Scott waved at John.
John waved back and said, “I wish I could come and shake your hand. But that’ll have to wait for another time.”
“Looking forward to it, John.”
“Thank you again, Scott. I know I can never repay you for this…”
“You can repay me by getting better so the next time I see you we can shake hands and sit down and have a drink together.”
“Okay, that’s a deal.”
Hannah and the girls said goodbye to John from afar, blowing him kisses and air hugs, and telling him they loved him.
Then they crawled into the sleeper cab. The curtain that divided the cab from the sleeper was open, and the girls watched as Tom took the wheel and Scott climbed into the passenger seat.
Scott put his night vision goggles back on. It was still dark, since the fuse for the interior light had been removed. But Misty, the youngest, was able to make out the goggles in the moonlight.
“Mom, why are they wearing those weird masks?”
“It helps them see in the dark, honey. So they can drive safer.”
Tom put the tractor into gear and eased forward until he was clear of the trailer. Then he slowly drove back to the power lines.
In the passenger side mirror, Scott could see several uniformed national guardsmen open the trailer and climb aboard it to start unloading the cargo.
He turned toward Hannah and said, “I know it’s dark back there. I’m sorry. It’s going to be about two hours or so before we get to the compound. If you want to sleep, we’ll wake you up when we arrive. If you don’t feel like sleeping, I put some flashlights under the bed pillows, and some kid’s books for the girls. The portable television and DVD player work. They were protected from the solar storm and we installed them yesterday. We brought Lion King and Lilo and Stitch.
Misty immediately cried out, “You brought Lion King?” and it suddenly dawned on Scott that these young girls had done without the simplest joys in their lives for more than half a year.
He turned toward Misty and said, “Yes, ma’am. And even something better. If you look in that top drawer, you’ll find a box of Twinkies, just for you guys.”
He said, “With your Mom’s permission, of course.” Then he looked at Hannah, and could see tears well up in her eyes as she shook her head yes. Scott wondered just how long it was since she’d seen her youngest smile.
Hannah put her hand on Scott’s shoulder.
“You guys sure know how to soften a sorrowful goodbye. Thank you for bringing us along.”
Scott said, “It’s our pleasure. I’m just sorry we couldn’t bring John as well.”
“He wouldn’t have come, even if he hadn’t been exposed. He’s trying to save the city, him and a handful of others. When this thing is finally done, I hope they erect a statue to John and the other officers and firefighters who are out there each and every day saving lives and convincing people there’s a reason to hang on.
“He’s a good man, isn’t he?”
“He’s the best. I’ll bet he didn’t tell you he’s a war hero, did he?”
“Really?”
“He lost the lower half of his left leg during his second tour in Iraq. But he still dragged his buddies to safety while under heavy fire. He lost so much blood he was in a hospital for four months. But he was credited with saving four lives and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
“It doesn’t surprise me that he didn’t tell you that, though. He’s a very modest man.”
“Wow. You must be very proud.”
“I am. Supremely proud. He’s my hero, and has been for a very long time. Even before he went to Iraq. He was able to get hired by the San Antonio Police with a prosthetic leg. He had to get the mayor on his side to make it happen. He’s the first officer on the force to ever have one, and even with the prosthetic he finished the Academy obstacle course faster than anyone else. I think he’s most proud that he’s been able to prove that wounded veterans are still capable of many things, and shouldn’t be just pushed off in a corner like many people try to do with them.”
“I can’t wait to meet him- really meet him some day.”
Hannah joined her daughters and watched Lion King. She prodded Rachel into opening the curtain long enough to hand Tom and Scott each a Twinkie, and to thank them for their generosity. Hannah called out from the back, “I just wanted to make sure they shared before they ate the whole box and got tummy aches.”
The rest of the trip was uneventful. Scott and Tom debated on the reasons.
“Maybe people don’t come out at night any more. I mean, there’s not much left to steal, if the families are living off the MREs that the trucks bring them every day. Maybe the bad guys hole themselves up in their houses at night now like everybody else.”
“I don’t think they’re out here because they’ve already killed all the animals. You remember the other day we were talking about not hearing any gunshots for several days. I think the game is all gone, and they’ve finally figured out there’s nothing out here for them anymore.
Hannah came through the closed curtain and joined them, adding her input.
“I think you’re both right. But there’s a third factor. There just aren’t that many people left alive. FEMA told John the other day that they’ve done an estimate, and they figure there’s only about a hundred thousand people left alive in San Antonio. Maybe even fewer.
“Most of the deaths were suicides, I think. People just couldn’t handle it. They couldn’t live off the land, and they didn’t know how to hunt or fish. So they just lived until their food was gone and then killed themselves and their families in various ways. It was dreadfully sad.
“And they say that’s where the plague came from. All the decaying bodies. They were able to find the ones in the streets and burn them. But there are tens of thousands of them still in the houses. In some cases whole families huddled together in death. Just rotting away without anybody knowing about them. The flies carried the disease from the corpses and landed on people. That’s how it started.”
