The Vermilion Strain

by S A Ison

  “It’s like a ghost town here.” Cliff said softly, breaking the silence.

  “It is. I also think we shouldn’t leave the farm for a while. Maybe not until you go to see Claus. When do you think you will go?”

  “Not for another three months. I think you’re right, we’ll stay put for a while. Thank you again for doing this Flynn. My family and I appreciate it. I don’t know what the future holds, but with these medical supplies, Beth will be able to help and treat us. We owe you.”

  “No, you don’t Cliff. Xandra and I are so grateful you took us in. You took a chance on two strangers. We know what’s out there and what it takes to survive. We wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been for you and your family’s kindness. So no, you don’t owe me anything, I think you’ve paid me in full.” Flynn grinned.

  “All right, we’ll call it square.” Cliff chuckled.

  They pulled onto the property and Cliff drove around to the back. There was a small cottage, more like a small bunk room. It had a bathroom, small kitchen and three bunkbeds. Cliff pulled the truck up to the cottage and both men got out. They took the bags into the bunkhouse and left the gurney in the bed of the truck. Flynn saw a walkie-talkie on the counter and looked at Cliff.

  “We use that when we’re out in the fields, cheaper than cellphones.” He grinned. He walked over and picked it up.

  “Sarah, we’re all set in the bunkhouse. Thanks, honey, for the food and for the fridge.” Cliff said and let the button go. Flynn heard static and then Sarah’s voice.

  “Figured you boys would like a few beers. We’ll drop food off at the truck. You’ll be getting paper plates. Not my best china.” She laughed.

  “Okay darlin, I’ll be in touch.” Cliff laughed and then set the walkie-talkie on the counter.

  “I’m going to take another shower.” Flynn said and went to get the clean clothes setting on the bunk. He smiled when he saw the Stephan King book he’d been reading.

  Ӝ

  Emma’s mouth was dry and her body was shaking. They’d been trapped and the men were using the children as hostage for their good behavior. Tears filled her eyes and the man in front of her blurred.

  “Move, now.” Jeri screamed and Emma jerked and looked over at Paadi, who was also frozen in place. The color had leached from her face and she was a sickly gray. She turned away from Emma and started walking in jerky movements. Emma heard the children crying and looked over to Riley, who was now watching Jeri and Paadi.

  Emma’s hand moved to the gun at the base of her back. Just as her fingers curled around the grip, an explosion jerked her body, as though she’d been shot. She’d seen a blur and her mind couldn’t process it. For a horrifying moment, she thought she had been shot. She looked over at Riley, who had a shocked look on his face, his chest blossoming in brilliant red. Buddy grabbed the downed Riley by the neck and was shaking the man wildly. The dog made no sound. Another boom and she saw BJ, all the blood gone from his face and then Emma looked over to Paadi.

  Jeri was on the ground and Paadi had pulled her weapon. She aimed it at the down man’s face and shot him three times. BJ was running and as he went by Riley, he looked down and called Buddy off the man. Riley wasn’t moving anymore. Buddy’s muzzle was bloody. He sat beside the dead man and waited for a command. Emma patted her leg and the dog ran over to her. BJ ran to Paadi and grabbed her and dragged her away from the dead Jeri. He held her in his arms and he turned and the children ran to him and Paadi.

  Emma ran over and threw her arms around them all and they were all crying hysterically. She wasn’t sure when they stopped crying. Dillan clung to BJ like glue, and Hailey was glued to Paadi. Emma held Cooper and her free arm was around Amanda, she was rocking both children.

  “Is everyone okay?” BJ croaked, tears sliding down his face.

  “I think so, we need to get these kids into the house. We need to get those bodies out of here.” Emma said, wiping her eyes.

  “Get them in, I’ll take care of the bodies.” BJ panted, pushing them all toward the house. They all went willingly, and they entered the house and went to the large couch. BJ held Paadi’s face in his hands and he looked into her eyes.

  “You sure you’re okay?” He asked. Paadi nodded jerkily. BJ leaned forward and kissed the top of her head, then kissed each of the children and then Emma, then he was gone.

  “What do you think happened to the third man?” Emma asked, her voice still shaking.

