Snareville (32 page)

She glared at me for a moment. Her strawberry-blonde hair had grown back. Her green eyes glittered. On top of the black tattoo ink, a small tear slid down her face.

“
If I remember correctly, I tried to kill you more than once myself. Don’t beat yourself up over it, Danny. None of us have been in our right minds for a couple years.” She smiled a little. She was a pretty girl. “Help me with this bird.”

I slid it back into the oven as the other girls came into the kitchen, the babies situated. I was duly chased out. On the way back, I grabbed a couple beers from the cooler. I needed one. I didn’t know about anyone else, but it wouldn’t go to waste. Tom held up his hand as I walked in, so he got the extra.

“
Is it okay for the commander to be drinking?” Gibson asked with a chuckle.

“
I’m not in command today. Olmos, my XO, has the lead. I’m having dinner with my family and drinking beer.”

We grinned. Conversation went on. We talked weather, gardens, training, and trade. Just everyday events that had taken the place of sports and politics. We figured there were probably less than two million people left alive in the United States, and probably far less in Canada.

“
I’m sure we’ve got something in inventory that would work for the delivery system, but finding it is going to be the trick,” Tom said.

“
And then the manpower to do something with it,” I added.

We all went silent as we tipped back our bottles. The girls stepped into the room and announced dinner was ready. We sat at the table as the food was brought out. There was enough for the feast and then some. Everyone was going to take leftovers home. Conversation was light. We talked simple things. The babies all got a taste of a real Christmas dinner. It was a fine meal.

While the women chatted in the kitchen and cleaned up, the men excused ourselves for a walk. We had no football games to watch, and my belly was full to bursting. The three of us strolled along the sidewalk with no real destination in mind. A platoon of soldiers jogged toward us from the other direction. Apparently, they'd been out in Rock Island on a run. The sergeant snapped us a salute as he called cadence to his sweaty troops. We all returned the salute, and the soldiers continued along the street.

“
You wish you was out there humpin’ troops, Major?” Gibson asked.

“
Hell, no, Lieutenant. There’s not much I miss about bein’ a D.I.”

We chuckled.

“
This bushwhacker turned out to be a pretty good soldier, for a civilian,” Gibson said as he jerked his thumb my direction. “Must run in the blood.”

Tom grinned. “He has a damn good teacher in Kenny One Shot. Man knows his stuff.”

“
I’ll take that as a compliment from both of you,” I said.

We got to the lock and dam. Water rolled through the unused lock. The massive steel gate was left open at both ends just enough to cover the floor with water. Most of the river turned the turbines to make power. Electricity flowed to the cities again. I kicked a clod of snow into the tumbling water below.

“
We’re starting over, aren’t we?” I asked.

“
What do you mean?” Tom asked. He kicked his own pile of snow into the drink.

“
Those of us left. We’re starting from scratch.”

“
Not really from scratch. We’re somewhere between the Stone Age and the Nuclear Age. Where we take it from here… that depends on a lot of things.”

“
We’ll go back to the tribal system, from what I’ve seen,” Gibson said. “Maybe not to the full extent, but I can see us bein’ different tribes here in the Midwest than the ones in the South or East or wherever. I don’t think there’s gonna be much goin’ on internationally for a long time.”

“
You think we’ll make it?” I asked.

“
I think so,” Tom said. “We’ve got a common enemy. I think we’re going to put aside all the crap that kept us apart before and work on eliminating as many Zeds as we can. Seems like we’re working on the population again. At least
you
are.”

The three of us chuckled.

“
I think we can easily say we’re doing our part,” Gibson said. “I’ve heard it’s like this in some other places too. All but two of my lady Marines are with child. When they get bigger, I’m going to pull them off line duty.”

“
What about Cindy?” Tom asked.

“
Always that," I muttered. "Everyone wants to know. You’ll know when everyone else does, bro.”

Tom grinned. “We better get back to our ladies. I’m sure they could use some help.”

We turned and headed back to the house. The girls had an old Jimmy Stewart film moving in the DVD player—the one where he’d wished he was dead. It was a bit appropriate for the events of the last couple years. Someday, maybe they’d do a remake with Zeds.

We all found a place to get comfortable. Babies found a place on the floor to play. At the end, when Clarence got his wings, there were tears and sniffles all around, even from the military segment of the group. I nudged Pepper in the ribs. She turned and smiled at me. She gave a little nod, and I stood.

For a moment, I looked out the windows. The sun was sliding behind the hills of Davenport. Lights were starting to pop on. Everything looked so normal out there.

“
Excuse me, folks. I'd like to say something.”

Everyone quieted. The babies had fallen asleep on their blankets.

“
Tomorrow is the one-year anniversary between Pepper and me. It’s been a year of blessings and a year of sadness. Nothing's sure anymore. Nothing is a guarantee. Nothing but my love for my wife and my family. And there’s one more person I want to share that love and happiness with for whatever time God allows me.”

I walked over to where Cindy sat on the couch, cuddling Rachel. I saw tears in her eyes already. I pulled a small box from my pocket. On one knee, I opened the box. Three rings glittered inside: Two women’s and one man’s. I felt Pepper’s hand on my shoulder.

“
Cindy, would you marry us? Join our family?”

Cindy handed Rachel to Ella. With a laugh, she flung her arms around my neck and buried her face there.

“
Yes,” she whispered. “Oh, my God…
yes
.”

Everyone had something to say, of course. Mostly how it was about time. We uncorked a bottle of wine Tom had stashed in his cupboard, and we celebrated happy news. Even Ella and Shar got a little taste of wine each. We toasted the future and remembered the past. It turned out to be a better day than I expected.