Checking in With the Blaines (Part 2)

Posted on Sun Nov 24th, 2024 @ 2:17am by Hale Stratton & Timothy Reynolds & Carmen Harris & Myles Harris & Jack Harris

2,260 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Settling In
Location: Blaine Homestead
Timeline: September 16, 2010 - 8:15 a.m.

After the hellos and the welcomes, Molly, who had been setting out breakfast for Noah and the kids, started a second round for Hale and Timothy. Their cabin, an open floor plan with a fireplace on one end and a wood stove on the other was a warm and inviting place filled with memories and hand-crafted items mixed in with antiques and practical gear. Before long, bacon was frying in the pan and scrambled eggs were cooking; and while that was going, Molly poured coffee for them both. "Now sit yourselves down," she said. "There's milk if you need it. No sugar, I'm afraid but there's honey. The bees are being very cooperative."

Hale accepted the cup of coffee and sat down at one end of the table. "Thanks," he said on a long sigh. "You don't know how much I needed this."

"Oh, I can guess," Molly said. "You pretty much mainline the stuff as I recall."

Hale grunted noncommittally, his gaze returning to the bacon. Along with his work on the teams, he'd been training for years now in extreme running and even starting to place in the events he'd been in. All of that combined lent him a lean, hard-muscled physique and a powerful need for protein that hadn't been met of late. Combined with everything he'd taken on in terms of responsibility and the state of the world, it felt good, better than good, to just sit at a table for a change.

As Tim took the mug of coffee, he nodded his thanks. "Thank you, Ma'am. This is much appreciated. As is the food. It all smells delicious, by the way. Hale has been telling me about the both of you, and it seems that you two are his closest friends, outside of the Teams. I want to thank you for looking out for him." He glanced at Hale, then leaned in to whisper conspiratorially to Molly. "We've been trying to get him to find someone to settle down with, start a family, but, he's stubborn as all get out."

"Not sure we're the closest," Molly said as she glanced over to Hale, "but we try. But I know what you mean. Never had much interest in settling down." She laughed as she started lifting bacon out of the frying pan. "Says he's afraid of babies."

Timothy chuckled softly and nodded. "Yup, he's said the same thing to me." He shook his head, a bemused smile on his face. "Speaking for myself, I can't imagine my life without my wife and our son in it."

Molly nodded as she added a second round of bacon to the pan. "We raised our Julie here, buried her younger brother ... stillborn ... back in the trees. People couldn't imagine the life we chose but thing was, we couldn't imagine living any other way. Let him be," she advised. "He'll come to it or he won't. Best you can do is hope and be there for him." She paused a beat, then continued. "You know, you should bring your wife and son over some time. I"d love to meet them both."

Timothy nodded as he listened, first a look of sadness on his face when he heard of her lost child, then smiled when he realized that she was right about Hale. He was glad that his friend had such good friends here too. When Molly mentioned his wife and son, Timothy smiled anew. "That sounds like a great idea. I'll talk to her about after we get back to our little compound."

Molly nodded and returned to the task of setting up breakfast for everyone. Late in the day by the standards that she and Noah set for themselves but they'd adjusted, giving the grandkids time to adapt.

Carmen came down the stairs from the upper floor where the kids had their room. She was dressed and was pulling her hair into a pony tail, as she had the brim of a baseball cap clenched between her teeth. “Gran? Can I help,” she asked before skidding to a stop in her sneakers at the sight of the two strangers in front of her.

"It's alright," Noah said as he caught sight of Carmen. "This is Hale, he has the place next to ours, and his friend, Tim. They just arrived."

Timothy turned his head ad gave the young girl a friendly grin and head nod. "Morning, Young Lady. It's a pleasure to meet you."'

Carmen gave a shy nod "Morning" she said and headed to stand beside her grandmother.

As their sister spoke, Miles and Jack came downstairs as well. While Miles went straight to his grandmother and wrapped his arms around her waist in a hug, Jack paused, seeing the two strange men. One of them looked a little family, but he couldn't remember if he had ever learned his name. "Everything okay, Grampy?" Though he knew that his grandfather was one of the strongest men he knew, Jack was still feeling the rush of teenaged hormones pumping in his veins, causing him to feel more protective of those he cared about.

"Everything's fine," Noah said. "Hale's an old friend and this here is Tim, his friend. Now c'mon. Let's get the table set. Morning's half gone and we haven't had breakfast yet."

"Yes, Sir," Jack replied respectfully as he got busy helping his grandmother get things going.

As his brother started getting dishes down, Miles looked up at his grandmother and asked, a bright smile on his face, "Can I help you cook, Granny?"

"Of course you can, Miles," Molly said. "Think you can mix up these eggs like I showed you? We'll make scrambled eggs for everyone."

"Yes, Ma'am!" The young boy replied happily and respectfully, as he moved to get up on the stool, next to his grandmother, and started to help her as best he could, following her directions to the letter.

Timothy watched the three children, a soft grin on his face, one that only a father can make. He then leaned towards Noah, and quietly asked, "Their parents?"

Noah's expression shuttered, the way you did when you were keeping your grief from the young ones, and his voice dropped. "They haven't said much but I know our Julie wouldn't have left them alone unless something happened to her. Kids drove here all by themselves."

A look of parental sadness crossed Timothy's face. He would be absolutely destroyed, if something happened to his son. "Where was their home?"

