“I’m not sure I buy it, but hey, who am I to stand in the way?”
“Listen, I’m not looking to change people. I believe at the core we are all good. It’s this event that has made people desperate. They don’t know who to trust. It’s natural for them to take from others. So we show them they can trust us.”
“I don’t know, Johnson. Seems like you’re taking a lot of risk bringing them in.”
“You talked about forgiveness. You spoke about change. This is a step in that direction. We have to rebuild and the only way to do that is to extend a hand. Some people will slap it away. That’s to be expected. But that doesn’t mean they won’t eventually accept it. This is the work now.”
“Work? And what if they do everything you want and once you integrate them with the rest of the community, they decide to go in another direction?”
“That’s a gamble we take.”
“I can’t help thinking you’re allowing in a Trojan horse. If anyone on the outside catches wind of this, all they would need to do is show up and spend two weeks in Lundbar Hills and they can go haywire after.”
“That’s why we don’t tell them how long. No one knows about Lundbar Hills except those who have been through it and are involved in the community. And so far they haven’t been a problem.”
“Yet,” Colby said. “This can only lead to problems.”
“Colby, we’re moving forward. Trying to rebuild. Trying to make something of this place. If we kill every single person we come across, where does that get us?”
“It keeps us safe.”
“Okay. So then we bring in only those who show no aggression. What then if they show it later?” He paused. “What you are trying to do is discern the outcome of one group over another based on how they act when you first encounter them. But you know as well as I do, every single person out there is liable to come across as a threat. Do you remember the Websters?”
He nodded.
“They turned out fine. Or what about the Bennett family? Now that was a group that could have easily destroyed us. Look at them now.”
They’d encountered the Bennett family in the south of Humboldt. A group that had made their way north after leaving one of the FEMA camps. They were angry. Dangerous. They were every bit the type of people that could have bitten the hand that fed them, but they didn’t. They changed. Softened. Then once out of ward one, they became responsible members of the community. The husband offered to fish. His wife had gone on to counsel others.
“Fear is expected. Change is hard. Extending a hand is risky, but it’s the only way forward.”
“I hope you’re right,” Colby had said, unconvinced.
As soon as they arrived in Ward One, Colby hopped out of the truck, opened the back and the men were led into two houses that were guarded at all times from a distance. The point of it was to give those inside some sense of freedom. As much as he’d seen Johnson’s way of rehabilitating outsiders succeed, he knew it wouldn’t work for everyone. That bothered him and his mother knew it.
“You don’t agree with Johnson, do you?” she asked as he closed the tailgate of the truck and made his way around to the passenger side.
“It doesn’t feel right.”
“Forcing people to join, you mean?”
“Holding people, expecting them to become something they aren’t.”
“But wasn’t it you that spoke about change?”
He looked at his mother. “There is a big difference between trying to stop more bloodshed between two warring families that you know and trying to change strangers.”
“And yet Johnson has proven it works.”
“For now. Anyway, what do you care? You’ve chosen to not live in Eureka.”
“Perhaps I was a little hasty.”
“So what… you’re now looking to move into the city? Abandon the farm?”
“Maybe. And what if I did?”
He was at a loss for words.
“Let’s go, Colby,” Jessie said.
Colby looked off toward the men whose hoods had been removed. They were looking around like lost souls, prisoners who didn’t want what Johnson was offering even if it was good. He understood the feeling. He understood the community were trying to survive and that required thinking outside the box, but he wasn’t convinced this was the way.
“Oh, uh, Colby,” his mother said, holding the passenger door before he closed it. “Dylan is holding a small get-together at the Carson Mansion. He’s extended an invitation.”
“I’ll take it into consideration. Will you be there?”
“Do you want me there?”
He snorted. “See you, Mother.” She removed her hand as he pulled hard on the door to close it. He had a feeling the get-together wasn’t Dylan’s idea. Martha was back to stirring the pot. Trying to control them. If she couldn’t do it from the farm, maybe she would try by moving into the city.
“It’s at eight if you want to come,” she said.
Colby rolled up his window without replying as if to indicate that was his answer. Jessie hit the gas and they peeled away heading home. Colby glanced in his rearview mirror and saw his mother smirking as she walked over to Dan Wilder. The two of them had become quite chummy since their near-death experience. Martha said she was only being polite, helping him through a hard time since Wilder’s wife had ended up in the hospital. He called bullshit and figured she was up to her old tricks again.
Still lost in thought, he felt a hand clasp his. He turned to find Alicia. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“So are we going tonight?”
“Of course he is,” Jessie
