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Build house, Kentucky
Leading some of his group to the build house to lend a hand, Heath glanced over at Robin. “Don’t bother them with your worrying,” he told her for the hundredth time.
“Heath, they are going to attack a camp of thugs!” Robin snapped. “I just don’t want them to get hurt. Their moms aren’t here, so someone should say something.”
Steering down the slope, Heath understood where Robin was coming from, but to be truthful, Heath’s reasoning for not wanting the boys to attack were purely selfish. He didn’t want to risk losing either of them. After emptying the supplies from Stone’s, he and Dwain had gone over and waited at the build house when the four were leaving yesterday afternoon and offered to let him and Dwain go.
There wasn’t a doubt in Heath’s mind, if he and Dwain attacked the Pirates, if they were lucky they would die, and more than likely not accomplish much. But the boys would be safe, and that meant their families would be safe. It did bother Heath somewhat that he was willing to risk his life ‘recklessly’, as Lance put it, ‘stupid as fuck’ as Robin put it. But he knew with the boys, they had an excellent chance of getting through this.
When Robin found out that they’d offered after they got home, she’d gone ballistic. Knowing she was way past reason, Heath had just told her bluntly, “Without Lance and Ian, none of us would’ve lived through the winter. There was no way we could’ve secured food, much less stayed warm. We would’ve had to use the fireplace, letting all the stinkers and marauders know just where we were.”
Hearing the facts bluntly, Robin did calm down, and then Dwain pointed out it was Rhonda that had secured three quarters of the food brought in. She had already ransacked the houses that sat alone. It was to the point Rhonda was starting to hit houses that were in clusters, and stinkers were usually about. Many times, he and Heath had tried to go with her, but Rhonda didn’t want them to come and more than once, lost their asses if they tried. Usually, she just left the house before they could follow.
Alone, Rhonda could move faster and much quieter. On that, neither Heath nor Dwain disagreed with her, but told her they couldn’t learn without going out. Rhonda would just tell them, “Practice around here then because you’re not practicing with me.”
For the most part, none in the group even considered Lance or Ian ‘kids’. The only time Robin or Kathy did was when the boys were doing something dangerous, which was nearly daily. Heath just told himself it was their motherly instincts.
Reaching the valley floor, “Robin, please don’t pester them. They have thought out and planned this, so just let them do it. It has to be done,” Heath told her with a sigh.
“They need to let some of us help,” she snapped.
Scoffing, “What, you think we didn’t beg to help?” Heath popped off, letting off the gas and coasting to a stop. Glancing behind him, he saw the other side by sides stopping behind him. Turning to her with a harsh glare, “Lance looked right in my eyes and said if we were even allowed to go, all we would do was get them killed and then die ourselves.”
Trying not to cry, “We could do something,” Robin protested weakly.
Nodding, “Dwain said the same thing, and Ian said, ‘yep, all of you could catch bullets with your bodies.’”
Throwing up her hands, “I know they are more mature, smart, in shape, and the list goes on, but they are still teenage boys!” Robin cried out with watery eyes. “Our daughter is older than them,” she pointed out.
“Huh,” Heath grunted. “By age only are they teenage boys. Maturity-wise, they are in their thirties. You don’t know how many times I’ve said ‘Sir’ to them. Age-wise, Lori is older, but what difference does that even make? The ladybugs know more than Lori does, hell, when it comes to useful knowledge to survive this, the ladybugs know more than we do.”
“Next month they will only be nine years old, so you wouldn’t object to Lance and Ian taking them?” Robin spat.
“You act like we have a say in this. Need I remind you; they saved our asses. You pointed out they put the first battle bot out for our benefit. If we are being honest, we are a drain on them. We are working as hard as we can, so maybe one day soon we can be an asset, pulling more than our own weight. That’s not just us, that’s everyone those ‘boys’,” Heath hissed sarcastically, “have brought in. I’m just thankful they thought we were worth taking a chance on. How many of our neighbors have we seen torn apart? We couldn’t even help them and you want to protest, no scratch that,” Heath said, letting the steering wheel go.
Turning in the seat toward Robin, “You want to bitch and whine at the risk of upsetting them before they leave to hit a large group that would kill the men and take you women. And you know they wouldn’t take you women to go shopping!” Heath shouted. “Do I like the fact that me, a grown man, knows he’s not in the same league as those ‘boys’?” he lisped.
Starting loud and raising the volume with each word, “Fuck no, it makes me feel like a useless bitch! And you want to complain that they are risking too much? It’s us who’s not risking enough, and here’s the kicker, they don’t want us to. Hoping eventually, we will be worth the effort they have put out for us!” he bellowed.
Turning away from Heath, Robin wiped tears from her eyes. “It’s just wrong,” she mumbled.
“Really?” Heath said flatly. “Robin, you really think you’re the only one that has come to that conclusion? You think everyone else in this forsaken world is going about life thinking, this is a nice change.”
Shaking her head, “No,” Robin mumbled.
Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly through pursed lips, Heath shifted in his seat before looking ahead and speaking normally. “Robin, I’m sorry I got mad, but you can’t pester them with bitching and whining. We voiced our complaints and they acknowledged them, even though they didn’t have to. They took the time and explained why we would only endanger them. No, I don’t think they would throw the kids out to return home with us and stop helping us if you bitched and whined.”
Shaking his head, “They would see it as disrespectful for doubting them,” Heath told her. “One thing I’ve learned about those boys, they believe respect is earned and honor among family and friends means everything. I don’t want them to see you as disrespectful for all they have done and are still doing, and they would.”
