by Steven Smith
As the sun disappeared behind the hills to the west, he let himself mentally meld into the increasing darkness, slowing his breathing and concentrating on the sounds around him. It had been years since he had spent time in the woods away from the city and he had forgotten how dark it could get without much of a moon. The small sliver of a new moon gave very little light, but, as the darkness increased, the stars were amazing.
He stayed on the crest until halfway through the second watch and, having seen no sign of activity, returned to camp. As he descended the last few yards, he saw a figure standing on the edge of the small clearing looking over the fields and forests to the north.
"Can't sleep?" he asked quietly.
At first, he thought she hadn't heard him. Then, without turning, she answered, "I'd forgotten how dark the night can be." Then looking up, "Can you imagine?"
He looked up at the stars but remained silent.
“Can you imagine," she asked, "what the native people must have thought of the stars, not knowing what they were?"
He continued looking, trying to put himself in the mindset of an Indian, or ancient European, hundreds of years ago. Yes, what must they have thought?
"It puts things in perspective," she continued. "The universe, the world, is complete without our knowledge or understanding of it, or our so-called improvements to it."
He waited for her to continue, but she didn't. "You think things were better before industrialization and modern technology?" he asked, immediately realizing that his question seemed stilted and clumsy.
She still hadn't turned around. "Don't you?"
He thought about it. It had been a while, and seemed like forever, since his days were filled with email, phone messages, checking craigslist several times a day, keeping up with rent, utility bills and insurance payments, traffic, rude people, constant news of war, political corruption, a collapsing society and endless asinine commercials for things no content person wanted or needed. A smile crossed his lips and he nodded. "Yep."
He stood there, looking at her back, until he felt as if he were intruding on her privacy, but before he could turn away she turned around to face him.
"Your son will be to Aedan as you are to Jim Wyatt," she said. Then her head tilted as if she were confused about something, but she straightened and looked at him in silence.
The sudden statement took him by surprise. Though his affection for Becky was friendship rather than romantic, he had come to think of Bobby as almost his own son. He shrugged. "Bobby's a great kid."
She took a step forward out of the shadow and he could now see her face. She looked out into the night as if trying to understand something, then back at him, her gaze probing. "No," she said slowly, again turning her head to look into the night as if trying to find the answer in the darkness.
After a moment she turned back and, with steps he couldn't hear, walked past him, her fingertips touching his arm gently as she passed. "Good night."
He turned and watched her walk silently back to her bed roll. "Goodnight," he said, too quietly for her to hear.
Christian awakened from a dream about traffic and emails to the sound of a horse walking softly. Opening his eyes as he tightened his grip on the pistol in his hand, he saw Naomi sitting on the Arab, silhouetted against the rising sun.
"Sorry if I woke you," she said, sliding smoothly from the saddle and onto the ground.
He looked up at her and saw that she looked as fresh as yesterday, which made him conscious of how he must look, which irritated him. "How long have you been up?" he asked, throwing his blanket off and getting to his feet.
"Most of the night. I thought I'd scout around a bit. Didn't see anything"
He put on his hat, glad that it covered his messed-up hair. "I'd rather you didn't do that."
"What?"
"Go off by yourself. It's dangerous, and the sentries might have shot you."
She smiled. "I told them I was going out. They said you'd kill them if they let me go but I told them they didn't have a choice short of shooting me and that I'd try to talk you out of killing them." She turned to get something out of her saddlebags. "But if you don't want me to go out by myself again, I won't."
He looked at her digging through her saddlebag, a bit surprised. He had expected an argument. "Okay. Good."
He dug his toothbrush out of his rucksack, slung his AR over one shoulder and his camelback over the other, then walked toward the trees to take care of morning business, kicking the feet of each scout as he passed them. "Rise and shine, beauties. Things to do and people to see, or maybe the other way around."
The morning took them farther east, close to the Missouri state line before they swung north again. Just as the day before, they stopped at a number of abandoned farm houses, some of them ransacked, and a few occupied ones. Those they spoke to said they had suffered some livestock theft, and in one case a raid by a small party they had been able to fight off. Some of the families had consolidated into central locations for greater security, explaining some of the empty farm houses, but others had just disappeared.
A public safety unit had been formed in Louisburg, headed by the Miami County Sheriff and made up of deputies, town police and volunteer firefighters, but they weren't able to do much patrolling beyond the town and concentrated on keeping it secure. The sheriff told them he had heard from Missouri deputies that gangs out of Grandview and south Kansas City had raided southward, but had mostly been wiped out by the folks in Belton and Raymore, and the deputies had taken care of the rest. "Those assholes trying to shoot their guns sideways didn't do too well against good old boys with ARs and deer rifles who know how to use them," he said.
A couple of his deputies smiled and one of them spat tobacco juice next to the toe of his boot. "Heard they picked up quite a few pistols off those dead gangers. Too bad they didn't let a few get through for us."
