Chapter 37: The Farmhouse
With his window rolled down as they drove past the gate into Mist Haven, Eli let the cool night air blow across his face while listening to the distant sound of waves rolling over the pebbly shore of the lake. There was a certain serenity that came with the way the moon shone over the sleepy little settlement. After the violence they’d left behind in the Wastes, and the creepiness of the overgrown forest after dark, Mist Haven was a tranquil, peaceful oasis in a dangerous world.
It was well past midnight when they passed the vegetable fields, and although all the lights in the surrounding houses were off, two of the brick buildings on the main street were brightly lit. The guardhouse, where Vivi pulled to a stop, poured warm yellow light from it’s shopfront window into the darkened street, and a narrow two-story building further up the road seemed to compete with a warm glow of it’s own. While Vivi threw the shifter into park, Eli watched Hailey drive his dusty roller further toward the lake and park in front of the settlement’s clinic, the second of the two illuminated buildings.
With a nod to Vivi, Eli swung his door open and stepped out of the van, onto the cracked and aging sidewalk. No sooner had he closed the door than he heard a loud gasp behind him, followed by the sound of quick footsteps crossing the pavement and coming toward him from behind. Wincing, knowing what was coming, Eli turned around to see his mother jogging up to him, staring in shock and horror at his torn ear and bloody head.
“I’m okay, mom. It’s not as bad as it looks.” Eli hurriedly tried to pacify her before she had a chance to fly into the emotional frenzy he knew to expect from previous experience.
Wordlessly, and with slightly trembling hands, Julie held his face, turning his head to the side to get a better look at his ear. While Eli continued to utter reassurances, telling her that he was alright and she didn’t need to worry, Julie’s face rapidly shifted through a full range of emotions. Wide-eyed horror, frowning concern, scowling fury, soft-eyed sympathy, and….heated passion? All in just a few seconds.
Giving up on the losing prospect of placating her with words, Eli slid his hands around her slim waist and pulled her close, holding her to his chest. With a huff and some unintelligible murmurs, Julie buried her face against his chest, her fingers desperately clutching at his shirt. Silently stroking her lower back, Eli couldn’t help smirking when he heard the shuffling struggles of a prisoner being dragged out of the back of the van and the subsequent pained groan as the white-haired man was unceremoniously dumped onto the sidewalk.
“No more.” Julie mumbled against his chest.
“Hm?” Eli looked down at the top of her head. “No more what?”
“No more prisoners.” Her beautiful blue-gray eyes looked up to meet his. “From now on, they all die. Every last one.”
Stifling a chuckle, Eli kissed her forehead, breathing out a sigh of relief that she hadn’t decided to attack their captives on impulse to avenge his injury. He bent down low enough to kiss her soft lips, and felt her relax against him as she wrapped her arms around his back. After a lingering kiss that was more emotional than passionate, Eli turned away to see that the guards had already hauled their male captive into the guardhouse, and were in the process of marching the Amazonian redhead through the door that was too short for the tall woman to walk upright through.
While he idly watched Celine being lead inside at gunpoint, Vivi appeared beside him and joined the reunion with their mother. After one lest squeeze, Julie released him and grabbed Vivi’s face much the same as she’d done to Eli, scrutinizing her, searching for any sign of injury. Satisfied that her daughter was unharmed, Julie hugged her tightly, and Eli took the opportunity to grab the black case and his gear bag from the van.
“Eli.” The governors deep voice resounded just as Eli slung the straps of his bag over his shoulders.
Equoni looked dead tired as he paced up the sidewalk, apparently having just come from the clinic.
“Sir.” Eli nodded. “How’s Lela?”
The governor’s brown eyes sparked with an uncharacteristic anger, and he took a deep breath to calm himself. “Doc Fern just started treating her. I won’t know anything until she’s done.” Equoni shook his head and did a quick check of the time on his pocket watch, tilting it to catch the light from the guardhouse window. “Hailey told me y’all brought back the one who-” His words caught in his mouth when he looked up from his watch and saw Eli’s head. “Good lord…” He breathed, dropping his antique timepiece into his pocket without looking away from Eli’s bloody visage.
