Surviving the Fog (40 page)

Mike found the next few days to be a little
awkward.  People kept coming to him for advice, or for help,
or to ask his opinion, when they should have been going to Howard.
 Howard suggested that Mike should become the Admin, but Mike
firmly declined.  One day, he decided to take a walk down to
the guard post at Logging Road junction.  He took his
backpack, and after staying overnight in the RV, he decided to walk
up to Davis Brown Farm.  He arrived at the farm at supper
time.  Mary insisted that he eat in the house and not in the
solar apartment building with the members of the Brown Farm guard
post.  After dinner, he asked Ralph if he could hang around
for a few days.

Ralph shrugged.  "No problem.”

A few days turned into a couple of weeks.
 Mike was enjoying his stay.  He helped around the farm.
 He did what Ralph asked, and he resisted the urge to give
Ralph unasked for advice.

Howard wasn't happy that Mike had left, but
he understood why.  Still, with Mike gone, Howard was doing
the work that had previously been done by two people.  He
wondered who he could appoint as Admin.  Jean laughed in his
face when he asked her.  He asked Eric, who looked back at him
as if he was from outer space.  Eventually, Ahmad agreed to
serve as Admin.

“Temporarily,” Ahmad insisted.

Howard's first big test came just after the
middle of July.  Jacob and Jean had gone upriver to keep an
eye on the Retreat.  They hastened into Petersburg with the
news that the remaining people at the Retreat were on the move.

"They're headed this way," Jean reported
during Council. "They must have run out of supplies.  They're
headed for the river.  I think they know there are people down
river.  Meaning us."

"I counted three men, six women and five
children," said Jacob.  “Two of the kids are teenagers, like
us."

"What do you think, LT?" Howard asked
Kennedy.

"I think we better meet them on the way, and
not wait until they get here," Kennedy said.  "We know the
terrain between where they are and here.  We need to pick a
spot that will give us the most effective opportunity to contain
them and send them back, or to disarm them with a minimum of danger
to our people."

"Which brings up the question.  What
should we do about them?" Howard asked.

"If they've committed murder, and it looks
like they have, we don't want them in our village," Rasul said.

"But the children are innocent," said Yuie.
"And the women might be victims."

"True," Jean said. "For starters, we should
decide what to do about the men.  We can deal with the women
and children later."

"I agree with Jean," said Kathy. "Disarm the
men.  Send them to Major Collins.  Let the women and
children stay with us until we see what kind of people they
are."

There was a murmur of agreement.

Then Ahmad spoke.  "Don't you think that
we should inform the Chief, uh, Mike?"

There was silence.  Howard could see
that several of them were thinking that same thought.

"Well?" he asked mildly.

"No!" To everyone's surprise this outburst
came from Jacob.  "The Chief has done his part.  If we
can't figure this out on our own, we don't deserve to be who we
are.  He showed us the way.  Let's show him that we know
what to do."

"Yes," John said. "He expects us to be able
to handle anything that's thrown at us.  That's why he's the
Chief."

There were smiles and murmurs of
agreement.

"All right," said Howard.  "We'll leave
Mike out of this.  Lieutenant Kennedy, when will you
leave?"

"Tomorrow morning at first light," Kennedy
replied.  "We'll take the most experienced Spears, except for
John, and we will take the best archers.  I would like to
handle this with a minimum of weapons fire."

After Council, John approached Kennedy who
was issuing orders in preparation for his troop’s departure the
following day.

"Why am I staying?" John asked.  "Is it
because of..." he stopped.

"You're staying because you’ll be in charge
of village security, John," Kennedy replied impatiently.
 "There's no guarantee that one of these guys won't evade us
and get here.  If one of them does, I doubt he'll be friendly.
 I need you to take him out."

"Oh," said John with a look of relief.
 "I thought that it must be something like that."

Kennedy smiled.  "You're the Chief's
best friend, John," he said.  "And he put you in charge of the
Spears, so I know that I can trust your competence."  John
blushed.

