The Shelter, Book 4: The New World

by Ira Tabankin

  “I can think of one malcontent who would do it. Doc, is there a way to test for potassium? Will it leave any tells on someone's clothing or hands?”

  “If someone handled the potassium, it most likely entered their bloodstream through the skin. We can test their blood to determine if there is an elevated level of potassium in their system. I’m willing to bet that we find someone in his close circle with elevated potassium levels.

  “Doc, how much blood do you need to run the test?”

  “Just a few drops.”

  “I’ll see what I can do. I’m going to tell his family you found a poison in Jay’s blood, something that he might have inhaled from the castle. I’ll ask them to come in for blood tests to make sure none of them have a higher level of the poison in their system. I don’t think the person who poisoned Jay will realize we know it’s not something he inhaled at his house. Most likely they’ll all go along hoping they don’t get sick. We can blame it on the Army using the wrong chemicals or something like that.”

  “If you’d like, I’ll help you with the script, I like your idea of blaming the Army. The Captain isn’t here to defend himself, no one will know any different. It’s very believable the Army used something incorrectly. No one will hold it against him seeing how he rebuilt our homes for us.”

  “I’ll gather his family in the cafeteria, have one of your nurses draw the blood. They won’t think anything is out of order.”

  “Do you think you’ll have any problem getting them in the cafeteria?”

  “Nah, they’re all going to want to help. All we have to do is find the one responsible before the attackers break in and kill us all.”

  “You’re such a joy.”

  “I know it. That’s why you love me.”

  “I patch you up all the time because I’m afraid if I didn’t, I’ll end up wearing cement overshoes.”

  “Doc, I wouldn’t do that to you, but I might do it to the person who tried to kill my best friend. I’m going to round his family up; I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

  Tony starts chatting with all of Jay’s family, they’re surprised to hear they might have inhaled a toxic chemical, they all quickly agree to have the nurses draw a small amount of blood to ensure none will be affected by the chemicals. Ricky listens to Tony explain why everyone who was in Jay’s house needs to have a blood test. He hates giving blood, he gets nauseous whenever he sees blood. Just the thought of giving blood makes his face turn pale. He asks Tony.

  “Tony, are you sure all of us have to have a blood test? I don’t do well-giving blood or even seeing blood, especially my own.”

  “Ricky, you won’t even feel it. Keep your head turned to the other side and you won’t feel a thing. I’m sorry, but to keep everyone safe, those who lived in the castle need to be checked. I’m going to be checked too.”

  “Okay, I guess it will be alright. Just a few drops, right?”

  Tony, pats Ricky on his back,

  “I knew I could count on you. Just grow a pair and don’t worry about it.”

  “Yeah, I hate doctors and blood work.”

  The collection of blood only takes a few minutes. Doctor Basco and his nurse take the samples to the lab for testing. Twenty minutes later Doctor Basco looks at Tony, who’s been sitting next to Jay’s bed since they returned from the cafeteria. The doctor touches Tony’s shoulder,

  “I need to speak to you in private.”

  The two enter the doctor’s small private office, one of the few places in the shelter with sound proof walls.

  “Tony, it was Ricky.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “One hundred percent positive. He has elevated potassium in his blood.”

  “God damn it. My gut knew it would be him. I needed proof before I acted. I knew he couldn’t be trusted, but I never expected him to try to kill Jay. He’s Jay’s son-in-law! He’s married to Jay’s oldest daughter. Why would he try to kill the man who saved his life?”

  “What are you going to do about it? If you kill him while we’re inside the shelter, everyone will know about it. No one’s had an accident in the shelter that caused a serious injury. If Ricky dies inside the shelter, everyone will know he was killed. It will cause everyone to lose trust in each other. Killing him will take a bad turn. It won’t go well. Please wait until we’re out of the shelter before you do anything.”

  “Doc, I have no plans to kill the son of a bitch. I’m going to put him on trial. Anything that happens will be after a formal trial. I’m going to ask the entire shelter community to be the jury.”

  “Where are you going to find a defense lawyer? I wasn’t aware we had any lawyers down here with us.”

  “We don’t. It’s the one profession Jay intentionally didn’t have on the invite list. I’m going to let Ricky defend himself. He’s always talking shit. He’s always so sure of himself, let’s see what he does in front of a jury of his peers.”

  “Tony, that could get messy, real messy. You could end up with him being found not guilty.”

  “I’m not worried about that. Your blood test will convince everyone. How can anyone say he’s innocent when they see the blood test?”

  “Some could say it’s circumstantial evidence. A real court wouldn’t allow it.”

  “That’s one of our advantages, this isn’t a real court. The blood test will be the cornerstone of my case.”

  “If he’s found guilty, what punishment are you going to seek?”

