by Reed, N. C.
“There's always food for watch standers at the Troy house,” she informed him. “Including today.”
“Awesome,” he nodded his thanks. “What you got going on?”
“Response again,” she sighed. “I usually work response on days when I pull the early ground watch. Today is no different.”
“Well, once I pull this ground watch I should be done for the day,” he told her, standing up and pulling his vest on. “You?”
“I’ll be off the same time you are,” she nodded.
“Well, we should see what sort of mischief we can get into this evening then,” he winked at her and she was shocked to feel herself blush. Damn him.
“I might be busy,” she tried to play coy, but smiled in spite of herself.
“Well, if your other boyfriend is busy, you know where to find me,” he laughed. “I got to go if I'm going to get anything to eat.” He kissed her briefly and then was out the door and gone. She sat stock still for another minute as she played over what Zach has said. 'Other boyfriend' implied that he, too, was her 'boyfriend'.
“How did I get here?” she wondered aloud, far from the first time.
-
“Nope. Nope. Nope. Damn. Nope. Nop- wait, go back,” Greg said, holding up a hand. Clay slid the previous photo back onto the screen.
“That's Willie Foss,” Greg said, studying the picture. “Go back to the beginning.”
Clay obligingly returned to the first photo. Greg gave the pictures more attention this time.
“That's Hank Foss,” he said of the first one. “I barely recognize him. I didn't recognize him. If I hadn't caught Willie's picture I'd never had known that was his old man.”
“Know them?” Clay asked.
“In a manner,” Greg nodded, slowly moving through the rest. “Oh man,” he whispered when he came to the girl. “Sally Foss. Youngest of the bunch. Smartest too. Damn. I thought she would eventually get away from them and make good. I guess the Storm killed that hope. Dammit.”
“I'm sorry,” Clay offered.
“Ain't no loss to me, I just hate it for her,” Greg shrugged. “But if she was following them in the long pig buffet then this was a kindness, and it was quick from what I heard.”
“BMG is a quick kill,” Clay agreed. “What kind of people were they before?”
“Meth cookers,” Greg replied. “I tried and tried to catch them cooking but never could. They weren't all that smart, but they were cagey, and careful. Never cooked in the same place twice. Used a little travel trailer that they pulled around to do their cooking.”
“Were they dealing or using?” Clay asked.
“Both. And dealing on a pretty good scale from what I could hear, but again I could never catch them at it. I thought Peyton was trying for them too, but knowing what I know now, I doubt it. Probably taking a cut, or hell even shipping it himself. Him or Pep.”
“And people ask me why I ran away to join the Army,” Clay sighed.
“Yep.”
-
“Does this mean the whole cannibalism thing is solved, then?” Leon asked as Clay filled him in on what had happened.
“I hope so,” Clay nodded. “I mean, the evidence suggests that it is, but honestly there's no guarantee that they were the ones responsible for the earlier deaths. We can infer it from what we found, but there's no way to prove it.”
“Burn that place to the ground,” Leon ordered. “And them with it!” he added harshly.
“We will,” Clay promised. “It's clouding up, so if it looks like rain we’ll go and light it up. I'd prefer to wait for the rain so we don't have another fire.”
“That's fine,” Leon agreed. “What else is going in?”
“Nothing, actually,” Clay sounded as shocked as he felt. “I mean, we've got work going on all around us, but we've already cut the hay and got it baled and stored. We're still doing training for the first group and that leaves us shorthanded in some areas but we're managing. I think we may can look forward to at least a little bit of peace and -,”
“Bossman, Bossman, this is Home Plate, come back,” his radio burst to life.
“You was saying?” Leon growled. Clay closed his eyes in resignation before keying the mike.
“Go for Bossman.”
“I need you in the shack, RFN,” Deuce actually sounded rattled.
“Do we have incoming?” Clay asked, getting to his feet.
“Unknown at this time,” Deuce replied. “Repeat, I need you in the shack, yesterday.”
“I'm on the way,” Clay promised. “Apparently, I spoke too soon,” he said over his shoulder to Leon as he went out the door.
“Yep,” the Old Man settled back in his chair. “I'd say so.”
-
“...,an, this is Rattler, how copy? Repeating, Bossman, Bossman, this is Rattler, how copy?”
Clay heard the call as he stepped into the door and froze.
“This guy is hailing on a side band,” Deuce said at once. “Called for you personally, by your call sign I mean, from the start. Also called once for Big Bear.”
“When did this start?” Clay asked as he sat down.
“Five minutes ago, maybe,” Deuce checked his watch. “He calls every minute or so.”
