The Next Ten: Beginnings Series Books 11 - 20

by Jacqueline Druga

  Frank swayed his head to his father so confused. “Like what?”

  Joe’s hand immediately went to his face and slid it down across the bridge of his nose as he turned and walked away.

  “Dad?” Frank followed. “Like what?”

  Joe kept walking.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  There was something so eerie that William just loved about the clinic at night. All the lights were off except for Dean’s lab and occasionally Andrea’s office while she studied. Dinner had come and gone and William searched out his son.

  “Burning the late night oil?” William asked as he walked into the lab.

  “Yeah.”

  “Oh?” William moved closer. “I thought we finished all the workups today.”

  “We did but with the survivor thing happening soon. I have the lice problem to deal with.”

  “None of those agents we brought in from the runs worked?”

  Dean shook his head. “No. They all had gone bad and I have to wear bio hazard gear to work on them in the last room in the far wing of the clinic.”

  “Andrea and Ellen are pretty bad about that.”

  “I guess I don’t blame them.”

  “Population?” William questioned.

  “Keeping it low. I burn them if I don’t get immediate results. The larva are tough.”

  “Always have been. I told you I’d work on that.” William rubbed his nearly bald head. “I have no fear.”

  Dean chuckled. “Right now I found that what seems to work on the fruit flies we have near the field works on them as well.”

  “The fruit flies are under control.”

  “Oh sure.” Dean nodded. “But what I use on the fruit flies cannot be used on animals. Did you see Fred?”

  “The rabbit?”

  “Yeah. Go see him. He’s bald as a cue ball.”

  William chucked. “Speaking of bald, I went to see my granddaughter.”

  Dean had to laugh. “Alexandra’s not bald.”

  “She doesn’t have much hair.” William nodded with a smile. “Anyway, I wanted to see how she was doing, you know, and see if Ellen tried any whiskey on her gums.”

  “I’m sure she has. Whiskey to the Slagels is like milk to a baby. It’s a nourishment requirement. So how is Alex?”

  “Oh fine. Surprising though, I went to the house.” William leaned into the counter “And Ellen and the children are gone.”

  “Ellen and I decided to call it quits today.”

  “I see.” William shrugged. “Well, it’s not like you won’t see your family right?”

  “Right. She can’t move that far away.”

  “My thoughts exactly. So ... I still needed to see my granddaughter so I went to Joe’s and ... she wasn’t there.”

  Dean looked up for his notes, shocked a little, but not completely.

  “So, I tried the next logical place, Robbie’s.”

  “How’s Robbie handling them?”

  “He would be fine if they were there.” William held back his smile. “But they weren’t. So I went back to Joe’s and asked where he put Ellen and the children. Did he give her new housing? He said no, he wasn’t going to use the energy when she had plenty of places to go including home.” William pointed to Dean. “So thinking ‘no way did she go there’ I went there and I have to tell you something, Dean.”

  “What?”

  “What a happy little family, her, the twins, Johnny and ...” William grinned. Before he could even get out the name ‘Frank’ Dean was out the lab door, his little high tops squeaking the whole way out. “Yep.” William stood upright talking to himself. “Mission accomplished.”

  <><><><>

  Alexandra laughed her baby laugh as if she was witnessing the funniest thing and to her she was. Balancing on her diaper, she held a wooden spoon as she sat on the floor and laughed loudly, almost in a scream, each time she whacked Frank on the head. Frank would fake scream in pain, drop his head to the floor, lift it back up as he lay on his stomach, and let her hit him again.

  Ellen shook her head as she stood from the couch where Billy slept. She moved to the door to answer it.

  “Let’s go.” Dean walked in. “Get your things. Let’s go.”

  “Excuse me?” Ellen was shocked.

  “I was wrong in my methods. I would like you home to work this out.”

  “No.”

  “Ellen, get your things, please.”

  Frank stood up from the floor, holding Alexandra. “Dean, if she doesn’t want to go, too bad.”

