Chapter 3

[Janice]

Bennie called out, "Okay, Janice. See to Terry by the plane."

I rose from my spot and walked out to the wounded stranger. When I got there, I realized that Terry was a Terri. He was a she! I patted her down and removed a pistol and a knife and laid them out of her reach. Using my knife, I cut away her pants leg and applied a quick pressure bandage to her wound that went through and through. "You'll be okay. Stay put." I heard Bennie come up behind me.

"Janice, this one's a female, too. Pat her down. I don't think she is going to try anything." I patted her down removing another pistol and knife from her body. Both of the girls were wearing shapeless clothing that hid their curves. On the other hand, it was obvious that I was female and my clothes left no doubt that, while tall, I had curves. Bennie and I liked me dressed that way. I liked it because it was cooler at this time of year and that bad guys would look at my chest and not the gun, knife or bare hands that could hurt them. Bennie liked it because he liked to look.

I said, "Okay, Bennie. She's clean now." It was hard to tell but my guess was late teens at the oldest for both of them. They were skinny and really weren't clean. Both needed a bath. I continued, "You're Terri." I pointed at the one I wounded. I looked at the other. "Who are you? What's your story?"

"My name is Michelle. What are you going to do with us?"

Bennie responded. "Other than keeping you from hurting us and our airplane, nothing. Now, talk."

"We're sisters. We've lived here in Racine all our lives. We came through the Day with our parents and brother. Jimmy, our brother, was killed by a scavenger about two years ago. Dad got the scavenger. Dad and Mom are..." She began to cry helplessly.

Terri said, "Mom and Dad were captured two weeks ago by another band of scavengers. We had moved into one of the warehouses and saw you land. We were curious. We think our folks are alive but aren't sure. We can't get close enough but the bad guys haven't left any bodies. They probably saw you land, too. We need to hide before they come."

I determined that Terri was older by a year or so. I asked, "Terri, how many are there in that group?"

"I think there's eight or ten men and four or five women. Like I said, we can't get close enough to really tell."

I looked at Bennie. He said, "Terri, I'm going to carry you off the field into that hanger. Then, your sister, Janice, and I are going to push the plane over there so it doesn't look like it just landed. We'll see what happens after that." With that, he picked her up effortlessly and walked over to the hanger and left her sitting by the door and ran back to us. While he was doing that, I tossed Michelle her pistol and knife. I tucked Terri's into my belt and went to the plane. I got in and released the brake. I heard Bennie say, "Push!" The plane began to roll and I steered it in the direction he had pointed out. When he said, "That's good," I set the brake and got out locking every door behind me after taking boxes of bullets for both our rifles and our pistols.

"Okay," he said. "Let's get to your sister, move her and us to a safer place and plan what we will do."

I was not totally satisfied that we had heard a true, complete story from the sisters. That they were sisters I believed. Their faces made it tough for them not to be sisters. That left their parents and others. Bennie didn't seem to have the same discomfort about their story that I had. I decided not to trust them totally. I suspected that, if nothing happened before nighttime, one or both might try to sneak out over night. We didn't have time to do anything in what was left of the day.

Michelle and Terri wanted to go back to their warehouse but Bennie said that wouldn't safe. They weren't happy but let it go. We had some jerky and a few homemade sweets and those constituted supper. We lay down for the night with the girls together and Bennie and I wrapped up in some tarps and blankets we found. Bennie whispered, "You sleep deep tonight." We were rolled together with Bennie facing the door if he gazed over my shoulder. His body seemed to relax into deep sleep with gentle snoring and I tried to emulate him knowing neither of us would sleep. It took about an hour and the girls got up with Michelle helping Terri and they left.

"I heard them go, too."

I felt his head nod, "Wait," he whispered. After a moment, we rose and began to follow them. I am quiet but Bennie's a ghost. They looked back twice but failed to see us though we could see them.

While we could have taken them at any time, Bennie was content to follow them at a reasonable distance. We were taking a moment to keep from overtaking the girls. When they started to move again, Bennie held my arm. He whispered, "I hear something. They are going to a group."

Sure enough, two men stepped out to meet them. Words were exchanged and Michelle was slapped hard. Terri went to her and her leg gave way. Both were on the ground. I heard, "Get up and come in. You'll have to report."

Bennie looked at me. He whispered, "You thought something was wrong. Watch them. I want to check the area."

The two men had returned to their post and, a few minutes later, Bennie returned. "They didn't keep a good watch. Those two are the only ones outside. They went down quietly."

"Then, what do we do?"

"I think it unlikely that all agree with treatment like we witnessed. Let's upset their apple cart. I'm concerned that we might have to fight them off tomorrow morning."

I nodded and whispered, "Okay, you get in position and I'll walk out." We had perfected this move. Bennie got behind a target and I walked out in front of them topless. It never failed to draw attention. It worked again. I tried the door and it wasn't locked. I walked in topless with Bennie right behind me. I had two pistols and Bennie's rifle was on automatic.