Nuclear Winter (Book 1): First Winter

by Nathan Jones

  The older woman immediately changed tunes. “Of course! I'm glad at least someone running this town has some sense.” She went off at least partially mollified.

  The former Mayor turned to Matt with a smile. “All part of the job,” she said. “Speaking of which, it looks as if Corporal Bryant is nearly ready to head out, if there's anything you want to say to him.”

  Matt grimaced, reminded of the request Trev had passed on to him. Another part of the job. “How's the tallying coming?”

  It was Catherine's turn to frown. “Nowhere near done. I'll need to grab some people to help, and probably some more to make sure the “helpers” don't wander off with anything. And we'll probably want to stick around to make sure they don't, either.” She gave him a significant look. “And the fact that there's such a huge variety of food, not only varying in types but in quality, is going to make fairly distributing it a nightmare. No matter how hard we try someone's going to feel slighted. And that's only going to get worse when they hear about the town's share.”

  “Town's share?” Matt repeated, surprised.

  “The surplus for over eighty extra people,” the older woman clarified. She was interrupted by the sudden rumble of truck engines starting up, and she waved him towards where Bryant was still talking with Lewis, Trev, and Lucas, while Deb, Jane, and Lewis's sister Mary all waited at the periphery listening in. “Go be Mayor, but then the town leaders need to have a serious talk about what we're doing with those extra supplies.”

  Even new to being Mayor as he was, Matt could tell that handling the surplus was going to be a problem no matter what decision he made concerning it. Just one more part of the job.

  With a sigh he made his way over to Bryant. “On behalf of Aspen Hill wanted to thank you again, Corporal,” he said, offering his hand.

  “Just following orders, although welcome ones,” the soldier replied, returning a crushing grip. He hesitated. “So, uh, about the veterans . . .”

  “It's something the town will have to discuss,” Matt replied, shaking his head, “although I think it would be a good thing.”

  “Good. Then maybe I'll come back around in a week or so to get your answer.”

  Matt opened his mouth to ask why the man didn't just use a radio, then he caught Bryant glancing towards the cluster of women standing nearby. Specifically Mary. The corporal's face reddened slightly as if he realized he'd been caught, and he hastily turned back to his truck. For her part Mary seemed to have noticed the attention, humming uncertainly to herself.

  As he watched Bryant leave he bit back a grin. Lewis's sister was a lovely young woman, the sort of classical blond beauty who tended to catch the eye. Although she was so shy she always seemed more flustered than pleased by the attention. She didn't talk much, but she always seemed to be quietly humming some song or another.

  Matt had once overheard Trev making a passing remark to Lewis about Mary's humming, which sparked the insight that she picked songs to hum that mimicked her feelings or somehow commented on a situation. That had led to some funny instances where her borderline rebellious or teasing choice of music nearly made Matt laugh out loud, which would've revealed he was on to her secret.

  Of course, it also led to a bit of awkwardness when he'd caught her humming love songs around him. He'd avoided the awkwardness by avoiding her, which was a shame because she was one of the sweetest people he knew.

  Other than Sam, of course. But then again his wife was hard to top.

  As if his thoughts had been a summons Sam appeared to lean against his arm, slipping her small hand in his. Even nearly seven months pregnant with their child his wife was still very petite, which was all the more noticeable given Matt's own height. She was more than a classical beauty too, with raven hair and just a hint of olive in her skin from her Mediterranean heritage.

  “Was Corporal Bryant making eyes at Mary?” she asked, dark eyes dancing.

  He shrugged and grinned at her, extricating his hand to pull her close to his side. “Where have you been all this time?”

  “Helping Terry sort through the few medical supplies the convoy brought.” Sam grimaced. “There's not much there. Clean bandages, sewing thread and needles repurposed for suturing, and a few bottles of antiseptic. No painkillers or antibiotics at all, or even so much as a bottle of cough syrup.”

