Heaven's Not Enough

Part III

Chapter 2 – A Kind of Paradise

December 9, 2019

Devil's Tower, WA (Population: 54)

True to her word, Eliza prepared to ride out to snow-covered Concrete the very next day. She readied her Garand, then took two horses from the stables and led them up the road.

She walked up to the road gate and glanced up the hill to her left. A few sandbags were piled up in a dugout up the hill, which was partially obscured by a few trees. The well concealed, elevated position was betrayed only by a bootleg trail that traveled up the snow from where Eliza stood.

"Hey, Andy Griffith," she called.

Andy peeked his head out. He had on his old deputy uniform, as she expected. He called back down with a smile. "Knock it off, Liz."

She grinned. "Stop wearing that old thing, and I might consider it, hon. Hey, you want to check out those cars with me?"

"Uh, still?" He glanced back into the dugout for a second. "You sure that's a good idea?"

She shrugged. "We don't need to talk to anyone. Just gonna watch them for clues, figure out what the heck's up." She held up the reins of one horse invitingly. "Got you a horse. Gus, you still up there?"

"Yeah," the engineer replied, showing himself too.

"I know your shift only just ended, but do you think you can hold on for just a little longer?"

"Do I get paid overtime?"

Eliza chuckled. "Ask Mom, she cuts your checks."

Andy said something inaudible to Gus, probably a continuation of the joke, because the men laughed. Andy stood over the sandbags and hopped out of the dugout. He had a bolt action hunting rifle in hand as he hop-slid several times down the hillside toward Eliza. He jumped near the bottom of the hill and landed on both feet. One of the two horses stepped away from Andy nervously. "Perfect landing," he declared.

"Careful, you goof," Eliza said with a smirk, as she handed him the reins of his horse and bumped his hip with hers. "No hospitals anymore. You break your leg, that's it. Bye bye."

He took the reins and grinned. "Gonna put me out to pasture? You could try dating a farmer for a while."

"Nah. I'll just leave you." She teased. "How're you gonna climb the ladder up to our room with a bum leg?"

"Oh, uh. Right." He chuckled nervously. "Better watch my step, then."

They mounted up and rode off together. They went up and down the hill back into Concrete, and Eliza thought on her father's words in the church the day before. "Andy," she said.

He slowed the pace of his horse to look at her. "Yeah, Liz?"

She sighed. "My dad said something yesterday, it's got me a little worried." She paused hesitantly. "Have you heard anything from people about... I don't know, feeling trapped here by the Ludds?"

Andy looked thoughtfully to the distance for a moment. "Not a word of it, Liz. Honestly? It seems like people are feeling pretty good right now."

"Hm. That's what I thought," she said. "Just wanted to be sure."

Andy scanned the valley from their vantage point. "Rob feels trapped though?"

"Yeah, Andy. He does. And he says he's not alone."

Andy grunted thoughtfully. "Maybe the few older folks? Not all of them, though." He chuckled. "I mean, look at Eunice. That old bat wants to do security patrols with us, bless her soul. She's more gung ho about this place than Ralph is, if you could believe it."

"Heh. She's positive, alright. I wish everyone had her energy."

"Maybe your dad just feels restless. It's probably the winter, getting trapped in by the cold can be pretty depressing." Andy shrugged, then smiled. "If he's got an eye for scouting runs, maybe I can send him on a patrol route. He can walk the east side a bit. Maybe a good regular nature walk and a job to do might clear his head."

She liked that idea. "I'll have a word with him about it. Thanks, Andy."

"Hey. That's what I'm here for, beautiful."

At town, they crossed the river bridge, then tied off their horses to a post by a house on the hill. After that, they separated from each other on the north hill of town. They'd run this drill many times before, so they knew what to do.

Each of them carried a flare gun as an emergency contingency. The two officers would often pine for the good old days of two-way radios, but those were yet another casualty of necessity. Still, one never forgot having an instant line to backup.

Eliza followed a short dirt trail until she had good sight on the town from the hill, then climbed into a tall makeshift hunter's blind platform. It was built by the camp and placed there for just this kind of observation. At the top of the blind, she withdrew her binoculars. To her surprise, the road was still active: occasionally, a vehicle would cross east. The snow had been pushed aside by the procession. This far away, if not for the looted state of her town, the regular traffic made it almost look like the war had never happened.

