Chapter 18: Lawyers, Guns and Money (minus the dangerous one)

"OK, Billy, maybe you'd better start at the beginning," David said over the radio, as he sat down on a chair several feet from the bed. "I have a feeling I'm not going to like this."

"Well, we've been up for a while, as you've probably guessed," Billy began. "At first we were excited to have electricity again, so we were anxious to play with everything, then we started to play some poker. But after that excitement began to pale Adrian and I decided to crash, but Frank told us he wasn't ready to sleep yet. So we climbed into bed and left him to his own devices. But after having lived without electricity for so long, we found it impossible to sleep with the lights on.

"Anyway, after a while Frank assumed we were asleep, shut off the light and climbed into the sleeping bag with all his clothes on. Now, I'm sure you're well aware that even though it's been unseasonably cool since the meteor shower, it's still summer, and that's just odd. Both Adrian and I were sleeping on top of our sleeping bags wearing only boxers."

"Yeah, I get it, so what happened?" David asked, just to keep Billy engaged.

"We got into an argument about it, asking what's going on, but Frank wouldn't say anything. One thing led to another, and soon we were having a fight. Basically Adrian and I stripped him, ripping his clothes off. That's when we saw the problem." Here Billy took a deep breath before continuing.

"While his face was clear, he had two small marks on his neck which weren't really noticeable, but his chest was covered with those odd little blue star marks. You know the ones I'm referring to, right?"

"Yeah, I'm quite familiar with them. They're one of the signs of the plague. Or at least, one variation of it," David responded.

"It seems Frank was afraid to admit he had it, terrified we'd leave his ass behind, and he didn't have anyone else to watch out for him. It seems that after his friends left, his 'pal' got sick and died suddenly. When we met him on campus we quizzed him on his potential exposures, but he assured us he hadn't had any. Alas, that wasn't the case.

"As you can see, it's a good thing you insisted on the restriction you placed on us. If it was up to Frank you'd all be infected now, instead of just us. He's been grousing about how restrictive you've been, complaining about how unreasonable you are, so we've no doubt he wouldn't have hesitated to expose each of you as well.

"So I guess the question is; where do we go from here? Do you want us to leave? Head back to the campus? Possibly disinfect this place before we leave?"

"No, I can't very well leave you to stalk off only to die alone," David told them. "You're welcome to stay, but I've got to insist that you keep your distance from everyone here. So far we've managed to keep ourselves pretty safe, so I don't want to jeopardize anyone here. If any of you approaches one of my people, or purposely exposes them to the virus, not only will I toss you on your asses, I'll make sure you don't suffer as I'll put a bullet through your brain to prevent you from infecting anyone else, got it?"

"Yeah, I got it," Billy answered, sounding relieved at David's ominous warning. There was silence on the other end of the radio for a couple moments, and then the other two guys cheered in the background as Billy spoke again. "So as long as we don't threaten any of you, we're allowed to stay? Can I assume we'll still have access to clean water, electricity and food?"

"Yeah, I'm not going to punish you for getting sick. What's more, we'll give you whatever medical care we can manage. We've got some medical supplies, but just be warned, the only training we have is some nursing, and so far there's no medical treatment for this disease."

"That's understood. That's the best we can expect, and more than we ever believed you'd be willing to grant us."

"How about the animals you were trapping? What's their status? If they've been exposed..." David said, not bothering to finish the question since they all knew what it meant.

There was a momentary delay before Adrian answered. "I caged a few animals, a fox and two rabbits. The other cages are untouched, and I don't think any other animals were exposed. What do you want me to do with them?"

"Just leave them as they are for now. We'll bring out some feed for them so you can take care of them. I'm anxious to study them to see if they'll contract the disease. Besides, if they did and you released them, you'd expose the rest of the animals, assuming they haven't already been. But I'll have the girls start trapping another set of animals so we can watch the unexposed ones, that way we can determine if they were exposed before you touched them, and if not, we can potentially keep them as livestock in case things turn uncomfortable come winter."

