The Last Orchard (Book 2): The Last Orchard

by Hunt, James

  The stranger turned away and then finally nodded, spinning around in the same motion. “If I send you out of here alive, and with those computer boards, I want something in return.”

  “Name it,” Charlie answered.

  “I want a seat at the table,” Stranger replied. “I want to have a say in the decisions that will affect my people moving forward.” He raised his finger. “And, to make sure you hold up your end of the bargain, should you agree, I’ll be keeping half of the computer chips with me. It gives me peace of mind, and it still gives your people something to work on while they consider my proposal.”

  With time running short and the possibility of a better proposition unlikely, Charlie knew that he had no other choice but to agree. But how Dixon reacted upon their return to Mayfield was a completely different story.

  13

  Charlie didn’t look back once they were out of the reach of the blue clan’s grasp, but he did hasten his pace. Charlie didn’t think that Dixon, or what remained of the government and military, would take kindly to blackmail, but he wasn’t sure how extreme their countermeasures would be. And truth be told, Charlie admired the stranger’s boldness and tenacity.

  It was a smart play, because both knew there wasn’t another way for both of them to get what they wanted. Now it was just a matter of getting Dixon on board.

  Charlie and his crew returned to The Orchard by nightfall. It was late, with most of the residents already asleep in their beds, save for the guards on duty and patrolling the area.

  Not wanting to waste any more time, Charlie commandeered another one of their Humvees, and the crew piled inside. “Let’s move.”

  Once again powered by diesel and steel, Charlie and the crew arrived at Mayfield quickly, once again crossing through the tight security, meeting Dixon outside of his office.

  And it could have been the look on Charlie’s face, or the fact that he got out of the Humvee so quickly, but something told Dixon that the plan had been altered.

  “We need to talk,” Charlie said.

  Dixon looked to the back of the Humvee, where the box of the remaining components were being handed off to his engineers and rushed over to the power plant with an armed escort. He then led Charlie inside, Charlie waving for his team to stay put.

  Once they were alone, Charlie walked Dixon through the events. The ambush, the capture, and his talk with the leader of the blue clan. To his credit, Dixon listened patiently and intently, and it wasn’t until Charlie finished that he finally spoke.

  “So he’s holding the rest of the components for ransom until he gets,” Dixon stopped himself, looking at Charlie. “A seat at the table?”

  “He wants to act as the voice of his people,” Charlie answered. “They want to make peace.”

  Dixon scoffed. “We were never at war with them!” He stood and paced anxiously. “They’re citizens of this country, the same country that the terrorists invaded and attacked and brought to its knees last year.” He spun around. “They chose to be outcasts. They chose to organize.”

  “And what else did you expect them to do?” Charlie asked. “You may not remember those first few months very well, but I do.” He walked closer to Dixon. “No food. Water was in short supply, at least clean water. The terrorists were still running around, blowing people to bits, shooting anything that moved. People were scrambling and holding onto any type of order that they could get their hands on.” He shook his head.

  “So you would have preferred me to give what spare rations I had to someone else instead of you and your people?” Dixon asked, tossing the question like an accusation.

  “No!” Charlie shouted, his patience running out. “But don’t you think it’s time that we make things right again? If there is a chance for peace, if there is a chance for redemption, then shouldn’t we take it?”

  “What do you think I’m trying to do, Charlie?” Dixon asked. “We have our chance, it’s in the form of turning that power plant back on, and right now my engineers only have half the computer boards they need!” He kicked the side of his desk.

  But while Dixon ranted, Charlie remembered the hundreds of faces that he passed within the clan territory. Not the soldiers, or the armed guards, but the people who lived and worked, just trying to survive. He knew nothing of their background, of their history, but the one thing he understood better than Dixon was the means of survival and the hard choices that must be made when your back is up against the wall.

  “So you want to go to war with these people?” Charlie asked. “Against the people that you’re supposed to protect?”

