Fred looked at George, who raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "Binky, you and Joan go with Pierre and Marceau."
Marceau stared at George and shook her head violently, eyes wide.
George said, "Binky, you travel with Bugs. Simca go with Iris and Little John. Zack and Joan, go with Marceau and Pierre. We'll rearrange a few things to make room. We can put some boxes into the White Warriors."
Fred looked at Binky and said, "Why are you on this road, anyway? I thought you were on your way to the Gulf Coast."
Without batting an eye, Binky said, "This is the road to the coast."
"To the California coast. This road goes west."
"No, it doesn't."
"Yes it does. You're lost again. I thought you could read a compass."
"The batteries went bad. Always happens with those things. Bloody batteries."
Fred glanced over at Simca and shook his head. He took her by the hand and led her fifty feet away, behind the semi. "What's going on here?"
"Hey, he does amazing things. We give him his head. Something interesting usually happens."
"Blowing an engine because he destroyed the oil pan is not interesting. John will want Binky's head on a plaque on the wall when he finds out."
"This one may not have worked out, but they usually do."
"May not, you say? You're joking." He half-laughed while exhaling a puff of air. "And what about his language. I've wanted to ask about that from the beginning. I've been to Britain, and I never heard anybody say things like 'what ho' and 'righto' and 'old man'. Only in movies."
"No, of course not. From what he's told me, when he grew up, his nanny was a television set. His mother died in childbirth. His father didn't have much to do with him. He watched old movies all the time. He did not become what you might call socialized." From the tone in her voice, Fred could tell she was defensive and apologetic at the same time.
"I suppose that explains it."
Fred and Simca walked back to where Binky was talking to George.
Fred said, "If you guys are interested in going to the Gulf Coast, we can drop you off where we turn north. That road will take you directly south to the coast. If you decide to stay with us, then everyone will be required to work. Cutting wood, plowing the ground, planting seeds. Just thought you should know."
Binky straightened up and said, "Dukes do not do manual labor. It's just not done. No sir. Not done."
Simca said to Binky, "Don't worry. I'll talk to John."
Chung said, "John told me the same thing. When we went boar hunting. Everybody has to work. No slackers allowed. Not enough people. Too much work. Life has become difficult."
"Me, too," said George. "Not the boar part, but the other. We all work. We can't support a royalty class."
"Binky has other talents," said Simca. "You all know that."
"Yes," said George, "And I'm sure you do, too, but that goes for all of us. Fred was in the military and takes care of security. I do mechanical and electrical. Pierre is medical. Marceau and Iris do cooking and gardening. Masako backs up John in planning and Fred in security. We all perform specific jobs and we all do manual labor when we aren't doing our main job."
"Binky found all those bullets. You'd be in trouble without them."
Fred was getting nervous, being out in the open with a convoy and frustrated with this group. "George built the gasifier, the cars and the solar panels. We'd be in trouble without them. You can say the same thing about all of us. I built the greenhouse. You will all be required to work, if you continue with us. And, there will be plenty of work setting up a new site. We thought you should know. So you can make the right decisions, before your boat is too far away."
"Schooner."
"Whatever," Fred said, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes. He whispered to George, "If John or Marceau doesn't kill him, I will."
"Get in line, good bud. Being weird we can tolerate. Being weird and lucky could be good. But, being weird and stupid is somethin' we can't handle. We could never fix that car after what he did to it."
Two hours later, the convoy came to a stop as several trees had fallen across the highway. Fred radioed to George. "Hey man, this could be an ambush. What do you think?"
"If it was an ambush, wouldn't we see signs of an ambush? Old cars. Rusted out cars."
"That's why it's an ambush. A good ambush shows no signs it's an ambush. I can't see anything unusual. You hang back for a few minutes until I figure it out."
"Ten-four."
Fred dismounted from the truck and walked over to the giant trees blocking the road. The roots were intact at the base of the tree, but sticking up into the air.
"What about it, Fred?" said Simca, walking up.
"It looks natural. Uprooted. Maybe high winds. Nobody has been doing maintenance for six months." Fred pulled out his radio and pushed the button. "Hey, George. Come up and take a look at this."
As George walked up, Fred said, "What do you say?"
"We could break out the chain saws and cut a path. That would tell anyone who came by that someone had passed through here. Or, we could go back to the last interchange and drive on the east bound lanes to the next intersection. That would be less work and nobody would know we've been here."
"Sounds better." Before going back to their trucks, Fred said to George, "You know that John is going to throw a fit when he finds out that Binky tried to drive over a wall in that SUV. Next time, we'll have to find him a tank."
"I'm thinking there won't be a next time. You saw his reaction to having to work."
"True. Maybe when they go back to England, the Queen will make a place for him in her entourage."
At the intersection of Interstate Highways Forty and Sixty-Five, the convoy stopped. Binky and the others retrieved their bicycles and their belongings and made ready to leave. The thought of doing manual labor was more than Binky could handle. The thought of Binky being upset was more than Simca could handle. Any thought was more than Zack could handle and Joan just smiled.
After Simca, Zack and Joan pedaled off, Binky pedaled over to George and Fred. "Good job, George. It runs better than ever."
"Thanks."
Fred extended his hand and said, "It's been a pleasure, Your Grace."
"Yes," said George, putting his hand on Binky's shoulder. "An interesting experience."
"I was hoping to see John again, but he wasn't around when we left the lodge and he's not here now."
"He stayed at the cave. Doin' some explorin', I suppose. Would you like us to deliver a message to John for you?"
"Yes, please."
"Of course," said Fred.
"Tell him that father would be proud of him. He was always proud of John. I am, too, of course. I probably won't be back, unless he gets himself into trouble again. Cheers."
