by Ison, S. A.
“We’re back, don’t shoot.” Tomi called. It was bright morning now and he saw the women rush toward them. He saw the sorrow in their faces when they saw Norman. Linda was crying now, she’d gotten close to the young man. They laid him down gently. Tomi looked up to see the stranger and his son, Billy, walking toward them. The group waited until the man came to them.
“I’m sorry to see you lost one of yours. My name is Bill Blige, this is my son, Billy. We heard all the shooting.” Bill said, shaking everyone’s hands.
“Yes, they were roughly a mile from your home I believe.” Tomi said, and smiled grimly, seeing the man’s surprise.
“I was walking patrol, looking around the area while our group settled in for the night. I saw the light in your house. I assume you have another child?” Tomi asked. The man blanched a sickly cream and nodded.
“Don’t worry. I don’t think those guys bothered your family. But you’d have run right into them.” Tomi assured the man.
“I owe ya’ll, I mean that. You save me, my son and my family.” The man’s voice wavered and his eyes sheened with moisture.
“They had to be taken care of. They were actually following us.” Liev said, his arm around Dawn, her own face pale.
“All the same, come on to my home. We can bury your friend in a proper grave and I’ll have my wife look over your wounds. She’s a nurse. Me and Billy got caught away from home. It’s been hell trying to get back and I’ve about lost my mind with worry.” Bill said.
“Thanks. We’ll break camp and be along shortly. I know where you live. Thank you.” Tomi said and nodded as the man and teen moved on down the road.
“Are you okay Tomi?” Iris asked, looking at his head.
“I’ll do. Stings a bit, but at least I’m alive. Let’s get the camp broken down and get everything packed.” It didn’t take long and Tomi handed Iris Jack’s backpack.
“The men had this, Jack’s pack. There isn’t much in there, but it is a good backpack and you can repack your things.”
“Thanks, and thank you for letting those folks know what was ahead. I know you took a chance, telling them. You had no idea if they were good or bad.”
“Well, I sure as hell wasn’t going to kill a kid and I didn’t want them being caught in the crossfire. I don’t think I’ve gone down that bad.” He grinned tiredly. It had been a long night and a hell of a morning. His head was throbbing and he felt like hell, losing Norman.
Twenty minutes later found them at Bill’s house. It was a two-story farmhouse, set off the road about two hundred feet. It had numerous apple trees in the front yard. Had the candle not been lit, there would have been no way to see the house at night. He’d have to warn Bill of keeping the curtains drawn at night.
Bill met them on the front porch, which ran the whole length of the structure. There were rocking chairs scattered about and a large porch swing with a fat cushion, inviting one’s butt to sit a while. A tall woman, looked to be in her early forties, stepped out onto the porch. She was slender like her son Billy, from behind her, he saw another boy, about ten, and he smiled hesitantly. Tomi smiled and waved at him. He also noted that the woman had an old fashion holster around her hips and a six shooter.
“Hi, I’m Nell, I heard all that shooting this morning and then Bill got home and told me what you did. Thank you, thank you so much. They could just have easily ended up on our doorstep.” She smiled, looking tired and frightened.
“Yes mam. I’m Tomi, that’s Iris, Dawn, Liev, Linda and Perrin. I saw you’re light, in the window last night. You might want to keep the curtains closed tight at night. That way, no one will see your place, if they pass by.” He saw the color fade from her face and her dark brown eyes looked like shiny buttons.
“I got a couple of shovels from the barn, we’ve got an old family cemetery at the back of the property. Mika and Billy can also help dig as well.” Bill said, heading around the back of the house. Tomi felt terrible for dragging Norman around like a duffle bag, but there was no help for it. Though he was a slender man, he still had weight to him, dead weight. Perrin joined them and Tomi looked at him.
“I can dig. Not fast, but I can. Liev is useless, more than usual.” He grinned. Tomi grunted out a laugh and they began to dig the grave for Norman. He and Perrin took turns, as did the two boys and their father. They had a respectable grave dug within two hours. Tomi and Perrin lowered the body into the grave as gently as they could. They began to cover it over. It was now getting quite warm and both men were sweating. Billy and Mika had disappeared back to the farmhouse.
