The McClane Apocalypse: Book Two (52 page)

“The boy in our shed is a twin to the other one out there. The girl who helped us, Samantha, is about your age, Cory,” Grandpa says, ignoring Reagan’s cryptic comments. Cory stops eating to look at Grandpa and then to everyone else at the table who, in turn, is staring at him.

“Oh,” he says simply, and the family returns to their eating and conversation. He has obviously inherited his love of public speaking from his big brother.

“She’s quite a nice young lady. We found out from her that the boys are both ten years old, their mother was Native American and she was killed when this all started. Their father is out there with that bunch, though. But he’s not an Indian. Sam said he’s the one with the long beard and glasses. He’s also not asked about his sick son,” Grandpa tells everyone.

Sue doesn’t know which man Grandpa is talking about, but she’d like to go out and punch him.

“Sam wouldn’t tell us if she’s a relative of any of these people. She’s very reserved, scared to talk to us I believe. Maybe Cory might be able to talk with her,” Grandpa suggests and looks toward Grams who nods her head subtly.

Cory looks away like he’d rather be anywhere but here or have to talk to a girl. Oh, teenage boys. Sue suppresses the laugh she feels bubble up.

“The sick woman, Jennifer, won’t talk much, either. Although at least she has an excuse. But when she’s lucid, she still won’t answer any of our questions. I think something’s up with this group,” Reagan adds and yelps when Jacob bites her finger.

She looks at John like it’s his fault, and they quietly argue about something but go back to eating quickly enough. They both seem rather ravenous. Sue doesn’t envy their days in the cabin or the city. She’s glad her sister is the strong one, the one who the family can rely on to do such things like roughing it in a hunting cabin for three days.

“I’m afraid there are a lot of these types of groups out there. This will be a one-time deal with this one. Once they leave, they won’t be asked back. If one man wants to bring Jennifer back to give birth here, that would be fine but other than that I don’t want them here ever again,” Grandpa looks directly at Grams, and she starts to protest but thinks better of it.

“I agree,” Sue chimes in, and one by one every person at the table, with the exception of Cory and the children, say the same thing with the same fierceness. Even Hannah agrees.

“Tomorrow I’ll work on getting those trip wires and demos re-set on the drive,” John puts in after things settle back down. “Glad they worked like they were supposed to. I’ll also find time to check the others and I want to get more built. I can do that tomorrow night out in one of the barns.”

“Hey, you told me you’d show me how to do those!” Reagan protests, and John shushes her easily enough.

“I will. I planned on taking you with me, geesh. I can’t get away from you for a second,” John teases, making everyone at the table laugh.

Thank God for John and Grandpa. If it wasn’t for those two, the rest of the group would be overwhelmed and anxiety-ridden most of the time. Even Grandpa gives a short chuckle. Reagan glares at John and looks away, but Sue observes her sister smile to herself. It’s so rare now that she smiles that Sue just feels elated with joy for her little sister. She’s not sure, though, if Reagan is smiling because of John or because John is going to show her how to make explosives. But John continues to stare and grin at her crazy young sister long after she looks away.

“Do we have enough weapons and ammo out of the shed for now?” Derek asks. He’s always more serious than his fun-loving kid brother.

“I think so. What do you think, John?” Kelly asks.

“Yeah, I think we’re good. Those guys don’t have anything to even come at us with unless they’re hiding an RPG under one of the chassis on those RV’s,” he jokes.

“We’ll need to stay out of the back of the med shed if it’s possible because if any of them should be visiting the patients, or the pregnant woman becomes well enough to see any of us going in there, she or they could tell the rest of the group what we have stored there. Now I may just be making bold assumptions, but I think we can assume that those guns they had used to contain ammo. So they’ve used the ammo somewhere or on someone. We don’t need them to figure out how to steal our ammo before they leave,” Grandpa elucidates wisely.

“Exactly, Herb. We just need to be extremely cautious. Not all of those guys out there seemed too bad, but the majority of them are probably not the kind we want here. And the one woman was... questionable, as well. Like the saying goes, birds of a feather and all that?” Derek expands and gives Sue a knowing look when he speaks of the woman.

