Forsaken World | Book 6 | Redemption

by Watson, Thomas A.

  Shifting his eyes back to the pipe as it was eased down, “All I can really do is the gofer work because I can’t even dream of the stuff they do,” Jarvis told her. “I just find it hard to believe that they designed it only since this has started because no sane person would ever dream up a need for a shredder that size. Hell, car shredders aren’t even that big.”

  “Well, you’re right on a car shredder, but that one will shred a car. Lance drove a Ford Focus into the first one to prove to Heath that the metal wouldn’t stop the shredder. The ‘master plan’ ate that car in two minutes flat,” Lilly smirked. “But you’re wrong on how long it took them to design it. This is the second plan because they found those huge pipes. The first one was going to be a shitload of twelve-inch pipes because Lance and Ian knew where some were. But they spotted those and changed their plan. In case you’re wondering, it took them four days to build it on the computer.”

  Still staring at the pipe as people pulled on ropes to guide it in, “They would’ve owned the globe,” Jarvis stated.

  “Said the same a few times,” Lilly said. “The reason I came over is Lance also told you how short we are on building supplies. I just wanted to make sure you keep that to yourself.”

  “I wouldn’t tell anyone even if you hadn’t told me,” Jarvis said and again, turned to Lilly and saw she was smiling.

  “I know, but I just wanted to make sure,” Lilly assured him. “The ‘master plan’ was to put more in, but we just don’t have the metal yet.” Hearing that, Jarvis almost walked back to tell everyone in Bravo to stop and go look for metal right now. He knew the boys could forge metal but hadn’t seen it. “Don’t worry, they’ve made plans and have what’s necessary to fill the gaps,” Lilly told him.

  “Can I ask you something? And I’m not trying to be an ass when I do,” Jarvis cringed and Lilly nodded. “Lance and Ian are over running the site, but every other time I’ve been near them they’re working.”

  When Lilly chuckled, Jarvis relaxed. “On big projects, we move faster if they tell us what, where, and how instead of working. Don’t say anything, but that’s why it took so long on the first one, they were working and like you heard Sandy say about Lance, they expect everyone to know what they’re thinking because it’s simple to them. Heath was the one to figure out, if they get in Ian’s and Lance’s way, the boys will move back and guide the work. On small projects, just stay out of their way.”

  “That’s good to know,” Jarvis said and heard the groan of metal as the frame between the bridges felt the weight of the first shredder settle in.

  “Jarvis, none in your first group have ever mentioned Diane, have they?” Lilly asked in a low voice, even though none were near.

  Spinning to Lilly, “Hell no, and I told them if any did, I would kill their ass,” he panted out. “I lived in Kentucky outside of Glasgow and everyone in the state knows who Victor is. When Diane told me who she was running from, I told her we needed to be going west. Farther away from Victor, not closer. Most of the original group has heard of Victor, but they’ve all heard of the Trading Post and know what goes on there so they won’t say anything.”

  “Don’t be mad, but I’ve been around Lance too long. He says the one time you don’t tell or ask would be the one time you needed to,” Lilly recited and Jarvis nodded. “Only trust those in your original group.”

  “Lilly, I like those I came in with and would die for them, but I don’t tell anyone shit about what I know unless they need to know it,” Jarvis told her. “Everyone wants to know just what I’ve seen inside the perimeter and I just say, ‘you wouldn’t believe me’. Like I’ve told Lance and Ian, I don’t want to let the ones I won’t let stay even leave alive because they’ve seen how many we are and how we’re set up.”

  “So, you’ve had a lot asking about the perimeter?”

  “I’m keeping tabs on who and what they ask, just like you asked me to,” Jarvis told her. “Before you ask, yes, I think there are some spies inside, but not many. Most ask because like me, they see magic shit. Machines that move about on their own and kill without someone pushing a button, and just the fact that the boys can build them scares the holy hell out of me.”

  “No, what should scare you is how simple it is to program and build a machine to do it. At one time, I thought I knew all about computers until I met Lance. Ian’s not far behind, but Lance is definitely the computer guru among them. Lance told me the programming and computer power has been around since the nineties,” Lilly informed him. “Those you suspect, please don’t confront them. We need you. Call us so we can confront them with you.”

