Enforcing Home (13 page)

“If we had them, not only would we be digging a hole, we’d be filling all those bags,” Fred added.

Taylor looked at the pile of logs, “I like this idea better.”

Mel laughed, “I just hope we don’t have to use this thing, whatever it’s made of.”

“You and me both,” Kay said with a laugh.

Little Bit passed her shovel off to Jess and looked at the logs, “So this is going to be like a fort?”

Jeff smiled, “That’s exactly what it’s going to be, a fort.”

“Cool! We’re going to have a fort!”

Jeff looked up and smiled at her, “That’s right kiddo, we’re doing this so you can have a playhouse.”

She hopped up and down clapping her hands, “Yeah!”

Jeff shook his head and went back to digging.

Taylor stood up, a look of disbelief on her face, “You mean we’re doing all this so she can have a playhouse?”

“No, that’s not why. He’s just messing around,” Mel replied as she tossed a scoop of dirt out of the hole.

“I can play in it though, can’t I?” Little Bit asked.

Mel rubbed her head, “You’ll probably be able to.”

Little Bit smiled, “Good,” and tried to push the shovel back into the earth.

As they were working, Thad pulled back up on the tractor with another load of logs. Jeff started out of the hole and saw Sarge’s Hummer bringing up the rear, so he stepped back down to continue digging.

Mike and Ted unhooked the logs as Sarge inspected the work. Little Bit ran up to Sarge and wrapped her arms around his leg.

“Mr. Sarge, we’re going to have a fort!”

He smiled at her, “We sure are sweetie.” Sarge looked at the growing pit, “looking good; we can start putting some timbers in this thing.”

“I was wondering what the plan was,” Jess said.

Kay walked up to Sarge with a cup of water, “You look like you need a drink.”

He smiled, “Why thank you, Miss Kay.” He took the cup and downed the water. “Man that’s good, nice and cold!”

Kay smiled, “We put some ice in, thought you guys would like it today. It’s hot out.”

Jeff stomped his shovel into the dirt, “Well, what’s the plan?”

Chapter 7

W
e stopped at the barricade to shoot the shit with Perez and Jamie. Perez lit a cigarette as I stopped.

“Where in the hell did you find those?” I asked.

He smiled and took a long drag, “Got my ways.”

“He stole ‘em from the camp when we were pulling out,” Jamie added.

“They had smokes there?” Danny asked.

“They did; I got them now,” Perez replied with a grin.

“Wish they had some Cope.”

I looked at Danny. “If they did, it’s burned up now.”

“How are things in town?” Jamie asked.

“Same ole same ole. We dropped off the disc and got out as fast as we could. You guys see anything down here?”

Jamie shook her head, “No, it’s been quiet.”

“We’re going to go check on the bunker,” I said as I dropped the truck in gear.

Jamie and Perez waved as we pulled away.

We found everyone gathered at the crossroad where the bunker was being dug. Sarge had everyone gathered together, going over the next part of the plan. They all looked up, hearing us approach. Little Bit ran up as I got out.

“Daddy, we’re going to have a fort!”

I smiled at her, “I know, kinda cool isn’t it?”

She clapped her hands again, “I can’t wait!”

Sarge walked around the pit. “Well, the easy part’s done.”

“The easy part!” Lee Ann shouted.

“Yeah, what do you mean the easy part?” Fred asked.

“Now we have to get these timbers in place,” Sarge replied.

“I gotta take a piss,” Mike said as he headed towards the bushes.

“Shake a bush,” Sarge said as Mike disappeared.

“How are we going to move those, they’re huge!” Jess said.

“Aww, we’ll get it done. Ain’t as hard as you think,” Sarge replied.

There was a sudden rusting in the bushes, we looked over to see a small tree swaying back and forth, “Shakin’ a bush boss, shakin’ a bush!” Mike shouted.

Sarge shook his head, “You’re retarded!”

Mike came out of the bushes and looked at him with a slack-jawed expression, and in his best Forest Gump voice said, “I’m not wetawded, I’m bwain daaamaged. It’s diffwent, mamma said so.” He paused for a moment, then made a slurping sound and wiped his chin with the back of his hand.

It set most of us to laughing, “I couldn’t help it,” Mike said. Mel looked at him, “That’s not very nice.”

“Ignore him Mel, he’s an idjit,” Sarge said.

Mike rubbed his chin and looked up. After a moment his head snapped around, “Guilty!”

Sarge looked up to the sky and implored, “Why me? What’d I do, what’d I do?”

Ted was laughing, “I told you in the Philippines not to feed him.”

“Hey!” Mike shouted, “We’re not talking about the Philippines!” Now Sarge was laughing.

“What happened in the Philippines?” Mel asked.

Ted looked at Mike and crossed his arms, “Oh, Mikey here found himself a lovely lady…boy.”

“Dammit!” Mike shouted as he started to walk away.

In a sing song voice Ted called out, “I love you long time!”

