by Stalter, D
“So, you are going to just let him go?” Her tiny hands formed fists. Her face reddened.
“No. If he refuses to talk, I think we’ll take him to the real FEMA boys and explain to them that he was impersonating them and killing people.”
The man swung his head to look at Riley. His eyes bugged. “I’ll talk. Ask me what you want.”
Riley moved off the steps to allow several men to carry the woman down to the truck. She was wrapped in a blanket. The two younger children followed, their arms loaded with more blankets that they lay in the back of the truck before the men set their mother on top. They then loaded the father in the same fashion.
“We’re ready to head back,” Don said. “What are you planning to do with him?”
“We’ll stay here with him and see what he has to say. Let’s go check on the parents before you leave.” They moved off towards the back of truck. When they were far enough away to not be overheard, Riley spoke in a low voice. “Can you take these guys back to the bunkhouse and then come back and help get him to town and deliver him to the FEMA boys? I don’t want him to know that’s where we are taking him because I want him to talk.”
“Sure.” Don grinned. He turned to the porch and called. “Come on, girl. We’re ready to take your mom and dad to get some help.”
“I’m staying here.”
“No, you’re not.” Riley walked back to the porch. “Look, you did a great job. Better than most adults could have done. But, it’s not safe here and you need to be with your parents.”
“I’m staying,” She insisted. Riley looked at Will.
“Hey,” Will said. “There’s plenty of time for you to get involved when you are a little older. For right now, go with your family. If you want to be a part of our recon team, I promise we’ll give you a chance in a few years.”
She stepped back and stared at him, her jaw clenched. “How old do you think I am?” She demanded to know.
“Uhm.” Will looked to Riley for help. Riley simply shrugged.
“Fourteen? Fifteen?” Will guessed.
She rolled her eyes. “I’m nineteen and I’ve been shooting since I was twelve.”
“No way!” Will breathed.
“Yes way,” she mocked. “I’ve got my driver’s license in my purse in the house if you want proof.”
Will shook his head. “You actually proved yourself when you took out that whole gang alone. Stay if you want. But don’t get in the way.”
She turned to Don. “Please wait one minute.” She ran back inside to emerge carrying a plastic Walmart bag.
“What’s that?” Don asked.
“Goodies for the kids. I hope we can bring some more back with us when we are done here.”
“How much more do you have in there?”
“Enough to fill your truck at least twice.”
Don’s eyes widened. “I’ll be back as soon as I get these guys to the bunkhouse. Mary and Allison are waiting. Want me to leave a couple guys?”
“No,” Will said. “I think we can handle this. We’ll keep our eyes open until you get back.”
When the sound of the truck turning off the driveway and onto the hard road reached them, Will turned to the spiked-haired girl. “What’s your name?”
“Beth.”
“I’m Will. That’s Riley.” He nodded towards Riley.
Riley smiled. “I’m the normal one. He’s the bad influence.”
“Hey! I may be a bad influence, but damn! I’m fun. Hey, Beth, can I get you to stay up there on the porch and be lookout? Just watch for any movement and listen for any sounds that aren’t natural.”
She stepped to the front of the porch and placed her hands on the railing. She faced the road and scanned both directions.
Riley poked the man in the suit. “What’s your name?”
“Sam.”
Riley shook his head. “Let’s get this over with. Whole name, asshole. And where did you live when this happened?”
“Sam McLain. I lived in Rock Falls.”
“McLain,” Riley said. “Familiar name. Brother of that McLain laying out there in the driveway?”
“My cousin.”
“How many people have you pulled this FEMA bullshit on? Did you kill all of them?”
“This was our second house. We needed supplies to get through the winter. And we never killed any of them. The only reason we shot these guys is cuz they killed my cousin first. They needed to pay.”
Will leaned down so he was face to face with Sam. “So you tell me if I’m hearing this right. You come to these people’s house so you can rob them. By robbing them, you are killing them because they won’t survive the winter without food. They defend themselves and you can sit here and tell me that you were justified in shooting them.”
“No!” Sam struggled against the ropes binding his hands. “We hadn’t even talked to them. We pulled up and got out. They shot first. We were defending ourselves!”
“I don’t tolerate liars. I’m a nice person, not a stupid one.”
“It’s the truth, man! We had just pulled up and they opened fire.”
“How long do you think we were watching you?” Will’s face had hardened. His eyes were burning.
“I don’t know.” Sam shrugged.
“We were behind that tree watching before you even pulled down the driveway. We know exactly how it went down.”
Sam’s shoulders slumped. He stared at the ground between his feet.
Will stared at him for a few seconds before looking up at Riley. “Why don’t you take Beth in and pack up some of those treats so she can take them back to the bunkhouse for her little brother and sister. Keep in mind that anything left here is likely to get stolen so get what you can.”
When they appeared a few minutes later, Beth carried four stuffed bags. Riley’s arms were wrapped around a cardboard box that was brimming with plastic Walmart bags stuff full.. His eyes were round, his eyebrows arched.
“You need to take a look at that pantry!” He tossed his head towards the door.
