“Yup, you’re slowing down,” Star laughed.
“We’ll see about that,” Erika told her. “So. . . you got your eye on anyone?”
“Don’t go changing the subject,” Star continued the banter.
“SSgt Kase, there you are,” a voice called from the door.
“Kyle, where have you been all day?” Erika wondered.
“I went out to the edge of the Ogallala Lake. There was a messenger coming in from Dallas,” Kyle told her. “There was a second message, for you,” he said, handing her an envelope.
“Thanks, Kyle,” Erika replied.
“No problem, Staff Sergeant. I heard you got in the ring with Sgt Bennet,” Kyle teased. “How’d that go?”
“Good,” she answered simply.
He eyeballed her carefully. “I got to go get some food. I’ll be right back,” Kyle replied, heading off toward the food line.
“You met him in Texas?” Star asked, watching him go.
“Yeah. We helped the people in the hospital together, and he wanted to come with us when we left,” Erika told her.
“Why didn’t he?” Star wondered.
“Bennet pulled us out and then Albuquerque was bombed,” Erika informed her.
“He’s pretty cute. Nice, strong, muscular body, and tall enough to match my height. His eyes are kind and that long, sandy-brown hair . . . handsome man,” Star said with her eyes on him.
“Kyle?” Erika asked. “You’re too smart for him, but he is cute. I do have to admit it.”
“Oh, come on, Star. I’m sitting right here,” Daniel interjected, disgusted by his sister’s dissection of the man.
“What about you, little man? You kissed a girl yet?” Star inquired.
Daniel blushed bright red. “Jen! I’m not talking about that here. It’s private,” Daniel replied.
“That means you have. Come on and tell us, Danny,” Erika prodded.
“Mom!” he said with attitude. “See what you started, Jen,” Daniel complained.
“I’m sorry, Danny. We were just teasing. It is your private business,” Erika defended her son.
Erika finished eating and took her plate back to the wash station. She was curious about the note in her hand but wanted a moment alone to look at it. Returning to the table, Erika announced, “I’m headed back to the tent to see how my mom is settling in.”
“I’ll be right behind you, Mom. I got to grab my gym clothes, but I have some odds and ends to finish up here first,” Star replied.
“What are your plans?” Kyle asked Erika.
“I’m not sure. I may head over to the gym with Jen,” Erika replied. “I wanted to do some weight lifting but Bennet had other plans for this afternoon.”
“Sounds good. I need to get some shut-eye, but I was thinking of heading into town later. One of the refugee bands is pretty good and I’d like to check it out,” Kyle told her.
“I don’t know if I’d be up to it, but maybe,” Erika said.
“All work and no play makes a staff sergeant a dull girl,” Kyle jested.
“Let’s see how it goes. I’ll catch up with you later,” Erika told him.
“SSgt Kase,” Sgt Hensley greeted her formally as she approached him at the door.
Erika returned his salute and walked toward the tent with the man in tow. She slid the note from her pocket and slowly unfolded the paper.
Erika,
I heard you’re in my hometown. Please stay there until my return. Not sure of our ETA. The Duncan family sends their love and wants you to know they are safe in Dallas. I can’t share too many details, but I have critical information for you. Heads up, my brother is there and may not look fondly upon your presence.
Cassidy
She carefully folded the paper and returned it to her pocket. The note only piqued her curiosity even more. She was glad to hear that Harold and his family were safe, but unsure what critical information Cassidy possessed that she wouldn’t share with the commanding officers. The news of her brother also concerned her. At least her current alias would hide her from that reality for a while.
“Hi, Mom,” Erika greeted Nancy as she approached the tent.
“Hello,” Nancy returned her response cheerfully. “What’s up?”
“Nothing. I just got back from lunch and I’m trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my day.”
“I’m doing the same. The laundry is clean, and everything is in order. Any news on Greg and Penni?” Nancy wondered curiously.
“Not yet, but they should arrive soon. LtCol Virgis assured me they were en route,” Erika replied.
