by Stan Morris
He wondered about the woman. She must be from Eagle’s Retreat. She might know something about the conditions at that place. He hoped he could obtain some information about the conditions there, but he had never seen, other than on television, someone so terrified. Things must be bad at that Retreat.
Presently, he rose and looked at the woman. She was breathing deeply now, and he was certain that the exhausted woman was asleep. He picked up his mummy bag and tiptoed over to her. Carefully, he removed her club from her open fingers. If she suddenly awoke, he did not want her to strike him accidentally, or on purpose. She did not awaken. He regretted the need to awaken her, but the night was going to be cold, so he had no choice.
Taking a firm grasp on her blankets, he yanked them away from her. With a cry of alarm, she woke. She saw him with her blankets, and more importantly, he was holding her club. Incoherent cries came from her mouth as she shrank away from him, pressing against the trees behind her. Her hands curled into claws as she awaited his attack.
Jacob tossed his mummy bag at her feet, and he walked away. He placed the club by his backpack, and then he laid one of her blankets on the ground. He lay down on that blanket, and he wrapped himself in the other blanket.
After a while, Lily realized that he was not going to attack her, at least not yet. The pounding of her heart slowed, and she regained her senses. Relief was followed by tears. She put her head between her legs, and she silently wept. She wept from fear. She wept out of anger. She wept because she was so tired and so alone. She wept for her friends who had died naturally and for those who had been murdered.
After a long time, she collected herself. She saw the mummy bag. This is another bribe. Having no other choice, she crawled into the bag and slept. Lily awoke to the smell of food cooking. The sun was just over the horizon. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. The young man was roasting a fat grouse over the fire. He looked at her when she stirred.
“It’s ready,” he said.
She got out of the bag. It was a sunny day. A yellow faced warbler flew down from the green canopy, snatched something on the ground, and fled back to the sky. Lily stood there trying to decide what to do. Finally, she walked to the fire and sat down. The young man tore a piece off of the bird. No, he’s an older teenager, she remembered.
“It’s hot,” he warned, as he handed the meat to her.
Gingerly she took the hot piece and ate it. He handed her another piece, and she ate that too. Soon, she realized that she had eaten all of the bird. She looked at Jacob who was peeling a hardboiled egg.
“Want some?” he asked.
Lily shook her head, no. Jacob fished another piece of bread from his pack, and he offered it to her. She accepted and ate it. When they were finished eating, Jacob rolled up her blankets and tied them with a piece of dried vine. Then to her surprise, he handed the club to her. He pointed down the trail in the direction she had been traveling.
“That way,” he said, and started down the path without looking back.
What should I do? Do I follow him? If I don’t, will he follow me again? She decided to follow him for the moment. She could decide later if she should sneak away.
They walked until she was tired. She was about to ask him to stop when he paused. He sat down, and she did the same. He waited for ten minutes, and then he stood and resumed their journey with her following close behind. After a few hours, she was tired again. Before she could ask, he stopped and they rested again. At noon they stopped, while he hunted. He caught another bird and roasted it. They ate, and then they resumed their journey. They walked and then they stopped and rested, and this pattern continued for the rest of the day.
When night drew near, Jacob found the stump of a dead tree that had been hit by lightning. It was hollow, but there was no way in, until Jacob made one with his knife and with his boot. They crawled through the hole that he had made. Jacob shared his food with Lily, and afterwards he started to unroll the bedding.
Lily tensed. All day she had been dreading this moment. What will he do? His bribes had been generous, she had to grant. She was beginning to understand why other women at the Retreat had gradually succumbed to the subtle and to the not so subtle pressure from the men. She imagined a woman from the far distant past talking to her.
“This is the way it is,” the woman would say. “A man finds you. He decides that he wants you. He feeds you and he shelters you and he protects you. In return, he expects to use your body for his pleasure.”
“I won’t have sex with you willingly,” Lily said abruptly. “You’ll have to force me.”
