Through Many Fires (Strengthen What Remains) (12 page)

C
aden was well out on
the causeway when it occurred to him that if he did get shot, Maria would
almost certainly come running after him.
Great plan you came up with Caden.
But there was no turning back. One man was visible at the blockade watching
him.

He
stepped forward with his arms away from his body.

Hopefully
they can see my uniform. Well…if they are bandits that might make things worse.

Another
step forward.

Now
three men watched him from behind a bulldozer.

Another
step forward.

A
gunshot echoed across the lake.

Still
standing. Nothing hurts.
He looked down.
No blood visible. All the pieces are
still there.
Even though he was fine, he suspected Maria was near panic.
She would come armed and dangerous. He had to calm things down quickly. “I’m
Caden Westmore. My father is Trevor Westmore. We are both from Hansen. He still
lives there. I’m here on orders from Governor Monroe. I just want to talk.”
Several moments passed.
Well, they haven’t shot me—yet.

One of
the men disappeared from view.

Seconds
ticked slowly by. He prayed both that Maria would not come and the men would
not shoot.

He
heard a car engine.
Maria?
No. The sound was from the roadblock. A
pickup truck came around one of the bulldozers, then raced down the road toward
him.

Caden
took a deep breath, but stood still. As the truck neared he stepped to the
shoulder.

Twenty
feet away, the rust and red pickup stopped abruptly. A man with a 270 hunting
rifle, stepped cautiously from the passenger side of vehicle. “Is that really
you?”

The
voice was familiar. He stared hard at the face. The hair was grayer and the
forehead more wrinkled. “Mr. Michaels?”

The
smile broadened. He slung the rifle onto his shoulder and stepped forward. “I
haven’t seen you since graduation.” He hugged Caden. “You must have paid
attention in my geography class, you made it back home. Last I heard you were
in Washington D.C. We thought….”

“
I
almost did.”

A car
crept down the hill behind him. It was Maria. “That’s my friend,” he explained
to Michaels.

The
teacher pulled a radio from his pocket. “Glenn, it’s Caden. I told you I
recognized that voice. Anyway, that’s his car at the far end with a friend in
it, so hold your fire.”

Caden
waved Maria forward, and then turned back to Michaels. “So, did you guys really
shoot at me?”

The
driver of the pickup said, “No, not
at
you.”

Michaels
laughed. “Most people turn around when they see the roadblock. Those that
don’t, get a shot over their heads.”

“
That
scares away most of the looters,” the other man added.

Caden
smiled weakly and decided, at least for now, not to ask what happened to those
who didn’t flee.

Maria
drove up. Caden turned as she stepped from the car. Her eyes locked on him, but
no hint of emotion escaped her face.

After
introductions Michaels said, “I’ll take the pickup and lead you back to the
sheriff’s office.”

“
I’m sure
I still know my way around town. I don’t need a tour.”

“
You
may have grown up here, but you’ve been gone for years. Many people don’t know
you and a lot happened in the last few weeks. The sheriff will want to talk to
you, so it’s best that I go along to the office.”

Caden
relented and allowed Michaels to escort him.

Once
back in the car Maria said, “When I heard that gunshot….”

Caden
nodded.

Her
voice grew stern. “You could have been killed.”

“
I had
a hunch.”

With
eyes fixed on him she said, “Your hunch could have left you dead on some
backwoods road and me in the middle of nowhere with a half-a-tank of gas and a
baby. I know we’re not married or anything, but I do….”

“
I
care for you too. I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful.”

She
wiped her eyes and nodded.

After
passing through the blockade they paused while one man jumped out and Michaels
took over driving the pickup.

A few
minutes later, as they passed a narrow two-lane country road, Caden pointed.
“That’s the way to the Westmore farm.” His heart went down the narrow road, but
he kept the car headed into town. “Hansen is three miles farther down the
highway.”

Moments
later as they passed over a culvert where a creek ran under the road, Maria
pointed at two red-headed teens, a boy and a girl, fishing along the bank.

