Home Coming (The Survivalist Book 10) A. American (read after .txt) 📖

into the bedroom. I told Little Bit to sit at the table and I went into our room to get the shoebox. Mel was getting undressed and I grabbed the box and left the room without bothering her. I gave Little Bit the box, much to her delight, and went into the kitchen and mixed up a little formula and filled the dropper.

“Here, baby.” I said as I handed her the dropper. “Be careful. Don’t squeeze it, just let him suck it out.”

“I won’t,” she replied with a large smile as she cradled Ruckus and cooed baby words at him.

I left her to feed the mouse and went into the kitchen and brewed a pot of tea. My jug was nearly empty and running out of tea was a cardinal sin as I saw it. As I was mixing sugar into the tea, Little Bit announced Ruckus was done. I told her to put him in the box, which she protested, but finally did as she was told, and I sent her off to bed.

“You going to tuck me in?”

Rubbing a hand through her hair, I replied, “Of course. Go brush your teeth and get in bed and I’ll come see you.”

While she brushed her teeth, I went in to see Taylor. She was wrapped up in her blanket, despite the heat in the house, which was nearly unbearable to me. I sat on the edge of her bed and patted her leg. “How you doing, kiddo?”

Without rolling over, she replied, “I’m fine.”

“I know today was a rough day. But I’m glad you went. As weird as it sounds, it was good for you.”

“It didn’t feel good to me. But, I get what you mean. I learned a lot about where we are. How good we have it. It was horrible though.”

“I’m sorry you had to see it. But, I’m happy you don’t have to live it. Know what I’m saying?”

She was quiet for a long minute. Then she replied, “I do, dad. And I’m thankful.” She rolled over and sat up. “It’s easy to forget, you know, that as bad as things are, they could be worse.”

“Things aren’t that bad.”

“Really, dad? It’s like a million degrees in here.”

I lifted the blanket and dropped it, “Get out from under this rug.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Sure, we don’t have AC. But if you think about it, that’s about all that’s missing.”

She laughed, “Are you out of your mind? That’s all that’s missing?”

“Ok, maybe that’s all that I’m missing,” I said. “Think about it. What is life about? Is it spending most of your life working your ass off to make someone else a bunch of money? Or is it doing whatever you want, to pursue your personal desires?”

“There isn’t much we can pursue though. I’d gladly go to work at McDonalds for minimum wage.”

I smiled. “I guess I can see your point of view. You’re young and not yet disillusioned. Or should I say, haven’t had the opportunity to become disillusioned yet. You know, I worked for many, many years trying to take care of you, your sisters and your mom. Where’d it get me?”

“I remember you spent a lot of time away from home. You were gone a lot.”

“See, that’s what I’m talking about,” I replied, pointing at her. “I spent all that time away from home. All those years, I could have been doing something else. It’s a dichotomy I guess.”

“What’s a dichotomy?”

“It’s a comparison of two things that are opposite of one another.”

“Oh, like today compared to how things used to be.”

“Exactly,” I replied.

“Well, that’s certainly a dichotomy.”

“I’m in bed, Daddy!” Little Bit called from her bedroom.

I laughed and patted Taylor’s leg. “Get some sleep, kiddo. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight,” Taylor replied.

I exited her room, leaving the door open to help circulate some air. It was miserable in the house. Little Bit was in her bed with the sheet pulled up to her chin. It made me smile and I leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Goodnight, kiddo.”

“Eskimo noses!” She shouted.

She was such a bright spot in a world short on light. I leaned in and rubbed noses with her. She giggled and pulled the sheet up over her head. I tickled her and she giggled and squirmed. “Goodnight, baby girl. Love you.”

“I love you too,” she replied between giggles.

“Get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”

I turned the light off as I left and grabbed a quick cold shower to help cool off before going to bed. As I was toweling off, I heard Lee Ann come in and I threw my robe on and stuck my head out. She smiled and gave me a little wave. I whispered goodnight. She disappeared into her room and I went to bed.

CHAPTER 6

The guys in the burned-out MRAP called on the radio to say they saw a large truck pulling a trailer coming down the road. Sarge had put two-man teams into the scorched hull on rotating watches of four hours. We hadn’t seen anything more out of the motorcycles, but the old man was very particular when it came to security. Hearing the call on the radio, I hopped on a four-wheeler and headed towards the bunker.

The truck was parked when I got there. Wallner and another Guardsmen were talking to Janet and one of her ranch hands. Getting off the ATV, I offered Janet my hand, which she took with a firm grip. “How are you doing?” I asked.

With a bright smile, she replied, “Great. It’s hotter than hell. But I’m good.”

Sarge pulled up in a Hummer with the three muskie queers. He got out of the truck and walked up with a smile and said, “You must be Janet.”

Holding her hand out, Janet replied, “I am. Good to meet you.”

Sarge took her hand and shook it. “I hear you have a couple beeves for us.”

Janet looked surprised. “Most people don’t know what that word is. I’m impressed.”

“Well, when you