by Kate Morris
He found Avery in the pantry down the hall digging out a box of cookies probably to set out for the others. He had to bite his lower lip at the sight of her in the outfit he’d chosen for her. He hadn’t meant for it to look so damn sexy, but it did on her. Or maybe it was so sexy because he knew another side of her now and what was beneath those clothes.
“Hey,” he said, startling her. Tristan walked in and slipped an arm around her waist from behind and nuzzled her neck.
“Can’t wait till tonight?
He smiled. “Hell, no.”
She turned in his arms and leaned up on her tiptoes to kiss his chin. Her own chin was a little red, probably from his beard. Might be a good time to shave his face clean. He led her back toward the dining room. “Were you able to get your stitches covered, Angel?”
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
“Nothing…pulling or seeping?”
She shot him a sassy look, “No, why would they be?”
He returned her sass with a look of his own that let her know she’d pay for that later. Spencer and Renee were sitting with Abraham, and Avery placed the cookies there. Then she retrieved a pitcher of water and glasses. The milk was gone. It wasn’t going to be replaced unless they stole a cow.
“So, tonight we’re going to the base,” Spencer started their meeting. “We’ll take Abraham with us. Our lieutenant is going to be there and let us in. We’re bringing him a bottle of antibiotics, a bottle of painkillers, and ten silver pieces. Whatever’s on the base, we’re splitting with him two ways.”
“Where are we going to get silver pieces, like jewelry or something?” Avery asked.
“No, I’ve got silver,” he explained. “Sorry, I should’ve told you. We’ve just been so busy. When I was in the service, I never kept an apartment here in the states, never bought a house. I just bought silver every month. As an investment, you know.”
“Where was it? On your base?”
He smiled gently. “Nah, I had a storage locker up north of here.”
“Why…?” she started to question.
“Yeah, I’m from Ohio,” he answered and got a surprised look from her. They’d just had amazing sex, he was batshit crazy in love with her, and still, they knew so little about each other. Even though that’s how he used to prefer it with women, with Avery, it felt wrong. “My old man still lived up around Cleveland, so I’d pay him one coin a month to get my silver shipments out of the post office box I had and take it to my storage unit. When you were out, I drove up there and emptied my unit.”
“Oh, wow. How much do you have?”
He grinned. “Enough. I never thought I’d be using it to barter during an apocalypse, but well, there it is.”
“Wait, we can help, too. I don’t want you to use all your silver to buy things for us, Tristan,” she said gently, laying her hand on his arm.
It softened his heart that she thought again that she was a burden. She was far from it. The only reason he bought the silver was that he just had wads of cash in his safety deposit box and a bank teller once told him to invest his money in something. He couldn’t do real estate because he wouldn’t be home to deal with that. He didn’t trust the stock market, but he did like being able to hold his investment in his hand.
“Not necessary.” He noticed she didn’t remove her hand from his forearm. She must not have cared if anyone knew about them.
“But my father keeps money in the safe downstairs. I know he does. My parents told me if anything ever happened to them that I should get in there.”
“I don’t think anyone wants paper cash anymore, Ave,” Renee told her.
“Oh,” she remarked softly.
“Anyway, you and I can talk later,” he told her and covered her hand with his. She still had a yellowing greenish bruise on the back of her hand from that IV. It was a reminder that he’d almost lost her. He didn’t like that feeling. “Let’s go over tonight’s plans. Then we’ll eat and get ready.”
They all nodded, and Abraham came into the room. He inclined his head in greeting to everyone and took his seat. Her little brother wore the pistol Tristan gave him on his hip like a gunslinger in the Old West. Tristan didn’t mind. The kid needed protection. He wanted to help more in that role over the others, too. He was a good kid who’d been through a lot lately, and Tristan figured he could use all the help he could get. Protecting Avery and the kids was his new, number one priority in life.
