Steven Kenneth Smith's Blog

Jonathan, Sara, and Rita have learned about a village of other survivors and they decide to go there and join them. Of course, the road has dangers of its own.

Check out my reading at https://youtu.be/6v7Ux2aNcVI

Greetings, everyone,

I hope you are all weathering the new year well, and there's so much that I could comment upon, that I'm just not going to do it. No. Just... No.

I've recorded myself reading the first chapter of my post-apocalyptic novel, "The Great Disruption" on YouTube. Yes, I am NOT a spoken-word artist, and yes, there ARE some glitches in this.

While maybe a little too close to home as a novel about the aftermath of a deadly pandemic in today's news cycle, I stand by the work, and I think it serves as a valid cautionary tale for our time, but a hopeful one.

Here's the link to the YouTube video: https://youtu.be/V3kveg9CHF0

Enjoy

I'll be posting other chapters in the future, in any case, it's available on Amazon, currently rated 4.8. You can find it on Amazon by searching on my full name, "Steven Kenneth Smith" or looking on my Amazon Author page: amazon.com/author/www.sksmithwriter.com

Wishing joy, peace, and happiness to everyone, and a MUCH BETTER New Year.

Also hoping my novel remains fiction.

Anon, y'all

Steven Kenneth Smith

Here's a rough draft of the first chapter. Comments welcome.

Ch # 1: Traveling

Guard Lieutenant Andreena rode at the head of a convoy of soldiers escorting a diplomat and a couple of scribes to Durhampton for a peace and unification council. They were eight days away from their home in Henderton, and they should reach their goal in another couple of days.

The road here, between cities, was more like a narrow trail. Scrubby trees and bushes in the rocky path made travel slow. On either side of the path tall maple and sycamore trees draped with kudzu made a dense wall of foliage. To the north, just thirty to fifty paces to her left, there was another rocky path like this one. She kept a sharp eye on that path when it was visible through occasional breaks in the forest strip between the two trails. The parallel roadway would make a good place for someone with ill intents to shadow them.

Mostly, though, they relied on the strength of numbers to protect them. Twelve soldiers rode in the convoy along with the ambassador and her scribes. Now that they'd passed the disputed territory the main threat was from rogue robber bands. Few such would attack a military convoy such as theirs.

Few, maybe, but Andreena and her soldiers kept an alert watch, regardless.

Sara, the ambassador, was past fifty winters, but she was in good shape and rode well. She was a retired Guard major and used to being on the trail. The company member Andreena worried about was Edna, one of the scribes. She had only thirty winters behind her, but wasn't in the best physical condition, and she wasn't used to riding. The other scribe, Jantila, was a few years younger and in somewhat better shape, but still not up to the standards of her soldiers. Andreena kept the three of them to the middle of the convoy with the soldiers in a loose formation around them as they traveled. According to the map, there was a river ahead. They'd stop there to rest and water the horses while they figured out a crossing. With luck, the bridge would be intact, but Andreena wasn't counting on luck.

Midday July sun made travel hot and sweaty. No breeze relieved the muggy heat. They rode in silence, not sparing energy to talk without cause. The only sound was that of the horses' hooves on the gravely path, and the occasional buzz of insects. They'd seen no one else on the road all day. The last other travelers they'd met were only a few hours past Winton, which they'd left behind a day and a half ago. No bird calls broke the silence, no chatter of squirrels nor rustle of chipmunks in the leaf-litter on the ground.

Too quiet.

Andreena called a halt and motioned for her corporal and the lead archer to join her. She ran a hand over her short cropped brown hair and pulled her bow from it's saddle holster while they approached.

"I've got a bad feeling," Andreena said to Tasha, the corporal. She drew an arrow from her quiver and nocked it. "All of the sudden there are no birds around."

The other two readied arrows and they scanned the area.

"Have you seen anything, Lieutenant?" Clarissa, the archer, asked.

"Not yet."

They continued the survey. "There's nothing obvious," Tasha said.

"It wouldn't be obvious," Andreena replied. "What would you suggest, Corporal?"

Tasha hooked a thumb toward the remainder of the convoy, who had dismounted and had sheltered the ambassador and the scribes between the horses. "Send a couple of women into the brush on either side to try to flush out any attackers. The rest of us take defensive positions."

Andreena nodded. "I agree. Good plan. Go select some soldiers for the job." She swung herself off her horse, and as she did so, an arrow whistled by, right where she'd been a second ago.

Clarissa drew and shot, then dismounted as well, fast, practically falling from her horse.

"There'll be some on both sides!" Andreena shouted. She crouched, holding her bow at full draw searching for targets. There. A group of four heading toward the cluster with the ambassador. She loosed an arrow and drew another.

