Tertiary Effects Series | Book 3 | Bite of Frost

by Allen, William

  “I didn’t know our discussions were bothering you so much,” I admitted.

  “Sorry,” she whispered. “I’ll try to stay strong. It’s just so hard.”

  “I know it is, honey. But you don’t have to keep the walls up all by yourself anymore.”

  Nancy said nothing, and just burrowed her face into my shirt, nodding as she did so.

  “We don’t even know if those other three rocks are going to hit.” I continued. “I mean, they were wrong last time. We just game plan for what might happen is all. But I want you to understand something. If these rocks do kill us all, then how would you rather go out? Scared and isolated, pushing the rest of the world away? Or surrounded by people who care for you, while being held by someone who loves you more than he can ever express in words?”

  “It just seems so hopeless, Bryan,” Nancy managed to say, and I knew the grim realities were closing in on her briefly lightened mood. “How can I protect my baby from something like that?”

  “We’ll do the best we can,” I replied softly, stroking her hair in the best soothing manner I could muster.

  “Promise me you’ll be there? Whatever comes?”

  “I promise. Whatever comes.”

  Nancy reached up, gripped the back of my head, and pulled me down. When our lips met, all our worries and fears went away, and it was just two people, sharing their love for each other. No, Nancy couldn’t say the words that day, but by her actions this time, but now I knew she didn’t see a monster when she looked at me, and for the time being, that was enough.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  I slept alone again that night, and if I dreamed, they were gone when I awoke. After taking care of my morning chores, I got back in the house just in time to receive a call from Wil, asking if I wanted to go visit with his friend Shawn again.

  This morning’s chores had seemed to drag as I took care of the milking. The temperature hovered right around freezing, and I was thinking how it wouldn’t be long before the snow started to stick again. I saw Billy and Pat out early, as well as a couple of bundled forms that had to be Tammy and Rachel out caring for the chickens.

  Before I left to go meet up with Wil, I called a meeting of the group to be held in the living room. This included everybody under the roof, and it also meant the monitors would be unmanned for the time being. That was a weighed risk, but Pat agreed that it was a reasonable one to make given the circumstances. And it underlined the point I wanted to make.

  “Thanks for taking the time to join us this morning,” I said, addressing the small crowd we’d gathered. “We been working hard over the last few months, and I was asked to bring up a few things today. This is Sunday. Supposed to be a day of rest, but we never rest, do we?”

  “No rest for the wicked,” Nikki popped off, and a chuckle ran through the adults that was not shared by the younger members of the crowd.

  “Don’t pay any attention to Aunt Nikki,” I continued. “She thinks she’s funny, but she’s not.”

  “Yeah, Mom,” Rachel complained, “You’re just like Uncle Bryan.”

  That got another laugh, and this time the whole crowd joined in except for Rachel, who didn’t think it was funny. She’d been serious, obviously.

  “The plan is to get more of you guys involved in making sure we are always working,” I added, raising my voice over the laughter. “That means first, we are not only continuing with school, we are also adding some additional classes.”

  That got the expected groan, and I tried not to grin as the youngsters absorbed the idea of more school. The homeschooling format we’d been using was fine for some subjects, but the additional work would require some classroom participation.

  “First, everybody, including the adults and kids, are going to learn how to fully utilize the video monitoring systems. Sally, you’ve got that duty, right?”

  “I just posted the new list in the kitchen,” Sally confirmed. “After we’re done here, everybody needs to check their time slot for training.”

  “Also, on top of the book learning, Mike will start an advanced science curriculum, including a lab section, that will be open to all of you. That includes you, Hunter.” I pointed at my younger nephew as I finished, because even at his age, the kid was an admitted science nerd. He gave me a gap-toothed grin, showing off more of his absent baby teeth, and made a first pump in the air. Yes, that one would need close supervision, I thought. On the other hand, in a few years, he would likely be Mike’s best lab assistant.

