by Eric Vall
“It doesn’t look like it’s moved, though,” Bailey added with a smile.
“I think we’ll be alright,” I said. “We just need to take it slow.”
“So you mean the drive will actually take us an hour this time?” Kimmy teased. “Instead of the thirty five minutes it usually takes you?”
“That’s exactly what I mean,” I answered with a grin, then I pulled out onto the main road.
I didn’t like moving such a valuable piece of equipment, especially with somebody near us that we hadn’t found yet, but Renee needed it and this was the only way. Besides, my team was strapped as always, so if we got into any trouble I knew we could handle it. It still made me nervous, though.
After the EMP hit, I doubted many people would know how to repair machines, let alone a tractor. Most people didn’t even know how to hunt for themselves, especially not without a rifle. The survival skills among the general public were subpar at best, which was probably one of the reason’s we’d encountered so many assholes over the last year. People didn’t know how to fend for themselves, so they tried to take from others that did. It wasn’t right, but it was logic that I could understand.
On top of that, when people didn’t have much social interaction they tended to forget how to treat others. It was almost as if they were able to look at people like less than humans, like it was okay for them to be stolen from or killed because it wasn’t personal. I’d realized that a long time ago when I was in battle. There was a certain level of dissociation that soldiers had to keep in order to kill for their country. You couldn’t look at the person in front of you and think about whether or not they had a family, or the fact that they were once a child just like yourself. You had to think of them only as the target.
A lot of people had trouble with that disassociation and ultimately had to be treated for the anxiety or depression that was brought on from them completing their duties.
That was something I had never struggled with. I knew that the men I targeted were bad, that they’d already killed others, and I had no problem serving up vengeance for my country to my people.
I kept an eye on the tractor behind us as we drove, but it remained in place, and the back wheels kept up with us just fine.
It was early afternoon at that time, and the sun was bright and hot in the sky. It had an almost orange hue to it from the smoke still remaining in the area, but it still beat down on us with a savage heat. I had my window rolled down, and the breeze felt nice, but it wasn’t enough to fully combat the warmth from the sun. I could feel my shirt sticking to the seat behind me and beads of sweat continued to build on my forehead. I wiped them off every so often, but they returned just moments later.
A quick glance to my right showed that the girls were just as hot as I was. Their bodies were all covered with a light sheen of sweat, and they leaned their heads back against the seat and breathed through their mouths.
It didn’t help that there were six of us piled into a truck that usually sat three grown men comfortably. Granted, the women were all fairly small, but we were definitely still over capacity.
“Hey, Tara,” Anna said, and she looked at the platinum blonde.
“What?” Tara asked, her eyes still closed as she used her hand to fan her neck.
“Is summer still your favorite season?” the redhead asked with a small chuckle.
“It’s slowly dropping down on the list,” Tara said with a smile. “It’s still better than winter, though.”
“I’m not sure about that anymore,” Paige admitted. “I’d take winter right now over this.”
“Summer was always my favorite season, too,” Kimmy said. “But right now I’d definitely take a bit of snow.”
“Summer is only fun if you can go swimming and lay by the beach,” Anna said. “We can’t do either of those things.”
“What beach do we have around here, anyway?” Tara asked.
“Nothing,” Paige snorted. “We have lakes, but the ocean is super far away.”
“We’ll go swimming soon,” I promised the girls.
“Good thing I grabbed some swimsuits at Nordstrom,” Tara said with a grin, and I rolled my eyes and chuckled.
We all grew quiet again as the sun continued to beat down on us on the long drive. It usually didn’t feel like it took that long to get to the fort, but between the heat and the fact that I had to maintain a reasonable speed, it seemed to take forever before we pulled up to Fort Ticonderoga.
Whoever was at the gate had seen us coming and they already had it open, but instead of pulling the truck in I parked it outside.
Renee came out to greet us, and the dark haired woman looked stressed. I had noticed that about halfway through our drive to the fort the smoke had cleared some, but then as we got closer it made a return. I figured Renee had to be right, there was probably another fire closer to her.
“Hey,” I said as the dark haired woman approached.
“Thanks so much for coming,” Renee told us as she stopped in front of us.
“Of course,” I said. “Do you have any information on the fire around here?”
“Not too much,” she sighed. “But I drove up the way and saw it. It’s not as large as the one that you all described, but it’s still decent sized. I wasn’t too worried at first, but the smoke started to get heavier, and that’s when I thought it was time to set up some real precautions.”
“I’m glad you called us,” I told her. “I wouldn’t want anything to happen to this place.”
“Me, either,” she said with a slight smile, then she looked around me to the tractor. “I didn’t realize you all didn’t have a trailer for it.”
“We made do,” Paige said with a shrug.
“I can see that,” Renee laughed, and I was glad to see her perk up a bit. She was usually so calm that it was strange to see her frazzled.
“Do you have somebody who knows how to drive this thing?” I asked with a gesture to the machine behind me.
“One of my guys, Andrew, used to drive a forklift,” she said. “I figured that maybe it would translate.”
