CHAPTER THREE

Tom Chandler

When Mike left with the kids, Tom Chandler slipped even more. He went to his kitchen and got the last bottle of whiskey, then headed back to his couch. He continued to drink as he wrestled with his demons. His heart was shattered. Losing his dad had crippled him, Tex dying had broken him. And that was exactly what it was. He was broken. His spirit, his mind, his soul. Split, cracked, shattered.

Allison Shaw had done the one thing that could kill Tom Chandler… without actually killing him. He had fallen into a dark hole. He was not the man he had been three weeks ago. He was a shell. He looked around and frowned. Mike had taken the Beretta. He took another drink.

He missed his dad. He missed his sister. He missed her family. He missed his brother. He missed Darien. He was haunted by the members of his crew under his command that had been killed in the line of duty. He felt guilt for Tex's death.

Pain, remorse, guilt, grief, swirled inside his head. He drank more whiskey. He wanted it to stop. He wanted it to go away. The flashbacks were starting to get to him. In his drunken state he was having trouble distinguishing flashbacks from reality. Maybe it was good thing Mike took his kids. Fuck it. Fuck life. Fuck this world. Tom stretched out on his couch and fought the darkness as it consumed him.

Ashley Chandler

She put her bag down in the room Ms. Garnett had shown her then she went to the room her brother was in. Sam was sitting on the bed, knees folded to his chest, arms wrapped tightly around them, head buried between his knees. She climbed onto the bed with him and pulled him into her side.

"Why?" Sam asked as his chest heaved. Ashley felt the tears fall down her face.

"Dad will be okay, Sammy. Uncle Mike, and the rest of the crew will make sure of it. And they'll look after us until he's better."

"Promise?"

"Yes," Ashley replied quickly, then hoped that she was right. She knew that Uncle Mike would do what he could. He wouldn't let their dad self-destruct. And the rest of the crew would be there too if they knew. They were a tight knit group after everything they had been through. She and Sam sat huddled together on the bed for a long while. Then suddenly Sammy was asking her questions.

"Is this our fault?" Sam asked quietly.

"No, Sammy, it's not our fault," Ashley replied.

"If only we could have helped Grandpa and stopped those…"

"No, Sammy, we couldn't have changed anything."

"I miss grandpa," Sammy said, his voice watery. He wiped at his eyes. "I miss mom."

"Me too. But we have each other. So, we need to stick together."

"Until dad's better. Then we'll have him too."

"Yes. But until then we stick together."

"Okay."

"I'll always have your back, Sam, you know that right?"

"Yeah, Ash, I know. Do you miss mom?"

"Every second of everyday. It's okay to miss her. It's okay to be sad."

"Is that what's wrong with dad?" Sam asked.

"Dad's…part of it, yeah. He misses mom. He misses grandpa too. I think there's a lot more to this than we understand…or know about. But Uncle Mike and the crew know. So, they can help him. We just have to be patient. Can you be patient?"

"I can try. Do we live here now?" Sam asked in a small voice. Ashley looked around the room.

"I don't know. For now, I'd say yes, we stay here," Ashley whispered. Sam nodded against her.

"Will you stay in here tonight? With me? I don't want to be alone."

"Sure, Sammy," Ashley replied. There was a soft knock at the door and they looked at each other. "It's okay to come in," Ashley announced. The door opened slowly, and Uncle Mike poked his head in.

"Hey, kids, are you okay?" he asked as he stepped into the room. Ashley looked up at him and shrugged. Uncle Mike stepped closer and sat down on the end of the bed. Ms. Garnett stood in the doorway.

"Not really," Ashley said, and Uncle Mike nodded. She saw the look of concern pass over Ms. Garnett's face. "Is our dad going to be, okay?"

"I'll work on him. I promise to do my best."

"Are we living here now?" Sammy asked as he buried his face into Ashley's side. Uncle Mike looked down at his feet then back up at them.

"For now. Andrea is going to take care of you. Why don't you get some sleep. You have school in the morning."

"Yeah, great," Ashley said with a sigh. "Thank you," she said with a small smile.

"You can always call me," Uncle Mike said with a smile. Ashley nodded. "Okay. Get some sleep, kids. I'm sorry you have to go through this."

