Alden, Heath and Charlie all walked in the house, Charlie was carrying two large cans of Dinty Moore stew. Alden walked straight to the table and grabbed the clippers and in a gruff voice said, “I’ll be back.”
As soon as he walked to the back the whole room burst out laughing. Heath grabbed the cans from Charlie and headed to the kitchen with Charlie calling after him, “That don’t count as your turn to cook!”
Ceara looked down the hall, “I wonder what he is going to look like bald?”
Chapter 26 – General Store
All four men were now sporting new haircuts, but not one was as dramatic as Alden’s. He had walked back to the room and everyone just stopped and stared. He rubbed his hand over his head, “High and tight, just like I like!”
Ceara shook her head at Charlie, “Don’t even think about it!”
Charlie laughed, “Ok fine.” He ran his fingers through his newly cut hair, “This works.”
Ceara dropped into one of the chairs, “My turn!”
Charlie snapped up the scissors, “Can do!”
Ceara glared at him, “If you want to try, go ahead but keep in mind that if you mess it up your turn will be coming soon.”
Charlie laughed, “Damn, ya’ll feel the love?” He handed the scissors over to Beth, “I think I’ll let you handle this.”
Beth took the scissors and began trimming the ends of Ceara’s hair, “Ceara this really isn’t hard. I’m sure Charlie could have done it.”
Ceara giggled, “I know but it just feels weird to have a man cut my hair. I would kind of look at him different.”
Heath sat across from her, “Ceara I wouldn’t have pictured you as being narrow minded.”
Ceara brow creased, “What do you mean?”
Heath raised an eyebrow, “Men can do that just as well as a woman, and it doesn’t mean anything about the man.”
Ceara smiled, “Ok point made, I’m sorry, but he still can’t cut my hair.”
Beth took her time with Ceara’s hair making sure to even it and take the dead ends off. Little by little her hair was shaping up real nice, however the ends were so bad that she had to take about three inches off. “Ceara sweetie, I had to take a little more off than I had liked, but with the shape of your hair I think taking as much off as I did, will make it grow nicely.”
Ceara looked at her hair in the mirror that Beth had handed her and she was a little in shock.
Her hair, which was way down past her shoulders, was just below them now, but when she really started running her fingers through her hair she could feel the difference.
“It’s fine Beth. I just kinda wonder why the ends were as bad as they were?” asked Ceara with a bit of sadness in her voice.
Beth smiled and looked down at her, “Honey, all of our eating habits have drastically changed, and without certain vitamins and minerals our hair is just one of the many things that tend to suffer. However now that it is cut and shaped, it will restart the growth process and also if we start eating better along with getting sunlight, you will be amazed at the texture of your hair in a few weeks.”
Colt went into the kitchen with Charlie, “Damn, I feel naked now. I haven’t had a haircut in months. But I have to admit that it feels great! I feel human again.”
Charlie was stirring dinner, “Hey, can you take over with this? I turned the heat off but I need a shower. I am all itchy.”
Colt pulled out bowls and headed back to the dining room, “Sure kid, I got it. I will get a shower after we eat.”
Ceara was sweeping up all the hair as Colt started setting the table. Beth followed Colt back in the kitchen to help get the rest of dinner. Colt smiled over at her, “You did great on my hair, thanks.”
Beth gave him a kiss, “You do look very nice, if I do say so myself.”
They all sat down just as Charlie came back in, “Damn this does feel weird.” He sat down as everyone started eating. “So what’s the plan with the truck? We leave it as is or are we going to inventory it?”
Alden came in and grabbed a cup coffee. Taking his place at the table he took a bite of stew and smiled. “Well Charlie while you boys were all in here getting primed and shaved by your girlfriends; I’ve been outside figuring out how we are going to get all that freight out.” He took another bite, “I figure we unload the paper first from its pallet then use it to unload the canned and dry goods. Everything will have to be placed in the barn till we get it sorted then we can put it all back on the trailers in an organized manner. We’ll use the wagon and horses to move it back and forth and I know we’ll have to handle this stuff a couple of times but if we do this right we’ll have our own little grocery store.”
