Reclamation (Best Laid Plans Book 4) (24 page)

Lewis flinched as if shot. “Trev, don't,” he started, expression miserable.

Trev continued determinedly. “You've got the knowledge and skills to help everyone build a future. And you've got a wife to think about. You need to be here, which means I need to go.”

“Jane would go with me. We can handle ourselves.”

“I know you can. And so can I. This way makes sense, just like when I went to Michigan.” He couldn't help but smile. “Also you're trying to take responsibility for other people again. Let me handle this. I'd feel better knowing the two of you were watching over our family.”

His cousin looked away, slowing down even more. “All three of us should go. We're needed there.”

In spite of the words Trev knew Lewis's resolve was weakening. “All three of us can't. Also isn't that a discussion you should be having with Jane?”

Lewis sped up without answering, until he was going an almost dangerous speed along the rutted gravel road in the darkness. “Let's get the bees taken care of,” he called.

Trev had no arguments there. He did his best to catch up.

Over the next hour they took care of the honey and beeswax, working in strained silence. Both tried to relieve it with banter, but neither seemed in the mood. Last of all they hiked out to the box hive to release the swarm into it. Lewis brought his night vision goggles to see, and Trev let him do most of the work while he helped as directed.

It wasn't his project anymore. Lewis would do a good job tending the hive while he was gone, probably better than he would've, so it was best he work on it from the start.

His cousin finally closed the lid of the new hive over the relocated swarm and left them to settle in. “I don't know about you but I'm exhausted,” he said, starting back towards the shelter.

Trev did his best to walk beside him in the darkness, tripping over obstacles Lewis could see but he couldn't. “Yeah, assuming I can sleep at all.”

Just as they were circling around the shorter hill across from the shelter Lewis abruptly spoke up again. “Remember up in the mountains last winter? Just the two of us, conquering everything that came our way.”

He smiled. “Yeah. I'll admit I feel a lot more confident about things when I'm around you.”

His cousin stopped to put a hand on his shoulder, the shape of his face with the goggles odd in the darkness. “Are you sure you want to be the one to go?”

“No, but I'm going to do it anyway.” Trev shrugged, trying to ignore the discomfort of having his cousin able to see him through the goggles while all he saw was a silhouette. “Take care of everyone, okay? Jim needs someone to help him along like you helped me. And Linda . . . well, even after everything that's happened she doesn't seem mentally prepared for the world the way it is now.”

“I will.” Lewis squeezed his shoulder, then dropped his hand and continued on towards the shelter.

Trev followed, making his way to his bed in the crowded shipping container while his cousin sought out Jane. It was a relief to sink onto the cot and let his muscles relax.

As he'd predicted, he didn't sleep well.

Matt was up early, dressed and ready to take his bike into town.

Although she usually got up later than him Sam was awake when he left, coming out to hug him goodbye. She kept the hug going for an uncomfortably long time, not saying a word but just holding him tight.

They'd talked for hours the night before, and she hadn't liked what he'd had to say. She hadn't disagreed either, though.

“Love you,” he finally said, stooping down awkwardly to kiss his much shorter wife. “Be back soon.”

Sam nodded, still not saying a word. He thought he saw a tear slip past the curtain of her dark hair as she turned to go back into the shelter, but that might've been a trick of the predawn glow. Probably not, but it made him feel a little bit better to assume that.

Last night Catherine had asked him to go around to everyone in town who was likely to volunteer and talk to them. Not to pressure them into any decision, or even to ask what they planned to do. Just talk.

It was a nice bit of self-deception, since she might as well have just come out and said she wanted him to do both. Why else would he need to talk to them in the first place? And with the request had come the unspoken assumption that he'd be going with any volunteers he drummed up. And when Matt had agreed he'd basically confirmed her assumption.

It was the last thing he wanted to do, but he was needed. And beyond that, if he stayed behind anyone who was on the fence about volunteering themselves might decide to stay behind too. While if he went others might follow his example.

