Chapter 10

Day 132 - September 30

Sadie Osbourne was a piece of work. She reacted almost as badly as John Emerson had when we told her she was not invited to join us. She demanded reasons, then demanded a trial.

One of the other women in her family decided she'd rather stay with Sadie, so we reluctantly wished them good luck. Henry Lasker and Sybil Green were glad to see them go.

Lily Hubbard and Heather McNeal were members of Rick Cline's family. We talked to Lily first. "Lily, before I cause you to panic, I want to tell you that no matter what you tell us, we are inviting you, as an individual to join our community."

"Thank you, Ed. Does that mean you aren't going to ask Heather and Rick to join?"

"No, we are definitely going to ask Heather to join. We're not so sure about Rick. Would you be willing to tell us a little more about him?"

"Yeah, Rick isn't an abuser, at least not physically. His bragging is an abuse to anyone within fifty feet of him. He is opinionated, self important and lazy. Heather and I have carried most of the workload since we've all been together. He makes big plans and never carries through on them, especially if he has to do any work to bring them to fruition. I'm not sure he would be a harm to the community, I just don't know how much of a help he'd be either."

"How do you feel about him personally? Are you in love with him? Would it be a hardship on you if we decided not to invite him?"

"No, Ed, how I feel about him is embarrassed mostly. I'll admit we've been having sex, but that was because there wasn't anyone else. It would actually be better on me, because there would be less work in the home."

"Okay, I'm going to bring in Heather now to get her opinion on Rick. Can I assume you want to join us even without Rick?"

"Definitely."

I had Syl take Lily back into the bedroom then called Heather in. I went through the same procedure with her, then I asked her what she thought about Rick.

"Ed, I hate to talk about anyone but Rick is a loser. He's not abusive, but I think deep down he's a bigot. He's also lazy and he thinks he's God's gift to the world."

"With the world the way it is now, everyone has to pull his own weight. I would assume from what you're saying that you don't think Rick would pull his own weight."

"Exactly."

"How do you feel about him personally? Are you in love with him? Would it be a hardship on you if we decided not to invite him?"

Heather laughed. "Personally? The only thing personal about my relationship with Rick is that I fuck him. I'm not in love with him and it certainly wouldn't be a hardship to do without him. I definitely want to be in your group, whether or not Rick is allowed to join."

"Okay, Heather, go back to the bedroom with Lily and I'll have a talk with him."

John and Glen followed Rick in to the RV. "What's this?" he asked, motioning toward The other two guys.

"Don't worry about it Rick. The reason I wanted to talk with you is that we're not going to invite you to join us."

"You have to be kidding me. I'd be more of an asset to your group than any of the fucking losers I've seen hanging around here. I was vice president of a multi-million dollar corporation before IT happened."

"Having been an officer in a corporation is not a big recommendation, Rick. It might show you had some organizational skills, but it doesn't say anything about the skills you might have that would be useful today."

"I have a degree in law from Rutgers. You're going to want a system of laws set up. What you have written up now is pathetic."

"You see, that's the thing Rick. We don't want lawyers making laws in our new society. We want our laws to be simple and we don't want to be so over protective of a criminal's rights that we ignore the rights of the victim. The days of evidence being thrown out because a policeman didn't turn around three times and spit on the sidewalk before he found it are over.Anyway, be that as it may, your wives have both agreed with our psychologist that you would not fit in with our community."

"You're making a big mistake, buster. Okay, we'll get out of here first thing in the morning."

"No, Rick. You'll be leaving by yourself. Both Lily and Heather want to join us without you. If you'll just sit right here with Glen and John, I'll have Lily and Heather get their personal stuff out of your RV."

Getting Rick's wives things out of their RV and then getting Rick on the road proved to be a lot easier than I had feared. By noon, we had caught up with where the women had stopped their interviewing. We found out that two family units that we had not interviewed had left during the night. One of them was the group Chris had been living with. During the morning, three new groups had shown up.

