The Solitary Man’s Refuge (35 page)

Donald remained curious about them and wished
he knew their habits better. Coatis are very curious and
intelligent. People that keep them as pets say it’s like
having a rambunctious 2 yr. old furry child for a pet. No
way to keep them rascals out of his traps then, he had
already decided. He could dog proof a trap set but there
was no way to rig something that would deter something
with more curiosity than a raccoon that sees a piece of
shiny tinfoil if it wants to investigate a treasure with them
monkey like paw hands they got. He didn’t want to kill such
a unique and beautiful creature if he could help it but he
had family to feed.

“I know what! Donald thought excitedly to himself. I
will get out my havahart style live traps and teach
LowBuck a thing or two about trapping as we go on a Deer
hunt. I only got maybe two big enough catch one traps in
my stores, but I can set them where I last saw one of
those critters and hopefully catch them instead of a
possum. Possum wasn’t bad eating, but not on Donald's
menu as of yet. With a possum, since they eat such nasty
crap as well as have been known to eat each other if their
brother or sister ended up as road kill, it had always been
the country practice to trap them live and purge them of
some of that foul crap they been eating. You would catch
a possum and feed it cracked corn and plenty of clean
water for several days before you decided to butcher it.
Well, folks around here might as well learn to eat one if
they were not already doing so, it wouldn’t go to waste if
one wandered in instead of that odd animal.

Now catching a wild Coatimundi would be quite an
interesting project to undertake. Folks would want to see
the critter and Donald could see him and Michael carrying
the cage around to the various neighbors as an ice
breaker that would insure a welcome from even the most
cantankerous old curmudgeons around here. Who could
resist the sight of callers carrying a cage with an
unidentifiable animal in it? The curiosity factor would be
too overwhelming to be scared of the armed duo coming
up a driveway, and with a great intro like that, even if he
and Michael looked like they were armed for alien bears it
wouldn’t matter. We could get that old wise woman
Catherine to go along with us also. Ha! If I catch one of
them weird beasties, that’s the first person I am going to
go see and find out what she makes of it. My friend, Linda
who goes by MorningMayan on YouTube, would sure get
a kick out of seeing one of those weird varmits from the
neighborhood as well as She would enjoy sharing
knowledge with Catherine. Linda had always told Donald
and her subscribers that 2012 would be a time of new
beginnings and new mental awareness. Linda was sort of
what Donald called a “New Age” prepper. Quite an
interesting and beautiful lady. She accepted and prepped
for all the disasters that normal preppers do, however she
was also very well versed in esoteric theories and
astronomical possible influences that might just allow us
possibly to be able to use more of our brains on some kind
of telepathic mystical order which Donald never quite
understood, but liked to hear her occasionally expound
upon it and give relevant facts to support various theories.
Maybe, that was the answer to the neighbor dilemma for
us all. Take a page from Linda’s book and look at the
earth changes in a different and more humanistic and
engaging light. “Transition with knowledge or through
knowledge,” I think she was quoted as saying once. I wish
I had her around to explain the differences in those
concepts to me better, but basically I think we all can
arrive at the same transitional point of change, if we just
have some kind of understanding about it through a
universal awareness of shared knowledge and influence.

Speaking of sharing, I wonder what Michael and
LowBuck have decided to do about the community
preparedness situation. I will see what they have to say
when I get settled back in, but I sort of got my game plan
ready and I am willing to try it if I can see some
cooperation versus creating serious dangers by getting too
familiar with the folks on this street. I think Me, Michael,
and LowBuck wil take the first deer from our hunt over to
my biggest threat or convert and do like I did with that
damn Billy goat and let them have half the carcass for
butchering it. I will have to ask Michael about if they got
any deer rifles or a shotgun first though, could be a
redundant move. If they don’t have hunting arms, I just
might have an ideal situation I can develop upon. An “I kill
it, you clean it and cook it” understanding would work for
everyone if those boys will go along with the concept and
see the method to my madness.

“I can get Michael to tell them that we are some odd
and dangerously moody folks that don’t play well with folks
we don’t know and stay away from our house, but also
that I am a good hunter and trapper that is willing to make
a business deal with them if he brokers it. They pretty
much only have to deal with him on the personal neighbor
level and in return they will be provided with fresh meat if
they agree to the deal proposed and mind their Ps and Qs
about not bothering anyone. The deal is, they are now in
the meat butchering biz and are going to be working like a
deer processing plant for the community as they learn to
cut steaks and process meat for part of the catch. No
money to be exchanged, just food for labor. The offal piles
that come from community Deer hunts and my trap line
will be used as dog food and bait for other critters. If they
got a gut pile on their property, I am basically willing to
lend a few conibear traps to take advantage of that
attractant of innards and they can use that meat and fur
pelts any old way they want as long as they see to the
welfare of the old folks in this community with a part of it.
Community service as some might call it, but a fair
exchange in Donald’s mind.

Someone around here had to walk up and down the
road after a long day of running trap line and butcher the
catch to prepare it for cooking and it wasn’t going to be
him if he could help it. You got to use what you got and
barter for what you deliver in this society. Donald had
traps, the knowledge to use them, and security of his
weaponry to offer to them. They had not much more than
hungry mouths, empty bellies and willingness most likely
now to do most anything they could to avoid starvation to
assist him. Shit, might as well put the possum pens over
there too and let them feed and water the animals as he
brought them in. Let the old folks decide who was doing
community potluck suppers when them boys delivered a
portion to them and everyone’s hopes of dying from old
age might just be realized.

