“Holy shit,” Arthur heard someone gasp out and turned to see Jill looking at Medusa. “Is that really a housecat and not a small tiger?”
“Wait till you see her boyfriend,” Arthur scoffed. “She’s the small one.”
“Damn, I thought we had some big cats roaming around in the compound,” Jill stated still staring at Medusa. She only stopped when kids stepped up to introduce themselves. Jill smiled, shaking each one’s hand.
“We need to bring our bags?” Chad called out, walking over to Arthur.
Having a lot to cover, Arthur had told everyone to pack a bag and just stay the night because he didn’t want to be rushed. “Yeah, we can get them later,” Arthur said, holding out his hand and shaking Chad’s.
“I brought Isaac, Toby, Miguel, and Victor for my captains,” Chad said letting Arthur’s hand go, and they turned to see them walking up on the back porch. It was soon apparent there were more than twenty in each group because Chad’s group had their wives and kids with them. In that, Arthur understood completely. Jill’s and Albert’s groups had kids because there were some they were responsible for and weren’t leaving them behind. There were even a few siblings and single parents with kids at Jill’s and Albert’s compounds. Even with the extra bodies, they still had plenty of room.
As Isaac, Toby, Miguel, and Victor came over with their families, for the first time Arthur noticed all their weapons were Wilson’s. He went to each one and actually lifted some up or turned the person just to make sure. It was Chad who figured out what Arthur was doing and chuckled. “Yes, we’re all carrying Wilson Combat, just like you and Jason. Toby and I, along with two others, still worked there, but a few others in our group have worked there at one time or another,” Chad told him. “In fact, that’s where I met my wife Christina. She worked in the front office.”
“I didn’t start carrying Wilson until last month when I had to carry someone up there,” Arthur scoffed.
The rest in Chad’s group all turned to Arthur, hearing that. “So, you’re the one who got in?” Chad asked.
Nodding, “Yes,” Arthur sighed and saw Jason from the corner of his eye, looking at the group in awe. A small part of Arthur’s mind didn’t know if he liked Chad’s group anymore.
“You didn’t get much,” Chad informed him. “Not that I’m complaining, but why did you lock the building back up?”
“Feel lucky because someone wanted to leave traps to make sure their ‘Graceland’ wasn’t violated by those unworthy to enter,” Arthur droned, and Samantha burst out laughing.
Suddenly, Chad looked embarrassed. “Um, not that I mind but, someone had a ‘real’… good time on my workbench,” he got out with a cough.
“There’s no way you could know that!” Jason shouted. “I cleaned up everything!”
Shaking his head, “There was a pair of thongs on my bench,” Chad informed Jason as Samantha stopped laughing and punched Jason in the arm rather hard.
“You said you found ‘em!” she shouted at Jason.
“I did! I thought I shoved them in my pocket and they fell out in the washer,” Jason replied.
Everyone laughed and Chad wiped tears from his eyes, “Well, I had keys so I didn’t have to break in. We loaded up mainly the tools and machines, but let us know if you go back because we did leave traps,” Chad told them.
Suddenly Jason gasped, “Is-,” he started, and Chad held up a hand.
“No, the owner isn’t in our group,” Chad said remorsefully. “He and his family had a location with some others. That’s what saved us. We all worked in the plant, so we never had to travel. Everyone in the front office was spread out over the states in March. With the SHOT show in January, they were out taking orders. The boss had friends who informed him to get in a hole in March before the government announced the breakout. He shut the plant down over the phone. He got in touch with us in April by satellite phone. Every executive was infected and three didn’t even make it home. Boss told us everyone in his compound had Rudolph. I told him I was sorry, but Boss said he was with family and that’s all that mattered. He said if it blew over, for the workers who were left to carry on the company. Like I said, it was luck none of us got it, but because Boss shut us down so fast, we headed to our compound and locked down. Boss and most of those execs worked in the plant, building guns at their own workstations, so if they would’ve come back, we wouldn’t be here.”
Jason nodded with a smile, “I’m glad you guys made it.”
“Come on, let’s eat,” Arthur said, leading them in.
