by Hannah Ross
"Hey," he said.
"Hi. I…" He thought she looked worried. "Please be careful out there." Her voice was filled with the anxiety of someone who already sustained a loss.
"Sure. Of course. But if you're that worried about us, perhaps we could put this off for a while. Go later in the spring, when it's warmer and we're better settled here and more people could join us."
Jen shook her head. "No, Elisa is right. It would do us good to find more people, get in touch with something beyond our camp. But… I… Just take care, alright?"
She seemed to search for something more to say, but did not find it. With a nervous nod and a vague smile, she walked away.
Ben watched her for a few seconds before following her back to the cabin.
They set off early next morning, keeping their pace slow due to the weight of their full backpacks. They followed a branch of the river which flowed southeast for a while, then turned straight south. The warm day made traveling enjoyable, and when they stopped for the night, the light summer tent was enough to provide shelter.
After starting a fire, they settled down to eat and debated whether anyone should stay awake to keep watch.
"I don't mind," said Enzo. "I'm not really tired."
"You will be tomorrow if you stay up much longer," Ben said. "No, I think we should all go to sleep. There aren't supposed to be any wolves or coyotes in the area, and even if there were, the fire will ward them off."
"What about bears?" Enzo asked. "Mac said it's their favorite season for roaming about, remember? No, it's better to keep watch and to keep stoking that fire."
Despite his concern, the night was uneventful, the quiet broken only by occasional snoring.
By noon of the next day they were far past the area they knew from hunting trips.
"How long do we plan to follow the river?" asked Tom. "The Ravens couldn't have settled too far from it unless they found another water source. If they did, they could be anywhere."
Enzo shrugged. "I hadn't thought of that. We could trek for a few days, I guess. I mean, I realize there's no guarantee we'll see anyone. Finding anyone will be just a matter of luck."
"Yeah, but it makes sense in a way," said Ben. "You do remember them saying they might go south, and the area seems nice, and there's the river. They could be somewhere around. Let's just go on for a few days and keep looking."
As they went further south, the plains that surrounded their camp were replaced by low, rolling hills, between two of which the river long ago cut its path. They kept a steady pace, hunting and fishing when they could, stretching the supplies from home as much as possible.
"I was thinking," Ben said as they crested a hill. "It's the matter of food. Food controls everything. The ruined cities hold all kinds of stuff, but no food. Stock from before the War's no good anymore, not even the canned stuff. So you can't move to a city and survive without going out to the country to hunt for food."
"Which makes it a lot smarter to live in the country like we do," Tom said.
"And a lot easier to keep from going hungry all the time," Enzo added.
Ben nodded. "I know some thought Elisa crazy for putting so much effort into the goats, but she was right. And she was right about the vegetable garden and the orchard. There's nothing more important than having a reliable, year-round source of food."
"So if they're out here, we're likely to find the Ravens someplace like ours, where it's not hard to grow stuff and hunt and fish."
Tom said, "Sure. But how long do we go on looking for them?"
"How about until we go two days without finding anything to eat," Ben said. "We have two or three days-worth of food in our backpacks, so when we can't eat off the land anymore, we give up and go back."
There were some unexpectedly deep craters in the gentle slopes of the hills. Their contours softened and were overgrown with grass over the years, but one could still see the traces of the bombings that had ravaged the country, changing its face forever.
They passed by an old crumbling road leading to a small ghost town. The faded sign at the entrance said Charlottesville. Most of the buildings were intact. The three walked into a little department store through what once had been the large front window and picked up some fishing gear. Tom found a new pair of boots to replace his old ones, one of which had a peeling sole.
A short way out of town, they finally found a sign of life. A circle of stones was arranged in the field, and the black and grey ashes within it, while not fresh, were recent enough not to be scattered by the winds or overgrown by grass yet.
Ben toed the ashes. "Someone camped here not long ago."
"Then there are people in the area," Tom said. "Going south was the right notion, Enzo."
