Some of the kids, along with Jo Ann and Sally, had come to Arthur and asked for a smaller treadmill they could use like Momma. Straight to the shop Arthur had gone, even though there were other tasks going on, he started on one and kept on the other tasks. Three days later, he’d delivered four child-sized treadmills to the gym. Ten fights broke out immediately.
Stopping the fights, Arthur had brought in a bowl filled with numbers and those wanting to use the treadmills had to draw one. The one with the lowest started and then the rest worked up through the numbers with a ten-minute time limit. In truth, Arthur had expected it to be a fad and the kids would stop using them but every morning as groups changed out, kids still ran over, drawing numbers to see who’d go first.
Walking in, Jason found Arthur babbling words and Nicole hanging on every one as she held her hands clasped together, looking up at Arthur as he studied the map. Jason was a doctor and at first he’d thought Nicole suffered from dwarfism, but she was in proportion and very healthy. At the ranch, he was only a backup doctor. Colton, who’d come in with Joseph, was the ranch’s doctor and that was fine with Jason. Colton was the only one called ‘Doc’.
Plotting out Nicole’s growth in the lower twentieth percentile had made Jason worry. It was only after Wendy had told him how big Nicole’s parents had been and shown him pictures when Jason had quit worrying. There wasn’t any denying it, Jason found himself guilty just like everyone else, he treated Nicole special. She’d saved Arthur and he’d saved them. Yes, in time he and LL could’ve built a group if they hadn’t come here and joined this one, but Arthur thought of shit before it was needed.
What Jason didn’t want to admit to anyone was when they’d arrived with LL, he’d been at the end of his rope. It was pure luck that he, Samantha, and LL hadn’t made a mistake and gotten them all killed. Then, they’d arrived in this ‘Ranch of Eden’ and had help and support.
Setting his coffee mug down before dropping in a chair, Jason held out his hands to Nicole. “What’cha doin’, dude?” he asked, as Nicole sang out and climbed up on the table and crawled over. Picking her up, Jason was sure the dump he’d taken last night had weighed more than Nicole.
“Since we’re driving over to Chad’s to drop off the first vaccine, I figured we could run around and grab some stuff. But there’s not much out in the sticks we haven’t already grabbed,” Arthur told him.
Playing with Nicole, “Why not just come back and continue on?” Jason asked, and Arthur leaned back in his chair watching Jason play with Nicole.
“Where’s Duke?” Arthur asked because Jason carried Duke around nearly as much as Arthur carried Nicole. Two months younger than Nicole, Duke already looked like a toddler and Arthur felt in a month or two, Duke would be carrying Jason around.
“Little Momma was feeding him when I got back from the gym and wouldn’t let me have him back,” Jason chuckled.
Watching the line of kids filing into the hall for breakfast, he noticed most were showered after working out. Then Arthur saw Shawn and waved him over. “How’s our group?” Arthur whispered.
Grinning, “The only one I haven’t checked on is Nicole and Jason’s playing with her,” Shawn answered, then noticed the map. “Are we going with you today?” he asked with anticipation.
“Unless you want to stay here,” Arthur chuckled and saw Shelia enter the hall with his other mini-me, Kirk. It was very easy to spot Shelia because there were only four with red hair, and hers was the brightest and reddest. “I’m noticing Shelia’s hanging out more with you and Kirk.”
Cringing, “Yeah, Pops. I think she wants to be one of your mini-mes,” Shawn admitted. Arthur spent time with those in his group, and Shawn suspected Wendy assigned those in Arthur’s group for a reason; they didn’t need supervision. Not that Pops just turned them loose, but they listened and did what he said while the other kids took a little more reining in. The only one in Pop’s group who Wendy didn’t assign was Robin. Technically, Robin was in Wendy’s group, but Robin had assigned herself to Arthur.
“She’s good on the range and can drive anything I tell her to,” Arthur nodded. “You think she can handle running with us?”
Nodding, “Sure, Pops. She’s tough,” Shawn replied.
“Tell Shelia to let Sarah know that she’s coming with us today and to get her stuff ready,” Arthur said, and Shawn took off.
