Brotherhood of Fire

by N. C. Reed

  “Well, I don't see how I can refuse such a polite invitation as the one you delivered,” he chuckled lightly and the girl smiled at him. Lainie was right, she really was a pretty girl.

  “I 'll tell him you're coming,” she nodded. “How long will you be?”

  “Give me another twenty minutes or so and I should be along,” he promised.

  “Yes sir,” Janice almost bowed and then hurried away. Clay shook his head in amusement before turning back to the job at hand.

  “She lives at the edge of Jordan she said, so it should be a milk run, but don't assume it,” he warned. Tully, Juarez and Thompson were on deck to carry Amy to get her things. “Try not to let anything happen to her.”

  “Time limit?” Juarez asked.

  “Your call, but be alert while you're there,” Clay shrugged. “Assuming her house hasn't been ransacked, have her get the essentials first, and then you can let her get whatever smaller items she might need. That way if you have to run, she's got what she needed at the least.”

  “ROE?” Thompson asked.

  “Return fire if fired upon,” Clay's voice was firm. “We cannot keep getting involved with OPP. We don't have the manpower or the resources. Concentrate on the mission and return.”

  “Got it,” Juarez nodded. “We 'll take care of it.”

  The three of them boarded the Cougar where Amy Mitchell was already sitting and soon were on their way. With them on the road, Clay made the trek to Leon's house.

  -

  “Time we had a powwow boy,” Leon said without preamble. “We got things we need to do and I got people I need to see.”

  “Really?” Clay was surprised. This was new.

  “Yes, really,” Leon sounded irritated. “Why would I make that up?”

  “Why do you make anything up?” Clay made a hands skyward helpless gesture. “Usually just to annoy people.”

  “I 'll have to give you that one,” Leon chuckled, shaking his head. “Anyway. With all that what happened with Peyton and his damn 'posse', it got me to thinking about what the hell is going on around here. I should have known I couldn't depend on Pepper in a situation like this, but I made the mistake of assuming he would know how serious an emergency this was. I'd say we can expect something like this again. Maybe even before Christmas, though I hope not.”

  “I figure you're right,” Clay agreed. “I don't know who, but someone, probably in or around what's left of Peabody, will step into the spot left empty by Peyton. Nature abhors a vacuum.”

  “That it does, and all this leaves you in a bad spot, too,” Leon mused. “We need more manpower than we got here, but we can't keep taking on more mouths to feed and butts to cover. We have to be smart about it.”

  “Okay,” Clay nodded “With you so far.”

  “Seems to me we need people who can shoot, take care of themselves, and make a contribution to the community around 'em, yeah?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Well, just so happens I know more than one bunch that fits that bill,” Leon took on a very satisfied look. “I see three problems-” he stopped as someone knocked on the door. Janice immediately went to see who it was. Leanne and Leon the Deuce walked in, exchanging greeting with the slightly older girl before turning to Leon the Elder.

  “You wanted to see us?” the two asked in unison.

  “I have asked you repeatedly not to do that,” Leon growled. “If I didn't need you so bad, I might shoot you.”

  “No, you wouldn't,” both replied.

  “No, I wouldn't,” Leon sighed. “This is what age does, boy,” he told Clay. “You can't even get a good bluff in anymore.” He turned back to the twins.

  “I think we need to start our own town,” he declared. “What do you think, and what do we need to do?”

  “A township under the current state law requires a population of fifteen hundred people inside the declared city boundary, which must be a minimum of three miles from any other municipal boundary. A minimum of thirty-three and one third percent of the registered voters within the proposed boundary must sign the petition to incorporate before any further action is taken.”

  Silence settled over the room at that statement. Not because of the information, but because of where it came from. Every set of eyes in the house turned to look at Janice Hardy. She looked from one to the other, hands gripping the bottom of the over-sized shirt she was wearing.

  “Did I say something wrong?” she asked meekly. “I apologize if I spoke out of turn Mister Leon.”