  “And ...” Dean marched to Frank. “Don’t hold my daughter. My daughter Frank. You already have control over one woman in my life.” Dean snatched Alexandra from him. “I don’t need you taking control over this one as well.”

  “Hey!” Frank yelled. “El, tell him he can’t snatch her from me. He took the baby.”

  “Dean.” Ellen marched to him. “That is so wrong.”

  “What? I don’t want him holding her.”

  “Too bad!” Ellen yelled.

  “Yeah!” Frank charged out.

  “Frank,” Ellen snapped his name. “I don’t need help. Dean, like it or not, he’s her family and he’ll be a part of her life. You’re being silly.”

  “Yeah I know.” Dean had a rambling tone to his voice. “I want my family home. Can you come home?” He moved closer to her, dropping his voice so Frank wouldn’t hear. “Can we go home and talk? Work this out the right way. I don’t want you here.”

  “What about what you said. The choices.”

  “I was ...” Dean took a deep breath. “Frank, do you mind.” He huffed out to Frank who had inched his way closer and placed his face near to them to hear.

  “It’s my house,” Frank told him,

  “And she’s my wife.”

  “You kicked her out.”

  “But not to live here.”

  “Too bad. She’s staying. El, tell him you’re staying.”

  Ellen looked at Frank then to Dean.

  Dean had pleading eyes. “Just come home and talk to me. We’ll work this out. And about what I said.” His voice got lower as he pulled Ellen further from Frank. “El, I would never think about taking you from Beginnings or your family. I just ... FRANK! Do you mind?!”

  Ellen looked over her shoulder to Frank who was right there again. “Frank, please?”

  Frank stepped back.

  Dean waited until he knew it was safe to talk again. “I would have never made you leave. I guess I’m just relationship illiterate. I just ... I just wanted you to tell me in one way or another you would do anything to make it work with me. I just wanted to know that you would. I was wrong to give you choices.”

  “I would do anything to make it work with you. I make mistakes, Dean, but I want to try. I do.”

  “Can we go home?” Dean asked. “Please.” He stepped to her, holding Alexandra who seemed preoccupied looking at Frank. Dean softly placed his lips to Ellen’s and kissed her. “I love you. Come home with me.” Just as he widened his mouth to kiss Ellen more intensely, he stopped when the hard crack of the wooden spoon hit against his head.

  Alexandra squealed in laughter and so did Frank.

  Dean rubbed his head and took the spoon from Alexandra. “Can we go home, El?”

  “Yeah, I’ll get Billy.” After handing Dean the bag that still sat by the door, Ellen walked over to the couch for Billy.

  “El.” Frank stepped to her. “No.”

  “Frank.” Ellen picked up Billy.

  “No, El. Don’t go home with him. Don’t do it.” Frank told her with passion. “Come on. He kicked you out. Stay here. It’s a sign. Stay here.” Frank softened his voice.

  “Frank.” Ellen closed her eyes. “I have to work it out with him.”

  “No you don’t.” Frank grasped her arms. “Fuck him. Stay here.”

  “Don’t do this Frank.” Ellen pulled away.

  “I ... I want you here, El.” Frank tried to get through to her. “I need you
here.”

  “And I’ll always be here for you but I go with Dean. That’s where my obligation is. He’s my husband.” Ellen moved toward the door.

  “What about me?” Frank’s hand went out and dropped. “What about us? Our friendship? Our years? What about me?”

  “Dean’s my husband.” Pain filled Ellen’s eyes and she turned away not wanting to see Frank’s expression. With Dean and her children, Ellen walked from Frank’s home.

  Frank’s head dropped when the door closed. A lot of emotions filled Frank at that moment, hurt, loss, anger, but more so, hostility toward Dean. Frank knew right then and there, Dean taking Ellen from his home was not the end. It was just the beginning.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  March 21 - Beginnings, Montana

  The fresh paint of the Containment Center filled the place with the aroma of ‘new’ as everyone sat at the little tables set up in what would be the Skills Room. It was finished. The final thing was the security door and that would only be a matter of minutes.

