*WARNING*
This Chapter may contain scenes that will endanger your supply of Kleenex. You HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Monty woke up early, realizing two things; one, he'd had a wet dream and two, he had a boner and it didn't hurt! He got out of bed and wiped his sheets as best he could and went to take a shower. (I wonder if he expects us to use our precious Kleenex to clean up the mess that Monty made on his sheets?){No, he has his own, trust me you will need all of yours later.} His penis wasn't healed by a long shot, but it was healed enough that it was functioning for the basics, without any pain. Well that was good. He figured another week and he might be able to play with it again. When he was dressed, he went downstairs to see if anyone else was up and about. He found only Mr. Hillgaurd, Patty's father was up. He was sitting in the dinning room, drinking a cup of coffee. Monty did a quick about face, and almost made it out the door, when he heard, "Monty, please come in."
"Yes, sir." Monty felt butterflies in his stomach, it was like when his ex-foster father would call his current foster parents, whoever they happened to be at the time, and he knew that he was going to be booted out again.
Ed watched, as Monty came and sat across the long table from him. "Thank you, Monty. I want you to know how very grateful I am, for the way you treat Patty."
"Huh? You mean you're not mad at me? You don't want to beat the crap out of me?" Monty asked, in total shock.
Ed grinned, "No, Son, not now. I will admit that the thought originally crossed my mind, when I thought you were using her. The other night Alice, ah, Mrs. Gunther and I were talking, though, and she told me a lot about Patty that I hadn't really known, and therefore I hadn't dealt with. Patty has been used and abused, pretty harshly, by her 'stepfather' and since she was taken away when she was just six years old, she has never had any loving contact with a male."
Ed took a sip of coffee and then a deep breath, "I owe you big time, son; you have been just perfect for her. Patrick has told me some things that Patty has said about you, and I must say I am extremely impressed. Although on one level, I can not approve of what you two do together, I do realize that she needs the very things that you are doing for her. You really do care about her, and I'm grateful she has a real friend like you to do them with and for her. Thank you, Monty ever so much. If you ever have any questions, or want another man's advice, I will do my best to help, if I possibly can." Ed held out his hand and Monty reached across the table and they shook hands.
At breakfast, once the family got settled, everyone was discussing where they wanted to have their Christmas tree. One suggestion was to have it in the den, because that was the room where they all got together. Another was to put it in the suite's main room. The foyer was also mentioned, and so was the library. Neal asked if they wanted to do something special at Christmas, like they did at Thanksgiving. The kids all thought that was a great idea. So Neal said they would need a big tree in the dinning room.
When breakfast was over, they had decided to have four trees, the biggest one would be in the banquet room, and another one would go in the den. There would be one fairly large one in the foyer, so people would see it as soon as they entered the house, and there would be a small one in the suite. Tom said he would check into it, and see about the decorations.
Moe followed Daddy Doc into the den. "I'm sorry, Daddy Doc. It doesn't look like they thought to ask you what you wanted."
Leo pulled Moe up on his lap and gave him a big hug, then kissed the boy on the forehead. "It's okay, Moe, I could have just as easily put in my desires at any time, if I had wanted to. It's just that when it comes to decorating for Christmas, I'm afraid that I haven't any experience."
"I don't know what I should do." Moe said, seriously.
"Well, I guess that would depend on what you want to do. Christmas has two aspects to it, the religious one, and the commercial one. Now, I personally believe that Jesus was a great Rabbi and Prophet, but I, as a practicing Jew, believe that the Messiah is yet to come to earth. I'm not sure what the Muslim belief is, on Jesus." Daddy Doc said.
"Me either. You believe he is real?"
"Yes, Son, I do. There seems to be a lot of evidence of that. What he taught, about loving each other, makes a lot of sense, His ideas were sound and fit very well into what I already believe, and it doesn't alter my belief in God one little bit."
"I don't know what to believe anymore." Moe groaned. "The God of Islam is supposed to be the same God you and the Christians believe in, but some of the stuff my father taught me, doesn't make any sense." Moe lamented.