  “Other than these items, we will see what comes next on the curriculum, but I suspect we will have our two newest college graduates,” I gestured grandly in Maddy and Cece’s direction, “teaching some classes in agronomy and animal husbandry.”

  “What is animal husbandry?” Tommy asked his twin, in a voice that was more than likely louder than he intended.

  Tamara shrugged, then responded just loud enough for those of us with sharp ears to discern.

  “Don’t know, but probably something to do with sex. You know Dad doesn’t want to explain that stuff to us.”

  I tried. I really tried not to break up at Tamara’s innocent statement, but the devil must have been sitting on my shoulder that morning, and I couldn’t hold it off. Fortunately, their mother was standing close as well, and her laughter seemed to shake the walls as she let loose, so Marta’s outburst overshadowed my own. With tears in her eyes, my sister-in-law pointed at my brother and silently mouthed, “busted.”

  “Okay,” I added, wiping my own tears,” for those that don’t know, animal husbandry just means the feeding and care of our farm animals. Since Ms. Maddy and Ms. Cece went to school to learn these types of things, it would be a shame for their education to be wasted.”

  “Oh, sign me up for that.” Billy enthused, and he was quickly followed by outcries by the other kids.

  Billy loved his new duties taking care of our farm animals. He had an infectious joy about him that always made me smile. I never thought about Billy Dwyer as being handicapped, because he wasn’t. While some of us adults were hit with the occasional bouts of depression over how the world was affected by Rockfall, Billy was adapting to the changes instead of waiting for the other shoe to drop. The young man might just be the person most well-adjusted to this new world out of all of us.

  “Okay, that’s what I wanted to cover for the continuing education. Next, as all of you know, we recently purchased the Fitts place up the road. We all know how important it is to keep a presence onsite to make sure the house and barns aren’t broken into,” I explained, simplifying matters for our younger crowd. “We have some friends of Wil and Ethan who might move in to occupy the house with an agreement to watch over the property. The family we are considering is actually two couples, and they have some children who we may end up folding into our fledging school system here.”

  “Is it anybody we know?” Rachel asked, I shook my head.

  “No, the Tylers are from Houston, and the Dunbars are from Louisiana. I think the Tylers have three kids, and the Dunbars have a daughter just about your age. Mr. Dunbar is married to Mr. Tyler’s sister, so they are all related. Like I said, though, Mr. Husband and Mr. Huckabee went to school with Mr. Tyler, and his sister, Sherilyn.”

  “Cool,” Tamara enthused, then she wilted a bit. “I wonder if their kids will like me?”

  “Like you? Sweetie, I’m sure they will,” Marta responded in pure ‘Mom mode’.

  “Like I said, we will have to see. Mr. Wil and I are going to go visit with their parents today and talk about whether they want to come out or not. The Fitts house isn’t perfect, but at least the power is back on there.”

  I pitched my response again to the younger members of the group, but the adults should all get the idea. Then I moved on to more practical matters.

  “In addition to the property, Pat reminded me we also acquired an undetermined number of new cattle to add to our own operations. We’ll most likely end up leaving them where they are at least for
the short term, but we need to get over there at some point and get a count.”

  We would eventually want to add these new cattle to our existing herd, if for no other reason than to ease our burden of protecting them. As the infrastructure continued to splinter as we were already witnessing, then having meat on the hoof available would soon become a prime target for rustlers.

  “Now, any questions?”

  “Yeah, what’s for lunch?” Tommy asked, holding his belly theatrically. “I’m starving.”

  That elicited another round of chuckles, but I suddenly felt a chill race up my spine at the words. I hoped to never hear them spoken in anything other than in that same joking manner. In my heart, I knew that before this coming winter passed, there would be many children Tommy’s age repeating that refrain in all earnestness.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Each time I drove the route into town now, I felt my tension ratchet up as soon as we hit the road. We were in Wil’s pickup, and I was again riding shotgun. The frost from this morning lingered on the grass, and the pine needles glistened with hints of crystal as the cloud-shrouded sun sought to break through. The thermometer hanging on the back porch showed 39 degrees when I left the house, but I checked the temperature app on my phone and I wasn’t getting a signal. That was happening more and more often, and I didn’t like the implications.

