The Army Comes Calling (2 page)

     Hannah laughed.

     “Yes sir, little man. Maybe. Now, let’s go, so somebody else doesn’t catch all the whales before we get there.”

     John waited until the trio was out of sight before he turned to Bryan and said, “Okay, I’m officially curious. What’s the story about him falling out of a boat?”

Chapter 2

     “When they were still in college at Baylor and they started dating, Mark was trying his best to impress her. He fell for her hard, and decided he’d do whatever it took to land her. So when she mentioned that she loved the water, he rented a sailboat and took a quickie course on how to sail.”

     John smiled. He already knew how the story ended, but didn’t interrupt. He wanted to hear the details.

     “So, they get out in the middle of this big lake and everything is going fine, until he gets cocky and stands up in the boat. The wind changes direction and the sail swings around and knocks his big dumb ass right in the water.”

     John cracked up laughing and said, “I knew it!”

     “Hold on, John, that’s not even the best part. He got back in the boat and tried to play the whole thing off, and Hannah wasn’t sure whether she should laugh or cry. She said she was mainly impressed that he went through so much effort to try to impress her, so I guess in a way his evil plan worked.”

     “Yeah, yeah… get to the good part.”

     “So, after Hannah fished Mister Show-off out of the water, he couldn’t figure out how to steer the boat. The guy he’d rented it from showed him how to raise the sail and lower it, and how to tie it off, but not how to steer the darn thing.

     “Hannah had to show him how to do it. If she hadn’t, they’d still be in the middle of the lake today.”

     John laughed.

     “Anyway, that’s where his nickname came from. To this day, that’s why Hannah calls him ‘sailor,’ and she calls Markie ‘little sailor’ because he’s just like his father.”

     Brad and Sami walked up. Sami asked, “Are you telling Dad the sailboat story?”

     “Yep.”

     “Don’t forget the romantic part.”

     John asked, “There’s a romantic part?”

     Sami finished the story.

     “After the fiasco at the lake, Mark figured he’d struck out and Hannah would never speak to him again. But Hannah’s place was very close to the lake, and Mark lived miles away. Since Mark was sopping wet, and it was a chilly night, she felt sorry for him and took him home. She let him wear her grandmother’s ratty old housecoat while she washed and dried his clothes. He wound up staying the night, and she swears they fell in love that night.”

     “Well, to hear Mark tell it, he was already in love with her. And he swears he fell out of the boat on purpose, just so he’d get lucky that night.”

     “Oh, please. Mark’s not smart enough to hatch such a plan. And his pride wouldn’t let him do anything that embarrassing on purpose.”

     Sarah and Frank Woodard walked up and Sarah asked John, “Is this where the meeting is gonna be?”

     John had called a meeting of the security committee.

     “Yes. We have to hold it here because I’m on duty. I hope nobody minds.”

     “I sure don’t. Where are Hannah and Mark?”

     Sami said, “They went fishing with little Markie. I told them I’d take notes for them.”

     John said, “Yep. And you two are the last ones here, Sarah. So we can get started. The reason why I called the meeting is because I’m afraid we’ve been getting too comfortable. I fear we’re getting complacent.”

     “But John, it’s been six months since the attack. Things have been going great. It’s been nice living without fear for the first time.”

     “Well, I can’t argue that point. But you guys asked me to head up the security program so that at least one of us thought about the bad things that are out there while everybody else is relaxing. And I’m a worry wart by nature. So I’m just doing my job.”

     “What bad things are you worried about, specifically?”

     “Well, when Brad and I drove into Eden a couple of months back to see how things were going, we didn’t exactly get a warm welcome. We saw a couple of produce stands and stopped and talked to the farmers who ran them. They were bartering for gold and silver instead of cash because the monetary system still isn’t set up. And they seemed friendly enough, even though we didn’t have anything to barter for their crops. But most of the other people we encountered in town just gave us cold blank stares. And one thing we noticed was that there were no women around.”

     “Do you think the people you saw were prisoners they released from the prison?”

     “Not all of them. The farmers were hesitant to talk about the situation in town, but I think a good percentage of the town’s population came directly from the prison.

     “As far as the women, it’s anybody’s guess what happened to them. Maybe they’re just afraid to come out of their homes because of the criminal element. Or maybe when the prison population took over the town, they all evacuated a hundred miles north to San Angelo.”

     “I hope they didn’t kill them.”

     “I thought of that. It’s a possibility. But the fact that we didn’t see any children either leads me to believe they probably took off en masse when the warden set all the prisoners free.

     “Do you think the gang who attacked us came from Eden?”

     “I think it’s a safe bet. The only question is, did they tell anybody else in Eden what we have here? Is there anyone else in town that knows we have livestock and crops, and who wants them bad enough to try their luck as well?”

     “I sure hope not. I would like to think the fighting is over. Isn’t it true that if they have farmers selling produce there, that our crops are less attractive?”

     “Hopefully. But we made a point to ask the farmers if they knew of any livestock or poultry available anywhere. They said they remembered hearing rumors a year or so back that some farm animals had survived the freeze. But they didn’t have a clue where they might be. They seemed to feel the stories were little more than fairy tales.

     “Plus, they were very limited on the produce they were selling. Tomatoes, corn, yellow squash and potatoes. That was it. So apparently we have the only berries and citrus and melons in the area.”

