ATF Untold - Annie (R)

She was shaking when she let herself into the diner.  Jonesy looked up.  "You sick?" he asked quickly, the fear obvious in his voice.

She shook her head, her arms around her body.

"What?"

"My, my neighbor, Mrs. Belzer, she was the last one left in the building with me.  I hadn't seen her in a few days, but I thought maybe she had gone to her daughter's or . . . "

"Yeah?"

"She was, was dead, in her apartment.  Just across the hall from me and I didn't . . . she'd, she'd just dissolved."

Jonesy grimaced but nodded.  He'd seen too many people in the same state in the last couple of weeks.  "There's almost no one getting out if they are still . . .  The supply truck didn't come in today.  We're down to a couple of day's worth of goods."

Annie's eyes widened.  "Are you gonna close the place?  I don't . . . " she almost said 'have anywhere to go' but that wasn't something she wanted to say to Jonesy.  Besides, he probably already knew it.

She was slight, with big brown eyes and brown hair that she pulled back into a ponytail when she was at work.  The fact that her hair was thick and naturally curly never registered to her.  She wore no makeup and had almost no curves.  The uniform she wore in the diner always seemed too big for her, and she was extremely shy which amused most of her customers. 

Jonesy turned away, then back to her.  "You, uh, you don't want to go back to your place tonight, do you?"

She looked down, studying her sneakers.  "I don't . . . "

"Yeah, I wouldn't either.  Look, I've got a couple of rooms upstairs.  I live around the corner now, so I don't use them for anything much.  They're furnished, kinda.   If, you know, if you want to move in, you wouldn't have to walk to work and I got better locks than most places."

She glanced up.  He wasn't usually nice to her, but she was a good worker and never missed her shift.  Right now she was the only one he could count on to still show up, maybe the only one alive.  "Really?"

"Yeah.  We'll probably close up early and you can grab your stuff before dark."  He watched her reaction to going back to her place, even for just a short time.

"How much is the rent?" she asked carefully.

He chuckled then.  "I'll dock your pay or something.  It'll be okay."

After a moment she nodded.  She would feel safer here, around people.  The town seemed nearly deserted between the deaths and the people that had run, so even having someone like Jonesy close would be welcome.

Only a few customers came in, and they were all the familiar ones that lived nearby.    Nothing was cooked until ordered, so the wait was longer but no one minded.  There was nowhere else to go.  The stores were closed; the textile factory was shut down with not enough workers to keep it going.

After the lunch 'rush' was over, Jonesy sent her off to get her things.  She hated to go alone, but it was daylight and it wasn't going to take her long.  She didn't have that many clothes and the apartment she rented there was furnished as well.  She'd slipped upstairs over the diner to check out the room and had been surprised to find some fairly decent, though mismatched furniture there.   Jonesy must have lived there before he got his apartment. 

The place needed airing out and a good cleaning.  It was smaller than her place of course, but there was a full bath and a small alcove that could be called a kitchen.  Of course there was the full kitchen downstairs, so that wasn't an issue.  There was only a single bed with a small dresser and closet, but it was more than enough space for her and she wouldn't be alone anymore.

Jonesy let her take the dolly from the diner to help load her stuff up, so that she could bring her clothes back in one trip.  She raced to get everything together and even made room for some of the paperback books she had bought at the used book store down the street.  She hurried back through the deserted streets, knowing that there were people watching from some of the windows, but no one approached.  No one knew if whatever had killed everyone was still contagious, but no chances were taken.

Jonesy actually helped her carry her suitcase and boxes upstairs.  She spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning and unpacking.  She really did feel better about staying here, with someone close by.

That night was quiet and she slept the best night's sleep she'd had since the dying had begun.  She headed downstairs to find that Jonesy had opened up for breakfast.  He smiled at her, another first, and offered her a cup of coffee.

"Thanks, and thanks for the room.  It's really perfect for me."

"Good, and I'll feel better knowing someone's here, helping keep an eye on the place."

She nodded and added a single packet of sugar to her coffee.  She'd like to have more, but like Jonesy had said, there was no way of knowing when the next supply truck would come.

There were fewer people there for lunch that day, which was good and bad.  They used fewer supplies, but did that mean there were less people?

When she finally went upstairs for the evening, Jonesy stayed to do a little more inventory and lock up.  She was almost asleep when she heard the disturbance.  Oh god, nothing could happen to Jonesy!  She grabbed her robe and picked up one of the cinder block pieces she used as a bookend, then moved quietly towards the stairs.

She was stunned to see Jonesy with a shotgun in his hands, and three young boys up against the wall.  "Meet our thieves," he said without looking around at Annie.  "I knew someone was trying to break in last night, but I wasn't expecting kids.  I'd really hate to hurt you guys, but I will if we don't reach an agreement."

"A-agree - "

"Yep.  You think stealing from me would be a good thing?"

"We were hungry."

