Shortage (Best Laid Plans Book 2) (8 page)

He managed to manhandle Lewis up onto his bed, then hurriedly got a fire going from the banked coals in the stove and gave it plenty of fuel. As he was waiting for the small space to warm up enough to strip his cousin out of his winter gear Lewis murmured something about livestock antibiotics in one of his totes, and Trev hurriedly dug around until he found them and gave his cousin the recommended dose for humans, which naturally Lewis knew.

There were more serious painkillers there as well, but since Lewis had already taken some and anyway needed to be lucid to talk Trev through the process he insisted he'd hold off unless the pain grew unbearable.

Under his cousin's guidance Trev quickly got out the small bag of medical tools and spread the ones he'd need on a clean cloth, dousing the forceps and smallest retractor with rubbing alcohol. He then unwound the makeshift bandage and wiped down the area around the wound, then doused it with rubbing alcohol as well.

Then he brought the lantern over and turned it up all the way, along with giving Lewis a flashlight to further illuminate the operation. The last step to prepare was to wash his own hands thoroughly and douse them with more alcohol. And finally, with some reluctance, he hesitantly set the forceps to the first entry wound.

“Don't just dig around in there,” his cousin warned. “You could do more damage. But don't be afraid to get in and get hold of the pellet.”

Trev wasn't sure how to follow those seemingly contradictory instructions, but he hesitantly explored down into the wound with the forceps until they hit an obstruction and couldn't go any farther. Even if he hadn't felt it he would've known from Lewis's sudden intake of breath. Feeling as clumsy as if he was trying to thread a needle with numb fingers, he did his best to work the tips of the forceps around the obstruction and get a tight hold of it, then as slowly and carefully as he could he eased it out.

It was the pellet, intact. Trev breathed a sigh of relief and set it on the cloth. Using a small bladder and hose he thoroughly flushed out the wound with more alcohol, pinched it tightly closed between thumb and forefinger and dabbed it dry with a swab, then taped it. That was as much as they could think to do so he moved on to the next one.

The second pellet was a bit trickier, unfortunately, because it had fragmented inside the wound. Trev had to dig around to find the pieces, all the while his cousin grit his teeth and clenched the flashlight and the side of his cot with white knuckles. In a way it was good Trev had done this one second, because he had the first pellet as an example and could guess at how many pieces there were. When he was as close to certain he'd gotten them all as he could be, and anyway didn't dare do more digging, he flushed out that wound as well and taped it.

Fortunately the third pellet was intact when he pulled it out, although the sudden welling of blood frightened him. It wasn't spurting, at least, so there wasn't much to do aside from flush it out as best he could, pinch it closed, swab it as dry as possible, and tape it as well.

Last of all he used proper bandaging to wrap the wound again, then helped his cousin strip down to his boxers and zipped him into his sleeping bag. “We'll need to check the wound again in a few hours but it should heal well,” Lewis muttered, looking drained but still alert. He sucked in another sharp breath. “Although I wish it was later and I felt tired enough to sleep. This pain is killing me.”

Trev brought a bottle of water for his cousin, who gulped it down and then leaned back on his pillow. “Guess you won't be going out trick or treating, huh?” he said, trying to lighten the mood. The relative ease of the operation and the knowledge that the wounds really weren't too serious filled him with a tremendous amount of relief.

Lewis snorted. “I completely forgot today was Halloween. Too bad we don't have any candy.”

“I don't think anyone in a costume is going to be ringing our doorbell looking for a treat.”

“I hope not.” His cousin closed his eyes. “Although speaking of which, I think you should patrol around the hideout just to be sure for the rest of the day. Especially along the logging road. Try to hide the tracks you made dragging me here, too.”

Trev jolted to his feet. He'd completely forgotten they might still be in danger. “Right. You'll be okay in here?”

Lewis waved at his leg. “I'm not going anywhere. Maybe I'll get lucky and fall asleep, but if not I can always browse my book of edible plants.”

Nodding, Trev hurriedly shrugged back into his coat and retrieved his Mini-14. He'd probably want to clean it soon since it had been fired, but for now there was decent chance he'd be firing it again before too long.

He stepped out into the late afternoon sun and immediately started up the hill to cover their tracks.

Chapter Four

Trick or Treat

As a young child Matt remembered dressing in a costume and going out with his dad to trick or treat at all the houses in Aspen Hill he could manage to visit before his dad got sick of the long walk and insisted it was getting late.

