A Distant Eden (20 page)

“With the panniers and backpacks and rifle scabbards each bike was loaded to the maximum we could handle, about two hundred pounds each. This weight reduced the speed and flexibility of the bikes, but we could never have brought so much with us otherwise. When we started, we had to walk the bikes up the hills, then coast down. By the last two days, we were pedaling up the hills. Primarily because we had grown accustomed, muscle wise, to the work. From west Texas to here, we also dropped a thousand feet of elevation, so it was on average a downhill ride.

“The bikes are dead silent at night on asphalt. It’s amazing how fast we could cruise and how little sound we made. We traveled at night, and slept through the day. We slept well too because of the amount of work we did each night. I can’t say enough for the fuel value of that pemmican, amazing stuff.

After he’d recounted the preparations they’d made before leaving Texas, he said, “We didn’t see any people by design. Had we traveled by day I think we may have seen some, but not many. We did see three different campfires near the road. In each case, we just cruised on by silently. They didn’t have guards out on the roads, and why would they? Even if they had, they probably wouldn’t have seen us. We dressed in dark clothing and faded into the night.

“Overall, it was a quiet trip, just the kind I wanted. I can’t tell you how happy we are to be here. From what I’ve seen of the countryside in the daytime, this is a perfect area to be in. It has all the benefits. A moderate climate, not too cold in the winter. Plenty of water and game with the river being nearby. Far enough from the city. Long growing season for when we start farming. An ideal place!”

Roman said, “I have an announcement to make. With Matt’s arrival, the tribe is complete for the first time since the grid went down. This is a special night and it brings big changes. Tomorrow we start moving! Tonight we break out the reserve bottles of whisky and the cigars and we celebrate! Someone get out the battery and the record player; let’s have music and dance!”

The next morning Roman called everyone together. Standing, he said, “This is our first official tribal meeting. In this meeting, I want to make some suggestions and to begin the process of formally organizing.

“Through all of ancient history and up to just a few hundred years ago, and in some places to this day, the tribe was the basic social unit beyond the family. Tribes are man’s best method of survival. Tribal members survive better and longer than individuals.

“We are a tribe. Tribes have many different styles or cultures. They can be strict authoritarian or they can be pure democratic. I want to suggest that we determine, right now and on purpose, how we will organize. If we don’t decide, then we will do it by accident and may not do it well. So, here are my suggestions.

“I suggest that we form a composite of the two extremes. During times of peace and plenty, we will be a democracy. During times of war or famine, we will be under an elected dictator. History tells us this is the best method. We elect a war leader who leads during war and starvation. We elect a general leader who advises and consults and counts votes during times of peace and plenty.

“I suspect that most of you would jump up and declare yourselves for me as one of those leaders right now, out of loyalty. I won’t ask you to, and frankly, I don’t want the job particularly. But I will, if elected, take the post of general leader. I won’t take the post of war leader. I believe that Adrian is the best qualified for that position.

“So, let’s hear nominations, seconds and votes on the two positions.”

After the raised hand votes were counted, Roman said, “Adrian, before I go into a lot of detail about the next few days, why don’t you say a few words?”

Adrian stood. “I appreciate the vote of confidence and I’ll try not to let you down. The first order of business for the war department is to gather intelligence. We need to know everything that is going on within a thirty-mile radius and we need to know it right now. To that end, I’m going to send out scouts, including myself, to roam the countryside and see what’s happening out there. John, Isaac, Jerry and I will go, each taking a different point of the compass. I expect that we will be gone for two weeks or so. We will need travel rations, as scouts do not do anything to give their positions away—no hunting, no shooting, no cooking fires, etc. The rest of the adults will take turns on guard duty—day and night. I will post the roster before we leave tomorrow.”

Roman placed his hand on Adrian’s shoulder. “That is precisely the kind of preparation we need. We can make up poached corn and corncakes and jerky and dried fish for the scouts.