“So, we’re taking the mini-mes?” Jason asked.
“Yes. Some of them need to know how to move around outside the fence if anything happens to the adults,” Arthur answered, and scanned the hall for Jason’s mini-mes and found them. He knew they had joined with Todd, but couldn’t remember the twin boys’ names. Giving a groan and digging in his pocket, he grabbed his folded papers and started going through pictures. “You don’t want to take Cody and Kyle?” he asked finding their pictures.
Knowing what Arthur was doing with the folded pages, Jason chuckled. “Yeah, they’re good enough, and for thirteen-year-olds, they’re excellent.”
Grabbing a pen, Arthur scratched out their age because he remembered their birthday party last month, just not their names. They weren’t in his own group, so he forgave himself. In time, Arthur was sure he would know everyone by face, but knew it would take time for over two hundred kids. Hell, there were nearly thirty adults here, and he still couldn’t recall nine of their names unless they had their ID tags on or he had his list.
Leaning over the table to look at the map, Jason saw Arthur had it folded so only north of the ranch was displayed. He still hadn’t gone north yet. “LL coming?” he asked as the wives joined them. Both were wearing workout clothes and had a line of mini-mes behind them.
“No, I asked him to stay here. I don’t like all of us out,” Arthur answered, and Jason raised his eyebrows. “Yeah, Joseph is coming.”
It wasn’t the first time Joseph had been out since coming back. Over Arthur’s and Wendy’s objections, Joseph and the pilot he’d flown in with, Becky, had taken off to the airport at the end of July. At the time, Jason had thought Joseph was pushing too hard because he still looked drained from his bout with Rudolph. But Joseph and Becky had flown back two twin-engine planes and then the next day, brought back two helicopters. The planes were at the same farm Joseph had landed at initially, but the choppers were on a farm on the north side of the ranch until the runway at the ranch was finished.
“Um, is Sarah?” Jason mumbled and Arthur shrugged, letting Jason know he didn’t know. “Arthur, she needs a lot more time at the range. Ninety percent of the kids here can shoot better than Sarah.” That fact alone left Jason in awe. There were two ranges. One was called the ‘Big People Range’, the other of course was the ‘Little People Range’.
The Little People Range was one of the most awesome places Jason had ever seen. It had been built earlier by Arthur for Joseph to start shooting. Arthur had one goal, to make shooting as much fun as possible. And each year Arthur had added more. It reminded Jason of the largest shooting gallery he’d ever seen, like miniature golf for guns. Only .22s could be shot there and Jason went there as often as he could. It was that fun. All the targets were steel and rang out when hit, but some turned on lights while others performed an action when the target was hit.
There were so many targets that moved, it made the shooter wonder where to begin. There were four hundred targets in the fifty-yard-wide and hundred-yard-long range, with the shooting line twenty-five yards back from the start of the range, and over half the targets moved. The coolest one to Jason was a two-foot-long metal biplane that hung suspended from a cable and would zip from side to side. If you hit it, the plane would flip upside down and return to where it started.
Kids would spend hours when they were allowed, and it was part of what Arthur wanted them to do. At the Little People Range, there was more whining than anywhere else. It was fun and the kids didn’t want to leave. Jason just wished his dad had built something like it, but his dad couldn’t have afforded to buy the ammunition
he would’ve used. There wasn’t a doubt in Jason’s mind, he would’ve found a job at ten years old to buy bullets to use at the range.
That first week, Jason had been flabbergasted when he saw the kids go through twenty thousand rounds of .22 ammunition. He’d told Arthur they had to ration it out. Yes, he knew they needed to shoot, but there was only so much. Arthur told him they could handle it, and Jason said even reloading would end and they needed to ration. Laughing, Arthur had led Jason past the textile barn into the woods, stopping at the doors of two shipping containers buried in the hill.
