Renewal 10 - Blind Force (3 page)

By the time he heard Sally slipping through the back door, Terry was a wreck. He had too much to carry, and no energy to carry it. He was thankful for the distraction the sound of Sally’s boots coming off in the kitchen. He knew she did it that way to keep the house quiet at night, but he could still hear her padding up the stairs in her wool socks. The higher she went, the more he was trying to pull her into his room with raw willpower. The disappointment he felt as she slid by his door was much worse than he expected. He listened for her door to open and close, and in a burst of irritation, he flopped over on his side and yanked the pillow into position under his head.

Three minutes later, Sally was back. She didn’t knock. She didn’t even wait for an invitation into his bed. She simply threw herself down next to him and said, “I know you’re awake.”

“I am now.”

“You were before,” she said.

“Yeah, I was,” Terry replied. “I was hoping you would stop by sooner.”

“I wouldn’t get in your bed in the clothes I was wearing. I wouldn’t even get in mine.”

“Well, I’m glad you came back.”

“Me too. I’m not sure I can sleep,” Sally said, rolling on her side to face him and brushing her fingers along his jawline.

Terry pushed his arm under her neck and wrapped it around her shoulder. His hand came to rest in the middle of her back. He felt better immediately. Sally melted into him until their lips were just inches apart. He was more distracted by the vibrant sensation of the entire length of her body pressed against his.

“I killed people,” she said.

“I was thinking the same thing before you got here, about me. You all right?”

“I guess so. I can’t stop thinking about it. They were there, and I couldn’t think of anything except aiming and pulling the trigger. Then they were gone. It’s not like killing a deer. They were people and now they’re...”

“Yeah, I know,” Terry said softly.

“Is it worth it?” she asked, barely above a whisper.

“I think it is, but that doesn’t make it any easier,” he replied just as quietly.

“Yeah. I know there’s more coming. I hope I can do it again,” she said.

“I’m new to all this, but I think it’s just the price we have to pay, keeping it all forever, you know?”

“The price for what?” Sally asked with tears beginning to well up.

“For the safety of everyone we love and everything they’ve built. For everything we hope to build in the future.”

“When you say it like that, it almost seems like a fair trade,” she said.

“I have to believe it is, just like your father does, your mother does. Even Kirk thinks that killing is a hard trade.”

“He told you that?”

“Yes, and after he told me, I think his trade has been the hardest one of all.”

“I always thought he just liked it,” Sally said wiping her face with her free hand.

Terry just shook his head, and leaned in to give her a soft kiss on the lips. For a second, it felt a little unfair to kiss her in her upset state, but she began to kiss him back. He felt an electric thrill run through his body, a strange circuit closing with hers. If he had been just bit more rested, it would have worked in the predictable way, but on that night, all it did was flush the pain from his system. Sally must have felt something similar. She pulled back with a look of surprise, and he brushed her copper hair back from her eyes. The simple act settled her face into relaxation. By the third stroke of his fingers, Sally was asleep. Terry was right behind her.

Chapter 10 – 6

The morning began with panic. Sometime during the short night, Terry and Sally had both ended up under the covers. When Bill opened the door, Terry’s mind realized the predicament and snapped his eyes open. Bill had enough time to know that anything could be happening under those covers and to see the look of guilty shock on Terry’s face before he said, “Oh, geeze,” and slammed the door shut.

The door woke Sally, and Terry looked at her like he had literally been caught stealing pies. She looked back at him with an expression of pure calmness. She smiled and slid out from under the covers. In her ankle length cotton gown, she marched right out the door, and Terry could see her giving her father a kiss on the cheek before she turned right and went to her room.

“Uh, Terry. If you’ve got a minute...” Bill said through the open door.

“Be right there, sir!”

“No hurry. Any time in the last five minutes will be fine,” Bill said.

Terry was back in the same clothes from yesterday. He found Bill sitting in his study at the bottom of the stairs. No way to sneak past. Terry braced himself for the inevitable.

“Have a seat, Terry.”

Oh shit. “Yessir.”

“I was all ready to get fired up about what I just saw,” Bill said with a stern expression.

“I’m... Uh...” Terry replied.