For a while, she watched. There wasn't a pattern to the type of vehicles at all, nor to the description of the people inside. Rarely, she observed cars heading west instead of east. She squinted at one westbound car in confusion. Going west toward the war zone, toward Seattle, made no sense. A couple of possibilities ran through her mind though. Maybe the Neo-Luddites lost the war. Those cars she saw yesterday might be fleeing the Army, and the ones going west might be the more hardheaded civilians returning home early.

That guess almost satisfied her. Almost. There might be other possibilities, and she wanted to investigate further.

She looked over in Andy's direction and found his tower. After a minute, he looked at her too. She waved, and he gave a thumbs up to indicate she had his attention. They exchanged a few homemade hand signals.

I'll go down, she signaled. Cover.

He lowered his binoculars. He shook his head, shrugged, and signed Okay with a thumbs up; his clipped movement indicated it was sarcastic. She knew Andy didn't like it, but he'd back her play all the same. He looked at her and continued: I Cover. Gun? Flare?

Gun, Up, Eliza answered.

Cover, Gun, Up, OK? he responded.

OK.

If he saw anything fishy, he'd warn her with a gunshot in a harmless direction. It was better than using a flare; a flare wasn't really a deterrent like a gunshot was, and might potentially attract any drivers who might want to stop and investigate. A gunshot would convince them to keep moving.

It was spotty, but the system had worked in the past when things were a little more active. They'd keep their flares on standby if they were already in a bad situation and needed to communicate their position. Thankfully, it had never gotten that bad yet.

Eliza climbed back down the blind and unslung her rifle. She did a quick check to make sure she had all of her equipment, because it never hurt to be sure. The flare gun was loaded and ready. She had her sidearm; pepper spray and handcuffs too. Carrying less-lethal equipment was an old habit, and old habits died hard. Andy shared the sentiment.

Eliza made her way into town. She approached the road from the treeline and tried to get a better look at the people driving east along Route 20. The cars came in all shapes and sizes, but she couldn't quite make out what the people inside looked like. It didn't look like any of them were stopping to loot the town, which confused Eliza to no end. Maybe most of them realized that the town was fully looted already, and they'd be right; Eliza's people had already turned the town inside out in their search for food and supplies, all of it stored back at camp.

She got as close as she dared, which wasn't too far from her old house. Her boots crunched on the snow as she made her way through her old neighborhood, crouched low with her rifle ready. She moved like a soldier, stopping at open areas to look, then bounding forward low and quick when she felt it was safe enough to do so.

Her home had a good view of the road and she knew all the escape routes, so she decided to post up nearby. That was the plan, anyway.

But then, she saw someone in the window of her house.

Eliza ducked down behind a nearby bush. The person inside hadn't seen her yet; at a glance, he seemed to be looking outward at the highway too. Eliza threw a glance up the hill to Andy and signaled him.

See Man. House, There. Cover, Cover. I Go House.

After a moment of hesitation, Andy flicked his flashlight once in acknowledgement. He probably thought she was stupid for getting closer. Granted, it was a little stupid, but it wasn't just any house. It was hers, and finding a squatter in her house was enough to make her skin crawl, practicality be damned.

Upon closer inspection, she noticed an unknown vehicle in her driveway. It was a gray sedan she'd never seen before. Eliza kicked herself mentally. She had grown so complacent about the town's environment that she hadn't even realized that the car looked relatively clean and unmarred.

From the bushes next door, she peeked at the window again. It was about ten yards away. The person inside was definitely male, and—

She knew him.

"Mike?" Her voice was a harsh whisper. "Is that you?" She held her rifle high, in case her guess was wrong.

The man turned, saw her pointing her rifle, and ducked. Eliza did the same. Her guess must have been wrong. She backpedaled quickly toward Andy, rifle raised at the window. She kept her rifle level and ready, slipping her finger in the trigger guard. She knew Andy had line of sight, and would cover her if anyone pursued. She didn't get more than six steps away before a voice called back from the window.

