by Linda Jordan
“We’ll grab Jack if we can. Kill him if we can. I know Morrigu wants him, but it probably won’t work out that way,” said Eamon. “You know how those things go.”
“Yeah, it’s a long shot. Forget about getting Jack. Kill him if you get a chance. He’s too dangerous to leave alive. But get the damn weapons. Clean the village out if you can. Get in quietly and out quickly. I’ll be putting on extra guards tonight so when you return, don’t do it quietly. I don’t want anyone shot accidentally.”
“We will,” said Gregor. “I’m going to get some food and go sleep myself. You better do the same,” he said to Eamon.
“Will do.”
The two of them moved towards the cook’s area.
Damon went to his table and looked at papers.
Everyone was now back. There were no hunters or scavengers out. Tonight was the first test to see if their training was working. A little less than half of the team going out were new recruits. Everyone who was going had volunteered.
Damon would post just as many guards tonight. The team might be coming in hot, and everyone might be needed to defend the village.
At least progress on Morrigu’s war was finally being made.
He went through lists, deciding who was best to assign to what lookout post and began making a schedule. The village was mostly quiet except for the rain. Those guards not on duty were sleeping in anticipation of being active tonight. Other people were going about their business quietly.
The calm before the storm.
Damon sipped his now cold tea. He was sick of tea. He needed a good strong cup of coffee.
Morrigu slipped inside the Cap. Her clothes, black pants and shirt, were completely dry. As was her skin and long loose dark hair. It was as if the Goddess repelled water. Somehow, she glowed more brightly today than last time he saw her.
“How are things going?” she asked.
Damon said, “A lot has happened. Everyone is back, who’s coming back.”
He told her about the dead guards being held prisoner and about Jack. Then about the mission tonight.
“I’m going tonight. Tell the others to forget about Jack. Once they’ve got all the arms and are on their way back to the village, I’ll go in and find him. And take care of him in a way that will cause the villagers to think twice about looking for their lost weapons. I’ll need Evangeline.”
Damon didn’t know what to say. He was fine with Morrigu taking revenge, but he didn’t know how to tell her about Evangeline. That was the sorcerer’s tale to tell.
“I think you should talk to Evangeline about that. She’s changed, a complete transformation. And she has never pledged herself to you.”
“You don’t trust her?”
“I’d trust her with my life,” said Damon. “She’s just not who she used to be. I don’t know what you need her for, but she may not be able to do what you want. Just talk to her. I know she’s been looking for you to tell you but. …”
“I’ve been gone. On my travels, I found the people who used to live here. They moved a few miles away to a lake. The area is filled with other goddesses and gods and spirits of all kinds. The villagers seem to be prospering there.”
“Good.”
“And I have received offers of help from several other deities. And some information which I need to investigate.”
“I assume that’s all good.”
“Yes, very good. I think I might have another way to get to Collins. I will leave to explore that further, once Evangeline and I return from the village tonight.”
“Can you wait a little longer?” asked Damon.
“Why?”
“We have a lot of new recruits. Young and unruly. It would be good for you to be seen here. To make a big congratulations speech after tonight. To thank them, inspire them. Rein them in a bit with promises of future action. They need to see you.”
“Ah. I’d forgotten that about you humans. I will stay for another day after the mission. And we will feast!”
“I’ll tell the cooks and arrange for almost everyone to be present.”
“Everyone,” she said.
“No. We need to keep guards on the edges of the village. I will not be surprised again.”
“What happened at the Zoo still bothers you then.”
“Yes. We lost people, our entire money making business opportunities were destroyed as well as everything else. How could it not bother me?”
“You could not have prevented it,” said Morrigu.
“I could have foreseen it. We shouldn’t have done more than one flyover of Collins’ territory. We should have had an evacuation plan. Hidden the Zoo better. There were many things we could have done differently. We were arrogant.”
“All that is hindsight. We can only go forward.”
“Yes, which is why I refuse to leave our borders unguarded.”
“All right. Put the guards who have been with us longer out there. I will reward them each personally, before I leave again. Let the newer people attend the feast, so I can inspire them. I may be gone for months. While I’m gone, I’d like you to focus on attaining as many weapons as you can find. And swelling our ranks. Training people for all types of fighting. I don’t know what I’ll uncover and I want our people ready for anything.”
“That’s what we’ve been doing,” said Damon.
“Good. I assumed as much. Where is Evangeline?”
“Probably helping Maci in the MedCenter. I doubt she’s out gathering herbs in the rain. We will desperately need medical people in the future. If we go to war.”
Morrigu arched an eyebrow.
“I told you she has changed,” said Damon.
“Well, I will go speak with her.”
“Morrigu, she is loyal to you. Please keep that in mind when you hear what she has to say.”
Morrigu nodded and left the Cap.
Damon shook his head. He didn’t think Evangeline would agree to go. Then all hell would break loose. The last thing the new recruits needed was to see Morrigu destroy one of their own. They would bolt.
He went to where Gregor and Eamon were eating.
“Morrigu is going with you tonight. After you’ve left their village with the arms, she’s going to go in and take care of Jack.”
