by Connor Mccoy
Jacob waited with Domino as Josephine walked up to Trang and started talking. “Yeah, I know all about what Trang was up to in Middleburg. Here’s what happened after you crossed paths with him. There was, I guess you could call it, a civil war in Middleburg. A man named Ray Cramer had showed up there one day. He saw what Trang was doing and decided he could do it better. Cramer swayed a lot of the men there. Some of them wanted power for themselves. Some of them were afraid of being reaped. A few of them had family who the reapers had taken out. They were in the mood for payback.”
Trang bristled a little. He clearly was not enjoying this story.
Josephine continued. “Trang and his men were driven out of Middleburg. Cramer came to us with his new little army and thought, hey, if he could conquer one town, let’s go for two. Of course, Fall Crossing’s a tougher nut to crack and we sent him packing.” Josephine bowed her head. A part of this story was not wearing well with her. “It almost didn’t turn out well for us. You see, Cramer used to be one of us. He was a part of Fall Crossing.”
Jacob stepped a little closer. This was getting truly intriguing.
“A few weeks after the EMP hit, Cramer wanted to impose martial law on the town and create an army. We soon realized he wanted to make like Genghis Khan and start taking over towns. We told him no dice, and when he wouldn’t stop with his mad plans, we threw him out of town. But he had a few admirers who helped him when he came back to take over.” Josephine leaned against the tree where Trang sat. “Trang and his men made the difference. Almost all of them died that day.”
Jacob tried locking eyes with Trang, but the man kept looking away. Was it shame? Remorse? “Could I ask why Trang would risk his neck for you guys?”
Trang did not answer. Josephine did it for him. “Reality hit him hard. Running for your life from the very army you helped create will do a lot to make you realize you screwed up royally.”
Jacob wondered if it was conscience, or fear, or just opportunism, but he let his doubts slide for the moment. “So, Krysta and her kids, they came from Fall Crossing?”
“Yeah. Like I said, Cramer had followers. Someone who Krysta cared about was one of them,” Josephine said.
“And he’s the guy you and Krysta are afraid of running into again,” Domino said.
“Him, Cramer, his flunkies, you name it.” Josephine formed a fist. “I tried to take Krysta and her kids into hiding in Skylar, but Cramer’s goons made it there first. The people there made him and his men hurt pretty badly, but…” Josephine looked at the mass of survivors who were in easy sight. “The fight came at a pretty big cost.”
“So, Cramer, he’s the guy we have to worry about?” Jacob said.
“From the stories these people tell about Cramer, I’d say hell and yes,” Mrs. Kennan said.
Josephine nodded. “I couldn’t put it any better.”
“So, where’s Cramer now?” Jacob marched a little closer to Nguyen. “It sounds like he’s still alive. So, how many men did he make off with?”
By now Jacob was close enough to Nguyen that he could see the man’s face in sharp focus, even sharper than when he first had met him in that office in Middleburg. At first the man’s features had been hidden by a hood, until his brother Hien had ordered him to take it off. At that time, Trang and Jacob had faced off inside an office building at night. Now, in the daylight, Jacob could make out a face that was even younger than he first had perceived. Only the slight shading of white in his hair near his ears helped evidence that he was a middle-aged man.
Trang did not answer. One of the men did it for him.
“I was there,” he said. “I saw about ten men flee into the woods. They were headed southwest.”
“Southwest,” Jacob repeated. That direction did lead away from his farm, but Cramer’s band still could circle around back toward him if they wanted. It was an answer, however slight.
Some of the other men might know more. Jacob decided they would stick around and try digging up more answers. He turned toward Domino. “Let’s start passing around food. These people could use it.” Better to show these survivors that they had good intentions after pulling a gun on someone they admired.
He turned to leave.
“You…” spoke Trang.
Jacob turned around.
Trang talked haltingly, with a dry voice. “You…my brother went with you. Where is he? What happened to him?”
Jacob was stunned by the question. Perhaps in part because he didn’t think Trang wouldn’t know, but also because he had not prepared himself to answer it. “You don’t know what happened to Hien?” Jacob asked.
