Evergreen (Book 5): The Nuclear Frontier

by Cox, Matthew S.

  “Wow…” Harper whistled. “Where did that come from? Did Darci give you weed?”

  “Yeah,” said Madison, in a serious tone. “I got so high I tasted colors.”

  Harper started to laugh, but at her sister’s continued blank stare, stopped. “Wait, are you serious?”

  “Nah, just teasing.” Madison giggled. “Your face.”

  Whew… Harper fussed at her sister’s hair. “Getting kinda long.”

  “Guess it’s time to go to the salon.” Madison fake-gasped. “Oh, wait… we can’t.”

  Harper sighed.

  “Just kidding.” Madison poked her. “I’m not upset about it. When I start sitting on it, I’ll grab a knife and take off a few inches. No big deal.”

  “Are you really feeling better?”

  Madison looked down. It struck Harper as weird to see her kid sister without nail polish on her toes. “I still get sad sometimes thinking about Mom and Dad, but it’s not like I can change what happened, so I try to remember the good parts. No SATs, you’re not gonna go away to college, I don’t have to do homework ever again or worry about being fired from a job and ending up homeless.”

  “No such thing as being homeless anymore. Technically, everyone is homeless since there are no banks or police to enforce who owns what.”

  “Yeah. I mean…” Madison looked up at her. “If I could go back to the life we had before it all happened, I would totally do it. Computers, movies, video games, phones… we lost a lot of cool stuff. But… none of it matters. That’s the thing about stuff. We can lose it and it sucks, but really, it’s not that important. Losing people is way worse. Lore’s got it figured out. She doesn’t care about stuff at all, not even clothes. If she has stuff, cool. If not, cool.”

  I can’t lose her. Harper squeezed Madison close, sniffling.

  “Make you a deal. You don’t die, and I won’t become a basket case. Okay?”

  “Deal.” Harper chuckled. “Please tell me you’re not going to turn into some weird hippie who casts aside all material possessions and runs off to live naked in the woods with feral chickens.”

  “No, dork.” Madison smiled. “Just saying I don’t miss the technology or the mall or cars as much as I thought I would. How messed up is it that I smuggled a chicken to freedom?”

  “Not that messed up. You’ve always wanted an unusual pet. Mom wouldn’t let you get a ferret.”

  Madison sighed, overacting drama. “I can’t bring Rosie inside the house. She’ll crap all over the place. Think Dad will help build a little coop in the yard?”

  “Probably.”

  “Asking you to promise not to die is kinda weird.” Madison bit her lip. “I know you can’t control if someone goes crazy or whatever, just… please don’t do anything stupid.”

  Harper bowed her head. “The hard part is realizing something is stupid before doing it. Some ideas sound utterly brilliant until they end in disaster.”

  “True, but you’re not going to try flying with concrete wings like a Bugs Bunny cartoon. Some ideas really are dumb from the start.”

  Harper laughed.

  They returned to the living room.

  Cliff looked up from his technical manual. “If they’re going to let you keep the bird, we’ll make a little coop for it.”

  Harper and Madison both cringed.

  “You heard us?” whispered Madison.

  “Yep. It’s one of the ‘dad superpowers’ men get soon as they’re responsible for kids.” He winked. “I can hear scheming anywhere in the house.”

  They laughed.

  The PlayStation died.

  Jonathan growled. “Dad, request permission to drop an F-bomb.”

  “Why?” asked Cliff.

  “We’ve been playing this level for the past two hours. Finally got close to the save point after like fifty tries… and the stupid thing shuts off before we can save.”

  Cliff shifted his gaze back to his book. “Request denied. I’ll let a dammit or a ‘shit’ go for it, but not the big F.”

  Jonathan sighed, then screamed, “Auugh!”

  “Howls of generalized anguish are perfectly acceptable as well.” Cliff smiled.

  “You okay, Mila?” asked Harper. “You don’t seem upset at all.”

  Mila rolled on her side to look up at her. “I’m not. It’s just a video game. When we finish it, it will be boring. It’s annoying to have to keep repeating stuff, but it makes the game last longer.”

  “Good way to look at it.” Cliff chuckled.