“I’m really sorry about your friend. I don’t think Nell could have helped him. Looks like he took the brunt of it to his chest.” Bill said, walking beside the two men. They were heading back to the house. Tomi took note of the roofline of the farmhouse. There were large sheets of solar panels. He looked at Bill.
“You’ve got power?” Tomi asked.
“Sure do, not for everything, mind you, but for the water pump, fridge, washing machine, lights and so on. No more hot water though. Gonna miss that.” Bill said sadly, shaking his head.
“It didn’t get taken out? Your power still works?” He asked again, shocked, he’d thought that nothing would work. That gave him hope for his uncle’s place. There would be power there.
“Sure does. You know what took out the power and the cars and such.” Bill asked, eyeing him.
“Yep, we believe America was hit with an EMP. You know what that is?” Tomi asked, stepping up to the porch and heading to a rocking chair. Christ, it had been years since he sat in one and groaned in satisfaction. It even had a cushion in the seat.
“Yeah, I heard it once or twice on the science channel. Lord above. So, someone hit us. I guess there isn’t a chance of coming back from this?” Bill asked and sat in the large swing. Nell came out with a tray of tea and glasses. Tomi grinned at her with such joy that Nell laughed and shook her head.
“Your friend Liev nearly set to bawling when I offered him tea. I guess it’s been a while?”
“Yes mam, me and Liev were guests of a minimum-security facility. Don’t worry, we were set for release and are no harm or threat to anyone, except a glass of tea, that is.” Tomi said, holding up a hand. Perrin snorted.
“Yes, Dawn told me. They’re lucky they have you and Perrin. Both of you prior military, she said.” Nell said, handing her husband a glass.
“Yes, long ago and far away.” Perrin said, lifting his glass in silent toast. Tomi lifted his and groaned when he took a drink. For all its niceties, the Ashland correctional didn’t serve ice tea. Dawn, Liev, Iris and Linda came out to the porch. Liev looked pale, and sported a new bandage on his arm. It must have been re-cleaned. Nell was now eyeing his head and he shrank back, clutching the glass to his chest. She smiled, a glint in her dark brown eyes.
“Drink your tea. I’ll get to you directly.” She grinned and walked back into the house. Bill was snickering from his rocking chair.
“Oh, she’ll not be put off, my Nelly. She’ll make sure you walk out of here, damned near whole.” Bill grinned big, showing all his teeth. Tomi turned to hear Liev sniggering and shot him a dirty look. Dawn sat beside Liev in the large swing, holding his hand. Iris sat beside them, and Perrin. Linda took a rocking chair, her face filled with sorrow.
“We’ll go out later and have a service for him, Linda.” Tomi said softly. She smiled weakly and nodded.
“He was a good boy. Sweet. He reminded me of my husband, when we were first married. He also reminded me of my son. He was a good kid.”
“He died bravely. He was afraid, but he didn’t let that stop him from protecting you and our group.” Perrin said softly and the group grew quiet.
“You folks going to be okay here?” Tomi asked Bill.
“Sure, I expect, better than most. Got a good garden planted this year. Billy is a wiz with gardening. That kid can dang near grow anything. He also cans what he grows. Got that from his granny. Got chickens, a heifer, s
ome goats and rabbits. Even got bees.” He grinned.
“Guard it well. Those men we shot today, were just the first. Not sure how many will get out this way, but stay on guard and keep your curtains closed at night.” Tomi said, taking another long drink of the tea. It was wonderful and sweet, just like his dad used to make. His mother preferred the Japanese green tea, and he liked it as well, though it had been years since he’d drank that. Never would again, he guessed.
“You didn’t hear them, cause they’re asleep in the house, but we got us a couple of big damn dogs. Don’t worry, anyone steps within twenty feet of this place will be chewed up. The dogs patrol at night, but don’t bark. It’s funny, a stranger can be standing on the property, but when they pass some invisible line, Jinx and Jill go crazy. Two years ago, some idiot snuck up to the house in the middle of the night. Wasn’t a lot left by the time we got the dogs off of him.” Bill laughed, shaking his head.
