divorced, or like me and never married. A few left their wife and kids with family and are pretty confident they’re safe. Grim, though, didn’t have that luxury. He’s a good man, but worrying about them is making him stupid. I caught him packing up to head out on his own two days ago. It took a lot of persuasion to cool his jets.”
Bishop was familiar with the issue, and not just with Deke’s man. The topic was part of daily conversation within the community as a whole.
Just like his exercise, contact with distant family and friends had taken a backseat to eating and security post-SHTF. Now that everyone’s day wasn’t completely preoccupied with day-to-day survival, people had the time to wonder about children, siblings and other pre-collapse relationships. Without phones, email or a post office, contact with relatives living far away was next to impossible. The few shortwave radio operators up and running did their best, but there just wasn’t that many of them to form any sort of cohesive network.
“Anyway,” Deke continued, “I was thinking of approaching your wife and asking if my team could acquire some gas, a vehicle and the other necessary supplies… should we decide to mount up and bring Grim’s family back here.”
Bishop shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t see why not. You and your team have contributed as much as anyone since you’ve been here.”
“Thanks for that, but… well… I didn’t know what kind of reception I’d receive approaching her with hat-in-hand. After all, we did kidnap her, and some people hold a grudge over shit like that.”
Laughing, Bishop recalled the incident that had brought Deke and his men into the community. Subconsciously rubbing his shoulder where the bullet had almost ended his life, he then shook his head to clear the cloudy, dark thoughts.
“Deke, that entire situation was fucked. You guys didn’t know what was going on, and Terri and I didn’t have a clue. I don’t think she holds a grudge.”
“We Tasered a pregnant woman, for God’s sake. We didn’t know she was with child, but still…”
Bishop interrupted, “And she shot one of you in the chest , didn’t she?”
Nodding with a smile, Deke replied, “Yup. That was me. Thank the Lord for condoms and body armor.”
“And I shot one of your men out at the ranch, right?”
Deke didn’t reply, taking his turn to relive a troubled episode.
After a bit, Bishop continued. “Look, those were some crazy times. All of us did shit we regret. You also shot Nick’s son, and I tried like hell to kill all of you out at the ranch. Before some measure of order was restored, it was just insane, and everyone knows that. Your team did the right thing once the truth came out, and that’s all anyone can ask these days.”
It took the operator a few moments to digest Bishop’s words. Nodding, he said, “Any chance you’d tag along to echo some of that wisdom to your wife? Put in a good word for us?”
Bishop’s brow wrinkled, “No, that I can’t do. If I went with you, people might think I was lobbying on your behalf. We have hundreds of folks in the same spot, and I’ve got to remain impartial. I’ve had friends who had kids in college when everything fell apart, and they begged me to go retrieve their children. I couldn’t. Almost every day someone approaches me with the same problem, and there’s no way we can go retrieve every single citizen’s loved one.”
Deke frowned, not liking Bishop’s answer.
Bishop sighed, clearly uncomfortable with delivering bad news. “Yesterday, Miss Emily approached me in tears. You know the lady I’m talking about – she works as a volunteer at the new clinic.”
“Yeah, I know her… super sweet older lady who mothers everyone that comes in.”
“Yup, that’s the one. Anyway, she caught me walking down the street yesterday morning and asked… no begged me to go to Denver and bring back her sister. She’s been having nightmares about her
Bishop was familiar with the issue, and not just with Deke’s man. The topic was part of daily conversation within the community as a whole.
Just like his exercise, contact with distant family and friends had taken a backseat to eating and security post-SHTF. Now that everyone’s day wasn’t completely preoccupied with day-to-day survival, people had the time to wonder about children, siblings and other pre-collapse relationships. Without phones, email or a post office, contact with relatives living far away was next to impossible. The few shortwave radio operators up and running did their best, but there just wasn’t that many of them to form any sort of cohesive network.
“Anyway,” Deke continued, “I was thinking of approaching your wife and asking if my team could acquire some gas, a vehicle and the other necessary supplies… should we decide to mount up and bring Grim’s family back here.”
Bishop shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t see why not. You and your team have contributed as much as anyone since you’ve been here.”
“Thanks for that, but… well… I didn’t know what kind of reception I’d receive approaching her with hat-in-hand. After all, we did kidnap her, and some people hold a grudge over shit like that.”
Laughing, Bishop recalled the incident that had brought Deke and his men into the community. Subconsciously rubbing his shoulder where the bullet had almost ended his life, he then shook his head to clear the cloudy, dark thoughts.
“Deke, that entire situation was fucked. You guys didn’t know what was going on, and Terri and I didn’t have a clue. I don’t think she holds a grudge.”
“We Tasered a pregnant woman, for God’s sake. We didn’t know she was with child, but still…”
Bishop interrupted, “And she shot one of you in the chest , didn’t she?”
Nodding with a smile, Deke replied, “Yup. That was me. Thank the Lord for condoms and body armor.”
“And I shot one of your men out at the ranch, right?”
Deke didn’t reply, taking his turn to relive a troubled episode.
After a bit, Bishop continued. “Look, those were some crazy times. All of us did shit we regret. You also shot Nick’s son, and I tried like hell to kill all of you out at the ranch. Before some measure of order was restored, it was just insane, and everyone knows that. Your team did the right thing once the truth came out, and that’s all anyone can ask these days.”
It took the operator a few moments to digest Bishop’s words. Nodding, he said, “Any chance you’d tag along to echo some of that wisdom to your wife? Put in a good word for us?”
Bishop’s brow wrinkled, “No, that I can’t do. If I went with you, people might think I was lobbying on your behalf. We have hundreds of folks in the same spot, and I’ve got to remain impartial. I’ve had friends who had kids in college when everything fell apart, and they begged me to go retrieve their children. I couldn’t. Almost every day someone approaches me with the same problem, and there’s no way we can go retrieve every single citizen’s loved one.”
Deke frowned, not liking Bishop’s answer.
Bishop sighed, clearly uncomfortable with delivering bad news. “Yesterday, Miss Emily approached me in tears. You know the lady I’m talking about – she works as a volunteer at the new clinic.”
“Yeah, I know her… super sweet older lady who mothers everyone that comes in.”
“Yup, that’s the one. Anyway, she caught me walking down the street yesterday morning and asked… no begged me to go to Denver and bring back her sister. She’s been having nightmares about her
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