Afraid of the Dark

by Chris Hechtl

  “There aren't many corpses, aliens eat everything. Clothes and all,” Torres said, wrinkling her nose as her eyebrow arched. “You want to see my ID?” she asked sarcastically.

  “Sure,” the guy said, holding out his hand. Torres blinked in surprise and then laughed, throwing her head back.

  “What?” the guy asked, blinking at her in surprise. “What the hell's so funny?” he demanded.

  “Just the thought of being carded when you're the cop,” she said, pulling open a breast pocket and pulling out her ID. “Here, I keep it handy just in case,” she said tossing it over.

  He blinked at the joke then the ghost of a smile made his coarse gray haired face pucker a little. He caught the ID, fumbled it, then looked at it, squinting again. He looked at the photo then back to her a few times.

  “I've lost weight,” Torres said.

  “Ain't we all,” the guy said, nodding. “You women seem to like the idea. Me, now I'm not thrilled about it,” he said, plucking a finger at his now baggy jeans and T shirt.

  “It sucks for some,” she said.

  “You got some water?” he asked, licking dry cracked lips as he tossed the ID back. She caught it, put it away then pulled her sports bottle canteen off her hip and held it out for him to see.

  “Got any more than that? We need water.”

  “We've got plenty of water. We're from the mall,” she said.

  “Oh?”

  “We've got the water system running during the day. Um...” She looked at him.

  “Jim. No it ain't running here,” he said shaking his head.

  “They might have shut the lines down to conserve it, since they probably thought everyone was, well...” she waved a hand.

  “Dead?” Jim nodded, eyes glittering. “Damn near was.” He took a grimy ballcap off and put it back on. He had hat hair, what little hair he had.

  “Here,” she said holding the water bottle out. He looked at it but before he could grab it the little girl had come up and taken it. She opened the top and drank.

  His hand fell as Torres knelt. The girl looked at her with one eye as she drank, head high. “Thirsty huh?” Torres asked softly. The little girl nodded. Finally she gulped and stopped to wipe her mouth and breathe. She suddenly looked shy, toeing the ground.

  “Nice dress,” Torres smiled, tugging on the girl's hem. The girl looked down and nodded.

  “Nadine, you can go...”

  “She's fine,” Torres said looking up to Jim. “I don't bite. Speaking of,” she pulled out a protein bar and handed it to the girl. “Go easy on it, that's my lunch,” she said. The girl's eyes widened and she took the bar gently, hand shaking. She turned to Jim.

  “Thank you,” the old duffer said gruffly. After a moment he looked away and cleared his throat. “I cleared this area out for food and weapons. Everyone here is holed up at my place. Those that survived and stayed,” he said, indicating the house.

  “Does anyone need medical attention?” Torres asked, looking up at him. “We've got a medic with us,” she said indicating the team at the end of the block, milling about uncertainly.

  “Um...”

  “So, the houses are clear of aliens?” she asked. He blinked at her and nodded. She studied his expression, judging how truthful he was and then rolled the dice. “Tom,” she said, touching her mike on her shoulder.

  “Yeah boss,” Tom said.

  “Tell the team here to head on. Leave the medic, some water, and Ursilla here with the truck. I'll be along in a bit,” she said.

  “You sure boss?”

  “Sure I'm sure,” she turned to glare at the group. “Get a move on, we're burning daylight,” she growled.

  “Yeah boss,” Tom sighed over the radio. There was a click. “Come on people, you heard the lady, head 'em up and move 'em out. She'll skin us if we don't make quota...”

  Jim and the others watched them go, and Ursilla's approach with the medic. Torres looked beyond Jim and the woman to see a few more people standing in the shadows of the house.

  “People thought I was nuts, going and planning for a big quake or something. Got me my own generator, got me a shit load of ammo and food. Ain't no dummy. I had a friend in New Orleans who told me all the crap he went through when Katrina hit. I wasn't going to get caught with my nuts in a vice, no sirree bob,” Jim said shaking his head as Torres straightened to her feet.

