Gleanings
Page 24
“Do you do this every night?” she asked when they’d stopped again.
“No. But Martin is feeling uneasy. He’s got plenty of eyes on Clarkeston. My job is to make sure there isn’t anything amiss closer in.”
“What do you know about those men?”
“Washburn’s men? Bits and pieces.”
“Like what?”
“They wear uniforms.”
“Where do they get them?”
“There was a part of the world that the regular person wasn’t privy to. It had clothing and food and selected rarities that could be gotten through working in lieu of payment.”
“Working for who?”
“Mostly portions of the government that had survived: the people running the trains, the ones in charge of processing the food and another department in charge of the vaccine center. All of these were already failing when the last flu took them out.”
“How do you know this?”
“Partly from people who worked for them, partly conjecture.”
“A whole lot of conjecture, I’m thinking.”
Wisp felt her disbelief. It didn’t matter to him. According to Nick, Dunham’s soldiers were going to be a permanent part of the Survivor’s Alliance. Eventually, she would run into the same people he had, and she’d hear the same stories. Then she could draw her own conclusions. For the moment, he just liked talking with her.
Chapter 60
While we work on building a reputation of fairness and kindness, we increase our vigilance and strength of arms.
History of a Changed World, Angus T. Moss
WHEN MARTIN AND BRUNO first presented her with the golf cart, Tilly thought they were making fun of her. But after she heard their explanations, she was secretly thrilled. Up until now, she hadn’t felt contained by her need to be in the building all day. Now that she had her own vehicle, she felt somehow freer.
After breakfast, she checked in with her usual teams then went down to the garage. Some irreverent child had painted the title Tillymobile on the back bumper, but it gave her a chuckle all the same. They had cleaned it up and customized it for her. Behind the front seat were bins for storage, a rack for clipboards and a cooler for snacks. An emergency kit with some rope, a flashlight, and a small toolkit was lashed behind the backseat. They’d given her a flashing light and a siren in case of trouble. Martin had also shown her a holster holding a gun tucked under the front seat. All in all, she was quite pleased with it.
She settled all her papers into their proper places and got into the driver’s seat. The front seat had a holder for her tea mug. It was smaller than a car and could cruise the sidewalks around the school. It didn’t go very fast, but that was fine by her. Bruno had gotten one for the Garden Committee and a toy car for Elsa and Dieter. It had almost been a necessity to get the Fonts some sort of vehicle, so they wouldn’t get trampled in the busy corridors.
After a leisurely cruise around the gardens, horse meadow, and orchard, she headed down the road to the train station. She stopped briefly to check on the new gardens going up. They’d named them Midway because of the location between the train station and the high school. One of Lottie’s assistants was overseeing the planting here. They already had beans and potatoes in the ground. It wasn’t a huge garden, but it was one more spot of production.
With a sense of accomplishment, she made a note about the gardens in her journal for her assistants and got back on the road. During the course of the morning, she checked in with the residents that had moved into the neighborhood, visited the warehouse for a meeting, inspected the new clothing storage center and gotten a haircut.
Walking back to her cart, she felt good about the changes. Moving families into the neighborhood made sense. They would need to occupy a bunch of houses if they didn’t want them to all fall to ruin. She needed to widen her vistas now. She was no longer the Lady of the Manor, now she needed to be the Duchess and take care of the villagers. A chuckle escaped her as she climbed aboard her new vehicle. Angus would laugh at her if she ever told him how she saw herself.
She swung past the train station to check in with the Greeting Committee. They had all held a meeting yesterday with Frank, the station master, about possibly setting up grocery depots in the stations. That might be a long time coming, but at least people were starting to talk about it.
Drew was standing at the front of the station, and he waved her down. “Got a newcomer here who was looking for you. Can you take him up to High Meadow?”
“Of course,” Tilly said as she cleared some papers off the passenger seat. The fellow was a dark blond with hazel eyes. He was thin and had the haggard look of someone who’d been on the road too long. “Welcome to High Meadow.”
