2nd Earth 2: Emplacement (15 page)

“If you had told us what you just did a month ago, we would have had a pretty tough time accepting it. As it is we ran into another group of people, not as efficient as you are, but doing much better than the average groups of people we meet. This group of about sixty is being led by a young couple who claim to have come from another world, or dimension just like all of you. They are living in a city called Minneapolis, actually just outside the city. They do not have the knowledge of growing crops and storing food that you have, but they are living off the food in the stores and the homes in the area. I told them about your group here, and I probably put my big foot in my mouth when I told them that I believed that you probably came from the same place they did.”

We assure him it is not a problem, but what does the group in Minneapolis have to do with us. As soon as the question is asked, I know exactly what it has to do with us. Dayna and Robin who are sitting on either side of me with the children on our laps, both elbow me in the ribs and tell me I am not going to get those people. They are whispering in my ear, but they are heard by just about everyone in the room. Bob says funny they should mention that. The people in that group are hoping we may be able to help them get down here, and maybe help them get established like we did.

“Jon, everyone, they really hate to ask for so much, but they do not have the expertise that you had getting cars and trucks going, so they have no way to get to a warmer climate unless they walk. They have thought about that, but they have many babies and children in their group, and they are afraid they will not be able to take the trip. As you know in the colder climates the food does not last as long, and they only have enough food to last a few more months. We will be more than happy to accompany you on this mission. Will it be okay if we sleep in one of your barns for a couple days? Please think about it, and discuss it among yourselves. I know I have no business asking so much of you. But those people will probably not survive the winter where they are.”

We assure them that they are more than welcome to stay in the barracks that the young men built in the large barn. There are still several young men, who sleep there, but there is plenty of room, and it is very comfortable. When they leave, we all agree that we will not leave those people to die up north, when we have so much here. The biggest question is who is going to go. We will need several vehicles just to get them back, and at least one for supplies for the trip. Luckily it is still early enough in the winter that we shouldn’t run into much snow. Robin and Dayna both still say they don’t care who is going, but that I am not. They say that they came too close to losing me last time, and are not taking any more chances. The point is brought up that with me on a mission like this one they have a better chance of success. I can’t see how, but then Tim points out that I am not only the family’s best tactician when it comes to fighting, but that I am trained in medicine, and the family cannot afford to send Doc McEvoy or Doc Betty along.

We set the team to go on this mission of mercy, Bob’s words not mine. Dayna and Robin are not real happy because I will be going. I promise not to do anything dumb this time, although I can’t think of anything I would have done different last time. I start to ask T if he will stay home with the women and he tells me not to even think about it. He says he is going to make sure I come back. We talk with Bob, Trevor, and Blake in the morning and lay out our plans for them to see what they think. What we have decided to do is kind of risky, but will save us several hundred gallons of gasoline. Bob says that like in every city they have ever been to, there are plenty of cars, vans, trucks, and buses just sitting there. Actually they have been traveling around for years siphoning gas out of cars along the way they are going.

We are going to take just one vehicle up carrying the supplies we feel we will need and those of us who are going. When we get there we will find the vehicles we need to get everyone back, and get them ready for the trip. Naturally doing it this way, we will need Ken, Sara, Gary, Marty, Chip, and of course Jenna and James. No matter how much I argue, Robin has decided to go on this trip. She says she has to make sure her two men come home in one piece and with no serious wounds this time. We decide to leave tomorrow, so we spend the day getting ready for the trip. We decide not to take more than a couple five gallon cans of gas for the large van we are taking. It is more like a small bus and is actually quite comfortable and holds quite a bit of supplies. Bob and his companions are a great help, because they know what we can expect to find along the way as far as food and other things we will need.

One of the first things we do is call the groups together and discuss where the new people can live. Barbs group has been working very hard putting up the pre-manufactured homes and have even started bringing in some homes from trailer parks in the area. Barb says that her group can easily take in twenty or twenty five, and should be able to get a couple more trailers in before we get back. Ryan and Carols group has been busy adding on as well, and say they can take any that are left. Ray and Carol’s group say that if we wind up getting more people than expected, they can absorb them. For the first time since coming here, we have a small group that says that we should let any others fend for themselves. We don’t have time to address this new attitude right now, but when we get back, we will definitely have a talk with those that feel that way.

15

We take off first thing in the morning, knowing that we will be gone at least a week and a half, and possibly as long as two weeks. The first part of the trip goes very well, and we make great time because the roads are not in too bad of shape, and there are only a few areas where the road is blocked by vehicles in the road. We have fitted all of our vehicles with armor plate to protect the radiators, so we can just push any vehicles out of the way as we go. Usually someone has to jump out and steer the vehicle to a place that is off the road, or at least out of the way. By early afternoon we need gas. I’m not sure if I mentioned it or not, but between Ken, Sara, James, and Jenna they have come up with a small generator that we can use when we go to gas stations, so that we don’t have to try to get the generator in the station running, if they even have one.

