by Nathan Jones
Trev supposed he could appreciate that his uncle was telling him the difficult truths, but it still wasn't easy to hear. He quickly changed the subject. “You never really explained how you got here in the first place.”
His uncle brightened, also seeming eager to change the subject. “Right! Now that was an adventure, I can tell you.”
The Halsson family had been frantic when they realized they were trapped in Norway while things were falling apart at home and their family and friends there were in danger. From a cynical standpoint they'd been very fortunate, since while Norway's economy fell into a serious slump along with the rest of the global economy when the US failed at least the country hadn't completely ceased functioning overnight.
Much of that was due to Norway and much of the rest of the EU joining the Gold Bloc not long after the Gulf refineries attack. Since the US hadn't had much oil to spare for anyone but themselves after the Middle East Crisis a lot of the other countries of the world had been in trade agreements with the Gold Bloc anyway.
Once the US fell into chaos last fall the pressure started for those countries to go beyond trade to making treaties, alliances, and even outright joining the growing number of countries the Gold Bloc represented. Incentives were offered for compliance, and increasingly harsh sanctions for any country that dragged their feet.
The upside of Norway joining up was that its people, including the Halssons, were able to get the food they needed, and the electricity and gas to light and heat their houses over the winter. Thanks to that the country came through fairly well.
The most painful thing for Trev's uncle, aunt, and cousin had been watching the continuing news reports of the sickening death and suffering going on in the US as people in cities starved and rioted, as well as the growing tension as the Gold Bloc started moving in on Canada to get their oil and the failing US did their best to prevent it.
Lucas never stopped trying to find a way home, but all flights to the US, and most of Canada and Mexico as well, had been completely halted. In fact flying just about anywhere was difficult after the Gulf refineries attack, unless it was on business or for an important personal matter to another Gold Bloc country.
Opportunistic as it sounded, the Gold Bloc's move into Canada provided the opportunity Lucas needed. With the help of friends in Norway he managed to sign on as part of the military's civilian administration branch, helping with the massive task of working out the logistics of moving large numbers of troops, supplies, and everything else the invasion required into Canada. He joined up in the early spring, and with Eva and Mary allowed to travel with him flew to Canada to continue work there.
The things he saw while working for the administration were disturbing and even alarming, and while he was diligent at his job he constantly searched for opportunities to get his family out and safely make their way south across the border.
That opportunity never arrived, and then the invasion began.
Lucas had done paperwork for the construction of the numerous internment camps being built along or even across the US's northern border to prepare for the invasion. Since it was his best hope of getting into the US he called in some favors and managed to get assigned working at this one, not far north of Mackinac Bridge and the closest he could get to his family in Greenbush.
From there he'd planned to continue looking for an opportunity to desert and head south. But as reports concerning the invasion came in and he read the ones that passed across his desk, he became aware of just how astonishingly fast the Gold Bloc forces were taking control of Michigan and capturing prisoners.
At that point he really began to fear for his family in Greenbush, and now he was glad for a different reason that he'd managed to get assigned as a pencil pusher at the internment camp. He began monitoring the incoming prisoners as best he could searching for news of the Smith family, making friends where he could to increase his chances of hearing a stray rumor. Not to mention being able to call in a favor if he needed one.
Trev could hardly believe the hoops his uncle's family had gone through to make it home when things had been that comfortable in Norway. He was also glad to hear that his aunt and cousin were doing well. Mary took care of the small house they shared with another family and did her best to keep her head down, while Aunt Eva was working for the administration in communications to coordinate things between the camp and the rest of the Gold Bloc.
“I'll admit I don't know too much about the technical side of radios, but I didn't think they could reach as far as Russia,” Trev said, half statement and half question.
His uncle smiled slightly. “Sure they can, using skywave. But I think you've been living after the end of the world for too long; the US may be out of gas and have a severely limited electrical grid, but a lot of the rest of the world is still limping along. Especially the Gold Bloc.”
Trev felt a bit sheepish. “Oh, right. I guess the satellites are all still up there working just fine.”
“Exactly. Even the Gold Bloc's most recently set up forward camps have cell service, TV programs from home, internet, you name it. I suppose that's a bit jarring to think about when you've probably been living in the nineteenth century for over half a year now.”
The comment made Trev wonder how this all had to look from his uncle's point of view, having spent the winter in Norway on the outside looking in. Watching the rapid collapse of the US on television with access to all the news about what was happening, but unable to do anything about it.
He was glad they'd had someplace safe and stable like that to stay until they could find a way home.
Lucas was pretty much done telling his side of things, and he finished things off with, “It was lucky Mary was out on an errand and saw you.” He slowed as they passed a green sign into another section of camp that looked exactly like the ones they'd passed through. Only here his uncle led him to one of the tents. “If she hadn't sent me your way you would've been processed into this place and joined the half a million other people here, and there's only a small chance I would've caught your paperwork and known you'd been captured.”
Trev looked at the tent he'd been assigned to, a tattered and filthy expanse of gray canvas with half a dozen sullen men seated on more scraps of canvas or even the dusty ground itself in front of the entrance.