  “Girl, the only way I would confront them would be pulling my pistol and parking a bullet in their brain pan,” Jarvis informed her. “But Lance talked to me a week after you did and I told him I would let someone know if I really had a suspicion there was a spy.”

  As the crane picked up the next large shredder, Jarvis jumped when the radio on his hip went off. “Jarvis?” a male voice called out.

  “Oh, it better be good,” he grumbled, yanking the radio off. “This is Jarvis,” he replied.

  “Hey, Jarvis. It’s Trent. We fixed lunch for the work crew and wanted to ask if we could bring it out.”

  Looking up at the sky, “Some days I don’t want anyone in Bravo,” Jarvis admitted, then brought the radio to his mouth. “Trent, what part of ‘nobody to the worksite’ didn’t any of you understand?”

  “Jarvis, come on. Since those first two super machines, we haven’t gotten many stinkers from the east. We just wanted to do something to say ‘thanks’.”

  The hand holding the radio dropped to Jarvis’s side as he shook his head. “By using supplies the group had to give us,” Jarvis mumbled, feeling a headache coming on.

  When he turned to Lilly, Jarvis saw a strange grin on her face. Before he could ask about the grin, Lilly spoke. “Let me call-,” she paused, turning back to the site and saw Lance directing the guiding team and then turned to see Ian on the other bridge looking at his computer tablet. “Let me make sure with Ian,” Lilly said grabbing her radio.

  “Hold,” Jarvis barked in his radio as Lilly talked with Ian. When Ian replied, ‘I don’t give a shit’, Lilly turned to Jarvis.

  “Tell them we’ll send someone to guide them in,” she told him, and Jarvis just looked at her weird. They were just over two miles from the wall. Hell, there were mountain tops inside the wall where those inside could see the build site. “Trucks just left to get more supplies, and they need to know where to park to not get in the way. Not to mention pulling off the roadway near here could get them shot by a gun bot.”

  Closing his eyes, “I really try not to think about those,” Jarvis admitted.

  “Oh, that’s unwise,” Lilly informed him. “When those damn things are live, they should be the first thing you think about.” Not wanting to admit that, Jarvis relayed the instructions as they heard the next large shredder seat into the framework.

  Clipping his radio back on his belt, “You know, I’m a class A welder. I can help,” Jarvis offered, seeing the Ladybugs lead a group to the frame.

  “No, this is the Ladybugs’ section. As you can see, I’m not getting my welding gear back on either.”

  Jarvis gave a smile. In the time Bravo had been there, he had met the Ladybugs and seen them many times, but he hadn’t said more than five, maybe six words to them. Most were just greetings because he’d seen how the others in the coalition acted around the little girls. There was fear there, and Jarvis had enough shit to be afraid of and didn’t want to add more.

  To Ian and Lance, Jarvis was a grown man and had no problem admitting to himself or anyone else, he was physically intimidated by them. Growing up he had been in fights, but the air around those two was something exerted by one who wasn’t worried about fighting. They knew they were that good. Their size was one reason Jarvis still had trouble believing their age. Without a doubt, Jarvis knew their biceps alone were sixteen inches. When he had see
n them working without a shirt on last month, Jarvis had gone and put his back on. Chiseled muscles covered them. He had never even heard of a teen who could devote the will and drive, much less the time, to get a physique like that.

  Just thinking about it, Jarvis wanted to go and push some iron. Granted, before the meteor he had been thirty pounds overweight, but this forsaken world had quickly fixed that shit. He was lean now and weighed what he had in college, but Jarvis wanted muscles like the boys had.

  Pulling his mind back, he turned to see Lance storming over and out of reflex, Jarvis scanned around where to hide in case Bravo had pissed Lance off about coming to the site. “What?” Lilly grinned and the way she did it, Jarvis suspected she already knew what Lance was pissed about.

  “I’m shaving Allie’s and Carrie’s heads when we get home,” Lance snarled. “I was going to get my welding gear and Allie told me to go stick my tongue down your throat! That was her team’s job and for me to leave! I told her Ian and I were over the site, so I could do whatever I wanted!”

