Sleepers | Book 8

by Druga, Jacqueline

  “I put them there, you ass.”

  “Oh, yeah, that’s right.”

  “See,” Alex said. “I always suspected you were a fan.”

  “I saw him, you know,” I said.

  “Who?”

  “Tom Selleck. I saw him today crossing the road,”

  “You saw a Sleeper that looks like Tom Selleck.”

  “No, it was a survivor and I swore when I saw him it was Tom Selleck. I mean, I should know what he looks like, right?”

  “Of course, you see that poster all the time.”

  “Exactly. After thinking about it, though, it couldn’t have been him, he was too young. Him and some woman ran off when they saw us, into the woods.”

  “Where was this?” Alex asked,

  “Right after the institute. Twenty miles out.”

  “Other survivors and only twenty miles from us? Did you follow them?” Alex questioned.

  “No, I wanted to. But Javier said if they wanted to be found by another group, they would have stopped and not run.”

  “That’s true. I probably would do the same thing,” Alex said. “Say I was out there and saw a truck.”

  “Even if Tom Selleck was driving?” I asked.

  “Even then. And Sonny, it wasn’t Tom Selleck.”

  I replied with a “hmm.”

  Alex shook his head. “That’s right. Anyhow, wanna know how we got butter?”

  “Renee made it.”

  “Yeah, but considering you need cream to do that and we don’t have any cows around here, how do you suppose she did that?”

  “Is this a trick question?” I asked.

  “No. It’s not. She got cream from Mera, who got it from the man across the bay. Who, by the way, is gonna show us where the cows are. Renee says she is gonna udder the hell out of them cows.”

  “Better her than me. So that’s where Mera went?”

  “Yes, she went with the ditzy former reality star. Wait. What do you mean, better her than you? I’m talking milking cows. You don’t do that.”

  I laughed. “Of course I know how, Alex, doesn’t everyone?”

  “No! Anyway, Mera got the milk and some other information from this Peter.”

  I stopped him from saying any more. “Peter? Is that the name of the man across the bay?’

  Alex nodded. “It’s weird.”

  “What is weird about it?”

  “His name is Peter. Ed told Mera…”

  “You knew about that?” I cut him off.

  “Didn’t everyone?”

  “Apparently not,” Alex snapped. “And you guys are like, wow a Peter…” He waved his hand across the air. “Got news for you, Peter isn’t an uncommon name.”

  “I know that, but don’t you think it’s weird that Mera ran into a Peter when Ed said she would? Would it be even more weird if it was the one Ed said she would meet?”

  “It is.”

  I gasped. “Shut…up.”

  Alex genuinely laughed, complete with a snort. “Did you just say ‘Shut up’ like a teenage girl?”

  “Not like a teenage girl. But I did.”

  He laughed again. “Let’s go get that butter from Snuggle Bunny before her Randy Pandy eats it all.”

  “Huh?” I asked, confused.

  “Nothing. Let’s go, and by the way…” Alex gave a swat to my back. “Mera got her memory back. So…watch out.”

  I wasn’t quite sure what Alex meant by “watch out”. Maybe he thought Mera was going to remember something I wouldn’t want her to, but I was excited.

  Mera was my best friend. She got me like no one else did.

  Even though we stayed close, her memory loss caused a distance.

  If Mera got her memory back, then Mera was back.

  ELEVEN

  ALEX

  Alright, so I was a little miffed that I didn’t get any butter with my biscuit. They weren’t giving out much. Just a smidgeon, but still a tiny bit would have been nice. It looked so good, it had been a while since I’d seen butter. Even a little tab like they passed out. Renee was so vengeful about it, she gave Mera two smidgeons, claiming it was because Mera brought back the cream. Then she went on and on about how she had to shake the damn jar with cream in it until her breasts shook so much they hurt.

  I didn’t want to hear it.

  I wanted the butter.

  Despite my attempts to be attentive and compassionate, I was butterless.

