Second Chances (30 page)

That evening, after everyone had gone to bed Nicole looked over to him. “What?” he asked softly. “Can't you see I'm trying to sleep?” he growled. He ached; he hadn't worked out like that hunt in quite a while. Obviously one day at the gym and his weekend militia events hadn't cut it in the exercise department. He blamed the guys for that. They'd been the ones always wanting to swill cheap beer and tell war stories while bitching about Obama and the damn liberal hippies.

“Sorry,” she muttered, turning away from him. He heard the catch in her voice.

He could tell from her tone she was upset about something. He knew he wasn't going to get any sleep until she came out with it. “What is it?” he asked, moderating his tone.

“Nothing,” she said, sniffling.

He sighed, then took her in his arms. “Okay, what?” he asked, stroking her hair. She'd had nice full hair in high school, but it had thinned out when she'd gotten older. She'd taken on curves too, looking more womanly. He liked curvy women to some degree, but she was pushing his comfort zone. Or was. With the food situation the way it looked...”Is it the food? Aliens?”

“Yes,” she finally admitted, catching her breath as the sobs eased. “I just thought it'd be different,” she sniffled. He snorted. “Eden, I mean...”

He snorted. There was no way she'd get him to admit that he'd thought the same thing. He'd fallen for it, and he'd been...not right. Swindled by the man. He made a mental bet that the aliens were just laughing at them. Or the two idiots who had sold off everything they'd owned before they'd left, donated the money to charity or their families, then come here in robes. He hadn't seen hide nor hair of them since they'd gone off in the bush. He was fairly certain they were in the stomach of some dinosaur by now. Or hell, a big pile of stinking shit. “Well, it's not. We've got to deal with it,” he said grudgingly.

“What will we tell the kids?” she finally asked softly. “Sydney's going to freak. I mean, the kids love dinosaurs, but they've both seen all the Jurassic Park movies...”

“She'll deal with it. There is no other choice. We'll all deal with it,” Miles said. “We'll have to lay down the law. Keep them here, near the trailer. I'm supposed to do something about the defenses tomorrow. I think bright and early,” he said.

“Bet your hairy ass,” she finally said, settling herself down. He rubbed her arm gently as her right arm wrapped around him. “We'll talk to them in the morning,” she murmured. Her respiration began to even out as she became sleepy.

He made an uh huh sound, nuzzled her hair, and then let himself drift.

Chapter 16

The rising sun woke them up the next morning. Miles cursed, ready to slam the curtains shut, then remembered he'd opened them for that very reason. He grumbled, then got up and relieved his bladder.

After dino steaks and the last of their eggs for breakfast, he and Nicole sat the kids down at the table. “Now look, we all thought this was Eden, but we've found out differently,” Nicole started.

“Yeah, the dinosaurs,” Sydney said, biting her lip. “Mom...” She looked at her mother in appeal.

“Yeah, they're real kiddo,” Nicole said, hugging her daughter. She stroked her brown hair gently as her daughter looked up to her. “I'm scared too. But that's why we've got to set down some new ground rules and figure out what we're going to do.”

“Obviously living in the trailer isn't going to cut it,” Jake said. “They can squish it like a coke can,” he said, tossing a rock at a lizard. The thing darted away, six legs windmilling almost comically.

Sydney shivered. Nicole rubbed her hair again, then set herself firmly. “None of that. Your father is going to work on the defenses today. I'm finally going to get a proper castle, right dear?” She asked, with a bite to her tone.

“Yes dear,” Miles said. He frowned thoughtfully then nodded. He'd been wondering what the hell he'd do. Now Nicole had given him an idea. Good. He could use that as a starting point. Obviously a rock castle was out...although, they did have a lot of spics around...all they were really good for was labor, right? he thought.

“Starting today, we're conserving resources. So, no more phones,” Nicole said as Jake took his phone out. Her son looked at her. “Yes, I'm serious,” she said, voice dropping into a command tone.

“But...how will we reach you?” Sydney asked.

