by C M Hoffmann
Fitz, “As for ammo, we’re all a little short. Got a few thousand rounds of assorted calibers, but if these are the last rounds we can get then it’s not nearly enough.”
Rapp draws his sword, “Definitely glad we’ve got some good hand to hand weapons though.”
Pops, “They’ll do nicely in the coming times.”
Trey, “Well if we’re all good here, I’d like to go check on Emma and Lynn.”
“If you ladies need anything obviously give us a call.”
Raquel, “We will.”
“Alright, Two-Six, let’s go.” The group makes their way out to the vehicles and gets squared away. “Next stop, Trey’s house.”
A short ride to Trey’s house later, the group moves to follow the last procedure: check the perimeter, pick a guard, and then head in.
Emma meets everyone at the door and is being an excellent host curtsying for each one walking through the door, addressing each by their given names, “Welcome to our house. Hey, Daddy! Pops! Uncle G! Uncle Wade! Uncle Ninja! Uncle Fitz! Padrino! PARRAIN!” She gives everyone a hug as they enter the house. When Cane approaches, she jumps in his arms and whispers in his ear, “Parrain... you got the good stuff?”
Cane gets down on a knee and whispers back, “Of course I do, munchkin.” He reaches into a cargo pocket and retrieves a Ziploc bag of cookies. Cane pulls out a cookie making a show of looking around and over his shoulder dramatically, “Is this what you were looking for?”
Emma’s face lights up, “Yay! You always have cookies.” Emma snatches and devours the cookie quickly.
“Just for you, dearest. Now hop up and let’s go inside.” Cane scoops little Emma up and they walk into the house.
Emma waves to Fred, who is keeping guard, over Cane’s shoulder, “Hey, Uncle Fred!” He waves back like a queen on parade with a big smile.
Trey gives Lynn the rundown on the Task Force while Emma sits on Cane’s lap. Emma’s eyes look like they’re going to pop out.
Emma, “Daddy! I wanna be on the Task Force!”
Trey, “Of course you do. Pops has to swear you in first.”
Emma jumps to her feet, “Pops, can I be on the Task Force? Please? Pretty please with cookies on top?”
Pops smiles, “Alright fine, raise your right hand.”
Emma raises her hand, face beaming, “I’m ready.”
“Emma, do you solemnly swear to uphold the law to the best of your ability? Do you swear to protect the innocent and the living and the fellow members of your group from any and all danger? Do you swear to listen to your mother and father and members of your group and behave yourself at all times?”
“I SWEAR!”
“Welcome to the Two-Six.” A loud round of applause flows through the house. Emma is so excited she looks like she is going to melt through the floor.
Emma, “Thank you very much. I promise I’ll keep you guys safe.”
Trey picks her up in a hug, “I’m sure you will. Now go help your mother.”
Fred pokes his head in through the open front door, “Steve came to welcome Emma to the Two-Six. Want me to handle it?”
Emma, “I can do it!”
Pops, “Ask your dad.”
Trey, “Come on we’ll go up to the roof and do it together.” He picks up his seven mag from the nearby wall and cycles the bolt, chambering a fresh cartridge. Emma runs off and returns with her BB gun. Everyone heads out the back door and onto Trey’s roof to watch.
Trey helps Emma onto the roof and coaches her to lay prone and get her BB gun set up correctly and then does the same. The approaching steve isn’t far away.
Rapp, “Looks like thirty yards.”
Trey, “Roger that. Ok, baby girl, get comfy, control your breathing. Breathe in; breathe out halfway and hold it. Nod when you’re ready and we’ll pull the trigger on three.”
Emma fidgets, wiggles, settles behind the Red Ryder and takes a deep breath, “Ok, I’m ready.”
Trey counts off, “One... Two... Three.”
The BB guns fires and the simple quiet ‘click’ is drowned out by the explosion of the seven mag. The steve’s head snaps back and the body follows suit.
Emma jumps up, “I got him!”
Trey smiles with pride written across his face, “Yes you did.”
After the group high fives little Emma, Pops says, “Now remember, don’t get too excited. There’s usually more than one. Always check your surroundings for more.”