  “It's not that you spoke out of turn, sweetie,” Leon told her. “It's that you know all that to begin with. Why in the world would you know that?”

  “I read it once,” Janice replied. “Usually once I read something I will remember it.”

  “Forever?” Leanne leaned forward, eyes gleaming.

  “Well, yes,” Janice nodded. “I usually need a memory trigger to recall the information, but I can then recall within ninety-nine percent accuracy what I've read.”

  “Well,” Leon leaned back, a slow grin appearing on his face. “Janice, I would say you have just earned yourself two new best friends.”

  “Sir?”

  “Us,” the twins said, nodding. “Where did you happen to read that?” Deuce asked. Janice's face turned red at that and she lowered her gaze.

  “It…I was cold,” she said softly. “I was cold and the library was warm, but. . .you can't just sit in the library or they run you out so. . .so I read a lot during the last winter.”

  “I'm sorry, Janice,” Deuce apologized. “I didn't mean to make you think of bad things.”

  “It wasn't so bad,” Janice shrugged. “It was better than living with my aunt. And then I finally found Miss Lainie. Or she found me. Things have been okay since then.”

  “So, what all did you read?” Leanne asked, leaning forward eagerly. “I mean what about,” she clarified.

  “Well, I read through a set of encyclopedias, first,” Janice told her, her normal good cheer returning. “I thought that would take a long time and so that would mean I could spend most of the day every day reading. But. . .it didn't take as long as I thought it would.”

  “Which encyclopedia?” Leanne tried not to goggle. “Do you remember the name?”

  “Oh, it was the British encyclopedia,” Janice smiled.

  “British?” Clay asked. “I don't get it.”

  “You mean Encyclopedia Britannica?” it was Deuce's turn not to strangle.

  “Yes!” Janice nodded happily. “I can never remember that word,” she added, almost to herself. “I don't know why.”

  “She read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica,” Leanne sounded shell-shocked as she leaned back in her chair. “And she can remember it all,” she turned to look at her brother.

  “Well, I'd say you three have a lot to talk about later on, but right now, back to business,” Leon the Elder started firmly. “And Janice, while it was very revealing to hear you talk about it, I'm not interested in the law. What I meant by what we need to do was what do we need to do to go about it.”

  “We need a sawmill,” Deuce said at once.

  “We need a hotel or bunkhouse,” Leanne said at the same time.

  “Here we go,” Clay sighed as the two turned to look at one another.

  “We need lumber for building,” Deuce told his sister.

  “We need accommodations for new people,” she argued.

  “You're both right,” Leon the Elder stopped their arguments short. “We can't exactly go and buy lumber anymore, and what we bought before the Storm we need to keep for ourselves, so. . .we either need a sawmill or. . .we build with logs. Meet in the middle so to speak. We can start with logs and then add a sawmill later on to finish the insides of the new buildings. Yeah?”

  “That would work,” both said, albeit reluctantly. Almost as if admitting that an adult came up with a solution was troubling to them.

  “I'm so glad you agree,” Leon the Elder snorted. “Anyway. So, w
e need a bunkhouse or a hotel? How about just a series of small cabins? Wouldn't that be as good? Say a line of four room cabins?”

  “I was just trying to limit the number of bathrooms,” Leanne shrugged, as if that would trump the Old Man's argument.

  “Hate to break it to you Pip, but we don't have any toilet’s or sinks or anything else in storage,” Elder raised an eyebrow.

  “Stop calling me that!” Leon the Elder had succeeded in pissing his great-granddaughter off.

  “So, say ten four room cabins to start? With a central outhouse and bathhouse? Outhouse behind of course and bathhouse in the center?”

  “That would be better,” Clay agreed. “They need to have windows all around and rifle shutters. Thick doors that can be barred from the inside, maybe.”

  “Why?” the twins asked.

  “So, they will have good fields of fire, protection from return fire, and be difficult to force entry into,” Clay told them. “It would be ideal to build them in a square, in multiples of four, with a water tower in the middle. An observation post and shooting nest could be placed on the same tower just under the tank. That would save a lot of work.”

