The Encampment

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Davie opened his eyes when he heard Maddox say, “Home sweet home, at least for now.”

It was just after sunrise Monday morning and the truck was parked in a wide space at the end of a narrow dirt road.

Ahead of them, Davie saw what looked like his idea of a summer boys’ camp. Not that he’d ever been to one, but he’d seen something similar in a couple of movies. There were weather-beaten cabins set in front of the trees that surrounded a small grassy area. In the center of it were several tables under a canvas canopy.

Behind where they were parked was a fence with a gate, closed now although Davie knew Maddox must have opened it to drive into the Encampment. Probably electronically he figured, since he thought he’d have noticed if the truck had stopped for Maddox to get out.

“Boy Scouts are us, although I’m a bit old to be one,” Davie said, uncertain if he liked the idea.

Maddox laughed. “It’s not as rustic as it looks. A lot of this is camouflage to keep anyone from knowing exactly what the Encampment really is. Grab your stuff and I’ll take you to your cabin.”

Since all Davie and Grey had were their backpacks with blankets strapped to them, it only took them a minute to sling them over their shoulders and follow Maddox to a cabin at the far side of the clearing.

“How many of us will be in here?” Davie asked as Maddox opened the door. He expected to see several beds lined up along the walls the way they were at a couple of shelters he’d crashed at when he first left home.

“You and Grey,” Maddox said.

“Are you shitting me?” Davie replied—both to what Maddox had said and to what he saw when they went inside.

The cabin was broken into three small rooms. One was a living-dining room with a mini-kitchen at one side that had a small fridge with a two-burner stove-oven combo next to it. There was a fireplace between two of the windows. Off the main room were three doors. Two belonged to tiny bedrooms barely large enough for a single bed and a dresser. Between them was the bathroom with a shower, sink, and toilet.

“This beats the hell out of…well, anywhere I’ve stayed since I left home,” Grey said, a wide smile on his face.

“Are all the cabins like this?” Davie asked.

“The majority of them are doubles,” Maddox replied. “The rest are singles because some guys aren’t comfortable sharing with someone they don’t know.”

“I can see that,” Davie said. “I’m not sure I’d want to, if I didn’t know Grey.”

“Exactly. For now, why don’t you unpack and make yourself at home. There’s food in the cupboards and fridge. Nothing fancy but probably better than you’ve been eating.”

“What wouldn’t be?” Grey said with a brief grin.

“Where does all this come from and who pays for it?” Davie asked.

“We have a few supporters,” Maddox replied. “Men who used to live the way you guys have been and managed to get off the streets and make something of their lives.”

“Including you?”

Maddox nodded.

“How…where does the water and electricity come from?”

“We’re connected to the electric grid thanks to two towns not too far from here, as the crow flies.” Maddox grinned. “A lot farther away if you have to drive to them. Water comes from cisterns which collect rain or snow. They’re on the roofs of each cabin.”

“That’s what the big tank is?”

“Yep. The water is run through a purifier then warmed by an electric heater after it leaves the cistern, even in the winter, but there’s a limited amount so be careful not to take long showers or you might run out. It does rain but not every day. If you do run out, you get to haul water from the stream.”

“I bet it’s not close, is it,” Grey said.

Maddox grinned. “About half a mile from here.”

“Sponge baths is me,” Grey muttered, getting laughs from Davie and Maddox.

“Okay, I’ll leave you to settle in. We have a general meeting every Monday, which is today, at ten. It happens at the tables you saw under the canopy, unless the snow is knee-high. Then we use my cabin. It’s the big one, two cabins over.”

Davie shuddered. He hadn’t considered the fact it probably snowed a lot, as high in the mountains as they were. “What about heat? Okay, that’s probably why the fireplace.”

Smiling as he went to the door, Maddox replied, “Got it in one.”

“This is not at all what I expected,” Davie said as soon as the door closed behind Maddox.

“Me, neither.” Grey picked up his pack, which he’d dropped on the sofa when they first came into the cabin. “Which bedroom do you want?”

“Either-or. Take your choice.”

Grey did, so Davie went into the other one. Unpacking took no time at all, considering how little he owned in the way of clothing. He was glad he’d stopped at a drop-in place the previous Friday to get a couple pairs of jeans and some hygiene kits. At least I can brush my teeth and wash up for a while. It made him wonder if there were towels and washcloths. The bed had sheets and a blanket, so maybe…Going into the bathroom, he checked the only place they could be which was under the sink. To his relief there was a pile of both. He took out a towel and washcloth, hanging them on the long bar next to the shower. He’d barely finished when Grey appeared.

