Author's Notes: Well, I am not writing any faster as time goes by. Life keeps happening. It has been a particularly sad few months as I have lost my father, a brother-in-law, and two dear friends.
On the up side, I have learned more about living off the grid as time goes by. I have been done with this chapter for a number of weeks, but had no internet access. Such is life in the boondocks.
I would like to thank all of you who have taken the time to comment, 'follow' or 'favorite' my stories. It means so much to me that someone is still reading, even though I am writing at a painfully slow pace. I can't promise to post any faster, but I have already started the next chapter…
Disclaimer: Sadly, I still do not own any of the characters that appeared on the CBS show Jericho.
Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to my sweet friend, Kelly, who recently lost her courageous battle with Cystic Fibrosis. She was my encourager and beta early in my fan fiction career after setting a wonderful example with her own work in the Jericho and Crossing Jordan fandoms using the nom de plume Nynaeve1723. The world is a better place because she was here.
Chapter XII: 9:02
October 18-19, 2006
Bombs + 31-32 Days
Zack and Alex Summers walked back toward Scout Ranch after the first meeting of the Jericho Cadets. When they had been summoned to meet with Mayor Johnston Green the previous week, they had no idea what to expect. Mayor Green and his son Jake had been waiting for them, and had introduced the idea of starting a cadet-run youth program similar to the Civil Air Patrol Cadet program. Since they had no other pressing commitments, and since the town of Jericho had so graciously welcomed their family, they readily agreed to try and develop such a program.
Word had been put out among the families of Jericho, and a sizeable percentage of the adolescent population had expressed an interest in more information. The first meeting had been scheduled for the following Wednesday afternoon. It was held in the school cafeteria between lunch and dinner service, with about 50 young people in attendance. Johnston and Jake had been present to observe and answer questions. A number of parents had accompanied their young people to learn more about the program.
During the meeting it had been decided that the older youth (15-17) would meet for the first few weeks so that Zack and Alex could teach them leadership skills and more about the program. The younger cadets would then be invited to attend meetings. The goals of the program were set out to be respect and self-discipline as Johnston had envisioned, along with practical skills, with the objective of helping the town with whatever task needed to be accomplished. Johnston mentioned stringing concertina wire around the farm perimeters as the first project he had in mind. Once the formal meeting adjourned, Zack and Alex were able to mingle among the group and get to know people they had not yet met.
"What did you think of the girl from St. Louis? I think she said her father was a police officer there. I can see leadership skills in her already," Zack said companionably as they walked.
"I agree," Alex nodded. "What about the deaf girl. I think her name was Bonnie? She can participate, can't she?"
"Absolutely," Zack assured him. "I don't know if she will be able to do drill and ceremony, but she can do everything else. She has enough enthusiasm to make up for any potential deficit. I'm more concerned with that guy named Sean. I think he was only there because Bonnie was there; he sure popped off a lot when we were explaining things. He won't last long if that keeps up."
By that point, the boys had reached Scout Ranch. The Summers family had decided they would be staying in Jericho for the foreseeable future within 24 hours of their arrival. After having spent a few days in areas that were less prepared, they counted it a blessing that everything had worked out as it had. Arrangements were made for them to move to Scout Ranch, where Mike would be closer to the airport and his new employment in the machine shop with Jonah. The boys were able to help Will McCall with various things at the ranch including taxiing the residents of Jericho to and fro. Claire had become fast friends with six year old Bernadette McCall, helping to keep two year old Addison out of mischief, collecting eggs from the chickens, and generally keeping busy. It was helpful that the two girls could be homeschooled together for first grade since they were just a few months apart in age. Lizzie had not yet been called upon to help at the Medical Center, so she and Erin took turns teaching the girls and completing the tasks needed to keep the farm and B&B running smoothly. Thus far, it seemed to be a good fit, and Erin found that she wasn't as lonely as she had been since she had moved from Green Ranch.
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The residents Green Ranch found themselves out in the garden midmorning having a harvest party. Jake had volunteered to stay at the Ranch House with the napping twins while Heather and Chip went outside in the sunshine. The McCall ladies were planning to can as many vegetables as possible, and Heather planned to participate from start to finish.