  Unlike Mera, who gloated.

  I asked Mera if I could have her extra, she told me no. Then she ended up giving it to Sonny. What the heck?

  He asked.

  She was like, “Oh, sure Sonny, here.”

  Pissed me off.

  Granted, I was done with my biscuit by that time, but still.

  We all retreated back to our section of the hotel. There was going to be a meeting at night regarding the swarming Sleepers and sending out a reconnaissance. I was bound and determined to make Hope hyper so Mera could feel irritated like I did over that butter.

  But that child just stared at me like I was an alien or something.

  I guess I stared at her the same way.

  In my defense, she did look like a bug or something. Big old eyes, wrinkly forehead, a nose that was so small no real human could possibly breathe out of.

  I held her in a face to face position. She rested against my legs while my hands held onto her, my thumbs pushing up against her cheeks.

  “Something wrong with the baby, Alex?” Beck asked, stepping into the room we deemed our family space. “You’re looking at her like something is wrong.”

  “Did you ever look at her?” I asked.

  “Of course.”

  “I mean really look at her.”

  “Where is this going?”

  “Nothing. But do you think, like…I don’t know, something is wrong with her?”

  “No. Nothing is wrong with Hope,” Beck said.

  “I’ve seen babies, Beck. I mean I remember Phoenix, really well. Keller, well, he’s an exception. And all babies fall into a different category of cute. Like if you enlarged them, just made them grown up size, they would not look…good.”

  “Alex, what the hell are you talking about?” Beck asked.

  “Don’t get me wrong, I think she’s cute, but that’s in my eyes. I don’t think others see her that way.”

  “All babies are beautiful.”

  “Come on, Beck, you know that’s not true,” I said. “Keller was not beautiful.”

  “Yes, he was.”

  I snorted a laugh. “Yeah, okay.”

  “What’s going on?” Mera asked, stepping into the room.

  Beck frowned at her and said,. “Alex thinks Hope is ugly.”

  “What!” Mera blasted, immediately grabbing Hope from my arms.

  “Aw, now see, I did not say that.” I stood up. “I was merely pointing out that on a scale of one to ten…”

  “Don’t.” Mera stopped. “That is so rude. She’s a baby. All babies are beautiful.”

  “That’s what I said,” Beck chimed in.

  “Even Keller? With no eyes, no nose, a…”

  “Alex,” Mera barked. “Even Keller. He was beautiful.”

  “Man, you two have some sort of distorted parental vision. Anyhow…you ready, Beck? I need to talk to you about something on the way there.”

  “Sure. I’m ready.” He faced Mera. “We shouldn’t be too late. You got the radio if you need me.”

  “I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

  Beck leaned down, kissed the baby, then quickly kissed Mera. I’d be lying if I said that didn’t send a twinge of jealousy-laced irritation through me. But I knew Papa Bear was at it again, staking claim in his den. If Ed was right, I couldn’t do a hill of bean
s about it for at least another decade.

  What was that about?

  I lifted my hand in a wave to Mera, brought it down as a pat to Hope’s head and walked out.

  Beck didn’t wait to ask me. I was barely in the hall, pulling the door closed when he said, “What’s going on?’

  “A couple things I would prefer not bringing up in the meeting. In fact, pretty much between just us. For right now.”

  “What’s up?”

  I started walking, keeping an eye out for anyone that could hear. “I talked to Hot Doc today. Between the storm of Sleepers, Sonny slipping out and Mera going off with the reality star, I didn’t get a moment with you to tell you.”

  “He confirmed it, didn’t he?”

  I nodded. “Looking more and more like Sonny is it.”

  “Damn it.”

  “I know. But he’s working on it.”

  “If he knows, there may be something he can do.”

  “Exactly,” I said. “And he was implying the same thing. I don’t want us to mention this to anyone. I cannot have this get back to Sonny. It would be soul crushing for him.”