  Terry, Matt's brother-in-law married to his sister April, was the town doctor. Sam and April had been helping him run the clinic nearly from the beginning, and after the violence the town had suffered through they'd had plenty of people to assist. Matt was impressed by Sam's determination to help out with what was often a distressing task, although in her current condition he was more and more worried about her own health and the health of their child.

  “Antiseptic is better than nothing,” Matt replied, although he was also disappointed that the military hadn't sent them more medicine. That was something they really needed, almost as much as food itself.

  “I'd say what they brought is way better than nothing.” His wife abruptly poked him in the stomach, giving him a fierce look. “Speaking of which . . . I saw a few boxes filled with packages of frosted gingersnap cookies. Want. When it's time to divvy up our share of the food keep an eye out for them, please.”

  Matt hesitated. “We're still not sure how exactly we're going to be distributing the food, but I'll try to get you a few.”

  She poked him again, expression fierce. “By “them” I mean every box. I want, no I need, them all!” Before he could protest that that would probably count for a good chunk of their six month shares combined, not to mention being incredibly unhealthy, she abruptly snickered. “Just kidding. I mean I'd love to have as many as possible, but I'd be fine with a package or two.”

  “Oh good,” Matt said in relief. “I thought you were done with weird cravings.”

  Sam grinned up at him. “We're at subsistence living with almost no variety in our diet. You don't have to be pregnant to be going crazy with cravings for all the food you used to love.” She abruptly hooked a hand behind his head to pull him down as she rose on her tiptoes, giving him a brief but warm kiss. “Not that I'm complaining, when I've got so much to be thankful for.”

  “I'll see what I can do,” he said, pulling her around to hug her with her back to his chest and his arms protectively cradling their child. Together they watched the convoy drive off with half the town crowding the gravel street waving goodbye.

  As the trucks started winding their way up the western slope his wife patted his hands on her belly, getting back to business. “I'm not saying abuse your mayoral powers to get your pregnant wife some cookies or anything. If you can't manage to snag us any then a bit of old fashioned bartering should do the trick.” She looked up and abruptly sighed. “Speaking of mayoral . . . looks like it's time for you to get to work.”

  Matt looked over and saw Catherine approaching with the town's leaders. “Looks like it.” He kissed the top of her head. “Shall we, Mrs. Mayor?”

  Sam craned her head around to look up at him, dark eyes twinkling. “That's not something I ever thought I'd hear someone calling me. Especially not just out of my teens.”

  “Yeah, me either.”

  They made their way over to the leaders, where a crowd was starting to form now that the convoy was gone. Catherine and Lucas left everyone behind and hurried to intercept him before he could get dragged into the confusion.

  “Everyone's impatient,” Catherine warned. “You're going to need to talk to them.”

  Matt felt that familiar stab of fear at public speaking. “Shouldn't we call a town meeting?”

  Lucas gave him an amused look, gesturing at a crowd that already numbered in the hundreds. “I'd say you've already got one on your hands.”

  “It sure looks that way,” Sam agreed.

  Matt helplessly followed the older man's gaze. This would be his first time formally addressing the entire town in his capacity as Mayor. Most of the people in that crowd were friends, or
at least people who'd come to him for aid or who he'd gone to asking for help with some project on the town's behalf. But he still didn't look forward to getting up in front of them and talking them down from their excited state.

  And this was them with good news. Matt had a new appreciation for all the times John Anderson and then later Catherine had handled the crowd in a crisis.

  “All right,” he said in resignation. “Find me something to stand on. That should delay things long enough for me to figure out what I'm going to say.”

  Lucas nodded and hurried off, while Catherine stepped closer and caught his arm, glancing at Sam. “Could I borrow your husband for a second, Samantha?” she asked. Surprised, Sam nodded and trailed Lucas to join their friends and family in the crowd. Once she was out of earshot the older woman turned and gave Matt a solemn look. “Whatever your speech is,” she said in a low voice, “most importantly you cannot give up the surplus.”

  “Is it really that important?” Matt asked. “It's going to go to them anyway.”

