by Noah Mann
“It’s like the rest, Martin,” I said. “Why show me this?”
He shook his head and closed the greenhouse door behind us.
“Noreen called me a while ago,” he said. “She wanted me to see something before the survey team got to her house.”
“See what?” I asked.
He stepped toward the rear of the greenhouse and stopped at the end of one long planting table, its bed three feet off the ground. Plants that were vibrant just the day before were lying limp and ashen upon the soil beds.
“She was afraid there might be some reaction,” Martin said. “Against her.”
“Why?”
“People get strange ideas when under stress,” he said. “Mob mentality can set in when something that should be one way isn’t. They can easily blame a person for difficulties they’re facing.”
“Martin, what are you talking about?” I pressed him.
He looked to his left and reached down behind the planting table, gripping something with one hand before lifting it into view and placing it on a patch of bare soil. It was a pot, one like many others scattered about the greenhouse, a plant in it also like the others.
Except this plant was green and straight, standing tall, very unlike every other bit of flora that surrounded it. That surrounded us.
“One plant in the entire town that’s unaffected,” Martin said. “A tomato plant. And I’m willing to say I’m feeling a bit of déjà vu right now.”
I understood what he meant, even if I could not comprehend the circumstances at the moment. The image of a living, thriving tomato plant broadcast over an amateur television signal had drawn us to Cheyenne in search of a cure for the blight. We’d crossed the wastelands to find that very thing and had returned with it. All because of a green plant not unlike what Martin had summoned me to see.
“There are no spots on it,” he said. “It’s been right next to everything else in here and it’s still green.”
I approached the plant and felt its leaves. They were soft and sturdy, unlike the withered examples next to it. It was alive. As alive as it was twenty-four hours ago. But would it still be once twenty-four more had passed?
“I know what you’re thinking, Fletch—maybe it’s just a delayed reaction. Tomorrow it will be like every other plant in and around Bandon. But that makes as much sense as its current condition. It shouldn’t be like this. It’s no different than these other plants.”
“Except it is,” I said.
“Except it is,” Martin agreed. “And my money would be on it being green and strong tomorrow.”
I stepped back and surveyed the carnage in the greenhouse, then looked to Bandon’s former leader and, in many ways, its savior.
“Noreen thinks people will yell ‘witch’ when they find out?”
“It’s happened before,” Martin reminded me.
“It’s not going to stay quiet,” I told him.
“I know,” he said. “But the information has to be shared by the town.”
“The Council, you mean,” I prompted him.
He nodded.
“And just what do you think they can say that won’t just freak people out more than they already are?” I asked.
Before he even spoke, the obvious answer to my own question bubbled to the surface in my thoughts. The guiding principal of almost everything I’d done since leaving Montana.
“They can say that this shows there is hope,” Martin said, pointing to the surviving tomato plant.
Some would accept that. Would believe it. Most, maybe. But for the first time in a very long time, I wasn’t convinced that a belief that all would turn out well would be enough. In my own heart, I had to admit, I was having doubts.
I was truly fearful that we didn’t have much time left.
Thank You
I hope you enjoyed Destroyer.
You can learn about my books, release dates, and my occasional newsletter by visiting my website:
www.noahmann.com
Follow Noah on Facebook
Book 1: Bugging Out
Book 2: Eagle One
Book 3: Wasteland
Book 4: The Pit
Book 5: Ranger
Book 6: Avenger
Book 7: Hellfire
Book 8: The Signal
Book 9: Destroyer
About The Author
Noah Mann lives in the West and has been involved in personal survival and disaster preparedness for more than two decades. He has extensive training in firearms, as well as urban and wilderness Search & Rescue operations, including tracking and the application of technology in victim searches.