Charlie kept eating and listening to Alden, “That sounds like a lot of work.”
Alden grinned, “What, you got something else to do?”
Heath was the first to chuckle, “Yeah well, I’d rather have it all sorted out than have to go out every day and root around to see what we want to eat.”
Ceara smiled, “Larry had a lot of spiral notebooks back in the den. We can make a diagram with what’s on each pallet as we reload the truck.”
Alden finished his bowl and took it to the kitchen to rinse it out. Getting another cup of coffee he turned and leaned against the counter. His eyes seemed to stare off into space. Heath looked at Tabitha, “Shit I’ve seen that look before.”
Tabitha looked at Alden then back to Heath, “What…. what’s he doing?”
Heath took a bite keeping his head down a little, “He’s fucking thinking.”
As Tabitha turned back Alden smiled, “I got a better idea.”
Heath poked Tabitha in the leg, “See I told ya!”
Alden walked back to the table and sat down, “It’ll take a little longer but hell the prom ain’t till next year. We’ll take the wood from the pallets and build shelves inside the trailers. That way we can walk down the middle and everything will be stacked in a nice neat military order.”
Charlie was the first one to let out a groan; Tabitha looked over at Heath and rolled her eyes.
Beth shook her head then began speaking, “Alden’s got a plan. Say we do stay here for a while and let’s face it…. it might as well be here, then being on the run all the time. Lord knows we will not last out there very long, going from place to place. We got a good thing going here with the generator, horses, and hell, a roof over our heads. I mean if we had a pantry we wouldn’t have a problem but if we do what Alden said it will be like a warehouse and then all we will have to do is keep it stocked when we are running low.”
Looking over at Charlie, Beth smiled softly, “Listen here baby brother, we work together as a family and that is how we survive.”
Giggling Beth continued, “Plus with you guys doing all that hard work, you will build up those muscles.” Giving a wink to Tabitha she waited to see if she had caught on and just then Tabitha took over.
“Yea Red, all rippling, bulging and tanned!!!! He may be the sexiest man left of the universe!”
Ceara laughed, “Well the competition has been narrowed a lot.”
Charlie picked up his bowl and headed to the kitchen, “So glad you think you had to settle.”
Ceara made a face to Beth, “Oops, guess my part wasn’t funny, huh?”
Beth shook her head, “Go talk to him.”
Ceara got up grabbing her bowl, she headed to the kitchen catching Alden’s look. She felt worse now. Charlie had just set his bowl in the drainer and started back out of the kitchen, Ceara wasn’t sure what to do, if she should stop him or not. Alden joined her in the kitchen, “That was a quick talk.”
Ceara frowned, “He just walked out, should I have stopped him?”
Alden refilled his coffee again, “Look kid, Charlie isn’t your normal guy, and he has been through the ringer a few times. I won’t share things he may not want shared but I don’t think making him feel less than anyone else is something he will do good with.”
Ceara got a hurt look
, “He was laughing when Beth and Tabitha were joking.”
“He isn’t in love with them, kid.”
Ceara looked out at the dining room, “I was just joking.”
Alden headed back out to the dining room, “You two better talk or you won’t fix this.”
Ceara headed back in the dining room, Charlie was nowhere to be seen. “Where did he go?”
Colt pointed to the hall, Ceara went to their room. Charlie was sitting on the bed, Ceara walked in shutting the door. “Charlie, I was just joking… you know that right?”
Charlie looked up at her, “Carl use to say that there is always a little truth in jokes.”
Ceara joined him on the bed, “Not this time, Beth and Tabitha were joking around and I kind of wanted to be part of it.”
Charlie cocked his head to the side looking at her, “And just how funny would it be if I started telling you that all the hot girls got turned and now we just need to make due?”
“Wow is that how I sound?”