"Well, I for one think you are doing a fine job, trying to figure it out. From what I hear the other boys saying, after Sunday School, you seem to be asking very good thoughtful questions. I certainly hope that you are getting some good answers."
"You know, Daddy Doc, I think I am, actually. Sometimes the teacher looks right at me and says she doesn't know, but she will try to find out. She'll have an answer for me the next week, and tell me where she got the answer in the Bible. I've been reading it a lot and its ideas about God are different than in the Qur'an (Koran). It is still pretty confusing to me too, how ideas change when Jesus comes. I see why Jews circumscribe..."
"Circumcise"
"Oh yeah, circumcise babies, but just because Ishmael was like ten
years old, why do the people of Islam wait till that long. I mean
that hurts, right? So why would a God of love and caring, want you to
do something that will hurt you real bad, and make you suffer, when you
are old enough to know it? At least you Jews do it to babies who don't
remember, and the Christians don't care very much, if it has been done
or not."
"Wow, Moe, You really have been giving this a lot of thought. I am very proud of you. I'd never thought of it that way. You know you are an amazing kid." Daddy Doc told him.
"Hey, Daddy Doc, tell me some more about this Chanukah."
They talked until 'Philip' signaled to them that there was a vehicle approaching. Daddy Doc told Moe to go on up to the suite, and find the others. He went in search of the other adults.
Jim and Leo passed on the stairs, "I'll get them," Leo said.
"Thank you, Doc. I'll take our guests to the library." Jim hurried on to the front door, just as the bell rang. He fought back the urge to do a 'Lurch', "You rang, sir." as he opened the door.
Nick Regnad and another man whom Jim didn't know were standing there. They were both quite dirty, and they smelled quite heavily of smoke. Nick said, "Hi Jim. This is Lt. John Brown; he's from the fire department, Arson Investigation."
"Nice to meet you, sir. Please come in," Jim led the two men to the library, "Please, gentlemen, make yourselves comfortable; Mr. Richards will be with you shortly. Come along children, there will be no eavesdropping, out, Out, OUT." Neal, Todd, Adam, Monty and Patty materialized from behind the shelves. Monty was still walking just a little bit funny, and Patty was right there with him, helping him along. As they left, Neal asked Todd, "How did he know we were there? Is 'Philip' squealing on us?"
Out in the hall, an indignant 'Philip' replied, 'Certainly not. I was young once too, you know. Remember, I was the one that put a stop to the eavesdropping on you kids, by your father.'
"He was what!?" Neal demanded.
'Oops. Never mind.'
Back in the library, Lt. Brown asked, "What's wrong with the boy?"
"Oh, nothing another week or so won't cure. He hurt himself, having a good time, last Saturday, on his birthday." Jim informed them, then he left.
"Wow, last Saturday was Travis's birthday too," Nick remarked, sadly, taking a deep breath, and fighting to keep his composure.
It wasn't very long, before Tom and Leo entered the room, Tom went right up to Nick, and shook his hand. "Good morning, Nick. I take it this isn't about Patty."
"Oh God, Tom, you don't know how much I wish it were. This is Lt. John Brown, he's an arson investigator." Nick said.
Leo, suddenly worried, stepped forward, "Is this about Mitch and Travis? Those two little guys are so very special."
Lt. Brown sighed, "Were. I'm sorry, to have to tell you, but there was a devastatingly huge fire, at their house, and no one could have possibly gotten out of there. The fire was so hot that the whole place was burned to the ground."
Nick reached out to support Leo, "Dr. Turnman, here, Doc, sit down."
"Oh, my God!" Leo gasped, and buried his face in his hands, as he began to cry.
"This is quite a shock." Tom said. "Leo, is the boys' doctor, and he takes his patients very seriously."
"I see that." Lt. Brown said. "Excuse me, Mr. Richards; We were wondering if you, by chance, have any jet fuel at your little air strip?"
