Enforcing Home

ENFORCING HOME

a. american

Enforcing Home

Copyright © 2015 by Angery American Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.

First Edition: August 2015

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of Angery American Enterprises Inc.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.

Prologue

T
rials and tribulations overcome, I was looking forward to some quiet time. Life was starting to take on
the comfort of routine, tending to the tasks of daily life in this new world. With some familiar faces moving into our little community, there were more hands available, more could be done each day. I looked forward to the quiet days I foresaw ahead; we all did.

The addition of Miss Kay to our group was profound. For Jess, Fred and Mary it was a homecoming of sorts; for the rest of us she would become the grandmother we no longer had. For Sarge, she would become much more. Ian, Jamie and Perez were also a welcomed addition. They were solid and reliable when the chips were down. With them on board we certainly were a formidable force.

But life, especially life as we now knew it, was never predictable, and becoming complacent was dangerous. Gone was 24/7 news cycles and seven-day weather forecasts. We lived in the present; and the present provides very little warning. We had to guard against becoming complacent, for there would be no second chances.

Chapter 1

I
looked over at Sarge as he drove, “I noticed you and Miss Kay were kind of friendly at the lake.”

Without taking his eyes from the road, he replied, “She’s a sweet lady.”

“She didn’t seem to have much to say yesterday.”

Sarge wrinkled his nose, “This is a lot for her, everything that’s going on.”

Pausing for a moment, I looked back out through the windshield, “Hopefully she’ll be better here, with the girls. Where was she all day? I only saw her a couple of times.”

He nodded, “I think she’ll be fine here. She said she wanted some alone time, so I let her be. She’ll be alright.”

He turned off on the dirt road and stopped in front of Gena and Dylan’s house. Gena was on the porch by the time I got out of the truck.

“Hi Morgan, hi Sarge!” She called out as I opened the back door.

“Hey Gena,” I said as I hefted a large kettle from the backseat.

“Hi Miss Gena,” Sarge waved as he walked up to the gate. His hands were shoved into his pockets; and with that goofy smile, he looked for all the world to me like Andy Griffith.

“What’cha got there Morgan?” Dylan asked stepping out onto the porch, wiping his hands with a cloth.

“Some of the most tender pork that’ll ever cross your tongue,” Sarge said.

“That sounds wonderful!” Gena shouted, “Some fresh meat sounds great.”

“I figured since you guys couldn’t make it, we’d bring you some,” I said as I handed the kettle to Dylan.

Looking a little embarrassed, Gena said, “I really wish we could have come, but I wasn’t feeling well. The medicine doesn’t always work.”

“No problem, let us know if we can help,” I said, giving Gena a smile. Looking at Dylan, I added, “you guys enjoy that pot-o-pig,”

“I appreciate that, thanks a lot.” He took a deep whiff across the top of the kettle, “damn that smells good!”

“Hope you two enjoy it. You can thank Thad for the smell; he cooked it,” I replied.

“Oh we will,” Gena said as she took the kettle from Dylan and headed into the house, “I’m starving.”

Sarge smiled, “We’ll leave you two to eat, let us know if you need anything.”

Dylan nodded, “Will do,” then looked at me, “thanks Morgan.”

I waved him off, “Don’t mention it.”

“Say, what’s with the star?” Dylan asked.

“Oh, you don’t know do you?” Sarge crowed. Stabbing his thumb at me, he replied, “ole Morgan here’s the new Sherriff!”

Dylan looked confused, “Sheriff? Sheriff of what?”

“That’s what I asked, the north end of Lake County; or so they tell me,” I replied.

Dylan scoffed, “Better you than me!”

I smiled, “Thanks for the support.”

“No problem; you’ve got my vote. Let me know if I can help.”

“Don’t worry, we will,” Sarge replied.

“We?” Dylan asked, “You his deputy?”

Now I laughed and pointed at Sarge, “You actually think his ole ass would listen to me?”

Dylan smiled, “No, probably not.”

“Definitely
not
.” Sarge replied.

“See what I’m dealing with?” I said to Sarge, holding my hands up.

Dylan shook his head, “Y’all are crazy as shithouse rats; you know that don’t you?”

I shook my head and waved, “We’ll see you later Dylan,” and started back for the truck.

“Thanks for the pork!” Dylan called out.

As Sarge pulled out onto Highway 19, I said, “They seemed pretty happy about the pig meat.”

“I imagine anyone would be these days.”

I stared out the window for a minute, “What the hell am I supposed to do with this whole sheriff thing? I mean, are we supposed to be riding on patrol, or what?”

“I figure you’ll sort it out when the time comes. I have a feeling what you need to be doing will make itself pretty clear to you when the time comes.”

I let out a long sigh, “That doesn’t make me feel any better; really it doesn’t.”

