As they walked towards their new home, Tom said what had been on his mind for the last hour, “I don't like it...the women working at a different location. Don't think we should be separated.”
“I expect that the mine work would be much harder, they're all used to working the crops. Probably for the best. Seems to be lots of uniformed presence around and the women have their weapons,” said Will.
Tom looked to Cynthia, “Well, don't let down your guard. Did you notice how close all the children stayed to their parents? My guess would be there's a reason for that...like fear.”
Over the next several days, the travelers fell into a daily routine. In the early morning, they boarded their separate buses to go to their work sites. The ones that arrived first at the end of work day, waited for the other's bus to arrive. Each day they walked home tired and dirty, especially the men. The mine work was very difficult, the job of mining the coal to be sent to the power plant that provided the electricity for the town. They were all in agreement however, that they would stay for a while, work and see how life in the city played out.
Will was able to find out a few things about the functioning of the city and it's residents. There was one school that housed classes for all ages, not open now because of the hot summer. Any motor vehicles like the scooters, the buses and a very rare car or truck on the streets were fueled by alcohol that was distilled at an old factory site. There were a couple of cafes that were allowed to operate and they served beer produced at a local brewery. The sprawling Food Complex market was the sole outlet for necessities. The garden was city owned, you were paid to work there and all the foods, whether fresh or preserved at the Cannery were sold at the market. Citizens were permitted to sell or barter goods at the market, so the majority of commerce of the city happened at the Food Complex. There was more to the clinic at the City Hall than just handling the newcomers, an area that did provide some basic medical care for the citizens. All of this provided employment opportunities. A very far cry from the thriving city it had once been, Austin wasn't pretty but struggling to restore itself.
The six sat at one of the cafe's on a Saturday afternoon. Halves of chickens sizzled on a large outdoor grill. They had all worked hard the last few days, the chicken with home made bread and lemonade tasted great to them. Near the picnic table where they ate, a boisterous conversation was going on. A man said, “No! I'm dead serious...it was a television, a big one. It was working and broadcasting information.”
One of the women at the table said, “You mean, the tv was playing old movies and stuff.”
The man shook his head, “Not old movies. This was news and weather. Maybe coming from the government, I'm not sure. They were giving stories about what was happening in other parts of the country. That's how we heard that here in Austin, there was work and housing.”
Will and his group had become very quiet, couldn't help but listen with fascination to the talk. They ate their chicken and other than a raised eyebrow or two remained silent.
Another man, appeared to be near the age of Will, said with a huff of disbelief, “Oh, c'mon, that's bull. I haven't seen or heard any US military, anything about the government in years. Where was this place with the magical television?”
The man said, “Out east, that's where we came from. It was said that the government was attempting to bring some restoration and aid across the country.”
Will rose from his seat and approached the conversation, “Sorry to intrude, couldn't help but overhear. My name is Will,” he extended his hand. “My friends, family and I came across New Mexico into Texas. We stayed at a settlement on the border for a few months. No television. However, a man there had come from Amarillo and he said that a government military group had come through there, brought some supplies, offered transport to a refugee camp and promised they would be returning with aid.”
The story telling man nodded and gave everyone a told you so look. The older man said, “Well, I'd have to see it with my own old eyes to believe the government, after all these years, is intact and working at restoration. Perhaps the flying pigs will proceed them,” he gave another snort of disdain.
“Didn't see it with my own eyes, either. Just thought I'd throw that in. Nice to meet you,” said Will and returned to his table.
Maggie said, “What do you think?”
“Hey, stranger things have happened, right? Who knows...I still believe we, the people are the best hope for rebuilding the country and our way of life,” said Will. They continued to enjoy their chicken.
On a hot day, in the week that followed, the men waited for the garden employee buses to arrive. The first bus came and left and the women didn't exit. When the second bus emptied and still no women, Will tried to tried to stop the driver. The doors closed in his face and the bus sped away. He ran to catch up with one of the other women workers, “Miss, wait Miss. Do you know Maggie or Cynthia or the young dark haired woman, Airi?”
The young woman didn't completely stop her fast walk and said, “You mean the two old ladies and the pretty oriental girl?”
“Yes, I guess. Did you see them today? Why weren't they on the bus?”
“I don't know.” She picked up her pace to a jog and moved away in the crowd.
Tom grabbed a young man's arm, “Where's the garden? Are there any more buses going there today?”
“No, no buses. The garden is about two miles to the north, on that street over there.” He jerked his arm away and also jogged away. Tom immediately ran in the direction the man indicated, Will and Tanner right on his heels.
***
A loud bell clanged and signaled the end of long hot day in the city garden that covered about two acres. Maggie pulled weeds all day. Cynthia worked at the culling station, picking out and throwing bad produce into a large bin, to be fed to the livestock. Airi picked beans, just barely within her mother's view. Maggie stood erect, stretched her sore back and looked down the rows for her daughter. She didn't spot her at first, then thought she saw the top of her ebony head amidst the worker's. The crowd got thicker as they moved toward the faucets where they could wash their hands and wait for the bus. She tried to get closer to Airi.
