“You said not to go there,” Nora probed. “Why?”
“I wanted you guys to want to stay here, I didn’t want you to think I was scaring you into not leaving,” she replied.
Jason asked. “Should we be scared?”
“Salvation isn’t what you think,” Marilee explained. “Yeah, they do a lot of good for those inside the wall, but out here … they don’t.”
“Is that why you arm up?” Jason asked. “Because you don’t trust them?”
“We have plenty of reason not to trust them. They haven’t swept through here in a while, two years, but they used to come through all the time.” Marilee said. “At first, I can remember hiding. My mother telling me to stay quiet, don’t make a sound. I was twelve when it first happened. I used to hold my hand over my mouth, hear the gunfire, and hear our people screaming.”
“Oh my God,” Meredith gasped. “They came in and killed you?”
“Those who fought,” Marilee said. “Those who refused. And we guess those who attempted to get back what Salvation took. We lost a lot of people because they chased after them and never came back. Our people that is. We used to be a big community. Now look at us.”
“What about the others that you trade with?” John questioned.
“They hit them too,” Marilee replied. “I guess they learned early on. But most of the towns, villages, and communities were hit by Salvation.”
Nora asked. “Did they think you had the virus?”
Marilee laughed sadly. “I wish. But no. We’re ready for them, but I don’t think they’re coming back. Not yet. There’s nothing left for them to take. They took it all from us.”
“What … what did they take?” Nora asked. “What did they keep coming back to get?”
Marilee puckered her lips before answering, her glossed over eyes shifted to Meredith. “You asked about the drawing. My son Dillard drew that when he was six. They took him. In fact... That’s what they took until there weren’t any more left to take … the children. They took our babies.”
NORA’S ENTRY
I didn’t want to stop or make a detour. I just wanted to keep on going now we had a direction. Funny how one page ago, in my journal, we were taking off and hopeful, little did I realize we’d only get so far and have to turn around.
What Marilee told us was tragic, and enough to convince the others to not move until we heard from Malcolm. Obviously he knew something about Salvation, or he wouldn’t have gone to that much trouble to get word to us.
I heard that, I understood that, but all I kept thinking about was Rick. Rick was alive. How did Malcolm find out? Did he meet him? So many questions.
Marilee made a suggestion on where we should go to lay low. Obviously, Rantoul wasn’t the place. She would inform Malcolm and any others that arrived where to go.
We thanked her and knew we’d see her soon because she gave us directions to the trading post.
It would be empty for two more weeks until communities started showing up. Even then we’d be able to hide among them. No one would find it. To the best of her recollection Salvation had never been there. Why would they? On the outside it looked abandoned. It was a safe haven. A place, those other communities and Rantoul always believed they could safely retreat to.
It was an old tourist attraction, built in the 1700’s the Fort De Chartres had been refurbished and kept up throughout the years. The southwest wall had been torn down but Marilee told us about six years ago they erected a fence. Like it was originally, the fort was completely … fortified.
She warned us that we wouldn’t see it at a distance, the trees were tall and overgrown, but inside it was clear and clean.
“Look for the rusted tractor and pull cart, they block the path.”
She was right on all accounts. The overgrown road just seemed to end as it approached a line of trees. Sure enough, twenty or so feet in, there was the tractor.
The trees didn’t extend to the fort, once we passed through it was open and the vine covered fort was clear as day. It wasn’t hidden.
If Salvation made it beyond those trees they wouldn’t have a problem finding it.
The gates were open and once inside we secured them. The others looked around. Except Hunter. He was up to something. But I didn’t care. I felt jilted. Outnumbered and outvoted.
I wanted to ignore the warnings and keep going, but admittedly, I was thinking of myself and not the others. It had been thirty years what would a couple more weeks be?
SIXTEEN – HIDING
A half a dozen apples dropped to the ground by the campfire. After leaving them there, Hunter checked on the roasting meat that cooked over the fire.
“Thank you,” Nora picked up an apple. “This will be wonderful.”
“You must eat.” Hunter lifted her arm. “Will break.”
“Oh my God,” Nora giggled. “He makes me feel so thin.”
“He’s just wonderful,” Meredith said. “He’s such a protector and he wanted to see the world.”
John gave a twitch of his head. “Our post apocalypse sex symbol.”
Jason asked. “Do we know what Hunter did in his village?”
“Hunted, protected,” John answered. “From what Matthew told us he was one of the earliest births after the war. The DNA mutations grew stronger with time. He’s a good man.”
Hunter seemed to notice John referred to him for the first time as a man. He nodded at John, then pointed. “Hunter will go check wall.”
“I’m sure we’re fine,” John said. “Really. Relax.”
“Must watch. Will be back.” After lifting an apple, Hunter walked off.
“He’s been doing something on that wall,” Jason said. “Aside from perching himself up there.”
“Added protection,” John said. “Quite a world we woke to.”
Meredith murmured. “Thirty years later.”
At that point, out of character, Nora tossed an apple and stood abruptly. “It’s thirty years to them. Not to us. Just when I think I’m getting it, I’m not. It’s still last month that I walked my daughter into school. Now she’s dead. The other one … God knows. It was just last month that I got in that stupid fight with Rick because he was sneaking cigarettes in the garage. Now today I bet he doesn’t even remember that argument.”
