Tent City (26 page)

“What happened to them?  I mean, your parents. Are they still alive?”

I feel like such an idiot because I can’t find a more delicate way to ask. He stiffens, but seems determined to answer.

“Mom’s gone. Dad’s still around somewhere. We don’t talk to him. He’s a bad guy, Dani. You don’t want to have anything to do with him.”

“Did he hurt your mom?” I’m feeling bold now.

Silence.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that….”

“No, no, that’s fine. I told you that I only want to be honest with you. It’s just…I’ve never talked about it before. He did…or, he might have. We don’t know for sure. That’s actually why we took off. When we first left, we left together. Actually, stole off in the middle of the night, if you can picture that,” he says chuckling a little.

“That’s kind of where we disagree. She did die.” His eyes darken. He is stammering a bit, but determined to get it out. “Bent thinks he killed her.”

I gasp.

“Killed her how?” I speak barely above a whisper, as if by saying it quietly, maybe it didn’t happen at all.

“It’s kind of a long story, but Bentley thinks he poisoned her.”

“Why would he do that?” Still whispering, I glance over at Brody who must be in a deep sleep, as his eyelids flutter, marching him through his dreams.

“Even if he did, which I’m not saying he did, it was probably an accident. She was working on some stuff. She had this wild idea that the government was in on some of the deaths. Remember that year that millions died? Well, my mom might have been digging where she shouldn’t have been.”

“What does that have to do with your dad?”

He stays silent, deciding on what to say. I poke him in the leg as a gentle prod to remind him I’m listening.

“My dad…he is kind of high up in D.C. He’s a preacher,” he says with shame.

“Wow.”

“Does that scare you?” he asks.

“No,” I lie.

Since the locusts made their swarm years ago, people generally fell into two categories: those who believe that this is God’s plan and the end is near, and the others, those who think the first group is a bunch of quacks.

I don’t mind people believing in what they want to believe in, but the religious “zealots” as my dad liked to call them were going to extremes. They would rant and rave about getting saved, and preached that if you weren’t saved, you were going to burn in Hell for all eternity.

I believe there is Someone up there who’s responsible for mankind, but the way they go about it…it’s a little freaky.

The Someone I picture up there is a little disappointed with his children for behaving the way they are. From the way I see it, General Burke is a power hungry egomaniac who is using the locusts as a way to justify what he’s doing. Pretty convenient, if you ask me.

The latter category consists of scientific minded people who have found a way to justify the locusts. The scientists explained that locust swarms are not uncommon, especially when rain is abundant. We did have a good rain year. But to even the most scientific mind, if you witnessed the locusts, you couldn’t help but fear the magic in the dark clouds of insects. Or sense it, at the very least.

But the biggest point the scientists like to make, is that in the Bible there were ten plagues and the locusts were number eight. I like this theory. It makes sense to me. If we were to go in the order of the plagues from the Bible, we would have started with our water turning into blood and killing all of the fish.

Dad said Burke and his men searched heavily trying to prove that this had already happened somewhere in the world, but to Burke’s disappointment, it was never proven.

It’s as I figured. Bentley went into a rage when he found out what Jack and I had done. He returned from the raid the following morning with what looked to be like a very successful mission. He had loads and loads of dried goods, medical supplies for Jack, and even some solar paneling Jack had requested. I can’t imagine that was easy to bring back on the wheeler.

“What were you thinking?!” he screams at Jack, and then shoots me a dirty look.

“What were we supposed to do? They needed help,” Jack replies.

“You can’t go around trying to save the world Jack. What about the people we have here? This isn’t a damn charity mission.” Bentley says as he starts hurling bags of rice onto the porch of Callie’s cabin.

“Then what is it? Is this you building an army? Kind of ironic isn’t it? The very thing you despise about him, you’re trying to do?”

Bentley blanches a bit and looks over at me.

“Not now, Jack.” He growls and ends the conversation with the slam of the cabin door.

I imagine he’s talking about Burke. I’ve heard Bentley rant and rave enough about him to understand what Jack is talking about.

I don’t allow myself to get upset about Bentley’s little tirade. I’m too excited to see the baby and introduce Brody to Avery. I go and get Brody from the kitchen, where Callie is tucking treats in his pocket for later.

“I may have another pet for you Callie,” I say as a bend over and give Brody a peck on the check.

“Did you miss me?” I whisper into his ear. He nods and shoves two fingers into my belt loop, a sign that he’s ready to go.

“Oh yeah?  Please tell me it’s not a coon.” I frown at the bad joke and tell her about Avery. This has perked her interest up and she instructs me to send her straight over.

When I enter my cabin and see Jessica nursing the newborn, the room seems to be filled with something sweet and pure, new life. It’s been so long since I’ve seen a baby, probably since Brody was born. Since the hard times fell, not many people are eager to bring in new mouths to feed. Brody is trailing shyly behind me and Jessica waves me closer. Avery is at her mom’s side, enraptured by the baby as well.

