Day 205 AF

When we got to Sterling it was dawn. It had taken us three days, driving in shifts, through the nights. It wasn't constant 60 miles per hour straight shot like it would have been pre-flash, non. If it had been we probably could have been here in a day. Travel was different these days. You couldn't just stop at a station and fill up with gas when you needed it. You had to scrounge for it and that took time and creativity. The ash and dust wind storms lasted for hours, reducing visibility, making you slow or sometimes stop completely. Then there were the obstacles on the road, those made you travel slower too.

We went to the Bayou directly and found a few men hunting. After visitin' for a bit and I quickly baged a small crock that would fit in my saddlebags for trading purposes. Everyone needed fresh meat these days. Then the men directed us to a couple homes along the way. There Clotile found one woman she'd known who assured us both Clotile would be just fine here and I could go about my business, come back for her later. There were no baggers in the area, the hunters told us they saw to that. Clotile would be safe for a few hours.

I asked a few questions in town, trying to get the lay of the land to judge my welcome, so to speak. Everyone practically shooed me along, told me traders should go to Haven's gates. That's where all the trading was done around these parts and I'd find whatever I needed there. A monopoly on trading. Fantastic. That never boded well.

I pulled into Haven, surprised to see Cajun guards at the gates with pistols and withered blackberry briars in the background. No fruit though. Things sure had changed around here. No cane fields. Just those withered cane stalks and withered trees like everywhere else. Though I could see some...green trees near the house? What the -?

"What's your business traveler? Are you here to trade or work?"

I spoke in Cajun. "My name is Jack. I'm from the Bayou across the bridge originally. I've been traveling since the flash with the Louisiana militia. I've stopped through on my way to Texas to trade for food and I have information for Evangeline Greene. She'll want to see me."

The guard gave me a pleased look when he saw he was a fellow Cajun from the area, but frowned when I asked for Evie.

He replied in Cajun. "Miss Evie doesn't receive visitors until noon, but I can get Ms. Karen Greene for you if you'd like."

I'd come all this way and she wasn't receiving visitors? Was she too fucking above me to even speak to me now? Suddenly I was enraged. I'd had a hard two days from scouting and finding the Lover's army back to the Militia, and then another three days hard riding here. That made a grand total of five days of nearly non-stop travel, stopping only to scrounge for fuel, with barely any sleep or food and Miss Evangeline Greene wasn't receiving visitors?

I spoke in a soft but nearly lethal tone. "You tell her Jackson Deveaux is here to see her. I'm a family friend. I think she'll be willing to hear what I have to say."

His face suddenly brightened. "Jackson Deveaux did you say? Well I'll be damned! You sure took your sweet time getting here." He shook my hand. "It's an honor to meet you Jack! Honor and a pleasure! You can call me Max. I still doan know about Miss Evie, but there's folk here who've been waiting a long time for you to show up! Then he left to check while I sat on my bike, cooling my heels, trying to calm the rage that flowed through me. Wasn't receiving visitors?! One of the other three guards at the gate offered me a cup of water but I declined. I'd had a cup over at the bayou when I'd dropped off Clotile, and I was still pissed.

About ten minutes later Max came back saying, "You're in luck. Miss Evie said she'd see you. She's in the fields like always in the mornings. Would you like me to take your bike to the motor pool for you Jackson?"

I tried to calm the fuck down, but the bike wasn't leaving my side and I didn't know that I'd be staying long. "No thanks Max. Not sure how long I'm stayin. I'll keep the bike with me."

Max shrugged saying, "Suit yourself." and we continued to walk down the half mile oyster-shell drive. Withered cane stalks stretched nearly six feet high on either side of us. I was mad, exhausted, and my stomach was trying to eat my spine. It had been ages since I'd slept or had a decent meal. Hell, since I'd had a bath.

I'd hoped that when we next met it would be with me earning her respect. Dustly and travel sore, I'd just give her another reason to look down on me likely. And I was mad about that too. Mad that the opinion of some rich bitch mattered to me. Only, as much as I tried to convince myself I didn't care, I knew she wasn't a rich bitch. I knew her better that that. I tried to shut those thoughts down.