“But the look on your face,” Bill said starting to laugh. “The look...” And then the laughter took over, Bill was slapping his knee, and tears were streaming down his face. He laughed until Aggie showed up to see what the commotion was about.

“Stop torturing the boy,” she said. “He knows where the boundaries are.”

Bill snorted a few times and struggled to get himself under control. “Oh, I can see that. I think his are tighter than ours.” Bill was still chuckling on the edge of hysterical laughter.

“If you keep going, I’m going to tell him about that time in Sally Bean’s barn, and I won’t leave out the really embarrassing parts.” Aggie said, glowering at her husband.

That made Bill stop laughing instantly. Terry needed to hear
that
story.

“Oh, come on, Aggie. It’s not like I got to torture any boyfriends. She scared ‘em all off before I could.”

“She has good taste,” Aggie said and disappeared into the kitchen.

“Trust that woman to ruin my fun,” Bill muttered. He composed himself and said, “On to business...”

Terry had relaxed about two notches, which was not nearly enough to trust himself to speak.

“Ok, this morning, I want you to play ambassador. Go check on Larry Harris just for moral support, and then head into town and see Jared. Try to get a feel for any groups that may be willing to help us out and point them in our direction. It’s time to find out if we’re in it alone.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Oh, relax. Just to show you it’s all fine, take Sally and Seth and that girl of his,” Bill said.

Terry thought about it. “So, there’s no other reason to take the women?”

“Dammit! You’re too smart for your own good. Yes, a pair of pretty faces won’t hurt our cause. Just make sure you keep your eyes open, and don’t get caught. If you hand my little girl over to the Dragons, I
will
be pissed.”

“Ok, Bill. I’ll be careful.”

“Please do. Now, let’s get some breakfast. I’m not done watching you blush.”

Terry decided to tackle the issue head on. He walked into the kitchen and sat down next to Sally. She was forced to eat left-handed because Terry was holding her right hand under the table. He told her what was on the schedule, and she smiled with the notion. At some point during the meal, Terry decided that Sally was indeed a big part of what made the Carter house feel like home.

Twenty minutes later, Terry was dragging Big Seth off his front porch. “Grab your guns and your girl, Big Man. We’re taking these ladies to town.”

From the look of Suze’s tousled hair, Seth probably didn’t have the same set of boundaries as his friend. When Terry told her the plan, she ducked into the bathroom for ten minutes while Seth argued loudly with his mother. When Suze returned, she was more than presentable. She was lovely, and at least a couple of degrees more feminine in her style than Sally. Sally was tall and lean, all subtlety in her curves. Suze was shorter and more curvaceous, and somehow made the standard Teeny Town clothes look a lot less utilitarian.

The group stopped by the small tent city on the east side of town. They encountered Larry’s son, Gray, almost as soon as they arrived. Terry gave the young man a wave and said, “Hey, Gray. They got you all fixed up?”

“Hi, Terry. Yep, we’re pretty well in the mix now. Me and Tate are working with the guard.”

“Good deal. Is your father around?”

“Yep. I’ll go fetch him,” Gray said, trotting off into the rows of tents.

Larry came back without his son, all smiles and waves. “Hey there, Terry. Hi Seth. Miss Susanna, How are you this morning?”

Everyone spoke at once, and stopped when they realized what they were doing. Terry picked it up. “Larry, this is Bill’s daughter, Sally.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Sally. I’m Larry Harris.”

“Hello, Mr. Harris. I’ve heard good things about you,” Sally replied.

“Why, that’s nice to hear. What brings ya’ll out this morning?” Larry asked.

“Bill sent me to check on things, make sure you’re all doing ok,” Terry replied.

“Oh, yeah. Everyone is fed, happy, and busy. Turns out I have a knack for the machinery. I’m working with Mr. Hall on the reloading,” Larry said.

“That’s good. It looks like the bad guys are lining up, so it may get even busier,” Terry said.

“I tell ya, I’m still amazed at what you’ve got going here. I almost feel bad for those bad guys,” Larry said, smiling at the group.

“I hope you’re right, Larry. We’ll know more by noon.”

“Ok. Well, things are going fine for us. Tell Bill I said thanks for the hospitality.”

