The McClane Apocalypse Book Three (5 page)

"Sure, Hannah, I can help with breakfast,"
Em offers kindly and takes Hannah's hand, basically separating her
from Kelly.

It doesn't bother him, though. Em has taken
to Hannah, and Kelly's glad for it. His little sister needs to be
around women and not just be stuck with him and Cory. Hannah only
smiles knowingly over her shoulder at him as they all ascend the
stairs.

When they get to the kitchen, Kelly departs,
leaving his little sister and her messy, wavy hair in Hannah's
capable hands. He and Hannah are trying not to let anyone know
about them yet. Right now, just getting rid of the visitors is the
number one priority for all of them. Nobody needs to be bothered
with his and Hannah's love lives.

The sun has completely risen, and he catches
up with Derek as he escorts different members of the new group to
collect water from the barn and haul it back to their camp.

"How's it going?" he asks Derek quietly as
they trail thirty or so feet behind two men and one woman lugging
buckets.

"Ok so far. They're gonna have to do this
every day until they leave, though," Derek answers, squinting
against the bright sun. "That woman up ahead, the blonde, said
they've been out of water for a few days. So if they don't get it
from the farm here, then they don't have water now."

"You think that could be a problem?" Kelly
asks directly as the blonde to which Derek had referred looks over
her shoulder at them. Her tiny blue-jean shorts barely cover her
ass cheeks and look to have been cut off this short on purpose.

"Could be," Derek tells him. "This farm is
running on two different spring-fed wells. We're watering livestock
and supplying water to the whole family and now a whole lot more
people."

"Think they could run dry?" Kelly
inquires.

"I don't know. I think we should talk to
Herb about it. Seems to me like they could. I remember Sue told me
once that her grandparents had a problem with the one well going
dry a few years ago when there was a bad draught. If it happened
before, it could happen again," he informs Kelly.

"Yeah, and that was when it probably
would've just been Doc, Grams and Hannah here. There's a shit ton
of people on the farm now. Not to mention the livestock," Kelly
agrees readily as the blonde passes another flirtatious peek that
carries a bit of suggestion behind it toward him and Derek. She's
also sauntering her hips suggestively when she walks, and it's
definitely not by accident. Derek looks at him and rolls his eyes.
It reminds Kelly of Reagan which makes him laugh.

"We definitely gotta discuss this with Doc
later," Derek adds.

They come to the visitors' campsite near the
equipment shed. Kelly immediately notices that two of the men are
missing from the group. There should be ten of them, not counting
the two sick ones in the med shed.

"Where'd the other two go?" he barks point
blank to the nearest person. It just so happens to be the large
black man named Levon.

"What's it to you?" he asks snidely.

However, seeing Kelly's hand on his rifle,
the man quickly amends his rudeness, but only slightly.

"Went into those woods over there to take a
shit. Is that a problem, too?"

"Yeah, you guys put a lot of restrictions on
us," the woman with the dark hair retorts with venom. "Don't go
there, stay over here, don't do this. Whatever, man. We're just
tryin' to survive like everyone else."

"That will be made easier for you, too, if
you do what you're told while you're here on this farm," Derek
informs her without raising his voice.

Grams's brother, Peter, descends from one of
the RV's in a cloud of smoke. It has a sweet, yet pungent aroma.
Kelly's pretty sure it's marijuana or some other type of drug able
to be smoked. It's definitely not from a cigarette.

"Hey, man," he slurs.

Kelly's not sure which of them that he's
addressing because his eyes are unfocused, the pupils dilated.
Movement beyond the uncle proves to be the teen boy with black hair
and Buzz, the bald, shifty dude who seems passive, but still on the
squirrely side. Kelly knows enough about people to not trust that
this man is passive and a non-threat. He's seen young people and
women blow themselves to smithereens in crowded markets in the name
of religion. Appearances can definitely be deceiving.

"Do you have enough water for now?" Derek
asks with a touch of impatience.

Kelly can tell that he isn't in the mood to
argue or renegotiate a new living arrangement already. They'd been
given ground rules, only two days ago, and here they are bitching
about them so soon.

