The Swamp (23 page)

             
“I didn’t know…” Sam said, “That’s horrible. She seems like a good kid in the short time I have gotten to speak with her.”

             
“Yeah,” she said “She is a tough cookie though; you can see it in her eyes. What arrangements have they made for you for tonight?” She asked him.

             
“Mark has made me take his for the night,” Sam said indicating the RV, and he is going to sleep in one of the tents tonight.”

             
“Your mother has given me a room in the house, all the women have apparently been staying there. Plus I think she wants to keep an eye on me. She is very perceptive and I think she knows about us. I don’t think she is very happy about it either.” Rebecca said.

             
“She will get used to the idea I have no plans to give you up.” He said.

             
She smiled at him and leaned forward to give him a kiss. They held each other and enjoyed the night.

             
“You should go to bed,” she told him, “I think you may be drunk.” She said and laughed at him as he swayed.

             
“I think you may be right.” He said, and took her hand.”I will see you in the morning.”

             
They parted, her returning to the house, and he to the RV. Sam sank into the mattress on the bed in the back. It wasn’t a very good mattress, but it felt like heaven compared to what he had become used to over the last few weeks.  He fell asleep fully clothed and the instant his head touched the pillow.

Chapter 18

             
He awoke late the next morning and lay there for a few minutes. For the first time in weeks, he felt fully refreshed, even if his mouth tasted like ash and his head felt stuffed with cotton. The whiskey had been good, but now it was time to pay the piper.

             
He got up and stepped to the table where he spied a note from his brother laying on top of a pile of clothes.

              ‘Sam, me and mom had to head out for a few hours. Make yourself at home. Talk to Sandra when you wake up, she will get you something to eat. Mom wants me to tell you she left a present with Paul she says it’s something you will want. – Mark’

              Sam quickly dressed into the clothes, and was delighted to see that they fit and where clean.               He stepped outside into the bright light and winced. The sun shone down on him with the ferocity only a hangover could bring.

             
He was looking for Rebecca, but ran into Paul first. “You look much better out of that soldier suit.” Paul said by way of greeting. “I think it was giving people around here the creeps.”

             
“Thank you, have you seen Rebecca?” Sam asked.

             
“Hold up there lover boy, she’s still asleep, and I have strict orders from your momma to make sure you get feed as soon as you were up,” he reached into his pocket and handed Sam a small folded piece of paper, “and she said to give you these.”

             
Sam smiled and un-wrapped the paper, inside were two aspirins. “She thinks of everything!” he said aloud.

             
He popped the pills into his mouth and chewed them. He would do anything to make this headache go away faster.

             
Paul took him to a tent that had been erected between the giant steel legs of the tower. A variety of stoves and grills had been brought in, and 2 of the men were busy preparing a large meal under the direction of Sandra. Sam looked at the odd assortment of equipment and had to admire the resourcefulness involved in getting this kitchen together.

             
She saw Sam, walked over to him, and gave him a big hug. “Well if it isn’t our savior!” she said, “I had heard you had come back to us finally!”

             
“I am glad to be back, you can bet on that.” He said, “I see you have moved right in and stayed busy.”

             
“It’s not a gourmet kitchen, but it will do. I have always loved to cook, and there are plenty of opportunities to do that here. We feed more than twenty people three times a day, and more come in all the time.” She said happily. “It’s a good challenge, you should see some of the stuff they give us to work with.”

             
“It smells wonderful.” Sam said truthfully.

             
“Good heavens, I am chattering away and here you are probably starving to death. Please forgive me!” and set about making him a plate of what appeared to be fresh vegetables and some kind of breaded meat with gravy.

             
He sat down at a nearby set of picnic tables that someone had brought in and Paul joined him. He eyed the food suspiciously, and glanced questioningly at Paul.

             
“It’s chicken,” Paul said “We found a chicken barn down the road that they had escaped from. There are literally thousands running around.”

             
Sam hesitantly took a bite, not sure if his roiling stomach would agree, but soon had polished off his plate.

             
“That was amazing.” He complimented Sandra while she worked, “I haven’t had a meal like that in a very long time.”

             
“I am glad you liked it dear, there is plenty more if you would like…”

             
“No, I couldn’t eat a bite more.” He declined, and she smiled at him again.

             
“Just let me know.” She said and went back to work preparing the camps lunch.

             
He and Paul wandered off to look around. “Do you guys eat like that every day?” he asked.

             
“We only have meat every other day,” Paul explained, “We don’t want to over hunt the area. Come with me and I will give you the grand tour.”