From our calculations, we had about six more families to interview in total. I figured we'd do two of the groups this afternoon and the other four tomorrow. We were taking a break for lunch when Rob came in with Bill and John in tow. "Ed, would you mind if we went pig hunting this afternoon? Glen has agreed to go find us one of those big rotisserie jobbies. We could start it slow roasting this evening and it'd be ready to eat by noon tomorrow."

"That'd be great guys. I think we'll wait until we get home to try to capture any of the critters. It'd be much easier to transport them."

"Yeah, we were kind of thinking of that too. I do want to talk to you about making another trip to the fort though. I was just thinking about a helicopter again. The army has been using those big Sikorsky H-53Es for a while now. They have three engines and can supposedly lift as much as sixteen tons. The have a cruising range of a thousand miles and cruise at 170 knots."

"My God! That's a beast. Let's think about it. It might be worth it to make a trip just to see if they have one."

We finished lunch and got into our interviews. The first one went well. The second one was a bust.

Frank James was a racist and a bigot. (Yep, same last name, but no relation to me or to the famous bank robber.) The woman with Frank seemed to be cut out of the same cloth. We interviewed them both and as soon as they were out of the house Evie began shaking her head. "No way, Ed. All we need is that kind of thinking to throw our community to the wolves."

I agreed with her wholeheartedly.

Since this interview took so little time, we decided to do one more. Looking back on it, I wish we hadn't. The male of the family was named Laverne Faulkner. He said he was from somewhere in Kansas. There were two women in the family, both of whom seemed subdued. Laverne, on the other hand, was anything but subdued.

He started off by telling us what a piss poor job we were doing on everything. He went on to tell us he thought our community laws were a bunch of hogwash.

"If you think we're doing that poorly, why are you interested in joining us?"

"I'm not," he said with a big smile. "I really just came here to get some more pussy. Put your hands on the table, Mr. James. I have a 9mm under the table aimed directly at your gut. There's some mighty fine pussy in this room and I intend to take some of it with me."

I put my hands on the table as he requested then said, "Mr. Faulkner, please put your gun down. No one has to get hurt here. You know there's no way you're going to get out of here alive if you go on with this."

"Oh. I don't think I'll have a problem with that... Little Missy," he looked at Tina. "If you don't want this man of yours shitting out his belly button, you'll gently put your gun on the table in front of me."

Tina looked at me and I nodded. She slowly removed her 9mm from her web belt and laid it in front of Faulkner. What he didn't see, but I did was Syl, just as slowly and carefully, removing her 9mm from her web belt. By the time Faulkner let his attention return to me, Syl had her weapon pointing at him just above the table.

The two shots went off almost simultaneously. I felt a burning sensation along my left side. A neat hole appeared just below Faulkner's breastbone. Before he could do anything else, Tiff had launched herself at him. She grabbed him by the hair and pulled him and his chair over backwards. As he hit the floor, Tiff dropped all of her weight, on one knee, on Faulkner's throat.

Tiffany must have collapsed Faulkner's esophagus because he made a couple of strange gurgling sounds then passed out. Tiff, Syl, Tina, Evie, and Chris were beside me in seconds. I had stood up, but all of a sudden I was dizzy. I took one step and felt my knees buckling. That's the last I remember for quite some time.

I found out later that I didn't even hit the floor. My wonderful wives eased me down to the floor. Being a doctor, Chris took over. "Someone get to the surgical unit and get a stretcher," she commanded. "Tina, cut that crazy bastard's shirt off and get it over here to me."

Tina evidently cut more than just the shirt, but she wasn't really caring. She had the shirt to Chris within seconds and then cut it in half at Chris's direction. Chris made two pads and pressed one over each of the holes in my side.

By now, most of the camp had heard the shots and were trying to get in to where we were. Syl was standing in the doorway, looking like a goddess refusing access to anyone.

Tiff got back with the stretcher just as Syl spotted some familiar faces. She called John and Bill over to help with the stretcher. While they were loading me up, Syl told everyone what had happened.

"We were interviewing Laverne Faulkner when he went nuts. He said he was going to take Ed's women and leave the camp. He shot Ed and I shot him. Ed has a wound in his left side and has passed out. Faulkner is dead."

