by P. S. Power
Jake shook his head.
“Yeah it is. Messed up I mean. Not that I had great luck with women before, but you'd think given everything... Well, I know, boo-hoo, I can't get a girl, what else is new, right? Sorry Robert you don't need to hear this. I'll shut up now.” He did, which made Sammi smile.
Robert looked at him for a lot longer than was comfortable and finally turned to the girl again.
“What's Jake then?”
She shrugged.
“A Very Good Man.” She said simply, with a grin on her face.
Then Robert laughed, softly but for a long time. After a bit he tilted his head at the girl and stopped.
“Wait... Seriously? That's... you're certain? And he's their silencer? The enforcer too, if I have that right? A Very Good Man?” There was significance to the words then.
“Yes.” She said simply, waiting for the man to speak.
“As in The?” Was all he said, he had a smile on his face though.
The girl shrugged for a second, then got a very serious look.
“I wouldn't bet the farm on it yet, but... Yes, I think so. I really do.”
They both laughed. Quietly, but hard. Tears coming to their eyes after a bit. Whatever the joke was he didn't get it, so he waited for them to finish. It didn't matter, not really, he knew what he was now. What he had to be.
Jake, trying to make it through the day.
Sometimes Jake planning for the future.
Nothing else mattered, did it? After nearly a minute, liquid still coming out of both of their eyes Robert patted him on the arm. He didn't like the contact, but didn't let himself tense up. That would be rude, and this was his friend's family, right? Jake didn't want to embarrass her with poor behavior.
“Sorry Jake, it's an old... family joke. It's in a different language originally, but the idea is that you'd have to wait for the end of the world to find a very good man. And when you do, you'd best be careful, because things are about to get really serious. And look, here you are, right on schedule. It's not funny really.”
They talked of other things then, mainly about what Sammi had planned. Robert, who was her “uncle” in name only, offered to get her to the lake, a secret retreat, but the girl shook her head and opted to stay. Firmly.
“This is a special place. I think they might need me, though. Not as much as Jake, but enough. I don't know, not for certain, but this may be a crux point. I wish we had a comtrice here, then I'd know for sure, but I can't take that chance, can I?”
Robert nodded slowly, “All right. I'll get word to your people. Do you need anything?”
The girl tilted her head and then nodded after a few seconds, “Bullets or the means to make them. Lots of them. Before winter sets in. We had to set the cleaners up, but they burned through a lot of rounds. The cannibals are coming I hear, and if they're windigo...” She shrugged and gave a soft smile.
The military man nodded at her again.
“In places it's that bad. Dozens or hundreds in loose gangs. If this really is a crux then they'll probably be by for a meal later.” He looked at Jake and explained after searching his eyes for some reason.
“I don't know if you're getting everything we've said, but this part you should know if you're The Very Good Man at the end of the world, and it won't hurt even if you end up just being some random guy either. Some people that go cannibal under extreme stress really lose it. They're still smart, they can speak, are even clever and crafty, but all social meaning is gone for them. This kind of opens up...” He looked at Sammi who took over then, the real explanation probably being too complex for Jake or something he figured.
The blonde girl shrugged.
“It means they won't hold anything back anymore. Think 'crazy strength', but all the time. It's not a super-power or anything, but that plus weapons means that they're a lot more dangerous than zombies, or even a good raiding group. They almost literally can't play by any rules at all anymore, which makes large groups of them very interesting... So we need to be ready.”
That made Jake think for a second, then he nodded at the other two and spoke softly.
“They're just people though? A head shot will kill them?”
The military man smiled, “Oh yes, that will do the trick. Very few things can survive that. Say, in case I don't get a chance to talk to you alone later... Take care of Sammi for me, will you? It will make her parents feel better, knowing A Very Good Man is looking out for her.” This time he didn't laugh at the use of the phrase. He just stared at Jake for a few moments and tilted his head, then shook it slowly.
“Well, I hope it's not the case, but...”
Then without saying anything more, both of them started walking back toward the house quickly as if on some hidden signal. Then they started running, Jake didn't hesitate and had his sidearm in hand as they broke through the edge of the woods, ready to take aim if a target presented itself.
Two people fought rolling on the ground, silently, thank goodness, except for the sounds of the blows and occasional soft grunts. They were all the way in front of the back porch, one of the tan clothed military men, and a smaller form that appeared to be kicking his ass.
Handily to tell the truth. A smaller, much darker form. Ken. No one got in the way, the military guys starting to gather around, and the cleaners holding weapons on them. It was Sammi that ended it, rather rapidly.
She walked up and put her hand out, which Ken took suddenly and then grabbed the girl into a hug. The man on the ground looked kind of bad, bleeding and battered, but he stood and rubbed his jaw gamely enough, sucking on his lower lip a little, a spot of blood there. He didn't even seem overly upset.
