Hidden (Final Dawn) (15 page)

     Each afternoon, the returning men assembled in Joe’s living room and carefully divided everything up. All of the families on the block got an equal share. Even those who didn’t make the trip. Everyone recognized and accepted that not everyone was up to the trip physically. But they all helped out in other ways. Even the Widow Spencer, as frail as she was, took care of the little ones and taught them how to read and write and spell. It was a community in every sense of the word. Frank was just sad that not all of the neighbors survived to this point.

     And he hoped they wouldn’t lose any more.

     Most of the items they brought back were staples. Dry stock like beans, rice and spaghetti noodles. Ramen noodles, and prepackaged and frozen goods. But occasionally they came across something special. Like the day they came home with several gallons of ice cream. Or the time they came home with twelve boxes of Kleenex tissue. For the first time in three years, the group could stop wiping their runny noses on their shirt sleeves.

     While scouring the garages of the dead or missing neighbors, Frank had managed to find several portable generators. He also found enough power cords to run a single electrical source to each of the homes. Gasoline to run the generators was obtained from cars whose owners were dead, and for two hours per day, he cranked up the generators and let each of the group have just a taste of what life once was, and would be again.

     Some of the neighbors plugged in a microwave oven during those two hours, and made a bag of stale popcorn or frozen TV dinners. Others, especially those with children, watched movies on DVD players. Joe and Julia always hooked up power to a small electric space heater. For two glorious hours, they sat in a large walk-in closet, with the door closed to hold the heat inside, and enjoyed the warmth.

     The Widow Spencer turned on the computer her grandson had given her a few months before the freeze. He’d spent more than a week trying to teach her how to use it, but she showed very little interest in the games or the internet. What she treasured were the four thousand family photos he’d loaded onto the hard drive for her. He’d spent weeks, he said, scanning each one just for her. Some of them went back to her childhood, and she was lost in her world of memories.

     Jason was her grandson’s name, she told Eva. She’d lost track of Jason and his family in the days before the freeze. They were driving to see her, from Indiana to Texas. The last she heard from them they were at a motel in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Then nothing. She didn’t know if they had fallen victim to robbers and killers, or whether they’d just given up. She tried not to think about it much. It was much less painful to get lost in her photographs.

     “I want to live long enough to see green grass again,” she told Eva one evening while she was showing off her photos. “That’s all I want. Then the Lord can take me home to see my loved ones.”

     Eva kissed her on the forehead and said, “Not so fast. Once the grass is green again, Jason and his parents can resume their journey here to see you. And then you’ll want to hang around here longer, to make up for lost time. Just wait. You’ll see.”

     After five months of daily treks to Symco, Frank’s conscience began to bother him. They had enough food tucked away to last each family at least three more years. It was carefully hidden in attics, under beds, or even under the snow in the back yard, in case marauders overpowered them looking for food.

     And they would continue to get more, as long as they were able to safely go to and from Symco each day.

     But one night Frank had a bad dream that made him question the morality of claiming all the food for themselves.

     He asked to have a meeting of the families to discuss it.

     “You all know me. And you know that I’m a rational and God-fearing man. But lately I don’t feel like a good Christian. I feel no better than those marauders out there who take what they want regardless of who gets hurt in the process.

     “I had a dream the other night. I dreamed that the thaw finally happened, and that we all survived it. And in my dream, we ventured out, beyond our street, to see who else in the neighborhood survived.

     “I dreamed that we went into a house where we’d seen chimney smoke not too many weeks before, and that we were horrified by what we found. I dreamed that we found twenty or thirty people, mostly children, all dead by their own hand. And I dreamed that we found a note, to God, that was written by the last to die.

     “The note said:

Dear God, please forgive us. We have tried to be strong. We tried to hold out until the world was a better place, so that we could carry on for you again. But we failed in our efforts to find food. Even after several of our group took their own lives to leave more food for the children, it is all gone now. The poor children are suffering mightily. We must relieve them of their suffering. Forgive us, Lord, for what we are about to do. Please welcome us into Your kingdom.
”

     Joe asked, “What are you proposing, Frank?”

     “I’m proposing that I venture out around the neighborhood. To the homes that have fires burning. And tell them there is food at Symco. There’s no reason for any more people to have to suffer and die.”

     “What if some of them are violent, Frank? What if they take over Symco and guard it with guns and keep it all to themselves?”

     “I’ll admit, there’s a possibility of that happening. But even if it does, I think we have enough food to keep us alive until the thaw. And we’ll continue to gather more food until it happens. If it happens. I have to believe in the good in people. I have to believe that anybody who goes into there will recognize that there’s enough for everybody, and there’s no reason to keep it all for themselves.”

     Joe held his tongue for a minute, as though trying to find the right words. Then he said, “I’m afraid I don’t share your optimism, Frank. I’ve seen too much evil since this whole thing happened. This freeze has brought out the worst of people. Hell, there’s been a dead marauder at the end of the block for two years now, frozen hard as a rock and warning others to keep away. That’s the only reason we haven’t been attacked, in my view.”

     He choked up for a moment, and went on.

     “But I’m a Christian too. And I know we have an obligation to try to save some of the others if we can. Do what you have to do, Frank. I will pray to God that we’re doing the right thing.”

     Eva took Frank’s hand and squeezed it firmly. He looked at her and she smiled warmly. Some of the others had reservations about Frank’s new mission. But not Eva. She knew he was doing God’s will and the right thing. And despite the risk, she was never more proud of him.

