Survival

Chapter 41 Petals

Peyton packed his backpack full of whatever amenities the ridiculous leader would allow him to take. He planned to stop by the ruins of his old house later to see if he could salvage any rope and pulleys from his rock climbing days to help with this mission. The water and food the leader had offered him was generous, to say the least, and the cooks were in the kitchen whipping it up at the moment.

It took much longer to crack Mr. M than Peyton had anticipated. The man said that he didn't care whether Peyton stayed or left, but he had put up an unusual amount of resistance. The fact that he had intelligence on this other organization and was unwilling to share reminded Peyton so much of the collapsed, pre-disaster system of governance. Perhaps leaving this 'collaborative community' would benefit him in the end, beyond the retrieval of his wife. Although, for the sake of Cynthia and her son, he hoped he was wrong.

Amelia's disappearance hadn't been random or unexpected in either of their eyes. Maybe for Holly, but he knew it was only a matter of time. Over the past few years, Amelia had been making breakthroughs in the revitalization of soils in areas plagued with desertification. She, Peyton and others had all been working toward a holistic approach toward ecosystem management with projects scattered throughout New Mexico. Although many people were involved, Amelia had an intuition, a gift from a combination of her upbringing and permacultural studies that gave her an edge.

Agricultural giants, who felt the pinch of the lengthening droughts and the shove of prolonged extreme weather seasons wanted her on their team. They appealed under every guise they could economic, political, humanitarian but she saw through each mask. She had often come home defeated, throwing her hemp sling bag on the couch before she made her way to the garden. There had been tough months. Lily, too young to understand the complexity, had emulated her mother's feelings by throwing fits of her own. Between the his two grieving angels, Peyton always had to fight to keep up.

He tried to suppress the current anxieties he had approaching this fortress of an organization that had taken her hostage. A collapsed society offered the perfect conditions for others to exercise the agendas that would been unacceptable by previous standards, like kidnapping his wife.

"Do you have everything you need?"

The deep voice caused him to tense even more. Peyton rarely succeeded at reading this man's motives.

"A little more information on what I'm up against would be nice. I understand they are in some kind of mountain fortress but that's only so much help."

Mr. M's face remained unstrained for once. "Fortunately for your immediate health, they are an organization who has collected more brain than brawn. The security force consisted of around twenty full time agents when I left, but I am certain that they have recruited more since then. However, the agents they did have were at the top of their respective fields when recruited."

"I plan to keep this as non-violent as possible."

Mr. M's forehead creased. "You may be alone in that thinking."

Peyton let out a bemused laugh before he began to pack away the food Mr. M had brought from the kitchens. "Let me guess, you worked security?"

"For many years, I served in the special forces of the United States Army."

Peyton raised an eyebrow. The man had preached peace for so long it was a bit of a stretch, but catastrophic events could have such an effect. Evidently, he could evade questions quite effectively, a military skill without a doubt.

"The organization you seek found a way to recruit my services; however, their ideas never affected my soul, unlike many others."

"How did they recruit you?" If Mr. M had been recruited pre-disaster, it was unlikely his hand had been forced.