The morning after the Howards were robbed, Gary woke up angry. As intimidating as he was, Beth Ann thought she liked the angry Gary better than the defeated, silent Gary. Within an hour after dawn he left the house on a mission, slamming the front door behind him in a show of force. He intended to confront several of the neighbors but found they weren’t home...or willing to answer his knock; he wasn’t sure. It just made him angrier. He was tempted to break in and take his stuff back, but common sense told him that was a pretty good way to get shot.
Instead, he marched his way into town to make his case known to the new sheriff. He wanted his food back–he and his wife had bought it, grown it, canned it; it was rightfully theirs. He wanted his wife’s health back too, but that was a more unrealistic demand. With seemingly great interest, Sheriff Branson wrote down every detail and asked lots of questions. He assured Gary that he would take care of the situation and would send a Medical Team member to look in on his wife.
In the meantime, Gary must be assigned to a Team and work in order to get food and water each day. When he protested that his wife was too weak to work, the sheriff shook his head–there would be no shared meals. You work, you eat; you don’t work...there wasn’t enough to just give away. Branson assigned Linda to the Childcare Team, when she got better; it was the lightest duty he could offer. Resigned to comply, Gary informed him about his neighbor, Beth Ann, and she was assigned to work in the greenhouses.
On his way home to get Beth Ann and escort her to town for her first day of “work,” Gary’s burden felt heavier than when he had left that morning. While he walked, he brainstormed options, but none of them seemed feasible. He tried to pray, but it didn’t help. Bitterness began to take root...and he let it. It felt justified and satisfying.
The root grew deeper that evening. While Beth Ann was sharing the day’s events on the Greenhouse Team, they heard loud knocking on the front door, followed by a deep shout. “Security Team! Open up!” Gary told Beth Ann to take Romeo and stay behind the “bedroom” curtain with Linda as he rushed up the basement steps two at a time.
A deputy by the name of Wyatt, according to his badge, claimed to be investigating their theft for Sheriff Branson. Without giving Gary a choice in the matter, Officer Wyatt went through every nook and cranny in the house–main level and basement–taking notes and asking questions. When he left, Gary watched in bewilderment as other deputies congregated in the street. Three of his neighbors, handcuffed, were being forcibly escorted from their homes, and a large lawn cart filled to overflowing with bags was being pulled by two more deputies.
When the cart passed his driveway, Gary ran down the porch steps and sidewalk without taking the time to put on a coat. “Wait! Is that my food? Hey! HEY! What’s going on?”
The parade kept moving, but two rifles pointed at his chest forced Gary to stop and stand quietly. Sheriff Branson and a young deputy did their best to address his concern by thanking him for bringing the theft to their attention. “In these troubled times,” Branson said, “crime has to be stopped immediately or it will be uncontrollable. And the contribution of food will help the town.”
“But I’m NOT contributing it! It’s mine! And my sick wife’s! You assured me you would get it back for me!”
Branson dropped his head and shook it calmly. “No, no, Mr. Howard. I’m sorry if you misunderstood. I told you that I would get your food back, but I never said back to you. You have to understand that if we are to survive, the entire community must contribute what they can. You have to think beyond yourself.” He made an attempt to look compassionate, but his eyes were cold.
Gary clenched his hands. Bright white sparks of light exploded in his line of vision as he felt his body temperature rise. In a low voice he managed to growl, “Get off my lawn, you fascist!”
Unaffected, Branson raised one eyebrow and held Gary’s glare. “Be careful, Mr. Howard. You’ll need to choose your enemies carefully from now on.” After a long, challenging pause, he nodded his head to the fidgety young deputy beside him and they left to rejoin the others on their way back toward town. A blood-curdling scream caught Gary’s attention, and he saw the wife of one of the men being escorted away crumple to the ground. He didn’t feel a thing as he turned and walked back inside.
***
The next day, Tionesta’s work Teams were called by the church bell to the town square to witness their first execution. Gary’s three neighbors stood on the platform, accused of stealing from the town’s food supply. Without a trial or jury, Andrews drew a name out of a hat and the noose was placed around the unlucky man’s neck. The other two men, handcuffed and forced to watch from mere inches away, were returned to their homes without food for that day.
Beth Ann covered her face with her hands and didn’t watch. Some people cried openly, others gasped in horror, and the rest stood shock-still until they were forced to move. Gary was deeply saddened at the extreme consequence, but Andrews and Branson had made their point. If inspiration wouldn’t work, they would rule by fear. And now everyone knew they weren’t bluffing.
