Blake just looked up at her but didn’t say anything. Haliday sensed something wrong. “Blake, is she sick or hurt? Does she need help? Take me there and I’ll see what I can do.”
“She’s not home,” he said.
“Does she work near here? Was she at work?”
“No,” he said. “She went on a cruise with my grandma. They would have been at sea when the power went out.” Oh shit, Haliday thought. Another thing to consider.
If the ship got hit they would just be floating around out there. He wondered what would happen. No bilge control pumps, no water desalination, no way to cook really and thousands of people on a small floating hell just drifting wherever the current would take them. He shuddered at the thought. Mike and Linda had gotten out of the truck at this point.
“Kayla, grab the Tahoe, back it into Blake’s driveway and wait for us there. Mike, you and Linda go with her. We’ll meet you there.” The driveway was only about 150 yards down. “I need the walk. I need to talk to Blake here as well.” They went to Blake’s and waited for them to get there.
“Blake, you have any family close by?”
“No sir.”
“Where’s the closest family you have?”
“My aunt is in Kentucky and my grandpa, who didn’t go on the cruise, is in Florida.”
“Any close family friends around here?”
“No sir.”
“What have you been doing the last few days?”
“Well sir, I boarded up the windows of the house and hid everything inside. That’s about it. I looked around in the garage for stuff I could use. I found some firewood for the fireplace, but not much. I was going out to look for some more for tonight because I ran out.”
Haliday and Blake reached Blake’s house at that point. “Kayla, take Linda to the house, get Randy and Kevin and bring them back here and I mean quickly. Bring the Cherokee. Bring flashlights too. It’s getting dark. Make sure they have firearms. Make sure the house is secured and everyone is on high alert. We got a lot of people watching us right now.”
“What are you going to do Dad?”
“We’re going to get Blake here packed up and bring him along.” Kayla started to cry a little bit.
Blake looked at him and said, “I don’t know what to say.”
“Well, for starters, you say thank you, secondly, that you will abide by the rules, and third that you will pull your weight around the homestead. Final item, she’s off limits,” he pointed to Kayla. “Now, just so you know, we aren’t staying around this area. We’ll be leaving in the morning. Is that a problem?”
“No Sir, not at all, and thank you.”
The group arrived and Haliday had them back up close to the door. Next they went inside and he had Blake show them where all the food was. They piled it into the living room. He helped Blake pack clothing and some personal things. Next he told Blake to grab anything of value like jewelry or coins or anything he could use to trade. He told Blake these would be his bartering items and no one else’s.
He walked the house with Blake and then the garage to see if there was anything else. In the garage was an older Yamaha 250. “Does it run Blake?”
“Ya, but I don’t have any gas in it.” Haliday told Randy to grab some. There were a couple jerry cans on the back of the Cherokee. He grabbed one and dumped a little in the bike. They’d be taking that too.
“What about firearms Blake?”
“I don’t have any.”
“You know how to use them?” He shook his head no. “Well, there’ll be a crash course tonight or tomorrow morning. You’ll be expected to use them if we need to, any problems with that?”
“No sir.”
“Ok, we’re heading over to my house now, anything else you need here?”
“Just one second please.” He ran into his bedroom and grabbed a handful of pictures out of his nightstand drawer and a small picture frame with a picture of his mom in it.
He grabbed a black marker and wrote on the wall, he didn’t want any notes blowing away or getting lost. Went with Kayla and her dad, be back, he looked at Mr. Haliday. “Spring, Blake, in spring.” Be back in spring, he wrote, I love you Mom. Blake’s eyes were glossy. Randy, Kevin and Mike had thrown everything into the Cherokee and Randy wheeled the Yamaha out front for Blake. Blake closed everything up in the house, and then made sure the bike started. They all went back to Haliday’s.
When they pulled in, they put the Yamaha and Tahoe in the garage. They pulled the Cherokee around back and locked it up tight and put a steering wheel lock on it. A good old fashioned “the club” came in handy now that alarms were useless. They double-checked everything and went inside.
There were lots of hugs, kisses and tears. It had been a hell of a trip. There were a lot of questions, but not a lot of answers right now. There’ll be plenty of time to talk soon enough. He had introduced Blake to everyone as well. “He’ll be treated like family,” he added. “Anyone have problems with that it’s too bad.
“Now, first off, we get security set for the night, and then we eat and sleep.” Haliday called Dawn and told her they were back. “Make sure you’re ready to move out in the morning.”
She said, “Glad you’re back safe. Talk to you in the morning.”
“See you guys soon,” he said. He hoped they would all make it.
Haliday went into his bedroom and into his bathroom. He took his shirts off and looked at his abdomen. The bruise was about the size of a basketball. Damn that had hurt. He left it unwrapped and powdered his skin then put a shirt on. After that he went back into the living room. He saw the kerosene heater there running and stood by it for a minute. Fall was here and winter was well on its way.
He just looked around. He went and checked the closets and cupboards. He shook his head from side to side. “Is it all gone?” Bev asked.
“No, not really, a drop in the bucket considering,” he answered back. “About two month’s worth of canned goods and dry goods.” Still it made him angry. He peeked in the garage, but didn’t comment.
He called for a meeting. Everyone gathered around. “Look,” he said, “this hasn’t gone as planned and it’s probably not going to be any easier. This is what we have to accomplish in the morning and through tomorrow night.” He laid out the objectives and asked if there were any questions. No one had any. He wandered off to his bed and crashed hard. Morning would be here soon, and then it was back on the road.
Chapter 14
Haliday got up and walked out into the living room. Everybody else was already up. He looked around and they all looked at him. He went back into the bedroom and put on some clothes. He was used to walking around either naked or in just his underwear, thank goodness he had his underwear on. He looked down at his cat, seemed like he had made a friend with the mutant dog. “Romeo, you’re a traitor,” he said. Bev’s cats could have cared less about the dog.
When he walked back out into the living room, he could see them cooking breakfast and could smell fresh coffee in the percolator. David said, “Nice bruise I saw there, how did that happen?”
Roger said, “Long story. Thank goodness for body armor.” Blake was at the griddle making pancakes. There was a pitcher of Tang too. This kid may be alright if he stays away from Kayla. Everyone ate and then enjoyed some coffee before getting to work.