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Post by emschld on Feb 19, 2007 3:07:14 GMT -10
Got to get ready to go to the interview. I did finally get a few minutes of sleep. Thanks for all the support.
Regina
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Post by emschld on Feb 19, 2007 9:06:35 GMT -10
This is Horatio's take on the fight.
Year 3 Month 11 after the fight
Every one at the Thanksgiving Feast had tales to tell. Horatio was in a good mood and his eyes were brighter than they had been in a long time. He told how he and his team were on the south side of the town. Though they did not see the elephants they could hear them and saw the terror they brought on those in the town. Jake Fox had been one of those that made a run to the south.
He pulled up short when he saw Horatio and his team standing across the road in front of him, guns drawn. “So it would seem that we meet again Mr. Fox.” Horatio called out across the gap that separated them.
Jake grabbed the woman that ran beside him and put her between himself and Horatio. “Now that isn’t a very nice thing to do to a young lady.” Frank Tripp stated to him. Jake laughed. “I just want to get out of here. You people don’t have any authority anymore. There ain’t no Miami Dade Police Department anymore. So you just need to back off and let me pass.”
Horatio shook his head. “I’m afraid that we can’t do that Jake. You are a threat to too many good people that have made lives for themselves in this aftermath. You have proved that you are a lawless person and that if let go you would just find another band of nomads to lead in pillage.” He paused a moment then continued by in a growling command. “Now let the woman go.” When he said that he brought his gun to aim at the target he would have to hit with the first shot.
Jake laughed again then he barked out. “Where’s that pretty little Calleigh Duquesne? I just hope she made it through all the aftermath. I would like to see her twist at the end of my knife.”
Ryan spoke up before anyone else could. “She made it through just fine. But she has other duties far more important than to chase your sorry a- -.” He had his gun pointed point blank at Jake.
Jake turned to look at Ryan because he had never seen this one before. He could tell there was a connection for this one and the petit blond. “You take her as your mate boy? Maybe have a kid by now. That would be nice to have both them on a stick in my pit.”
Distracted as he was Jake didn’t see Horatio take a step to the right and pull the trigger of his glock. The 9mm bullet caught Jack just behind the left ear. It was a kill shot. The impact took the body backwards with the force of the blow. Jake didn’t let go of the woman and she went down as well. This was where the five men surrendered to us. They had no desire to go up against the former MDPD.
When Horatio got to Jake’s body he kicked the gun away and keeping his gun aim at Jake checking his pulse. It was one of the few times when he had to take a life in the line of duty he felt no remorse. He turned to the woman, when he took a look at her he realized two things. One she was just a young girl maybe 18 or 19. Second she was pregnant. He helped her up telling her. “It’s OK, we’re the good guys. You’re going to be alright now. Just let us take care of you for now.” She had started to shake with fear as she looked at all the new people with guns drawn.
“What was that horrible noise on the other side of town? It sounded like a demolition of every building over there.” Everyone gave a little laugh.
Eric answered the young girl. “We just brought along a very unexpected surprise. Their called Ginger, Hank and Bobby none of them are more than 10 years old, but they are big and beautiful.” She looked at the handsome Cuban/Russian and blinked. “What are they?” In unison about four people answered. “Elephants!” Then Frank added. “Just plain ol’ big soft hearted elephants, but they do make a lot of noise don’t they?” The young girl nodded in agreement to that statement.
It was about then that Gladys Tripp came up and put her hand on her husband’s arm and gave him a push to the side. “You men! Don’t you see this poor thing is just a poor mistreated child? Why she couldn’t have been more than 15 when the world started spinning west to east.” She took the girl in her arms and led her away. Frank hung his head and began to shake it form side to side. “I am in for it now. Her mother instincts have been going full blast since Nat and Cal had their babies.” They all laughed because they knew that Gladys missed her children. Though they had been grown they had not been found after the days of destruction.
Gladys and Frank took charge of the young girl and found that indeed she had only been 15 when the world was turned upside down. She had been able to stay alive the first year on her own then this band of pirates had taken her and well you could see the results. Her name way Amy Lou Coco. The Tripps told her that after the baby came she could decide if she wanted to keep it or not. It didn’t take long for the young girl to realize that these two would be there for her just like her real parents had been before those horrible days.
