The Event Series (Book 2): The Gospel According to Matthew, Margo & Lance

by Thomas Larson

  As we walked back toward camp I asked Code, “What is your spirit guide?”

  “I, ah, I don’t know, I don’t think I have one. I never thought about it.” He answered.

  “Isn’t there some animal that you identify with, that seems to talk to you?”

  “Nope, not really,” he said.

  “Even as a kid?”

  “No, I, no animal that I remember, or for that matter, I don’t even think I had an imaginary friend.”

  “Oh” I mumbled as we continued to walk. I can’t help but believe that we all have a guide, maybe not. I don’t know.

  Salads for dinner, Vespers, a dip in the lake and then we sat out with Lance and Del and watched the sky. Lucy curled up and lay at our feet.

  (Matt) No scary dreams or at least not that I remember. And other than the usual trip to the farmlands nothing happened. It was hot, but then it is July, and that is about it from here.

  July 13th

  (Lance) Matt stopped by this morning after breakfast; he was getting ready to head out to the fields but was curious if I had been in contact with Stanwix. I hadn’t, and he was not telling me why he was curious. Maybe I will try to give them a call later.

  Del and I took the morning shift to do the sheep thing. Cody and Margo wanted to get out to the stables to visit with the horses; they had not been there in a while. We all had been talking about the contact with the horses and thought it might be a good idea to try to not miss a lot of days out there right now. We wanted them used to us.

  After lunch Margo and Lucy came out and relieved us, and then we took our turn to see the horses. I saddled up Samurai but we had no saddle big enough to work on Shinigami, so Del did the bareback thing, for some reason that seems to work for her. We did about an hour ride.

  We were back at camp for about 4:30. I tried to reach Stanwix and was able to make contact with Ron, our old campmate. I asked him if everything was okay and he said other than a kind of stomach bug going around but all was good. We chatted for a bit, exchanged the usual niceties and that was about it.

  At fire pit I mentioned to Matt that I had spoken to Ron and that all was well at Stanwix.

  (Margo) Code and I headed out to the horse farm this morning, just to spend some time with Lemon Drop and Chuckles, to kind of keep them used to us, although missing a day or two would not seem to be that much of an issue in my mind.

  In the afternoon, Lucy and I headed out to relieve Del and Lance who were doing the Bo-Peep thing. Code came out about an hour later, he had some things he had to do with the Major, and I think it may have been a medical thing but he was not talking about it.

  The afternoon was quiet, and although my OCD toward the lion was there, I was able to control it. But I was hoping to see her, and the cubs. I wonder where daddy lion is.

  Weather was good, quiet night, fire pit, bed.

  (Matt) Another dream, this one was not fun. It had to do with Stanwix; something was going on up there. Well, actually let me back up. In the dream Tanya and I headed out to Stanwix, it was to have a filling replaced, or a tooth pulled or some dental problem that we could not take care of here. When we got there the place was empty, no one was left there. There were some signs of some fighting and a few dead Changed. It was weird because they were ‘fresh’, recently changed. Then, I woke up.

  I told Tanya about the dream and she seemed concerned and suggested that I see if Lance had talked with them lately. I did, and he hadn’t.

  We did the crops run, no bunnies today.

  At Vespers tonight Lance told me that he had called over to Stanwix and that when he talked to Ron everything was fine. Karen was coming along well in her recovery and they were almost to the point in food scavenging where they feel that they would be good to get through the winter.

  I asked him if he would keep in touch with them, give them a call every day or so.

  July 14th

  (Matt) Another dream last night, I remembered parts of this one. I came back to camp, our camp, but it was a mess. There were strewn bodies and severed limbs all over the ground. It was horrible. I saw no one living, and yet I saw no bodies of us, of the people who lived here.

  I believe that dreams visit us for a reason. There is something out there, a storm that is coming to us. But I have nothing to prove it other than a night vision. What to do.

  I was troubled by it all day long, while we were at the farm fields, and we were back at camp doing not much of anything.

