By the Author of Dear Diary: It’s Me, Jessica
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Now, on to the story
Find the previous chapter here.
Dear Diary,
It’s me, Jessica.
We reached North gate at a jog. Being Oktoberfest, all the gates had minimal security standing watch. Jack, Samson and the puppies had arrived moments before we did. Jack was in one of the run-down vehicles used to form the Northern Barrier.
“What’s the word, Jack?” Rae asked between breaths from the jog.
“About a dozen of them, on other side of the trenches,” he said handing her his monocular.
“There is a woman in a wheelchair,” Rae said after looking through the monocular.
“I think she is in charge.”
Rae handed me the monocular. After a moment observing the new arrivals, I noted, “I don’t see any weapons. Everyone is wearing a backpack. Some of the backpacks are of cartoon characters or animals. Some of them are moving weird. A few seem to be guiding the others.”
“I noticed that too. I think they might be . . . special,” Jack said.
Sean then ran up, which was more like a fast walk for the rest of us. Before he could ask, Jack explained what we had seen so far. Sean nodded. “Before I came here, I instructed some of the militia to get their rifles and come here as fast as they could.”
Not expecting any kind of trouble, we left our rifles at home. It was the first time in months I did not have it with me. I had been so accustomed to carrying, it felt weird not to have it slung across my shoulder. It was like I was missing a sock. Only the North gate guard had his rifle, and Jack had his pistol in his drop rig holster. Then there was Samson and the puppies, each a four legged, one hundred pound weapon in their own right.
Jack took the monocular back from me and glanced at me and Rae in our witches’ costumes and grinned.
“Come on, you two. You can be part of the welcoming committee, in that get up, you might put them at ease.”
“Aye, that they may!”
As we got out of the vehicle, I was kinda glad I did not have my rifle with me. It would be hard to take me seriously in my witch’s dress, pointed hat, green painted face, and heavy mascara. Jack led us through the gate with Samson and the puppies on either side of him. Sean, Rae, and I followed. What a welcoming committee we would make.
We stopped just shy of the trenches. The woman in the wheelchair wheeled herself up to meet us.
“Who rules here?” she asked, but it was more like a demand.
“Interesting choice of words,” Jack said under his breath.
“Aye,” Sean said quietly. Then he spoke up to answer her, “That would be me. I am the mayor of Four Corners. Who might you be?”
“I am Tasha,” she snapped back. “I look out for the care of these people. They are in my charge.”
“Tasha,” Jack said. “Short for Natasha.” He said it as a statement. Not a question.
“That is right. What of it?”
Samson and the puppies did not like her tone of voice, with a low growl emitting from their throats, hair on their backs standing up, they look almost twice as big as they were.
“Get control of your dogs or I will have them put down!”
Jack held out his hand in a particular way. It was a hand sign for the dogs to hold. But it was also the hand sign to be ‘at the ready.’ He then gave the hand sign to sit and said,
“Easy, boys. Sit.”
Had Jack given the other hand sign, all three of the dogs would have launched themselves, jaws first, and ripped her apart.
I found I was holding my breath as the boys sat down, but were still watching closely. I let out a sigh of relief, more for Tasha’s benefit than mine. I don’t think she realized how close she was to opening death’s door.
Tasha seemed satisfied that Samson and the puppies were under control, but continued to challenge Jack with her stare. Jack did not look away.
“Me, Tony, Kendra, and Amanda take care of these people. They have special needs. Tony, Kendra, and Amanda all worked at the assisted living facility where they and I lived. It was a state-run facility.” Her voice softened. “Not the best care, but they did what they could with what they had. So did I, considering my own needs.” Tasha glanced down at her own legs. She then looked up at Rae and me for the first time.
“Witches?”
“Aye. ‘Tis Oktoberfest. We include Halloween as well. You are welcome to join us at the festival.”
“Daniel and Savannah will need to check them over for possible sickness or disease before they can enter Four Corners proper,” Jack announced.
“No one is sick,” Tasha declared, challenging him again with a fierce look.
“Aye, not that you can see. But our physicians need to have a once-over. Don’t want a breakout of any kind of sickness. Best for the safety of us all, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Yes. Of course,” Tasha responded quickly. “Let me tell my people what is going to happen to prepare our special needs people. They do not respond well to change.”
Tasha then spun around in her wheelchair and wheeled herself away.
Jack leaned close to me and said,
“Run. Do not jog. Get Daniel and Savannah. Tell them to examine their new patients not only for sickness but mental health. Go!”
Entry two
Daniel and Savannah did an examination of everyone. They listened to their lungs and heart, checked their eyes, took their vitals, palpated their liver, and looked for lice. They questioned Tasha, Tony, Kendra, and Amanda about what they had eaten over the past two weeks, the color of their urine, and their bowel movements.
They answered the questions, but even I could tell they did not seem sure about their own answers.
Several of the Four Corners militia arrived with rifles. Jack put them ‘at ease,’ and had them stand back and away. He did not want to frighten anyone.
I was helping Savannah with exams of the special needs patients when I noticed one of them was looking at me oddly. I figured it was the costume. When our eyes met, he looked away. For a moment, it almost looked like shame. He then started to wander aimlessly, muttering to himself. Kendra had to guide him back to be examined. As she did, he stared at the ground, rocking forward and backward, muttering something about a cat.