About the time he started to feel he was too old for it the custom changed and the town organized a Trunk or Treat activity along Main Street where all the parents would bring their car around and park them in a line so the kids could get their candy in safety. Matt had always thought that took the fun out of things and was a bit overcautious for a quiet town where everyone knew each other, but he supposed people had gotten more suspicious while he was growing up.

There'd be no Trunk or Treat this year. If anyone had candy they wouldn't be giving it out to a bunch of other people's kids while their own went hungry, but most people didn't since Ferris and his goons had altered their inspections. Two weeks was too lenient, it seemed, and now they were confiscating any food they found. They justified it with their ration line, but it was looking less and less like organizing relief and more and more like outright theft.

At least they still only inspected houses when the owners gave them permission, holding the daily rations as the carrot, but there was no telling how long that would last. Matt had heard from a few people that food wasn't the only thing the soldiers were taking anymore, and if their restraint was slipping in that area it was only a matter of time before they kicked down the doors of the few people who refused inspections.

There was also the fact that refugees were starting to make themselves more at home around the town, wandering the streets begging or offering to work for food, or hinting at even more questionable services. Most of Matt's neighbors who had fruit trees or berry bushes they still hadn't harvested were discovering that the uninvited guests had no qualms with walking right into their yard and picking the unripened fruit, getting belligerent or even violent if the owners tried to stop them. Matt had spent the last few days with his family digging up the garden for every single scrap of edible plant matter in it before the refugees hopped their fence as well.

So needless to say no parents were comfortable taking their children out to seek out candy, and it was shaping up to be a pretty miserable Halloween. The only bright point was that Ferris had announced that any children who came to the storehouse that evening would receive a chocolate bar, and in an attempt to brighten spirits around town many parents were dressing their kids in costumes for the event and trying to make it an informal party.

Matt was well aware that Ferris's chocolate was an obvious ploy to regain some scraps of goodwill from a town that was quickly becoming hostile to the presence of him and his shoulders. That didn't stop him from agreeing to join April and Terry in escorting his nephews to get their chocolate. His sister had managed to scrape together some costumes out of the clutter in their parents' attic, and in spite of the grim mood around town it did make Matt smile to see the boys looking so happy and excited.

That wasn't the only thing that made him smile, though. He'd been trying to find ways to take Sam out on “dates” without putting her in danger, an increasingly difficult task, but tonight was a perfect opportunity. The dark-haired woman had used a bit of twine to turn her bedsheets into a simple ghost costume, while Matt had dusted off his old high school basketball uniform. They were now walking hand in hand beside April and Terry, while Aaron and Paul kept running ahead as far as they could get away with before their mother called them back. For a while Paul had insisted on riding on Matt's shoulders, but after watching his older brother running around he'd gotten too excited and had practically jumped off before Matt could lower him to the ground.

It was a chilly evening, no surprise for the end of October, and Matt couldn't help but worry about what the cold portended. That and the fact that his basketball costume wasn't meant for cold weather and he was slowly freezing. He used the cold as an excuse to put his arm around Sam, who saw through his motivations and turned to grin at him through the small face hole she'd managed to finagle without cutting the sheets.

“I should've been a blanket ghost,” she teased. “We could've been a two-headed one and you wouldn't be trying so hard to put up a stoic front about not shivering.”

“It wasn't this cold when we left to pick up the boys,” Matt defended, but from the laughter of his sister and her husband he had a feeling public opinion wasn't on his side.

“You know he did it on purpose so he'd have an excuse to snuggle up,” April said, further ganging up on him. Matt endured the ribbing good-naturedly as they left behind Tom Watts's house, where the Lynns were now staying, walked past his parents' house, and continued another block to the storehouse.

Half the town was already there, along with most of the remaining refugee families that had children. There weren't as many of those in the camp these days as there had been when Matt and Trev returned with April's family from their trip north. Small surprise with Razor running clandestine prostitution and other unsavory and illegal activities out among the tents. The families that remained did so out of desperation, and in spite of the attempts at a cheery atmosphere Matt could see that desperation on the faces of the refugee parents ushering their children through the chocolate line.

Seeing it Matt felt his blood boiling in spite of himself. In town Ferris was coming down hard on the slightest infraction and was on the verge of kicking down doors, but he wouldn't do anything about what was going on in the refugee camp.

Sam must have felt the tension in his arm around her, because she abruptly leaned against him and rested her head on his shoulder in support. Then, clapping her hands, she went and took Aaron and Paul's hands and helped them get in line, while Matt followed close behind with his sister and her husband.