Everyone filed into the dining hall as the friends looked around, taking in the Caravan Man’s home like they were at a secret base. Arthur instructed the adults who’d come to sit at the first table because after lunch they would start. Many headed back outside and returned with laptop bags and notebooks. After everyone fixed plates and returned to the table, Arthur noticed Jill looking at the plate of food with guilt.
“Jill, you’ll be taking food back, so eat,” Arthur told her, and Jill gave a startled gasp.
“You said, and in the notebook…,” she started, but Arthur cut her off.
“I know what I said and what I wrote. I’ll explain when I start the meeting,” Arthur told her as Vicki, Jo Ann, and Sally came in, leading a line of toddlers to their table. Arthur was tickled pink to see the nudist colony had on underpants. Vicki carried Nicole to Arthur and he took her. “Where have you been?” Arthur cooed and Nicole reached out, grabbing his face with her hands and showing her toothless smile.
“Pops, can I say something and you promise not to get your feelings hurt?” Vicki asked and was clearly nervous.
“Baby, anything you say, I promise won’t hurt my feelings and if they do, I give Wendy permission to kick me in the nuts every day for a year,” Arthur vowed and Wendy nearly choked as she took a bite. “What do you want to say, Little Momma?”
“Um, I like that the daycare will be moved to the old gym when the new one is put up, and since the small pool has a fence not even Robin can get through, which is great, but,” Vicki paused with a cringe. “I don’t want the kids to get wet if it’s raining or snowing when we bring them in to eat. Can we, like, put a tent up between the daycare and the back porch?”
“Vicki, that’s a great idea,” Arthur stated in awe, wondering why he hadn’t thought of that.
Cocking her head to the side and her face contorting, “Really?” Vicki asked.
Pulling Vicki close, Arthur glanced over at Wendy as she finally swallowed what she had nearly chocked on. “Wendy, can you think of every fucking thing we need to do?”
Scoffing loudly, “Shit, I wish I could just think of ten percent of the crap we need to do.”
Turning to Jason and Samantha, “Jason, Samantha, how about you two? Can you think of everything we need to do?”
“No,” Jason chuckled.
“I would be happy to come up with just one percent of what we need,” she said, then nodded to Jason. “He can’t even remember to get my thong,” Samantha popped off.
Fighting the urge to burst out laughing, Arthur looked down to LL. “LL, can you think of everything?”
Shaking his head as he let out a long sigh, “Son, when I come down in the morning for breakfast, if I’ve remembered to tie my boots, I feel great because there’s so much I know we need and I can’t think of it,” he stated.
Turning to Vicki, “Baby, that’s why I tell everyone, if you think of something, let one of us know,” Arthur told her. “I know some of the others have asked for a laser cannon and robots to protect us, but I can’t build those. I really wish I could because they were good ideas.”
“But we already have so much to do,” Vicki whined, and Arthur felt like whining right along with her.
“Yes, but this will protect the little ones from getting wet and maybe keep them from getting sick one time. That’s more than worth the effort. We’ll put a roof over the back porch and build a hallway to the daycare, and even put in a paved
or cement path so they don’t have to walk through mud,” Arthur told her with a smile, putting Nicole in her bouncy chair on the table.
Throwing her arms around Arthur’s neck, Vicki hugged him tightly. “I’ll try to think of good ideas, Pops,” Vicki told him, then kissed his cheek and took off to help the little ones eat.
Looking over at the toddler table, “Now that’s an effective means to get Robin to eat,” Arthur commented.
Everyone turned to see Jo Ann had Robin in a headlock as Sally held Robin’s arms with one hand and lifted a spoon to Robin’s mouth. “I think Robin’s pushed the twins a bit far today,” Jason laughed as Wendy jumped up.
“Jo Ann, not so tight!” Wendy called out, walking to the table fast. The fact Wendy was telling Jo Ann to not hold Robin so tight but also not let go made everyone laugh.
“The twins are turning into copies of Mom,” Joseph chuckled, watching Wendy only check that Robin could breathe. Seeing Wendy wasn’t going to make the twins stop, Robin opened her mouth taking the spoonful of food. The next bite Robin opened her mouth, and Jo Ann let the headlock go seeing Robin give in. “I wonder if they could get her to wear clothes?” he mumbled.
Looking around the dining hall at the tables of kids, “How many kids do you have here?” Chad asked.
