The Renewal Read online

  Bill smiled, moving beside Jim to join him in watching the activity in the commons. "Maybe so. You know, he's pretty sharp when you get past the joker in him. I bet he tied defense attorneys in knots."

  He looked at Jim. "So, what were you thinking about?"

  Jim let several seconds pass before answering, drawing a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "What do you think things will be like in five years?"

  Bill put his hands in his pockets, his reflective stance, and shook his head. "I haven't really thought about it." He shrugged. "We've been so busy just trying to keep up, I haven't projected out that far."

  He looked at Jim. "Is that what you were thinking about?"

  Again, Jim took several seconds before nodding. "Yeah. I have been for a while."

  He nodded again, slowly, as if to himself, then turned toward Bill. "Do you remember at Thanksgiving when I said we have to build the future for our kids?"

  Bill nodded. "Actually, your exact words were, 'We must build the future we want our children to live in'."

  Jim gave him a surprised look. "That sounds even better."

  Bill shrugged. "I repeated it to myself so I wouldn't forget." He gave a small smile. "I thought it was worth remembering."

  Jim chuckled. "You should be our historian."

  He turned back to surveying the commons. "The key word in that is build. Or, we could say create. But the foundational principle of it is that we must be actively involved, even the driving force in the formation of that world."

  He hooked his thumbs in the front of his gun belt, a posture of relaxation that had returned to him from years before. "So far, we've been mainly reacting to the world around us. But that's not good enough - not anymore. If we want to live in a world of our own choosing, instead of a world chosen for us by others, we need to start building it now. I'm sure that others out there are, and, if we want to keep the autonomy I've declared, we have to be able to protect our holdings, enforce our rules and resist any attempts by others to subvert them. We need to be able to influence the world around us in our favor and successfully resist any attempt by that world to negatively affect us."

  "That sounds like the creation of a country."

  Jim nodded. "I was thinking more along the line of a city-state, but I guess it's basically the same thing."

  Bill nodded. "Just a matter of scale and complexity. How far into the thought process are you?"

  Jim saw Kelly waving from the veranda and waved back. "I'm not sure. I know the direction I think we need to go, but I haven't decided what the final goal should be."

  He looked at Bill. "How 'bout you?"

  Bill shook his head. "I don't know. To be honest, I haven't given it a lot of thought. We've been so busy just keeping up with daily tasks, I haven't spent much time on theoretics."

  "What do you think is the best type of government?"

  "Boy, you're sure asking the easy questions today."

  Jim smiled. "Well, it is the fourth of July."

  Bill pursed his lips. "Well, I guess that would depend on what you wanted or expected from it. If you want efficiency and decisiveness, a dictatorship, monarchy or autocracy is probably best. If you want a government in which the people are represented and under which their rights are protected, then a republic is best."

  "Like the United States was," said Jim.

  "Yes," Bill nodded.

  Jim looked at Bill. "And were the citizens well represented and their rights protected?"

  Bill started to nod but caught himself and turned it into a half-shrug. "Some were. Sometimes."

  Jim looked back over the commons, nodding thoughtfully. "Some were. Sometimes."

  He looked at Bill again. "Is that good enough?"

  Bill shrugged again. "It beats the alternative."

  "Does it?"

  Again, Bill shrugged. "It beats anything else I can think of on a large scale."

  Jim squinted in thought. "We're going to be watching The Patriot tonight, with Mel Gibson. There's a line in it that I've remembered ever since the first time I saw it."

  "It must be quite a line."

  Jim nodded. "It is. At the town meeting where they are discussing rebellion, Gibson's character says that he won’t support it. He asks why he should trade one tyrant three thousand miles away for three thousand tyrants a mile away, referring, of course, to locally controlled democracy or representative government."

  Bill chuckled. "I remember that. It was a good line. It reminded me of my HOA."

  Jim laughed. "Mine too. I'm not saying that there is necessarily a better way, just that representative government has its own flaws and may not always be better than others."

  Bill shrugged. "My American mindset wants to disagree, but I can't."

  Jim looked at him. "So, is there a better model?"

  "The better model is also the worst," said Bill. "Dictatorship or monarchy. In benevolent hands, things get done and people are well served within a well-defined set of rules and universally accepted social expectations. In malevolent hands, things get done to a lesser degree and the majority of people suffer while a privileged few do very well."

  Jim nodded. "The King Richard, Prince John dichotomy."

  "Who?"

  "The Robin Hood tale. Same form of government with different applications."

  "Oh, yes," Bill chuckled. "The old stealing from the rich and giving to the poor thing."

  Jim shook his head. "That's the popular saying, but in the original tale, Robin took from a corrupt and oppressive government and gave back to an oppressed citizenry. The fable says he had gone to fight in the Crusades with King Richard, the one they called the Lionheart, and returned to England to find that Prince John had taken over in Richard's absence and burdened the subjects with unfair laws and taxes. Prince John became King John, whose continued behavior brought about the Magna Carta."

  Bill feigned a serious look. "Then was played by Errol Flynn, Kevin Costner and Russell Crowe."

  Jim laughed. "I see that you understand completely."

