Compound Interest Read online

  The single LED flashlight in his pocket should suffice. It was plenty bright, especially when things were pitch dark. He switched it on, then hauled on the ring attached to the door. Once he had it lifted a couple of inches, he slipped the toe of his boot in and did most of the rest of the lifting with his legs, although he did catch the door before it slammed to the floor, since he was still trying to avoid noise.

  A square of darkness marked the floor and when he shone his light down into it, he cursed.

  “Holy fuck! How the hell are we going to get all of that, plus the gasoline, home in a single load?”

  The light revealed stacks of goods, things that the convenience store had once carried. Everything from macaroni and cheese to battery packs, all present by the case. Many of the cases were already opened, but even so there was a lot of stuff.

  Did someone move all this down here as soon as things went to shit? he wondered. That would've taken some serious presence of mind and some strong nerves too.

  He slipped down into the hole and started hefting boxes up. As he did so, he combined the contents into the larger boxes, trying to make the load as small as possible.

  He ended up with a respectable stack of boxes, but one that was small enough that with some tie downs he could get it all into the back of the pickup truck. Once he'd finished he went back outside, finding Ed standing just to the side of the truck, his rifle in his hands, but not ready to fire. Just Ed's normal stance when he knew he might have to fight soon.

  He was talking over his shoulder and the woman that had been sobbing earlier had dried her tears and was laughing at something Ed was saying. As he approached the truck, he heard Ed say over his shoulder.

  “And here he is now.”

  “Ed, what were you telling her about me?” Nick asked.

  Ed shrugged innocently.

  “Nothing that wasn't the truth. What took you so long?”

  “A major stash. We need to get those boxes too. There's all kinds of stuff that a convenience store would normally stock. Is she in any shape to help us maybe?”

  “I think Linda's mainly over the shock, but why don't you ask her yourself?”

  “Linda?” Nick asked.

  “Yeah, that's her name, you know?”

  “No, I didn't know. She wasn't exactly in any shape for casual conversation earlier.”

  “And she can hear you,” Linda added.

  “Sorry,” Nick said, obviously not sorry in the least, “are you in any shape to help unload that storeroom you told me about? I put everything into the smallest number of boxes I could, it should fit into the truck in one load.”

  “Wait a second, I didn't say I was giving you that stuff, just explaining why I was here. I shouldn't have said anything.”

  “Well, you also said that they destroyed your house. So, if you've nowhere to go, I... well we since there's more than just me, can offer you a place to stay as long as you're willing to work.”

  She raised her eyebrows and opened her mouth to speak, but Nick cut her off.

  “Work, just like the rest of us there, not just you,” he said.

  “Oh,” Linda said, obviously having her protestation anticipated and answered. “Well, in that case, if what Ed here said is true, I'd be glad to accept.”

  “That all depends, what did Ed say?” Nick asked, turning to glare at Ed.

  “Like I said, nothing that isn't true.”

  Nick growled, sure that he wasn't going to get any more out of Ed, so he turned to Linda.

  “What did he tell you that you're wondering about?”

  She shook her head.

  “Nope, not gonna say it. All I'll say is that it seems like what he said was true. So, let's go get those boxes, you can consider it a buy-in on my part to this compound Ed told me about.”

  With a final glare at Ed, Nick turned back towards the store.

  “Keep watch, and no more spreading rumors, okay?”

  “Sure, I'll keep watch at least,” Ed replied, smirking.

  Nick shook his head as he and Linda went for the boxes.

  Loading the truck was uneventful, even when they moved around back and manually pumped the tank in the bed of the truck full of gasoline.

  “This batch has been treated for long term storage,” Linda said.

  “How could you possibly know that?” Nick asked.

  Ed shook his head warningly.

  “Because I worked here? I'm a mechanic, a damned good one, got a problem with that?” she replied.

  “Whoa, step back,” Nick said. “I just wondered how you knew. I wouldn't want to treat it again before adding it to our storage, so I was checking.”

  “Sta-Bil, used just like the directions on the packaging read,” she replied. “I helped treat it, so I know it was done that way.”

  “How old is the gas?”

  “Just a few months. When we had that last run on gasoline and the price soared, a few months back? Yeah, we emptied these tanks into the other and had a few extra days worth before we ran out. We refilled and treated these tanks right after gas prices got back to normal.”

  “Okay,” Nick said.

  That's good, he thought, that's about the same time we got what we do have in the tank at the compound, so we'll just use that date for all of it.

  Nick moved the end of the hose they were using to transfer the gas into the tank on the truck. The truck, being an older model, didn't have anything to block him from sliding the hose right in. He pumped the truck full by hand, sloshing a few ounces of gas onto the ground at the very end when he thought he had more room in the tank than he did. Then he let the hose drain back into the tank and slid the cover over it again.

  “Okay, that'll keep it from getting contaminated with water in case we have a chance to come back for more, assuming we need it. I'm hoping what we have here will top off the tanks at the compound,” Nick said.

  “All set then?” Ed asked.