Pushing past people, she caught a glimpse of her daughter, a man held on to each arm and in a blink, they moved faster and away from the crowd, dragged Airi along. Maggie was instantly aware that if she lost sight of them, she might never see her daughter again. Just then, Cynthia spotted her friend, whistled at her and pushed through the workers to catch up.
Catching up to Maggie, who seemed to be moving faster and faster, she breathlessly said, “Where the hell are you going?”
Maggie didn't miss a step, or take her eyes from her distant objective, “Someone has Airi. We can't lose sight of her.”
Cynthia focused ahead and spotted the very far away dark head. She fell in step with Maggie and they followed the men through another field, dropped back and stayed in cover. Through a stand of trees, the men dragged Airi and entered a large barn like building. A wide door slid shut behind them. In the edge of the trees, both women bent over to catch their breath, their hands on their legs.
“God...what do you think?” said Cynthia.
“I think it's bad, whoever they are, they have no good intentions for Airi. Not one single person tried to help her or even acted like they saw. We have to get in closer, see if there's a window or we can see in somewhere, have to find out what's happening,” said Maggie, her breathing slower.
They moved around to the side of the barn, a small window showed lights darting around inside, like the beams of flashlights. They stayed down low, crossed an open area and eased up to the side of the window. Maggie removed the big hat, tied it to her waist. With her heart pounding she peeked into the window. Still daylight, but the barn was pretty dark. Two men paced around as one other man pushed Airi down and tied her hands and then tied her to a large pole. A fourth man stood over three other young girls already secured. All the women had cloths tied around
their mouths.
One of the men said, “We need at least two more girls.”
Another, waved his light around and startled Maggie as it flashed across the window. She ducked as it went by and heard the man say, “Why...why do we need any more? These are good fresh girls. Why ain't four enough? You gonna get us killed, that's what you gonna do.”
“Because the boss likes at least six to take down to Mexico. And who do you think is going to kill us? Nobody gives a s—t, they just keep their heads down and don't want us to notice them.” The man skimmed his light along the four young women, paused on Airi. “They are pretty fresh ones, ain't they? Fresh and juicy...” he spit on the dirt floor and laughed.
Maggie motioned, the two women sidled down the building and then ran back into the edge of the woods. “We're going to have to do something,” she said.
“You know the guys will panic when we don't arrive on the bus. They'll come looking,” said Cynthia.
“I'm sure they'll try but we can't wait for or count on their help. We have to act and do it fast.” She slid down and leaned against a tree, “Let me think a minute.”
After locating a couple of “weapons” behind the barn, the two women each took a position on opposite sides of the barn around the corner of the door side. Maggie peeked out and gave the signal. They both starting beating on the metal barn, cursing and shouting. “Hey! Get the hell outta there... Come on out you big chicken s—ts!” As they hoped, the big door slid open a foot or so and two of the men came out.
Both women stepped in sight for a second and then dropped back to their side of the building. The two men split and pursued. Cynthia had an old crowbar and her man went to the ground with the first whack, a second put him out. Maggie with a heavy rake, swung hard and mostly pissed off her man. As the bloodied man moved in on her, she placed her pistol right in his gut and fired. They hadn't wanted to fire and give away that they had guns. She hoped the man's body muffled the noise.
As planned, both women moved back to the corners of the barn and waited. The men inside shouted, “Hey...Jim, what's going on out there? Are you there?”
Minutes passed. Cynthia eased to the window and peered in. One of the men stood over the girls and he motioned for the other to go check outside. She moved back to the corner and whistled. Maggie moved towards the back door that they had found when they looked for the weapons behind the building. Shortly, she heard the bang of Cynthia's gun. She prayed it was Cynthia's shot. She entered the back door, saw the last man across the dim inside of the barn. He stood at the front door and tried to peek out, he slammed it shut and turned towards the bound girls. Maggie shot twice, she wasn't an excellent shot but the second one got him in the head.
She yelled for Cynthia and nearly fainted with relief when the tall friend slid open the barn door. She took off Airi's gag and ties and the girl grabbed onto her, “Mags, oh Mags.”
“I know sweetie, it's okay now.”
Cynthia untied the other girls. Mother and daughter with arms around each other, Cynthia and the three rescued girls walked back across the city fields and continued towards the city. Maggie would not let her mind go to the fact that she had just killed other humans. She looked over at Airi, fact was she would do it again for her. It was only one of the events of the last few months that had been unexpected, things that she had seen and done that she never thought she was capable of. Surprising how love for someone and the ingrained need to survive could give a person strength that they never knew they had.
They hadn't walked far when they saw the three figures running towards them. Will, Maggie and Airi held on to each other. Tanner couldn't wait his turn and put his arms around them all.
Cynthia and Tom stopped a foot or two apart. Tom said, “No water involved this time?”
She laughed, “No hero to the rescue, had to take care of business my damn-self.” She let him pull her into his arms.
The story was told as they all returned to the living division. The three girls rushed to find their homes. None of the companions went to their jobs the next day. They did visit with Juan, the man they met when they first came. Maggie asked him, as they stood in his yard, his wife by his side, “Why didn't anyone try to stop the men, help my daughter.”