  “At least until the power’s gone for good,” whispered Madison.

  Click. Click. Click.

  “Chicken in the kitchen,” said Cliff without looking up. “Deal with it, please. And someone please close the door.”

  “Rosie!” Madison ran over to collect the bird.

  Harper flopped on the couch again and resumed reading. Hmm. Maybe I’ll finally finish this cursed book.

  6

  The Seventh

  Saturday, August third arrived with little fanfare.

  The preceding week hadn’t brought much excitement beyond Mr. Rollins giving Madison the okay to keep Rosie the chicken as a pet. Dr. Hale said the bird amounted to therapy, and killing it would certainly inflict mental harm. Also, even Mayor Ned pointed out they should consider it a miracle she only tried to ‘pardon’ one chicken. In the midst of the conversation, Harper learned a handful of other people, especially in the south part of Evergreen, already had small populations of chickens apart from those on the main farm.

  Cliff went with the kids to scavenge up some scrap wood, and they’d built a little coop in the back corner of the yard. Madison often let Rosie out to run around and play, but the bird had a safe place to sleep at night. They’d need to build something a bit warmer eventually so Rosie didn’t freeze to death over the winter.

  For the past two days, Harper undertook a clandestine operation on par with anything the CIA did during the Cold War. She, Carrie, and Renee conspired to prepare a birthday party for Lorelei without the girl finding out. Tragically, it didn’t take much effort to keep her unaware. Though the child knew her birthday fell on August third, she also said her mother never paid much attention to it, so likely wouldn’t expect a party or even people saying ‘happy birthday.’ However, they’d had celebrations for Harper’s eighteenth and Jonathan’s eleventh since Lorelei became part of the family… so she might be secretly hoping for one, too.

  Harper wanted to give her a party to make up for the previous six non-birthdays.

  She’d spent a few hours next door at Carrie Rangel’s house helping bake. The boxes of cake mix they’d found expired six months ago, but smelled okay and didn’t have anything crawling around in them, so they trusted it. Few supplies remaining at the quartermaster had expiration dates, only things like cake mix, brownie mix, and so on, nonessential ‘treats’ someone grabbed when raiding various stores. At this point, they’d exhausted all the pre-war food. Someone even ate the nasty stuff like sardines and deviled ham.

  It seemed so stupid to be emotional over the idea of never again having canned food, microwave meals, Hot Pockets, or even the ‘lame but somehow awesome’ grocery store chicken nuggets. Most of the time she spent at Carrie’s, she’d been in a weird frame of mind thinking about the food situation. Everything people in Evergreen ate came from the farm, from hunting, or from fishing. Without even noticing the moment they’d done so, they’d become self-sustaining.

  She found it unnerving not to have the security of being able to go to any of a hundred different stores carrying a seemingly unlimited selection of food. The ‘plenty’ of civilization had evaporated in the searing glow of a nuclear fireball. No one cared about high fructose corn syrup or excess fat or ‘organic’ anything now. Hell, even Madison ate meat whenever it got put in front of her. Most of the time, she didn’t even cry while chewing anymore.

  A vegan eating venison without complaining surely proved the end of the world had come and gone.
/>   Last night, they’d taken a bath before bed, Harper, Madison and Lorelei still sharing a tub. Harper decided to let her sister make the call when she’d outgrown it, and worried a little about how needy-slash-clingy her sister had become. Sitting together in the tub like something out of the pioneer days always reminded her of their initial escape from Lakewood when they’d stopped in some random abandoned house near the mall to wash fallout ash off themselves. The promise Harper made while sitting behind Madison in ice cold water had perhaps been the only thing to happen over those few weeks Madison truly remembered during her shell-shocked haze. In that moment, she’d become not only big sis, but Mom.

  On August first, Harper sent Jonathan, Madison, Becca, Eva, and Mila off to hunt through unused houses in search of toys they could give Lorelei for her birthday. She used a visit to the medical center for a checkup as an excuse to separate the six-year-old from the other kids for a couple hours.

