Forsaking Home (The Survivalist Series) (27 page)

“Yeah, let’s go by the house on the way back and check it out before we make any promises,” Danny said.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” I said.

“Can we come?” Jess asked.

I looked at Danny and Thad, they both shrugged. “Sure. Just warning you, where we’re staying now isn’t exactly four-star,” I said.

“I don’t care, it’s not here,” Jess said, then looked at Fred. “You want to come too?”

Fred looked at Aric. He was still out cold. “Come on, we’ll be back. Doc will take care of him. Let’s get out of here for a little while,” Jess said.

Fred looked at Doc. “You’ll take care of him?”

Doc nodded, pointed to the caduceus on his sleeve, and said, “Do no harm. I’ll take care of him.”

“He’ll be here when I get back?”

“He isn’t going anywhere,” Ted said.

Fred looked at Jess. “Okay, I’ll go.” Then she looked at Doc. “If he wakes up, tell him I’ll be back, okay?”

Doc smiled and nodded. “Sure thing.”

Jess looked at Thad. “When can we leave?”

Thad rocked back on his heels and started to laugh. “Calm down, little girl, we’ll go in a minute.”

It was good to see him laugh. I could tell that the incident earlier today had affected him, that he was shaken from it. Now he seemed to be back to our usual jovial Thad.

I walked over to Sarge. “You gonna be all right with these guys?” I asked.

“Yeah, they’re idiots, but they know what they’re doing. You go get them girls home.”

“We’ll start right away, but it’s going to take a while. I’ve only got enough fuel in the old truck for one trip—the rest will have to be done on the four-wheelers.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of it. Just go get packed up.”

“Will do. Now you get better. We still need you around here,” I said with a smile.

Sarge smiled back and stuck out his hand. I clasped it in mine as he said, “I’m gonna be all right. I told Little Bit I’d be back to see her. Can’t let her down.”

It struck me that he was thinking of her, and I smiled. “No, you can’t,” I said.

Sarge gave my hand a squeeze then said, “Now go on, git.”

“We’ll see you soon,” I said as I turned to leave.

Fred, Jess, and Kay were gathered on the other side of the tent talking quietly. It looked like they were scheming as they kept looking back in our direction.

Thad nodded his head in their direction. “Something’s up.”

We all turned to look. “Oh yeah, they’re scheming,” Danny said.

They concluded their skulduggery and headed our direction, Jess leading the pack.

“What’s up? You ladies are obviously conspiring about something,” I said.

Jess’s eyes darted toward Sarge, then back to Kay. “Kay’s going to stay here to help out. She runs the food service, and the captain will probably need her help.”

Ted cleared his throat. “We’ll need all the help we can get to keep order here. We’d be happy to have you on. I’ll let Livingston know.” Ted looked at Kay. “Are there other staff like you around?”

“Yes, there are other people in charge of some things—decent people. I can point them out,” Kay said. “I really appreciate your men coming in and taking charge here. Jess has only said the best things about you all.”

“They are some pretty good guys,” Jess said. She waved over to Fred, then looked back at me. “We’re going to grab a few things,” Jess said.

“Hurry up,” I said.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” she said, skipping away.

D
anny stood in front of his shattered front door. Glass crunched under his feet as he stepped into his home. I was right behind him. We worked to clear the house, moving room to room, but it soon became clear that it was empty. The only room we didn’t look in was the half bath downstairs. No one needed to see or smell that again.

It was obvious that more people had been through the house since we last were here. The house was a wreck. A lifetime of possessions were scattered everywhere. The only bright spot was that most of the windows were still intact. It looked as though the doors had taken the brunt of the DHS’s frustrations. The front door lay in splinters in the entry. The two sets of French doors on the rear of the house were little more than kindling at this point.

Danny moved through the house, pausing occasionally to pick up something from the floor to brush away dust and debris and examine it. He was kneeling in the living room when he let out a sigh.