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Post by sanne on Feb 19, 2007 9:07:51 GMT -10
Good luck on your job interview. Hope you have time to write more soon.
Sanne
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Post by Lian on Feb 19, 2007 11:42:56 GMT -10
yeah good luck Regina...and I so love your story... Lian
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Post by lucymalta on Feb 19, 2007 12:02:47 GMT -10
Good luck from me too Regina - hope it works out for you.....
This story is really getting good....
Lucy
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Post by emschld on Feb 20, 2007 1:18:54 GMT -10
I couldn't sleep so I wrote on the story hope you guys have fun reading it.
Year 3 Month 12
One thing good had come out of the destruction. Christmas was no longer a commercial industry. We would celebrate Christmas by gathering together as a community and putting on a pageant on Christmas Eve. Christmas day was for families to celebrate together. For those that were still single they had plenty of invitations from others to join them. We did up one live tree in the front of the town gazebo. Every family unit put one ornament on the tree. All the ornaments had to be hand made. Yes, we had a white Christmas.
Horatio and I spent our first Christmas morning fixing strawberry pancakes and ham. We decided that we would make this our traditional family breakfast for that day. We found that Lightning loved strawberry pancakes. He would gobble one down and look at Horatio and I would swear he was smiling; and H would give him half of the pancake he had on his plate. “You’re spoiling cat.” Lin Woo told him. After which she too gave Lightning half of her pancake. We all laughed and Lightning chirped at us telling us that company was coming. “Good watch cat.” Lin stated then she gave him another pancake with strawberries.
Calleigh, Ryan, Twomoons, Lilly, Eric, Nat and of course both the babies spent the morning together and had breakfast at the Wolfe home. They had eggs, ham, biscuits and gravy. On the last trip outside the valley before the passes were snowed in guineas had been found and brought back to the Wolfe Foul Farm. These little birds were natural watch dogs. No one could come up to where they were without setting off their alarm. Of course when their alarm went off the other birds around the farm began to make noise as well. Twomoons said the racket they caused was enough to wake the dead.
The Tripp household celebrated with hot oatmeal and ham. Frank, Gladys and Amy sat at the little table and talked about the birth that was to come soon and how Amy felt about the child. She told them that she hadn’t been this happy in a long time and that with their help she would keep the child. “I know that with your help we can mold this child into someone that is good and kind.” Frank gave his two girls a big bear hug. “God has been good to me giving you both to me. I am thankful for what you give me.”
The Woods which included their two children had cheese and ham omelets. After the breakfast dishes were cleared they sat down in the living area and Alexx got out a bible. She read the story of the birth of the Christ child. Then she told stories of her childhood.
All of the old MDPD got together in the afternoon to celebrate the day as it was a time to reflect on the passing of another year. This year ending better than those few before. They had much to be thankful for and they wanted to share this special day with old friends.
Even those that had come up from sunny Florida seemed to enjoy the sleds and making snowmen. I watched as H would put kid after kid on a sled and give them a push down the hill out back of the school, he was having as much fun as they were. He had rigged a line to pull the sleds back up the hill to just go right back down with another of the children. It was good to see him smile and hear him laugh; so much of his past was dark and filled with horrors.
Lin Woo was one of the women that had been liberated from the Jake Fox group had come to live with H and me. She was of Asian descent and she told Horatio that she had buried one family and that she did not want another. But she was a cook by trade and wanted to cook for the man that had taken Jake Fox down. She told Horatio. “I cook for you and your family until I can no longer cook. I cook French, Italian, Greek, American and Asian. You choose I fix.”
She was a God send when it came to food. She not only knew how to cook but how to grow foods. So we told her that for the winter she could stay with Horatio and me but that when the summer cycle started we would need her knowledge to help grow food for our community. She told us that she knew where there were seeds that could be used to grow food and spices and herbs. She also had seen in the nomadic travels where there was a salt mine not to far to the east. It was very close to the coast line. It was at this point that Horatio asked her if she realized that this would mean the coast line had moved inland by about 100 miles.