The rest of the trip was completed in somber silence. There just seemed nothing more to say.
-43-
As they entered the last few miles of their journey, Scott picked up the walkie talkie and called in.
“Whoever’s on the desk, this is Scott. Come in.”
“Scott, this is Joyce. You’re very weak. Can you hear me?”
“Yes, honey. A little bit of static, but otherwise clear. Your voice sounds like that of an angel.”
“So does yours, honey. Did everything go okay?”
“Yes, it went very well. We’re about half an hour out. You’ll have to wake up somebody to move the trees and open the gate for us.”
Joyce laughed.
“I don’t have to wake anybody up, Scott. They’re all standing behind me. They couldn’t sleep. Nobody could, knowing you and Tom were out there. And they all wanted to be up anyway, to welcome our new guests. We can’t wait to meet them.”
Scott looked at Hannah, who put a hand to her mouth and started to tear up again.
“10-4. I’ll call back when we’re five minutes away. You can probably pick us up on the tower cam by then.”
“Okay, honey. I’ll be watching for you. And we’ll be ready.”
At a little after 3:30 a.m., the blue tractor pulled into the compound and Linda replaced the mesquite trees at the end of the drive. Jordan closed the gate and then went over to the tractor to help carry in the luggage.
The day before they’d had to do a little bit of juggling to make room in the house for Hannah and the girls. They’d finally given into Zachary’s pleas and let him move down to the basement. He was warned that even with a portable heater and extra insulation on the walls, it might get a little bit chilly down there in the wintertime.
“Oh, who cares?” he’d said. It’ll still be the coolest place in the house.”
Sara and Jordan moved in together, at last, into Jo
rdan and Zachary’s old room. Even though they weren’t officially married, and likely never would be, they were very much in love. And Sara was pregnant, so the damage was already done. Scott was happy to find a case of Trojan condoms in the Walmart truck they’d unloaded. He gave them to Jordan and said, “Use these after the baby is born. So we don’t have to go through this again anytime soon.”
Linda officially moved into Tom’s little cabin in the compound. Everybody knew she frequently snuck out there anyway, and since the secret was out there was no more need for pretense.
And that left Linda’s and Sara’s old rooms for Hannah and the girls. They’d grown accustomed to sharing a single bed, so the second room would remain empty while they adjusted. Once the girls were comfortable with their surroundings, Hannah would move them out and have a bed to herself.
After they’d been shown around the house and met everyone, Hannah asked Scott if she could use the ham radio to call John.
He said, “Sure. And if you don’t mind keeping an eye on our security monitors, we’ll all clear out of here and give you some privacy. Just yell if you see anything on the monitors that looks suspicious.”
“Oh, no. Please. John and I have no secrets. Besides, he promised to call me every day or two. You can’t hide every time we talk. But thank you for the thought. Girls, would you like to say hello to Dad on the radio?”
“Yay!”
Scott showed her how to use the radio. She’d used John’s before, but not recently, and this one was set up a little differently.
“John, this is Hannah. Are you on?”
“Hi, honey. Yes, I’ve been patiently waiting to hear from you. How was the trip?”
“Not bad. These are wonderful people. They made sure we were comfortable. And they even managed to scare up some Twinkies for the girls.”
“That’s great, honey. I’m already missing you.”
“Me too, baby. It seems strange, us being the ones to leave. It’s always been you that left before, getting on that airplane and going off to war. It’s a little bit different from the other side.”
“I’m beginning to see that myself. This old house was never as empty and lonely as it is right now.”
Hannah managed a slight smile.
“Hey, but at least you can wander around the whole house again, instead of being restricted to the living room and garage.”
“True.”
“Don’t forget your promise. I agreed to take the girls to safety, and you agreed to check yourself into the hospital. Today. Not tomorrow. That was the deal, remember?”
“Of course I remember. You’d never let me forget. Sheesh!”
This time Hannah chuckled.
“Oh, don’t give me your ‘picked on little boy’ routine. You go in that hospital and get better so we can put this stage in our lives behind us and get reunited.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll go today, just like I promised.”
“And you talked to Robbie?”
“Yes. I told him where I hid the spark plug wire for the generator and how to get it started. I told him the radio is set on the right frequency and not to mess with the dial. And I told him I’d leave the front door unlocked for him. And where the house key is hidden so he can lock it after that.”
“Did you make him write it all down? You know how his memory is.”
This time John laughed.
“Yes. I not only made him write it down. I made him read it back to me.”
“Atta boy.”
“He’ll call you every day or two to let you know how I’m doing. And I’ll call you myself as soon as I get discharged, I promise. I love you, sweetheart.”
“I love you too, honey.”
“Are the girls there with you?”
“Right here, Daddy!”
“I love you guys. Remember what I said, now that I’m not around, it’s up to you two to keep your Mommy in line.”
“Okay, Daddy. We will.”
They giggled. Hannah stuck her tongue out at them.
“And if she doesn’t behave herself, you have my permission to spank her.”