“Will do. See you later,” Terry said with a wave of his hand.

“See ya’ll later. Be careful.” Larry was turning back to his tent as Terry and his friends walked away.

They wandered back across the western barn and piled into the cab of Big Bertha. Terry checked the gauges and noticed that the tanks were full again. The doors were already open with the heavy truck traffic of a community preparing for a fight. Terry slotted Bertha into gear and drove up the hill to the western gate. Once again, the gate guards had the gate open long before Terry drove Bertha through. He pulled onto the access road and accelerated. He never got tired of the sensation of power under his hands.

Terry took the left turn onto the main road and headed for the highway. As he was making the right turn on Highway 41, Seth pointed across his face and shouted, “Wait! Who are they?”

Terry looked left and saw a group hiking down the shoulder of 41. It looked like about twenty-five people. Terry ran through several options in his mind and decided to lay on the air horn to alert Teeny Town that unknown people were nearby. He left the truck idling in the middle of the road.

Seth said, “Do three honks, pause, and three more.”

Terry did as Seth ordered. It was another situation in which Terry regretted that he had never had any of the regular community training. Terry said,” Seth, why don’t you set up at one of the gun ports in the back? Sally, you can drive if something goes wrong. Be sure to crank all the armor shut, here, here, and up here,” Terry said slapping each of the handles as he spoke.

“What are you going to do?” Seth asked.

“I’m gonna talk to them,” Terry replied.

“Oh, no you’re not!” Sally said.

“It’ll be fine. Help’s coming in a couple of minutes. We don’t have any idea who they are. This is the easiest way to find out,” Terry said calmly.

“Ok, but if they shoot you, I’m driving right over your corpse,” Sally said with her cheeks flaring red under the freckles.

“Fair enough, Sweetie.” Terry opened the door and dropped to the ground.

Seth circled the other side of the truck and jumped up into the armored cargo box. Terry heard the metallic scrape of a gun port sliding open. He walked a hundred feet away from Big Bertha and raised both his hands in what he thought might be a non-threatening gesture.

The group approached cautiously. They hadn’t missing the meaning of the horn blasts. The bulk of the people stopped at about the same distance that Terry had chosen, and two in the front kept walking towards him. There was a rangy old man underneath a broad woven straw hat, and the dark skinned woman next to him was wearing a black vest and a faded baseball cap. Terry got the distinct impression that she was the dangerous one of the two, like a feminine version of Kirk. The two strangers stopped eight feet in front of Terry, and the man held up his hand in greeting.

“Kind of ballsy of you, coming out here by yourself,” the man said.

“Help’s nearby,” Terry said, watching the pair very closely.

“Well, we don’t mean any harm. We’re just passing through, looking for someone. He might be around here, according to the directions we got.”

“You got directions to this place?”

“Yes, from a family out in Fort Smith, Arkansas by the name of Miller.” the man said, seemingly very relaxed for a man in new territory.

It clicked for Terry. How lucky for these people that Terry had just heard about a man named Miller. “Joe Miller?”

“No. Joe was long dead. We talked to his grandchildren. They told us about Joe, and how he always wanted to come back here. They said we should find a man named David Carter. They gave us this map that old Joe had drawn.” The man pulled a crinkled yellow paper from his shirt pocket and handed it to Terry.

Terry looked at the hand drawn map and saw a reflection of the story Bill had told. Joe Miller’s farm, Sally Bean’s farm, all the roads in the area. Terry looked up at the man, back at the map in disbelief, and at the man once again.

“Well, I don’t know where you came from, but you found the right place,” Terry said. “I don’t understand. Joe was an old man when he left here. How could he have grandchildren?”

“His family was adopted, or just gathered as he traveled. He found a good place to settle and just stayed there,” the man replied.

“Why didn’t you just stay in Fort Smith?” Terry asked.

“They weren’t taking in new people, not for a long time. One of the Millers chased us down as we were leaving, told us the story, and gave us the map. We camped outside of town for a few days, and ended up hearing from a lot of the Millers before it was over. Nice people,” the man said.

Terry could see the patrols converging from the west. He turned to the truck and shouted, “It’s ok! Not Dragons!” Sally used the horn to let the patrols know not to come in with guns blazing.