by Leela Ash
2
“What do you think they are here for?”
The old freckled-faced woman shrugged and watched the group of people as they walked slowly into their home. Her grandson was standing beside her and he was as much at a loss of words as she was.
“Maybe they don’t know that anyone lives here. They look nice. I think we should just tell them who’s house it is and then invite them to stay for the night. I haven’t had someone else to talk to in a long time.”
Carin was torn between safety and her own need to talk to someone else. They had plenty of everything and had more than enough to share. It was what used to be done. But things were different now. Now they lived in a time when everyone wanted every last drop, afraid that it would soon all run out and they would be without. Carin didn’t feel that way though. She wanted to share and be friendly. However, there had been other groups that she had been so very wrong about.
“I don’t think we should go there Jason. Let them have the house for the night. Hopefully they are just passing through and will be leaving in the morning. There are some things that are just not worth the risk and this is one of them. We don’t know anything about them and there is no way to know what will happen if we confront them.”
Jason wanted to find out more about the new comers. It had been a long time since they had seen anybody who seemed approachable come by. To see them there, right in their house, made him feel like it was a sign. Maybe they were supposed to meet them. It was better to think of it that way than to consider having to stay outside for a night with his elderly grandmother, waiting to see if the small group of people moved on.
“How would they not know that someone lives there? All of our stuff is in there. I said we go in and tell them to leave. I don’t want to stay out. It looks like it is going to rain.”
She tried to assuage his anger, but knew it was futile. Her grandson had always been a bit of a hothead. It was part of the reason they had chosen to live in a house so far away from everything. Jason didn’t know when to shut up, and in this new version of the world, that was a bad trait to have. He was young, not quite an adult, and she hoped for his own sake that he cooled it down eventually. But Carin also knew that the trait came from her son, another prime example of a man who didn’t know when to shut up. In fact, it had cost him his life. Not only that, but his family had also been killed. Jason, through sheer chance, had been the only one who made it out alive. When she had found him, he had been hiding for days and didn’t believe that it was her at first.
Carin tried to remember it all so that she could somehow teach him not to follow in the same path. There was no room for that kind of attitude in life anymore. Even before the world ended, there was no space for that kind of outlook.
“You know that they could be dangerous,” she said. “Do you really want to take on three adults? You need to think more Jason, instead of just going at it with your eyes closed.”
He nodded, knowing that she was right. But as he looked at the sky above them, the darkness and the sound of thunder in the distance didn’t make it sound like such a bad idea. At least if he was going to be headstrong, he might as well get out of the rain for the night. The group didn’t look dangerous to him. They looked like regular people like him and his grandmother. Although the weather factored into his decision somewhat, he really wanted to talk to some new people. There was much he didn’t know and it was always the best part of his week when he got to talk to someone who had seen things and places that he had never been able to see. Carin was content to stay around locally, where she knew where things grew and resources were natural. Jason was ready for travel and an adventure.
It had to be better than where they were.
***
Carin finally won and they settled into a bed of leaves and sticks. They had built it to pull them off of the cold ground so that it wouldn’t suck all of the heat from their bodies. It hadn’t been the first time that the duo had slept on the ground. Fortunately, they were somehow spared the worst of the storm as it rolled in from the east. Carin took it as a sign, but Jason just saw it as a close call. They were going to have to do something in the morning if the group wasn’t planning to leave.
It wasn’t long after sun up that Jason was up. As he watched his grandmother sleep, he started to get a little antsy. He wanted to see what was going on in his house. He imagined that they would take everything they had worked so hard for. He and his grandmother would have to forage for another month to get their stock back up. It was all because they had left for a couple of hours to go fishing. The fish in question had gone bad because they were too close to the unknown group to feel comfortable cooking. It would be pointless to draw in unwanted attention.
He kept eying the house, waiting for a sign of movement. He finally moved towards the house to get a better look. Jason stopped when he heard a voice behind him. He hadn’t heard a sound, so he was surprised to find that there was something pointing into his back. He was so shocked that it was hard to understand what was wanted of him.
“I said turn around real slow and I won’t have to hurt you. What are you doing outside of this house?”
The young redheaded boy couldn’t hide his anger and he spat out his answer. “This is my house. I wanted to know if you guys were leaving, so I came to see if you were packing up or not.”
Michael moved the knife away from the boy and told him to turn around. Jason didn’t move as quickly as he could have. He was still convinced that he was about to get stabbed in the back. He suddenly wished that he had listened to his grandmother. If he would have, he wouldn’t be in the position that he was in right then. What if they weren’t friendly?
“We are just travelling through. We didn’t know if anyone lived here, but we didn’t touch any of your provisions. I didn’t want to have someone come back and have to start all over again.”