***
Linda held on for a couple days after the invasion. Gary stayed home with his wife while she was sick, but he was not allowed to have any food rations on the days he didn’t “work.” Beth Ann wished that she could share her food with Gary, but they were guarded while they ate at the town hall and were not allowed to take food out of the building. Sheriff Branson claimed it was for everyone’s safety...which was probably the truth. At least Gary had the little bit of food he had buried; it would keep him alive for the short term.
Meghan visited the day after the hanging, and a male nurse came to the Howard’s home on the second day; there was nothing they could do except work on bringing the fever down and keep the older woman as comfortable as possible. When a young lady showed up the third day, Gary turned her away. He would spend the day digging a grave. It took all day because he had to light a shallow fire at the back of the property first to thaw the surface ground and then dig the deep hole by shovel. It was excruciating work, even more so for his heart than his back; it was his last labor of love for his wife of thirty-two years.
When Beth Ann arrived home in the evening, she helped to wrap Linda in a soft blanket and pull her body out to the gravesite on a tarp. After they lowered her gently, Gary recited Psalm 23 and said a prayer, his voice low and quavering. Beth Ann helped to move the dirt back into the grave, and Gary set a crude cross marker made of two sticks bound with twine into the ground. He recorded the day on the family tree page in the front of his Bible and went to bed, all without saying another word or even acknowledging Beth Ann’s presence. Beth Ann felt Linda’s loss, too; grieving her passing drove the wedge of sorrow for her own parents and brother even deeper.
***
The weeks passed in a slow-motion blur; it was like living behind an unfocused lens. Beth Ann did what she was told; everyone did what they were told. For that they got to eat enough to keep them alive...and to keep them doing what they were told. Christmas had come and gone. A new year had started without anyone paying attention. No one sang about old acquaintances and times from the past. No one feasted or made toasts. Well, maybe Mayor Andrews and Sheriff Branson did. But no one else.
Beth Ann learned a lot during that time about setting up a winter growing system. The Greenhouse Team manager, Mr. Eckley, had run a small nursery on his property just north of town. He and his family had been relocated into town to use one floor of the Historical Society’s mansion, sharing the three-story home with the families of the Water Team Manager and the Childcare Team Manager.
The Greenhouse Team spent the first few days moving as many supplies from the Eckley property as could be used or repurposed, and then another day to identify buildings that had brick or stone walls that faced southward, or were at least exposed to the scarce winter sun for the majority of the daylight hours. This would help to attract and hold in heat for the polycarbonate plastic-covered structures. After Mr. Eckley received approval from Andrews for the recommended sites, he had to oversee the greenhouse construction by an inexperienced team with varying shades of green thumbs.
They not only built and assembled the greenhouses, but they dug wide trenches under the shelving on both sides for manure that would be mixed with straw and soil to compost. This would also provide additional heat. Beth Ann wondered where the manure would come from, but she found out later that a Livestock Team of two nearby farmers relocated into town had been set up to care for the handful of horses, cows and chickens that had come in with them. Doors were built into both ends so that they could be opened in summer for ventilation. Gutter-like troughs were attached to the frame at the base of the sloped roof to catch rainwater, and barrels magically appeared one day to catch it. On days when it snowed, they would form snow bricks if it was wet enough to pack. Gradually a snow wall was built partway up the outside of each structure for insulation.
Their team was large because Mr. Andrews wanted the greenhouses ready to go as soon as possible; it would be split into two groups in the spring, when a small number would stay with the greenhouses and a larger number would form a Gardening Team. Beth Ann liked her boss and her Teammates, even though the work culture was solemn. Several of her teachers from the elementary and high school worked with her, as well as Tionesta’s head librarian, Gary’s Lutheran pastor, and a few people that she recognized from serving at the restaurant. She also met some interesting new people: a young lady who was being homeschooled and her mom, a grumpy older man who could fix anything, and the owner of the new pizza store that had moved into town only a couple years earlier. She thought it was a pity that she had missed out on building these relationships when times were good and she could have enjoyed them; now no one had the energy for friendship and community. Their lives were literally reduced to work and basic survival.
When it was time to start the seeds, Mr. Eckley showed them how to germinate them in a little dish and when to transplant them. She learned that they had to use what he called “heirloom seeds,” which weren’t genetically modified, so they would keep reproducing for future growing seasons. Since food was so scarce, they planted all the non-GMO seeds, too; they just confined them to the smallest greenhouse so they wouldn’t cross-pollinate with the heirloom plants. The delicate seedlings had to be watered from the bottom, to prevent disease and fungus. The Team had to track specific data in handwritten journals: the temperature inside and outside the greenhouses at certain times of the day and night, which seeds were planted, how long it took them to germinate, when they were watered, the attrition rate, and so forth.
