Enforcing Home (20 page)

The helicopter circled and I could see the burned remains of the vehicles from the earlier fight. Then I saw Sarge’s Hummer sitting in the field as well; the guys were sitting on the hood. The pilot brought the Blackhawk around and set it down near the Hummer. The guys quickly ran out to us as the crew chief and gunner started throwing the cases and ammo cans out. Sarge and I each grabbed some and headed for the truck. As soon as the supplies were off, the pitch of the helicopter increased and the pilot pulled it into the air. I looked up to see the gunner giving me a thumbs up. I returned it as they climbed higher. Soon, the sound of the machine faded and it was just us.

“How’d it go?” Ted asked.

“Good, we got some trash from ‘em.” Sarge looked at Doc, “Tomorrow they’re bringing in a field hospital with a four-man staff.”

Doc’s eyebrows went up, “No shit? I’ll be damned, didn’t see that coming.”

“They’re sending a squad to provide security for it as well,” Sarge added.

Suddenly Mike yelled out, “Holy shit! You got us a Goose!” We looked back to see Mike open the case with the Gustav M3 recoilless rifle. Taking it out, he shouldered it. “Hot damn, I’m gonna blow some shit up now!”

“Put it away dickhead; let’s get this shit loaded. I need to call Captain America and let him know he’s got a delivery coming in the morning,” Sarge barked.

Mike laid the weapon back in the case and caressed its tube before closing the lid. We loaded all the stuff up and got in the truck for the ride home. As Ted pointed the truck at the road, I saw the barricade was empty. Looking at Ted, I asked if they’d moved back to the bunker.

Nodding, he replied. “Yeah, we pulled back to it. Been quiet today though.”

“Good, I like quiet,” I replied.

Ted pulled up to the bunker and stopped. I was surprised when Taylor came out with Danny and Jamie. Looking at her as I got out, I asked, “What are you doing down here?”

She shrugged, “Just trying to help.”

While I didn’t like the idea of my little girl doing security work, I knew it needed to be done. Besides, she was a woman now, no longer a little girl; and I knew she was fully capable of doing it. I smiled at her, “Good deal,” and put my arm around her. We walked down into the bunker, I wanted to see what it was like with people actually manning it.

“What’s it like down in here?” I asked as we stepped in.

“It’s ok, kinda creepy.”

One of the SAWs was sitting in the front opening. A couple cans of ammo sat on the ground beneath it. Someone had brought in some chairs and a small table like a sturdy TV tray and put the water jug on it. It looked like everyone was getting into the swing of using it. Coming out, Danny was talking to Sarge.

“Where’s Jeff?” I asked.

“We buried him. Thought about waiting for you guys to get back, but we didn’t know how long you’d be, so we went ahead and did it.”

“It was the right thing to do,” Sarge added.

I nodded, “Yeah, it was.”

“Thad is over there now cleaning up the area,” Danny said.

“Where’d you do it?” I asked.

“We put him out by the pond. Mel and Bobbie thought it would be a good place. You know, keep him close.”

Sarge had the guys move some of the ammo from the Hummer to the bunker. He kept the Gustav though; that would stay with him. There were enough folks around here for now, and I didn’t need to be here, so I told everyone I was heading home. I wanted to go see Mel and check on what was done with Jeff. I walked home and found the house empty. Going over to Danny’s, I found Thad at Danny’s shop. He was brushing varnish onto a cross.

“Hey man, how’s it going?” I asked.

Thad shrugged, “It’s going.”

“That looks really nice,” I said looking at the cross.

Thad stopped for a moment to look at his work. “After carving his name in it I burned it with a torch then sanded it some.” He brushed more varnish on, “This will protect it. I wanted him to have something that would last.”

I put my hand on his shoulder, “This will do it. Looks good.”

Thad set the brush into a small container of paint thinner, “When this dries, we’ll go put it up.”

“I’ll help.”

Thad nodded, there was no smile this time. I could tell he was disturbed. He was always such a happy guy, but not today. I told him I was going to check on Mel and left him to wrap up his work. Mel was in the house with Bobbie. Little Bit was sitting on the couch playing on the iPad. Seeing it made me think of Jeff again. I doubt she made the connection, that it was his. She looked up, “Hey Dad.”

“Hey kiddo,” I replied.

Mel came up and gave me a hug, “I’m glad you’re back. Where’d you go?”

