Cul-De-Sac, page 6
For getting rid of bodies, he needed to call for transport and to have that taken to the crematorium, which was on a nearby Army base. The numbers for that were handwritten, in the physical copy of the book, so he made a point of memorizing them. All the numbers, in case it came up on the test. The practice test at the back of the booklet require knowing that, for any of the questions, but it made sense to know that kind of thing and probably to practice it, each day.
Even if only to keep busy.
He’d gone over the whole book three times before anyone came home for the day. He didn’t know the time, but it wasn’t even close to being dark out, as he walked around the garage, to see that the person using the automatic garage opener was Laura. She waved at him, as she pulled in, and called out, after securing the car.
That was, interestingly enough, a newer model, but a small vehicle. Electric, too. In a soft, metallic green-gray color. It moved quietly enough that he realized what he’d heard wasn’t really the car, as much as the door opener going off.
“Jacob! You were... Working in the back yard?”
He nodded, then hefted the slim tome in his left hand.
“Studying. I should be able to take the official test tomorrow. Biohazard removal.”
She nodded, as if that only made sense for the lawn mower boy to be doing. Which given everything, it really kind of did.
Laura waved at him, with her fingers.
“I picked up some things for burgers tonight. You’re making them. Notice, that wasn’t a question? I’ll walk you through it. Just on the griddle, tonight. We’ll go over barbeque technique later. That, salad and baked fries. Help me unload?”
There were, indeed, some bags in the trunk and back seat. Not a huge amount of them, and they were the cloth kind that you reused, not plastic. Still, the handles were strong, and they did it in one trip, with Laura taking almost all of it at once, herself, leaving only two bags for him. She carried hers in one hand, which, he realized, when it was set down on the bar counter in the kitchen, probably weighed about a hundred pounds.
He ignored that, just figuring out where everything needed to go. As if it was normal for a woman to one hand that much weight.
Then he was waved at.
“Go shower? You’re covered in dust and grass.”
That was a simple truth, so he hurried, carrying the work book up to his room, so he could go over it again and the various phone numbers, before he went to bed. Scrubbing up, he realized that he was going to need to wash his clothing soon. He’d re-worn the same outfit, two days in a row, which was fine, since it was his work clothing, but it was getting a bit ripe, after only two days. That meant starting a small load, using the washing machine in the garage, before he went in to start dinner.
Making the burgers wasn’t hard, though he really was the one doing the work. The buns were prepackaged, but he had to toast them with garlic butter. Also cook some sweet onions with fine strips of green peppers as well. Even the salad ended up with sautéed bits, as well as roasted sunflower seeds. All of which he was responsible for. Mainly, he realized, for the practice of doing it.
They ate at the table again, quietly, for the first half of the meal. It was decent, he had to admit, even if he’d made it. After a while, he nodded.
“We should do ice cream, too. Making it? I don’t know how.”
There was a slow nod.
“Good idea. For the Fourth, next month? We’ll be out at the base for that. If we can get you that kind of clearance, that is. If not... Well, then we’ll probably go to a park for that? Doing it here... That isn’t really a thing.”
Nodding, he went silent again. That stretched out, almost unbearably. This time Laura broke first, half her burger finished before she bothered speaking. Those were a little messy, he noticed. Stuff kept falling out on both of them.
“You’re taking classes?”
The words got him to blink, since he wasn’t, but he got her meaning.
“Yeah. Nothing hard, so far. Just how to handle various kinds of hazardous materials. Gas spills and things like that. Mainly by knowing who to call in, and how to clear an area until the real team can get into place. I heard there were more, so I was planning to do them. At least if they relate to my job.”
That got a smile, which was probably not real, but seemed supportive.
“That works. We aren’t really set up for, you know, real people, here. We both work a lot. It’s the job, but we were both married to that before we met. We can’t have kids, because of the treatments. I can’t. Jim is able to. We had different procedures done, back in the day.”
