by Tate, Harley
“Is it not healing well?”
“It’s fine. The stitches came out without a problem. But I don’t know anyone who likes getting shot.”
Brianna agreed. “Tell me about it. They tried to take us out at the pharmacy, too.” She turned to Madison. “I know they saved your life, but they put us through hell to do it.”
Madison pursed her lips to keep from arguing. She understood Dani and Brianna’s point of view. They both almost died trying to find the vaccine that saved her. But Madison couldn’t help thinking about the other side. If the Jacobsons hadn’t preserved the pharmacy and risked their own lives to do it, she would be in the grips of a horrible, disgusting death.
Now, thanks to the hospital pharmacy, the entire group living at Brianna’s place had access to medicine they thought long gone. Not just vaccines and antibiotics, but pain relievers and suture kits, and a whole host of other medicines. She couldn’t discount what that meant to them despite the rocky start to the alliance.
If they could find a way to work together, the possibilities were endless. In a few years, they might be able to move back into town. Find a way to generate electricity through harnessing the Truckee river for hydroelectric power or outfitting buildings with solar panels to catch the summer sun. With triple the people all working toward a common goal, the future was wide open.
Peyton emerged from the small pantry area and pulled out a chair next to Madison. His football-sized frame barely fit at the table, but he never complained. If anyone would agree with her, it would be him. Madison smiled and gave his arm a squeeze. “What do you think about the Jacobsons?”
His eyebrows dipped as he thought it over. “I don’t know, to be honest. On the one hand, they’ve helped us: fixing up your dad, giving you medicine, even saving Dani after the horrible way everything went down.”
“But?”
He glanced at Brianna. “We don’t know what they’re really after.”
Madison scrunched her nose. “Who says they’re after anything other than survival, same as us?”
“That’s the thing, we don’t know. They have way more adults than us and a bunch of kids. Your dad said they had a whole system downtown with a warehouse for processing scavenging hauls. It had heat and sleeping bags and food, the whole nine.”
“So what?”
Brianna leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “If they’re so advanced, why do they need us to guard the pharmacy? Your mom and Larkin have been working shifts there all week. I get the sense we’re being used.”
“And being kept in the dark.” Dani scowled.
Pre-solar flare and resulting EMP, Madison would have blown her off as a typical, angry teenager, but Dani was a survivor and at this point, family. Madison trusted her judgment. She exhaled. “You really think they’re double-crossing us? What for?”
Dani stuck out her hands. “For all of this. As soon as they gain our trust, they’ll swoop in here and take the place for themselves. The Jacobsons might have a pharmacy, but we’ve got enough food stored up for three times as many families. And with the farm you all started last summer, we could feed a small town.”
Madison glanced at Peyton for help. “They haven’t given us any sign they want to take over. Do you really think that’s what they want?”
He palmed the tabletop, spreading his thick fingers across the grains of wood. “I hope not, but Dani and Brianna are right. As of now, we just don’t know. Don’t you remember Sacramento? The neighborhood turned on us in minutes. They killed Wanda and burned your house down because of what? Your mom’s supplies? Brianna’s Jeep?”
Peyton pressed his fingertips against the table hard enough to flush his nails. “We could wake up tomorrow to an invasion and be back at square one.”
Madison couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Not a single one of them was willing to take the Jacobsons at face value. Was that what the world had come to? Each makeshift family was on their own, not taking a chance, not trusting anyone?
She refused to accept it. Not without proof. She was sick of doubting everyone and everything and always thinking the worst.
Madison crossed her arms, mirroring Dani’s sullen vibe. “I might be wrong, but until they give us a reason not to trust them, I’m going to believe Ben and the rest of his family when they say they want an alliance.”
Brianna opened her mouth to argue when the door burst open and Colt tumbled in. His coat flapped open and snow fell in clumps off his shirt. His gloveless hands were red from the cold and tears streamed from the corners of his eyes. He’d been running without regard to the weather. Madison’s stomach curdled.
“What is it?” Dani sprang up, ready for action.
Colt waved them all toward the door. “Come quick. Walter found a broadcast on the radio. You need to hear it.”
Without another word, Colt turned and headed back through his hurried footsteps in the snow. Madison rushed for the coats and tossed them to their rightful owners before racing to catch up with Colt’s receding back.
She slowed when she reached his side. “What is it? The government? Aid? Is America coming back?”
He didn’t slow or even turn to look at her. “You won’t believe me unless you hear it for yourself.” Colt took the steps up to the radio shed two at a time and yanked the door open.
Walter sat in front of the control wall, a pair of headphones on his head. “Dad! What is it?” Madison rushed up as the rest of the young people filed in behind her.
Her father pulled off the headphones and turned to face the sea of panting breath and wide eyes. “It’s just about to restart.” He flipped a switch. A baritone voice filled the crowded room.
“This is General Arnold of the new Unified States of America.”
Madison swallowed.
“Rest assured our government is now fully functional and emissaries from the central planning office will be coming to your area to complete a census soon. Census workers can be identified by their yellow vests and Unified States of America ID cards. They will be escorted by senior members of the Unified Military Force.”