Enzo nodded, looking relieved his idea was not wholly far-fetched.
They continued south for a few hours before Tom spotted footprints on a strip of soft ground close to the riverbank and called out to Ben and Enzo. The three of them bent over the prints.
"These are all muddled," said Enzo, "but it looks like more than one person passed here, and not that long ago."
"It seems they tried to wade across the river," added Ben. "Look, the tracks disappear right into the water. Suppose we do the same? It's pretty shallow here."
They took off their shoes and socks, rolled up their pants, waded through the cold but tolerable water, and soon found themselves on the opposite bank. A shady grove grew next to the river. Once they donned their shoes, they entered it.
Enzo scanned for more footprints while Ben and Tom looked around with their hands on their guns, searching for dinner, or any trouble, but found neither. They kept walking until the sun was low in the west, but did not find a single footprint or bird worth trying to shoot. Close to sunset they settled down in a nice little clearing, put up their tent, started a fire, and began making stew from some vegetables and strips of dried meat they had in their backpacks.
"I think we should get back into the open tomorrow," Enzo said as he stoked the fire and the water in the small pot began to boil. "Coming in here was a bad idea from the start. The ground is dry and full of last year's leaves. Even if someone walked through here, they wouldn't leave prints."
"Not to mention that crunching through all these leaves must have scared all living things away," added Tom, stirring the rather thin stew.
"Would be a pity, now that we know people actually passed somewhere around here not long ago," said Ben. "Here's some salt, Tom. Add a bit to the pot, but not too much, we're running low. Maybe we should give the woods one more day."
"I guess so," Enzo said, "But if we don't find anything tomorrow, we really should turn back. If we…" Enzo's head snapped up. "Did you hear that?" he asked in a low voice. "A noise."
Tom looked at him. "Probably an animal. And now it's too dark to shoot."
For a few seconds all was quiet as they sat in silence, each immersed in his own thoughts. Then a dry branch broke with a crack as loud as a gunshot, and the three heads snapped up, startled.
Ben saw six figures slide out of the shadows. We're surrounded by a circle of people and outnumbered two to one. But this is what we've been looking for. Other people. Slowly, he got to his feet, and Tom and Enzo followed.
Enzo looked ahead, shook his head, then looked again, incredulous. "Raven?"
The question surprised Ben. Whenever they talked of Raven, the image he had always belonged to a young man. But the person Enzo addressed was a slim, straight-backed girl with sleek, shiny black hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was wearing an unlikely combination of tight-fitting faded jeans with a sleeveless leather jerkin that looked like rather crude handiwork.
Though she and all her companions carried rifles, they were slung casually across their shoulders.
She gave them all a friendly grin and, sizing him up and down said, "Enzo? Didn't expect to see you here. We spotted you all walking along the river yesterday, but it was too far to make out your faces. How come you're not in the c
ity with Barry?"
"I left Barry's camp."
She could hear the defiance in his voice. "Now that's something I'd never have guessed you would do."
"You spotted us yesterday?" asked Ben, catching her sly grin as he added, "Were you following us?"
"Yes. I thought, 'here's three strangers as close to our camp as we've ever seen'. Of course we were curious, but we wanted to look at you before exchanging greetings. Are you from around here?"
"A few days due north," said Ben. "I'm Benjamin Grey, by the way." He stuck out his hand and the girl shook it. Her handshake was firm, energetic, and her small callused hand was dry and warm.
"Lynn Raven," she said. "Everybody just calls me Raven, though. And who are you?"
"Thomas White." He shook hands as well. "Who are your friends?"
Raven's companions introduced themselves. There were four young men, Dan, Patrick, Sean and Fred, and another girl, Tanya Snow, who didn't look very girly. She was tall and broad-shouldered, and her sandy hair was close-cropped. Her strong square jaw enhanced the impression of manliness, all of which was contradicted by her high, melodic voice, a voice that made Ben wonder if she might break out in song any moment.
