Reclamation (Best Laid Plans Book 4) (16 page)

As the soldiers piled back into the vehicle Davis made his way over and handed rifles to Trev and his dad. He then offered the last rifle to Lucas, but didn't immediately let go when the other man reached out to take it. “Listen, have you considered joining up with us right now? We got your family safely home, and from our conversations it seems like you and your nephew might be up for fighting back, especially if it means you can help protect your loved ones and reclaim our country.”

Lucas hesitated as the sergeant finally released the AK-47, then shook his head as he slung it over his shoulder. “We're worried about just surviving.”

“So is everyone else,” Davis replied with a snort.

“We also have our friends and family to worry about,” Trev's dad cut in. He looked slightly irritated at being excluded from the offer. “We can't ignore our responsibilities to them.”

The sergeant nodded. “I get it. If you want to hide and look out for just yourselves until the blockheads finally find their way to your doorsteps that's your decision. But just consider whether you want an existence constantly on the move fleeing pursuit, struggling to survive as everything around you burns, or if you want to help rebuild this country's future.”

The officer glanced at his men, then straightened stiffly. “I'm just a noncom with my boots on the ground, but forgive me if I see something worth saving in the United States of America. Something worth fighting for, even dying for if need be.”

Shame was a powerful tool, and Trev realized he sounded a little defensive as he spoke up. “The town might want to send some of our defenders to help, like you asked. But right now we've got to go see how things are there before we can decide anything.”

“Fair enough.” Davis offered handshakes all around, then brusquely took the few steps over to his truck and hopped into the back. A moment later they heard someone banging on the back wall of the cab, and the idling vehicle started off with a crunch of tires on gravel until it pulled onto the highway. The rest of the scouts, waiting ahead, pulled out to follow it as it headed northwest towards Spanish Fork.

After watching them drive out of sight his mom straightened her shoulders. “Well, we've been sitting around resting for most of the past two days. What do you say we figure out how to pack this wheat and try to get some distance before dark? It's a good opportunity to stretch our legs.”

Linda groaned. “Stretch them right out of their sockets,” she complained. But there were no other arguments to the suggestion as the family got to work.

They ended up piling the wagons with another 100 pounds. That left the sacks stacked absurdly high, with the wheels almost bending outwards from the extra weight, and they had to use cord to tie them firmly in place. The rest they managed to fit in the handcart, although it was also stacked absurdly high and needed to be tied.

With one less cart that left three more people to help with the one that remained, but Trev wasn't sure that was a good tradeoff. His dad and uncle took the wagons while the others helped him with the cart, but even so Trev almost groaned when he threw his weight against the pushbar and it barely budged.

To his relief it got a bit better as everyone else got their backs into it and began pushing along with him, but even so it was much more difficult than it had been. There was also the fact that the people pushing from behind kept naturally lifting as they pushed to deal with the added weight, which ended up shoving the front of the cart down.

Trev felt like his back would break and his arms would be torn from their sockets each time they did that, and he had to constantly remind them to push down slightly rather than up. It was more difficult for them, he could tell, and a few times they overcorrected so much that the pushbar nearly banged against his chin as he struggled to keep the front of the cart down, but after about fifteen minutes they got it figured out.

They moved even slower than they had been with two carts, but by the time they began looking for a place to camp before it got too dark to see Trev was satisfied that they'd made it over half a mile.

In spite of their weariness everyone was in a great mood as they set up their tarp-and-line tents from the cart to a handy tree. They'd gotten a bit closer to home on foot, and with any luck they'd reach Aspen Hill sometime tomorrow afternoon. Everyone was looking forward to reuniting with Lewis and reconnecting with old friends, but mostly the idea of the trip being nearly over had everyone practically singing. Or in Mary's case humming.

The next morning they set out almost as soon as waking up, after eating half of the extra pot of wheat they'd boiled the night before.

