At this time, Indigo popped up from the seat, appeared uncomfortable with the story. A lean arm stretched out, a hand adjusted the jean's waist a bit, “Well, if ya'll will excuse me. I've got some things to take care of myself.” He abruptly walked through the door to the kitchen and another door slammed.
The breeze came in the two windows near the table. Thank God, thought Maggie, must be blowing away from that stench.
Mayor continued his story, “They killed my wife and son and left me for dead. Indigo's father was a loyal employee and a good friend, he was also killed in the attack. Lou found me and thanks to her, I survived. She, Indigo and I escaped the ranch and made it here. I'd been here to the Red Bluff Reservoir on a camping and fishing trip with Indigo's father, knew that the lake was isolated and remote. The big wind turbine was already here, the beginnings of a wind farm project. The three of us settled here and as all the ramifications of the disaster spread, people begin to roam and search for places and ways to survive. We had to rid ourselves of many more bad folks, but they weren't all that way. As you can see,” he looked at Maggie and the big smile was back, “and smell...we've grown into quite a little town.”
“It's certainly fragrant around here,” said Maggie, with a rub of her nose.
The loud laughed blared out again, “We're working on that problem, mam. I'm real concerned about the growing population and our lack of sanitation. A couple of years ago, Indigo and four of the other residents went on an expedition. They returned with stacks of books from an old city library, among numerous other things. We've been researching and trying to come up with some more solutions.”
Will said, “I traveled all over the world, was an archeologist. I was always surprised how some places, even very primitive, had decent systems for sanitation. The ones that didn't, of course, had much more death and sickness. I learned a few things, might could be of some help.”
“That would be great. You know, Indigo is extremely smart, quickly learns and picks up on information. He's really been studying. When his mother found me, I was in such bad shape that I barely remember the shape the boy was in. He was only about seven years old, in shock and not just from his father's murder. Lord knows what torture those animals put him through. He didn't talk at all for a very long time and never wanted to talk about the happenings that day on the ranch. Lou and I didn't push him.”
Airi's eyes had grown wide and she looked at Maggie, “Boy?” she turned to the mayor.
“Yes, just a young boy.” His smile returned, “Then one day, he just waltzed into the kitchen. He reeked of the Clorox he used on his hair, his shirt all polka dotted with bleach spots. He'd crushed up wild berries and streaked his hair blue. One of the young girls in the settlement had painted his nails with some blue sparkly polish and he had on rows of bracelets.”
He announced to Lou and I, “From now on, you can call me Indigo.” Lou was so damn glad to hear him talk, she just said, “Okay, honey. And don't you look...ah, nice.”
“So, ever since, we've had our Indigo. Bless his heart, ain't he a hoot?”
Maggie's eyes were a bit moist, she swallowed, laughed and said, “Absolutely, a hoot.”
“An archeologist, huh? You must have some tales.” The mayor stood and said, “I'm goin' in the kitchen and find something a tad stronger to go in this cider. The same stuff that runs that crazy car, with a little more re-fine-ment makes a tolerable beverage.” At the door, he paused, “You all stay put, I want to hear where you came from and where you're headed.”
That night, the travelers camped on the beach again, Maggie insisted that she couldn't stomach the smell of the settlement. In the weeks ahead that situation would improve a lot, thanks greatly to the involvement of Will. It became a possibility that the six would stay, settle in Bluffsville. And they did stay an extended time, longer than Will ever thought they would. Truth be told, he never had a rock solid plan when he left the sanctuary, his true purpose was to remove his wife and daughter from the sickness that was killing Far View City. Over time, the familiarity of having people around, the comfort grew along with the challenges of helping to create a livable town here on the lakeside. The days turned to weeks and weeks to months; not a one of them rushed to leave. However, life...fate...god...luck, whatever a person chooses to believe in, is indeed fickle and unpredictable. As is said, the best made plans may not succeed and the ability to adapt is key to survival.
***
Some rough drawn plans laid across the long table in the mayor's dining area. Airi, Tanner and Indigo threw out their ideas and scratched around on the taped together papers. The three had become good friends and deeply involved in the development of a town sewer system. The couple enjoyed the company of the eccentric and unique Indi and quickly discovered how intelligent he really was. That wild vehicle that he drove had been mostly his creation and he sucked up information like a vacuum, hyper and excited when he was learning something new.
Indi said, “There are road culverts, old plumbing and irrigation pipes stored in the maintenance yard, down at the dam. We've used some in the town to set up wind pumps. Tanner, if you want to go along, I'll get a couple of other guys and we'll see what we can find.”
“Sure, that sounds like a good idea. With Will's input and suggestions, I think we might actually make this work.”
“I don't see how we could help improving the conditions,” said Airi. “Haven't seen anything more than Mom...uh, Maggie's eyes since we got here. She keeps her face wrapped up like a mummy.”
So, the brainstorming and research of the three young minds, Will's experienced input and the co-operation and work of many of Bluffsville's citizens suffered a primitive sewer system to be constructed. A large pit was dug away from the population and half filled with rocks. One of the citizens managed to get an old tractor running and that made the digging of the pit possible. They already had access to the plentiful water from the lake and the windmills to pump. Road culverts and old pipes were salvaged from the reservoir dam's old maintenance yards. These set up a basic system that released water from one of the windmill holding tanks to wash through the gulley under a new line of privies they built and continued through buried pipe to the pit.
