Seasons: A Year in the Apocalypse Read online

  We discovered each other on our daily searches for food back in Windom. That was before the town was hit by the second round of the fever in year six. And before an army of marauders took all we had left and burned what remained of the dilapidated place to the ground.

  Both Bradley and I felt the world owed us something. At least what was left of our world. The few fortunate and benevolent people in the Windom area made sure no one starved or went without clean water. But that ended with the fever and the fire.

  Of course, we had a baby. I mean, what’s worse than struggling to make your way through the end of the world? Struggling with a tiny baby clinging to you.

  But Bradley died, and things turned desperate… even more desperate than just trying to survive in a world set against you.

  That’s when I took up with Brady. Or at least, we found each other almost exactly a year after Bradley’s death.

  “Are you planning on joining me anytime soon?” Sunshine’s voice made me leap. Grabbing the shovels, I trotted after her, toward the south end of my property. “I swear you get lost in thought everywhere you go, girl. One of these days, I ain’t gonna be there to save you from stepping into a heap of trouble. You need to learn to focus.”

  I felt a grin grow. What little she knew of the world could be summed up in a simple phrase: Just don’t do whatever Abigail Turner is doing, and you’ll be just fine.

  Chapter 3

  We worked for what we believed to be most of the morning before taking our first break. Mr. Frederickson had done a good job of turning the earth for us though Sunshine continued to gripe. Both of us shed our light sweaters within the first row of work. The spring sun, unabated by any cloud cover, warmed us as we worked.

  Handing me a cup of cold well water, Sunshine wiped her dark forehead. “You suppose Hulton’s man will come today?”

  I nodded, downing the last of the cool liquid in my plastic cup. “He said last week he’d be here as soon as the weather changed and the sun came out.” I smiled at my friend; she didn’t bother with such things. “Mr. Lasky will be here today. If not today, by tomorrow for sure.”

  Sunshine’s face screwed up as she looked away. “Why do you call that hard-ass Mr. Lasky? Why don’t you call him Lask like all the hired help over there does?”

  I retrieved my shovel and headed back to work. Sunshine did the same, just not as quickly as I did. “He deserves our respect,” I answered. “I’m not going to call him by a nickname or his first name—”

  “Do you even know what his first name is?” Sunshine interrupted.

  I thought for a moment, resting my chin on the end of the worn shovel handle. “John. No, Joe.” Sunshine snickered. “I know it starts with a J.”

  “Well, we both know it ain’t Jesus,” she replied, finally getting back to the task at hand. “Cause if he’s our savior...” I noticed her teeth flash through her mischievous grin. “Then I don’t want no saving.”

  Given the rumors I’d heard about the man, I agreed with her. Even if only in my head.

  Breaking for a small meal of dried fruits and vegetables, Sunshine and I rested in the shade of the southern tree line. Some leaves had sprouted, but it would probably be another few weeks before full shade could be found. But we had enough to keep the sun away, mostly.

  “Would you sleep with Lasky?” Sunshine asked from nowhere, startling me from a daydream.

  I felt myself squint. “What?”

  Setting her apples aside, she leaned closer. “Would you bump uglies with Lasky? Do the wild thing, you know.”

  I gave the question no thought. “No,” I answered quietly, only half believing my answer. “I wouldn’t want to cheat on Brady. He and Sasha could be back at any time.”

  Sunshine exploded with laughter next to me. Any time I brought up Brady, she had a habit of loud, rank laughter.

  “When Brady comes back…” she mocked in her falsetto voice. “Like that rat bastard is ever coming back. He done run off with another woman and took your daughter along as a prize for her.” She flipped a hand at me. “When Brady comes back, those Amish pigs will grow wings and shit on us as they fly over.”

  I ignored her with as much poise as I could muster. Sure, each day they were gone made their return harder to believe. But I knew in the deepest part of my heart they were coming back.

