Johnny G thought about it. The smart thing to do would be to let the Fitzgeralds move out of Marcus Hook. Far, far away from Marcus Hook, but dang it all, he didn’t want Riley to leave. Sometimes he thought he was a big fool and chuckled to himself.
“I think it’d be an excellent idea. We’ll need a good location. Somewhere close, accessible,” he said.
Roscoe grinned. “I already have a good spot picked out. How about I show it this evening after dinner?”
“Alright, I’m good with it,” Johnny G said. “I’ll find Riley and get it arranged.”
The men talked about a couple of other issues before Johnny G left and went to find Riley. He found her in the cafeteria talking with a couple of men. She looked up when he approached and grinned.
“They’re telling me I need to come work with them in the refinery. What do you think?” she asked with a mischievous grin.
“Yeah, that’s a possibility,” Johnny G said with his own smile. “If you two don’t mind, I need to speak with Riley a minute. Come with me,” he said and led her out into the hallway. She listened as he explained. When he finished, she bit her lower lip in thought a moment.
“Is this your idea or Roscoe’s?” she asked.
“It is originally Roscoe’s, but the more I think about it, the more I like it.”
“Why?”
“Because this way we won’t be apart,” he said.
When he said it, her face lit up. “Really?”
“Yep.”
“Okay, I’ll tell dad,” she said. “But I don’t think he’ll go for it. The whole reason for setting up the trading post away from Marcus Hook is so that we won’t be controlled by anyone. He called it automation or something.”
“Autonomy,” he corrected with a patient smile. “I understand his feelings on it, but I think we’ll have a proposal he’ll be agreeable to. Besides, if you move, who is going to take care of your sexual appetite?”
Riley’s grin turned into a mock frown. “Damn, I don’t know.” She then laughed. “Okay, I’ll let him know.”
The meeting took place two hours after dinner. Roscoe and Johnny G were sitting in their car on Flower Street at the base of the bridge crossing the Delaware River.
“You told them to keep this get together to themselves, right?” Roscoe asked.
Johnny G nodded in the darkness. “I told them,” he said.
“Good. I love everyone here, but there’s a couple of our residents who’d try to assert themselves as having the right to first dibs because they’ve lived here longer.”
Johnny G didn’t respond. They’d already discussed all this, but Roscoe had a way of repeating things when he was nervous. It didn’t bother Johnny though, he liked listening to his friend talk things out. Headlights appeared and soon they could see the Fitzgeralds’ SUV.
“That’s them,” Johnny G said.
He heard Roscoe mutter something and glanced over.
“They’ve brought company,” he said.
Johnny G focused back on the car. The driver parked the SUV and five people got out. In addition to the Fitzgeralds, there was also Irena Fleming and her daughter, Hermione. Except for the age difference, the mother and daughter looked a lot alike. Both had average features with plain brown hair and oversized breasts.
“Is that the Fleming gals?” Roscoe whispered. “What the hell are they doing here?”
“I don’t know if you’ve been keeping up with the local gossip, but Trader Joe has hooked up with Irena and his son is shagging the daughter,” Johnny G said.
Roscoe grunted. “Well, I guess it’s just as well. If this thing works out, they will need workers. I guess it’s better to utilize those two rather than take away any of our skilled laborers. Let’s get this started.”
Johnny G zipped his jacket up. He left the car running and the two men got out. The others approached the headlights and Johnny G found himself staring at Irena. She was wearing a heavy jacket, but he knew there were a big set of D’s, maybe double D’s hiding in there. She was in her late thirties, and if Johnny G was not aware of her true nature, he would’ve considered her a fairly attractive woman.
When her husband, Clay, had been found guilty of murder and banished to the middle of nowhere, she turned her back on him. She did not even go visit him at Mount Weather to tell him goodbye. Johnny G was a man who had always had a proclivity for a healthy set of breasts, but the fact that she did that to her husband did not sit well with him, so he kept his distance.
“Hello, everyone,” Roscoe greeted. “I’m glad you guys came.”
“It’s cold out here,” Hermione complained.
“Yes, it is,” Roscoe replied with a grin. “So, let’s get to it, shall we?” He raised his arm and made a broad waving motion to his right. “What do you think?”
All of them turned and stared at what Roscoe was gesturing at.
“Isn’t that a soccer stadium?” Little Joe asked.
“Indeed, it is,” Roscoe said. “Unused since the ungodly plague manifested itself. A couple of years ago a few of us explored the place. There were a few zeds, not many. The place is mostly intact except for the plumbing. The years of harsh winters has ruined it and there is some associated water damage. Nothing that a little hard work can’t fix.”
All five of them stared a long, quiet moment at the stadium. It was Trader Joe who finally spoke first.
“Are you proposing using it as a trading post?” he asked.