Hannah looked at the girls and faked a shocked look.
“Okay, Daddy. We will, the first time she misbehaves.”
“Scott, are you there?”
Hannah handed Scott the mike.
“Right here, John.”
“Thank you for this. I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay you…”
He wasn’t finished with his thought, but choked up and couldn’t go on.
“No thanks are necessary. But you can repay us by recovering and calling us back real soon so we can see the faces on these girls light up.”
“Okay, that’s a deal. Hannah, baby, the generator’s starting to sputter. It’s almost out of fuel. I love you.”
“I love you too, honey.”
But John didn’t catch her last words. His generator died and he lost contact.
-44-
Later in the day, little Misty was sitting in her mother’s lap, watching Finding Nemo.
Zachary was in the compound, getting grilled by Rachel.
“So, how old are you?”
“Fourteen. How about you?”
“Me too. When is your birthday?”
“April third.”
“Ha! Mine is September tenth. I’m older than you. I’ll be fifteen next month.”
“Okay.”
“Don’t try to get fresh with me. My daddy was a Marine. He taught me karate and jiu jitsu. Do you know what that is?”
“Are you kidding me? I can’t even spell it.”
“Where did you go to school?”
“Jay Middle School. How about you?”
“Vale. We kicked your butts in football.”
“I know. But our football team sucked. Everybody kicked our butts.”
“You got that right.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Is your little sister as mean as you are?”
“Do you really think I’m mean?”
“Well, to be honest, you’re not being very friendly.”
“I’m just trying to set boundaries. Dad says it’s important that I set boundaries with boys right from the start. Because otherwise they’ll start thinking that they can be my boyfriend and thinking I’ll kiss them and stuff like that.”
“Did it ever occur to you that when you’re so mean to boys from the start that you might scare them all off? And that maybe you’ll never have a boyfriend?”
She paused just long enough to think about it.
“Why? Are you scared of me?”
“No. But I’d never try to kiss you or anything with the way you’re acting.”
“Really? Good. Because if you ever try, I’ll kick your butt.”
Zachary smiled, but didn’t say anything else. If there was anything he enjoyed, it was a good challenge.
“So, I thought you were going to show me around this place. Are we gonna stand here all day, or what?”
Zachary took her first to the huge garden that Linda and Joyce tended in the compound behind the house. Rachel seemed mesmerized by the variety of vegetables and fruits they were growing. She stopped short when she came to the strawberries and looked longingly at them. Zachary suddenly felt sadness for her, when he realized the life she must have led in the previous months.
“Go ahead. Pick a few. Mom says she doesn’t care if we raid her garden, and long as we don’t go too crazy.”
She wanted to, but was bound by a promise she’d made.
“No. I can’t. I promised my mom I’d be on my best behavior.”
“Fine. I’ll pick enough for both of us then.”
Zach picked a handful of the most succulent of the berries. He had no intention of eating any of them himself. Instead, he passed them to her one or two at a time while they walked.
He led her to the feed barn, and asked if she wanted to help him.
“Do what?�
��
“One of my chores is to feed the horses, rabbits, pigs and chickens twice a day.”
“Okay. What do I do?”
“First, the horses. There are four buckets, one for each horse. You grab two and I’ll grab the other two.”
“Okay.”
They took the buckets to an open bag of horse feed, and pulled out two scoops of pellets for each bucket. Then, from a wicker basket on a shelf, Zach took four apples. One for each bucket.
“When we dump the buckets into their feed bins, the feed pellets will cover up the apples. It’s fun to watch them, because they’ll use their noses and move the pellets around, or blow them out of the way with their nostrils so they can get to the apple. They always eat the apples first.”
They dumped the buckets into feed bins in each of the horses’ stalls, and watched as Bonnie did exactly what Zach predicted. Digging out her dessert before she ate her breakfast.
Rachel said, “I’m surprised you feed them apples. I’ve dreamed of having apples, and there just weren’t any to be found.”
He explained, “One of my other chores is to go to the apple tree by the fishing pond every couple of days and pick a few apples to bring back for everybody. While I’m there, I take a second bucket and pick up the apples that have fallen on the ground. I look at them, and if they look rotten, I’ll just leave them there. But if they’re only slightly bruised, I’ll bring them back for the horses. Do you ride?
“No. But I’d like to learn if you’ll teach me.”
“Okay. I’m not real good myself yet. I only learned a few months ago. But I’ll teach you what I know.”
They pulled off two flakes of hay for each of the horses, and fed the pigs.
At least Zach fed the pigs. Rachel watched from a distance, refusing to go too close because of the smell.
“Ewwww,” she said. “They stink something awful! I’ll never eat bacon again.”
Zachary laughed and said, “I’ll bet you will.”
The cattle were still grazing and needed no food. They fed the chickens and the rabbits, then took a walk out of the compound and to the huge old apple tree by the pond.
AFTER THE DUST SETTLED (Countdown to Armageddon Book 2) Page 15