Dylan looked at me and then said, “You’re on, eh.”
I looked around nervously, always hated public speaking, finally I kind of shouted. “Hi, I am Matt, we are from America, and we were on our way to Fairbanks to deliver some medicine. We just found out that Fairbanks …… well, Fairbanks doesn’t need the medicine anymore. So we have this stuff and we want to share some of it with you.”
“Why, why would you do dat?” a man who looked like a lumberjack shouted from the back.
“Because, it is the right thing to do!” I answered, and I really believe that. Even if Fairbanks was still active, we had plenty and it was kind of always part of the plan, or at least my plan, to share. It is what we should do.
“And exactly what does this medicine do?” asked a well-dressed older gentlemen with a white mustache, leaning on a cane. This was Doctor Smedley.
“It stops you from re-animating, from coming back as changed, it kills the virus that is in us all.” I yelled.
Best I can describe it there was a whole lot of ruffle, ruffle, ruffle, talk among themselves and then finally Doctor Smedley shouted up to me. “Can you and I talk about this medicine a little, I think we need to know a little more, and well, I guess I am the best person to ask the questions.”
“Of course,” I replied, it made sense.
Smedley, Tanya, Dylan and I all huddled near the front of the store and talked. I explained to them about what we had known about the illness, which was more than they did. And I explained that we had gotten a cure, but I was a little vague in details, space aliens might not help the cause here.
After a few more questions and filling in, finally, I just told them that we all had taken it weeks ago and were fine. I think that was the tipping point. Smedley said that he would talk to the crowd.
We walked back to the edge of the throng, and Smedley, with some help, climbed onto the back of a pick-up truck.
“Folks, I have talked with our American friends here, and they have convinced me that we should take their offer. We all have seen some of our friends, and loved ones turn to the eaters, and we have lost some to them. They say that this pill that they are offering will make it so we don’t turn, so when you die, you die. I am good with that. I lost my Irma that way, she changed, and it hurt like Hell when I had to put her down. I leave it up to each of you to decide, pill or no pill, but I am taking one.”
More ruffle, ruffle, ruffle, then the lumberjack jumped in. “And how much are these snake oil folks charging?” which brought a couple of laughs. I laughed.
Tanya, who took a little offense at first, shouted back, “Nothing, we give them freely.”
It got quiet, then someone, a female; I don’t know who, simply asked, “Why?”
Tanya looked at the woman, a pretty woman in her, I am guessing 40s, and replied, because it is what we should do. “It is what we need to do if people, the world is going to recover.
“Look,” I said, “there may be some of you who don’t want to try this, or take this medicine, and I can understand that. I think you are foolish, but I believe in it, and I have taken it. What we are going to do is give the Doc here a couple hundred pills before we leave in the morning, and you and he can figure out what you want to do.”
We sat on the tailgate of the pick-up and talked with the Doctor and Dylan for a little bit. The crowd, some wandered off, some gathered in little groups and talked, some just stood by themselves.
The woman who had asked ‘Why’ came up to us, she spoke with Tanya. “I am Anne Landry, I run a little inn, I know that you are giving the pills for free and I would be happy if you stayed there tonight, as a thank you, for what you are doing.”
“That would be nice, yes, thank you,” Tanya told her.
“And I would be happy to serve you the best meal that you have had since, ah, well, the best meal in a while eh,” added Dylan.
Dylan closed the diner for the night and went to work on a meal that was unlike anything I have seen in a couple of years. We all ate, in one of those big round corner booths that you see in most little diners. Salmon, potatoes (mashed), salad with goat cheese, and some squash. It was fantastic.
After dinner Dylan joined us, as did Anne. Over a few beers we discovered that Anne Landry and Dylan were sort of an item and that Jimmy was Anne’s nephew. His mom had been killed when his dad had turned and Anne was taking care of him and the village was sort of taking care of him. These were good people, I could live here.
When we got back to the Inn, which was only two houses down from the diner we settled into nice little rooms, comfortable, kind of Victorian in design, very, for lack of a better term, poofy.
