Chương 107: 104: Reaping and Sowing

I was not accepting responsibility for the mayor's disintegration. Not only had I not done it, I'd even warned her not to use her mind control on people who were higher level than she was. Jack's grin didn't fade. He opened his eyes wide and said with mock-innocence, "You mean Zelda jumped that cop all by herself? Completely on her own?" I rolled my eyes. He crouched next to Zelda and gave her a solid scratch under her chin.

"Good job, Z. You're a good girl." Emma, the lawyer, and the council member had moved on to the conversation that was the reason we were all standing here.

"No," Emma said firmly.

"That's your response?" The council member crossed his arms.

"Yes, my complete and full response." Emma crossed her arms, too.

"I don't have the power to move the enclave, and I'm not giving it up. So you can ticket me for trespassing all you like. I will not be removing myself or my belongings from these premises. And neither will the people with me." She gave a quick glance in the direction where the news crew had stood before disappearing, and a flicker of worry crossed her face before she lifted her chin and said, "I do have good news, however. The enclave has expanded. Tiered up, in the language of the System.

We'll be able to keep more people safe now." She raised her voice and directed her words to the half-dozen or so uniformed officers standing nearby.

"Applications from first responders and their families will be given priority. My idea is that the first responders who take me up on this will still actively protect members of the community outside the enclave, but that they'll have a safe place to return to when they're off-duty. And they'll know that their families, especially their children, are safe while they're at work." I nearly oohed out loud. I obviously hadn't heard Emma's plan before, but what a way to undermine the people trying to force her out.

How could you argue with "keeping your families safe while you do your essential jobs?" The uniformed officers exchanged glances, but the chief glared. He'd gotten to his feet and dusted off his uniform, but he was still standing several feet away from the others. The lawyer and the council member exchanged glances, too.

"The law states—" the lawyer began, but the council member put a hand on his arm.

"Let's consider this for a minute, Jim. The mayor was gung-ho to assert authority over this piece of property, but…" He glanced at the clothing on the ground.

"… I'm not sure she was thinking clearly."

"The law—" the lawyer started again, more hesitantly. Again, the council member interrupted.

"Jim. Call it a state of emergency. That seems appropriate." He looked back at Emma.

"Those shadow things are back, and we've got a bunch of people holed up in the fire department. How would you feel about establishing an operational headquarters here? Working with the first responders to organize and tackle the most urgent problems facing the city?" The police chief stalked away. Emma watched him go. She looked at the mayor's clothing, just the way the council member had.

"We would have to set some strict guidelines. I'm not letting another Mind Mage in, so anyone who's taken that class is right out."

"No Murder Hobos, either," I volunteered, joining the conversation.

"Murder Hobos?" Multiple people responded simultaneously.

"It's a title that people who have been killing other people get," I explained.

"I don't know if it does anything other than make dangerous people easily identifiable, but you don't get the title from self-defense." Emma nodded.

"Yeah, no Murder Hobos, either. And…" She hesitated, then tilted her chin toward the direction of the police chief's exit.

"Let's be realistic. I don't think the chief is capable of compromise." The lawyer looked as if he wanted to object, but he visibly restrained himself. The council member opened his mouth, closed it, opened it, twisted it.

"Chief Anderson has had a difficult week."

"As have we all," Emma replied, a touch of heat in her tone.

"Okay. Fair." The council member sighed. He uncrossed his arms, stuffed them into his pants pockets, stared at the ground for a minute, then asked the lawyer.

"Brief consult?" The lawyer nodded.

"Of course."

"Can you excuse us for a minute?" the council member asked Emma.

"Sure." She turned to the people who'd come with us. In a low voice, she said, "Nat, can you see if the news team is in their studio? I want to know where they went. If they're gone for good…" Nat touched a finger to her forehead in a casual salute.

"On it." She headed back into the enclave, jogging as she went. The lawyer and the council member had withdrawn by going about ten feet away. With my new improved hearing, that was not actually far enough despite the low voices they were using. Eavesdropping, of course, is rude, unprincipled, and disrespectful. Polite people in a civilized society should allow others their privacy, especially when it is so clearly requested. But, you know, apocalypse. It's the excuse for all sorts of bad behavior, right?

