Dystopia: The Beginning of the End (12 page)

They held each other for a little while before Matt spoke, saying, “I don’t know what to do about Astrid and the boys, of course they can stay here but the boys want to join the militia.”

Dez immediately said, “Not Eric, he is not old enough.”

Matt nodded in agreement saying, “I don’t know if that is a good idea or not and then what about Astrid?  I worry about what it will do if both of the boys leave her, we are practically strangers to her.” 

Dez softly kissed him and said, “Each day will solve itself my love, and no matter what comes we will handle it.  No sense it knotting yourself all up about things you may not be able to control.”

Matt looked at her; she always had a way of making him feel better about things. 

He said “Ryan will be coming by tomorrow to talk about it with them.  I think Jona could use some of the structure they can offer, but I don’t think Eric is ready for it.”

She just smiled and said, “Well then I guess you already know how to handle it.”

He gave her a quizzical look as she continued, “You do realize that Eric is not yet eighteen, right?” 

Matt’s eyes lit up, he kissed her and smiled, saying, “You’re right, that is true.”

Dez smiled at him and said, “Why do you think I said he was too young?  Eric can barely aim a rifle, let alone shoot straight.  Maybe we could suggest he set a test for anyone under eighteen. Ask him to be a bit harsh with them, Eric is a much quieter soul than Jona, he may just choose to wait a while on his own.” 

Matt hugged her, and they just sat holding each other for a little while before heading off to the mess hall for dinner.

Dez was glad for this moment of quiet time; she and Matt had had very little alone time since it all began. 

She began to massage Matt’s shoulders to try and get him to relax.  Matt stood up and turned to look at her, brushing the hair from her eye.  He reached for her face and kissed her gently as he moved them both onto the bed.  He missed her gentle touch and the feel of her skin against his.  They did not care that they would be late for dinner as they lay with each other after their quiet time of passion.

They quietly dressed and Dez reached for him, taking his hand in hers, she gently brushed it by her lips.  She looked at him like he was the only person on earth at that moment.  She loved him and he knew it.  He began to frown as he thought of how the day had played out.  It troubled him the whole scenario, although he was not sure exactly what part was so troublesome.

Dinner was a quiet meal that night; everyone could not believe it had all come so close to home the past few days.  They all knew from the reports they received from Arthur and Ryan that this kind of thing was going on.  But it all seemed so distant before, like watching it on TV, it was shocking sometimes, but somehow did not really affect them… until now.  

Matt was beginning to wonder if they were even safe there.  He thought they had been lucky, if the kids were not headed home the afternoon of the attack on their house.  What could have happened, the attackers could have been on the group before they even knew it or worse yet the kids might have been at home. 

He now knew why he was feeling so troubled and decided he needed to have a quick security meeting after dinner.  He felt they needed lookouts to watch the intersection at least.  He told Sam and Loel he wanted to talk about it and they both said they were thinking the same thing and agreed to work it into the schedule the next day.

Chapter 16

“Halloween”

“This world of ours… must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.”

-Dwight D. Eisenhower

October 31
st

              Matt sat on the porch that morning sipping on his coffee.  The sun had only just come up and the air was crisp but not too cold yet.  He was thinking about how to implement their ideas for the forward lookouts, and his afternoon meeting with Ryan about Jona and the other two kids. 

Dez came out to sit with him, he liked it when they had time alone, and it was so rare these days.  Matt had never really liked to be around people much. It was why he worked from home a lot, he was quite content to just be at home with Dez. 

Neither of them said anything, Dez brought a blanket out they sat and drank coffee snuggling on the porch swing, watching as the sun rose higher. 

Dez was the first to speak and smiling she said, “Happy Halloween.” 

Matt found it hard to believe it had been more than a month since the lights had gone out.

Dez continued “Earth to Matt, are you in there?”

He looked startled, saying, “Hua… oh… yeah, I was just thinking it was more than a month now since the lights went out.” 

Dez nodded, looking out down the road. 

She said, “It is Halloween, I was thinking we should have a costume party for the kids.  It is not like they can go trick or treating.  I think it would do us all some good too.” 

Matt looked at her blankly and said, “Oh, sure dear, that sounds nice.” 

She knew he had only half heard her and said, “I think you would make a cute girl, you can wear my heels and a mini skirt.” 

He just nodded and muttered, “Uh Hua.”

Dez chuckled and said, “Let’s get naked right here on the porch.” 

He nodded, and then it hit him just what she said, which snapped him out of his thoughts and he said, “Wait… what?” 

She laughed and said, “Glad to see you could join the conversation.” 

Matt apologized and said that he had a lot on his mind that morning, he asked what she was saying.  She told him she wanted to have a Halloween party for the kids. 

“They are all so sad and scared since Astrid’s parents died and I think it might cheer them up.” 

