Evergreen

by Cox, Matthew S.

  “Are you a real doctor?” asked Madison.

  “Yes. I’m an actual M.D. My degree’s on a wall in Littleton. Though, I’m not even sure if my old office is still standing.”

  “Okay.” Madison matter-of-factly stripped.

  Harper blushed for her little sister who didn’t at all seem to care that she stood there naked except for the iPhone in her hand in a maybe forty-degree room in front of a stranger. Tegan appeared to pick up on Harper’s reaction to her sister’s uncharacteristic lack of embarrassment and gave a ‘we can talk later’ nod. Having observed the examination of her older sister, Madison stepped into the patch of light from the window and allowed the doctor to check her over. A few passes with a lice comb came back clean.

  “And that’s everything.” Tegan smiled. “You two are all set. Looks like you avoided the worst of it out there.”

  Madison got dressed.

  “Yeah, I guess.” Harper shrugged. “We were both covered in ash, but we cleaned it off.”

  “Did you breathe much in? Any coughing, dry throat?” asked Tegan.

  “Little coughing but it’s already stopped.”

  The doctor again asked her to breathe deep in and out for a minute or two while listening with a stethoscope, then repeated with Madison. “It doesn’t sound like there’s anything to worry about.”

  “Okay.” Harper picked up the shotgun and slung it over her shoulder. She couldn’t tell what bothered her more: carrying a weapon into a visit with a doctor—or that the woman didn’t care.

  Tegan walked them out to the waiting area, where summer and Darnell remained, no sign of Cliff or Jonathan. Harper figured the boy had gone in with Cliff the same way she and Madison went together.

  “Miss?” asked Tegan, nodding at Summer.

  Harper took a seat where she’d been before.

  Madison climbed up into her lap. “How long do we have’ta stay here before we go home?”

  A lead weight settled in Harper’s stomach. “I think we’re gonna be here a while. The bad people are still back there. They can’t get us here, okay? We’re gonna stay here because it’s safe. The bad people can’t get us here.”

  “Okay.” Madison shifted sideways and rested her head on Harper’s shoulder.

  Darnell raised an eyebrow. “Bad people?”

  She explained about the ‘blue gang,’ glossing over that their parents had been killed in a way that he’d hopefully pick up on but Madison could misinterpret. A few minutes later, Cliff and Jonathan walked out the door by the reception desk. He had a bandage on his arm over the gunshot, but otherwise looked the same.

  “How’d it go?” asked Harper.

  “Fine. You did a pretty good job sewing it. Scar’s not gonna be too big.” He winked. “Not even infected.”

  She smiled. “That’s more the booze than anything I did.”

  “Maybe.” He took the AR-15 as he went by, sat in the next chair, and glanced at Darnell. “So, now what?”

  “Once you’re all done here, I’ll introduce you to Mayor Ned.”

  Cliff nodded. “All right.”

  They waited a little while for Summer to finish. Red ringed her eyes as though she’d been crying, and Tegan also appeared upset. Harper squeezed Madison at the sight. Shit. Maybe she didn’t get away from those bastards before they… of course, she wouldn’t tell kids about that. Summer broke down crying again when she caught Harper’s ‘I’m so damn sorry’ expression.

  The doctor locked stares with Harper.

  She nodded, then whispered, “Can you stay with Cliff for a minute?”

  Madison whined and clung to her for a moment, but eventually caved in and crawled into his lap.

  “Thanks. I’ll be right back.” Harper got up and walked over to the doctor, then two steps into the hallway behind the door.

  “Something bothered you before about your sister?” asked Tegan in a low voice.

  “I’m worried about her. She… flung her pants off like no big deal. Maddie’s always been a bit shy. Okay, more than a bit. Couple days ago, we had fallout dust all over us and she wanted a bath. Demanded I stay in the room with her. That’s so unlike her. I think she saw our parents die, but I’m not a hundred percent sure if she looked or was hiding. She’s carrying around her phone like Mom or Dad are going to call her at any minute, but the thing’s dead as a brick. I’ve said the whole phone system is destroyed a couple times but she ignored it. I can’t tell if she’s just in denial or if she’s like really delusional and thinks the phone’s going to work.”

