“Completely. We don’t blackmail people. We pay them for what they earn. Otherwise we’d be as bad as the ones we’re fighting.” Lucas thought for a moment. “What would it take to get the engine back to full running condition so it could haul most of the men?”
“I wouldn’t trust the shaft. We’d need a new one.”
“Any other locomotives like this we could reach in a day or two?”
Clark scratched his head. “There’s a couple of old ones in Redding. Don’t run, though. Probably rusting apart. Damn shame.”
“But could you remove this shaft and replace it with one of theirs?”
“Probably. I think one of them’s the same make.”
“If you patched the boiler from the inside, would it be as good as new?”
“I wouldn’t go that far, but it would be as good as any.”
“Then it would make more sense to get it up to speed and head to Redding with enough men to defend ourselves while you do the repair.”
Clark looked away. “No need to worry about Redding. We came through there. There’s nothing left.”
Lucas didn’t say anything for ten seconds. When he did, his voice was barely more than a growl. “That the gang’s MO? Kill everyone in their path?”
“Pretty much. Isn’t that how most of them operate?”
“I suppose.”
Clark remained seated. “What’s your deal? Why Utah?”
“It’s a first stop.”
“On the road to what?”
“Good question. The idea is to clear out all the bad guys who’ve taken over the country.”
Clark didn’t say anything for a moment. “Big idea.”
“It is. And not mine. But we have over six thousand men who’ve signed up, and I suspect more to follow, so we have the firepower to do it.”
“And then what?”
“One thing at a time. Hand over the cities to the residents and help them set up their own governments. There’s no reason that the worst of the bunch should be allowed to terrorize the rest and turn the country into hell on earth.”
“Just the way it seems it worked out. They’re the most vicious.”
“Maybe. But the collapse is over. It’s time to rebuild now.”
Clark studied Lucas and then rose. “I can see why your men would be willing to die for you.”
“You’ve got it wrong. They’re willing to die for their freedom, not for me.”
“Maybe. Or maybe after years of barely surviving, they want to be part of something bigger than themselves, and they’re willing to do anything to make that real.”
“Sure. That’s probably a big part. And a lot of them are tired of running scared. We beat a Chinese army invasion force back into the sea. We cleared a gang out of Salem before, and we’ve done it again. It feels good to win. So they want to be on the winning side. Human nature.” Lucas paused. “The question is, how about you?”
“I’ll work for the gold.”
Lucas nodded. “An honest answer. Nothing wrong with that.”
“I’m not ready for flag waving and parades just yet.”
“Nobody’s going to ask you to. Just fix the engine and get us to Salt Lake with as many men and their gear as possible.”
“It’s a tall order, but it can be done.”
“Then do it.”
Lucas’s next order of business was to send riders to Newport to let them know of their success in Seattle, and relay to them that they needed to pack up and come to Salem immediately. The combination of the inevitable radiation threat and the likelihood that the Chinese would return made setting down roots there pointless, and they would be better served to join with the Salem survivors and brave the trek to Utah with the main force.
Ruby offered to join the riders in order to overcome any objections, but Lucas was opposed. She confronted him with her hands on her hips once he’d given the six scouts their marching orders.
“They can’t sell it like I can, Lucas. You know that.”
“You’ve been through enough, haven’t you?”
“Trail’s no place for a woman? Is that it?”
“Not at all. It’s…look, why put yourself at more risk? Let them do the job.”
“You want Rosemary and her family to decide they prefer to stay in Newport? You’ve seen how stubborn Jet and Mary can be. And the rest of them are as bullheaded as…mules.”
“Which reminds me. Did you find your horse?”
Her eyes lit up. “I did! She looks fine. Like she wants to go on a trip. Raring for it.”
“I’ll bet.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “How about your mule? Jax?”
“He was there too. One big happy family. At least they didn’t cook him and eat him.”
“I imagine he was relieved.”
“He looked angry I’d abandoned him.”
“Kids these days.”
Ruby pursed her lips. “Lucas, you know me by now. I’m going with your men. You can’t stop me.”
Lucas sighed. “I suppose I do. Nothing you do surprises me anymore.”
“It’s for the best. I’ll be fine with those strapping young fighting men. You’ve nothing to worry about.”
He regarded her and couldn’t help but smile. “Maybe it wasn’t you I was worried about.”
Chapter 37
Provo, Utah
When the Shangri-La group finally arrived at Provo, it was after three weeks of hard travel, and it showed in their faces and their clothes. The procession stopped just outside the town walls, and Elliot wiped the trail dust from his white beard and rode the rest of the way to the main gate, where the guards met him with scowls.
“Quite a collection you’ve got there,” one of them said.
“We’ve come a long way. We sent envoys to let the council know we were coming.”
“The council?”
“Yes. We’re all that’s left of Shangri-La. You might have heard of it?”
The guard looked to the rest and then back at Elliot. “I’m afraid I can’t let you in. I don’t know anything about this.” His forehead crinkled. “I’ll send a rider to the council and let them handle it.”
“Fair enough,” Elliot agreed.
