10 years after the blackout. October 1st.
Sylvania Estates, Wisconsin.
"So the great General Monroe has decreed that this year, Halloween is officially restored as a Republic-wide holiday," said an annoyed Caleb.
"It's good to let the kids have a fun day once in a while," said a smiling Ben. While Ben wasn't a big fan of Monroe, he wanted his kids Charlie and Danny to have as fun a childhood as possible. Many of their days were spent laboring hard in the corn and wheat fields. At first, Ben couldn't believe all the manpower that it took to grow crops and raise or hunt animals for food. But the community at Sylvania Estates eventually grew accustomed to it. Even the kids were required to chip in.
Somewhat surprisingly, Aaron Pittman was also a little excited. He was used to the kids in the village being bored out of their minds. If the kids weren't toiling in the fields, they were spending the mandatory two hours every weekday in Aaron's makeshift classroom learning (or pretending to learn) about various things. Aaron loved to teach about science, but he knew the kids just glazed over. There were one or two children who were interested in biology. Otherwise, every other kid was antsy for class to end. Maybe Aaron could somehow tie a lesson or two into a Halloween theme. He fondly remembered one of his freshman days at M.I.T. involved a professor and the annual "pumpkin drop" to illustrate some principles of physics.
The villagers had gathered to discuss whether they would participate in the proposed inter-village trick-or-treat festival. Five of the villages nearby had considered allowing the children to visit the different villages and collect candy while dressed up in their various costumes. Ben Matheson was wary. He insisted that the kids would have a satisfactory Halloween while remaining in their own village. However, each of the villages was relatively small. It would be a much more fulfilling experience if the kids could visit at least one additional village.
"Let's sleep on it and reconvene tomorrow," suggested Maggie. The other villagers agreed and they got up from their chairs and started heading to their respective homes.
"Hey Ben," said Aaron as he pulled Ben aside. "Have you given much thought to what you'll be for Halloween?"
Ben was amused. "Me? Only the children are getting dressed up for this."
"Oh come on Ben," said Aaron. "Before the blackout, adults got dressed up for Halloween too!"
Ben was a little surprised at Aaron's enthusiasm. "Yea, all the women dressed up as sexy cops, or sexy nurses, or sexy whatevers," said Ben. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy seeing attractive women in skimpy costumes. He just had a sense that the Halloween spirit had been co-opted.
"The sexy kittens were my favorite," joked Aaron.
Ben chuckled. He soon learned that Aaron never had the pleasure of dressing up for Halloween as a child. Or as an adult for that matter. Ben himself didn't really dress up as a child either. However, when he was in graduate school, he dressed up a couple of times for Halloween parties. He went as pretty "ordinary" characters. He was a vampire the first time he ever dressed up. It was a pretty default character, though he was surprised that he didn't see any other vampires at the party. The next year, he bought a pair of scrubs and went as a faux surgeon.
After the blackout, it was much harder to come by Halloween costumes. However, after about five years or so, some of the more basic costumes became available. Vampires, of course, were relatively simple. Witches and mummies were the other popular choices.
October 2nd
The next morning, a visitor on horseback approached the wooden gates of Sylvania Estates. The visitor wore the uniform of a Monroe Militia officer. She was accompanied by two soldiers on foot.
"Good morning," said the officer as she dismounted from her horse. A few of the villagers had met her to greet her. Of course, most were afraid. The Monroe Militia were known to be quite brutal if not appeased.
"What brings you to our humble village?" asked Spencer.
"I represent the regional headquarters of the Monroe Militia. May I speak with the mayor of your settlement?" she asked.
While there was no official leader of the village, many of the residents considered Ben to be their de facto leader. The village was even nicknamed "Ben-sylvania," a play on the state of Pennsylvania. Spencer asked a young boy named Jack to get Ben.
Two minutes later, Ben Matheson walked out of his home to meet with the Monroe Militia officer near the central crop field in the middle of the cul-de-sac.
"Good morning, ma'am," said Ben. "Our village has no mayor, but I speak for the residents here. How can we be of service to the Monroe Republic?"
"Actually, sir, I'm here to be of service to you," said the officer. "I am Second Lieutenant Grace Vinson. I am one of the community relations officers out of the Wisconsin regiment. I am here to discuss the recent proclamation from Philadelphia by General Monroe that we organize Halloween trick-or-treat candy distributions for the kids of the Republic."
"The village was just talking about that last night," said Ben. "Some of the nearby villages are considering having our children visit each other."