  “Banishment. I don’t want Ricky’s blood on my hands, Jay might never forgive me. I think banishing him will be punishment enough. He has consistently caused us too much aggravation, we’ll all be better off without him. He always says we’re doing everything wrong, he’ll get his chance to live his life without us. He can give all his precious possessions to those he has been rooting for since we all got together. He can go back to his home; he can go anywhere, just as long as he leaves us alone and leaves our area.”

  “Banishing him is the same as killing him. What about his family? Tony, for Christ's sake, you’re talking about Jay’s oldest daughter and granddaughter. If anything happens to them, he’ll never forgive you. We both know Jay; he will kill you if you harm his angel.”

  “Doc, don’t worry, I have no intention to harm Ricky’s family. If he’s found guilty and I can promise you, he will be; I plan to only banish him. His family will stay with us.”

  “What if Jay recovers and doesn’t agree?”

  “It will be a fair trial; how can he be pissed with us holding a trial for the man who tried to kill him? I think he’ll be happy to know that whatever is decided was a group decision. It also removes the pressure on him from having to deal with his murderous son-in-law.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “Doc, I hope you find a way to save Jay. We need him to get better and return to be the strong leader who pulled us together. Our morale needs a lift.”

  “I’ll see what miracle of modern science I can perform while you pull everyone together and hold a trial. I’ll provide the evidence and answer any questions anyone has, after my testimony, I’ll return here to see what I can do for Jay.”

  “Agreed. I’m going to see John before I ask everyone to meet in the cafeteria.”

  “I’ll see you soon. I hope our friends outside give us the time we’ll need to hold the trial.”

  Tony leaves the hospital and goes to the security room to talk with John. He asks Todd to leave him alone with John for a few minutes. Todd replies.

  “I’ll go get a cup of coffee. Will that be enough time?”

  “Yes, thanks a lot. You’ll understand very soon.”

  John looks at Tony,

  “Was that wise, asking him to leave us? Rumors spread like the flu.”

  “John, we have proof Ricky tried to murder Jay. I’m going to ask everyone to meet in the cafeteria where I plan to hold a trial. Can you quickly review the security recordings to see if you have any recordings showing Ricky doing anything t
hat will show video proof of what he did?”

  “Tony, we only had a few cameras in the castle reinstalled. I’ll run a search using Ricky’s face. We have a lot of recordings; it might take a little time.”

  “Time isn’t a resource we have a lot of.”

  “I know, let me see what I find. What do you want me to tell Todd when he returns?”

  “Nothing, I’ll wait for him and ask him to join me and the others in the cafeteria.”

  “If he knows Ricky tried to kill Jay, you are going to have to place a guard on Todd to stop him from killing Ricky.”

  “I’ll keep an eye on him.”

  “Okay, let me get to work.”

  @@@@@

  Sergeant Johnson is sitting in the communications room sending requests for help when a voice come over the speakers.

  “Tennessee Freedom Militia, TFM, calling US Army Sergeant Johnson on GUARD, over.”

  “Tennessee Freedom Militia, this is Sergeant Johnson speaking, over.”

  “Sergeant, we heard your request for help. We have three large platoons of people moving to your position. We want to confirm; you are under attack by two large armed groups. For security, I won’t say from which direction we’re coming from.”

  “Roger, TFM, we are under attack by the Cartel’s people and an ISIS patrol. Both have ceased combat operations to figure out how to break into our shelter.”

  “Sergeant, did you say ISIS is attacking you?”

  “Yes, I confirm, ISIS, black flag and all, they left their camels at home.”

  “That’s great news. My people and I have been wanting to plant our boots up some ISIS ass. We’ll be there in forty-five mikes. Can you hold out?”

  “We’ll have to. Our odds are good. So far the attackers have paused. Call before approaching farm at our coordinates. The farm has many landmines and traps.”

  “Roger. We’re on the way. We’re bringing some surprises; you’ll hear or feel them. See you soon.”

  “Roger, safe trip TFM. Beers on us.”

  “Why didn’t you just say you had cold beer up front? We’ll break records to your position. Keep the beer cold, we’re on the way.”

  Sergeant Johnson wonders what the surprises are. One of his privates looks at him asking,

  “Sarge, do you think they have artillery?”

  “I don’t know where they’d get heavy artillery, mortars yes, but not heavy artillery.”

  “Where the hell would they get mortars?”

  “National Guard Armory, Army base, there are various weapons depots in the south. I bet the TFM has a number of ex-military members who will know where arms are stored and how to use them. Hell, in England the IRA used homemade mortars, they’re not hard to make.”

  “Mortars will surprise the two groups. Man, I hope they have some WP (White Phosphorus), I’d love to see the look on the camel jockeys faces when WP burns their asses.”

  “Private, you have a sick sense of humor.”