“That’s good. I can’t believe Bennet pulled us out and not them,” Nancy responded. “And who is this gentleman following you around?”
“Sgt Hensley, ma’am,” he introduced himself. “I’ve been assigned to protect SSgt Kase.”
Erika’s back was to the sergeant, so he couldn’t see her rolling her eyes at her mom. Nancy smirked at her daughter’s antics.
“What’s your plans for tonight?” Erika queried, heading into the stuffy tent to do a weapons check.
“Are you going to clean those guns again?” Nancy asked.
“No,” Erika replied defensively. “I was going to sharpen my knives.”
“You need a hobby,” Nancy teased her.
“I have one: Maintaining the weapons that have kept us alive,” Erika replied cockily.
“Well. . . I met a gentleman at the laundry today,” Nancy declared with a sparkle in her eye.
“Really?” Erika replied, pausing her activities.
“Yes, and he invited me to the concert in town tonight,” Nancy told her.
“Well, well, look at you. Getting asked out on a date and dancing none-the-less,” Erika responded jovially, laying out her knives on the table. “You going to go?”
“I don’t know. I miss Brett,” she replied. “What do you think?”
“You should go. We’ve been through enough doom and gloom. You should live a little,” Erika told her, picking up a knife. She dabbed a small amount of oil on a stone and began running the knife across it.
“Look who’s talking,” Nancy told her. “Vince is feeling better. Why don’t you guys come with us?”
“We’ll see,” Erika replied, dismissing her suggestion.
“Erika!” Nancy said sternly, pausing for her daughter to look up at her.
“What, Mom?” Erika responded, looking into her eyes.
“You can’t go on like this,” Nancy urged her.
“Like what?” Erika asked.
“Floating from battle to battle with nothing but training and weapons maintenance in between,” Nancy explained.
“This is my life, Mom. These are the cards I’ve been dealt. I’m the ‘Lone Survivor of Sacramento’ remember? The hope of the free people. The savior of the refugees,” Erika pushed back. “Sgt Bennet said I’m doing perfectly. This is life!”
“Sgt Bennet doesn’t know anything other than training and fighting. He’s too full of himself to even take a moment to see that you’re on a downhill slide. It’s not healthy,” Nancy told her.
Just then Star entered the tent. She immediately sensed the tension in the air. “What’s going on in here, ladies?”
Erika changed the subject. “Grandma was just telling me about a man she met today. They’re going to the concert tonight,” Erika explained, glaring at her mother.
“Way to go, Grandma!” Star elated “I think I’m headed over there myself.”
Erika shot her a sideways look.
“After I go train, of course,” Star added.
Relieved, Erika returned to watching the knife slide across the stone. Nancy rolled her eyes at the interaction.
“I was trying to get Erika to come too,” Nancy interjected.
“You should,” Star agreed. “It would be fun.”
“What would be fun?” Vince asked, entering the tent.
“Going to the concert tonight,” Star informed
him cheerfully. “You up to it?”
“I’m going to need a nap first, but it sounds like a cool idea to me,” Vince replied to Erika’s dismay. “What do you think, baby?” he queried, approaching Erika and giving her a kiss.
“I was going to just chill tonight, but if you want to go, I guess we could,” Erika told him.
“Great, then I’ll tell Walter it’s a go,” Nancy said.
“Who’s Walter?” Vince wondered.
“A gentleman I met at the laundry. I wasn’t sure about going with him, but if everyone else is, I’m game,” Nancy told him.
“Did you find your parents?” Erika asked Vince, changing the subject.
“Yeah. Dad’s over at the medical center and Mom’s over at the school. They’re doing fine. Busy, busy. I told Dad he better make time for food,” Vince explained.
“Good luck with that. He’s as stubborn as the day is long,” Erika replied, laughing a little. She started packing her knives back up. Thinking of his parents kept reminding her of the argument they didn’t finish over why Vince and Erika were still fighting for the resistance. Erika shoved her knives forcefully into her pack, consumed with her thoughts. Star noticed her mom’s frustration but figured if she needed to talk about it, she would eventually. Nancy left to go get some lunch and meet with Walter. Vince, oblivious to Erika’s upset mood, lay down to take a nap.
