by Jeff Ping
Chapter 8
I turned to Pete and said, "Get everyone mounted up and let's roll. I caught up with Mike before he could get in his APC.
"Let's catch highway 447 and cut through the hills by Pyramid Lake and skirt Reno. Plus, if we're followed, they will expect us to take I395 and might not look on the secondary roads," I suggested.
"Sure, good idea Bill." said Mike.
"Thanks Mike. You were right. That was the safest thing for our party," I said and we never spoke of it again.
That night, after a grueling 70 miles, we spent the night under a small stand of trees beside Pyramid Lake. During the night as I stood guard duty, June came over and asked me what the big debate had been about back in Fallon. I told her we were debating what to do about the prisoner.
"Don't give it anymore thought. You just did what needed to be done to protect us and the kids, that's your responsibility now. Not trying to save the world. The world has already gone to hell. Just save your little part of what's left. We are all thankful to be alive and neither Pete nor I will judge you for sacrifices you have made, be they actual or moral. Thank you," June said. Then she leaned over and kissed my cheek
"Don't let Pete see you do that or I might get challenged to a dual." I said with a laugh.
"But seriously, thank you. I'm sure that won't be the most difficult decision I ever have to make, but it will rank right up there."
The night passed without incident, and the next morning we pulled out continuing our trek to Northern California. This was our eleventh day away from Edwards AFB and my fifteenth day away from the truck stop and my garage.
Due to a wrong turn, we ended up in Appleton, a small mountain town where we stopped for the night. But Appleton seemed to be a friendly little community especially after word spread of the huge cache of weapons, ammo, canned goods and MRE's we had brought with us.
A few days slipped into a few weeks and before I knew it, I had been in Appleton for five years. June and the kids and I had moved into an empty house I commandeered. Pete was initially hurt by what he perceived as her betrayal. But a young girl his own age named Katy Craine soon changed his mind on that and we were all able to be friends again.
Mike and Sue had taken an empty house several miles from mine. Kali lived with them until she met Keith Mann about a year after we all settled into the community.
June and I had our first child, Billy, about two years after we arrived in town.