“I’m not entirely sure about that,” I chuckled. “But go get him, I’ll give him a crash course.”
“Hey, Chuck!” Renee called up to one of the men at the gate.
“Yeah, boss?” the short, brown haired man asked.
“Go get Andy for me, will ya?” Renee hollered.
“Roger,” Chuck replied with a thumbs up, then he disappeared.
“I wasn’t going to ask over the radio,” Renee said. “But is there any more news about the call I heard? I heard the broadcast.”
“Yes,” I said. “It’s been changed, though. We’ve set a date and time to meet up with these people.”
“Oh, wow,” Renee said with wide eyes. “If you think that’s the best call, then just tell me when and where.”
“Thanks,” I told her with a smile.
“Has your fire hit yet?” the dark haired woman asked.
“It did,” I said. “But we were able to keep it at bay.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Renee said with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“So am I,” I said. “But I’m sorry you have to deal with the same thing now.”
“This summer is going to be hell,” the fort leader said with a shake of her head.
“It already is,” Tara muttered, and she wiped some sweat from her brow.
“I know I’ve pushed the issue already,” Renee said. “But if you think it’s safer here, then please come stay with us. We’d love to have you and all your people.”
Renee had pushed the issue, but I couldn’t get annoyed with her, not when I knew that it came from such a good place. It wasn’t that she wanted to shirk her responsibilities onto me, but she knew that the fort was nearly impenetrable if it was set up right. I also think she felt guilty that we had done the work to take out Brody and yet she got the benefit. I never wanted her to feel that way, and I wasn’t sure that was it, but that wa
s the sense I got from her.
I knew she only wanted what was best for everyone, so I couldn’t do anything but continue to be happy that I had her around to offer. Besides, it was nice to know that we were welcome.
“I know,” I said with a nod. “We really need to try to make it to harvest, though. There are a lot of people counting on that food to survive through the winter.”
“I understand,” Renee said. “And whatever we can do to help, just let us know.”
“I appreciate that,” I told her.
“We do have good news,” Tara said, and we all turned to her with confused looks.
“What good news is that?” Anna asked.
“Rolly and Betty’s engagement, duh,” Tara said with an eye roll.
“How sweet,” Renee said with a smile.
“You’re all invited, of course,” I said. “Though it will be after everything calms down.”
“We’d love to come,” the dark haired woman told me. “They’re such a wonderful couple.”
“Sorry to announce it during all this craziness,” Paige said.
“A little bit of good news is what I could use right now,” Renee said with a shake of her head. “It’s not easy being the leader at a time like this, but I’m sure all of you know that already.”
“We’re lucky to have Tav,” Anna said with a smile.
“Everyone is lucky to have all of you,” Renee said.
“Thank you,” I told the dark haired woman, and I put my hand on her shoulder. “Your people are lucky to have you, too.”
“Renee,” a man in his mid-thirties called out as he walked over to the group. He had on a pair of khaki shorts, a gray tank top, and long brown hair that hung down to his shoulders.
“This is Andy,” Renee said as she ushered the man forward.
“I’ll give him a little lesson,” I said.
“I’d appreciate that,” the dark haired woman told me.
I carefully laid out the planks to get the tractor down, and we released the ratchet straps. Once it was on the ground again, I had Andy climb up with me and I showed him the basics of it and what he’d need to do to lay down the fire lines. It was pretty straightforward, and he knew how to use most of the levers right away, so I felt confident that he could get the job done.
“Are you sure you’re okay leaving it with us?” Renee asked as Andy drove the tractor off to start putting up the lines.
“We don’t need it at the moment,” I said. “Normally I’d wait and take it home, but I don’t want to be away from my team for longer than necessary.”
“I completely understand,” Renee said with a nod. “You should go.”
“You stay safe,” I told her.
“You, too,” she agreed. “And we’ll make sure to park the tractor in the fort after he’s done.”
“Great,” I said. “We’ll be in touch soon.”
Renee nodded, and we all waved goodbye as we loaded back up into the truck. I didn’t like leaving the tractor there exactly, but I also didn’t want to wait for the fire lines to be finished. It was a large area and it could take a couple of hours at least.
It was already mid afternoon, and I wanted to get back to my home and make sure everybody was okay. Everyone had been through a lot lately, and I wanted to make sure that they knew they weren’t alone.
We also still had to talk with the group about moving to the fort. I didn’t want to mention it to Renee before I spoke to everyone, and especially not with her having to deal with her own fire at the moment, but it was something that needed to be discussed soon.
“I can’t believe there’s another fire in the area,” Tara said. “This is crazy.”
“It’s not unusual for there to be two wildfires at once,” Paige said. “Or even more than that.”
“The whole north could be on fire for all we know,” Kimmy said. “It’s not like we can just watch the news and see what’s going on.”
“That’s true,” Bailey said with a frown. “I hope not, though.”
“Maybe not right now,” Tara said. “But two fires already this summer? That can’t be good.”
“I don’t think it is,” I agreed.