Forty-five minutes later, Thomas and Duke rode up to the barrier and dismounted. Thomas had a word with the guards, and they hauled the center panel of the barricade aside.
“Welcome. My name’s Thomas. I’m the spokesperson for the council. We decided two days ago to invite you to become members of our community, assuming you want to remain with us. If not, we’ll do everything we can to help you find suitable accommodations anywhere in our territory.”
Duke nodded. “I tried to radio you, but you’d gone dark.”
“We had to leave rather abruptly,” Elliot said, and shifted his attention to Thomas. “We can’t thank you enough. It was a long and arduous ride. Your hospitality is greatly appreciated.”
“We’ve already set aside an area that has been uninhabited since the collapse. But most of the homes are serviceable, and there’s water nearby.”
“That sounds wonderful. Thank you.”
“Tell your people that I’ll escort you to the neighborhood that will be your new home – unless you decide you want to set up camp somewhere else.”
“That won’t be an issue. We’re prepared to do whatever it takes to assimilate. We’re tired of living apart from our fellow man.”
“Good. We’ll welcome you with open arms.”
Thomas and Duke led the procession through town to a collection of track homes east of Orem, nestled beneath the foothills that loomed over the city like giant guardians. Curious residents waved to them as they passed, everyone friendly and open. When they finally arrived at the subdivision that was to be their new home, Thomas smiled at Elliot and walked him to the main street of the development.
“Seems fitting you name your new digs as you see fit. I think you’ll be comfortable. Once you’re settled in, I’ll introduce you to the
rest of the council, and you can meet your new neighbors in your own time.”
“This is a big step for everyone,” Elliot said. “We won’t let you down or make you regret your decision.”
“I’m sure you won’t. We can discuss logistics once you’ve had a chance to move in and rest. There’s no hurry.”
“I already told them why the move was necessary,” Duke said. “They’re up to speed.”
Elliot nodded. “We covered our tracks as best we could. It’s doubtful we’ll see any trouble.”
“Don’t worry about that. We’re well fortified against anything man or nature throws at us. Only a fool would attack Provo.”
“Unfortunately, as we’ve all seen, the world’s full of fools.”
“Too true,” Thomas agreed. “Let me take this opportunity to thank you for creating the vaccine and distributing it. Far above any call of duty I can think of.”
“No need. We’re happy to have been able to avert disaster. This country’s been through more than enough.”
“Duke can show you where the fresh water is and how the sewage system we’ve built works. Other than that, again, welcome. We’re glad to have you.”
Thomas left, and Duke gave Elliot, Arnold, and some of the engineering-oriented a short tour. He finished up by a ranch home that had a fresh coat of whitewash on it. “That one’s mine. I’ve been fixing it up already. It’s not bad, especially after living in truck stops and on the run for so long.”
“You’ll want to get some boards over those windows before winter arrives,” Elliot observed.
“Sure. But one thing at a time. There are enough empty houses I can pull some glass from that I’m not sweating it.” He snapped his fingers. “Oh, and I reached out to Luis and told him we were going to be resettling here. He’s debating making the trip. Should hear back from him shortly.”
“They have a radio here?”
“More like a half dozen. They’re better equipped than just about anywhere I’ve been. It’s almost like being back in the old world – except for the electricity and gas, of course.”
“But they have solar, right?”
“Of course. During the day it isn’t a problem, but the batteries are on their last legs. The temperature variations and age haven’t been their friend.”
“No, I don’t imagine they have.”
“One thing, though. You’re going to have to store your weaponry in their central arsenal. They don’t allow guns in the city limits except for hunting, and those you have to get permission for.”
“That’s fine. A welcome return to civilization.”
Elliot smiled at his people, who were already spreading through the neighborhood, laying claim to promising dwellings that caught their eyes. He saw Sierra, Eve, and Tim in the yard of a nearby house, and nodded approvingly. “You know what they say – you can choose your location, but you can’t choose your neighbors. Seems like that won’t be a problem.”
“Everyone’s been friendly and helpful. We’ll get along just fine.”
Elliot clapped Duke on the shoulder. “Of course we will. I want to thank you for riding all the way here and making our case for us. I’m sure it could have gone either way.”
“I expect it could. Some weren’t so sure this was a good idea, but in the end, they made the right decision.”
“Fortunate for us.”
“I’d say for everyone. It’s a good fit.”
Chapter 38
Redding, California
Clark braked the locomotive to a halt at the Redding station, and Lucas and his men descended from the pair of cars they’d occupied on the overnight trip south. It had taken them eighteen hours, the engine maintaining a sustainable twenty-two miles per hour the entire way, and the newly repaired boiler had shown no signs of problems, even as Clark increased the pressure to full intensity. He’d tested it after performing his proposed repairs and had pronounced the system sound, but as with all things post-collapse, everyone had been skeptical until its integrity was proven.
Clark dropped from the cab while the two fireman cleaned up, and walked to where Lucas was waiting with a hundred of his best, all armed to the teeth. He looked around slowly and shook his head.
“The place is a ghost town. They killed everyone. Even the animals they couldn’t immediately eat.”