“Well, at least the house is in decent shape. The doors will have to be fixed, don’t know how we’re going to do that.”

“We’ll find a way, man. Let’s go check out Thad’s place and mine. I’ll be outside when you’re ready,” I said.

I found Thad on the porch, leaning against a post. “It’s nice to be back here. It feels like home,” he said.

“A screwed-up version of home, though,” I remarked.

“That can all be fixed. We’ll get through it.”

I gave a little laugh. “You are the most optimistic person I’ve ever met.”

“My momma taught me a long time ago, you only get one turn on this ride. Don’t worry about the things you can’t control. Put everything into those that you can and live like you mean it.”

I slapped him on the back. “I like that,
live like you mean it
. Wanna hear my take on life?”

A big smirk crossed his face. “Oh yeah, I got to hear this.”

With a big smile I said, “Life is a sexually transmitted disease with a hundred-percent fatality rate.”

Thad’s chin dropped to his chest, a big smile on his face as he shook his head. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Morgan Carter—you just ain’t right.”

We walked to the buggies together through the mess of pine needles and other debris covering the yard. Danny had always been so diligent about keeping it cleaned up, and I could tell the state of everything was just killing him. Jess and Fred were sitting on the bed of the buggy when we came up.

Fred looked around. “This is a nice place. I like it here. It reminds me of where I grew up.”

“It used to be a lot nicer,” Danny said as he made his way toward his barn.

“Where you going?” I asked.

“To see if my Kubota is still here.”

Thad and I followed him. He slid the door open and he breathed a sigh of relief. The orange tractor was sitting there.

“Wonder why no one took it?” Thad asked.

“I pulled some parts to keep it from starting.”

“Good idea. Wonder if Reggie’s tractor is still around,” I said.

“It should be. I did the same thing to his.”

“Let’s go check it out, then,” Thad said as he moved back toward the vehicles.

We followed him to Reggie’s old place. The front door was still locked, and it looked as though it hadn’t been touched. But just to be safe we went in and cleared it room by room. It was empty. No one had even tried to enter it.

“I can’t believe no one has tried to get in here,” I said.

“Yeah, I don’t understand it,” Thad said. “But I am relieved.”

Jess poked her head in the door. “Is this where you live, Thad?”

Thad spread his arms out. “Home sweet home.”

She and Fred walked in and looked around.

“Could use a woman’s touch,” Fred said.

“You volunteering for the job?”

With a smile she replied, “Maybe. I think me and Jess could get this place in order.”

Jess let out a little laugh. “I’d gladly clean this house. I used to hate chores, but now I’d do them with a smile on my face.”

“Once we get moved back over here, there’ll be plenty of time and opportunity to clean, don’t you worry,” I said.

Thad gave a nod of approval. “Let’s go check your place out.”

“Sounds good to me, let’s go.”

We got back in the buggies and headed up the road to my place. My stomach was in knots. Seeing what they’d done to Danny’s place, I was certain mine was in just as bad a shape. Rolling to a stop in front, we could see the front door was gone. We worked together to clear it, then I started to survey the damage.

It was my worst fears come to life. Unlike Danny’s place, nearly every window in the house was broken. Every piece of furniture was destroyed. The cushions on the sofa and love seat were shredded. With a heavy heart, I ran my hand over my leather chair, which had been slashed to pieces. Going into my bedroom, I was met by a foul odor. The mattress on the bed had also been cut up, all the furniture had been hacked at, and what clothes were there were scattered on the floor.

Danny came up behind me. “What’s that smell?

“I have a feeling they pissed on my bed.”

“Looks like they really did a number here.”

“Yeah, I don’t know where to begin to fix all this.”

“Have you seen the bathroom yet?” Danny asked.

“No, I was afraid to look,” I said as I walked to the bathroom off my bedroom. I let out a groan. “Why in the hell would they bust my toilets? I mean, really? What the fuck?”

