Everyone in town was joining in the preparations for Halloween. It brought the town together for a change, giving them something to look forward to.
Eric was sitting in the Mayor's office, watching the hubbub; it was a refreshing change from a street either abandoned or filled with panicked activity. Jake and Heather wandered in. Jake took a seat on the corner of the desk while Heather sat in a chair.
"What was that candy we always used to fight over?" Eric asked. "It's been bugging me all morning."
Jake frowned in thought for a few moments. "Mallow cups!" he exclaimed. "That's what they were called."
"They were the best," Eric said.
Jake nodded. "I always got so much more candy than you."
"Yeah, because you cheated. You'd trick-or-treat the whole neighborhood in one costume, then do it again in another."
"Come on, Eric, everybody did that-except for you."
"Yeah." He fell silent and let his eyes wander again. He caught a glimpse of Emily carrying a pumpkin. "You and Emily were the worst. Didn't you hit the Stevens' seven times one year?"
"Yeah. I had a hard time convincing Mom I needed more than one costume…" Jake smiled at the memory. "Hey, at least I didn't keep it all for myself. Em and I split everything fifty-fifty."
Heather chuckled. "A regular little Bonnie and Clyde." She thought back to the conversation she'd had with Emily a few days ago.
"Is it inappropriate that I keep asking questions about him?"
"Why would it be?" Emily examined Heather's face a little closer. "Do you have a thing Jake?"
"No," Heather replied immediately. "Except for yes, maybe, a little bit."
"A little bit?" Emily said.
"I'm sorry, this is weird."
"It's not weird. It was a long time ago. Just be careful, ok?"
"Why?"
"There's a lot of things about Jake you don't know."
Heather's reverie was interrupted by Jake tensing, then standing up. She craned her neck to look at what had caught his attention. All she could see was a car, blue, Plymouth Roadrunner by the looks of it. Jake strode out of the office without a word. She and Eric exchanged puzzled glances.
Jake headed into the sheriff's office. "Hello, Jonah."
"Jake. It's been a long time. I hear Mitchell's been causing some trouble."
"Oh, come on, Jonah, Mitch doesn't get out of bed in the morning without running it by you first."
"I'm not sure that's true. Anyway, I'm here to talk bail."
"Ok-the food, from the train Dale found? Give it back."
"I'll see what I can do."
"Then, you stay away-you, Mitch, Joe Kelly…do we have a deal?"
Mitch was yelling from the cell in the back. "Shut up, Mitchell," Jonah shouted back at him. "Deal."
Jake walked with Jonah back out to his car. "There's not a lot of work hauling freight these days. The old side business is becoming a full time gig. I could use a guy like you out there, Jake. Lot of stuff on the roads just waiting for somebody to take it."
Jake shook his hand. "I want your word you and your guys will stay away from town."
"Already said I would." He lowered his gaze to the ground, but he voice became dark and threatening. "Ask again, a guy might think you were calling him a liar."
"And that's my car." Jake sighed in exasperation.
"You left it out there."
"Yeah, but it was destroyed."
"Lovingly restored. Told ya there was a lot of good stuff on the roads." Jonah got in. "Besides, she was mine first."
Emily had been watching. Once the car disappeared, she confronted Jake. "Why were you talking to him?"
"Relax, it had nothing to do with you. He was just here to talk about Mitch."
"He's my father, it has everything to do with me. After you left, he kept calling, he came to the house. He was everywhere. He wanted me to forgive him for what happened with Chris. I'll never forgive him for what happened to Chris." She leaned against the wall, tears threatening to fall. "Now you're, back, he's back…"
"He's not back. After tomorrow, he's done, he's gone."
Jake went out to meet Jonah, without Mitch. Gray had returned from his reconnaissance mission and managed to talk Eric out of the deal.
"How can I fix this?" Jake asked.
Jonah's only answer was to walk back to his car and drive away, the food truck following behind.
That evening, two of Jonah's men entered the station and at gunpoint forced Bill to release Mitch. They wove through the crowd gathered in the street. Once they reached the edge of the crowd, the three broke into a run.
Gray chased after them with a rifle. He was just about to fire when Jake knocked the gun from his hands.
"You're letting them get away!" Gray objected.
"Instead of what? Starting a fire fight on Main Street?" Jake asked, pinning Gray against a wall.
"This has to be answered, Jake!"
"I can talk to Jonah. He lived up to his end of the deal."
"Why are you protecting this guy, Jake?"
"I'm protecting this town. Jonah can get things we need."
"Like what?"
"He can get food, gas, ammo-could you get that stuff if we needed it tomorrow? Could you?" He slammed Gray against the wall for emphasis. "He can." Jake released Gray. "We do this my way now."
Jake and Heather stood looking over the engine of a beat-up old truck. "You said you could get me a car. Is this thing gonna die on me halfway out there?"
"Charlotte? Not a chance, she's sturdy." Jake climbed in and slammed the door. "So, uh, be careful."
"I'm only going ten miles."
"I meant with him. I talked to Emily."
"Yeah, what'd she tell you?" Jake scoffed.
"Enough. What you wouldn't the night of the barbecue. Look, I don't know if she told me the whole story or just her side, but I know it's risky, going out there."
