by Reed, N. C.
“Man, look at this,” Greg hissed. Gordy moved to where the older man stood and was shocked to find a display of work gloves that appeared to be untouched.
“I don’t believe it,” Gordy was stunned.
“Grab them up,” Greg ordered. “There’s a shopping cart, over there,” he pointed, having set his tub on the ground. “I’m going to go and get it.”
“Roger that,” Gordy nodded, hurriedly stuffing gloves into the duffel. Greg returned shortly, not with a traditional shopping basket, but a flatbed hauler that was used to move larger merchandise to the front.
“Cool,” Gordy whispered, settling the duffle onto the cart after Greg placed the tote he was using on the back. Without a word, the two moved to the lawn and garden tools section along the wall.
“Rakes, shovels and garden hoes are available,” Greg surveyed the display. “Damn, there’s an ax. Two of them!” he grabbed them both as if fearing they would disappear. Gordy was rapidly grabbing every garden tool of every type he could find, including a pair of corn scoops that had been off to the side. The final surprise, at the end of the display, were four brand-name hatchets with rubber collars to protect the edges.
“I’d have sworn all this would be gone, man,” Gordy whispered as he stuffed the hatchets into his bag.
“Me too,” Greg agreed. “Anything left on that list of yours?” he asked.
“No, not really,” Gordy shook his head, using a small penlight to check his written list. “There were some things that everybody wanted if they were here, but it’s stuff that’s long gone, man. I’ve got everything important.”
“Let’s go out this way,” Greg pointed to the garden center. “And make a pass along that front aisle as we do. I see a basket over there,” he pointed. “We’ll grab insect repellent and then look for any seeds that are left. We may not want to use them, but they’ll be good for trade if nothing else.”
“Good idea,” Gordy nodded. “We can look for anything else, too. Glue and tape come to mind now that I think of it.”
“Let’s move, before Queen Flores comes storming over here,” Greg whispered.
-
“Did you two leave anything for the others?” Clay joked as Gordy pushed the flatbed cart while Greg pushed one shopping basket and pulled another. All were dangerously overloaded.
“We asked the checker for a stockman to help, but they were all busy,” Greg replied.
“All of that was still there?” Clay sounded shocked as he looked at the collection of garden tools.
“Ain’t it something?” Gordy nodded. “Found some rechargeable batteries, too,” he added. “Tool batteries and regular batteries. Not many,” he admitted, “but a few. Mostly ‘D’ cell, for some reason, but I did get a handful of double A and 9-volt. One small pack of triple A, too.”
“I got light bulbs,” Greg told him proudly, patting the rubber tote before picking it up and storing in the rear of the Hummer.
“Well, aren’t you the shining light of the Marine Corps,” Clay chuckled. “What else is all this?”
“Insecticide, wasp spray, seeds, a little fertilizer, but it’s small bags. Some plant food for Miss Angela’s seed garden and some other odd and end stuff,” Greg shrugged as he continued to stuff their plunder away. “Also had a run-in with Flores,” he added, turning to Clay.
“Oh?”
“She’s gonna be a problem, man,” Greg warned. “I told Gordy, it’s like she’s bucking for promotion or something. I’m predicting now, ahead of time, that Heath or Jody will end up misting her before the winter is done. Just want that on the record in case there’s a pool later.”
“Let’s not be hasty, now,” Clay laughed. “Maybe she just had a bad day, is all.”
“Two days in a row, according to what you said last night,” Greg mentioned.
“True that,” Clay sighed. “We’ll see what happens. Let’s go see what they managed to scavenge. Hopefully, plenty of nails and screws to help with building. Gordy, why don’t you hang here and help guard your treasure.”
“Got it,” Gordy nodded, closing the back of the Hummer as he did. “These two need supervision, anyway.”
“Too bad we still ain’t got any,” Zach didn’t miss a beat as he surveyed the area from the turret.
The laughing teens drew some attention, but Clay ignored that as he and Greg made their way to where Adcock was watching trucks being loaded.
