Part 49

Alex, Promised Land, Virginia

Alex took Alma down to the kitchen and found everyone gathered in a group surrounding a tall, skinny red headed girl that was wearing a straw cowboy hat.  The group turned when they noticed him and Alma. 

They all flooded into the kitchen and stood around as they got food for Alma and the red head. 

He held his hand out to the freckled girl.

“Hi, I’m Alex, Alma’s brother,” he said.

“I gathered that.  I’m Cassidy.  I told her she needed faith and looky here. You’re alive,” the girl said with a toothy but infectious smile. 

“It’s good to meet you Cassidy. Thanks for taking care of my sister.”

“It was my pleasure.  She does have good taste in music,” Cassidy said.

“Thanks to me,” he said.

“Yes, he taught me the love of a Heavy Metal,” Alma said.  

“So, you guys drove all the way from Vegas on a one in a million chance that he was alive?  How did you expect to even find him?”  Jennifer asked. 

“We tried not to think about it,” Alma said.

“We went on blind faith,” Cassidy said. 

“You guys are crazy,” Spencer said.

“We’re crazy, but we were right,” Cassidy said. 

They all helped make a big pot of chili and they sat down on the porch (their unofficial meeting place) and ate and talked.

They went step by step from leaving Vegas, going up through Utah, through Colorado and driving across country.  It took a while and the whole time Alex found himself staring at Alma.  He still found it hard to believe that she was sitting there, bowl in hand and smiling.  This was surreal.  He had long assumed her to be dead.  D

“What’s that rifle you got there?”  He asked Cassidy. 

“Broadsword.  Made by the same guy who made Alma’s gun,” Cassidy said.

“What? You met Gundoc from Crusader Weaponry?”

“Yeah.  We traded ammo for this.  I have to say that this rifle is only the most awesomest rifle I’ve ever shot,” Cassidy said.

She handed it over for him to look at.  It was lighter than he would have thought. Everything on it was top of the line.  It would make a great competition gun and a battle rifle. 

“If I thought about it, I would have gotten you one,” Alma said. 

“We have a whole pile of M4’s and M16’s,” he said. 

“We have a small arsenal as well, but we had to leave it in Buena Vista where we ran out of gas,” Alma said.

“We’ll go get it tomorrow,” he said.

“We also got some food and other supplies.  And if you got fuel we got a working car,” Alma said.

“Cars we have.  Fuel we do not,” Jennifer said.

“We have horses though,” Alex said.

“Horses?”  Alma asked with look of surprise mixed with disgust. 

“Yeah, you know, like cowboys?  I’m sure you’ve heard of them,” Cassidy said. 

“I wasn’t born in a barn like you,” Alma said.

“Oh, this is going to be great.  Alma will have to learn how to ride!  Maybe we can get you a cowboy hat as well,” Cassidy said.

“Adam, Spencer, take a cart and go to Buena Vista to get their stuff,” Alex said.

They told them where to find their stash and Alma told them to bring a big cart. 

“So, this is the famous Alma Attaway,” Rebekah said.

“What have you been telling them?”  Alma demanded.

“Nothing but the truth.” 

“Oh, sure.  You probably still blame me for those missing concert tickets.”

“They went somewhere.” 

“Is it true that you’re the best shot in Nevada?”  Rebekah asked.

“Well, I’m the best female shooter of my age class,” Alma said. “So, yeah, I guess I am.  Now that I’m in Virginia I’m the best shot in Virginia as well.” 

Yup, surreal was a good word for this.

“So, you got a nice farm here, bro.  Anything else going on?  Any neighbors?  Other survivors?”  Alma asked.

“Well, yes.  There’s another group of survivors.  They’re not good neighbors.”

He told them everything they knew about them and everything that has happened.

“So, it’s a shooting war now and I bet they’re going to come looking for us,” Alma said.

“That’s pretty accurate statement,” Jennifer said.  “They don’t know where exactly we live, but we’re not hard to find.  And when they find us, they’ll bring more guns and more men.” 

“Good thing we showed up.  Well, not good for us,” Cassidy said. 

“Let’s not talk about that right now,” Alex said. 

After they ate and talked for a few hours Cassidy insisted on a bath and they split up to all go do their own thing.  He took Alma up to his room so he could continue cleaning the guns while they talked. 

“Who’s the angry little Chinese woman?”  Alma asked.

“That’s Lisa Fang.  We found her in Richmond where she had been working at a Chinese buffet.”

“Sure.” 

“She’s become very good with a gun and I trust her.”

“She doesn’t seem to like me much.”

“She doesn’t like any stranger much.” 

She picked up his M14 that was leaning against the wall by his bed.  

“You always wanted one of these,” Alma said.

“Got it free from the Marine Corp.”

“Very nice.  So, besides shooting things, what needs to be done around here?”

