Jake Green sat back in bed, waiting for sleep to come over him, the same way that he had done since the bombs had hit: too tired to sleep right off, and his mind still racing. His mind still went back to the days before the bomb, to the way his life had been, still chaotic, but then, disorganized.           

             Jake fell off to the side, sweat covered, spent. He rolled onto his back, breathing hard, trying to come back to reality after another mind blowing experience. The woman was also breathing hard, the sheet up around her top, also covered in a post-coitial sheen. She brushed her hair out of her eyes, and then leaned on her side, looking down at the sculpted chest of her lover, and the starry-eyed face.

            “You are amazing, Sam.” Jake breathed.

            “So are you, Jake.” Sam stated, looking at him with almost ice blue eyes. “Jake, when are you planning to go home?”

            “Friday.” Jake stated, looking back at her, his face softening.

            “If I make all the arrangements, I would like it very much if you went earlier, like tomorrow morning.” Sam stated.

            Jake narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

            “Something big is coming up, and I may need your help by Friday.” Sam noted. “But I want you to make sure that your family ties are taken care of.”

            Jake sat up, gently caressing her shoulder. “What is coming up, Sam?”

            “I can’t tell you exactly yet, Jake, but there is something big on the horizon, and we will probably have to deal with it.” Sam stated, the concern eking out on her face.

            Jake gathered her up in his arms, and held her on his chest. “I will go face the music. I want to be sure that I am there when you need me.”

            When Jake came to, the dream dissolved into the brightness of the morning. He could feel wetness around his eyes; he raised his hand to wipe the tears away. He then shifted himself upright, and set out to face the new world.

            Jake walked down the main street, his hands in his pockets of his jacket, nodding automatically to those who passed him by. He couldn’t get Sam out of his head, and he wasn’t sure why. He knew in his heart of hearts that she knew exactly what was coming, but because of security, couldn’t tell him just yet. He knew that she had to be in San Diego when it hit, and supposedly, that was one of the cities that had been hit hardest. He knew that she was gone. He had cried over her death for the past few months. He remembered that one of the last thoughts he had as he was racing back for Denver after he couldn’t get his money from his father was how angry he was that he wouldn’t be able to buy her that ring, and that he was going to have to find some other way to try. He remembered how much his heart had ached when they had gotten that newscast, and that information basically telling them that San Diego was gone, and most likely, so was Sam. He had been plagued for weeks with nightmares of how she had gone out. She was most likely one of the people on the front lines trying to stop the nightmare from happening, and was probably obliterated. He had hoped, at least that she had been close to ground zero, at least it would be less agonizing than the lingering death that radiation poisoning brought about.

                But he had put her behind for a while, until now.

               “Hey Jake,” Heather’s voice echoed out, breaking him out of his train of thought.

               “Oh, hey, Heather. What’s up?” Jake asked, flashing his sexy eyes up at this beautiful woman who he knew had a crush on him.

               “I was wondering if you wanted to come out and see some of the new additions we are planning to put on the generator. I think I have found a way to make a solar panel to try to convert the generator over to solar power.” Heather noted.

               “Sure.” Jake smiled.

               “Awesome, come on,” Heather latched an arm around his, and guided him down the street.

               Jake was thankful for the welcome distraction.

               Dale and Skylar were doing inventory of the store around them, Skylar was walking around with a notebook and pen as Dale would call the information back to her. The inventory was not going to take very long as once again, the store shelves were becoming more and more empty.

              “Dale, the money and trust system is not going to keep working, we are not going to have anything to sell within a week.” Skylar noted.

              “I know, we are just going to have to start settling our debts.” Dale shrugged.

              “How?” Skylar asked.

              “The old way.” Dale shrugged.

              Skylar was really starting to love when he started to plot like this. He was so much more her type than she had realized.

              Emily walked into the community center where most of the first Refugees were being housed from Roger’s group. Just as he had every day since he came, Roger was in there, visiting with the still traumatized people who were basically herded into a basement. Emily smiled and greeted some of the people as she came in, they were starting to become more and more familiar, but they also were still a little afraid and standoffish. She could still only imagine the horrors they encountered out there. Even from the little she had heard from Gray and Jake, she knew that the world beyond Jericho was completely changed; it was quickly becoming a script page from a Mad Max movie.

             “Hey sweetie,” Roger greeted, as she stood up from a checkerboard where he was playing an old black man, who was actively kicking his ass.

             “Hey babe.” Emily noted. “I just wanted to drop by and see you on my way over for the rations.”

             “Thanks for that, you know that your appearance brightens everybody’s day here.” Roger stated as he stood up and gave her a big kiss, much to the delight of the kids playing nearby.

              Emily smiled, as he broke off from her kiss. “Looks like you have a tournament going on here, so I just wanted to drop by and say hi to everybody.”

             “Maybe you can drop by later on and visit with them longer. Some of the kids heard that you were a teacher, and scarily enough, would like to know more about getting back to school.” Roger noted.

             A couple of the kids cheered.

            Emily grinned. This could present a very large opportunity for her.

            “I’ll see what I can do.” Emily smiled, smiling at the kids.

           All these people really wanted to do was get back to some normal. Even if it was just school or work. But Gray was already providing resistance. She so wished that Johnston Green was still the mayor. She had a feeling that things wouldn’t be declining so fast if he was.

           Hawkins was walking the street, assuring that everything was on the up and up on his deputy patrols. Jimmy caught up to him as he passed near Town Hall.

           “Mr. Hawkins. There’s a woman in the group of refugees that Bill is processing. I think you should talk to her.” Jimmy noted as he struggled to keep up the pace with Hawkins.

           “Why?” Hawkins asked, his head down.

           “Uhh, she said she used to be a cop in St. Louis .” Jimmy uttered.

            Hawkins came to a dead stop and looked at Jimmy, his eye cocked.

            Moments later, he was walking into the Police Holding area where the refugees were still being processed. The woman sat looking at the door, the scars on her face still apparent. She still looked the same way Hawkins had remembered her, the thick black hair, the smooth lips, the smooth face, the firey eyes.

           “Shes' in here.” Jimmy said, then saw the look in the woman’s eyes as she saw Hawkins. “I…will just let you two have some time.”

           “Thanks.” Hawkins swallowed.

           “Hello Rob.” Sarah said, darkly.

