The Protagonist System

Sandra went off to find her other friends after she helped unload the burdens from both horses. Tammy stayed just long enough to arrange space for the horses in the stables and then had to go report to the town's council.

I wanted nothing to do with that, so I went to work putting everything in order for easy assembly and Jenkins stood beside the huge pile of metal and fastenings as he read the instructions.

“Is it really this simple to put up?” Jenkins asked me and waved the few papers.

“With two sets of hands, all the parts, and the instructions?” I asked and didn't wait for an answer, since the question was rhetorical. “It's as easy as apple pie.”

Jenkins nodded and I handed him a tool set with two socket wrenches and a large double row of sockets inside. He didn't really know what they were or how to use them, so I had to show him how they worked and his eyes lit up like a kid getting the best gift at Christmas.

“Where did you ever find something like this?” Jenkins asked and played with the forward and reverse setting on the biggest socket wrench. “I've only ever seen and used normal wrenches and they suck when you're working on an engine or trying to screw in larger bolts.”

“I raided a half-burned out hardware store years ago and picked up a few sets.” I said and grabbed the four largest metal bars that would be attached together to make the base. I would have preferred to set it into concrete first; but, I couldn't do anything too obviously magical with so many witnesses around.

“Really?” Jenkins asked like he didn't believe me.

“Yep. Found several car batteries, too. My best find was an abandoned house in a suburb of Atlanta and the guy must have loved outdoor stuff. His secured garage had huge tool chests full of stuff and he even had two canoes. Two! Can you believe it? How was one man supposed to use two canoes and four paddles?”

Jenkins laughed. “Okay, that is a bit too much to be made up.”

“Damn right.” I said and slapped his shoulder and nodded at the open tool set. “We're using the 1 inch bolts and nuts for the base pieces, so grab the right sockets for both wrenches and let's get to work.”

Jenkins grinned and did that before he handed me the smaller wrench. “Here you go. I'll hold the nut and you turn the bolt.”

I fake gasped at him making me do the harder part with the smaller wrench. “You big meanie!”

Jenkins laughed and we went to work.

*

Tammy was gone for only half an hour as she advised the town council about Eli's visit. She had enjoyed seeing their shocked faces that he had arranged for his own importance to be removed from the interest of the resistance's upper ranks, which also removed him from FEDRA's interests, too. How the trial had turned out had really eaten at her and made her rethink her stance on a lot of things.

The funny part about all of it was that Tammy didn't hate Eli for killing her sister. She knew she should have, because family was one of the most important things in her life and he stopped her from ever meeting Joan again. Maybe forever, because when she eventually died herself, she wasn't sure she would be seeing her sister's face in the afterlife.

Tammy sighed at the thought that her sister was not a good person. After she had lost her son, she kind of lost herself and was more focused on causing mayhem for the military instead of trying to rebuild her life. She pushed those sad thoughts aside and made her way over to the community centre to talk to the young man that she harboured no ill will against.

She paused mid-step when she saw a small crowd gathered around a 20 foot tall metal tower with two happy men hanging off the side of it and they had lifted up and then started attaching a 4 foot tall and tapered section to the top of it. She hastened her pace and came to a stop beside the community centre and stared up at them using wrenches she hadn't seen in over a decade.

“I've only been gone for 30 minutes!” Tammy shouted up at them, exasperated. “How did you get this monstrosity built up so fast?”

Jenkins laughed and waved down to her. “We built it in sections and stacked them up. It's like a big fun tower puzzle!”

“It really is.” Sandra said as she approached with her four friends. “Eli and I built the one we have back in Colorado.”

“With the both of them up and working, we can stay in contact all the time!” Janine said happily and held up a walkie-talkie. “These things are great!”

“I found a whole stash of them at an old military base.” Eli said and climbed back down the tower. “It only took a little bit of work to make them compatible with the CB radio on a specific channel.”

“I've already taught them how to work them.” Sandra said, pride in her voice. “We've designated Channel 1 for personal things, Channel 5 for a full group chat, and Channel 8 for an open signal that we can choose to listen to or not.”

“I'll be playing music on that channel.” One of her friends said, clearly happy. “I don't have to wait for special occasions to practice playing my violin anymore!”

Eli gave her an odd look for a moment and then he smiled warmly. “You know, I haven't played my guitar in a very long time.”

“You can play the guitar?” Sandra and a few other people asked at the same time.

Eli chuckled at their surprise. “I picked it up years ago and it's been almost as long since I used it. You can't blame me for forgetting about it with everything else going on.”

“That's so true.” Janine said and hugged Sandra. “I love living alone and I also miss hanging out with my friend.”

“Us, too!” Their friends said and Sandra and Janine were engulfed in a group hug.

