Janna's eyes went to the bag ... Billy's hands fumbled with the clasp as he argued with the man called Fred...
"So what. I told you, bets off, Billy, you think I'm giving..."
Janna watched as the clasp suddenly gave and Billy began to pull the bag open.
"... this up, you're a crazier fuck than she is, now..."
The bag opened and a hard metallic click sounded, somehow amplified on the dark roadway. A split second later a hissing sound came to her ears, and flickering light seemed to leap from the bag into the darkness.
"...just shut the fuck up and ... what the fuck?" Fred cried out in alarm, as he pushed Jessie away from him.
Billy began to turn away from the bag as if in slow motion.
“Under the truck,” Jessie screamed, “quickly!” Janna dove for the truck and crawled beneath it quickly. Bob and Jessie scurried under after her. Behind her she saw Ally roll under the back of the truck. Not one of the six men even noticed, as far as Janna could tell. Janna turned her eyes back to the bag. It seemed like a split second, but later she told herself it could have been longer...
"What? ... what the fuck?" Billy asked. He was less than halfway turned around, and had not yet seen what had caused Fred's alarm. He was bringing the small pistol up as he turned.
Flame leapt from the bag and before Billy had turned fully around began to rip him apart. It was the only way Janna's brain could process the images her eyes gave her before she squeezed them shut. As if pieces of the man had simply vaporized as she watched.
Fred turned and ran for the woods without firing so much as a single shot. His rifle clattered to the pavement, and a low whining escaped his lips as he ran. The man that had been beside him, hesitated, looked back, and then he bolted to. The first shots came from Jessie and were quickly followed by Bob from under the truck. The two men at the front of the truck, began firing back, but the shots ricocheted off the blacktop. It was over in a few seconds. Jessie's gun found one and Bob's the other, both men crumpled to the ground.
The explosion came next, an impossibly loud noise and flash of light in the darkness. The air seemed to be forced from Janna's lungs. A second after that the sound of rain falling and striking the pavement came to her, confusing in its sudden intensity. A second after that silence descended.
Janna crawled quickly from beneath the truck, as did Jessie and Bob. A small cloud of smoke swirled low to the ground. Agitated, snaking off the sides of the road into the trees.
“In the truck, Janna,” Ally told her. She turned to see Ally waiting on her.
Janna dove into the truck as Bob climbed behind the wheel. Jessie ran forward to the bus that still blocked the road and a split second later it roared to life, lurched, and then rocketed forward into the ditch. Jessie was out of the bus before it stopped, sprinting back to the little truck that waited for her. A second later they were tearing down the highway in the darkness, driving by starlight.
Jessie stared through the windshield. The truck rocked violently as it hit a pothole in the road veering to the right sharply.
Bob struggled forward from the seat, grasped the wheel, and a split second later the truck straightened out once more on the roadway ... rubber screamed in the darkness ... and then they were rolling smoothly down the road Janna saw.
Bob fought the wheel, and the truck's speedometer swung down below forty. Sweat ran from Bob in rivers as he struggled, finally gaining complete control of the truck once more.
Janna turned and looked nervously behind her, fully expecting more raiders to come flying out of the darkness behind them. But the road was dark, and from what she could see empty.
“They're done,” Jessie assured them all.
Bob levered himself away from the wheel, and settled back against the seat, breathing heavily, totally exhausted.
“What the hell was that,” Janna asked.
“I rigged a grenade... When you play with people who don't recognize rules you have to play the same way,” she said.
'My, God.” Ally said.
“They would've killed us... I have no doubt,” Bob said.
“They would have killed you,” Jessie corrected. She let the implication hang on the air.
They drove in silence for a few minutes, the trucks headlights cut faithfully through the dark,
5 MILES TO SNOQUALMIE NATIONAL FOREST PRESERVE,
a sign looming out of the darkness informed them. The truck began to wheeze and hitch just as they entered a small town a few miles from the preserve. Bob turned off the switch and they coasted slowly to the side of the road.