He kissed her and said, “That’s an excellent idea, in fact I love it. I think we all need a bit of revelry to lighten the mood.”

              Dez got up to refill their coffees and noticed Charleigh was up fighting with Ariel about getting dressed.

Dez laughed and said, “Like mother like daughter.”

Charleigh threw her hands up and huffed, “Whatever, run around naked for all I care.” 

Dez laughed harder and scooped up Ariel scolding her for giving her mother such a hard time.  She asked her if she wanted to swing on the porch with her and Papa.  Saying, “You have to get dressed first… even shoes because it’s cold outside.” 

Ariel scooped up her clothes and ran off to find her mother while Dez fixed the coffees. 

Charleigh came out all flustered with her mother, why did she have to spoil her that way. 

Dez frowned at Charleigh and said, “You listen here little miss spoiled herself.  That is a grandparents right.  I worked hard at spoiling you and if you think for one moment you can deny Ariel Mimi’s spoiling you are sadly mistaken.” 

Charleigh burst out laughing, but warned that if she was bratty all day it was her fault and her problem.  Dez laughed and hugged Charleigh saying, “I would love to hang with mini miss spoiled this morning. “

Ariel came out all proud, she was dressed and ready to swing with Papa.  Dez sent her out to sit with Papa while she filled her cup. 

Charleigh said, “Do you remember when she was first born?  Matt could not even walk into the same room without Ariel crying her head off, let alone hold her and now look at her, all about Papa.” 

Dez laughed and said it was funny.

              When Dez came out with the coffee, Ariel was tucked up under the blanket with Papa all cozy and warm.  She set Matt’s coffee on the table beside the swing and watched as he fussed over her and played the thumbs game.  

Dez asked Matt to play with her until it was school time and he said he would.  Dez told Charleigh he needed some play time, things were weighing on his mind heavy. 

They chatted inside about the Halloween party and were talking about plans for games and stuff for the kids. That’s when Toni came in the room chiming in that it was a great idea.  The afternoon was full of party excitement, all the ladies baked and planned for the party.  Everyone was excited and Matt thought it was good to see them all scurrying about for their party. 

Tawny picked out some nice pumpkins for them to decorate and Janice baked some of the seeds and made a pie from the cuttings. Reminding them that rest were to be cooked the next day, they were not to waste anything these days.

              A little while later, Ryan arrived and he and Matt took a walk to where Lynn had been positioned on the hill. Matt took him there partially for his opinion on its location for a lookout, but more so to have a conversation with him about the kids. 

Ryan agreed that Jona might fare better with them and that Eric should stay at least for a while. 

Ryan said, “Here is what I will do, I will tell Eric that if he can hit center mass on a target at least 75% of the time he is skilled enough to join before the age of eighteen, if not he had to practice more or turn eighteen to be eligible for the training.” 

They were both sure he could not do so and felt like it would give him the chance to have a goal with his practicing and also be there with Astrid for a time. 

Matt invited Ryan to stay for the party.

Ryan said, “I would love to, but I have about a dozen other things to do today.” 

They were scouting the northern part of the Richmond area with another Militia group up there.  They were having problems with the gangs out of Lexington as well.  Ryan wanted to link up with them anyway to help keep the northern sector safer. 

He also told Matt that he was pretty sure they knew where George was hiding out and he was hoping to get some back up from this group.

Ryan looked at Matt and said, “We think he could have upwards of sixty guys with him now, this would be very bad for our area if he continued to gain members.  I am trying to get more unity in our groups and I think the guys up in Richmond are going to actually help us accomplish this.”

Matt said, “Oh really? That would be great.” 

They chatted a bit more about things as they walked back to the house to talk to Jona. 

              Ryan walked right up to Jona and put his hand out to shake saying, “I hear you want to join us at the Militia camp.”

Jona paused a minute and stood tall shaking his hand and said, “Yes sir.” 

Ryan asked him, “Why do you want to be part of the militia?” 

Jona said, “That house at the bottom of the hill was my uncle’s house, I’m so pissed about it, I can’t think of anything else but wanting to make these kinds of people pay for what they’ve been doing.” 

Ryan frowned at him and said, “Son, this is not why we fight.  Revenge is never a good reason.  We fight to protect those who cannot defend themselves.” 

Jona stood at attention and said, “Yes, sir, I understand sir.” 

Ryan laughed and said, “Quit with the sir shit, call me Ryan.” 

Jona said, “Yes, sir…. uhhh... Ryan... sir.” 

Ryan laughed and told him they would be pulling out in an hour and to have himself ready. 

With that, Jona scurried off to get ready to go.  Ryan then went to see Eric and asked the same questions and treating him the same as he had Jona.  However, in Eric’s case he told him he was not old enough unless he could hit center mass on the target already. 