Brianna reached for Madison’s hand and squeezed. Unified? What did that even mean?
“We expect one hundred percent compliance. After this initial round of information-gathering, aid workers will arrive to disseminate information, rations, and potable water.”
Madison couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It sounded like the instructions for an internment camp or a refugee facility. Not the government of the country she’d grown up in. Not America.
“Please be patient as we complete the intake process. You will receive more information about jobs, resources, and the rule of law in the coming weeks. The Unified States of America are back and better than ever before. We must all do our part to thrive.”
The recording began again and Walter shut it off.
“What the hell was that?” Brianna pushed her curls off her face, holding her head like it might explode. “Unified States of America? Is this some sort of a joke?”
“It didn’t sound like a joke to me.” Peyton’s face paled to a color somewhere between milk and Swiss cheese. “It didn’t sound like we had a choice, either.”
“There should have been elections or discussions or something. They can’t just make up a new country and put this general in charge.” Brianna spun around in a circle. “We have rights!”
“Not anymore.” Colt kept his voice even, but Madison could hear the anger behind the words. “For all we know, the president is dead and this General Arnold is in charge.”
Dani wrapped her arms around her middle. “It’s just like Eugene all over again.”
Madison shuddered remembering the stories Dani told about Colonel Malcolm Jarvis and her narrow escape from the National Guard.
Walter held up his hands. “We don’t know that. We don’t know anything more than what the radio broadcast told us. There will be a census worker coming soon. We can ask him or her for information.”
<
br /> Brianna snorted. “Is that before or after their armed guards shoot us for insubordination?”
“We should keep an open mind.”
“Like we’ve been doing with the Jacobsons? How do we know these yellow-vested creeps aren’t just scouts reporting back what to confiscate?” Brianna palmed her forehead as she paced back and forth, her voice rising with each frantic thought. “We should hunker down and fortify our defenses. No way is some census taker getting in here and seeing what we have.”
“Brianna, please.” Walter tried to smile. “Let’s not be rash.”
She snorted. “We have to get Tracy and Larkin out of that pharmacy. They need to know what’s coming.”
Walter checked his watch. “I agree, but their shift is almost over. By the time we get there, we’ll have missed them.” He stood up. “We can rendezvous at the Jacobsons and have a two-family meeting. Tell everyone at once.”
“No way!” Brianna stomped her foot. “This is exactly what Ben’s been waiting for. He’ll probably open the pharmacy doors and let these Unified States of America thugs come in and take it all.”
“That can’t happen.” Colt’s jaw ticked. “If we tell Ben about the radio broadcast, then we have to convince him that the census takers are a threat. We have to protect the pharmacy.”
Madison chewed on her lip. There were so many unanswered questions. Did the man on the radio speak the truth? Was there really no such thing as the United States anymore? How long would it take these new workers to reach a small town in northern California? Weeks? Months?
She voiced her thoughts. “What if the census people never make it here? Truckee’s a tiny town. Only sixteen thousand when it was full. They might not even come.”
“We can’t risk it. We have to prepare.”
Brianna nodded. “Colt’s right. We need to bring Tracy and Larkin home.” She reached into her pocket for the Jeep’s keys. “I can leave now.”
Walter tugged on his coat. “I’ll come with you.”
“Are you going to tell Ben?” Colt stood beside the door, concern pinching his brow.
Walter hesitated. “I don’t know yet.”
“You should do what you think is right.” Madison stepped toward her father. “If you assess the situation and you think Ben can be trusted, you should tell him.”
Brianna tugged open the door. “We can decide together.”
Colt nodded his head in agreement. “Fine, but be careful. Once the information is out there, we can’t take it back.”
Madison watched from the corner of the shed as her best friend and father rushed to the canary-yellow four-by-four. She wouldn’t be able to concentrate until her family was reunited and they could talk everything over together.
Whether the radio broadcast was truthful or not, everything had changed.
Chapter Four
TRACY
Truckee Mountain Hospital
11:00 a.m.
“You think there’s anything left of Hollywood?”
Tracy glanced over at John Jacobson with a sad smile. “Probably not.”
The young man kicked at a scuff in the linoleum as they walked down the hall. “I was a film major in college. You know, before.”
“At UNLV?”
He nodded. “Planned on moving to LA as soon as I graduated. Hollywood was a long shot, but I was willing to put in the work. Grunt jobs, waiting tables, that kind of thing.” He puffed out a breath. “Seems stupid now.”
“Don’t say that. People always need entertainment.”
“Not a lot of work in the movie industry at the moment, if you hadn’t noticed.”
Tracy slowed to look up at John. He towered a foot above her in height, but the more she got to know him, the more he reminded her of Peyton. Quiet, strong, humble. Peyton’s father had gone the Hollywood route, turning his back on his only son to pursue his career. Fame and fortune wasn’t the holy grail people made it out to be.
“What if you started writing stories? Or learned to sing?”