Seattle
Lake Union Settlement
In Seattle, at the lake Union Settlement, Sarah Hart, known to all as Mamma, suddenly clutched her chest and drew a deep breath inward. Her eyes squeezed painfully shut. Rodney grabbed her before she could fall, and laid her carefully down in the dirt.
"Mamma?" he asked worriedly, tears already beginning to roll from his eyes. Her lips moved, and she struggled to speak with what breath remained. Rodney bent closer, as a small apprehensive crowd quickly gathered around her.
"What Mamma, what?" Rodney asked in a whisper. He listened intently, as the crowd leaned closer.
Mama spoke quickly, yet quietly, fighting the growing pain. The pain intensified, as she lay looking up into Rodney's frightened face, and then suddenly stopped. It was clearer now, much clearer, she thought. She hurried her last words along with the last of her breath.
Rodney stood slowly from the ground, and looked around at the small group. "She's gone," he said simply, as he removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. A murmur went quickly through the crowd, and then they fell silent once again.
Rodney replaced his glasses, and then turned toward the small crowd. "It's nearly time," he said, "Mamma said it's time for all of us to leave here."
"Did she say where to go?" a young woman asked, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"No, she just said it's time, and then ... and then she said, 'it's clearer now, I can see it now,'" Rodney finished.
April 27th
Year Two
Katie's Diary
It has been rough here since the new year began. Even before that, but maybe life is going to slow down a little here now.
I have not written in a while, but it has been one thing after another here, and there has been no time to do it. Even so, when I hold the two of you in my arms and nurse you, I sometimes think of this journal and why I keep it. This is supposed to be for you. To help you understand us when we are gone, maybe even when we are still here. I guess none of us have decided on that yet, and I think that all of us have put so much personal stuff in our journals that it wouldn't be okay with us if just anyone read them. I wouldn't want anyone else to read mine. But, this is for you two, and I hope, brothers and sisters that will come in the future.
We had the funeral for James, Arlene and Arlene's baby too. The thaw was on. Tom and Craig managed to dig holes. We thought it was best.
We have heard that Jessie, David, Janet and the others made it out of here. They are claiming that they were turned out. I wanted to ask Conner if that was true, but I haven't. I know that a decision had to be made. I know Conner was so angry because he felt that the circumstances had weighed so heavily on James that he had fallen because he had not been paying attention to the job. Too preoccupied with the other things. I don't know if I want to know exactly how it all played out. I don't think it matters. I don't have anything better to say besides that.
We know they have moved on to the west. A place called Snoqualmie... West coast nearly. We don't know anything else about it and are not likely to hear any more about it.
Emmett Stiles is our new doctor. He is not like Jessie or Steve would be, or even Sandy. It takes some getting used to, thinking I will see them when I go up to the cave. I was so used to seeing some of them in the main area. No more. Emmett is an okay doctor, just not as personable as Jessie or Steve were, and I don't think he will stay
here long.
Sandy worked well under him, but it is more like works well apart from him, or in spite of him. She does her thing with Susan. They run things now, Emmett sees the serious cases that need more than Sandy can give, but to be honest that is very little. That alarmed me at first, but Sandy really does know her stuff. She paid attention, listened to Jessie and Steve and she knows what she is doing. I think that in some way we hurt her feelings by bringing Emmett here. And I think she is probably right to be hurt. We didn't need him. He has an education in name only, Sandy, with most things, knows as much or more than he does. And she is more willing to put it to work. Emmett is not holding back, I don't mean that, I simply mean he is withdrawn, or not fitting in to the way things are here. I can't put it any better than that. I do intend to sit down and talk to Sandy and see that she knows that I for one wish we had not brought in another doctor. As we grow it should become a moot point all the way around, and we grow almost every day.
