The Siege (15 page)

     She sat back down.

     Sarah raised her hand, and Mark nodded in her direction.

     “Karen, I love you like my own mother. You are a very dear friend and I would do anything for you. But you’re missing the point. John was right when he admitted that what he did was a crime. And beyond that, it was a sin against God. He broke one of the commandments. He didn’t cheat at poker. He didn’t eat more than his share of the pie. He
killed
two men who were not only unarmed, they were tied to chairs. And he shot them point blank. How can we expect our children, and their children, to live honest and decent lives, if we tolerate such behavior? However well intentioned John’s actions were, they were just
wrong.
Legally, morally, and in the eyes of God.”

     She sat back down.

     Joe stood up and asked to speak next.

     “I like John as much as anyone. He’s done a great job in keeping us safe. But Sarah is right. If we allow this thing to go unanswered, if we allow people to be murdered when they don’t have the means to resist, then aren’t we just as bad as the men who attacked us? If we pick and choose which laws and commandments we want to obey, and break the others, then wha
t kind of people have we become?”

     “Let me tell you what kind of people we’ve become,” said
Bryan, standing and walking to the front of the room.

     “We’ve become the kind of people who are facing a new reality in a newly dangerous world. We are doing what we have to do to survive, and to protect those closest to us.

     “We are the type of people who have come to accept that the legal system no longer exists. That there are no longer police departments who can swoop in with their lights flashing and their sirens blaring to rescue us from evil. We have to do that ourselves now. There is no more 911.

     “And in the absence of laws and lawmen, we have to make decisions that we think are the best way to go to protect our loved ones and property. That’s all John did. Whether you agree with him or not, that’s all he did. He made a decision based on his own experience and what he believed the threat to be.

     “He didn’t turn into a mass murderer who is going to shoot us all in our sleep. He didn’t take his morals and his religious beliefs and cast them aside as though they no longer mattered. He is still a man of God. And the fact that he risked an eternity in hell to protect
our lives
has got to account for something.

     “I love my wife dearly. Even though we don’t always agree with things. But I find fault in something she said. She said that John committed a sin against God by shooting two men who couldn’t defend themselves.

     “But if that is the standard we’re going by now, then I’m just as guilty. I shot one of the men at the gate, then the man on the roof. Neither man was an immediate threat to me. Sure, they would have been in the future, but at the time I killed them one was standing at the gate and the other was sitting down smoking a cigarette.

     “So by your standards I committed two murders just like John did. Are you going to banish me too? Because that’s what needs to happen if you’re going to be consistent.
If you banish John for killing others to protect you, then you have to afford me the same punishment.

     “But by the same token, if you give me a pass for killing men who were no immediate threat, but would have been in the future, then you have to give John that same pass.”

     Bryan walked back over to Sarah’s table and sat down beside her. He held out his hand and she took it. Then she scooted her chair over to his and placed her head on his shoulder.

     Mark added his own two cents to piggyback on what
Bryan had said.

     “There is some merit to
Bryan’s words. I threw the switches that collapsed the mine that killed seven men. And I shot and killed a man during the first assault. A lot of us have killed since this ordeal began. Many of us will likely kill again. And more of you who haven’t yet taken a life may be called upon to do so. Why don’t we save the judgment for God, and not presume that we have a right to judge a man for trying to save us from what he perceived to be a real danger?”

     The meeting dragged on for two hours. Everyone who wanted to had their say. Some stood two or
three times.

     And finally, everyone was talked out.

     Mark took his turn again.

     “Okay, I guess it’s time to vote. Because of the sensitivity of the issue, we have the option of voting by secret ballot. That way no one will know for certain how anyone else voted, and it should cut down on the animosity afterwards. That’s an option. Or, we can make it an open vote, so everyone knows where everyone else stands. I’d like to take a vote on that first. By a show of hands, everyone who would like to vote by secret ballot, please raise your hands. Karen, we all trust you. Would you take the count, please?”

     Karen looked around the room and counted hands.

     “We have twenty one votes for a secret ballot.”

     “Very well. The motion carries. Hannah will pass out slips of paper and pencils to everyone. Debbie, I understand that Helen asked you to vote by proxy on her behalf, since she’s got all the kids at the schoolhouse. And also Jason at the security desk. Is that correct?”

     Debbie nodded her head.

    “Hannah, please give Debbie three slips of paper.”

     He waited until Hannah passed
the paper and pencils to everyone in the room and looked around to make sure she didn’t miss anyone.

     “Very well. Let’s make this simple. Please write the word “STAY” if you want John to remain in our group. Write the word “GO” if you want to banish him. The
n fold your paper in half, and Hannah will come back around to collect them.

     In the end, even after all the deliberation, the vote was unanimous. John was still part of the family, and was still wanted in the group. There were those among them who would never forgive him for what he did.

     But no one wanted to see him go.

Chapter 31

     Mark went to share the news with John, Sami and Brad. He found them sitting under the largest apple tree in the orchard.

