Jernigan's War (11 page)

Dix was working and living like a zombie. He ate, drank, slept, and healed. No one bothered him or the property. He moved from the house out into the motor home on the back of the property. The smell of decay was overwhelming around the house. All the decaying bodies still laying about the yard and road kept strangers away, and the puppies he’d saved were learning to bark at any suspicious noise.

After about two weeks Dix was walking a little better. The wound was still open and draining; but, he kept it full of antibiotic cream. After a month he was able to travel. Every day he thought about suicide but he realized that Ben and Frank, the little Catahoula pups, wouldn’t make it without him. He had started living for them. They were his family now. He had plenty of food after cleaning out the raider’s supplies. The little Catahoulas were barking at every sound; but, at least he could sleep with them on guard.

CHAPTER 11

A NEW FAMILY

P
orter just turned 14, according to his dad’s watch it was November 15. Sandy was 13 and a half and Ally was 5 and a half. Christmas was coming soon and there was a little girl expecting Santa. They crossed what he thought was the Pecos River at a wide, very shallow spot. They were in Texas, but he was uncertain of exactly where. At the top of the bank they came to a gate in the fence. It wasn’t locked so they went through and closed it behind themselves. The trail they were following led up behind an ancient barn. They ran down the cow trail for about an hour. In the distance they could see a ranch house on a hill far away. The trail led straight to the house on the hill. Smoke was coming from the chimney. They slowly motored their way up the trail. When they were within sight of the porch they could see a man leaning against the post smoking a pipe. There were chickens all over the yard and dogs barking and running in their direction. Porter looked around and saw no one else anywhere. The man wasn’t aiming a gun at them so he proceeded to within 100 feet of the porch before stopping. The man said, “It didn’t take you guys very long to eat my little bull, are you hungry again so soon?”

Porter bristled, “He wasn’t wearing a collar!”

The man laughed, “Come in, we haven’t had any decent company in months.”

“I’m sorry I killed your bull, I can try and pay you for him.”

“That was the fourth time the little bastard jumped the fence, he’s been a pain in my behind ever since he was born.” Over the man’s shoulder Porter saw a lady walk to the door wiping her hands, “I bet you guys could use a good meal.”

“Mam,” Sandy spoke up, “We don’t understand; everyone we’ve come across up to now has either tried to kill us or has run from us.”

The lady smiled, “We’ve watched you for days; we’ve also had to kill a bunch of bad guys. You wouldn’t have driven up here in broad daylight if you had evil intentions.” She opened the door and to let several small dogs out. They had a couple of Australian Shepherds who came bounding up barking. A very pregnant little rat terrier and a small furry brown mongrel came running out of the screen door. All were barking and very interested in the rolled up cow hide. The man introduced himself, “I’m Charley Cross and this is my wife Bonnie, we’ve got three sons out hunting and standing guard, they spotted you about the time ya’ll set up camp on the other side of the river.” Porter introduced himself and the girls and told them their story. “You guys can stick around awhile, we’ve got plenty of food and you can help the boys hunt.”

The boys had three wives and several small kids running around. The house was large with a full basement. Bonnie introduced them around to the other ladies and the grandkids. Charlie helped Porter stow the gear in a metal building by the house. Porter couldn’t help but notice that Mr. Charlie wore a pistol and carried an AR15 type rifle hung behind him. It was a .308 caliber and had a scope, Charlie bragged he could shoot and hit with it about as far as he could see.

“We are about 15 miles off the nearest highway. I’ve got sensors on the road about 5 miles from here, we patrol the property
daily and two of my boys are in hidden lookout spots that allows them to cover most of the ranch at all times.” Charlie continued, “My youngest son, Steve, is on his way to relieve his older brother Sam. Sam will ride across the North side of the ranch and then south along the river to relieve my other son John on the southern side. John will then circle back around and make it back here before dark. We are always in radio contact, when they spot someone, they call me and I ride out to see what’s going on. That’s how we spotted you guys. Steve spotted ya’ll when you first set up camp across the river. I had just come through the gate when I heard you shoot the yearling. I try to keep the cattle away from the roads and river, but that little bull has been a horse’s butt ever since he was born. I was planning on eating him this spring anyway.”

“I’ll be glad to pay you for him, I’m sorry; but, we were just running out of food.”

“Don’t you worry about that, I’ll let you pay for him, we can use a good hand around here to help stand guard and hunt; meanwhile you need to eat some biscuits and gravy. Bonnie and the girls just about have lunch ready.”

Although Porter was reluctant at first, he ate like he was a starving man and noticed that Sandy and Ally weren’t holding back either. Bonnie and the three daughters in law made a big fuss over Sandy and Ally and had them in fresh clothes that fit better. A generator came to life and they rewashed all their clothes and had the girls washed and primped in no time. With fresh clothes, brushed hair and ribbons they looked very pretty. Charlie took Porter down to the basement where all the men shared a bathroom. He gave porter a razor and told him, “Get in that shower and give yourself a deep scrub and shave. Wash your hair and I’ll give you a haircut out back. You’ll find some of my son’s clothes that they’ve outgrown in that cedar chest in the corner. Hang your guns on that nail where you can get your hands on them in a hurry. I know how it feels to be out of reach of my weapons. I
expect you sleep with your pistol in your hand.” Porter grinned, “How did you know?”

“I know because I sleep with my hand on mine.” He reached over and flipped a switch that silenced the generator.