Rollie came back today. He's been in touch via radio. We'll unload his trailers tomorrow: Yes, he came with three teams to deliver all the stuff that was contracted for. I guess we now have a real trade economy going on. When he left the last time he took Beth, Joe and George with him, along with Steve. Only Joe came back, he is working full-time with Rollie now and he likes it. George and Beth decided to stay with Sarah Jobson's camp. We will see them in the fall when they visit.
Steve went west. He had offers, but he took an offer that is someplace in what used to be Texas or New Mexico. What we heard was inconsistent. It made me think he had actually set out after Jessie, and maybe that is the truth of it. I do know that no one knows exactly where this new settlement he went to is.
Jake took over all of James' duties except the farm. Josh took that over along with his own farm which is located on the opposite side of our ridge. He can easily reach the two places using the main tunnel that cuts through the ridge. We are working on that constantly. The hope, Josh and Jake both say, is to drive vehicles from one side to the other through the tunnel. They have done it with four wheel drive vehicles, but they want it to be able to be used by oxen teams as well as trucks towing trailers or wagons.
Joe brought back four offers for Emmett. That made me wonder, but Rollie said it is common place for doctors to get offers all the time. It never stops. Maybe that will solve the problem for us. They made alternate offers for Sandy.
I imagine one of them will go, I wonder which one: As long as we have a doctor we will be fine. Three offers to us from other doctors as far away as the east coast came to us as well. We didn't pay Emmett to come here, but we have more to offer than any other place has, so we don't have to offer, they offer us.
And the part that I have to deal with: The reason I would not want anyone to read this except the two of you or your sisters and brothers: Amy and I. It's not like what happened with Janet and David, but how different is it? I won't answer that, at least not now, except to say that I love her, and she loves me, and neither one of us is willing to give up the other, and won't. Maybe someday I can be more open., but right now I feel guilty about it and so does Aim. Even so, we talked about it and it doesn't change anything at all.
Lastly: We still have heard nothing at all from the OutRunner team. All of us are worried, but we are hoping it is a weather delay. According to Parkland and Rollie's own observations, the snow depths are well over three feet on the level. Conner doesn't think they could drive through that, and they were in what once was northern New York, where it is liable to have been even deeper. Spring is at least a few weeks away to a month. We will have to wait and see.
April 28th
Year Two
The Nation
It was bitterly cold as the small caravan crossed the gap and dropped down out of the pass, starting on their way to Parkland. The three sledges were piled high with trade goods and belongings. Emmett Stiles was with them. He had come to the council and asked to be released and they had released him. He was on his way to another life that might suit him better, Conner thought. The council had already made Sandy the doctor for the Nation. She had been ecstatic. More than that, Conner had argued, it had been the right thing to do. She had earned it.
Katie and Amy raised their hands and waved to the small caravan as they began to drop down into the open valley. Five figures riding atop the sledges waved back.
On The Road To Snoqualmie
They had left the truck on foot and walked to a nearby garage. A little tinkering and Bob had three vehicles started and running just before sunrise. They had eaten a small meal in the open bay of the garage before they had started up through the trees to the settlement. It was early evening as they made their way up through the quiet trees.
Jessie slowed her SUV as she drove slowly through the huge majestic trees of the forest. She had taken the lead, alone. Bob was behind her, Janna and Ally were in the SUV behind him. She felt it might be smarter to have all three vehicles just in case another broke down. It was a long way back to Seattle on foot. She also had no real idea what her greeting at Snoqualmie might be like. She had left, and she had been gone a long time.
Several hundred yards ahead, she could make out buildings through the heavy foliage. She rounded a slight curve in the road, and the small settlement opened up before her. A weathered hand lettered sign,
SNOQUALMIE SETTLEMENT, welcomed them. The other two vehicles stopped behind Jessie and killed their engines.
