She stepped back and admired how the place was almost starting to feel like home. Almost. She smiled as the thought crossed her mind again that the world just might get back to normal after all and her spirits lifted.
***
Journal Entry April 12
With the arrival of our old friends from Midway and the infusion of meat other than venison, my life just got brighter. Knowing others are out there and are willing to join in trade has me hopeful again.
Soon we need to have a community picnic and introduce all of our residents to each other. Sherry’s group and Art’s group aren’t aware of each other, although I think they will all be interested in trading. With the Midway people having new food to add to our diet, and Art’s growing expertise in tanning, and with us in the middle, we could have our own trade route.
I think having a pig roast would uplift everyone.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
John Tiggs stopped on the outskirts of what was left of the city of Marquette, at the intersection of the Walstroms store and the turnoff that would take him to Moose Creek. The traffic light, now dark and unblinking, hung precariously from a single cable, swaying in the light breeze.
The caved in hulk of the big store burned into his eyes. No matter what he had been told, no matter how prepared he was for this, the utter and complete devastation still shook him to his core. No prior warning could soften what was before him. A nuclear blast couldn’t have done more damage to the city.
He got out of the car and made a circle, taking in the scene from all angles, and what he saw took his breath away.
How could anyone have survived this? he thought, leaning against the pale green Subaru, gazing at the scorched vista. Heat caressed the back of his neck and he looked up, squinting. The warm breeze had pushed the ash filled clouds further to the east and exposed deep blue skies. The bright sun now beat down on him and he smiled, thinking it must be a good omen for his homecoming until he felt a rumble under his feet. His knees flexed automatically until the minor quake ended. These aftershocks had become common ever since he entered the Upper Peninsula.
John stared at the cracked asphalt beneath his feet and noticed tufts of green grass protruding from several different areas. Mother Nature would always win. He pushed the ever present knit cap off, rubbed his bald head, and settled the cap back in place. He climbed back into the car and drove off, away from what was left of Walstroms and toward his future.
***
John followed the once familiar route very slowly to avoid the many potholes and large pieces of heaved up concrete. The air was eerily quiet with only the leaves rustling on the trees acknowledging his passage.
Before the turnoff, the road smoothed out with a fresh layer of gravel, and then was blocked with slabs of broken concrete, asphalt, and dead trees four feet high and extending over ten feet on either side of the wide road. Black and white striped construction barricades announced he could go no further. It was the first sign of civilization he’d seen since entering the Upper Peninsula. Of course, until an hour ago, he avoided any once populated area. On his trip north he was stopped several times by groups in need. He did what he could to help them and continued on his way.
Another road, newer and likewise graveled, caught his attention and he turned north, crunching the stone and dirt beneath his tires. He stopped again at a newly erected bridge that spanned a river, and he momentarily wondered what happened to the other bridge, further downstream.
After crossing the wide bridge, John was again on a new gravel road, this time for only a short stretch. It dead-ended into County Road 695, and he knew exactly where he was. Another left turn and he was on the very last leg of his journey home.
***
John Tiggs, a normally confident man, was visibly nervous as he turned on to the short blacktop road where he had lived with Allex, hoping she was still there. What he saw of her house made his heart stop and sent chills up his spine in spite of the rising heat of the day.
Three large tree stumps leaned into each other under the remaining stately maple trees. Sawdust in deep piles was evidence of the wood being harvested. Beyond that brought quiet sobs from deep within his chest. The glass greenhouse that Allex loved lay shattered and twisted. The main body of the house itself was caved in and crumpled like a cardboard box left out in the rain.
He left the car on the road and dashed to inspect the horrific devastation, tripping over a small plaque of wood in the lawn. He carefully climbed into the mess and knew deep inside, if anyone were inside here when those trees fell, there was a good chance they had died there.
John walked slowly back to his car, ignoring the grave marker he had tripped over. The grave of Dr. Mark Robbins.
***
Needing answers, John drove to the township offices, knowing someone had to be there, someone who could either allay his fears or confirm them.
Inside the quiet building he heard a young voice drifting out from one of the smaller offices and he peeked inside.
“Emilee?” John whispered.
She turned with a start and stared. Dropping the mike she jumped up. “Grandpa John!!” She threw herself into his arms and hugged him, then yelled out, “Dad!”
Eric came running from the back conference room wondering why his daughter was so uncharacteristically yelling. He stopped in his tracks when he saw why.
“John?” Eric took several long strides toward the duo that now had separated.
John held his hand out. Eric engulfed John into a bear hug. “My God, man, where have you been?”
