A New Home (Chasing Destiny)

by Abigail Denver

  “This vision was the worst I’ve ever had. In my vision, the entire adult population of the planet was killed off by disease. The kids who were left took it upon themselves to kill one another off.” Her eyes looked bleak. “Everyone died, except for a small community in the wilderness of Idaho. The community was completely surrounded by stone walls, reinforced with steel.” She looked at the oldest boy for the first time, staring into his eyes. “You were the leader of that community.”

  His eyes widened. “You don’t even know me.”

  “I know I don’t, but I will. We need you. We need all of you to move with us to Idaho and start building that community now. We have seven years to prepare it. If we fail, the Earth’s population will die out.”

  The man laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” He looked at his wife. “He can barely keep out of trouble at school. And he’s going to be the ruler of a community of kids? And keep the human race alive?”

  “I know it seems far-fetched. We’re very aware of that fact. That’s why my daughter brought you the winning lottery ticket yesterday. She thought maybe it would convince you she really can see the future,” Leah said softly. “And if you join our community, we’ll need the money from the ticket.”

  The boy spoke up for the first time. “I believe her. I want to go.” He smiled at Hannah as if he’d known her for years. “I know she’s telling the truth.”

  His parents looked at each other in wonder. “When are you planning on going there?”

  Leah smiled. “I haven’t even purchased the land yet.” She pulled the folded page from the atlas out of her pocket and spread it on the table. “This is the area we need.”

  They all leaned over the map. The younger boy pointed to the river running through the area. “That would be good for fishing.” His eyes lit up at the idea of fishing. Hannah smiled to herself. He was going to be the woodsman for the group. He’d fish and hunt and provide a great deal of food for their community.

  Hannah nodded. “We’d build greenhouses, and with those, and the rivers, we’d have enough food to sustain ourselves. By the time the land is purchased, we’ll have recruited the families we need. You’re the first we’ve contacted. There’s no point in going forward without our leader.”

  The older boy smiled at Hannah. She judged him to be around thirteen. He couldn’t be much older than that to survive. He had the nicest eyes she’d ever seen. She could see why she ended up married to this boy. “I’m Justin,” he said.

  “Hannah.” She grinned at him across the table. Wow. She was smiling at the boy she’d spend the rest of her life with, and he didn’t even know it.

  “I’m Jason,” said the younger boy.

  The three sat smiling at each other as their parents pored over the map. “I’m a lawyer,” the father finally said. “I’ll see to the purchase of the land.” He paused after seeing Hannah’s face light up. “I’m not saying we’re coming. We’ll have to discuss that as a family. I’m just promising to help with the land.”

  Leah sighed with relief. “You’d be perfect for the job then. I’ll leave the buying in your capable hands. It’s not something I was looking forward to doing.” She handed them a piece of paper with their address and phone number. “Call us after you’ve talked over what we’ve said. We must seem insane to you.”

  Justin shook his head. “Not at all.” He grinned. “I always knew I’d rule the world one day.”

  Hannah giggled softly. “You will.” She stood. “We need to be ready to move by September. As soon as the land is purchased, we’ll hire someone to build the wall. We’ll want it fourteen feet high and thick. I’ll draw out the specifications. Once the wall is built, we’ll all move there. My vision told me September first is the date to move, so we need to get started.” She looked at the calendar on the wall, noting the date. June fifteenth. Could they collect all the people they needed and get the wall built in two and a half months?

  The man stood. “I never even introduced myself. I’m Jim Ryder. My wife is Melanie.”

  Leah shook hands with them both. “Get in touch with me about the land.” She looked at Hannah. “Is there leeway, or do we need those exact coordinates?”

  “Exact. Don’t worry, it’ll work out.”

  She handed Justin a piece of paper with her email address on it. “Keep in touch. We’ll need to get started on forming the council before we even go there.”

  Leah shook her head. “They haven’t said whether or not they’re coming, Hannah.”

  Hannah nodded. “They’re coming. They’re the easy ones to convince. Wait ‘til we talk to the general and his family. They’re the hard-headed ones.” She was not looking forward to meeting the general.

  “We’ll be in touch within the week,” Jim told them. “Hopefully the land will be purchased and we can have them start building the wall.”

  Leah looked at Jim. “Why do you believe her?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. But I do. It’s probably the whole lottery ticket thing. Melanie said she was sure it was the winning ticket when she gave it to her. She knows what’s going to happen. We need to get the children ready to survive.”

  As Leah and Hannah drove back to the airport, Hannah sighed with relief. “That was much easier than it could have been.”

  Leah nodded. “A lot easier than the others will be, I’m sure. How many families are we going to have to do this with?”

  Hannah grinned at her mother. “You might want to close your practice now.”

  Leah sighed. “That many?”

  “Fifty families. One-hundred kids.” For the first phase.

  “I’ll give my two week’s notice,” she said. “All except for Tanya, of course. I’ll have to find a way to keep working her in.”

  Hannah nodded. “Yup. I’m going to call her right now. I want to see her tomorrow.” Another family to capture on paper. They needed to find the general next. Nothing else mattered if the general wouldn’t agree to go.

