Isolated from Anarchy - Chapter 1
CHAPTER
1
TWO
MONTHS AGO, Ashley was nearly incapacitated by fear when she found the man who
assaulted her on her wedding day standing between her and the only exit from
the greenhouse. Tyler Hewitt had tried to stop her from marrying Caleb Solomon,
and it got physical. When Caleb found out, he broke Tyler’s nose and warned him
to never go near Ash again, especially when she was alone, yet there he stood,
knowing full well that Caleb had gone hunting.
Ash’s
heart rate accelerated as her mind replayed that morning in the greenhouse. She
had her back to the door. When she heard his voice behind her, frightening
scenarios raced through her mind. She stood, turned, and eased her hand toward
the bear spray holstered at her hip.
She
could still hear his voice in her head. “Ash, don’t be stupid. You dispense
that in here and we both suffer, besides, I just want to talk.”
He
told her he wanted to marry Melora and begged her not to tell Melora about the
incident, afraid it might scare her away. Ash felt her good friend deserved to
know the truth before making such a commitment, and when she told him as much,
his anger flared. He took several steps toward her, and she raised her arm,
pointed the can at him, and thumbed the safety off. He stopped, softened his
tone, and continued to plead his case.
Ash
wasn’t sure what would have happened next if Melora hadn’t walked in, demanding
to know what Tyler didn’t want Ash to tell her and why Ash was pointing a can
of bear spray at him. Ash told Melora the whole story while Tyler scowled.
She
was glad it was finally out in the open, but Tyler was furious with her. Things
were starting to cool back down somewhat. Melora married Tyler, and she
continued to mediate whenever they were all together, but they had a long way
to go.
“Something
wrong?” Caleb asked as he hopped up onto the boulder next to Ash. “You’ve had
your line in the water for thirty minutes and haven’t caught a single fish.
That’s not like you.”
“I
was just thinking about the day in the greenhouse when I almost sprayed bear
deterrent in Tyler’s face. Every time I think we’re getting past what he did to
me on the morning of our wedding, we take a major step backward.”
“I
hope you’re not blaming yourself for that. He should’ve never approached you
when he knew I was gone, and you were alone. He’s lucky Melora was there when I
showed up or I would have broken more than his nose this time. When I walked
into the greenhouse and saw the three of you there, I just assumed she and
Tyler came together.
“I
doubt I will ever be able to trust him again, but I am trying to forgive him
for Melora’s sake. He just doesn’t seem too remorseful. I ran into them this
morning at the storehouse. She seemed so happy, and he just glared at me. I
guess that’s why my mind drifted off to the greenhouse incident with Tyler.”
Caleb
cast out his line. “I’ll always resent him for what he did to you, and for what
he stole from you. Our wedding day was the happiest day of my life. It should
have been for you too, but you suffered alone so as not to ruin the day for
everyone else.”
“It
was still the best day of my life. It’s not every day a girl gets to marry her
soulmate.”
“I’m
glad you feel that way, and now that Melora and Tyler are married, I have to
believe we can finally stop worrying about him. Melora will surely keep him in
line,” Caleb said as he leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Now, you better get
to seriously fishing. If we return empty-handed, everyone will think you’re
losing your touch.”
Ash
chuckled and smiled at Caleb. No matter what life had thrown at them so far,
they handled it, and they had come out of each crisis stronger. The more time
they spent together, the more she loved him. She didn’t know how that could be
possible, but it was.
The
rare sound of a helicopter interrupted their fishing. The helicopter looked to
be following the old, damaged highway toward their small, isolated, mountaintop
community of Beartooth, Wyoming, located a mile away.
They
quickly reeled in their lines. Ash gathered their gear while Caleb slung his
quiver of arrows over his shoulder and grabbed his bow. They left the lake at a
fast pace.
“We’ve
never seen a helicopter this close or flying so low,” Ash said as she struggled
to keep up with Caleb’s longer stride.
“I
just hope they don’t land, and quickly move on,” Caleb replied.
As
Ash and Caleb reached the field Caleb’s family farmed, which was furthest from
the community, the helicopter gained altitude, made a wide, banking turn, and
then headed west. They slowed their pace, hoping the helicopter’s departure
meant the community was safe, at least for now.
They
hurried past the Solomon farm and other cabins until they reached the
storehouse. A couple dozen residents had gathered underneath its covered porch
after hearing the helicopter, but wisely, stayed out of sight.
“Could
you tell who it was?” Caleb asked Neal Yandell, one of the community’s original
founders and the chair of the Community Leadership Board or CLB.
“We
couldn’t see it, but we heard its approach. Thank goodness it turned around. I
hope it was a research or road survey helicopter. I don’t know why anyone else
would be up here,” Neal replied.
“Pryor’s
militia was able to commandeer four National Guard transport trucks the last time
the governor sent troops in to try and restore order in the resettlement city.
