Roland: Reluctant Paladin

by N. C. Reed

  Stunned, Roland looked at Ralph, wondering again how old Ralph really was. Of all the...

  “That’s a very good point, Ralph,” he said in reply. “And that means I need to go and check on something. Keep thinking about how to disguise your mines, okay. Oh, and no more experimenting without telling me first, either.”

  “Okay, Mister Roland,” Ralph nodded seriously. “I’ll figure it out.”

  “I’m sure you will Ralph,” Roland smiled, and left the boy to his work.

  He needed to check on something. He, too, had things to figure out.

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  Roland went up to the roof of the school with his night vision binoculars. Ralph’s statement had hit him where he lived, and he didn’t like that.

  Sure, they’d kept a good watch. Of course, they had worked to be careful, establishing protocols to protect themselves, to prevent mistakes. How, then, with all the combined experience present in this group, had they not thought about surveillance?

  Were the bikers watching them right now? If so, from where? How long had they been there, if they were there at all?

  Questions like this assaulted him as Roland looked around the grounds in every direction. He scoured every foot of ground within view, painstakingly examining any and every place that might provide a concealed observation point.

  He and James had executed an almost perfect hide and watch against the gang, so why in the world didn’t it occur to him that the enemy could do the same thing?

  He didn’t know how long he stood there, looking, but he didn’t stop until he was certain there was nothing else to be seen. Sighing, he lowered the glasses and started back down. Tomorrow, early, he would hit the woods, and do a complete recon. And he’d have someone watching around the clock from now on.

  When did this get so complicated?

  -

  James came awake slowly, fighting into consciousness from what seemed like a great long distance. As he swam up into a full waking state, he opened his eyes, closing them again immediately, and groaning in pain.

  “James?”

  He heard the voice, sounding like it was far away, and opened his eyes again, slowly this time. It took him a moment to focus, as he was still a little loopy. Well, a lot loopy. When his vision finally centered for him, he was looking into the face of a very worried Melissa Andrews.

  “M’lissa?” he mumbled, confused.

  “Yes, it’s me,” she smiled, a single tear falling down her cheek. “I wanted to sit with you for a while. I didn’t expect you to wake up so soon.”

  “Wake up?” James repeated.

  “You’ve been out for a while,” Melissa explained. “Let me get you some water. You have to be really dried out by now.” She turned to get the water bottle from the table next to her, and lifted it to his lips. Slowly at first, then faster as his thirst hit him, James drank until the bottle was empty. He lay back, licking his dry lips.

  “Thanks,” he rasped. “I don’t know how long since I had a drink,” he admitted.

  “Probably several hours,” Melissa told him. “How do you feel?” she asked.

  “Alive,” he shrugged slightly. “More’n I expected.” James still sounded surprised. Suddenly he remembered.

  “Jesse! Is Jesse okay?” he asked. “What about all of you? Everyone make it okay?” Melissa felt her heart warm. Despite his injury and near death, James was asking about everyone else.

  “Jesse’s fine, though a little worn out from carrying you out of the woods,” she smiled again. “We’re all fine, too. The doctor looked us all over, and pronounced us malnourished, slightly dehydrated, but otherwise in reasonably good health. Susan, of course is a little different, after. . .well, after,” Melissa shrugged. “But she’s doing okay, considering.”

  “Doctor?” James asked. “When did we get a doctor?”

  “She’s from town,” Melissa replied. “The Sheriff brought her after Roland called.”

  “Roland!” James started. He’d forgotten. “So, he made it back okay?”

  “Yes, and has been terribly worried about you,” the nurse assured him. “Let me go and get him, he wanted to know when you were awake. After that, I’ll try and bring you up to date.”

  “Okay.”

  -

  “Well, well, well,” Roland smiled, walking into James’ room. “Look who’s finally up and awake!”

  “Hey, Roland,” James smiled. “How you doing?”

