“What do you know about Nebraska?” asked Ben.
“Probably not a whole lot more than you do. Whoever, or whatever group’s behind it has a plan that they seem to be carrying out with precision. They have electricity and vehicles. I have to assume that they are trying to rebuild some sort of society, but not with the best of intentions, as you’ve already experienced.”
Brian stopped and looked around carefully before continuing. “Here’s my fear. Based on the stories I hear, they are pretty unstoppable, and if that’s the case, we don’t stand a chance. Sure, maybe we repel the first group, and even the second. Eventually though, they’ll just come at us with too big of a force. And then what? Once they’ve taken over much of the country, are we going to be in any better shape than we were right after the apocalypse? The despair will be just as bad. There’ll be no freedoms. We might as well have just perished when everyone else did. The east coast had its plague. Now we have our own plague. And I don’t know if we can stop it.”
Something was being left unsaid, and I knew it. The downside to having a reputation was that everyone expected you to live up to it. Brian was asking for our help. But help with what? Fighting the Nebraska raiders? Brian knew it was just a temporary fix. Eventually Nebraska would win. It seemed to be a lose-lose situation. And yet….
There was nothing more to say. From Brian’s standpoint, he had put the bug in Ben’s ear. There was nothing more he could do. For Ben’s part, it was time to talk to Lila.
As he walked into the house, he was greeted with the aroma of roast turkey and freshly-baked bread. Lila had the table set, and she and Katie were sitting, waiting for Ben. Both had brushed their hair, and put on clean clothes. Katie looked like a miniature version of Lila, with her long, black hair. Both were smiling.
“I saw you coming,” said Lila, “so we put out the food. Thought you might like to eat at a table for a change.”
“We made all this, daddy,” Katie said with a grin. “Just kidding!”
Ben was speechless. “Where did it come from?” he finally said.
“Sharon and the other two women we met brought it all over a few minutes ago. I can’t believe it. It’s more than we can eat. I asked if they wanted to join us, but they said we needed some down time after all of our walking.”
Ben washed his hands and sat down. “This is amazing,” he said, biting into a slice of wild turkey.”
“How was your time with Brian?” asked Lila.
“Interesting. I’ll tell you later.”
“Good interesting or bad interesting?”
“Not sure. The jury is still out.”
*****
Later, as he was putting Katie down for the night, she looked up at him and said, “Daddy, I like this place. Can we stay?”
“I don’t know, honey. We’ll see.”
“Well I hope so,” she said, as she drifted off to sleep, with Ralph sleeping at the end of the bed.
When Ben got back to the living room, Lila said, “I heard what Katie said. I think she’s tired of walking.”
“I don’t blame her. I think we all are.”
He proceeded to tell her about his talk with Brian, and his spoken request that they stay, and unspoken request for help.
“Your thoughts?” asked Ben.
“I haven’t seen much of the town yet, but it seems pleasant. This house is certainly comfortable, but …”
“It’s not us,” finished Ben.
“Exactly. There’s a reason Yellowstone appeals to us, and maybe we’ve been spoiled. We had the perfect situation near the lake—except for the socialization for Katie. It just seems like we belong there.”
“How about this as a solution?” asked Ben. “We knew starting out that we’d never reach Yellowstone by winter. And even if we did, I assume we’d have to build a cabin, which takes time. Why don’t we stay here for the winter and leave in the spring. Then we could get to Yellowstone in time to get set up.”
“That sounds good to me. What are we going to do about Brian’s veiled request for help?”
What we always did.
Chapter 13
The next day was busy. Ben informed Brian that they would stay for the fall and winter, and into the spring, but couldn’t guarantee anything beyond that. Brian accepted that with pleasure and, Ben noticed, a fair amount of relief.
“But I need to know,” said Ben after discussing their plans with Brian, “how you are going to need us to help. It’s obvious that you want help with the Nebraska threat.”
“Am I that transparent?” asked Brian.
“Kind of.”
“The truth is, I have no idea if we will see them this fall. As I said before, we are a pretty big settlement, and it would take a lot of planning on their part to take us. But regardless of that, some preparation on our part is necessary. Whether they come this fall or next year, we have to be ready. We don’t really have anyone here capable of doing that kind of battle planning. Don’t get me wrong. Everyone here is willing to do their part. They’ve survived all this time, and they had to develop a good amount of toughness to do that. But they are not soldiers. Hell, I’m not either, for that matter. I was kind of thrown into this role by chance. They are all ready to fight if they need to. They just need someone to lead them.”
“And you think that person is me? Or me and Lila?” Brian nodded. Ben looked at the ground, a feeling growing in his gut. He couldn’t tell if it was dread, or whether he could detect a little excitement there. He looked up. “I’m not a battlefield general. Lila may look the part of a warrior, but she really isn’t. We are just two people who did what we had to do to survive. No different from anyone here.”
“Very different from everyone here,” corrected Brian. “I don’t think you quite realize your skills. I heard the stories…” Ben started to object, but Brian cut him off. “…and I know many of them were exaggerated. But give me some credit for knowing the difference. The thing is, you were both clear-headed when it came to battle. You didn’t just show courage, you used your brains. You strategized. We need that trait here. A lot of our people are ready to confront attackers with guns blazing, but that’s not necessarily what we need.” He took a breath. “Just help us develop a plan. That’s all I ask.”
