Odd Billy Todd (53 page)

“You right about that,” Billy nodded in agreement.

“I say we bivie here and keep working,” Pete said finally. “I’d really like to get done, and get home. I don’t like so many of us being gone like this.”

“Then let’s stay at it,” Billy ordered. The group continued to work on through the night. Howie and Toby had even started removing surveillance cameras from stores, along with their routing equipment.

“Won’t do much for remote’s, but where we can get power to them, these cameras are great,” Howie pointed out.

“And we can use’em on barns, along the pasture areas, anywhere there’s a nearby source of power,” Toby added, handing down another camera.

“Where’d you learn all this stuff, kid?” Howie asked. Toby grinned.

“Hey, man. It ain’t all about the Xbox, ya know?”

It was late when they finally stopped. They decided to make camp in the convenience store they had just stripped. A watch was set, and they settled in.

Billy was the last on watch, and Pete shook him awake at four in the morning.

“Snowing, Billy,” he said, as Billy came awake.

“Figured,” Billy said gruffly. “How bad?”

“It’s pretty heavy right now,” Pete admitted. “Been that way last hour or so. And it’s cold. Colder than it’s been being since the blizzard.”

“That might be bad,” Billy mused. “You better get some sleep,” he told Pete. “Liable to be a long day.” Pete nodded and settled into his bed roll. Billy got to his feet, went out the back to relieve himself, and then settled in at the counter to watch.

He was convinced this was a good idea. But he agreed with Pete. He didn’t like it that so many of them were away at one time. They just didn’t have enough manpower to do all the things that needed doing.

But what choice was there? What they had was what they had. It wasn’t like they could just advertise for new neighbors.

Well, they could, of course. There were plenty of people out there right now that would give their eye teeth to be living on the Farms. He thought then about the people left in Franklin. How many of them were cold and hungry tonight? How many had died in the blizzard that had hit just a few weeks ago? They were short on food, and probably fuel. What else would they need?

There was no way to help the town, either. Billy hated to say it, or think it, but that’s just the way it was. The resources at the Farms would do fine for their number, and maybe a few more, and for some time to come. But with so many others, their supplies wouldn’t last more than three weeks, Billy guessed. Maybe a month, at the outside.

There was no point in trying to help others, only to wind up needing help themselves. Didn’t make sense. There was only so much they could do, and right now, the way Billy saw it, they were doing it all.

He had wondered about maybe taking three of four steers to Franklin. Riggs could distribute the beef once it was slaughtered. People could live for a while on beef, especially with some rice and beans. The Farms didn’t have enough rice and beans to go around, but they could part with a few head of cattle.

And, he admitted, it wouldn’t be a bad way to take a look at the people still in and around Franklin. Maybe there were two or three others who might be interested, and that could be useful.

But all that would have to wait, at least for a while, he decided. He realized with a start that it was daylight. The snow hadn’t let up, but they had work to do.

He decided when they got back, and everything was done, then maybe they could have a meeting, and decide what to do. For now, though, they had to get to work.

He rose from his seat and started waking the rest of the crew up.

CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

The trip home was long and tedious. Roads were slippery, and the salt and plow trucks weren’t running anymore. No one was left to drive them.

“Salt,” Billy muttered as he drove.

“What?” Pete asked.

“What?” Billy looked over at him, then straight back at the road.

“You said ‘salt’,” Pete told him. Behind them, Howie and Toby were already working out how best to cover the Farms.

“I did?” Billy frowned. “Well, I was thinkin’ it, anyway. We got that truck, and then a plow, and didn’t get no salt. We shoulda got some salt.”

“Oh. For the roads, you mean.”

“Yeah. Helps melt the snow and ice. Won’t matter none, can we get home, anyway,” Billy added. “Long as we get back, we’re good.”

“Will we?” Pete asked, looking at the still falling snow. Already several inches of powder covered the landscape.

“We will,” Billy nodded firmly.

“We still need to do something about that sat phone,” Pete pointed out.

“Such as?”

“I don’t know, just yet. We may have missed a call these last two days,” said Pete, as the thought occurred to him. “That might be bad.”

“They’ll figure it out sooner or later, anyway,” Billy shrugged. “Thing is, we need to be ready. They ain’t no tracks near us. Long as them coyotes didn’t mention us to their friends, there’s no reason for’em to come lookin’. And I don’t think they did.”

“I don’t either,” Pete mused, looking off into the distance. “According to what we’ve seen so far, they were marking supplies for later pickup, and then moving on. They probably saw us as a chance to get some for themselves. If they had reported in about us, then they’d have to just mark it, and move on.”

“What I was thinkin’,” Billy nodded.

“So we got some time,” Pete sighed. “We better make good use of it.”

“Yep.”

