AFTERMATH

CHAPTER TWO

One by one they started up, with Samuelson leading the way. "You can leave your bikes here and we'll carry them over." Peterson told them.

"Well, thank God for that!" Harry said as he reluctantly began the climb with the others.

"Quit your bitching, Harry. They got us here, didn't they?" One of the women said.

"Yeah, I'll have to give them that." He allowed as they topped out and eyed the valley.

They hurried down the other side, with Samuelson leading the way and the football players helping some of the women along. They stood and gazed out over the great expanse of fields, stream and woods in front of them and not a soul had a single complaint. The place was perfect.

Soon the bikes were hauled over the top and the group started out again across the field and to the rivers edge. "What do you think?" Peterson asked Krycek. "Should we set up camp here?"

"No. We need to be across the river with our backs to the woods. That way we will always be facing this pass in case we have any visitors we can always make a stand in the woods."

"Good idea. Ok. Let's see if we can find a place to cross this river. It looks like it narrows down quite a bit over there to the east." Peterson said pointing off to the right.

They all pedaled towards the east and found a shallow spot where they could cross over some stepping stones. Some of the stones were pretty far apart so they found boulders and carried them out and dumped them in to make extra steps. After a dozen or so there was a pretty good pathway across and over they went. Again the younger stronger of the group made a second trip carrying bicycles across.

Once on the other side they started pedaling until they came to a large open area between trees and stream.

"This is it." Krycek said. "We set up camp here."

Everyone was giddy with relief. They had made it! They all unloaded their packs and threw themselves on the ground while, while Alex, the soldiers, the football players, and Samuelson set about putting the tents up. It was decided that the seven women would share the two large tents and the smaller tents would sleep two men each. They didn't have enough to go around for the men so Krycek and the soldiers did without for the time being and just piled their stuff on the ground.

Once everyone was more or less settled, they broke out the camp stoves and heated up some canned goods for lunch. Most of the group went to their tents afterwards and went to sleep.

Krycek, four of the soldiers, three football players and two women prepared to ride back into town. More wanted to go but Krycek insisted that Samuelson and two of the soldiers stay behind to watch over the group and one of the football players in case there was any trouble they could send him into town for help.

They made much better time and made the trip in less than an hour. They entered the town the same as they had the day before, carefully and a few at a time to check it out and make sure there were no aliens around. The place was still empty.

Once back in town, in front of the general store, Krycek told the women to go ahead and load up on food and anything else they might need. Some of the men stayed as well to load up. Krycek and the others headed out to see what they could come up with. Krycek took one of the foot ball players with him and they went to check out some of the few homes scattered back behind the businesses.

The very first house they lucked out! They found another large tent in a garage. They draped it across the back of one of their bikes and kept looking. Inside the house they found three more hand guns which Krycek took along with the ammunition. While he was stashing those the ball player came out with an arm load of blankets.

"Can we take these? If it gets really cold those sleeping bags might not be enough and these are wool. They should be good and warm."

"Good idea. Tape them on top of your basket." He tossed the roll of duct tape.

A little more digging around and he found a chain saw in a back yard shed. He gave it a pull and it started right up. He shut it off immediately and carried it inside and secured it in his front basket. He found two gas cans and stuck one in each of his storage compartments. One was full, the other was half full.

The next house they found a few more blankets which were added to the first load. They also found more gasoline which they added to the first can making two full five gallon cans. They found a few more shovels, another axe, and some miscellaneous tools that were added to their load. When their bikes were totally full, they headed back to meet the group at the store. Everyone else was there loaded up and ready for the ride back.

"Oh wow, another big tent. Who's going to get that one; Harry?" One of the women asked.

"This one is going to be our supply tent. We need a place to keep our food dry and this is it for now." Krycek said.

"That's a good idea. We found some more small tents so we have enough for everyone now." Someone said.

"Great. Are we ready to head back then?" Krycek said then asked one of the men, "Did you get those purification tablets for the water?"

