It was shocking to see Shaun and Ellie walk through the door of the Hayner House, but I was thankful they were safe. I changed the sign outside to the current population and began looking over the trench digging. Shortly afterward, a young girl, maybe ten years old, ran over to me. "Hey, Jensen! You've got to see this!" She grabbed my hand and began pulling me toward Sarah's workshop.
"What's your name?"
"Carissa Evans."
"Nice to meet you. What did you want to show me?"
Carissa smiled and handed me a walkie-talkie. It was on and Lindsey said, "like your presents, Jensen? Over."
"I love it. How many do we have? Over."
"Thirty pairs. They can reach as far as two miles, over."
I smiled. "May I come to pick them up? Over."
"Yes, sir. They're in the living room, over."
Excited, I ran into the living room. The walkie-talkies were on the couch. After grabbing a few, I handed them to the guards, Amy, who was on outlook duty, and some to the wall builders. "We actually have these? Where were they for the past two years," Thomas asked, clearly shocked.
I shrugged. "I don't know. Lindsey and Sarah found and repaired them."
"Nice. How's Rosie?"
"Fine. Thanks for your help."
"Sure. No problem," Thomas said with a grunt.
"Thomas, you seem cold. Why don't you go inside?"
"No, I'm good."
I sighed, "you're saying three words. Go. Inside."
My cousin shook his head. "So? I'm fine."
"Angel might need you."
After a moment, Thomas stopped arguing and went inside. The wall would take a while since the temperature was around -2.8 degrees Fahrenheit after sunset. I grabbed my walkie-talkie and told everyone outside to come in. Then, over the next few days, we worked tirelessly, then a few hours off before and on Christmas Day. Somehow, Brianna and Alex found more solar lights and ornaments for the tree. To my surprise, we kind of had a gift exchange. Alex, Tony, and Jack gave Cayler and me shaving kits. Jenna, Adina, and Shoshannah were all having their first Christmas. We all agreed it was a gift to be alive. After the gift exchange, we went back to work.
On New Year's, Piper cut our hair, and we finished the walls on Jenna's first birthday. The gates surrounding New Haven made our people feel safer. Everything was going fine when Dawson came running into my office. "You're back early. What's going on?" About a week and a half ago, Dawson said he'd be exploring the surrounding areas and be back in three weeks.
"I have a confession to make."
"Okay."
Dawson sighed. "I have a crush on your sister."
I shook my head, "what? Dawson, the only sister I have, died three years ago, and if she was alive, she'd only be eight."
"Oh. Haley's not your sister?"
"No. She's my cousin. Thomas is her brother." I pointed him in my cousin's direction. Do I look that much like my cousin? Maybe we look alike, but he's not my twin. Jace is. Haley is three years older than he is, did he know this? Whatever. It only mattered if they were happy. "Hey, Dawson. Why are you asking Thomas if you could ask Haley out?"
"I'm only seventeen. I don't want it to seem weird."
"Well, when do you turn eighteen?"
"April 30th."
I shrugged, "then you don't need to ask for permission to date my cousin, but you can if it makes you happy."
"Thank you, sir," Dawson said, then headed to ask Haley out.
Picking up a walkie-talkie, I called Jace, Amy, Kenneth, and Cayler to my office, then sighed once they arrived. "So, since I became the Mayor on the seventh of December last year, should we have an election?"
Piper shrugged. "December of this year is eleven months away, or twenty-one if we do it every other year. Why are we bothering about this now?"
"I don't know if anyone else wants to run, and as Piper said, it's still a while till December," Amy agreed.
Cayler shook his head. "Still, planning is a good idea."
"We will set nothing in stone," Kenneth pipped up.
"Yeah, Jensen. We'll decide by, say, around the middle of May if there will be an election or not," Jace explained.
I didn't answer right away. "Well, maybe we should have the election every other year if it's decided now."
Piper smiled slyly. "Maybe we could have a vote now on the election matter? It wouldn't be a bad idea." Just as I was about to reply, Sarah and Lindsey called us all outside. My wife and I glanced at each other, confused. Light shone brightly, glaring off the snow and nearly blinding us. We all cheered.
