Chapter 14
As Wally and I pulled up outside the house where Wally's family lived, his Step-Dad, Brad Cain, walked outside to meet us. Brad said, "Well, look who is gracing us with his presence. Mister Ralph Mason, your son Bobby ruined my daughter's life. Nobody wants her now that he left her stuck with his little bastard. Not a day passes that I don't consider feeding the little brat to the Zombies and wishing it was your son Bobby. Then a little boy peeked around Brad's leg. Brad swatted him with a back hand and sent him tumbling back inside the house. I could see someone run over and scoop the now crying baby up into her arms." Kelly! Put that brat down and make me something to eat." I looked over at Wally.
Wally just stood there with his head down. "Wally, for your sake, I'll let this stupid S.O.B live. But the baby is coming with me. Kelly can come too if she wants. But I'm taking the baby before he has to see me shoot his Grandfather." I said. "You're not taking anyone anywhere." said Brad. I walked over to the porch, up the steps and grabbed Brad by the throat. I flung him out into the yard, turned and called Kelly. Kelly came to the door carrying the baby. Kelly didn't look at all like the young girl Bobby had introduced me to. Her clothing was ragged, her hair was disheveled and she had numerous bruises on her face and arms. "Come on Kelly, lets go for a walk and you can introduce me to that little guy." I said as I reached over and pulled the baby from her arms. "I'll kill you son of a bitch!" I heard Brad shout. Then I heard him cry out in pain. When I looked over at him Wally was reaching down to pick up a revolver lying where he had kicked it out of Brad's hand.
"Wally, would you take this little guy and Kelly over to the APC. I need to have a word with your dad." I said. Wally reached out and took the baby from my arms and walked over to the APC with Kelly. "Brad, I'm going to be around for a while and I've given you the only break I'll ever give you, by letting you live. But if I ever see you hit Kelly or the baby again I will kill you..."I told him. And then I turned and walked over and got inside the APC. "Where to Mister Mason?" said Wally. "Let's go and check out my old place. I need to talk to Kelly and get to know this little guy." I said.
We pulled up to my gate and I hopped out and unlocked the gate and pushed it open. Inside my house everything was covered in two years of dust, "Sorry about the mess. I guess I need to get after my housekeeper. Lets pickup Gus and move this party to Rob's compound. Rob told me that Jenny made me an apartment there. I want you to see both places Kelly. Because either one of them are yours, if you want to move out of your dads place." I said.
Three hours later with Kelly's little one playing with Rob and Jenny's twins, Kelly and I sat talking. "Well what do you think; do you want either place? Do you want to stay here or would you like my house in Haven? It's your choice. Either of the places are yours for the asking." "I don't know what to say." said Kelly, "My dad was always a bully but after mom died and then my having the baby he became so bitter and hateful. I think the reason Wally puts up with him is because he's afraid to leave me and the baby alone with dad." "Well, Wally can stay here with you or he can have the place you don't choose." When I looked into her face I could see the tears streaming down her cheeks. "Will it be OK with Rob and Jenny if I want to stay here? She did make him build it for you." "Bobby was Jenny's brother and she is your little guys aunt so I'm sure she won't mind and if she's happy, Rob will be happy. I am sure of that."
There was a knock at the door. When I opened it, Wally was standing there. "Are you about ready to go home Kelly? It's getting pretty late and you know how dad gets." Kelly smiled and said, "I think I am home. Come in Wally, we need to talk."
Gus and I ended up staying in my large apartment at Rob's compound. Kelly and little Bobby took a family apartment there as well. And Wally decided to stay in my house at Haven. Over the next two weeks, Wally, with Kelly's help, gave my house a thorough cleaning and dusting.
Over the next three months, before Gus and I had to return to Wasco, quite a bit was accomplished. Gus selected three people from Rob's compound and four people from Haven to train to fly. He even had time to squeeze in some flight time to train me to fly as well. Rob and some of his construction guys graded, leveled and packed a runway just outside of his compound. A large building to shelter at least three airplanes and enough space to store a fuel tanker was also built.
Rob had driven his three pilot trainees and Gus to the outlying airports to try and locate some additional aircraft. A small 12 passenger commuter aircraft and a civilian model of the T-44 were located. Gus and the trainees transported both of the new planes back to Rob's compound as well as a couple of fuel tankers with approximately 12,000 more gallons of fuel. Due to the danger of storing that much fuel close to the compound, Rob planned to bury a couple of the tanker trailers.
The day of Gus and my departure, to return to Wasco, I promised Jenny that I would return to Jennyville probably with in a month or as soon as I cleared up any open business in Wasco. Jenny winced at my reference to Jennyville and said for me to stop calling it that. She said that I was only egging Rob on.
Once back at Wasco I wanted time to arrange a meeting between Mayor Marshal, Mayor Fred, Rob, and I. The meeting would be about our need in finding people to teach our young people, beyond just reading and writing. If we are going to rebuild our world, we need to know sciences medicine and engineering. We need to start gathering these types, before they are dead and gone and their knowledge with them. There aren't any new people being turned out of schools anymore so replacements are hard to come by. I would also need the time to say goodbye to Tom and a few others in Wasco before I returned.
As Gus and I made a final pass over Jennyville, I could see Jenny and Kelly waving from the roof of the compound. Gus told me that he had promised Rob that he would return in the spring to train some chopper pilots.
Like I've said before it never ends. Each day more things occur that need to be dealt with just to survive. At least we seem to be carving out a future. Not just hiding to survive another day. I guess I'll see what tomorrow brings....
THE END?
####
About the author
Jeff Ping is a retired RF Engineer living in Northern California.
Connect to Jeff
Webpage: jeffping.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeff ping
Email:
[email protected] Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends