by Eric Vall
“Yes,” I nodded. “We knew we were going to help them, but we also decided they couldn’t live with us.”
“Right,” she nodded and then she smiled. “I mean, when you met us, we weren’t doing the greatest, but we were still surviving.”
“Yes, you were,” I told her with a smile. “People are more durable than you might think.”
“That’s true,” she said. “It just sucks not being able to help everyone.”
“I know,” I said. “But you can’t adopt every dog at the shelter.”
“You can adopt a few though,” she grinned at me.
“Yes,” I laughed. “And we have done that already, plus two horses. But I promise, if we can find a way to help this situation we will.”
“I know,” she smiled. “We’re the good guys.”
“Yes, we are,” I grinned at her and gave her a kiss. “Now how about dinner?”
“I’m starving,” she said.
“Let’s see,” I said as I reached for my pack and pulled out my remaining canned goods. “We have some black beans, green beans, and I still have some wolf jerky left.”
“Looks like beans are definitely on the menu,” she laughed as she reached into her pack and pulled out a can of corn and more beans.
“We should have brought some spices,” I laughed with her, then we opened the cans and placed them in the fire to boil.
“Don’t people call this way of cooking hobo dinner?” Paige asked as she watched the cans.
“Yeah,” I laughed. “But I’m guessing that would be offensive to homeless people.”
“Shit,” she grimaced.
“It’s okay,” I laughed. “I’m guessing a lot of people are homeless now.”
Paige was quiet for a moment, but then she turned to look at me with her head cocked to the side.
“Do you remember your dad?” she asked.
“A little,” I told her.
“What was he like?” she asked, and her head cocked further to the side.
“He was gruff,” I laughed. “At least in appearance. But he was always kind to my mother and me.”
“What did he look like?” she asked with a smile.
“He was tall,” I said. “And he had dark hair like I do.”
“Did he have a beard?” she asked.
“No,” I laughed. “He was clean shaven, and he always had a buzzcut.”
“Do you still miss him?” she wondered.
“Sometimes,” I admitted. “But I think I miss the idea of him more.”
“I understand that,” she nodded.
“I’m sure you miss your parents, though,” I said.
“I think I miss the idea of them more too,” she confessed. “I mean I love my parents, but I love the family I have now more I think.”
“Is this your way of saying you love me?” I joked.
“I do though,” Paige laughed and hit me on the arm. “I love all of my little family, you included.”
“Winchester the most though, right?” I grinned.
“Well, duh,” she smiled, and I laughed.
The sun had begun its descent on the horizon, and I pulled our dinner off the fire to cool. After a few moments Paige and I ate quietly and watched the sun go down.
“What’s that over there?” Paige asked as she set her can on the ground and pointed across the water.
“It looks like the glow of wildfire,” I said as I narrowed my eyes.
“That’s New York across the water,” she said. “I think you’re right. I think it’s a fire, but it looks really far away.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, it was just a line of orange in the distance but as we watched, and the sky became darker, it grew larger.
“Is all of New York on fire?” Paige asked, and she turned to me with wide eyes.
“I’m starting to think it is,” I said as I watched the orange strip continue to grow.
“What would have caused that?” she asked incredulously. “Aren’t there National Guard troops over there too?”
“Almost certainly,” I answered. “But they might have gotten overrun.”
“Shit,” she breathed.
“That’s probably people pillaging,” I nodded.
“That’s what’s in store for us if the border doesn’t hold,” she said, and she looked at me with a look of panic.
“Remember what I said earlier,” I told her.
“Right,” she nodded. “We protect our family and our community first.”
“Yes,” I said. “Always.”
Chapter 20
The night had been a long one, and I figured that Paige hadn’t slept well because I sure hadn't, so I woke to the dawn and made a hot breakfast of beans and corn and let Paige sleep while I cooked.
When the food was ready, I gently shook her shoulder to wake her up.
“Mmmm,” she said as she stretched. “What smells so good?”
“I made breakfast,” I laughed.
“You’re a saint,” she told me as she sat up and put on her glasses.
“The patron saint of canned beans,” I chuckled. “I figured we could start the day off on a good note.”
“A hot breakfast is always nice,” she grinned. “But it’s already a good day.”
“Why is that?” I asked.
“Because we’re going home today,” she smiled.
“That does make it a good day,” I smiled back. “Let’s eat up and hit the road.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Paige said as she grabbed the mix of beans and corn.
We ate in silence and enjoyed our hot meal.
“The only thing that could make this better is coffee,” Paige said as she ate her last bite of breakfast.
“We can still stop by that Starbucks,” I said. “There’s a chance there’s still some coffee in there.”
“I bet we could find some spices too,” she smiled.
“I’m sure we could,” I smiled back at her.
“You gonna let me drive again?” she grinned as we put out the fire and threw on our packs.
“Not a chance,” I laughed.
“Did I scare you?” she teased.
“I would say terrified,” I chuckled and I threw my leg over the bike.
“Chicken,” Paige muttered, and she hopped on behind me and wrapped her arms around my stomach.
