The McClane Apocalypse Book Three (14 page)

"Oh, yeah," Peter jumps in. "It's been
ransacked! We drove past it. I even stopped in to see if there was
any… medicine stuff that we could use to help our sick people. But
let me tell ya' someone got there long before we did. That place
was trashed."

Kelly is quite sure that Peter and his group
helped add to the overall ransacked feel of the practice that had
no doubt once been Doc's pride and joy. And he seriously doubts if
Peter or some of the others with him were searching for antibiotics
at Doc's building in town to treat their ill travel mates. He's
seen enough of the visitors' behavior to realize that most of them
are former and likely still even current drug addicts. The pot
smell near their camp at night is sometimes nauseating when he's
doing his perimeter checks. Where the hell had they found enough of
a stash to last this long? Perhaps one of them had been a dealer or
grower.

"They could have a few of you stand guard
while they take care of the sick," Hannah tries again to soothe the
situation. She is quick to amend her statement and add, "I mean, in
the spring when things improve more."

John doesn't answer. He's fuming quietly and
biting his lower lip hard enough to draw blood if he doesn't stop.
His protectiveness over Reagan almost beats out Kelly's need to
hover near Hannah at all times.

"See? It will all work itself out," Grams
blesses the grim situation. Then she goes on the offensive with her
brother again. "But, Peter, you should not have brought people so
ill to our farm. We could all be killed by this sickness. You knew
that Sue and Derek had small children and now they have a new baby,
as well."

"It's just a cold, Maryanne. It ain't no big
deal like that," her brother reveals his ignorance again.

"A cold?" John almost shouts. "Dude, that
cold
has already killed four people in your group! Are you
serious?"

"Maybe they had something else, something
different. I don't know," Peter says and then comes back with,
"Hey, it's probably 'cuz we ain't got much for food. Yeah, they are
probably just tired or malnourishmented or something."

His love of the English language is also
apparent as Kelly listens to him yammer on about their low food
supplies, how hard it is out there, how difficult it is to find
food, blah, blah bullshit. John and Reagan went to the city for a
few days and brought back supplies, some of which were food
items.

"Are you out of food completely, Peter?"
Grams asks with a bit of exasperation.

No wonder. She's likely been carrying this
deadbeat her whole life. Kelly's only been around him less than a
full week and already he wants to kick his ass and then kick it to
the curb for good measure.

"No, we've still got some. Kids found some
berries in the woods near the drive the other day, too. We had them
pick some and cooked them in pancakes. But a hot shower sure would
feel great about now," he hints.

"We don't have hot water. No electric to the
hot water tanks, dude. Sorry," John lies easily.

Neither Grams nor Hannah contradict this
falsehood, and for that, Kelly is thankful.

"Hm, really? Well, that sucks I guess," he
laments.

"I can offer you a bar of soap, though,"
Grams says kindly.

She's too kind in Kelly's opinion. This guy
doesn't deserve shit.

Hannah adds, "It's good soap. You can even
wash your laundry with it."

Peter is visibly disappointed that the offer
isn't more, but he nods with reluctance anyways.

"You can take that bucket of tomatoes if
you'd like. The ones in the sink?" Grams declares with a gesture
toward the wide, ceramic sink. "Share them with your friends,
Peter. You can share the soap, too. There's plenty of both to go
around. The vitamins in the tomatoes will help you and your friends
stay healthy."

"Aww, Maryanne, you know I never liked
tomatoes," he whines.

This guy is unreal. Here the world has gone
to shit, he's obviously malnourished and he's upset about a free
food handout? Unbelievable.

"Just eat them anyway, Peter. They're good
for you. Now if you don't mind, I have a lot of work to do. We
all
do," she says firmly, dismissing him from her kitchen in
this single scolding.

"Ok, Maryanne. Thanks for the breakfast,"
Peter replies.

He gathers the soap and the tomatoes and
leaves through the front door. John follows him, locking it after
he is gone.

"You ok, Grams?" Kelly asks her. It seems
like this interaction with her brother has left her downtrodden and
tired. Maybe Hannah was right. Maybe Grams needs more rest.

