Alden turned and walked through the kitchen and out the back door. Getting to the table he picked up his cup and refilled it. Taking his seat he waited for the rest to show up. Tonto came out of the woods and sat next to him. “Didn’t find anything did you?” Tonto barked once and Alden reach
ed down and scratched his head.
Ceara got into the cabin walking into the front room and leaned on the back of the couch, “That was a bit too close, Alden g
ot on to me about being armed.”
Charlie laid his
rifle
down on a table just inside the door, “Ceara, I don’t want to sound mean but he shouldn’t have to tell you that. Not in these times.”
Ceara looked down focusing on the hardwood floor, “I
know, I told him I was sorry.”
Charlie smiled, “So
you
won’t mak
e that mistake again will you?”
Ceara glared at him, “That isn’t funny Charlie, of course I won’t.”
He held up his hands, “Ok, Ok I know it wasn’t funny but it’s over and you’re ok, that’s what matters!”
Ceara stood up and reached for his hand, “Come on, it’s meeting time.”
Charlie grabbed her hand and let her lead him out to the table.
“Hey Boss” Charlie said as they walked up, “I see the coffee’s ready.” He picked up two cups and poured the hot coffee
, filling them for both him and Ceara,
then carried them to the table and placed one in front of Ceara. She looked up and quietly said, “Thank you.”
Taking his seat next to her he took a sip, “That was close
,
wasn’t it? You think there are any more nearby?”
Alden smiled, “No. Tonto returned from checking the grounds he assured me it’s safe. I should have had him check before I let him go. That’s a mistake that won’t happen again. As soon as the others get here I’m going to lay down some basic ground rules for all of us. I got comfortable last night. Too comfortable and that won’t happen again either.”
Charlie looked at Alden; he knew
that was the closest thing to admitting a mistake Alden had ever said.
Colt and Beth walked up, “Good morning guys.” Beth said, and then turned to Ceara, “You okay honey? Colt told me what happened.”
Ceara smiled a little, “Yeah I forgot my gun
,
but then again
,
I found out I had something better, I had an Alden.”
The group was chuckling as Tabitha walked up, “What’s so funny?”
Colt smiled at her “We were all wondering why you get to sleep in the same building with a walking
,
talking
, defense mechanism.”
She
smirked
, “Well
someone’s
got to keep the weapons oiled and in check.” She winked at Alden as he turned
and
shot her a glare then placed a
cup of coffee in front of her.
Standing at the head of the table Alden began, “As you all know
,
we had a breach of our security lines this morning. This will be fixed better after the meeting
,
I promise you. But even the best defense won’t be perfect. My suggestion is from here on out no one goes out alone and no one goes unarmed. I want to set up a makeshift guard seat on top of the middle cabin giving the watcher a good view of the perimeter. If anyone leaves they take someone with them, maybe two if need be
;
such as a walk to the stream to wash clothes or to gather berries for food.
”
“
Speaking of which we will need to make a trip to a town soon, there are several small towns in our vicinity.”
harlie raised his hand and spoke up, “Isn’t there an Army post near here?”
Alden shook his head, “Ft Leonard Wood, but until I get some good intel I’m not too keen on going there.”
Ceara spoke up next, “I past a farm about ten miles before I got here they might have some vegetables and canned stuff.”
Alden pulled out a map of Missouri, folding it to where they were at. “Show me what highway or road you came in on?”
Ceara pointed to the map indicating it was somewhere near Alton. “There was a Wal-Mart another 10 or 15 miles back up the road at west plains I think?”
Alden smiled “Good girl
,
but I think we will raid the local stores first before we venture that far out.”
Beth looked at the group, “I should go on this shopping trip
,
I know what we might need in the way of medical supplies.”
Alden nodded. Colt raised his hand, “If she goes I go.”
Alden took a deep breath he could see where that was going, “No, sorry son. I want one from each Cabin. You all have gotten a bit close and that’s
both a good thing and a bad thing.”
“Why bad?” Tabitha asked.
“Cause your feelings will cloud your judgment. It might make you hesitate or take an unnecessary risk. We can’t afford to lose anyone
,
” Alden replied. “So it will be myself, Ceara and Beth.” Colt and Charlie both started to speak and Alden held up his hand, “I need Beth for the medical supplies and I need Ceara to show where the farm is. I’ll leave Tonto here with you guys. Charlie knows him and he knows Charlie,”
Alden looked
at Charlie, “You’ve seen me give the commands
,
and you
should be able to do it. Watch and learn from him Charlie, he’s a sm
art dog he’ll teach you a lot.”
Looking back to the group, “Okay that’s it, any questions?” They all looked at each other but no one spoke, “Okay I need my team back here in say a half hour bring empty sack or bags anything we can use to carry things with. You girls are going shopping.”
Alden left and headed into the back of his cabin with Tabitha right behi
nd him. “You sure about this?” s
he asked.
He turned on the steps, “Q and A is over but yes I am. The boys will need you here. You’re tougher than you
act.”
Ceara jumped up excited that Alden wanted her to go with him, she jogged into the cabin with Charlie right on her tail. She looked through the cabinets and didn’t find anything, jerking open the drawers and still found nothing. Turning she looked at Charlie and finally saw his look, “What’s wrong?”