Tom answered honestly, "I'm terribly sorry, but, I really don't know." He went over to a computer terminal, and typed in the request to 'Philip'. Promptly, a list of the fuel type, amount, and when it was last replenished appeared on the large plasma screen. There didn't appear to be any jet fuel there. "I'm sorry, Lt. Brown, but we don't have any Jet Fuel, at this time, but if you need it, I can have some delivered in a matter of hours, for you."
"That's okay, don't bother." The Lt. said.
Just then, Nick's cell phone rang. "Hi Linda, where are you. Really? I'm there now. I need to talk to you as soon as you can get here. There is something very important that I need to tell you."
Tom asked, "Linda Thompson?"
"Yes, she and Lee Harris are very good friends, ah, damn, were." Nick said.
Leo, having recovered sufficiently from the shock, asked, "Are you absolutely sure? Is there any chance?"
Lt. Brown said, "I'm sorry, Doctor, but the doors were barred, so no one could possibly get out. Whoever set the fire wanted whoever was inside to die in the fire. We haven't even been able to search the site yet, it is still too hot. I doubt we'll find much in the way of remains, however. It was an extremely hot blaze, and fire units didn't arrive until things were pretty well over."
"Somehow, I just can't believe those little guys are gone. They fought so hard through their burns and pain from before. Couldn't they have gone out a window?"
"There was no sign of any survivors. Mr. Regnad looked very carefully." Lt. Brown said.
They heard the door open and close, and then Linda entered the room. She looked around at who was there, "Nick, what's happened?"
Nick approached her, "Linda, bad news."
"Nick, you're really scaring me."
"There was a fire at Lee's..."
"After they left?" she asked, hopefully.
"There were two vehicles in the garage." Nick told her.
"No, it can't be. I would know if anything had happened to the lughead. Hell, I knew when he was hit by the damned drunk driver in Alabama." She took out her cell phone, and then her face fell, "Straight to voice-mail."
Nick took out his satellite phone and dialed a number, "It's ringing! Two, three, four, damn, voice-mail. I gave Martha one of my satellite phones, since she didn't have a cell phone."
Lt. Brown had perked up, "Wouldn't it have gone straight to voice-mail if it had been destroyed?"
Nick shook his head, "I don't know. It might have been searching for it. I just don't know."
Lt. Brown took out his cell phone and tried Dukman again, straight to voice-mail. "That, jerkwad Dukman, must have turned his phone off. Great, the grandstanding Bozo misses his bus when 'his' case goes sky high."
Tom checked his watch, "How about you two joining us for lunch; Linda please stay with us until we know more. Patty's report can wait if you don't feel up to it."
"Thank you, Tom. I'll see, after lunch. I still can't believe this. I'm just so sure that I would know if something happened to Lee, I just know I would."
At lunch, Tom got everyone's attention and told them the news. All the boys knew who these people were from the party Thursday night. Neal and Brian had tears in their eyes. Brian finally had to leave, and Neal followed him. Tom stopped, Patrick and Moe from following as well. "We need to give them some time," he told the boys.
Tom turned to the adults, "Brian knew one of the twins from Juvy, and just found out he was alive, at Scouts the other night; now this." Tom sighed, "Give Neal some time with him."
The rest of the meal was a pretty grim affair. After finishing up the meal, Nick and Lt. Brown headed back to the fire scene. (But that is another story that we seem to be getting into.)
Tom found Neal and Brian in Brian's room. Neal was sitting on the bed and Brian was curled into a ball with his head in Neal's lap. Brian's soft sobs were barely audible.
"He's calmed down some now. I'm really worried about him, Dad." Neal said quietly to Tom.
Tom sat on the bed, and gently placed a hand on Brian's back and rubbed him soothingly. "It's going to be okay, Brian. We will all get through this. It says a lot about you and your heart, and the love that you have for Travis, that this is affecting you so deeply."
Brian turned his head enough so he could see his Dad. "Travis deserved a good life. He had been through so awful much, even more than Neal and me."
Tom thought for a few seconds then said, "Well, son, think about this; he sure seemed happy Thursday night."
