“There is no right and wrong, Danny,” the man replied.
Daniel suddenly noticed that the sun had set outside.
“Oh my goodness!” the boy declared. “My grandparents will be worried sick.”
“Then go, boy,” Mr. Rowan told him, handing him a rag for his hands.
“Thank you so much, sir. That was a spectacular experience,” Daniel told him as he wiped his hands.
“I’ll see you again soon,” Mr. Rowan told him as Daniel ran out the door.
He tore through the rows of tents but slowed as he reached the row where his tent was. He composed himself and caught his breath.
“There you are, Daniel!” Kay said as he approached. “Where have you been? We’ve been waiting for you to go to dinner.”
“I’m sorry. I was out drawing and lost track of time,” Daniel explained.
“But it’s been dark for an hour,” Kay countered.
“I must have dozed off,” Daniel said defensively.
“It’s too late for dinner, now,” Kay explained, making Daniel feel guilty.
“I’m sorry, Grandma,” the boy replied.
“Lucky for you, your sister works in the kitchen and brought us dinner,” Kay told him with a smile. “Come on, let’s eat.”
They entered the tent and ate around the small table in the center.
Chapter 9
Erika could hear the loud pulsing of the music as they neared the town. It was a reconstruction of the past. Buildings repaired with random spare parts still stood. Seeing the somewhat familiar landscape warmed Erika’s heart. Tiny shops offered services to residents and a marketplace dominated the center of town. Erika’s tummy grumbled as her nostrils filled with the aroma of the evening foods they were preparing for hungry concert-goers.
“I’m glad I came. This is cool,” Erika noted, feeling positive about the experience.
“It is,” Vince agreed, hugging her tightly with one arm.
They entered a large building adjacent to the marketplace that was used for community events. The band was rocking the stage and a throng of people was dancing in front of them.
“Would you like to dance?” Kyle immediately asked Star.
“Hell yeah,” Star replied jovially, heading off into the crowd.
Vince and Erika smiled at the two of them, dancing their way through the people.
“Want to get a drink?” Vince asked her.
“Hell, yeah,” Erika replied in a ditzy voice, poking fun at Star’s behavior.
Vince smiled at her as he grabbed her hand, entering the drink line. The drink they received was a mix of some type of berry juice and some kind of alcohol, but Erika couldn’t discern the flavors.
“At least it goes down smooth,” Vince commented, watching her sipping and analyzing.
They sat off to the side on a hay bale as they enjoyed their drinks and discussed the day’s events. Erika was ever-vigilant, scanning the people and checking for signs of danger. She knew Sgt Hensley was hovering somewhere behind her, but watching the people for signs of trouble was innate to her after years of being on the run. She noticed Nickleton was in attendance and her eyes widened as she saw Bennet walk in with a female companion. Watching her expression change, Vince looked in the direction her eyes stopped their scan at.
“Isn’t that Ms. Long Legs from the bar in Reno?” Vince asked.
“I think so,” she replied. “How about that?”
They laughed together at the sergeant trying to look smooth and stumble over himself. The room became silent as the band changed. When the new band was settled the room exploded into a roar of rock and roll music, and the dancers surged back and forth on the floor.
“Do you want to dance?” Vince asked her.
“No, not really,” Erika admitted.
He looked at her confused. She always wanted to dance. “What’s going on, baby?”
“Nothing, I’m fine,” she responded.
“You’ve been in a mood all afternoon. I thought Bennet gave you props this morning,” he prodded.
“He did,” she replied.
“Then what’s up?” he insisted.
“My mom,” she started to say.
“Yeah. . .” he urged her on.
“My mom said I need to find something else to do besides train and clean weapons. I was thinking about it. I don’t know what else to do,” she admitted, looking curiously at him.
“You need to stay sharp, baby. She doesn’t understand,” Vince told her.
“Yeah. . . but I was thinking. How did I get here? Maybe I should find something else to do,” she admitted.
