by Nathan Jones
All five men burst out laughing at that. “Seriously?” the leader asked. “Do we look fat, well equipped, and conceited?”
Alarmed, Matt started to reach for his bear spray, noting Trev doing the same next to him, but before either of them could get out their cans the nondescript short man whipped his other hand out of his pocket to point a small caliber pistol at Matt's head. At his cue the other man not holding a baseball bat pulled out a larger handgun to point at Trev, while the rest raised their aluminum weapons threateningly.
“Ah ah,” the leader said, waggling a warning finger before tucking the hand not holding the gun back into its pocket. “Whatever you're reaching for, take it out slowly and toss it over.” Matt complied, tossing the bear spray at the nondescript man's feet. Once Trev's can had also been tossed over the leader smiled. “Good. We don't want to hurt you guys. You can keep going once you give us all your stuff. Consider it a tax for the privilege of entering the great town of Aspen Hill. That's where you're going, right?”
“Yeah,” Terry said cautiously. “Why?”
The men, who Matt guessed were refugees, chuckled. “Why not? Wonderful Aspen Hill! Where the men are men, the women are women, and everyone's a heartless monster.” Even when he said that last bit he still acted cheerful.
“What do you mean we don't want to hurt these guys, Razor?” one of the thugs with a bat growled. “I sure do.”
At that little Paul, clutched in April's arms, began to cry. Either he sensed her fear or the man's harsh tone frightened him. The refugee leader, Razor apparently, turned to glare at his lackey. “Cool it, man. But don't worry, you still might get a chance if they don't do exactly what I say.”
Trev started to move, and for a moment of pure panic Matt thought he was going to try something crazy again. But his friend was just raising his empty hands. “We won't try anything. You can have all our stuff.”
“You're right, I can.” Razor motioned with the gun and his three goons with bats rushed forward to strip off their backpacks and take the wagon, while he and his other armed friend kept Matt and Trev in their sights. “Even if you tried to stop us we'd take everything anyway, but this way you don't get hurt. Especially the blond, there. She'd probably pimp out for a pretty good price back in camp even though nobody has anything.”
April gasped and shrank back, clutching Paul tight. “Leave my wife out of this,” Terry shouted, stepping in front of her.
Razor lost his amused expression in a flash, and just as quickly snapped his free hand back out of his pocket. In it he held a folding straight razor, the kind used for shaving, which he flicked open one-handed as he started for Matt's brother-in-law. “You just had to open your mouth,” he snarled, running his thumb along the blade. It cut deep enough to make him bleed, and Matt wondered if this guy that had seemed like the calmest of the refugees was actually a psycho.
“They've got food, Razor!” the thug who'd taken the wagon suddenly yelled, straightening from rustling through the things stacked inside to hold up a can in triumph.
While Razor was momentarily distracted Trev slowly eased over to put himself between the nondescript man and Terry and April, making no threatening movements. “Yeah, we had food,” he said quietly. “Now you've got it and all our other stuff too. How about we just go, okay?”
For a moment Matt was sure his friend was about to get cut, but then Razor made his weapons disappear as quickly as he'd pulled them out, his hands once more shoved deep in the pockets of his baggy pants. “Thanks for your patronage, guys,” he said sarcastically. “Once you're in town feel free to let your people know their borders are being watched, and they can expect much worse than what we gave you if they try to leave. Any of them that still have guns won't for much longer, and even if that pencil neck Ferris sends his guys out after us we'll just disappear for a while and come back later. So let Aspen Hill know they're under siege and would've been attacked already if Ferris hadn't shown up. I hope they're ready to get a taste of what it's like to be desperate and at the mercy of others, staring at a border they can't cross.”
Matt wasn't sure what the punk was talking about, but he wasn't about to stop and ask. He started down the road past the five thugs as quickly as he could, leading the others and fighting the urge to look over his shoulder.
As he passed Razor the man casually leaned down and picked up a can of bear spray. “This is what you were defending yourselves with?” he asked, pointing the nozzle at his face with a grin. “Not a bad idea. Work well?”
“Yeah. You definitely don't want to get sprayed with it,” Trev answered reluctantly.
“I'll bet.” Razor flipped the can in his hand and without warning sprayed Terry in the face. April's husband went down with a strangled noise and she screamed and dropped to her knees next to him, even as little Paul in her arms began choking and coughing from the residual mist in the air.
The refugee turned the still-spraying nozzle towards Trev, and Matt watched his friend start to duck away, too late. But before the spray could reach him the flow petered out to nothing.
“That's it?” Razor demanded, glaring at the empty canister. “A few seconds? No wonder nobody uses this stuff.” He flung the can at Trev's face, hitting him in the forehead. “Get out of here.”
Together Matt and Trev picked up a choking, wheezing Terry between them and did their best to drag him away as April hurried ahead with the two boys. After a hundred feet or so Matt glanced back to see that the refugee bandits were digging through the wagon and their backpacks, laughing as they tossed clothes aside to get to the food and other useful stuff inside.
Once they'd put a few curves in the road between them and Razor's thugs April rushed back to take Terry in her arms, pulling him gently down to the ground with his head in her lap. “We have to wash out his eyes!” she snapped.
