Families First: A Post-Apocalyptic Next-World Series Volume 6 Battle Grounds by Lance Ewing (ereader for comics .txt) 📕

Nancy returned to me, stating she and her son needed to be in Boulder with her family, and they would leave right after the funeral.

“Wait. No, wait just a minute,” I pleaded. “How will you get there, and what if they are not fine?”

“They are there. I know because we talked about something like this happening.”

“As to the how, I guess we will walk.”

“Not with me around,” I told her. “Jake told me right before he...well, right before it happened, that you were all going back to Boulder. I vowed to make it happen safely. If that’s what you still want, I’ll figure out how to make it happen, but you will not be walking after all you have done for our group and my kids and Ringo. No, we will get you there safe, I promise.”

“That’s a promise?” she asked.

“Yes, it is. I don’t have any idea of your loss, but your husband was my best friend in this New-World, however short it was, and I won’t rest until you and your son are safely united with your family—if I have to take you myself.”

“We appreciate that more than you can know,” she responded. “As for my husband, I need to take him home to his family. He needs to rest on our property where Danny can talk to him whenever he needs to.”

“I understand,” I told her, not knowing how we would get it done but believing we would.

* * * *

When I got back to my family, Joy already knew. The news was sad, of course, and I would mourn for some time after. But this night, we spoke about his life—or at least the short time we knew him.

“Do you remember when all of you showed up at the house that first night?” asked Joy.

“Sure, I brought home three adults and two kids, all strangers, and you said, “Welcome!” and made beds for everyone. That was right before he and I knocked off the Market Street grocery store and met up with Lonnie and Mike. Then Lonnie led us to Vlad and his gun store, making the rest of this trip possible. It’s crazy how a few days of complete chaos could turn into brand new lives for us all. Most of us, I mean...” I trailed off, thinking of Jake again. “Jake was as tough as they come, a family man and someone who genuinely cared for people. He even won Mike over after getting off to a rough start, and that’s hard to do, if not impossible, I’m sure,” I added. “I was hoping to spend more time with him.”

I told her how it happened—everything I could think of, just as I had explained to Nancy nearly an hour ago now.

* * * *

Mac had extra security tonight all across the Valley. The Colonel promised to stop by tomorrow and update everyone on the victory and the fire burning at this point below the town of Estes Park, only 20 miles away, as the crow flies. All told, the Ranch lost four men and The West two, with several more still in The West hospital. Services would be the following day.

After dark, I got together with Lonnie, Vlad and Steve. Steve had been shot in the hand but looked in good spirits after being released from The West hospital.

“That doctor down there sure is a looker,” remarked Steve. “I might have to shoot myself in the other hand, just to get to see her again!”

“You must be referring to Dr. Melton, and that’s as far as you want to take this; she is spoken for,” I warned, having been caught up on all the Ranch happenings from my mom when we first arrived.

We missed Mike, who was unaccounted for so far, but none of us thinking he was hurt or worse.

* * * *

Mike called a meeting with a few of us late the next afternoon. Lonnie, Vlad and I all listened as he told us he probably would be leaving for good, pending a meeting later today. He couldn’t tell us much but only that he would likely be working with the Government on Sergio’s high-security missions. I had a lot of questions but didn’t ask even one. This was the best-case scenario for everyone. Mike was an orange in a bowl full of apples, and we all knew it.

“Mike, you helped us get across the country, stayed to complete the journey, and even helped secure the Valley,” I said. “All without the benefit of possibly living out your days in peace, like the rest of us.”

But I knew, as we all did, he hadn’t gotten the short end of the stick. He was doing what he was born to do. An angel maybe…not a good one but not all bad either—more of a scorekeeper picking bad apples out of the bunch. He told us of things to come. Missions of hope for our country to move forward and someday reclaim our presence on the global stage. I both envied and pitied him for his adventure to come, missing out on family and friends. I pictured him picking up our leaders and gently setting them on new soil to slowly build our country back, one brick at a time.

* * * *

Sergio met with Ronna and had a not-so-surprise visit by the Colonel.

Ronna and his boss had quite varying tales of their interactions with Mike, but both agreed he was one of a kind and would fit right in with a Sergio crew.

“You two leave in the morning,” said Ronna, getting a nod out of the Colonel. “We need you on the coast before things really get out of hand.”

* * * *

Joy, Nancy, myself and a few others said