by Lopez, Rob
Rick scrutinized the goods. “I notice that Moresby only showed me three cases of gold.”
Scott flipped the tarp further to show the fourth case, with Connors’ name stenciled on it. “Didn’t see any reason why we couldn’t treat ourselves,” he said.
Rick gave him a look.
“What?” said Scott. “You don’t think we’ve earned it?”
Rick frowned. “Just keep it under wraps.” He leaned farther forward to look in the cab. “That means you too, Red.”
Red winked back at him. “Lips are sealed,” he said.
“Fine. Get this stuff to Camp Grier. We’ll relocate there until we find somewhere better to live.”
“Got anywhere else in mind?” asked Scott.
Rick passed a knowing glance to his wife. “Not sure, but we’ll do a little house hunting on the way back.”
Epilogue
September marked a full year since the solar storm, and the leaves were already turning in the mountains. The mornings were getting a little colder, and people were beginning their preparations for the coming winter.
At the confluence of Mill Creek and Swannanoa Creek, on the winding road between Old Fort and Round Knob, stood a small farm. Where the two valleys joined, there was a long, flat strip of land that had been cultivated for generations. In a pasture by the creek, four horses grazed. In a small field, Josh dug up a line of potatoes. Rick chopped wood by the house while Lizzy raked hay near the barn, getting it to dry before storage. The horses looked up as Lauren came down from a wooded ridge with two baskets of mushrooms. Crossing the creek and getting nuzzled by the horses, she walked up to the house and placed the baskets on a picnic table. Rick buried the axe in a log and wiped his brow.
“What did you get?” he asked his wife.
“Some interesting varieties,” she said, wrinkling her face. “There’s a couple I’ll need Chuck to verify.”
“He’ll be on his way up soon, I imagine.”
“You excited?” said Lauren.
“For mushrooms?”
Lauren playfully punched his arm. “You know what I mean,” she said.
Rick looked up at the foothills of Bernard Mountain. “It’s not for me to get excited about, is it?”
Lauren rolled her eyes. “You’re such a typical man.”
“I don’t recall you complaining about that last night.”
“Trust me,” she said. “I’m logging this one.”
A deep throated roar echoed in the valley, and in the distance, Packy’s Road Runner came thundering down the road, turning into the farm lane. Packy had done work on the car, somehow managing to get rid of most of the dents and scratches. The most noticeable change, however, was the sign painted on the side that read: Packy Dee Trading Company.
Packy bounded out of the car. “Are we late?” he asked.
“Not that we’re aware of, Packy,” said Lauren.
Dee got out of the car, carrying Jacob, who’d grown considerably. As soon as she was out, Jacob wanted to be put down so that he could toddle about.
“No ring yet,” murmured Lauren in an aside, checking out Dee’s hand.
“You’re such a typical woman,” mumbled Rick.
Lauren pinched him.
Jacob made straight for the pasture with the horses, and Packy dashed after him and scooped him up, bringing him back to the group.
Red had been riding in the back seat, and he extricated himself with some difficulty, his legs emerging first.
“Howdy,” he said. “Your boy about? Got something for him.”
Rick whistled for the two children to quit their work for the day, and they ambled over. Red had a package that he hid behind his back as Josh approached. As Josh got close, Red threw it over.
Josh felt the package, then ripped it open, pulling out a coonskin hat, complete with tail.
“That is so cool,” exclaimed Josh, putting it on. “You really managed to do it.”
“Took a little while,” said Red modestly, “but you shot it, so there it is.”
Josh waved his head about, swishing the tail. “What do you think, Sis?” he said.
Lizzy gave him a critical look. “You have a dead animal on your head. What am I supposed to think?”
Rick and Lauren exchanged grim smiles. Over the summer, Lizzy had become super-serious. They’d been paying for her to have English and math lessons with the prim Mrs. Delaware once a week, down in Old Fort, and Lizzy had treated it like she was going to finishing school. Insisted on everybody calling her Elizabeth now, though nobody did.
“I think it looks fine,” said Lauren. “Thank you, Red.”
“No problem, Mrs. Nolan,” said Red. “Is it okay for me to take your boy hunting this evening?”
“Aw, yeah,” said Josh. “Are we going up Lost Cove today?”
“Sure,” said Red. “We built the hide for a reason.”
Attracted by the novel hat, Jacob wanted to reach for it, and Packy pulled him away, bringing out a plastic toy to distract him with.
“So, are we going up?” he asked.
“Waiting for Chuck and Doug,” said Rick.
“Well, if you want, I’ll go and pick them up. It’ll only take a second.”
“Doug says he never wants to get in a car with you again,” said Rick absently, peering down the farm track.
“Oh come on,” said Packy. “It was just one time. Lost the back end, is all. It’s not like we went tumbling down the mountain.”
“But you nearly did,” Red reminded him.
Jacob threw the plastic toy down on the ground, like he was in agreement.
“All he’s gotta do is live a little,” grumbled Packy.
Chuck and Doug came into view, walking slowly up the track. Chuck was carrying flowers.
