“That’s a damned good idea. I’ve been wearing the same clothes for a few days. Guess it’s time to wash them. I do have liquid laundry detergent, but you might want to pick up a few more. Extra strength.” Brian sniggered and held his nose.
“Goof. I sure will.” Emma laughed.
“Yeah, we got to do it the old fashion way. Man, my poor hands. Maybe we can set up a dish washing station by the lake as well. We can pick up a couple of large plastic tubs, for washing and rinsing, and also a drying rack.” Paadi piped in, grinning at Brian.
“Got it, couple of T frames and a washing station. Then can I start on the storage shed ladies?” He looked at both women pointedly and they laughed.
“My honey-do list is getting longer by the day.” He grumbled good naturedly.
“At least you’ll have Coop and the dogs here to help you.” Emma laughed and Brian shook his head and both women laughed. All looked up when both dogs barked in low chuffs. The small group looked and Brian pointed up the beach. There was a man, roughly three hundred yards up the beach. The man stood still, he had containers with him, and was clearly gathering water. Brian wondered if he was the one who’d fired the weapon the other day?
Brian lifted a hand in hello, but didn’t get out of his chair. The man lifted a hand, though cautiously and waved back. The watched for a few minutes and Brian figured the man was trying to decide to come over and introduce himself.
“Should we go meet him?” Emma asked.
“Naw, if he wants to be sociable, he can come here. We don’t want to make him nervous.” Brian said softly, his eyes not leaving the man.
“Buddy, come.” Emma called and the dog trotted over. She placed her hand on his head and Daisy came over and sat beside Brian.
“He’s coming this way. Should I go get my weapon?” Paadi wondered.
“No, I’ve got mine on me. Maybe start carrying it on you at all times from now on. This guy might be nice, but the next one that shows up might not be and you might not have the time to go and get it.” Brian said softly, watching as the man approached.
The man was of medium height and had brown hair and fair skin. It looked like he wasn’t an outdoorsman. He had a rifle slung across his back, but had no sidearm that he could see. He’d left the containers back and carried nothing in his hands. He had a solemn, if not worried look on his face. Brian guessed that the man had run into trouble before and was cautious. Well he should be. These days, you never knew who you were meeting.
“Hello friend, welcome.” Brian called in a friendly voice.
“Hello. Wow, looks like you’ve done a lot to this place. Nice work.” The man said, looking around.
“We’ve been hard at it.” Emma said, a soft smile on her face.
“I’m BJ, and I got here a week and a half ago. I’m over at the cabins. Trying to get settled in. Have a fifth wheel, so it is pretty nice.”
“Oh, that’s good. I heard those RVs are pretty spacious and nice inside. I’m Paadi, by the way, and this is Brian and Emma. Cooper, he’s still sleeping.” Paadi said, and the man’s brows went up at her heavy Boston accent. Brian hid a grin in his coffee cup.
“The fifth wheels are nice, my family and I used to come here camping, during the summer breaks.” BJ said, sadness etched into his face at the mention of his family.
“I take it you lost them?” Emma asked softly.
“Yeah, my two boys, Brody, nine and Timothy, eight. My wife, Clair, too.” He said and cleared his throat.
“I was a carpenter and assistant youth pastor and well, I lost all our parishioners and their families. Pretty much everyone I knew, families and friends. I figured I’d make my way here, see if I could survive. Cincinnati was horrible, just a nightmare.” BJ said and shuddered.
“Boston was the same.” Paadi said, shaking her head.
“I lived in Boston as well. Plus, there was a lot of gun play starting up when I left. I ran into Paadi on the road here.” Emma said and smiled at the other woman.
“On my way here, I was robbed four times, or rather, my supplies were confiscated. I just don’t understand it, there are so few people, why would you take away someone’s chance to survive?” BJ wondered, confusion on his face.
“Crazy people out there, we ran into a man who was charging a toll, to go past him. Sadly, he was either stupid or high, but I ended up shooting him.” Paadi shrugged. Brian could hear the pain in Paadi’s voice and knew that incident bothered her a lot.
A spark of fear entered into BJ’s eyes at the news.
“She was a Boston police officer, Emma was a nurse, and I was a firefighter.” Brian smiled and saw the man’s face relax.
“I know this is presumptuous of me, but do you think I might move my RV here? Maybe park it over there? It would be easier getting water, and I could help you guys. You don’t have to answer now, maybe think about it?” BJ asked, his eyes wide with hope.
Brian looked at the women and he saw their slight nods. He looked up at BJ and smiled.
“We’d love to have you. You help us and we’ll share what we have with you. I think
