SUMMARY: Beth Tucker and Lora Lawter take their latest innocent into town.

WARNINGS: ADULT SITUATIONS, DESCRIPTIONS OF ABUSE

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am labeling this MRO, but it is not pornographic. I'm going to start telling a abused girl's story. Even the inferences can be disturbing. It is not for children. One day I may go into detail, but I can't bring myself to write that story yet.

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DISCLAIMER: The name "Jericho" and all character names and trademarks associated with the television program are the intellectual property of Junction Entertainment, Fixed Mark Productions, CBS Paramount Television and/or CBS Studios, Inc. The following stories are works of fan fiction intended solely as an intellectual exercise without profit motive. No infringement of copyright is intended or should be implied.
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TITLE: Tuckers-Going To Town-Chapter 1 of 3–MRO-Mature Readers Only
AKA:

STORY TYPE: Complements Episodes with Alternate Characters
TIMELINE: 200X1204 (Bombs+65)
EPISODE GUIDE: after (1-14)Heart of Winter, before (1-15)Semper Fidelis
TUCKERS GUIDE: after Meet The Tuckers
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Beth and Lora drove their carts into town state highway 40, which turned into Berge Street. They couldn't get lost since town hall was only a right and a left from the Tucker's farm. Where Berg met Mott Avenue there was signs pointing south down Mott;

'FEMA CAMPS'
'ALL REFUGEE TRAFFIC --'

Occasionally a car would pass them. There were people on the street, but they were standing around talking. No one seemed to be going anywhere or doing anything with a purpose. Except for the deputies, no one seemed to be armed. The home patrol must be out at the Tacoma bridge because none of them were in town.

The deputies stayed in the Town Hall most of the time. Since the sheriff was dead and no one else had assumed the position, there was no leadership. They really became errand boys once Gray won the election.

The Tuckers had talked it over with Johnston Green before. Johnston wanted to do something about the deputies but never had the time to do it. He couldn't promote from within the ranks and no one had the time to take over Sheriff as a fulltime position. Johnston had asked John Tucker if he was interested, but the Tucker family and farm were outside of town. John really thought he could do more for the town keeping the farm going. Given recent events, maybe it was time to reconsider.

With a wave of their hands, the ladies separated. Lora Lawter headed for the Medical Center with Ann. Beth Tucker and the kids turned into the park behind Town Hall.

Behind Town Hall was the community's major park. It ran the full length of the block and included a small play area for the kids. Beth guided the cart up a maintenance drive and brought the horses to a stop on the right side of Town Hall. Here a hitching post had been set up within sight of the deputies inside.
Across Spruce Lane was the trading market in Gracie's parking lot. Everyone that traded had agreed to meet here on Mondays and Thursdays. At first, the traders riled Gracie, but soon she realized it complemented her business. It had been a week since she had been found dead. Dale had taken over the store, but otherwise nothing had changed. The rule of thumb was to take parking spaces from the back of the lot forward. That way Gracie's entrance was left open.

The Tuckers didn't come to town a lot, but as a rule they tried to make it on Mondays. The rest of the week, they would work the farm and work salvage the best they could. The truth was they just didn't have much use for the town as it stood now.

Her first stop was always Town Hall. The children stayed in tow as she took a shopping bag up the steps. Inside she could always count on Jimmy Taylor to be at the front desk. He was one of the truly nice people in town. At times, he might be over his head, but everything he did was from the heart.

At the sight of Beth Tucker and her kids, Jimmy smiled broadly. "Good Morning Mrs. Tucker."

"Good Morning, Jimmy. How is everything?"

"Well Mayor Anderson has us ..." Jimmy started.

Beth Tucker cut him off. "Jimmy, you know I could care less about Gray. How are your wife and the kids?"

Jimmy smiled again and let Beth know that everyone was doing well.

"Well with you here at work, we figured your family could use some help." Jimmy looked in the bag. He saw potatoes, apples and loaves of bread.

"Mrs. Tucker, I can't take this."

"Yes you can. You do your job every day and you do it well. Your family shouldn't go without. Last week Mayor Green would have given you this, but he's not here today. Either way it comes from the same garden."

Jimmy Tucker remembered the baskets and boxes the Greens had brought in for the Deputies. They always assumed it was from the Town's rations. He never thought it might come from the Tuckers. "Mrs. Tucker, this is too much."

