Ash Holloway
Location: Medical Garden (10)
It was a mild mental stutter, hearing Thana refer to James as "that hick". Perhaps there was something he missed in conversation earlier; it wouldn't have been the first time. Hell, it wouldn't have been the first time
today. As it turned out, Ash did have some of James's notes, tucked into the back of his belt, but he meant to peruse them before handing them over.
"He did. At least I think he did." He reached behind him and produced the two notebooks from behind himself.
"He handed these to me as he was leaving. Wanted to make sure Newnan knew where it had come from, agriculturally speaking, and hopefully where he lay his plans for its future. I had hoped to give them a once-over, but I see no reason we can't look at them together." Ash listened closely to what Thana was saying, mostly because he was interested in what she had to say about their present situation with the Garden, but partly just because he liked the sound of her voice. It was enrapturing, but still very professional.
"Absolutely, we have those things on hand, Thana. Some can be found around here, but mostly we're going to want to hit Agricultural Storage, just to the side of our crop area. Probably get a wheelbarrow there, too. We can head that way now, if you're inclined, or you can make a list and have your new staff bring them to you." Their new Agriculture Lead was certainly getting into things quickly. The very least Ash could do was lend his support, and besides, there was no way that a key was getting copied until after the machine shop was cleaned up and someone reported in. That might be a ways of, and he could think of no better company to keep in the meantime.
...tonight's feature presentation...
Episode 58: "The Phone Call"
Thalia Carmichael and James Mandingo Grady
Lola Holler as "The Kiwi"
Is anyone answering? That was a hell of a question. Thalia lowered her seat out of the turret proper and leaned over to Lola instinctively so that she might share in what was one of the more momentous occasions of the season, even moreso than when they ran across that abandoned but virtually untouched Stop n' Shop a couple of months back. In a quiet voice, she responded,
"Ha fucking ha. No, no one's answered. You'll know the second I say "Hello", okay Lola?" There was irritation in her voice, mostly because she didn't want to miss the first few words in a conversation that hadn't happened yet because of (understandably) anxious questions.
Lola leaned in a bit. She felt like a teenager again, almost like making a prank call and not wanting people to hear them. Then came the words from above the tank. Oh yeah, they had a passenger.
"Nunya," she laughed as she looked up and then back over towards Thalia. Half of her wanted to shout out that they were making a phone call but this was Thalia's thing and she wasn't about to go spilling the beans.
"Fine, fine, fine," she said as she tried to press her ear to the side of the phone with her mate. God, three way calling would have made this a hell of a lot easier.
At the warehouse, things were a little more chaotic. James had brought down the tailgate and was climbing up into the bed of his Silverado, determined to put his little "ghost" incident behind him. It was just stress. Stress was natural after you have to put down two of your friends before they turned into snarling undead and ate more people, then get exiled from the only place you'd called home in years for cold murdering the man you felt was responsible for their deaths in the first place.
These things happen. If he had to admit it to himself, he might mention that his starry, homespun optimism had taken a bit of a beating. But damnit, James was going to see this through. If by some miracle they all survived the day, this particular blackneck was going to hold his friends close to him, keep them safe and fed to the best of his proven ability. Part of that involved getting his plan underway, the first section of that being taking stock of their supplies, both in his truck and in that houseboat, both.
The plan got shuffled as Gavin, good natured though he was, jumped the gun on James's plan just a little bit by insisting they discuss their plans sooner than he would have preferred. This provoked an understandable response from Ryan that James was about to address until he spoke his next words, mentioning a phone. James halted, his own ears picking something not quite usual coming from the back of his truck.
"Naw, you ain't crazy..." he said with some wonder.
"Alicia!" Not that he thought it was her, but the last time he heard that noise, it was when he was with her. It came from her...
"Sat phone!" he called. James scrambled to find the unexpected device before the sound went away, carelessly sliding things hither and yon until he came upon the source of the repeating tones, a simple, black cased satellite phone with a nearly full charge, indeed receiving a call from a contact labeled "Ăngel - Prima". James's hands shook slightly as he lifted the phone to his ear, pushing the Answer button.
"Um... Hello?" It felt weird speaking into a phone again.