He jogged his normal route and ended up near the neighbor’s farm. He wondered often if they should’ve moved over there. With so many people to look after now, they needed more than they had or could manage without amassing a large chunk of land, but he knew nothing about those people. They could have relatives who would show up there someday. Then they’d lose what little they did have.
So many had already lost so much; family, friends, their careers, their homes. He saw it every time he went back to the towns or the cities for supplies. Lots of people were homeless, forced into walking caravans trying to get to a safe place, trying to get to one of the military bases. He never wanted any of them to be in this position. He didn’t want them out on the streets, having lost their home, their safe haven, their last thread of sanity.
And on he jogged, still considering that farm as a possibility if they were ever overrun by the crawlers, who were encroaching closer and closer every night.
Chapter Twenty-nine
Avery made grilled chicken fajitas on the stovetop grill in the kitchen with sautéed fresh peppers and onions. Tristan told her to use everything that was fresh fruits or vegetables first, some of which he was still getting in small amounts from the military shipments. The whole house smelled wonderful and reminded her of her mother. That made her feel sad.
She missed her parents and little brother and sisters so much it hurt. It physically hurt. Her joints and stomach and heart have ached so terribly over the last week that she was positive she was having a heart attack, appendicitis or getting arthritis. None of it happened. The unfortunate truth was that she was just still alive, and they were gone, and the mental and physical pain reminded her of that. No matter how much she wished she could’ve taken any of their places, it just wasn’t meant to be.
“Abraham, can you say grace, dear?” she asked her brother after everyone was seated. He did it but didn’t seem too happy about it.
“Ave, we need to talk,” Renee said when her brother finished. “You know…I mean, I know Tristan told you about my parents.”
She nodded. Yes, she knew. Renee’s parents were dead, too. They never made it home.
“And I can’t get ahold of my uncle in California. He’s…not answering. I’ve got nobody else.”
“Oh, Renee,” she sympathized and slid her hand over her friend’s on the table.
“It’s okay, Ave,” she said. “Anyway, we’re struggling over there. It’s not good. Last night, we heard a bunch of them out in our woods. I don’t know how many, but Spencer had to stay up all night and keep watch. Spencer and I can’t keep that much property under watch all day and night. It’s just too much.”
“Not good,” Tristan said. “I assume once these people run out of food, they’re going to eat anything. I-I saw one on my way home one night from the hospital. It was in the road. It…I’ll tell ya’ later.”
Avery stared at him, wishing she could read his mind.
“Well, we didn’t want them doing what I suspect you’re talking about,” Spencer added. “It’s just us over there now. Renee moved what she wanted out of her apartment in town back to her parents’ house. We can’t secure her family farm. It simply isn’t gonna happen with just the two of us. You know what? Let’s finish this convo after dinner. There’s some…stuff we need to cover that’s something we should talk about.”
They nodded, and Tristan asked Finnegan about throwing knives with Kaia. He was one sad little boy but perked up whenever Tristan was around. She knew how he felt. Tristan was their light in the darkness, their beacon of hop
e, and the life-raft they were all clinging to.
Next, their group discussed gasoline supplies and the amount of wood they had split.
“Electric will go within months,” Spencer said.
Tristan nodded. “Yeah, I figure that, too. Somebody’s gotta work at the power plants.”
“But we have a power plant right outside our town,” Avery said.
“Isn’t gonna matter,” Tristan explained. “Power plants run on coal, some on natural gas, but if nobody’s there to keep things maintained, make sure the transformers don’t blow in bad storms, it won’t last forever.”
Spencer added, “I think the government’s trying to do the best they can right now, but without enough manpower, it’s all going to collapse.”
“What would we do for electricity?” she asked with worry.
“We’ll have to use oil lamps sparingly after dark, firewood for heat and cooking and warmth,” Tristan answered her.
“What about a generator? My dad has one in the barn,” she added.
Spencer shook his head, “If it runs on gas, then it won’t matter once we run out.”
