Chapter Ten: The Claws
James encounters an uncomfortable situation
Alaina covered her mouth, but a scream slipped out. The bear didn’t notice as it lumbered through the trees. I snatched JJ’s shoulder and yanked him back, covering the entire lower half of his face as he tried to protest. It took me several seconds to remember my training. Bears sometimes wandered near the border of the colony, and we learned how to deal with them in the event we had to venture out.
The black bear was just barely an adult. Still, it looked huge compared to JJ.
“Can I pet it?” JJ asked as soon as I pulled my hand away.
The muzzle sniffed. Then she raised on her hind legs and turned toward us. I pushed JJ and Alaina behind me and waved my arms as well as I could. Alaina aimed her rifle. I doubted the rifle’s effectiveness against the bear, but it offered some defense.
A crashing metallic sound erupted behind us and closed in. Four men stopped beside us, banging pots and shouting. I paid little attention to who they were as I did everything possible to shield my wife and son.
The bear stepped toward us. She was shorter than me, but size didn’t matter when claws were involved. I stood as tall as my spine allowed and used my most authoritative voice. “Hey bear. Get on going now, bear.” I’m sure I found one of those plentiful speaking bears.
The men continued banging, creating such a racket that no other sound stood a chance. JJ wrapped his arms around my left leg, and Alaina sandwiched him between us.
Agonizing seconds ticked by as we waved arms, clanged, and shouted. The bear hesitated. There was no cub around, or she would have been more aggressive. I worried about the blood still leaking down my arm; I wasn't sure if she would be interested. She plopped back down on all fours and tilted her head, her ears forward. After a moment, she backed up and then turned. She cast one last, slightly confused glance over her shoulder, then vanished into the trees.
Fear rooted me in place. I just stared at the place she had stood, gripping JJ’s arm and breathing in short bursts. Alaina knelt to hug our son. When my muscles relaxed just a bit, I turned to the surprise arrivals.
The four men had a rough appearance. Tired eyes over long beards. Patched clothing.
Vagrants.
“Hello,” said the nearest man. He was the homeless man I had intervened for a few months previously, Doug Reynolds. “Saw you were in a bit of trouble.” I glanced at the U branded on his arm; regret filled my chest.
“Thank you,” I said. “Are there many bears around here?”
“No,” said one of the other men. His shirt had once been red, but faded to an orange-like color. Red dye was not a cheap commodity in the colony.
“They’re mostly out East. But the important question here is what is an Overseer doing across the border with his family?”
I spent exactly no time during our planning figuring out what to do if we stumbled across the homeless population. It was unlikely they would have any loyalty to the colony. I hoped.
“We’re leaving,” I said. “We’re going to take our chances out there.”
The men shared looks. Of course it would sound unbelievable.
“You’re General Moore’s son,” said a third man. “You’re saying you decided to up and leave?”
“Ain’t a bit of sense in that,” the fourth man said. He must have been from Galilee. They spoke a little slower in the southeast.
“We just want to get out of here,” Alaina said. A pleasant jolt zipped through me. That was the first time Alaina had spoken to a man outside of her immediate family. She had four brothers she barely interacted with all her life, as even opposite sex siblings had to keep a certain distance.
Doug smiled. “Well, we won’t stop you. But I’d like the chance to hear more about your plan. Have breakfast with us.”
Part of me wanted to decline simply because they were homeless. I stopped to think about that.
That was the colony speaking. What were my thoughts about homeless people? Many became homeless because, for one reason or another, they couldn’t work. However, some of them left society for darker reasons. None of it seemed to be a personal failing.
This was one of many things I would have to consider.
“We need to be on our way,” I said. “They’re still following us.”
Doug waved that off. “We have our ways. Some of the younger trolls try to run us out every so often. If some show up, we can have you long gone. Plus, someone should look at that shoulder.”
He wasn’t wrong. The bandage Alaina affixed earlier was bloody.
“Trolls?” asked Alaina.
The Galilean smiled. “The boys on patrol. Trolls.”
“I’m hungry,” said JJ. “Can we eat? Please?”
“Okay,” I said.
