Untitled Agenda 21 Sequel (9781476746852)

by Beck, Glenn

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

  * * *

  GEORGE

  Day 17

  Emmeline and David walked slowly up the slope toward them, holding hands. George noticed how pale she looked.

  George was filled with awe, his thoughts free-flowing as he watched David and Emmeline approach. It’s amazing that my leg iron is gone, that I was able to walk away from the farm commune, free. It’s amazing that Emmeline escaped and found her way to the commune. It’s amazing that I have a daughter. His heart raced at the thought.

  “Hello, George,” Emmy said. “I want you to meet my husband. His name is David.”

  George extended his hand. “Hello, David. I’m glad to meet you. Thank you for agreeing to this.”

  David extended his hand and took George’s hand. His grip was firm. “I did it for Emmy. It was important to her.”

  “We’ve walked a long way,” Paul said. “We all need to sit and rest.”

  “I’ll see if Elsa’s awake.” Emmy slipped into the cave. Another wave of anxiety washed over George as he prepared to meet his only child. He could hear a murmur of voices from inside: a child, two women, and the rattle of mugs. The men sat quietly, waiting. Paul cleared his throat, fiddled with his knife and a piece of wood that looked strangely familiar.

  Micah came out first. He sat by David and looked at George a long moment before speaking. “I’m Micah,” he said at last. “I escaped with Emmy and David. I call them Mommy and Daddy.”

  George smiled at him. “I am glad to meet you, Micah. Escaping from the Compound must have been scary.”

  “Oh, it was! I heard guns and there was a fire and a lot of noise and Emmy woke me up and asked me to come with her. And then we ran. We ran a lot and walked a lot. My shoes wore out but David, I mean Daddy, fixed them. At the beginning Daddy hurt his arm and after a while we were hungry and tired of walking. We had to hide in the daytime and walk at night. It was kind of scary walking in the dark, but I did it anyway.”

  The women were still in the cave. George ached to see Elsa. Paul sat leaning back with his eyes closed. George looked over his shoulder to the entrance of the cave but couldn’t see anyone.

  “I think they’re making something for us to drink,” David said. “They should be out soon.”

  “So, Micah, what did you have to eat when you were walking and running?” George asked him.

  “Oh, berries, and grass, and bugs. Stuff like that. Daddy knows about things to eat. And one time, we went to the farm commune. We got some peas there. And things we found in some of the tents. And we saw a lady fall down.”

  “You did? You were at the farm commune and saw a lady fall down?”

  “Just for a minute. Then Mommy covered my eyes. We both wanted to help the lady but we couldn’t. So we ran away, ran back to Daddy and Elsa with some peas and other things.”

  So that explained it. The mystery of why two of the tents had been rummaged through and things had gone missing. The guards were vicious about that, questioning everybody, convinced that one of the workers had been the thief. The missing things were never found. And Micah and Emmy saw the woman who had collapsed. Did they see how she was discarded? Oh, Lord, George hoped not, especially not the boy.

  “That piece of wood Paul is working with. Was that a tent peg?” George asked him

  “Yes. I pulled it out of the ground.” He smiled proudly and made a little muscle with his flexed arm.

  “Wow! You are very strong!” George said.

  David reached over and stroked Micah’s hair. “He’s strong and brave and very smart.”

  “And we are going to keep walking, after we are all rested up. Mommy wants to get all the way to where she lived when she was a little girl. It’s far away.”

  George frowned. Did she really think they could travel that far with two children? It would be dangerous. Impossible, he feared.

  Ingrid came out first with two mugs. One was for Paul, the other for David.

  “Micah, help me carry out the rest.”

  He followed her into the cave and they came back out with four more mugs. Ingrid handed George one, and he welcomed its warmth in his hand, his fingers curled around it. Steam rose warm and moist against his face. A warm drink in the Human Free Zone was yet another of today’s miracles.