  “And that’s the process they will go through,” Joe explained. “Through our gates and into these doors, no more than twenty four people or twelve men and twelve woman at one time. We’ll have survival pair offs, but since most of the pick-ups will be done by chopper, either George or Robbie will go on the runs until Johnny is flying on his own.” Joe gave a wink to his grandson. “Now, Robbie, you and Ellen have the list. You want the honors?”

  “Yeah.” Robbie stood up with a grin. “El and I have been working hard and William reviewed everything.” Robbie began to pass out paper. “This is a list of what we will look for. Not everyone gets picked up. We will ask them questions as listed here. They are preliminaries. They’ll answer more once they get through the first screening.” He had passed out the sheet to everyone. “Mental state is vital. You leave people behind if you find them and they don’t fit the criteria as outlined. Their eyes are important. Look at their eyes Are they far off, distant, cold, and lifeless? None of ours are. Look at their physical appearance. Are they strong, fit, and clean? We aren’t expecting immaculate survivors, but we want people who have at least made an attempt to care for themselves. That shows surviving. Also, what have they been eating? Are they hunting? Growing? Working for their food. You’ll be able to tell by the description here if they are trying to eat properly. If they aren’t, they aren’t workers, and we don’t want people who want hand outs.”

  Frank reviewed the list. “Dean has illness symptoms listed here. If I run across a sick person who is mentally strong, but ill, I leave them to die?”

  “Depends,” Robbie answered.

  “Yes or no. It doesn’t matter to me.” Frank said.

  “Frank,” Dean spoke up. “Some illnesses are simple, some are not. Just review your list. We’ll take sick people if they show signs that they can be of value and get better. Exercise precaution everyone.” Dean warned. “Tuberculosis would be a killer.”

  Robbie continued. “Children. We will take all children, sick or not in here unless their biological parents don’t come and they won’t give up the kid. A child does not give an adult a buy into Beginnings.” He saw Henry raise his hand. “Yes, Henry?”

  “That sounds cruel. Say we find a man and a child. The child is ill, needs food, shelter, and what we can give him. His father won’t give him up but obviously can’t care for the child. We just leave that child to eventually die?”

  “Take him,” Ellen said coldly. “Take the child.” She heard the gasps. “If his father or adult with him cannot see that they are not doing what’s best for the child, then they aren’t fit to have them. Take the child.”

  A hush took over the room.

  Joe broke the silence. “I know it sounds wrong and it probably is, but what is more wrong, Dean says in another year or two, the ones that aren’t healthy will die. The others who aren’t providing for themselves will get worse and possible turn more barbaric. If the kid is sick and suffering from malnutrition, then their care giver is not providing. We’re trying to build a future here. We can’t do that if we lose all the children beyond our walls. Enough children died in this world. It’s time to make up for that and save a few.”

  George had his own questions. “So basically, say we come across a group of people of ten or fifteen and four are children. We speak to all the adults, interview them and we can possibly end up leaving there with only the four children? Is that correct? We will leave people behind?”

  “Absolutely,” Robbie answered. “I realize there is no such thing as a utopian society, but we’re doing pretty good here. We’ve worked hard to build this place and to make it flourish. We don’t want people in here who don’t want the same.”

  Joe interjected. “You work for what you get. You get what you work for. Everyone pulls their weight. Everyone.”

  William raised his hand and then stood. “I’ve had some psychology background and my medical experience has given me a lot of people experience as did Joe’s job. I think the screening process and containment process is a wonderful idea Robbie and Ellen have. We weed out the bad ones, pick the good ones, and train them all over again to be civil. As brought up before, if it doesn’t work, oh well. They go back out. They’ll be no worse off. But if they stay, they will be better off. That’s for sure.”

