Surviving Day by Day (Book 3): Still They Come (31 page)

He picked up his gear, began walking a little way down from where Tabitha was standing, and started using one of his lures; one of the few he had left, and he was grateful and surprised that he hadn’t lost them yet.

Tabitha rigged up her line with some real old stink bait that Beth had found in the old gear and she was going to try for a catfish. The pond had a little depth to it, and just maybe she might have some luck.

When her one line was set, she started fishing with a lure. Within no time, her lure got taken, and the line started to pull. Tabitha grinned from ear to ear, as she reeled as fast as she could. When the fish broke water about 2 feet out, she realized that it was about a five pound catch. Finally Tabitha was able to get it out of the water, holding it by the lip, she turned down stream, looking to show Colt.

Colt cast his line in the water, and just as it landed he was suddenly reeling it back in with the catch. The bass was doing a roll to try to get off of the hook as Colt drug the big boy out of the water. After he unhooked it, he gave Tabitha a little whistle, and held him up. He had to have weighed over five pounds!

Tabitha got her stringer, then placed her catch on it and placed it back into the water. “Show off!” she shouted with a grin.

Colt returned quietly to his fishing and didn't speak a word. He was deep in thoughts about Beth as well as a few thoughts of Jessica. Suddenly everything around him was tuned out as he looked into the water. Beth’s face appeared, she was smiling at him. Then just like that, she was gone. Colt shook his head, and went back to fishing quickly, not wanting Tabitha to question him on what he thought he had seen. He was afraid she would go back and tell Alden that he was losing it. Just as he cast his line out, he got another bite and this went on for some time.

Tabitha kept right on fishing when out of the corner of her eye, the pole that she had rigged up to catch a catfish bent down sharply. Dropping her other pole on the ground, she reached down and grabbed the pole. “FUCK ME!!” she yelled.

Colt brought in his line and ran down to where she was, “What do you think you got?”

“Feels like fucking Jaws,” she giggled out loud. Colt looked down to see if she had a net, then suddenly Tabitha stumbled as she was making her way towards the stream.

“Set your drag, Tabitha. What pound test you got on there?” he asked.

“20 pound,” she answered sharply.

After fighting for what seemed to be about five minutes, Colt reached for her pole, “May I?”

Tabitha wanted to reel her own fish in, but she realized that Colt needed this one. “You ‘betcha bro, my arms are tired, and I don’t know what the hell it is.”

As soon as the pole was in Colt’s hands, he felt the fight and his attention focused on nothing more than bringing it in. After fighting for what seemed like another five minutes, the big boy fish broke water about five feet from the shore, and Tabitha shouted out, “That is a thirteen or fifteen pound catfish, Colt!!!”

Colt had not seen anything that big in years. “Get the net, Tab!”

“Already got it, all you have to do is reel it in.”

When Colt got it to the shore, Tabitha reached down with the net and scooped up the catch.

Both of them looked down and started gawking at what they had caught. It was about a fifteen pound catfish and the belly on it was a pretty pink.

Tabitha looked over and then placed her hand on Colt’s back, “That will feed all of us tonight and then some! Hell of a job, Colt!!”
“Well, you’re the one that caught it,” Colt laughed.

“No Colt, together, WE caught it. Just remember that.” smiled Tabitha.

Colt walked back to gather up his gear, and thought about how good it felt to reel in what they both had their hands on. Furthermore, how good it was going to taste and that there would be so much of it to eat.

As soon as he got his stuff together, he made his way back over to help Tabitha. By the time he got back to her, she had everything packed and ready to go.

As they started making their way back to camp, they fell into step, both lost in their own thoughts.

As they reached the yard, Colt handed his string of fish to Tabitha, “You go ahead, I just want a little time to myself.”

Tabitha gave him a look, but shrugged as she took the fish, “Do what you got to do.”

Colt headed off to the barn, but as he pulled the door open he smiled, and closed it back to give Ceara and Charlie privacy. He walked out to the fence line without realizing where he was going, but a growl got his attention.

Colt pulled out his k-bar knife and began walking with a purpose. Trapped in the barbed wire fence that they had put up just a week ago were four wanderers. Colt stopped and watched them. One was an old guy in bib overalls. One side was hooked to one of the barbs adding to the wanderer’s frustration of getting free. There were two women; one seemed to be middle age, with stringy hair that was starting to fall out. She had so many rips and tears in her body that she had long since lost her clothes. Colt wondered if she had a nice sundress, or slutty bar skirt on when she was turned. The second woman still wore her jeans, and what looked like the remains of a band tee.