Nothing seemed like it was going to work out for them. Her world was collapsing around her, and she felt suffocated. She was responsible for her four siblings. She had to keep them alive.
“Hey,” Tristan said gently to gain her attention as Spencer and Abraham discussed alternative energy sources, “Don’t worry. It’ll be okay.”
She tried to offer a grin. Instead, she just gave him a nod.
When dinner was over, for which everyone thanked her, she had the kids do the cleanup and took everyone up to her apartment where they could speak in private. Abraham was allowed to be with them. Tristan told her it was important not to baby him now. He needed to grow up and fast, which he seemed to have no problem doing.
“What I was saying before,” Spencer started by explaining what he saw the other night, “is that I found one of her cows dead out in the pasture. It was…I don’t know, man. It was ripped apart.”
“Same as what I saw in the city that night,” Tristan told them. “One of them was eating an animal in the middle of the road.”
Avery was sitting on the leather sofa while her brother stood and Tristan perched on the arm. Renee sat beside her while Spencer took a seat on one of the kitchen stools at the island.
“It was one of them kneeling right in the middle of the damn road eating a cat,” he clarified. “I…never seen shit like that before. I’ve seen a lot, too.”
“Yeah, your unit’s seen about all that there is to see, huh? All the nasty, horrible things humanity had to offer,” Spencer commented.
“Apparently not all,” Tristan corrected.
Avery tried not to flinch. Then she felt his hand slide down to the middle of her back to rub up and down gently. It was comforting. He was a trained killer, a mercenary used by the Army to do just that, but his touch with her was soft and caring.
“But we aren’t gonna be able to hold down the fort over there for much longer,” Spencer said, sending Renee a concerned glance. Her friend looked tired and spent, not her usual carefree self at all. “Three houses down got broken into the other night. We found the neighbors dead the next morning. They were older, so we were trying to check on them as often as possible. But I’m telling you, we’re going to be in trouble soon. And, dude, I don’t think it was those crawlers that did it. I think they were looters.”
“Just move in here,” Avery instantly thought.
Renee nodded slowly. “We were hoping you’d say that, Ave.”
“You can have my apartment.”
Renee’s eyes teared up. “That’s so generous.”
“You’re my best friend, Renee,” she told her and got a huge hug in return.
Tristan broke in to ask, “What about the animals at your farm?”
“That’s the part we’re not sure of. The cows,” Spencer said and paused, “I know it sounds harsh, but we may need them later for meat. I don’t know how long this is gonna drag on, but we don’t want to starve. We’ve got the kids to think of, too.”
“Right,” Tristan agreed and crossed his thick arms. Avery slipped her hand under his bicep and linked her fingers with his. He gave hers a reassuring squeeze. “When we raid the base tonight, there’s a skid of unopened MRE’s in the one storage area.”
“What’s that mean?” Renee asked.
“Meal Ready to Eat,” he explained.
Spencer laughed, “Yeah, don’t get excited. They’re pretty gross. Don’t recommend them, but if you’re gonna resort to eating one, then you’ll be glad you have it. Better than starving.”
“Good point,” Avery said. “Well, the cows won’t be a problem. We’ve got the Stephens farm right behind us.” She rose to walk to the wall of windows and pointed. “See that? Their property butts right up to the fence in our backyard. Actually, that’s their fence. My dad just reinforced our side with chain-link to keep the chickens in our own yard.” They joined her.
“How much land is over there, Ave?” Renee asked as Tristan rested his hand on her lower back again.
“Hm, I think Dad said once that they owned about a hundred or maybe two hundred acres,” she speculated, trying to remember. “They’ve got a big barn, too. That could provide some shelter if you needed it for the cows when the weather gets bad.”
“And hay storage,” she said.
“How many horses and cows are you talking?” Tristan asked.
“We have seven horses and thirteen black Angus,” Renee answered. “One’s a bull, and I know for sure that six of the heifers are pregnant, due this winter in January or so. I know that’s a lot.”
