Miracles

by Thomas A. Watson

  Nodding, “We will,” Shawn said. Taking a breath and cringing, “Arthur, why did you plant grass and clover in the area we cleared outside the fence? Deer love this crap,” Shawn asked. “I thought we didn’t want carnivores coming here to eat stuff.”

  Putting his hand on Shawn’s shoulder, “Why Shawn, I think you’re accusing me of purposefully drawing in herbivores just to keep vicious animals near our fence,” Arthur said, giving a very fake gasp. “I would never want vicious critters near our fence like that. What would happen if someone came calling? They might get hurt. I just don’t like exposed dirt.”

  Not feeling like a total idiot because he’d pieced some of it together, Shawn gave a chuckle. “Well, I’m glad you did,” he said.

  Noticing the dogs move, Shawn looked down to see both standing and then felt Arthur’s hand grab his shoulder and pull. After Arthur shoved Shawn behind him, he then pulled Kirk back too. “What?” Kirk whispered. “I haven’t taken my eyes off the woods.”

  “I know,” Arthur mumbled, gripping his AR and they both heard the click as Arthur flipped the safety off. They both turned and motioned to the others to get down. When the others saw Arthur looking into the trees, they stopped work and pulled up weapons as they ran for cover.

  “Both of you ease to the corner of the fence,” Arthur told them in a low voice.

  Neither complained nor questioned as they eased back to the fence and Shawn realized Arthur was offering himself as a target. Kirk kneeled on one knee as Shawn stood over him, but both kept their weapons pointed at the ground. Across from them, they saw Todd at the other corner aiming where Arthur and the dogs were staring.

  Both turned back and Shawn squinted his eyes, trying to see into the forest. Catching movement, he focused and felt his heart speed up seeing something easing through the trees toward them. “It’s a person,” Kirk whispered.

  “I only see one, how about you?” Shawn asked, wishing Arthur would get his ass behind the fence.

  “Just one,” Kirk answered when the figure stepped into the cleared track.

  Shawn’s mouth fell open staring at the nude figure, and he knew it was a crazy. Then he really considered if it was Gollum from Lord of the Rings. It was wiry and thin with stringy hair like Gollum but until he noticed between the legs, he didn’t know it was a female.

  “Shit,” Arthur grumbled, snapping his rifle up and they heard the suppressor cough three times and the sonic crack of the bullets. The figure flinched three times and they saw the bullets hit the chest. The crazy gave a gurgled growl as she grasped her chest and stumbled back.

  When the figure dropped to her knees, Shawn glanced over and saw Arthur had lowered his rifle but was still scanning the trees. Wondering why Arthur didn’t shoot the crazy in the head, Shawn turned back when the crazy fell back and kicked her feet against the ground. It was six minutes before the figure became still. Only when the dogs sat back down and Arthur relaxed did everyone else.

  “I hit her in both lungs and her heart, did everyone notice how long it took her to die?” Arthur called out.

  “A long time,” Andrea answered, stepping from behind the track steer holding her rifle.

  “It’s not Hollywood. Sometimes even a headshot doesn’t put your target down fast, so remember it. You shoot to kill and don’t turn your back until you know they’re dead,” Arthur said, flipping his safety on.

  “I thought it was Gollum!” Kirk cried out as he stood up. Shawn gave a nod, glad he wasn’t the only one who’d thought Gollum had come for a visit.

  Chapter Sixteen

  What did you call me?

  Arthur finally moved back to the fence, making everyone feel better. “I have watch, Kirk, get something to drink and sit down. Shawn, make sure the generator is hooked up. When the cement trucks are in, I want the gate closed,” he told them.

  “Want to try it first?” Shawn offered.

  Shaking his head, “No, just in case we can’t open it up if the last section throws the gate off. I really don’t want to have Wendy drive her caravan down the valley to the lower gate,” Arthur answered, and Shawn had to admit that was sound thinking, even though he wanted the gate closed.

  Moving over to the generator, he checked it over. He and Kirk were unofficially designated Arthur’s assistants. That’s why they kept working with Arthur at the end of the day when everyone else stopped. He had taken them on a few sweeps around the area but never to any towns or actively hunting for gangs, but they were hopeful that would change.