“That would be nice if we were in another reality. A nice little basket-weaving hobby,” Vince told her sarcastically. “In this reality, you’re being hunted. The feds would love to have your head on a platter. You have to train so you can always defend yourself and the people that love you have to be ready because we never know when they’re coming,” Vince continued urgently. His run-in with the captain in Las Vegas changed him. He knew that the feds would use anyone she loved to get to her. He would never let his lady face the danger alone if he could help it. “Just because we’re safe for now doesn’t mean we will be forever. You have to train but tonight we can have some fun. Come on, let’s dance!” he insisted, pulling her up from the hay.
She smiled widely at him as the alcohol rushed through her brain. She followed behind as he led her out into the sway of the crowd. They danced until they were sweaty and their legs trembled with the beat.
“Want to go get something to drink?” Vince asked
“Sure!” Erika answered jovially.
He loved watching her like this, worries forgotten, alive in the moment. She glistened in the light as they exited the dance floor. He took her over to the hay bales and left her there so she could catch her breath while he got them drinks. Dexter found her there.
“Where have you been?” Erika stumbled over her words a little, feeling the effects of the alcohol.
“I saved a homesteader’s child today,” he told her.
“I heard that,” Erika admitted.
“Turns out it was James Creed’s son, and the grandson of Larse Creed who owns the homestead community,” he informed her.
“Really? Good move,” Erika replied.
“I’ve been eating a steak dinner,” Dexter boasted.
“And you didn’t come get us?” she asked, acting upset.
“I couldn’t but it was goooooooood,” Dexter told her, rubbing his belly. He was teasing with her, but his eyes were scanning the crowd as he spoke. “Who’s that guy with Grandma?”
“His name is Walter. She met him at the laundry,” Erika said flatly.
“You don’t like him?” Dexter wondered.
“If he makes Grandma smile again then he can’t be too bad,” Erika admitted.
“Hey, baby,” Vince said as he approached, watching a man speak to her. As he neared he recognized the frame. “Oh, hi, buddy. Where have you been?”
“Out getting spoiled by the homesteaders,” Dex boasted.
“You’ll have to introduce me. I’d love to check out the facilities. They’re producing a lot of food to be able to run this operation,” Vince noted, remembering his efforts to maximize production in Las Vegas to feed everyone.
“I came to steal your mom away for a minute, if that’s okay,” Vince told him.
“Sure, I’m going to see if I can find someone to dance with,” Dexter replied.
“I think Megan is over there, talking with some teenagers,” Erika informed him, pointing the way. “I bet she’d love a partner.”
“I bet she would,” the young man replied, heading off with a bounce in his step.
“Come on, hon,” Vince insisted, urging her to come with him.
“What’s up with you?” Erika wondered, surprised by his behavior.
“It’s a surprise,” Vince teased, heading towards the door.
Sgt Hensley followed not far behind them, and his presence
was really starting to annoy Erika. She was trying to relax and let her hair down, but Hensley’s constant surveillance made her feel self-conscious about her actions.
The air outside the building was crisp and moist. Erika inhaled deeply but caught the smell of something else in the air. Erika smiled widely at Vince. He led her into an enclosed, outdoor patio area where the smell of marijuana intensified. Erika was delighted to smoke again. She loved the relaxed feeling, coupled with the pain relief that it provided. Never having been a big fan of alcohol, she often wished over the years that she had access to it.
They joined in a circle of other individuals passing around a joint. It was finally Erika’s turn and she inhaled deeply from it. She held the smoke in for a minute while she was passing the joint off to Vince.
Exhaling, she said, “You sure know how to cheer a gal up.”
He smiled gently at her with his tattered teeth. “I thought you might enjoy this.”
They lingered for a while in the circle before reentering the building. The air inside was muggy with the sweat of the dancers and the crowd had intensified. They began to weave through the throng of people over to the end of the drink line. Swaying to the music, she and Vince held hands as they inched forward.
