by Reed, N. C.
“I want you to detail Sergeant Lowell to command this post with five men,” Clay told him. “You will assume command of all Captain Adcock’s forces on the farm and I will issue any orders through you. You and the rest will return to the farm proper, where we are trying to establish a screen of posts to protect us from trespassers. It’s all we can do for now. I assume you guys have laundry?”
“Yes sir, we do,” Gillis nodded. “A few days’ worth.”
“We happen to have a laundry,” Clay smiled. “A real one. Bring all your dirty clothing down with you and we’ll get it laundered and returned. Whatever else your men may need, we’ll try and provide it, assuming we have it. Are you set for gear and ammunition?”
“Affirmative, sir,” Gillis replied.
“Bring your vehicles down to have them refueled and let our mechanic look them over,” Clay ordered. “Assuming they check out, we’ll probably have your MRAP returned here to help with the watch. I hope they won’t need it, but if they do then they’ll need it in a hurry. Anything else we can cover back at the barn, where we can get out of this cold.”
“Roger that, sir.”
-
Clay had gathered everyone who played a role in decision making on the farm, assembling them in the area of Building Two that usually served as a group dining area for get togethers.
“Everyone, this is Lieutenant Faron Gillis,” he introduced the newest member of their circle. “He was with Captain Adcock’s command, stationed in and around Lewiston. His men have been through quarantine, and the Captain asked us to let them settle in here due to the emergency we’re enduring. Introduce yourselves and then we’ll talk a bit.”
The introductions made the rounds of the tables, with everyone giving their name and a bit about the role they served. Finally, it was back to Clay.
“Well, we’re in a mess again, and there’s no doubt of that,” Clay told them, not bothering to sugar coat anything. “We’re pretty much isolated at the present, unable to raise anyone on the radio other than the few outposts we established back when Greg first took over as Sheriff. They’re all keeping their heads down and staying isolated as well, hoping things will blow over without hitting them. So far, it has.”
“Have we had any contact at all with Jordan?” Gordon asked.
“Not for several days,” Clay admitted. “That almost bothers me more than not being able to contact Adcock, since there were about two thousand people in Jordan, and they had more than one working radio we had provided. Also, there was more than one radio in Lewiston, and even more people. Nothing from either town.”
“So, we’re alone, then,” Robert said quietly, his face showing how he felt about that.
“Well, we’re not completely alone,” Clay told his brother. “Remember that I just said we’re still in contact with our people in the radio stations we established. There are still people out there. But we don’t know about places we can’t contact. Not yet. And honestly, it’s not worth the risk to go and investigate, either. Not right now, at least.”
“How can you say that?” more than one voice protested, all of them civilian.
“I can say it because it’s true,” he held up a hand to stop their complaints. “Look, most of you don’t realize it, but we’ve been attacked several times in the last two weeks. People, armed people, coming over our roadblocks and fence lines despite our warnings, determined to get at whatever we’re keeping from them. Most believe we have a way to treat the disease, which we do not. Many assume we have food, which we do, but we can’t feed everyone. We’ll be hungry before the next crop comes in as it is. And that’s assuming we get a good harvest.”
“We’ve dipped deep into our own canned and stored food to help others, we’ve cut just as deep into the beef and pork we had held back for consumption, and we’ve taken on two dozen new mouths to feed,” he ticked off the problems. “And our orders, my orders, were to isolate this farm and protect it at all costs. Allow no one onto the farm until further notice.”
“If Adcock is gone, who will give that notice?” Ronny asked, curious rather than challenging.
“That’s a problem, too,” Clay admitted. “At some point I’ll have to make a decision about that. But we are going to wait a good while before doing it. It’s my hope that winter kills the virus, at least for the most part. Before we adjourn, Captain Thatcher will detail a report on what we can expect, but we’ll get to that in a bit.”