“
I’ve
fished in that stream many times,” Caden said. “There, up ahead is the Hansen
city limit sign.”

Maria
looked around. Farm fields spread out from either side of the street to the
hills in the distance. Ahead there was a motel, gas station and convenience
store, but no other buildings. “City? What city?”

“
Hansen
isn’t a city in the sense of Atlanta, but it is the county seat and,” he
smiled, “it has a number of multi-story buildings.”

“
Where?”

“
Patience
is a virtue. We will be downtown in less than five minutes.”

“
Downtown?
Five minutes?” she repeated incredulously.

Caden
turned at the corner. Children and adults mingled in the parking lot of the
motel, but the gas station and convenience store on his right were closed.
Glass
is still in the windows and they don’t appear burned. No looting? That’s a good
sign.
After they passed a line of trees, a school came into view. Children
ran about the playground.

Everything
looks normal.
He
scanned both sides of the street. Homes on the other side of the road were
intact and looked lived in.
No, something is different.
The town looked
tired and run down. Piles of garbage bags lined the street in front of nice
middle class homes. Some of the trash was carried on the breeze.

As
they continued the houses gave way to squat gray and brown shops, stores and
office buildings of two and three stories. Many of the windows were boarded up
and, like Olympia, the shops were mostly closed. Caden was grateful that the
looting and burning seemed to have followed the freeway and not made its way
here
.

As
they passed a five-story building he said, “Welcome to downtown Hansen.”

“
Where’s
the sheriff’s office?” Maria asked.

“
Just
up ahead, across from the court house.” A moment later a large parking lot came
into view. Caden had driven there several times before moving away.
No cars
in the lot and no cars on the road.

Michaels
pulled into the lot.

Caden
followed and parked beside him. Stepping from the car he asked, “Where is
everyone?”

Michaels
shrugged. “Most are home. There is nothing in the stores to buy so there’s no
work. The grocery store got its last shipment the day of the Seattle explosion.
Now the shelves are bare.”

“
I’ll
get Adam,” Maria said. “You guys go ahead.”

As the
two walked toward the sheriff’s office Caden said, “So there was panic buying?”

“
Yeah,
there was crazy buying from the day of the D.C. blast. Some shops tried to
ration supplies, but it didn’t work. Gas, food and medicine were in short
supply almost from the start and then quickly disappeared. After the essentials
were gone people bought everything else. It was insane.”

“
But
there was no looting?”

“
Some.
Outsiders mostly, but….”

He
didn’t press for details.

Stepping
through the door Caden saw a young deputy.

Chair
tilted back against the wall he read a book. Looking up, the deputy’s eyes
locked on Caden and he popped to attention.

Michaels
stepped forward and said, “Relax Doug, it’s just me and, well, look who we
found. This is Caden Westmore.”

“
Trevor’s
son? Nice to meet you. Your father did a lot for this community after the D.C.
attack. He got the blockade set up and organized the guards.”

“
Thanks.
I’m sure I’ll be hearing all about it soon, but right now we’re here to talk to
the sheriff.”

Maria
stepped through the door and Caden introduced her.

“
Just
go on in,” the deputy pointed ahead.

Looking
at the metal detector he said, “I have a metal belt buckle.”
And a pocket
knife.

“
The
town has been having brown outs this morning so I’ve left it off. Just go in.”

After
being buzzed through another locked door, they reached a part of the office
that he had seen only once before.

“
Sheriff
Hoover, this is Caden Westmore.”

Hoover?
Caden groaned
inwardly.

“
Caden?”
The sheriff turned as he said the name. As their eyes met he said, “A lot of
people thought you were dead. I’ll bet your mother was glad to see you.”

Other
than the gray that speckled his short black hair and just a bit more weight,
the man before him was that same person he had known as a deputy. “I haven’t
seen my mom yet. I came here first.”

“
Well,
I guess I should feel honored.” Without moving closer he looked Caden up and
down. “I thought you got out of the army.”