She went still and silent, practically holding up a red flag to signal that she’d let something drop she wasn’t supposed to. Ignoring that part, Jake nodded.
Trying not to be a little prick, but probably failing.
“Then, without warning, a Jacob appears.” His smile was a bit sad, he thought.
She lit up a bit then.
“Yes. On the good side, you’re easy to get along with and nice. Even the man on the gate mentioned that part, when I came in. Oh, he wanted me to thank you, for hitting his yard yesterday?”
“Brown seven?”
That got a shrug in response.
“Julio? I don’t know where he lives. In one of the sevens, of course. It’s different, everyone going by their first names here. That’s so it seems less like a prison. More like a neighborhood.”
That was nice of them. For the most part, it was even working for him. Not that he’d tried to go anyplace, so far. There was a town, outside the gates. In the distance. It wasn’t large, but it seemed real enough. They apparently had a high school, at least. Some stores and places to eat, as well.
They both finished their food, and he cleaned up, with Laura helping again. Still, she did less, and moved to the other room, to do some reading. What that was, she didn’t mention. It wouldn’t be classified, of course.
Except that, if she was cleared for it, they were in a secured facility, after a fashion. Not one that was at the needed level, but doing things like paperwork, for small matters, might be allowed at home, given that. It could be why she and Jim lived there, even. So, they could have that kind of thing off base, safely enough.
It was in manila folders, and after cleaning up, when he walked into the front room, he noticed that there was a stamp on the outside, in red. That said classified, so, instead of going in to talk to his grandmother, he waved at the pile and took a step back.
“I’ll be upstairs? Reviewing for the test tomorrow.”
She saw what he meant and nodded.
“Good plan. This... Isn’t anything major, but you get the drill.”
After a fashion, he did, so left. The review took him a whopping ten minutes, even going over the numbers he had memorized. Leaving him with nothing to do at all. Instead of sitting in a room, alone, waiting for sleep, he started cleaning. Finally calling out, from the other room.
“Oh, is it safe to vacuum your room and hit the bathroom?” He was mainly concerned about weird sex stuff, but after five minutes, still in his own room, not certain he’d been heard, Laura popped up in the doorway.
“All clear. No classified material has been left out. Clean away.”
So, he did. Their room was nice. It and stuff in it. His room did too, but it was obvious they’d spent time and money on their own space. Which was reassuring, in a way. They had a guest room but hadn’t bought tons of new furnishings suddenly. Jake had been put in there, because it was what had been there, waiting. Meaning, most likely, that the whole house hadn’t been arranged just for him, as a trick, after all.
That, or whoever was doing it was really good.
Still, the bath and shower both needed to be scrubbed, and that took about an hour, because it took more elbow grease than doing his own shower had. They had a tub, as well, which was a separate unit and clearly got used, at least occasionally. The thing was huge, too. With spa jets.
After that, the whole place was vacuumed, which took just long enough for him to not have to lie down while it was still light outside his window. That looked out toward the front, which meant, when he glanced out, he noticed that the neighbor girl, Applegate, was looking at him, from directly across the street, framed in a second story window of her own. Rather obviously. So, he waved, which had her doing that back, smiling.
Then he closed the blinds, since watching him undress for the night probably wouldn’t thrill her at all. The other way around would work for him, of course, but he doubted it was going to come up, given that the women there seemed to be on an opposite schedule to his own.
Plus, while friendly enough, they seemed to be into long dresses and that sort of thing. It could indicate that there was a cultural difference. That or they needed to hide their tails. Dresses and full skirts could work for that, of course.
Jacob thought about the girl, then her mother, for a bit, since they were women and cute. Then he stopped himself from considering Laura like that. He did go over some rather nice fantasies with Calley, however. The woman was a bit older seeming and not that pretty, but she’d bothered to be friendly with him, when her job probably didn’t require that of her.
