She’d walked through the entire house at dawn, checking everything twice. While she’d been gone to take care of the cattle, Melly and Jeff and the others had prepared the house and barn as she’d asked them to. The storm shutters were all up, the doors were locked and sealed, certain items had been put away…The empty barn had been similarly prepared, as if for the approach of a major storm. It was the best she could do to safeguard the place. It probably wasn’t enough, especially if human raiders came along but Tamsyn told herself she needed to let go of her concerns here.
Her small container of items was already stowed in the APC’s cargo compartment, insignificant next to all of Melly’s medical supplies. She’d only taken a few items—her mother’s locket, a photo of herself with her father, Rasty the foreman and the ranch hands who’d been on the Double Comets at the time, a book or two and her most favorite items of clothing practical enough for the long trip ahead.
Walking out the front door she experienced an instant of anxiety-driven vertigo and the world swirled around her. Gripping the door frame for support, she brought out the old-fashioned key and locked the ancient lock. Of course she’d already sealed the portal controls but using the ancestor’s key was symbolic. She’d strung it on a silver chain and now she lowered it over her head, wearing it as a symbol to herself of what she’d left behind, hopefully to return eventually.
Tamsyn descended the stairs with a clatter, looking involuntarily toward the corral but the horses were nowhere in sight. Probably just as well. She could ask Cody later to send a drone to make sure Blaze and the others were okay. Jeff, Cody and Melly stood by APC1 in the driveway and she gave them a wave. Ryan and Trent were already in APC2, which was closed up and ready to roll.
One more thing to do, she said over the subaural com, which Jeff had given her last night. She didn’t know if she’d ever get used to it but Cody had said he’d practice with her and there was a way for the two of them to talk privately using it, which appealed to her. The captain raised one hand and she turned to the path leading away from the house toward a small, shaded enclosure off to the west. Despite the knowledge Jeff was impatient to be on the road she had to take this one final moment for herself.
* * *
Five minutes stretched to ten.
“You’d better go get her,” Melly said softly, touching Cody’s arm.
With a heavy sigh because he knew how hard this morning was hitting Tamsyn, now it was time for her actual departure from the ranch, he said, “Yeah, I’ll bring her.”
He jogged along the path until he reached the fence surrounding the family cemetery, where all the Wendovers going back to the original First Landing colonist were interred, although most had been cremated, their urns resting in a small mausoleum off to the side. Tamsyn stood beside the headstone of the first Wendover to set foot on Randal Four, her hand resting on top of the elaborately carved headstone, which depicted an interstellar landscape. Her head was bowed and Cody was sure she was crying.
When he reached her, however, pulling her in for a hug, her eyes were dry. “We need to get going, sweetheart.”
“I know. I had to say goodbye properly though.” She made a small gesture to indicate the graves. “To my parents and the others.” Straightening her shoulders, she said, “I feel like I’ve failed them. All of them here worked so hard to build up the Double Comets ranch and now I’m walking away, abandoning the progress and success the generations of family strove for.”
“You haven’t failed anyone. You’ve held it together in the worst of times and now you’re doing the only sensible thing by coming with us, with me, to try to solve the planet’s bigger problem. Or at least get a handle on managing life. I’m pretty sure your parents and even old Jervon Wendover here would agree it’s the right thing. Under the current circumstances no one can run a ranch successfully.” He lifted her chin so he could stare into her eyes to emphasize his next point. “The land isn’t going anywhere. A house and barn can be rebuilt. Herds can be reintroduced.” He tapped her chest over her heart. “What’s in here is the most critical piece of the legacy—your will and your strength and the determination I’ve seen you display. That’s what being a Wendover means as far as I can see. Life has thrown you a curve and you’re taking a detour.”
“With you,” she said, smiling. “I’m sure they’d all approve of you.”
“Well then, I’m honored and on the positive note, can we please go take our places in APC1 and make my captain a happy man?”
The APC engines were running and everyone was inside except for the captain. When he saw them coming down the path from the cemetery he stepped inside APC1. Cody let Tamsyn precede him and closed the door after himself. She slid into the seat she’d been assigned and wanted to apologize for keeping them waiting but her throat was clogged with emotion and no words came. Jeff gave the order to move out and as the vehicle lurched into motion Melly reached over to squeeze Tamsyn’s shoulder.
She took out her water bottle and had a drink, needing something to do. The vid closest to her displayed the view of the ranch house as the APCs trundled down the long driveway. Tamsyn didn’t want to watch her home recede in the dust and distance but couldn’t tear her eyes away. She felt disconnected from reality a bit and then the vehicles made the turn onto the road and the vid she was staring at changed to a different view and she took a deep breath. Buddy came and laid his head in her lap as if he sensed she needed comforting and she was happy to pet his soft fur and try not to think.
The road they were on went past Rosewater, not through it, for which she was grateful. As it was they passed the ruins of the Fafield compound and after one glance she averted her eyes. The tragedy there had been avoidable if only Jonny had taken basic precautions but it was all water under the bridge now. Nothing she could do about it.
Jeff directed Cody to send one drone over the street where Mrs. Creeley lived and he projected a small holo into the APC, showing the old lady busily gardening. There was no way to tell if the infected who had been her husband was still upstairs, locked in the bedroom but Tamsyn was glad to see the woman alive and apparently healthy. For now. There were infected roaming the ruins of Rosewater and she couldn’t imagine one elderly woman fighting off a group of them but she’d made her choice.
Many of the older houses had storm cellars and Tamsyn took comfort in the idea the elderly lady could outwait a swarm in such a place.
The APCs made good time on the open road, assisted by the fact they could swerve offroad to avoid wrecks, or in some cases push the cars out of the way. There was one ugly tangle of a truck and several groundcars Jeff ordered the megablasters to eliminate and a one minute barrage cleared the obstacle, leaving only smoking remnants behind as the APCs made their way through the new gap. No infected were spotted except at a distance.
Their first scheduled stop was a rest area which on the maps showed as a restaurant and a convenience store/gift shop.
“Guess things went bad here,” Cody said as he stood in the still smoldering wreckage of what had been the businesses catering to travelers. He carried his pulse rifle at the ready and Tamsyn knew Ryan and Zach were scanning the surroundings from the gunners’ seats in the APCs.
Buddy ran around barking happily while Mike poked through the rubble with a long stick, unearthing partially burnt and scorched toys and books, which he examined. Melly and Tamsyn sought what privacy they could get by the side of the burned shop and took care of necessary business. The APC’s boasted a tiny bathroom compartment but Tamsyn had yet to be forced to use it. A visit to the ‘facility’ would be too embarrassing in such close quarters and she was glad the captain mandated rest stops for people to stretch their legs.
“There’s nothing here,” Jeff said now, looking around. “Unless Mike found unexpected treasures in the ashes. Five more minutes and we move on.”
“Yeah, there’s a puzzle book here,” the boy said. “Maybe some other stuff. I can salvage.”
Tamsyn wondered if the two buses of refugees she’d sent off from Rosewater had made it this far. She hadn’t seen any wrecked or abandoned school buses on the trip earlier so she guessed they must have, which made her happy. She reboarded the APC with a lighter heart and managed to take a nap as the long journey continued.
* * *
“There are people at this hot springs park ahead,” Cody reported as his drones quested through the skies. “No infected, or at least not within ten miles.”
“Define people,” Jeff said.
