Afraid of the Dark

by Chris Hechtl

  “She should get inside. This heat isn't good for the baby,” Bob said.

  “Try telling her that. To her its too cold inside,” Dale said with a sigh. “Typical Indian, she's stubborn.”

  “I heard that,” the woman said, struggling to her feet. For a moment Bob thought she was going to go over backwards before she caught her balance. She waddled over and rubbed her belly, squinting as she moved into the light. “If either of you two had any sense you wouldn't talk about a lady when she's within ear shot,” she growled, one hand stroking her black braid. She had a tattered feather woven into the leather thong holding the braid together.

  “Goes to show the product you get after you marry it,” Bob said and then frowned. “That didn't come out right,” he said.

  Dale gave him a look while Wanda mock glowered. “I think we get the gist of it,” she said dryly.

  “Bob what we're really here for is a job,” Dale suddenly gushed out. “That is if you'll have me,” he said.

  “If... damn it Dale, you know damn well, I want you on my team. Quit playing the fall guy. You too Wanda, though in your condition...” He looked down at her belly.

  “Twins,” she said with a smile. “First in my family actually,” she said and jerked her thumb to her grinning husband. “All his fault,” she said.

  “I think you had something to do with it too dear,” Dale said with dignity, eyes mischievous.

  “For what? A whole thirty-seconds?” she asked.

  “What'd he do for the other twenty-nine?” Bob said before he could stop himself. Wanda shot him an amused look as she giggled. Dale just shook his head.

  “Sorry... Sorry... Tamara rubbing off on me too much...”

  “It's the heat I suppose you'll say. Men. Impossible,” Wanda said shaking her head.

  “Wanda, we don't have any call for, well...”

  “Interior decorating,” she said dryly.

  “Well, not in color coordination and stuff like that. But we do need to maximize our space. Both inside and out. If I get you in touch with Jayne can you and Dale here work out how to redesign this place?” he asked. “I'd rather hand off as much of this to you two and focus on the nuts and bolts of the outer wall and coordinating everyone.”

  “What are we shooting for?” Dale asked.

  “Castle fortress to support the maximum amount of people and animals possible. Balanced and some sections to have multiple uses. So we need large bathrooms to service large groups of people...”

  “And barracks, bunk beds...” Wanda mused, looking thoughtful.

  “Not to mention laundry... defensive structures...” Dale rubbed his chin again and smiled. The smile was quickly growing into a shit eating grin. “I always wanted to do a full on castle,” he said.

  “What about that one you did in Colorado?” Wanda asked him.

  “Doesn't count. It was a ski chalet not a real castle. Not a functional one. Are we going to go the whole route? Moat,drawbridge, curtain walls...”

  Bob laughed as he nodded. “Full on,” he said with a nod.

  “Cool,” Dale said. “How do we do this?”

  “One day at a time. Everyone's pitching in. Live or die time,” Bob answered. “We start here as the nucleus but I'm working on Lowes, Costco and that area too. Each will be a separate interlocking part of the whole complex. All of Towngate.”

  Wanda shot her husband a look but Dale nodded right away. He knew better than to haggle. He nodded as well. “Works. Room and board, medical, defenses... the least we can do is use our talents to keep ourselves and our kids alive,” he said, shooting Wanda a look. “We've got some good people who can help you when it comes time for that. Both in delivery and day care,” he said quietly.

  Wanda froze and then rubbed her belly once more and looked down at it. “Yeah,” she breathed after a moment. “Yeah.”

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Shane nodded to a group of women who were waiting by his truck. “Problems ladies?” he asked. He glanced around, noting the guys looking at the girls with disdain.

  “Yeah, they've got a problem,” a girl said, nodding her chin to indicate the guys around them.

  “Oh?”

  “You've got a problem too,” she said with a slight hint of sarcasm. Something had her pissed.

  “Oh?”

  “We can do this. We can fight. Don't fucking think we're going to cook, clean and spread our legs,” the woman snarled.