“Ok, here’s the story. We’re moving. I know this is a great place, next to the river and all. But eventually the river is going to flood over this place. The river is now feral, the dams are not being maintained. Once the lakes fill, it will be as though the dams weren’t there. We have to move to higher ground. I have an idea for a good location: the old Von Stutten place. If they are still living there, I think they will welcome us, as it will enhance their own safety and security. If they are not there…well, I’ll find out today. I’m going up there to check on the place.

“The reason I suggest it is because their family moved there nearly two hundred years ago, some of Texas’ first settlers. They chose a place that would not flood but be as close as possible to the river. They built on high ground that is well suited for defense—as they defended it against the Kiowa on several occasions. The house and out buildings were made from cedar logs. Cedar logs bigger than any you’ve ever seen. Those buildings will never rot and the walls are so thick they’ll stop a .50 caliber bullet.

“There’s also a large garden where the soil has been perfected over many generations; it grows vegetables you won’t believe. There are chicken houses, goat barns, milk stables, pigpens. The place was self-sufficient and is still set up to be self-sufficient. As you know, I have a lot of time and work invested right here. But it will all be underwater someday. We’ll take everything of value, including all the perennial edible plants on this place.”

Later that day Roman and Jerry walked to the Von Stutten farm. It only took a few minutes to realize no one was home. Looking through the buildings, they found the Von Stuttens’ bodies. They had been murdered, their root cellar cleaned out. Their livestock butchered and eaten. But the buildings and the garden ground were in excellent shape. A rooster crowed in the woods. Roman said, “Excellent, we can live trap the chickens and re-establish them here. I bet we’ll find goats and cows loose too. We can catch and return them to the pastures.”

As they were returning to the river, Jerry noticed someone following them. He had caught a glimpse of movement in the woods, then without seeming to, he watched until he spotted a face shining back in the shadows. He turned to Roman and said, “I always wanted to say this—Don’t look now; there’s someone following us. He’s back in the woods under that big cottonwood tree at your four o’clock. In fact, don’t look at all. Let’s just get back and see if he keeps following.”

After Adrian had been filled in, he said, “Damn, that didn’t take long. We have to assume he’s up to no good. What we’ll do is watch him watching us. If he makes a move to do something bad, he’ll be dead before he knows it. If he leaves we’ll follow him and see where he goes.”

To John and Isaac, Adrian said, “I want you to watch him. When he leaves, my guess is that he’ll take a straight line back to wherever he came from. One of you follow him and the other get out in front to figure out where he’s going. When you find where he is going, evaluate it for friend or foe. If you think it is a foe status, capture and question the spy before he gets back. I don’t want his body found. I don’t want them to know we’re on to them. One of you keep watch on them; the other get back to report. We’ll send relief as soon as we know where to send it.”

Two days later, the spy took off. Isaac followed him and once he had established a direction, John got in front and traveled fast. Within thirty miles, John spotted where he was heading. It took only a few hours of watching them before John realized that they had taken slaves and were obviously not good people to have for neighbors.

Isaac watched the camp for a few more hours to be sure, but his first conclusion was correct. These people were keeping slaves. The slaves were clearing a field, and it was obvious from the gun carrying watchers that they were not clearing it voluntarily. Isaac backtracked a couple of miles and waited where he knew the scout would come through.

When the scout showed up, Isaac took him prisoner by simply walking up behind him and hitting him over the head. Before his inert body hit the ground John was there and said, “I take it you didn’t like their looks eh?”

They bound and gagged the scout and carried him well off the path he had been following. Finding a secluded hollow, they tied him to a tree. When the scout awoke, the soldiers were sitting looking at him.

John said, “My friend, there are two ways this can go. You can tell us what we want to know without lying, and we’ll turn you loose with your word of honor that you will disappear from this area forever. Or you can try to refuse to tell us, or lie to us, and be tortured and die for your troubles. You have one minute to choose.”