"Douglas? It's me!"

She halted, grinning with sudden elation as her posture softened. "Mike? Jesus! I can't believe it! Don't come out, I have a sniper friend out here. I'm coming in." Eliza lowered her rifle, turned back to Andy, and hand signaled one more time.

Man OK, OK, OK. I Go. Hold, Hold.

Andy's flashlight winked again.

She quickly made her way to the front door, keeping low so no one on the road would see her. As soon as she got through the door, she saw Mike. He was standing there in her living room wearing that big, stupid, unflappably optimistic grin on his face, arms spread wide for a hug.

Eliza dropped her rifle on the couch and threw her arms around him with a squeal. Mike embraced her, and they both just laughed with joy.

"You're alive," she hooted excitedly, when she could finally stop laughing. "How the hell did you find me?"

He winced. "You gave me your address, dummy. Ow, watch it, my chest."

"I know, I mean... wow, am I glad to see you!" She loosened her grip around him and just beamed. It was the happiest she'd felt in a long time. Him, alive and well.

"Glad to see you too, Douglas."

She looked him over, and let go as her eyes flicked to his chest. "Are you okay? How've you been?"

Mike rubbed his chest. "I'm fine. The cartilage in my chest kind of crackles a bit when I touch it, but I'll live."

She felt so ridiculous, grinning as she was. It felt so unnatural to feel such glee. "I guess that's better than the alternative, you could be dead. I thought I'd never see you again! How long have you been here?"

He sat down on the couch next to her rifle and sprawled out. Eliza recognized his old backpack next to him. "Since this morning," he said. "Hope you don't mind. The roads are nuts right now, so I decided to hunker down until nightfall."

It was her turn to smirk. "In my house?"

"I wanted to see you off. I hoped you'd come back here out of Sedro, or something."

"Mike, I haven't lived in Sedro since... March."

Mike's expression shifted in understanding. "Oh. Oh, you moved back here."

She nodded. "Same day as the firefight. Got out quick."

Mike frowned. "Yeah, well, that wasn't a bad idea, Douglas. Things got pretty bad in Mount Vernon. My wife got out of Washington a month ago. As soon as it's clear, I'm doing the same."

She looked at him, confused. "Wait. Out of Washington? What do you mean? How bad is this war getting?"

Mike sat up, watching her carefully for a moment, searching her expression. His face filled with confusion too. "The... the bomb?"

Eliza's eyes narrowed. "Wh—what bomb?"

"You seriously don't know? How do you not know?"

Gears clicked in her head. If he was talking about a bomb big enough to make people flee the whole state... "No. What, did... did we...?"

He let out a slow breath, and his gaze fell. He spoke so softly that Eliza almost couldn't hear him. "A nuke went off in Bellevue, Eliza. A small one. A lot of people are... dead, or trapped. If it wasn't a war zone before, it is now."

Whatever gears had been turning in her head just snapped. "Wh-when...?"

"Yesterday. I didn't even bother going south, just took to the Valley since it was the closest way out. Glad I did, too. The news says people going south toward the blast zone are getting killed, and quick."

She moved to sit beside him and just stared at him for a minute, trying hard to believe him. "Who? Who did it? Are there more bombs coming?" She steeled herself, but nothing could prepare her for any answer.

Mike shrugged. "I have no idea. Maybe. No one knows who did it yet, but it's all over the media. I'm still surprised you don't know."

"I've been living in the hills with my family. Off the grid. It's safe there... or it was. I don't know now, after this."

"Wait. Off the grid?" He looked at her with a sudden, angry look in his eye. "Are you—are you with the rebels!? They tried to kill us, Eliza!"

She shook her head wildly and held up her hands. "No, no! Look, we're just blackouts. My uncle, me, Mom, Dad. We're with a bunch of our neighbors, and their kids. It just wasn't safe in town anymore. We just wanted to get away from technology. Our camp is way off the main road. We've got food, shelter. A school. An armory. We're just ready."

"Ready for what? You're prepping with a compound? Are you looting, too?"