“Hey Mikey,” Sarge called out, then looked at Ted, “What was that girl’s name?”

“Maria.”

“Mikey, Mario, er uh, Maria wants to know if you’re taking her to the big PX!” Sarge called out, then doubled over laughing.

Mike replied by giving Sarge the finger over his shoulder.

“What’s the big PX?” Miss Kay asked.

“Over in places like the Philippines young ladies who wanted to come to the US would try and hook up with anyone in the service. The US was often referred to as the big PX.”

“In his defense, she did look like a girl,” Ted said.

Sarge smiled, “Yeah she did, except where it mattered most.”

“What are they talking about Mommy?” Little Bit asked.

“Nothing honey,” Mel replied and looked at Sarge. “They’re done talking about it anyway.”

Sarge smiled, “Ten roger, mom; we got work to do.”

“I think you guys were mean to Mike; look at him,” Kay said.

Sarge waved the comment off. “He’s a big boy; he’ll be fine.”

With that out of the way, Sarge got back to business laying out the bunker construction. It took everyone and several tools to get those logs into position. We had to use come-a-longs to move some of them. The smaller ones were rolled into the hole and stood up, a small trench being dug around the edge of the pit for the bases. They were dropped into the trench and set side by side. A second row was placed behind these, covering the joints where the front logs met. This way a bullet couldn’t pass through the joints into the bunker.

Additional holes were dug in the center of the pit and logs stood up in these to offer load-bearing support. The tops were cut off to the same height as those on the front and sides. We were tamping the dirt in around these when Doc showed up.

“Edy is sick,” he announced as he walked up.

“What’s that mean?” I asked.

“Without testing, I can’t confirm that it’s TB; but I also can’t rule it out.”

“Keep an eye on her Doc, there isn’t much we can do though,” Sarge said.

Little Bit looked up at Mel, “My friend’s sick?”

Mel smiled. “She’ll be alright; Doc is taking care of here.” She looked up at Doc, “right?”

Doc walked up to Little Bit and knelt down. “Don’t worry; I’m the best doctor around here. I’ll take care of her.”

She studied him for a moment, then asked, “Aren’t you the only doctor around here?”

Doc laughed and looked at Mel, “Smart kid.”

“She’ll surprise you.”

Doc pinched Little Bit’s stomach and said, “Which is why I’m the best!” She smiled.

“It’s time to relieve the watch. Who’s coming?” Doc asked.

Aric stepped up, “I think it’s me and you.”

Doc stood up and shouldered his bag, “Let’s go.”

As he started to walk off, Sarge grabbed his shoulder and leaned in close, “Let me know if anything changes with the little girl.”

For all his hard-assed outward appearance, Doc knew he was rather soft inside, especially for kids. He looked at Sarge for a moment, nodded and walked off.

Fred grabbed Aric’s hand and gave him a kiss, “Be careful.”

He smiled. “I will; we’re good.”

As they headed to relieve the crew at the barricade, Sarge said, “I think this is enough for one day. It’s getting late and we have security to pull tonight, so some of you need to get some rest.”

“Oh thank God,” Taylor said as she dropped her shovel.

“I need to check on the garden,” Thad said.

“Bobbie and Mary should have dinner ready when we get there,” Mel said.

“Good, I’m starving.” Lee Ann shouted.

I called Doc and Aric and told them I’d give them a ride up to the barricade. Sarge said he wanted to go as well.

“You going to be there for dinner?” Mel asked.

I nodded, “Yeah; just going to drop these guys off.”

I was turning the truck around when Ted ran up and rolled in through the open window on the back gate. I looked at him in the mirror shaking my head. “If there’s a hard way to do it, these guys know it.” Rolling up to the barricade, we all got out.

“About damn time. I thought you forgot about us,” Ian said.

“Quit yer belly aching Gyrene,” Sarge said.

“I’m glad to see you,” Jamie said.

“Anything happening up here?” Ted asked.

“Nope, we haven’t seen a soul,” Perez replied.

“You guys go get some chow,” Sarge said.

“Hey Morgan, can you give us a ride?” Perez asked.

“Go ahead, we’ll hang out here for a while,” Sarge said.

We loaded up and headed towards the house the three of them were sharing. Jamie said she wanted to change her clothes and rest for a while. Pulling up in the yard, Perez hopped out and said “Wait here for a minute,” and ran towards the house.

“What’s he up to?” I asked.

Ian shrugged as he pulled his gear out of the truck, “Hell if I know.”

Jamie said goodbye, and headed for the house. Perez came back out carrying a plastic bag and handed it to me through the window. “Here, this is for Danny; I don’t like the stuff.”

The bag was heavy, I opened it and looked. “Holy shit, where’d you get all this?” I asked, taking a log of Cope out of the bag.

“It was in the camp; found it when we were pulling out.”

Looking at the cans, I asked, “What in the hell were they doing with this stuff?”

Perez shrugged, “Hell if I know. They had all kinds of crazy shit. I think they went out to scavenge early on, and took whatever they found.”

