by David Nees
“What do you want?” she asked weakly. “Why are you treating me this way?”
“Do you want to see your son?” Leo asked in a quiet, but cold voice.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Do you want to get warm?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“I can take care of both of those things for you.”
“Why are you doing this? I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Your husband did. He plotted to attack our city. To try to destroy the order we’ve established.”
“I don’t understand. He would never do that. We work hard. We follow the rules. You don’t have any right to do this.”
“I have every right. Your husband crossed the line. That had to be stopped. He put you in this position. He endangered his family.”
“You have to let me go, let my son go. We haven’t done anything wrong. If Jim was involved in anything, we never knew about it. Please believe me. Whatever you think Jim did, we weren’t involved.”
“You were. He involved you.”
“No!” she shouted.
“It’s something you’ll have to accept. Your life has changed now.”
“What do you mean?”
“You must think about your son now. Jim caused this, and he’s gone. Now there is only your son to think about. You want to save him, don’t you?”
She nodded.
“Good,” Leo said. He stood up, shook the blanket out and draped it over Donna’s shoulders. “You belong to me now. I control the fate of your son and I control your fate. Do you understand?”
She shook her head. He could see her incomprehension, and the growing terror behind it.
“You will. The first thing is to accept your new role and learn to do what I say. If you obey me, you’ll get to see your son. He’ll be well taken care of, and you’ll have a relationship with him. Don’t obey me, and you won’t see your son and he won’t be so well taken care of.”
He watched as her body began to shudder violently, and then she sagged against the bindings and began to cry.
The next day Leo was in Joe’s office in the bank building. He preferred the comfortable back room of the old bar and strip club. It was familiar territory and always full of men he could count on. It was their turf. This place felt foreign to him.
But a lot had changed since the attack, including his boss’s profile. Joe was now the Director of Resources, whatever the hell that meant. All Leo knew was that his boss controlled the town. And Leo’s job was to make sure Joe had the muscle to keep control.
“What’d you find out from that engineer?” Joe asked when Leo sat down.
“There’s some kind of resistance going on. We got a couple of names, but he died before we could get more out of him. We’re looking for them now.”
“You haven’t rounded them up?”
“They’ve gone underground. I guess they figured they’d be exposed after Jim disappeared. We’ll find them.”
“So what’s this resistance?”
“A small group of technicians, who want more freedom, more say in how things run. Just what you guessed.”
“Ungrateful bastards.” Joe spat the words out, his face in a scowl.
“One interesting thing is that they seem to be taking inspiration from this guy Jason, the farmer who defeated Big Jacks’ gang.”
“How did he get involved?”
“He’s not, but he’s their model. Something about freedom and creating a more equitable society as things rebuild.”
Joe looked thoughtful. “That guy could become a problem, even from a distance. But these technicians, we can’t let them hold us hostage.”
“We’ll find ‘em. We’ll eliminate the trouble makers and the rest will fall in line.”
Joe was silent a moment. When he spoke again, his face had cleared. “The local thugs are bothersome enough, but they’re almost useful.”
Leo knew Joe wasn’t talking about his own men. There were independent criminals in town, not controlled by Joe. Some were homegrown; others had filtered in through the porous barriers. They preyed on everyone, stealing clothes, ration cards, whatever they needed. Most of them were armed with knives, but a few had guns. Leo looked at him.
“How so?”
“They make people want the protection we provide. It’s useful to have them around mugging people, making them want more security.”
Leo smiled. Joe had an interesting take on things.
Joe leaned forward “Get this under control. It’s every city for itself now. We have more weapons, than the other towns. We’re going to get them under my control.” He pointed his finger at Leo. “You know the bosses in Charlotte always had our back. We paid for that by giving them a cut on what we made. So where are they now? We haven’t heard from them and we’re not sending them anything. We’re cut off, on our own. We need to organize the region. Who knows what’s happening outside our area? We got to be ready when outside authorities show up.”
Leo felt a grin creep over his face. He nodded. If this was the way the world was going to work now, Joe seemed to be ready for it.
Chapter 8
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I n the two weeks that led up to the trek to Hillsboro, the farms in the valley were a bustle of activity. The grain harvest was in, both the winter wheat and the early barley plantings. Almost everyone worked together on the threshing and winnowing, with the farmers moving from one farm to another by turns. Then they loaded the grain onto farm wagons drawn by pickup trucks and took it to Clifton Forge. They scoured the valley and every inch of Clifton Forge for sacks with which to bag the newly ground flour and corn meal.
Everyone put in long hours. Lieutenant Cameron was there to help, along with six others from his platoon who had volunteered to come to the valley with him, including Sergeant Gibbs and Specialist Tommy Wilkes. They spent a whole week there, working from dawn to dusk and then sleeping in tents in Anne and Jason’s front yard. Catherine was overjoyed to have her fiancé there to work beside her. Sarah did her share as well, while keeping up a flirtatious relationship with Tommy Wilkes under the watchful eye of her mother. Sarah had met him when the army had shown up the year before, just before her baby brother was born.