             
They made a quick tour of the grounds; it was crowded, but well organized. He was shown the outhouses he had seen the night before, as well as the shed stuffed floor to ceiling with every conceivable supply.

             
“You guys have made a lot of improvements I see.” Sam added appreciatively.

              “You haven’t seen anything yet.” Paul said and led him up the steps of the tower.

             
At the top, they found Ken hard at work on something electronic that he had spread parts of all over the room. He seemed annoyed at having his space invaded, but smiled when he saw Sam.

             
“I am glad you made it back, your mother was very worried.” he said and leaned back over his work.

             
“Thank you, “Sam said politely, “I see your shoulder is healing nicely.”

             
They stood for a moment, and when it was apparent that Ken had said enough by his own standards, Paul said, “That’s my brother, always talking people’s ears off.”

Paul
motioned to one of the windows, and Sam walked over. He could see people busy at work clearing a large area of brush around the fence. They had already cleared almost all the dry land in the area.

             
“Your brother’s idea, he wants to enlarge the fence and give us more room. We have already found several other survivors and brought them back. We have 24 people living here now that the two of you have shown up. He has some big ideas about making this place better. There is even talk of planting crops and trying to get completely self-sufficient. If you look to the south, you can see they are working on a hog pen to get a steady supply of protein, Mark has plans to catch some wild hogs and start raising them. He has become quite the leader around here.” Paul explained. Sam was proud of his brother, he had done more in the last week than Sam had even considered possible.

             
“Basically, things are getting better around here every day.” Paul said proudly. “And once Ken gets that radio working, we hope to contact others and maybe get some kind of trade going.”

             
Sam looked down to the ground below, and saw Rebecca emerge from the house. He could hear Paul continue talking, but his words were lost to him as he watched her look around.

             
“Sam,” Said Paul, finally catching his attention, “Go on down, we can finish this later.” Paul said with a knowing smile on his face. He muttered something about acting like teenagers and turned his attention to what Ken was working on.

             
“Thank you Paul,” he said”, I’m sorry, I just have a lot on my mind.”

             
“I understand, she is hot,” was Paul’s response.

             
Back on the ground, He found her being urged to a chair by Sandra.

             
“Good morning,” he said, “mind if I join you?”

             
She brightened at the sight of him, but pulled away when he reached for her hand. “We have to talk.” She said quickly.

             
Sam felt a lump form in his throat. “What is it?”

             
“Your mother was waiting for me when I went back inside…” She began. Sam felt a sense of panic go up his spine. He had dreaded his mother reaction to him and Rebecca’s relationship.”

             
“So what happened?” Sam asked, trying to sound like he wasn’t worried.

             
Rebecca shrugged, “She just asked what the deal was between us. I told her everything.”

             
“What did she say?”

             
“Nothing really, she asked if I knew about your wife and about where she was. I of course said that I did.” She said as she poked at the food in front of her. “Then we just sort of talked about you and what happened out there…”

             
“Mom is sort of over protective…” Sam said timidly

             
“And terrifying,” Rebecca finished the sentence for him.

             
“Try not to worry about it Mom will come to accept you. Besides, all that matters is how I feel, right?” Sam asked.” Besides, she didn’t like Annie at first either.”

             
“Of course,” she said and cut her meat, peering at it closely, “but she’s intimidating.”             

             
“It is okay, the only thing that matters is I know exactly what you are thinking.”

Rebecca
looked up at her and she met his eyes. “Don’t worry, its chicken.”

             
She laughed and dug into her food. She did accept seconds.

             
An Hour later they had been chased from the table by Sandra as more and more of the others came in to eat. They walked together around the compound and Sam pointed out the improvements. They talked about the future of the group, and what they could do as part of the group.”

             
“It doesn’t look they will need an accountant.” She said sadly.

             
“Or an undertaker…” He added. “I guess both of us will need a new skill set.”

             
“We will find something to do, whatever it is.” She decided, “as long as we get to do it together.”

             
“I hear they are going to need some pig ranchers, and maybe a few farmers?” Sam suggested.

             
“I would rather do something on the road, maybe traveling salesmen.” She joked.

             
In the distance, they heard an engine coming down the long road.

             
“That’s probably Mark and Mom.” He guessed and moved to the front gate to greet them.               They arrived at the gate at the same time, and Sam was surprised to see they had taken his hummer. Behind it they pulled another travel trailer, and Sam could see it was one of the nicer ones. He opened the gate and they drove it in.

             
His mother climbed out of the vehicle and stretched the stiffness of the drive out of her joints.               “Let’s get this set up for you two.” She said.