The Independents (29 page)

Security was another hot topic. There had been a handful of incidents since Bishop and Terri had left town
.
While the
community
had formed a loosely organized group of men as a posse,
volunteering time was difficult because folks were
struggling with
day-to-day
demands of this primitive lifestyle
. The men who manned the roadblocks at each end of town all reported that the time required was becoming a burden to their families.

And so it went the rest of the afternoon. Some issues were resolved quickly, while others required more thought and analysis. Bishop would have normally been bored to death with the entire affair, but it was interesting
t
o watch the process. More than anything, it gave him optimism for the future, something he badly needed.

Were it not for the final speaker, Bishop would have left the meeting
believing things were positiv
e and upbeat. When Doc Hopkins
was given the floor, everything seemed to grow darker inside the room. The man reported in a monotone voice
,
and everyone in the room felt his pain. He wasn’t saving many patients
,
and it was clearly pulling him down.

After the
physician’s report
conc
luded, several hands shot up,
and one man spoke out, “Doc, what do you need? We
’re
so lucky to have you here, is there anything we can do?”

“Please excuse my attitude today. I’m
especially
tired
,
and the last few weeks have been somewhat
demoralizing. Short of our
having equipment and supplies, I can’t think of anything that will improve our success rate for treating people. It’s not going to get any better as time goes by, and I can see the day coming soon when we
’ll
be even more restricted in what we can do.”

Another man asked, “What do you need
,
Doc? Maybe someone around has some of what you need?”

“I sincerely thank you for
the thought
, but what we need is the equipment that would only be found in a hospital or well-funded clinic. Everyone has been so kind and brought me whatever medicin
es and supplies they have had l
ying around
.
But
I need x-ray capabilities, blood transfusion, pumps, monitors
,
and other machines. I don’t think anyone has that sort of thing in their garage.”

“There’s a hospital in Alpha…,” someone volunteered.

Bishop looked around the room and noticed everyone looked down at the floor. The reaction struck him as odd
,
and he couldn’t help but speak up
.
“What’s wrong with Alpha? I mean, I know there was an explosion at the chemical plant, but the air should have cleared by now. What’s going on there?

No one seemed to want to answer Bishop’s question. It was finally Pete that looked
up and volunteered information.
“Bishop, no one really knows what is going on there. A lot of the people here have family and friends i
n that town, and a few of us have tried to see how things are
there.”

Another man interrupted Pete.
“Tim Ro
llins and his brother left to explore Alpha a month ago;
no one has heard from either man since. They were both pretty good hands and capable men.”

A lady in the corner spoke up.
“Riccardo Mendez rode his horse to Alpha
,
but
he
didn’t even get close before someone started shooting at him. He left and came back.”

Pete looked at Bishop and added, “Two houses on the outskirts of town were raided three weeks ago. Everyone inside was killed
,
and the places were cleaned out. The tracks led back toward Alpha. That’s when we set up the roadblocks and had everyone move into town that could. The Benton ranch has been hit twi
ce. T
hey believe both times it was people from Alpha.”

Bishop noticed everyone was looking at him, waiting on some sort of reaction. The only thing he could think to say was, “I see.”

The town meeting broke up
,
and everyone started wandering home. Bisho
p and Terri walked back
toward T
he Manor, each
lost in their thoughts. It was Bishop who broke the silence, “Terri, I have so much I need to talk to you about. Let’s get some
chow
and relax
in th
e gardens. I want to see what you got at the m
arket
,
and I’m sure you’ll want to hear about my day.”

Terri nodded and looked at Bishop.
He has that look again…that look like the entire world is resting on his shoulders.

Both analytical thinkers, Samantha was in hot pursuit of David’s queen in the most rousing game of chess The Manor’s lobby had seen in years.
Betty had some beef tips and peppers cooked on the hotel’s open fire pit.
As Bishop and Terri entered the lobby
, the aroma hit them and
both
realized how hungry they were. Terri presented Betty with six eggs she had bartered for
,
and the hotel manager seemed thrilled. She made a plate for each
,
and they retired to a garden table with beef, peppers, corn bread and roasted pine nuts. It was a feast like they hadn’t enjoyed in months.

After they finished eating, Terri offered
to help Bett
y clean up before she
talked
to Bishop
. As they were carrying the dishes into the kitchen area, Betty announced she had one more surprise for Bishop. She opened a drawer and pulled out a metal tube containing a cigar. Bishop responded with a look of “
for
me?”
and Betty pushed the rare item into Bishop’s h
and.

As Terri helped with the
kitchen duties, Bishop returned
to their table and carefully snipped the end of the cigar with his fighting knife. In no time, he had the cigar puffing nicely and sat back to relax and enjoy the luxury.