  Tegan let out a soft sigh. “Kids deal with traumatic events in their own way. From what you’ve told me, it’s been less than a week since their death?”

  Harper nodded.

  “I’m not exactly a psychiatrist, but so soon afterward I wouldn’t worry too much unless she starts acting out in ways that could be harmful to herself. Now, if she’s still trying to get signal on that phone next year, it might be an issue.”

  “Okay.”

  Tegan put a hand on Harper’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

  “I dunno. It doesn’t feel real yet. Like I saw someone else’s parents get shot. Like I’m gonna wake up tomorrow and the world’s going to be back to what it was. I still haven’t really processed that I’ve had to shoot people who tried to kidnap or kill us. Haven’t really thought about much more than keeping Maddie safe.”

  “She’s lucky to have such a determined older sister.” Tegan handed her a slip of paper. “Give that to the mayor when you see him. Both you and your sister are healthy.”

  “For how long?” She took the paper and stuffed it in her pocket. “Are we gonna get cancer?”

  “Well… Everyone within a good distance from here is at an elevated risk due to radiation. You said you stayed inside, underground pretty much for two months after the blast that hit Colorado Springs?”

  “Yeah. At least a month. Like week five or so, Dad wanted to go back upstairs. He started going out to neighbor’s houses to collect canned food and stuff. Almost everyone who lived near us disappeared. I have no idea where anyone went.”

  “There have been some efforts by what remains of the military to evacuate civilians, though I haven’t seen any of them around here since about the second week after the war.” Tegan scoffed. “Not sure I should even call it a war.”

  “Yeah…” Harper kicked at the floor.

  “All right. Both of you seem to be handling things about as well as can be expected for anyone. I’m usually here in the daytime if you ever want to talk about anything.”

  Harper shook her hand. “Thanks. And wow, this place feels so… normal.”

  “We try. Be a lot more normal if Jeanette gets those solar panels working again.”

  “Solar panels?”

  “Yeah. Town’s number one project… collecting panels together so we can get something of a power grid back. Light, heat, hot water.”

  “Oh, sweet.” Harper’s eyes widened with anticipation. “Thanks.”

  “No problem. Welcome to Evergreen.”

  Harper headed back to the waiting room. Wow. This place does seem safe. That guy was right. Dammit, Dad. Why did you make us stay home? We should’ve left with that group.

  Cliff stood, lifting Madison, and set her on her feet before approaching Harper. “Everything okay?”

  She wiped a tear from her cheek. “Yeah. I think it’s gonna be okay here.”

  17

  Mayor Ned

  Darnell walked with them down Route 74 from the medical clinic.

  He veered left off the road by a sign next to a flagpole that read ‘La Plaza Office Park,’ heading for the rightmost of three white, square buildings. They appeared to be former offices which had evidently been repurposed to the town seat.

  Once again, Harper found herself in a waiting room, though this one didn’t have the same counter setup as the medical place, merely a nice room with chairs and two doors. A table on the right side held a coffee maker, paper cups, and a
giant glass bowl with leaf patterns in it.

  “Who’s there?” called a woman from one of the doors.

  “Hey, Anne-Marie. It’s Darnell Buck. Got some new arrivals with me.”

  The door on the right next to the table swung open. A pale, black-haired woman in a somewhat frumpy grey skirt suit walked in. She seemed close in age to Cliff, early forties or so, and looked like she might’ve been a former model. The woman exuded an air of command and confidence, though also friendliness.

  “Hello everyone.” She smiled. “I’m Anne-Marie Kirby. Welcome to Evergreen. I’m basically the city manager, and you probably won’t ever need to deal with me directly, but I’m happy to talk to anyone with a concern.”

  Cliff shook hands and introduced himself, as did Summer. Anne-Marie greeted Madison and Jonathan with a broad grin and the energy of someone meeting their grandchildren. The boy responded with an enthusiastic smile. Madison lifted her stare off the iPhone only long enough to emit a clipped, “Hi” without any emotion on her face. Since the girl made no move to accept the woman’s handshake, Anne-Marie patted her on the head.

