Nathan Jones - Shortage

It was Matt who replied, looking a bit sheepish. “We’re going to move the stuff in the shed into the shelter and convert it into a living space. Once the gas fumes clear out, that is.”

“Oh, right.” They’d been talking about doing that. Frankly Trev was surprised they hadn’t already, although he supposed the lack of heating and the shipping container being less defensible were considerations. “Terry and April and the boys were going to move into it, right? Although you also mentioned having me and Lewis move so we could have our own space.”

His friend shifted awkwardly. “Actually everyone agreed me and Sam should have it.” At Trev’s confused look his face reddened a bit. “She’s been feeling a lot more energetic lately, and for that matter I have too. Between that and the good news with the baby it’s been almost like a second honeymoon. And you know we’ve been living in the shelter with the rest of the family ever since the wedding, and now that you guys are here…”

Ah. “Say no more. The newlyweds deserve to have a bit of privacy.”

Lewis nodded. “I figured you wouldn’t mind giving the shed to them. You didn’t seem to care about having the space when us moving out here was brought up.”

“No, it’s fine. Although I don’t really have a vote since I’m going to be leaving.”

His friend and cousin shared a concerned look. “Moving out?” Matt asked, frowning. “You never said anything.”

“I wouldn’t have, I just found out.” At their further confusion Trev took a deep breath, unable to keep his worry from showing. “I just finished talking with Chauncey and learned that the Gold Bloc is setting up to invade us from Canada. I’m going for my family.”

“Trev, this is crazy,” Lewis said, stepping in front of him as he walked to his terrible moving dolly wagon with another armful of his stuff. “The trip is suicide. Your family wouldn’t want that.”

“They might not want it, but they might need it,” Trev said firmly, stepping around his cousin to dump everything into the wagon. He knew from experience how unreliable it was on any sort of poor road, but it was what he had. “I listened when Dad told me to stay put last fall, and I trusted that they would be okay, but that didn’t stop me from worrying. Well now they’re in real danger, and whether they’re on the road or still at home under threat of attack they’re going to need my help.”

Lewis caught his arm as he went for another load. “You might not even find them there! They could be long gone, halfway here by now, and you’ll just be heading into danger yourself looking for them.”

“We had that same worry with April’s family.” Trev quirked his lips in a wan smile. “Actually we even had this same conversation, more or less. And the argument for going is the same then and now.”

“It’s not the same at all! You went a hundred and thirty or so miles and back to get them, this is almost ten times that distance. And through some of the worst locations in the country. Do you have any idea what kind of mess the area around Chicago’s going to be in after the winter we’ve had? Or Detroit? And will you follow the Interstate past other large cities along the way?” His cousin’s grip on his arm tightened. “Ten times the distance, Trev. And ten times more certainty with what I said when you went for Matt’s family. This is a bad idea, and if you leave you probably won’t make it back.”

Trev shook his arm free. “Why do you argue when you know I’m going to go anyways?”

“Good point.” Lewis sighed and disappeared through the curtain into his own partitioned room. “I guess I’ll have to come with you.”

In spite of the situation Trev couldn’t help but smile again. “We’ve had this conversation, too.”

“And just like the other one this time things are completely different.” His cousin poked his head back into view. “They’re my family too, and this time we have someone to watch the shelter for us while we’re gone.”

“What about our garden?” Trev protested.

Matt poked his head into the room too, making things look a bit absurd. “We can take care of that. It’s the least we can do after everything you and Lewis have done for us.” He gave Trev a guilty look. “I feel like I should go with you after you went with me last time, but I can’t leave Sam.”

“No. Like Lewis said, this is different. I’ll be fine.”

“You mean we’ll be fine,” Lewis countered. “Admit it, you know that with the two of us together things have a much better chance of turning out okay.”

Trev could admit it. He’d been more than uncertain at the thought of trying to cross a huge chunk of the continent to reach his family, with no idea what route to take or what places would be dangerous to pass through. Having his cousin along made the trip seem a lot less daunting.

“Okay then,” he grinned at his cousin. “I’ll wait for you to pack.”

Lewis intercepted him at his wagon with another armful of stuff. “Come on, at least don’t be an idiot about this.”

For a moment Trev was confused. Was his cousin changing his mind? “Look, I said I’m going to go and I mea—”

“Not that,” Lewis interrupted impatiently. “That.” He pointed at Trev’s cart. “That thing was a pain work with and you know it. If we had to we could make do with just my wagon but I think we can do better.”

“Better?” Trev asked dubiously.

“Look, we’ll want to go fast so we don’t have to bring too much food. A wagon will let us carry more but it’ll also slow us down. What we need is bicycles with bike trailers. We’ll be able to travel faster than we can walk or even run a lot of the time, and we’ll be able to haul enough supplies to get us there and back with enough for your family.”

Trev was amazed he hadn’t thought of that. Lewis was right, that would solve a ton of their problems. “Any idea where we can find those?” He glanced around the shelter. “Let me guess, you’ve got a pair of top of the line bikes and trailers stowed away around here somewhere.”

His cousin smiled ruefully. “Not this time, unfortunately. But I know where we should be able to find what we need. I got the idea from hearing about how Ferris left, and he got his supplies from the town storehouse.”

That seemed like a good option. Trev nodded slowly as he glanced at his wagon… he really hated the thing. “Okay, let’s go.”

They set off for town together, leaving Matt to clean out the shipping container on his own. Most of the stuff was light enough for one person to carry, and their friend had no complaints with being saddled with the task, since it was for his own benefit.

In a way it felt almost odd to be walking through town with the intention of leaving. Trev knew there was a lot that needed to be done to get Aspen Hill back on its feet, and ideally he wanted the place still there when he got back with his family. He knew that Matt, Chauncey, Mayor Tillman, and others had been depending on him and his cousin to help with that, and he felt a bit bad about leaving it behind.

But he would.

By the time they got back into town it was past the time when Trev’s shift at the roadblocks would have ended, and they found Chauncey back in his usual place at the storehouse, guarding it with a few other men from the town. One of them was Ben, the refugee leader, who Trev had come to respect and even like over the last few weeks. Then again, he tended to like anyone who was willing to give any extra time to help the town, and Ben was certainly good about that.

Chauncey listened to their explanation, shaking his head slightly. “We could probably help you with bikes, although not good ones, but trailers are another issue entirely. Ferris took every single one to be found in the town, most brand new and still in the box out of Tillman’s Sporting Goods. I suppose I could ask around, or maybe we could contact one of the nearby towns and see if one is available for barter.”