Last time on Lovin' in the Apocalypse!
Tom feels guilty about his time with Kelsey in the shed but finds Rachel to be open to the idea of letting him play with the young women. However, As they grow comfortable in their new home a looming threat draws closer each day.
Will Tom be able to handle the attention of two strong willed women? Will Bruce find out where our heroes dwell? What does time at home with guard duty feel like? Find out now!
Chapter 7: Guard Duty
Tom stood up and stretched, forcing his body to move. He felt exhausted, the little sleep he managed to get was not nearly enough. Still, he had to get up. The beeping alarm on the wrist watch said so. He groaned quietly as he fumbled for his clothes and got dressed. His eyes did not want to stay open and his jaw was starting to ache from back to back yawns. 2am was a hateful part of any clock and deserved to be abolished. Perhaps he could get the lawmakers in New Washington to look into it.
Cameron was not exaggerating, they got the pick of the worst time slots for guard duty. There was only one spot left for this rotation and after losing a game of rock paper scissors, Tom wrote his name in the 2am to 6am box. Presently, he glared down at Rachel who looked so peaceful under the blanket. It felt like she was rubbing it in.
Tom dragged himself down to the front gate to start his post. He saw a group of people huddled together and talking. He could also smell delicious coffee and moved a little quicker to join the group.
"Hey! You're Tom, right?" A young man with freckles and short red hair asked as Tom approached.
"Yeah, that's me." Tom shook the man's hand.
"Glad to have you. I'm Wesley, that's Leigh and the sneaky one is Emmanuel." Leigh was a middle aged woman with her brown hair in a tight bun and a stern look on her face. Emmanuel was hard to read. He looked older but with his jacket hood up and chin down, it was hard to tell.
"So the way this works is simple. We have 4 walls, 4 corners, 4 people." Wesley was an expressive talker, pointing at each thing he spoke of. "We each post up at a corner. I set a 15 minute timer and when that's up, I radio to move. That's when we'll all rotate clockwise to the next corner. Then, when everyone has radioed back with an 'all clear,' I'll start the timer again. It keeps us rotating and alert, you won't be watching the same spot all night."
"I like it, sounds pretty effective actually." Tom took the offered hand held radio.
"It works pretty well. The traps do most of the work but you'll get to pop one every now and then. Glad to see you brought your own bow. The ones on the wall are good but, you know. Handled by everyone."
"Yeah I thought that was the case." Tom patted Ol' Betsy lovingly.
"Oh, there's also a pistol at each station. That's only to be used if something really really bad happens. Other than that, staying awake is the hardest part of the job. You think you got it?"
Tom chuckled, he obviously looked exhausted. "Yeah, I'll just get one of those cups of coffee and I'll be good to go."
Tom climbed up the wall and moved to his assigned corner. Wesley's voice came over the small radio clipped to his shirt. "At station, starting timer now."
The night passed by pretty steadily. The 15 minutes intervals helped segment the time and Tom had no trouble staying awake. At each corner, there was a stool to sit on and a small stack of old magazines and books. Tom did not spend a lot of time sitting, the job and the sights were too new for him. He wanted to get familiar with the surrounding land, just like in his old deer hunting spots. He spent hours memorizing the area until he could instantly spot anything that did not belong. He wanted to use that same practice on this wall. Now that he was awake and a little more energized, Tom kind of liked the quiet job. He checked his watch and saw it was already 4:30am.
"Time." Wesley's voice came over the radio.
Tom rolled his shoulders and made sure the area looked neat before beginning a slow walk. He kept his eyes scanning the tree line as he moved, trying to see little movements or reflections. Tom was approaching the next corner but slowed when he saw the shape of someone sitting on the stool with a jacket hood up. It looks like Emmanuel fell asleep on his stool. Tom understood. Keeping watch was hard work under the best circumstances. He would just nudge the man awake and would not say anything about it. Kelsey slowly spun around to face him with a sultry smile on her beautiful plump lips.
"Hey handsome. How's the new job going?" Kelsey was wearing running shorts that were almost small enough to be underwear. Her thin dreads hung down for a change, framing her cute face. She looked lovely in her youth and eagerness, especially in this setting.
"At station. All clear." Leigh's voice came out of the radio and knocked Tom out of his stupor.
"Oh! Hi Kelsey. What are you doing here?" Tom felt nervous and a little excited.
"I couldn't sleep. Had too much on my mind." She winked an almond eye at him. "I saw your name on the list earlier today and thought I'd stop by."
"At station. All clear." Emmanuel's voice spoke up.
"Is that right?" Tom was a little afraid to approach her.