by JK Franks
Scott smiled, surprised not to see “Do Cardio” as the number one rule as he thought back to a movie they had loved. He missed his family more than ever. He could not begin to understand the pain they were going through over their daughter, but he was even more determined to get her to safety.
The album had finished, and the next one dropped down. The Foo Fighters “One by One” began to play. Hoping the water had warmed up by now, Scott went to take a much-needed shower.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Scott exited the shower to Dave Grohl singing “Times Like These.” Humming along, he went to the rear deck and lit a starter fire in the large ceramic smoker grill. The lump coal wouldn't put off much smoke or odor, and the steak and vegetables wouldn’t be over the heat that long. Strange that he had to be thinking about staying undetectable even just grilling dinner. He took the meat out of the refrigerator and dried off the marinade. Steak like this has to be cooked on the grill. Nothing else would do it justice. He halved and parboiled several new potatoes and made a quick dressing for the asparagus that would also go on the grill. Finally, he’d partially shucked and soaked a few ears of the delicious looking fresh corn he had gotten from the farmers earlier today.
He was cleaning the mud off some of the freshly harvested onions he had also bought when he saw a dark blue truck pull up to the gate. Looking at the time, he assumed it was Todd. Walking out to the gate, Scott saw Todd and a very pretty woman sitting close beside him. He opened up, and they pulled up to the house and parked. Feeling more secure with Todd here, he left the gate open just in case Bartos showed.
Scott shook Todd’s hand before Todd introduced his wife, Liz. Scott’s mouth dropped open; she had to be one of the prettiest women he had ever seen. He stared for what felt like several minutes until he finally found his voice. “I apologize for being a Neanderthal," Scott stammered, laughing. “I just hadn’t expected this homely guy to have such a lovely bride.”
She blushed but quickly recovered, “It’s okay, I thought he was rich. What did I know? I was young and dumb.” They all laughed, and Scott showed them both around.
Todd checked out the go-bags sitting by the Jeep, smiling and giving Scott a thumbs up. Liz went straight over to the bikes hanging on the wall. “Scott, this Trek is beautiful—both of the bikes are elite rides. Damn, SRAM Red on both…sweet!"
“Oh my God, she’s a cyclist,” crooned Scott. “Sorry Todd, I’m in love.”
Todd threw up his hands, “Freaking spandex nerds. Where can I find a cold beer?”
Scott opened the fridge, and Todd selected a nice Chimay Blue Belgian Beer. Scott grabbed a bottle of wine as well, and they all headed inside. “Liz, can you open this while I try and get the rest of the food on?” He asked, showing her the corkscrew on the counter. "Unless you would prefer a white?”
Looking at the label, she smiled and said, “Oh no, this will be perfect.”
Scott grinned and began transferring the half-cooked potatoes to a bowl with an herb and butter mixture. Todd set Scott’s tablet on the counter and looked at the food. “Damn, those steaks look fantastic! I was afraid you were going to fix us some foo-foo tofu shit."
Scott laughed and said, “I already know you’re a carnivore. I just assumed anyone dumb enough to live with you would have to be as well. One thing, though, these are wet-aged Chicago bone-in rib eye. I only cook them medium rare. If you can’t live with that, you can cook ‘em yourself, and if so… please go somewhere out of my sight to eat it.”
Scott’s guests laughed and said, "Medium-rare is perfect,” almost in unison.
Scott added the potatoes, cut side down, to a roasting pan and slid it into the oven. He then took the wet corn out to the grill along with several whole onions stuffed with bacon and mushrooms. Liz had poured herself a glass of the Argentinean Malbec and was looking at his albums. She selected a Miles Davis album and put it on the spindle to drop next. Scott liked the way they both seemed comfortable with him and made themselves at home without being the least bit rude. Most people would have made fun of him for preferring vinyl over CDs or MP3s. Neither of them seemed to even notice. Scott soon grabbed a beer for himself and sat at the bar enjoying the cool air.
“I had the power turned back on just for you guys,” he said.
Todd was sitting on the sofa looking at the little Chinese handheld radio, “We appreciate that. You have a great house, man, but too far out and totally indefensible.”