Trang shook his head. A lump formed in Jacob’s throat. He didn’t want to break this news.
“Your brother accompanied me to Pleasantville,” Jacob said. “He helped me and my family against Diablo, one of the Reapers.” A Reaper you sent out, Jacob thought, but he did all he could not to say it. “He helped save our lives, but he didn’t make it. Diablo, he wounded him pretty badly. He died in Doc Sam’s house.”
Trang slid back against the tree. If he was stronger, he might have quaked, shook, lashed out, anything. But then his eyes closed partway, as he said, “Did he…did he talk about me?”
“Yes,” Jacob said.
“Was he ashamed of me?”
Jacob ran through his mind all the things Hien had told him about how he had instructed his brother, how he had regretted teaching Trang the methods used by the Sons of Chen. But Trang didn’t need to hear that.
“He said he cared very much about you,” Jacob said. Jacob didn’t recall that exact sentence, but he believed it to be true from Hien’s words and body language.
Trang bowed his head. “Thank you.”
In that moment, Jacob registered how lost this man must be without his brother. He probably was distraught when Hien never returned. And that his downfall was likely due to lacking the strength to take on Cramer and stop the man from pillaging part of the Middleburg force. It was enough to fill Jacob with a little sympathy for this man.
Even so, the memory of the Reapers and their ruthless ways still haunted Jacob. And Trang bore some responsibility for molding and shaping the men there into the anarchists who had sacked Skylar. It would be a while before Jacob could see the good that Trang had done in recent days.
Domino, Josephine and Mrs. Kennan had stood still the entire time Jacob and Trang had their exchange. Jacob returned to Domino. “Let’s…let’s help these people,” he said.
“Gently, gently,” Sheryl said as Brandon fitted the two bulbs into the wooden frame. Jubilee, Courtney, Jamie, Ford and Arnie all sat around the table, watching with rapt attention, while Krysta stood up behind Sheryl to observe. The wooden frame laid open to permit the two bulbs in, but the plan was to attach the two halves together once the bulbs were inserted.
“Got it!” Brandon opened his hand. The bulbs successfully were planted.
Sheryl closed the frame around the bulbs. It was amazing to behold. The two bulbs were attached together, jointed by both ends to permit a small passage. Sand lay in the bottom bulb. If the hourglass was turned over, the sand would start trickling down through the gap from the top bulb into the bulb underneath.
Jubilee held up the small bottle of glue. “Ready!”
Sheryl pushed the bulbs in the wooden frame to Jubilee. The teen opened the frame back up to line the insides with glue. Sheryl burned with pride. All the work they had done, from finding the bulbs, to gathering and heating up the sand, to putting together the wood to fit the bulbs just right, was paying off. With these hourglasses, I’ll be able to work out a routine around here, she thought. And the project did a lot for Courtney. The girl had not complained about her wasp sting in more than a day.
With the glue applied, Jubilee snapped the wooden frame back together. They would let it sit for a while. After that, they safely could turn the glass over as they wished.
A knock at the door turned their heads. Krysta’s mouth dropped open.
The knocking clearly rattled her. “Who’s that?” she asked breathlessly.
“Easy.” Sheryl rose from her seat. “I wonder if it’s Mrs. Keenan again.”
“Maybe this time she will get the code phrase right.” Brandon said as he got up and joined Sheryl.
“Maybe it’s Mister Jacob and the protector?” Jamie asked.
“Naah, they have the house keys.” Sheryl walked through the doorway into the living room. “They’d just come in.” Sheryl hoped it was Mrs. Keenan for a return visit.
But before she got to the door to look through the peephole, Krysta suddenly butted in between her and the door. “Let me look first,” she said.
Sheryl obliged her. Krysta looked through the hole.
Suddenly, with a gasp, Krysta stumbled backward, knocking into Sheryl.
“What is it?” Sheryl steadied Krysta.
“Krysta!” called a man’s voice from the other side of the door. “Krysta!”
