radio. “Well,” he said after a moment, “you should probably be in charge of the thing, then.”
“It’s yours though.”
Ernst shook his head. “Ours.”
The younger man looked into his coffee for a long minute before looking up at Terrence. “I built this place for a lot of people. Not that I knew a lot of people, but I wanted a lot of people to be able to be safe. I’m not a commie or anything, but there are very, very few things here that I will actually say are mine and mine alone. When that time comes though, I will speak up.”
Terrence set his coffee down, looked at Ernst and asked softly, “What happened to you, son?”
Ernst gave a sad smile. “Death, of course, and long before this.”
“You loved her a lot?”
“Too much, it would seem,” Ernst answered. He stared into his coffee. “But things move on, don’t they.”
Terrence knew that it wasn’t a question, but he nodded anyway. “So,” he said, “this place is ours?”
“Anyone who wants to live together,” Ernst said, smiling as he looked up from his coffee. “If they don’t want to live together, then fuck’em.”
Terrence let out a laugh. “You’d a made a good Marine, son. ”
“I will take that as the compliment which it is meant to be, Master Gunner, and I thank you,” Ernst said. “So, you’ll be in charge of the radio?”
“Aye aye.”
“Where do you want it set up?”
“Well,” Terrence said, shifting his position to ease the stiffness in his hips, “I saw a radio antenna on the roof of this building, so if I can get someone to help me wire in, we’ll pick up a better broadcast, even be able to spread out our feelers if you want.”
“If I want?” Ernst grinned.
“If we want,” Terrence laughed.
“I will see if we can’t scrape up a meeting about that later,” Ernst said, finishing his coffee. “Set up an area however you want, though, okay? I need to go find Lee. She said that she was going to be work ing on noise makers and possibly longer spears later on today.”
“Okay, son,” Terrence said, finishing his own. “Give me a refill, will you?”
Ernst nodded. He took Terrence’s mug and poured fresh coffee in.
“Thank you,” Terrence said. He gestured at the Ham radio with his free hand, saying, “I’ll set this up a in a little while, but I need to wrap my head around it a little more.”
Ernst nodded as Michael appeared, w alking comfortably towards Terrence, smiling at both of the men. “I’ll check back soon,” Ernst said, patting Michael on the head as he passed by him.
“Hello Michael,” Terrence said. “Are you ready to practice your English?”
The little boy nodded.
“Good,” Terrence smiled. “Pretty soon you’ll be speaking with everyone here.”
Lee
Lee hit the button on the smoke detector, and a high pitched squeal sounded, pulsing, causing her to wince before she switched it off.
“Damn,” Ernst said suddenly from behind her, “that sounds like it’s going to be effective.”
Lee chuckled and dropped it down beside the .50 cal on the table. She had three others completed. “So,” she said, “tell me again while you needed to stock a thousand smoke detectors?”
“Long term planning,” Ernst grinned, folding his arms over his chest. “And it was actually cheaper to buy them by the thousand.”
“How many do you have?”
“Enough,” Ernst said. “Let’s just leave it at enough.”
“Okay.”
“How do they work?”
“Pretty simply , actually,” Lee said. “You just hit the button, drop it, and run like hell. The dead’ll hom e in on it . We can use them to get away, or lure the dead into a place where we can finish them off.”
“How long will they last?”
“That’s something I don’t know yet. I’m assuming a couple of hours, depending on the batteries, but that’s definitely something that we’ll have to test.”
“Okay,” Ernst nodded,
“It’s yours though.”
Ernst shook his head. “Ours.”
The younger man looked into his coffee for a long minute before looking up at Terrence. “I built this place for a lot of people. Not that I knew a lot of people, but I wanted a lot of people to be able to be safe. I’m not a commie or anything, but there are very, very few things here that I will actually say are mine and mine alone. When that time comes though, I will speak up.”
Terrence set his coffee down, looked at Ernst and asked softly, “What happened to you, son?”
Ernst gave a sad smile. “Death, of course, and long before this.”
“You loved her a lot?”
“Too much, it would seem,” Ernst answered. He stared into his coffee. “But things move on, don’t they.”
Terrence knew that it wasn’t a question, but he nodded anyway. “So,” he said, “this place is ours?”
“Anyone who wants to live together,” Ernst said, smiling as he looked up from his coffee. “If they don’t want to live together, then fuck’em.”
Terrence let out a laugh. “You’d a made a good Marine, son. ”
“I will take that as the compliment which it is meant to be, Master Gunner, and I thank you,” Ernst said. “So, you’ll be in charge of the radio?”
“Aye aye.”
“Where do you want it set up?”
“Well,” Terrence said, shifting his position to ease the stiffness in his hips, “I saw a radio antenna on the roof of this building, so if I can get someone to help me wire in, we’ll pick up a better broadcast, even be able to spread out our feelers if you want.”
“If I want?” Ernst grinned.
“If we want,” Terrence laughed.
“I will see if we can’t scrape up a meeting about that later,” Ernst said, finishing his coffee. “Set up an area however you want, though, okay? I need to go find Lee. She said that she was going to be work ing on noise makers and possibly longer spears later on today.”
“Okay, son,” Terrence said, finishing his own. “Give me a refill, will you?”
Ernst nodded. He took Terrence’s mug and poured fresh coffee in.
“Thank you,” Terrence said. He gestured at the Ham radio with his free hand, saying, “I’ll set this up a in a little while, but I need to wrap my head around it a little more.”
Ernst nodded as Michael appeared, w alking comfortably towards Terrence, smiling at both of the men. “I’ll check back soon,” Ernst said, patting Michael on the head as he passed by him.
“Hello Michael,” Terrence said. “Are you ready to practice your English?”
The little boy nodded.
“Good,” Terrence smiled. “Pretty soon you’ll be speaking with everyone here.”
Lee
Lee hit the button on the smoke detector, and a high pitched squeal sounded, pulsing, causing her to wince before she switched it off.
“Damn,” Ernst said suddenly from behind her, “that sounds like it’s going to be effective.”
Lee chuckled and dropped it down beside the .50 cal on the table. She had three others completed. “So,” she said, “tell me again while you needed to stock a thousand smoke detectors?”
“Long term planning,” Ernst grinned, folding his arms over his chest. “And it was actually cheaper to buy them by the thousand.”
“How many do you have?”
“Enough,” Ernst said. “Let’s just leave it at enough.”
“Okay.”
“How do they work?”
“Pretty simply , actually,” Lee said. “You just hit the button, drop it, and run like hell. The dead’ll hom e in on it . We can use them to get away, or lure the dead into a place where we can finish them off.”
“How long will they last?”
“That’s something I don’t know yet. I’m assuming a couple of hours, depending on the batteries, but that’s definitely something that we’ll have to test.”
“Okay,” Ernst nodded,
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