Chapter 35: Babysitters and Strangers

Narrative Continued by Carl Northrup

I gotta say it's been pretty good being John's second in command lately, or at least it would have been if acting as his co-squad leader didn't mean I was a glorified babysitter. Nothing against Lieutenant Paul, but I didn't think Paul would leave John with so much to do in the family department before he took off on that scout. As much as I enjoy his kids, I tend to prefer my normal duties when half the detachment is away. Patrolling alongside the other detachments, chilling at the barricades with Savitt, John, Ramos, and Barnett is lots of fun when the others are gone. There's just a sense of "casual" that you don't get when Paul is around… Not that Paul is a super strict commander, it just feels like school when the teacher is sick and they had to bring in the niece or something who doesn't know the lesson plan and is just filling in for the day. Anyway, all the other detachments have three squad leaders and Paul's still has just John and Rhynes, so maybe this opportunity with John will help Paul decide to make me squad leader for the new guys.

Whatever, in the nearly two weeks that Paul's been gone with the others, it's like I mentioned earlier, I've been doing what John was supposed to be doing on behalf of Paul. Again, it wasn't anything bad, I just didn't know Paul wanted his family checked on so often throughout the day. I don't know if John or I were supposed to be making reports on the status of his family at various check ins, but if I'm the substitute for the day, I think he'll understand if I don't do that. Anyway, ever since Paul left, I've been checking in with Daniella and the kids two times throughout each day and then once at the end of the shift just as instructed. One check-in after our first roving watch in the late morning, then again after our second roving watch in the midafternoon. Finally, after the night guard takes over, and before I could get back to the boys at the barracks or see my fiancé, I would go see his family. I don't know why John couldn't do that last one since he lives in the same quarter of town as Paul, but I did it every day anyway and it's been alright… I just also didn't expect to have to take the children off Daniella's hands so often.

I normally wouldn't have to or be able to do that since the kids would be in school, but the school for the youngers was still in a break or something even that late into January and early into February. I never really heard what that break was about though. I think it had something to do with the teachers all being part of some big volunteer effort in the refugee village. So, while John, Savitt, Ramos, and Barnett have been running patrols and acting as aids to the full-strength detachments, filling in at tower posts, and acting as runners on occasion, I was often spending most of the day literally keeping the kids of my Lieutenant occupied.

If this entry into the diary I almost never write in is to serve as a report of sorts, all I can say is that Dani (I'm allowed to call her that) has been well. Busy, but well. Dani's been spending most of the days helping Michelle with the new baby. Even since that first time I checked in, I could see Dani has been more than occupied, and I could see in her face that the pause in schooling for Hannah and Joseph couldn't have come at a less favorable time. At first, I didn't know if I was even allowed to do this when I'd knock on the Young family's door and hear my lieutenant's wife say,

"I'm doing just fine, thank you, Mr. Northrup…" the baby would start screaming from somewhere in the house amongst other noises, and she'd say something like, "… Just a minute, Mr. Northrup…" and return to the doorway a few seconds later shoving both Hannah and Joseph out the door with a phrase like, "… I'm sorry, but you need to take them for a while. I appreciate it, Carl."

Again, I didn't know if I was supposed to or allowed to take the kids back to my duty, but I couldn't bring myself to argue when I'd see the exhaustion in Dani's face. Standing there with the two kids, I'd take them with me back to my shift. Eventually, the Constable would see me with the kids out in the market and instead of saying the "You need to make your rounds without distraction, I'll go have a talk with Dani," I predicted, he would actually say something like, "Hey kids, you having a nice time with your uncles of the guard? Don't worry, your dad won't be gone long."