Chapter 24

     “He left again last night.”

     “Are you sure?”

     “Yes. I saw him hanging around the corner of the camp when I moved from the north lookout trailer to the south lookout trailer. After a few minutes I realized I left my cigarettes in the north trailer so I went back to get them. He wasn’t in the camp anymore, but I figured he just crawled into his sleeper and went to bed. I peeked out the hole at the front of the trailer anyway. And sure enough, there he was, trudging through the snow, headed toward that farmer’s house again.”

     Marty was concerned, but not overly so. Scott Burley was a grown man, after all, and free to go for a stroll whenever he wanted. Even a stroll through three feet of snow.

     “I wonder if this has anything to do with Tina avoiding him.”

     Tina walked up behind Marty and Lenny at that moment, as they sat beside the campfire waiting for the morning coffee to brew.

     “All right, y’all quit talking about me. Something to do with me avoiding who?”

     “Scott. I was standing watch last night and saw him sneak away again.”

     Tina said, “So what? Let him sneak away. Maybe he won’t come back.”

     “Why are you so mad at him, anyway?”

     “Because he came to me the other day and asked me outright if he could sleep with me. I told him no, and he started whining like a little baby. He said it wasn’t fair that I was taking care of you two occasionally even though I was married to Joe.”

     “And what did you tell him?”

     “I told him that Joe was a wonderful man and a fine husband, but that he’s known for a long time that he couldn’t tame me. And that he knew that going into the marriage, and accepted it. I told him that Joe and I don’t have a traditional marriage the way some holier than thou people think it should be and some people seem to have a problem with that. I also told him I don’t give a damn what other people think. I am my own woman and I’m not going to change.”

     “Did he back off at that point?”

     “Oh, hell no, he kept pushing. He didn’t back off until I told him look, I’m just not into fat guys. Not when there are other options. I told him he wouldn’t be a bad looking guy if he lost fifty pounds. I told him to lose some weight and then maybe I’d see him differently. And that’s true. I’m just not into fat guys. Never have been.”

     Lenny laughed and shook his head. “Tough love. What did he say when you told him that?”

     “I think I hurt his feelings. I feel bad about that, but like I said, he wouldn’t stop pushing. He said, ‘Fine! I don’t need you!’ and stormed off. That was three or four days ago, and we haven’t talked since.”

     Marty looked at Lenny.

     “Is he still gone?”

     “No, I heard him crank up his rig about two hours later. I think he snuck back in while I was in the east lookout trailer. He’s probably still sleeping.”

     Tina looked across the campfire at Lenny. She liked the way the light from the fire danced across his face.

     “So, Lenny, how are you coming on setting up your house in that empty trailer?”

     Lenny looked at her and couldn’t help but notice her wicked smile.

     “Pretty good. I found a good sized generator in one of the Home Depot trailers, so I have power now. A CD player and a small heater. And light to read by. It’s not quite home yet, but it’s getting there.”

     She got up and grabbed two frying pans from a cabinet to the right of the fire.

     “I’ll tell you what, boys. I’m going to fry up a skillet full of bacon and eggs. After we’re finished eating them, Lenny, why don’t you give me a grand tour of your place?”

     “Sure thing, Tina. I’d be happy to.”

     Marty said, “I haven’t seen it yet either. Mind if I tag along?”

     Lenny started to extend the same invitation to Marty, but Tina cut him off.

     “Would you mind waiting until later, Marty? Lenny and I have some things we’re going to do while we’re in there, and it requires a little bit of privacy.”

     Lenny looked at her in mock surprise and said, “We do?”

     Tina smiled.

     “Yep. We definitely do.”

     Marty laughed and said, “You kids have fun. I’ll check out the place another time.”

Chapter 25

     Hannah lay on Mark’s chest watching him sleep. Her head very gently rose and fell as he took each breath. She loved sleeping this way. It had a very calming effect on her, and helped her sleep better.

     She listened to his heartbeat, while reaching up and feeling her own pulse on the side of her neck. She wasn’t surprised to find that their hearts were beating in perfect sync. They were the perfect couple, after all. Everybody said so. And even if they hadn’t, Hannah knew it to be true anyway.

     They’d met on the campus of Baylor University, what seemed like an eternity before. Hannah was a beautiful astrophysicist. Men on campus told her constantly she could have been a model, and it was true. But to her, beauty was just a nice thing to have and could also be a hindrance. People looked at her and their jaws dropped. And a lot of them didn’t take her seriously. She always had to work harder than other students in her classes to prove she was worthy of being in their midst.

     When she made the Dean’s list and maintained one of the highest grade point averages at Baylor, they finally accepted her as more than just another beautiful girl. She had earned her place among her peers.

     They stopped questioning her brains and her resolve at that point. But they never stopped looking.

     Hannah’s beauty, although a bit of a curse at times, also had a good side. It brought her Mark.

     Back in those days, Mark was a semi-serious student, bouncing around campus at Baylor trying to find his way. He knew he wanted to be an engineer of some type. But several of the engineering fields interested him. He couldn’t make up his mind which one.

     It was while coming out of the administrative building one afternoon, after changing his class schedule for the fifth time, that he fell for Hannah.

     Literally.

     His head turned as she walked past, and as his eyes locked on her pretty face he stumbled down steps that he knew were there. He just lost focus and forgot.