"So what are you doing here?" Raven asked once the greetings were exchanged and all were companionably sitting by the crackling fire.
"As a matter of fact, we were looking for you," said Ben.
"It was Enzo's idea," added Tom. Enzo shot him a furious look.
Raven grinned. "Really? I recall you saying you'd better never see me again, Enzo."
"That was Barry," mumbled Enzo.
"You were pretty good at parroting him, though. Well, things can change." She clapped him on the shoulder, a gesture clearly meant to convey she wasn't holding grudges.
"Is your camp far from here?" asked Ben.
"A little to the southeast," said Raven. "If you kept walking for another day, you'd probably spot it. That's our summer camp. Our winter camp is a bit further south. It's more comfortable and more solidly built, but the hunting is better in these parts."
They called it a night early, just as the sky was turning from pink and purple to velvety blue, and were up again at daybreak. Eschewing breakfast, they took off at a brisk pace, snacking on dried fruit and nuts as they went, and made such good speed that by noon they were within sight of the Ravens' summer camp.
Benjamin saw three enormous tents, yellowish-brown in color, like giant mushrooms nestled among the hills. Raven grinned in response to his inquiring glance.
"We made them ourselves," she said, "from buffalo skins. It took quite a bit of work, but these tents are right comfortable for the summer. We're now working on a fourth."
They kept walking, and it was not long before they noticed people ahead. Someone cupped their hands and shouted in their direction, but it was still too far to make out the words. Raven raised her hand, waved wildly, and called out a greeting. Everyone sped up, eager to get home.
A minute later, Benjamin heard something else just before Raven cupped her hands again and called out, "Ink! Ink!"
Ben was not sure what she meant until a magnificent horse came cantering right up to them, its hooves thundering upon the earth. It was black, like Raven's hair, except for a snowy-white spot on its forehead and a track of smoky silver down its back and tail.
Sun shone off its glossy sides as it stopped by Raven, snorted and sniffed at her ear. She giggled and patted its neck. "There, there, Ink. I'm home. Told you I would be back soon, didn't I? Tim let you out, did he, so you could meet me? Good of him. Pity he didn't think of saddling you, but…" She swung up and straddled the horse in one swift, fluid motion. "…I can handle that."
She grinned down at Ben from the horse's back. "Swallowed your tongue?"
"How did you learn to ride this thing?" he asked, warily touching it's warm side.
"With a lot of perseverance. Ink was a young mare when I managed to drive her away from the wild herd. It's easier to tame the young ones. Later we were able to capture more horses, and even breed some here at home. Some of the others are good for riding, too, but not quite as good as Ink yet. They need more breaking in before we can use them for hunting trips."
Raven spun the horse around, spurred it on, and galloped off in the direction of the camp.
Tom followed her with a jealous look. "We ought to try finding some horses too. I wouldn't mind riding all the way home instead of walking."
"Raven only makes it looks easy," said Enzo. "That's how she is. But wild horses can be dangerous, and I've heard taming them is one hell of a job. Still, I guess it could be worth the trouble."
Ben stayed silent. His eyes kept following the small black spot that was Raven and her horse. He saw her slide off the horse as people came out of the tents to greet her, shake her hand, clap her on the shoulder. He heard the sounds of laughter and whooping and cheering and hastened his pace to catch up.
As they approached, it seemed like the whole camp was out there, alternately laughing with Raven and staring curiously at them. There were boys and girls in their teens, young men, and women with babies in their arms, and little children clinging to their mothers' legs or riding on their fathers' shoulders. Patrick, Fred, and Sean went off to greet their friends. Dan was approached by a pretty young woman with a little girl in her arms. The girl bounced down to the ground and squealed with delight as Dan picked her up and tossed her in the air. Only Tanya stayed by their side, looking awkward and lonely.
"Good hunting, Raven?" someone asked.
