“Felipe, you are a free man. You can stay or you can go. It is completely up to you since you are beholden to no one,” Terry started.
The train whistle sounded again as Ted and Gene moved the locomotive to the other side of the Mini Cooper. Clangs and bangs signaled a hookup.
“Where would I go? What would I do, and who would take care of Jumbo?” the distraught man asked, having seen his world crash down around his shoulders.
Aaron walked to the back of the wagon where the bull stood, looking none too happy about not moving for such an extended period of time. The Weretiger took pity and untied the beast, leading him to the closest patch of grass and weeds. “You probably need a drink too, don’t you?”
The pack of dogs ran back and forth between the wagon and the ditch, barking unhappily at the great cat. One of the dogs limped, dried blood marking its side and back leg. Aaron had no idea how the dog got injured, but it wouldn’t let him get close.
Aaron didn’t push it, knowing the others would take care of the mutt. He’d only get it riled up.
“You can always stay here. How can your elephant help us?” Terry asked.
Felipe pointed to the wagon. “He can pull a great load a long distance. Ha!” he said as he coaxed the great creature to its feet.
“I hope our horse master doesn’t mind sharing the pasture, just until we find something better,” Char added, rubbing the elephant’s rough gray trunk.
“I think you will become the best friend to our farming community, Felipe. You’ll get your food for service to them. We need to plant some thousand acres, I’m told. That’s a lot of plowing.” Terry nodded, but Felipe shrugged.
“It is not a problem for me and Jumbo.” The man smiled, his body still tense.
“Would you like something to eat?” Char asked.
“Please, for Jumbo first and then if you have something to spare. It’s been a while…” Felipe didn’t expound. He looked like your average survivor living in the Fallen Lands, gaunt and dirty.
“You are welcome here, Felipe, both of you. We have food, all the water you can drink, and hopefully enough for Jumbo to eat to her heart’s content. Unhook her from the wagon and we’ll show you around.” Terry slapped the man on the back as he started unhooking the elephant.
Terry surveyed the area. Blood from the boar pack. The shriveled corpse of the Forsaken and the Werewolf. The Forsaken’s blade lay on the ground, clean and undisturbed from where it had fallen.
Terry picked it up, testing its weight. He looked for the short cavalry sword’s scabbard. It wasn’t with the corpse. He walked behind the wagon and got barked at by the dog pack. He ignored them for the moment as he climbed the short steps to get inside.
When he opened the door, the stench was nearly overwhelming. He covered his face with his shirt and motioned for Char to stay back.
Terry rummaged through the inside, wondering if there would be anything useful. There was gold and jewels. Terry would have tossed it, but thought the engineers could use the gold for electronic contacts. He left the jewels.
He found the leather scabbard, inserted the sword, and put it into his belt. If he was going up against Forsaken, he’d need training with the shorter blade. The longer two-handed katanas and even heavier swords would be a problem for his blade. Maybe I’ll touch up my bullets with silver, he thought.
He stumbled out of the wagon, feeling like he needed a shower for having been in there.
When he saw the dogs, he called to them, but they remained wary. He took a knee as Char stood behind him. Two of the dogs approached and sniffed him because he smelled like their old master. He ruffled their ears and they wagged their tails. The others closed in around him, all vying for a moment or two of his attention.
He checked the dog with the blood, happy that they were only flesh wounds from a rock exploded by a bullet. He would have liked to clean them out to make sure there wasn’t any debris, but events overcame his plan.
The braying signaled Clyde’s return. He never slowed down as he ran past the elephant, under the wagon, and dove into the middle of the dog pack. Fur flew briefly as they sorted things out, then the whole pack ran off together toward the base.
Terry dusted himself off, turned to Aaron and Char, “Shall we?” Together, they walked toward the main gate, Terry Henry Walton, his Werewolf wife, their baby, their Weretiger manny, a bull on a rope, a mahout, and his elephant. Clyde and his new pack barked somewhere in the distance.
Terry looked at the menagerie. Business as usual.