  “Never dreamed of it. My wife would have my balls if I even suggested it,” he said dryly.

  The women in the group looked at each other. After a moment the spokeswoman nodded. “Good.”

  “But, and here's the big but. We don't need the feminist shit either. Can the attitude,” he said, holding up a finger.

  The woman's nostrils flared as her fellows straightened.

  “Oh, I'm one of the guys,” one of the guys mocked.

  “You're an ass Tater you know that?” the woman snarled.

  “He's also a chauvinist. We don't need that crap,” a girl said glaring.

  “Ladies,” Shane said as the women glared at him. “Look, I have no problem with anyone who...” he turned to some of the guys and raised his voice, “I have no problem, no problem with anyone who steps up. Neither should any of you. You know the job; don't make it any harder than it already is.”

  “Anyone,” he stressed. “Anyone who wants to belly up to the bar and fight is in. IF they can shoot straight and handle the gore and constant combat then I'm all for it.”

  “GI Jane!” a guy in the back yelled.

  He surveyed them and the boys quieted down. “I want to go on record here. I don't give a shit what color you are, what gender or how big or little you are. You can either hang or you can't. Where your reproductive organs are don't count.” He hid a sigh as some of the men grumbled and the women smirked in triumph.

  “But...” he held up a finger. “You have to understand that the hazing has a purpose. Up to a point. They want to know if you can handle it. If you can't handle the guys stressing you to see if you can hack it then they won't think you can hack it in the field. If you can't then you don't belong here or there for that matter. And you will meet the same standards as the men. I'm not into that whole PC double standard shit. You can either hang or you can't. It's that simple.”

  A few of the women looked affronted. He ignored it. “Some of you know this the hard way,” he said, seeing Torres pushing her way through the crowd. “Right Torres?” he asked.

  “Hell yeah,” she said, pausing and nodding grimly. She looked stubborn as she rested an arm on her rifle. “People respect you if you can hang and don't insist on special treatment crap. I know it. I've lived it. Believe me.”

  He nodded. “I remember it as well. We each play our part; we each have a role to play. Some of you may not be as strong, but you may be faster or have quick reflexes. Or you may be outstanding medics or tacticians.”

  “I've served with women,” Hernandez said from the back. “I've got no problem serving with them.”

  “Me too,” Shane said with a nod. “I've served with women and gays and others both in the corps and on the force. I've got no problems.”

  “If they want to fight let them. We need all the hands we can get and I'm not all that picky either. We've got work to do,” Bobby said testily. There was a mutter of voices.

  “True, we're burning daylight. Load up folks,” he ordered.

  “Xena. A whole field of Xena wannabes. Amazons,” Bobby muttered as the doors slammed and engines roared to life.

  “Xena hell, try Joan of Arc. I've got no beef. We need all the hands we can get. You're right about that.”

  Bobby wrinkled his nose. “Who?”

  “How about Rosy the riveter?” The guy beside him asked. “My granny did it during WW2.”

  “Funny Walsh, real funny.”

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Jayne saw a guy peeing in the bushes and grimaced. It was going on a lot lately, a
nd it wasn't just because there was a long line to use the toilets.

  The mall had only so many bathrooms. Some of the stores had small half baths, a simple sink and toilet. Those were being used or plumbers were tying into them, unfortunately taking them out of order until they were finished.

  Other facilities were scattered throughout the mall though it didn't help with the population when a significant percentage had a sudden call of nature to answer. Sheila caught her looking and looked herself then looked away as the guy shook his left leg and then zipped up. It also didn't help that the guys had an unfair advantage.

  “Guys have it so easy,” she said. “Is it true by the way?” she asked.

  “Is what true?” Jayne said and slowly turned away from watching the guy walking off.

  “That there are worms and aliens in the toilets. Rumors of aliens in the pipes are spreading all through the place.”