“You know all Beth and Tabitha joked about was us working out, but you made it sound like I was chopped liver.”
Ceara got on her knees in front of him, “Now you listen to me Charlie Davidson, you are the best man in the world… past, present and future. I love you, it wouldn’t matter if the world was full of men, I would still want you!”
Charlie wanted to believe her, “Are you sure about that?”
Ceara leaned up and kissed him, “I am positive! I’m sorry I hurt you, I guess I have a bit to learn about joking still.”
“Yeah, you suck at it!”
Ceara smirked, “I’ll work on it… now come on.”
The two walked back out and found that everyone had gone outside. Joining them by the trailer, Alden looked at the group, “You all get back. I want Colt and Heath on either side of the trailer watching for me as I back this big bastard up to the barn.” Pointing to both the men, “You guys stay in my mirrors if you can see me I can see you. Don’t let me hit the barn or that will put a damper on the whole deal.”
Alden climbed in the cab. The engine roared to life and black smoke spewed from the exhaust pipes. Leaning out the window he looked back at Colt, “Open those doors and lock them in place.”
Colt looked at Heath, “Hey man, come here. What the hell is he talking about lock them in place?”
Heath walked around and pulled the door open as he went. Colt watched as Heath pushed the door up to the side then slipped a small metal ring over a hook on the door. Colt shook his head, “Well Duh.”
Heath smiled, “It’s okay. You’ve probably never had to deal with these things before, how would you know.”
Heath walked back and got his door locked , andthen placed himself so he could see Alden. He then gave a loud whistle.
The big truck began to roll slowly backward as they all watched. Colt’s left hand was raised and his fingers were motioning to Alden. The trailer was close to the barn when Colt yelled. “STOP! GOOD… WE’RE GOOD!”
Alden shut the motor off and got out. Walking back he smiled as he came around the back of the trailer. Colt had lined it up about three feet from the barn door. This gave them enough room to move back and forth between the barn and the trailer but also had it close enough to the door they could form a bucket brigade to handle all the freight.
Alden smiled, “Okay cupcakes here’s how will do this. We’re all going to get on that pallet of toilet paper and lift it off the truck. We can carry it in the barn and set it by the door as I think it will be used the most around here.”
Charlie laughed, “Yeah and moving a couple of packs off the top might be a good idea since I’m tired of wiping my ass with pictures of playboy bunnies your friend left in the bathroom.”
Ceara smiled, “I wasn’t going to say anything as I sort of took pleasure in showing those phony women just what I thought of them.”
Tabitha started out snickering then busted out in full blown laughter, “Well at least it’s better than using pine cones or something like that.”
Colt was helping to stack things when he interrupted, “This right here is bringing us back out of the stone age.”
Beth started helping Colt, “Well, I for one can say that this isn’t too bad.”
Tabitha turned and gave Beth a confused look, “How so?”
Standing back up Beth looked around then looked over to the group, “We are all together and there are no time clocks to punch, no appointments to have to meet and certainly no cell phones or texting. I can honestly say that I for one, do not miss it one bit. Sure I miss the comforts like toilet paper, make up and the little things like that. However the hussle and bussle of our former way of living, I don’t miss at all.”
Tabitha shook her head and seemed to be satisfied with the answer that she got, but she still had a question, “But what about your job Beth and the others at the CDC? Do you think for one second that they all might be out there trying to figure this shit out?”
Shaking her head Beth answered, “Well Alden got mad the last time I tried to check and I have done some real thinking. If for any reason that….. let’s say there was still someone out there and by some chance they may know me or have pulled me up on some microchip…. I don’t think I want to know.”
Realizing she had not answered Tabitha’s question; Beth started once again helping Colt sort through the pallet, “To answer your question, yes I do believe that somewhere in an underground facility there is someone out there. However, if they all know what I know, they realize that we are all pretty well fucked and they are just as pissed off as I was when I first headed to Mark Twain Forest.”
