by Boyd Craven
Raider made a chuffing sound and crawled up on the cot with me, taking up most of the open area.
“That isn’t what we’re doing here,” Linda hissed, “but we’ve got rules we all agreed on and abide by.”
She was shaking, her shadow almost jumping in exaggeration.
“Then they have the audacity to suggest I don’t have a choice of whether or not I help them.” Raider leaned into me, sharing his support and being a great listener. “But what I don’t think they realize is that I was willing to die to do the right thing. Now I find out they’ve basically turned those people loose to fend for themselves.”
Raider made a low sound in his chest, rubbing his head on my bad arm, lower near my elbow.
“My daughter almost died trying to find you, and save those people… you didn’t—”
“And yet my girlfriend’s mother yaps her gums, plays lip service to some old washed up dickwad who orders everyone around. I wonder what’s in those rules or covenants of this MAG that’s making everyone so jumpy?”
“Westley, dammit!” Linda’s voice was loud. “We don’t have a choice. You and Jessica forced us into this situation.”
I finally turned to her and pulled out what I’d found in my backpack earlier from underneath my pillow. My pistol. I laid it on the cot to my right, out of way of the dog, but close, should I need it in a hurry. Linda saw that, and her eyes got big.
“You’re… Everything was supposed to be… Locked up in the armory.”
“My grandfather’s hush puppy, and the M4 I picked up?” I asked her.
She nodded but had thankfully gone silent. I didn’t point the gun at her, nor did I make a threatening move. All I did was pet my dog and let the pistol sit on the cot.
“I wondered where my pistol had gone. Seems more than my rifles went missing as well. I had a set of night vision gear and spare batteries and charger go missing from my pack as well. Imagine my surprise to find my pistol had been carefully rolled up inside a button-up shirt I’d loaned out to somebody.”
“Jessica.” Linda’s words were almost a whisper.
“Maybe she suspected what you guys would do. Or hell, maybe she flat out knew what you were going to do. She’s obviously not happy about the situation but can’t do anything about it, otherwise I would have left already.” Not that I could have, but now I was feeling better, stronger after having eaten.
“You haven’t been medically cleared,” Linda said lamely.
I wondered what happened to the independent and strong woman I’d admired. I had done the guy thing and checked out Linda one time, getting an idea of what Jessica was going to look like in twenty years. She was strikingly beautiful, strong and athletic and yet utterly falling apart in front of me. Her face was tear streaked, her upper lip trembling.
“You don’t seem to have a real doctor here,” I told her shortly, “and I’m not in your damned army, militia, or whatever the dumb shit you call this is…?” I pointed toward the semi-circular room. “And if it really comes down to it, are any of you going to stop me when I decide it’s time for me to leave?”
Linda was looking at the crate I was using as a table, probably looking for a place to sit, when her head was jerked back roughly as somebody savagely yanked her ponytail. Linda shot an elbow backward, but Emily, the much smaller woman, had already moved to the side and let go of her hair. I had an idea what Linda was capable of, and as much of a badass as my girlfriend was, everyone seemed to respect and defer to Linda. What was her background and story? All this flashed through my mind as I reached for the pistol. What I planned on doing, I had no clue. Scare her into stopping? I never had a chance.
Raider blurred into motion, growling and snarling. I almost called him off, but he’d already barreled into Linda, bowling her over with his bulk. He was probably nearly as big as she was, but she was older and more experienced. Emily and she were knocked back into the hallway, and the young mother hit the wall while Linda bounced off her. Raider backed into the doorway, barking. I heard slapping feet coming from my left-over Raider’s racket.
Emily was the first to her feet and stood in the doorway next to Raider. Linda got to her feet, looking at her arms and then brushed her hands over her sides. She was looking for Raider to have left marks or punctures on her. He was abnormally gentile, all things considered.
“Raider, come,” I said in the loudest voice I could muster without shouting.