  Ingrid sat next to Paul, holding her mug in brown spotted hands, her wrist bones sharply pronounced on her thin arm. She looked at George with open curiosity but said nothing. Even though she was a frail old woman, her eyes were piercing. She was taking her measure of George, deciding if she could trust him.

  George didn’t know how long they would let him stay. Would he have to leave as soon as he had seen Elsa? George had said he would, but he now realized how hard that would be. What if he promised to help them find food, firewood? Would they let him stay longer?

  And then Emmy came out holding Elsa.

  George stared at his daughter. Her hair was the color of corn silk, and nearly as fine. A small breeze ruffled through it, lifting it so it was floating like a halo above her head. She had round, smooth cheeks, and rosebud-shaped lips. Her eyes were a startling blue. One soft baby arm rested across Emmy’s neck and she was sitting comfortably on Emmy’s hip, smiling at her.

  George stood, his legs shaking. He put his arms out to hold Elsa. She pulled closer to Emmy and hid her face against Emmy’s shoulder.

  “Don’t rush her,” Emmy said to George. Then she sat next to David. David held his arms out for Elsa and she sat on his lap, keeping her face turned away from the stranger.

  “Micah said you are planning to go back to where you grew up,” George said to Emmy, while looking at his daughter.

  “Yes. Kansas,” she answered.

  “You know there aren’t many people out there. All the people were relocated to the East and West Coasts.”

  “Good,” she said. “Then there won’t be any Authorities or Enforcers. And you can’t know for certain that there are or aren’t people out there. No one can know that for sure.”

  “Before we came here to the cave, the people running the meetings talked about the rights of indigenous people to have their original lands back,” Paul said.

  “Indigenous people?” David asked.

  “People who first occupied the land . . .”

  Ingrid interrupted. “Do you know how to clean a snapping turtle?” She asked George.

  “Yes,” George said. “I do.” The question puzzled him.

  “Good. Good because it’s too much work for Paul. Cutting the shell and all. But I do the cooking. Understand?” she said, rubbing her hands together as if some great concern of hers was resolved.

  Paul finished the last of his drink and stood. “I’m very tired and need to lie down. George needs to rest, too. Follow me.” He motioned for George to follow him into the cave.

  George followed him gladly. His invitation to rest meant he didn’t have to leave right away. It meant he might be able to stay long enough to hold Elsa. His arms ached with wanting.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

  * * *

  EMMELINE

  Day 17

  “I thought he was going to see Elsa and then leave,” David said. He stacked our mugs by the entrance with an angry intensity. “But, no. Now he’s sleeping in the cave. And the guards at the commune are probably searching for him right now. When they search for him, they will find us. I know it.”

  “Can I go look at the turtle?” Micah asked.

  “No. Stay away from the turtle.” David shook his finger at Micah.

  “But I won’t touch him. I promise.”

  “I said no,” David said, his voice louder. “Don’t ask again. Gather some wood.”

  Micah glanced at David with a puzzled expression. David had never used that sharp tone with him before.

  “Go on. Do what I tell you.”

  With a backward glance, Micah set off to do his chore. Ingrid followed him, her braid swinging back and forth, the importance of gathering wood
the only thing on her mind.

  “What’s wrong with you?” I asked David. “Why are you talking to Micah like that?” Elsa crawled over to the log bench and started pulling herself up. David picked her up and she tugged on his ear with her plump fingers.

  “Emmy, I’m so worried. It’s chewing me up inside. You might be pregnant, and we’re all at risk. My job is to protect you.”

  “That’s no reason to be angry with Micah.”

  “I’m not angry with Micah.” He put Elsa down, and held her hands so she was standing. She bounced up and down, then took tiny, tentative steps, walking on the balls of her feet. It wouldn’t be long before she could walk on her own.

  “You sounded angry and he sensed it. He was trying to please you and all you did was bark orders at him. Didn’t you see the hurt look on his face?”