"You see, that's why I like you, you're always thinking ahead. Everyone else is only thinking about getting by; where's their next meal coming from, how can they get to the store to get food, how can they keep sick people away from them. But you've been thinking ahead all along. You're the only one with electricity, you're helping everyone in the community, you're training everyone listening to the radio how to survive, and you're making plans on how to survive well into the future. I'll tell you, if there's anything we can do to help you, without risking any of you, you can count on our help."

"Well, that's nice to know, but for now let's just concentrate on your health. Since it's likely you're going to be getting ill, you'd better get as much rest as you can, and exercise during the day, since it's unlikely you'll be able to once you get sick. Also, we'll finish cleaning the place tomorrow. Once you get sick your immune systems will likely be compromised, so any dirt or mold remaining in that trailer could prove fatal to you. I'll bring you some more bleach, gloves and face masks in the morning."

"Thanks you, Sir. You have NO idea just how thankful we are for all of this. We'll each be as careful as we can be, even Frank. Now that he knows he won't be thrown out, he's not about to risk pissing you off. He was only getting defensive before because he was afraid he'd be alone if his exposure was revealed."

"Yeah, I understand, but let's not get any more wound up tonight. Just relax and get some sleep. I'm sure there will be a lot more to discuss in the morning, once we've all had time to consider it."

"OK, thanks again, David," the three guys called out as one before signing off, leaving David looking at the women sitting on the edge of the bed.

"OK, I'm assuming you all heard that," David said, loud enough for everyone outside the room to hear. "The guys have been exposed, but so far no one else has, so we should be safe. I want everyone to be cautious around them, but this will give us an excellent opportunity to study the effects of the illness up close in a way we've been unable to before. While we've been getting reports from across the country, everyone has been studying the people sick enough to either die or to head for the hospital. Now we can see how long it takes for these guys to get sick, and whether they all get sick or not. I want each of you to keep detailed records of anything you observe concerning these guys or the animals outside, and I especially want to know if any of you are exposed. Got it?"

The women quickly nodded their head, and a chorus of "Yes, Sir" echoed from the doorway.

"Good, now as I told them, I think we all need a good night's sleep, as we're going to have that much more to do tomorrow. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm damn exhausted, and I've pretty much lost any desire to play around anymore tonight."

He got no objections, so it wasn't long before they all curled up on the bed, the girls and Bobby heading off to their own beds. However, sleep didn't come easily to any of them, as they considered that the safety of their protective isolation was about to end. While they'd each avoided much of the close exposure to death the rest of the country was experiencing, that was about to end, too.

"So that's where we stand at the moment," David explained as he fixed some more pancakes, a popular treat with the girls.

"So you aren't going to chase them off?" Linda asked, just to be sure. Despite her desire not to see anyone get hurt, she wasn't overly fond of the idea of having any of the girls, but especially her daughter, exposed to a potentially deadly plague.

"No, as long as everyone is careful and no one exposes themselves unnecessarily, it should be fine," he assured them.

"Uh, David, I think we've lost someone," Emily said from the edge of the kitchen, where she was peeking in from the entranceway.

"Um?" David asked curiously, not sure if this was something important or just another teasing comment.

"Bobby's wandered outside. I asked what he was doing and he mumbled something about 'seeing the sun one last time'."

"Damn," David grumbled as he set his pancakes aside. "Can someone watch that for me? I'll be right back."

David hurried outside, where he found Bobby standing about eight feet beyond the door, looking up at the sky.

"Bob?" David asked, not sure whether this was a problem situation or not. After all, Bobby was pretty adept about getting around on his own.

"Hmm?" he responded absentmindedly, not paying David much attention.

"Are you OK?"

"I'm fine. I was just wondering where the sun was. It seems like I haven't felt it in a long time. I'd like to feel it again."

"There haven't been many sunny days since the initial meteor shower," David patiently explained. "They kicked up a lot of dust in the upper atmosphere as the meteors disintegrated."

"Yeah, it's colder, too. It feels more like fall than the middle of summer."

