| |
Innocence Lost pisses Arthur Off
Sitting up in bed, fast asleep but feeling something squirming on his chest, Arthur cracked his eyes open, glancing down. He found Nicole chewing on her fist and looking up at him with her bright blue eyes. “I just fed you four hours ago,” Arthur croaked out.
Nicole gave a giggle as she threw her fist out like she was cheering that Arthur was awake. Blinking his eyes, Arthur noticed his body was tilted to the side. As his eyes registered the fact, Arthur felt something under his left side. Turning his gaze he just sighed, seeing Robin burrowed up under his side and one of the twins under his right leg. “I wanted more kids and I sure got them,” Arthur said, turning back to Nicole who gave another cooing cheer. “Just shows me I have to be careful about what I wish for.”
Realizing the right side of his hip was sore, Arthur reached down and felt little cowboy boots. “Robin,” he moaned, looking as his hand pulled up a little leg with a pink cowboy boot. “I told you not to wear them to bed.”
“You got her a new pair, what did you expect?” Wendy grumbled, and he saw Lucas on her chest and Ryan beside her in the bed with the other twin curled up to the baby. Blinking his eyes he saw two more babies, but gave up on trying to come up with their names. Then it hit him, he would put ID bracelets like they did at the hospital on the babies.
“Yeah, I can’t get the damn mud off her other pair. I wanted her to wear these in the house,” Arthur protested.
“If I’m not mistaken, Robin is in the house,” Wendy chuckled.
Ten harsh comebacks instantly popped into Arthur’s mind, but he shut all of them off. Pointing at the twin under his leg, “Which one is this?” he asked.
Lifting her head to look at the eight-year-old curled up with Ryan, “Jo Ann,” Wendy yawned. “I put different barrettes in their hair for you since they can’t wear name tags to bed. I still can’t tell the boys apart without name tags. Can you?”
Turning to Wendy as he rolled his eyes, “Doll, I forgot my own name two days ago arguing with Robin because she wouldn’t stop calling me ‘you’. I told her I’m not you, I’m-. But, I couldn’t remember my name, for like ten minutes and told her just to call me ‘Pops’,” Arthur admitted, slowly extracting his body to get out of bed. “After she called me Pops, I remembered my name. I’m just glad we have name tags now.”
Holding the baby to her chest Wendy sat up, not admitting she had forgotten her own name just yesterday when talking with some of the adults that’d come in with Joseph. Finally she’d just said, ‘the kids call me Momma. Call me whatever you want’. Wendy knew it was just that they had so much on their minds, worry about all the kids, not getting quality rest, and the list went on, but they were pushing forward. If they forgot their own names, so be it. She could think of worse things.
Looking at the bed, Wendy blinked her eyes rapidly at the mass of kids between her and Arthur. “When did they come in?”
Standing up and holding Nicole, Arthur turned around and for the first time, noticed six smaller bodies in the bed. Having no idea when the other kids showed up, “I’m putting a hammock in here to sleep in,” he moaned, working the kinks out of his body. Spotting Noah under Wendy’s legs, “He has his pull-ups on and no boots, he gets lots of love today,” Arthur grinned.
Lifting her legs, Wendy spun on her rump so she could get out of bed. “Noah only wears the boots if someone puts them on for him,” Wendy corrected. Sniffing the air and smelling coffee, she turned to the door and saw it was cracked open. Since they always left it open, Wendy knew someone was starting breakfast and didn’t want to disturb them.
“You need help with any of them? Because I’m letting them sleep until breakfast is ready or the others come and get them,” Arthur asked, putting Nicole in her sling and then draping it over his chest.
Glancing at the other cribs around the room and seeing they were empty Wendy gave a relieved sigh, glad the others had already come in to start tending the babies. “Can you get Lucas?” Wendy asked, picking up a baby that was awake in the bed just looking around. Setting the baby on her hip, she turned for Ryan.
Walking around and taking Lucas, Arthur pulled Lucas to his chest and saw Nicole immediately get a grumpy face. “Hey, don’t be like that, blue eyes,” Arthur cooed. “He’s your brother.”
Picking up Ryan, Wendy glanced over and saw Nicole’s brow furrowed up, clearly irritated. “Oh, you have so spoiled her,” Wendy mumbled, cradling Ryan to her chest. Out of all the infants, Ryan was by far the biggest but not the oldest. He was nearly the size of some of the toddlers.