  “I’m supposed to protect the nation,” Dixon answered, spinning around, angry and defensive. “I have a duty to ensure its survival, and those people are preventing me from accomplishing my mission.” He offered a grave shake of the head. “They’re currently committing treason.”

  “They’re trying to survive. If you can’t see that, then you’re no better than the people who did all of this to us.” Charlie turned for the door.

  “So what happens when I send a platoon to retrieve the rest of the computer parts?” Dixon asked. “They’ll blow them up? Destroy everyone’s chance to return to normalcy?”

  Charlie turned back to Dixon, his expression soft. “You don’t have to create another enemy to defeat.” Short of dropping to his knees and pleading with Dixon, he didn’t know how to make the commander see what he saw, and deep down, what he always knew to be true. “You march there with guns, and the only thing you’ll come back with is more blood on your hands.”

  Charlie studied Dixon’s expression, searching for any sign that the commander would listen to reason and compromise, but there was no such revelation, so he left.

  Knowing the outcome before Dixon even sent his men to the clan, Charlie felt his heart sink into his stomach. He walked back out to the Humvee and climbed inside without a word to his crew, who followed suit when he slammed the door shut.

  No questions were asked, and the ride back to The Orchard was one of silence and anxiousness. And while he knew that his crew wanted answers, Charlie offered them none as he made his way toward the trailer, kicking off his boots outside and stepping rather loudly, finding Liz sitting on the bed, tossing him an angry glare as she watched Adelyn sleep.

  Charlie held up his hands, a gesture of apology for the hasty intrusion, then slowly crept toward the back bedroom and lay on the opposite side of Adelyn and across from Liz, who studied him for a minute before she finally spoke, their conversation an exchange of whispers.

  “What happened?” Liz asked.

  “We were captured by the blue clan,” Charlie answered. “Everyone is okay.” He gently ran his fingers through Adelyn’s hair, the little girl undisturbed by Charlie’s touch. “The clan took half of the computer chips.”

  “What? Why?” Liz asked.

  “They’re holding them hostage until they’re able to speak with Dixon and the rest of the people in charge before the lights come back on.” Charlie shook his head. “Dixon wasn’t receptive to that idea.”

  “Is he going to retaliate?” Liz asked.

  Charlie shrugged. There was a piece of him that clung to the hope that Dixon would have an epiphany before he pulled the trigger on something that couldn’t be undone.

  Liz reached over Adelyn and grabbed hold of his forearm, giving him a gentle squeeze. “What happens now?”

  Charlie shook his head. “We have to wait.”

  The pair lowered their gazes to Adelyn, who remained undisturbed by their worries, by the world around her, and the general fear that plagued them on a daily basis. Besides Liz, the little girl had been the one shining beacon of light in a world gone dark.

  Everything good that remained to Charlie was here with him now.

  A knock at the door stirred Adelyn awake, and Charlie quickly answered it before there was another. But of all the people he expected to find him at this hour, it ended up being the person he least expected.

  “Mom?”
Charlie asked.

  Martha Decker stood in an old shirt and jeans, wearing her work boots, her hair pulled back tight in a bun, nearly all of the gray turned to white. She had become frail, thin, and sickly-looking over the past year. The weight she’d shed hadn’t been healthy.

  The only attribute that remained to Martha was the piercing glare, which froze Charlie in his doorway.

  “What’s wrong?” Charlie stepped out of the trailer, closing the door behind him. She always got irked whenever Adelyn was around them. Despite her acceptance of Liz, she had never truly taken to Adelyn. Charlie never could figure out why.

  And almost instinctively, Martha flicked her eyes toward the back of the trailer where Charlie had left Adelyn and Liz. She watched them for a moment, then glanced back to Charlie.

  “Come with me,” Martha said, and then left before Charlie had a chance to question why or where.

  Charlie followed his mother through the maze of trailers and mobile homes, their course north toward the woods. He caught up to her, walking on her left, but she paid him no attention.