“There’s my little cupcake,” a voice boomed from behind as they approached.
She didn’t even need to turn around to know who it was.
“Hi, Sgt Bennet,” she responded.
“Hensley told me you guys were outside,” he said flatly.
“Yeah, is there a problem?” she asked.
He said “no,” but he shot her a disapproving look. “I don’t think you’ve met Michelle.”
The disapproving look Bennet gave her, mixed with the alcohol and marijuana combination, put Erika in an extremely relaxed and cocky state of mind. The filter that usually existed between her mouth and her brain had suddenly ceased to exist.
“Oh, isn’t she Ms. Long Legs from the bar in Reno?” Erika asked sarcastically.
Bennet blushed fiercely and looked embarrassed, but Michelle handled the situation with class.
“Actually, my name is Michelle Benson,” she replied cordially. “Do you have a name other than Cupcake?”
Erika smiled at her intelligent rebuttal. She had a feeling she was going to like Michelle.
“SSgt Karen Kase,” Erika responded.
“Aren’t you his superior now, since the Merkley incident? And he has the nerve to call you cupcake?” Michelle asked, eyeballing Bennet flirtatiously.
“It’s a long story,” Erika explained.
The guys went to get more drinks as the ladies chatted. Star joined them after a while; her face was red from dancing and laughing. Erika saw joy in the young woman’s heart that she had not seen for a long time. Kyle returned with Vince, Bennet, and the drinks.
“What is this?” Erika wondered, looking at a clear liquid in a long shot-glass.
“Moonshine,” Bennet delighted, “but not just any moonshine. This is the maker’s best, over 100-proof.”
Erika drank the liquid, expecting it to burn, but it was strangely smooth, and she was working on drinking the entire shot glass before Bennet noticed.
“No hopscotch, you can’t drink that much of that stuff. You’re gonna be sick,” Bennet corrected her, taking the shot glass out of her hand.
He passed it to Vince and produced another to take a pull from himself.
“Star?” a voice from the edge of the crowd called toward them.
No one here that knew their names should have been using them. The group didn’t respond but Erika nonchalantly took notice of the direction the call had come from. A familiar face approached: it was Star’s ex-husband, Sean. He was a handsome man who they met in Montana while they were on the run from the Federal Forces. His once-long sandy brown hair was cut short, and he looked thin.
“There’s no one here by that name,” Erika told him, cutting him off. She moved with purpose, but her words were slurred.
“Erika, I need to talk to Star,” Sean insisted.
“There’s no one here by that name either, son!” Bennet growled at him, stepping in between the two. “You need to leave, now.”
Erika saw Star whisper to Kyle as she retreated to Vince’s side.
“But I need to talk to Star,” he insisted again, despite Bennet’s intimidating presence.
“Do we have a problem here, Sergeant?” Kyle asked, stepping forward.
“Just some confused band member,” Bennet replied. “He thought he knew one of the ladies here.”
“Let’s you and me go discuss this outside,” Kyle commanded.
“But,” Sean protested.
“She’ll meet you, outside,” he told Sean.
Sean acquiesced and headed toward the door, but Kyle was the only one that followed.
“You okay?” Erika asked her.
“Yeah, I just didn’t think I’d run into him here,” Star said, scowling.
“Forget it. We’re having too much fun to worry about that,” Erika slurred, hugging her.
“You know what? You’re right, Mom,” Star agreed.
Listening to Star sing the next song in a drunken sway, Erika watched Hensley become distracted by an attractive young female who approached him.
Erika elbowed Star with a sly look and a motion towards Hensley. “Come on, let’s go get a drink.”
Star knew Erika’s game immediately; she was giving the guard the slip. It was a move that had caused Bennet’s vein in his forehead to come to near explosion many times in the past. Quietly removing themselves from the group, the conversations continued, and their absence went unnoticed. They headed towards the man with the moonshine. He provided them with free drinks after Star gave him a kiss on the cheek, and the ladies lost themselves in the crowd. Erika was downright sloppy drunk now, as she stumbled her way through the dancing horde. She and Star laughed at each other’s jokes and supported the weight of one other as they went along.
