The boys were out front of the cabin waving around large sticks as if they were swords. Ruthie ran over to join her brothers and Mark offered her his stick before grabbing another one for himself. Janet and Kim settled down on the cabin’s front steps to watch the kids play.
“This is nice,” Kim said, leaning back and taking a deep breath. “I feel like I can breathe easier here. Try it.”
Janet leaned back and breathed deep herself, letting the fresh air fill her lungs. It was true. It was easier here and she had a feeling it had nothing to do with being away from the pollution that surrounded the cities. No, it was because here her children could run about freely, yelling and laughing without any worry of attracting a freak or someone looking to steal from them or hurt them. Here she was able to sit on her porch with her friend and just enjoy the sunshine and the cool breeze off the lake.
“All we need is a chilled glass of wine and I’d feel like we were sitting on my veranda back in Virginia,” Janet said.
Kim fidgeted nervously with the scarf on her head, smoothing it out again and again. “It is nice here, really, but would I be the worst person in the world to say I thought it would be more?”
Kim winced at her words and gave her a guilty look. “That sounds bad. I just mean that I thought there would be a bunch of government guys, you know? Clipboards and quarantines and official ID badges.”
She sighed, rubbing her palms over her thighs. “I know we’ve got Malcolm and Angela and the others. I trust they know what to do but I guess I thought there would be some five star general or Secretary of Whatever here who would be in charge.”
Janet could understand that and maybe she had been thinking it too. Maybe deep down she had expected something more too.
Well, maybe not more, but something different.
She had expected military style barracks, all of them in a big room with cots and foot lockers. She had thought there would be soldiers and other government personnel running around the place, telling them where to go and what to do.
But instead they had these homey cabins with paisley curtains. They had beaches and lawns for the children to play on.
“Maybe it’s a good thing that it isn’t what we thought,” Janet said. “Trust me, I grew up in a military family and I married a military man. You’ve got so little control because you have to obey orders from higher up. We don’t have to do that here. We’re in control here. This isn’t just a place we’re staying. This is our home. We can make it what we want.”
Kim smiled and leaned in to bump her shoulder. “Seems like inspirational speeches run in your family.”
Janet felt her cheeks warm. She hadn’t meant to get on her soapbox but she couldn’t stop herself. She needed the pep talk just as much as anyone else.
“Don’t be embarrassed, it’s just what I needed to hear,” Kim said, looking back out at the kids who had dropped their fake swords in favour of a game of tag. “I also needed to see them playing and happy. It does my heart good.”
It did her heart good too. For the first time, the kids were able to be kids today. They weren’t crammed in a car or told to stay inside and be quiet or hiding from whatever conflict the adults were dealing with at the moment. Now they could run and yell and laugh and worry about whether or not they get to go for a swim that day.
“You’re right. It’s a good thing that this place isn’t what we thought it was,” Kim said with a firm nod of her head. “It’s better this way. If this place had government people running all over it, they wouldn’t have cared about letting the kids go swimming today. With us in control, we can make this our children’s home, where they can grow up and grow old.”
Janet reached over and took her hand in her own. “We’re going to give them the world.”
They sat together in a comfortable silence and just enjoyed watching the children play. When she spotted movement behind the trees that lined the path, she tensed for a moment but then remembered where she was. This wasn’t camp where any strange movement could mean death. This was the island where they were safe.
Sure enough, it was Quinton who came through the trees with Malcolm and Trey beside him.
“Everyone is looking clean and happy,” Quinton remarked.
Malcolm eyed the children as they ran past them. “I thought swimming for a couple hours would tire them out.”
“Oh, they have plenty of energy to burn,” Janet said, smiling as Matthew slowed down to let Ruthie tag him before tearing off full tilt after his brother.
“How is the cabin?” Malcolm asked as he looked it over.
“Elaine was right. The boys love the loft,” Janet replied. “I think tonight will be the first night in a while I won’t have a problem convincing them it’s bedtime.”
“And Ruthie?”
“She wants us to paint butterflies on the walls of her room,” she said, “And she tried to guilt me into getting her a pony.”
Quinton laughed. “Smart girl. She knows when to pick her moment.”
“No kidding. I was this close to saying yes.” She noted that Quinton had a plastic bag in his hand and she could see a box of bandages and a bottle alcohol through the blurry plastic. “How was the clinic?”
“Great. Actually, better than great, they’ve got more than I expected.” He held out the bag for her. “I did up a small first aid kit for you. Kids end up with all kinds of scrapes and cuts, figured you’d need some here so you don’t have to go all the way to the clinic.”
She took the bag from him, touched by his thoughtfulness.
“I got to talk to Harold too,” Quinton told them. “He’s quite interesting. He told me about his lab down in the basement. He’s working on a cure.”
“Are you serious?” Kim asked and then she looked up at Malcolm. “Can he do that?”
Malcolm shrugged. “Angela told me about it last night. He seems to think he can and who am I to argue? I’m not going to put a lot of stock in one man in some basement lab though.”
“Well, I’m just glad there’s someone working on it, even if he is a long shot,” Kim said.