Terry nodded, looking scared as he choked out some desperate advice. “I've interned at the hospital long enough to see what pepper spray does. I could go temporarily blind, but more importantly if I pass out you need to check to make sure my airways stay clear and I keep breathing.”
Trev was already pulling a water bottle from his pack. “Let's be quick. I want to get away from that nutjob before he decides to do anything else to us.”
For a tense minute they doused Terry's face and flushed out his eyes, nose, and mouth, as April used the sleeve of her sweater to wipe away the snot streaming from his nostrils while he hunched over on the road, hacking and spitting over and over again. Matt had a lot more sympathy for the other people he'd sprayed when he saw his brother-in-law's misery. Even if it had been necessary to defend himself it still looked like a miserable experience.
Long before Terry seemed the slightest bit recovered he pushed to his feet, staggering slightly. His eyes were scrunched shut and every time he opened them they were bloodshot and endlessly leaking tears. “Let's get out of here,” he insisted. “Just guide me along, okay?”
Matt and Trev got under his arms to support him again while April led the boys ahead, and they walked as quickly as they could in the direction of the town. As they went Matt did his best to sort out what had just happened.
Who was Ferris? Why had Razor claimed that nobody in town had guns? And more importantly why was Turner letting this psycho and his refugee thugs mug people just a few miles outside of town? If Razor really didn't care if they told anyone about him then did that mean he didn't think there was anything the people in Aspen Hill could do to stop him?
“I have a feeling we've been gone too long,” Trev said grimly.
Matt tried to smile in spite of the adrenaline pumping through his system. “At least this time it's not the cops taking our stuff.”
His friend surreptitiously patted his underarm holster, where he had the empty .357. “And at least they didn't frisk us. For once I get to walk away from a shakedown without losing my gun.”
“What do you think they meant about Ferris and no one having guns?” Terry asked in a phlegm
y voice.
Trev shook his head. “We'll find out soon.”
Matt was slightly alarmed when they hiked the entire rest of the way to Aspen Hill without seeing anyone. Where were the patrols? It was bad enough that Razor was robbing people just outside of town, but if there was nobody defending the place he could just waltz right in and start looting houses or who knew what else.
At the edge of town were the houses on larger plots of land, widely separated and usually connected to the gravel road by dirt or gravel driveways. They walked several blocks before they reached their first paved street, and to Matt's shock he saw a dark-haired woman walking along it towards them. That shock turned to elation when he recognized her, then a little bit of worry as he thought about how close she was to the edge of town with no one between her and Razor's thugs.
Sam had been looking down at her feet, but when she finally looked up and saw them she slowed to a halt in the middle of the street, staring at Matt with wide eyes. He gently extricated himself from Terry and started forward, calling her name, and at that she gave a happy cry and rushed forward to throw her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder.
He returned the embrace awkwardly, looking down at her with surprise. Not to mention a surprising amount of his own happiness at seeing her. As they hugged the others reached them and gathered around, and April gave him a strained but genuine smile. When the hug still continued his sister mouthed “see you at home” and hurriedly ushered the others on down the street to give them some space. Or maybe to get Terry to their parents' house where she could make him more comfortable.
They were almost out of sight before Sam finally pulled back, cheeks a bit pink at her show of affection but still smiling broadly. “I'm so glad you're back! We've all been worried sick about you since you left, waiting each day for you to make it home with no way of contacting you to find out if you were okay.”
It surprised him how good it felt to hear that she'd been worried. It was also surprising that in spite of the hardship she must've suffered she somehow looked even more lovely and alive than he remembered. “It was a long and hungry walk and we saw some terrible things, but we didn't run into any real trouble.” He kept the encounter just outside of town to himself.
Her beaming smile abruptly slipped. “Oh, you probably want to get home and see your parents and then finally get some rest. I was going to go help the Widow Harris since she told your mom she's got a whole garden of root vegetables, carrots and potatoes and beets and radishes, that need harvesting. She said if I help her dig them up she'll give me a quarter of them.” Her smile slipped even more, coming perilously close to a frown. “I want to come back with you, but I already said I'd help and we could really use that food.”
“I'm not that tired,” Matt said, which was nearly true since it was still early in the day. But even if he was exhausted he would've agreed to endure being pummeled by 2x4s for a chance to spend more time with her. “How about I come and help you?”
Sam gave him a hopeful look, but immediately shook her head. “I can't ask that of you. Not after traveling for so long.”
On impulse he took her hand and started back down the road. Mrs. Harris's house was only a few blocks away, and even the work of digging would seem like a vacation compared to the endless walking. Or at least a change.
She didn't protest anymore, seeming happy to walk along beside him holding his hand. Her own hand was small and soft in his, aside from some calluses on her palms from the hard work she must've been doing while he was gone. After a short, contented silence between them she abruptly spoke. “I can't believe how much in my life has changed because of asking you to let me come south with you. Everything would be different now if I'd lost my nerve and stayed in my dorm.”
Matt smiled at her. “Regretting not finding somewhere else to hitch a ride to?”
