The words and what they meant mattered. Was Terry’s duty to the whole world? Were he and Char strong enough to carry such a burden? Were they to be selfish or selfless?
He struggled to balance his selflessness with the needs of his family, with the needs of the town.
“Fuck!” Jim howled. He was covered in blood from trying to carry one of the hog carcasses by himself. He dropped his burden and waved someone over to help him. There was a mess on the pavement, but Terry assumed the spring rains would wash it all away.
“What would lighten your burden, Anjin-san, Char-san?” Akio asked.
Terry looked at Char and then their baby. “That they are taken care of, no matter what happens. I owe it to the family I lost and to the family I’ve found.”
“If anything happens to us,” Char said, emphasizing the last word, “we want our children to be well-cared for.”
“If anything happens to you both, Yuko and I will raise them as our own,” Akio replied solemnly, the red glow of his eyes lessened in the late afternoon sun. He needed them both to be good with doing Bethany Anne’s bidding, as he understood her bidding to be.
Char nodded to TH. “We can ask for no better,” Char said softly.
“FUCK, FUCK!” Jim yelled again. Terry closed his eyes and clenched his jaw.
“I’ll be right back,” he said as he jogged toward the remaining members of the Force who struggled with the last of the swine.
Char watched him run, marveling at his physical strength, but knowing that his best attribute was his mind, and the honor he carried like a halo.
Akio was in her mind. “You two are special indeed.”
Char turned back to the shorter man. “We’ll do what you need, Akio. We’ll have a tactical team ready and the more intelligence you can share with us, the better we’ll be. That was a nasty surprise in Queens,” she said, neither judging nor condemning, but stating a fact. “If we’re going to be outnumbered, at least let us come up with a plan to give us an edge.”
“I will give you all I have now, on a screen reader. I’ve also brought a solar charger for it,” Akio said. He looked like he was going to excuse himself but Terry’s antics with the remaining members of the platoon made for cheap entertainment.
The carcass was on the ground and Jim and Charlie were doing pushups while Terry counted. The two warriors jumped to their feet. Terry yelled at them briefly before the two returned to the pushup position.
They did five excruciatingly slow repetitions, before standing at attention.
“Figure it the fuck out and watch your language! We have a guest visiting,” Terry finished berating them, making a great show of throwing his hands in the air and gesturing wildly. When he turned back toward Akio and Char, he winked. Jim and Charlie attacked the boar with renewed vigor and quickly disappeared toward the chow hall.
“I married a little boy,” Char said under her breath.
“All women do, Char-san,” Akio added sagely.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Terry, Char, and Aaron watched as the pod lifted off and soundlessly accelerated away. Terry held the computer tablet that Char had handed to him.
He turned it on and tapped a couple icons before getting to what he wanted: the intelligence summary of a place outside what used to be Poshangcun, located near a large reservoir southwest of Beijing.
Terry panned out and then zoomed in, enjoying the embedded maps as if Google still functioned.
“Sometimes I miss this, but most of the time, no,” Terry said while looking. Cory reached a hand to the screen and whisked her little fingers over it so quickly that before he could stop her, Terry lost everything he was looking at and the screen turned into something that wouldn’t recognize his touch. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply.
“Sue will be able to help or Shonna or Ted, or well, any of them,” Char suggested as she lifted her daughter out of reach.
Terry looked at the blank screen, hoping that someone could save him from having to explain to Akio how Terry broke one of the world’s last remaining computers after using it for a sum total of thirty seconds.
He couldn’t find fault with his daughter. He held something shiny, and she wanted it. Cordelia was growing up quickly.
Dogs barked from nearby. A great bull was still tied behind the wagon. The mahout and the elephant were still sitting.
“I guess we better discuss the future with our visitors,” Terry said resignedly. The others followed as he walked back to the wagon.
“Felipe, you are a free man. You can stay or you can go. It is completely up to you since you are beholden to no one,” Terry started.