Jason was surprised at the man’s thoughtfulness, but he was still holding up his guard. He wouldn’t let them know that Carin was just a few yards away in the bushes. If something was going to happen because of his mistake, Jason wanted to make sure that he was the one that paid for it. He knew that he had popped off from the mouth too many times in the past. So not only was he having to watch the man, he had to watch his own words.
“Well thank you. We appreciate you leaving.”
Michael chuckled and didn’t say much else. “We will be out of your way in a little while. Would you like some coffee?”
Jason shook his head. He had never had coffee, but he had heard about it from his grandmother. Jason knew that she would love some, but he still wasn’t sure what kind of people they were. The stocky man seemed nice enough, but Jason didn’t trust anyone, not after what had happened in the past.
“No thank you. I will just wait out here.”
Michael didn’t want to take no for an answer. “Come on. Is it just you out here?”
Jason refrained from looking behind him. “Yeah, it’s just me.”
“Then why don’t you come in for something to eat? It’s the least I can do after taking your house for the night.”
The young man was about to refuse for a third time when he heard his name being called from behind him.
“Is your name Jason?”
Jason nodded and sighed to himself. His name just got louder and he finally hollered back. ‘I’m fine Gran, be right back.”
“Gran?”
Jason nodded.
“She isn’t too good in the heart, so if you come to her with those knives drawn, I am afraid she is going to have a heart attack.”
Michael didn’t want an old woman’s death on his conscious and he did what the young man asked of him. “Well go get her. I bet she is nervous with you gone. You shouldn’t leave anyone behind in this world, kid.”
Jason didn’t like to be admonished by a stranger and he bristled at Michael’s tone. He was just about to say something else when Carin’s voice came to him. “Jason what are you doing?”
He could tell that she was worried about him and he turned to her. “Gran, I told you I would be there in a few minutes.”
She looked at him as if he had lost his mind. He was certainly not man enough to tell her anything and he immediately felt heat break out over his face. Thankfully she didn’t say anything to him then. Jason would have been embarrassed in front of Michael.
Michael moved forward and extended his hand in greeting. “Nice to meet you Ma’am. My name is Michael and we are sorry to have taken your shelter for the night. I was just telling your grandson that we left everything as is. I am sure Jessa will leave something extra for letting us use it.”
Jason was about to say something about them not letting them do anything, but a sharp look from Carin made the words die in his throat. “It’s no problem, really. We saw you coming in last night and a person never knows who they are coming in contact with.”
Michael nodded, his mind going to Billy and what had happened to him when he had run into the wrong group. He looked from the older woman to the young man and he could tell that the road had been hard on the two. The little place was out of the way and he wondered how they had made it that long with just the two of them. It occurred to him then that there could have been more in the group to begin with when they first started out. They might be the only people who were left.
“I was just offering some coffee. Jason said he didn’t want any, but I will extend the same offer to you. It’s been almost a year since I have had any, so it has been a treat for me.”
Carin’s eyes lit up and she was already walking towards the house before she verbalized her answer. It had been longer than a year for her. Carin had a good feeling about them the night before, but it was one of those moments that she had been torn by what may happen or would possibly happen. Keeping herself and Jason safe was all that mattered anymore. But if there was coffee, she was willing to make an exception.
“I will take that as a yes. Let me just go first to make sure that nobody gets the wrong idea.” Michael was thinking of Jessa and the lethal speed with which she made life or death decisions. He wasn’t going to admit to himself that he was scared of her, but she was scary at times. He knew that if she suddenly saw two people in the house and they were anywhere near her son, there was a good chance they would get hurt before anything was explained.
He of course didn’t say any of that to Carin, but he walked a little faster to get ahead of her. Carin didn’t argue, content to wait it out if the end game was coffee. She was many years of the earth and had learned to rely on her intuition, which was currently telling her that hanging back a minute wasn’t a bad idea. A fleeting worry that it was a trap brought a worried wrinkle to her forehead; the bands of men now roaming the earth were not far off from savages.
“Of course. We will wait here.”
Again Jason was going to say something, but he was stopped by a look and a touch on his arm. “Not now Jason.”
He nodded that he wouldn’t say a word. It was preposterous to him to have to wait outside his own home for some squatters to prepare themselves. He wasn’t like his Gran, thinking about it being a trap. Jason couldn’t see past the indignity of it all.
When Michael popped his head back out and invited them in, again Jason had to watch his mouth. The older man really had some nerve, but he was quite large and had a look in his eyes that Jason had seen before. He was a man that would do what was necessary to keep his family and friends safe. Jason wondered if he had the same look, but he had a feeling that he had a long way to go.
3
“You don’t know how good this is.”