  “So, you seem tense,” Wil teased. “Just another drive in the countryside, my friend.”

  “Just being watchful,” I retorted, trying to ignore the sense of dread that hung over me. Then I decided to try to change the subject.

  “You think your friend will even be interested in joining us? I mean, we aren’t offering much more than a place to stay and some food aid for them. Not a job offer in the mix or anything like that. And if they abandon the house in town, they can figure somebody will strip it to the studs before Shawn gets a mile outside of town.”

  “All good points, Bryan. But Shawn has a job for now. A dangerous one, and I’ll try to talk him out of it. But he also has family, and I can tell he’s worried sick about them. A place in the country, good neighbors, and sufficient food and ammunition to survive the upcoming unpleasantness? Oh, yeah, if he’s got his head on straight, he’ll jump on the chance. Not so sure about Mac, though.”

  “Don’t trust him?”

  “No, just the opposite,” Wil said simply.

  “What?”

  “I’m not sure if he will trust us. Not with the safety of his family. From what little I’ve heard, his drug charge was bullshit, and he got railroaded because he was handy, poor, and black.”

  “Yeah,” I muttered in recognition of the truth in what Wil was saying.

  With that thought in mind, Wil drove us through the side streets and avoided any of the main thoroughfares in town. I could see little tails of smoke in the distance, but neither of us could figure out if it was simply chimney smoke or building fires.

  “If we were closer, I could tell you if it was a house burning,” Wil explained as he leaned out his window to take a sniff. He’d insisted we roll with them down despite the cold and the road noise, and I didn’t disagree even though the wind seemed to cut right through my heavy DEPUTY jacket I was wearing.

  “No, can’t tell,” he finally admitted. “A house afire has a different scent. Once you’ve smelled it, you’ll never forget it.”

  When we pulled up to the Tyler’s house this time, I saw boards over all of the windows like hurricane shutters before a storm. The work was neatly done, I judged, and I wondered if Shawn or Mac had done the work. This time, Wil got out his cell phone to call, but he couldn’t get a signal.

  “Why don’t you stay in the truck and I’ll let them know we are here,” Wil suggested.

  “You going to wear your Department jacket? Not sure if that would help or hurt,” I said, more wondering aloud than actually giving any advice.

  “Not sure. Hey, I was wondering, though. Since the sheriff already knows, you think it would help our cause if we shared with the adults what actually happened to Landshire? Not right now, I mean, but…”

  I held up a hand in acknowledgment, then decided to give Wil a little grief.

  “Shoot, since you’ve already spilled the beans to them anyway,” I started, but Wil cut me off by simply waving one finger at me before sliding out the driver’s side door. Well, it was the middle finger, so I guess he was giving me his own opinion on the matter. I noticed he kept his new deputy jacket on over his magazine rig and body armor though.

  I expected Wil to go knock on the door. Silly me. Instead, he leaned back in and tapped the horn before cupping his hands and calling out.

  “Shawn, hey Big Cat! Can you come out and play?”

  I caught movement through one of the boarded-up windows, and then the front door cracked open.

  “That you Wilton Huckabee? You trouble-making fool. If my momma heard you making all that racket, well, it’s a good thing she’s not here to tan your hide. Is that your neighbor? The lawyer?”

  Yep, Shawn was in the house.

  “Yessir, it is. Can we come in?”

  “Come on, and bring your buddy, too.”

  “We come bearing gifts,” Wil added, and the pointed to me as I unfolded from the passenger seat and stood. Reaching into the back, I hefted the heavy canvas duffel bag with a grunt and followed Wil’s lead up the steps. Unlike on our last visit, I approached the house with my AR attached to a single point sling, and the barrel of the rifle, I mean, carbine, beat a steady tattoo against my thigh as I approached the front door. As I neared, I could make out the scars of pry marks around where the door’s locking mechanism would be located.

