Dark Road by David C. Waldron Read Free Book Online Page A

“Yes, I’m happy that you’re finally being honest with me. No, I’m not happy that you threw up—because puking is no fun…I assume morning sickness is no fun. If that’s what it is you could be anywhere from the six weeks you said last night to almost ten weeks along.”
    “I know, and thank you for not offering me a saltine.” Rachael gave him a wan smile. She really wasn’t feeling well. Usually she did fine with pregnancy but the first trimester could go either way for her and she had lost a couple within the first ten weeks before. Sometimes she was fine, others she was a bedridden mess.
    “Hey, I remember the time you were all sweetness and light as you promised to cram an entire box of them down my throat the next time I offered you one after you got sick. If I remember correctly, there was no mention of unwrapping them first either. I’m no rocket scientist but I don’t need to be beaten over the head to learn a lesson, or choked to death for that matter.” Joel smiled sympathetically at his wife.
    “Do you think you’ll be ok for breakfast or should we sit it out this morning?” Joel asked.
    “I think I’ll be ok. It’s not the sight of food that makes me sick, so I can come with you, at least. You need to eat, if nothing else, and I need to take my vitamins.” Rachael said.
    On the way out of their walled tent, they collected their children, Josh and Maya, and headed towards the newly constructed mess hall, one of the few completely wooden buildings in camp.
    …
    At breakfast, all anyone could talk about was last night’s meeting and the fact that the military had finally had some contact with higher authority—apparently approved by the President. This ARCLiTE wasn’t just approval for the military to do what the Nashville National Guard had been doing, but an order ; work with the civilian population, integrate with them, set up a working society, and keep civilization going.
    It was refreshing to have the last two months of hard work by everyone, both the Guard unit and the civilians that had become part of the community, validated by someone on the outside.
    Rachael, Sheri Hines, and Karen Gharity were really beginning to feel the pressure to get their initial assignment—for lack of a better word—presented and voted on by the community. The Major, who’d been the First Sergeant at the time, had tasked them with putting together a code of laws for the mixed group, since it would be unfair and frankly unjust to expect civilians and military folks to abide by each other’s code of ethics, as it were. The three women had taken it to the next level and combined The Constitution and a number of the Amendments to form what they referred to as The Framework, and were now hammering out a unified set of laws that would govern the entire population—civilian and military alike.
    “Eric,” Sheri yelled from her place in line as the newly reactivated and promoted Captain Eric Trip was leaving the mess hall. She waved as he turned, looking for whoever had yelled his name, and came over to where she was waiting for her turn.
    “Congratulations on the promotion!” She said. “I didn’t get a chance to say anything last night after the meeting and it was a pretty closely guarded secret beforehand.”
    “Thank you,” Eric said. “I’m still not sure I want it but Mallory, Major Jensen, needs a staff and she couldn’t gut the enlisted ranks. I can’t just call her Mal anymore, that’s going to take some getting used to.”
    Sheri grinned. “You’ll be fine. You haven’t been out that long—only what, about eight months now?”
    Eric nodded. “About that, at least I’ll be able to call her ma’am without her getting mad at me now.” Eric dipped his head at her tray. “Where’s Chuck?”
    “He ate already.” She said. “He’s working with the crews on rewiring some of the generators to see if we can’t set up a mini-grid here and extend it down to Gratefille.” Sheri made