“Okay, I think we’re ready to go up now,” said Lauren.
The group followed the track that went past the farm, walking alongside Swannanoa Creek. Before they’d even gone half the distance, Harvey came cycling down to meet them.
“It’s a girl,” he said, triumphantly.
“I knew it,” said Lauren excitedly. “Is April okay?”
“Mother and child are doing fine,” announced Harvey.
He joined them for the journey up, wheeling his bike as they walked at Doug and Chuck’s pace. They passed Piney Grove Church, a white, wooden baptist church that Harvey had adopted for his ministry. The rear annex of the building had a red cross painted on it, and was now being used by Sally as a clinic. In the cemetery behind the church were new graves: The dead from Myers Park had been disinterred and reburied here, and that included Chuck’s wife, Janice, and Bella, their dog. The group paused while Chuck lay the flowers on the graves, then they moved on.
The track turned and wound up the steep hill until it reached a pretty little house with an incredible view over the valley. Scott had originally planned to build himself a log cabin, but the house kind of offered itself to them, and as it was isolated, it turned out to be a done deal. Like devotees on a pilgrimage, the group approached the house, and Sally waited for them at the kitchen door.
“Come in,” she said. “But keep it quiet. She’s feeding at the moment, and we don’t want to disturb her. She’s got a good pair of lungs on her.”
“And what about the baby?” said Packy.
The group stifled their laughter as they filed inside, and even Sally was laughing as she ushered them in. Rick, however, chose to stay outside.
“Don’t want to see the baby?” said Sally.
“There’ll be plenty of time for that,” said Rick, looking to the distant hills.
“Everything okay?” said Sally, a little concerned.
“Yeah, just … thinking.”
“That all?”
“Sure, just, uh ... tell Scott I’m outside.”
Sally went inside and moments later, Scott came out, flushed with pride. He looked at Rick, and Rick looked back, pulling a couple of cigars from his shirt pocket.
&nb
sp; “Nice,” said Scott. “How much did you have to pay Packy for those?”
“You don’t want to know,” said Rick.
They drew up two chairs on the patio and sat down, lighting up.
“Does it feel good?” asked Rick.
“Feels pretty damn amazing,” said Scott.
They stared at the view for a while.
“Do you remember when we came with Kowalski in the plane?” said Rick suddenly. “Feels like years ago now.”
“That’s one hell of a reminiscence,” remarked Scott, puffing on his cigar. “What made you bring that up?”
Rick sighed. “Just looking at little Jacob starting to walk, and remembering Walt. He never got a chance to see that.”
Scott nodded, and was silent for a moment. “We nearly didn’t get the chance to see this,” he said.
They smoked for a while.
“I guess,” said Rick.
“Are things okay with you and Lauren?” asked Scott, curious with the slant of the conversation.
“Yeah,” said Rick. “Almost too good. Not used to it.”
“And you’re still looking for things to find fault with?”
“No, not really. Just processing.” Rick scratched his cheek. “Oh, I don’t know. Just seems strange to have made it through.”
“Survivor’s guilt.”
“Maybe. I’m just thinking of all the people I can’t share this with now.”
“And you don’t think you deserve it?”
“I don’t know. Who does?”
“We do, for Chrissake. Do you think any of the guys would hold it against you if you just settled down and enjoyed it?”
“No.”
“Then enjoy it. You need permission or something?”
Rick gave up. “Okay, okay, I got it. I like my life. I’m more relaxed. But it feels strange once in a while.”
Scott chuckled, then gazed thoughtfully at the horizon. “Some things take a while to work themselves out,” he said, getting serious. “I used to think that, when I quit the service, I’d end up on the streets and on welfare, with too much time to think about my feelings and too much alcohol to drown it out. I know you were worried about that too, which is why you didn’t want to retire either. We’d seen too much, and that shit cuts deep. But that would have been in a different world where your average citizen wouldn’t have understood us. That’s no longer the case. Now, everybody’s seen too much, and we ain’t alone anymore. We’re all veterans, and that changes everything. Home ain’t a figure of speech or a place on a map. It’s the folks around us, and they understand us like we understand them. We fought for this — it wasn’t just given to us — and everyday we have to work hard to keep it maintained, because we’ve seen how easily it can fail. If that don’t keep your mind and soul occupied, I don’t know what will.”
Rick smoked his cigar until it was just a stub. The birds sang in the trees, insects buzzed and voices and laughter emanated from the house.
“I guess,” said Rick finally.
“You sure?”
“Yeah. I just need to take it slow. Give it time.”
“Want to see the baby now?”
“Absolutely.”
They ground their stubs out on the decking and dragged the chairs back into place.
“Is she cute?” asked Rick.
They walked through the kitchen and into the bedroom where everyone was waiting.
“She’s beautiful,” said Scott.
The End
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By the Same Author
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Remember Me Dead
Hunting The Dead
Dystopian Space
Shakespeare’s Requiem
Survival EMP
Solar Storm
Solar Winter
Solar Dawn
Solar Rising
Mississippi Rose
Into Darkness
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