“Let him fiddle with his toys,” Malcolm said. “We’ve got more important things to focus on. The work hasn’t stopped now that we’re here.”
Janet frowned up at him. “You can’t let us enjoy not having anything to do just a little bit longer?”
“Afraid not,” Malcolm said but he smiled to temper his words. “We’ve got inventories to draw up and watch points to plot out which is what brought me here. Trey and I are going to check out the east side of the island. I wanted to see if the kids wanted to come with us. Best they get the lay of the land so if they wander off they aren’t lost.”
Her knee jerk reaction was to say no, just as she had when Malcolm had come earlier to take them to the beach. This time though it was easier to let go.
“You guys want to go with your Uncle Malcolm and Trey to explore the island?” she called out to the kids. They stopped their game and nodded eagerly. “Okay, just don’t get dirty. You don’t have any other clean clothes.”
The boys nodded and grabbed Trey’s hands, dragging him towards the path as they told him about the minnows they had spotted at the beach. Malcolm grabbed Ruthie and lifted her up to set her on his shoulders. She wrapped her arms around his head and giggled as he tickled her feet.
“We’ll be back before lunch time,” Malcolm said. “Nas said he and Elaine would make lunch today to thank you for breakfast. After that we’ll start unpacking our stuff.”
“I’m going to go with them,” Kim said, standing up and nudging Quinton to take her place on the steps. “We’ll see you two at lunch.”
Kim took one of Malcolm’s hands and they followed after the boys. Kim gave Janet a look over her shoulder, lifting a single eyebrow as she smiled slyly.
Janet shook her head, a small smile pulling at her lips. That woman was a crafty one.
Quinton sat down next to her and sighed as he stretched out his legs and leaned back
to look up at the sky.
“It’s beautiful here, isn’t it?” he asked. “Peaceful.”
“Kim and I were saying the same thing.”
“While we were on the road I don’t think I ever really let myself believe we’d make it here. Trying to avoid disappointment, I suppose. Now that we’re here, I don’t know what to do with myself.”
She looked at him, studying his profile and taking him in. His hair was clean, the dark roots still damp from his shower but the ends curled in little auburn rings. He hadn’t shaved off the beard that had grown on his chin and jaw while they were on the road. She liked it. The copper whiskers suited his strong jawline and full lips. Freckles had sprouted up across his nose and cheeks from the sun and she had the urge to kiss them.
She’d had that urge more than a few times since they had first shared a bed but she always had to resist, cautious of the watchful eyes around them. But now they were alone, without the worry of having to keep watch. That was another benefit of being here and making this place their own. They could do whatever they wanted and what she wanted to do right now was him.
He turned to find her staring at him and he smiled, reaching out to brush his thumb across her cheek. “What are you thinking about?”
She ran a hand up the inside of his leg, letting her palm settle on the bulge between his legs and gave him a squeeze. “I’m thinking we should take advantage of the empty cabin behind us.”
He groaned and leaned in to nip softly at her neck. “I’m definitely up for that.”
She grabbed his belt buckle and tugged at it as she stood up and backed towards the door. “Then come show me.”
She ran into the cabin laughing as he chased after her, her heart and mind free from her worries.
Subject File # 742
Administrator: I want to thank you for your support with these evaluations. I know that it was a trade between us but I do think it’s the right thing to do.
Subject: I wasn’t just sucking up to you when I said a healthy mind is as important as a healthy body. They need someone to talk to about everything that’s happened. These people have been through hell and back and they’re bound to crack. Last thing I want is someone going postal here. Best thing to do is call in the professionals.
Subject: Those are some big shoes to fill.
The dining room in the lodge was filled with the sound of happy voices and cutlery scraping against plates as they enjoyed dinner together. The energy in the room was festive. Hearty laughter peppered the conversation frequently as they ate their fill without a worry about where their next meal would come from.
Malcolm scooped up the last mouthful of beef stew that Craig had cooked for them, chewing slowly to savour it. The kid was a great cook, making magic out of the stewed beef and frozen vegetables. Craig had even apologized for it when he had been serving it up at the kitchen window, promising them better quality down the road when they had fresh vegetables and herbs from the garden.
As far as Malcolm was concerned, the stew was perfect the way it was but he was glad to hear that Craig was trying to think of ways to make things better. He’d had COs who swore that a platoon survived based on the quality of their cook. Good meals contributed to high morale.
And that’s what Malcolm was concentrated on now. He wanted to show Angela, Nas and the others that they were here to make this place great. On the surface they didn’t bring much with them other than seventeen more mouths to feed. He wanted the others to see that this group was more than that. They had talents that would prove useful and they weren’t afraid of hard work.
“If I didn’t think it would make me sick later, I’d take a second helping,” Malcolm said as he pushed his empty bowl away from him and sat back in his chair to pat his full belly.
Kim sighed next to him and smiled. “I forgot what it felt like to be full.”
“I could eat more,” Trey said from across the table where he was scraping the bottom of his bowl.
