Conflicted Home (The Survivalist Book 9) Read online

  I reached back and touched my ribs. Tender was an understatement. Any kind of a deep breath was very painful. The thought of a sneeze racked me with terror. Another hand touched my side and I looked back to see Mel leaning on an elbow.

  “Does it hurt?” She asked.

  I nodded. “Very much.”

  She ran her hand over my back and I heard her fall onto the bed. I looked back to see her staring at me. “I don’t want to argue with you,” she said.

  “There’s no reason we should start now,” I replied. Mel and I had been married for over twenty years when things changed. Sure, there were times in the past when we argued loudly. But those days were long gone. Even before this happened, we seldom disagreed; and when we did, it was a quiet affair, settled quickly. Life was simply too short to get your blood up with the person you love and live with.

  “I know. I’m sorry I was mad last night. I’m just so afraid you’ll leave here one day and not come back.”

  I lay back and put my arm around her. “Me neither, babe. But at the same time, I don’t want anything to happen to you. Or the girls. And that requires action on my part and that of others. I’m not doing it alone and I’m not doing it recklessly. I promise you that.”

  She nodded but said nothing. She raised a hand to her face and I assumed she was wiping away tears. We lay in the bed for a few minutes, not saying anything. After a short time, she asked, “Are you hungry?”

  “Famished,” I replied.

  She sat up in the bed, the sheet falling away and I saw she was naked. I smiled, and as she stood, I reached over and slapped her ass. “I see you took my advice.”

  She looked back as she got into her robe, saying, “It’s cooler. Come out when you’re dressed and I’ll fix you some eggs.” And she left the room.

  I sat up and slowly dressed so as not to aggravate the wound. In clean shorts and a t-shirt, I headed for the kitchen. Mel already had the Butterfly stove lit and was going through the motions of cooking. Getting myself a glass of tea, I took a seat at the table. “What was with the lanterns last night? Why was everyone using those?”

  She shrugged. “The girls just wanted to. I didn’t care and let them.”

  I nodded as I sipped my tea. “What’s going on around here?”

  “Thad’s getting worried about the garden. He said we’re going to have more produce than we can eat and there aren’t many ways to store it. We went on another scouting mission looking for vinegar for Kay. She and Mary are going to can and pickle everything they can.”

  “Did you find any vinegar?”

  She nodded as she a banged a spoon full of butter on the side of the cast iron skillet. “Some, but not much. Not nearly enough.”

  “Guess we’ll just have to make some.”

  She looked up from the stove. “You know how to make it?”

  “Yeah. It’s not that hard. I’ll get with Kay about it.”

  She smiled and shook her head as she turned her attention back to the stove. “What?” I asked.

  “I’ve known you for nearly twenty-five years, and yet I learn something new about you nearly every day.” She looked back up at me, “When did you learn all this? When did you find the time?”

  I laughed. “It was in all those books you complained about so much.”

  “It wouldn’t have been so bad if they weren’t left lying everywhere in the house.”

  “Guess it was a good thing now, huh?”

  She cut her eyes over to me. “Maybe.”

  In didn’t take her long to slide a plate of fluffy eggs in front of me and set out another for herself. We ate breakfast and talked about nothing particular or unpleasant. When breakfast was done, I told her I was going over to Danny’s to see what was needed for the day. She said she would hang out around the house and wait for the girls to wake up. I kissed her and hugged her, maybe a moment longer than I normally would have, before going to the door.

  I was so used to picking up my vest and rifle when I went to the door that I stood and stared at the empty place it should occupy. The vest wasn’t hanging on its hook and the carbine wasn’t in its place in the corner. I looked back at Mel about to ask when I remembered. Fuck it, I thought. Instead of putting my shoes on, I slipped my feet into a pair of flip flops and headed out the door.

  The dogs were unusually happy to see me. All three of them followed me, nosing at my hands and demanding I rub their heads. Maybe this was just their way of saying they were glad I was back. I remembered reading an article about dogs being trained to sniff out tumors in people. And another that would go through an assisted living facility and climb up onto the bed of one close to death or in failing health. And that not long after doing so, the soul would slip away from them. They claimed the dog had a way of knowing. I wondered, rather morbidly, if it wasn’t the dog that was actually the cause of their deaths. As though it was the harbinger, and had it not visited, they would have gone on a little longer.

  But these mutts obviously knew something was different and were eager to show their happiness at my return. It made me smile though, and I happily indulged them as I walked. It wasn’t common for them to follow me all the way to Danny’s. Hell, it wasn’t common for them to follow me off the damn porch. But today, they did follow me. Rounding the corner, I saw the porch was full. The old man looked as though he were holding court.

  Seeing me, he smiled, “Glad to see you among the living, Sheriff.”

  I nodded. “Me too. Beats the alternative all to hell.”

  Kay was sitting beside him and started to rise from her chair, asking, “Are you hungry, Morgan? I can fix you something.”

  I waved for her to stay in her rocker. “No thanks, Miss Kay. Mel already fed me up with a skillet of eggs.”