Chapter Ten
LILY
Jacob glanced at her as he continued his task. “I’m not going to have sex with you,” he said.
His words startled Lily.
“Why not?” she asked, and then she furiously berated herself. You idiot, Lily. What does it matter? It looks like you might be safe for another night.
“For one thing, I don’t think it would be all that comfortable to have sex right here,” Jacob said as he finished untying his bag. “For another thing, I’m not allowed to have sex before I’m sixteen. I won’t be sixteen until August. But mainly, I’m not going to have sex with you, because you don’t want me to have sex with you.”
For some reason, Lily’s mind focused on his second reason. He’s not allowed to have sex before he’s sixteen? Lily looked at him. He was young. He was much younger than she had originally guessed. He must be fifteen.
“Who are you?” she asked. She found it unbelievable that she had not asked him this until now. “Where are you from?”
“I’m Jacob,” the boy replied. “I’m from a camp about five days away from here.”
Lily thought about that. “What kind of camp?” she asked.
“It was supposed to be a camp about birth control for kids,” replied Jacob. “There are kids there from all over California and some from Nevada, too. But then the Fog came. The adults all left except for one lady. Then she was killed by some bad guys.”
Lily gaped at him. “You come from a camp of kids? There are no adults there?”
“There are two adults. Hector is a man from a logging camp who found us and stayed with us. Jean is a Forest Ranger,” Jacob replied. He frowned. “I guess you could count Mrs. Brown as the third adult. She lives on a farm not far from us.”
Lily’s mind was reeling. “What do you mean, the Fog came?”
Abruptly Jacob stopped what he was doing and stared at her.
“You don’t know about the Fog?” he asked. Lily shook her head.
“Something has happened to the world,” Jacob said. “I guess it’s all over the world. Some kind of fog is surrounding us. The only land that’s not covered, is above six thousand seven hundred feet.”
Lily looked at him as if he was addled. “A fog,” she said. “A fog that covers the whole world up to almost seven thousand feet.”
“Yes. What did you think happened?” Jacob asked.
“I saw what happened,” she insisted. “Some men took over the Eagle’s Retreat where I was staying. That was last year. They started mistreating people. They killed some people. They started raping women, and they intimidated other women into having sex with them. They control the phones, they disconnected the TV’s, and somehow they’re blocking the satellite cable, and they did it all so they could set up their own little kingdom, here in the mountains.”
“How’s their food situation?” Jacob asked.
Lily ducked her head. “Not good,” she said. “We had a lot in the beginning. That’s the other reason I escaped. I could see we were running out of food. I don’t know why they haven’t resupplied. Maybe they’re afraid that someone is going to find out what they’re doing. They tried to kill a sheep and eat it, but everyone who ate the meat got sick.”
Jacob didn’t say anything. She’ll find out the truth soon enough. I wonder how she’ll feel then.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“I’
m Lily,” she replied.
After that, they slept. When Lily awoke, she felt mentally rested for the first time in a year. Once again, she followed Jacob when he left.
As they traveled, Lily took over the cooking chores. When Jacob caught something, Lily prepared it and cleaned up afterwards. She tried to give Jacob his mummy bag and to take her blankets back, but Jacob was firm if gentle. The answer was, “no.” She didn’t press it. She was alive, and she was free, at least for the moment, and Jacob seemed intent on keeping her that way. She still didn’t quite believe that the bad times were over, but at least he had not tried to force her to have sex with him.
Once, he asked her how old she was, and she told him that she was twenty one. He responded by saying that she would be the third adult in their camp.
She didn’t tell him that she had no intention of staying in their camp, and that she was heading down the mountain as soon as possible. She knew that he was making up much of what he told her, but she did not know why. How will he explain the fantasy when we get to where we are going, wherever that is?