  “They’ve just been delayed in Rigby,” I replied, making sure my tone was happy. “Once they get whatever is holding them up taken care of—”

  Sunshine jumped to her feet and thrust a bony finger at me. “He been delayed for almost a year now. Face it, Abby, he’s gone. They’re gone.”

  I chased away her exaggerated lies. “It’s only been four or five months,” I countered, rising from my spot. “They’ll be back soon. You’ll see.”

  “It was last August, woman,” she shouted, chasing after me as I made my way back to the garden. “Maybe it was September, but Lasky says it’s May now. That’s eight or nine months. And what’s so damn special about Rigby to keep them that long? That place was a dump the last time I was through it four years ago. Point South, now there’s a decent town. But Rigby?”

  Unable to take her ridicule any further, I stopped and turned on her quickly. I noticed her face become slightly frightened.

  “Brady had trades to make in Rigby,” I said in an even fashion. “Something must have happened. We’ve been over this, Sunshine. About a million times now. Let’s be done with it once and for all, okay?”

  Some of the fear faded as she realized I wasn’t all that upset. Finally she nodded, followed by a shrug.

  “Just don’t come crying to me when you finally realize they ain’t ever coming back,” she said, pushing past me towards our plot of black dirt.

  I watched her wander away, feeling my lips pucker. “And won’t you be surprised when Brady shows up and wants to boot you out the front door for being such a doubter,” I whispered aloud. “We’ll see if I come to your rescue when you’re begging me to stay, Miss Smart Mouth.”

  Chapter 4

  By the end of the first day of work in the new year’s garden Sunshine and I had the earth mostly ready. All we needed to complete the planting was a little tidying up in a few spots and the seeds. But Mr. Lasky had the seeds. And by the end of the first day Mr. Lasky was a no-show.

  As we climbed into bed we agreed that he would deliver the seeds the following day. Or he wouldn’t; there was very little we could do to influence when the seeds showed up. That’s just the way it was.

  Mid-day of the second day of our wait, Sunshine and I had the garden worked into a fine smooth bed of black gold. If those darn seeds would just show up.

  “Maybe they forgot,” Sunshine offered as we sat on the front screen porch of our home. Fanning myself with an old faded red handkerchief, I knew better.

  “We plant almost an acre for Mr. Hulton,” I replied. “In the four years I’ve been here, they’ve never forgotten to deliver the seeds. He’ll be here when he gets here.”

  Sunshine stopped rocking and leaned forward. “Maybe you should run over there and ask them if they forgot? Maybe they’d appreciate that?”

  I tried not to, but I rolled my eyes at her foolish suggestion. “You know we can’t go over there today. It’s not the day of rest. If we showed up at their fence today, they’d chase us off. They might even lengthen Walker’s time.”

  Sunshine stared at me, the whites of her eyes opened wide. “Or maybe they’d be mighty thankful for reminding them of something they forgot about. You know it’s been a while since we last saw Lasky. Maybe he don’t even remember we’re alive over here.”

  “Don’t be so foolish,” I replied in the nicest tone I could muster. “We can’t go over there; no more talking about it. We should see if we can get that east edge of the garden trimmed up nicer. We might be able to get one more row planted of whatever they have for us this year.”

  She looked away, her expression changed from hopeful to unhappy. “I sure hope you’re more
right about this than you are about Brady.” She pushed away from her chair and exited the porch door. “Because if they forgot and you’re too ignorant to help Hulton out,” she nagged through the front screen, “you deserve what you got coming. And that’s a whole lot of nothing.”

  She continued on her path to the garden and stopped one last time. “And a big old I told ya so from me.”

  With the sun touching the treetops at the end of the far field I decided our day was about over. While Sunshine pulled the last of the weeds and crabgrass from the far end of the garden, I dragged the hoe and shovels back to our shed.

  Inside I watched the sun’s orange glow cascade through a dirty window into a far corner. In the muted light I could see dust particles float by, lazing on a slow current of air. It reminded me of my childhood and summers long ago.

