Dark Days (Book 1): Contagion

by Dyer, Marcy G.

  "Anything you say."

  "Good grief woman, ain't it enough that you grovel at this heifer's feet? Now you're agreeing to let the man take you to a dadgum store?"

  Josh walked forward and pushed the man back. "Randi told you to step off the bridge. If you want us to go in and discuss your joining us, then I suggest you do as asked. Otherwise, we'll keep standing here until I get sick of looking at you and remove you from the property. Permanently."

  Mel grabbed his wife by the arm and cursed her as he shoved her and the kids off the bridge. Randi pointed to the guard tower. "We have someone watching you from the tower. If you attempt to open the gate to make us vulnerable, he'll put a bullet through you. Do you understand?"

  Mel glared but nodded.

  "Good. Do not move from that spot."

  They raised the drawbridge and headed back inside. Miguel was exiting the guard tower as Randi walked through. "Miguel, gather everyone up. We need to have a meeting."

  "Everything okay?"

  She shook her head. "A family got past the outer gate."

  "How? I was on duty and watching."

  "Who's on duty, now?"

  "Mark."

  "I'll tell him to keep a close watch on the people outside." Josh disappeared into the guard tower.

  "Randi, you never answered me. How did they get inside?"

  "He refused to say. It may have been when you were making rounds."

  "I don't like this. It's time to have two people on duty. One can watch the front while one makes rounds."

  "You should bring that up in the meeting. I'm not going to have another yelling match with your sister."

  "She's yours, too."

  "Nope. She told me earlier she wants me dead. You can have her. I'm done." Randi turned on her heel and went to find her father.

  Everyone left what they were doing and joined around one of the fire pits where Josh stood. "A family breeched our outer gate today."

  "How?" Adriana glared at him. "Why wasn't Ranger Randi on duty making sure we're protected?"

  "Because I was." Miguel walked to her and leaned close until his face was mere inches from hers. "And you need to shut up. This meeting isn't about you and your attitude. If you cannot sit there and not say another word, then leave. Go sit inside the motor home, go to your tent, go for a walk, go for a swim. I don't care where you go, but I will not listen to you. Do you understand? I'm sick of your hateful, mean temper."

  "You don't understand."

  Miguel held up his hand. "No. We have something serious to discuss, and I don't have time to deal with you. Shut up or leave."

  Adriana crossed her arms and glared at him, but kept quiet.

  "How did this happen, Josh? I thought we were protected inside here," Randi's mother asked.

  "We're not sure. So far they've refused to tell us how they got past the gate. They're on the other side of the moat right now."

  "The woman has begged us to allow them in, but I'm very hesitant. Her husband pulled a gun on me, and Josh had to disarm him."

  "Desperation causes us to do things we wouldn't do under normal circumstances." Her father stood. "Is it just the man and woman?"

  "No, they have two kids with them." Josh stoked the fire and added another log.

  "Then I vote for allowing them in." Her father motioned to the three kids already in their group. "Children are the future. I vote to let them in on a provisional basis."

  All of the adults agreed except Josh and Randi. Miguel was hesitant, but in the end he sided with the others.

  "Wait. Aunt Randi and Josh don't think we should allow them inside." Toni stood. "Why don't we ever listen to them? I don't want those monsters inside here."

  Randi hugged Toni, but the others stayed quiet. "Instead of allowing them all the way inside, why don't we give them a fire pit, a tent, and food and allow them to stay in the outer area." Randi pointed to the perimeter. "At least until we know we can trust them."

  "I don't know. Inside here we can watch over them." Miguel shook his head. "In the perimeter, what's to say they won't open the gates or cut the fence?"

  "Besides, we should bring them into the compound, mija." Her father patted her shoulder. "It's the Christian thing to do."

  Randi gritted her teeth. Doing the Christian thing might be the death of them.

  *****

  Josh rubbed the back of his neck. Why did they even ask the family to vote? He should've booted them off the land. If it hadn't been for the children, he would've. "I don't like this one bit."