  The former Mayor gave him a look like he'd just said the sky was green and rained apple dumplings. “You have no idea how important. Even beyond making sure it goes to the people who need it most, to ensure as many people as possible make it alive through what's coming, if you undermine your own authority on this things are only going to get harder from here.”

  He blinked. “I'm not sure I follow.”

  Catherine hesitated, glancing at the agitated crowd, then sighed. “Listen. Every government since the dawn of time has existed by taking during times of plenty and distributing during times of need. It's not an ideal system even when they show restraint in the taking and generosity in the giving, as endless numbers of academics and armchair philosophers will be quick to tell you. But human nature being what it is there's a reason people tend to keep going back to it. More importantly, during those times of need people need to know there's someone out there handling the crisis and looking out for them. Even if it's done poorly it's a tremendous comfort to people desperately in need of reassurance.”

  That made sense, even if Matt didn't completely like it. “That sounds a bit cynical. I have a lot of respect for the people in this town.”

  The older woman chuckled and finally released his arm, patting it once. “So do I, which is why I did my best for them for so long. But even the best people are still people, and for the most part people handle crises in predictable ways. You need to stay on top of the situation at every second or the crisis will become a disaster.”

  Matt noticed Lucas had grabbed one of the pallets and planted it on top of two sawhorses to make a crude platform. He hoped it wasn't as precarious as it looked. At the sign of an obvious stage being constructed townspeople began looking more and more towards him and Catherine, a few shouting questions their way above the hubbub.

  “Thanks for the pep talk,” he said with a wry smile for the former Mayor. It had only jangled his nerves even more, but it was good advice and he appreciated it.

  “Break a leg,” Catherine replied, smiling back. Then she glanced at the makeshift platform and winced. “Oh.”

  With the older woman providing escort and moral support Matt made his way to the hastily constructed stage, silently nodding or gesturing for patience at the questions that came his way. While Lucas held the pallet steady he carefully climbed atop it, relieved to find it felt firm under his feet. Then he stared out over the large crowd, ostensibly waiting for a few final stragglers as he gathered his thoughts.

  “All right,” he called in the calmest, clearest voice he could manage. He was a bit worried when the crowd was slow in quieting down to listen; even the town meetings in Aspen Hill's auditorium had rarely drawn this many people.

  Of course, back then they were just talking about boring things like mutual defense and survival. No surprise that the subject of food had drawn real interest.

  He had to call a few more times before the gathering fell silent. Matt waited patiently until the buzz was down to manageable levels, then continued. “I'm sure you all know by now that the military has sent us food.” Considering they'd all just watched the trucks being unloaded, that prompted a mingled outburst of laughter as well as cheering.

  Matt decided to wait it out, which took almost half a minute. “The unexpected aid is a lifesaver, but it doesn't solve all our problems. As it is each person has been given food for six months, which likely won't be enough to last the winter. I've also been advised that this is a one time thing. No more will be coming.” He raised his voice. “I'll repeat that. No more will be coming! We're on our own now.”

  One of the rescued prisoners who'd come back with the volunteers, Matt thought his name was Grant, spoke up from near the front. “I heard we got rations for more people than the town has. What happens to the extra?”

  Matt felt a moment of annoyance. He'd been hoping to bring that up a bit later, after covering a few other things. “We're still deciding that.”

  “What do you mean, you're deciding that?” a woman near the back shouted. “You just told us we each won't get enough to last the winter. We have extra, so split it up so we all have a bit more!”

  That, unfortunately, was the reasonable argument where individuals were concerned. But like Catherine had said Matt wasn't responsible for individuals, he was responsible for the entire town.

  He bit back a sigh. “Everyone in town has been preparing for winter. Some have been able to prepare better than others, and a few even have enough with the six months extra rations to eat until spring. Do we want to share it out evenly, so some will have more than they need while others still won't have enough?”