The train whistle sounded again as Ted and Gene moved the locomotive to the other side of the Mini Cooper. Clangs and bangs signaled a hookup.
“Where would I go? What would I do, and who would take care of Jumbo?” the distraught man asked, having seen his world crash down around his shoulders.
Aaron walked to the back of the wagon where the bull stood, looking none too happy about not moving for such an extended period of time. The Weretiger took pity and untied the beast, leading him to the closest patch of grass and weeds. “You probably need a drink too, don’t you?”
The pack of dogs ran back and forth between the wagon and the ditch, barking unhappily at the great cat. One of the dogs limped, dried blood marking its side and back leg. Aaron had no idea how the dog got injured, but it wouldn’t let him get close.
Aaron didn’t push it, knowing the others would take care of the mutt. He’d only get it riled up.
“You can always stay here. How can your elephant help us?” Terry asked.
Felipe pointed to the wagon. “He can pull a great load a long distance. Ha!” he said as he coaxed the great creature to its feet.
“I hope our horse master doesn’t mind sharing the pasture, just until we find something better,” Char added, rubbing the elephant’s rough gray trunk.
“I think you will become the best friend to our farming community, Felipe. You’ll get your food for service to them. We need to plant some thousand acres, I’m told. That’s a lot of plowing.” Terry nodded, but Felipe shrugged.
“It is not a problem for me and Jumbo.” The man smiled, his body still tense.
“Would you like something to eat?” Char asked.
“Please, for Jumbo first and then if you have something to spare. It’s been a while…” Felipe didn’t expound. He looked like your average survivor living in the Fallen Lands, gaunt and dirty.
“You are welcome here, Felipe, both of you. We have food, all the water you can drink, and hopefully enough for Jumbo to eat to her heart’s content. Unhook her from the wagon and we’ll show you around.” Terry slapped the man on the back as he started unhooking the elephant.
Terry surveyed the area. Blood from the boar pack. The shriveled corpse of the Forsaken and the Werewolf. The Forsaken’s blade lay on the ground, clean and undisturbed from where it had fallen.
Terry picked it up, testing its weight. He looked for the short cavalry sword’s scabbard. It wasn’t with the corpse. He walked behind the wagon and got barked at by the dog pack. He ignored them for the moment as he climbed the short steps to get inside.
When he opened the door, the stench was nearly overwhelming. He covered his face with his shirt and motioned for Char to stay back.
Terry rummaged through the inside, wondering if there would be anything useful. There was gold and jewels. Terry would have tossed it, but thought the engineers could use the gold for electronic contacts. He left the jewels.
He found the leather scabbard, inserted the sword, and put it into his belt. If he was going up against Forsaken, he’d need training with the shorter blade. The longer two-handed katanas and even heavier swords would be a problem for his blade. Maybe I’ll touch up my bullets with silver, he thought.
He stumbled out of the wagon, feeling like he needed a shower for having been in there.
When he saw the dogs, he called to
them, but they remained wary. He took a knee as Char stood behind him. Two of the dogs approached and sniffed him because he smelled like their old master. He ruffled their ears and they wagged their tails. The others closed in around him, all vying for a moment or two of his attention.
He checked the dog with the blood, happy that they were only flesh wounds from a rock exploded by a bullet. He would have liked to clean them out to make sure there wasn’t any debris, but events overcame his plan.
The braying signaled Clyde’s return. He never slowed down as he ran past the elephant, under the wagon, and dove into the middle of the dog pack. Fur flew briefly as they sorted things out, then the whole pack ran off together toward the base.
Terry dusted himself off, turned to Aaron and Char, “Shall we?” Together, they walked toward the main gate, Terry Henry Walton, his Werewolf wife, their baby, their Weretiger manny, a bull on a rope, a mahout, and his elephant. Clyde and his new pack barked somewhere in the distance.
Terry looked at the menagerie. Business as usual.
***
“Don’t think because of that little interruption that I’m any less mad at you!” Timmons yelled at Ted.