“Yes, sir, I am,” Roscoe said.
The headlights illuminated Trader Joe’s puzzled frown.
“We need a warehouse type of structure; that won’t work,” Little Joe said, pointing at the stadium.
Riley, who had slowly but steadily worked her way over to Johnny G, looked up to him questioningly. He cleared his throat and spoke up.
“Joe, you strike me as an educated man. How versed are you in the ancient Greek city-states?”
Trader Joe stared in confusion at Johnny G and Roscoe. He turned toward the soccer stadium and stared a moment longer before understanding. He smiled slightly.
“Dad, what is he talking about?” Little Joe asked.
“These two men are suggesting we convert the stadium into a modern-day agora,” he said.
“Yes,” Roscoe said in almost a shout.
“What’s an agora?” Hermione asked.
“Isn’t it a type of open-air market?” Riley asked.
“Yes, exactly,” Roscoe replied. “In the Greek city-states, their original purpose was a gathering place to muster the military and for the announcement of public statements from the king to the commoners, but they became much more. Everyone came to congregate and socialize. Entrepreneurs recognized the opportunity and set up their markets. It was extremely successful.”
Trader Joe returned his gaze to the dark stadium and bit on his lower lip in thought. “An agora,” he muttered, mostly to himself. He absently scratched his beard and muttered something else that nobody could make out. Riley leaned her head back. Johnny G bent forward slightly so she could whisper in his ear.
“That’s his way when he’s thinking hard about something.”
Johnny G glanced at Roscoe and suppressed a smile. Roscoe saw and knew he needed to set the hook.
“I don’t know if you’re aware of it, but a few years ago when Zach and his people were living in Tennessee, they put together a rendezvous.”
Irena interrupted him. “What the hell is a rendezvous? You two throw out fancy foreign words and do nothing but confuse everyone.”
Johnny G scowled in the dark but kept his tone pleasant. “It is a planned, organized gathering of people from all around the area for the purpose of performing trade and other associated business.”
“I remember Zach talking about that. He said it was extremely successful,” Riley added.
“Yes, it was,” Roscoe said. “He made a detailed report on everything they did, how they set it up, what worked, what didn’t, and so on.”
<
br /> “I believe I’d like to read that report,” Trader Joe said.
“Me too,” Riley quickly said.
“I’ll get you two a copy in the morning,” Roscoe replied. “My proposal is this; you remodel the stadium any way you see fit and we will proclaim it to be the official Marcus Hook agora. Johnny and I would like to see it set up and ready no later than April and we’ll kick it off by having a rendezvous.”
“Interesting,” Trader Joe said and scratched his beard again. “Will we have a free hand in what we do?”
“Yes, you will,” Roscoe answered. “You’re only limited by your imagination what you can create here.” He pointed at it again. “There is plenty of room here. We’ll have no problem incorporating a fortified building to use as a storage warehouse.”
Johnny G wondered what Trader Joe meant by that question but kept silent. Trader Joe’s next question surprised him though.
“What do the folks at Mount Weather think about this?”
“They don’t know anything about it,” Johnny G said. “They will eventually, but not now.”
“Why not?” Irena asked.
“We want it to be a happy surprise,” Roscoe said with a smile. In truth, neither he nor Johnny G wanted any meddling by the current Mount Weather administration.
“What if Zach was still at Mount Weather?” Riley asked.
“I wish he were,” Roscoe said. “Zach made our partnership with Mount Weather tenable and positive.”
“So, you don’t like President VanAllen?” Irena asked. There was an edge to her tone.
“Just the opposite,” Johnny G said with a straight face. He heard a slight scoff from Riley. “We are going to continue our alliance with Mount Weather and the commitment to rebuild America. This will be a small yet significant step in the right direction.”
“It should have been done a couple of years ago,” Little Joe griped.
“You’re right,” Johnny G said. “This is late in coming, but we’ve had so many projects with a higher priority this one kept getting put on the back burner. Besides, nobody wanted to undertake this job, until now.”
“Interesting,” Trader Joe said again. “Explain to me again why this is secret?”
“We don’t want too many cooks in the kitchen,” Roscoe said. “If we announced this project, we have a few people here who would decide they needed to be the ones running it and the politicians at Mount Weather would want to form a special planning and oversight committee. Do you know what they’d do then? They’d create all kinds of unnecessary work for you people to do.”
“And rules,” Johnny G added.
“Yep,” Roscoe agreed. “They won’t come here and help out with the manual labor, but they’ll damn sure create more work for you and they’ll create all kinds of rules for you to follow.”
Trader Joe nodded. “I agree with that assessment, but at some point people will start asking questions about what is going on here.”
“Once we get everything in place, we’ll make a local announcement, but we see no reason to tell Mount Weather until we’re ready for the rendezvous. If questions are asked, we’ll tell them it’s business as usual around here,” Roscoe said.