  "Me either." Randi touched his arm stopping him mid-stride. "What if we tell them the family voted against bringing them inside, but we'll take them to the hardware store in town?"

  "Mel will raise such a ruckus your dad will come to check out the noise and find out we've lied."

  "Fine, but Mel cannot have a weapon until he proves himself."

  "Agreed." Josh slid open the gates and lowered the drawbridge. Mel and family started toward them, but Josh held up his hand. "Wait a minute."

  "What is it now?" Mel asked.

  "The family voted to allow you to live with us on a provisional basis." Randi pointed at Mel. "You will not be armed at any time. No guns. No knives. No bows and arrows. Nothing. Not even a stick. Do you understand?"

  "So you don't want me to protect my family? What kind of bull—"

  "That's enough." Josh glared at him. "If you want to live within these walls, those are the terms."

  "What if I don't agree?"

  "Then you can leave." Randi motioned for them to turn around and leave.

  "Will you at least take us to that store?" The woman swiped at the tears making dirt trails on her face.

  "Yes. If you choose not to stay, I'll be happy to take you to the hardware store and provide you with food for a few days." Randi tugged on the hem of her tee shirt. "It's safe."

  Mel stepped forward and sneered. "What if I take over this compound? I'll kick your behinds to the stupid store and make way for my family."

  "Good luck," Miguel called from the fence line. He had an AR trained on the man's head. "One more step toward either Josh or Randi, and you're dead."

  "And if he misses, I won't," Mark called from the tower bridge.

  "Fine. We'll leave, but we ain't goin' to no stupid hardware store." Mel scoffed. "Once I gather my army, we'll come back and run you offa this here land."

  "No." Mel's wife's voice trembled. "We ain't going to run anyone off their land. Not when they offered to take us in. We can leave, but you ain't gonna hurt these people."

  "Woman!" Mel backhanded her. "Don't you back talk me none."

  "I've lived with your meanness for too long, but I ain't lettin' you hurt them."

  Mel's face turned red, and he grabbed his wife by the throat choking her. "Woman, you done mouthed off to me for the last time."

  Josh grabbed the man's arms and tried to pull him off the woman, but he clung to her throat until his fingers bit into the skin and left imprints. Randi tried to block the children's view, but the little girl screamed and tried to cover her brother's eyes while begging their father to let go.

  Josh unholstered his weapon. "Mel, let go, or I'll kill you."

  The woman's face turned purple, but he didn't budge.

  Randi grabbed the children and shooed them into the compound as Josh pulled the trigger.

  Why did that man make him shoot? Another soul to haunt his dreams.

  Randi raised an eyebrow. "You okay?"

  Josh nodded. "Where're the children?"

  "Miguel took them to Mom." She knelt next to the woman and felt for a pulse, and shook her head. "We don't even know her name."

  "I'll get the wagon and the four-wheeler so we can burn them."

  "Okay. While you're doing that, I'll let everyone know what happened. We need to do a perimeter search to figure out how they got inside."

  Josh pointed to the slices in the woman's arms and her shredded jeans. "Looks like Mel sent her over the fence
. Once inside she could've opened it with the keypad since we don't have it coded. All she had to do was press the open button."

  "Let's change the interior one so it's coded."

  "Is that difficult?"

  Randi shook her head. "A simple procedure. I can do it in a couple of minutes. We can also cut the power to it from the basement."

  *****

  While Josh retrieved the trailer to take the couple to the cremation pits, Randi found her father. He was in the smokehouse grinding meat.

  "Dad, the couple at the bridge aren't coming inside. Just the kids."

  "Why not, mija?"

  She swallowed over the lump in her throat. "The man threatened to find other survivors and take over the compound because Josh told him he couldn't be armed until we could trust him."

  "So he left and took his wife with him?"

  "His wife stood up to him. Probably the first time in her life, and he killed her. We couldn't get him off of her. Josh told him he'd shoot, but the man kept squeezing her throat." Her voice cracked. "They're both dead."