“That's why we delivered the radio as soon as we could make the trip up here.” Eli said and started assembling the next section with Jenkins. “It's going to be dangerous soon with summer's hot weather and the infected and fungal growths coming out of their hibernation cycle.”

Tammy and the others gasped at being told that.

Sandra rolled her eyes at him. “You were supposed to save that for the town briefing, Eli.”

Eli stopped working to give her a confused look, then saw the shock on everyone's faces. “Ah, right. I shouldn't have said anything yet.”

Tammy stepped forward and glared a him. “What exactly do you know about that?”

“And that's why I should have kept my mouth shut until tonight.” Eli said and went back to work.

“Don't you dare ignore me!” Tammy almost shouted.

“Tammy, relax.” Sandra said and pulled Tammy into the group hug. “Waiting a few hours won't make the information any less valuable or cause anyone to die needlessly.”

Her serious tone made everyone relax.

Tammy's glare lessened before she sighed. “You can't just drop things like that so casually and expect people to not react.”

Sandra nodded and rested her head on her shoulder briefly. “We know that, which is why it took us a few extra days riding back here. We've been going around and mapping out the worst spots to avoid.”

“I've also been figuring out how to make an all purpose weed-killer to help fight the fungal growths.” Eli commented and more gasps came from everyone.

“Dammit, Eli! What did I just say?” Sandra asked, exasperated.

“Sorry, dear.” Eli said and looked embarrassed. “I'm too used to telling you everything.”

Sandra sighed and let a struggling Tammy go. “You might as well go ahead and tell the council we have important information to share tonight after dinner.”

Tammy glared at them for keeping secrets from her, even though there was no way for them to tell her about them before now.

“It's not time sensitive.” Eli said and added the last bolt to the frame and tightened it. “If it was, we would have braved the colder weather and been here a month ago.”

“He's right, you know. I would have demanded he come right here to tell you.” Sandra said and her friends hugged her.

“Instead of doing that, we built a communications tower and I worked out how to power the thing, fixed up the radio to accept the walkie-talkie signals without being a garbed mess, then put together the pieces to build a free-standing tower for you guys...” Eli's voice trailed off.

“We've been busy.” Sandra said with finality.

Tammy sighed and had to reluctantly nod. “I'll let everyone know that our usual after meal meeting is going to be an important one this time.” She said as she started to walk away, then she mentally groaned as Eli had to get one last comment in.

“You can tell them we also have six spare walkie-talkies to trade, besides the ones Sandra gave her friends and the one we're giving to you.” Eli said and picked up the tower section. “Jenkins, we only have one more section and then we can clean up and call it a night.”

“You got it, Eli.” Jenkins said and helped him hold the thing as they climbed back up the 24 foot tall tower that was soon going to become 32 feet after they added one more section.

Tammy nodded and walked faster. The sooner she could give the council an update, the sooner she could head to the bar and get a much needed drink.

*

I laid down in the bed that Janine was kind enough to let us borrow and let us stay in her house. She was staying with one of her friends for the few days that Sandra and I would be there in town.

“It's kind of weird being back here.” Sandra said as she stripped off her clothes and folded them to place on the nearby dresser. “I mean, this used to be my place and it's like I never lived here.”

Janine had done too good of a job clearing out Sandra's things and I knew that made Sandra a little sad. She had expected to maybe grab a few things she forgot in her haste and now she couldn't. She also didn't want to ask her friend where all those things went, for two reasons. One, she didn't want to know what happened to them; and two, she didn't want to make Janine feel guilty for getting rid of them after saying she could have it all.

I lifted the blanket of the bed and she climbed in. She snuggled right up to me with her head resting on my chest, even though I wasn't wearing the bunny suit. She had pretty much ordered me to not wear it this time, because she didn't want to take the chance that someone else might try to take advantage of me being so cuddly and adorable.

“I'm sorry.” I whispered to her and softly kissed the top of her head. “It shouldn't hurt like this when you come home.”

Sandra didn't say anything for several minutes. “Eli, I... I...” She paused and took in a deep breath and let it out, as if working up the courage to say something. “I love you and... and I... I was wondering...”

“Do you want to get married?” I cut her off and her head jerked up off of my chest and she stared at me with wide eyes. “I've been wanting to ask you for a while.” I added and she kept staring at me without blinking her eyes. “I wasn't sure if you'd say yes or not and I don't know how you're going to wear two more rings on your fingers.”

“T-t-t-two m-m-more?” Sandra asked, her voice shaky.

“Well, yeah. An engagement ring...” I said and pulled out a ridiculously huge diamond mounted on a small ring from under the pillow. “...and a wedding ring.” I said and pulled out two more rings that were plain gold wedding bands. All three of them were enchanted, of course.

“Wh-where... how...” Sandra managed to ask as her eyes stared at the rings instead of me.

