After the Fall: Jason's Tale (28 page)

Back in Hillsboro, Lieutenant Cameron gave his report to
Captain Roper. He made sure to not dwell on the battles and weapons that valley
had amassed. After some time, he was able to convince Roper that working with
the valley could be a good way to increase the food supply. Roper actually
seemed enthused with Cameron’s idea and suggested he spend his time developing
it. He encouraged Cameron to visit the valley as often as necessary and gave
him full responsibility to work on the project.

After informing Gibbs their plan was approved, he went to
the hospital and collected what supplies he could. Three weeks later, Cameron
was back on his way to see Jason.

His machine gunner from the previous trip, Tommy Wilkes, had
secured his place and convinced Cameron that he didn’t need to take anyone
else. He didn’t want any competition. He was determined to get back to the girl
that smiled at him. He didn’t even know her name, but vowed to correct that
situation. Cameron grabbed Gibbs and the three of them set out early one
morning.

When they arrived they found Anne quite close to giving
birth. Lieutenant Cameron presented her with the supplies he received from the
hospital.

“Thank you very much Lieutenant,” Anne said, “These will be
a great help. This baby is going to be coming very soon.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to come back to Hillsboro with
us to have the baby in the hospital?” Cameron asked.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Anne replied calmly. “I have my daughters
and my husband and I do have some experience in these matters.”

 “I can arrange to come back after the birth and maybe
bring a doctor or nurse to check up on you…if that would be all right?”

“Yes, that would be fine. I would appreciate that. But can
you get away so often?” she asked.

 “I’ll find a way,” he said.

 Sarah spoke up, “Will you be able to bring everyone
along with you, when you return? I mean, it would not be wise to travel alone
and Sergeant Gibbs and Tommy know about us, so you wouldn’t want to bring new
people along, would you?” She smiled at Tommy after speaking.

“No, you’re right, of course. I guess we will be the travel
group between here and Hillsboro. In any case, my Captain likes sending me out
on various patrol missions. Many seem pointless, but that’s the way it is in
the military sometimes.”

“I hope
you
don’t think your mission to our farm was
pointless. Catherine and I think your visit was quite enlightening,” Sarah
replied with a smile.

“You could say it opened up our horizons,” Catherine chimed
in. “We are just simple country girls, so your visits are very helpful to
enlarge our understanding of the outside world,” she smiled at Cameron.

While the bantering was going on, Jason, Cameron and Gibbs
went outside.

“Lieutenant, what did your Captain say about my proposal?”
Jason asked.

“Please call me Kevin. I think we’re on a first name basis
now. He gave me the green light, so we can go ahead. You can let the rest of
the valley know. He actually sounded enthused about the project. He wants me to
try to expand it. That’s where I’ll need your help.”

“I’ll let everyone know. That’s great news.” Jason paused,
then added, “It won’t be anything fancy, but the town can start to get local produce
from the surrounding farms.”

“I can imagine a farmer’s markets coming to town,” Rodney said.

“Yeah, something like that, just like the old days. But
people will have to relearn how to preserve food so they can eat in the winter
when the farms can’t produce.”

“I guess we’re going back to the nineteenth century,” Kevin
said.

“Better than the twelfth century, which is what it was like
fighting the gangs…a twelfth century fight for your life with modern weapons,”
Jason said, reflecting on the ferocity of his battles. “I can help make this
one valley start producing more than subsistence levels of crops. Even if I
didn’t grow up on a farm, I have Anne to help…and the others in the valley.
There’s a wealth of knowledge here and I can put it in action.”

Jason continued, “Are things really getting any better in
Hillsboro? With this farming plan we’ll be doing business with them in the near
future. I need to know how things are there.”

The officers were silent for a moment. Then Rodney said, “I
don’t know. We come in to a community, we set up our marshal law and everything
is supposed to get better. Only it really doesn’t. We don’t have any new
resources to solve the town’s problems—food, fuel, medicine. Hunger is still a
big issue. It drives how the city functions. Everyone’s getting fed but
everyone feels some level of hunger. The local authorities have things tied up
pretty tight…did so even before we got there.”