"Then share it as you see fit, but please don't tell anyone where its from. You know we prefer our privacy."

Jimmy understood all too well. He had served several writs this past weekend on farms Mayor Anderson found to be hoarding food. It didn't make sense to him. The farmers had been giving regularly to the food bank in town. In fact, they had been quite generous. The problem is that Anderson insisted that they take everything in the silos. That meant the farms wouldn't have grain to seed come spring time. They wouldn't be able to plant anything. The other problem is that every surge in food lead to demands for greater rations. Instead of rationing for the long haul, a lot of food was being given out as if there the government was going to show up any day.

"I understand perfectly."

"Thank you Jimmy, and give our best to your family. Please keep an eye on our cart if you could."

"Yes Ma'm. No one will bother it or the horses."

John and Beth Tucker had discussed giving the food directly to Jimmy Taylor. They wanted to help the people working with the town, but Gray Anderson made that very difficult. The man was a small town politician but not a leader or an administrator like Johnston Green had been. His stay on town council had been complements of a few friends of his at the mine and his election to mayor, the result of a mob mentality at the polls.

While Beth started touring the dozen stalls at the market, Lora Lawter made her way through town and stopped the horses outside the medical center. "Now Ann, we're going to see a friend of mine. She needs to take a look at your cuts and bruises. We want to make sure you'll get better soon." Ann just nodded her head.

Lora tied the horses up to a column and asked the volunteer at the front desk to watch the cart and horses for her. She took one shopping bag herself and gave the other to Ann. They carried them past the front desk and into the urgent care area.

The medical center had never really had an ER. There wasn't enough of a need. If someone got hurt badly, the urgent care staff would stabilize the patient and call for a helicopter. Now they did everything. At the top of the staff was April Green. There had been another doctor after the bombs, but he had packed up his family and headed south. That left April and a few nurses as the entire med center staff. Everyone else was a volunteer.

Walking through the urgent care, Lora saw Gail Green managing the in-patients. Gail had been a nurse many years ago and remembered enough to be helpful. She was also a mother figure to the whole staff splitting her time between her family and the medical center.

"Good morning Gail."

"Lora. Who do we have here?"

"This is Ann. Beth and John found her on one of their rides."

Gail Green understood the reference. The Tuckers and Lawters shared the surpluses from their salvage trips outside the town with the Greens who stayed inside the town. The Greens then made sure that the town staff and those in need got a little extra. It was the best they could do since they weren't being paid anymore and their responsibilities in town kept them from doing much for themselves.

"Well what can we do for you?" Gail knelt down and looked into the girls eyes. Ann looked at first, but then melted away a little.

Lora answered for her, "Well she just needs to get a little check up. She's had a hard time lately."

Gail looked up at Lora and received a look that told her the full meaning. It wasn't uncommon these days for refugees to be abused. The things done to adults were horrible but the things done to children were unspeakable.

"And before we forget, these are for you." Lora handed the shopping bag she was carrying to Gail. "And this one is for April." Gail took the bags and set them on the counter. "Just be careful. There are eggs in there."

Gail's eyes didn't light up the same way someone else's might have. Gail appreciated everything but in her case the groceries reminded her of all the things she felt she should be doing for her family. She worried most for her daughter-in-law that was pregnant. This was going to be her first grandchild and all the odds were against it.

She was here because April was here. These last few nights April only left because Gail forced her to go home to her and Johnston's house. The stress of all her patients would be grueling to a healthy person, and April was far from healthy. The patients she lost were particularly hard, but there was nothing that could be done. Yesterday she lost the Grint's youngest girl. She fell into a coma and passed because the insulin had run out. April had insisted on staying here the whole time as if there was something she could do.

"Thank you so much. I can't thank you enough for that chicken at Thanksgiving."

"There's no need. You know these are extra. We would rather someone benefit from them instead of letting them rot. Giving them to Mary Bailey would be an example of letting them rot." Both women smiled at the reference. It would have been funny in some other time, but now it had double and triple meanings.

"Lora, I hate to ask you for more, but…"

Before Gail could finished the sentence Lora cut her off. "Just ask."

"Do you have any red meats out at the farm. I wouldn't ask but …"

"But April is pregnant. We know. In the bottom of April's bag are some vitamins including iron and folic acid. We couldn't find any actual prenatal vitamins, but I think Beth put together a good approximation. We also included some spinach. It looks funny but that's because its one of the gourmet varieties. There are also jars of pickles and peanut butter."

