Out of the Ashes

“I know—I know.” Pal waved him silent. “But after all that has happened ... all the horror, I thought perhaps the government would ... let us alone, let us rebuild.”

“You know they won't.”

Pal and Valerie said nothing in rebuttal.

Ben told them of Kasim, ending with, “I intend to kill that man if I ever see him again.”

“Why, Ben?” Valerie asked. “You seem a fair man. But even in you, there is hate. Why?”

“Because ... he is not what you people need, any more than my people need the KKK. What we both need is understanding. Always have. I'd meet Kasim halfway, try to work it out, but he doesn't want that. With him, it's whole hog or nothing. If you go to New Africa, if Logan lets it exist—which he won't—you, both of you, will be attempting to teach truth and knowledge and fact, in a western manner. Kasim will be teaching hate without reason ... in robe and turban. You'll be pulling against each other. It won't work. I'd like to see a nation—a state, if you will—where we teach truth, as supported by fact; the arts, the sciences, English, other languages, fine music—the whole bag. I have this theory—very controversial—that we are, should have to start from scratch. Gather up a group of people who are color-blind and as free of hates and prejudices as possible, and say ‘All right, folks, here it is; we, all of us, are going to wash everything clean and begin anew. Here will be our laws, as we choose them. We will live by these laws, and they will be enforced to the letter ... equally. Always. This is what we will teach in our schools—and only this. This is what will happen when a student gets out of line. Everything will be in plain, simple English, easy to understand and, I would hope, easy to follow.’ The speech would have to end with this: ‘Those of you who feel you can live in a society such as we advocate, please stay. Work with us in eradicating prejudices, hatred, hunger, bad housing, bad laws, crime, etc. But those of you who don't feel you could live under such a system of open fairness—then get the hell out!'”

Both Pal and Valerie were silent for a few seconds after Ben finished. Pal finally said, “That, my friend, would be some society, if it would work.”

“It would work.” Ben defended his theory. “If the government—the central government—would leave the people alone. It would work because everyone in the system would be working toward that goal. There would be no dissension.”

“Don't you feel that concept rather idealistic?” Valerie asked.

“No, Valerie, I don't. But I will say it would take a lot of bending and adjusting for the people who chose to live in that type of society.”

“Ben Raines?” Pal looked at him. “Let's keep in touch.”

As he drove away the next morning, Ben thought: Now there are the types of people I'd like to have for neighbors, friends. Good people, educated people, knowledgeable people, with dreams and hopes and an eye toward the future.

He waved good-by as he headed for the highway that would take him into Oklahoma. On the second day, he headed for Oklahoma City. He had installed a scanner in the truck, depending on the people to warn him of any upcoming meeting with Logan's military or other unfriendly types.

He stopped often, talking with people. Yes, they had heard of the new president, and of his orders to relocate the people. But no, they didn't think they'd go along with that. This was their home, and here was where they intended to stay.

“What if he sends people in here to move you forcibly?” Ben asked.

They didn't know what they'd do.

At the University of Oklahoma, he met a group of young people and spent two nights there, talking with them.

“Some of us were in the original group from Chapel Hill,” a young woman told him. “I don't believe there are many of us left.”

“Run into trouble?” Ben asked.

The young woman patted Juno for a moment, rubbing his head for a time before answering. “We weren't ready for what came at us,” she admitted. “We didn't—most of us—have guns. All in my group were city-born and -reared. I'd never fired a gun in my life. We thought people would want help in getting organized again. You know, planting gardens ... all that. And we did find a few old people who really appreciated what we did. But all over the country, people are setting up their own little governments....”

So his idea was not novel; he didn't expect it was.

“...And man, some of those people didn't want us around—at all! We found religious nuts—and I mean nuts—Jonestown types, survivalists, kooks, crazies, drunks, maniacs. You name it, we found it.