  “Lovely,” Jayne sighed. That put it into perspective. Now she had to do something about it, starting with getting it under control. But rumor control was hard. The only way to combat ignorance was with facts and the truth. Things that were a bit hard to come by now, and there was always a group of skeptics out there who even with the truth rubbed in their faces still stubbornly denied that the sky was blue and the sun rose and set every day.

  “Have you checked into it?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” Sheila shrugged. “We've got reports of the bug aliens and small aliens getting into vent pipes over the net. They apparently nest inside.”

  “Oh shit,” Jayne breathed softly. “Um...”

  “Your next question is did it happen here,” Sheila said as she finally met Jayne's eyes. “The answer is no. When the work crews covered the sky lights with security screens Bob had them screen the vents as well. We're checking them regularly. We do have a problem though; the area over one of the theaters has a hole in the roof. Nothing Major, but they were supposed to fix it. I'm not sure if they did. Until they do and Ross has time to check it I've put the theater off limits.”

  “Okay,” she said with a nod. “We'll need to post it then,” Jayne said with a nod. “The rumor control too,” she said.

  “Before the grass turns completely yellow?” Sheila asked.

  “I don't care about the grass. Except when I'm walking through it. Bushes either. But its... well the hygiene issue.” She waved in disgust.

  “Okay,” Sheila said. “I'll have someone draw up a poster or something. We'll work on it,” she said.

  “Good. We need someone to pull stuff from the web, see if its true and either post it or counter rumors that aren't true.”

  “A propaganda department?” Sheila asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “No, a facts department. Intel like Shane said.”

  “Reporters. Media. Just the facts ma'am,” Sheila said with a straight face and deep voice.

  “That works too,” Jayne said with a nod.

  “Okay, I think we might have someone, if not I'll put the word out.”

  “Thanks,” Jayne said and then a thought occurred to her. “Sheila...”

  “Um yeah boss?” Sheila said as she scrolled through her tablet. She looked up when Jayne didn't continue.

  “Pee... but what do they do about number two?” Jayne asked.

  “Oh... uh...” She wrinkled her nose. Together both women said 'ew' at the same time.

  “Yeah. I'll ah, get someone to find a bunch of buckets or something. Pooper scoopers definitely. Hopefully they haven't gotten completely out of hand. Its bad enough that the aliens are crapping all over the place,” Sheila said. “I don't want to think about anyone stepping in it and tracking it back inside.”

  “Yeah,” Jayne said and then sighed. “They are worried about aliens in the plumbing so they go outside and take a shit under a bush where aliens are more likely to be. Go figure,” she said.

  “People don't think when they are scared boss,” Sheila said wrinkling her nose.

  “Tell me about it. We've got to do something about it, even if it is getting them to poop in the bucket. We can always dump it down the drain or into a toilet and flush,” she said.

  “True,” Sheila said. She turned as a shadow approached. She nodded politely to Jen who smiled at both of them.

  “What are we talking about ladies?” she asked.

  Jayne quickly filled her in. Jen frowned and then sighed. “People are people Jayne, its instinct. It doesn't have to make sense. I think though we can use part of this. Eric and a couple of other guys want more fertilizer for the farms. They want compost heaps.”

  “Farms?” Sheila asked in surprise.

  “I've been talking about it off and on all morning,” Jen said with a sigh. “We'll need food in the future. Eric is right about wanting to start something now. The stuff in the mall is just a start.”

  “Okay,” Jayne said. “Makes some sort of sense. But does he realize the numbers we're talking about?” she asked.

  Jen shrugged. “We've got to do something. Getting it off the ground now is a good idea. We need to get ahead of the problem before it becomes a major problem.”

  “True,” Sheila said. “I... ah...”

  “I don't think any of us have come to grips with how far ahead we have to plan. How much our world has changed,” Jen said quietly. “Well, my husband has, but he's got a bad habit of not talking about it like he should,” she finished with a growl.

  “In this case I think he would have been stating the obvious,” Jayne said meeting Jen's eyes with her own. After a moment Jen shrugged.

  “I... I thought the military... the authorities...” Sheila murmured. She shook a little. Jen laid a hand over her shoulders.