Eric lowered his head and said he had only just learned to use a gun and was having a hard time getting it on the target.  He offered to check on his progress on his next visit and Eric agreed to practice. 

Ryan told Matt that Eric was easy to persuade to stay for a bit and they both sighed in relief.  They all said their goodbyes and with Jona, he headed to the meeting up north.

              The party was a huge success, everyone had a good time.  The kids trick or treated around the yard, played games and watched movies. The adults sat and sipped some of Tawny’s honey mead that had been waiting for the past six months.  It was quite good, although she would not give away her secrets. Tawny made excellent wine and this was something new she was trying out before the power went out.

              Tawny and Sam went for a walk to check on Joe at the lookout and bring him some food from the party.  Dez had been noticing they took many walks together these days. 

She leaned over to Matt saying, “I see Tawny and Sam are spending quite a bit of time together.” 

Matt smiled, saying, “You know, Sam actually came to me like I was her father or something and asked if it was ok.  Saying he really liked spending time with her.” 

Dez looked at Matt and said, “As long as he isn’t leading her on, I think I will allow it.”

She laughed hard amused at her own comment. 

Matt scowled at her saying, “You know Sam better than that.”

She nodded with a smile and put her head on his shoulder, she liked Sam and trusted him with her best friend.

Chapter 17

“News from the North”

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.”

-Thomas Jefferson

Over the course of the next few days things were pretty quiet, everyone was doing small projects and keeping things running.  The biggest event of the day was that the shower was finished in the barn. 

They built the shower in there because they only had a single 12volt pump to get the water up to the water tanks which were mounted on the roof.   The water would be heated and then be gravity fed to the shower. 

They built a shower room off to the side of the barn that even included a changing area with a mirror and a bench. Both tanks were mounted on the south side of the roof. One above the other and painted black. They built a box around them and painted the area around the tanks black as well.  Using some of the thin, clear plastic sheeting, they covered it to keep the heat in. 

Herb talking with Jeremy said, “It won’t withstand much snow, but will do for now.” 

They rigged a hose to pump the water up from the rain barrels to fill the tanks, then they used another hose to make the shower, even adding the shower head from the back house onto the end.  They were amazed with the test water they put in a black plastic bag and set in the sun all day, the water got really hot.  They spliced in a hose with cold water to be able to adjust the temperature.

Everyone was excited to give it a try.  That afternoon they put names in a hat for the order, having small children shower with a parent.  The first name to be drawn was Astrid.  Everyone was pleased because she was so excited, it was good for her to find a small measure of joy. 

She was still very sad and withdrawn over the death of her parents. After Astrid left to gather some clean clothing for the shower. There was some talk that maybe Janice had rigged it that way.  They all got a good laugh when Janice got very uptight about it. 

“The very thought that I would do such a thing is absurd.” She exclaimed, as she winked at them all.

              They were able to get six showers out of that first sixty or so gallons and it worked beautifully.  While they were all sitting around chatting about various things of the day.  The kids were hanging out and milling around hoping for some TV time.  Matt looked around the room just taking it all in  Dez had been right, they were a close knit group and he cared for all of his new family.

The CB crackled to life in the corner, it was Arthur.

Matt went over to acknowledge him, saying, “Go ahead Arthur I hear ya, anything new tonight? Over.”

Arthur came back with, “Well, I guess this would be some news for you. Over.”

Matt replied, “Whatcha got for me tonight? Over.”

His reply was, “Well, I heard from a buddy over in West Virginia, near Huntington, he said that he had a message for someone named Matt in my area.  I’m guessing you’re the Matt over this way. Over.”

Matt replied that he likely was and asked what the message was. 

Arthur said, “He told me he had contact with a group that were on their way to our area yesterday, they came out of Massachusetts.  He said he spoke with a John and Danny does that ring any bells?  Over.” 

Matt was stunned and asked them to pause the movie and replied, “Anything else? Over”

Arthur came back with the rest of the message, “John says to tell you, all are ok, Matty doing well. They are coming in overland cities are too rough.  Slow going, but making progress daily. Over”

Matt practically shouting with excitement, acknowledged the message and thanked Arthur, signing off.

              Toni was practically bursting with excitement, “West Virginia?” she exclaimed. 

Matt keeping a cool head said, “Listen, we are all excited, but it will still be a while.  Overland means off road and on foot.  If we had a location, we might be able to go get them, but we have no idea where they are. The hams don’t give away their true location over the airwaves so they could be anywhere.  The location is given for a reference as to the distance and that is all.” 

They were still excited, although Matt figured it might be up to another month. It troubled him that it was already November and getting colder, he hoped that they would be ok.

