“Last night, you said you wanted to be like me and Ian. I loaded the stuff on here to learn and you will need to be devoted to learning it,” Lance said, and Denny’s grin grew wide as he took the laptop bag.
“I will learn it,” he vowed.
Looking over at Heath, “If he doesn’t treat the weapon with respect, I want to know immediately,” Lance said.
“I have your phone number,” Heath laughed.
“Allie, Carrie, start on both. Ian and I had better be impressed,” Lance barked, walking past them. “The rest of their gear is in the back.”
Moving to the UTV, Allie grabbed a vest for Denny and Carrie grabbed one for Jodi. “Where is the electrical box for the house?” Lance asked, walking to the garage.
“Right in the garage,” Heath replied, turning to follow.
Allie and Carrie gave Denny and Jodi the vests and pulled them to the front porch. Lori watched them walk away and gave a remorseful sigh. “Lori,” Jennifer said, walking over. “Your AR and vest are in my ride. We are giving them to you, but the same rules apply. Lance didn’t give it to you because you aren’t a little girl or a man,” Jennifer said the last word with disdain.
“But I assure you, he or Ian will come down on you, if you don’t treat it with respect,” Jennifer told her.
Lori’s face perked up and she hugged Jennifer. “Thank you,” Lori said.
Waving at her UTV, “It’s in the back with your vest, go and let the ladybugs start. All of you will have to show basic knowledge of your weapon before we leave,” Jennifer told Lori as she hugged Lilly.
“I will, I swear,” Lori said, running to Jennifer’s UTV and grabbing her stuff, then joined Denny and Jodi sitting at an outside table while the ladybugs demonstrated how to take their ARs apart.
Moving from under Dwain’s arm, “Jennifer,” Kathy said, moving closer. “Jodi is seven years old.”
“So?” Jennifer huffed. “The ladybugs are eight and they patrol with us.”
Kathy just looked at Jennifer, then Jennifer walked off. Dwain moved beside his wife, “Babe, I’m with Lance. Everyone needs to know how to fight,” Dwain said.
“He could’ve asked us first,” Kathy said.
“To be honest, I don’t think Lance ‘asks’ much of anything. He just does it himself,” Dwain told her.
“Yep,” Lilly sang out, turning to walk to the garage with the others. “And I can tell you now. To date, he’s never been wrong and has saved my life. And just to let you know, Lance and Ian have saved all of your lives many times over, so remember that.”
In the garage, Lance opened the electrical panels and stepped back. “Holy shit!” he said, looking at the two boxes full of breakers.
“You can’t do it?” Heath asked, getting worried.
“No,” Lance said, waving a hand at the boxes. “This house had more power running to it than NASA.”
Heath turned to Ian and Ian shrugged. “Electricity is his thing, not mine,” Ian said, looking around.
“So, you can do it?” Heath asked, turning to Lance.
“Yeah, but we are going to have to shut a lot of stuff off,” Lance said, looking at the labels for the breakers. “Like the driveway heating system and stuff.”
Sighing with relief, “We just want a few lights and a refrigerator,” Heath said.
“Bullshit,” Lance snapped, making Heath jump back. “While I’m here, you’re turning on the damn air conditioner.”
Stumbling into Heath, “Really?” Robin gasped, gripping her husband’s arm.
“Yeah, it’s hotter than two rats fucking in a wool sock,” Lance grumbled, unbuckling his helmet and taking it off. Reaching to the back of his head, Lance unbuckled the face mask and pulled it off his sweat-covered face. “I’m fucking melting.”
“First you talk about kittens, then you start bitching about melting?!” Ian shouted, walking out of the garage. “You better man the fuck up!”
Pushing his mask into his helmet, Lance turned to watch Ian head to the trailers. “Keep on, bitch, and I’ll tape your pussy shut!” Lance popped off. Walking over to the deep freezer, Lance saw it was open and looked inside, smelling bleach.
“We’ve been cleaning,” Robin said, studying Lance’s face for the first time as Lance pulled his ponytail out of his collar.
“Doing a good job,” Lance admitted, closing the freezer and putting his helmet on it. Taking his M4 off, Lance set it on the freezer. Bending down and unbuckling his drop platforms, Lance pulled his tactical vest off before laying it neatly on the lid.
