Surviving Passion (8 page)

Selena deliberated long and hard into the night before coming to a decision. In the end, curiosity won. She wanted to learn about these people and their way of life.
Besides,
she thought,
even I know it’s not polite to eat and run.
And that steak had been
good
.

Five

Selena stirred as the light through the windows became too bright to ignore. She had found the bed too soft, so she had and taken refuge underneath it; un-tucking the blankets above to hang down, concealing her. Old habits were tough to break. Her sleep had been restless, but when she awoke, it was already late morning. She suddenly felt nervous. Half the day had gone by and she was missing everything that was going on. The feeling mounted until her heart actually quickened.
This is going to kill me
, she thought, trying to relax and take deep breaths.
I don’t have to keep track of everything that happens here.
When her heartbeat slowed once more, Selena headed to the mirror in the bathroom and smoothed her hair. She briefly considered making herself look worse.
No. If I can’t live here normally, then I can’t live here at all
, she concluded resolutely and headed out the door.

There were a couple of kids running around outside. They hid and watched her from behind a bush, pretending to be stealthy. She waved, spoiling their fun. The person she really wanted to see was Blaire because she was the only one who made Selena feel comfortable. Also, she needed something to do and she guessed Blaire wouldn’t hesitate to give her some work. Weaving her way between various cabins and a couple of larger buildings, she ran into Gina who greeted her promptly.

“Hey! We didn’t officially meet last night. My name’s Gina.” She offered her hand with a genuine smile.

“Selena. Nice to meet you. Umm … could you maybe tell me where Blaire is?”

“I think she was over by the garden down that way,” the woman gestured, still smiling brightly. “Hey, I can help with provisions if you need any supplies. Blaire and I kind of share the job, but she handles the food more than anything else. Tell me if you need anything.”

“Okay, thanks,” Selena said appreciatively as Gina went on her way.

“You take care now,” she said warmly over her shoulder.

After a couple minutes of wandering down the path, Selena finally found the garden. It was much bigger than she’d expected. She surveyed it with blunt appraisal, considering all the work that must have gone into it. She recognized Ben working on a row of shrubs that bore some kind of citrus fruit.

“Excuse me,” she said when he was close enough to hear. “Hi. Is Blaire around here somewhere?”

“Hey. Umm,” he craned his neck to look for her. “Right over there,” he pointed.

“Thanks,” Selena said, turning to go.

“How was the tree-climbing?” Ben asked with something that actually looked like a smile.

Selena reddened before throwing out a viable answer. “More interesting than usual.”

“I’ll bet,” he said with a humorous glint in his eyes. “So you work with leather?”

It sounded more like a statement than a question.

“Yes. Learned from my dad, mostly,” she answered, starting to feel self-conscious.

“Good. We could use more useful people around here. So you were on your own out there when Dan found you?”

She nodded, “For a very long time, yes.”

“Rough,” he said rubbing his chin. “It’s wonderful that you can speak English.”

Selena laughed, “Yeah, I uh … I read. It helps. A lot.”

“But this is great. Now you can get some real practice in,” he joked.

“Yeah. It’s been hard … but good,” she smiled despite herself, not minding his teasing.

“Well I’ll let you go practice on someone else, I’ll probably just make things worse,” he said turning back to his work.

“Bye,” she said with a bemused smile.
Maybe he looks so bored all the time because he’s smart,
she pondered.

Selena spotted Blaire finally and strode over to her with a little wave of greeting.

“Well good morning! Wait, no, good afternoon. You slept through all of yesterday!”

Selena blinked.

“I’m just messin’ with ya,” Blaire cackled.

Selena had to smile again. It had been years since anyone had joked with her. .

“Well I’m guessing you want a bite to eat. I can show you around when you’re through. Give you the tour.”

Selena nodded. Blaire led her to the kitchen, which was impressive. Selena imagined it must have been ideal back when it had power and plumbing.

         “I know what you’re thinking and you’re right,” Blaire said. “There was probably more technology in this kitchen than anywhere else on these grounds.”

         “It looks that way,” Selena confirmed.

         “Well, we still use the refrigerator but usually that’s just when we have snow to pack it. Only you have to be ready when it starts melting. Never mind all that. The best part is the dishes and the counter space.”

         Selena sat at the bar that overlooked the kitchen. It felt surreal. For a moment she was reminded of her earliest years before the Crash. She recalled having a favorite cup as a child. It was red, made of plastic and had two handles for her chubby little toddler hands to clutch easily. A sudden sadness leaped up her throat and her eyes misted at the ache she felt for a life she barely remembered. Embarrassed, she blinked and returned her thoughts to the present as Blaire bustled about getting food together.