  “And you are?”

  “Harper Cody.” She shook hands. “Sorry about Madison. We’ve had a rough month.”

  “Haven’t we all.” Anne-Marie twisted back to the door she came from and called, “Ned?” before turning back to the group. “Oh, do you have your slips from the medical check?”

  Harper pulled hers out, as did Cliff and Summer.

  Anne-Marie collected them, giving each one a skim, and grinned. “Good. All clear then.”

  A man walked in, rocking a white polo and khakis. He, too, looked around Cliff’s age, though skinny, and kept his light brown hair short and neat as if civilization hadn’t ended two months ago. “Hello, everyone! I’m Ned O’Neill, but most people just call me Ned or ‘Mayor Ned.’ Hear we got some new people lookin’ for a place to live?”

  “You heard right.” Cliff nodded.

  “Anyone have any special skills or training we should know about?” Ned smiled, mostly at Cliff. “We’re trying to keep things as normal as possible. Obviously, we’ve had to become self-sufficient given the war. No more shipments comin’ in from across the country, so we need to have people helping out where they can do the most good.”

  “Ex-Army.”

  “Excellent. What job?” asked Ned.

  “Ranger.”

  Ned’s eyes bulged. “My good man, I’d sincerely like you to consider a position with our militia.”

  Cliff chuckled. “Yeah, kinda figured that’d happen. No problem. About all I’m really good for.”

  “You make a pretty decent dad, too,” said Harper.

  Madison didn’t react.

  “Yeah.” Jonathan grinned.

  Ned approached Summer. “Hello, Miss. What about you?”

  “Nothing useful really. Unless you need someone with a degree in business and a marketing minor.” She shrugged. “Not a bad cook, and I can kinda draw okay.”

  “Oh, it’s not completely useless.” Anne-Marie chuckled. “Three months ago, I was a Senior Vice President at United Airlines. Could use someone with management skills here, helping keep the town organized.”

  Summer blinked. “Sure. Okay.”

  Ned eyed Harper. “Hmm. Are you eighteen?”

  “Seventeen.”

  “Still in high school then. Not much in the way of job training. Got any particular skills?”

  “She can make fart sounds with her hands,” muttered Madison. “And get a spoon to hang off her nose without falling.”

  Harper laughed—as did everyone else. “That’s not exactly what he’s asking about. Umm. Not really. I’m pretty average.”

  “Were you a good student?”

  “Decent. Mostly As, but I got Bs in trig and chemistry. But just high school level stuff. I didn’t have AP classes.”

  “Might ask you to help out with Violet over at the school since being in school is so fresh in your mind.” Mayor Ned snickered at his own joke. “Of course, you’ll need to give over that cannon of yours to the militia who’ll put it to use.”

  Harper clung to the strap. “Do I have to? It belonged to my Dad. I promised him I’d never lose it. I mean, I know I’m a kid and all, and like normally, people would take a gun away from a kid… but things aren’t exactly normal anymore.”

  “You ever use that thing?” Ned leaned back to appraise her, clasping his elbow while rubbed a finger back and forth across his chin.

  She looked down. “Yes. I didn’t have a choice.”

  “How many?”

  “Three maybe.” She squirmed with guilt. “They were gonna kidnap and do horrible things to us. I had to.”

  “Well… it does take a certain kind of person to be able to protect others with necessary force. I suppose we could put you on the militia if you’d rather not give up that cannon.”

  She picked at the nylon strap, trying to figure out how she felt about the Mossberg. Part of her wanted never to see it again since it reminded her of her hesitation causing Dad’s death. The bigger part of her brain regarded it as the only way she had to protect Madison. “If no one’s going to take it away from me, I’d like to keep it.”

  “Got any training?”

  “I’ve been going to the gun range since I was nine. Won four competitions at thirteen with shotguns, couple more after that. Clay pigeon stuff and multiple shooting station courses. Best time and accuracy in my age group that year. Madison’s been to the range, too, but… she’s only ten. And she didn’t do competitions.”

  “I shot a bad guy,” said Madison. “He was trying to hurt Jonathan, and he grabbed me, too.”