He quieted and then ran the few short steps to my side and sat in front of me.
“What’s the matter with you?” Linda asked Emily who edged inside of my room, rubbing the back of her hair while splitting her attention between Raider and the small woman.
“I heard what you said to Henry and your husband. You’ve got no business trying to justify yourself to Wes here. I know you think I’m touched in the head, but I want you to know that while I appreciate you taking care of me and my daughter, I won’t allow you to use and abuse Westley. I’ve had enough of that shit in my life.”
The little woman’s words were a snarl, and a small voice squealed in fright. Mary ran into the room, not seeing her mom just inside the doorway and focused on Raider, calling for her mom. Raider had a chance to whine briefly when Emily caught Mary from behind. The little girl let out a surprised scream then calmed as Emily spoke to her softly. Raider turned his attention back to Linda, but he was silent.
“I don’t have a choice,” Linda said, rubbing the back of her neck and head, “and if you touch me again, you’re going to regret it.” Her words matched the cool, calm persona she usually wore, but she wasn’t frowning. Instead, a smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
“If I do, I’m not going to be giving your hair a tug next time,” Emily said as she put Mary down on the cot next to me and brought herself up to her full height, back ramrod straight, “and I meant what I said. I will not allow you to—”
“What’s going on?” a breathless Jessica asked, filling the doorway.
I had eaten again and had gone through everything in my backpack. Linda left when Jessica showed up, and she and Dave seemed to have left the communications bunker entirely. Now it was just Jessica, Emily, Mary, me and the dogs. We were all sprawled out on the couches. Normally we wouldn’t have been having the conversation in front of the little girl, but Diesel had sat next to her and she’d fallen asleep on the big dog. Raider had gotten on the other side of her, laying across her legs and feet like a living furry blanket. All of them were snoring, except Yager who was between Jessica and I on the couch.
“What is this agreement that ties your family’s hands?” I asked Jessica for the third time.
“We’re not supposed to talk about it—”
“Jessica,” Emily interrupted, “if your family is going to hold all of us hostage until Westley works for them, we ought to know why.”
Jessica let out a big sigh and then looked at the stairs before returning and looking at us.
“And I thought your family was in charge around here?” I asked, not giving her a chance to answer.
“Technically, we’re supposed to be run like a town hall. Every family has a say, has a vote,” her voice was soft as she looked nervously between me and Emily, “but things have changed, especially since the big blackout.”
“What do you mean?” I asked her.
I was sitting sideways, and without the sling I was slowly rolling my shoulder and trying not to wince in pain. Inaction had left my entire body sore, but the more I worked my shoulder, the more mobility I seemed to be getting. I just hoped nobody noticed, beyond me not wearing the sling. It might benefit me for them to underestimate my recovery. I felt horrible about the division I’d caused here in Jessica’s place, but only for her sake. I was still pissed.
“We are hardly the most setup family here in our group,” Jessica said, and I involuntarily looked around before fixing my gaze on her again. “I mean, we lucked into finding this place. We moved in and made it ours right away. Apparently, ther
e were lots of hard feelings. Some folks… They have cabins, shacks, and portable setups, along with caches in this area. Since Henry got the sublease from the timber company…”
“Was he behind the butthurt?” I asked her.
“I mean, I can understand some families here being upset that we ended up with a near free bunker. That’s why we offered to let this be the final fall back location for the group. My parents did that because they were worried if they didn’t make the peace right away, we might have our own group looking to push us out of here.”
Her words chilled me, but I had a question. “So, what’s with the agreement, covenant or whatever?”
“So… Every family in our MAG signed an agreement. Basically, we have some community property that everyone here was required to buy into. It ensures we have the basics: medical, emergency supplies, guns, ammunition. Every family is responsible for their own food, but there are emergency stores. After we offered this place as a fall-fall-fall back location, Henry said that we should store all the group owned supplies here. It made sense, and it got people off our backs. Plus, we really do have way more room than we need. It’s just that… nobody asked if they could move in with us. We only heard the complaints second hand, or whispers and snide remarks.”