  “Sarge, who said anything about humor. I hate ISIS. They like to attack defenseless civilians, they enjoy killing all non-Muslims; us, the “infidels”. I want to see all of them dead and roasting like pigs in hell.”

  “We’ll find out within an hour.”

  “Sarge, do you have any idea what’s going on in this place? Everyone was just called to a special meeting. Does that include us?”

  “I don’t know; I’ll find one of their leaders and ask if we should attend their meeting.”

  Sergeant Johnson finds John, who’s sitting in the security room, he overhears John mutter.

  “Got you, you sombitch! I own your ass now.”

  “Excuse me, John?”

  “Oh, sorry Sarge. Something private. Nothing to do with you or your people.”

  “We’ve heard about a special meeting; my men want to know if that includes us.”

  “Sarge, your people can attend, but I’m asking you to stay quiet. This is an internal issue for us. If you attend, you will hear some disturbing things. It’s very important that none of your people speak. If you’re asked a direct question, decline responding unless Tony asks you to respond. He’s running the meeting.”

  “Thanks for the heads up.”

  @@@@@

  Everyone in the shelter is sitting in the cafeteria looking at each other, everyone is wondering what’s going on when Tony walks to the front of the room. He holds up his hands to quiet everyone.

  “My friends, I’ve called you here today to discuss a very serious situation. One I wish I didn’t have to make public. In fact, we’ve never had such a situation among us before.”

  Ricky yells,

  “None of us want to be here. So why did you call us together? Can you get to the point already?

  Tony begins to wave his hands when a couple of people whisper, “Oh my God, Jay must have died. How are we going to survive without him?” Many people hear the whispering, they begin to worry. Some cry, Tony holds up his hands again to quiet the crowd.

  “Jay is not dead, at least not yet. That’s not the reason why I asked you to join me here. I have some very troubling news to discuss, Jay was poisoned. We know for a fact who did it. I asked everyone to join me here so we can have a trial for the person responsible for the attempted murder. This person attempted to kill Jay, they could just as easily try to kill any of us. Unlike a normal court where there are twelve jurors. I suggest everyone here be the jury, I will be the prosecutor, the defendant will be his own lawyer. At this time, Ricky will you join me up here?”

  Most of the shelter’s people realize Ricky is the one who poisoned Jay. Most aren’t surprised when Tony asked Ricky to come to the front, most had a feeling he was somehow involved in the attempted murder of Jay. Some stand yelling,

  “Hell with a trial, we’re in a state of war. He poisoned our leader. He tried to kill Jay. He committed treason, I say we’re wasting our time with a trial. Just shoot him and be done with it. He’s been a pain in the ass since he arrived. We can’t afford the time for a trial. If we’re attacked again, we could be in here debating when we already know the outcome. This little pissant wasted enough of our time.”

  Tony shakes his head while holding up his hands to quiet the crowd. The soldiers in the back of the room watch the proceedings. One of the privates leans over, whispering to Sergeant Johnson,

  “Sarge, are you going to let them hold the trial and punish this Ricky person?”

  “We’re their guests. We will not interfere. I’d like to hear what evidence they have. If it’s strong, I’ll support them. They’re right that we’re in a state of war. If one of them tried to kill their leader, they have a case. There aren’t any active courts and they have involved their entire community. If they all vote to off their problem, I’ll support them. The normal laws don’t apply any longer. They’re not under our code of military justice. Their local sheriff was a criminal; I don’t think they have any other choice.”

  Tony looks at his friends and shelter mates.

  “Everyone is entitled to a trial. If we shoot him, we’d be murderers.”

  Fred looks at Tony shaking his head.

  “Tony, you were the local Don, are you going to stand there and tell us you never murdered anyone? If anyone deserves it, it’s this slime ball in front of us.”

  Ricky’s body shakes, he yells to be heard.

  “I have rights! There’s no proof I did anything. I demand my rights be honored. I want a lawyer to defend me. If you think I’m guilty of something, call 911 and report the crime, tell the local police what you think, ask the police to come over here to arrest me. They can arrest me, I’ll get my phone call, a grand jury hearing, and a trial if the grand jury finds cause for a trial.”

  Tony shakes his head smiling at Ricky,

  “Ricky, you know as well as all of us here, there are no local police. There are no lawyers. I’m going to show your jury, these people you live with, that you have been conversing with about Jay's inability to be our leader. We have t
he evidence of your guilt. Your jury will decide your innocence or guilt. If guilty, they’ll determine your penalty. I promise you, you won’t be killed in the shelter.”

  Someone in the back of the room yells out.

  “Tony, how can you promise that? You told us, we’re the jury, if we’re the jury, you have to follow our decision.”

  “I won’t kill someone inside this shelter. Outside is a different issue. The shelter is our home; a dog doesn’t shit in his home; I won’t kill some piece of shit in our home.”