Ben knew there was no way he could say no. He nodded and they shook hands. At that moment, Lila, Katie, and Ralph joined them.
“I have a house for you,” Brian said, now that the important discussion was done. “We still have a half a block of unoccupied houses down in the lower part of the town. They all need a little work, but you can take your pick. They’ve been fitted for running water from cisterns on the roof, wood stoves, and the chimneys are clean. Let me show you.”
As they walked, a pair of horses with riders passed them. Lila stopped, bringing the others to a halt, as well. “It just hit me,” she said. “We’ve seen horses here, but no stable. Where do you keep them?”
Leave it to Lila to notice that, thought Ben.
“Ah, yes,” replied Brian. “We haven’t told you about the farms. About a mile down the road from here is our horse stable—or stables, I should say. It’s big. We have close to 200 horses there. Further up the road is a farm, and still further is a ranch. Over the years we’ve rounded up cattle, pigs, chickens, sheep, goats, and horses. We have close to 600 head of cattle—lots of milk cows and lots of cattle for food. Needless to say, we have plenty of milk—we make our own butter, too—and plenty of eggs from the chickens. We still try to hunt much of our food, but when times get a bit leaner, like in the winter, we never go hungry. Everyone here has his own horse, including most of the children—even many of the younger ones. We’ll show you the ones that haven’t already been taken and the three of you can choose your own.”
Ben and Lila glanced at each other, and Brian caught the meaning.
“Let me guess,” he said. “You’ve never ridden before.” They shook their heads. “No problem,” he assured them. “Many of the people her
e, including me, had never ridden before. We have a couple of really good horse people. They can help you find the right ones and teach you how to ride. If you end up leaving in the spring, you can take them with you—our gift to you. They’ll make your trip to Yellowstone a lot easier. Even if you have to go many miles out of your way to get over a crevasse, you won’t mind so much, because you won’t be doing the work. So let me show you the house, and then I’ll take you out to the stables.” He hesitated. “And then maybe later, or tomorrow…” he trailed off.
“You’d like to start talking strategy,” finished Ben. “No problem.”
Brian looked relieved, and with it, Ben began to realize just how scared of Nebraska Brian—and probably the rest of the town—really was.
*****
The house wasn’t anything special—a small ranch-style, single-story home, probably built in the 1970s. It had two small bedrooms, a living room, and a tiny kitchen. An outhouse had been built out in the back yard.
“How do you keep the lawn from becoming overgrown?” asked Ben.
“We have some push lawnmowers in town, and a couple of guys have taken it upon themselves to be the town’s official mowers. We also bring in some of the animals from the farm to eat the grass. Works out well.”
“And the woodstove? It looks like it was added recently.”
“When we first got here,” explained Brian, “we found a few old trucks that weren’t affected by the event—you know, pre-computer chip truck.”
“Yes, we had one of those, too,” said Ben. “I eventually couldn’t find any gas for it.”
“That happened here, as well, but we got almost three years out of them before they went silent. We brought in everything we could, including woodstoves. All of the garages have been converted to storage areas.”
It didn’t look to Ben as if the house would need much work. Already, it was more luxurious than the cabin by the lake.
“Let me show you the stables,” said Brian.
They left the town by the road they had come in on, but immediately turned right. It was a warm cloudless day, and the mile walk was nothing to them, considering all the traveling they had done.
“You’re going to see a lot of horses, Katie,” said Brian.”
“Can I ride one?” Katie asked.
“Not only can you ride one,” answered Brian, “you can have one all your own.”
Katie looked up at Ben, as if to confirm what Brian had just said. He nodded his head, resulting in a big smile from his daughter.
Not many weeks earlier, Katie hadn’t met another human, other than us. Now, she seemed almost totally at ease around them. She no longer hid behind Lila’s legs when we met people. She hadn’t yet initiated any conversations, but had no problem replying when spoken to. Another few weeks—or maybe only days—and it would be as if she had always lived around others. This was what Lila had been so anxious to give Katie. Would we still want to leave, come spring?
The stables were spectacular. A few of the townspeople worked there, caring for the horses and cleaning the stalls.
“Some of this farm was already here,” said Brian. “We added on to the buildings—luckily we have a few carpenters in town—and can house all of the horses here. All the farms are within a ten-mile radius, so it’s not too bad. We split the animals up between them. The horses are here, the smaller animals—like the chickens—are at the second farm. We keep the larger animals like the cattle at the ranch. A few of the town’s residents have chosen to live at the stables, the farm, and ranch year-round. They make trips in every few days with the eggs, milk, and meat.”
“Sounds like it’s a pretty smooth operation,” said Lila.
“It works well, and everyone seems happy. As time goes on, I think we miss our old lives less and less. The simplicity of it all is very appealing.”
“You don’t have to convince us of that,” said Ben.
“No, I suppose I don’t.”
