by Nathan Jones
Matt felt a bit bad that he'd avoided learning anything about the refugee camp, probably to avoid feeling guilty about not doing anything to help them. He hadn't realized anyone but Razor was looked to as a leader there, although he supposed the decent people who'd endured the rule of Razor's gang would have their own opinions on things.
A slightly uncomfortable silence settled. The attack was too new and feelings were too raw to share pleasantries, and while Matt had nothing against Ben he still felt a bit wary of the refugee. For the older man's part he seemed to be holding back resentment. Matt supposed prejudices that had been building up for over a month wouldn't disappear overnight.
“Do you think your people will be able to get along?” Matt asked, then immediately regretted his choice of words.
“With townies?” Ben scowled slightly. “We're not too fond of you, I can tell you that much. But I can also tell you that Razor set the bar pretty low when it came to our treatment. Give us time and a little kindness and we'll come around eventually.”
Matt thought giving up dozens of houses was fairly kind, but he knew what the man meant. “Hopefully we can talk again, Ben, but at the moment I'm having trouble just staying on my feet.”
“I'm not surprised. Most people Razor got to with that shaver of his didn't do much walking afterwards.” Ben shook his hand again, and Matt continued on to where Catherine was speaking to a huddle of townspeople and refugees, sorting out housing arrangements.
To his surprise when he approached the new Mayor she excused herself and pulled him aside, out of earshot of everyone else in the storehouse. “I haven't seen Ed for almost a week. Did something happen to him?”
Matt hesitated. “He went to look for food.”
Catherine smiled grimly. “Now that's a cagey answer if ever I've heard one. Didn't you hear me promise the town everyone's property will be protected? There's no need to be fearful or suspicious anymore, so wherever he is you can tell me. I won't give away your secrets or try to take what's yours.”
He supposed that was true, although he wasn't nearly as trusting of everyone else. Especially when the refugees who'd been thieving from residents of Aspen Hill just yesterday were now living next door. Still, it was Catherine he was talking to. “Trev had a cache 50 miles north of town,” he whispered. “He gifted it to my family when he and Lewis headed out.”
“Is that why you didn't use the ration line?” she asked, eyes widening in understanding.
Matt hesitated. “Yes and no. We haven't managed to get any of it yet and have just been doing our best to get by. But now we're out of food and have been since Ferris took what little we had, and since we couldn't go through the ration line our situation's even worse. Dad felt responsible for that so he's gone off on his own to collect as much as he can. That was 5 days ago, though, and I'm worried about whether he can make the trip. Especially with Razor's men out there.”
“I understand.” The older woman pulled him into a sincere hug. “He'll be in our prayers, and I'll ask the patrols to keep an eye out for him.” She must have felt him stiffen in alarm. “Without letting them know anything else,” she promised hastily.
Matt pulled away. “Thank you.” He started to turn to leave but paused when Catherine rested a hand on his arm.
“One more thing. I want you to take over for Officer Turner leading the town's defenses.”
Matt's jaw dropped in shock. “What?”
“I'm not joking, Matt. You're the town hero and you showed us today you have what it takes to defend us.”
“But I'm injured,” he protested. “And anyway I need to take care of my family. Not to mention I have no idea how Turner organized everything or how to do any of it myself.”
Catherine gave him a weary smile. “Nobody's expecting you to be perfect overnight. We'll muddle by until you're healed enough to get started, and you'll have good people helping you every step of the way. I think it will make a lot of people in town feel safer knowing the man who killed Razor is defending them.”
“The only reason he didn't shoot me in the head is because he ran out of bullets,” Matt argued. “Besides, wouldn't Scott be better for the job? Or Tam? Or Chauncey, or half a dozen other people I could name off the top of my head.”
The new Mayor patted his arm again. “Think about it, at least.” Her expression suddenly darkened, becoming reluctant and almost frightened. “But if you're well enough tomorrow we need to prepare a firing squad for the prisoners, as well as organize a mass grave for Razor's men and proper funerals for all the townspeople who died. I'd appreciate any help you could offer.”
Matt could understand her revulsion. He'd killed men today to defend himself, but an execution was something else entirely. He wasn't sure he could do it. “So the firing squad is going to happen?”
“We'll have a trial, as any lawful town would, but I think we both know what the outcome will be.” She sighed. “What are the alternatives? Keep them in prison and feed them when decent law abiding citizens are starving to death, or exile them and watch them prey on other innocents out in the world the same way they did to us? I'd rather have their deaths on my head than the deaths of any innocents they might harm.”
“What if they're not all murderers?” Matt asked.
Catherine held up a hand. “Don't!” she said fiercely. “Remember the people who died today, and what happened to some of those who didn't. These men willingly went along with all of it. It's going to be hard enough to do what I need to do tomorrow without doubting myself, so don't put any more weight on my shoulders.”
Her shoulders. “Will you be the judge?”
The older woman suddenly looked too weary to stand. “No,” she said quietly. “I'll be the executioner who upholds whatever ruling the judge decides on. Is that any better?”
Matt suddenly felt as if all the weariness he could see in Catherine had settled on him as well. He hated the entire business, but at the same time he wasn't sure he even wanted to press the issue. “Good night, Mayor.”