*****

It was after dark when Billy finally rolled into his own yard. The electronic equipment was now in the same barn with the bio-diesel set-up, safe and dry. Everyone was at home, dropped off as Billy went.

He parked the truck close to the house, and grabbed his gear, hurrying as much as he dared to get out of the weather. It had turned colder, and the snow was still falling. Rhonda met him at the door.

“Are you okay?” she asked, hanging his coat to dry, then helping with his gear.

“Just tired,” he smiled, working his boots off. “And hungry,” he added, sniffing the air.

“Chili,” Rhonda smiled. “Just about ready, too.”

“Leaves me time to clean up some, then,” Billy told her.

“Sure. It’ll be on the table when you come down.”

*****

Billy and Danny cleared the snow away the next morning. The snowfall had stopped sometime during the night, after Billy had gone to bed. It was still cold, but work had to be done. Danny, as always, was ready to go. As they worked, Billy talked to him, teaching him things, preparing him for what might come.

“But how ‘bout them people in the woods?” Danny asked, as he and Billy finished putting the Ranger away.

“What about’em?” Billy asked.

“What happened to them?” Billy looked at the teen for a long moment, then sighed.

“You gotta understand, Danny, them people meant to do us in. Kill us all, and take what we had. Only maybe not kill the women, if you take my meanin’,” he added. Danny’s eyes narrowed at that.

“I get it,” he nodded seriously. “Kinda like coyotes.”

“Exactly like’em,” Billy nodded. “And what do you do with coyotes?”

“You kill’em,” Danny replied flatly. “So you and Pete got rid of’em, yeah?”

“We did.”

“Good,” Danny nodded firmly. “Wish I coulda helped.”

“No, you don’t,” Billy told him softly. “Ain’t no glory in killin’ a man Danny, or a woman, neither. Even when they got it comin’, it ain’t somethin’ to take light of. Understand?”

“Not really,” Danny looked puzzled. “They meant to hurt us.”

“And we made sure they can’t,” Billy replied. “But killin’ folk ain’t really nothin’ to be proud of. It’s just somethin’ that needed doin’. Like when you kill a coyote. You bother braggin’ on it?”

“Well, if it’s a great big’un, yeah,” Danny shrugged. “But ever body kills coyotes. Ain’t no real big deal.”

“And this ain’t neither. It ain’t nothin’ to be prideful of, or to go braggin’ about. You do what has to be done, and you make sure it gets done. But killin’ folk ain’t a thing to be proud of. And these days, it ain’t nothin’ short of a sinful waste. Ain’t many people left in the world no more. Losin’ even one is a bad thing.”

“Only sometimes, some o’ the people what’s left, they ain’t good people, Danny,” Billy went on. “And that’s a shame. We all need to be workin’ together to make sure we survive. Make sure we rebuild. But some, they don’t care ‘bout that.”

“They don’t think on the future none. All they care ‘bout is right now. What they can get right now. They don’t think past the nose on their face. And they’ll take whatever they can from whoever they can, and hurt anyone tries to stop’em. If they can,” he added.

“But we don’t aim to let’em,” Danny was starting to see Billy’s point. “Do we?”

“No, boy, we don’t,” Billy said flatly. “Anyone comes here needful, we’ll try and help, if we can. Anyone comes here willin’ to work, if they can, is welcome, long as they remember this is ours, and it ain’t here for them, but for us.”

“And if somebody comes aimin’ to make it their’s?” Danny asked.

“We convince’em it ain’t healthy, boy.”

*****

“So from now on, you don’t go wandering off alone, Missy. Understand?”

“I don’t see why,” Mary sighed, as Rhonda finished. “I can take care o’ myself, you know.”

“I know you did,” Rhonda nodded. “But this ain’t the same. These people were about to attack us, Mary. Kill most of us, and keep a few women alive for. . .well, for.” Rhonda looked at her. Mary stared back a minute, and then suddenly her eyes widened as the point sunk home.

“Oh,” she said quietly. “I didn’t think about - ”

“And we didn’t want you to have to,” Rhonda told her sadly. “Unfortunately, there’s not a way to keep from that. We all have to be more careful. We should have been doing it all along, mind you, but we got complacent. Everything was going pretty well, and we started to get. . .not careless, really, but just complacent. Like things were always going to be okay, as long as we stayed here on the farms. The valley would be safe, no matter what.”

“So it ain’t safe?” Mary asked.

“It is,” Rhonda nodded firmly. “And when Toby and Howie get done, it’ll be safer still. But that doesn’t mean there’s no danger about. We have to start being more careful. And we’re going to. Including you.”

“Okay,” Mary sighed. She had become accustomed to having free reign anywhere in the valley where the Farms lay. By now she knew the surrounding area almost as well as anyone, except Billy and Toby. And Jerry, of course.