“Heath,” Robin said in a breaking voice, but just stared out at the area. “I know I’m being a bitch, but I just don’t want them to get hurt. Denny worships the ground they walk on and he’s barely a year younger, but they are light years older than he is. All I can see is Denny and Lori joining them on one of these dangerous missions.”
Scoffing loudly, “Really?” Heath huffed. “That’s it? Dwain and I will be going on missions before the kids. Lance and Ian won’t let anyone do something unless they know that person can. Or I should say, they won’t let that person do something with ‘them’, unless they know that person can. Knowing how to shoot has very little to do with actual fighting. The ability to think and adapt is what wins.”
Feeling better hearing that, “I won’t say anything,” Robin promised. “Wish their parents would hurry up and get here.”
Walking up beside Heath, “You two about done?” Dwain asked. “We did call them and said we were on the way. I really don’t want them to stop what they’re doing to come looking for us.”
“We’re done,” Heath said, gripping the steering wheel. “Robin, I hope you don’t think Lance and Ian’s parents are goin’ to stop ‘em. The only thing I see them doing is going out with them. But if Lance and Ian think they don’t need to, they will lose them like Rhonda lost our asses when we tried to follow her and help.”
After Dwain was back in his ride, Heath pulled off. “I used to think we were good parents until those two. When their parents do get here, I’m going to sit down and talk to them on just what in the hell they did for the boys to turn out like they did,” Heath told her.
The fact that they were expecting the parents to make it may have seemed ludicrous to others. But after seeing what the boys could do, it was just impossible for them to believe the parents wouldn’t make it.
As Heath pulled off the main road to take the road up to the build house, Robin reached over and patted his arm. “If you ever see me doing something they will see as disrespectful, let me know.”
“I will, but you always talk it out with me thankfully, and they look at you and Kathy with more respect than Dwain and I,” Heath told her, slowing for a turn.
Cocking her head to the side and trying to understand that, “Really?” Robin asked.
“Yeah, you and Kathy knew your babies needed knowledge and wanted to rectify that, asking if they could stay at the cabin. They know mommas have the final say ninety-nine percent of the time,” Heath explained.
As Heath pulled into the yard of the build house, Robin understood. Robin and Kathy were willing to let their kids out to learn, trusting them with Lance and Ian. Coming to that realization, Robin saw none of her previous doubts really had merit, other than just worry for the boys’ safety. She trusted the boys with her kids, so she trusted their judgement.
Glad that Robin was pacified, Heath climbed out and saw the first battle bot they had pulled from the field, in the yard under a portable awning. The panels were off to expose the internal bays, with an engine hoist parked over the bot. “How long have they been working?” Robin asked, getting out. The battle bot hadn’t been stripped down that much yesterday.
“Didn’t ask,” Heath shrugged.
Walking past and stomping her feet, “I told you we should’ve come over earlier,” Rhonda growled.
“It’s fucking seven o’clock!” Heath cried out. “We have shit to do in the morning.” Spinning around to walk backwards, Rhonda flipped Heath off and then spun back around, walking under the tarp.
Moving around the side by side, Heath glanced back to see Dwain and Kathy get out of the other side by side. “Told you, I should’ve come over with Rhonda earlier,” Dwain said. “The only reason Rhonda didn’t come over is Ian and Lance say moving alone is stupid unless you have no choice.”
That Rhonda was even concerned what someone thought was impressive to Heath. Rhonda did what she wanted, but really sought this group’s approval even more so than the rest. The others wanted to be seen as assets; Rhonda wanted to be seen as an equal, and was willing to learn and push to do it.
Every night, Rhonda would watch the videos while practicing, and read what Lance and Ian had sent over. Neither Heath nor Dwain had ever seen this kind of response from Rhonda. They loved their little sister and weren’t ashamed to admit, she could kick their asses. Rhonda had been in shape when this had started.
She had never worked out in her life. Rhonda was just very active. Now, after reading, watching training videos, and practicing late into the night, Rhonda was up before dawn in the gym at the house, pushing iron and running on the treadmill. It was very noticeable that Rhonda was packing on muscle. Everyone else was also, but not to the degree Rhonda was, and Heath thought they needed to change that.
Thinking about that, he saw Dwain and Kathy trot off and that broke his daydreaming. Turning to where they were heading, Heath saw a rather large open wall tent, the kind seen for revivals and festivals. Not understanding what his eyes were seeing, he trotted over.
Walking into the tent, Heath slowed. Railroad ties were stacked four high, making a twenty feet box on the ground that took up most of the tent. 2x12 boards were over the box with the ladybugs and Jodi laying on them and working on a military sandbox. “Whoa,” he mumbled. The detail of the model was really good, complete with hills, trees, and then he saw miniature semi-trailers forming an outline that reminded him of a liver. “Hey, that’s what Ian said the Pirates’ camp looked like!”
“Duh,” Carrie sang out. “You can’t go after your target without making a model to plan.”
If that would’ve been his daughter or even Jodi, Heath would’ve said something about the attitude. But others were scared of the ladybugs for good reason. The fact that Lilly, Lance’s girlfriend, walked softly around the ladybugs, didn’t go unnoticed by anyone.
All three girls had their hair pulled back and were looking at 8x10 pictures and sheets of paper with handwritten notes, then worked on the model. Allie put a cut-out of cardboard that had ‘RV’ in bold letters. When she put it down inside the wall of tiny semi-trailers, she picked up a ruler to measure it from the wall and another cut-out cardboard piece that had ‘5th Wheel’ written on it.