  “All right, already. I was too hard on him. I’ll apologize when he comes back.” David said. “But can’t you see the worried look on mine?” He turned to me, and, indeed, there was a tension around his eyes, the corners of his mouth turned down. He picked Elsa up again.

  “Yes, I see it.”

  He leaned against me, with Elsa sandwiched between us.

  “I have to protect you.”

  “And you are. You have been.”

  “I can’t stop thinking about the guards at the commune.”

  “Then we should leave this place. I want to live away from all of this, from hiding in a cave, afraid of every shadow, every sound. When can we leave?”

  Before David could answer me, George reemerged. David and I stayed close together, Elsa between us.

  “I couldn’t sleep,” George said. “My body feels like I should be doing something. Picking crops or something. I’m not used to being idle and not used to walking without a leg iron.” He extended his leg and I could see the red rawness of his skin where the ankle bracelet had rubbed.

  “Paul can help that heal,” I said. “He healed David’s arm with honey.”

  Before we had to pass any more time in awkward conversation, Ingrid and Micah came back with arms full of twigs.

  “Hi, Micah,” murmured David. “Sorry I was so grumpy earlier. Give me a hug.” Micah ran to David and wrapped his arms around him, smiling and blushing.

  “Oh, good, you’re still here,” Ingrid said to George. “Pretty soon you can get the turtle out of the shell and we’ll all have soup.”

  David snatched up an empty bucket. “I’ll get more water,” he said. “You’ll need it for the soup.” He started off alone.

  “Wait. Elsa and I will go with you.” I scrambled after him. Without speaking, we went to the stream. When we got there, David made no motion to fill the bucket. Instead, he sat, staring at the water for a few minutes.

  I watched Elsa pull up some grass and put it in her mouth. I ran my hand over her hair. There had to be an answer to all of this. What seemed so complicated had to be untangled, made simple. And I knew in a flash what the solution was.

  “Let him stay.”

  “What? I can’t believe you’re saying that.”

  “Wait. Hear me out, please. He can be here for Paul and Ingrid. That will make it easier for us to leave. We won’t feel guilty about leaving them.”

  I clapped my hands together. Elsa imitated me, clapping her small hands together.

  “We’ll talk to him about staying here,” I said. “They’ll keep him well hidden.”

  David looked at me with the first smile I had seen since George arrived. “You are amazing,” he said. “I am so proud of you.” He leaned over and gave me a soft, tender kiss.

  Then I saw him. A man in an Enforcer’s uniform, floating downstream, moving only as the current moved him.

  The body bumped into the bank and rolled over. The face was bloated, bruised, and chewed away by who knows what. He was unrecognizable. His eyes were open, and vacant, but seemed to stare at me.

  David gasped, his eyes wide, his mouth open. I snatched up Elsa, held her close to me, both of my arms around her like a shield.

  “That’s an Enforcer! A dead Enforcer!” David said, his voice gray and gravelly, hoarse with fear.

  “David,” I looked at him with pleading eyes, “why was an Enforcer here in the Human Free Zone? How close was he to us before he drowned? How did he drown? And are there others?”

  David looked around wildly, as though teams of Enforcers could appear from anywhere at any time.

  “There must be others. An Enforcer wouldn’t be alone out here. We need to get away.” I was begging him.

  He nodded in agreement, his face grim.

  The body rolled over again and floated away, disappearing around a bend in the river.

  But the image would never disappear from my memory.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

  * * *

  DAVID

  Day 17

  Paul was awake and outside, sitting in deep shade with George, when Emmeline and David got back to the cave. He was working on the spear for Micah, carefully cutting a slit in the tip of the repurposed peg.

  “I’m rested,” Paul said, as they approached. “Figured I’d get this spear finished today. George is going to clean the turtle. Bit of hard shell from the belly of the turtle will make a fine point on this. I’ll stick the shell in, then soak the whole thing in water so the wood swells up and holds the tip tight and firm.”