  “Tanya, I think we have something coming our way, something bad.” I told her as I related my dream to her.

  “I haven’t had anything to show that to me, no dreams, or feelings, are you sure?” she answered.

  “No and that is the part I am struggling with. Should I go to The Three? If for no other reason to make us all keep our guard up?”

  “Well dummy, you sort of have told The Three because I am part of it remember? But I think it would be good to talk to your Mom about it” suggested Tanya.

  “Yeah, tomorrow, when we go to the fields, let’s visit the stables, we can ride and talk with her about it.”

  Vespers were quiet, but I did talk a little about how we have had it good for a while and that we needed to be careful not to become complacent.

  (Lance) It was kind of a lazy day, not much was going on, I did some routine checks on the electrical systems, and all seems well.

  Taylor and Teckla rode over from horse farm. Taylor did a check of the food inventory, and shared the information with The Three. They hung out with us for dinner but with the clouds forming off in the west the decided that they would skip fire pit.

  Matt was kind of somber tonight, he talked about how we have been lucky of late, with nothing happening, I guess I should say nothing bad happening. It is like there is something troubling him.

  (Margo) I saw them again, Momma and the cubs, it was not a long look, but it was a look. I was out doing some stalking and as I rounded a corner in the dirt path near the ledges she was there, just sitting, facing the path in my direction, the cubs were behind her. It was just like the sketch I had done. I stopped, we stared, and then she lowered her eyes and walked off into the woods. The cubs followed.

  I can’t top that story, I thought of nothing else for the rest of the day. Momma Lion, why was she there, she had to know I was coming, smelled me, heard me, but she was just waiting.

  I probably made Code crazy talking to him about it. We skipped Vespers tonight, I was so excited.

  July 15th

  (Lance) I will not say that Matt put me on edge, exactly, but I am watching more, listening more, but have heard or seen nothing unusual.

  I made a call out to Stanwix this morning to see how they were doing.

  Their illness seems to be getting worse; I mean more people are getting it. Among the symptoms are diarrhea and throwing up.

  “Yeah, you get to talk to me, Ron, and Langley and most of the rest are puking their brains out, and if they have anything left, that comes out the other end,” said LJ.

  “I can have Doc Barkley talk to you, maybe he can head your way.” I offered.

  “No, no sense in subjecting your camp to it, and besides, we have a couple doctors here, and they think it is just a bug, the key is to keep hydrated and to ride out the “shit” storm.”

  I passed the word to Doc Barkley. The Major said that they seemed to be doing the right things, and that his heading out there would not likely do much good.

  Del and I headed out to the stables and did some riding; Matt and Tanya were also there, but they were on some other mission. Del and I played at horseback sword work. By the end of the afternoon we were pretty hot and tired. The lake would feel good tonight.

  Margo was off the wall at Fire Pit tonight.

  (Margo) Code and I drew Bo-Peep duty today, and I am glad we did. About noon time I left Code and Lucy with the sheep and I headed out to the area where I saw the mountain lion yesterday. When I got there I didn’t see her, although tracks were ther
e, her tracks and the cubs. I followed the tracks for a little bit and then heard a noise, kind of a growly-meow. It was up ahead a little bit.

  As I cleared a corner in the trail I saw Momma Lion, and she was looking into what seemed a hole. She was agitated; here tail was twitching like crazy. From the hole, that seemed where the noise was coming from. One of the cubs was in there. What to do….I knew, I had to save the cub. But would Momma let me.

  “Momma” I said softly at first, then a little louder.

  The lion looked at me, then back at the hole.

  “I know Momma, I think I can help.”

  She looked at me again.

  I took a step toward her, and the hole, she growled, the ears went back.

  “No, no it is okay, I’m gonna help you, I’m gonna save your baby.” I said in a calm voice; but I was not calm in the inside.

  Another step toward the lion, she growled, but not so much now.

  A few more steps and I was on the other side of the hole, if Momma wanted to she could have jumped over the hole and killed me. But she didn’t, she was still agitated, her tail was twitching a hundred miles an hour.