Lucas looked at it too, and gave Trev a helpless look. “Do what you can to find them,” he said. “I'll do everything I can from the outside. Together we might have a chance.”
He nodded, feeling a sense of loss. “How can I contact you?”
“I don't think you can, without doing something so extreme the punishment would be worse than whatever emergency you had. I'll try to contact you as soon as I can, within a few days if possible.” His uncle pulled him into a hug that he held for several seconds, then turned and started back the way they'd come.
As for Trev, he nodded to the guys in front of the tent, receiving a few blank stares from some and completely ignored by the others, and went in to find a cot for himself and change into his new overalls.
He was exhausted. He might not want to be here, but if he had to be and he wasn't being forced to do anything else he might as well spend the time getting the rest his body desperately needed and deserved.
He could figure out what to do about finding his family, and food and restrooms too, when he woke up.
Chapter Nineteen
News
Lewis and Jane were asleep when the motion sensor alarms went off, alerting them of someone approaching.
His wife jerked awake in his arms, tense and cautious, and Lewis groggily sat up and glanced over at the lights that accompanied the noise of the alarms. Whoever it was, they were approaching the shelter from the southeast.
The raiders had been gone for a week now and the patrols had long since resumed their route well outside the town's border, protecting the shelter along with other outlying areas. So while Lewis was wary he didn't expect an attack, especially not from the directio
n of Aspen Hill.
He kissed Jane as he fumbled for his shoes. “Go ahead and go back to sleep. I'll see who it is.”
She nodded and, taking his offer seriously, curled up and pulled his recently vacated share of the blankets tighter around her. That was one of her quirks he'd discovered, that while she didn't toss and turn or hog the blankets while they were sleeping, she had a habit of grabbing them all if he had to get up in the night. When he came back to bed he practically had to wake her up to wrestle them back and get underneath them.
With his shoes on but untied Lewis grabbed his G3 and headed for the door, unlocking the newly replaced lock and lifting the newly replaced bar. Once the door was open he locked it again and used the rig he'd made that would drop the bar into place when he closed the door behind him.
Although he didn't actually close the door, since that would mean he'd either have to crawl through their escape tunnel or wake up Jane to get back in. The former would make the tunnel's exit easier to spot with every use, which he wanted to avoid at all costs, while the latter wasn't something a considerate spouse did unless there was no other option. Especially while on their honeymoon.
If there really was danger he could run inside and quickly secure the door, and if it was bad enough that he couldn't get back in time he'd shout for Jane to lock him out. But he didn't anticipate any problems as he climbed up the hill to the observation post in the early afternoon sun.
In fact, it turned out to be Matt coming for a visit, which he'd guessed from the moment he saw the blinking light. What he hadn't guessed was that Matt would have Aaron and Paul with him, taking them for a field trip to give them a chance to run around. Which they were certainly doing, bolting down the road towards the shelter and only reluctantly turning around when Matt called for them to stay close.
When the two boys saw him Aaron shouted “Uncle Lewis!” and burst into a run towards him, and Paul gave a happy shout and followed as quickly as his three year old legs could take him. They weren't too far away by this point so Matt didn't call them back, and walked a little faster himself.
In spite of his weariness, still in the sleeping during the day pattern for his patrols, Lewis was happy to see the kids. It seemed like forever that they'd been kept safe in the house while he'd been out defending the town, asleep when he was awake and vice versa. He slung his G3 over his shoulder so he could pick one and then the other up and toss them into the air a few times.
By that time Matt had caught up, shaking his hand and then pulling him into a hug. “I figured you'd moved back out here when you disappeared from the house.”
Lewis nodded, ignoring the slightly chiding tone his friend had assumed because he'd done it without telling anyone. “There's no place like home.”
Matt smiled slightly. “I know. I just wanted to make sure you're okay. I know you've been doing your nightly patrols with Jane and it's taking most of your time, but I hadn't seen you around helping with the town's reconstruction or anything like that, and you haven't visited.”
Before Lewis could answer Aaron tugged on his hand. “Can we go inside, Uncle Lewis? I want to see if the cache I hid before leaving is still there.”
Lewis hesitated, then decided he really had put it off too long. “Sorry buddy,” he said, mussing the towheaded boy's hair, “Aunt Jane is in there sleeping.”
At that Matt's eyebrows shot up, but the two boys didn't seem to notice he'd said anything significant. They were just disappointed, so after getting permission from Matt Lewis said they could go man the observation post on the other hill as long as they stayed in sight. Which was basically permission to go play, which they were more than happy to do.
Once they were gone Matt cleared his throat. “So uh, I knew Jane hasn't been sleeping at our house lately either, but I didn't realize . . . is this a platonic thing or is she your girlfriend now? You guys've been pretty much inseparable for weeks, and you were spending a lot of time together even before that.” Lewis took a bit too long to answer, and his friend gave him a closer look and smiled slightly. “Are you blushing? I'm going to say girlfriend.”
He had felt his face getting a bit red, although he wouldn't have put it quite like that. “We're married, actually. We asked Mayor Tillman to hear our vows right after the meeting about attacking the camps.”
