Forsaken World | Book 6 | Redemption

by Watson, Thomas A.

  Stirring her own coffee, “That’s why I told Lance and Ian they had to teach,” Sandy said. “They weren’t doing anything with Tyler and Chris.”

  Taking a sip, Lilly realized Sandy never once looked away from her. “Ms. Sandy, are you wanting me to talk to Lance about them?” Lilly asked.

  Giving a sigh of relief that she hadn’t had to ask, “If you would, please,” Sandy said. “I asked Lance, but he just won’t talk about them.”

  “I will,” Lilly replied.

  Sandy moved over to the table and sat down, then realized Lilly hadn’t followed. Tapping the table for Lilly to sit down, “Please?” Sandy asked and Lilly moved over, dropping in the chair. “Do you think anyone is going to complain about Corey, Rita, or Rhett?” Sandy asked.

  Shrugging, “If they’re smart, they won’t,” Lilly replied with a shiver. In that instant, Sandy knew she was right, Lilly and Jennifer had been there when Lance and Ian had dealt with the three. The day the new group had been brought in, Seth had called on the radio to say the three weren’t in their trailer. Ian had replied, ‘They all have a new job and won’t be back’.

  “I wish he would’ve let me handle them,” Sandy sighed, taking a sip.

  “No, you don’t,” Lilly informed her. “Trust me. Those three got off easy compared to what the boys wanted to do. You and Mary never could’ve taken them as quietly as the boys.”

  Having been on patrol with them many times, “How in the hell can they move like that?” Sandy asked. Not sure Sandy really wanted the answer, Lilly kept her mouth shut because she wasn’t going to say. If Lance told his momma, that was fine, but Lilly damn sure wasn’t going to. “Lilly, I watched Lance crawl up on a deer!” Sandy cried out.

  Having seen that many times from both boys, Lilly just nodded. In the last month, Ian and Lance had been getting others to try. Like everything, it was treated like a game to them. Depending on the situation, that dictated the rules. Sometimes they killed the deer, but the rules said you could only do that if you got within ten feet. Other times, they just crept up on the deer and would try to touch it. What shocked Lilly was she had seen both do that more than once. Ian had even snuck up close enough to take a doe with his knife. Oh, that had pissed Lance off and now he was trying to do the same.

  Not every time had been a success, and Lilly was fairly certain the failures had been because the deer had smelled them because the wind changed direction. The Ladybugs, of course, were in on this new game, but were under threats of beatings if they tried to take one with a knife. They were only allowed to shoot one in the head if they got within ten feet. So far, none of the Ladybugs had taken a deer by sneaking up on one.

  It was watching Lance sneaking up on a buck when Lilly had just given up on moving that quietly through the woods. She still practiced moving around through the woods, and inside the cabin at night with Jennifer, so they wouldn’t be so much of a liability when they went out with the boys.

  Lilly realized Sandy was waiting on a comment. “They practiced,” Lilly offered.

  “Lilly, they didn’t just learn that since this started,” Sandy stated. “Do you know how they learned it?”

  Shaking her head, “I gave my word so I’m under oath to never say, even if I know. If you want to know, ask Lance,” Lilly replied.

  With visions of Lance and Ian doing foolish activities in the old neighborhood, Sandy just gave a shiver. “I don’t want to know then,” Sandy confessed, taking another sip of coffee. “Is Glynda going to be all right?” Sandy asked changing the subject.

  “She should be,” Lilly said. “One of the twins was having trouble breathing at first, but was doing better when we left yesterday. Stanley stayed at the clinic last night to be close. Since he didn’t call, I’d suspect there weren’t any problems.”

  About to ask something, Sandy turned to see Mary, Ian, and Jennifer coming down the stairs. “I feel sorry for Lance,” Mary stated in a groggy voice. “I told the Ladybugs to get in their own bed but I see they didn’t listen, again.”

  Taking the coffee pot from his mom, “I’m glad you never made me treat Allie like that,” Ian said filling a mug. “I would’ve run away.”

  “I gave birth to Allie, and I never doted on her like that,” Mary scoffed, adding milk to her coffee.

  “Lance is being a good brother to the Ladybugs,” Sandy declared in a proud voice.

  Pausing her mug before she took a sip, “Sandy, you dote on them just as bad,” Mary grumbled, then took a sip. Rhonda was the next down and followed by the others, leaving only Lance and the Ladybugs upstairs.