Everyone had a million questions, but Syl waved them off. "As soon as we know anything, we'll let you know. For now, Chris has to get him into surgery."

Syl cleared a path as John and Bill came out with me on the stretcher. Chris was at my side, holding her two makeshift compresses against my wounds.

Day 133 - October 1

I awoke with a soft hand holding mine. "Well, either I've gone to heaven or one of my wives is taking care of me," I thought before I opened my eyes. It was Tiffany. When my eyes opened, she was smiling from ear to ear. I started to say hello but she shook her head and pointed toward my feet. Syl was on the other side of the bed, her head and upper body resting on the bed, sound asleep.

I smiled and made a kissing motion toward her and she obliged me. She kissed me softly, gently and lovingly. What the hell, whether I was dead or not, I was still in heaven.

We sat for quite a while, just enjoying each other. I was curious as to how badly I had been hit, but I put that on hold as Tiff didn't act too concerned. Finally, I heard or felt Syl stirring. "Good morning, light of my life," I said.

I've never seen anyone come fully awake quicker. Syl grabbed me and kissed me almost viciously. When she finally broke the kiss I said, "Everything got a little confused there at the last, but I think I owe the two of you my life. Thank you both."

"I think it's Tiff you need to thank more than me," Syl told me. "The bastard started getting up just as I squeezed the trigger. Chris won't say if it was me that killed him when he bled out or if he died because of a crushed windpipe. In either case, Tiff kept him from getting off another shot. I've never seen anyone move so fast in all my life."

"What's happening with the women who were with him?"

"Evie's working with them. It seems that Faulkner killed the man they had been with and forced them to go with him. They're pretty messed up, but Evie says they'll be okay."

"So, how bad was I hit?"

"Chris says you're going to be fine. The bullet hit you in the left side. It traveled about six inches through your body, never getting more than an inch under the skin. It cut through some blood vessels, but nothing more serious. You lost a little blood, but not enough you needed any."

"If it wasn't all that bad, why did I pass out?"

"Chris says it was the shock of the bullet hitting your body and going through your body. She'll tell you more about it when she gets up," Syl said.

"She's pretty wiped out," Tiff said. "She worked on you for at least two hours. I don't think she'd have taken half as long if it had been anyone else. She wanted to make absolutely sure everything was perfect."

We had been talking and enjoying each other's company for about an hour when Tina and Chris came in. I had been sort of drifting in and out, but Tina brought me fully awake quickly.

"You bastard," she sobbed, tears running down her pretty cheeks. "If you get hurt again I'm going to kick your ass. I thought he'd killed you, Ed. I was going to take him apart a little piece at a time, but these guys killed him too quick."

"It's a good thing they did, Tina," Chris said. "If that bullet had been one inch to the right, we would have had some serious damage. They kept him from getting off another shot, which probably saved Ed's life."

"I know. That's what's so scary. I was just sitting back down and was off balance when the shots were fired. Tiff must have been coiled like a snake ready to strike."

"I guess I was, Tina. I know my whole body was tense. I didn't even think. When the shots went off I was already moving."

"What ever made you think to do what you did?" I asked.

"I have no idea. It must have been pure instinct."

"Well, I like your instincts, sweet wife."

"I need for you guys to shut up and let me get Ed's vital signs," Chris said. The other three made agreeable noises, but Tina wouldn't let go of my hand.

"Chris, I'll only let you take my vitals if I get a kiss from you and Tina first," I told her.

I didn't have to ask Tina twice. It's a good thing I was on a cloth-covered mattress. Tina's kiss would have melted a plastic one. Chris's almost caught the cloth one on fire.

"Now I have to subtract ten points from all my readings," Chris told us with a giggle.

It was about an hour later when Sandy and Evie came in. "We just finished our second interview of the morning," Evie told me.

"Yeah, and no more of this Mr. Nice Guy shit either," Sandy said. "Everyone checks their weapons at the door. Glen pats them down to make sure they're not concealing anything."