Will stepped inside, emerging a minute later with a long whistle. “Wow! The amount of food is staggering, but most of it is comfort food.” He held up a bottle of Aunt Jemima’s Butter Rich Syrup. “I snagged this just in case you missed it.”
“Got about six bottles in here.” Riley indicated the box. “I hate to think scavengers might raid this place. As far as I’m concerned, Beth is related to the people who stock piled this. If she wants to claim it, we can find a way to haul this stuff back to the bunkhouse.”
Beth nodded. “Aunt Ree and Uncle Bill won’t be back. They’re the ones who bought all this. They’d want us to have it before we left it for scavengers. I want to take it with us.”
A car pulled off the hard road onto the gravel drive. Will instantly brought his rifle to his shoulder. Riley reached out grabbing Beth’s hand and pulled her inside. The car slowly made its way towards the house. When it swung around to move past the truck and SUV sitting in the driveway, Will recognized the Princeton Chief of Police’s car and relaxed.
“Come on out,” he called. “It’s Chief McCall.”
Chief McCall made his way to the porch. He looked down at the man sitting against the porch with his hands tied. “This my prisoner?” he asked.
“That’s him. His name is Sam McLain.”
“Any relation to Seth?”
“He says they’re cousins.” Will said. “Seth is laying over there by the SUV. He didn’t fare so well.”
Chief McCall shook his head. “Seth McClain was a bad egg. Always causing trouble.” He pulled a set of handcuffs off his belt. “Let’s get him in the car.”
“Yeah,” Will said. “I’ll be needing my paracord back.”
They were putting McClain in the back seat of the police car when Don’s truck turned onto the driveway. He swung around the vehicles and backed the truck against the porch. He jumped down from the driver’s seat and Riley recognized Steve from the bunkhouse sw
inging down from the passenger seat.
Steve lifted his hand in greeting. “Allison wanted me to come help load and move supplies. That lady we brought in was talking. She asked us to bring as much of the supplies as we can. She doesn’t want them left here where someone else can try to steal them.” He looked at Beth who had been standing behind Riley. “She’s worried about you. I assured her you were in good hands, but she won’t settle down until she certain that you’re safe.”
Don told Chief McCall, “Thanks for coming and getting that piece of garbage. Steve and I will load the truck and take the girl back to the bunkhouse.”
“Her name is Beth,” Riley said. “We’ll help you load.”
“No, Allison wants you to go to town with Frank to turn this guy in. You two were the only ones who saw the whole thing. You’re the ones that have to tell the FEMA guys what you saw so this guy can’t turn the story around and maybe get off. Frank will bring you back out when you’re done. Allison is mixing him some salve they need in town.”
“Alright.” Will turned to McCall. “Let’s get this done.”
“One of you will need to ride in the back with the prisoner.”
Without a word, Will stepped up to the car and slid into the back seat. Riley opened the passenger door, moved a clipboard to the floor, and slid in.
Chapter 6 Allison
Allison lifted the lid of the pot simmering on the wood stove. Giving the contents a slow stir, she replaced the lid. She turned from the stove and faced the thin woman with faded green and purple hair.
“Really, Kim,” she said. “I’m just asking you to step up and do a little more. You’ve been here just over a week and I’ve yet to see you in any of the working groups. And even worse, we’ve got a man and woman in the infirmary with gunshot wounds. I’m trying to make a medicine. Mary is cleaning them up. Jaden is helping. And here you are, complaining about being bored.” She turned away from Kim, biting the inside of her cheek.
“What exactly do you want me to do?” Kim whined. “When I tried to help in the kitchen, that fat bitch told me to peel potatoes if I wanted to help.”
“Then you should have peeled the potatoes.”
“Let that kid, Jaden, peel potatoes. I wanted to help with making the meal.”
“Potatoes were part of that meal.”
“Come on, Allison, I tried helping. That Mary just didn’t want me there.”
“That Mary wanted you to peel potatoes.”
“Well, she was a bitch about it.”
“So, you walked out of the kitchen and went and took a nap. Then after your nap, you came down and sat at the table with everyone else who had worked hard all day and ate the food.” Allison checked the pot on the stove again, and then moved it to the counter and set it on a rack.
She turned back to Kim. “Listen, you have to help. You have to help every day. I can’t expect everyone else to work hard while you take naps and sit in the common area reading.”
Tears welled up in Kim’s eyes. “That’s not fair, Allison. Nobody is nice to me. Everyone treats me like dirt.”
Allison sighed. “I don’t think they treat you like dirt, but I do recognize that they are distant. They aren’t as welcoming as they could be. Don’t you understand why?”
Kim shook her head.
“It’s because you avoid work. If I ask for a volunteer to do something, everyone who is not already committed to something volunteers. Except you. These people work hard. And when they pass through the common room, half the time you are sitting by the stove reading or doing your nails. They resent that. I wouldn’t expect them to welcome you.”
Kim sniffed. “How am I supposed to work when no one wants me to work with them?”
“Jaden and Sherrie do laundry. They could use some help.”
“I don’t like doing laundry.”
“Do you think they do?”
“Well, they wouldn’t do it if they didn’t like it.”
