by Eric Vall
“Maybe they wrote on it with invisible ink,” Tara said with a hopeful smile.
“Ew,” Anna said.
“Why ew?” Tara asked.
“Isn’t invisible ink just pee?” Anna asked.
“What?” Tara scoffed. “No way! You can, like, buy it and stuff.”
“Yeah,” Anna said. “But where are you going to buy it now? Everyone knows that if you use urine to write on something then it turns into invisible ink.”
“That can’t be right,” Tara protested.
“No, that’s right,” Paige assured her with a nod. “You add heat to the page, and then the ink becomes visible.”
“Gross,” Tara said as her face scrunched up.
“I can’t believe you didn’t know that,” Bailey said. “I thought everyone talked about that when they were kids.”
“I don’t know what you were talking about as a kid,” Tara chuckled, “but I was talking about ponies and rainbows, not using pee to write secret messages.”
“I’m with you Bail,” Anna said, and she gave the blonde a high five.
“You guys are both gross,” Tara said, and she walked away.
“Good find with the map,” I told Paige after everyone had gone back to going through the jeeps.
“It didn’t really help much,” the brunette said.
“Maybe not,” I said. “But it does tell us that at least this group was confined to Vermont. Let’s hope the rest of them are, too.”
Vermont was a finite area, and a small enough place that I felt confident my team and I could take out anyone around. If these assholes were stretched across other states, though, then it could become a serious problem. Two outposts were bad enough, especially with the number of patrolmen running around, but if there were more outside of the state, then we’d have to figure out our best course of action. It wasn’t a problem I wanted to have.
“Right,” she agreed. “I’m almost done going through the glove box.”
“Good,” I said. “I’ll do the other one.”
I headed back to the first jeep and pulled open the jockey box. A bag of white powder fell out, along with a half-empty pack of smokes. There were also a bunch of crumpled up pieces of notebook paper, but when I flattened them out to take a look it was just some dude’s shitty drawings of dragons and naked anime girls. The anime drawings weren’t half bad, actually, but the dragon needed some serious work. I was curious, too, as to why this guy was drawing naked women when I knew for a fact they had female slaves at the Lebanon camp. Maybe they had to earn time with the girls, and this guy hadn’t quite made it yet. Whatever the case, I crumpled the drawings back up and tossed them on the ground.
Under the drawings were a few empty baggies that looked like they once had white powder in them, but nothing else. It seemed only one group needed a map when they went scouting. That made sense, and it was smarter to only send one group with the information, rather than both, that way if they were caught and tortured there was a fifty-fifty chance that whoever they caught would even know where they were headed for the day. I guess it didn’t matter after they arrived.
I checked under the seats, and in the center console, but I didn’t find anything informative or useful. For a jeep that I was sure was shared between plenty of guys, the vehicle was well maintained as far as cleanliness. I didn’t see any food wrappers or cigarette butts inside, though I figured they probably threw those out on the street. Not that it mattered too much at this point, cigarettes would soon be a thing of the past.
“Anything?” Anna asked me.
“Nope,” I said, and I shut the jeep door. “Let’s pack up what we have and get going. We’ll be able to get back before evening time if we leave soon.”
“Are you going to cook us some more elk for dinner?” Tara asked as we loaded the cargo from the jeeps into our truck.
“I can if you want me to,” I laughed. “I’m glad you liked it.”
“It was really good,” Bailey agreed. “I never would have eaten elk before the EMP, but I think it’s my new favorite meat.”
“Mine, too,” Paige said.
“It’s just because you’ve never had it before,” I chuckled. “Once you’ve eaten enough of it you’ll find it’s like any other meat.”
“I don’t know,” Anna said with a shake of her head. “It’s pretty tasty.”
“Elk for dinner it is,” I said with a grin.
“We better hurry, then,” Paige said. “Betty’s quick to make dinner when we’re gone.”
“Good point,” I said.
