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Madie Crossroads and Choices

Madie Crossroads and Choices

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Book 2 will be available soon,

CHAPTER 1

My name is Madie. This is my journal.

Life is full of crossroads and forks in the road. Whichever road you choose to take will determine your fate in life. Sometimes there are obstacles or bumps in the road that require a change of direction. Other times, the road gives you a choice. You can continue to go straight, or you can choose to change directions. I think I read that somewhere or something similar to that. I made a choice to change directions. I’m thinking I should have stayed straight.

Journal 1

I was resting when our convoy came to a sudden stop. Yates told me to stay put as he jumped out of the truck. He ordered a couple of his soldiers to run to the front of the convoy and find out what was happening. I have never been good at waiting. I hate it when others tell me what to do. I prefer to give the orders.

I stayed put for three seconds and then I jumped out of the truck. Yates gave me the “I told you to stay put look.” and in return I gave him the “I’m just stretching my legs look.” It only took the soldiers a couple of moments to figure out what the problems were at the front of the convoy. Someone had dug a ditch across the entire width of the road. There was no way to get across and we couldn’t drive around it because both sides of the road sloped down a hillside.

 Yates started giving orders. His soldiers were going to have to build a bridge to get us across. This was going to take a little while, so I started to get back in the truck. I vaguely remember the dart hitting me and seeing a couple of soldiers fall. I think I remember hearing gunfire and someone yelling to take cover. I don’t know where everyone went. I think fate hates me.

Journal 2

If Yates is here, I have not seen him. The guards don’t allow us to speak. They watch over us like vultures. Any deviation in the rules and punishment is swift and painful. I know because I quit digging up rocks long enough to catch a moment’s breath and had a rod come down across my shoulders.

Rule number three don’t stop working until a guard tells you to quit. I gave the guard a look and he smacked me again. I forgot about the keep your head down rule. I recognize a couple of soldiers from Ft Shasta also here as slaves, but I don’t know their names. I never had personal contact with them at Bear Country. I think they are just as confused and disoriented as I am. I wish Yates were here. He would know what to do to get us out of this mess. I have been praying that Yates escaped the ambush.

The guards forced me to work the entire day with no food at all, and only two ladles of water. Every muscle in my body hurts. After digging up the rocks, we transport them to be washed. I have bruises all over my back. I have dirt so far under my fingernails that several of my fingers are sore. I stink and I have a headache. Someone pinch me so that I can wake up from this nightmare.

Journal 3

I want to go home. It has been a long, awful day. This is not the new life I was promised. I keep pinching myself hoping I will wake up from this nightmare. I can’t sleep even though I am exhausted. I am finding it difficult to get comfortable at night because everything aches and it is difficult to sleep on a cold dirt floor. The guards get enjoyment in disturbing our rest period. They walk over us and deliberately kick someone. The guards kicked me in the shoulder, yelled at me and hit me with a stick because I was in the way. I looked at the guard in protest and he beat me for my rudeness. The guards made me kneel for the rest of the night.

I am so hungry. The guards eat continuously throughout the day. They walk among us and brag about how full they are. If my thoughts could kill all the guards would be dead. We are teased with food; I have seen several of the other slaves walk away with a guard and come back later with a piece of fruit or bread. They are surviving the best they can. I am not going down that road. I think I would prefer to die.

I spent the first part of the day digging up rocks. After my midday stale biscuit, the guards transferred me to work on the wall.

Journal 4

I spent the day digging up rocks and daydreaming about my life before the virus. I think it helped to take myself away from this hellhole even though it was just in my mind. I miss my parents and my bed. Please let this whole thing be a dream. At any moment, my mom is going to walk into my room and tell me to wake up and get ready for school. I will suddenly realize this life was just an awful nightmare brought on by bad pizza. I am going to hug my mom and apologize for everything I have done wrong in the past.

I think I actually slept for a little while last night. I propped myself up against the wall and before I knew it the guards were rudely yelling at us to wake up. I refuse to believe this is the way I am supposed to spend the rest of my life.

