'I'd like to think that for once we've run into some good luck. However, on the other hand, I don't know. There's a little voice in my head that says don't trust anyone. Then again…maybe that's Madeline's fear creeping out of the crevices of my mind.'
'Yeah, I know what you mean. Fear has a way of messing with us, but these people just fought Madeline's evil assholes for us.'
'I know that says a lot about them right there. How can you not trust people who put their lives on the line for you?' I said grinning as I took the saddle off Hope. Sela already had a bucket of water filled for Tempest. We had all our gear in a pile. Jerky was prowling the warehouse in full hunting mode.
A young woman, perhaps in her mid-twenties, came walking toward us from the other end of the warehouse. 'Welcome. My name is Missy. Are you folks hungry?' Sela glanced at me with a slight grin. Before I could give my standard reply, she put her hand over my mouth and said, 'We don't want to impose.'
'Not at all. We'd love to have some company and hear some news from outside our little town. Follow me.'
I looked around, concerned about our belongings as well as the horses. Missy saw my concern and assured me that everything would be safe. She also mentioned that a friend was bringing some oats and hay for the horses.
'Such hospitality. What a rare thing indeed,' I muttered as we followed Missy. Sela put her arm around my waist. I glanced around to see Jerky follow us.
As we left the warehouse and walked out of the alley, I looked out toward the edge of town where the biker battle took place. A large fire, spewing black smoke, filled the sky. I stopped to stare at the scene.
'How many people did you lose?' I asked softly.
'None,' Missy said proudly. 'We have the best protectors ever. They stopped the evil.'
The way Missy said that made me shudder. Sela hugged me tighter.
'For now, maybe, but…'
Before I could finish, my stomach grumbled, giving Sela a chance to change the subject.
'Dinner should be shortly. I'm sure I can find you a snack or something to tide you over. Come on. My house is just over there,' Missy said pointing.
Questions filled my head to the point of popping it. I kept glancing back at the burning pyre. What was burning? I hoped it wasn't any of the townsfolk. Must be Madeline's losses. And how did those motorcycles have any fuel? She must have fuel stockpiled somewhere.
'Earth to Heckel,' Sela whispered under her breath. 'Come back.'
'Just deep in thought,' I said into her ear.
'Here we are,' Missy said pointing to her house. As we approached the front door, Jack came walking up from behind us.
'Everything all right?' I asked.
'Yuppers. Right as rain. Did you get your horses settled?'
'Yes, they were pretty thirsty,' Sela said. 'And hungry. Thanks for the oats. I'm sure they're happy.'
'Great. I'm glad.' Jack said holding the front door.
'Your generosity is…um…' I said, stuttering.
'Simply a common courtesy. We are happy to help out,' Jack said proudly.
Sela and I, with wide eyes and a big grin, slowly nodded our heads.
'We have pot roast for tonight. How does that sound?' Jack offered as we walked past him.
'Like I've died and gone to heaven,' I said.
Sela poked me in the ribs and whispered, 'Bad choice of words, dear.'
'Well, it's not heaven, but I can honestly say that my wife makes the best darn tasting pot roast this side of Dallas.'
A short woman with slightly graying hair set in a long braid came out of the kitchen. A clean, flowery apron was wrapped around her waist. She looked like she could have been on an old 1950s sitcom like
'Hello, you must be Sela and Heckel,' the woman said, extending her hand. 'I'm Vonnie.'
Shaking her hand energetically, I said, 'It's a pleasure to meet you, Vonnie.'
'You have a very nice home,' Sela said, shaking our host's hand.
'Thank you. Are you folks hungry?'
This time it was Sela who eagerly expressed our combined hunger. 'Vonnie, the smell of that pot roast is divine. We haven't had a real cooked meal except for an occasional rabbit in a long time.'
'Don't forget the mac and cheese we had the other night,' I said.
Sela frowned as she remembered the nearly burned dinner because of the talking skeleton. 'Like I said, we haven't had a real cooked meal while sitting at a table in a very long time.'
'Well, it's almost done. Take a seat in the living room and I'll call when dinner's ready,' Vonnie said as she walked back toward the kitchen. 'Oh Missy, would you please set the table?'
'My pleasure,' Missy said, following her mother into the kitchen.
'Come over here and have a seat. Tell me where you've come from?' Jack asked.
From the kitchen, Vonnie shouted that she didn't want to miss any of our conversation.
'Okay. We'll talk about stuff you already know,' Jack yelled back to his wife. He rolled his eyes at us. 'As you can tell, we are a little starved for news.'
'I'm afraid we don't have much of that to report,' Sela said, sending me a glance that was cautious. Changing the subject, Sela asked Jack how many people were in the town.
'I guess there's a couple of hundred. We get new people joining us all the time. The last time we checked, it seems to me we were close to that number.'
'Where do they come from?' I asked.
'All over. Some as far away as Canada,' Jack said looking over at Missy setting the table.
'What do you do for food? How did you get the meat for this pot roast? Do you grow your own vegetables?' The questions flooded out of my mouth in record pace.
'Whoa, slow down. One at a time,' Jack said, holding up his hand and smiling.
'Sorry, it's just that…'
Sela interrupted me and said calmly, 'Jack, we are just a little excited to see real people again, good people. We were beginning to think that maybe we were the only sane people left…besides the ev-'
Before Sela could mention our encounters with Madeline, I interrupted her and said, 'It's just that we are so happy to see a normal, loving family.'
'I know what you mean,' Jack said. 'I watched many of my friends and family members die.'
The awkwardness of the conversation was broken when Vonnie came hurrying into the dining room, carrying a large platter of beef and vegetables.
'Oh my God,' I exclaimed jumping up off the couch. 'That is…'
'Exquisite,' Sela said standing next to me as we stared into the dining room.
'Well, hurry on over here and grab a seat,' Vonnie said proudly.
After Jack said the blessing, we all filled our plates and ate in silence for the longest time. I got the feeling that our hosts didn't always eat so well. For Sela and me, it was like a Thanksgiving Day dinner, and I'm not even sure that holiday existed anymore. Before the collapse, the months of November and December were pretty much consumed by Christmas. My grandfather used to tell me that on Thanksgiving when he was growing up, no stores were open at all. It was a real family day. Then Black Friday started to spread. First, the shopping day took over Thursday, Thanksgiving. Soon it was Wednesday, Tuesday and finally it became known as Black week.
'You look deep in thought,' Jack said.
'Oh, sorry. I'm just enjoying this meal so much and to actually sit around a table is…' I choked up and couldn't finish. Tears welled up in my eyes.
'Heckel's right. We can't thank you enough,' Sela said, patting me on the back.
'You're most welcome,' Vonnie said, handing a bowl of mashed potatoes to Jack.
Silence took over once more, helping to suspend the awkwardness. After a few minutes, Missy asked, 'How
