Honor Road by Jason Ross (best non fiction books of all time TXT) 📕

“I don’t see why he should have any questions. That’s his county. This is ours...never mind. It’s just old men and their politics. It doesn’t matter.”

“He wants to know about trade between the counties,” Sage offered.

“Ha!” the Commissioner barked. “As if we needed anything from the city.” Commissioner Pete sat back and thought a moment. “That’s the problem, see? We have plenty of cattle, feed and grain. We only have three thousand mouths to feed and there’s no need to complicate our lives with Chamber’s brand of nonsense. By hook or crook, everyone ends up working for him. Ain’t that true?”

Sage blanched. He didn’t know if it was true or not, but Captain Chambers certainly seemed like a man-with-a-plan. If there was someone else in charge, Sage hadn’t heard his name uttered.

“Um. I just got there—in Union County. I’m from Salt Lake City and I’m passing through on my way home. I only just met the captain a couple weeks ago.”

“Okay, then tell me: what kind of government do they have over there in Union County?”

Sage hadn’t seen or heard of any government other than the police department. He assumed there were elected guys, but Sage didn’t know their names. His confusion must’ve shown on his face, because Pete waved the question away.

“Don’t sweat it. Let me show you something—pick someone. Anyone.” He waved around at the people setting up supper tables. Sage pointed toward a middle-aged lady walking past.

“Joan,” Pete called out, stopping her. “What kind of government do we have here?”

She smiled, looked at Sage, recognized him as an outsider, and answered. “It’s a Constitutional thing. We elect you sweet-talking politicians and you tell us what to do.”

Pete laughed. “Then how come I feel like you’re always telling ME what to do?”

“Because that’s the natural order of things, Pete. You men run the show and we women run you.”

Pete belly laughed as Joan went back to work setting the silverware. “Ain’t that the truth?” he asked Sage. He seemed to realize he was talking to a young man—too young to know how the world really worked—and he looped back to his point. “We didn’t get creative here in Wallowa County when the outside world came crashing down. We pulled up the U.S. Constitution and clicked copy then paste.” Pete smiled. “Can’t say the same for our neighbors in Union County. They’ve got their own style of guv’ment, and Ron Chambers is up to his armpits in it.” He held up his hands in surrender. “But they can do whatever they want. Don’t get me wrong; Union County is Union County and if they want to run it like the Russian mafia, that’s none of our business.”

“It’s not like that,” Sage argued. “They’re doing what they have to do to survive the winter. They have a lot less food than you do and a lot more hungry people. I saw what it was like over the mountain into Washington—after the stores closed and the water turned off. Mister Commissioner, they were eating people. I swear they were.”

The Commissioner’s eyes widened. “I’d heard stories on the shortwave, but I didn’t know it’d gotten so bad, so fast. I’m sorry you had to see that. You’re lucky to be alive.”

“Yes I am. Thousands are dead. Probably millions. Just over the Blue Mountains.” Sage didn’t know what point he was trying to make, but he kept talking because the Commissioner seemed to be listening. “I killed a couple guys. Mostly by accident. Guys from over in Elgin. They tried to rob me.” Sage’s throat tightened with emotion.

Commissioner Pete reached across the table and put a heavy, calloused hand on Sage’s shoulder. “It’s okay, son. It’s war over there and you did what you had to do. It’s okay. Just breathe. Oh, hey, here’s your burger.” He took the paper plate with a burger and fries on it from Joan as she passed by. She looked at both of their faces—Sage’s an emotional mess—and retreated to the kitchen.

“Did I mention I’ve got a daughter your age? And, a son a few years older. He was in Boise at the university when the crash happened. What are you, nineteen? Twenty?”

Sage wiped his nose with his sleeve. He hadn’t reached for his burger yet. “Seventeen.”

“Wow,” Pete remarked. “Have you been outside this whole time? More than two months?”

Sage nodded and stuck a fry in his mouth. The oily saltiness of it shocked his taste buds.

“It aged you. Turned you into a man too soon.” Pete glanced around at the crowd as though looking for his own son and daughter. “We’ve been blessed here. Very blessed...and we’re in no hurry to spit in God’s eye. We don’t want to screw this up, and mucking around with Ron Chambers is playing with fire. I don’t know if you noticed, but we’re trapped here. There’s no back door out of this valley. We either go out through Union County, or we go out over those mountains. This place is our first and last stand. Please ask Captain Chambers, politely, to sock all his ambition into saving Union County and leave us the hell alone. They’ve got nothing we want or need.”

Sage sighed and tucked into his burger. He felt bad about taking the man’s food, but he’d be a fool to pass up fresh beef.

He had a sinking feeling Union County wasn’t going to leave Wallowa County alone. After all his time in Union, Sage had only eaten beef three times, but the smell coming from the kitchen didn’t lie—the townsfolk would be enjoying something with meat in it, and that was likely a daily deal.

Beef, it’s what’s for dinner - if you live in Wallowa.

If his guess was correct, there were at least ten cattle for every man, woman and child in this Valley. Chambers wouldn’t leave that alone. He had a lot of men, and a lot of mouths to feed.

Commissioner Pete appeared to enjoy watching Sage eat. He was proud of his