         “It’s too bad you just missed lunch. We eat together for the most part. Woulda’ been a nice time to introduce you to everyone. Maybe at dinner then. Last night doesn’t count,” Blaire wagged a finger at her with a smirk.

         “Actually I already met Gina and Ben today,” Selena smiled abashedly. She paused before adding, “Met Clint too … last night.”

         “Ooh, sorry about him. He’s got the maturity of a six year old and a bad case of Little Man’s Syndrome. Was he inappropriate?”

         “Well, I’m glad you’re honest,” Selena answered slowly. “That’s what it was, ‘little man’s syndrome’. I couldn’t remember what it was called but that’s exactly what I was thinking. No he wasn’t. He just complained about Dan and invited me over.”

         “Well, maybe just avoid him. There’s nothing worse than an obnoxious guy who has something to prove. Unfortunately he gets his work done so everyone deals with it. Here ya go. Hope you like it,” she said sliding a plate in front of Selena. “I’ll kick his butt for ya if he does anything you don’t like. Just let me know.”

         There were string beans and blackberries, and some cold leftover steak from the night before, but best of all, a hard-boiled chicken egg lay on the plate.

         “It’s a good thing fire still works,” Blaire quipped as Selena appreciated the egg.

         Selena grinned, “You have chickens?”

         “Yep! Chickens, pigs, and even some cows, which you might have guessed from your dinner,” Blaire affirmed proudly. “I’m surprised you didn’t hear the roosters this morning. We keep them at a good distance, but even still, you must have been really knocked out.”

         Selena was beginning to appreciate the lure of a stationary community. Then she remembered something that now struck her as odd.

         “I noticed when we rode in that there were some horses just grazing out there without any fences around.”

         “The horses are trained extra carefully. That’s Bear’s area of expertise. I’m guessing you remember him from last night.” When Selena nodded, she went on, “The chickens are confined and so are the pigs. The cows kinda roam around, but the only way out is from that path you rode in on, and they don’t like it very much since the coyotes tend to hang out beyond there. It seems to work for us, but sometimes the little beasties get awful bold and we’ve had to work real hard to keep the chickens safe. We run ‘em off if they come too close. The horses help with that. Buck in particular has great fun chasing them. Dan tell you they’re attack horses?”

         “He did say that. I didn’t know how you could get them to do that.”

         “Well that’s Bear again. He has his ways. Pretty much all of them are on the lookout for anything dangerous. So if you’re on Star again and something or someone ever tries to get you, she’ll take a bite out of their faces. We just want as much defense as we can get, and no one expects the horses to fight. Gives us a good edge. Well, we haven’t needed them for any problems with other people, but they sure love stompin’ snakes and chasing black bears.”

Selena’s eyes were wide with genuine interest.
Chasing black bears?
She wondered if Blaire was exaggerating.

On the whole, these were all concerns she’d never had herself and it was fascinating how variable different lifestyles could be, considering the state of the world.

When Selena finished her food, Blaire gave her the tour. Aside from the kitchen and the residential cabins, there was a woodshed with a work area, something that had been converted into a barn, a store room full of pelts, skins and other usable animal parts, and some kind of converted storm cellar underground for produce.

“It’s always cool down here. Stuff keeps better,” Blaire explained of the cellar.

Then they headed past the fields toward the pond as Blaire listed the crops they had growing.

“There’s string beans, blackberries, tomatoes, figs, apples, carrots, squash, lemons, and even artichokes if you can believe it. Potatoes too, and they’re my favorite. I can cook all of it right over the fire with animal lard. Not too bad, eh? I make some mean stew. Never really realized how much food a person eats until the Crash happened.” She waved to Ben as he worked in the fields. “We gotta grow a lot to keep everyone healthy. Helps us to lay off the deer and turkey populations in the area. Our chickens have helped some too ‘cause they breed pretty fast. All in all, I’d say we do pretty darn well here.”

As she continued filling Selena in on the details of land cultivation, the two of them drew near the pond. There was an odd contraption at its edge that looked handmade, which Blaire explained was the best system they had for filtering water.

“We all have Ben to thank for that. Smart guy, that Ben. If he was my age he’d have gone to school for engineering or somethin’ fancy, back when there was such a thing. Anywho, we bring the water in buckets back to a fifty-five gallon drum out back by the kitchen. We’ve never had to restrict water. Oh and there’s a nice little spot to bathe out that way where the trees block the view. Most of the men round here just charge right in buck naked, but in case yer shy it’s a nice spot. Pond’s usually pretty warm. When the weather is hot, we do us a fair bit of swimmin’.”

