Chapter 34

I got my food and sat down and within a few minutes I was surrounded by most of the gang, as I called them. Let's see, I thought. There is Shelly, Zeke, BK, Barry, Brenda, Sarah, Mikey, and that just about filled the table. As was usual here, there wasn't much conversation during the meal. I had learned that these folks ate instead of talking. Almost as soon as I was finished, one of the older kids picked up the empty plates and utensils. I had to guard my coffee cup as she tried to take it too. Shelly was grinning at me as I gave her a short lecture about my cup and how upset I would be if I couldn't have my coffee after my meal. Sarah was watching Shelly and me, grinning up a storm. I noticed Zeke was holding on to his tightly, but I didn't see anyone grinning at him about it. Then when the conversation started up Brenda had a few words for me.

"Thom, we are getting short on a few things. Do you think we can get some things sent in from the Fort if I make a list?"

"I don't see why not. Kittrick asked me if we needed anything but I told him I didn't know of anything at this time. If you have a list, I can have it called in and maybe get it in a day or so if they aren't too busy."

I barely got that out of my mouth when she handed me a sheet of paper that looked to be full like a shopping list. I looked at it and it was mostly basic supplies from what I could see until I got to the bottom and saw a list of feminine hygiene products. My face must have changed or maybe it got a little red or something, because Brenda broke out in laughter.

"What's so funny?"

"I can tell you have been single for a long time. You should have seen the look on your face when you started reading the bottom of that list."

"Let me see that." I handed it off to Barry and this time I got to laugh when he read it and handed it right back to me without saying a word. I handed it back to Brenda, telling her to take it to the radio operator for him to call it in this evening when he made his nightly report to the Fort. I got up saying I was going to the truck stop to see if the internet was still on by some chance. Sarah and Shelly wanted to come with me so I said "Sure". Since I was still wearing the vest, I grabbed the AK and we headed out. I decided I was going to drive up and down several streets and across the tracks to make sure we didn't have any weak spots where we could be attacked from. I told the girls what I was doing and of course they made a game out of it trying to spot something. I noticed that there were several abandoned buildings as well as several old partial adobe walls standing where they would block straight lines of fire as well as being a good hiding place. I got on the walkie and informed Barry that we needed to get a work party together tomorrow and start leveling them out. Since I was going to be here for a few days, I told him I would be helping. I didn't have any idea when the teams would arrive, and since it was quiet, I was going to stay close and spend some time with Sarah. I had already passed the word there would be a convoy of trucks coming from Lordsburg so the word would be passed on and no one would panic.

When we finally pulled up to the truck stop, it was getting dark but I did notice that there were some pretty nice shelters from the sun on the blockade as well as on the roof of the truck stop. The girls took off as soon as we stopped and I got my laptop out of the back, fully expecting the internet to be down. When I went in, JB was making pizzas and both girls were talking to him over where he was pulling them out of the oven. I noticed both of them were munching on a slice. As I walked by the counter, he handed me a slice of pep and cheese. Now I was trying to get my laptop out and juggling the hot piece of pizza. Damn, but that tastes good, I thought. I finally got the computer booted up, watching the wireless bars, and to my utter surprise the internet was still going. I finally got logged in, getting sauce on the keyboard and had to get a napkin to wipe it off before it ran between the keys. I opened up my Outlook and just stared in shock at all the messages that were coming in. By the time it quit, I had over two hundred messages. To my surprise about eighty percent of them were from my contacts all over the US as well as a couple in other countries. The rest were machine generated from internet companies I had bought stuff from in the past so I went through and deleted all of them. As I did I looked for a message from my daughter and finally right at the end I found one. I immediately opened it and found that I wished I hadn't. It was from her, but the news was bad.