Considering there weren’t many of us, I made my way to the library. When I was walking across the lawn, my foot caught on one of our hatches. We had hidden the swords so the kids couldn’t get them. It irritated me that it was open?
I guess I wasn’t in the best of moods. The bright spot was that the countdown was on until everyone was allowed to leave their quarantine.
Sonny didn’t look all that great when I arrived.
“Beck radioed,” Sonny said. “We have problems.”
“What kind of problems?’
“They were tracking a large population of Sleepers near the Great Divide. They moved and they moved fast. Back can only figure they moved east.”
“How large.”
“Thousands.”
“They can’t possibly be headed here. We aren’t a beacon.”
“I know. But he’s worried because it’s two weeks until the first of March. He’s on his way back. They’re following them.”
“Well, they got all the equipment. After everyone is up and about, let’s double check our fences and come up with a plan for those who haven’t been cloaked.”
“Like Mera.”
“Yes, like Mera.”
“Alex, this is getting scarier and scarier. We know something happens and—”
“Don’t.” I held up my hand. “Don’t. We’ll be fine. Something that big we’ll see coming in plenty of time.”
Hank and his band of five merry men suddenly didn’t seem so important in the wake of a possible flood of Sleepers. If Beck was warning us, something was up.
I told Sonny to keep me posted, stay in close contact with Beck. I was going to check on Mera and the babies.
I went to the medical building first. For some reason I figured that was where she would be, playing Florence Nightingale, but she wasn’t, so I had to backtrack to the block.
Mera was cleaning up the block when I arrived back, the boys were seated at the table, a bowl of something in front of them, though they were more engrossed with their Legos.
“Hey. Still mad at me?”
“Nope,” she said. “Still mad at me?”
“Not at all.”
Mera walked over to the pan of water to soak the dishes.
“If you’re not mad at me,” I said, “why are you avoiding me?”
“I’m not avoiding you. I’m doing dishes. I need something to do. Javier said I was a distraction with the babies at the clinic. What brings you here?”
“Well, I wanted to make sure you weren’t upset. I kinda…” I paused to smile. “When Michael came in and yelled at us, I thought he was gonna toss us in a room like the old days.”
“Yeah, well, it wouldn’t be like the old days, that’s for sure. You’d probably stand in the corner keeping your distance.”
“Mera, there’s a reason for it. And it isn’t because I want to. I’m afraid to let go. Okay? And Beck is on his way back.”
“So you’re scared of Beck?”
“What? No. I’m not scared of Beck.”
“Alex, he’s been gone for nearly four months. Months. And the closest you got to me was putting your hand on my shoulder.”
“I did more than that.”
“Go back to work.”
“Did you hear what I said?” I asked. “Beck’s on his way. Some Sleeper movement, a big one, is east of us.”
“Does he think it’s coming here?”
“He doesn’t know and neither do we. So do me a favor and just hang tight in the block, okay?”
“Absolutely.”
Before any more could be said, Ed called on my radio. He didn’t wait for my response, he summoned me ASAP. Ed was on tower.
“Do think he sees the Sleepers?” Mera asked.
“We’ll find out. Stay here.” I walked to the door and stopped. I went back to Mera and placed my hands on her shoulders. “Now both hands have touched your shoulders.”
She laughed and lowered her head.
Crouching down I made eye contact with her. “I’ll keep you posted.”
“Thank you.”
I leaned forward, not only surprising her but myself, and I kissed her. It wasn’t one of those long, drawn out things, but it was enough to leave her speechless and knowing I cared a little more than shoulder touching.
I expected to be scared or nervous, but kissing her was natural. After darting another kiss to her, I left the block.
Five feet from the block, my radio hissed.
“Alex,” it was Mera.
“Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
I hooked the radio in my belt and made it as fast as I could to the tower.
Ed did not look pleased, and it was the first time I could recall he actually appeared tense.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“We need a plan,” he said, handing me the binoculars. “Take a look.”
I lifted them to my eyes, peered out, lowered them, blinked then looked again. “Are you shitting me?”
“Nope.”
“Well, your assessment is correct. We need a plan.” I exhaled the nervous energy in my gut. “This can’t be good.”
THIRTY-FIVE – MERA STEVENS
It had been three hours since Alex returned. Not that three hours was all that much, but after receiving an ‘ASAP’ radio summons from Ed, I would have expected Alex to come back and tell me everything was fine. I even tried to radio him.
His only response was, “I’m a little busy right now’
“Okay, well check in when you can.”
“I will,” Alex said. “Stay put, Mera. Don’t want the babies getting that flu.”
Was Alex losing his mind? He knew the babies wouldn’t catch anything, unless there was a real strain of flu going around.
Tired of waiting, I ventured out. The boys were restless and Scout needed air and the outdoors to take care of business. Hooking the leash to Keller’s belt, and holding the boys’ hands, we left our building and headed to the Admin building where not only we could stop in the cafeteria, but find Alex as well.
It was so eerily calm in the yard with everyone being in the clinic or building C.
