Apocalypse Aftermath (24 page)

“Mrs. Talbot.” Tyler nodded to her.  “You’re looking better.  How’s your knee?”

“It’s okay.” she shrugged.  “How are things around here this morning?”

“We’re stable for the moment.” Vanessa said, sipping her coffee.  The smell was driving Jessica insane; there were three steaming mugs on the table next to their breakfasts, and based on the meal Isaac’s wife had whipped up last night out of the kitchen’s stocks, she was certain the coffee would be amazing.  “Mr. Carter is taking another look at the fence with Mr. Farring, but there were no problems last night.”

“That’s good.” Jessica said, relieved to hear it.  “Candice, sit down.  Say hello to everyone.”

“Hello.” the girl said shyly, moving the chair next to Jessica back and closer to her mother before squeezing into it and sitting straight.

“And hello to you too.” Dennis said with a decent attempt at cheerfulness.  Jessica could see the still fresh pain in the back of his eyes as he glanced at Candice though.  Her daughter was a reminder of what had happened to Dennis’ kids.  Especially, she realized after a moment, when she decided Dennis might just recognize Wendy’s old clothes on her.

“We’re going to have a
preliminary planning session shortly.” Tyler said calmly.  “After we eat, and after Mr. Carter has a chance to finish checking around a little.”

“What can I do to help?”

“You can stay off that leg.” Dennis said quickly.  “I’m serious Jessica.  I don’t have any way to scan it, and you could be hurt worse than I think.”

“I’m fine.” she said firmly.  “And I’m going to.  Aus– Mr. Carter said he’d have some desk and office type things for me to help with today.”

“You don’t need to push yourself.” Tyler said, glancing at his brother.  “Especially if Dennis thinks you should take it easy.”

“Mr. Morris, I promise you and everyone that I’m going to.  But I can rest my leg just as easily at a desk helping organize and coordinate as I can sitting around doing nothing.”

“There are things we can use some help with.” Vanessa said as Dennis opened his mouth.  “Mr. Carter is right.  We’re going need a full inventory prepared and sorted, and that’ll lead to a list of what we need to focus on obtaining.  The better organized we are, the less chance we’ll double up on something, or worse, end up short on something else.”

“Okay, okay.” Dennis said, holding up a hand in surrender.  “But first thing after breakfast, you’re going to park yourself on the table in the infirmary downstairs so I can have a look at your knee.”

“Absolutely.” she nodded.

“Alright then.” he said, a hint of his normal doctor’s tone leaking into his voice.  “Then that’s settled.”

“Am I going to be allowed to get the two of us some of the breakfast I smell?” she asked hopefully.  The coffee really
did
smell quite lovely.  “Healing takes energy you know.”

“Let’s not taunt Dennis any further than we have to.” Tyler grinned, glancing at his brother again before lifting his gaze over to a nearby table.  “Ah, Greg?”

A man wearing the standard black Eagle jumpsuit, who looked to be in his late twenties, looked up from his mostly empty plate.  He straightened a little in his seat when he realized who was calling him.  “What can I do for you sir?”

“If you wouldn’t mind, could you see about dishing up a couple of plates of food for Mrs. Talbot and her daughter here?”

Jessica blinked at the casual authority in Tyler’s voice, at the automatic assumption of obedience evident in the tone, but the Eagle guard nodded and rose swiftly.  “I’m basically done anyway.  What can I get you ma’am?”

“Um . . .” she faltered momentarily, then decided to just go with it.  “Some of everything, I guess.  It all looks good.  For both of us.  Thank you.”

“Sure thing.”  He went over to the open window and started filling two plates.

“And here’s Mr. Carter.” Tyler said, causing Jessica to look over her shoulder.

Sure enough, Austin was entering with Isaac barely visible following along behind him.  He crossed immediately over to their table and nodded to everyone.  “Good morning Mr. Morris, Mrs. Morris, Doctor Morris.”

“What do you think about the grounds?”  Tyler asked, gesturing at one of the empty chairs.