"Sure thing and I got six five-gallon water jugs that we can use too."

"Great. Ok. Let's go."


The trip back took two hours. It was difficult enough with out the load -- loaded it was a hard ride. They were tired now and loaded down heavily but they made it. By the time they got back everyone was up and milling around wondering what to do next. Most of them came over to greet the others and help carry some of the load back to camp. The travelers were happy to hand over their heavy back packs and to see that everything was all right with everyone.

After unloading they set up the supply tent and moved all the food inside.

"We really need some shelves." Someone said.

"And just how do you think we'd get them here?" Someone else asked sarcastically.

"Easy." Krycek said. "We'll take them apart and haul them in. That will be our first priority when we go in tomorrow."

"We're going back again?" One of the ball players asked with a smile on his face.

"Uh huh. We don't know how long that town will remain empty so we need to get in and out as many times as we can as fast as we can. I'd like to get an early start tomorrow and plan on two trips. One in the morning, then we rest and have lunch and then another in the afternoon. Maybe by then some more will be rested up enough to go in with us, at least for one of the trips."

"Not me. I don't want to ever get on another bicycle as long as I live." Harry announced as he sat on the ground and rubbed his sore leg muscles.

"That's Ok, Harry. You can stay behind. We need somebody to dig a latrine anyway."
Krycek said.

"A what? You want me to dig?" Harry was flabbergasted.

"We all have to do our share, Harry. You don't want to carry supplies; you can dig a latrine. I suggest you go back into the woods about fifty yards. Oh and we'll need two of them, one for the women and one for the men. We're lucky; it looks like the prevailing winds come from the south and will blow all the odors back into the woods."

"Shit," Harry mumbled and got up and went back to his tent.

The others grinned and watched him go then sat down and began to plan for their next excursion into town.

"Are we really going to bring back shelves? That's going to take a long time taking them apart." One of the soldiers said. "Is it safe to spend that much time in town?"

"Maybe we can find some of those light weight plastic units that snap together." Someone said.

"Hey, I saw some of those in one of the garages we were in." The ball player that had accompanied Krycek offered.

"Good. I'm sure there will be more around too. Also, we need to get something to sit on. We'll keep an eye out for lawn chairs. They are light weight, fold up, and should be easy to carry."

"How about a table? I saw a camp table at the store but it was too big to carry."

"What about some card tables?" One of the women asked. "They should be easy enough to tie on the back of the bikes and they are pretty light weight."

"I didn't see any, did any body else?" Krycek asked.

"Not me," the woman said, "but that's the sort of thing people keep tucked away in the back of a closet or in an attic, someplace like that."

"True. And we weren't looking for card tables either so we might have walked right passed one and never thought about it." Peterson said.

"All right then. Tomorrow it's food, shelving, lawn chairs and card tables." Krycek said.

"And more tents if we can find them. Those little tents aren't really big enough for two grown men." McConnel said.

"I agree," Krycek said with a chuckle. "At all times, keep your eyes out for more tents."

"We just took what we saw in the store. They might have more in the storeroom out back." One of the women said.

"That's true," Krycek admitted. "Anybody go into the storeroom?"

Everyone shook their heads no.

"I guess we all thought someone else had." Krycek said.

"I saw it was padlocked so I just went on by it," one of the ball players said.

"Well, a padlock is not the problem. I'll open it up as soon as we get there." Krycek said.

"I saw a set of keys behind the counter," one of the women said.

"Ok. You get the keys and see what you can find in the store room. And don't forget to keep loading up on the canned goods. The bottled water isn't that important now that we have purification tablets. That stream looks crystal clear to me. Let's try and bring back some more five-gallon containers for water too."

The planning all finished they all found a place to sleep and rested for the night. Early morning Krycek was up and fixing two pots of coffee. The aroma brought the other riders out of their nests and ready for the day. A quick breakfast of canned vegetables and fruit and they were off. Eighteen of them made the morning trip.