“How’s it going?” Clay asked.
“Faster than I expected, but with more materials than I had hoped for,” Adcock replied. “We’re almost finished, as far as I can tell. Where is he going?” he pointed across the parking lot to where Gordy was headed back inside the store.
“Probably forgot something,” Greg said, heading toward the teen. “You did mention nails and screws,” he reminded Clay. “He may be going to check for them. Now that I think of it, we need hinges and stuff, too. We’ll grab a couple buggies and see what we can add.”
“We’ll be leaving in about fifteen minutes,” Adcock warned.
“We’ll be back,” Greg promised, jogging toward the door where Gordy was entering the store.
“Are we going to hit the other stores?” Clay asked. It was Adcock’s operation.
“I’m waiting to see how much room is left,” Adcock admitted. “I would prefer to at least see what’s there, even if it meant returning. The more we get, the more we can build.”
“True,” Clay nodded. He was still mulling the discussion from the night before concerning the training of new soldiers. He was still against the idea because of the danger to the farm, but his father had made some fine points that Clay could not counter.
But he was not going to share those thoughts with Adcock. Not until the farm decided to act on them, at any rate.
-
“Where ya going, kid?” Greg asked as he caught up to Gordy, who was pushing a shopping cart.
“I thought of something we could use,” Gordy said as he turned once more into the tool section.
“Here’s some mechanic gloves,” Greg mentioned, grabbing the valuable bounty and depositing it in his own buggy. He looked toward Gordy and saw the teen tossing sets of knee pads into his own buggy.
“Good plan,” Greg admitted. “Probably some more spread out through the store. We need to go check for hinges, fasteners and other goodies, too.”
“Damn, here’s two good hammers,” Gordy whispered. “I missed them before. And a shop hammer!” he held up the small one-handed sledge.
“Fell on the floor, probably, and no one noticed in the dark,” Greg nodded. “Grab ‘em and let’s go.” The two made their way toward the aisle where the hardware they needed would be, Gordy constantly grabbing things he saw that might be of use, including a pair of multi-tools, a set of wrenches and sockets, and several sets of specialty wrenches that would be handy for working on firearms.
“Here we are,” Greg said quietly. “Start grabbing stuff. Seems that no one wanted hinges, apparently,” he chuckled.
“Or padlocks,” Gordy pointed behind him. Greg turned to see the locks hanging on the shelf behind him.
“Nice,” he whispered as he grabbed several while Gordy started on the other gear, including several cartons of nails and screws that the soldiers had overlooked or perhaps simply not bothered with. Gordy also gathered straps of nails for nail guns, which the farm had the power to run, at least for now. Greg selected what remained of the rope and chain display to load on to the bottom of his own shopping cart. Sooner than either would have thought, the two had once again filled their baskets to the point they were overflowing.
“I seriously don’t think we can get anything else in that Hummer,” Greg said, eyeing the baskets.
“Should have brought a truck,” Gordy nodded. “Let’s get out of here while the getting is good.”
-
“- any business in there, grabbing any and every thing they wanted,” Greg could hear Flores from across the parking lot as he and G
ordy headed for the Hummer once more. “There they are again!”
“Does she not have any actual work to do?” Gordy grumbled.
“She’s an officer, kid,” Greg told him as they arrived at the Hummer. “They don’t do actual work. Let’s get this stuff loaded.”
-
“There they are again!”
“Lieutenant, you need to think about the image you’re presenting, here,” Adcock said calmly. Clay merely stood nearby, watching. This wasn’t his issue to deal with. “The men are beginning to stand and watch rather than finish their work.”
“Are we in charge of this operation or not?” Flores all but demanded, hands on her hips.
“Lieutenant, you had better remember who you’re talking to,” Adcock’s easy manner fell away suddenly, the timbre of his voice lowering. “I’ve cut you a good deal of slack the last two days, but you’re straining my patience. Now I suggest you return to your duties and do so now.”