John stopped walking, his eyebrows screwed together like one giant caterpillar. “And what? We all put on a musical like the von Trapp Family Singers?”
Tracy laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“I was picturing us all in outfits made from curtains singing Do Re Mi.”
John tucked his chin and laughed into his chest. “You don’t want to see Ben in lederhosen.”
The pair lapsed into silence, Tracy thinking about the future with the Jacobsons as allies and possibly more. Madison and the rest of the younger members of their group needed friends. At twenty years old, Tracy’s daughter couldn’t be expected to stay single and alone her entire life. She needed opportunity and the Jacobson clan provided it.
John and Daniel were good boys, about her daughter’s age, and willing to put in the work to keep their families safe. Over the past two weeks, Tracy had gotten to know more of the Jacobson family, including Ben’s wife Jenny and their small children. Combining forces would turn their little group of survivors into a small town.
Together, they could make something of this new life. She glanced up at John as they rounded a corner. “Thanks again for saving Madison. If your uncle hadn’t given the go-ahead, she wouldn’t have made it.”
John rubbed at his hair. “I wish you’d stop thanking us. I still feel terrible that we tried to take you out.”
“We would have done the same thing.”
“How’s Dani?”
“Healing up. The stitches came out yesterday. She’ll have a scar, but mobility seems fine.”
“Good.”
Tracy pressed her lips together. She wanted more than anything to solidify the alliance between the two families. As the de facto leader, Ben Jacobson had the ultimate say, but John’s word had to count for something. After another moment’s hesitation, she took the plunge. “Do you think Ben will want to pool our resources?”
“You’re already working shifts here.”
“True. But what about the farm operations and scavenging? With all of us working together, we could expand our search areas and build something more.”
“You mean like a new town?”
Tracy nodded.
John squinted down the hall like he was trying to see the future. “Logistics will be difficult. We’re at least ten miles apart.”
“We could use the hospital as an anchor. Clean it out and set it up as a base.”
“Too risky. When it warms up, people will be all over this place.”
“Then we should move all the drugs out.”
“That’s not my call.”
Tracy picked up on the irritation in John’s voice. “But you’d like to?”
John slowed as they reached the pharmacy door. He pushed it open. “Ben says it’s too dangerous.”
“What is?” Major James Larkin stood inside the patient waiting area, a rifle in one hand and a year-old protein bar in the other.
“Eating that, for one.” Tracy’s mouth turned down in disgust. “Did you scrape the mold off it, or are you keeping it on for flavor?”
Larkin grinned. “You know those best-by dates are suggestions only. This thing will last another year at least.”
He was no longer a member of the US Army, but Larkin still found a way to remind everyone of his ability to handle the worst conditions. He ripped another bite off the bar before contorting his cheeks as he tried to chew. After a few agonizing moments he choked it down. “See? It’s fine.”
John groaned.
Tracy shook her head. “Remind me to thank Anne for her canning skills. I’d take a jar of asparagus over that dried-out brick any day.”
“Then you should thank me for not dipping into her supply.” Larkin wadded up the wrapper and threw it in the abandoned trash can in the corner. “So what’s so dangerous Ben won’t do it?”
Tracy glanced at John. The boy didn’t volunteer, so she spoke up. “He doesn’t want to relocate the pharmacy.”
; “I agree.”
“You do?”
Larkin nodded. “We can’t move it until the snow thaws. Too difficult to get trucks in here and load up with ice and freezing temps. But as soon as it warms, it should be priority number one.”
“He’ll never go for it.” John perched on the edge of the intake counter. “We tried to get him to move everything over the summer. Ben wouldn’t even have the discussion.”
“Then we need to change his mind.” Larkin motioned to Tracy. “We’ve got seven good shots and plenty of ammunition. With combined forces, there’s no reason not to move the pharmacy unless we’re clearing out the hospital to use for some other purpose.”
Tracy nodded. She’d been thinking about the hospital and what they could do with it all week. With the sheer size and limited access points, it could be the start of something larger than themselves. They could consolidate everything from a library to a general store to the pharmacy and clinic all inside.
It would take months of hard work, but the hospital’s location made it ideal as a home base. Sitting on the north side of the main road with only a small commercial area surrounding it, they could clear the entire area and set up a wider perimeter defense before the next year’s winter.
All that space, safe from the winter elements, with plenty of natural light in the exterior rooms. Safety dictated they move the pharmacy’s stash while they rebuilt, but it wouldn’t be forever. Once they secured the small commercial area of town where the hospital was located, they could move it back and expand.
Tracy lifted her head with a smile. “I’m sure if we explain our thought process, Ben will understand.”
John snorted. “You don’t know my uncle.”
The radio sitting on the counter crackled and Daniel’s voice filled the room. “Daniel to base. Daniel to base. Over.”
Larkin picked it up. “Base responding. Over.”
“We’ve got movement in the north parking lot.”
Tracy stiffened. With the temperatures hovering around freezing until late afternoon, they hadn’t seen a single person in days.
Daniel continued. “Looks to be two scouts. Bundled up for the weather.”