  For a moment I allowed my thoughts to wander to Sasha. I knew she was safe, even though I hadn’t seen her for going on nine months. She was, after all, Brady’s and my daughter. His flesh and blood as well as mine. Though Sunshine doubted his honor, I knew better.

  Sasha’s hair was long and dark when she left that last time. I had tied it into two pigtails to keep it out of her face for her trip with her father. It was her first time to Rigby; her first time anywhere. Four years of life on this farm with only a few miles traveled one direction or another. How excited she was when they left.

  I worried about her pale almost alabaster complexion. Brady wasn’t always the most diligent father when it came to demanding that his little girl wear her sunbonnet. If she fussed or complained in the least, he’d likely give in and tell her it was alright to leave it off just this once.

  I felt doubt and uneasiness creep into my mind.

  Where are you, Brady? And why haven’t you at least sent word? I understand if you’ve been delayed, but I need to know that everything is okay. Especially for Sasha.

  I shook away the thought. That was Sunshine, not me. She doubted Brady, I didn’t.

  I couldn’t really blame her for how she felt about my husband. She didn’t know him as well as I did. She’d only been here for two years. We, Brady and I, had been together for as long as I cared to remember.

  If she had seen the way he protected me and Walker at first, she’d know better. If she had seen how hard he worked the land, before he hurt his back, she would know. If she had ever seen the kindness and gentleness he showed me each night in our alone time, she’d know.

  A muffled scream from outside the shed brought me back to the present. It sounded as though it had come from the garden. I stepped outside and listened closer. Nothing. I must have imagined it—

  Another scream, only louder this time. And definitely from the garden.

  I turned and trotted that way. One more scream, and I began to sprint.

  Chapter 5

  The person climbing on top of Sunshine in the middle of the garden was nasty. There was no other way to describe the man.

  His clothes were mere rags. Both threadbare pant legs flapped loosely as he moved. His shirt had no buttons and hung open in front.

  His hair was long and looked as though it hadn’t been washed in years, hiding what could only be a dirty rotten face.

  He swung a large stick at Sunshine, striking her over and over again.

  “Stay down, bitch,” he called out in a hoarse voice. “Just stay down.”

  For her part, Sunshine was putting up a valiant fight. But the man, though skinny as a scarecrow, towered over her and used that damned stick liberally.

  “Stop it!” I screamed. But the bastard didn’t even turn to look at me.

  Without a weapon, I attacked with my bare hands. Pulling at his hair and gouging his face got me pushed away. When I renewed my efforts, he turned and delivered a hard punch to the left side of my face.

  I fell away, landing on my back, fighting to stay conscious. Above me he towered, loosening his belt.

  “I’ll get to you in a minute,” he spewed. “Right now, I got something for your little friend here.”

  I tried to push off the spongy ground to attack again, but he kicked me with a dirty boot. “Just stay right there, darling. This shouldn’t take long.”

  Stunned, I flipped over and began crawling backward like a crab. If I could get to the shed unnoticed, I could grab a shovel and end the attack on my friend.

  He seemed more interested in pinning Sunshine to the ground than me, so I dared to ease up and turned to make my dash to the shed. Within a step, I ran into another hard body and was knocked to the ground again.

  Lifting my head, I gazed in the direction where Sunshine lay pinned to the ground by her attacker. I watched the backside of the second man approach the pair and draw a dull black pistol from a side holster.

  Planting the bottom of his right boot in the assailant’s side, the second man pushed him easily off of Sunshine and pointed his weapon at the other man.

  I expected him to shout at the other, now backtracking as fast as he could away from the gun in his face. Instead, I heard the gun bark once, then twice, and finally a third time.

  I was sure the attacker was dead, but our savior needed to boot him in the ribs several times before replacing his gun in the holster. By the time he made his way back to me, I was already on my hands and knees, forcing breaths between tight lips.

  “Mrs. Turner,” the man said with a deep voice, extending a gloved hand down to my level to offer help. “Why don’t we get you and Sunshine up on your feet and get you some water from the well?”

