Will to Survive (21 page)

He shrugged. “At least they were in the same unit. I know they're all right. They're marines stationed with other marines. I would imagine that the most stable places in the world are built around military divisions and bases. Or those who behave like military units. Including around here.”

“You know of others?”

“We've discovered that we're not alone. There are other groups, some small, and some large, that we've been able to connect with.”

There was a knock on the door, and a man entered with a tray. I could smell the coffee and just about grabbed a cup before the colonel motioned for us to help ourselves. I hadn't had a cup in a couple of weeks. The man smiled, and I smiled back as I realized there was even milk and sugar. That first sip tasted incredible, and the colonel must have noticed my blissful expression.

“Do you still have sugar?”

“A little. Also, my father has been able to use beets to make sugar,” Lori said. “He's a farmer, so he runs the agricultural part of things where we live.”

“We have a couple of people with farming experience. The land out here is very fertile. We've also established some trade with a community to the west, and they have been able to get supplies of sugar from much, much farther away. Perhaps we can even trade with you? Tell me more about where you two live.”

I was feeling pretty relaxed. Colonel Wayne was being friendly and open and had given us a lot of information, so maybe we should share with him as well. We were trying to establish more allies, so this was just perfect—unless the colonel was just trying to get us to let down our guard. My heartbeat quickened. On the one hand, I knew he could tell us anything he wanted—it wasn't like we were going to leave without his permission. On the other hand, I couldn't “unsay” something, so it was better to share as little as possible.

“There's not much to tell,” I said carefully. “We're small, a couple of dozen families on a farm about seventy miles north of here. I guess all the open space gives us the same protection the lake gives you. I don't really know if we have anything you'd need. We're just trying to survive.”

“We all are, but together we have a better chance of doing that. You flew a long way.”

“This is all my fault,” Lori said. “I nagged and nagged Adam to take me down to the city because I wanted to see what it looked like these days. If he hadn't listened to me, this wouldn't have happened.”

I smiled back at her, playing along. “I fly the plane, but she's the pilot, you know?”

The colonel leaned closer. “And your father was all right with you taking the plane to the city?” he asked.

I tried to look sheepish. “He knew I was taking it up, but I didn't really tell him about where we were going.”

There was a knock on the door, and the man who'd brought the coffee reappeared. “Everything checked out, sir. Their plane is flight-ready.”

“Excellent.” Colonel Wayne stood up. “Your plane is ready, Adam and Lori, and has even been refueled.”

“We can leave?” I asked.

“Of course. Did you think you were prisoners?”

“Well … you had us a little worried,” I said.

“I guess I understand your fears. There are a lot of dangerous people out there. Here, though, we try to live by that.” He pointed to a plaque on the wall.

The first three words were enough for me to know what it was. Written in large letters it read, “We the People.” It was the Constitution.

“We can't live it by the letter these days, but we try to live it by the spirit.”

“It's hard to do that,” I said, “with everything that's going on out there.”

“It is, but we try,” he said.

“So do we,” I said.

“You'd better get going. I'm sure your parents are going to be wondering where you are, and they'll be more than a little bit worried the longer you're away.”

I hadn't even thought of that. We should have been back long before this. “I'll radio them as soon as we get in range,” I said.

“And now that the plane has been checked out we have to take care of you,” the colonel said.

“Me?”

“Your face. It's still bleeding.”

I reached up to touch the spot. It was tender and my hand came away red with blood. “It's nothing. I'm fine.”

“We can't send you home all scraped up without treatment. What would your parents think of us if we did that?”

I almost said I'd have Dr. Morgan look at it when I got home, but that would have been revealing more again.

“Thanks, that would be great,” Lori said. “It's not like we have anybody who can do things like that back home.”

She hadn't missed a beat.

*   *   *

“Should I call you Doctor?” I asked the woman who dabbed my face with a cotton swab containing antiseptic.

“You should probably call me Ellen. I'm a nurse, not a doctor.”

“Don't you have any doctors?” I asked, fishing for information.

“We have three, but I don't think we needed them for this. Do you?” she asked. “Besides, one of them is a surgeon and another is a coroner. Your injury doesn't seem to require either of those two.”

“He really is a big suck,” Lori said.

“Most men are,” Ellen agreed, and they both chuckled.

“So where were you when all this started?” Lori asked.

“The power outage?” she asked.

“The everything outage,” Lori replied.

“I worked at a hospital downtown and lived in a big condo right by the lake. If you go to the north side of the island, you can even see my condo tower across the harbor.”

“And you came here right away?” I asked.

“My daughter and son and I. On that first afternoon we paddled over in a canoe and camped out. I thought it was going to be a little adventure for a day or two, until they restored the power. I guess it's been a little more adventure and a lot longer than anybody could have imagined.”

“And you've been part of this colony right from the beginning?” I asked.

“It didn't exist in the beginning, but we got involved early on.”

“And it's a good place for your kids?” I asked.

“About the best place they could be. They're safe, secure. We've even started a little school. You might even see it on your way out.”

“That would be nice,” Lori said.

“I'm sure you'll also see my kids because they aren't too far away. You two dropping in was pretty exciting for people.”

“It was pretty exciting for us, too,” I said.

“There you are, all cleaned out and taped up and ready to go,” she said. “You must be anxious to get going.”

“Our parents will be worried,” Lori said. “The colonel said we could come back if we want to sometime.”

“You should. This is a good place.” She paused. “I guess that's what you've really been asking all along.
Are these good people, can we trust them?
”

“And?” Lori asked.