The last in the group was a boy that Colt didn’t think could have been older than nine or ten. He had, what seemed to be, a school uniform. The blazer hung in shreds but Colt could see an emblem swinging from one of the tattered remains.

Colt dropped to the ground and just watched the group of wanderers. Beth or Jessica could have been one of them if they had let them turn, or had not been there to stop them. He started thinking about who these four were; the man was probably a farmer or retired, and just relaxing, working in his yard. Colt’s eyes went to the boy; he never had a chance in life. He probably never even had his first kiss, never got to play on a high school team, never got to be proud of his first job. Colt wondered just how long they would survive if he just left them there, but two things wouldn’t let him leave them this way. One, they were trapped, and it was inhumane to leave a suffering animal trapped to die. Second, he would want someone to release him to the final death, if it were him.

Colt stood back up, sighed, and began to complete the job that the disease didn’t finish.

Ceara held Charlie’s hand as they walked into the barn, “I miss her so much.”

Charlie gave a small nod, “I know, I do too. She was kind of like the moral compass.”

Ceara leaned on one of the stalls, to pet the horse’s muzzle, “I thought of her more as a mom. She was always there if I needed advice. I mean, Tabitha is great, but she has a habit of making jokes about things.”

Charlie crossed his arms over the stall, “You know Tabby does that as a defensive thing, right? She has mellowed out a lot in the last few months, especially after Heath passed.”

Ceara laid her head on Charlie's shoulder, “I know, and I love Tabitha just the way she is, I’m just saying I am going to have a hard time getting the advice and guidance I need now.”

Charlie eased around to allow Ceara to lie on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. They stood like that for some time before Ceara whispered, “Do you remember her last talk with us?”

Charlie leaned back causing Ceara to look up at him, “Yes, I remember, she wanted us to… grow up.”

Ceara smiled at the way Charlie chose to word it, “What do you think?”

Charlie looked surprised, “Oh um, I don’t know… now?”

Ceara quickly recovered, “Oh, no… well if not now… when?”

Charlie ran his hand down Ceara’s jaw, “Now is good.” Before she knew it Charlie was kissing her deeply as he moved them to an empty stall.

Alden watched as Colt went to work on the wanderers. As he walked over to him, Colt drove his knife into the old man first; then started on the women. Alden walked up and drove his knife quickly into the young boy’s head as it growled and snapped at him. Colt looked at the boy and then to Alden, “Thanks, I really didn’t want to do that last one.”

Alden put his hand on Colt’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “I smell fish frying. I take it you and Tabby caught a few.”

Colt smiled weakly, “Yeah a few, enough for a good dinner.”

As the two walked towards the house, Charlie and Ceara were coming out of the barn. Colt turned a little more towards the house as Alden walked towards the two young people.

Charlie looked at Ceara then perked up, “Afternoon, Boss, we, uhm, we … were just checking the horses.”

Ceara giggled, “We got them all fed and bedded down.”

Alden grinned as he reached up to pull some straw out her hair, “Seems the horses weren't the only ones getting… how should I say it? Pampered?” He winked at them and turned to the house, shaking his head. Alden chuckled as both Charlie and Ceara turned beet red.

The smell of fried fish wafted through the air as they reached the picnic table. Tabitha had the plates out; the fish cooked and piled high. She had found tartar sauce and brought that to the table. As they all began to sit, Tonto stood and ran out into the yard looking off to the south. Alden grabbed the binoculars and stepped over by Tonto, who was standing rigid and staring but not growling. The two young pups were not so well trained, as they watched and began running around growling. Alden snapped his finger, “Mouse, Crixus SIT!!! Where the hell is the other one?” The two pups stopped and sat upright next to Tonto.

“Tiger is hiding in the house,” Ceara said.

Alden shook his head, “Should have named that one kitten, since he is a pussy.” Ceara huffed as Alden scanned the horizon, he then turned to Tabitha, “Better add another plate, Running Buffalo’s coming.”

Tabitha looked at the two pups and shook her head then turned to Ceara, “How the hell does he do that, I can barely get them to come when I whistle.”

Ceara smiled and whispered, “Shhh, they know he’s the old dog.”

