Forsaken World (Book 5): Homecoming

by Watson, Thomas A.

  “Agreed. They will take it easy,” Lilly nodded. “I have to say, that went rather well.”

  Spinning on her heel and heading for the shop, “Everything except them taking on a stinker army,” Jennifer popped off. “I never would’ve guessed they would do that.”

  Catching up to Jennifer, “Jennifer, they did it, and you know even if we had been with them, they still would’ve done it. Like you’ve told me time and time again, Lance and Ian know when to fight a battle and when to pull back and fight another day,” Lilly said, and Jennifer agreed.

  Pulling the diesel buggy out, Jennifer shut it off and walked around it, then checked the fluids and tires. Lilly loaded the small bed and then they headed inside to grab their gear. After Lance and Ian ate, they loaded up two rolling suitcases in the buggy without explaining and all four jumped in the buggy. “Heath say anything when you asked him to pick up the new people?” Jennifer asked, speeding along the fence.

  “No, I just told him to go to house eighty-three in section one and pick up four people,” Lance replied from the back seat.

  Sitting in the passenger seat, “Rhonda did say if they aimed at her, she was shooting them,” Ian laughed.

  “Then they aren’t that smart,” Lilly said from the back. Looking around Dino sitting between her and Lance, Lilly saw Lance was casually looking around and then making notes in a notebook. After a few seconds, he would look up to scan around and then write in the notebook. “I’ll ask later,” she mumbled as Jennifer drove past the back corner of the fence and headed up the slope.

  Stopping at the loading area, Lilly turned to Lance. “I have the trailer, so sit your ass down,” she told Lance, who’d been about to get out.

  Glancing around, “Shit, I thought we were going to get reamed for taking on a flood of stinkers, but oh no, we are getting reamed for wanting to do some physical work,” Lance grumbled, then looked down to make notes.

  “You got that shit right, buddy,” Jennifer snapped as she backed up to a trailer. “This is shit we can do, and you and Ian will let others do it.”

  Scanning around, “Guess I should take my big boy pants off and put on a dress,” Lance huffed, then continued making notes.

  “Both of you can put a tampon in for all I care,” Jennifer barked. “I tucked my dick in my boot this morning, so we can step the fuck out right now, bitch.”

  Looking up from his notebook, Lance started at Jennifer’s eyes peering out behind her black mask. When he turned to look at Ian, Lance saw Ian making notes in his notebook and shaking in silent laughter. “I’ll find a dress to put on later,” Lance gave in and he went back to making notes.

  “Wise choice today, buddy,” Jennifer said in a normal voice, feeling Lilly drop the trailer on the hitch.

  When Lilly climbed in, she felt the tension and looked over at Lance as Jennifer pulled off. “Problems?” she asked.

  “Nope, I’m finding a dress to put on later,” Lance replied, glancing around and then went back to making notes.

  “If you’re going to wear a dress, I’ll find you one of those plaid skirts girls wear in Catholic School. I think that would look really nice on you,” Lilly told him, and Lance just groaned under his mask, but didn’t reply.

  Heading down the road to the valley floor, everyone kept an eye out but didn’t see any stinkers. “I like being able to drive around and not have to stop every thirty feet and shoot a stinker,” Jennifer said, pulling on the main road and heading to the meeting area.

  They saw Heath with his group waiting in two UTVs that were pulling empty trailers and parked on the side of the road in front of the meeting house. Pulling off to the side of the road, Jennifer turned the buggy off and immediately spotted the four newcomers. As they got out, Heath introduced the new people. Anyone could see Gail and Percy were brother and sister. Their complexion and dark black hair gave away their Hispanic genes. When Alvin and Julie shook her hand, the only thing Jennifer could think of when she looked at them was ‘yuppies’.

  As she and Lilly moved over with the new group, Jennifer glanced back and saw Ian and Lance still in the buggy making notes. “Oh, the pirates are in deep shit,” she mumbled. “They didn’t plan this much for the Devil Lords.”

  “Hey, Lance,” Heath said, stopping beside the buggy.

  “Hey,” Lance responded but never stopped writing, and Heath saw Lance was drawing a diagram of a machine.