As we got closer to the house, I noticed greenery. There was a hedge of briars as tall as me. I was six feet 4 inches. I hadn't noticed it before because it was just slightly taller than the wilted sugar cane, but the fields sloped down gently so the wilted cane hid the greenery until you came closer.

The hedge curved in a massive circle and appeared to completely surround the main property. Past that cane fields had been removed and there was a field of dirt ready for planting. At the head of the field, near the house, lounging in the chair in the shade of a tree, looking very comfortable was a girl with long, wavy, blond hair.

Workers were in the field gathering crops. From the looks of it, okra, carrots, potatoes, corn, and peas. Also...Blueberries and Strawberries? I wasn't an expert, but I didn't think those were supposed to all grow in the same season. My mouth watered and I had to restrain myself from running to the field to pick those berries where they stood.

I struggled to keep my jaw from dropping as I gaped as the crops while we walked past the long field. I hadn't seen a living green thing in over two hundred days. It was a new fact of life. Nothing grew. Not anywhere. Not for anyone. If it wasn't canned or from a bag, box or bottle, there wasn't food anymore. Well, excepting Gators and snakes for meat.

They seemed to survive fine for some reason. Fish too on occasion, if you were lucky. Most rivers and lakes had flash evaporated though. The entire gulf coast was rumored to have dried up. How the bayou waters had survived and the people here had thrived was a huge mystery.

How had they managed this? As Evie sat on her chair at the front of the field, I again remembered Tarot card of the Empress. The Empress sat in a chair, surrounded by a bounty of food. It was like a lightbulb went off in my brain as the pieces fit together in a flash. Evangeline was the Empress! Had she known? Or suspected? Was that why she'd left the sketch blank?

I felt like all the work I'd done to become worthy of her, all the skills I'd learned, had been for nothing. My anger shot straight to fury. If I wasn't good enough for her before, I'd never be good enough now. And on top of that, in spite of being the Empress and being able to make food somehow, I looked at her sitting there, apparently lounging and eating while others work and I despised how soft and spoiled she seemed to have become. Again she was a puzzle. How had she become more soft and spoiled since the flash, while others had toiled harder and worked longer? How could she lounge while others worked for her?

She'd probably never look twice at me now. Probably forgot about ole Jack long ago. A scowl twisted my face. I frowned when I came close enough to make out her features. She was...smiling? At me? I blanked my features and studied her. Her face was pale, even in the shade. Was she sick? Didn't the good life agree with her?

I knew my comments weren't cordial, but I was so furious I was struggling to keep a lid on it. She didn't respond in kind though, just telling me she worked a hard early shift and was still recovering. Somethin' about that struck me as off. She didn't invite questions about that, quickly changing the subject an' asking after me an' Clotile. Her concern seemed genuine.

I tol' her where we'd been, that Clotile was over at the Basin visitin' right now but that I'd bring her by later. In truth, I'd wanted my first meeting with Evie to be just between her and me. We had things to settle after the way we'd parted. It seemed as though she just might have missed me.

When she asked why I'd come back, I hinted around at my reasons, wanting to save the good stuff for when we got down to the serious haggling of trading. She invited me to sit then, but looked away. Couldn't stand to look at me now? What was her problem?

I could hardly contain my surprise when she didn't bother to haggle for what I had to trade, offering me and Clotile two rooms to stay for as long as we liked and food to eat. She didn't want to look at my catch or care what I caught, but then she told me hunters of my skill were valued here? Why couldn't the fille ever make any sense?

I didn't smell anger or passion on her. It was a new scent. Two of them. I didn't know either one. I asked why she'd be so generous. There had to be a catch. Were they running a racket? A trap? She looked at me, looking for something. She seemed disappointed, then she stood to leave and … fainted?

She was sick! I was sure of it! What was the matter with her? I carried her to the house, and she weighed next to nothing. This also made no sense because food was obviously not in short supply. She should have weighed more than this. I couldn't get her mere to give me a straight answer about why she was ill, just that she had a strenuous job and would be better by noon. I knew bullshit when I heard it. Something was way fishy around here.

Oh and here was some food, water, a spare set of clothes would be placed in my room, free of charge, and would I like a bath after I ate or before?