Four Rangers, two scouts, two archers, four
Spears, and Diana set out the next morning.  They traveled up
the river for five days, and on the evening of the fifth day, Jacob
reported that the people of the Retreat were ahead, and they were
coming towards the troop.  Kennedy, after checking his
position, decided that his troop's present location was a good
place to confront them.  They were in a small glen that was
wooded at the upper end but clear of trees at the lower end.
 The slopes on either side were somewhat steep, but they were
still climbable.  He placed an archer in the trees on either
side of the glen, and with each archer was a Ranger carrying a
rifle.  Corporal Carson stayed with Kennedy.  Kennedy
assembled the scouts and the Spears for his final instructions.

"Jacob, I want you to lead your people around
and behind their group.  I suspect that the men will stay
together out front.  I seriously doubt that these kind of guys
will leave someone to protect their women and their children.
 But they might, so be careful.  And watch out for the
older boys.  They may have weapons, and we don't know what
they’ll do if it comes to a fight.  Diana, you stay with me,
but stay back in the trees.”

“I need to be close enough to help if someone
is injured,” Diana insisted.

“You will be, but you won’t be any help if
you’re the one injured.  Jacob, wait until you hear a shout
that it's all clear, or until you hear shots.  If you hear an
‘all clear’ shout, and if there are no weapons present on your
side, then secure the women and children.  If they have
weapons, then use your best judgment.  There’s no use taking
chances on an accident, if the men surrender.”

“Okay.”

"If you hear a shot and you can secure the
women and children, then do so and prepare for one or more of the
men to come back to you.  If you can’t secure the women and
children for any reason, stay back in the trees and wait for us.
 Clear?"  Jacob nodded.

"One more thing," Kennedy said.  “If
those men are together, I don't intend to let them get back to you.
 But I can't promise that they won't.  Stay focused.
 Okay, go."

Jacob nodded and led his group into the
trees.

Kennedy looked up at the
side of the hill where Yuie was hidden.  He hadn't had time to
say anything to her, and besides it would have been inappropriate
given the circumstances.  Or so he told himself.
 
Keep your head down, Yuie.  Stay
safe.

He and Corporal Carson waited at the lower
end of the glen, where grass, tall but thin and sparse, had taken
root.  Carson knelt on one knee next to Kennedy, who stood.
 Soon, they heard the sounds of people moving through the
trees as they made their way down the glen.  A man carrying a
rifle came into view.  At first, he didn't see them.  He
moved farther into the open glen.  He said something over his
shoulder.  Two more men moved into the view of the officers.
 They were also armed with rifles which were leveled and
swinging from side to side.  They stopped when they were
several paces behind the first man.  The men wore ragged
clothing; one had a boot on one foot and a shoe on the other.
 Their hair was long.  The nearer man was heavily
bearded, while the beards of the other two were scraggly.
 They moved several more paces down the glen and then froze
when they saw the officers.

The man in the front remained calm, the
Lieutenant noted, but the other two men became agitated.  They
began looking around, as if they suspected that the two men they
faced were not the only men around.  The man in front motioned
to the others to stay in place, and then he walked toward the
Rangers and stopped just within a loud talking distance.

"Hello," he called.

"I am Lieutenant Lincoln Kennedy, Ranger,
United States Army," Kennedy stated.  "Please, lower your
weapons."

The man considered the officer’s request for
minutes before speaking again.

"You are Army?  Do you know what
happened to the world?"

"Not really.  Some kind of Fog.
 It's going down.  It's down to six thousand feet now.
 It's dropping about three hundred feet a year," the
Lieutenant replied.

The man stiffened as thought over those
words.

"So.  One day it's back to normal,
maybe."

"Maybe."

"Hard to say what will happen then."

"Hard to say."

"People doing whatever they can to survive.
 Got to look out for themselves first.  They make
mistakes sometimes," the man opined.

The Lieutenant did not
answer.  But in that moment, he understood what the people of
Petersburg meant when they said, "He's the Chief," and he
understood why they said it.
 It was
not about his power.  It was about his intentions.
 