           “Sarah…” Hawkins said, his throat closing up a bit.

            Sarah flew up from her seat, virtually across the table, and punched Hawkins solidly in the center of the face. A woman enraged, Hawkins knew that his only true defense right now was to walk away from her.

           “I know it was you.” Sarah spat.

           Hawkins reached up to his mouth to see how badly she split his lip as he crossed to the other side of the table away from her. “What?”

          “Those men that grabbed me, they said that someone on my team sold us all out. They said it was you!” Sarah seethed.

          “And you believe them?” Hawkins asked, his eyebrow cocked, his hand coming away from his lip with a minimal amount of blood.

          “Why shouldn't I?” Sarah spat.

          Hawkins shook out his head in disbelief. “Oh come on, you know that they would say anything in order to get you to talk. And because you know I owe you my life, as much as you owe me yours. And because you just punched me in the face, and I didn't punch you back.”

          Sarah narrowed her eyes. “Who else is here?”

          “No one. Victor showed up just after D-Day. But he only made it for a couple of hours.” Hawkins sighed.

          “Did you kill him?” Sarah growled.

           Hawkins shook his head, and tried to reason with her. “It was the radiation. From Denver.”

          “Nobody else made it back here to the rally point?” Sarah began to calm down.

          “No.” Hawkins swallowed and remembered the images that he had seen on his laptop. “You gotta tell me how you got out of that room. Three armed guys. Cuffs.”

          Sarah plopped down in the chair opposite Hawkins, she threw her feet up on the table. “Three guys in cuffs keep you in that room. One of them got too close. Then there was only two. Two was easy. From there, I drove as fast as I could, saw the clouds from DC and Baltimore. Ran out of gas in West Virginia . Went from refugee camp to refugee camp, however I could.”

         Hawkins face softened. “I'm glad you made it.”

         Sarah’s face turned colder. “You left me.”

         Hawkins nodded, not getting any colder, getting closer to the table. “I know.”

         “So what now?” Sarah asked.

         Hawkins just looked at her.

         Gail was walking outside of Town Hall, heading towards the Medical Center to go visit with April. Mary Bailey looked out from behind a pole, and saw her. She quickly steeled her resolve and rushed up to her, trying to keep pace with the woman. Gail barely even acknowledged her presence.

         “Mrs. Green...” Mary uttered.

         “What?” Gail asked, her tone cold.

         “Eric told me that April's pregnant. I just... if theres anything I can do.” Mary stammered.

         Gail threw a cold look in her direction. “Mary, I think you've done quite enough.”

         Mary was stopped in her tracks by the cold brush off. Gail never stopped.

         Heather was on top of the generator, running wires. “It’s just too bad that we couldn’t get that wind turbine generator part.”

         “I know,” Jake sighed, as he held the other end of the wires from touching each other. “We may have to think about trying it again.”

         “But my friends won’t be there this time.” Heather noted.

         “Yeah, but hopefully they have a shorter memory. With those refugees and if we get any more…” Jake noted.

         “Yeah, and wind power is our ultimate solution. This is only temporary. I just wish we had an expert in Solar conversions. I am just going off of what I picked from a book.” Heather sighed, as she finished tying in the wires.

          Jake sighed and looked down. He wished that they had an expert in Solar Conversions too. He knew one. She was probably dead. Thoughts of the beautiful woman ran through his head again.

          Hawkins walked into his house, with Sarah on his heels. He opened the door, and found exactly what he hadn’t hoped would be there: Darcy was in the living room, cleaning the kids were helping her, Little Sam was doing some homework. They all stopped as they saw him.

          “Hey, uh we have a guest. This is Sarah.” Hawkins spoke up.

          Allison and Little Sam both looked intrigued, but didn’t say a word. Darcy gave him a look that would freeze a lake.

         April was rushing around at the Medical Center . Gail was trying to keep up with her. They were still working sick refugees.

         “What part of slow down do you not understand?” Gail asked.

         “The necessity of it,” April smiled. “These are the last ones. On a good note, some of them brought supplies so we can extend the treatment a bit longer, but as we head into winter…”

          “It’s not going to be pretty, is it?” Gail muttered.

          “No. Gray is already whining about the toll that the newcomers are going to bring, and is crunching numbers that are looking remarkably negative. Sooner or later, we are going to go into our first cold snap, and I don’t think we are going to be able to handle it.” April noted.

          “Drama here, drama there…” Gail noted.

          “Why, what’s wrong?” April asked.

          “Mary stopped me in the street. Seems that Eric told her about your condition and she wants to help.” Gail rolled her eyes.

           April cocked an eyebrow. “You never know. We may need it.”

           “You’re not angry at her?” Gail asked.

           “I’m angry, but I do know that it takes two to tango. And Eric was the initiator. Mary’s not really smart enough to be.” April noted.

            Gail’s eyebrows furrowed.

            Hawkins had left Sarah with the kids. He and Darcy had reported to the guest room to start readying it. Darcy was putting pillowcases on pillows, and it was obvious that she was definitely pissed.

          “You just happen to know, someone who happened to just wander into town...” Darcy uttered.

            Hawkins finished putting the blanket on the bed, and came over to his wife. He put a gentle set of hands on her shoulders. She couldn’t even look him in the eye.

            “Hey, hey. Look at me, I'm not going to lie to you. But I can't... I can't tell you anymore than I already have. So she's a friend, okay?” Hawkins said, gently.

           “The last time you let someone from that part of your life into our home was 4 years ago.” Darcy spat.

            Hawkins took a deep breath. “This is different.”

           “Well, you couldn't tell me who he was. You told me not to worry. Two weeks later you left, and I didn't see you again until 2 months ago.” Darcy uttered.

           “This is different.” Hawkins repeated.

            Darcy looked at him in the eyes, the hurt coming out in her own eyes. “Sam cried for weeks. I mean he was 4 years old, he didn't understand why you wanted to leave him. Just... don't know if I can watch him go through that again.”

           Hawkins let her go, the pain registering on his face. Darcy rushed out the room. As she rushed out, Sarah came in.

           “Is everything ok?” Sarah asked.

           “Yes.” Hawkins nodded, collecting himself. “Close your eyes and trust me, I need to show you something.”

           Sarah frowned. The next thing she knew, she was being guided down a set of stairs with her eyes closed, and him behind her.