Some days, it was too much to take the kids along with me throughout my shift, and remembering the face Dani wore during each check in, I eventually reached out to my fiancé Jessica about the situation. Jessica Winley had been a babysitter of the Young family since Michelle was a girl. She was currently taking time off from her usual work in the food sanitation and preservative shop of the agricultural sect in order to plan our wedding, but she had time to at least help with the Young family's kids when needed. Still, unless there was an emergency or a situation I couldn't watch the kids, I later wouldn't really mind watching them for a shift so I didn't need my fiancé for that too often. If anything, watching over the kids added a little bit of variety to the sometimes dull job of a guardsman's routine. Not only that, but after about a week of doing this, I started to see time with the kids almost like "dad practice" in a way. I know Jessica certainly saw it that way the first time she saw me with my lieutenant's kids, and at that point I was even more excited about the wedding night.

Anyway, I think it was about the two week mark that something at least sorta interesting happened. I only really remember it because we were expecting Paul and the rest of them to get back around that time. The Constable hadn't told us of anything tragic, so it was reasonable to expect the full group, and I was about done taking care of the kids for a while.

On this day, I'd already been fairly used to Joseph. He was always easy to distract, and whenever he would join me and the others at the barricades, I'd usually let him run off and explore the markets so long as he didn't go far and never left my sight. He was around 8 or maybe 9 I think, and that made him easy to occupy even if he was still somewhat excitable. Between the groups of guardsmen patrolling and keeping order, I knew he was fine, and he only broke my simple rules a few times.

Hannah was a little different. I think she was about 13? At this time? Not sure, they aren't my kids. Older than Joseph, younger than Michelle, I knew that. Anyway, she was easier to handle. A few times, Joseph managed to get her to follow him around the market, but most of the time she would just sit quietly by me and her other uncles at the barricades. What a girl of her age could get out of sitting quietly beside a bunch of veterans of the guard was beyond me, but she'd listen and seem to be just fine having been pawned off to us by her mom for the day. Sometimes me or some of the others would ask her if she was bored just sitting with us between our rounds, but if she didn't say no, she would say yes. Whenever she said she was bored, me, John, Savitt, Barnett, or Ramos would ask her something like;

"Well do you want to go buy something fun at one of the market stalls?"

Sometimes there would be long conversations full of various suggestions, all of which she would decline until finally someone asks, "Well what do you want to do if you're so bored then?"

Every time, she would always say, "Can one of you take me shooting?"

At first the answer was surprising, but eventually, it just became annoying. None of us wanted to touch that idea, even if we could leave our posts to do so. Not only that, but John said that he himself was given particular instructions before Paul left to Not take her shooting if she asked… This was confirmed with Hannah's mother. So, whether it was me, or any of the other guys, the response to that question was always, "You ask your dad to take you,"

After this had been told to her enough times, she no longer asked, instead she just became a silent and pouting piece of furniture knowing that the only thing she apparently wanted to do would be denied by her uncles in the guard. Not long before she stopped asking her daily request, Ramos at one point asked her directly;

"Why do you want to go shooting so badly?"

Her answer to this was a simple, "Because I want to."

Typical for her age.

We knew there was more to it if that was the only thing she wanted to do for days on end, but if she was going to be tight lipped, so were we, and that was that.

And so, on the noteworthy day I mentioned previously, Hannah was busy pouting on her chair behind the barricade, and Joseph was off bothering strangers beside the well. By this point I was starting to feel a little bad for the girl who wasn't allowed in her own house and couldn't do the only thing she wanted, so I went to one of the market stalls just outside the door to the Trinity Inn and bought the young gal a couple comic books. I'd always see her reading one in some corner or beside her mom or dad after briefly socializing at community gatherings, so I thought this would be a nice consolation for the past weeks of repeatedly denying her one and only daily request.

The others were standing themselves up to begin our next hourly, and I held the two comics up for the girl before setting off to gather her brother. I always made sure I had both Hannah and Joseph firmly in their seats beneath the shade of the wall before doing any patrols. So, upon my return, I held the comics up for the girl, she studied them with a look that said she already had both issues of the Grognak the Barbarian and La Fantoma comics I just bought, and told her "Well now you have two," before placing them on the ground beside her chair. Turning back to the well, I couldn't see Joseph anywhere nearby and told John and the others;

"Wait a minute, I gotta have Joseph in his seat behind the barricade before we set off."