The man looked embarrassed and sad, “They are afraid, frightened for their own children. They don't want to be noticed or involved.”
“But, my friend and I saved the girls. We're certainly no tough cookies. Why don't you fight back, are you just going to let those thugs terrorize you?” said Maggie with frustration.
Will said, “What about all these uniformed officers, the law?”
Juan shook his head, “They are just for show, doesn't take long to figure out...they're not organized or enforcing anything other than stupid work regulations.”
Tom said, “You need to put a stop to this terror. You have a chance here to rebuild a real city, to grow and function. You have to have laws and you have to be willing to protect each other, form a militia. At least, strengthen the force you have.”
“Perhaps you could help with that,” said the man and the wife nodded vigorously.
Without hesitation Will said, “No, we will not be here to help with that. You must help yourselves.”
This hadn't been discussed among the six travelers but everyone backed up Will's statement. They all knew that they had seen enough of the big city, they would be moving on to their destination. Airi and Tanner were young, the other four were not. They didn't want to help build a city, they only wanted a life for the young couple and a life for themselves. They had experienced the world before the disaster and they had lived in a protected environment for the years after. These last few months they had seen some of the country after a world changing event and they had discovered that they could survive, could live with less. The lessons learned and the bonds formed made them all sure that it was their time to find a new permanent home and build their future lives.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The Far Horizon
Will's map had been “in service” for a long time, it was faded and worn, barely legible in some areas. He could still see the direction that he needed to go and it was going to take his little family to their ocean side haven. His doubts were wiped away now, he knew that the Texas coast was the place for them to create a new world of their own. They were able to make a last visit to the market and with supplies stocked, on the second morning after Airi's kidnapping they moved out on foot, southeast from the Austin. The city cards burned in the breakfast fire and the Brazos River, approximately one hundred miles away promised to take them home.
Three weeks later, nearly a year and a half from the time that Will, Maggie and Airi left the Far View City sanctuary, they stood on a high perch, scanned the horizon of the view that surrounded them. Tom, Tanner and Cynthia stood with them. The greenish brown river had fulfilled it's purpose and led them to it's mouth, where it not only merged with another long river but spewed it's fresh water flow out into the bay to merge with the salt water.
Will said, “Beyond this bay is the pass with the long bridge spanning it and beyond that, the wide open ocean. If we settled here, we would be near the fresh water and also have the food source of the sea.”
“I'm sure there is a heavy population on that main Galveston island and the city of Houston. We eventually will need to explore those areas. We need to know what is around or near us, for our security as well as survival,” said Tom.
Maggie leaned on the rail in front of her a bit and shaded her eyes. Will gently touched her arm, “I don't think it's a good idea to lean on that, hon.”
They all stood on the wide porch of a shabby beach house that was built up high on eight foot foundation piers like houses on the water had been required to be. The steps leading up were metal, still felt sturdy. Most of the windows were broken out, the inside a mess of broken glass, foul smelling bird and small animal leavings and even a fish skeleton that some intruding sea bird had left. Here a
nd there, mostly rotted pieces of furniture scattered, although pieces made from plastic or metal still survived. The house actually was pretty stable, but they had proceeded with great care not to step on rotten boards on the deck.
Dotted around the sandy landscape were other tall structures in various states of deterioration. Spaced far apart from each other, only the foundations columns stood in some places. Maggie wasn't sure but thought at a far distance she saw a figure standing on another tall porch. Maybe not, she wasn't as fearful as she once would've been. She turned back towards the house, “I think we could make this place livable. Don't you?” she spoke to Cynthia.
Tanner said, “If we could do some salvaging from the other houses, we could make some repairs. There must be some sort of old businesses in the area somewhere.” He moved in closer to Airi, “We...Airi and I were thinking that we would like to have a place of our own.” Airi nodded and looked to Maggie.
No one spoke for a moment, Cynthia gave a small laugh, “Well, of course you would. Matter of fact, I was thinking that Will and Maggie would like a bit of privacy themselves. Tom and I could find us a place, too.”
Tom's head snapped towards Cynthia and his eyes widened. Again, no one spoke. Then, he reached for her hand and looking just at her, he said, “That's true, we could have a place.”
“Well, s—t! Had enough of the old man and me, huh?” She reached to hug Airi.
“All fine with me,” said Will. First let's get this place inhabitable and we can all camp here as we work on the other houses.
They camped on the beach that first night and by the second, had the worst debris raked out enough to stay inside. The many tall windows in the house had originally been outfitted with wooden shutters to close them off in foul weather. Some still remained and they found an old roll of screen wire to tack over the windows with the glass broken out. Maggie stood, hands on her hips and looked longingly at the bed and mattress. It would be so nice to have a real bed again, but it wouldn't be this nasty mattress. It was way too ruined to keep. They would build a big bonfire in a day or two and there would be plenty of fuel for it. In a couple of weeks, the house was in decent repair and was clean and secure. Her true feminine heart held dreams of things she would do in the future to make it look better, for now it was home. They could start working on Tanner and Airi's small cottage, next.
The Days After (Far View) Page 13