9
“Mom do you see that?”
Jessa looked over to the sea where her son was pointing. They had finally made it to the coastline, and in record time. Although Milo was wounded, it seemed to make him that much more determined not to slow the others down, and ultimately they had been moving faster than they ever had before.
She smiled back at Shane, thinking that his comment was about finally seeing the ocean. It was about time; they had been hearing and smelling it for over half an hour. “It is beautiful, isn’t it?”
“No mom, look. The people.”
Jessa gasped softly, following her son’s gaze. There were several hundred people, coming and going along a beach. Behind them were tents and the smell of food. It looked like a small community on the water, just like she had been envisioning, whether she was too afraid to acknowledge her hope or not. Immediately, Jessa was filled with mixed emotions. There was the hope that they were nice people, just trying to make it like they were, but there was the nagging feeling of what-if. What if they were just like the others she had met?
“I see them baby. Well, it looks like we have finally made it.”
She squeezed Mike’s hand and he smiled back at her. “Are you ready?”
Jessa nodded. She was as ready as she was ever going to be.
Shane tugged on Milo’ good arm and the boys began running down the beach toward the settlement. She had never been able to show Shane the ocean before, and the sight of his excitement made her heart swell. It was almost as if they didn’t live in a post-apocalyptic world. She had always hoped that her son would be able to find a way to simply be a kid. Even though he had recently shot and killed someone, he was still a young boy, who was thrilled to be showing Milo the shells he was finding along the beach. She rested her cheek against Michael’s arm, and they continued forward toward the settlement.
***
Everybody watched in concern and bewilderment as the small troupe of people wandered down the beach. A tiny boy was beaming as he ran along the beach, followed by a taller, much older boy. His face was set in a grimace of pain, and his arm was bandaged. Behind the youngsters were two adults; a beautiful woman holding onto a rugged, powerful looking man.
“You suppose they’re friendly?” Andie said to her mother. Her mother shrugged.
“I’m not sure anyone with a boy that young could be all bad, but you never know these days,” she replied.
Soon the small group made it to the settlement, and stood awkwardly, taking in the scene.
“Welcome,” the matriarch of the village said warmly. She had been around as long as the hills, and everybody trusted her to judge the true character of the people who passed through. It seemed these people had her blessing, and so they knew without a doubt that they could trust them.
“What happened, child?” she asked, walking creakily to Milo. She touched his bandaged arm gently and Milo hissed in pain and fear, pulling it away from her.
“He was shot by a motorcycle gang,” Jessa replied, coming forward and laying a comforting hand on Milo’s shoulder. Milo relaxed into it for a moment, and turned his eye on the woman. She gave him a warm feeling; like someone he had known long ago but couldn’t remember.
“Did they follow you here?” she asked, frowning.
“No, ma’am. We took care of them. We protect our own,” Michael interjected.
“Good, good,” the woman said. “I’m happy to meet you. We’ve been building this community for years now, far away from the influence of other people. We don’t want their kind around here. And to be fair with you, if you turn out to be too much trouble, we’ll have to come to an agreement, if you catch my meaning.”
They did.
“That’s fair,” Jessa said, looking around at all the people. There was a large abundance of food. Livestock were roaming all around, being tended to and played with by groups of happy children. There were no signs of the deep worry lines that creased the faces of most of the other groups that they had encountered over the years. These people were relaxed and only worried about outside trouble coming in to ruin their happy homes.
“Good. Let’s say we give it a week to decide whether we’re a good fit for each other? And if not, we can part ways peacefully.”
“We’d like that very much, ma’am,” Jessa said, knowing in her heart of hearts that they had just found their new home.