  Bill looked at Jim thoughtfully. "Do you remember when I talked about patrimonialism with you?"

  "The old Godfather thing?"

  Bill nodded. "It's an extremely effective and responsive model on the small scale."

  "And on a larger scale?"

  Bill shrugged. "It's the first step of monarchy or autocracy."

  "And at what point does that happen?"

  Bill shrugged again. "I imagine it's different in each instance. Still, when in the right hands, it's probably the most effective model in the beginning phases."

  Jim nodded slowly. "My concern is ... "

  "Am I interrupting anything?" asked Tom as he walked up to them from the direction of the main hall.

  "Jim was just telling me about Robin Hood," said Bill.

  "Steal from the rich and give to the poor, right?"

  "Well, apparently, it's more complicated than that. You see, well ... maybe Jim should explain it."

  Jim chuckled and looked at Tom. "What's up?"

  "The contact gate radioed that Freelove and McGregor just got here with their wives and some of their guys," he answered, referring to the sheriffs of Osage and Coffey counties.

  "Good. Kelly has assigned some cabins for them."

  "They said they brought another sheriff with them from Anderson County."

  Jim nodded. "Alright, let's go meet them."

  They walked back across the commons, saying hello to a crowd growing in both size and excitement, reaching the house just as three pickups and an older short school bus pulled up and stopped.

  The driver's door of the lead pickup opened, and Sheriff Mark Freelove emerged. At six-foot five and two-hundred-sixty pounds, Freelove was the epitome of a Kansas sheriff, always seeming relaxed but ready. He hooked his sunglasses in his shirt, put on a white straw Stetson his height wouldn't allow him to wear in the truck and smiled.

  "You know," said Bill under his breath, "every time he looks my
way, I'm glad he's smiling."

  Jim chuckled and walked toward Freelove, extending his hand. "Mark, glad you could make it."

  Freelove took the proffered hand. "I wasn't going to miss fireworks. Plus, Rod and I have something we want to talk to you about."

  He turned toward a woman walking around the front of the truck. "And I brought the prettier half. This is my wife, Anna. Honey, this is Jim, Bill and Tom."

  Anna smiled and came up beside Freelove. "I've heard a lot about you guys. It's nice to finally meet you."

  "All of the good things are about me," said Bill. "The questionable stuff, well ... " he looked at Jim and Tom.

  Anna laughed. "It's all good, so it all must be about you."

  "Where the hell did you get fireworks?" asked Rod McGregor as he walked around the bed of Freelove's truck. Somewhat shorter than Freelove, his mass was distributed widthwise in bull-like shoulders, chest and arms. He stuck out his hand. "You get more things around here than anyone I know."

  Jim laughed and took the massive hand. "One of our scout teams ran across a retired Leavenworth County deputy who used to run a fireworks stand for their FOP. We traded him some stuff. How are things out your way?"

  McGregor shrugged. "We're keepin' a lid on things. People are working hard, most of the bad boys are either dead or moved on and I'm gettin' better lookin’ by the day, as you can see. How are you doin'?"

  Jim looked around as if surveying things. "We're doing well. People are working hard and we're getting a lot done."

  He looked at the two sheriffs. "Since the meeting at Riley, it's kind of focused us."

  "Us too," nodded Freelove. "In fact, that's what Rod and I want to talk to you about." He noticed another man walking toward them. "And we brought someone else along."

  He waited until the man got close enough, then made the introduction.

  "This is Dean Leach, sheriff of Anderson County. Dean, this is Jim Wyatt, Bill Garner and Tom Murphy."

  "Howdy," said Leach, extending his hand. "Heard a lot about you guys."

  "All the good stuff is about me," said Bill. "All the other stuff..." He saw everyone was staring at him. "Never mind."

  Jim shook his head and Leach's hand. "Good to meet you, Dean. What brings you our way?"

  Leach shook Bill and Tom's hands. "I've been kind of riding Mark and Rod's coattails on something and they said I could tag along." He smiled. "Plus, I like fireworks."

  "How do you feel about cold beer?" asked Jim.

  Leach smiled. "Well, I’ve always looked at cold beer as proof that God loves me."

  Jim laughed. "I'm sure he does, so let's go get a few bottles of proof and sit down for a spell."

  They spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing, getting Freelove, McGregor, Leach and their people settled in cabins and chatting with people gathering for the celebration.

  When the sun hit tree-top, Jim walked to the pit in which the hog was beginning to crack and rang the large signaling ring with an iron bar.

  As he rang it, the crowd filling the commons drifted toward the pit until it was densely packed around it. When all stragglers had joined the crowd, he laid the iron bar on the stone ring of the pit and stepped up on a bench.

  He waited until everyone had seen him and the crowd quieted, then spoke. "Welcome, friends!" he shouted.

  Applause and hoots rose from the crowd.

  "When do we eat!" shouted a voice from the back, followed by laughter from the rest.

  "Soon enough," laughed Jim, "but first, I have a couple of things to say."

  He looked out over the crowd, recognizing many of the faces and knowing some of their stories. The past year had been a challenge for all of them, and it showed in their faces. The looks of fear, hopelessness and despair had been replaced by ones of determination, perseverance and accomplishment, and a gathering of displaced survivors had become a cohesive community of producers and contributors.