  “You call for a medic boss?” Ursilla drawled behind her. Torres looked over her shoulder to the soldier and medic and nodded. She nodded her head to the house.

  “I think we need to do a house visit. Unless of course you'd prefer for them to come out here Jim?” she asked looking at the old man.

  “Inside is fine,” the woman said softly. She was looking at the medic and first aid kit. “I'm... Its okay. We're just nervous. We haven't seen anyone and we heard about looters...”

  “I'm surprised the aliens leave you alone at night,” Ursilla said, looking around.

  “Jim and the others keep it clear by day. We hunker down at night.”

  “Play possum. No one knew we were here,” Jim said, giving Torres and her people accusing looks. “'til now that is,” he growled.

  “Sorry,” Torres said, spreading her hands apart. “Peace.”

  “Jim, knock it off,” Nadine sighed. “Come on,” she said, wiping her hands on her apron. Its not pretty but its home. We've well, I know we stink...”

  “Water. I know. Hang on a sec,” Torres said, holding up a forestalling hand. She pulled her phone out and searched through the directory.

  “What's she doing?” Jim asked. “You don't think it'll work do you?” he asked.

  “Reception's fine here,” the medic said, looking at her own phone as she knelt next to Dayna. “Hi, I'm Jade. I'm a medic. Its like a doctor but not quite,” she said teasingly, poking the little girl in the abdomen. The girl looked a little dehydrated, but surprisingly not malnourished. At least not as bad as she'd expected. “You got any boo-boos I need to see?” she asked as the girl reached out and tweaked her raven locks.

  Dayna squirmed and then shook her pretty head. She pointed silently to the house.

  “Oh, okay,” Julie said quietly looking that way. She smiled at the girl as she got to her feet. “Where to ma'am? Sir?” she asked, looking from Nadine to Jim.

  Jim sighed and threw up his free hand. “Fine, sure, whatever. Come over for tea and crumpets, see if I care,” he growled and stalked off.

  “Never mind him. He's a grump, a hermit and he's been trapped with too many people in his house for quite a long time now,” Nadine said, watching the old coot go. “He's a nice guy, saved all our lives.”

  “Good,” Torres said with a nod. “We can see about relieving some of the pressure,” she said as she hummed. “Ah,” she hit send and put the phone to her ear. “Yeah, Bob? I need someone to turn the water and sewer on for this stretch of Indian. We've got people here in desperate need of water in the worst way.”

  She waited a beat and then scowled. “Bob...” she growled menacingly. Nadine looked at her eyes wide. “Fine Bob. Get someone on it. If not today then sometime tomorrow. I gather there are quite a few people here and they could use it.” She hung up and pocketed the phone grimacing.

  “Bob's our head of construction. Should have called one of the utility people. One of the water guys,” the medic said as they slowly walked towards the house.

  “Don't have their number,” Torres muttered, putting the phone away. She should, she just kept forgetting to get the number.

  “Water people?” Nadine asked.

  “Utilities. Lights, sewer, natural gas, and water for now. We've got limited service outside the mall. Mall has full service,” she explained matter of factly.

  Nadine looked surprised and then thoughtful. “Oh,” Nadine said quietly. She looked uncertainly toward the house.

  Torres recognized the symptoms and hid a sigh. She couldn't blame the lady. She couldn't blame anyone for wanting out of... well, wh
atever this turned out to be and into some safety, security, and hell, three square meals. “Yes, yes to answer your next question, you and anyone else can come. If they need medical attention, then definitely. We've got a full hospital up, the only one for miles around. But,” she held up a warning finger. “But everyone works for food. Its tiring, it can be boring, it can be scary, but we pull together.”

  “Not a problem,” Nadine said with a nod. “I'm just, I mean, I think its fair to Jim to, well, relieve the pressure on him. He's sweet under that gruff and grime but he's been muttering a lot and well, he's got the guns...”

  “I understand,” Torres said with a smile as they got near the house. “Its his house, and he's king of his castle. We'll see if we can get some people to help out a little. I'm not making any promises though. Let's just see what the day brings okay?”