  “I'm getting used to the idea too honey. We all are. No one can ride to the rescue; they are too busy trying to stay alive like we are. We're on our own. So, we'll have to count on each other right?” she asked softly, lifting the girl's chin.

  Sheila's eyes shone as she looked into Jen's. After a moment her lips pursed and she nodded a little. Jen smiled again. “We'll do just fine dear,” she said, pulling the girl into her arms for a brief hug. Jen gave her a surprised look and stepped back a little to give them a little personal space.

  “We'll do just fine,” Jayne repeated, rubbing the girl's hair. “Now,” she said breaking the brief embrace. “Go do what I told you and then check...”

  “On things on the West and North and then go check the food court and the doctors. Gotcha boss,” Sheila said dashing a tear. She patted her boss and Jen's arms before moving off.

  “Poor girl. I don't think she realized until now how deep we are.”

  “No, I don't think anyone did. They haven't had time to stop and think. We've been too busy staying alive, and too exhausted at night to do anything except eat and sleep. That's got to change.”

  “But your husband has thought of it,” Jayne said.

  “He's like the energizer bunny. He keeps going and going...” Jen said with a sour look that quickly brightened. “Which is one of the reasons I married the guy,” she said with a wicked grin.

  “Braggart,” Jayne laughed pushing her away. “I must say all this sun is doing your complexion well. But you look tired.”

  “Not as tired as others. I'm mostly pointing people in the right direction. I haven't done any lifting. But walking from one point to another is a pain,” Jen said, lifting her sore feet to rub her right foot.

  “Should get you a scooter or a bike,” Jayne mused.

  “It's a thought,” Jen said looking up. “We should post scooters or bikes around the area so people can get around faster and without using so much energy.”

  “Or a bus,” Jayne said and then shrugged. “Later,” she said. “You were saying that there isn't anyone coming to the rescue. I get that but the aliens... there are only so many...”

  “That's the problem. There are only so many to start with but we're already getting reports of some of them breeding and even laying eggs. Shane showed me the video
of one of the Dire horses giving birth. That's less than a week after landing. That's scary. And we're on the bad side of this war. The invading species always has the advantage because the native species has no natural defenses against it. You'd think it would be equilibrium, that the invaders don't have any natural defenses either and aren't well adapted to the environment, but that's not the case in situations like this...” She spread her hands helplessly.

  “Um...”

  “I'm drawing the example of an invasive Terran species of course,” Jen mused, looking thoughtful. Jayne realized Jen was miles away. Her husband wasn't the only one planning and thinking ahead. Good.

  “Well, we need to get you some time so you can really study the enemy and figure out how better to kill them,” she finally said.

  “Raid,” a guy said in passing. She smirked as he kept going.

  “Works for me. They don't build a fly swatter big enough,” Jayne said with a snort. “Earth to Jen, come in Jen...” she said and then sighed at the deep look of concentration on Jen's face.

  “Lost you. Look why don't you go get a bite to eat and think about this. Take and make notes. I'll do my rounds and see if any other crisis has come to the surface.”

  “Um... okay...”

  Jayne rolled her eyes as she gently took her friend by the shoulders and turned her and pushed her to the door. “Go on, check on the kids too when you remember,” she said.

  “Yeah, right,” Jen said quietly. “I need to model... I wonder if Phillips did it already? I wonder if we can model the progression and compare it to...”

  Jen shook her head at the unedited stream of consciousness her friend was leaving behind and turned. She took in the loading docks, eyes studying it but not really seeing or processing it. Finally she nodded and then moved on.

  “Day is never done is out the window,” she muttered.

  Chapter 18

  Jayne nodded to Deputy Wayne and Torres as they conferred quietly. Wayne had a habit of using his hands sometimes when he talked, he said it was the pilot in him. He'd learned to fly before he could walk, or so he said.

  “So what are you two up to today?” she asked, nodding at Sheila who waved to her and kept going.