"What do you suppose they're talking about?" Emma muttered.

"What the process is for relieving the chief from duty and whether anything he's done warrants it," I answered in an equally quiet voice. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Emma gaped.

"How do you—""My Perception stat is really high. Sixty-two points. You wouldn't believe how miserable it is to have an incredibly good sense of smell when people aren't showering regularly." For a second, I could almost smell the floral butcher's shop scent from the body bags of the spiders in Spruce Gap. People in need of showers were definitely not the worst odors. But no one who wasn't there ever needed to know about that smell. Except maybe my therapist.

Not that I had a therapist at the moment, but maybe I should be looking for one. In between all the other things I needed to do, of course. A low mechanical rumble interrupted Emma's response. We all looked in the direction of the sound. It was a bulldozer, the classic yellow, trundling down the road toward us. They must have had it parked around the corner, keeping the threat level low for the first stage of this confrontation, but ready to escalate if necessary.

And the police chief had unilaterally decided it was necessary. What an asshole that guy was.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding," Emma said.

"A bulldozer? Didn't he see the news?"

"The Multiversal Information Network news?" Jack replied.

"No, of course he didn't, because he wasn't in the enclave."

"Right, of course." Emma shook her head.

"What would he have seen?" I asked, given that I hadn't seen the news either. Jack snorted. Emma rolled her eyes, but she looked as if she wanted to laugh.

"There's this guy, somewhere in the Midwest maybe?" Jack started.

"Colorado," Emma supplied.

"Near Denver."

"Yeah, that's right. He decided he was gonna be the next Warren Jeffs and the city said, oh, hell, no, you're not. Not here. They've been trying to destroy the enclave. No luck so far, but they are persistent. Let's just say a bulldozer ain't gonna do it." The bulldozer was still heading straight toward us, the chief visible in the cab.

"You think he's going to run us over?" I asked. The sensible people around us had already started to scatter, some retreating back into the enclave, others moving to the street. A few people from the other side, including at least one of the police officers and the council member, were shouting at the chief, but he ignored them, moving steadily forward.

"We should probably get out of the way," Emma said.

"Yeah, probably," Jack agreed.

"Jack!" Missy waved at us from the street. She and David had moved out of the way promptly.

"We might as well," I said prosaically, so the four of us—me, Zelda, Jack, and Emma—joined Missy and David in the street and watched the police chief ram the enclave. It was the stupidest thing ever. I didn't laugh, but it was really, really hard not to. The bulldozer hit the blue wall of the enclave at maybe ten miles an hour. The blade stopped. The bulldozer didn't. Its tracks kept turning. Dirt and grass churned beneath them, the engine roaring louder as the chief pushed the controls forward.

The machine tilted, its rear end lifting a few inches as all that weight tried to go somewhere. Metal shrieked, and the blade folded, buckling under the pressure. The engine gave one final grinding roar and died. Enclave 1, bulldozer 0. The council member walked over to Emma, his pace unhurried.

"I'll call an emergency session of the council. The chief will be suspended, pending review, and I expect the council will agree…" He sighed.

"Well, maybe we can call it retirement. Meanwhile, let's talk logistics." The chief was still sitting in the cab, staring into space, as most of us returned to the enclave. I opted out of the logistics conversation. I might have joined the enclave, but that didn't make me willing to go to meetings, or sign up for committees, or… well, whatever. Emma could probably convince me to help people power-level, but not today. I needed to find Jules and Toby. First, though, I went to find Pen and the dogs.

I had to tell Pen about her brother. Obviously, it had been days now since he'd died, but it wasn't going to get any easier, and I was tired of having the thought of the conversation looming over me. Also, though, my shoulder hurt. Not in a way that limited my movement or demanded healing, but in a way that reminded me I'd been shot a few hours ago. It was possible I'd been really lucky Cody had such a ridiculous little gun. I might not have walked away from an assault rifle so easily.

