by Mark Goodwin
Jack said, “Not necessarily the fancy stuff the military uses—like in the movies. But a lot of folks have Generation 1 or Generation 2 scopes for hunting coyotes or predators that get into their chickens. It wouldn’t take much of a stretch to imagine these dirt bags stole one or two good units in a recent burglary. The ones with the night vision could have led the others through the woods. The moon provided some light. It was a clear night.”
Kate felt the pressure of the renewed threat. The man responsible for Scott’s brutal slaying still had a bone to pick with her for killing his brother. “How are we going to secure the neighborhood from the rear?”
Don shook his head. “It can’t be done. Too much real estate. We don’t have the manpower. If every resident in Apple Blossom Acres worked security round the clock, the line would still be as porous as a sieve.”
Kate didn’t like that answer. “But we have to do something. We can’t just wait for something like this to happen again—and again.”
Jack held up his hand. “Don’s right, we can’t seal off the community. But we can come up with some measures to make it a harder target.”
“Like what?” Kate needed a solution right now, or she’d never get any sleep.
Jack rubbed his jaw. “I’d have to give it some thought, but things like trip alarms, trip wires, stuff like that would help.”
“What about booby traps?” Vicky straightened up on her stool. “Pot growers used to hang fish hooks at eye level all around their fields.”
“Since when do you know what pot growers do?” Kate crossed her arms.
“Kids at school are always talking about random stuff.”
Don’s face looked grim. “I don’t want to shoot down your idea, but we’d have the possibility of a friendly getting caught in the booby trap. Anyway, brainstorming is good. Keep thinking of anything that comes to mind. Write it down and the security council will review the various suggestions. Jack, the sun is up, high enough for us to track that trail. We should get on it while we can.”
Jack followed Don to the door. “Kate, we appreciate what you’re doing for Amanda and David. We’ll have their place cleaned up in a day or two. I’m sure they’ll want to get back home once it’s habitable.”
Kate put her arm around Vicky. “We’re happy to do it. The McDowells were so kind to us when we lost Terry.”
Once the door closed, Vicky looked at Kate. “You know I wasn’t going to let anything happen if David had slept in my room, right?”
“And that, my dear, is exactly why you’re not ready to make those kinds of decisions. You are underestimating the power of temptation; especially in a volatile emotional environment like we’re in.”
Pritchard piped up. “You best listen to your aunt. Make no provision for the flesh.”
Vicky rolled her eyes at Pritchard. “Yeah, listen to her, the woman who lives with her boyfriend.”
“Pardon me?” Kate instantly went from being exhausted to energized by anger. “I don’t live with my boyfriend.”
“Then what do you call it?” Vicky put her hands on her hips.
“I call it survival. In case you haven’t noticed, we are in a violent world. The rules have changed.” Kate turned to the old man. “Mr. Pritchard, can you help me out here?”
“The youngin is right. You and the boy are livin’ in sin.”
“We’re not living in sin. We haven’t touched each other.” Insulted, Kate sat with her mouth open.
“That’s a lie. I saw you two on the couch the other night.” Vicky held her head high.
“Vicky! We were just kissing!”
“Kissing and touching.”
Kate’s face turned red. “Well maybe, but you made it sound like we were…”
“Doing it? I didn’t say that. But you said you two hadn’t touched each other. I’m just stating the facts.”
Kate scrambled to bring the conversation back under her control. “We’ll try to be more—restrained, going forward.”
Kate glanced at Pritchard and quickly turned away. But it was too late.
The old man said, “You can make excuses, you can try to be more restrained, but I’ll tell you one thing I’ve learned in my years upon this earth; if you stand a lookin’ at that apple pie in the bakery window long enough, sooner or later, you’ll get you a slice of it.”
Kate defended her position. “What am I supposed to do, Mr. Pritchard? We don’t exactly have a lot of options that would permit us to have separate housing. I stay out of his room and he stays out of mine. I think those are adequate boundary lines.”
“Don’t have to convince me none. I ain’t the one you have to answer to on Judgment Day. And you do have options. Just ain’t got none that suit your fancy; that’s all.”
“And what options might we have?”
“You can get hitched, or the boy can stay with me a spell. Lord knows I’ve got more room in that old house than I need.”
“Get hitched? Be reasonable! We barely know each other.”
“Sounds to me like you’re gettin’ to know each other right quick over here.” He waved his hand dismissively. “Don’t pay me no mind, but don’t think the youngins here don’t see right through you tellin’ them how to behave one way whilst you do as you please.”
The statement cut Kate like a knife. She had never considered what an impact she could be having on her impressionable niece and nephew.
CHAPTER 10
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.
Song of Solomon 1:2
Five days passed since Scott had been killed and a state of relative calm returned to Apple Blossom Acres. November arrived and with it came the first serious cold snap. Kate and Gavin worked the checkpoint for the 6:00 AM to 2:00 PM shift Monday morning.
Kate bobbed up and down to stay warm. “It’s freezing out here. We need a guard house or something to block the wind.”
“One of those big metal barrels with a fire in it would help.” Gavin rubbed his arms.
