299 Days IX: The Restoration (32 page)

There was a knock at the front door downstairs. Grant grabbed his Glock and carefully poked his head out the bathroom door down the short hall toward the front door. He wasn’t alarmed enough to aim his pistol at the door, but he was alarmed enough to have it in his hand.

“Yes. Who is it?” Grant said loudly enough to be heard through the door. There was that command voice he had developed in the past few months. It was not his peacetime voice.

“Sgt. Vasquez and Trooper Timmons,” a male voice said. Grant was expecting them. He laughed at himself for having the habit, acquired only recently, of always having his gun with him and assuming every knock on the door could be someone trying to take him away. He put his Glock down on the sink, not wanting the troopers to shoot him by mistake if he were waving it at them. He’d come this far, with so many guns pointed at him recently and was about to be the Governor’s dinner guest before the Inaugural Ball; he would be too embarrassed to get shot now by friendly fire.

“Be right there, gentlemen,” Grant said casually. He looked at his Glock again. The memories started flooding back like they had been all evening. He knew every detail of that gun. Nothing was more comforting than holding it in his hand. It had comforted him through the absolute worst things in his life. He’d carried it almost constantly the past 299 days, and had used it several times to save his life or the lives of others. There had been that terrifying night in the neighborhood when everything changed forever. There had been that other time…

Grant realized he was keeping the gentlemen at the door waiting while he was remembering all those things. It was impolite to leave people waiting. He wanted to grab his pistol again when he headed toward the door. No. He forced himself to put it down on the sink.

He needed to get his head into the new normal, and the new normal was that he didn’t need a gun all the time. In fact, other people had guns and were protecting him. That was such a weird thought. But, so was everything that was happening, so why not throw this weird thing into the big pile of weirdness. Roll with it, Grant thought.

He looked at his Glock on the sink and took a deep breath. He could do this without his gun. He put his beloved pistol in the locking carry case he had intentionally placed in the bathroom because he knew he’d have to stow it there before leaving. He took a deep breath and walked out of the bathroom, unarmed and feeling naked.

Grant opened the door and saw the two plainclothes State Police troopers. They looked so young. Much to Grant’s delight, their suits didn’t fit too well, either. He didn’t feel so poorly dressed now. “Come on in, guys.”

“Thank you, Colonel,” one of them said to Grant.

That sounded so strange: “Colonel.” Grant had acquired that title only a few days ago. His first reaction to hearing people call him “Colonel” was always a little guilt because he hadn’t really done anything to get that title. Well, he thought, maybe he did do something but he couldn’t get past the feeling that having that title was a little disrespectful to real military men who did real military things to earn their titles. But he knew that “Colonel” was not strictly a military recognition now.

The New Washington Legislature recognized forty-three people from the war who had done various helpful things of a military nature and awarded them the honorary title of “Colonel.” Grant was one of them. He chuckled to himself. I’m more like Colonel Sanders, he thought. Except I don’t know how to make fried chicken.

The troopers were standing in the entryway with him. Grant still wanted his pistol. He pointed to the bathroom down the hall and said to the troopers, “Let me guess, guys, I can’t bring my pistol with me to the Governor’s Mansion.” “Correct, sir,” the older one said.

“That’s cool. I have you two,” Grant said. He started to get a tear in his eye for no apparent reason, which was happening a lot lately. He tried to control his emotions by distracting them with some conversation.

“Hey,” Grant said to the troopers, “I really appreciate what you guys are doing for me. I know the odds of a gunfight are pretty low, but I appreciate…” Grant wanted to say “you risking your lives” but didn’t. “I appreciate what you’re doing,” is all he could get out. The troopers could sense that Grant was seeing in them other young men and women who had volunteered for things and who were no longer with them. Or, they were alive, but messed up.

“No problem, sir,” the younger one said.

The older one checked his watch and said, “We need to get going, Colonel.”

Grant composed himself again. He was getting better at that as time went on. He was decompressing from the events of the past few weeks and slowly getting his emotions under control. Most of the time.

“Is a separate detail getting Dr. Matson and my daughter?” Grant asked. He knew the answer. He knew the plan well because it involved his wife’s and daughter’s safety. He always knew where his wife and kids were because there were still isolated instances of Loyalist violence. And given his new job, he and his family would be a juicy prime target.

“Yes, sir,” the older trooper said. “At Dr. Matson’s parents’ house. Another detail will be there at 18:45 to take them to the ball.” Grant nodded to them.

Grant’s daughter, Manda, was coming, too. Grant had pulled a few strings and got a nice Inaugural Prom for the young people who had been cheated out of their high school proms by the Collapse. Ben, “Governor Trenton” Grant forced himself to call him, had made that happen. Manda was the Queen of the Inaugural Prom.

As they were going out the door, Grant said to the troopers, “Did I ever tell you guys about how Governor Trenton and I got really drunk when the Seahawks were in the Super Bowl and talked about how a guy like him would never be Governor?”

It was going to be a great night.

Epilogue

Most people slowly recovered from the Collapse into a somewhat normal life.

In the Cedars, things mostly bounced back. Ron Spencer was a hero for his Patriot gray man work. He had lots of accounting clients because businesses were forming and Ron was a respected man. He had enjoyed the excitement of all the gray man work he did, but he was glad to return to the ho-hum life of being an accountant.

Judy Killmer sold her home in the Cedars and moved away. No one knew where she went. She was ashamed for being a collaborator, but was still proud of the fact that she told Ron about Carlos and the others coming to get them. Overall, though, she was humiliated by the whole situation. Many people moved to different parts of the state or different states altogether. With all the official records of everything in shambles, people would just pick a new name and start a new life.