  Joe waded through the silence and took back over. “All right. We’ll start moving on this in a few weeks. We’ll start with a couple of survivors at a time. Robbie and Ellen can’t work with too many at first. So, I’d like, over the next few weeks, to find at least one survivor for them to practice on. Frank.”

  “Yeah.” Frank looked up from his sheet.

  “You turn away the people that seem to show up after rubbish day. Find me one who fits the criteria on the sheet and we’ll put him or her through the process.”

  “O.K.” Frank agreed. “What about the guy living beyond the back gate?”

  “What guy living beyond the back gate?” Joe asked.

  “Greg.” Frank stated as if everyone should have known. “He’s a nice guy. He’s clean, healthy, and he meets this criteria. We should let him in and practice on him. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”

  “Frank?” Joe walked near his son. “You’ve talked to him.”

  “Dad, he lives in a tent out there. I see him every day. Nice guy.”

  “How long has he lived out there?”

  Frank looked up to the ceiling in remembrance. “Two weeks. Yeah.”

  “Two weeks?” Joe was aghast. “A man camps out at our back gate for two weeks.”

  “He’s safe. I swear, Dad,” Frank stated, “or I would have gotten rid of him.” Frank nodded. “That’s for sure.”

  “Frank, you asshole.” Joe blasted. “If he’s so goddamn safe and nice, why didn’t you let him in?”

  “Because we didn’t have our survivor meeting yet. We’re having it now,” Frank defended. “So I’m bringing it up. I told him I would.”

  “Frank.” Joe tried to remain calm. “Did it occur to you to possibly bring it up sooner?”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t want you to yell. Since it’s brought up, can he come in? It’s still cold out there and I told him he’s not allowed to light a fire to stay warm.”

  “Frank,” Joe said his name.

  “Yes.”

  “Go get the man.”

  “O.K.” Frank stood up and walked from the Skills Room.

  Joe looked at the faces who stared at him, so puzzled. “Oh no, people.” Joe held up his hands. “I gave you all my genetic disclaimer about Frank when we first got here. I’m still not convinced he wasn’t switched at birth.”

  <><><><>

  With his eyes fixed on Greg who stood at the back gate holding his things, Frank spoke into his radio. “Back gate down, Robbie.” A soft humming occurred, followed by a clicking. After it stopped, Frank stepped forward. He reached for the keys and unlocked the back gate.

  Greg hesitantly stepped inside. “Wow, this feels weird.”r />
  Frank shut the gate and lifted his radio. “Perimeter up, Robbie.” He walked to Greg. “We’ll head over the grade. You understand the process I told you about.”

  “Yeah. I’m a guinea pig. No problem.” Greg smiled as he carried his stuff. “Frank, thanks a lot. I knew you’d pull through.”

  “I had to uh ...” Frank cleared his throat. “Pull some strings to get you in here early, but you can owe me.”

  “For sure.”

  “Beginnings,” Greg stated the name. “Is that what you call this place?”

  “Nah.” Frank shook his head as he walked with Greg. “We call this place home.”

  A Pause ...

  PRESENT DAY

  October 2 - Beginnings, Montana

  Henry and Dean nodded to each other with closed mouths as if they were posing for some Sears and Roebucks catalog. They were impressed as they listened to the harmonizing Slagel brother voices, complete with an echoing effect, courtesy of the tunnels they were in. The ‘ooh-wa’ didn’t sound bad and the title line ‘Why do Fools Fall in Love?’ was even better. They didn’t even expect the baritone raspy sound of Frank’s lead singing to be as good or as amusing as he sang the opening line to the song.

  “Why does Hal seem so gay?”

  Hal took the second line. “Because Frank taught him to be that way ...”

  And then the brothers who, not ten minutes earlier were at each other’s throats, were laughing.

  “Robbie!” Frank blasted out. “You stopped singing.”

  “My mouth hurts, Frank.” Robbie touched his swollen lip. “I feel like you when you get those cold sores.”

  “They are never cold sores, Robbie. I get infectious mouth decorations, but never cold sores.”