  She smiled and settled back into her chair. “Well good. I’m glad you’re back.” Then, wagging a finger at me, she said, “You gave us quite the scare!”

  I smiled sheepishly. “I didn’t intend to. You can count on it.”

  As I replied, Aric came out of the house with Fred. Seeing him, I stepped up on the porch and held out my hand. “Thanks for looking out for me, buddy.” He took my hand and I pulled him in, putting my other arm around him and patting his back. A gesture he reciprocated. I said, “You saved my life, buddy.”

  Releasing the embrace, he said, “You saved me once. It was the least I could do.”

  When those inside noticed my presence, there was a flurry of hugs and kisses. Well wishes as well as admonitions. Jess stood on her toes and held me tight for a long time. She whispered in my ear, “You scared the shit out of us. I’ll kill you myself if you get yourself killed.”

  I couldn’t help but smile, and I whispered, “You already tried once.” She stepped back and gave me a look that told me what I could go do to myself, making me smile even harder before leaning in and hugging her one more time, which she did not return.

  Instead, she pointed at me and said, “You’re an asshole.” Then she smiled and said, “But you already know that.”

  I cocked my head and said, “You aren’t the first to tell me, and probably won’t be the last.”

  “Not by a long shot!” The old man barked.

  When Mike and Ted came out, Mike had a shit-eating grin on his face. He stepped up in front of me and stood there for a second, just staring at me as he rocked on his heels with hands behind his back. “What?” I asked. He reached into his cargo pocket and pulled out a small black case and handed it to me. “We think you’ve earned this.”

  Opening it, I saw a Purple Heart lying on the silk. I shook my head and snapped it closed, “No. I didn’t earn that.” And I held it out for him to take back. “It’s not for the county Sheriff that takes a little-ass bullet for being stupid. It’s for you guys that go out and defend our country.”

&n
bsp; “You were doing the same thing, bro,” Ted said. “Keep it. You’ve earned it.”

  Seeing they weren’t going to yield on the issue, I nodded. “Ok.” But I held it out to Mike. “But I don’t want to take your medal.”

  “Shit!” Sarge barked. “That thing ain’t his!”

  Mike looked over his shoulder and said, “Some of us don’t carry all of them around everywhere we go.”

  “You keep that, Morgan.” Sarge said. “You deserve it as much as any man ever has. You’re giving your life to your community.”

  I still disagreed with them but gave up on the argument. I motioned with it in my hand and said, “Thanks, guys,” and shook Mike and Ted’s hands. Sliding an old milk can over, that was nothing more than decoration, I sat on it and asked, “So what’s up?”

  Sarge leaned back in his chair, as an old man will do. “We’ve got a lot to do. I talked with those engineers. They’re already at work on the line going into Eustis. The focus at the moment is to get power to the armory and then to the county building.”

  I nodded. “That’s good. I want to run that line down here too. We’re going to get power back in here too if it kills me.”

  “I don’t know if Sheffield will agree to that,” Sarge replied, shaking his head.

  “He can kiss my ass,” I snorted. “I’m also going to try and get power back to some of the houses in town. The power plant is small and can’t run the county, but it can run quite a bit, and we’re going to use it.”

  The old man smiled. “I told him you’d say that. He seems to think the plant is somehow under his control.”

  Shaking my head, I asked, “Why the hell wouldn’t he want others to have power?”

  “I don’t know. Don’t really matter none.”

  As we talked, Thad and Mary walked up on the porch. He dropped down to hang his legs over the edge of the porch and smiled. “Glad to see you up and about.”

  I patted his leg and replied, “Thanks, buddy. Good to be back. We were just discussing what needed to be done.”

  “The garden is coming along good. We’re going to be able to start picking soon.”

  Kay was sitting beside Sarge. She piped up, “We need more vinegar. I don’t have enough.”

  I nodded. “Mel told me. I’ll get to work on making some soon.”

  “Making some?” Kay asked.

  I nodded. “Yeah. You can make it. I just need some fruit of some kind. It’s pretty much like making wine, you just let it go longer. I want to make a still so we can distill it and get pure vinegar.”

  Kay clapped her hands in front of her face. “Morgan, if you could make vinegar, that would be amazing.”

  “I’m going to go see Gena and see what she has in the way of fruit.” I looked at Thad and asked, “How’s the farm coming?”

  He sighed, “It’s been a hell of a battle. Horn worms got into the tomatoes and the only thing we could do was pick them off one at a time. They did some damage but not that bad. The squash had to be checked every day and the flowers pinched off or they would rot. But it’s coming along.”

  “Have we had anymore run-ins with armor?” I asked Ted.

  He shook his head. “Not yet.”

  “We’ve set some pickets up on 441. Just observation posts. I figure if they come this way, they’ll come through there.” Sarge said, “We’re using Sheffield’s people for it.”

  I nodded. “We should probably put another one up on 44. That’s the other route into this area. They could bypass 441 and get right into downtown Eustis.”

  The old man nodded. “Already done.” He laughed at me and said, “Leave the military stuff to us. You handle the law and order business.”