Erika left with Star, headed for the gym with Sgt Hensley in tow. Reaching the gate, they entered the building and headed down the bright hallway. They were met by LtGen Merkley, exiting the building.
“SSgt Kase, how we doing?” he asked.
She saluted him stiffly and replied, “Good, sir.”
“I received a favorable report from MGySgt Nickleton today regarding your performance. Glad you’re settling in,” he told her.
“Thank you, sir,” Erika responded.
“And is this your daughter?” he wondered.
“Yes, sir,” she replied. “My daughter, Jenny Kase.”
“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” he greeted her.
“Very nice to meet you, sir.” She returned his gesture.
“Don’t let me keep you from your workout,” he replied, indicating they were free to go.
They headed off to the gym and started stacking the weights on the squat bar. Warming up with a light weight, Erika noticed a group of locals were there training as well. There were four men, each with beards and mustaches. The older of the four sported gray hair and stood coaching the other three in the ring. Two of the men wore their hair long and one of them had his shirt off. On his shoulder was a tattoo of a godlike man with a hammer. The men were practicing takedowns. Erika watched them as she and Star took turns on the bar and the weight increased.
“Geez, what are those guys laughing about?” Star wondered, commenting on the ruckus they were making.
“I don’t know but it looks entertaining,” Erika replied.
“They look pretty darn cute too,” Star suggested.
“I don’t care about all that,” Erika confessed. “It’s just been a long time since I laughed like that.”
“I know, Mom,” Star told her. “That’s why it may be fun to go to the concert tonight. Take a break from all this.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Erika admitted.
Chapter 8
The sun began to set low as Erika tore through her bag.
“I don’t own any clothes except camos and those ripped up jeans,” she grumbled at Vince.
“Just wear your jeans and a t-shirt. You look hot in anything,” Vince told her, irritated with her delay.
Erika slid the jeans on. They were tight and hugged her backside firmly. Vince approached her and cupped one of her butt cheeks.
“Oh no, mister. Everyone is waiting for us,” she told him, removing his hand.
“See, hot!” he insisted. “You ready?”
“Yeah, I’m ready,” she replied, sliding her t-shirt over her scarred skin.
Sgt Hensley met them outside as they walked out of the tent and into a large crowd of people heading for the town.
“Come on, cheer up, baby. What’s the worst that could happen? Heaven forbid we might have some fun,” Vince jested with her.
“Out having fun when we don’t even know where our friends are,” Erika grumbled.
“There’s nothing we can do for them now. We must trust that Cole will get them home safely. Worrying about it is useless,” he told her.
“I know,” Erika mumbled.
“There you are,” Nancy declared, finding Erika in the crowd. “This is Walter.”
“Hello, Mrs. Kase. Nice to meet you,” he declared, shaking Erika’s hand. He was a shorter man with graying hair. His round face produced a heartfelt smile.
“Hi, nice to meet you,” Erika responded, unsure if he was sincere or just being nice to the daughter of the woman that he wanted to take to his bed later tonight.
“I understand you’re from California,” he said. “You must have an interesting story.”
Erika shot her mom a look. “That was a long time ago. We’ve been with the mercenary forces in the Western Region pretty much since the quake.”
“Yeah, your mom said you are one hell of a fighter. Not really my thing anymore. If everyone would just put the guns down, maybe we could focus on rebuilding our country rather than destroying it,” he attested.
“Yeah, maybe,” Erika responded unenthusiastically.
Vince had been listening in and wondered how long it would take Erika to voice her real opinion. He knew she was feeling this man out, analyzing his character. Before the opportunity to counter his argument presented itself, Vince declared, “Hi, I’m Eddy.”
“You must be the son-in-law,” Walter said.
“Yes sir, I am,” he replied.
