by Nathan Combs
Watching her, Noah remembered the beaten, scrawny girl he rescued twelve weeks earlier. Anna weighed a healthy one hundred fifteen pounds, her face was completely healed, and the bruises were long gone. She’s beyond beautiful. She’s a Goddess. He watched her mix, pour, and flip half a dozen pancakes, then carry two plates and a small pitcher of syrup back and sit next to him at the table. She appeared lost in thought, probably sorting through what she’d just remembered.
“Anna, honestly, these are the best pancakes I’ve ever had. Life is good. She’s beautiful, she’s intelligent, and she can cook too. Did I die and go to heaven?”
“Stop being so dramatic. She’s beautiful and intelligent, yes, but making pancakes doesn’t make her a chef. And if I remember correctly, you were very much alive last night.” She smiled.
He returned the smile. “All kidding aside, we need to discuss the list I made. Okay?”
“Okay. What’s first?”
“The Patriots. I think in time they’ll turn out to be a good group. I also think we should check in with them every now and then. Keep our options open.”
“What options are those?”
“I’m not an expert on the weather, but it’s way colder here than it should be, not to mention the extraordinary amount of snow we received this year. That concerns me. What if this is the new norm? What if it gets colder every year? What if we can’t grow food because it’s too cold? We need to think about planting a garden as soon as possible and storing as many crops as we can. The wheat and other foods my dad stored won’t last forever. So, to answer your question, the Patriots option would allow us to move in with them if necessary. Checking in now and again should help that option flourish. Or, if you want, we can move there now. You’d have other people to talk to. You could do things with other wimen.”
Laughing at his redneck pronunciation of women, she said, “The first part makes perfect sense. But I have no desire to be around anyone but you. What else?”
“The Nirvana splinter group. If we’re staying here and they’re in Cleveland, we should find out exactly where they are and keep tabs on what they’re doing. Remember, they’re fucked up and mean. I doubt they’re planters and gatherers. More like hunters. Which means they could come this way looking for game.”
“That makes sense too.”
“Last item on the agenda. Burt said the guys with the tank were Special Forces. That means Seals, Green Berets, Delta Force, Rangers. Those are my guys. They’ll have their shit together. If we find them, we may have a genuine community to go to. Trust me, Anna; they were the best men in the world before everything went south. I guarantee you they still are.”
“So how do we find them if they don’t want to be found?”
“They’re probably in the denser mountains of North Carolina. Heavily forested, high altitude; guys like that could go completely off grid and no one would find them in that kind of topography. I need a topo map of that area. We’ll never find one in Delano, but I know where I can get one in Cleveland. I’ll go get one soon.”
Five days later, Anna put a pregnancy test on her secret list. She didn’t tell Noah because she wanted to make sure she was actually pregnant and not just two cycles late. She added a few drugstore items to make it look good and talked him into going to Delano sooner than later. The afternoon they arrived at what remained of the drugstore, she suggested he go next door and see what he could find at the music store; she’d get the few items she wanted and meet him in front.
With a confused look on his face, he said, “Music store, huh? All right, if you say so.”
She waited until he entered the gutted music store, then hurriedly went into the drugstore and started searching. She found several almost immediately. Another item not high on a scavenger’s list. She put three different types in her jacket pocket, grabbed a bottle of brown hair dye, found a discarded tube of lipstick, and, to make it look good, a hot water bottle buried under a pile of boxes.
As she approached the door, Noah appeared. He was excited. “Come ’ere. I wanna show you something.”
In the music store, covered in dust, with discarded boxes and papers stacked on top of it, was a baby grand piano. Noah spread his arms wide and said, “Ta-da.”
A look of confusion and disbelief mingled with awe crossed Anna’s face. She reached out and touched it. “Do you play, Noah?”
“No. Always wanted to learn. Never did. But I love piano music, especially the classics. I just thought it was neat this baby wasn’t destroyed. Maybe we could figure out a way to get it home and we could learn.”
Anna looked around, walked to a corner of the room, and pushed a matching bench back. She sat down and stared at her hands for several minutes. She didn’t speak. Noah was mesmerized by the sudden mystique radiating from her every pore. It was palpable. He was silent. Without warning, Anna’s hands dropped to the keys and the strains of William Tell Overture, followed by Autumn Leaves and Floyd Kramer’s Last Date filled the little shop. When she stopped, she stared again at her hands.
Noah stood spellbound. Neither one moved or said a word for what seemed like hours. Finally, Anna looked up, her eyes filled with tears. Noah went to her, and on one knee said, “My God, Anna. You’re better than good. You’re a master. That was beautiful.”
“Another mystery. I can clear buildings and I can play the piano.”
For some reason, the fact that she knew how to tickle the ivories bothered her most. She didn’t know why; it just did.
The beauty of the moment was lost in the disappointment of not being able to remember, and the two gathered the things from their supply list, then headed home.