  “You want to leave the new group here?” Heath asked, jerking a thumb over his shoulder.

  “How many more people can you take? But don’t take the kids’ room, just in case our parents say they have to go home,” Lance asked.

  Saying a small prayer that wouldn’t happen, “Lance, we still have three empty bedrooms,” Heath answered.

  Finally looking up, “I’m telling you straight, you want those four with you,” Lance told him.

  Really wishing Lance would take that damn mask off, Heath turned away to look back at the newcomers. “They impressed you that much?” he asked in shock.

  “Heath, if we didn’t have so many with us at the cabin, Ian and I would ask them to join us,” Lance stated flatly. “They can think outside the box. Way outside the box.”

  Hearing that, Heath jerked his eyes back to Lance. “They can stay with us,” he blurted out quickly. Just the fact someone could impress the two intellectually fascinated Heath, and he was certain the others would agree to kick Grady out if he bitched about it.

  Stretching out with a groan, “The Beard clan coming?” Lance grunted out.

  “Should be here any minute,” Heath nodded, then turned and looked at the two empty trailers his group was pulling. “Patrick and his group are bringing two empty trailers. Think we can get all of the stuff in one haul?”

  “Nope,” Lance answered flatly, picking the notebook off his lap and going back to the drawing.

  “It’s not the size of Bone’s stash, but it’s a nice-sized haul,” Ian said from the front. “Just want to get it, since we know there are people that way. We ran them off, so it’s ours.”

  There was no doubt in Heath’s mind, he would shoot someone if they tried to take the supplies. It wasn’t because he would want to, but Heath didn’t want to disappoint Ian or Lance. “So, um, you two pay the pirates a visit?” he asked cautiously.

  “Yep,” Lance nodded, flipping to a new page in the notebook.

  Waiting for more information, Heath watched Lance start another drawing and glanced over and saw Ian writing. After a few minutes, Heath cleared his throat. “Ahem… Did you leave them anything?”

  Shrugging his shoulders, “Two men with their throats cut,” Lance answered. “I told Ian it was loud, since I did that at Stone’s place on Four Eyes, but did he listen? NO.”

  “Okay, bitch,” Ian sang out. “You were right, they make a lot of noise when you slit their throats open. We need to test other ways of taking someone out with a knife quietly.”

  Knowing hands-on attacks was far out of character to what the two had done in the past, Heath stepped away from the UTV. Glancing in the small bed, he saw several duffel bags and rolling suitcases. Afraid to ask what they held, he just wandered over to the others.

  “What?” Lilly asked as Heath stopped.

  “They are pissed off,” Heath declared with wide eyes.

  Shaking her head, “Duh,” Jennifer droned. “If the pirates knew what was coming they would run, but only die tired.”

  Lilly grinned and turned, looking down the road and saw two UTVs coming with empty trailers. “Okay,” she said, turning back to the group. “I’m telling everyone now. Ian and Lance aren’t doing anything except keeping us covered. They were out all night and this isn’t open for discussion.”

  “No problem,” Heath chimed in, and the others nodded. “Alvin, Julie, Gail, and Percy, if you want, you can join up with us,” Heath offered, and the four gave a sigh of relief. “We have three rooms, so you’ll have to figure out who gets what.”

  “Thank you,” Al
vin gasped.

  Heath nodded. “Ian and Lance will explain the rules later, but I volunteered to let you join the Bear Trap group; the group with me in this coalition.”

  Lilly told everyone to load up as Richard stopped. “Don’t turn your rides off and just fall in at the rear,” Lilly told him, and Richard gave a wave.

  Climbing in the back with Lance, Lilly saw he was drawing a map. “Everyone ready?” Jennifer asked, cranking the engine. Hearing yeah from everyone, Jennifer pulled out and the others fell in behind her.

  It took nearly an hour for them to cover the six miles to the trailer Stone used to reside in. “Think they left surprises?” Jennifer asked.

  Putting his notebook on the dash, “There were none here two days ago,” Ian said, climbing out.

  Biting her tongue, Jennifer watched Ian open the gate and then pulled up. When he climbed in, Jennifer pulled past the trailer and saw the bomb still on the front porch. “Why didn’t you disarm the bomb when you came back?”