“I left because of the corruption I saw starting to take
place,” Jason said.

“It didn’t go away, I won’t kid you,” Rodney replied.

“Yeah; and there’s still a criminal element in the town.
They’ve got some resources and are using them to control the locals,” Kevin
said.

“I figured some of the police and town leaders might start
their own power play with the scarce resources.”

“It’s happened,” Gibbs responded.

“Who’s involved?” Jason asked.

“The town’s mayor and now chairman of the Safety Committee,
the Chief of Police.”

“And probably some local gangsters,” Gibbs interrupted.

“Yeah, some of them as well.”

“That could affect us,” Jason said. “I’m not sure I would
want to trust them.”

“You don’t,” Rodney said.

“Don’t be too cynical, Rodney. You don’t want to paint too
bad a picture,” Kevin said.

“Maybe more the realist than cynic.” Rodney went on to
describe how other towns had been raided and some transports of supplies had
been hijacked. “It takes some inside information, information the Safety
Committee has, to pull off those raids. Yet no one seems to be able to find out
who the culprits are.”

“Something’s up, I don’t deny it,” Kevin agreed. “But at
least the town is peaceful…no riots or anarchy.”

“But at what price?” Jason asked. “From what I’m hearing,
I’m glad I left. I don’t think I’d like to return anytime soon. What’s your
command structure?”

“Our colonel’s gone, Kevin replied. “He took the main body
and continued his loop through the countryside. We have a Captain Roper in
charge.”

“Well I hope he’s clean. If he’s compromised, you could be
in for real trouble,” Jason declared.

Kevin looked down at the ground as if he didn’t want to go
to where the conversation had just turned.

“I’m guessing you have some doubts about Captain Roper?”
Jason asked.

Kevin remained quiet. Rodney finally spoke. “He seems to be
willfully blind to what’s going on. I’m not sure how to read that.”

“Well, I’m worried about how we do business with them. And
with just a small squad left, you really don’t have much power to counter the
militia, do you?” Jason continued.

Kevin looked around, as if hunting for an answer.

“The short answer is no,” said Rodney.

“So what’s to keep them from coming into the valley and just
stealing our crops? You’ve just told me they’ve raided other towns.” Jason
said.

“We don’t know who raided those towns, we just have our
suspicions. And I want you to know that you are my project and I will defend
this valley. I expect Captain Roper will as well. Yeah, we don’t have full
control over everything going on in the town, but no one has tried to hijack or
attack any of our work directly. As of now, you come under that umbrella.”
Cameron said.

“I appreciate that statement of support, but I’ll keep a
wary eye out anyway. It’s how we’ve survived so far. I hope you will as well.”
Jason responded.

Anne and the girls came out on the porch with Tommy close
behind. “I’m going to go lie down now,” Anne said. “The baby is tiring me out.
We’ve reached that point where it will be more comfortable for both of us with
the baby outside of me rather than inside of me.” She smiled at the men and
went back inside.

“We better get going,” Rodney said. “We don’t want to be on
the road too late at night.”

“You will return soon?” Catherine asked Kevin.

“How soon do you think I should?” Kevin replied.

“Mom said she thought the baby would come within a week, so
any time after that should be good.”

“I’ll try to make that happen.”

“We’ll eagerly await your return, Lieutenant,” Catherine
said with a smile.

“Be sure to bring Tommy along to help drive,” Sarah added.

A week later Anne began experiencing contractions which went
on for two days. Starting with one every two to three hours, they progressed to
every hour. She tried to keep mobile, walking around the house in order to help
the birth. This became more difficult as the contractions came more frequently.
One bright spring morning around ten, Anne’s water broke. She cried out and
everyone rushed into the kitchen to see the fluid all over the floor.

“My water has broken,” she declared.

The girls looked stunned, as did Jason. “Remember the steps
I outlined for you, this is natural and it means the baby will be coming soon,”
Anne said.

“Do you have to go to bed now?” Sarah asked.

Anne smiled, “Maybe, but not before I change my clothes.”

“Of course,” she responded. The two girls helped their mom
up to the bedroom.

Anne changed into a nightgown. She lay down in the bed and
asked Catherine to start timing the contractions so they could keep track of
her progress. She had Jason rub her lower back.

