Cloverdale (Book 4): Confrontation

by Miller, Bruno

  Suddenly, Vince became aware of the fact that he’d been lost in thought and was staring off into space. “Sorry about that. I feel like I’m sleeping on my feet sometimes,” he joked.

  “It’s okay. We’re all a little worn out.” Richard poured himself a cup of coffee.

  “We are grateful for the rooms, though. It was a sight for sore eyes when we found you all. For a little while there, we thought maybe we were the last ones left,” Mark added.

  “We’re glad to have you,” Vince said. Not only had the brothers brought their skilled labor with them, but they cheerfully added a few provisions to the communal inventory. They also added a few weapons to the group’s arsenal in the form of three deer rifles and two shotguns along with ammunition for both, which was something else Vince thought the group could never have enough of. When it came to keeping the looters at bay, the more, the merrier.

  “You guys going to keep at the water situation today?” Vince asked.

  “If that’s where you want us, Major, we’re happy to do it,” Mark answered.

  “We’re happy to help with the cars if you need us,” Richard chimed in.

  “No, that’s okay. I think the water is just as important. For morale. Besides, too many hands on the wall and it ends up being a lot of standing around and watching.” There was only so much that could be done to load the vehicles onto the trailer. The machines did the hard work, anyway, and any more than three or four people watching over things was a waste. No, he’d rather have them working on bringing running water to the motel.

  Faucets that produced potable water would return a little slice of their old lives and be a big win for them all. It made Vince think about all the things they had taken for granted before the EMPs, and he wondered if they would ever be that blissfully ignorant again. He doubted it very much.

  Chapter Three

  Slowly but surely, the others began showing up in the dining room. First it was Mary and Hannah, who passed straight through to the kitchen, only pausing briefly to pour themselves some coffee and say hello to Vince and the Meyer brothers. Nugget followed Mary closely and slipped through the kitchen door at the last minute.

  Mary and Hannah had unofficially taken over the breakfast duties and most of the other group meals as well. They had volunteered themselves for this responsibility, and in exchange, they were largely left off the watch rotation. It was a fair deal; the two women worked hard to make sure everyone had a decent meal waiting for them.

  The only other group meal was dinner; everyone was expected to make do on their own for lunch. That didn’t mean they could waltz into the kitchen and fix themselves whatever they wanted. Rather, it meant they could fend for themselves if they wanted anything more than what was provided. Mary or Hannah would set out an assortment of energy bars or other types of prepackaged snacks they had salvaged from what was left of the local grocery store.

  They had unanimously decided to lock up all their provisions in the large walk-in cooler. Mary and Hannah were the only ones with keys. It only seemed fair, seeing as how half the food in the walk-in came from Mary’s basement. It wasn’t that the townsfolk didn’t trust one another, but it would eliminate temptation, as John put it. Vince agreed, especially as they grew in number and took on strangers from outside their community.

  Bill came in next, fresh off the midnight-to-six watch. That was the longest watch anyone had to stand. The normal shift rotations happened in four-hour increments, but the decision to make that one longer was unanimous. They found that going back to bed at four in the morning after being up since midnight was pointless and made for a tough day on whoever had to pull that shift, not to mention that they missed out on breakfast by sleeping in after the shift. The person who pulled the “mid-to-six,” as they called it, was allowed to go back to bed after they were relieved and sleep until somewhere around noon, if they needed it. The schedule seemed to be working out well so far. Bill would stay here long enough to eat, and then he would crash for a few hours before joining Vince and the others around noon to help with the wall.

  “Quiet night.” Bill leaned his rifle in the corner of the room.

  Vince nodded. “I’m okay with that.”

  “Me too.” Bill took a cup from the stack, then put it back. “I better not, or I won’t be able to sleep, although I don’t know if anything could keep my eyes open at this point.”

  “You think they’ll be back?” Mark glanced at Vince.

  “Yeah, they’ll be back, all right. I’m surprised they gave us the night off,” Vince scoffed.

  Just then, Cy and John strolled in together.

  “Morning,” Cy sang out. John nodded at the others slightly but remained quiet, as usual. He was a man of few words these days.

  “How long before breakfast is ready?” Cy continued.

  “I’m not sure. Why don’t you see if you can give them a hand?” Vince said. With that, Cy was off and into the kitchen. Vince smelled the food being prepared as Cy passed through the door, and it made his stomach grumble.

  “Working on the second entrance today?” John slapped a pair of leather gloves down on the serving table and poured himself a cup of coffee.

  “Yeah, I figure if we can get that done, we can use debris to fill in the areas between the houses.” That was how Vince envisioned the wall being built from the start. They would set up the south end of Main Street the same way they had at the front entrance, utilizing a large SUV as a movable gate. Everything else could be filled in with rubble and cars as time allowed. The main objective was to block off the roadways and provide a defensible position around the perimeter.

  John took a sip of coffee and looked like he was deep in thought. “We might be able to finish that up today.” To Vince’s surprise, he actually sounded a little optimistic.

