Angela moved to him and put a hand on his shoulder, “This isn’t about you, Cooper. They are scared. Scared people do stupid things, you know that.”
He shirked her hand off, as if it burned him, and continued striding around the room, “Screw that. I kept these people together. I risked my ass for them. How can they forget that so quickly?”
“Angela’s right. You could have been Christ Almighty and they would’ve done this, given how scared they are. Hell, the people did turn on Christ, too,” Dranko intervened.
“Whatever. Bottom line is, I don’t want to stay here. I don’t want Jake to be around people like this. You just can’t trust people,” Cooper’s shoulders slumped, as hope melted away from his words.
Dranko stepped in front of him and grabbed him by the shoulders, “C’mon, Cooper. You just can’t trust these people, right now. Fear is driving them. But, you can trust us.”
Cooper glared, “Yeah, I know I can trust you two. As for the rest, you are too kind. If these people would turn on me at the first sign of trouble, how can you trust them? Ever?”
Dranko laughed, “Damn, brother, you sound as negative as I normally am!”
Cooper stared back, “A man’s true character comes out in crisis.”
Dranko turned serious, “Your father would never have said what you just said. You know better. Don’t go all dark and negative on us!”
“My father,” Cooper began, but then stopped himself. “No,” he said shaking his head. “You’re right. My father took people through a lot of struggles and they hung together. But, this. This,” he stammered. “I just don’t know anymore.”
“Just take your time and let it sit. Let’s focus on getting ready to leave,” Angela said.
Cooper nodded and refocused, “Yeah, you’re right.” He turned back toward Dranko, “Your cabin still have a vacancy sign out?”
A wide grin opened across Dranko’s face and he clapped his hands together once, “Finally! The man talks sense. Yes, of course. We will be infinitely safer out there. Especially now.”
Cooper stopped short, covering his face with his hands.
“What’s the matter?” Angela asked.
His voice choked with emotion, “I can’t believe these bastards are forcing me to leave. To leave my home, to leave Elena.” He sat down on the couch, hands still shielding his face.
Angela glided down next to him and put her arm around him, “We know it’s hard. But, you’ll carry your home, and Elena, in your heart no matter where you are.” Cooper dropped his hands and rubbed his chin with his left hand, nodding once, slowly.
Dranko looked him in the eye, “Brother?”
Cooper met his gaze. Dranko went on, “Yeah, this sucks. But, you of all men know that the truth often carries a high price.”
Cooper nodded, “Yes, it does.” He rose from the sofa, “I’ve got to go tell Jake now.” He took several deliberate strides across the room and then turned his head over his shoulder, “Then, we need to get ready to leave.”
He found Jake reading a book in his bedroom. He looked up when his father opened the door.
“I heard,” he said, his face somber.
Cooper moved to his bed and sat down next to him, “What do you think?”
“I’m sad.”
“What are you sad about, son?”
“Leaving mom,” he said as his eyes filled with tears.
Cooper put his arm around him, “Yeah, me, too.”
“It’s like losing her again. We won’t even be able to come back and visit her here, will we?” His little body wracked with sobs.
Cooper pulled him closer, “Not for a while. But someday, I hope we can.” He choked back his own tears, “But, we can see her every day, right here,” he pointed at his heart.
Jake folded himself into his father’s chest and hugged him tightly, “I know, but I want her here, with us.”
Cooper hugged him back tightly, “I do too, son. I do, too. She was the best woman I’ve ever known. And, God, I loved her more than any man has loved his wife.”
Jake pulled back to look at his father’s face, “I know, dad. I could tell. She was the best mom.” A new round of sobbing took him and he buried his head in Cooper’s chest again.
They held each other, as Cooper rocked him slightly back and forth.
“We will take pictures, too, as many as you want.”
Jake wiped his tears, “I’m angry, too.”
“At what?”
“At our neighbors. I was at the window. I heard all of that, too. How could they?”
Cooper stiffened, “They are scared.”
“And stupid,” Jake nearly shouted.
“Yes, stupid too. Scared people do stupid things sometimes, son. In fact, they usually do,” he chuckled.
“I hate them!” Jake’s voice echoed across the bedroom’s walls and his hands balled into tiny fists.
“Yeah. I don’t blame you.”
“We have to get ready to leave, don’t we?”
“Yes. Yes, we do. Today.”
“Damn them,” Jake cursed.
“Hey, it’s okay to be angry, but I don’t want you using language like that,” Cooper mildly rebuked him.
“You talk like that when you are mad.”
Cooper smiled, “You’re right. But, I shouldn’t. I want to raise you better than that.”
Jake stood up, “Why? It doesn’t matter anymore. The world’s screwed.”
“Now, watch it,” Cooper looked sternly at him.
“Why? I gotta carry a rifle. I gotta be scared all the time. I’ve had to be ready to kill people. There isn’t school anymore. My friends are probably all dead. My mom’s dead. You could die any day. What the hell does it matter if I say damn? Or shit. Or fuck!” Jake’s voice reached a loud crescendo as he finished.
Now, Cooper stood up and grabbed him by the shoulders. He lowered himself so he could look directly into his son’s eyes, “You wanna know why? Yes, the world’s gone to hell. But, we don’t have to go to hell along with it. The true test of a man…and, yes, you’re having to become a man much sooner than is right or fair…but the true test of a man is how he acts in crisis. How he acts when things are hard. I want you to hold onto as much of your childhood as you can. So, how you talk does matter.”
Jake looked back defiantly, “If I have to become a man now, why can’t I talk like a man?”
“First, not all men talk like that. I’m not proud that I do. Second, your mother wouldn’t want you to talk like that.”
“She’s dead,” Jake said flatly.
Cooper raised his voice and spoke urgently, “Yes, she’s dead, alright. But, do you want to honor her memory and live up to how she raised you or throw that all down the drain?”
Jake recoiled at that and paused. His eyes burned looking back at Cooper. After several tense seconds, he took a deep breath, “Okay. I will try.”
“That’s all I ask, son. Try not to let this world ruin what your mother raised up. We have to hold onto as much of that…of all of it…as we can.”
Jake nodded, stepped in, and hugged his father again.
“Cooper, someone’s here to see you,” Dranko’s voice rang from the other room.
Cooper pulled back from Jake, “C’mon. Let’s see what this is about.”
Cooper and Jake walked down the hallway, back to the living room.
Calvin stood waiting for them. He stood over six feet. His dark skin and solid nature conjured an image of granite for Cooper as he looked upon him. Their relationship had started out very tense during the first days of the plague, but Cooper had formed a deep respect for the man. After Calvin’s actions this morning, his respect had grown to admiration.