  “Guess I should go into town,” I said.

  “That would be a good idea. Let folks know their Sheriff is still around.”

  I rose to my feet. “I’ll get my stuff.”

  “I want to go with you,” Jess said.

  I shrugged. “Fine by me.”

  I walked back over to the house to collect my gear. I again asked Mel for the vest. She finally brought it out. The side did indeed have a large stain. But it wasn’t nearly as bad as she made it sound. I took some time getting my equipment put back into the various pockets as the girls sat chattering away at the table. They were having their breakfast.

  Mel came into the bedroom and leaned against the door. She watched for a few minutes before asking, “Where you going?”

  I was slipping magazines into their pockets when I replied, “Just to town. I’m also going to stop by Gena’s and see if she has any kind of fruit so I can start making the vinegar.”

  “I know I can’t stop you. Just promise to be careful.”

  I finished stowing the gear and slipped the rig over my head as I walked towards the door where I paused and kissed her. “I will, babe. I promise. What are you going to do today?”

  “Bobbie said the kids’ clothes are getting small. We’re going to go through the houses and see if we can find anything for them.”

  “I say, take any clothes you find. Little Bit will need new stuff soon too, probably.”

  “I’ve got her covered for a while. You know we bought a lot for her and put it away.”

  “Good,” I replied. “I’ll be back later. I won’t be long.”

  She kissed me and I headed out the door. The dogs were gone now. Probably off hunting or something, I imagined. Walking back over to Danny’s house, I saw Jess, Aric and Fred waiting beside the smaller of the two buggies. “All of you going?” I asked.

  Fred nodded. “Yep.”

  “Good,” I replied. “You can drive, Aric.”

  He hopped into the driver’s seat and the girls climbed into the back. As he pulled out, I told him I wanted to go to Gena’s place before going to town.”

  “Roger that, boss.”

  At the bunker, we stopped when Dalton and Danny walked out into the road. Dalton looked me up and down and said, “You look alright to me. I don’t see what all the fuss was about.”

  I patted my side. “Pretty much. That little .32 stung though.”

  “Hmmm. I bet. Better to just shoot ‘em next time. Don’t let ‘em get so close.”

  “You guys going to town?” Danny asked.

  I nodded. “Yeah. Just to fly the flag you know.” Then I asked, “You don’t know where there’s a big crock do you?”

  Dalton pointed at me and replied, “Yeah. It’s sitting right in front of me.”

  I gave him the finger. “Thanks. But I need something to make vinegar in.”

  “I’ve got one in the shed,” Danny replied. “It’s nearly five gallons.”

  “Perfect. Can you dig it out later?”

  “You’re going to make vinegar?” Dalton asked. I nodded and he added, “Why would you want to ruin wine like that? If you have the stuff to make vinegar, you have the stuff to make wine. Let’s make wine.”

  “You can’t pickle with wine,” I replied.

  “Like hell!” Dalton shouted. “Give me five gallons of wine and I’ll get thoroughly pickled!” Getting Fred and Jess to laughing.

  “Me too,” Aric said, holding up a hand.

  I pointed at Dalton and said, “No,” then at Aric as well, “and no. I need to find some copper to make a still out of so we can get pure vinegar.”

  “Just take it from that church they were building on nineteen,” Danny said. He was referring to a large church that was under construction before things went south. It was one of those perpetual construction projects that was being built as the money was raised. A large stack of copper roofing was sitting on the site, the last delivery before things changed.

  “That’s a hell of an idea!” I replied.

  “Yes, it is!” Dalton s
houted. “We need a still!”

  I laughed and shook my head. “For what? You can’t make anything in it. We don’t have grain or sugar.”

  “Oh, where there’s a will, there’s a way,” he replied. I shook my head again and waved Aric on. We left Dalton and Danny as they were trying to devise a plan for sour mash.

  Gena and Dillon were out back tending the canning stove. The relief valve on the pressure canner rattled as Gena filled jars with tomatoes. It was hot work in the stifling heat of a Florida summer, and sweat poured off Dillon’s forehead as he added wood to the fire, despite the bandanna tied around his head.

  “You two look busy,” I said.

  “Gotta get it all put up before it spoils,” Gena replied.

  “Glad to see you up and about,” Dillon said as he removed jars from a large kettle of boiling water.

  “Thanks. Good to be up. I was wondering if you guys had any kind of fruit. Even skins, rinds, anything at all.”

  “If you want skins, you’re in luck,” Dillon said as he reached down and picked up a five-gallon bucket and set it at my feet. “We made jelly from the muscadines yesterday. Here’s all the skins.”

  I looked into the bucket and smiled. “That’s perfect.”

  Gena wrinkled her nose. “What on Earth are you going to do with those?”

  “Make vinegar,” I replied.

  I could see she was thinking that statement over. After a moment, she said, “Huh. I never thought about making vinegar. If we had some, we could make some pickles! How long does it take to make?”

  I shrugged. “Depends. Down here though, in this heat, probably not more than two weeks.”