“She’ll give us away,” said Gregor.
“No. She swears she’ll take care of him in such a way that the villagers will think twice about seeking revenge or their weapons.”
“I hope so,” said Gregor. “Because the arms will be heavy and we won’t be able to move very fast. I wish we could take the vans. Damn this blasted country with no wide paved roads.”
“The villagers before us had carts with horses to pull them, didn’t they?” asked Damon.
“Yeah, but we don’t have any horses.”
“Does the village we’re raiding?”
“I’ll ask Morris, the kid from that village. Maybe we could steal a couple horses. Maybe carts too, if anyone among us knows anything about horses, carts and how to tie them together. I know nothing. That’d be noisy though. Take longer.”
“See if you can find two people who do know horses and carts. Who are good with frightened horses. Send them in early to get started with the horses and carts. Pull the carts up behind the armory, out of sight, and load up. Then get the hell out,” said Damon.
“I’ll find them this morning,” said Eamon.
“Good. We’ll need them in the future. This is just the first raid of many.”
“Will do boss,” said Gregor.
Damon went back to his papers and added build horse barn and pen to his list for Karan. It was going to be a busy fall.
He got another cup of the tea du jour and stood at his table. The tea was hot, bitter and might have had a hint of cinnamon in it. Where had the cooks gotten that? Sometimes the scavengers found houses that had intact kitchens. They brought things to the cooks that might be useful, still sealed jars and cans of things that might not have spoiled. But fifty
year old spices? How long did those things have any flavor?
Damon shook his head and looked at the things that still needed doing. He didn’t know how to fight a damn war, but he did know how to organize a community. Even if it involved pieces he had never considered before.
Back in the Zoo, they’d had all their food, clothing and supplies brought in. They produced nothing there. Here, they needed to produce everything.
He’d found a new recruit, Sandy, who’d had some experience building and wanted to apprentice with Karan. That was good. Things would move faster. They’d need more housing.
They’d also need more food. More animals. Sending groups out to trade for them hadn’t worked very well.
They should travel farther afield and raid villages to get more animals. It would be at least spring before the animals they had reproduced enough to even begin to provide a real food source. And Damon didn’t want to decimate the entire local deer population. Although it was quite large, he wanted to save them for emergencies.
They needed a better plan for food. More farmers. One of the new recruits, who had grown up on a farm, was talking with Karan and Sandy. Planning to build something called a greenhouse. Which if they heated it, would grow food year round. If it worked, they could plant a crop soon and have some food for the fall and winter.
Damon had told them to step up that project. They needed to go scavenge for more large whole pieces of glass. Not always an easy thing to find. Most found glass was broken or cracked.
He sat down and ran his fingers through his thick chin-length hair. It was dirty again. He needed to take another bath, in the cold creek water or the lake. He missed having short, clean hair. His hair was longer than Evangeline’s now. And he hadn’t shaved since leaving the Zoo. He’d become a new person, too.
Unfortunately, being a manager hadn’t been in his plans. But that’s what he did. Organize everything and keep people on task. It had begun in the Zoo, but back there he’d had staff who took care of the details. That life had been destroyed. Now he had to directly oversee food, livestock, housing, clothing, medical as well as security. There was little to no time to train, let alone take care of how he looked.
He’d probably been wrong when he’d said there were only two people in the camp who could realistically take on Evangeline. There was probably only one, Gregor.
Damon wouldn’t want to try fighting her. She’d probably defeat him easily. And the funny thing about that was, he didn’t care. Not anymore.
He didn’t feel a need to prove himself anymore. He just wanted to focus on doing the best job for everyone that he could. So they’d all survive.
He wanted everyone to live to a ripe old age, with no war, if truth be told. Not that he’d sabotage Morrigu’s plans. He simply wanted no part in a war. He wasn’t a soldier.
In the Zoo, he’d grown up being a scrapper. Fighting with the other gangs. He’d stayed alive because he never let his guard down. Ever. And he’d relentlessly learned how to get better at everything.
Then Morrigu had come along and one by one, taken over all the gangs. She’d seen Damon’s possibilities and promoted him. He’d become her strategist.
But this war, he was way out of his league. He knew nothing about wars. Not any of them. Gregor knew some, but mostly about ancient wars in Greece. Not wars with planes and computers.
And why had Morrigu told him she’d found the former villagers? Ensured him they were prosperous and still alive? Had she been testing him? Seeing if he’d run to join them?
It was tempting, but he didn’t think for a moment that she’d release him. Not like that. She had said she might release him if she found someone more qualified to lead her army. That was a big if. She had never done such a thing in all the decades he’d known her. Damon expected his only release would be death.
Even if Damon was released from her service, the last thing he wanted was to go join another group of people. He’d rather go find a quiet place off alone by himself. With only himself to take care of. Only himself to be responsible for.
Right now, his burden felt very heavy.
Eamon and Gregor finished their meal and nodded to Damon as they left the Cap. The place was quiet except for the crackling fire and the sounds of the cooks making the next meal. The light was dim outside. Gray, rainy and dark.