“Makes me wish we had time to pay Sacramento a visit to return the favor,” Lucas said.
Clark nodded, and the lines in his face deepened. “I’d run you down there myself for free.”
“At some point I may take you up on that. But for now, let’s stick to the job at hand.”
“Agreed.”
Lucas had slowly grown to like the crusty engineer, even if he was a self-interested mercenary. He worked long hours without complaint and had a real knack for the mechanical side of railroading, as well as an obvious love for its history.
“This way,” Clark said.
“Half of you, stay here and guard the train,” Lucas ordered, and the men broke off to take defensive positions around the engine.
“Nothing but phantoms to shoot, I’m afraid,” Clark grumbled, and shuffled off in the direction of a low building to the side of the station.
Inside they found a pair of locomotives in disrepair, but not as bad as Clark had made out, at least to the untrained eye. He patted the side of one of the engines with real affection. “This could be the twin of ours.”
“Strip it of anything you can. Surely can’t hurt to have more spares on the trip.”
“Wish we could swap boilers, but that’s nigh impossible, given our tools.”
“It ran fine. You still concerned?” Lucas asked.
“We’re towing two cars. We’ll have thirty or more going over the mountains. So yes, I’m going to be concerned until we touch down in Salt Lake.”
“That’s fair,” Lucas agreed. “But so far the repairs have held, right?”
“They have. But my job is to be paranoid.”
“You’re good at it.”
Clark did a walk around, and then they returned to the train to get his tools and several wheeled carts to transport whatever he scavenged. Lucas supervised the unloading and then climbed aboard the second car and lay down across one of the cushioned bench seats to rest. The night had been a sleepless one for him, as he’d kept Clark company on his midnight vigil before moving to the cars to join the men at their final water refill.
Four hours later he started awake to the clank of metal on metal. He sat up and blinked away sleep, and then disembarked and walked to where Clark was measuring the damaged shaft. Another identical one lay on one of the carts, along with a collection of other hardware.
“It’ll fit,” he said, and looked up at Lucas. “I took your advice and removed all the shafts from both sides in case we have another issue on the way. Once I have this one replaced, I’ll see how many of the fittings for the pressure system are usable. Not like we’ve got a machine shop or a hardware store along the route.”
“Probably wise,” Lucas agreed, eyeing the new shaft. “That one looks intact.”
“It is. We just have to make sure we don’t overdo it, and it should do fine.” He took a deep breath. “The one I repaired…it was fine for a jury-rigging, but there’s no way it would have made it over the mountains towing a full load.”
“Hopefully this one’s in better shape.”
“No way to know without an X-ray, but we’ll give it our best shot.”
“How long until we can head back?”
“Probably by nightfall.”
“Good. That would put us in Salem by…early afternoon tomorrow?”
“Nah. We should be able to go faster with the new shaft. We’ll shoot for thirty-five and see what we can do. Should be a piece of cake for her.”
“So…morning?”
“That’s the plan. Then I want to sleep for about twenty hours while you load up.”
“You’ll have earned it.”
“Damn straig
ht.”
True to his word, Clark was finished with the equipment swap and stripping by the end of the day, and they were underway again by dark. Lucas accompanied him in the cab as the firemen stoked the furnace, and soon they were doing well over forty miles per hour with a half head of steam.
“Told you she’d be able to pull her weight,” Clark said.
“Never doubted you. But the question is how we’ll do with thousands of troops and a full house of animals and gear.”
“The shaft should hold. No reason to believe it won’t. As long as I did my job right on the boiler, we should be golden.”
Lucas’s mouth twitched. “Appropriate choice of words.”
“Might be time to ask for half, don’t you think?”
“Got no problem with that,” Lucas said. He fished in his pocket and retrieved two gold maple leafs and handed them to Clark. “But remember there’s more to life than money.”
Clark smirked. “Right. There’s the stuff money buys.”
Both men laughed easily as the landscape rushed by. The firemen stoked the flames as the locomotive roared through the night, and for a brief instant, a world where everything worked as intended and disaster didn’t lurk around every turn seemed possible, if only distantly.
They arrived as promised in the early morning, and Lucas met with Art to fill him in on his thinking shortly after the train ground to a halt.
“If we can safely pull thirty-five cars, we should be able to bring half the troops, a couple of cars full of horses, and three with weapons and ammo.”
“What do we do with the other three thousand?” Art asked.
“They make it to Utah the hard way. Or we can send the train back. Your call.”
“I’m for trains. That’s a long haul, and a lot of it’s pretty unforgiving terrain.”
“No question,” Lucas agreed. “I’ll just have to bribe Clark with more gold.”
“It’s for a good cause. And it’s not like you don’t have enough of it.”
“True.”
“We’ve been collecting all the weapons we could find. One of the prisoners told us that the Illuminati opened an armory for them. I’d think that was crazy talk if their guns weren’t all military issue. And you don’t find grenade launchers and mortars in any kind of uniform quantity like they had in a trading post.”
The Day After Never - Legion (Post-Apocalyptic Dystopian Thriller - Book 8) Page 20