Nathan Jones - First Winter

Griggs nodded. “It could be way worse. If they’re going to take some land we can’t hold anyway, we may as well call them allies and keep things amiable. General Lassiter and General Erikson are strongly considering coordinating with the Canadians to drive out the blockheads, and possibly even loaning them some of our troops for the next few years to help hold the eastern States and look out for the interests of the occupied US citizens.”

“Awfully generous.” Lewis glanced sidelong at the captain. He couldn’t help but wonder if there wasn’t a much better reason for Canada to move south that the man wasn’t telling him about. Specifically, the fuel refineries the US had been trying to build in time to stave off the fuel crisis, which had ultimately wasted a lot of necessary resources without ever being completed.

Those refineries had been planned for somewhere back east, although the government had been vague about their specific location to deter further attacks. It was possible Canada was trying to gain possession of them so they could complete construction, then begin refining the vast reserves of crude sitting around up there that their own limited refining capabilities couldn’t handle.

It wasn’t all that helpful for the remnants of the US, but it wasn’t terrible either. Better someone was producing fuel than nobody, and vastly better the Canadians than the blockheads. If Canada succeeded in getting refining going on a major scale that could be a critical step towards rebuilding, and as long as they were willing to trade with the US that would help get both countries back on their feet.

Just as important as survival, it would make them both stronger when it came to dealing with the remaining Gold Bloc threat.

Griggs abruptly straightened with a sigh. “Well, we appreciate your service bringing this to our attention. If you’re with a group you’ll probably want to get back to them.”

That was a pretty obvious dismissal, but Lewis didn’t really mind. He did want to catch up to the others. “Before I go, on behalf of Aspen Hill I was wondering if there’s anything we should be aware of when it comes to protecting ourselves.”

The captain gave him a thoughtful look. “Are you down in the valley east or west of the mountains, where raiders can get to you by road?” Lewis shook his head. “Then you should be fine. They’ve been keeping to their vehicles, staying mobile with lightning quick strikes. But you can also reassure your people that we’ll be redoubling our efforts to secure our territory and prevent any further raids.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Lewis offered his hand, and after exchanging a firm handshake he grabbed his bike and headed back up the road.

So much for a pleasant and productive outing.

Riding the backroads home had the potential to be confusing, since they passed quite a few branching trails and roads and didn’t know the right route, but in the end it turned out to be pretty straightforward.

For one thing up in the mountains where they were the ATV trail they started out on could only go one direction, the same as the highway itself. And when they took the first road heading south that looked like it was going anywhere through the hills, it turned out to take them all the way through and into the valley not far north of Aspen Hill’s ruins.

Lewis caught up to them not too long after that, to everyone’s relief, and briefly described his talk with Captain Griggs and the news of the world at large. Together they made their way up Aspen Hill Canyon, walking their bikes more often than riding. Thanks to the unexpected delay, the slower route, and the fact that they didn’t manage the same pace as Lewis and Jane had on their previous outing, not to mention having to once again pick their way over the collapsed cliff, the trip had ended up taking a lot longer. It was almost dark by the time they topped the eastern ridge overlooking new Aspen Hill’s valley.

Irrational as his fears for the town where, Trev was still relieved to see it was undisturbed. His imagination had produced a few awful images of blockhead raiders descending on the valley in the hundreds, even with the town as far from any road the enemy could easily reach as it was.

On the way down Lewis motioned for Trev to speed up to coast alongside him. “I’m going to see all the kids home and have a talk to their parents about what happened,” his cousin said, grimacing. “I doubt they’ll be too happy, but I’ll own up to the bad decision to bring them along.”

Trev nodded. “Me and Deb will report in to Matt about what happened. See you at home.”

Calling back to the brown-haired woman, Trev stopped braking and let gravity speed his descent. Deb was soon right behind him, and together they turned onto the gravel trail and made their way into town.

To his surprise Deb peeled off when they passed the shelter group houses, heading to her home without a word of explanation as he continued on to the town hall tent. Trev could only shrug, surprised that she hadn’t stuck to his side like usual but deciding not to pursue the issue, and parked his bike beside the entrance to head inside. He nodded as he passed the defenders stationed there, on rotating duty at all hours to guard the town’s surplus supplies and whatever food the citizens had put under their protection.

Matt was inside with Trev’s uncle Lucas, Ben, and Catherine. “Trev!” his friend called, hurrying over. “Where’s Lewis? Lucas and Ben just got back from the refugee camp with a list of potential people to interview about joining the town.”

“That was fast,” Trev replied, letting the tent flaps fall to keep the interior warm. Near the end of August, but the nights were already getting chilly. He didn’t like what that meant. “I thought it would take longer to round up people who could be useful without letting the cat out of the bag.”

Lucas smiled wryly. “Well it turns out when you give someone a chance at a good thing, like an invitation to a peaceful town that’s pretty prosperous under the circumstances, they don’t want to ruin it by blabbing it to other people who might want in. We were able to find some exceptional people who could point us to more potential recruits, and before we knew it we had 50 refugees to interview. They’ll be hiking in day after tomorrow, for the offer of a free meal even if they don’t make the cut.”

Trev couldn’t bring himself to smile back as he finally got to his news. “Lewis is seeing the kids all home safely. He sent me to tell you what happened.”

That got their attention. “What do you mean?” Catherine demanded. “Is everyone okay?”

“We’re all fine, but we did run into trouble.” He briefly explained what had happened, starting with talking to the refugees on the way to the battle front, then hearing the sounds of fighting and investigating and what he and Lewis had seen. He also described Grigg’s news of the world and Lewis’s thoughts about what it might mean for them and everyone else.

When he was finished there was a brief, grim silence. “Blockheads raiding, huh?” Matt said after a few seconds. “I think that settles your question of bringing in the wounded and disabled veterans.”

“For or against?” Trev asked.

“Definitely for.” His friend sighed. “Even if they’ll have some hurdles to overcome, they’re experienced soldiers and should be able to help out. That sort of professional training and experience will put them miles ahead of most of our defenders in spite of any disabilities, just in case raiders do come around again.”

Trev nodded at the logic. “How many do you think the town can take in?”

Matt glanced at the other town leaders, who all nodded. “We were considering taking in 50 people total, between the refugees and the veterans. So however many refugees we take, that’ll determine the number of veterans.”