Cayler stood there whispering, "it really worked!" I remember Cayler mentioning the stadium lights, and he must've told Sarah and Lindsey since I had said nothing.
"You know, I feel thrilled and successful with these lights," I said to Piper, who nodded.
"It almost feels like we aren't in the aftermath of Yellowstone."
"These lights will be useful for working at night if need be."
Stanley walked over to us. "The light could stunt the growth of our crops."
I nodded. "That's very good." Piper nudged me and said something about voting in the election. "Before I forget, do you think we should have an election for Mayor every other year?"
Stanley shook his head. "I don't see why we need one. New Haven is your town."
"Well, I feel like if we don't, it'll feel like a dictatorship."
"But we have free will, and if we have an election, then we might end up with a corrupt leader. We don't need another massacre on our hands. Six months later Yellowstone, the town of Sternenstadt, was called something else. I don't remember now. But, there was this guy who was the Mayor, and he slaughtered everyone. Elliot and the others who were in Sternenstadt when you came had moved in after the massacre."
"What about you?"
"I grouped up with some survivors and killed the Mayor."
"Thanks, Stanley," I sighed. A couple of hours later, the vote was done. We'd have an election every five years.
We all went back inside. Piper, Cayler, Jace, Amy, Kenneth, and I went back to my office to finish our earlier discussion. I sat down back at my desk and said, "We should probably keep the voting age at eighteen." Everyone agreed.
Cayler shot up, grabbed my arm, and said, "I just heard something about the Psychos."
"Who?"
"The Psychos. Remember the war with Lux? The leader of Lux had mentioned—" Cayler began, but there was a knock on the door. It was Brianna.
"There's a Peter van Laar looking for you, Piper."
Piper sighed, "let him in." Brianna nodded, and Peter walked in. "What are you doing here? You killed many innocent people the last time you were here."
"Now I'm here to save lives."
Piper stared at her younger brother for a second. She was angry enough that I was afraid she'd strangle him. "Why should we believe you?"
"The radio said there was a bloodbath in Indiana. At the most, they could be here in a month. We should probably get prepared."
"And what's in it for you?" Kenneth asked with a hiss.
Peter smiled smugly, "all of Lux and I can stay."
Every person turned to me. "Stay here and help us out. Do any of your members know English?"
"Most of them."
"Good. There's a military base one hour from here, and if the Psychos are coming, we'll need everything we can get our hands on." Now, I wished Dad and Uncle Shane were here since they would've been an enormous help. Luckily, Jace, Thomas, Wyatt, Cayler, Sarah, and Shaun could help instead. "Piper, Kenneth, can you get the crew and check on the kids?"
A couple of minutes later, six people saluted me after they entered the room. They wore their old army uniforms and were eager to help. I told them about the military base, and Sarah quickly jumped on the opportunity to fix weapons and vehicles. Thomas stared at me afterward. "Rosie's seven months pregnant. Don't you think she's under enough stress already? I don't want her worrying about a war."
I nodded, "agreed. Hopefully, they'll get here after her baby's born."
Thomas shook his head, "I hope they never come."
"I do too, but that's too much to ask for," Angel answered, entering the room. "If the Psychos aren't here in a month, then I'll be fine."
Peter sighed, "the Psychos don't show mercy."
"You know an awful lot about this group," Sarah said.
"They were a gang in high school when I was in middle school."
"And you neglected to mention that?"
Jace cleared his throat. "We should move past the fighting and help each other."
I sighed. "Jace is right. We'll get into groups, and it should be faster that way."
"Groups of what? Two? Let me tell you, that'll make it a lot faster," Sarah scoffed.
Angel walked over to Sarah. "What's gotten into you?"
Sarah looked over at Thomas, who shook his head and mouthed, "don't."
"I just, I don't know, want to be prepared. You understand, don't you?"
Angel hugged her best friend. "Yeah. Same. I don't want to lose Tom."
"I don't think any of us do."
"Angel, I'm not letting anyone die."
"What about the war?"
Thomas hugged his wife and said gently, "love, if we die, it's because we die protecting New Haven."
She sniffled. "Be safe." Without another word, she left the room. After we split into groups of two, we were ready to raid the military base.