Red faced, Flores stiffened to attention and turned on a dime, stomping back to give her command more hell. Adcock looked embarrassed as he turned to Clay.
“Sorry about that,” he apologized, his disposition returning to what it usually was.
“Not a problem,” Clay assured him. “How long has she been a 1st Lieutenant?” he asked, curious.
“I don’t know for sure,” Adcock admitted. “She’s part of Major Whitten’s Operations Group, or was I should say. There’s no real need for an Operations Group, anymore. Not a large one at any rate. She’s actually been fairly exemplary since being assigned to me, to be honest. All of this is new. Like, last two days or so new,” he looked at Clay with a smirk. “Probably your fault.”
“I’m starting to think that myself,” Clay admitted.
“I was just joking, Clay,” Adcock clarified.
“I’m not,” Clay replied. “Maybe something about our talk yesterday has set her off? Just FYI, this is the reason I insisted that Gleason be our permanent liaison. Without that guarantee, I think she would have yanked him at the first opportunity and tried to insert someone else. At least now I know who she’s trying to impress if she was on the Major’s staff. If she could somehow convince or coerce me to cave in on the training thing, it would make her look good to him, I suppose.”
“She’d have to be very careful how she did that,” Adcock mused. “Whitten has been strict from the start about things like that. We are not to be forcing or coercing anything save in extremely rare instances. Instances that qualify as legit emergencies, to be specific. Nothing we’ve done anywhere around here comes close to qualifying.”
“I’m glad to hear that, to be honest,” Clay told him. “Another FYI? And this is just for your ears, for now, yeah?” He waited until Adcock nodded his agreement.
“Our decision-making group, for lack of a better name, discussed the training thing at length yesterday before dinner. The answer is still no, for now,” he held up a hand at the hopeful look on Adcock’s face, “but there were a couple of ideas from the group as to how we could try to find a compromise in order to make it work. Two aren’t bad, in my opinion, though they don’t go far enough addressing the issues we’re concerned about. The third is a bit different, and one that I am against, in all honesty, but the others were impressed with it. I’m not going to promise you anything, but I will say that it’s possible. You may say no when you hear the concessions, and we may never make the offer, I don’t know. But just so you know, the group is actually considering it. I will tell you right now, however, that the idea of thirty-two trainees is likely not going to fly. It’s just too many people. We have to manage risks as best we can, and that’s just too many.”
“I understand,” Adcock nodded, and it was clear that he did. “Out of curiosity though, what was the one that you were against?”
“That we do the training for you,” Clay replied evenly.
“I don’t think the Major would go along with that,” Adcock said carefully.
“I don’t either,” Clay reminded him. “It was just a suggestion that was made. That it would be an opportunity to contribute and do it in such a way as to assure their training was the best it could be.”
Adcock looked at Clay for an exceptionally long moment before speaking again.
“Who are you?” he asked finally. “I’m starting to think that your group is a military unit that just stayed together for this very event, man.” Before Clay could reply, Flores returned.
“Sir, we are loaded and ready to travel,” she reported briskly. “All men are accounted for and aboard. At present we still have three trucks that are empty of cargo. There is also some limited cargo space in four others.”
“Very well, Lieutenant,” Adcock replied just as formally. “If we have the room remaining, we should move on to investigating other sites. Mister Sanders, lead us to the next target, please.”
“Yes, Captain,” Clay nodded. “Right away.”
-
The soldiers were loading building materials from a local lumber company, as well as fixtures from inside. Clay had mentioned the need for septic tanks, but so far none had been found. Adcock had agreed that if they did find any, a truck would return with a heavy escort to claim them for use on the barracks.
“I need to slip away for a few minutes,” Greg said quietly as he stood at Clay’s side.
“What for?” Clay asked.
“I want to go down to the office,” Greg informed him. “Take a look around. There are some things there I’d like to have, assuming Toby didn’t pass them out to his friends.”
“You don’t think he did?” Clay raised an eyebrow.
