Children of a New Earth

by Eliason, R. J.

  “I can’t stress enough how important this is. I know this means sending you younger boys off without our experience. Still, we may be weeks from any civilization. Once there, who knows how long it will take to scavenge, or . . . obtain what we need?”

  Amy’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. She had noted that the term barter had all but dropped from Jacob’s vocabulary. What did he intend?

  “The point is, there are too many possible delays ahead to waste time now. If we don’t get back up that pass before winter sets in, we could be stuck down here until next spring.”

  There was a stunned silence. Looking around at the boy’s faces, Amy knew they were shocked at the possibility that the mission could take so long.

  Kurt was the first to speak. “But sir? If we don’t get back to the ranch before fall—”

  “The ranch will suffer,” Jacob finished. “There will be hunger, maybe even some unavoidable deaths due to starvation, but they’ll get through somehow, just like you will complete this mission somehow.”

  Everyone’s faces reflected the same thought: some unavoidable deaths? Whose? Her father’s? No, he was most likely dead already, she realized with a pang of guilt. What about Elisabeth, alone? She was young and strong, but their garden had never been large. She had always relied on Amy and their father. Their skills were always in demand and that meant barter. How would Elisabeth fare without that?

  At last Patrick spoke. “Of course, sir, you’re right. We have to complete the mission and return before fall. We will leave at dawn. Is there anything else?”

  “Yes,” Jacob held Patrick’s gaze. “Luke’s in charge.”

  Patrick turned crimson but did not speak.

  “But sir,” Shawn spoke up, “Patrick’s been class leader for two years.”

  “This isn’t class anymore. It’s real life!” Jacob barked at Shawn. To Patrick he added, “You’re the best soldier in your class. I know that. If it comes to fighting, you’ll be needed. Our hope lies in avoiding fighting until absolutely necessary, especially now, with just the seven of you going on. That will take a different kind of leader, someone with a level head and quick mind. Luke’s in charge. Understood?”

  Patrick continued to glare for a moment and then nodded curtly, turning away.

  “Sir?” Luke and Jacob were alone in the remains of one of the houses, poring over Jacob’s map and making last minute plans.

  “Yes, son?” Jacob answered.

  “What you said earlier about . . . about me having a level head and a quick mind?” Luke asked. “Is that really why I am in charge?”

  Jacob gave him a discerning look. “If you are asking if that’s really how I feel about you, the answer is yes,” he replied after some time.

  Luke was as long in answering. “Thank you, sir, but no, that’s not it. It’s that . . . well, is there another reason? Daniel’s level headed and probably a better diplomat, and—”

  “No, that’s not true,” Jacob interrupted. “But you’re right, there are other considerations. You’re smart. I never cared much for book learning, but you’ve shown me its value so far. You’re dedicated. You’re one of the few who has treated this mission with the seriousness it deserves.”

  “It’s just that Patrick has been the class leader and people respect him.”

  “People respect you more than you realize,” Jacob replied. “Some more than Patrick.”

  “You mean Amy.”

  “She’s vital to this mission.”

  “I know,” Luke said. “But if you think that she’d refuse to go because of Patrick, I don’t think that’s true.”

  Jacob sighed. “You know her better than I do. That thought hadn’t crossed my mind. It’s not like that. She does respect you; what’s more, she’ll help you.”

  “And not Patrick.”

  “No. Face it; he wouldn’t give her the chance. Hell, a month ago, I wouldn’t have given her the chance. She’s proven valuable more than once already. Who knows? Maybe Marlin had it right. All I know is that you, with Amy helping, have a lot better chance at completing this mission than Patrick ever will.” He paused and then added, “There’s just one thing you have to watch for, Luke.”

  “Yes sir?”

  “She’s smart and competent, but she’s still a woman. She turns squeamish about things.”

  “Things?”

  Jacob griped Luke’s arm and gave him an intense look. “The needs of the ranch outweigh everything Luke, everything. Don’t forget that.”