I felt bad for Keller because Scout was happy to do his business, and yanked poor Keller a good ten feet. He was fine. Once Scout was done and quit playing around, we headed to the main building.
“Hello?” I called out when we walked in. Though I expected to see Bonnie in the kitchen, she wasn’t there. Neither was Patty, and I suspected she was at the clinic. I figured Randy would be doing something for Alex.
We walked through the cafeteria, into the lobby.
“Hello?” I called out. “Alex?”
Keller peeped out. “Home.”
“We’ll go soon, sweetie. I need to find Alex.”
“Home.”
“Soon.”
The lobby was empty and there wasn’t a sound. It dawned on me that they were probably all outside, and since I didn’t see a Sleeper, Ed’s call must have been a false alarm.
We changed directions and headed back to the Cafeteria. The aroma of cookies was still strong in the kitchen and it wouldn’t hurt to snatch one some for me and the boys. As soon as we stepped back inside the dining area, I saw a man. My first thought was we had another visitor from the future, until he called my name and I recognized the voice.
“Mera,” he said brightly and walked over to me. He was about the same height as Sonny, dark hair, beard. Not straggly or worn.
“Hank?” I said with surprise.
“Boy are you a sight for sore eyes.”
“When did you get here?”
“We just rolled in about a half hour ago. It’s good to see you. And look, you really are pregnant. Nice to meet you, Mera.” He embraced me.
“So nice to meet you. How did you know I was here?”
“Alex heard you call. In fact…” he reached down to my belt and lifted the radio. “Hey, Alex, I found her. Thanks.”
“Where is he?”
&n
bsp; “Out front. He’s kind of tied up right now with our people.”
“Understandable.”
Hank was really pleasant and seemed as nice in person as he had on the radio. He crouched down to Scout and pet him, then looked at the boys. “Phoenix and Keller. Nice to meet you.”
“Are you hungry? Would you like something to eat?” I asked. “Patty is around here somewhere, but if not, I can get it for you.”
“No, I’m good right now. Alex said he’d meet you at the clinic. Can you take me there?”
“Oh, we have that flu bout happening. Are you sure he said the clinic?”
Hank closed one eye in thought. “I think. I’m sure he’ll catch up to us.”
“Why don’t I give you the tour?”
“Even better.” He held out his hand. “Lead the way.“
I lifted the radio. “Alex, Alex, come in.”
Nothing.
“I’m giving Hank the grand tour. Catch us by the clinic. I know you’re busy, but can you at least have the courtesy of acknowledging I am radioing?”
Nothing.
A few seconds later, the radio hissed and Alex replied. “Roger.”
This made me pause. “Roger?”
“Mera, don’t take him to storage three. Our vital stuff….”
Silence.
I stared at the radio.
“What’s in storage three?” Hank asked.
I hated lying, but I couldn’t let him know we were holding Sleepers there. “It’s like weapon thing. Very deadly stuff.”
“Wow. Now I am interested.”
“Alex said not to take you there so I’ll respect that. Anywhere else is fair game. Where do you want to start?”
“How about you show me around?”
I told him it sounded good and gathered up the babies and Scout.
He grabbed a cookie as he followed next to me. “Just so you know, Mera, I’m very glad to be here. Thank you for all your help.”
THIRTY-SIX – SONNY WILSON
I had just finished stealing one of those freshly baked cookies that Patty had made when Alex called an immediate meeting. It wasn’t the typical, let’s meet in the library meeting, we had to trudge up to the tower.
We left Randy and an older man named Lance on the gate and Michael and I went to the tower to meet Alex.
I thought for sure it had to do with the Sleepers. After all, Beck had made that warning radio call.
To my surprise, Bonnie and Patty were up there as well.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“We’re planning,” Alex stated. “You’ll have to fill Randy in.”
“Sure.” I shrugged. “About what?”
“Take a look south.” Alex handed me binoculars.
“Sleepers?”
“No, company.”
I crinkled my brow, turned south and raised my binoculars.
“Let’s just say I’m willing to wager that invitation Mera sent out has been taken.”
“In her defense, Alex,” Patty said, “she was only being nice. I would have done the same.”
“She did think they were a small group,” Bonnie chimed in.
All my breath escaped me and it formed a laughing sound of disbelief. “That’s a little more than six people.”
The truth was, I didn’t know how many people there were. All we could see were vehicles. A few cars, buses, pickup trucks and tractor trailers. If each vehicle only held one person we were looking at a lot of newcomers.
The first row of them formed a wide blockade line, and the rest were like a traffic jam.
Ed said, “I counted forty-two vehicles. Bet some of them are full.”
“What are they doing?” I asked. “They look like they’re only parked there.”
“They haven’t moved,” Ed stated.
Michael looked. “It’s a feint.”
“A what?” I asked.
“A feint,” Michael said. “They want us to look that way. We need to check our vulnerable spots. They have us focusing there, they’ll come in from somewhere else.”
“If they were here for trouble, “I said, “why sit there? Maybe they are afraid to approach us because they lied about their numbers.”