“I’m sure she’ll be happy that she gets a whole day off of cooking,” Bailey chuckled.
“She deserves far more of them,” I said.
“It’s true,” Paige said. “But those hoe cakes are just too good to pass up.”
Once we finished loading everything from the jeeps into the back of our truck and siphoning off their gas to top off our tank, I hopped in the driver’s seat while the girls climbed through and sat along the bench. Anna took her typical spot in the passenger’s seat, and soon we were off. It was well into the afternoon already, and the day started to get cooler as we drove, so I rolled my window down to feel the breeze on my face. It felt nice after such a long, hot day.
I loved the spring and summer months, but ours would be spent working, so I’d take every chance to get cool that I could. I felt my bandana get cold, and I pulled it off to feel how wet it was from sweat. I definitely needed a haircut, and soon.
“It’s so nice out,” Anna sighed, and I looked over to see her window was down, too, and she had her foot propped up on the dash. She had let out her hair as well, and a few strands flew out the window and moved with the wind.
“Normally I’d be cold with the windows down,” Tara said, “but that does feel good.”
“So, what are you going to make us for dinner?” Paige asked.
“This girl,” Anna chuckled and gestured to Paige. “Always thinking about food.”
“Yup,” Paige laughed.
“Well,” I said, and I thought for a moment, “there’s nothing better than a grilled elk steak, so how about some of those?”
“With baked potatoes,” Tara suggested.
“Sounds good to me,” I agreed with a grin.
“Yum,” Bailey said, then she leaned her head back against the seat and shut her eyes.
The girls grew quiet and relaxed as I drove us home, and I felt myself grow relaxed, too. We had managed to get all the supplies we needed to put in the waterline tomorrow, plus we had a few more guns now, and the world had been rid of some power-hungry assholes. I’d say it was a good day.
There were still more druggies out there, and there was plenty to do both on the farm and off, but that would all be settled tomorrow.
For the rest of the day, I would focus on the good.
Chapter 4
The next morning I rose just before dawn and woke up the girls.
“Hey,” I whispered. “Time to get up.”
“Already?” Bailey asked as she stretched and rolled over.
“It’s not even light out,” Tara complained, and she buried her face into her pillow.
“Since when do we get up when it’s light out?” Paige laughed as she sat up and put on her glasses.
“Come on,” Anna said, and she sat up and gave Tara a push on the shoulder. “We have work to do.”
“I bet Rolly made us coffee,” Bailey said.
“Ugh, fine,” Tara grumbled, and she sat up and glared at all of us. “You’re all far too chipper in the morning, you know that?”
“Absolutely,” I laughed.
“We’ve been getting up before dawn every day for like ever now,” Anna chuckled. “How are you still not on this schedule?”
“Some people’s internal clocks are different,” Paige said. “What time your body naturally wants to wake up is actually a biological component.”
“See?” Tara sniffled. “It’s not my fault. My body betraye
d me. That bitch.”
“I doubt that’s the first time you’ve used that excuse,” Anna said.
“Oh, shut up,” Tara said, and she hit the redhead with her pillow.
“Hey!” Anna exclaimed, and she yanked up her own pillow to hit the platinum blonde back.
“As much as I would love to see a pillow fight right now, we do have work to do today,” I said as I stood up and pulled on a pair of khaki shorts.
“Head downstairs,” Anna said. “We’re right behind you.”
“Alright,” I agreed. “I’ll check on the coffee situation.”
I pulled on a T-shirt and my hiking boots, and then I headed downstairs. It was still dark out, but I could see the vaguest semblance of light through the windows as I made my way to the living room. Rolly and Betty were already there, and I took a seat next to the old man.
“Good morning,” I greeted them.
“Morning,” Rolly replied, and he handed me a cup and poured me some of his famous coffee.
“Thanks,” I said with a grin.
“Where are the girls?” Betty asked. “You letting them sleep in?”