Brian sat up, "Oh, yeah. He found his twin brother, how weird was that? And his new Dad loved him so much, you could see it in their eyes, and there was Andy, too. Yeah he sure was happy."
"Well, isn't that important to know? He had found a loving family just like you and Neal have. If he had to go, at least he got to experience the love of a real family and true happiness." Tom said.
"Thanks, Dad. Yeah, I guess that is what's important. I just wish we had some time together. I guess that is kind of selfish, of me, huh?" Brian said.
Tom hugged Brian, "No, son, that's love. We always want more time with those we love."
Tom spent quite some time, just holding Brian and Neal, then he went with them to raid the kitchen, when they realized that they were getting very hungry.
Meanwhile, Linda had tracked down Patty in Monty's room. She wasn't real surprised, she had heard about his birthday 'celebration'.
"Patty, I need to talk to you. Private might be better, but here would be okay, if you don't mind Monty hearing." Linda began.
"Do you want Aunt Alice or Mr. Hillguard here?" Patty asked.
"No, they are actually the people that we need to talk about." Linda smiled.
Monty said, "Its okay, Mrs. Thompson, Patty has been talking about that to me since she found out."
"Patty, can you tell me how you feel about things, now?" Linda asked.
"Confused, mostly. I mean I always thought these really bad things about my real father, then Mr. Hillguard shows up and I see how hard he is searching for his missing daughter. I really wished my father was like that. Then suddenly I find out that he is my real father. I mean I have hated him for so long; and now I want to love him, and...well, it's so confusing. Aunt Alice is so wonderful; I really have started to think of her as my Mom. She really was great with Monty and me. She explained stuff to us, and it made sense, even if I didn't like it, I do see why. Mrs. Thompson, I love her, and I don't want to loose her." Patty broke down, and fell into Linda's arms.
Monty came over and put his arms around Patty too. When she had recovered, they all dried their eyes.
Linda said, "Okay, Mr. Hillguard, who is really your father, and so now would have complete custody, has made a proposal." Both kids were watching her very closely. "He has asked that there be joint custody set up between Mrs. Gunther and himself. Since he is not planning any more moves, and Mrs. Gunther isn't either...well, I don't see any problem. If you don't have a problem either, I'll have Mr. Clemets get the paperwork done, and signed by the judge."
Linda was enveloped in a huge hug, "That would be perfect. Oh, prayers do get answered..." Now there were copious tears of joy flowing freely from everyone in the room.
Linda decided to stay for dinner and to spend the night. She knew being around the kids would help keep her mind from dwelling on the fire and the loss of Lee.
After dinner, Ed and Alice asked their kids to meet with them up in Alice's suite. The rest of the kids went to the den with Tom and Daddy Doc, to watch a movie. Neal went to his room first, to get into some sweat pants. He was going to need new clothes soon, he was growing. As he was leaving, 'Philip' said, 'Neal, I think I need your help.'
Neal looked around and didn't see a screen, so he went into the common room. 'Philip' popped on the big screen. He motioned Neal closer.
'I'm worried about Jimmy. He has been spending a lot of time by himself lately. Right now, he is sitting in his room and crying. I'm sorry to say that I don't know why.'
"How come you are telling me, 'Philip'? Shouldn't you tell Dad or Daddy Doc?"
'That's kind of why I am talking to you now; it is something that I don't know. Some things the adults can handle just fine, but you guys won't talk about some things to them, either because you don't feel comfortable or you think they wouldn't understand. It seems that things like that, you might talk to each other about. You are the leader, after all, and you are the one all the others trust, and they will be a lot more likely to talk to you. I actually feel more comfortable talking to you then I do some of them, myself.'
"Jeez, okay, if you think I can help him, I'll go talk to him and see what's up." Neal turned and went to Jimmy's room. The door was closed. Neal hated to disturb someone whose door was closed especially after that morning he had found Monty, already up, but he could hear the sobbing coming from the other side of Jimmy's door. Neal knocked on the door.