They did indeed find extra tents in the store room and brought enough out so that each of the men now had his own small tent. They found plenty of the plastic shelve units, took them apart and secured them to their bikes. They filled their side baskets with canned goods, and lawn chairs secured across the top. Tents were taken out of the packages and secured to front baskets and more blankets were found and added to the load.

Krycek brought in two more five gallon cans of gasoline, and someone else carried extra kerosene for the lanterns. Back packs were filled as well with extra clothes, toiletries, and more first aid supplies.

They were about to leave when one of the ball players came out of the store carrying a twenty pound bag of potatoes over his shoulder. "Hey, look what I found." He called to them.

"Is there any more?" Krycek asked.

"Sure is; potatoes, onions, carrots, apples, nuts, tons of good stuff!"

They headed in to the kitchen area of the store and behind a door that looked like a closet door, they found a small store room and a stash of produce. Everyone began hauling the food out to their bikes.

"I wish there was some way we could hook a wagon up to these bikes." One of the ball players said.

"We'd turn over for sure," Krycek said. We might try and rig something up later on but right now we need to just grab what we can get and get out of here. We've been here well over an hour this time and we need to get going. Just take what we can carry and we'll get the rest this afternoon."

So on top of their already loaded bikes, they tied the fresh produce and headed out.

This load was particularly welcomed; chairs to sit on, four card tables to set their food on, extra tents so now everyone had their privacy. Things were definitely looking up.

The shelves were put together quickly and Clark, the bank president, took charge of organizing the stacking and storing of the food. The four who had brought back card tables across their back baskets found them to be very convenient to secure other items on top and decided to look for more on their afternoon run.

Fourteen made the afternoon run. A few more card tables were found and secured to the bikes and stacked with supplies. This time they brought back more tools, some large cooking pans and three disassembled barbecues.

The produce shed proved to be a treasure with large bags of oranges, apples, celery, lettuce, pinto beans, squash, corn on the cob and assorted herbs.

"What about the stuff in the coolers?" Someone asked.

"It's been days now without electricity. It's probably all spoiled." Krycek said.

"What about the frozen stuff? If no body's opened the door, it's probably still all right." One of the women offered.

"Yeah, that's right." Another woman agreed. "We lost out electricity for several days once. Everything in the refrigerator spoiled but most of the frozen stuff was still Ok."

"Ok. Take a look and see. Maybe some of the stuff in the middle might still be frozen." Krycek said.

The three women went to investigate while the others continued securing items to the bikes. A few minutes later they came out carrying an ice chest between two of them and several plastic bags.

Krycek opened the ice chest and saw three huge roasts and several packages of hot dogs and sausages. They were frozen solid. The bags contained sausages, bacon and several different kinds of cheese. Krycek felt them and they were still frozen solid.

"There are hams too and eggs; dozens and dozens of them. I wish there was some way we could bring them back?"

"I got it!" One of the men said, "Creels!"

"Creels?" Krycek asked.

"Sure. I saw a bunch of them in the back of the store. Each one should hold a couple dozen eggs. They won't weigh much. We could each hang one around our necks and bring back a couple dozen eggs a piece."

Krycek stared at him and wondered at the simplicity of the idea. It should work. They all went inside and draped a creel around their necks. Each creel did indeed hold two dozen eggs. The egg and cheese compartment being in the center of all the others and held its temperature longer than the rest; its contents were all still very cold to the touch.

"We could stake these creels in the river and it would keep this stuff cold enough not to spoil." The young man said.

"We'd have our own cooler!" Someone said.

"All right. Load up with as much of this stuff as we can carry. There's room in the creels for some cheese and sausage. Just feel things first and make sure they are good and cold. I'm going to see if we can carry a couple more of these Styrofoam ice chests. We don't want to carry it all that way just to have it spoil on the trip."

Three more ice chests were secured to the back of the bikes and filled to the brim. With the biggest load ever, they headed back.