“Farming.  Finding fuel.  One of the books said we can find natural gas in the area, maybe rig a truck to run on that, but none of us know how.”

She was staring at him with a funny grin on her face.

“What?”  He asked.

“I knew you were alive.  Well, I didn’t know, know, but I knew.”

“Because you’re crazy.”

She shrugged.

“Maybe I am.  I came to look for you and here you are, leader of a group with a nice farm.” 

“It could be worse.  It could be much worse.  You said you found a few surviving towns.  I wonder if there are other towns around.” 

“I would assume so.” 

“I guess we should find you and Cassidy a room.  There’s one in the guest house.”

“You guys have a guest house?”

“Sure do.”

“I was hoping I could have a room in this house, with you.”

“I’ll see if someone’s willing to trade.” 

“Thank you bro.”

“Why can’t I ever say ‘no’ to you?”

“Because you love me.”

“No, maybe I’m just scared of you.”

“Even better.”

Part 48

Alma, Lexington, Virginia

Alma watched as the surprised Chinese woman lowered her weapon slightly. 

“Who are you?”  The Chinese woman asked. 

“My name’s Alma.  I’m looking for my brother.  His name is Alex Attaway.  He’s about five eleven, shaved head, Marine, really nice guy.” 

The woman looked to her two companions and they looked even more shocked than she did. 

“You have ID?”  The woman asked impatiently. 

Alma pulled out her hand which she noticed was now trembling.  She could read their reactions.  They knew something.  What they knew would either destroy her or give her joy like she had never had before. Either way she was more nervous than she ever remembered being.  

The woman looked at her ID and up to her again. 

“Alma Attaway,” the woman said in that thick, choppy, Chinese accent of hers. 

“I can’t believe this.  This is crazy,” the young man said. 

“Please, if you know anything about my brother, tell me,” Alma said, almost to the point of tears. 

The woman slung her FS2000 down by her side and took a step forward. 

“Alma Attaway, you brother is alive and well.  We take you to him.” 

Just like that she felt an immense weight lift off her chest and she began to cry.  Cass quickly put her lanky arm around her shoulder. 

“I told you.  You just gotta have faith,” Cass said. 

“This is impossible.  Are you sure?”  Alma asked.

“Yes.  Your brother’s told us many times about his awesome little sister,” the young white guy said.  “Like the time you borrowed his mountain bike and crashed it into a fire hydrant two blocks down.”

“Wait…How’d you even get here?” The black man asked.

“I knew he was in Virginia Beach so I traveled all the way here from Vegas. When I didn’t find his body there, I thought about where he might have headed.  Cassidy here suggested that we look for a river valley with less people.  So we came to the Shenandoah and started looking along the river.” 

The black man laughed. 

“Well, damn, girl.  You are your brother’s sister, aren’t you?  Come on, let’s go.  We got a reunion that I don’t want to miss.”

They introduced themselves and she learned their names.  Lisa, Spencer and Adam.

They grabbed their weapons and collected their bikes.  Then they headed out, going to meet with Alex. 

She was so excited she found it hard to breathe.  She had almost given up hope.  But just like that, she had stumbled upon Alex’s companions.

“Were you all at a small army base in Virginia Beach?”  Cass asked. 

“We were.  You guys went there?” Adam asked.

“We sure did.  We looked all over the different military bases and didn’t find hide nor hair of Alex.  So, we figured he was still alive.”

“I still can’t believe you found us.  The odds are…impossible,” Spencer said. 

“I knew the odds but I felt he was alive.  So I had to come looking,” Alma said.

“Utterly amazing,” Adam said.  “Why would you even think he was alive?”

“I just knew.”

“We thought you were…” Spencer started to say but stopped himself.

“What’s my brother doing here?  You guys have a farm?”  Alma asked.

“We found ourselves a nice little place.  Plenty of room for everyone.  We got cows, sheep, goats, chickens and we’re trying to grow crops,” Adam said. 

“Your brother’s going to freak when he sees you.  Freak might be too small a word,” Spencer said. 

The Chinese woman was strangely silent and would occasionally glare at them from behind her sunglasses.

“Lisa, how’d you meet my brother?”  Alma asked.  If Lisa had a problem with them, she wanted to nip it in the bud.   

“They found me in Richmond,” Lisa said.  “I worked at restaurant.”

“Now she’s one of the best shots we have,” Spencer said.

“She’s better than you anyway,” Adam said.  

They continued down the road and eventually took a smaller side road in view of a Wal-Mart and crossed over the river.  From the bridge she could see a beautiful house with fields and pastures around it.  The river ran close by. 

“That’s it,” Adam said.  “We named it Promised Land.  It’s our new home.”

“It’s beautiful.” 

They rode up to the house and a middle aged woman stood up from the porch and greeted them. 

“My, my.  Who are our guests?”  The woman asked. 

