Dranko nodded slowly, “That might also explain why they didn’t roll in with tanks. Not sure they have them on hand. I think they are stretched beyond belief with what Brushfire’s wrought.”
“I’ll make some breakfast while you guys clean up. Jake, do you want to help me?” Jake nodded to Angela in response.
A half hour later, Cooper and Dranko had managed to reattach the front door and enable the door to close, albeit awkwardly. Angela and Jake offered up an equally awkward breakfast of beans, canned fruit cocktail, and crackers. A pot of weak coffee completed the repast. They had barely begun eating when Gus’ voice assaulted them.
“Coo-oo-per! Come out!”
Angela fumbled her coffee cup, spilling some of it. Cooper’s fork crashed against his plate as he threw it down in rage and disgust, “That bastard!” He leapt to his feet, grabbing his rifle and made a beeline to the door. Dranko and Angela were quickly on his heels.
Cooper nearly tore the hastily rebuilt door from its hinges as he flung his door open, weapon at the ready. What he saw shocked him.
In front of him, stood Gus. A smug look lashed to his face. Behind him stood about twenty of his neighbors, armed, with hostile eyes glaring at Cooper. The shock at seeing such a crowd arrayed gave him a momentary pause. The contrast with the prior times he’d stood on his stoop and addressed his neighbors, guiding them through their fear or instilling hope, struck him to the core. He stopped in his tracks.
Gus saw the muzzle of Cooper’s rifle pointed at his stomach and he waved his hands, “Calm down, Cooper, we just came to talk!” Cooper heard the fear in voice in marked contrast to his earlier shouted orders.
Cooper grimaced and barreled into Gus, pushing him backward and off his front steps. Gus backpedaled and barely kept his balance.
“What’s this about,” Cooper called to the crowd, ignoring Gus.
No one spoke, but instead, heads turned to Gus.
He recovered more than his footing, “Don’t play dumb, Cooper. You know what this is about. After last night, you are a clear and present danger to this neighborhood. So…” Cooper’s glare made Gus choke in fear.
“So…what,” Cooper dared.
Gus coughed once, “So, you need to leave.”
Cooper’s wry grin unnerved Gus, “Oh, yeah?” His grip tightened on his rifle as a fulsome rage burned inside. “And, what are you gonna do when I say no?”
Gus steadied his feet, “Well, the good people gathered here are hoping you will be reasonable.”
Cooper laughed aloud, “Reasonable? Do you mean reasonable like when I’ve risked my life over and over again to save this neighborhood?” Cooper noticed how half the group looked ashamedly at their feet while the other half tightened their hold on their weapons.
Gus was unfazed now, “Cooper, I know I speak for everyone when I say how much we appreciate what you’ve done for all of us. But, even you must admit that what has bound us together in this time of crisis has been our mutual desire for safety. It’s not any of the prudent people here’s fault that you are now a danger to that very security.” Many in the crowd nodded enthusiastically at that.
Cooper shook his head, “Damn, you’re good, Gus. I’ll give you that. You know how to tell the people just what they want to hear.” He directed his attention back to the group, “So, these cheap words from a lawyer are going to absolve your consciences of putting me and my boy out of our home? Is that all it takes?” Not a single pair of eyes would meet his gaze as he scanned the crowd while talking. “Well, guess what? I have a better way of keeping your consciences clear. I ain’t leaving.”
“Damn you, Cooper! This isn’t our fault. You brought this on yourself! We have to protect our children—those that are still alive!” The voice from the back of the crowd belonged to Michelle Jamison, a homemaker who had lost one of her three children in the plague. Her voice cracked as she finished and tears ran down her face.
“So, you want to throw me out because I told the truth to the world? Told the truth to you?”
“Whether your words were truth or not, only time will tell. But, what is clear right now is that you’ve brought untold danger to us all,” Gus fired back. A brief silence hung in the air.
Then, Cooper heard it. A sharp metallic click, followed by another, as someone chambered a round on a bolt-action rifle. Instantly, his rifle was to his shoulder and flashed across the group. Behind him, he heard Angela and Dranko doing the same. In front of him, half the group fumbled with their weapons because of fear while the other half shouldered theirs without hesitation.
Gus moved frantically to the side, to get out of the line of fire. He flashed his palms up, open, “Calm down, calm down, everyone.”
Cooper shouted, “Lower your weapons, now!” Very few in the crowd complied. Seeing their neighbors still keeping their weapons trained on Cooper, they quickly raised them once more.
“Cooper, please. Be reasonable,” Gus pleaded.
He pointed his rifle directly at Gus, “You say that word ‘reasonable’ one more time, Gus, and I will blow you to hell, so help me God!”
From the corner of his eye, he spotted Calvin Little rushing down the street. The President of the Neighborhood Association was unarmed, save the pistol he wore on his hip.
“What is this? What is going on here,” he shouted as he came up.
“Gus here and this…ah…lynch mob are telling me I need to move out of my home,” Cooper answered first.
“What?” Calvin asked, in surprise.
Gus turned to face him, “We’re doing this for everyone’s safety, Calvin. Surely you understand that, as the neighborhood’s Defense Captain?”
Calvin continued to move through the crowd until he stood in front of Cooper, “Yes, Gus, you are correct. I take security seriously. But, if anyone wants to drive Cooper from his home at gunpoint, they will have to shoot me first. This is not how we do things in our neighborhood.”
Cooper tried to conceal his shock at Calvin putting himself in harm’s way to protect him. Calvin’s words had many in the group looking at one another in confusion. The seconds ticked by.
“Goddammit! Lower your fucking weapons!” Calvin exploded. It was less the vehemence of his words, but more the shock of the normally well-spoken man using profanity that commanded compliance. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard him swear, Cooper marveled to himself. He lowered his weapon first, and slowly, everyone else did, too.
“Good, that is more like it,” he said and turned to Gus. “Look, you want to discuss Cooper’s residence here, we will do it properly. Let us have a meeting here at five o’clock today. That is how we make decisions here. Not like this,” his infused the last word with scorn.
Cooper took a long look at his neighbors, including a few who he would have called friends. At best, he saw fear in their eyes directed towards him. Among the worst, he saw fear and hatred. He took a deep breath and shook his head in disgust, “I’ll save you the damned trouble. Jake and I will be leaving. And you, Gus, can go rot in hell.” Gus reacted to Cooper’s pointed finger as if he’d been shot.
Cooper turned sharply on his heels and brushed past Angela and Dranko. Dranko’s mouth was agape in shock.
Chapter Two
Cooper paced his living room in silent fury. His fists were balled and a dark glare adorned his face. Angela and Dranko followed him inside, looks of disbelief still plastered across their faces. They watched Cooper for a long while.
Finally, Dranko broke the quiet, “What happened, brother?”
Cooper looked up at him for a moment, eyes still burning. He wilted under his stare. Cooper inhaled deeply, and then fought to control himself as he spoke. Still, the rage laced every single syllable, “Those sons of bitches out there, that’s what. Seeing them turn on me like that. How dare they?”