  “Agreed.”

  “Second thing. Sonny cannot go on this storm chasing mission.”

  “Agreed again,” Beck said. “Right now he’s out of their radar. He gets close enough…”

  “They could follow. Just like our Walmart girl followed Sonny. So we need to come up with something.”

  “I’ll handle that,” Beck said. “Anything else?”

  I stopped walking, looked up and down the hall. “You know how Mera said the man across the bay told her that fifteen of them all came through? The Sandman assassin squad?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I think a couple of them are here,” I said. “Sonny saw two survivors. When they were spotted, they ran.”

  “Makes sense. They avoid people. Who knows if we’re good or bad?”

  “Yeah, I said the same thing to Sonny. I think whoever goes out to the storm needs to keep a keen eye out for them.”

  “Absolutely.” Beck nodded.

  “But I do think they are part of our assassin team and this Peter guy reached out to tell them we’re here, as is Sandman.”

  “Possible. I mean in two weeks we haven’t seen a survivor.”

  “No, we have not,” I said. “They’re clones, right?”

  “In a way. Their DNA was used for the embryos.”

  “I’m convinced the two he saw may be part of the fifteen.”

  “Why is that?” Beck asked.

  “One looks suspiciously like Tom Selleck. At least Sonny said he did. And you know Sonny knows his Tom. Fanboying out and all that. It was a little weird, and he wouldn’t fan out if it didn’t look an awful lot like Tom Selleck.”

  “Alex, are you suggesting that in the future, they sent people back to the past to get Tom Selleck DNA and made a Tom Selleck clone?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Why?” Beck threw out his hands

  “Mera said they took DNA of people they knew were dead in this time frame and linked somehow to us, maybe not you and me, but those of us living right now.”

  “Tom Selleck, though?”

  “Who writes the Logan Logs?”

  Beck grumbled, “Sonny.”

  “A thousand years from now, people don’t know what a hairy chested, flower shirt wearing eighties heartthrob is. Sonny could have portrayed him as some sort of mega hero.”

  “Oh my God.” Beck’s head went back.

  “Is that a ‘oh my God, Alex, shut up’, irritated head toss? Or more of a revelation, ‘oh my god, shut…up?’”

  “Like a surprised teenaged girl.”

  I nodded.

  “Though I would never say it normally,” Beck did his best to impersonate a teenager from the past with a, “Shut…up.”

  “Not quite the right delivery.”

  “Who cares?” Beck said. “Just agreeing that if anyone can make Tom Selleck seem like the next coming to someone in the future. It’s Sonny. Obscure as it is, I’m not ruling it out.”

  “Me either.”

  “Okay,” Beck started to walk. “Anything else.”

  “No. That’s it.”

  “Good. Whether or not they are our future assassins, we need to keep an eye out. They’re survivors,” Beck said. “And awfully close to our home.”

  

  I listened to him. Beck hung the map on the wall, with an overlay that signified our Sleeper storm.

  He commanded like the military man he used to be, or was.

  “There’s a ridge in this area.” His hand smoothed over the map. “Should be high enough to give a vantage point and good view of the Sleepers, see how fast they’re moving, if they are really all together. The ride should take six hours. Leave at dawn, survey for a few hours, head back.” He looked at Sonny. “Yes, Sonny?”

  “Picking up survivors if we find any or not?” he asked.

  “Um, that’s a tough call. Alex?” Beck called upon me.

  “Wait,” Sonny said. “Why is that a tough call? We always took in survivors.”

  “If we always took in survivors,” I said. “Why are you asking?”

  “To be polite,” Sonny replied and it sounded more like a guess.

  “The man across the bay, Peter,” Beck said. “He told us…”

  Easy, Beck, I thought, not many know about the Sandman.

  Beck stated, “He spotted a few bad apples out there. Bad groups. So I’d rather not take a chance right now. Alex?”

  I nodded. “Agreed.”