"Go away."
"Jimmy, It's me, can I come in."
"Neeeaaaaaalllllll, what do you want?"
"I'd like to know what's going on."
Jimmy opened the door and was wiping at his eyes. "Nothing you can do anything about."
Neal walked in and flopped down in the chair. "Come on Jimmy; tell me, I can't do anything about what?"
Jimmy sat on his bed and just looked at Neal. Neal looked back and waited. Finally Jimmy began, "You know what I was doing when you and Dad found me."
Neal nodded.
"Well, at first, I let the men do stuff cause I needed the money, to eat. Well, after awhile, I liked some of the stuff and liked doing it. And, well, I need some of it, now. I mean like sucking big cocks, and having the sperm shot into my mouth. I like the power it gives me, and I like giving the pleasure. And... I really miss...you're going to think this is so bad of me..."
Neal moved over next to Jimmy and hugged him. "You miss being fucked don't you?"
Jimmy nodded, and started to cry. "That's like really sick isn't it?"
"Why?" Neal asked.
"Don't be dense, Neal. It's sick to want someone stick it up your ass." Jimmy cried.
"Ah, well...if you like it, why would that be sick?" Neal asked.
"Neeeaaaaallllllll."
"No really, Jimmy, I like having mine sucked, and I kinda like sucking too. So what's so bad about that? If you like it, then it ain't sick for you, it's just what you like." Neal said.
"You don't think I'm...like...sick?" Jimmy looked at Neal, hopefully.
"Sick? No. Goofy lookin' maybe, and weird, YES! But not sick!" Neal tickle attacked his friend, and they wrestled around on the bed until Jimmy had Neal pinned.
"Thanks Bro. I really needed that. I just wish I had somebody who could do it with me. It was so cool having Matt around, last summer. He understood, too."
Neal thought for a few moments then said, "Maybe we could get him to come for a sleepover or something, over Christmas, or maybe for New Years. His parents are thinking about the Home School, you know."
"You think he would?" Jimmy asked.
Neal grinned, "Jimmy, he loved being here and especially being with you. We all knew that. Hell, you could see it in his eyes every time he looked at you."
"Wow. I'll ask Dad and see what we can set up." Jimmy was grinning from ear to ear.
"Come on, Bro, let's go down and join the rest, I think Dad was going to play 'Dark Crystal'." Neal said, he gave Jimmy another hug and a kiss.
"Oh, yeah, that is so kewl. Muppets doing such a serious movie. I was kind of scared, the first time we watched it."
"Yeah, me too. We'd better go help David."
The two boys raced each other to the den, and the DVD was just getting started. Alice, Ed and their kids came in about five minutes later, so Tom restarted the movie.
Linda enjoyed the story of good and evil, and so did all the kids. Just as the shard had healed the Dark Crystal, Linda's cell phone rang. She glanced at the called ID then answered before the second ring. "Yes, Nick, What's up?"
"Hi Linda. We just made an arrest, that Dr. Dummesel. He used to run one of those fertility clinics, that's where the twins were conceived. Why he wanted to destroy them, I haven't figured out yet, but he did. He is the one that did it." Nick told her.
"Are you alright, Nick?"
"No, not by a long shot, I'm not. It's going to take a long time."
"I know, but the weird thing is that I don't feel like it's real. I don't feel like he's gone. It's like the time he hid in the bomb shelter when we were kids, playing hide and seek. I felt him but I couldn't find him."
"Whoa, Linda, back up. Bomb Shelter? Where?"
"Oh, Nick! Why didn't I think of that before? There is an old bomb shelter under the house that you access from the cellar. I'll meet you there." Linda refocused in the room; every pair of eyes was focused on her.
"There is an old bomb shelter there where they could have gotten to. They might be safe. To say all hell broke loose would be putting it mildly. Brian was yelling and jumping up and down. Neal was demanding to go to and help dig them out.
