“Complete withdrawal,” said Chief. The mayor sat in the corner, quietly beaming. “They just left. No sign of them anywhere, and reports of long columns of Minutemen marching away from town. I can’t quite figure it.”
“It’s like Smith told us,” Irene said. “They don’t think they can hold the town without their network, without someone they can back to step into the power vacuum, so they have to regroup.”
“It’s nothing short of a miracle,” the mayor said. She looked withered, her voice strained. The stress of the preceding weeks had taken a toll. “We need to regroup as well. The truth is…”
She stopped here, a pained look on her face. “The truth is we wouldn’t be sitting here if it hadn’t been for the Rangers. The truth is I don’t think the Republic can survive without them.”
“Madame Mayor,” Irene said. “That’s hardly such a bad thing, is it? They value the Republic as much as we do. They just think it should be different.”
“With all due respect, Ms. McGill, we’re all aware that you’ve spent time with them, in their camps. You might be a bit biased,” said Chief. “I just can’t accept that we would give any political power to a band of forest…communists.”
“It’s not a question of what we want,” said the mayor. “It’s a question of what we have to do to stay alive. Maybe this is a tide we can’t swim against.”
Tide or no tide, I had my town back. There was a lot of work left to do, but sitting out on my veranda that night, I watched my old neighbourhood come to life again, as people, reassured, at least for now, that their lives could return to normal, went about their business, talked to their neighbours, and enjoyed the dying light of evening.
To Be Continued…
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-Lyle
Death Across the Lake Page 17