Cameron stopped and turned to her. Her steady gaze bore into him. “I’m not sure that is relevant to our conversation,” he replied.
“It is relevant,” Catherine responded, “These are different times. My question is relevant for the way of life we have now. Have you ever killed someone?”
Cameron hesitated, “I have been trained to kill. It’s what the military does.”
“I assume from your answer that you haven’t actually killed anyone. I can tell that Sergeant Gibbs may have. He has that look.” She went on, “I’m asking because if you haven’t faced certain death, like we have, you cannot appreciate the importance of being able to defend yourself. I mean personally defend yourself. Not rely on the police or military. You should understand our need to protect ourselves. And you should recognize your limited ability to do so.”
Cameron’s face grew red and his eyes narrowed. He shrugged and looked away for a moment as he struggled for a response, “Young lady, I appreciate your point of view, but I have my orders. We can’t have anarchy, everyone running around the countryside, armed and dangerous.”
“Lieutenant Cameron, you can call me by my name, Catherine, since we have been properly introduced. I may look young, but killing people who want to rape, kill and possible eat you has a way of maturing you, so I’m not much of a young lady anymore.”
Jason watched the exchange with admiration. He could tell Cameron did not know how to deal with this beautiful young woman who boldly challenged him. Glancing at Gibbs, he noticed a hint of amusement playing out in his expression; he seemed to be enjoying the exchange.
“I hope you are not blindly bound to your orders to the point that you cannot see the reality facing you here,” Catherine continued.
Cameron turned to her with a serious expression on his face. “I am sorry if I offended you. I did not mean to dismiss you or the points you make.” He paused for a moment, “Maybe I don’t fully understand what you have been through.”
Suddenly Gibbs changed the subject, “Your daughters came out after we sat down. I noticed you signaled them. They must have been watching. Why did you keep them back? Was it because you didn’t trust us?”
“You’re partly correct. We’re alive because we haven’t taken anything for granted. You could be regular army or you could have been a rogue group, split off from the army, maybe no different from the gangs.”
“If we had been a rogue gang, would keeping them hidden have helped in the end?”
Jason wondered where Gibbs was headed with these questions, but before he could respond, Catherine jumped in.
“Sergeant, if you had been an outlaw group and the situation had turned violent, I would have shot both of you starting with Lieutenant Cameron,” she said, turning to him.
“You were prepared to shoot us?” Cameron now asked.
“I had you in my sights. Sergeant Gibbs would have been next, hopefully before he had a chance to react. And Sarah would have taken out the machine gunner.” She paused to let that sink in, “I’m not sure that would have saved us but it would have given us a fighting chance.”
Cameron stared at Catherine, this teenager whose looks belied a deadly ability.
The table was silent. The conversation had now turned more dangerous. A mixture of pride and concern crept into Anne’s face. Sarah looked at her sister, her face showing some shock at her words. Cameron shifted in his chair. He looked towards Jason and then back at Catherine. Gibbs sat there, now watching Jason, wondering where this would wind up.
Then Catherine continued, “Of course it would have been a shame for that to happen. I could tell, having you in my sites that you were a good-looking guy, and we don’t get too many good-looking guys here in the valley. It would have been a shame to shoot you. I’m glad I didn’t have to,” then she smiled at him for the first time.
Cameron suddenly began to blush. Gibbs laughed out loud as the tension melted away. “Lieutenant, I think this lady just got you,” which only increased Cameron’s discomfort.
“Well…” he began to mumble about command decisions and taking all situations seriously, but Gibbs just kept chuckling. “I didn’t expect to get blindsided by someone so young. Didn’t see that coming.” He paused, “With apologies to you, young in age, not in maturity,” Cameron said.
“Apology accepted,” Catherine replied and graced the lieutenant again with another smile melting away the dark, dangerous look in her eyes.
“Now we can all be friends,” Sarah announced as everyone chuckled at Cameron’s expense.
“As Sarah said, now that we are friends, can we resolve this issue between us?” Jason asked.
Turning serious again, Cameron said, “I don’t know if there is anything else I can offer at the moment. I can check back with the Captain, but if he says everyone has to come in, they have to come in.”
Anne then spoke up, “Lieutenant, how will you feed everyone? We can feed ourselves now. If we go to Hillsboro, we’ll be another four mouths to feed. I don’t see how that helps anyone. Is control so important as to increase food shortages? Is disarming law abiding citizens more important than letting us get on with our lives?”
Cameron shrugged. He didn’t have an answer to Anne’s practical questions.
Then Gibbs said, “Let me talk with the Lieutenant privately for a moment.” He stood and he and Cameron walked out to the well.
“You know this woman is right. Moving everyone back to Hillsboro has never made a lot of sense to me. It’s more mouths to feed.”
“I agree…with the extra mouths. But you know what Captain Roper instructed. And he’s getting his orders from Colonel Stillman.”
“Who’s not around anymore,” Gibbs replied. “Taking an inventory of the countryside is useful. The rest I’m not sure about.
“But we have our orders. And if everyone stays out here, they create targets for the gangs.”
“I think the gangs might not want to mess with this family or this valley.”