Today was a special day. All the slaves assembled in front of the gang leader. I am not certain what he looked like because the guards didn’t allow us to raise our heads. He gave a lovely speech and praised us for our hard work. If thoughts could kill, I would spread his brains all over the rock pile. The guards brought out a wheelbarrow of food. They gave each slave a few seconds to grab something edible to eat. I am so glad I wasn’t at the end of the line.

Journal 5

Like the day before and the day before I spent my day digging up rocks, washing rocks and building a wall. Yates’ soldiers did the same. We tried to communicate with each other when the guards weren’t looking. It was a challenge. If caught by the guards, it would have meant a beating. I watched the guards dish out punishment without cause time after time. The guards seemed particularly cruel to a couple of slaves that could do nothing right. I felt sorry for them. I wanted to help but I didn’t want to draw attention to myself. I watched the other slaves go about their work as if nothing cruel was happening around them. No one flinched. The most common reaction was to move carefully out of the way without drawing attention from the guards. I think it’s a coping mechanism put into place after weeks and months of trying to avoid punishment. I found myself doing it.

At the end of the day, after the guards had finally decided we had done enough work they led us back to our place of sleep. They gave us the same stale biscuits and a drink of water. I tucked myself up against the wall beside a couple of Yates’ soldiers. The wall was one of the safer places to sleep. The guards harassed anyone sleeping near the fire. I don’t remember falling asleep. I woke up ready to fight the moment I felt his hand grab my mouth.

Journal 6

He had to straddle my entire body to keep me from struggling free. I continued to struggle until I saw his face. At first, I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. I closed my eyes very tight and counted to three. When I opened my eyes again, he was still there hovering over me with his hand over my mouth. Without saying a word, Tony mouthed for me to be quiet. I hugged his neck and did as I was told.

Four of Yates’ soldiers accompanied Tony. Tony woke the other soldiers enslaved with me one at a time. The other captives sleeping in the area were also given the chance to escape. Only a handful chose to do so. The others were unable to comprehend what was happening. They just turned over and went back to sleep. The guards watching over us were tranquilized by the same darts used to capture us. They would be asleep well into the morning hours. I kicked them both in the side as I stepped over them. It was the least I could do for the hellish way they treated us. I am hoping this security breach gets them into a heap of trouble. With any luck, they will end up as slaves themselves.

The escape out of the camp was easy. There was only one moment when I thought we weren’t going to escape. We almost stumbled into a guard patrol but luckily, they weren’t paying much attention to their surroundings. They seemed more interested in the slave they were teasing. No one said a word until we were clearly away from the camp.

Journal 7

I couldn’t take another step. I was thirsty and weak from hunger. After a moment’s rest and drinking all the water in Tony’s canteen, I asked about Yates and the other soldiers. Tony looked at me and shook his head from side to side. He said Yates struggled to survive for a couple of days. Many of Yates’ soldiers died from injuries they had received the day of the ambush. I refused to accept what Tony was saying. I started making plans to find Yates and the others. Tony grabbed me by the shoulders and gave me a shake. He said there weren’t any others. I said there had to be others. We were in a convoy of four trucks with at least 30 people. We had guns. General Yates would not have gone down without a fight.

I pulled away from Tony. I called him a liar and said a few awful things I now regret. I knew Tony had to be lying. He was jealous so I chose Yates over him, and I told him so. I stomped off into the woods. I don’t know where I was going but Tony followed. I stopped at the edge of a cliff.

For a moment, I considered jumping. Tony asked me not to jump. He said he had something important to say to me. If I still wanted to jump after he had finished, he would jump with me. Tony said he loved me and that he only let me go with Yates because he wanted me to have a happy and safe life. The morning the convoy left Bear Country Tony realized he had made a mistake in allowing me to leave.

Tony borrowed a horse from Joshua of the Spurs. He caught up to the convoy shortly after the attack. Yates and several of his soldiers were left for dead. I was nowhere to be found.

Journal 8

It would have been a painful way to die. It wasn’t a straight drop to the bottom. Tony and I would have hit every rock, boulder, and tree stump on the way down. Then we would have lingered alive for a couple of hours before finally succumbing to blood loss. I didn’t want to die that way.