  I knew the voice; I’d known who it was ever since he had knocked me to the ground.

  “Mr. Lasky,” I replied, letting him help me up. “It would appear that you showed up just in time.”

  “You shot him three times in the head!” Sunshine shouted, drawing our attention away. “What kind of an animal shoots someone three times in the face?”

  I saw Mr. Lasky’s head shake slowly, his dark eyes meeting mine. “One that just saved your ass again.”

  I noticed Sunshine approaching as if she were about to physically attack the man who had saved her. “One shot would have done the job just fine!” she shouted. “Hell, give me a few more seconds, and I probably could have fought him off.”

  Our visitor shook his head again and spat on the ground between us.

  “Tell you what,” he drawled. “Run and fetch me a shovel, and I’ll get a hole dug for the body.” He sneered at Sunshine before grinning at me. “Unless you already had your heart set on doing that, Sunshine?”

  “We don’t owe you nothing, Lasky,” she countered. But she and I both knew better. This was going to cost us. Not today, but soon.

  It was dark by the time we buried the body and made our way inside. Sunshine lit lanterns in the dining and living rooms while I diddled with the wick of the kitchen lamp. Running out of patience, I gave up after several tries and joined my housemate and our guest at the dining-room table.

  Mr. Lasky placed a large cloth bag on the table. Sunshine pulled at the drawstring and peeked inside.

  “Corn,” she reported, glancing at me. “It looks like we’re raising corn again this year.”

  I tried to hide my disappointment, but Mr. Lasky noticed.

  “Something wrong with corn?” he asked, scratching at a week’s worth of growth on his face.

  “No,” I answered, trying to smile. “We were just hoping for something besides corn, that’s all.”

  Sighing heavily, Mr. Lasky’s hand waved in the air as if he were chasing a fly away. “Corn is what Mr. Hulton needs you to grow again. We need the seeds so we can keep trading them for other necessities. Corn is what most of the livestock eat. The husks and hulls can be burned for fuel. Hell, it’s sweet corn, ladies. I know you must pilfer a few ears of it each fall for your own consumption.”

  His voice had risen, so I smiled to show our inquiry was benign.

  “It’s fine, Mr. Lasky,” I replied, watching Sunshine roll her eyes and shake her head. “Will we be
getting other seeds for our own use?”

  He itched something below his right eyes with a dirty finger. I think there was still a spot of blood on his hand from the dead man.

  “I’ll run over some green beans and carrots and onions and other decent shit tomorrow,” he replied gruffly. “The hope was you’d get most of this corn planted today.” He shot me a wry grin. “But you and Sunshine done and gone cocked up that plan.”

  I didn’t want to argue with the man. Sunshine hadn’t asked to be attacked. It just happened.

  “Yeah, I really enjoyed that drifter pawing me and hitting me with that stick,” Sunshine interjected before I could signal her to stop. “It was a real blast.”

  Lasky shook his head. “I told you a hundred times, maybe more, you two gotta be more observant. There’s no way in hell that man should have snuck up on you. Not in the open like that. Keep something handy so that when you see trouble coming, you can chase it off.”

  Sunshine opened her mouth to respond, but kept her words inside when she saw my expression. Not now, not now.

  Taking Mr. Lasky’s arm gently, I steered him toward the door.

  “We look forward to seeing you tomorrow then, Mr. Lasky,” I said. “If you come later in the afternoon, we’ll have most of that corn planted. You’ll see.”

  He paused on the back stoop, giving me a strange look. “It’s Jeremy,” he muttered. “Not that I expect either of you two to remember.”

  I watched him mount his horse and turn to leave. “Thank you again for your help… Jeremy. Have a good night.”

  I sighed, knowing Sunshine was standing behind me, glowering for some reason or another.

  Chapter 6

  The discussion over our meager dinner was the same one that repeated itself often. As much as I didn’t want to talk about it—or the attack or anything, really—I humored Sunshine again.