One of her soldiers drew and shot, felling an attacker, then another one fell, an arrow between her breasts. Andreena wasn't sure if it was her arrow, or one of her soldier's. No matter. The enemies were almost upon them. Andreena sprinted toward the crowd around the ambassador, heedless of her own safety. The two remaining attackers had reached the edge of the crowd around Sara, and one of them fell to a sword thrust, but the other pushed past before the defender could free her blade. The attacker was nearly upon the ambassador. Then the foe's eyes went wide and she dropped her sword. A throwing-knife had sprouted in her neck. She fell.

And suddenly it was over. Andreena twisted her neck about, spun herself around, then back, searching this way and that, but saw no other threats. "Maintain defense!" she shouted. Didn't want to assume there were no attackers left. "Helena, check the ambassador for injuries."

"I'm fine," Sara said. She was holding a throwing-knife in her right hand, then she slid it into a belt-scabbard. "Check the others."

Tasha stood over a fallen enemy soldier who gushed blood in spurts from a belly wound. Tasha grasped her shirt and pulled her up, shaking her, "How many others are there?"

The wounded woman spat blood feebly toward her. "Go climb up Satan's mountain," she gasped.

Tasha shook her again. "How many?!"

The attacker didn't respond. She'd stopped spurting blood. Tasha dropped her. She looked around the area and pointed. "You, and you, and the two of you. Search the area for other combatants." The soldiers scampered to obey.

Andreena surveyed her company. None seemed seriously wounded, but Marvila caught her eye. She stood with her blood-stained sword clutched in her fist over a fallen attacker. Her face was pale and her eyes wide. The tip of her sword shook, betraying the tremor in her arm. She took a step backward, away from the body at her feet, but kept staring at it. Marvila was the youngest member of the convoy, not long out of training, but with impressive scores in combat school. This was her first out-of-area mission.

Andreena stepped up to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "You did good. Are you okay?"

Marvila turned to her, still shaking. "Yeah. I—I guess so. Yeah."

Andreena gripped her shoulder and stared into her eyes. "It was her or you, and better her than you."

Marvila looked back at the limp figure on the ground, then tore her gaze from the corpse to meet Andreena's eyes again. She nodded. "It's true what they say in combat school, isn't it?"

Andreena tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"The way to a woman's heart is under the ribs, and up."

Andreena's face froze for a second, then she nodded. "Yes."

"Doesn't seem like much of a joke, now. Does it ever get easier?"

She shook her head. "By the Mother of the earth entire, I hope not."

***

Andreena and Sara surveyed the site of the battle together after they'd determined it was safe. The most serious wound among the soldiers was a sprained ankle. One of the horses however lay on her side kicking feebly. Diana knelt by its head, her eyes moist.

"What happened?" Andreena asked.

Diana looked up at them, then stood and saluted. "Princess took an arrow in the side. I—I think it punctured a lung."

Andreena sighed and closed her eyes for a second. Then she met Diana's gaze and laid a hand on her shoulder. "You know what needs to be done."

Diana dropped her eyes and a sob escaped her. "Yes ma'am."

"Do you want me to do it?"

Diana shook her head. "No ma'am. I can do it."

Andreena nodded. "I'll hold her head steady for you."

She knelt and grasped the horse's bridle with one hand, holding it down to the earth. Diana wiped her eyes and drew her knife.

"I'm sorry, Princess," she said as she bent down.

The rush of blood splattered Diana's hands. Princess tried to lift her head for a second, but she'd already been near death from internal bleeding and lack of oxygen, and Andreena was able to hold her to the earth. After a few seconds she stopped struggling, and in less than a minute her eyes glazed over and she lay still.

"Go ahead and get washed up," Andreena said. "You'll have to double up with someone until we can get another horse."

***

A couple of the soldiers Tasha had sent to investigate the area for other combatants came back after an hour leading eight horses. Andreena and Sara stood by Tasha as they returned.

One of the soldiers stepped up to them and saluted, bringing her right fist to her left shoulder.

Tasha returned the salute. "Well. That turns out to be helpful. What did you find besides horses?"

"A simple bivouac site. Some blankets and saddle bags. Nothing obvious to identify where the attackers were from."

Tasha turned to Andreena and Sara. "There were eight attackers killed. Unless some of them escaped before we found the campsite, it looks like we got them all."

"Probably," Sara said. "It was over so fast, it's unlikely that any escaped."

"Any clues about who they were?" Andreena asked.

Tasha shook her head. "None. No insignia on their clothes, nothing in pockets to identify them."

Andreena scowled. "So this group was just waiting here to attack us. A suicide squad, but not a very good one."

"Aside from the fact that we killed them all without sustaining any causalities, why do you say that?" Sara asked.

"They split up half the group to attack you. Would have made more sense for them to hide among the trees and pick us off one by one. They risked everything in an all-out attack with no fall-back plan. It was an assassination attempt by a bunch of cast-offs. An act of desperation."

Sara nodded. "That's certainly what it looked like, but for what reason? Why would they want to kill us?"