  “In case someone else came here,” Ian scoffed as Jennifer stopped at the barn.

  “We get half of the hand grenades,” Lance called out from the back.

  Shaking her head as she got out, Lilly saw Heath coming over. “Lilly, you and Jennifer stay with them and make sure they supervise,” Heath suggested. Liking that idea, Lilly told them what to load onto their trailer.

  Lance and Ian both got out, leaving their notebooks and cradling their ARs while scanning around. “You won’t have to stay out all night again, will you?” Lilly asked Lance.

  “Nah,” he huffed, then turned to her. “If you and Jennifer listen and do what we say, both of you can come.”

  The shock in Lilly’s and Jennifer’s eyes was total. “We won’t be there long. Maybe four or five hours,” Ian chimed in. “Need to swap out micro cards for the cameras, get a few pictures, and get measurements from the north end of the camp.”

  “Really?” Jennifer gasped.

  “Yeah, we talked about it on the way home,” Ian said. “If both of you think you can handle it, we could use your help.”

  “We’ll help,” Lilly and Jennifer both blurted out.

  “We leave at sundown,” Lance said, and Lilly turned to Jennifer.

  “They asked us to go,” she said in disbelief.

  Jennifer nodded. “They are bringing us in their circle.”

  “It’s a good day,” Lilly beamed, smiling under her mask.

  Walking over, Heath saw the girls seemed rather happy. “Hey, we’re loaded up,” he called out.

  Turning around, “How many more trips do you think are needed to empty the barn?” Lance asked.

  “No more than two,” Heath shrugged.

  Turning to Ian, Lance just stared at him for several seconds. “Brah, I’m tired and ready to take a nap,” Ian finally said. “Call me a little girl, pussy, bitch, I don’t care.”

  “Heath, if you can get more of yours and the Beard team to cover you, then come back and get the rest today, but do it fast,” Lance said, nodding at Ian.

  Feeling very proud they were letting them out of the nest alone, “I will get the others and should be done in a few hours. If we aren’t, we will still leave,” Heath promised.

  Turning to look at Heath, “Tomorrow, seven a.m., build house. We need extra hands,” Lance told him.

  “How many?” Heath asked, and Lance glanced over at Ian.

  Shrugging, “Four or five,” Ian answered.

  “Get some rest and we’ll see you in the morning,” Heath grinned.

  As Heath walked away, everyone loaded up and Jennifer moved over to Ian. “Lilly and I could come back with them and bring the dogs,” she offered. “Sorry, but the dogs are the best warning system we have.”

  Shaking his head as he climbed in the passenger seat, “No, you and Lilly are going to rest if you’re coming with us,” Ian told her. “We know for a fact, neither of you slept more than an hour before we got back.”

  “Duh,” Jennifer huffed, dropping in the driver’s seat. “We had to make sure you two were all right.”

  Climbing in the back with Lilly, “Since you stayed awake waiting on us, we figured you could stay awake with us,” Lance said. “At the very least, it will let us see how you two do watching our back while we are working close to the enemy.”

  “Hey, I have,” Jennifer popped off as she pulled away from the barn.

  “And that’s why Lance and I talked about you two coming,” Ian chuckled. “You have come a long way from a cheerleader to a kickass fighter that’s still a hottie.”

  Lance nodded. “Yeah, the only thing you have to get over is the jitters of moving close to your target. Ian and I got over that a long time ago.”

  “Um, your targets didn’t shoot at you before doing this,” Lilly told him.

  “True,” Lance chuckled. “But we would’ve been caught breaking the Prime Directive, and that to us was just as bad.”

  Turning to Ian, “You two weren’t a little nervous sneaking into the Nazi and Devil Lords camps?” Jennifer asked in a worried but awed voice.

  “Not really,” Ian shrugged. “The only time I was nervous was getting in because we had to dodge stinkers. We couldn’t shoot them, even with the bows, because the bodies would be seen in the morning.”

  “We can help just watching your backs,” Lilly said. Reaching over, Lilly patted Lance’s leg. “You won’t be sorry,” she told him.