“Mushroom effect,” Little Joe said.
Hermione, who had been standing quietly beside Little Joe, looked up at him. “Mushroom effect? What’s that?”
“Feed them a lot of shit and keep them in the dark,” he said.
Hermione giggled and squeezed his hand. Roscoe gave a good-natured laugh as well.
“Exactly,” he said. “We are going to take active measures to prevent their meddling.”
Trader Joe and his son looked at each other. “What do you think, son?”
“It’s going to take a lot of work,” Little Joe said.
“We’re no strangers to hard work, son. The question is, do we want to scrap our other project and start on this one?”
“You can still keep the other warehouse for secret storage,” Johnny G said. “If this place doesn’t work out, you can revert to that warehouse.”
Trader Joe stared hard at Johnny G a moment. “Interesting. Interesting indeed.”
“We can have our own planning committee and work out the details, but make no mistake, we want you to run it. It’ll be your baby,” Roscoe said.
Trader Joe nodded. “Alright, you’ve given us a lot to think about. I admit, it’s tempting, but there are reasons why we were originally planning on creating a trading post away from Marcus Hook.”
“You are worried about what kind or rules we will impose on you,” Roscoe said.
“That’s it in a nutshell,” Trader Joe agreed.
“If you choose to locate here, you’ll be mostly autonomous,” Johnny G said. “But when anyone mentions the Fitzgeralds’ trading post in Marcus Hook, we want it to have a reputation for honesty and integrity.”
“Goes without saying,” Trader Joe said. “But we may be dealing in products or services that were considered illegal, back in the day. What do you two think of that?”
“As long as it does not involve the exploitation of people, especially children, we don’t see a problem,” Roscoe said and then glanced at Johnny G, who nodded in agreement.
“We’re not going to run a charity service either,” Little Joe said. “We’re doing this to improve our status in life.”
“You’re a capitalist, understood,” Johnny G said.
“So, what if we bartered in marijuana or drugs?” Little Joe asked.
“Not our concern,” Johnny G said.
“What about prostitutes?”
Johnny G shrugged. “Same answer, but I am curious, where the hell are you going to find these prostitutes?”
Trader Joe laughed. “It’s doubtful we’ll find any at all, but if we do, we don’t want any grief about it.”
“You won’t get any,” Johnny G promised. “As long as they’re treated well and not exploited.”
There were a few more questions and answers, and it could’ve gone on all night, but it was getting colder and the Flemings started complaining.
“You’ve given us a lot to think about,” Trader Joe said. “When will you need an answer?”
“Why don’t you talk it over amongst yourselves and get back to us in a day or so?” Roscoe suggested.
“You got it.”
Roscoe grinned. “Excellent. Now, let’s get back to where it’s nice and warm.” He clapped his hands together as he looked around. “This is a historical moment. I cannot wait to log it in my journal.”
“That went well, don’t you think?” Roscoe asked as they drove back home.
“They’re going to do it,” Johnny G said. “Joe Senior just wants to think it over and make sure he’s not forgetting to ask for anything.”
“We’re going to need to create a formal contract,” Roscoe said. “Do you think he’ll agree to that?”
“I believe so.”
“Alright, good. So, you and Riley seem to be getting along,” Roscoe said with a small grin.
“Yeah, I’m sure everyone knows about it by now.”
“Yep, most likely,” Roscoe said. His grin broadened but he said nothing else.
Chapter 35 – After the Trading Post Meeting
After the meeting with the Fitzgeralds, Johnny G turned down the offer of a nightcap with Roscoe and went back to his room. It was small, one of the smallest ones in the building, but that was fine with him. One main room with a desk and bed, a counter that held a coffee pot that he never used, and a bathroom with a working shower. He didn’t need much because he wasn’t here much. Sleeping and showering were the only things he needed the place for. A typical day started at five and he often did not return until midnight.
This particular day went well, and he managed to finish up his duties in a timely manner. He did his rounds after dinner and slipped into bed well before midnight. A soft, insistent knocking on his door awakened him from a deep slumber.
Crawling out of his warm b
ed, he peered out the peep hole out of habit, even though he already knew who it was. He had hoped he was going to get a full night’s sleep, but he wasn’t angry when Riley walked in. She kissed him deeply before he got the door closed. Johnny G glanced up and down the hallway before shutting and locking the door.
She had been living in a nearby house with her father and brother, but she’d been finding her way into his bed every night since the night with the vodka. That was four days ago, maybe? He was too sleepy to do the math. When he turned around, Riley was already shedding her clothes. He watched her, and as tired as he was, he still felt a stirring. He crawled in bed before she noticed. She got in a moment later and snuggled up against him.
Zombie Rules | Book 8 | Who The Hell Is That? Page 20
