“It’s good, Stryker,” Jenna said. “I can go by myself, but Henry seems to think I need an escort.”
“Henry?”
“That’s his name,” she replied, pointing at Sarge.
“Yeah, Caleb, that’s my name.”
“Did Erin tell you my first name?”
“You’re a genius,” Sarge replied.
“Jesus, I guess I have to get up earlier or miss all the good stuff.”
“That would help,” Sarge replied dryly.
“Henry, can I have a private word with you?”
“Certainly, Caleb,” he replied with lavish civility. The two men moved away from Jenna.
“You might want to take Erin or Haley with you,” Stryker said.
“Why?”
“Because when she sees her dead parents, you might want to have someone to comfort her and help her get through the grief. Besides, you need another shooter in case you run into trouble.”
“You’re right. But it has to be Erin. She’s the better shooter and I know she’s tight with Jenna.”
“I’ll get her up and out here.” Stryker moved toward the house and walked to the bedroom where Erin slept. He heard the shower going as he passed through the door and sat on the bed, waiting for her to come out. She emerged wearing a towel around her, and gasped when she saw him sitting on the bed.
“Morning,” Stryker said. “Get dressed and be ready to travel in ten minutes.” He got up and walked out of the bedroom, filled his coffee cup, and walked back to the porch. Sarge and Jenna were sitting there sipping their coffee and waiting for Erin.
“She’ll be ready in ten,” Stryker said. Sarge just nodded. Jenna looked anxious, and was rubbing her thumb and forefinger against one another in a ceaseless motion. Stryker searched for some words of reassurance for a minute, and then gave up. There was really nothing to say. Her parents were either dead or they weren’t.
“What are you guys going to do today?” Sarge asked.
“Well, I guess the ladies and I are going scavenging for more solar panels and batteries. What we have won’t support the power and water we’ll need with more people. I’m pretty sure there are at least a few ranches around here that have them, so we’ll take a ladder, get the panels and batteries, and hopefully find an inverter. I have the wiring we need, so if we have time I’ll mount the panels on the roof of the house. Probably won’t get to the wiring until tomorrow.”
Erin came out a few minutes later carrying an M-4 and wearing a holstered Glock. “Guess I’m riding shotgun?” she asked.
“Yep,” Sarge replied. “Let’s get moving.” They all walked to the Jeep Erin stole and got in. “Why don’t you two ride in back, with Erin on the passenger side.”
“Works for me,” Erin shrugged. Sarge set his carbine on the passenger’s seat and they pulled out of the yard and onto the gravel road. They rode in silence until Sarge got on Highway 83 and headed south toward San Antonio.
“How long will it take to get there?” Erin asked.
“About two hours,” Haley replied.
“Are you nervous?”
“More like scared.”
“That’s understandable.” Erin looked out the window and saw more of the same desolate, brown landscape she noted on their way to the ranch. It was still cool, but she knew the temperature would soar shortly. They passed a red brick ranch house surrounded on three sides by pecan trees. Windmills dotted the landscape and the ribbon of highway they traveled over had telephone poles along the right side. She thought about how they would live. What would they do with themselves? How would they spend their time? She suddenly realized that, for the first time in her life, there was no roadmap to consult. She had breezed through life assuming she would go to high school, play sports, have a boyfriend, and the rest. She had. Then she assumed she would go to college, become a doctor, meet someone, and settle down and have kids. There would be ski vacations and trips to Europe. Her kids would all be successful and she would become a proud grandmother, growing gracefully old with the man of her dreams. She suddenly felt tentative and uncertain. The fact that she did made her apprehensive.
“Grandpa?”
“What, sugar?”
“What’s going to happen to us? I mean, what are we going to do?”
“Stryker and I talked about that yesterday and neither one of us have a clue.”
“What do you think of him?”
“I think he’s the hardest Marine I ever knew. That’s why I stopped to look for him.”