Following the three men gave me a touch of anxiety. From the way Alaina gripped JJ’s shoulder, she was just as anxious.
We traveled west for a while, so far that I became concerned about reaching the river. The Jordan River was much of the west border of New Covenant, and the traditional baptism place for the wealthier citizens. Our border had an intricate system in place to allow water to pass through.
When I questioned if the water was safe, since it flowed in from the Other Side, High Preacher Everett told me the water could not be contaminated, as it was blessed by God.
We didn’t reach the river, but came upon a small man-made clearing. They had cut down a good number of trees to turn into rough huts. Other scavenged items made the area almost comfortable.
People stopped to stare at us. I wasn’t wearing my uniform, but I was unmistakable as a Moore. Several ducked out of sight, and I’m sure more than a few hid deeper into the woods. The rest looked ready to run at any moment.
The people I could see were clean and relatively healthy. I expected they’d be filthy and ill. Instead, they watched curiously as we took in the camp. Several pieces of metal from old rolling machines made up parts of the huts, and I had to wonder just how long the camp had been around. A large fired roared in the middle of the clearing, sending the unmistakable scent of roasting meat toward us.
“Doug?” A tall woman walked out of a hut and approached, stopping 10 feet away. “Who are these
people?”
Doug gestured to me, smirking. “This is Overseer James Moore, son of Grand General Marcus Moore.” At least three other people slipped away. Doug’s grin widened. He really enjoyed the idea of me leaving. “He and his wife and little son here are making for the Other Side. Got caught up with a bear.” The best word for the woman’s expression was dubious. I couldn’t blame her. From the look of her, she had been outside the colony for a while. But she wasn’t elderly; probably only a few years older than me. She walked forward. Her left foot twisted inward, and nausea welled up in me.
She had spent her entire life outside the colony; she would not have passed the birth screening. The implication was dire.
“Did the bear shoot him?” the woman asked, her eyes zeroing in on my wound. She gestured to a dark-haired woman who nodded and went into a part log, part deer hide structure.
“Hello,” the first woman said to us. “I’d like to hear your story. We were about to set up breakfast. Please, have a seat.”
We settled at the surprisingly well made wood table. A few people laid out food, including some men. JJ looked around in confusion, but he remained quiet as he sat between Alaina and me.
The woman sat across from me. “My name is Ada-Lou. I’ve been out here a while, and I tend to look after the people, especially the newcomers.”
How did newcomers know of this place? I didn't even know the vagrants lived outside the border. I thought they lived just inside.
“I’m James. This is Alaina, and my boy is JJ. We’re headed for whatever is out there.”
Ada-Lou smiled. “That’s quite the undertaking. What would the future Grand General leave for?”
“For my son,” I said. I ruffled JJ’s hair. “I would do anything for him. He’s not safe in the colony.”
JJ's little face turned up at me. “I thought we were leaving for Mama?"
“We are. But also for you. We want you to be safe.”
The boy's eyebrows furrowed, but went back to his roasted squirrel.
The other woman came back with supplies. Ada-Lou smiled. “This is Dana. She’s quite gifted in medicine.”
Alaina stiffened and her eyes narrowed when Dana sat beside me to roll my shirt down. I had never associated so closely with a woman outside of Alaina and my mother. I couldn’t even recall having any sort of conversation with either of my sisters-in-law.
“I need to sew this shut,” Dana said. “It’s going to hurt quite a bit.”
That didn’t begin to cover it. The first pierce was like someone lit my shoulder on fire. I held in my reaction as much as possible for JJ’s benefit, but I grimaced.
Across from me, Doug said, “We’ve heard stories of the Other Side, of course. It’s either a wicked wasteland or a paradise. “
Ada-Lou nodded. “No one in my lifetime has made the journey.”
“Why do you live here?” asked JJ.
The woman’s eyes brightened when she looked at JJ. “It is safer for us here than inside the gates. So we live here together, like a family.”
Dana finished stabbing me, then bandaged it as best she could. It was in an awkward place; not near an artery, but right through the muscle. My arm hardly moved when I tried to lift it. Alaina had been right about climbing the tree, of course.