They were exhausted but proud and happy when they arrived back at camp nearly three hours later. The one cook they had among them and two of the women worked up a great dinner for them all using the roasts, cut up in bite sized chunks, lots of vegetables and made huge pots of stew. Everyone decided it was the very best they had ever tasted.

Two of the women who had remained in camp, Debra and Charlene, office workers, came up to Krycek after dinner and broke the news. One of the group was missing.

"Missing? Who?" Krycek started scanning the group.

"The Englishman. I haven't seen him all day and I don’t remember seeing him much after we got here." they answered.

"Has anyone seen the Englishman?" Krycek asked the group.

Everyone shook their heads no. "When was the last time he was seen?"

"He shared my tent the first night but I haven't seen him since then." Samuelson said.

"Shit. Well there's nothing we can do about it tonight. Tomorrow we'll scour the woods and the rest of the area." Krycek said. "Did he take his things?" he asked as an after thought.

"Yep. Sleeping bag and all." Samuelson answered. "I should have said something earlier but I just thought he'd found someplace better to sleep and I've been gone on supply runs most of the time and didn't notice he wasn't around."

"We'll look around for him in the morning but if he left, there is nothing that we can do about it. No one has to stay here if they don't want to." Krycek said.

"Where would he go?" Someone asked.

"No telling. Well, he knows where we are so if he wants to come back, he can."

"What if those aliens find him?" Harry asked.

"Then he's either a prisoner or a stain on the road somewhere." One of the soldiers said.

"Enough. Let's get some sleep." Krycek said but he lay awake in his tent and wondered what happened to the Englishman. He didn't seem the kind to bolt.

The next morning there were only twelve who wanted to make the trip into town. That was OK. They were all tired and they were pretty well stocked up on food. Staking the creels at the rivers edge kept the meat, cheese and eggs cold with the frigid water running over them and their supply tent was filling up nicely.

"So what is our main objective this time, Peterson asked as they were hauling their bikes over the rocky entrance to the valley.

"Port-a-potties." Krycek said.

"You're kidding?" One of the soldiers asked.

"Nope. The women have been great about everything and I haven't heard a single complaint from any of them. This is the least we can do for them. I saw some back in that store room. Two or three ought to be enough."

"You think we can haul them on the bikes?" Someone asked.

"Sure. Carrying those card tables flat on the back of the bikes gave me the idea. We can get pieces of wood about that same size, secure them to the bikes and set stuff on them."

"They're going to be pretty heavy."

"I was looking at them and found that they come apart. There are two holding tanks, one for fresh water to flush with and one that holds the waste. I figured if we took those tanks off, they would be a lot lighter. Spread the weight around."

"Oh, man that would be great!" one of the ball players said. "I mean, I don't mind taking a piss in the woods but sitting on a couple of rocks over a hole in the ground to do my business really sucks."

They all agreed and made their way into town. Their plan worked out well and they were able to get the three potties secured easily enough over some plywood they found. They also brought back two large wash tubs, a couple pairs of saw horses and enough pieces of scrap wood to connect the pieces of plywood together to put over the saw horses for a large table. They also brought back rope, hoses, clothespins, detergent, bath soap and toilet paper.

The women squealed with delight at the sight of the port-a-potties and threw their arms around the men and gave them each a hug. Krycek explained that they would need to be emptied every day and the freshwater tank refilled and that everyone would have to take turns doing the emptying. There was a slight ravine at the back of the woods, about twenty feet deep that would be the best place for empting the waste. They all readily agreed and with great pleasure the three potties were set up in the woods.

The two brothers Rick and Randy connected the hoses together and mounted one end out in the middle of the stream. A spigot was attached to a wooden stand they nailed together and with the other end of the hose connected to it and they had running water at the campsite. They put one of the large wash tubs underneath it to keep the camp site dry. This water was for cooking or washing only. The drinking water was kept in the five-gallon water cans with purification tablets added.

They decided to rest for the afternoon as a lot of them wanted to talk and make some kind of plans. The pieces of plywood were nailed together and placed over the saw horses and they had a table big enough for everyone to sit around. Krycek called a meeting and as everyone gathered around he took out a small tablet and pencil and started writing.
"I need to know everyone's name, age and occupation." He said and started making his list.

