Avenging Home (8 page)

Chapter 4

T
had and I stood staring at the scorched and smoking remains of the house. It was early and a heavy fog blanketed the ground, giving the entire scene a spooky feel. The air was heavy with an acrid odor of fire and loss. Little was left, the frame of the mobile home really the only thing recognizable. Thad leaned on a shovel as he surveyed the scene. Of all things that have happened to this point, I’m sure this was the hardest thing for him to look at. But he revealed nothing as we stood in silence.

“I’m not looking forward to this,” I said.

“It’s an unpleasant thing,” Thad replied.

“At least they got the kids out.”

Thad glanced over. “How are the kids?”

“They’re at Bobbie’s. She’s taking care of them. Doc checked the skin pop on them earlier and said Jace was positive for antibodies, but didn’t appear to be sick. Said there’s a chance he was able to fight it off. Edie was negative.”

“That’s good. But now those babies have to grow up without their momma and daddy,” Thad lamented.

“That may be true, but they’re not going to be alone,” I replied. Then I looked at Thad. “They’re a part of our family now, and we’ll raise them, all of us.” Thad nodded and I added, “you’re a big uncle now, again.”

Thad smiled. “Guess that makes Sarge the crazy grandpa then.”

Laughing, I replied, “Yeah, ole mean ass grandpa.”

Thad chuckled and turned his attention to the grizzly task before us. “You ready to do this?”

Letting out a long breath, I responded. “No.”

“Me neither. But let’s get it done.”

With gloved hands, we worked our way into the remains of the house. It didn’t look like we’d find their bodies; the fire was intense and left little. We picked through the debris carefully, respectfully. It was an unpleasant task. As we worked, Sarge showed up with several of the guys.

“You find them?” Sarge asked.

I was knelt down picking my way through a large black pile. “Not yet.”

“I doubt you will. That fire was hot.”

I rose to my feet. “We’ve got to get those bastards. This is twice now. They need to pay in a big way.”

Sarge nodded. “They will. We’re going to stomp their dicks in the dirt.”

Looking at Ted, I asked, “How’s the ear?”

Ted reached up and rubbed the bandage over his ear. “Fucking gone.”

Mike gave him a little punch on the shoulder. “Come on, man. Chicks dig scars.” Ted glared back in reply.

“Speaking of chicks, how’s Jamie?” Thad asked.

“She’s doing OK, but Doc wants to get her to town. Which is why we’re here, you’re supposed to meet the engineers at the power plant,” Sarge said.

“I know. I just wanted to find them.”

“We’ll get some other folks over here to continue the search. We need to get on the road.”

“Go ahead, Morgan. We’ll take care of this,” Thad said.

Wiping sweat from my face, I said, “I also have to close up the broken sliding glass door. Not to mention clean all the blood off my kitchen floor.”

Thad smiled. “I’ll take care of that too. I’ll just get a door from one of the other houses around here. They’re pretty standard, and we should find one that will fit.”

I left Thad with Mike and Ted to keep looking. We went over to my house where Sarge’s Hummer was waiting. Doc came out the door holding one end of a collapsible stretcher. Ian had the other end and Jamie was lying on it with her eyes closed, wrapped in a blanket. Aric was inside the truck and helped pull her inside. She winced a couple of times as it wasn’t the easiest thing to get her inside.

Once she was in, Ian sat down beside her and wiped a couple loose strands of hair from her face. He smiled and said, “You’re going to be alright. You’ve got to come back so I can see what you look like in that dress.”

Without opening her eyes, she replied, “Pshh, fat chance. Are you coming with me?”

“You want me to?”

“You need adult supervision. Someone needs to keep an eye on you.”

Ian smiled again. “Alright. I’ll go so you can keep an eye on me.”

I asked Aric where he was last night. I hadn’t seen him since the shooting began.

He nodded at Ian. “I was with him. When the shooting started, we moved to flank the truck. Then the damn thing blew up. Almost killed us. A couple of guys got out of it and we shot their asses.”

“Oh, ok. That was you guys shooting up there. We didn’t know who it was,” I said.

“It was us alright. I just wish we had been down here to help deal with all these assholes,” Ian added.

Looking around, he asked, “Where’s Perez?”

Ian snorted. “Oh man, he’s sick. Got the shits real bad. You thought he was a pain in the ass before. Holy hell. He’s the biggest freaking baby I’ve ever seen.”