“Wow, you girls are doing good,” Kathy said, kneeling down.
“Thank you,” all three said, looking up at her and smiling.
Moving closer, Heath tripped and threw his arms out, catching the stacked railroad ties that outlined the sandbox before he fell into the map. Allie spun toward Heath with a scowl. “You mess this up and you’ll be my bitch!” she informed him. Not turning his face away from Allie, Heath moved his eyes to look at Carrie and Jodi, only to see both with cold scowls.
“Don’t look at me, Uncle Heath,” Jodi told him. “We’ve been working on this for five hours. I’m not asking Allie to change her mind.”
Having no idea what being an eight-year-old’s bitch involved, but was certain he didn’t want to find out, Heath lifted his hands up. “Sorry, if I would’ve messed it up, I would’ve fixed it,” he assured them.
“I know,” Allie snapped. “And then you would’ve been my bitch!”
“Allie, be nice,” Jennifer said, coming over.
Whipping her head to Jennifer, “You mess this up and you’ll be my bitch,” Allie told her.
Not having any fear of the ladybugs, Jennifer took a breath to unload and felt a hand grab her shoulder. Turning, she saw Lilly stop beside her. “I offered to help, Allie, but you said you and Carrie knew how to do this. I would’ve liked to learn,” Lilly smiled.
Biting her bottom lip and looking so cute and innocent, “We know how to do it,” Allie told her. “We can show you next time.”
“I don’t like doing the sixty-four,” Carrie sighed, putting a tree in the model.
With her mind in the wrong frame and in the gutter, “Excuse me?!” Jennifer cried out to her sister.
Smirking and chuckling, “She’s talking about the scale, Jennifer. 1/64,” Lilly clarified.
“Oh,” Jennifer said, feeling bad for where her mind had been. “How many of these have you done?”
Allie and Carrie looked at each other, then Carrie shifted her gaze back to Jennifer. “Never,” she answered.
Knowing Jennifer, Lilly just squeezed her shoulder to drop it and then knelt down at the edge. “What is your favorite scale?” Lilly asked with a smile.
“Thirty-two,” they said together with huge smiles.
“We can put the GI Joe toys in,” Carrie beamed.
“You don’t like the three hundred, like in the barn?” Lilly asked.
Both shrugged, “Ian said we aren’t good enough to do those,” Allie mumbled.
“But you two helped on the one in the barn,” Lilly said.
“Because Lance said we could,” Allie said with a smile.
Rolling her eyes, “What a shocker there,” Jennifer sighed.
Allie and Carrie turned to Jennifer with cold stares. “Hey,” Lilly said softly and Allie turned back to her, softening her expression. “Lance and Ian taught you how to do sandbox models this big?”
Shaking her head, “No, we watched, and next time we wanted to help,” Allie told her.
Acting confused, “Allie, you and Carrie couldn’t have been helping doing models long then because Lance said he loves the sixty-four,” Lilly told her.
Looking off and wondering if this question was giving away a secret, Allie glanced back at Carrie. When Carrie gave a nod that it was okay to answer, Allie turned back to Lilly smiling. “We’ve helped for a whole year,” she said proudly. “Lance likes the sixty-four because the Dungeon and Dragon figures fit in it. They’re just so small, we don’t like them.”
“A whole year,” Lilly gasped extravagantly. “You and Carrie are really good to only have been doing this a year. I think Jodi can learn it that fast.”
Lifting her chin up, “She is,” Carrie smiled. “Jodi is going to be a ladybug.”
The fact they were adding numbers to their ranks, Lilly fought off a shiver. Leaning down carefully so she didn’t disturb the model, Lilly kissed each on the forehead and then stood up. “You have got to get a backbone,” Jennifer groaned.
With the ladybugs attention diverted from him, Heath eased off to the side where a corkboard stood. There were pictures in neat rows of the camp, but at the top were two individuals. ‘Boss’ was written on a note card stuck at the top of one. The card over the other picture read, ‘Sorry cock-sucking, motherfucker, jackoff, granny fucker over group that broke our shit!’
Under that picture, Heath leaned closer to the board at another fuzzy photo that was blown up and he couldn’t tell what he was looking at. Looking under it, he saw a game cam picture and knew this had been taken the day the crime had happened, and the picture above it was the section enlarged. Since the Pirates wore masks, he glanced back at the top picture.
On the man’s neck was a tattoo of a shark and then he looked back at the fuzzy picture and could barely make out the outline of the tail of a shark. About to grin, Heath jerked his eyes back to the top photo.
“Holy fuck,” he gasped, realizing the man was asleep while leaning back in a lawn chair. Looking at the photo, he knew it was taken from mere feet away from the man. “Oh, dude, you’re so fucked,” Heath mumbled in astonishment at the photo. “They leaned over you when you were asleep and took your picture, just to save you for pain and torment.”
“Yep,” Lilly said, walking up beside him.
Pointing at the picture, “How in the fuck did they get that close?” Heath asked.
Shrugging, “Snuck in,” Lilly told him.
The others came over, leaving the ladybugs alone. “That picture looks like it was taken really close,” Robin stated.
“Ha,” Jennifer laughed out. “Ian tied the bitch’s boot laces together after he took the picture.”
“You were inside the camp with them?” Robin gasped.
Rolling her eyes, “How in the hell could we watch their backs if we weren’t with them?” Jennifer asked.
“Heath said you were probably going to sit outside on sniper rifles,” Robin mumbled.
“That’s tonight,” Lilly said.
