Until then it looked as if he’d been dragged into dancing with his cousin to dash the dreams of two fine young men. Happy as he was for Rick and Alice, this was exactly why he hated parties.
Maybe he didn’t regret the way he’d married Jane after all.
Trev bit back a yawn as he helped Mary move the fences of the shelter group’s animal pen to a new grazing location, the sheep still ambling around inside while patiently moving along with the light but sturdy barriers in a chorus of baas.
The sun was just rising over the ridge of the canyon’s eastern slope, but although he’d slept later than usual this morning and had done almost no work yesterday thanks to Rick and Alice’s wedding, he still felt exhausted.
Deb had interrupted his sleep again last night to sit with her. It had come as a bit of a surprise, considering how well things had seemed to be going at the celebration yesterday. But he supposed you never really could tell. Shivering in the cold, wanting to help her but not really knowing how or even if he could, he’d suggested she talk to someone, some sort of counseling. Only he wasn’t sure who in town could help with that, and had no answer when she’d challenged him about it.
It was kind of a shame that with all the professionals they’d invited in, they hadn’t thought to include a therapist who specialized in traumatic events. He supposed the committee’s thought process was that with so many immediate physical needs, any mental and emotional issues had to go on the back burner.
But at the same time there were a lot of people in town who’d suffered terrible loss or been through horrific hardship since the Gulf burned. A lot of people burying issues or handling them as best they could as they struggled to go about their daily lives.
Trev woke up from nightmares himself after his time fighting the blockheads, and still found himself flinching for cover and going for his gun at sudden loud noises. To be honest being woken up in the night, even gently, was something he could do without. It always came with a surge of heart-pounding adrenaline as he went from a safe, relaxed state to ready to fight for his life in an instant.
“I think that’s far enough, Trev,” Mary said. She’d already let go of her corner of the enclosure.
Trev jumped slightly and looked, and sure enough he’d dragged the pen a good ten feet farther than he’d needed to. “Whoops.”
His cousin gave him a concerned look. “Is there, um, that is, are you…” she trailed off awkwardly. Then, before she could think of a way to say whatever it was, she looked past him and abruptly flushed slightly and began humming.
Trev turned around and was relieved to see Gutierrez approaching, putting an end to any awkward conversation about how he was doing. “Morning, Raul,” he called.
“Hey Trev,” his friend answered, quickening his step to join them. He glanced at Mary and assumed the sort of stiff casualness that even an idiot could recognize. “Hey Mary,” he continued in a subtly different tone. Then he gave Trev a friendly nod that seemed to say, ‘Good to see you, man. Can I get some space here?’
“Oh hi, Raul,” the blond young woman said, looking flustered as she hastily brushed dirt that wasn’t there off her shirt and pants.
Trev bit back a smile as he moved over to pick up the animals’ water buckets to refill. As he did he watched the awkward tableau unfold as the two fumbled their way through a conversation without being too obvious that they were interested in each other.
Gutierrez did his best to look relaxed and confident as he searched around for suave things to talk about, obviously picking up on Mary’s social awkwardness that wasn’t doing his own nervousness any favors. For her part Mary was blushing and kept breaking into humming songs that were generally romantic, between shy responses.
Trev didn’t know whether to think the exchange was adorable or cringe his way right down to the center of the earth at being witness to it. “Hey, I’m going to go grab some water,” he said. He wasn’t sure if they responded as he made a beeline for the stream running through the canyon.
Mary and Gutierrez, huh? They could be good for each other, between her gentle nature and his competence and unwavering loyalty. Assuming they could get past awkward pleasantries.
Of course, judging by Robert’s obvious interest in Mary at the wedding reception last night, Gutierrez was going to have to hurry things up if he didn’t want competition. Then again, that might explain why he’d popped in to say hello this morning.
The stream that flowed down the canyon past town was a decent size, more than enough to meet everyone’s needs. Even so it was fairly shallow, so they’d deepened a few of the spots people frequented most into small pools to make gathering water easier.
Not bathing, though. Privacy considerations and water temperature aside, they were doing everything they could to avoid contaminating the water upstream of town and where it flowed past, all the way to a mile downstream of the last house. That included keeping latrines well away from the water, and doing any clothes washing farther down.
Of course they still needed to thoroughly purify the water before it was safe for consumption, and Chauncey had supervised rigging up a good filtration system with charcoal and sand, then boiling, which provided enough for the whole town. That didn’t stop a lot of families from boiling their own drinking water to avoid the wait, but most preferred safe to sorry and only drew water directly from the stream for bathing and washing.
A few of the women in town had spoken wistfully of building up a structure around a pool farther down the valley and creating a sort of bathhouse for use during the warmer months. Trev wasn’t sure it would be warm enough to be comfortable even at the height of summer with nuclear winter dropping temperatures, and any effort they put into making it comfortable was more than they could afford.
Creating something like an old-fashioned bathhouse where heated water was provided would be a luxury some entrepreneurial spirit would likely attempt once their situation got a bit more stable, but for now just about everyone in town was stuck with wet cloths and soap. That or a ton of labor hauling water and heating it over a stove. Those who even had tubs large enough to take baths in, that was.
Trev had just finished filling the buckets for the animals when a commotion by the town hall tent farther downstream caught his eye. Matt and Catherine were hurrying towards the road leading through the valley farther north, Chauncey limping after them at the best speed he could manage.
A call from the shelter group’s animal pens turned him back around, and he saw Lewis, Mary, and Gutierrez all running towards him. His cousin and the former soldier both had their weapons ready. Trev dropped the water buckets and rushed to join them, checking his MP-443 Grach in its holster as he went. His AK-47 was at home, since he hadn’t thought he’d need it while doing chores.
“Why don’t you have your radio with you?” Lewis demanded as they came in earshot. “We’ve got a military jeep headed our way. Some decently high ranking officer, looks like.”
Trev felt his face flush. He kept his radio with him at all times, but he’d been so foggy this morning from lack of sleep that he’d forgotten it when he started his chores. Then he’d figured going without it for a half hour or so would be better than wasting the time to go get it.
Guess he was wrong. “Looks like Matt and Catherine are rolling out the red carpet for whoever it is,” he said as he met up with his cousins and Gutierrez. Without a word they all started down the road after the town leaders. “Think they’re here about the veterans we took in?”