She sighs and nods before answering.

"Sure, Kelly. I'm just fine, dear. My
brother has just always been… well, like that."

"If it helps any, they always say that
there's one in every family," John tells her as he comes back into
the kitchen.

She laughs softly, but it doesn't reach her
eyes.

"Kel, talk to you outside?" John requests
with a nod to the back door.

Kelly nods in return and they leave Hannah
and Grams in the kitchen to their duties. He'd like nothing better
than to pull her close, hug her for comfort and give her a quick
peck. However, there are simply too many witnesses about.

Once he and John are in the backyard near
the chicken coop, his friend lays it out.

"I already told that dick first thing this
morning not to go in the house," he says angrily.

His friend runs a hand through his hair
roughly, making it stand on end.

"What do you mean?" Kelly asks him.

"Peter!" John hisses. "I ran into him trying
to go in the front door of the house, and we had it out already
about it. He said that he was going in to visit his sister, and I
told him no. We argued and he left—or so I thought he did. He
must've sneaked around back when we weren't watching and Grams let
him in back there. Probably because she didn't know I already told
him to beat it."

"Shit," Kelly swears with exhaustion. The
situation with these guests of theirs is tiring already. He peers
toward the visitors' camp, spying one of them coming out of the
woods carrying a basket just as Peter is arriving there.

"I don't care if he is family. I don't trust
him," John asserts with a grimace.

They both silently observe as Peter shows
the others in his group the bucket of tomatoes and the bar of soap.
Kelly has watched and then aided with the laundry soap preparation
in the mudroom. First they boil down the bar of yellow soap, which
Hannah says is great for combatting itchy poison ivy outbreaks, as
well. Then they mix it with a five gallon bucket full of hot water
and a cup of some other type of laundry washing formula mixed with
Borax. It's a very old recipe for laundry soap and costs only about
a penny per load, not that the cost matters anymore. However, the
fact that it lasts five times longer than traditional laundry soap
will help them get by during these hard times.

Two of the men from the group are visibly
arguing, bitching at Peter, who doesn't seem to be sticking up for
himself too much. This group as a whole is obviously not being led
by Great-uncle Peter. The men complaining are gesturing wildly with
their hands and arms in a full-on vent. Kelly would like to know
what this is all about. Are they angry about Peter not bringing
more food back to the camp? Was Peter supposed to have negotiated a
permanent stay on the farm? Hot showers for everyone? Who knows?
One of the men even shoves Peter to the shoulder roughly. Levon and
Frank are the two men who are being so verbally combative with the
uncle. Peter is starting to get louder, and the event looks like it
is about to become explosive. Just in the nick of time, Levon's
cousin, Rick, comes to intervene on Uncle Peter's behalf and peace
seems to be restored, temporarily.

"I don't trust
any
of them, my
friend," Kelly says calmly as he continues to stare at the
group.

Frank slaps the stripper Jasmine on her ass
and yanks her toward the RV. Whether or not she wants to go with
him, Kelly's not sure, but she does. Frank slams the door to the
bus, and neither of them comes back out. Kelly doesn't see the
other woman at all. Also, a few of the men are missing. That kid,
Bobby, who seems aggressive for someone so young is missing and so
is Willy. This man is strange, and Kelly and John have been
wondering about his mental faculties. He's quirky, slightly off and
definitely eccentric. The other day, he was talking to himself, and
John said that he was doing it again the day he'd caught him in the
hog barn. Sometimes he babbles in Spanish, which neither he nor
John speak, so it makes it difficult to figure out what the hell
he's talking about. According to John, though, when he rambles in
English, it doesn't make a whole lot more sense.

"Just keep a keen eye, Kelly," John warns
prophetically.

It is completely unnecessary.

"Yep," he agrees readily with his friend as
he adjusts the sling of his rifle to sit more comfortably against
his shoulder.

He also double checks the holster on his hip
that contains his 9 mill as he and John walk toward the cow barn.
The safety is set on his sidearm, but Kelly wonders if it will be
for much longer.