When Robin turned to Heath, she found a hand in her face. “Don’t start because that’s what I thought watching someone’s back was,” Heath told her.
“Um,” Dwain said, studying the rows of pictures. “Why didn’t they just kill those two last night? They were certainly close enough.”
“If you have to ask, I can’t explain it to you,” Lilly told him bluntly.
Looking over her shoulder at everyone around the cork board, “Is that why they are practicing?” Carrie asked.
“No, Carrie,” Jennifer said, and Lilly was very glad Jennifer did it while sounding polite. “They are evaluating the effectiveness of the technique they want to use.”
“I want to test my effectiveness,” Carrie nearly whined.
“Carrie, you or Allie even ask, I swear, I’ll shave your heads. Then neither of you will have to worry about getting your hair brushed,” Jennifer threatened, making Lilly grimace.
“Stupid head,” Carrie sang out, and both stuck their tongues out at Jennifer.
Grabbing Jennifer’s arm, “Quit tormenting them,” Lilly told her in a low voice.
“They keep on and I’m going to kick their asses,” Jennifer warned.
Both girls jumped up on the boards they were laying on. “Bring it, bitch,” Carrie challenged.
Never looking away from Jennifer, “Ladybugs, if you leave that model before it’s done, you know they will never let you do another,” Lilly told them. Giving little gasps, both dropped back down before getting back to work.
“Will you stop antagonizing them?” Lilly whispered.
Jerking her head back, “Why? They started it. I’m not afraid of the ladybugs,” Jennifer informed her, but was whispering.
Using a very low voice, “Jennifer, they won’t ever hurt any of us, but they can make life hell for those who piss them off. Like bothering you nonstop, teasing, not doing anything for you, and,” Lilly paused, glancing over to make sure the ladybugs weren’t looking, but both were working on the model. “And piss off the other half for you and worry the other half for me. They do it on purpose and have it down to an art form. Jennifer, they know how to push your buttons to irritate you, piss you off, and make you sad. Ian, they can do it faster. I don’t need to tell you how they have Lance wrapped up.”
At first, Jennifer was irritated with Lilly for siding with the ladybugs, then realization set in as Lilly continued. Instances from the past flashed through her mind and Jennifer could see what Lilly was saying. “Those little bitches,” Jennifer mumbled.
“Jennifer, this isn’t a time to pick a battle with the ladybugs,” Lilly advised. “It’s not worth it to us or to Ian and Lance.”
Cutting her eyes toward the ladybugs, “I’m talking to Ian about this,” Jennifer said.
“Oh, now that’s smart,” Lilly whispered very sarcastically, and Jennifer turned to her. “You’re going to tell Ian the ladybugs can push his buttons at will? He believes that about Lance, but not him. You do that, Jen, I’m warning you now, expect to get in an argument. A big one. Ian will tell you, man card holders aren’t phased by little girls, especially sisters.”
Slowly, Jennifer’s eyes grew wide. “They are little bitches,” she mumbled, able to hear Ian in her mind. “When did you figure this out and why are you only telling me now?”
“I’ve been watching and listening,” Lilly confessed. “I really expected you to brush it off longer and it would take me longer to convince you. Sorry, but you underestimate them like everyone does. In a few years, they will be able to give Lance and Ian a run for their money on deeds. You’ve put some pieces together, but the ladybugs watch Lance and Ian very closely. And they have helped more than you believe. Hell, Ian and Lance don’t see how much they’ve helped on some of the deeds the ladybugs have been privy to. I’ll bet you whatever you want that the ladybugs could pull off a deed right now.”
Biting her bottom lip, “The ladybugs are the ones who came to get me to look for the cat, so I could see Ms. Wasson nearly naked in her backyard with Ian and Lance,” Jennifer admitted.
Rolling her eyes up and staring at the roof of the tent, “They should be too young to be as devious as they are,” Lilly moaned softly. Dropping her eyes back to Jennifer, Lilly saw fear for the first time of the ladybugs on Jennifer’s face. “Don’t ever let them see you are afraid,” Lilly advised. “Man card rules say to have no pity for weakness.”
“They don’t have man cards,” Jennifer hissed.
“Did you see how excited they were when Lance said a girl could have a man card? I really think if they strained hard enough to pee, they would sprout a dick,” Lilly predicted. “How many times have they recited that fucking man code with Lance and Ian? We caught them yesterday teaching it to Jodi, and they were teaching it to her from memory.”
Listening very carefully, Kathy leaned close to Dwain. “Should we bring Jodi home?” she breathed out.
Shaking his head, Dwain nearly put his lips on Kathy’s ear. “You try and I’ll kick your ass. Jodi is going to become a badass,” Dwain whispered with pride. “Besides, I don’t want the ladybugs mad at us for taking away a prospective ladybug.”
Not hearing Kathy and Dwain’s conversation, “Is Lori going to become a ladybug?” Robin asked, and everyone heard what sounded like hope in her voice.
Turning to the Bear Trap Clan, Lilly realized they’d heard. Lilly thought she had let the cat out of the bag, but everyone that had met the ladybugs, including the Bear Trap Clan, knew you didn’t mess with them. Little girls or not, they held power over those at the cabin.
Giving a small smile, “Sorry, Robin, but Lori hangs with us more than the ladybugs,” Lilly told her, and thought she saw disappointment on Robin’s face.
“Why didn’t she come over then?” Heath asked, looking across the yard at Lori working on what looked like Rover.
“She and Denny are checking the bots over. Ian and Lance said we couldn’t help,” Jennifer told him.
