After the Fall: Jason's Tale (17 page)

Catherine and Jason went out into the yard. Both avoided
looking at the dead. He retrieved a come-along and some rope from the barn.

“We have to take the truck, it’ll be faster than walking,”
Jason said.

“Won’t everyone freak out with that machine gun on top?”
Catherine asked.

“We’ll take that chance. Speed is critical,” he replied.

With a rope, he attached the come-along to a tree, then
hooked the other end to the cab of the overturned pickup and winched it
upright. It had a flat front tire. After changing the tire they rolled the
truck down the hill to jump start it and drove up the valley road. They were
dirty, their clothes torn, hair matted with sweat, cuts and scratches on their
arms and faces. Shortly they encountered Tom Walsh trotting on the road towards
them and stopped.

“What happened?” Tom asked. “I heard the shooting.” He
looked in the cab in amazement, “You two look a mess!”

“We were attacked by a gang—a raiding party.” Jason
responded.

“Did anyone get hurt? How are Anne and Sarah?”

“Sarah got cut up from flying splinters but she’ll be okay.
Mom is okay,” Catherine responded. “You remember Jason, he’s staying with us?”

Tom nodded to Jason. “Of course. Is this their truck?”

“Yeah. They were part of a larger gang and I think they may
be coming back.”

 “Where’d they come from?”

“Clifton Furnace. I think they killed the remaining people
in town then they set out to raid this valley,” Jason said.

“So you think they’re coming back?”

Jason nodded, “For food, supplies…and I have their machine
gun. They’ll be back. We need your help to round up everyone in the valley. We
don’t have much time.”

“How soon?”

“If we’re lucky not till tomorrow or the next day. There’s
no time to lose.”

“Okay. What can I do?”

“We need to get everyone together. I’m going to skip the
Turner farm. I don’t think the old man will talk to me,” Jason said. “Can you
get him to come?”

“Yeah, I think so. He’d likely try to shoot you, especially
driving up in this truck. He fusses at me, but I don’t take his crap. I think
he respects me. Where do you want to meet?”

“I don’t know where.”

“Let’s meet at my house. Drive me up to the Turners and drop
me off. You and Catherine go to the others and bring them back to my place.
It’ll take a while for me to convince the old man, but I’ll get him to the
meeting.” Tom climbed in the cab. “That’s an M60 on the roof. These guys were
well armed.”

“You must have been in the military,” Jason said.

“Vietnam. We used them over there.”

They dropped Tom off at the Turner’s farm and drove on up
the valley in silence. Jason felt the press of time. He didn’t know how soon
the gang might return and the worst scenario would be Anne and Sarah caught
alone when they did. He shuddered at the thought.

Catherine seemed to sense his tension. “Having Mr. Walsh
talk to Mr. Turner will help. The others will be easier to talk to.”

They drove in silence. Then Jason said, “Catherine, you
showed a lot of ability in the fight today. You not only shot well, you showed
good judgment and you kept calm. Not many can do that in such an intense
situation.” Catherine looked at him as Jason continued, “I’d like to confide in
you, but I don’t want to frighten you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I want you to fully understand what we’re up against. I’m
going to have to explain it to the others in the valley, so I want you to hear
it first. It’s something I couldn’t tell Sarah.”

Catherine waited in silence.

“This gang that attacked us, they killed everyone left in
Clifton Furnace. The kid in the tall grass filled me in. They raid farms and
small villages. They rape, kill…and they eat the people they capture. That’s
what we’re up against.”

Catherine looked at him in horror. Jason wondered if he had
said too much. “I guessed they were very bad,” she said, “killing and raping.
But I never guessed they would be cannibals. That’s disgusting. You’re right,
you can’t tell Sarah.”

“That’s why we have to win.”

An hour later they were headed back to the Walsh farm with
Andy Nolan and Clair, his wife, and John Sands. John’s wife, Natalie, stayed
back with their daughter. The group entered the living room. Ray Turner was already
there sitting off to one side with his son, Billy. The others took seats that
had been set out for the meeting. Betty, Tom’s wife, directed Jason and
Catherine to the couch which was the focus of the circle. They sank back ragged
and exhausted from the gun fight.