           “Rob, what is going on here? Rob?” Sarah asked.

           “Come here.” Hawkins stated, guiding her to the bottom of the stairs.

           “What is this?” Sarah asked, they got to the laptop in his private room and she opened her eyes.

            “I'm being watched.” Hawkins stated, as he called up the last image he had been sent of him, and his family in their front yard.

            “By who?” Sarah asked, narrowing her eyes.

            “My guess, the old man.” Hawkins breathed.

           “Why...?” Sarah stopped, and then looked at him, her eyes wide. “You still have the package don't you? He's been coordinating this thing from the beginning, feeding us information, why would he turn on us now?”

           “I don't know. You still have a way to reach him? And have you told him you've made contact with me yet?” Hawkins asked.

           “Not yet.” Sarah looked down.

            “Then do it. You do it, and you see what he says.” Hawkins ordered.

            The sun began to set and Heather and Jake were still tinkering with the defunct generator that had run out of fuel about a week previous. Heather looked up and stopped.

            “Jake, look over there, at the bridge entrance….” Heather whispered, as she looked up from her station near the Generator power controls.

            Jake looked up the hill, and noticed that there seemed to be a small swarm of lights coming towards what would have been one of the entrances to the town. They were going slow enough to be walking.

            “People.” Jake noted.

            “More refugees?” Heather asked.

            “I guess I had better go find out. You gonna be ok here?” Jake asked.

            Heather nodded. Jake smiled, patted her hand, and then went over to his car, started it up and pulled out. Jake made sure that his weapons were within reach and ready. He had to stop as the new mayor pulled out in front of him, obviously alerted to the same situation. Gray Anderson was still the snoopiest sonofabitch he had ever known. It didn’t help that he had replaced his father as the Mayor.

            In moments, there was a conga line of cars; the protection group for the town, heading out to the entrance. They came to a stop, shining their lights on the group that had wandered in on foot, carrying items, and helping each other. They got out of their cars, as the group came to a stop. It was immediately obvious that the group was survivors, and had made their way to Jericho to survive.

            “My dear God,” Eric whispered as he started to survey the faces, some were blistered; others were virtually burned off. Several had severe radiation poisoning. But most curiously, every member of the group had at least one backpack on their backs, even the sickest.

            “Please identify yourselves,” Gray called out.

            “We come in peace, we are just looking for shelter,” A female voice responded from near the front of the pack. “We are survivors from Lawrence . We come with supplies in return for temporary shelter, if you will allow us.”

            The owner of the voice stepped forward, as the group from the town stepped forward so the people could see their faces. The woman looked up, and directly into the faces of the men who faced them. Jake’s breath caught in his throat.

            “We present no danger to you, the radiation poisoning has been controlled, and we just need a place to rest to try to recuperate. We have been walking for months, looking for survivors, and a place that has not been raped and looted by Ravenwood.” The woman continued, as she temporarily locked eyes on Jake, and gave a small shake of her head.

            Gray began to flap his lips a bit. He then noticed that the glares of his entire security team were on him, pushing him to do the right thing.

            “I am Gray Anderson, Mayor of Jericho . Welcome.”

            The woman smiled in relief, despite the pain that the blisters on her face had to be causing her from the act. Her hair was still intact; she had a few lesions on her face, to go with the blisters.

            “Thank you,” The woman stated, as sobs of relief rose up from the crowd of survivors with her.

            “Eric, Jake, go get the school buses, we will transport these people to the medical center.” Gray ordered.

            Jake had a hard time tearing his eyes off of the woman, but nodded, and went back to his car. As he pulled out, he afforded one last look back at the woman, and had to brush a tear away.

            Sarah was sitting with the Hawkins family, having dinner. The kids were intrigued. Darcy was not amused. Hawkins was watching both Darcy and Sarah with careful eyes.

            “From there I ended up inside a tent city outside of Lexington .” Sarah stated.

            “So, what are they like? The camps?” Allison asked.

            “Each is different. Some are overcrowded and dangerous, some are better,” Sarah answered, looking at Hawkins to assure that she hadn’t overstepped her bounds.

             “Did you see any people with radiation poisoning?” Allison asked, her voice filled with wonder.

             Sarah nodded. “Some, yes.”

             “What do they look like?” Allison pushed.

             Sarah took a deep breath. “Lots of burns, tissue loss. Some vomiting.”

             Darcy’s face fell completely into a scowl. Hawkins picked up that basically this was going too far.

             “Ali, Sam. Upstairs.” Hawkins interrupted. Sarah looked down.

             Allison and Little Sam both frowned, but picked up their dishes as well as some of the others on the table to help clear it. Allison stopped, and looked at Sarah, as Sam went to the kitchen with his load.

             “How do you know my dad?” Allison asked.

             Sarah took a deep breath as she stood to help with the dishes as well. “Well, we worked together.”

             Little Sam came back in to join his sister. “You know how to play football?”

            “Of course I do. Doesn't everybody?” Sarah chuckled.

            Little Sam’s face turned to a frown, he shot a dark look at his father. “Not everybody.”

            “Alright, Samuel. Now.” Darcy ordered. The kids didn’t hesitate to give their parting nods, and exit the room as fast as they could at hearing their mother’s dark tone. “You know, these kids have been through enough.”

             Sarah looked down. “I-I'm sorry.”

             Darcy set herself to deliver one of her lectures. “Look, I don't know you, I really don't want to. I know the kind of people my husband works with. And no matter how close the two of you were, I don't need my kids exposed to that world. I've been married to this man for a long time. I got pretty good at reading between the lines.”

             Darcy took another load of dishes from the table and from Sarah and then went into the kitchen leaving Sarah flabbergasted and Hawkins quiet.

            Jake and Eric had brought the school busses back, he found that the survivors had all been sat down on the bridge, and the rest of the security forces, except Hawkins was checking each and every one of them out, and giving them water. They were also being checked out with the Geiger counter.

            Jake parked the bus, got out, and went up to Gray, who was sitting with a woman, whose hair was almost completely gone, and her lips were so badly blistered that she could barely drink.

            “I stopped by the medical center and told April that we were on our way. Did you get a final count?” Jake asked.

            “75.” Gray nodded. “None of them are presenting with radiation, just the illness.”

            Jake nodded, and then flashed a look over at the woman, who was sitting against the railing, looking at the night sky. She then looked up, and looked at Jake, the exhaustion completely changing her face from what he had remembered.