  “This kid need ta quit movin’ so much,” Holly grumbled, rubbing her belly. “Dawn never jumped around so much.”

  Setting her mug down and turning to Holly as she filled a second coffee mug, “Holly,” Sandy called out. “Why were you wrestling a calf yesterday?”

  “I’s tryin’ to milk his ma an he wouldn’t go away,” Holly shot back. “He keep on, I cuttin’ him up into steaks.” The fact Holly was just as small as Jennifer, and pregnant, didn’t seem to faze her in the least. Swollen belly and all, Holly had dove on the calf’s neck and cranked its head until the calf dropped to the ground. When the calf was on the ground, little Dawn had run out and jumped on the calf’s side to help her momma.

  When Sandy was about to continue, Lilly reached over to grab her wrist. “It doesn’t do any good,” Lilly told her in a low voice.

  Rhonda sat down at the table with her coffee mug and saw the concern on Sandy’s face as Lilly spoke to her. “Holly,” Rhonda barked. “No more wrestling cows until the baby is born,” Rhonda declared.

  “Rhonda,” Holly whined, and stomped her foot. “I ain’t a cripple!” Rhonda just stared at Holly for several seconds and Holly finally groaned, “A’right.” None doubted Holly wasn’t tough and tried as hard as she could.

  “Holly, we just don’t want you to hurt the baby,” Sandy offered.

  Slapping her belly, “He need ta get tough,” Holly declared.

  “Who?” Allie asked, and everyone turned to see Allie, Carrie, and Jodi walking into the kitchen.

  “This young’un,” Holly clarified, slapping her belly again.

  All three Ladybugs let out gasps as Holly slapped her belly. “Don’t do that!” Allie cried out, running over and covering Holly’s belly with her hands. “How would you like someone beating on the wall of your room?”

  At a loss for words, Holly just blinked at Allie as Carrie and Jodi ran over. Carrie put her face on Holly’s belly, “It’s okay,” she cooed, caressing Holly’s belly along with Jodi.

  Turning to Rhonda, “He ain’t even here an they spoilin’ it,” Holly declared.

  “Let ‘em,” Rhonda warned, and Holly just sighed. Rhonda and Holly loved each other like sisters, but Rhonda wouldn’t hesitate to beat Holly down. Unlike other things, nobody said anything when Rhonda did it. Lance and Ian were the only ones who could take Rhonda sparring or wrestling.

  Lilly and Jennifer didn’t like wrestling with Rhonda.

  Lance walked in the kitchen and pushed through those around the coffeemaker, grabbing a mug. “Brah,” Ian laughed. “You have got to start telling the Ladybugs ‘no’.”

  With his hair puffed out, Lance turned around to Ian. “Dude, don’t even start,” Lance warned, and just started drinking his coffee black.

  As the Ladybugs moved away from Holly, “You three didn’t even help make up Lance’s bed?” Ian asked.

  “He told us to go downstairs and he would do it,” Carrie smiled.

  “The Ladybugs drooled on me. I’m taking a shower,” Lance informed everyone and just left. After he was in the bathroom, Lilly ran upstairs and got Lance some clothes. Coming back down, she almost handed the clothes to Tyler but stopped. She turned to Denny and handed him the clothes.

  “Go put these in the bathroom for Lance,” Lilly smiled, and Denny took off.

  “We didn’t mean to! We wiped the drool off!” Allie cried out.

 
Moving over and kissing each Ladybug on the head, “It’s okay,” Lilly told them. “How about we start on hair while breakfast is being done?” Ian was about to point out it was the Ladybugs’ turn for breakfast but felt Jennifer squeeze his arm, so he just told that idea to go to hell.

  After breakfast and chores, the group loaded up in tracks, buggies, and UTVs and left to head to the clubhouse. They were an hour early, but saw the rest of the groups already there. Climbing out of the turret Lance jumped to the ground, only to have George and Judy come over and jump on him. “Down,” Lance said, and both stopped trying to jump on him.

  “I played with you two yesterday,” Lance laughed, loving on both dogs.

  “Training isn’t playing, sweetness,” Lilly told him, climbing out of the track.

  Turning to Dino jumping out of the buggy Rhonda had been driving, “Dino thinks it is,” Lance stated.