“It’s a long story. First though, I just came from the house. Is……did…I…” John stammered.
At first Eric was confused, and then realized what John was asking. “My mom is fine. A tornado hit, taking out the trees in front. It was the trees that did all the damage. Luckily Mom had taken refuge beside the cookstove. She was hurt, but not seriously.”
“Where is she?” John asked quietly.
“We fixed up a house for her here in town and furnished it with everything we could salvage so she would feel more at home. John,” Eric said, looking into the older man’s blue eyes, “she was really upset when you left, and I want you to keep something in mind. No matter what she says or what you hear, she never stopped thinking about you, even though she thought you were dead.”
“Where is she, Eric? I have to see her.”
***
As he approached the house John could see Allex in the backyard working in the garden. His heart beat faster than he thought possible. He parked the pale green Subaru, the one he had given her two years earlier, in the driveway, and made his way around the house.
Allexa stood and stretched her back, thinking it was hell getting old. She bent over, rinsing her hands in the bucket of water, and wiped them on her dirty jeans. She took a deep breath and went rigid, her breathing became erratic.
“I don’t have to see you to know you’re there. I can feel when you come near me,” she whispered and slowly turned to face John.
“I brought your car back,” he said with a grin.
She let out breath that was half laugh and half sob.
He took two steps forward and opened his arms to her. She moved slowly toward him and reached out to touch him, making sure he was real. She touched his beard, his face, and the bristly stubble on his cheeks. Sure it was really him, her arms wrapped around his neck and his went around her waist, pulling her close.
They stood like that for several minutes, neither of them saying a word, afraid to break the spell they were cloaked in. John pulled back first, cupping Allex’s face in his big hands. He looked deeply into her gray/green eyes and gently touched her lips with his own. Allex sighed and briefly deepened the kiss and then stepped back.
“All this time I thought you were dead. Where have you been, John?”
“I
started back as soon as the first ash fall had passed, like I said I would, then I got picked up for having a gun during martial law and was tossed in a FEMA camp.”.
“Are they as bad as the rumors say they are?” Allex asked, leading them to sit at the picnic table in the shade of a stately old oak tree.
“It was the worst two weeks of my life. I got out only when I agreed to help with their relief efforts in Florida.” He laid his hands out flat on the table and looked across at her, wanting so badly to touch her again. “I stayed on when I realized I was actually doing some good. I was helping people, Allex, really helping.”
“You have a good heart, John,” she said simply. “I have to admit I’m in a bit of a shock that you’re here.”
John studied her face for a long moment. “Where is Dr. Mark? Are you two still together? Is that why you feel so distant?”
Allex looked at him with sad eyes. “Mark died a few months after you left, John. He got sick helping others during a really bad flu outbreak. And I don’t feel distant, I feel…overwhelmed. It’s difficult for me to take in that you are really here. I’m afraid that I’m going to wake from a nap and find this is all just a dream.” She stared at her folded hands. “I’ve missed you so much, John.” Her voice cracked and tears cascaded down her cheeks.
“Oh, Allex, you have no idea how much I’ve missed you too.” He stood and took her hands, pulling her into another long hug. “Thoughts of you and of coming back here were what kept me going during some really rough times out on the road. Now that I’m here…oh, Allex, please don’t send me away.”
“Send you away? I never wanted you to leave in the first place, John.”
***
They sat at the scarred kitchen table, drinking black coffee, trying to bring each other up to date on their lives since they parted.
“Then I had to shoot two grizzly bear cubs that were ripping the mess tent apart, but that wasn’t as bad as when mama showed up. She was enraged. I hated killing the animals, I really did. The only good thing that came out of it was all the fresh meat for that hard working crew.”
Allex sat there spellbound over his stories of life on the FEMA road, and he laughed over her “military” experiences.
His eyes roamed over her face, remembering all the little details: the way her hair curled over her ears when it got too long; the green flecks in her dark gray eyes that sparkled when she got excited over something; the way her dimples deepened when she smiled. He noticed too the new touch of silver at her temples. “Actually, I can see you as an officer. You have a take-charge and get-it-done personality, Allex.”
“Just don’t call me Colonel Klink!” She grinned.
John paused, drinking in the sight of her. How he had dreamt of this moment when they were together again. “Where do we go from here, Allex?”
“Who knows you’re here?”
“Eric and Emilee. They were at the office when I stopped there looking for you. I have to tell you I was so afraid when…when I saw all the damage to your house,” he said, his voice cracking.
“I think the first step would be to have a get-together and introduce you to the community. That is, if you plan on staying.”
