A Very Good Man

by P. S. Power

  That got a laugh too.

  Jake smiled, a lot of things were like that now. The guys had two thousand pounds of flour with them and gave them half of it, plus three hundred pounds of sugar. Old surplus, but still good. Vacuum sealed in drums. If they weren't from the government now, they would be soon, if they kept doing that.

  It was certainly a hit at the house. They also had chocolate bars. A lot of them. Hershey's. Somehow, with the help of the government getting them supplies and protecting the town, they'd managed to stay in production. It made for great PR and was kind of a sign that people could manage anything if they tried. The wrappers were brown paper and the quality sucked according to the Major, but chocolate was good for morale.

  “Westwood... You clearly got hit, not a lot of people left, but we didn't see a single zombie going through town and we looked. Even checked out some houses. How did that happen? Did the police...” He looked at Nate who made a face and shook his head hard.

  “No, we cleaned the town out, the police hid. Later after their own people started turning they rounded up undead and even their own personnel and steered them at us. We haven't lost anyone from those since the first attack, they got two of us then. Bitten. We had to, um, make sure they didn't come back. We didn't know if a bite would make more of those, you called them type Bs?”

  That started a talk about tactics, led by Vickie, though the other cleaning team leaders chimed in. Jake didn't. They had it right and didn't need an extra voice to help them explain basic things. Besides, he wasn't happy right now.

  Maybe it wasn't fair that he thought at least some woman should sleep with him, but they didn't need to all come and try to tear him down about not wanting him later did they? Did they think he didn't have feelings or something? Probably. Was he being a sulky little pain in the ass? Also that one.

  The conversation had taken a turn, so he listened a bit harder, the Major spoke excitedly.

  “Can you teach other people to do that? We, well the tactics don't sound hard, but we basically don't do insertions into a house unless we have a solid crew of twelve with us. You use teams of four? And draw them out with screams? Freaking brilliant. We always go in silent. So many early groups just died or turned doing that we stopped and with the military compromised as we are, we can't risk it. Some places are still incredibly bad. This is the best I've seen and the only place that we've even heard of getting crops in for the winter like this. You must all be very proud of what you've accomplished here.”

  From the far side of the room a soft voice spoke, a woman. Jake didn't look over.

  “So, every place is like this?” Yvonne from the kitchen, Jake realized, his head swiveling then. She looked a bit less angry now than she had for a while. It threw him off. She looked... better, nearly happy somehow.

  “No ma'am. This is much better than most situations. Really, this is a bit like rolling into the Garden of Eden by accident. One of the largest groups we've seen this close to a city and most of the really big ones that aren't military are old survivalist groups and militias that have been stockpiling things for years. Half of those... Well, the young lady there?” He pointed to Heather.

  “She wasn't wrong about cannibalism. Most of the big cities are filled with them. Some of the small. It isn't good. Something happens to people, some of them, when they go full on psycho-cannibal. If they come here, kill them all. Don't try to talk them out of it, or bother trying to give them food. Waste of time.” The man ate as he spoke, clearly appreciating Lois's efforts, regardless of the subject matter.

  “Most of the camps treat women as slaves, raping them publicly and torturing the ones that try to run away. Except the big one in Oregon, which is run by women and is just as bad, if in different ways.”

  Jake had finished and didn't want to be rude, but didn't want to sit all day chatting when he could be doing something useful either. It wasn't like he was needed for the secret, or in this case, not so delicately hidden, meeting. Everyone else could do that without him, no problem.

  He stood slowly and carried his bowl and little plate away along with the cup he had for water. A few people followed him and before he got all the way to the charcoal burn most of them came outside along with the military men. Sammi walked over and stood by Jake, making a casual but definite gesture with her head. Her uncle moving toward them at a slow amble, he looked older, about Jake's age even, maybe. In this light he suddenly looked slightly Asian, like Sammi. His face hadn't changed, he was just clearly of a different race. When he looked a little closer Jake got the family resemblance. Sammi had paler skin, a little, but her eyes looked Asian too. Without speaking she took his hand. Jake's, to his surprise, and walked away, the other man followed without saying a word.

  He got the need for conversation, and even privacy for it for these two, but not what he had to do with it. Jake didn't care overly, except that these people could be creepy, all shining eyes and living so long. And that licking thing. Bleck.

  When they were alone, back in the woods, Sammi smiled and gave the new man a hug.

  “Robert! I didn't think you'd be by. What's the word?”

  The man looked at Jake and shrugged, speaking freely enough.

  “Everyone's fine, you know that we don't seem affected? No one knows where this came from, not our people or any of the other groups. This hit out of the blue. I um, hooked up with the Major in Nebraska. He doesn't know.” There were no significant looks, but it was so clearly a code or personal short hand that Jake nearly made a face. Robert didn't, he looked totally bland. Not blank, just relaxed and unconcerned.

  The girl did the same.