  Stopping beside Lance, “Babe, you and Ian were training them to take down stinkers. Neither of them weigh a hundred pounds. Dino weighs two hundred and forty pounds. George and Judy have to work to take a stinker down, Dino just runs over a stinker to knock it down,” Lilly pointed out.

  Still patting the dogs, “All right, we’ll play today,” Lance said, and both dogs’ tails went into hyper-drive. “Go inside,” Lance told them and they took off, following the Ladybugs into the clubhouse.

  Ian and Jennifer stopped beside them as Ian looked over to see Seth. He was standing at the edge of the yard, looking down into the valley. “George and Judy still do better than Dan and Ann,” Ian chuckled. “Dan and Ann see a rabbit, all thought leaves their brains.”

  “They do good for the moms and don’t chase rabbits,” Jennifer noted.

  “Then the moms need to train Dan and Ann and quit telling us to do it,” Ian huffed.

  Patting Ian’s chest, “Just tell me before you tell Momma Mary that,” Jennifer said.

  “I wouldn’t tell Momma that even on a bet,” Ian clarified.

  Finding no fault in that reasoning, Jennifer turned to Lilly. “We can go to Bravo and take over for Stanley after the meeting,” Jennifer told Lilly.

  Nodding and reaching over to take Jennifer’s hand, Lilly pulled her toward the clubhouse. “Lance, we’re heading in,” Lilly told him, and Lance just gave a wave as he stared at Seth. As they walked, Lilly relayed what Sandy had said about Tyler and Chris that morning.

  “Does Seth look melancholy?” Lance asked.

  Slowly turning away from Seth to lock his eyes on Lance, “Brah,” Ian snapped. “You know how gay you just sounded? Melancholy, really?”

  Turning to Ian, “Dude, we had that as a vocabulary word in fifth grade, why not use it?” Lance popped off.

  Bobbing his head side to side, “Because it makes you sound like a gay, limp-dick pansy,” Ian answered.

  Rolling his eyes, “Okay then, does Seth seem sad to you?” Lance asked.

  Finally turning back to look at Seth, “Yeah, that’s what caught my eye,” Ian admitted. “There’s no way he feels bad about those three numb-nut granny-panty sniffers.”

  Shrugging, Lance just headed over to Seth with Ian beside him. The closer he got, the clearer it was that Seth was distraught over something. “Hey, Seth,” Lance called out, and Seth gave a startle as he turned around.

  “Hey, guys,” Seth said and then turned back around to look out over the valley. “Scared the dickens out of me.”

  They stopped beside Seth but kept their eyes on him. “Seth, something wrong?” Lance asked.

  “Nothing more than usual,” Seth answered.

  “Um, you aren’t upset that the three dipshits disappeared, are you?” Ian asked.

  Giving an actual chuckle, “No,” Seth assured him. “That was a bright spot in my day to be honest.”

  “What’s wrong then, dude?” Lance asked.

  “Evil rules this world,” Seth stated.

  “Ha! Let evil show its ass here and we’ll remove it,” Ian challenged, but Seth didn’t even smile or grin.

  Since he had never talked to Seth about what he’d learned from Dwain, “Seth, you were a preacher. Don’t you think you should have a little more faith?” Lance asked.

  “There is no God and faith is useless,” Seth answered. “Both of my sons and their families are dead. I listened on the phone as one was killed by stinkers. My daughter and her family…” Seth just stopped, taking a breath. “They lived in Florida and I know they’re gone.”

  Shrugging, “Well, you’re wrong about God. Despite what other scientists have said, the universe isn’t random. Something created it,” Lance said, and that made Seth turn to look at him in shock. “What? I know there’s a God. Is it the God spoken of in religions around the world? No,” Lance said. “Mankind’s brain can’t even begin to comprehend what God is.”

  Nodding, “I knew for a fact God was real the day they announced the meteor held life from outside the solar system,” Ian said, making Seth turn to him in shock as well. “The odds of that randomness don’t exist.” Seth couldn’t believe what he was hearing, from two teenaged boys. He held a PhD in Religious studies.

  “How can you believe with all this going on?” Seth asked.

  “Brah!” Ian cried out. “You act like God threw that meteor at the Earth. God created life, all life, and expects life to flourish and survive on its own, improving the world better than they received it.”