“
I’m
in the Washington National Guard actually, and I’m here on orders from Governor
Monroe.”

The
sheriff’s face grew dark. “Oh. What does he want?”

“
I’m
to assume command of the Hansen armory and the governor wants me to act as a
liaison to county leaders and local farmers.”

The
sheriff walked across the room and stood before him. “Liaison? Has martial law
been declared?”

Caden
recalled Becky’s assertion that the whole nation would soon be under martial
law and simply said, “Not yet.”

Hoover
shook his head. “I’ve been here trying to protect these people for weeks while you’ve
been who knows where. Now you want to march into Hansen in your army suit and
take command.”

“
I
don’t want any such thing.”

“
But,
if martial law is declared in this county, you will be the senior officer
here.”

“
That
hasn’t happened yet and I hope it doesn’t. Look, I’m not taking command of
anything but the armory. Everything else we can discuss later. Right now I want
to get home and see my Mother and Father.”

“
What?”
Hoover said in a surprised voice. “Michaels didn’t you tell him?”

M
ichaels looked at his
feet. “There never seemed to be a good time to tell him.”

“
What?”
Caden asked.

“
There
never is a good time.” Hoover sighed. “I don’t know the details, but…your
father is missing.”

“
Missing?”

“
He
drove up the North Road on the morning of the Seattle blast. He was going to
your brother’s place, but he hasn’t come back.”

“
Peter?
Sue?” Caden recalled details from the disaster map in the capitol briefing
room. He was certain his brother’s home was outside the blast line, but the
fire and radiation zones were larger. “The Seattle blast was six days ago.”
Once again he tried to remember exactly where his brother lived. “Okay, we’ll
talk later.”

Hoover
nodded.

As
they walked from the office Maria said, “Take the baby. I’m driving.”

Caden
looked her in the eye and didn’t argue.

In the
car, several minutes went by in silence as they backtracked their way out of
town. Caden shifted in his seat. He glanced at the speedometer, sighed, and
tried to will himself home. “Growing up I just wanted to get away. First
college, next the military and then a job in D.C. Now all I want to do is get
home. There’s Hops Road. Turn.”

“
Okay.
I remember.”

Farm
fields and pastures spread out in all directions with just a couple of houses
visible.

“
Where’s
your family’s home?”

“
You
can’t see it from here. Turn there ahead; see that dirt road up on the left.”

She
nodded and for another half mile the SUV bumped and splashed along the rutted
road.

“
Just
beyond those trees go up the driveway. It’s at the top of a small hill.”

As she
turned, Caden saw the white home he had grown up in. “Drive past the barn,
there’s a place to park between the buildings.”

“
It
looks nice, like a traditional American farmhouse.”

“
It
should look traditional; the original part was built by my grandfather. My
father did an addition and it has been remodeled, but much of it is nearly a
hundred years old.”

Even
as Maria pulled to a stop, Caden stepped from the car and looked toward the covered
porch of the house. From behind him came the unmistakable pump of a shotgun.
For the second time that day he slowly spread his arms away from his body.

Maria
stepped from the car and looked toward the barn with a smile. “You must be
Lisa.”

“
Who
are you and why are you here?”

His
back to his sister, Caden smiled. “Sis, is that anyway to greet your older
brother.” Gradually he turned and faced her.

She
squealed and ran toward him, fumbling with the shotgun.

Boom!

*
              
*
              
*

Caden
awoke to darkness.
What happened?
He remembered hearing his sister’s
voice and turning to face her.
She shot me!
His right leg throbbed. He
reached down and felt the moist bandage. Slowly he rose and sat on the edge of
the bed.
Robbers didn’t shoot me, the guys at the blockade didn’t shoot
me—Lisa, my own sister, shoots me.
He looked at the bloodstained dressing
around his lower leg and wiggled his toes. Muscles in his leg hurt, but the
toes worked.