“You yell,” Jake said. “The phones don't work dummy,” he said snidely.

“Oh.”

“Don't talk to your sister that way,” Nicole growled. Jake blinked at her. “No more phones for anything. So shut it off and put it away,” she said. “We're no longer going to charge it. We've got to start conserving things starting with food and fuel.”

“Shit,” Jake muttered. He held the phone up. His mother's eyes flared. “Off” she mouthed to him. He scowled blackly, but then sighed.

“I was using it for a clock you know,” he grumbled. “How am I supposed to tell the time??”

“The old fashioned way. You look at the sun,” Miles growled. “Besides, what time is it?” he asked.

“Um...” The kid frowned at his phone, then up to his mother. “Honest, he asked.” He turned to his father. “Eleven.”

“AM? With the sun just coming up?” Miles demanded, pointing to the rising sun.

“Um...PM, wait, this can't be right,” Jake's brows knit in confusion. “Ah crap, it's broke isn't it?”

“It probably needs a refresh,” Sydney said.

“It's not broke. It's this planet. If you haven't noticed, it's different. More moons for one. And the time's messed up.”

“Crap,” Jake sighed, shutting the phone off. He stuffed it in his pocket.

“Next rule. No free lunches to your friends. Meals are on time; if you aren't here, you don't eat. Don't be late,” Nicole said. She looked at her husband. “That goes for you too,” she said.

He grunted but didn't rise to the bait.

“Three, you stay within sight of the trailer unless you are with one of us. You both know better than to talk to strangers.”

“But mom, what about the other kids?” Sydney asked.

“You can play in common ground between their place and ours,” Nicole amended. “Where I can see you,” she said.

“I'm not thrilled about any of us being outside with the dinosaurs around,” Miles rumbled. “But Jake here,” he clapped his son on the shoulder, “is going to finally be doing man's work.”

Jake winced. He was one month shy of his thirteenth birthday. He'd wanted to grow up faster, get out from under his dad. He'd just started puberty and resented his overbearing father “the colonel.” Now this. He did his share; he did his chores. He scowled but knew better than to direct it at his father.

Miles rubbed his son's shoulder briefly, gripping it tight enough to make Jake wince again. “We're going to get the lazy spics together and get them working on the outer wall and other defenses. Nicky, I suggest you do inventory and figure out what we've got and what we need,” he said. She nodded.

“Gather more firewood. You two see if you can rustle up a salad or something to go with the meat since I know you want a balanced diet and all that,” he said. She nodded. “Shut the damn generator off,” he finally said. “We'll run it half the time. Keep the fridge door shut; that should keep it cool longer.”

“Most of it’s empty,” Nicole admitted. “We've got some ketchup and a few other things in there. Oh, and the meat. I think we can do away with the mini fridge. There's nothing in there but ice,” she said.

“If it can keep out in the air, do it,” Miles ordered. “Shut the generator off totally. Figure out how to secure the stuff in case we've got to move fast or in case someone with sticky fingers comes around,” he said. He checked the knife and pistol on his belt, then hefted his AR-15. He'd brought out the heavier weapon. He wasn't certain if it had the stopping power needed to bring down a big ass dino, but he wanted it anyway. “You leave the trailer, you go armed from now on,” he said to her. She nodded. He leaned over to her and gave her a kiss, then straightened. “That it?” he asked. She nodded again. Her eyes were troubled though.

“Fine then, we're off,” Miles said. Jake sighed and swung his leg around then rose to his feet.

“Where are you boys going?”

“To see a man about a junkyard,” Miles said. He waved a hand. “Back by lunch,” he said as they moved off.

\------{}------/

Miles and Jake walked to the pile of scrap metal laid out over several dozen acres nearby. “Dad, why are we walking?” The kid asked.

“Didn't you listen? No fuel shit for brains,” Miles growled. “And call me Colonel. I told you that before,” he said.

“Whatever,” Jake grumbled under his breath. His father ignored it.