“What are you doing?” Lilly asked, walking over as Lance pulled his 3D jacket off to put it on the freezer.
“I don’t like working with electricity and feeling weighted down if I can help it,” Lance replied, taking off the long john bite top. Looking at his compression shirt, Lance saw it was soaked. “I just put this fucker on and it looks like I went swimming.”
Looking at Lance’s ripped, sweat-glistening chest after he pulled the compression shirt off, Lilly barely nodded. “Yeah, it’s hot,” she muttered.
Heath and Robin looked at Lance’s upper body in shock, and more than a little envy. “Um, what do you need?” Heath asked.
“Guide Lilly as she backs in, but Lilly is my assistant,” Lance told him, wiping the sweat off his chest with his gloved hands. Unable to help it, Lilly reached over to help, but was doing more feeling than wiping. Looking up at Lilly with a smile, “Thank you,” Lance beamed.
“Any time, sweetness,” Lilly sighed, dropping her hand off his abs.
Lifting his head, Lance saw Lilly staring at his abs. “Can you back that battery in?” he asked.
“Oh,” Lilly said, then peeled her eyes off his abs. “All right,” she groaned, walking out.
Turning to Heath and Robin, “That battery will take all of us to move and when it’s down, don’t call me to move it again. Ever. I’m tired of moving the damn thing,” Lance huffed, walking over to the electrical panels. “Ian almost spilled acid on my ass, so I don’t like this battery.”
“How long for it to charge?” Heath asked while Robin stared at Lance’s flared out lats on his back, thinking Lance should be able to glide.
When Lance turned around, Robin jerked her eyes away and looked elsewhere, trying not to blush. “You think I would bring it over uncharged?” Lance asked, and Heath shrugged.
They turned around and saw Jennifer moving her UTV and trailer with the dish while Lilly turned around in the yard. “Your goats need to work overtime to get this yard under control,” Lance said as Lilly started backing up.
“Ten goats can’t knock this yard down,” Heath said.
Watching Lilly back up, “Get more, then eat their asses,” Lance told him. “We don’t have time to mow right now, but to be honest, you’re going to have to at least once, just so you can make sure nothing is sneaking in.”
“We can see people with the security cameras,” Heath declared proudly.
“Heath,” Lance said, impressed when Lilly backed up with no help. “We have two tigers that have taken up residence, and Ian and I have seen a pack of dogs that was over a hundred at least. There is so much shit trying to kill us, we should ask them to take a number and stand the fuck in line.”
Robin looked up at Heath in shock. “Maybe it was his tigers who took the goats?”
“When?” Lance asked, holding up his hand for Lilly to stop.
“Four days ago, something took one and killed another,” Robin answered, and Lance shook his head.
“The last time our pussies have been outside the barrier fence was a week ago,” Lance said as Lilly turned off the UTV. “Might have been a mountain lion.”
“Mountain lions don’t get that big,” Heath said.
“You saw it?” Lance asked, moving to the trailer and unstrapping the battery.
“Dwain did, but it was dark. All he said was it was huge. But I saw the tracks and it wasn’t a mountain lion,” Heath told him with confidence.
<
br /> Dropping the straps on the trailer, “I’m tired of big pussy,” Lance moaned, and Heath busted out laughing. Lance turned to him, “Oh, yeah, laugh, but wait until you’re on patrol and not one but two Siberian tigers look at you like a snack.”
“I know it’s not funny, it’s just the way you said it,” Heath chuckled, trying to stop laughing.
“Wait till you hear Ian,” Lance grunted, walking to the back of the UTV and unhooking the trailer. “Get your guys and let’s get the suck over.”
With boards under the battery, everyone tugged on the ropes as Lance and Ian pushed the battery from the trailer. When the battery neared the back, the trailer tilted off the hitch and the back slammed down. Those pulling stopped when the battery started sliding down the trailer to the floor.
“Fucking pull, it’s moving!” Lance yelled, and they tugged on the ropes and the battery picked up speed, sliding off the trailer and onto the floor. With the weight gone, the trailer slammed back down.
“Jennifer says stop making so much noise,” Lilly told everyone. “She’s gunning down a lot of stinkers.”
