“Closest thing is the closet pole there.” Charlie was keeping his hands up. He took a step forward and added, “Please. Just let me leave. I’m not out to hurt anybody. I just wanted a safe place to stay until I can head south. I have radiation sickness.” Realizing that the woman might think it contagious he quickly continued. “But it isn’t catching or anything.”
Angela frowned. “I know that. How bad is it?” She kept the shotgun trained on him and made a small motion for him to stop moving. He did.
“Not too bad, but I’m not up to a long trip. FEMA says the winter is going to be tough. I aim to put together some supplies and go south. FEMA is handing out a little food for work.”
“Yeah. I heard that on the radio.” Angela shifted the gun slightly, raising the end of the barrel enough for it to point over Charlie’s head. But ready to drop it again and fire if needed.
“You have a car or something? And fuel?”
Charlie shook his head. “No. Bicycle and trailer. Fuel is hard to get. There’s people scavenging, though they aren’t supposed to. You can buy it if you have whiskey, food, guns and ammo, or silver and gold. If you don’t get caught.”
“So there is trading going on,” Angela said. She brought the shotgun barrel down and tucked the stock under her arm. “You can put your hands down. But don’t try anything.”
“I won’t,” Charlie replied. “Yeah. You can trade. A lot of people are. There is a lot of scavenging, despite the National Guard patrols. They aren’t pushing it too hard as long as it doesn’t get too flagrant. Or violent. They’re really cracking down on violence.”
“What are they doing to gun owners?”
Charlie shook his head again. “Nothing if you don’t use it first. A lot of people go armed. Me, I just have my closet rod handy.”
Angela started visibly when Emily called down from the top of the stairs. “Angela, are you okay down there?”
Looking up the stairs, Angela saw Emily standing in the doorway, John on one side, and Catherine on the other.
“Jeez, Emily!” Angela called up. “You scared me half to death! And I could have shot you. What are you doing out of the shelter?”
“Well, the kids wanted out and you’ve been gone a while and I wanted to see what was going on and… I know you told us to stay, but it’s been such a long time and you were out… and I was afraid you might just take off… and… I don’t know. I’m sorry!” Emily was starting to cry.
“Okay, Emily. It’s okay.”
“Someone has been here, haven’t they?” Emily asked.
“Yeah. A man named Charlie. He’s here now. He’s been living in your basement for three weeks.”
Again Charlie was surprised at her knowing that detail. She must have been watching from the start. That was creepy.
“Is he dangerous?”
“I’m not. Really,” Charlie said quietly.
Angela frowned. “I don’t think so, but we can’t take any chances,” she told Emily. To Charlie she said, “I’m going to let you go, with your stuff. But don’t try anything.”
“Thank you,” Charlie replied, relieved. “I won’t try anything. It’ll take me a little while to move everything.”
“I understand. Make sure it’s far away.”
Charlie’s face fell. “I was just going to move to the next house,” he said, the disappointment obvious in his voice. “I can’t afford to get too far from the FEMA camp.”
“Oh,” Angela said. “But how do I know I can trust you not to try something?”
With a shake of his head, Charlie sadly replied. “I guess you can’t, can you? Can I have a couple of days to move everything? I’ll do it whenever you say.”
Angela groaned when Emily called down, “Why can’t he stay here, Angela? We’re staying in the shelter. He can’t do anything to us there.”
“Emily!” Angela barked. Under her breath she muttered, “Tell all our secrets, why don’t you.”
It hit Charlie then. The big disks on the ground in the back yard must be part of an underground shelter. “You must be alone, then,” Charlie said. Before he could continue, Angela spoke.
“What of it? I’ve got the gun. And I will use it.”
“I understand. What I meant was that it’s hard being on your own. I don’t want to stay in the camp, but I’m afraid all the time that someone will catch me off guard and hurt me and take my stuff. Like you could have done, if you wanted to. Maybe I could be of some help to you. I don’t want anything, but you’re going to want to go to the camp and register. You can get food and water there. And information. I can keep an eye on things.”
“Yeah. Like that’s going to happen.” Angela snorted.
Emily had come down the stairs several steps. She bent down and looked at Charlie. “Isn’t that a good idea, Angela? We need to do that. Get registered. I’m sure the government will know what to do. But I don’t like the idea of leaving the place empty.”
Angela just shook her head. After a moment she said, “But we don’t even know him. He could do anything.”
“We have to trust someone,” Emily said quietly. “Has he really done anything to indicate he’s a danger? It doesn’t look like he hurt the house.”
“Well, no, not really. And he’s got radiation sickness.”
With that, Emily backed up the stairs and gathered her children to her. “Maybe it’s not such a good idea, then.”
“Emily, you can’t catch radiation sickness from someone. Not if they’ve been decontaminated.”
Charlie quickly interjected, “I have been. Clothes and all.”
“Oh,” Emily said. “That’s different, then.” Firming up her voice, Emily added, “I’ve let you make the decisions so far, Angela. But I’ve always been one to lend a hand. At least when Edward would let me. Which wasn’t often. He’s obviously a sick, homeless man. And he said he wants to help. We should help him if we can.”
“Things have changed,” Angela protested.
Angela was rather impressed when Emily stood up to her. “I must insist.”
“Well, it is your house and shelter. And I’m not going to give up what you’ve shared with me, unless I have to, so what you say goes.” Angela looked over at Charlie again. “I guess you get to stay.” It was Angela’s turn to harden her voice. “But you try the least little thing and I’ll put you down like a rabid dog.” She was surprised when Emily didn’t protest.
“You aren’t making a mistake,” Charlie said. “Okay. What’s next?”
“I want to see this FEMA camp of yours. Come on upstairs.” Angela stayed cautious, but Charlie followed her up the stairs without any problems. They all took seats around the dining room table. Angela had the Benelli slung over her shoulder, but kept her hand near the Colt 1911.
“I’m reluctant for all of us to go at once,” Angela said, when no one else spoke up. The two children headed up to their rooms to get some toys they’d been deprived of for the last two months.
“Maybe you and Charlie should go so you can check it out while I and the children stay in the shelter.”
Angela was surprised again. It was what she was going to suggest. “Okay. That sounds workable. But you must promise me you will stay in the shelter with the hatch dogged until we get back.”
Emily nodded. “When?”
“I was going in tomorrow for more rations and water,” Charlie offered. Emily and Charlie both looked at Angela.
“Okay, I guess. Charlie and I’ll go in tomorrow.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Firewood became another major commodity as the weather turned wintry before the end of October. Percy had been coppicing his woodlands for years and had massive amounts of firewood stacked in several huge storage piles around the estate.