The Emerald Virus (51 page)

    
“I’m glad it wasn’t worse than that for you, although I’d guess you still have
some tough days ahead. You’ll have to heal from this, one way or another. And
we have some really good people who will help you with that. Heather is one of
them.”

    
Tammy smiled at Heather and said, “If I can get used to her warped sense of
humor, maybe she can help.”

    
They were all exhausted and they agreed they would all sleep for a couple of hours
and by daybreak, start home. The Tennessee River Valley was a two day drive
from here, but they weren’t in any hurry.

    
The last thing they did before they left the next day was to stop by the
dealership to deal with Topper. Jack wasn’t sure what to do with him, but the
more he thought about it the more he knew he could not let this kind of man
free to hurt others.

    
Finally he looked at Topper and said “I can’t let you go free so this is what
I’m going to do. When I get to the door I’m going to slide this revolver to
you. It will have one shell in it and you can use it as you want. I don’t think
you can free the handcuffs with one shot, but you are welcome to try. If you
try and don’t succeed you’ll starve to death right here. You have one other option
but that will be your choice. This is more of a choice than you provided your captives
so I think this is about as fair as I can be.”

Tuesday:
Opportunity, Montana

    
Bob Turner was in his normal seat behind the bar. He liked to look at
everything that was going on in the bar and restaurant area of the country
club. He liked this place a lot, almost as much as he liked the leadership role
he played. It had been surprisingly easy for him to take charge of this group.
First, most of them were followers who really didn’t want any responsibility,
and secondly, he had beaten the hell out of the first man who challenged him.

   
He had explained to the rest of the group that while he wasn’t planning on
restricting anything anybody did, he wasn’t going to listen to any nonsense
from any one in the group, period. The story of how he had beaten a man almost
to death had been spread and elaborated on with each newcomer.  

  
  His group had started in a saloon near the Interstate but the group had
outgrown that place and had moved the short distance to the country club. He
wished it were more like one of the grand country clubs found in exclusive
areas around the country, but until spring, this was as good as it was going to
get. Being a patient man, he was fine with that.

    
His group now referred to this place as ‘the saloon’, and that seemed to fit
the environment. The country club grounds provided ample room for RV parking
near the saloon, and the place has a large fireplace to keep warm.

    
He was amazed at how much wood one fireplace could burn in a day, and it
produced less heat than he had imagined. A couple of his crew had installed
wood and pellet burning stoves in the past so he had sent them into Butte to
find a couple of them so they could warm this place up.

   
 They had installed four such stoves around the outside walls. As it turned out
it was easy to cut the holes in the walls for the stovepipes. And what a
difference the stoves made. It was now comfortable in the saloon.

    
As it turned out his biggest problem was getting people to go out and pick up
wood and pellets for the stoves. That and fuel. A couple of the RVs had already
run out of fuel and the owners had no way to heat the RVs. Bob wasn’t the least
bit sympathetic. This was an every man for himself world. If they wanted to
stay warm, they’d figure out for themselves how to get fuel.

    
He liked this tough approach to life in the new world much more than he cared
for his brief stay in the park. Those people actually thought they could tell
him what to do, and that he would participate in something they called the
greater good. He still thought they were crazy.

    
The whole group would probably be dead by spring. He was sure there would be
fights and shootings and people leaving the park with some frequency. Although
his guy in the park still insisted everyone was getting along fine. ‘Bookie’
called him once every day or two to give him an update.

    
That broad and her Indian friend were still running the place, but Bob was sure
someone would do them in during the winter. But he was still planning on going
back there and getting a little revenge. Little by little he was preparing for
that day. He had stockpiled nearly a dozen snow cats already and he had
convinced most of the group that each time they went out to find wood or fuel
they should go to a different place and look for snow cats with sleds they
could bring to the saloon.

    
All in all he thought things were going smoothly. There was the wrinkle last
week where Stan had got himself killed, but that was mostly understandable.
Stan had found a fuel tanker he had parked next to his RV and had used black
spray paint on the side to show that the tanker was his and no one else could
use it. He figured he was set for the winter.