            “Let’s get them loaded.” Jake whispered.

            Jimmy had already started to help people up to their feet, and was getting them moved towards the bus. One of the ones that he immediately helped up was the woman and the man sitting next to her. In fact, Jimmy escorted both of them all the way up to the bus. Jake watched and shook his head out, as they walked right past him. He noticed that the woman was favoring her right side a bit with a bit of a limp. He closed his eyes for just a moment, then stepped forward to help others into the bus.

            Dale and Skylar had walked up to the house of one of the farmers.

            “Dale, maybe this isn’t such a good idea.” Skylar uttered nervously. She knew as well as anybody that pissing off the farmers in the area was a good way to walk right into the barrel of a shotgun.

            “Just watch.” Dale noted as he knocked on the door.

            “Ok…” Skylar uttered.

            The door opened, and a balding, older man stepped up looking real unimpressed at being bothered at that time of night.

            “Dale, I told you I don’t have it yet. The crops have not come in.” The man uttered.

            “Sorry, Mr. Jenkins, but that’s not true. Word around town is that your grain silo is actually half full.”

            “But that is for next year’s planting…” Jenkins protested.

            “Ours not necessarily yours. Now, either you are going to give me 10% of that, or…” Dale stated, pulling his jacket back. “…it gets real inconvenient.”

            “You are not going to shoot me.” Jenkins chuckled.

            “Do you really want to take a chance on that?” Dale asked. “Infections are really easy to get right now even from a little scratch. Your family wouldn’t want that over a little grain.” Dale said, coldly.

            Jenkins looked past him to Skylar. “You’re in with him on this?”

            “Sir, a deal is a deal.” Skylar noted. “This is just the way of doing business. Just because he is a teenager does not mean that he is stupid or any less prone to being able to do business.”

            Jenkins bit his lip.

            “It’s a new world, Mr. Jenkins, even if you cried to the sheriff, there is a huge chance that an infection would get you first, and then you would have to explain how you basically stole supplies through reneging on the deal.” Skylar continued.

            Jenkins looked down.

            April and Jake walked down the halls of the medical center.

            “It’s amazing, Jake, all of them show signs of radiation poisoning, but somehow, all of them were treated with high doses of iodine, they are not emitting radiation. Some are not going to make it, others will make a full recovery. Some even show signs of having taken Trideridyne.” April whispered.

            “The anti-radiation drug?” Jake asked.

            “You’ve heard of it?” April asked.

            “Yeah, the military was using it in experimental trials for our troops as a counter agent to potential dirty bombs.” Jake nodded.

            “Yeah, the one who seems to speak for them has some of the highest dosages of it in her system. That is why she has damage, but not long term.” April stated.

            “Can I speak to her?” Jake asked.

            April nodded. “For just a little bit. She has severe exhaustion and severe heat stroke, and needs her rest. We separated her from the rest of them, because we figured that she led them this far, that she deserved a little bit of special treatment. She is so nice, too. Sam, her name is.”

            “Thanks,” Jake smiled, and patted April on the shoulder.

            He walked down the hall to the room, and gently opened the door, where the woman lay on a bed inside, hooked up to a few monitors, and a few IVs. After cleaning the dirt off of her face, and taking some of the stress out, her face was more recognizable. Jake closed the door, and made sure that it was ultimately closed.

            “Samantha Ryan,” Jake whispered.

            “Jake Green.” Sam whispered back, as she opened up her ice blue eyes to look at him.

            “I thought you were dead.” Jake stated, as he came over to the side of her bed.

            “I almost got there,” Sam stated, as she gently sat up, and looked over at Jake.

            Jake gently reached out, and hugged her close to him. She put her arms around his neck, and held him there for a while.

            “What’s going on, Sam?” Jake asked, as he backed off.

            “I was assigned to check on the Nuclear Labs in Lawrence when the shit hit the fan. I told you that something was up, it just went off sooner than we had anticipated.” Sam whispered. “When I drove you to the train station, I got the orders and had to fly out here immediately. I was supposed to stop them, but I was too late, I was on the outskirts of town when they detonated.”

            “So you know what is going on.” Jake stated.

            “Yeah, a group of radical homegrown terrorists joined together with some of our exterior enemies in a plot to wipe out strategic marks with megaton dirty bombs.” Sam coughed out. Jake gave her the glass with water for her to sip out of. “They managed to get us good.”

            “Where did all these people come from?” Jake asked.

            “The survivors?” Sam answered, responded with a nod from Jake. “From small towns between Lawrence and here. When the bomb hit, our vehicles were nullified. We hid from the initial fall out, part of those guys are part of the team. We just started walking, and as we hit these raped and pillaged towns, we took the survivors with us, and treated them. We also collected whatever supplies we could get until we could find one that wasn’t Ravenwood screwed.”

            “How did you know about Ravenwood’s activity?” Jake asked.

            “We encountered them twice. We actually had close to 150 people at one point. But Ravenwood took it upon themselves to act as God.” Sam growled. “They came close to identifying me, too. I’d rather take the road gangs than them.”

            “Why didn’t you want me to acknowledge you?” Jake asked.

            “Because, Jake, I don’t want to put you in further danger. There is suspicion that a second wave is still active, in the smaller survivor towns. Ravenwood is trying to toss these towns to find them. You may have a terrorist in your midst.” Sam replied, looking deeply into his eyes.

            “And you are still on the job.” Jake whispered.

            “Jake, are we ever off of it?” Sam asked.

            Jake shook his head, and then gently ran his thumb over her face, feeling the blisters.

            “Does the organization still exist?” Jake asked.

            Sam shook her head. “We have not been able to contact them. Our communications equipment is limited to the satellite phones, but there has been no response from them. From what we were receiving from the emergency broadcasting system, San Diego is completely gone, as is Washington.”

            Jake closed his eyes.

            “We have to keep my identity a secret, Jake. I am just a gung ho survivor now, as far as everybody is concerned.” Sam noted.

            “You’re safe.” Jake stated, as he reached over, and gently kissed her forehead, trying to avoid the blisters.

            “Do the people of your town know about you?” Sam asked.

            Jake shook his head. “I’ve been throwing them off, and with all that has been going on, they have been rather silent about it.”

            “I thought your Dad was the Mayor of this place,” Sam whispered.