  “Let me climb down, let me get the baby,” I told her in a calm gentle voice. Inside, I was screaming, my heart was racing. I moved to the edge of the hole and looked in. it was a crevice in the rock and narrow, about 2 ½ feet wide, and 6 feet deep. I could fit in there, it would be a struggle, but I think I can get in, raise the cub up, and then climb out.

  By now, I think Momma seemed to trust me; she was pacing, but seemed calmer.

  I lowered myself into the hole; I had to be careful not to step on the little guy. I got to the bottom. Now I had to work the cub from the floor up over my head. Fortunately, it was a little wider on the bottom then at the opening. I twisted and turned and was able to grab the cub by the scruff of the neck, he hollered a lot about that, and as I brought him up, over my knee I felt his claws sink into my thigh. It hurt, a lot, but it didn’t matter, I was going to do this.

  Finally, I got the squirming cub over my head, but I knew that I could not get out of the hole with cub in hand. I looked to figure if I could toss him enough to get him clear. It wasn’t a long throw, but at 20 or so pounds, it was not going to be easy.

  “Momma,” I yelled, “a little help here.”

  I held the cub up as high as I could. It squirmed, and then I felt something wet on my hand, wet, and then hard, I was able to push my left hand up under the cub and get my right hand off the top. As I did so, the cub began to rise up, Momma had it. She lifted him out of the hole. He was free.

  By the time I got out of the hole they were gone, back into the woods. I would have liked them to stay, and thank me, but now I am thinking of them as human, or have listened to too many Matt stories.

  As I walked back toward the sheep pasture the adrenaline was wearing off, as was the euphoria of what had just happened. I suddenly began to feel my leg; it was bleeding, and pretty scratched up.

  When I showed back up to where Code and the sheep were, he asked what happened. I told him, I had to be talking very fast because he kept telling me to slow down.

  We brought the sheep back early today and he made me see Doc Barkley, I told him the story as he cleaned the wounds left by the cub’s claws.

  “Well there Missy, looks like you may have some trouble shaving that leg for a little bit. Those are some nasty scratches, and they will leave scars, but I think you will be fine, we just have to watch for infection,” he told me.

  “I don’t care, it will be a reminder for the rest of my life, it was such a great rush.”

  Come to think of it, when was the last time I did shave my legs, or pits….modern woman problems we don’t face anymore.

  At Vespers tonight I told the story again. At the end, Matt said that it appeared that my spirit animal had marked me.

  (Matt) I don’t recall the dream, it was dark, it was apocalyptic, but that is all I can remember.

  I talked with Lance this morning, and asked if he has had any contact with the sub or Stanwix. He told me that he had spoken to both and other than a bug of some kind at Stanwix everything seemed normal and okay.

  Tanya and I headed out to the stables today. I talked with Mom about the dreams, and that I had a concern about them. Actually, I’m very worried about Stanwix, but tried to minimize it.

  Tan and I did a little riding, but we stayed away from Lance and Del, they were just way too much into this knight on horseback trip for us.

  Vespers tonight was dominated by Margo and her lion story. Wow is all I can say. Raven was much gentler when he became my spirit guide. But then Mountain Lion is power, and it would make sense.

  July 16th

  (Matt) What is it with the weird dreams, and why am I seeming to have them more and more? Well, at least I remember some details to this one.

  In this one, I was living in an old house with a group of people, it was in a post-apocalyptic time and we were each divided into groups with special tasks. My group is assigned to hunt squirrels; they were about the last meat source left for us. While scavenging for food we find this weird house in the woods.

  Inside we found a pile of some kind of nuts; I think we used to call them “pig nuts”. They weren’t acorns, but I remember them, and they were good eating.

  We turned away from the stack of nuts and when we turned back around they were gone. Strange, I thought and we started to look around to see what had happened to them. I walked into a room, like a bedroom and there was a stack of nuts on the floor. I started to head toward them when I saw a little panel on the bottom of the wall move, actually it was more a bit of the wall paper bulging and moving. I quietly walked over and stuck my hands through the wall and grabbed what was there.

