The Remaining: Trust: A Novella Read Online Free

that we’re using to pay them with. I’m concerned that we barely have enough to keep civilians from starving and we’re shelling out military ration cards to complete strangers. And if I’m being completely frank, sir, I’m concerned that this is a political move, rather than a practical one.”
    Briggs’s face clouded somewhat. He closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Major, I wish there were some way to make you trust me. But all I can do is assure you that there is nothing political in my motivations. It’s purely practical.” He looked at Abe. “You’re right. We’re stretched thin. But we’re only restrained by our access to supplies. If I could get you and your Coordinators a stronger military presence, we could reach out into the coastal areas—the most populous areas with the largest amounts of supplies—and access those bunkers that we’ve pretty much had to write off. But I can’t get you the man power to take on that dangerous of a mission when they’re all tied up doing police work and guard duty inside the Green Zone!”
    Abe spoke calmly. “There’s a reason the bunkers were spread out over the states. Because each was supposed to go to that state, not be all bunched into one area in the Midwest. They were put there as a holdover until rebuilding could occur. Not as a permanent source of supplies.” Abe looked out at the concrete sprawl around them. “The Yellow Zones are almost nothing but cropland. Why aren’t we using them? Planning for agriculture? Why aren’t we looking at the long haul? If you would just let Project Hometown do what it was supposed to do—”
    “Major.” Briggs’s voice was a little sharper. “Project Hometown is doing what we need it to do. Sometimes the mission changes. Sometimes the initial plan is not practical, as it is not practical in the situation that we now find ourselves. We have reestablished our central, federal government here in Greeley. And from here we can branch out and reestablish order in the outlying areas. And you know how I know that it’s going to work? Because that’s how we did it before.”
    Briggs shook his head. “Project Hometown has all the states divided into their own little microcosms. But you can’t un-slice a damn pie. You think all the little mini-governments that Project Hometown would have fostered would all just suddenly come together in the spirit of American patriotism? No! We’d stay fractured and divided because there would be no reason to come together. If you truly want to rebuild America how it was, then you have to see things my way, Major. You have to see that we need to establish control here and then expand. Not establish forty-eight mini-governments and hope and pray they come together.”
    Abe breathed slowly out of his nose and planted his hands on the rail of the balcony. The metal was frigid against his palms. The underside was covered in grime that flaked away onto his fingers. He wanted to argue with Briggs, but the man was making a valid point. There was a certain logic to it.
    Briggs eyed his major. “Do I need to worry about you, Major?”
    Abe returned the look, letting the affront show on his face. “No, sir. You don’t need to worry about me. But you need to understand that you’re asking me to do things I was never meant to do. I wasn’t trained to sit in a goddamned command center and arrange convoys for supplies. I was trained to be working with people, to be in the field, rebuilding something. Now I’m fucking”—he waved his hand with exasperation—“glorified logistics.”
    Briggs smiled. “And I was supposed to be living a senator’s life. Not some hodgepodge president, trying to piece together the scraps of a broken country. Did I ever think about the presidency? Of course I did. But I thought about it in terms of Air Force One and big State of the Union addresses.” He looked around them. “Not the Hampton Inn and Suites in Greeley, Colorado, trying to