  Luke swallowed. He wished this burden hadn’t fallen on him. He knew what Jacob was thinking. He wished it had been left unsaid. “Yes sir,” he replied quietly.

  The next day they set out. They left most of the rations behind with the older men; they would need them more. They promised to send help, if there was any to send, and to be back as quickly as possible. Luke had inherited Jacob’s map, but for the moment he led them due east.

  Amy felt a strange mixture of feelings as they left the older men sitting on the broken porch. There was sadness at leaving them behind, though not much, if Amy was to be honest. There was still a sinking feeling at the thought of Larry’s death, but she had little regard for the others. There was a deep dread at the thought of what Patrick and Shawn would be like without Jacob’s controlling presence.

  Underneath it all though, there was an odd pleasure. They were walking away from any adult supervision for the first time in their life. With that fact came a sense of freedom and adventure that nothing could quite quell. Looking around, she could tell that the others felt it as well.

  Even Mark, who had technically been an adult for two years, had an added swagger to his walk. Once out of sight of Liberty Farm, three separate conversations broke out.

  Only Luke seemed unaffected. He barked at them to be quiet, as they may well be in hostile territory. No one paid him much mind, and he grew sourer as the day passed.

  Their second day out, they surprised a deer coming out of a creek bed. Luke dropped it in one shot. They were all hesitant to eat it. Luke decided that one person should try some, and then if that person did not get sick, they would all eat it. Being the one to come up with the plan, Luke felt that he should be the one to try the deer.

  To his surprise, Kurt volunteered. “I’m sick of MREs anyway,” he said with a grin. He grilled and ate a small portion while the rest of them set camp.

  He did not get sick, and after they had set camp, everyone ate their fill. Over a breakfast of the remains, the mood became self-satisfied.

  “Not so bad, roughing it,” Mark laughed. “Fresh venison every other day.”

  “One could learn to live like this,” Shawn agreed.

  “As long as he keeps us fed,” Mark continued, “we’ll let Luke play leader if he wants.”

  “It was Jacob,” Kurt shot back, “Jacob said.”

  “Sure thing, Kurt,” Mark drawled.

  The end of the second day’s march brought their first sign of civilization. Cresting yet another low hill among the many, they found a dirt road stretching across their path. It snaked from one horizon to the other with no indication of what lay on either side. Tufts of low weeds indicated it had not been used much or recently, but it was still a road.

  Luke pulled the map out and laid it out on the ground. “I doubt the road will be on this map. I suspect it has been built since the blast.”

  “’Built’ might be a stretch,” Daniel snorted.

  “So, where do you think it leads, oh mighty leader?” Patrick asked.

  Luke didn’t respond.

  “Could be between these two towns,” Amy said pointing at the map.

  “This X is Liberty Farm,” Luke said pointing. “From my estimate of how far we’ve traveled, that would be about right. The real question is which way to go. Vicksburg, here, is larger, and Shelan is smaller.”

  “Easy then,” Mark replied. “Vicksburg is more likely to have survivors, so we go that way.” He pointed.

  “Right idea b
ut wrong direction,” Luke replied. “Our goal is to avoid contact if possible. My guess would be the survivors built this road to get to Shelan for salvage. That’s what we want: salvage.”

  Mark snorted loudly and muttered, “Wimp.”

  Luke went red but ignored him.

  “I think we should go see the survivors,” Shawn declared loudly. “Let them do the salvage work, not us.”

  “For one thing,” Luke said, “we have no idea how many there are or who is in control. There could be some sort of military state. Even if not, even if they are friendly, we would have to barter. That would take time. Time we don’t have.”

  It was Patrick’s turn to snort. “I overheard Amos and Jacob back at the ranch. Barter is not our only option.”

  “Only if there’s no other way,” Luke replied.

  “What are you guys talking about?” Amy demanded. She already had a good guess, but she wanted to force someone to say it.

  Patrick did. “The right of seizure. If we outclass our opponent, we should take what we need.”

  “You mean steal?”

  “I mean, little girl, seizure. A necessary right in any war.”

