"Now we survive." — Clarke Griffin, "Echoes"
The convoy pulled to a stop at the city limits. Murphy was the first out, opening the door for everyone and making sure to help Emori and Abby out of the vehicle. Abby smiled at him and slung her bag over her shoulder. Clarke and Benja flanked her as they looked at their new home. Jasper, walking around the rover, pointed at the massive sparkling lake in front of them, "Why couldn't we have landed here?"
The water was a vivid blue-green in the sunlight. It stretched as far as they could see. The beach was a light tan and completely smooth, like no one had touched foot on it in a century, which, given the emptiness of the town, was very plausible.
Abby said, "Come on, we have a lot to do before nightfall."
Monty led the way with the old map. They walked along the beach, watching the fish jump. They arrived in what used to be the downtown area and were surprised to find it relatively intact, only a few buildings burned down. Bellamy commented, "It's like this place never saw the nuclear war."
"That must be why it won't see the death wave," Clarke mused, scanning the buildings in their neat rows.
"All right, so this was Front Street," Monty said, following their path with his finger on the map. "Not too far from here, there is a row of condos that will serve us well. Keep an eye out, they're blue."
The condos weren't hard to find, they were a street south from the massive beach they had walked along the entire way, about twenty minutes now the road. There were at least 20 buildings and they knew that each held 6 apartments, making it 120 homes each with 2 bedrooms. In the surrounding blocks, there were dozens of homes they could choose from for larger families.
The guards swept the buildings first and when the all-clear was given, everyone proceeded toward their assigned apartments. Several of the families remained outside, waiting for their home assignments. Kane had chosen from the ones directly behind the apartment complex. Some were too small for their needs, but others would do just fine.
Abby, Clarke, and Benja proceeded to a dark blue, two-story home about two blocks away from the apartment complex. It backed up on a large park that they would use as their gathering place. The large trees provided the front porch with plenty of shade. There was a swing on the wide front porch. The front door was red.
Clarke was the first one through the door, telling the other two to wait outside. She had her gun out and came back out once the coast was clear. They walked in together, amazed by the condition it was in. Clarke muttered, "Monty's right, why couldn't we have landed here?"
Abby smiled and walked along the white oak hardwood floor. She arrived in the kitchen, taking in the gray quartz countertop, the bright red cabinets, and the stainless steel appliances. It was the biggest kitchen she had ever seen. She commented, "This is quite the home."
Behind her, Clarke nodded. Benja said, "Em ste os. | It is great."
Abby smiled. As the other two went to find the bedrooms on the second floor, Abby walked further into the kitchen. Her eyes honed in on the pictures on the fridge. The top one was of a family, all with brown hair and light eyes, ice skating on the frozen lake 100 meters from her — their — house. A sudden guilt came over her as she looked over the other pictures — the boy on a tire-swing, the family on the beach, the little girl on a horse. Why did they leave? Or, did they even leave?
Abby wipe a tear from her eye as she walked toward the stairs. She mounted them and slowly climbed. Benja ran across the landing, glancing down at Abby halfway up the stairs. He yelled, "Bedroom!"
Abby's frown disappeared as she followed him into his new bedroom: a large rectangle room with pale blue walls, a bed, a dresser, a desk, a computer, and a bookshelf. He sat down at the computer and tried to turn it on, but there was no power.
"Mom, Kane is on the radio," Clarke said, walking into the room. She handed the radio to Abby as she walked over to Benja. She clapped him on the shoulder and said, "Monti na fis em op. | Monty will fix it."
He smiled and looked fondly at the black screen. Abby left them and entered her new bedroom. Distracted momentarily by the large bay window that had a view of the lake, Abby shut the door and sat down on a chair in the corner. She pressed the button on the radio and said, "Marcus?"
He answered immediately, "How was the trip?"
She smiled. "Uneventful."
"That's all that we can hope for," he mumbled. Louder, he said, "What's the town like?"
"Deserted. Marcus, there's no one here. You would think that the safest place in the surrounding area would have some interest."
"You have to wonder where the people went," Kane said quietly.
"I know," she said, frowning.
They were silence for a few minutes, the only sound the static on the radio. Abby finally broke it, "When are you coming?"
"I'll be on the last convoy."
She sighed.
"Abby, I'm sorry. But I have to be here to oversee the migration."
"I know, Marcus," she began. She paused for a few second before saying, "But, I can't help but think that there's something not right here."
"You have the guard, the Coalition's on their way, and Clarke won't leave your side. Everything will be fine."
"That's not what I meant. I don't think there's a threat. I just have to know what happened here."
