Reset (Book 2): Salvation (24 page)

“Thank you,” Trey said. “Thank you so much for that.”

“You’re welcome. And um, Maggie, don’t lose your Aldervice. They locked a trace on it and we don’t want to lose track of you in case of trouble.”

“Thank you. Thanks again.” Trey ended the call.

“I thought he was a dick at first,” Malcolm said. “But he turned into a nice guy. Even if he didn’t know who Chuck Norris was.”

“Don’t let him fool you, he did,” Trey said. “Okay, so we know. They’ll be coming for us. Lose the Aldervice and get a move on it, first thing. “

“And he told us where to go. You should go tell Hunter and the others.”

“I will. I’ll be back.” Trey moved to the door.

“And bring that moonshine.” After calling out the order, Malcolm felt the pain in his leg. It caused him to cringe, and he guessed it would hurt him for some time.

He rested back and began to think about things. He had to think about the days ahead and where it would take them. Planning ahead was not like it used to be, in the new world, under the new circumstances, it was one day at a time. It was possible that for a while they would live a life on the run. Malcolm’s only hope was that after all they had been through, lost, and all that had been taken from them, that one day, they would be able to just stop running and live some sort of normal existence.

That was his goal and he would do whatever it took to make that happen for them all.

Nora paused to blow on her frozen finger tips. She would have loved nothing more than to have a full pair of gloves, but it was impossible to pull the potato plants while wearing them. The wind had picked up, it also had started to snow a little, making the ground harder. It was not the weather they expected in October, not in Virginia. When they settled there a year earlier, the weather was perfect, hunting was good, and the first winter was unbelievably mild. Meredith kept telling them, don’t be fooled. They needed to go farther South. But farther South was out of the wasteland zone, and it was a chance they couldn’t take.

Hunter found what he believed was the perfect place. And it was. They were doing well, they weren’t starving. Illnesses were minimal. No one had died. That was an accomplishment. They stayed away from people at first, until a random scouting trip by Blake connected them with a man named, Scooter.

Scooter recognized Meredith right away and through him they got involved with other communities, and trade.

Salvation, they were glad to know, had never been in those parts.

Malcolm proved himself to not only be a great leader of the small group, but the community klutz as well. Since waking from stasis he had the arm infection, been shot, broke his wrist when he fell off a horse, burned his nose, and numerous other injuries. The latest being broken fingers when he was helping Rick build a fence. Rick didn’t want him to help knowing Malcolm’s luck, but Malcolm insisted and there went his fingers. Which was why Nora and Dillard covered his turn in the fields.

It took Meredith several months to get back to normal. She started learning medicine from Cole. A back up doctor, she claimed.

Jason hadn’t changed much, he ran his own church with a congregation of twelve, but did learn to make the best moonshine. That didn’t come as a surprise to Nora. Hunter being the taste tester did, though.

She wanted some of that moonshine in the middle of the fields, but then she wouldn’t feel the cold at all and would end up with frostbite. That too had happened to Malcolm.

Nora watched Dillard as he worked. He was unbelievably intelligent. He didn’t speak much about his time at Salvation, other than the food was weird. He was at an advantage. Those chosen for stasis in the genesis project were the top minds in the world, and Dillard was being educated by them all.

He would be, without a doubt, a leader in the future.

“Okay, sorry,” Nora said to Dillard, shaking her hands. “What were you saying?”

“There has seriously got to be an easier way to do this. Can’t we plant them earlier so we pull them earlier?”

“This is a yearly plant. We have them all year. Besides, our quota is twenty. How many do we have?”

“Four.”

“See. Almost halfway there.”

“For real? You only dug up one.”

“That’s because you have them little baby hands and can really get in the dirt.”

Dillard stood. “My hands are cold.”

“Here.” Nora reached out. “I’ll blow on them for you.”

“No, that’s gross. Stop.” He pulled his hands away and squatted again. “Why couldn’t this wait?”

“Because we want meat and potatoes. Hunter got fresh meat. Your mom needs it.”

Dillard paused. “Do you think the baby will look like Hunter?”

“Are you asking because there was radiation here a while back?”

“No, I’m asking because he’s the father.”

“Then yes. Yes. I do. But with hair. Maybe not at first, but eventually.” Nora said as she watched Dillard put two more potatoes in the basket.

“You think you and Jason will ever have a baby?”

“No.” Nora said quickly. “And you know what. Let’s stop. I’ll mash these.”

“Good call.” Dillard jumped up. “Wait. Are you gonna make me peel them again.”

“Not if you can beat me back to town carrying that basket. Ready?”

Dillard excitedly nodded.

“Go.”

Without hesitation, Dillard took off. Nora did not. She shook her head, laughing over the fact that he actually believed she was going to run that half of a mile.

She took her time walking back, she’d probably wouldn’t peel the potatoes anyhow. The walk was always peaceful and quiet, no matter how cold or hot it was.

Life was different for her than it was before she went into stasis. How could it not be? Gone was the internet, phones, television, and texting. The only social media they had was when one of the villages had an event and they sent a notice by messenger.

There were a lot of things she missed, like the ease of living and more so than anything, her daughters. She missed them with her entire being every day of her life. Rick filled her with daily stories of the life she missed.

Nora had regrets, but nothing she couldn’t live with. She really didn’t have a chance to dwell on regrets. When it boiled down to it, she truly was happy, but in a different way. It was a new life in a new world and like the others, she was going to make the best of it.

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