Surviving the Fog (31 page)

"Where is this Lodge?"

"It's somewhere to the west.  I don't
know for sure.  Remember it was night when we did this."

"Who is in charge there?"

"You met him.  Mike.  We call him,
‘Chief’."

"The person in charge is a boy?" asked Major
Collins skeptically.

"I know it sounds crazy, but yes," Erin
insisted.  "Mike is in charge.  He's the Chief.  You
had to be there to understand.  All of us were kids.  He
kept us alive.  And the plan to rescue the children from those
bastards was his plan."

"Leaving that aside, how many are there at
this Lodge?"

"Um...fifty three counting the people at
Davis Brown Farm.  No, I'm here, so there are fifty two
there."

"Fifty two people?”  This was a surprise
to the Major.  “That's sixteen more people than we have here.
 Are there any adults at all?"

"If you count Mrs. Brown, there are four
adults.  Well, more than that, because some of the kids are
eighteen, now."

"All right, you can go," Collins said.

After she left, he considered what she had
told him.  He needed to find those kids, but it was too late
in the season to send the Rangers to search for them.  There
was nothing that he could do to help them now.  They would
have to wait until spring.  He shuddered when he thought of
all those kids trying to survive with a minimum of adult help.
 He vowed that he would find them, and that he would take them
into the protective embrace of the United States Army, as soon as
he possibly could do so.

Chapter Twelve Petersburg

It took the boys three weeks to hike from the
Army post to the Lodge.  Mike was in no hurry.  For the
first time in over a year, he had no responsibilities.  The
leader of their foursome was Jacob.  It was Jacob's plan that
had extricated them from the fort.  If the Rangers had looked
closely at the knoll, they would have found a smaller line on the
other side, tied to a heavy bush.  It had hand holds, and it
fell over the steep cliff.  Reaching the bottom, the boys
entered the woods, and within a few hours they made their way to
the road leading away from the post.  By the time the Rangers
traced the false trail that Jacob had created, the boys were miles
away.

There was plenty of food in their caches, and
they didn't try to travel fast.  Jacob and Mike even waited
below while Nathan and Kevin climbed the road to the bikers’ camp,
so the twins could see where all the excitement had happened.
 But the teens were sobered when they viewed the remains of
the camp and the graves at that evil place.  They hiked down
the hill, and the four boys resumed their journey home.  They
stopped at a lake for a day to rest among the red fireweed and the
green lady ferns.  They fished and caught golden trout from
the lake and seared the fish over an open fire.

“This fish is good,” Kevin said with a sigh,
after finishing his portion.  “But I wish I could have a Big
Mac.”

“I’d like a double cheeseburger, myself,”
Mike replied.

“Fast food would be nice,” Nathan agreed.
 “But what I really would like is the internet.”

“Yeah!” the boys chorused.

“I miss WOW,” said Kevin.  “Did you play
that, Chief?”

“Nah,” Mike replied.  “I was more into
single player games.  I had some Wii games I really
liked.”

“Everquest is the best game ever,” Nathan
stated.

“You mean Evercrack,” Kevin said as he
snickered. “Once, a girl called him, and he wouldn’t take the call,
because he was too busy playing.”

“Oh, shut up, Kevin,” Nathan said, scowling
at his brother.  The other boys laughed.

“I wonder how long it will take us to get to
the Brown farm,” said Jacob.  “I’m tired of water.  I
want some milk.”

By the time they arrived at Davis Brown Farm,
they were footsore.  In Mary’s kitchen, Mike noticed a
calendar that had been hand drawn by Lily.  It was two weeks
past Labor Day in the old world.  Mike hoped that Howard had
given the tribe a day off.  Mary wanted them to stay for a few
days, but by now they were eager to get home, so the next day the
four travelers climbed into the wagon bed with Comet, and Ralph
drove them home.  As they left, they passed the frame of a new
barn.

