Nathan Jones - Shortage

Matt did think of Sam, and constantly worried about taking care of her. But he didn’t appreciate the Mayor using that as a point of debate. Sure the plight of the town was some justification, but it still rankled. He sighed. “They’ve got no reason to love the town. I’m pretty sure they were up in the hills somewhere watching as Anderson directed the group that looted their shelter, and they definitely had to notice how everyone was celebrating their misfortune.”

“Well we’ll just have to make it up to them.” The hand on his arm tightened. “Can you convince them?”

“To give up all the rest of the food they desperately need for stuff they can do without, or at best a tentative IOU?” Matt shook his head. “I can try. I suppose we don’t have many other options.”

In a way it was a relief for Matt to head back into the shelter and leave taking care of the attackers to Catherine while he packed up for his trip. If he was gone he wouldn’t have to deal with whatever punishment was decided for them.

The thought may have been a bit selfish, but at the same time they’d attacked his family and Matt felt too close to the issue to be fair and unbiased. Even though he’d taken part in the executions of Razor’s captured gang members their crimes had been something that affected the entire town, and in that situation finding unbiased hands to carry out justice would’ve been impossible so he’d done what was needed.

Sam wrapped her arms around him when he came back inside, burying her face in his chest in relief now that it was all over, and Matt took a moment to clutch her tight as his own relief swept over him. Arguably the situation had never gotten out of hand as long as they had the escape tunnel, but things could go wrong in any violent situation and he could’ve ended up losing what was most dear to him.

Looking down at her eyes, liquid pools of brown in the dim light in the shelter, he felt bad that he had to tell her he needed to leave, and even worse that this time he wasn’t about to let her come along. Spring may have been trying to claw its way through winter down here, but up where he was going this sort of weather was still months away. In her condition Sam didn’t have the strength to make that trip.

To be honest he wasn’t sure he did either.

She accepted the news stoically and offered to help him pack, although when he tried to cheer her up by mentioning that the town would be providing provisions for his trip so the family would be able to split his usual share among themselves that didn’t seem to help. But if it provided no comfort for her, the thought that she might be getting even a mouthful more each meal of food she desperately needed was a comfort to Matt. He hoped the warm weather came soon so they could start planting.

They’d nearly finished packing his cold weather gear, weapons and ammo, a hatchet and firestarting gear, and other necessities into a backpack he’d borrowed from the storehouse months ago for patrols when there was a light rap on the open door and Jane and Tom ducked into the shelter.

Matt left the packing behind and went over to shake their hands. “Thanks for seeing we needed help and calling in the cavalry,” he told the redheaded woman, who simply nodded. He turned to her companion. “How are you, Tom?”

“Starving,” the older man said with a shrug. “Otherwise can’t complain.”

A somewhat uncomfortable silence fell as everyone waited for the other to say something. Finally Matt glanced back at his backpack. “So, uh, did you need something? I was about to go on a trip for the town.”

Jane jerked her head at Tom. “That’s why we’re here. Mayor Tillman wanted someone to go with you and we volunteered.”

Matt frowned slightly. He’d come to respect Jane’s ability and thoroughness out on patrol, and the women was polite enough when he talked to her, but she’d kept herself aloof from the town and even those who went on patrol with her. Especially the refugees. Matt didn’t know if she’d always been standoffish or it was thanks to whatever she’d suffered before coming to Aspen Hill, but Jane Mathers wasn’t around to make friends. “You volunteered? Why?”

The redheaded woman shrugged. “The extra payment of food made it a tempting offer, and we were through that area more recently than anyone else so we can be useful.” She shrugged again. “Besides, if the guys you’re going after are the same ones who saved us from those bandits I’d like to meet them. Get their autograph, express my undying gratitude, you know.”

Matt turned to look at Tom, who sighed. “It’s not my idea of a fun way to spend however many days it takes to get there and back, but my family needs the food. Besides, I feel like I owe it to Jane, and to Mitch, to look after her. We wouldn’t be here without their leadership and protection.”

If anything Jane looked almost annoyed by the high praise as she waved at Matt’s pack. “Got everything you need? It’s going to be cold up in the mountains.”

“Yeah, I’m set.” Matt went over and started to pick up his pack. “Let’s go talk to the Mayor about food for the trip.”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Sam asked, turning him around and standing on tiptoes to kiss him with surprising fierceness. He got the hint when she didn’t show any signs of breaking it off, holding him tight in a way that suggested she wasn’t letting go anytime soon. After a few seconds he got over his surprise and let the backpack drop out of his hand so he could wrap his arms around his wife. Neither of them had had the energy for this sort of thing for what felt like forever, and he wasn’t about to complain.

An impatient cough from Jane brought him back to the present. He pulled back to see her and Tom still waiting by the door, the older man grinning at them. Meanwhile, familiar with the necessities of living in cramped quarters with multiple couples, including newlyweds, April was already shooing the boys out the door while Terry and their parents followed close behind.

Matt felt his face redden, and he gave his traveling companions a sheepish look. “I, um, need to say goodbye. Can I meet you at the storehouse a bit later?”

Even as important as this task was, out of necessity Catherine’s generosity could only extend so far. She allotted them enough food for four days, the bare minimum needed to get to the cousins’ hideout near Candland Mountain in snowy conditions from where they were, then back again. Matt had taken the backroads up to there riding in the Halssons’ SUV and knew the way, which was good since Jane and her group had gotten lost and taken an incredibly circuitous route to get to Aspen Hill.

He was willing to allow that it was possible to make the distance there and back in that time on foot, but he had no idea how the terrain combined with deep snow would complicate things, especially since they were all weakened by hunger. It almost annoyed him that Catherine’s solution to that was that they’d certainly reach the hideout in four days, and if worse came to worst they could always take whatever provisions they needed for the trip back out of the food the town was purchasing from the cousins.

The Mayor was a sensible woman, not one for making assumptions, but he supposed in desperate times they had to take a leap of faith.

He kept a steady pace after they set out, slowing down rather than stopping whenever any of them looked winded, and having them eat their meals of crudely dried meat as they walked. They all carried the water bottles they were currently drinking from in their coats to keep them from freezing, which Matt insisted on since eating snow would only chill them and sap strength they needed for walking. He planned to light a fire when they stopped for the night, not only for warmth but so that they could melt more water to fill their bottles and get a good long drink, then hopefully keep whatever they melted unfrozen for the next day’s hike.