  "Is Josh okay?"

  "Mel, that's the man's name, didn't hurt either of us."

  "I don't mean that." Her father leaned against the table. "You know how hard it is to take a life."

  She blinked several times. "There are always parents, siblings, spouses, and in this case children. When you go to sleep at night their faces are always there haunting you."

  "That's why you don't sleep much, isn't it?"

  She hated it when her father cut to the heart of the matter. Why couldn't they continue to have a superficial relationship? When he intruded into her emotions, her resentment toward him threatened to rise to the surface in spite of how much she loved him. "I don't need much sleep."

  "No, you don't sleep much. There's a difference." Her father turned to the sink and washed his hands. "Mija, I know you're tortured by what you've had to do." He pulled her into his arms and whispered, "Baby, I wish I could take this from you. You don't deserve any of it."

  Pent up tears flowed soaking her father's shirt. She tried to pull out of his embrace to reign in her emotions, but he held her tight.

  "Randi, it's okay to cry. You don't have to be stoic and brave all the time. Once in a while you must allow the pain and anguish to have feet or it will destroy you from the inside."

  But Marines don’t cry.

  Chapter Thirty

  Randi and Josh loaded Mel and the woman onto the trailer, drove them to cremation pits, and put them inside. Josh poured gas over them and started the fire.

  They drove around the perimeter. "Do you think we should electrify the fence?" Randi pulled to a stop near the front gates. "What if Mel was a scout or something? The cocky way he said he'd gather enough people to take over the compound..."

  "Even worse, this woman was the second person to scale our fences and get inside the compound. The razor wire's not working. How hard is it to add electricity?"

  Randi punched in the codes to change the inner gate control. "Not sure. I always outsourced, but the fences are chain link, they should conduct the electricity, and we have plenty of solar and wind power. As long as the turbines, generators, or the battery banks don't fail, we should be okay. If we set up a power grid, we can set a charge on the entire fence." Randi shrugged. "I'm not an electrician, but we could figure it out."

  "Mark's degree is in electrical engineering. He was doing a residency at the Houston Space Center and hoped to hire on to NASA to the team designing the space shuttles."

  "I didn't know they had designers."

  Josh laughed. "I don't know exactly what he wanted to do, but I assumed it was something similar. Please don't tell him I don't have a clue."

  "Deal. Not sure how to keep the charge from frying our animals if they touch it, but Mark should know. We'll check the left-over supplies in the basement."

  "If not, we'll make a run and see what we can scavenge." Josh climbed back on the ATV. "You ready to check the rest of the fence line?"

  "Yep."

  They finished and drove back to the compound. Randi found Mark tanning another deer hide.

  "What are you going to do with all of the skins?"

  "I don't know." Mark scrubbed at the flesh on the underside of the skin with a large rock. "But I'll bet I can come up with something. When I was a kid I read a book on how to preserve animal hides, so I've been tanning and storing them. Your dad's helping. Who knows what we may need in the future."

  Did the kid remember everything he'd ever read? "Speaking of things we haven't needed in the past, I need your help."

  "Sure thing." Mark stood. "What can I do for you?"

  "We need to electrify the outer fence with enough charge to keep people from climbing it but not enough to kill any animals who happen touch it. Is that possible?"

  "Maybe. If we have the right supplies."

  "Come with me." Randi motioned for him to follow her. "We're going back to Dr. Barker's house to check supplies." They opened the hatch at the bridge and walked down the sloping tunnel to the basement, Randi pointed to the electrical components.

  Mark looked through them shaking his head. "No. This won't work."

  "Why not?" Randi frowned. “The fence is metal, so couldn't we attach electrodes or something to it?"

  "Not that easy." Mark tapped his chin with his index finger. "We need to build a wire array inside the fence that extends up and over the top. Probably beyond the razor wire."

  "Make a list, and I'll go on the hunt."

  He grabbed a notepad and pen from a table. "Surely places like Tractor Supply haven't been cleaned out yet."

