The McClane Apocalypse Book Three (22 page)

John had opened the glove box and found the
registration of the car saying that it belonged to Dr. Krue, which
is what he'd suspected. Along with the blood everywhere, John had
found used sanitary napkins soaked with it and many bandages in the
same condition. There were hypodermics, empty packets of clotting
powder like he'd seen many times in the military, and pill bottles
on the floor, most of which were empty. A map lay open with a red
line that crossed through the states of Ohio and Kentucky to their
own valley in Tennessee. They were not main freeways that were
marked in red but back country roads. Smart. If she'd taken the
highways to get home, she wouldn't have made it because the
freeways, from John's own experience, had immediately become
impassable and highly dangerous.

As John runs beside her back to the farm, he
is amazed by her tenacity and her sheer will to live, coupled with
her determination to get home that one, devastatingly, eventful
night. He's glad that she did, however. His life has literally been
turned upside down by Reagan McClane. But it's not the most
unwelcome of experiences that he's had to deal with. Her spirit and
toughness is what had kept her alive. Her sense of family had kept
her going. Her courage had healed her. And John has come to respect
and care for her more than he'd ever thought possible.

As soon as she gets Isaac and Jacob down for
their morning naps, with a lot of help from Grams, Sue heads out to
the garden to resume picking the last of the summer's crop of
peppers and some of the sweet corn. She stops near the horse barn
to talk with Derek first.

"What the heck was that all about?" she
inquires after the shouting match between Kelly and Reagan.

"Uh, nothing really. She's just got it in
her head that Kelly should stay away from Hannah."

Her tight-lipped husband answers her with a
casual nonchalance. It didn't look like 'nothing' to Sue.

"I saw from the window in the music room. I
was feeding Isaac," she tells him. The muscles on his forearm flex
and strain as he tightens down a bolt under the tractor's open
hood.

"It wasn't anything. I think they got it
worked out," he says on a weary sigh.

Sue knows this man so well. She won't get
anything more out of him on the subject.

"Honey, you need to go and get a few hours
of sleep," she tells him. "You were up before breakfast and you
haven't even gone to bed yet from your watch last night."

He scowls to himself. "I'm fine, Sue. I did
sleep about an hour before I came down to breakfast."

"No, you aren't fine. You need sleep. We all
do, Superman. You're dead on your feet. Look, Kelly and Cory are up
and moving around. I'm sure John will be back soon. We're safe,
Derek," she says softly, laying her hand on his forearm.

He yanks her to him, against his grease and
grime and Sue could care less. His kiss holds quite a bit of
promise. When he finally pulls back Sue smiles up into his brown
eyes.

"I'll go in and sleep, but wake me up in two
hours. And be careful," he says quietly. "I'll tell Cory to keep an
eye out for you while you're in the garden."

"Got it, two hours," she says with sass.
Derek just smirks down at her and gives her another quick kiss.

"I mean it, Sue. Don't let me sleep longer.
I don't want the guys to have to hold down the fort throughout the
daylight hours by themselves," he laments.

Sue simply nods and kisses his stubbly chin.
"Aye-aye, Major Harrison," she quips which earns her a swat to her
derriere.

After Derek leaves again, she picks up her
basket for picking vegetables and goes straight to the aisle where
peppers are located next to the tall, towering stalks of sweet
corn. Cory comes out to help her, and she's more appreciative than
she can say. He picks beans an aisle over from her, but they are
still able to converse.

"What do you think of the new kids Sam and
Simon?" she asks him after swiping the back of her hand across her
brow to remove the sweat there. Sue is sure that she's left a trail
of dirt there, as well, but she isn't out here for a beauty
pageant.

"They seem cool," Cory says
noncommittally.

He's not much of a talker most of the
time.

"Yeah?" Sue pushes. "Even Simon?"

"Sure. I mean he's kind of shy, but he seems
all right," he tells her.

He finally makes eye contact with her, but
looks away just as fast. To say that he is unsure of himself around
women is the understatement of the century.

"Do you think he could be dangerous?" Sue
asks.