“Well at least we know now,” John, said sarcastically, “cigarettes didn’t kill him.”
“Shut up.” Nora snapped.
Jason stood. “Nora, come on. He was making a joke. Lightening things up. You of all people should understand that.”
“Don’t.” She spun to him.
“Don’t what? Don’t tell you to calm down. You haven’t been yourself since Blake told you Rick was alive. You knew that. Why the change?”
“Because when I knew this before, we had a plan. Now we don’t have a plan. There’s no end game. What’s our end game here, people?” she tossed up her hands. “I don’t know it and it is driving me nuts.”
John shook his head. “We don’t need an end game. Not every situation has an end game.”
“No, you’re wrong,” Nora argued. “Even before all this. Each day we woke up we had an end game. We get up, go to work, and have our day, with the end game being our nightly routine. No matter who you are. Your day, week, had an end game.”
Meredith spoke up. “I think what she’s saying makes sense. We’re spending our days going place to place. Our plan was to find our families. We found out about our families. Then the plan was to find this Salvation. But now that’s not an option. We are strangers in this world. This is not our world anymore. So we can’t even plan on what’s next.”
“Thank you,” Nora said. “I have to know what is next. I have to have a goal. I want to go to Salvation but I don’t even know why that’s not an option now, except for the words of a stranger.” She looked at Blake. “No offense.”
“None taken,” Blake said, still sitting by the fire in his own world.
“We’ll know soon enou
gh,” Jason said. “When Malcolm gets here. Until then, I don’t see why we can’t come up with a game plan.”
“I’ve been saying the same thing,” John added. “Come up with a long term plan. This is not worthy of freaking out about Nora. Really.”
“Really? Then tell me where?” Nora asked. “Where do we go? What is an option? Do you know? I don’t, we don’t know anything. Apparently Salvation raids towns. Towns have to hide. Out east things are so bad you can die. Is this world even survivable for us? I mean really, what kind of world is this now?”
His strong voice answered as Hunter stepped to the circle. “Yours. Still your world. Just different. Make it work. Worry about today. Tomorrow is tomorrow. Worry then. Goal today … live, eat …” he handed her an apple. “And no hatabitigan.” He shook his head and walked off.
Everyone was silent.
Meredith exhaled. “In so many words, the age old saying was just repeated by a new age man. Don’t worry about tomorrow, live for today.”
Nora stared at the apple in her hand. “Hatabitgan? Was I the only one who heard that word?”
“Yeah,” Jason said. “What the hell is hatabitigan?”
“I think,” John said. “Hatabitigan is our new friend’s language for … no bitching. Just a guess.”
Nora groaned. “You’re probably right.” She glanced at Hunter who had returned to doing his thing. Just like hatabitigan was his way to say no complaining, Nora was also pretty sure, handing her the apple to consume was his symbolic way kind of making her eat crow.
<><><><>
Maggie knew Malcolm wasn’t happy with her, the entire camp was quiet, even Clark with all his historical arrogance said very little. It was unspoken, that the termination of the life pods was wrong. At least it seemed that way to Malcolm. Everyone was not ‘okay’ with it. Except Maggie and Trey.
How could Trey, his son, find the logic in the killing of a hundred innocent and unaware people?
The same son who lied about Malcolm’s identity was suddenly fearful of being a rebel? Trey’s argument wasn’t so much for the people of Salvation, but rather those who still lived outside the walls. The farmers, the soldiers, and the scattered communities. Did they deserve to face the reemergence of a virus that was believed eradicated?
Malcolm was fine with Maggie knowing his dismay. It gave him an excuse to go to the warehouse where they kept the solar carts. Thinking Malcolm was just staying busy to occupy his mind, Maggie let him go.
Malcolm didn’t just tinker with the carts, he prepared them for travel. But not for him.
He knew exactly what he had to do and laid out his plan.
By midnight everyone was asleep in their portable tents. Colonel Norris took watch at midnight and walked a perimeter counter clockwise fifty yards south.
Malcolm unloaded supplies from the van every time Norris walked out of sight. He didn’t remove them all, because he himself needed supplies. Malcolm could take a buggy, but the truth was he had a nine hundred mile hike to Illinois. The terrain would be overgrown and rough, and he needed to go without stopping. Something the van could do. Solar energy during the day, corn fuel at night. The fact that he was leaving the solar buggies would afford Malcolm a chance to stop closer to Illinois.
By two am, Malcolm had removed all that he was going to and left a note in the warehouse on the specifications of the buggies. They wouldn’t work for several hours. All he needed to do was get in that van and go. Norris wouldn’t shoot at the van.
It was time.
After leaving another note for Trey, Malcolm waited until he didn’t see Norris and with his bag in hand he darted around to the driver’s door of the van.
Norris stood there.
Shit, Malcolm thought.
“You know,” Norris said. “For the last two hours I watched you take stuff from the van. Good to know you aren’t leaving us high and dry.”