The boys had found an instant friend in the dark-haired woman, and Sam warmly returned their affection. Even though she'd been introduced as just Sam and that's what everyone called her, the boys had somehow decided to call her Aunt Sam. Aaron had even started asking embarrassing questions about whether Matt and Sam were going to get married.

Waiting in line quickly got old for a 5 year old and 2 year old, and Matt and Sam were doing their best to occupy the boys when he was sharply prodded on the shoulder. He turned to find Mandy standing there, smugly nibbling on a chocolate bar even though they were only meant for the kids.

“Hey guys!” she said brightly. “Taking the little monsters out trick or treating?”

“Mandy,” Matt said, doing his best to keep any hostility out of his voice.

Surprisingly Sam looked even more hostile, the first time he'd seen an expression of dislike from her. Her tone was hostile too when she spoke. “Didn't expect to see you here. I thought you'd be off enjoying your two weeks of reward food for ratting out someone who helped you.”

Matt supposed he shouldn't be surprised at Sam's reaction, since she'd been forced to put up with Mandy for almost two weeks while he'd been gone. Because of that at first the dark-haired woman hadn't liked Trev at all and had been very vocal in detailing everything Mandy had claimed about him. When Matt refuted all of it and explained everything his friend had done for the family Sam had changed her opinion about him, which increased her dislike for the family's former houseguest even more.

If the blond woman felt the slightest bit of shame for her actions she didn't show it. “I haven't been enjoying it, actually, since I haven't even had to use much of it. I'm with Private Gutierrez now and he's been taking care of me. One of the FETF soldiers, you know. He's exactly what I'm looking for in a man.”

Gullible?
Matt thought. Gutierrez was the soldier who'd helped them during the fight with Razor, and however he might feel about the FETF presence in town it was hard not to feel sorry for the man. Dating a viper would be more appealing than a relationship with Mandy.

But he kept that thought to himself. However he might feel about her, and whatever he might like to say to her after what she'd done to his friends and family, she'd already proven she could be trouble if you got on her bad side. And if she was dating one of Ferris's men she'd just have that much more influence she could bring to bear in whatever petty retribution she might decide to enact.

His family had enough trouble to deal with already, and calling her out wouldn't do any good anyway. Better to avoid stepping on the viper. “Excuse us,” he said coolly.

Mandy took another nibble of her chocolate. “Sure, I should go see how Raul is doing anyway. That's his first name, you know.” She winked at Sam. “And I'm sure
you've
noticed his Latin good looks. It's okay if you're a little bit jealous.”

As she sauntered off he couldn't help but notice Sam deliberately turning to fuss over the boys. “I really don't like her,” she muttered.

“I don't blame you,” April said, giving the younger woman a quick hug. “Ugh, she's awful. I'm impressed you put up with her for so long. Mom said you were practically a saint.”

“And of course she'd land on her feet even after everything she's done. Let's just forget about her.” Sam picked up Paul and kissed his cheek. “Are you excited for chocolate?” He nodded solemnly.

Matt was only too happy to follow her advice, although he couldn't help but notice Mandy and Private Gutierrez getting all lovey dovey near the door of the storehouse and handing out chocolate bars together. Luckily the arrival of some neighbors in line and their kids making friends with Aaron and Paul distracted him, and he let himself relax and enjoy the moment.

After about fifteen minutes of waiting the boys finally got their chocolate bars, and Matt and Sam helped them open the wrappers. They immediately began devouring the treats with obvious enjoyment, and Sam leaned against him as they watched. Matt put his arm around her.

“Cold?” she asked. She had that intent, expectant look he recognized from the few girlfriends he'd dated, and to top it off was leaning a bit closer as she stared directly into his eyes. It was a signal only a moron could miss.

“Freezing,” he said, then leaned down and kissed her. It was a moment he'd been waiting for, for far too long, and now that it had arrived it confirmed everything he felt for this remarkable woman he was fortunate to have in his life.

They were interrupted by April clapping and whistling behind them, and Matt broke away grinning, noticing that Sam's cheeks were flushed as she grinned back at him.

“Okay you two lovebirds,” his sister said, ushering her sons away from the storehouse in the direction of home. “Were we going to head back to Mom and Dad's for games or did you two want to get all PDA on us?”

Sam took Matt's hand as she answered. “Well we have to be a couple before we can play couples Spades, don't we?”

Matt let two banter as they headed home, content to enjoy the moment. There were a lot of things wrong in the world, but it was important to remember that there were a lot of things right with it, too.