The others kept adjusting their gear on their persons and Savitt said what John and the rest were evidently thinking, "Let's start our round anyway, we'll scoop him up when we find him." But it wasn't their responsibility, technically it was John's, but mostly mine, so I hopped over the barricade,

"No no no, it's not your heads Paul's going to have, it'll be mine."

I left the laughter behind me, walking at a quick pace towards the well a little before noon of that day. Looking every direction, my heart began to beat fast. There really was nothing to worry about looking back, but at the time, it felt like life or death. Reaching the well, I asked the group of wasters and tribals if they'd seen where a little boy about yay high went, and one of them pointed off to a little alley between the rentable shacks. Passing through the alley, I was in the midst of the housing block on this side of the main road, and while travelers from everywhere went about their business, I saw Joseph trying to climb one of the metal pillars supporting the scrap chapel with a group of other children. I worked my way through the crowds and shouted,

"Joseph! I told you not to leave my sight…" the boy whipped his head my way, and so did the other kids before I said, "… Cut that out! You'll get tetanus! So get back to your chair! I need to make my rounds."

Immediately, and like I was the boogeyman himself, Joseph made my blood absolutely boil when he leaped off the pillar, and shouted at the other kids, "RUN! He's after us!"

The waster kids screeched and took off in all different directions, but I didn't care about any of them so I took off after Joseph wondering all the while if Dani or Paul would allow me to administer corporal punishment for such a thing. I ran after Joseph as he led me through the residential side of the outer market, around the permanent homes, through the crowds, and around the carts till we were heading back towards the main road. He was much quicker than I thought he was, and this made me even madder as I shouted for him to slow down and how much trouble he was going to be in. After every remark, I'd see his look back at me, and the delight in his face as we neared the main road told me he was running right back to the chair beside Hannah. Still, I shouted, and still that face looked back at me as we passed the carts and wagons and wasters doing their shopping in the vast market until just before we reached the well across from the Trinity Inn, I shouted something, he looked back, and then immediately collided into a stranger.

I caught up to the young kid sitting on the floor in the dirt and was already apologizing to the stranger with my eyes full of fire and fixed on the young man. I didn't even see who Joseph collided with, only seeing my lieutenant's young boy rubbing the dirt off his arms staring up at the waster. As soon as I was close enough, I snatched Joseph's arm just above the elbow, hauled him to his feet, and said;

"Your mom and dad are going to whip you to tears for that, young man…" Then I saw where the young man was still looking.

Standing there half turned towards us beside the well was a man who didn't appear to be in the least disturbed by the 8-year-old boy who smashed into his legs at full speed. I felt my own words trail off as I saw the black combat boots and black sleeveless duster coat draping down to just past his knees, both of which were unbelievably coated in wasteland dust. There looked like a faded red, white and blue sigil of the old world American flag crudely stenciled on the back of the coat, but I didn't get a good look at it because the man was soon facing me and…

The Bible is pretty clear about not judging people, especially before you get to know them, but the appearance alone of that stranger was what I could only describe as terrifying… Between the flaps of the duster, he wore what looked like a disgustingly dirty yellow shirt, or a shirt made of animal skin, but I'll be honest when I say I couldn't see much else when I saw that face.

The man was of darker complexion, much like your average tribal in the wilderness or someone of black descent. This background of the man was also partly identifiable by the thick black hair going down to the shoulders he wore in solid rope-like braids… But what was really terrifying about the man's appearance were those hollow pupil-less dark bloodshot eyes that appeared to glow red even in the daytime as they stared at me and Joseph just above the rise of breathing mask that covered the lower half of his face…

"… Sorry, sir… about the kid…. I…."

The eyes continued to glow back at me, and it almost felt like the world going on around us went real low in volume as I could almost hear the heavy breathing behind the masked face before I found myself adding;

"… You alright sir?" Was he blind?

