R. Ruggiero - Brushfire Plague

She looked up at him, and patted him on the chest, “Thank you. Thank you.”

Her eyes glistened with her tears. Her face was soft with emotion. Her lips, a deep red, were pressed hard against each other. The setting sun made her hair glow. Suddenly, he could feel every part of his body where hers touched him. He didn’t like what he felt. It wasn’t arousal; it was something deeper than that. It was just like when he’d first met Elena. He swallowed hard, a chill of apprehension running down his spine.

No. I won’t let myself feel that. He put his hands on her shoulders, moved back a step, and broke eye contact with her. His action was abrupt enough that Julianne knew he’d suddenly become uncomfortable, but she didn’t say anything. He stepped around her and grunted, “This way.” She gave him a curious look, but fell in a step behind him, bustling to keep up with his urgent, and longer, strides.

When they arrived at the main intersection, the place was buzzing. About twenty people were clustered in small groups, discussing recent events with animated conversation. Neither Peter nor Freddie had arrived yet, so when the crowd saw Cooper approaching, they streamed toward him. Jake ran to his side at a dead run. He slammed into Cooper and hugged him tightly. Cooper laughed and hugged him back, “I’m OK, son. Everything is fine.”

When he loosened his grip, he directed his attention to Julianne, “Jake, this is Julianne Wheeler.”

“Pleased to meet you, young man,” she offered him her hand. Jake shook it warily and buried his face against his father’s side.

Arthur Stamm, a twenty-two year old with bright red hair who stood a shade under seven feet, came up, “What happened, Cooper? We heard we repulsed an attack by a dozen men!” He was panting from excitement.

Cooper shook his head and chuckled, “No. No, nothing like that. We just saw some people in trouble down the road a bit and we helped them out.”

Julianne stepped from behind Cooper, pushing him aside, “Cooper is being too humble. This man helped us, saved us. No one else dared raise a finger when we were attacked by a group of violent bastards, in public, at a grocery store. But, this man,” she grabbed his arm and squeezed it, “he stepped up and saved us.”

“What’d you do to them?” Arthur asked.

“Two are dead. Two wounded. The last we stripped down to his underwear. We sent the two that were still alive back home without their shoes. I think we showed that this neighborhood is well defended.”

Unexpectedly, the group erupted into a round of cheers. He spent the next ten minutes answering questions and recounting further details. When Peter and Freddie arrived, the excitement picked up again and he was forced to endure another round of questions, most of which he’d already answered. Julianne was interrogated, as well. Finally, he was able to break away from the group and head into his house. He motioned for Julianne to follow him and she did so.

He leaned the rifle up against the wall, next to the front door. He kept the automatic pistol on his hip. Funny how quickly guns have become normal to have around all the time.

He turned toward Julianne, “I think it’d be best for you to stay here.” The flash of an impetuous smile from Julianne’s face made him quickly add, “I mean in our neighborhood, tonight. It’s almost dark and I don’t think it’s worth the risk to run you back home in it. You can either stay here with us or I can find you some space at Lisa’s across the street if you’d prefer that.”

“If it’s OK with you, I’d prefer to just stay here. I know you already and I trust you, a little bit at least. Both of you,” she added, indicating Jake. He looked back at her like a cat defending his turf, with squinted eyes and tight lips.

“Alright. We’ll make something to eat and then turn in. We’ll sleep upstairs. Jake and I in the bedroom and you in the loft, just outside.”

“We’re not sleeping in the basement?” Jake asked.

“Not after what happened the other night. If those idiots come back, we need to be in a different place to catch them off guard.”

Julianne left eyebrow cocked. Cooper responded, “We had some unwelcome guests the other night. We dealt with them and I’m 99% sure we won’t see them again. But, I like to be safe.” She nodded in agreement.

Cooper cooked dinner, with some help from Jake and Julianne. Jake circled her, avoiding contact. Must be what a bear looks like guarding her brood, Cooper chuckled to himself. He cooked some steaks from the freezer, rice pilaf from a box, and some broccoli with butter and garlic. Uncharacteristically, he downed two whiskeys on the rocks while cooking. After today, I deserve it. He was thankful his body performed well in combat, reflexes sharp and without hesitation. However, he always felt like crap afterwards. A doctor in the army had once told him that there were two kinds of people: those who performed well under extreme stress but felt lousy later and those who didn’t and ended up lousy during combat. Cooper was happy to be the former, but he still hated how badly his body felt afterwards. Julianne joined him, but drank red wine instead.

They made small talk at dinner. Cooper learned that Julianne worked for a medical firm doing who knows what. She had a PhD in medical biology and did research where she worked. Cooper became animated and sought her opinion on the plague sweeping the country. She adroitly evaded his questions and only responded in generalities. As he pressed her a few different times, she became emotional, teared up, and changed the conversation. Cooper assumed she had lost someone, or some people, who were very close to her. She didn’t wear a wedding ring, but perhaps it was a long-term lover, parents, or a sibling. She wouldn’t talk about her family either, so he had no way to know. In fact, as the night wore on, he noticed that she deliberately kept away from any serious or personal topics. Cooper chomped on a bite of steak, and I thought it was supposed to be men who were closed off! She asked him what he was smiling about, but he demurred by shaking his head. Cooper couldn’t remember if he’d had two or three whiskeys with dinner. There was no ignoring the empty bottle of red wine next to Julianne and the second one started. I guess we both had a rough day, didn’t we?

After dinner, he put Jake to bed upstairs. Cooper tried to read a story to Jake, but he fell asleep before he finished. I guess these events are taking their toll on him too. Looking down at his peaceful, slumbering face, he couldn’t help but believe that it had grown more mature looking in the last few days. His jaw line appeared more square, the eyes a bit deeper set, and his mouth more firm.

Cooper returned to find Julianne in the kitchen, holding a drink out towards him. His head was already swimming a little. The whiskey had warmed his belly and now it was working up past his chest, toward his head. Julianne’s constant smile and slow gait revealed she was feeling it too. They moved to the living room and sat down on the couch. It was a deep, chocolate brown, with a high back; Victorian-style.

They sat down, each at either end of the couch. She brushed her hair back over her ear and looked deeply into his eyes, “I just wanted to thank you again for what you did today. I owe you a lot for it.”

Her eyes had an electric effect on him. They pulled him in. Closer, they cooed. This close, he could not deny how stunningly beautiful she was.

“No thanks needed. Anyone would have done the same.”

She shook her head emphatically and waved her hand side to side, spilling a drop of wine onto her blouse without noticing, “No. No! Not anyone, Cooper. I saw a dozen men watch us all get rounded up in that parking lot today. Like cattle,” she spat the word. “Not a one lifted a finger.”