Along the way they waved to Abe and Vicky who were loading up two trucks of hunters. It was obvious that they had more people than they needed or wanted. The trucks were overloaded, typical spics, he thought. “Bring me back a drumstick, okay?” Miles called out.

“Hey man, you don't go, you don't eat,” a guy said in broken English.

“Who asked you,” Miles growled. “FYI I'm going to see a man about a wall and some defenses. Anyone interested in that?” he asked pointedly. “You know, something to keep the dinosaurs out and not chewing on your kids throats in the middle of the night?”

That got just about everyone to look up in alarm. They looked at Abe. Abe slowly nodded. “The man's right. A bit...raw, but right,” he said, then half smiled at his unwarranted wit. “Any takers? You lend him a hand, and I'll give you a cut,” he said.

A few people looked relieved and took their stuff back. “Come on then,” Miles said. “I'm the colonel. Call me Colonel or Colonel Dunn,” he said. He jerked a thumb to his son. “This is my son, Jake.”

“Please to meet you,” Jake muttered and then kicked up his heels to keep up with his father as he continued his march. “Uh, Colonel, do we have a plan?” he asked.

“Yeah. We need metal. No way we're making a wall out of wood,” Miles grunted. “For that we've got just the place,” he said, pointing to the junkyard.

“Oh.”

Junkyard Joe was the proprietor of the large junkyard. On Earth it had been very popular, doing a booming business through the Internet for car parts. He had mostly classic cars; the more generic cars had been stripped and then crushed, usually within a week of their entry into the yard.

Miles didn't care for the tall black guy. Apparently he'd inherited the yard from his father after he'd passed. He was a good mechanic or so he said. But he just didn't trust the guy. He'd tolerate him though. If he got the job done, that was what mattered, right?

Joe for his part was a bit upset about the group tearing apart his cars and yard looking for material. “Look, the dinosaurs eat you, then we'll do it anyway,” Miles said. “Or hell, I can save you the trouble, put you out of your misery now and then do it anyway.” He rested one hand on his 357.

“No need for that,” Joe said hastily, hands up. His Rottweiler growled at Miles.

“If your mutt moves a muscle, it's dead,” Miles said dryly.

“Heel,” Joe snapped to the dog. “He doesn't like you,” he said after a moment. “I'm not sure I do either.”

“Well, I don't like him either. Guess we're even,” Miles said. Jake snorted.

Joe dragged his feet, pissing and moaning about some of the cars. He didn't care for other more modern vehicles and stuff though. He flat out refused to let them use his loaders and machinery though.

They dived into the construction Miles took on planning it carefully, using the land to the best of his ability. He was rather glad he'd spent so much time with the minutemen guarding America's southern border. He'd spent days studying the wall; he figured they'd get something up soon.

That didn't last for long though; he found putting a fence up and planning one were two very different things. They got a few fence posts dug and set and the start of a wall when Abe's dodge truck came back splattered with blood and a bit chewed up. “What the hell happened?” Miles asked when he came over.

Abe practically fell out of the cab. A few people were in the back, others fell out of the cab as well. Most were white as a sheet, scared shitless. Miles curled his lip in disgust. “We got hit. Hit hard. The others...” Abe shook his head. Miles recognized the signs of post combat trauma. Suddenly his whole outlook changed. “The others...they just swarmed the truck. Nobody got out of that.”

“Shit,” Miles said, then snarled curses. “How many,” he finally asked when he wound down.

“We'd set up on a rise. I was setting up for a shot when they hit us from behind. Everyone was out of the trucks. There was no place to go. I just jumped in mine when the screams started,” he said.

“Abe, how many?” Miles demanded.

“Too many,” Vicky said, coming over to them. “Eight are missing,” she said. Abe closed his eyes. “I think we're going to need that wall,” she said.

“Damn it,” Miles said. “Do you know what hit you? Those bird things?”

“No,” Vicky said, shaking her head. “Something with six legs and a lot of teeth. A lot of them.”

“We'll have to go back for them,” Abe said, sighing.

“No. Like you said, no one could live through that.”