Glimmer of Hope (Land of Tomorrow Book 1)

Part II, Chapter 2

Butch nodded, "I agree and have already ordered Sergeant Major Luke Carter from the Murray State ROTC program to come over to set up a crash basic training program similar to what he had already done for the JP troops. Carter is a good man, just let him know when you need him and he'll be here. He'll be doing double-duty training your troops and cadets over at Murray, but eventually I see him working for you full time if you need him."

"I think we probably will," answered Nathan a little amazed at the resources Butch was willing to push his way. He had come into the meeting prepared to play hardball to get whatever he could, but that didn't seem necessary.

Butch looked around at them and then at his watch. "Gentlemen, I need to get to Paducah, but I trust you understand the gravity and importance of the mission we've entrusted to you. General Anderson has taken some heat for letting 'outsiders', forgive me for saying it, take this on. We need this to work, we're nearly out of options."

Nathan bristled at being called an outsider and pushed down an angry response, "Sir, we understand...better than you folks, I think. We may be outsiders, but this is now our home."

Over the ensuring weeks, those words took on a power in themselves. Mini communities established themselves around housing location or trade. Previous class distinctions to status meant less than nothing. Everyone pulled their weight and worked together knowing they could be thrown out of the JP otherwise.

These communities grew daily and Camp Beaver became the primary entry point into the Land Between the Lakes Park from the east. They quickly determined that the organized nature of Camp Beaver was due to one man, Doctor James Bryant.

Bryant was an old retired widower who lived near Camp Beaver. When people started showing up at the camp, he began to walk over each day and treat their medical issues.

A hierarchy of sorts naturally established itself, and when those in power started to become brutal, the doctor refused to treat any of their gang even under threat of death. In the end, Bryant and the gang leader reached an agreement. Bryant took care of all sick and distributed the food given to them from the JP, and the gang ensured peace and order were maintained. It was an arrangement that worked surprisingly well given the circumstances.

Nathan saw no reason to mess up a good thing. He met with both the doctor and the camp leader and promised to keep up the regular supply of food, electricity, and basic medical supplies in return for peace, quiet, and order. They also set up a station to screen inhabitants of the camp for any special or needed skills.

Medical personnel were the most sought after, doctors, nurses, and EMT’s mainly. They found several and brought them and their families over into the park, allowing a few to go out and help Bryant each day.

They next sought out anyone with law enforcement or military experience and found about two dozen, many of them from Forts Campbell and Knox. These men were added to their growing military forces and their families were settled in the increasingly crowded holiday rental cottage areas. Carpenters, electricians, plumbers, mechanics, construction workers, seamstresses, farmers, and even hunters and fishermen were brought into the park and given tasks suited to their skills.

They also quickly learned that first generation Americans were a godsend since they knew how to do and make things which wealthy western societies had long forgotten. These were accepted readily and taught others how to process food, cure and tan leather, and safely deliver babies among other things.

Even after all those steps, they still needed more men and Nathan decided to simply set up an enlistment stand right at the bridge for any able bodied man willing to serve indefinitely. In return they and their families could enter the JP and settle in the park area. They would be fed and clothed while their service lasted. Should that service end for any reason, all could be thrown right back out of the JP. None hesitated. It was a better deal than they could ever hope to find anywhere else. Destitute and frightened families walked across that long bridge into the park and found a new life, security, and friends.

Before long, the refugee camps were nearly abandoned. Groups now walked down the road through the hollow remnants of the previous bustling camp to the edge of the JP and signed right up to get in, not believing their fortune. Nathan even recruited the camp leader and his thugs, but their duty was mainly to run the shrinking camp. Those not fit for military service, and without any useful skills such as previous white collar workers, were put under the apprenticeship of a skilled laborer to learn and practice a trade. Even the elderly were put to work cooking, doing laundry, or babysitting younger children.

Nathan demanded that the new troops be pushed hard, but taken care of. He felt certain now that a conflict was coming, and he wanted to be ready when it did. The familiar weight of responsibility again fell heavily upon him. He took this job initially as a means to an end, but now he cared deeply about what happened here, just like the rest of them. This was their second chance none of them thought they would have. The new community thrived and grew.

All of this change happened with surprising swiftness. From the time he met Clarence Anderson until his first furlough was just over a month, and the spring would soon be upon them. Only this week did Nathan feel comfortable enough to leave everything in the very capable hands of Harold and finally take a few days to go see their families in Mayfield. Although they had called before they left, Nathan wasn’t sure what to expect. His mother tended towards extremes.

From the park they traveled due west on Route 80 through the little town of Hardin. Nathan remembered when as a boy his family would drive there to eat fried catfish on Sunday afternoons. From Hardin they continued west, getting closer every minute to home. Nathan savored every familiar sight, sound, and smell and was gently coasting down a long curved hill of the two lane road. They wore their backpacks with their familiar long guns attached. The guns probably weren’t needed, but they were comforting.

Nathan realized with a start that they were near the outskirts of his home town. He had intended to give the boys warning and talk about old memories, but his mind wandered and now they were almost there.

Nathan would not find out until later that the local radio station allowed his family to make an announcement the day before their arrival and it now looked like the whole town had turned out. Times were hard, but it was obvious that they had rolled out a day long party in their honor. Nathan could see barbeque pits, men playing instruments on a makeshift bandstand, and plenty of people gathered around to drink something that he bet was not lemonade. They stopped their bikes on the hill overlooking the scene and said nothing. For an instant that seemed to stretch on forever, nothing happened. Nathan and his family just took in the sight and no one below saw them yet.

But then someone looked up and set off a cry.

The word spread like wildfire and people stopped what they were doing and looked their way. “Well, are you ready for this?” Nathan asked his family. He then got back on his bike and started to peddle towards the group with Bethany and the boys falling in close behind them, but he soon coasted to a stop. People were running at them in a mad crazy dash. Nathan had just enough time to be alarmed and had a crazy instinct to pull his pistol and start shooting right before this wave of excited and joyous people washed over them.

He wasn’t knocked over, but it was a near thing. Everyone was talking at once, and touching him, and hugging him, and Nathan felt a loss of control bordering on panic. Then he amazingly heard a clear voice out of the din. It was his mother.

He would recognize the voice anywhere. “You sons-of-bitches better get your asses out of my way right now or else!” Nathan smiled and looked to see the crowd part for her. She smiled with tears running down her face and walked purposefully into Nathan's embrace.

For the first time Nathan allowed all the tension to flow out of him. They had made it. They had done it. He had saved his family.

His mother hugged him tight and whispered in his ear, “Welcome home, son.”

With no warning, Nathan found himself sobbing in her arms, and could not make himself stop for some time.