The smaller man didn’t understand. The Mini Cooper was in place and the steam locomotive was unhooked. They were ready to drive the train back to the tankers and then return to the plant.
“We’ll take care of it when we get back. I’m sure it’s something simple,” Ted said, dismissing Timmons with a wave.
“You stupid fuckers were supposed to stay in there and keep the plant running. We can’t tie-in the Mini Cooper if we don’t have power to weld pipe, so get your dumbasses back there and fix it!” The more Timmons talked, the angrier he got. When he pushed Ted, Gene had had enough.
The big Russian stepped between them, picked Timmons up, and tossed him to the side like a rag doll. Then Gene jumped on him like a professional wrestler pinning his opponent.
“You apologize to my friend!” he bellowed an inch from Timmons’ face.
If Timmons was inclined to apologize, he would not have been able to because of the weight pressing against his diaphragm. He mumbled and grunted instead.
“Apologize!” Gene reiterated.
“Sorry,” Timmons managed. Gene stood up, dusted off his clothes, which remained filthy because of the coal dust, and whirled his finger in the air, signaling to Ted that it was time to go.
Ted climbed onto the train, entered the cabin, and checked the system’s vitals before continuing. Water was lower than he liked, but he only needed another ten minutes from his baby.
He kicked it into gear and it moved forward easily since it wasn’t pulling a load. Gene swung himself to the platform as the old locomotive rolled past. It was easy to forget how agile the big man was, but he demonstrated it day in and day out for anyone willing to look past his size.
They rolled down the tracks backwards, stopping when they approached the tankers on the side track. Gene took the pry bar and switched the line. Ted slowly backed the locomotive up and hooked up to the cars. He pulled them forward to clear the second track. Gene switched back to the main line and Ted carefully backed the train to a point where they were close to the pipeline. He stopped the train, set the brake, and released the excess steam.
“Need more water when we drive her out again,” Ted said matter-of-factly. Gene grunted noncommittally.
“Where is Bogdan?” Gene wondered aloud, just in time to hear the trumpeting of a frightened elephant.
***
Billy and Felicity were waiting with the impatient children, Kaeden and Kimber. They’d spent as much time as they could in the dining facility. Looking carefully out the door, they had watched for any sign that the situation was being resolved when Akio’s pod descended.
Billy took that as a good sign. Felicity figured that Terry and Char would leave with the man and they’d have company for the rest of the night. Kaeden and Kimber were playing with Marcie while she tottered around. Cory gurgled happily watching the others play.
After what seemed an interminable amount of time, Char appeared and picked up the baby, thanking Billy and Felicity and asking them to watch Kae and Kim for a little while longer.
Billy and Felicity ran the kids back to the mayor’s building. Felicity looked out the main doors before shutting them.
They’d been damaged sometime in the past and didn’t close all the way.
“Maybe it’s better if we leave them open so we can see if there’s anything coming?” Billy Spires suggested. Felicity threw her body against the door again and again until she finally conceded that they weren’t going to close.
“We should get those doors fixed, Billy,” Felicity said, still flustered at not being able to close them.
“We’ll be fine, my love,” Billy said softly as he ushered the kids into his office. He carried Marcie, bouncing her gently on his hip. “How big was Marcie at two months?”
“She could barely hold her head up,” Felicity answered flatly. “Was there any doubt those two would make a super-baby?”
They both laughed as they thought about Cory and her ears. Besides those, she looked like a normal baby of eight or nine months.
She was barely over two months old, but it didn’t matter. Billy and Felicity understood that it was a new world. The mayor completed his transition toward acceptance of the bizarre when the Werebear Gene sat in his office with the grizzly cub.
Sue had already returned, sitting casually at a table to the side within the big office. She had some papers spread out before her, but on the wall behind her was the best planning tool they could have hoped for—an old time chalkboard. Chalk hadn’t been easy to come by, but once a foraging party had found a small quarry with deposits of calcium carbonate, they brought a satchel full back.