  "Don't count on it. It's possible everything's been cleared out from everywhere around here. If we have to, I'll go into San Antonio."

  They made their way topside and found Josh in the anteroom grinding meat. Randi reached for Mark's list. "Your brother said my thoughts won't work on electrifying the entire fence. He wants to build an electric barrier, but we need supplies."

  "Sounds good."

  "Let's jet." Mark started toward the gate, but Randi stopped him.

  "Unh unh. If something happens, you'll still need to set up the electric perimeter. You're staying behind."

  "Agreed." Josh smiled. "However, this is the perfect opportunity to take Adriana on a run. She's doing well shooting, and it's past time for her to see the real world."

  "Not a good idea." Randi took a deep breath. "She'll be too focused on hating me to protect herself or to do us any good."

  "Then I'll take your dad or Jill. She trusts both of them."

  Lead thudded into Randi's gut. If her dad and sister went with Josh, she couldn't protect them. "I don't like it."

  Josh washed his hands and patted her shoulder. "I know, but it's time for the others to go outside. You can go with me when I take Candy or your mom on a run."

  "No." Randi jammed her hands on her hips. "You're not taking my mom. She's way too naïve."

  Josh held his hands up in a stopping motion. "Okay. One-step at a time. Let Xever and me take Adriana. Time for her to see what we've been dealing with."

  Randi ground her teeth together. Josh was right, but how could she let the three of them go out alone? Her dad could take care of himself, but Adriana would expect the men to protect her. How could they watch out for themselves if they were keeping track of her sister? As she watched Josh, her father, and her sister pull away from the compound, her gut clenched in a stranglehold. If she had her father's faith, she'd pray her bratty sister didn't get them all killed.

  *****

  Reginald, Mary Anne, and the girls walked back to their room passing people on the street. Others were laughing and chatting as though nothing was wrong in the world. They reached their prison, and Reginald paced the floor.

  "Honey, sit." Mary Anne patted the bed. "We've been through so much. It's best if we stay here."

  "We can't. Don't you understand?" Reginald jammed his hands through his hair. "Babe, this place is
messed up."

  "They've taken us in, provided us with a safe place to live, and given us food. Real food." Mary Anne swiped at the tears dripping off her face. "Atlas is the first place we've had any normalcy."

  Reginald leaned close and whispered, "We have a safe place. Much safer than this. It's stocked with food, animals, and it has electricity and running water. Please, Mary Anne. We have to go."

  "I don't care if we never go to your precious compound." She crossed her arms. "I'm tired of running, of being scared, of not being able to grieve."

  He stared at her. What could he do? He was responsible for this plague and for losing their son.

  "We need a break. If we keep running, we won't make it. Heaven forbid we lose another child."

  Pain skewered his heart. "Okay."

  "We can stay?"

  "For now." Reginald kissed her. "Promise me you'll come with me if this place isn't what it promises to be."

  "Okay, but you're overreacting because you've been through so much lately." She pushed his hair out of his eyes. "Don't go looking for trouble, Reg."

  "Sometimes we don't have to look." He touched her cheek. "I'm going for a walk since Vixen finally decided not to imprison us in our room." He walked out the door and headed down Main Street. The only street since the town walls encompassed both sides of the block for a mile or so. The dry grass in the yards and barren trees made the town look stark.

  Humidity hung in the cool air like an icy smothering blanket. Man how he missed the Colorado Mountains. In Silver Penny snow would've covered the town, but here, it was cool with thick, suffocating air. He strolled and tried his best to not appear in a hurry, but he wanted to check out the car depot. If he could get outside the gate and into the depot maybe he could find one with keys and give them a way out.

  He passed the green house and the ugly pink house on the left hand side of the street. Who in the world would paint their house pink? A couple of blocks from the park the scent of cooking bacon wafted on the air causing his mouth to water. Where in the devil did they get bacon? He followed the heavenly odor to the park. A woman stood by a fire pit with a skillet containing the sizzling slice of heaven. "Bacon?" He stared at the woman. "How is that possible?"