“Jen, this is Cassidy and this is Alma.  Alma Attaway,” Adam said, over pronouncing her name.

“Alma Attaway?”

Jen looked over to her with a face that told Alma she understood exactly who she was. 

“Impossible,” Jen said.

“Everyone keeps saying that.  Am I the only one that believed it?”  Cass said. 

“I’ll go get him,” Jen said.

“No, where is he?”

“He’s up in his room cleaning weapons.” 

Alma dropped her backpack on the ground and handed her AR to Cass. 

“Upstairs on the right,” Adam said. 

She marched into the house but as she got to the base of the stairs her knees grew weak.  This couldn’t be happening.  Her brother, the man who she loved more than anyone else was right up the stairs. 

Slowly she gripped the handrail and pulled herself up. 

She suddenly became aware of how filthy and raggedy she must look.  She tried to straighten out her hair and clothes but knew it was a hopeless battle. 

Once at the top of the stairs she saw a door that was slightly open.  She crept up to it and peered in. 

The familiar sight of Alex’s back as he cleaned weapons filled her vision.  He always had to sit on the floor when he cleaned his guns.  Alma had picked up that habit as well.  After all, he had taught her.

He looked perfect, like a vision of what she had always remembered.  He was strong, healthy and in one piece.  She stood there in the doorway watching him for who knows how long.  Just seeing him was more than she had actually hoped for. 

She wanted to say something cute like “you shouldn’t have your back to the door,” but all that came out was a sob and the word “Alex.”

Alex stopped what he was doing and turned his head.  Then he saw her and their eyes made contact. 

Alex

Alex heard a familiar voice say his name.  It was almost a sob.  The voice was so familiar but he couldn’t place it. 

He turned around and there, standing in the doorway was Alma.  He stared at her but knew it had to be a hallucination.  Maybe he had fallen asleep and this was a dream. 

It couldn’t be.

It was definitely Alma alright.  She was a little older and she looked dirty like she hadn’t bathed in several days.  Her raven black hair was in a messy ponytail and she wore his old Rob Zombie shirt. 

She was crying and standing there, smiling at him. 

As soon as he realized that it was real and not some dream he instantly bolted up and ran over to her.  He threw his arms around her and pulled her into his shoulder for a tight embrace.  Her skinny arms wrapped around his waist and she buried her face in his chest. 

They stayed like that for a long while.  She continued to cry, something he had never seen her do and held each other. 

“How?”  He finally managed to get out through a tight throat. 

“I came looking for you.  I knew you were alive.  I had to find you.” 

“You came all the way from Vegas?”

“I found a jeep and I drove north to Utah.  I found a crazy girl named Cass and we drove up to Salt Lake and then went east.  We fought with FEMA and we had to go around Denver because Denver was nuked so we couldn’t go there.  We drove through Kansas and oh, we stole this truck and gas to get here.  We went straight to Virginia Beach but you weren’t there.  I almost gave up but Cass was like “you got to have faith!” So we kept going y no se que paso’ aya, pero we kept going Y buscemos on un mapa y figured you’d be on a river and Cass said something about ancient civilizations on rivers, no se.  But we went to VMI and we saw Lisa and the others and they took us here.”

It seemed that she had said all that in one breath.  He understood maybe half of it.  She only broke into Spanish on accident when she was extremely emotional. 

He pulled away and looked at her face.  She was covered in tear streaked dirt, but it was her and more beautiful and wonderful than ever.

“Let’s go get you something to eat and then you can explain it all in a more coherent manner.”

She rubbed his head and then slapped him playfully on the cheek. 

“Be nice to me.  I just drove across the apocalypse to find you.”   

Part 47

Alma, Buena Vista, Virginia

Alma did have to admit, even through her foul mood, that this place was gorgeous.  The hills and the trees just kept getting prettier and prettier. 

She had to have Cassidy drive because she was too upset to drive correctly.  Inside her heart and mind were fighting a battle.  Her heart insisted that Alex was alive and her mind told her that it was an impossible dream. 

“You know what I read once?”  Alma asked.

“What?”

“Dreams are like rainbows: only idiots chase them.”

“That’s funny.”

“Am I an idiot?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Mira, we both know my brother is dead. This search is a waste of our time and resources.  We need to just find a place to settle down and wait out the apocalypse.”

“Well, we’re coasting on fumes here so once we hit this valley, we aren’t going anywhere unless we’re walking.” 

“Maybe that’s for the best.  It’ll force me to give up this tonteria.” 

“I’m not sure what a tonteria is, but you got to have faith, Alma.”

“Faith?  Faith doesn’t change facts.  Alex is dead and I’m chasing a ghost.”

“I’m not giving up. If your brother’s alive, we’ll find him.”

“Why do you care?”

“Because you do.  Alma, you’re all I got and I will do anything to see that you’re happy.”