Ignoring Wendy, Arthur glanced at his watch as he headed for the door to see it was almost six. Stepping into the kitchen he saw kids at work. “Here, Pops,” he heard and turned to see Andrea holding out his coffee mug.
Taking the mug, “You guys are getting good,” Arthur winked at her.
“Pops, I want to move one of the cribs to my room, so a baby can sleep with me at night,” Andrea told him. “I’ll get up.”
Savoring the first sip, Arthur gave a nod to see Vicki sitting in the living room and rocking a baby she was feeding. There was a pallet on the floor and he saw four other babies. Making a mental count of babies being tended to by others and coming up short one baby, Arthur moved around Andrea to see Shawn on the couch feeding the missing baby. “If you’re sure, I don’t mind.”
Glad she could pitch in a little more, Andrea stepped closer. “Pops, why didn’t you let Little Momma put some cribs in her room when she asked?”
Turning to look at Andrea, “Vicki takes care of these kids all day long. I want her to get a good night’s sleep. I told her I knew she could do it, but we depended on her too much for her not to get a good night’s sleep,” Arthur told her.
Thinking about that, Andrea had to admit that was great thinking. “I think she takes better care of kids than most parents,” Andrea said.
“Andrea, come change Pam,” Vicki called out, and Andrea took off before Arthur could even reply. Taking the baby from Vicki, Andrea moved over to the pallet as Vicki picked another baby up.
Seeing Arthur, Vicki gave him a smile. “Want me to feed Lucas?” she asked, nodding to Lucas in Arthur’s arms.
The fact Vicki could remember every name and could tell what baby it was just by looking at the back of the head amazed Arthur. “I’ll do it,” Arthur smiled. He had to look at the baby for a bit and still got the names wrong. Just a week ago, he’d put a boy outfit on a girl baby. He didn’t know, he’d never checked. Wendy had just handed him a baby and told him to dress it. Looking at the baby, Arthur really had thought it was a boy. Hell, they were taking care of nearly two dozen now. When Vicki saw the shirt, ‘I’m a bad boy’, on the baby, she’d taken the baby from Arthur while rolling her eyes.
Sitting on the recliner and scooting back, Vicki put the bottle in the baby’s mouth. “Put Nicole down before you do. Nicole doesn’t like for another baby to get fed when she’s being held,” Vicki stated.
Seeing Vicki’s ten-year-old frame wearing a sleep shirt, one of his t-shirts that came to her knees, barely filling the massive recliner and her bare feet hanging in the air, Arthur was in shock. “How do you know I wasn’t going to feed her first?” he asked.
Scoffing, “You feed her in your sleep,” Vicki answered. “But she’s kicking and that means she wants to look around. She cries when I try to hold her and feed another baby but you, I’m sure Nicole would scream if you did it.”
Just the fact Vicki knew the individuality of each infant made Arthur feel like shit because he couldn’t even remember all the kids’ names, even looking at their faces. This didn’t include Nicole by any means, but he didn’t even know Nicole’s individuality as well as Vicki did. “Um,” Arthur stuttered as he thought. In the end, he grabbed a bottle and cradled Lucas in his right arm and sure enough, when Lucas latched on the bottle, Nicole informed the world she didn’t like that.
“Hey, you ate,” Arthur told her in a very soft tone, but Nicole only paused to take a breath and renew her scream.
“Todd!” Vicki barked out curtly and Todd ran in from the kitchen. “Get Lucas and feed him,” Vicki told him. Never waiting on Arthur to hand him over or asking if Arthur wanted to hand the baby over, Todd took Lucas and tucked the baby in his arm like Vicki had taught him and headed for the couch.
Feeling somewhat emasculated, Arthur looked down as Nicole stopped screaming. “I can feed other babies if I want to,” Arthur told her, but the tone was very soft.
“Pops, leave her alone,” Vicki commanded, and Arthur jerked his head up but Vicki was watching Andrea finish changing Pam. “Just leave Pam on the pallet and go help on breakfast because Kirk sometimes gets pieces of eggshells in the eggs.”
Getting up, Andrea smiled at Vicki and headed to the kitchen. Feeling Arthur staring at her, Vicki turned to him, unintimidated. “You leave Nicole alone. If she wants to be held alone, then she gets held alone. If she wants her Pops all to herself sometimes, she gets Pops to herself,” Vicki informed him in a rather adult-sounding tone. “Because of her we’re alive, and this is the last time we speak of it.”
