Beyond the New Horizon

by Christine Conaway

  Beyond the New Horizon

  A post-apocalyptic story of survival

  Book One

  by

  Christine Conaway

  Copyright© 2017 by Christine Conaway

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be used, reproduced, transmitted, or recorded by any means without written permission from the publisher.

  This book is written from the imagination of the author. Any resemblance to places, names, events, real or fictitious is completely coincidental.

  Dear reader,

  Thank you for purchasing this copy of Beyond the New Horizon. It was never meant to go beyond the one book, but as events unfolded, I found it impossible to put everything that happened to my ladies, in one volume. However, I do expect to have the second in the series available, shortly after the release of book one.

  When I began to write this novel, I wondered how three women, with no prior survival skills, could possibly survive an apocalyptic event. While they had some skill with camping, their knowledge was never meant to sustain them the rest of their lives.

  I have taken liberty with a few of my horsey friends, their personalities and horse experiences. Being a horse person myself, I have always found it better to ride a good horse than to walk.

  I apologize to anyone from Idaho, who fails to recognize the area in which my characters are calling home. As stated before, I used my imagination and I hope you will not take offense.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One- Back to civilization

  Chapter two-Stranded

  Chapter three-Finding Help

  Chapter four-Devastating events

  Chapter five-No help coming

  Chapter six-Building a travois

  Chapter Seven-Company?

  Chapter eight-Horses and little girls

  Chapter nine-Left behind without tears

  Chapter ten-First snow

  Chapter eleven-Silent passing

  Chapter twelve-Sleep of the dead

  Chapter thirteen-Helping the neighbors

  Chapter fourteen-Lucy is missing

  Chapter fifteen-The rescue

  Chapter sixteen-Stripping the enemy

  Chapter seventeen-Bringing Lucy home

  Chapter eighteen-Joining forces

  Chapter nineteen-The lady in red

  Chapter twenty-If looks could kill

  Chapter twenty-one-Needless devastation

  Chapter twenty-two-Contagious or not?

  Chapter twenty-three-Chastized

  Chapter twenty-four-Luxury for Gina

  Chapter twenty-five-Trail of a goat

  Chapter twenty-six-Dry creek

  Chapter twenty-seven-Earthquake!

  Chapter twenty-eight-More troubles

  Chapter twenty-nine-Waterfront property

  Chapter thirty-Rest in peace

  Dear Reader,

  Beyond the New Horizon; Desperate Times-

  Chapter One............Back to civilization

  Gina sat on the ridgeline looking down on her horse trailer and pickup parked on the side of the road. It was hard for her to believe the difference three weeks had made with the view they had left behind.

  The scenery had changed while they were gone. Leaves had turned from various shades of green to the oranges, yellows, and reds of autumn. A thick carpet of color lay on the road leading down to her truck, with groping bare branches overhanging the road. Sailor, her horse, best friend, and companion, shifted under her. He was anxious to go home.

  She had parked on the wide grassy shoulder of the forest service road as it was one of the few spots to park without going off the roadway. It didn’t appear as if anyone had bothered their equipment and she hadn’t expected anyone to. Usually, people who came to the mountains were just looking to get away from it all, as she and her friends were, and they had never had anything stolen from it while camping.

  From behind her, Gina heard shod hooves on the gravel road. She could also hear Journey arguing with Gus, their pack mule.

  “Doggone it Gus, it’s time to go home. Don’t you want some nice hay and your warm stall?” Journey pleaded with the stubborn mule.

  Gina, from experience, could picture Gus with his feet firmly planted, and his neck stretched out, refusing to move. It happened every time as soon as the contrary mule sensed they were nearing their transportation home. He hated the ride in the horse trailer. Gina personally thought he hated to leave the wilderness. They never had a problem when loading him at the beginning of the journey, only going home.

  “Okay! Dammit! As soon as we get home, it’s off to the sale barn. This is the last time we go through this.”

  “Sure it is. At least until the next time,” Gina muttered and then laughed. “Don’t forget the part of leaving him up here alone and without food,” Gina hollered over her shoulder.

  “Oh, don’t be a bitch. I was getting to that part.”

  Gina heard Lucy’s musical laughter soon joined by Journey’s. This particular battle was fought every time they made a trip. Gina could go back and lend a hand, but she knew if she just sat there they would come out of the trees with two lines on Gus’s halter, dragging him along behind them. A third horse would do nothing to help nor hasten their progress.

  Gus could be depended on to give credence to the adage, “stubborn as a mule.” Gena didn’t buy into the thought at all. She saw Gus as he was. One smart, four-legged hide who liked to push his owner’s buttons when he saw fit. She thought that somewhere behind his big brown eyes, he was always laughing at Journey’s endeavors to be the boss, when they all knew it was Gus who had made up their rules of travel.

  Gus, who had found their way out when they had become lost one time. Gus, who had alerted them to the presence of a hungry cougar. Gus, who had found them water on more than one occasion, and Gus, who determined when they had gone far enough for the day’s ride. It was funny, but he had never found them a bad spot to camp in.