Alma went back to looking out the window. 

The truck ran out of gas near the top of the mountain.  They pushed it up the rest of the way which wasn’t very far and the incline was barely noticeable.  Then they coasted the rest of the way down. 

By coasting they were able to pick up a lot of speed and by the time they reached Buena Vista Cass had to keep her foot hard on the brakes just to stay in control. 

They passed some crappy looking apartments, a run down auto shop and a church with a sign saying “Prepare to meet God.”  

The truck finally came to a stop at an intersection with a Hardees and an All a Dollar on the corner.

“Last stop, Buena Vista.  End of the line,” Cass said.

“Why is there a town with a Spanish name in the middle of Virginia?” 

“I don’t know.  Maybe named after the Battle of Buena Vista?”

“What’s that?”

“A big battle in the war with Mexico.”

“What’s that freaking huge red building on top of the hill?”

“Don’t know.  It’ll be dark soon, it’s probably as good a place to rest as any.” 

“What do we do about the truck?” 

Reluctantly they used the wagons to haul everything from the truck and up to the huge red building.  It took three trips up and down the hill. 

It turned out the place was Southern Virginia University.  There were dorm rooms in the red main building and they found a room in the tower to sleep for the night.   They let Caesar run around the grassy fields and Alma fixed them dinner: she opened the cans of cold chili for them. 

She took out her map again. 

“This town is too small and cramped.  They’d need more open space for farming,” alma said.

“We can check out Lexington tomorrow.  There’s bound to be some bicycles in town.  We’ll take those to Lexington and beyond.  If we don’t find Alex or anyone else, we can look for a place to live.”

“The valley is huge so we’ll just follow the river.” 

“Good idea.  Maybe we can find a canoe instead?”

“I don’t like boats.”

They slept in the tower and in the morning she was greeted with a beautiful view of the town.  This place had its own kind of charm.  

Cassidy was already up.  She was reading pamphlets about the school. 

“Alma!  This is a Mormon college!”

“So?”

“The apostle told me to look for a gathering of Mormons to put my stake down.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“This is a place where Mormons gathered.  We’re on the right track!  I’m going to live somewhere near here.” 

“We know that.”

“Yeah, but now I KNOW I know it.” 

“If you say so.” 

She tried to brush it off but even she felt guided or pushed along.  Maybe she should go to mass again if there ever is another mass. 

They put Caesar in a room with plenty of food and water for three days.  They planned on being back on the second.

They left and began their search of the town.  On main street they came across a bike shop.  Simple enough.  They got their weapons and back packs and left the other stuff in the basement of the school and began biking along the river.  Soon they lost track of the main road.  Most of the time it was off road. 

It was slow going and when the river met up with the road again they took the road.  It was a long bike ride.  When they paused for lunch she took out her map and a tourist map of Lexington they found.  

“Look, the river goes right by VMI.  We need to check that place out,” Alma said. 

“Good idea.  It would be a place where survivors would have gone, even if temporarily.” 

Occasionally they’d see a house and go over and investigate.  All the houses were empty of life though some still had bodies: dried husks, dark stains and a lingering stench. 

Would God let them come all this way just to meet with disappointment and failure?  Absolutely He would.  He let the billions die of a stupid plague. He’d have no problem if one Mexican girl didn’t find her brother.  It wasn’t even a blip on His cruel-O’ Meter. 

Sometime around three, they saw VMI up on a hill.  They had to push their bikes up the slope of the river to the street.  There was a football field to their left and then a really steep hill and a winding road that led up to it. 

From the hill she saw a music store a little further down the road.  If they were going to settle here she’d have to take a guitar or five from there. 

The steep road went past a stone church and a castle looking building and came out to a large open, green field with a statue of some Civil War dude. 

They put their bikes in the church while they looked around on foot.  She had her trusty competition AR and Cass had her larger Braodsword.  

“Should we call out?”  Cass asked. 

“Let’s look around.  I’d rather be the one to see them first.” 

They walked in through the open gate of the castle building and saw that it was a bunch of rooms. 

Some of the rooms still had left over things from students but there weren’t any bodies.  They moved up to the second floor where all the rooms faced out into the courtyard.

Then Alma heard something.  She put her finger to her lips to tell Cass to stay silent. 

The sound was coming from the courtyard and it sounded like horses.  Then she heard the faint sound of talking. 

“Someone’s here.  Stay down,” Alma whispered. 

Carefully she peeked out from the over the ledge and saw three people on horses with a fourth pack horse.  It was loaded with heavy looking bags. 

One of the people was a large black man with sideburns and a military M4.  The other was a young, skinny white guy with spiky brown hair.  He didn’t look nearly as professional as the other two.  The third was a small Chinese woman with sunglasses and a grim business face. She carried an FS2000 close to her chest and she looked like she knew what she was doing. 