  It was a thin, emaciated teenaged girl. I dragged her to the middle of the room and let her go. She kind of squatted there in the middle of the room. She was naked, and in her matted hair there were twigs and sticks. Her face was, well it simply reminded me of a squirrel.

  I asked her some questions like if she was alone, or who was she, but all she did was make a little chirpy kind of noise, like a squirrel, she would look around the room, clearly feeling trapped. But she was going to defend her nuts.

  I woke up.

  What did it mean, what was that dream all about, protecting food, finding food? Was the squirrel actually “Squirrel” giving us a message about food, or nuts or something? I don’t know.

  Tanya and I talked about it, and she could see the idea of the squirrel, the collector, the hoarder, but she couldn’t see what the dream was about. We have been good at saving and storing food. We should be good for the winter, or at least the winter we have known.

  Dreams, I have learned, do not just show up, there is a message, there is something leading us somewhere, but where.

  Tanya and I spent the day doing the usual crop stuff, but that thought, that issue of food, and maybe hoarding keep nagging at me.

  Vespers tonight I decided that it would be good to share the dream and a little about Squirrel with the others in the camp. It did not seem to cause anyone to stand up and say “Oh yeah, I was thinking we should …….” I just don’t know.

  (Margo) Slept terrible last night, my leg felt like it was on fire, from the claw marks. I did not feel like doing anything today and moving, walking was painful.

  I hobbled out to Fire Pit tonight, Code helped me. Matt talked about another spirit animal, sorry, just not into writing today. Going to try to sleep.

  (Lance) I tried to ring up our friends at Stanwix this morning, I got no answer, Maybe just a few minutes when no one heard the radio, but maybe the bug is getting worse. I will try again later in the day.

  Del and I bicycled out to the stable today. We did a little riding, headed to the northeast, though the woods. We found a couple of abandoned houses. When we checked them out we saw that one family did not wait for the end but took their own lives, it is a reminder of how it was. I think with the way
things are now, we sometimes forget that.

  When we got back tonight I tried to contact Stanwix again, still nothing. While I was at it I tried to reach the Pittsburgh, but they may still be on deep dive or heading to that place in West Africa.

  Del and I did Fire Pit tonight, it was a Matt story night, hiding food supplies, now that is an interesting thought, kind of a ‘what if’. We never considered that before. We always seemed to just assume that it would be okay.

  July 17th

  (Lance) I tried to reach Stanwix again this morning, and still there is no answer. I am concerned about this. I don’t know what to do about it. But I passed the information on to the Major and Matt. I tried again in the evening and still nothing.

  Del and I went out and visited with Samurai and Shinigami. We didn’t need to feed or water them because they were in the fields. Del easily hopped onto Shinigami, and I was going to saddle up Samurai, but then thought, maybe I would try to ride him bareback. It kind of worked, I think that I could learn to do this, heck, the Indians did it most of the time.

  We did a little ride, and once I got into the flow, it was good, but it would be a tough thing if we were in battle I think. We may have to experiment a little with that next time.

  Fire pit was pretty much the standard thing, although Matt did say that he and the Major had talked and that we would be sending a few folks out toward Stanwix to try to make contact.

  (Matt) It was a day of doing the usual stuff, run to the veggie garden, and cornfields. When we got back from that I talked to Lance about Stanwix, he still has not been able to contact them. I am concerned, but he said that in the past he has had trouble making contact. I talked with Doc Barkley about it. He was also concerned and when Lance told us that he was unable to make contact in the afternoon or early evening we decided that someone should make the trip out there to see what is going on.

  Lance did not make contact and as a result we are going, by we, I mean Tanya, and me. The Major wanted to come also, but Heather is close to having her baby, it is any day now and he feels that under that condition he should remain behind. Mom and Tay have decided that they will go with us. We are going to take the horses; it will be a couple of days or so out and back, but it the best way to get out there.