“Bossman, Bossman, this is Rattler, come back. Repeating, Bossman, Bossman this is Rattler, how copy?” Clay reached up and keyed his own radio.
“Pancho, I need you in the radio shack, right now.”
“I'm almost there,” Pancho replied at once.
“So, do I get to know who this is?” Deuce asked as he tried to tune the radio better.
“His name is Shane Golden,” Clay said quietly. “Assuming it's actually him,” he added. Before Deuce could ask anything else Jose Juarez came running in.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Bossman, Bossman, this is Rattler, come back. Bossman, Bossman, this is Rattler, how copy? Over.”
“You have got to be shitting me,” Jose said at once.
“I thought you said he was going belly down in Arizona somewhere,” Clay said, looking up at Jose.
“He was! At least that was what he told us!” Jose insisted.
“Apparently, he changed his mind?” Clay noted. “How far away could he be, on this?” he asked his nephew.
“It's a strong signal, but side band is tricky,” Deuce said. “I'd say on a day like today with good atmospherics we could hear him for two or three hundred miles.”
“Can I talk to him?” Clay asked.
“If we can hear him, we should be able to reach him,” Deuce nodded, quickly plugging a mike into the radio in question and handing it to his uncle.
“You're good to go.”
Clay held the mike to his mouth but then hesitated, unsure what to say. Unsure if he should even answer.
“Bossman, Bossman, this is Rattler, how copy? Bossman, Bossman, this is Rattler. How read, over?”
“Rattler, Rattler, this is Bossman, we read you five by five, over,” Clay answered.
“Hot damn! I thought we'd never get through to you!” the voice was a mixture of excitement and relief. “Be advised I have team plus two, and nine dependents. We're about one day out from your loco, approximately, with a convoy of eleven vehicles. Is that offer still good?”
“Copy remaining team with you, plus two, plus nine dependents, with eleven vehicles? Over?”
“Affirmative,” the response was immediate. “Things have really gone to hell in a handbag, Boss. We beat feet to avoid it. Our plan didn't quite make it. You were our only fallback. Be advised we're packing heavy, with our own gear and groceries. We won't be a burden, over.”
“Son-of-a-bitch,” Jose almost whispered. “This might change everything.”
“Might,” Clay nodded. “I assume it's okay with you if we let them come in?” he asked to be sure.
“Absolutely,” Jose nodded at once. “I don't know who the plus two could be, but if Rattler trusts them enough to cross the country wi
th them in this mess they're probably solid. And man, Boss, but we could sure use the help.”
Clay nodded and keyed the mike once more.
“Rattler, that's affirmative. Do you have a solid fix on us, over?”
“I have a soft one, affirmative,” Rattler replied. “I need a number,” he said cryptically. It took Clay a few seconds to realize his old team mate was asking for an exit number off the Interstate.
“Your number is twenty-seven,” Clay replied. “East,” he added. “Call again when you hit it. We can guide you in.”
“Roger that, Bossman, will do. If we can drive through the night without trouble we should see you in the morning. Be sure and have the coffee on.” There was amusement in the voice now as well as relief.
“We’ll do that Rattler,” Clay chuckled. “We're monitoring constantly so if you hit a problem, you can contact us here.”
“Roger that, you're locked in. Lord willing, we’ll see you bright and early. Rattler clear.”
“Bossman, standing by.” Clay set the mike down.
“So, now do I get to know who this is?” Deuce asked into the silence.
“The last four men of our old team from Africa,” Jose explained. “We don't know who the plus two are, but like I said, if Rattler has trusted them this far then they're probably rock solid. He's a good judge of character.”
“Might be family,” Clay said. “Plus, the dependents. He says he's packing heavy, too. That means whatever he's bringing, it's mean.”
“There's no telling what he's managed to steal,” Jose chuckled.
“So true,” Clay sighed. “Well, I need to get back to the Old Man and let him know this wonderful news,” he stood. “Pass the word to be monitoring this frequency through the night. If they call with a problem, roust me out.”
“Will do,” Deuce promised. “Later guys.”
Jose was quiet until he and Clay stepped outside.
“You don't seem very happy about this,” he noted.
“What? No, that's not it,” Clay shook his head. “I just. . .Shane was determined he was staying put. He said things had gone to hell in a handbag and that was what was bringing him here. It made me realize we haven't really had any news from outside since things turned off. We don't have the slightest idea what's going on. Anywhere.”
“I hadn't considered that, but it's true,” Jose nodded. “I don't see how we can change it though.”