  Gina had met Journey O’Day in medical school and was more than surprised to learn they shared the love of camping and horses. Journey was hardly the person anyone would suspect of being an outside person, let alone a competent horsewoman.

  Journey O’Day, barely five foot and 110 pounds of pure determination, had guided them both through medical school in the shortest time possible. Journey had been driven to finish quickly and find a good job within the V.A. She had been just as determined to carry Gina along with her.

  The Veteran’s Administration had not been the calling for Gina, but content to let Journey drive them, she found herself caught up in the idea of helping disabled veterans. She had thought to try it and later worry about finding the right position at a bigger hospital, but as always, she had settled in and decided she found her job as a trauma nurse rewarding. In whatever spare time they had, they both volunteered at a free clinic set up for the homeless.

  Journey’s curly red hair, freckles, and pale skin, were the exact opposite of Gina’s five-foot-eight, long straight brown hair and skin the color of mahogany from too much time spent in the sun. While Gina, dealt with her muffin tops, and calorie counting, Journey could eat everything in sight and never gain an ounce.

  At a glance, it would be hard to tell they were the same age. Both women were looking at their thirtieth birthdays.

  Sitting around their small campfire the last night on the trail, they had discussed where and why they had all become friends. Lucy Blackmore liked to call herself their token wetback, but nothing could be farther from the truth.

  While she did look Hispanic, she was a blend of Mexican, Navajo Indian, and Irish. Dark complexion, long curly dark hair, and startling dark blue eyes gave her an interesti
ng, exotic appearance, with the temper of a firecracker, and an un-muffled approach to life. She was their ‘take it or leave it’ person. There was no middle ground when it came to a good argument, but they had learned that Lucy never argued unless she truly believed that what she was saying was right. Her mind could be changed, but not without facts.

  She had played an intricate part in teaching Gina and Journey the difficulties of delivering good health care while remaining detached. They were no longer working on cadavers, but real people whose pain and suffering was a tangible emotion.

  Journey and Gina had met Lucy when she’d come into the Veterans Hospital after returning from Iraq with one less limb than she had gone there with. She had lost the lower half of her right leg after her battle buddy had triggered an IED. Lucy had been luckier than her buddy and only lost a limb and a piece of her soul. She had healed and adapted to her prosthetic well, however, it had taken her much longer to get over the emotional damage than the physical ones.

  Lucy was only twenty-two when she came back from Iraq minus one leg, with no family to speak of, she had been wasting away in a rehab facility. She had lost the will to even give physical therapy a chance. Lucy didn’t care and let everyone know her feeling by shutting herself off from everyone. Plagued by the nightmares of her friends’ deaths and having no one to lean on or ask for help, she had tried taking her own life.

  It had taken the combined efforts of both Gina and Journey to show Lucy how much she had to look forward to. Together the girls had learned to heal and be healed at the same time.

  “Okay, that’s it. Gina’s right! We’ll just unload you once we reach the trailer, and you can stay up here. Come first snowfall you’ll wish you were back in your nice warm barn,” Journey warned Gus.

  “It wasn’t my idea. I was only paraphrasing one of your previous conversations,” Gina called over her shoulder. Gina nudged Sailor around with the reins and slight pressure from her legs to face back the way she had come.

  Sure enough, Gus had his eyes rolled back, his neck stretched out, his long ears lying flat on his head and he was resisting every forward pull on his lead lines. As far as mules went he was good sized, and it was all Journey and Lucy could do to keep his progress in a forward direction.

  Journey looked up and saw Gina sitting with one leg draped around her saddle horn, her arms resting on her bent knee.

  “Next time we bring that hay burner you bought as a pack-horse. This is Gus’s last trip!”

  Lucy, rolled her eyes for Gina to see. “Sure it is,” she grunted out. “Tomorrow we’ll see pigs flying too!”

  Chapter two…………Stranded

  With the schools already being back in session, the timing couldn’t have worked out any better for the girls. The past three years they had picked a place to haul their horses to and spend three weeks away from the stress of civilized life.

  This year they had chosen the 4th of July Pass just out of Mullan, Idaho. Not only was it closer to home for all of them, but on previous trips, they also had always overlooked the solitude and beauty of their own back yard.

  This region, being on the western end of the Silver Valley mining district held the attraction of abandoned mines, not that they would ever venture into one, but the history held an appeal for each of them as well as the plethora of forest service roads, trails, lakes and abundant wildlife.

  During the three weeks they had explored, but had only come across one mine, or what they thought was a mine and it had been posted with an overabundance of no trespassing signs, and a chain link gate someone had taken the time to hang on posts set in concrete. The rundown looks of the place conveyed abandonment, but they chose to honor the signs anyhow.

  None of them cared to explore the cave itself. The opening was hardly taller than the gate, nor could they see inside. If it had ever been an active mine they didn’t know, because there were no piles of rock or any indication it was nothing more than an abandoned cave, that someone had taken the time to post.

  This year’s trip had been on the spur of the moment because it was uncertain when the forest service land would be open to the public.