  It was on the tip of her tongue to point out to Lance; he was here with her and not welding so he wasn’t doing what he wanted. Thinking better of it, “Lance, they’re proud of their welding and even you said they’re really good,” Lilly offered. Lance was the only one the Ladybugs never got mad at. If Lance got mad with them they descended into tears, and it wasn’t pretty for anyone.

  “So, you’re taking their side?!” Lance cried out and Lilly just sighed, then noticed Dino coming over. When Dino sensed Lance or Ian was upset, he always came to them.

  “No, sweetness. You, and you alone gave them that section,” Lilly told him calmly as Dino just sat down beside Lance and leaned against his leg. Without realizing it, Lance reached down to pat Dino’s head. “They just want to show you they can do it without you looking over their shoulders.”

  “Hello? This is the third one we’ve put in,” Lance sang out.

  “Take your mask off,” Lilly chuckled, and when Lance took it off she lunged over, wrapping her arms around him and locking her mouth over his.

  “Hey, no hanky-panky in the field,” Ian laughed over the radio.

  “Shut up, Ian!” Allie screamed over the radio. “I told Lance to stick his tongue down Lilly’s throat and leave us alone! I don’t need a babysitter over my welding team!”

  Lilly broke the kiss, and even Jarvis had to admit Lance looked rather relaxed. “Momma,” Ian called over the radio. “I want a new sister. How do I trade Allie in for another one?”

  “Ian,” Mary laughed. “We don’t have the receipt, so we’re stuck with her.”

  “Oh, come on!” Ian cried out. “Jennifer says we can trade in Carrie, too. If we trade in two, they might give me a little brother!”

  “Ian, if I come up there, I’m kicking your ass!” Allie shouted.

  “I’ll punt your little ass like a football,” Ian warned.

  Giving a long sigh, “I don’t want kids,” Lance said.

  “You can hang that shit up,” Lilly snapped, and Lance jerked his eyes to her. “Your momma told me we had to give her lots of grandkids, so you’d better get used to the idea.”

  “I don’t want girls,” Lance offered.

  “Lance, the male decides the gender, not the female,” Lilly reminded him. “You love the Ladybugs, so just stop,” Lilly said trying not to grin. “They ask and you do.”

  “Okay, I’ll admit sometimes they can be so sweet,” Lance said. “Except Jodi, she’s always sweet. If she had lived in the neighborhood, Jodi would’ve been my first Ladybug.”

  Stepping close and getting in Lance’s face. “Don’t you ever say that out loud again,” Lilly threatened. “Allie and Carrie hear some shit like that, they would make Jodi leave and they love her. You just said you loved one of your kids more than the others and it’s the newest.”

  “Fine,” Lance sighed, and Lilly turned to Jarvis.

  “Don’t you ever tell anyone what you heard,” Lilly warned.

  “I don’t talk to the Ladybugs unless I have to,” Jarvis confessed with no shame.

  Thinking about that Lilly looked off, then finally shook her head. “No, I can’t do that because I live with them,” she groaned.

  Lilly turned to see Seth driving a UTV and escorting three other UTVs from Bravo. Seth guided them into the median parking between the bridge abutments on the west side. Two people got out of the first and three got out of the other two UTVs. Lilly watched them pull out folding tables and huge pots, setting up to serve lunch. “Hope you’re in the mood to play Fortnite tonight,” Lance said breaking her trance of watching Bravo.

  “Lance, I’m not much better than Momma Sandy,” Lilly chuckled.

  “You don’t charge people with a sword when they’re shooting your ass,” Lance huffed as Lilly watched two of Bravo head toward them.

  “Hey Trent, Linda,” Lilly greeted as they stopped beside Jarvis. Like Jarvis, they were staring in wonder at the construction.

  Neither turned to Lilly. “Hi, Lilly,” Linda managed to reply, watching cranes hoist sheets of steel. Unlike the first ones, these were an inch thick. Trent gave a nod in greeting, with his mouth hanging open in awe at what he was watching.

  “What brought on this desire to bring food when Lance and Ian had already said to ‘stay away’? They told us they would bring us down to see what they’d built,” Jarvis said watching the construction.