“I guess what I am asking is do you think he’s a good person and trustworthy?” She was not encouraged when Sarge took a minute to think about it.
“Well, he’s no show pony. What you see is what you get. I think I would say you can count on him to do what he thinks is right. You may not agree with what he thinks is right, but he is a consistent man with very high standards.” He paused, then added, “You know, I am old, but I’m not blind. I see how you two look at each other and all I can say is follow your heart, but approach with caution. He’s the kind of man who mates for life and I think he is still committed to his wife and daughter. Until he can get by that, he won’t be able to commit to you.”
“I’m not certain I want him to do that. He seems to want to do the right thing, but I don’t see any affection in him. Don’t get me wrong. I’m grateful he helped us, but I don’t feel obligated, either.”
“Well I do,” Jenna said. When Erin looked startled, she added, “Did you forget I was here?”
“Of course not.”
“If it weren’t for Henry and him, we’d still be in cages. Maybe in different cages, but still cages. I can’t imagine how many men there are in the world that are willing to risk their lives for people they don’t know, but that makes him an angel in my book. If he was interested in me, I’d be on him like a rat on Cheetos.”
They all fell silent, and Sarge grinned in the rear-view mirror at Erin. She looked back with a puzzled expression.
“Nobody ever said things were going to be easy,” he said.
“Nobody ever said they would get this hard, either,” Erin answered, after glancing at Jenna. She was sure she knew what was going to happen, and already felt her heart go out to her friend.
Highway 83 turned into Interstate 10, and the three continued south.
“We’re getting close,” Jenna said, with a note of excitement. “Take the next exit, then turn left.” Sarge looked around at the stop sign after coming to a halt, then laughed at himself for stopping and turned left onto a secondary road. The blacktop road whined under the tires of the Jeep. After a mile Jenna said, “That’s our driveway on the right.” She was leaning over the front seat and peering intently at a squat yellow house that sat on a mild elevation. Then she saw a brightly painted white cross sitting between the house and a detached garage, and her face fell.
“I’m sorry,” Erin said, reaching to hug her. Sarge got out, brought his M-4 to the low ready, and approached the house.
“That will be far enough,” a man’s voice boomed. Sarge looked over and saw a tall man dressed in cammo emerge from around the corner. He had an AR leveled at him and said, “Put the weapon on the ground.”
“Dad!” Jenna screamed, exploding out of the car and running toward him. The man stared in disbelief as she approached, then his face split into a wide grin. He lowered his weapon and ran toward her. They met with an explosive force, almost knocking each other to the ground, and embraced in a fierce hug. Sarge saw her ask a question. The man answered and the tears of joy turned bitter. Her knees buckled but the man held her up. Sarge walked back to the car. Erin was standing beside it, weeping silently.
He put his arm around her and said, “at least she has someone.”
“I guess so,” Erin replied.
“I wasn’t expecting to do anything but go back to the ranch with her crying the whole way.” Sarge looked up and saw them moving toward the grave. They both sank to their knees and prayed for a few minu
tes, then her father stood and helped Jenna to her feet. They walked over to the Jeep and the man extended his hand.
“Hank,” he said. They shook hands
“I’m Sarge and this is Erin.” Hank shook her hand.
“I have no idea how you brought her back to me, but I am forever grateful.”
“You left your weapon sitting in the dirt back there. You might want to go get it,” Sarge growled. Erin looked at him in disbelief. Hank blinked a few times, thought it over, and turned. When he retrieved his AR, he came back. Sarge examined the man as he returned. He was tall, thin, and walked with an easy stride that hinted at someone who worked for a living.
“I guess I let my happiness get the best of me for a moment there.” Sarge just nodded. “So, what happened? How did you bring her back here?”
“I guess we better let her tell you that story. We came in at the end and all I know is she found a way to stay alive for two years before we showed up.”
“Dad, can we at least feed them before they go?” Jenna asked.