Before Sheryl could ask Krysta anything, the woman turned and grabbed her by her shirt, her eyes full of fright. “Sheryl, do not open that door!”
Chapter Ten
Domino strapped her pack back on. “I’m out.” She chuckled tiredly. “I was almost afraid I would get mobbed.”
Jacob knew Domino was exaggerating. The people here were eager for provisions, but they maintained respect for their new guests. It helped immensely that Jacob had pledged not to put a bullet into Trang Nguyen’s head.
Jacob, his wife, and Josephine passed around the food and water they had brought along, but it was soon clear that more would be needed for everyone to get a share. Jacob finally had gotten a sense for how many people were hiding in here, about a hundred. It staggered him after he made the estimate, as the people were mostly spread out, making their numbers less than discernable.
More than half of them were women and children. Men made up a little more than forty percent. They were armed but did not possess a bottomless reservoir of ammunition. They had exhausted a lot in the battle with Cramer’s forces.
As for Cramer, it was clear he and a portion of his men had escaped. Nobody had seen a trace of them since their escape from Skylar. In the end, nobody could be sure how many men Cramer had left. Jacob felt a little better that Cramer was not practically waiting on his doorstep. In fact, with this many survivors close by, Cramer might decide to avoid this neck of the woods and set off for greener pastures.
But that left the problem of what to do with these people. They were bedraggled, beaten down, and hungry. Domino could read the worry in Jacob’s face.
“You afraid we’re going to have a hundred more houseguests?” she asked, a tad mischievously.
“You know there’s no way—” Jacob started to say.
“I’m kidding. No, we can’t house everyone, but I wonder where they’re going to go?” Domino looked up to the tops of the trees. “Vantage Point isn’t far away, but that place is so tiny, and God knows if Cramer went there, too.”
Jacob sighed. “Maybe we should just take one catastrophe at a time. We can round up the kids, make runs back and forth to the farm to pass out provisions to everyone. There should be enough to strengthen these people.”
“But Jay, we can’t feed these people forever. Our farm is too small!”
“Sooner or later, they’re going to have to go, although I hate to be the one to tell them that.” Jacob also recognized that even good people could turn desperate and do things they never would do if they were well-fed. Like storm a well-stocked farm. He didn’t eliminate the possibility that these folks might turn out to be a problem.
“Hey!” Josephine jogged up to them. “I want to head back to your place, check on Krysta and the boys.”
“We need to restock food and water for these people anyway. Alright. I’ll go find Mrs. Keenan and let her know.” Jacob checked the surroundings for her and soon spotted the older lady chatting with Alvin. “And then we get make off for home.”
“Hey! Krysta, is that you?” The man knocked two more times. “Let me in!”
Krysta gripped Sheryl’s arm. “Please, whatever you do, don’t let that man in here. He wants me and the boys.”
Ford ran to his mother’s side. “I’m here, Mom. I’ll protect you!”
Brandon and Jubilee returned to the room with their firearms. “We’ll protect you,” Jubilee said.
Ford clasped a hand over his heart. “But with the protector gone, it’s up to me—”
“It’s up to you to stay with your mom.” Brandon got between Ford and the front door. “If you want to be a warrior, you got to earn your stripes first.”
Jamie grabbed Ford’s arm. “Ford, please, let’s run away! I don’t want to be by Greg! Let’s get away from him!”
“Hey!” Greg shouted. “Are my boys in there? I think I hear them!”
Krysta roared to life. “Stop it, Greg! Just stop it! We’re through! I told you that time and time again. They’re not your boys and I’m not your woman!”
“What have these folks done to you, Krysta? They brainwashing you or something? You got a new boyfriend? Send him out here and I’ll show you what a real man can do.”
“There’s no one here but nice people who take care of us. You…you’re the one who did this to us. Your fist…”
“Look, I’m sorry. I only planned to knock you out and drag you out of there, like in the movies.”
“Greg, this isn’t a movie. This is real life! You are out of control. And Cramer…”
“Cramer can help all of us. He’s got food, water, and no one’s gonna take it from him! We got to go back to him and work for him!”