Walking in the containers, Jason had frozen. It wasn’t a reloading area. It was a bullet assembly line. Checking the lines, Arthur had turned them on. Inside the two containers, the machines cranked up. The left side made centerfire rounds, and Jason had watched as brass was punched from sheets, then stretched out to make the casing, then moved down to be loaded with a primer. From the other end, lead wire was chopped and formed into copper jackets to make hollow points. Each station did five at a time, so five rounds dropped out every minute.
Turning to the right, Jason had watched .22 rimfire rounds being punched out, primer put in, then powder, and finally capped off with lead. Arthur said he could make copper jackets for the .22s but it hurt the steel targets more on the Little People Range.
The centerfire line could pump out three hundred rounds an hour. The rimfire line could pump out four hundred an hour. Compared to an ammunition plant, this wasn’t anything to write home about, but this was housed in two shipping containers for a single person. Jason had toured several ammunition plants and they could pump out hundreds of thousands of rounds an hour.
Knowing Arthur had a foundry set up in their workshop so he could make the metal, Jason had been about to ask and Arthur had just waved him outside, leaving the lines running. Continuing down to a container buried in another hill, Arthur had opened the door and walked in. Inside Jason saw it was two containers, but one was completely buried in the hill behind the first.
Jason had watched as Arthur turned on a machine that punched out primers, then loaded them with red mercury. Leading Jason to the back container, Jason had noticed heavy steel welded up to form blast walls. He’d known what they were because he’d toured ammunition plants. Here, Arthur had shown Jason where he made smokeless gunpowder or what the rest of the world called ‘cordite’.
“What the hell are you thinking about?” Arthur asked, breaking the memory.
“Your damn ammunition plants,” Jason laughed. “As a kid, I don’t think I would’ve left that range.”
“Shit,” Arthur laughed. “Joseph’s scout troop came out three times a year. That first year there were fourteen boys and I had five thousand rounds for each one. I expected it to last them all weekend. Those boys had that gone the first day.”
The only thing Arthur had changed since the outbreak, the Little Range was now covered with asphalt and Jason had helped with that. It made sweeping up all the lead shot to melt back down much easier. Just thinking about the Little Range, Jason wanted to go shoot down the plane. “If I’d been one of Joseph’s friends, I would’ve begged to move in,” Jason declared.
“Most did,” Arthur laughed, walking up behind Jason and sitting down. Holding her head high, Sarah walked to the end of the table and looked down at Arthur.
“I’m not pregnant,” she stated, then spun around and sat down beside Joseph. Jason busted out laughing and Nicole joined him.
“He tries to make you piss on a stick, come find me,” Wendy said winking at Sarah, and Arthur flipped Wendy off as a small yell sounded and Robin flew to Arthur, seeing his entire lap was empty.
Even pulling Robin onto his lap, Arthur kept his finger up to make sure Wendy saw it. “Sarah?” Arthur called out, and Wendy finally flipped him off and Arthur dropped his hand. “I don’t really want you going today.” When Sarah went to speak, Arthur cut her off. “You’re not ready yet, but you will be,” Arthur told her.
“I wasn’t going, Pops,” Sarah sassed rolling her eyes. “Joseph said I’m not good enough on guns yet, but I should be ready soon.”
In awestruck wonder, Arthur stared at Sarah. The fact she’d said it was what amazed Arthur. Sarah was so much like Wendy, it made him wonder about his son. Wendy wasn’t the same person who’d grown up with her parents, shy and timid. With Arthur, Wendy had turned into someone who was never scared to take chances, outgoing, and very headstrong. Sarah had come out of the womb with the personality Wendy had now. That’s why Arthur was awestruck. Sarah had said it out loud that she wasn’t ready.
Arthur loved how strong emotionally, mentally, and physically Wendy was, but she could overload her ass in the blink of an eye. “Oh, you chose wisely, son,” Arthur mumbled.
Knowing damn well what Arthur was getting at, “I know my limits,” Wendy barked.
Nodding, “Most of the times,” Arthur offered. “But others, you know your limits after your ass has been overloaded.”
Waving her hand out toward Arthur, “What the hell do I have you for?” Wendy scoffed.