A rough circle of eight log cabins filled the clearing, the largest of which sat in the center. Several kids bikes, Janna noticed, were leaned up against some of the porches, or tumbled on the grass of the door yards. The sunlight shot threads of silver across the lake, rippled by a gentle current. The door to one of the cabins opened, and a tall man, whose gray hair was shot with black, stepped out the door, and into the light. A dark haired woman stepped through the open doorway behind him. Jessie recognized Annie Davidson, as she stepped out into the light. Several others stood in the dooryard... Joe..., Becky, others she knew.
Jessie levered the door handle, stepped out of the truck, and started walking towards the porch. Bob and Janna behind her.
“I would step out unarmed if I were you,” a woman holding a rifle had called to her. Becky, Jessie knew. Others in the yard had raised their own rifles and pointed them at the door as Jessie had levered the door handle and stepped out from the sport utility.
"Jessie!" Becky said excitedly. She hurried forward and hugged Jessie fiercely, tears of joy streaming down her face. She pulled away. “We thought you were dead! We thought you were dead!”
Another door opened on yet another porch, and a young couple stepped out into the late afternoon light. They too left the porch and walked towards Jessie.
"Becky!" Jessie said. “I get that a lot”. She made room for Joe as he came over and wrapped his arms around the two of them. “I get that a lot,” Jessie repeated, and as she turned towards the approaching young woman. Janna could see tears tracking across her cheeks. The three women embraced, talking excitedly as they did. A fourth woman joined them, pregnant, Janna saw, whom Jessie called Peggy.
"Oh, Jessie, come see, we have hot water," Peggy told her.
"And lights," Annie added. The four women, still talking, turned and walked towards one of the cabins.
The tall gray haired man, accompanied by the young man who had been with the woman Jessie had called Becky, approached Bob, Ally and Janna. The younger mans' long dark-blond hair was tied back in a pony tail.
"Bob" Bob said warmly, shaking first the tall gray haired mans hand, and then the others. Several other people approached them, where they stood in a tight circle in the clearing.
"Frank," the tall man with the graying black hair said, "looks as though the women abandoned us for a while, but don't they always?" he turned towards Janna, and extended his hand. "Frank Morgan, glad to meet you." Janna shook his hand, and then the hand of the blond haired young man beside him.
"Janna," Jann
a said.
"Joe Miller," The young, blond haired man said.
Two older men approached, and similarly introduced themselves.
"Gary Jones," one of the older men said, as he shook Janna's hand.
"Delbert Sanders," the other man said. Janna shook his hand as well.
"Hey," Joe said, "no sense standing around out here, come on inside. Besides," he winked at Janna and Bob, "no telling how long they'll be talking."
"Look's as though they may have been a bit smarter than us though," Delbert said, looking around, "they're already inside."
"You know there's a theory about that," Gary Jones started to say."
"Please, spare us," Frank said, as they all walked toward one of the cabins. He rolled his eyes comically, and they all laughed.
The lights, as it turned out, were solar powered, and most were florescent. The electricity seemed to be used only for lighting, and then only sparingly. Inside there were very few actual light fixtures. Still, to Janna, it was amazing to see any electric lights at all.
"It's an experiment," Gary Jones said from beside her, "you see the theory, or hope, I should say, is that eventually we'll be able to run the whole place, not just lights. Trouble is we have to scrounge up the panels from all over the place. It was Joe and Frank's idea."
"Well, not really," Joe said, "we read it an issue of The Mother Earth News, an old magazine I'd never even heard of before. Frank found it, and we tried it ... took a lot of work to get it going, but it was worth it."
Janna nodded her head. "I wouldn't have believed it could ... it's sort of neat, I guess, sort of nostalgic."
~
“I know it seems strange for me to show up out of the blue and then tell you it's only to say goodbye... But that's the way it has to be,” Jessie said.
Jessie, Becky, Annie and a few others were in another room off the main area of the big cabin. This room featured a large window that looked out over the lake.
“I never saw it this way before,” Jessie said. “Higher up... It's beautiful, and it seems bigger to me.”
Earth's Survivors Box Set [Books 1-7] Page 217
