“I think in time we’re going to find out the pre-war thought process was pretty skewered.”
“Why do you say that?” Kit asked.
“I mean, bombs fell, people lived… but I think the vision of a barren world is something that will eventually happen. The days of operating as a society as a whole are over. People will eventually fraction off. There’s no coming back from this, no matter how hard we try.”
“But they are trying,” Kit said. “Look around.”
Abe chuckled. “I see what looks like, to me at least, any scene we saw on the news after a disaster. Think major earthquakes, tsunamis, Red Cross comes in, nations send help, but this is too big.”
A strange voice joined the conversation. A husky male voice, slightly out of breath. “You’re right.”
Both Kit and Abe stopped walking and looked.
A man, probably in his sixties, stood right behind them. He had stopped as well. He was a tad overweight, probably was much bigger before the bombs fell. Oddly, he wore a white button down shirt that was loose on him, and a pair of tan pans with a belt pulled tight to keep them up. He had a full head of gray hair that was just wiry and everywhere.
“Mind if I walk with you?” he asked. “My name is Jonas.”
“Um, sure,” Kit said.
“Thanks.” He walked next to Kit. “They notice you more when you are alone.”
“Who notices you more?” Kit asked.
“The soldiers, workers, citizen patrol, whatever the hell they are.”
“I’m Abe, she’s Kit,” Abe said. “I saw you last night in the store.”
“The holding. That’s what I call it.” Jonas said. “This is my fourth time through this passage.”
His words made Kit pause. “Fourth time?”
“Yeah, I make it so far then I get moved out. I get taken to the Agrarian border, that’s all the area outside of the safe occupation,” Jonas said. “I think the occupiers see a Mad Max world out there. It’s not. Not yet. It will be in time. When people get desperate.”
“Why do they escort you out?” Abe asked.
“For refusal to work. Pretty much if you are healthy and not relatively old they put you to work. It’s not a bad deal from what I saw, as long as you do your job. Just everyone has to work. Whether it’s clearing out rubble, finding bodies, distributing rations, street patrol, refugee placement… all jobs that are supposed to get things as close to normal. I don’t have a problem with working, I just need to find my wife and get her out of the area.”
“Wouldn’t working help you find your wife easier?” Abe asked.
Jonas shook his head. “No, because you have to stay in your area, that’s the only way to keep track. You sign up and if you change your mind, it becomes like a prison sentence. You don’t sign up, they take your food and drive you out. Half these people,” Jonas indicated to those walking. “Will be picked up the first time they set foot in a camp.”
“You seem to know a lot,” Kit said.
“I talk a lot, as you can tell. I talk to people. Second time through, I asked a lot of questions to any workers who would talk. You’ll check camps as well. Everyone does.”
“I plan on checking my mother’s house and my daughter’s apartment.”
Jonas lifted a finger. “That was my first thought. Go to the house. Hell, I was certain we were far enough away. But the house was empty. Here…” He pulled a map from his back pocket and opened it. Areas were crossed out. “These are the sections they have done, that I know of. Even if the houses are still standing, they have been hitting viable neighborhoods, seizing property. They moved the owners out, inventory the home, then redistribute the property to refugees of the bombs. Sometimes two or three families are placed in one home.”
“That’s insane,” Abe said.
“That’s the new America.” Jonas folded the map and put it into his pocket. “There’s a chance that your mother’s house wasn’t seized, and she could be there. If it was seized like my home, she was moved to a camp and given a job. Only I haven’t figured out which camp my wife is in, and I have to before this all falls apart.”
“Why do you say that?” Abe asked.
“Goes along with what you were saying when I interrupted. It’s too big. Right now, those soldiers, they are coming from about twelve different countries. There isn’t enough, that’s why they’re only focusing on the coastal cities and relying on civilian help. Pretty soon, the civilians are gonna say, “Hey why am I doing this?” and they’ll stop. These countries sending boots here, they don’t have the resources to keep sending. They don’t. I haven’t seen a single Russian soldier. Wanna know why? They have just as big of problems as the US. Bet me a dime for a dollar these boots here, are there as well. So that’s why I said you were right, this wasn’t an occupation like an invasion, it is a short lived aid initiative.”
“What if you’re wrong?” Kit asked.
“It’s speculation,” Jonas said. “Sure. I could be wrong, they could stay strong move the effort Midwest and start taking that land, but whose gonna work it? They won American and don’t know what to do with it. It would be like winning a big old yacht when you live in the desert and you don’t have the means to lug it to water. Eventually it will wear down and you’ll have to abandon the idea.”
“Or sell it,” Abe said.
Closed mouth, Jonas nodded. “Oh, wouldn’t that be a dozy if they sold us to someone else. Now that’s possible. I didn’t even think of that.” He clapped his hands together. “Now, where are you searching exactly?”
“Outside Tacoma, North Puyallup.”
Jonas whistled. “That’s another thirty miles. I’ll probably depart from you before that, I got a camp that I need to check about fifteen miles from here. Do you mind if I keep walking with you?”
Kit shook her head. “Not at all, you’ve been very helpful.”
Thirty miles didn’t seem that far, but knowing the obstacles ahead, the ones Jonas told them about, a part of Kit wondered if they’d even make the thirty miles before they, like Jonas, had to start all over again.
GROUND ZERO CITIZEN – Final
A trip to get rations from what was called zone four, took all day, an hour walk to and from, two hours in line minimal. Terrence still wasn’t a hundred percent, but he wanted to go instead of Macy. He preferred she went to the ration center nearer the house. Plus, he had Murph with him. He was glad for that. Murph had a presence about him that seemed to divert problems. He and his wife joined Macy while Terrence was still semi conscious. He had made it to the hospital to check on Terrence and Kira. Deana suggested her home was big enough to house them all. Terrence knew not to get comfortable. Just before they left for rations, the housing relocation team stopped by to inform them the neighborhood would be taken into possession in ten days and the houses redistributed to those waiting on a list in a camp.
If the families wanted housing they needed to go to a camp.
There was no way. Terrence and Murph had been stocking supplies and planned to head west within the next few days.
They just needed to get every item they could.
Unlike the previous two trips, there were problems and fights. Rations were cut. Terrence was angry, not because he got less rations, but rather people were getting handouts and should have been grateful for them.
No one had to give food and water. It wasn’t the US government handing it out.
Still, Terrence knew it was running low. Soon enough there wouldn’t be hand outs and Terrence wanted out of the city before that happened.