Cory chuckles, shakes his head and replies,
"No. I don't think he's a threat to anyone, Miss Sue."

"I guess that's good, right?" she says to
which he nods. Sue indicates toward her basket. "Mine's almost
full."

"Yeah, mine, too," he tells her.

"What about Samantha?"

"She's ok," Cory says, but this time his
statement is accompanied by a deep scowl.

Sue decides to press on this. "What is it,
Cory?"

He shrugs, so Sue pushes again. This time it
works and he answers, but stares at his hands.

"I dunno. She's kind of messed up, you know,
like Miss Reagan?" Cory blushes and quickly amends his declaration.
"I didn't mean it like that! Please don't tell her I said that. I'm
so stupid. Sometimes I just say stuff that's so stupid. Miss
Reagan's a great doctor…"

"Cory, it's fine. And just call me Sue." She
lets him off the hook. "You're actually right. My sister is deeply
troubled by some things that have happened to her. She's very
distrustful of people. I think I also see that in Sam, just like
you do. But don't worry, I wouldn't tell Reagan or Sam that you
talked to me."

"Ok. I didn't mean any offense, Sue," he
says quietly.

"None taken. I'm the one who asked what you
thought of Sam and Simon. I really want to know your opinion of
them, of any of them. You are a lot like Kelly. You're both a good
judge of people. I trust your opinion a lot, Cory," she confides
softly so as to set him at ease.

"Thanks, Sue," he returns. "They're both
nice kids. I don't think they'll give anybody on the farm any
trouble. And I don't think they like any of those people out there
that they're traveling with. I get that vibe from Simon, not so
much from Sam. She doesn't really talk to me much. That's kind of
why I think she's like Reagan, you know? They don't like to talk to
men."

If she'd thought he was a good judge of
character before, then her assessment is now completely blown out
of the water. Sue had grossly underestimated this kid's ability to
form quality, adult opinions of people. He is very astute for
someone so young. She decides to play devil's advocate to see what
gets revealed.

"Maybe she's just shy," she throws out to
him. Cory's eyes dart to hers and stay there.

"No, that's not it. There's something
seriously wrong with her. It's almost like she tries to look ugly
and dirty or something. The other day she had a big blob of mud on
both of her cheeks, and when I pointed it out and handed her a
handkerchief—one of the ones Grams gave me—she said no. She
wouldn't wipe it off no matter what. I think that's weird."

"Strange," Sue contemplates.

"Then today she had a bunch of dirt and
grass in her hair. I tried to pick some of it out for her and she
jumped away and said no again. I don't know what's her deal, but
she's kinda' weird. She seems smart, but then she acts strange like
that," Cory informs her.

Sue nods. "My basket's overfull. I'm gonna
run this back to the house, Cor," she tells him, stands and
stretches her back.

Cory takes her basket before she can head to
the house.

"Nah, I got it, Miss—I mean Sue. I'll take
both of them back. Here, take my other empty one and I'll bring a
couple more back."

"Thanks, Cory," she tells him and then
places a hand on his shoulder. "You're a great help around here.
We'd be hard-pressed without you."

He blushes again and splits for the house
with barely a nod of acknowledgement about the complement. Speaking
of shy! Sue chuckles to herself and returns to picking. After a
moment, a shadow falls across the plants in front of her. He may be
shy, but he sure is a fast runner to be back so quickly.

"Well, that was…" she turns and stops dead
in her tracks.

Frank from the visitors' group is the one
casting a shadow and not Cory. A second later, Levon comes toward
her from the middle of the corn field. Frank is only standing one
aisle of vegetables over from her. His casual stance makes her
uneasy.

"Hey, little lady," he sneers while chewing
a long, thin blade of grass.

"Um, hi," she returns but would rather not.
"Aren't you supposed to…"

"Those hot peppers?" he interrupts.

She was about to order him back to his camp
when he breaks in with a question of his own.

"What? No, they're sweet peppers actually,"
she says and before she can demand he return to his campsite, he
steps over the row of cabbage to stand three feet from her.

"Sweet, huh?" he asks.