  That drew another uproar. “Hold on!” Gutierrez shouted over the commotion. “Are you saying the better prepared should be punished for hard work and foresight? That seems like a great way to incentivize laziness.”

  Matt gave his friend a wounded look. It was a reasonable question, especially considering how the former soldier had received so little from the town after giving so much. Still, it would've been nice if his own buddies weren't lobbing rotten fruit from the peanut gallery.

  Ben Thompson was quick to challenge that, mostly since after all this time he was still the nominal leader of the refugees who'd joined the town last fall. “You want to call the disabled, the elderly, and children who can't provide for themselves lazy?”

  Gutierrez reddened. “Of course not,” he snapped. “But you can't create a fair system when you force those who work to provide for those who don't, no matter the excuse. It's doomed to collapse as more and more people decide they want to be one of those who don't.”

  From the front of the crowd Grant raised his voice again. “We're not debating political systems here, we're talking about food!” There was a roar of approval.

  Matt rubbed at his forehead, even though he knew it wasn't a very mayoral gesture. How had Catherine put up with this for so long? “I'm not talking about forcing anything!” he shouted. “The food will be distributed fairly. All I'm asking is if the town wants to save the excess for those who need it most, once things start going bad.”

  That started another tumult. Those who weren't in a good position now, and likely would need help before the winter was over, were arguing loudly in favor of the town keeping the extra for charitable purposes. Those who saw a possibility that the food would be unfairly distributed argued even more vehemently against it.

  Matt didn't like dramatic gestures, but no matter how loudly he shouted the townspeople ignored him. They weren't getting anywhere like this. So he drew his 1911 and pointed it in a safe direction, firing a shot to get everyone's attention. It was a near criminal waste of ammo these days, but it did the trick.

  A few people saw what he was doing in time to cover their ears, while more shouted in surprise or dropped to the ground fearfully at the loud noise. After which near total silence settled.

  Lucas, still holding the packing pallet steady, cleared his throat. “I know that works in th
e movies, son, but I'd call that highly irresponsible to do in real life just to get a crowd's attention.”

  Matt had a feeling the older man was right. He tried to hide his embarrassment as he holstered his pistol. “You all supported the decision to name me Mayor after Mrs. Tillman stepped down,” he said into the quiet. “I'd appreciate it if you'd at least let me finish talking before you put words in my mouth.”

  The silence stretched on, somewhat sullen, and Matt continued. “I'd like to remind you of a few things. First off, the town is more than just the consensus of the townspeople. It has to be, otherwise why would the defenders who defeated the raiders have given most of the raiders' weapons and other equipment to the town? Why would myself and the others who went after the Norman family's herd of sheep have given most of them to the town? Why would the volunteers who brought back hundreds of blockhead weapons and ammunition and other gear have donated it to the town, which then distributed much of it to families who needed those weapons for hunting and defense? Why would Tillman's Hardware and Sporting Goods have donated most of their stock to the town, as well as the building itself to be used for the storehouse? Why would numerous townspeople have donated their surplus to be given to the needy?”

  A low murmur started. Matt hurried to continue before it could get out of hand again. “Yes, ideally things given to the town should be distributed evenly to everyone, if that was the intent of the giver and the best thing for the town. However, where things are given unconditionally to the town, they then become the town's property to use to aid those most in need. Nobody's had a problem with this so far, when many, many people have benefitted from the sacrifices of the brave men and women who fought to protect us for very little reward.”

  The murmuring continued, equal parts guilty and sullen. “Now,” Matt continued. “The resources the town does have are available to trade. Say, for instance, with those who have an excess of food but lack other necessities. And the town continues to accept donations from those who have excess, to be used for charitable purposes. And the town has and will in the future purchase excess resources for what basically amounts to IOUs. And when the town lends out weapons for hunting and receives a portion of the meat in return, that meat is distributed to those who need it most and are least equipped to provide for themselves. That goes the same for the livestock in the town's possession. It all works because people are willing to look beyond themselves for the benefit of everyone.”