  “What’s going on?” Charlie asked. “Was there a breach on the perimeter? One of the guards see something?” He fired his questions at her, but she remained aloof and quiet. “Mom, you need to talk to me. You need to—”

  Martha stopped, forcing Charlie to stumble forward a few steps before he caught his footing, and he realized they were both away from the bulk of the trailers. He turned around and saw that she’d led him to the barn.

  “I don’t understand—”

  “Nick came to see me,” she said.

  And then Charlie understood. He knew that Nick had become a sort of surrogate son to her. The pair worked well in their new relationship. Nick needed a mother who could give affection, and Martha needed a son who was a blank slate, someone that she could remold into something other than the son that she was stuck with. The son who failed to live up to all the expectations that she had suddenly set within her mind.

  “What are you going to do?” Martha asked.

  “I’m going to stay out of it.” Charlie tried to walk past her, but she snatched his arm, pulling him back into place, though the motion was more of his acquiescence to his mother’s request.

  “Did Dixon tell you what he was going to do?” Martha asked.

  “In so many ways,” Charlie answered.

  “Then you need to stand with him. You need to keep the alliance with him strong. It’s the reason we’ve lasted this long.”

  “The reason we’ve lasted this long, Mother, is because of everything that I’ve done,” Charlie said, pointing to himself. “But you would have known that if you’d just pulled your head out of your ass long enough to take a look around you!”

  Martha slapped Charlie, the strike quick and harsh. A flash of red appeared on Charlie’s cheek, and the sting lingered as his mother stood her ground.

  “And what do you want, Charlie Decker?” Martha asked, mocking him. “A parade? A monument erected for all of your sacrifices? You didn’t wade through the shit of the past year by yourself.”

  Charlie’s anger subsided, then transformed to despair as the sting on his cheek faded. He wanted nothing more than the mother he used to know. The woman who raised him, and who was kind and always had an ear to listen and a gentle hand to soothe.

  “Why are you like this?” Charlie asked. “I know Dad died, but what happened?” He shook his head, unable to find the answer to that question for the past year. “Were you always like this before and I just never saw it? Why?” He stepped closer, tears in his eyes now. “Why?”

  Martha stood her ground, and for the briefest moment, Charlie saw his mother return. The glimpse was brief, but real.

  “Something broke, Charlie,” Martha answered, her voice frail. She gently shook her head and lowered her eyes to the ground as if she could find the answers written in the dirt. “I don’t know what happened, but it just disappeared… That little piece of me that was good and kept everything together.” She looked to Charlie, her eyebrows pinched together, and looked as though she was lost. “I can’t remember where it went, or what I did with it. It’s just gone. It was like that EMP that stole our power and changed everything. You couldn’t hear it, you couldn’t see it, no smell or sound. It was just there, and then it was gone.” She nodded. “That’s what it was like for me.”

  And then, just as mysteriously as the kindness returned to his mother’s face, it vanished, replaced by the cold exterior of the woman who’d embodied Martha Decker for the past year.

  “Side with Dixon,” Martha said.

  Charlie shook his head. “I’m not going to get us caught up in a conflict with people who don’t want to fight us in the first place.”

  “How many blue clan members have you killed? How many of them have killed our people?” Martha snarled. “Our alliance with Dixon is the reason we’ve lasted this long, and if we want to continue to ensure our survival, then it’s a relationship we’ll continue to need. What about the terrorists? What about the attack that has been planned? If it’s the numbers you’re concerned about, then we don’t have enough. We need Dixon’s men, and we won’t get them if you don’t stand with him now.”

  Charlie only shook his head. “They’re not the enemy, Mom.” He stepped away, pacing around her and looking out to the fields of trailers and RVs parked along their property. He saw what remained of their charred fields and the new growth that had attempted to push through the layers of death. “We’re not meant to kill one another.” He turned back toward his mother. “That’s my final decision.”