“Sure. I butchered a cow last week and the garden is full of fresh vegetables, so we can put something on the table.”
“You have fresh meat?” Sarge asked.
“Well, yes.” Hank looked confused at the question. “Cattle are everywhere around here. A lot of the fences are down and they free-range feed. When you want a steak, you just go shoot one and butcher it. You didn’t see them on the way here?”
“No.”
“Come in the house,” Hank said. They walked through a modestly furnished home and then stepped onto a back patio. Sarge was amazed to see cattle, chickens, and pigs roaming around the back yard. He also saw what looked to be an acre garden, entirely enclosed by framing and chicken wire. “I went next door the first week of the plague and let the hogs and the chickens out. Figured the poor things would starve to death. The cattle must have been in pasture somewhere and decided to come home. They show up during the day and hang around here and then head back to the ranch behind me every night,” Hank explained. “When I have to slaughter one, I wait until they are gone, follow them, and shoot them off the property.”
“How do you store the meat?” Sarge asked.
“I have a wind turbine that I use to power up my freezer for a few hours a day. That keeps it frozen. I take some of it to the swap meet we have every Wednesday at the school parking lot in town.”
“I don’t suppose you have a ribeye or two lying around?”
“I got a freezer half-full of them.”
“You got a grill?”
“You’re standing next to it.”
“Okay, make me happy before I die and tell me you got a shot of bourbon to drink after the steaks.”
“I do.”
“We’re staying. Maybe, forever,” Sarge said to Erin. She smiled and shrugged. Sarge and Erin moved to the front porch and let Hank and Jenna prepare the meal.
Sarge groaned after the first bite. The steak was perfectly done, red on the inside and surrounded by fresh vegetables. The onions garnished the steak, and the tomatoes tasted of the earth. They were rich and sweet, but with a deep, unknowable flavor that gave them a tang. He wolfed down his steak and watched the others do the same. Sarge pushed his plate away and folded his hands over his stomach. He waited for the rest to finish, then said, “Bourbon?”
Hank laughed and moved to a cabinet where he pulled down a bottle of Makers Mark and four glasses. “Let’s go sit on the porch and have our drinks. Jenna and I will clean up and join you.”
“Hell, I’ll follow you anywhere,” Sarge replied. He and Erin moved to the front porch and settled into patio chairs.
“Damn, that was a fine meal,” Erin said.
“Outstanding in every way,” Sarge agreed.
“We’re heading back after the bourbon?”
“We’d better. Stryker will be worried.” Hank and Jenna came out with a platter that carried the bottle of bourbon and the glasses. After Hank poured the shots, they toasted and sat back in their chairs. The sun was full now, and the heat was beginning to shimmer off the land. Hank and Jenna sat on a love seat with his arm draped around her.
“Jenna told me the story,” Hank said. “What I don’t get is what Stryker was doing in the middle of it. I guess I understand why you did what you did, Henry; but why did Stryker get involved?”
Sarge thought about it for a while and said, “That’s what he does. I don’t know how he got built that way.” He stopped speaking, lost in thought, then added, “The only reason Erin came along is because he thought she should be here to comfort Jenna when she saw her parents were dead. The last time I saw him, before all this started, was at a Burger King on base in Pendleton. He was supposed to be at an award ceremony to get a Silver Star.” Sarge fell silent.
“What happened?”
“Well, nothing happened. He said he lost four men and that wasn’t worthy of a medal. We ate our burgers and he left. Anyway, we better get going. Jenna, you remember how to get back to the ranch, just in case?”
“Sure. But, I intend to come visit a lot. I want to stay in touch.”
“Jenna, go grab them some fresh vegetables while I fill up a cooler with steaks. We’re going to say ‘thanks’ the country way.”
“If you think I’m even going to argue about it, you’re crazy,” Sarge said. They loaded a crate of vegetables and the steaks and started back.
“That back there is what you call a miracle,” Erin said as they entered the freeway.
