CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  The two women faced each other on their cots with Josh in the middle, playing on the floor with his toys. They were primitive cars, carved out of a piece of wood Cathy’s new soldier friend had found lying around. If full truth be told, Private James Parker seemed genuinely committed to his goal of winning both mother and son over to his charms. No matter his chances, Cathy was happy her son had found a friend in the man.

  “How’d you get released so quickly?” Linda asked, dumbfounded.

  “Josh and I were indoors most of the time, not in the cab of a truck like you. We got less of the radiation, so they’re allowing us to pick a spot on the floor.”

  “Well, it isn’t fair. I was here a full week before you, and I’m sick of staring at the new people they bring in. It’s disgusting. They’re disgusting!”

  She had a point and Cathy knew it. The latest batch was wretched, and a handful of them even passed away in the first twenty-four hours. Radiation is a fickle killer, choosing some while skipping others more worthy. Dumb luck is what your fate comes down to after a nuclear war—and damn it for not being on everyone’s side. She shook off a chill and managed a smile.

  “Well,” I’ve got good news for you, too,” she said with a tinge of excitement. This was the reveal she’d planned.

  “What’s that?” Linda asked.

  “You get to move out in a couple of days, too. They decided the baby’s as fine as it can be, and I’m gonna save you a spot near me. When your friend Max is freed...”

  “When...” Linda scoffed at her optimism. “We’ll need to break him out if he’s even alive.”

  “Okay, if your friend Max is freed, he can come join us.”

  “How can you do that?” Linda demanded. “How can you be so positive after all this?” She waved her hands around but by this meant the entire world that went to shit. “Don’t say things like save a spot and when your friend is freed! I don’t want a tent near you, I want to find Max, put a gun in his hand, and run behind him fighting us out of here! But he’s obviously dead and gone for good, and that’s not happening. It’s been several weeks since they brought him in.”

  “Well,” Cathy said with an eye roll, “that’s not asking for much now, is it?” After a moment of silence, she added, “I was just trying to be helpful, that’s all, but I know you’re probably right. I’m sure they killed him if he’s such a security risk to them.”

  “I’m not getting comfortable here like you, and I’m certainly not going to call it home.”

“You should,” the younger woman said quietly.

  “Why?” Linda demanded.

  Cathy pointed at her friend’s belly, now obviously bulging with baby. “You need to settle, Linda. Do it for your child, like I’m trying to do for mine.”

  “Cat!” A voice called from the edge of the stage. “Hey, Cat!”

  “And here’s the reason why you’re willing,” the mom-to-be muttered. “He’s been coming around to see you more and more, and you’re falling for him.”

  Cathy blushed. “He is cute. And sweeter than I thought, even at first, but I’m not settling with him or anybody. I’m letting James become a friend, but showing some interest creates enough arm’s distance to hold off an arranged marriage to someone less savory.”

  Linda’s face suddenly turned dark. “Sister,” she said, “don’t be fool enough to believe any woman’s arms are long enough to hold back anything, anymore. This isn’t our mothers’ or even our grandmothers’ world, and you’d better believe gender equality died with the bombs. Hard men are taking over, and we’ve literally entered the dark ages. You’ll not be burned at the stake for witchcraft, but for something far worse—not finding your place beneath a man or where he says it should be.”

  Cathy stood, taking Josh by the hand. “I believe a strong woman can lead a man from any position, if she wants to.” She suddenly frowned, thinking of a certain man chained to a cinder block and sunken beneath a lake. “As long as she has the right man.” On that, she dragged her boy away and hurried toward the fish sniffing her baited hook.

  James beamed when he saw her, hoping for a hug now they were released from quarantine. He immediately placed a gentlemanly hand out to help them both down the stairs.

  She quickly found there was no need to feign acceptance, and took it, giving him that reward upon reaching the ground. But she quickly scolded her foolishness. These are dangerous waters, Cat! But the girl inside the woman ignored the caution.

  “Are you ready?” he gushed. “I found you a perfect spot near my prime real estate.”

  Cat let out a belly laugh before she could remember to play it cool. She was losing the battle against the inner girl already. “Prime real estate? Here? Are we moving uptown?” She pointed toward the better built officer housing looking down from above.