Emma stands up straight and with a serious face, “Yes, sir. I won’t let you down.”
Fred, “That was fantastic! But, I still have to show you guys something at my house that I think you’ll love.”
Pops, “Then I guess Fred’s house is next. Two-Six, you know the drill.”
They make their way down to ground level to say their goodbyes. Afterwards, the group returns to their assigned vehicles and begins their short trek to Fred’s house. When they arrive, Fred’s massive Rottweiler is sitting at the open front door.
Cane, “Fred, why in the world is your front door open with no one keeping an eye out?”
Fred, “What do you mean? The dog’s right there. Aaaaannnnddd the shingles have eyes.” Fred smiles broadly and waves towards the roof of the two story house. Fred’s four children, or troops as they’re so often called, stand up with an assortment of AR-15s and shotguns. “See what I mean? Troops! Inside!” Wordlessly the troops smile, wave to the group and head inside.
Wyatt, “Guess we have more members of the Task Force now, huh?”
Fred smiles, “Nope. These are my security guards and my QRF. They’ll be more than happy to come save us when the time comes.”
Rapp chooses to stand guard outside while the rest of Two-Six goes inside to talk with the troops and Fred’s wife, Lillian.
After some small talk Fred says, “Alright guys come see this.” The group follows him upstairs and he can’t stop smiling.
Trey, “Got steve tied up in the closet?”
“Better.” He moves to the far wall of a corner bedroom and points to a chalkboard hanging near the window facing the street. The word ‘SCOREBOARD’ is written across the top in bold letters. Underneath, each of the troops has their own column. Dozens of tally marks have already filled parts of the board.
Gavin, “You’re joking.”
Wade, “That’s awesome!”
Wyatt, “Holy shit they’ve been busy.”
Trey, Cane, and Fitz are laughing too hard to speak.
Fred puffs out his chest, “What do you bring to a gunfight?”
Wyatt, “Bigger guns?”
“Nope, me and the troops!” The whole group breaks into laughter.
Pops, “Well that’s definitely a way to get the troops involved.”
“Yep, not surprisingly the youngest has the most. The oldest likes to go hands on more often than not.”
Wade, “How old are they now?”
“Youngest to oldest? Nine, Eleven, Thirteen, and Sixteen.”
“And they’ll probably get more than all of us combined...”
“We have an edge: we’ll be out looking, they’ll be stuck here.”
Cane slaps Fred on the back, “That is a thing of beauty, my friend. I’m gonna go relieve Rapp so he can see this.”
Pops gets a phone call from Mom, while Cane goes to switch out with Rapp.
Rapp walks in the room, takes one look at the scoreboard , and lets out a gut-busting laugh.
Pops finishes his phone call, “Alright, everyone. Go home for the day, enjoy it with your families and guests. Gavin, Wade, we need to get back to your mother. Apparently, Ronson has returned with less than good news. Wade, go get Cane from outside. Also, until we get the city secured we need to get everyone’s houses locked down. So far I think Trey is the only one who has only one person watching his house while he’s gone. Any ideas?”
Cane and Wade walk in and Cane jumps in the conversation, “I’m glad we’re getting the evening off I feel like I could slee
p for days. It just dawned on me that I haven’t slept in over forty eight hours. What are we talking about?”
Pops, “Need someone else to keep Lynn and Emma company while we’re out.”
“What about Coll? He told me earlier he’s lacking on guns and ammo. There’s plenty at Trey’s house and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind staying there since we’ve got enough people as roaming security.”
Trey, “Not a bad idea. When I get home, I’ll make some room.”
Pops, “We’ll try and see if he’s still at the gas station and we’ll talk to him about it.”
Cane, “I heard Ronson came back?”
“Yes, your mother said his house burnt down and they were overrun so he came back. Probably going to set him up in the garage since we don’t have a lot of room inside.”
Gavin, “Sounds like a good plan to me.”
“Let’s get to it then. Everyone head home and be careful. Call if you need anything.”
Everyone makes their goodbyes out front of Fred’s house, where the troops have repositioned themselves on the roof. The members of Two-Six return to their vehicles and head home in their various directions.
Cane and Wyatt make it back to Cane’s house and move inside after checking the streets.