Charlie laughed, then bit his tongue, “Yeah, you know, the Alpha male.” They all began to chuckle then.

Running Buffalo rode in past the fresh bodies on the fence and shook his head. As he reached the house he smiled, “Hello, old friend.”

Alden reached up and took the reins, “Good afternoon Chief, join us for dinner.”

As Running Buffalo got down, he smiled, “It’s all I’ve been thinking about for the last thirty minutes, ever since I caught wind of the fish frying.”

Colt looked at Running Buffalo, “You’re telling me that you could smell that fish a few miles out?”

Running Buffalo smiled, “Yeah I could smell it, before I could smell that old fart over there.” he said while pointing to Alden.

Soon they were all ready to eat and enjoying the small talk before dinner. Running Buffalo told how his people had watched the wanderer herds growing, but as they did, they seemed to becoming more confused. He explained how the other day they saw two groups that were heading in different directions merge. “They came together, and then they all just walked around in a big circle for about an hour until a rabbit came out of a hole. That’s when they started to move off towards where the rabbit had gone. Once the rabbit disappeared, they started just milling around again, until a bird cawed, and once more the turned towards the sound”

Charlie looked at him, “So they’re still massing, but there’s still no sign of any real thoughts.”

Running Buffalo nodded, “Seems that way, but they still get riled up quickly at the sight of fresh meat.”

Alden looked at the group; then to Running Buffalo, “I’m glad you came by, it saved me a trip.”

Running Buffalo smiled a little, “I had a feeling in my heart that you needed to talk.”

Alden shook his head and grinned. Running Buffalo continued, “You’re getting ready to pull out. Probably going to head north, would be my guess.”

Alden nodded, “Yeah, we’ve been here too long and again there’s bad… well, memories now, so it’s time to move. We were thinking north to Colorado. Up in the foothills for the winter; then maybe strike out towards Canada come spring. Yesterday we lost one of our own, but in doing so, she was able to take more than a hundred wanderers with her.”

Running Buffalo frowned, “She will be in our thanks each night.”

Colt looked at Tabitha, “How the hell did Running Buffalo know?”

Tabitha shrugged her shoulders, “Just one of those Indian Blood brother things, I guess.”

Alden glanced at the two and continued, “We’re not going to be able to haul all that we’ve laid in; so you’re welcome to whatever is left. I’m going to leave an extra ten meter radio, so just on the off chance the weathers right and we luck out; we can try to keep in contact. It will help you to listen in on other chatter. It came out of a semi, so it runs on a 12 volt battery.”

Running Buffalo looked at Alden and the rest. “I’ll miss you, my friend; I’ll miss all of you. You have all become a large part of the tribe, and will always be welcome. My people do not have the luxury of a small tribe, I wish sometimes we did, but things are what they are. We do not have the choice to move.”

Alden smiled, “Enough of this Sally sad shit, let’s adjourn to the campfire and drink coffee, and tell stories of lighter days.”

The two men got up and walked over to the fire pit and sat down on the ground crossed legged. Alden leaned forward and pulled the old coffee pot off the rock next to fire, as Running Buffalo grabbed a couple of tin cups. Alden poured the coffee and returned the pot to the fire. The two men looked at each other as they clinked the metal cups in a toast.

Ceara gave Charlie a quick peck on the cheek, “You talk with them, Tabitha will probably need help in the kitchen. I’m sure she doesn’t want to do it all alone.”

Charlie smiled, leaned close to Ceara and whispered, “Funny how what happened earlier changes how I picture you in the kitchen.” At Ceara’s confused look he explained, “You know, you being my wife and fixing my dinner.”

Ceara turned red and pushed him towards the men. “Tabitha, did you have any ideas on what to have with the fish?”

Tabitha jumped up, “I’ll come with you Red, we need to have a little girl time, I think.”

Ceara got a leery look, but followed Tabitha into the house.

As the screen door closed, Tabitha turned to Ceara, “Dish!”

Ceara turned three shades of red but played stupid, “That is why we are in here, to see what dishes you want with the fish.” She headed to the cabinets, “We still have a lot of cans of sweet potatoes, but that is gross with fish.”

Tabitha leaned on the counter, crossing one ankle over the other, “Don’t give me that bullshit. I already have corn and green beans done. You and Charlie… did the…”

“TABITHA! Shhh” Ceara looked towards the door. “I don’t think we should talk about it.”

