Forsaking Home (The Survivalist Series) (2 page)

I
woke just as the sun was coming up. It was dark in the cabin, but with every passing minute, the light illuminated the room more. I decided to lie there for a bit: the sleeping bag was so warm that I didn’t want to get out. I leaned against the wall and looked at the girls. They were mere lumps at the moment, but I knew who was what lump. I could see Mel’s blonde hair sticking out of her bag, Little Bit rustling in hers. It was easy to tell the other two. Taylor always slept on her back, and there she was with arms sprawled and her mouth open. Lee Ann’s bag was just a knot of nylon with her curled up inside. Outside, the river moved slowly by as birds and other creatures began their day. It was peaceful, and considering everything that was going on, I was happy.

That morning, Sarge and his guys would be leaving us. They were moving out to the National Guard camp to start preparing for their assault on the DHS camp. I wasn’t going to be involved, and that was fine with me. I was growing weary of much of this new life, namely shooting and being shot at. For now, Jeff was going to stay, though, if I know that guy well enough, he’d soon want a piece of the action. Thad was still with us, of course, and I think he always will be. He’s become part of our family. Danny and Bobbie have also become as close as family and I am so thankful for them. Having them with us adds something familiar, something from the Before that’s constant and comforting.

Ready to start the day, I got up quietly and headed for the door. Slipping on my Crocs and coat, I slung the carbine over my head and stepped out. I could see Thad’s big form sitting on the picnic table. Past him, fog drifted on the river. Hearing the door open, Thad looked over his shoulder, his smile glowing in the early morning light. I climbed up beside him on the table.

“How long you been out here?” I asked.

“I don’t know. A while,” he chuckled, “What does time matter anyways?”

Grinning, I nodded. “Guess you got a point there, buddy.”

Thad was looking at the fog as it drifted on the water. “Smoke on the water.”

“Yeah, looks like a river of smoke, huh?”

“That it does.” He nodded. “So, the ole man and his crew are leaving today?”

“That’s what he told me last night. I’m going to make a breakfast for everyone. The hens are starting to lay more with the weather warming. I figured we could send them off with full bellies.”

“Sounds good to me. Want some help?”

“Sure. How ’bout you go see if the hens laid any overnight, and I’ll bring the stove and stuff out here. There’s even enough coffee for one, maybe two more pots.”

Thad hopped off the table. “I’ll do almost anything for a cup of coffee right now. Let’s do it.”

Thad took off for the coop and I went to the cabin for the stove. I set the stove up on the picnic table and opened the last two canned hams we had.

“Not bad, five more,” Thad said, holding the watch cap open to show them.

“Nice, and there’s another dozen in the little fridge. I’ll run in and get them.”

Thad had the stove lit by the time I got back, some of the rendered fat from the hog heating in the cast iron skillet. We cut the two hams up and put them in the pan, then started cracking eggs. Breakfast would be the eggs and ham scrambled together—a simple meal, but a good one. While the eggs cooked, I put on a pot of coffee. We sat in camp chairs while we tended breakfast. There wasn’t any talk between us. We worked together in silence. The pan, popping and hissing, offered its own sound track to the morning.

“I’m gonna start a fire,” I said, standing up. Thad nodded as I set about getting a fire going in the pit. It was roaring by the time Sarge and the guys headed our way.

“You guys hungry?” Thad called out as he stirred the eggs in the pan.

“Of course we are!” Ted said.

“Where’s Jeff?” I hollered.

Mike shrugged, “Don’t know, he wasn’t in the cabin.”

With the meal almost ready, I went back to the cabin and woke Mel up, grabbing a stack of coffee cups on my way out. Thad served everyone a plate while Sarge poured coffee. The guys all took a seat at the table and dug in.

“This is
good
,” Mike said, holding up a forkful of ham.

“I hope so. It’s the last of ’em,” I said.

“We got more MREs down with them Guard boys. We’ll get some to you guys,” Sarge said.

“So, I know a little bit from Morgan, but I want to hear straight from the horse’s mouth. What are you guys going to be doing with the Guard guys?” Thad asked.

“I reckon it’s time to take the fight to them federal boys,” Sarge said, taking a sip of coffee.

“Good luck. I hope you guys are careful,” I said.

“We’ve got plenty of help now with the Guard behind us. We should be all right,” Mike said.