Annie watched them, her eyes darting between the four of them, but the cinder block now was down at her side.  "Where are your parents?" Annie asked.

The middle glanced over at her.  "Dead."

She looked down, then said quietly, "Sorry."

"So you guys are on your own?"  Jonesy asked, watching them closely.

"We're doing okay," the tallest one said defiantly.

"Yeah, it sure looks like it," Jonesy said. 

Annie glanced over at him and he actually shut up.  "You don't have any adults?"  Not that she really considered herself one, but she was older than these guys.

"It's not a big deal.  My parents weren't around when they were around."

Annie didn't say anything to that.  If her mother could be believed, her father had taken off when she was a baby.  At least she had no memory of him.  Her mother had taken off when she was fourteen, the alcohol more important than the daughter.  Her aunt had grudgingly kept her for a couple of years, then she'd found another guy and Annie had become too 'in the way'.  That's when she'd quit school and gotten this job.  She'd been here nearly a year.  She hadn't been wanted, by anyone, and now she was too dumb to even finish high school.  Occasionally she thought about getting her GED, or she had before all of this, but the only class she'd been good at was English.  She did love to read and she did okay on adding up her tickets here, but algebra and geometry and chemistry . . . no way.

"Okay, you're hungry," Jonesy growled, bringing her back to the present.  "You can't steal my food."

"We don't have any money."

"What's your name?" Annie asked.

"I'm Hank," the tall one told him.  "This is Jerry and Mick."

"Yeah, pleased to meet you," Jonesy rolled his eyes.  "Come on in here."  He motioned with the shotgun and the three boys, the oldest couldn't be more than fifteen, did as they were instructed.  "Annie, why don't you fix them some burgers?"

All four of them goggled at the man, then Annie moved quickly to the kitchen to start cooking.  The boys took a seat at the bar and Jonesy leaned against it, his back to the windows.  He'd already drawn the blinds for the night.

"Where do you guys live?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Cause I'm feeding you and I want to know where you came from."

"We're staying at my stepfather's house, down on 3rd."  It was Hank talking.  "We ran out of food, so," he shrugged.

"Yeah, I got that part.  Don't suppose you have any money."  They all three looked up at him.  "Didn't think so.  I guess you're going to have to work this meal off."

"What?  Washin' dishes or something?"

"No.  I need some strong backs and you three just applied."  Annie just listened as she flipped the burgers and began toasting the buns.  "We're gonna change the place around.   Annie, listen up.  No more orders, we can't do that with limited supplies.  We're gonna fix a meal, like ham or meatloaf and that's what we'll serve.  Money doesn't seem to be much use anymore, so we're switching to barter.  Before they get things going again, we're gonna have our own department store."

"You serious, man?" Hank looked up at him.

"Why not?  We just need to get all the food we can and store it here."

"From where?" Annie finally spoke.

"With these three, I can bring back a lot more from the markets around here.  We've got that walk in freezer and pretty good storage.  If we need to, we can knock a hole in the wall and use the store next door.  They're all gone anyway."

Annie kept quiet.  He was right, there were people still here, but the majority of the town had left or, or died.  Jonesy was watching her, so she nodded, as she placed the food in front of the boys.  They ate with relish and obvious hunger.

Jonesy kept quiet until they were finished.  "Okay, payment time."

"What, now?"

"Yeah, now.  Tonight we'll only go to that little market on 4th.  Come on."

The boys didn't argue after that, Jonesy still held the shotgun, though it wasn't pointed at them currently.

"Annie, you wait here.  Keep everything locked, we'll come in the back."

"Jonesy - "

"We won't be long."

Without another word, Jonesy herded the boys out ahead of him and motioned for Annie to lock the door behind them.  They were back quicker than she had thought, each pushing one full cart while pulling another.  She actually smiled at the cart that was completely filled with boxes of macaroni and cheese.  Jonesy had the meat in his cart, but they had gotten a lot more food than she had expected.  They quickly unloaded the carts and got the perishables put away. 

"We can do the rest tomorrow.  You guys can sleep upstairs and we'll get you settled in tomorrow."

"We have to stay here?" It was the first thing she'd heard Mick say.

"It's dark.  You don't want to walk all the way back over to 3^rd," Annie spoke then.  "It'll be okay.  I sleep upstairs too."

For some reason that did seem to relieve the boys and they followed her upstairs leaving Jonesy to lock up.

 

The next morning she made meatloaf and the mac and cheese.  They didn't open for breakfast, but lunch brought in a several people.  Jonesy explained the new rules to them and to Annie's surprise, no one seemed to find it that odd. 

After explaining it to the lunch 'crowd' Jonesy lettered a sign and put it in the window.  A few more people came in and had dinner with them, bringing things like liquor and canned food they didn't especially like.

The next day brought more and people hung around to talk.  What disappointed Annie was there were no girls or young women near her age.  Either they were too afraid to come out or they'd all left.  There were several older women who made a point to speak to her.  Maybe more would show up.