At the next meeting Horatio gave this information to Brain James. They then called on the Dr Phillip Marks who was the leader of the MIT group to ask what would be causing this to happen. He told them without more information he would hazard to guess that the polar ice caps were melting. If he could get a look at some current NASA photos of earth he could tell for sure. “So we need to find a NASA site that we can get into and use their computer system to take a look at what our planet looks like.” This statement was made by Brain James. To which Dr. Marks replied. “Not only do we have to locate a NASA site but we will have to repair their computers in order to use them.”
At about that time John Lawrence, one of the men from the Fox group; overheard the conversation. He stopped and turned to the three men. He cleared his throat to get their attention. “Yes?” Horatio turned to John. “We ran across some people from one of the NASA research facility early last year and they told us that the war caused a partial melting of the polar ice caps. I don’t think there was going to be anymore from that. He also said that this could cause a change in the weather pattern. With the summer winter pattern we are having I would say that has already happened. Also as you men know we; society; had been causing a greenhouse effect. The war stopped that. So maybe in our grandchildren’s life time they will see patterns start to return back to what we knew.” This had been the most that John had said since we had brought him into the valley. Before any of the men ask him he told them that his job before he had been convicted of man slaughter had been weatherman for a major television station out of Atlanta, Georgia.
Dr. Marks asked John if he would like to study the weather again. To which John smiled and said yes. “Good, you can help David and Daniel Brooks; they’ve been working on getting some type of weather station built. They know the mechanics of the machinery, but are not sure what to make it do.” John said that he would be happy to work with the twins. Dr Marks and John then took their leave and went in search of the twin Brooks Brothers.
Horatio and Brain stood there a minute before Brain spoke again. “You do know that radio signals are starting to come through again. We may be able to find other groups that have formed like us.” Horatio nodded then added. “Also we may find more nomads.”
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Post by Lian on Feb 20, 2007 1:39:56 GMT -10
So good...I really love this story...this is so not like the life "H" has as we know it...this is so different...so much fun reading it....keep going please.
Oh BTW...How was your job interview???
Lian
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Post by sanne on Feb 20, 2007 2:49:03 GMT -10
Fully agree with Lian. And I'm also anxious to know how you were doing on your job interview
Sanne
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Post by emschld on Feb 20, 2007 5:26:24 GMT -10
waiting to hear back from my headhunter. I will call her in about 30 minutes. I messed up on the test a bit. I hope it was too much. Thanks for the concen. My daughter is home sick from her job. She got a cold that got into her throat and she can't talk. Her job requires that she be able to talk to people on the phone. Her hubby stayed home yesterday and took care of her. Those two have been married for 11 years and they are still joined at the hip.
Regina
PS> going to work on next chapter. I will try to put some of H's personality in there. I thought the scene with Jake Fox would be something like his old Miami self. Also kind of 'High Noon'
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Post by Horatio Caine on Feb 20, 2007 23:22:40 GMT -10
Hope everything is going to be fine. Love the story Regina, keep the chapters coming
Manon
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Post by emschld on Feb 21, 2007 8:46:42 GMT -10
Here it is. This one is more to show what is happening in the commuintee than about the story. But is is important that you see the valley as a complete story in itself.
Regina
Year 4 month 1
The days were short on sun light, but all knew that the days would soon begin to lengthen and summer would be upon us once again. Though everyone spent allot of time indoors in did not mean that we were hibernating. The teachers held class ever day and from mid morning till early afternoon the children would be brought to the little school and lessons would continue from day to day. All the kids loved to have Horatio teach their lessons. He was by far the most popular teacher. He always made the lesson come alive for the students. I once told him he should have been an actor after I had watched him give a lesson on animals that were not with us in the valley, but may have survived somewhere outside the valley. He was so comical when he talked about the alligators of the Florida swamps. He made the children laugh, but then he became serious and told them that this animal was very dangerous and that they were not to be played with. Eric was with him that day and he told how he used to have to dive in the canales that were in Miami and that many times Horatio was his gun man. That meant that he watched out for the alligators.