He had no idea even what day it was. He’d lost track sometime after they left the Zoo. But the days were still growing shorter. It was definitely fall. Trees were losing their leaves. It didn’t feel like winter yet. Not cold enough, it hadn’t frozen at night, yet. And winter was when the days began to slowly grow longer.
He better check and see how those greenhouse plans were going and what he needed to arrange to make it move faster. It was going to be a long winter and Damon would be damned if he let any of them starve to death.
8
Evangeline
Evangeline was having mint tea with Maci in the MedCenter. They sat at the old round wooden table. The chairs were wood too, but Maci had put folded blankets on them, so they had soft cushions.
Evangeline’s books on plants were piled to one side. Maci had another stack of several books which had been found in the village. Books on health, healing and first aid. The wood stove was burning, making the place feel warm, despite the cold rain outside.
Evangeline’s sling was gone. The swelling in her hand was down and she was left only with yellowish purple bruised knuckles. She’d been lucky there. No broken bones. Although her hand still ached a bit. She wasn’t going to be hitting anyone for a while.
She felt at home here. It was exciting, there was so much to learn and Evangeline felt eager to know everything. This new passion had overtaken her life.
There were no patients today. Maci was still teaching her the basics of first aid.
“We need to prepare for emergencies first. If this war happens, we’ll have a lot of bodies to patch up. After that’s solved, then we’ll try to help folks with chronic problems. Deep healing.”
“Okay. I know some. I’ve had a lot of injuries in my life.”
“Good, you can tell me what you know. You might have come across things I haven’t seen. I wish Jackie could be here in the mornings.”
“Me too, but we all need lunch, so she won’t be here till after they’re done cooking. What do I know? Okay, for new injuries, if the skin’s broken, clean things up. If it’s not and is swelling, the injury needs ice. If it’s an old injury and hurts, it needs heat.”
“Good, and where do we get ice from?” asked Jackie.
“The cooks? They have the only refrigeration. Do they have freezers?”
“Yes, small ones, that they let me use part of. But say you’re out somewhere and can’t get ice.”
“Cold water? You could use a water bottle?”
“That would work. A water skin would be better. Something soft that would hold water that you could wrap around an ankle.” Jackie held up a liver-colored thick-skinned rubbery bag that could be wrapped around someone’s extremity.
“Okay,” said Evangeline. “And I’ll have one of those on me at all times?”
“Well, if there’s a war, we’ll be sending medics along, with whatever we can pull together for a first aid kit. We have three here and they’re on the list for the salvage teams to pick up if they find them. Which is rare.”
The door opened and a cool breeze blew in with Morrigu. She stood looking like a windblown wraith in the brightly lit room. All in black with her pale, pale skin and wild black hair. The glow she always emanated was stronger than Evangeline had ever seen it.
“This is nice,” said Morrigu, looking around at the MedCenter.
Morrigu had been gone so much lately, it didn’t surprise Evangeline that she hadn’t seen it.
“Thank you,” said Maci. “We’ve been working really hard to make it clean and functional.”
“You know it won’t be large enough,” said Morrigu.
“Yes,” said Maci, frow
ning. “We have to wait our turn. There’s only so many people who are cutting down logs or finding good wood. Then things have to be built. With more people coming, they’ve needed to build housing first. Our turn will come.”
Morrigu nodded.
“Do you have enough healers?” she asked.
“No, right now, it’s just me. I’m teaching Evangeline what I know. She already knows quite a bit and is going to be really good. She won’t faint or panic when she sees blood, which is always a plus. And one of the cooks has some knowledge of herbs which she’s sharing with us. When do I need more people by?” asked Maci.
“I don’t know yet,” said Morrigu. “I’ll be able to determine that in the next several days. I need to find out some things first. But I assume it takes time to train people.”
“Yes, but I can’t train people whose passion is elsewhere. They don’t make good healers. If no one else volunteers, I may have to just start appointing people.”
Morrigu nodded, turned to Evangeline and said, “Evangeline, I want you to come with me tonight.”
Evangeline felt startled. She hadn’t expected this.
“Where? To do what?”
“On the raid. I’m going to take care of Jack. I need you to hold the circle, restrain the villagers tonight.”
“I thought the purpose of the mission tonight was to get arms. By stealth. Won’t that give it away, bring it to the attention of that village?”
“We’re going in after they’ve left. A diversion of sorts. And revenge.”
“Morrigu, I’ve been looking for you for a couple of weeks. I needed to talk to you. I cannot work for you. Not directly. And I’ve given up being a bodyguard and a warrior. I have another calling.”
“I can see that. I see Yemaya’s mark on you. She claimed you before I could. I understand and I will accept that. If you stay in this village as a healer, you will be welcome and valued. But, this is not about working for me. This is about revenge. For Roosevelt and for all those who died back at the Zoo. Jack was the spy who betrayed us. I am not asking you to kill him. I will take care of that. All I want is for you to immobilize the rest of that village so they watch. I want them to know what they risk when they go up against us. It may save the lives of some of our own people.”