Anna excused herself and went into the bathroom while Noah unpacked their loot. Her hands were shaking as she read the instructions on the pregnancy test. She followed the simple instructions and waited the prescribed amount of time. Taking a deep breath, she looked. Oh my God! Images of babies raced through her head. She was excited. She was scared. She stared at herself in the mirror. I’m gonna be a mom? What if Noah doesn’t want a child? What if he’s unhappy about it? What if he leaves me? What should I do? She decided to take another test. She waited. Same result. By now, she was calm enough to think rationally and decided she’d feel him out about having a baby before she told him.
When she came out of the bathroom, Noah asked her what was wrong. “Wrong? Nothing. Why?”
“You look like you just saw a ghost. You sure?”
“Yeah, I’m positive.” She smiled. “I’m gonna start supper. Did you plot out the garden?”
“Yep. As soon as the frost is out of the ground, we can start. Shouldn’t be too long. Two weeks. Maybe three.”
After supper, Noah sprawled on the couch, Anna’s head in his lap. He petted her hair.
She said, “Are we still getting married?”
“Of course. Why? You don’t want to live in sin anymore?”
“Don’t be silly. I love being in love with you. I’ll always belong to you. Words on a piece of paper will never change anything. It’s… I mean, I haven’t thought about it much until today, but I—I was thinking that maybe we should consider, um, you know… starting a family.”
Noah was silent for almost a minute.
Oh God. He doesn’t want one.
“Wow. Honestly, Anna, I’ve never given it a thought. I love you more than life itself. I do. And I know you love me. I think a child would be perfect. But… we aren’t really in a position to care for one, are we? We have no medical insurance, and the hospital, the last time I checked, was out of business. Other than that, I think it would be great.” He smiled down at her.
Anna almost fainted. It was what she was hoping to hear, but didn’t think she would. She smiled back and said, “Well, Papa. Maybe we should put diapers and formula on the to-do list.”
“Huh?”
Her slight smile went nuclear.
He stared at her, open-mouthed. “You mean—?”
“Yes. You’re gonna be a daddy.”
For the first time in his life, Noah was speechless. He took her in his arms. He held her for a full minute, drinking in her unique, feminine scent. He pulled away, took her face in his hands, and without a breath in between, said, “No more work for you you have to rest you have to eat right we have to find some vitamins we need… we need… uh… what the hell do we need?”
She laughed. “As long as we have each other we have everything we’ll ever need.”
Anna’s pregnancy thrilled Noah and at the same time filled him with dread. He worried about pre and post-natal care. He worried about Anna. Before she came into his life, he never worried about anything. Now he worried about everything.
It was the middle of April and based on Anna’s calculations she was three months pregnant. Give or take. She was just beginning to show, and Noah determined the most important thing he could do was locate his SPECOPS brothers. He decided he would go to Cleveland the next morning and find a topo map.
Anna, of course, wanted to go with him.
“Absolutely not. Not this time. You’re staying here. I’ll be back before dark,” Noah said.
April brought with it a lot of rain, but it also ushered in temperatures in the upper forties and, occasionally, fifties. Best of all, the area he selected for the garden was almost free of frost. His dad had an extensive survival library that included books on gardening and composting. A book called Square Foot Gardening looked promising, and using it as a guide, he built a multi-tiered garden. Thinking about how he was going to plant it, he rode toward Cleveland. Another billion cubic yards of dirt and we’ll be good to go. Because he was day-dreaming and his guard was down, he didn’t see the two men watching him from a grove of trees at an intersecting road. By the time he saw them, they’d covered him with a shotgun and an M16.
“Hol’ up there, sport.”
Noah reined in and sat still. “Put yer hands up and git off the horse. Nice ’n easy, now.”
He raised one hand and started to dismount on the opposite side. “Un-un. This side.”
Noah was not going to allow them to take him, and he damn sure wasn’t going to leave Anna and the baby to fend for themselves, so he paused and raised his other hand. “What do ya want? I ain’t got nuthin’ of value.”
“That right? You got a horse, don’chu? And that there rifle looks pretty good to me. Git the fuck offa that horse or I’ll blow yer ass off him.”
Noah’s Glock was on his left breast, clipped to his tac-vest, and had a round in the pipe. He lowered his left hand to grab the pommel and started to swing his right leg over the horse’s back. In the same motion, he withdrew the Glock and put two rounds into the guy with the shotgun. As he fell backward, the .12 gauge went off, causing all three horses to rear. Noah hit the ground, rolled, got a sight picture on the rifleman, and shot two more times.
Fuck!
The gunshots would alert others in the vicinity, so he didn’t hesitate. He calmed his skittish horse, mounted, and galloped across a field to the safety of the woods.
As he neared the forest, he looked back. Six riders were coming fast down the roadway. He knew they saw him and did what he was trained to do. When he was in the woods, he jumped off and slapped his horse on the rear. Pulling his M4, he went prone and waited. The riders were stopped at the scene of the crime, and one jumped off his horse to check out the fallen men. The other five galloped across the field. Noah thought momentarily, gratefully, of Josh, who was adamant their weapons had silencers.
Starting with the riders in back, he began shooting. Two shots and the two in the rear were down.
The other three were riding abreast and he sighted on the one on his left, then the one on his right. Four down.