“We’ll be taking extended watches starting an hour earlier, and we’ll have two guards on duty at night at all times,” Kelly states. “We’ll also use the video system in your office, Doc, if that’s ok with you. We’ve worked out patrol times and who’s on with which person at night. We’ll periodically check your cameras, and we’ll perimeter our assigned areas which will now extend outside the house to cover the med shed more carefully.”

“Oh, that’s all great, Kelly. No problem on the office. You guys go wherever you need to until our visitors have gone,” Grandpa allows easily. It must be hard to permit people into his private work space. Sometimes he kept medical research he was working on in there and specimens and slides and his microscope. “I can pick up some of the security shifts, too.”

“No way, Doc. You just work out the med shed shifts with the boss. We’ve got the rest covered,” John jumps in quickly, and Sue doesn’t miss the admiration that flickers briefly onto Reagan’s face. Nobody wants Grandpa to have to work with patients on rotating shifts and also feel the responsibility of the family’s protection.

“Ok, John. Reagan and I will take care of the patients then. Reagan, honey, I’ll stay with them tonight. You need to rest. Both of you do. That ride is no picnic. Can’t say as I’m sorry to have missed it this time,” he says with a twinkle in his eye. John laughs.

“You got that right!” John agrees.

“Grandpa, I’m fine. I can help out tonight,” Reagan objects, though she looks like she’s about to fall into her cupcake.

“No way, boss. You’re already dead on your feet,” John remarks, earning a weak attempt at a frown from Reagan. “You and I both need to rest up. It seems like it’s gonna be pretty busy around here for a while. You aren’t going to be any good to your grandpa if you’re too tired to pull your shifts in the shed.”

“I’m fine, John. I don’t need to sleep,” she returns, and Sue about falls off her chair. Surely she’s not the only person at the table who noticed that Reagan didn’t call John something rude or insulting.

“Reagan, you and John can take Jacob upstairs and wash up and get to bed,” Derek jumps in to help. “We’ve moved him to the four a.m. shift, but I’ll cover his tonight so he can get caught up on sleep.”

“I’ll help cover it, too,” Kelly offers before Derek even finishes, and her husband nods.

The teamwork and the get it done now attitude of these men never ceases to surprise Sue. There’s no bickering and arguing and whining over which job is whose or what guy is supposed to do this or that. They just take care of it, get everything done without squabbling.

“Thanks, guys,” John says quickly. “We really appreciate that. Don’t we, boss?” John nudges her arm.

“Ye... yes, thanks,” she says and looks angry about having to say it. Sue’s going to find out what John’s favorite dinner is and ensure it gets made tomorrow night.

“No, we should all be thanking you two. You both took a big risk going into the city, and we appreciate it,” Grams adds in with praise, and John winks at her.

A few more minor plans are reviewed as the meal ends with the kids on clean-up duty. Reagan and John leave with the baby as the rest of the men go to their newly-assigned chores of keeping watch on the visitors. Sue passes Kelly and Hannah in the middle of a conversation in the hall nearest the front door. Kelly is standing very close to her sister, holding Hannah’s hand but drops it like she has nuclear cooties when he detects Sue’s approach. Sue just laughs at him, kisses her sister’s cheek and follows Derek who is carrying Isaac to their second floor suite where he’ll start on watch. Once they are alone in their bedroom, she takes the baby from him so that she can breastfeed.

“This has been quite the day, huh?” she asks as she observes her husband while he stands at their window to peer out at the med shed which their room overlooks on one side.

“Your grandpa’s going back in. I don’t like it how when he and Reagan are in there, the door is open or unlocked. Those dirtbags could walk right in,” he says, and Sue believes that he is merely talking to himself.

“I’m sure they won’t, Derek. They know where they are and aren’t allowed to be. Unless the boy’s father or Uncle Peter wants to visit with the sick people, then I don’t think anyone else will go over there,” she counters.

“We can’t be too careful, Sue. This isn’t a joke, honey. These are the same kinds of scum we saw all over the country raising hell and robbing people,” he explains. He hasn’t talked of his trip here or his being shot. When she’d asked him, he’d avoided her questions and distracted her with kisses and caresses.

“Ok, I believe you. But they are still just people and so far they aren’t doing anything bad. I’m just saying maybe we don’t have to get paranoid,” she counters.

“This isn’t paranoia. This is precaution. Don’t go around them, either. And keep the kids away from them, too, at least for a few days,” Derek orders smoothly.