I backed off the edge of the cliff and fell into Tony’s arms. There was clapping and whistling from the soldiers. I didn’t realize they were all standing there. I apologized to Tony for everything I had said a few moments before. Tony kissed me on the head and thanked me for not jumping. Tony and the four soldiers that had survived the ambush led us around the woods for more than an hour trying to find the graves of Yates and the other soldiers they were able to bury. I wanted to say goodbye.

We had almost given up looking for the graves when one of the soldiers accidentally stumbled upon the gravesite during a moment of rest. We held a small goodbye ceremony in the woods for Yates and the other fallen soldiers. Each of the graves was marked with a cross of twigs. The nametag from the soldier’s uniform was pushed into the bark.

I found Yates and said my goodbyes. I apologized for getting him into this trouble. Tony knelt beside me and whispered in my ear that none of this was my fault. I didn’t put General Yates into this grave. I wish I could believe that. There is a small boy at Ft Shasta who is now without a father.

Journal 9

Tony and I are taking our time returning to Bear Country. By now, Bear Country would have elected a new leader. I hope it was Sheriff Pete. All the soldiers that survived the ambush headed back towards Ft Shasta. Their walk was going to be a long one. I wished them luck in their journey and asked them to be safe. I again apologized for the trouble I caused.

Tony and I didn’t travel very far yesterday or today. We stayed in a hunter’s cabin last night. It was filthy but it was better than sleeping out in the open on the hard ground. I have had enough sleeping on the ground to last a lifetime. The cabin was near a stream. Tony accidentally scooped a fish out with his hands. He spent the next hour in the ice-cold freezing water trying to catch another one and never came close. The one fish barely gave each of us three mouths full, but it was good.

Today we went exploring. I don’t think we covered more than a couple of miles. Tony and I stumbled across a gang of naturalists called the Sequoia. Relax, they were friendly. Their gang leader offered us a place to stay for the night. Tony is out bathing in the creek with the men. I plan to go with the women as soon as he gets back.

Journal 10

Tony and I have decided to stay a couple of days with the Sequoias. Their leader Xu has graciously invited us to spend as much time as we wanted here provided with help with the chores. Tony is out hunting with the boys. Xu’s wife Palesa gave him a grocery list of things to bring back for dinner. Palesa was very insistent that Xu find everything that was on the list.

I have been sitting around most of the day. I did help prepare breakfast and wash the dishes. This gang has a large number of toddlers and smaller children. I am amazed their infant survival rate is so high. A large majority of the women here look as if they are pregnant and couple of them look as if they were about to give birth any day now.

Xu’s wife Palesa already has two children, and it looks as if she is going to have another. I like Palesa she has a sense of humor and an incredibly cheerful disposition. I asked Palesa if it is hard raising her children out here in the wilderness. Palesa assured me that it was quite simple. This is amazing because I have seen at least a dozen girls have babies back home since the virus and only two of them delivered babies that survived more than a week. Aleece is one of those babies. I hope Aleece and her mom Casey are safe and happy somewhere. Aleece must be getting very big by now. I wonder if she is crawling yet.

Madie Life in Bear Country

Madie Life in Bear Country

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This book will be available soon.

CHAPTER 1

Journal 1

I finally found a new journal to write in. I found it at the plaza. I paid a hefty price. Nevertheless, I desperately needed something to let me vent and chronicle my thoughts. You would think that a person living inside a school building would have access to paper. Except for the stash, the journal club keeps under lock and key, the only paper in this school is the student records. This paper serves no useful purpose to me.

Not a lot to talk about, Bear Country HS has been quiet for weeks. I am a little bored. Everyone is off doing his or her own thing. I was hoping that maybe I could get someone to play a game of cards, spades perhaps. It is a fun game, but no one was interested. I even asked the Library Trio, Marty, Gretchen, and Cecelia. Day in and day out the three of them sit in the media center and read. Surely, they could use a diversion.

 They weren’t interested. Marty said they were doing research. This sounded somewhat interesting so I asked if I could help. They all three looked at me and in unison said “No”. Before I knew what was happening, they pushed me out of the media center. In addition, they added insult by locking the door. Those three are a wealth of information. A little odd and secretive and they are rarely seen alone but they can be immensely helpful at times. I am only a little hurt that they didn’t want to play with me. Oh well, their loss.