“Is he alright?” I asked.

Ian nodded. “Yeah. Doc checked on him. He’ll get over it.”

“Tell him to suck it up,” Sarge said.

“What was the explosion back there?” I asked, pointing to the rear of the neighborhood with my chin.

“That was a couple trying to get out I think. They hit Dalton’s surprise. There’s pieces of them hanging in the trees back there,” Sarge replied.

“Let’s get this on the road. We need to get Jamie to the clinic,” Doc said.

Whispering, I asked, “How’s she doing, Doc?”

“She’s alright, but might need surgery. That’s why I want to get her to the clinic. There’s only so much I can do here.”

We loaded up. Doc sat in the back with Jamie and Ian took the turret. I drove and Sarge rode shotgun. We didn’t want to take too many people from the neighborhood. We didn’t know what these guys may try next. As I pulled around two bodies lying in the road next to the still-smoking truck, Sarge said, “Good work, Ian.”

This truck was like the others, an MRAP. I shook my head, thinking back to the days in the Before when people would look at you like you were crazy for being upset that the DHS was acquiring such equipment. But I have to admit, even I didn’t foresee this.

I pushed the speed on the old truck, not wanting to waste time getting Jamie to the clinic. It was odd seeing the market in Altoona busy with people trading. They surely had heard the shooting last night. Maybe they didn’t care. Not that I expected anything from them. After all, they had more pressing issues, like feeding themselves and their families.

As we came into Umatilla, I noticed the old Kangaroo there was busy as well. I briefly saw a sign that said milk. It intrigued me, and I made a mental note to stop by on the way back. As we passed the old Golden Gem plant, I hoped we’d be able to get the turbine running. And I really hoped these engineers knew something about it. The car barricade was opened as we approached, and I was able to pass straight through. Pulling up in front of the clinic, the staff was there waiting for us. Jamie was quickly unloaded and taken inside. I watched the doors close behind Doc as he followed her in. There was nothing I could do in there, and I’d only be in the way. After a brief moment, Doc came back out the door and handed me the bloody blankets.

I looked at them and instantly recognized one of them. It was Little Bit’s. It was originally made for Taylor by one of my aunts and was passed down to each new baby girl. It was a mess now, but somehow we’d have to clean it up. Little Bit would surely want it back. It also made me think of my aunt up there in Jacksonville. She was alone, my uncle having passed away a couple years ago. He was a good man, retired Coastie. I always enjoyed visiting them as a kid. They had three sons, and I’m sure those boys were taking care of her. I hoped so anyway. It really drove home the idea of not taking your loved ones for granted. You never know when the last time you see them will be THE last time you see them.

“Let’s go to the armory and find those engineers,” Sarge said.

We pulled up to the back gate and parked. As we were getting out, Cecil walked up. “Mornin’, fellers. I hear you guys had a hard night.”

Sarge nodded. “You could say that. But they got the worst end of it.”

“That’s good. Something needs done with ‘em though or this is just going to keep happening.”

Sarge spit in the dirt. “And we’re going to do just that.”

As they were talking, Shane with the Eustis PD came up. “Hey, Morgan. What are we going to do with the kid we have locked up? It’s getting to be a pain in the ass having to watch him and the guy from the other night.”

“You’re going to have to watch them for now. We’ve got bigger fish to fry at the moment. Anything else going on?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No. It’s actually been kind of quiet.” As we were talking, a guy with a neatly trimmed beard ran up.

“Hey, Shane. I fed the prisoners. You need anything else?”

“Not right now. Thanks.” Shane replied.

“I’ve got a couple of things I need to do. I’ll be back later.”

As he walked off, I asked, “Who’s that?”

“Oh, that’s Micah Revelle. He wants to join the PD. He helps out with little things, takes some of the work off us,” Shane replied.

“He from around here?” I asked.

“No, I don’t think so. He came in a few days ago. Seems eager enough and does whatever we ask.”

I looked at the guy as he walked off. Something about him just didn’t sit well with me. Looking back at Shane, I said, “Keep an eye on him.”

“Micah? He’s fine. You don’t have to worry about him.”

“I have to worry about everyone.”

Sarge returned and said the engineers would meet at the barricade out of town. They went to get their truck. Cecil was going to ride with us. We mounted up and pulled out onto the road. I drove down to the Lake Eustis canal and we got out to wait. I waved at the guys on the barricade when gunfire erupted right behind me. I dove to the ground as Ian opened up with the SAW from the turret.