  “You can’t be serious?” Amy demanded, turning toward Luke. He’d surely not go along with that.

  “Only if there is no other way to obtain what we need and we know that the survivors are hostile toward us,” Luke replied, keeping his voice as even as possible.

  “How are we going to know they are hostile?” Mark said. “You going to go up and ask them?”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Luke replied, “because we aren’t going that way. We are going to go into Shelan and scavenge what we need and get out.”

  “I agree,” Amy said.

  “I don’t.” Shawn glared at her.

  “Too bad. Luke’s in charge. In case you forgot.”

  Shawn just laughed. “You really believe that?”

  To Amy’s surprise, Kurt leaped to her defense. “Jacob said, Shawn. Jacob said.”

  “Everyone knows that Patrick is our leader,” Shawn insisted. “He’s been class leader for two years, regardless of what Jacob said.”

  Mark nodded from behind Shawn’s back. Patrick gave the whole scene a quiet calculated look but hung back.

  “You can’t go against the chain of command,” Daniel jumped in. “Jacob put Luke in charge and that’s that.”

  “I’ll show you chain of command,” Shawn growled with one fist raised.

  “Easy there, big guy,” Mark laughed. “Daniel’s just standing up for his boyfriend.”

  Daniel glared at him, but before he could reply, Kurt yelled, “Shut up, that’s devil talk. You’ll burn in hell, sinner.”

  “Shut up, Kurt,” Mark sneered, low and dangerous.

  “Back down, everyone!” Luke shouted with enough force to make everyone jump back a step. Shawn went to step forward. “I mean it,” Luke said in a steely voice.

  “Cool it, Shawn,” Patrick said softly. “If Luke wants to go that way, we’ll go that way.”

  Luke took a deep breath and then said. “Okay, now that that’s settled, let’s set camp for the night. We will go back down this hill a ways to be out of sight. MREs, I am afraid. We will not risk a fire. We can only assume we are in enemy territory from now on.”

  Amy sank down beside Luke. He was sitting at the crest of the hill looking out over the gathering twilight. After ordering the setting of camp, he had assigned sentry duty, giving himself the first shift. Amy knew it was just an excuse to get away for a while.

  “That was close,” he said after a while.

  “You can take Shawn,” she said.

  “Perhaps, but not Patrick,” he replied. “But that doesn’t matter. We can’t be fighting each other like this. This is what I feared. They don’t respect me as their leader.”

  “Well, they should,” she said. “They were all there. They heard Jacob.”

  “That doesn’t mean much out here. I just hope it doesn’t happen again.”

  “It will. One of these days, you are going to have to put Shawn in his place, Patrick too most likely.”

  “Damn!” Amy cussed. “This one’s a bust too.” They had reached Shelan late the next morning. It was now just after noon. After a quick reconnaissance, Luke had signaled everyone into town.

  At first it appeared to be exactly what they hoped for, row after row of deserted houses. It was strange; the ranch only had one building like these, the community hall. At Liberty Farm, everyone had lived in the tall square buildings. Here, there must have been three or four dozen all lined up in a neat grid work.

  “Where did they grow their food?” Kurt wondered aloud.

  “They didn’t,” Luke told him. “Farmers grew it elsewhere, and these people bought it.”

  “What a strange life,” Kurt commented.

  The boys quickly lost interest. They lounged in the small park they discovered at the center of town, clearly feeling it was not their responsibility to help with the actual salvaging.

  Not that they would have found much to do anyway, Amy thought sourly as she walked down the street. Daniel, Luke and she had spent the last two hours going from one empty shell to another.

  “What do you make of it?” Luke asked.

  “They’re all the same,” Daniel said, “just empty.”

  “This place has already been scavenged,” Amy replied, “and very thoroughly. I suppose we should have expected as much. After thirty years, we can’t be the only ones running out of things.”

  Luke sighed. “I suppose not, but it does complicate the mission greatly. Now what are we going to do?”

  “Head for that other town, I guess,” Daniel said.