The talk with Karen was interesting. Evie worked too hard? She felt like a good for nothing doll if she stood around doing nothing? Bonne-a-rien babelle . My fingers clenched around her thin ribs as I remembered the words I'd shouted at her in anger the night before I left. Had she taken it to heart? Working herself sick? The thought of it hit me hard somewhere soft inside, twisting my insides.

Evie was resting while the crops were being planted, but she was also not resting. Which implied that she was working in some way. That was really interesting. Did that have something to do with her being Empress? Using her gifts to make the plants grow and recovering from her "strenuous" work early in the morning? Not to mention Karen saying, "Haven wouldn't be the success it is without all you've done. You will always be welcome here, our home is yours." Our home is yours?!

I should consider Haven my home ? The last time I'd spoken with Evangeline she'd told me to never come back . Now that I had I'd been warmly welcomed, told to stay as long as I liked, and that I should consider Haven my home. I shook my head with a wry grin. It would take me a while to wrap my head around that.

And that bit about Evie not being relaxed...what had that been about? This was a paradise. What reason did she have to not be relaxed? I noted the books on Evangeline's nightstand after I set her down. Robinson Crusoe! Island of the Blue Dolphins. The Hatchet. Survival books all. Heh. What to make of that...

I let Karen lead me down to the kitchen though I knew the way. It had been a while since those study sessions so long ago. There were at least two dozen women filling both the kitchen, the kitchen table, and the dining room. Preparations for a large meal and canning foods going simultaneously. I paused for a second, the phrase, "too many cooks in a kitchen" coming to mind. No one seemed to be arguing though. Some were cutting and washing. Others washing and drying jars. More attending pots boiling on the stove. Some good smells coming from there made my stomach rumble loudly.

And was that...did I smell... fresh bread? My scroungers eyes flashed around the room. There! Four women kneading and shaping dough into rolls and placing it on baking sheets. Taking it outside? They must have a wood or solar based oven out there. And I'd smelled the bread because that brunette fille had just brought in two trays of rolls from outside. My mouth watered and I swallowed hard.

No one ate fresh bread anymore! Mais, no one ate fresh fruits and veg anymore either. It seemed the rules just didn't apply here.

Karen asked me to excuse the mess of preparations but they were always busy in the kitchen at Haven. I could well see that. Even as she was saying this a man came to bring in a bushel basket of vegetables from the field outside. Karen redirected some of the preparations to card tables on the porch over my protests. I'd be happy to eat anywhere. She insisted that I was an "honored guest" and I was going to sit at the table and eat my fill and she wouldn't hear another word to the contrary. When I opened my mouth to try again, about to say I could just eat on the porch, Isabeu Jandin, Tee-bo's mere, appeared from somewhere backing up Karen.

There was one thing Jackson Deveaux had learned, I ain't ever goan to argue with two women. I always come out the loser on that score.

So I sat, and let them serve me what they said was breakfast from that morning. A good sized piece of Ham steak, two sweet potato biscuits, a bowl of cajun grits with thick chunks of ham, a cup of strawberries and blueberries, some jam, a cup of milk, a cup of water and the promise that there was more in the kitchen if I wanted. Mercy me, if this was the kind of food they served here, I'd be hard pressed to ever want to leave.

I thanked them, and brought in the crocodile from my pack, telling them I'd skin it myself after I ate. They made a huge to-do about me bringing in meat. Evie wasn't lyin' then. Hunters were valued around these parts. Made me wish I'd caught somethin' bigger, but I'd been on a bike and didn't have the space to haul anything else. Then finally, they left me alone to eat, tellin' me not to worry about skinnin' the gator. It'd likely be done afore I'd be done eatin'. I shrugged and tucked in. I was starved.

I cut the ham and biscuit, added the jam, put it together and took a bite. Then moaned.

I hadn't tasted anything this good since the flash. "Ca c'est bon!"

I thought about those books on Evie's nightstand as I ate, tryin not to make myself sick eatin' too quick. Had she learned any skills since the flash? I hoped so. What had she had to make do without? Didn't look like much...

I'd eaten a good portion and was starting to slow down when I heard footsteps on the stairs. I checked out of the corner of my eye. Evie. Huh. She'd been faint and seemed dead to the world when I laid her down. I recalled that afternoon in English when she'd had a nightmare. She'd told me then she'd had nightmares every time I close my eyes. Did she still have them? Must be bad ones, and frequent to judge by the look of her. Looked like she'd had nearly as little sleep as I had in the last five days.