“It’s only November. Think about what guard duty will be like in February.”
“Don’t remind me.” He groaned. “How are you doing upstairs? It must be freezing up there with no heat.”
“I got cold last night, that’s for sure. I put my sweats over my pajama bottoms, two pair of socks, my hoodie, and gloves. We’ll have to stoke up the fire and heat the house up really good tonight.”
“You could come sleep downstairs.”
“Gavin, you know how I feel about that.”
“I meant you could come sleep downstairs, and I’ll take your room. My room is closer to the fireplace. It doesn’t get as cold.”
“That’s really sweet of you.” She looked at her hiking boots. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you about something.”
“Uh oh. Here it comes.”
“What? No! Just hear me out.”
“Sure, but I can tell by the tone in your voice that it’s not good.”
“It’s not bad either. It just is—what it is.”
“Okay, let me have it.” Gavin stood erect as if he were bracing himself for a punch in the gut.
“I think you should consider staying with Pritchard.”
Gavin looked toward the road. “That’s okay. I’ll just head to my cousin’s in Tennessee.”
“No, Gavin! Don’t be like that!”
“I’m only here because of you. I knew it was only for a while. I guess I just hoped it would be a longer while.”
“Gavin, this isn’t about me not liking you, I do—a lot!”
“Then what’s it about?”
“It’s about us living together and the example I’m setting for Sam and Vicky. And it’s about temptation. We’ve gone further than I intended, and if we keep pushing it, I’m going to do something I’ll regret. I know it’s not a big deal to you, but I really believe in God. I want to live a life that’s pleasing to Him.”
“I promise, I won’t even kiss you when we’
re inside the house. But I don’t want to leave you there alone. Not with everything that’s been going on. This thing with the Badger Creek Gang has me on edge. I couldn’t sleep wondering if something is going to happen to you while you’re in the house alone. I don’t know if you realize this, Kate…” He took her hands. “But I care about you—deeply.”
She looked down at his hands, then up into his eyes. “You never told me before.”
“I’ve tried to show you. I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t want to seem—too forward. I’ve wanted to say that I…” He paused.
She waited with bated breath to hear what he’d say next.
Finally, he said, “Care about you.”
She felt disappointed, not hearing the words she wanted him to say. “Yeah, you said that. But unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of other choices.”
“It sounds like we don’t have any other choices. It sounds like you’ve made up your mind and this is the way it has to be.”
“Well, Pritchard said we had one other choice but…”
“And what was that?”
Kate laughed nervously and rolled her eyes. “He said we should get married.”
“Married?”
“Yeah, that’s what I said.”
“You would marry me?”
“What? No! I mean, I’m not saying no, but you’re not really asking me. But I’m not saying I would either, I, I...” She stopped her belligerent babbling and took a deep breath. “Scratch everything I just said. Can I reformulate my response?”
“Go ahead.” Gavin looked completely perplexed.
“I realize that like me, you’re from the hacker-slash-gamer culture. We don’t have a reputation for having the most well-adjusted set of social skills. Although, I will say yours are far more developed than most people of your technological caliber.”
“Is that supposed to be some kind of a compliment?” He looked even more bemused.
“Let me finish.” She took his hands. “Even so, being a computer nerd doesn’t give you a pass on certain social mores. One of the most sacrosanct of those sociological statutes is that a boy cannot hypothetically pose a question about a girl’s willingness to marry him.”
He shook his head. “What am I supposed to do now?”
“If you have a question to ask me, then ask it.”
“You just said that you’d say no. Why are you trying to torture me, Kate?” A tear ran down his cheek and he turned away from her. “I’ve been in love with you since the moment I saw you at DefCon. You shot me down, over and over, but by some strange twist of fate, I’ve been able to break through, to get to know you for these few weeks. While it’s been the most horrible period in recent human history, they’ve been the best days of my life; all because I got to spend them with you. I never hoped that you’d like me as much as I like you, but I simply could not handle the rejection if you turned me down.”
She grabbed him and pulled him close. “Gavin, I’m in love with you, too. I wouldn’t reject you. I wouldn’t say no.”
His eyes looked like those of a child on Christmas morning. “You wouldn’t?”
She smiled from ear to ear.
He took her hands. “Kate McCarthy?”
“Yes?” She looked into his eyes and her heart fluttered.
The radio chirped. “Checkpoint, this is overwatch. You two better look alive. You’ve got a vehicle coming your way.”
CHAPTER 11
Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour. A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left. Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool.
Ecclesiastes 10:1-3
Kate spun her AK-47 off of her back and held it at low ready. Gavin pressed the butt of his rifle snuggly under his armpit. He held up one hand to signal for the oncoming Jeep Wrangler to stop when it turned into the Apple Blossom Acres entry road.
Kate stepped forward to watch the passenger and listened close while Gavin interacted with the driver.
“Sorry, the road is closed to anyone who isn’t a resident here.” Gavin kept enough distance to be able to engage if need be.