"I guess we should have been doing that all along," I said. "I wanted the process to be as inoffensive as possible and that is the only reason we didn't."

"Well, we're doing it now, whether they're offended or not. We added five more people to our village this morning. They were all some of the last to come in. Just when we thought we were about finished, two more families came in last night. I think we'll finish up today though and we'll just pick up any stragglers as they come in," Sandy said.

"Did the guys manage to kill a pig yesterday?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah," Evie said. "It's been roasting all night and it smells wonderful. Most of the people in the camp are contributing something and we're going to have a feast. We had nearly a hundred pounds of steaks and hamburger left, so we contributed the majority of that. Most of these people haven't had any fresh meat since shortly after IT happened. They're ecstatic."

I was surprised when Chris brought me in a plate of food later. She brought me some roast pork and some potato salad. I teased her about hospital food and she assured me this wasn't standard fare. God! It was wonderful.

Evie came in around three in the afternoon and told me they had finished with the interviews. She also asked if I was up to talking with Rob. Since I was feeling a little lonely, I told her to send him in.

After exchanging pleasantries and being pressed as to how I was doing, Rob came to the reason for his visit. "Ed, would you mind if Bill and I made a run back over to the fort tomorrow?"

"Not at all. Going to look for a whirly bird?"

"Yep. We'll drive a car over and just leave it there if we're lucky."

"Do you need anyone else to go with you?"

"No, I'd like for John and Glen to stay here. I'm sure nothing else is going to happen here, and your wives have proved their capability for handling anything that might come up, but we'd all just feel better if you were well protected."

The rest of the day was a pleasant blur. One or more of my wives was with me most of the time. Holding my hand while I was sleeping and fussing over me when I was awake. When Chris came in with my evening meal I asked her, "Are you keeping me drugged up, darling?"

"To some extent, Ed. I've had you on a morphine drip. I have cut down the flow twice today. You should be off it completely by tomorrow."

"When am I going to be able to get out of here?"

"Damn, that's the first question every patient asks. You're eating and drinking well. You have a catheter in, but I'll take that out in the morning. If you can pee on your own after that, I'll let you go back to our RV."

"Well, that's something to look forward to anyway. Have there been any more people come in today?"

"No, and you won't be interviewing any new ones anyway. You're going to spend the next week relaxing. If we catch you doing anything you shouldn't be doing, the rest of your family and I will tie your sorry ass to the bed."

"My, my. Feisty little thing aren't you? You know we haven't exchanged our wedding vows yet, so you can't treat me like an errant husband."

"No, but I can treat you like an errant patient," she laughed. "When are we going to do those wedding vows, anyway?"

"How about the day after tomorrow at sunrise? Sunrise symbolizes the start of a new relationship."

"Day after tomorrow is fine, Ed. A sunrise ceremony is a beautiful thing. It makes a lot of sense, and the symbolism is excellent. The thing we need to prevent is everyone in generations to come falling into superstition. I'd hate to think that two hundred years from now our descendants think they should be married at sunrise so they will have the blessing of the sun god."

"I know. I've worried about that. That's one of the reasons I've wanted to get as many people together as possible. I want to teach our children science and mathematics. I want them to learn how things work and why they work, rather than to think there's some kind of magic in them."

Chris and I talked for a long time. When she left, she hadn't been gone but a few minutes when Syl and Evie came in. They moved the curtains from around me then pushed another hospital bed up against mine. As they stripped their clothes Syl said, "Chris says she'll skin us alive if we hurt you, but I think you need the people who love you close to you tonight."

I couldn't have agreed more. A few minutes later, Tina and Sandy came in and repeated the process on the other side of me. I asked if Tiff and Chris were coming too, but they told me they were staying with Kammie.

Day 134 - October 2

Okay, walking around again wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. My whole body wanted to lean to my left. It really wasn't that bad either. Chris told me to take it easy and I had no choice but to follow her instructions.

One more family came in during the night and my wives interviewed them immediately. When I found out they were from California, I begged Chris to let me talk to them. She finally agreed they could come to the RV for a little chat, but she would be there too and if I looked tired, she would kick them out.