Part 2 (1/2)
”I'm winnin' so shut up!” the old man yelled back.
”Why you even let Herbert come here is beyond me,” the old woman spat at her husband. Nathan was glad someone else didn't like Herbert.
”He don't bite my head off,” the old man said as Nathan finished grabbing his stuff.
”Keep that gun handy,” Nathan told the old man.
”I will. It beats my old six shooter. You be safe out there and keep the young'uns safe,” he said as Nathan walked outside with a wave.
He distributed the cans between their three packs. ”Okay, let's go and set up camp. I want to hear what the moron in charge has to say,” Nathan said as he started off down the road.
After a few miles, they walked a few hundred yards off the road till they were by a large pond, which had the kids freaking out. ”Hey, we have to have water and I'm not in the mood to carry it,” Nathan told them.
Nathan spread out his stuff and watched as Amanda moved her blankets beside his. Shaking his head, Nathan noticed John moving his sleeping bag closer.
”Amanda, you have first watch of four hours. John you have the last four hours. I'll take the middle called the s.h.i.+t s.h.i.+ft,” Nathan told them. ”Now we take wh.o.r.e baths every other day and a full bath on the others,” he told them.
”What's a wh.o.r.e bath?” Amanda asked, confused.
”What you did last night, was.h.i.+ng out of a cup of water,” he said.
”Why's it called a wh.o.r.e bath?” she asked.
As he unpacked his pack, Nathan looked up. ”In between customers that's how wh.o.r.es would wash,” he said.
”What the h.e.l.l did their customers buy that stunk that bad?” Amanda asked and John fell over laughing.
”They-” Nathan froze as he looked at Amanda's inquisitive and innocent face. ”I'll tell you some other time,” he said, taking off his vest.
”That's not fair. John knows,” she said, looking at John who was smiling at her. ”Oh I guess you think it's funny you know and I don't?” she popped off.
”No,” he said, still smiling.
”Then why are you smiling?” Amanda demanded with a very grumpy face.
”Y'all haven't made fun of me all day and have just been real nice to me, like friends,” he said with an open-mouthed grin.
”Why would I make fun of you?” Amanda asked. ”Momma told me I couldn't make fun of other people because it hurts their feelings. I know when some girls at school make fun of me because I'm so skinny and don't wear a bra it hurt my feelings.”
Agreeing wholeheartedly, John nodded. ”It does hurt my feelings, but y'all haven't done it.”
Nathan leaned over. ”And we won't,” he told John. ”If I say something bad to you it means we are getting ready to fight but I kinda like you so I don't see that happening. We are friends here,” Nathan told John as he grabbed the radio.
”I ain't ever had a real friend,” John said. ”Except on X-Box and Facebook,” he added.
”Those are just people,” Amanda said, laying out Ares' blanket.
Nathan strung up the clothesline and hung up a sheet. Then he got the shower bag and hung it up behind the sheet. Walking over to his pack, he pulled out a five-gallon collapsible jug. ”John, your duty every time we set up camp is to fill this jug and hang it where I've got the clothesline. Amanda, your job every morning is making sure all the water bottles are full,” he said.
”Oh, I get the girl job,” Amanda said, flipping her hand at Nathan.
”It weighs over forty pounds,” he said.
”My pack weighs over thirty and I carry that,” she said smartly.
”On your back,” Nathan said. ”John, get out your water pump today and alternate between everyone's every day. Today take Wonder Woman and see if she can carry the jug,” Nathan told John, but he was looking at Amanda. Nathan pulled the stove out of John's pack, figuring it had enough fuel for tonight as he set up and started some water boiling. Then he set up his fuel tab stove and started more water boiling for a dozen eggs.
Looking up, he saw Amanda giving everything she had to toting the water, sitting it down every few feet and shaking her hands. Finally she stepped back and let John pick it up and carry it over. In her defense, even John's actions showed it was heavy. Nathan helped him hang the water up. Then, reaching into the bag from the store, he pulled out the clothes for John and tossed them over.
”Gee, thanks,” John said, holding them up.
”We'll get you some more clothes in a few days,” Nathan said. ”You shower first then go to the lake and wash your clothes. Then you, Wonder Woman. I'll go last. I want to be done in an hour so we can hear the broadcast after we've eaten,” he said as John stood up and took his s.h.i.+rt off. Nathan grabbed the shower bag and filled it with the cold lake water and dumped a pot of hot water in. Shaking the bag, he put his hand in to find it warm. ”Hang it up,” he said, holding the bag out to John. Nathan noticed the red areas on John's body were nowhere near as raw looking as they'd been last night.
While John was showering Amanda leaned over to Nathan. ”John looks like he lost weight today,” she said in a low voice.
”Oh I'm sure he did,” Nathan said. ”I wouldn't be surprised if he lost five pounds, maybe a little more,” he added.
Raising her eyebrows, she said, ”I thought you couldn't lose that much in a day.”
”Under normal circ.u.mstances yes, but this isn't normal. I'm sure John was used to eating what you would eat in a week for one meal,” Nathan said.
”You would die if you ate that much,” she said, leaning back.
”No, you'd be surprised,” Nathan said, taking his s.h.i.+rt off.
Amanda pulled her s.h.i.+rt up to her nose. ”Wow I stink,” she said, grabbing her s.h.i.+rt to pull it off. Nathan leaned over, grabbing her arms to stop her.
”You are a girl and don't have a bra on,” he said, leaning back.
She looked at him in shock. ”Last night you made a fuss when I talked about wearing panties and bras and today you complain I don't wear a bra,” she said, letting her hands fall into her lap. ”Make up your mind,” she said.
”It's the same thing. You're a little girl,” Nathan said, and Amanda didn't like the way he called her a little girl.'
Seeing John walking to the lake, she stood up and stomped off to the shower. Ares looked at Nathan. ”Don't look at me, I don't know,” he said to Ares. Not understanding, Ares laid his head down, staring at the bag of hamburgers that smelled real good. He was kind of hoping one of those might end up his.
Once Amanda finished, Nathan ran over and showered after filling the bag up again. Drying off, he looked for his dirty clothes and didn't see them. Putting on some clean ones he walked down to the lake to find Amanda scrubbing his clothes. ”I could wash them,” Nathan said.
She turned around and looked up at him, her hair wrapped in a towel. ”I was was.h.i.+ng mine so I just grabbed yours,” she said then turned around and continued. He smiled and left her gently singing a song softly to herself. It was from that boy pop star. Shaking his head, he walked back to the camp as Ares headed over to Amanda.
”Oh, you'll go check on her but not me,” Nathan said as Ares walked past. Ares never paid him any attention.
A few minutes later Amanda joined them and they ate the burgers, Ares getting his fair share. Then they sat and waited on the broadcast. The radio station suddenly came on and they all listened as a woman announced the President.
”My fellow Americans. We have been hit with something the likes of which mankind has never before faced. Let me a.s.sure you, America and her allies will survive. Power outages on the North American continent are reported at ninety-eight percent. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has a.s.sured me that steps are being taken to get the plants back on line. As many of you have heard, I have ordered Martial Law in all cities with a population over one hundred thousand. This is to maintain civil authority. I have signed an Executive Order limiting the Interstate travel of civilians.
”Travel within the state will be dictated by the local governments. I have urged the governors to declare martial law when and where needed. We cannot have people moving from city to city as we drop off food and supplies, taking away from those that live there. Food s.h.i.+pments started going out to every major city in America two days ago with the military transporting and dispensing the food. Now to make sure people only get what is allotted to them a national identification card is being issued to each person at time of the first pick up. You must bring proof of who you are and it will be checked with the Social Security Administration and the FBI.