“Camp Riley; it’s up in the panhandle.”

“What for?”

I walked over to the bar and sat down. “Some General wanted to meet with the old man. But it was good. Tomorrow they’re bringing us a lot of stuff. Oh, that reminds me, hey Little Bit, I have something for you.”

She quickly jumped up, “What is it?”

I reached into my pocket to find most of the cookies were now crumbs. But there were some large pieces. I raked all of it out and piled it on the counter. Her face lit up, “Cookies!”

“Yeah, have some. Go get Lee Ann, and tell her to come get some too.”

With a handful of cookie crumbs, she took off. Mel took a few pieces and ate them.

“Oh, that is so good,” Mel said. “Where’d you get them?”

“Well, we went to the mess hall on the base. They had them there.”

“What’d they have for food?” Bobbie asked. “I mean, if they had cookies they must have had other stuff.”

I smiled, feeling a little guilty. “Yeah, they did. I had a hamburger and fries. Some coleslaw and baked beans. There was all sorts of stuff.”

“Oh man, a hamburger. With a bun?” Mel asked.

“Yeah, it had a bun too. And pickles and mustard, all the fixin’s.”

Bobbie looked sideways at me, “Must be nice.”

I nodded, “It was. Good news is they’re bringing us some food tomorrow as well.”

“Really? What are they bringing?” Mel asked.

I shrugged, “I don’t know.”

Lee Ann and Little Bit appeared. The two of them sat down at the bar and shared the cookie crumbs. There was no bickering, no arguing. They sat together and actually laughed as they went through the pile. It was nice to see. In the Before there would have been all manner of back and forth.

“These are really good,” Lee Ann said as she funneled crumbs into her mouth.

I smiled, “Thought you guys would like them.”

Bobbie was standing at the stove. She took the lid off a large stock pot and raised a ladle out of it. As she poured the contents back into the pot, she said, “Well I guess you won’t be having any of this delicious stew.”

“It actually looks pretty good,” I replied.

“Pffft, It ain’t a hamburger,” Mel shot back.

Lee Ann and Little Bit both looked up, “Hamburgers?”

Mel leaned against the counter and crossed her arms, “Yeah, someone had hamburgers today.”

The girls’ heads swiveled in unison with a look of deep longing on their faces. It was funny and I laughed, “Sorry girls; I had it with the Army guys. No takeout.”

Lee Ann scrunched her face up, “I want a burger.”

“We’ll have to see what we can do,” I replied. It gave me an idea; I needed to go look at what was left of our storage.

As we were talking, Jess, Fred and Aric came in. They were quiet as they came through the door. I asked what they were up to and Aric answered they were coming for dinner before taking over at the barricade. We cleared the bar so they could sit down, and Bobbie quickly served them up. She slid a steaming bowl in front of each before making herself one as well. As she leaned on the counter blowing on the steaming hash, Jess sampled it and commented how good it was.

Bobbie cut her eyes at me, “It ain’t hamburgers, but it’s not bad.”

Leaning over his own bowl, Aric added, “Man, I’d love a hamburger.”

I narrowed my eyebrows at Bobbie and she laughed. Sarge and the guys came through the door like a gaggle of raucous geese. It sounded like they were arguing over something. Once in the house Sarge spun around and performed a Three Stooges routine that would make Moe Howard smile in his grave. Mike was saying something when Sarge slapped his chin shut real hard. Ted started to laugh and Sarge went to poke him in the eye in classic Three Stooges style when Ted put his hand up between his eyes stopping the forked fingers. He slapped Sarge’s hand down and Sarge brought it all the way around and banged Ted on the head.

Everyone in the house started to crack up; it was hilarious to see them go at one another. Sarge turned around with a big smile on his face and started towards the kitchen. Mike kicked the back of his boot, sending his foot flying forward in a giant step. Ted cracked up and sent the rest of us into another laughing fit. The old man spun around and pointed at Mike, “Keep it up!”

“Hey! You started it!” Mike replied.

“You guys take that mess out back, I’ll bring you something to eat,” Bobbie shouted, pointing at the backdoor.

The guys filed out the door with Doc bringing up the rear. He was shaking his head as he passed, “You can’t take these idiots anywhere.”