  Just blinking in shock, Seth was just too stunned to speak for several minutes. “This could be a test, and He’s wrong,” Seth finally got out.

  “Whoa,” Lance gasped and took a step back. “God is an it, not a he or she. It is something we can’t comprehend, and you’re saying It is wrong for creating life?”

  “I take it, you’ve read the Holy Bible?” Seth asked.

  Nodding, “Yeah,” Ian answered.

  “We’ve read the King James version, Catholic Edition, Torah, Vedas translations, and Kojiki translations,” Lance said, and Seth felt faint as he stumbled back. He looked at Ian and Lance like they were figments of his imagination. From his own studies, Seth knew of the Hindu and Shinto text, but that two thirteen-year-old boys had read them just blew him away.

  “Why?!” Seth cried out in shock.

  Furrowing his brow and turning to Ian, “Why what?” Lance asked, but Ian just shrugged so Lance turned back to Seth who looked pale. “Why did we read them?” Lance asked, and Seth gave a slight nod. “We don’t believe anything someone tells us until we study it. But we don’t believe in the texts either.”

  For two minutes Seth just blinked at them. “Why?” he finally managed to get out.

  “Duh,” Ian smirked. “Mankind wrote them. I don’t care if God was sitting right beside them telling them what to write. Mankind can’t do anything without putting his own two cents in.”

  “What do you believe in?” Seth asked.

  “Faith,” both answered.

  “If you have faith in family and friends, you believe in God. God created life and if you have faith, you believe even if you don’t admit it,” Lance clarified.

  Stepping back, “There’s no way you two are teenagers,” Seth declared, and headed toward the clubhouse. “I’m going to talk to your mothers and ask just when they gave birth to you,” he informed them. Suddenly, he stopped and turned to them and they could see most of the tension was gone as Seth smiled at them. “Thank you. I needed to hear that,” Seth told them, then turned back heading to the clubhouse. “You two are entirely too young to be that wise,” he told them over his shoulder.

  As Seth walked inside the clubhouse, “Well, he looked better,” Lance noted.

  “One day, we can tell him of the report we did for the pastor last year,” Ian chuckled.

  Turning to look out over the valley, “Maybe,” Lance said, but didn’t sound convincing. “Are you sure you want to start setting up forward bots before the electric fence is up?” he asked, changing the subject.

  “Brah, nobody will let us work on the fence and
when we do, they get in our way!” Ian cried out. “I’m tired of trying to join in on work crews because the next slut donkey who gets in my way, I’m kicking their ass!”

  Agreeing with a nod, “I think they do it on purpose so we can go do something else,” Lance offered.

  “We came up with the shit! That’s how we improve our plans, by working on the projects!”

  “Dude,” Lance said, holding up a hand. “Don’t spin off on me,” he snapped. “That’s just what I think, but it’s sound reasoning. Everyone wants us doing other stuff because they know the more we come up with, the safer they are.”

  “They need to chill,” Ian said, calming down. “Yeah, with the gun bots covering the gaps, it’ll be hard for a group to get close, be it stinker or gangs.”

  Lance pulled up the area in his mind with the ten battle bots to the north and west that were just set up on roads. “You do realize that’s going to take more gun bots than we have?”

  “No. We set up the first three to the north on the valleys that lead to us,” Ian countered. “We keep the four with the thunder bots we have in reserve in case there’s trouble. When the next batch is done, we’ll start setting up the gun bots to the south and west.”

  “We’ll have to patrol further out before setting them up,” Lance said.

  “Brah, we don’t have to clear the area. After we set the gun bots up, they’ll do that for us,” Ian replied. “I just want the damn things up so when we patrol further out, we can run back. Anything that tries to follow us, the gun bots will show them the error in that thinking.”

  Having to admit he really liked the sound of that, “Okay,” Lance said. “You want to take the girls?”

  “Hell, yeah,” Ian snapped. “If we take them to do that, we won’t have to take them when we patrol further northwest. I’m telling you, the Blue Men are near Oneida. We can set up cameras and then when we get sightings, send in the hover drones. I thought Jennifer was going to faint when we took them to Buckhorn, and we knew where that camp was.”

  “The drone is up and we can send it?” Lance offered.

  “Hell, no,” Ian said. “I love that plane doing circles around us ten miles out at four thousand feet. We can spot a horde of stinkers over twenty miles away. Until we get another one, that one will stay.”