“You think this all wasn’t a bluff? I know they did some fighting, but that girl and all that talk about being ready to shoot us…I don’t know. It sounds like theater to me.”
“I don’t think so. Jason certainly isn’t bluffing. I can see it in him. He’s faced death and killed before.”
“And the girl?”
“She has the same look. My guess is she isn’t bluffing. I think she’s killed her share of the bad guys and is confident she could do it again. Did you see how the mother looked at her when she spoke up? She was proud of her, not shocked. Here she is, very pregnant and sitting out here with her husband, not hiding in a cellar…”
“And armed…I get it. This is some family.”
“Did you notice the scars on the younger girl’s face? She looks like she was injured in one of their battles. It looks like a home suturing job. These are tough people.”
“So what do you suggest?”
“Let’s see if they can give us some justification for leaving them here, with their weapons. Something we can take back to Roper to convince him.”
Cameron thought for a moment. “Okay, I’ll give it a shot,” he said.
They walked back and sat down. “So what do you want?” Cameron began.
Jason thought for a moment. “We want to be allowed to stay here, with our weapons. We’re self-sufficient and not a burden to anyone.”
“What can you offer me to take back to my captain? I’ll need something to convince him to alter his plans,” Cameron said.
Jason looked hard at the lieutenant, “You said food is still a problem, right?”
Cameron nodded.
Jason went on, “The challenge for everyone is how to restart food production. It probably won’t be through industrial farming as before, but small farms growing more than they consume. But your problem is more difficult than you might guess. Did you know that commercial seeds are hybrids? They don’t reproduce a second season. The crop reverts to an unproductive form. That means seed f
rom the harvest can’t be set aside to plant for the next year. So the seed companies get to sell their products each year. That worked before but it won’t now.”
“I appreciate the information, but what is your point?” Cameron asked.
“My point is that we have some fertile, non-hybrid seed to start from in this valley. Leave us alone, with our weapons, and you get the whole valley producing again. We will be able to begin supplying the town with food. With each harvest we’ll have more fertile seed to use to expand our planting and increase our yields. We can also defend ourselves as you’ve seen. You don’t have to protect us, and we can produce food, something Hillsboro needs. Lieutenant, we’re more useful to Hillsboro left alone out here, than being relocated to town.”
Cameron and Gibbs again stood up and walked off together. “He makes a good point,” Cameron said. “We haven’t found farms intact with the resources to restart production.” He paused to think. “I don’t know if he’s making it up about having the seeds, but if he’s right, the whole valley could be producing food—more than they consume.”
“And the town would have less to feed. It sounds like a win-win to me.”
“I wonder if that’s enough to have Roper go for this.”
“It may not be easy, but it’s worth a try, isn’t it?”
Cameron finally nodded, “Okay, let’s settle with this guy and then check out the rest of the valley. But I don’t know about the Captain.”
“We can deal with the Captain later. I’m sure you’re up to the task of convincing him.”
Cameron sighed, “I doubt Roper appreciates my eloquence, or my point of view, but I’ll give it a try.”
Chapter 12
They returned to the table. Cameron said to Jason, “I’ll give your idea a try. I have to convince Captain Roper, but you make some good points.”
“Thank you Lieutenant. I think you may have just saved all our lives,” Jason said.
Anne grabbed Sarah, “Come with me, we will have some tea and preserves to celebrate.” They went back into the house.
Sergeant Gibbs motioned to Jason to come with him, “Tell me more about your battles with the gangs. I’d like to know how you handled them.” They walked off talking guns and fighting strategy.
Cameron was left with Catherine at the table. He didn’t quite know what to say to her. Finally he asked, “How did you learn to shoot?”
“My real dad—Jason is my step-dad—taught Sarah and me a little about shooting before he left. When Jason came he’d already had run-ins with gangs, so he was very serious about teaching us how to defend ourselves. The first time we were attacked it was four men. Jason had to fight them all by himself. That’s when we realized we all needed to learn how to defend ourselves.”
“But how did you train for that? It’s very hard to simulate actual battle conditions.”
“Jason used moving targets and created lots of different, loud diversions to distract us. He kept saying the noise could be paralyzing if we weren’t used to it. He was right.”
“So you got used to it?”
Catherine thought for a moment, “I don’t know if I got used to it, but I was able to keep functioning. We got good at target acquisition which is what Jason calls it. I’m also a very good shot.” She paused then added with a smile, “I’ll bet I’m a better shot than you are.”
“That’s a lot to claim. Remember, I’ve had years of training.”
Catherine leaned forward, her smile broadening, “I’ve been studying you. I’m up for the challenge.”
“I noticed you staring at me. What were you thinking?” he asked.
Catherine paused and looked away, gathering her thoughts, then continued, “Lieutenant, like I said before, you’re pretty good-looking and we don’t see many guys here in the valley. Now I find you’re an upright person. I like that. I was figuring all that out.” She paused again, before plunging ahead, “Then I was wondering if you had a girlfriend.”
Cameron almost choked and began to blush again.
“You seem to blush a lot. I like that. It means you don’t hide your feelings too deeply.”