"That's another thing we've been watching. We're expecting a cooler than normal year, and we're preparing for a very cold winter."

"I just wanted to feel the sun on my face once more. Ma and I used to go to the beach all the time. We'd play in the water and we'd both swim."

"You aren't planning on going anywhere, are you?" David asked, not quite sure what Bobby was getting at. "If you're interested, I'm sure the girls could take you to the pond nearby. It's got more weeds than the beach does, but it's still pretty nice."

"No, I just wanted to feel the sun and remember what we used to share. It seems we've lost so much."

"That we have, Bobby," David said, even as he tried to guide Bobby back into the house. Even though he seemed to be rational, something about his demeanor was bothering David. He just didn't quite seem to be with it today, and David would rather he be inside where someone could watch him rather than having him wandering around outside. Even though he was pretty good about getting around, there was no telling what might happen if there was no one with him at the time.

"Ah, I'm not as concerned about the cold," he responded, letting David lead him back to the house. "I don't plan on being around for that long anyway."

"Don't even suggest that," David cautioned him. "We rely on you. We need you here, both the girls and I. Things will get better, you'll see."

"But that's just it, they won't. We all know that everything is getting worse, and without Ma I'm not sure I'm strong enough to withstand the changes that are coming."

"Don't worry, there are plenty of people here to help you adjust."

"Yeah, but—Ow!"

"Bob, what the hell are you doing wandering around outside without your damn shoes? In fact, you're not even dressed properly. You know better than that."

"I just wanted to feel the wet grass on my feet, the sun on my face, and the wind in my hair to help me remember better days," he responded as he rubbed his foot.

"Don't rub it. Let me get Maggie to check it for you."

"Don't worry, it's nothing. It's part of walking through the grass."

"Still, I'd prefer having you inside. Besides, the pancakes are almost done."

"No thanks, I'm not really hungry anymore," Bob replied, waving the suggestion aside as David guided him inside the house and shut the door.

"Alice, could you get Maggie to examine Bob's foot. I think he may have cut it on something. And one of you should probably sit with him for a while, I've got to finish preparing the food." When Alice took charge of Bobby, David hurried back to the kitchen. Luckily Linda had taken over the breakfast so it hadn't burned, and she was already ladling out the pancakes, even though no one was eating yet as they were watching him.

"Bob's a little distracted this morning. I'm sure he'll be OK with a little more rest," he assured them all, even though he had his own doubts about that.

"Hey, where are you guys going? I told you that you were welcomed to stay," David called out when went out to speak to the guys out in the trailer. He was surprised to find them preparing their car.

"Don't worry," Billy said as he walked around the car, being careful not to approach any closer than that, "we're on our way into town to help with the Sheriff. Remember, you'd asked us to do that yesterday?"

"Yeah, I remember, but I'd thought that after yesterday..." He left the rest of the sentence unfinished, not wanting to state the obvious, not sure how they were reacting to the bad news at this point. That had been the reason he'd come out this morning, to talk it over while he brought them their breakfast.

"Hell, even if we're already infected, we're certainly not going to infect the dead. As for catching what we may already have, we'll be doubly careful now. But we've got the gloves and equipment you gave us yesterday, so we feel we're safe enough."

"Besides, after all you've done for us, it's the least we can do," Adrian replied as he stood and waved from the far side of the car. "We're anxious to follow your lead and pay back some of what you've done for us. We figure it's only by pitching in and helping those less fortunate among us that'll keep us all from backsliding into all out anarchy. If we can keep the community together, then everyone wins out."

"And what about you, Frank? Do you feel the same way?"

"Yeah, I've got to admit that I do. I was pretty defensive before, but then I was sure that if you knew the truth about me that I'd end up homeless and destitute. Knowing that I've got a safe place to call my ... our own, makes me feel comfortable enough to be a little more honest, and like Adrian says, I'm anxious to extend that kind of charity to others. If we can only do that behind the scenes then that's good enough."

"Well, I've got breakfast for you, so come and get it. I figured we'd discuss what you've been through since last night while you're eating. Do any of you need any medical attention from your fight last night?"