            “He was, but the nozzle Gray Anderson defeated him just a few weeks ago, after a small incident with supplies being dropped and a murder in town.” Jake stated, gently brushing a lock of hair off of her face.

            “Small towns. I remember them well.” Sam said, with a nostalgic look on her face. “I had hoped that you had stayed here, and hadn’t gone back. That’s why we made it this way; I figured that at least maybe you had made it.”

            “I’m hard to kill, you know that, baby.” Jake smiled.

            Sam smiled, and then her eyes began to get heavy.

            “You’re going to rest now, we will figure out what to do after you get some sleep.” Jake whispered, once again, kissing her on the forehead.

            “Jake…” Sam whispered. “Thank you.”

            “Sam, thank you for surviving.” Jake smiled, as Sam began to nod off to sleep.

            Jake stared at her sleeping form for just a moment. With the exception of the burns, she was still the Sam who he was going to ask to marry him not more than a few months ago. She was exhausted, he could tell that. And she was worried, and to be honest, so was he.

            He exited the room, April came around the corner, and looked at him.

            “Did you get anything from her?” April asked.

            “That woman has been though a lot, as have these people. They had a lot of Ravenwood encounters, and a lot of horror to deal with. I didn’t get a lot of detail, before she fell asleep, but I got a pretty good idea.” Jake noted.

            “These people need to be welcomed to a new home,” April noted.

            “I agree, but I suggest you bring it up to Gray. He doesn’t like talking turkey with me. ” Jake sighed.

            “Oh, you bet I will.” April nodded, her redheaded fierceness coming out.

            “Keep me informed of their progress?” Jake asked.

            “You got it,” April smiled.

            “See you at the house when you get in.” Jake stated, kissing her on the cheek, and then heading out.

            Jake breathed out as he reached the exterior of the medical clinic. A chill went up his spine as he thought of what Sam had told him. There could be a killer in their midst. A terrorist. A bomber.

            Jake made his way back to his car.

            Sarah settled into her area in front of the fireplace in the living room. The rest of the family had gone to bed in silence. She wrapped herself in blankets and then pulled out her text messenger, that she had in her pocket. She kept it hidden beneath the blankets as she checked for messages.

            “Busy night?” Johnston Green asked.

            Jake stopped, and breathed. He went into the living room, and sat across from his father.

            “April may be really late. A group of approximately 75 survivors walked into town this evening, all of them suffering some form of radiation poisoning or heat stroke. Seems that they walked all the way from Lawrence after the blast, stopping along the way, picking up survivors from towns that Ravenwood had already hit, and picking up supplies. Each one of them came in with a pack full of supplies. Some will not make it, others will. But not a single one of them was hot coming in.” Jake spoke, for once feeling somewhat of an equal in his father’s eyes.

            “And Gray let them in?” The senior Green asked, sounding surprised.

            “He had thought about not doing it, but the rest of us made it known that we would do something drastic if he had said no.” Jake smiled.

            Johnston shared in the joke with his son, with a wide smile and a light chuckle. “How did they come in not hot?”

            “All of them had been treated with iodine or other radiation supplements. They were led by a very smart person it seems, with some military training.” Jake partially lied.

            “We are going to offer to integrate them into the town, right?” Johnston asked.

            “April is going to have words with Grey about that as soon as she catches up to him.” Jake nodded.

            “She’s the only Green that he may actually listen to.” Johnston sighed. “There is some food in the kitchen. Your mother has already gone to bed for the evening, she had a busy day at the clinic today.”

            “I think I may head there soon myself, tomorrow has the possibility of being a huge day.” Jake smiled, rising.

            “Jake, you know you can talk to me about anything, just remember that.” Johnston stated.

            Jake froze. Somehow, his father always knew when he was hiding something from him. For a brief moment, he contemplated actually laying it all out for his father, but something told him to hold off for the moment. Jake smiled, and looked at his father kindly.

            “Thanks, Dad. Good night.” Jake wished, as he walked off.

            Johnston nodded. “Good night, Jake.”

            Johnston watched as his son disappeared through the kitchen and sighed.

            That night, Jake fell into bed, and fell asleep immediately, and was plunged into dreams of what his life was like before the bombs.

            He remembered being in the trenches with Sam, both of them dressed in full combat gear, both of them armed, as gunshots rang out all around them.

            He remembered her gentle touch when he was down and out.

            He remembered meeting her the first time, when she bailed him out of jail, and gave him an offer he couldn’t possibly refuse.

            He remembered the first time they had dinner together, that eventually led to their first magical night together, as fireworks went off in the background, literally.

            He remembered her nursing his wounds after he had been hurt.

            He remembered being by her bedside after she had been shot. He remembered her being shot right in front of him, and the subsequent revenge rage that followed against the person who shot her.

            He woke up with a gasp at sunrise, covered in sweat, he felt danger.

            At Emily’s house, she was sitting in the chair next to the bed, watching Roger sleep. He eventually began to wake up and come to. She had a book in her lap as she watched him. He looked over at her and smiled.

            “Good morning. Last night you fell asleep mid-sentence.”

            “I did?” Roger asked as he brushed sleep out of his eyes, and then sat up, flipping his legs over the side of the bed.

            “Yes, you did. Standing up right there at the sink, shaving. You were going to tell me what you seen out there, and... Roger, I... I don't want to push. I can't even imagine how awful it was for you out there. I just...” Emily uttered.

           Roger looked at her very seriously. “A lot of it was. Listen, if I tell you something, will you promise not to think I've lost it?”

          “Of course.” Emily stated, giving him her full attention.

           Roger’s eyes went slightly faint for a moment, as he looked out the window behind her. “Out there, I saw something. I haven't told anybody about it. I can't explain it. Thing is, it was the most beautiful thing I ever seen.”

           Emily’s eyebrows went up.

           Sarah was folding clothes at Hawkins house. Allison walked into the living room, and looked at her.

          “Hey.” Sarah greeted.

          “Hey.” Allison shyly answered. “Need any help?”

          “Don’t have much to help with, but if you want to ask questions, feel free.” Sarah answered.

           Allison struggled for a moment to figure out how to word things. “How long have you been with the FBI?”

          Sarah was a little stunned, but she did her best to hide it. “14 years. Started right out of college.”

