in. We can’t take in more people without shortchanging the ones who are already here.”
There was a rumble of agreement around her. Ted looked frustrated. “But more people are more hands to cut wood, and hunt.”
“That works only if they bring their own axes and ammunition with them,” Sela said quietly. “Otherwise they’d be using tools we already have. No matter how much we want to help people, if we want to make it through the winter we will already have to severely conserve what we have.”
That earned her a scowl from Ted, which she wouldn’t care about if he didn’t have just enough argument on his side to cause serious dissent. Their resources were so thin she didn’t know if they could survive a break in their united front.
She wished Ben were here, for all the good wishing did. He’d know what to do, but though he’d taken the trouble to warn her, and then flabbergasted her by checking on the Livingstons, weeks could go by without anyone seeing him. He’d already refused Mike’s invitation to join them. He was in great shape up there on Cove Mountain, and didn’t need them. Assuming anyone wanted his supplies, they’d have to first climb the mountain, then fight him. Even street gangs would go for easier prey, and leave him and his shotgun alone.
But he wasn’t the only person around here who’d been in the military; there were several standing here around her, mostly men but a couple of women, too. They had a forest ranger, a retired cop, and a whole lot of people who had spent their whole lives hunting in these mountains. The valley people weren’t helpless, or without knowledge.
Carol reached for her ever-present notebook. “Okay, people, I need some names. We’re going to need people who can start riding or walking patrol. We need enough to keep an eye on the main highway approaches, and that new parkway over the mountain from Knoxville to here is going to be a pain in the butt, you just wait and see.”
Sela agreed on that. The new parkway had sat unfinished for years, then the project got going again just in time to cause a problem by creating another vulnerability. Keeping an eye on it would require at least two people, each pulling twelve-hour shifts, and that wasn’t going to be easy.
Trey Foster, the man who had offered to keep her supplied with firewood, spoke up. “I was in the army, I can help with patrolling. But if we’re patrolling we won’t be able to hunt, or chop firewood, and our families will suffer for that.”
Mike said, “The sensible solution would be to pay the security team with food, everybody chipping in with a little. If someone brings down a deer, part of it goes for payment.”
“Some people can’t afford to give away their food!” Ted said, looking alarmed, which told Sela he and his wife hadn’t gathered as much food as they could have.
“Then you should join the community patrol,” Mike said, immediately coming to the same conclusion.
Ted looked startled, then said, “Well, okay.” After a second, his expression morphed into one of pleasure. He was not only being included, but doing something important. Maybe that was the key to handling him: keep him busy, and stroke his ego.
Carol wrote down their names, Trey’s and Ted’s, and at Mike’s nod added his to the list. “I’m waiting,” she hollered. “Y’all step up here and help keep the valley safe, or I’ll be talking to your mamas and wives, and you don’t want that.”
That provoked a rumble of laughter, and men began moving forward. There weren’t that many of them, maybe two dozen, but there were enough to patrol the highway approaches, and eventually they would have to settle disputes, but for now—it was a start.
Chapter Ten
Late October was normally a time for tourists, with roads clogged with traffic and crowded restaurants. The leaves were changing—red, yellow, and orange amid the evergreens—the festivals were going on and the weather was thankfully turning cool. Previously, October and early November were among the busiest times of the year, for Sela’s store and elsewhere in the valley.
Not this year. This year there was little or no traffic on the highway, because people seldom drove, using their precious gasoline only when they had to. Usually there was no place to go, anyway: no doctor or dentist appointments to keep, no eating out or going to movies. Mostly people walked or rode bicycles, though the