  When he turned to leave, Martha stood her ground. “Whatever happens to this place and the people in it will be on your hands, Charlie. And if you’re so willing to throw everything we’ve built away, then maybe it shouldn’t be your decision!”

  But Charlie didn’t engage. He let his mother scream herself out, ignoring the painful cries and hurtful words. It didn’t matter what she said anymore. She was never going to come back.

  14

  It was a restless sleep, but when dawn broke, Charlie was glad for the few hours of rest. And the morning was made brighter by Adelyn’s smiling face, who greeted him when he woke.

  “Charlie!” Adelyn spread her little arms wide and then clapped Charlie’s cheeks, giggling from the slapping sound between her palms and Charlie’s skin.

  Charlie smiled and puffed out his cheeks, Adelyn giggling again as she slapped the bulges of air, which rushed from Charlie’s lips and blasted Adelyn’s hair as she rolled back on the bed and to her side. Charlie tickled her, and she flopped around on the sheets, her laughter intensifying along with her little squirming body.

  Liz appeared in the narrow doorway between the bedroom and the front of the trailer, smiling at the pair. “Hey, breakfast is ready.”

  Charlie finally ended his tickle assault, then looked at Adelyn. “You hungry?”

  “Yes,” Adelyn answered.

  The pair rolled out of bed, and Charlie scooped Adelyn off the floor, carrying her to the little cubby where the trio ate their breakfasts together whenever they had the opportunity, which was rare. Usually, Charlie was up before either of them. Whenever they had a chance to enjoy a meal together, Charlie always took advantage of it.

  Breakfast consisted of the unimportant conversations, laughter, and more than a few silly questions from Adelyn, who was going through a very curious phase of her toddler years.

  “What happens if the chickens don’t want to give us eggs?” Adelyn asked. “Can we get eggs from other animals? Like dogs? Or cats?”

  “No,” Liz answered. “Because dogs and cats are mammals, and mammals don’t lay eggs.”

  “Did I come from an egg?” Adelyn asked.

  “No,” Liz replied, taking a sip of coffee. “You came from a person.”

  “Did I come from you?” Adelyn asked.

  Both Charlie and Liz stopped. She hadn’t asked about her mother since she passed. The pair had discussed
how they would handle it when the inevitable happened, but now that it was staring them straight in the eyes, Charlie found himself unprepared.

  “No,” Liz answered. “You came from another woman.” She looked to Charlie, then back to Adelyn, the little girl more focused on her eggs than either of them. “Do you remember your mother?”

  Adelyn frowned. “A little.”

  “She loved you very much,” Charlie replied.

  “Why did she leave?” Adelyn asked, looking up from her eggs and right at Charlie, batting those long eyelashes that framed a pair of inquisitive hazel eyes.

  “She didn’t leave,” Charlie answered. “She died. Do you know what that means?”

  Adelyn stared at Charlie for a while, then nodded. “It means I don’t get to see her again.”

  Charlie grabbed hold of the little girl’s hand, his grip firm but loving. “You won’t understand this now, but you’ll see her when you’re older.” Charlie thought of his own father, all of his mannerisms and quirks, and how he found himself falling into the same habits. He saw more of his father in him in the past year than he had in his entire life. “You’ll see her in all of the things that you do when you grow up. And because of that, she’ll always be with you. Just like Liz and I will.”

  Adelyn looked between her adopted parents and then smiled. “Promise?”

  Liz sniffled and then kissed the top of Adelyn’s head. “Promise.”

  Charlie kissed Adelyn’s hand, and the beautiful morning moment was interrupted by a hurried knock on the trailer door.

  “Charlie!”

  Charlie moved quickly, heading toward the trailer door and grabbing his rifle along the way. When he opened the door, he found Shelly and Jason, both of them already armed.

  “Blue clan’s heading our way,” Shelly said.

  Charlie turned back toward Liz and Adelyn and then reached for the bulletproof vest in the closet. He slid his arms through the holes, the front decorated with the scars of battle, and then kissed Liz and Adelyn on his way out.