Once asleep, the babies usually slept a solid two hours, so Jake took the still-working baby monitor and walked quietly out to the barn to check on the horses for a moment. He felt the weight of responsibility heavily on his shoulders since E.J.'s passing, as though it was his sole duty to keep the McCalls and the out-of-towners safe in addition to his own family. There weren't enough hours in the day to see about all of the things he felt he needed to do.
As he entered the barn, he was surprised to find Annie McCall talking quietly to the horses and patting the nose of the closest one.
"Annie," Jake said in surprise. "I thought everyone was out picking vegetables."
Annie looked up, a little guilty. "I said I would stay behind and start dinner. Sometimes it's nice to have just a few minutes of quiet, you know?"
"I certainly do," Jake agreed emphatically.
"I used to ride quite a bit," Annie reminisced. "Scout and I used to ride when we were courting. Then, he and I would take the horses out occasionally after the kids came along. I think they call it 'date night' nowadays. I like to come out and talk to the girls from time to time, so they don't forget me."
Jake put his hand on her shoulder, sympathetic to her feelings about the horses and her sense of loss. A noise from the back of the barn surprised them and they turned to see one of the horses burst out of his stall, with a rider on his back, and thunder toward them. Jake pulled Annie out of the way, but she still was knocked over as the horse went by. Jake's eyes were fixed on the face of the rider, who he recognized even in the dim barn and with five years of time between them.
"Mitchell Cafferty," Jake said under his breath. He turned to Annie, who was getting herself up, but favoring one wrist.
"Go get him," she ordered Jake, taking the baby monitor he still held in one hand. "I'll listen for the babies and alert the troops."
Jake gave her a second glance to make sure she was alright, then swung himself onto Rocket and took off after Mitchell Cafferty. Jake could tell by the cloud of dust that he was headed southeast, probably skirting around town.
Jake and Rocket were a good pair, but Mitch had a sizeable head start. Jake was thankful that he faithfully carried his radio and sidearm with him, as he raced along. He radioed Heather to inform her of Annie's injury and the need to return to the house and watch the girls. He also radioed the Ranger base to inform them of Mitchell Cafferty's presence in town and to request back-up. As they continued on, it became clear to him that Mitchell were heading to the airport, although Jake couldn't figure out why he would go there. He doubted Mitchell had an EMP-proof jet waiting. Then it dawned on him that Mitchell was heading towards Jonah Prowse's compound. It still didn't make a whole lot of sense, considering the chain of events that had happened the last time Mitchell was in Jericho.
When Jake arrived at Jonah's compound, he rounded the corner of the hanger to find himself literally in the middle of a Mexican standoff with Mitchell Cafferty on one side of him and Jonah and his men on the other. They all had guns drawn and pointed at each other. Jake dismounted and put his hands up in an attempt to diffuse the situation.
"I should have known better than to risk coming back here," Mitchell said bitterly, ranting in the general direction of Jonah. "You're just a bunch of goody-two-shoes who don't have the guts to get the job done. I thought maybe one of you would have figured it out now that the world's come to an end, but I was wrong. You're all the same kind of pansies who were here before.
"And you," he railed angrily, turning his focus to Jake. "You are the cause of my misery for the past five years. If you hadn't narked me out to the Feds, I would have gotten away with that last job and be sipping drinks on a beach somewhere in the Bahamas and not stuck back in this hell-hole. Now that I think about it, you are a big part of my problem. I've thought about Jericho every day for the past five years, and it would give me great pleasure to put an end to you right now."
Before Jake could react, Mitchell cocked his gun at close range, aiming at his chest. The loud explosion of the gunshot followed quickly, but Jake didn't feel a thing. He glanced down reflexively at his own chest, which remained intact. When his glance returned to Mitchell, he noticed blood blossoming at the side of his head as he crumpled to the ground. The realization hit him that Jonah had shot Mitchell, who now lay in a motionless heap on the ground.
"I'll have my men bury him if you square things with your Dad," Jonah said in an off-handed manner, placing his gun back into his waistband and turning back to business as usual.
"Wait a minute," Jake said, still in a daze.
"What?" Jonah asked impatiently. "Mitchell was a convicted felon. Before you got here, he mentioned lifting a horse from your ranch; that makes him a horse thief. Back in the day, that was a hanging offense. He said he was on that prison bus the day the bombs went off; that makes him an escaped convict and quite probably involved in the murder of the Sheriff and his deputies. The gun he carried was a Glock 21; common law-enforcement issue. Just now, he was threatening the life of a Federal Agent. You want to quibble about me shooting him? The way I see it, the Town of Jericho should throw me a parade.