  “I was hoping we would. It’d be nice to move on to some other projects.” Vince was thinking about all the little things that needed to be done, but primarily, he was keen to get the bank of car batteries up and working so they could capitalize on these sunny days. Maybe it was time to put Tom on that project full-time. If they finished the wall today, or at least the important parts, that would free Vince up to scrounge for more batteries.

  The smoke had cleared substantially as the fires died out, and even though a yellow haze lingered in the upper atmosphere, they were getting plenty of sunlight, enough to charge the solar electric system to capacity well before the day was over. That meant if they had the bank of batteries wired into the system, they could store the overflow. With enough batteries and backup power, they could run anything they wanted. It would mean water for the motel, power to run tools, and a chance to reclaim a little of their pre-EMP lives.

  Over the next day or so, Vince was going to make setting up the bank of batteries a priority. With a few trustworthy people around, he could leave some of the other jobs to them while he focused on that. The Meyer brothers were more than capable of rigging up water to the motel, and Tom could handle setting up the intricacies of the electrical system and running a cable across the street to the motel if Fred or someone else could do some of the heavy lifting for him.

  Once they had the basics covered and security in place in the form of the completed wall, they could breathe a little easier and maybe consider venturing outside of town to look for more supplies. Vince was anxious to drive out to his house and see if it was still there. Although he didn’t hold out much hope for that, having a solar electric system seemed to be the common theme for the places that had survived the power surge. His garage and Mary’s house came to mind. It was a shame that Mary’s place was so far outside of town; it would have made for a far more comfortable base of operations than the motel, at least for him and Mary, but it was just too far and exposed to make it safe from the looters. Hopefully they hadn’t found the place. He was glad it was in the opposite direction of the looters’ camp.

  For other reasons, Vince had also held off on trying to get out to his place. He knew it w
ould lead to the rest of the survivors wanting to do the same, and rightfully so. They had every right to go check on their houses or what was left of them. But he also knew that would mean splitting up and taking precious time away from essential jobs that needed to be completed here in town. Mary’s was the exception. She lived the closest, and even more importantly, she had animals and supplies that would make their living situation somewhat sustainable. But with the new additions to their group and the possibility of more in the future, that sustainable balance was approaching its tipping point.

  The room was fairly quiet until Reese and her parents walked in with Buster.

  Reese smiled. “Good morning.”

  The big yellow lab was all nose as he held his head high and took in the smells emanating from the kitchen. Satisfied that there was food nearby, he made his rounds to get attention where he could from the others in the room. When Buster reached Vince, he was sure to give the dog plenty of love in the form of heavy rubbing around his neck and ears, something the lab thoroughly enjoyed, judging by the way he leaned into it and almost knocked Vince off balance.

  “Mornin’, guys.” Vince rose to his feet, using the wall for support while Buster continued to lean into him.

  He had a newfound respect and appreciation for the big, sometimes goofy dog. Without Buster, they never would have found Ryan and the looters’ base of operations. The dog had possibly saved not only Ryan but maybe all of them in the long run; his nose allowed Vince’s team to strike a blow to the looters and sabotage their vehicles. As far as Vince was concerned, Buster deserved a share of the rations as much as any person in their group. Maybe even more than some.

  Vince thought about the three relative strangers who were sleeping in Room 110 at the far corner of the motel. Under normal circumstances, he would have felt guilty for judging someone without knowing them, but the circumstances were anything but normal. And his gut told him to do otherwise. He hoped he was wrong, but for the immediate future, he wanted them to be watched closely, especially Travis.

  Chapter Four

  Breakfast consisted of oatmeal and toast along with a much-needed egg for each of them. The little bit of protein would help the otherwise carbohydrate-heavy meal stick with them a little longer. Travis, Jackie, and Dalton didn’t show up for the meal, but that was okay with Vince. They were probably tired from the past few days of hiking and sleeping on the ground. He wasn’t worried about them getting into any trouble for the time being. Besides, Mary, along with a few of the others, would be around the motel this morning to keep an eye on them when they did wake up. Vince also took a little pleasure in knowing the three hadn’t cost them any resources in the way of food this morning, either, although he was sure Mary would see to it that they were fed when they did venture out of their room.

  Vince intended to keep them busy, and he was considering having Travis work with him, John, Cy, and Bill on the wall. They could keep an eye on him and tire him out enough that they wouldn’t have to worry about him causing any trouble. That would also free Vince up and give him the ability to float between the garage and the south entrance of the wall so he could help Tom get the power situation figured out.

  Buster and Nugget were the first ones out the door after breakfast wrapped up. The two dogs raced around the parking lot while everyone filtered outside and prepared to start the day. Bill headed off to his room to get some much-needed rest, and Vince took the opportunity to pull John and Cy aside.

  “I’m thinking the new guy, Travis, can help us today. You guys and Bill, too, when he gets up, can keep an eye on him. There’s something about him that just doesn’t sit well with me, but maybe I’m just being paranoid. I don’t know.” Vince shrugged.

  John’s brow wrinkled. “No, I’m with you on that.”

  “Mary can put the other two to work around here. She could use the help,” Vince added.