“Not a chance,” I told her. “We have work to do. They’re awake, they’ll be down in just a few minutes.”
“Alright,” the old woman agreed. “I have breakfast baking in the stove.”
“You’re too good to us,” I told her. “What’re you making?”
“A quiche of sorts,” she informed me.
“You already gathered eggs today?” I asked.
“Yup,” she told me. “The chickens are out in the yard right now.”
“Oh,” I said, then I thought for a moment about how I hadn’t seen Winchester upstairs when I woke up. “Wait, is Winchester out there, too?”
“Oh, yeah,” Rolly chuckled. “He loves to be out there with those chickens.”
“It’s the shepherd in him,” Betty said with a soft smile. It was obvious that she loved the dog, and I wondered if she had her own farm dog before all of this happened.
“He’s a good boy,” I said, then I took a sip of coffee.
“He is,” Betty agreed.
“The cows and horses still need to be fed this morning?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Rolly agreed. “We didn’t make it down quite that far.”
“That’s alright,” I said. “The girls and I can take care of it, and the traps, too.”
“What are we going to do?” Anna asked as she came down the stairs.
“Feed the cows and horses and check the traps,” I said.
“I call traps,” Paige said.
“I’ll take the cows and horses,” Bailey piped up.
“I’m with Paige,” Tara said.
“You didn’t want to help feed Buttercup and Gray Lady?” Bailey asked.
“Not if it means feeding the cows, too,” Tara said, and she wrinkled her nose. “They’re so smelly.”
“They’re cute,” Bailey said. “And the babies are especially cute.”
“Well, it looks like I’m with you, Bail,” Anna said as she took a seat next to the blonde.
“Alright,” Bailey agreed with a smile.
“Can we drink our coffee first?” Tara asked as she poured herself a cup.
“I think that’s a reasonable request,” I told her.
“What smells so good?” Paige asked.
“Quiche,” Betty chuckled.
“Yum,” the brunette replied.
“What’s quiche?” Bailey asked.
“It’s like a pot pie kind of, but with eggs,” Anna said. “You’ve never had quiche?”
“I don’t think so,” Bailey said. “But I didn’t eat eggs for a long time.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Tara agreed. “It’s super good, though.”
“It would be better with spinach,” Betty said, “but we’ll have to wait for harvest time for that.”
“Oh, I can’t wait,” Bailey said with a wide grin. “We have so many more plants this year.”
“We do,” Rolly agreed. “I’m looking forward to some of those beans.”
“Me, too,” Paige said as she poured herself a cup of coffee.
“I wish we could have some fruit, though,” Bailey said. “I know it’s more difficult to grow fruit trees.”
“They take years to produce fruit a lot of the time,” Paige said.
“We have strawberries and blueberries,” Betty said. “We can make do with those for now.”
“You’re right,” Bailey agreed.
“Doesn’t Briar have a couple of cherry trees at his house?” Paige asked.
“Now that you mention it,” Betty said, “I think you’re right.”
“I remember seeing them one time when we were over there,” Paige said. “They weren’t blooming or anything, but I recognized them.”
“We’ll have to make sure we swing by there and check on them from time to time,” Betty said. “We might be able to get some cherries, too.”
“Can’t we just move them to the farm?” Tara asked.
“Oh, no,” Rolly said. “Knowing Briar, those things have probably been in the ground since before he was born. There’s no way we could get them out, even if we wanted to. They’d die from the shock.”
“Plants can go into shock?” Anna asked with a raised eyebrow.
“They can,” Betty confirmed. “It can be devastating for them to be moved or repotted. They’re very finicky little things.”
“I always figured it was easy to keep them alive,” Tara said with a shrug.
“Probably because you were never in charge of them,” Anna laughed.
“True,” Tara chuckled. “My house was full of plants as a kid, but I never watered them or anything.”
“My mom couldn’t keep anything alive,” Anna said. “I’d secretly water the plants every now and then, but still, only about half of them survived.”
