No Normal Day (14 page)

Jack
touched the back of Trish's arm. She sighed and straightened her
back, “We are going to gather some things we need from the
plant. Then we will be gone. Don't burn down the place”.

“
Yes
boss lady,” Manuel smiled. She turned
to
walk back to the car, Jack right behind her. Manuel said, “Boss?”
She stopped. “Viaje Con Dios”.

Trish
turned
and
faced
him,
“Viaje Con Dios, Manuel.”

They
got in the wagon and Jack backed down the long aisle. Eric didn't say
anything, he and Trish just exchanged a knowing look. Brook climbed
into her lap and Nicky squeezed up close. Trish said, “Dad,
when you get backed up, go over to the left and we will find those
tarps on Momma's list.”

They
moved around the miles of aisles, they found nearly everything on
their list. The tarps, several boxed shelving units, another big roll
of barb wire, three more plywood panels and lumber studs, some long
bolts and nuts, a rake and a hoe and some spades. They included a
couple of big heavy plastic tubs. Trish saw some solar outdoor lights
and pulled them off the shelf. The big bag was not much use, they
just flattened it out and stacked the stuff on top. The tarp covered
everything, they tied and secured it the best they could.

The
station wagon, once again was bearing a cumbersome load. Jack noticed
that one of the tires looked a little low. He recalled that Jason
said he had to change a flat.
We probably don't even have a spare.
“Eric, I think the spare tire is mounted up under the
wagon, would you look?” said Jack.

Eric
knelt down and looked up under the car, “I see a wheel and no
tire, Jack.”

“
Damn,
that's no good. We've got to find some spares.”

Trish
directed, “Go back out and down at the very end of the
warehouses there is a garage. They do maintenance on the fork-lifts,
etc. We do have two pick-up trucks and van that we use around here.
Maybe we can find some tires and wheels there. If not, we will just
have to go out in the parking lot and see what we can find.”

They
were lucky enough to find a tire and wheel, they replaced the low
tire. They also put a spare underneath. Jack wanted one more. He
doubted the wisdom of stacking one more thing on top, he was going to
anyway. The kids were asking for lunch. Trish dug around through the
neighbor's food in the bag, she found cans of vienna sausage,
crackers, some cheese spread in a can. Jack remembered the vanilla
wafers that Beth had sent and tells the girls. With some of the warm
water from the back, they had a break and felt a bit better.

They
were loaded up and headed back out of the complex. Trish spotted a
man climbing out of one of trucks at the dock. He had a rifle pointed
down at his side.
Must be one of the truck drivers.
Trish
asked Jack to pull up. She rolled down the window and said, “Hey,
did you get stuck here?”. The man looked the car over and then
bent down to look at Trish.

“
Oh,
hello mam. Yeah, me and a few other drivers got stranded. A couple of
them took off walking, two days ago. There's two more guys here”.
The man was still looking over all the stuff in and on the old
station wagon.

“
Well,
this is some of my family. We are trying to make it back home, about
90 miles from here. You do know that there are still some employees
inside?”

The
man doesn't smell so good up close, Trish draws back a bit.

“
You
mean those stupid greasers,” he snarled. “They are
stealing everything they can get their hands on.” She spotted a
lawn chair and outdoor cooker beside the man's
truck.

Trish
doesn't have much patience for bigots and idiots. Got that from her
father, she guesses. “They are employees at this plant and they
are in a damn bad situation, like all of us. I really wouldn't fool
with them, if I was you.” The man just shrugged, pulled up his
dirty looking jeans and spit.

She looked over
at Jack, “
Let's
head home, Dad”.

Jack
put his foot down hard on the accelerator, even with the load that
the wagon was burdened with, it's mismatched tires squealed, the rear
end slid just a bit and he headed towards home. For some reason that
he didn't understand, he felt damn good and he was laughed out loud.
Lee looked at him, “You are one crazy old man”. The girls
giggled, but soon, as they twisted down the country back roads again
they slept. Trish looked down at them, she wanted to tell them that
she was sorry that they would not get to have the kind of childhood
that her parents had given her. She was soon asleep herself, Eric's
arm was stretched across the seat back to touch her shoulder.

When
they had been back in the warehouse, loading up supplies, Jack, Lee
and Eric had discussed whether they should try to sneak down near the
Interstate and check out the activity that Lee had seen in the
binoculars. Lee seemed to be apprehensive and in the end, they all
agreed. With the babies at risk, they did not want to go anywhere
near a situation that they were not sure of. Jack did not want to
believe that the US military was up to anything that was not in the
best interest of the citizens. But then, it would not be the first
time that people were harmed when a government supposedly was acting
with good intentions. Before he made this little rescue mission, he
had talked with Jason. Jason had confided in him, his discomfort with
some of the Marshall Law mandates. Better, just to steer clear of
unknowns for now.

The
farms and country houses with ponds and cattle and horses, floated by
as they were moving back towards home.
These people may have the
best chance of making it, the longest. It will take the devastation a
while to reach them. I don't know if anyone will be untouched by it,
in the end, though.

It
was less than a week since the unexplained event had occurred, the
wagon with all it's acquisitions and the rest of Jack and Beth's
family pulled up the drive. The garage door was raised and once
again, the chaos of relief and welcome enveloped the family. Cody was
introduced. Everyone was helping get the ridiculous pile of stuff on
top of the car unloaded, so it could be pulled in the garage.
Everything from inside the car could be unloaded, once it was secure
in the garage.