  Once inside, I noted the living room showed signs of underway repairs as bare concrete floors, devoid of carpeting or tile, and all of the drywall from the bottom to about three feet up had been trimmed away all the way around the narrow room, leaving the exposed ribs of wooden studs behind. Through the gaps in the wall, I could see the kitchen in a similar state, and from sheets hanging on the wall behind the living room, I had a good idea of where the bedrooms were located.

  Most of the furniture in the living room had, like the floor coverings, been removed, but probably every remaining chair in the house sat in a semi-circle around a large makeshift table consisting of two saw horses and a ragged piece of plywood covered in a plastic table cloth.

  Shawn took over with the greetings, and Mac handled the extra introductions. This was the first time I got to meet Shawn and Winnie’s children, as well as Mac and Sherilyn’s daughter. They were cute kids, all around the ages of our crew at the farm except for Shawn’s oldest, William. He was tall and lanky, with the coltish mannerisms indicating a recent growth spurt. He was also as grim as a Pentacostal preacher, as my father used to say, and when Sherilyn offered to take the kids into the backyard to start on lunch, William stayed behind.

  “I see things have gotten a little more tense in town since we last visited,” Wil observed, and Mac barked a short laugh. Shawn nodded his agreement before speaking.

  “I didn’t say anything on the phone, but yeah, things have gotten a little chippy. Neighbors tried to get in night before last. They were wearing masks, but I knew who they were. Heck, two of them go to the same church we do.”

  Shawn paused, rubbing a hand over his face.

  “I tried calling the cops, but they never showed up. I had a half dozen people beating on my door and busting out my windows, and all I get is the girl on the phone telling me all units were busy but to stay on the line.”

  “What the hell?” Wil demanded, looking closely at his friend. “Why would they be coming after you? And no, we didn’t get the call, or I’d have been here. Sheriff just uses us out in the county,” he added by way of explanation.

  “Night before last?” I asked, needing clarification. When Shawn nodded, I gave Wil a look.

  “What?” Mac asked, catching the interaction but not sure what it meant.

  “What Wil meant
was, we would have come if we hadn’t been tied up in our own little mess at the time.”

  “Still doesn’t explain why they were zeroing in on you, Cat,” Wil continued. “You grew up here. Like you said, you go to the same church. Why target you?”

  Shawn’s laugh sounded hollow and bitter with betrayal.

  “They said it was because I wasn’t sharing with my neighbors. Cause somebody saw me come in the house with grocery bags after I got home from work.”

  “Jeez,” I hissed. “Don’t they know what you do for a living? You’re risking your butt every time you take a run. Not like you’re going to take any crap off them with your family in here.”

  I heard Winnie gasp at my comment, but Shawn and Mac just shared a look of their own. I wasn’t in the mood to piss around, and apparently, neither were they. I guess it was time to share some ugly truths this morning.

  “I sent a couple rounds of buckshot over their heads before they decided the next one was going in amongst them,” Shawn confirmed. “But even with all of us on watch, I still think we are going to get targeted again.”

  “You think if you shot a couple of them in the face, then stepped over the bodies and kept killing, maybe then the survivors might take the hint?” Wil asked provocatively, and I saw Winnie and William sit back in their chairs as if shocked.

  “That’s some cold shit right there,” Mac observed, and again, Wil gave me a look before speaking again.

  “Bryan and I came here today to extend an invitation to you guys. All of you. Bryan and his family managed to purchase the old Fitts property, and that includes the parcel of land it sits on. We want neighbors we can count on to watch our back.”

  I think the offer came as a major shock, as the quiet that followed seemed to echo as we could hear Sherilyn fussing around in the kitchen getting the little ones dressed for the chill outside. Finally, Shawn addressed the one of the major stumbling blocks.