EMP (Book 4): Desolation

by Ison, S. A.

  Iris came up along side of him. Her face was shining with happiness. He leaned over and kissed her and grinned.

  “Almost home. God, I can’t believe it, we’re almost home.” He said softly and he took her hand and kissed the back of it.

  “I just want to sleep, without worrying that we’ll be shot or attacked.” She said softly.

  “Oh yeah. And to eat food that isn’t half salt. My joints are so swollen from all the salt. I’m half afraid I’ll stroke out.” He grinned. She smiled and ran her hand across his beard. He’d have to trim that up. It had gotten longer, as had his hair. To have the ability to stop walking and stop looking over his shoulder. Christ.

  He felt Sakura struggling and stopped, letting Iris take her out. He’d not miss carrying her.

  “God, I feel fifty pounds lighter when she comes out of there.” He laughed. He looked back and saw that Liev and Dawn were doing the same. There must be some kind of puppy alarm clock, he thought and laughed, nodding to Dawn. Iris grinned and held the leash, so Sakura wouldn’t wander off. There were a lot of trees, but there were also open fields, meadows and bogs.

  The birds were now singing, their morning song and Tomi let it fill him. It was sweet music, home coming music to him. He saw the hill before him and grinned and pointed.

  “That’s my uncle’s hill. It isn’t quite a mountain, but it is damned high. We should be seeing his dock soon. It has a porch swing at the end of it.” He laughed, his mood light and the weight of all the past falling from his shoulders.

  “This place seems pretty deserted of homes and such.” Iris said, looking around.

  “It is, they’re farther back. And we’ll need to start looking for a place to cross. Up ahead it looks shallow.” He pointed and could feel the excitement building in him. Perrin caught up and grinned.

  “There is the place we need to cross. Looks like the water levels are low.” He said, pointing about three hundred feet up. The group walked closer to the river and could feel the soft wet ground beneath their feet. It was now fully light out. Tomi held Iris’s hand and picked up Sakura, keeping her tucked under his arm. They hopped from grassy clump to clump, then stepped into the water. He gritted his teeth. It was cold.

  They waded across, it was about a hundred and fifty feet or better. The water got deeper and deeper, coming up to his thighs.

  “Jesus, that’s cold as hell.” Iris said, sucking in her breath. She clutched Tomi’s hand tightly.

  “Sure is, but look, there’s my uncle’s dock.” He grinned down at her with joy, spreading across his face. He hooted and laughed and began to run. It was difficult until he was about knee deep and he picked up his legs. Iris was beside him laughing. He could hear Liev laughing as well. He turned and saw Perrin helping Dawn as well and they all made it to shore, gasping and laughing.

  “Holy shit, we made it brother.” Liev crowed loudly, laughing, his face bright red with joy. Tomi could also see tears. They were all crying. They’d made it. They were safe. They walked pass the dock and set the puppies down and began to walk up the back of the property. There were thick boards embedded into the ground that made a walk way and stair. Liev and Dawn were laughing and chattering like magpies. He was sure his uncle would hear them coming, long before he saw them.

  Little had changed over the past seven years and he felt a lump in his throat. Once more his eyes teared up. He was coming home, after so damned long. He walked ahead, Iris beside him. He’d let Sakura off her leash, it was her home and she needed to know this. The puppies ran ahead of them and Tomi heard barking ahead. It would seem that his uncle had a dog as well. He laughed and shook his head. He saw the dog, and it was a big boy, but he could tell it was a pup. The dog came up to the puppies who went to their backs and their tails wagged madly. They sniffed each other and then ran off in a pack.

  He looked up ahead on the trail and felt a slow grin begin to fill his face. His uncle was standing there, hands on his hips. His dark face suffused with joy. Tomi stepped ahead and ran up the last bit to his uncle and took the man in his arms and hugged him, holding him close. He was home, for the love of all, he was home.

  Epilogue

  Nine months later

  Tomi stood in the middle of the garden, he and Iris were pulling weeds. The seedlings had been planted six days ago and it would now be a race to pick the weeds so they didn’t overtake the garden. He could hear Sakura, Moon and Dodger. They were in the woods hunting something down. The dogs were huge and keeping them fed was a challenge. But, now that it was late spring, they were dragging in rabbits and squirrels.

  The previous fall, after they’d arrived and had rested up for over a month, he and Liev had gone on several hunting trips. They’d gotten several bucks and had used the meat for themselves, but also the dogs. Tomi turned when he heard Liev and Dawn making their way to the garden. Dawn was five months pregnant and glowed with health and happiness. Liev floated around her like a buoy to a boat. They’d been given a cabin, about three hundred feet across the way. It was a tidy two-bedroom cabin and they’d all worked to get it fixed up for Dawn.

  Perrin had taken the small hunting cabin that was closer to the river. He’d spent many days before the river began to freeze, on the swing with Keeler. Both men talking and fishing the hours away.

  “So, we picking more weeds today?” Liev grinned, he still sported the blue lines, though Dawn had stopped. When Tomi had asked when the marker was going to run out, Liev had grinned and pulled out a whole box of them, waggling his brows and laughing like a loon. This had caused Dawn to groan and walk away.

  “Yes, but we’ll leave it to the girls, we got to go look for some dead trees. Get started for next winter’s firewood.” Tomi laughed when he saw Liev’s shoulders slump.

  “Don’t worry, Perrin will be helping. If we can cut them into good lengths, we can just carry the logs up to the house and cut them down there.”

  “Do the chainsaws still work?” Dawn asked, rubbing the slight bump in her belly. She wasn’t showing a lot.

  “We’ll see. Keeler said he’d put fuel preserver in the cans, so, we’ll give them a try, otherwise, it’s gonna be a long and painful process to chop those bad boys up.” Tomi said, bending to pick an errant weed.

  “How’s your uncle this morning?” Dawn asked.

  “He’s okay. His cough is getting worse. He still gets around in the morning okay.” Tomi shrugged. They all knew his uncle was dying. He might live until the fall. But there wasn’t much they could do, but make him comfortable. He’d not be around for the birth of their child. Iris was only about two months along. He smiled at her, she was beautiful in the morning light, the sun glinting off her coppery locks. Her cheeks had a soft pink that tinged them. She’d been sick that morning, but said she’d felt fine after she’d puked. He swallowed and grimaced. She’d laughed at him when he’d started gagging. He’d had to run out of the room.

  They’d not had any trouble and had heard the occasional gun shot here and there. Hunters. The dogs were on patrol and all were good. He doubted anyone would want to come a mile within their range. That was good as well. From their vantage point, atop the high hill, they could see through the trees in the winter. They’d seen smoke, most from chimneys, but farther away, there had been a heavy smudge in the sky. They figured it was Elkhorn City.

  They’d all adapted and though the other cabins didn’t have power, they all gathered most evenings at the main cabin. There were plenty of books and boardgames. They played cards and told stories of their time on the road. They remembered Norman and Linda with love and reverence. Their lives were slower, but each day was filled with laughter and companionship. They all worked together and rarely spoke of the before, the time of laws and governments.

 

 

 
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