  “Hopefully dead. I’ll suggest that Brian and BJ go and look for him, make sure he’s dead and if he isn’t, then kill him.” Paadi said, her eyes hard as black diamonds.

  Ӝ

  Brian was running through the forest; he’d heard the multiple shots. His long legs ate up the distance, he was moving around trees and low bushes. Could it be the three men that he and BJ had found? Was it someone else? Were the children okay, was Emma okay? Christ, why couldn’t he run faster?

  His breath was coming in harsh gasps and his mouth so dry that he could not swallow. It was an agonizing run; time was standing still and Brian seemed to be running against a molasses tide. He broke through the trees and saw nothing on the beach, but for the cooking equipment. Then he saw BJ, bent over a body, he was trying a rope onto the legs of a man. As Brian got closer, he could see it was Mole. His heart fell into his stomach. BJ turned when he heard Brian, drawing his Glock. Then he holstered it, and Brian could see the man was pale as death.

  “Everyone okay, the kids? Emma and Paadi?” Brian asked. When BJ nodded, the breath came out all at once and Brian nearly buckled with relief.

  “What happened?” Brian gasped, trying to get his breath back. He bent over at the waist and spit. Looking back at the house, he saw Emma at the doors and lifted a hand. She smiled, though it trembled and lifted a hand. She turned and disappeared.

  “I was getting a tank of propane for the girls. Buddy was with me. I was coming back and saw that Pirate was leading Paadi to the house. Mole had his shotgun pointed at the kids on the beach. Then he turned and watched Pirate and I shot the son of a bitch in the back. Buddy finished him off. I shot Pirate and Paadi finished him off.” BJ said, his eyes haunted.

  Brian looked down at Mole, his throat had been ripped open, his dead eyes opened wide in shock. Pirate laid beside him, three holes in his head.

  “Now that you’re here, you can help me load them into the truck. I was going to drag them behind, I didn’t want the women trying to lift these bastards.”

  “Yeah, after we dump them, let’s go and find Crackhead. I’m sorry we just didn’t shoot them on sight. I’m glad you were here. If we’d have been gone hunting, I think this might have turned out differently.” Brian said and the thought made him weak in the knees.

  BJ untied the dead man’s feet and it took a bit of hoisting, but they got both bodies into the truck bed. The men drove about five miles away and then took a utility road. Driving in about a half mile, Brian turned the truck around. He maneuvered the truck, so the bed was pointing to the side of the road. Then he and BJ got out and rolled both bodies out.

  “Thanks again, you saved our family.” Brian said and slapped BJ on the back. BJ smiled wanly, and nodded.

  “Don’t punish yourself. From now on, anyone who seems like a threat, we shoot. No questions asked, no guilt. We can’t take another chance like that.” Brian said, his voice hard.

  “I agree, I’ll never let another piece of shit walk away.” BJ agreed, his eyes narrowing. The two men got back into the truck and headed back to camp. When they arrived, the women were back outside, at the pressure canner. Brian smiled when they came into the drive. Getting out, he walked to the children, who gathered around him. He hugged each of them and whispered reassurances. Then he walked to Paadi and hugged her hard.

  “Sorry we didn’t end them the first time.” He whispered into her hair.

  “I’m sure you won’t make that mistake again.” She said, her dark brow raised and a sardonic smile on her lips.

  Brian snorte
d and he shook his head.

  “No, no I won’t.” He agreed. He turned to Emma and pulled her to him. He rocked her and felt her body vibrating. He pulled away and looked down into her eyes.

  “You sure you’re okay?” He asked softly. She smiled, and it trembled, but she nodded.

  “I’ll do, but honestly, I think I felt a hell of a lot of gray hairs spring up, not to mention ten years off my life.” She laughed shakily. He hugged her tight and let her go.

  “We’re going to go find the other one. We’ll make sure he doesn’t make it another step closer to this place.” Brian said. Then, he and BJ left the camp and headed into the woods. They moved quickly and with purpose. Brian’s mind kept going back to when they’d first discovered the men and he kept kicking himself for not killing the men that first time. That was the old world pushing in on the new world. He had to forget the old ways of thinking. Now, letting someone like that live was a liability that could end up costing them all. It wasn’t a price he was willing to pay.