Tom finally got things quiet. "Okay guys, let's get this organized. We need to take it one step at a time. Linda, you go ahead and we'll follow. Oh, give Doc the directions first, would you please? Now, we can't all go. We will be digging through some pretty messy stuff. For now, I think we'll just take the bigger guys, Monty, do you feel well enough that you can handle this?"
"Daaaadddddd, I ain't usin' it to dig with." Monty said.
Neal cringed, and covered his face, "Ewwww!!!!! That is a picture that I really didn't need floating around in my head. That is so sick. Why do I love the concept?"
"Okay, I don't think I want to think about that either," said Tom.
"Todd, Neal and Jimmy, I need you three with us, for sure. Brian, I think you had better stay here, and get a couple of rooms ready for them. If they are there, they will be tired and dirty when we get them out."
"But, Dad, I want to be there." Brian protested.
Neal said, "Brian, you really shouldn't go. If they aren't there, or worse, well, it will just be better if you are here."
Adam spoke up, "I'll go too."
Daddy Doc said, "I don't think so Adam. Under most circumstances, I think you can do just about everything that anyone else can do, but we are not dealing with the ordinary things here. There are way too many dangers, including broken glass, unstable surfaces, and the real danger of getting burned from some debris that is still very hot, and then there is the fact that smoke and dust will play havoc with your contacts. I think that this time, you need to stay here and help Brian and keep an eye on David."
Moe said, "I think I better stay here too. I would like to go too, but I think I'm too small."
Patty said, "Pat and I are going. I wouldn't feel right if I didn't go, and neither would Pat." There was no argument there.
"Okay, those going to the fire scene, go change into some old warm clothes; they will probably need to be thrown away after this. You will never be able to get the smell of smoke out of them. Get your gloves from Scouts too. Those who are staying here, lets go get some tools that we can use. Everybody meet out at the van, and we'll be off. Five minutes later, the van was headed down the driveway. Brian and Adam were still not happy at being left behind.
"I hate it when people do things that are 'for your own good' Don't you?" Adam complained to Brian.
"Yeah I do too. Sometimes, I wonder if I will ever be big enough to make a decision and have people let me do what I decide." Brian answered.
When the Haven crew arrived, shortly after Linda, at the site they all piled out. Since it was dark, they had brought the propane lanterns that they had used when they went camping, and lots of tools, for digging and bow saws for cutting through wood. Tom had found a couple of crow bars in the barn.
"Linda," Nick demanded, "Come on, where do we dig?"
Linda stood there for a minute, and thought. "It's been so long. I'm not sure I can remember anymore. I know you had to go into the basement, then, ah, back to the far end of the basement under the bedrooms. I think the shelter went even farther back than the house itself. It was huge. It was big enough for everyone in the family and then some. Lee's Grandfather was one of those guys that built a fallout shelter, figuring it might take a long time before it was safe to come out after the bomb hit. He had it full to bursting with non perishable foods. It has been years. I bet there isn't a thing down there that would be safe to eat any more. Sorry I got carried away there. Let me think; There was a steel door that opened into the tunnel that went to the shelter." There was no sign of the door.
"Where along the wall was it?" Nick asked, in an anxious voice.
"Nick, I'm really sorry, I just can't seem to put my finger on it yet; let me think. It has been so long. I remember it being in the corner of a room, to the right. So either over there or about in the center. The boys set up the lanterns and divided into two crews and started digging.
Neal, Todd and Jimmy were in the center. Monty, Patty and Patrick were in the corner. They began by throwing the smaller pieces of debris out of the way and then they finally came to something metal. They cleared more stuff, and found a metal chest with a padlock on it. It was really heavy. It took all six kids to get it out, and carry it over to the side. They were working pretty hard. They were not uncovering any doors yet, but they were amazed at the amount of stuff that was here, and not destroyed. They asked Tom about that, and he explained that the heat of the fire rises and so it wasn't as hot in the basement. It looked like most of this stuff down there was in metal storage trunks that would have protected it, too.
Lt. Brown arrived, and checked out what they were doing. Finally he drew Nick aside. "There had to be some ventilation, we need to find it."