"Just scavenging!" Eliza said, trying not to get upset with Mike. "And only at homes that're abandoned, I swear. Practically the whole town uploaded, and Lord knows there's a lot of empty homes out here in the Valley," she said sadly. "Enough to go around for everyone. You and I both know there's not enough game to poach."

"Jeez..." He frowned. "How many people?"

"Fifty-four, last headcount."

Mike almost looked betrayed at the news, and his tone was like he still didn't believe she was being serious. "You should all leave. Leave the state. Head out east, where it's safe. The war's tapering off, the Luddites are tucking tail and running off deep into Seattle. You have an opening right now, a real shot. If you take all your people and—"

She spoke softly, interrupting him. "This is our home, Mike. We aren't leaving. And we're safer here than the midwest."

"How can that be true? I don't understand. If more nukes come..."

"... then we'll die," she finished. "I know. But that can be said for anywhere, and we're not leaving. We're not going anywhere near a computer, or a phone. Not even a radio. Or she'll hunt us down."

Mike scoffed and stood. He walked to the other end of the room, put his hands on his hips, and peered out the window at the cars. The vehicles continued to trickle in along Route 20. He watched silently, and Eliza felt uncomfortable in the awkward silence.

"I missed you," she said. He didn't reply. "Mike."

"Yeah. I missed you too," he grunted.

She looked at his green backpack on the sofa. It had a few small holes in the top of it, and a brown stain near the bottom that could only be dried blood. She could see a loaded handgun magazine pressed up against one of the holes, from the inside. "Looks like you've had it rough, too."

"Yeah." He frowned. "My parents called me today. They're scared this is the start of a nuclear war, and they're... going to upload. And honestly, I can't blame them. I'm almost scared enough to consider it too. Almost. Sandra's made her way to Nebraska, staying with my folks. The roads are so violent that I'm not even sure if I can get to her from here."

She stood and made her way to his side, watching the convoy with him out the window. A memory came flashing back, one of crows picking at a dead elk and of her brother crying behind her. "I'm sorry."

Mike nodded. "I'm sorry too. God... you know, we almost died out there in the woods. I don't even know how it happened. One second I was fine. The next, I couldn't see anything. Just blood, and pain. Glass. It hasn't changed out there, either. Those rebels, they're not even people. They're bloodthirsty animals."

"I've run into them a bit out here in recent months, but they never shot at me again. A few of them found our camp though, early on. They spared us because they remembered my tantrum in Mount Vernon." She chuckled, despite herself. "I guess they thought it was funny."

"Be glad they didn't know about our shootout in the woods. They'd have killed you for sure." He looked at her. "I never thanked you, by the way. Killing that sniper... it must have been hard."

"It was," she agreed. "But I'm stronger now, and I can fight. I don't regret it anymore." She watched a camper van roll westward. "Mike, tell me something. Every so often, I see a car going west back towards the coast. Why? Are those more Ludds?"

He sighed. "You're not the only one trying to get away from the AI. The EMP took out the Seattle power grid."

"Oh. Well, that makes sense."

"No," he said. "It really doesn't. It's insane. The area's cooked with radiation and full of partisans. They're all going to get killed." He looked at her, frowning again. "You don't know what it was like. It's still dangerous as close as Sedro, you're just on the outskirts of it all."

She looked at him thoughtfully. "They're leaving us alone because we're not helping Celestia, though."

"I don't think they discriminate all that much. All I've seen them do is murder. They shot at me a lot, and not just in our shootout. It was insanity back west. Mount Vernon PD's effectively disbanded at this point, we barely pulled out from our last stand."

That surprised her. "What happened?"

He hesitated, his eyes casting down and aside as he recalled. "The city was a bloodbath, and those freaks made some sort of roadblock on either end of downtown. Blocking access to the Experience Center, I guess. We holed up at the courthouse. Got surrounded. A path opened up during the fighting, so we took it, and fought our way out. Rifles. Armor. We got clear, thank God, but then we... got separated. I'm still running on fumes here, and I'm pretty sure my luck's gonna run out soon. Damn it, I'm so sick of getting shot at."

"Then stay for a while, Mike. At least until the roads are safer."

He quietly looked at her for a few seconds, considering. "You really think that's a good idea, with all those terrorists running around? It might be better if I just left." He rubbed at his chest idly through his jacket.