Thad’s voice came over my shoulder. “At least they didn’t burn the place down. We can fix this. Remember what I said earlier.”

I nodded. “Thanks, I’ll need the help.”

“Don’t worry, I got your back.”

“Me too, after my house is fixed up, of course,” Danny added.

“Thanks for that, really. I appreciate it.”

“Oh my God, Morgan, your house.” Jess’s voice came from the living room.

I stepped out. “Tell me about it. They really did a number on it.”

“Who did this and why?”

“You must have really pissed in someone’s Cheerios,” Fred added.

“This is what the DHS does to people who don’t go along with the program,” I said.

“You have no idea what they’ll do to you. I wish they’d just trashed my house,” Fred said, with a blank expression. Jess nodded, with that same look on her face.

“Yes, it could be worse,” I said, regretting my choice of words. Hearing them say that helped put this in perspective. Whatever the girls had gone through must make this seem like a cakewalk.

Fred waved around the room. “This, this can be fixed. We can handle this.”

“I hope so. Mel and the girls are going to be pretty upset, but we’ll explain that we can get this back toward normal.”

“Bobbie’s not going to be happy at all,” Danny agreed.

“Let’s get back and give them . . . I wouldn’t call it good news, but the news,” I said, heading for the doorway.

We loaded up and headed out, using the paved roads. Heading toward Altoona, I was curious to see if the market was still active. I slowed as we came up to it, taking a look. The parking lot was littered with trash, and the little tables used for wares were still there, but there were no traders in sight. Sitting on the walkway at the front of the store was a lone figure. I pulled in and Thad followed.

“Wonder where everyone is,” Danny said.

“Let’s see if we can find out.”

The long figure turned out to be an old man with a full gray beard. Like many people now, his clothes were dirty and road-worn, though, surprisingly, he was smoking a cigarette.

“Howdy,” I called out. With a nod, he raised his smoke at me, but that was it.

“Where is everyone?” Danny asked.

“Ain’t no one ’round here.”

“There used to be. Where’s the old lady that ran the store?”

“She’s dead. Ever’one else is gone. Reckon they went to that camp up there.” He motioned up the road.

“You live around here?” I asked.

“I live wur ever, don’t much matter.”

“Have you seen anyone else around?” Danny asked.

He waved his hand. “Naw, ain’t seen no one in some time now.”

“All right. Well, then, take it easy,” I said as I started the buggy up.

He nodded and flipped his hand. “Take it however I can get it.”

As I pulled out, Danny said, “Let’s stop by Clear Lake and see if that couple is still there.”

I nodded. “Good idea.”

Danny looked over. “You know, maybe they would want to move into our neighborhood. Another set of hands would be handy.”

“I was thinking the same thing. Plus it would give Little Bit someone to play with.”

Danny nodded. “Thought about that too.”

We cruised down the road, kicking up leaves and trash in our wake. Seeing how the roads were a mess, I wondered what Orlando was like. I would imagine the destruction was enormous. With so many living in such a small area, the worst in people was sure to come out. I could picture the smashed windows, the looted stores, garbage piling up in the streets. What would people do for food now? I shuddered at the thought. Orlando could be as bad off as a third-world country.

We pulled up to the camp and saw Tyler and Brandy sitting around a fire. They rose at the sound of the buggies. Seeing it was us, they smiled and waved. Tyler jogged out to where we parked.

“Hey, Morgan, Danny,” Tyler said, then looked at the buggy with Thad and the girls.

“Hey, Tyler.” I pointed to Thad. “This is Thad—he stayed behind on our last trip—and that’s Jess and Fred.”

“Hi, Thad, Jess, Fred,” he said, shaking their hands in turn. “Glad to meet you guys! Come join us by the fire.”

We followed him, waving hello to Brandy. She smiled and called out, “Hey, guys, nice to see you.”

“Hi, Brandy, good to see you guys too,” Danny replied.