Sarge laughed and slapped me on the shoulder, “Don’t worry, I got yer back.”

“Hmmf, yeah, with both hands on my shoulders.”

Now Sarge really laughed, “No greater joy than a fat butt boy!”

As he turned towards the barricade, I said, “You truly are twisted.”

Mike and Ted were manning the barricade. Mike sitting on the top log, stretched out like a cat on top of the TV, the old style of course. Ted was leaned over the same log resting on his elbows. Sarge pulled up and stopped, neither of them moved.

“You guys going to keep watch tonight?” I asked.

Mike’s head rocked back and forth, “Yeah, we got it.”

“We reworked the board with Danny and Thad. It’s all taken care of tonight, Morg,” Ted added.

“Good, I’m ready to get some sleep,” Sarge replied.

“You sleeping alone tonight?” Mike asked.

Without saying a word, Sarge gave Mike a quick hard shove, rolling him off the log. Mike let out a yelp and hit the ground with a thump and a clank as he and all his gear followed the law of gravity.

“Hey, what the hell!” He shouted as he sat up.

“Learn to respect your elders, son,” Sarge shot back, getting a chuckle from both Ted and me.

“Elders my ass,” Mike replied as he dusted himself off.

“That was some good eats today Morgan,” Ted said.

“Don’t thank me, Thad did all the cooking.”

“And he did it a fine job of it,” Sarge replied. “Come on Morgan, let’s get you home.”

“Thanks guys, I appreciate you being down here and keeping an eye on things,” I said.

Ted waved me off, “De nada.”

Sarge dropped me off at the house. Mel was sitting in the living room, a kerosene lantern casting its yellow glow across her old antique dresser. I fell into the couch beside her and grabbed her hand, “Hey babe.” She smiled and squeezed my hand. She had a large coffee mug resting on her thigh, one I got on a road trip to Texas. “What’cha drinking?”

“I found a pack of MRE apple cider; want some?” She handed me the cup.

I took a sip and smiled. Handing the cup back, I said, “That’s good; I mean it’s awful, but it’s good.”

“Awfully good,” she said as she took another sip.

“That’s one way of putting it. What’s with the lantern, why are you using that?”

“I like the light, it’s nice,” she replied.

Mel reached over and clanked her cup against the star, “So, what’s with this, what’s it about?”

I plucked the badge from my vest; and I stared at the gold star lying in the palm of my hand, “It wasn’t my idea.”

Mel took the star and held it up, “I would hope not.” She turned it around, “Why’d you say yes?”

“It wasn’t really a request, they just showed up and told me.”

She handed the badge back to me, “So what are you going to be doing?”

Running a hand through my hair, I said, “I just asked Sarge that same question.”

“And what’d he say?”

“He said I’d know when the time came.”

Mel stared into her cup, “That doesn’t make me feel any better.” My head rocked back on the sofa as I let out a short laugh. A little annoyed, she asked, “What’s so funny?”

“That’s the same thing I said to Sarge.”

Setting her cup on the table, Mel said, “I just want things to calm down, to be kind of normal.” She laid her head on my shoulder, “I want to know when I go to bed at night that I’m going to wake up to a day where there isn’t going to be some tragedy, shooting, fires or whatever else is coming that we don’t even know about yet.”

Leaning back on the couch, I pulled her over and wrapped my arms around her. After a moment I said, “It isn’t that bad. We’re all still here; and we’ve beat everything that’s come at us.” I rubbed her arm, “I don’t know, I kind of like it, things are a lot slower now, I’m always home.”

I felt her move, “Really? You seem gone a lot to me.”

“Oh come on; I’m home every night.”

“I’ll give you that.”

“It’s kind of like Little House on the Prairie, sitting here in this light.”

Mel snorted, “More like Little House of the Apocalypse.”

I started laughing, “Now that is funny!”

She pinched my arm, “Shhh, you’ll wake the girls.”

“Ok, ok, quit pinching me. Where’s Little Bit; she in her bed or ours?”

“She’s in hers.”

“Good, she’s getting way too big to pick up and carry to bed.”

Mel stood up, “Well I’m ready for bed, you coming?”

“Yes I am.”

Thad sat with his back against a fence post. His long legs stretched out towards the fire burning near his feet. Smoke slowly rose into the clear evening sky nearly masking the odor of pig shit and urine. He could hear the hogs bumping the side of the barn as they jostled for sleeping positions in the thin layer of hay that still covered the floor. He pushed the end of a log into the fire with the toe of his boot, and leaned back with his hands behind his head. Hearing footsteps, he looked over to see Jess’s smiling face.

“Hey Thad, mind some company?”

He returned her question with a broad smile, “Shore thing; pull up a bucket and have a seat.”