I scoffed and turned my head back to look at her, and she grinned at me and kissed my shoulder.
“I’m only joking,” she laughed.
“You better be,” I smiled. “Or I might have to teach you some manners.”
“Oooh, are you going to spank me?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Only if you like it,” I grinned.
“Oh, I would,” she grinned back at me.
“We have to go,” I laughed. “Before I bend you over this motorcycle right here.”
Paige laughed, and I turned on the bike and headed back to the main road.
“Highway 2 will turn into 7,” she said behind me as we crossed the bridge over Lake Champlain. “We can take it all the way down to Lanceton where we left the horses.”
“We’ll still need to walk the bike through Burlington,” I reminded her.
“Yeah,” she said. “And make our Starbucks run.”
“That too,” I laughed.
The clouds were fluffy and white above us as we rode, and I was happy to have a smiling Paige again. There were a lot of things to consider, but we always had to remember to enjoy life, otherwise there was no point to surviving.
We reached the section where Highway 2 crossed over 89 and hopped off the bike and walked through the town toward the Starbucks we had seen when we first arrived. South Burlington wasn’t far, and we walked in silence as I enjoyed the feel of the midmorning sun on my skin. When we reached the Starbucks, Paige turned and flashed me a grin.
“Let’s get some coffee,” she said.
“Lead the way,” I smiled.
Paige made her way to the
front of the building and reached for the door handle, but as she pulled, she realized it was locked.
“Well that would have been far too easy,” she said as she turned back to me. “Can we break a window?”
“We can,” I laughed. “But let’s check out the other doors first. There’s usually a back entrance for the staff.”
“Okay,” she sighed, turned, and headed around the building.
“You really wanted to break that window, didn’t you?” I teased.
“Is it bad if I say yes?” she chuckled.
“No,” I smiled. “Breaking windows is kinda fun.”
We reached the back entrance, and Paige gave the door handle a tug, but it didn’t budge.
“Looks like you’ll get to break that window after all,” I laughed.
“Do you think it will be too noisy?” she asked, and she bit her lip.
“No,” I said. “We’ll break one on the side of the building, but we’re far enough away from the camp I think we’ll be fine.”
“Okay,” she nodded, and she started to look around at the ground.
“What are you looking for?” I asked.
“A rock,” she said. “But they’re all so tiny.”
“You don’t need a rock,” I laughed.
“What, do you want me to shoot it?” she asked with a raised brow.
“No,” I smiled. “But you can use your gun.”
“Show me,” she said, and her eyes narrowed.
I walked to the side of the building to the window nearest the back alley and pulled my rifle off my back.
“Just take the butt of your gun and smash the window,” I told her as I demonstrated without actually hitting the glass.
“Seems easy enough,” she grinned.
“Just make sure to hit it hard,” I told her as I took a step back. “But only use your arms, if you throw your body into it you could go tumbling through and get cut up.”
Paige closed her eyes and thrust the butt of her shotgun into the window, but she only cracked the glass, so she thrust once more, and the glass gave way to a large hole.
“I did it!” she squealed.
“You did,” I laughed. “But now we have to get this glass out of the way so we can get in.”
“I feel so badass,” she breathed and she helped me to knock the rest of the glass free.
“Looks like nobody was worried about getting coffee when they ransacked the town,” I smiled as I stepped through the window to the untouched but dusty Starbucks.
“Damn,” Paige frowned as she stepped through the window. “We don’t have room for all of this.”
“No,” I laughed as I looked at the fully stocked shelves. There were chips and granola bars, along with candies, bags of specialty coffees and teas, thermoses, cups, and other utensils all branded with the Starbucks name. “But we may be able to tie a box on the back of the bike.”
“Okay,” she smiled, opened a bag of organic potato chips, took one, and then offered me the bag.
“Thanks,” I grinned, took a small handful of chips, and popped them into my mouth. I hadn’t had BBQ chips in a very long time, and these were salty, fresh, and crunchy. Thank God for preservatives.
“We should grab some more of these too,” Paige said through a mouthful of chips.
“We’ll fill our bags first,” I told her. “Then we’ll find a small box to fill up.”
Paige nodded and kept eating chips as she walked around the store, while I headed behind the counter.
I found the coffee grounds and threw three bags into my backpack, but I also picked up some matcha powder, protein powder, and some tea. The spices were limited, but I still grabbed some cinnamon and nutmeg, and I figured maybe Betty could use some for baked goods. I found the supply closet and grabbed a big tin of cocoa powder, I wasn’t sure what we would use it for, but I figured the girls might like some chocolate.
“Oh my god,” I heard Paige moan, so I came around the corner to the lobby with my eyebrows pulled together at her outburst, and I found her leaning against the counter with her eyes closed as she chewed.
“What did you find?” I laughed.
“Chocolate,” she sighed and held up the bar of organic milk chocolate.
“I grabbed some cocoa powder too,” I smiled. “Let’s grab however many chocolate bars as we can for the rest of the group.”
“Already on it,” Paige gave me a thumbs up but continued to look blissful as she finished off her chocolate bar.