  “I’m fine,” Roland assured him. “It’s you that got shot. How do you feel?”

  “Like I got shot, I guess,” James told him. “I’m sore as all get out, I know that,” he added.

  “You had quite the adventure,” Roland nodded. “You did a good job, James,” he added, quietly. Proudly. “I’m proud of you.”

  “Thanks, Roland,” James might have blushed a bit. “I just tried to do what you would do. What you taught me to do.”

  “And you did,” Roland nodded. “You didn’t try, you did. Jesse was very impressed.”

  “Reckon I owe Jesse a big one in return,” James replied, laying back. “Wasn’t for him, I’d be gone, I imagine.”

  “That’s what friends do, James,” Roland shrugged. “That’s what team-mates do. Jesse thinks of you as a soldier. A comrade. We do all we can for our comrades-in-arms, little brother.” James flushed again in pleasure at that.

  “Well, I’ll leave you to rest,” Roland smiled, standing. “Need anything?”

  “Did Jesse manage to get my gear?” James asked, hopeful.

  “He did,” Roland nodded. “Want it?” he asked, voice filled with understanding.

  “Ain’t too much trouble,” James replied.

  “I’ll see to it,” Roland promised. “Get some rest. Need you back on your feet soon as possible.”

  “I’ll be up and around tomorrow,” James assured him.

  “We’ll see,” Roland smiled. “Rest tonight, anyway.” He left, leaving James and Melissa alone.

  “You most certainly will not be up and around tomorrow!” Melissa scolded once Roland was gone.

  “Yes, I will,” James told her. “I heal quickly, and I have a high pain tolerance. And I ain’t got time to be laying around, neither,” he added.

  “You need rest,” Melissa insisted, fussing with the bed. “You lost too much blood to be trying to get on your feet so fast.”

  “We’ll see,” James shrugged. He didn’t much care for laying abed. Never had.

  “You look better,” he mentioned, and Melissa stopped.

  “You look like you got something to eat, and a chance to clean up and rest,” James clarified. “BDUs suit you,” he added with a wink, and Melissa found herself blushing.

  “Thanks. I do feel better,” she admitted.

  “How’s Mister Mackey?” he asked.

  “He’s resting,” Melissa told him. “He was one of your blood donors,” she added.

  “That old fella’s tough as iron, I reckon,” James shook his head, chuckling. “Everyone else okay?”

  “Pretty much,” Melissa nodded, sitting down. “Susan is. . .well, you know she...”

  “I know,” James told her softly. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there sooner.”

  “I would probably have been next,” Melissa admitted, her fear showing for the first time since he’d met her. “I… James, if you hadn’t...” she stopped, not knowing what to say. After a few seconds, she began to sob, dropping her face into her hands as the stress and strain finally caught up to her.

  “It’s okay,” James soothed. He reached out and rubbed his palm against the side of her head, stroking her hair.

  Suddenly she leapt to him, hugging him tightly and bawling into his shoulder. Not knowing what else to do, James held her, stroking her hair, rubbing her back, and whispering encouragement to her.

  When Roland came back later with James’ gear, the two were sound asleep, wrapped in an embrace in the small hospital bed. He grinned, shaking his head as he set James’ eq
uipment nearby, laying the teen’s pistol where he could reach it.

  He turned the light out as he went.

  -

  Dawn seemed to come too early for some, and not fast enough for others. Such was the way of days filled with danger and tension.

  Roland was outside at first light, already in the bush around the school grounds. He stalked quietly and painstakingly, looking for any sign of an observation post. It was slow and deliberate work, but it had to be done.

  Maria was called to service in helping Ralph with his paint problem. She had scoured the school

  kitchen and found some food coloring. It wouldn’t help with the purple paint, but the schools other color was white, and the walls in all the rooms were white. As a result, there was a good deal of white paint on hand.

