The two weren’t exactly shy about public intimacy, but even so Trev had the uncomfortable feeling he was interrupting a moment. He hesitated, trying to decide whether to let them know he was there or try to climb back down the gap. He wasn’t sure he could do it quietly, and definitely not quickly or easily. The two could look over and see him at any time, which would just make the scene even more awkward.
During his hesitation Jane spoke up, voice barely carrying to him. “I guess it was always a pipe dream, wasn’t it?”
His cousin was slow to answer. “A bit of one,” he finally admitted. “Maybe a ways off.”
She snorted. “When could we live here? We’re staring down nuclear winter and this place was brutal for you even during a regular winter. There’s no knowing how long it’ll be before the climate goes back to normal. And even if we could survive conditions up here, we can’t leave Aspen Hill. We need our family, the community, and they need us.”
“A long ways off,” Lewis amended.
“And when we survive it all, you know we’re going to be building our life as we go. Our life with each other, with our friends and family. It’ll be harder and harder to break away. And once we’re all doing well enough that the future looks good, that’s about when we’re going to start thinking about having children. This wouldn’t be a good life for kids.”
His cousin chuckled ruefully and pulled her closer. “A vacation home, then.”
“A pipe dream,” she repeated flatly. Then she sighed and turned her head, resting her cheek on his shoulder. “But it was a nice one.”
Trev shifted uncomfortably, finally deciding that letting them have their moment didn’t make up for the eavesdropping. He continued his climb, trying to be extra noisy, and raised his voice. “Lewis? Jane? I figure I’ve pulled as many fish as I’m going to from the creek, which wasn’t many. If you’re done we should grab the stove and head back.”
“Over here,” Lewis called. He still had his arms wrapped around his wife, although their posture was more casual now, less intimate.
Trev made his way over to them and held up the line with its dangling fish. “Every trick I knew,” he said in disgust, “and this is it.”
“Not too surprising. With so many refugees in the area the creek’s probably being overfished from Electric Lake to Fairview.” Lewis gave him a lopsided smile. “Luckily the hunting situation’s slightly better. Sure, everyone with a gun is trying to fill their bellies, but that’s a comparatively smaller number. And it’s easier to rig up a fishing line than a weapon that can bring down big game.”
That made Trev brighten. “So you did get something? I heard the shot.”
“A cow elk,” Jane said. “Four or five years old. Although it’s a bit scrawny. Maybe too skittish with all the people around to feel safe feeding.”
“Still, it’s an elk,” Trev said. “Scrawny or not, that’ll feed a few people.” An adult elk could provide upwards of triple the meat of an adult deer, which definitely helped make this trip worth it.
Lewis nodded. “We’ve got it field dressed, but it’s in an awkward place so we need your help getting it up to the road and onto the trailer. Not to mention finding a way to make it fit.” He shook his head. “It might not, and we can’t split up the stove to carry in our packs on the ride home.”
Trev grimaced. They had tarps and plastic if they needed to quarter the carcass to go in their backpacks, but even well wrapped meat had a tendency to make a mess. He supposed the stuff in his pack was due a bit of cleaning and maintenance anyway.
But that was a decision they could make once they got the stove loaded up and had a better idea of how much more the trailer could take. After they brought the elk back to the hideout and unloaded it first to get the stove on… nothing was ever easy. Still, it was probably a bad idea to tempt fate by complaining about having food.
“Lead on,” he said.
His cousin nodded and started up the gentle meadow, past the hideout and to the steeper slope above it which lead up to the logging road where they’d left the bikes. Lewis and Jane would’ve been keeping an eye on them and the surrounding area as they hunted, but even so it was a relief to see they were still there. Including the prized bicycle trailer.
The trailer was actually an opportunity that had practically fallen into their laps. A few days ago a footsore family of refugees had come up Aspen Hill Canyon from the east, with effort navigating the blockage where the town had dropped a cliff and destroyed the road to prevent the Gold Bloc forces from ever being able to use it.
The family had started west months ago at the military’s promise of safety in the Rocky Mountains, but had been caught behind blockhead lines when the enemy did their swift push to cover the remaining distance and begin their assault. With no other choice the family had retreated to the middle of nowhere, far from any roads. Since they couldn’t know how long the blockheads would be there, or even if they’d ever leave, they’d begun settling in and preparing to stay for the long haul.
Then during a hunting trip the father had seen a US military convoy driving past. He’d taken the risk of flagging it down, desperate for news, and had learned that the Gold Bloc had retreated and the way to safety in the Utah Rockies was now clear. Rejoicing, the family had once again packed up and continued west.
Which was all to say that they’d had a bicycle and trailer to haul a good chunk of their supplies. Unfortunately the bike’s front tire had sprung a serious leak, and with no way to repair it they’d simply kept going on the rim, trying to get as far as they could. That pretty quickly destroyed the wheel, and they’d discovered that the trailer’s hitch was so short and low to the ground that trying to pull it by hand was incredibly unwieldy. They were better off just packing up the supplies and abandoning it.
The family had been all too happy to let Lewis have the trailer, if he wanted to go get it. Especially after being charitably given a modest meal to help see them on their way to the nearest refugee camp, which they were relieved to hear was only several miles west of town. They gave him directions on how to find it and how far away it was, which turned out to be less than a day’s ride there and back on a bicycle.
Lewis and Jane had immediately hopped on their bikes and made for it, dreading that someone else would grab such a useful item before they could get there.
In spite of their haste they traveled cautiously, aware that this had been blockhead territory less than a week ago. There were multiple abandoned campsites, some of them big enough to hold thousands of men, and every permanent structure they passed had been burned to the ground.
But there was an odd discrepancy between the burned buildings and the abandoned camps. In spite of the enemy’s determination to torch anything of value when they left, Lewis couldn’t help but notice that just like Davis and his soldiers, the blockheads had been in a hurry to leave and only had limited space in their vehicles. Which meant they’d left stuff behind without destroying it. Mostly junk, but some of the refuse was potentially usefuclass="underline" scraps of canvas or tent cloth, discarded ropes and cables, and a few other things like that.
Taking some time to scavenge the camps once they had the trailer was something to consider. In fact, it might be worth it to have the town send an expedition out, people with wagons who could really haul away enough stuff to be worthwhile.
Matt was still considering the idea, hence Lewis and Jane inviting Trev along on this current trip to the hideout to grab the stove while they waited.
As for the trailer, it had been just where the family left it, apparently untouched. The couple had brought it home filled with cloth and rope and a few other useful things from camps they’d passed, then immediately began planning what other use they could get out of it.