After consulting with each other, Daniel and Savannah then conferred with Sean and Jack. Sean then turned and announced to Tasha and the others,
“Our physicians have determined you and yours do not have any immediate concerns for sickness or disease. Seeing as it is Oktoberfest, we welcome you to Four Corners! Please come and join us at the festival!”
Tasha and the others guided the special needs people between the trenches and through the North gate with Sean leading them.
Jack motioned for Rae and me to hang back as they passed. Once we were out of earshot, he said, “No drinking tonight,”
“No problem there,” I said.
“Trouble,” Rae asked.
“There is more to them than it seems. I cannot put my finger on it. The boys sense it too. Be friendly. Ask the usual get-to-know-you questions, but don’t push too hard.”
Entry three
Tasha had Tony, Kendra, and Amanda arrange their group to sit on the ground close enough to feel the heat of the bonfire but not so close as to be uncomfortable. In the light of the bonfire, I could see them clearly for the first time, as the sun had set when Daniel and Savannah had cleared them medically. They were young. All of them. None appeared older than thirty. The boy who was looking at me oddly might have been my age.
As unofficial members of the welcoming committee, Rae and I volunteered to get them dinner. I asked Tasha if they had a preference of chicken, rabbit, lamb, beef, pork or venison. For a second, she had the same look on her face as when Jack stated Tasha was short for Natasha, but stopped herself.
“We will take whatever you have to offer,” she said simply.
“Do you have plates or bowls and utensils? Around here, it is expected to bring your own.”
“Oh, yes, yes, we do.” She suddenly looked embarrassed. Tasha gave orders to Kendra and Amanda to get out bowls and to go with Rae and me to get the others dinner.
Rae and I both tried to get Kendra and Amanda talking, but they were evasive. They would not even answer where they came from or the name of the state-run assisted living facility where they cared for their patients. Rae switched tactics and told them about Four Corners, mostly about the market and the last Oktoberfest. With each of us carrying two bowls of stew and a loaf of bread to divide between two people, we quickly had dinner for everyone. While they were digging in, Rae and I went to get our own dinner. The stew smelled fantastic, but I wanted a spiced rabbit, pork and venison kebabs with flat bread and cucumber yogurt sauce. Rae opted for a roasted chicken leg and smoked and seasoned pulled pork with a loaf of bread to soak up the juices.
We sat a short distance from them as we ate.
“What do you think?” I asked in between bites.
“I understand what Jack meant. There is something more going on here than we are seeing.” She looked down as she pulled apart a piece of bread and used it to pick up some of the pulled pork, soaking up some of the juice.
“That one boy is looking at you, again. That is the third time by my count since we sat down.”
“Third? I counted twice.”
“He is watching you. Not me,” Rae smiled sweetly and popped the bread and pork into her mouth.
Entry four
After dinner, Sean had everyone gather for the pumpkin carving contest, the pumpkin pie contest and then the children’s trick or treat. Rae did her magical Halloween pumpkin patch story. She got much applause, and even Tasha and her group seemed to enjoy it.
Then, Tom and Katie followed with a comical The Headless Horseman act that included a few short but easy to learn song and dance routines, everyone to include the kids could join in on. Sean on his banjo and a few others with drums, a violin, and a harmonica added to the song and dance. Their production was very impressive, as just the two of them played multiple characters without any costume changes. They did it all with just their voices and acting. It was wildly successful.
Things then began to wind down as most headed for home, others to get their children into bed. Sean and Jack piled on more logs to the bonfire to keep it going, as some of the adults sat around and sipped Jack’s beer or spirits until late into the night.
Tasha asked Sean if there was somewhere they could set up away from Four Corners proper, as they had a ‘routine’ to put their charges to bed. Since the fight with the gang and the cult, the area between Four Corners proper and the Northern Barrier was mostly empty.
A idea struck me, and I slowly stepped back, out of the light of the bonfire and into the shadows as Tasha and her group gathered up their belongings. I quickly made my way toward Northern Barrier ahead of them and then found a spot to hide. About ten minutes later, they came up from Four Corners proper and stopped about half way to the Northern Barrier. In the dark, I could not see the Northern Barrier. But I was close enough to see them.
Tasha ordered the area to be searched. But it was not Tony, Kendra, and Amanda who did the searching. It was Tony and three of the others. The special needs patients. After several minutes of them looking, Tony declared,
“All clear, no one here to see us.”
I could not help but smile as Tony had walked right past me in my hiding spot and did not see me.
“What are we going to do?” one of the others who conducted the search of the area demanded. “This is not some isolated farm or homestead. They are organized and have real weapons, rifles. Not some old timer with a side-by-side shotgun.”
“I know-” Tasha started, but was cut off by Tony.
“Jack, the guy with the dogs, he is dangerous.”
“ I know, Tony,” Tasha said between clenched teeth, simmering anger under her breath. She slapped the armrests on her wheelchair.
And then she stood up.
About 1stMarineJarHead
1stMarineJarHead is not only a former Marine, but also a former EMT-B, Wilderness EMT (courtesy of NOLS), and volunteer firefighter.
He currently resides in the great white (i.e. snowy) Northeast with his wife and dogs. He raises chickens, rabbits, goats, occasionally hogs, cows and sometimes ducks. He grows various veggies and has a weird fondness for rutabagas. He enjoys reading, writing, cooking from scratch, making charcuterie, target shooting, and is currently expanding his woodworking skills.
