Free Hell Follows After (Monster of the Apocalypse Saga) by C. Henry Martens

were jeopardizing their own daughter, Cherry, by welcoming the ill-tempered man into their camp.
    Occam and Muffy enjoyed the atmosphere of the evening camp and often would set some three-cornered stools out on the sunset side of the circle to watch the sun go down. They had their system so that camp chores could be done quickly and efficiently and they had time to enjoy what was left of the day. They and the Vintner and his wife would often smoke a bowl of good weed as they told stories and traded gossip. Once in a great while the Vintner would tap his stores and offer a taste of something alcoholic. On the seventh day of each week, the wives would make Dutch oven meals immediately on stopping for the evening. By the time they were done, there would be other adults gathering and a pot luck would develop. Muffy never had to worry about leftovers. She always carried an empty pot home.

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    The wagon train had few rules, and those were holdovers from the community of their origin. Some of the things considered good manners in town became set in iron on the trail. The one most obvious in the aftermath of the brief disappearance of Cherry and the Vintner’s apprentice was that everyone made sure to tell people if they were going anywhere outside the view of the group. Even a quick trip to relieve the bowels was reason for informing those in camp, and if anyone was considered overdue, they were checked on.
    Politics within the group was discussed in a more abstract way since the train had their own priorities. The two communities, Roseburg and Reno, had their own laws, and they varied somewhat. As one group had no intent to change anything within the other, the discussions were enjoyable and a learning experience.
    Roseburg was set up as a hereditary system, more or less feudal in practice with several levels of class, and they varied in this way with the loose democracy in Reno.
    The desert community voted for mayors in each of the towns living along the Sierra with no central person in charge over all of them. Each group was an individual society unto itself and beholden to no other. Occasionally some common concern would call for a meeting of the mayors, but numbers never determined the power in the votes. In fact, one of the smaller towns held sway lately due to the intellect and oratory of their elected official. The similarities between laws and mores along the foothills were due to the exchange of people within the area as they married and moved within the loose federation.
    One of the reasons the Reno system was working so well was that soon after the plagues, two young women and an old man combined in an effort to leave a written record for their posterity. Jody and Cy were descended from all three writers, and the combination provided the frizz in their hair and the gold in their eyes. The small book they wrote spoke of the reasons the world was not working before the great die-off. The text explained in succinct terms the societal mores, economics, and politics of the day, and they were defined and discussed. In the end paragraphs the issue of population was brought up and the import of never allowing human numbers getting to the point of overwhelming resources. Protecting the earth as a priority was also firmly promoted. Because of the commonality in thinking this book encouraged, the people understood that power should be divided between the people and their leaders and that neither should have entire control. They also discouraged the idea that any majority should hold sway over the rest.
    The Renoites were proud of their independence and the success in how their society was developing. They sent their children to schools in order to promote the expansion of learning but also to encourage their questions. Of the Reno wagons, three kept small libraries with books printed in Carson City. A few were books scavenged from libraries and reprinted, those having been written more than two hundred years ago. Mark Twain and