Second Chances (24 page)

She realized she couldn't eat it all and trading it with Victor was out; he had nothing she really wanted. Adam didn't want to trade, so that was out.

In the end she cooked some of the produce and made spaghetti sauce by the bucket load. She fed the animals some of the carrots and stored the rest in sand. She gave some of her product to Miranda and more to Victor for store credit. Miranda was grateful; she gave some of the produce to some of others and other things to Loni.

Loni was put out that her tomatoes were handed out, but let it slide when people thanked her or even hit her up for her recipes. She felt flattered.

The community fell into the regular routine of gathering, hunting, caring for what they had, and getting materials for mining and the other projects. Some people fell into improving their homes since the farms didn't need attention beyond weeding and guarding. Loni tried to make improvements to her own house but lacked tools, strength and experience. She was envious of John...and a little resentful about how he sometimes dropped everything to help everyone but her.

~~~~~~(@)~~~~~~

Adam had a ball in his persona as their resident blacksmith. He had a brisk nail business going, using a couple of Hector's kids to help out. Many people wanted to upgrade to a cabin like John's or a community house since his hadn't leaked all winter despite settling a bit. For his troubles John was expanding his cabin into a home. He'd taken a window out and was working on adding a proper bathroom, a much larger pantry and an area for the dogs. He was also expanding the loft space as well he said for more storage. Many of the people wanted to follow in his example; they were tired of living in a vehicle or even a motor home.

Even Trisha was making noises about having a proper house Adam thought darkly. The horses and other animals had better quarters...well not really, but there was no telling her. And since she was four-months pregnant, they'd need the room. She'd pointedly made it clear she wasn't going to raise their first child in a drafty motor home like a gypsy.

Eric and Carlene worked with the community to revise the base. Some of the families were growing, others consolidating into one group. One early house was torn down to make room for the new expanded barn. The material was carefully reused.

Loni was put out. She would have taken it to improve or rebuild her own home but they hadn’t offered it to her. She was even more surprised and put out that John, Miranda, Earl, Guy, and Eric built a new home next to her tepee. “Who's that for?” she asked of Miranda when they were half finished.

“Who do you think?” Miranda teased. Loni looked at her. She rolled her eyes. “You, you silly goose!”

“Me??” She demanded.

Miranda snorted. “Don't get your knickers in a twist. Yes, you. That was John's plan all along,” she said.

“John's?” Loni asked, eyes narrowed.

“Yeah. He didn't want to see you out in the cold again. Now that he's done his place, he suggested it to us and we decided to lend a hand. Don't get mad,” she said.

Loni didn't say anything. She went off to the barn. When it was finished it was a nice one room cabin. She refused to live in it however.

~~~~~~(@)~~~~~~

In the mid- to late-spring they had an all hands group to deal with the last of the thaw and mud. Just when they thought they'd had enough of baby factories Ross reported in to Doc with morning sickness. Ross was banned from climbing the watch tower since it was slippery. Ross grumbled a bit, then admitted in an aside to Carlene and Loni that she was glad. “I was getting seriously sick of climbing those ladders. And yeah, sick in a literal way,” she said.

“Ew,” Carlene said, making a face.

“I'd have ralphed on someone, but no one was in range except Bull or Trey. Trey was tempting since he knocked me up,” Ross grumbled.

“Hey, it takes two to tango lady,” Carlene teased.

Ross snorted, then grinned. “Yeah, and I did enjoy it,” she said. “Still do,” she said proudly. Carlene chuckled.