Giving a long sigh, “Two hundred and eight after the last bunch we found in September. Right after that was when I told everyone to stop. Eight point three kids to adults, so some adults are responsible for nine and everyone has eight. We call that adult ‘primary parent’ for those under them,” Arthur answered.
The first thought in Chad’s mind was complete awe that the adults weren’t insane. “Hey, if you need us to, we can take in some,” he offered, but wasn’t expecting the response.
In a state of near panic, Arthur jumped to his feet with wild eyes. “These are my kids!” Arthur shouted. “This is all I’ve ever wanted, a big family! I’ve killed for them and I’ll die for them! Every kid here is mine! It doesn’t matter if they aren’t in my group. We do that just to keep up with everyone. They’re also Wendy’s, Jason’s, Samantha’s, LL’s…” then he pointed at the other tables where the other adults were. “They’re theirs, too.”
Then he pointed at Joseph and Sarah. “They don’t have any kids here, but they better goddamned well get busy and give me some,” Arthur snapped. Leaning over, Sarah groaned as her head hit the table.
Holding up his hands, “Hey, I was just offering!” Chad cried out in shock. It was very apparent Arthur loved these kids.
“There’s only been one I’ve wanted to throw out and it would’ve hurt, but she pulled her head out of her ass and I’ll kill anyone who even looks at her funny because she has pink hair,” Arthur stated, and everyone turned to see Chloe in tears with a big smile.
“Arthur, I didn’t mean take them. I was just saying if you wanted us to help out,” Chad clarified.
“I’m a shitty Pops!” Arthur howled out. “I can’t remember all their names! I try! Every night I go over the pictures, repeating their names and think I have it! Then I wake up, walk out in the kitchen…” he paused. “I see one and I can’t recall the name! What kind of Pops am I? I can’t even remember all my kids’ names! Even with name tags I can’t remember! I suck ass!”
All the guests were looking at Arthur in stunned shock, thinking he was being much too hard on himself. “Arthur,” Chad said carefully, “I’ve known every kid in our group since they were born. And more than once, I’ve forgotten their name. Three days ago, I forgot Isaac’s sixteen-year-old son’s name, Gabe. I’ve known that kid since birth. Don’t be so hard on yourself, dude.”
“Pops, we know you love us and you know each of us!” a small voice cried out and a chorus chimed in agreement.
The sound of a chair scraping across the floor sounded as Jason stood up and stepped over beside Arthur. He pointed at Cynthia, a ten-year-old girl who’d come in with him and LL. Not asking the name, “What story does she like read to her at night?” Jason asked. He, Arthur, LL, Joseph, and a few other ‘daddies’ would go to the rooms of the smaller kids to tuck them in every night with the ‘moms’, but the daddies would read a story in a room and each would rotate so all the kids had storytime with daddies.
Looking at Cynthia, he strained his brain but couldn’t remember her name. Giving a sigh, “She likes Harry Potter, but you have to change your voice for the characters,” Arthur answered. Jason pointed at another little girl, “She loves Alice in Wonderland,” Arthur said.
Scanning the tables, Jason pointed at Jermaine, an eleven-year-old little boy they’d found in a store. “Him?” Jason asked.
Grinning, “He loves any story that has cars, and you have to make engine sounds,” Arthur stated and Jason pointed out six more at random, and Arthur recited what stories they liked.
Dropping his arm and nodding his head, Jason held out his hand to Arthur. “Give me your papers,” Jason demanded, and there was more than one gasp. Arthur’s ‘papers’ were the pages of the names with pictures he always carried.
Reaching back and covering his back pocket where the pages were folded up and kept, “No!” Arthur cried out and Wendy knew it was actual fear and took off to stop Jason from taking them because Arthur would fight his buddy over those papers. “I’ll forget all their names!” Arthur cried out, panting hard.
“Arthur, brah, you’re trying too hard!” Jason snapped, still holding out his hand. Seeing Arthur not moving, he dropped his hand to his prized 1911 Wilson pistol. Pulling it out he laid it on the table. “I’ll make a deal with you. If, in two weeks, you don’t feel you know the kids’ names or have gotten worse, I’ll give you my cherry breaker,” Jason offered and Samantha slid out of her chair as she fainted. Even Wendy nearly tripped hearing that, then moved over to see about Samantha.