It was a happy homecoming for the travelers.
 The children had been rescued, so their mission was
accomplished, and they were welcomed as heroes.  There had
been changes at the Lodge and in the valley.  The grain had
been harvested and stowed.  There would be a lot more food
available this winter than last.  The chicken coop was
finished, and the chicks would soon become egg bearing hens, and
Mary Brown had given them two roosters.  Some of the kids had
suggested naming their community.  There were a lot of
suggestions.  One of the most popular suggestions was,
‘Michaelsville.’  In the end, however, Yuie’s suggestion
carried the day, and their small village was named
‘Petersburg.’

"I thought that's what you would want," Yuie
said to Mike, as she waited anxiously for his reaction.

Mike smiled and hugged her.  "It's
perfect," he said.

A ceremony was held after Meeting one night,
where Mike proclaimed that henceforth, their tiny community would
be known as the Village of Petersburg.

Kathy and Hector had been busy.  The
ladder to the second floor had been replaced by a staircase.
 They had added a large loft over the central area of the
Lodge and had connected it to the upper room walkway.  In
addition to having a new sleeping area, the rear of the loft caught
the droppings from their resident birds.  The area under the
loft was now a bird safe zone.  They had built a covered
walkway with handrails over the ledge leading from the door of the
Lodge to the Porta Pottys.  It would still be a cold walk, but
they could use the toilets in a blizzard.  But the best
improvement was the sight of a shower head in the washroom.

"But won't we use up the hot water that's
supposed to heat the Lodge?" Mike asked.

"There's no way that all of us can take a
shower every day," Hector conceded.  "But I borrowed the
thousand feet of five-eighths black tubing that Mary's not using,
and I ran it up the hill, and set it in the river.  The point
of intake is higher than the roof of the Lodge.  Now we can
mix cold water with hot water to take our showers, and we can add
water to the heating system as we use up hot water.  It takes
about four hours to completely heat the water in our system, so on
days when we get six good hours of sun...,” He stopped and
waited.

"Two hours of hot water for showers," Kathy
finished.

"If we allow ten minutes for a shower...,”
Mike did the calculations in his head.  "Twelve people can
take a shower that day.  Wow.  That's over a quarter of
the tribe."

"Girls first, of course," Kathy said.

"Oh, of course," Mike replied, giving Kathy
an insincere smile.

At Meeting, Mike reported on what he had
learned at the Army Post.  Most of the kids were glad to hear
that Major Collins seemed to be a decent person.  To Mike's
surprise, they were still reluctant to make contact with the unit.
 The kids seemed to feel that they were doing fine, and that
they didn't need the added uncertainty and possible complications
that might arise from interacting with the Army.

"Yuie's really been dissing the idea," Desi
said.

"Yuie?  Yeah, she didn't like the idea
of linking up with the Army from the beginning," Mike responded,
remembering the discussion.

"Erin's friends are kind of sad.”

"Me too.  But this was her choice," Mike
replied.  "And it might come in handy for us have a friend
inside their post."

September passed, and October began.
 The rain changed to snow, but there wasn't much of it yet.
 Jacob brought in a deer.  Luis and another boy brought
back a large buck.  The deer was killed and readied, and a lot
of it was thinly sliced and smoked.  Jean and her students had
gathered what seemed like tons of edible plants and fruits, and
Lily's pictures had been a great help.  From Mary Brown’s
fields they obtained a huge assortment of winter squash.

They missed Erin's social organizing skills,
but one of her friends filled in.  The Social Committee made
plans for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  A fir tree
had been marked for Christmas, and they made sure that they had
plenty of pine cones this year.  Mike did not want a repeat of
the lost gatherers.

Hector winterized the machinery, and he
drained the water lines in Chief’s Headquarters and in the dining
hall.  This year they decided to leave the freezers in the
dining hall and to make their way to them through the snow.
 This was on Mary Brown's advice.

"It may seem like it's cold outside," she
said, "But it's still not consistently as cold as a working freezer
would be."  Eric thought that their propane would last another
year.

Nathan and Kevin asked Mary if they could
spend the winter at her house.  She happily accepted, and
Ralph was glad to have their help.  Their new barn was not
finished, but it was framed to the point that it would be possible
to work on the structure until the temperature became exceptionally
cold, or when the snow was too deep to wade through.  Star was
disappointed that she was not allowed to stay at Petersburg for the
winter.  No matter how much she wheedled, Ralph and Mary said,
‘no.’