Arthur’s mouth fell open as he gasped; but he didn’t speak back. Little Momma held power and wasn’t afraid to wield it. With Ryan riding on her hip, Wendy walked past Arthur into the living room. “Arthur, close your mouth and leave Little Momma alone,” she told him, then bent over to kiss Vicki on the forehead.
Everyone loved Vicki. Besides Arthur and Wendy, she was the only one who could dish out punishment of extra chores, which she had only done once. It was when Todd had taken off running when one of the babies took a massive dump and he’d refused to change the diaper. After cleaning both the girls and boys bathrooms in the dorms, twice, Todd never ran away again. When he’d gone to Arthur to complain, Arthur had told Todd he either did what Vicki told him or he would be picking up cow shit from the field with his hands. He was to gather it up in a wheelbarrow with shovels like they did every week, but he was to put it back out when he was done with his hands. Then he was to pick it back up and when he was done, then clean both bathrooms twice, again.
It was very clear, Vicki was regarded as more of an adult than any of the others and that was fine with everyone. She took care of all the younger kids and did a very good job, but she expected help and if she didn’t get it, a lesson was in order.
Clearing his throat as Wendy sat in her recliner, “Vicki, sometimes Nicole needs to be taught that she has brothers and sisters, and she has to share,” Arthur said, and even those working could tell he was speaking very hesitantly.
“Pops!” Vicki barked and Arthur gave a startle. “Do you want me to get up?”
Looking at Vicki’s serious face, Arthur couldn’t help but smile. “Hey, I gave you the keys to my truck to prove I wouldn’t leave you. The only other person I’ve ever given the keys to my Blazer to is Wendy,” he chuckled, walking over and kissing Vicki then wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tight.
When he released her, Arthur saw Vicki had tears in her eyes. “Vicki, don’t cry,” Arthur panted. “I won’t feed another baby if it makes Nicole mad.”
Blinking her tears away and looking up at Arthur, “I know what that man who was chasing me wanted and it wasn’t a cat,” she told him in a tiny voice. “If you hadn’t got us, he...”
The caring face fell away and instantly, Arthur went to pissed-off motherfucker wanting to shank some assholes, and he jumped to his feet. “Who told you, damn it?!” he bellowed. Vicki was the most innocent child he had ever known and that the innocence was taken away made Arthur feel violated.
“Arthur,” Wendy called out, and he turned with a glare. “I did, and she needed to know because Vicki protects the kids. I know you loved her innocence, but Arthur, she had to understand the evil that’s outside of this house.”
Knowing Wendy was right, but accepting it was totally different, anger flushed his system demanding violence as Arthur thought about taking the day off just to go and kill something because inside he knew he should’ve told Vicki, but he’d wanted to cherish that innocence she displayed to the world. Dropping his gaze to Vicki, “You remember I capped that punk ass bitch and if he had friends, I’m skinning them alive. I don’t care if they sat beside him on the playground. Anyone that wants or even thinks of hurting anyone here, I’ll kill them with a smile and have serious wood when I do it,” Arthur told her.
Putting the end of the bottle in the crook of her neck, Vicki wiped her eyes. “I know,” she told him in a soft voice. “That’s why Nicole gets what she wants most of the time. I don’t like thinking about what would’ve happened if you hadn’t got her.”
Dropping back down and hugging Vicki tight, “Don’t think about it because you’re with us now,” Arthur told her as he let her go and then grabbed Vicki’s ankles. When he brought her bare feet to his face, slowly opening his mouth, Vicki let out a giggling scream.
“No!” she cried out as Arthur latched onto her left foot. With a baby in her arms she couldn’t fight back as she laughed out. “Pops, quit!” she begged. Taking her foot from his mouth, Arthur let her ankles go and then leaned over to kiss her cheek, then the baby she was feeding. It was in that instant Arthur realized, he never forgot Vicki’s name, even when he forgot his own. The only other person’s name he could say for certain he hadn’t forgotten was Wendy’s, but they had been together for nearly three decades so her name was chiseled in his brain and that didn’t count.
Stepping over the babies on the pallet, Arthur headed to Wendy. “I can fight with a baby in my arms, so don’t even think about chewing on my feet,” Wendy warned. Arthur just leaned down and kissed her.
“You were right, I should’ve told her,” he admitted.
