Trepidation | Trepidation Trilogy | The Empty World Sequence

Twenty-Nine

John sat with Claudia and Merideth at the table inside their trailer, the window open to let fresh air in. He read the dailies on Claudia's mobile as Merideth tried to talk Claudia through breakfast. She was in a stage of pregnancy during which sickness was common, or so Merideth and all the books said.

      The door opened and Alaric came in, having taken the watch overnight. "You see the news?" he asked immeditaely. "Election results haven't been released, something about needing a manual count."

      "Right here," John said as he looked at the report. "Kirsten Hoffman tells the media in Berlin that there is no cause to place blame, and that officials chosen to oversee security and fairness of elections had announced their intentions to manually count the ballots, to check what they suspected to be an error in computer tally. The election committee promises results will be made known as soon as every ballot has been recorded by hand, but clearly it will take some time to do so, another day at least."

      "Do you know what we heard overnight, John?" Alaric asked as he took a relaxed standing position near the table.

      "I can guess, though I don't know that I like it. My name was written by hand on ballots, and, of course, has thrown off the number of votes recorded for known candidates, compared to the total number of ballots."

      Alaric nodded. "Patrick and I were listening to radio news overnight; that's what most people suspect. There were many people campaigning for you, regardless of the fact you didn't intentionally run for the office."

      "They're stalling," Claudia said. "If the majority was clear they would announce it regardless of a few write-in votes. Something more is disturbing the committee."

      "Don't say it," John moaned, "I don't want it."

      Claudia shrugged and slowly chewed at a spoonful of oatmeal. She swallowed, "If not that, then do you know where we will move next?"

      John had a vague idea of where they should go, but it was again, not the safeset course. "When I'm more certain, I'll call the Elders to meet," he told them.

      "The others are setting up to fix breakfast outside," Alaric said.

      "That's right, it's my turn to tend fire and help cook," John said and quickly stood. "We were just sitting with Claudia so she could try to get food down."

      "Don't worry about it," Alaric laughed, "Just go help the others."

      John rushed out to the fire circle. Anna and Patrick were scheduled to work this morning and already busy building the fire up and mixing food. John apologized for his lateness, and started immediately bringing out the pots and pans.

      Breakfast was done in good time and they all could sit to eat. Greta was chasing Maureen about, and Little Alaric stood laughing every time they ran by, holding his mother's knee for support. The girls would stop near Justin, where Rozz sat bundled in an infant car seat, gurgling and sucking a pacifier. Maureen pointed to Rozz with index finger. "Baby," she said and questioned Justin with her expression.

      "Yes, honey, he's a baby. Can you call him by a name? Can you say Rozz?" Justin asked.

      Maureen looked for her Father and Mother.

      "Justin is Rozz's dada," Greta explained to the smaller girl, "Rozz is the baby."

      "You know Justin, Maureen," Patrick called, "show me where Justin is."

      Maureen looked up to Justin with a big smile and pointed her finger at him.  He smiled at her. They were all so cute, John thought, just like Alicja when she had been small. He was ready. John wanted a child that would be his, like these his good friends had. Boy or girl didn't matter, just his. "They learn so fast," he said to Claudia.