“Two minds and all that,” Grey said, getting a set for himself when Davie showed him where they were. “It’s nice that they provide this stuff. Beats the shelters any day.”

Davie chuckled. “I think that’s the idea. Have you finished unpacking?” That got a laugh from Grey, so Davie said, “Yeah, not like it takes long. Feel like checking out the rest of the place?”

“Like meet and greet? Sure, why not.”

They left their cabin, heading for the clearing. When they reached it, two guys came out of one of the cabins. They stopped, looked at Grey and Davie, then held a whispered conversation before walking toward them.

“You’re new,” one guy said. “Welcome. I’m Jude and this is Fox, which by the way is his real name.”

“Thanks to my mom who likes X-Files,” Fox grumbled.

“Hey, it could be worse. Anyway, who are you two?” Jude asked. “Street names are okay if that’s what you want.”

Davie shrugged. “I never tagged myself with one. I’m just Davie.”

“And I’m Grey, with an ‘e’, not an ‘a’,” Grey told them. “But you know that, Fox.”

“How many other guys live here?” Davie asked, wondering what that was about but not asking. He’s probably one of the guys he told this Slade dude about.

“Let’s see, including you two an even dozen now,” Jude replied.

“That’s all?” Davie looked around. “Who has the rest of the cabins?”

“Maddox has one. So does Slade when he’s here. And then there’s—”

“Me,” someone said.

Davie turned and tried not to gasp. The man standing there was dressed in camouflage, had a rifle slung over one shoulder and a pistol in a holster at his waist. If that wasn’t enough to catch Davie’s attention, he was also tall and muscular, with dark hair tied back in a ponytail and piercing blue eyes. The fact that he looked to be in his mid to late thirties did not deter Davie from thinking he was as sexy as hell.

The man shook his head, saying with a trace of amusement, “You can stop staring like I’m the big, bad meanie, which I’m not. I’m harmless unless someone comes around looking to cause trouble for one of you. Then, well, these aren’t for show.” He tapped his weapons. “I’m Ran, by the way, short for Randal, and you are?”

“D…Davie, and he’s Grey,” Davie replied.

“Good to meet you both,” Ran said.

“Do you, umm, spend all day patrolling around here,” Grey asked, circling a finger to encompass the area.

“Nope. Normally, other than checking the fence for breaks, I only go out when our security setup lets me know there might be an intruder.”

“Huh?”

Ran explained. “The idea is to keep all of you guys safe, so we have perimeter security. The first line of defense is the fence. It’s electrified and has signs warning that this is a high security area. If that doesn’t stop a potential intruder, we have infrared and microwave sensors, well-concealed in the trees at the edge of the property, that let me know we might have unwanted company. When that happens, I take a look and deal with whoever it is.”

“How often does that happen?” Davie asked.

“More than I’d like, but usually it’s a nosy hiker or hunters who think they don’t have to obey the signs. I flash my badge, put a bug in their ear, and send them on their way. If it is someone looking for one of you guys, then I deal with them more forcefully. These—” he touched his guns, “—are a great deterrent.”

Davie didn’t like the idea someone might be able to find out where he, or any of the others, were, and said so.

“s**t happens,” Maddox said, coming over to where they were standing. “Yeah, not much comfort, I know, but it does. Only a few people know where the Encampment is other than me, Slade, and Ran—and the guys we’re protecting, of course, although you don’t know exactly where, just a general location. When one of you leaves, because you want to and we figure you’ll be safe if you do, we swear you to secrecy. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always work. It’s human nature to want to sound important and spending months or more here makes some guys feel special, in spite of the reason why they were here to begin with.”

“That’s why we have security,” Ran added. “Just in case.”

As they’d been talking, several other guys had come over. A few went directly to the tables, which reminded Davie that what Maddox had called the weekly meeting was probably about to start. Others stood, listening to the conversation. Now, one of them spoke up.

“I’m Ten, short for Tennyson.” He grimaced. “Don’t ask. Anyway, one of the guys, a friend of mine who used to live here, got hooked up with a pimp right after he hit the streets. Yeah, not a great idea but he did what he thought he had to, to survive. Anyway, he wanted out which wasn’t happening. He took a few beatings to reinforce the fact that he was the pimp’s property.” Ten shuddered. “Then he ran into Grey, who told him he knew someone who could help, so he ended up here. The problem was, somehow his pimp found out and sent two of his punks to bring him back. Ran dealt with them then went looking for the pimp.”