They spent the rest of the day choosing horses and beginning the riding lessons. With the help of the horse experts, Ben picked out a tall chestnut-colored horse. Lila’s horse was jet black—Ben was convinced it was because it matched her hair. Katie chose a pinto.
Ben watched Katie closely. At six, would she shy away from the horse, or be anxious to get right into the saddle? She did neither. Instead, she approached the horse slowly, holding out her hand. She touched his nose and started to pet him. She spoke quietly. Ben couldn’t hear her words. He looked over at Lila, who was watching Katie just as intently. She looked back at him and smiled. He shook his head in wonder. Instinctively she knew to connect with the animal before attempting to ride it. It was like Katie, he thought, to try to make friends with it. And it was working. The horse nuzzled her, sensing her gentleness.
“What are you going to call him?” asked Ben.
“Oh daddy,” scolded Katie. “I just met him. He hasn’t told me his name yet.”
“Of course,” said Ben, stifling a laugh. “What was I thinking?”
Taking a cue from their daughter, Ben and Lila took some time to talk to their mounts as well, letting the horses get used to their scent. Finally, the time came to get into the saddle. Maureen, one of the horse handlers, helped Katie up onto her horse, then instructed Ben and Lila on how to use the stirrups to swing into the saddle. The saddles creaked as they got settled.
“Whoa,” said Ben, nervously holding onto the saddle horn. “This horse is taller than I thought.” He looked over at Lila. As usual, she didn’t seem fazed at all.
Maureen went over the basics of riding and how to control the horse’s movements. She then took them for a ride in one of the pastures, first walking, then cantering.
“We’ll deal with galloping another time,” said Maureen, as they reached the end of their first lesson.
“Thank God it’s over,” Ben whispered to Lila.
“You didn’t like it?” she asked. “I had a great time.” She looked over at Katie, who was wearing a big smile. “I think someone else did, too.”
“It’s not that I didn’t like it,” said Ben. “I’m just really sore.”
“Your butt?”
“More like my, um,” he looked at Katie, then leaned closer to Lila, “family jewels. I’m going to be black and blue for a month.”
Lila laughed. “You could ride side-saddle.”
Ben gave her a dirty look.
Back at the stable, Maureen instructed them on how to take off the saddles and care for the horses. Katie lovingly brushed hers.
“Do you get the feeling that Katie is going to want to spend a lot of time here?” asked Ben.
“She may have found her calling,” answered Lila. She then motioned for Ben to come outside. “Do you notice how genuinely happy everyone looks?” she asked when they were away from the others. “It’s like they’ve found a life that they can sink their teeth into. It’s peaceful and quiet. After everything that they’ve been through, they have once again found a home.”
“What strikes me,” said Ben, “is the difference between this group and all of the people we ran across on our journey south right after the event. People were scared and lost. They missed their old world and didn’t know what to make of the new one. These are the survivors, the ones strong enough to make it this far. They either don’t miss the old world, or have managed to put it behind them. I guess it makes me feel hopeful that we all have a chance.”
They were making their way back to the town a few minutes later when they saw Brian hurrying down the path toward them.
“Uh oh,” said Ben. He could tell from Brian’s body language that all was not well.
They met up a minute later.
“Something’s wrong,” said Ben, stating the obvious.
“It is,” answered Brian. “We’re not going to have as much time to prepare as I had hoped. An older couple just walked into town from the west. They were grateful to have found us. They’ve been on the run. Nebraska’s out there and coming
this way. A large convoy. We’re going to have a fight on our hands!
Chapter 14
Lila looked at Ben in alarm. He knew what she was thinking. When it was just the two of them, they could work as a pair. Katie changed everything. He was going to insist that whatever was decided, Lila was going to have to stay with their daughter. He doubted that Lila would put up any objections.
But Lila was ahead of him. “Katie and I will go back into town,” she said, anxious for Katie not to overhear too much of the conversation. “We’ll take our stuff to our new house and get moved in and try to make it comfortable.” She squeezed Ben’s hand and went off with Katie and Ralph.
Ben and Brian also walked in the direction of the town.
“How far away are they?” Ben finally asked, when Lila and Katie were out of earshot.
“Three or four days. Maybe more. Big convoy. Twelve or more trucks. Enough for everyone here. There’s no doubt where they are headed and what their intentions are.”
They both went silent, each chewing on the information. They reached the town and picked up their pace as they headed for Brian’s office.
When they arrived, an older man and woman were there, along with two men and a woman Ben hadn’t seen before.
“Ben, this is Andrea, Skip, and Steve. They are my unofficial advisors. I run most things by them before presenting ideas to the town.”
“Nice to meet you,” said Ben, shaking their hands. The men were both in their forties. Skip looked to be a laborer of some kind, big and burly, maybe a carpenter or plumber by trade. Steve had most likely been a corporate drone of some sort in his old life. Although he had a strong upper body now—as did most of the survivors—Ben could tell he hadn’t always looked that way. Andrea was younger—around thirty, Ben guessed—and had probably been a graduate student at the time of the event. Not that it did any good to speculate. What people once were was very different from what they had become.
Eden Lost (Eden Rising Trilogy Book 2) Page 9