On Trev's advice they steered clear of Helper, and although they were sure the town's defenders saw them nobody tried to cause trouble. That might've been due to the fact that all in all the people of Helper were decent human beings, or that even a small well armed party was a deterrent. Or maybe they hadn't been seen after all.

Despite the appearance of safety Trev kept his eye on the town receding into the distance behind them as they kept going south, their laborious steps light with the knowledge that home was always just over the next rise.

Ten miles was nothing compared to the hundreds they would've had to travel without the convoy's timely aid. Even so, that “nothing” took a while when they were going barely over one mile an hour hauling their burden of grain. It was nearly noon by the time they reached the road leading off towards Aspen Hill.

At the sight of it a spontaneous cheer erupted from the family, and they managed a burst of energy as they pushed the last of the distance to reach it, eagerly talking about what they'd do once they finally made it to the shelter.

They'd made it. They were home.

On Trev's advice they took care to walk down the middle of the road stretching the last few miles to Aspen Hill, their weapons safely put away and showing no threatening signs. Just in case one of the defenders on patrol was feeling jittery.

Trev didn't really think any of his neighbors would shoot at a group with women and children without some pretty major threat to justify it, but it never hurt to be cautious. Although in that same spirit of caution they also kept their weapons within easy reach, in case the unthinkable had happened and the raiders had managed to take the town.

The cart didn't feel as heavy walking on ground he'd covered numerous times before, and he almost felt like he could count the steps left to reach home. After all his time patrolling and taking shifts at the roadblock, Trev knew exactly which of the rises they climbed up over and the bends they went around would give them a view of town from the road.

Although the northern road they were on wasn't the best for that, since with the layout of the land they'd be almost to town before their first view of it, atop a rise well within the patrol radius. He fully expected them to be stopped before then, and as they started up that last slope he felt the hairs on his neck prickling at no sign of any patrols.

“I should go ahead and see if there's a problem,” he said.

“No way!” Linda protested. “I want us all to get our first look at town together.”

Lucas gave him a concerned look, understanding his reasoning. “You're right, Trev. I'll go with you. Everyone else stay here, and stay alert.”

Ignoring his previous suggestion about presenting themselves as harmless, Trev retrieved his rifle and slung it over his shoulder, then handed his uncle the one he'd been using. Moving cautiously and with his eyes panning the landscape in all directions, he led the way up the remainder of the slope to the rise. He saw no signs of danger as he looked ahead at the town.

At his first sight of it his spine went rigid with shock and dismay, and he felt like he'd been punched in the gut.

Aspen Hill looked like it had been shelled. Shelled after being a war zone for an extended period of time. The perimeter had been reinforced with roadblocks, fences, and earthworks, but most of those were in shambles along with just about every house near the edge of town. Some of the dwellings sported blackened, gaping holes, while others were completely collapsed or burned to ash. Even Main Street itself hadn't been spared the devastation, with a small apartment building half destroyed and the remainder sagging into the wreckage.

“Oh no,” Lucas whispered, coming to a stop beside him.

Trev stared at the ruined town in horror, feeling sick. This was what he'd left his friends to deal with?

He'd worried about the town through most of his trip to Michigan, and on the trip back that worry had been building with every mile closer to home they got. Even so, he'd half expected to get here and find that the raiders had just given up and left, probably not too long after he started east.

Once again, just like when he'd first left, he found himself torn in two by conflicting guilts. He knew objectively that if he hadn't gone looking for his family Lucas might not have found them, and if he had they might not've been able to escape during the chaos after the nukes flew. He'd done what he needed to do, and because of it his loved ones were all alive and safe.

And returning to a scene of devastation.

He jumped slightly at a hand on his shoulder, his uncle awkwardly trying to offer some comfort. “We knew this was a possibility,” he said, looking tired.

“I left them to this,” Trev answered, tearing his eyes from the ruined town to look towards the two hills the shelter nestled between. He couldn't see it, but for all he knew it was a blackened crater, too.