“Did you kill him?” Davie asked, not certain he wanted to know.

Ran shook his head. “I gave him a taste of his own medicine. By the time I finished he decided it might be a good idea to change careers if he didn’t want me paying him another visit. Last I heard, he was selling drugs back east somewhere. The kid Ten was talking about is back where he came from, living with foster parents and in school.”

“This doesn’t make me feel all that safe,” Davie said under his breath.

“It rarely happens,” Maddox assured him. “We’re very careful from the moment we find out about someone who needs our help until we bring them up here.”

“You only knew about me a few hours before you picked me and Grey up,” Davie pointed out.

Maddox looked at Grey, who nodded, and then said, “Grey is, well was, our eyes on the street. Him and a couple of other guys. He told Slade about how you saved him from those punks and afterward got the reputation for taking on anyone who went after other street kids. Slade was already considering offering you a place here; because the word was out on the street that someone needed to do something about you.”

“You’re shitting me!”

“Nope.” Maddox chuckled. “The good guys are sometimes the last to know that some people don’t appreciate them. Anyway, by that time Grey had also told Slade about…the guy’s your mother’s boyfriend, right?” When Davie nodded, Maddox continued. “When Grey told Slade about him, Slade decided it was time to get you out of town. When you insisted you wouldn’t leave without Grey, Slade was okay with that since the two of you are a team.”

Davie wasn’t certain if he should be upset with Grey for not being entirely truthful with him, or proud of him for what he’d been doing for Slade.

Before he could decide one of the guys asked, “Are you two, you know, a couple?”

“Only in Davie’s dreams,” Grey replied, bursting into laughter.

“As if,” Davie added, laughing, too. “I don’t dream about straight guys. Well, except maybe Jason Statham or one of the Hemsworths.” Or Ran? I better not. He’s probably married with three kids and a dog.

“Okay, gentlemen, shall we start the meeting?” Maddox suggested. When everyone was seated at the tables, he said, “We’ll begin with introductions since Davie’s new here. Most of you already know Grey.”

“I’m Ace,” a slender blond said. “I’m here because, like Ten’s friend, I got hooked up with the wrong people, though in my case it was a drug dealer. It took a while to realize I didn’t like what I was doing even though the money kept me in food and better clothes than what I could dig out of Dumpsters.” He sighed. “The problem was, I knew getting out wasn’t happening. Then someone pointed the finger at me when the cops started arresting other guys who worked for him.”

“I heard about it,” Grey said. “Told Slade, and we got him out of town as soon as possible.”

“Damned good thing, too, or I’d be dead now,” Ace said. “I won’t go into the hairy details other than to say it was a race to see if I’d make it to Maddox’s truck before two of the dealer’s punks got their hands on me.”

The rest of the guys introduced themselves, some relating stories about why they’d ended up at the Encampment, others remaining silent about it.

When everyone had finished, Maddox asked if any of them had business they wanted to discuss.

“We could use a second washing machine,” one of them said.

“Washing machine?” Davie asked.

The guy, Will if Davie remembered correctly, nodded. “I guess you haven’t had the grand tour yet. That cabin—” he pointed to a large one set off by itself, “—is for doing laundry and where they keep all the supplies we need for cleaning and what have you, rather than our cluttering up our cabins. There’s also a room like in some of the drop-in spots that has clothes we can have if we need them.”

“That’s great.”

“We’ve got a second machine on order,” Maddox said. “I should be able to pick it up early next week.”

Cheers went up from all the guys.

“Anything else?”

“What are the chances we can get some more interesting food?” a very skinny guy wanted to know. “I mean like maybe steaks and ice cream once in a while?”

“Lon, you ask that every week and the answer’s still the same. They’re not in the budget right now,” Maddox replied. “We buy what’s healthy, which is more important.”

“Steak’s healthy,” Lon protested. “And ice cream is good for my morale.”

“Tell you what. Whose birthday is next?” Maddox asked. When one of the guys shouted out that his was, Maddox said, “Okay, I’ll get steaks and ice cream to celebrate your special day, Buzz.”

That rated another round of cheers from everyone.

“Anything else?” Maddox asked. When the group remained silent, he said, “All right, meeting over. Coop, Pace, I need to see you in my cabin.”

“Uh oh, are they in trouble?” Davie asked Fox, who was sitting across from him.

“Naw. They help Maddox out with stuff sometimes.”

“Ah. Okay.” Davie wondered what that involved but figured if someone wanted him to know they’d tell him. Until then, he’d keep his questions to himself.