“I’m not a prisoner here.”
“No, but right now, you’re a thief.”
“I’m sorry. I’m just panicking. I told her where I was meeting the others. I put them in danger,” Malcolm said.
“So you need to cut them off. Warn them.”
“Yeah, because I honestly think they’re in trouble if they’re found.”
“Orders are to arrest them so they can be tried, but …” Norris lowered his voice. “I can’t say that other orders won’t come in to just eliminate them. They are a threat.”
“We don’t know that.”
“Can we take a chance? What you need to do is take them and disappear. It will take twenty-four hours to get a rescue crew here to haul us out. After that, they’ll come for you.”
Malcolm shook his head. “I’m confused. Why are you telling me this?”
Norris sidestepped allowing Malcolm access to the driver’s door. “You stole the van. I’ll take heat for that. After that I’m gonna have to follow orders. Understand?”
Malcolm nodded.
“You’ll lose your son over this.”
“My son hasn’t had me in thirty years. I righted the wrong between us. I’m good and hopeful that one day those in Salvation will give up the walls.”
“Not while you and the others are out there. Now go.”
Malcolm shook his hand and thanked him, and without hesitation, got in the van and left. He didn’t understand why Norris would help him, but Malcolm wasn’t going to question him any further.
<><><><>
While everyone slept the big man of few words held post. Nora wondered if he understood what was going on, but didn’t convey it as much. Hunter watched and didn’t miss a beat from what Nora gathered. They were having their first night, of which she believed would be many in the fort. It had old world charm and clearly was set up for when the trade groups came in.
John explained that to Hunter, who responded to John he knew who was bad.
But Nora felt bad for her outburst over dinner. It wasn’t like her. She typically dealt with things. It weighed so heavily on her mind that she couldn’t sleep, not even after two solid drinks of moonshine.
She wanted to speak to Hunter, get to know him, and she hadn’t had the chance to have much one on one communication with him other than being told she would break, or that she was bitching.
She spotted him sitting on top of the front wall just left of the slanted roof. A rope dangled down and Nora figured that was the only way up. Although in her youth she could have been considered athletic those traits had long since gone. But scaling a wall with a rope was still something she was confident in doing.
The wall was about twenty feet and if she fell off then she was in trouble, however, Nora didn’t have any trouble at all and three feet from the top, Hunters huge hand extended to help her.
Once she grasped it, Hunter pretty much hoisted her up.
“Danger,” Hunter said. “Nora breaks with ease.”
“I think you can give me a bit more credit than that.”
“Hunter does not understand.”
“Nora is not fragile,” she said. “I’m tough. Strong.”
Hunter stared.
“Okay, maybe not tough, but I’m strong and strength doesn’t just come from the physical form.”
Again, Hunter stared.
“If you’re judging me on that one outburst that’s not fair.”
“Hunter does not understand.”
“Which pretty much answers my question of how much does Hunter really get. And this wall is thin why are you not in there?” She pointed to the lookout room that was higher than the wall and above the main gate.”
“Here, can see everything. There …” Hunter pointed. “Blocked.”
With an ‘Ah’ Nora nodded. “Can I sit?” she indicated down as she lowered, Hunter helped her then sat next to her.
“So why this direction and not east or west?”
“John’s friend will come from this way. Any bad will come from this way. The water flows not far from the other side. They will
not come across the water.”
“That makes sense. And I came up to talk to you and say I am sorry for my …. hatabitigan.”
Hunter nodded. “You must hatabitigan quite often.”
“Not really, no. I’m pretty calm, it’s just that I got stressed and upset. Understand?”
“Yes. People usually do not hatabitigan when they feel tense. They eat.”
“That too, but when I walked around on this earth, they hatabitigan over everything.”
“Then they must have all been fragile.”
“Emotionally. We were at times a sensitive society,” Nora said. “Maybe that is why I get so worried about survival.”
“Hunter will teach you. You will not fear what tomorrow brings. You will know of your survival.”
“That is so nice of you.” She tapped his leg. “And I can teach you.”
“Hunter would like that.”
“Oh, good. And I bring a peace offering.”
Hunter looked curiously at her.
She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out an item wrapped in a small piece of cloth. “In Rantoul they make their own chocolate bars. It’s really good.” She unwrapped it and handed it to him. After he sniffed it, Nora said. “It’s delicious. Good. You eat it.”
“Yes. And Hunter will not hatabitigan your gift of food.”
“Hunter will not …” Nora paused. “Ah … gees. Hatabitgan doesn’t mean bitch. It means waste. That’s what you were telling me when you gave me the apple. Do not waste it.”
“Hatabitgan.”
“I got it now. Boy, we do have a lot to teach each other.”
Hunter broke the candy in two and handed her a piece.
“Thank you.” She accepted it and smiled. “This is going to be a very interesting night.”
<><><><>
The sound of it not only woke Meredith, it caused her to jump awake. “What the hell?” she said, sitting up in her sleeping bag.
The noise rang through the silence, echoing in a booming manner.
“John,” she called him in a hard whisper. His sleeping bag was next to hers. “John.”
Reset (Book 2): Salvation Page 18