By mid-afternoon, they were a mile out from the school and were contacted by one of Mike’s scouts who led them in. The place already looked squared away and the level of activity explained why. As they dismounted at the front door, Mike came out smiling.
"Couldn't stay away, huh?"
Christian smiled back. "Well, I figured you could make it a day or two without me, but beyond that might be pushing it."
Mike laughed. "That's probably true. I haven't shot anybody yet, but a couple of these idiots are testing my patience. Are you staying?"
Christian shook his head. "No. We'll break for a few minutes and then we have to go get Naomi's family." He looked around the school grounds and the bustling activity. "Jim wants me to talk to all the people here about something. How long would it take to get everybody together?"
Mike thought for a minute. "It will take a while to get everybody in from the outlying places. I'd say day after tomorrow."
Christian nodded. "Good. Let's go inside and I'll tell you all about it."
After briefing Mike, Christian and the squad followed Naomi, first to her family's home, which they found empty and vandalized, then on to the abandoned barn. When Naomi indicated that they were close, Christian ordered the scouts to remain behind the tree line and assume compass points on the small open area to set up surveillance on the building. After an hour, an auburn-haired woman wearing jeans and a dark blue work shirt emerged from the pedestrian door and stood with her face to the sun as if basking in its warmth.
Naomi touched Christian's sleeve. "That's Carol. Everything's alright."
Christian looked at her quizzically. "How do you know?"
"She knows we're here. She's facing the sun to tell us it's all clear. If there was a problem, she would be looking down or facing the woods."
Christian continued looking at her.
"It's a Comanche thing," she said, seeing the doubt on his face. "Trust me."
"Uh huh. So, it's your dad who's part Comanche?"
"Uh uh, my mom. But Carol is her spirit sister. It's like she's of the blood. Sometimes she's better than me. I'l
l go out to her, then motion you in."
Christian put his hand on her arm, stopping her while continuing to watch the woman, who now seemed to be looking directly at him. "Then why doesn't she just wave us in?"
"In case other people are watching. Also, because that's what someone would be ordered to do to suck us into a trap."
Christian nodded. "Makes sense. You all are pretty tricky, aren't you?"
He watched the woman for another minute. "Okay, but ride in in case you need to get away fast or need something to hide behind. And have everybody come outside before you wave us in."
She looked at him.
"It's a careful thing. Trust me."
Christian continued to watch the woman and the barn as he heard Naomi mount up, then watched as she walked the Arabian out of the trees and across the meadow. As she got closer, the woman smiled warmly and stretched out her arms. Naomi stopped by the woman and dismounted, moving into the woman's arms where they held each other in a brief embrace. After a moment, the woman turned toward the barn and a man emerged, accompanied by a teenage girl and a young boy. Naomi walked into the barn, then re-emerged to wave him in.
"Everybody stay put," he said into his mic, mounting the black and riding slowly across the field with his AR hanging at his right side and his right hand resting on his thigh inches from his pistol.
He reached the group and stopped, but didn't dismount.
Naomi looked up at him. "Christian, this is Carol, Jerry, Elizabeth and Logan. Guys, this is Christian Bell."
Christian nodded to everyone and touched the brim of his hat to Carol with his left hand. "Ma'am."
Jerry nodded, Elizabeth smiled shyly, Logan looked up in awe and Carol squinted at him. "You from Texas, Christian?" she asked with a slow smile.
"No ma'am. Kansas."
Carol smiled wider. "You've got Texas manners, touching your hat to a lady, but not with your gun hand."
Now, Christian smiled. "Well, around here, ma'am, we just call it being polite and being careful."
Carol chuckled. "Well, as soon as you decide that nobody here needs shooting, step on down and come on in. It ain't much, but we call it a barn."
On entering, Christian could see the amount of work that Naomi and Jerry had done carrying food and supplies to the barn. Stacks of canned goods and dehydrated meal packages filled an entire stall, and a rear area had been sectioned off with blankets to form a common sleeping area. An old iron wood stove had been cleaned and moved into the sleeping area, where it was used to cook on and provide warmth at night. They had not vented it, so that the smoke could not readily be seen from outside the barn, but the ceiling was high enough and the sidewall boards loose enough that the smoke dissipated and didn't collect inside. Pots and pans hung neatly on nails in the wall, and plates, cups and silverware were stacked on a side table.
Another stall was filled with makeshift shelves that held stacks of clothing, and a stall opposite the sleeping area had been transformed into a shower with a raised brick floor and fed by a barrel on stilts through a garden hose and spray nozzle.
Carol invited them to stay for dinner and the night, so Christian called in half of the scouts to take care of their horses and prepare a place for the squad in the barn. As they worked to set up the area, he took a second look around the barn and watched the family.