  “Not a chance,” he said without losing his spark. “But there’re two things around here that symbolize stature. There’s position,” he said this with an eye on two officers now carefully watching down upon them, coolly sizing up both him and her. “But there’s also something far better.”

  “Oh?” she asked with interest. “Whatever could that be, sir?”

  “Proximity to the privies.”

  Cat stopped dead in her tracks. “Bathrooms? You have real bathrooms here? Is the water running?”

  He laughed at the reaction to his surprise, nodding vigorously and sharing her excitement. “The water here is fed by aquifer, and the Colonel planned everything out so well. He knew electric pumps would fail, but worked out a way to use manual standbys if this day ever came. Also, the hot water heater is geothermal, so it gets warmed up underground. Everything must have cost him a mint, but the Colonel was ready and right about it all.” The awe in his voice was genuine for the man.

  “You respect him deeply, don’t you?”

  “He’s a genius. Thought of everything—even by working his way onto the Veteran’s Council. They rented this building from Vanderburgh County until the attack. That’s how he made the upgrades. Once he was elected chairman, he worked it into his plans for the Regiment and made subtle improvements one at a time. He had everything staged here by day 754, the spray insulation he coated the inside of the windows with, the guns, ammunition, the rations—all of it. He’s our savior, really, and now he’s going to rebuild America.” He leaned in with excitement. “And he’s doing it right here in Evansville!”

  The excited girl within her lost out to caution. “James,” she said quietly, clutching Josh’s hand a little too tightly. He pulled away with a grunt of protest, but said nothing. She let him be and focused on what she needed to say. “I’m thankful to him, really I am. But he’s selecting people to save not by their need but by their value to the new order—his order. He bought me from Crazy Mike, for Christ’s sake!”

  “Cat, he saved you from Crazy Mike, but he didn’t buy you. He gave the man a transaction, a feeling of worth since he’d never allow a man like that inside The Shelter. No, he needs him out there, on the frontier, finding people of value and ready to show true loyalty when the Regiment expands the new nation. That’s why he did it, and it was all for good!”

  “James, it’s wrong. Everyone deserves a chance in the new world, not just the elite he’s chosen.” She watched his face and found her words were having the wrong effect.

  Too loyal to his commanding officer, the Corporal Parker standing before her changed his posture into something more formal.

   “I’m sorry,” she said, “I’m just sore about how Crazy Mike treated me.” She changed the subject, hoping to regain the fun they were having. “Come on,” she said playfully, “Show me this prime real estate!”

  His enthusiasm returned and picked up right where he left off before, grabbing her hand and leading her away. Josh scurried to keep up, giggling and laughing while getting caught up in the fun and joy on their new friend’s face. There hasn’t been enough of that for him to see, she worried, not recently. But he likes this man, and this place isn’t really that bad!

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  It turned out James’ tent wasn’t on the main floor. That, he said wasn’t for the soldiers, but only for the new arrivals. Like the officers had the upper balcony, the soldiers had the outer circle of the coliseum, the main hallway circling both sides toward the rear entrance to the storage rooms and backstage. Being a basketball arena as well as a multipurpose center, there were locker rooms and, as promised, showers. He led them to a tiny plot on the westernmost corridor of the building.

  She understood then what he had meant by the spray foam on the windows. No light entered, as each was coated with the expandable goo—a poor man’s attempt to block out as much radiation as possible. Of course, she had no idea if the method would work and wondered why the Colonel would risk his men so close to the outer rim of the structure. His enlisted men, the peons, but certainly not his well-protected officers! Despite James’ fierce loyalty for the man, Cathy still could not allow herself to trust him even the tiniest bit.

  James’ home, it turned out, was nicer than she’d expected, and the location was excellently placed. He’d found a wedged corner down a hallway that allowed his tiny space to open into a larger area—hiding the true size of his apartment from the hallway. He was lucky enough to only have one wall constructed of blue tarp, with the rest butted against warm interior walls. Beside his room he had added a separate portion for Cathy and Josh, having taken special care to make it their own apart from his.

