Resurrection (Eden Book 3) by Tony Monchinski

on his table. “Better make that noon.”
    “What’s your price, mister?” asked Evan. “You haven’t named a price.”
    “You can’t afford me. But, in the long run, it’ll be the satisfaction of knowin’ I was right all along. You ain’t gonna find the kind of answers you’re lookin’ for out there.” The man swigged from his bottle, emptying it. “In the short-term, you can buy me another bottle of whiskey. And you better have a few more for the road.”
    “Where can we find you?” Riley asked. “Where are you staying?”
    “You seen that bench outside when you come in?”
    “Okay.”
    “You kids change your mind, no sweat off my back. Be the smart thing to do. I wake up tomorrow and you’re not there, I’ll think me and Bertha imagined all this anyway.”
    “What do we call you?” Riley inquired. “Mad Jack?”
    “Shit no, don’t call me that. Call me my name.”
    “Which is?”
    “Krieger. And this here,” Krieger patted the grenade launcher, “is Bertha.”
    “Bertha.”
    “Yeah.”
    “What is Bertha?” The hostility in Evan’s voice had been replaced by curiosity.
    “Haven’t you ever seen a HAWK MM-1 grenade launcher before? No? Hmmm. ”
    “We’ll see you in the morning,” Anthony promised, although he wasn’t certain in his own mind. He rose from the table. “Let’s get him another bottle.”
     
* * *
    Tommy was waiting for her late that afternoon when Little Red walked into the camp, MacKenzie struggling to keep up with her.
    “Red.” Tommy’s face lit up, relieved to see her.
    “Tommy.” She acknowledged him, knew he’d been standing there with his shotgun in hand awaiting her return ever since he’d gotten back to the camp with Dalton and the truck three days earlier.
    “You look good.” Tommy blushed as soon as he said it. It was an awkward thing to say, or maybe it was the way he said it. “I mean, you look healthy enough. Safe , I mean.”
    Red smiled, despite her exhaustion. She knew what he meant. The son was not as smooth as the father and never would be. But that was one of the endearing things about Tommy. Not that it inclined her towards reciprocating his interest. This life—their lives—were not meant for happiness. Or so Red thought.
    “I feel like ass.”
    Tommy laughed.
    He was a good looking guy, Tommy, an able guy. Unlike his brothers, he was apparently unmarked by the radiation. There were women in the camp who were interested in Tommy. Red wished he would set his sights on one of them and forget about her. Not that he was ever a pig about it. The way Tommy was with women, it wasn’t the way Rodriguez was or MacKenzie had been. MacKenzie had changed, though, or so he claimed. That remained to be seen. But Red was confident.
    Mac, her convert. He seemed sincere about his change of ways, and Red believed him. If it turned out he wasn’t, Red would finish what he’d started.
    “Him, on the other hand,” Tommy said of MacKenzie, “he don’t look so good.”
    “He’ll live.”
    “Tommy!” As beat and bloody as he looked, MacKenzie had a smile on his face as he reached Thomas’ son. “You have no idea how good it is to be back.”
    Several people milled about them now, welcoming Little Red and MacKenzie. Tommy called out, “Let’s get some medical attention over here for Mac.”
    “Re-duh.” The smile on Merv’s face was a mile wide. Red had long ago learned to look past the boy’s cleft lip and palate and not hear his speech impediment.
    “Merv.” She clapped him on the shoulder.
    Tommy’s other brothers limped up. Johnny and Phil were conjoined twins who shared a torso.
    “Red, you’re back!” said Johnny.
    “We missed you!” added Phil.
    “Missed you guys, too.”
    “Red.” Gammon nodded at the girl and she nodded back.
    “Ed.”
    “The old man wants to see you.” The old man—Thomas—and Gammon were best friends. Red knew they’d been through a lot together.
    Red wound her way through the camp, passing