Allison threw her hands into the air. She struggled to remain calm. When she turned back to Kim, she spoke slowly. “They don’t like it. They do it because they like being a part of the team that keeps us safe and comfortable.”
“Well, how about that Denise chick? She doesn’t do much. She gets special treatment because she’s Riley’s sister?”
Allison slammed the spoon she was holding onto the table. She leaned towards Kim. “That ‘Denise chick’ had five broken ribs two months ago. She shouldn’t be doing what she does now, but she finds things to do that won’t interfere with her healing. She folds socks. Do you think she likes it? She folds strange people’s underwear. Do you think she likes it? She dusts and cleans the outhouses. Do you think she likes it? She is always looking for something to help with. Even if she can’t do much, she can carry part of the load and she does the best she can.”
Allison closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Opening her eyes, she said, “I’m sorry. But you really do need to start helping. I don’t care if you feel like these people are treating you bad. I don’t care if someone asks you to do something you don’t like to do. You have to do it.”
She pointed at the second pan on the stove. “For now, you can take the tongs and scoop out the towels that are boiling in that water. Put them in a clean pan and take them into the infirmary. I’ll put some new ones in the pan. If they have dirty towels, bring them out and take them into the tack room to rinse in the sink.”
Kim jumped up and did what Allison asked. When she came out of the room, she did not carry anything.
“No dirty towels?” Allison asked.
“That Jaden kid said she’d bring them out and clean them.”
“Jaden has other things to do. You get back in there and get them and rinse them.”
Kim sighed before turning and stomping back to the room.
Allison checked the temperature on the pot she was working on. She pulled a potato masher out of the box under the sink and started mashing. She looked up as Kim stomped back through the common area carrying the pot of bloody towels away from her body as if she thought they were diseased.
When Allison finished mashing, she put a strainer over a quart sized mason jar and poured the contents of the pan into the jar.
Jaden stepped out of the little room they were using as the infirmary. Her face was strained.
Allison felt her heart reach out to the young girl who worked so hard. She wondered if they were taking advantage of her willingness to help in so many ways. But, every time they tried to discourage her from doing something, she acted as if she was being punished by not being allowed to work.
Allison stepped away from the stove and moved to the table. “Come here, sweetie.”
Jaden shook her head. “I’ll be back. I have to clean the blood off me.”
Allison checked the tea kettle. She filled it up and after setting it on the hottest part of the stove, she opened the cupboard containing teas. She chose Rose Petals and Lemon Balm. She placed them in the tea pot on the counter and waited for the tea kettle to whistle.
Jaden returned to the room as Allison was pouring the tea into cups. “Want honey?” she asked.
“What kind of tea?”
“Rose Petals and Lemon Balm.”
Jaden scrunched her nose. “I’ll try it without honey first. I don’t want to use up all the honey.”
Allison set the cup on the table in front of Jaden.
“We won’t run out of honey, sweetie. Don’s bees were busy workers last year. We have a lot of honey. If you want it, use it. You deserve it more than anyone.”
Jaden sipped the hot tea. “Not bad,” she said. “Rose Petals for calming?”
“Yes.” Allison nodded. “It also helps drive away mental fatigue. The Lemon Balm will also help with tension which I’m sure you must be feeling.”
“I am,” Jaden agreed. “It was hard helping, but it was something that I really wanted to do. I’d never seen gunshot wounds – well except for Benny and he was almost healed when
he got here. He never let me look at it anyway. But, I was glad Mary let me help them in there.”
“How are they doing?” Allison sipped her tea, looking at Jaden over the top of the mug.
“Mary said that none of the gun shots were as bad as they could have been. That guy had two. He looked so bad because of the one on his face, but Mary said it just grazed his face and didn’t do any damage except for that it’s going to leave a big, ugly scar.”
Allison reached across the table and took Jaden’s hand. “You know how much I appreciate all the work you do here. You don’t have to do all that you do. We all agree that you work too hard.”
Jaden looked shocked. “Well, how am I going to learn what I like to do and what I don’t like to do if I don’t actually try everything?”
“I see,” Allison said. “Did you like working with gunshot wounds?”
“Absolutely not. I mean I was happy to help, but the only thing I had to do was hand Mary clean towels and anything else she asked me to get. But, unless I don’t have a choice, I don’t want to work on bloody people. I still do like working with you on medicine though.”
Allison smiled. “I like having you help.”
Jaden looked at the mason jar on the counter. “I heard you were making medicine for the town. What are you making?”
“Elderberry syrup. I’m also going to get some dried elderberry so they can make elderberry tea. Want to help?”
“Sure!” Jaden jumped up from the chair so fast it tipped. She quickly reached behind her and caught it before it toppled to the floor. “Whoops!” She grinned. “Are the Elderberries in your cupboard?”
“Yep. You’ll find them in a quart sized mason jar. Just fill a ziplock bag and then I’ll have you write instructions on a piece of paper to send. If you want, you can write the instructions for the syrup as well.”
Jaden found the jar and carefully poured elderberries into a ziplock bag. Placing the jar back on the shelf, she said, “Okay, Allison. I’m ready. Tell me what to write.”