On the third day of their travels together, they came to a stream. Jacob turned towards the west, and they followed the water. The next day, the stream grew larger and faster as it gathered the waters from tributaries, and the day after that, it became a small river. About noon, Jacob stopped. Behind him, Lily stopped also. She could tell that Jacob was alert and listening.
For a moment her fear returned, but then Jacob said in a loud voice, “It’s Jacob.”
Minutes later, she saw two boys come out of the woods and hail Jacob. The smaller boy was African-American. The other boy was lighter but not by much.
“Hey, Bro,” the younger boy said. “You’re back early.” His eyes were filled with reserve as he examined Lily.
“Change of plans,” said Jacob. “This is Lily. She’s from the Retreat.” He pointed to the younger boy. “That’s Eric. And that’s Ahmad.”
For a moment, Lily stared at the two boys, and then she looked back at Jacob. She was startled by the realization that he had already known about the Retreat. She kept silent, waiting to see what would happen.
“Do you want one of us to run down and tell the Chief?” Ahmad asked.
“No need. We’ll be there soon enough,” Jacob answered.
“How’s your food?” Eric asked. “You hungry?”
“Nah, we’ve been eating. What have you got to drink?”
“Mrs. Brown sent us a whole canister of Kool-Aid,” Eric said. “The Chief is saving it for the patrols, but you can have some.”
“Cool,” Jacob replied, his eyes lighting up.
Eric handed him a thermos. Jacob took it and ignoring the screw-on cup, drank straight from the thermos. Then he looked guiltily at Lily.
“Want some?” he asked, indicating that she could use the cup.
Typical boy. “No, thank you,” she answered and took a drink from her water bottle.
After exchanging a few more words with the patrol, Jacob and Lily continued their journey along the swiftly running river. At sunset they came out of the woods, and Lily got her first look at the camp. The sight of the crude Lodge astonished and alarmed her, but the A-frame cabin, and the dining hall, and the big yellow bus parked beside the heavy machinery in the parking lot conveyed some sense of normalcy.
“I need to check in,” Jacob said. “But first, I need to use the bathroom,” he added with a blush. He headed for the Lodge.
Lily noticed a woman speaking to a teenage boy. When she approached them, they were obviously surprised to see her.
“Pardon me,” she said with a polite smile. “Can you direct me to the Administration Office?”
“Uh, it’s over there,” the woman said, staring at Lily while pointing to the A-frame cabin. Lily thanked the woman and went to the cabin. She knocked on the door.
“It’s open,” said a voice from inside.
Lily opened the door and stepped in. A young boy sitting at a desk raised his head and stared at her.
“Hello,” she said. “Is the person in charge, here?”
“Who are you?” the boy asked brusquely.
“My name is Lily,” she replied. “I came here with Jacob. I need to speak to the person in charge of this camp.”
“Jacob’s back?” the boy asked. “Where is he?”
“He’s using the restroom. Please, I really need to speak to the person in charge,” Lily replied.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door, and then a man and the woman that Lily had just spoken to entered the cabin.
“Hey, Chief,” the man said. “Everything okay?”
“I guess so,” said Mike. “This woman says she came here with Jacob. Say’s, he’s using the Porta Potty.”
Jacob came through the door. “Hello, Chief,” he said.
“What’s going on here?” Lily asked demandingly. “Where is your Administrator?”
Her fear had returned. She had thought that everything would soon be back to normal, but nothing seemed normal about this place.
Jacob, Hector, and Jean looked at Mike.
“I’m in charge here,” he said. “My name is Mike, but most everyone calls me, ‘Chief’.”
“This is Lily, Chief,” said Jacob. “She’s from the Retreat. She doesn’t know about the Fog.”
Jean gasped. “You’re from the Retreat?”
Lily didn’t answer. Her mind was numb. She sat down heavily on the bed.
“This can’t be happening,” she whispered to herself.
Jean looked at the woman with pity, and then she said to Mike, “Chief, can I be alone with her for a minute?”
