Surviving Day by Day (Book 3): Still They Come (16 page)

Alden had fallen asleep with warm rays of the sun on his face and slight breeze blowing across him. Tonto sat up and growled a low growl. Then started to bark lightly and wag his tail. Alden sat up and adjusted his cowboy hat, “What is it, boy? What do you hear?”

Tonto stood up and looked down the road, then looked at Alden and barked lightly again. Alden grabbed his crutch and stood up, loosening the flap of his holster.

Charlie walked around the barn, where he had been stockpiling the sharpened sticks, “What’s up Alden, we got trouble?”

Alden was looking down the road, “No, I don’t think so.” He turned to the house, “Hey Beth, you remember that old song from the 60’s?”

Beth walked out, “Alden what the hell are you talking about?”

Charlie smiled as the rover came into view, “Your Boyfriends Back and there’s gonna be trouble. Hey, yeah,” Charlie sang.

The warmth that suddenly went through Beth’s heart filled all of the veins in her body. She looked over at Charlie with her smile even bigger than before, “I could flip that little song right back at you, you know. Seriously though, Charlie, Ceara did good and when she gets out.... well I don’t think I have to tell you what to do.” Folding her arms, she watched the Rover slowing down and coming to a stop. When the driver’s side door opened, Beth couldn’t stand still any longer. Her feet were like wings and she flew down the steps and over beside Colt, kissing him, “Hi honey! What did you bring me? Anything good, like a pizza, or a nice bottle of Vino?”

Tabitha opened the door and remembered the welcome sign that was sitting behind her seat. Tabitha reached back inside to get the sign, Tabitha said, “Well I don’t know about all that stuff, but I brought you something, Beth.”

With the sign in her hands, Tabitha emerged from the Rover then made her way over to Beth handing it to her.

The look on Beth’s face was full of surprise and shock. Not a sound came out of her as tears welled up in her eyes. “It’s just a sign, Beth... I hope I didn’t cause a problem.”

Beth smiled while choking back the tears, “Tabitha, this gesture is one of the sweetest things I have seen in a long time. I think I will put it on the inside of our door so that no one rips it apart or it gets too dirty. Thank you, Tabitha that was very kind of you.”

Tabitha smiled while walking back over to help Ceara get some of the things out and unpacked. “Well Beth, with all you’ve done, I saw this and thought you needed something just for you.”

Colt smiled over at the two and leaned in Beth’s ear, “I brought me back to you, do I get points for that?”

Beth elbowed him, “You know that was required, but yes, you still get points.”

Colt wrapped an arm around her shoulder just as she noticed his neck, “What happen? Why do you have dry blood on your throat?”

Colt tried to play it off, “Cut myself shaving.”

Ceara was in a hug with Charlie, neither willing to let the other go, she looked over her shoulder. “Beth, your boyfriend got dealt a hand from karma... talk smack and you get smacked... he got smacked!”

Charlie leaned back, looking down at Ceara, “What happened?” He looked over to Colt, “You ok, man?”

Beth was already checking the wound, “It’s not deep but you better start talking!”

Colt sighed as he started unloading he told the story of the old man in the store. Beth frowned at both him and Ceara, “Why was being attacked and almost killed, karma?”

Ceara smiled as she grabbed her backpack, “He wanted to lecture me the whole way there about taking things serious and paying attention.” Ceara spun around looking at Alden, “Hey... we met a friend of yours too!”

Alden cocked his eyebrow, “And who might that be?”

“Richard something, he owned the ammo store.”

Alden smiled, “I’ll be damned he must have done alright there. How did he look? I’m guessing from the haul, you guys got along alright?”

Tabitha handed over the bag of stuff that Alden had written down, “Here are the items that you needed and he put some other special things in there that he thought you may know how to use, or what to do with them to make them work for us.”

Tabitha sat down and continued speaking, “He was good Alden, spoke of you highly and even talked about the conversations that you and Larry had with him. He graciously gave us all of this stuff but did ask for one thing in return and it made my stomach drop to my knees.”

Alden stopped suddenly and looked up towards Tabitha, giving her the look like she better just spit it out.

“He needs food, Alden. He doesn’t have much. The same group we just dealt with apparently got a hold of all of the stores around his area and ransacked the shit out of them. He managed to hunker down with his cat, and hold on to everything they had, but he said it’s getting tight over there. Ceara offered to go scavenge some places to help him out, but Richard told us that it was no use. Colt, over there, wished that we had packed a few things just in case, so that we could of given that to him for the time being until we could get back to him with some more provisions. I figured we could make some stew or maybe kill a deer and get him set up with some of the canned goods. Hell, we still got a shit load of stuff out in them trailers.”

Beth continued to look over to Colt and was worried about him because he had been through so much. They all had, but Colt had been wound tight lately, and she knew that he needed to talk. Ceara was growing up a lot, but Beth felt that the tension between the two was that Ceara feeling like a kid sister, with Colt being the older brother. This caused her to smile softly with fond memories of Mary. There would be plenty of time later in the day for the two of them to have some quiet time, but as for now, she needed to take inventory of the supplies that they had brought back with them.

“Tabitha, about some of those supplies… Did Richard have anything that we needed?”

Tabitha ran back to the Rover and pulled out this huge box, then made her way back over to the table, “He sure did, Beth, and here are some of the things. Richard said these field dressing kits are top of the line and that some of them have surgical supplies in them as well. Also he gave me several Ace Bandages along with gauze dressings and some antibiotic creams for certain skin wounds.”

Beth was like a kid in a candy store, sorting through all of the stuff and Tabitha was correct. There were several instruments in a few of the kits. Beth suddenly spotted a shiny box that looked brand new at the bottom of the box. It never had been opened and on the back of it was printed in bold black letters MODEL M200. Her eyes got as big as saucers as she looked over to Tabitha, “Did this Richard say anything about this box right here?”