"I've heard. I've also heard that many of the parents are reluctant to have their children participate in fear of bandits or other troublemakers," replied Grace.
"You may count me among them," said Ben.
"I see," said Grace. She frowned a little bit, but after a moment of thought, she nodded to acknowledge Ben's concerns.
"I understand why a parent might be worried. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name, sir?" said Grace.
"My name is Ben. Ben… Jameson." Although the residents of Sylvania Estates knew Ben's family name was Matheson, they also knew that Ben wanted to keep his identity a secret. There were rumors that the Monroe Militia high command was looking for him for some reason.
"Ben. I am here to assure you that the Monroe Militia will be posting soldiers along the travel routes between villages and that you and your children will be safe."
"I thank the militia for their protection," said Ben. "I will give it some thought."
"We just want the kids to have a good time," said Grace with a smile. "It has been such a arduous past ten years. To think, some of the children have never even experienced a Halloween."
"We thank the Monroe Republic for all of their efforts," said Ben. He had always been a relatively diplomatic person.
"Thank you for your hospitality, Ben," said Grace. "There are some towns and villages in these parts which are quite openly hostile to a Monroe militia uniform. We'll return in a couple of days to figure out how to best proceed with the Halloween festivities."
"I'll be here," said Ben with a smile. He watched as the young lieutenant and her escorts left Sylvania Estates and looked to be headed in the direction of the nearby Walnut Square, which a little over 5 miles away.
October 5th
As planned, Grace returned to Sylvania Estates a few days later. This time, she came with 5 soldiers. Not enough to worry Ben, but it was something different.
"Ben," said Grace. "It's good to see you again." They shook hands and Ben invited Grace into his home. They sat down in the living room. Ben offered Grace some warm tea and she accepted.
The two of them discussed the possible plans for the upcoming Halloween. Grace had reported back to her superiors at regional HQ. She visited 10 towns and villages in her responsible sector. There was an almost universal strong reluctance from the community leaders to allow their children to walk for miles in order to visit their neighboring villages for trick-or-treat.
After some brainstorming, regional HQ decided on three possible plans. The first plan was to line the routes between the communities with Monroe Militia soldiers. There would be a shortage of manpower and the Wisconsin brigades would have to call up all of their reserves. Even then, they would probably wind up conscripting many of the able-bodied townsfolk and villagers in order to help. It would be a temporary draft for only one day. In any event, the commanders at regional HQ thought that the parents and other adults would gladly participate in order to increase the safety for the kids.
"Does anyone in Sylvania Estates have a firearm?" asked Grace.
"Of course not," said Ben. "That's a hanging offense." Ben replied quickly, but he knew that there were at least three firearms in the neighborhood.
"That's a shame," said Grace. "We could use all the firepower we can muster."
Ben did not expect such a reaction.
"If you happen to learn of any firearms in your settlement, please pass on the offer of amnesty in return for participation in the Halloween protection detail."
Ben nodded. "I'll let my fellow residents know."
"Of course, you'll be drafted as well," said Grace.
Ben was surprised. "Me?"
"You are the leader of your settlement. Since this is one of the smaller villages, we will draft only two of you. But more are asked to volunteer, of course."
"I hate to break this to you, but I'm a relatively poor fighter," said Ben.
"You seem to be one of the more able-bodied residents of this village," said Grace. "Anyway, most of a soldier's job is mere presence. Numbers helps deter attacks by bandits. The bandits can't tell who can fight and who can't, as long as it appears you can."
"Truth be told, I'm a bit of geek," said Ben. "I was a computer scientist before the blackout."
"Well, you look like you can handle yourself, so that's that. By the power vested in me by the Monroe Republic, I will draft you into the Halloween protection detail if you do not volunteer."
Ben was slightly annoyed. "Okay," he said reluctantly.
However, Ben wasn't completely out of hope. There were two other plans which did not call for allowing the children to trek across possibly dangerous bandit-filled forests. The second plan was for the children to stay in place, but they would trick-or-treat in their own communities. Representatives of the Monroe Republic would visit each village or town throughout Halloween Day and distribute candy to the children on behalf of the regional HQ and also on behalf of the high command in Philadelphia.
The third plan was still in the works, but was somewhat of a hybrid plan. It was very similar to the second plan. The children would all stay in place. However, in addition to the representatives of the Monroe Republic handing out candy, there would be a representative from each of the nearby towns and villages to visit and hand out candy on behalf of their community. Ben would also be requested (or ordered) to travel, but at least his children would be safer. There was also a possibility that the 10 communities under Grace's sector would be further split into 2 batches of 5 communities, so as to make less travel.