"Kind of how life goes now," Ashley mumbled as she wrapped her arms around herself. Uncle Mike seemed to consider her then he nodded slowly and stood up. They left the room and closed the door and Ashley and Sam settled down into the bed.

"Thanks for staying with me," Sam mumbled as he closed his eyes. Ashley ruffled his hair then settled against her own pillow.

"Anytime, Little brother, any time."

Mike Slattery

Mike sunk into the couch and leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands, as Andrea showed the kids to their rooms. Seeing Chandler in the state he was in was depressing. That could easily be Mike right now. He was fighting hard against the demons. Being back in Norfolk, facing the ghosts of his family. Lucas gone for sure, Christine and the girls gone without a trace. Part of him thought they were dead too, part of him thought they were out there. Seeing the state of Ashley and Sam was heart breaking.

He knew those kids were suffering. And to see Tom ignoring it was hard to swallow. Those kids had seen their mother die of the Red Flu. They had seen then grandfather murdered trying to protect them. They had seen so much in the last year, they all had. Mike felt he was on the verge of joining Tom, standing on that line. Tom had been pushed over by Allison Shaw, and Mike felt the rage inside him.

Mike also knew part of Tom's fall was he stepped over that line. Tom had stepped over the very distinct line he had drawn for himself in his life. He had killed Shaw in cold blood. He had murdered her. No one blamed him, no one would question it, but inside Tom's head…he had done the something that he felt was morally wrong. And it was tearing him apart, added to the grief of losing his family.

And now his kids were left to fend for themselves, the try and cope and deal with the trauma they had endured alone. Well, not anymore. He had promised Tom the kids would be taken care of if anything happened to him. They had been talking about Tom dying, but this was just the same. He would adhere to that promise, and the crew would help. He knew Andrea would keep those kids for now. Mike made a decision to work on getting a new house. Big enough for him, and Ashley and Sam. He would start the search today. Trade in his old home and get a new one, because he didn't think he could live in the old house.

His thoughts were interrupted when Andrea came back into the living room. He flexed his jaw as he felt it stiffening up. He gently probed it with his fingers and winced as he felt the sting of a bruise. He sighed as he dropped his hand.

"Need some ice?" Andrea asked as she stood with her arms over her chest. Mike glanced up at her.

"Does it look that bad?"

"You got a decent bruise started," Andrea replied with a shrug. "How'd ya get it?"

"Tom," Mike breathed out. "He's a mess."

"He hit you?" Andrea asked incredulously. Mike frowned and nodded slowly.

"Yeah. He's pretty drunk. I think he cracked."

"He's had enough pressure on him for a while," Andrea said softly as she moved towards her kitchen. Mike closed his eyes.

"More than the rest of us. But I think his dad's murder and…Tex…I think he snapped."

"Those kids are pretty shook up," she said from the kitchen. Mike nodded even though she couldn't see him.

"That's why I pulled them out," Mike sighed. Andrea came back in and handed him an ice pack. "Thanks. You don't mind keeping them for now?"

"Of course not. Anything for Chandler."

"Yeah," Mike said. "I'm going to look for a new house…I…can't go back to the old one. Once I get that sorted, I'll take them. So just need space until then."

"They can stay as long as they need to," Andrea said. Mike thought she was going to say something else but then she seemed to retreat. Mike looked at the floor.

"Thanks. I'm not sure what to do for him. I've known him for a long time, and I've never seen him like this," Mike said feeling the defeat inside him. He clamped his eyes shut as he held the ice to his jaw. He opened his eyes again when he felt her sit down next to him on the couch. Mike felt his pocket with his empty hand and pulled out Tom's Beretta M9. He held it in his hand staring at it.

"Is that Tom's service weapon?" Andrea asked a little wide eyed. Mike glanced at her and frowned.

"Yeah. I took it away from him. It was loaded and the safety was off," he said then swallowed. He didn't want to think about what could have happened.

"Damn."

"He's drinking a lot."

"He's in pain," Andrea whispered. Mike nodded slowly as he set the gun down on her coffee table.

"We all are," Mike said without thinking. He was thinking about his family. He was thinking about his children. He was feeling that darkness close in on him. At sea he had actions and duty to distract him from the fact that he had lost everything. Now the ship was in dry dock, and he was on leave for now. He'd receive new orders soon, but for now they had given him time off. To recoup, recover, whatever they wanted to call it.