Some people
will do whatever is expedient to survive.
 Some people won’t.

The man was looking around the glen.
 "Where's the rest of your men?" he asked.

"In the trees," Kennedy replied. "Waiting to
see what you do."

"They're real quiet.”

"They're supposed to be.”

"Maybe there's no one there.”

"They’re there.  Now, by my authority as
an officer in the Army of the United States of America, I order you
to lay down your weapons," Kennedy commanded.

"I'll tell my friends," the man said as he
pointed his rifle at the ground.  He began moving
backwards.

"Get ready, Corporal," Kennedy said
quietly.

The man reached his friends.  They began
to speak, and after some moments they seemed to be arguing, even as
they cast occasional surreptitious glances in the direction of the
officers.  Then the men lifted their rifles over their heads.
 They moved toward the Rangers.

"Looks like they’re surrendering, LT," Carson
said.

With sudden blazing speed, the leading man
brought his rifle down to his side and fired a stream of bullets at
the soldiers.  Anticipating this, Kennedy flung himself to the
ground at the first movement and aimed his rifle, but a bullet
intended for his chest nicked his torso, causing him to groan as a
sharp pain exploded in his side.  Carson fired back.

Carson's bullet travel much faster than
Yuie's arrow, but they arrived at the same time.  The arrow
pierced the man's ear, and the bullet lodged in his chest.
 The other men were firing wildly, one toward the officers,
and the other into the trees from where the arrow had been shot.
 The two Rangers hiding in the trees were firing, too.
 One of the men from the Retreat took several rounds in his
body and toppled over.  The other man followed him to the
ground a few seconds later, just missed by a following arrow.
 The men emitted loud cries, and then fainter moans, and then
they lay still.

"Yuie!" groaned the Lieutenant, as he
struggled to his feet before dropping back to a knee.

From behind the gasping Lieutenant, Diana
came running from the trees.  From one side, Yuie was slipping
and sliding down the slope, still carrying her bow and quiver.
 Corporal Carson knelt by Kennedy's side, holding the
Lieutenant up. Diana slid to her knees beside Kennedy and yanked
his shirt up to examine the side of his body.

“He has a small wound,” she said to Yuie who
arrived, white faced.  “He’ll be all right, but I’ll need to
stitch him up.”

“Corporal Carson, take your men and find
Jacob,” Kennedy gasped as the nurse wrapped a long cloth bandage
around his body.

“Yes, sir,” Carson acknowledged and gathered
the troop.

Meanwhile, above a small clearing well away
from the short battle, Jacob and his people were watching the six
women and the five children.  The two older boys were carrying
rifles.   The first shot had caused the boys to spring to
their feet, and as they listened to the firefight, they had
stiffened like stone, trying desperately to make sense of what they
were hearing.  Then there was silence.  The women and the
children became agitated.

"What's happening?" cried one of the
women.

"Dad!  Dad!" one of the teenage boys
yelled.

"Put your weapons down," Jacob shouted.

The two boys swung their rifles in the
direction of the voice but did not fire.

"Who's there?" the bigger boy called
loudly.

"It's Jacob," he heard someone yell back.

The frightened boy scanned the trees, trying
to determine the direction of the voice.

"We have guns," the boy said.

"I see that.  We don't have any guns.
 Put your guns down, and we'll talk."

"Maybe, you should do what they say," one of
the women suggested.

"You, shut up," a different woman snarled,
and then she said to the boys, “Don't listen to her.  You
heard him.  We have guns, and they don’t.  There’s
nothing they can do.  Wait until your father gets back."

"If you put down your weapons, we'll give you
food," Jacob shouted.

He could see how emaciated some of these
people were and reckoned that they were probably hungry.

"Mom?" the smaller teen said, and in the
trembling of his voice was a plaintive plea.

"Don't listen to him," his mother snapped.
 "They're trying to trick you.  They probably don't have
any food."

"We'll wait while you think it over," said
Jacob. "We’re going to eat now.  Here's something to
drink."