“Tony, come on. Really? Over eleven people?”
“Really, Anna.” He said seriously. “I did this for a living. And again… my gut is screaming.”
“Okay, since you worked in a security field. Why is your gut screaming at you about a group with women and children?”
“It’s not the women and children. It’s the men. Two in particular.” He leaned forward. “The best way to get information is to pretend you aren’t getting information. So I helped Doc. While doing so, I asked questions.”
“What did you find out?”
“They came from town. Not far away, four miles.”
“That’s a hell of a walk in this heat.”
“According to the leader, and I am not sure he’s the leader I am just guessing, because he gave the least information. We’ll call him Survivor One.”
“No name?”
“I didn’t pay attention. Anyhow, Survivor One tells me they were able to jump start an old bus and drive here. Survivor Two…”
“No name either?”
Tony shook his head. “He says they were in a makeshift shelter at the fire hall. They had been talking about this place for a while because Survivor One knew they were building something up here. Everyone from the area in Elwood knew we were working on something, even though we covered the fences. Survivor guy Two and Survivor guy Three both said, Survivor One started the plan to come here. He even scouted the area for safe zones because they were thinking ahead for a more stable place.”
“I’m still not following you. What is causing your concern?”
“They had weapons.”
That made me lean back.
“Survivor One won’t say anything and denies he knew about it. He said he was only part of the group and they stumbled across this.”
“One would think they’d get their stories straight.”
“One would think.” Tony held up his finger. “Survivor One is the one who is lying. Survivor One is also the town bad boy.”
“Is that knowledge or a bad cliché guess?”
“Both.” Tony gasped. “Breast Milk mother doesn’t like him at all. Said he was trouble before it all happened. She came here for the baby.”
“It’s an awful big gamble if someone wasn’t certain we had something to offer.”
“Yes, it is. Someone was sure enough that he led ten more people here.”
“So what do you think?” I asked.
“I think Town Bad Boy and a few others knew about the place and only the strong survive, so he was designated the one to lead the pack. Test the waters. They brought weapons, so they had bigger intentions than just coming for help. Just my guess. I think they were the first party. The rest of the fire hall will show up. There’s not many of us. They may want to take the place.”
“They can’t, can they?”
“They could. But I won’t let it happen… But we need to watch out for one of them to disappear when the temperatures normalize. If they do, I’d look for a little trouble. In fact, I am watching ahead of time. They may not even need someone to slip out. We’re not secure. There’s not that many of us. I could take us all out in the middle of the night.”
“That’s comforting,” I grumbled.
“It’s the truth. When Spencer gets well, ask him. He was a cop. He’ll say the same thing.”
“Why would they do that? We have plenty.”
“Because we have plenty. It’s ours. If we control it, they are under our control.”
I exhaled heavily. “Do what you need to do.” I spoke those words with a heavy heart hoping Tony was wrong in his assessment. However, a part of me felt that he wasn’t and I had not only opened our door to strangers, I had opened our door to trouble.
30 – SIGNAL
August 14
In the two weeks after impact, things were honestly normalizing for me. Well, about as normal as it could be. I still missed Jackson… that would never stop. I still cried for him. But I had settled into a routine, a daily routine that made me feel as if I were a contributor to it all. I ran rations and inventory. Every day I walked each floor twice, checking on things. Inwardly, I felt as if I were healing. Slowly, but still healing.
Out of the eleven survivors that came to the shelter, ten remained. An older woman passed away the second night.
The children had returned to being children and ran about constantly. A few of the survivors, pretty much never came out of their rooms and did only what was required to pull their weight.
Some offered to help cook and others spent their time in agriculture with Melissa. Including Town Bad Boy. His name was Lenny.
Tony grew increasingly frustrated over the fact that as they days rolled by, his assumption was more than likely wrong. But he wouldn’t let it go about Lenny. He stared him down and watched him so much, it was making me uncomfortable.
Spencer was the one I worried about in a different way. The ash settled into his lungs and that turned into pneumonia. He was fighting it, but it would take time, Craig said.
He walked the floor to get oxygen moving in his lungs, but that wore him out. I had to wonder if it was all his health or maybe something else.
It was ‘call to lunch’, and once again, Spencer didn’t’ make it to the dining area. I fixed him a plate and after doing so conveyed my concern to Tony.
“Oh, it’s more,” Tony said. “He didn’t want to live anyhow.”
“What can we do?”
“Nothing.”
“You know, his was the only story I never got.”
“He doesn’t have one and he won’t have a hot meal if you don’t take that now.”
“Walk with me?” I asked.
“Sure.”
Spencer’s meal in hand, we headed out of the dining area. “So I am thinking he has this huge tragic story. Like his wife and kids died.”
“Why would you think that?”
“Because he wanted to stay behind and die. He said he had no one.”
“Did you ever stop to think he had no one because he was always working and never met anyone?”
“No.”
“I didn’t think so.”
As we reached the end of the walk way and were just about to Hive One, Peter emerged from the switch room.
“Oh, lunch. I’ll go get some.” He said. “Must have missed the call. I was busy with something fascinating. Wait until…”
Tony interrupted him. “We have to get this to Spencer.”
“Poor guy,” Peter said. “At least he should feel better when he sees your lovely face.”
Tony said. “Thanks.”
“I think he was talking to me.,” I nudged Tony. “And thanks Peter. I can’t wait to hear about your fascinating find.” I could feel Tony’s impatience and he was bodily trying to move me.
“You’ll love it. Make time about an hour after dinner. Temperatures will be not only normal, but pleasant. Short lived, only a few hours and then they’ll plummet, so it is the prime time to take one more breath of fresh, tolerable air. We’ll build a fire.”
Tony gave him a quirky look. Then moved me along. “He’s so strange,” Tony said.
“You’re really not nice to him.”
“He doesn’t need me to be nice, Anna, you are nice enough to everyone.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment. And what do you think about his suggestion?”
“It’s dark. It’s so dark that the night vision doesn’t work correctly. He’s nuts. He wants to build a fire with you. Please. He’s got romantic intentions. He gave you some time and now he’s gonna be suave about it.”
I laughed.
“I’m serious. That notebook he carried has your name all over it.” Tony said. “Little tiny hearts. I heart Anna. Kind of scary.”