  “Where’s Micah?” Emmeline asked, looking around nervously. Her hands were shaking.

  “Oh, he and Ingrid finished gathering greens and things for the soup.” Paul pointed to a pile of plants near the cave entrance. “Now they’re out looking for firewood.”

  She handed Elsa to David and went to the tree line, looking for Micah.

  George was looking at Elsa with a gentle smile on his face. David knew Emmy was right. George was a good man.

  “Would you like to hold her before Emmy puts her down for a nap?” David asked him. He felt a burning desire to be kind to this man who had risked so much for his Emmy.

  Gratefully George held his arms out and David handed Elsa to him. He held her gingerly, as if afraid she might break. Elsa studied his face.

  Emmy came back from the tree line. “I didn’t see Micah,” she said.

  Elsa squirmed in George’s arms and reached out toward Emmy.

  “Don’t be offended. She’s just tired and ready for her nap,” Emmy said, taking Elsa into her arms. “I’ll put her down now. You can hold her again later. And I hope Micah comes back soon.” Her voice was trembling. Paul glanced at her; he must have heard her frightened tone, but he didn’t say anything.

  Emmy took Elsa into the cave and David heard her singing “I’m a little teapot . . .” There was no joy in her voice; the song trailed away. David waited until she came back out before he told them what they had seen.

  George picked a fairly straight piece of wood from the pile. “Going to start on that turtle now. I need a big knife or an ax.” The basin with the turtle in it had been pulled out from under the shrub.

  Paul laid down the peg, went into the cave, and came back with an ax, which he handed to George. George poked the stick at the turtle’s snout, bumping it repeatedly. David jumped back when he saw how quickly and firmly the turtle bit down on the wood, crunching it with its massive jaw.

  George pulled on the stick and the turtle hung on, its neck stretched out, long and thick. George pulled some more and still the turtle held on, its neck stretching even farther.

  “Give me a hand here,” George said to David. “Grab this stick, pull as hard as you can.”

  David planted his feet firmly in the ground and pulled, lifting the front of the turtle up from the bottom of the basin. George raised his arm and with mighty swings, brought the dull ax down over and over again, slashing at the turtle’s elongated neck, each blow cutting deeper through the tough muscle. Blood mixed with the water in the basin, pink tendrils spreading out, and still the turtle hung on.

  One last arc of George’s arm through th
e air, one last slice of the knife, and the neck was severed.

  “Don’t get near the head,” George said. “It can still bite like hell. I remember that from my old farm pond.” David let go of the stick and stepped back, the bloody, lifeless head, still locked onto the stick, at their feet. Death was an ugly thing. David didn’t want to watch any more. Seeing that body floating in the river was enough death for a lifetime.

  Emmy came back out and made a gagging sound when she saw what we had done.

  “You look upset,” Paul said to David. “And so does Emmeline. Something’s wrong, isn’t it?”

  “What is it?” George asked.

  “We need to talk.” David walked away from the beheaded turtle and sat near Paul. Emmy sat next to him and leaned against him. George stopped working on the turtle and sat cross-legged on the ground in front of them.

  Around them was silence, as if the birds and animals were waiting for David to speak.

  He crossed his arms over his chest and tucked his hands into his armpits to hide their shakiness. But he couldn’t hide the tremor in his voice.

  David stared at the ground in front of the cave. A black beetle scrambled over the dirt. He looked at the other men, wet his lips with his tongue, and took a deep breath to release the tightness of his chest.

  “We saw a body,” David said.

  Paul straightened up, leaned forward, attentive. “Where?”

  “In the river.”

  David felt like his senses were shutting down, because he wanted to disassociate from what he had seen.

  “This morning?” George asked.

  “Yes, this morning.”

  “A man?” Paul asked.

  “Yes, a man. But not just a man, an Enforcer. He had on an Enforcer’s uniform.”

  George stood up and began to pace. He was barefoot and his toes spread apart as he walked. Dust puffed up between his toes.