Page 28 of The Gathering
After five minutes of stealthy silence, she whispered, “So, what kind of… shadows are we looking for exactly? When we get to where we’re going, I mean.”
“I’m thinking looters found their way into the wrong territory. And if that's the case, I’m thinking we need to either request surveillance on all rations or maybe move them to a more central location. Then double-check perimeter security.”
“I think that’s definitely a good idea,” Phelony said. “Moving them I mean. The nuns was talking about arranging something to have more access so they can help you out better. They know this isn’t no one man job.”
“Under-fuckin’-statement of the century right there. But if I’m called to do work with the Twelve, you’ll be in charge here as my second in command.”
“What about Chops?”
“Chops ain’t nobody’s command, but he’ll be yours if I ask.” Bacon slowed a little at the first set of trees.
“Got it. So... what if it’s not looters?” she asked, breathless behind him.
Yeah, he’d thought of that. “Not sure what else shadows it could be.”
“Maybe just… trying to tell us the supplies are in jeopardy. Could be animals got to ‘em and at a critical time as this with so many mouths coming, well…”
“Oui, would be very fucking bad. And I ran the calculations seven different kinds of ways. Even double-checked them with the smartest computer I know—the Quantum King. But guess what?”
“What?”
“I got wind he was having some minor malfunctions so now I need to double-check his calculations with 8-Bit. Geeze-fuckin’-cheese. Icannotcommit that kind of fuck up with this, Bee-bee. ‘Oops, forgot to carry my one’ ain’t some kind of bullshit I can risk, you know what I mean?”
“Oh, I do,” she assured. “I can help too. I’m no mathologist, but I can use a calculator just fine.”
Bacon stifled a big laugh. “Mathologist, huh?”
“You know what I mean, same difference.”
They made it to their scope-out trees with the heebie jeebies riding his ass. “You stay here. I’ll call your phone and we can use it like a walkie-talkie if I need to.”
“Okay, got it. You need the flashlight?”
“No and don’t turn it on.”
“You think there might be looters there now?” she whispered, worried.
“I’m not taking any chances,” he said. “That’s why I brought my knives.”
“Knives!” she strained quietly. “Don’t you have a gun or something?”
He got closer to her face in the dark. “I can’t be fumbling no firearm, Bee-bee. Knives and how to use ‘em is what I know, it’s what I do all fuckin’ day.” He remembered the night-vision binoculars in his pocket. “Better than Shank, that’s for sure.”
“Oh really,” she said, surprised and amused sounding.
“That’s a fact. He’s good but he don’t work with steel every day in the way I do.” He worked the binoculars around his neck. “Both of us can split swamp hog-spine straight through but I can do it with one swing of my meat cleaver. The meat warriors don’t serve at the front lines in a war, but this war? I learned how to take apart a man as perfectly and efficiently as we do any kind of food. And we’reallready.”
“Wow, babe. I didn’t know you had this... Tarzan side.”
Bacon’s cock jerked hard at her tone, even though she whispered. “Did you just sext me, Bee-bee?” That was a hard rule, and damn she knew it. “You know our agreement.”
“I do,” she lamented, not sorry at all he could hear. “No teasing without pleasing.”
“And where are we? Are we in our bedroom? In our kitchen? Our bathroom?”
“No sir.”
“Are we out in the swamp?”