The Chinese girl seemed to be the boss and was motioning to the others and saying something she couldn’t hear.  All three of them looked to have military training of some kind.   

“What do we do?”  Cass asked. 

“We have to risk it.  We got to make contact.”

Cass took a deep breath and nodded. 

They both stood up and put their hands in the air. 

Instantly the Chinese woman had her gun trained on them and the other two quickly followed. 

“Don’t shoot!  We’re not here to fight!”  Alma called down.

“Put your guns on the ground and come down slowly!”  The Chinese girl called out in a high, but forceful voice.  She was someone who was used to giving orders.     

After leaving their guns (something she hated doing) they walked down the stairs with their hands up and the woman stood watch while the two men came over and patted them down. 

“They’re clean.” The large black man said in a low voice.

“What you doing here?”  The Chinese girl asked in an unfriendly tone.

Alma looked to Cass and shrugged.  It was worth a try, right? 

“This is a long shot, but hell with it.  You wouldn’t happen to know an Alex Attaway, would you?”

She watched as the eyes of all three of the people went wide. 

Part 46

Alex, Promised Land, Virginia

“Alright, Lisa.  You ready for patrol?”

Lisa checked the safety on her FS2000 and gave a quick nod.   He checked his M14 and slung it over his back.  

“Let’s ride,” he said.

He had always wanted to say that. 

They mounted the horses and headed out.  They were off to search Lexington some more.  They had a detailed map of the city and were checking it section by section in a methodical and orderly manner.  There was no telling what house held something vitally important.  It had been a random house that had the solar panels.  Maybe someone had medical supplies or a book on how to survive the end of the world. 

The ride into Lexington wasn’t long and they passed by VMI and Washington and Lee. 

“Maybe we can set up defense in VMI? It’s on hill, like castle.  Place to retreat to?”  Lisa said.

“That’s not a bad idea.  You were wasted as a waitress, Lisa.  You have a mind for this sort of thing.” 

She just shrugged. 

“Are all you Chinese this hard core?”

“I’m not Chinese now.  I’m Virginian.” 

“I guess you’re right about that.  We all are.  Heck, I’ll never see Las Vegas again and now I’m not sure I’d want to.  It would just be a ghost version of what once was.” 

He looked over to her to judge her reaction but she was her normal statue self.  He wondered if beneath all that she was utterly unimpressed with him.  She never gave any signs of one way or another so she could completely hate him or admire him with equal probability. 

Then they head the sound of a truck in the distance. They both froze in place.  Before the could pinpoint it the truck came screeching around a corner.  There looked to be four men in it: two in the front and two in the bed. 

The men saw them. 

“Let’s go!”  He shouted. 

They yanked the reigns of the horses into a side street as the truck began turning towards them. 

One of the buildings in the side street had an open door. 

“Let’s hide the horses in there and take position somewhere,” he said. 

She nodded. 

The stashed their horses in the rear of the old dress shop and ran across the street to an Italian restaurant. 

“Guard the front, I’ll check the back,” he said. 

He did not want to be trapped in a building with no exit.  Fortunately the place did have a back door that led to an alley.  

“They coming,” she called out. 

He ran up to the front and hid behind some boxes. 

The truck pulled to a screeching stop at the side street where they had left the horses. 

“Check the buildings!”  One of them yelled. 

“They will find the horses,” Lisa said.

“I know.”

“We can’t let them have them.  We need them.” 

“I know.”

She raised her rifle and reluctantly he did as well.  They couldn’t out run them on horses and they couldn’t hide with horses, but at the same time they couldn’t give the horses up.  They were too valuable. 

He placed the cross hairs on one of them and began to slow his breathing.

“I take right, you take left.  Three, two…” he began.  “One!”

They both fired at the same time, shattering the store front windows and both shots hit.

The two remaining men instantly ducked behind their truck.  He couldn’t get a clear shot.  One of the men poked out long enough to let loose with a burst from his AK.  Alex couldn’t see what the other man was doing. 

Then a small cylinder flew threw the air, thrown from the man behind the truck.  It burst into purple smoke and within moments he couldn’t see anything past the window. 

Suddenly one of the men burst into the window and tried to grab Lisa.  She blocked his arms with her FS and straight up Spartan kicked the man right in the gonads.  The man crumpled over and Lisa booted him in the face for good measure. 

The sound of the truck peeling out alerted him back to the purple cloud in front of them.  He ran out but could only see the dark form of the truck taking off at top speed.  

“Damn it!”  He shouted. 

When he went back inside Lisa had the man handcuffed to an exposed pipe. 

“What we do with him?”  Lisa asked. 

“You got a Chinese whore with you?  They destroyed our country and you’re working with them?” The handcuffed man said. 

“You from the Hunt Club or whatever it is you call yourselves?”  Alex asked.