“Tell me something I don’t know,” responded Scott.
Todd looked up at the TV. “Any news from the world?”
Shaking his head, Scott said, “Not from the TV, and not much in general. My brother has asked me to try and get Kaylie at FSU. It appears there are serious problems developing up where he is, so he wants me to bring her here for now.”
Todd drained the beer and headed for another. “We still heading out, when, Monday morning?" he asked nonchalantly.
Scott looked at him. “Well, that’s my plan, but God… I really do hate to ask you to go."
“You didn’t ask,” said Todd. “I’m going, enough said." That did seem to settle one of Scott’s worries. “I know you said you got fuel, so let’s take your 4x4 if you don’t mind. My truck is acting a little squirrelly since it got a sunburn. I probably need to let Bartos take a look at it.”
Nodding Scott said, “Sure, no problem….and thank you."
“You boys have to go and get that girl. She has to be scared out of her mind. Besides, I could use some new female company,” smiled Liz.
Getting up, Scott took the platter of steaks and the asparagus out to the grill. He turned the corn over to get some char on the other side and readjusted the onions before adding the asparagus. Todd opened the door and slid out. Scott could hear the throaty trumpet of Miles Davis drifting through the door with the big man. “Hey, I brought you another platter out," he said, setting it down on the custom-made cypress cook table. “Listen,” Todd began, “what you’re doing for your niece is a nice thing. You and I both know this is probably for the long haul.”
Scott’s eyes began misting up thinking of the letter from his brother. “She’s family… and she is a really good kid. Smart, good work ethic, funny, too.”
Todd watched as Scott pulled the gorgeous looking veggies off the grill, drizzled them with some olive oil and covered them with foil, before opening up all the vents to let the grill get even hotter. “Scott, she sounds like the kind of person this new world is going to need…we can’t wait to meet her."
“Thanks, man, and all the shit I said about wanting your wife…totally true,” Scott said with a wink. He looked over at Todd and noticed that even though the big guy was laughing, his eyes were watering a bit, too.
“How hot are you going to let that thing get?” Todd looked at the thermostat on the grill.
“Hot,” said Scott, “Real hot. In the restaurant I used to work in back in Chicago, we had a steak broiler that stayed around 1,600 degrees. A few minutes in that and you had a perfect sear on the outside and rosy pink in the center. This little guy won’t get that high, but once it goes over 800, I’ll drop the steaks."
Todd watched as Scott’s practiced hand quickly positioned the rib eyes and had the lid closed again within a few seconds. They both drank their beers and stared out over the edge of the bayou, enjoying the intoxicating aroma of the grilling meat. Liz came up behind them, surprising them both.
She was laughing as she put her arms around Todd, "You guys were in man-heaven.”
“Nope,” said Todd, “In man-heaven, there’d be porn.”
She took her arms away and put them around Scott in much the same way whispering, “He’s the Neanderthal."
Scott looked over at Todd, winked and said, “Yeah…what she said.”
The steaks were ready before the beers were empty, and they took all the food back inside. Scott grabbed the potatoes from the oven, peeled back the rest of the corn husks and topped them with sour cream, lime, Mexican
cheese and chili powder, turning the simple vegetable into delicious Mexican Street Corn.
The first wine bottle was emptied quickly as the food began to disappear. Liz went and picked another out of the wine rack, opening it to let it breathe. The food was delicious, and Liz and Todd were impressed. The evening quickly was getting more relaxed. The drinks were a welcome relief to the world outside.
“You cook like this, and you live alone?” Liz asked.
Scott blushed, “Afraid so,” he said sadly. “This would be one of my simpler meals. I’m—I was a bit of a foodie. I love to cook.”
“Your ex-wife was an idiot," Liz said, shaking her head before taking another sip of wine. “I’m sorry, Scott, that was a really awful thing for me to say.”
“No…no, it’s true. She was that. She was…more than that,” Scott said. “But so was I.”