"I know, Abby. Look into it and let me know if anything is wrong."
"I will." She frowned, knowing that he should get back to his work. "I love you, ai gona."
She could almost hear the smile in his voice. He said, "I love you too, ai niron. Keep safe."
The orange line was on the horizon and Abby sat on a bench on the beach with Benja. Numerous other Arkadians stood or sat near them on benches or blankets, waiting for the sun to rise. The orange turned to pink, red, and a faint yellow. They hadn't witnessed something quite like this in the east at Arkadia. The feeble rays shimmered off the water, blinding them as it rose further and further.
"Abby?"
She turned in her seat to find Monty and Jasper looking at her. Their faces looked grim.
"Can we talk to you?" Monty asked, blocking the rising sun with his hand.
"Of course," she said, standing from the bench to walk a short distance away so Benja couldn't hear.
"We found something in our condo," Jasper said, holding out the note to her. Abby took it tentatively.
There were only 3 words written on it: Don't trust them.
"What would you have us do?" Monty asked.
"Is this it?" She asked, running her finger over the words long-ago written.
"Do you need more to start worrying?" Jasper asked.
"I guess not," Abby said with a sigh. "Who do you think they meant? A tribe here?"
"That's our best guess," Monty said, nodding.
Jasper said, "Or maybe it's the missing people."
Abby frowned as she pulled the radio off of her hip. She pressed the button and called Marcus' name. He answered within moments. "What's wrong, Abby?"
"Marcus, we've found a note in one of the condos." She explained the situation and waited for him to say something.
"'Don't trust them?' That's all it said?"
"We think it may be a tribe near here; Jasper thinks it's the missing citizens," Monty said
"Hmm…Could be anything," Marcus replied. "Keep your eyes out, but I don't think it's something to worry too much about. We don't know how old that note is. It could be nearly a 100 years old."
"Marcus is right," Abby said. "There's no use speculating. This paper does look pretty old."
"The writing doesn't," Jasper noted. He was right — the ink was very black, not frayed very much.
Kane replied, "Just keep your eyes open and be alert."
That afternoon, the park was bustling with people. The carpenters were hard at work building the cafeteria, canteen, stables, and training grounds. Sami Helm was preparing dinner over a fire with the help of those from distribution: Yui Hill, Helena Costa, and Emori, John Murphy's girlfriend. The members of the guard were conducting fighting drills under the leadership of Aidan Helm.
An old office building stood adjacent to the park. Medical would be conducted in an old clinic on the first floor; chemistry would be down the hall. Engineering was set to be on the second floor with environment and resources, guard offices were on the third along with a training area converted from an old gym, and the Council chamber and councillor offices were located on the fourth floor. Education would be conducted in a nearby school; there was some structural problems — likely from a small bomb — but they would be fixed before teaching began.
The Council chamber was a large conference room with floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the park. A large, round table sat in the center of the room, surrounded by seven chairs. Only five would be occupied today. Abby sat in one near the window so she could watch the workers while she waited for the others.
Bellamy and Clarke were the first to arrive, appearing as if they had just had an intense discussion. Abby didn't say anything to their simultaneous arrival; the two were inseparable lately. Clarke, the Coalition Ambassador, was only invited to discuss the opportunities of trade and peace with the other members of the Coalition once they arrived. They sat down after saying a brief hello and resumed their conversation. Scanlan, Bennett, and Gwen arrived separately, but within minutes of each other. Abby knew that they had each been surveying their new department areas: Scanlan on the third floor, Bennett on the second, and Gwen, the last to arrive, at the run-down school.
"Jasper and Monty found a note in their condo," Abby began once all were seated. She passed the note to Scanlan on her right, who passed it to Bennett. They both looked at Abby after reading. Once all had read the note, Abby continued, "The question is: what do we make of this?"
"What does the Chancellor have to say about it?" Bennett asked.
"He says not to worry too much," Abby replied. "But we have to be alert."
"Kane's right," Bellamy said, "there's not much we can do without more to go on."
"Don't you think that we should send out some of the Guard to check out the surrounding area?" Gwen asked, frowning. "What if we're not safe?"
Abby considered it a moment. Reconnaissance would be smart and Kane was right, they shouldn't let down their guard. They had to know what they were up against.
"Bellamy, Scanlan: take four others and secure a five kilometer perimeter around Traver," Abby commanded. The two nodded and rose from their seats, sensing that this was an order best carried out immediately.
"Do we tell the people?" Gwen asked.
Abby shook her head. "Not until they have something to worry about."