          Allison looked down, summoning up the courage to ask the next question. “It's dangerous out there isn't it?”

          Sarah nodded. “It's pretty bad.”

          “My dad’s been teaching me how to shoot. Wonder if that's why.” Allison mumbled.

           Sarah looked a little surprised. “He’s been teaching you how to shoot?”

           Allison nodded. “A little. I'm not sure if I like it. It's a weird feeling, but it's the first time I can remember the two of us actually doing something together.”

           Sarah nodded, and just then, her back pocket vibrated. She looked to the side, then looked back to Allison. “Where’s your father?”

           Roger was still explaining his journey.

           “So I went to find help. I was more messed up than I thought. I wandered for days, eventually passed out in this field. So there I was, out in Nebraska , feeling like that was the place I was going to die. And then the strangest thing happened. It was a light in the sky. Bright light with a ring around it. I went towards it, two miles later, I stumbled into the refugee camp. That light, saved my life.” Roger finished.

          Emily gasped with tears in her eyes, she reached forward, unable to speak. She gently held his hand. Roger just sat there, his eyes haunted.

          Message: Locate and Retrieve the package. Eliminate your contact.

          In Hawkins’ Basement, Sarah was showing him the text messenger and the message that had come in. Hawkins was looking at it, stunned.

         “It's the old man. He's coming for us, using us against each other. He knows where you are. We need to go, we need to move, now.”

          Hawkins shook his head. “No, I don't know.”

          Sarah stopped and looked at him in disbelief. “You don't know? This country is going to be what we make of it. There are only a handful of other people who know what we know. We have to keep fighting, we have to stay alive.”

         “No, we go see him, and if he is behind this, we take him out.” Hawkins stated firmly.

         Sarah looked a little stunned. “Take him out?”

         “Yeah, I mean how long can we run? How long can my family run? No. We pay him a visit, we eliminate the threat.” Hawkins replied.

         “We go straight at him, there’s a chance we don't come back.” Sarah stated, firmly.

          Hawkins looked over at her, and he couldn’t help himself, he backed her against the wall and kissed her. He was always turned on by her forcefulness.

          Jake walked into the medical center, where Gray was pacing the halls, looking in on each of the new refugees.

          “They brought in supplies, but we still can’t support all of them…” Gray noted.

          “We are not turning them out.” April noted. “Besides, several of them are not going to survive anyway, and we are basically making their last moments comfortable.” April stated.

          “And the ones that do survive?” Gray asked.

          Jake went to the door where Sam was. He gently opened it, he saw her standing there in her hospital gown, listening atthe door. He stopped.

         “They have been going at this for an hour.” Sam noted. “Mayor wants to throw the survivors out of town. Doc April is suggesting integration with as many families as possible especially for the first ones out. And seemingly I am going to be one of the first ones out.”

          Jake froze.

         “Integrate them, they won’t take up much space, they deserve at least THAT!” April screamed.

         “Fine, YOU find the families to integrate them.” Gray shot back. “I think my wife and I can at least take in the leader.”

         “Uh, actually, the Green Family would like to take her in.” Jake spoke up. “But I would like to speak to the rest of the family first.” Jake proceeded forward, letting the door shut, and letting the fact that Sam was listening in be covered.

         “You have enough…” Gray protested.

         “She also has some of the more serious radiation burns and the most anti-radiation meds in her body. I would also prefer it if she stayed with us.” April jumped in, seeing the virtual desperation in her brother in law’s face.

        “Who exactly is running this town?” Gray sputtered as he walked off in a huff.

        “Somebody has to.” April mumbled, then looked at Jake. “You’d better tell Mom and Dad.”

         Jake nodded, swallowing.

         Hawkins walked into the kitchen where Darcy was doing a little bit of housework. She kept her back to him, continuing to do her work, as he got closer.

         “You're leaving. She walked in that door; I knew right away you'd be leaving.” Darcy said in a low tone.

          Hawkins shook his head. “You have nothing to worry about.”

          “It's not me that I'm worried about. Our children, they need a father. Whatever you're going to do, it can't be more important than that.” Darcy uttered, then turned to him, to face him, looking him directly in the eye. “Do you trust her?”

          Hawkins shrugged. “I have to.”

          Darcy narrowed her eyes, and grew absolutely deadly serious. “If she's a threat to this family’s safety, if she's a threat to you, you kill her. You understand?”

          Hawkins took a deep breath and kept looking in his wife’s eyes.

             Gail walked into Bailey’s Tavern, where Mary was serving up the daily ‘shine. Mary almost froze when she saw Gail.

            “Thanks Mary.” One of the men stated as he took his drink from her and walked away from the bar.

             Gail stopped and looked at Mary, trying to keep her face neutral. “Why don't you and I sit down together, and have a drink?”

              Mary nodded very carefully.

              Soon Gail and Mary were making their way over to one of the tables. Mary had a jar of moonshine with her and two glasses. Gail sat, hugging her purse. She pulled out a piece of paper from her purse.

             “I don't like to drink while I'm working.” Mary stated as she laid down the glass in front of Gail and filled it.

             Gail looked at the paper and looked at Mary, she took a deep breath. “To be honest, I have difficulty understanding how many ways I dislike you.”

             Mary looked stunned. “You made a list? Mrs. Green, I don't think…”

            Gail held a hand up, her face cold. “Look. This'll work a lot better if you sit there and listen to what I have to say. What you and Eric did to April is awful. But she's going to get through this, because she is one strong woman. But there’s a baby on the way. And it happens to be my grandchild. And I intend to do everything I can to protect it from this world. But what you've done, I can't protect it from. You've divided the family. As hard as that child's life was going to be, you have made it so much more difficult. I don't think that's something I'll ever be able to forgive.”

           “Okay. When I was a kid, my mom split on my dad and I. She left with this guy she met in Denver …” Mary tried to explain.

          “This isn't about you.” Gail coldly interrupted.

           Mary took the glass of moonshine she had poured for Gail, and slammed it down herself to gain the courage that she needed to say what she was about to say. She steadied herself and looked at Gail in the eye, equal coldness.

           “This'll work a lot better if you sit there, and listen to what I have to say. I lay awake at night, terrified that I put April in the same position my dad was in. Terrified that I have put this child in the same position that I was in. My mistake was falling in love with your son, I never should've let it happen. But I did. And I know the cost, I know how wrong it is. But the problem is he loves me too. I don't know how you undo that. So if you want to go on hating me, if you never accept me, I can't say I blame you.”

