by Liscom, Sean
“Trust me, babe, you are gonna have to get in line for that one!” Jill started laughing again. She turned her head and looked over her shoulder. Melissa and her nephew, Ben, were walking about 30 feet behind us. She looked back at me. “Yep, get in line,” she muttered.
CHAPTER 5
Wednesday, August 2nd, 2017
It was four in the afternoon before we finally climbed into one of the MRAP's and headed for Elko. Myself, Jill, Dan and Mark were all seated in the back along with three of the security detail. Melissa Lange and Rex Foster were in the front seats. The drive in had changed pretty drastically over the past couple of months. The subdivision that was halfway between the ranch and Elko had been abandoned. The residents had opted to move into the city for better protection and better services. All of the stalled and wrecked cars had been removed from the road and the new security checkpoint on the highway was much more elaborate.
They had built a tower in the median and had a sandbag emplacement on both the east and westbound lanes. They had borrowed our backhoe and used it to move concrete “K” rails into position to replace the wall of stalled cars. The approach and departure from the checkpoint was controlled by a zig-zag lane of the same “K” rails. It forced all approaching vehicles to slow to a crawl before they reached the actual checkpoint. No one was allowed to pass without first checking in with the guards. Not even us. They logged our arrival time and our names. When it came time to leave, they would log our departure.
Mayor Calvert and Major Jackson had overseen the construction of all of the checkpoints and every
entrance into the city was guarded the same way. Major Jackson had drawn on his experiences in Iraq when he helped draw up the security plans.
Mayor Calvert was adamant that he wanted to keep out any troublemakers and to date, they had done a fantastic job. There had been one incident at the trading center and that threat had actually come from within. A dispute between two local traders led to a gunfight. The responding squad from the security force ended up shooting both of them dead. Since then, there had been no trouble. All disputes were now taken to a council headed by the Mayor and they were settled there.
After clearing the checkpoint, we made our way into the city proper and headed straight to the community college campus. Pulling into the main parking lot, we could see that the weeds had begun to take over. There were a few cars still sitting in the parking spots they had occupied when the EMP hit over a year ago. The MRAP came to a stop and everyone disembarked onto the blacktop. It looked as if time had simply stopped here. There weren’t any smashed windows that I could see and all of the doors that were visible were closed. It was almost as if the place had shut down for a long weekend.
All of us made our way to the main entrance with Melissa and her squad encircling us. When Melissa reached the double glass doors, she put her face to the glass and peered inside. Satisfied that it was safe to enter, she pulled the door handle but the door didn’t
budge. She tried pushing but got the same result.
“It’s locked,” she remarked.
“Try knocking,” I said jokingly. To my surprise, she did just that. I chuckled a little and turned to go find another way in.
“There’s someone in there!” Melissa said loudly, taking a couple of steps back from the door. I turned back and could see a man working a key into the door lock. There was a loud “click” and he pushed one of the doors open.
The young man was wearing overalls with a black t-shirt underneath them. His bushy red beard looked as if it had never seen a razor and his red hair was pulled back into a ponytail. He was holding a Remington 870 shotgun in his left hand when he pushed the door open.
“Can I help you folks?” he asked. His voice had a thick eastern twang to it.
“Mayor Calvert sent us to look the place over.” I said, stepping past Melissa. “Jason Sterling,” I introduced myself and extended my hand.
“Joshua Dalton,” he gave my hand a firm handshake and stepped back inside, holding the door open. “Mayor said y’all might come by,” he held the door as we filed inside the main hall.
“He didn’t tell us that there was anyone here,” I remarked.
“I kinda keep an eye on the place,” he relocked the door once we were all inside. “I guess ya want the nickel tour, right?”
“We just kinda wanted to look around.”
“Mayor said you were looking for a new training center. What kind of training you plannin on doin?” he asked. Jill took the question.
“We want to move our training operations from our ranch, we need something bigger. Something that can house between 40 and 100 people,” she replied.
“Still didn’t answer my question.”
“Oh,” she blushed a little at his directness. “We want to teach people how to live in this new world. Teach them how to garden, how to build things, first-aid, and mechanical skills….. That kind of thing.”
“I see,” he stroked his beard with his free hand. “You want to use my campus for all of that?”
“We would sure like to look it over and see if it fits our needs,” she replied.
“Ma’am, I’m pretty sure you can do all of that here. Back in the day, everything that you mentioned was taught here, that and then some!”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Dalton, What is it you do here? We were under the assumption that this place was abandoned,” Melissa interrupted.
“I was head of maintenance when the lights went out. I’d been on the job for a week and didn’t have anywhere else to go so I made this place my home.”
“You live here?” she asked.
“I do. That’s probably the only reason this place weren’t looted or burned down.”
“Well, Mr. Dalton, It seems that fate favored us by keeping you here,” I redirected the conversation. “How
about that nickel tour now?” He seemed happy to give us the tour of the grounds. He knew every detail and had an answer for all of our questions.