Turning back, Heath could see Denny inside the battle bot with Rhonda sticking her head in, watching what he was doing. “Why is Lori working on Rover?” Heath asked. He had seen Rover, the remote controlled bot with a machine gun mounted on it that could be driven around outside the fence and around the cabin to engage something. He and Dwain had thought of trying to build one, but didn’t even know where to start. “Why did they make it bigger?”
“Heath, that’s not Rover. That is a bot that will be going with us tonight,” Lilly told him as she and Jennifer gave a shiver.
“You’re driving the bots when they breach the camp?” Heath asked.
With no emotion on her face and staring at Heath, “Nobody will be driving the bots,” Lilly stated flatly.
Afraid to ask more, Heath and everyone turned hearing running feet and saw Denny coming over. “The light is on,” he said.
Lilly gave him a smile and turned to the others. “Don’t do anything loud,” she told them.
“Lilly, battle bot checks out. I’m going to get the nozzle and mount it,” Denny said, but was clearly asking permission.
Thinking for a second, Lilly nodded. “Just mount it, don’t test it.”
A huge grin jumped on Denny’s face. “I will,” he said, turning away.
Wanting to talk to Denny and get away from the ladybugs Heath followed, making sure to detour wide around the sand box. “Hey, son,” he said, walking beside Denny. “What light?”
Pointing to the back of the house, “That one,” Denny answered.
Looking at the house, Heath saw the back porch light on, but it was red. About to ask questions, Heath’s step faltered. “Denny, there are bodies on the back porch,” Heath said.
“Yeah, I know.”
It was easy to tell, they weren’t stinkers. “Um, where did they come from?” Heath asked.
“Lance and Ian took them last night. Four of the Pirates passed out on the top of the trailers that form the wall around their camp. Ian said it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.”
Walking past the porch, Heath grabbed Denny’s shoulder as he stopped. There were three bodies sprawled out. Each had a bloody spot on their back and at the base of the skull. “What the hell are they testing?” Heath asked, but wasn’t sure he wanted the answer.
“Dad,” Denny said, grabbing Heath’s arm and making him turn to look at him. “Keep your voice low,” Denny told him, because Heath’s voice was going over a normal tone. “They will get pissed if you mess up their experiment.”
Nodding and lifting his gaze back to the bodies, “What are they experimenting on?” Heath asked in a low voice.
“The most effective way to kill a target quietly and quickly,” Denny answered and Heath dropped his shocked gaze to his son’s face to see if Denny was joking.
“Did you watch?” Heath asked.
Scoffing, “No, I’ve been working on battle bot,” Denny told him. “Dad, let me get the nozzle.”
Letting Denny go, Heath turned away from the porch, not sure how to process this. “Where is Holly and Dawn?” he asked, trying to rationalize what Denny had said.
“In the bunker,” Denny told him, leading his dad to the barn. “There are motion cameras around the build area, but Lance wanted her in the bunker, in case the tigers roamed around since you were coming. The tigers don’t seem to care about me, Lori or Jodi anymore. I don’t think they are used to Holly and Dawn yet.”
Hearing ‘tigers’ got Heath’s mind off the experiments and made him look around. “Do they know if the tigers even leave the diversion fence? They do bring deer in to give the tigers.”
“The tigers leave all the time, Dad. But they always come back to the stand they built for them in the tree,” Denny answered as they reached the barn.
Stopping at the entrance, Heath just didn’t understand why a house at the top of a hill with no fields would need a barn this big. Built with red metal sheets and white trim, the barn was an easy ten thousand square feet. Giving up on trying to figure out why, Heath followed Denny inside. “Denny, when did all this get put in here?”
“We’ve been bringing stuff here from the cabin since I got here, Dad,” Denny said, rolling his eyes and heading to a workbench.
Heath had been inside, but not recently. There had been stuff he knew the boys had placed, but he was looking at three CNC machining centers and two CNC lathes. He knew all of them came from the machine shop he’d helped the boys get metal from near Girdler. “When did they get those?” Heath pointed.
Turning to see what his dad was talking about, “Oh, they brought those in last week after doing patrols. When they finished a patrol, they would bring one over,” Denny told him.
“Son, you can’t pick those up by hand,” Heath pointed out the obvious.
“Duh, Dad,” Denny moaned, grabbing items from the workbench. “There is a forklift and tractor parked behind the barn.”
Realizing that was very stupid on his part, “Are they going to hook them up?” Heath asked, noticing more equipment.
“If they do, we are going to need more power than just that one Stirling engine here,” Denny said.
Not knowing what to ask next, but getting ready to fire off questions, Heath stopped. In the back right corner was another military sandbox, but this one made the one outside look tiny. “It has to be sixty feet by sixty feet!” Heath gasped.
“Wow, you’re good, Dad. I had to get a tape measure to see that,” Denny said, filling his arms.
Moving over to the model, Heath saw a four-foot-tall platform and climbed up to look down at the model. Seeing hills, valleys displayed, “This is here,” Heath gasped when he realized what he was looking at.
“Yes, sir, it’s a 1/300 model,” Denny told him, then walked out with his arms full.
Unlike the model outside there were no trees, only areas painted green where trees were, but there were tiny houses and each house had a flag with a number. Having patrolled the area, Heath realized it was the numbers Ian and Lance had assigned to each house. A perfect circle laid out in red string encompassed nearly the entire model. “The three mile perimeter,” Heath grinned and turned to see if Denny was impressed he had figured it out, but saw Denny was gone.