***
“Don’t think because of that little interruption that I’m any less mad at you!” Timmons yelled at Ted.
The smaller man didn’t understand. The Mini Cooper was in place and the steam locomotive was unhooked. They were ready to drive the train back to the tankers and then return to the plant.
“We’ll take care of it when we get back. I’m sure it’s something simple,” Ted said, dismissing Timmons with a wave.
“You stupid fuckers were supposed to stay in there and keep the plant running. We can’t tie-in the Mini Cooper if we don’t have power to weld pipe, so get your dumbasses back there and fix it!” The more Timmons talked, the angrier he got. When he pushed Ted, Gene had had enough.
The big Russian stepped between them, picked Timmons up, and tossed him to the side like a rag doll. Then Gene jumped on him like a professional wrestler pinning his opponent.
“You apologize to my friend!” he bellowed an inch from Timmons’ face.
If Timmons was inclined to apologize, he would not have been able to because of the weight pressing against his diaphragm. He mumbled and grunted instead.
“Apologize!” Gene reiterated.
“Sorry,” Timmons managed. Gene stood up, dusted off his clothes, which remained filthy because of the coal dust, and whirled his finger in the air, signaling to Ted that it was time to go.
Ted climbed onto the train, entered the cabin, and checked the system’s vitals before continuing. Water was lower than he liked, but he only needed another ten minutes from his baby.
He kicked it into gear and it moved forward easily since it wasn’t pulling a load. Gene swung himself to the platform as the old locomotive rolled past. It was easy to forget how agile the big man was, but he demonstrated it day in and day out for anyone willing to look past his size.
They rolled down the tracks backwards, stopping when they approached the tankers on the side track. Gene took the pry bar and switched the line. Ted slowly backed the locomotive up and hooked up to the cars. He pulled them forward to clear the second track. Gene switched back to the main line and Ted carefully backed the train to a point where they were close to the pipeline. He stopped the train, set the brake, and released the excess steam.
“Need more water when we drive her out again,” Ted said matter-of-factly. Gene grunted noncommittally.
“Where is Bogdan?” Gene wondered aloud, just in time to hear the trumpeting of a frightened elephant.
***
Billy and Felicity were waiting with the impatient children, Kaeden and Kimber. They’d spent as much time as they could in the dining facility. Looking carefully out the door, they had watched for any sign that the situation was being resolved when Akio’s pod descended.
Billy took that as a good sign. Felicity figured that Terry and Char would leave with the man and they’d have company for the rest of the night. Kaeden and Kimber were playing with Marcie while she tottered around. Cory gurgled happily watching the others play.
After what seemed an interminable amount of time, Char appeared and picked up the baby, thanking Billy and Felicity and asking them to watch Kae and Kim for a little while longer.
Billy and Felicity ran the kids back to the mayor’s building. Felicity looked out the main doors before shutting them.
They’d been damaged sometime in the past and didn’t close all the way.
“Maybe it’s better if we leave them open so we can see if there’s any
thing coming?” Billy Spires suggested. Felicity threw her body against the door again and again until she finally conceded that they weren’t going to close.
“We should get those doors fixed, Billy,” Felicity said, still flustered at not being able to close them.
“We’ll be fine, my love,” Billy said softly as he ushered the kids into his office. He carried Marcie, bouncing her gently on his hip. “How big was Marcie at two months?”
“She could barely hold her head up,” Felicity answered flatly. “Was there any doubt those two would make a super-baby?”
They both laughed as they thought about Cory and her ears. Besides those, she looked like a normal baby of eight or nine months.
She was barely over two months old, but it didn’t matter. Billy and Felicity understood that it was a new world. The mayor completed his transition toward acceptance of the bizarre when the Werebear Gene sat in his office with the grizzly cub.
Sue had already returned, sitting casually at a table to the side within the big office. She had some papers spread out before her, but on the wall behind her was the best planning tool they could have hoped for—an old time chalkboard. Chalk hadn’t been easy to come by, but once a foraging party had found a small quarry with deposits of calcium carbonate, they brought a satchel full back.