“I could stay here,” I told Tanya.
“Yes, it is nice, but we have a home, and people waiting, and worrying about us. We still have a task and although we can’t save Fairbanks, maybe we can find other places like this, and we should take the cure, and spread it as we go,” she said with a fierce intensity.
I knew she was right, “Kind of a Johnny Appleseed?”
She smiled, “yeah, kind of that.”
There was a kind of relief that one long trek had ended, but there was excitement that the trip home would be interesting.
That bed was nice, and soft, and poofy, and kind of creeky noisy.
(Margo) We are here for at least another day, Tom is waiting to see if they can reach Matt and tell him not to go to Alaska. I guess their goal has been infected. I wonder how many more people have died, or changed.
We did the breakfast thing at the enlisted dining hall; I guess its called a mess. I wonder why that is. Anyway, Sgt. Gilbert and his spotter, Sergeant McManus asked if they could join us. Sure, why not I thought, he is okay, and really, we didn’t know anyone else on the base.
They asked us a lot of questions about what the rest of America was like. Did we meet people on the way, what do the cities look like, all kinds of stuff. We answered the best we could.
They also complained, quietly, that they were Marines, and that this was an Army/Airforce facility and that they were not really comfortable there. It struck me as odd. Gilbert was young, I mean in his late 20s I think, and most of the rest of the soldiers were the same age, seemed to me that he would fit in fine.
McManus, now he was different, he was old, lots older, he looked like he had done his time and was on his way out, retirement, when the shit hit the fan. He just had nowhere to go. He told us that his unit had just returned from Iraq when it happened, the meteor and although he was scheduled for discharge, that did not happen and he and Gilbert were teamed up and assigned to Cheyenne. He hated it here; he was a ‘Mainiac’, from Bangor and missed the East Coast.
It was actually kind of funny to listen to the two of them, the contrast of the good ol’boy Georgia accent and the Bangah, kind of variation on the Boston accent. But they were tight, I guess that Marine thing, what is it, Semper Fi….it is important.
As we finished eating and were getting up to go McManus, asked a question that kind of surprised me. “Can we go with you when you leave?”
I didn’t know what to say. It was not my, I couldn’t, had no say, “I don’t know” I told him.
Code and I talked after that, we both really had no problem with them coming with us, but that was not our decision to make.
I spent most of the rest of the day sketching; I hadn’t had a chance at that for a while. I drew Momma and the cubs.
August 18th
(Tom) I was getting spoiled with the breakfasts, but that ended today, the plan was to be on the road by 9 AM. But first, after breakfast, it was time to meet the two Marines who wanted to transfer.
We met them down near the exit to the big tunnel, the main entrance. They were an odd couple. The first, an older guy, about 45, he was a sergeant, and you could see that he had been through some stuff, he had that look, I’m not even sure how to describe it, but you just knew. The other guy was in his late 20s, and he was just a good ole’ boy who figured he was a Marine
and that was cool shit.
We talked to them a little, about why they wanted to leave, and why they figured coming with us was a good idea. I actually liked the older guy, McManus, he seemed to have his shit together, and I could understand the desire to return to the East Coast. The other guy, Gilbert, he was a goober, and I was not all that impressed with him, but it was a package deal.
After the interview I talked to Tanya, Margo and Cody asking them what they thought. Tanya felt it was a good idea, we could use a few more folks and the Marines had skills and were, or at least seemed, interested in joining us.
Margo surprised me; she gave an immediate thumbs up. It reminded me of when we used to rate the movie previews at the theater with Anne. I asked her why and she told me about the little shooting match that she and Gilbert had, and also about the chats that she and Cody had shared with the Marines over coffee and meals.
I told Welles we would take them and he ‘granted the transfer’. We loaded their equipment into our trucks. I would take McManus in the Coyote and Margo would have ‘Goober’ with her and Cody.