Giving a sigh he turned back and saw a tiny house representing the build house, but the cabin wasn’t on the model. Looking over to where the mansion he’d moved into was, Heath didn’t see a house there either. Then he looked at where the Beard Clan had moved and again, there were no houses. “They didn’t mark where anyone was,” he mumbled and saw the clubhouse wasn’t marked, but the meeting house was.
He looked at where the battle bots were and saw miniature tanks. Able to see it in 3D that all the battle bots except those near Hinkle were outside the three mile perimeter, Heath could tell each spot had been planned. Where gun bots were, an orange thumb tack was placed and white string was placed out, showing the area covered.
Going over the model, Heath saw a candy skull southeast of the cabin. “Research area,” he mumbled. Lance and Ian had told them where it was, but never showed them. Nobody in his group patrolled anywhere near the cabin and after the boys told them of the research area, the Bear Trap Clan didn’t even patrol the east sector, section three. Now able to see where it was, Heath felt better because he’d thought it was further east and closer to section four than it was.
They had patrolled the other sections, even though Lance and Ian didn’t want them to. Heath had wanted to take some work off their plate.
“Like it?” Lance asked, walking in.
Turning around, Heath saw Lance walking over. “Very impressive,” Heath nodded. “You don’t have where people are living marked.”
“No shit,” Lance laughed. “It would be very hard for someone outside our group to get here, but it could be done. I’m not marking where any stay. They would have to figure that out.”
Understanding and liking that, “You have stuff on here like this pond in the valley below that aren’t there,” Heath pointed.
“Not yet,” Lance grinned. “That’s why we built the sandbox, so we can see what it will look like and what it will interfere with. Well, the ladybugs built most of it, they have gotten really good at models.”
“Yeah,” was all Heath said. “And everything is to scale?”
Climbing up on the platform, “Pretty much, the pond, as you call it, will be twenty acres,” Lance said.
Looking at the pond on the model and where the creek ran into it, Heath looked at the slope below the pond. Snapping his fingers, “Hydro,” he smiled.
“You’re getting good,” Lance chuckled.
“I’m looking at the slope and I’ve walked that area. It can’t be more than a fifty foot drop. Is that enough? I know the creek has good flow, but I think that creek going into Dewitt would be better for hydro. Shit, it’s a river now.”
“We’ll get enough,” Lance said, watching Heath gaze over the model.
“If it’s to scale, you have buildings on the slope coming up to the build house. They have to be a hundred yards long.”
“Yep. I wonder why we would put big ass buildings inside a ‘south’ facing slope?”
Turning to Lance, “Greenhouses?” Heath asked, and Lance nodded with a grin. “You have a big ass one already. Ours is almost done and the Beard Clan is starting theirs this week, why another?”
“Those will be community greenhouses. We want to build three, one above the other.”
Knowing the greenhouse at the cabin would have Ian and Lance’s group literally swimming in food, and his and the Beard Clan greenhouses should keep them fed fairly easily, Heath didn’t understand. “That is a lot of work to build something we are duplicating.”
“Not everything grown is eaten. We need a source for fuel,” Lance said, and Heath nodded. “Or at least, an explanation for one.” Heath turned to Lance very confused, but Lance just winked. “That I can’t talk about yet. Something Ian and I are working on in the research area.” Just hearing that, made Heath uneasy.
Turning around, Lance hopped off the platform and headed for the door. Jumping off and following, “Where you headed?” Heath asked.
“I was taking out the trash and Denny told me you were in here,” Lance said, walking out with Heath in tow. He followed Lance to the back porch and noticed a new body. Looking up, he saw the red light was turned off and Lance was heading for the door.
Pausing his step, “Can I come in?” Heath asked.
“I don’t care,” Lance shrugged, opening the door. “Just going over data now.”
Following Lance inside, Heath saw Ian in what used to be the living room, sitting behind one of the two desks that took up most of the area. Each desk had three huge screens and Ian never looked up as they came in. “Lance, we are staying consistent,” Ian said. “There is less than a two percent difference between my two numbers and yours.”
“Deviation?” Lance asked, walking over to a dry erase board that took up most of one wall.
As the two talked, Heath smelled the unmistakable coppery scent of blood. Following the scent, he turned down the hall that led to the master bedroom. He froze in the doorway. The walls were painted with black and white stripes all the way around. Then he noticed the stripes were very precise. The carpet had been ripped out and there were precise black and white lines painted across the floor.
Realizing there was a lot of light, he looked around and saw bright shop lights hanging from the ceiling. “What the-,” he mumbled, moving to the wall and saw a camera mounted and aiming at the center of the room. Looking around the walls, he saw six more cameras at different heights aimed at the center of the room. Turning to the center, Heath saw three cameras mounted on the roof pointing down and then noticed a metal loop bolted into the ceiling.
Stepping over he heard a squish, and looked down to see a puddle of blood he’d stepped in. Stepping back, he saw the blood on the floor and even on the walls that he only now spotted. “I give up,” he said walking out, and saw a mat at the door that someone had used to wipe the blood off their shoes.
Wiping his feet off, Heath went back to the living room and found Lance leaning over Ian. Moving to Ian’s other side, Heath’s eyes bulged out.
On the three screens, from many different angles and views, showed Lance coming up behind someone standing in the center of the room. The person had tape over their eyes and their hands tied at the waist. Watching in wonder, Heath realized Lance wasn’t moving slowly, the video was playing in slow motion.