Looking up at Arthur with a grief-stricken face, “Arthur, I didn’t want to, I swear. I loved her innocence as much as you did. But Vicki had to know why she can’t trust anyone except those here. Vicki knew to stay away from him because he was a stranger but not why. I think if she would’ve known why, she would’ve made more of an effort and lost that man,” Wendy told him in a breaking voice. All she kept thinking and praying in her mind was that Arthur didn’t ask who had told her the story, but if he would’ve turned to look at Shawn, who was trying to hide behind a baby, Arthur would’ve figured it out who’d informed Wendy that Vicki needed to know what the man was chasing her for. In Shawn’s defense, he was right, Vicki needed to know.
“Then she might not have come with me,” Arthur said, patting Nicole as she let out a coo reaching for Wendy.
Shaking her head, “Arthur, every kid here has told me they didn’t feel threatened by you. Even without Nicole strapped across your chest, they would’ve gone with you,” Wendy told him.
Holding Nicole out so Wendy could kiss her, Arthur strolled over to the couch and patted Todd’s shoulder, then kissed the baby he was feeding. Walking back in the kitchen and picking his coffee mug up from the counter, “Need help?” he offered the organized chaos of bodies.
“You’re too big to help,” Kirk told him as he flipped bacon.
Thinking that sounded weird, Arthur headed to the garage converted to the new dining room. He found Skannish and Sutton at one of the long tables. Last night, they’d seen his plans on large sheets of poster board and had asked to look at them. Before he’d gone to bed, Arthur had given them his notebooks, tablets, and poster boards.
“Guys, have you been up all night?” Arthur chuckled, moving over and sitting down.
“Please, I can stay awake for three days,” Skannish huffed, then cast a wary eye around. “Unless Sarah is around,” he amended. “She makes me sleep even if I’m not tired.”
Giving a chuckle, “In a lab maybe, but you’ll be running equipment today,” Arthur said, and they both looked up at him. “Oh, Joseph will show you how or one of the kids, but after that it’s on you and if you hurt one here because you’re tired, a word of advice: Pull your pistol and eat a bullet before I get to you.”
“I’ve always wanted to run those big machines,” Skannish chuckled.
Clearing his throat to get Arthur’s attention, “Arthur, you only have a bachelor’s degree in nursing, correct?” Sutton asked.
“I have an associate’s in mechanical engineering,” Arthur told him.
Pushing a calculator away and pulling one of the poster boards closer, “We went over your numbers and the levee you’ve designed is ten times the size it should be. The twenty-five-acre lake will only hold a billion gallons. Since your dam is designed to hold back ten times that, why not make the lake bigger?”
Taking a sip of coffee, “You have no idea the amount of material we’ll have to move just to make that twenty-five-acre lake. As for the size, I want bigger, much bigger than I need. I don’t want the levee to break and wash down the valley. It wouldn’t even come close to hitting the house since we’re on the bluff, but all our livestock and power stations would be gone.”
Nodding as Arthur set his mug down, “We know and went over your projections. You, well, we,” Sutton corrected, “need power. How certain are your flow calculations?”
Shrugging, “Fairly,” Arthur answered. “Those two creeks have never had the steady kind of flow they do now. I’m certain it’ll get stronger as time goes on.”
“Fourteen thousand gallons a minute isn’t a tiny flow,” Sutton told him.
“Hey, before this, where both creeks come together at the head of our valley, I did measure them in July three years ago. That’s when they have the weakest flow and then, it was barely five thousand gallons a minute. You could wade across it. You try that now and you’ll have to fight to keep your feet under you.”
“So why not make it bigger?” Sutton asked. “That reservoir will be what powers us. And by your calculations, we will get a minimum of ninety kilowatts.”
“Man, can Nicole cry,” Joseph yawned, walking in the dining room with a cup of coffee.
When Joseph sat down beside him, Arthur grinned and then turned back to Sutton. “Again, you haven’t moved material, dirt, and rocks. Would I like it bigger? Hell yes, but we need power now. After we get this fence up, we’ll put more on the project.”
Before Sutton answered, Skannish gave a scoff. “Pfft,” he huffed. “You saw ants as a problem!” he cried out, digging through the stacks of paper and lifting up a notebook. “I never even thought about that and we’ve seen huge masses coming here!”
Andrea peeked in on hearing the conversation and quickly ducked back, telling those in the kitchen that Arthur was talking about his plans. They all had asked but when Arthur explained to them they felt stupid, so now they could listen in while someone else felt stupid.
Looking at Skannish, Arthur thought he looked like a dear old grandfather but had already learned, the old fart could irritate a monk. “If you don’t think about problems beforehand, that means you deal with them when they arrive. I’ve found out by experience that takes enormous resources and time. Don’t think because I don’t have degrees that I can’t think.”