Occasionally she found herself enjoying the work and could momentarily forget about the fragile strand their lives dangled from, but she would never find a way to cope with the pungent manure. Even worse than the manure was the unannounced visits by Mr. Andrews or his henchmen. One man in particular made her feel uncomfortable, the one with the thin, gray braid called “Travis.” There were days he would lean his back against the door frame and watch her work. On other days he would stand uncomfortably close to her and ask completely irrelevant questions about the plants.
One day Travis came up behind her and leaned fully against her as he reached for a watering can hanging above her head, pinning her against the planters. She clutched the edge of the wooden box and stood stiffly, just hoping that if he didn’t get a rise out of her he would go away. At that moment Pastor Dan walked in and asked for the watering can in a way that actually meant Travis should move on. Beth Ann couldn’t find the words to thank him; she hoped the good reverend could see the gratefulness and relief in her face.
Beth Ann’s way of life only two months earlier was hard to remember; when she thought back to the days before the lights went out, they were fuzzy, as if she had read about them in a book. Except for the hole in her heart from missing her parents. And the keen memory of coffee; she would give almost anything for a pot of hot coffee. And she wouldn’t worry about the caffeine or the sugar or whether it was healthy or not; she would just drink the whole pot.
It seemed that her only real pleasure now was reading. On rare days when the Greenhouse Team was done early and the weather was dry, she would sneak through the forest to a spot that had been a favorite of hers since she was a little girl. It was a small rocky ledge in a heavily wooded area; the river flowed not far below the overlook and its gentle sound brought peace to her troubled heart. She could see glimpses of the water now, but in the summer it would be hidden by dense foliage. A narrow deer path led down the shallow ravine to the water’s edge. It was a solid twenty-minute walk from home when she and her parents could freely go there with a picnic lunch; now it took much longer because it was outside the secured town perimeter and she had to make sure she was not seen or followed. But it felt good to defy the rules, like she still had a tiny bit of control over her life.
Beth Ann would escape to the ledge with a small blanket and lose herself in stories about better times. Of course, the handgun that Mr. Howard had taught her to shoot and insisted that she keep with her at all times sitting on the ledge beside her was a constant reminder that she, indeed, was not living in those times any more.
***
While Beth Ann was learning winter gardening, Gary went out with the Hunting Team every day. He was a different person after Linda passed away. Although he was still paternal toward Beth Ann, his will to fight the establishment and to live life fully was gone. They didn’t light candles after dark to read or sing. They didn’t work on projects around the house. He read to himself rather than aloud, and spent long periods of time writing in his journal. He rarely spoke, and when he did, it was mere phrases of a practical nature. He was grieving, and Beth Ann understood that she needed to let him have the time and space to get through it his own way.
The Hunting Team had an increasingly hard time finding game of any size. As they went deeper into the Allegheny National Forest, their day trips turned into overnight trips. Mr. Andrews supplied some gear, and other cold weather camping gear was “donated” by the men and women of Tionesta “who were devoted to the good of the community.” At least that is how Andrews gushed over the supplies at one of the town hall meetings, as people came to refer to them. In reality, the Security Team simply looked through the town’s “inventory” list to identify households with the supplies they were looking for, escorted the chosen people home at day’s end, and simply took it. Of course they said, “Thank you very much.”
While some of the Hunting Team members were gone on overnight trips, others stayed home to skin, butcher and can or smoke any of the game from the previous day, or to supplement physical labor on the Fishing Team or Water Team. Beth Ann hated the nights when Gary was gone–she was lonely, frightened, and didn’t sleep well. Since the hanging, the neighbors who had robbed them had not caused them any trouble; in fact, they had not even spoken to Gary. But Beth Ann still didn’t trust anyone.
***
One crisp and sunny day near the end of February, the church bell rang to call a town hall meeting. Beth Ann quickly finished marking her calculation and hung up the clipboard; it swayed back and forth on its designated nail long after the greenhouse door slammed shut. The meeting was just starting as Beth Ann found Kristen and Meghan. They huddled together half listening and half thinking of the food that would follow the meeting, until the unthinkable happened. Mr. Andrews announced that all pets must be released since the food rations were limited and were for human consumption only. Apparently, several people had approached his deputies inquiring about options for feeding their pets, and although he claimed to be genuinely sympathetic, Andrews forbade using any portion of the town’s rations for a pet. The only exception was for animals being raised to be slaughtered or to provide a by-product like milk or eggs. He urged citizens to release their pets into the wild with a hopeful attitude, as some would thrive in their new-found freedom; in addition, pet owners would avoid the inevitable heart-breaking scenario of watching their beloved Fifi slowly starve to death.