He seated himself with the care of an injured man. “Thank you.”
She made sure he was settled before slowly pulling away. “I’m Tilly, what can I do for you?”
“My brother said to ask for you.” He winced when she went over a bump.
“Sorry about that. The roads are a mess. Low priority right now, I’m afraid. Who’s your brother?”
“Theta?”
Tilly almost came to a stop. “You really did escape!”
“Yes.”
“We wondered if Ted’s ploy would work. That’s wonderful. Actually, all your brothers are here.” She kept her eyes on the road but saw him turn to look at her.
“I met a man named Nick who said something similar.”
“Wisp was the first one. They all have different names now you know.”
“I didn’t. But I am called James, so that seems reasonable.”
“Let me see if I can get them all right. Ted is Theta, Kyle is Khi, Peter is Epsilon and Wisp is Tau.” His long silence made her wonder if she’d gotten something wrong.
“They really are all here,” he mumbled.
“Safe and sound,” she said although she had her doubts about Ep. “And of course you’re welcome to stay. You’re a doctor aren’t you?”
“I was trained as a neurosurgeon.”
“Well, I think we have more need of an obstetrician, but we’ll take what we can.” Another bump made him wince. “Luckily, we have a few doctors here already.”
His breathing got a little rough. “And what do they do here?”
Tilly leaned over to pat his knee. “We have quite a few biobots here, James. There’s nothing to fear.” She thought about how to whittle down what all of them did to make it sound safer. “Wisp does scouting and foraging. Ted is helping with the surveyors right now and Kyle has a lab. As soon as you’re healed up, we’ll ask you to help out wherever you can.”
He fell silent again.
She turned up the long driveway and caught sight of Nick walking hand and hand with Jean and realized what she’d forgotten to say. She grabbed her radio. “Martin, the last brother has come home. Please find Helen.”
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Acknowledgements
Writing is a solitary endeavor. Publishing takes a village. Thanks to all my friends and family who have been so supportive. My readers, especially Pat Bauman, thank you for the critical feedback. I can trust you to tell me where it needs work. As always, my sister Rose , for her help and support. Alex Storer, for another great cover.
And all the readers who told me they wanted more.
FOR MORE INFORMATION on upcoming books, maps and other extras, visit my website
www.alicesabo.com
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Did you love Gleanings? Then you should read Facade by Alice Sabo!
> An ordinary undercover assignment on Sector Port 8 goes critical for Galactic Intelligence Agents Hunter and Trash when a peculiar encounter ends with a woman becoming deathly ill. Hunter, an experimental Human and Trash, his long-eared, horned partner, realize she is not one of the known species. When her condition worsens, they take her to the Alleviators of Clouded Vale, the galaxy-renown healers who raised Hunter. Things get even stranger when his adopted family promptly shuts them out.
Coming back to his childhood home as an experienced agent has Hunter seeing things he'd never noticed before. Their latest patient causes a dramatic shift in everything he had thought to be true. The ancient buildings and dusty libraries of Clouded Vale may hold the answer to centuries-old questions. Hunter is determined to find those answers without endangering the people he calls family.
Read more at Alice Sabo’s site.
Also by Alice Sabo
A Changed World
Lethal Seasons
Scattered Seeds
Gleanings
Lessons Learned
Desperate Measures
Asher Blaine Mysteries
White Lies
Dark Deeds
Blood Relations
Sow it - Grow it - Serve it
String Beans
All Kinds of Squash
Swiss Chard
Tales of Haroon
High Barrens
Transmutation
Facade
Charade
Standalone
Unintended Consequences
Watch for more at Alice Sabo’s site.
About the Author
Alice Sabo is the author of books in multiple genres including high fantasy, post-apocalyptic survival, space fantasy and mystery. For more information on upcoming books, series order and extras see her website: https://www.alicesabo.com/
Read more at Alice Sabo’s site.