When they were finished admiring the deep blue pond and the greenery surrounding it, they headed back with Blaire narrating on the members of the community.

“Now you said you met Ben, Gina and Clint. So Sara was sitting with Gina last night at the fire. Middle-aged girl with brown hair,” when Selena nodded, Blaire went on, “She looks after the kids most of the time, she and Bear’s wife Susan, the blonde one. Susan and Bear have the blonde girl, Becky. The dark-haired boy, Jay, is Sara’s. We think Jimmy is the dad, but no one is completely sure. He and Sara and Jay joined us a while back, but as you might have guessed, we don’t ask too many questions about the past around here. Jimmy’s Asian, you probably saw him last night too. He’s about my age. Skinny. Serious. He mostly does trapping with Shane, but Shane’s the real talent of that pair. The both of them are out doin’ that now, so you won’t meet Shane until they get back. Let’s go find Sara.”

When they found the woman, she was washing clothes in a little basin outside her cabin. She looked up at them with a chipper smile, exposing the gap between her front teeth. “Oh, hello Selena, what an introduction you made last night. Scared me half to death!” She wagged her head. Selena hadn’t noticed the night before how raspy Sara’s voice sounded. Years of hardship showed plainly on her face.

“Hi. Sorry about that. Never meant to.”

Blaire bustled her along protectively.

“Let’s see, who else is in? Cal is out with Dan doin’ a bit of scouting, but you already met him. They’re bein’ extra careful now, with those god-awful men just over the hills. It sure is a comfort that we got those boys lookin’ out for us. Who’s left? Oh, Bear and Susan of course! You’ll just love them. Sweetest couple you ever met, I promise you. Susan is an angel and Bear is usually the ‘Teddy’ version. It’s rare that the ‘Grizzly’ side pops up.” She grinned a crooked smile at Selena. “I always say anyone who loves animals has gotta be a good one.”

When they found Bear he was tending to the pigs. They were in a spacious field all their own, with a wooden fence built of logs that linked together. There was not a nail in sight.

“Hey, Bear!” Blaire’s yell made Selena wince. The big man waved and headed over. “Now isn’t this a nice fence? Bear and Clint made it all by themselves.”

“Afternoon, Blaire. Selena,” he greeted the women when he got near. He shook Selena’s hand, taking care not to squeeze too hard. He suddenly seemed shy, or was it her imagination?

“We’re just making the rounds today,” Blaire informed him. “Getting Selena acquainted with everyone. You wanna finish this and tell her the names of the piggies?”

“I just might if you tempt me,” he smiled softly. “They’re more interesting than most of us, and smarter too.”

“Sometime I might ask you,” Selena put in, gazing wistfully at the contented-looking creatures. The wild ones she was accustomed to were a whole lot meaner.

“Well, we’re gonna head off. Susan’s the last person on our list. Any idea where she is?”

“I think she was getting some food for the baby. Five years old now,” he corrected himself. “But I’ll call her ‘the baby’ until she’s eighteen, probably. Anyway, try your kitchen.”

“Thanks Bear,” Blaire said as they headed off. When they were out of earshot, she informed Selena quietly, “He’s a little more serious because of last night. He’s got every reason to be flamin’ mad. I’ll tell you the story in a nutshell. No sense keeping you in the dark so long as you’re here with us. Those bastards murdered his brother just to make a statement. That Jake’s the one that done it. Worst part of it was that Bear was there when it happened. The two of them were out with Dan and Shane when they all ran into that little posse for the first time. Those boys were lookin’ for trouble. They take what they need from everyone else, damn parasites. There would have been a fight right then and there if Shane hadn’t talked ‘em down. Bear and his brother were the same size. Those bastards took a look at those two and Dan, and wanted to fight ‘em just for fun. They was all lucky Shane is such a smooth-talker, he had ‘em all convinced they was friends for a while there. Once they went their separate ways we’re guessin’ they changed their minds. Probably couldn’t figure out how they’d been talked out of it in the first place,” she smiled grimly. “The next time Bear and his brother ran into them alone, Jake decided he wanted all their supplies and the location of our camp here. This time he’d made up his mind. Bastards took everything they had but not before sticking a knife in John. That’s Bear’s brother. Luckily they couldn’t get any information out of them. They’da had to kill Bear too if they hadn’t of knocked him out. Guess they figured Bear would be more trouble than he was worth, or maybe that he’d never tell them anything. That’s true because if he gave us up he’d be giving up Susan and his little girl Becky. Never woulda happened.”