     “What do you propose we do, John?”

     “I’ve already talked to Karen. She’s going to prepare some small packages of seeds that we can take to those same farmers. They seemed like good men. I want to give them seeds for a larger variety of crops they can grow and sell. And I’ll ask them to share some of the seeds with other farmers so we can get everything growing throughout the area again. Once we no longer have a monopoly on such things, we’ll be less vulnerable.”

     “Great idea,” Sarah said. “Can I go?”

     “Don’t take this the wrong way, Sarah, but you’re a beautiful girl. I’d rather you stayed here.”

     “Oh, well, if you’re going to insult me by calling me a beautiful girl then I’d rather just stay here anyway.”

     “What I mean is, I already mentioned there’s a severe shortage of women in the area. If we brought you along and some of the bad men saw you, they might consider you a more valuable target than our produce or livestock. If they outnumbered us, they might actually try to take you away from us. Or, they might try to follow us back to the compound when we left, so they could come after you later.”

     “Okay. I see your point. I think I’d rather stay here after all. But how do you know the farmers will believe you? About the seeds being good, I mean. They may just think you’re trying to trade them bad seeds for their good produce.”

     “We don’t plan to barter the seeds. We’re just going to give them to them. And we’ll take something along that’ll help convince them that we really do have the capability of growing things they can’t.”

     “Like what?”

     “Karen’s going to fix us a picnic basket to give them along with the seeds. She’s going to fill the basket with fresh cucumbers, melons and strawberries. I expect that’ll get their attention real quick.”

     “Are you going to tell them about the animals?”

     “Unless you guys want me to, I’d rather not. I’d prefer to keep that our little secret, at least for now.”

     To be sure, the small town of Eden had some pretty bad characters.

     But they weren’t the main threat to the people occupying the compound.

     The main danger was to come from the sky.

     At the lake, Mark was rowing the abandoned boat they’d found a few weeks before to the shore.

     There were enough smiles to go around, but by far the biggest was on Markie’s little face. He’d not only caught his first fish, but it was the biggest catch of the day. And he glowed with pride.

     “Are you sure I can’t keep him?”

     “I’m sorry, honey. He’s dead now. He’s been out of the water too long.”

     “I know. But I’ve seen on movies that some people hang them on the wall.”

     “Well, I’m afraid that would require a taxidermist, and there aren’t any around here to do that for you.”

     “What about Uncle David? He’s a taxidentist.”

     “Not taxidentist, honey. Taxidermist. And it isn’t the same thing.”

     Markie stopped and thought for a minute.

     “Well, can we catch another live one so I can keep him in a tank full of water?”

     “Now why would you want to do that?”

     “They do that in the movies too.”

     “Not with catfish and perch they don’t.”

     “Aw, I want a pet. Everybody in the movies has a pet and I want one too.”

     Just then the three were distracted by a helicopter that flew right over their heads, and low. No more than three hundred feet off the ground.

     Markie exclaimed, “Wow! Cool!”

     Hannah asked, “Aren’t they heading in the direction of the compound?”

     Mark was already rowing faster.

     “Yes. We need to get back quickly.”

Chapter 3

     Hannah was on the radio immediately.

     “Whoever’s on the desk, this is Hannah. A helicopter just flew over us and it’s headed your way.”

     Frank Woodard was on the desk.

     “A helicopter? Are you sure?”

     Hannah made a “What? Am I too stupid to know what a helicopter looks like?” kind of face, but held her tongue.

     “Yes. A big green one. Like an Army helicopter.”

     “Ten four. I can’t see it on any of the monitors. None of them are pointing upwards. Can anyone outside see it?”

     Bryan, in the north field priming the irrigation pump, said, “Yes. I can see it in the distance to the northeast of us. It appears to be headed this way.”

     “Bryan, I still can’t see it. You’re our eyes and ears. Please take cover and keep us updated.”

     Bryan looked around. There was nothing to take cover under. He stood his ground in the middle of the field.

     “It’s getting closer, and coming in pretty fast.”

     Brad was on the radio now.

     “Bryan, I’m headed for the door. Is there time to get the animals in the barn?”

     “No. That would take half an hour. They’re all over the compound.”

     Frank said, “Brad, stay in the building until we see if they’re friendly. Anybody else who’s outside, get in here.”

     Hannah started to worry.

     Markie said, “Oohhh, if we get back in time, can we ask the helicopter if we can take a ride? That would be cool!”

     Hannah and Mark exchanged glances.

     Little Markie saw the concern on their faces and said, rather dejectedly, “I guess not…”

     Bryan’s voice came over the radio again.

     “Okay, they just flew over the top of me. It looked like an old military gunship. The cabin door was open and I could see what looked like a machine gun mounted in the door with a guy sitting behind it.”

     The next few seconds took an eternity to tick by.

     “Uh, oh. They’re turning around. Now they’re coming back, but it looks like they’re moving slower. I think they saw the cattle and the crops and they’re coming back for another look.”

     John headed for the control center to assist in the situation. Frank Woodard was among the bunch of new residents that came to them from San Antonio. After Frank was wounded and their group was decimated, he and the other survivors were welcomed into the compound. As a retired lawman, he was more than capable of handling things. But John wouldn’t feel right about at least offering to help.