“The rule about no one getting in or out stands, for now,” he continued. “Anyone who absolutely wants to leave may do so, of course, but they won’t be allowed back, for any reason. We’ve been extremely fortunate to dodge this bullet, and we will not risk that by becoming careless at this late date.”
“We’ll be erecting permanent guard stations around the area to replace the vehicles that have helped hold the line up until now,” Clay moved to a map of the farm and indicated a number of pencil drawn X marks. “These will be like hunting blinds, and we’ll have to try and figure a safe way to heat them and build them so we can open them up in the summer to allow a breeze inside. These posts will be manned around the clock for the foreseeable future.”
“That’s a lot of manpower,” Gleason mentioned, and several heads nodded.
“I know, but if we depend just on the towers, then by the time we see someone it may well be too late,” Clay shrugged. “I don’t want to do it either, I just can’t figure anything else. This is what we can do, so we do it. We’ll have a meeting for security personnel to hash this out further later, but just so everyone knows, this is the plan for now.”
“Sooner or later we’re going to start seeing people from Jordan who survived,” Gordon noted. “They can’t all have perished, can they?”
“The statistics say no,” Jaylyn Thatcher stood when Clay motioned to her. “I guess this is as good a time as any for me to talk about this. Pestis is normally found….”
-
“Don’t tell them I said so,” Clay told Jose quietly a bit later on, “but I don’t want the young women, the Amazons,” he snorted, “working these isolated watch positions,” he pointed at the roster for the new posts they were building. “Use them for internal security here around the buildings.”
“Any reason why?” Jose asked, though he was sure he knew.
“I just don’t want them isolated out on that arc, that’s all,” Clay replied as expected. “I don’t want them where they can be taken by surprise and abducted.”
“We could always have two people to a stand,” Jose suggested, though he was not in favor of it.
“No,” Clay shook his head. “No, that just invites conversation and letting your guard down. We’ll rotate the guards every two hours or so. Maybe that will help. But remember that when you draw up assignments.”
“Yes, Great One.”
Clay ignored him as he moved on.
-
While he hadn’t told anyone, Clay had expected trouble from Jordan long before now. Those who survived would blame the farm for not helping, even though the farm had helped them greatly. That assistance would, as ever, be overlooked as people in Jordan looked for someone to blame their sorrows on.
He had just finished breakfast when his radio came to life, requesting him at the roadblock as soon as possible. Taking his ATV, Clay headed that way. The snow had melted with warmer temperatures, leaving a muddy mess everywhere it had touched. Snow was good for farm country, but it still made a mess.
He arrived at the Cougar standing guard over the roadblock to see a single figure standing in the distance, holding up what looked like a bicycle.
“What gives?” he asked Shane, who was the vehicle commander for the morning.
“Showed up a half-hour ago, wanting to see you,” Shane shrugged. “Said he had information for you.”
Puzzled, Clay started forward slowly, giving him time to study the visitor. He looked familiar, and as he made it to the log trailer roadblock he finally realized where from.
/> “Constable Kelly,” Clay spoke up. “What brings you out in such sloppy weather?”
“Weather is as good as it’s going to get, Sanders,” Tim Kelly shrugged, his hand moving to catch his rifle sling before it fell off. “I’m moving south, while I can.” Clay noted that the bicycle had a basket in front and a rack behind the seat, and that it was towing a small touring trailer.
“Well, I hope you have a safe journey, Mister Kelly,” Clay tried to sound optimistic.
“I was hoping to pick up some dried foods from you to help me make the trip,” Kelly told him. “I brought you some information to trade for it. I’ll tell you what I know, and you decide if it’s worth any help to me or not. Fair?”
“Sounds like a deal,” Clay nodded cautiously. “What’s going on?”
“There are a lot of people in Jordan that are pissed at you,” Kelly got straight to the point. “Clamoring about how you all should have done more to help. Mostly it’s people that lost someone to the sickness, but some of them are just looking for a way to stir shit, if you know what I mean.”