I hoped that the rest of the fires would be far away from us. It was a terrible thing to hope for, because no matter how I spun it, I was ultimately wishing it upon someone else. There had to be other survivors out there, and with fires this large, they were going to hit somebody eventually.
We arrived back at the house just after mid afternoon, and I saw that most of the civilians were sitting on the grass getting drinks of water. I figured that meant that they were done with chores for the day, but I went and found Rolly to be sure.
“Hey old-timer,” I said as I walked up to where he stood at the entrance of his shed.
“Hey,” he greeted me. “How did it go with Renee?”
“Oh, it went fine,” I told him. “We dropped off the tractor with them. I didn’t want to wait around for them to put the lines up.”
“Right,” he said, then he looked around and sighed. “We let the animals come up to graze a bit, and we made sure everything has water for tonight.”
“Thank you,” I told him with a clap on the shoulder.
I wasn’t looking forward to the conversation I was going to have with the group, but it needed to be done. The fort was the best place for us, that was just fact. Now I just had to make everyone accept it.
I waited until after dinner that evening, then I gathered everyone around the fire pit and addressed them all.
It was nerve wracking, but I made everyone promise to hold their tongues until I had finished speaking. I told them about my plan to finish out the season at Betty’s then move to the fort permanently. I laid out the reasons I felt it was the best option for us as a group, and explained that I didn’t want to take anybody from their homes, but that I felt we’d all be safer and more comfortable there in the long run.
After I had finished speaking I sat down and waited for the explosion.
Everyone was quiet for a minute or so, and then the questions came all at once.
“I won’t leave my farm,” Betty said with a loud and stern voice, and everybody quieted down and turned to the old woman.
“Betty,” I said, my voice filled with caution. “I understand that you don’t want to leave-”
“I won’t leave,” she corrected, and she leveled at me with determined green eyes.
“Betty,” Marla said, her voice soft. “It’s not the farm that matters, it’s all of us together. As long as you and Rolly and Dan and Jenny are safe, then what does it matter where we’re at?”
I was partially surprised that Marla had chosen my side so quickly, but I supposed that losing her home had made her realize that it was just a possession. It was family and loved ones that mattered.
“My family has been there for generations,” Betty explained, and her eyes were nearly filled with tears. “It was hard enough to leave and come here.”
“I’m not sure that I like the idea, either,” Donna spoke up.
“Why’s that?” Anna asked the black haired woman.
“We’d be going to live with a lot more people,” she said. “I feel like things could get complicated very quickly.”
“Plus, that one lady is in charge of the fort, right?” Jeff asked.
“Renee,” I said with a nod.
“Yeah,” he said. “So who would be in charge if we went there? You or her?”
“We’d have a mutual understanding,” I answered.
“So you’d both be in charge?” Donna asked. “Would we have to answer to her, too?”
“Renee is a sweet and intelligent woman,” I said. “She’s been asking us to come and stay with her since we took Brody out. She has no ill will toward us. You have no reason to worry that she would do anything that I wouldn’t.”
“That’s a lot more people around, though,” Donna said with a frown. “I still don’t like it.”
A few c
ivilians nodded in agreement with Donna, but then Merideth stood up in support of the move, and other civilians seemed to agree with her. It appeared that the group was torn.
I tried to play mediator for a while, but after about an hour of discussion, it appeared that we weren’t going to settle anything right then. I told everyone to think about things and talk with each other and that we’d pick up the conversation again soon. After that, I headed inside and up to my little dorm room where I pulled out the bourbon that Paige and I had drunk from a few days before.
I untwisted the lid, took a long swig before I let out a deep sigh, and then put my head in my hands.
I had known that conversation wasn’t going to be easy, but I didn’t expect the group to be this divided. We weren’t a democracy, though, and ultimately if anybody decided that they’d rather stay here, then I couldn’t stop them. I’d do my best to convince everyone to come with me, but if some of the civilians decided to stay then that was their choice.
The only ones I wouldn’t leave behind were Rolly and Betty. I refused to leave the old man in any situation that could be dangerous, and even though Betty was probably the most stubborn of everyone, I wouldn’t leave her, either. I knew Rolly would try to convince his soon to be wife to go to the fort, but I wasn’t even sure if he was up to the task.
The old man had sat through the discussion and kept his mouth shut. He couldn’t agree with me without disagreeing with his wife, but I knew he saw my points so he wasn’t about to openly agree with her, either.
The whole situation was stressful, but I pushed it out of my head as much as I could and took another sip of bourbon.
The next morning, I woke up early and headed downstairs. Rolly and Betty were up in the living room, and I hesitantly walked over and stood by the couch.
“Can I join you?” I asked.
“Don’t be silly,” Betty said with an eye roll. “Sit down, Tav.”
“Thank you,” I told her with a soft smile. I expected her to be upset with me considering the night before, but she appeared fairly calm.
“I’m glad you came down before everyone else,” Rolly said, and he poured me a cup of coffee.
“Why’s that?” I asked as I took the homemade java.