It
was already late in the day. Trish walked through her dad's shop and
garage, past the boy's beds and gear and onto her parent's patio. She
held Brook in her arms and Nicky's hand. She saw the little trailer
in the corner of the back yard, there was a line strung up with
clothes hanging on it. Pots were cooking on two different cookers. BJ
spotted his young cousins and toddled toward them, giggling. She put
Brook down and plopped in a lawn chair. She felt the hand wringing
stress that had become part of her nature,
what-is-this, what is
happening? The lush backyard of my
parent's retirement home
looks like some kind of hippie hill-billy
compound.
Gram's
big chest full of old toys had been moved to the back patio, next to
the well barricaded wooden gates. An old rug was spread in front of
it. BJ pulled Brook and Nicky over to play. Eric was over at one of
the pots, he sniffed at what was cooking, “Um-m, smells good.”

Jack
and Lee brought two big trash bags to the patio. All the boys drifted
away, not really interested. Jack dumped out the bag that had mostly
medicines in it. Beth laughed, “I feel like a pirate, counting
his “booty”. She was picked up bottles and checked them
out. She found the bottles of Lynn's medication, “Lynn,
look...oh thank god Jack, you found some of her meds.” They
were all discussing the other “found” supplies, Trish got
up and went into the house to get something to drink. It was really
dark inside, she looked sadly at the plywood covering the windows
across the dining room. There was a lantern sitting on the bar,
giving off a soft glow. She opened the refrigerator and was amazed to
see that the light came on and it was cool, there were even some ice
cubes, a few of them plopped in her glass. In the cabinet where her
Dad usually had bourbon, sure enough, there was a bottle. She
splashed some in the glass. There was a 7-up bottle on the counter,
but she soon realized it was water. Adding some to the glass, Trish
took as big a gulp as she could handle.

Walking
to the back door, she looked out. Her whole family, plus some extras
were sitting around, talking and laughing.
They are freakin'
rummaging through stolen property.
Maybe it was the booze, but it
suddenly seemed funny, she felt a giggle bubbling up. She was feeling
better, as a matter of fact, she was feeling good. Right here was
everyone important to her. She didn't always agree or get along with
her sisters or even her parents but they all loved each other, very
much. Together, they could make it through
Hell or High Water,
as her grandma used to say. She took another big swig of her drink,
walked out on the back porch, “Hey Mom, what's cooking?”

Trish
and Dianne strung up the tarps, using a double thickness and dividing
the house garage in half. Beth's shiny new SUV had been pushed out of
the garage and the gas siphoned out. Dianne said, “Jason and I
already have some shelves, lets put together some of those that you
brought. We can put them back to back, on each side of the tarps. We
can push two of those roll away beds from out in the storage building
together, for you and Eric. And I think there are some cushions that
will make the girls beds.” Trish checked out Dianne's small
space, on the other side of the tarp.
Dianne always was good at
making something out of nothing.

“
What
about those tv tables, are there two more? And where did you get the
rugs, this concrete will be pretty cold and hard,” said
Trish.

Dianne
smiled, “You know Mom, says she doesn't hang on to stuff...but,
there is a box of throw rugs out in storage and there's two more
tables. Tons of linens in that big trunk.” By noon, the garage
was converted into a two bedroom space, not a maximum of privacy but
it is livable.

Beth
and Kat were out in Jack's garage, they hung
tarps
down the center so the boys would
have
a bunk space. They put up a couple more of the shelves for their use.
The rest of the garage would
have
to be used for
not
only the station wagon but for any shop work that had
to
be done. There was a long work bench that ran
down
one end and Jack's tools were all underneath and on shelves in this
garage. Some things had
to
be moved out to the storage shed, which was quickly filling up.

Jack
and Eric had been boarding up the remaining windows with the new
lumber. They were not going to board up the back windows, for now,
they really need the light. Jason and Lee were stringing more of the
barb wire along the top of the back privacy fence. The four men come
into the garage, gathered some more supplies. Beth and Kat stood
beside the station wagon, looking at the long scratches down the side
of the car, there was a crack across the bottom of the windshield and
the odd wheel, on this side. They were clucking their tongues in
disapproval. Beth said, “Looks like a War Wagon now.”

“
Well,
that monster has pretty much saved our asses, the last few days,”
said
Jack.
The other men tossed
in
their expressions of agreement, “Damn straight!...you got that
right!....” From that day on,
War
Wagon
was
the name for the hand me down station wagon.

It
was now a month since the “event”. Jack and Beth's home
had become a compound. Everyone had a least a small private space.
They had maintained the kitchen, dining and living area of the house,
for a common place. It would be several months before the weather
here would be cold. But, they would eventually need the inside space
to gather and there is a fireplace in that room. Everyone, shared in
the chores that had to be done. The twins, who were a bit immature
for their age, enjoyed Nicky and the two younger children. They were
a big help with watching and entertaining them and all of the
children could do some light chores.

The
work to keep them functioning was an everyday necessity. All of the
daily things, such as cooking and washing clothes, bathing...things
that had been easy when the convenience of electricity existed...now
were not so easy. And there was eternally the necessity for economy
and frugality. They were still managed to keep enough fuel to run the
generator for a short time each day. Choices had to be made as to
what merited the use, other than the refrigerator. They dug a deep
hole in the back corner of the yard, so they could burn their trash.
Just digging the hole was a hard job.