  Finding the generator ready, Shawn stepped back and looked along the fence. Starting at the ten-foot section past the gate, there was a concrete slab.

  After Arthur had started working on the gate, he’d had others in his crew pull up excavators and start digging behind the fence. Needless to say, this made Shawn nervous. He didn’t want the fence to fall down, but he’d never voiced his fears. Between the two posts of each section, a hole six feet deep was dug and then dug out ten feet back. Everyone had seen the diagrams Arthur had drawn up, but it seemed only Joseph understood them without explanation.

  Standing in the first hole, Shawn could clearly see the back of the board at the bottom of the fence that had nails and screws driven through it to keep animals from digging under the fence. It just freaked him out that the front of the board was still buried while the back was exposed with the hole.

  Then concrete reinforcing mesh was used to line the hole. With Arthur showing everyone on the first one, he’d driven rebar into the ground in a row along the fence, then the other rows. When he was finished, there were five rebar poles in three rows with the furthest almost four feet from the fence. Knowing concrete was involved was all Shawn could admit to. One thing everyone now knew was how to work with concrete. It was bad when a seven-year-old could tell Sutton he hadn’t mixed enough concrete for a pour.

  But when Andrea had started filling the hole with rocks, this was what’d thrown Shawn. These rocks were big, ranging in size from a grapefruit to a basketball. If rocks were used in concrete it was tiny rocks, or what Shawn learned was called aggregate. To him, it was small rocks only.

  When the hole was nearly filled, Arthur had stopped Andrea and showed them how he’d wanted the rock layer to stop below the level of the hole. After everyone said they understood, Arthur had turned them loose as he’d gone back to work. Glad Arthur had found a use for the mass of rocks, Shawn and the others had gone to work, but even Shawn had thought this was a waste of concrete. Sure, it would be impossible to dig under, but the fence was only wood.

  Going three hundred yards on the right, digging holes like they were shown, Arthur stopped them and had them do the same on the left side. Then two days ago, Wendy had left with her group in eight cement trucks. When she’d returned, the holes were filled. What shocked Shawn was how much cement was used. He knew without the big rocks, a single hole would take more than one cement truck to fill. But with the rocks, one truck could fill three holes.

  Arthur didn’t even bother smoothing out the concrete and the rows of rebar protruded through the slab by two feet. The only thing Arthur had them do was run the vibrators, which were just long rods that shook out air pockets. Normally, this was easy but with the big ass rocks, it was a challenge.

  Hearing engines approaching, Shawn moved back by the generator but couldn’t see out the gate. It wasn’t long and he saw an MRAP pull in with Sarah driving and Ellie on the remote gun station. They pulled off to the side and eight cement trucks rolled in and parked around the clearing. “Close it up!” Arthur shouted and Shawn turned the generator on and grabbed the control box. When he flipped the lever, Shawn gave a sigh to watch the massive gate seem to glide over the ground closing the opening.

  He held his hand on the lever to stop the gate as it neared the new section but it rolled on without pause and for the first time, stopped on its own. On each side of the opening was over seven feet of thick steel overlapping the opening, and Shawn gave another sigh.

  Se
eing Arthur wave him over, Shawn set the control box down and ran over. “See if Todd needs any help,” Arthur said as Wendy jumped out of one of the cement trucks. Even though he had seen it before, Shawn still laughed watching Jo Ann climb out of one cement truck and Sally another one. Both girls climbed out from the driver’s seats. The twins had a birthday and Wendy gave them boots like she wore. Arthur gave them AR15s he put together for them, smaller versions of what Wendy carried. “I know it’s cute, but don’t laugh too hard at the twins,” Arthur told him in a low voice.

  Clamping his mouth shut, Shawn moved over to the other side and stopped, seeing a wooden wall five feet tall behind the main fence. Then realized it looked more like a box than a wall. There was still six feet of concrete exposed behind the short box. “Fuck it, I’m asking,” he snapped at himself and spun around.

  He saw Wendy hugging Arthur as he waited. “Any trouble?” Arthur asked her.

