Granny B stood in front of Kate until Kate looked up. “You work, you eat. You work, you live.”
Granny B started to walk off when Kate whispered. “I’m sorry. We honestly thought you were the ones who killed our friends and burned the Clark ranch house.”
“Talk is cheap. Show us you mean it by your deeds and actions. We don’t want to keep you chained, but neither do we want you blabbing where we live all over Oregon.”
Kate’s face wrinkled, and she squinted. “Why not drop me off somewhere away from here and let me free. Keep me blindfolded during the transfer.”
Tom had walked up behind Kate. “We don’t want to place a wounded woman out to fend for herself. Don’t you have any friends or relatives around here?”
Tears formed in Kate’s eyes. “No. My folks were killed during the first two weeks, along with everyone else I know. You know what happened to my uncle.”
Tom frowned. “I’m sorry about that, but we had to defend ourselves. Give a lot of thought to where you’ll want to go. It’s rough out there and especially rough for a young good looking woman.”
“I will. I understand now that you were only defending yourself. I’m sorry about lashing out at you. How is the brother of the girl we killed doing?”
Tom looked down at his shoes and fidgeted with his hands. “Probably about the same as you are after having your folks killed. He’s trying to be brave but in denial. Rick is strong. He’ll never forget his sister, but he’ll move on.”
Kate forced a smile. “I get that. I’m so sorry.”
Tom smiled and nodded. “Let’s put that behind us. In a couple of weeks, you’ll be able to use your arm, and we’ll find a safe place to take you. We will be scouting the area over the next couple of weeks to find a safe place and to scavenge some supplies.”
Kate smiled and asked, “What did you do before the lights went out?”
Tom had to lie to keep her from figuring out where they lived. “I was a farmer and raised fruit trees, hogs, and chickens. What did you do?”
“I’m a nurse practitioner and worked at the Medford hospital in emergency care.”
Tom stooped to look her in the eyes. “Then why didn’t you help treat our wounds and even give direction on treating your wound?”
Kate answered. “Your people did a great job with what they have to work with. We need a wound stapler, quick clotting gauze, and intravenous antibiotics to improve your chances of surviving a wound. Granny B gave me some antibiotic tablets, which should work but the intravenous works much faster.”
Granny B broke into the conversation. “Could you help me tend to their injuries and make a list of what we need to add to our medical supplies? I was a nurse over thirty years ago, but a lot has changed since then.”
Kate began peeling the potatoes again. “Give me a pencil and paper, and I’ll make a list of what you need to handle the more serious illnesses and wounds. You probably have the simple stuff covered already.”
Tom smiled. “Thanks for helping.”
Those golden flecks caught his eye again. He cursed himself for having the weird feeling when he saw her.
***
Tom sat across from Jackie, Sam, and Rick. “Rick, can you take on setting up tripwires and other defensive measures? I’ll replace any fried electronics and get our monitors, motion detectors, and microphones working again.”
Rick gave a thumbs up. “I only need to know if you want deadly traps or just enough to scare the crap out of any intruders.”
“I guess we need a wide perimeter of warning devices that don’t kill. Then close in, we put the deadfalls, pits with pongee sticks, and large snares. There has to be a balance between giving too little and too much warning because a warning also communicates that we have something to protect. The gang has no reason to come back, but if they do, they’ll think the traps were left over from before the house burned.” Tom then looked around the table.
Jackie said, “I’ll help Rick, and Sam can help you with the warning system.”
Tom looked at his sister in the eyes. “You could work with me today for a little brother-sister bonding.”
“Nope, I’ll work with Rick. Sam knows a lot more about electronics than me.”
Tom looked at Sam, and then she shook her head as Rick and Jackie left. Then Sam snorted. “I’ll help, but all I know about electricity is how to flip the light switch and set the clock on my microwave.”
Tom chuckled and slapped her on the leg. “Then I’ll teach you everything you need to know.”
Both groups spent the next two days improving their operational security. Tom used Sam to help check the warning devices after he’d replaced the damaged units. He had a handheld monitoring device that was wirelessly connected to the bunker’s monitoring panel to check on their repairs. “Move the camera to point a bit to your left. Yes, better. Move it a hair more. Good, you got it.”
“Who was your flunky before the world fell apart?”
“I was Granny B’s and Jackie’s flunky. Imagine growing up with two strong-willed, opinionated, and hardheaded women,” Tom said just before his handheld monitor crackled.
Granny’s voice came through the speaker. “I’ll show you who’s hard-headed when you get back in the bunker.”
Tom chuckled and then snorted. “I forgot. They can hear what we’re saying now. The microphones are hooked up.”
Granny B laughed. “Go tell that to your sister. Those two are making out behind a stand of trees about a