I kept one eye on her as I moved on to the spiced grits with thick chunks of ham, thankful for the generous size of the bowl. There'd been a time where I could have asked for seconds, but after having eaten so little for so many days, I'd have to wait a while afore eatin' more. I wished I had room for more though. Ca c'est bon! I'd given Clotile most of what we had, which hadn't been more than ration bars and our canteens, when she'd let me get away with it. I could wait the few hours it would be until the noon meal was served. My belly had shrunk and I didn't want to get sick. I still had most of that bowl of fruit.

Evie still looked cagou, I could see her holding on to that banister for dear life. And onto the back of the couch in the living room. Then the chair. Coo-yon fille. She should be in bed. Mais, she did manage to make it to the table and sat next to me, though she practically fell into the chair. Her legs must've given out. She leaned back, looking like she might grey out any minute.

"Shouldn't you be in bed resting?" I asked, eying her as I took another bite.

She put an elbow on the table and pillowed her head on her arm, facing me. "There. Resting. Better?"

It was actually. Least she wouldn't fall sideways out of her chair this way. "Smart ass."

She gave me the tiredest smile I'd ever seen. Shit. She needed a keeper.

Apparently I wasn't the only one unhappy with her color because one of the older women plunked down a small bowl of grits, one ham biscuit with jam, fruit and milk in front of Evie. Evie jumped slightly and pushed up a little, looking at what had made the noise and then looking up at their visitor.

The older woman who was plump and grandmotherly, but dark like most Cajuns and had lots of white in her hair said,"Eat! You're too pale and skinny! You work to hard! Eat!" Then she humphed and walked away. Evie giggled and said, "Yes Rosa." before sitting up to eat, though she leaned her head on her hand heavily, and ate a bite of her biscuit already loaded with jam, chewing with her eyes closed slowly as though each bite was an effort.

"Doan fall into your food now." I cautioned, she looked so weak it was appalling. Her hand was shaking. To my delight she shot me a look filled with fire.

"I'm fine! Why does no one believe me?" She sounded so irritated with me now I wanted to laugh. I couldn't resist teasing her a little. At least this was familiar territory.

"Maybe you'd have a bit more credibility, if you didn't look like you hadn't slept in a week and didn't faint after standing up." I suggested helpfully with a wry grin.

She winced, but nodded and shrugged, digging into her food a bit more. Then she asked, "When will Clotile be here? I've missed her."

"I told her I'd pick her up this evening, but seein' as how most o' the folks she's wantin' to see seem to be here...?" At Evie's nod of confirmation I went on, "I'll pick her up once I'm done eatin."

"Great!" Evie called Rosa over and whispered something. Rosa grinned and sent one of the girls outside for something. "Would you mind going ahead and telling me your news now? I have a feeling I need to know this as soon as possible."

I sighed. Well, that was it then. My welcome was probably done. Hopefully she didn't shoot the messenger. I leaned in closer, knowing she used to like to keep her secrets very private.

Whispering I told her, "You remember what you told me, that night before the flash?" She paled and her eyes grew damp. What was that about? "The sketch you gave me, the warning, about the Lovers and their army." I reminded her.

Her eyes grew wide and she gasped in a huge breath before nodding once sharply. That was more the reaction I had expected. She was hanging on my every word.

"They're headed this way, marching west. I figure you've got maybe three days. Four at the most. My outfit, the militia I was with, they'll be here in another day, maybe as early as tonight if they push it. Clotile and I rode on ahead to warn you. I gave my CO and XO the warning you gave me and I'll never know why, but they listened. So they're bugging out and we're all headed to Texas. We figure if anyone can stop an army this size, it would be them." I paused a long moment then added, "I'm sorry Evie. I truly am."
A tear fell down and she wiped it away with a shaking hand and looked away, blowing out a shaky breath. Damn it. I looked away. I couldn't stand it when women cried. And not Evangeline. Never her. My hands clenched into fists on the table beside my bowl.
"Thank you." she said, her voice soft and all a tremble. What? My head snapped back around.