We do have to rewire the tanks, but for that bunch of thieves it only takes a couple of minutes. We are always teasing Jenna about all the ways she comes up with to bypass systems, and doing things that may be considered somewhat shady. One example of that is when we found a vehicle in one of the cities that she and James really liked. It’s a great looking full size pickup that for its day was state of the art. We couldn’t find the keys, but Jenna just jumped in and hotwired it in less time than it takes to tell you about it. Naturally we had to fix the tires and push it to get it started, but we will never let her forget that incident. Bob, Trevor, and Blake are really impressed with our ingenuity. As I said before, they have always just siphoned gas from vehicles along the road, which is also a great idea, but you can wind up with a mouthful of gas real quick that way.

We were discussing that point just this morning, so coincidentally when we get to the station we decide to get gas from, Jenna finds a small hand pump on the wall of the station that is used just for that purpose. She hands it to Bob and tells him to think of her every time he doesn’t have to gargle with gasoline. Ken and Sara demonstrate their generator to the guys, and tell them that if they would like them to, they can fix them up with a generator very similar, and show them how to jump the wires to make the pumps work. The way they say they would like that tells me that they may have something else in mind. I have a pretty good idea, but I don’t want to say anything right now. I’ll let you know if I’m right when the time comes.

The first day goes by without incident. We actually make better time than we thought we would, and are farther along than we even dared hope for. Day two goes much the same, until we stop for gas. We pull into a station on the outskirts of a fairly large city. I think the sign we passed said that this is Missouri, but I’m not totally sure. That’s irrelevant anyway, but what greets us isn’t. As soon as I get out of the vehicle I feel like something is wrong. Ken and Gary stop no more than a step or two from the van, then turn back and get their guns. Apparently they feel it as well. Ken asks Sara if she can hook up the generator herself, because we feel the men need to stand guard.

Trevor says he will help Sara so that we can be ready in case something happens. He no sooner gets the words out, when we hear women screaming. The sound is coming from about two blocks away so Ken, Chip, and I tell the others to hold our position, while we check out what is going on. There is still a lot of noise coming from that direction as we head that way. Teddy wants to come, but I tell him I need him to watch after his mom. He understands that, when last I saw him he had his .307 ready for whatever comes. We get to the area where the ruckus is coming from and we see what looks like a band of men dragging women toward some motorcycles that are parked a short distance away. Actually there are four men dragging women, while five or six more are shooting at some people who are throwing stones at the men dragging the women away.

The women are fighting for all they’re worth, and are definitely not going to be taken easily. In fact with us here, they are not going to be taken at all. Reflex takes over and I head straight for the attacker closest to me. When I get to him and the young lady fighting with him, I jump and kick him from the side knocking him down and freeing the young lady. She isn’t waiting around for introductions. She takes off back toward her group of family or friends, whichever applies. The guy I kicked gets up and takes a swing at me. It’s a good thing these guys never really learned to fight. I block his punch and with a couple well placed kicks, he is back on the ground scrambling to get back to his friends.

The others are doing pretty much what I just did and it appears that the attackers will leave without anyone getting killed. A couple of the attackers start shooting at us, but Ken has an AK47 automatic weapon and fires a few short bursts at the ground in front of them, sending them scrambling to their bikes, to get the heck out of here. We turn to look for the people that were being attacked and they are nowhere to be seen. We spend a few minutes trying to find them with no success, so we decide to head back to the gas station. As we are walking away, I speak as loud as I can, telling the people that if they would like some help, please come to the gas station a couple blocks over. We walk about four steps when a voice comes back asking what is a gas station.

We have to laugh at that, I tell them that they can follow us from cover, and if they feel threatened when we get to where we are going, they can simply disappear, or they can come down and talk to us. We promise we will not hurt them, or make them do anything they don’t want to. It only takes a few minutes to get back to our group. The men are standing guard while the women stay inside the garage. The van is already filled with gas and we can leave as soon as we are ready to. We are telling the others what happened when a man in his early twenties, and a woman that appears to be in her late teens, come out from behind the building across the street. When they see we have women with us, the rest of the group, which totals twenty-four comes out and joins us.

This changes the complexion of this trip somewhat. Sara and Jenna say that they remember seeing a small bus that looked to be almost new. They both laugh and say it’s probably no more than thirty years old. We find the bus they are talking about, and they are right, it is in excellent condition. At least on the outside, it takes a couple hours to round up tires and to get the bus started. It runs as good as it looks, after it has a chance to work the bugs out. The women have been getting to know the new people, and have been telling them about where we come from. At first they didn’t believe them, but when they saw how we got the bus running and the tires changed, they are starting to believe. We agree that Marty and Chip will take the new group back to the farm. By the time they get them there, we should be in Minneapolis and be able to call them on the short wave radio.

Our new friends tell us about a couple of smaller groups they have seen in the city so we decide to go looking for them. We actually find three smaller groups that are more than happy to get out of the city and go to somewhere that it is relatively safe. By the time the bus pulls out it is just about full to capacity with new people to join our family. The rest of us continue on and even with the big interruption, we still get to Minneapolis on Friday about midday. Bob, Trevor, and Blake know exactly where to find our new friends. Even they are surprised because the group has grown from sixty to eighty-five. They are correct in their estimation that this group wouldn’t make it all the way to our farms walking. Of the eighty-five, at least fifty are children and babies.

