While Darlene was getting her shower he Duncan decided to feed Pele.  And as it turned out 30 minutes was almost perfect timing.  He was just walking back in with the large bottle he used to feed the baby goat.  He was smiling a little and nodded to the girl as he walked over to the sink to rinse out the bottle and set it to soak. 

Before washing the bottle Duncan finally removed the left glove he normally wore.  That glove had gotten him teased early on in the school year at the Academy.  He had been nicknamed Duncan Jackson.  The rumor was that he had a bad scar there.  Now, for the first time, Darlene was allowed to see that scar.  The scar was about 2 inches long and had clearly been a blade punched through his hand.

He had been heaping a plate with a thick layer of white rice which he stuck in a small microwave. The lighting dimmed a little while he heated it. When he was done he added a heavy layer of deer stew. He pulled that out, then tossed in another smaller plate of rice while pulled out a couple small slabs of unidentified meat, and some very sharp Ginsu styled knives. It didn’t take long to realize they were for the … Sushi … heavy on the meat.

By the time the deer stew had finished he’d already made his sushi. He frowned, glanced up at the girl. “No avocado. I miss avocado.” He smiled and held up a finger, smiling again. “I’m working on that. Not so spicy imitation salmon that should be tuna with sriracha mayo. The Millers made the mistake of taking me out for Japanese. I distinctly recall them laughing over the ‘mistake’ of taking a teenage boy out for sushi. I guess the stuff was expensive. I’ve watched a video on how to make this stuff … but it is a work in progress. Mostly I make a mess.  If you don’t like it, leave the rest for me.  I am a human garbage disposal.  You are welcome to some of the sushi if you like - or deer stew.  Or if you just want some canned food…. Wait, if you are vegetarian I have some vegetables that need to be eaten up before they go bad.”

He spent the next 15 minutes trying to interspace talking to Talia while inhaling his food. But the brief time in which he wasn’t talking was enough for him to come up with an alternate plan.

“I have a better idea. Why don’t I drop you off at Tanger while I go and get the RV. I can come back and get you in about an hour. That should be plenty of ti-- … uhm .. time … All you need to get today is a couple outfits. We can always come back for more. You are going to want to see the peaches. I am not exaggerating their size. They aren’t the tiny, bitter things you see in grocery stores. Wait, I never actually mentioned them.  Softball sized.  And we can grab more strawberries. Probably some more fresh asparagus too, and tomatoes. Spinach may be ready too. I wanted to do broccoli and cauliflower, but that takes a lot of time and water. It is the single biggest reason I am considering a move to the Southeast. I am close to a decision point - Stay the winter and suffer another couple years without broccoli, having to start over with asparagus, and such. But if we were to move now, we have to start very, very soon. It will take at least a month to get ready. But we can think on that tomorrow. I almost hate to leave this place.”

Duncan chose to drive an 18 wheeler tractor to the mall, explaining that while Darlene was shopping for some new clothes and any other necessities he wouldn’t have thought of, he was going to grab a 5th wheel RV (the sort towed behind a pickup with a 5th wheel, not stand alone) and take it to the base camp and get it hooked up.  He figured he’d need an hour.  He handed Talia a contraption that resembled one of those electronic auto keys used in rentals.

“Invention my foster father and I developed.  It is a programmable skeleton key.  It will open any mechanical key lock - and store the pattern to make a spare.  Mom was NOT amused.  But we swore not to market it.  But we did consider the CIA.  Anyways, that will get you into any typical store or car.”  Of course, Duncan had no idea that Talia could pick locks.

Duncan dropped Darlene off, making sure she was well armed - a new Glock 17 police issue with 4 extra clips … and 6 flash bang grenades. He made it a point to do a drone scan before he left. That was more important than ever now. He had people to protect. He mused over the idea that men were hardwired for that role. 

While he finished waiting he decided to gather some flowers from the flora that grew around Tanger. Tanger Outlets was one of those malls that liked to spruce up their appearance with good landscaping. It was one of the reasons he had volunteered for this. He didn’t bother to explain the floral arrangement he had collected by the time Darlene was done. She would find out soon enough.

Without traffic, the 20 mile trip to the house where Duncan’s garden was, took very little time. And for the first time since they had met him he hardly spoke.  It was his turn to be quiet. It was a middle class neighborhood, all with landscaped yards, now starting to give way to nature. The house he pulled up in front of had the name MORAN on the mailbox. It wasn’t hard to figure out how he knew about the place.

The windows were boarded up and yellow tape with the words CRIME SCENE stretched across openings. Duncan grabbed the flowers wordlessly and calmly said, “Come on. You may as well see. Instead of simply taking them through the gate to the side yard, he used the front door. He had already removed the plywood on an earlier trip and turned it into a gate using hinges. He pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door.

The first thing they saw was the Den to their left as the entered the main hallway. It was a southwestern Spanish styled design, with wrought iron bars filling arches. Inside the room they could see it was filled with Turkish antique furniture with marble tops, a roll top desk, and lots and lots of shelving. The room was FILLED with teddy bears and dolls. There was also a collection of trolls. Every single one had a tag with a name, maker, and year. You could hardly walk in the room.

“My Mom - biological Mom was a collector - over 1500 each dolls and teddy bears. Compo, bisque, Steiff's, collector finds.” He set the flowers down and stepped in, glancing about, then picked up a few of the bears before stepping back out and taking his floral arrangement. “They were made for hugging. My Mom wouldn’t have objected.”

He then led Darlene further back. “The Plague hit before they could even put the house on the market.” There were white outlines of people and blood stains on the floor of the dining room that the entry hall opened into. To the left was the kitchen. There the story really unfolded. In a corner of the kitchen near the sink was another outline. On stands around the form were a few teddy bears. “Time for a changing of the guard, if you two don’t mind.” He smiled. “Mom was partial to Humphrey Beargart. One of her favorites.” He swapped the bears out and replaced the floral arrangement already there.

The reason Duncan had stuck around Albuquerque so long made perfect sense now.

He took a deep breath and let it out. “It happened before the Plague. Twelve members of a gang.” He stopped and shook his head. “No, I should back up. My brother was in a gang. I don’t know why, but a rival gang killed him - allegedly. His gang decided to recruit me - something I think he prevented for years. They never bothered me before that. I said No. The rival gang thought I said yes. I think my brother must have done something to piss them off, because they came after me here. Twelve of them. I managed to get my little brothers out the window of my bedroom in back. After that, the fight was on. I was the last one standing.

“Hardest part is that when people get sick, you get a chance to say good bye. When they get shot in the head, you don’t. But It HAS been over a year. Yes, I had some counseling. Yes, I had LOTS of dealings with the police. They suspected that I beat the living Hell out of my brother’s gang, but couldn’t prove it, or thought I had justifiable cause.” He smiled. “Guilty as Hell. Only fights I ever started.

“My Stepfather ended up in prison - Child Abuse and Child Abandonment. The abandonment charge was him throwing my then 14 year old sister out of the van on the Las Vegas strip and driving off. Never went back for her either. The Abuse, was the broken ribs and beating he gave me when he thought I was in a gang. Wasn’t the first beating. Those were a daily thing. But the broken ribs and punctured lung was new.

“You would think I’d be more withdrawn. But you can thank the Millers for that. They were more a family to me than I had had for a decade - even if it was only for a few months. Now you have an idea who I am and where I am from. This was my home before the Millers.  No, I don’t expect you to talk about stuff - not for a long time. I had counsellors, shrinks. That happens when you kill people - even in self defense. 

“Shall we go and see the Garden? This place is depressing. You are going to love this stuff though. Feel free to grab and eat.”