  “I fear we will find the same thing,” Amy said.

  Kurt came running up.

  “What is it?” Luke asked.

  “They found something,” he said. “Mark and Patrick. They climbed one of those big metal round buildings at the edge of town, you remember?”

  “The silos, yes.”

  “They spotted smoke.”

  Minutes later, they were there. With only a brief hesitation about the height, Amy followed Luke up the ladder. At the top, on a short gangplank, Patrick and Mark were taking turns looking through the scope on Patrick’s rifle.

  “There’s your hostiles for you,” Patrick said.

  Luke looked through his binoculars. “Can’t tell much from here,” he said. “Can’t see what’s making the smoke. It’s just one line, so it’s something small and contained, like a cook fire.” He paused and looked at Patrick. “Salvage is a bust. I say we check this out.”

  “Right on.”

  The rest were not hard to convince either. Soon everyone was packed up, and they were off. Before long they could all see the smoke. Distance on the prairie, however, can be deceptive. It took them almost three hours to reach the origin.

  From the top of the rise, Luke peered through the binoculars. Then he crawled back down to where the rest were waiting.

  “I was right,” he said. “It’s just over this hill, a farm or something, one house and one small barn. Odd-looking house. Can’t tell what it’s made of. It could be stone or something. Has an earthen roof like back home, though. Anyway, it’s one story and not very big. One family down there at most. No sign of any vehicles. Either they don’t have one or it’s gone somewhere.”

  He paused to consider his words. “The whole set up is definitely civilian. I think we should go down.”

  Shawn and Mark brandished their guns.

  “Some of us should go down,” Luke corrected. “Peacefully.”

  “To barter?” Kurt asked. “Will they have what we need?”

  “I doubt it,” Amy said. “Not from that description.”

  “No, I agree they won’t,” Luke said. “I saw somebody out front. I didn’t get a good look, but I think it was an old lady. She shouldn’t be any danger, and she may have information.”

  “Barter is a waste of time,” Patrick
said. “But interrogation . . .”

  “We are just going to talk,” Luke growled. “Three of us will go down. Amy, you’re coming. They’ll be more likely to believe we come in peace if we have a woman with us.”

  “You are taking a woman into a potentially hostile situation?” Patrick asked.

  “It looks like a civilian outpost to me,” Luke answered coolly.

  “And if it’s not?” Patrick demanded. “If this old lady of yours is the cook for a whole garrison of enemy soldiers?”

  “That’s why I am also taking you.”

  Patrick paused to consider. “Okay, but I want to be perfectly clear. This mission is vital. If I think for one minute that your wishy-washiness is threatening the mission, I will not hesitate to correct the situation. Understood?” Without waiting for a reply, he hefted his rifle. “Let’s go.”

  PART TWO

  The Quiet Earth

  Chapter 4

  ROGER'S STORY

  Amy, Patrick, and Luke crested the hill together. Luke thought the most direct approach was the best. They did not want to startle the people living down there into any rash action.

  Daniel took up a covering position at the top of the hill. Amy was glad it was him and not a trigger-happy Mark or Shawn. Luke and Patrick both had their rifles on their shoulders, apparent but not threatening, they claimed. Amy was sure she’d feel threatened, but there was no convincing them.

  The house was low with heavy, earthen walls that were not quite square, but not quite rounded either, and a heavy sod roof. A chimney rose out of the roof, but the smoke issued from the other side of the building. Small windows were recessed deep into the walls. It had a cozy feel to it, like it grew out of the plains, Amy thought.

  The smell of baking bread greeted them as they rounded the west side of the building. The south side of the building had larger windows. In front of the house was a round dome of earthen material about waist high. It had a small door, and the smoke and smell was emanating from it.

  An elderly lady was tending the dome. She had long dark hair and nut brown skin. She wielded a long wooden paddle. She deftly reached the paddle in through a door and removed several steaming loaves of bread and set them on a low table sitting next to the dome. Then she fed several more thick lumps of dough in. She appeared to take no notice of them.