The agriculture club is trying their best to supply us with a variety of fruits and vegetables but an unfortunate accident with a bug infestation has damaged much of their crops. In an effort to keep us from starving to death, the agriculture club has asked for volunteers. They need people to help with the crops that are left. I will be spending much of my time next week helping in the fields. Oh, joy! It’s not that I mind helping out. I just hate manual labor. Better to help now than to starve later.

Journal 2

There is trouble in Bear Country.

Runt came running down the admin hall before sunup this morning yelling at the top of his lungs.

“Get up, Get up. They took our fuel. “

I jumped off the couch and tackled him in the hallway.

“Ok, we get the point.” I yelled back as I grabbed him by the shoulders and tried to calm him down.

By this time, everyone residing in the admin hall was awake and standing in the hallway. Sleepy eyes were everywhere, and no one was in a very joyful mood.

Runt tried to squirm out of my hold as he cried.

“Tony …Tony’s hurt. They beat him up.”

Tony lives in the basement. He has been my friend (sort of) since before the world turned upside down. We didn’t run in the same circles, but we had several classes together. He always asked my opinions on homework assignments. I used to wish he would ask me out on a date. Unfortunately, he was dating a cheerleader. He isn’t very sociable these days, but he is very good at fixing and maintaining whatever we break.

I ordered the Runt to stay put in the admin hallway and grabbed some muscle. When I say muscle, I am referring to Matt and Jonas. The three of us ran toward the basement. The basement was a mess, and Tony was slumped against the far wall holding his stomach, bleeding from his head, and his left eye was swollen shut. Tony attempted to open his good eye as soon as he heard us coming. He adjusted the way he was leaning against the wall and let out a cry of pain.

“I tried to reason with them.” Tony said as he spit out a mouth full of blood.

“They took all of our fuel.”

Tony said it was Central. I honestly was not surprised. They have been giving us trouble for ages. The Central Bobcats are from the east end of Lafayette Blvd we live on the West. We were rivals in football, basketball, and volleyball. Our bands competed against each other in competitions before the world threw itself into chaos. The significant difference between Central and us is that we are not a bunch of thieves and bullies.

The leader of the Central Bobcats is a former high school wrestling champion. He is mean, leads by fear, and regularly has his goons beat up people for fun. The kids call him the Hulk after the comic book character. He doesn’t barter for what he needs. He has his goons take what he wants.

Matt and I leaned over to help Tony onto his cot. I told Tony he shouldn’t have tried to stop Central Goons from taking what they wanted. Just then, Runt ran up behind me holding a first aid kit. The Runt is such a tiny little person. I yelled at him for leaving the admin hallway. He gets into more trouble.

Runt glared back at me. “Tony didn’t try to stop them. They beat him up afterwards.”

I looked at Tony and he just nodded in agreement.

At that moment, Matt, and Jonas both blew a gasket and started ranting a raving about getting even. Love these boys but they get hot under the collar fast and don’t always think things through…

We have some big people in Bear Country, but we are not a match for the goons at Central.

Journal 3

I take back the “I’m bored” thing. Bear Country held a meeting to discuss what to do about our missing fuel. The consensus was nothing. Asking for the fuel back wasn’t an option, taking the fuel back wasn’t an option, although two people who shall remain nameless thought, we should storm Central and take it back. Can you say Matt and Jonas? We voted this down because of the possibility of casualties on our side. We decided to put in place a security team during the night hours. Everyone over the age of 12 would be required to keep watch at two-hour intervals. Our resources are few and we don’t need to be losing anything else. We have strength in numbers, and we can protect ourselves when necessary.

At the meeting, we also discussed the up-and-coming festival. Like last year, we plan to have a feast, music, and games. The Journal Club will be putting up fliers to announce the event to the community. We invited everyone but Central. With luck, they won’t grace us with their presence at this year’s event.

Journal 4

I dreamt about being home again last night. I swear I could almost feel and smell the clean sheets. It felt like a weekend. One of those mornings, when you had a great night’s sleep, a familiar smell wakes you. My mom was in the kitchen making her famous biscuits. I miss those biscuits. I miss the strawberry jam. I don’t know what woke me from my dream, but it was a letdown when I realized it wasn’t real.