November 4
th

              It was a cold morning, the coldest it had been so far.  Matt was up early making a fire, his thoughts on the friends and family trying to get to them.  Jeremy walked in just coming off his watch and told him all was clear on the road and offered to make the coffee.  

Matt grunted in acknowledgement.  While he was making the coffee Jeremy reminded him it was their turn to go check the farm house today. 

Matt said he remembered and then said, “Too bad we couldn’t swing into the taco bell on our way down and snag a couple of their burritos.”

Jeremy was practically drooling as he said, “yeah, one of them seven layer ones.”

They laughed and Jeremy scolded him for even bringing it up.  Downing their coffee, they promptly headed out to the farm house.  Matt wanted to get it over with. In all the time since the power went out, not a single person had been there.  But they promised Janice they would check every day and had done so.

              As they approached the spot that looked out across the field to the old falling down house they knew instantly, someone was there.  They could see that there was smoke coming from the chimney. 

Matt, grabbed the hand held walkie and told Jeremy to be ready for anything. 

He got out of the truck and said, “You should probably contact the group and let them know someone is at the farm.” 

Jeremy got on the CB and called up to the group.  Herb was monitoring it this morning and replied he would stand by. 

Matt walked up near the house and called out, “Anyone in there?”

The door cracked open and someone was peeked out. 

Matt continued, “Just checking on things are y’all doing ok?” 

A small voice called out, “Do you know Janice or Herb Campbell?” 

Matt smiled and said, “Sure do, mind if I come on the porch?” 

The girl motioned for him to come up and she opened the door a little more revealing she had a gun, not just any gun. She was sporting a Kimber 1911.45 ACP that would make Lynn drool a little. 

Matt laughed and said, “You won’t be needing that. Can I ask your name, ma’am?”

She said her name was Julie and he asked her to hang on a moment. 

He got on the walkie and told Jeremy the young lady’s name and said she knew Herb and Janice.  He relayed it to Herb.  Herb was so excited that he sent Toni to go get Janice, he already had his hopes up that it was their granddaughter.  Jeremy relayed that the lady’s name was Julie and needed him to verify her identity.

Herb was so excited he could barely speak.

He said to ask the young lady, “What time it is.”

Jeremy was a little shocked that this would be their response and laughed as he told Herb to hold while he relayed the information. 

Matt was curious what the time mattered, but said to her, “Ma’am, Miss Janice wants to know what time it is.” 

Julie flung the door open and blurted out, “It’s time for blueberry pancakes!” 

Matt relayed the information and Janice immediately began to cry, Herb was all choked up himself. 

He said to Jeremy, “That is correct my boy.” 

Jeremy relayed that was correct and said he was on his way down for them. 

Julie motioned for someone else to exit the farmhouse, Matt was not sure what to make of it. Until what stepped through the door was a beautiful yellow lab.  Tail wagging, tongue hanging out.  Matt was impressed that the dog had not barked or made a sound.  Julie gathered the things she had as Matt and Jeremy loaded them and the dog into the truck.

              The whole group was buzzing around Herb and Janice as they pulled in, Julie leapt from the vehicle running for her grandparents.  Charleigh was crying by this time, so happy for them.  After all the introductions, Janice whipped up some blueberry pancakes for breakfast, of course it was pancake mix with the little fake blueberries in it, but no one cared. 

Everyone was silent as Julie told of her journey.  She was a tiny girl barely 5 feet tall and only just turned eighteen, she had been at college up at UK.  Freshman year, this was even to be her first semester.  She was staying with her friend whose parents lived outside of Lexington. 

She told them she had had to make her way there moving only at night and hiding out during the day.  She said once she got to Richmond, she met a guy named Jona, who introduced her to someone named Ryan.  They brought her to her grandparents’ house where she had found the note and the food.

Matt asked her, “Did you tell them you were Herb and Janice’s granddaughter?”

Julie replied, “No, even though they were kind I had seen kindness go bad, and I didn’t want anyone to know where I was going.” 

She told them she had to hide in the shed for two days while some guys had a raging party in the cul-de-sac.

“They burned down a few of the houses and moved on.” 

She said she waited the whole next day and set out the night before they Matt had shown up for the farmhouse. 

She said she found the dog not long after she left Lexington.

Explaining how he was beaten and she had to spend two days in an abandoned barn nursing him.  He was a sweet dog and had actually saved her life once when two guys tried to rape her. 

She continued saying, “I thought he was going to kill them, but he just tore them up a bit before they ran off. One dropped the gun and that is how I got it.  I’ve never even shot a gun before, I don’t even know how it works.” 

Everyone laughed and Matt said, “Well, little lady you will most certainly learn how to use one.  But, we will get you one a little more manageable for you.  That thing is a gem, but maybe a bit much for someone who needs some practice.” 

Lynn laughed, saying, “Don’t go underestimating us girls.”  Then she winked at Julie.