Topics shifted to contemplation of what lay beyond the forest, then to opinions on the colony. Despite my urge to leave, it was strange to discuss errors in Doctrine so openly. It seemed to be a hobby of theirs, bouncing theories off each other. I thought of the Bible in my bag, the one with the darkest secrets of the colony written in plain language. I could have confirmed many of their ideas, but speaking of it made my stomach cramp.
After the meal, Alaina and I locked eyes. I turned to the inhabitants of the little camp. “Thank you for your generosity. I have to leave before more patrolmen arrive.”
“We wish you a safe journey,” said Ada-Lou. “Perhaps one day you’ll return and tell us all about it.”
“We will,” I said. Something made me think it was the truth.
JJ tilted his head up at Doug. “Why don’t you come with us?”
Doug squatted to meet the boy’s eye. “All of us are happy out here. And we’re just not brave enough to go any further.”
Homelessness didn’t automatically mean they were unbelievers, of course. They had endured the same indoctrination as everyone else, and served in the militia as young men or prepared for family life as young women. They were probably terrified of aliens, but just didn’t have the resources to live in the colony.
“I think you’re crazy,” said the Galilean, who they called Freddy. “Them beasts will rip you to shreds. Make a bear seem like a squirrel, they do.”
JJ grabbed my hand and pressed against my leg. I said, “We just have different opinions. We think we’ll find a better life out there. Well, if we run back south screaming, you’ll know you were right.”
We exchanged farewells and departed.
Once we had walked for a while, Alaina said, “How did they know we needed help, do you think?”
“I think they’ve been following us. Lots of movement in the trees. I didn’t think it was all vermin.”
“I don’t know if that makes me feel better,” she said.
JJ stopped, planted his feet, and crossed his arms. He took a deep breath. “I don’t want to go,” he said. JJ had never been one to disobey adults. I think being outside the colony emboldened him. “Preacher Tim said it’s bad to leave. He speaks for God the way Preacher Everett does. God doesn’t want us to leave. Those people said it’s dangerous.”
Sure was hard to argue with God. As early as I could remember, I learned the Preachers had unique relationships with God, speaking directly with him. JJ heard the same thing at every church service, prayer circle, and Bible study for his entire life. But at five, he didn’t have the ability to see beyond that. He was trained to obey the Preachers and not think too deeply about it.
I knelt in front of him and held his shoulders. “Jay, I am telling you. If we go back, they will take your mother away. You will never see her again. And now they will probably kill me for crossing the border without authorization. So we have to keep going.”
His face scrunched up. “That man said the aliens will kill us.”
“That man doesn’t know; he’s never been out there. I am your father, and I will never let anything happen to you. I am going to keep you safe. I can’t do that in the colony, not anymore. Now, what does God say about doing what your parents tell you?”
JJ looked at the nearest tree. “Honor thy father and mother.”
“Yes. Now we need to go. Do you want me to carry you?”
He nodded. It was a mistake as soon as I lifted him. My left shoulder screamed in protest, but I shifted him to the right and carried on. Alaina and I moved as fast as we could, but it still felt slow.
The air warmed. We must have run into another colony of hellbugs, because their shrill sounds filled the air, more intense than I’d ever heard. At least the humidity began to really lighten. The air was actually dryer than I was used to.
“Do we have water?” JJ asked. Alaina handed him a canteen from her bag.
“Don’t drink it all. We don’t know if we’ll be able to get more.”
I could filter water, but we had no idea if we would come across any. Or if it was poisoned.
Many yards ahead of us, trees gave way to a field full of grass and flowers. It was beautiful, like nothing I had ever seen. Some people in the colony had small gardens, but usually for food or tobacco, not flowers. And the farms were all cotton, corn, wheat… Not bright, stunning plants. Everywhere I looked, colors exploded from the ground. Reds, yellows, blues. More colors than I could name.
JJ wiggled out of my arms and ran toward a patch of orange flowers. "Mama, these smell good!"
We walked forward, taking in the sight. Alaina wiped her eyes. She laughed as JJ bounced between little flower groups, sniffing and poking. His giggles filled me heart.
Footsteps crunched behind us.
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AN: Curious to know your thoughts. How would you feel if you saw a field of flowers for the first time?