Looking up, I shouted. “What is it?”

Pausing for an instant, Ian shouted back. “I don’t know!” And he went back to work with the machinegun.

I got up and saw Sarge firing wildly into the water of the canal. Sarge was screaming his ass off as he pumped round after round into the water. I looked at Ian and waved, “Cease fire! Cease fire!”

He stopped and looked over the smoking weapon at me. “What is it?”

“Hell if I know.”

I turned back towards Sarge just as he jumped off the road into the water. “What the hell?” I said as I stepped up and peered over the edge. There was Sarge in the water shouting to himself.

“I got your ass! I got your big ass!” He looked up at me. “Morgan, get yer ass down here!”

I sat on the edge of the road and dropped into the water. “What is it?”

Sarge heaved, and an alligator’s head bobbed out of the water. “I got his ass! I finally got me a lizard!”

“All that for a damn gator?” I asked.

“What is it?” Ian shouted.

“I got me a big ass lizard!” Sarge shouted back.

“You’re out of your damn mind,” I said.

“All that for a gator?” Ian asked from the road. I looked up to see him standing over us.

“I think the old man has lost his mind,” I said.

“Quit yer belly aching and help me drag this thing out of here,” Sarge barked. He was smiling from ear to ear.

“You want to put that in the truck?” Ian asked.

“Hell yeah. We need the meat, and this is my lizard! And I’m taking it!” Sarge shot back.

I helped Sarge drag the beast from the water. But we needed Ian’s help to get the nearly nine-foot reptile up to the road.

“Damn this thing is heavy!” Ian grunted.

Sarge was almost vibrating with excitement. He looked at Ian wide-eyed, “I know! It’s huge, ain’t it!”

Ian shook his head. “What the hell are you going to do with it?”

Sarge looked at him like he was an idiot. “We’re going to eat it, dipshit. What did you think we’re going to do with it!”

As we dropped the gator on the back of the truck, two Hummers came skidding to a stop beside us. Sheffield and Livingston hopped out with several Guardsmen. Sheffield looked around. “What the hell’s going on?”

Putting his foot on the gator’s head, Sarge replied, “I killed me one big ass gator.”

Sheffield looked down, then at Sarge. “All that shooting was for this?” He then looked up at Ian. “What the hell were you shooting at?

Ian shrugged. “When he started shooting over there, I thought we were under attack, and I opened up on the tree line.”

Livingston chuckled. “So he killed a gator and you killed some trees?”

Ian smiled. “I guess, yeah.”

Sheffield shook his head and looked at Sarge. “Here’s your engineers. Don’t you need to be getting to the plant?”

Sarge waved him off. “We’re going, we’re going. Just as soon as we load this lizard up.”

Sheffield huffed and looked at Baker. “I’ll see you guys later. Try and get back before dark.”

She nodded and Sheffield got back in his truck. Livingston looked at me. “You really need to keep an eye on him.”

I shrugged. “We need the meat.”

Livingston walked away, shaking his head. After he was in the truck and they were driving back towards the armory, Ian looked at Sarge and said, “I get the feeling the captain doesn’t like you much.”

Cecil laughed. “Ya think?”

Sarge snorted. “He can kiss my ass if he don’t like me. He can’t be first, but he can be next. Get on the end of this lizard,” Sarge said, motioning to the gator’s tail.

Cecil snickered. “I bet you was hell on the brass when you was still in.”

As we hefted the gator, Sarge groaned. “You wouldn’t believe half of it.”

Once Sarge’s trophy was loaded in the back of the Hummer, we mounted up and pulled out with the engineers following us.

As we drove, I asked Sarge, “Did Doc tell you about the radio transmission we heard last night?”

Surprised, Sarge looked over. “No, he didn’t. What was it?”

“Smells like shit back here!” Cecil shouted.

I laughed, but answered Sarge. “It was some guys up in Idaho called the Radio Free Redoubt. They gave some news about the Marine Corps fighting in Atlanta. They also said the UN was considering sending in peacekeepers.”

Sarge snorted. “Peacekeepers! What are they going to send? Bunch of candy ass Belgians? Or worse yet, the French? We’ll kick the shit out of those boys.”

“Actually, they said the Russians and Chinese were all about it.”

Cecil leaned forward. “The Russians and Chinese, you say?” Then I looked at Sarge. “You actually going to eat this smelly ass thing?”