It didn't happen.  Though more people came to the diner for lunch and dinner, they were invariably men.  Over the weeks, the boys and Jonesy had stripped the markets in a wide area around the diner and had begun checking the empty apartments for supplies.

Jonesy had taken over the store front next to the diner as a store room. 

Refugees were the next to arrive, but not nearly as many as Jonesy had been worried about.  Most seemed to be passing through, trying to find relatives or friends, but a few took up in the deserted homes.  They came to Jonesy then, to find out what was what, get some supplies and invariably seeds.  Kitchen gardens were showing up everywhere thanks to some of the old timers that were still around and had been through hard times before.  Since no one had cash, and it wasn't worth anything anyway, Jonesy set up a banking system.

Jonesy might not be her favorite person, but he certainly seemed to know how to make himself more secure and since she had been with him from the beginning of this mess, he seemed to feel like she belonged.  People taking seeds had to sign a contract to return a portion of their crop if they didn't have trade goods.  The boys kept an eye on things now, fully integrated into Jonesy's enterprise.

*****

Annie didn't especially like the look of the man talking to Jonesy.  He looked like someone just passing through and she hoped she was right.  Why did he keep watching her?  It was creepy.

"Is she yours?" The new man was speaking quietly to Jonesy, but watching Annie.

"She works for me," Jonesy replied, not quite meeting his eyes.

The stranger rubbed the scruff of his face.  "I haven't seen a girl in weeks."

"Yeah, we don't have many come in here."  They'd had none, but he didn't want to admit that.

"What's the charge for her?"

"I haven't . . . "

The stranger turned to stare at him then.  "She's not on the menu?  Hell, she's probably the biggest money maker you've got in the place.  I'm not used to going without this long."

Jonesy took in his appearance, maybe that had been true before, but it had been awhile since this guy had cleaned up.  He hadn't asked for the hot shower service yet, but maybe he would.  The refugees were the reason Jonesy had set it up - hot shower, clean towels, soap and shampoo - that was a 'money-maker'.

"It'd be worth something to me, for a little ride."

"What are you talking about?"  It was obvious Jonesy didn't mean what activity.

"I got nearly a full box of shells, store bought, not refilled, I'd give you for some time with that little filly."

Jonesy stood silent at that.  A box of shells?  That was certainly more than he had imagined for the girl.  Of course he saw her every day and maybe he hadn't registered how rare that was for the general populace now.  Besides he'd known the girl over a year.  She hadn't even been eighteen when she'd started working here.  He didn't know if she had any experience, though he doubted it.  A box of shells . . . He might need those shells to keep her safe or keep the diner safe and she understood how precarious everything was now.   They were getting refugees, all men as far as he could see and things could easily deteriorate.

"Let me think about it," Jonesy said, glancing at the oblivious Annie through the kitchen cutout.

When the lunch rush was over, Jonesy sent the boys into the kitchen to clean up and pulled Annie aside.  "There's something I need for you to do."

"Okay." she looked up but he wasn't facing her.  "What?"

"Look, we all have to do our part to keep things going, to make sure we're all safe.  You know that."

"Well, yeah."  What was he talking about?

"There's a guy here, he wants, he wants your company for a little while this evening."

"My, my company?"

Jonesy studied the door into the kitchen.  "Uh, yeah, you know."

"No, I don't know.  What are you talking about?"

Jonesy took her elbow then and pulled her farther away from the few remaining customers.  "He hasn't been with a woman for - "

Annie tugged trying to get her elbow from his grip, her eyes wide in disbelief.  "No!  You're not serious."

"Look, keep your voice down.   Annie, we're vulnerable here.  We have to keep our customers happy.  You live here under my roof as a safety measure.  You know you're safer here than anywhere else.  The boys and I need you to do this."

"The boys - "  How would having sex, she had no illusions about 'company' keep anyone safe?

"If he doesn't get what he wants, he could get very angry.  All of our supplies are in this building.  He could take us all out if - "

"Send him away!  You have a gun."

"So does he.  And I'd wager he's a better shot.  Hell, he could set fire to the place.  Annie, it's not that big a deal.  You're not a, a virgin?"

Her face was scarlet at the question, but she nodded.

Jonesy closed his eyes for a moment, but he'd convinced himself this was necessary and he really wanted that box of shells.  "Look, you live here free of charge, you're eating free of charge, this one little thing can help us all out.  I'm not asking you to marry the dude, just, just be friendly to him tonight.  If you can't help us out, maybe you better find another place to live."

Startled at his sudden anger, she stepped back.  Throw her out?  Her fear nearly overwhelmed her.  If she didn't have sex with this guy she would lose her job and her home?  "Are, are you . . . " she couldn't even ask, she knew he was serious and he wouldn't look at her at all now.

"It's not that big a deal," Jonesy repeated.  "It's just this one time.  Go on up to your room.  I'll send him up.  Go on, now."  His voice was hard and, shaking, Annie did as he ordered, more in shock than anything else.

*****