“Forget it! He can go to Hell!” Krysta shouted back.
“I’m not taking no for an answer, Krys!” Greg replied. “Now, I got a partner here who’s going to help bring you and the boys back, and you don’t want to mess with him.”
Courtney took Sheryl by her left arm. “Okay, this guy sounds like a total psycho. I think we got to do something.”
“We will.” Sheryl turned to Arnie. “Arnie, it’s time for Operation Keepaway. Take Krysta and the boys to the den.”
Arnie tried to salute but smacked his eyebrows instead of his forehead. Nonetheless, he crowed, “Yes, Ma’am!” Turning to Krysta, Arnie said, “We go, now!”
“Can I ride the giant?” Jamie asked.
Arnie knelt down so Jamie could climb onto his back. Krysta charged down the hall. Ford was reluctant, until Brandon said, “Hurry! We’ll cover you!”
“Courtney, go with them!” Sheryl pointed her thumb to the hall.
Courtney bit her lip. “Please be careful!” She ran after Arnie and Krysta and her family.
“I’m giving you the count of ten to let me in and then we’re busting through!” Greg shouted.
Sheryl backed up toward the hall, with Brandon and Jubilee behind her. “They might be armed. Stay away from the door.”
“One…two…” Greg counted.
Sheryl tried to control her breathing. This was it. Jacob and Domino were not around to help her. She had to act as the first line of defense for the Avery homestead. “Kids, maybe you should leave me, too and go with Arnie and the others. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“This is our house, too,” Brandon replied. “And no son of a gun is getting in here without a fight!”
“Five…six…” counted Greg.
Sheryl almost laughed at Brandon’s effort to keep his language clean. Domino would be happy.
“Eight…nine…”
“Take cover in the kitchen,” Sheryl instructed. Not far down the hall was the open door to the kitchen. They could huddle in there if they had to.
“Ten!” Greg roared.
The three of them ducked into the kitchen, crouching close to the floor and using the nearby stove as cover.
A hail of gunfire tore through the doorknob and the lock. The shots were so rapid that Sheryl wondered if they had a semi-automatic with them. She wasn’t a gun exper
t, so she couldn’t be sure what Greg and his accomplice were armed with.
The salvo ceased. Sheryl stuck her head out. With the deadbolt and knob blasted off, the front door started swinging free. A hand suddenly reached out and pulled the door completely open.
“Brandon, Jubilee, behind me!” Sheryl, crouched down, squeezed off shots at the open door. The man who was standing there retreated.
“God, I can’t see him.” Sheryl was petrified. Should she stand up? Wouldn’t that give Greg and the other man a clear shot at her?
More shots rang out, strafing the interior of the living room. Brandon and Jubilee returned fire briefly but pulled back once the shots got too close to the hall opening.
“Hold on!” Greg suddenly cried. “Are Krysta and the boys in there? We can’t keep shooting!”
Greg poked his face through the doorway. “Krysta! Jamie! Ford!”
“They’re not in there,” spoke the mysterious man behind him. “Let me through. I know this place.”
He knows this place? Sheryl was puzzled. How did Greg’s companion know the Avery house? Had he been here before?
The mysterious man stormed into the room. He fired off a few more rounds in a wide fan. One hit the wall not far from the kitchen.
Sheryl pointed her gun at the man. “Enough! I don’t know who the hell you are, but Krysta and her boys are gone! You might as well pack up and leave!”
The man turned to Sheryl. There wasn’t a glimmer of fear in his eyes. “Strange,” he said, “you remind me of him, but you’re not. Ah, I know who you are, Sheryl. I don’t recognize you without the lab coat.”
Sheryl blinked her eyes. Who could this man be?
“Holy cow,” Brandon said, “It’s him.”
Jacob led the way, rounding his property’s fence until he reached the point where it curved around his front yard, leaving the trees behind. “Let me tell Krysta and the boys about the people,” Josephine said. “She’s bound to still be jittery. I want her to know that these are the same people who tried to help her before Cramer overtook us.”