As food was put down, Samantha fixed a plate staring hard at Jason. “Don’t say it,” she warned, looking at her husband directly across the table from her.
“Hon, you very rarely overload your ass,” Jason chuckled.
Giving Jason a big smile, “That’s sweet, thank you,” she told him. “You do know women recognize when men are just saying stuff to be nice, right?”
Setting Nicole on his side as he gasped, “I’ve never lied to you with any compliment I’ve ever given you!” Jason nearly shouted.
“That’s bullshit,” Samantha scoffed with a chuckle.
“Name one!” Jason challenged.
“That purple dress I tried on to wear for that dinner party?” Samantha threw out.
Jumping to his feet, “You looked hot as hell in that dress!” Jason did shout now, and Arthur stood up and took Nicole. He’d had a similar fight with Wendy before on the same subject, but it’d been a black skirt, and he knew this one was going to escalate.
Bobbing her head to the side, “I looked like a hooker,” Samantha told him.
Copying Samantha and bobbing his head side to side, “I’ve never seen a fucking hooker who looked that fucking good and they came into the ER all the fucking time!” Jason shouted.
Jumping to her feet, “I know you say shit to make me feel good, that’s all I’m saying!” Samantha screamed.
“I don’t lie when you ask me! I’ve told you, more than once, an outfit you were wearing didn’t look good!” Jason countered. Samantha didn’t know how this had turned into a fight, but she was going to show Jason somehow. She knew he was just being nice and it was okay, but he was pissing her off.
“That casserole I made for Thanksgiving sucked, but you said it was the best in the world! Even my mom gave a shiver eating it!” Samantha screamed.
Crossing his arms over his chest, “I liked it! I ate it at the table and finished that entire pan off the next day, did I not?” Jason threw out.
Slapping the table hard, “You were being nice and I know it! I’m just saying, I liked it but you don’t have to always say something is great when it’s not!”
“No compliment I’ve ever given to you has been a lie!” Jason bellowed and several sitting near the two started scooting away. “I told you years, years ago mind you, that you could learn self-defense and kick a man’s ass! You didn’t believe me until you saw Wendy do it! I would never lie to you! If I tell you something, I mean it! If you think back, if I think what you ask is going to hurt your feelings, I don’t say shit! If you press me, I do tell you! I told you that necklace looked like shit on you!”
“I KNOW IT DID! I JUST WANTED TO HEAR YOU SAY IT!”
Lowering his tone, “I don’t lie to you, Samantha, and I never will,” Jason growled with his face turning purple.
“Bullshit! We watch pornos and you say I’m better than those women! No woman can do fellatio like that without some
kind of fucking training! You have to go to some special school to suck a dick like that! It can’t feel good for either of them! I know you’re just being nice! You-,” Samantha froze, remembering where she was and what the fuck had just come out of her mouth. Instantly her face, neck- any exposed skin turned bright red.
Holding her bright red chin high, Samantha spun around and strolled out of the dining hall as many were now trying not to laugh.
Jumping to her feet, “Hey, girl! Don’t be shy!” Wendy shouted and took off after Samantha. “They belong to us, and we can do whatever the fuck we want with ’em!”
In a state of shock, staring at the empty air where Samantha’s face had been, “I can’t believe she just shouted that shit out,” Jason mumbled.
“Bitch, you get embarrassed over that, I’ll take away your guns,” Arthur threatened, and that shook the shock off Jason.
“That doesn’t embarrass me,” Jason scoffed, “But Samantha’s a prude. She nearly passed out when you and Wendy dropped at the other end of the beach.”
“Wendy tripped my ass and threw me down saying I was taking too long,” Arthur corrected. “Wendy doesn’t give a rat’s ass who sees if we’re on our land.” Seeing Joseph take a breath, “You and the kids don’t count,” Arthur snapped. “When your kid just walks in the bedroom while the freak nasty is going, yeah, grown-ups scream. Wendy jumped up and took off so fast I thought she’d been hurt. I didn’t know you’d come in the room and tapped her leg. I know that fucking door was locked.”
Viral Misery | Book 3 | Revelations Page 9