“We’re going to be ready to survive whatever’s coming,” Cami said.
“As long as it’s breakfast, I think I’m ready,” Mitch offered.
They shared a laugh heading into the house, and Cami felt a sense of hope swell in her chest. They weren’t alone any longer—they had Marty, his ham network, his quail, and his skills. They had food, they had power, and they had shelter. Cami paused on the deck while the kids went inside. She looked out over the garden again.
“And I aim to defend it,” she muttered under her breath.
Chapter 22
Ellsworth, Maine
An older man in an Army Veteran baseball cap tamped down the last clod of muddy soil. The little mound of mud and dirt still looked obscene to Reese's bloodshot eyes. He’d passed out sometime before dawn, after the adrenaline surge from the raid had faded. He’d tried to process Ben's loss, but his mind and body had simply had enough.
When he’d woken to the bright dawn, Jo had walked him around the back of the store, treating him as if he were an invalid, and brought him to Ben's grave. A simple, shallow grave topped with still drying soil. Crude, but effective.
Locals, hearing of the attack on the police the night before in the parking lot—and the subsequent raid on the Walmart in the hours before dawn—had gathered to mourn the loss of three police officers killed during the fighting. They also grieved for the stranger, the outsider who'd given his life in defense of the supplies destined for the town.
Jo explained that a dozen men with shovels had respectfully dug a grave behind the Walmart and carefully laid Ben to rest. Now they were finished filling it in and stepped back. Reese wiped at his face as the men with shovels bowed their heads in a moment of silence, then slowly dispersed back to their families. Two of them lingered, then approached Reese with outstretched hands, thanking him for staying in the store during the night and taking the brunt of the attack.
"The grocery store wasn't due to be restocked until tomorrow. It's already empty. This," the man in the Army hat said, nodding at the Walmart behind them, “is pretty much the last of the food that anyone in this town will be able to get anytime soon. Not unless somebody trucks it in from out-of-state, or the feds show up." He looked down at the ground and then back up at Reese again. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, thanks. You didn't owe us anything, but you folks stuck it out for our benefit."
"I just wanted someplace to sleep," Reese muttered.
"Pardon?" the older man said, leaning forward.
“He said we're glad we were able to make a difference," Jo blurted.
The man with the shovel nodded, smiled sadly, and excused himself.
Jo turned Reese roughly aside. "You mind telling me what that's all about?” She squeezed his good arm. Hard. “Might want to show little gratitude. These people took care of your friend."
"And where were they last night?” Reese demanded, fury in his words. Jo stepped back. “Where were they when we were out here all alone—we aren’t trained for any of this stuff," he said sweeping his good arm at the devastated landscape in the distance. "I just want to go home, Jo--not get caught up in whatever is going on here!"
Jo smirked. "Is that it? You just want to go home?" she said in a mocking voice, raising a thumb to her mouth like a toddler. “You want some cheese with that whine?"
Reese turned away, grimacing. She was right, he was acting like a spoiled kid. But—
Jo stepped in front of him. ”You look around, mister,” she said, her voice low and threatening. She poked him in the chest—hard. "Nobody's trained for this—whatever it is—we’re living through.” She raised her arms in frustration. “These people are just trying to survive, same as you and me. There's no one to blame," she said quickly, before Reese could open his mouth. "I tagged along with you because I saw from the beginning there was something about you—something that might get me to a safer place. Because you’re not a quitter,” she said, poking him again. “I got nowhere particular to go in this world—my family’s gone, kids are scattered across the country and won’t talk to me…the only thing I had was that job back on Cadillac Mountain, but I was gonna have to retire soon, anyway. I gave it up, though, to follow you."
Reese swallowed. His stomach tightened as if hit with a 2x4. Jo was right. He saw plainly the fear in her eyes and heard the uncertainty in her voice. She all but begged him to get his act together. Ben and Jo had relied upon him as a leader, and he'd managed to get them back to civilization.
Reese looked down at the fresh mound of dirt and mud at his feet. Fat lot of good that did Ben.
He stared off toward the east, where the sun brightened the morning sky. A jagged line of trees still standing marked the edge of the tsunami’s destruction. To the west, trees and vegetation appeared as they should. To the east, cutting straight across several roads, a line of gray-brown mud had been painted across the landscape. Most trees and plants still remained standing, but their lower limbs, branches, and leaves were all caked in mud—some had already begun to wilt.
Further east, just barely visible in the distance, the true evidence of the tsunami’s power was laid bare to see. Trees had been leveled as far as he could see to