  The morning of the third, Harper pretended like any other day, waking the girls, nudging them to get dressed, and heading out to prepare breakfast—only Cliff beat her to it. Some days, breakfast consisted of nothing more than toast or some fruit. Today, he’d made eggs, pan-fried potatoes, and something they called ‘deer bacon.’ The only resemblance it had to actual bacon came from being cut into thin strips.

  Lorelei, as usual, ran around powered by limitless cheerful energy. She practically climbed all over Cliff as he tried to move plates to the table. He ended up holding her upside down by one ankle in the manner of a fisherman proud of his catch. She squealed and giggled until he maneuvered her upright and set her seated in a chair.

  After breakfast, Harper announced she had the day off from patrolling. She suggested they do something fun in the yard for a bit. As soon as she took Lorelei’s hand, the girl looked up at her with a ‘wow, really’ expression. Harper couldn’t keep a straight face, and grinned.

  “Yay!” cheered Lorelei.

  A small crowd of kids and some parents ambush cheered when they stepped outside. It seemed as if every child between six and twelve showed up to wish Lorelei a happy birthday as well as Darius, Jimmy, and T-Bone (who no longer used his street name and went by Terrence). Being thirteen and fourteen, the oldest kids at the party, they mostly hung with the parents rather than run around playing ‘little kid’ games.

  A little before noon, Carrie gave her ‘the look.’ Harper scurried over to help retrieve the two cakes. As soon as he noticed them sneaking off, Cliff went inside as planned to collect the gifts from Jonathan’s room.

  All the kids—even the older ones—cheered when Harper and Carrie brought the cakes into view. Carrie made vanilla-ish icing from scratch, using sugar she still had on hand. Mrs. Parsons, Eva’s mother, set up a makeshift table. Due to limited supplies, a single candle decorated one of the two cakes. Cliff lit it with his ‘forever match.’ Everyone chimed in to sing happy birthday.

  Harper guided Lorelei over to the cake. “Okay, Lore. Since it’s your birthday, you should make a wish, then blow out the candle.”

  “Okay.” Lorelei fixated on the burning candle. Her permanent, contagious smile gradually melted away to a grim expression.

  Whoa. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her look serious before… like ever. Harper squeezed the girl’s shoulders. Lorelei looked up, staring at Harper for a long minute before hastily puffing out the candle and cling-hugging her. Harper crouched, wrapping her arms around the child.

  Lorelei leaned in close and whispered, “I wished you aren’t gonna want me to go away like my first mom. Tyler, too. He said he’s gonna take care of me, but didn’t really want me.”

  “Oh, Lore…” Harper held her tight. “I will never want you to go away. Can’t promise I’ll be a perfect mom or big sis, but this is your home forever and I’m not gonna abandon you.”

  “’Kay,” whispered Lorelei before breaking down in tears.

  Not once had she ever before seen this girl cry. The child barely even stopped smiling in her sleep. Holding onto the tiny girl as she sobbed stole Harper’s voice. Unable to speak, she patted Lorelei’s back and rocked her side to side. Most of the kids watched in stunned silence. Madison’s jaw hung open. Mila gave her a ‘who do I need to stab?’ glare.

  A minute or so passed before Lorelei quieted. “I’m sorry for being sad on my birthday.”

  “It’s all right.” Harper kissed her atop the head. “You need to cry. You’ve been holding it all in for so long.”

  Lorelei leaned back, looking her in the eye. “I’m not sad. I’m really happy. My cryer must be broken, ’cause it’s not s’posed ta make tears when I’m happy.”

  “Well, sometimes when people are really happy, they cry.” Harper booped her on the nose. “It’s normal.”

  “I’m happy to have a real mom and family. And friends.” She spun to grin at everyone. “I don’t wanna be sad now. Can we have cake?”

  The kids all cheered.

  7

  A Bit Too Wild

  Late in the afternoon, Harper relaxed in the backyard watching the kids kick a soccer ball around.

  Renee and Darci reclined in the grass on either side of her, talking randomly about stuff the way they used to—only the particular ‘stuff’ changed. No one mentioned school, teachers, jobs, dating gossip, boys, or movies. Renee mostly spoke of progress making fabric and turning it into clothing. Her ‘team’ had grown to ten people. Turning flax and wool into usable fabric took them a while to learn. After significant amounts of trial and error, they’d gotten to the point of producing basic cloth. Renee joked everyone would end up looking like medieval peasants in a few years, but it beat having nothing but leaves and loincloths to wear.