Terry also liked the thought of making lime. There were a number of uses for lime. All he had to do was heat the CaCO3 to drive off a carbon dioxide molecule which left CaO, which was also known as quicklime. With that, they could make plaster, concrete, food additives, and much more.
Billy looked at the scribblings on the board, current crop capabilities, future crop needs, livestock projections, and more. Fishing had a big question mark next to it.
They’d find out the next day what the potential would be and if their newest sailing vessel could manage a commercial level of fishing. If it worked, they’d have to find and scavenge more boats.
Billy shook his head. In the upper right hand corner of the board was the total number of people in North Chicago that he was responsible for. That number was 573.
Of all the numbers, that one mattered the most.
***
Kiwi was yelling. Geronimo ran around in circles trying to keep the horses calm. The elephant was trumpeting all the while Bogdan stood with his paws on the top of the fence, bouncing his head up and down as if chuckling at the absurdity of it all. Terry and Char watched from the side, but decided it was best not to get into the middle of it.
Felipe continued to hook Jumbo’s trunk, trying to drag him farther from the antagonistic grizzly.
“Get down, Hank! You mangy ass bag!” Kiwi shouted, waving her arms.
The bear cub delighted in the fact that the human was playing with him. Kiwi waded in and started pushing to get Bogdan off the fence. He wrapped his paws around her and started licking her head.
“Get off me, you hairy fuck!” Kiwi bawled, still trying to push him away. Gerry stopped trying to herd the horses and ran to his wife, thinking that Bogdan was hurting her.
When Gerry pulled one of the cub’s paws away, Bogdan wrapped him into his bear hug. Both humans quickly grew tired of getting licked, so they ducked out of the bear’s embrace. The cub play-growled at them.
Gene crashed through brush as he ran at top speed to the enclosure they’d made for the horses. He saw the horses’ fright, the unhappy elephant, and two small people trying to hold back his protégé.
“Bogdan, you dumbass! COME!”
Gene roared. Bogdan dropped to all fours and ambled toward his big friend. He jumped at the man who caught him and cradled the two-hundred and fifty-pound bear lovingly while scolding him in Russian.
“Dick weed, lame ass!” Kiwi yelled, shaking her fist.
“Maybe you shouldn’t swear,” Gerry said cautiously.
She turned on him. “I’m mad as fuck! I’m the horse master, not a zookeeper!”
Gerry’s mouth twisted and turned, but no words would come out. Terry Henry and Char joined them. Cory leaned toward the elephant, but Char held her tightly.
“I see you have everything back under control. Well done, horse master,” Terry delivered in his most soothing and supportive voice.
That didn’t work either.
“Ass balls!” she yelled. Char snickered.
“Don’t make me get your father!” Terry stated, smacking his fist into his hand. He had no intention of bothering Chief Foxtail. “What do want, Kiwi, besides venting your spleen to let the world know that you’re angry? Come on, now, out with it!”
“We can’t have her in here. She’s too big and scares the horses,” Kiwi said, flustered, waving her hand at the elephant. Felipe looked crushed.
“Let’s find you a new place, Felipe. On the beach with unlimited fresh water and bushes and weeds for Jumbo to eat. How would you like that?” Terry offered.
Felipe couldn’t visualize the future that Terry had in mind, but he knew that he wasn’t welcome with the horses. He should have told them that it wouldn’t work, but was hesitant to say anything. He didn’t want to make waves with the group that seemed pleasant, except for the extreme violence they showed they were capable of.
Jumbo dropped a massive load on her way out of the horse enclosure.
“Somebody is cleaning that up, and it is not going to be me,” Kiwi declared.
Terry pointed at Geronimo. “Put it with the rest for the farmers,” he said, pointing at the young man.
Gerry’s face fell, but he knew that he had no choice. Between his wife and his commanding officer, he’d received his direction.
With Jumbo out of the enclosure, the horses calmed immediately. Felipe guided Jumbo where Terry indicated. They headed straight for the lake, where Felipe informed them what the elephant could and couldn’t eat, along with what was best for the pachyderm.
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