Henry

Since our meeting, I had become infatuated with Joanne. I wanted to meet her again but not with the whole community watching our every move. She lived on the island and I would have to go there without raising any suspicion. How could I get away from John and then get to the island? I was a strong swimmer but I’d rather not jump into an unknown lake. I started making excuses to be able to search around for a boat or other watercraft. Paydirt! An old home near the lake had a kayak. It had a cover and had been housed in a garage that helped protect it from the weather. Now all I had to do was drag it to the lake and see if it still floated. As I approached the edge of the lake, I realized how little cover there was on the beach and on the lake to the island. I was going to have to make his attempt during darkness. I flipped the kayak into the water. It bobbed around from the waves and its own splash. After ten minutes, the kayak had settled and was just gently rocking from the waves. Next step, will it still hold with me in it? I pulled the kayak to the shore just enough so that when I got in, if it did sink, it would only be a couple of feet of water to contend with. Ok, one foot in the kayak and one in the water…time for the leap of faith. I pulled myself up and wriggled into the kayak. I was expecting to suddenly feel water around my feet, soaking my clothes…no, all dry. I grabbed the paddle and pushed a little bit from the shore. Still afloat. This gave my confidence a boost. I paddled along the shore to get the hang of controlling it. A couple of times I made myself dizzy as I couldn’t figure out how to stop turning. A little longer and I was able to move in a straight line, turn and return to my starting point. I felt that I could make the trip with this boat. I pulled the boat up on the shore and hid it under some branches. Not the best hiding spot but no one should really be looking down here anyway. I looked at my watch…Damn! No one is going to believe I was scouting the area for this long. John is going to be even more suspicious.

I made my way to the old barn. The west door was closed which meant I had to go the long way around to the east door. This was a passive-aggressive trick John was playing. Boy, he’s in a mood already. “How was your scouting trip?” John asked as I entered the barn.

“Oh, it was fine. Nothing new to report except a little vista that lets you see the entire area while watching the sunset. It’s pretty cool.”

“Why are your legs wet?”

“Oh, I tried to jump a stream and missed. Slid right back down the bank into the water.”

“Your mech suit wouldn’t have missed.”

“I wasn’t wearing the mech suit. I don’t want to draw any attention to myself while scouting. Remember, we don’t know what else or who else is out there.”

“Good point. Ok, well I fried up some food. Your plate is on the stove.”

“Thanks.” I felt relieved that I was able to cover my activities. Pretty good lying if I do say so myself. Of course it wasn’t all lies. The vista is a great spot and does look over everywhere. That point, would come back to bite me later. “Hey, I’m going to get up early tomorrow and try to find a morning vista.”

“Ok, just don’t wake me.” John groaned.

The next morning, I woke up several hours before sunrise. I used my mech suit to get down to my kayak. It helped me move quicker and it was true that we didn’t know who or what was out there. I moved the branches out of the way and pushed the kayak into the water. I was on a mission to see Joanne. It was very dark on the water. New moon. The island was just a black mass that seemed to connect the water and the sky. Every sound I made seemed to echo across the valley. I thought my own heartbeat was going to wake up John several miles away. I paddled as softly as I could and still move forward. I tried turning on my flashlight but that was like lighting a landing strip on the water and didn’t help anyway since there was nothing for the light to bounce off back to my eyes. I didn’t think this through as much as I had thought. After a couple of hours, I made it to the island. The morning light was starting to shine on the tree tops giving them a soft golden glow that illuminated the greenery below. I looked around to orient myself on the island. Yes! I had managed to stay on the side facing the community. I pulled the kayak up on the shore and into the brush. It seems that I had landed on the southern tip of the island and needed to be more north. I activated my mech suit. The sensors roared to life giving me a tactical view of the island. It pinpointed several dwellings but only one seemed to have a thermal signature. That must be her! I put the suit in stealth mode and made my way to the thermal signature. After a little bit of time, I arrived at the area indicated by the sensors. This didn’t seem to be a place humans lived. The thermal signature was still there and large. I switched to visual filters as the sun was cresting the mountains and providing light. This was a barn and not a house. Where was Joanne’s house? I engaged the sensors again looking for more heat signatures. There was a much smaller one a few acres away. Suddenly the mech suit’s threat alarm went off. The large signature was moving at a high rate of speed towards me! I switched to visuals and saw it was a massive bull! The mech suit could take a lot but animals seem to know exactly where to hit to destroy them. Time to run! I hightailed it towards the smaller signature. The bull was so close I could hear him snorting like a steam engine. Oh, if he hits me, I was not going to have a good day. There, a fence! I jumped over it and turned around to watch what the bull was going to do. He charged the fence and hit it with a very loud crash. The boards shook but held. I was safe for now…until I heard a weapon powering up behind me. I put my hands up and rose to my feet. I used the rear camera of the suit to see who it was. Joanne! Oh, but she did not look happy and was holding a weapon that meant she was serious. “Joanne! It’s me Mike! We met the other day at the Ice House! Let me deactivate the suit and show you.” I went to deactivate the suit but the armed unknown alert was preventing it from deactivation. I tried overriding the system by listing Joanne as a friendly but since she didn’t have an IFF chip on her, it refused. “Joanne, please put your weapon down so the suit will allow me to deactivate it.” Joanne looked skeptical but leaned the weapon against a nearby tree and came back. The suit powered down and went into storage. I kept my hands up and turned around to face Joanne. I caught a glimpse of a smile on her face that rapidly vanished as she began to question me.

