lying in bed, too.”
Another laugh rang through the gym. Lefferts was a popular young man, as much for his boundless energy as anything else. Mike turned and pointed to Rebecca. “She and her father were almost massacred. Robbery, rape and murder—that’s standard operating procedure for the armies roaming this countryside.
“You don’t believe me?” he demanded. He gestured angrily at the door leading out of the gym. “Ask the farmer and his wife we barely kept alive. They’re not thirty yards from here, in the makeshift hospital we set up in the school. Go ahead, ask them!”
Simpson was still gobbling. Mike turned to him, snarling. “I guess this clown thinks we can keep those armies off by blowing hot air on them.”
Another roar of laughter. Most of the crowd was with him now, Mike could sense it. Rooting for the home team, if nothing else.
“Sure, we can fight them off for a while. We’ve got modern weapons, and with all the gun nuts living around here”—another mass laugh—“we’ve got the equipment and supplies to reload for months. So what? There’s still only a few hundred men who can fight. Less than that, once you figure out how much work’s got to be done.”
Now he pointed to Bill
Another laugh rang through the gym. Lefferts was a popular young man, as much for his boundless energy as anything else. Mike turned and pointed to Rebecca. “She and her father were almost massacred. Robbery, rape and murder—that’s standard operating procedure for the armies roaming this countryside.
“You don’t believe me?” he demanded. He gestured angrily at the door leading out of the gym. “Ask the farmer and his wife we barely kept alive. They’re not thirty yards from here, in the makeshift hospital we set up in the school. Go ahead, ask them!”
Simpson was still gobbling. Mike turned to him, snarling. “I guess this clown thinks we can keep those armies off by blowing hot air on them.”
Another roar of laughter. Most of the crowd was with him now, Mike could sense it. Rooting for the home team, if nothing else.
“Sure, we can fight them off for a while. We’ve got modern weapons, and with all the gun nuts living around here”—another mass laugh—“we’ve got the equipment and supplies to reload for months. So what? There’s still only a few hundred men who can fight. Less than that, once you figure out how much work’s got to be done.”
Now he pointed to Bill