How anyone could see through blank glowing eyes like that was beyond me, but after a moment, he said "I'm fine."

The tone of that voice and those simple words almost reminded me of Graham since they were spoken so deep and full of… I honestly don't quite know how to describe it… I want to say "menace" but that's not it. After all, a menacing individual wouldn't have responded with a simple "I'm fine." No instead, he would have just stared at me in an effort to absorb my soul or maybe steal the pupils of my eyes… Sorta like what he was doing after saying "I'm fine."

I shook myself back to reality after a second, and looked down at Joseph to see him still staring at the stranger with a look almost as terrified as the one I thought I was wearing upon seeing the red glow in those eyes. Anyway, I shook the young man's arm to bring him too back to reality and said to the kid;

"You apologize to the stranger, Joseph."

A moment of silence went on, and nearby, a couple of the guards under Canady were hanging out beside the well. I couldn't hear much, but they were talking about something while watching the whole thing between me, Joseph, and the creepy guy. I thought I saw one of the guards smile, then heard one of the others say something like;

"… Yeah, he and Doyle should be back in a few days. 80s and White Legs been real active out that way, so I hope they get home alright…"

All at once, my attention turned when the boy finally spoke up, "I'm sorry, sir."

The man adjusted the slim bandolier harness and strap going across his chest beneath the flaps of the coat, and said just as monotonously and creepily as before, "Apology accepted."

Then, without looking back, the creepy stranger walked around me and the boy heading south and away from the market. I could see Joseph following the stranger's departure, and part of me wanted to join him as well to better make out that symbol on the back of his coat, but something prevented me. Just a few short yards distant from Joseph and I still stuck in place was the guards still by the well. I finally recognized the faces of Canady's boys as none other than Alden and Ryder, both of whom were still chatting to one another while taking delight in the awkward confrontation Joseph got us into. All I could do was shoot the two spiteful looks and lead Joseph by the arm towards the chair beside his sister. Along the way I'd inform Joseph that he's no longer allowed on his own if he's going to abuse my authority, and the boy seemed to quickly forget about the stranger as he pouted and whined all the way to his time out chair.

The rest of the day went pretty fine as far as I remember as the regular demands of duty took over. It was also easy to get lost in the moment when so many of those moments were keeping track of the two kids and listening to now both of them pout. Every now and then however, I would think of that stranger for no particular reason other than how creepy he looked. I'd bring him up with the guys later and after the customary warning from everyone that they did not want to gossip, they all joined me in speculating about his origins. By the time the end of the shift was near, and I was getting ready to hand the kids back to Dani during my afternoon check-in, we landed on a unique radiation exposure as the cause of the stranger's glowing hollow eyes and breathing apparatus. As for the American flag emblem, none of us could adequately explain that other than speculation that he might have picked the coat up off a donation from a trader in the refugee village. None of us saw him the rest of the day, but that was assumedly because he went to his family in the refugee village a half mile south of the market… or something.

Either way, as I went to return Joseph and Hannah back to their mother and get ready for the end of the shift, I was just glad that the little scene played out that day instead of the day Paul got back. If the creepy man was of any lesser disposition, such a thing could have caused any amount of other problems that the little boy would have been responsible for... or me because I was supposed to keep him from getting in trouble.

The Next Day

The very next day was one that went on just like so many others up until about a minute after I returned to the barricade with my Lieutenant's kids. As I mentally readied myself for another bout of pouting from Hannah and Joseph, all of us, including the rest of the boys were distracted by something coming in. It was Daniel and the first time missionary girls.

Heading right towards us from down the main road was Daniel, followed by Lockwood, followed by Camden's men, and then Rhynes, Granger, Fleischer, Hansley, and… no tribals and no Lt. Young or Doyle. We figured the Sevieris were left with our people at the refugee village before we even started to approach the group, but wondered what happened to our LT, or Hudson, Ray, and Lt. Doyle. They all looked tired, but happy, so I figured everything was fine. So, meeting the group, we greeted all of them, and then I saw who Granger and Fleischer were carrying. Just before they could make the turn towards Dr. Franklin's market clinic, we all saw Nathan lying in the stretcher and so many jokes were made at his condition before he was taken out of earshot. It became clear what rendered him to that condition when he answered all the jokes with the raise of a hand he intended to use to show us a particular finger, but was unable to because of the lack a right hand.