     He approached them with some apprehension. He knew that as the spokesman for the group, he would be the recipient should John lash out in rage over the process.

     But John sat stoically, as was his habit. He was a man who didn’t get upset easily, regardless of the circumstances.

     Sami, on the other hand, was a fireball. If the vote had gone the other way, Mark fully expected that John and Brad would have had to drag her off of him.

     “It was unanimous,” he said. “Everyone wants you to stay.”

     John exhaled, and the others noticed for the first time that he’d been holding his breath. He was relieved. Sure, he was capable of surviving on his own in the world outside the compound. And as he told the others, he might even have thrived.

     But this was his home now, and these people had become his family.

     And he didn’t want to leave.

     Mark reached behind him and removed a gun and holster from the back of his belt.

     “And I’d appreciate it if you’d consider resuming your role as security chief. No one else wants the stinking job, and no one else would be anywhere near as good as you.

     “You’ve kept us all alive to this point. I suspect you’ll keep us all alive long into the future.”

     John took the weapon from Mark’s hand and studied it. Without looking up, he asked, “Does everyone else share your view?”

     “I don’t know, John. We didn’t discuss it. I suspect most do. I also suspect there are a few who don’t. But as you said, you can’t always make important decisions based on public opinion. Those who don’t will get over it, I reckon. This is just a personal request from me, to one of my very best friends.”

     John stood and clipped the holster to his belt.

     “I expect there’s a lot of healing to be done. I imagine time will take care of that.”

     He looked of in the direction of the big house, and saw Sarah approaching them at a fast clip. His gaze got the attention of the others, and they watched her as she crossed the field to them.

     No one knew her intent. John braced himself for what she might say. Brad and Sami stood to protect him if necessary.

     But as she got closer, they could see the tears streaming from her eyes.

     Instead of harsh words, she reached out her arms and hugged John.

     “Oh, John, I’m so sorry. I was just so caught up being my judgmental self that I didn’t even consider your point of view. I haven’t been a friend to you, and that was stupid of me. I’ve been a total bitch.”

     She held John and noticed Brad and Sami watching her, intently.

     “You tw
o can argue with me about the bitch part if you want.”

     Sami pulled out a respectable impersonation of former President Geor
ge H.W. Bush and said, “No… not gonna do it…”

    
Sarah smiled. She drew back from John, and he smiled too.

     He said, “Hey, you don’t have to back away so soon, you know. It’s not often an old codger like me gets to hug on a pretty young woman like you.”

     Sami looked shocked and said, “Dad!”

    Sarah hugged him once again quickly and backed away again.

     “We’ll have to
wait a little bit longer to start our crazy love affair, John. My husband and I still aren’t on the best of terms. We’re walking on thin ice right now.”

     “Well, I suspect there’s going to be a lot of
that going on over the next weeks and months.”

     “Would y’all come back in now? It’s way too late for bre
akfast, but I’m sure you’re famished. The kitchen staff is just about to ring the lunch bell.”

     Sarah hugged Sami too, and apologized again.

     “I don’t know what I would do if you had left. A part of my heart would have gone with you.”

     “I know, girlfriend. I would have felt the same way. So let’s put it behind us and move on. And let’s go get something to eat. For the very first time in your life you’re right about something. I
am
famished.”

Chapter
32

     The tension was heavy the next few days, but things eventually got back to normal. Even those who refused to forgive John for what he’d done accepted it. And no one could argue his point that he’d seen far more ugliness in the world than anyone else in the group. And perhaps he indeed had a unique perspective that no one else could muster.

     Another thing that helped clear the tension was that it was a very busy time. For nine straight days following John’s reprieve, every adult in the group, except for the two school teachers and the security staff, was in the fields helping plant crops.

     They’d been unsure whether their seven year old seeds would even come up. But Karen had planted test crops in her greenhouse before the assault and evacuation. And she reported that more than eighty percent of the seeds sprouted. It wasn’t the best case scenario, but it could have been much worse.

     And considering that they didn’t expect to actually consume
much of this crop, it was an acceptable figure. The bulk of this crop would be put aside, to provide more and newer seeds the following season. In the meantime, they still had plenty to eat to get them through another year. The plants in the greenhouses would get them by, when coupled with the fruit and nuts in the orchard, the dry stock they still had in their food stores, and the poultry and livestock in their barns. The animals had plenty of sacks of feed as well, and the fourth field would be allowed to go to hay for bailing in case the feed ran short.

     And in a couple of weeks, their three
main fields would be lush with the green seedlings of the corn, wheat and sorghum plants.

     All was well.

     Or so everyone thought.

     But as is often the case, an idyllic situation is frequently shattered. After all, this bunch had never had it easy. The gods of fate apparently liked that arrangement.

     John was helping Bryan hook up the two inch aluminum sprinkler pipe running from the well pump to the irrigator when a frantic call came over the radio.

     “John, Mark,
Bryan, Brad, come to security immediately. We have company.”