Stan Morris - Surviving the Fog

The Sergeant came to the door and motioned Mike into the room. When he entered, the Major’s face lit up with pleasure.

“Mike!” he cried. “Mike, how are you? So you came. Wait a minute.” He looked at Sergeant Jenkins.

“Did you say that you took him into custody, Sergeant Jenkins?” he said.

The Sergeant opened her eyes wide. “Uh…” she said.

“You took our top civilian leader into custody?” he asked furiously.

“Uh…”

“Sir, I’m not a leader or anything anymore, remember?” Mike said hastily as he sat down on the sofa. “I’m just Mike. Howard is the Mayor now. He’s the one that sent the letter.”

The Major winced. “Sorry, Mike. Like everyone else, I’ve got into the habit of thinking of you as the Chief.” Mike did not reply.

“Sorry, Sergeant,” said the Major. “That will be all.”

“Yes, Sir,” the Sergeant replied as she saluted.

As she passed by the boy, she glared at Mike, and he pressed himself into the sofa.

“Annie Jenkins is a good soldier,” said Major Collins. “Even if she is a little too much by the book.”

He sat down behind his desk and read the letter. When he finished, he looked at Mike.

“Do you know what this says?” he asked. Mike said nothing.

“Stupid question,” the Major muttered. “You probably wrote it.” Mike just smiled.

“Alright, then. Fill me in, Mike. What has happened in Petersburg since I left?”

Mike and the Major talked for over an hour, and then a young woman popped into the room.

“Hi, Chief,” she said, grinning at him.

“Hi, Erin,” he said, delighted to see his old friend.

“Ah, here’s my orderly now,” said the Major. “Perhaps you could take our famous visitor and find him some quarters, Erin. Get him something to eat. Show him around. Oh, wait, I forgot. You already know where everything is. Including the way out.” The Major laughed at his joke.

“Hey, I said that I was sorry about that,” Mike complained, but he laughed too.

Erin escorted Mike from the Major’s office, and then she gave him a hug. They talked as they walked to the mess hall. Erin told Mike that her boyfriend was meeting them at their destination. Erin’s boyfriend was nice, and everyone in the mess hall was friendly until Sergeant Jenkins passed by. She stopped and gave him an unfriendly eye.

“So, you were the big shot in your little pond, huh,” she said. “How old are you?”

“Fifteen,” Mike replied. “Almost sixteen.”

“Almost sixteen,” she repeated with a smirk. “A real experienced guy.”

Erin stood up and faced Annie, anger flushing her face. “Yes, he is,” she said in a loud voice.

The room quieted, as the startled people in the room turned to listen to Erin. Her eyes flashed as she stared back at the Sergeant.

“His name is Mike, and when he was thirteen, he became the leader of our people. He began by organizing a bunch of kids into a fighting unit. He used that unit to compel the rest of us kids to face the reality of the Fog. He started guarding and rationing food. He made a plan for the winter, so we wouldn’t freeze to death. He made rules that protected us girls from sexual intimidation.”

“Jeez, Erin,” Mike mumbled, his face red.

Erin looked around the room to make sure that she had everyone’s attention. “When we were attacked by vicious bastards who murdered two of us, he single handedly killed one of the attackers with a homemade spear. It’s still known as ‘Mike’s Throw.’ He and his fighters chased the murderers. He was too late to stop a girl from being raped and killed, but he arrived in time to stop a man who was in the process of raping and strangling another girl. His unit killed two of the men, and they captured a third man. Not a boy like Mike and his guys. A big evil man. Mike personally put a noose around that man’s head, and with the rest of us helping, he hanged him. There are a lot of other things he did; though it’s true that he had a lot of help. We were happy to help him, because he was determined to keep us alive.”

Erin stopped there and looked down at the teenager with the pained expression on his face.

In a softer voice, she finished. “His name is Mike, and he’s not perfect, but I am proud to tell you that he is, and he always will be, the Chief of our Tribe.”

Erin stopped talking. Many of the curious soldiers and civilians crowded around, eager to be introduced to a very embarrassed Mike. Mike glanced at Annie. She stared back at him with a blank expression, and then she turned away. Mike wondered what she was thinking.

For a few days, Mike just relaxed. He had no responsibilities, and he had no duties. He slept late. He tended to find himself out on the edge of the knoll. He checked for the small nylon line that he and Kevin had used to leave the post. To his surprise, it was still there. He was eager to explore the new barracks building. It was circular and made of timbers, including the roof. There were no windows.

“It’s not the usual Army configuration,” Major Collins confided. “But it retains heat better than a rectangular building would. The central fireplace makes for a more even distribution of the available heat. I wish we had glass that would retain the heat. I miss having windows.”

“How about using windshields from abandoned cars?” Mike suggested. “Would those retain the heat?”

The Major looked interested. “That might work, Mike,” he replied.

After a few more days, Mike realized that he was bored. Everybody was busy, except him. Erin and the Major were working and didn’t have time to entertain him. And the post was much more regimented than Petersburg. The mess hall closed at a certain time. Late to breakfast? Sorry, we don’t reopen, even for the Chief of Petersburg.

Then the Major called him to the main office one morning. “I have a chore for you, if you are willing,” the Major told him.

“Sure. Anything,” Mike replied, eager to be of some use.

“I’m sending Sergeant Jenkins, north, on a scouting mission. I’d like you to go with her. Three weeks out, three weeks back. That should put you back here by the middle of November.”

Mike’s heart sank. He was definitely not one of Sergeant Annie Jenkins’ favorite people. She had made that clear by ignoring him ever since the incident in the mess hall the first day. He wondered if he should say something to the Major, but in the end he decided to remain silent. He figured that the Sergeant would probably find a reason to ease him out of the mission.

“Can I take my spear?” he asked, just in case she didn’t.

“Of course.”

Sergeant Annie Jenkins did try to talk Major Collins out of sending Mike with her, but her attempts were unsuccessful.

“Sir, he’s not only a civilian, he’s a kid,” argued Jenkins. “I can’t do my job and nursemaid a boy, too.”

“He’s no ordinary boy, Sergeant, and you well know it,” the Major answered sternly. “Now get your ass out there, and do your duty.” Steaming, Annie made her preparations.

The post had visitors before the expedition left. Don rode into the post, sitting in the Brown wagon. It was carrying a load of vegetables and other food. Nathan, Kevin, and Ahmad were with him.

Ahmad was riding a bicycle. Mike was delighted to see them.

“Whew,” Ahmad said as he dismounted. “Getting this wagon here was no piece of cake. Sometimes, we had to unload it and push the wagon up a steep spot. Then we had to carry the cargo up and repack the wagon. I hope these horses are grateful.”

Mike was eager for news of Petersburg.

“I performed three more weddings,” said Don. “Ralph and Mary are married now. The Mayor issued a provisional death certificate for Davis Brown. The little girl seems reconciled to their marriage. And the Mayor and Jean are married, although I’m surprised we didn’t have to drag her, kicking and screaming, to the podium. She kept muttering about some kind of obedience card, whatever that is. And Rasul and Imee are married.”