Not that any of them were getting with the fourteen-year-old loser who cut their grass. Not that doing lawn care meant he was a loser. Just the rest of his life.
Rest didn’t come easily that night. What did were obsessive thoughts. Not about cute neighbor ladies, either. Just burning men and trying to fight them. Failing at it, as well. Even he got the idea, after a while. Jake should have run. He hadn’t, because his mother was being hurt. Screaming in a muffled way, a hand of flame around her throat.
All that fighting had done for him was leave him with scars. Which, except for damaging him, had made no difference at all. Not that running away would have really worked, either. The thing was too fast. It hadn’t moved as much as simply been there, grabbing him by the arm. Letting go almost instantly. Like a jump cut in a movie, showing only a few frames.
Dwelling on the idea wasn’t helping him, but it was a fight to stop doing it. Eventually, out of desperation, he silenced his mind, refusing to think at all. Which meant he fell asleep and got to relive the whole thing in dreams. On the good side, he got up at first light, and while he wasn’t well rested, he didn’t feel sick from lack of sleep or anything. Just sad.
His clothing was still wet, so he put it in the clothes dryer and made breakfast. Eggs, sausage patties, and French toast. That was easier than pancakes, and he liked it better, truth be told. It was a close thing, though. Since he needed the practice, he melted some butter, and warmed up some jam that was in the fridge, to go with it. That was marionberry, which smelled and tasted a lot like blackberry to him. Just as he was arranging it on the plates, trying to be fancy, Laura came down for the day. Dressed, oddly enough, in a military uniform.
He didn’t know what the insignia meant at all, but it was Army. He knew that much. There was shiny metal, so probably an officer rank of some sort.
That, her insignia, got waved at.
“Major?”
“Colonel.” She seemed pleased by the conversation. Then she noticed the food. “Ohh. That looks nice. Thanks. I’ll need to hurry. You have plans for the day? We have an inspection, which means dressing up for it.”
Settling at the table, he went over what he had.
“A test, and I want to hit green and maybe blue, if anyone wants that done. That’s it, so far. It’s probably not going to take all day. Maybe I can get the next booklet?”
She ate for a while, hunched over her plate, but preventing anything from getting on her clothing rather well.
When she spoke, she was more or less done.
“I’ll be late tonight. Probably in at about seven or eight, so get Ken or one of the others to let you in. If they don’t just have keys for you. We can go over making chicken, when I get back?”
That sounded fine to him. Not that he didn’t need to pack a lunch, if she was going to be gone that long. There were no extra burgers from the night before, but, he realized, he could make one up, if he hurried. Laura just left, needing to be on the road early, it seemed, so he cleaned up from the meal, and then made up a lunch, which was fancier than it needed to be, and skipped the salad.
There were baked fries with it, though.
Then, walking, the door locking behind him, carrying his pad, work booklet and pen, along with his lunch in a large Tupperware container, he headed toward the front of the walled compound. To the Guard Shack. This time, instead of Calley being on the front desk, it was someone he didn’t know.
A very large, hard seeming man, who reminded Jake a lot of Jim, to be honest. Like a bodybuilder on steroids, but in the standard guard uniform. Black on black with no hat and a silver badge. He had a gun on his hip, like they all did, of course.
The man didn’t glare at him, but it was close to being that.
“Sorry. Can I help you?” He was almost curt sounding. Confused, it seemed, instead of being a tool.
Jacob nodded.
“Maybe? I need to test on this, or to set that up. Hazardous Waste and Materials Disposal. I’m Jacob Hines.”
There was a nod then, and a relieved look.
“Jake! I got word about you working with us. I’m Mick. Sorry, I didn’t recognize you yet, and was wondering why some kid was standing here. Testing... We can do that, actually. I’m cleared for that. Take a seat at the table over there? You can’t have the book with you for this, or a pad. Black ink for the test. You probably won’t need food. You only get fifteen minutes for the test on this one. Maybe less than that. It’s short.”