Colt jumped up in the trailer and cut through another pallet, “HOLY SHIT GUYS!!! This is a full pallet of Progresso soups!!”
He began handing case after case to Ceara, she scrunched up her nose. “I hate this shit!”
Colt handed off another case, “Are you nuts? This is great!!” He looked around the trailer, “Hey Ceara, there is Ramen Noodles… didn’t you say you were fresh out of college? Maybe this is more up your alley?”
Ceara laughed, “Yeah, I do like those better! What else is up there?”
Colt looked around, “Well, Kraft mac and cheese, rice…” He looked over a totally wrapped pallet, “Not sure on this one, can’t get to it cut it open yet, but I think it’s something in cans.”
Ceara laughed, “Well that’s helpful!”
Colt lifted an eyebrow, “You want to swap places and we will stand down there asking what everything is instead of unloading it?”
Ceara stuck her tongue out then grinned, “Fine, I was just asking.”
Alden set a case down on a pallet and walked back to the truck, “I’m so glad you cupcakes are having such a good time. That means I don’t have to teach you the little cadence songs we used to use to get the troops motivated.” He took another case of soup from Colt and walked it back into the barn.
Ceara pouted leaning over to Charlie, “I wouldn’t mind doing those; they sound fun in the movies.” Charlie just shook his head and kept moving.
After two hours Alden looked at the group, “Why don’t you girls go through the stuff we’ve unloaded and see what you can whip us all up for lunch.”
Ceara grabbed a case of beef ramen noodles. “I got this, girls, you keep working.” She turned and ran for the house.
Thirty minutes later she called from the back door that lunch was served.
Alden smiled, “Okay cupcakes lets go. Chow time. After that, Heath and Tabitha your off duty till twenty one hundred hours for guard duty.”
As they all sat down at the picnic table each one had a glass of iced tea and a bowl sitting in front of them. Ceara game out smiling and whistling then began dishing out steaming ramen noodles for everyone.
Alden looked up and smiled at her, “What no chopsticks?” His quickly wink let her know he was kidding.
They all ate and laughed about the amount of the things they had unloaded. Soups, canned meat,
sugar, and enough flour and yeast to make bread for the next thirty years they figured. After the meal, Heath and Tabitha smiled as they headed into the house. Ceara and Beth gathered up the dishes as Colt, Charlie and Alden headed back to the barn.
Alden looked at the young men as he climbed back in the trailer. The sun was now beating down and they could all feel the heat from inside. Alden pulled his tee shirt off and draped it around his neck. “Gentlemen let’s get these next two pallets done and call it a day, the heats getting a bit much for this old man.”
Charlie looked up at him, “You want me to take over boss? I mean, I don’t mind.”
Alden shook his head, “No son, let’s just do this.”
It took them less than an hour to get the next two pallets done. By now it was close to two in the afternoon and the sun was beating down hard. All three men were walking back to the house as Ceara and Beth came out with a fresh pitcher of tea for them.
They all sat on the covered patio enjoying the down time and the company.
Several days had passed and the work on the trailers was moving along nicely. The shelves were working out better than they had expected and Beth was a whiz at getting things organized. The soups and canned meats had been separated. They had also found a few boxes of makeup that made all the girls overjoyed.
Ceara pulled the load of jeans out of the washer, thinking one more load and laundry for the week would be done. She carried the tub out to the clothesline and started hanging them out. The mundane task allowed her mind to wander, she thought back to their first days together.
They had all been through so much, from stumbling around in the dark, just trying to survive; to coming together to protect their home and each other. The whole time making sure that none of their little group was bitten. They had been safe for over a week with no Wanderers, she knew it wouldn’t last.
Ceara had been hanging up the same pair of jeans for five minutes lost in thought. A reflection caught her eye; she focused out where she had seen it….. “ALDEN… we got company!!!” Ceara grabbed her rifle and waited for Alden.
Surviving Day By Day (Book 2): Fears, Flames, and Future Page 50