He
looked about. On his right was the world map he had put up in high school. Pins
and string still traced the route of trips across the globe he had hoped to
take when he grew up. Over the years he had visited many far off lands, but now
he was glad to be in his old room at home.

Gingerly
he touched the back of his head, the door opened with a squeak.

Maria
smiled and then called over her shoulder. “He’s awake.”

Before
Maria could reach his bedside, Lisa burst in. “I am sooo sorry. Are you okay? I
didn’t know who you were and when I realized it was you…. I’m really sorry. I
could have killed you.”

He
smiled as he looked up at the sister he had not seen since high school. “I’m
really glad you failed.” She was still the wavy-haired brunette he grew up
with, but she was now, a grown woman.

Lisa
sat beside him on the bed. “After the D.C. blast we were afraid…. I was really
surprised to see you.”

Maria
turned on the light, pulled a chair over, and sat.

Floor
boards creaked in the hallway. He looked toward the door. She had more gray
hair than he remembered, but the smile from the woman coming toward him was
clearly that of mom. He tried to stand, but the pain told him to sit.

His
mother sat beside him on the bed and they embraced.

Wiping
tears from her eyes, she said, “You being here is a bright spot in all this
darkness.”

Caden
looked around the room with a smile.
Even if I did get shot upon arrival,
it’s good to be home.
“I guess I don’t need to make introductions. Maria, I
know you’ve met Lisa, but have you met my mother, Sarah?”

Maria nodded,
“We’ve been talking while you slept.”

His
mother took his hand, “She’s told us about your journey here, but if you’re up
to it,” she smiled, “I’d like to hear it from you.”

“
The
leg hurts, but I can talk.” He felt the back of his head, “I’ve got a bit of
headache. What happened there?”

Lisa
blushed. “You fell against the car when I shot you.”

“
There’s
a dent in the door where your head hit it,” Maria said. “The doctor thinks you
have a mild concussion.”

“
How
is my leg?” he asked.

Again Lisa
blushed. “It was buckshot and most of it went in the ground. Doctor Scott
thinks she got the rest out.”

Caden
had a thousand questions, but they were waiting to hear his story. “Okay.” With
a glance at Maria he said, “I’ll tell you how we got here, but when I’m done
you’ve got to answer my questions.”

They
agreed.

With
as little emotion as possible, he described the D.C. blast and his race to
leave the burning city.

His
mother nodded. “The news said tens of thousands left Seattle that day. They
just kept coming.” She shook her head, but said no more.

“
I
wanted to get to Atlanta and Becky.” Caden noticed the awkward glances toward
Maria. “I headed through Maryland into West Virginia. I was at the Georgia
border when they bombed Atlanta. I assumed Becky was dead, but she isn’t.”

“
Where
is she?” his mother asked.

“
New
York. She’s working for President Durant.” He took his mom’s hand. “Things have
changed between Becky and me.”

“
Well
son, I hate to say it, but I never did think she was the right one for you.”

Caden
shrugged and then described the fiery wreck and finding Adam not far from his
dead mother. “I took Adam with me to Fort Rucker hoping to find someone to take
him.” He looked around. “Where is Adam?”

“
Asleep
in the spare room,” Lisa said.

“
We
got a crib out of the attic,” Maria added.

His
mother smiled. “It was yours when you were a baby.”

Caden
felt his face warm. “Okay, well, continuing on with my story. After I arrived
at Rucker, I set up camp on the edge of a field near some trees. Armed robbers
came during the night and threatened me and the baby. They were about to shoot
Adam when Maria came out of the shadows and fired first. She killed one…”

Lisa
gasped.

“…
and
I killed the other. That’s how we met.”

Maria
stared at her feet.

Sarah
walked over and hugged her. Looking at Caden she said, “Maria told us you met
in Alabama, but she didn’t mention a robbery or saving your life.”

As he
told of the crash landing at JBLM his mother interrupted. “You were flying into
Seattle when the blast occurred?” she asked as she sat beside him.

He
nodded.

“
Your
father was driving into the city, maybe just arriving, when it happened.”

