What no one realized, but would soon find out, was that Rick had only slept a few hours during the night. He wasn’t his edgy self. Olivia knew…his wife knew everything. His every move, even. And his motives were to always try to keep her safe and free from worry. That had become his mantra since Steve died—the best friend he’d lost not so long ago and buried with his own two hands. It still seemed like yesterday. That was, for Rick, the final straw. He was not losing anyone else and to keep them safe, all he had to do was collect more intelligence. He needed more knowledge of the bastards that started this whole thing. And now that they reared their sorry selves once again like a plague, it was on. Again.
He’d never stop hunting them, not after what they’d done. And in the process, he’d pretend life was as cheery and unremoved from normal as it had ever been. That’s how he kept himself going. They were camping. That’s all. That’s what he’d made, his daughter, Bethany believe until she was old enough to know the truth. They were camping. A really long camp out. That’s all it ever was.
As cheery as that thought was, as he walked to the community meeting building, held at the old library, the normal glossy spark, that trademark of his jovial eyes, turned matte black. He cleared his throat once as he walked with his folder under one arm. His steps began to eat the weed-overgrown asphalt between there and the entrance.
Dalton stood by the doorway and saw him coming.
“Ah, I see we’re in that mood today. More serious than before?”
Rick only gave him a quick nod.
Dalton took a deep breath and stole a quick glance at Clarisse. “Damn, okay. I knew it was bad. But Jesus, not again.”
How his friend could get all of that from a nod only told him he’d been friends with the man through too damn much on the world’s longest camping trip, and he was truly worried he might only have one more fight in him. If he was honest, just one between them, maybe. And at night, when Olivia curled up next to him knowing he couldn’t sleep, he knew he needed more than just one more fight left in him.
He thought about that as he stood at a wooden podium at the front of the room. They’d dredged the damn thing out from somewhere. It was an old wooden thing and half-rotted, so that it swayed even when he placed his light file upon its surface.
People had offered to fix the old one or build a new one, but Rick had refused. “No,” he’d said, “Let the damn thing stand the test of time.” So each time he placed the papers on the top, he did so gingerly so that he could make the thing last as long as possible in its current state. Still, it swayed under the featherweight. Or he pretended it did this time. It should have. It should have crashed to the ground in a great explosion of splinters after what they’d already been through and now this. This thing he would now have to tell them.
He’d glanced up when people began to filter into the room, taking him from his thoughts, as he searched for Graham’s face. The heads of each household were required to come to the meetings. And however much he agreed with Graham about meetings, this was necessary. He probably wasn’t coming. Rick couldn’t blame him. He had to take care of the newcomers anyway.
He caught Macy’s nod from the back of the room. That was his signal to begin. Many still chattered amongst themselves. This lifestyle was still new to them and though the locals had seen danger and death at the hands of the terrorists, they’d not meted out their vengeance the way Rick and his team had in the past and they had not had to deal with all the consequences from the battle. They would soon learn to. And Rick regretted it.
Despite the friendly chatter, Rick began. “We have to talk about a few serious things, folks.” He cut his eyes up and saw that he had the attention of most of his core group, their faces gray. They knew. The others stopped talking amongst themselves and the chatter died down. They looked up at him with something like hope and half-smiles. They had no idea what was coming.
“This is not so much a community meeting about things we want to procure, trade or make, like times past. This is a threat status briefing. Many of you are aware of what we believe is a coming danger. I can tell you now, it’s not a myth. We received word from Bellingham, what’s left of Seattle, and far left of the Olympic peninsula, the few pockets out that way. We indeed have some issues with our old enemy again. It is confirmed. The danger we feared is here. They arrived by...”
“Let me go!”
Rick looked up and saw Clarisse making room for Graham and Paige next to him. Graham’s arm was held back in surrender. A woman, dressed in what he was pretty sure was a shirt he’d seen Graham wear time and again, had her arms crossed in front of her and a scowl a mile long. The curious thing that Rick noticed, and apparently everyone in the room noticed too and stared at her in silence, was the fact that Sheriff leaned against Paige’s legs as she took step after step. Sheriff followed her every more.
“Hmm…” Rick said to himself.
Then Clarisse patted the seat next to hers and smiled. “It’s all right, Paige. You can sit next to me.”
