Mad Swine (Book 2): Dead Winter (22 page)

“I think she’d welcome the opportunity.”

Brian stood and pulled his gloves out of his pocket. “That’s it then, bro. See you tonight.”

“At 2000 hours. We’ll be here.”

* * *

Having found Chandra, Justin, Kat and Sam and informing them of our briefing at 8:00, I decided to use my free time in between to be with Lara. I knew that I was falling for her and that this relationship was beyond just two people getting together to fulfill their sexual desires. I was in love.

When I arrived at Lara’s place she was busy going through her items trying to sort what she would take on her journey. Although she seemed happy enough to see me—she gave me a long, passionate kiss—I felt like I she could use some personal time and that I would just be in the way. After a few minutes of watching her move through the house with the mindless force of a tornado, I made an excuse to leave and asked her to join us at the CP later in the evening for our briefing. She acknowledged me enough to give me a quick kiss on the cheek and then she was tearing through the house again.

I stopped in to see Ravi, but she didn’t answer her door. Thinking she was at Paul’s place, I stopped there, as well, but he said he hadn’t seen Ravi at all today. I swung by the CP and found it empty save for the Finnegans, who were busy getting their gear together. I chatted with Ian for a moment; he was in good spirits and he’d recovered quite quickly from whatever bug he’d had. Upstairs, Albert’s oldest daughter was watching television with her younger siblings.

Ray was in the garage with Wesley and Cody, making use of their time by securing their gear to a small red wagon. Although yesterday it had appeared that Ray’s equipment would be too much to transport, the red wagon made it seem possible.

Kneeling next to the wagon, I put out my hand and Wesley slapped me five. “Hey big guy, did you save room on that wagon for your gear?”

“I don’t have much,” Wesley said and pointed to medium size back pack. “That’s mine there. I’m ready for this, Mr. Danzig.”

“I can see that.” I paused for a moment and looked over my shoulder to confirm that Ray was not eavesdropping on our conversation. When I was satisfied he wasn’t, I considered my next words carefully. “Wesley, I think that I could talk Mr. Ray into leaving Cody with you, if you wanted to stay.”

Wesley surprised me by actually considering his reply. “Thank you, Mr. Danzig, but Mr. Ray needs me.”

“Okay, then,” I said getting back to my feet. “Can you give me and Mr. Ray a few minutes alone? We won’t be talking about you, I promise.”

“Sure.”

Before he could turn to leave, I halted him by grabbing his shoulder. “I have something for you.” From my front pocket I pulled out one of my tactical folding knives. I held it out to Wesley. “Take it. I think you’re ready for it. Do you know how to use it?”

Taking the knife from my hand, he examined it carefully for a few seconds. “I push this nub with my finger and the blade pops out?”

“Pretty much. But it’s not like a switchblade, so you have to push it nice and hard. And you want to flick your wrist a little bit, too. Here, let me show you.”

I took the knife back and demonstrated, flicking my forefinger against the knurled surface of the ‘nub’ and arching my wrist. The blade sprung open with a satisfying snap and Wesley’s eyes flinched at the sound. After showing him how to close the knife, I handed it back to him and told him to give it a try. His first attempt wasn’t strong enough and the blade opened half way. With concentrated determination, he pushed the blade back down and then tried again. This time the blade came all the way open, but it did not lock into place. The third time, the knife opened with a snap.

“I think you got it, kid. Now I don’t think I need to tell you to be careful with that, do I?”

“No, sir,” Wesley said. He carefully folded the blade and stuck it into his hip pocket. “I won’t fool with it, I promise. I’ll only use it in an emergency.”

“That’s a good boy. Go on now; give me a minute with Mr. Ray.”

I watched him exit the garage, whistling for Cody to follow. The retriever jumped energetically and followed the boy outside. When we were alone, I turned to Ray. His attention was now focused on me and I realized he’d been pretending that he’d been occupied when he said, “Nice try getting him to stay behind. I already tried it, though.”

“Did you try hard, Ray?”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“If you really wanted him to stay all you’d have to do is tell him you’re staying, too.”

“I’m not having this conversation again,” Ray said. He glared at me from across the room. “I don’t need to explain myself to everyone and I don’t need anyone’s permission.”

“That’s fine, Ray, but don’t try to make yourself feel better by saying you tried talking the kid into staying.” I took a few strides across the room until I was just a couple of feet away. I got down on one knee again, so that I was at eye level with the man. “If anything happens to the kid out there, I’m going to hold you responsible.”

“I accept that,” Ray said. “I know he’s doing this for me, and goddamn it I know I need him because no one else around this fucking place gives a damn about me. If anything happens to me, I’ll make sure he goes on without me. I won’t let anything happen to him and seeing the way you talk to him, I know you won’t either.”

I sighed deeply. Try as I might to stay angry with Ray, I could not. Unlike others in our community, I was able to see past Ray’s façade, and what I saw was a man to be pitied. What I saw was a man who was unable to express his true feelings and instead hid behind anger, and perhaps self-pity.

“Be ready by 0500. Brian and Kat will be checking gear. Don’t give them any shit if they ask you to leave some stuff behind.”

Instead of telling me to fuck off or complain about being told what to do, he simply said, “Thank you.”

* * *

The afternoon was long and time seemed to move slowly. For the first time in a very long time I was actually bored. With nothing left to do at the moment, I went home. The house was empty. I had no idea where Brian was. I sat on the sofa for a few minutes just staring at the ceiling before finally getting up and grabbing one of the books from the dining room table. I selected
The Old Man and the Sea
because it was a short book and I knew I had a real good shot of finishing it.

I gave up after twenty or so pages and decided sleep was the best way to waste time. I lay on my deteriorating sofa and pulled the blankets over me, squirming and kicking around until I found the sweet spot. Without ceremony, I fell asleep and didn’t wake until Brian shook me several hours later.