We get to meet the leaders of the group who are the ones that told Bob they came from another world. We get the short story for now, knowing that we will have plenty of time on the trip back and when we do get home, to find out all about each other. Actually, they are a lot like James and Jenna. Their names are Morgan and Mike. They are so much like Jenna and James that at first I tell them we will take everyone, but them. Naturally I am only kidding, well kinda. Apparently Mike was a contractor for the Air Force, he and Morgan went on vacation, they both have their pilots license and went fishing up to the Upper Peninsula in Michigan. When they came back to the base here in Minnesota, there was no one at the base and everything was old and broken down. They went looking for any sign of life, and when they went back their plane was no longer there. They met a small group of people and it continued to grow much like when Tim and I were in the city. 

Ken sets up the radio as soon as he finds a building with an antenna. Some of us go with a couple of the group members to gather food and other supplies we will need, while some of us go looking for vehicles enough to get us all home. We are able to find two large vans that will hold approximately thirty of the people, and get them running before we have to quit because of darkness. It sure is cold here at night, even with Robin and Teddy snuggled up close I am freezing most of the night. We decide we do not have enough drivers to use vans to get everyone back, so we go looking for a decent bus or two. While we are looking for a bus, we find a group of five walking into the city looking for food and shelter. It is a mom, a dad, her younger sister, and their two children. When we explain what we are doing, they ask if they can come along. They can’t see how they have anything to lose.

We find the bus we are looking for, but it takes a little longer than we thought it would to get running, so we are now a little behind schedule. I mention this to Robin when we are getting ready to go to sleep, and she laughs at me. She tells me I am the only one in the entire family who is so hung up on time. I guess it is just a carryover from my past life. As a Navy SEAL time and schedules were very important. If you miss the extraction team, for whatever reason, it meant that you now have to find your own way back. In this case it is different though, because one day or the next doesn’t mean that much.

Actually in this case it does, because we get over a foot of snow overnight and now the bus is having trouble holding the road. The vans are not much better. We are about to quit for the day when we find a pickup truck with a plow on the front. It takes a couple of hours to get it in shape to run and we take off south again. Somehow or other we are going back on a different road than we came up on and nothing looks familiar. We have maps to help us find our way back so we are not worried. The plow moves enough snow going first to allow the vans and buses to get through with minimal trouble. When we finally stop for the night, we have ninety scared new family members. We find a motel for the night, so we can at least take hot showers and order room service. Yeah right, we do stay at a motel, but it has been abandoned since the war.

It is out of the cold though and there are plenty of rooms for everyone. When we get out to the vehicles in the morning, we have ten new friends sleeping in the bus. It’s a good thing we have the pickup, because we have just enough room for everyone to sit with two people in the cab of the pickup with the driver. At least today we drive out of the snow, so we can make better time. When we finish for the day, we figure we will get home probably early afternoon, the day after tomorrow. The day goes by quite boringly, when around mid afternoon we get about twenty motorcycles driving all around us, cutting in and out of the paths of the vehicles. They are shooting guns, but up into the air, so no one is getting hurt. The bikes are gone as quickly as they came upon us. It’s a good thing, because although all the men are driving at this time, the women can shoot every bit as good as we can. We really don’t want to kill anyone who doesn’t mean us any harm.

We don’t see the riders again today, but we post guards to make sure we don’t wake up to any major surprises. We have been discussing how we are going to find housing for all of the people we are bringing back. We were expecting sixty, and between the first bus and this group we have more than twice that number. Before we get home, I can’t remember what day this is, we are telling everyone about the farms we live on. When we get home there are several people from each group here to greet the newcomers. The new people are all in awe of what we have here. Everyone gets fed a good meal before we determine where everyone will live, at least for the time being. Everyone has been busy getting housing ready since we have been gone. They have brought ten trailer homes back to the groups and have them at least in place, even if they do not all have electricity to them yet. It looks like we will have to put up a few more windmills to take care of the increased demand. We have had to do that already, so it is not like we don’t know what to do.

Barb takes us aside and tells us we have a major problem on our hands with the group that didn’t want to allow any more people to join us. They have been openly hostile and rude to the new people that came back just before we got back. Apparently the leader of the group told Barb that if she didn’t like it, then she and the rest of the people that think like her can pack up and leave. We have too many people to find places to live at the moment for us to address this problem, but we will be speaking with those people first thing tomorrow.

When we finally get everyone settled in, and have dinner, it is after nine at night. We can finally relax a little and discuss the trip. Bob, Trevor, and Blake come to the door asking if they can speak with us for a minute. Naturally we tell them they are more than welcome anytime. Bob is doing the talking and isn’t quite sure how to ask what they want to know. I think I know what they want, so I tell them they are more than welcome to stay with us, as long as they are willing to do their share of the work. They are very relieved to say the least. They tell us they are just tired of running around the country all the time looking for something that we have, a home. By the time they go back to the barracks in the barn, which is full to capacity now by the way, we have decided that they will stay here with us, but will travel around looking for people to join our settlement.