Tabitha sat down to take a little break, “The only thing he said was that he would put a few items in there, just for you, in case you could use them. He said he had no use for them. I guess that was one of the items... Why? Is it important?”

Beth smiled, looked over to at everyone and finished looking back to Alden who was looking over at her. “This here, Tabitha, is a M200 Amscope biological microscope. It has up to 400x magnification strength. Grant you, it is not as high tech as we had at the CDC, but it can be used for several things out here.”

Beth looked over the microscope as if it were very fragile, “It can help me detect infections and show me how to treat a few that only can be detected with this instrument here.”

A tear began to pool in the corner of her eye as she clutched onto the microscope, “Alden, maybe Tabitha is right. Later after we get the traps set up, we can get Richard a care package or perhaps see if he would like to come here with us.”

Niz stepped back out on the back porch, sipping her glass of Kool-Aid. She had switched to it after the one glass of whiskey. It wasn’t just Alden’s rule about drinking and cleaning guns, it was her father’s too.

Niz watched the group interact and she had to smile, they were like a big family. They certainly worked as a team and teased each other to just pass the time. Niz heard the name of the shop they had went to and stepped out to join them, “Did you say Richard is still there?”

Ceara had her hands on the bags from Ben Franklin; she looked back to Niz as she hauled them out, “Yep, do you know him?”

Niz nodded, “We did a lot of supply runs there before all the crap started. We just assumed with his leg....”

Colt made his way back to the car, “Yeah, he told us about the leg and said that is why he stayed put. I think he has a place above the store, it was a two story building.”

Niz looked in a couple of the bags, “You got some good stuff here; Richard never was one to hoard things. When you guys go back, I would like to let the Chief know, so he could go with you.”

Charlie looked confused, “Why do you call your own dad, Chief?”

Niz grinned, “He is dad to me, not others... it is a show of respect for his level and place in our tribe.”

Charlie nodded but looked over at Tabitha with a ‘if you say so’ look’.

Niz saw the look but she was use to that, she had seen the same look most her life from outsiders. “Beth, what’s that?”

Beth smiled, holding tight to her new toy, “It is something that could make or break us out here. It’s an older microscope, but still brand new!” She looked to the others, “Anyone wants to learn how it works? I will be giving lessons later.”

Ceara smiled, “I want to! We’ll have to wait till we get the traps set though...”

Colt laughed, “Ya think?”

Ceara smirked, “Yeah, I do.”

Alden looked at the press that was sitting on the table. “Okay, I need this and the powder. The brass and the bullets put in that small shed over there. Larry had a small work bench in there, so just place it all on the bench for now. I’ll move it where I want it.”

Charlie looked at Colt, “Well I guess the boss has spoken.” The two laughed and moved all the reloading supplies to the shed. Ceara peeked in and saw an old stool by the bench. The seat was cracked and the legs looked wore out. She knew there were other stools in the barn, so she went to grab one. Charlie looked at her as she came back with a padded stool with a back on it. The stool was covered in dust but looked in good shape, “What the hell, Ceara? I was using that in the barn.”

Ceara looked at him, “You can plant that skinny ass of yours on any stool around this place. I want the old man to be comfortable.” Charlie grinned a little at her then pointed behind her. Ceara blushed and whispered, “He’s standing right behind me, ain't he?”

Charlie walked past and put his hand on her shoulder, “Yeah, he is and he heard every word. Good luck former cupcake three.” He smiled at Alden and put his hands up as he passed him.

Alden’s stood stone faced; his eyes were slits as he watched Charlie pass by. Stepping towards Ceara, he watched as she looked like a little kid about to get chewed out by her dad. “Old man?”… He shook his head, “I’m stronger, faster, and have more endurance than any man half my age; including your boyfriend.”

Ceara was nodding, “Well... I...”

Alden reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned in to ear whispering, “The only old part on this body is my ass. And it thanks you. Now git.”

Taking all of her equipment into the cabin, Beth was eager to start taking inventory. There were so many thoughts that she was having now that she had that microscope. Maybe she could actually retrieve a specimen from one of the infected and perhaps be able to tell something from that. After she made it to her room, Beth placed the box that contained the microscope on top of the dresser, making sure that it would not get knocked over or bothered by anyone who may be coming into the room quickly. She sat on the floor going through each kit and making notes of what she had, what she received and anything else that she may need in the future, if by any chance any of them would be going on a run in the distant future.

A quiet tapping was coming from behind her and it was Tabitha, “I put your welcome sign inside the living room just where you wanted it.”

Beth sat there placing things in different areas so that she could itemize things easier. “Tabitha all of this stuff is great! I am still finding it hard to believe that this nice man gave us a microscope! I mean why on earth would he have something like this at an ammo shop?”

Tabitha sat on the bed and replied, “Seeing how he was holding up there with his sweet cat he could've very well came across it for trade or something. I mean Richard was so nice and to see him surviving the way he is with his one artificial leg is amazing!! When he helped us out with all of our supplies and all he asked for was simple food. Beth..... I just felt so bad. Especially since his cat that looked so hungry, but the love he had for Richard could be seen, how he just laid in his lap.”

Beth looked up to her and with a smile she continued, “Funny isn’t it how we have seen and been through hell, then when you speak of a beautiful soul like his ... well that shows you that humanity does exist and it will again. Just right now there are a lot more horrible people out there then ones like us, but I have faith in the end that it will all work out”

Tabitha looked around the room and then out the window to see what if any movement was going on out there. “I think we need to start thinking of something to fix for dinner tonight because I know that none of us have eaten and I know that Niz and Alden need to eat.”