We were on the road by 9, as I had planned, and our first stop would be Limon. We were not going to stop for long, but we were going to leave a small package of pills if we saw signs of life, and if we didn’t, we were going to see if we could get a third truck for our Marines.
We found that there were no signs of life in Limon. It had been a small prairie town, a little bigger than Kit Carson. We stopped and looked around, carefully, not making the same mistakes as in Carson.
As we checked the town, we found the place where Bob and his crew had done a lot of their butchering; there were still bones and skulls strewn about. The kids, the dead kids, were the most haunting.
Goober found a truck, a big truck; it was a Kenworth semi, a big ugly red thing. But it had fuel, and it started, so I guess it is a win. And he knew how to drive it. It turned out he had been just a truck driver for the Corp. I guess his sniper story was bullshit.
We covered a good amount of ground the rest of the day. We stuck to I-70, and with the big rig it was a lot easier to move a car when we needed to. We neared Salina, Kansas about 6 PM and settled down just west of the city.
It was kind of nice to have some new folks with us. I think it gave us a chance to hear some new stories for a change. It was MRE’s for dinner tonight, thanks to the Cheyenne Mountain folks.
We set up a watch of the night. I did not draw a shift for tonight, but I did wake up a couple times just to check, make sure we had no snoozing guard.
(Matt) We were up a little late this morning, it was just really nice to sleep in a real bed and have a hot shower. Dylan “bought’ us breakfast, real pancakes with berries and some kind of sausage. He and Anne joined us and we talked for a little while about whether there were any other groups, communities close by. He told us that there were a few folks here and there, but for the most part places like Prince George were rare from what they had seen and heard.
Doctor Smedley stopped by as we were loading up the trucks and getting ready to head on out. He thanked us for what we had done and wished us well.
While we were talking with him, Jimmy came running up with a paper bag, “Here, Dylan told me to run these out to you, a few little snacks for the drive, it isn’t much, but it will help.”
We thanked him and he sort of tottered there, wringing his hand, he did not know what to do. Finally, Smedley told him to go back and tell Dylan that we thanked him. After he left Smedley told us that he knew Jimmy, and that he had made the sandwiches, he probably didn’t tell Dylan.
Tanya handed Smedley a couple of cans of fruit that we had, and also her last chocolate bar. “Give these to him, Jimmy, and thank him.”
“I will.” Smiled Smedley, “You have a safe trip, and if, well, you all are welcome here, if you want to come back and stay.”
We left and started back down the highway toward the border. But before we got too far I got a CB call from Jan. She and Fred were thinking that maybe we should take a different route back, something where we would avoid the burned out cities for as long as we could. She told us that she had punched the ‘go home’ button on the GPS and it showed a couple of routes that went north of the Great Lakes.
Tanya and I talked about that, and we had some more chatter with Fred and Jan. The idea sounded appealing, but we decided that we would make Jasper for the night, and when we settled in, we would think it through. Both Tanya and I liked the idea of avoiding what remained of the US cities we had already seen. Canada had taken a more civil approach to the plague. We really did not see the same damage and destruction to their cities.
It would also be good to take the lesser traveled route because it would give us a chance to maybe spread some more of the pills, we had seen what the US had to offer, and we ran into very few people.
(Lance) The Major and the group rolled in today at about 2 PM. It was good to have them back. And it was kind of a surprise when they arrived with two extra people. They were a young couple, probably in their late 20s. Maybe a couple is the wrong term, a couple of people would fit better. He was definitely military, a second Lieutenant. Mills, Jerry Mills was his name.
He started on the wrong foot with Del right off when he told her that she could call him LT, or Lieutenant Mills. She looked at him and laughed. “Yeah Fun Boy that ain’t gonna happen, it is Jerry, Mills or Hey You, your choice.”
The Major choked back a laugh.
The other newbie was a girl, Wanisha Brown, she was real military, an Air Force sergeant by the uniform, short hair, stocky, or would you call it solid, I am not sure. But she gave off an air of confidence and also wariness, she was always looking around, attentive to what was going on. Her head was in the game.