"My captain will make a decision in a week and we'll discuss this further in about 10 days," said Grace.
"Sure," said Ben. He walked her out of his home. Her five soldiers were standing guard right outside in the front yard. Ben escorted Grace and her men to the village gate.
At night, Ben's children discussed the upcoming Halloween. Charlie was very excited for the possibility of leaving the village of Sylvania Estates. She could barely remember any place outside. She had vague memories of Chicago, where she lived when she was very young.
October 15th
Grace returned to Sylvania Estates with the third option.
"Is there another person from Sylvania who you would like to come with you?" asked Grace.
"Do I need another person?" asked Ben.
"It would be best," said Grace. "There will be two each from Sylvania Estates, Walnut Square, and Fox Hills. Three people will visit from Highland Park and there will be five representatives from the town of Millersville. The size of the delegation is based on the size of your neighborhoods."
Ben thought about it for a few moments.
"I think I'll have Aaron accompany me," said Ben. He knew Aaron didn't really want to travel outside the walls of Sylvania, but he also knew Aaron was looking for an excuse to dress up for Halloween.
Grace wasn't sure who Aaron was. Ben pointed to him. Aaron was in the middle of preparing some notes for his class. Today, they were going to discuss some of Grimm's fairy tales. It was one of his attempts at a Halloween-related class session.
"Him?" asked a slightly surprised Grace. "I was thinking you'd pick someone perhaps a little bit more… physically fit."
"Why" asked Ben. "We're just representatives handing out candy, right? You're not drafting us into a protection detail."
"Well, all the same, it might be better to have the appearance of a strong group of people. But this is your choice. Would you say he's your deputy leader of the community?"
"Well, since we don't have a structure here, I'd say no."
"Who would be your top lieutenant?"
"Never thought about that. Let's call Aaron my junior lieutenant."
"Why not have your top lieutenant travel with you?" asked Grace.
"Well, someone has to stay behind to hold down the fort, right?"
Grace laughed silently.
The weather hadn't turned very cold yet, but Ben treated Grace to a cup of hot cocoa. She had always loved chocolate, so she accepted. It tasted quite good.
"I'm afraid I might not have enough candy to hand out to the other communities," said Ben. "Some of the residents even insisted they wouldn't have given out candy anyway even if the children from the other villages had come to visit."
"What scrooges," said Grace with a mock frown.
"Wrong holiday," said a smiling Ben.
"I guess pre-blackout, they would have been the houses that got toiled papered.
"Ah, toilet paper. Memories." Ben was thinking more about the proper use of toilet paper as opposed to the mischievous alternate use.
"Never worry, the Monroe Republic has that covered," said Grace. Candymakers and chocolatiers in both Chicago and Milwaukee were asked to work overtime for the past couple of months to supply candy to the outlying regions. The Monroe Republic would supply the candy to the village representatives and the village mayors or whatnot could pretend that the candy was from the villages. It would be in addition to the candy courtesy of the regional HQ and Philadelphia. The candy designated to be from the regional HQ and from Philly were specially wrapped so the kids could tell the difference.
"Well, that's mighty generous of you," said Ben. He was genuinely pleased by the "donation."
"That's what you guys pay crop taxes for," said Grace.
"I thought it was for the protection provided by the Monroe Militia."
"Yea. That mostly. But the Republic is also trying to provide for these little fringe luxuries."
After talking for a while about the logistics of the candy-distribution adventure Ben would be partaking in, he turned his thoughts to the security aspects of his upcoming journey.
"I've been wondering a random thing, if you don't mind me asking," said Ben.
"Sure thing," said Grace.
"Why do the Monroe Militia soldiers carry swords, but no shields?" asked Ben.
"Shields?"
"Yea, you know, for defensive purposes."
"They probably just proved to be too cumbersome," said Grace. "I'm not completely sure. You'd probably have to ask someone in the training corps about that."
Ben thought it was strange that soldiers had been using shields since thousands of years ago, but the Monroe Militia chose not to. Even simple wooden shields would provide some protection.
The two of them got into talking about military vehicles. Tanks, in particular. Monroe Militia officers were still travelling on horseback, and most of the soldiers travelled on foot. Ben showed Grace a couple of sketches he drew in the past week. It was based off of a typical horse-drawn wagon. However, there would be two major improvements. One improvement was stronger protection behind wooden panels. There were small openings where troops with crossbows could fire out of. The second improvement was a way to self-propel the vehicle. Ben based it on bicycle gears. One or two men inside the vehicle could pedal the wagon. Ben called this his wooden tank. He thought the regional head office for Wisconsin could get some engineers to build something similar. It would provide an extra sense of security for the village representatives who would be travelling on Halloween.