Jonah turned to his men. "You good with this," he asked each of them in turn. Each one nodded his head, familiar with Mitchell either by history or by reputation. Lastly, Jonah turned to Mike Summers, the most recent addition to the compound.
"You OK with this," Jonah asked him.
"Sure am," Mike replied. "If he had gotten what he deserved to begin with, we wouldn't be in this position today, now would we?"
Jonah nodded and turned back toward Jake expectantly.
"Ummm, I'll just square things with my Dad if you and your men will bury Mitchell," Jake said with a shrug of his shoulders. His heart rate was returning to normal and the gravity of the situation was beginning to sink in. He remounted Rocket and took the reins of the second horse Mitchell had stolen when they were handed up to him by one of Jonah's men. Without another word, he turned and headed back toward Green Ranch.
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"I will not have Jericho turning into the Wild West just because of a few nuclear bombs. I don't care what is going on with the rest of the country; Jonah Prowse cannot take up vigilantism and kill Mitchell Cafferty in cold blood to avenge the death of his son Chris. Jericho will continue to follow the Rule of Law. We will have trials and juries." Johnston was pacing back and forth in his home study, mad as a wet hen.
Jake had radioed ahead to make sure Annie was alright, and to advise Heather he was safe and on his way home. He decided to take the opportunity to 'square things with his Dad', as Jonah had so eloquently put it, and was fortunate to find the Mayor at home for lunch. Sadly, he had led with the facts: Jonah shot and killed Mitchell Cafferty, rather than telling the whole convoluted story leading up to the actual shooting. Jake sighed and started again in his attempt to convince his father that the shooting was a righteous one. By the time Johnston was convinced, Gail had brought a tray in for the three of them and they had enjoyed a quick lunch.
Jake was preparing to continue home and Johnston to return to Town Hall for the afternoon when a knock was heard at the door and Stanley Richmond burst in.
"Hi Stanley," Gail said in surprise.
"Sorry to bother you, Mrs. Green, Mayor, Jake," Stanley replied, a bit breathless from running up the walk. "I found corn worms in my crop today. I'd rather harvest the whole crop today rather than use pesticides. Do you have any ideas? Maybe those Jericho Cadets that Bonnie's been talking about?"
"Yes, I think we can put a crew together," Johnston said thoughtfully. "What do you think, Jake?"
Jake nodded and reflexively looked at his watch for the hundredth time that day. In aggravation, he removed the useless watch that persistently said '9:02' and jammed it into his pocket. Gail and Stanley rolled their eyes in sympathy while Johnston smirked and held up the watch E.J. had given him when he became Mayor or Jericho – the old fashioned kind that required daily winding but wasn't subject to the forces of am EMP.
"It's noon by my watch," Johnston drawled, "How about we plan to meet at the Richmond Ranch by 2pm?"
"Sounds good," Jake said with a shake of his head, glad his father could find the humor in something. "I'll swing past Scout Ranch on my way out of town and speak with the Summers boys."
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Green Ranch was calm when Jake finally arrived home. He cared for the horses and went into the ranch house to find Heather, Eleanor and Aunt Laura chopping vegetables to be canned. They reported that Annie was resting with a sprained wrist and would be as good as new in a few weeks. He, in turn, relayed the story of his adventurous morning.
After a brief rest, they all found themselves in a wagon headed toward the Richmond Ranch.
The Jericho Cadets had been tasked with the job of picking corn, but many other residents of Jericho also turned out to help, especially families of the newly minted cadets. Jake ran into Robert Hawkins as he was passing out glasses of water to the helpers.
"You have any idea what you're doing?" Jake asked with a smile, indicating the ears of corn in his hands.
"Not a clue," Hawkins responded with a laugh.
"Thanks for your help," Jake said.
"Hey, this is our home, too," Hawkins retorted with a smile.
"Yeah," Jake said with a grin as he moved down the row to provide the next person with water.
Jake was gratified to see that his friend was making an effort to assimilate into the community. The corn harvesting detail went smoothly and allowed the Summers brothers to get to know the cadets a little better while completing their first community service project. Jake watched as the community pulled together to solve a problem they had not anticipated. He smiled to himself, thinking of all the effort and planning initiated by E.J. and Heather. This was the first fruit of their labor.