He put his name at the top.

1. Alex Krycek, 42, agent.
2. Sam Samuelson, 40, photographer
3. Carl Peterson, 26, soldier
4. Jimmy McConnel, 23, soldier
5. Evan Jefferson, 22, soldier
6. Kevin Miller, 23, soldier
7. Tony Andrews, 22, soldier
8. Raymond Martinez, 22, soldier
9. Max Grant, 17, student – football player
10. Matthew Grant, 18, student – football player
11. David Woods, 17, student – football player
12. Ronald Woods, 18, student – football player
13. Teresa Harris, 26, flight attendant
14. Harry Martini, 48, taxi driver
15. Charlene Dawson, 33, office worker
16. Deborah Charles, 36, office worker
17. Maddie Bernard, 24, nurse
18. Marcia Mitchell, 23, nurse
19. Michael Clark, 53, bank president
20. Holly Schuler, 29, grade school teacher
21. Amber Barrington, 32, grade school teacher
22. Rick Sullivan, 26, farmer
23. Randy Sullivan, 28, farmer
24. Bobby Benson, 37, cook
25. The Englishman

"Does anyone know the Englishman's name or anything about him?" Krycek asked the group? Everyone shook their head 'no'.

"Hey look, he's back!" Someone called out.

The smiling man made his way through the field, across the stepping stone bridge, carrying his bike and rode on into camp.

"You decided to come back?" Krycek greeted him.

He greeted the group with the tip of his hat and a cheery smile. "I say -- is that coffee I smell? Might I have a cup? I ran out of groceries yesterday and I'm famished."

"Sure thing, have a seat." Krycek said and poured a cup full of the steaming brew and handed it to him.

"I see we've come up in the world. We have tables and chairs and barbecues and does that gadget really produce running water?" He pointed to the newly installed spigot and sipped his coffee.

"Oh, beastly stuff. I don't know how you Americans drink this when you could have a nice cuppa tea instead. It's so much more civilized."

"What can I get for you?" the cook asked. "You want some eggs and bacon or sausage or some oatmeal maybe?"

"Ha! I wish! Just toss me a can of those vegetables we brought in if you have any to spare."

Krycek grinned. "We really do have the breakfast stuff if you want it."

"Seriously?" The Englishman choked a bit on the coffee. "You have eggs, sausage and bacon?"

"We do," Bobby the cook and Krycek both answered in unison.

"Look, I was just making a list of our group here. I need your name, age and occupation." Krycek asked.

"Oh yes, of course. The name is Preston Ambrose Parks. I'm 44 years young and I'm a geologist."

The rest of the group started asking questions.

"Where did you go?"

"Did you see any aliens?"

"We missed you."

"We're so glad you're back."

"How far did you get?"

"We were ready to rent out your tent."

And on and on until each person had welcomed him with a comment.

Parks continued with his coffee, grimacing after every sip and answering quip for quip.

"I went to see the Queen."

"I called but nobody was home."

"I know, I should have written."

"I knew you'd miss me."

"All around the world and back."

"Just give the bloody thing to Samuelson, nobody can sleep next to that buzz saw."

By the time the quips were finished, a large plate of scrambled eggs and sausage were placed in front of him. His hand stopped half way up to his mouth with the coffee cup. "I say – if this is a dream, it's a real corker!"

"It's no dream, Parks. Dig in. We were just about to have a meeting here. Krycek said.

"Oh bully! My timing is impeccable as usual." He then dug in and the plate was emptied in two minutes flat. "Now that was a bit of all right!" he said, leaning back in his lawn chair with a satisfied grin and a smoothing down his moustache. "And to show my appreciation, I have some jolly good news to share."

"Have you seen others? Did you talk with them?" Krycek asked and everyone went silent to hear the news.