  “No one here knows much, except Jake. I haven't told him everything, but I've decided to, when he wants to know. So far he hasn't asked. Kind of refreshing really. So speak freely around him. Most here are unique in some way. Everyone is hiding it if they know though. Two Vals, so they know some of what's going on, but not about me or... Jake, I don't think. How they've missed it I don't know. I'll have to mock them both on that score later. The leader's a sub-p level Teep, at the very least, and the girl that came and spoke about cannibals is a needs based pre-cog. Decent at it too, full immersion I believe, so very high level detail. Almost all the talents here are stress triggered, but this prolonged situation has probably made them permanent. They may even breed true, if anyone lives that long.” She shook her head.

  “Some norms still, but the attrition rate there is pretty high, had a coup attempt a few weeks back and all the conspirators died. Too stupid to realize how good they had it. Got mad because they had to actually work to survive, if you can believe it. Darian would have had most of them shot the first week. We had an Inc too, caused all kinds of trouble and left a large chunk of the women pregnant. Addicted most of the females here possibly including one of the Vals, so tell me how messed up that is? I wouldn't have thought they could be addicted to anything. They're tough, but blending here, mainly because a lot of people are exceptional, so the others can't see how special they really are. They hide it too. It's leading to a very negative social situation here, all the hiding. I can't tell most of them about what happened with the Inc. They aren't ready to hear it yet.”

  Jake shook his head.

  “Yeah it is. Messed up I mean. Not that I had great luck with women before, but you'd think given everything... Well, I know boo-hoo, I can't get a girl, what else is new, right? Sorry Robert you don't need to hear this. I'll shut up now.” He did, which made Sammi smile.

  Robert looked at him for a lot longer than was comfortable and finally turned to the girl again.

  “What's Jake then?”

  She shrugged.

  “A very good man.” She said simply, with a grin on her face.

  Then Robert laughed, softly but for a long time. After a bit he tilted his head at the girl and stopped.

  “ Wait... Seriously? That's... you're certain? And he's their silencer? The enforcer too, if I have that right? A Very Good Man?” There was s
ignificance to the words then.

  “Yes.” She said simply, waiting for the man to speak.

  “As in The?” Was all he said, he had a smile on his face though.

  The girl shrugged for a second, then got a very serious look.

  “I wouldn't bet the farm on it yet, but... Yes, I think so. I really do.”

  They both laughed. Quietly, but hard. Tears coming to their eyes after a bit. Whatever the joke was he didn't get it, so he waited for them to finish. It didn't matter, not really, he knew what he was now. What he had to be.

  Jake, trying to make it through the day.

  Sometimes Jake planning for the future.

  Nothing else mattered, did it? After nearly a minute, liquid still coming out of both of their eyes Robert patted him on the arm. He didn't like the contact, but didn't let himself tense up. That would be rude and this was his friend's family, right? Jake didn't want to embarrass her with poor behavior.

  “Sorry Jake, it's an old... family joke. It's in a different language originally, but the idea is that you'd have to wait for the end of the world to find a very good man. And when you do, you'd best be careful, because things are about to get really serious. And look, here you are, right on schedule. It's not funny really.”

  They talked of other things then, mainly about what Sammi had planned. Robert, who was her “uncle” in name only, offered to get her to the lake, a secret retreat, but the girl shook her head and opted to stay. Firmly.

  “This is a special place. I think they might need me though. Not as much as Jake, but enough. I don't know, not for certain, but this may be a crux point. I wish we had a comtrice here, then I'd know for sure, but I can't take that chance, can I?”

  Robert nodded slowly, “Alright. I'll get word to your people. Do you need anything?”

  The girl tilted her head and then nodded after a few seconds, “Bullets or the means to make them. Lots of them. Before winter sets in. We had to set the cleaners up, but they burned through a lot of rounds. The cannibals are coming I hear and if they're windigo...” She shrugged and gave a soft smile.

  The military man nodded at her again.

  “In places it's that bad. Dozens or hundreds in loose gangs. If this really is a crux then they'll probably be by for a meal later.” He looked at Jake and explained after searching his eyes for some reason.

  “I don't know if you're getting everything we've said, but this part you should know if you're the very good man at the end of the world, and it won't hurt even if you end up just being some random guy either. Some people that go cannibal under extreme stress really lose it. They're still smart, they can speak, are even clever and crafty, but all social meaning is gone for them. This kind of opens up...” He looked at Sammi who took over then, the real explanation probably being too complex for Jake or something he figured.

  The blond girl shrugged.

  “It means they won't hold anything back anymore. Think “crazy strength” but all the time. It's not a super-power or anything, but that plus weapons means that they're a lot more dangerous than zombies, or even a good raiding group. They almost literally can't play by any rules at all anymore, which makes large groups of them very interesting... So we need to be ready.”

  That made Jake think for a second, then he nodded at the other two and spoke softly.

  “They're just people though, a head shot will kill them?”