Williams had said he planned to leave as early as possible, and sure enough when Matt passed town hall he saw that the scouts' truck was gone. The corporal had promised the military would visit again, although the intent behind staying in touch wasn't exactly altruistic.

Above and beyond the request for supplies and volunteers to join the fight, Williams had convinced the town to defend Aspen Hill Canyon and the surrounding foothills and mountain slopes, in the event the fighting ever reached them. It was vital that the enemy not secure any route into the Rockies, since holding the multiple choke points the mountain roads represented was one of the few advantages the military had going for them.

Luckily General Lassiter didn't expect the town to fight a war. Williams was going to report in and have the military send demolitions specialists, to rig explosives at an ideal choke point in the canyon to completely destroy the road and cut off all vehicle travel beyond that point. He just wanted Aspen Hill's defenders to keep an eye on the destroyed road and turn back any incursions on foot the blockheads made into the mountains if they could, or radio in and request help if they couldn't.

It was an important task, and even with the road destroyed more than a little dangerous. A good way for Aspen Hill to do its part without needing to go anywhere. Matt would've been interested in the challenge of scouting the foothills and ravines in the area, to figure out how to prevent anyone from sneaking up into the high country on foot. But since he was one of the volunteers he had a different job to do, and right now that job involved finding people to go with him.

He decided to start with Carl and Tam Raymond first, since the Mayor's own family should be an easy conversation.

Since Tam had fractured her ankle in their attack against the raider camp she'd been out of action, taking the opportunity to spend time at home with her daughter. Matt had visited her a few times to see how she was doing, and yesterday she'd been at the meeting walking normally so he assumed she'd healed well from her injury.

With houses in town so crowded the Raymond family had moved in with their parents at the Mayor's house, along with a few other individuals who'd been displaced from their homes. Even this early in the morning he heard activity inside, so he knocked softly.

Not too long afterwards Scott opened the door, his granddaughter Jennifer sneaking a peek around his leg. When she saw Matt she popped out and waved, and the older man obligingly stepped aside. “Come on in.”

“Thanks.” Matt leaned down to pat the toddler on the head as she ran off to go play, then slipped through the door. “I came to talk to Tam and Carl.”

“Yeah. Catherine's task for you, right?” Scott sighed. “Carl's on patrol. I'll go get Tamara.”

He disappeared up the stairs, and a moment later Tam came down, dressed for the day but yawning as if she'd just woken up. She kissed her daughter when Jennifer ran over to her, then shooed her up the stairs and headed for the door. “Let's talk outside.”

“Sure.” Matt was a bit worried that she wasn't meeting his eye. He followed her out and joined her sitting on the top step of the porch. “I suppose you know why I'm here.”

“Yeah. Mom asked you to recruit volunteers.” Tam gave him an uncomfortable look, then stared west towards the mountains bathed in early morning sunlight. “We're sorry, Matt.”

He gave her a blank look. All through the winter, and especially during the raider attacks, he'd been able to rely on her like few others. He'd thought she'd be an easy sell. “That's a no from both of you?”

The auburn-haired woman gave him a fierce look. “That's right. We've done our best to be there when the town needed us. I didn't mind taking an injury doing what needed to be done, but I won't risk leaving Jennifer without a mom. She's barely started talking and most of her questions are about where her mama and papa are since we've been gone so often helping the town, leaving her to her grandma and grandpa to take care of. I was actually almost glad I fractured my ankle since it gave me a chance to finally spend some time with her.”

She paused, then took a shuddering breath. “I can't do it anymore. I won't. Me and Carl need to get on with our lives for our daughter's sake, not go off and play soldier.”

Matt nodded, disappointed but not surprised. “I understand. The town couldn't ask you for more than you've already done. We'll take care of things from here.” He stood.

Tam stood as well, sounding almost pleading as he made his way down the steps. “We know how bad it is out there, but the town needs people to defend it too. We can at least help with that.”

He turned to give her a miserable look. “I'm not here to guilt anyone. I wouldn't dream of it, after everything you've done for the town. I'm just gathering the names of people willing to go.”