  As a firefighter, he was used to saving lives, not taking them. With each killing, it took a small piece of him. The alternative however, would take all of him. To lose his new family to pieces of shit like them. No, he had to change his way of thinking or none of them would survive. He was thankful that they’d all kept in practice with their weapons. He couldn’t imagine what he’d have come back to, if not.

  The topography changed and he and BJ started on a decline and began to smell the camp. They slowed their descent until the camp came into view. It was still nasty and reeked. Crackhead was in his chair, drinking a beer. Brian and BJ moved slowly toward him, both holding their Glocks. Brian stepped on a twig and it snapped loudly, like a gunshot. The man’s head jerked up, sluggish. He was drunk or high, or both. His eyes grew large at the appearance of two men aiming guns at him.

  He started to get up, his hand feeling around for the shotgun that laid at his feet. Brian was the first to fire and then BJ’s weapon went off as well. Brian hit him twice as did BJ. It was overkill, but Brian thought that it was satisfying, knowing that the lowlife wouldn’t get a chance to hurt or kill anyone. They walked down into the camp. The fire was blazing away. Both he and BJ began to kick dirt over the fire. They were amazed that these men hadn’t started a forest fire. They looked around the camp.

  “You think we should take these ATVs?” BJ asked, looking at the vehicles.

  “No, they can’t carry much and in a few more months, gas won’t be worth anything. Neither they nor the trucks will run. It would be junk laying around.” Brian shrugged.

  “True. I don’t see anything in this camp worth salvaging.” BJ said, looking into the filthy tents. Nothing but bottles and cans littered the ground. It would get covered eventually by vines and bushes. The body would rot into the ground. Brian didn’t think anything would eat it, so poisoned by drugs and booze. They turned to leave, neither regretting their actions, Brian was sure.

  Ӝ

  Flynn walked into the cottage, Xandra was on the couch, trying her hand at knitting. Sarah had been teaching her. She looked up and cried out happily, throwing the yarn and needles aside.

  “I’m so glad you’re home. No problems in the cabin?” She smiled, wrapping her arms around Flynn’s neck.

  “Only that Cliff snores like a damned train.” Flynn laughed, hugging her to him. She felt good after the week long isolation. It was late afternoon and Xandra would be heading to the main house later, to the kitchen to start dinner preparations.

  “Ah, well, tonight, you’ll sleep peacefully.” She grinned.

  “How was your day?” He asked going to the couch, pulling her into his lap.

  “Oh, you know, the same. Weeded the garden, and we started canning. Man, that’s some hot work. Sarah has a stove outside, in a small kitchen shed. She said they do their summer canning out there, too hot for the indoors. Just standing near the canner was hot. But it was so amazing, leaning how to can all the things we grew. We were doing tomatoes today. We had to scald them, you know, to get the peelings off. Then, I was in charge of squishing them. That was kind of fun. Then, we put them into quart jars. There were a ton of them. She has a whole shed full of jars, lids and rings.” Xandra said, shaking her head.

  “That’s awesome. I would have liked to have done something; it was boring as hell. I did finish the book though.” He grinned and kissed her. Soon, they found something to do, other than work.

  At dinner a couple weeks later, the whole family and some of the farm hands sat at the table. Flynn was enjoying the company of them all. There was talking and laughter and wonderful homemade food. For years, it had only been himself and his father. Then a roommate here or there. Then he was living alone. His world had consisted of work, home, bars. Though that had been an okay life for him then, now, he couldn’t imagine doing anything but living and working on a farm. He’d begun working with the large animals and Beth was showing him the way of it. He’d begun to feel a connection with the animals he handled.

  His eyes looked over to Xandra, her cheeks pink with good heath, her face filling out with weight. She’d lost that hallowed eyed look. Her dark hair glossy and healthy. When he looked in the mirror now, he saw a tan strong man looking back. A man, who was satisfied, no, more than satisfied with his life. It was like he’d found his purpose, his calling. He’d never even known it. Before, he was just existing, going through the motions. Now, he felt he was truly living.