Ian started stripping his gear off, starting with his helmet and mask. Feeling Lance looking at the side of his face, “Brah, she’s on guard and she has the ball. You fuck with her now, and I’m not pulling her off your ass,” Ian said, unbuckling his drop platforms. “Trust me. She beat three stinkers to death with a bat when we laid that commo wire.”
When Ian was ready, everyone pushed the battery closer to the wall. “That’s good,” Lance breathed out. He walked to the back of the UTV and grabbed his tool belt. “Lilly, cover the yard.”
Nodding, Lilly moved out and Lance turned to Ian. “You need me to set up the parabolic?”
“No, I’ll set it up, but I’m not hooking it up,” Ian informed him.
“Make sure to keep the dish pointed away from the sun,” Lance said, buckling his tool belt. “I don’t like hooking up more live wires than I have to.”
“Brah,” Ian said, walking out. “The Sterling engine is already turning with the dish laying in the trailer.” Walking over to the electrical panels, Lance went to work while the others left with Ian.
Hearing Jennifer’s suppressed shots, Lilly turned and saw stinkers falling on the road as Jennifer shot through the bars of the gate. Turning back and glad her mask was off, she watched Ian with the others, helping move the dish out.
Watching Dwain and Heath around Lance and Ian, Lilly was amazed they viewed and talked to the boys like respected adults. And anyone could see they were afraid of them. Even Grady looked at Ian and Lance in fear, but Grady didn’t look at them with respect.
Denny, who was only a year younger than them, talked to Lance and Ian like adults. Turning to the porch, Lilly saw the ladybugs still working with Jodi, Denny, and Lori. Denny looked like most tween boys; childish face, tall, lanky body, uncoordinated, and a youthful look at life.
None of those things applied to Ian or Lance. Lilly had known guys much older than them who’d acted younger. “Yeah, had I known Lance before this, I would’ve waited on his ass,” Lilly confessed to herself.
When they stood up the dish, Ian grabbed the massive two-handed drill and Lilly pulled the hybrid over and turned on the engine. “Where did you get those?” Dwain asked when Ian held up a three-foot-long, one-inch-thick screw.
“Made ‘em,” Ian shrugged, then drove the screw into the earth. “Otherwise, we would be cementing this thing in and you wouldn’t have power for a day or so.”
Dwain looked at Heath and both nodded, impressed with the improvising. “Guys, think out-of-the-box or this is going to suck ass,” Ian told them, driving another screw in. Lilly grinned at the way they looked at Ian in awe.
When the last screw was in, Ian put the drill away and grabbed a coil of thick wire. As he hooked the wire to a box on the pole, “I thought a Sterling engine operated with only a half a degree temperature difference,” Dwain said.
“Surprised you knew that,” Ian chuckled. “They do, but this one is connected to a generator and has to overcome the torque. It doesn’t start to work until the engine plate is a hundred.”
Walking out, “I thought you didn’t want to hook it up?” Lance snorted.
“Want me to unhook it?” Ian snapped as Lance grabbed the end of the wire.
“Go find the damn A/C unit and tell me how big it is,” Lance called over his shoulder.
“There are two of them,” Dwain said, but Lance never stopped.
Getting up, Dwain led Ian to the back and Heath came over to Lilly. He watched the two ladybugs teaching the other kids. “They seem to know what they are doing,” Heath said.
“They’d better,” Lilly chuckled. “Man rules say you mess up with weapons, and reprimand is mandatory. Most are pushups, but I forgot to put my weapon on safe once and had to carry a cinderblock around for a day.”
Turning to Lilly, Heath glanced behind him. “Where are these rules?” he whispered.
Snarling her face, “With the ‘man card’,” Lilly growled in disgust. That was the one thing that irritated her about Lance, that damn card.
Stepping back from the growl, “’Man card’? That’s made-up guy talk,” Heath snorted.
“Bull-shit,” Lilly snapped. “They have theirs and proudly follow the rules.”
Hearing Dwain and Ian coming around the house, Heath spun around. “Hey, Ian,” Heath said, trotting away as Jennifer walked over with her hair soaked in sweat.
“I told Grady it was his turn on guard,” Jennifer panted. “We are talking about the combat load when we get home. This 3D suit is cooking my ass. I’m sweating so much, the scent proof can’t be working.”