“Are you kidding?” she asked incredulously. “I'd probably be a refugee like one of those poor people out in the camp, if not worse. You have no idea how fortunate I feel that I found you, that you and your parents were willing to welcome in a complete stranger as practically family.”
Her eyes darted away from his face timidly, then back to meet his gaze. “Actually I was sort of wondering if you regretted it. I pretty much tossed my stuff in your car and said I was coming along, and since then I've been nothing but a burden when your family already has enough to deal with.”
“Now you're the one who's kidding,” Matt chided gently, squeezing her hand. “You provided the gas, remember? And ever since we got here you've been doing everything you could to help around the house and out in town. I mean you were on your way to do some serious shoveling to earn food to feed the family when I saw you. If you're a burden I'd be happy to carry you anywhere.”
Sam's cheeks flushed again, and Matt abruptly felt embarrassed at the sappy comment. But then her wide smile returned and she squeezed his hand back, turning to look forward again. The contented silence settled between them once more, and in spite of all his weariness and worry Matt couldn't think of many times when he'd been this happy.
He was home. April and her family were home. And in spite of the hardships ahead they weren't refugees. They had a home, a family, and a community willing to support each other. “So any news about the town?” he finally asked. “Have you all been doing all right?”
She hesitated, looking over at him. “We have. The, um, City Council finished crunching some numbers recently and discovered that if the winter was mild, we butchered livestock and were able to forage like we have been, and we severely reduced our rations during the coldest days, about 80% of the town has enough food to last until spring.”
Matt wondered how she felt about that. For him, especially after seeing and even being part of the sea of humanity moving through the cities up north, that number seemed phenomenal. As long as his family was on the right side of it. “That's better than I'd hoped.”
She nodded, then hesitated again. “That was before a FETF relief convoy came with a truck full of food, though.”
“Here?” Matt demanded, surprised. He would've expected them to send all their aid to Price, since he'd heard that's where refugees were being taken in.
“Here,” Sam solemnly confirmed. “Yesterday at around noon. They forced us to take down the roadblock and Ferris, that's the administrator, took over the town and claimed the storehouse as his base of operations. There's a lot of people worrying that he's going to give all the food in there plus everything in the truck to the refugees out in the camp. He's starting a ration line tomorrow and everyone's allowed through. From what I hear a lot of the newly arriving refugees who'd otherwise have kept going down to Price are now sticking around because of the ration line, hoping to get fed.”
From his own experience with FETF and what his sister had told him Matt could almost guarantee that was what they were going to do. “Up north they were confiscating all the food from anyone with more than two weeks' storage,” he grimly told her. “April and her family lost everything and had to go to the refugee camps even though they would've been pretty well off.”
It was Sam's turn to be surprised. “Two weeks? That's more than half the town, including your parents!”
Matt nodded, stopping abruptly. “Listen, I hate to bail on you but this news changes a lot. I've got to warn my parents and help them hide our food before FETF starts going door to door. Can you handle the harvest alone?”
“I could,” she said, coming over to take his hand, “but there's no need to worry. Ed hid all the food last night. It should be safe.” She sighed. “I wish I could say the same about his hunting rifle. He was on a shift at Roadblock 3 with it when FETF came and Ferris saw him and the others with their weapons. He basically told them right then and there that they could participate in the food for firearms program or have them confiscated at gunpoint.”
Matt wished he was surprised at that news. April had talked about her neighborhood watch program being disarmed as well. �
�Food for firearms?”
“Ferris's tactic to get people on board with the confiscations.” The dark-haired woman tugged on his hand, starting forward again, and as they continued on she started filling him in on how things had changed in town, especially since FETF's arrival.
* * * * *
Trev was happy to escort the Lynns the rest of the way to their parents' house. Not only because he wanted to make sure Terry made it without trouble but because he wanted to find Officer Turner and tell him about Razor's thugs and the robbery.
He knew he should've been more angry about having his stuff stolen, again, but he was so relieved to be home that for the moment it hadn't sunken in. Besides, once he got back on border patrol maybe he could do something to prevent others from suffering the same fate. It worried him that the back of town didn't seem to be patrolled nearly as well as the north, south, and east ends. He'd talk to Turner about that, too.
Mr. and Mrs. Larson were out working in their garden when they arrived, and Aaron immediately gave a happy shout and rushed through the gate to throw his arms around his grandmother, little Paul squirming out of his mother's arms to follow. Mr. Larson caught him and tossed him into the air a few times, much to the toddler's delight.
Trev hung back as April and Terry joined the group for their own reunions, while Mrs. Larson fretted worriedly over Terry's face. When she finally turned to him Trev expected his own hug from the motherly woman, but instead he got a very flat look. “I'm glad you made it back safely,” she said in a cool tone of voice.
He hesitated, confused. After the huge risk and sacrifice of traveling up north with Matt to find her daughter's family he'd expected at least some warmth and gratitude from the older woman. “Is something wrong?”
“I'll say,” his friend's mother snapped. “That girl you left with us. Didn't do a lick of work, lounges around making demands and spitting venom, and keeps saying you promised to take care of her. She even got in a screaming row with Sam and clawed her arm.”