Alex took the binoculars. “Is that a chance we want to take?”
“What are we gonna do?” I asked.
“I have an idea,” Alex said. “Michael you and I will check our vulnerable areas.”
“Secure our weapons,” Michael said. “Also, let’s unlock the sword hatches.”
“That’s a plan,” Alex said. “Patty, I need you to go to the clinic. Get them buckled down there. Let Javier, Noah, and Levi know the situation. Get every man and woman that is well enough to fight, have them ready to defend. Same with Building C. Stay put, but be ready.”
She nodded and left immediately.
“What about the fences?” I asked. “Should I activate them?”
“No. Not yet. I have a backup plan, and the fences can’t be on. Not yet. Sonny, I need you to get on the radio and try to get ahold of Beck. They’re coming this way, and they need to know what they are running into. Ed and Bonnie… you need to go. Take Black Beauty and Brown Bear, ride out east. If it looks clear, hang back with weapons in case we need to invoke my backup plan.”
“What’s the backup plan?” I questioned. “I missed that part of the meeting.”
“I’ll tell you in a few. Right now, radio Beck.”
I guessed Alex’s backup plan wasn’t all that great or else he’d be bragging about it. He seemed to be bracing for a defensive more than offensive plan, and if we were outnumbered, we needed that fence charged.
Unless, of course, Beck was close than we knew.
I headed down to the library and radioed out for Beck. Another soldier answered the call and said Beck wasn’t available. I pleaded that it was important and requested he get him on the line.
He said, “I’ll try.”
I waited. That was my job in this big plan. Wait and wonder what was going on. I didn’t hear gunfire or even engine noises so that was a good thing. It seemed like an hour, when in actuality it was only fifteen minutes when Beck got back to me.
“Haven, come in.”
“Thank God,” I gushed and grabbed the radio. “It’s Sonny.”
“Sonny, what’s going on?”
“How far west are you guys?”
“Why? Did something happen?”
I didn’t get to respond, because as soon as I brought the microphone to my mouth, I felt something hit against the back of my head. It could have been anything, but I was pretty certain it was a gun.
“Reply,” the man said from behind me. He then stepped into my side view to show me he had a gun aimed at my head.
I had to think and think hard.
“Sonny?” Beck called. “Sonny, come in.”
“Answer him,” the man ordered.
I lifted the microphone. “Beck, false alarm.
“Sonny, what the hell? My guys thought something went wrong.”
“No. False alarm. Jessie is fine. We thought she wandered off again, but we found her. She is back in the compound.”
Beck had to understand. No way would he think I used Jessie’s name by accident. Using her name was my way to let him know something was amiss.
That was confirmed when he calmly said, “Glad she’s back in the compound. Out.”
I sighed in relief. However, it was far from over. I was ordered to lift my arms and stand. When I did, I turned around to see another man with a gun.
They led me from the library. I had no idea what happened to Alex, Randy, or Michael. For all I knew they were dead and I was next.
THIRTY-SEVEN – ALEX SANS
It was the weakest takeover in the world and we fell right into it. They were probably close to us when Mera told them we were laid low by the flu, and they seized their opportunity to come in our weakened state.
Randy told me only four men approached the front gate an
d they were armed. By the time me and Michael arrived after their call for help, there were ten men. We were outnumbered and they had weapons on us. They knew a lot. They knew enough to know we had a skeleton security force.
Last I knew, only ten of them were roaming our compound, although hours had passed and probably more were already there.
At first they held us into the lobby, then after staring at the map on the wall, Hank knew where to take us. He had spoken to Mera so much he knew Haven well.
There were two of them in charge. Hank and another man they called Reefer. I couldn’t figure out why until I got a whiff of him and he smelled like a dead skunk. Made my eyes water.
The four of us were bound hands behind our back, ankles tied, and made to kneel on the old linoleum in the education building.
“Alex Sans,” Hank paced in front of us. He was confident. After all, he had us. “You are quite the superhero Mera made you out to be.”
“You haven’t seen my best yet.”
“I’m sure. Okay, you’re Alex. You must be Randy.” He pointed. “Couldn’t lose that weight after playing Santa.”
“That is rude,” I told him.
“Shut up.”
“Boy with the blond hair looks like Daniel, and you are either Michael or Ed,” Hank said.
“You don’t know?” Michael asked. “That shocks me.”
“Go, Padre,” I said.
“So you’re Michael,” Hank nodded. “Where is the missing guy? Ed.”
“Gone,” I replied. “Left this morning for a two-day run.”
“Oh. We’ll be gone by then.”
Randy asked, “So you’re not here to take over our home?”
“No. Just your stuff. We’re gonna take it all. Wipe out your greenhouses, your weapons, stock, fuel, medical, you name it. Oh, and your women. We don’t have many.”
He looked directly at me when he said that.
“We’re not rapists or killers, we don’t want to hurt anyone,” Hank said. “We are gonna be like locusts, take what we need and move on. Got an eye on a place in Vermont. Mera will like it.”
Sleepers (Book 6) Page 18