Loni mumbled an excuse about checking on the animals and then left. This pregnancy thing was catching, and she didn't want to be next.

~~~~~~(@)~~~~~~

Everyone worked hard through the spring and into the summer. The first series of new births happened in last weeks of spring and the first weeks of summer. Doc Brown played midwife for the first six before she too went into labor. By that time she'd trained Quincy and Pat on what needed to be done. She had her little girl and then was back up the next day attending to her duties.

Pat was inundated with babies, so much so that she took on an apprentice daycare worker in Gwen. The shy girl was all gooey about babies. She'd shacked up with Gerald and Nel, but Nel jealously guarded her boyfriend not that Gwen would hit on the guy. She'd teasingly flirted with him a few times, which was probably why Nel was so jealous.

Gwen had moped for a bit, trying to get out of the motor home as much as possible to give them their much needed space. She'd finally gotten into playing with the kids. She and Kevin had truce; she still wasn't sure about him though he seemed to have settled down over the past year.

The blond girl had considered asking one of the others to let her in. She'd gladly do her share of chores, but no one had offered and her shy nature made her unsure of how to go about asking. Somehow Wendy and Yung Lin had wound up together though both had apparently competed for John for a while before giving up or at least calling a truce.

“I don't see what the big deal is,” Gwen grumbled softly as she rocked Teresa to sleep. The little girl had gotten big, but she still wanted cuddling like any toddler. She was cranky sometimes too, which was why a nap was encouraged.

“I'm not sure what you're talking about,” Pat said softly, her hands full with little Nate. The boy was having a rough teething. He howled a lot keeping many people up at night. They'd tried a few home remedies, even Victor's hooch. Icing his sucker seemed to help for a while.

“The guys. People. I don't know,” Gwen sighed. She carried Teresa to Pat's bed and then went to check on the other babies. When she was satisfied, she came back and sat in the chair to watch Pat finish with Nate.

The rocker was a gift from John; he'd improvised it from an old kitchen chair and some wood. It wasn't perfect, but it worked well enough to suit their purposes.

“People are going on like we're still on Earth. Like one boy, one girl is the thing. But it's a new world. I don't see why that crap matters,” she grumbled.

“Uh huh,” Pat murmured. When she was certain Nate was down for the count, she got up slowly then carried him to the crib. She settled the boy, propping him up with rolled blankets, then quietly returned to the main room.

She had a nice cabin; all the parents had chipped in to make it that way since their kids would be staying in it half the time. They also wanted Pat to be okay. After all, if the woman got sick and couldn't care for their kids then they were stuck doing it or finding other accommodations. And not everyone was set up to handle child rearing. Case in point their local gun nut Bert. She liked the guy, but she'd never settle down with him.

“Are you talking about Nel and Gerald again?” Pat asked, going to work on getting ready for the next feeding. Now that they had some milk available, both from plants, animals, and people, they had a bit of a surplus. She was glad she had Miranda's mini fridge to hold it all.

“Them, you, me, anyone. We're sort of mixed up for population,” Gwen said. Pat nodded. The younger woman sighed and then got up. “I'll help you make lunch,” she said finally, brushing her lap off.

Chapter 13

Out gathering material to supplement her garden and the animal feed, Loni was attacked by a group of centipedes. They were a smattering of greens and browns, pretty good camouflage, she judged, unsure what to do. The things hissed at her, waving antenna and moving in a sickening rippling motion over the dried leaves. The leaves and sticks crackled under their weight. They were large, about the size of a dog, and had vicious mandibles and hard shells covering their backs. John was nearby logging; he heard her shouting. He dropped what he was doing and ran to her aide.

Loni threw rocks and yelled, but the giant insects were undeterred. She swung a branch at the closest one. The branch hit the shell, but bounced off. It did get the animal to rear up like a cobra though, exposing a red and yellow belly and making her scream in fear once more. She backed away until a tree hit her in the rump. She turned, darted around the tree then climbed another when she realized the things were following.

John hefted the ax as he ran, unsure what good it would do. He had his 357 on his hip, but he had only five shots with it, the fifth chamber was empty to preserve the hammer mechanism and to keep the gun from going off accidentally.

He saw the giant insects rearing around a tree. The bush partially obscured his view, but he got enough of a glance to know what was going on. He paused long enough to rip the shirt tail off his shirt, then snap a dried branch and wind it around that.

The sound of the dried branch snapping got the animal's attention. Two turned to look in his direction, mandibles and antenna moving about. They dropped down low, and he saw the bushes rustle in his direction as they got closer.

He figured Loni had climbed the tree. He could hear her yelling still. He pulled out a polyp and squished it, dribbling the juices onto the improvised torch. He pulled a precious zippo lighter out of his thigh pocket and lit the cloth, then blew on it to make sure it took. He snapped the lighter closed and pocketed it just as the first animal came out of the brush.

It rose up like a cobra, hissing at him but focused on the torch. He pointed the torch at arm's length moving it to get the thing's attention. But before he could do anything more the second came out of the bush. John swore, now outnumbered.

“Do something!” Loni wailed. “Anything!”

“I'm sort of fresh out of ideas here lady!” He called back. That got the rest of the swarm's attention. They turned away from attempting to climb the tree to him. Soon the bushes were all moving in his direction.

“The good news is they aren't paying attention to you anymore,” he said, backing slowly away from the two who were bobbing and weaving. He dodged a lunge, diving behind a tree. He swung the ax as he heard a sound coming from the other side. It missed, but the torch accidentally ground into the creature before it could bite him. It shook and jerked away, then dived into the bush.

He turned back in time to catch a centipede as it went for his arm. It bit, but the ax handle was in the way. He felt mandibles dig into the ax and his flesh, making him bellow in pain. He ground the torch into the thing making it shudder and jerk away. A second smaller one bit him on the thigh. He smashed it with the butt of the ax making it let go.

He swung the ax with a surge of adrenaline chopping into the underside. Fluids sprayed out as the thing thrashed in the bush hitting two of the other animals. The smell or splatter of ichor made them pause, then turn and leave the area.

He panted, standing there waiting for the next attack. When none were forthcoming immediately. He looked at his arm and leg. His arm was a mess, most likely broken from the pain he was feeling. Still, he didn't let go of the ax, though he did lower the suddenly heavy head.

The leg wound was more serious though; he was bleeding. He immediately took off his belt and used it as a tourniquet. From the look of the bite, the only thing that had kept the thing from snipping right through his leg was the barrel of the 357. He laughed, knowing he probably sounded hysterical. He should have used the damn thing, he thought, cinching the belt savagely tight.

“What's so funny?” Loni demanded. “Are they gone?”

“Yeah, you can come down,” he said.

“I don't know if I can. I twisted my ankle pretty bad on the way up,” she said. She sniffled, then climbed down as he limped over to her. When she got down she was looking down, rubbing her ankle. “Damn it, yeah, I did,” she muttered. Then she looked up to see the blood on his arm and leg. “Shit, you're hurt?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Some hero, right?” he laughed. “Come on,” he said, motioning with the torch.

“You better let me take that,” she said, eying him and the brand. She took the torch, then one hand touched his wounded arm. He was cradling it and the ax against his chest, the head of the ax was almost in his hand. He winced.

“I should...” He winced as she ripped her own shirt tail, then used it to wrap his arm. “Stupid fool, getting hurt,” she muttered as she tightened it, then tied it off.

“You're welcome,” he gasped.

“I didn't say...you know what, never mind,” she said. She felt sobs tear at her throat as her hind brain caught up to the fact that she was relatively safe. But she still needed to get out of there.
They
needed to get out of there she reminded herself.

“Come on, lean on me,” she said, limping to his side. They made their way carefully away from the animals and to safety. Unfortunately, they had to take a roundabout course; the animals had fled towards the base.

John felt his attention waver with each step. He was getting dizzy and very tired. He fought it; he knew it was death to pass out. But finally his traitorous body gave in. He slumped against a tree.