A lot of work had been done to make the place both livable and defensible, at least within the limitations of an old wooden barn, and the family seemed to get along well. It was apparent that Carol was the leader, though she did it in a loving, if firm, way. Jerry seemed affable and willing to work, and more than willing to follow Carol's lead. Elizabeth seemed like a good kid, ready to help as needed, and Logan was a ball of energy constantly bouncing from one person to another as he tried to keep up with what everyone else was doing. Naomi seemed to be an entity unto herself, close enough to the others to be included in the circle of familial love, but apart enough to be treated with a degree of extra-familial courtesy. Carol treated her as an equal, Jerry with deference, and Elizabeth and Logan with loving awe.
"You look like a man trying to figure something out."
Christian looked over to see Carol smiling at him. "I'm admiring what you've done to make this place livable," he replied. "You all have done a lot of work."
Carol tilted her head and raised an eyebrow at him. "You're being polite. There's not much here to admire, but we get along. Would you like some coffee? Real Folgers instant."
Christian grinned. "That would be a slice of heaven."
"Good. That will give me an excuse to have a cup too." She nodded at a long table. "Have a seat and I'll whip it up."
Christian took a seat on a wooden box with a feed bag folded on top for a cushion. Logan was hanging around the scouts, wide eyed and asking about their equipment and what it took to be a scout. Elizabeth was helping Naomi get supper ready. Jerry wasn't around.
"Here you go," said Carol, setting a cup of steaming coffee in front of him and sitting down. "Sugar?"
Christian smile his thanks. "I'd love it but I'm trying to kick the sugar habit. Jim says it will make my life simpler and I'll actually be able to taste the coffee."
Carol laughed. "I agree with him." She took a sip, then, as if reading his mind, "Jerry is a good man, a strong man. This situation has made him doubt himself because the skills and strengths needed in this new world are different than the ones he had, which were important in the old one."
Christian nodded. "I can understand that. People like Jim and I, and probably your family, were 'throwbacks' in the modern world. We didn't quite fit in. Now, the world isn't modern anymore and we're more in our element while those who were mainstream before are now out of theirs." He looked around. "Where is he?"
Carol looked out the barn door. "He's outside." She thought for a moment. "I think he wants to kill somebody. He's been angry and ashamed that he didn't protect his family when those raiders came. He hasn't said that, but I can tell. Now, he spends most of his time out in the woods keeping watch in case of another raid. I think he actually hopes for it so he can do what he feels he should have done the first time. It will kind of cleanse his soul, if you know what I mean."
Christian nodded. "I've seen it before. It's understandable."
He thought for a moment before continuing. "Our society had changed to a point where traditionally masculine traits had become looked down on. Instead of loving, leading, providing and protecting, men were told that these roles were chauvinistic and that they needed to develop kinder, gentler ways of participating in society. Some actually believed it, probably because it was the easier way to go, and others forced themselves to fit in so they could advance in their careers. Life became more about feeling than thinking, and more about talk than action. Men had to get along with women, often while in subordinate roles, more than with each other." He took a sip of coffee. "No offense, but I hated those days. It was the decline of manhood and our whole country suffered for it."
Carol shook her head. "No offense taken, and I couldn't agree more. I feel like I'm back home talking to my family. Jerry always disagreed, but I think his mind is changing pretty fast."
She looked over at Logan. "A lot of mothers would think I'm crazy for saying this, but I'm almost glad this happened. It will be more dangerous for my kids, but at least they'll live in a world where real values and principles apply, instead of insane political correctness and conniving back-stabbers in an office."
Christian nodded. "We've said pretty much the same thing." He took a sip of coffee. "You and Jerry seem pretty different in your world views."
Carol chuckled. "You're wondering how we got together." She looked out the door as if she were looking back in time. "Yes, we're different in some ways. We're each products of our environments, me from a wild west Texas clan of brothers and he from a family of college professors moved to Kansas from back east. But we're alike in the important ways. He's honest, hardworking, solid in his beliefs and tot
ally committed to his family. He's just evolving now as harsh realities set in. Like you said, I was a bit out of my element before and now it's his turn."
"How did you get together?" Christian asked.
Carol burst into a full laugh, remembering. "We met at a rodeo at K-State. I was there with some friends and he was there covering it for the school newspaper. I think his original angle was cruelty to animals or something. Anyway, a drunk bull rider was trying to paw me out by the corrals and I was just about to take care of him with a knee to the church bells when Jerry came along and told him to leave me alone." She looked down at her coffee and shook her head, smiling at the memory.
"What happened?"
Carol sighed, but kept smiling. "Oh, that cowboy stomped Jerry good. But he left, and when Jerry finally got up he insisted on walking me to my car. He was a mess. His shirt was torn, his face was bleeding and his left eye was already starting to swell shut, but I could see he wasn't scared. He walked us to our car, and when the bull rider saw us in the parking lot and started yelling at us Jerry didn't flinch. He just stayed by our car till we left."
She looked up at Christian. "A couple of weeks later I saw Jerry's article in the paper. It wasn't the animal rights hit piece I had expected. Instead, he explained the history and importance of rodeo in western American culture, and talked about the respect the riders and spectators had for the animals. He even spoke of the toughness and the cowboy code he saw in the riders. I was really surprised, and impressed."