This time Gail's eyes lit up. "You're kidding."

"Nope. It's a mommy care package. Beth put it together herself. After three kids she should know what to pack." This was Lora's turn to smile. It felt good to help others. It's a feeling many people in this century have forgotten. With generation 'ME' in full swing, it's a wonder anyone in this town helped one another, but there were pockets of people that understood. Lora looked back at Gail and saw she was about to cry.

"And we'll see if any of the cattle are ready to go up. I think its cold enough now, that it might be worth it."

"Thank You so much. Now lets see about little Ann here."

She led them into the examination rooms and settled Lora and Ann in while she looked for April. The exam rooms were really nice, if a little dark.

If all the lights were on that is. Someone had gone through and unscrewed every other light bulb. The generator was still running, but it couldn't handle the whole building at full power. Even if it did, there wasn't fuel for it. The Tucker's had fuel set aside for the med center, but they wanted to leave it for an emergency.

Lora thought dryly to herself, 'If the town got a hold of the extra fuel now, they might double the hours at the bar.'

Just then, April pops in the door with her best smile on. Lora looked at her and she could see the wrinkles. April was trying to be superwoman and it was wearing her down.

"And I hear we have a new friend in town. How are you doing today?" April smiled broadly at Ann, but Ann's gaze centered on the ground. April reached under her chin and pulled it up a little. "Are you doing OK today?"

"Yes ma'm."

"Well we're going to give you a little check up. We'll take some blood and run a few tests. Can you go ahead and change into this gown for me? I promise it will make everything easier."

Ann took the gown and went into the corner of the room. She didn't seem modest at all. As she faced the corner, she took off her clothes, letting them fall to the ground. As she reached for the gown, she saw the expressions on April and Lora's faces. Ann looked at them and shrugged her shoulders, "I learned to just do what they told me."

Lora was horrified. She tried to keep her composure, but just couldn't. She was starting to cry and she knew it. While Ann pulled the gown on, the open back still exposed the welts and scars. Some were fresh but others had already healed. They started at her shoulder blades and covered her back down to her buttocks. Some were bright red while others were covered in brown scabs. One or two welts showed signs of infection. The largest area left unmarked was the size of Lora's palm.

April had seen abuse several times but never like this. From experience, she knew what else she was going to find. She gave the young girl a quick check of the lungs and heart. Luckily there were no abnormalities. The same was true for her temperature. That meant that while some wounds were infected they hadn't caused a systemic reaction yet.

Since the girl seemed resigned to the wounds on her back, she had the girl lay down for a pelvic exam. Laying down caused the girl to wince. Once she was comfortable, April lifted her legs gingerly into the stirrups. The exam was quick.

Once she was done, she went over to the sink and disinfected the gloves. She would need them again later.

She turned around and faced her patient. "Ann, you've had a very hard time… You've been used in very bad ways. Miss Lawter here is going to make sure this never happens to you again. She and I are going to do our best to let you heal and to take care of you."

Ann looked up at April. April wasn't sure how much the girl would understand, but in this day and age she needed to hear everything. She needed to be treated like an adult. She would never be a little girl again.

"We can take care of the wounds on you back. The scars will never go away, but we can make them better. We have some ice outside. We'll use it to numb the areas around the infections and dress the wounds."

Ann just nodded to her.

"As for your other wounds... If I could, I would put in some stitches. The discomfort you feel is because your womanhood has been stretched and torn. The same is true for your bottom. The problem is I don't have an anesthetic I can use. I would rather wait and see how they heal."

"You do not need to worry about being pregnant, but we do need to check for illnesses. I only have tests for a few of them, but it should give us an idea."

"Lora, do you remember that veterinary antibiotic you brought us a few weeks ago."

"Yes"

"If you still have any, give her this dosage for ten days." April scribbled the prescription on the page from a magazine. "If you find anything better let me know right away."

"If you have somewhere you need to be, she'll be safe here with us. It will take a few hours to dress the wounds on her back and to run bloodwork."

Lora looked up at Ann and took her hand. She kept looking at Ann as she answered April, "No. I've nowhere more important than here. I'm going to stick with her." She squeezed Ann's hand a little harder and then relaxed.