started a small fire in one of the protected pits. The horses were unsaddled and tended to for the evening, then set to wander and graze inside the fence. The studs were picketed away from the others. They had room to graze, but not get tangled, or start a fight with the others. Supper for the people was a few MRE’s brought along from their supplies and a few fish caught in the canal, broiled over the coals.
After dark, they were joined by other travelers. A group of traders had come out of Snareville and Hennepin earlier in the day. Their canoes were filled with goods such as shirts and pants. A few dresses. Underwear. Things that were difficult to find or were made by the Mennonites at Plow Ridge had a great value. The canoes with their loads were brought inside the fence for the night.
Dan watched the traders set up camp. This was one of a few secure sites along the canal, but he’d heard stories of vicious fights over a canoe’s worth of food when some had camped in the open. He knew this bunch and after they settled in for the evening, he slipped out of his sleeping bag and joined them around their fire.
The group had traded with the survivors that tied their houseboats up at the Hennepin docks. Those survivors were always short of everything but fish. Scavenging parties visited up and down the Illinois River. What they found, they brought back to their base and traded up the canal. They did some trading on land, but anyone who wanted to trade with them then had to come down to the docks. These survivors refused to set foot on land unless they were scavenging. Dan found out there were a half-dozen new babies in the group and at least that many women pregnant.
Snareville was secure, the leader of the group, a young woman who didn’t look much older than Ella, told him. The gardens were going in for the year and they had seen some of the women breaking out horses they acquired in a scouting trip in the last week.
Next morning, after a quiet meal, they gathered their horses, repacked the saddles and headed out. Within a few minutes they mounted and headed south-east along the canal. Ella urged her horse up beside Dan’s.
“Wish we were driving,” she said. “We’d only be twenty minutes from home, instead of half a day.”
Dan grinned. “Anxious?”
“I miss Moms,” she smiled. “I miss Mikey and Rachel. Don’t you?”
“Hell yes,” Dan chuckled. “If I didn’t have this pack string, I’d let Cherokee run the whole way home. I don’t know how my Granddad went off for three years to fight in Europe.”
“Me neither. Wish I could have met him.”
“He was a great guy.”
“Sometimes I think about my family. You know, before all this?”
Dan nodded. Ella didn’t often talk about life before the zeds.
“I don’t know what happened to them all. My Gramps fought in Vietnam. He was a great guy, but now and then when I stayed over at his and Gram’s house, I’d hear him shouting at night. Dad said he did it long as he could remember. He died the year before the world died.”
“What happened to the rest?” Dan asked in a quiet voice. He didn’t like to pry, but he was interested in how she came to be chained in the back of a grocery store.
“I was at school when the worst of it hit. Mom came and got me.” Ella watched the ground pass under her horse. “We holed up in a store for awhile. Eddie took us in.”
That was the store where he’d found them, Dan figured.
“Eddie pimped out Mom first. Said she could pay our debt to him that way. Then Mom got bit, Eddie shot her and he started pimping me. That’s all I know, Daddy. I haven’t seen anyone else since you found me.”
“Well, you’ve got us now. There’s a lot of families like ours.”
She smiled up at him with eyes that swam with tears. “I know. When the world died, we all became family.”
Talk turned to other things. One of which was when she and Billy Jaques wanted to get married. Society had reverted a hundred
After dark, they were joined by other travelers. A group of traders had come out of Snareville and Hennepin earlier in the day. Their canoes were filled with goods such as shirts and pants. A few dresses. Underwear. Things that were difficult to find or were made by the Mennonites at Plow Ridge had a great value. The canoes with their loads were brought inside the fence for the night.
Dan watched the traders set up camp. This was one of a few secure sites along the canal, but he’d heard stories of vicious fights over a canoe’s worth of food when some had camped in the open. He knew this bunch and after they settled in for the evening, he slipped out of his sleeping bag and joined them around their fire.
The group had traded with the survivors that tied their houseboats up at the Hennepin docks. Those survivors were always short of everything but fish. Scavenging parties visited up and down the Illinois River. What they found, they brought back to their base and traded up the canal. They did some trading on land, but anyone who wanted to trade with them then had to come down to the docks. These survivors refused to set foot on land unless they were scavenging. Dan found out there were a half-dozen new babies in the group and at least that many women pregnant.
Snareville was secure, the leader of the group, a young woman who didn’t look much older than Ella, told him. The gardens were going in for the year and they had seen some of the women breaking out horses they acquired in a scouting trip in the last week.
Next morning, after a quiet meal, they gathered their horses, repacked the saddles and headed out. Within a few minutes they mounted and headed south-east along the canal. Ella urged her horse up beside Dan’s.
“Wish we were driving,” she said. “We’d only be twenty minutes from home, instead of half a day.”
Dan grinned. “Anxious?”
“I miss Moms,” she smiled. “I miss Mikey and Rachel. Don’t you?”
“Hell yes,” Dan chuckled. “If I didn’t have this pack string, I’d let Cherokee run the whole way home. I don’t know how my Granddad went off for three years to fight in Europe.”
“Me neither. Wish I could have met him.”
“He was a great guy.”
“Sometimes I think about my family. You know, before all this?”
Dan nodded. Ella didn’t often talk about life before the zeds.
“I don’t know what happened to them all. My Gramps fought in Vietnam. He was a great guy, but now and then when I stayed over at his and Gram’s house, I’d hear him shouting at night. Dad said he did it long as he could remember. He died the year before the world died.”
“What happened to the rest?” Dan asked in a quiet voice. He didn’t like to pry, but he was interested in how she came to be chained in the back of a grocery store.
“I was at school when the worst of it hit. Mom came and got me.” Ella watched the ground pass under her horse. “We holed up in a store for awhile. Eddie took us in.”
That was the store where he’d found them, Dan figured.
“Eddie pimped out Mom first. Said she could pay our debt to him that way. Then Mom got bit, Eddie shot her and he started pimping me. That’s all I know, Daddy. I haven’t seen anyone else since you found me.”
“Well, you’ve got us now. There’s a lot of families like ours.”
She smiled up at him with eyes that swam with tears. “I know. When the world died, we all became family.”
Talk turned to other things. One of which was when she and Billy Jaques wanted to get married. Society had reverted a hundred
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