Free Reclamation (Best Laid Plans Book 4) by Nathan Jones

especially when you gave us your trust.”
    * * * * *
    Fifteen minutes later the family set out, dispirited but determined.
    Trev and Jim started out pulling one handcart, aided by Linda pushing from behind, while his dad and uncle hauled the other with Mary pushing from behind and his mom and aunt did their best with the wagons.
    It was a somewhat imbalanced setup, skewed on the idea that Trev was the strongest and had the best endurance out of the group and needed to handle more of the load. His two siblings gave it all they had, but they weren't quite strong enough to make up the difference and Trev ended up with a lot of the weight. That was something he was willing to handle, but it meant that in spite of the help the job was far more difficult than even towing Lewis's wagon last fall had been.
    Unfortunately it was just as difficult for the rest of his family, meaning their progress was slow and painful even starting out.
    Trev learned from Jim and Linda as they went that there'd been a fierce debate among their family about whether to go for the handcarts or purchase bicycles. Newtown had enough decent ones for their family to ride, but doing so would've meant leaving behind just about everything since no bicycle trailers were available and Vernon had taken all the store's backpacks. It would be a faster trip, but in many ways a more difficult one.
    In spite of that Lucas had argued for the bikes. If the rumors they'd heard in Newtown were true then the surviving Gold Bloc forces were pushing southwestwards hard behind them, trampling the fleeing internment camp prisoners in their path as they rushed to capture objectives before any sort of resistance to their invasion could be mounted.
    Their uncle didn't want to be stuck on the road pulling wagons with the idea of enemy soldiers close behind, which is why he'd pushed for the bicycles. Even though they couldn't outrun trucks, at least they gave enough speed to possibly outrun an army that had to deal with complex logistics.
    Mary and Jim agreed with him, while Trev's dad was on the fence. But his mom and aunt insisted that they'd have a tough time of things if they arrived in Aspen Hill with no food, and if the town was already suffering then at best they couldn't expect any help, and at worst they'd be an added burden. Besides, they'd already purchased the supplies Vernon had left them with and it would be a waste to leave them all behind.
    Linda agreed with them, and also argued that with so many bikes something could go wrong with one, which would make the rest useless since they could only go as fast as the slowest person in the group. Everyone who supported going on foot could also point out that ultimately they'd already sacrificed speed by losing the truck trying to get these supplies, and it didn't make any sense to abandon that purpose now when the handcarts were available.
    Eventually the rest of the family came around to the position of going on foot. The time they'd made in the truck had put a healthy buffer between them and the chaos behind them, and even Lucas admitted that the Gold Bloc soldiers would be dramatically slowed down if they tried to take and hold territory as they went, no matter how they rushed to take things quickly. As long as the family pushed hard every day they should be able to get to Aspen Hill long before there was any danger from the enemy behind them.
    Trev was kind of irked that he hadn't had a say in the decision, especially since he probably would've voted on the side of taking bikes. But the family had needed to decide on something and he wasn't around, so they'd picked the best choice they could.
    Now, watching their maddeningly slow progress as they reached Highway 23 and started west, he saw even more confirmation that they should've gone with the other option. At least to his mind, although it seemed like the realization of just what they had in store for them sinking in on the faces of his loved ones as well. They had an