  “It’ll be a little crowded with five of us working on the south gate. We don’t need all those people helping us, do we?” Cy asked.

  “As soon as Bill shows up with Travis, I’m gonna go see what I can do to help Tom get the power up and running. Fred’s splitting his time right now between the Meyers and Tom, so I’ll give him some relief up this way,” Vince said.

  John nodded. “Sounds good.”

  “All right, I’ll join you guys in a minute. I’m gonna let Mary and the others know what’s going on.” Vince searched the small crowd and quickly found Mary among the women who had gathered around the kids by the motel office. That was the first time Vince had seen all the children in one place at the same time. It was also the first time he realized that they were going to need at least one of the adults, maybe more, to keep an eye on the kids at all times. Before now, that was something he hadn’t really considered.

  The kids could help around the motel with odd jobs and chores, but they would need more than that to keep busy. The thought crossed his mind that maybe one of the mothers or possibly all of them on some type of schedule could set up a makeshift school of sorts. They needed to keep learning; that was as important for them as eating and hygiene, and it was part of survival. No, it would be part of them doing more than just surviving.

  Continuing with their education wasn’t an immediate priority, but it would be at some point. Richard Meyer’s wife, Brooke, was a teacher at the elementary school. She was probably already thinking about this type of thing, but he’d keep it in the back of his mind and bring it up sometime soon if no one else did.

  As he approached the group of women, he heard them dividing up chores and planning who would be responsible for watching the kids this morning.

  “Mary, can I talk to you for a minute?” Vince asked.

  “Sure. Excuse me, ladies.” Mary stepped away from the group and met Vince.

  “Can you make do if I take the older guy, Travis, and leave you with the other two? I want to keep him busy with us today.”

  “You mean you want to keep an eye on him today,” she stated.

  Vince shrugged. “Yeah, that too. Is that so bad?”

  “No, just remember, not everybody is out to get us, Vince.”

  “I know, I know. But I’m not taking any chances after what happened to Ryan. I want you to be careful today with the other two as well,” Vince cautioned, although he had little concern about Dalton and almost no reservations about the girl, Jackie.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll keep a close eye on them. I’ve got so much to do around here that they’ll be too busy to think about anything other than taking a break. I don’t even know if they’ll get to start the root cellar today. Besides, after a few days on the road, I’m sure the last thing they want to do is cause any trouble. They’re probably just grateful to have a real bed and enough food to fill their bellies.”

  Vince sighed. “I hope you’re right. I really do.”

  Mary leaned in and gave Vince a kiss on the cheek. “Be careful today, and don’t work yourself to death. Promise?”

  Vince cracked a smile. “I’ll try.”

  John and Cy were waiting for Vince. The loader was already running, the old diesel spitting out miniature clouds of black smoke from the stack.

  “I can drive for a while today,” Cy yelled down from the cab, hanging halfway out the open door.

  That was fine with Vince; he wasn’t exactly looking forward to bouncing around in the poorly cushioned seat just yet, especially since he had just poured a fresh cup of coffee.

  “Go ahead then. Slow and steady. That trailer can get away from you before you know it,” Vince shouted back and headed for John, who was waiting in his Bronco. Cy could handle the loader with the trailer rigged up to the bucket, but it tended to want to jackknife if you weren’t paying attention, mostly because of the articulated steering. If he took his time and didn’t try to rush, though, he should be fine.

  Vince settled into the passenger seat of the Bronco and pulled the door closed. John was quiet and took a sip of his coffee before starting the engine. V
ince felt awkward and wanted to say something encouraging but decided to hold his tongue. Seeing his friend like this, and though he’d tried so many times before to talk to him about what happened, Vince felt a little like he’d worn out the topic. It was probably best to try and keep things light, anyway.

  “This ought to be entertaining,” Vince joked as he glanced over at Cy in the loader.

  “Oh, he’ll be fine. Not like he’s gonna hurt anything.” John glanced around at the ruins that were once a town.

  Vince was hoping to lighten the mood a little with his comment, but John’s face remained unchanged. His stern look was becoming a permanent thing. He’d sported that same expression for too many days now, and Vince had a hard time remembering him any other way.

  John took another sip of coffee and put the truck in gear. “I’m actually glad Cy’s driving the loader this morning. I’ve been wanting to talk to you about something, anyway.”

  Vince waited with anticipation for John to come clean about how he wasn’t doing well and how the loss of his family was affecting him. He’d wanted John to get it off his chest, but now that he was about to, Vince felt nervous about what he would say to make John feel better. Maybe not much. Just listen, Vince thought.

  “I’ve been thinking about moving into the old Andersen place next to the motel,” John said. It wasn’t what Vince was expecting to hear, but at least John was talking.

  “What do you want to move in there for?” Vince asked. The place had been an eyesore in town for quite some time. The Andersens were an older couple from Cloverdale, and they died within weeks of each other some years back. They didn’t have any kids or family in the area, and the house had fallen into disrepair over the past couple of years. With no one to claim the property, the town had recently disconnected the power, and the building was slated for demolition. The fact that the power wasn’t hooked up was probably the only reason it had survived the EMPs.