“Why are you on my island?”

“I wanted to see you without the rest of the community.”

“What did you do to Henry?”

“Who’s Henry?”

“My bull!”

“Oh, I did nothing to him except be in the wrong place according to him. He almost caught me!”

“My Henry is a good guard. Why are you wearing a mech suit?”

“Oh, well John and I have them from our former lives. It’s good for exploring the unknown and allows us to travel faster than on foot.”

“That’s right, you two did state you were elite soldiers who went AWOL. Why did you want to see me?”

“Because that day at the Ice House, when you walked in, I was smitten. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. When I held you, my heart raced. How could I not want to come see you?”

“How did you cross the strait between the town and the island?”

“Oh, I found a kayak. It was in an old garage but had been covered from the weather.”

“When did you leave? The sun’s only been up for a short time.”

“Earlier in the morning. It was still dark. I got here at dawn.”

“You boated over here at night? Do you know what’s in the water? You could have been killed.”

“No, I don’t know what’s in the water and that’s why I didn’t want to swim over here. I thought a boat would be ok.”

“A real boat yes but a kayak? You’re just like a bobber for the beast.”

“OK, good to know. Can I go on the water during the daytime?”

“Yes. You know what, I’m hungry. You woke me up too early. Do you want breakfast?”

“Sure! That would be great.”

“Hold on. You’re going to help make breakfast. Have you ever milked a cow?”

“No.”

“You’re going to learn. Now come on.” Joanne led me to another barn where the cows were. She gave me a demonstration on how to milk a cow and then told me to fill the milk pail. I did as I was told but couldn’t shake the feeling someone was watching me. I looked over my shoulder and Henry was at the fence, pacing, snorting, and pawing the ground. He really didn’t like me. I wonder if it was because I was touching his cow. I brought the milk to Joanne. We had pancakes, eggs from her chickens, and coffee from her private stash. It was all great. I couldn’t stop smiling or blushing. I was just so happy to be there with her. Joanne looked over me over her coffee cup. “You know, you are cute. Between you and John, I like you better.”

“Thanks. John is a little standoffish. He’s been through a lot.”

“Yeah, but if we are going to make the community grow, I’d prefer to do that with you.” My face turned beet red as the realization of what she was saying hit me. I could feel my face getting hotter. “Alice can’t have children and Pete is well, Pete. I see him more as a father than anything else.”

“Umm OK. I…I…I…don’t know what to say.” I stammered. I felt like a little bird being preyed upon by a vicious cat.

“Oh, you get even cuter when you’re nervous. Don’t worry, nothing is going to happen now. I’d like to learn more about you and yes, we do have to discuss it with Alice, Pete, …and John.”

“Oh boy. I don’t know how that’s going to work out. I’ve been lying to him lately to plan my trip out here.”

“Well, go back and let him know what you’ve been doing. We can’t have a division between you two in this community. That or you can face Henry without your mech suit.”

“Those are my options?” I gasped

“Yep. So what’s it going to be?”

“Hmmm. Do I have a head start on Henry?”

“Nope.”

“Ok, I’ll go talk to John.” I relented. This was going to suck.