efficiency before we can even concentrate on the rest of America.” I gestured at the board. “Here is a small part of what we do. The purpose of these projects is to not only keep Mount Weather strong, but to improve our quality of life. For every project we accomplish, there’s always two or three more that pop up,” I said. “It’s a lot of work making these plans a reality, and this doesn’t even cover the day-to-day chores, like hauling barrels of food waste to a smelly pig farm when it’s cold and wet outside.”
Charlie gazed over the board and the others for a long minute before speaking. “What’s wrong with Harold’s smokehouse?” he asked.
“It’s falling apart. He wants a hand building a new one. I personally think the best course of action is to build one that’s larger and more efficient so he can accommodate us better. I honestly don’t know why, but Harold goes out of his way to take care of us. He doesn’t ask for much in return.”
He nodded slightly. “That’s a lot of work,” he said, almost in a whisper. He turned and focused on one of the maps.
“What’s this all about?” he asked.
“It’s our houses in the area,” I said and pointed at the various houses. “These are the ones that are occupied. As I’m sure you know, there are houses everywhere, but they need to be repaired and hardened. You helped with one of the houses last fall, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, me and Kass,” he said. He then turned to face me again and looked me over. “How did you get so dirty? You weren’t so dirty when you were in the cafeteria.”
“My work assignment today was to clean and service the main heating unit. Somehow, it’d been overlooked for over a year, so it was pretty dirty.”
He looked surprised now. “I didn’t think you higher echelon people did any grunt work.”
I shrugged. “While that is certainly true for some of them, I am not immune to being given work assignments, nor do I want to be.” I did not tell him I chose my own assignments now, but he didn’t need to know that.
He nodded thoughtfully and then gestured at Becky. “Becky said you have more power here than anyone realizes.”
I shrugged again. “I suppose it would depend on who you ask.” I gestured at the whiteboards with a hand. “Here is my primary job. I work for Parvis, who is the Director of Operations.”
“And Parvis works directly for the president,” Becky said to him. I think he understood the implication.
Charlie Mac nodded again and continued staring at the boards and the map.
“Zach,” Becky said. “We’ve known each other ever since you came here.”
“Yes, we have,” I acknowledged.
“Am I a bad person?” she asked.
“Not at all. I think highly of you,” I replied.
“If you’ll give Charlie Mac a second chance, I’ll promise you he’ll straighten up.”
She continued gazing at me, silently pleading. I looked over at the man in question, who was staring back hopefully.
“What about it, Charlie?” I asked.
He looked at Becky and cleared his throat. “I would appreciate a second chance.”
Chapter 10 – Happy 25th
My birthday party took place after dinner and was held in the designated recreation room. There’d been more than a few wild wing-dings in the room over the years, which always amazed me. We had an entertainment committee, which Kelly was a member of, who did a great job of creating all kinds of recreational activities to keep the Mount Weather community occupied, but even so, people seemed to have an insatiable desire for wild, decadent parties. I admit, Kelly and I had been to a few, but we had never engaged in any of the rowdier activities that some of them loved so much.
Many of our friends were already present when we arrived. They greeted us with smiles, birthday wishes, and all of the other silly birthday clichés. Macie and Frederick ran over to join the other kids, who were at the far end of the room playing some type of game.
I made my rounds, saying hello to everyone and thanking them for their birthday wishes. Some were old friends, some were new. Some of them were sincere in their flattery, others were duplicitous. But, this evening, they were all smiles. I reciprocated in kind.
Most of our Nolensville group was congregated at one table. After spending thirty minutes or so speaking with everyone else, I headed over to them. It was funny, we didn’t always like each other, but we’d mostly stuck together all this time. I sat down in between Janet and Kelly.
“The birthday boy finally decided to join us,” Janet said.
I glanced over and noticed she had a tea glass almost full of wine. “Oh, don’t get started,” I said. “You know I have to be hospitable to everyone.”
“He’s an important member of the community, Janet,” Grant said from the seat on the other side of her.
Grant Parsons was originally a Major in the Marines and part of the Chemical Biological Incident Response Force, or CBIRF. He was an average-sized man in his fifties, and over the years, his salt and pepper hair had segued to a mostly salty gray. He and Janet had a brief affair, back several years ago when they were both at the CDC, but it ended when she left him for that psycho, Colonel Almose Coltrane. They started back up again not too long after arriving at Mount Weather and had been together ever since. I have no idea how or why he’d put up with her for so long.
I hated him at one time and came close to killing him. But, time has proven to me that I would have made a terrible mistake had I followed through, and now I called him a friend. For that matter, I hated Janet at one time as well. I don’t think I ever considered killing her, but you better believe I came close several times to taking her out in the country and dumping her on the side of the road, like an unwanted cur dog. Grant interrupted my thoughts.
“He’s expected to be polite and gracious,” he added and smiled at me.
Janet took a liberal swallow. “Well, happy birthday. You’ve certainly come a long way from the skinny kid I met way back when.”
I put my arm around her and gave her a hug. I knew it would make her feel wanted and would, hopefully, keep her in a good mood. Nobody was fond of Janet, with the possible exception of Grant, but, I’ve come to tolerate her. She was a good grandmother to my children and we’d worked out most our differences over the years.
“The president did not see fit to attend,” Janet said. She was one of those people who always looked for the negative. A real Debbie Downer.
“Don’t be so sure,” Rachel said and pointed at the door.
And, wouldn’t you know it, you mention his name and he appears. He walked through the doors with his small entourage of the Anderson family and Kate Redbank. The Andersons, Parvis, Garret, and Grace, were an integral part of the president’s team. Kate was his mistress.