Lola nearly jumped out of her skin as her ear pressed to part of the phone so she could hear. At the sound of James voice she leaped up and banged her head against the top of the tank. Rubbing it but laughing manically,
"Holy fuck, who the fuck, did you hear that fuck? How the fuck? Fuckingly fuck fuck!" On the other side of Newnan, to the north, Thalia was just as nervous as James. Maybe more. Someone actually picked up. But on top of that, what surprised the absolute hell out of her was the fact that, though she had called Alicia's number, the person who answered sounded nothing like her. A couple of seconds ticked by before she could answer with firm voice. But it was a very firm voice.
"Thalia Carmichael, MSS Boston office. To whom am I speaking?" It sounded quite businesslike. Thalia had half expected her cousin to answer, or at least
someone formerly attached to the company. She looked expectantly to Lola, motioning to her friend and the phone, curious as to whether she wanted to be introduced.
Slipping back down to Thalia, Lola half grabbed the phone and her companions hand, pulling the thing close to her mouth.
"And me, and me! Sgt. Lola Rebekah Holler, New Zealand Army, Kiwi extraordinaire!" she bellowed into the phone laughing as she gave a salute. Like he could see the salute but she didn't care, she saluted nonetheless.
"I'm James, ma'am. And, um... ma'am." he answered with some confusion apparent, though his voice began to raise with his trademark optimism.
"That's James Mandingo Grady, ma'am-and-ma'am! Veteran Hog Hunter and backwoods Folk Legend! Yes, the one and only Black James (on the tout and suite of thangs) formerly outta Lee County, Georgia and parts beyond! Hells yeah, is it good to hear from somebody! Whoo!" Either he was really going crazy now and was just running with it, or this might be a stroke of good luck.
Lola's eyes moved over to Thalia. That was one hell of an introduction but it really didn't seem to answer Thalia's question in Lola's mind. It was odd, what was this person babbling about.
"What the fuck is a Black James? Is that like that fucking Spotted Dick them Brits eat?" she asked half confused, half serious.
Over in the tank, Thalia looked from Lola to her phone, and her phone back to Lola. The next few seconds were spent wondering precisely what the hell was wrong with everyone she's come across since leaving Fairburn.
"Um, yeah." The lack of rat's asses to give was apparent in her voice. Then a very negative thought struck, and the stern Security Specialist in her came to the forefront.
"Are you with the company, James? Or are you some asshole who pried useful electronics out of the wrong person's hands?" Thalia had long suspected that her family might be deceased. Simple question of odds and numbers; the per capita number of jackasses and Zeds vastly outnumbered decent folk anymore. Thalia covered the receiver and whispered to Lola,
"If this is just some fuckwit that got in a lucky shot and killed Prima for her shit, there will be hell to pay. I need to see his eyes when he tells me." The kiwi nodded and rolled onto her back side as she sat down and pulled her knees up to her chest. Rocking back and forth like some demented crazy that was in a straitjacket the others just couldn't see.
"Well, I do have a tank." This was a common line from Lola, it essentially meant that she could run over people if needed. She had no qualms running over some spotted dick for Jet.
The change in the tone of the conversation was most definitely noted by James. His voice came down from its more euphoric high to something more sobering.
"Naw, sweetness. I ain't with yo Company. This here phone belonged to one o' the best friends I had in my life, an' you can believe that." The voice on the other end of the line answered with the tiniest hint of emotion, presumably because of his use of wordage in the past tense.
"No, Mr. Grady. I really can't believe that, or anything else you're saying right now. I don't know you. Fuck happened to my Prima, James?" Back in the tank, tears were welling in Thalia's eyes.
"Jet... what's wrong?" Lola asked quickly as she leaned forward. Tears were not exactly an action she was used to Thalia executing.
This man - this
stranger - was about to tell her something she long believed was an overwhelming possibility. For a second, she clung onto the hope that he was going to mention someone other than her cousin, that someone else happened upon the phone stashed someplace, and her family was still alright. A tiny, misplaced hope that a young girl might tell herself, not the pragmatic and hardened woman she was now. She was already shoving it back down when he heard the odd twang of his Georgia rural accent rolling gently through the speaker,
"Sorry girl. I don't know no Prima. Lady this belonged to, name was Alicia." The next few seconds saw Thalia slumped in her chair, soundless tears running from her eyes. Lola leaned in more, resting her hand on Thalia's shoulder and looking over her friend with concern in her eyes as her lips thinned. Her face was otherwise emotionless. The phone issued a single-word question masquerading as a salutation.