The last rider was fifty yards away. Just as Noah was squeezing off the round, the man pulled up, realizing he was alone. The bullet hit his horse in the neck and the animal fell, pitching him to the ground. Noah looked quickly at the guy back at the roadway. The man started running toward the field.
Noah shot twice, dropping him. He turned his attention back to the field just in time to see the lone survivor drop out of sight behind his dead horse. Noah waited. He has no idea where I am. I need him alive.
Five minutes went by. Nothing. Another five. Quiet. Two minutes later, the man poked his head over the top of the dead animal for two seconds. A minute later, he looked for three more. Another minute went by. His head appeared again and he looked around. Cautiously, he knelt behind the animal and scanned the woods. He looked behind him at his dead mates, then at the road. He remained that way for over a minute, then stood. He scanned some more, turned, and started walking for the roadway.
Noah shot him in the leg and he fell screaming.
Standing over him, the barrel of the M4 inches from the man’s head, Noah looked down.
The guy’s eyes mirrored his plea. “Don’ kill me. Please.”
Noah patted him down, removed a belt knife, and stepped back.
The man said, “Are you gonna kill me?”
“Haven’t decided yet. Depends.”
“On what?”
“On how much information you give me and whether or not I think you’re telling the truth.”
He grimaced, holding his left leg with both hands. “Whaddaya wanna know?”
“I assume you’re with Nirvana?”
“Yeah.”
“This is the tricky part. I have to believe what you tell me and, honestly, I’m not sure how I’ll know if you’re telling me the truth.”
The man started blabbering, “Fuck, man… if ya promise not to kill me, I’ll tell you whatever you wanna know. Honest.”
Noah nodded. “I know your group split off from the big Nirvana group. Where are they staying and what’s your game plan?”
“Game plan? Waddaya mean?”
“I mean, do you kill people to get what you want? Are you still keeping women as slaves? In other words, what’s your plan? Your goal?”
The man had to think about what Noah was asking, then said, “We don’ kill ever’body. Jest those who don’ wanna cooperate with us. Slaves? Wimen ain’t slaves. They’re just wimen. They do wimen things.”
“Where’s your group and how many are there?”
“They’re in Cleveland, in a field behind Hobby Lobby. There’s forty-three of us. Plus the wimen.”
“How many women?”
“Twenty-one.”
“Thanks.”
Noah slit his throat. “Make that forty-two.” He mounted and rode toward Cleveland. This time he was fully alert.
No more daydreaming. I can snipe every one of these assholes. Or I can ignore them and hope they don’t find our house.
He decided to do both, but the first order of business was to find the topo map of North Carolina. In another lifetime, Noah remembered a Christian bookstore that carried a full line of topographical maps. It was still there. So were the maps. He took four of Western North Carolina, three of Northern Georgia including the Chattahoochee, and three of Eastern Tennessee. Then he headed for the Hobby Lobby.
Dead men tell no tells, but at least some of them told the truth before they died. Nirvana was where the man said they would be. From the roof of the Hobby Lobby, he glassed what was probably a meeting. A highly animated man was talking to the group. He was flanked by two more. Noah decided he was their leader and the other two were likely his lieutenants. He sighted and shot. Sighted and shot. Then shot once more. All three men went down. The group hardly moved. They milled about confused and Noah started searching for more targets. He sighted on a big man who was yelling and put him down, then swung on another next to
him and squeezed off another round. Five shots, five kills. He stopped and watched. It looked like a Chinese fire drill. The remainder of Nirvana ran helter-skelter, bumped into each other, fell, got up, and fell again in their effort to find shelter.
This is like shooting fish in a barrel. I’ve taken out the leaders. That might be enough for now. If nothing more, they’ll have something to think about.
Anna watched him ride in just before dark and waited for him at the door. She’d learned—somewhere that she couldn’t remember anything about—what death smelled like, and Noah smelled like death. “What happened?”
“Ran into a couple of morons. No big deal, baby.”
She took his face in her hands and said, “Noah, I know you’re going to protect me and our child. There’s not a doubt in my mind. But you can’t do that effectively if you’re not honest with me. I need to have the complete picture. It’s just you and I right now against the world. You can’t hide things from me. I’m pregnant, not helpless. Now what the hell happened?”
Noah knew she was right. But it was difficult for him to talk to her about her safety. That’s my responsibility. But, as she said, it was just the two of them against the world, so he wrapped his arms around her and held her for a full minute, then pulled away and said, “Okay.” He told her of the events of his day. “It’s going to take them awhile to re-organize. Hopefully, they’ll head in a more sociable direction. If not, I’ll go back and kill them all. I won’t allow them to be a threat to you and the baby. End of story! I got the maps.”
“Thank you, Noah. Supper’s ready. Let’s eat and then go over them. I think you’re right. We need to find your friends.”
Supper eaten, they spread the North Carolina maps out on the kitchen table. Noah marked six spots he thought they might choose. They did the same with the North Georgia maps. He picked two locations. The Tennessee maps were easier. Other than the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, there weren’t a lot of areas Noah felt they’d select for survival off grid.