“I ain’t talking to you.” 

Lisa motioned with a jerk of her head to speak outside.  They walked out into the street and she began whispering. 

“One escaped.  He tell others.  They come looking for us,” Lisa said.

“I know.  Believe me, I know.” 

“What we do with him?  He no tell us anything.”

“We can use him for a hostage.”

“He eat food.  They might not care.”

“True, but they might.” 

“This going to be war, no matter what.  Those men come and try to kill us.  They no talk.  No negotiate.  They come to take us and everything we have.  What you think they do to me when find me?”

He could imagine the answer.  He saw what the Russians did to civilians they found.  He wasn’t going to let that happen to her. 

“I say we kill him now.”

“Hold on.  This isn’t a battle.  Executing someone is very different than in a battle.  Heck, it’s bad enough in battle.  It’s ten times worse when they’re not fighting back." 

“I do it,” Lisa said. 

“No, I’ve done it before.  I don’t want to stain your hands.  I’ll do it.” 

Lisa was right.  These men would be out for blood no matter what.  There might as well be one less of them.

He pulled out his M9.

“You just going to kill me?  My friends are coming for me and when they see me dead they’ll kill every single one of you!”  The man spat at them. 

“We’re trying to build a new world here: one that’s better than the old.  But you guys are trying to make it into the Dark Ages again.  We saw your farm.  You use those survivors as peasants and you’re the lords.”

“Why not?  The ones that work hard are in charge of the ones that work less.  Simple as that,” the man said. 

“Shut up,” Lisa said. 

“You shut up, China whore!  You love long time?” 

She kicked him forcibly right in the mouth.  Her black combat boots knocked at least one tooth out because he saw the bloody, white thing fly across the room and hit an intact part of the window.  Lisa’s face was still completely unreadable.

He motioned for Lisa to stand back.  She did and he took aim.  He took aim at his face to cover up Lisa’s beating and fired without hesitation.  As soon as he saw red splash against the wall he turned away. 

“Let’s get our horses and get out of here.”

They grabbed the man’s AK and .357 revolver and mounted up.  They rode quickly back home and immediately gathered a meeting.      

He left out the execution part. 

The group came to a general consensus:  They were screwed.   

Part 45

Lisa, Promised Land, Virginia

Lisa awoke in the morning still feeling tired.  But she was used to that.  During her training backing China she would have to operate with two hours of sleep each night for a week or more.  This was nothing. 

She stretched and began doing her pushups and situps.  She loved pushups.  They worked so many muscles and she didn’t need a fancy gym to do them in.  She loved how exercising cleared her mind and right now she needed a clear mind.

She still hadn’t made any sense of her new life and this new world but last night was the first time that she had felt at home.  These were her people now and this was her home.  She was no longer Chinese, she was…whatever they were now.  A Virginian?

Lisa dressed in some cargo pants and Lynard Skynard shirt that she had found in the laundry and walked down to the kitchen.  Rebekah was there boiling eggs. 

“Good morning!”  Rebekah said with the kind of genuine smile that had her eyes closed and showed all teeth. 

“Good morning. Boiling eggs?”

“Yup! Adam and Spencer are preparing for another patrol.  That’s what they call it.  But it’s just them going out and looking for food and stuff.”

“I see.”

She grabbed a raw egg, cracked it open and slurped it up.

“Ewww!” Rebekah said.

“Not ewww.  It’s how we did it in China.”

“Really?”

“Yes.  We also bite off heads of chickens and eat them.

The look of horror on Rebekah’s face was priceless.

“I’m just joking,” Lisa finally said.

“I hope so.  Dang, I thought you were a good cook.”

“I am good cook.”

She had learned to cook for herself long ago.  No one else would do it and she liked eating good food, so she learned.  It was a small pleasure in a pleasureless life.

She walked outside and found Alex standing on the porch leaning against a post and staring out at the farm. 

“Alex?”  She said.

“Huh?”

“Is this place going to be like old world and men get to go out and have fun and women stay home cooking and cleaning?  If so, I tell you now that I not have that.”

Alex smiled. 

“Actually, I was thinking of having Adam become our official cook.  But right now its dangerous to patrol and I don’t want to risk Jennifer or Rebekah.  Besides, they’re my two lousiest shots and Rebekah’s too young.  Are you saying you want to go out on patrol?”

“I do, but not today.  Too busy.”

He chuckled.  

She stood beside him and tried to see what he saw.  The place was indeed beautiful.  They were fortunate to have found this place.  She didn’t believe in God, Buddha or anything, but if there was some deity out there, he created this place for them. 

Lisa was about to tell him what she was thinking but at the last second she closed her mouth.  Why was she reluctant to tell him?  She trusted him and they had a sufficient camaraderie.  Was she nervous about appearing to be a fool?  Would he laugh at her small thoughts? 

