Finding housing, food, and other supplies for the nearly thirteen-hundred some odd people from Nebraska and the fifty volunteers from Maine has been difficult. The Maine group sent a large amount of their numbers to the Oregon group to help protect them, while the rest have stayed put to defend their home. Our homes are nowhere near the walled boundary Eve set in place, and we haven’t spent much time keeping up the unoccupied homes between us and it, so we have had a time getting homes ready for them. On top of that, Raven’s people have been making daily trips to the military bases, bringing in all of the working guns and ammunition they can lay their hands on. Plus, we are having a hard time working in training sessions for all able bodies, plotting ambush tactics, and a long list of other things Malachi and Peyton, the most knowledgeable ‘warriors’ Maine has, seem to feel we should know and do on top of our normal daily chores.
None of us has ever seen war. I mean we have some old movies about a war in a country called Vietnam, one that shows airplanes bombing an island called Hiroshima. Then there are movies on these two wars called World War I and World War II. Footage from 9-11 and the battles that followed it. We even have movies and books that are about wars in places I couldn’t find on any maps or in any encyclopedias, but those are our only true experiences with war.
Eve would talk about war sometimes. The stories she told were horrifying. She told me that she prayed every night that we’d never have to experience war. Now I’m the one praying.
Mounty and Lynn, Mounty’s second in command, have been a real comfort to me through all of this, especially Lynn. Almost from the moment she arrived, she has been a blessing, helping me get everything organized, helping me make difficult decisions, and helping me stay sane. I’m not sure what it is about her that calms me, clears my head, but I’m grateful to her.
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I’m going to have to stop here. I’m sorry for the abruptness. I really do have more to relate. Thousands of pages of things to say, but I have just been informed that my time here is nearly up. The rebels are nearing and the war will be starting soon. I was going to work up to the events that are about to transpire. Tell you all the things that have happened in the years following Wes’ accident, but it doesn’t seem that I will have the time. So here are the cliff notes of the last seventy years.
Wes survived. Eve gave birth to her first daughter, Eva, two months later. She had two more daughters, one of them my grandmother, Eli. Eve did her best to build a great life for her family and her town. But that life wasn’t always puppies and rainbows.
Caleb grew up and married Jasmine. I know, it was a surprise to everyone but Delia. Vera and Loui eventually married and had children as well.
The town grew and prospered until the first real attack by the rebels fifty years after the sickness, which destroyed a few of our green houses and some unoccupied homes. It took a few years to get things back together, but we managed.
Ten years ago, a large group of our people was traveling west to Oregon to trade some food when they were ambushed. We got in a few good licks, but most of our people were killed and our supplies taken. That same year, Eve passed away in her sleep. She went to bed early one night and didn’t get up the next morning. It was a good death. She deserved to die peacefully after all that she had gone through.
As I said, there has been the occasional rebel group trying to take over some of the surviving cites. Most of them have been small and easily quashed, but there are two that have grown larger than we, I mean “we” as in the collective survivors, can handle. On and off for the last ten years or so, they have both been gaining power. They haven’t been a large problem because for a long time the only thing they did was fight amongst themselves, but now they have called a truce and started working together. They have upped the ante so to speak.
A part of me doesn’t want to abandon the village Eve created. It is my home, my life, but I’m not a part of it anymore. Once we fight this battle, I’m leaving, and I will most likely never come back. I belong with Lynn’s family now. I belong to Lynn.
The Maine group and the Oregon group have agreed to fight with us, and of course, the entire Nebraska group is here so they will be fighting also. Too many towns have been demolished because of this rebel group. I cannot let them take mine also.
I will stay and fight, but no matter the outcome, I’m leaving. Mom is a little upset by this; she doesn’t understand why we cannot stay here. I do not even know where to begin to explain. She understands my relationship with Lynn. She sees fully how much I love her and could not possibly be without her, but she insists on begging me to stay.
I pacify her with promises that I do not, no, cannot keep. She is not stupid; she sees the lies behind my eyes.
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This will be my last entry. It has been a week since the fighting broke out. Richardson has been demolished. The remaining citizens will be going to Oregon. Lynn and I will be heading to Maine. My mother and sisters are dead. I have no family left.
All of Eve’s diaries are gone and my mind is too occupied with the events of the last few days to remember any of the old stories. I’m sending this to Oregon. My family is gone and I don’t want these reminders. Most of it has to do with the shame I feel in not being able to protect my people; the rest is because my grief is beyond anything I can handle right now.
No person should have to watch the people they love die the way I have seen my family members die these last few days. I sound cold-hearted, I know, but I’m exhausted. We are held up in a small ranch-style house outside of Richardson. I can see the smoke and smell the ash from here. I have to get away now and forget this place.
Epilogue 2 – Present Day
I toss the book aside and bury my head in my arms. I don’t cry. I can’t, but I mourn. Lynn’s gone. Mounty’s gone. Everyone’s gone. I’m alone. I’ll die here alone. The rebels destroyed everything, and there is no one left to pick up the pieces. I had no time to send those pages to anyone. No time to rest.
For ten long years, I’ve been fighting. We finally won, but the cost was too great. There isn’t a soul beside myself left to enjoy the victory. I should give up. I could give up. I could lie down on my bed of scraps and succumb to the cold and the hunger. I won’t though. I have to try, for my own sake. For the memory of all who fought and died so that I could live. I may be alone, but I have to try.
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Acknowledgements
I want to thank my mother for always believing in me and being the first person to ever read this novel. I thank my best friend and one of my editors, Candace Forbs. She had faith in this project when I had given up all hope of ever finishing it. And I want to thank my second editor, Kathryn Cruse for all of her hard work in helping me finalize this novel. All three of these women have given me the courage and confidence to make this novel happen. Ladies, again, I thank you.
About the Author
Jennifer Lynn Powell Reynolds is a native of North Alabama. She is newly married. She and her husband tied the knot on Friday, September 13, 2013.
Jennifer has a Master of Fine Arts degree from National University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Alabama.
Writing has always been a large part of her life. In high school, her local newspaper published a large number of her poems, and she won numerous poetry and short stories awards. Since high school, she has worked on a number of different projects, but her focus has mainly been on her education.
She wrote Alone, around the time she graduated with her B.A. Since then, she has written numerous other novels, short stories, and poems.
Aside from spending her days immersed in the fictional worlds she creates, she works part time at Stained Glass Artistry.
You can reach Jennifer at:
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJenniferReynolds
or
https://www.facebook.com/Alone.Jennifer.Reynolds
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Alone Page 28