Over the course of dinner, Scott learned that Liz was a school teacher currently on leave trying to get her master’s degree. She did indeed once do triathlons but had to stop. She had biked more that Scott, back in the day. “I always tried to get Todd into biking. But any free time he has, he wants to be hunting or back on the water. I come in a distant second to Donna Marie,” she said, using the name of the boat as if it were another woman. Scott could see in both of their looks that this was not true. It was obvious that they were each other’s top priority.
“So why did you stop riding?” Scott asked. As Liz was about to answer, a sound came from outside. They saw the reflection of car lights coming through the windows.
Looking out, Todd said, "That’s Bartos and Solo.” Scott was unsure who Solo was but went to greet them.
“Glad you found the place, dude,” Scott said as Bartos climbed out of an ancient and somewhat fierce looking Ford Bronco.
Bartos smiled, “Hard to miss it, all lit up like a fucking Christmas tree and all…oh, sorry, Liz..”
Scott was about to respond when he saw a gorgeous dog hop out of the truck. Liz rushed over and bent down. “Hi, Solo,” she purred, then stood and gave Bartos a hug. Scott looked sheepishly behind him at the house where every light was on and visible from the road.
He went to shake Bartos' hand, but Bartos put up a hand. “Wait.” The dog was looking at Scott suspiciously. “Solo—friend.” The dog relaxed, and Scott knelt down but did not move closer. He instead let the dog come to him and let him get a good smell. He must have approved of him, and the steak smell, as he let out a small huff. Scott gave him an affectionate scratch behind the ears. “You must be a dog person,” observed Bartos.
“Love dogs," answered Scott. “Couldn’t have one in Chicago and just haven’t made the effort to look for one since moving down here. Come on in, I have you a plate of food in the oven.”
Bartos was dropping the tailgate, “First, tell me where you want your new toys.”
Peeking in, Scott saw an arsenal of weapons and ammo. “Hot damn! It’s redneck Christmas!” an amused Liz said.
“Truly,” agreed Scott. “Inside. I’m going to want to know more about all this stuff. Hell, I’ll probably want to sleep with it."
Todd looked over at his wife, “Sorry, honey, he has a new love, you’ll just have to stick with me.” It took them several trips to get all the new gear inside.
Bartos looked at the dog who was looking patiently up at him. “Solo—patrol.” Todd and Liz had gone back inside to finish eating. Scott was grabbing a cold beer for Bartos as he had made it clear he was not a wine drinker.
“Beautiful dog,” Scott said handing the wiry man the unopened bottle. “I can see some German Shepherd in him, but I’m not sure about what else.”
“Kuvasz,” said Bartos opening and taking a long pull on the beer. “Hungarian breed known as much for their protectiveness as they are their rather anti-social behavior. Not a real friendly creature but unbelievably loyal. Some clown decided that breeding one with a Shepherd would make a good K9 dog. They’re very smart and easy to train, but Solo never made it into the field. He was declared too aggressive. I talked the guys at the sheriff’s office into letting me have him instead of them…well, instead of him being put down.”
Scott watched the dog sniffing the ground and checking out the perimeter of the yard. As they headed back inside, Scott thanked Bartos for the guns. “I wasn’t expecting them so fast.”
“Well, I thought it best to move quickly. When others figure out this shit storm is permanent, the prices are going to go up fast. Also, Todd said you two would be making that road trip in a few days. Hey, I did take a few liberties with your brother’s suggestions, though. I think you’ll approve of what Santa done brung ya.”
“I know I will, man, thanks so much,” said Scott smiling. “Come on and eat!” Scott realized that Todd had already decided he was going to help get Kaylie before he had even asked.
Bartos looked at the plate of steak and potatoes and declared it “A National Fucking Holiday! Hot-damn Scott, I may just marry you.”
Todd and Liz had cleaned their plates. Scott asked Bartos if Solo could have the bones. “Hell yeah, he’ll love you forever, too.”
Liz opened the front door, and Bartos gave a curious whistle. Soundlessly, the large dog slipped inside and sat near the table. Liz collected the bones and the few leftovers which Scott put on an old plate in front of Solo. Nothing on the dog moved other than his nostrils, which flared wide. Scott looked on in amazement. “You put a rare steak in front of him, and he doesn’t even flinch?"