We did another quick round of introductions for Brandy’s benefit. The girls quickly got into a conversation. Tyler looked over and grinned, then back at us. “They don’t waste any time, do they?”

“Nope, all’s missing is a fence for them to lean over,” Thad said, getting a laugh out of Tyler.

“How’ve you guys been out here, had any trouble?” I asked.

“We’ve been good. Haven’t seen a soul.”

“Glad to hear it,” I replied.

“So to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?” Tyler asked, sitting on a log.

“Well, we were talking and wanted to run something past you. We’re about to move back to our old house in our old neighborhood, and there are plenty of empty houses over there. Would you guys be interested in taking one of those houses? You know, move over there with us?” I asked.

Brandy and Tyler looked at one another. It was obviously something they hadn’t considered.

“That’s a bit of a surprise,” Tyler said. “We didn’t even think about that, but it would be really nice.”

Brandy looked at the tent they were using. “Right now, anything would be an improvement.”

“It’ll take us a couple of days to get things ready, but we’ll come by when we get moved and bring you guys over if you’re interested,” I said.

“That’d be great,” Brandy said, smiling. “We’re interested, right, Tyler?” she asked eagerly, looking at her husband.

Tyler nodded. “We’d love to. Thank you so much. You guys have been more than kind to us.”

“Yes, thank you so much. I can’t express how nice it will be to live in a
house
again,” Brandy said, smiling.

“How far is it from here?” Tyler asked.

“It’s close, about ten minutes away,” Danny said.

“Really? I haven’t seen any houses nearby,” Tyler said with surprise.

“Oh, I meant ten minutes by car. Guess I should have clarified that,” I said.

Tyler and Thad started to laugh. “Yeah, that’s a big distinction,” Thad said.

Tyler was shaking his head. “Guess we don’t really think in those terms anymore.”

“Hopefully, we will again someday,” I said.

“Hopefully. But I hope when it comes back, we do things a little differently. Sure, I miss having a car, house, and electricity. But this is a slower life. It’s nice in a way,” Tyler said.

Thad poked at the fire with a stick. “I think we needed to slow down. It was a hell of a way to do it, but it really emphasizes what’s important in life.”

“True. A lot of what we thought was so important disappeared and yet here we are,” I said, standing up from the fire. “Well, I’m glad you guys are moving in. I think that’ll be really nice to have you there. But for now, we got to get going.”

“We’ll come and get you guys when we get moved in. Just hold tight,” Danny said.

Tyler looked at Brandy and smiled. “We’ll be ready. I know I’m looking forward to it.”

“Me too. A house! Wow, it’s hard to believe.” Brandy looked at Fred and Jess. “Are you two going to live there as well?”

Jess nodded. “Uh-huh”—she looked around—“but I could live here and be happy, anywhere other than where we were.”

“That’ll be great—you two, plus Mel and Bobbie. It’ll be really nice.”

I looked at Thad and Danny. “This is going to end badly for us guys, I can tell already.”

Jess and Fred laughed. “Pfft, whatever,” Jess said.

We said our good-byes and headed back. We didn’t see a soul until we passed Chase’s place. The big man was standing in his front yard, tending a tub sitting over a fire. We exchanged waves as we passed. Seeing him made me replay what we had done to his son and the rest of his crew. I didn’t think it would be a good idea to tell him about the incident, though I thought he would agree that his son’s behavior was terrible. From what I could tell about Chase, he was a man of principle.

As we pulled into the camp, we could see Mel, Bobbie, and the girls sitting around the fire in the late-afternoon sun.

Mel stood and hollered out, “Where have you guys been?”

I took a seat by the fire before answering, “Been busy! Lots going on.”

Mel and Bobbie were eyeing Jess and Fred, so I made the introductions.

“You’re
the
Jess, the one who . . .” Mel pointed to her head.

Jess blushed a little and nodded. “Yeah, that’s me.”

Mel gave her a hug. “It’s nice to meet you. Thanks for taking care of him and helping him get home.”