Immediately the questions began. They came faster than could
be answered. Betty went to get them some water. When she returned from the
kitchen she stepped to the middle of the room, “All right. Everyone quiet down!
We need to let these two tell us what happened. Let them talk, please.”

The commotion stopped. Everyone stared at the two veterans
of the morning’s battle. Their eyes never left them as Jason recounted the
day’s events. They were all dumbfounded at hearing the details of the ferocity
of that morning.

“I’m amazed you could return fire fast enough to keep them
from rushing the house,” Tom commented when Jason had finished his tale.

“The shooting positions on the second floor and the roof
made all the difference. They were sandbagged and gave us protection. We’d have
died without that.”

Tom shook his head, “That’s quite an accomplishment,” he
said.

“It wouldn’t have done any good except that Anne and the
girls have gotten to be very good shots. It took all of us to hold them off.”

All eyes turned to Catherine who did her best not to look
awkward.

“Why do you think they’ll come back?” Andy asked. “My God,
from what you’ve told us it seems you dealt them a real blow.” Andy Nolan and
his wife, Claire, were a comfortable couple who seemed to get along just fine,
even after the power went out.

“There were about fourteen in the attack, from a gang of
fifty to seventy. They’ve already killed everyone in Clifton Furnace. This was
a raiding party targeting this valley. Some of them escaped and they’ll take
the story back to the others. I don’t think the gang leader can let us have our
victory. And we have his machine gun.”

“If it’s a matter of the machine gun, couldn’t you just drop
the pickup off at the bridge? Let him have his truck and machine gun, like a
peace offering? Then he wouldn’t have a reason to come back into the valley,”
John suggested. John was the architect who had worked out of his remodeled
farmhouse.

Jason looked at him in surprise.
Was he serious?

 Tom spoke up, “John, that gives the gang back a very
dangerous weapon, one they could use on us.”

John turned to Tom, “So you agree we should go to war with
these people?”

“It seems like they’re already are at war with us. If what
Jason says is true about Clifton Furnace, why should we think they’ll bypass
us?”

“What do we have to offer? There’s nothing here for them. I
don’t see it,” John said.

Andy spoke up. “Maybe we could construct a road block at the
bridge, something that would keep the gang out. Then we could give them back their
machine gun without worrying about it being used on us.”

“That’s a great idea,” John added.

“That might work,” Jason said, “but how do we do that? And,
more to the point, how do we do that in the next twelve hours?

“Why so quickly?” John asked.

“We don’t know when they might come back—” Jason began.

“If they come back at all,” John said.

“That’s not an ‘if’ I’m willing to bet on,” Tom said.

Jason continued, “
If
they come back, we don’t know
when it might be. But I can guarantee you that it won’t be long in coming. They
only have to gather their men and weapons before they set out to avenge the
defeat we gave them today. If we act too late, we are wide open with no
defense.”

Tom spoke again, “We don’t have any dynamite to create a
landslide and we don’t have the heavy equipment to dismantle the bridge. And if
we did, how do we get out later? We can’t be locked in this valley forever.
Sure we’ve made it on our own so far, but if we need to leave, we must have a
way out without backpacking over the mountains. And anyway, what’s to stop them
from removing any barricade we could set up? From what Jason says, they have a
lot of man power. Sorry, Andy, I don’t think it’s a workable plan.”

“But how can we beat them? It’s just the few of us
against…how many did you say…fifty of them? I don’t see how we win that
battle,” John declared.

Jason thought for a moment. “There aren’t any good choices,
the way I see it. I’ve survived, my family has survived, by being ready to
repel force with force—”

“But not against these odds,” John said.

“Yesterday we had four of us against fourteen and we won, so
it is possible to win against superior numbers.” Jason studied the group. Ray
Turner just scowled at him and the others. He was amazed that Tom succeeded in
getting him to come.
He probably just wants to find out about the shooting
and that’s all.
Tom seemed to be on board. He understood evil and violence.
Andy seemed to be pretty down to earth, if uncommitted. John seemed to be in
denial that this idyllic valley would be violated. All of them had adjusted to
living off the grid when the power went out. In varying degrees they were
making it here in the valley. Would they realize their need to defend it?