Thankfully, Anne had strong, wide hips. Her two girls had
been born with reasonably short periods of labor. This baby, she hoped, would
be the same.

Jason arranged strips from a sheet, carefully cut for
cleaning Anne and the baby after the birth.

“Babies are moist,” Anne said.

“I hope it’s not too yucky,” Sarah declared.

“Be brave,” Catherine admonished in a joking manner.
“Remember, you’re the princess warrior.”

“No, the mid-wife,” Sarah retorted. “And I’m too young for
either title.”

“You’ll do fine. I’m going to do all the work, you just have
to help,” Anne said.

The girls washed their mother with the soap brought from the
hospital. Everyone focused on the final steps for the birth. They kept track of
Anne’s dilation through the frequency and intensity of her contractions. They
were stunned at the effort, but did not shirk from helping her in whatever way
they could: counting, cheerleading, pressing hard on her back and reminding her
when to breathe and when to push. After six hours of increasingly intense
effort, Jason cradled a baby boy who came squeezing out from Anne into the
world. Catherine tied off the cord and, at Anne’s prodding, Jason cut it.

The girls wiped off the new baby. He started to breathe and
began to cry as the air hit his lungs. They laid him on Anne so she and the new
baby could get acquainted with each other and the baby could begin to nurse.
Everyone felt exhausted even though Anne did all the work. They watched the new
baby start to nurse from the sidelines until Anne suggested they set about
cleaning things up and changing the bedding so she could lie in a dry bed.
Jason could see the girls were awed by what their mother had done.
Participating in the birth seemed to give them a new insight into what being a
woman was all about. Jason also found the moment inspirational, seeing his wife
absorbing so much in order to bring new life into the world.

No wonder we never stop honoring our mothers
.

Two days later, Kevin, Rodney and Tommy returned as
promised, bringing a nurse from the hospital. After examining both the baby and
Anne she declared them fine and fit. Everyone was elated at the successful
birth.

Jason, the girls and Anne beamed. The others all expressed
their admiration for the baby.

Kevin indicated he wanted to talk with Jason alone, so they
went outside. “With authorization to help you restart farming in the valley,
we’ll be working more closely with each other.”

“I know. I’m looking forward to it.”

“There’s another reason I’m excited about this project,”
Kevin continued.

“And what is that?”

“First, I need to ask something personal of you. It may
sound a bit old fashioned, but these are different times, and maybe they call
for an old fashioned approach.”

“What are you driving at?” Jason inquired.

“I would like permission to visit you in the future.”

“We’re going to be working together. I assumed you would be
visiting as part of that effort,” Jason responded.

“Yes, we’ll be working together, but this is different. I
would like permission to court Catherine.” It sounded odd for Kevin to say, odd
for Jason to hear, but somehow appropriate.

“Ah,” Jason said with a sigh, “an ulterior motive.”

He had suspected this might be coming. He was not unaware of
the glances between Kevin and Catherine. Little did Kevin know how opportune
his arrival this spring had been, filling an emotional hole in Catherine when
Jason rejected her plea last fall. But Kevin was unaware of how volatile
Catherine’s emotions might be as a romantic relationship developed. Jason’s
protective instincts kicked in.

“You know she is quite young.”

“Yes, even though I don’t know exactly how old Catherine is.
However, she’s obviously very mature.”

“With all the trials we’ve been through since last year and
earlier, she is more vulnerable than she might seem. I don’t want her hurt.
Remember, Catherine has lost her biological father, accepted a new step father,
learned to be a warrior and killed—up close and ugly. That is a lot to absorb
for a teenager. This family has felt the trauma of violence and its terrible
aftermath—the bodies dead and dying, stripping them of valuables, getting rid
of them, the smell—she’s experienced it all, more than you.”

“I understand what you’re saying which is why I wanted to
talk to you in this manner. My feelings are strong for your daughter. She’s all
I’ve thought about since we returned to Hillsboro. I couldn’t wait to get back
here to see her. Maybe we’re all too emotionally vulnerable in these times, but
I can think of no one other than her to be with in this new world.

