THE COLLAPSE: Seeking Refuge (17 page)

Alexis also couldn’t help but to notice that once the rain had covered his body and plastered his obnoxiously-colored maroon boxer briefs to his mid-section, he had a decent-sized package down there.  Not that she was looking, of course.  But yeah, he was packing some heat! 

As Fish showered, Alexis tried not to stare as she questioned him about changing the warning shot policy, and Fish countered her with his own opinions of it, citing the fact that ammunition was scarce and that there were enough lighted warning signs along the beach.  If people came too close to shore, well…then they deserved to actually get
blown away
, not just “shot at”.

As the two argued, Fish went to his truck and returned with a bottle of soap.  He squeezed some onto his fingers and set the bottle down, then lathered his hands and ran them thru his short hair and over his face.

Alexis pointed at the bottle on the ground and asked, “Is that dish soap?”

“Yup, it sure is.  Better than nothing, princess,” Fish laughed as he continued to lather up the rest of his body with Tarra’s green bottle of Palmolive.  It smelled nice, and was rather refreshing in his opinion.

“Stop calling me princess,” she warned, “you don’t know anything about me.”

“You’re right, I don’t,” Fish admitted.  Then he asked, “Are we done here?”  He wanted her to leave.  Many of his body parts had grown numb from the cold and his nose was getting runny.  He wanted nothing more than to find a towel, dry off, and then try to figure out a way to get the dirt and pine needles off his icy feet before putting some clean socks on. 

“I guess so,” Alexis grunted as she let herself out of the screen tent and darted for the next chunk of rain cover up the road.  She wasn’t entirely satisfied with the outcome of her conversation with Fish, but decided that he was simply too ignorant to understand the bigger picture.  Her concept of defensive measures differed from his, and since he was a team leader there wasn’t much she could do about it.  She had already spoken with Claudine and William about Fish’s negligence, but for some bizarre reason they had sided with Fish and told her that he had the absolute authority to do whatever he wanted with his night shift.  It was very strange and uncharacteristic of them to side with someone (especially over her) that was a total stranger up until a couple of days ago.

Chapter 10

Stephen stood next to Fish as they waited for the three o’clock meeting to start.  It hadn’t rained since the lunchtime downpour, but Stephen’s jacket was still wet and mighty uncomfortable. 

Stephen had detected a pleasant, soapy scent coming from Fish.  He sniffed the air next to his buddy’s body and whispered a compliment, “You smell pretty good today, and your hair is clean.  How did you manage all that?”

“Long story, dude,” Fish grinned and whispered back, “I’ll tell ya after the meeting.”

Stephen wondered if he had discovered some type of makeshift shower facility within The Park.  But he was pretty sure that there wasn’t any, judging from the way that Hal Hollingsworth had smelled while he constructed the herring smokers.  People were probably taking ice cold bucket baths with sponges or rags.  Maybe they fire-heated the water first, maybe not.  Stephen wondered if anybody had an RV that could be bucket-fed water somehow for showering.  He didn’t know much about RV’s.  He also wondered how many folks had given up on hygiene completely, and simply went “au naturel”.

During the meeting, Stephen was gifted with two saws that were acquired during the run earlier in the day.  One was a common handsaw, clean, with sharp teeth and zero rust.  It almost looked brand new.  The other one was much larger; it was a four foot two-person crosscut saw!  His woodcutters were gonna love these!  Especially the big one.  They could easily take down larger trees in half the time and with half the effort it took before.  Stephen couldn’t wait to see their expressions when he presented them with their new tools.

When it was Fish’s turn to speak, he tattled on the five men that had badgered him and Bryan while they transported the prisoners to the Probst’s site.  After he had mentioned the man with the golf club, Ox spoke up and asked, “Was he average height with salt-and-pepper hair?”

Fish shrugged and said, “It was dark out, but yeah, I think he had some gray in his hair.”

“I know who it was then.  His name is Terry,” Ox announced to the other leaders, mainly to the Probsts.  He continued with, “I don’t know his last name, but he’s always carrying that damn golf club around.  Takes it everywhere he goes.”

Carrie laughed and said to Ox, “Don’t you carry your gun everywhere you go?  Well, the golf club is
his
gun.”

Most of the leaders laughed even though Carrie’s comment really wasn’t that funny.

“Anyway,” Fish interrupted the laughing, “this Terry guy and his posse wanted to question the prisoners right there in the middle of the road.  I told them ‘no’, and they got belligerent, so I acted as if I was going to butt-stroke the golfer in the head.  I wasn’t really gonna do it, though.  I just needed to take control of the situation.”

Claudine Probst was nodding satisfactorily.  Fish turned to her and said, “So, if you hear any stories about me abusing the residents, now you know the truth.”

