Jane returned to her portable, where her husband, Lester, was cleaning one of their rifles. “Where’s Danny?”
Lester didn’t take his concentration off of his task. “He left this morning. Probably went hunting.”
Jane didn’t like how Danny would disappear for hours at a time, and he would always say that he was just hunting in the woods. But there had been too many days when Danny came back empty-handed. The man was too skilled of a tracker not to find at least a rabbit or squirrel.
“We need to figure out what he’s really doing,” Jane said.
“He told us he was hunting, so that’s what he’s doing,” Lester said.
“You don’t give your brother enough credit,” Jane answered. “There’s plenty of trouble still to find out there. And judging on how easily trouble finds us, I’m sure it wouldn’t have taken very long to run into it.”
Lester grunted something as he reassembled the weapon. Jane walked over to her bed but then paused when she noticed that her son’s bed was made. He hadn’t slept in their quarters for the past few nights.
“What about Gray?” Jane asked.
Lester finished assembling the weapon and then cleared the chamber before laying it down on the narrow workbench he had pulled into their portable. He was already cluttering up what limited space they had and Jane was starting to feel claustrophobic.
“I haven’t seen him,” Lester said.
Jane waited for more, but when her husband remained silent, she kicked the leg of their bed and raised her voice. “And who the hell have you seen?”
Lester had always been a bit of a hothead. It was one of the traits she had been attracted to. She enjoyed poking the bear and eliciting a reaction. But no matter how angry Lester became, Jane could always rein him back in. But lately, Lester had been more reserved. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but it was starting to grow worrisome.
“I know you’re having a hard time with him,” Lester said. “I’ve tried talking to him, but I can’t force the boy to listen to me. He’s not a child anymore.”
“Then he should stop acting like one,” Jane said.
Lester walked over to Jane and placed large hands over her tiny shoulders. She was a very petite woman with a wiry frame, and Lester was tall and lean muscled. Together they looked like they might have been a pair of well-conditioned athletes, but based on their poor clothes, most people thought they were drug addicts.
“You’re his mother,” Lester answered. “And no matter how angry he gets with you, that’s never going to change.”
Jane wanted to remain angry, but Lester’s calm demeanor was infectious. It seemed that whatever her husband was going through was causing him to mature. “You know, if I’m the only one in the relationship who gets angry now, our arguments are going to be very one-sided.”
Lester grinned. The dark, black beard that had formed over his face in the past few months made his teeth look whiter. In fact, he looked better than he ever had. He had never adapted to the civilized world. He was always wild at heart, and now that the world had reverted back to days of the wild west, he was thriving.
“I don’t particularly miss the fighting,” Lester said. “But I do miss the making up.”
Lester kissed her, and she felt his hands wandering down her backside. She kissed him back harder, biting down on his lower lip.
After they had lain on the cot, and after making love, Jane’s head was much clearer. They dressed when they were finished and then sat side by side on the edge of the cot.
“They’re falling apart out there,” Jane said.
Lester lay back down and closed his eyes. “The whole world is falling apart. I don’t know what made you think this place was going to be any different.”
Jane shook her head. “I mean Liz. She’s stretched too thin, and with Ben gone, everything has fallen on her shoulders.”
“Yeah, well, Ben will come back,” Lester said. “He’s annoying that way.”
Jane turned around and faced her husband. “I think we might be able to take control of this place.”
Lester opened his eyes. “If we make a move against this place, then the Rikers make a move against us, and we’re right back to where we started.”
“I’m not talking about starting a fight,” Jane said. “I’m talking about winning over the people here at the facility.”
Lester scoffed and shut his eyes again. “I think you have a better chance of us flying to the moon than that happening.”
Jane slapped Lester’s arm. “I’m serious. People are on edge. And after the debacle with Marty’s wife, people are starting to lose faith. And there is that other woman, the one who lost her husband that first day. She blames Ben for her husband’s death. And it’s not like the Rikers have been completely steadfast in everything they’ve done. They have chinks in their armor. We can expose that and use it against them.”
Lester opened one eye. “So, you think those chickens are going to win everybody over?”
“I think it’s a start,” Jane answered. “But we have to do more than just prove to people that we can lead them. We also need to chip away at the Rikers reputation.”
Lester drummed his fingers over his flat stomach, giving it some thought. “If we try to sabotage anything, the Rikers are just going to blame us. And our reputation is just as notorious as theirs. It’s a steep hill to climb, Jane.”
“What did I tell you when all this started?”