“Yes sir, Major Harrison,” she says with a mocking tone and a smile. He smiles over his shoulder at her.

“I’ll Major Harrison you,” he warns her with sexual implication.

“Hm, sounds intriguing,” she grins back.

“Could be if you play your cards right,” he promises and turns back to the window.

She smiles more brightly at his profile and goes back to watching Isaac at her breast. It’s amazing how big he’s getting already. After a few more minutes, Derek kisses her forehead and then Isaac’s.

“Going down the hall and then I’ll make a trip around the house. It’s dark now, so they won’t even be able to see us moving once the lights are all off,” he tells her.

“Ok, hon. I’m just gonna finish with the baby and get him down for the night and help get the kids to bed. I’ll try to help out more with Em, too, for Kelly so that he can just do his added patrols. But I’ll see you in a few hours, right?” she asks suggestively.

“Depends on that hand of cards,” he refers to the card metaphor as he stands near the door to leave.

“I think I’ve still got a few aces in my hand, Major Harrison,” she tells him, and he laughs the whole way down the second floor hall.

He laughs so rarely that it gives Sue the strength to get through the rest of her day while getting Isaac to sleep, her munchkins off to bed, finish cleaning whatever the kids have missed, including their basement bathroom, and the will to take her own shower. Before she turns in at the ripe old hour of 9:30, she checks on Isaac again and smiles at his cherubic little face. Sue also smiles as she remembers her husband’s sexy laugh and the way he walks with such a jaunty, self-possessed gait right before she passes out from exhaustion.

Chapter Twenty-eight

Reagan

“I think he’s finally out,” John tells her as he lays the sleeping, clean baby on her bed and covers him with her quilt.

They’d worked together to get Jacob his first bath at the farm, much to their confusion and flustered surprise at how hard he was to hold and control. His tiny arms had flailed, swatted about, splashed water all over them and in the end he’d thrown a temper tantrum and cried. This had all taken place in the time span of about four minutes flat, but they’d managed to get it done. Now he smells sweet and clean and wears freshly laundered baby clothes that Grams had washed from the stash of clothing they’d taken from the baby store. She’d told Reagan that it was always important to wash baby clothes before putting them on a baby because sometimes they have sensitive skin. She doesn’t remember studying that anywhere, but she figures Grams probably knows more about it than she ever could.

He places pillows around Jacob so he doesn’t roll off the bed before he touches the baby’s head, smoothing down his sparse strands of hair. There is something about this simple gesture of affection that makes her turn away with a feeling of discomfort settling in on her. The fierceness in his features, the sudden furrow of his brow and the protective way that he looks at this tiny, helpless baby makes Reagan retreat to her closet. There’s plenty still to do with putting away items from their raid and sorting out her dirty laundry from the trip. And anything is better than watching John express emotion that she’s incapable of.

Ten minutes later and after the noise that he’s been making in the other room ceases, John comes into her closet. He rifles around behind her, but Reagan continues to work on emptying her own backpack and keeping her thoughts to herself. They work quietly, side by side, occasionally bumping into one another as they unload their duffle bags.

“Need some help?” his voice shatters her train of thought, causing her to startle as she’d been dwelling on the sick patients in the med shed and what, if anything, can be done for them.

“Um, no,” she mumbles as she hangs her damp towels from her shower on the two hooks behind her closet door. She’d pulled her hair into a funky, bulky bun on the top of her head, but it’s still damp. Once when she was around the age of twelve, she’d had Grams take her to the city where she’d had a beautician lob it all off into a short style. It had looked absolutely hideous because of the tight curl, and she swore to never do something like that to it again. But it didn’t make her any happier having it long. Most days it is a freakish mess of unruliness that sticks out in all directions and often embarrasses her. Ponytails and buns had become close friends of hers many years before and had made her ridiculous hair just slightly more manageable.

John had also showered right after her and after they’d bathed Jacob, and now he wears only loose fitting gray sweatpants and no shirt. Upon further inspection, Reagan notices that he also wears no shoes or socks and that he has nicely-shaped tan feet. What the fuck? Where had that come from? What the hell is wrong with her lately? Reagan fervently wishes she had hormone testing capabilities at the farm because lately hers are all over the place.