Despite her altered state, Erika still took a moment to realize how precious this memory with Star would be. Too much time had passed since they had laughed this much together. Dancing through the beat of the next song, they paused when the bands switched. Watching Sean set up, Star noticed a newly obtained black eye. They couldn’t stop laughing, so they left the dance floor and headed towards the back where they could get some air and use the facilities.
As they pushed through the crowd, Erika over heard a woman saying, “I wish the feds would catch that woman. Who cares about some survivor from Sacramento? She should’ve gone with the wave that took California and we’d all be better off.”
Erika’s head snapped to the direction of the comment. A burly-looking woman was talking with a group of people. Star, overhearing the comment as well and watching her mom’s reaction, tried to urge Erika forward.
“Wait, I want to hear this,” Erika insisted with a stubborn, drunken attitude.
“She provided hope for all of us. I think she should be sainted,” another person said.
“Some hope. Look what happened to all those innocent people in the North and where is she now? She appears and causes all this chaos and then disappears like a coward. If I found her, I would kill her myself. Then I could trade her head to the feds for that bounty. That would end all of this,” the lady raged in her own drunken stupor.
It was obvious that the group she was talking too didn’t share her options, but Erika could feel that they didn’t want to say anything out of respect. She waited for someone, anyone, to protest again.
“You got something to say about the Lone Survivor of Sacramento?” Erika slurred, catching the woman’s attention.
“Maybe I do. What do you care?” the lady blabbed nastily at Erika.
“Maybe you should shut your pie hole before someone does it for you!” Erika snapped.
“Do you know who I am, you little bitch!” the woman hissed at her.
“Am I supposed to care?” Erika retort
ed. “As far as I’m concerned you’re just some drunken whore who needs to have the taste slapped out of her mouth.”
“What did you say?” the woman gasped, shocked at Erika’s behavior.
“You heard me, or are you deaf and dumb?” Erika asked.
“Mom, let’s go,” Star urged, pulling Erika away.
As they were leaving, the woman screamed, “Sounds like one of you has a head on your shoulders, maybe you should listen to your slut of a daughter more.”
Star released her grip on her mother, letting drunken emotions overwhelm herself as well. The crowd around them was now taking note of the two women engaged in the altercation. Erika turned back furiously and ducked a knockout punch from the woman, aimed directly for her head. The woman lunged forward in her drunken state and Erika helped her out with a push to her back that sent her flailing into the crowd. Now they’d caught the attention of a large group of people that formed a circle around them.
The crowd started chanting, “Fight, fight, fight. . . “
The woman was back on her feet, standing tall above Erika. She grabbed onto Erika’s head, but Erika kicked her legs out from under her and she fell, hard. As she fell the woman pulled out a handful of Erika’s hair, but Erika stood unfazed over the top of her. She expected the woman to try to stand back up, but instead she kicked out Erika’s legs and tried to get on top of her. Erika caught the woman in between her legs as the woman swung furiously, hitting her across the head. Pushing her hips out and using her legs, she flipped the woman over. Erika mounted the woman and unleashed her own flurry of punches. Erika didn’t notice that the woman had stopped fighting and was lying in a pool of her own blood.
Star was screaming, “Stop, Mom, stop!”
But Erika didn’t stop. Her instincts took over. The sound faded out. She swung frantically, until she was suddenly ripped off the woman into the arms of a large man who squeezed her body tightly. Erika reeled back and connected an elbow with the man’s head. He dropped her, and Erika flew back at the woman kicking her hard in the side. The woman folded into two before the man caught ahold of her again. He held her tightly, dodging the blows she threw at him, until someone else appeared in front of her.
“Baby, stop!” the voice echoed through her mind.
The Changing Earth Series (Book 5): Dark Days in Denver Page 7