  He had not been sure that taking in so many looking for a refuge would work out well, but he had felt a moral obligation to do so and it had strengthened Stonemont and its satellite communities. Expectations had been made clear and problems had been dealt with immediately and decisively. The result had been a feeling of unity and mutual appreciation among the people and a sense of belonging and loyalty to Stonemont.

  He had to admit that it had surprised him a bit. In the pre-collapse world, such rules and societal expectations as he had laid down at Stonemont would have been met with resistance, even outright protests. But that had been a world where basic survival had been seen as assured, and people had been free to concern themselves with trivialities. In this new world, basic principles became obvious in the quest for survival, and meaningless minutia found no place in the building and sustainment of either a family or a community.

  He reflected in this for a moment, then began.

  "We've had one heck of a year, friends. We've seen a lot of changes."

  Murmurs and nodding heads showed him that those in the crowd agreed.

  "We were a little too busy last year to think much about the fourth of July or the meaning behind it. In fact, some might argue that it doesn't mean anything anymore since the country we celebrated is gone. I disagree. Though the country may no longer exist, the principles for which it stood remain. They are constant. They exist in the hearts of free men and women and are the bedrock of free societies. They emerge when men and women of character advance them, they survive when they are upheld, and they diminish when they are amended or ignored."

  He looked around the crowd, seeing that the people were listening intently, then continued.

  "In order to look to the future, we must first look to the past. It provides the lessons and examples we need, both good and bad, to chart the course of our choosing."

  He paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts for the main message he wanted to convey.

  "When we look to the past, we see that something happened to America. Not the collapse, but something before that. America had changed.

  "For those of us who grew up in the fifties and sixties, and certainly before then, it was not the place we remembered. It was not the place we had hoped to live in and raise our children and grandchildren in. For those of you who were born later, your freedoms and privacy were limited beyond what you may have realized while the demands on your productivity through your income in the form of taxes and fees were enormous, limiting your ability to create and hold wealth and value for yourselves and your children. Your lives were not what they could have been.”

  He scanned the crowd. "So, what happened?

  "We discovered that we could not trust our leaders, that many, if not most in our government sought their own good instead of working for the good of the people and the country.

  "We declared a war on poverty, only to create a permanent dependent class that resented those who provided for it and demanded more from us with each passing year.

  "We declared a war on drugs, only to fill our prisons with non-violent offenders, create an oppressive police presence and actually increase our drug problem.

  "We forgot Washington's warning against foreign entanglements and created enemies around the world. We ignored his admonition against political parties, allowing the voice of the people to be replaced by wealthy families and special interests, thereby subjugating the freedoms of individuals to the political agendas of groups of the collectively demanding or offended.

  "We ignored Eisenhower's warning about the growing military-industrial complex and had our military involved in special operations and non-military actions in more countries that most people knew existed.

  "We allowed our constitution to be shredded, our religion to be despised, our work to be denigrated, our borders to be breached, our values to be mocked and our unborn children to be slaughtered by the millions. With this in mind, we should not wonder that a collapse like we experienced was justified, perhaps even necessary, and maybe even to be expected."

  He pau
sed again, looking out over the silent crowd.

  "The way forward is not a continuation of the past. It must not be. While basic values and principles can be used as a foundation for what we build in the future, a model that allows for simply repeating the mistakes of the past must be avoided.

  "Keeping this as our focus, I encourage each resident of our communities to pursue the way that seems best to them while observing the simple admonition to do no harm to others and following that greatest of charges: to treat others as you would like to be treated. More is not necessary. Less is not acceptable. The independence we now must celebrate is the independence of each individual to choose the way they feel is best for them, free from the institutional tyrannies of the past."

  Looked out over the silent crowd for another moment, then nodded and smiled. "Happy Independence Day! Let's eat!"

  3

  Jim drained the last of his coffee and looked out the window. The rain that had started as the festivities came to an end had continued throughout the night and was still coming down as a slow sprinkle. Rain in July was a rare blessing, and though it made things a bit slower and sloppier for a while, the benefit to the row crops and the fruit trees far exceeded the temporary inconvenience.

  Rinsing his cup and setting it on the counter for later, he walked to the mud room where he took off his Tony Lamas and pulled on his rubber boots. They made him feel like he was walking around in rubber buckets, but he didn't want to get good boots muddy crossing the commons. He put on his white straw Resistol and a rain jacket and stepped outside.

  He usually liked rain, but he liked either being out in it or watching it from inside. Going in and out was just messy. The sound of the rain on his hat brim gave him an insulated feeling he always liked and the sight of Freelove, McGregor and Leach walking together toward the main hall for the meeting made him think of the previous night.

  As always, everyone had enjoyed the barbecue, and the fireworks had been a special treat - especially for the kids. But the big hit had been the showing of The Patriot. The fifty-inch television screen had limited the number of people who could see it at once and a second showing had just begun in the hall when the rain had started. Quite a few people had stayed through the second run which ended at about three o'clock, but Jim had promised that it would be shown every night until everyone who wanted to see it had been able to.