“Well, Miss Catherine, if you must know, I do not have a girl friend. But why would that matter to you?”
Catherine just smiled, “I just assumed that all the girls in Hillsboro would be chasing you, you being an officer and handsome as well.”
“I suppose I’ve been too busy. And I really don’t think it is a good idea to get involved with the local citizens in a town we’re supposed to be policing.”
“Well I hope you don’t feel the same about us here in the valley.” Catherine now had quite a different look on her face. One he couldn’t fathom.
“I may have to make an exception in this case. It seems like I’m doing that a lot today.”
“Adjusting to new realities is a good thing.” Catherine replied with a satisfied smile.
Jason and Sergeant Gibbs returned. Anne and Sarah brought out the tea and jam. They all sat down again.
“Tell us more about what is going on outside our valley,” Jason said.
“Well, things are not all that well yet. Until we can get power and transportation going everyone is going to struggle. You know what happened?”
“An EMP burst.”
“Best we can figure is that there were multiple ones over the U.S., so the whole country was affected. I don’t know what’s happened abroad, but I don’t think other countries experienced an attack,” Cameron said.
“Do we have a government?” Jason asked.
“Depends on what you mean,” Cameron said. “We have a local government in Hillsboro. There’s essentially no state government…probably anywhere. Nationally we have some government. The President and much of his cabinet are still in D.C., but the city is in shambles and under tight military control. Of course, I get my instructions from the Army which still has some command and control function, although it’s spotty.”
“Well,” Jason said at length, “I wonder if other countries can help, if they haven’t already.”
“From what we hear the world financial systems have collapsed, the mid-east is blown up and no oil is flowing. The rest of the world didn’t get an EMP attack, but they got the after effects. When the U.S. sneezes, the world catches a cold. We hear stories and it doesn’t sound good anywhere,” Cameron replied.
“What about food? You said it was still tight. When I left Hillsboro over a year ago food was already scarce. Do you have a good supply?”
“It’s tight. I won’t lie to you.”
“What about seeds? Other farm areas could begin to help provide if they had seeds,” Jason said.
“The stocks on hand seem to have been taken and eaten rather than planted. The supply is minimal.”
“Seed and some starter livestock—chickens, pigs, cows, if there are any left uneaten. That’s what the farms need to feed the cities,” Anne said.
Jason thought about Sam and Judy; they kept their livestock as best they could and were just fine, until the gang came and destroyed not only their lives, but their ability to feed others. He knew Anne was right. If they could prime the pump the farms could start producing food again. He felt more convinced the idea of concentrating people back in the city was foolish at best, dangerous and suspicious at worst. Everyone would be better off dispersed, but then they couldn’t be controlled. He kept those thoughts to himself.
Jason stood up, “I think it’s time for a drink.” He went into the house and returned with the Turner moonshine. He had mixed it with some crushed berries to create a primitive version of schnapps. He poured three glasses and toasted Lieutenant Cameron and Sergeant Gibbs. “Here’s to both of you. Your showing flexibility allows me and my family to remain in place. We’re grateful and we’ll do our part to make you look good for this decision.”
The men took swigs and all coughed and choked a bit. Anne and the girls laughed. “It’s not the smoothest drink. Very little aging goes into moonshine, I’m
told,” Catherine offered.
Getting his breath back, Cameron asked, “Where did your dad get this? He didn’t have time to moonshine as well as construct this fortress?”
Catherine responded, “No, a neighbor up the valley has a still in the hills. He died recently and his son hates the stuff, so he gave it to Dad.” That was the first time Jason and Anne had heard Catherine use the word ‘Dad’ for Jason.
“I can see why he didn’t like it much,” replied Cameron. “No offense, but this is rough around the edges.”
“It’s the only game in town…or to be more accurate, the valley,” Jason responded. “Sergeant, how do you like it?”
Gibbs put his partially drained glass down, “I haven’t had a drink for months so I would rate this as excellent.”
“Well said,” Jason agreed. “Lieutenant, I’d like to ask a favor of you,” he continued. “The young man who gave us this moonshine is now all alone. I can’t bring him into our family with my two daughters but he needs some help. I was thinking that he might be a useful addition to your outfit—sort of like a scout for the cavalry in the old west. The boy knows the mountains and is a good woodsman, born and bred to it. His dad died from wounds defending the valley, so I feel a responsibility to him. He’s adrift now and needs to attach himself to a group. Would you consider it?”
“I don’t know; that’s highly unusual…”
“But not without precedent, if you go back in history. It could be another field improvisation. These are unique times.”
“I’ll give it some thought,” Cameron finally said. “You’ve already got me doing a lot of improvising.”
They continued talking until late in the afternoon. The rest of the squad was introduced to the family. Sarah spent time flirting with them while Anne watched from a distance. She could tell the interaction was good for Sarah who still worried about her scars. The attention seemed to boost her self-confidence. One young man in particular, the machine gunner, Tommy Wilkes, seemed smitten with her. His fascination only increased when she told him how he would have been her first target if things had gone badly.
After the Fall (Book 1): Jason's Tale Page 26