We rotated teaching the students with each of the teachers. We involved people from the community; many of the people that had come to live in the valley had so much knowledge to give to others. Also we had to show the children that life within the community would mean that choosing what they wanted to do in life would have some limitations that the adults had not had when they were the children’s age.
The students were separated into 4 groups. Each group had a teacher and at least one member of the community who would participate in the lesson for the class that day. Students ranged in age from 5 to 15 in the class room. When a student turned 16 they would go in an apprentice program and each year they would choose a job type to work at for one year. They would do this year rotation until they found what it was they wanted to do. This being our fourth year in the valley we had a few young people that had been in the apprentice program long enough to choose what it was they wanted to do.
However we did have an exception right from the beginning. His name was Carlton Riser. He asked for an apprenticeship as a librarian, where he had stayed for three years. He read books on all kinds of subjects and we found him to have a photographic memory. He had stayed there for three years at the end of his third year he told us he wanted to work with the MIT group. “I know that my mind absorbs information and doesn’t let it go now I want to see if I can put that information into practical uses.” He did tell Horatio that he loved forensic science and wanted him to continue teaching him about it. To which Horatio told him he would be glad to help him learn. He told him that he needed to learn chemistry to which the MIT group would be a good place to learn it at.
Carlton would come to our cabin on Friday evenings and stay until Sunday evenings. He worked with Horatio and others of the MDPD CSI team to learn the art of forensic science. One day he ask Horatio why they, the CSI team; didn’t still use the labs and things. Horatio looked at the young man and smiled as he answered. “Son, when we were a CSI team we had to investigate crime and there just isn’t enough of that here to warrant us to form a CSI. I hope there never is.”
Julie James was one of the people in the community that had an art to teach people. Her hobby before the war had been pottery. We had been able to get her set up with a small art studio close to the school. It not only included three pottery wheels but three kilns. Every week the students had one full class cycle in the art building. Many of the women knew how to sew, so when we found a few sewing machines, twelve to be exact; we kept them in the art building. Anyone that wanted to use them could just by signing up. Some of the ladies were very good and they often would come to the art building just to help teach others how to sew and mend. Even some of the boys learned this art. We had found that two people in the community had knowledge of glass blowing, but the materials were not available to them. So we had put on the list of forays to find the materials to start a glass blowing area. Also included in the arts building was the knowledge of how to make paints for making pictures.
Now as to the art of music we had so many people in the valley that knew how to play instruments that any time of foray went out they had a list of musical instruments to look for. We were in luck in that we had a number of people that could teach music to others. An early foray had found a video story and brought back a lot of movies. Also we had found a small college and had brought back as many of the books that we could find that were still intact. We had found the band department packed with instruments and uniforms, which we brought back. The drama department had a number of copies of plays and even a wardrobe department. All of which we brought back to the valley. The arts would not be forgotten. The children would often tell us that they wanted to do a play. So we did put on plays twice a year that the students were in.
Once a month was a designated entertainment night for the entire community. It would start with a meal at 5pm and end about 11pm. The MIT group had found some large flat screen panel TV’s and had set them up in several of the larger spaces to hold up to 100 people at a time. This meant that we could run up to five different movies at the same time. Not everyone would watch movies, some just like to sit around and talk with others in the community that they had little time with during the month. A small group of the community often would put on a play in the town meeting hall during the meal time.
This month instead of movies the whole evening was a play, ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Calleigh played Juliet to Ryan playing Romeo. Horatio played the friar; I was cast as Juliet’s nurse. Brain & Julie James play the Capulets.
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Post by iluvcsi on Feb 21, 2007 9:12:46 GMT -10
Wow, Regina.....you are writing faster than I can read! Love the twists, love the story.... Chris
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Post by Lian on Feb 21, 2007 9:53:25 GMT -10
OH wow, Regina....you are so good...I'd buy your books anytime if you write them. Lian
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Post by sanne on Feb 21, 2007 10:04:26 GMT -10
Wow, great story. Hope there is much more to come
Sanne
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Post by pheonix on Feb 21, 2007 11:15:28 GMT -10
wow i donrt know what to say Regina other wow this story is fantastic to read thnx and cant wait for the next chaper im looking forward to finding out how Kates and Horatios baby is doing, and how big the bump is now.lol
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