Taking the last two steps to clear the short distance between the two men, Equoni stared in awkward astonishment.
“What did Hailey tell you?” Eli brought the governor’s attention back to their conversation.
“Uh…” Equoni blinked a few times before looking away from Eli’s ear. He clearly wanted to ask about it, but the look on Eli’s face seemed to convince him he wasn’t interested in discussing his new look just then. “She said you brought back the one who did…. that to my niece.”
Seeing Vivi and Julie walking into the guardhouse, Eli tilted his head toward the door, gesturing for the governor to walk with him. When they entered the guardhouse, there was a steady murmur of choppy conversations coming from a pair of guards as they each used a radio at their desks to relay information.
“Not exactly.” Eli said, dropping his bag to the floor by the nearest sofa. “We brought the guy who gave the orders. The woman who actually did it caught three to the chest.” Eli tapped his own chest with his fingers. “And one to the head.”
Waving for the governor to take a seat, Eli sank onto the couch and slid the black case onto the coffee table in front of him. After the governor sat on the couch opposite him, Eli began a brief recounting of the entire ordeal. During his report, the governor ponderously nodded along, occasionally rubbing a hand across his bearded chin, and the background activity in the room increased when another guard came up from the basement and noisily rummaged around in the supply closet. When he got to the part of his recounting where he’d discovered the underground vault, the governor perked up with curiosity, his attention zeroing-in on the unassuming black case sitting on the table.
By the time Eli was telling him what he learned from Celine, Julie and Vivi rejoined them after having gone off to have a discussion of their own at the far desk at the other end of the long room. Vivi must have given Julie a rundown of events, because she didn’t seem at all surprised when Eli spoke about the Federation and the JSU forces. Equoni, however, had a hard-set tension slowly building in his jaw as he heard about the Jericho Federation, the prophets, and the way the JSU “liberated” settlements during their expedition efforts. Then an odd, stiff expression crossed his face when Eli told him what Celine said about the contents of the black case; the look of a man who wanted to believe in the wonderous possibility of a miracle that could cure the world, but who’d seen enough hardship in life to steel himself against such blind hope.
With a heaving breath, Equoni leaned back, letting silence wash over them while he took a moment to gather his thoughts. “I sent a message to the other members of the Coalition to set up a meeting sometime next week, but that may not be soon enough.” He finally broke his quiet. “You said we have about two months before they move out of Lancaster?” Equoni looked to Eli, who nodded his affirmation. “Alright, I’ll send out another message tomorrow morning. We might be able to set up a meeting in two days.”
“That’s good. The sooner, the better. And, as for this…” Eli tapped the black case, “I think it’s best if we keep it hidden. For now, at least. It might be what the Federation thinks it is, or it could be the exact opposite. For all we know, it could be a weaponized virus, or worse. We don’t have the technology to safely examine it, and I’m hesitant to ask around trying to find the right equipment. We shouldn’t take the risk of word getting around that we have it. This needs to stay just between us until we know exactly what we’re dealing with.”
“Mhm.” Equoni nodded. “A wise idea, and one I’m inclined to agree with. I’ll keep it locked-up in the safe in my office.”
Equoni stared contemplatively at the enigmatic black case for a few moments, and Vivi used his brief distraction to raise her eyebrows at Eli, asking what he was doing without speaking. Giving her the subtlest shake of his head he could manage, Eli turned his attention back to the governor.
“Oh, that’s right…” Equoni shifted his focus back up to Eli and Vivi. “I wanted to thank you both for bringing Walela home. You didn’t have to do what you did, but you did it anyway. Words can’t even begin to describe how grateful I am for what you’ve done.” He pushed himself up from his seat, grabbing the case as he stood and placing a calloused hand on Eli’s shoulder, though his gaze was focused on the door. “My family won’t forget what yours has done for us. We’ll definitely return this favor.”
Without another word, the older man turned and walked out the door, soon disappearing down the dark sidewalk before the door even swung closed.
“Well, that was a quick exit.” Vivi said, as if she were voicing Eli’s thoughts.
