No Normal Day (17 page)

The
girls all nodded and Beth said, “We can handle that.”

Each
drifted away to take care of their duties. Jack was feeling more than
a little weary. As he and Lee, Jason and Eric finished unloading the
fuel and propane, they talked some more, away from the girls and even
the boys. Jack spoke, “I don't mind telling you, I am really
worried about this military thing.”

“
You
know, we couldn't stand off armed soldiers that were ordered to
remove us.” said
Jason.

Jack's
face tells him he agrees. Eric just shakes his head, “What the
hell are we going to do?”

“
First
off” said
Lee,
“It hasn't happened yet. I am thinking that a whole lot of
folks are ready to be rescued and they are not meeting with heavy
resistance in the cities. And that is where they will begin, in the
cities. That tells me that maybe there are not big units in any one
place, taking care of this. We don't know if the aid will even extend
beyond the edges of the cities. Good bet, not for a long time.”

Jason
says, “That sounds right. I think they will not have the
vehicles and personnel to come in big numbers. Another thing, I am
not the only one who either had no choice about getting to their job
or made a choice to not be there. The numbers have got to be greatly
diminished, they must be spread thin.”

Eric
has been listening and now said, “I am not a soldier like you
guys and I will tell you, that I greatly admire you. You are the
reason that I have been able to give my family the security and life,
that we have enjoyed. I will tell you this. I will stand beside you
and fight. I will not go meekly, with my head down and have my family
herded into a camp.”

Jack
didn't feel good but there was always a chance they would never
arrive at the door of the compound. And they had to continue to
survive day to day. They would continue to fortify as strong as they
can and be on the watch for the starving marauders and the US
Military. He was thankful that they were all on the same page...the
family was not going to be forcefully removed from the compound.
There was a round of shoulder slapping and handshakes between them.
All the things that they did not say, were unnecessary. They stood
together.

***

Life
in the compound continued, one day floating into the next. The days
were full of the work of survival, the nights were for increased
watchfulness. In the evenings, they often played cards or other
games. For a special treat, they let the kids watch a DVD, about once
a week and on a rare occasion, the adults would watch a movie. Often,
someone was curled up in a chair, with a book from the long shelves
in the living room. There was a new found interest in many projects
that benefited them all and that most of them had forgotten how to
enjoy. Activities such as the garden, setting up the kids a swing
set, mending their clothes, keeping the War Wagon in good repair.
Lynn painted and sketched. Dianne kept a journal of their daily life
and struggles. Trish, always an organizer and good with numbers, made
the watch and chore schedules, she monitored their inventory and puts
the needs on “the list'.

It
was hot summer and much time was spent outside. Sometimes, beds were
put outside where t a breath of air could be felt and everyone slept
under the stars, while two were constantly walking the fence
perimeter. The guys found the kids a small plastic swimming pool.
Some evenings they put about three inches of water in and let them
all splash around. When they were tired and reasonably clean, the
girls pulled their chairs over and put their feet in. What was left
of the water was poured on the garden. They had their differences and
some days everyone retreated to their very small private spaces and
gave it a break. Life was hard but life is simple. There was one
common goal, survival. As Beth and Jack lay down at night, their
fingers entwined, as had become their habit, they agreed. It was
actually a pretty good life, except for the constant dangers that
threatened them.

The
event was a little over two months behind them, Trish started,
shortly after she arrived, marking days off of a calender. They heard
someone, rummaging around outside the fence pretty often, whether
human or animal they hadn't had to kill anything. They spotted a doe
walking across the church parking lot, one evening. Eric shot it,
they dressed it and it was cause for celebration, because fresh meat
was not on the menu anymore.

Late
one afternoon, a commotion somewhere down the block erupted. Other
than the frequent sound of a distant gun shot, it was usually quiet.
They raised the garage door and stepped out to see if they could spot
trouble. Several houses down, about half a dozen thugs stood in a
front yard. One was pulling a woman out by her hair. A man was
begging them, “Please stop, leave her alone.” They kicked
him in the stomach. A child was crying somewhere. The guys rushed
back in to get some more guns and ammo. While they were getting into
the closet, they heard gunshots. “Oh s---!” exclaimed
Jack, running back to the garage door. He and the other three men
exited the door,
loaded for bear.
The boys locked down the
door behind them. By the time they reached the street, they saw four
of the no-goods scattered about the yard, two were running as fast as
they could, away. A young teenage girl, stood beside the woman on the
ground, raised a rifle and was shooting at them. One went down, only
one escaped. When the guys get to the yard, they discover that the
marauders had busted in the door of the house, belonging to the man,
woman and their little girl. They had dragged the woman into the yard
and were bragging about their plans for her. The teen girl and the
slightly younger boy that now stood beside her, lived next door.
Their parents went to find food one day and never returned. They
heard what was happening. She walked out and shot two of the guys,
her younger brother shot one and the man pulled a knife from his boot
and stabbed the fourth to death. The man explained that they were
fine. Also, that the teens and themselves watched out for each other
and shared supplies.

Jack
told them that he and his family were down the street. He and the men
helped them drag the bodies out as far as they could, into the woods.
They shook hands and parted. There was no real room for generosity
these days, but Jack felt encouraged that some were surviving. He
thought of the incredibly tough teenage girl and her brother, out
there alone.

