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Chapter 4:
The camp was quiet now. The men had pulled out in search of Merle and the others were off doing there own things. Dale was keeping a close eye on camp from atop his RV, the children were off playing somewhere not far from camp, and the men that were left were collecting firewood.
I heard laughter from down in the quarry and I peaked over the side of the mountain. The women had gathered by the water to do laundry, something I hadn't been invited to do with them.
"You know, they would probably love to have you down there." Dale called from behind me. I turned around and looked up at him, shielding my eyes from the sun.
"Didn't exactly get an invite." I smiled hopelessly, shooting a look at Shane, who was still glaring at me. It was unsettling, but I let it slide.
"You didn't make yourself available either." The old man smiled at me warmly and looked out at the woods again. "Don't be afraid to make friends, we're all family here." I found this adage rather amusing, considering how they all felt about Merle and mine and Shane's apparent distaste for each other. I stood there awkwardly for a moment before begrudgingly deciding to join them down at the quarry.
As I had expected, the women grew quieter the closer I got to their group, almost stopping the laundry all together. I waved awkwardly and looked back up the mountainside at Dale, why did I listen to him? I bet he was enjoying this. Despite the less than warm reception, I spoke.
"Do you mind if I join you guys?" I was met with a chorus of 'no's' and took a seat at the far end next to Andrea. She smiled politely and I reached for a shirt. We sat in silence for a few minutes, a few sighs and groans. Jackie was making light work of the laundry she had, and I found that I was beginning to enjoy the fact that these women were still clinging to some form of normalcy.
"I do miss my maytag." Carol moaned, reaching for another shirt. The younger blonde, Amy, giggled softly.
"I miss my Benz, My sat nav." Andrea said, without even looking up. I felt a bemused smiled come across my face.
"Those were great huh?" I said through a wide grin, looking up at the woman to my left. Andrea chuckled at me and handed me another shirt.
"I miss my coffeemaker." Jackie crooned, twisting dry a shirt. "With that dual drip filter, and built in grinder," She fantasized a few more seconds, still twisting the shirt.
"My computer, and texting." Amy said begrudgingly, showing her young age.
"Oh god me too." I muttered. Amy looked up at me. "However I will not miss auto correct." We shared a teenaged laugh before Andrea spoke again.
"I miss my vibrator." I felt my cheeks grow hot as I stifled a laugh. Andrea shrugged, not the least bit embarrassed.
"Ohhhh." Jaqui teased, as every single one of us shared a look of mutual agreement.
"Oh my God!" Amy exclaimed, causing all of us to have a quiet fit of giggles. Carol looked around for a second before returning to her clothes.
"Me too." She said quietly. That caused an uproar, and all of us had to actually quit what we were doing in order to let the side splitting fit subside.
"What's so funny?" a deep voice said from behind us. I quickly looked over my shoulder, the voice had startled me and a few of the others. I saw fear in Carol's eyes as she went rigid.
"Just swappin' war stories Ed." Andrea's tone was tired, almost as if they went through this at least once a day. Something was coming, and I could feel it in the sudden tension of the group. We went back to silently doing laundry, however Ed continued to approach us, walking in an almost threatening way, taking slow puffs of his cigarette.
Andrea looked back and sighed, continuing to scrub her pants. "Problem Ed?"
"Nothin' that concerns you." He shot back, ashing his cigarette. Andrea turned around, obviously put off, and a wicked smile came over Ed's face. That's the moment I knew this was going to get bad. I hadn't known Andrea for long, but I knew she wasn't the type to take disrespect, from man, woman nor beast, and from the few words Ed had spoken so far, I knew he wasn't very respectful. "And you ought to focus on your work." He spoke to Carol. She cowered underneath him and I felt my ears beginning to get hot. Fucking asshole. Next he looked at me and grinned. "New woman in camp, ya'll should have already been done with this laundry, but you're too busy crackin' jokes. This ain't no comedy club." His gaze was piercing and sent shivers up my spine. Quickly I turned around, picking up another shirt.
Andrea huffed and threw her scrub brush into a bucket. I felt my heart sink as she got up.
"Ed, tell you what. You don't like how your laundry is done, you are welcome to pitch in and do it yourself." Ed puffed his smoke again. "Here." Andrea tossed the shirt at him, but he flung it back, smacking her in the face. She cried out in surprise, and I stood up. This was escalating and with my shoulder there was no way I could take him down by myself.
"Ain't my job, missy." Andrea looked at Ed in defiance; whose face wore a clear expression of high and mighty.