   
Gonzo had been a little drunk and around midday went to his RV for lunch. He
noticed his fuel tank was almost empty so he pulled up to Stan’s tanker and
started to fill his own tank. Stan saw what was happening from the bar and went
out to stop it. Gonzo shot and killed him.

    
Bob had quelled any arguments by telling the group they would have a trial to
decide what should be done, and that Bob would act as the judge.

    
In his defense Gonzo said he didn’t know Stan owned the tanker, and no he
couldn’t read too well, especially when he was drinking.

    
When Bob asked him what Stan had said to him, he explained Stan had told him if
he didn’t move away from the tanker he’d shoot his ass on the spot. Gonzo
explained that he felt threatened, and in his own defense had pulled his gun
and shot Stan, six times.

    
Bob had looked around the group and saw most people seemed to accept Gonzo’s
defense. He also knew that not too many people liked Stan. He was a real pain
in the butt to be around. On the other hand, Gonzo was a happy drunk who never
bothered anyone. Bob found in Gonzo’s favor.

    
Jorge, Stan’s only friend, and one tough Mexican dude, was incensed. He stood
in front of Bob, who as always, was behind the bar on his stool, and ranted and
yelled and demanded justice for his friend who was only protecting his
property. Bob very calmly reached under the bar and brought up the twelve gauge
shotgun he kept within easy reach, and shot Jorge dead.

    
Following a minute of silence Bob asked a couple of men to dump the body
outside. He told the group that Jorge was a troublemaker and sooner or later he
was going to shoot someone if he wasn’t shot first. Bob had just made sure
Jorge hadn’t done the shooting.

    
That seemed to satisfy the group and they went back to drinking.

    
There were fights every day, but there had been only the two shootings. Both
were self defense shootings in Bob’s world. And of course the knife wounds had
all healed, well all except one. They still weren’t sure if Harmon was going to
make it. It was tough in a world without medical care, but they needed to get
used to it since there wasn’t anything they could do about it.

    
His group had grown to thirty four men and fourteen women, and people were
still trickling in. Bob had continued to post messages on porn sites telling
people to come join a group that was going to spend their time partying. As
long as they cared for themselves they could do whatever they wanted to do.

    
The people that showed up wore their guns with pride, and some of them were
looking forward to using them. The thought of the Wild West was exciting to
many of the men and some of the women.

    
He would have to figure out a way to attract more women. Most of the fighting
was over someone’s woman. He was sure that once the word got out about the
nature of his group more women would come. He was worried it might be spring
though, before that happened.

    
He knew he would have better luck if the weather was better, and he was
prepared to head south, but not until he had finished with the people in the
park. There wasn’t room for those kinds of people in his world and he needed to
solve that problem.

Wednesday
Morning: Yellowstone Nat’l Park, Old Faithful Inn, Wyoming 

          
Danny and Shelly were in Sam’s RV saying goodbye to her, Ben, Ted and Noah. He
assured them for the last time that they had done everything possible to help
the two of them. It was now in his hands and he would do his best to deliver
the insider to them.

    
With the exception of Danny and Shelly everyone was somber. The two travelers
seemed almost light hearted, which made no sense at all to Sam. The group
finished with their goodbyes and Danny stopped to shake her hand last.

    
She was surprised that his grip was so gentle, because his hand was like
leather. She realized that this was the first time she had touched him. She
felt like hugging him or doing something more personal than a handshake, but
she wasn’t sure if she should. She did hug Shelly and again asked her to call
often.

    
They walked outside and waited by Sam’s RV while Danny and Shelly entered
Danny’s RV. The engine started and almost immediately the outdoor speakers
mounted on the roof of his RV started blaring Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
singing “Gone, Gone, Gone, (Done Moved On)”.

    
Sam had to laugh as the two of them drove away waving to the group standing
outside.

    
Once they left the park Danny drove slowly but steadily. In the past two weeks
it had snowed a couple of times, but no more than two or three inches at a
time. He would have no trouble using the snowplow on the front of the RV.