That declaration shocked Arthur out of his panic. Jason never bet his cherry breaker on anything, not even his bet with Joseph and Sarah. Lifting his hand and holding it out to Arthur, “If you don’t take it, I’ll melt it down,” Jason vowed, but there wasn’t any worry in his voice. “You’re trying too hard, Arthur. Shit, you know Kathy doesn’t like pigtails, but loves her hair French braided. You reminded me just last night that Kenny wants you to check the closet after you tuck him in,” Jason said, and many turned to eight-year-old Kenny who was in the last group Arthur had brought in.
“Monsters hide in the closet,” Kenny informed everyone looking at him.
Recognizing what he’d said and where, Jason cringed. “Sometimes, Kenny, and did I not pull the pistol I laid on the table and turn the tactical light on and clear your closet?” Jason asked in a loud voice, and Kenny beamed with a smile nodding his head. “Arthur, you’re trying too hard. You want it so bad, but dude, these kids think you’re the best thing since sliced bread. Trust me, give me the papers.”
Taking his eyes off Jason, Arthur turned to the gun on the table. “Take your gun back,” Arthur begged. He couldn’t be responsible for letting his first buddy’s most prized possession be destroyed because he couldn’t remember the kids’ names.
Knowing he had Arthur’s attention now, “No. If you don’t give me the papers, I’m taking it to the shop and cranking up the blow torch,” Jason warned, and saw Arthur’s hand reach in his back pocket but not pull the papers out. “I’ll record every second I melt that gun down and play it every night for a year. You know I’ll cry like a bitch every second,” Jason stated and watched Arthur pull the folded pages out as he stared at the gun, but didn’t hand the pages over because Arthur was thinking how he could get the gun and take off and just hide it so Jason wouldn’t melt it down.
“Arthur, I know you’ll start to remember the kids’ names, trust me,” Jason pleaded, and saw Arthur’s face perk up as he held the pages close to his chest. “No, I’m not taking the bet back, but I’ll make one change, you don’t even get my cherry breaker, I’m melting it,” Jason said, and saw the perk leave Arthur.
Never taking his
eyes off his buddy’s pistol, and still wondering if he could grab it and make the door, “I want a month,” Arthur finally offered.
Keeping his hand held out, Jason looked off and up to the ceiling, rolling that around, then shifted his eyes back to Arthur. “Deal, but you can’t print another one,” Jason countered and saw Arthur’s shoulders slump. “I want your word you won’t print a list and you won’t sit in our office staring at the computer monitor going over photos.”
As Wendy helped Samantha back into her chair, she was about to grab Jason’s pistol and take off running. She could feel Arthur’s anxiety that his buddy was willing to destroy something he loved in this bet. “Arthur, trust me and hand them over,” Jason finally said, and Arthur took his eyes off the pistol, looking down at the folded papers. Slowly, he extended his hand over to put them in Jason’s.
Putting the papers in his back pocket, “You’ll see I’m right,” Jason grinned.
“Holy fuck,” Samantha gasped and saw Wendy turn to her. “I asked Jason last week if Arthur was his best buddy ever and Jason said ‘yeah, Arthur was his brother’. Shit, Jason wouldn’t do that even for his brother.”
Now really feeling like shit, Arthur groaned because Jason was going to melt his 1911 down because he couldn’t remember the names of his own kids. “Please take the pistol from the bet?” Arthur begged.
“Nope,” Jason smiled, then reached over and put his hand on Arthur’s shoulder. “There’s only one here who knows the kids better than you,” Jason stated, and Arthur turned to Wendy.
“Don’t look at me, bitch,” Wendy snapped. “I tried putting ketchup on Beth’s fries two days ago and you went ballistic because Beth doesn’t like ketchup.” Slowly Arthur’s mind started moving and he realized there was one Beth, it was Shawn’s sister, and she hated ketchup on her fries, she liked mustard.
When Arthur turned to see Jason still smiling at him, “The only one here who knows the kids better than you is Little Momma. Now, I won’t bet you anything that you or anyone will ever know them as good as she does, but you know Vicki better than anyone,” Jason stated with his grin getting bigger.
Viral Misery | Book 3 | Revelations Page 15