“I think he wouldn’t if he didn’t have to,” Greg nodded. “He was like that. It won’t take us long, and you can always call us if they decide to go.”
“Go ahead then,” Clay agreed. “Take them all with you. Watch your backs. I doubt I could get this bunch to come help you.”
“With those three, I doubt I’d need it,” Greg snorted. “We’ll be back in twenty minutes, probably. Maybe a little longer, depending on what we find.”
“Where are they off to?” Adcock asked a minute later as the Hummer pulled away.
“Going to investigate something,” Clay said vaguely. “Greg is likely the only surviving lawman in this county at this point,” he continued. “Technically, that makes him the Sheriff. It’s not a job he wants, to be honest, but he will do his duty, like it or not. He’s going to take a look at the jail and the offices. He hasn’t been there since he was shot trying to rescue a group of young women being held by our late and dear friend, Chief Deputy Peyton.”
“I don’t envy him, if that’s the case,” Adcock said earnestly. “Outside of what happened in places like Nashville, this may be the worst damage I’ve seen, to be honest,” he looked once more that the many destroyed buildings around him.
“Peyton’s group was out of Nashville,” Clay nodded. “They were trying to spread their influence around the rural areas. I guess with the meth thing going, it was competing with them. I’m amazed they didn’t run into the Brotherhood.”
“Brotherhood?” Adcock looked puzzled.
“Motorcycle club,” Clay nodded. “Strict One Percenters. When I was a kid, they ran that kind of activity around here along the interstate. Brotherhood was short for Brotherhood of Blood and Iron. They used to use a knight in armor for their patch, among other things, but I don’t know if they even still exist anymore. If they do, then I’m surprised they didn’t clash with Peyton’s little power grab. Maybe they were out of that kind of thing by the time the Nashville gang scene made it down here.”
“And you don’t know if this bike gang is still active?” Adcock looked concerned.
“No, but I haven’t heard their name a single time since I’ve been home, either,” Clay admitted. “We can ask Greg when he gets back. He’ll know for sure, one way or another.”
-
“There is no telling what we’ll find in here, guys,” Gre
g said quietly as he stood beside the Hummer at the rear entrance to the jail complex. “You may want to wait here.”
“Someone has to stay here, anyway,” Zach shrugged, still in the turret. “I’ll hang out on the gun.”
“You can’t go in there alone,” Gordy was shaking his head.
“I’ll hang at the doorway,” Heath said. “I can support Zach if he needs it or come help you guys if necessary.”
“That will work,” Greg nodded. “I hope they released the prisoners,” he took a deep breath and then exhaled it. “If they didn’t, then be prepared.”
“Got it,” Gordy nodded. He took out a small vial of Vapor Rub and applied a tiny amount to each nostril before pulling his mask up. Greg did the same and then the two moved to the door, followed by Heath.
Greg paused for perhaps five seconds, then opened the door without further hesitation, plunging into the darkened facility.
Gordy followed, his head on a swivel as he checked doors that Greg had already checked and constantly turned to look behind them.
“This place is creepy as hell,” he finally whispered.
“Ain’t it though,” Greg chuckled. “We’re not going to open the cell blocks. From what I can smell with the doors closed, Peyton left some people in there to rot. That’s a scene we don’t want to look at.”
“What are we looking for?” Gordy asked even as Greg stopped at an office.
“Well,” he took a ring of keys from his pocket and opened the door. “First thing, is to check Pepper’s office for anything we can use.” At this, Gordy was shocked to see the word SHERIFF engraved on the door.
“You had a key to his office?”
“Yep,” Greg nodded. “One deputy on the force always has to be sworn into a position where he can step in and take control from the sheriff if he becomes a suspect in a crime himself. For us, it was me. Believe it or not, Pepper picked me because I was the most honest of his officers. He didn’t trust the rest not to abuse the power.”
“Wow,” Gordy shook his head, turning to face out the door and back into the lobby.