"Andrea, don't." Amy spoke up, taking a few steps towards her sister. I followed her leader, putting and hand on Amy's shoulder. We don't need two of us getting hurt.
"What is your job, Ed? Sitting on your ass smoking cigarettes?" She challenged him, taking a few steps forward.
"Well it sure as hell and listenin' to some uppity smart mouthed bitch." He ashed his cigarette again, looking at Andrea through slit eyes. His gaze drifted over Amy and myself, before settling on the back of his wife. "Tell you what, come on, lets go." Carol got up obediently, looking at the ground the entire way. I felt bad for the woman, and as our eyes met, I gave her a look of sympathy.
"I don't think she needs to go anywhere with you, Ed." Quietly, I put a hand on Andrea's shoulder, but she shrugged it off. I realized she was not only hardheaded, but her mouth was dangerous.
"And I say it's none of your business. Come on now." He waved Carol out from behind our small line of defense.
"Andrea, let it go." I whispered. I knew she didn't quite understand how domestic violence worked, but I did. The more outside interference, the worse it would be for Carol back at their tent.
"Carol," Andrea stepped in front of the woman, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Andrea, please. It doesn't matter."
"Hey, don't think I wont knock you on your ass, just cause you're some college educated cooze, alright?" Ed asked Andrea, towering over her.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" The thought came out of my mouth before I could even think.
"Now you come on now, or you're gonna regret it later." He threatened Carol, pointing up the side of the mountain.
"So she can show up with fresh bruises later, Ed?" Jacqui had been quiet through out the whole argument, but now she was boiling just like the rest of us. "yeah, we've seen them." Ed laughed her off.
"Stay out of this. Now come on!" Carol flinched "This ain't none of ya'lls business, You don't want to keep prodding the bull here, okay? Now I am done talking. Come on." He grabbed Carol by her upper arm and began to walk away.
"No, no Carol. You don't have to." Andrea and Amy grabbed for her arm, and Carol began to mutter something to Ed.
"You don't tell me what!" Ed turned around, his voice and temper raised. I rushed forward, attempting to step in between the two but it was too late. "I tell you what!" I heard the smack before I saw the resulting impact. Carol fell back into Amy's arms, leaving me standing, unguarded and in shock. Andrea lashed out, pushing and punching at Ed's chest, which advanced toward his stunned wife. We all began to yell and scream, when Shane came over, grabbing Ed by his collar and shoulder.
"Get off me!" Ed struggled against Shane's grip, and Shane threw him to the ground. The other women consoled Carol who cried out for her husband, but I watched the two men, and before I knew what was happening, Shane began to mercilessly pound Ed's face.
"Shane stop!" I didn't know what to do. I looked back to the other women huddled together to comfort Carol, who was crying uncontrollably at the sight before her, so I took a few cautious steps forward. "Shane, please stop, you're upsetting Carol." Now Ed's face had begun to bleed, Shane's fist still bearing down on him endlessly. "Shane! He's learned his lesson now stop!" I grabbed Shane's shoulders, pulling with everything I had. The other women called for him to stop with me, and in the heat of the moment, in one single motion, Shane turned around, swinging his huge fist at me.
I didn't have any time to react, and his fist came crashing down hard on my left cheekbone with a sickening crack. I crumbled to the ground, all of the breath knocked out of me by the searing pain shooting through my head and neck. The canyon went deadly silent, only the sounds of shuffling feet could be heard.
"Oh my god, Beau!" a blurred vision of blonde joined me at my heap, only recognizable as Amy from the sound of her voice. "Her eye is bleeding! There's already swelling! Somebody get Dale!"
"Dale!" Jacqui yelled up to the cliff. The voices were fading in and out, and I heard Carol crying over her downed husband. More shuffling and Andrea spoke up.
"Get the fuck out of here Shane."
"What the hell happened!" Dale's voice now, there was a loud ringing and I began to cough. I knew there was blood, I could taste it in my mouth.
"Shane was gonna kill Ed. Beau tried to stop him." Hair was being brushed out of my face, and I was being lifted around somebody's shoulders. "Then he turned around and socked her."
"We have too get her to the RV. I may have some something for the cut." I tried to stay awake and alert by talking.
"I'm fine… honestly…" I slurred, the ringing getting louder. My feet tried to keep up with their brisk pace, but ended up dragging behind. "I can walk…"
"No, we're almost there." Amy cooed, pressing a cold, wet shirt to my swollen eye. Now I was being laid down, carefully. My head pulsed and sent shots of pain to my brain as the room began to fade…