“I will stay if you want me, Allex. If not,” he took a breath, knowing this moment would come. “If not, I will leave and go back to my daughter, or maybe back to Ft. Wayne. It’s entirely up to you.”
Allexa took his hand in hers, tears glistening on her lashes. “Even though I’m still angry and hurt that you left, I’ve never stopped loving you. Yes, I want you to stay, here, with me.”
He grinned. “When do you want this party?”
“Not for a couple of days. For now, I want you all to myself.” She squeezed his hand. “Although it would only be fair to have Eric and Jason and their families over sooner, along with Tom.”
“Tom?”
“You remember Tom White, the county emergency manager who kept trying to get me to work for him? He’s our mayor now, and a good friend.”
“Oh, him,” John remembered vividly feeling threatened by the man, one he’d never met.
Allexa ignored the murmured statement. “It’s too late in the day to contact everyone, so I think…” A knock on the door interrupted her.
Jason, Amanda, and Jacob were the first to arrive, followed shortly by Eric, Rayne, Emilee, and Alan.
***
During the night a storm rolled in, darkening the dark skies even further and blotting out the bright moon. The thunder crashed, rattling windows and swaying trees. Lightning flashed deep inside the blackened clouds, followed by more disturbing thunder. Hot, dirty rain pelted the dry and thirsty earth, sluicing down the overwhelmed gutters seeking lower land. More lightning. More thunder. Then more muddy rain, which began to cleanse the ash filled sky.
***
Allexa woke with the sun shining brightly in the window over the bed. She felt the heat at her back and instinctively sought the source. And then she smiled. John was home.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
“I never expected a turnout like this,” Tom said, surveying the throng of people occupying the baseball field. Two large portable roasters were set up, side by side, a pig cooked in one and venison in the other. A smaller one sat on a table and held steamed fish. Tables were filled with platters of meat, bowls of salad and potato salad, fresh baked breads, rolls, and sweet cakes. Someone had found a portable CD player and music from a bygone era drifted pleasantly.
“I think everyone from both outside compounds is here,” Allexa replied. “Art was a little skeptical at first until I told him what Midway had to offer, and Sherry felt the same way. I think this was a good way for everyone to meet.” She looked around and spotted John at the food table talking with Art and Harold. “I’m glad to see John getting along with everyone too. They seem to accept him.”
“Yes,” Tom said thoughtfully.
“Okay, what’s on your mind?”
“Are you ready to tell me about him? His appearance here seems rather abrupt and that you took him in immediately surprises me.”
Allexa stared at her friend. “Abrupt? I’ve been waiting for him to come back for almost two years, Tom.” When he looked confused, she went on, “This is John. He was my love when all of this started. As much as I tried to push him out of my mind when he left, he never left my heart.”
“Oh, that John,” Tom chuckled. Changing the subject, he said, “I see Art also brought his golden retriever, Morgan, who seems highly interested in Chevas. Looks like you might be seeing puppies in the near future.”
***
Final Journal Entry
June 1
I found myself sitting beside Sister Doris’ grave again and started pulling weeds to keep my hands busy while my mind meandered across the last two and a half years. Over two years, and so much has changed. The whole world has changed! What will it be like in five years? Ten years?
I love John so deeply and know he feels the same, yet he left anyway and that pain is still within me, trying to heal. Even though I loved Mark too, it was a different kind of love, and then he died. The colonel seemed to be invincible, now he too is gone, killed by the life he loved so much. I’ve lost family and so many close friends I feel empty inside. Kathy and Bob, Anna, Joshua, Ken and Karen, Liz, Pastor Carolyn, my brother and his wife…they’re all gone. There have been gains too, though they can never balance out what’s no longer here. A new love doesn’t replace a lost one. It doesn’t work that way. The new memory finds its own space to occupy and the old one is still there.
We never forget what we’ve lost; we just…don’t always remember it.
***
John watched Allexa kneel in the soft ground, removing weeds from the flower bed at the grave. He didn’t know the nun, had never met her, but he knew she was special to Allex for some reason. He had been back for
over a month now and knew to wait patiently. When she was done he reached out and put his big hands on her shoulders in comfort.
“Come on, Allex, let’s go home.” They walked hand in hand along the broken asphalt road toward the house they shared.
“I’ve been thinking,” Allexa said. The earth began to tremble beneath their feet.
“About what?” John asked, ignoring the frequent quake.
Allexa stopped and tugged on his hand so he turned to her. “Will you marry me?”
He grinned. “I thought you’d never ask.”
THE END
The Journal: Martial Law Page 21