This new system did diminish to tolerable the smell in the settlement. Through work and bartering, the travelers secured three tents. Out behind the mayor's house Maggie and Will occupied one, Tanner and Tom another, Airi and Cynthia took the third. It was early morning and the touch of coolness in the air promised that summer faded. The six emerged from their canvas apartments. It had become their habit to share breakfast at the table of the mayor.
With a brief knock and Good Morning at the back door of the weathered house, Maggie and Cynthia moved to the kitchen to help Lou. Tom and Will fetched some coffee for the mayor and themselves and went to sit at the long table. Airi and Tanner walked to the chicken coops to gather eggs.
Tom spoke to the mayor, as he had several times, about the security and law in the settlement. “I understand that you don't want to be the enforcer around here. Obviously, the town is growing. Just our group increased your population by six and last week, those four people from Amarillo arrived. You really need to think about it, the more folks, the more chance of trouble.”
It had become obvious to Will and Tom that the people of Bluffsville did look to and respect the mayor. That enthusiastic show of appreciation when he traveled down the street was not because he demanded it, it was because he earned it. After all, this was originally the home of Lou, Indigo and the mayor. Only his hospitality and effort to provide what he could for the refugees had grown the settlement.
“I know, it's the truth. It's always worked in the past to just banish the bad folks. Only once did we have a hangin'. It was god awful, a hard thing to do. But, I do believe that nasty poisonous snakes have to be killed or they will only slink on to bite someone else.” The large man shook his head in disgust.
“Well, I'm not asking for the job of law myself. I wi
ll talk around to the other citizens, try to discover who in the town would be honest material. I also suggest that we take a look at what type of weapons are available and at least form some basic plans for defense. I don't think for a moment that the threat of marauders or attackers is non existent in these days.” Tom pushed his cup back, the strong coffee was cold. It wasn't real coffee, not like had been common in the before world. Lou grew chicory, chopped and roasted the roots and boiled it. If fresh and hot, with honey and a bit of milk, it was decent. When it cooled, usually bitter and not so good.
When the eggs, biscuits and gravy graced the table and everyone was gathered, Indigo ambled in with eyes still sleep swollen. “Why didn't you wake me? I would've helped,” he mumbled.
Lou said, “Thought we'd let you sleep. You and Tanner worked real hard yesterday.”
The mayor said, “Yeah, we really needed the strays brought in. Won't be long until the weather turns on us. I appreciate the work.” The two new friends and a couple of other citizens from the town had spent a long day rounding up wandering cattle that belonged to the mayor. Of course the meat from this herd was shared by all, as well as the milk from a few dairy cows.
Tanner shifted on his stool, “Well, I don't know if my ass will ever be the same again. I slept like a rock. Somebody didn't wake me for guard duty.”
Indigo said, “Funny thing, doesn't seem like we're finding as many calves as we should be. Plenty of water this Spring, looks like there ought to be more.”
“Maybe they've just strayed into areas we haven't looked. I'll go out with ya'll in a day or two, see what we can find,” said the mayor. He had been raising cattle all his life, knew about their ways. Riding a horse was harder on him than it used to be, still he was as comfortable sitting in a saddle as in the recliner in his living room.
The conversations between each and all continued. The six friends had fell into the routine work of living, more importantly the work of improving their lives and those of the other residents of the settlement. One project seemed to lead to another. Tom, like the others stayed busy, friendships had been made, thoughts of other places pushed to the back of the mind. As he listened to his son and Airi poke friendly fun at Indi and their new friend, with good nature snap right back at them, an old habit surfaced. The need to be alert, to explore all eventualities, think of the down side of things. He wondered, what is it?...something constant and unsettling that stays with me, like an itch in the middle of my damn back that I can't scratch.
Will's question broke his thoughts, “Has anybody talked to those travelers from Amarillo? I sure would like to know what the conditions are in a big city like that.”
Indi had a jolt of chicory juice in him now and was more his animated self, “Oh mercy, didn't they just look like death walkin'? I didn't talk to them, but I heard some others talking. Sounds like it was pure-d- hell in Amarillo.”
His mother said, “Well, let's face it... always was pretty rough in Amarillo.”
Maggie voice of sarcasm chimed in, “You should've lived in Washington, DC. Sometimes it felt like you had curled up in one of those stinking privies out there.”
Over the laughter, Will said, “That's just big cities, at any rate it used to be the case in big cities. All over the world, the higher the population, the deeper the level of meanness and trouble. Still, I would like to talk to the newcomers myself.”
“I need to meet the folks anyway. We'll find them later if you like and have a talk,” said the mayor.
“Sounds good,” said Will. He, like Tom, had a tiny nagging itch. He was just better at ignoring it.