"Not much, actually, but we brought these." She grinned and pointed in the direction of Ben, Tom, and Enzo.
They walked a little further until they noticed something moving down the slope of a green hill behind the tents. From this distance, they looked like little puffs, but they grazed rather like wild goats or deer.
"What are they?" Enzo asked.
"Sheep," said Tom, a wide grin spreading across his face. "Elisa will love this."
The three received a generous welcome at the biggest of the three tents. There was sheep cheese and sheep milk, mutton stew with some wild grain, an assortment of dried fruit, and a fermented drink that Raven said was made last year out of wild berries. Tom got a little too enthusiastic about the drink and, though it was not strong, soon had enough to fall snoring on a rough wooden bench covered with a sheepskin. Enzo found some people he used to know back in the city and walked off to talk to them and catch up on news, leaving Ben alone with Raven next to the empty iron pot.
"So, Barry drove you out of the city too, did he?" asked the girl, taking another sip of the berry drink.
Either she's not drinking as much as it seems, or she's accustomed to it. She drank as much as Tom but she seems quite sober. "Well, sort of," said Ben. "He only meant to... to keep us in our proper place, so to speak, but we decided it was better to leave."
"Best decision you'll ever make. I'll be ever-grateful to Barry for being such a prick. If it weren't for him, we could still be stuck in that depressing grey ruin of a city."
"What about all the things you can only get in the city? They sure make life a lot easier."
"I get what you're saying. We used to have all those stores and warehouses at our fingertips, and now we're down to a few small ghost towns in the area, which supply us with the basics and no more. But I've come to appreciate making things from scratch. The supplies from before the War won't last forever, you know, and those who are skilled with their hands will have a big advantage over the likes of Barry, who takes over what was left after the bombings and thinks he's the king of the world." She grinned. "Have another drink."
"I think I've had enough," he said, but she did not give up easily. She scooped more of the berry wine and thrust a cup into his hand.
"Come on. What'll happen? At worst you'll take a nap."
Ben took a sip and smiled. "This is good stuff."
"Yeah," nodded Raven. "I remember when we were kids and first came out here. I looked
at all this huge emptiness and said, 'Oh hell, we're going to starve.' It makes me laugh now. Turns out the country is full of food, all there for the taking. After we found some sheep and tamed and bred them, we were really nicely set up. We're just figuring out how to spin wool. And the horses! Now that we have them, it'll be so much easier to explore the country, find new places, move from summer camp to winter camp and back."
Her enthusiasm was infectious and made her eyes sparkle. Up close, Ben could see they were light brown, with gold flecks around the iris. "There are so many people here. Did they all come like we did or did you go out looking for them or what?"
"A little of both. When me and some others left the city, we wanted to get as far away from Barry and his henchmen as possible. Four days out, we ran into a small group that said they were the second to be left beyond the boundary."
"Did you believe them?"
Raven nodded. "They looked like they were in their mid-twenties. Maybe older. They said they were nomads and just wandered. In school, did they teach you about the high plains and the desert and the mountains on the other side of the country?"
"Yeah."
"Well those guys said they'd been there and back. They had lots of stories but they also knew a lot about surviving and they taught us a lot. Told us about the herds of animals that roam around like they do. I hope they come back this way again so they can see what we've done with all the stuff they taught us."
"So how many were you that left?"
"Fourteen. We came across some as we traveled who wanted to join us. And since we've been here, more have wandered in."
"All these people?"
Raven laughed. "No. You know they kick kids out the same time each year?"
Ben nodded.
"Well, right now we're sort of between two Islands. Each is six or seven days travel on foot. We send a few people to meet the new rejects, tell them about what we have here, and offer to bring them back. If you can remember how you felt that first hour or two after the bus drove away, you'll understand why many of the new kids are happy to see us. Others just want to find a big city in which case we point them in the right direction. Each year we grow by ten or twenty people, plus any kids that are born."