“No argument from me,” he replied, rubbing his belly.
As they pulled into the ranch, they saw Stryker on the roof installing solar panels. He waved and they waved back. As they parked the Jeep, he came down the ladder and said, “Since she isn’t with you, I guess you have some good news.”
“Her dad, Hank, is alive. Her mom didn’t make it,” Erin answered.
“In this world, that’s in the win column.” Erin nodded her agreement.
“Where are the other ladies?” Sarge asked.
“Putting in the garden. Elle seems to know what she’s doing.”
“What’s going on with the panels?”
“We found twelve good ones at a neighbor’s house, and I got the eight new ones I bought last week. So we’re good to go. The batteries and invertor we scavenged are still in the truck. I’ll wire it up tomorrow and the house will have its own source of power.”
“Got something to show you in the Jeep, too,” Sarge said slyly. He opened the back hatch and then the cooler. Stryker gazed down, saw butcher’s paper and then picked one up. “Are these steaks?”
“Yes, and look in the crate.”
“Fresh vegetables?”
“From Jenna’s dad.”
“I thought I was going to have to wait for the trading post to get fresh food. What a treat!”
“Plus, if we want to go shoot cows for meat, we can. Hank knows how to butcher them, so he can show us how to do it.” Sarge went on to tell him about the wild cattle and other livestock in Hank’s yard.
“When I was here alone, I didn’t give much thought to long-term planning; but I guess we have to now.”
“I didn’t want to bring it up first, but you know eventually all the canned and dry food are going to go bad, and we are going to have to produce it ourselves. Even MREs go bad in fifteen to twenty years.”
“Of course, and the gas for the cars will go bad eventually. I have 200 gallons reserve here, with stabilizer. But, even that only extends the life for three or four years.”
“So, we either have to build pens for the animals and expand the garden, or find somewhere we can move that already has what we would have to build here.”
“We’re going to need drip systems for the garden, as well.” Both men fell silent, looking troubled, then Stryker said, “We haven’t even discussed the big issues, like the fact there appears to be no way we can recover from this for generations. We don’t have enough people left, apparently in the world, to rebu
ild factories and open mines and refineries, power plants and the railway system. We are well and truly screwed long term.”
“I know,” Sarge said. “I don’t mind it for myself; I may not have much time anyway. What bothers me are the ladies. They’re going to live a long time in a world that is still moving backward. I keep hoping that things can’t get worse, but I know they can and will. What do you think?”
“I think I wish we had this discussion before I mounted those solar panels. They might have to come down if we move.” Stryker shrugged, then added, “We’ll take the problems on as they come. If we try to wrap our brains around all this stuff at once, we’ll paralyze ourselves. Come on. Let’s go make dinner and worry about all this tomorrow.”
Stryker dragged an old Weber grill across the back patio and started the charcoals. They would take around thirty minutes to settle into a nice glow, so he walked inside to the kitchen, where the ladies were preparing roasted vegetables that were already in the oven. Stryker went to the pantry, pulled out two bottles of red wine that he scavenged from a house in town, and opened them with a corkscrew. He set the bottles on the countertop, found wine glasses in the cupboard, and set them next to the bottles. “Everyone help yourself,” he said, and walked back out to the patio with a beer in each hand. He handed one to Sarge and sat down on the settee next to him.
“Let’s keep it light tonight and not talk about all the stuff we need to do. Give them a chance to take it easy and just enjoy the evening. But we do need to talk to them tomorrow,” Sarge said.
“I just opened two bottles of wine for them.”
“That should do it.”
“I got two more in the fridge.”
“I didn’t know you drank wine.”
“Only with steak. Jill got me into that habit.”
“How’re you going to cook them?”
“Rare.”
“You’re not taking their orders?”
“First, only a heathen overcooks a good steak. Second, I only know one way to make them. My way. They want them better done, they can throw them back on the grill.”
Stryker: A Post-Apocalyptic Tale Page 11