  “Could it be built over it?” Leon the Elder asked.

  “It would prevent the tower from catching rain water, but sure,” Clay nodded. “I don't recommend it though. And you said you saw three problems?”

  “Yes,” the Old Man got back on track. “One is living quarters, as we've been talking over and another was building supplies, which we may also have started on a solution for. The third one is feeding ever how many new folks we end up with.”

  “We've got enough cattle to feed them beef, and corn can be ground into meal,” Clay shrugged. “Other than that, and a few eggs from Mom's chickens, feeding a whole crew through the winter is more than we're set up for, especially after what Mom gave the church. We can't do it without leaving us stretched to the breaking point.”

  “So, we need to get some dry or canned goods, somewhere,” Leon the Elder's voice was firm.

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, we have to see can we get the people or not first,” the Old Man changed gears. “And some of them may not need much in the way of help. In your opinion, so long as we have good gardens, we can feed maybe . . . another hundred people on what we raise ourselves without hurting us any?”

  “With a good growing year and a huge garden, yeah,” Clay nodded.

  “Have more than one garden,” Deuce suggested. “Spread gardens all over the place. Anywhere there are people and houses to watch them.”

  “It will help prevent complete loss in the event of fire, pestilence or anything like that,” Leanne was nodding. “Good idea.”

  “I was planning on five acres here, out behind the old barn behind your grandparent's place,” Clay nodded. “Another five or so at the Troy place, just behind building Three.” Being the building where the apartments were.

  “We can have another, similar sized garden wherever we decide to put the new comers, assuming we have any,” Deuce agreed.

  “How many people are we talking about, and what kind of people are we looking for?” Leanne asked.

  “The folks I have in mind are somewhat independent,” the Old Man admitted. “But they can shoot, and they're trustworthy. To me anyway,” he added almost cryptically.

  “There are probably other people who would jump at such a chance, and they will have skills we need,” Leanne mused. “We need to put together a list of professions or skills that we're in need of and keep it fresh in the mind of anyone going off the farm. If we meet someone that fits that bill, someone we know or think we can trust at least, offer them a chance to come here. We still have a few apartments left in building Three for that matter.”

  “And we can build a few of those cabins on the Troy farm, or here for that matter,” Deuce was nodding beside her.

  “Oh, and we do have a few flush toilets and sinks, Old Man,” Leanne informed her great-grandfather primly. “We ordered replacements for the houses and for the central bathroom in the apartment building. Including replacement pipe. Just so you know.”

  “No wonder the other two buildings are stuffed to the brim,” Clay chuckled. He had no idea what he had paid for or where it was, but he trusted these two to know.

  “Janice, I think you should start working with the twins some,” Leon the Elder said, looking at his young house guest. “With your memory skills, you could come in handy over there I imagine. And once we start all this, you 'll become my assistant,” he told her. “I assume you can remember names, faces and personal information as well what you read?”

  “Oh. Yes, Mister Leon,” the girl replied. “I can do that.”

  “Good, that's a skill that will come in handy. Meantime I think we've hammered out a fairly good start here, don't you?”

  “Yes,” all agreed.

  “Well then,” Leon sighed. “Recon I need you tomorrow to start taking me around to visit some people,” the Elder told Clay. “We're gonna let on that I'm the one running everything and that you and your outfit work for me. That will draw some heat off you and quiet some of the less stupid thugs and politicians.”

  “I didn't know there was a difference,” Clay chuckled and the others laughed.

  “Sometimes there ain't,” Leon agreed. “Sometimes there ain't. You three start designing me a town,” he told the twins and Janice Hardy.

  “We 'll get Jonathon to help us, too,” Deuce replied.

  “Who is he?” the Elder demanded. Once they had explained who he was, Leon remembered him.

  “Bring him with you from now on,” he ordered. “Don't leave him out. He might have good ideas too. Now I'm gonna take a nap while you bunch start working out the details.”