“Sure,” said Mike. “Take your time. Let’s go, guys.” The three males left the cabin.
“I didn’t get to the Retreat, Chief,” Jacob explained. “I found her about a week ago. I decided you would want me to stop and bring her back here. Sorry.”
“Good job, Jacob,” said Mike. “You can go back there later with Jean. I was already thinking that sending you there alone was a bad idea. About Lily. It’s late, so I’m going to let her stay in my place tonight. I want you to stay there, too.”
Jacob’s mouth dropped open. “What?” he said.
“Upstairs, I mean,” Mike explained. “In the loft. Just so she’ll have someone around who she’s familiar with. Tomorrow, I’ll move her to a bunk.”
“Oh, alright.”
The next day, Lily feeling weary and subdued, met with Mike and his Council. She gave them an account of her experiences at the retreat.
“Jacob, why do you think they got sick from eating that sheep?” Mike asked.
“Didn’t prepare it properly. Sounds like they cut the stomach or intestines,” Jacob replied.
“Lily, did they try to eat another sheep?” Mike asked.
“Not while I was there. No one wanted to take the chance,” was her answer. ”We were living on deer and goat milk.”
“How many of those people are still alive?”
Lily thought for a minute. “When I left, there were five men, eight women and four kids, but one man was real sick,” she said. “He might not survive.”
“Seventeen people,” said Mike slowly. He stopped talking and thought about it. Then he looked at Jacob.
“Jacob, think you could prepare one of those sheep properly?” he asked.
“Sure,” Jacob responded. Mike thought some more.
“Lily, are they keeping a close watch on those sheep?” he asked.
“They didn’t seem to be watching them at all,” she replied. Mike nodded.
“Jacob, I want you to write down a detailed description of how to prepare the sheep for cooking. Lily, you draw some diagrams for him. When you’re ready, Jacob, I want you and Jean to go to the Retreat. Steal a sheep. Slaughter it and prepare it, so it’s ready to be cooked. Then leave it where they will find it, and pin the instructions to the sheep.” Mike finished speaking and waited for their reactions.
For a mom
ent, no one spoke, and then they all tried to speak at once. Mike raised his hand.
“One at a time. Erin?”
“Chief, I get your point, but if you do this, you are letting them know we’re here.”
“They won’t know which direction we are,” Jean said. “I’m sure Jacob and I can point them in the wrong direction.”
“I’m not crazy about your idea,” Howard confessed. “But there are children there.”
Mike looked at his carpenter. “Hector?”
Hector shook his head. “Amigo, you never fail to amaze me. We have a choice, here. We can keep ourselves safely hidden from these evil people, or we can try to save the children. We already know what you are going to do.” The room fell silent.
After a moment, Jacob spoke. “Yes, we know what the Chief will do. That’s why he’s the Chief. So let’s get it done.”
Two days later Mike’s plan took a drastic change. It began in the morning when Gabby came to Chief’s Headquarters to complain.
“Someone stole some food, Chief,” she informed him. “They took some of the smoked meat that we save for the patrols, and they took some roasted potatoes that we were going to serve for lunch today. And they stole a thermos.”
Mike was mystified at her report. “I can see why some of our goofballs might steal some of the jerky. But why would anyone steal potatoes?”
A little later, Jacob came by. “Have you seen, Lily?” he asked. “I need her to draw some pictures for preparing the sheep.”
“I haven’t seen her,” replied Mike absently. Then a thought came into his head.
“She’s having a hard time accepting that the Fog is real, isn’t she, Jacob?”
“Yeah. I don’t think she believes us,” Jacob answered.
“Jacob, go find her, right now,” Mike said.
Jacob gave him a questioning look. “Something wrong, Chief?” he asked.
“I’m not sure yet. But go find her. Now.”
Lily could not be found. But someone’s backpack turned up missing. And the last one to see her was the girl at the guard post on the road overlooking the camp.