Tomi looked over at Iris, who’d lost all her color. They’d been at the edge of the property the night before. They’d not gone onto it for fear of getting shot. That would have been the least of their worries. They looked over when Nell came back out, followed by two massive dogs. They were mutts of some kind and Tomi saw that the one dog had had pups. Her teats were beaten to hell and back.
“You have pups?” Tomi asked hopefully, they could use a dog at the cabin. And if the thing got as big as its parents, Christ.
“Sure do. Got three left, all females. You want one?” Bill asked, smiling.
“Yes, that would be great. We’ll need a watch dog at my uncle’s cabin. Thank you.” Tomi said.
“Mika, bring out the pups.” Nell called at the screen door. Nell walked over to Tomi with a glint in her eyes that wouldn’t be denied. He groaned and gave in. He watched as Mika brought a large pup out, followed by Billy, who brought two. The women began to coo and got down on the floor of the porch. Tomi gritted his teeth, as Nell cleaned his head once more.
“You’re damned lucky, this just creased your noggin. A little more and it would have cracked the bone or entered your brain.” Nell said, patting him on the shoulder. He let out a sigh of relief. She was done.
“Yeah, I was lucky. Those are some fine fat puppies.” He grinned as one came waddling up to him. He bent to lift and grunted at the weight of it. She was a charmer and he grinned at her and let her lick his face.
“Oh my gosh, they’re all so darn cute.” Dawn said, in love.
“Would you be willing to let two go? I have a Sig Sauer I can trade.” Liev said, looking down at Dawn, who smiled up at him and hugged him.
“Keep the weapon, we have plenty. I was just caught with my pants down. Yeah, you can have two.” Bill grinned, waving the offer away.
“Thank you, thank you so much.” Dawn said, holding a light brown puppy, with a creamy white belly. It was short haired. The one Tomi had was almost all white, but had black paws. It was short hair, but just a little longer than Dawn’s puppy. She held the puppy, kissing its head.
“Thank you so much. This is really kind of you.” Tomi said, nodding to the puppies. He set his puppy down and it ran off the porch, followed by the dame and sire. Both large animals seemed mellow and easy going. The male yawned and Tomi was impressed by the set of sharp teeth.
“Why don’t you folks stay the night. We have room upstairs. That way, you can heal up.” Nell asked.
“Sure, that would be nice to have company. I’ll also give you a bag of puppy food for the babies. We have plenty and they are weaned. You can start supplementing raw meat in another week or two. We feed ours squirrels, though most of the time, these two are off and catching their own dinner.” Bill grinned proudly.
“Thank you, Nell, Bill. That would be wonderful. I’d like to feel a bed beneath me.” Perrin smiled, then lost the smile when Dell went over to him and started poking at his wounds.
“Come on in the house Perrin, I want to look at those wounds. Make sure you don’t get any infections.” Nell said, pulling Perrin by the arm. Liev sniggered and Perrin shot him a filthy look as he disappeared into the house.
=
It was early evening and Linda had headed up to her room that she would share with Iris. Perrin had tried to comfort Linda as best he could, as had all the members of their group. They’d been at the grave, the small group gathering for the final goodbye to Norman. It had been a short and solemn ceremony, with a few words and a thoughtful prayer. They’d found out that Bill was actually Reverend Bill Blige, of the Stoney Hill Baptist church.
“Sadly, I’ll not see most of my congregation, unless they can walk ten miles to the church, or if they come in with a horse and wagon or buggy. Like the old days. I’ll be able to hold services there at my church, for the ones closer by, since it is only a mile away, but most of my parishioners are too far away. God bless them all. I’ll keep at it though, and hope to see them when I can.” He’d said sorrowfully. Dawn and Liev had walked with the minister after the burial service and the rest of the group had come to the house.
It struck Perrin, that it was about all a man’s life came down to when it ended. A few words and then forgotten. Not much left behind if you didn’t have children or family to remember you by. Those bastards that had killed Norman, had gotten even less, to rot on the side of the road. Forgotten.