There is suggestion in that one word that
Sue would rather not think about. She scowls at him, but it doesn't
slow him down.

"Sounds pretty good to me, right,
Levon?"

"Mm hm, yeah real sweet," Levon says.

Sue feels like throwing up. Frank is lean
and lanky, but Levon is another thing altogether. He's almost as
big as Kelly, but just not as heavily muscled or in such top
condition as any of the Rangers. He takes his time perusing Sue up
and down with disgusting implication. Damn! Now she wishes that she
hadn't sent Derek in to catch some much needed sleep. She glances
around. There's no one in sight. Where the hell did Kelly go off
to?

He asks, "What's your name, little
lady?"

"Sue," she answers through clenched teeth.
Why are they over here?

"I'm Levon and…"

"We all know who you all are. Introductions
aren't necessary. You just need to go…"

"What's the hurry? It's nice out today.
Isn't it, Sue?" Frank asks as if chatting the weather is just the
order of the day.

"You need to return to your camp,
gentlemen," she tries at civility.

"Hey, hey why the hurry? We could hang out a
while," Frank suggests as he takes a step closer.

"I'm busy. That's why," she informs them,
though they don't look ready to leave.

"We could help. This is sure a lot of work
for a fine ass lookin' woman like you, Sue," Frank offers with a
grin.

His teeth are nicotine stained and gunky
looking. His yellow tinted eye-glasses slip down a notch, and he
pushes them back up. His hair is greasy. His general appearance is
dirty and greasy. The black jeans he wears have tears and rips. The
white t-shirt is dotted with stains. One particular spot looks like
it could be a small blood splatter. Sue doesn't want to contemplate
the origins of that spot.

"We're good when we work as a team," Levon
remarks coolly.

His amber eyes penetrate straight into
Sue's, leaving her feeling like she needs a hot shower to cleanse
away his stare.

"We don't need any other help. But I'm sure
that once you establish a place for you and your friends, you'll be
able to work on your own gardens," she hints.

"This place suits us just fine. Don't it,
Levon?" Frank asks of his associate.

"Sure does," his friend agrees and steps
closer.

Sue is starting to feel caged in by these
two even though she stands in an open field of over five acres.
Levon sports the same dress code as his cohort of dirty and
tattered but also has the added flair of unkempt, frizzy
dreadlocks.

"That isn't happening. It's already been
covered actually," she tries to say with an air of authority. Sue
is hoping that her tone will dissuade them from pressing this point
further. "Our grandfather and the men on the farm have already told
you that you aren't staying here once your sick people are
better."

"That woman ain't no concern of ours," Frank
says rudely.

How can he be so crass about Jennifer in her
state of sickness? She had been traveling with them. Isn't she one
of their friends, as well? These people and their behavior are so
hard for Sue to comprehend. Nothing they do or say makes sense.

"What do you mean? Isn't she related to any
of you?" Sue questions. If she can get these two idiots to reveal
anything about their group, then it might help her family to better
understand them.

"Nah, she was just some slut Peter let tag
along with us. Found her along the way like a stray cat," Levon
says coldly.

This jerk behaves as if Jennifer's life
isn't hanging in the balance. Jennifer had hardly seemed like a
slut to Sue. From the small amount of information that Reagan and
Grandpa had been able to get from the woman, she was educated and
well-mannered. She seemed different than the rest of her group, as
if she didn't quite fit with them just like Sam and Simon.

"Wasn't she his girlfriend?" Sue asks, but
receives bawdy laughs from both men.

"Yeah, sure," Frank says on a smirk.

This remark of sarcasm confuses Sue. His
attitude is pissing her off. He is just being deliberately
cruel.

"She's carrying his baby," she states
angrily and gets more of the same rude laughter.

"She's Peter's problem, not ours. We ain't
got women of our own," Frank informs.

As if she couldn't have guessed at this
one.

"What about the women in your group? Aren't
either of them with either of you?"

"They're with whoever wants to be with 'em,
sweetness," Frank says with a snort. "We're looking to add a new
member to our group."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sue asks
testily.