We all sat down for a little while and the Major filled us in about the trip. Their run to Knox was pretty uneventful on the road but when they got to the Fort the commander, some general decided that the Major should stay there. That was the concern that I had heard in his voice when we were talking the other day.
The Hadley thing had made the difference, the Major was able to talk the General into the idea that the Bare Mountain facility was under the control of the Mass Militia, and that he was or should be the liaison with Fort Knox.
But the general also added Mills and Brown to the Major’s party. Mills, I think he was added as a sort of ‘keep an eye on them and report kind of guy’, while Sgt. Brown had some knowledge of what was in the underground facility and how to use some of it. Most of all, she knew how to get through the doors.
We settled them into what was once the ‘Boys Dorm’. I am thinking that there would be no fraternizing going on. Mills grumbled a bit about having to quarter with an enlisted person.
Dinner tonight was kind of fun, it was nice having some people back. Brown surprised me with the way she took to the baby, for all that tough exterior, there was a momma under there.
(Margo) We are on our way home, and I am glad. I have had my pilgrimage, seen some of the world, and it sucks.
Before we left this morning we had the surprise of maybe a couple of soldiers joining us. I was concerned at first until I saw who it was. McManus and Gillie, they are okay, Gillie is kind of a goofball, but I kind of like him. Mac, now that is someone I trust my life with.
We rolled into Limon but found it was empty. I had to wonder where all the people were who had driven out the cannibals. Sadly, we found them, or at least some of them, parts of them.
While we were looking around, Gillie found a tractor trailer truck that he could start. The Marines have a vehicle to ride in now. As we ride back, maybe we can play musical trucks for a while and we can get to know these two a little better, but that is more for Tom and Asuna.
We rolled up to Salina about 6:30 or so. It was quiet, and we found a little inn to stay at for the night. We took turns doing a little guard duty. It was nice because we only had to do a couple of hours each. MRE’s for dinner, they are good but believe, it
or not, I could kind of go for a little of Nick’s deer stew….Crap, I forgot.
August 19th
(Margo) We rolled off early this morning, it was sunny and warm. As the day progressed, we could see storms building behind us and really kept a good pace up as we went. Code rode with Gillie and Mac rode with me.
Mac told me about some of his time in Iraq, the heat, in the 100 degree range and having to wear all the armor. It didn’t sound like it was good. And yet, he said that while he was there he felt more alive than he ever had. He talked about how when you are facing death, or know it is right around the corner, you tend to savor life, to enjoy every moment and push that fear to the back of your mind.
It was odd listening to him because as he was talking it was more he was just talking to himself, simply stating facts.
We made a quick stop at Indy airport and fueled up, and then continued on. We beat the storms for a while but finally they were closing in on us and it was getting late. We had driven for over 12 hours and it was time to call it a day so we stopped, it was just outside of Brookfield, Ohio. One more long drive like that and we should be home.
I am getting anxious to get there, I have seen things, cannibals, the burned cities, barren waste, and I want to be home.
I am writing this on my watch, I drew second watch, 10 to midnight. Nothing happened, it was quiet.
(Matt) We left Jasper early this morning; nice day and we wanted to try to get 12 hours of drive time in. It was an uneventful drive and we really did cover a lot of ground.
A couple of times along the way we could see smoke off in the distance, up the side of a mountain. It hinted that there were people out there, but we were unable to really reach them, we did not know exactly where they were, or their intentions. The best idea seemed to be to leave them alone.
Tanya and I talked about that, and it seemed on one hand wrong not to try to distribute the pills, but like I said, the risks, if we could even find them, seemed too great.
We made a fuel stop at the Saskatoon airport, filled up and then continued on for a couple more hours until we reached Wynyard. The town was a small one, maybe 1000 people at its peak. But now, there was nothing. The buildings were still there, but no one. We found a little cabin at the side of a lake, Quill Lake.
The Event Series (Book 3): The Archive and Beyond Page 19