  “I’m proud of you.”

  Hannah looked over at her mother. “Why do you say that?”

  “You saw something terrible, and you’re doing what you need to do to save the world. It can’t be easy trying to get people to believe you.”

  “It’s not, but I got the vision for a reason. I have to do what I can.” The words were simple, but the way Hannah felt about them wasn’t. She didn’t want to do this. She’d rather bury her head in the sand and forget about what she’d seen. She would never get to be an Olympic swimmer.

  Leah patted her hand. “We’ll do it together.”

  *****

  Within a month, Leah had resigned her position, and she and Hannah were travelling almost full time trying to get the others in position and ready for the move. Jim had been true to his word, and the parcel of land was now theirs. He’d hired a crew to build the wall to Hannah’s specification. None of them had been there yet, but they were given periodic updates keeping them all content.

  They had spoken to forty-five of the families, and there was only one hold-out so far. The general and his family. Leah parked in front of their Anchorage, Alaska home to speak with them again at the general’s request. This was their third visit.

  The general’s wife, a homeschooling grandmother, opened the door to let them in. Their son and daughter-in-law had been killed in combat, and they were raising their three grandchildren. “Come in. Donald is waiting for you in the dining room.”

  They knew the way, and wandered through the huge house, sitting automatically in the seats they’d taken before. “I’m still not sure I believe you,” the general started off by saying.

  Hannah nodded. “I know.” She’d known from the moment her visions had begun how skeptical he would be. The visions continued almost nightly now. She had to have him there or all would be futile.

  “But…..I’m willing to go along with you under certain conditions.” The general leaned back in his chair. He was in his early sixties with white hair and blue eyes.
He had a strong chin and a look in his eyes that brooked no argument.

  Hannah nodded. She’d expected this. “And those conditions are?”

  “I get to see to the training of the children. All of them. You’ll need an army to keep you safe.”

  Hannah didn’t argue. She knew the walls would keep them relatively safe, but she’d had two different versions of her visions about the time after the adults had died. One showed their community being over-run with them unable to defend themselves. The other, showed a well-run defense that pushed the intruders back after a short battle. She knew they needed to train, and if he was willing to do it, she was thrilled to hear it.

  “I think that’s a wonderful idea, sir.” She knew they needed him, and would find a way to help him prepare without giving him too much information.

  The general looked taken aback. “You do?”

  She nodded. “We need to be able to defend ourselves. The walls will help, but if an army comes at us, we have to be strong.” She wasn’t going to talk about the army that she knew would come. She didn’t want to frighten anyone.

  There were so many things about her visions she kept to herself. More and more would be revealed to key players as necessary.

  The general called his family into the room. “We’re going.” He looked at his wife. “Start packing.”

  She didn’t question him. Instead, she nodded. “What will we need to take?” she asked Hannah.

  “We can’t take much to start with,” Hannah replied. “For the first few months we’re there, we’ll be living in travel trailers. The important buildings will be built first. The cafeteria and greenhouses have to come first. The community center needs to be high on our list of priorities. Our government will be there.”

  The general looked at Hannah. “How many families have agreed?”

  “I’m still trying to locate the last five families,” she said. “Everyone else has agreed. We have forty-five families coming.”

  “What occupations have you covered?”

  Hannah pulled out her list. “My parents are both doctors, of course. We have a lawyer, a teacher, two farmers, seven stay at home moms, a police officer, you, an electrician, a plumber, a carpenter, a seamstress….” She handed him the list. “Most of the occupations we want are accounted for.”

  He stared at it, reading it silently. “You have another military man, I see. He’ll need to be willing to take orders from me.”

  Hannah smiled. “Yes, sir. I told him we were trying to recruit a general, and he said he would be more than willing to let you take the lead.”

  Leah was astounded by all her daughter had accomplished in a short period of time. She smiled to herself. Yes, the world was ending, but it appeared her twelve year old daughter was willing and able to take care of the situation. She wasn’t sure if she should be proud of her or scared to death.

  “What about supplies? Where are the supplies coming from?”

  “We’re buying them as we go.” She pulled the map from the backpack she’d brought with her, laying it out on the table. “We’re having underground storage dug here, here and here,” she said as she pointed to the places on the map. “The wall will be finished within the week, and they’ll start digging then. Once the storage is built, we’ll have our truck driver start picking up loads.”

  “What about guns and ammunition? How are we going to get everything we need without sending up red flags?” he asked.

  “I’ve done some research on that,” Hannah returned. “There are gun shows all over the US at different times. Each time a gun show is open for the next seven years, members of our community will go and purchase guns. Many times the dealers there don’t require paperwork. We’ll have what we need.”

  “Looks like you’ve thought of everything, little girl.”

  “I haven’t planned any of this, sir. It was all part of my vision. I’m just making it happen.”

  The general’s thirteen year old grandson, Jackson, spoke. “How will we choose the leader of the army?” The look in his eyes told Hannah he desperately wanted the job.