Bartos clicked his tongue twice, and the dog delicately picked up one of the bones and slid down on the floor to savor the meal.
“Amazing,” said Scott, adding, "I want one.”
Todd laughed and said, “Ignore him, Bartos. He said the same thing when he met Liz.”
Chapter Thirty
Solo went back on patrol after he ate. The human members of the party made drinks and went to the back deck to watch the diminishing, but still brilliant, Aurora Borealis. The ocean breeze was just strong enough to be cool and kept most of the mosquitos away.
“You know, if I hadn't read the stuff on that tablet, I could imagine that this was just an ordinary night. Just some friends getting together for great food and drinks. Except for that of course,” Todd said, pointing up at the sky.
They discussed some of what Scott and Todd had learned in the documents. None of it was good. Todd had found a part that discussed some of the global aspects, which indicated that America would likely be recalling all forces from overseas and withdrawing from all international activities. Just like it was for individuals, it was every country for themselves.
After a while, Liz noticed something new was on the TV inside. “Looks like the president is speaking.” They all headed back inside to see what the former senator had to say. Turning off the stereo, Scott noticed the man was looking significantly more haggard than the last time he had seen him on the news. Flipping a few channels confirmed that the speech was being broadcast on every channel that was still working. The president was a generally well-liked leader as presidents go. He had done an admirable job trying to rein in an almost out-of-control government that wanted to keep growing and spending no matter what was needed.
The man spoke softly, and even though he appeared to be in the press room, it was pretty obvious he was very nearly alone in the big room. The words were not particularly eloquent, but they were poignant, if not very informative or helpful. He did confirm the rolling black-outs and made clear that martial law had not been declared, but that he had authorized the unmeasured and unlimited use of force if needed to fight looters, criminals or anyone who opposed restoring order. “This is a worldwide problem, and an International State of Emergency is in effect. If we remain vigilant and remain calm, we will get through this. Everything will be okay.”
Oh God, we’re fucked, Scott said to himself, thinking back to his dad’s warning: the only time to really worry is if someone in authority says not to worry. When the speech ended, Bartos asked, “What i
s an exclusionary rule?”
No one answered for a moment, then Scott said, “If I am not mistaken, it is a seldom used section of the Miranda rule. Essentially, it suspends the rights of certain criminals, normally terrorists, typically provided to the accused. You can be held indefinitely. You have no right to an attorney. You can be questioned with any means desired, or just be ‘disappeared’ if they want. Normally, it would take a judge or someone high up to give that decision on a specific case. The president just gave blanket authority to every law enforcement or government agency to use it as they see fit.”
“Holy shit,” said Bartos. “He just dropped a fucking bomb like that in a speech, and yet…no one will probably even notice.”
“Yep,” Todd agreed. “He must be up against it to suspend Constitutional Rights like that.”
“But if it’s that bad, why not just declare martial law, curfews, rationing, travel restrictions—even shoot on sight authorization?” asked Bartos.
“In my opinion, it’s because he’s already authorized the Catalyst protocol. Several of his phrases came directly from the program briefing, including the Exclusionary Rules he just invoked. Martial law would indicate he was going to try and preserve order. He is not. If anything, the downward spiral is just about to get a lot worse. The government is abandoning everything except what’re now identified as safe zones essential to America’s survival. Forced conservation of resources will be next.”
On the sofa facing the TV, Liz pulled Todd closer, and Scott could see she was afraid. They all were. Bartos shook his bald head and went to the garage to get another cold beer. Scott glanced at Todd and Liz and wished for the millionth time that he had someone that close. He had loved being married; he just did not love his wife. At least not looking back.
He thought he had made a good husband, though, committing himself to it fully like most things that he did. But Angela had been distant almost from the moment they said, “I do.” It took years for Scott to accept the obvious, that her needs were being fulfilled by someone else. Someone whom Scott had often called a friend. As cliché as it was, he had really been his best friend. The anger and humiliation had been intense. The only way Scott could go on had been to move here and sever all ties with her and the city they had called home.