The group was silent for some moments then John spoke again,
“I have a seven year old daughter. I’d like her to grow up with a father. If we
fight these people, even if we win the fight, some of us may be injured or
killed. What price do we pay for victory? Are you all ready to be killed?
Because that’s what could happen if we fight this gang. We need to find another
way.”

Jason could see Catherine was getting more and more agitated
as the conversation progressed. He was about to respond when she spoke up.

“I’m pretty young so maybe I should let you adults speak and
decide, but today I killed some adults, so maybe I’ve earned the right to
speak. I didn’t want to fight this morning and I don’t want to do it again, but
I will if that’s what it takes to stay alive.” All eyes turned to her. With a
nervous swallow she continued, “Jason filled me in on who these people are.
They raped, killed and ate the remaining people in Clifton Furnace.” She
stopped to let that sink in. The room was silent. “If they had won today, they
would have killed Jason and raped me, my mom and my sister, Sarah. Maybe they
would have eaten us as well. They would have gone on up the valley and done the
same to all of you.” She paused again, turning to John, “Mr. Sands, your little
girl. Think about what they would do to her… and your wife.” She stared hard at
him, not wavering.

John turned away from her.

“John, do you think you can reason with someone who will eat
people?” Jason added.

The room’s silence was broken by Ray Turner clearing his
throat. “I fight my own battles. I’m not joining your war. They come to my
place they won’t find me. I’ll melt away in the woods. They come into the woods
they’ll find me all right. I’ll put a bullet in their head before they know I’m
there. These city slickers ain’t any good in the woods. I’ll pick ‘em off like
crows on a wire.”

“We could all go up into the woods and wait for them to
leave,” John offered. “That might be safer then fighting them.”

“What will you come back to?” Tom asked. “You need shelter
and food to make it through the winter. They’ll take your resources and maybe
burn your house down as well.”

“Why would they do that?” John asked.

“Are you willing to bet your house they wouldn’t? From what
Jason has said, that’s how they operate. They take what they want—pretty much
everything, kill anyone in their way and they don’t seem to care about leaving
things unharmed. They’re vandals as well as thieves. ” Tom replied.

“Andy, what do you think?” Jason was taking a chance but he
needed another man on his side.

Andy sat silence for some time. “Not sure what I think. This
is hard to digest. The gang may or may not come back. If we prepare and they
do, we’ll have a horrendous fight on our hands…and maybe lose. Even if we win
some of us may be killed or wounded. But if we don’t prepare and they come
back, our only option is to flee into the woods and maybe lose everything.” He
paused for a moment. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m not so quick
on my feet when it comes to fleeing. And Claire even less so.” He squeezed her
hand as he spoke.

“I agree with Andy. I don’t want to leave what we’ve
gathered and worked to build since the power went out. I don’t think I could
survive in the forest without shelter,” Claire said.

“So where do you stand?” Tom pressed.

“I guess I want to defend the valley. I’d rather trust in
myself and the rest of you,” he looked around the room, “than trust in what
this gang might or might not do.”

Ray jumped up. “You all are a bunch of fools. You gonna to
make this guy your general? Gonna to march off and kill this gang? Gonna to get
yourselves killed is what you’ll do.”

“Billy, how do you feel about this?” Jason asked.

“Billy thinks the same as me.” Ray shouted back at him. “You
come into this valley. You think you’re some kind of hero? Killing all the game
in the hills, taking all our food. Don’t think I’m gonna to listen to you. What
the hell do you know? For all I know this trouble followed you. Maybe you’re
the reason this gang is here.”

Billy looked like he was going to answer but didn’t when his
dad’s tirade continued.

Jason looked straight back at Ray. “We didn’t get off to a
good start and I’m sorry about that. I didn’t bring them here, but I’ve run
into the likes of them outside this valley. If you want to see what happens
when they attack, come down and look at our farm. And if you want to see what
we can do together, come down and look at our farm.”