I need to go talk to that old guy up the county
highway that parks that gravel hauling looking truck up on
the side of the road from me. The guy that cleared my
property told me that he uses it to haul feed for his cattle
on some property he owns on the county line. That
contractor said he was a pretty good old guy and allowed
him to dump stumps and brush on his property to use as
landfill when he cleared my place, so at least we got
something in common to introduce ourselves by. That is
Catherine’s neighbor, well a 4 door down country mile
neighbor. If he will let us local boys guard that cow herd of
his some in exchange for some good beef steaks
occasionally, I might just be able to get LowBuck to stick
around. Myself, Michael and him could swap out cattle
guard duties amongst themselves, one week on, one
week off as long as the gas lasts for them to travel to
work. Then we could use the two bicycles we got to swap
out relieving each other for transport to and from our duty
stations. If need be the three of us are a formidable force
to be reckoned with and the girls could more than hold
their own as a defensive force for the farmsteads
particularly if Catherine would lead them as the head
“mamma with a gun” if the squad was needed to take care
of a situation requiring a bit more firepower if someone
else organized a cattle rustling crew that threatened our
benefactor or attempted a raid.

The three men could stay individually or collectively
in a tent near the cow herd’s pasture and exchange their
vigilance for some farmer chow daily as well as some
meat to carry back and smoke for the families.

Could be this was all a pipe dream for Donald. He
had added hundreds of dollars worth of commercial traps,
aircraft cable snares, various baits and lures to his preps
over the years for just this sort of an occasion. That
damned book the Rural Ranger he had read long ago had
got his mind thinking about how to approach just such a
situation as he was presented with and he had bought a
few 110 conibears in lieu of storage food because it made
more sense to have them, than 10 bucks worth of canned
goods that served no purpose after they were consumed in
a few days. He had something nobody else did to acquire
his next meal that would work 24/7 and also learned the
trapping trade as best he could from Prepper Archeology
books and other references so he became an expert in the
trade of food procurement he could offer to strangers in
trade for a meal that would give him the energy to replace
it if he was on the move.

This state was like one big pool table about right
now. There would be pockets of those that survived and
thrived out here in the country and places that no matter
which pocket you made it would be a scratch shot or eight
ball loser if you miscalculated your luck.

Donald always hated thinking in terms of a pool
game. He was busily engaged in his new game that didn’t
have many rules called survival.

“Any thoughts on what are we going to do now
Donald?” Michael said as he aimlessly moved his pawn
across the board of what seemed to be a never ending
chess game that neither one was having much interest in.
It had been raining on and off for days and this had proved
to be a mixed blessing to the survivors of the geomagnetic
storm that forced them to stay indoors in close quarters
and boredom the past week from the depressing weather.

“Well as far as I know the wild fires are finally out,
but they sure got damn close. I have no idea what they did
to the town, but that’s even more homeless that’s going to
be moving around. At least we got two good houses for
now. Which reminds me, what’s up with them folks that
moved in next to you? All they got down there is that old
barn and the tents they brought. I know they are going to
be suffering some after a week of bugging out of the big
city and then being forced to live under those miserable
conditions. Have you seen or talked to them the last few
days?” Donald asked and countered Michaels move to
open up his chess pieces ranks with a knight.

“I have seen them a few times but that was inbetween rain downpours and only because me or Amy
was watching for them from the trailer windows. They
brought boxes of supplies with them it appeared, but I
haven’t socialized with them except the one brief meeting
when they pulled in and after they unloaded. Apparently
one of them was going to build cabin over there before the
solar storm and Birmingham got to screwed up to stay in.
They said the looting and riots were rampant already so
they headed this way. They got lots of deer rifles but they
ain’t carrying them at the moment.” Michael concluded and
threatened Donald’s knight with his bishop.

“I don’t particularly like leaving my house unguarded
to visit you down here but if it did get raided they wouldn’t
get much. Ever since I noticed all the extra folks moving
into the neighborhood I have been kind of jumpy lately.”
Michael said pondering the countermove Donald had
come up with.

“I think everyone had relatives move in down this
way and most of them younger kids appear to be Meth
Heads. Somebody must have been making that shit
around here because they are high when you see them
and also got that bad habit of walking this road late at
night.” Donald said looking over at his Mom who was
looking out the front window at the rain while standing a 4
hour guard shift in case of any unwanted visitors decided
to come down the driveways. LowBuck and Cat were in
the backroom add on doing the same and playing crazy
eights or something and depending more on their dog to
alert them to any intruders.

“It’s probably them SOBs up on the left but there is
no telling. I am with you though they either brought it with
them or a neighbor is supplying. Them rapscallion
neighbors of yours were out on the road talking to some of
them freaks the other night but didn’t stay out long. Still it
was 2am and misting rain so something was up. You in
“Check” Donald. “ Michael said grinning and not thinking
that Donald could get out from under the threat to his king.

“I don’t think there is any hope for any of them
speed freaks. One thing for sure is I don’t want to be
worrying about them every minute which is why we are
having this little meeting. I saw old Max’s grandson out on
the road last night and kind of screwed up by introducing
myself to him and later his girlfriend. The boy was buzzed
and I kind of friendly like interrogated him as to who is who
around here. He didn’t say a lot but I got what I needed.
There are a lot more meth freaks around here than I
thought. I am pretty sure one or both of those houses
running a generator on this road has them a meth lab. We
could run the creeks on both sides of the road to figure out
maybe which one it is, but I bet both creeks will be so
polluted now with chemicals ,whether from them or from
that chemical plant that burned up the road that we need
to be moving on.” Donald said ominously and checkmated
Michael’s king.