Binky pedaled off as Fred and George just stared. Finally, as Binky disappeared into the distance, George said, "Are you going to tell John?"
"I don't think so. Maybe we could have something like a tontine. The last one alive tells John."
"Deal."
* * *
As the group was unloading their goods into the building at the entrance to the cave, an old man with a walking stick ambled up the road.
"George. Go talk to him."
"Me! Why me, John? You always do the meet and greet. You're immune to the virus."
"I don't think the virus is a problem any longer. Trust me," John said, giving George a push on the shoulder.
George walked over to the old man.
"Howdy, I'm Abe. Live just over the hill a few miles. You with that John feller?"
"Yep. He's over there. You want to talk to him?"
"Nope, just came over to see how you young'uns was doin'. Bein' neighborly. You might say I'm bein' nosy. Always have been. Can't change now. Too late. Don't want to, really. Don't see no reason."
"How'd you know we're here?"
"I talked to that other guy, John, a day or so ago. He said he'd
be movin' in."
"Yeah, but how'd you know we're movin' in, right now?"
"How'd I know? Son, everybody knows. Why, you folks is makin' more noise with those big trucks than a passel of crows at a corn festival. You couldn't just back the thing in. You been horsing around for hours. Everybody in five miles knows you're here. Not just me. They'll all be out in the woods watchin'. You know how people's curious."
"Well, if you see anybody, anybody we can trust, tell them to drop by. We made some homemade wine that's not too bad."
"I wouldn't mind some of that, myself."
They ambled up to the building where everyone was carrying in boxes and Marceau found a box with some glasses and another box with some wine.
"Purty little filly, ain't she?" Abe said, as Marceau poured the wine, smiling at Abe. "Don't know if I can pronounce that name. Mind if I just call ya Marcie?"
"You may call me as you wish. Just don't be late to dinner."
"She cooks as good as she looks, too," said George, smiling. "Marceau, I believe you're going to have a visitor from time to time."
"Don't mind if I do," said Abe, raising his glass. "To a new world."
Chapter 81 - Epilog
Two months after the move, everyone's living quarters had been setup. Marceau and Pierre decided on a separate house, half a mile from the cave, as Pierre had found several other patients outside the group. The others decided to live in the welcome center at the entrance to the cave or in a tent in the cave. One cold, clear night, a few days before Christmas, the group was bundled up and sitting outside drinking wine and watching the sunset and then the stars.
As the last of the red had left the sky, John stood up and said. "I propose a toast. To us. It took us only two months to establish our new home. I thank everyone for their tireless efforts and especially Fred and Chung for making two more trips back to the lodge to pick up the remainder of our belongings."
Everybody stood up, clinked glasses and nodded to each other or shook hands. Iris hugged Fred and Chung. George looked at her and then at John. John shook his head and mouthed, "No way."
John tapped his glass against a wine bottle to get everyone's attention. "You all have been asking what I think the future will hold. I've been thinking about it and here is my prediction. First, within six months, the government will produce a workable vaccine. Before then, much of the armed forces will be forced to leave their bunkers and ships because they've run out of food and most of them will die."
Several of the people let out a sigh.
Masako said, "How sad."
Marceau said, "Mon Dieu, I wish it were not so."
John refilled his glass and continued. "Second, within a year, somebody from the government will return with their census and inventory forms. Before that occurs, we will all develop false identities and produce false documentation. Because the size of the government will be much less, the taxes will be much less than we've been thinking and we'll be able to handle it. Also, the taxes will be less because we've hidden most of our goods far back into the cave."
"Sounds good. Now, I'll make a prediction," said Fred. "I predict that George becomes the Thomas Edison and Henry Ford of our New World. I predict he will become rich, move back to Texas and I will go to live in an apartment above his garage."
George looked at John, shook his head and mouthed, "No way."
"My turn," said George. "I predict that John and Masako, Little John and Bugs will ultimately end up back at the lodge, raising pigs and rabbits and selling meat to the government."
Bugs looked at George and mouthed, "No way."
"Now me," said Masako. "I predict that Marceau will open a restaurant and we will all have to begin paying for all the great food we've been eating for free up to now."
Marceau replied, "No way. You all will always eat free."
Masako continued, "I also predict that Chung will marry Abe's granddaughter, Anna. She follows him around like a little puppy dog, looking pie-eyed all the time these last few months. I've seen them sneaking off into the forest several times, already."
"Come on guys, she's too young." Chung looked at John and mouthed "No way."
By this time, Iris had finished a bottle of wine and started clinking her glass. "Now me. Now me. I have a good one. I predict that John will sometime find out what Binky told Fred and George and will learn that Binky was a genius, was not crazy and was really a great actor."
George turned to Iris and slapped her on the rear. "You weren't supposed to tell him that. Not until Fred or I had died."
"Oh. Oops."
John straightened up, looked at Iris, then Fred, then George. They all nodded.
Fred said, "He also said that your stepfather and he were proud of you."
George said, "And he won't be coming back unless you need help."
"Unless you need help, again," Iris added.
"What! I don't believe it! You guys are putting me on." John dropped his glass to the floor, It broke into a thousand pieces with shards flying everywhere. He looked up at the sky and. yelled, "No way!"
The End of The Weak Shall Die: The Complete Collection
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Other Books by Taylor Michaels Publishing
~~~
Murder Mysteries by Sabena Stone
www.sabenastone.blogspot.com
Murder by the Clock
Murder in Emerald Hills
Murder by Lion
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Murder One Too Many
Murder Along the Blue Ridge
Murder Among Friends
Murder Haunts Myrtle Beach
The Weak Shall Die: Complete Collection (Four Volume Set) Page 82