I looked in the bag. There appeared to be eight or nine logs of five cans each. “I’ll give him half of it.” Smiling, I looked back up at Perez, “I like it too. Thanks.”

He waved as he walked off. “Don’t worry about it; you’re just lucky you don’t smoke.”

As I pulled out onto the road, I ripped a can from the plastic and ran my fingernail around the lid. Opening it, I took a pinch and put it in my lip. It was a little dry, not too bad, but it was good! I thought how excited Danny would be on the way to his house, then I had an idea. When I got to his house I stuffed the bag under my seat and dropped the can in my pocket as I walked up to the porch.

I could hear people out back. A quick look in the window verified that no one was inside, so I walked around the porch. A large pot sat on one of the picnic tables with bowls and silverware laid out. Danny was sitting on a large chase lounge with Bobbie.

“Dinner’s on the table over there,” Bobbie said.

“Thanks, I’ll get some in a minute,” I replied as I stepped over to the screen door and spit.

Danny looked at me quizzically. I returned his look with a smile and sat down. He didn’t say anything, just looked at me. After a minute I went back to the door again. This time he sat up, “What are you doing?”

“We both know Bobbie would have slapped me sideways if I had spit on the porch.”

“You’re damn right I would have,” she quickly replied.

Danny looked at her, then at me, “What are you spitting?”

“Oh,” I reached in my pocket and removed the can. Holding it up, “Just this.”

Instantly, he was on his feet, moving towards me with his hand out. “Where’d you get that?”

“A little bird gave it to me,” I said as I tossed him the can.

Danny quickly opened the can and took a pinch, “It’s a little dry.”

Holding my hand out I replied, “Well, then give it back if you don’t like it.”

Danny looked at the can, “Oh I like it!”

I smiled, “You can keep it then.”

“But where’d you get it?”

“Perez had it.”

“Got anymore?” Danny asked.

I smiled, “Maybe. If you’re nice to me, I’ll give you a log.”

“A log! Sweet.”

Bobbie moaned, “I thought the spit bottles were gone!”

“Me too!” Mel added.

“Don’t worry, there isn’t that much; it won’t last long,” I replied.

I got rid of the mouthful of worm dirt and sat down to eat. I was hungry.

Sarge and Ted hung out at the barricade for a while, then headed back to their house. As they walked, they talked about the group Ted and Mike had watched a couple of nights before.

“What do you think of them?” Sarge asked.

“They’ve got someone with some tactical skills. They had watches out, but they’re sloppy.”

Sarge thought for a moment, “What I can’t figure out is why we’ve only just now come across them.”

“I thought about that too, how a group that big could be here and us not see them. But they had several travel trailers, campers and trucks to pull them. They rode up that day on ATVs, so they’ve got some fuel. Maybe they were on the move and just landed here.”

“Maybe they don’t have enough fuel for the trucks and got stuck here,” Sarge replied, still thinking.

“Might be part of their MO, move into an area, take what they can and move on.”

“That’s what I’m worried about, that they’re just traveling scavengers.”

Ted kicked a rock down the road, “Maybe they’ll move on now that they hit some resistance.”

Sarge shook his head. “No, I have a feeling that ole Billy Boy will want him some get-even. He didn’t strike me as the type to run from a fight.”

“Maybe we should go take another look then. We haven’t seen or heard anything out of them since our last trip.”

Sarge looked at Ted, “And that really worries me. I think we’ll do that, go take another look. I’ll go with you this time; take that sea-goin’ bellhop too.”

“I’ll come up with a new route; don’t want to go the same way again.”

“Yeah, they could be expecting us,” Sarge smiled. “Let’s not make it easy on ‘em.”

As they came to the door, they heard Mike inside shout, “What the fuck!”

They quickly went in. Not seeing him, they went through the house. “Mikey!” Sarge shouted.

“Back here!”

They found him in the bedroom with the safe, the door standing open and him in front of it.

“Holy shit, you actually got it open!” Ted shouted.

Mike turned around holding a couple of large pictures in his hand. “Look at this shit!” He said, handing one of the pictures to Ted. “This is what some asshole had in his safe.”

“I remember this cartoon, Calvin and Hobbes. But why is it in a safe?” Ted asked.

“Let me see it.” Sarge said, taking the picture from Ted. He studied it for a minute, “It’s a signed and numbered lithograph; that’s why it’s in the safe.”

Ted looked at it again, “So?”

“Are you two really that ignorant?” Sarge asked. Both just stared back at him. “In ’92 Bill Watterson took a sabbatical for a year from writing the comic. He gave these out to newspapers that kept running the series. They’re very rare.” Sarge looked past Mike. “What else is in there?”

“Just a bunch of junk.”

Sarge stepped forward, “Get out of the way dipshit. Let someone with some sense look at it.”

Sarge stepped in front of the safe and looked around, having to take out his flashlight to get a better view. He took a bottle of wine from the bottom of the safe and held it up. Reading the label, he whistled.