Jessa smiled back at the older woman. She had white, red-tinged hair and reminded her of her own grandmother. Jessa hadn’t seen her in years. It was nice to see another woman, particularly one who wasn’t trying to give her away as a mating prize. Jessa didn’t realize how much she had missed female companionship until Michael told her that they were there. There was the instant worry she’d had initially, about whether or not she would have to protect herself and her son, but then the next immediate thought was that she would finally have someone to talk to.
It was a strange mix of feelings, but Jessa was happy that they had met. She felt bad about leaving them out under the stars the night before, but she could understand the sentiment. For some time it was just her and her son. There was safety in numbers those days and she knew that it must be hard for someone of Carin’s age. Her grandson was in that stage of not knowing what quite to do yet, but so close to being a man that he thought he already was. Jessa had thought of how her own son would grow up and she hoped that he would be more like Milo. Still, she could tell that Jason was trying as well, though he had taken the more confrontational approach.
Jessa smiled and nodded when Carin took a deep inhale of her coffee. “Oh I do. I went a couple of years without coffee. It was just impossible to get a hold of, but there is some trading across the border.”
“Well I can’t even imagine. I guess that those old lines don’t really matter anymore.”
“Have you been out of this area? Where are you from?”
Carin sighed. “We have been here for many years. We used to live in Texas, but we had some problems and we had to leave.”
“What kind of problems?”
Jessa saw the way that Carin looked at Jason and then back at her. “Sorry, I don’t know why I am being so nosy. It’s just that you’re the first female I have seen in a while. Well, the first one that I could talk to anyway.”
Carin waved her hand. “No, it is okay, really. I understand. Jason wants to know what else is going on around here. He wants to leave for somewhere better.”
“I can’t blame him. There are some strange tribes around here that I would not want to run into again.”
Carin nodded in agreement. She had almost run into the same group of cannibals that Michael had, and she shuddered at the memory. “Yes, but I worry that there is worse out there.”
Jessa understood the fear of putting her grandson in the middle of some terrible situations, but Jessa still thought that it could get better. She had more faith that there was better out there. There had to be better, she just knew it.
“We are going to the coast. I have heard there are some settlements there. There is trading coming from across the ocean and there are more people there.”
Carin had heard many schemes. There had been more than one group that had come through looking for the promised land. She wasn’t sure if it was even real or not, but she knew that people needed hope. If there was no hope, people just gave up and Carin wasn’t ready to do that either. But there was a fear deep down in her heart that was impossible to deny.
“That’s what Jason wants to do. I have seen many people take the journey somewhere else.”
“What happened to them?”
Carin shrugged. “I’m not sure. I never saw them again. I guess they are either doing well or they never made it. Most days I like to think that they are going well.”
“Everything is a gamble anymore. I was with a settlement southwest of here that wasn’t so bad.”
“But you are here now, so it couldn’t have been that good.”
Jessa nodded and pushed her long, auburn hair back from her face. “No, it wasn’t that good. But there always seems to be those men that make a good thing bad.”
Carin didn’t need any more information. Being a woman was even harder nowadays than when she was younger. There was respect for women when she was Jessa’s age, but now there was none. Being a woman was a liability and she couldn’t imagine having a child to boot. Jason was twelve when his parents were killed and she remembered how hard and daunting it had been in the beginning. Now that he was older, it was almost harder, but the older woman couldn’t imagine if he had been a young child.
“Yes, I know exactly what you mean. We have met a few on the way. That is part of the reason I just decided to stay put. There is less chance of running into some
one like that here. Jason tries to be the man, but he is not quite there yet.”
Jessa felt for her and could imagine what it had been like for them. There were many people that made hiding a way of life. Milo came to mind and she was starting to have the same sentiment as she did for him.
“You should come with us. Everyone is stronger in numbers and we would love to have you.”
“But you don’t even know us.” Carin was shocked with the offer. It was not given lightly and it wasn’t taken lightly either. What she had always wanted was just a little safety and she knew that Jessa was right.
“It doesn’t matter. We haven’t tried to kill each other yet, so that is a good sign.”
Carin simply nodded. It was strange what was seen as a good day. They had seen so many come and pass, and if she had been able to meet them and they had been as agreeable and kind as this group were, she was sure that they would have been safer traveling together than they were staying in the same place. There was certainly strength in numbers, and the thought that she might not have to worry so much about Jason was groundbreaking. She had never thought about being part of a group like that before.
“Don’t you have to talk to your people?”
Jessa just shrugged. “They don’t mind. We picked up Michael and Milo on the way. It’s kind of snowballing. And the more the merrier as far as I am concerned. When it was just me and my son on the road…well let’s just say I know how it feels. I felt far more vulnerable than I do now. I hate to think that having men around helps, that we can do it as women and all of that, but it just isn’t the case. We are stronger in numbers and I would be happy to bring you along.”