SUMMARY: A continuation of the series. Time to start hiring and to head to New Bern.
WARNINGS: None
AUTHOR'S NOTE: What happens if good people do nothing?
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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-A Time for all good men and women- Chapter 2 of 6
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 Going to Town
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Lora and Saun Lawter sat on one side of the breakfast table. John and Beth Tucker sat on the other side. The sun would not rise for another three hours. Even for these households this was early. Half a night's sleep would have to keep the adults for now. When the sun rose, the light coming through the windows would awaken the children.
The conversation started as soon as the caffeine kicked in. Usually these meetings were governed by committee. All ideas came out, but no one really had to be in charge. These friends thought alike in so many ways, for so many years, that they finished each other's sentences and conflict rarely evolved.
If there was some tie to break, John Tucker usually spoke up. He bore many traits of a natural leader. His personality was stronger and he was willing to bear the responsibility. The only place that failed him was inside the Tucker family. He and his wife believed in a true 50/50 split in their relationship. The problem was there was no one to break the ties. John had argued for 51/49, but that deadlock had existed since they said 'I do.'
"We need to get to New Bern as soon as possible. I don't like Heather being there."
"She has too much MacGyver in her to lose. That place is a powder keg. Last time we were there, they were a potato away from killing each other."
"But Phil was starting to clamp down hard. That guy scares me in a Russian dictator kind of way."
"I think we should take Gray over there. Maybe then he'll appreciate what a cakewalk he has here."
"Its an idea, but I think the best thing to do right now is work around Gray and ignore him. He's going to come after what we have here. Keeping quiet is the only thing that has kept him out of our valley."
"I just want to make sure we get Heather back. She's a part of this family. The kids haven't seen her in a week. Sammy is asking where Aunt Heather is."
"I still think when he was born, he bonded to Heather first. April handed him to Heather because she was the only one with free hands. He saw her face first. I've been fighting to get him back ever since."
They all laughed at the idea, but were serious about it. When they moved to Jericho, Beth volunteered and then substituted at the school. Heather quickly became her best friend outside of the valley. The families returned the favor by bringing her into the fold.
"Speaking of Heather. With her gone, what are we going to do about a baby sitter? We all need to go to New Bern."
"Need to but can't. Its getting too dangerous here to leave the farms unguarded."
"We still need someone here to watch the kids. What about getting Bonnie? She sat the kids several times last summer."
"We could, but I was thinking. We need start recruiting. How about hiring a nanny? I know it will kill you, but the next few months are going to be real busy."
"Lisa Gint would be perfect. I respect the family and they do feel like they owe us."
"They just lost their daughter two days ago. Is that a good or bad thing?"
"It might be a good thing for everyone. They need a reason to keep going. They need some hope."
"Beth should be the one to recruit them. She has the best relationship with them… but you can't go into town."
"OK, so I need to stay to talk to the Gints. Some one else will have to stay and bring them here."
"So who goes to New Bern?"
"I can stay here with Beth. We'll have a girls day. You guys go to New Bern. Pack the heavy hardware and take a ransom just in case."
"You're kidding?"
"No… I'm quite serious."
Lora and Beth went to perform the morning chores around the farms. For variety's sake, they switched roles. Beth took care of the horses and cattle. Lora went to get the eggs and milk. Both took their carbines everywhere.
The guys had to discuss strategy first.
"Are we going to start a war?"
"No, but we pack like we are. Go through the stuff we salvaged from the National Guard armories and police stations. We'll need body armor and grenade launchers. We also switch to the full auto rifles. Bring the 240 machine gun. We also need packs with 5 days food in case we lose the truck."
"They're going to search the truck. They'll find all this stuff."
"We're not going inside the town. We'll have them bring Russell and Heather to the front gate."
"Do we take two trucks and which trucks?"
"I'd like to take the two freightliners, but that's just going to make us a bigger target. Also, you can't drive and shoot at the same time."
"How about the sport chassis?"
"Yeah, lets load it up. Can we be ready to go in two? Its going to take us another two to get there."
"Loading the trade goods will take the longest time but we should be able to do it."
The freight liners were both farm trucks. While the CD players hadn't survived the EMP, the rest of the trucks seemed fine. On reflection, the company provided the same basic trucks to the military. Instead of making two sets of computers, maybe they made all computers to the mil-spec about EMP.
One truck was a flat/dump bed they took on salvage runs. The other was a sport chassis meant to haul the horse trailers. It had a four-door cab and a flat area on the back a little larger than a pickup truck would. Inside it was nice with leather seats and a sunroof. The kids loved watching DVDs in the back seat on the long trips to horse shows. Thanks to the EMP, no one wouldn be do that on this trip.
They decided on a load of corn and potatoes with a big bag of salt. In all there was over a ton of food. At the least, it should buy some cooperation. Saun had joked about the ransom, but now it didn't seem so funny. He went back into the barns and pulled out five extra boxes of miscellaneous goods.
Before leaving, John went around the house and peeked in on each of the kids. They were the reason they worked and fought so hard. Mom and dad where here for one purpose and that was these kids.
They were late leaving, but they made it out just before sunrise. They drove across a gravel bed in the river and out onto the main highway past the Tacoma bridge. This was the quickest route to New Bern while avoiding town, but there was another way through town if they came back in a hurry.
The women had finished their chores before the men left and met them at the house. They had breakfast ready for the kids and packed lunches and meals for the men to take with them. Even if everything went well it would be this afternoon before Saun and John made it back.
Just as the sun peeked through the windows, Beth could hear the kids stirring upstairs. They had their slow mornings and their hellion mornings. Just her luck, the day they want to get a nanny is a hellion morning. She could hear them upstairs.
"Its not fair. You and Ann used all the hot water last night. You can't hog the bathroom this morning. I NEED TO GO!!"
"You'll just have to hold it!"
"EMMA I HAVE TO PEE!!"
It was time to get this in check or it was going to be a bad day. "Cut it out you two. Andrew… use the bathroom down here. Bring Sammy with you."
"But mom!"
"And Emma, you and Ann have five minutes to get down stairs. Do not think you're going to spend the morning upstairs. We all have chores to do."
Lora walked into the kitchen with a smile on her face. "Do they ever learn?"
"Yes, but then they learn new tricks. Emma is just going to be a handful for a while now that Ann is here."
"Got a question? Is Ann here as a guest or something more."
"I've seen the look on your face since yesterday. Shouldn't you be answering that question?"
"Yes… but I need to talk with Saun first. You know we've wanted to have our own kids, but just letting things happen didn't work."
"When are you leaving for the Gint's?"
"In an hour. I'll take a cart so I can bring them both back with me. That's when you need to take over."
"Just get them here for babysitting. Offer them lunch so they'll both come. I'll take Paul around, then offer him the job. I just have to figure out what the job actually is."
They both smiled as the kids ran into the kitchen. What they left unsaid was the fear in their hearts. Their husbands were outside of town heading for a very bad place. Normal wives could wait in quasi-ignorance. Beth and Lora were different. They hadn't seen pictures on TV. They remembered the sights and the smells. They had both been out there. Both had spilled blood and knew every day that it was getting worse.