“Oh, goodness,” Betty chuckled.
I smiled to myself and sipped my coffee while the girls chatted, and once I was done I stood up and headed to the door.
“We heading out?” Paige asked, and she hurriedly took another sip of her coffee as she stood up.
“I just was going to check on Winchester and the chickens,” I said.
“We’re ready,” Anna said. “Let’s get these chores done.”
“Good idea,” Betty said. “We should get a jump on today, it might take a while to put together the whole water line.”
“You’re right,” I agreed. “Will you make sure everyone else is up? We’ll need all hands on deck for this.”
“I’m on it,” Betty assured me. “We’ll head out right after breakfast.”
“Alright,” I said, and the girls and I headed outside.
I let Paige and Tara head into the woods to check the traps, then I sent Bailey and Anna down to feed the cows while I took care of the horses. Buttercup and Gray Lady had been moved back up to their old pen after winter had finished, and we often let them roam in the field near the school. They were easygoing horses, and they never wandered too far. Still, I grabbed a couple of flakes of alfalfa from where it was stocked near their pen and threw it in for them. They happily greeted me with whinnies and Gray Lady reached her head over the rope fence so I could scratch behind her ear.
I let them munch for a little while, then I opened their fence so they could go out into the field when they were done eating. We were running low on alfalfa, so letting them graze in the field was the best way to ensure that they were fed without having to use more alfalfa to get the job done.
They didn’t head out right away, instead, they continued to eat their alfalfa, but I knew that once they were done they would head out into the field. Everyone would be outside soon enough to work on the waterline, so they’d be well looked after for the day.
I headed down to where Anna and Bailey were with the cows, and I found the girls had let them out as well. The moms and babies grazed in the yards of the small town. There were a coupl
e of bulls as well, but they were older and sweet, so they just grazed along with the rest of the herd.
“Hey,” I called as I approached the girls.
“Hey,” Bailey said as she turned around to smile at me.
“How’s it going down here?” I asked.
“Fine,” Anna said. “We’re getting low on hay, though, so we figured we’d just let them out.”
“Yeah.” I frowned. “We’ll be out soon, but there’s plenty of grass for them to graze on.”
“Bailey was right, though,” Anna chuckled. “The babies are super cute.”
“All babies are cute,” Bailey said.
“Not true,” Anna said. “One of my friend’s moms had a baby when we were in middle school, and that baby was ugly as hell.”
“Anna!” Bailey scoffed.
“What?” the redhead asked with a shrug. “It’s true.”
“I’ve seen some not cute babies,” I said.
“You, too?” Bailey asked.
“Some babies just aren’t cute,” I said. “I was an ugly baby.”
“Whatever,” Bailey laughed. “I’m sure you were super cute.”
“I had a giant head,” I laughed. “Definitely not cute.”
“I was an adorable baby,” Anna said proudly. “Who doesn’t love a baby with red hair?”
“It’s true,” Bailey agreed. “Red-haired children are adorable.”
“What about you?” Anna asked.
“What about me?” Bailey asked.
“Were you a cute baby?” I pushed.
“I guess so,” Bailey said, and she pursed her lips. “I looked like all my brothers and sisters.”
“Hm,” Anna said. “I’m starting to think you were an ugly baby.”
“I told you,” Bailey countered with a smile, “there’s no such thing as an ugly baby.”
“Ugly baby,” Anna said, and she looked at me and nodded, so I nodded back.
“Ugly baby,” I agreed.
“You guys are jerks,” Bailey laughed.
“Alright,” I chuckled, “come on, let’s herd the cows up to the field with the horses. I’d rather them be out behind the school where we can see them.”
The girls and I started to push the cows up toward campus, and when we arrived at the top of the hill I saw that Betty had the tables set up outside for breakfast. She and Rolly had stopped what they were doing, and they helped guide the cows in the right direction.