"Please?" Eliza asked, a little eager, knowing she'd never see her friend again if he left. "We could really use someone like you for a few days. It's not a bad place. We have the fish of the lake to live on, what little we have left. We scavenge. It's more than enough."

Mike looked her over with confusion. "You still have fish? How?"

She shrugged. She knew he was seriously considering the offer, because he looked like he was torn.

"What about the terrorists?" he asked. "What makes you so sure they'll stay friendly?"

"We have... an understanding. As long as we follow their rules and stick to our side of the dam, we have nothing to worry about. No communications devices, no cars, stay off their land. If we use anything electric at all, they want to inspect it first."

Mike looked out the window again. "They may not be around here for much longer, anyway. Seattle's a good hotbed for them right now, the news says they're flocking. I guess... I guess sticking around might not be a bad idea, at least until they're all gone." He grasped Eliza's shoulder, and looked at her again. "Alright, Douglas. I'll... consider it. At the least, I'll stay til things calm down. I can't promise any more than that, but..."

"That's all I ask." She smiled at him. "I'm just happy you're still alive."

He returned a small smile. "You too. Really."

Eliza stepped away from the window and tapped Mike's shoulder. "Come on. Let's go meet Andy. He's probably worried sick."

"Is that your sniper friend?"

"My boyfriend," she replied, with a smirk. "Not really much of a sniper though. He's more the suppressing fire type."

Mike snorted suddenly, his melancholy gone. "I missed you, Douglas."

Gus looked a little confused to see three people returning to camp, but he didn't say a word about it. Eliza pointed out the dugout to Mike, and Gus nodded respectfully to Mike as he passed. Eliza knew Gus trusted her with his life after the dam raid. All the engineers did. Andy ran up to the dugout to relieve Gus of his post.

Eliza explained that the large utility shed near the factory had been converted into a stable. She and Mike turned the horses back over to the ferrier and his assistant. Eliza introduced the ferrier, who told his story; he worked for a ranch, the owners uploaded, and gave their property over to him. The ferrier knew Ralph, and Ralph tipped him off about the camp. Happily ever after.

She pointed out the damaged lookout tower across the road. Sam was up there laying prone toward the edge, with a pair of binoculars. If Eliza hadn't pointed the guard post out, Mike never would have seen him.

As they approached the factory, it appeared clean and unblemished. No graffiti to be seen.

The two passed through the wrought-iron gate and the tall cinderblock walls, and Eliza kicked off the grand tour. She showed off the tower from the outside, which had several wood platforms and concealments for defense, should things get hairy.

Eliza introduced Mike to her uncle near the gate, and to everyone else she came across. She explained that most of the trees around the factory had been cut down and converted into spare lumber, which was then converted into more fortifications and furniture.

Mike looked south at the vast, wide quarry just outside of the factory. A farm stretched out as far as the settlers would dare dig, ending a short ways before the landslide-prone slopes. "Woah."

"Yep," Eliza said proudly. "We brought in all the soil we could buy, dug out some rows. A bit frozen for now, but next spring we'll have a good crop, I think. And there's the playground," she noted. "I built that swing set and the see-saw, repurposed some chains and seats from the school. We also have a sandbox, but it's... more of a snow box right now. Not just that, we have teachers in camp, for the kids."

"Dios mio, Eliza, slow down. I need a minute to process this." He looked back at the tower. "Wow, you people really pulled this off? Sorry... just, wrapping my head around it."

She chuckled, knuckling his shoulder. "Welcome to Concrete, that's just how we are. I haven't even showed you the best part yet."

Eliza led him inside the central compound and nodded at her mother, who sat on a stool by the firepit. June played a guitar for some of the younger kids; song time, as promised yesterday. She sang an old local folk tune, Roll On Columbia:

"Tom Jefferson's vision would not let him rest,
An empire he saw in the Pacific Northwest,
Sent Lewis and Clark, and they did the rest,
So Roll on, Columbia, roll on."

"Roll on, Columbia, roll on.
Roll on, Columbia, roll on.
Your safety is turning our darkness to dawn,
So roll on, Columbia, roll on."