“
Sherriff
Hoover said he was looking for Peter. Why?”

“
Finish
your story, son, and then I’ll tell you all I know.”

“
There
isn’t much else to say. Maria and Adam came through the crash with bruises. I
was banged up a bit and spent a couple of days in the hospital, but overall I
was fine. The Governor wants me to take command of the Hansen armory and act as
a liaison to the community.”

His
mother squeezed his hand. Tears welled in her eyes. “I’m glad you’re here and
okay. I’m glad Maria was there for you and that you were both there for Adam.
You have angels watching over you.”

“
Why
did Dad go to Seattle? Why didn’t Peter and Sue come here?”

His
mother took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “On the day of the Seattle
blast Peter called. I talked with him only a moment. He wanted to talk to
Trevor. I’m not sure what was said, but your father grabbed his go bag and
went.” Tears flowed. “A couple hours later, when he would have been there….”
Tears became sobs.

Lisa
took up the story. “Peter called me early on the morning of the Seattle
bombing. I nearly shouted into the phone….

*
              
*
              
*

“
Peter!”
Excited, she fumbled with her phone, almost dropped it. “I’ve been worried
about you. I’m surprised you got through. I’ve been trying to call, but….”

“
I’m
at the station on an official line,” he said in a low, but tense voice.

“
Are
you okay? How is Sue?”

“
We’re
as fine as can be. I’ve been doing twelve on, twelve off since the D.C. blast,
but…I have just a minute and I wanted to make sure my little sister is okay.”

“
I’m
fine. The college has shut down until further notice and most of the students
have left. I’m just waiting out things in the dorm. I wanted to talk to Mom and
Dad about going home, but I haven’t been able to reach them. I stayed with
friends a few days, but they left, so I figured it was safer here in the dorm
than on the roads. Have you been able to phone our parents?”

“
Not
yet. The phone lines are restricted for official use, but I’ll keep trying. Do
you have the TV on?”

“
Of
course. Nothing else is on. Helicopters show endless lines of cars heading away
from the city in a massive horde. Everyone looking for gas and food. People
being carjacked. Robberies. Murder. I’ve been scared to travel and afraid to
stay.”

“
The
flow of refugees has slowed to a crawl. There isn’t much fuel left in the area.
This might be your best time to travel. Do you have gas?”

“
Yes,
about ten gallons.”

“
Do
you have a gun?”

“
No,
you know I don’t,” she took a deep breath, “but I have thought about getting
one. I’ve heard gunshots. Not on campus, but close enough. Do you think I
should buy one?”

“
You can’t
get one now. They’ve all been bought or looted.”

“
Look
Sis, I’m going to have to go any second now, but I want you to read Matthew
24:15 -18. A close friend passed it along to me just this morning. The verse
spoke to me in this time of tribulation, and I hope it does the same for you.”

“
Okay
I’ll look it up.”

“
I
love you, Sis. Read those verses and keep the news on. I’ve got to go.”

After
hanging up, Lisa looked about the room.
Where is my Bible?
She walked
over and turned up the volume on the television. The now normal terrorism
aftermath news continued with reports of radiation patterns from stricken
cities, causality counts, rationing and announcers on the scene of FEMA camps
and food distribution centers, but nothing new about the northwest.

She wasn’t
sure how much time had passed when her stomach grumbled.
I haven’t had
breakfast.
She searched the cupboard of her tiny dorm room for something to
eat.
Anything will do.
On the second self she found a candy bar and her
Bible. Flipping through the pages as she ate, she came to Matthew 24.

15
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel
the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

16
Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

17
Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his
house:

18
Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

That’s
not comforting. Why did he want me to read that?
Puzzled, she set her
Bible aside, and leaned back in the chair to watch more news.

A TV
reporter stood beside a map of the United States, “The state of California is
under martial law along with the District of Columbia, Maryland, Northern
Virginia and the Memphis metro area, due to terrorist attacks. In addition the
cities of Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit….”