Journal 5

I went to the market plaza today to see if I could find a pair of new shoes (old shoes). The ones I have are coming apart at the seams. My feet wouldn’t fit into any of the shoes. I guess I will wear these a little longer. While I was shopping, I overheard some people discussing the Central Bobcats. They are causing trouble all over town. I am not usually afraid of anything, but the Hulk seriously worries me. He is so evil. People say he is that way because his father was always beating on him, especially if he lost a tournament. I don’t know if this is true or if it is just a rumor kids spread around to explain his meanness. I do know that he never seems to have remorse about his actions. He actually enjoys hurting people.

Journal 6

We moved Tony from the basement up to the admin hallway. He is not doing well. His eye seems to be better, but his stomach is extremely bloated and painful to the touch. He isn’t holding any food down but we are insisting that he drink water. People die from dehydration. Marty, Gretchen, and Cecilia have headed out to the main library to do some research on Tony’s condition. With any luck, they will come back with some answers on what we should do to help him. In the meantime, the kids are taking turns sitting with Tony and trying to keep him comfortable.

Journal 7

Tony is getting worse, and Runt is missing. I couldn’t find him anywhere this morning. He didn’t show for breakfast. His bike is also missing. He is too little to be out in the city alone. It would be disastrous if the Central Bobcats caught him. Lisa took over sitting with Tony after Runt. She said he was obviously upset and mentioned something about finding medicine to help. If I thought medicine was available, I would have been the first person to go and find some.

Unfortunately, finding medicine for even the common cold is just not possible. Survivors emptied out the pharmacies long ago. You can occasionally come across something to barter for but there is no guarantee that what you are bartering for is actually in the bottle. The only time medicine appears on the market is when some desperate soul is trying to save a dying loved one. People have sold their souls for medicine and it turns out to be nothing at all. Some awful concoction someone has put together. Matt and Jonas volunteered to go and look for Runt. I would have gone but I have things that need my attention here.

Journal 8

It has been a long day. Matt and Jonas have still not returned with Runt. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Runt is doing fine and that the Central Bobcats didn’t catch him. Tony was his best friend, is his best friend. Speaking of Tony, he is still recovering. We are still taking turns looking after him. He is not taking in many fluids, but his color is improving slightly. We held elections today for Sheriff. Sheriff Pete will take over as the man in charge of security. He has started looking for people to fill the deputy sheriff positions. I need to put a Thank you in the Bear News for everyone that helped in the middle of the night. I suppose I could give you some good news. Casey finally delivered her baby. Her labor lasted for days. She was in labor, then she wasn’t, she was in labor then she wasn’t. I felt bad for her because she was in constant pain. Everything turned out fine in the end. Mom and baby are doing well. As soon as Casey is up to it, we are going to have a naming ceremony. The ceremony usually occurs about two weeks after the baby’s birth. I guess that will take place around the end of the month.

Journal 9

I forgot to take my journal with me yesterday. I went for a walk, a long walk. Went to my old home and someone was living there. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. It has a very homey feel. I wanted to run up to the people living there and say, “get out this is my home.” I didn’t, I just stood there. I stood there for a long time until my stomach said it was time to eat. I said goodbye to my home and went looking for food.

Update, Tony is getting better. He is still sore and bruised but he isn’t dead. This is a good thing because without him Bear country just wouldn’t be the same. As for Runt, he is still missing. I am beginning to think we will never see him again. It has been days, and he is so little.

Journal 10

It rained all night long. I love the rain. I seem to sleep well when it rains. It is going to be a busy day. I promised Casey I would watch the baby for a little while, so that she can take care of herself. She is the cutest baby. I hope Casey gets to enjoy her for a long time. I am not so sure I would want to take on the responsibility of having a baby. There are so many things to worry about. Babies don’t seem to do as well as they used to. Medicines don’t exist. There are limited things you can do when they get ill. No one talks about the things that can go wrong. I wonder if Casey worries about the baby getting ill. I would worry.

I saw Tony up walking around a little while ago. He was walking toward the showers. It’s a good thing because he was starting to smell bad. If he had been severely ill for much longer, it was going to be a challenge to get people to sit with him.