“Please!” Skannish cried out as food was carried in and everyone moved to the two long tables but no one spoke, just wanting to listen. “The best researchers I’ve ever known were self-taught. A degree is only a piece of paper. Ernie had a PhD. in virology, and that man didn’t have the brain power to turn on a light.”
With a baby on her hip, Vicki handed Arthur a bouncy seat for Nicole. Pulling Nicole out and setting her in the seat, Arthur smiled as Wendy kissed his neck before she walked past to sit down beside Joseph. “Here,” Vicki said, holding out a baby to Sutton.
Like the baby was a snake, Sutton scooted back. “Maybe someone else should hold the infant,” he offered.
All Vicki saw was a big person with empty arms. “Hold her while I get the other babies,” Vicki snapped, and Joseph went to get up to take the baby but Wendy grabbed his arm, making him stay seated.
Looking at the smiling baby on Vicki’s hip, “I might drop her,” Sutton said.
“You do and I’ll beat your toes with a hammer,” Vicki warned, making both Sutton and Skannish startle in their chairs. “Now hold her before the other babies start crying.”
Not moving, Sutton looked to Arthur for help, but Arthur was playing with Nicole as she sat in the bouncy chair on the table. “I’ve never held a baby,” Sutton confessed.
“Quit being a bitch and hold out your arms!” Vicki barked, and Wendy gave a startled gag.
Whipping her eyes to Arthur to unleash, Wendy saw him holding up one hand. “She used it in the proper context, so back off,” Arthur told her calmly.
“You want to sweep and mop the floors twice today after you get finished working?” Vicki snapped and when Sutton was about to turn to Arthur, Vicki stomped her bare foot on the floor with a loud smack. “He won’t help you and will give you more to do, now hold out your damn arms!”
Very slowly, Sutton reached out and Vicki put the baby in his arms. All of the babies were old enough now to control their heads, so all you had to do was hold them. After Sutton took the baby, he gave a nervous smile as the baby patted his face.
Noticing Skannish chuckling, “You get the next one,” Vicki informed him and strolled out.
The smile fell off Skannish’s face. Before he turned for help, Arthur said, “Do what Little Momma says and happiness will reign.”
Like the baby would explode if he moved it fast, Sutton held it to his chest. “You really think rats are going to be a problem?” he asked.
Throwing back his head, Arthur let out a laugh. “I can guarantee you there are people, healthy people, that have been taken down by rats and eaten,” he declared, and the room fell silent as everyone froze. Glancing around, Arthur saw everyone staring at him in shock. “Guys, if you have thousands of rats jump on you when you enter a building, you’ll be hard-pressed to get out, but only if you didn’t panic. I, for one, will tell you, my ass would panic like a little punk-ass bitch that got his dick trapped in a mousetrap. Even if you got out, I think you would die days later from all the bites and scratches. One rat bite can be bad, but think of what several hundred would do. One rat doesn’t weigh but a pound or so. A hundred climb on you and they could bring you down.”
“They are rats,” Skannish said as Vicki came in with a baby on each hip. Not waiting, she put a baby in his arms. Not wanting the child they called Little Momma on his ass, Skannish took the baby and held it like Sutton was holding his. As Vicki handed off the other baby to empty arms, she headed out again.
“Skannish, you realize rats breed five times a year and can have up to fourteen in each litter. They reach sexual maturity in five weeks. This started six months ago and they have an abundant food supply. It was believed there was one rat for every person on the planet. Let’s take Russellville,” Arthur paused, putting a pacifier in Nicole’s mouth. “It had a population around thirty thousand. Let’s just say it had ten thousand rats in March. Just using reproduction rates, there will be well over half a million now. They have food, and humans were the only thing killing them off with poison, so there’s nothing keeping them in check,” Arthur explained as everyone shivered when the images filled their minds.
Vicki came back in and handed off the last babies. When she walked past Arthur, he reached out and pulled her into his lap. As he pulled her to his chest, Vicki gave a smile, closing her eyes and snuggling in his chest. Even with images of rats, Wendy couldn’t help but smile at Vicki. She was very proud that Arthur made sure he spread his love around.
“Fuck,” Joseph gasped, breaking the moment of shock and Wendy just gave a nod, thinking that was an appropriate response.