"Not us." She pointed. "You. You're the one who pushed for this council. Someone doesn't want it to occur, and they think it'll collapse if you don't make it. My guess is they were from Hartford. There must be others around somewhere, but not necessarily very close."

"Hartford is the obvious suspect." Sara shrugged. "Perhaps too obvious. But there haven't been any raids for a few years and they returned the people they captured. There's only been a few skirmishes lately over hunting rights. As of a year ago they were receptive to the idea of peace and unification."

Andreena clenched her teeth and took a deep breath. "Yeah. They gave the people back, but they can't give back the years they stole from them, or fix the damage it did to their minds. My sister hasn't even wanted to step outside the house since she got back."

"Ah—begging your pardon, ma'am," Tasha said, "but what are we going to do with the bodies?"

***

They collected the eight corpses and buried them in shallow graves in a line a dozen paces from the road. Sara assembled the members of the convoy as they covered the last of their attackers for a short service:

"Mother of us all, we give the bodies of eight of your daughters back to you. We regret that we don't know their names, and that their actions forced us to take their lives. Even when necessary, taking a life is an occasion for sorrow. We beg Your pardon. We trust and believe in the cycle of life and death, and know that through death, new life is born. Mother of the earth entire, we thank You for Your blessings."

Sara stepped up to the first of the graves and laid her hand briefly on the fresh soil on top. She repeated the gesture for the next seven graves as the rest of them filed behind her to lay their hands on the earth on each grave in turn. Some scowled as they did so, some were solemn-faced. Marvila wept silent tears but stood straight and steady at the end.

As they walked back toward their mounts, Tasha asked. "What about their horses?"

"We'll sell them and their gear at the next village," Andreena said. "Split the proceeds among the soldiers."

***

They reached the river as the last light of the day faded toward darkness, less than an hour later. Andreena and Tasha inspected a bridge standing there and noted several beams rusted though. The paving over the bridge's floor had gaps straight through in many places.

She turned to Tasha. "What do you think?"

"No way I'd take a horse over that. I'm not sure I'd even want to try it on foot."

Andreena nodded. "I fully agree. We can make camp here and find a ford in the morning. Get some sentries stationed and set up a place to over-night."

***

As the campfire burned low, Sara asked Andreena to stop by her tent before she turned in.
A single candle lit the interior. It cast eerie shadows from below Sara's face. "How are your soldiers holding up?"

Andreena shrugged. "Mostly okay. They're skittish because of the attack, of course. None of them like killing, even in battle when it's necessary. At least, I tried to choose them with that being one of the criteria."

"What about Marvila?"

"I took a chance on her. She was a standout all through training. Strong, intelligent, and resourceful." She gave a thoughtful pout to her lips. "By her bunk in the barracks, back in Henderton, she had a book of poetry written by Donna of Jessica, by Andro. 'Poison Ivy and Apples.' Next to it was a copy of 'The Art of War,' by someone with a strange, unpronounceable name. Way pre-Disruption."

"Sun T'zoo," Sara said. "Yes, way pre-Disruption. By a couple of thousand years. And you should read it too."

"I know of the book, but I've never read it."

"Marvila sounds like promotion material, if she can handle this shock."

"She was awful upset about killing that attacker."

"Of course she was. I'd be worried if she wasn't." Sara brushed her hand over her scabbard-belt. "But she needs to be able to get over it."

Andreena noted a slight tremor in Sara's hand, and she raised an eyebrow. She'd never before seen Sara betray any hint of weakness. "How about you? Are you okay?"

Sara sighed. "Is it that obvious? That wasn't the first time I've had to kill a woman." She rubbed her eyes between her thumb and forefinger and sighed again. "I'd hoped I'd done it for the last time once I retired from the Guard, though."

Andreena nodded. "Marvila very possibly saved your life. You're good with throwing-knives, but with two of them, one might have gotten through."

"I'm aware of that. I'm writing a commendation for her."

Work is slowly progressing on the second book in the Earth Rebirth series. The working title is "The Council of Durhampton" and it's set about 200 years after "The Great Disruption.

This novel is not what I'd call a sequel, but it's set in the same universe as The Great Disruption, and there are a couple of references to events that take place in that one.

The basic scenario is that the population has begun to rebound in the 200 years since the plague that all but exterminated humanity. Technology is pre-industrial age, and they don't have fire-arms. Male Infant Death Syndrome has fully gripped the land, and as a consequence there are about six times more women than men. Communities are organized into a number of basically independent City-States, but commerce between them is increasing.

An attempt is underway to unite the City-States under a single federal government system. There is general agreement that unification would be desirable, though little agreement on what form the government should take. Also, independent robber bands between the cities are profiting from the lack of centralized law enforcement, and try to prevent unification.

The story is told largely from the viewpoint of Andreena, the head of security for one of the delegates to the Council, and Tania, an indentured servant who works at the inn where Andreena is staying.