“I’m afraid I do,” Clay sighed. “I’m going way out on a limb here and guess that Franklin George and those two that wanted to seize our homes are the ringleaders?”
“Got it in one,” Kelly nodded. “George lost his wife, and his son,” Kelly’s voice softened. “He’s grieving, but he was already hating on you to start with. Sutter and Wilkins just see this as a way to try and seize this place. Again.”
“That I expected,” Clay replied. “How did things go in Jordan, anyway? We can’t get anyone on the radio at all and were starting to fear the worst.”
“It was bad,” Kelly admitted. “A few got sick and survived, but over half the town is dead, and about two-thirds of the soldiers, including their fussy little woman general.”
“She was a second lieutenant,” Clay snorted. “Long way from a general.”
“Anyone ever tell her that?” Kelly laughed, though it was a bitter sound. “Anyway. Those three are stirring as hard and as fast as they can against you, and they’ve gathered about two hundred followers so far. Some of us ain’t quite that dumb, but there’s always a few in every crowd. They’ve got a lot of guns left from the militia, which has pretty much folded along with everything else. Pickett didn’t make it,” Kelly shrugged. “Dawson survived, but he was left weak and can’t stand up to them.”
“Any idea what they plan to do?” Clay asked, not daring to hope.
“Not supposed to, but I overheard some of them talking,” Kelly surprised him again. “I’m not sure I wasn’t meant to, though, so take that as you will. What I heard them discussing, though, was to infiltrate your place. Get inside and hit you before you knew they were here. It’s a stupid plan, but then they’re stupid people, so there ya go,” he shrugged.
“I see,” Clay sighed. “How many more do you think will follow them? You said they had a couple hundred already?”
“A little over that, I guess,” Kelly nodded. “If I had to guess, there’s going to be seventy-five to a hundred more before they hit a plateau. People that come to hear what’s said but haven’t seemed to decide as yet. They’re leaning that way, though. I think it’s just a matter of time, or a matter of George hitting the right chord.”
“Any idea how long before they make a move?” Clay wanted to know.
“Some want to do it before Christmas, before it gets too cold,” Kelly replied. “A few even wanted to do it on Christmas, since old man George told them you’d be celebrating out here, living high on the hog as you do. Them’s his words, not mine. The rest want to wait until after the first of the year, and fight in the cold for some reason. It’s almost as if they think you guys will just go to sleep like a bear, and not wake up until spring.”
“I wish,” Clay snorted. “Anything else?”
“No, not to speak of,” Kelly said after a minute of thought. “I will say that old man George has a special hate for all of you, but you he really, really hates. He preaches against you every chance he gets, too.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Clay admitted. “So, what do you want for your trip south?”
“What is all that I said worth to you?” Kelly shrugged.
“It’s worth a good bit, but I don’t know how you want to travel,” Clay replied. “You wanted smoked beef, which I can supply in the form of jerky. I can also get you some dried fruit. You can either eat it like it is, or else drop it in some hot water and reconstitute it. It’s not bad.”
“Got any dried vegetables?” Kelly asked
“I do, actually. A few, anyway. I’ve not tried them myself, so I can’t say how good they are.”
“You think you can put me a pack together that will get me nine or ten days down the road, then?” Kelly asked cautiously.
“I think I can arrange that,” Clay replied at once. “Wait here and I’ll see to it. Deal?”
“More than.”
-
“Had you asked me a year ago if Franklin George would be stirring up trouble against us, I’d have said no way,” Gordon sighed. “I still can’t quite believe it.”
“I do,” Clay told his father, face and voice both grim. “Look, I have to go and tell Marcy about her mother and brother,” he stood up. “I just wanted to let you know what the deal was.”
“Want some advice, Son?” Gordon looked up.
“Any time I can get it,” Clay nodded firmly.
“Let Beverly and one of the other women go and talk to Marcy,” Gordon said. “You go and talk to young Titus, let him know what’s happening and then make sure he’s not working for the next two or three days. Let him help her however he can.”