“You see,” Kevin continued, “like you, I’m not sure, in
spite of what the official word is from my command structure, that our society
has not fundamentally changed, and that we will have to make our way in this
new reality using different methods. Success may be measured far differently
going forward than it has been in the past. I’m ready to embrace the future,
but I realize I want to embrace it with Catherine. Whether or not she will want
the same, I don’t know. But I’m ready to try to win her heart and ready to
accept my failure if I can’t.”

“That’s a nice speech,” Jason responded. “You’ve come a long
way from the officer who sat in my yard a month ago.”

“Yes. It’s ironic that the young woman who was ready to
shoot me is the one whose heart I want to win.”

“If you break her heart, I’ll do what she didn’t.” Jason
paused, “I guess that is another way of saying you have my blessing, but don’t
misuse it.”

“Thank you. I won’t. On another note, I’d like to recommend
Tommy Wilkes to you. I know he’s going to try to come around as often as he can
cajole me into doing so. He wants to be a part of what I’m doing here.”

“He and Sarah are much too young if that is what you mean,”
Jason responded.

“I agree wholeheartedly. I just wanted to let you know he’ll
be finding reasons to come around as long as you allow it.”

“Just let him know if he hurts Sarah, or he gets her
pregnant, he’ll have me to deal with.”

“I understand. He’ll be respectful. He seems very serious in
his intentions. He has not allowed anyone back at camp to say a bad word about
her.”

They walked back into the house to find Rodney holding the
new baby. He looked up at Jason, beaming.

“You look like you’ve held a baby before,” Jason chided.

“It’s been a long while, but you don’t forget.” His hard,
warrior’s exterior was softened by his moist eyes.

“I think our new baby has some built-in godparents,” Anne
said. “Thank you for all your help and for listening to my husband a month ago.
Look at how it has blessed us all.”

Everyone agreed. As the team assembled to leave, Jason
turned to Tommy, “You can come back here as often as your officers allow. I’ll
be putting you to work and I expect you to work hard. You’re welcome as long as
you treat my daughters respectfully.”

“Thank you, sir!” Tommy replied with enthusiasm. Sarah
beamed and Anne and Catherine smiled.

“And is Kevin allowed back?” Catherine asked Jason.

“Well, he had a hard time to convince me, but I finally told
him if he was brave enough to want to spend time with the young lady who almost
shot him, then I would not stand in his way.”

“He doesn’t stand a chance,” Rodney said.

The team climbed into their Humvee and slowly drove down the
drive to the road, everyone waving goodbye.

“Well?” Kevin looked at Rodney, “What do you think about
this project? I think there’s a lot of good we can do.”

Rodney Gibbs was quiet as his thoughts turned to his lost
family back in the Midwest. He didn’t know if he would ever see them again. And
the army hadn’t accomplished much since the EMP attack, but here was promise.
Here was something positive he could get a hold of. Helping here seemed like
the right thing to do. It might even lead him back to his own family someday.

“Yeah, we can do some good.” He smiled.

Jason held his son in one arm with the other around Anne. As
the Humvee drove down the hill, the girls moved close to Anne, him and their
new baby brother. He watched the Humvee go out of sight. His thoughts drifted
to Hillsboro. He had put the town in his past and now it loomed in his future,
a dark cloud that could be signaling an impending storm.

Then he looked out over the beautiful valley glowing in the
afternoon sun of late spring, dappled with long shadows cast from the budding
trees.
Such a beautiful place. Such a beautiful family
.

He had not expected happiness to come out of such disaster
and misery. He had been smart enough to recognize where his future belonged,
and had fought hard to protect that future. He thought for a moment of Maggie,
and Sam and Judy. Their memories now held no pain; they were remembered shadows
from a lost past.

He turned to the present, drinking in all the details of the
valley, its peace and beauty. His senses felt amplified
.
He breathed the
fresh spring air.
This is how to live going forward, in the moment: savoring
every blessing and never ceasing to enjoy them
.

As the family quietly held each other, looking out over the
valley, Jason sensed what everyone felt. They were in the right place, and
ready for this new world. Whatever it would bring, they would face its
challenges.