“Not if they’ve got a couple hundred acres,” Spencer said.
“Look, city boy,” Renee teased and hugged around his middle. “I know you like pretending you’re a cowboy, but I know the farm stuff.”
He smiled down at her and kissed her nose. “I’m gonna get some assless chaps.”
“Ooh, I might wanna’ see that.”
“Alright, you two,” Tristan joked. “How are we gonna move them here?”
“I’ve got a horse trailer and a stock trailer. That’s for hauling cows. It’s gonna take a lot of trips. Obviously. But I can use my dad’s truck.”
“And I’ll use mine,” Tristan volunteered. “We’ll make half the trips.”
“The problem is fencing,” she said. “They’ll just take off if they aren’t fenced in.”
“There is fencing out there because he had cows, too,” Avery said. “But I don’t know how great it is anymore. Nobody’s been maintaining it for a while.”
“We’ll check it out,” Spencer said. “First thing tomorrow.”
Renee added, “And I have a lot of fencing materials at the farm.”
“I’m sure that farmer had stuff, too,” Tristan stated as they all watched the sun get lower in the sky beyond that massive pasture.
“I also have plenty of hay to winter the animals. Don’t know what we’ll do next year, but hopefully, things get better by then. I don’t know anything about growing, cutting or baling hay. My dad either bought it or had the neighbor make ours for a split.”
“Yeah, I doubt any of us know that,” Tristan said.
She also said, “And most animals need at least a little grain to get through a hard winter. We’ve got enough for probably two months at the farm. They’ll need corn, crimped oats, anything. Helps keep them warm,”
“We can maybe get more at the feed mill in town,” Tristan said. “I’ve driven past it. I know they have grain there, right?”
“Yeah, we’ve gone to that one before when we’re low or our supplier is running behind,” Renee told him. “They’ve got pretty good grain.”
“We’ll hit it tomorrow,” Tristan said. “We might have to split up to get this all done.”
“Yeah, I think so, too. When we’re done tonight, I’m gonna head back to the farm. Renee will be there by herself for a while whe
n we leave for the base, so…”
“Wait, that might not be a good idea,” Tristan stated. “She can’t be there alone. Definitely not in light of what’s been going on over there.”
“I could go there and help protect the farm,” her little brother said so bravely. It was the first time he’d spoken during the meeting.
“What?” Avery said quickly. She didn’t like that idea at all.
“I’d be okay, Ave,” Abraham said. “I’ve got Tristan’s gun.”
“We’ve got guns, too,” Renee said. “The firepower isn’t the problem. It’s the manpower we’re short on.”
“And the location’s bad,” Tristan commented. “Too close to the road. At least here, it’s out in the boonies. Someone would have to know to look for this place in order to find it. The road isn’t much, either. Most people wouldn’t even come down it thinking there’s houses out here. But Abraham could probably go to help keep an eye on her and the farm while we’re at the base.”
“I agree,” Spencer said. “We won’t be long at the base. I could zip back to the farm fast.”
“Why don’t I go with Tristan and you guys stay on the farm?” Avery suggested.
“A lot of what we’ll be moving is heavy,” Tristan said. “You just had surgery. I think we’ll stick with the plan.”
She nodded but felt apprehensive about it.
As the sun set, Avery watched the men prepare to leave for the base. They agreed to meet at Renee’s farm in the morning to begin loading cows and horses and hay into the trailers and that Abraham would just stay there with Renee and Spencer until they arrived.
“Tristan,” she said to him near his truck. He looked down at her with serious intent in his blue eyes. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
“Sure,” he answered and led her away from the group where Spencer was giving final instructions to Renee. “What’s up?”
“What if I left Kaia and Ephraim to watch over the house, and I went over to Renee’s with her and Abraham? It sounds like they need more help. This place has never had anyone come and attempt to loot it, and I could help her pack.”