***
What oozed out of Lubbock was not so much an army as a scourge. The group of thirty plus men and a half dozen women left the Panhandle city of Amarillo about a year earlier. Disease ridden, ruthless and well armed, any one of them would cut a throat for a cigarette or can of beans. Amarillo had become slim pickings and further south, Lubbock hadn't proven to be any more profitable. Traveling on foot, pulling all kinds of rolling wagons and carts, bags filled with supplies they had been able to steal and pilfer, the human plague moved southward.
The leader of the scraggly outlaws, sat by a campfire, took a swig of whiskey from a dark bottle. The found treasure of amber liquid was well aged now, in the year 2032. A twitchy nervous underling squatted nearby and said, “Well...um-m, well...I know, I mean there's this place...” he tried to get out what he wanted to say before the boss knocked the words right out of his mouth, along with another tooth or two.
“My uncle lived over in Hobbs, cross the state line. Used to take me fishin' at a big lake down on the New Mexico and Texas border. Only thing that was 'round there was ranches. Big lake...lot'sa fish. Pecos River flows into the lake.”
The boss gave him a real threatening look, “Now, why the hell would we want to go to some god forsaken lake, you idiot?”
“Well, we ain't been havin' much luck in the cities, Boss. Folks is startin' to fight back, protecting what little they got. I heard talk in Lubbock of the gov'ment sendin' help, bringing in troops and helping rebuild the city.”
The leader swallowed a hard gulp of whiskey and let out a vicious laugh, “They been saying that for years. The US gov'ment ain't coming to help nobody.”
Fearing a slap any minute, the man continued, “Anyways, what's down there in that lake area is ranches, big old ranches. The' must be people making it out there, they had cows and s—t, chickens and pigs. They had horses. I figure if we could take us one of them places...you know, make us a headquarters. We could have food and nobody would mess with us. We could scout out from a place, find stuff.”
Showing his stained teeth in the light of the fire, the boss leaned forward and the talker leaned back, falling on his butt. “Can you ride a horse? Have you ever wrung a chicken's neck?” he made a rough twisting motion with his dirty hands.
The talker said, “No, no I ain't. But we got hunters and farm boys that could handle that. Boss, if we don't find us a place, we gonna all just starve and die out here. What else we gonna do?” He wasn't brilliant but smart enough to know that he had pushed his luck far enough, he moved away. If the leader gave any credit to his idea, it would be later and when he was sober.
That's how the nest of vipers came to inhabit the ranch that backed up to the river, near where it flowed into the reservoir. The reservoir where the settlement of Bluffsville sat on the very far shore. The outlaws found only an aging man on the ranch and his one surviving hand, the two were easy to dispose of.
***
The conversation with the refugees from Amarillo revealed a lot of information that was expected and a few tidbits of unexpected news. The mayor, Will and Tom had located the two couples. The tent given to the newcomers was stuffy and small, a woman lay on a cot and they all looked emaciated, worn down. Mayor asked one of the men to take a walk with them and they took the trail down towards the lake shore.
“Is the woman sick, son? Are any of you sick?” said the mayor.
“No,” answered the man, who was probably in his mid thirties. “Someone sent over the lady, the nurse. She said that my wife was just exhausted. I'm not so good of a hunter, we didn't eat that well the last few weeks.” The man appeared miserable and guilty.
The mayor breathed a brief sigh of relief, he had become very paranoid about sickness being brought into the settlement. “I'm sure you did your best. We're trying to improve the conditions here in Bluffsville. She'll be better when ya'll have rested up, we have sufficient supplies and food. When you get your strength back, you can chip in and do your part to earn your keep. We need you to tell us about how things were in Amarillo.”
“Actually, the wife thought she was pregnant. The possibility had a lot to do with us leaving Amarillo, just wanted to be away from that city. When the nurse checked her, she said that she wasn't expecting. I've got to admit that I'm relieved.” He looked out at the sweeping lake, now in front of them. “How were things there? I guess it kind of depend
s on what you're comparing it to, doesn't it.”
Will said, “Was there sickness there, any type of medical care? What about power, water?”
“Always been the wind farms in that part of the country, there was some power, water had to be boiled. Yeah, there was quite a bit of disease, illness. Sometimes, you could get care at one or two clinics. Mostly, you lived in your little area and ventured out for food. Those that grew things and hunted, they had the control. Any kind of food like canned goods, dried goods...long gone, years ago. If you didn't hunt, fish and seek out those that grew things and barter, you'd starve.”
Tom's concerns made him ask, “What about law, security? We've always heard rumors of the government coming to rebuild the cities. Any representatives of the government there?”
The man's head shook in the negative, “My father always believed in America. Until the day he died, he told me that the government would fix things, they would get the country rebuilt. The old guy didn't live to see that happen...don't expect that I will either.” He put his hand on the .45 at his waist, “Law? More like the Wild West type of order. You damn better be able to take care of you and yours. Those that claimed to be the law, you never knew if you could trust them. I didn't go see for myself, but heard that there was always bodies hanging on the old town square. A few days before we left, an unusual thing did happen. Three big military trucks rolled into town. Hell, there was very rarely a moving vehicle seen and I haven't seen anything that even pretended to be from the US military in years.”
Tom said, “Do you think they were really from the United States government military?”
The Days After (Far View) Page 9