By the time the tour was over, we had learned a great deal about what the campus had to offer. Before the EMP they had offered classes in everything that we were trying to teach at the ranch. Basic first-aid all the way through nursing school. Welding and fabrication. Diesel and gasoline engine mechanics courses. Veterinary programs. Agriculture and farming….. Literally everything. The library was still full of everything from reference materials to textbooks. There were shops that the vehicles could be pulled into to be worked on. There were stalls to keep horses and fields that could be planted for crops.
This place was a goldmine for us. I think that all of us were kicking ourselves in the butts for not thinking of this sooner. The icing on the cake came when he showed us that the whole complex still had power generated from its rooftop solar and a pair of wind generators. Joshua explained that some of the equipment had been damaged by the EMP but he was able to make repairs himself. He kept the lights off on purpose so as to not attract unwanted attention.
It was nearly dark when he escorted us back to the MRAP. All of us were still in shock and a little wide eyed at what we had seen. I was the last one to board the MRAP but before I closed the hatch, I turned back to Joshua.
“Thank you very much for your time, Mr. Dalton.
What you have done here is truly amazing. We are headed over to the Mayor’s office and I’d like to tell him that this place will suit our needs quite well, except for one thing….” My voice trailed off.
“And that is?” he asked.
“I want you to remain as the head of maintenance. If you’re willing to stay on and you’re willing to have us?”
“I think that’s a deal I can work with,” he smiled and extended his hand again.
We left there and drove over to see Jim Calvert. The security at city hall had been beefed up too. Harold Anders was still in charge but now he had roughly 30 people to help him out. They had built sandbag emplacements at the entrances and at various places on the grounds. No vehicles were allow
ed to enter or leave without going through the same process as the checkpoints. We were directed to park in the rear of the building and we were met by Harold at the front entrance.
“You're still the biggest guy I know!” I said as I extended my hand. His huge hand nearly enveloped mine. “How the hell are you, Harold?”
“Thanks to all of you, I’m doing great!” he replied. He let go of my hand and took Jill’s offered hand. Instead of a handshake he bowed and kissed the back of her hand. “My Lady,” he greeted her. The gesture always got a blush from Jill. He also shook Dan’s and Mark’s hands. “You guys here to see Mayor Calvert?” he asked.
“We are. Is he busy?” I asked.
“You know Jim, he’s always busy but I’m sure he’d like to see you,” he motioned for us to follow him inside. We followed him upstairs and to the Mayor’s office. The door was closed but he knocked softly.
“Come in,” came the immediate response from the other side. He twisted the handle and pushed inward. I thanked Harold and we walked into the room leaving our security team in the hall. Jim Calvert sprang out of his chair and greeted us before we made it halfway across the room. After greetings had been taken care of, he ushered us to seats around his desk.
“It’s good to see all of you again!” he started. “It’s been far too long! Everything okay out at the ranch?”
“Everything is great, Jim. I've just got one thing to bitch about.....” Jill let her voice trail off. Jim cocked his head to one side waiting for her to finish her sentence. “First couple? Really?” That earned her a genuine laugh from the Mayor.
“I thought you would like it!” he mused.
“At least you didn't call us the king and queen. I guess it could be worse,” she said.
“Oh, I thought about it. Believe me, I thought about,” he giggled. Jill shook her head and put her face in her hands.
“What are we ever going to do with you, Jim?” she asked.
“Eh, I gotta find some amusement in all of this work. Anyway, did you go look at the campus?” he asked.
“Yes, we did,” I replied.
“What do you think?”
“We came to the conclusion that it would be perfect for the new training center. There's more room than we would ever need,” Jill said looking back up at him.
“Alright, I'll put it in front of the city council tomorrow afternoon. I don't think there will be any problems.”
“I heard that the President has made you an offer if you help us out, sounds like a good deal too,” I said.
“She did but it wouldn't have changed my vote for helping you. If it weren't for you and your people, this little city would still be in the hands of Marvin and his men.”
“Don't give me that, Jim. Eventually the people would have stood up and fought back.”
“You're probably right, but it's more than that, Jason. If it weren't for the ranch, we would have lost a lot more people to starvation and freezing to death last winter. Your guy, Marcus, helped us get some power back to keep the necessities running and you helped us get our defense force off the ground. We owe you a lot!”
“We did what we had to do, Jim. As I remember, after the attack at the ranch, you guys helped us get back on our feet. I think we're even,” I said. Jim looked at me thoughtfully for a moment.
“Either way, the Presidents offer doesn't change my mind about you moving the training center down
here. I can't say the same for a couple of the council members, but you know where I stand.”
“Some of the council giving you grief over it?” Jill asked.
“Wang in particular. The guys an asshole,” Jim stated bluntly.
“I've heard that he bitches about everything,” she said.
“Pain in my ass is what he is. He actually demanded his own security detail and he wanted a generator put at his house. It's too hot and he wants to run his air conditioner. He thinks that his position affords him special treatment. He actually wanted me to tell the President of the United States that her offer, and I quote, “Sucked”. He thinks that we deserve more since they want to use the rail line that runs through here! Can you believe that shit?”