“So, people are jealous because your family got the market cornered in the best prepping bugout location, and they weren’t paying attention?”
“Basically, or they were already setup and we lucked into something ready-made and paid for by somebody else. The upper floor is used like a community storage and meeting place, but down here is all us.”
“So why did your mom…?” I sighed, I was holding a lot of anger inside of me, and it was starting to creep out in my voice. Maybe I needed to give them the benefit of the doubt some until I learned more. It wasn’t like I could go anywhere fast right now. I was still too weak. “Why did she say the same thing Henry did, that I owe the community here?”
“Because when I took off after you, my mom, who, with my father is in charge of security, sent a lot of people to stop me or help me. I had no idea until I went looking for you. You’d already lit half the place on fire. I thought you would be close to the bunkhouse campers, so I was sneaking over there when one of the motorcycles blew up. Chunks of it lit everything on fire, and a big piece went through the roof of the camper.”
“That’s where you got these,” I said, touching the now healing burns.
Yager looked at me and licked my arm as I reached over him. I gave him a good pat and rubbed his ears the way my pup liked.
“Yeah, once I saw that happen I threw caution to the wind. When I heard gunshots, I sort of panicked and pushed and tugged at everyone to get out. Nobody wanted to come at first, and some were… chained. That was when the rest of our crew showed up. We got the burning trailer emptied when Spider’s guys quit fighting the fire long enough to chase after us. A couple were dinged by gunfire, but nothing major. You took the worst hit,” she said, touching my forehead. “There were burns, scrapes, cuts from broken glass. I didn’t get a chance to find you that night. After things blew up, I was worried that you’d…”
“No,” I told her, “suicide by bomb is definitely not how I’ll go out. Maybe I’ll drink me a bad batch of shine or die of cirrhosis, but I don’t see me ever pushing the button just to kill them.”
“I’d been in touch with your grandma when I couldn’t find you, and she was worried sick. She told me to follow Raider, so I got my dogs ready. He found you. Within two hours, he’d tracked you down and found you. When you passed out… I think Diesel tried to give you a bath himself. I’m sorry it took me so long.”
“That’s ok,” I told her quietly. “I was nowhere close to where you thought. I was trying to be unpredictable.”
“You sure were,” Emily said, surprising us. I’d forgotten she was still there. She’d been sitting quietly, listening.
“So, because your group used a ton of medical supplies on me and others in your group saving the others, Henry feels like I owe you guys?”
“Basically,” Jessica shot back, but it looked like she’d just bitten a lemon.
“Were you the one who put my pistol in my pack?”
Jessica grinned. “I did, but I hid it better when Duke and I got to the main road and we were told to get your stuff and take it back here. I wanted you to have a pistol close by; you never know when you’re going to run into bad guys.”
“Too right,” I said, looking at the stairwell.
“My dad’s furious. He’s so mad I can’t even tell you without cussing a blue streak that you had Raider knocked my mom down and pull a gun on her. Why?”
“He didn’t pull a gun on her, he had it on the cot, at least that’s what I saw after our fight,” Emily interjected.
“What?” Jessica asked.
“I was upstairs with Mary when I overheard Linda talking to that Henry fella. She said she’d make sure Wes repaid the community, even if it meant keeping him right here. He could do his mixing on the lower level in the… mail room?”
“Where we lowered Wes down into. It’s got lots of ventilation. It’s how we get bulk supplies down here when we can’t bring it in the front.”
“Well, I got my daughter and headed downstairs. I was going to warn Wes before your mom got there, but my daughter had to pee. When they are that little, they wait until the last second, so I told her to go and then came here anyway. I heard your mom trying to justify what she was about to do and sort of lost it. I yanked her hair back. I was pissed. I’ve put up with a lot in my life, but I just had flashbacks of my husband being manipulative like that and—”
I stepped in with an explanation. “She pulled your mom’s hair, and Raider tried to break it up. He body checked your mom. Don’t worry though, if your mom’s elbow would have connected on Emily, things may have been even uglier.”