Scarlett, “You’re home early. I figured you’d be out all day playing soldier.”
Cane “I prefer the term ‘operator’. And this operator is exhausted. I’m going to bed, wake me if you need anything and remember to keep someone on watch.”
Scarlett kisses Cane, “Go get cozy, we’ll take care of the home front.”
Cane makes his way to the bedroom and begins to strip off his multiple layers of gear. He crawls into bed and realizes there’s a little one in the house. He gets back up and empties the chambers on the guns scattered about the room. Scarlett organizes a watch and Justin runs about chasing the dogs around the house..
♦ ♦ ♦
Cane lies in bed, trying to go over the previous two days’ events. The amount of information is astounding. The incidents at the hunting lease, the trek home, actually arriving home, and now Task Force Two-Six. He barely stifles a smile for no reason other than he feels silly. It’s the end of the world and regardless of the endless times a specialized task force was talked about and hoped for, he should not be excited. The prospect of running around with an unconditional green light with his family and closest friends makes him giddy.
As he lies there, the aches and pains set in. ‘Amazing what you can ignore when there’s work to be done,’ he thinks to himself. He consciously rolls his shoulders, hips, and neck; flexes his toes and fingers and begins popping the knuckles of the latter; he works his elbows and knees in small circular motions. ‘Well at least, I can still move. But damn if I won’t be sore as hell tomorrow.’
He starts to remember just how many steves they’ve all had to put down so far. Silently ticking them off in his head attempting to mentally track the number, unknowingly ‘counting the sheep’, Cane drifts off quickly into a deep sleep before the sun sets.
CRASH
He knows that sound. ‘A lamp breaking? A dish falling? Definitely not a window breaking, they’re all boarded up. Is that shuffling? Who drags their feet at time like this? Scarlet must be doing something. He feels his hair stand on edge. Red flag? For what?’
THUD
‘Shit, there’s someone in the hall,’ Cane thinks to himself. ‘It’s gotta be them. Who else just bumps into walls? Scarlett isn’t that clumsy.’
THUD. CRASH.
He lies as still as he can muster and tries to find a solution to a problem when he doesn’t know what the problem is. ‘Where the fuck are the dogs? If someone or something is here that shouldn’t be, they should be going nuts.’ A terrifying realization sets in, ‘Either whatever or whoever it is got to the dogs, or Scarlett broke something again. But, it can’t have been Scarlett; there would have been all manner of sailor talk coming from the other room.’
THUD. CRASH.
‘Picture frames! That’s what it is! Who the fuck is knocking over all the pictures?’
He feels something brush against his arm, he barely cracks the lids on his left eye and sees Scarlett’s hair in a messy tangle. ‘Of course she didn’t hear anything. And even if she did, she’d wake me up. But she must have heard something to back up against me.’ He hears the knob turn with a familiar squeak. ‘Gotta get her up,’ he tries to shake her and nothing happens.
He starts to talk to her, she hears nothing, never stirs. He talks louder and louder until it is a scream but she doesn’t move. Then he understands: it’s not that she didn’t feel him shake her; it’s not that she didn’t hear him; he hasn’t moved; hasn’t uttered a sound. Tightness grips his lungs, his heart beats fiercely, and there is a lump in his throat. He can’t breathe. His eyes snap open, panic sets in and he tries to fight against his own body. He thrashes and thrashes, flexing every muscle fiber he can sync to. His limbs burn with the strain but no motion occurs. He can’t move, ‘I must’ve hurt something, fuck, fuck, fuck, shit, fuck. OK calm down, panic doesn’t help.’
The door clicks open. He can barely see passed the tip of his nose, but something is there, massive and menacing. It takes a step. And another, and another, and another. It leans over him, in the darkness it has no features. Its hands touch the bed, and it leans closer and closer. They are face to face, the rotting breath swims around his head making his nostrils burn and he gags. It climbs on the bed and sits on his abdomen crushing what little breath he could take. It leans forward again, red eyes glow in the darkness bathing the rest of the face in an eerie light. The mouth opens; jagged, broken, and discolored teeth inch closer.