* * * * *
It was impossible to sleep when Matt got home with his mom and nephews. Every time he tried he'd come awake to the sound of phantom gunshots, his heart hammering in his throat. Once he even dreamed up Razor leaning over him to slit his throat, but it was only his mom draping a blanket over him. He'd fallen asleep on the couch with his .40 next to him, ready to shoot anyone who tried to force their way through the broken front door that he'd barricaded with a dresser.
After the scare with his mom he thought better of that and decided the chances were higher of accidentally shooting a family member in trigger-happy paranoia, so he stuffed the pistol under a couch cushion and determined that he'd well and truly identify an attacker before going for it. It might get him killed, but better that than the alternative in his current state.
He lay in the dark for what seemed like an eternity before the back door finally opened and he heard the soft murmur of women's voices. April and Sam came into the living room, and when Matt sat up to greet them they both screamed.
“Easy!” he said. “I thought I was jumpy.”
“Are you kidding?” his sister nearly shouted, slapping at him in the dark. “What are you doing on the couch?”
“You guys are in the guest room and Sam's taking my room,” he said. “Also I wanted to guard the entrances, just in case. Did Terry stay behind?”
He caught the silhouette of April nodding. “He needs to keep an eye on the wounded. It's going to be a long night for him, and he's worried he won't be able to save them all.” She lowered her voice. “Actually he's worried he won't even be able to save some of the ones he could have. He's doing his best, but he doesn't have the training or equipment to help half the people who need him.”
“He's doing great,” Matt assured her, although halfway through his words were interrupted by a jaw-cracking yawn.
Sam came over to sit on the couch next to him, and he felt her soft hands cup his face. “Go to sleep, Matt. In your
own bed. I can keep watch down here.”
Matt shook his head. “I can't sleep so I might as well keep an eye out. You should be comfortable in bed.”
The dark-haired woman made a noise that might have been frustration. “You're injured!” At his stubborn silence she abruptly leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed. “Fine. I'll sit with you for a while since I can't sleep either.”
He wanted to protest, but he also desperately wanted her company. So they said their good nights to April and sat together on the couch with the blanket wrapped around them, talking quietly about everything that had happened. Matt told Sam about Catherine's offer to lead the town's defenses, and unsurprisingly she insisted that if he wanted to do it she'd do everything she could to help.
In spite of his nerves being with her calmed him down, and at some point he must've fallen asleep. He woke up with a start sometime later with no idea what time it was, sprawled halfway across the armrest with Sam curled up against his shoulder.
It wasn't a phantom noise this time. He could hear a quiet rustling from the direction of the kitchen.
Matt carefully extricated himself from the couch, ignoring Sam's sleepy murmur of protest as she wrapped herself tighter in the blanket and curled up against the back of the couch, and reached under the cushion to grab the pistol. He also reached into the lamp table's drawer to get the flashlight they kept there.
It might be Terry coming back from the storehouse, or April or his mom pottering around the house unable to sleep. It might even, the thought filled him with a surge of hope, be his dad safely home.
He limped towards the noise, flashlight ready to flick on and point at whoever it was he heard. He wanted to wait until he had a clear view at least in case it was an enemy, since shining a light around would reveal his position and make him an easy target.
When he reached the kitchen he realized the noise was coming from the pantry, so he cautiously made his way over there. He could see light filtering out from beneath the closed door, and the hair on the back of his neck prickled. They hadn't used the pantry since Ferris's first inspection because there was nothing in there.
Holding his breath, he groped for the doorknob with the hand holding the flashlight, getting his Glock ready. Then in one quick surge he threw open the door, stepped back, flicked the flashlight on, and aimed both the light and the gun inside the small room.
Wide green eyes stared at him with a deer in the headlights expression and Matt drew in a startled breath. “You.”
Mandy Townsend slowly set down the empty #10 can she'd been peering inside and turned to fully face him, doing her best to appear calm. “Oh hey. Matt. Good to see you're okay.” She started to step forward, extending her hand as if to shake.
“Don't!” Matt said sharply, easing the slack on the trigger until it was nearly on the point of firing. Mandy froze, but just to be safe he took a few steps back to put some distance between them.
To be honest he wasn't really surprised it was her. She'd lived in the house so she knew her way around it, and from everything he'd heard about her from Sam and his parents, as well as his own observations the few times he'd had the misfortune of seeing her, sneaking into the house of people who'd been kind to her to burglarize it in the night seemed right up her alley. And after she'd lied about Trev and his promise to let her stay in town Matt had zero sympathy for her.
“You've heard Mayor Tillman's new policies, right?” he demanded. “The punishment for anyone caught committing theft is exile.”
Her green eyes widened further in a nearly convincing show of confusion and dismay. “Policies? Theft? I don't know what you mean. I just came to beg your folks to let me stay here again. I have nowhere else to go and you've been so kind to me.”
“Doing that begging in our pantry?” Matt asked sarcastically. “How stupid do you think I am? Also did you honestly think you'd find food in there after Ferris has been all over this place?”