Mel and Bobbie filled bowls and carried them out to the guys. I went out and sat down with them. When Mel set a bowl in front of Mike, Sarge reached across the table and stuck his finger in it, “You gonna eat that?” He asked.

Mike jerked the bowl away, “Yes!”

Sarge jerked his finger from the bowl, “Shit that’s hot!”

Mike smiled, “Serves you right.”

“You guys done?” I asked.

Ted was blowing on a spoon of steaming stew, and with his eyes darting around the table he replied, “For now.”

“Doc are you going to want to stay up there with the clinic?” I asked.

He was stirring the contents of his bowl around and replied, “Maybe for a bit. But only if they need me. I don’t really want to hang out up there.”

“At least go up there and get resupplied.”

“And get them antibiotics,” Sarge added.

“Yeah, I checked on Tyler’s family today. He’s in pretty rough shape. The kids are actually doing better than he is. We’ll see what they send; maybe it will help,” Doc replied.

Mary came downstairs to join the rest of us. When Doc saw her, he waved her over. “Hey Mary, got a question for you.”

She sat down beside him. Like Thad, she seemed to have a perpetual smile. “Sure, what is it?”

“The Army is bringing in a field hospital tomorrow; would you be willing to work as a nurse there? You know we have a bunch of people hurt really bad and could use the help.”

Mary nodded, “Of course. I’d like that.”

Doc smiled and patted her hand, “Great. You’ll work with me. I’ll come get you tomorrow.”

“Okay, I’ll be ready.”

Thad came in and told me the cross was dry. All of us went outside following Thad, who carried the cross in one hand and a large mallet in the other. Jeff was buried on the east side of the pond in a small clearing surrounded by cypress trees that Danny planted years ago. Thad walked to the head of the grave as the rest of us gathered at the foot. We stood in silence as Thad hammered the cross into the disturbed earth.

As he performed his task, I thought of the number of burials I’d seen since things changed. More than I’d seen my entire life leading up to it. I looked down at Little Bit who’d made her way to my side. Already in her short years she’d seen more than any child should. Death had become a constant companion, always ready to take the unsuspecting or unlucky.

With his job done, Thad joined the rest of us at the foot of the grave. We all stood in silence for some time before Thad asked, “Anyone want to offer any words?”

We were not a religious bunch. I’m sure some among us had some deep belief, but that was always kept internal. It just wasn’t something we spoke about. It was Ted that broke the silence.

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

Giving Little Bit’s hand a squeeze, I said, “The difficulty is not so great to die for a friend, as to find a friend worth dying for. Sorry to see you go my friend.”

“Bravely and gladly a man shall go, till the day of his death is come,” Sarge said, then bent over and scooped a handful of earth. Holding it over the grave, he sprinkled it out.

I don’t know why we did it, but we all repeated the deed. Each in their turn scraping a handful of dirt and slowly, silently sprinkling it out over the grave. When the last of us had our turn, we stood in silence for another moment before heading back to the house. Checking the board, I saw I was to be on security later in the night. Sarge came up beside me and looked the board over. It was just the two of us and I used it to satisfy my curiosity.

“Why do you carry on with those guys like that?”

Sarge looked over, “Huh?”

“That little Three Stooges routine earlier. You are always playing grab ass with ‘em.”

Sarge smiled, “I’ve known them boys for a long time. Hell, they were only boys when they first showed up.” Sarge smiled again and shook his head. “I used to smoke Mikey’s ass, grind him until he couldn’t stand. He was such a smartass; shit, still is. But he’d take it and come back for more. He didn’t know how to keep his mouth shut.

“But he was so damn good. You hear people say they were born to do this or that. He’s a born killer, a true professional. He grew on me like a damn mold I couldn’t scrub off. Teddy was the same way, though not nearly as bad. Ted always knew when it was time to work and when you could fuck around. Mikey never did figure that out. But I watched those two boys become men, and over the years I came to love them.” He paused for a moment and looked at me with a deep furrow in his brow. “And I don’t mean in a queer way either, so don’t get any ideas peckerwood. But I trust them with my life, anytime, anywhere. If someone would open the gate to hell, I’d wade into the seven circles with them and the fires would be out by dinner time.”

I looked at him, and in a deep gravelly voice said, “You’re funny, not funny ha ha—” He cut me.

He quickly snatched his hat from his head and started to swat the shit out of me. “See dammit! You’re just like ‘em! Bunch of damn smart asses!”