Clay mulled that over before finally nodding, slowly.
“I admit that sounds better than me having to do it,” he said at last.
“They’ll do better at it than you can, Son,” Gordon promised. “Likely had to do it before at some point. Be hard enough, you talking to Titus, I’d imagine.”
“I imagine,” Clay nodded. “Thanks, Pop.”
“Welcome, Son.”
-
While it might have gone better with Beverly, Martina and Samantha Walters going to inform Marcy George about her family, that didn’t mean good. Already stressed and strained beyond measure, the young woman broke completely, collapsing on the floor as she learned about her brother, especially. Kandi Ledford and Sienna Newell, who shared the house with her, both agreed to sit with her, and Clay cleared their schedule for the next three days for them to do so. Samantha remained behind when the older women left, making a cup of now precious hot chocolate for Marcy to drink. Sam had always found warm chocolate to be a comfort and hoped that Marcy would as well.
Kelly had no word of Marla, and Clay hated to have to tell Lainie that. It had been the last thing Clay had asked, as he sat the basket with the food for Kelly on the ground and pushed it across to him with a rake. Kelly had seen Marla around a few times but wasn’t sure if she had survived or not. Clay had thanked him and wished him safe travels. Kelly had put the food away and headed south on the interstate without another word.
Later that evening, Clay had gathered Greg, Jose, Gillis, Gleason and Lowell together, then added Virgil Wilcox and reluctantly called Sienna Newell away from Marcy for a short time. Mitchell Nolan was the last one to be added to the group as they sat down around a small table.
Clay outlined what he’d been told, and Greg had been able to vouch for Kelly, at least from what he knew of him before the virus. Anyone could change after going through something like that.
The small group stormed over plans and contingencies for a good two hours before agreeing that the changes they were planning would work for this eventuality as well as any others they had thought of. It was decided that the construction of the small hides would begin the next day, and that they would be hidden rather than sitting in the open as a deterrent.
Gillis was sorry to hear that so many of the men he had served with had perishe
d, including Lieutenant Gaines. While he admitted he had never really cared for her personally, she had been a good soldier. Clay withheld comment on that, not believing for a minute that Gaines had been a good anything other than a trouble making ass-kisser. Not to speak ill of the dead, of course.
“Some of them will still be carrying the virus,” Jaylyn Thatcher told them when asked to come and render her opinion. “If they survived having the virus, then it will still be in their blood, and possibly in their airways. They’ll infect anyone around them that hasn’t already been exposed and fought the infection off.”
“That means that we have to keep them out,” Greg told the others flatly. “No choice. We keep them at bay, no matter what.”
“Maybe they won’t come here,” Gillis offered hopefully. Those who knew the people in Jordan better than he did quickly crushed that hope.
“They’ll come, alright,” Greg promised. “Just as soon as Franklin, Sandy and Myrtle get them to a fever pitch and are certain they won’t get any more to join. They’ll come.”
“Kelly didn’t have a time frame, just guesses on what others had suggested,” Clay told them. “Based on that, we could see them tomorrow, or not until after the first of the year. Or, not at all,” he added finally. When the others just stared, Clay shrugged.
“Kelly wanted food for his trip south,” he mentioned. “I traded him for it because I decided it sounded plausible. But he could have made it up hoping to get that same food from me. I don’t know.”
“Possible, but I doubt it, based on what we know,” Greg was shaking his head. “What I know,” he clarified. “Kelly was a straight shooter and unlikely to lie. We also know that Franklin George, Sandy Sutter and Myrtle Wilkins were all against you, even way back when we were busting ass to help them get on their feet again in Jordan. I’d say his scenario is as likely as any other.”
“Yeah,” Clay nodded. “I do agree. Just was throwing that other out there, man.”
-
“Well, that puts a damper on Christmas, now, doesn’t it?” Lainie said when he got home. “We can’t risk having everyone piled in, celebrating, if we’re liable to be attacked at any moment.”