Terry also liked the thought of making lime. There were a number of uses for lime. All he had to do was heat the CaCO3 to drive off a carbon dioxide molecule which left CaO, which was also known as quicklime. With that, they could make plaster, concrete, food additives, and much more.
Billy looked at the scribblings on the board, current crop capabilities, future crop needs, livestock projections, and more. Fishing had a big question mark next to it.
They’d find out the next day what the potential would be and if their newest sailing vessel could manage a commercial level of fishing. If it worked, they’d have to find and scavenge more boats.
Billy shook his head. In the upper right hand corner of the board was the total number of people in North Chicago that he was responsible for. That number was 573.
Of all the numbers, that one mattered the most.
***
Kiwi was yelling. Geronimo ran around in circles trying to keep the horses calm. The elephant was trumpeting all the while Bogdan stood with his paws on the top of the fence, bouncing his head up and down as if chuckling at the absurdity of it all. Terry and Char watched from the side, but decided it was best not to get into the middle of it.
Felipe continued to hook Jumbo’s trunk, trying to drag him farther from the antagonistic grizzly.
“Get down, Hank! You mangy ass bag!” Kiwi shouted, waving her arms.
The bear cub delighted in the fact that the human was playing with him. Kiwi waded in and started pushing to get Bogdan off the fence. He wrapped his paws around her and started licking her head.
“Get off me, you hairy fuck!” Kiwi bawled, still trying to push him away. Gerry stopped trying to herd the horses and ran to his wife, thinking that Bogdan was hurting her.
When Gerry pulled one of the cub’s paws away, Bogdan wrapped him into his bear hug. Both humans quickly grew tired of getting licked, so they ducked out of the bear’s embrace. The cub play-growled at them.
Gene crashed through brush as he ran at top speed to the enclosure they’d made for the horses. He saw the horses’ fright, the unhappy elephant, and two small people trying to hold back his protégé.
“Bogdan, you dumbass! COME!” Gene roared. Bogdan dropped to all fours and ambled toward his big friend. He jumped at the man who caught him and cradled the two-hundred and fifty-pound bear lovingly while scolding him in Russian.
“Dick weed, lame ass!” Kiwi yelled, shaking her fist.
“Maybe you shouldn’t swear,” Gerry said cautiously.
She turned on him. “I’m mad as fuck! I’m the horse master, not a zookeeper!”
Gerry’s mouth twisted and turned, but no words would come out. Terry Henry and Char joined them. Cory leaned toward the elephant, but Char held her tightly.
“I see you have everything back under control. Well done, horse master,” Terry delivered in his most soothing and supportive voice.
That didn’t work either.
“Ass balls!” she yelled. Char snickered.
“Don’t make me get your father!” Terry stated, smacking his fist into his hand. He had no intention of bothering Chief Foxtail. “What do want, Kiwi, besides venting your spleen to let the world know that you’re angry? Come on, now, out with it!”
“We can’t have her in here. She’s too big and scares the horses,” Kiwi said, flustered, waving her hand at the elephant. Felipe looked crushed.
“Let’s find you a new place, Felipe. On the beach with unlimited fresh water and bushes and weeds for Jumbo to eat. How would you like that?” Terry offered.
Felipe couldn’t visualize the future that Terry had in mind, but he knew that he wasn’t welcome with the horses. He should have told them that it wouldn’t work, but was hesitant to say anything. He didn’t want to make waves with the group that seemed pleasant, except for the extreme violence they showed they were capable of.
Jumbo dropped a massive load on her way out of the horse enclosure.
“Somebody is cleaning that up, and it is not going to be me,” Kiwi declared.
Terry pointed at Geronimo. “Put it with the rest for the farmers,” he said, pointing at the young man.
Gerry’s face fell, but he knew that he had no choice. Between his wife and his commanding officer, he’d received his direction.
With Jumbo out of the enclosure, the horses calmed immediately. Felipe guided Jumbo where Terry indicated. They headed straight for the lake, where Felipe informed them what the elephant could and couldn’t eat, along with what was best for the pachyderm.