“It’s okay Brody,” Jess says. “Your sister has told me all about you. I’d like to meet the little man who’s the light of her life.”

I never said that, but it’s true. He’s the center of my world. With everything the way it is now with The Council, it really is about the young ones who come in. They are our hope. They remind us of why we are trying so hard to survive, which makes it even scarier with the safety camps.

How could Burke think that children don’t belong with their mothers?

Brody is losing his sense of shyness and Avery has perked up. Instead of being interested in the baby though, it’s Avery he’s got his eyes on.

It shocks the heck out of me when he walks right up to her and holds out his hand.

“I’m Brody and I’m five.”

She glances back at her mom as if to ask if it’s okay. Her mother nods and Avery extends her delicate little hand.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Want to play with my trains?” he asks.

“Sure.” Simple as that. Friends.

They go out to the porch and set up. Brody knows this drill well. Play quietly while the “grownups” talk. That sounds ridiculous even in my head.

“You doing okay?” I ask Jessica as she burps the baby.

“Yes, thanks to you. I don’t know what we would have done without you,” she says.

“Well,” I blush, “it was Jack, really. He’s the genius.” I look down to the floor. I don’t know why this is embarrassing me.

“I’ll give you that, but if you hadn’t gotten to me when you did, I’m afraid…well, it wouldn’t have been good.”

“Did you name him yet?” I ask, excited to meet our newest human.

“Well, I wanted to name him, Jack Daniel,” she says with a smile, “but I couldn’t quite imagine how he would live up to that, so we decided on DJ.”

I don’t know why this stuns me so. It’s like that experience has tied Jack and me together forever. I wonder what he will think of that.

Just then there is a knock at the door. It’s Bentley. Seriously, is he going to do this now? Why does he have to be such a jerk about it? Can’t he see that they need help?

“Can I talk to you?” he asks, as I open the door and wait for the inevitable.

“Sure.” I might as well get this over with.

I leave the happy mother and her baby and go out to get what’s coming to me. I send Brody and Avery back in, as she’s eager to show Brody the baby again. Clearly, she’s proud of her big sister status.

Now, to deal with this. I mean, I knew this was inevitable. I’ve known Bentley long enough to know he’s not thrilled about this.

“So, let me have it I guess,” I start. I’m kicking my shoes around a little, trying to scuff wood that won’t scuff.

“Huh?”

“Aren’t you going to tell me what an idiot I am and that they have to leave?  That I have endangered the camp, put everyone at risk?”

“The baby? We’ve already talked about that. What can I do about it now? Besides, what would be the point? You always get what you want anyway.” He starts out irritated, but smirks a little at the last part.

“Whatever I want? Hardly.”

“Oh, don’t go denying that now.” He throws back his head in laughter. Now
I’m
irritated.  

“Maybe you don’t know….” he considers this. “Maybe, you don’t really... Well, let me tell you….Before you got here, I ran a tight ship and now it’s all in shambles. I’ve learned when it comes to you, it’s best not to fight it. It could drive a guy crazy.” He’s got his fingers running through his hair again. Telltale sign. Bentley is frazzled again. Been a lot of that going around. I can’t bring myself to feel sorry for him.

“They can stay?” I ask, suddenly hopeful.

“Seriously, would you really let me get away with kicking them out? I’d like to see how that would go down. I think you and I both know that you wouldn’t allow that.”

Now that I think about it, I guess he’s right. I would do anything to get them to stay. I couldn’t imagine having to turn them out now.

I’m even willing to give up my cabin, especially since the rabies thing hasn’t been completely eradicated. Picturing that baby out in the woods with those creatures brings a shiver down my spine.

“So what is it then?” I ask.

“I just wanted to stop by and tell you I am leaving.”

“Leaving?”

“Another raid, sort of.”

“Why tell me now? You’ve never had the need to alert me before.”

“This one’s different. It’s pretty dangerous. It’s possible that I might not come back.”

“What is it?”

“We’ve located one of the safety camps,” he says, as he sits down on the swing. He gives the swing a little pat, motioning for me to sit down beside him. I do.

“Where? How could it be so close? And why do you have to go there? You couldn’t possibly be planning on raiding a safety camp?”

“No, no. It’s not like that. We’re not going for supplies. They’ve got Wes.”

“Wes? Are you sure? How can you be sure?”

“Oh, it’s him. Dani, it’s a shithole. It’s all fenced in and they look absolutely miserable. I mean, I suppose they are fed well enough. It’s set up pretty much like a prison. It’s about an hour from here. I’m not even sure if we can stay in Tent City. It’s a little too close for comfort. I mean if it was so easy for us to find them, I imagine it will be only a matter of time before they return the favor. We have to get him out while we still can.”