Eliza couldn't help but share a smile with her mother as she passed. She knew the song well, having heard her mother play it several times before. It went on about the building of Coulee Dam on the River Columbia. Of course June would know a song like that.

She stopped in front of the memorial posted up beneath the loading bay of the factory. It was a tall wood board and was set into the wall, sheltered from the elements and covered with a plastic sheet. It had names carved lovingly into it. Scattered before the mural were flowers and small offerings, recently placed. At the top were the words:

IN OUR HEARTS FOREVER:

Eliza drew her hand across the names of the lost, reverently becoming slow and quiet, letting the moment set. She could still hear her mother playing. "Our families, Mike. Look, there's my little brother." She pointed. "Right at the top. Thomas Douglas. And Abigail. George Kelley..." She was suddenly aware of the weight of the ring on her necklace.

Mike looked upon the spot, then frowned as he scanned the rest. "There's... so many. There's hundreds of names here."

"I carved them all in myself. The people put a list together for me, and I got to work. I've... had to add a lot, since the beginning. Some left during the fighting. A few volunteered to join our neighbors, early on. We don't know how many uploaded after leaving, so being on here doesn't mean they're dead or uploaded. Just... not with us anymore."

"I'm sorry, Douglas."

After a moment of respectful silence, they continued inside. She explained how horrible the factory was before they started fixing it up. After beginning the repairs, it was reinforced with wood beams, staircases, cement filling, and new rebar. The thin walls had been given another layer of paint, or bricks in the worst places where the concrete wall was nearly as thin as paper.

The main chambers were used as a lounging area, and many folks snuggled up under thick bedsheets on the couches. They read to their kids, worked on small artisan projects, or spoke quietly amongst themselves, but almost everyone had greeted Eliza warmly as she passed. Eliza pointed out the tall bookshelves on the wall. "All scavenged from the school and the town library," she explained. "One of the women here, Eunice, is a librarian. She was good enough to catalogue it all for us."

She showed Mike their armory at the core of the factory. The armory was reinforced with two steel doors, airlock style. Inside sat a quartermaster, a former shopkeeper from down in Concrete. The arsenal room was small, and it mostly held old hunting rifles. There were some weapons from the police station that Andy brought along, as well as one M16 rifle snatched from the midst of the fighting of months past. About six bows and a hundred arrows, all made by Eliza, sat on a rack at the far end of the wall.

"There's always someone inside," Eliza said. "The lock can come off the last door, but unless the metal bar is raised from behind, no one's getting in without breaking the wall down. The walls are reinforced. Ceiling too."

"You log the withdrawals?" Mike asked.

"Of course," said the quartermaster.

The tour continued, and she showed Mike the warehouse for their scavenged goods a floor below, which had similar security precautions. Shafts of light cast down on them from several narrow, barred holes in the ceiling, and the floor had drainage gutters for any water that might somehow find its way down. The water would then drain into the lake.

Eliza showed him the bunks where everyone slept down in the lower levels, then started back up the stairs.

"We have several teams," she explained, as she walked. "There's the executive team; that's me, Uncle Ralph, and Mom... Dad got offered a seat too, but he turned it down. Uncle Ralph's in charge, though we vote on most things. Security, that's me and Andy's department. Our guys; Gus was up on the hill, the guy on the tower is Sam. We also have a fishing group, mostly the elderly. Three educators; Mr. Morris, Mom, and Dad. You've met the supply officers, and we have one paramedic on site. Best we could do on short notice."

Mike did a double take. "You have a paramedic? Are you serious?"

Eliza gave Mike a strange look. "Yeah, why?"

"That's more than most places have these days, Douglas. Most medics in Skagit uploaded a long time ago. You're lucky if you find an EMT, much less a full blown paramedic."

Eliza just smiled. "Sarah's one of our local volunteer firefighters from town. She's retired, but still pretty spry. Got a defibrillator in the armory and a couple of batteries for it, just in case. We also have a team dedicated entirely to scavenging, but right now they're on standby because of the convoys, so they're pulling extra security detail. There's some crossover with all departments, with construction or agriculture. I help out building too, but my uncle's the real brains of the operation. He was a foreman before all this."