  Everyone got quiet. Anne-Marie emitted a soft, “Aww!”

  Harper hurriedly explained that her little sister hadn’t killed anyone, merely winged him.

  “Okay then. If you’re sure.” Mayor Ned patted her on the arm. “Welcome to the militia.”

  “Umm.” She lifted her head and made eye contact with him. “Can I change my mind later on or what happens when I run out of shells?”

  Ned stuck his hands in his pants pockets. “Hopefully, you won’t need to use them that often here that ya run out before someone figures out how to make more or we find some. ’Course, you’re young yet, so I don’t have any problem with you wanting to change your mind if being on the militia doesn’t work out for you. But, we can cross that bridge if you ever reach it.”

  “What’s involved? I’m not gonna like have to go to boot camp or something?”

  Cliff snickered.

  Ned shook his head. “Nah. No such thing anymore far as I know. Walt Holman’s in charge of defending the town and keeping the peace. He’ll bring you both up to speed. For the most part, it’s a lot of standing around making everyone else feel safe. Guard duty, walking the streets on patrols, that sort of thing.”

  She swallowed saliva, and nodded. “Okay. I guess I’ll give it a shot.”

  “You must really like that shotgun,” said Darnell. “Though, it is a damn nice one.”

  “As for the children, they’re too little for jobs. But”—Ned winked—“I’m sure you’ll be thrilled to know we have a school.”

  Cliff raised both eyebrows. “Wow. Really?”

  “Indeed.” Ned gestured off to the side. “Violet Olsen’s put together sort of an old fashioned ‘one-room-schoolhouse’ type thing in the middle school.”

  “What about Harper? She’s only seventeen. Not done with school yet. Still has a year left.” Cliff tried to give her a ‘just kidding’ wink, but it had an undercurrent of concern.

  “Oh, darn, you’re right.” Ned slapped himself in the forehead. “If she doesn’t get her high school diploma, she won’t be able to get into college.”

  Cliff let out a halfhearted chuckle. Harper fidgeted, not terribly happy with the reminder the world had changed so damn much. Anne-Marie gave her a pitying stare.

  Ned exhaled. “Forgive my sarcasm. Things aren’t exact
ly the same given the recent nuclear bombardment. As best we’ve been able to figure out, the national infrastructure is gone. Society may or may not remain intact beyond what we’re aware of. Doesn’t seem like there’s much need to get kids ready for college and batter them with tests. We’re focusing on basic education up until about fourteen years old, then on practical skills. Can worry about the fancy stuff once we’re thriving.”

  “What about doctors?” asked Harper.

  Ned whistled. “I’m afraid we don’t have the resources for a proper medical school. Anyone interested in medicine would have to wind up in an apprentice type situation with Dr. Khan or Dr. Hale.”

  “We’re registering Cliff, Harper, Jonathan, and Madison as a family unit, is that correct?” asked Anne-Marie. “And Summer as an individual.”

  Everyone murmured agreement.

  Mayor Ned conferred with Anne-Marie for a few minutes by a large map on the wall. She tapped a spot, then a second one. Ned nodded and walked back over to the group.

  “All right. Mr. Barton, since both you and your eldest daughter are in the militia, you can take a house on Hilltop Drive, fairly close to here. Evergreen does stretch quite a ways south, far enough that it’s cumbersome to patrol the entire original town limit on foot. We’re concentrated on the north end, since Route 74 represents the most likely point of entry for any group large enough to be threatening. Keeping the critical stuff reasonably close together helps out since most vehicles are useless or will run out of gasoline soon. It’s possible we’ll see some form of bio-diesel operational, but that’ll also require the farm gets up to production capacity.”

  Cliff scratched at his beard. “All right. Eldest daughter, huh?”

  Harper looked over at him. Though she missed Dad like crazy, she didn’t think he’d mind her having someone to look out for her. When she managed a grateful smile, he dropped the fake awkwardness.

  Ned approached Summer. “Miss Vasquez, since Anne-Marie thinks you’ll be a good help to us here in the office, we’re thinking you and her might room together for the time being.”