Anyway, after welcoming the arrival of the entire party, the kids were still looking for their dad when Rhynes mentioned Paul and Doyle were sent to take care of something for the Constable and would only be a day or two behind. The kids were disappointed with this, but were fairly used to it, and so when Daniel and the missionary girls entered through the gates, so did the rest of our comrades of the detachment. Rhynes and the others not out with Paul had a lot of gear to turn in, and reports to make for the Constable, so me, John, and the rest of us were on our own for the remainder of the day.

It was after our patrol of the market a half hour later that the kids were already becoming a nieusance. Jessica was busy this time of day, and Hannah and Joseph were still upset that their dad was out, so I asked if John and the others could hold the fort while I take the kids to go check in on Nathan. The boys obliged and off we went on the short walk along the wall to the scrap clinic.

The kids were glad to see Nathan again, but were understandably disturbed by seeing him on that cot in such a delirious condition. It was certainly strange to see him like that as well and a sad reminder of what life outside the walls could do to a man. In Nathan's case, I knew this sad state was easily remedied with a loud stomp on the ground, and a clap of the hands.

Nathan swung himself upright, and his face went from deliriously tired to angry And glad at sight of who was in the doorway to his patient cubicle. After the customary;

"Good God, Carl! You almost gave me a heartattack," from Nathan and a response from me like;

"I knew you were faking it," he smiled, showed his lacking hand, and explained his tiredness as that of bloodloss and the kids went to kneel by his bedside.

Nathan was happy to see the kids, and thankfully, the kids could ask all the questions I wanted to "What happened?", "Where's dad?", "Did it hurt when you lost your hand?", etc. Nathan answered all the questions that came his way and directed some at me before asking the kids about school, their break, what they've been up to, and all that. We spent quite a while with Nathan and he eventually asked me if I knew what was going to happen to him, if he was going to be allowed to remain in the guard, etc.

I'll admit my heart sunk a bit when Nathan asked some of those questions. Beneath the expression of humor and general contentment he was known for, I could see a bit of true fear in his face behind some of those questions. We all knew how much he loved being a guardsman of New Canaan, but unfortunately, I couldn't answer those questions. All I could tell the man was that he'd have to find that out from Paul or talk to the Constable about it. Clearly disappointed or anxious about how he'd still have to wait, it was easy for Nathan to divert his worries by chatting to the kids. In the end, all I personally could do to satisfy my brother's worries was tell him that I'd make sure the Constable got to visit him and keep an eye out for a prosthetics physician in the near future.

After probably around an hour since arrival, Nathan was still enjoying the company of myself and the Young kids, but duty was going to need me elsewhere so I asked the kids if they were ready to go.

"NO! I don't wanna go now!" was Joseph's response before he got right back to telling Nathan about how he and the waster kids played a prank on a scrap merchant the other day.

Hannah however had gravitated over towards me and her response to my question was another, "I'm ready. You going to take me shooting finally?"

I said goodbye to Nathan and told Joseph I'd be back for him after I drop off his sister back at the barricade and he has till I return to finish up. Joseph didn't even acknowledge my deal, and so I departed with Hannah who was asking me the same question as before all the while. Before I was even outside the clinic lobby, I had had enough of Hannah's whining, but before I could tell her to shush up or she'd be in trouble, I heard my fiancé Jessica say from only a few feet away;

"Hey, honey, there you are. How're you, Hannah? Your dress looks so pretty."