“Fish, you didn’t do anything wrong.  Nothing at all,” Claudine said.  She looked at the other security team leaders as if she was about to begin a campaign speech, expressing to them, “Should the same type of situation arise again, and I believe it will, I want the rest of you to follow Fish’s example.  Do not allow, I say again,
do not allow
any of our residents to go off half-cocked on any of our prisoners.  Prisoners are a far too valuable source of information to allow some vigilantes permission to conduct their own muddled interrogation.  Too much information will be lost.  All prisoners shall be brought immediately to me and William.  Am I being clear enough to all of you?”

All of the security forces nodded in acknowledgment.  Claudine was just about to broaden her scope by instructing the team leaders to disseminate her orders to all of their team members when she was interrupted.  Meghan Probst arrived on her bicycle, out of breath and hysteric. 

She yelled, “Mom, dad, Mr. Hollingsworth,” she started, trying to catch her breath, “one of the beachers just found Julia Hollingsworth’s body.  She’s dead, mom.”

All eyes instantly went to Hal.  Some were compassionate, others were accusatory.  Hal, who for some reason didn’t appear hurt or shocked by the news, glanced around at everyone, then barked, “What the hell are all of you looking at me for?  I was building smokers all day.”

Some leaders felt embarrassed and looked away, but most did not.

Hal pointed at Stephen and said, “Stephen’s woodcutters are my alibi.” Then he looked at Claudine and William and continued with, “I didn’t do it!  I swear!  Yeah, I was pissed that she was cheating on me, but I’d never
kill
her!  Never!”

Claudine wasn’t satisfied.  She turned to Alexis and ordered her in a reluctant tone, “Take his weapon, please.  Then detain him.”  

“What?  No!  I was with the woodcutters all day, just ask them!” Hal argued, but Alexis was already in full-out cop mode, frisking his body and removing his pistol.

Stephen wondered what she was going to “detain” Hal with, but his question was answered as she pulled a set of handcuffs from her service belt and snapped them onto poor Hal’s wrists behind his back.  He guessed that she still had a lot of cop left in her, even after The Collapse.

Hal was pleading to Stephen now, “Please, tell them!  I was working for you all day!  I didn’t do anything to Julia!”

Stephen wanted to help Hal.  He liked the man…but…he wasn’t with Hal the entire day, so he couldn’t completely vouch for his whereabouts.  However, his woodcutters certainly could.

“I’ll talk to my woodcutters, okay?” Stephen replied to Hal as Alexis began walking him away. 

Alexis grumbled to Claudine and William as she pushed Hal past them, “This is why I asked you two for a detention unit more than a week ago.”

Fish suddenly grinned at Alexis’ comment.  He leaned over and quietly chuckled into Stephen’s ear, “Yeah, but who’s gonna build it…Hal?”  

Stephen grimaced and replied, “That’s not funny, bro.”

Hal was still shouting as Alexis hauled him away, “What about my son?  Where’s my son?  You have to let me find my son!”

Claudine nodded, then looked at Jason Oxnard and said, “Ox, go find his boy and bring him to our RV.”

Ox acknowledged and jogged away from the meeting site.

Carrie stepped over to the Probsts and asked, “Are you sure that you want to do this to Hal right now?  You’re not going to let him find his son or see his deceased wife again before the body begins to deteriorate?”

Claudine responded before William could, “No, not right now.  I don’t want him anywhere near the crime scene until we can figure this out.”

Carrie argued, “I know that everybody’s minds are directed at Hal as the likely suspect, but does any actual evidence point that way?  C’mon, this is Hal we’re talking about!”

William and Claudine looked at each other for a moment, then Claudine said to everyone still at the meeting, “We cannot tolerate any form of vigilante justice, none whatsoever.  We must send a message to all residents that criminal behavior will be dealt with swiftly and with an iron fist.  Carrie, why don’t you go ahead and conduct a medical investigation for us, please?  You’re the most qualified individual within The Park.”

Carrie just put her arms up and looked skyward as if to say,
“Whatever, bitch, I’ll do it, but this is all wrong and you know it.”

William pointed at Fish and asked, “Would you mind escorting Carrie to Julia’s body and provide her with some security while she conducts her investigation?”

Fish did a double take and pointed at himself, saying, “Who…me?”

“Yes, you.  Do you think you could handle that for us, please?”

Fish looked at the Amazonian nurse, who was staring at him with hopeful eyes awaiting his response, and then answered, “Yeah, sure, I guess.”

Carrie turned to Meghan and asked, “Where’s the body?”