Terri appeared a bit later and teased Bishop, “Would you care for some Port with you
r
smoke
,
sir? Is there anything else I could do to make your experience here
at The Manor more
enjoyable?” Bishop choked when her eyebrows went up and down.
Terri sat next to her husband and watched him take a puff from the cigar. When he exhaled, a bit of the smoke
drifted
her way, prompting her to scoot her face away from the odor.
“For
all the glamor those things have
, they sure do stink. You’re not kissing me with that mouth until you gargle with some kerosene
,
mister.”

Bishop started to put out the stogie, but Terri waved him off. “Enjoy it babe – just keep downwind of me. My nose seems to be working overtime since I’ve been pregnant, but really, I don’t mind.”

Bishop handed
her
the Colonel
’s b
riefcase, unlocked. He showed her
the folders
,
and then focused on his smoke.  It took Terri about an hour to read through all of the material. When she had finished, she looked at Bishop with a blank look on her face.

Her voice was ice cold.
“So my love, what does this have to do with the price of cheese in China?”

Bishop responded without emotion
.
“Not a damn thing
,
I guess.”

Terri was
n’t going to let it go that easily. S
he
tapped her fingers on the table
top, waiting on Bishop to expand on his last comment. When it was clear he wasn’t going to do so vol
untarily, she pushed for more details.
“Bishop, he wants you to deliver his report, doesn’t he?”

“Yes.”

Terri stood up and walked around the table with her
fists balled
on her hips. Three times she stopped and pointed her finger at Bishop, but no words came out. Twice, she stopped, pointed her finger at
the Colonel
’s room, but no words came out. Bishop just sat with a neutral look on his face, not daring to say a word.
She continued working up a good head of steam.

Finally, she stopped her pacing and looked at the sky, spreading her arms wide, “This is bullshit…pure, U.S.D.A Government inspected table
grade bullshit. How
could he do that to you? How, in heaven’s name, can he lay this on
you
?”

Bishop shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s important
,
Terri…I guess that’s why.”

Terri spun and leaned into Bishop’s face, “No, it’s not important!” She moved
an
outstretched arm in a wide
arch
, pointing at Meraton, “
This
is important.
This
is what matters.
These people are what counts, not some bullshit power game being played by a bunch of government fucks who aren’t risking anything but th
eir egos. The guys who
carry the guns and die are what matters, not those elected pukes and all of their cronies – they don’t mean shit anymore. They had their chance and fucked it up.”

Bishop simply nodded
and pretended the r
ocks at his feet needed to be arranged
.

“Come on
, Bishop. Remember how
we saw people
eating dogs on the way out here?
If the fucking
President
of the United States will sit at that table and eat a dog in front of me, then I will reconsider my point of
view. Until then, he is nothing,
means nothing
,
and will never be anything again.”

Bishop had expected a major reaction from Terri, but not this strong. She was as mad as he had ever seen her
,
and
the anger
seemed to be growing. He was in new territory here and was trying to think through how to handle it
,
when her mood suddenly changed
and her voice went mono
tone
cold
.

“So, you are supposed to find the
president
, deliver this report, salute
,
and head back home?”

Bishop looked her in the eye,
“Not exa
ctly. T
he
president
is coming to Fort Bliss
,
a few hundred miles
from here
.
The Colonel
wants
me
to convince
the Commander in
Chief
to compromise and work with
t
he Independents
.
Why he is convinced I can do this, I don’t know.
”

Terri sat down at the table and crossed her arms over her breasts
.
“Bishop, I have agreed…no,
supported
you
r
doing some pretty crazy stuff since we left Houston. I
’ve
watched you put on that rifle and walk off I don’t know how many times. You don’t know what
it’s
like to sit and wait for you to come back
.
It’s worse than you
r
being in the Army or g
oing off to war. At least some c
hap
la
in would knock on my door and let me know you were dead or wounded or missing or whatever. At l
east if you came home from the A
rmy missing a leg
,
they would help me take care of you. Not out here
,
Bishop. Not now. We are on our own out here. If you had gotten yourself killed at Big Bend, I would
’ve
never know
n
. I would still be sitting at
that camper night after night
, waiting for
a
blessed
rock to hit the roof. I would always wonder what happened to you. There would
be no closure Bishop, no flag-
draped coffin, no honor guard
, no
wives coming over and letting me cry on their shoulder
s
. That’s the worst of it – not knowing.”

Bishop just looked down at his feet
again
. He wanted to remind Ter
ri that the same thoughts raced through his mind
just two days ago when he considered whether or not to
check on the plane, but thought better of it. This all needed to be out in the open.