“Time to go, dude.”

It was dark outside and even darker inside. Using my mental image, I navigated through the house, picking up my coat and boots along the way. I sat at the top of the stairs and stuffed my feet into my boots and then pulled on my coat. Brian was already at the door with his pads of paper and map under one arm.

Together we walked to the CP in silence, although this time it was not awkward; we were both just thinking about what lay ahead and what needed to yet be accomplished. The temperature had fallen several degrees since this afternoon but evening was still mild. The sky was clear, too.

Brian and I were the last to show up; the rest of the group was already gathered around the table sharing coffee and bread Sam had wrangled up for the briefing. After accepting a cup of coffee from Sam, I sat down next to Lara. She was dressed in her usual battle-ready gear; her hair was tied into a ponytail and pulled up under her knit cap. She gave me a wan smile and then gave my leg a reassuring squeeze under the table.

Brian got down to business. “I have assignments for each of you, so listen up carefully. If you have questions, ask them now; don’t wait until we’re in the shit to get clarification.”

He looked at each person around the table and when he was satisfied that all eyes and ears were on him, he continued with the briefing. “Sam and Kat you are the home team. Your assignment is to make sure that everyone on the away team is packed appropriately for the journey.

“Sam, we want four days worth of rations for each person and one liter of water. Canned goods would be best if you can spare them, but we’ll take whatever you have that’s easy for travel.”

“I just need the list of who’s going and I’ll get started on that,” Sam said.

Brian nodded in my direction. “Matt will get that for you.”

Turning to Kat, Brian continued, “We’re going to be moving double time so their packs need to be light. Kat, I could use your help here. Folks are going to be packing like they’re moving to a new apartment and I’m going to need you to help me cut their loads to the bare essentials.”

“You can count on me.”

“Great. Now the away team. Gather around. I need you to memorize these maps and formations.”

Brian laid his handwritten maps and formation drawings on the table in front of us. Like eager children, we all leaned forward and studied his drawings, listening carefully as he laid out the details of the mission. When he was on the road, Brian had drawn up a crude map and kept track of places where he found safe shelter. His notes were quite detailed, listing how many days he stayed at each location, the condition of the shelter and his estimate on maximum occupancy.

Using those maps and comments now, Brian suggested what the best route that would take us to shelters he felt were large enough to accommodate our group. He also covered alternate routes and shelters in case of emergency. After reviewing the maps, we studied his formation charts. He organized us into five teams, with Chandra, Justin, Lara, me and Brian acting as team leaders. We would move in squad column formation, keeping the most vulnerable of our members at center, with Brian out front, Justin and Chandra on our flanks, leaving me with rear duty. Depending on the situation, we could form up as needed. Using the list that I gave Sam, Brian assigned each team leader the men and women who would be their responsibilities. If we needed to split up, we would do so in teams and rendezvous at the next shelter designated on our maps.

I was pleased to see that Ray and Wesley were assigned to my team.

Sam and Kat took their leave to get started on their assignments, but Justin and Chandra stuck around, asking questions and further studying the maps and points of shelter. Although I had no reason to feel nervous, I suddenly felt butterflies in my stomach. Brian’s plan was well thought out and I knew that we had the right people as team leaders. Yet there was still this nagging feeling in my gut.

We stayed in the CP until well after 2300 hours, pouring over the mission. When I got home I was exhausted. Again I fell onto the sofa and closed my eyes. This time, sleep eluded me. My mind kept racing, pondering over the details of our plan. Each time I closed my eyes I saw the names of those assigned to my team. In my gut, there was still that nagging feeling. I don’t know how long I lay there before sleep finally came. My sleep was plagued by bad dreams, none of which I could remember upon waking. Thank God.

* * *

The morning was a disaster. Despite Brian and Kat’s best efforts, the away team was late to muster. When they finally arrived at the CP, Brian and Kat had their work cut out for them trying to cut down their loads. As Brian had predicted, the residents of Randall Oaks had packed all of their belongings to excess. It took a lot of patience—of which Brian usually had little, and Kat just a little more—to get the members of our community to leave their possessions behind.

Many of our esteemed community members threatened to stay behind if they couldn’t bring their things. After a while, growing tired of the complaints and chaos, I finally addressed the group.

“Everyone, listen up! Quiet down and give me your attention, damn it!” When they all fell silent, I walked down the line like a drill sergeant surveying a fresh crop of boots. “We are traveling seventeen miles across unknown territory. There are things out there that will be hunting us. We need to be able to move fast.”

I stopped in front of Frank Delpino and looked down at the myriad of bags and suitcases that lay at his feet. Two medium suitcases on rollers stood to his left. Two backpacks lay against the set of matched luggage. Frank had also packed a large plastic bin, one of those Rubbermaid jobs that I had in my garage that I used to hold the kids old toys.

“Do you see a truck here, Frank?”

“No.”

“Do you see a damn taxi or bus?”

“Of course not.”

“How the fuck do you think you’re going to transport all this shit?” Frank looked at me, dumbfounded and shocked by my language. Before he could respond, I spun away from him and raised my voice so they could all hear. “Come on people! Take this seriously. Everyone can take their largest back pack and a maybe a shoulder bag, but everything else has to stay.

“I want you all to take all your shit back home. Pack a couple of changes of clothes, your smallest and dearest belongings, and whatever weapons you can carry and report back here. Sam will give you each four days’ worth of rations, which you will also need to pack in your gear.

“We’ll come back for the rest of our stuff in the spring, I promise you. Now please go and repack your gear. If you think you can’t whittle down your gear, Kat and Brian will help you decide what you need. Move out, people!”