"No, no, dear boy – nothing like that. You see, I'm well aware that I haven't contributed much to this expedition but what I have to tell you will make up for that and be well worth all the money deal old daddy paid for my education." He said with a smug grin.

"What did you find out?" Krycek asked.

"I found a mine!"

"Oh shit!" someone murmured.

"A mine?" Krycek asked in disbelief.

"Let me guess – we're all going to share in the mine and be millionaires?" Someone asked sarcastically. The group began mumbling among themselves in disappointment.

"But wait now! Hear me out. You don't seem to grasp the significance of this find. My Oxford education has finally paid off!"

"That's just great. Next time you see dear old pater, you can tell him that." Someone quipped.

Krycek sat staring at Parks waiting for him to explain.

"All right then, enough of dragging this out. Let me break it down for you. We are in a beautiful life-sustaining valley, surrounded by majestic mountains with only one visible entrance. Do you all agree with that statement?"

Everyone muttered 'yes'.

"Those devils out there will be able to find us easily if they as much as give it half a try. Do you agree with that?"

"What are you getting at?" Krycek asked a little exasperated at the Englishman taking so long to make his point.

"Simple, old boy. We find us a little bang-bang and blow up the pass."

They all stared at him as if he had grown a second head.

"What does this have to do with the mine you found? Is there an outlet into the valley?" Krycek asked becoming more interested.

"Not yet, but there will be in due time." He smiled smugly.

"How?" Two or three people asked the question at the same time.

"Now that's where my education comes in. I'm a geologist. Rocks, boulders, mountains, mines are my specialty. The first few days while the rest of you were busy setting up camp, I was wandering around checking out the rock formations and looking at ore samples. It's obvious this is a prime area for mining activities. It took me two days to find the mine and another to explore the inside with this wonderful little compass you insisted each of us carry.

"Did you find a shaft that comes close?" Krycek asked hopefully – his interest totally peaked now.

"Well, not to say it will be a walk in the park but it can be done."

"What with?" One of the soldiers asked. "Nitro?"

"That would do the trick all right but Nitro is too difficult to find and too unstable for amateurs to handle. I say we use dynamite."

"And where do you propose we get that dynamite?" Someone asked.

"Oh, I don't know but there always seems to be a bit of it lying about when you need it."

"Have you ever used dynamite?" One of the soldiers asked.

"I have." Krycek said. "I can do it."

"Bully for you! I was afraid we were going to have to go find a demo man for the job."

"And as a geologist, you can tell me exactly where to place the charges?"

"Naturally. Of course after it goes boom there will be a lot of back-breaking shovel work but we're a large group here and if we all take turns we can make a job of it."

"How far?" Krycek asked.

"Less than a quarter of a mile."

"That's over thirteen hundred feet! It would take this crew the rest of our lives to shovel that much dirt." Someone said.

"It would indeed but not if we had one of those earth-mover machines, I think you call them."

"You've seen one? There's one in the mine?" Krycek asked.

"There is indeed. I'm sure one of your fine strapping lads can get it running."

"It doesn't work?" Krycek's hopes wilted.

"I didn't say that. I tried it and the motor didn't catch but it's probably been sitting there unused for a good long time."

"An antique." Someone scoffed. "Useless."

"Maybe not," Sgt. Peterson spoke up. "My dad had an old tractor, probably forty or fifty years old. We always managed to keep it running with a little tinkering."

"That's the spirit, lad! If you're ready, I can take you to it right now."

"Now, wait just a minute. Let's get everyone's opinion here and see if we're all in agreement. Do we really want to blow up the pass?" Krycek said.

"Splendid. That will extend my rest period a bit." Parks helped himself to another cup of coffee and sat back down.

At first they were all appalled at the idea of closing up the pass but once they were reminded of the carnage they had seen back at the plane and all along the way their opinions began to turn. It was a lively discussion and everyone offered an opinion.

Once Parks explained that they would indeed take special care to make the mine safe, it was an easy go from there. In the end, a show of hands was asked for and it was unanimous. They would blow up the pass.