  Darci didn’t say as much, mostly discussing Elijah, the boy she’d essentially adopted after his father accidentally killed himself by bringing irradiated junk back from scavenging trips. Something didn’t seem quite right about her, too wired, too alert. The girl had always been unusually thin, so Harper couldn’t tell if she’d gotten hooked on something brutal like meth or whatever. Granted, it didn’t make sense anyone could even make meth now, what with every pharmacy in hundreds of miles having been scavenged to bare shelves months ago. Darci didn’t have any weight to lose, especially after her time in the Army survivors’ camp.

  Gee, I hope she’s not on some other drug than pot. I haven’t seen her this ‘unmellow’ since grade school.

  “… he gets kinda moody sometimes,” said Darci. “But I don’t blame him for it after losing his dad like that. I mean, how is a five-year-old supposed to handle grief?”

  “Good question.” Renee sighed.

  Darci fidgeted at the grass. “Lucas is helping out a ton, though. Not sure I could do it without him. He and Elijah have hit it off pretty well.”

  “So, Lucas has kinda adopted both of you?” asked Renee.

  “Not exactly.” Darci chuckled. “He’s more boyfriend than father.”

  Renee gasped. “Dude… he’s like thirty.”

  Darci examined her fingernails. “Thirty-two.”

  Eek. Harper winced internally.

  “Wow.” Renee whistled.

  “Yeah, yeah. I know.” Darci shrugged. “It’s icky or whatever. I’m eighteen, he’s thirty-two. But if I was thirty and he was fifty, no one would care. Besides, I made the first move. He’s a great guy. Feels weird though.”

  Harper glanced over at her. “What does?”

  Darci squinted up at the sky. “Having sex for fun instead of in trade for food. For a while there, I didn’t think I’d ever want to again. Guess it’s true what they say. Turning something fun into a job makes you want to avoid doing it.”

  “Darce, are you okay? You seem… somewhat brittle today?” Harper rested a hand on her friend’s shoulder.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Just coping with losing my dad and the whole world changing so much. Guess it took a while for the truth to seep into my weed-saturated brain.”

  Renee chuckled.

  “Okay
.” Harper patted Darci on the back. “If that’s the story you’re going with.”

  “What’s up with Maddie and the chicken?” asked Renee.

  Harper glanced over. Her little sister carried Rosie around like a child with a teddy bear.

  “She’s a little young to be so obsessed with cock, isn’t she?” asked Darci.

  “Darce!” Harper swatted her on the arm. “That’s my sister!”

  “And she’s holding a hen, not a rooster,” said Renee past embarrassed laughter.

  She always says something shocking to change the subject when she’s feeling cornered. “Now I know something’s wrong.” Harper nudged Darci. “I get you don’t wanna talk about it, but I’m here if you change your mind. ’Kay?”

  Darci again dodged eye contact. “I know. You’re always the listener, Harp.”

  “Yeah, so they tell me. I—”

  Gunfire went off in the distance.

  “Shit!” rasped Harper while scrambling to her feet. “Watch the kids!”

  She ran into the house, mentally yelling at herself for not having the .45 handgun on her hip. Wearing a weapon to a newly-seven-year-old’s birthday party didn’t feel right, even now. By the time Harper got to her bedroom, the shots stopped. Still, she grabbed the Mossberg and rushed out the front door, following the sound of yelling down Hilltop Drive. Thanks to Cliff and his idea of ‘keeping fit,’ she knew going from their house west to 74 Frontage Road covered 1,200 feet. Running it once didn’t wind her too much, though she’d never done it barefoot—or in a dress—before.

  Another rapid two-shot rang out from the right.

  Harper ran north up the 74 Frontage road. Two men came running out of the Evergreen Brewery, ducking their heads as if afraid of being shot in the back. Darnell appeared in the distance, sprinting south toward the Brewery. He beat her to the parking lot by six seconds, raised his AR-15, and approached the building.