Jean and Howard received a private room this
year.  The boys, who had previously occupied that room, were
moved into the new loft.  Although the loft was connected to
the girls’ catwalk, Hector had added a separate ladder to the loft,
which was so much fun to climb that some of the boys in the cave
asked if they could sleep in the loft, too.  That started an
argument over who got to sleep in the loft.  If that wasn't
enough, some of the girls complained that the boys in the loft
could see into their rooms, and that the boys were spying on
them.

Mike told Howard to deal with those problems.
 Since he had returned from the Army post, Mike was relying on
Howard more and more to handle the mundane details that arose day
to day.  Howard was called on to settle squabbles, allocate
resources, and generally act as the tribe administrator.

"He is a real King Salmon," John said in
admiration.

"That's, King Solomon, Doofus," Eric
replied.

Howard was good at getting things sorted out.
 The boys were allowed to sleep in the loft on a rotating
basis.  The girls were advised not to leave their canvas
curtains open when it was time for bed.  People started
calling Howard, ‘Admin.’

"Hey, Admin, why can't we have mashed
potatoes more often than French fries?  French fries don't
taste good without grease."

"Admin, we should reserve some Porta Pottys
just for the girls.  The boys keep forgetting to lift the seat
before they pee."

"Admin, nine is too early to start school.
 Let's start it at ten."

In the middle of October, Mike pulled the
Spear patrols back to the boundaries of the camp.  There was
not a lot of snow on the ground yet, but he was taking no chances.
 The hunters were the only ones still allowed to go deep into
the forest.  Mike gave them until the tenth of November to
hunt.  After that, he wanted everyone close to the Lodge.

By the first of November there was enough
snow to break out the cardboard sleds.  Mike gave everyone a
two week break from school.  There would be time for that
during the long winter months ahead.  The last trips to and
from the Brown farm were made.

One of the hunters did not return to
Petersburg.  In the middle of November, they waited for Luis.
 Mike allowed Jacob and Jean to travel upriver for three days
to search for him.  They returned empty handed.  Mike
refused to let them go search again.  He thought it was the
hardest decision that he had ever made.

"Luis should have been back ten days ago,"
Ahmad said gloomily.  "Something happened to him.  I know
it."

"It's karma, bro," John murmured.

"Yes, the Gods take and give," said Rasul
sadly. “We are all mortal.”

Luis did not return.  In January, the
tribe held a memorial for him.

One day in early December, at the end of
Council, Mike asked if anyone else had anything to report.

"I'm pregnant," Desi said cheerfully.
 There was stunned silence.

"Impossible," Mike stated, after he managed
to close his mouth.

"Oh, it's possible all right," she assured
him.  "Believe me."

"Impossible," Mike repeated.  "We have
cases of unused condoms, years of pill packs, and plenty of
diaphragms.  How could you possibly get pregnant?"

"Well, I never did get an exam from the old
Admin, so I didn't want to take the pills.  And I don't
actually know how to use a diaphragm.  And as for the condoms,
well, we forgot," Desi admitted.

Mike turned to glare at John.  "Don't
hang me, Chief," John said meekly.

"How far along are you, Desi?" Yuie
asked.

"A little over one month," she replied. “I
missed my period.”  Everyone relaxed.

"It's way too early to tell for sure," Eric
said.

"Yes, your period might start tomorrow," Jean
added.

Desi just smiled.  Mike looked at her
glumly, and then he exchanged glances with John.  They knew
that smile.  If Desi thought that she was pregnant, chances
were she was.

"First of August," Mike muttered. "It’ll be
summer.  Good."

The procedures that had been established the
previous winter were quickly set in place, and the transition to a
wintertime existence was a lot smoother this year.  The kids
respected the curfew, they knew how Jean would run the school, and
they knew how much hanky-panky they could get away with before
being hauled up before the Council.

The Social Committee did not have to invent
all new entertainments.  They knew which kids could sing,
which kids could perform in skits, and which kids could dream up
new jokes.  And before Kevin and Nathan had left, the twins
had taught some of the other kids the dances that they had learned
last winter.  Dance classes proved to be popular.