Joe Tantori became a businessman with his banking and security firms. He was a war hero; Tantori’s Raiders were a legend. He took care of all of his men. Most left to go back home or start new lives. Joe made sure they were paid fairly and had good jobs. He gave each one of them a cigar to remember Tantori’s Raiders by.

John Bennington was the Sheriff and a newlywed. He married Julie Mathers and was nursing her back to a more stable mental health. She’d been through a lot. Julie was helped through all of this by Abby, John’s daughter from his first marriage. John’s ex-wife ran off with someone to Chicago and John was there to take in Abby. Abby and Julie were perfect for each other.

The WAB families were fine. Ben, of course, was the Interim Governor, and then was elected to several more terms. Laura was the perfect First Lady of New Washington.

Tom Foster and Brian Jenkins worked for the Governor’s Office. Their families were fine. In fact, they were much closer after their time at Prosser Farm.

The Prossers just wanted to return to their normal lives, but hiding the future governor during the war was too much attention for them to remain anonymous. The Prosser Farm became a historical monument. Visitors constantly came by. Finally, a wealthy Patriot bought out the Prossers and turned the farm into a monument. The Prossers relocated to a new farm. They liked it; the new place had more equipment and was fancier. They still grew their own food and sold it. Business was good.

Dennis, the Prosser’s cousin, had some tough times. He had met Angie, a “food ho,” which was the Collapse term for a “food whore,” or a woman who would live with a man in order to be fed. Angie was gorgeous and a genuinely nice woman. She seemed to be in love with average-looking Dennis, but when the war was over and the economy was better, she left him. It was heartbreaking. Then again, lots of Collapse relationships were ending as things switched from collapse times to normal times.

The EPU agents out at Prosser Farm were heroes for all they did. They gained high positions in the new State Police and provided security details for the new Governor and his family and staff.

Things at Pierce Point turned out well. Rich Gentry was a hero and became the de facto mayor of the community. No surprises there. He and his wife, Amy, finally had the kids they wanted.

Dan Morgan finally got to retire for good. He, too, was a big hero at Pierce Point. Dan trained his dogs and fished. He was very happy.

John and Mary Anne Morrell finally got to retire, too. They had grandkids and Mary Anne still gardened and canned. She was showing young women and a few men how to grow and store their own food. People had learned their lesson about just-in-time inventory. They weren’t going to let that happen again.

Special Forces Ted also got to retire. He avoided the limelight. He was a famous war hero, but was done with war forever. He got a homestead about thirty miles from Olympia and tried to forget all the things he’d seen. The highlight of his year was the annual reunion of the 17th Irregulars. Members of the unit started having kids and they often asked Ted to be their kids’ godfather.

Sap didn’t retire. He stayed in the State Guard for almost two years after the Olympia operation. He then went home to rural New Wisconsin, which was now getting back on its feet like New Washington had. He owned several businesses and did very well.

Chip had found his family at Pierce Point. He married his girlfriend, Liz, and they settled down there. Chip received one of the few Patriot pensions from the Legislature. These were monthly payments for donating property during the war. Chip’s basement full of ARs was much appreciated. People in Pierce Point always brought over food, too. Chip couldn’t sit still, though. He opened up a gun store in Frederickson where he would tell and retell all the stories from Pierce Point. He didn’t sell too many guns but he had a hell of a good life.

Gideon went back to Philadelphia to try and find his family. Things were a mess back in the FUSA and his family was gone, so he returned to Pierce Point and settled down. He started a trucking company there with Doug Smithson. As a hero of Pierce Point—the story about the semi-trailer was told and retold until it was completely exaggerated—Gideon had no trouble getting business. Doug, too, was a hero for driving the semi full of the 17th Irregulars into Olympia.

The Team did just fine. They all married their Team Chick girlfriends and started families. Pow became the SWAT team captain for the Olympia Police Department. Scotty was Pow’s first sergeant on the SWAT team. Bobby went into business with his cousin in a construction company. Bobby’s war hero status helped with business. Ryan joined the State Guard and trained new soldiers. He, too, was a hero and received a lot of well-deserved respect. Someone from the Team spent every New Year's with Kellie and the child who Wes never got to meet, telling her stories about Wes’ bravery.

Tammy Colson was not doing well. Mark was still insane. He kept thinking Paul would be coming back. Tammy was encouraged to divorce Mark and get on with her life. She couldn’t think about that. She would go visit him as often as she could at the mental home run by the local church. She would come back and cry.

Missy Colson was doing better. She was starting to talk again. Cole was helping her by being the quiet autistic kid who could relate to her need for silence.

The more Cole helped Missy, the better he was getting at talking. He was growing up, too. He was a teenage boy now. His voice was changing.

Lisa realized that Cole and Missy were inseparable. But Lisa and Cole and Manda (until she got married) had moved back to Olympia. Lisa thought that Cole needed her fulltime care.

But he actually didn’t. He was so independent and talking so well that he didn’t need fulltime care. He didn’t need his mommy anymore, which was hard for Lisa. Grant, on the other hand, was thrilled that Cole was pretty much independent now.

So Lisa and Tammy talked. They came up with a plan that was good for everyone. Cole would stay out at the cabin in Pierce Point with Manda fulltime. That way, Cole could be with Missy for as long as she needed it. Tammy would oversee them most of the time, but others would help too. Gideon was out there, as were the Morrells. There were plenty of good people who could keep an eye on Cole.

Grant would come out, too, as often as he could with his new job on the state Supreme Court. His ReconComm job had wound down and now, two years after the war, Grant, ironically, had a government job. A justice of the New Washington State Supreme Court.

In fact, coming back to the cabin and relaxing was his favorite thing in life. And so he would come out and check in on Cole.

Lisa still preferred Olympia to Pierce Point. That was okay. She had come out to the cabin at the right time and done quite a bit of good out there. She had earned the right to stay in Olympia if that’s what she wanted.