  Nick nodded and slid into the driver's seat of the truck, he'd gotten the keys back from Ed so he could pull around to the tanks earlier on, so he started the engine. The other door opened and Linda slid into the cab of the truck, followed by Ed. Linda kept sliding into the truck until she was right next to him, while Ed stayed against the door on the other side.

  Nick glanced over at Ed, who looked down where Linda was pressing her leg to Nick's. Then Ed looked back up, gave Nick a grin and a wink, and assumed the position he used to scan while they were moving. The only difference this time was that his gun was held higher up and across his lap since Linda's legs were where the butt of the rifle would normally be.

  Nick put the truck in gear and turned towards the compound, hoping they could get home with no more trouble.

  * * *

  On the way home they got Linda's story out of her, well Ed did mainly, Nick was concentrating on driving and was as likely to put his foot in his mouth as ask a coherent question when talking to an attractive woman.

  She'd worked at the garage for a long time. Years ago, she'd ended up pregnant, the guy leaving as soon as he found out about it. She'd raised her son as a single mom, working as a mechanic to pay the bills. Once her son had grown up and moved out, she'd kept working there since she was familiar with it and enjoyed the work.

  She'd been going to leave and try to find her son, but then the second set of bombs hit. The EMP had completely destroyed the car she'd been planning on using, the electronics shredded by the electromagnetic pulse the bombs created. She'd given up on that idea after the second set of bombs and had just been trying to get by.

  The owner of the garage had lived a mile or so away from her and when she'd gone to ask him if she could have some of the supplies she knew were in the cellar, she'd found his house burned down, no sign of his body. Assuming he was dead, she'd started taking stuff from the storage basement, a few bits of this and that, never too much at a time. She didn't want to be seen loaded down and returning to her own place, she'd always tried to make it look like
she'd found a few things while scavenging as opposed to knowing where a lot of stuff was.

  “But that plan failed somehow,” she said. “Those guys showed up at my place, one knocked on the door and when I was going to try to run for it, the other two smashed windows and came in. They destroyed my place searching for my 'stash' as they called it. When they didn't find it, they let me know they'd been following me and decided all the stuff must be at the garage. They dragged me out there and I still wouldn't tell them where everything was. That stash was the best way of staying alive I knew about so I wasn't going to give it over to them. You know the rest of it.”

  Ed nodded and made comforting sounds. Nick didn't say a word, he had no idea what to say, but he felt her snuggling in closer against him, as though he made her feel safe or something. He glanced over at Ed again, wondering what he'd told her, but Ed was busy scanning for potential threats.

  They arrived back at the compound. Cassie was on guard and, when she saw the third person in the cab of the vehicle, she made them wait while she called Bill out to go see if everything was okay. He approached the truck cautiously until Ed gave him a hand sign that they used to let each other know everything was okay. After that Cassie pushed the wheeled fence gate out of the way and they pulled into the compound.

  Introductions were made all around first, then everyone unloaded the boxes before they pulled the truck over to pump out the gasoline from the tank in the bed. Sheri and Cassie were opening the boxes when Ed went inside after parking the truck. They were like kids at Christmas time as they pulled out item after item. Bill was helping, but was more stoic about the whole thing. Meanwhile Ed had taken Linda off someplace.

  He's probably showing her around the compound and getting her situated in a room, Nick thought. I hope some of those extra clothes we stockpiled for trading will fit her. Looting the thrift store was probably Sheri's best idea yet. Who knew that they had that much usable stuff in good condition there?

  Nick wasn't worried about Ed putting the moves on Linda, not that he had any right to be. He was surprised that he was even thinking about that, but he knew that Sheri would have Ed's balls if Ed so much as flirted with Linda too hard.

  It's not like she's that possessive, he thought. Oh hell, who am I kidding, yes she is. I'm not worried about Ed because of that and because, if I'm right, he was trying to set me up with her. Who knows what the hell he was telling her about me earlier on. He's going to make me out to be this white knight, charging to her rescue, when he was just as much responsible for her rescue as I was. I hope I can live up to whatever he told her.

  It was nearly dark by the time they finished unloading the boxes and storing away the stuff that was in them. Linda and Ed had been back for a while and Nick had taken her down to the storage room that they had all those clothes in. He'd noticed that she didn't have anything but the clothes on her back, and the shirt she had on was torn from the attempted rape.

  When he let her loose in the storage room, her eyes had gone wide.

  “Feel free to take your pick of the clothes. We got them with the idea of trading them for stuff, but so far we haven't found anyone else to trade with, so grab whatever you want,” he said.

  She turned to him and, once again, he was struck by how attractive she was. He didn't really have a thing for older women, but he didn't have anything against them either so when she plastered herself to him in a hug and kissed his cheek while thanking him, he had to try hard to keep her from feeling his reaction. He had a good idea that he'd failed to conceal his erection when she took a step back and eyed him up and down before turning and starting to go through the clothing.

  Nick sighed heavily and headed back upstairs. Dinner wasn't quite ready so he just sat there for a moment, trying to internalize how he felt about the man he'd killed earlier in the day.