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As they approached the outskirts of Columbus, Ohio, Grant Stevens could not have been happier or more relieved. The two weeks since they had left the Erickson farm had been harrowing. Even though they had skirted around population centers of any significance, every encounter they had had with other people had been fraught with peril of one kind or another. Although they had not yet needed to kill or even shoot anyone, they had drawn their weapons on several occasions. Grant, although not previously a man of faith, considered it purely the grace of God that they hadn't all been injured or killed along the way. It was as though the EMP had robbed people of their last hope that the government would show up and set things to rights.
Grant and the others reminisced fondly of the hospitality they had enjoyed at the Erickson farm, and hoped for more of the same when they reached the Schmidt farm just south of Columbus. The jars of soups and stews had sustained the group with one hot meal each day over the course of the past two weeks. With the air growing cooler, it had been invaluable to look forward to something warm at the end of each day. The Schmidt family had become an integral part of the group. As nice as it was to consider stretching out into two carriages for the remainder of the trip, Grant was loath to say good bye to their friends. Toby had become the de facto head of the security detail, and Kate the head of all culinary efforts. Grant reassured himself that they would be fine without the Schmidt family, but the decrease in numbers concerned him as much as the loss of skills and knowledge. Grand shook his head. Nothing could be done about it.
The smaller carriage transporting the Schmidt family had taken the lead when they had stopped for lunch in Lancaster. They had been within a few hours of the farm, and Toby would lead the way. Fortunately, the Schmidt family had come to the farm to meet Conrad's cousin and see farm the previous summer. Conrad had been so proud of his grandsons, showing them off along the way on the trip. Then, at the farm, he and the boys had had a wonderful time getting to know the ways of the farm. Toby was thankful they had had that opportunity, and that his sons were old enough to remember their time with their Grandfather.
As they approached the Schmidt Farm, Grant started to feel concern that something was not right. There was a strange lack of activity for a farm; likewise a lack of a guard as was present at the Erickson Farm. The tableau remained still as they drove up the long lane and drew the carriages to a stop in front of the rambling farmhouse. Toby jumped down from the smaller carriage as Grant exited the larger carriage. Together they approached the wide covered porch and the front door that looked like the cover of a Better Homes and Gardens magazine Miranda used to receive in the mail.
Toby used the ornate manual knocker to rap on the door. A solid minute passed in silence, and Grant began to fear no one was at home. Eventually, the filmy curtain rustled and a pair of eyes peered out, then the door was opened slowly by a man armed with a baseball bat.
"Whatever you want, we don't have it anymore," the man shouted through a crack in the door with more bravado than he appeared to possess.
"Cousin Ray, it's me Toby. Conrad's son," Toby greeted the man with a mixture of reassurance and puzzlement.
"What are you doing here?" Cousin Ray asked, clearly as puzzled as Toby.
"Things in New York were getting out of control and it hadn't even been a week. Dad thought we should come and perhaps help you on the farm?" Toby was unsure of the wisdom of that decision at this moment.
"If only you'd arrived a few weeks ago, you might have been able to help," Ray said dismally, finally lowering the baseball bat. "Now it's too late. Everything is gone."
"Maybe we could come in and discuss it?" Grant broke into the conversation. "We've been traveling for weeks and could use a bit of rest."
"Yes, I suppose," Ray responded reluctantly, clearly unhappy with this new development. He eyed the carriages suspiciously.
"They are good people, Cousin," Toby added reassuringly as his family and the Jericho group exited the carriages. Ray led the procession through the darkened house to the farm kitchen toward the back. Unlike the Erickson kitchen, that bustled with activity and emanated savory smells, this kitchen was still and lifeless save for the woman sitting dejectedly at the kitchen table with her head resting on her forearms.
"Barbara, we have company," Ray announced in a flat tone.
"Cousin Barbara!" Kate knelt next to the woman. "What has happened?"
At the sound of a familiar voice, Barbara peered out of her hiding place and then melted in a pool of tears around Kate's neck.
"Oh, Kate, it's been awful," she sobbed, clinging to Kate like a drowning man to a rope. "We lost Jennifer, and then the cows, and they are threatening not to feed Thomas, and I don't know what we're going to do."