  The military man smiled, “Oh yes, that will do the trick. Very few things can survive that. Say, in case I don't get a chance to talk to you alone later... Take care of Sammi for me will you? It will make her parents feel better, knowing a very good man is looking out for her.” This time he didn't laugh at the use of the phrase. He just stared at Jake for a few moments and tilted his head, then shook it slowly.

  “Well, I hope it's not the case, but...”

  Then without saying anything more, both of them started walking back toward the house quickly as if on some hidden signal. Then they started running, Jake didn't hesitate and had his sidearm in hand as they broke through the edge of the woods, ready to take aim if a target presented itself.

  Two people fought rolling on the ground, silently, thank goodness, except for the sounds of the blows and occasional soft grunts. They were all the way in front of the back porch, one of the tan clothed military men and a smaller form that appeared to be kicking his ass.

  Handily to tell the truth. A smaller, much darker form. Ken. No one got in the way, the military guys starting to gather around, and the cleaners holding weapons on them. It was Sammi that ended it, rather rapidly.

  She walked up and put her hand out, which Ken took suddenly and then grabbed the girl into a hug. The man on the ground looked kind of bad, bleeding and battered, but he stood and rubbed his jaw gamely enough, sucking on his lower lip a little, a spot of blood there. He didn't even seem overly upset.

  “Damn. I didn't mean anything by it, sorry man. Just a poor joke. I apologize. Ouch.” He signaled the Major that he was OK and walked off, still rubbing parts of his body covertly.

  Robert shook his head, “Berserker? Do you people keep a mermaid in a tub in the basement too?”

  Jake shrugged.

  “I... don't know. Probably not. We use that area for food storage. I wonder what that was about? He's a pretty solid kid. Not prone to starting trouble.” He walked over to Sammi, Robert followed, but held back, not wanting to move that close to a possible attack.

  “Ken?” Jake said softly. “Do we need to take these guys out or what?”

  The boy looked up and shook his head, a firm thing, his eyes a deep red brown, bloodshot in the whites to a nearly solid pink. The kid smelled hot still, his chest fluttered for some reason, like his heart was trying to rip free. Ken didn't speak, but he made himself clear enough, he was so angry he'd kill them himself if need be. No extra help needed. Why that happened to be Jake just couldn't tell.

  No one said much for a while and Jake had work to do, somewhere. Maybe splitting firewood so that they wouldn't have to do it in the snow later? They had to cut rounds too, which was the harder task. That would be the one to pick then, if he could find someone to help.

  There was a log loaded on the cross beam braces, which looked a lot like an “X” made of logs lashed together with rope, there were three of them and the pit was a little in front of the last one. Jake hadn't been around a lot but it didn't seem like anyone had been working on making the cuts for a while. Probably over a month. The two person saw stuck out of the wood and was quite frozen in place. Someone had just left the nearly priceless tool outside, letting it rust for weeks or longer. Worse, two men or given the nature of the demographics at the house, possibly two women, had done it, but the fact was a lot of people could be lazy and stupid and gender didn't play a role.

  He had to get a hammer to break it free, which got Burt to come over to see what was going on, he winced when he saw the black and red metal with fresh pits and slight scoring marks in places from the hammer. It didn't move at first, but with enough force it finally did. Burt, shaking his head and looking disgusted, walked away and came back a few minutes later with some steel wool, a flat course stone and an old t-shirt cut to scrap. He also had a bottle of mineral oil with him.

  “I'd seen this a few weeks ago but got sidetracked and forgot. I think it actually got stuck rather than someone being truly negligent or trying to destroy it. Here though, try the stone with some of the oil first, then the steel wool and get all the rust off you can. We need to clean and oil it every time it's used from now on, or it might just rust through completely.” The items got handed to him and Burt walked away, a purposeful stride that looked to have a mission attached. It probably did. The man was good that way.

  Jake scrubbed for nearly two hours on the thing before realizing it would take continued work over time to really fix. Oiling it again he looked around, saw one of the men he recognized from the charcoal crew and waved him over.

  “Want to help? We need to get as
much of the firewood prepped for winter as possible, rounds first, because I don't want to do this in knee deep snow. Probably a wimp like that, you know?” He tried to smile, feeling surly or not.

  The guy, who went by Samuel, since there used to be another Sam at the house, decided to give it a try. He didn't seem all that enthused about it, which Jake couldn't blame him for, but he kept going, that was the important part. After the first cut the man went to get some gloves, but jogged the distance to the shed and didn't stop. They didn't quit, except to move the log into place for the next cut over and over again until it was done, then they got another and kept going until dinner, the man had blisters under his gloves, but Jake realized he didn't. His hands were sore, but not too red even, the thick skin having protected him. When they finished, before washing up Jake cleaned the saw, scrubbing it with a little oil and the stone again to get sticky or gummy bits of wood free, then oiled the whole thing before putting it back in the shop.