  Watching his area as he rode along, “Hope not because if I am, that means one of us died,” Lance replied. A shiver ran through Lilly hearing that, but she didn’t let it show. All she could think of was: if anyone got hurt, Lilly prayed it was herself.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Build house, Kentucky

  Leading some of his group to the build house to lend a hand, Heath glanced over at Robin. “Don’t bother them with your worrying,” he told her for the hundredth time.

  “Heath, they are going to attack a camp of thugs!” Robin snapped. “I just don’t want them to get hurt. Their moms aren’t here, so someone should say something.”

  Steering down the slope, Heath understood where Robin was coming from, but to be truthful, Heath’s reasoning for not wanting the boys to attack were purely selfish. He didn’t want to risk losing either of them. After emptying the supplies from Stone’s, he and Dwain had gone over and waited at the build house when the four were leaving yesterday afternoon and offered to let him and Dwain go.

  There wasn’t a doubt in Heath’s mind, if he and Dwain attacked the Pirates, if they were lucky they would die, and more than likely not accomplish much. But the boys would be safe, and that meant their families would be safe. It did bother Heath somewhat that he was willing to risk his life ‘recklessly’, as Lance put it, ‘stupid as fuck’ as Robin put it. But he knew with the boys, they had an excellent chance of getting through this.

  When Robin found out that they’d offered after they got home, she’d gone ballistic. Knowing she was way past reason, Heath had just told her bluntly, “Without Lance and Ian, none of us would’ve lived through the winter. There was no way we could’ve secured food, much less stayed warm. We would’ve had to use the fireplace, letting all the stinkers and marauders know just where we were.”

  Hearing the facts bluntly, Robin did calm down, and then Dwain pointed out it was Rhonda that had secured three quarters of the food brought in. She had already ransacked the houses that sat alone. It was to the point Rhonda was starting to hit houses that were in clusters, and stinkers were usually about. Many times, he and Heath had tried to go with her, but Rhonda didn’t want them to come and more than once, lost their asses if they tried. Usually, she just left the house before they could follow.

  Alone, Rhonda could move faster and much quieter. On that, neither Heath nor Dwain disagreed with her, but told her they couldn’t learn without going out. Rhonda would just tell them, “Practice around here then because you’re not practicing with me.”

  For the most part
, none in the group even considered Lance or Ian ‘kids’. The only time Robin or Kathy did was when the boys were doing something dangerous, which was nearly daily. Heath just told himself it was their motherly instincts.

  Reaching the valley floor, “Robin, please don’t pester them. They have thought out and planned this, so just let them do it. It has to be done,” Heath told her with a sigh.

  “They need to let some of us help,” she snapped.

  Scoffing, “What, you think we didn’t beg to help?” Heath popped off, letting off the gas and coasting to a stop. Glancing behind him, he saw the other side by sides stopping behind him. Turning to her with a harsh glare, “Lance looked right in my eyes and said if we were even allowed to go, all we would do was get them killed and then die ourselves.”

  Trying not to cry, “We could do something,” Robin protested weakly.

  Nodding, “Dwain said the same thing, and Ian said, ‘yep, all of you could catch bullets with your bodies.’”

  Throwing up her hands, “I know they are more mature, smart, in shape, and the list goes on, but they are still teenage boys!” Robin cried out with watery eyes. “Our daughter is older than them,” she pointed out.

  “Huh,” Heath grunted. “By age only are they teenage boys. Maturity-wise, they are in their thirties. You don’t know how many times I’ve said ‘Sir’ to them. Age-wise, Lori is older, but what difference does that even make? The ladybugs know more than Lori does, hell, when it comes to useful knowledge to survive this, the ladybugs know more than we do.”

  “Next month they will only be nine years old, so you wouldn’t object to Lance and Ian taking them?” Robin spat.

  “You act like we have a say in this. Need I remind you; they saved our asses. You pointed out they put the first battle bot out for our benefit. If we are being honest, we are a drain on them. We are working as hard as we can, so maybe one day soon we can be an asset, pulling more than our own weight. That’s not just us, that’s everyone those ‘boys’,” Heath hissed sarcastically, “have brought in. I’m just thankful they thought we were worth taking a chance on. How many of our neighbors have we seen torn apart? We couldn’t even help them and you want to protest, no scratch that,” Heath said, letting the steering wheel go.