  “No, but saw a shitload of ants on that pile of bodies near Russellville. We also saw more crazies than usual, I counted thirty-three,” Wendy shivered. “Jo Ann thought someone had covered the bodies in paint, but I assured her it was ants and we weren’t getting any closer to look. How about here?”

  Giving a slow nod, “Had a crazy show up about half an hour ago,” Arthur sighed, and Wendy’s smile fell off. “Right outside the gate.”

  “You killed it?” Wendy asked, and Arthur nodded. At first, Shawn thought it was a stupid question, then realized Wendy was really asking if someone else had killed it.

  “I’m starting the last section of fence over the stream bed tomorrow. We’ll push back the other gates until that’s done,” Arthur said, and for the first time in Shawn’s eyes, Arthur looked tired. “I want you to take another MRAP for security tomorrow on the concrete runs. Don’t like the fact you spotted that many crazies.”

  “Thank you for not saying you were going to do it,” Wendy told him.

  With all the cement they were using, Shawn was getting worried that they would run out. It wasn’t until he’d driven one of the cement trucks and found out Arthur was loading up at a cement plant just forty miles away that he’d understood. There was a railyard with loaded cars and one of the biggest buildings he had ever seen that was measured in acres, not feet. Inside the building was a mountain of cement and a conveyer to load it into railcars.

  “Wish I could, but I need to be here on this section,” Arthur told her, then noticed Shawn standing to the side. “Problem?”

  “No, but I give up,” Shawn sighed. “What the hell did you pour blocks of concrete in the dirt for? Now you have a five-foot-tall wooden box built behind the fence filled with rocks.”

  Wendy laughed and popped Arthur on the butt. “Gather the others so they can all hear, then we can start,” she said.

  Not surprised Wendy knew, Shawn followed Arthur to the fence as he called out for the others to join them. When everyone was gathered, Arthur pointed at the box. “We fill it with rocks just like the footing,” he said slowly to see if anyone caught on.

  Letting out a cheer as she jumped in the air, Andrea cried out, “We’re building another wall!”

  “It’s five feet tall,” Shawn huffed waving at the box.

  “She’s right,” Arthur said, and Andrea bounced up and down cheering louder. “We’ll build it up in five foot sections. We’re doing the area around the gates since that’s the easiest breach point, but we’ll slowly expand it out.”

  Feeling bad that he hadn’t guessed, but really liking the idea of a rock and concrete fence, “Define slowly,” Shawn asked.

  Shrugging, “I’m hoping for three hundred yards a month,” Arthur answered, and Andrea stopped cheering as the others looked at Arthur in shock. Even the twins understood that was going to take a long time. “Yes, using that schedule, the rock wall won’t be finished for six years, just about the time when the wooden fence will be showing signs of exposure.”

  “That’s forever!” Jo Ann shouted.

  “Can’t we do more in a month?” Todd asked timidly. “I know from what you’ve taught us on concrete using rocks like that, it won’t be as strong but it’ll form a barrier that’s harder to knock down.”

  “Very good, Todd,” Arthur grinned, then looked around the group. “Guys, we have mountains of projects to do. If we don’t get greenhouses up, we’ll have to start skimping on the meals. This group eats a fucking lot, like two hundred pounds a day, and the greenhouses we have now can’t keep up. Our saving grace is our garden is nearing harvest because our pantry’s nearly empty. We have meat, milk and eggs aplenty, but not fruits and vegetables.”

  “This sucks ass! I like the rock fence and we can’t even work harder to get it up faster, damn it!” Sally shouted and stomped her foot. Everyone cast wary eyes expecting a retort, but were surprised when Wendy didn’t snap at Arthur so they figured Sally had used it in the proper context.

  “Yeah,” Jo Ann huffed. “That’s why the last little pig stayed safe, his bitchin’ house was built of bricks, which is rocks. I like the wood fence but it’s big sticks, and the second pig didn’t do good with sticks. His punk ass had to run.”

  Cocking his head to the side, Arthur gave a slight nod thinking that both were very valid arguments and Jo Ann got kudo points for the three little pigs analogy. “Well, we can only do so much, and if the big bad wolf shows up I’ll rip his balls off when he huffs and puffs, then he can blow me,” Arthur chuckled.