"Trust me. I know what I'm doing." He started the truck. "Look, when I get back, I promise I'll tell you the whole story."
"Ok," Heather replied in a whisper.
Jake entered Jonah's compound. A group of men surrounded him. They were about to beat him up when a whistle halted them. "Let him go!" Jonah shouted. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
Jake tried to renegotiate. "Keep Mitch, and keep the food. You can sell the food through Gracie Leigh's market in town, and take your cut off the top of supplies that we have and you don't. Fresh water, crops, salt from the mine." He paused, and since Jonah didn't cut him off, he continued. "In exchange, you'll guarantee that your business stays away from town. And we'll send a trailer to pick up supplies, you don't come to us."
"I'll think about it," Jonah said. "Now let's talk about what I need. I want to talk to Emily."
"She doesn't want to see you."
"She blames me for Chris's death. Maybe things would be different if she knew whose fault it was."
"Hey, I didn't send Chris on that job, you did. I tried to talk him out of it."
"You left him alone! He needed a lookout!"
"A lookout? He needed a father!"
"Maybe Emily needs to find out what you did."
"I told Emily everything a long time ago."
"Did she forgive you?"
"No."
"Neither do I. Get her to see me."
"I can't."
Jonah turned away. "Then I guess we don't have a deal," he called over his shoulder.
Jake sat over a drink at Bailey's. Eric wandered in and joined him. "How'd it go with Jonah?"
"I think I may have gotten us into a fight we don't want to be a part of."
"Nice."
"How was your day?"
"I think I'm becoming Gray Anderson's yes-man. Worst part is I don't know if that's a bad thing."
"Big day for the Green boys, huh?"
"You avoiding going home telling Dad?"
"Hell, yeah. You?"
"Same."
Jake poured Eric a drink. "Remember that time we set the carpet in Dad's office on fire? All you had to do was stick to the story and we'd have been fine."
"You wanted me to tell Dad I had a seizure and knocked over his desk lamp." He took a sip. "Any brilliant ideas to get us out of this one?"
"Not at the moment."
"Well, I say we finish these drinks, go home, and figure out how to explain all this to Dad in a way that won't kill him."
They entered the house and met Heather running down the stairs. "Hey, what are you doing here?" Jake asked.
"I came to talk to you. When I get here-just hurry."
They followed her upstairs. Johnston was lying on the floor as Gail and April performed CPR. They managed to revive him and the boys gently lifted him onto the bed. Gail remained with him while April and the others went downstairs.
"The antibiotics must have been too much for his system. He's become septic," April explained.
"How do we treat it?" Eric asked. April didn't respond. "April! How do we treat it?"
"If the med center were operational, maybe. If we could med-evac him to the hospital in Rogue River, maybe. If we had any heavy-duty meds left, maybe. Without that, 12 hours; maybe a day."
The news hung over the room like a dark cloud. Heather interrupted. "What kind of meds?"
"Cipro, probably, but the pharmacy ran out weeks ago."
"They'd have it in Rogue River, though, right?" Jake said, a plan forming.
"Jake, that's 90 miles away!"
"Then I'd better get going."
"I'm coming too," Eric said.
"Eric, wait! If Gray's right about how dangerous it is out there-"
Gail was at the foot of the stairs. "Go. Go now."
Heather was babbling in a panic. "I don't think this is such a good idea."
"No choice."
"Well then at least let me do some more work on the car."
"There's no time. I have to go now." Jake threw his bag in through the open window. "Wait, I thought you said it was sturdy?"
"Yeah, sturdy. But what if you have to outrun something?"
"Why? How fast will it go?"
"I don't know... 30, maybe 40 miles an hour. Best case, down hill, and not for very long. See, this is what I'm saying. Maybe you should go on horseback."
"A horse is slower than that."
"A horse is less likely to explode."
"I'll take my chances."
"Okay, well at least open her up easy. Make sure you have enough car left in case you have to ask for a lot in a hurry, and remember, the gas tank on this thing is on the left-hand side, so if somebody decides to start shooting at you, make sure it's not on that side."
"Anything else?" Jake asked, opening the door.
Heather took a few steps closer, threw her arms around Jake's neck, and kissed him. Time seemed to stop. Finally, she pulled away. "Come back in one piece," she said softly, gazing into his eyes.
"I will, I promise."
Beginning to realize what she'd just done, she took a step back. She cleared her throat. "I thought you were gonna go."
"I'm waiting on Eric."
"Oh. Well, watch out for giant irradiated ants out there." As soon as she said that, she made a face.
"Always do." Jake smiled as he watched her turn awkwardly and walk away.
Eric came out, unimpressed by Charlotte. "That's what we're driving?"
Jake paused, trying to convince himself as much as Eric. "It'll get us there. Really."
Just then, a large truck and Jake's, no Jonah's, car pulled to a stop in front of them. Emily stepped out. "I couldn't get you the meds you need, so I got you the next best thing-a fast car. He said it's a gift."
"How'd you hear?" Jake asked.
"I stopped by your place to drop something off. April told me what was going on."
"I'm sorry you got dragged into this."
"No one dragged me." She threw him the keys. "Now go save your dad."