Two days later at 8:20 a.m. Garrett, twin
brother of Huntley, passes away on Reagan's shift, though Grandpa
is called to help her. At Reagan's demands, they work frantically
at the end to bring the boy back. Sue, Hannah and Grams stand near
the building and when Reagan comes out, she looks like a feral
animal as she throws her contaminated garments, mask and gloves to
the ground and takes off at a full sprint toward her running path.
Grams quietly weeps beside Sue, and Hannah is all out sobbing.
Reagan is not wearing her gun or her knife which prompts Sue to
find John immediately.

"John, Derek," Sue says when she locates
them near the cattle barn. They are working on the water pump which
has been malfunctioning. "She's gone. Garrett just passed, and
Reagan's taken off for the woods by herself."

"Damn her!" John swears.

Her brother-in-law throws his pipe wrench
against the side of the barn in anger before he runs off to catch
up with her wild sister.

Sue has never seen him like this. He's such
a mild-mannered, fun-loving person. But Reagan seems to bring this
out of him.

"The boy died?" her husband asks for
confirmation.

Sue nods and feels tears pool in her eyes.
He crosses the distance between them and gathers her into his arms
where she cries quietly for the little boy that none of them knew.
Again, he's her pillar of strength.

After a few moments, she settles and Derek
pulls back and asks, "Where's your grandpa?"

"I think he was going to go and tell their
father, Frank," Sue explains.

"Not without one of us he's not," Derek says
fiercely.

Together they run back toward the med shed.
Even before they get there Sue can hear arguing and loud voices.
Kelly and Cory are already with her grandfather, however. And it's
a good thing because so is the boy's father and two of the other
men from their camp.

"You fucking killed him, old man. You're a
shitty fucking doctor," Frank bursts forth in a rage.

It's shocking since this man hasn't once
gone into the med shed or even asked permission to see his son. He
stands next to Uncle Peter who mostly diverts his gaze toward the
ground and refuses to make eye contact. Her great-uncle has also
not asked to visit with his pregnant girlfriend Jennifer,
either.

Sue had been outside with Grams and Uncle
Peter near the coop yesterday when her grandmother had made the
offer to let him visit with Jennifer. For being his supposed
girlfriend, he hardly seemed to care what happened to the pregnant
woman. Sue only remembers her great-uncle ever having had one
girlfriend that she knows of. He'd brought her to the farm once. It
had been rather memorable. Sue was seventeen at the time and had
not been impressed. The woman had been some sort of drug addict, as
well, and had kept itching her arms. That's one thing Sue
definitely remembers about that woman. But yesterday, Peter's
visage had contorted into a look of pure disgust, and he'd had to
use the excuse of not wanting to spread germs as a valid reason to
not visit his current girlfriend Jennifer in the shed. Then he'd
taken the loaf of pound cake Grams had given him, tucked it under
his shirt and promptly departed. He'd slinked back to one of the
RV's and crept furtively into it. Sue does not believe that he
meant to share that loaf of sweet bread with anyone at his camp.
Some friend he is to his compadres.

Frank is still ranting at her grandfather,
"You dumbass! You killed my kid!"

Derek strides straight up to Frank and
shoves him roughly, causing him to fall to the ground. The other
man falls very hard, and Sue almost feels sorry for him. Derek
doesn't like anyone to disrespect the family, especially Grandpa,
and she knows that John has told him that this man has already done
so once and was warned not to repeat it. Kelly and Cory both look
disappointed that they didn't get the chance to do it.

Frank's other son Huntley is standing with
Samantha near the side of the house, and it surprises Sue that the
little boy doesn't rush forward to defend his father. One of the
other men from the visitors' group steps forward as if to jump in
on this fight, but Kelly simply puts a hand to the man's chest and
gives him one firm shove backward. Given the sheer size of Kelly,
it's enough to make the stalky African-American man back down. Sue
believes his name to be Levon. But he does glare at Kelly and Cory
and then Derek in turn when none of them are looking. It leaves an
unsettling feeling in Sue's stomach. It's so curious that none of
the visitors seems appreciative of their temporary residency on the
farm.