As Lance neared the man, he held his right arm back and Heath spotted a rather large knife. When Lance neared the man, his left leg came out and Ian clicked the mouse, pausing the video. Making a note, Ian clicked again and Heath noticed a timer running at the bottom. From watching Mythbusters, Heath understood why there were lines painted in the room. The boys were using them to measure speed.
It seemed to take forever, but Lance kicked the man in the back of the knee as his right hand plunged the knife in the man’s back, making Heath wince at the slowness. Noticing the boys looking over at the right screen, Heath turned to see numbers and lines. He had been in enough hospitals to know he was looking at heart rate with an EKG, oxygen saturation, and respiratory monitor. The last number had dB beside it and he knew that represented sound decibels. Seeing the heart rate spike in slow motion, Heath gave a shiver knowing why.
As the man started to go down from the kick to the back of the leg, Heath saw his face was frozen in a grimace with Lance’s left hand over his mouth. Watching Lance pull the knife out, Heath felt uneasy as the right hand with the knife came back and plunged again as Lance held the man’s head to the side. In sick fascination, Heath watched Lance shove the blade in the base of the man’s skull.
Lance gave the knife a twist and then pulled it out, letting the body drop to the floor. When Ian stopped the playback, Heath continued to stare at the screen just processing what he’d just watched. “That was the highest decibel reading at seventy-six,” Ian said, clicking the screen and a play bar came up. “Right here.”
Heath saw it was just after Lance shoved the blade in the man’s skull. “Yeah,” Lance said. “That’s when his bowels emptied.”
“Never heard in the videos or books that when you shank ‘em in the skull, they shit and piss,” Ian snorted.
“What was stabbing speed?” Lance asked, and Ian rewound and pulled up an overhead camera before playing it back.
“Twenty point three miles an hour or twenty-nine point seven, seven feet per second,” Ian answered. “Lance, we’re staying consistent. This is the fastest and quietest way.”
Then it occurred to Heath, they were testing what they had learned scientifically. “You’ve tried other ways,” he mumbled.
“Yeah, don’t cut someone’s throat if you want to be quiet,” Ian advised. “They make a lot of noise and pulsating blood splattering around is rather loud.”
Not taking his eyes off the frozen image on the screen, “None of those outside had their throats cut,” he said.
“Yeah, tried that with a Devil Lord,” Lance said, leaning up and moving to the dry erase board to write down numbers.
Throwing his head back, “Because we killed all the little dick Devil Lords,” Ian cackled. “We did it at the pirate camp the first night, but those two were alone and passed out.”
“Yeah, but we aren’t testing throat cutting again. Too messy, too loud, and takes too long for them to die,” Lance said, very business-like.
Somewhat surprised to hear the ‘long’ part, “I thought that would be pretty fast,” Heath admitted.
“Nah,” Ian said, stretching his arms over his head. “Over two minutes for them to exsanguinate, and noise levels broke a hundred decibels from the blood splatter, thrashing about, and choking on the blood.”
With his mind providing pictures he really didn’t want, “Why stab them in the back?”
“Kidney,” Lance said, still writing.
“Yeah,” Ian nodded, dropping his hands to the keyboard. “Stab them in the kidney, they can’t scream and the body locks up. But after you stab them in the base of the skull you have to let the body down easy, so it doesn’t make a lot of sound.”
The casual attitude the two had bothered Heath, and yet it didn’t. Just like everything the boys did, they tested it to see if it worked and found what worked better. “Um,” Heath cleared his throat. “Have you tested actually shooting people? Just curious...”
“Six, why?” Ian asked, typing.
“So, chest shots, do they take them out fast?”
“Only headshots are nearly instantaneous. Center mass of the chest they drop, but don’t die for several minutes. We were testing the 5.56. Now in real world tests outside the lab, we noticed the 7.62 center mass shots were more effective with targets dying in less than two minutes,” Ian reported.
“We haven’t tested that,” Lance sang out.
“It’s real world observations, so it counts,” Ian countered. “Can’t shoot them in the chest, we found shooting them in the thigh is nearly as fast, but only with a high powered round. Pistols don’t do the damage, so stick to center mass. With pistols you have to hit the femoral artery and that’s a small target. Only problem there is, if the person knows what they are doing, they can put on a tourniquet and get back in the fight.”
Giving an impressed nod, “That’s good to know,” Heath mumbled. “Are you showing these to everyone?”
“Jennifer and Lilly have seen them, but if someone wants to they can watch them,” Ian said, grabbing the mouse. “To be honest, our first real targets made us uneasy. But as Lance pointed out that’s normal, like your first animal you take when you hunt, but this time it’s a person. Hate to admit it, but I felt bad for a few hours that night.”
“It went away?” Heath asked.
Nodding, “Oh, yeah,” Ian scoffed, saving the file. “It wasn’t like a video game. But it was them or us, and they never had a chance, which is what your goal should always be. The first is always the hardest, and even the books say that and I agree.”
Coming to terms with what he had learned and witnessed, Heath straightened up while stretching his back. “Next time you guys test, I’ll help. If you don’t mind, can I watch what you’ve learned?”
Taken aback, Ian and Lance stopped what they were doing and turned to Heath. “You’re serious?” Ian asked, and Heath nodded. “You haven’t killed anyone yet, only stinkers?”
Nodding again, “Yeah, and I’ll admit to both of you now, it took me awhile to get over that. He was my neighbor that I talked to at least once a week. To be honest, I got over it because I had to kill six more two days later, and they just kept coming,” Heath told them.
“I don’t care if you want to watch them. That’s why we are doing it, to find what works the best,” Lance said, glancing at Ian.