“Yeah, but even with them, how do you plan to take it down? I remember reading somewhere that an assaulting force needs a five-to-one superiority to attack a fixed position,” Thad said.

Sarge pulled the tattered hat off and rubbed the stubble on his head. “Well, we haven’t completely figured that out yet. I’ve got an idea. We need to work on it still, but I can assure you one thing: there won’t be any full-on frontal assault. We’re not going to be rushing the wire like some damn war movie.”

I spit into the fire, then looked at Sarge. “Why are you guys doing this? I mean, why stick your neck out? There’s enough shit going on, why add even more risk?”

Sarge’s head snapped up. “Why? What if it was you in there? What if your wife and kids were in there? Wouldn’t you want the cavalry to come save your ass? How about because this is still a free country and the fucking government doesn’t have the right to lock people up wholesale.”

“I get that, but I mean why you guys? If the army wants to take over the camp, why don’t they do it?”

Sarge dropped his head a little. “There’s an old saying: all it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing.” Sarge nodded at Mike and Ted. “Despite their appearance, these are good men.”

I nodded. “I get it.” Sarge smiled and looked into the fire.

“Whatever you guys do, be careful. Ain’t no hospitals, you know,” Thad said.

“Hey, Doc, them Guard boys got a medic down there?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No, but I wish they did. They just have some combat lifesavers.”

I looked at Mike. “You guys better be
damn
careful, then.”

“We will. I ain’t looking to get killed yet,” Sarge said.

Mel walked over to us, leaning in to give me a kiss. “Mornin’, boys!” I handed her a cup of coffee. A few feet behind her, Bobbie and Danny were trudging over, both yawning.

“Sleeping in this morning?” Sarge asked with a grin.

“Sorry, my alarm didn’t go off,” Bobbie said as she sat down.

Sarge looked at his watch. “You’re gonna be late for work!”

The joke got a chuckle out of a few of us.

“I wish I had to go to work. I’d happily mop floors and fold laundry today,” Bobbie said.

Danny looked up. “Wonder what all those people you cleaned for are doing now.”

“I doubt they’re doing very well. They all had a lot of money and could have done a lot to prepare, but they lived for the day, not the next.”

Thad fixed plates for the three of them and handed them out.

“You guys heading out today?” Danny asked.

“Yeah, we
do
have to go to work,” Ted said with a grin.

Danny looked out at the river, chewing a mouthful. Looking back at Sarge, he said, “Be careful with my boat, old man.”

Sarge looked over his shoulder at the Tracker. “I will, I’ll get it back to you soon enough.”

Danny nodded as he took a large forkful of eggs. “Good man.”

“You guys taking any of the four-wheelers with you?” I asked.

“No, we’ll be back at some point for my buggies, but you guys keep the four-wheelers,” Sarge said.

“Cool, they’ll be handy to have.”

A sound in the woods off to our right got everyone’s attention. I put my hand to my carbine, and Sarge stood up, craning his neck for a better view. After a tense few seconds, Jeff stepped out.

“That’s a good way to get your ass ventilated,” Sarge bellowed.

“Nah, you ain’t gonna shoot anything you can’t see,” Jeff replied as he walked up to us.

Mike started to laugh. “Ever heard of recon by fire?”

Jeff cocked his head to the side. “Hmm, never thought of that.” He plopped down on one of the benches. Craning his neck to get a look at the skillet, he asked, “What’s for breakfast?”

“Sorry, man. We ate it all,” Ted said as he stuffed the last bite from his plate in his mouth.

Jeff looked incredulous. “What?”

Thad took the heavy Dutch oven lid off the skillet. “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t let ’em do that to ya.” He scooped out a plate for him and passed it over.

Jeff smiled as he picked up a fork. “Thanks, glad someone’s looking out for me. Hey, Thad, any coffee in that pot?”

Thad poured a cup and handed it to him. “Anything else?” he asked with a smile.

“I’d like some pancakes.” He held his hand six inches off the table. “A stack about that high.”

Thad started to laugh. “You’re shit outta luck with that.”

“Actually . . . we can tomorrow,” I said, which drew looks from nearly everyone at the table.

“You got pancake mix?” Jeff asked.

“Yeah, syrup too. You know what? We should make some tomorrow. The girls will love it.”

“Of course you will, now that we’re leaving,” Doc said.

“I thought you guys would never leave,” I replied with a smile.