"Nah, although Frank put up quite a fight, we didn't actually come to blows over it. He just didn't want us to find out what was wrong with him," Billy said as he walked up and grabbed one of the paper plates full of pancakes David had laid out for them, before he sat down cross-legged to finish speaking with David. The others following suit.

"So, how are you dealing with the news?"

"We're not real happy about it, but we'd figured it was inevitable," Adrian answered as he too dug into the pancakes. "We were hoping if we could get up here, we might be able to avoid it, but even then we figured the odds were against us. As it is, if we are infected, then we'll make the most of it, work hard and enjoy ourselves for the little time we have remaining."

"So you're fine with it, then?" David asked, a little stunned that they were so comfortable with a virtual death sentence hanging over their heads.

"I wouldn't say comfortable," Frank answered. "I'd say resigned. I knew I'd already been exposed, and the others knew they'd eventually be, especially as we were all running short of food and other supplies and knew we'd have to start trying to scrounge up some more, thereby exposing ourselves even more. However, it's better to go out fighting, contributing to the community and making a difference, than it is dying alone in a dark apartment where no one would ever know what happened to us."

"And what's more, as you said yourself, there's always a chance we'll survive," Adrian answered with a bit too much enthusiasm. "Whereas if we were on our own, chances are we wouldn't even if we pulled through, simply because we wouldn't have access to food, supplies or medical care. At least we have a fighting chance now."

"Tell the women we really enjoy these pancakes," Frank said. "We were hoping for anything, scraps even. These are way beyond our expectations. By the way, are the girls avoiding us, or do we still get to speak to them?"

David laughed more easily now that he saw how well they were coping. "No, they aren't afraid of you, I just thought you'd want some privacy to discuss this so I told them to leave us alone." With that he waved his arm, and the door opened and a couple of the girls stepped out, looking on hesitantly.

"Come on, girls. As strange as it seems, they seem fine with what's happened to them."

"Really?" Caitlyn asked. "You're going to have to explain that. We expected you'd be near suicidal by now."

So the boys explained themselves again, everyone sitting about ten feet apart, no one reacting negatively to anyone else, but everyone keeping a safe distance just to be careful. The girls asked the guys a lot of questions and they answered honestly, even if the answers were a bit embarrassing, having to do with family, friends or their limited future. In return the girls brought them seconds of breakfast, as well as sandwiches for their trip, and enough extra that they could potentially trade for anything they might need on the street. Everyone was well aware that it had become a barter economy, as money had become worthless since the banks had closed.

What's more, the boys got a chance to commiserate with another group of young people, a group that had been sheltered from much of the damage inflicted since the meteor storm, and who thus represented the life they'd so recently lost. That, in itself, was worth a tremendous amount to them.

The banks had opened temporarily, only allowing people to withdraw so much on any given day, but after the President had sided with the Pentagon, who felt they were fighting a battle to remain in charge, they'd ordered the banks closed, hoping it would quell any protests. Only it seemed to have sparked even more open rebellion. Now, no one had anything to lose by resisting the supposed government that refused to do anything for anyone, and anyone with a gun was willing to us it against those representing the interim government. And most cities in the region were opening their armories to anyone willing to take up arms against DC. Thus it didn't look like the economy was likely to recover anytime soon.

David still had access to some funds he'd had squirreled away, and that he kept sticking under the doors of the gas stations he visited, but he also had access to other things more valuable than money at the moment; news, electricity, gasoline and a willing hand to help out, thus David and the others were now considered a wealthy benefactor, even though he'd been just scraping by before, living off of a limited income from his inventions. Not many people actually knew where he lived, but whenever they'd pass anyone on the street they'd wave, glad to see them out and about, helping everyone. It garnered them a lot of support.

"So what are your plans for the day?" Frank asked.