"Sure, man, we've got plenty for a while,"
Rick answers.

He is the other black man and seems cool and
collected, unlike some of his traveling companions.

Rick even adds, "Thanks. We appreciate you
all letting us stay."

"Yeah, man, we're all good here," Peter says
as he stumbles into a lawn chair before plopping down into it.
"It's cool we got somewhere like this to drop anchor for a while. I
knew it would all work out. My sister wouldn't kick us to the curb.
We're glad we could stay, man."

He hacks twice and spits into the weeds.
Nobody else in the group returns this sentiment, but he and Derek
also don't give a shit. Derek doesn't answer but gives a curt nod
before him and Kelly walk away.

"Think they're going to give us problems?"
Derek asks him as they close in on the med shed.

"I sure as shit hope not, man. Grams is
gonna be really upset if we have to kick them off the farm," he
answers. "I just hope they stay the hell away from the women and
the house."

Derek sighs audibly as they continue to
walk.

"Yeah, I know," he finally concurs.

The dynamic of the farm has changed
considerably. All of them are on constant high alert with this band
of virtual strangers cohabitating it with them. Kelly still has a
bad feeling about the situation, but he'll bide his time and adhere
to the wishes of Doc for now.

The biscuits are baking in the oven, the
sausage is on the griddle cooking on low and her kitchen has the
familiar, lovely smells of home-cooking wafting about it. She and
Em just about have breakfast prepared when Sue comes into the
kitchen. She carries Isaac with her. A second, louder baby lets
Hannah know that she's also carrying Jacob, the orphan John and
Reagan have brought back from the city.

"Oh, Miss Sue, let me help," Em says in a
rush and a flurry of movement.

Her sister chuckles and answers, "Oh my
goodness! I guess that's what it would've been like if I'd ever had
twins. It's a good thing Jacob is a little underweight or I might
not have made it down the stairs with the both of them."

Hannah also laughs. Em is baby-talking to
Jacob which makes him giggle. He seems to be adjusting well to the
farm, and Reagan said that he sleeps through the night, which is
fortunate since her sister has no experience with babies. Sue had
volunteered yesterday to let him sleep in Isaac's crib with him and
that she'd take care of him, but Reagan and John had both quickly
shot down that idea. They must both feel a great deal of
responsibility to this baby.

"Here, Sue, let me take Isaac for a while,"
Hannah offers her sister.

"Thanks, Hannie. My arms feel like rubber,"
she acknowledges with a smile in her voice.

"Can you do something for me while we get
Jacob's bottle ready?" Hannah asks as she moves toward the
refrigerator to take out a bottle of milk for Jacob. Sue will
breastfeed Isaac on her own, so he'll have to wait.

"Sure, what's up?" Sue asks.

"I need to know how many people are in the
med shed with Reagan so that I know how much food to make. Grams
said yesterday that if Samantha is going to be working alongside
Reagan and Grandpa, then we need to make sure she eats to keep up
her strength," Hannah tells her.

"Right. We're not too sure how much food
those people have. It only seems fair that if she's helping out our
family in the shed, then we should be feeding her," Sue agrees
before going out the screen door.

"Here's Jacob's bottle, Em. I have some hot
water on the back burner. Just place it in there to warm it for
him. Then he can eat some solid food with the rest of us at
breakfast," she tells the young girl who is a great sous chef to
Hannah. She's learning her way around the kitchen so quickly, and
Hannah had taken time the other day to show her how to properly
store the fresh herbs from the garden in the horse barn's grain
room to properly dry. Em's also talking more with her, which is a
very good sign that she's coming to trust everyone on the farm.

"Ok, Hannah. I got it," Em answers with her
tiny mouse voice.

For a girl of twelve, she sure seems petite.
But Sue has told her that Em is actually tall for her age. She just
has a little munchkin voice. If she's going to take after Kelly and
Cory, then she might just end up being a six foot tall Amazonian
warrior woman. However, she has the sweetest disposition of any
young girl ever in Hannah's opinion, so she doesn't see Em wielding
a gun like Reagan.