"And the kids? How many?"

"Twenty-three," she answered. "Four of them are orphans, the rest have a parent or two here. Hey, next is my office. And you'll love this next part."

She made her way up the tower into her office via the ladder, and stored her Garand on its rack above her bed. As Mike made his way up, she offered her hand to hoist him up. The walkway was reinforced with wood flooring to cover the hole below that went down into the factory, and the walls were sided up. Eliza showed Mike around, letting him see all the collected family photos.

Mike chuckled as he pointed at another photo pinned to the desk's cork board; it showed Mike and Eliza at some party with the rest of the guys from work. "Got one of me here?"

Eliza smiled. "You're important to me too, Mike."

She also showed him her several topographical maps. Some local regions were circled, and most of the houses in Upper and Lower Concrete had an X over them. Her desk had several logbooks of findings from around the area.

Two bows hung from the wall; one youth bow that once belonged to Tom, and her recurved longbow. A tillering stick stood in the corner with an unfinished longbow on it, its wood chips all caught by a towel on the wood floor beneath it. Eliza pushed the door open to the catwalk, a wooden structure she had built that completely surrounded the very top of the tower. Mike followed.

She leaned forward on the wood railing. She drew her ponytail across her shoulder to her front, to spare it from the wind.

Mike halted in place as he took in the view of Lake Shannon. "And you... you live here, now," he said in disbelief. "Wow."

"Yep. Welcome to New Cascadia."

"I thought you were talking crazy when you said you had a camp, but this... this is something, Douglas."

She smiled again. "It is." She hit his shoulder gently with her knuckles again. "So you're in, right?"

"Like I said. For now. I need to get back to Sandra, but..." Mike looked up to the sky, and scanned the frozen lake.

She looked around with him. "Again, that's all I'm asking. Want you safe, asshole. You being here means it'll be just like old times though. I know you've got my back." The chilly air bit at her nose. The cold brought her a rush of elation. "You know, it's strange. All the little things are coming back."

"Hm?"

"Despite the blizzard, and the cars, we've had a really good couple of days. I saw a pheasant yesterday, and now you show up today."

"Oh bull, Eliza." He grinned. "You didn't see a pheasant!"

She grinned back at him. "I did! Almost killed the sucker too."

His smile evaporated, and he gave her a very stern look of disapproval.

"What!" She laughed. "Who's gonna stop me? You? You gonna arrest me for poaching, tough guy?"

He glared at her for a moment, then tried to hide a grin. He checked his watch. "Well, I am off the clock."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," she giggled, and elbowed him in the side. He winced. "Oh, sorry."

His smile didn't fade. "It's okay, just, a little tender sometimes. Like I said, the cartilage is all screwy."

"That's horrible, Mike."

He smirked. "I think I was a little drunk when I ordered that ceramic plate."

"Thank the booze," she said, with a grin.

He grinned too. "Heh, yeah. What with the shootings going on at the time, doubling up seemed like a good idea anyway. Dennis getting shot was a wakeup call. I just rolled with it."

"Well, it saved your life." She nodded to the northwest mountain, beyond the lake. "I wonder if our sniper friend knew any of the neighbors."

He scowled in that direction, his brow lowering. "That's where those bastards are hiding?"

"Yep. I think so, anyway. The warning they gave me kind of meant that whole... area."

"Think they're watching right now?"

She smirked. "Oh, they definitely are." She waved at the hills. "I'm not worried. I won't lie though, I was scared shitless that they'd kill us all at first. We've been dealing with them for a long time, though. We know how to dance now. We respect their rules, we'll let them have their little peek in the camp every so often, and they let us live in peace. No stealing, no harassment. Just a recruitment drive now and then, sometimes we trade. But hey, Mike."

"Yeah?"

She worked up the courage to ask, and nervously chewed her lower lip. "I have a favor to ask. I was thinking on the way back. Uh, look. About Bellevue..."

He looked at her.

"Can we... not tell anyone about it?"

"What?" He stepped back, incredulous.

Eliza looked pleadingly at him.

He frowned back. "Why? They deserve to know, it affects everyone."