"You gave us at least three days warning. That's more than we ever would have had otherwise." She smiled at me? Mais , she was grateful to em, appreciated what I'd done.

That made my heart grow large with pride in my chest. She wiped away another tear. "You've saved us again Jack!" Evie gave a shaky laugh. While she was crying? Would I ever understand this girl? Somehow I didn't think so.

My body wanted nothing more now than the bed I'd been promised upstairs. But Clotile was my sister and mine to lookout for. She'd been almost as hungry as I had been this morning since we'd run out of ration bars the day before. I wouldn't let her pass up a chance to be fed at a spread like this, though we'd been told the hunters did have some food and fresh produce where they were.

I'd finished my meal so I told Evie I was off to fetch Clotile and grabbed my pack, heading out the door. When I turned on my bike, I was surprised to find someone had topped off my gas tank. Shocked honestly. Gas was precious and rare. I shook my head. Honored guest for true. Honored son nearly. This was far from the welcome I'd expected.

After bringing Clotile back and leaving her in the hands of the women, who'd promised her a bath that she was excited to have. It was not quite 11:20am. I had a bath of my own and changed into the set of clothes that had been left in my room for me.

On the dresser sat a pair of jeans, two pair of socks, two pair of cotton boxers, and two shirts. One was a plain black tee shirt, but the other was a dark green short sleeve henley...that looked really familiar. Why was that? Shrugging, I took my warm bath, luxuriating in the warm water for a while, then dressed in time to join the noon luncheon. I put on the green one, hoping that would help jog my memory.

I exited the back doors of Haven to the large porch and steps to find large rows of restaruant tables and chairs arranged in long rows. There was a head table that ran parallel to the porch, next to Haven Manor, and then five long rows of tables running perpendicular to the head table, but with space between to move. Perserving the distinction between the lords and ladies and the common folk? Wel that was fine. I knew which I was.
I moved to take a seat among the commoners. When I spied Gaston at the table on the far left he grinned large and moved my way arms wide yelling out my name. "Jackson Deveaux! You finally made it!"

"Gaston Aucoin! It's good to see you, podna." We exchanged slaps on the back and he pulled me over to the table, introducing me to some of the men he worked with around on Haven. He didn't get far because just then the doors opened and women poured out, bringing trays of large bowls and spoons. Once we had our bowls, and plates, the men started to line up at the large kettles off to the side of the porch and the women went back inside. I grabbed a bowl and spoon with Gaston, joining the line. While we waited, the women came back bringing pitchers of water and cups for the tables as well as plates. When Gaston and I made it to the pot I saw it was Gumbo they were serving. My mouth watered and I struggled to keep my tongue in my mouth.
"You eat this good all the time?" I asked.
"Yep. Sometimes better." He told me.

"Better?" I asked. "How can it possibly get better than this?"

A big clump of rice was added to the middle of my bowl. Exactly how it should be. My bowl wasn't small either. Man sized, it probably held a good three or four cups of food, and the women serving hadn't been stingy.

"Just wait'll you see desert. Fruit and nut pies. Doan get me wrong, hard to beat a good bowl of gumbo. But I heard tell we're up for a crawfish boil soon. That'll hit the spot. It's one of my fa-vor-ite things. And one night we had a hog roast in the pit. That was hard to beat."

"I'll bet." I muttered. But right then, nothing could beat what was in my mouth. This gumbo had real sausage in it. All the spices were there. My eyes rolled back in my head in pleasure. Once I could manage to slow down, I started probing for information.

I asked after my podna's, and learned Tee-bo and Lionel lived in the big manor, but were working off site today and wouldn't be back until later, nearly supper hour. Gaston was on the security team. He an' I shared stories of our adventures since the flash. His detail alternated between protecting the town proper, and escorting scavenging teams on large missions. He had me laughing over some of the more rediculous missions, one of which involved shooting bagmen in several ladies underwear departments.

He'd been under strict orders to not get holes in the clothes, so they had to get creative luring the buggers out toward the doors and letting them pile up there, them hauling the stinky piles out into the sun. Sounded like one of the more rediculous missions I'd ever heard of. Several of his younger teammates had been humming the mission impossible theme at the time, while others had yelled at them to shut up, because aim while laughing was poor and bullets were in limited supply.