"We were planning on working on the garden and the pens, getting them functional. We want them to be efficient so we don't have to dedicate a lot of extra effort to maintaining them. It'll be hard enough raising our own food, but if we can minimize it, we've got enough hands we should be able to manage. But I'm afraid of what'll happen if the weather continues to worsen. It didn't look like the meteors kicked up much debris from strikes with the earth, but apparently there was enough created by their burning up in the upper atmosphere that it's causing a substantial cooling effect. I certainly don't have to remind you guys of how cool it gets here in the winter. Just think what' it'll be like with a mean temperature at least 10 degrees cooler and no sunlight all winter. So we're trying to focus on becoming self sufficient."

"Do you want us to start spreading the news to anyone with existing food or supplies that you're either willing to trade, or may be able to help them if they have difficulties?" Billy asked.

"No, I just want to ensure you minimize your exposure. But if you talk to anyone, and if they've got resources they can use to help others, then tell them we can work out a deal where we'll help compensate them for helping others. I'm sure we can arrange something where everyone wins."

"That sounds good, we'll mention it to the sheriff. I'm sure he'll know who to get the word out to."

After that they broke up and the three guys headed to their car, laden with the supplies the girls had given them, and drove off to do their grisly good deed for the day. David was sure they'd need to talk afterwards, so he warned the girls to keep an eye out for them and to be willing to sit and talk to them afterwards, as long as they had an adult with them at the time to ensure no one tried to take advantage of the situation.

Everyone got busy after that, struggling to build weather resistant pens for the animals, separate ones for the potentially infected wild animals caught the day before, and others for the ones they'd traded for. But it soon became apparent that they needed to get some more supplies. They were short on cages, wire and feeding supplies, and they needed to ask someone more knowledgeable about what they should be doing as well. So David arranged for yet another trip into town.

David took Maggie, Alice and Amy with him to visit with one of the local farms near their home, a different one than they'd bought the seeds and animals from before. They were on their way there when they passed a local armory of the National Guard. It had been closed since the disaster and had been heavily locked down. But as they approached it, David saw a heavy pickup parked out front, and the large metal doors blocking the entrance to the protected supplies had been ripped out of the wall. Pulling over, he stopped the car and advised everyone what he was doing.

"It looks like we've got some survivalists who've decided now's the time to start plundering and pillaging. These guys are likely to be armed and dangerous. I'm going to approach them and ask them to surrender, though they're unlikely to do so. I want you to cover me when I do, since I'm pretty sure they'll shoot first and never bother with any questions. I've got my rifle, a shotgun and my pistol."

"I brought my own rifle," Maggie admitted. "I figured it was only a matter of time before we'd run into something like this."

"OK, I want you there, and you girls over there and there," he said, pointing to where he wanted everyone stationed. "I'm not expecting much from you girls, since you've never had to shoot at anyone or anything before, but if you can create a distracting cover fire, hopefully Maggie and I can cover the rest."

"Don't worry about us," Amy hurriedly assured him. "We've been practicing our shooting, and we're more than ready to shoot someone. We realize it's necessary, and we've been thinking about this a lot since you first told us you'd let us learn how to shoot. As Maggie said, it was obvious it was going to happen."

"OK, we really can't afford to discuss it as we don't want to give them any more time to stock up. Just make sure you keep down. Unlike most armories like this in other cities, this one was designed for temporary staffing, thus it only has two entrances. They can only fire from the open doorway, as the windows are small, inconvenient and bullet proofed."

With that everyone quickly scurried away. David waited until they were positioned, then walked out until he was directly in front of the armory before he called out in a loud voice. "This is a member of the local police force. Put down your weapons and come out and you'll be able to live. Try to escape, or shoot your way out, and everyone is likely to die."

There was no response, and since there were no windows they didn't know what was happening inside. However David took the time to lie out on the ground, making a smaller target of himself. It was several long seconds later that someone jumped in front of the open doorway, opening fire with an M4 on full auto. The man didn't look like one would expect, being older, heavy set, pale and clearly out of shape. It was obvious this group weren't ex-military personnel, and likely wouldn't even know how to use the equipment they were stealing. David swore and tried to lay flatter while trying to aim at his attacker, when a shot rang out and the man flew back into the entranceway. David used the reprieve to carefully aim, so he'd be better prepared for a second attempt.