Tabitha laughed, “Red, there ain’t a soul out there that don’t know ‘it’ finally happened. I just want some details. Was he really a virgin, and did you have to teach him or do I get to nickname him ‘The Natural’?”

Ceara looked mortified but then grinned, “He was a natural, but don’t you dare call him that!”

Ceara went to the stove to stir the veggies, “Can I tell you something?” She looked through her bangs at Tabitha, part of her wanted to hide, but she still needed a woman to talk to. Tabitha could give great advice if you were willing to deal with the jokes.

Tabitha smirked, “You need to know positions?”

Ceara giggled, “No, but what if I told you I wouldn’t mind getting pregnant?” Ceara had turned away scared of the look Tabitha would get.

“Look at me, Ceara.”

The seriousness of Tabitha’s tone brought Ceara’s eyes to hers. “If the world was even looking like it might survive this sometime soon, I would tell you go for it. But you see the same things I do, the same things we all do. This is no world for a baby. I get you guys are young and you think about the dumb ass shit like first comes love, then comes marriage, then they’re pushing a baby carriage. That is a fairy tale, Ceara. We have to be happy with the first two. Hell, I don’t even know many that would get even that. Look at me and Colt, we got the first, Colt even got the second, but we lost it.”

Tabitha walked to Ceara putting a hand on her shoulder, “Be happy with what you get, love it for as long as you have it, but don’t dream of things that will bring you nightmares.”

Ceara turned away with a solemn look, “I know, I just wish things could be normal. I guess I was just caught up in the moment. You don’t have to worry, Charlie would never agree to it anyway.”

Tabitha smiled, wanting to change the tone of the room, “So, a natural, huh? Was it worth the wait, or do you wish you had done it sooner?”

“Oh, it was worth the wait, but I do wish he had made the move sooner. Can I ask something else?” Ceara had suddenly turned beet red again sparking Tabitha’s interest. “Oh yeah, ask away.”

Ceara shuffled her feet, pulled out the dishes, stirred the food, and anything she could to avoid looking at Tabitha, “Well Ummm I was wondering… when you and Heath… you know… how did you stay quiet? So no one heard you?”

Tabitha busted up laughing, “Oh my God… Seriously? Red, are you a screamer, or is Charlie that much of a natural?”

Ceara quickly grabbed the veggies and headed for the door, “Oh God, Never mind!”

Tabitha followed Ceara out, laughing. As Ceara began putting out the bowls of vegetables, Tabitha leaned and whispered in her ear, “Heath made sure I had a pillow to scream into.” Tabitha smacked Ceara on the butt and turned to everyone, “Soups on!”

Ceara almost dropped the last glass on the table, and all but ran back into the house to get the tea. Charlie looked from Ceara to Tabitha, Tabitha just smiled and shrugged. Charlie went to the kitchen and almost ran into Ceara coming back out. “Ceara, you okay?”

Ceara answered a little too quickly, “I’m fine, just kidding around with Tabitha some.” She scooted around Charlie, “Aren’t you hungry?”

Charlie knew something was up but just let it go. He joined everyone at the table to enjoy the catch that Colt and Tabitha had made.

Alden waved at a chair for Running Buffalo to join them, but the Chief shook his head. “You and your people have much to discuss tonight, and I would only be in the way. Please let me know if there is any way I can help in your travels.”

Alden shook the man’s hand, “You have been more help than I would have ever expected already, and I thank you for that and the offer now.”

Everyone said their thank you and goodbyes to Running Buffalo as he rode away. It seemed that the goodbyes were for their life as it was, causing everyone to fall into a melancholy silence, as they began to eat.

Alden let everyone eat in silence for a while before clearing his throat, “Okay ladies and gentlemen, we need to discuss our options. We normally do that as a group discussion and choice, but I want to go ahead and put in my two cents.”

Alden looked around the table and seeing no one object, he continued, “We came here for the openness, and that has proved not to be altogether a better plan. It’s true that we have line of site, but we have little else. I think we need to move north, not too far, just to Colorado, maybe into the foothills.”

Colt looked confused, “If we are going to go there, why did we even leave Mark Twain Lake? What was the point to all this?”

Alden nodded just a bit, “We all believed this would be better, and for a time it has been. I will never say this was a bad move. What I am saying is, it’s time to move on and with it getting cooler, Colorado seems to be a good option.”