Barbara's words were barely intelligible, and didn't make any sense to the group gathered in the kitchen. They looked to Ray for clarification. Ray shook his head sadly. A broken man, and began the story.
"When we inherited the dairy farm, 20 years ago, we were city folks. We hadn't ever worked on a dairy farm, much less owned and operated one. We had a good foreman, though, and he helped us through the steep learning curve. Against his advice, we insisted on automating everything. Nothing but the best for us," Ray shook his head regretfully. "So when the bombs dropped, none of us knew how to manually milk a cow, much less milk 200 cows twice per day. Our steadfast foreman had long since retired to Florida, and the new guy was next to no help at all, taking his family and going south after the first week. We found a few old-timers in the area who were teaching us and other interested folks how to keep the cows milked and distributing the milk to those who needed it. Then the EMP happened 2 weeks ago and things got really bad.
"The people in town knew, once the EMP happened, that things were never going to be the same again. They were no longer happy with a bit of milk from our cows, they wanted meat, before the winter started and the cows became thin. An armed posse of young hot heads came and demanded them. They took one look at out 19 year old daughter Jennifer, and decided they wanted her, too. They pointed their guns at me, there was a scuffle, and she got into the middle of it trying to protect me. She got shot in the chest. She lived a few hours, and then we lost her. A month earlier, and she would have gone to the trauma center and been fine. Now we live in the dark ages. And I only had a baseball bat to protect my family because I thought we lived in a civilized country. Was I ever wrong," Ray concluded bitterly.
"Oh, Ray, I'm so sorry," Toby patted Ray's shoulder ineffectually.
There was a poignant pause while the group digested the news about Jennifer and the milk cattle.
A young man entered the kitchen a few minutes later. It was obvious to even the most casual observer that he had Downs' syndrome. He was perhaps 16 years of age, but small of stature, appearing closer to the size of a 12 year old, and demonstrating a mental capacity of someone even younger. As is common with some Downs' syndrome individuals, he had a perpetually pleasant affect. Both of his otherwise distraught parents brightened noticeably at the sight of him, and his young cousins from Manhattan exploded around him with enthusiasm.
"Thomas! Will you take us outside?"
"Thomas! Do you have any new barn kittens?"
"Thomas! Can we play with your trucks?"
Thomas' face bloomed with smiles as he recognized Toby, Kate, Josh and Caleb from their visit the previous summer. Kate and Barbara gave permission, and the three boys ran off to seek farm adventures, leaving the weightier subjects for the adults to resolve.
"You mentioned something about the town withholding rations from Thomas?" Grant asked gently, having now a better understanding of the situation.
"Yes," Ray said sadly. "They say anyone with a handicap is not eligible for full rations. We were in a better position when we had the dairy, but now that they came and slaughtered the cows, we can't say as much. Rather than a lot of folks having milk, butter, and cheese for months, some people had one beef diner and now it's all over. I don't know what we're going to do."
Having learned a great deal on their travels, the New York contingency knew the right questions to ask.
"Do you have much food preserved? Much set by for winter?" Grant asked.
"No, not really," Ray said forlornly. "It just seemed easier to go to Costco and buy whatever we needed than to put any effort into preserving things. Heck, we haven't even had a garden for years. Barbara was busy with yoga classes and book club. She had to take Thomas to soccer tournaments. I hosted my fantasy football league; that was a lot of paperwork. That's part of why we were planning to sell the dairy and retire. Just too much work. If only we had known. We would have done things differently.
During Ray's soliloquy, the folks from New York had been exchanging significant glances. It was obvious that the New York Schmidt family couldn't stay here. Even the Ohio Schmidt family probably wasn't going to make it on this farm, if one could call it that. Each adult gave a brief nod of agreement as Grant asked the silent question: Should Ray, Barbara and Thomas be invited to join them on the road? It would be a ridiculously tight fit, although technically they had enough seats for these three and one more. It was unanimous. Apparently the group was willing to make the sacrifices involved.
Grant turned to Ray. "We still have a long trip ahead of us; at least two more months on the road. It will be a mighty tight fit in the carriages, but you and your family are welcome to take your chances and come with us. We are ultimately heading for Jericho, Kansas. Some of us live there, and others have family there. They have become prepared as a community over the past few years. If you are willing to work hard and do your share, I believe you will find a safe haven there."