"Bangor," Noah said quietly. "We didn't get to see them as much as we'd like." Regret weighted down his words as the thought curled around his heart that he might never get the chance now.

Now Timothy's eyes grew large in amazement. "They drove all that way, by themselves?!" He looked over at the trio of children, the oldest was clearly in his early to mid teens. He shook his head slightly as he added, "My compliments on your family. They are clearly built with both determination and grit that any member on the Teams strives for. They are very exceptional children!"

"Not how I would have wanted it to go," Noah said, "but I'm glad they made it here in one piece. Been difficult for them."

Timothy nodded silently. Though they had made a similar trip, theirs had been a group of adults. He was very impressed that three children had made a similar trip, all on their own.

Carmen was busying herself feeding the dogs, Daisy having joined her grandfather's dogs at the bowls. She then let them out to go run.

She kept herself calm. Two new people... neighbor as her Grandfather said. How many others would be lurking around?

Before long, food appeared on the table - scrambled eggs, crisp bacon, and toasted bread with two mason jars filled with home-made preserves. Molly poured coffee for the adults and milk for the children, making sure everyone had food before she found her own seat near Noah.

Timothy looked over the impressive spread, and savored the mouthwatering aromas for a couple beats, before speaking. "Mister and Missus Blaine, thank you for inviting me to join your table. Everything looks and smells delicious!"

Jack sat across from the two men, with Miles to his right, Carmen was on the right side of the table, by herself, and his grandparents were on the left side of the table. He didn't say much, as he was still trying to get a feel for the two men.

Miles, however, was very outgoing. "Are you soldiers, like Grampy was?"

"Army," Hale said at once. "While Grampy sat in that nice, clean cockpit, we were the ones on the ground." You couldn't miss the reticence of the other two kids and wondered if it was the times or just him. After all, his early experiences with the teens, Rene in particular, had been less than cordial. "Still am. Same as Tim here. Between the two of us, we never could resist a mud puddle."

Timothy nodded and smiled a friendly grin at the youngest of the children.

Noah snorted, lips twitched with suppressed laughter, as he poured himself a cup of coffee. Finding friends alive, not being so cut off, was worth celebrating and he meant to take advantage of the food and most especially, the coffee. There'd be time later to discuss what needed to be done and all. From the looks Molly was giving him, he'd be visiting Hale's place very soon to check their situation out for himself.

Carmen picked at her breakfast, not really wanting to eat. She and her brothers had spent days at heightened alert and now she found she had no appetite. "Are there more of you," she asked without looking at the newcomers.

"Yes," Hale answered. Unlike her, he turned his gaze toward her; looking folks directly in the eye had always been his way. "There's a fair number of us though honestly I have no idea what the actual count is."

Jack moved next to his sister and gently rubbed her back. While he knew they were safe here, he still felt protective over both his siblings. "Are there any children with your group, Sir?"

"A toddler and a few teenagers," Hale said. "Ranging from 15-17, I think. You're welcome to come over and meet them any time you like."

Carmen looked up slowly and looked at her brother. She would follow his lead for now.

Daisy, bored with the other dogs for a bit began to sniff around the two men.

Timothy reached out his hand to the Golden Retriever, to allow her to sniff him.

Jack glanced first at his siblings, then to his grandparents. "Would it be okay?" He asked them both.

"Sure thing," Noah said after sharing a glance with his wife, "soon as they're settled a bit. Go over now and you're likely to find a hammer in your hands."

Hale laughed. "Very true. We're going to get started on the first cabin as soon as possible."

Carmen considered the words being spoken. "On your way here... did anyone attack your group?" She asked curiously.

Timothy looked over at the young girl and replied softly. "We did encounter a large group of the undead, when we stopped at a small gun store for weapons and ammo. We've seen more along the way, but, managed to avoid them." He paused a beat, then asked, "Were you kids attacked?"

Carmen shook her head. "No, not exactly. There was a lady who thought we were someone else. I think she was ill, and then later on there was a truck. We avoided main roads where we could, but when we found a place to get supplies, there was a semi trailer truck.." she looked at Jack. "They followed us from a service Station area."

Timothy looked up at Noah and Hale, a concerned look on his face. He then looked back at Carmen. "Do you mean, they just drove the same road as you three were on? Or did they deliberately come after you?"

"Coming after us. They were turning off until they saw our car." Carmen replied. "We managed to loose them by going on a covered bridge that they could not follow us on."

"But did they pick up your trail again," Hale asked, sharing a glance with Tim. "Maybe hanging back so you wouldn't spot them?"

Jack spoke up now. "I don't think so, Sir." He paused a beat, then continued. "After we lost them, at the bridge, we kept driving away, finally ending up at a campground, where we spent the night." He shook his head as he added, "We haven't seen them since."

Carmen spoke up. "We drove out of the way to keep it up. No one followed us." She assured him. "And if they had, we would know by now."

Hale nodded. "That's good," he said. "That's good." By privately, he remained concerned and he would let T.J. know to be on the look out for anyone snooping around the camp.

They finished eating and Molly put together some things to take back to their camp -- bacon, eggs, a loaf of bread and some fruit from her last round of canning. She packed it all up and passed it over to Tim, waiving off his thanks, as she went back to work.

And then it was time to go. Time to get back to their own homestead and all the work still needing to be done.

 

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