“We're changing it tomorrow,” Clay replied. “When they get here they will have seen how much of the countryside between here and…. BFE Arizona, or wherever the hell he was gonna belly up? They’ll know what's going on.”
“Is that not a good thing?” Jose asked.
“I don't know,” Clay admitted. “Is it?”
“I asked first,” Jose said.
“I don't know,” Clay repeated. “He made it sound bad, Jose. I mean, we knew things would be bad, that was why we planned the way we did. But. . .knowing it and experiencing it are two different things. And once they get here, everyone will know how bad things are out there. What effect will that have on everyone else?”
“Uh. . .I dunno,” Jose admitted, the thought not having occurred to him. “But having the rest of the guys here will have to help, Clay. We are severely understaffed here, man. We've known it from the start, to the point that we're training our women and even older kids to fight. Having another fire team is a Godsend right now.”
“I'm in no way arguing that,” Clay agreed. “Hell, I’ll be glad to see Shane and the rest. I haven't seen any of them in... a year-and-a-half, I guess? Damn, I didn't realize just how long.”
“Shane was well prepped for this, Boss, and said he was coming heavy. Eleven vehicles is about what we had if you count the Hummer and don't count the Cougars since they were on a truck. And we packed a punch.”
“Yeah,” Clay nodded. “And you're right, there's no telling what he's got. He always was a scrounger from the word 'go'.”
“I guess we’ll know come morning,” Jose concluded. “I need to start making some accommodations, I guess. We better keep those home fires Mister Franklin mentioned burning tonight for sure, huh?”
“We sure had,” Clay agreed. “I'm up the hill,” he said finally. “Gotta brief the Old Man, and then I need some sleep.”
“Later.”
-
“You don't seem all that happy that your friends are on their way, Clayton,” Leon semi-accused after hearing Clay's report.
“You're the second one to say that, but I promise that's not it,” Clay shook his head. “What's bothering me is how bad he was talking about it being. He was determined to ride things out where he was and now he's moving across country with dependents in a hostile environment.”
“Yeah. So?”
“I believe Clay is concerned that anything that would convince a man like that, or group of men I should say, to abandon a prepared position and risk bringing family across a thousand plus miles of hostile territory is not going to be good news,” Brick interjected with his usual understatement.
“Exactly,” Clay nodded emphatically. “Rattler isn't one to panic. None of them are. If they were facing something that made them pull up stakes and come this way, then it had to be something pretty bad. Like I told Pancho, it reminds me that we know nothing at all about what's going on outside our little slice of heaven. We have had zero news from anywhere, even somewhere like Lewiston which is practically next door. I admit that my original plan was to not worry about what was happening anywhere but here, but. . .now I'm wondering how smart that was.”
“I think you're being a bit hard on yourself, if I may say so,” Brick said. “I know that Janice and the others are monitoring radio frequencies, and I know you and sometimes Jose are doing the same thing. It's not like you've ignored the outside world. It's not your fault that we haven't been able to get any news from outside our AO.”
Clay almost frowned at Brick's terminology but caught it in time. Every so often the big man surprised him with little things like that. All it did was make him wonder even more about the former bouncer.
“Stop worrying about things you can't change, boy,” Leon was nodding. “There's plenty enough worry just laying around here close by without you borrowing worry from somewheres else. So, stop. These friends of yours, I take it you can trust them the way you do the others?” he got back on point.
“Absolutely,” Clay didn't hesitate. “They're the same bunch of guys. Just the rest of them. Apparently, they're bringing two more men with them as well. They have nine dependents along but I don't know the details to that yet. Have to wait and see. They should be here tomorrow. Maybe even by morning if they can make good time.”
“Then I suspect it will be a long wait, won't it?”
AUTHOR'S NOTE
I hope you've enjoyed this installment of the Fire From the Sky series. A special thanks to Creative Texts and all the people there who work so hard to make me look good. It takes a lot of work, I assure you. Dan and all the rest are constantly working to make things better, not only for me but for many others, and work tirelessly to give you, the reader, a better product. There's no way to overstate their importance to me or my work. None.
Another thank you to those who read and even comment on what you've read, either on Amazon, Goodreads, my blog or even my Facebook pages. Feedback helps me make better stories and create a better book. As I told someone not long ago, I'm not a writer so much as a story teller. I write to entertain. To give my readers a few hours where they can curl up and imagine themselves somewhere else. That's what I want when I read, so I do my best to pass that along when I write. Knowing what my readers think helps me do that.
So, I do hope you've enjoyed Home Fires. Clay and company will return, Lord willing I live so long and continue to do well. Until then, I wish all of you the best!
NC REED
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