Nathan Jones - Determination

The soldier nodded. “Mostly wounded from the fighting, but I hear they’re thinking of bringing in the radiation sickness patients from the north, too.”

So not just a refugee camp, but also a field hospital. “They’re putting all that at the refuge, just up the mountainside from Aspen Hill Canyon?”

The soldiers, who’d finished moving the logs and were standing beside the road, exchanged blank looks. “You mean that civilian camp with the displaced town, by where Faraday’s camp is going up? Nah, that would be putting wounded and refugees way too close to the front lines.” The spokesman waved lazily over his shoulder. “The main camp is going to cover a few meadows not too far from here.”

“Ah, okay.” Matt thought he remembered the area from the few trips he’d made along this road. Those meadows were lower elevation, secluded and far enough away from the front that they’d probably be safe from aircraft. Especially with a military base between them and the blockheads.

The truck stopped beside the road so the driver could greet the soldiers manning the roadblock. While they chatted Matt moved around to the passenger window. “Think we could hitch a ride?” he asked.

The medic frowned. “Sorry, we’re full up with wounded. Unless you want to hold onto the back or something.”

Matt glanced at Scott, who shrugged. “That’s fine.”

“Hop on, then.”

They circled around the truck and stepped up onto the back fender, holding onto racks that held stretchers. The double back doors also each had a small window, through which he could see that the vehicle had twelve narrow cots, six on each side stacked three high and two long in the cramped space. The wounded lying on the cots gave him strange looks as he glanced in, and he awkwardly waved. Only one waved back, making the situation even more uncomfortable, so he repositioned himself so he wasn’t looking inside.

The truck only went about another mile along the road before passing the makeshift refugee camp coming together there. The two thousand refugees were all seated in clumps on the grass, only a hundred or so of them busy building shelters or otherwise preparing the camp, aided by a few dozen soldiers. The rest looked listless, exhausted or hopeless.

The vehicle continued on a few hundred yards more, to where several large tents had been constructed next to a stream. Fires had been built close to the water, and over them large vats hung boiling water for use. Medics, nurses, and orderlies in white bustled around hard at work, and unlike the refugee camp nobody was sitting idle.

Matt and Scott still had six or seven miles to go to reach the refuge, but older man assured him he could keep up the pace so they’d get there by dark. They started walking, leaving the field hospital behind.

After about an hour another truck rumbled down the road in the same direction they were going, carrying a load of soldiers headed for the military camp. Like with the hospital truck Matt got them permission to tag along, squeezing in at the end of the benches with their packs on their laps.

This truck’s covering tarp had been removed to give those in back a view and some fresh air, probably since they didn’t expect to go fast enough for wind to be a bother. Thanks to that Matt got his first few of the refuge as they drove up.

The military camp wasn’t quite as extensive as he’d expected. Neatly laid out tents for two hundred or so soldiers, a few mess tents, and a small motor pool with a few vehicles. Even though it was just after the dinner hour there wasn’t much activity around the camp itself, and he got the impression the soldiers were out familiarizing themselves with the new territory they’d been assigned.

Although the flurry of activity at the refuge, hidden on the forested slope nearby, more than made up for it.

Hastily created, the camp beneath the trees was just as quickly being taken down. The former residents left behind only bare spots of packed dirt swept of branches and pine needles, buried garbage pits, and fire rings full of ash. For the moment all the townspeople’s possessions were being stacked in piles, to be carried away in whatever wagons and carts they could scrounge up.

The people of Aspen Hill were getting ready to move, and he hadn’t heard anything about it.

After hopping off the truck and starting for the camp his first instinct was to find Sam and the rest of his family, to ask what was going on. But they hadn’t gone half the distance before Catherine, Tam, and young Jen spied them and rushed over to pull Scott into a group hug.

Jen clung to her grandpa in near terror, as if losing her father and witnessing the grief of her mom and grandma had overwhelmed her young mind. Catherine was weeping openly, while Tam had broken down into wracking sobs. Matt stood back from the reunion a respectful distance, feeling equal parts awkward and awful.

After a few minutes Catherine broke away from her family, leaving Scott to comfort the other two, and came over to Matt. “Thank you for coming,” she said quietly, folding him into a hug.

Matt hugged her back. “I’m so sorry, Catherine.”

The older woman had regained some of her composure, and seemed to be clinging to her role as Mayor. “I asked you to come for a reason, Matt. Scott’s agreed to stay here with the town, but I also need your help.”

He’d guessed as much. “Anything.”

Catherine met his gaze firmly, in spite of the fact that her light gray eyes were cloudy with tears. “I want you to become acting Mayor.”

Shocked in spite of himself, he took half a step back. “You want me to take over? I-my squad needs me down south.”

“Your town needs you here,” the Mayor shot back. She sucked in a sharp breath. “Maybe “acting Mayor” isn’t the best term. Assistant Mayor, if that makes you feel better.” She took his hands, squeezing hard. “Matt, I can’t do this alone. With Scott and Ben gone, and Lewis always needing most of the rest of the people around here who are willing to help, for the fight against the blockheads, I’ve been running myself ragged trying to keep the refuge going practically by myself. And now, losing Carl, and just when we’re about to undertake another major move…”

She sucked in a ragged breath. “Having Scott with me will help, but just the two of us aren’t enough. If you’re worried about the volunteers down south, don’t be. With the military taking over here we don’t need all our defenders, and Lewis has suggested that we send a few dozen of them down there. Jane’s expressed some discomfort at the thought of acting as a leader, but she’s agreed to lead the group south as soon as they’re ready. And Lewis will be available to take over for you down there once he’s recovered enough to move. You wouldn’t be abandoning your people, just swapping jobs.”

Catherine paused, smiling grimly. “Not to denigrate what Lewis has managed fighting the enemy, but you’re better suited for helping me with all this than he is. I need the remaining defenders to help build the town, not just guard it. For that I need you.”

Matt’s dazed mind finally caught on to what she was saying. “What major move?”

The Mayor gestured towards the military camp. “Since our defenders don’t need to be here anymore neither do we, and honestly I’d rather be away from everyone else if we can. Off to ourselves, minding our own business and left alone. Jane suggested we move west, to that little valley where she and Lewis found the beehive. It has water, and enough space for us, and access to good hunting, trapping, and foraging.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Matt admitted. It wasn’t the perfect location, and the canyon road ran right through it, but at least it would put them a decent distance away from the refugee camps and the front lines here.