Now, she’d have to stop that. She could still feel free to be about her business on the Todd farm. There was always someone nearby, if she needed help. And Dottie usually followed here wherever she went.

But her rambling from house to house was over. At least for now.

“So what are we gonna do, then?” Mary asked.

“What do you mean?” Rhonda asked as she placed the dough she’d been working on into the oven.

“Well, if we might not be safe, we have to make it where we are safe, right?” Mary reasoned. “How we gonna do that?”

“You leave that to the grown-ups,” Rhonda chided humorously.

“Toby ain’t no grown-up!” Mary shot back.

“Oh, he most certainly is,” Rhonda replied. “And don’t you ever think or say otherwise,” she added, emphasizing her point with a shaken finger.

“He ain’t to me,” Mary almost sulked.

“Then you keep it to yourself, young Lady.”

“Fine.”

*****

Pete visited on the third day after the snow fall. The snow was mostly gone now, as the temperature had climbed slowly back into the fifties.

“Nothing on that sat phone at all,” he told Billy. “I’d say they know we ain’t them.”

“Prob’ly,” Billy nodded. They were in his ‘shop’.

“I don’t know what we can do, now,” Pete sighed. “I’d like to have some way of tracking that bunch, but I just don’t see a way to do it.”

“We need to get the word out,” Billy said after a few minutes. “We need to start broadcasting on the radio. Make sure people know about that train.”

“We do that,” Pete shook his head, “and they might be able to DF us.”

“Dee Eff?” Billy asked.

“Directional Find,” Pete clarified. “They can use the transmissions to locate us.”

“So we make the transmissions from somewhere else,” Billy considered. “Maybe even somewhere they already been. Somewhere away from here.”

“Like where?”

“Well, there’s always Columbia,” Billy shrugged. “I’d like to go back there again, to be honest. There’s things we need to check on. See what else is left.”

“Like what?” Pete frowned.

“Well, did they take all the fuel, for one,” Billy replied. “And what about propane? Be nice if there’s some left. And we could get a truck or three runnin’ to bring it back in. Maybe enough to keep us warm and toasty for some time. And did they get all the batteries that we couldn’t get to? We’ll need’em for the solar arrays sooner or later.”

“Huh,” Pete grunted. “You think a long ways ahead, don’t you.”

“I try to,” Billy shrugged. “Trouble is, I’m forgetful. I think o’ something, then don’t write it down, and it gets lost. I had thought about propane before. Even thought of it when we was in Columbia gettin’ them electric parts. But did I remember for us to check? No. Started snowin’, and I lost it. The thought, I mean.”

“Well, I got nothing against going back,” Pete grinned.

“Good,” Billy nodded. “We’ll see first if the weather don’t clear a bit. Few days. Maybe a week. Meantime, we need to all be helpin’ Howie get things set up. Well, not all of us,” he corrected himself. “We need us some place for a monitor station, I guess. A security shack, or somethin’. Where we can have people on duty watchin’ them cameras, and listenin’ in on the radio, and such like.”

“That’d be good,” Pete agreed. “Tomorrow?”

“What’s wrong with today?” Billy asked. “And why are you so dressed up, anyhow?” Pete was dressed very nicely, and wasn’t wearing the gear he normally wore when out and about.

“Ah, well,” his face reddened slightly. “I’m, uh, kinda going over to, uh, the Silvers’ for, ah, supper, see.”

Billy sat completely quiet for five seconds and then busted out laughing.

“I don’t see how that’s funny!” Pete retorted.

“Have you seen yourself?” Billy asked. “I mean, when you explain where you’re goin’, not how you’re dressed. You look like a kid done got caught stealin’ candy!”

Pete stayed red faced a bit longer, but then started laughing himself. The two of them laughed like that for a good few minutes.

“I suppose I do, at that,” Pete was finally able to reply. “Course, I doubt Shelly would like being referred to as candy.”

“More like castor oil,” Billy nodded. Pete frowned.

“Don’t pay me no mind,” Billy waved his comment off. “I knew her ‘fore she was nice people, that’s all. She’s a lot better now.”

“Well, anyway,” Pete stood. “That’s what’s wrong with today.”

“Tomorrow’s fine,” Billy nodded. “And Em’s a good cook.”

“Shelly’s cooking.”

“Oh. Well, I’m sure Em’s supervising.” Billy looked up slyly. “We gonna need to find you a house soon?” he teased.

“Probably not soon,” Pete shrugged. “But one day. . .maybe.”

“We’ll start lookin’, then,” Billy turned serious. “There’s a few nice places about. We’ll get one staked out, in case. Make sure we don’t let nobody else have it.”

“Thanks, Billy,” Pete said, his voice sincere.

“Ah, what’re friends for. I mean, other than to laugh at ya?”