Storm and Fire Part Nine

Chapter Nine:
The Road
Silvia and Paul packed their packs the next day and set out with the rising of the sun. The air was cool, and the dew made the ground moist. The sun’s rays shone through the trees, patches of sun here and there. The distant mountains had snow on them, and clouds blew through the passes. The wind wasn’t as strong where they were. A gentle wind blew by, blowing the grass. Chirps could be heard from up in the trees, and every once in a while a startled bird flew out, squawking. Sticks cracked under their feet. It was very peaceful.
They weren’t talking much since they were tired. Without imports of coffee beans from distant tropical places, it was hard to wake up. Few people born after the war even believed in the tropics, thinking them a legend cooked up to make them wish for the pre-war times. This generation was very often irritated they had been born in this dark age, and any attempt to make the pre-war times sound even better, they often ignored.
After a few hours of walking, the air was now dry and the temperature warm. They stopped for a quick meal – “How do you want your deer?” asked Paul for the third meal in a row – which they quickly devoured and continued on walking. The road wound through the valley below them, the Skykomish River running beside it. It looked like the remnants of a few houses were next to it.
Paul announced, “We’ll probably see Sultan and Gold Bar in another few hours. Maybe only one hour. We have been walking for a while.”
Sure enough, by only 3:00 they saw on one side of the road the town of Sultan. What they saw gladdened them. People were walking through the streets. The houses were still standing. There were lights coming from some of the windows. Not a gunshot to be heard. The sound of people could be heard even from where they were, half a mile away. Keeping their guns ready in case of trouble, they ran to the town.
When they got there, the town didn’t look as friendly as it did from half a mile away. It looked like everyone had a gun in case of trouble. That, or a gun to cause trouble. It was just a lawless town, probably full of bandits. You could say the town was well guarded, or that it had nothing to guard against. The houses looked old and weathered. The road was old and worn. Shrubs and thorn bushes had grown where yards once were.
Paul was hungry and tired, hoping to stay at an inn. He had the deer to sell, that which he still had. It was impossible to bring two whole deer along. Seeing a butcher shop, he walked over there. He motioned for Silvia to follow.
“So, how much are you willing to sell that for?”
“Four dollars,” Paul said.
“Dollars? You mean old money? Who uses that?”
“Most people around Snohomish do,” Paul said, confused about the butcher’s lack of understanding.
“Well, now, this isn’t Snohomish. Around here, we use gold,” he held up a few vaguely round gold coins, to prove that they actually did use gold.
“Well, how much you willing to buy it for?”
“Oh, does three gold coins sound reasonable?” the butcher said, holding up three fairly large gold coins.
“Of course!” said Paul, amazed that he could get that much for just cured deer meat.
A man stepped into the shop. “He’s lying, you know.”
“What?!” spluttered the butcher, “This is real gold!”
The man had dirty, ragged clothes, the sleeves of his shirt torn and his hair was long and uncombed. “That is only eight carat gold. It is cheap. The real price should be around ten coins.”
The butcher scowled. “Why don’t you mind your own business, if you want to keep your head. What goes on between a customer and a salesman is not for everyone to hear. Why do you care if someone gets cheated or not?!” His face was turning red.
“I just don’t like seeing someone cheated. Now, pay him what he deserves.”
“Fine,” spat the butcher, “I’ll pay him his ten coins.”
The butcher snatched the meat and threw the coins out the door. “If I count to five and you’re not out, the lot of you, I’ll throw this knife,” and held up a knife. Paul rushed out in a hurry, followed by Silvia. He picked the coins up off the ground and dusted them off.
“Thank you,” he muttered at the man, though frankly he liked to as few enemies as he could in this town.
“Now I’m sure who you are,” he said to Silvia, “You’re the traitor!”
He pulled out his gun and fired at her, but missed. Silvia quickly brought out her gun and fired several times at him. He quickly bled to death and dropped to the ground. Silvia looked little affected by the death, nor did anyone else around. Paul, however, did.
“What?! He only helped us to see if you were the same person as the one who left the bandit organization? I didn’t know they were after you!”
“They just said if I ever met them, they would not show me mercy. I didn’t know that meant they would try to kill me.”
“Well, just be careful. There may be more around.”
Another person walked up to them. He looked remarkably clean and shaven, with expensive looking clothes. “Nice work on killing him. He’d been evading us for quite some time.”
“And you are…?” said Paul, suspicious after the last person they met.
“I’m from Wenatchee, making sure those bandit’s don’t take control of the town. You see all the guns these people have? It is nothing compared to the number they used to have. There are barely any bandits here, but we keep everyone from knowing that they are not here. So that the people feel natural and in their own hands, not being protected.”
“Wait, you’re from Wenatchee? Is it still around?”
“Around? It’s that largest city in Washington! There’s a population of five hundred thousand. Don’t you know?”
Paul’s head swam at that. A city? There were no cities anymore! They had guards patrolling the surrounding area? How could he not have known? Silvia looked equally surprised.
“What, you didn’t know? Well, if you’re from the west, you probably wouldn’t. We don’t want bandits knowing our location. If you’re interested, I could take you there. I am a guide as well as a guard, and am taking a few others as well.”
“It would be appreciated. We are setting out tomorrow. Where will you be?”
The guard explained the location and what the trip would be like, and then they said their goodbyes. Paul and Silvia went back to find an inn, amazed by the news. Civilization seemed like a distant past. It was here now. Paul was smiling the rest of the evening. After getting a room, they decided to look for a restaurant. Paul hadn’t been to one in ages, and was eagerly wondering what it would be like. He walked up to one restaurant that looked fairly good.
The diner was plain. The furniture was nice, though. All of it was hand-carved by the manager. He did a very good job. The plates, cups, and eating utensils were even carved out of wood. The food was nicely cooked, though it was not the best meat. It tasted good anyway, and Paul thought it was much better than cured deer meat.
During dinner they discussed what would happen when they got to the city. Paul expressed his concern about not being important, but Silvia assured him that he would find something to do. He asked her what she planned on doing. She told him she would wait to get to the city to decide. She smiled when she thought of getting a job as a guard. She was hating the gang of bandits more and more. Paul thought that was a good idea, but knew he was only good with hunting, not battling.
They got back to the inn and fell asleep quickly. Walking for seven hours could make a person tired. Paul wondered how Silvia could be so calm after someone attempted to murder her. Well, she used to be a bandit, she must face death well. Hopefully no one else tried to kill them. Their trip should be safe with the guard. Paul was happy. He was eager for tomorrow to come.