“If I understand right, she’ll eat anything that’s growing?” Terry finally asked, interrupting Felipe’s endless list of edibles.
“Pretty much,” Felipe conceded. The elephant didn’t hesitate when she saw the lake. She waded in, drank her fill, washed herself, splattered Felipe, and ate the vegetation growing at the water’s edge.
“She likes the water,” Felipe said unnecessarily. “She likes to eat, too. I fear that she wasn’t getting enough while traveling with us.”
“It’s a different world today from what it was yesterday. We’ll send someone by with dinner and a blanket,” Terry told the man, assuming he’d stay outside with Jumbo until they found a home.
“I don’t know what to say.” Felipe watched the elephant rip an entire bush out of the bank and devour it.
“Just do your best to help us. We all need help at one time or another. Jumbo can make quick work of those fields, I suspect, as well as fertilize them all if her last contribution is any example.” Terry and Char both shook the man’s hand. Felipe found a rock to sit on as he watched Jumbo act at home.
As Terry and Char walked away, she got a good grip on his butt and squeezed. “What do you say, we pick up the kids, eat dinner, and then get Aaron to take them for a walk while we take care of a little mom and dad business,” Char teased.
Terry wanted to run, but held himself back because of his dignity, although when Char jogged away, he happily took off after her, almost giddy with expectation.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Ted stood like the grizzled old sea captain, feet wide with hands on his hips, the ship’s wheel beside him. Terry shook his head at the display, but needed Ted’s expertise to handle the ship.
First order of business was to train a new ship’s captain, because they needed Ted to work on the nuclear reactor so they could generate power for two years before needing to refuel.
They couldn’t spare him to go fishing every day. He said that he could do both, which made Terry shake his head once again.
He knew that Ted needed less sleep than others, but they couldn’t have him so tired he made a mistake with the Mini Cooper. They had Gene to help
avoid any catastrophic failure, but it was best if both of their nuclear engineers were on top of their games when messing around with the reactor.
A group of five volunteers stepped aboard the sailboat, each getting a warm greeting and a thank you from Terry Henry, while Ted looked at three men and two women as if they were gum on his shoe, each of them a pockmark on his ship.
At the last moment, Merrit and Adams ran to the dock. “Got room for two more?” Terry was good with it, but Ted didn’t want them, saying the ship was overloaded as it was, especially once they hauled the fish aboard.
“Fuck off!” Adams said as he climbed aboard. Once standing on the deck that he had personally scraped, sanded, and polished, he gave Ted the finger. Merrit tiptoed aboard while the others were distracted and quickly took a seat.
Ted harumphed, before turning to his duties. Terry watched the man as he ran down a checklist that he carried within his mind. Ted mumbled to himself as he checked things off.
“Prepare the sail!” he called out to the novices. They removed the cover and tucked it into the cabin. Adams stood by the winch to haul the sail to the top of the mast.
“Cast off the lines!” Terry pointed to the one at the bow while he took the stern line. An older woman called Anne quickly unlooped it from the dock cleat, then wrapped it and tucked it away.
“Push off!” Ted yelled impatiently. Anne and Terry leaned into the dock and the boat drifted into the harbor.
“Sail!” Adams started cranking the winch, not too fast because he didn’t want the system to fail before they made it out of the harbor. But it rolled smoothly. The final bit of pig fat provided from the previous night did the trick to keep everything well lubricated.
The breeze was in their faces, but Ted tacked twice and angled smoothly into the lake, where he could take a more leisurely approach up the coastline.
“North?” Ted asked.
“North it is, Ted,” Terry replied, letting the wind whip his hair as he smiled into the lake’s spray. “May fair winds and following seas lead us to fish aplenty.”
They tacked a few more times to train how to do it. Anne seemed a natural on the ship, walking steadily as the sailing boat clipped through the small waves.
Nomad Omnibus 02: A Kurtherian Gambit Series (A Terry Henry Walton Chronicles Omnibus) Page 45
