Conflicted Home (The Survivalist Book 9)

door.
The dogs were unusually happy to see me. All three of them followed me, nosing at my hands and demanding I rub their heads. Maybe this was just their way of saying they were glad I was back. I remembered reading an article about dogs being trained to sniff out tumors in people. And another that would go through an assisted living facility and climb up onto the bed of one close to death or in failing health. And that not long after doing so, the soul would slip away from them. They claimed the dog had a way of knowing. I wondered, rather morbidly, if it wasn’t the dog that was actually the cause of their deaths. As though it was the harbinger, and had it not visited, they would have gone on a little longer.
But these mutts obviously knew something was different and were eager to show their happiness at my return. It made me smile though, and I happily indulged them as I walked. It wasn’t common for them to follow me all the way to Danny’s. Hell, it wasn’t common for them to follow me off the damn porch. But today, they did follow me. Rounding the corner, I saw the porch was full. The old man looked as though he were holding court.
Seeing me, he smiled, “Glad to see you among the living, Sheriff.”
I nodded. “Me too. Beats the alternative all to hell.”
Kay was sitting beside him and started to rise from her chair, asking, “Are you hungry, Morgan? I can fix you something.”
I waved for her to stay in her rocker. “No thanks, Miss Kay. Mel already fed me up with a skillet of eggs.”
She smiled and settled back into her chair. “Well good. I’m glad you’re back.” Then, wagging a finger at me, she said, “You gave us quite the scare!”
I smiled sheepishly. “I didn’t intend to. You can count on it.”
As I replied, Aric came out of the house with Fred. Seeing him, I stepped up on the porch and held out my hand. “Thanks for looking out for me, buddy.” He took my hand and I pulled him in, putting my other arm around him and patting his back. A gesture he reciprocated. I said, “You saved my life, buddy.”
Releasing the embrace, he said, “You saved me once. It was the least I could do.”
When those inside noticed my presence, there was a flurry of hugs and kisses. Well wishes as well as admonitions. Jess stood on her toes and held me tight for a long time. She whispered in my ear, “You scared the shit out of us. I’ll kill you myself if you get yourself killed.”
I couldn’t help but smile, and I whispered, “You already tried once.” She stepped back and gave me a look that told me what I could go do to myself, making me smile even harder before leaning in and hugging her one more time, which she did not return.
Instead, she pointed at me and said, “You’re an asshole.” Then she smiled and said, “But you already know that.”
I cocked my head and said, “You aren’t the first to tell me, and probably won’t be the last.”
“Not by a long shot!” The old man barked.
When Mike and Ted came out, Mike had a shit-eating grin on his face. He stepped up in front of me and stood there for a second, just staring at me as he rocked on his heels with hands behind his back. “What?” I asked. He reached into his cargo pocket and pulled out a small black case and handed it to me. “We think you’ve earned this.”
Opening it, I saw a Purple Heart lying on the silk. I shook my head and snapped it closed, “No. I didn’t earn that.” And I held it out for him to take back. “It’s not for the county Sheriff that takes a little-ass bullet for being stupid. It’s for you guys that go out and defend our country.”
“You were doing the same thing, bro,” Ted said. “Keep it. You’ve earned it.”
Seeing they weren’t going to yield on the issue, I nodded. “Ok.” But I held it out to Mike. “But I don’t want to take your medal.”
“Shit!” Sarge barked. “That thing ain’t his!”
Mike looked over his shoulder and said, “Some of us don’t carry all of them around everywhere we go.”
“You keep that, Morgan.” Sarge said. “You deserve it as much as any man ever has. You’re giving your life to your community.”
I still disagreed with them but gave up on the argument. I motioned with it in my hand and said, “Thanks, guys,” and shook Mike and Ted’s hands. Sliding an old milk can over, that was nothing more than decoration, I sat on it and asked, “So what’s up?”
Sarge leaned back in his chair, as an old man will do. “We’ve got a lot to do. I talked with those engineers. They’re already at work on the line going into Eustis. The focus at the moment is to get power to the armory and then to the county building.”
I nodded. “That’s good. I want to run that line down here too. We’re going to get power back in here too if it kills me.”
“I don’t know if Sheffield will agree to that,” Sarge replied, shaking his head.
“He can kiss my ass,” I snorted. “I’m also going to try and get power back to some of the houses in town. The power plant is small and can’t run the county, but it can run quite a bit, and we’re going to use it.”
The old man smiled. “I told him you’d say that. He seems to think the plant is somehow under his control.”
Shaking my head, I asked, “Why the hell wouldn’t he want others to have power?”
“I don’t know. Don’t really matter none.”
As we talked, Thad and Mary walked up on the porch. He dropped down to hang his legs over the edge of the porch and smiled. “Glad to see you