Lighthearted, they resumed their walk to the guest house.
* * *
The next day…
Tamsyn was bored. While she’d been upstairs with Perry, everyone else had gotten an assigned activity for the day. Jeff was out with the rancher, doing an inspection of his defenses with an eye to offering suggestions, since Perry hadn’t seen a large swarm in action. Melly was spending the day at the ranch’s well supplied clinic, going over notes with the senior nurse in charge and seeing patients the nurse judged might need the doctor. Mike had been assigned to attend the ranch’s school for the day and then participate in the organized sports afterward, which Tamsyn was sure made him happy. Spending all his time cooped up in a military vehicle with his sister and a bunch of adults had to be hard on a ten year old, even one as mature as Mike Jericho. Buddy had been banned to the backyard of the guesthouse, where he was on a long lead, with plenty of food, water and shade. Zach disappeared at dawn to ride the ranch with Fleur on AGcycles. Ryan was on guard duty at the APC’s and Trent was catching up on his sleep, having stood guard all night.
And Cody was whisked away right after breakfast by Esme, to spend the day in the ranch’s electronics hub working on a secret project the two had ginned up over dinner. Tamsyn was most displeased about this development. Esme had been entirely too attentive to Cody last night, flirtatious and high spirited. Tamsyn had no qualms about Cody’s fidelity to their relationship but she hated the idea he was going to work so closely with a woman who obviously didn’t care in the least whether he was taken.
And Tamsyn herself? Had no assignment. She could have tagged along with any of her group, even Cody but had her own reasons for rejecting each option. She especially wasn’t going to play jealous girlfriend, hanging onto Cody all day while he worked on tech and electronics.
So she ate a leisurely breakfast, chatted with Mrs. Christie about canning vegetables and stretching food rations in dire times, and then took herself on a tour of the horse barns. Although she helped with the chores, it made her sad to be around the magnificent animals when she’d had to turn her own horses loose. The elder Norwood son showed up late in the morning and offered her a horse and a ride out to where the nearest herd was grazing. As the animals were a new strain of hybrid, she feigned enthusiasm and interest and accepted the invitation.
Perry’s ranch was huge, ten times the size of hers and the operation was amazingly smooth, even in these times.
Lunch was a buffet at the ranch house and people came and went. She didn’t see Cody and Mrs. Christie whispered she’d sent sandwiches over to the tech center for him and Esme.
Tamsyn spent the afternoon working in one of the giant vegetable gardens, taking solace in the soothing routine of pulling weeds and planting new plants. She’d feel it in her back and other places tomorrow no doubt but at least it was honest labor and she was contributing in a small way to the continued success of Perry’s sanctuary for his family and friends and workers.
Dinner was more informal than the previous night’s had been and people mingled more, chatting and being sociable. Jeff called for a team meeting in APC 1 at 7PM so Tamsyn and her companions made their excuses and withdrew from the big dining room right before the time.
Cody caught up to Tamsyn, catching her hand and pulling her to a stop on the big wraparound porch. “You avoiding me, lady?”
“Maybe a little,” she said reluctantly. “But I’m sure Esme entertained you.”
Eyes narrowed he stared at her but seemed more amused than anything else. Taking her elbow, he steered her across the porch and down the stairs. “Did she make it perfectly clear she wanted to do more than work on electronics today? Yes. Did I in turn make it perfectly clear I’m a one woman man and you, sweetheart, are that woman, now and forever. Yes, I did. So retract those claws.”
“I hated missing an entire day with you,” she admitted, resting her head against his arm as they walked. “And she was so blatant at dinner last night…”
Cody stopped walking and pulled her in front of him so he could gaze into her eyes. “I would have rather been with you too but I had a job to do today and I needed Esme’s help to get it done. That’s all. I love you.”
They kissed and Tamsyn wanted to lose herself in the embrace but Ryan jogged by them and buffeted Cody on the shoulder.
“Save the kissy stuff for later,” the soldier said with a laugh. “Captain’s waiting for his debrief.”
They were the last two inside the APC and Cody sealed the door behind them. It was crowded—the APC was built to hold a full complement of fully armed soldiers but there certainly was no extra room. She was glad when they were traveling there were two vehicles to divide themselves between.
“We’re meeting in here for operational security,” Jeff said, plainly addressing her. “Not that I don’t trust Norwood, nor do I think the whole ranch is bugged but caution is our watchword. All right, I want impressions of the ranch and the setup here. I’ll go first. I spent the day with Norwood himself, going over his defenses. He’s got a lot more people here than you’d surmise from the cozy dinners we’ve had. Maybe two to three hundred altogether. He’s got roving patrols on his borders. Overall my evaluation is the ranch is well set up to repel a human invasion but I think he’s lacking when it comes to dealing with a swarm. I suggested a specific training program. I also told him based on our observations the infected have a sixth sense or attraction to groups of humans and this place will inevitably draw them so he’d better be ready.”
Tamsyn was next but didn’t have much to add. “I spent the day in various spots around the ranch and I concur he’s got a good setup. He probably can keep his people fed and sheltered. I leave the military judgments to those of you who have the experience. I will say it felt odd to be in the midst of so much normality after the apocalyptic happenings at Rosewater.”
The others each shared their insights, even Mike. “I was telling the kids at lunch about what it’s like out there,” he said. As his sister gave him the side eye, he rushed to add, “Not the really gory parts but they have no idea. I think it’s kinda weird to be going to school and doing everyday stuff right now. People should be fighting the infected, you know?”
“We hear you,” Jeff said. “Norwood does have a different strategy here all right.”
“I spent the day with their tech guru, Esme,” Cody said, giving Tamsyn a wink which she ignored. “Traded her four blasters from APC2’s arms locker for an agri drone, with the captain’s permission. We rigged it up to drop force grenades and I’m going to try it out on Ruger’s camp when we’re close enough. Disrupt his operation a bit and maybe take him down a peg or two.”
“If the raiders shoot it out of the sky, will they be able to tell it came from Perry’s ranch?” Tamsyn asked, concerned about payback.
Cody shook his head. “There aren’t any identifying markers and Esme stripped out any programming which could implicate them. The only drawback is I have to control the damn thing manually, unlike my own drones. Which, by the way, I did not mention to her. She had no need to know.”
“All right, good reports,” Jeff said. “We’re rolling out of here at dawn and Millersville is our next stop. Except for those on the guard roster, you’re off duty for the evening so have a good time in this little oasis of normality. Dismissed.”
Cody waited for Tamsyn to emerge from the APC and caught her by the hand when she stepped outside. “I think we should go investigate the shower in the bathroom attached to our room over there in the guest house. Might be quite a while until we get another chance at hot water and privacy.”
“Sounds good. And then?”
“I have guard duty at 0200 but until then I’m all yours—let your imagination soar.” His grin was cocky and sent a pulse of heat to her core. Tamsyn couldn’t get to the guest house fast enough.