He'd seen the impact on the man, and he'd clearly been hit in the chest, but after only a couple seconds the man started to get up. David could see him drawing something from his waist as he rolled over and stood up again, so David didn't wait. He fired, already scanning for any other attackers even as he noted the bullet striking the man in his armpit, knocking him back and to the side this time.

"They've got body armor. Aim for the head, the armpits, or their crotches and thighs," David yelled, alerting those inside he wasn't alone. David took that opportunity to scramble for the protection of a nearby car, a little off center from the entranceway and away from where he'd already declared himself to be.

A moment later another figure jumped into the doorway, this time aiming a rocket launcher while kneeling to one side of the doorway. This man also looked atypical, as he looked more like an older biker, wearing leather chaps and jacket and bearing numerous tattoos. However it took him a moment to guess where David was hiding, during which time David fired, striking the man in the head. The man immediately jerked back, but he'd apparently had his finger on the trigger, and a missile flew from the doorway, though it arched off to the side, well behind and to the side of David. It struck a parked car which exploded, throwing fragments across the street.

However David never took his eyes off of the doorway, and he saw no further movement. What's more, the man he'd shot didn't move again, and neither did the other man he'd shot. After several long moments someone made a grab for the rocket launcher, but several shots rang out and whoever it was quickly backed away. A few moments later a single shot rang out from the side, and it appeared that Maggie had made an excellent shot, as the remaining charge on the rocket launcher exploded, casting debris inside the armory and darkening the entrance.

Taking his eyes off the doorway for a few moments, David picked up his walkie-talkie and called the house.

"This is Julie. What's happening?"

"This is David. We've encountered a group of survivalists at the armory. Call the sheriff and warn him we're involved in a firefight. We've taken out two of them, but we have no idea how many there are. We count three vehicles, one pickup and two SUVs."

"Shit, I'll call right away, take—" however her response was cut off from inside the armory.

"Look, stop shooting, and if you'll come forward we'll talk about turning ourselves in," someone from inside called out. "We've got wounded in here and we'll need some medical assistance."

"The hell I'm going to make a target of myself. Come out with your hands raised and we'll talk, but if I see a weapon, or anyone makes an unexpected movement, you can forget it."

There was a quiet sound of someone swearing from inside the building but no further response. Finally, several moments later, the same voice, deep and gravelly which David guessed was from a well educated African American, called out again.

"OK, we're throwing our guns out, but we've got injured, you'll have to help us leave." A moment later a couple of guns of various types clattered to the ground outside the door.

"Nice try, but we're not idiots. We know you've got no limit of guns you can toss out, and we know you've got body armor. We're not about to believe you don't have another hundred guns ready to shoot us with. If you're injured, you'd best drag each other outside the door, and don't dare try to draw down on us."

The man swore again and nothing more was heard. Considering what he'd do in similar circumstances, David make circling motions with his finger and saw the girls get up and move around the building.

What he'd been waiting for occurred several minutes later. Several shots rang out behind the building, and David hoped it was his girls firing, but all he could do was wait and see what played out. After those few isolated shots there were no further sounds. After another delay, David signaled Maggie then scrambled up and headed forward in a zigzag pattern, ducking behind various structures, but no one fired at him. When he got near the door he motioned to Maggie again, and while he covered the door, she too followed his example and ran to him using a similar technique. She was almost there when there was a huge explosion from the side of the building. Maggie looked up, trying to see what was happening. She and David glanced at each other, not knowing what to expect, when there was another large explosion, and David knew the morons hadn't taken into account the reinforced walls of the armory, which had been specifically designed to resist assault, either from the exterior or from inside. It was obvious they were attempting to blow their way out of the building so they wouldn't be restricted by the narrow doorways which would expose them to gunfire. David knew enough to know that the walls were not only thick, but they were likely reinforced to resist such an attempt. They'd have to do more than just fire a couple of shots against them to bring them down, and firing high explosives in such close proximity was never an intelligent move.