“Well sir, I want to discuss some contingency procedures with the guard force just in case, but basically I think we’re good.” he replied as he took the chair next to Jessica.  “I’ll hold a briefing before we leave to escort Doctor Morris on his rounds into town.”

Jessica smiled slightly, but she caught a flash of irritation flickering over Tyler’s and Vanessa’s faces.  Both smoothed their expressions over rather quickly, but it was there.  She wondered at that, but held her tongue.  If Austin noticed, he also gave no sign.  He went on with only a brief pause to allow the others to absorb his initial comment.

“I figure with any luck we’ll be in and out of town by no later than mid-afternoon, which will give me some time to do another walk around before we lose the sun.”

“Another one?”

“This time with everyone, except the roof guards on duty.” Austin nodded to Vanessa.  “I want them to have a chance to see what it looks like out there on the ground.  In fact, I’d like to make it a standing routine to check the fence twice a day.”

“As always, I trust your judgment.” Tyler said as he split open a muffin and picked up his knife.

“How many are you taking into town?” Vanessa asked.

“Five.”

“Will that be enough?” she asked.

Austin gazed at her calmly, wearing his professional face.  Jessica studied him closely – though covertly – and couldn’t detect anything beneath his impassive features.  “I don’t want
the people in town to think we’re trying to intimidate them.  And any more than that will strip the guards here down pretty thin.”

“I’m more concerned with any, uh, rising tempers you might encounter on the trip.”

“With who?” Austin asked her, with just a hint of curiosity.

“Here we go ma’am.” Greg said, appearing behind Jessica with two plates of food.  He reached over Candice and set them down on the table, along with silverware.  “What about something to drink?”

“Oh, thank you.” Jessica said, tearing her attention partially away from the others.  “Milk for her, and coffee for me if you don’t mind.”

“Happy to help.” Greg said earnestly.  “How do you want the coffee?”

“Lots of cream, lots of sugar.” Dennis said with a chuckle.  “And you’d better make it two cups unless you can find a pitcher or a bigger cup.”

“Dennis.” Jessica said in a hurt tone, though she smiled.  “I’m not that bad.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Lots of cream, lots of sugar.  Coming up.”

Greg headed over to the drinks at the end of the counter without complaint.  Jessica gave Dennis a severe look that was ringed with mirth, which he returned with interest.  She let some amusement cross her face, then glanced at Candice.  The girl was already digging into her food, which was scrambled eggs, bacon
and
sausage, hash browns and a big blueberry muffin.  She gave no sign she was particularly focused on anything except getting down to eating.

“I’m concerned about the unfriendly attitude we saw yesterday.” Vanessa told Austin.

“They’re just a little tense.  Everyone is.” Austin answered.

“People under stress make hasty decisions sometimes.”

“Very true, but I don’t think they’re looking for any problems.”

“They were quite hostile initially.”

Austin hesitated briefly, then shook his head slightly.  “They were scared.” he said mildly.  “And it was really just one out of five.”

“The last census here put the town’s population at a little under a thousand.” Vanessa said with an air of lecturing.  “And the surrounding area could
easily add a couple hundred more to that total.  One out of five who agree with that deputy could add up to as many as three hundred people who are looking for problems.”

“Vanessa.” Tyler said neutrally.

His wife’s eyes flicked to him, and she gave him a firm look.  “I’m not kidding Tyler.”

“Mr. Carter knows his business.”

“Dennis could find himself in the middle of an angry mob.  Our only doctor.”

“I really don’t think that’s likely.” Austin said, interjecting quickly before Tyler could respond.  The big man’s tone was pitched to be reasonable and confident.

“What if you’re wrong?”

Jessica blinked, and stopped herself from saying something only from practiced habit.  The woman sounded not only insistent, but also starting to shade towards a touch of anger.  Jessica had to stop herself from glancing around at the dining room.  It wasn’t like this conversation was happening out of earshot of everyone else.  The room was well appointed and comfortable, but not overly large.