           Gail looked down, nodded, and got up from the chair. She flashed Mary one last look, and walked out.

           Mary sat there, totally stunned at what she had just done.

              Dale and Skylar were sitting in the backroom, with gunny sacks, packing the grain themselves. More specifically, Dale was loading, and Skylar was sewing the bags shut, slowly, but she was doing it.

             “This is so amazing!” Skylar stated.

             “I know, but we are only going to get away with so much, people just don’t really have a whole lot.” Dale sighed.

              “So what are we going to do?” Skylar asked.

              “Give me some time I need to figure it out.” Dale noted, as he hefted another sack in her direction.

              Jake rushed into the house, his heart thundering in his head. He didn’t care how it looked, he knew he had to act fast, and he knew that the only people that could help him were his father and mother.

             “Dad, you said that I could talk to you about anything, anytime, right?” Jake asked, as he entered the house, to find his father helping with the chores.

            “Of course, Jake.” Johnston answered.

            “Dad, I need to speak to you and Mom, please?” Jake asked, desperation seeping into his voice.

            “What is it, Jake?” Gail Green asked, concerned.

            “I think it is best if we sit down while we discuss this.” Jake uttered.

            Johnston and Gail looked at each other, and nodded. Johnston gestured to the living room, where the three of them walked to the living room couch, and took a seat, as the sun began to set outside.

            “I can’t lie to you, I need to tell you the truth immediately, because a situation has come up, that I need your help with.” Jake sputtered.

            “What happened now?” Johnston grumbled, already fearing the worst, after conversations very similar to this when Jake was younger.

            “Remember those survivors that I told you about, Dad?” Jake asked, trying to keep his cool, knowing exactly what was going through their minds, and not too appreciative of it, but knowing that they were more than entitled to their dread.

            “Of course.” Johnston answered, doing his best to relax a bit.

            “What I didn’t tell you is that I know one of them, the leader who got them here.” Jake breathed out. “They are about to release them to be basically adopted by the town, and we have to…I am asking you to step forth and take her in.”

            “Her?” Gail asked, cocking one eyebrow.

            Jake nodded, a chill went up his spine as he could virtually read his mother’s coldness. He took a deep breath, and made a decision that scared even him. “I think its time that I tell you what I did after I left Jericho.”

            Gail gasped, and grabbed her husband’s hand. Johnston braced himself.

            “After I left Jericho , I entered the military. The Marines.” Jake breathed. “I was entered into a Special Forces battalion, and we were assigned to Iraq . But after some of the missions, the death and the bureaucracy became too much for me to deal with, especially after I saw a young girl accidentally killed by friendly fire. I was given an honorable discharge, with conditions. I found myself in San Diego , falling back into my old ways, trying to get over what I saw over in Iraq . I was lost, didn’t have a job, and didn’t know what to do with myself. I ended up drunk, in a bar fight. I was about to call here for bail, when a woman bailed me out, and offered me a job.”

            “Just like that?” Gail asked.

            He nodded, twisting his fingers in a nervous reaction. “Just like that. She had been tracking me for some time, and knew of my record, and decided that I needed another chance. That woman’s name was Samantha Ryan. Senior Special Agent, Doctor Samantha Ryan of the National Security Agency. She had been sent to retrieve me, and to recruit me for a special branch of homeland investigators operating as virtual mercenaries of the National Security Agency within the borders of the country. My job was basically to be there when they called me up to do whatever they needed. She was my boss.” Jake sat, wringing his hands, forcing himself to look his parents in the eye.

            “Was?” Johnston asked, almost amused.

            “She became more.” Jake stated, looking down. “She saved me, and I fell in love with her. I was coming to Jericho for the money to be able to buy an engagement ring for her, as well as to get myself out of debt so that she and I could start a new life together.”

            Gail drew a hand to her mouth. Johnston looked down.

            “She sent me out here two days before I was supposed to come here. She said that something was up, and wanted me to clear things with you guys as soon as possible, because she would probably need my assistance professionally by Friday. She is the one who arranged for me to come here. She was then assigned to investigate a potential breech of security in Lawrence, Kansas, but before she and her team could get there, the bomb was detonated. She and her team were on the outskirts of town. I had thought that she had died in San Diego . She was the leader of the survivors. She was the one who treated them, and got them here. She’s at that hospital right now.” Jake continued, looking up at the shocked looks on his parents faces. “She’s still on the job. She’s here, because there has been information that a potential second wave of attacks on the smaller survival towns is in the works. Ravenwood has been tossing the towns trying to find these infiltrators, she is here to try to make sure that doesn’t happen, and that we survive, but nobody can know who she really is.”

            Gail took another deep breath, Johnston was rubbing his beard.

            “Grey Anderson is planning to integrate some of the healthier survivors starting tomorrow morning. Sam is one of them. He’s going to do it in a bit of a lottery. I think the only way to truly protect her secret is for us to take her in. I know it is going to be a bit more work, and a toll on the household, but she will pull her own weight, I promise…” Jake continued.

            “Jake, we would take her in anyway, you know that.” Johnston stopped him. “Even if she weren’t virtually already part of the family and even if she wasn’t trying to keep a secret that could endanger her life if it got out.”

            “It could endanger our lives as well,” Jake noted, very carefully.

            “So be it.” Gail said, firmly. “Our lives are already in danger, with the world we now live in, with Ravenwood and the other entire goings on; the least we can do is open our doors to somebody who may be able to do something about it.”

            “You can count on us, son.” Johnston stated, leaning forward, and putting his hand on Jake’s trembling hands.

            “Jake, do you still love her?” Gail asked.

            “Yes,” Jake breathed. “She’s my best friend, my soulmate. She saved my life.”

            “I thought Emily….and Heather…” Gail noted.

            “You need to meet Sam to see where I am coming from for her.” Jake stated. “I would give my life for her. She sent me here, because she knew that I was in danger where I was.”

            “We have an extra room, don’t worry about a thing,” Johnston stated, a warm smile playing across his lips.

            Jake was a little stunned that his father was so agreeable so fast.

            “Thank you.” Jake whispered.

            Mary had finally managed to get past the alcohol slam to begin cleaning up the bar. She got to the table where she and Gail had their showdown. She began to clean the table, and noticed that the note that Gail had looked at, had been left behind on the seat.