As Grant had been speaking, Ray and Barbara had been listening intently. Tears were slowly running down Barbara's cheeks.
"Oh, yes, please," Barbara said, without even consulting Ray, who was concurrently nodding his head. "I have been distraught over what would become of us, and especially Thomas, in this ruthless society. We know he isn't perfect, but he has always been such a sweet boy, and everyone who takes the time to get to know him just loves him. I will feel so much better knowing he will be in a safe place. Ray and I were older parents, and we aren't as young as we once were. And now he doesn't even have Jennifer to watch over him." Barbara was now sobbing, a mixture of grief over the death of Jennifer and hope that they might have a future after all.
Kate went to Barbara and comforted her. Although their own future was now as unsure as that of Ray and Barbara, at least they had friends, and some hope that Jericho would provide a future for them all.
"Well, it's settled, then," Grant said firmly, hoping to staunch some of the waterworks that were issuing forth from the ladies. "We had planned to stay just one night and then head on, but perhaps we could plan to stay two nights and spend tomorrow gathering what we can for the journey? We are pretty low on supplies, so whatever you can find to bring along will be greatly appreciated."
Tasked with gathering supplies and seeing about dinner, Barbara dried her tears and began to move with purpose. She and Kate began going through the kitchen while the men went outside to see if there were anything worth taking from the barns and outbuildings.
The men stepped out onto the porch just in time to see the gleeful faces of Thomas and the boys go flying past in a pony cart, waving happily.
"You have a cart and pony?" Grant asked, feeling foolish even as the words came out of his mouth.
"Why yes," Ray responded. "Thomas loves to ride it around the farm."
"With your permission, we could bring it along with us. Thomas and the boys can ride in that and the crowding problem will be lessened quite a bit. Do you have any other equipment?" Grant asked, guessing he needed to be very specific if he wanted to get his point across.
"I guess that would be fine," Ray acquiesced. "I wasn't sure what we were going to do with the other critters, either."
""What other critters were you thinking of?" Grant asked cautiously.
""Well, let me see. There are just Jenn's horse and Barbara's horse left, really, Jennifer was very attached, and Barbara has had her horse for years." Ray responded.
"How about means of transportation, other than the pony cart? Do you have an old carriage in the back of a barn somewhere?" Charles asked impatiently.
"Why don't we have a look around?" Toby asked hopefully. He was aware that this gentleman farmer cousin of his was frustrating everyone. He tried to smooth things over before before tempers flared. Even Bob Brady, who would have been voted most easy-going by the group, was becoming irritated by Ray's utter lack of initiative in trying to help move his wife and disabled child to a better situation. The time had long since passed to sit around and wait for a government administrator to come and fix things.
Of one mind, the men split up and began searching the various corners and nooks of the farm buildings. It wasn't long before they were successful.
"Here's an old wagon," called Toby, pleased that his cousins wouldn't be a complete drain on the group, and hopefully would be able to provide some sort of assistance for the rest of the trip.
Said wagon had, indeed, seen better days. It would work well enough to haul food for the horses and whatever personal items the family felt they could not leave behind. Crates of carrots and apples were immediately loaded for both equine and human consumption as well as bags of oats. The horses, unused to pulling a wagon, were hitched up and driven around the farm with the partially filled wagon so they wouldn't be as completely shocked when they left in the morning. It was a poor excuse for proper horse training, but the best they could do under the circumstances.
The ladies had gone through the house with similar ruthlessness. They were able to find some dry and canned food supplies for the road while Barbara had rounded up clothing and a few personal mementos she wanted to bring along. She was able to share items of clothing with the other ladies, who had been on the road and were grateful for fresh socks and other items.
Under Kate's culinary direction, they enjoyed a feast for dinner, cooked over the open fireplace. They used up items of food that weren't suitable to take on the road. The atmosphere was festive as the Ohio Schmidt family felt a sense of hope they hadn't experienced since the bombs dropped. The New York Contingency enjoyed the last vestiges of civilization they would see for a while. Early the next morning they would head south on the I-62 toward Bowling Green, KY by way of Cincinnati, which they would circle widely around to avoid the population center. They hoped to locate a branch of the Green family in Kentucky.