“One milk and two coffees.” Greg announced as he returned.  “Lots of cream, lots of sugar.”

“Thank you.” Jessica said again, looking up at him gratefully.

“No problem.” he said with a smile, though he didn’t linger after he put the cups down and returned to his seat.  She shook her head mentally as Vanessa continued the thread of her conversation with Austin.  This was not the place for this, if the topic under discussion was even appropriate at all.  She picked up one of the coffees, which was a wonderful pale mocha color with a rich aroma of quality beans and expert roasting rising in the curls of steam escaping upward.

“Well?”

“Mrs. Morris, let’s say you’re right.” Austin said quietly.  “If you are, taking everyone here who can point a gun wouldn’t be sufficient.”  Jessica studied him over the rim of her cup as she blew on the coffee to cool it.

“That’s—” Vanessa began, only for Tyler to touch his wife’s shoulder quickly.  She turned to look at him, and her mouth tightened as he shook his head at her.

“Vanessa, Mr. Carter is well trained in exactly this sort of thing.” he said firmly.  “And he’s in charge of all decisions of this nature for the duration.”

Vanessa wanted to argue.  Jessica could see it immediately.  She took a cautious sip of her coffee, which was still a little hotter than she usually liked, to help cover against the attention she was putting toward the redhead next to Tyler.  Vanessa sat back slightly in her chair for a moment before giving a single nod; directing the gesture toward Tyler rather than Austin.

“I don’t mean to give the impression I doubt your expertise.” Vanessa told Austin, though the subtle current in the back of her tone underlined her disquiet.  “I’m just concerned.”

“We’re all concerned.” Tyler said smoothly as he resumed buttering his muffin.  “And by we
, I mean everyone, not just everyone with us here inside the fence.”

“The situation is rather unprecedented.” Austin said with a nod, giving every indication he agreed.  “Assuming the zombie issue is starting to stabilize, it’ll take weeks before people settle down.”

“Will it?” Jessica asked.  Eyes around the table swung to her, and she shrugged behind her still upraised cup.  “Will it stabilize?”

Austin smiled, and there was that bit of genuine warmth she was learning to expect from him in his eyes as he did so.  “That’s the big question.”

“One of them.” Tyler said before he took a bite of his muffin.

“Y’all military?” asked a short man with a faded and battered Bulldogs cap perched high on his forehead.  His clothing was classic hunter’s
; old-style military camouflage with a bright orange reflective vest, and no-nonsense outdoors boots.  He was climbing down out of the cab of a Chevy 2500 that was tricked out quite a bit; bull bars on the front, extra lights mounted on the roof, custom metallic paint, oversized tires.  Everyone else emerging was dressed similarly, the most variation being jeans instead of fatigue pants, and a sampling of regional sports teams or sporting goods brands appearing on their caps.

Peter smiled slightly.  God bless rednecks.

“Gotta be.” one of his fellows said.  “Uniforms, M-16s . . . what unit?”

Peter stepped up between the space separating the Humvee and Tundra, holding one hand up.  “National Guard, out of Clay.  We’re just here for supplies, same as you I’d expect.”

“Guess you didn’t have any serious zombie problems inside.  Anything left?”

“Plenty.  Store’s pitch black though.  Hope you brought light.”

“Better.” one said, holding up a set of NVGs.

“You folks got any news?”

“Yeah, what’s going on.”

“How long until we start seeing some help?”

Peter waved his hand a little.  “Hold up, one thing at a time.  Can I assume everyone here is friendly.”

The man with the Bulldogs cap frowned a little.  “Well shit, why wouldn’t we be?”

“Never hurts to be sure.” Peter replied calmly.  “Y’all local?”

“Yup.  You?”
the cap wearer started slinging his rifle behind his shoulder, a semi-auto hunting model that looked vaguely familiar.  Peter followed suit, though he glanced around to make sure at least Whitley and Oliver kept theirs ready.