“Information not shared with those who can benefit you and just kept in a void is useless,” Ian shrugged.
“Aaa,” Lance said, holding up a finger. “Information must be validated and confirmed, or it is only speculation.”
Knowing he was missing something, Heath just turned back to Ian. “Okay, I’ll give you that, but sharing what you have with those who are assisting may bring new thoughts to interpret the information,” Ian said, and Heath turned to Lance.
Looking off for a few seconds, “What we have now are just wild findings, but I agree. When we get more concrete evidence that we are right, I say bring in a few,” Lance stated.
Crossing his arms over his chest, “You damn sure better not be talking about Jennifer and Lilly. We are getting way too much information, and need help just recording our findings,” Ian replied.
“Oh, no, I wasn’t talking about them. We so need help filing and recording what we have learned, and I think they will bring some ideas that we haven’t thought of,” Lance said.
“Your god damn woman is a veterinarian. I know damn well she’ll bring some new ideas,” Ian snapped. “She impresses me in the chemistry lab.”
“Motherfucker, Jennifer figured out why the fucking water was rising in minutes,” Lance popped off. “She will think of shit nobody else will.”
Flipping his head back and forth, Heath thought this sounded weird. Ian was pimping Lance’s girl and Lance was pimping Ian’s. He already knew they had forgotten about him, but would get back to him when they were ready.
“So, when we have repeatable findings, we bring in a select few?” Ian asked, raising his eyebrows.
Nodding, “I don’t have a problem with that, but I want Lilly and Jennifer to agree not only on the findings but on who we bring in,” Lance offered.
“Don’t have a problem with that,” Ian said, uncrossing his arms and turning to Heath. “You want me to burn you a copy now?” Ian asked him, and it took Heath a few minutes to replay the conversation to get the question.
“Um, yeah,” Heath said as Lance turned back to the dry erase board.
“It’s a small sample, but I’m happy with the results. There is less than a five percent deviation in all four tests. We’ve practiced the technique on stinkers and then on the enemy. It works on both, so I say we use it,” Lance said.
“You practiced that on stinkers?” Heath asked.
“Hell, yeah, there is a technique to driving a knife in the back of the skull without it glancing off and slicing the shit out of you,” Ian said, and held up a knife with a six-inch blade and a tanto tip. “This works the best for us.”
After Ian made copies and put them on a thumb drive, they headed outside. “How the hell did you get in there?!” Rhonda barked at Heath.
“Followed Lance in,” Heath answered.
Turning around and staring at Denny working on the battle bot, “Aunt Rhonda, I just said you couldn’t go in when the light was on,” Denny told her, never looking back.
“Well, I wasn’t going in till someone else did,” Rhonda snapped as Jennifer and Lilly walked over.
“How did the test go?” Lilly asked.
“Went good, Ian and I are going to use it,” Lance said, moving over and watching Denny.
“I told Denny he could mount the nozzle, and babe, I’m not shoving my knife in someone’s skull. I’ve done that on a few stinkers and had my knife pulled from my hand when they fell,” Lilly told him.
“Sometimes people have to be taken out quietly,” Lance said, still watching Denny.
Nodding, “I have a pistol with a suppressor and will put it right next to their head before pulling the trigger to muffle the sound,” Lilly told him.
Stepping away from Denny and walking around the battle bot, Lance looked down at Lori using probes to check voltage along the circuits on the gun robot. “Everything good?” Lance asked.
“Same as yesterday,” Lori answered. “It worked yesterday and this morning, why are we checking it so much?”
“Because when it gets turned on tonight, Ian and I will be in front of it,” Lance answered.
With her mouth falling open and tools falling from numb fingers, “Are you out of your fucking mind?!” Lori shouted. “This is a SAW on here, not a paintball gun!”
Not liking the language, but loving that someone was voicing displeasure over this ‘exploit’, Robin walked over with Kathy. “Seems your daughter isn’t bashful anymore,” Kathy pointed out.
“But it worked,” Lance nodded, and Lori turned to Jennifer and Lilly.
“Aren’t you going to say something?” she asked, getting up.
“What, you think we haven’t?” Jennifer huffed.
As realization set in, Lori turned to the battle bot. Slowly she raised her hand, pointing at it, “Is that going to be in there with both of you?”
“We aren’t taking it to sit on the bench,” Ian told her.
Crawling back inside the frame of the battle bot, “You guys are so awesome,” Denny chuckled.
Jerking her thumb over her shoulder at two gun bots on a trailer, “Please tell me you two won’t be in front of those at least,” Lori almost pleaded.
Shrugging one shoulder as he walked back into the house, “At times, all four of us will be in front of the gun bots,” Lance informed her.
With her mouth hanging open Lori turned to Lilly and Jennifer. “It was our idea to put ourselves in front of the gun bots,” Lilly admitted.
“I’m wearing a diaper because I know I’m pissin’ my pants when those things start shooting over my head,” Jennifer said.
“Lori, it’s the same protocol program for all of them, and we’ve proven it works,” Ian told her.
Spinning on her heel, “I need a minute,” Lori informed everyone before walking away.
Moving around the battle bot, Dwain saw some new upgrades. Where the battery bank used to sit, there was now a generator. Starting to agree with Lori, Dwain walked around and tapped a pipe coming out the left side aiming forward around the shredders. Tapping the nozzle at the end of the pipe, “What’s this?” Dwain asked. Rolling their eyes, Lilly and Jennifer just walked off.
Everyone turned to Ian who had a big grin. “My contribution for an upgrade, a flamethrower,” Ian laughed.