Meghan quickly explained to Carrie that the body was found on the trail that led from Lower Loop to the north beach.  Before they left, William grasped Fish gently by his arm and pulled him close, saying quietly into his ear, “Keep all the looky-loos as far away as possible.  If anybody asks what happened, just tell them that the facts are unclear at this point, but an investigation is currently underway and the perpetrator will be dealt with swiftly and severely.  I can count on you, right?”

“Yup, you got it, boss.  I’m on it,” Fish nodded.

Carrie hollered over her shoulder as she and Fish hustled away, “Stephen, please let Tarra know that I might be gone for a while, and ask her to hold down the fort until I get back.”

*****

Stephen was disappointed with himself as he pedaled his bike toward Carrie’s site.  He never got the chance to speak with Claudine and William about Larry Paulson.  All of the dead Julia Hollingsworth business had ruined the opportunity, because Stephen’s mind was elsewhere.  He was worried about Hal. 

He decided that his next objective after informing Tarra of Carrie’s whereabouts should be to speak with the woodcutting team about Hal.  Stephen hoped that they would provide him with positive news that Hal had been there all day with them.  Regardless of the information he received from the woodcutters, Stephen would pass along whatever they told him to Claudine and William.

Once at site 72, Stephen checked on his wife and the Kays, and they were doing fine.  The Kays were having fun pretending to be “velociraptors” amongst the wet trees near Carrie’s RV. 

Tarra told Stephen that she was upset for two reasons.  One, because her shotgun had gotten wet earlier that afternoon, and two, because she received another visit from Larry Paulson.

“Mine got wet, too,” Stephen said sadly, referring to the M-4 strapped to his back.  He then explained to Tarra why he wasn’t able to speak with the Probsts about Larry’s behavior.

The news about Julia stunned Tarra.  She didn’t know what to say.  But she wasn’t speechless because she felt bad for Julia, she only felt bad for herself and Carrie.

“I’m not a suspect, too, am I?  What about Carrie?” she asked.

Stephen suddenly realized what she meant.  She and Carrie had had an altercation with Julia the day before!  How many people knew about that, though?  Stephen did a mental calculation of the witnesses.  Other than himself, Tarra and Carrie; it was Sydney, Hal, the two men in the white Chevy truck that transported Kip-the-gunshot-victim, and, finally, the Kays.  Stephen couldn’t remember the names of the two men in the Chevy, or whether they had even introduced themselves.

“Shit!” Stephen exclaimed to Tarra, “I didn’t think of that.  Your name was never brought up at the meeting, though.  Carrie is conducting a medical investigation right now to determine the cause of death.  Fish is with her.”

“That’s cool,” Tarra said, “but I’m pretty sure that there is going to be a criminal-type investigation as well.  My name is going to be brought up eventually.”

“You’re probably right,” Stephen agreed.  “What do you think we should do about that?”

Tarra laughed and said, “That’s funny, because I was going to ask you the same question!”

*****

It wasn’t difficult for Fish and Carrie to find the body.  A small crowd of mostly retired-age individuals had gathered around Julia, whose body was half-on, half-off the trail about 40 yards from the beach.

“Just far enough into the woods on the trail from the beach that the other security forces wouldn’t hear anything
,” Carrie thought to herself as she and Fish neared the gathering.

Fish bellowed to the onlookers, “Okay, folks, let’s break it up.” 

He was trying to sound authoritative.  It must have worked, because the group moved a few yards away from the body down the trail toward the beach.  None of them completely disappeared, however, they kept on watching, albeit from a distance.

Fish remembered what William had spoken quietly in his ear, and took his rifle off his back.  He moved closer to the squad of onlookers with his rifle in hand and shouted, “Let’s go, keep it moving!  Nothing to see here, people, now MOVE!”

Most of the old folks clucked away like startled chickens toward the beach, but two of them held their ground.  Both of them appeared to be women in their late fifties or sixties, maybe even their seventies, Fish wasn’t sure.  He just knew that they were old.  They both had gray hair, but one had significantly more hair than the other.  It was long, too.  Like a hippy’s.  “
Good ol’ Washington state and their legalized marijuana, I guess that even the old folks are toking it up,”
Fish laughed to himself.   

The long haired one demanded, “What happened here?  Why do we need to leave?  If something is going on around here, we deserve to know about it!”

“Yeah, she’s right…we deserve to know!” short gray echoed.

Long gray added, “It looks like that poor woman was strangled or something.  I think we have a right to know if there’s a murderer on the loose!”

“Ma’am,” Fish addressed the old lady with the long hair, and then pointed at Carrie, who was crouched over Julia’s body.  “Do you see that big, tall woman right there?  She is a nurse, and she’s doing a medical examination right now.  We don’t know any more than you do at this point.”