"Of course, they would need fresh air, wouldn't they?" Nick said, stating the obvious.
Lt. Brown returned some time later, "We found the vent, and it was blocked. We cleared it, but the air that came out of it was pretty foul. I'm calling for an air pump. If they are in there, they need fresh air real bad.
It wasn't very long until red flashing lights were approaching. They got the pump working, rather quickly, putting clean breathable air into the shelter. Nick, and three other men, went to give the boys a break. They hadn't found the door yet.
Tom told the kids to go get in the van and try to catch a little sleep. He promised to come wake them as soon as they found anything.
Nick decided to try the other corner, since Linda wasn't very sure where it was. He hadn't dug very far when the top half of the door was uncovered. Now, there really was a frenzy as the rubble was moved. The men went back to the truck and returned gingerly juggling a chainsaw, and 'The Jaws Of Life.' It seemed to Nick that it took almost forever to get the damned door cleared. Once it was, he pulled, with every ounce of strength he had, and nothing happened, amazingly, he pulled harder, it still didn't budge.
The other men joined in. The seal on the air tight door had evidently melted making it impossible to open. The seal had actually acted like a tough glue. 'The Jaws Of Life' strained and managed to pull the handle off the door.
"Well that was useful." Nick said, as he held the handle for a bit, before putting it down.
That was the last straw for Nick, and he broke down, saying Martha's name over and over. One of the firemen got a fire ax and began breaking away the concrete block frame, surrounding the door; it was going to be a slow process. Linda and Tom got Nick out of the hole, and over to where Leo had set up a first aid station, to handle any survivors. He gave Nick a couple of ibuprofen tablets, and had him lie down. Nick eventually gave up the fight, and actually slept for a while. Just after dawn, there was a shout and one fireman came up to tell them they finally got the door out of the way.
Nick shot up like a rocket blast, and ran to the hole. The kids, who had gone into the van and slept, came out blurry eyed and still covered in soot. Tom had them stand back and give the others room. The firemen put on masks and air tanks before following Nick inside the shelter. It wasn't long before they reemerged empty handed. No one was in there, no one at all.
Neal sat down on the ground right where he was, and sobbed. "I'm glad Brian isn't here." he blubbered. The others tried to comfort him as best they could.
Nick stood there, in a daze, as he watched the sunrise. Just a couple days ago Martha was cooking a breakfast for 'her boys' and now she was gone.
His satellite phone rang. He looked at it. No one had that number. 'No I don't need to refinance my fricking house,' he thought, as he lifted it and answered, "Nick Regnad, Private Investigations."
Authors Note:
Now this is interesting. If you are reading my other story
"FIRE" you may well recognize some of this chapter. Oddly enough, the
next several chapters of both stories will be closely related, and
maybe some characters too, but that's another story and we will get to
that later. If you haven't been reading FIRE, then Haven2 will,
hopefully, be able to stand on its own.
Poor Brian, he's not going to take this news very well at all, is he?
I want to extend a special thanks to Hal, for his idea to have a
bomb shelter under the house. Somehow, though, I don't think he
meant it to be used quite like I did but...
Let me know what you're thinking str8mayb@paddedroom.us
Editor's note:
I am sure that str8mayb is in fact one of those EVIL AUTHORS. We did actually learn some more about the people living at Haven, in this chapter. I had to be careful not to change the wording on certain things in here to make sure it didn't say something different from what was said in 'Fire' This is really an important chapter. There are some clues as to what will happen in future chapters. I hope everyone had their Kleenex in easy reach. We did warn you at the beginning, so don't blame us if you didn't have enough.
Darryl
AKA The Radio Rancher
Fort Chief Editor's Notes:
Okay can we say CROSSOVER here I think it is cool that these two stories are Crossing Over with each other. CROSSING OVER does not mean merging; these two stories will remain separate entities occasionally sharing characters and events. Hmmm Neal shows again that he is a caring and loving person.
Too bad his author is EVIL!!!!