My fiancé embraced me, pecked me on the cheek, and Hannah answered my fiancé, "Thanks Jessica. I want to wear jeans because I can wear a holster with those. Carl's going to take me shooting…"

I said I wasn't, Jessica was confused, and with too much going on, my mouth solved one of my situations for me when I asked if Jessica could keep an eye on Joseph inside the clinic and to take him home when he's done visiting with Nathan. Thankfully, my loving fiancé agreed to do so, probably because she saw the stress on my face as I could see John and the others getting ready for patrol just behind the barricade. All the while, Hannah continued asking me to take her shooting, and we approached the barricade while John said to get my gear together quickly and that we were already late for our rounds. I told Hannah to wait in her spot as usual but this time she defied me directly when she said she would only do so if I took her shooting now.

"I have to go on patrol now! I'm already late NOW! And I TOLD you to stop asking me that!"

John, Ramos, Savitt, and Barnett all looked at me with smiles and like they were glad they weren't me.

"We can't do that, sweetie. Carl can't either, you know that," said John cooly to the young girl.

Just then, I saw none other than Mr. Duncan Schmitt exit out the lowered gate into town and pass by the barricade with only a brief glance as Hannah said directly at me;

"I'm going to tell my dad you yelled at me, Carl."

My blood boiled for just a second as I threw on the rest of my gear and didn't even address the girl as John took the others away to start the round with those two wasters pushing one another. I met eyes with the girl for just a second and said, "You're going to stay here, Hannah…" before she could respond I called for the young man walking towards a market stall beside the Trinity Inn,

"Duncan, get over here… Please."

Duncan was before me in just a second. He looked at me confused as he saw the stress in my face while I finished adjusting the bandolier over my chest;

"What's up Carl?"

"What are you doing right now? I thought you were on mission?"

He glanced at Hannah, then back to me, "I was. I just got back early this morning. But I just finished turning in all my stuff and came out to get a grilled gecko leg. That place by the Trinity Inn does them better than anyone… Why?"

He was right, that place beside the Trinity Inn was only here a few months out of the year, and when they were, they were a real hit with everyone. Anyway, I heard this and told the young man as I was already moving around the barricade to join John and the others' involvement in the scuffle;

"Do me a favor and keep watch over Hannah for a while. Keep her distracted till I come back. Shouldn't be gone more than 45 minutes…" and before she could say it, I added, "… Just do whatever she wants, take her with you to get a gecko leg, whatever…" The young man was silent but he appeared to agree, and I left Hannah with Duncan Schmitt knowing full well what she was going to ask him to do as I joined John and the others on market patrol.

When the fight was ended and the rest of the patrol began, I began to feel pretty bad that I might have just gotten Duncan in trouble since he wasn't told to refuse Hannah's request to go shooting. If Paul or Dani ever found out what I let Duncan let her do, they might have been very upset. However, upon return to the barricade about 40 minutes later, it wasn't more than a few minutes after that Hannah and Duncan returned. Hannah had a look of contentment I hadn't ever seen on her face, and she returned to the chair she occupied for days and began eagerly reading the Grognak comic I bought her earlier. Duncan leaned with his arms on the sandbag barricade, looking at us all as he said simply;

"We got some gecko legs then went shooting in the desert for a while. Hope that's alright…"

I suddenly felt all the eyes go to me, and Duncan looked confused for a second before shrugging and saying;

"… Anyway, how's things been around here? I really sort of missed this place a little."

As the others soon got lost talking to Duncan about his first mission and time with the Coalmen tribe of the southeast, I found my way over to Hannah's side to whisper to her;

"You tell your parents I've been nothing but stern with you and I won't tell them you ran off to go shooting with poor ignorant Duncan who didn't know better, and Maybe I'll let him take you again, got it?"

The girl smiled and nodded, then went right back to reading her comic.

A/N: As I've alluded to in the end of my last chapter, I am taking a bit of a break from writing and regular posting in order to work on a audio project of mine! I'll have more to say about it later, but this might be my last one for another short while before my next chapter comes out with an announcement about the audiobook project readers of my fics will certainly enjoy! Thanks for reading and thanks for enjoying!