  The fire danger had been high all summer, but with the fall rains, the Bureau of Land Management had finally opened the forests to horses, hikers, and campers. Grateful to have the time before hunting season, the girls had loaded up their gear, three horses, Journey’s pack mule and headed into the hills.

  Once there and with the truck unloaded onto the side of the road, it had taken as long for Gina to find a good enough place to turn the truck and trailer around and drive back down, as it did for Lucy and Journey to pack their belongings on Gus.

  Before Journey and Lucy could drag Gus by her, Gina swung Sailor around and began the last half mile stretch down to their truck.

  For some reason, Gus had decided he wanted to walk beside Sailor and broke into a jog to catch up to him.

  Seeing the contrary mule pull up with her, she turned in the saddle and held her hand out for one of the lead lines, and ducked her head when both came through the air. Gina caught the one thrown by Lucy, dallied it on her horn and then reached down to gather in Journey’s line. The whole time Gus kept pace with Sailor, neither pulling nor making any effort to pull back.

  Gina shrugged and led the way to the truck. There she climbed down and dropped Sailor’s reins. She tied Gus to one of D-rings and removed Sailor’s bridle. They had made a habit of leaving the halters on under the bridles for convenience sake. The lead line was only wrapped around the pommel within easy reach.

  She tied Sailor beside Gus and dug through her pack for the truck keys. She felt a moment of panic when she didn’t find them. The idea of not having the keys scared her. Gina heard Journey and Lucy arguing about who got to ride in the front seat, but like with Gus, it meant nothing. Journey rode shotgun on the way up, and Lucy claimed the passenger seat for the ride down.

  More than once she wished she had her old leather saddlebags back. They were just one big open space where everything mixed together, but she was always able to find things without unzipping every little zipper. The new ones that Lucy and Journey had given her for Christmas had entirely too many pockets, snaps, and zippers.

  “Hey, you going to unlock the tack room or not?” Journey stood with her saddle draped across her arms.

  “As soon as I find the keys. I thought I put them in this side pocket, but they’re not here.”

  “Lucy locked the pickup, remember? She put her wallet in the glove box just before we left.”

  “But, did she give me the key back?”

  “Lucy! Where are the truck keys?” Journey bellowed.

  “Geez, you don’t need to holler. They’re right here,” she said and let her saddle slip to the ground. She felt all her pockets with a blank look on her face and then felt through the denim again. “I thought I had them…” She turned and walked up the side of the truck. With her hands blocking the glare she peered in the side window.

  As soon as her shoulders sank, the girls knew where the keys were. She turned to face them, “I guess I laid them on the seat by mistake.”

  Gina walked up beside her and reached for the door handle, “Then how did you lock the door?” With a pull on the handle the door opened and Gina picked the key fob up and held it in the air in front of Lucy’s face. “Because it wasn’t locked.”

  “Dang, I guess we could have been walking out if someone else had found them first,” Journey said and shifted her saddle to a more comfortable position. “Can you just unlock the tack room, please?”

  “Sorry,” Lucy mumbled and walked away.

  “No worries Lucy. I’ve done the same thing myself more times than I care to admit. The doors being unlocked or not wouldn’t have stopped someone from taking it if they really wanted it.”

  Gina unlocked and opened the door to the tack room. “Let me move these bags of feed before you try putting your tack in here.”

  Journey set her saddle down as if it sud
denly was too heavy to hold any longer. She looked through the open door at the dozen bags of complete feed stacked in front of the saddle racks. “Tell me again why we have so much feed?”

  “Oh stop it!” Gina said under her breath, “You know why.”

  “It’s because Lucy forgot to pick up the feed order and we didn’t have any to bring so we had to stop at the feed store before we left to have enough feed for the horses. And, because it’s cheaper by the dozen, we got the dozen.” Lucy hollered from the other side of the trailer.

  Gina looked at Journey to see if the explanation was good enough for her and burst out laughing. Journey was rolling her eyes and nodding her head with every word Lucy spoke as if emphasizing each word made it truer.

  “I know we think when a person loses something, something else improves to make up for the loss, but geez! She loses a leg, and her hearing improves? Unbelievable!”

  “What? You should be grateful it wasn’t my sense of smell, or I’d probably know you needed a bath from over here?”

  Gina sniffed, amplifying the act. “She’s right, you know? We could all use a real bath.”

  By the time the girls had unloaded the feed sacks, taken the tarp off the half dozen bales of hay in the back of the truck, added the sacks of feed and covered it back up, the sun was beginning to set.

  They loaded the horses, starting with Sailor, Bess, Journey’s mare and then Joe, Lucy’s gelding was the last on. With the gate closed, they only had Gus to load. He was quietly picking at the scanty brown grass on the shoulder of the road.

  Journey walked to him and grabbed his trailing lead rope. “I don’t know why we even bother tying him up. He can untie it quicker than I can.”

  “I thought you were leaving him here this time?” Lucy asked with a grin. “Isn’t that what you heard Gina?”