“Oh, don’t think we’ll have it as bad here,” Arthur scoffed. “Any human that’s not out of a city like New York by now is as good as dead. New York will be closing in on a billion plus rats now. Numbers like that would just swarm over you like water.”
“We avoid any city until the rats die off,” Wendy declared.
“We’ll try, but rats will have the numbers for several years before they’re brought back into balance,” Arthur told her.
“But the cadavers will be gone by winter even if you’re half right,” Sutton said, looking at the baby in his arms and had to admit, he enjoyed holding it.
“Duh,” Arthur droned. “Rats are hunters, and guess what else is breeding in large numbers?” Arthur sang out and everyone just looked at him.
Seeing nobody answering, “Mice,” Arthur told them. “After this winter, any food not in a can or jar will be gone. Hell, after this winter you’ll be hard-pressed to find a car that’ll crank up without work. Rats and mice will chew the hoses, electrical wires, and belts.” Seeing Sutton cringe, everyone was glad he felt stupid and they didn’t.
Like a light bulb went off in each head, the kids and adults understood now why Arthur had the valley below them packed with vehicles. “It will take a few years because there’s so much cropland for the mice population to fill. The good news is by the end of next year, the rat and mice population will spread out and it won’t be a death sentence to walk into buildings in the cities,” Arthur said, then shrugged. “But by then, whatever was there will be pretty much worthless.”
“But you have dogs as a threat,” Skannish said, tapping the notepad with one hand as the other held the baby to his chest.
“Oh and they will be, but I don’t expect them to put a hurt on the rat population for a year. I really think dogs will realize after the bodies are gone that one rat can make a meal. But,” Arthur said, raising his hand up and pointing at the ceiling. “I’ve already come across dogs inside of houses that’ve been taken down by rats. I didn’t stay long but until rats spread out, nothing can hunt them effectively.”
As chills racked her body, Wendy shook in her chair. “You are fucking insane for going in houses after seeing that.”
“Not going to argue, not my smartest move,” Arthur admitted. “But I’ve seen it with my own eyes, packs of thousands of rats moving around. When they leave a body, the only thing left is jewelry and teeth.”
“A wall can’t stop them!” Sutton cried in panic.
“No shit,” Arthur scoffed. “It’ll stem the tide and I’ll put electrical wire on the top to stem them from climbing over, but we should be good until winter when they start to move from the cities and towns.”
Jumping up, “We finish the wall and levee right now. Everything else is to wait,” Wendy ordered and everyone nodded.
“Doll, we have to cut the three fields to the north for hay and slaughter some cows and pigs,” Arthur told her, and saw Wendy was pale and panting. “I have this lined out the best I can to keep us up on the threats I’ve thought about.”
“Um, Arthur,” Shawn called out softly, and Arthur turned down the table to look at him. “Has anything surprised you yet?” he asked, praying Arthur would say nothing had surprised him.
“Oh yeah,” Arthur nodded, and several nearly passed out. “I totally forgot about wasps.”
Everyone gave a confused startle and many looked at the person next to them for an answer. Shawn could remember seeing lots of wasps lately, but hadn’t really thought about it. “Wasps?” he finally blurted out.
“Yeah,” Arthur nodded, and saw a blank stare on Shawn’s face. “What do wasps eat?” he asked, and Shawn just shrugged because he could honestly say, he had no idea. “They’re omnivores but the young eat meat, and just look at all the flies and bodies around us.”
“Are you allergic?” Sutton asked.
“No,” Arthur answered. “Just hate getting stung and I’ve seen two wasps’ nests in Clarksville that were yards across with thousands of wasps. That many sting you and it doesn’t matter if you’re allergic or not, you’re going to die. They weren’t hornets. That honeycomb nest was six feet long and two feet across.”
“Anything else?” Shawn asked, and Wendy almost told him to shut the fuck up, she didn’t want to know if Arthur had other things surprise him.
“No.”
Thinking for several minutes, “That’s why you haven’t been so worried about people,” Shawn declared. “They’re scavenging for food and a place to stay safe from animals.”
“Very good,” Arthur grinned. “Yes, even the assholes are realizing nature is more ruthless than they could ever be. Gangs are only taking targets of opportunity, they really aren’t searching for people to take from. They’re gathering what they can before the rats do. Even Dean’s little pussy gang has realized if they don’t gather stuff up, there won’t be anything left by winter after the mice and rats.”
Turning to see everyone from both tables, except the toddlers, looking at him, “Can we eat? I really would like to start the day,” he told everyone.