“That’s messed up! You’ve been holding out on us,” Mike said with a smile.

I laughed at him. “I’m sure that Guard unit can whip up some hotcakes for you, big fella.”

“Enough flirtin’, you two! We got work to do,” Sarge said, as he stood up.

“You guys need any help?” Danny asked.

“Nah, we got it. We’ll check in with you before we head out,” Ted said.

Sarge stopped by the pot and refilled his cup before heading to the cabin. The guys wandered off one by one as they finished their breakfast. Jeff, Thad, Danny, Bobbie, Mel, and I all stayed around the fire. Danny got up and kicked the ends of some logs into it until it was really roaring.

“What’s the plan for today?” Jeff asked, holding a foot over the fire.

“I’m going to work on getting some firewood today. We need more,” Thad said.

“I’ll help. I could use a workout,” Danny said, flexing. Bobbie rolled her eyes.

“We need
food
,” Mel said. Bobbie nodded in agreement.

“I’ll start looking around, see what I can come up with. In another couple of weeks it’ll be easier to find food,” I said.

“I’m worried about today,” Mel said.

“Do we have anything left?”

“We still have some dehydrated and freeze-dried stuff like carrots, peppers, and onions, plus salt and some flour. There’s nothing to really to make a meal out of except for rice and beans,” Bobbie said.

“Rice an’ beans, beans an’ rice,” Danny said in a singsong voice.

Mel looked over at me. “An’ I’d appreciate it if we could limit your bean intake.” This got Thad laughing.

I jerked my head back. “Me? You should hear your ass trumpeting when you’re asleep.”

Bobbie held a hand out in front of her. “TMI, TMI, let’s just stop this before it goes any further.”

I smiled. “You’re just scared Danny’s going to join in.”

“Back to the topic at hand: we need food,” Mel said.

“Like I said, I’ll see what I can find,” I said.

“Care if I come with you?” Jeff asked.

“Not at all. And hey, what were you doing out in the woods this morning? Becoming one with nature?” I said, shooting him a grin.

“Just out for a walk really, nothing special.”

“See any deer or anything?” Thad asked.

“No, but lots of tracks. I did see an otter, though, down the river here,” Jeff said, jutting a thumb over his shoulder.

“Oh, don’t tell Little Bit,” Mel said. “She’ll try to take one home as a pet,” she added with a laugh.

After a few minutes, Bobbie stood up, stretching. “I’ve got to try and wash some clothes today,” she said.

“We’re almost out of soap. That’s going to be a problem soon,” Mel said.

“We can make some,” Thad said, getting Mel and Bobbie’s attention.

“How?” they asked in unison.

“We got that fat from the pig and plenty of wood ash. It’ll be easy. I know how to do it.”

“How the hell do you know how to make soap? Were you in the Girl Scouts?” Jeff asked.

Thad laughed. “Naw, my grandmomma used to make it when I was little. Back then, I hated it. I wanted store-bought soap. But it always cleaned really good.”

“Can we start it today? The more we can have, the better,” Mel asked.

“Sure, let me get some wood up first and we’ll start it up.”

“I want to see this too,” Danny said. “I’ve always read about it but never tried it.”

“Well, today’s your day,” Thad said.

“What would we do without you, Thad?” Mel got up from her seat. “Well, I’m going to wake the girls up so they can eat before it’s too cold.”

The rest of us decided not to start the day’s activities until Sarge and the guys left, choosing to hang around the fire pit chatting. A few minutes later, the girls came down and had their breakfast. It was a nice family meal. Little Bit climbed up into Danny’s lap after she ate, still in her PJs. Her older sisters, being teenagers and therefore having a genetic aversion to waking early, sat by the fire, staring into the flames as the fog in their minds cleared. It wasn’t too long after that Sarge and the guys drove their buggies up to the boat. We all walked down to the river as they were loading up.

“You gonna get all that in one trip?” Danny asked, looking at the huge pile of stuff in the beds of the two vehicles.

“Yeah, we’ll make it fit. I don’t want to have to come back,” Sarge said.

We all pitched in, helping them load the boat. It was packed, but they did manage to fit everything in. Sarge stood back, looking at the overloaded boat. “We’ll have to take it easy, but I think we’ll make it.”

“Yeah, you better go real slow. I don’t want you guys to capsize before you even get your shot at the Feds,” Danny said, shaking his head.