  Turning from the site and staring at the side of Jarvis’s face, “Everyone just wanted to do something to say ‘thanks’,” Trent replied. “We know these ‘master plans’ are for everyone, but Bravo’s going to benefit the most.” Both Lance and Lilly just smiled at Trent and Linda.

  Trent and Linda were actually the first to join up three days after Lance had started Bravo chopping down trees for lumber. Every afternoon, Lance and Ian would shut down the thunder and gun bots to follow them when they escorted Bravo back to the farm they were staying at. In the morning, they would escort Bravo back. On the third day, Ian and Lance had told Bravo to hang back as they got closer to the small valley Bravo used for the landing of the logging operation.

  Sitting on top of a pile of logs were Trent and Linda. Both were wearing military vests, gear, and weapons, but were wearing blue jeans and long-sleeved shirts. They had heard the heavy equipment but as they’d gotten closer, they had seen the dead stinkers. With how the bodies were clustered in a line that followed the tree line, both had known they’d been shot by someone on the other ridge. So they had waited until dark and noticed a few stinkers stumble out of the trees and not get shot, so they’d moved carefully across the draw and over the ridge to find the logging operation in the valley below.

  They had reasoned that whoever was logging was doing it during the day and they would just wait so they wouldn’t run into the snipers killing the stinkers. After Lance and Ian had come into the landing with Dino, they really hadn’t said much to Trent and Linda. Lance had gone back and escorted Bravo into the landing, then set out the gun and thunder bots. Jarvis had asked what he should do and Ian had answered, “Dude, you’re over Bravo. You don’t like them or they don’t work, throw them out.”

  So that was how Bravo had gotten their first addition but just a day later, nine more had shown up. They weren’t as smart as Trent and Linda and had nearly gotten mowed down by a thunder bot. Unless Jarvis was with Ian and Lance, Trent and Linda were almost always near him.

  It was Jennifer who’d asked about them that first week because Trent and Linda were already hanging around near Jarvis. In their late twenties, both seemed smart, worked, and worked hard. Neither ever complained about any task given and were always the first to volunteer for jobs. Jarvis said Trent and Linda had met when they’d served in the Army together and had gotten engaged two years ago when they’d been discharged. Trent’s family was from Chattanooga, Tennessee so they’d moved there to go to school and use their GI Bills. Their story of survival was common. The meteor had hit, shit went bad, and the
y’d been forced to grab what they could and run. Like many survivors, Trent and Linda said they’d gone to a FEMA Center first, but after the first was overrun and they’d barely gotten out alive, they had vowed they wouldn’t go to another. Since the FEMA center had taken their guns when they’d arrived, Trent and Linda had taken weapons and gear off soldiers the stinkers had killed before they’d turned.

  They had been passing through heading north, thinking the cold would slow the stinkers down. Both had heard of the Wild Ones, listened to the Borg Queen, and knew gangs avoided the area. Trying to be slick, Trent and Linda had figured they could slip through to avoid the gangs. The only reason they said they had stopped was they’d heard heavy machinery, when noise normally caused death.

  Clearing Bimble, everyone had gotten to see Trent and Linda were really good on the M4s they carried. Better than anyone in Bravo, in fact.

  Seth came over carrying large paper bowls filled with chili and rice, then passed out plastic spoons. “You going to feed me too, Seth?” Lance smirked.

  “You want me to?” Seth chuckled reaching for the bowl, and Lilly smirked watching Lance pull his bowl from Seth’s reach.

  When Seth went to leave, “You aren’t eating?” Lilly asked.

  “Already did,” Seth replied.

  Not surprised, “Will you take Trent and Linda over so they can get a closer look without getting in the way?” Lilly asked and Seth gave a nod, then motioned for Trent and Linda to follow.

  When they stepped away, “Trent and Linda seem to want to be your second in command,” Lance stated taking a bite.

  “Yep, figured that out the fourth day after they joined, but Jill will stay my second in command,” Jarvis answered. “I do put them over crews because whatever I assign them gets done and gets done right.” Lilly knew Jill and liked her. Jill’s primary job was the kids in the group since she used to be a schoolteacher and was a nice young lady. Jill didn’t teach the kids schoolwork, she watched over them while showing them how to work. Each night she’d help Jarvis in laying out who worked where to get as much accomplished every day.