Picking up her plate, “Those of you that don’t have a room yet, suck it up,” Wendy sang out. “We’re working on the fence and levee. After the fence is up, we’ll put people to finishing the rooms.”
Not one person argued because they were all nodding enthusiastically. “When are you expecting people to be a problem?” Ellie asked from the end of the table.
“Anytime, but by next summer you’ll get groups actively hunting for others to exploit,” Arthur answered. “Humans are a big danger now but for some reason, they’re scared to come around here,” he grinned.
“Yeah, I can see that, Caravan Man,” Ellie smirked.
“What about crazies?” Shawn asked.
“I don’t count those as human, and I’ve killed three within a mile of here. One where we hid the road,” Arthur told him, and everyone looked around in shock. “That’s why I do patrols around us and why I kill them on sight.”
“And you go right ahead,” Wendy nodded, grabbing his plate and loading it with food.
“How can they still be alive? I’ve never seen one eat and I’ve seen a lot of them,” Ellie stated.
Shaking his head, “Oh no, they eat,” Arthur assured her. “Sometimes what they eat isn’t even dead.”
“They eat animals alive?” Shawn gasped.
“It’s not always animals,” Arthur replied. “I’ve even seen one crazy beat down another and chomp on him.”
The entire room went quiet except for the babble of the toddlers. “Fuck the levee, we get the wall up first,” Joseph mumbled.
“I’ll happily deal with the crazies before the waves of rats,” Arthur told Joseph as he stroked Vicki’s hair while she cuddled into his chest. He looked down and saw her eyes were closed and she was smiling contently. Making a mental note to give Vicki more praise and go out of his way to treat her like a little girl, Arthur glanced around. “We’ll do the best we can and if trouble finds us, we’ll deal with it ruthlessly.”
Putting Arthur’s plate in front of him, “I want to start going out with you,” Wendy told him, again.
“You aren’t back to full health, so fuck no,” Arthur told her, and Wendy drew in a breath. “Babe, I got fucking chased by a pack of rats. I looked it up after I got back and rats can run at eight miles an hour, but that pack was eating on some bodies in a backyard. I jumped over a fence and saw a mound of fur, then the fur turned into a thousand rats charging me. Still don’t remember climbing back over that fence and for all I know, I jumped that fucker using my dick as a pole-vault,” Arthur said with a shiver. “The rats didn’t have to climb it, they ran between the boards. The next fence was a chain link fence and they just ran through it and it didn’t look like I was putting any distance between us. When I finally got to a street, I was able to pour on the speed.”
“Where were Donald and Daisy?” Wendy asked shivering violently.
“Left them near the Blazer in case one of Dean’s boys found it,” Arthur replied. “If they would have been with me, I’m sure the pack would have reached us. That’s why I want you in top shape, so you can run.”
Feeling numb, “I’ll wait till you think I’m ready,” Wendy mumbled.
“It’s all good, doll, when you’re ready I’ll take you out, and that can be our date night,” Arthur chuckled, then let out a Pee Wee Herman laugh.
Like he had been insulted, “That man was atrocious,” Skannish spat out. “Pee Wee Herman indeed, to be a star on a children’s show and do that.”
Whipping his head around, “He was in an adult theater, not at Cinemark watching The Little Mermaid! And he didn’t do it on the damn show!” Arthur shouted. “What the hell do you go see a skin flick for? To spank the monkey, dumb ass! If the movie had been good enough, I would’ve stood up on the armrests challenging everyone to a circle jerk.”
Joseph threw his head back laughing as Skannish stared at Arthur in shock. “That’s to be done in private,” Skannish mumbled.
“An adult theater is private. I think Pee Wee just made the others in there jealous because he wasn’t pee wee,” Arthur huffed.
Lifting her head up and looking up at Arthur, “Why do you want to spank a monkey?” Vicki asked, and Shawn slid out of his chair laughing. Arthur looked down at the innocence on Vicki’s face and was happy some was still inside her. “Monkeys are cute and funny, you don’t need to spank them.”
Pulling her head back to his chest, “I’m going to miss this, but for now, I’m going to cherish it,” Arthur sighed, then kissed the top of Vicki’s head.
Pushing back, Vicki kissed his cheek and hopped down. “I have to eat so I can get dressed,” she told him and ran over to the other table. No sooner than Vicki ran off, the clatter of small boots clacking on the floor sounded.