  “Okay,” Nadine said quietly. Torres tried to stop breathing as the smell hit. The medic coughed, hand over her mouth. Even after being in nests this was ripe. Fortunately it was human stink, but that was the only thing going for it.

  “Try not to breathe through your nose. It helps a little. I try to air it out, but people complain about being cold all the time,” Nadine sighed.

  “Yeah, I get the picture,” Torres choked out. “On second thoughts, let's get the more mobile people out here. Maybe set up a chair or two. The fresh air would do them wonders.” She pulled out a bandana and put it over her face.

  “Me too, already getting a migraine,” Ursilla sighed.

  Nadine twisted her hands in her apron.

  “Not your fault honey, no disservice to you. You do what you can with what you have. But no water makes washing and cleaning impossible. We get that,” the medic said. She shook her head.

  “Like I said, we'll do what we can with what we have. That's all we can do,” Torres sighed.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Shane nodded as Torres separated herself from the crowd around her truck and came over purposely. He nodded to his driver as he climbed out and checked his gear, waiting for her. From the looks of a couple of kids Tom was helping out of the truck and horse playing with, they had found some foundlings. The more the merrier he thought with a mental shrug. At least the kids were here now in relative safety.

  “Something on your mind Torres?” he asked as she got within ear shot. Her typical scowl didn't change but a few people looked up at them and then went back to the business of post combat chores. Some slowed and bent an ear to hear any gossip, but most were eager to get cleaned up so they could get inside to eat and rest. She paused, hands on her hips.

  “Yeah, picked up a bunch of people today. Holdouts.”

  “Really?” he asked amused.

  “Yeah,” she came over to him and turned, resting against the side of the truck. “Off Indian. Old duffer survivalist if you can believe it.”

  “Takes all kinds,” he said with a smile and wave to the others to go on without him. Tater hesitated, then shrugged and kept going.

  “Yeah well, they were about out of resources. Sucked the water dry from every pool and anything they could find in the area. Even toilets.” She wrinkled her nose at that. So did he.

  “Damn,” he said shaking his head.

  “So I wanted to let you know if you catch any flak from Bob or the utility twerps about my telling them to turn the water back on.”

  “Really?” he asked. “I thought you said you brought them in?” he asked, turning to her. She shook her head.

  “Not all, the old duffer and a few holdouts are going to stick it out a bit longer. I told them we'll try to check in on them weekly, but no promises.”

  “Okay,” he drawled, thinking. He blew his cheeks in and out. “How are they set up?”

  “They've got a generator. Three actually. The other two are small backups. The duffer, Jim set up an electric fence and lights around the perimeter. Works pretty good at night.”

  “Yeah, I've heard that too,” he said with a nod. “Which is why we've got it here too,” he said waving. She looked around and then nodded, returning her attention to him.

  “They've got plenty of food, he's got MREs stocked in a basement.”

  “A basement?” Shane asked, now surprised. He turned to her, raising an eyebrow. She spread her hands apart.

  “True thing. He's old school.”

  “A basement? Here? In SoCal?”

  “Apparently he's a diehard survivalist. He mumbled something about being Scottish too. I don't know. His place is a fortress.”

  “Okay,” he said nodding.

  “We left them a radio and some basic stuff. Meds. Jade and Julie brought a pregnant woman in and a couple of other people who are in need of meds. Doc's looking at them now.”

  “Good to hear,” he said nodding.

  “I'll get you a list on specialties when I get it,” she said. He looked at her.

  “Torres, you did your job. You got them here safe and sound. Let's let our human resources people deal with that. You've got enough on your plate as it is. Just touch bases with them and leave it at that.”

  “Um...”

  “You can't take care of every stray we bring in, hell, listen to me,” he shook his head and took his hat off to beat it against the side of his thigh.

  “Something I'm missing?” she asked amused. He looked at her and snorted.

  “Just remembering an old argument with Jen. She's got a thing for taking strays. Me included.”

  “Cute,” Torres said with a flicker of a smile. It quickly disappeared. Old habits died hard. She had a reputation as a hard ass and didn't want to spoil it by looking soft.