Beth Ann could not believe what she was hearing. For the first time in months, she didn’t feel cold. In fact, even though she was standing outside on a wintry street, she felt scalding hot bile rising in her throat. With great effort she remained outwardly calm so as not to call any attention to herself, hoping that her face wasn’t turning any telltale shade of red. She wished that Gary was there, but his hunting party was not expected back until late the next day. She desperately needed his support, and she would keep her dog hidden until she could talk with Gary about her options. There was not a chance in the world that she was going to send Romeo off into the wilderness to die.
***
Meghan reached out to hug Beth Ann compassionately. She knew how much Beth Ann loved Romeo and sensed her rising emotions. And she had seen firsthand what became of pets released into the wild; but she would never share that story with Beth Ann.
Meghan was doing well on the Medical Team, essentially taking the role of a visiting nurse. Mr. Andrews had provided basic medical supplies to help with contusions, burns, fever, frost-bite, simple fractures, and that sort of thing. For viral infections and contagious illness, an in-home quarantine policy was in place. An infirmary had been set up in the former Visitor’s Center in the middle of town, and it was there that people would sign up to receive treatment on the spot or request a visit to their home.
The part Meghan didn’t like was the intense record keeping she was required to do on her home visits; it felt like spying. In addition, she felt like she had to constantly fight for sustenance for her “patients”; she argued that they couldn’t get better if they didn’t eat, but they weren’t allowed to eat if they didn’t work. The Medical Team leader, Mr. Thorpe, finally convinced Mr. Andrews to release broth to the people who were receiving medical care. Thorpe wasn’t a doctor, but as a veteran paramedic he was the closest thing left in town; heart surgeon Dr. Nejeli and his wife had been shot and their house burned to the ground, while Dr. Sorenson, Dr. Myers and two pediatricians were nowhere to be found.
Her roommate situation with Dillon had worked out as well as could be expected so far; he was not around much and he treated her respectfully when he was. That is to say, he incessantly teased and flirted with her, but so far he had kept his hands to himself and Meghan mostly ignored him.
Above all, she worried about Kristen. As Meghan held her arm around Beth Ann’s shoulders and Mr. Andrews droned on, she watched the void in Kristen’s eyes grow deeper, if that was possible. They were like black holes, a vacuum into which her friend’s spunk and fun-lovingness had been sucked after watching her parents and boyfriend die violent deaths. Now considered a “single” household, as well as in a home outside the roadblock area, Kristen had been moved in with a family. Luke, the dad, and two oldest children, Abby and Ben, were assigned to the Water Team like she was. The wife, Allison, and youngest son, Brian, went to the Childcare Team. Their baby had died early when the food ran out and Allison’s milk had dried up; they had scars of their own to match Kristen’s.
As Kristen grew thinner, she grew weaker. Meghan knew from her training that without a resolve to live, people willingly succumb to depression and lethargy. At this point Kristen was having trouble keeping up with the physical labor on the Water Team, and the manager had written her up twice in his reports to Mr. Andrews. Meghan and Beth Ann tried to encourage her when they saw her at lunch, but nothing got through the deep, dark hollow that had eaten her heart and soul. They felt helpless to reach her.
When Mr. Andrews finally finished his grandiose speech, he released everyone for their meal. Beth Ann, Meghan, and Kristen shuffled forward together in the long line. On normal workdays, Teams arrived in a staggered fashion to the municipal building to sign in. But on town meeting days, everyone gathered at the same time and had to wait in a long line to funnel into the building. For some reason, the irritability of the long-suffering mob grew to fisticuffs this day, and Security Team members had to step in. They broke people into smaller groups and created a second line entering through a side door. Dillon stepped in to help the frazzled woman behind the desk to alternate the two lines through the registration process and up the stairs into the cafeteria rooms.
Meghan watched the stress build and resisted the urge to shake her head. The Mayor and Sheriff didn’t trust the hungry townspeople with food storage and preparation, so they had originally put the Security Team and Deputy force in charge of meal time. However, the lawmen were stretched far too thin between the 24/7 roadblocks and security, managing the jail, reporting on the work of the Teams, and handling Mr. Andrews’ grunt work. So they added a few more sturdy, but not too young, deputies to the force with wives who could help–while guarded, of course. They had to keep meticulous records on meals served, but there was no inventory to keep because Mr. Andrews brought into town whatever was going to be used for each day from some mysterious, outlying location.