Robin came out carrying bottles of water, “Here,” she said, handing them over.
“Thank you,” Jennifer said, ripping the top off and sucked the bottle down without stopping. When she finished, Jennifer gave a satisfied smile. “Robin, in the backseat of my UTV, there’s an ice chest. We made bread and have meat and cheese in it for sandwiches. Lilly and I were going to do it, but I’m melting away.”
“You go sit down, and thank you,” Robin said, patting her arm and headed off.
“Nah, I’m good now,” Jennifer said, putting the top back on her empty bottle. “When did Rhonda join the lessons?”
Turning to the porch, Lilly chuckled at seeing Allie showing Rhonda how to take apart the AR. “Not long ago,” Lilly said as Ian, Heath, and Dwain walked up. “You have power,” Lilly said, and Heath spun around.
Seeing the front porch light was on, Heath fell to his knees in the grass. “Let me tell Lance about the units,” Ian chuckled, walking off.
When Ian was gone, “Heath, Dwain, come here please,” Lilly commanded politely.
Getting up, Heath moved with Dwain in front of Lilly. “Ask them what improvements you need here and make notes. We need you. Ian and Lance don’t. They are running us into the ground. If you listen to them and do what they say, you stand a very good chance of seeing your kids grow up and you dying of old age. It took a lot for Jennifer and me to convince them to do this and put the phone in. You have backup now, in case you get in shit. Earn it, so they can relax for a day.”
“Um,” Dwain smacked his lips nervously. “Will they get mad if we ask them what we should do?”
“I doubt it, but I don’t care,” Lilly said, and Jennifer nodded.
“If they do, suck it up and blame it on Grady,” Jennifer offered. “They hate him anyway.”
“That’s an idea,” Heath said, glancing at Dwain.
“Gentlemen,” Lilly said, and they turned to her. “I know you respect them and think they are awesome, but I assure you, you haven’t seen a tenth of what they are capable of. I’m in awe every day, but then pissed off by the ‘card’ before the end of the day.”
“Grab a notebook,” Dwain said, moving to the garage and Heath trotted to the house.
Then they heard an A/C unit kick on. “Seems kind of loud. I’ve never heard th
e one at the cabin,” Lilly said.
“Sucks to be them,” Jennifer said as Ian and Lance walked out of the garage, still without shirts. “You know, we are in the field. How dare they walk around like that?”
Cocking one eyebrow up, “I don’t mind,” Lilly grinned.
“I do. I want to touch him,” Jennifer mumbled as they walked up.
“They have power. Come and check the house out,” Ian told them, grabbing Jennifer’s arm.
“Ian, please put your compression shirt on at least,” Jennifer groaned, looking at his chest with only a few hairs on it. When Ian groaned, “Fine, I’m walking around without a shirt or bra,” Jennifer warned, and Ian shot off to grab his shirt.
When Jennifer walked off, Lance just cocked his head at Lilly. “You’re not going to say something like that, are you?” he asked as she stared at his torso.
“No, sweetness. You just make sure you stay close to me,” Lilly said breathlessly.
Grabbing her hand, Lance pulled her to the porch. “I was worried about the A/C,” Lance admitted.
“The stinkers won’t hear it?” Lilly mumbled, still looking at Lance’s torso.
Shaking his head, “Nah, you can’t hear that more than thirty yards away.”
“Hey, Lance,” Ian said, walking up and putting on his compression shirt. “They want us to give them ideas on what to do first.”
“Smart,” Lance mumbled, then leaned over to kiss Lilly on the cheek. “Let us do this real quick, then we can head back to the cabin.”
“Take your time,” Lilly smiled, finally looking Lance in the face.
Lance and Ian headed over to the garage where Dwain and Heath were waiting with notebooks. “Denny!” Lilly heard Allie snap, and turned to the front porch and saw Denny, Lori, Jodi, and Rhonda in a line, holding their ARs to their shoulder.
“It’s S.P.O.R.T.S.,” Allie said, lifting her AR up. “Slap,” she said, slapping her magazine. “Pull,” Allie told him, pulling the charging handle back and a training shell was ejected but held the charging handle back. “Ob-serrvve,” Allie dragged out. “That means, look in the firing chamber.”
Dark Crossing Page 18