***

They
personally had not had any real bad experiences the last two weeks,
they decided that two of the girls could go along when they made a
scavenger raid. They all traded out turns, it was so hard on them,
being confined at the compound. Today, they were going to go back
towards the county line, the liquor store where Jack's bad day had
begun. Of course, he knew there wouldn't be a bottle of anything
drinkable left but the huge lake was there and they would get water.
Beth had asked to go along, she was afraid to know but needed to know
about the friends who lived near the county line. They were going to
try and check on them. So, Lee and Cody were included, since they
would go right by the uncle's little house. David was going and it
was Lynn's turn to get out. They loaded up the empty water containers
and moved out, in the increasingly dirty and dented War Wagon.

Jack
bounced the wagon up the curb and followed the sidewalk as far as he
could to the first big intersection. Beth sat between himself and
Cody. Lee, Lynn and David huddled in the backseat. The goliath rolled
along a path that had become well traveled for them. It didn't take
them long to reach Lee's small house, it was just a burned out hull.
Lynn said, “I'm sorry, Lee.” He patted her leg, “No
worry, I have a home.” Beth squeezed Cody's hand, he didn't
seem to be upset either. They traveled on, weaving in and out of the
cars. At the scene of Cody and Jack's first day encounter, they saw
no signs or body.
It was only a foot,
wa
s
Cody's rather cold thought, he had a pistol in his lap, he looked out
and over at Jack and smiled.

When
they reached the lake, they stopped and filled their bottles. At the
liquor store, it looked like a real war zone. What hadn't been taken
had been broken. All the glass was gone, across the front of the
store. They piled out, Cody and David stood by the car. The sixteen
year old had a rifle at his side, that would probably knock him on
his butt if he fired. It was his choice, they were all trained with
the guns and they got to pick their weapon, on any given day. Jack
and Beth, Lynn and Lee stepped over the jagged glass edges and into
the liquor store. With all the glass out it was plenty light inside,
everything a mess. Lynn rarely had an alcoholic drink, she took too
strong medicines. She was poking around though, with the others.
“Look Mom,” she had found three bottles of wine, still in
a cardboard case. Lee scrounged up a beer here and a beer there. He
found a box and started putting them in. Jack was thinking,
I
guess I am going to have to learn to make my own hooch, or become a
tee-totaler.
His booted foot hit something and he looked up under
a display shelf.
Hallelujah!
About three bottles of whiskey
had rolled under the shelf and been missed. They begin to look under
all the shelves and came up with several more bottles of beer,
another whiskey and another wine. They also managed to find several
cans of soda. They walked out, with two big boxes filled with
beverages. The boys were pleased. Beth looked at all the various
labels, not a one, their old time favorite brand. She was laughing,
remembering how particular they used to be about what they preferred.
Jack followed her eyes and said, “It ain't love, but it will
do, huh?”

They
had water and they were pleasantly surprised to have beverages. They
couldn't put it off any longer. They drove down the road that led to
the house of their old time friends. The neighborhood was a wreck.
Beth's heart raced as they neared the house on the lake. All seemed
quiet, Jack got out and walked to the door. He knocked loudly on the
door, “Anybody here? It's Jack,” he pounded and repeated.
Nothing. Around the corner of the house, a figure slipped. “
Jack?...oh my god, is that you, Jack?” Beth was out and
running, there were tears and hugs. They motioned for everyone to get
out and more hugs and tears occurred in the back of the house. It
turned out, the friends had a compound of their own. Most of their
large extended family were there and another couple of mutual friends
and their daughter and grandson. They of course, had plenty of water
and they were surviving much like Jack and his family. They had been
friends with these people since they were kids in school, it was an
enormous relief to find them safe. The wife brought out a big pitcher
of ice tea. They introduced Lee and Cody, they exchanged stories and
concerns. Lee told them to be on the watch for military, even though
he doubted that rescue would reach out here in the rural lake
communities.

The
friend said that his son had brought a ham radio. They had picked up
a message on the radio, that made them think some other of their
mutual friends had made it safely to their farm, about three hours
away. They said that messages were beginning to network around,
concerning people trying to locate others. Jack said, “I have
been thinking of trying to find a short wave, although, I know
nothing about it.”

Lee
said, “I know a little, my dad used to have one. And, you know
how smart all of the boys are. We will have to work on that.”
So, they parted reluctantly. They promised to try and make contact,
if they can.

Making
their way back to the compound, they were feeling upbeat. This had
been a good day.

In
the world
before,
life
was
rich
with what America had become accustomed to. Sure, there were the
haves
and
the
have nots.
And
often, the distance between was vast. Still, there was always a
promise, an availability, a possibility that you could change and
better your situation. But,
this was a new
world
...and
Jack had
found
nothing to make him believe that there was anything different
anywhere on this earth. In this new world, the before was quickly
fading into a memory. The after, for Jack and his family and for the
few survivors that they were aware of, was an everyday goal of
surviving to see another day. Since they were citizens of the great
before, they strived
to
make their lives at least resemble the life they once lived. Even
though these times were not normal, one thing was surprisingly
constant.
No matter how hard you tried
to
do the right thing, to keep your little lifeboat steady, the waves of
trouble would
find
you.