  “Alright, that’s a clean meeting.” Beck stepped forward. “Sonny, get the truck ready tonight?”

  “Yep.”

  “Danny, I need you to talk to Renee and Patty about some food for the road.”

  “Got it,” Danny said.

  “Miles, you hit the armory.”

  Miles gave a thumbs up.

  “Alex, I need you to work on substitutes for the front gate and bay area, I’ll handle day to day and oversee Randy with the phones.”

  “Sounds good,” I said, then paused. “Whoa. Wait. What? Why are you overseeing day to day?”

  “You’ll be gone,” Beck said.

  “Where am I going?” I asked.

  “With Miles and Danny on the scouting mission,” Beck replied.

  “I’m going on the scouting mission?” I questioned in shock.

  “What?” Sonny barked. “Why is Alex going on the scouting mission and not me?”

  “Because I said you’re not,” Beck said.

  I chuckled with sarcasm. “Because you said so? Are you his parent now?”

  “Alex,” Beck said firm.

  “I want to go,” Sonny said. “It’s my thing.”

  “I know. But Alex needs to go,” Beck replied.

  “Yeah, but he can’t, he’s the leader,” Sonny said.

  “And a leader needs to lead by example.”

  “Huh?” I was confused. “What kind of old school thinking is that?”

  “The right kind,” Beck said.

  “Beck,” Danny spoke up. “In Alex’s defense, he doesn’t go out.”

  “I know.” Beck nodded. “He doesn’t. He needs to.”

  “There’s a reason, you know,” Sonny said defensively. “There’s a reason he doesn’t.”

  I lifted my hand. “I know. I’m the leader.”

  “No.” Sonny swung a look my way. “You suck at it.”

  “I…suck at it?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” Sonny said. “You’re not very good at it. You tried to take out a bunch of them once. They tore you to shreds. Ripped you apart. Do you remember that?”

  “Sonny,” I said. “I can safely say none of us remember tha
t.”

  Danny, Miles and Beck all shook their heads.

  “Oh, yeah…okay. Anyhow,” Sonny continued. “He may have been good at one time, but when is the last time he was out there taking out a couple Sleepers, heck, one? Beck. He makes fun of you and the Reckoning, but when was the last time Alex Sans was out there?”

  There was silence in the room.

  Hell, I didn’t even have the answer to that.

  “I don’t know when the last time was,” Beck answered. “But I do know when the next time will be. Tomorrow.” Beck took the map from the wall. “Now, If you’ll excuse me, I’m going home. I’ll have these ready by Zero five hundred.” He walked to the door and gave a single nod. “Gentlemen.”

  Beck walked out.

  “Well, Sonny,” I looked at him. “Thank you very much for tearing me down. I’m sorry we all can’t be the next Tom Selleck like you.”

  “I didn’t mean to tear you down, Alex,” Sonny defended. “I’m just worried. It’s been a while. I think you may have lost your edge. Maybe not. Who knows.”

  “He’s not alone, Sonny,” Miles said. “We’re a team out there. He’ll be fine.”

  I listened to the three of them go back and forth, defending my honor, when the truth was Sonny wasn’t being a asshole, he was being genuine. He was concerned.

  And he had every right to be, because he was right.

  I had been focused for so long on leading, planning and survival, I couldn’t recall the last time I actively participated in taking out Sleepers.

  That had to change.

  Whether I lost my edge or not, it had to change.

  Like Beck had said, I had to lead by example.

  I had to put myself out there and it didn’t mean just with a clipboard, sharp wit, a good plan and loud mouth. It meant really getting out there, even if it was beyond the safety of the fence, I had to show them.

  More so than just for them, I had to do it for myself.

  TWELVE

  MERA

  I envied my son.

  In a strange way, I was jealous as well.

  The mother in me worried about his safety, but the realist knew he’d be alright. Danny could take care of himself.

  He had become quite the young man in the few years that had gone by.