The soldiers would also provide extra security for the trip to Hillsboro, and along with the familiar Humvee, they had also brought a big troop truck to help transport everyone. It had taken them only a day’s drive to reach the valley, but the slower pace dictated by the heavy farm wagons would mean a return journey of a day and a half. In addition to the milled grains, the wagons would be carrying loads of beets, spring onions, and the cucumbers and peppers that had gotten an early start in the cold frames.
The Jessup and Early clans showed up at the farm three days before departure. This time they came in greater numbers, twenty-four rugged looking men and women in all. They had carried their goods on their backs, through the woods and over the ridges from the north. They brought skins, fur pelts, smoked game meat, and wild food and herbs from the forest—fiddleheads, cattail tubers, wood sorrel, spring beauty, and ramps; along with scallions and sassafras roots and wintergreen. The forest would provide many more offerings as the summer advanced.
The air was full of enthusiasm, the activity hectic. The Jessups and Earlys set up camp all around Anne and Jason’s farm, their tents and tarpaulins spread out in a haphazard fashion through the apple orchard along the edge of the woods, in noticeable contrast to the neat row of military tents in front of the house. They pitched in to help load the wagons. The valley residents were buzzing about the possibilities this trip would bring, and those who were going were excited at the chance to mingle with the people in town after two years of isolation. Anne needed to stay close to the house to tend baby Adam, so she made most of her contribution by cooking for the workers outside. In the final forty-eight hours, some of the other women joined her to allow the rest to work non-stop.
The day of the trip to
Hillsboro dawned clear and cool, but with the promise of more warmth. It was late May, and the weather in the mountain valley could not have been better. The fields and the forest were fresh and green; the air was crisp and filled with the fertile odors of spring. It was a day of promise, lifting the spirits of the valley residents as they walked down to Anne and Jason’s farm to gather for the trip to town.
The convoy vehicles had been assembled in the yard. The two large farm wagons with towering sides, the largest wagons in the valley, sat side by side, hitched to the pickup trucks that would tow them. A third pickup was parked at the edge of the front yard next to the huge troop truck. People milled about in the front yard and on the porch, talking excitedly, or busied themselves finding places for their personal bags. With the large contingent of Jessup’s and Early’s, buckskins outnumbered valley clothing by more than two to one. Most of the clans would ride in the troop truck, but three had chosen to climb into pickup beds and settle themselves among their packs of trade goods.
“I feel like we’re going on a special holiday with this trip. I know it’s all about business, but it almost feels like a vacation,” Anne remarked to Jason as they walked through the yard, checking the loads. There was little to worry about. The packing teams had placed each sack carefully and had painstakingly tied tarps across the loads to protect the precious cargo during the bumpy ride.
“I imagine this is the way people felt on market day, even in the Middle Ages,” Jason replied, smiling. He was looking forward to this first trade as a start to a better life for everyone. The disturbing news he had received from Cameron couldn’t dampen his spirits.
“I talked to Kevin,” he said. “We can take Adam to the hospital to get him checked by the nurses. Kevin seems to think there may be some baby vaccines left.”
“That would be good. Childhood diseases are going to be coming back in a big way if someone doesn’t start making vaccines again soon.”
“Modern medicine is one thing we’re going to miss more and more. It worries me as well.”
Catherine had already joined her beau, Kevin, as he directed the loading. Sarah had come out of the farmhouse and quickly made a beeline for Tommy Wilkes. She made no secret of considering him her boyfriend, and Jason knew that Tommy enthusiastically supported the idea. Both girls were happy to have their suitors around, and. the trip to Hillsboro would give them some time together without the exhausting work of the last two weeks.
The farm convoy set out late in the morning. Catherine got to ride in the Humvee with Kevin, Tommy, and Sergeant Rodney Gibbs. Sergeant Gibbs offered her the front passenger seat, next to Kevin who was driving. He and Tommy sat in the back to keep a watchful eye out during the trip. Sarah, much to her frustration, had to ride with Jason and her mother in the truck towing the leading wagon.
A half hour after they passed out of the mouth of the valley and into the more open land along the Pickering River, they saw a faded, rusty pickup truck, its worn paint now barely visible after decades in the sun, with a trailer hitched to it on the side of the highway next to a lonely mailbox.
Five grinning people were standing next to it waiting for them. They were from the two farms out here that owed a debt to the people of the valley for stopping Big Jacks’s gang. If not for his sudden defeat, Big Jacks would have moved up the river and destroyed them. The convoy stopped, greetings were happily exchanged, the soldiers were introduced, and then the convoy pulled away with its new addition and a trailer-load of milled grain and spring potatoes.