Lucas's grip tightened. “Remember how we all used to get on Lewis's case about trying to put responsibility for everything on his own shoulders?” Trev nodded and looked back towards the grim sight ahead, although he couldn't think of anything to say. He got the hint, he just wasn't sure how much it helped.

To his relief his attention was drawn from the town towards a figure hurrying their way from the south with a gun slung over one shoulder, waving wildly. He was far enough away that Trev couldn't make out his features, so he got out the binoculars he'd purchased in Newtown.

It was Rick Watson, his thin and slightly haggard look offset by the huge grin he wore. He was holding his own binoculars in one hand and had obviously seen them, and it seemed that Trev's worry about not being spotted by a patrol before now was because his friend had been at the southernmost end of his route.

Trev found his own grin, relieved that the younger man had made it through whatever nightmare had left the town looking like that. He waved one arm over his head in response, then broke away from his uncle to meet his friend halfway and shake his hand.

Rick wasn't having any of that; he went right past Trev's hand and pulled him into a crushing hug. “I can't believe you made it, man! When we heard that a nuke hit northern Michigan we feared the worst.”

“I don't blame you. We got a good close up view of the mushroom cloud.” Trev stepped back, losing his smile as he looked over Rick's shoulder at the halfway demolished town. “I left you guys in a mess, didn't I?”

His friend lost his own smile and nodded grimly, also turning to inspect the damage. “I'm used to the sight so I've forgotten how shocking it looks.”

“How bad was it?”

“Bad.” Rick squared his shoulders and turned to look at him, forcing a smile. “But we cleaned it up. We wiped the raiders out and sentenced the ones who surrendered to death, including Turner.”

“Turner?” Trev nearly shouted in disbelief. “Lewis didn't get him?”

His friend opened his mouth to answer, then paused and stepped forward to offer his hand past Trev to Lucas as he arrived. “Mr. Halsson! Last I heard you were in Norway. I wish I could see Lewis's face when he finds out you're here.”

Lucas accepted the handshake, a bit of tension going out of his shoulders. “He's all right?”

The younger man's grin returned. “He's doing great, all things considered. In fact, he just got-” he cut off with a slight cough, looking embarrassed. “Actually, that's probably his news to share.”

Trev exchanged glances with his uncle. “Good news, right?”

Rick's smile turned a bit mischievous. “Maybe not the best for you, Trev, since from what I hear you kind of, um, well . . .” he trailed off and glanced back towards town. “Actually I can't think of any way to finish that without spoiling the surprise.”

“Uh, okay.” Trev gave his uncle a confused look, and Lucas shrugged.

His friend hastily continued. “Anyway I radioed in your arrival. I'd expect to see your cousin and Matt and everyone stampeding down the road any minute now.”

* * * * *

They'd named the lambs Sunny and Snowy, a male and a female respectively.

When the time came Lewis had been afraid there'd be complications he wouldn't be able to handle, although he'd done his best to study up on the process. Thankfully Daisy, the mother, looked like she'd birthed lambs before. She handled things well and there were no complications, so the births went surprisingly smoothly, with Snowy born last just before dawn.

A recently awakened Sam immediately fell in love with the adorable newborns, and was at the fence for half an hour cheerleading them through every moment of their first awkward steps, spindly little legs splayed out and trembling. Aaron and Paul joined her for most of it, asking nonstop questions and trying to sneak into the pen to pet the animals.

Jane was slightly more pragmatic. She just as happy and excited as her friend, but her focus was on helping Lewis go through the checklist they'd prepared to make sure things were going smoothly and they were ready to help with any possible complications, not only as the lambs were born but in the vulnerable time afterwards when other problems could arise.

All in all the mood of the group was jubilant over breakfast at the shelter, with yet another step taken towards being fully self-sustaining, and the good mood continued as everyone worked at their morning chores.

By the time lunchtime rolled around the celebratory mood had faded somewhat. In spite of that Sam still wanted to go into town and give Matt the good news about the lambs, since he'd taken a rare overnight shift covering for Chauncey, who'd come down sick the day before.