  She and Josh would share a single room nestled between James’ blue tarp and a maintenance closet. The divider between bedrooms was thin enough to whisper through, but thick enough she would feel respected and safe with both friend and son nearby. He really was a sweet man. He had even gone so far as to set up two cots, each thoughtfully adorned with handpicked quilts probably found while scavenging a thrift store. Hers was white with red roses and Josh’s with race cars and roads. The boy scrambled to his immediately and began to play with his wooden toys, tracing an adventure no longer contained to his imagination. Cathy teared up.

  “Thank you,” she said earnestly. “This is perfect.”

  “That’s not all,” he said. “He gets to go to school again.”

  “What?” This was a surprise.

  “School,” James repeated. “We have a teacher for the handful of kids in The Shelter. Though, to be honest I don’t know how many are close to his age. There’s a range of ages, and not many kids at all, but he’ll have friends and a teacher, and you’ll have time for yourself between working as a nurse and putting up with me calling on you in your spare time.”

  She could manage nothing to say and stood there smiling stupidly into this amazing face. She suddenly wanted to hug, kiss, and thank him at once, but held herself back.

  “Oh! I almost forgot!” He pointed to an empty spot nearby. “That place across from us is perfect for your friend, Linda. When is she released?”

  “Soon, a few more days at the most.” Cat swallowed down sniffles, appreciative of his kindness but not wanting to give him the impression he’d won her over.

  He nodded. “Then I’ll gather another tarp or two. She won’t have the interior walls like ours at first, but I can muster another blue one so she’ll be comfortable enough—and near her only friend.”

  Then, Cat did something she had not expected and hugged the man who’d already done so much, kissing him gently on the cheek. “You’re a friend, too,” she whispered. “A very sweet man, but I don’t know how fast I can move, even facing the end of the world.”

  “Take your time,” he urged, then pulled back, smiled, and held up a finger as if telling her to wait. Then he dashed inside his room, returning with a towel and bar of soap.

  It was Dove brand—cheap but fragrant and so alluring to the woman who hadn’t a shower in over a week besides the chemical wash when she first arrived. She stared at it as if confused, afraid to find normalcy in a relic from the past. “I need our things,” she finally said, overcome by both emotion and crippling exhaustion, “but I’m suddenly so tired I don’t want to walk all the way back.”

  “I’ll put them in your tent,” he promised. “You and Josh get comfortable and I’ll be back. When I am, I’ll watch the door to the locker room so you can bathe in private.”

  She watched from the door of her new home, simple but well-constructed for privacy, and watched him go the way they’d come. He walked with a boyish step, proud of the kindness he’d brought her and with his head in cloudy daydreams. He did not see the two officers still watching the young pair from down the hall.

  With their heads drawn close, the brief safety the young man provided dissipated as Cathy recognized the hunger in each. She’d seen it before, many times, right before stepping on stage to dance before men like these. They were wanton and full of desire for the flesh their Colonel had purchased. With a shiver, she stepped inside and watched her son play. He never looked up, so he never noticed her tears.

  At least he’ll have school here, she thought. And soon those men will know I’m off limits and move on. But was she? Would she allow this young man to get close enough to claim her as his own?

*****

  “What’s her name?” the Colonel asked.

  “Who’s name,” Max replied with heavy lips from the drug. Whatever it was, it worked fast and muddled his thoughts.

  “Your wife’s.”

  “I’m not married,” he said flatly.

  “Oh. That’s right. You came in with a white slave woman—a pregnant one at that.”

  Pregnant? That explained her voracious appetite. “She’s not my woman and I never touched her.”

  “Of course not,” but the Colonel sounded unconvinced, “but the coloring will determine that fact eventually. Nonetheless, I’ve decided to accept you into my ranks and you’ll marry her.”

  That news surprised Max, and he nearly stumbled. “But I’m already...” He caught himself in time and recovered. “I’ve already decided I won’t serve you.”

  “No, you haven’t. But you’re mulling it over, and that’s why I visit more frequently. I’m convinced now you didn’t kill my men in cold blood. But their lives come with a price. You proved to be worth six of them.”

  “I only killed three.”

  “You killed three and bested one worth more than the others combined. That makes you valuable—more so, even, than Sergeant Walters.”