  Standing side-by-side, the twins cocked their heads to the right. “But when the wolf blew on the pigs, that was bad because he knocked over their houses,” Sally said, and Jo Ann nodded.

  “Why would you want the wolf to blow you?” Jo Ann asked.

  The older kids snickered as Wendy turned to Arthur, rolling her eyes. “They’re our little girls, tell them the difference, I dare you. They may be nine now, but you’ll wake up with Kong in the bed,” Wendy vowed.

  Turning to the twins, “I would shoot the wolf before I let him huff and puff,” Arthur told the twins and then started to walk off. “You ever let Kong in the house and I’ll let him eat Mickey and Minnie,” he told Wendy over his shoulder.

  Seeing the twins turn to her to ask questions, “Not now,” Wendy told them, and they slumped their shoulders. “Let’s get this done so if the big bad wolf does show up, the fence will be harder to knock over.”

  Working hard, the group was done before five and headed back to the valley. Arthur did stop at the house on the way because Vicki called over the radio announcing Nicole wanted her Arthur and wouldn’t stop crying.

  After Arthur jumped out of the truck, Shawn climbed over behind the steering wheel while he ran for the house. “Shawn,” Kirk said from the backseat. “Can we get as smart as Arthur?”

  “He’s told both of us we could be smarter,” Shawn reminded Kirk.

  “You don’t think Pops was just being nice?”

  “Oh, I’m sure he was, but Pops doesn’t lie to us, does he?” Shawn asked as Arthur came out with Nicole in the baby sling across his chest.

  Shaking his head, “No, Pops doesn’t lie, even if you want him to sometimes,” Kirk admitted.

  Looking up and seeing Shawn in the driver’s seat, Arthur climbed in the passenger side. “Let’s go,” Arthur said, then looked down at Nicole. “You were crying so hard you’re splotchy, blue eyes.”

  Putting the truck in drive, “Pops, I asked you twice today if you wanted me to go and get Nicole,” Shawn said.

  “I asked once,” Kirk chimed in from the back.

  “I don’t like her around when I’m welding,” Arthur told them. “She needs to learn that she can stay with the other little kids.”

  Pulling up to stick his head over the front seat, “Just don’t make a habit out of leaving her,” Kirk told him. “Nicole is special, and you need to quit being mean to her.”

  “I’ve never been mean to blue eyes,” Arthur gasped, and Shawn turned to hide his smirk.

  “Leaving her like that when she�
�s been right next to you for so long, I think she sees that as being mean. Shawn and I can help take care of her since you never let all three of us work at the same time,” Kirk offered.

  Looking down at Nicole who was smiling up at him now, “I would never be mean to you, blue eyes,” Arthur cooed.

  Driving over the bridge, Shawn knew everyone treated Nicole different. After he’d heard the story, even Skannish babied Nicole more. Because Nicole had survived to give Arthur a reason to stay, everyone rationalized she had saved them all.

  “Um, where am I driving?” Shawn asked, reaching the valley and didn’t see anyone. At the end of the day, normally everyone met up where they parked the vehicles and went over what was accomplished that day and what changes needed to be made. The vehicles were parked along the valley in their spots, but there wasn’t anyone around.

  Glancing over, “The spillway,” Arthur answered, then went back to playing with Nicole and making her giggle.

  Confused to say the least, Shawn sped down the valley and soon spotted a large collection of side by sides and buggies. A large group was on the levee, and it looked like kids were sliding down the grass slope on cardboard.

  Pulling to a stop, Shawn shut the Blazer down and heard Kirk jump out the back. He never had time to turn around and check before seeing Kirk run past the front of the Blazer, heading for the group sliding down the grass slope of the levee.

  Thinking that looked fun, Shawn suppressed the desire to be a kid as he got out slowly, but was watching the laughing and playing with a longing. “Shawn, make sure the kids stay where they are and not get any closer to the spillway,” Arthur told him getting out.

  A smile sprang upon his face as he jumped out, “Sure thing, Pops!” he shouted, and took off in a run to make sure the kids didn’t slide too close to the spillway.

  Looking down at Nicole, “Shawn needs to remember he’s still a young man and to have some fun when he can,” Arthur told her, and Nicole giggled.