“I found them before I came here.” I said, not lying at all. “It took a bit of work to mount the diamond properly and not make it look fake.”

“It... it's real? That's a real diamond?” Sandra asked.

“Straight from an old museum's secured display.” I answered, a little proudly.

“A museum?” Sandra asked, her hand twitching to take it. She knew what it would mean if she accepted it, however. “It used to be...”

“...admired by hundreds of people every day before the outbreak? Yes, it was.”

Sandra's hand moved the rest of the way and her fingertip lightly stroked the glittering surface. “You did this for me?”

“Of course I did. You didn't even hesitate to give up your life here and came with me, even knowing I had no idea where I was going to end up.” I said and she looked up from the ring and into my eyes. “Your dedication to me deserves an equal dedication to you in return, don't you think?”

Sandra seemed lost in thought, so I didn't say anything else and just kept a smile on my face. After a few more minutes of quiet contemplation, she smiled as well. “We need to get your measurements over to Gail at the tailor shop. She can have a tux ready for you in about a week.”

I grinned at her as she wiggled her fingers at me and I slid the diamond onto her bare ring finger. “What about your wedding dress?”

“That's none of your concern until I walk down the aisle.” Sandra said, a bit smugly.

I chuckled and leaned in to give her a kiss on the lips. “Yes, dear. Let me know when to be ready.”

Sandra nodded and then laid her head down on my chest as she admired the diamond. “Eli.” She whispered.

“Hmm?” I asked without actually asking anything.

“You knew I... that I was going to...” Sandra's voice drifted off.

“I suspected, yes. You only get nervous about asking me about something when you think I might say no.” I said and petted her short black hair.

Sandra hadn't wanted to grow it out, because it was too much work to take care of when it was longer and it could get caught on things when she moved, or if someone was trying to hurt or capture her by grabbing her by the hair. Keeping it short was just practical.

“By the way, just for future reference.” I said and my other hand lightly caressed her face. “I will probably never say no, no matter what you ask me.”

Sandra blushed and I could feel the extra warmth on her face.

“Goodnight, love.” I said and let her face go and stopped petting her hair to hug her close.

“Goodnight, love.” Sandra responded and hugged me back.

*

The entire population in Jackson attended the small wedding in the community centre. It was such a rare thing to see, with most of the older generation in town already in committed relationships. Some of them had gotten married and some just stayed together because it felt right.

The members of the middle generation were more concerned with dating and having fun instead of looking for long lasting relationships or even short commitments. The teens and children of the younger and youngest generation were a little too young to care about things like that. For now, anyway.

Eli stood at one side of the aisle with Jenkins as his best man and both of them looked proud to be there. Across the aisle was empty until the procession started, then the music changed and a little girl entered through the main doors and threw dried flower petals on the floor. They would be gathered up afterwards to be used again when needed.

Janine was next and she looked radiant in a sky blue dress. She caught several men's eyes and the light blush she wore let everyone know she really liked the attention. She came to a stop across from Jenkins and he gave her a bright smile and a wink, making Janine blush fully.

The music changed again as the wedding march started and everyone turned to look. Sandra entered the room being escorted by an old bowlegged man and his wrinkled face had the biggest smile on it as he hobbled down the aisle with Sandra on his arm.

“You better take care of this young filly or I'll come by with a strap to straighten you out.” The old codger said to Eli as he handed him Sandra's hand.

“I'd deserve worse than that if I ever disappointed her.” Eli said and took both of his fiance's hands in his. “I want to say how beautiful you look, except those words aren't good enough and I don't know any better ones.”

A few people laughed and a few of the women let out 'aww' sounds.

Sandra couldn't smack him for embarrassing her in public because he held her hands for just that reason. “I get you later for that.”

“No doubt.” Eli said and they both turned towards the priest.

The ceremony went quickly, because no one wanted to be there for longer than necessary. Plus, they had to change out the community centre from the wedding setup to the reception setup. Eli kissed the bride when they were announced as Mister and Missus Williams and then everyone cheered as they walked down the aisle hand in hand.

They entered a horse-drawn carriage with Jenkins and Janine and they took a nice leisurely ride around the entire town. Jenkins showed off some of the improvements they were making and Eli added in a few ideas that he could take back to the council.

An hour later, they were back at the community centre and they entered to have the reception. Everyone was having a great time with the meal that no one questioned. How did they get so many cooked turkeys to serve everyone in town with a huge platter? No one cared. It was a celebration and that was all that mattered.

When the meal was done, the bride, groom, the best man, and the maid of honor, took another ride around the town to let the place be cleaned up and cleared out for the dance portion of the reception. They returned when it was time and the whole town danced and had fun for hours and hours.

When it was finally over, it was 2 in the morning and Eli and Sandra rode out of town on their Clydesdale horses to head off to their honeymoon.