"Does it?" She looked back across the lake, and drew in a deep breath of fresh air. "If you hadn't told me, I wouldn't have even known. Things don't look so bad from up here."

"What if those convoys come up this way?" He rounded on her. "Your people need to prepare, at least!"

"I have the sentries on alert for that already. That's good enough. If we have to scare off a few nosy blackouts with some warning shots, then so be it, we'll defend our home. But, please. Listen, Mike..." She stopped, trying to gather her thoughts.

Eliza sighed, and looked down at the lake shore. She chewed her lip some more, then met his eyes. "It's... it's been almost a year since these uploads started here. Look how bad things have gotten already. It didn't take long, just a year? Those people who uploaded first, they were all happy to go. All the people uploading now, they're scared of what'll happen if they don't go. It's how you're losing your parents. Fear is the enemy here. But here in this camp, people are happy. On Earth."

"But you're sticking their heads in the sand for them," Mike said sourly.

"I know." She nodded once. "It doesn't feel right, but... but these people need hope, and they're content. Celestia can't take happy people from us. If you tell them about the nuke, some of them might leave. I think my father might be depressed, too. If he knew about it, he... he might..." she trailed off. "And another nuke might not even happen."

This gave Mike some pause. He stood up straight, and looked at the far side of the lake, then up to the overcast sky again. "From what I can see, it looks like your people could carry on for a while." He returned his gaze to her. "You all put a lot of work into this, huh?"

"We did, Mike. We won the war. We all lost good people, but we won. We beat her. Celestia can't touch us now, she has nothing to fight us with."

Mike pushed the wood railing cautiously to test it. When Eliza smirked at him for that, he shrugged apologetically, abandoned his trepidation, and leaned his weight on it.

"It really is all about the AI, isn't it?" he asked. "War or not, you'd be out here."

"It's just about surviving Celestia. That's all that matters to us. We're not looking to pick a fight. Don't worry, that was my very first concern too, when I found out my uncle was doing this."

Mike didn't speak again for a long time as he admired the view. He looked to his right, watched the kids play in the playground. Eliza could hear them being loud, like kids usually did. "Okay," Mike finally said, as he turned to face her. "I don't like it, but I understand. Not a word. But you know they'll find out eventually, Eliza. You know they will."

Eliza nodded. "Better later than sooner. The longer they're content here, the more they'll feel invested. It's for the best. Thank you."

"Yeah."

Mike was quiet for a while.

"Hey," Eliza said, offering a smile.

"Yeah, Douglas."

"Maybe you should walk around the camp. Get to know everyone. Introduce yourself, right?"

He shrugged. "Not a bad idea. You going to be okay?"

"Yeah, Mike." She smiled. "Thanks for coming to warn me about Bellevue."

Mike half-smiled and put his hand on her shoulder again. "I owe you. I'd be dead if it weren't for you. Just..." He let out a slow sigh. "I hope you're right about this place."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing. I meant it like that. I just hope you're right."

She didn't know what to say to that. Mike went back inside and closed the door behind him.

Eliza thought on it for a bit, analyzing herself and her motives, but she knew she was right. She had to be. She closed her eyes. She didn't feel powerless anymore. The world could fall down around their ears, but they'd live on in their paradise. She could protect her people, and what was left of her family. She'd done it.

Her mother's song had already ended, and June was off singing another to the kids. But Eliza recalled some of the words of Roll On Columbia. The tune stuck in her head easily, and she knew the real reason why her mother sang that song.

These mighty folk labored by day and by night,
Matching their strength 'gainst the river's wild flight.
Through rapids and falls, they won the hard fight.
So roll on, Columbia, roll on.

Eliza wanted that feeling of strength, choice, and freedom to last forever.

Author's Note

[Le Soldat Pony - Molded From Clay]

🌒 ~ And thus, a guardian angel reached out for my little sister. Carried by love, and wreathed in light.

I really enjoyed exploring how blackouts might communicate during scavenging. Hand signals would get really important when you can't use a radio.

About Roll On Columbia: Washington's really big on hydroelectric power. They're so proud of their dams to the point that they actually have [an official State folksong about them.]