Jess picked up one of the buckets that universally seemed to be around barns. Turning it up, she thumped the bottom, knocking off some dirt. Planting her bucket, she sat down, “Ain’t you had enough smoke for one day?”

Thad stared into the fire, “No such thing as too much hardwood smoke; I really enjoy it.”

Jess closed her eyes and took a deep breath, “I guess you’re right, it smells really good.”

They sat in silence for a moment, both staring into the flames that licked around the logs. Jess finally stirred; stretching out a leg, she reached into her pocket. She retrieved something as she leaned forward on her knees, fumbling with the object.

“What’cha got there?” Thad asked.

Jess held the silver star out. Thad smiled, “Got me one of them too.”

“You really think they want us to be the police?”

“We ain’t police; we’re sheriff deputies.”

Jess looked at him, her face twisted into a humorous smirk, “An Morgan is the Sheriff?”

The breeze shifted, blowing smoke into Jess’s face. She fanned at it with her hand, “It always follows me,” she said turning her head.

“Say rabbit.” Thad said.

“Say what?”

“Rabbit; the smoke will move away.”

She stood and picked up her bucket, “No it won’t, that’s just silly.”

“Suit yourself. Back to your question; it does look like he’s the Sheriff.”

Jess planted her bucket and took a seat, “But what makes him Sheriff; I mean, who gets to decide that now? Isn’t the Sheriff supposed to be elected?”

“Normally the Sheriff is elected; but these ain’t normal times. From what Morgan told me, Captain Sheffield made him the Sheriff.”

“You really think we’re going to be doing anything?” Jess asked.

Before Thad could answer, the breeze shifted again, pushing the smoke towards him. He waved a hand at the smoke, “Rabbit. I have a feeling we’ll be doing a lot. It all depends on what Morgan wants to do really.” The smoke slowly moved away from Thad.

Jess was looking at him, “Hey! That actually worked!”

Thad smiled, “Told you.”

“It feels kinda funny,” Jess said as she held the star up. “I would never have dreamed I’d be a cop.”

“Deputy,” Thad corrected her.

“Deputy,” Jess replied with a smile as the smoke shifted once again, pushing it towards her. Waving the smoke away, she cried out, “Rabbit!” The smoke persisted to wrap around her head, seeming to get worse. “It didn’t work!” She shouted as she rose to her feet.

Thad laughed, “You wasn’t holding your mouth right.”

Wiping a tear from her eyes, she asked, “What?” Thad let out a deep laugh. “I think your rabbit is full of it, I’m going inside.”

Still laughing, he called out to her, “Just wasn’t holding your mouth right!”

“Whatever, rabbit!”

Shaking his head and laughing to himself, Thad turned his attention back to the fire. He was still smiling when a voice called out, “Mind if I have a seat?”

Thad jumped, looking up to see Sarge walk out from the trees as the darkness deepened. “Yeah, have a seat; you scared the shit out of me.”

Sarge plopped down on the bucket Jess had abandoned, leaning his carbine against the barn. “Well I didn’t mean to do that, just saw yer fire and thought I’d visit.”

“You’re always welcome to visit.” Looking back the direction he’d come from, Thad asked, “what are you doing out wandering around?”

Sarge spit in the fire, “Just out for a walk; what was Jess fussin’ about?”

“Aw, the smoke was bothering her. Told her to say rabbit; she tried, but it didn’t work for her.”

Sarge snorted, “Wasn’t holding her mouth right.”

Thad’s head rocked back as he laughed, “That’s what I said!” Sarge looked up and smiled. “She was talking about the whole sheriff thing; she wondered who made Morgan Sheriff, and what gave them the right.”

Sarge listened and nodded, “Well he surely is the high Sheriff now; ole Sheffield set him up. I gotta say I didn’t see it coming; surprised the hell out of me.”

Thad chuckled, “Yeah, me too; just a bit to say the least.”

“You’ll be alright Thad, you guys will do a great job,” Sarge replied.

Thad stared into the fire for a moment, “What do you think it will mean; what do you think we’ll be doing?”

Sarge sat up and stretched his arms high over his head, “Shit Thad, what’s the speed of dark?”

With surprise and raised eyebrows, Thad relied, “Huh?”

“Who knows? Last time I asked my magic eight ball a question, it replied, ask again later. You guys are in the perfect situation though; you’re on the pointy end of the road back to a normal life. You’ll get to help shape the future. You’ll just have to take things as they come, but you’ll do alright.” Sarge waved his arm out over the fire, “all of you will do alright.”

Thad smiled, “What’s the speed of dark; that’s funny.” His smile faded as he stared into the fire; then he slowly started to nod his head, “I think you’re right.” He looked back up at Sarge, “I think we’ll be alright.”