Maybe they captured a helicopter too,” Caleb said.
The
thought sent chills down Ash’s spine. Pryor, Wyoming was a city of about 80,000
residents established when the rising sea levels forced hundreds of millions on
the east, west, and southern coasts to evacuate and move inland. Fifty such
resettlement cities were built across the country. Some were much larger, and
none had been overly successful, but Pryor was the most notorious. It had
recently been taken over by a brutal group calling themselves the Freedom and
Morality Alliance or FAMA. They killed anyone who didn’t agree with them or
tried to leave, established a no-fly zone over the area, and repelled all
attempts by the National Guard to restore order.
Pryor
was Beartooth’s closest neighbor. Most of the roads and all of the bridges were
damaged between them. Very rough and rugged terrain separated the two
communities, preventing any wheeled conveyance from reaching Beartooth, so the
thought that those in control of Pryor might have obtained a helicopter was
frightening.
Neal
turned to the group assembled on the porch of the storehouse. “Hopefully it’s
gone and not coming back, but I think we should all go home and stay inside for
a while just in case.”
Everyone
except Caleb, Ash, and Neal left and wandered off in different directions
toward their cabins. As the three continued to stare at the sky, Tyler and
Melora jogged up and joined them.
“What
do you think,” Neal asked Melora.
Melora
and two other geologists moved to Beartooth last winter. Prior to becoming a
geologist for the U.S. Geological Service, Melora had served four years in the
military before earning a bachelor, and then a master’s degree in geology.
Everyone
in Beartooth possessed special skills or provided some service. Since their
small community only needed so many geologists, Melora had taken on the task of
trying to assess vulnerabilities and look for ways to protect the community
from outside threats—human or animal.
“I
think it was a National Guard helicopter. We were over at the creek west of
here, so we got a brief glimpse of it as it banked away from us. There was a
red cross on the tail indicating it’s used for rescue and medical missions. I
suppose they could have been searching for someone.”
“I
pray you’re right. I like your theory much better than Caleb’s suggestion that
Pryor commandeered it from the Guard.”
“Chilling
thought, but we shouldn’t discount the possibility,” Melora replied.
“Let’s
hope they were truly National Guard and are not planning to return,” Neal said
as he left the two couples behind and strode off toward his cabin.
“I
think we need to do more than hope,” Caleb mumbled.
“Me
too, and just between the four of us, we have,” Melora replied as she looked
over at Tyler.
Tyler
was trained as a civil engineer but had expanded his base of expertise out of
necessity since arriving in Beartooth. He’d become very good at making about
anything the community needed out of whatever he could scrounge up. Along with
building things, he kept the solar energy and water systems running and
maintained and built equipment and machines.
“We
brought stuff with us last winter that could be helpful. We have a drone we
used to fly over geothermal features in the caldera. I don’t know if there is
any way we can weaponize it. At a minimum, we can use it for reconnaissance. I
also believe we could take a helicopter down by flying it into the rotors, but
then we’d lose the drone. Graham, Fiona, and I also have two-way radios, which
might come in handy for line-of-sight communication,” Melora said.
“I
told Melora that I don’t think taking down a helicopter will set well with this
community since it would likely kill its occupants. Almost everyone here
is pretty opposed to violence.” Tyler added while glaring at Caleb, and then
Ash.
“The
community has been all for removing animal predators, but human threats are
another thing. I don’t know how far everyone will be willing to go to protect
our home and way of life,” Caleb replied.
“And
how would we know who is in the helicopter and what their intent is until they
land? Maybe they’re scientists, road survey crews, or search and rescue
personnel from the states of Montana or Wyoming,” Ash added.
“That
is the tricky part. We wouldn’t want to harm anyone with good intentions, but
once we let the bird touch down, we would be very vulnerable and have few
options for self-defense,” Melora stated.
“Maybe
it’s worth bringing up at the next CLB meeting to at least get people thinking
about how far they’d be willing to go to protect the community,” Caleb said.
“Probably
a good idea. I’ve been going over the pros and cons. On one hand, if we took
down a helicopter, it might just bring the wrath of its owners upon us whether
or not they meant us harm. On the other hand, I hate sitting here with no way
to protect ourselves. I realize I’m fairly new here, and I don’t understand all
the community dynamics yet, so that’s why we’ve kept most of my ideas to
ourselves.”
“This
place was settled by people who want to live a simple, safe, non-violent life,
but we also don’t want to give up what we’ve built, especially after hearing
from the radio and you, Graham, and Fiona just how far the country has slid
into anarchy. I know at least a few of us are willing to fight to keep what
we’ve built,” Caleb said.
“For
now, I guess we’ll see if the helicopter returns, and Tyler and I will keep
looking for ways to use the drone the most effectively,” Melora replied as she
and Tyler walked away.
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