"Clever," said Grace. She promised to bring the drawings back to her superiors and also share them with the officers in charge of building wagons. She thought it was an excellent idea and it reminded her of something she learned in officer training. It was some quote from either an ancient Greek or an ancient Roman. It was something like "men of action are often slaves to men of thought."
October 23rd
About one week from the big day, Grace returned to Sylvania Estates with somewhat of a surprise for Ben. The combat engineers' brigade in her regional HQ designed a couple of prototypes based on the wooden tank concept that Ben showed Grace. One of them would be assigned to the group Grace will be escorting on Halloween. As a thank you gift, Grace brought a Halloween costume for Ben.
"I'm not dressing up for Halloween," said Ben.
"Now you are," said a smiling Grace.
"Are you?" asked Ben.
"Of course not," said Grace. "I will be in my militia officer's uniform, as always."
Ben sometimes wondered how Grace became a lieutenant at such a young age. She was only 19 years old, turning 20 in a couple of months. Her father was a civilian government official, but nothing too high ranking.
Ben was surprised when Grace gave him his Halloween costume. It was relatively simple. A blue shirt in the style of a science officer from the original Star Trek. The sleeves indicated the rank of commander.
"Your friend Aaron mentioned that you used to be a fan of the Star Trek movie," said Grace.
Ben chuckled.
"Well, it was a tv show first," said Ben. "Then it got rebooted as a movie series in 2009."
"Well, I was waaaaaay too young to have ever seen anything before 2009. I heard there were multiple tv series with hundreds of episodes."
"There were," said Ben.
"And here," said Grace as she handed Ben two wax ears with pointy tops. "I recall that the science officer was some alien with pointy ears. You can wear these, or you can go without and just be a generic science officer."
"Thanks," said Ben. He was happy about how simple the Halloween costume was. If he didn't wear the ears, all he had to do was wear the blue shirt. He had a regular pair of black pants and black boots that comprised the rest of the uniform.
"Was it difficult to find this?" asked Ben.
"It wasn't easy, but it wasn't as hard as I feared," replied Grace. "I guess there were more Star Trek fans than I imagined. Either that, or the companies that made the mock uniforms/Halloween costumes simply made tons of them. Let's see how it looks on you."
Ben put on the uniform shirt and it was a good fit.
"Looks good. The uniform looks natural on you. You are a born spaceship officer!"
Ben laughed.
A little while after Grace and her soldiers left, Ben paid a visit to Aaron
"Hey Aaron, I heard you had a quick chat with the Monroe Militia lieutenant."
"Yea, just a minute or so. She asked about you a little bit."
"Look what she just handed to me as a gift."
Ben showed Aaron the blue science officer uniform shirt. Aaron liked it a lot.
"Wish she gave me one too!" said Aaron.
Aaron thought about Halloween for a minute or two and then decided that he would dress up as a Star Trek-related character. He would go as an alien called the Gorn. It would be a more complicated costume than Ben's, but Aaron was excited about it and he usually had a good deal of free time on his hands. However, he only had about a week to finish the costume, so that would be a tight time window. He also thought that perhaps he could use the costume to teach the kids about reptiles or even dinosaurs, since the Gorn alien resembled a human-sized lizard.
"So the Monroe Militia is handing out costumes to the village leaders for Halloween?" asked Aaron.
"No. This was a gift because I mentioned the wooden tank idea to Grace and her superiors seemed to like it."
"Interesting," said Aaron. "You would have thought they'd create something like that already."
"Grace mentioned that some of the high ups in Philadelphia had toyed with the idea of an armored horse-drawn wagon but abandoned it for some reason. There were also some concerns in the regional Wisconsin HQ that it would cause escalation. The bandits themselves could start building their own armored vehicles, or even just steal them from the Militia. In the end, it seems that HQ decided they might as well be the first to build them."
"Don't make yourself too important there, Ben," warned Aaron. "The militia might come back around these parts to pick your brain about further improvements or other ideas."
"I'll try to lay low," said Ben.
November 1st
Ben's Halloween adventure went off without a hitch. To his surprise, he actually enjoyed the trip to the other villages. Of course, he would tell his kids that the trek was arduous and scary. He didn't want his children to be exploring outside the confines of Sylvania Estates.