Meghan smiled at the woman and thanked her as she signed in, hoping it would make her day better. The woman stopped, holding the pen in mid-air, and stared at Meghan as if she hadn’t heard a kind word in years. Before Meghan could respond, a deputy handed her an MRE and pushed her toward the steps, yelling “Move along!” Meghan stumbled, but Beth Ann steadied her and they hustled up the stairway, zombie Kristen trailing behind. As they reached the top, they could still hear the guard berating the woman for being too slow. Meghan glanced at Beth Ann and wondered if she was thinking the same thing: the “green sashers” were becoming increasingly cockier and deserved the sneered nickname.
***
The next day, Beth Ann anticipated Mr. Howard’s return to the point of distraction–tipping the wheelbarrow of manure, spilling the watering can, and shutting the door on her boss. Finally her Team was called to the municipal building for their meal, so she knew that time was moving forward, albeit too slowly for her. As they approached the lawn, she was horrified to see yet another “lesson” taking place. While Travis looked on, hands clasped behind his back, a man wearing a collar and rope leash was being forced to run in circles around one of the Deputies, like a horse being broken. The man was obviously exhausted, barely able to clear the ground with his feet as he stumbled. But each time his knees buckled, Travis would nod and the Deputy would yank him up by collar, practically choking him.
Mr. Andrews’ lessons were always public, and the Teams on their way to their meal were required to pass by. Beth Ann kept her head down as she made her way up the walk; she didn’t like to see people suffer. Suddenly she ran into the woman in front of her. Travis had stopped them, forcing them to watch. Looking up, Beth Ann nearly fainted when she recognized the gaunt man as Gary Howard.
“This man ran from an attack on his Hunting party, rather than fight back!” Travis announced. “And as a result, his partner was killed. Since he likes to run so much, now he’ll run until he fully understands his error. Next time, it will be his life for another!” Travis then shooed them off in the direction of the municipal building’s front steps so that he would be ready to explain the lesson to the next Team.
Beth Ann fought her way out of the line and ran back to Travis. “Let him go! He’s learned his lesson, I’m sure!” she demanded, breathless.
Travis lifted his eyebrows and cocked his head. A smile formed slowly on his leathery face, like he had just noticed a spider that needed squashed. “Oh, really, young lady? And how can you be so sure?”
“Because I know him, and he’d never do anything to hurt anyone. There must be more to the story! He’s had enough – can’t you tell?” Beth Ann cried out as Gary fell again and stayed down, his head bouncing hard against the ground. When the Deputy looked to Travis to see if he could stop, Beth Ann bolted toward Gary. But Travis caught her fast around the waist, lifting her nearly off the ground.
“Hold up, small one,” he said, laughing. She started kicking and punching. “Ooh, You’re a feisty one!” He pinned her arms behind her back with minimal effort. Leaning into her face he offered her a deal: “Give me a kiss and I’ll let you have your man back.”
Beth Ann spat in his face and took advantage of his surprise to jerk free of his grasp. “You’re SICK!”
He slowly wiped his cheek with the sleeve of his jacket. “Why, yes...yes, I am. We will continue this later; I got work to do. Now get that coward to the infirmary. And no meal for you today!” With a wave of his hand, Travis signaled for the Deputy with the “leash” to escort Gary and Beth Ann away.
She didn’t care. She didn’t think she could eat anyway, after being harassed by the repulsive man and seeing the way Gary had been treated. She let Gary lean his weight on her while he stumbled down the street to the Medical Clinic under the Deputy’s watchful eye.
After a fitful night’s sleep at the clinic and some warm broth, he was able to tell Beth Ann his side of the story. Gary had been paired up with Mr. Shannon for the three day hunting trip. They had managed to get a couple small rabbits and a squirrel, so at least they weren’t coming back empty handed. But on the morning of the third day, as they headed toward Tionesta, they were ambushed. Gary never saw who was shooting at them or how many there were. Mr. Shannon went down instantly, but Gary was able to get away. There was no way he could have saved his buddy, and there was no way he could have fought off the men who took their meat and camping gear. When he reported back to the Team Leader, he was taken to Mr. Andrews and then turned over to Sheriff Branson and finally to Travis for his punishment. He took Beth Ann’s hand and clasped it between his two rough, red hands.
“I wish...,” he started, then just closed his eyes. She swallowed the lump rising in her throat and gave him time. He finally looked up at her. “I wish I could protect you. I wish I could make things better. I wish I could tell you God has a plan.” He turned his head away. “But we’re all on our own now, just marking the days till we die.”