An hour later, or close enough that I was confident search parties hadn't been dispatched for us yet, we pulled into Mom's house. She lived in our old house before we moved to the hills, a farmhouse, one of the last farmhouses with acreage that hadn't been turned into a suburb in fact, and she used every last one of those acres to great effect, growing the lion's share of fruits and grains for the families that were part of the cooperative. Her part of our survival was so critical that every approach to the house was guarded around the clock. The guard houses had been notified of our arrival and they lifted the gates as we approached, waving us on. We turned down the crushed gravel driveway, and saw Mom waiting for us, waving her hand.
Skidding to a stop, Sheilah leapt off her bike and was in Mom's arms in a flash.
"Mom! I've missed you so much!" she said, crying with happiness.
"Darling, I've missed you too. I'm so glad you made it safely," Mom said, including me in her gaze and her smile. I came up and hugged her as well, basking in the moment. Things would continue as they had been before, I would be sent out to kill or be killed again and again, but that was a lifetime away.
"Yeah Mom, would you believe that I had to practically drag Sheilah kicking and screaming over here? She sure does put on a good act," I teased.
"Oh Brandon, you're such a liar. You don't believe him, do you Mother?"
"Of course not, sweetie," Mom said, and Sheilah stuck her tongue out at me. I shied a hand at her. "Sheilah, why don't you go get changed into something less martial. Your cousin Samantha has been looking forward to catching up with you since we got the notice of your impending visit from your father."
"All right Mother. I'll help out wherever you need me to afterward. See you later! You too, jerk face," she said at me with a grin, running into the house.
"Okay, don't worry, I'll just take care of your bike for you then," I yelled after her, turning to Mom in feigned disgust. "Kids."
"I remember you being a similar nuisance to John not too long ago," Mom said.
"Well. Some things never change," I said, picking up Sheilah's bike and wheeling both to the detached garage behind the house, Mom walking by my side.
"I'm glad you wanted to come out, Brandon. It's been ages since we talked."
"Yes it has. Darn Beloved apocalypse, always gets in the way."
"You don't have to pretend to be lighthearted around me, Son. I know you too well," Mom said seriously, those blue eyes Sheilah had inherited boring into mine. "We need to talk about how things are. I fear your father has been overly positive with how we fare against our enemies. I was hoping to gain a clearer picture from your experiences of late."
"I'll tell you what I can Mom, but I'm just a spear carrier. I'm not privy to the grand strategy of Jacob Archer, I'm afraid."
"That self deprecation won't work on me either, my boy. I know how smart you are, how much you take in even if you don't know you've taken it in. So let's talk. Let's see if we can connect the dots."
I knew what that meant. We were going to figure out what was really going on even if it took all ten days of my furlough to get there. Mom's strength was different than Dad's, but she was definitely not weaker. I shook my head, but met her eyes, curiosity tugging at my mind.
"Okay Mom. Let's give it a shot."
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