They’d returned to the house for an early dinner. Nell had served them a wonderful meal of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, greens, string beans, sliced tomatoes and cornbread. It had been the best meal he’d eaten in years. Being a bachelor, he’d not cooked a lot, except perhaps whatever was in a can or box.
The group adjourned to the large porch. Perrin looked around at the faces. He smiled when he watched Liev and Dawn. Both were holding their puppy. They’d not named it yet. He sat beside Tomi, who was rocking. Iris was beside Dawn and Liev. She had a far away look. Her face was looking better and Nell had checked her over as well.
Perrin had never married. He’d come close, while he’d been stationed in Germany, years ago. It never worked out. He’d also come close while he’d been stationed in Korea. Once he’d gotten into corrections work, he’d become jaded. He’d dated some, but found that most people came with baggage. He’d not found himself able to overcoming that. He was set in his ways and hadn’t thought of changing those ways. Now, it was too late. He mentally shrugged.
“You okay?” Tomi asked, rocking back and forth.
“Just thinking. It’s funny, the relationships we build, you know. Here, Dawn and yon knothead had had something going all these years. I could see it; you could see it. But before the world ended, there would have been nothing they could have done about it. Not without Dawn losing her job. I couldn’t imagine her with anyone else.” He grinned, his eyes crinkling.
“Never felt the urge to marry?” Tomi asked.
“I did, but somehow, things just never worked out. The older I got, more entrenched I became in my ways.” Perrin laughed softly.
“Yeah, I’d just started dating after my discharge from the air force, when I was incarcerated. I’d dated around, but never anything serious. Now, it’s a little too late.” Tomi sighed then chuckled. “At least I got a puppy.” He grinned.
“I’d say you got more than that.” Perrin grinned.
“What? What are you talking about?” Tomi looked at him, his face blank. Perrin chuckled again, his eyes now triangles. He nodded to Iris, who was now holding Dawn’s puppy. And he laughed when he saw Tomi’s confused expression.
EIGHT
Tomi looked at Perrin as though he’d lost his mind. He wondered if a pellet from the birdshot had gone to the man’s brain. He said exactly that.
“Perrin, I think Dawn missed one of those slugs. One went to your brain. I’ll have Nell check you out again.” Causing Perrin to laugh.
“You’re about as blind as any I’ve met in my life. Iris has been watching you from day one.”
“Perrin, she’s afraid of me. She watches me because I’m a felon.
You’ve got your wires crossed young man.” Tomi said, eyeing him as though he might explode. He hoped that one of the slugs hadn’t gone to the man’s brain, he was delusional. Or hoping for something that wasn’t there. He snorted; he’d never known Perrin was such a matchmaker. He shook his head. Then his eyes slid over to Iris, who was even then, watching him. His heart slammed into his chest and he heard Perrin’s soft chuckle.
“You’re just trying to plant ideas in my head. Stop.” He said softly and seriously. Perrin just grinned and took a drink of his tea.
“We have an announcement to make.” Dawn grinned. Her face was flushed a pretty pink. Tomi looked at Liev, whose face was also a brilliant shade of red. He’d reapplied the blue marker and it stood out behind the red. All eyes turned toward them.
“Bill said that he’d marry us tomorrow.” Dawn grinned, her smile taking up her whole face. Liev grinned like an idiot, his head rocking side to side.
“Congratulations you two.” Tomi laughed and stood, walking over to shake Liev’s hand. He bent to give Dawn a hug and kissed her on the cheek.
“You do know he’s not house-trained right?” Tomi asked laughing and dodging the blow from Liev’s good arm. Perrin walked over and slapped Liev on his bad shoulder, causing the big man to wince.
“Better take good care of our girl.” Perrin grinned and hugged and kissed Dawn. Iris grinned and hugged Dawn and reached over and kissed Liev’s cheek.
“Nell offered to make us a wedding breakfast, since we’ll be leaving shortly after.” Dawn said, still grinning. Tomi smiled, he’d never seen her look prettier or happier. Liev also looked happy as well and content. The man had waited eight years, but his dream had come true. Tomi smiled again and looked at Iris, who was smiling at the couple then at him. Her green eyes brilliant.