  The food coloring probably wouldn’t last as long as the paint, she decided, so she and Ralph had hit upon another idea. They would paint all the various devices with the white paint, and then line them with the purple. A little bit of landscaping would transform them into simple garden objects, ostensibly created by the students over the years. A close inspection would reveal the truth, of course, but anyone close enough to one of Ralph’s inventions would have far more to worry about than fresh paint.

  Jesse awoke humming, despite the pain in his legs. He spent over an hour stretching, well before the sun was up, so that he was loose and relatively pain free in plenty of time to shower and dress, and get to the mess hall just in time to join Doctor Jennifer Kingston for breakfast. Sheriff Wilson had departed the night before, the doctor wanting to stay at least overnight in the event that James needed her attention. She thought it unlikely, but the decision also gave her a little extra time to get know Jesse Owens Fuller a bit better. Something that was high on her list of priorities.

  She had not really been surprised to enter James’ room and find Melissa Andrews asleep in the teenager’s arms. She had checked James’ vitals without waking either one, and then eased out of the room. Both of them needed rest more than anything else, and she left them to it.

  Susan Powers was another story.

  The young woman had been frightfully abused by her captors, and she was fragile both mentally and physically. Jennifer had checked her thoroughly the night before, but she couldn’t answer Susan’s most important questions; had she been given an STD, and was she pregnant. Both required tests that Jennifer couldn’t run with what she had with her. She had tried to comfort the girl as best she could, but knew that wasn’t much.

  Jennifer had given her the doctor’s equivalent of a ‘mickey’, dosing her with a sedative at the same time she’d administered a healthy dose of antibiotics, which she promised would cure her of any normal STDs she might have been exposed to. She didn’t need to add that it would do nothing to stop an HIV or other, similar, infection. Hopefully a good night’s sleep would help her. It was all Jennifer could offer right now.

  The doctor had explained quietly to Deena that James and Melissa would need to have breakfast set aside for them, and Deena had grinned knowingly and went about gathering the required meals.

  Tom Mackey had breakfast with his nephew and his girlfriend, approving completely of his sister’s son’s choice in female companionship. Angelina Martens was pretty, tough, and smart as a whip. Tom Mackey figured a man simply couldn’t ask for more than that out of life.

  Shirley Pippins groused under her breath at everyone around her, but didn’t speak her complaints loud enough to be made out. She would have died before admitting it, but that man, that Roland, had unnerved her the day before. She was genuinely afraid of him and thus decided she needed to be on her best behavior. She had missed the Sheriff being here or would have demanded transportation somewhere else. For some reason, Tom Wilson had decided he didn’t need to interview her. Probably didn’t want to upset her, she decided, ignoring the possibility that Wilson simply didn’t feel like putting up with her.

  Trooper Jarrod Vaughan stood the watch that morning, leaving the radio room every thirty minutes or so just to amble around, checking the doors, looking around the building. He kept a radio at his side, knowing that Roland was out in the woods.

  Worries about reprisal ebbed as the day grew on into full morning with no sign of an impending attack. By lunch time the mood around the school was much lighter, for the most part.

  -

  Roland made it back inside just in time for lunch. He was dirty, tired, and bleeding from more than a few cuts, and had pulled at least ten thorns from his torn skin. He showered, doctored his cuts, and headed for the mess.

  He sat down heavily at the table, and a tuna sandwich and glass of water appeared in front of him as if by magic. He looked up to see a smiling Maria looking down at him.

  “How are you, Roland?” she asked, almost shyly.

  “I’m tired,” he admitted. “There’s some really thick brush around here.” He took a healthy bite from his sandwich. He’d miss tuna when it ran out. “How are you?”

  “I, too, am tired,” she admitted, sitting down across from him. “But you will be pleased to know that Ralph and I have painted all of his…devices.”

  “Good deal,” Roland nodded. “How’d you do it?”

  “Purple and white,” she shrugged. “White body with purple highlights. It should look like school decorations created by the students.”

  “Hey, that’s a good idea,” Roland approved. “Your idea?”