"Hello?" Looking down at the phone Lola took it away and put it to her ear as her eye narrowed.
"Alright ya spotted dick, what the fuck did ya just say to send my mate into shock?" she hissed into the phone.
It hadn't immediately occurred to James, but hindsight was smacking him for his lack of consideration. If someone was calling the phone in his hand, especially if their name was already programmed in as a contact, they had to know each other from Before. There was momentary doubt about that name, seeing that it showed as "Angel Prima" and the woman introduced herself as "Thalia". Must be a handle or a nickname, he reasoned. James knew he was moving into uncomfortable territory. He addressed Lola with this in mind.
"Aw shit, Sergeant... This lookin' all kinds o' personal." "...I'm fine, Lola..." Thalia's words were low and quiet. She had been bracing for this for quite some time, but actually hearing words describing her familia like they were gone, casually. If this man truly knew Alicia and they were friends, it must have been some time since she was referred to in the present.
Back on the phone, James was trying to find a way to tell the foul-mouthed Kiwi and the equally foul-mouthed Bostonian that someone probably very close to them was dead. The thought crossed his mind that they probably didn't know that her father was dead, too. This was not going to be easy.
"Look, hon... This ain't a talk for over the phone. Maybe we ought meet up, if'n we're not too far out. Talk in person." The problem being, they were on satellite phones. For all James knew, the two of them were in Australia, trucking down the highway in search of wallabies to eat.
"Where you at?" "He wants to know where the fuck we are..." Lola said in a hushed voice as she covered the receiver of the phone. Oh she wasn't havin' none of that shit. If this man was already causing her best mate to produce tears, something until that moment Lola wasn't even sure that Thalia had been capable of. Fuck she wondered half the time if Thalia even had tear ducts. Now he wanted to know where they were? Oh, he could come. She's bowl his Black ass right on over.
"Some shit town of 85 S called Newnan. Where the fuck you be. Be more than happy to meet up with ya mate and get all this straightened out." Lola meant what she said but straightened out to her meant two things. Either find out exactly what happened or steam roll his ass over until he was flatter than a pancake on the asphalt.
"Newnan? You in Newnan? You can't be in Newnan!" James obviously lacked diversity in his thought process at the moment.
"We just come from Newnan! Now, if y'all're nearabouts Newnan, I can give you some directions in. Just one thing, little lady: Trust gotta come both ways. Answer me now; What name come up on my caller ID? It wasn't Lola an' it sure as hell ain't Thalia." "How da fuck I be knowing what name came up on the caller ID on the phone you are holding? What am I, Miss Cleo?" Lola quipped giving Thalia a look.
Thalia had recovered her composure, but she was undoubtedly crestfallen. She gave Lola a questioning look and reached out her hand for the phone. Lola shrugged a bit before speaking again.
"If you would hold a moment, a representative will be right with you," she said and handed the phone over to Thalia. With a dead tone, Thalia announced her presence on the phone by stating,
"Representative." "The hell, lady?" questioned James, thoroughly confused at this time. He shook his head, and repeated himself,
"What name come up on my caller ID, huh? If you two're tight with my Alicia, one of you is gonna know what she called you." Thalia sighed.
"Angel. It probably said Angel. Everyone in my family has calls me that. Called me that." "Uh huh. And what does "Prima" mean?" "It means "cousin", Mr. Grady. First cousin." There was more silence. James considered the implications of what she had said. The least he could do was give it a chance, let this woman know what happened before he ran off and probably got himself killed.
"I'm real sorry, hon. There's more you need know. Tell you what, how 'bout you folk come our way? We about a mile outside Newnan proper; lemme know where you guys're at and stay on the line, I'll lead you right in. We good?" He quickly added,
"Any shady business though, we gonna have us a different kinda meetin'. Feel me?" Her mournful nature aside, Thalia had to suppress a smile. If they meant anything shady, Mr. James would have his different kind of meeting with the business end of a modified Stuart tank. Her more commanding presence was returning, as evident by her strength of tone,
"Yeah. Feel you." 