“For what it's worth, Jim, there's always one asshole. You could send him packing but there would be another one waiting in the wings,” I offered.
“You might change your mind if I told you that he wanted to charge you taxes for using the campus.”
“What he wants and what he gets are going to be two very different things!” Jill fired back.
“I'll tell you what, if he gives me any shit about this, I'm calling you guys in to give him what for,” he said.
“That's fine! It's been a long time since I've gotten to verbally spar with someone.”
“I'll hold you to that, Jill.”
“Please do!” she said. He nodded and changed the subject.
“How are things out at the ranch?”
“Things couldn't be better. It's running like a well-oiled machine,” I said.
“I really need to get back out and see you guys. I miss coming out there.”
“Anytime, my friend. Let us know when and we'll throw a rack of ribs on the grill and make sure the beer is cold.”
“C'mon, Jason. You know I'm a whiskey man,” he chuckled as he stood from behind his desk. It was his way of ending the meeting. We stood and followed him to the office door.
“Thanks for seeing us today,” Jill said.
“You guys are welcome in my office anytime, Jill. My door is always open to the first couple,” he said with a toothy smile.
“Oh Lord.....” Jill muttered as she walked past him, her head was shaking again.
“Oh, I almost forgot. What time does the trading post close?” I asked. He glanced at his wristwatch.
“You got about an hour,” he replied.
“Good. Thank you again,” I said as I made my way out of his office. He watched us as we walked down the hallway and went back into his office when we started down the stairs.
We said our good-byes to Harold and loaded up in the MRAP. I directed Melissa to take us to the trading post that was now located at the old convention and
visitors building. There was a big parking lot out front that was fenced off and the vendors were set up behind the fence and inside the building.
There weren’t many people so we quickly made our way inside. After about 20 minutes of searching, we finally found a vendor that was selling reams of fabric and sewing supplies. The counter was being manned by an elderly lady, probably in her eighties. I handed her the list that Braden had given to me and she told me that it would be a few minutes if I didn't mind waiting. Jill was two booths down looking at leather goods so I decided to join her while I waited.
There were two men behind the counter, father and son I presumed. Both of them were dressed in the same style of wares that they were selling. There was a wide array of pants, shirts, jackets and boots. What I didn't see was the purses and wallets and things like that. Things that would have been considered decorations in this new day and age. Everything that they were selling was functional work attire.
I greeted the men with a nod that they returned and joined Jill looking at the winter coats. She tried one on and it looked huge on her. The leather shell had a rabbit fur liner hand sewn into it and it looked quite warm. Jill took it off and put it back on the rack. She spotted the long leather dusters and made her way to that rack. Finally finding one that she thought was her size, she tried it on.
“Look! It fits over my.....” she started to say as she turned to look at me. Her gaze immediately shifted to
something behind me and her eyes went wide. Sensing the immediate danger, I began to spin and reach for my sidearm. Jill was already drawing hers. Before either of us could get our guns on target, multiple shots rang out from two different directions. The man who was running up behind me with a knife had been hit several times and he went down, hard. The four members of our security team quickly r
ushed in and surrounded the dead man.
“GET THEM OUT OF HERE!” Melissa yelled and pointed at the two of us. Before I knew it, we were being rushed out of the trading post and into the waiting MRAP. Dan and Mark were still sitting inside of it and had no idea what had just happened.
“What the hell's going on?” Dan asked.
“I don't know, some dude just tried to jump us with a knife!” Jill said excitedly.
“What?”
“Yeah, I was trying on coats and turned just in time to see him trying to rush us. Melissa and her people took him out before we could even get a shot off!”
“Did you recognize the guy?” Mark asked.
“I don't know, it's all a blur,” she said. He looked to me for an answer.
“No clue who the guy was. All I do know is that this is bullshit!” I said angrily and started making my way toward the rear hatch. “Mark, you stay with the MRAP, rest of you, on me,” I ordered as I threw the hatch open and started down the stairs.
Dan and Jill fell in on either side of me and the security detail encircled us as we walked back into the trading post. As we walked through the gate, two Hummers roared into the parking lot. They slid to a stop just short of the gate, Major Jackson jumped from the passenger side of one and Sheriff Darren Watson from the second. I didn't slow down to wait for either of them.
I kept up my brisk pace until I had reached the scene of the attack. Melissa had rolled the dead man onto his back and moved the large knife away from the body. She was keeping the small crowd that had gathered away from the crime scene. When she spotted us working our way through the crowd, her displeasure was obvious but she kept her mouth shut.
“Make a hole!” I heard Dennis yell from behind me as he pushed his way through the crowd. I could also hear the deputies that had come with Sheriff Watson ordering the crowd to move back. Dennis and Darren both stopped when they reached the edge of Melissa’s perimeter.
“What the hell happened”? Major Jackson was the first to ask. Melissa began to fill him in on the details as Sheriff Watson began to take notes. It took her a full 10 minutes to replay the incident for the two. At that point, the Sheriff took over and secured the scene. He also had his men start asking around if anyone knew the dead man.