Charlie took Porter out back, set him in a chair, and put a towel around his neck. With Ally pointing out mistakes, Porter sat for a haircut, his face was still stinging from the shave. John came riding up on a big mule and greeted them with a wave. “I see he finally convinced someone to let him give them a haircut. He flunked out of barber school 30 years ago, but they let him keep his scissors.”

That evening was the first time in weeks they had slept under a roof. The girls slept upstairs on a spare bed, Porter slept on a cot with a mattress by the wood stove. Charlie cautioned Porter, “We try not to run any lights at night. Someone can see light from a long way at night around here. That little glass window in the stove will light this room enough for you to see. Just take care that you don’t fall down the stairs if you go down to the bathroom in the basement. You can use your flashlight once you’re downstairs.” “If the dogs start barking,” Charlie warned, “John and I will come running. You get dressed, grab your coat, and take position behind all the firewood on the porch. Just make sure you don’t shoot me or one of my boys. If you hear gunshots look for the flash; don’t shoot back unless I say so. If someone comes walking up we have lights that will be triggered. Don’t hesitate to kill them. If they are sneaking up here at night they are up to no good. Don’t worry that you might kill somebody in error. If they are on foot at night in this country they are not lost. And by the way you need to keep some wood burning in the heater or the house will get real cold. So, before you get in bed, bring in 8 or 10 arm loads and stack it next to the heater.”

That night he slept like a baby. Other than getting up to add wood to the fire, he slept the whole night. Sandy woke him up the next morning by tickling his ear with a broom straw. He woke up and found Sandy grinning at him. What happened next he couldn’t explain. One minute they were grinning at each other, the next they were experiencing their first kiss. In fact it was Porter’s first time to ever kiss a girl. He had thought about it a lot; but, had pretty much considered it an impossibility until sometime in the distant future. They smiled at one another and hugged. They soon heard steps on the stairs as Ally and the other three kids came barreling down the stairs. The sun was just peeking through the window. Everyone gets up early when they go to bed at dark. The house was soon alive, the wives of the three sons were named Holly, Cheryl, and Lynn and they, along with Bonnie, soon had the wood stove in the kitchen hot and breakfast cooking. Charlie asked Porter, “How strong is your arm?”

“I don’t know, why?”

“Follow me, son.” He took Porter out to another building where they had a wheat mill set up. In the room were stacks of five gallon buckets that reached the ceiling. Charlie pointed to them, “There is enough wheat in this room to feed our family and you guys for 10 years. We have two other buildings with corn, beans, and other staples. Come spring we will have a huge garden. We will can everything we don’t eat immediately.”

Porter nodded, “What about water? I know you have a generator for electricity; but, won’t you run out of fuel for it before ten years?”

“We have four windmill driven water pumps on the ranch along with solar cells and batteries here on these buildings and on the house. We only run the generator to use the washing machine and to top off the batteries. It runs off of propane; we have four 500 gallon tanks that should last us until this crisis is over.”

“Sounds like you’ve got everything covered to survive in style!”

“Well, you’ve seen the chickens and cattle. We’ve also got eight horses, two stallions, five mares and a gelding. We also have five mules. We ran a hunting guide service out of here before the bottom fell out. We try not to run our vehicles, gasoline is the one thing we are short of. We save it for emergency travel only, our trucks and cars are in storage. I’ve got 500 gallons of diesel for the tractor. We crank it only when we need to pull something the mules can’t handle and to run the hay cutter and bailing machine.”

Charlie grinned, “So now you start earning your keep. You start turning that flour mill and I’ll feed in the wheat.” In no time they had an empty five gallon bucket full of fresh ground flour. They sealed everything back up and made sure the door to the room was closed tight. “You have to be ever mindful of rats and mice. Our three old cats do a good job of catching them; but, you can never be too careful.”

When they got back, breakfast was ready and once again they ate like starving men. There were scrambled eggs, chicken fried venison, onions and potatoes and hot biscuits with cream and syrup. While Charlie and Porter ground the wheat, John had milked the cow out back. Porter, Sandy and Ally had never drunk fresh milk and tasted real cream. Porter’s mother would have never let it in the house. It had only been a few weeks but it seemed like a lifetime ago that he had been home with his family.

CHAPTER 12

THE VOYAGE NORTH

D
ix had not heard from his sister and her family for several months. He had two options to go check on them. He could go by boat or by vehicle. He had enough fuel in the bronco and in the four-wheeler to make the drive; but, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he would have trouble traveling by road. If his experiences here at home were any indication of what he could expect, he would be fighting a 170 mile battle.

If the catamaran was still running, he could make a return trip up the Mississippi and then up the Big Black to her home north of Jackson, MS. He still had the diesel left over from his trip to get Maggie and Bill out of the city as well as the extra 55 gallons in the trailer. He had ten five gallon cans of gasoline from the raiders and he had the tanks on the fishing boat that were still full. He had to make a run to check on the Catamaran.

He didn’t wait until night because he was no longer trying to avoid a confrontation. He had killed so many people that the
prospect of killing or getting killed didn’t really matter anymore. In a perverted sort of way he hoped he could kill some more bad guys. He was halfway down the road when he came to the spot where the gang bangers had blocked the road before. Once again it was blocked with the same lawn tractor and trailer. When they realized it was Dix, they quickly cleared the road and beat it. He got to the boat house and found the Catamaran exactly as he had left it.