Charlie took a deep breath, “Ceara, I told you last night that I never had anything like a family till now, so forgive me if I don’t like the thought of you going out there w
ithout me.”
Ceara stopped looking for bags and wrapped her arms around Charlie, “I’ll be ok, I have Alden and he won’t come back without me.”
Charlie gently pushed her away walking out of the kitchen, “Yeah and what makes you think either of you will be back?”
Ceara sighed, she understood his fear but they couldn’t just sit there without supplies and all of them needed to pull their own weight. She went into the bedroom and grabbed her backpack, shaking it out to make sure it was empty. She felt something in the side pocket and reached in pulling out her droid phone, she didn’t even remember packing it. Pushing the power button and nothing happen, Ceara reached back into the side pocket and found the power cord. Once Alden turned the generator back on she would charge it. Charlie came in her room holding ou
t a white cloth, “What’s that?”
“Pillow cases, figured it might work for what you need.”
Ceara took the cases and smiled at Charlie, “I wish I could promise I’ll be back but I can’t, I’m sorry.”
Charlie pulled her close and gave her a long, deep kiss, then stepped back. Ceara just stood there looking at him, he grinned at her, “Figured I better get that in before you leave, give you something to come back too.”
Ceara blushed, “Can I have one more reminder?” Charlie pulled her into
an embrace, kissing her again.
Following Colt into the cabin Beth had in her mind that she needed to make a list of medications that they would need. They also needed feminine hygiene products for all of the ladies. She did not know what the infected could or could not smell and with everything going on Beth was not about to take any chances. Remembering that there was a nightstand by her bed
,
Beth headed into her room and opened the drawer. Fortunately there was a small note pad inside. Quickly she picked it up and noticed that there was a pen underneath of it. As soon as she got both in hand she started making her list. One by one she thought of certain things and then she got into her medical mode. If there was a pharmacy anywhere or even in the Wal-Mart, all that Beth would have to do is get into the back room where they keep the antibiotics and so forth that they did need. Bandages and triple antibiotic creams were fine but if one of them would get a serious cut or something worse
. She knew it could easily
turn into any
form of staph infections.
After writing for what really only seemed like minute or two she stood up and put the tablet in her back pocket. Seeing her side arm over on the hutch Beth went over and checked on how loaded it still was. When she found out she had over a half of clip she placed it behind her back and tucked it into her pants
then pulled her shirt over it.
Wasting no time
,
Beth walked out into the front room and looked at Colt standing there looking at her with a somber look. To her all she wanted to do was get out, get the supplies and get back
. J
ust then she realized for the very first time since the infection
began to
spread that now others were depending on her.
Not for her ability to stand in a lab trying to stop a disease from taking hold, but as a doctor and healer.
Beth’s prospective changed entirely in a matter of seconds
.
The mourning
that she had been going through, she thought was a bad case of survivor’s remorse, this
had to stop. People were depending on her and Beth knew that from here on out
,
if there was any hope for them or anyone else, she better get back into the right frame of mi
nd.
With a soft smile appearing slowly across her face Beth spoke to Colt in a serious mood at first and ended with a hint of humor. “You know Colt; I am the one that knows what needs to be
picked up
, the things that will help us or anyone else that we may find alive. It will be a very simple covert operation, in and out.
”
Beth smiled putting a hand on his shoulder, “
But if there is time I could stop by and pick us up an extra-large supreme pizza if you want? But I
draw the line on
olives. Those are just plain nasty!!!”
Colt burst out laughing, “Yeah, never had much use for olives. What are you taking for a bag? I have a gym bag I could empty out if you want to take it.”
Beth nodded, “Damn near forgot about that part.”
Colt headed into the room and started pulling out all the dirty clothes and tossing them in the corner. He shook it out and took it back to Beth
, holding it out “Here you go.”
Beth took it
,
slinging o
ver her shoulder, “Thanks Colt”
He stood there looking at her not sure how to say what he wanted too, after a couple of minutes of silence Beth smiled, “OK, so no oli
ves, I’ll see what I can find.”
She turned to leave but Colt stopped her, “Beth, please be careful. Don’t take any chances and don’t let them put you in a bad situation. I don’t think Alden will
,
but I lost Jessica and really don’t want to lose you too.”
He stood there not knowing if he should give her a hug or just do the buddy-punch on the shoulder, after all
,
she had been so mad at him for a good twelve hours. He decided to hell with it and gave her a hug, surprised she returned his hug, “Colt I will be fine, stop mothering me.”
Colt let her go and laughed, “Hey you could have said fathering.”
Beth was about to pull away and then realized what she did say might not have been the nicest thing. So reacting on emotions she pulled him close to her and gave him a very tight hug.
With her cheek on the side of his chest Beth took in a deep breath, “I didn’t mean to be mad and I am sorry for that. So no more fighting on my part but Colt….” she paused while looking up at him and then placed her head back where it was just
m
om
ents earlier, “When you said what you said about if you found out if I had anything to do with this…..well…. that is what hurt. I didn’t
…
what I did know was
that there was something wrong with the big wigs cutting the damn budget
,
but if I would of raised a red flag about it then they would of kicked my ass to the curb.”
When she had finished she released him and took a couple of steps back. “No olives! Will do!! And if I can get us a six pack of beer
, I will bring that too.”