“It's not like that!” Mandy insisted. “One of Razor's guys, Teddy, has been hassling me. After Ferris left I had no choice but to go back to the refugee camp and he basically grabbed me and-” she broke off with a shudder. “Anyway he forced me to break into your house and look for food. He said he'd hurt me and you guys if I didn't. You don't want to hear what he threatened to do to Sam.”
Matt felt his anger boil over, not because he believed her but for the exact opposite reason. She was blatantly trying to exploit his feelings for the woman he loved to push his buttons and manipulate him. After what Sam had been through during Razor's attack and because of his feelings for the dark-haired woman, Mandy's tactic was unforgivable. “So which is it, you came to beg us to let you back in or this Teddy punk is making you steal from us?”
“Both!” she insisted. “When I saw you didn't have any food I knew he was going to punish me, so I was planning to beg you guys to protect me.” She hunched over slightly, hands fluttering in front of her stomach, and gave him a pathetic look. “I can't go back out there and I don't have anywhere else to go.”
The blond woman's deceptions were almost convincing enough to be believable, mostly because she seemed to believe them herself. No wonder she'd been able to turn everyone in Aspen Hill against Trev even though everyone knew and liked him. She was willing to make completely outrageous claims and fully invest in making people believe them.
Too bad they were so transparent. “A few problems with your story, Mandy. First off we were told Razor's gang hadn't gone back to the camp, any of them. Second of all we headed there not long after the attack and invited the refugees to come into town. I notice you didn't mention any of that, though. Have you even been out to the camp at all today?”
“Matt?” Sam hissed, padding into the kitchen. Matt glanced over just long enough to see her clutching the revolver she'd gotten off the looter. “What's going on?”
“Your boyfriend's pointing a gun at me, Sam!” Mandy shouted from the pantry.
“Shut up!” Matt snapped. He turned towards his girlfriend just long enough to answer. “It's Mandy trying to rob us.”
“You've got to be kidding me,” Sam said, expression darkening. “After everything we've been through today we have to put up with her now?”
“Not for long. I'm going to take her to the storehouse to see what the Mayor wants to do about her.”
Sam pocketed the small revolver. “I'll come too.”
“I'd feel more comfortable if you were here to guard the house while me and Terry are both gone.”
“Oh, right.” Sam came over and gave him a quick kiss, glancing into the pantry at Mandy as she did. Without saying a word to the blond woman she turned and made her way back into the living room.
Matt reached into the drawer where his mom kept twine for tying up herbs to dry and pulled out a length, then bound Mandy's hands behind her. “Ooh, I feel like such a dangerous criminal,” she said sarcastically over her shoulder.
“A criminal, at least. Although you're definitely more dangerous than you look, especially to your friends.” Matt put away his gun and prodded between her shoulders. “Come on, out the way you came in. Let's get this over with.”
The blond woman stomped towards the back door, where Matt had to open it for her, then shine the light down the stairs to keep her from tripping. They walked across the yard in silence, but once they reached the gate Mandy turned to glare at him as he opened it. “You think your precious Samantha's any different than me?” she asked, voice dripping with spite.
Matt fought the urge to laugh. “Yeah I do, actually. You guys are just about complete opposites.”
“Oh really?” The blond woman gave him a contemptuous look. “You took her in, fed her, and gave her everything else she needed. The only difference is that you're such a sucker that she just had to bat her eyelashes to get everything she wanted from you, while I've had to work to survive.”
Now he did laugh. “Do you have any idea how sad it is that you think the only value you could possi
bly have is sex, and you think Sam's the same? You couldn't be more wrong. Sam's part of the family, and she's earned her place through hard work, kindness, optimism, and determination. She reminds me every day that bad as the world's become there's still more to life than hardship and suffering.”
“If you believe she's like that you really are stupid,” Mandy snapped. “But even if she's the saint you claim what does that make you? You're helping her hoping to get something in return and you know it.”
If he were less secure in himself or his feelings about Sam then Mandy's toxic accusation might have gotten to him, at least a little. But as it was he just gave her a pitying look. “I wouldn't want to look at the world through your eyes. Are you even capable of finding good in anyone or anything?”
She wiggled her bound arms, then jerked her head towards the storehouse as if to remind him of the earlier attack. “Look around. Any good in the world was just an illusion, waiting for the first real disaster to show that it never existed at all. You of all people should know that by now.”
Matt was already forming a counter argument, that the good was in people not in the world and because she lacked it in herself she couldn't see it in anyone else. But he was frankly sick of talking to her so he just walked on in silence.
He trusted the new Mayor to stick to her guns, and he really hoped that started with exiling Mandy.
Chapter Nine
New Arrivals
The week following Ferris leaving and Razor's attack was much more hectic for Matt, but in many ways also far less tense.
The entire town quickly started to show new energy now that the people were back in charge of things. Now they were able to seek food without having to worry about Ferris stepping in and confiscating it, and for that matter weren't encouraged to sit around completely reliant on the ration line for their meals. And Matt felt far safer with a gun at his hip and the knowledge that all his trusted friends and neighbors were armed too. The entire town felt safer, and people actually started wandering the streets once more.