  Ӝ

  The air had a crisp bite to it. Fall was officially here. The leaves had started turning and Emma and Paadi were working hard every day to can the produce that was coming ripe. Brian and BJ were gearing up for another hunt. They had gotten a boar and they’d smoked it and made jerky out of it. It had been a juvenile, so it wasn’t that big. Their larder was getting full and they had cheese that Emma had made. The goat was pulling her weight, keeping the grass cut and eating left over veggies. Today Jeff and his group were coming by. They were going to have a cook out and Jeff was bringing some beef.

  They had slaughtered a cow and were bringing some of that to Brian and his group. They were trading it for two of the pups, when they got a just a little older. All were thrilled. The women had talked about canning much of the beef. BJ had voted that they also smoke some as well. Brian walked into the shed that held all their canned foods. There were hundreds of jars, lined up neat. He was amazed at what the women had done. It was hard to believe that they’d grown that much food, but they had. Both women were saving the seeds of the biggest and best vegetables. They’d be used the next year. Barb was also bringing seeds by as well to add to their supply. There were boxes of shelled beans drying, and they would store the dried beans for soups and chilies. Also, for next year’s planting.

  He saw the children gathering wood, even Dillan and he grinned. The puppies were following, pulling at the children’s pants. He laughed. He walked over to where they’d planted the fruit trees and he touched one of the apples. It wasn’t big, but it looked good. His fingers itched to pluck it, but he knew Emma or Paadi would skin him alive. They had plans for the apples.

  Emma had picked all of the peaches, there weren’t many, but she was making a peach cobbler for the gathering, and using the sun oven. He grinned when he saw BJ following Paadi, her mouth was going faster than a runaway horse, he was sniggering at something she was saying. Brian’s eyes triangle into humor. He saw romance in their future. He looked at the beach, Daisy and Buddy were laying by the water. They’d been chasing the puppies earlier and they were pooped.

  Emma walked up to him and nudged him with her shoulder.

  “You okay?” She asked.

  “Yeah, just looking around. I feel a chill in the air. Winter isn’t far off.” He shrugged.

  “Yep, woke up this morning and had to put a pair of socks on. It will be nice though; the leaves will start turning and I think it will be pretty. We’ve got plenty of food put away now, so we don’t have to worry. The hen has gone broody again, so I
think we’ll have a few more babies.”

  “Hum, maybe next year we’ll have enough chickens to have a baked chicken from time to time.” Brian said, liking the idea.

  “That’s what we’re aiming for. Barb said they were going to clear more land and start planting wheat, so that way, we can barter for flour.” Emma said happily. Brian grinned down at her. Emma was always thinking about cooking or making food. She’d made goat butter and goat cheese, both were good.

  “That’s good to know. We just don’t have the land for planting that. We do have a bumper crop of potatoes though and I’m looking forward to French fries today.” He said, rubbing his hands.

  “Sure, we’ll get that done. I’ve also made potatoes salad. The shed really keeps things cool and that’s where I keep the mayo. Also, it helps having that small refrigerator. Barb has a recipe for mayonnaise, so I might be trying that next.” Emma grinned. Brian couldn’t help it and reached over and hugged her.

  “What was that for?” She laughed.

  “Just for being wonderful. For taking good care of all of us. I mean that. You and Paadi do so much. You keep us whole.

  Emma hugged him back hard.

  “Hey, you started this rodeo, remember? When I got here, you’d already started it all. Thanks to you, we’ve all come together and made a home, made a life and made a future. We now have hope, where once we had only the prospects of an extinction and a life alone.” She said, a soft smile on her lips and tears in her eyes. Brian felt his own eyes tear up. She was right, they now had a future and hope.

  EPILOGUE

  FOUR YEARS LATER

  Brian swung the ax down and split the wood cleanly. Cooper stepped in and sat another block of wood on the stump. He took the split wood and went to the wood pile to stack.

  “When can I start chopping wood dad?” Cooper asked.

  “I’d say in a couple years. It takes precision not to chop your foot off.” Brian grinned at his son, for son he was. Cooper was growing tall. In a few more years he’d be a teenager. That broke his heart. The children were growing up so fast. Amanda was now a teen and acting like a woman. He snorted at the thought. Emma was having a time, but Amanda was a sweet girl. Emma was teaching Amanda the art of healing and nursing. Amanda was showing a great aptitude.