I laughed and headed back to the supply closet to see what else I could find, and I picked up a small box from the floor to fill. I lined the bottom of the box with bags of coffee grounds, and the next layer I filled with bags of coffee beans, I figured we could find a way to grind them and get more out of them than the grounds.
“Hey,” Paige said as she entered the supply closet. “My bag is full.”
“Good,” I smiled. “Is there anything but chocolate in there?”
“Yes,” she laughed. “Some coffee and potato chips too.”
“I grabbed some spices,” I said. “And plenty of coffee, is there anything else we can use?”
“Hmmm,” Paige said, and she looked around the small supply closet. “What about this coconut milk? We don’t have to grab a lot of it, but hot chocolate would be a nice treat.”
“Perfect,” I said, and I grabbed the shelf coconut milk and some sugar. Our box was full at this point, and I figured it was time to go. “You ready?”
“Yeah,” Paige sighed. “This place is just such a find, it sucks that we can’t just take all of it.”
“Don’t get greedy,” I laughed. “We can always come back too.”
“That’s true,” she grinned, and we made our way back out the broken window and tied the box to the back of our bike.
“Time to go home,” I smiled as I hopped on the bike.
“I can’t wait to show the girls the chocolate,” Paige grinned, and she hopped on the bike and grabbed my waist.
“You said we can take Highway 7 right?” I asked.
“Yeah, that's the direct route,” she said. “We’ll stop by Lanceton and pick up the horses too.”
“Okay,” I nodded. “We might run into the National Guard on that road, though.”
“Damn,” Paige agreed. “You might be right, should we take the other way?”
“Yeah,” I said. “This way will be faster, but we don’t want to run into a checkpoint, we’ll take 116 back down.”
“Okay,” she said. “We’re right by 2A, it connects to 116. What do we do if we run into a checkpoint though?”
“We shouldn’t,” I told her. “But if we do, they should let us pass peacefully, all they’re looking for up here is Canadians.”
“Got it,” she said, and then I fired up the bike and headed toward Highway 2A.
Paige and I rode down the highway, but just as it was about to turn to 116 I saw a small makeshift stand and two Guards up ahead.
“Shit,” I said.
“What?” Paige asked, and then she looked over my shoulder. “Oh.”
“Yeah,” I said. “It’s a checkpoint.”
“What do we do?” she asked.
“They’ve already seen us,” I said. “We’ll be cool and try to talk to them.”
“Okay,” Paige said, and I felt her hands grow tighter on my stomach.
“Pull your pistol,” I told her. “But keep it behind me so they can’t see it and only shoot if they make the first aggressive move.”
“Got it,” she said, and I felt one of her arms release me and, a second later, I felt her pistol pressed against my back.
I slowed the bike and rode toward the Guards, one of them waved me down and pointed to the side of the road, so I pulled over and cut the engine. They were decked out in full military gear with vests and tactical helmets, and one even had sunglasses on.
“How’s it goin?” I asked with a smile.
“Where are you coming from?” the first Guard asked,
and he took a few steps closer to our bike.
“We were just scouting the area for supplies,” I said.
“Wouldn’t happen to be coming from Canada, would you?” the other guard asked.
“No,” Paige shook her head. “We’re from here.”
“Hmmm,” the first soldier said. “You’re coming from the north. Where is it that you live exactly?”
“We live just a bit south of here,” I told the man.
“Yeah,” Paige said, and she reached in her pocket and pulled out a card with her free hand. “Look, I have my driver’s license.”
“Paige, huh?” the guy asked as he lifted his sunglasses and looked at the license.
“Yes, sir,” Paige nodded.
“Okay then,” he said with a small smile and relaxed his stance a bit. “I guess y’all are from around here.”
“But what’re you doing up this way?” the other soldier asked, and I saw that his rifle was still slung over his shoulder. They didn’t seem to think we were threats.
“Like I said before, we were just looking for supplies,” I said and I smiled at the man.
“What kind of supplies?” Sunglasses asked.
“Well it’s kind of embarrassing,” Paige smiled, “but we were looking for coffee.”
“Coffee, huh?” the other soldier laughed.
“Yeah,” she laughed. “We lucked out and found some too.”
“That looks like a big box of coffee for just the two of you,” Sunglasses said, and his eyes narrowed.
“Well you gotta stock up while you can in times like this, right?” I said, but I was growing wary of these men and their questions.
“Right,” the first soldier nodded.
“So where are you staying?” Sunglasses asked.
“We’re down south from here,” I told him.
“What town?” the other guard asked more pointedly.
“Small town, you probably wouldn’t have heard of it,” I told him with a hard smile.
“Try me,” the solder responded with an irritated tone.
“We’re really not supposed to let anyone through without particulars,” Sunglasses told me. “But if you cooperate, we might be able to work something out.”
“And what if we don’t?” I asked, and I felt Paige lift her pistol farther up my back.
“Then we’ll have to take you to the camp to register you,” the other soldier said, and he took a step toward the bike. “We need an accurate census, ya know?”