Shoveling food in his mouth, Arthur turned to see Robin standing beside his chair holding her arms up. Emptying his mouth, “Well, you still have on your pull-ups and even though you wore your new boots to bed putting bruises on me,” Arthur sighed and picked her up.
Robin smiled and leaned her head back against his chest as Arthur ate. “Dad, I can’t believe you of all people went through life without using a call girl,” Joseph snickered.
“I never said I hadn’t,” Arthur replied, and Joseph drew in a breath. “You asked if I had ever hired one, I haven’t,” Arthur told him, and Joseph let the breath out in shock. “Your mom paid her,” Arthur said, pushing his chair away from the table. He put Robin on his hip as he picked up Nicole and just strolled out.
Slowly, Joseph turned to Wendy. “Don’t,” she warned, holding up her hand. “You weren’t born yet and I wanted to experiment, but not with someone I knew. Because someone I knew would still see Arthur and want to continue, and then I would have to cut the bitch’s throat.”
Pushing back, Wendy got up. “We have work to do,” she told everyone, not feeling the least bit embarrassed.
“And some of you wonder who the bad influence is now,” Joseph chuckled.
Climbing back in his chair, “Pops was the bad boy,” Shawn said rather proudly.
Nodding, “Oh, you’re right, but he stopped when he was eighteen, then met Mom a year later,” Joseph said. “Mom was by all means a good little Catholic girl, but when she met Dad and heard his stories, she wanted to see what it was like. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, Mom is the bad influence now. When she realized Dad could teach her how to be bad and not get caught, oh boy,” Joseph sighed.
He looked at Shawn and saw shock at the declaration. “Shawn, whatever Mom wants, Dad will do it and never bat an eye. She’s my mom, but Mom likes being a bad girl,” Joseph told him. “And she’s fucking good at it. Look who her teacher is. Dad was bad because he had to be, Mom is bad because she wants to be.”
“I thought Arthur turned into a good boy at eighteen,” Shawn gasped.
“Oh, compared to his youth, he became a motherfucking saint, but there have been lapses because Mom wanted lessons and a partner in crime,” Joseph grinned. “How do you think Dad still knows how to steal cars? He had to keep up with the changes. On their second date, Mom got Dad to steal a car off a car lot. They brought it back before the dealer opened, but now you see what I mean. Mom really influences Dad’s mood.”
“He still stole cars?” Andrea cried out. “With your mom?”
“They brought it back. What’s the big deal?” Joseph shrugged. “We always brought them back.”
“We?!” several shouted.
“I wanted to learn too, damn it!” Joseph snapped. “We only stole from lots and never kept the car, and with the exception of one corvette, all were returned in the same condition. The vette had a scratch on the door when Dad and I returned it. If that fucking cop hadn’t tried to chase us, I never would’ve got that close to a mailbox.”
Everyone was staring at Joseph in shock. “Hey, none of you had to deal with Mom when we got home. She was pissed off that she hadn’t been with us, but it was boy’s night,” Joseph told them. Giving a shrug, “So the next week she had to go out with us, and boy’s night became family night. Thankfully, we weren’t chased by any cops.”
“You could’ve gotten in trouble, big trouble,” Andrea told him.
Nodding, “Very true, and that’s the only time I’ve been chased by cops. I was getting used to driving a manual transmission,” Joseph admitted.
“Um, how old were you?” Shawn asked.
“Thirteen,” Joseph answered. “Yes, I did get in trouble because I dumped the clutch at a stop light getting the cops’ attention. Dad always says, ‘If anyone ever knows you broke a law, you’ve failed’.”
“You could’ve gotten killed,” Sutton mumbled in shock.
“The way I was driving, I can’t even argue that,” Joseph admitted. “But Dad had me stop so we could change spots and he could drive. Once he was behind the wheel, the cop should’ve just gone for donuts because we lost him in five minutes. Dad can drive, and he makes plans if things don’t go his way.”
“No shit, he can drive,” Todd sang out.
“I had great parents and a great family. I know it’s strange but for some reason, I feel cheated,” Andrea mumbled as she stood up, grabbing her plate.
“Pops and Momma are great,” Jo Ann and Sally said together as they skipped out holding hands.
When kids came over and took the babies from Skannish and Sutton, they both sighed with relief as Sarah walked over. “So, what do you two think?” she asked.
Skannish gave Sutton a nod and he turned to Sarah. “I’ve never been religious, but I want to thank God we are with them,” Sutton told her.
Getting up, Skannish whispered, “I want them to teach me how to hotwire a car.”