‘Fuck, this bitch is going to bite me. Come on, idiot, MOVE!’ He strains and strains but it’s no use, if he wasn’t effective before it certainly didn’t help this thing was pinning him down. As he tries to scream, it stops.
It sits back and its head moves like a turret coming to focus on Scarlett. Drool runs from the corners of its mouth, and it starts to move.
‘No, no, no, no, NO! Come on, motherfucker, I’m right here! Scarlett wake up! For once just freakin’ listen to me!’ But no sound escapes his lips.
His muscles shred at the exertion and he watches in horror as the monster sinks those nasty teeth into his wife’s back. Blood pours from the wound and the monster keeps at it, peeling the flesh away.
“CANE!” shouts a familiar voice.
OPERATIONS
Scarlett shakes Cane to wake him up, he sits up in a panic. Sweat beads his forehead. Arms instinctively fly up to protect himself before he prepares his attack. He flinches feeling the warmth of the room. He takes a moment to orient himself. There’s no monster, it just his wife, sure a monster in her own way, but, hey, he chose her. He shakes off the dream and looks at his wife’s face and he falls in love all over again.
Cane, “What’s wrong?”
Scarlett, “Other than you thrashing around in your sleep and nearly punching my lights out when you sat up? Nothing, it’s ten a.m. The rest of the guys are here. Wondering if you’re going out today?”
Cane falls back into bed, “Ugh, do I have to adult today? I was having a terrible nightmare. Couldn’t move, couldn’t save you.”
Scarlett giggles, “Well the end of the world usually calls for adults, so yes I’m afraid you have to adult today. As for your dream, welcome to the real world. The world where you will be able to save me, even though you won’t have to. Strong independent woman who don’t need no man and all that. Now get your cute butt up.”
Cane pulls a pillow over his face, “I don’t wanna.”
Just then the bedroom door flings open. Gavin, Trey, Wade and Wyatt are all clambering over each other to pile on top of Cane laughing hysterically. Scarlett narrowly escapes the stampede before they impact with all the force of a freight train.
Cane, “HMPH! GET OFF ME YOU DICKHEADS! YOU’RE CRUSHING MY LUNGS!”
Wade, “Not if you’
re still talking.”
Gavin, “Maybe we should jump on him.”
Cane, “I swear I’m going to end all of you!”
Trey, “Then you have to get up first, sleeping beauty.”
Wyatt, “Yea, cutie pie, it’s time to play.”
Cane, “GET OFF!”
Pops stands in the doorway, “Up and at ‘em! Gear up, there’s work to be done.”
“I would be happy too, if you could get your peons off me!”
“Boys, your job is done, obviously he’s awake now. And I think I told you not to be rough.”
Wyatt, “Just wanted to get the job done, a hundred and ten percent.”
Trey, “What’s the extra ten?”
Wyatt smiles broadly, “Now his adrenaline is pumping. Pretty sure something under those sheets poked me. Weird, big dog, weird.”
Cane sits up, “Assholes. It’s not funny when I’m in my underwear.”
Wade, “Not like we’d see anything, without a microscope of course.”
“Shut up.” Cane snaps. He goes off to get dressed and then joins everyone in the living room.
Rapp, “Morning, beautiful.”
Scarlett, “Good morning.”
“I meant Cane.”
“Why am I not surprised.”
Cane, “Alright, alright, I’m up. What’s the day look like?” Cane notices Justin is riding piggyback on Gavin while the impromptu meeting is taking place. Justin is hugging Gavin fiercely around his neck while Mallory looks on in awe.
Pops, “We’ll be in one big group today. We’re gonna stay together until we really get a feel for how we work together. After that, we’ll break up into smaller groups to cover more ground. We want to try to put down as many steves as possible so we can help with the bigger plan to secure the city. It’s pretty pointless to secure a city with the enemy locked inside.”
“Sounds like a plan to me. Fred outside on watch?”
Fitz, “Yea, he likes guard duty, he’s trying to keep up with the troops.”
Pops, “Everyone ready?” Nods all around the Two-Six are the only response. “We’re gonna start on the south side today. There’s someone at my house you should all meet. He’s a JP that relocated to us, so we’ll head there first. Two-Six, move out.”