“Well, now my dad’s saying y’all can’t stay here, he won’t have it. Mom’s worried Henry is going to override my dad and take this place if he won’t. Then he’d keep you here, and you’d build the bombs and chemical stuff they want. It’s all so… complicated and scary.”
I wasn’t scared, more like infuriated, but I now understood things. Jessica’s parents were completely isolated here. It sounded to me like Henry had used their good fortune of finding the abandoned communications bunker against them, and had the community supporting him. In a way, Jessica’s family was being used as much as what they wanted to do to me. Play ball or be thrown out. In my case, play ball or stay here anyway. I was pretty much a prisoner in a gilded cage as much as they were.
“What about the men who were coming to join up with Spider and Lance’s people?” Emily asked.
I sat forward. I’d completely forgotten about them in the craziness that life had been.
“They met up with Spider and Lance’s guys. Yesterday they started pulling the burned-out campers out. Then they brought in more. It looks like an RV lot over there now. Anything that will run is being brought in, each carrying at least a few people. Somebody is always at the hand pumps, and there’s no way we’ll be able to get near them again. Somebody brought in a dozer and scooped out a big hole, then they pushed all the dead bodies into it. Into what? It’s…”
“With all this going on, I need to be home with my grandparents,” I told her. “They don’t have anybody else, and I need to be able to—”
She stopped my words by leaning forward and kissing me. “I don’t know what to do,” she said after a few moments.
Emily snorted, amused or disgusted, I didn’t know.
“I don’t mind helping out, but I don’t owe Henry or anybody three weeks of my life,” I argued.
“I know, and I told him that. Repeatedly.”
“What did he say?” I asked her, turning when little Mary let out a comical sounding snore.
“It wasn’t my choice; it was a community choice.” Her words were soft, and her lips trembled as she fought back tears.
“The community voted to hold me prisoner?” I asked her.
Jessica turned her head, her shoulders hitching. Was she crying?
“Sounds like a big load of bull to me,” Emily said. “What about Mary and me?”
“Your debt is on him,” Jessica said without turning.
“The hell it is,” Emily muttered.
“I…” Jessica started to say something, but her words trailed off.
“What happens if I leave?” I asked her.
“They’ll probably come after you,” she told me quietly.
“You, the dogs?” I asked her.
She shook her head. “I’m here because of my parents. I didn’t sign anything. I’m against this, but my parents… and what happens to my parents when I refuse to help? Are they going to hunt my family down too? Everything was fine here until we pulled those women and children out.” She was looking at Emily as she said the last.
“You mean, that’s when Henry started pushing to have Westley start working for you guys?” Emily asked, with Jessica giving her a slow nod.
“How do we know anybody is going to be hunted down?” I asked her. “They might just let me walk without repercussions.”
Big words, and I winced. I was used to speaking more plainly; it let people underestimate me. Just went to show me how much I trusted her, despite everything.
“Right after things went sideways, a… nephew by marriage of one of the couples was caught stealing from somebody else. Something stupid, pain pills? Anyway, Henry got the families worked up and called for a vote. The kid who was barely twenty was told to leave, and they packed his bags, looking for the bottle he’d stolen.”
“That sounds reasonable actually,” I said, wondering how this was a bad thing.
“Well, Henry was gone for two days after that. We wondered if something happened to him when he showed back up. He threw a bottle of pills to Carter and told him to return them. Then while out on patrol, Diesel, Yager, and I found the kid’s body.”
Her voice had gone quiet. “He’d been shot in the back and rolled over and knifed. I don’t know what happened first, but it took him a while to die. I’m almost certain it was Henry and maybe one or two others who tracked him down to get the medication back.”