Not knowing the answers she grabbed all the solar panels, tools and parts and went up to the attic.  It took a lot of work to get the panels up on the roof, but she managed. They weren’t small panels and should together provide 800 watts of power.  Once there she looked over everything and planned it out in her head.  She always tried to plan out before acting.  That’s why training was so important.  It made her plan out a battle before it took place. 

From the look of it she was supposed to drill the panels in place but since she didn’t have a power drill, she had to use a hammer and nails.  After finding the support beams of the roof she hammered the panels in place and began connecting the cables.  Then she swung back in through the attic window and began connecting it to the house’s power. 

Once finished she flipped on the attic light and to her surprise, it came on.  She couldn’t help but smile.  She didn’t realize how much she had missed electricity.  She had brought power back to the house. 

Lisa turned the light off and went downstairs.  Rebekah was still in the kitchen reading a book about raising animals.  She walked to the light switch and cleared her throat.  When Rebekah looked up she flipped the light on. 

The look on Rebekah’s face was worth any trouble she had gone through.  It made her happy just to see Rebekah happy. 

“Lisa!  How’d you do it?”

“Solar panels.  I hooked them up.”

Rebekah ran over and through her arms around her neck in a tight embrace.  Despite being much younger they were almost the same height. 

“Now we can use the stove and the washing machine and the air conditioning and…”

“Yes, yes.  We have power.  Don’t tell anyone.  Keep it secret.  Okay?”

“Secret?”

“Yes, I want to surprise them tonight.” 

Rebekah smiled and nodded. 

This was her home now so it was time she did her best to make it a home she wanted to live in.  It was also time she got to know the others.  Their unity would be the only thing that would get them through the hard times.

She spent the day feeding the horses, getting water from the river and boiling it and feeding the cows.  Jennifer did the milking.  Good because she didn’t want to touch those udders. 

When dusk came around, something that she had never really paid attention to before, they gathered on the porch to relax before dinner.  As the sunlight grew dimmer Alex reached for the lantern. 

“Hold on,” Lisa said and stood up. 

“What’s up?” Alex asked. 

She then flipped the porch light on and everyone gasped.  Adam began clapping and laughing in that baritone voice of his and Jennifer began crying. 

“Lisa, how did you manage this?”  Alex asked.

“I hooked up solar panels.” 

Suddenly she was surrounded by people giving her hugs, rubbing her head and patting her on the back. 

She had now earned her place here.  She was one of them and belonged here. 

They had dinner while Spencer played the guitar.  She only knew a few of the songs, but the songs she did she tried to sing along.  One thing she had liked about America was the music.  No where else had music that was so energetic and full of life.

After everyone had gone to bed she took her sat-phone and went out into the woods.  There was nothing the phone could do for her.  It was a connection to a place that she no longer belonged to. 

She took out her folding army shovel and dug a small hole.  Carefully she placed the sat-phone in the hole and covered it with dirt.  With that done, she returned to the house and laid down in her bed. 

There were strange sounds coming from Jennifer’s room.  At first she didn’t know what it was but then quickly realized that it was her making love.  She had heard it before.  During training a male and female student had gone off to an empty room to have sex and it had been her turn for guard duty.  She stumbled upon them.  She had been too embarrassed to even report them. 

Now she heard the same sounds.  She tried to listen and hear who the partner was.  For some reason the thought of it being Alex turned her stomach in anger.  No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t tell so she silently crept to Alex’s room and cracked the door open.  He was sleeping quietly in his bed. 

She let out a breath and she felt her body relax.  If it had been Alex she knew she would have been sadder than she could understand. 

 

Part 44

Alex, Promised Land, Virginia

They rode back into the farm in the early morning.  Adam was out chopping wood, Spencer was feeding the cows and Rebekah was feeding the chickens.  They all dropped what they were doing and rushed over. 

“What did you find?”  Adam asked.

“They’re there, alright.  There’s a lot of them and they got a bunch of survivors in a barn like slave labor. They had hung someone,” Alex said.  

“I’m hungry,” Lisa said.

“Agreed.  Let’s do the debriefing in the kitchen.”

They went to the kitchen where Jennifer made them some eggs and spam.  At least the eggs were fresh and “organic” though the spam was nothing of the kind.

As they ate he told them everything they saw. 

“What are we supposed to do?” Adam asked.  “There’s too many of them.”

“Me and Lisa discussed this on our way back.  We need to win some of those civilians over to our side. And if it ever comes to blows then we do what any other outgunned force would do, we launch hit and run attacks, ambushes, sneak in at night and kill them in their sleep.”

Jennifer covered her mouth and shook her head.

“We can’t let it come to that,” she said.

“I hope it doesn’t, Jennifer, but this world doesn’t run on good intentions.  Our first defense is to make sure that it doesn’t come to a fight.  We don’t want a war with our neighbors, but at the same time, many of those civilians need our help.  They’re trapped there like slaves and don’t have anywhere else to go.  Do you see the dilemma here?”