And if I were going to wander around Texas, I'd probably run into at least a few people who owned such things and hadn't exploded yet. Not that I really thought I was going to die while searching for Jules, but I didn't want to leave unfinished business behind if I could help it. Pen, Megan, the General, and the dogs were all sitting on the ground in the orchard.

Pen had the General in her lap, Megan had Riley snuggled up next to her legs, and Bear was guarding the group, her back turned to them while she watched the approach. The humans were talking fluidly, Megan gesturing as if describing something big. At the sight of Zelda and me, Bear stood and stretched. Time to go? Time to explore?

"Not yet, Bear," I replied. Pen and Megan both started to scramble to their feet, and I waved at them to stop.

"No, don't get up." I looked at the two of them for a moment. I was about to ruin the mood, which sucked. They looked as if they'd been having fun. Or at least a good conversation, the kind where both people are engaged, and no one is secretly wishing they could escape. Dropping to the ground, I sat cross-legged across from them and put a hand on Zelda. Maybe I could get her to sit in my lap the way the General was with Pen. She twitched. Not a lap dog, she told me with barely hidden indignation.

She dropped to her belly and rested her head on my knee. Ear rubs, okay. Kisses if needed. No laps." Fine," I muttered, moving my hand to her soft ears.

"Fine?" Megan asked. Pen tipped her head toward Megan, keeping her gaze on me.

"She talks to the dogs. They talk to her, too." My smile was rueful. Animal communication was still the best part of this whole thing, as far as I was concerned.

"What is it?" Pen went on.

"You look like you've got something bad to tell us." Megan straightened.

"Is Jack okay? Are my parents—""Everyone is fine," I interrupted her.

"I mean…" I took a breath, let it out.

"Everyone in your family is fine," I corrected myself. I put the emphasis on 'your.' Pen bit her lip.

"Oh." Megan glanced in her direction.

"Do you want me to go? Is this—do you want privacy? I can..." I waited to see how Pen would respond. She shook her head.

"You can stay." Her voice was even; her eyes steady on mine.

"I'm sorry to tell you, Pen, that one of your brothers has died." My voice was even, too, but Zelda turned her head and licked the inside of my wrist. I felt the Resilience boost immediately. [Emotional Support for the Win] really was awesome.

"I'm not sure which one it was, but it wasn't Robbie or Luke or Matthew. It was one of the other two." Pen pursed her lips. She looked up at the artificial sky, blinking as if checking to make sure no tears would escape, then said, sounding more grim than sad, "Did he attack you?"

"No, no," I said quickly. I didn't want her to think I'd killed him. I wasn't slaughtering her entire family one after another. Except… wasn't I? They were my bougainvilleas. I grimaced.

"Well, sort of. Maybe? He… I found his body at the end of my driveway. He'd spilled some gas from a gas can that he'd brought with him. I don't expect he brought it to be friendly."

"I don't expect he did," she said, her voice softer, head bent. Ugh. I knew this was gonna suck. I glanced at Megan, hoping for some sort of support. I should have brought Missy. I bet she knew how to tell a teenager that her brother was dead. Megan totally caught my silent message, though. She shifted closer to Pen and put her hand on Pen's back.

"Are you okay? Is there anything I can do?" Emotions flickered across Pen's face faster than I could read them. Stroking Gus, head down, she said, "I don't know how I oughta feel. No, I know how I oughta feel. Sad. But I can't say as I do." She peeked at Megan, then dropped her gaze again.

"I guess that makes me bad. Is it a sin not to grieve for your kin? Iffen your kin was maybe… well, if it was Mark, he was the one who hurt me so bad." She raised her eyes to mine and half-smiled, eyes full of unshed tears.

"It's that reaping and sowing thing again, ain't it? If he wanted to live a long and righteous life, maybe he shouldn't have been trying to burn out his neighbors." A single tear broke free, and she wiped it away impatiently.

"I guess I am a little sad. But I'm glad it weren't Luke."