“Damn. I didn't mean anything by it, sorry man. Just a poor joke. I apologize. Ouch.” He signaled the Major that he was OK and walked off, still rubbing parts of his body covertly.
Robert shook his head, “Berserker? Do you people keep a mermaid in a tub in the basement too?”
Jake shrugged.
“I... don't know. Probably not. We use that area for food storage. I wonder what that was about? He's a pretty solid kid. Not prone to starting trouble.” He walked over to Sammi, Robert followed, but held back, not wanting to move that close to a possible attack.
“Ken?” Jake said softly. “Do we need to take these guys out, or what?”
The boy looked up and shook his head, a firm thing, his eyes a deep red brown, bloodshot in the whites to a nearly solid pink. The kid smelled hot still, his chest fluttered for some reason, like his heart was trying to rip free. Ken didn't speak, but he made himself clear enough. He was so angry he'd kill them himself if need be. No extra help needed. Why that happened to be Jake just couldn't tell.
No one said much for a while and Jake had work to do, somewhere. Maybe splitting firewood so that they wouldn't have to do it in the snow later? They had to cut rounds too, which was the harder task. That would be the one to pick then, if he could find someone to help.
There was a log loaded on the cross beam braces, which looked a lot like an “X” made of logs lashed together with rope, there were three of them and the pit was a little in front of the last one. Jake hadn't been around a lot but it didn't seem like anyone had been working on making the cuts for a while. Probably over a month. The two person saw stuck out of the wood and was quite frozen in place. Someone had just left the nearly priceless tool outside, letting it rust for weeks or longer. Worse, two men, or given the nature of the demographics at the house, possibly two women, had done it, but the fact was a lot of people could be lazy and stupid and gender didn't play a role.
He had to get a hammer to break it free, which got Burt to come over to see what was going on, he winced when he saw the black and red metal with fresh pits and slight scoring marks in places from the hammer. It didn't move at first, but with enough force it finally did. Burt, shaking his head and looking disgusted, walked away and came back a few minutes later with some steel wool, a flat course stone and an old t-shirt cut to
scrap. He also had a bottle of mineral oil with him.
“I'd seen this a few weeks ago but got sidetracked and forgot. I think it actually got stuck rather than someone being truly negligent or trying to destroy it. Here though, try the stone with some of the oil first, then the steel wool and get all the rust off you can. We need to clean and oil it every time it's used from now on, or it might just rust through completely.” The items got handed to him and Burt walked away, a purposeful stride that looked to have a mission attached. It probably did. The man was good that way.
Jake scrubbed for nearly two hours on the thing before realizing it would take continued work over time to really fix. Oiling it again he looked around, saw one of the men he recognized from the charcoal crew and waved him over.
“Want to help? We need to get as much of the firewood prepped for winter as possible, rounds first, because I don't want to do this in knee deep snow. Probably a wimp like that, you know?” He tried to smile, feeling surly or not.
The guy, who went by Samuel, since there used to be another Sam at the house, decided to give it a try. He didn't seem all that enthused about it, which Jake couldn't blame him for, but he kept going, that was the important part. After the first cut the man went to get some gloves, but jogged the distance to the shed and didn't stop. They didn't quit, except to move the log into place for the next cut over and over again until it was done, then they got another and kept going until dinner, the man had blisters under his gloves, but Jake realized he didn't. His hands were sore, but not too red even, the thick skin having protected him. When they finished, before washing up Jake cleaned the saw, scrubbing it with a little oil and the stone again to get sticky or gummy bits of wood free, then oiled the whole thing before putting it back in the shop.
The man followed him the whole time, watching carefully and sizing up the stack of wood logs, and the rounds they'd produced that still needed to be split and stacked. They went to wash up together, the water cold here all the time because no one had bothered to build a water heater yet, even though they had the parts and Burt right there to guide them. He froze and turned blue as he washed already. He didn't say anything, just suffering in silence, but Samuel did.
“Gah, that's cold. I thought it was refreshing just a month ago, but no, that's just plain gone chilly on us.” The man had a full beard, most of the men did now, except Jake. He rubbed at it washing the saw dust out as well as he could.
“I probably sound like a wimp don't I? Oooh, the water's a little cold. You didn't even flinch when it hit you. Must have lava for blood or something.”
The man chattered like that for a while as Jake got clean, stripped to the waist and damp in the cool air. At least it wasn't raining today. Not yet. It would be soon. He dried with the towel on the nearest post, one of the clean ones. They didn't get new towels each day, and had to share, but this one was at least dry, which meant clean for the here and now. He looked at the man and considered what to say for a while, the pause causing an uncomfortably long silence.
“We need more brick for the base of a water heater I think. About the size of the forge? If we can get that we could have hot water in a week. Warm water at least, for the winter. We either need to figure out how to get it inside or cover the wash areas somehow, or no one will bathe at all. That would not be fun.” He smiled and shrugged at the man. “I like hot water too. It's one of the nicer things anymore. If we can get enough people we can take all three of the carts with us tomorrow and be back the day after. A full load of brick, pipe and iron would be nice. That will take at least six people to pull. The rest should stay here really. We'll take them if they aren't busy though.”