Matt's shocked expression was almost worth the delay telling him. “That was over a week ago!” His friend sounded hurt as he continued. “Why didn't you ever tell me?”
Lewis shifted his feet guiltily. “Oh come on, you know neither of us likes to be in the spotlight. We figured we'd let people make a big deal about us getting married after we ended the siege. But then after we did we sort of got caught up in our honeymoon and haven't seen anyone so the opportunity never came up.”
Matt finally broke into a grin. “Well I guess that would explain why you both completely disappeared.” His friend clapped him on the shoulder. “Congratulations! You two are perfect for each other. I just had no idea either of you felt that way.”
Lewis's smile turned slightly wry. “Neither did we, for long enough that it's a little embarrassing. Apparently we both liked each other from the start, we were just too stoic to let it show and waiting for some hint from the other person that they felt the same way.”
“Well can we at least do something to celebrate without putting you guys in the spotlight?” Matt asked. “What if me and Sam invited you over for a meal?”
“How about we invite you over to our place instead?” Lewis suggested with a smile. “Dinner and a movie.”
“Yeah speaking of which, how's the shelter doing?” Matt asked. “We sort of left it in a hurry.”
Lewis grimaced. “Could be worse. Turner knew about it since he'd helped Ferris take it from us, and sometime during the siege the raiders dug through the dirt I'd collapsed over the entrance, broke the lock and bar, and trashed the place.”
Matt whistled. “Good thing we stowed everything we weren't taking with us in the escape tunnel so he couldn't destroy it, including the stovepipes,” he mused, then gave Lewis an odd look. “How have the two of you been doing with defending it? After all that's happened I'd be a bit jittery living way out here, even if the raiders are gone.”
“We've been managing. I set up some battery powered motion sensors on the approaches, and we lock and bar the door when we're sleeping just in case. We don't really have the time to man the observation post, but between the town's patrols, our sensors, and the sturdy door we should at least be able to bolt through the escape tunnel if there's a problem.”
“I suppose that's good enough for just about every situation,” his friend said, then shuddered slightly. “Although with the last few weeks we've had I'm not sure I could sleep soundly without knowing there was at least one pair of eyes looking out for me.”
Lewis shook his head. “In a way it's good we don't have to spend time on sentry duty for this place. Turner really left it a mess, and most of our spare time not on patrol or sleeping has been spent getting it livable.”
“Yeah. Uh, speaking of livable . . .” Matt shifted his feet. “Would it cramp your honeymoon if the family all moved back out here with you? Up until now we've pretty much been working around the clock, Terry, April, and Sam in the clinic with the wounded, me and Dad clearing up the destroyed buildings and hunting, and Mom watching the boys and taking them out foraging when she can. But with so many houses destroyed everyone's really been cramped inside the ones that are left, and it's causing a problem. We were thinking now's a good time to free up some room in our house for other people.”
Lewis had a feeling that, concern for him aside, this had been the main reason for Matt's visit. “Sure. Like I said the day we took out the raiders, your family can move back any time. This place is pretty much your home too now.”
“We really appreciate it. And we were thinking that at least short term we'd even bring the rest of Jane's group out here to live.” As Matt said that he was carefully watching Lew
is's face, as if afraid he was asking too much. “You know we've got the shed pretty much cleared to live in, and you and Jane should have that for yourselves.”
“Sure,” Lewis said with a nod. “I mean I don't think Jane would mind, although we'd want to talk it over with her too. And even if we move out into the shed we'll still help you with the infestation problem.”
“Don't worry, we'll figure out a way to make it all work so everyone's happy,” Matt began. Then he blinked. “Wait, what infestation?”
Lewis grimaced, thinking of days full of the pattering of tiny paws as he and Jane tried to sleep. “A bunch of fieldmice and a potgut. We got the potgut no problem, but the mice have been tougher.”
Matt shuddered. “Ugh really? We didn't leave this place abandoned for that long.” Lewis shrugged, and his friend continued with an irritated look. “I know how it goes. I've got some unpleasant memories of a summer job in my early teens helping a neighbor clean out an attic that was infested by mice. The little critters make a huge mess in a small amount of time, don't they?”
“Doesn't take long. My mom used to say a mouse-free home is a happy home, and boy was she right.” Lewis gave him a lopsided smile. “But other than that it's been a nice honeymoon.”
Matt's smile returned as well. “That's good to hear. And you and Jane are getting along okay? I never figured her for the romantic type.”
Lewis felt his face reddening again. “We're getting along great,” he answered, then hastily changed the subject. “Although we'll have to hammer out the dents on the stove and find some way to repair a bent hinge on the door. The raiders took a swing at it, but luckily it's a sturdy old chunk of cast iron and they only did superficial damage.”
Matt couldn't help but grin. “I know. I helped you and Trev lug it in, remember? I know exactly how solid it is.” His friend abruptly called to Aaron and Paul to come back, then held out his hand to shake. “Well I'll leave you to get back to enjoying yourselves while you can before we come crash the party.” He gave Lewis a slightly jealous look. “I'll give you one thing, at least you guys got to enjoy some privacy on your honeymoon.”