  Hannah smiled. “Your grandfather will hold a contest. I know the outcome, but it won’t be any fun if I share.” Jackson would be a fine leader of their small army, she thought.

  “What story have you given the men building the walls?” the general asked.

  Hannah shook her head. “I wasn’t sure what to say. Do you have any suggestions?”

  The general grinned. “Tell them we’re a religious organization who feels outside influences will be the downfall of families today. No one will want to come near us after that story gets out.”

  Leah smiled. “That’s a good idea. We’ll do that.”

  “When do we need to be ready to move?” the general asked.

  “September first is the plan. Each family will drive a travel trailer down, and we’ll meet up.” She referred to the map again. “This will be the area for the homes.” She paused. “I guess you guys will need to leave a lot earlier than the rest of us to get there in time. You’re coming from the furthest.”

  The general looked at it. “That’s right smack in the center of your area.” He nodded. “I like that.”

  She shrugged. “It only makes sense.” She pointed to another area. “This will be where the greenhouses are built.” She kept pointing to more places as she spoke. “The livestock will be here. The community center here, and this section,” she waved to a huge area in the northern part of the grid, “will be kept as wilderness. We’ll need to be able to hunt and fish there.” She indicated another area. “We’ll build the wind mills here. They’ll power our electricity once the power lines are down.”

  “Library?” he asked.

  “Part of the community center. We’ll need as many books as we can get. At first, of course, we’ll still have the internet for the information we need, but that’ll go down, too.” She sighed. “Within a few generations, all of our electricity and computers will go. We’ll be living a true pioneer lifestyle.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know how you kids’ll handle it, but I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”

  “We don’t have a choice, sir,” Hannah said honestly.

  “I can see that.” He stood shaking hands with both Leah and Hannah. “You have a very brave daughter,” he said to Leah.

  She nodded. “I’m very proud of everything she’s doing.”

  “You should be.” He sighed. “I’ll gather the military books I think will need to be included in the library along with some personal favorites. We’ll do our best to get everything we need before we head down there.”

  Once they were out to the car, Hannah slumped in relief. “He was the only one I was unsure of. My visions showed me two outcomes. One with the general and one without. There would have been no point without him.”

  Leah glanced at her daughter. “You certainly didn’t let on while you spoke with him.”

  Hannah shook her head. “I couldn’t. I had to let him decide for himself. He made the right choice.” The right choice for her and the other kids at least. But was it the right choice for him? Didn’t he deserve to have a quiet retirement?

  Leah smiled. “They’re all making the right choices. Where to next?”

  Hannah grinned. “How do you feel about flying to Colorado?”

  Leah raised an eyebrow. “Who are we going to find there?”

  “A hunter and his family. They’ve been living off the wilderness for years now. He’s not going to want to join us, but they will. His son is going to be key to our defensive strategy.”

  Leah smiled. “What are we waiting for?”

  “Our flight?”

  Chapter Three

  Hannah and her family were the first to arrive at the community site in Idaho. They deliberately went early to make sure everything was to the specifications necessary. As they got out of their travel trailer and walked around the area, Hannah knew this was the right place. The walls were perfect, and
the underground storages were as large as they needed to be. They could start buying everything soon.

  They spent hours that first day riding around in the truck across the site. She couldn’t wait for the construction workers to arrive. Everything that could be done by outsiders had already been done. It was time for them all to get to work on growing and building their own society.

  They travelled to the area that would be left as a wilderness and Hannah was thrilled to see all the wildlife there. They would have to work hard to make sure they didn’t overhunt or overfish it.

  One of the streams cutting through the property had caused some problems with the wall, she noticed. They’d built over it, but a strong swimmer would be able to swim under the wall to get into the community. They could always dam it, but that wouldn’t be the best solution. It would make more sense to have a twenty-four hour watch there during the “tumultuous years” as she’d begun to think of the twenty years following the death of all the adults.

  Emily kept looking around her and sighing. “I can’t believe you made us all move to the middle of nowhere,” she accused Hannah. Emily had been against the move from day one and had been extremely vocal about it.

  Hannah sighed. “I know you hate it here right now, but someday you’ll love it. I promise.”

  “What am I supposed to do here? I mean, you’re directing everything. Mom and Dad are the doctors. What am I gonna do?”

  “When the others arrive tomorrow, everything will start. The general is going to kick our butts in training. He wants to turn us all into soldiers. We’ll have to go to school. Some of us will train to learn how to can vegetables. Others will train to be doctors. You need to look around you and decide what you want to do with your life. How you think you can best be of use to our community.”

  Emily sighed. “You really make me sick sometimes, Hannah.” She kicked a clump of dirt at her sister. “I know you already know what I’m going to be doing, so why don’t you just tell me and save us all some time?”

  Hannah grinned. She did know what her sister would do. She was going to follow in their father’s footsteps and be the community doctor. She needed to decide that for herself, though. Hannah was doing her best to make sure decisions weren’t made simply because they were what she’d seen. People needed to feel as if they had free choice. “Now what fun would that be?” she teased.