  I knew it was possible that I'd have to do that, he thought, and I didn't think I'd have any problem when the time came. I was right, I didn't. I don't even feel too bad about it now, hours later. What's that say about me though?

  He sat there musing about until Bill called out that dinner was ready. When he got to the table Linda was already there, dressed in jeans and a sweater from the clothes she'd been offered. She was also wearing a self-satisfied smile, or at least it flashed for a moment when she glanced over at him.

  What's that all about? he wondered.

  Then he forgot about it as food was placed on the table. His scavenging missions always left him starving, and the additional stress of the firefight, short as it had been, had only added to his hunger.

  After dinner, everyone took the time to get to know Linda better, with her trying to get to know the others as well. Nick was starting to think paranoia was getting to him because several times he'd swear that Linda was talking with someone else about him before they burst into laughter.

  Finally it was dark enough that if they wanted to use the electricity from their solar rig sparingly, they had to go to bed. Bill had the first watch and would wake up Sheri for her turn midway through the night. Everyone but Bill started to head for bed, but Ed stopped and caught Nick's arm.

  “Hey Nick, how's the gas level now?” he asked.

  Why didn't he ask me about this earlier? Nick wondered.

  We're down a hundred and a few gallons from our maximum capacity. I think we'll be fine with what we have, but we can always go grab some more while it's still there. It'd be fine in the tank on the truck for a few months I'm sure.”

  “Well, I asked because I was thinking that we ought to stop the scavenging runs for a few days. Like we saw earlier, the raider types are getting bolder and apparently no-one's willing to do anything about it but us. We shouldn't have to do that, and we shouldn't endanger ourselves by going out right now. I was thinking maybe a couple of weeks off, then go for things that wouldn't be as common to scavenge. You know solar panels, deep discharge batteries, the type of thing most people wouldn't know what to do with.”

  “You want to stop the scavenging runs now? There's still good stuff out there, stuff that might not be available in a couple of weeks.”

  “We'll talk about it in the morning, I've kept you from your bed long enough,” Ed said.

  That was an awfully strange way of phrasing that, at least for Ed, Nick thought. Maybe he's just tired too.

  “Okay, we'll talk in the morning,” Nick replied.

  He turned and headed for the stairs.

  * * *

  Nick was tired and blinking when he opened his door. His tired fled in a moment when he stepped inside, but he kept blinking, not believing his eyes.

  The person shaped lump under the covers of his bed shifted and Linda's head poked out from beneath the covers.

  “Comfortable bed you've got here,” she said.

  “Uhhhh....” Nick replied.

  She smiled at him.

  “Good to see that what they all told me was true.”

  “What exactly did they tell you?” he asked, practically begging.

  “That you needed, how shall we say this, a partner. A female partner in specific. That you're incredibly shy but good through and through. That your ex-girlfriend screwed you over and left, and that it's been long enough that they're sure she won't be back here. Shall I go on?”

  So what, they all gave her a synopsis of my life? Including some of the more personal aspects of it?

  “Yes, please do. What else?” he asked, his ire showing in his voice.

  She winced slightly.

  “They only told me because I asked. They asked me why I wanted to know and when I told them it was because I was interested in sleeping with you, they opened up pretty wide. Evidently the women know you better than the men, although the type of things they knew? Maybe they got them from your ex, because I'm sure you didn't tell them those things.”

  His face flushed, wondering exactly what Linda now knew about him. She noticed and rushed to reassure him.

  “Don't worry,” she said. “They only
increased my interest when they told me about some of your preferences.”

  Nick groaned and took the two steps to his bed so he could sag onto it. Sitting at the base of his bed with his head in his hands, he groaned even louder.

  But wait, even with whatever they told her, she's still waiting in my bed?

  He glanced up at Linda, only to find that she'd sat up straighter, the covers falling away to reveal that she was almost nude, or at least her upper body was, under them. She'd gotten some sort of lacy, black lingerie from the storeroom, the neckline of it dipping deeply to reveal an impressive cleavage. His attention was locked on immediately and once more his body reacted. Then a realization hit him and he cursed.

  “Shit, that son of a bitch Ed, he was in on this wasn't he? He was supposed to delay me so you could get in here, undressed, and under the covers?”

  She nodded.

  “Of course, I decided that if I was waiting for you in your bed nearly nude you'd be a lot less likely to try to kick me out. From what they said, you're kind of thick when a woman expresses an interest.”

  Nick groaned again, his head dropping back into his hands.

  “So, who else knew you'd be waiting in my bed tonight.”

  She moved down the bed and grabbed his hands, dragging them away from his face.

  “Why does that matter?” she asked. “Are you an adult, able to make your own decisions, or what? I thought you were cute since I first saw you, and having you kill the guys trying to rape me certainly didn't detract from that.”

  “Well, that was Ed and me,” he said.

  “Yeah, Ed told me you were the one that noticed the garage door was open and something was going on, plus you personally killed at least one of them, so you, you're the one who saved me. That and the fact that Ed told me you'd been against bringing anyone else into the compound, but you brought me here.”