  “Yeah well, I know a losing battle when I start one. The problem is I keep starting them anyway. Do what you've got to do Torres.”

  “Of course,” she said giving him a 'gee that's a stupid thing to say' look. He shook his head once more. “I've got to check in. Later,” she said waving.

  “Toodles,” he said straightening up and stretching. “Now, where did the women get to I wonder?” he asked himself, moving off to the open doors nearby.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  “We need more water,” Eric sighed, shaking his head. The plants were drooping a bit. What they were getting and what they were recycling wasn't enough.

  “I know, don't you think I don't know that? We're only getting so much rain and so much from the pipes and what the crews can get. And a lot of it goes to the people.”

  “Yeah but, we need it. Badly. For the crops. We need what,” Fred turned to Enrique who shrugged. “Six to ten inches of wet soil?”

  “For wheat yeah. Corn too. We can do with less for some stuff, but our crops aren't exactly drought resistant.” Fred's hand dipped into the soil, digging down and then fingering it to test how wet it was. He wasn't too happy about the results.

  “You'd think living in SoCal we'd do that by now.”

  “Don't look at me man,” Eric said, spreading his hands apart. “Like everyone I picked the seeds that had the highest yields and the best protection against disease and pests for the lowest price. SoCal is or was about growing veggies, not wheat and corn. Those suck water like crazy.”

  “It’s always...” Fred petered off and then sighed, brushing dirt from his hands.

  “I can see if we can redirect some more of the gray water here, or maybe get someone to pipe the run off from the wash plants or the factories but it might be poisonous. No to do a...” Eric frowned.

  “You're thinking about that recycling project Bob was working on before they restarted the March and Perris plants?” Enrique asked with a bit of an accent. English wasn't his first language and he sometimes had trouble with Eric's Swedish accent.

  “Yeah,” Eric nodded. “What I'm thinking about is I'd like to have some sort of marshland. Maybe, well, if we could add some water to the moat, seal it and run it through some filters as it moves along the perimeter...”

  “We can't have it stagnant, we don't want to attract animals or have mos
quito's,” Fred said and then blinked. “Oh, yeah keep it moving,” he said catching Eric's last bit.

  “Yes. I was thinking if we had it pitched right, with the right set up we could filter out the worst of the sediments and have gray water run off for the farms. We'd still need to treat it...”

  “What about the sediment señor?” Enrique asked, looking thoughtful. “Can't have it build up and clog the works.”

  “That's another problem,” Eric sighed, shaking his head. “I'm not at all sure what the hell to do about that.”

  “I think you need to consult some outside people. Bob for one. We don't want to muck up the defenses and piss anyone off. Or create a hole the aliens can get through,” Fred said slowly, looking thoughtful.

  Eric nodded, straightening his shirt and wiping his hands on his thighs. “Yeah, I think we'll need to do that. I asked Gabe to do some research for me on systems, but he hasn't gotten back to me. Let me go poke him and see if he's got anything for me, then we'll go over it and then talk to Bob and his architect.”

  “Yeah man, cause we've got to do something about this now,” Fred said, indicating the drooping leaves and brown shoots.

  “Yeah I know. Check the forecast. If it looks like rain, see if you can sweet talk some tarps and pipes from stores. We'll create more catches to direct water into cisterns or right onto the crops.”

  “We could pick up some more rain gutters, I mean from houses,” Bret, a guy working in the greenhouse said looking up.

  “Now that's an idea,” Eric said with a nod. “Good idea. I'll pass that along too. Good work,” he said as he left.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Shane turned to see Tater hefting a door knocker on one shoulder. He shook his head as the big guy looked it over.

  “What the hell do you think you're doing?” he asked.

  “Um, well, Brandon got a little chewed so I figured I'd lend a hand. Nothin' personal boss, but just breaking windows is boring.”

  “So you go from breaking windows to doors?” Shane asked.

  “Sure,” Tater said with a grin.

  “Fine, but remember, knock the door, then back up and to the side fast. Let the point go in and deal with what's inside, if anything. You're not dressed or trained for it.”