John and Isaac sat still and stared at him without any movement or facial expression. They completely unnerved the scout. Before the minute was up, he said, “I take option number one.” And then, before the soldiers could even ask, he began hurriedly, “I’m on a scout for our fort. The fort is owned by Blair Fowler. He’d begun preparing twenty years ago. He ran a cattle ranch and hired men that thought the way he did. He also hired some women to work at the ranch. He didn’t tell them what their role would be if disaster struck. There are forty men, all ex-military or mercs.

“They ran a good cattle ranch, made a steady profit, and everyone made decent wages plus room and board. They have a huge stockpile of food, weapons and ammunition. Blair was rich even before the ranch. He built a small kingdom on the ranch. Now he’s sitting pretty. He sent scouts out in all directions to report back on who they could find out there. I am the second scout sent to watch you. When he sends another and finds out how many women you have, he’ll attack.”

John asked, “Are the men trained and disciplined as a fighting unit?”

“Yes, there are drills every week. Blair is the general. He has officers that were in the military and know their stuff. We, I mean they, are a tight hard fighting group. Well armed, too.”

“How many soldiers and how many officers?”

“Thirty-five soldiers and five officers plus the General.”

“Have they fought since the grid went down?”

“Twice. Both were small battles—capturing groups that could be used as slave labor. There was no strong resistance.”

“When are you supposed to be back and what will they do when you don’t show up?”

“Day after tomorrow. I was coming back early because of the number of women. Yours is the largest group, besides ours—I mean Blair’s—that I’ve heard of. If I am not back on time, they’ll send out more scouts to find me. If those don’t come back then a combat platoon of sixteen men plus scouts will be sent out to search and destroy anything that can be considered a threat; and they will consider you a threat.”

“Why the slaves?” Isaac asked.

“Blair takes slaves on a regular basis. Anyone who wanders up to the camp is taken. They’re fed little and worked hard. They don’t last long. They get too weak to work and either die or are killed. Blair said that he is killing two birds with one stone; clearing the land for farming and clearing the land of competition.”

“How well prepared is the camp for an attack? What are the strong points and weak points?”

“It’s designed for defense. The main building is bulletproof; only artillery will break through. It has thick, dirt filled double walls, and the roof is metal and the outer walls are adobe, so they won’t burn. The doors and windows are steel plated and have firing ports. There are two machine guns in the attic that can cover the approaches. They have grenade launchers inside as well.

“There is a wall around the inner compound, six feet high. It has a slightly raised walk inside so that our men can shoot over the top. There’s a trench from the main house to the four corners of the wall for resupply and personnel movement. The fort is secure.”

John asked, “How about food and water in there? How long can they hold out?”

“I don’t rightly know but the rumors I heard said there’s enough food in there to last years. A warehouse full. There’s a deep well under the house pumped either by hand or a solar power pump. I don’t think you could starve them out even if you had enough men and firepower to trap them inside.”

Isaac asked, “Do they post guards outside the wall?”

“There are guards out day and night two layers deep. The outer layer has stationary guards; they are about a half mile out and they have field radios to call in with. The next layer’s a quarter mile out and the guards are in pairs. They move randomly around inside their assigned zones. The guard system is intense and is used for training purposes and to keep the men sharp. Every month there are two or three probes—elite soldiers—that try to sneak by.

“If one succeeds he’s rewarded with his pick of the women. The guards he gets by are severely punished. It isn’t often that one of the elites makes it. You caught me outside the outer ring or else you wouldn’t be here now.”

John and Isaac were silent for a minute, thinking. Then John asked, “Any mine fields? What do they have bigger than machine guns and grenade launchers?”

The scout said, “No mines, nothing bigger than the grenade launchers.

“OK. Anything else that we didn’t think to ask about?”

“Just one thing. They want women, and lots of them. They don’t kill the women off the way they do the men slaves. They don’t treat the women well; they’re badly abused, but they don’t kill them. If your women are caught, they’ll wish they hadn’t been.”