  “Yes,” she blushed slightly. “It was the best we could come up with.”

  “Sounds like a winner to me,” Roland assured her. “Everything going okay today?” he waved at the organized confusion around him.

  “Si. I mean yes. Everyone is. . .well, not everyone,” she suddenly looked downcast. “That young woman, Susan, is. . .she is damaged,” Maria said softly. “I fear for her.”

  “You mean because of what happened?” Roland asked.

  “Yes. She is very fragile at the moment. She is afraid, and she is hurting. Not just physically, but. . .here,” she pointed to her own temple. “She needs something to do. Something that will empower her, and make her feel less vulnerable. Do you understand what I mean?”

  “I think so,” Roland nodded. “And I think I got just the thing, too. You busy?”

  “No, today is my day off from the kitchen,” Maria shook her head. “With no children, I am somewhat at loose ends.”

  “Well, then, let’s you and I go and visit Miss Susan, and see if she feels like getting some of her own back.”

  -

  “I don’t understand,” Susan looked from Roland to Maria, and then back again. “Why would I need to learn to shoot with so many here carrying guns?”

  “You don’t have to,” Roland assured her. “I just thought you might like to be able to defend yourself, rather than depend on someone else to do it for you.” His voice was soft. Gentle. Understanding.

  Susan considered those words, thinking. She had never fired a gun. She had carried one with her away from the barn, and still had it, but she had taken it initially intending to use it on herself if it looked like she would be retaken. The idea of defending herself hadn’t really entered her mind.

  “I…I’ve never done anything like that,” she said finally. “I have no idea how long it would take me to learn.”

  “All the more reason to get started now,” Roland smiled at her. “We can have you shooting by the end of the day. I’ll get you a pistol, and a holster, and you can carry it on you all the time, so you’ll have it. Once you’ve got that down, we’ll train you to use a rifle, too.”

  “All of us know how, Susan,” Maria told her. She turned, lifting her shirt so that Susan could see the pistol tucked into the back of her jeans. Roland tried very hard not to admire the curve of those jeans from that angle, but failed. He did manage to look away before Maria caught him.

  He thought. Inwardly Maria smiled as Roland jerked his gaze away from her rear. It was obvious he liked what he saw.

  “
It’s not that I find the idea unappealing,” Susan said. “I just don’t know that I have the confidence to carry it off.”

  “Confidence comes with practice,” Roland said easily. “No one knows how to do anything until they’re taught. We’ll teach you,” he indicated himself and Maria. “It won’t happen overnight, but I can practically guarantee that by sundown, you’ll know enough to defend yourself. You’ll only get better in the days to come.”

  “We need good people, Susan,” he continued. “People who aren’t afraid to stand their ground, and who aren’t afraid to work to survive. I think you’re good people. So does Maria. We want you to stay with us, if you want to. There’s plenty of room, and when the kids get back there’ll be a lot more work to do.”

  “But if you stay here, you need to know how to defend yourself. It’s not that you’ll be outside, fighting, but you’ll need to be able to defend yourself, the kids, and the school.”

  Susan thought about that. It honestly hadn’t surprised her that the men who had risked so much to help her and the others would have taken on responsibility for so many children. They were just that kind of people. Good, hard working people, trying to survive and help others along the way in a world gone mad.

  Suddenly, Susan powers wanted to be one of those people. Wanted it very much, in fact. Something had been taken from her, and she could never get it back. But she could work to make sure it didn’t happen to anyone else. She would work hard, too. Her eyes narrowed with determination as she saw her future play out before her eyes. She would work very hard, indeed. She nodded firmly.

  “I’d like that very much,” she said finally, her voice firm and strong. “And I’d like to get started right away.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  “WHOSE DAMN DOG IS THIS!!!!”

  Roland’s yell could be heard all over the school building. Heads came up at first, then went back to what they had been doing as they realized it wasn’t important. At least not to them.