            Mary looked around her empty bar, and then took a deep breath. She then carefully retrieved the note, and looked at it.

            Be Nice. She's going to be family some day. 

           Mary breathed in deeply and bit on her lower lip.

           Jake was on his way back to the clinic to tell April and Sam the news, when Jimmy caught him. Gail and Johnston were looking out the window and saw the interception.

              “I think they are going to keep Jake for a few moments. I think we need to take this one into our own hands.” Johnston noted.

              Gail nodded.

             “Jake, we need your assistance with some of the refugees that came into the town last night, particularly assistance with…” Jimmy looked extremely uncomfortable.

              “What, what…?” Jake prodded.

             “Those who have passed.” Jimmy said, looking down.

              Jake breathed and nodded.

              Hawkins house was beginning to settle in early. Dinner had gone through without a word spoken. Nobody was speaking to anybody. Darcy had gone to their room without even a word. Hawkins was left to do the dishes. Little Sam wandered in, wearing his pajamas and carrying his toothbrush.

             “Dad?” Little Sam asked, basically saying the first words to anybody in the entire evening.

             “Yeah?” Hawkins asked as he turned around.

             “We're out of the good toothpaste.” Little Sam said, holding his toothbrush out.

              Hawkins smiled, then reached into one of the cabinets, and pulled out a Ziploc baggie with white powder. “Well here’s uh the new stuff that Mr. Daley made.”

              Little Sam took the baggie, opened it up, and looked in, then looked up at his father with a ‘say what?’ look. “This isn't toothpaste.”

              Hawkins chuckled. “Yeah it is.”

             “Are you playing a joke on me?” Little Sam cocked an eyebrow.

             Hawkins continued to chuckle. He grabbed a glass, drew some water, took Little Sam’s toothbrush and dipped it in the water then took the bag and dipped it in the powder. “No.” He handed the toothbrush back to his son, who began to brush his teeth. “Hey, you know when you were teething, you never cried. See, because most babies, they cry. But not you, and your mom was worried, and the doctors were worried, but not me, because I knew you weren't sick. You weren't hurt, you were just brave. Because you're the bravest person I know. You always have been.”

             Little Sam spat out the toothbrush residue in the sink, Hawkins washed it out.

             “Dad?” Little Sam asked.

             “Yeah?” Hawkins replied.

             “What are you talking about?” Little Sam retorted, then rinsed with the glass of water his father had gotten for him.

               Hawkins chuckled out loud, then grew serious. “Sam. I have to go to work tomorrow. It's a very important meeting, and it's pretty far away, so I may not be back for a day or two. I just wanted you to know that.”

              Little Sam looked up at him with sad, wide eyes. “Are you mad at me?”

              Hawkins recoiled as if he had been physically hit. “What?”

              Little Sam shrugged, as he washed his own rinse down the sink as well as he could. He looked at his Dad with some hurt in his eyes. “You're leaving.”

              Hawkins drew himself down to face his son face to face. “Hey, you listen to me. There is nothing that you, your sister, or your mother could ever do that will make me want to leave you. I uh I love you, you understand that right?”

              Little Sam nodded, but kept looking at his father as if he were nuts.

              Emily and Roger had settled down in bed, with Roger comfortably reading to her. She had her arm around him.

            “Hey there, are you up to having visitors? Your friend Jake and I have told his parents all about you, and they want to meet you.” April stated.

            “Sure, let them on in,” Sam stated, a small smile playing across her lips.

            Johnston and Gail both walked in, hand in hand. They both stopped as they looked at Sam. April closed the door behind them, making sure that they had privacy.

            “The blisters look worse than they really are.” Sam stated.

            “Jake didn’t mention that you are so beautiful,” Gail noted.

            “I am Johnston Green, this is my wife Gail, and we’re Jake’s parents. And he told us all about the real you.”

            Sam froze. “How much of the real me?”

            “The fact that you probably outrank most officials in the country, and that this is probably the most awkward meeting of the parents in history,” Gail smiled.

            Sam smiled, and then looked at the two people in front of her. “Jake told me a lot about you.”

            “It’s not all true,” Johnston grinned.

            Sam grinned, and then gestured for them to sit down.

            “Jake was kind of hijacked by the local law enforcement to assist them with something, so he may not be around tonight to visit.” Johnston noted.

            “Let me guess, dealing with those who passed?” Sam cocked an eyebrow.

            “Very good guess.” Johnston chuckled.

            Gail got down to business. “You will be going home with us when you are released from here, just so you know.” Gail noted. “Basically we will just be good friends, good Samaritans.”

            “Thank you,” Sam stated. “I promise to pull my own weight. It’s not just my job that requires that, but the way I was brought up.”

            “Don’t you worry about a thing,” Johnston stated, looking at the woman. “When we get out of here, we’ll have a million questions, but we just wanted to drop in and meet the woman who is to be part of our family.”

            Sam smiled, Johnston and Gail both felt extremely warm inside as they saw her electric smile.

            “And to thank you. For saving Jake’s life. Not once, but several times.” Gail stated with tears in her eyes.

            “He saved me too, Mrs. Green.” Sam stated.

            “Call me Gail.”

            “And call me John.”

            “Call me Sam.” Sam smiled, and then rubbed at the blisters on her face.

            “Don’t rub them, they will subside.” Gail stated, coming in for a closer look. “If you rub at them, they will just get worse.”

            “Jake was right.” Sam smiled.

            “About what?” Johnston asked.

            “That you would feel like parents right off the bat.” Sam stated.

            Gail smiled at Johnston, he shared the look right back.

            Hawkins walked into the living room, where Sarah was getting ready for bed, on the couch, rather than the guest bedroom.

            “You okay?” Hawkins asked.

            “Yeah. “ Sarah replied.

            Hawkins put a hand on her shoulder. “Look, I am glad you made it. We leave first thing in the morning.”

            He patted her shoulder, and then disappeared up the stairs, leaving her alone. The moment he had cleared the top of the stairs, she pulled out the text messenger and popped it open. The message waited for her response:

           Message: Have you located the package?

          Sarah: Not yet

          Message: How should we proceed?

          Sarah: We use his family.

          Sarah looked up and narrowed her eyes, a slight evil grin playing across her face.

Se finis

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