That wasn’t a lie. It was still interesting, since his booklet and note pad were confiscated, the booklet put all the way away, and his lunch was moved to the far counter area, at the front. In his line of sight, but too far away to guard if someone started snacking on it. Not that he was fighting Mick for his lunch. The guy was vast, after all.
Then, when the test was slid in front of him, it was only ten questions. The last four being the phone numbers needed for various services. It made him glad that he’d memorized them. Thankfully the last two, for explosive disposal and the one for munitions were the same one, so he’d really only had to learn three.
Mick tapped the stopwatch he was holding, as soon as the paper was handed to him.
“Four minutes. Not bad. Unless you sucked and failed. Then you should have taken longer. Let me see. I have the grading key. One minute.”
The man rushed a bit, but waved for Jacob to stay seated, calling out, after a literal minute behind the counter.
“And... perfect score. Let me log that in and... Sorry, I need to fill out the sheet here. Apparently, you aren’t in the military system yet? We have your other data, so, transfer, and... There you go. First test complete. The next one Calley wants you to do is small engine maintenance. That’s not a bad one. Here, let me get you the book. You can have this one in by tomorrow? Calley should be back. Everyone is over in green right now, since Dolph is having another meltdown.” The man moved to get something from the same cabinet the other booklet had come from the day before, and stood up, coming out to where Jake was seated.
Then he passed the new book, which had a blue and green cover, over. It was a little more substantial than the one from the day before but flipping through it showed that it also had a lot more pictures.
Mick waved at it.
“Most of them are like this. Some basic instructions and then the numbers to call, to have the real work done. We have real courses, too, but you have to do this first set, before you’re allowed to do those. Technically I just signed you up for the Army back there, so, you know, if you ever enlist, you’ll have these logged in under your name. Then, if a war comes along any time soon, guess who’s being activated? That’s right, you.” The man seemed to think that was funny.
Jacob could see that. He was short, skinny and probably more than a bit goofy looking. Shrugging, he bobbed in place a bit, then stood up.
“Oh, should I avoid green, today? I was supposed to look in there. That and blue, if people want lawns mowed. Calley wants her place done.”
The man in front of him looked up and away, then let his hands come out. Just enough to show that he didn’t really know the answer.
“That... Dolph isn’t really dangerous. A good guy, even. He gets sucked into depression, about once a year. It’s what you’d expect, really. He’s a Hitler clone and no one really loves Hitler. He’s not violent about it, but we have to send people in to prop him up. So, you know, if you see him, don’t freak out? He doesn’t wear a little mustache or anything. No one even gets who he is on the street, so it shouldn’t be this much of a problem for him. I mean, he didn’t do anything wrong, you know?”
After a moment, he nodded.
“That sucks. That he feels like that. Just sharing genetics doesn’t mean that much, really. If he’s a good guy, then that’s all that matters.”
That got the man to nod.
“Right. So, do your job, unless told otherwise? If they need to you clear out, then do it, instantly, but if not, keeping things regular is probably the best plan. With Dolph and the other people in green sector, at least. Some of the others need more care, that way. You’re doing blue, too? That’s pretty safe, during the day. Don’t go there at night. That borders grey and gold on the back sides. You’re in peach?”
“Gold.”
The man grimaced then.
“Right, Jim and Laura’s. Good folks. First gen, though, so they’re in a different department than I am. I’ve worked with Jim a few times, in the field, before landing this assignment. Solid leadership there. You’re back in here, after you’re done?”
“Yep. I need to get someone to let me in, at the house, since no one will be there until later. Unless I have a key waiting for me here? There’s a background check, I guess.”
That got a laugh.
“I’m surprised they haven’t had you in for a colonoscopy yet. This place... yeah, you need to be cleared. Probably six different times, really. And... There is, of course, nothing for you back here, today. We’ll get you set up though, so no worries that way.”
