Stan Morris - Surviving the Fog

“Makayla is going to stay at the Brown Farm with us this winter,” said Kevin. “She and Paige are sharing the attic. Kylie is staying in Star’s room.”

“Rasul and Imee are moving into the solar apartments,” Nathan added. “The Mayor thought we needed one of the nurses at the farm. Kevin and I are moving in there, too. Poor Comet will be all alone with those four girls.”

The villagers stayed almost a week, and Mike enjoyed every minute of their visit but then, except for Don, they climbed back onto the empty wagon and headed back to Petersburg. The next day, Sergeant Jenkins and Mike left the post and headed north.

At the first opportunity, she said to Mike, “Listen up, kid. I didn’t want you with me, but that’s not my decision. So, you and I are going to accomplish this mission, and we are going to do it successfully. My role is to do everything. Your role is to keep your mouth shut, and follow me. Got it?”

“Yes,” Mike responded meekly.

Annie, who had been expecting an argument, glared at him suspiciously and glanced contemptuously at his homemade spear.

They trekked north for a week, skirting the edge of the Sierras. It was a much drier clime than Petersburg. From time to time, they came right to the edge of a long slope dropping steeply down into the extreme eastern plain of California which was hidden by the brown soup. After a week, they moved farther into the mountains.

For the most part, they got along. Annie led the way, and Mike followed. Mike did as he was told. He set up camp, made the meals, and cleaned up afterwards, and he struck camp the next day. Annie was polite, if not overly friendly. She was annoyed that he managed to spear several grouse and to catch others with his snares. But his successes saved their packed food for later.

Her problem was that she was curious. She couldn’t help herself from digging further into the details of the incidents that Erin had described. It wasn’t easy. She began to appreciate that he was reluctant to overemphasize his importance, and she began to gain an appreciation of what the kids had gone through.

“So you doubled up in your little cave,” she mentioned one night as they sat by their campfire. “Wasn’t that taking quite a chance, allowing some of the boys to double up with the girls? What about your rules?”

“There wasn’t a lot of room between one pair and the next,” Mike explained. “And it was so cold that we had to put on all of our clothes. I managed to wear two pairs of pants, three shirts, and three pairs of socks. Besides, I think we were all too scared of freezing. Other than the cold, the biggest problem we had was that a couple of kids peed in their bags. That was a mess.”

His comment reminded Annie of just how young those kids had been two years ago.

“You were thirteen, then,” she stated.

’’No, by that time, I was fourteen,” he replied.

“Have you improved your Lodge since then?” Annie asked.

“Oh, yeah, it’s a lot better. Hector built a loft, so we have a lot more sleeping room. He covered the walkway to the Porta Pottys. The fireplace is so cool. But the best thing is hot showers. Everyone loves that.”

Annie stared at him. “Bullshit. There’s no way you could take a hot shower in a cave.”

Mike shrugged. “Ask the Major,” Mike said. “He took one.”

Annie did not reply, but she resolved that she would definitely ask the Major to confirm or deny Mike’s claim. A hot shower, she thought with a shiver. She felt weak with pleasure at the very idea.

When they had traveled for three weeks, they stopped. They had not seen any sign of human life. They struck gold however, but not the metal kind. They found them in a small green valley. Snow runoff from the surrounding mountains had collected in a small rill, and they were drinking.

“Horses,” Mike said with delight.

It was a small herd of five mares, three yearlings, and a stallion. Annie and Mike watched them for a long time, and Mike thought that Annie was truly comfortable with him for the first time. Annie couldn’t help smiling to herself as she observed Mike’s excitement. He’s not that bad , she decided.

“They’re so wild. So free.”

“Yes.” She was pensive as she watched the horses and the boy. He was still disturbing, but in a different way.

They found a place to camp, and they did so quietly, so as not to disturb the herd. Mike and Annie had mummy bags made of synthetic down, so they did not need a tent. Mike made a small fire, and they roasted a large bird and some of the potatoes that Ahmad had brought to the Post. Earlier that day, Mike had found some wild onions, and some tubers, and some kind of green leaves that he used to make a salad. Annie was constantly surprised at the amount of food that Mike could supply from their surroundings.

“Our Forest Ranger taught me,” he explained, when she mentioned his ability. “I think she was in a bad mood one day, because some of the kids were complaining about how she cut their hair. She insisted that I should come to the classes she was teaching. Actually, I enjoyed her classes. I always liked school.”

“Not me,” Annie replied. “I couldn’t wait to get out of school. When I turned eighteen, I dropped out and joined the Army. They took me, but they told me that I had to get my GED, so I did. Then, when I got out of AIT, I volunteered to join the Rangers. I got in, but they made me take more classes.”

“Where are you from, Annie?” Mike asked.

“That’s Sergeant Jenkins to you, kid,” Annie replied, giving him a frown that he ignored. “I was born and raised in Carlsbad, New Mexico.”

“Oh, they have some caves there,” Mike stated. “Did you ever see them?”

“Sure, lots of times,” Annie said. “You have to walk down this long series of switchbacks, at first. It gets colder, the farther you walk down. When you get to the bottom, there are lots of different rooms to walk though.”

“Is it really mysterious and spooky?” Mike asked eagerly. “Are there, like, bats and things flying around? Did you think you ever saw, like, ghosts and other weird stuff?”

Annie laughed. “Yeah, there’s weird stuff down there. Tourists, I mean. Lots and lots of tourists. Really weird tourists. The place is full of them. All running around and bumping into people. And yapping. Always yapping.”

“Oh,” Mike said, disappointed.

“But it is interesting, Mike,” Annie continued. “There are bats at the entrance, but they don’t fly during the day. They come out at sunset. Probably too hot for them during the day.”

“Is it really hot in Carlsbad?” Mike asked.

“Hell, yes, it’s hot,” said Annie emphatically. “One time it was one hundred fourteen degrees in the shade. My boyfriend and I went to the caves that day to get out of the heat. Afterwards, we rode the elevator up to ground level, but we weren’t allowed to go outside the visitor’s center until we had adjusted to the change in the temperature. It was sixty degrees in the caves, and it was eighty degrees in the visitor’s center.”

“Wow,” Mike exclaimed. “I don’t think I’ve ever been anyplace that was over one hundred degrees. San Francisco usually doesn’t get to ninety degrees.”

That perked up Annie’s interest. “Are you from San Francisco, Mike?” she asked.

“Yes,” Mike replied. “My family lived on a small road just off Geary Boulevard. It’s not far from Golden Gate Park. My Dad was a teller at a bank on Market Street. Every work morning, he would take the bus to Powell Street, and then he would ride the cable car down to Market Street. That is, if it had room. In the mornings, it usually did, but in the afternoon he usually had to walk back up to Geary Street and catch the bus home, because there were too many tourists on the cable car by then. There’s a turnaround close to the bank, but in the afternoon there’s a line of tourists waiting to ride the cable car.”