“He’s just worried about his family, probably in a hurry to see how Walela’s doing.” Julie stood, narrowing her eyes at Eli. “I assume you won’t be going to the clinic?”
“Nope.” Eli grinned, snagging his bag from the floor. “Nothing they could do for me that I can’t do for myself. Can’t exactly bandage a headwound; it’ll just push the hair into it, and I’m not shaving my head because of this. It’ll heal just fine as long as it doesn’t get infected.”
“Told you he’d be stubborn about it.” Vivi rolled her eyes as they all made their way to the door.
Walking outside, Eli came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the sidewalk when he realized he didn’t know where they were going.
“Uhh, where’s our house?” He asked Julie.
“By the fields, second house from the wall.” Julie pointed across the street to the west, walking around to the drivers side of the van. “I’ll drive.”
“We’re taking the van?” Eli raised a eyebrow, but did as he was told anyway, climbing into the passenger seat.
“Yup. If the governor didn’t want us to keep it, he should have said something when he had the chance.” Julie flashed a wicked grin. “I’ll have one of the guards drop our roller off at the house later.”
Vivi laughed as she hauled herself up to sit on Eli’s lap. “One day in the settlement and mom’s already ordering the guards around.”
“I’m not ordering anyone around.” Julie protested, driving away from the curb. “I just ask them to do things, and they do them.”
“Of course.” Eli nodded. “And how many guards did you have to terrify before they started doing what you ask?”
“None.” Julie said defensively. “They’re all just trying to get on my good side.”
Eli furrowed his brows until recognition struck. “Ah. Because of me. They’re kissing your ass in hopes that you’ll put in a good word for them.” He said bitterly.
“Yeah. It’s been a while since I’ve had to deal with so many women desperate to get your attention.” Julie sighed. “They’ve already been asking me what kind of women you like.”
After a very unladylike laugh, Vivi wiggled her hips on Eli’s lap, pressing her firm ass against him. “What did you tell them?”
“That if they have to ask, they’re probably not his type. And…” Julie chuckled under her breath, then turned to Eli with a coy smile and a wink, “I told them you prefer blondes.”
Eli smirked and opened his mouth to say something back, but was interrupted by Vivi bouncing on his lap, excitedly leaning forward and pointing.
“Is that our house?” She gasped.
“Mhm.” Julie smiled. “It’s nice, isn’t it?”
As Julie turned off the street onto the gravel driveway, they drove under the wide overhang of a sprawling willow tree, whose draping limbs swayed and brushed against the roof of the tall panel van. Under the majestic willow was a small garden of deep purple lavender, ringed by a short wire fence, no taller than knee height, and a rustic birdhouse hung from a lower branch above the fragrant flowers.
The driveway lead up to a wide, two story farmhouse that looked like it would have cost a million dollars before the world went to hell. Dark gray stone walls with wide, arched attic windows set into the tall gables of the intricate, steeply pitched roofs. Earthen-colored tile shingles perfectly accented the dark brown of the door and window trim, and a tall brick chimney rose up from the back of the house. And the house was huge. No smaller than the extravagant home he’d shared with his grandfather a lifetime ago.
Behind the stone farmhouse, off to the left, sat a small wooden barn, just big enough to be useful for storage, or maybe a couple of horses. A short ways beyond the barn was a split rail fence separating their back yard from a field of tomatoes supported by rows upon rows of thin wooden frames.
Casting glances up and down the street, Eli compared their new home to those around it, and theirs was, by a wide margin, the nicest.
“Yeah, it’s nice.” Eli answered Julie’s question as she parked the van near the covered porch. “Almost too nice. People might get jealous that the biggest house in the neighborhood was given to the newest family in town.”
“It was Sophia’s grandfather’s house.” Julie said as they all piled out of the van. “Charlotte asked the governor to let us have it.”
“Her mom did?” Eli looked craned his neck to look up at the gorgeous home. “Why?”
“You can ask her tomorrow.” Julie lead them to the heavy oak front door. “We’re having Sophia and her parents over for dinner.”