A few moments later while Hannah stirs the
pan full of grits on the stove, Em takes Jacob to the music room to
feed him his bottle and mostly to keep him occupied while the women
in the family pull the breakfast meal together. The back door opens
and shuts loudly again.

"We've got a few extra guests, Hannah," Sue
explains. "Ran into Derek and Kelly and they said that Sam is still
out there. She told them that Garrett's twin wants to see him. He
misses his brother something terrible, I guess."

"I can't even imagine," Hannah replies with
a heavy sigh as she transfers Isaac back to his mother again.

"I know. It's so terrible. I feel so sorry
for the little guy. They are both so cute and too damn young to be
going through anything like this," her sister curses in
agreement.

She'd better get that out of her system
before Grams rises for the day.

"No children should have to go through what
any of them have gone through, Sue. It's just heartbreaking,"
Hannah expresses sadly.

"I know. Hey, Hannie, you don't have to do
so much of that by yourself," Sue tells her. "Wow, Grams must be
beat if she's sleeping this late. Let me just get him fed and then
I'll help you out."

It's hardly late. When she presses the
button on the digital clock, it gives her an audible reading of
7:10 a.m. Grams should have been up by now for sure, but perhaps
she's talking with Grandpa alone in their suite since Hannah had
heard him go in there a while ago.

"You're fine. Just feed Isaac because you
know the other two will be up soon, and until the men lift the ban
on playing outside, the kids are stuck in here all day," she
answers Sue, referring to her sister's other son and daughter.

Sue groans loudly, and a chair's legs at the
island scrape roughly against the hardwood floor as she pulls one
out to sit.

Sue says, "Oh boy. That's not going to make
them happy. It was great of Em to help keep them entertained
yesterday, but I can't imagine them not wanting to go outside again
today."

"I just hope that Grandpa and Reagan can get
the patients well enough to move their caravan on somewhere else
soon. It feels odd having strangers here. It's like Reagan
mentioned yesterday that they could always set up a more permanent
camp on some other farm. Just look at the Johnson's farm. I never
thought they'd move away and leave their farm and they did.
Great-uncle Peter's group can just find somewhere like that to go,"
Hannah explains as gently as she can, though she's starting to wish
Kelly had not allowed them to stay at all. Holding Isaac in her
arms a few moments ago had made her realize how easily he could
become sick. Life is so fragile, especially now.

"I agree, but I'm kind of hoping Peter will
take the group much farther away than the Johnson's. Heck, I just
hope he takes himself far away," Sue says with a laugh.

Sue, like Reagan, has never liked or had
much tolerance for Peter. Hannah refrains from answering because it
feels unkind to say such things about family, even if they are
alcohol and drug dependent.

"We need to finish our canning, so the
garden has to be picked," Hannah changes the direction of their
conversation from something that is only bound to get more negative
to something that is practical.

"Right, I agree. We got another hundred
pounds of potatoes stowed, but the cabbage will be ready in a few
days and so will the rest of the peppers," Sue updates her.

"Do you think Derek will let you go out and
do some picking today so that we can get some of the canning done?"
she asks of her brother-in-law.

"Good grief, I hope so!" her sisters says,
miffed. "It's been an adjustment having him around so much. When he
was deployed, I was left to my own devices. I'm not used to having
to answer to Derek. Our marriage has definitely gone through a
total overhaul having him here."

"Having him around can't be bad, though.
Right?" Hannah asks with a smile.

Sue pats Isaac, probably on his back, before
answering.

"Yeah, it's great. I just used to do
whatever I wanted or needed to do when he was gone, so it's just
kinda' surreal. But I like him being home."

"Good, because you two are great together.
He's a very devoted dad, too," Hannah adds as she takes the fluffy
breakfast biscuits out of the oven.

"Yeah, he is pretty great. How's it going
with Kelly?" her sister asks, stunning Hannah.

A warm blush creeps onto her cheeks, and she
refuses to look in the general direction of Sue.

"Um, he's fine," Hannah answers
noncommittally. There is no way she can tell Sue or anyone else on
the farm what has transpired between herself and Kelly.