“Malcolm is right,” Kim told him. “We’ve got to ease into it. We were living on rations the past couple of weeks. You put too much in your belly and most of it is going to come back up later.”
“Fine.” Trey sighed and pushed his bowl away before smiling at his mother. “You think we’ll have pancakes again tomorrow morning?”
She laughed at him. “I’d think you’d be more focused on your first solo watch shift tonight.”
Their tour of the island earlier had helped work out the logistics of their watch schedule. In addition to the north point, the boathouse provided a natural vantage point on its roof, the height giving them an almost complete view of the south shore.
The east side was rocky with grass and reeds growing in the shallow waters. Thick stands of evergreens stood at the rocky edges of the shore, their thick trunks weathered to iron by the storms that had swept over the island. They could mount a platform in any of the trees that lined the shores and have a hidden watch point like on the north end. Not only would it give them a vantage point for watch, if anyone tried to make a landing, they would be able to fire on them without being spotted.
The west side had been less accommodating. There the grass that covered most of the island gave way to exposed rock that had been bleached almost white by the sun. A few trees and bushes grew between the rocks but they were small and scraggly.
Though there wasn’t a tree to put a platform on, the west side did have the advantage of a rocky peninsula that jutted out into the lake at an incline to form the cliff side they had passed in the boat. If they built a freestanding watchtower at the end of the peninsula, they would have a clear view for several miles in each direction.
He knew he was getting ahead of himself again but he was a planner by nature. It was why he had quickly created a watch schedule after he had explored the island. Until they could build the platforms for the watch points he had mapped out, they would have to keep up a mobile watch. Three people would be enough to walk the perimeter of the island for now.
Banks, Mendez and Claudia were on watch duty for the next hour and then Trey would join Quinton and Veronica in relieving them.
“He’ll do well,” Malcolm said and Trey smiled. “It’s gonna get boring though. Night shifts always are. Staring out at nothing but the dark, with everything quiet, makes it easy to lose focus or drift off. Keep checking in with the others on the radio. Keeps you alert.”
Trey’s head bobbed as he nodded along, an attentive student. Malcolm appreciated his dedication. He needed all of them to feel the same.
If they were going to get anything done here, he needed everyone on board and that included Angela. He’d taken the advice Nas had given him earlier today to heart. He was going to win her over to the idea of going off the Director’s script.
“I’ll be back,” he told Kim and Trey and got up to cross the room to the table where Angela was sitting with Elaine. “How are y’all doing?”
“Good,” Elaine said. “Dinner was delicious. Craig is a great cook.”
“I think the kid is just glad to have something to do now,” Malcolm said. “He’s been laid up most of our time on the road.”
“How did you meet him?” Angela asked. Malcolm pulled out one of the empty chairs, wordlessly asking if he could join them and Angela nodded for him to sit.
“I was actually sailing back from the Caribbean when all of this was happening. When I came into port in Virginia I could tell something was going on so I got on the radio. Craig was on there and he filled me in on what had happened. We exchanged info and when he and Lorraine had to run from their place, they met up with the rest of us.”
“And he got shot?”
He nodded. “We ran into some not so friendly guys back in Virginia.”
“There’s a lot of them out there now, aren’t there?” Elaine remarked and it gave him the perfect segue.
“There are and they will do anything to get what they want.” He leaned back in his chair and swept his arms out to encompass th
e room. “Place like this is going to be something they want. We’re going to have to work hard to keep it. We’ve got people on watch but there are other security measures we can put in place.”
“What were you thinking?” Elaine asked.
“Watchtowers. Or at least platforms, I haven’t really worked out what they’d look like. We’d want to hide them so people on the water can’t see them. Obvious one would be to make use of the boathouse, put a perch on top of it. The north point has a great view and those big trees, we could put a platform or something up in them. Same thing with the trees on the east side. Height will give us an advantage.”
Elaine nodded along with him as he spoke but he kept his eyes on Angela, who was frowning at him.
“I’m not trying to take over here, really. You’ve done a great job so far but I want this place to be the best it can be. The Director built this place for us and I know he wouldn’t want us sitting around on our asses. He’d want us to make this place better.”
Angela chewed on her bottom lip and he went in for the kill.
“When he gets here, I want him to be impressed with what we’ve accomplished. I want him to see that we deserve to be here.”
His words worked the way he had planned and the frown on Angela’s face morphed into a smile.
“You’re right,” she said, “And you don’t have to worry about deserving to be here. Everybody here is a part of Omega now.”
That was just what he wanted to hear.
“I’ve actually been thinking,” Angela continued, “The reason my uncle involved me in this was because he wanted me to manage psychological evaluations and debriefings of the members when we came here. I think it would be beneficial for me to meet with everyone individually to evaluate them. A healthy mind is as important as a healthy body.”
He remembered the evaluations during his time at the CIA. Agents were required to regularly attend sessions with a psychologist to maintain their active status. He had found them useful to deal with the things he had seen and done on his missions. He knew that for some agents they had been the difference between living and eating a bullet from their own gun. After everything they had gone through on the road, a couple sessions with a psychologist might be just the thing they needed.
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