Then he'd had to stand guard duty in the hall while the girls from Sterling went into the rooms in Haven and tried on. One girl had gone into Evie's room and had to be hauled out when Evangeline had called her out on trying to smuggle more than her alotment out of the room. She'd been in tears, and had accused Evie of getting special treatment. Then the guard had watched as Evie had stomped to her drawer while he'd had the blond thief in hand, and Evie had pulled out all her bras in front of him!

She'd had five, which was more than the three allotted. This was because she'd donated a bunch of gently used bras to the pile that no longer fit. Evie told the girl that if she had any gently used bras that didn't fit and were still in excellent condition, she could negotiate for extras as well. But for now, she'd forfitted the chance to take all but one. They'd both watched as the girl had picked her one and left in tears, promising she'd bring back her extras to trade.
I couldn't help but wonder what those bras had looked like...and I did not like it one bit that Gaston had seen them.

He told me he and most of the rest had been on Haven nearly since the first month. I was surprised how quickly the Greenes had taken everyone in, but glad they'd chosen to do so. I couldn't believe the numbers of people here. There were over 400 people being provided for all told. While that was a staggering achievement, it was also a huge problem.

How were they going to move that many people to Texas? The number of vehicles and amount of gas was mind blowing. Before the flash it would have been expensive. After the flash...just not possible. I found myself thinking back to that list I'd talked about with Evie before the flash. Gas had been on there hadn't it? And cars hadn't worked after the flash...the list had asked each person to fill up their own tank. It might be possible. If they had stockpiled it, rationed it. Just might be possible.

They'd brought out a desert for our table. A sweetened cinnamon raisin bread with a hint of rum. Not quite a bread pudding but pretty close.

I found myself staring at Evie again for a long while. She'd started the meal at the head table but had moved to a different seat at the far end of the head table closer to where I sat and was now chatting with some of the serving girls over desert. She must have felt my gaze because she stilled then looked around and her eyes found mine.

She quirked her brows at me as though asking, "What?" I sat back, hands on my spread thighs, still staring. What had she said? You gave us three days warning. That's more than we would have had otherwise.

She had planned for this. Clever, bonne fille.

After lunch I pulled her aside from the others asking quietly, "Are you prepared to move out 400 people all the way to Texas in a matter of three days? You have the gas and cars to pull that off?"

She tilted her head...and smiled at me! "No Jackson. We're prepared to move out 400 people all the way to Texas in a matter of thirty-six hours," but her smile faded as she finished, "fully equipped with food, fuel and the necessary supplies to leave and probably never come back."

The confidence she said this with staggered me and I would have laughed except for the heartbreaking sadness in her eyes. Then she went on. "How many men are in your militia?"

"Nearly seventy."

"Are they good men? Trustworthy?"

"They ain't perfect but they're good enough. The commander and his X.O. are a good sort and they trusted me when it was important. They got a doc and a surgeon in the outfit. Men who want to fight to save humanity. On the whole they're good enough."

She nodded. "You said they'd be here tomorrow?"

"Tonight or tomorrow. They'll want to barter for supplies, then move on."

"I'll need to talk with Mom and Ronan since they'll be in charge of the outfit as it moves to Texas, but do you think your CO would be willing to barter supplies in exchange for delaying a day and guarding our people on the way to Texas? We have hunters and scavengers, but they're only familiar with the area around here. They've never traveled more than a day's journey away and your militia would be a valuable resource."

"You have enough food to spare, some fuel? I don't want you and yours to go hungry."

"I wouldn't offer if we didn't. Like I said, we've more than prepared for this but the journey safety itself has been our biggest concern. The militia would be the perfect escort if they'd be willing."

"Sounds like a good deal. If we didn't have to scrounge for food and fuel the journey'd go a lot quicker."

"We'll arrange a meeting between our leaders and yours whenever your outfit arrives then. Just let someone in the house know."

She turned to go, her steps energetic. She did look better in the afternoon. Healthy. Wierd.

I needed shuteye in a bad way and Tee-bo wouldn't be back until 4 so I went to my room. My very own room in a plantation mansion I should think of as my own, with a queen bed and fresh crisp sheets after I was clean from a bath. This was a paradise! Shame I had to leave in a few days. Easy come, easy go.