Samuel gave a scared half chuckle that sounded like a sob.
“We? I was hoping cutting up the firewood would be enough to keep me here. There's a lot of it and I know to oil the blade now.” He sounded hopeful. A bit worried too.
It was also legitimate. They needed the wood. Jake nodded, making the man's eyes go a little wide for a moment.
“All right, grab a partner. Just make sure you both work like you did today and take care of the equipment. Actually grab three people, but make sure two of them at least are women. Also let them know that this is their daily job for now, not just a few days, if they want it. That should keep the lazy ones from bugging you too much.”
“Bugging me?” Samuel looked like that probably wouldn't happen, as if he'd be laid back all the time, no matter what. It fit with what little Jake knew of the guy. Always calm and cool.
Jake didn't want to ruin it for him but the man needed to understand how people were, or it might surprise him later.
“Yeah. Once you're in charge of something everyone suddenly seems hopelessly lazy and stupid, unless they do at least what you are. You want people that are willing to do the job on this. It's important, but also hard labor. You'll all feel it in a few days, probably tomorrow for you, and this was a third of a day at best. After the logs are done there will be splitting too, which should go faster, since we have a bunch of axes. We can start working on that, too, but I want to see what everyone else comes up with first. We only have eleven people to choose from and after we take out the pregnant ones that's really... five people. Which is perfect. Try to pick carefully.”
“Isn't it seven people? Four on wood cutting, six pregers with the new girls, seventeen people in all...” He counted it off.
“You forgot people on shift to watch the fire all the time. That's the easiest job around right now, but I won't leave a giant pile of smoldering wood alone, not even underground. Not yet at least. I know it's probably safe, but just in case... One person can really do it, I suppose, at a time, but everyone will need to take a turn or two per day. Say... you can be in charge of that too, since you plan to stay. Keep this up and you'll be voting by next week. Deciding if we have cabbage or turnips for dinner and having half the people hate you, either way you choose. Great fun. Still, it's not a bad idea. I'll make sure Nate knows to come to you if something needs to be done while the rest of us are gone.”
That led to a bit of an argument after dinner, because no one wanted to go with him into town, except Heather for some reason, but he didn't want her for enough reasons that he figured she wouldn't even ask.
Only she did.
As if him being mad at her didn't matter or he might have forgotten already. Did he seem that absent minded to everyone, or just her? Or was it really something else? Some dark girl scheme to make him feel bad for pointing out that she was being a bitch? It didn't matter, she wasn't coming, because she was pregnant and not just a few months along anymore either.
“Pregnant means half useless, so stay here and do the half you can. Also, I asked you not to talk to me ever again. Maybe you could at least value me enough to do that?” He didn't walk off, but he also didn't look at her. She tried to talk, but eventually she got the idea and left him to make real plans.
Of course it left him feeling horrible for having said that. She wasn't useless, even now. Her ability to see some of what was coming really had a lot of use, and she actually bothered to work. It was just anger talking on his part, which wasn't fair of him. Jake wasn't taking it back though, wrong or not.
He got his five people, made arrangements and told them to expect an overnight stay. They'd get a house in town, which would be pretty safe. Plus they'd all be armed. Rita, the birdlike woman that made the blankets and clothing actually volunteered to go, even as afraid as she clearly was. That got a lot of reaction from the others, and Jake accepted her right off, even if she was a little light to pull much in the carts. She wanted to see about getting sewing supplies, thread and needles if she could. She had this odd idea that Jake and the others might not know what to look for really.
As far as he knew, she was right. He'd gotten a B in the Home-Ec class he took mainly by force of will and making pillows in the shape of his initials. It hadn't been that hard, but he'd used a machine at home and had to have his Mom thread it for him.
The military men were invited to stay the night, which meant a watch had to be set for them too, which really meant two watches for them, one they knew about... and another one in case they took out the guards they could see. They had night vision and even working flashlights, so the superiority at night went to them hands down. Not to mention Robert being able to see in the dark without those things.
It wouldn't make for a fun time overall, but as soon as everyone settled, Jake walked down the stairs quietly and tucked himself into the corner of the main room. That was where the men had set up their bedrolls. Vickie and her crew had the official watch, and had agreed to do it from the kitchen mainly, so as to not interrupt the men's sleep.
Even tucked behind a chair like he was, Jake had no illusion that he hadn't been seen coming in. Even if the other men were just sitting in the dark, Robert would probably have seen him, or could maybe smell him in the room. Who knew what the other men had going on. They might run a search for instance, as a matter of habit. Or just start shooting if he sneezed. He would have. The thought made him smile a bit and decide to be happy allergies weren't a problem for him. That would suck on so many levels right now. No one with hay fever had actually made it this far though. Not that lived with them at the house.