“Yes and yes. In a world gone wild we've found ourselves in a safe little sanctuary.”

*   *   *

Ellen had been right. Both her kids were waiting right outside the examination room. The daughter, Emma, was about thirteen or fourteen and the son, Ethan, was about the age of the twins. They were as friendly as their mother and seemed, well, to be just kids. The three of them walked us down a corridor and said goodbye at the door. It had all seemed so normal, it was almost unnerving.

I was surprised but happy to see our plane sitting on the tarmac right outside the building. Somebody had taxied it all the way down the runway. The colonel and two other men were waiting beside it.

“Should we tell him about us?” Lori whispered. “About our neighborhood?”

I shook my head.

“But why not? He's letting us go.”

“We're not in the plane yet,” I said. In my mind I still wondered if our courteous reception was all nothing more than an elaborate ploy—even being treated by the nurse and talking to her kids—to gain our confidence in order to get us to talk. Was Colonel Wayne really going to let us get into the plane and fly away?

“So both you and the plane are all ready to go,” the colonel said. “I don't mean to delay you any longer.”

“Thanks. Thanks for everything,” I said. I offered him my hand and he took it.

“I'm really grateful that you didn't feel the need to pull that gun,” he said, still holding my hand.

“Gun?”

“The one strapped to the inside of your left ankle. I didn't notice it at first, but then you reached down a couple of times to touch it. You weren't thinking of using it, were you?”

I hesitated for a second and then answered, “Only if I'd had to.” He hadn't mentioned the knife, so either he didn't know about it or didn't see it as a threat.

He released my hand. “I understand why you would be concerned, but there was never any need. What I'll have to do, though, is talk to my men about being a little more thorough in their frisking. Your other pistol and rifle are in the plane. I also want you to know that you're welcome to visit if you ever want to come back.”

“Thank you, sir,” Lori said, shaking his hand.

“If you wanted to bring somebody else, including some of the leaders of your group, they would also be welcome.”

“I know my father would enjoy coming here just to see the planes.”

“We might even let him go up for a patrol. We have more planes than pilots and nobody at all qualified to fly that old passenger plane.”

“My father was a commercial pilot.”

“Interesting. And, I hope, at some point you'll feel comfortable enough to tell me where you really live and how your group is doing.”

I didn't know what to say. Obviously we weren't very good liars and he'd seen clear through us.

“We all need partners if we're going to get through this,” Colonel Wayne said, then stepped back to let us get into the Cessna.

We both settled in our seats, strapping on our harnesses and headsets. I flicked the ignition and opened up the throttle. The engine roared to life, the propeller a nearly invisible blur. The colonel waved and then gave a little salute.

When we were racing down the runway, I noticed the two fighter planes that had escorted us down were now parked at the side of the runway, and more of my worries slipped away. I reveled in the smoothness of the runway surface and the seeming endlessness of the strip. This was how planes were meant to take off, not from makeshift strips on roads and fields.

We lifted off, I pulled back on the yoke, and we soared into the air. We were now aimed almost perfectly toward our neighborhood.

I hit the right rudder and aimed the opposite direction. I was now almost positive I could trust the colonel, but still I wanted them to see me heading north. Home would have to wait a little bit longer, and I'd be watching to make sure no plane was following us.

 

20

We waited just down the road from the refinery, me at the wheel of my car and Herb in the passenger seat. We had guards with guns flanking us on both sides, hidden among the houses and trees. Up in the sky, low on the horizon, making large, slow circuits, my father was in the Cessna. With him were two of our sharpshooters. Todd was also along for the ride. He wasn't much with a rifle, but it was reassuring to have him up there watching me in a different way. I could just imagine him making jokes and keeping things light. We could have used that in the car right now.

“It's time,” Herb said, and I set the car in motion.

Herb had been looking and acting more like himself the last couple of days. All he'd needed was some rest and sleep, and he was back on top of his game—although I did still notice that slight shaking in his hands.

Yesterday, he and Dr. Morgan, along with Councilwoman Stevens, had met with the people running the hospital. It had gone well. It certainly helped that Dr. Morgan knew some of the men and women in charge—other doctors.

They had large quantities of medicine and our two communities had already made a food-for-medicine trade to start off our new relationship. There were medicines that the hospital had that we couldn't get from raiding cabinets in abandoned houses.

They were also going to start preliminary talks about forming an alliance for security purposes. I just had to hope that today went as well as yesterday. Or at least well enough that we didn't get shot at.

“Do you remember the first time you and I went out in a car after the blackout hit?” Herb said.

“It would be a little hard to forget you loading down my car with two thousand dollars' worth of chlorine.”

Herb laughed. “You must have thought I'd lost my mind.”

“I don't think I was the only one. All of your predictions in the beginning sounded crazy … Of course, the craziest thing is that most of them have come true.”

“I would prefer to have been wrong,” he said.

“I guess we all would,” I agreed.

“Now we just have to stay focused on the present.”

“I'm focused, Herb.”

“I think I was talking more to myself,” he said. “You have to do me a favor and keep an eye on me, make sure I don't slip up.”

“You're the most focused person I know,” I said, defending him against himself.

“That focus has slipped on more than one occasion. Both of us have gotten older since the world fell apart.”

“You make it seem like that was a hundred years ago,” I said.

“Doesn't it feel that way?”

I had to admit that it did seem like years ago instead of months.

“You've grown up, and I've grown old.”

“I'd still rather have you here beside me than anybody else I can think of,” I said.

“Even Lori?”

“Especially Lori. I wouldn't want to put her in harm's way again. She does enough of that for herself.”