Rick noticed that Dalton didn’t look too happy as he peered at the woman from the other side of Clarisse.
“It’s okay,” Graham said. “Sit down, please.”
When the woman finally did sit down next to Clarisse, Sheriff lay at her feet.
“That’s a hell of thing,” Rick mumbled to himself and then began again. “Like I was saying, they arrived by ship. They’ve come a long way and they’re not here to join our merry men, if you get my meaning. Ave fuel isn’t exactly stable any longer, so knowing that, we assumed they didn’t arrive by air but are coming inland. We calculate it will take them a month or more, but they are coming.”
Arms shot up. “Ron…just wait a damn minute until I get the rest out, why don’t you? Put your arm down.” Rick inwardly cringed but he just wasn’t up for Ron’s crap so early in the meeting.
“As you’ve noticed, we have our friends from the west with us today and they’re staying a while. You have a problem with that, you come to me.” He stared around at Kathy and other longtime locals. “As you’ve also witnessed, we have a newcomer, as well. And I’ve got to say it seems Sheriff has taken a liking to her, so she can’t be that bad.” He tried a smile at her but the joke didn’t seem to take. “Can you tell us your name, miss?”
Her face went deep red and he began wishing he hadn’t done it this way, but the bull was already out of the bullpen.
Clarisse reached out her arm over Paige and said, “She’s not read…”
“My name’s Paige Asher,” Paige blurted out and stood. “And you people are crazy. You need to get the hell of here.”
“Paige, please sit down,” Clarisse urged and touched her arm.
“You—don’t touch me again!”
Sheriff began barking and Dalton stood up and got in front of Paige.
Then Graham quickly wedged between them both.
Rick shook his head at himself, mumbling while stacking his papers together, “I’m such a genius.”
“She’s fine,” Graham said, guarding Paige while Sheriff whined behind him.
“She’s not fine,” Dalton said, “and I’ll tell you why she’s not fine.”
A sudden whistle pierced the room, and everyone turned in that direction. Rick saw that it was Macy standing in the back, looking like she was about to pop.
“He’s trying to tell you something. Sit down. And listen,” she yelled and pointed to the front of the room.
Rick had given up on delivering news but now he figured if Macy was going to make such a big deal out of it, he’d better get on with it.
Then Macy did something he did expect and grabbed the side of her stomach, groaned and bent over.
“Macy!” McCann yelled and ran for her.
“Oh hell,” Rick said. “Great timing.”
Clarisse ran to the back and the two of them walked her out.
Rick yelled, “Everyone, stay where you are. I’m not done with you.”
Clarisse looked back at him.
“Except for you! Go, go,” Rick urged her.
“Sit down,” Rick yelled to the rest of them, since everyone was either standing or ready to leave and looking at the back of the room.
Shaking his head, Rick flipped open his file again with a frustrated fling. “I was going to say a lot of things, but I’m pissed off now,” and he glared at Dalton and Graham and the new girl named Paige. Each one of them got a matte eyeful. “I’m tired of this.” He scanned his notes and then flipped the folder shut again. “I was going to say we need to train and get our crap together because we likely only have a few weeks before the terrorists that are starting those fires in the west make their way here, raping and pillaging and let’s not forget beheading. But I don’t have the time or patience for that.” He stopped then and he looked for the new one. “Your name’s Paige, right?”
She nodded.
“She’s right. Those of you who don’t have the stomach for killing, you need to get out now. That would mean you, Ron. Leave. Leave now. Get the hell out and go east. Somewhere in the middle, away from any ocean shoreline. Take your children and go because this isn’t going to be a fight for anyone with a weak stomach or sensitive politics. It’s going to be brutal. Those few of you who have the guts, we need you to stay. But know this. It’s going to take all of you. I mean that. It’s going to take every fiber of your being to rid this world of them again. And that’s what I intend to do.”
He didn’t realize the room was blanketed in deathly quiet until he looked up. He didn’t realize his clenched fist trembled or that he’d gritted his teeth when he’d said the words that needed saying. In Rick’s mind, he just saw all the dead who came before, including Steve, and the cool earth he’d spread over his friend’s lifeless body.
In their stunned silence, he gingerly picked up his folder and left the room.