    
He looked at Shelly and said, “I think maybe we’ll head to Bozeman first, I’ve
always wanted to look around the city.”

    
“Are you crazy? Once we get off the beaten track the snow will eat us up. What
do you mean you want to see Bozeman, you can see Bozeman in the spring. By
yourself.”

    
Danny laughed and said, “Maybe I didn’t properly articulate that. What I meant
to say was I think we should spend one or two nights in Bozeman, before we go
to Turner’s saloon. I’m sure by tonight the insider will have told him we left
the park, and I’d like to keep him guessing a little about where we’ve been.

    
“And by the way, the snow in Bozeman isn’t nearly as bad as in the park.”

    
She laughed and said, “I guess I’ll find out won’t I?”
     Three hours later they were in Bozeman and planned on staying there until Friday
morning. Danny had talked about driving around just to see how the roads were
but Shelly told him he could do that after he left her in the camp. She didn’t
mind risking her life to unearth the insider, but she wasn’t going to get
killed joy riding.

    
Danny and Shelly arrived in Opportunity in the middle of the morning. Bob
Turner remembered him and the three of them were now talking together at the
bar. Danny had made a big deal out of Shelly, and how he had told her so much
about Bob and his camp that she insisted on seeing it and meeting Bob herself.

    
Turner asked why they had come in different RVs and Danny explained that they
had just picked up the second one in Bozeman because Shelly was bored with
driving around scouting and wanted to stay at Turners camp. Turner said that
was surely okay with him.

    
After a brief conversation a couple of Turner’s lieutenants interrupted them
and Turner asked the two of them to have a beer while he talked to his men
privately.

    
Danny and Shelly turned and started walking towards a table. They each had a
beer can but they hadn’t pulled the tab to open them yet. They were a curious
sight to the group. Some of them had seen Danny before, although most couldn’t
remember him. However, none of them had seen Shelly before, and every man in
the saloon was watching her walk across the room.

    
Shelley was wearing western boots with tight black leather pants tucked into
the top of the boots. Her hair was bleached blonde, almost platinum, and she
wore a low cut blouse. They both carried their coats. 

    
Halfway through the room they stopped at a table where two men were sitting and
they put their coats over the backs of the two empty chairs and sat down.

    
One of the men at the table was large, maybe six foot four and two hundred and
forty or fifty pounds, and Danny didn’t see any fat on him at all. The other
was shorter than Danny, but had gone to fat and probably weighed twenty or thirty
pounds more than Danny. Both were staring at Shelly, or rather at her cleavage.

    
Danny opened his and then Shelly’s beer. She looked at Danny and said, “You’d
think they had never seen a woman before, at least not one with boobs, and
worse yet, one of them doesn’t smell too nice. Maybe we should have a table of
our own.”

    
Danny looked at the two men and said, “Gents, you heard the lady, you’re
offending her so I think you need to move to another table, this one is ours.”

The
big guy raised his eyebrows in surprise, and shifted his weight in his chair,
but didn’t say anything. Danny knew this wasn’t the big dumb lug he was hoping
to confront, but he was in too far now. The other guy looked at Danny with a
sneer and said, “I’m about two seconds away from shooting your ass and taking
your woman. I suggest you just walk out of here, alone.”

    
Danny knew the guy was hoping he would turn his back on him. A couple of people
in the group with Bob Turner and had told him about the ‘fun’ the group had
fighting and drinking and chasing the women.

    
Danny was sitting with the big guy on his left and the small guy across the
table from him. Shelly was to his right.

    
Danny said, “Baby, try not to get to worried, as close to each other as these
two are sitting I suspect they make a real cute couple.”

    
The small guy had a shocked look on his face and as he started to stand up he
reached for the gun holstered on his hip. As Danny stood up the big man on his
left made his move. Danny had been expecting him to do something, but he was
still surprised at how fast he was.

    
As Danny grabbed the man by his right arm he jerked him forward and at the same
time hit him in the throat with his fingers extended. He saw Shelly moving out
of the corner of his eye and he knew he didn’t have to worry about the smaller
man.