Leaving his friend on the porch, he returned to his bicycle and hopped on.

That had been a pretty depressing meeting, and it didn't leave him in high spirits as he continued on. A niggling worry began in the back of his head that he might be heading off to join the military all on his own.

He visited the Watsons next, and there the news was a bit better. Rick was already packing to leave, and so was Wes. The two were actually arguing about it when he arrived, and the younger brother immediately came over to Matt as he opened the gate into their yard.

“I can go, right?” he demanded.

Matt hesitated and looked at Rick, who glared at him. “You're fifteen, Wes.”

“Sixteen in less than two months!” the young man insisted. “Besides, I helped against the raiders!”

Rick stormed over. “One of us needs to stay here for Mom and Dad, and anyway I'm not letting my kid brother go off to war. Besides, will the military even take people that young? We're more civilized than using child soldiers.”

Wes went red in the face. “Are you trying to tick me off, bro?”

Matt hastily cut in. “Catherine did set the age limit at 18, Wes.” He didn't mention that she'd realistically allowed for exceptions. Wes
had
done his part to help against the raiders, but never anything too dangerous. He really was just a kid.

The young man swore and stomped into the house, slamming the door behind him. “I'll talk things over with him,” Rick promised. He shook Matt's hand. “I'm guessing you came around to sign me up. I'm ready whenever. How many people do we have so far?”

“You and me.” At his friend's alarmed look he hastily continued. “You were my second stop. Still plenty of daylight.”

“Right.” Rick went over and began moving his things, scattered on the porch, back inside in a neat pile by the door. As he worked he called over his shoulder. “Want me to tag along?”

Matt felt a surge of relief. Not having to do this alone sounded awesome. “You bet.”

Rick had his own bicycle, a smaller kid's bike that he still rode well in spite of the size. Together they set off, his friend looking at him for direction on their next stop. “We going to everyone in town?”

“Not everyone. Ben's going to be asking around with his people.” The former refugees had almost completely integrated into the town, but there was still that slight divide there. Ben had done a lot to bridge it.

“So I guess that means Ben's going too. That's three of us.”

“And the cousins and Jane,” Matt added. He hadn't talked to them yet, but he couldn't imagine them refusing. “Let's go talk to Gutierrez.”

To his surprise the former raider, still living in the small room above the auditorium, seemed a bit reluctant even though he immediately agreed. “Is something wrong?” Matt asked.

Gutierrez snorted. “You tell me. I'm technically AWOL.”

“So are half the soldiers out there, right?” Rick pointed out.

The former soldier shrugged. “I said I'll go. I just hope it doesn't cause any trouble.”

On the way out the door they ran into Scott. “Hey,” he said. “Glad I caught you. You took off without talking to me.”

“About volunteering?” Matt asked, a bit surprised. It wasn't that he didn't think the older man was capable, quite the opposite. Maybe it was Scott's age, or because he was so vital to running the town, but it hadn't occurred to Matt that he might want to sign up.

Scott nodded. “I've been partially on the fence about it, but I figure someone should be there who can care for the gear the town's going to be sending along.”

Matt hadn't considered that. Scott had been running the storehouse so he'd make a good quartermaster. “Glad to have you.”

The older man smiled wryly. “I don't suppose many of us want to go, but what we want wasn't usually what we got even before the world went crazy.”

Scott agreed to tag along to help them visit everyone, and so Matt decided the next stop should be the gardens and other places people would be working. It might save a few stops for when they'd exhausted all other options and had to go house to house.

Lewis and Jane were working in their plot when Matt's small group got there. His friends waved, and Jane stayed behind to continue working while Lewis came over.

“Sam mentioned you were out recruiting,” he said, shaking hands all around.

“Working on it, at least,” Matt agreed. “We've got a lot of people to visit. But at least you and Trev live with us so that's one less visit I have to make.” He paused. “Speaking of which, are either of your dads also planning to volunteer?”

His friend looked uncomfortable. “Actually, we've already talked it through. Trev's going to go.”