  -

  “No problems,” Juarez reported in when the detail returned.

  “Had her house been bounced?” Clay asked.

  “Only a bit,” Juarez shook his head. “Someone had taken all the food and a few other things that might have had trade value, but there was little damage done. She managed to get all their clothes as well as most of the girl's things. Should make her feel better.” Lisa Mitchell had been the only child on the farm not to have her own clothing and personal goods.

  “Tomorrow we need a detail to cart the Old Man around and see some of his more nefarious contacts,” Clay told him. “He wants to start a small town of sorts and he's recruiting people who can shoot and take care of themselves in case we have a repeat of that deal with Peyton.”

  “We will,” Mitchell Nolan walked up just then. “Might take a little time, but we will. Only been about five weeks or so and look what's happened already. People are just now getting hungry enough to turn mean.”

  “I know,” Clay sighed. “Be studying a map of the local area, too, in your copious spare time,” he ordered. “We are eventually going to have to organize some kind of scouting run to locate and identify warehouses or other areas with goods and supplies we need. It will be of benefit if you know the roads within fifty miles or so.”

  “Roger that,” Juarez nodded. “Who do you want on detail tomorrow?” he asked.

  “I 'll go with the Old Man, while you maintain here,” Clay replied. “I 'll take Chip, Doc and…”

  “Me, me, pick me!” Nolan began jumping up and down comically and raising his hand like a school kid.

  “And Thug,” Clay sighed, shaking his head. “I'm sure Brick will go as well. I'm wondering what to take, though,” he admitted.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, do we all ride in the Cougar, or do we take it and the Hummer?” Clay explained.

  “Take the Hummer for you and the Old man, and Brick,” Nolan suggested. “Me, Doc and the kid will support from the Cougar.”

  “Yeah,” Juarez nodded. “I like that plan.”

  “All right,” Clay agreed. “Tell Doc to bring a full med kit, just like old times,” he told Juarez. “We can let him look at anyone who's sick or hurt. Build so
me good will. And lay in some of that candy we brought from Miss Marla's place,” he told Nolan. “Any kids we see we can give a treat to.”

  “Good idea,” Nolan nodded. “What time?”

  “Old Man will likely be ready after breakfast,” Clay said after a minute. “Take a look at the stuff we took from Peyton's outfit,” he told Juarez at the last second. “Lay in a couple of shotguns, maybe a deer rifle or two, and if there were any .22s lay a couple of them in as well. A few rounds for each, maybe a hundred for the .22s.”

  “Trade goods?” Juarez asked, eyebrow raising.

  “Or goodwill gestures,” Clay nodded. “Whichever works.”

  “We're on it.”

  -

  “I 'll be out most of the day tomorrow,” Clay told Lainie that evening. “Old Man is going to see some of his 'people' about building a town around here. He wants to have more help in case we face something like Peyton's posse again. I 'll be driving him and another team will escort us in the MRAP.”

  “You 'll be gone all day?” she asked, keeping her features schooled.

  “Probably a good bit of it,” he admitted. “Sorry.”

  “I want to go,” she said suddenly, catching him completely off guard.

  “What?”

  “I want to go with you,” Lainie repeated. “If Leon is going then don't tell me 'it isn't safe', either,” she cut him off. “It's not safe anywhere these days, Clay. And we don't get a lot of time together. I want to go. I 'll wear a vest and carry my pistol, or even a rifle if you want since I know how to use it, but I want to go too. Besides, if people see a woman along aren't they less likely to assume you're up to no good?” she smiled.

  Clay stopped his reply at that. He had intended to tell her 'no' and be done with it, but she had made a couple of good points. They hadn't had a lot of time together of late, for one. Too many issues going on that required his attention had kept him away for long hours. This would be a good way to at least spend time together.

  And there was no doubt that her presence might disarm any hostile intent. Long enough at least for the Old Man to identify himself and make sure everyone knew it was him.