  A new voice spoke into Max’s chemical fog. “That’s not fair, sir, he caught me by surprise. In a fair fight I would’ve won.” It was him, the Marine from the grocery store for sure.

  “Perhaps, but we’ll never know because you two are now equals,” the Colonel told the sergeant. To Max he said, “Mr. Rankin, I will accept you as a sergeant in my ranks alongside Walters. All will be forgiven but not till you drop this stubborn prisoner of war game. Tell us the truth.”

  “Why do you want me so badly?”

  “Between you and Walters, I’ll have doubled the amount of combat experience in the Regiment. Talk to us. Tell us what it is you’re hiding, and I’ll give you a squad of your own beside him. But... I warn you every man here liked those boys you killed. You’ll have to prove your worth to them more than to me if you’re to avoid dying by a bullet from behind.”

  “I won’t,” Max whispered. “I can’t. I have to find... someone.”

  “Yes, your family. Your wife’s pretty, but I wonder how she’ll react knowing you took a white slave and put a baby in her.”

  “How do you...”

  “We searched your home, Rankin.” Walters replied. “We found her photo and that of your son. We know you have a family but just not definitively where.”

  “So you never took them?”

  There was a brief exchange between officer and enlisted followed by a pause and then what must have been approval for Sergeant Walters to proceed.

  “I tried to tell you this when we met, but we’re not the bad guys, Rankin. We’re the last remnants of America, trying to restart the best way we can.”

  Max managed a drugged laugh. “In Evansville, Indiana? All we need is baseball and apple pie and your dream is complete, Colonel.”

  “At least you’re calling me that, now,” the officer said with slight victory in his voice.

  “Rankin... Max,” Walters explained. “You and I started off on the wrong foot. Listen to the Colonel. You’re like me, a veteran with combat experience. Listen to your instincts, yet trust your mind and what it’s telling you. Marines are strong on their own but strongest in numbers. I’ll vouch for you among the boys because no one saw you kill the others but me. Only the officers know the truth for now. I’ll twist the grocery story up a bit so they’ll understand. But the fact is, the Colonel—no, all of us—need you. Men like you and me will win this region back from the street gangs and the anarchists. There’s true lawlessness out there, and lots of it. You felt it on the night I found you. You fought the gangs off pretty well but couldn’t finish the job alone. They’re your enemy, not us.”

  “I’ve got to find Betty.” Max slipped

  The Colonel let out a low hmmm, as he processed his wife’s name. “Betty.” He savored her name on his tongue and Max flinched. “We don’t even know where to start looking, and we’ve no guarantee the gangs don’t already have her and your son.”

  “Well, I’m certain they have her.” Walters insisted. “The gangs rounded up every black man, woman, and child they could as soon as things fell to shit. They promised a utopia. There’s a dozen factions, but don’t worry, Rankin. We’ll find them as we branch out and begin to police the region. With your help, I can train the men to finally do just that.”

  Max truly was listening. Though drugged, exhausted, and plain sick of their games, the Colonel’s proposition made sense. Of course, he still wasn’t sure this was the right community for him. “Does joining up mean you finally believe I’m free from charges of enslaving and impregnating a white woman?”

  The Colonel’s response chilled Max. “Not at all, but you’re now responsible for her welfare, Sergeant, but not under the same roof. You’ll house her separately but continue to provide for her until the child is born and everyone can see it’s not yours—if that part of your story pans out. None of my officers will want her as a wife as long as long as she appears tainted, and I’ll not make a whore out of her for the enlisted. That’s not what we’re about in The Shelter. We’re... better... morally incorruptible.”

  “Of course you are,” Max agreed lazily, mildly sickened by the racial undertones of any union they may have shared under different circumstance. Tainted. This man oozed bias and ignorance. Or, he knew well the hearts of the men of the Regiment and intended to dispense justice with a balanced hand. Max closed his eyes and allowed the drug to complete its work. Sleep would help, if it would come, but the Colonel had too many questions left to ask before that blessing came. In the meantime, though, he had much to consider and finally a choice to make. If he stayed and helped this man win his empire, whether he turned out a bigot or not, Max had a better chance of finding his family than before.