The driver was in his mid-fifties, had a wavy blonde pompadour, which transitioned seamlessly into a shoulder-length mullet. He took a long, deep drag from an unfiltered cigarette. “I’m Rita Dean’s grandson. She lives here.” When he spoke, smoke poured out of his mouth like a rusty furnace with a stopped up flue.
“What’s your name?” Gavin asked.
“James.” He flicked the short smoldering butt of the cigarette. “James Dean.”
Kate had to pinch herself to make sure it wasn’t all some bizarre dream. James Dean had just interrupted Gavin who was about to propose; it all felt so surreal. She pressed her mic button. “Overwatch, can you send a runner to ask Mrs. Dean if she has a grandson. If so, can you ask her to describe him?”
“10-4.”
Annie Cobb’s voice came over the radio. “I’m just up the road from Mrs. Dean. I can get there faster.”
“Thanks, Annie,” Kate spoke loud enough for James Dean to hear her. “We’re checking with Mrs. Dean right now.”
“She’s okay then?” James lit another cigarette.
“She’s fine.” Kate wasn’t going to add any more details until she’d confirmed the identity of the caricature before her.
Kate noticed the olive-green duffle bag in the back of the Jeep. Beneath it was more luggage, and what looked like rifle cases. It seemed that James intended to stay a while if he was cleared by his grandma.
Annie called back five minutes later. “She said he’s about five and a half feet tall, muscular, with flowing golden locks that would have made Absalom himself jealous. Does that sound like your guy?”
Kate grimaced. “More stocky than muscular, but if you allow for Mrs. Dean’s grandiose opinion of her grandchild, I suppose we could be talking about the same person.”
“She’s on her way down to the gate if you want to wait for a positive ID.”
“Okay, thanks.” Kate stepped forward once more. “Mrs. Dean is coming down.”
“Jimmy! Jimmy! Is that you?” The old woman came down the steep road faster than she should have. “Oh, Jimmy, I just knew you’d come.”
James Dean cut the ignition and stepped out of the Jeep. “Grandma!”
Mrs. Dean embraced the parody of the icon for a long minute before pulling back. “It’s so wonderful to see you again. How is Columbia?”
“It’s bad, Grandma, real bad,” said the imitation rebel without a cause.
“You just come stay with your granny for a spell.”
James Dean motioned to the gaunt man in the passenger’s seat. “Grandma, this is Skeeter. He was my roommate in Columbia. Do you mind if he stays with us as well?” James motioned for the lanky individual to get out of the car. “Come on out here. Introduce yourself.”
Skeeter complied quickly, as if it weren’t the first time he’d been issued an order by James. “Pleasure to meet you, ma’am.”
Kate figured they could do with a few more people to help stand watch. Especially with the onset of winter, she wouldn’t mind giving up a shift or two.
Mrs. Dean started back up the hill. “I’m goin’ to get some vittles on for you boys. Y’all come on up when you’re ready.”
“Right behind you, Grandma.” With both hands, James Dean gently patted his hair, making sure not one strand had been disturbed by his grandmother’s extended greeting. His smile revealed two rows of teeth that weren’t exactly straight, and weren’t exactly white. However, they were all present and accounted for, which was more than Kate could say about Skeeter. James Dean walked confidently toward Kate and extended his hand. “I didn’t get your name, pretty lady.”
Her smile was a fractured one at best. She hesitantly obliged his offer of a handshake, hoping he
wouldn’t lean in for a hello kiss and that her own hand wouldn’t be pasted with pomade when she drew it back. “I’m Kate. And that’s my boyfriend, Gavin.”
James Dean turned and offered his hand to Gavin. “It’s nice to meet a man that has the same exquisite taste as myself when it comes to the fairer sex.”
Gavin’s lips curled into a contrived smile. He seemed to grunt or clear his throat as he shook James Dean’s hand. Nevertheless, he cordially entered into polite conversation with the newcomer. “You said you’re coming from Columbia? How is it there?”
James Dean shook his head. “Worse than I ever could have imagined. We live close to the high school. FEMA has set up shop over there. We’re on 16-hour lockdown every day. Only allowed out of the house from 9 to 5. The military ain’t taking no chances. I don’t blame them. We’ve had our share of violence. The iron fist is the only way to keep things under control in a situation like this. I was in Special Forces. If I was calling the shots, I wouldn’t do anything different.”
“Oh, did you see combat?” Kate inquired.
“Nope. Too young for Nam and too old for Iraq. Kind of a waste; all that training. But, the way things are going, I still might get to hang my fair share of toe tags.”
Kate felt repulsed by the method in which the answer had been delivered. But she gave the man the benefit of the doubt. Everyone had their own way of dealing with the terrible environment. Besides that, she’d found Pritchard rather offensive when she first met him. Perhaps she’d be able to warm to James Dean in time.
James Dean looked up the hill toward the overwatch shelter as if he knew exactly where it would be positioned. “What about you folks? How’s this little check-point-Charlie thing workin’ out for you?”
The question sounded demeaning, but Kate considered the source. “It helps, but we’ve had our fair share of trouble.”
James sniggered. “I bet you have. Something like this would just be painting a bigger target on your backs in Columbia. They’d have eaten you alive.”