“How long before they find us?”  Rebekah asked.

“At best, until winter.  But once we start burning wood all day long for heat, they’ll see the smoke from our chimney.  But if they’re looking they’ll see our cooking smoke sooner than that.”

“There has to be a way to hide our smoke,” Spencer said.

“If you can figure out a way, please do.”

“If it comes to a fight, you have to shoot to kill them. No hesitation,” Lisa said. 

This quieted the others up. 

“Let me assure you that these are bad men,” Ranbir said.  “If they find us, they will demand things that we can’t afford to give them and then they will take the rest.”

“So, they’re like militia freaks, right?”  Rebekah asked.

“Some of them.  Their leader isn’t.  He ran for State Senate under a Democrat ticket.  He runs the place like a commune almost.”

“Right Wing militia communists?  That doesn’t make sense,” Adam said.

“They’re not about politics or ideas.  They’re about their own personal power and nothing else.  Tyrants don’t rule for ideas, they use ideas to rule over others,” Ranbir said.

“This new world’s turning very quickly into the old one,” Jennifer said.

“Because people are people and now they don’t have laws and society to keep them in check.”

He wished Alma were here.  That girl could run a gun better than he ever could.  She was a child prodigy with it.  Of course, she trained twice as much.  That probably had something to do with it.  While he had been out on dates with girls, she was on the range practicing her technique.  She never had many friends because of her dedication.  Dad used to say that she was overly competitive but that it was a good thing when she wanted to be a professional.

 

He missed that little runt. 

The first time he met her was at the airport and he couldn’t help but wonder at how scrawny she had looked.  She was a small, frail thing but the intense, almost angry look in her eyes warned him not to underestimate her. 

“Alex?”  Lisa asked.

“Huh?”

“Something wrong?”

“No.”

“You had funny look on face.”

“Just remembering.”

She nodded like she understood.  Most likely she understood all too well. If anyone felt lonely and out of place, it was her.

After he finished eating he went up to his room and went to bed. 

When he woke up it was still light out side and he still felt painfully tired, but he needed to get back to a somewhat normal sleep schedule.  So, he got up and wandered outside.  Jennifer was on the porch sewing a rip in some pants.  

“Where’s everyone else?”  He asked with a yawn.

“Adam and Spencer took two horses and are out foaging for whatever they can find.”

“I hope they bring back more of those apples.”

“You haven’t been throwing the seeds away, have you?”

“No, way.”

“Good.  I’m going to plant them and one day we’ll have an apple orchard.” 

“For now we’ll have to make due with what we find.”

“We have enough canned food for this winter, but I’m thinking about the next one.  I’ve been reading up on canning and preserving.  Next time you’re in town, look for any glass jar and lid you can.” 

“Will do. Where’s are new recruits?”

“They’re working in the garden.  Since they’re vegetarian I figured they wouldn’t want to work with the animals too much.”

Adam and Spencer returned later that evening and Lisa didn’t come down until dinner time.  She was yawning and rubbing her eyes.  She was wearing Iron Man pajamas that they had found in Lexington and a black tank top that looked rather…nice on her. 

They had dinner out on the porch because the weather was so nice.  As they ate Spencer picked up the guitar and played Hotel California.  

It was a very pleasant, happy evening and Alex had to admit that he was enjoying the simplicity.  This was what life used to be like.  He wondered if it wasn’t a better way than before. 

But then he thought of all the technology.  If someone broke a leg or got sick, they didn’t have any hi-tech hospitals to go to.  They’d have to fix it themselves. 

However, right now everyone was laughing and smiling.  Even Lisa was smiling and she had a wonderful smile.  Now that she didn’t have her sunglasses on he saw that her eyes were as brilliant and beautiful as they were dark.  Her black hair was somewhat messier than usual and loose strands hung around her face. 

When Spencer began playing “Tribute” by Tenacious D, everyone, even Lisa, sang along.   

He stayed up with Adam and Spencer, talking late into the night.  They talked about movies, about family and anything else that came up. 

“So, tell me something more about this sister of yours,” Spencer said.

“I’ve told you about her already.”

“Yeah, but you’re always mentioning her.  Tell me something I don’t know.”

“Well, she gets angry very easily but she doesn’t really mean it.  It’s like when a bird ruffles up their feathers to make themselves look big.”

“I had two sisters,” Adam said.

“What were they like?”

“Mean as rattlesnakes, but I loved them.”

“I had two older brothers,” Spencer said. “They always teased me about wanting to be a musician.  They said I should get a real man’s job.  They were in construction.  They shut up when I joined the Army.”

“You should have gotten a real man’s job and joined the Marines,” Alex said. 

All three of them bust out laughing.