And Mike was tired, not just in a physical way…it was deeper than that. He was mentally and emotionally drained. He knew they all were. He knew they were all handling things differently. But to see Chandler collapse the way he did was unnerving. It could be him. It could easily be him. He jumped slightly when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Soft, delicate, concerned. He glanced over and saw Andrea watching him. He dropped the ice pack to the coffee table and shook his head, his eyes burning with tears.

"How are you holding up?" Andrea asked gently and Mike felt the damn bend a little inside him. He bit at his bottom lip and swallowed hard.

"I should have asked you the same thing. I…couldn't stay in my own house. How do you manage it?"

"They're here," Andrea said as her eyes filled with tears. "I guess I just wanted to be close."

"I couldn't do it. Too many…memories. Too many…"

"Emotions," Andrea finished when Mike went quiet. "It's a bit overwhelming. And I'm glad you and the kids are here now. What's your plan? Other than finding a house you can live in."

"I don't really have one," Mike sighed. "I wasn't exactly expecting Ashley to call me and…or for Tom to…implode."

"Do you think you can help him?"

"Do you think you can?" Mike asked with a shrug. Andrea shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. Mike gave a sad a smile. Her hand slipped from his shoulder.

"What we can do is take care of his kids until he can."

"I agree on that point. How are you for supplies?"

"I'll need to get things."

"Okay. Do you think we should talk to them tonight?"

"Probably. I can't imagine what they are going through mentally right now."

Mike got up and they walked back to the bedroom. Later when they were done talking to the kids Mike walked back to the couch and sat down. He didn't know what to do and it scared him. The kids were scared, he was scared. He didn't really want to go back to the hotel. He looked at Andrea for moment. She gave him a curious look.

"Mind if I crash on the couch tonight?" Mike asked as he rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. She smiled then nodded.

"It's yours. I'll grab an extra pillow and blanket for you."

"Thanks."

Kat Nolan

Kat laid on her bunk and sighed. She felt alone in the world, and it sucked. She really missed her dad and the more she thought about him the more tears built in her eyes. She wiped at her eyes roughly with her sleeved arm and balled her hands into fists. She had to figure out who would sponsor her out of this shelter. This was not a place for her.

She couldn't see herself staying here. She thought the Greens would be a good place to start. She knew they were staying in St. Louis. She really wanted out of Norfolk. She wanted away from Tom Chandler.

She closed her eyes and lightly punched her leg, willing the emotions to fall again. She swallowed the lump in her throat. She hated feeling like this. She hated her dad was dead. She hated the world had gone to shit. She was almost sixteen years old, and, in another year, she could be on her own. She thought about joining the Navy. She thought about joining the Army, like her dad had served. First, she needed to get out of this place.

Later that night she heard movement in the room, and she lifted her head up to see what was happening. There was another girl in the room that was walking towards the windows. Kat watched her as she came to a stop at the window and stared out. She sat up on an elbow and thought about saying something, or keeping her mouth shut.

"Hey, you, okay?" she asked finally. The other girl jumped a little then slowly turned to look at Kat.

"Not really," she said flatly then gave a shy smile. Kat nodded. She understood.

"I'm Kat."

"Ginger," the girl said as she walked over to Kat's bunk. "Are you all alone too?"

"Kind of. My dad just died. They stuck me in here because they didn't know what to do with me."

"How old are you?"

"Almost sixteen. I'm trying to get out of here."

"I'm thirteen. My family died from the red flu. I've been here a while."

"It sucks here."

"It's not all bad," Ginger replied softly as her fingers tapped along the edge of Kat's bed. "But it's not great. They keep saying people will come adopt us, but I doubt it. People are still struggling themselves. No one wants a burden. How are you getting out of here?"

"I was told I need a sponsor. I'm calling someone I know tomorrow that I think would help."

"Oh," the girl said sadly. Kat frowned. "Maybe they can help me too."

"I don't know. I have a history with them…are more so my dad, but anyway…I don't know."

"Oh."

"You should try to get some sleep."

"I don't like to sleep. I don't like my dreams."

"Yeah," Kat said not knowing what else to say. Ginger turned and walked away to her own bunk. Kat laid down and stared at the ceiling. Tomorrow she was going to get in touch with the Greens and try to get herself out of this place.

TO BE CONTINUED…