“Good for you being able to keep your family together. Quite a rarity, these days. Looks like you’ve been in one heck of a battle recently, though,” Walter said condescendingly. He had noticed Vince’s fading black eye and missing tooth.
“Let’s just say it was an interesting trip back to base this last go-around,” Vince explained, without elaborating. He quickly changed the subject. “What sort of work are you doing?”
“I work for Larse over at the homestead farms,” he explained. “Lucky for me I was doing laundry today and ran into Nancy here.”
“That’s something,” Vince replied, unsure if this guy was good enough for his mother-in-law.
Vince and Walter continued talking about the gardening operations as Erika’s mind drifted.
“Hi, mom,” Star announced, fighting through the crowd with Kyle.
“Hey, guys,” Erika replied, noticing Kyle’s hand holding tight to Star’s hip as they approached.
“I’m so glad you decided to come, Karen. We’re going to have some fun tonight,” Kyle announced, playing a fake guitar in the air.
Nancy introduced Walter to Star and Kyle. Erika wondered where Dexter was, but she knew her boy. He would pop up eventually.
Daniel sat alone, watching the water run under the bridge. He was thinking of the first time he saw a swimming pool. It was years ago in Las Vegas after his parents took the job with the rescue squad. He smiled at the memory of Greg teaching him how to dive that followed. The small piece of charcoal that he held in his hand vigorously ran across the paper he held. Suddenly, he jerked his head up. He knew someone was watching him.
“Hello again,” an older man declared. “Didn’t you want to go into town with the others?”
“Not really. With everyone gone, it’s quiet and I can sketch landscapes,” Daniel admitted.
The old man peeked over Daniel’s shoulder, admiring his work.
“You really are a fantastic artist, young man. What’s your name?” the man wondered.
“I. . . uh . . .,” Daniel stammered, trying to remember his fake last name, “Kase, Danny Kase.”
“You draw like Michelangelo, but
you can’t remember your own last name?” the man queried.
“Well, what’s yours?” Daniel asked defensively.
“My name is Asop Rowan, but you can call me Mr. Rowan,” he told Daniel.
“Okay,” Daniel replied, thinking it was a strange way to introduce yourself.
“Would you like to come see my studio, Danny?” Mr. Rowan asked.
“You have a studio?” Daniel wondered.
“Come and see,” the man replied.
Daniel slowly meandered with Mr. Rowan as he picked his way along, leaning on his cane. In his excitement, Daniel wished the old man would shuffle along a little faster. He followed Mr. Rowan into the homesteaders’ gate and entered a small house at the very end of the community. Daniel gasped as he stepped in. The walls were decorated with wonderful paintings done in dramatic colors.
“These are beautiful! Look at the colors!” Daniel declared with awe.
“Oil painting,” the man explained. “Have you ever tried?”
“Oh, no. When I was young people would give me watercolors now and then. I’ve made my own paints and I have a good supply of sketching charcoal, but I’ve never seen paintings like this,” Daniel explained, studying the canvases adorning the room.
“I have an extra easel. Why don’t you try to paint that river you were staring at?” Mr. Rowan insisted.
“Really? On a canvas?” Daniel asked, shocked by the man’s generosity.
“Here’s the paints and a palette,” Mr. Rowan told him, showing him the supplies.
Daniel took the palette and carefully squeezed some blue, as well as white and black, onto it. He sat down and began working. The old man sat back and watched Daniel’s brush strokes as he delicately dipped the brush into the paint. He expertly slid the paint across the canvas, recalling every detail of the riverbed. Hours passed, and the old man sat in a meditative state, waiting.
“I’m done!” Daniel declared cheerfully.
The old man rose from his resting spot and examined his artwork. “You added lilies on the riverbank,” he commented.
“It needed more color,” Daniel replied. “Is that okay?”
“Your work is a projection of yourself,” the man explained.
“Did I do it right?” Daniel wondered.
The Changing Earth Series (Book 5): Dark Days in Denver Page 6