That night they camped in the empty parking lot of a deserted gas station off the highway. Gibbs set up lookouts for the night, one on the roof of the gas station and another at a vantage point behind the lot. The soldiers would stand watches by twos, changing every three hours. Jason was surprised to see some of the clansmen collecting their weapons and some of their packs and gathering in a cluster away from the rest of the group. He noticed Cameron and Gibbs standing and watching this development intently. Then Clayton separated from the men and walked back to Jason. Cameron came over to join them, and Clayton told both of the men that they would be setting up outpost watches of their own.
“Better to see the enemy before he gets to the camp,” Clayton said by way of explanation. “You hear us call out or fire, you know someone is coming. You get ready.”
“You better let us know when you’re coming back in, so we don’t shoot you,” Jason said.
“We be coming in when it’s morning. You see us.” With that, Clayton and the men melted into the surrounding fields.
The night passed quietly. In the morning, after some tea and dried meat, the convoy set out. They would arrive in Hillsboro by noon.
Chapter 9
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H illsboro was making a holiday of the trading day. The meeting area had been set up in a downtown parking lot, and a limited group of people had been invited to enjoy the spectacle. The city leaders had arranged a barbecue to provide a festive meal for everyone. They had had to divert several work parties for over a week to hunt down the wild pigs, but it would be worth it for the public relations effect. The city didn’t want the effect limited to the people who could fit into the available space set up for the trade, so all the food centers in town were offering barbecue for the citizens in honor of the special day, setting up outdoor seating on the streets or in adjacent parking lots and parks. Games had been arranged for the children, both on the fringe of the meeting area and at all the centers, and with the food being free—no ration cards needed to be punched—a large attendance was guaranteed.
Unbeknownst to the officials, the town was abuzz not solely because of the festivities and about the prospect of a free meal. Much of the excitement was about the visiting farmers themselves. These were the people who had defeated Big Jacks’s gang two summers ago. A few survivors from the gang had drifted to Hillsboro and had managed to talk their way in by agreeing to join the city militia.
Encouraged by their new comrades, the ex-gang members had told and retold the tale of the epic battle, including Big Jacks’s execution. They had added embellishments about the ferocity of the valley defenders to make their defeat seem less embarrassing, and with each retelling the story had grown, becoming legendary in scope. Jason’s reputation as a warrior and leader grew with each retelling.
The arriving farmers would be met at the checkpoint on the road into the city and then escorted to the area set up for trading. Both the city and the farmers would set out their goods for inspection. After inspecting the goods and eating, the two groups would then retire to an empty store to negotiate and complete their trading.
The convoy came through the outer fringes of old Hillsboro. The houses stood with windows broken, doors standing open, the grass overgrown and gone wild, the shrubs growing into their natural shapes. It was a depressing sight. Everyone in the vehicles stopped talking as they looked out on the devastated scene. The mood changed from a joyful, holiday spirit to one of somber contemplation. The houses gave mute witness of so much lost; not only lives, but society as everyone had known it.
When they got close to the city proper, the homes stopped at a ragged line, with only a few partial shells remaining beyond. They passed into the cleared area, a broad band in which the buildings had all been torn down. Even the trees had been cut down, leaving only the rows of foundations and basements partially filled with stagnant water. They were like grave markers on a battlefield. At the far edge of the clearing there rose up a long, irregular rubble wall built of dirt, cinder blocks, the bodies of ruined automobiles, chunks of concrete, wooden planks, and sheets of corrugated metal, with sharp shards of steel and glass sticking out along the top. The wall swept across all the streets except the one they were on. Up ahead where the road passed through the wall, a moveable barricade had been set up.
As they neared the wall, the remaining bushes had been burned away, leaving only the bare, blackened ground. The opening was manned by a cluster
of ten militiamen. The convoy pulled up to the checkpoint and stopped in a line. The militiamen were all holding rifles. From his pickup second in line, Jason watched Cameron get out of the Humvee and walk forward to the barricade.
The conversation lasted longer than Jason expected.
“How long does it take to get the gate opened?” Anne wondered out loud.
Finally Kevin walked back. He did not get back into his Humvee but came up to Jason’s window. “The guards say you have to leave all your weapons here. You can’t enter the city armed.”
“What?” Jason said. Kevin had a pained look on his face. “Did you know about this beforehand?”
“No. This didn’t come up.”
“I don’t like it. You can’t override them?”
“They don’t answer to me.”
Just then Tom Walsh walked up along with Clayton Jessup. “What’s going on?” Tom asked.
“The guards just told Kevin we have to leave our weapons outside the city…we can’t go in armed.”
“What the hell?” Tom exclaimed.
“Ain’t doin’ that,” Clayton said. His voice was quiet and firm.
“Anyone else you can talk with?” Jason asked. “I assume you can go in with your weapons.”
“Yeah. I’m in the army. We’re not governed by any rule like that. But regular citizens in town can’t be armed. The city had to do that to re-establish order and it’s still in effect. I’m sorry I didn’t think it would apply to all of you.”
“You go in and find someone in charge and get them out here,” Jason said.
“Better be quick,” Tom added. “We don’t want our new friends from up north to get impatient and decide to leave. We all might just have to give them a ride back to the valley.”