It was almost lunchtime, almost time for the children to be dismissed from their daily lessons at Aaron's makeshift school. Today, as promised, Aaron wore his costume to class for the first few minutes and then taught the children about reptiles. They're cold-blooded! Some of the kids seemed interested, even if they weren't usually interested in zoology. Aaron spent the second half of the morning talking about a topic that brought much more excitement to the children. Candy. Aaron tied in concepts about sugar and energy. He also included a warning about not eating too much sugar, although nowadays, with so little candy and other treats being mass produced, there wasn't as much refined/processed sugar as there used to be in the pre-blackout days.
When the children were dismissed for lunch, Ben walked over to Aaron to have a chat.
"That was an interesting day yesterday," said Aaron. "I hope next year will be just as fun, or perhaps moreso!"
Ben wasn't used to seeing Aaron so excited. Aaron wasn't a depressing person, but he wasn't typically so giddy.
Although Ben had a wonderful time, there was something that worried him.
"We may see the Monroe Militia sooner than that."
Aaron saw a little bit of worry in his friend Ben's face.
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" asked Aaron.
"Could go either way."
Ben didn't want to worry Aaron too much. He simply mentioned that if anything should happen to him, he would want Aaron to help Maggie raise Charlie and Danny.
Flashback to last night:
"What a fantastic success!" exclaimed First Lieutenant Grace Vinson. She had been newly promoted the day before. The entire Halloween inter-village visits and candy distribution went off with only one tiny glitch. The wooden tank escorted the militia group for part of the way, but some of the roads proved to be rougher than the wheels could handle. The vehicle had to turn back in the middle of the afternoon. Luckily, there were no attacks against the Halloween trekkers. All of the kids were happy. "This was a wonderful Halloween."
"Indeed," said Ben. Grace was walking ben back to Sylvania Estates. The Halloween rounds were complete. Fox Hills had been their last stop.
"It seemed like your daughter Charlie really loved these," said Grace. She took out a chocolate treat that included caramel and peanuts. It was similar to a Snickers bar.
"Yea, she loved those as a kid. I'm a little surprised she remembers. She can't seem to remember the taste of ice cream though. Poor kids."
"Do you remember this fast food thing called the Happy Meal?" asked Grace.
"Oh, sure," said Ben. "Why?"
"I remember them too. My parents hated fast food though, so I rarely got one. Maybe once or twice a year. But if there was a toy that I really wanted, they would get the meal."
"Yea, I didn't want my kids to have too much fast food either," said Ben.
"General Monroe is toying with the idea of distributing small-sized toys over Christmas. No pun intended, of course. Probably just small wooden trains or figures or something."
"Wow, really? He's really intent on this public relations blitz."
"Yea. It must be his advisors telling him that too many citizens fear him or something. Anyway, I doubt it would be ready by this year's Christmas. Monroe was going to gauge how well the Halloween festivities went. Today's success might get the higher ups to make the Christmas stocking stuffers happen this year."
"Shall I expect a Star Trek related gift?" joked Ben. He would be amused with a toy phaser or communicator.
"Ha!" laughed Grace. "Trying to milk me huh? The most you'll get is a pair of socks, if anything. I think Monroe is once again only targeting the public relations outreach to the children. No gifts for adults as far as I know."
"Rats," said Ben.
"And don't worry, you won't be drafted to trek around to surrounding villages."
"That's a relief."
"What do you think of the idea of Santa Claus? We might ask a person in each village to dress up as Santa to distribute the presents."
"But don't you want the kids to know that the presents come from the Monroe Militia?"
"Knowing the high command, they'll probably say Santa works for Monroe."
Both of them laughed out loud.
"If we do the Santa thing, are you game? I mean, would be pretend to be Santa? I know some parents refuse to participate in the charade."
"Sure, I'm game. Charlie might be a little too old for such myths, but some of the younger children might get a kick out of it."
"So, I dress you up as a spaceship officer for Halloween and then Santa for Christmas."
"And here I thought the only gift I'd be getting from you would be a pair of socks!"
Grace laughed, but her expression soon turned slightly more serious.
"Here's another gift for you, Ben. If you want to keep a secret identity, make sure your children don't introduce themselves as a Matheson."
Grace revealed that in her short chat with Charlie about chocolate candies, Charlie introduced herself as Charlie Matheson. President Sebastian Monroe and General Miles Matheson had been looking for Ben Matheson. Ben was worried for a few seconds, but Grace reassured him.
"Don't worry, Alderman Jameson. Your secret is safe with me."
Grace smiled and bid Ben farewell. She told Ben that she would keep in touch.