When the Power Is Gone: A Powerless World - Book 1 (14 page)

Once the guys got the other two houses locked back down, they came back in. Russ and Brian shared the story of their trip with us, including meeting the Scanlins. My heart broke for that young family. I could imagine how I would feel if we didn’t have the supplies we had and everything went down. Thank goodness Russ got through to me and we were prepared. Things would be a whole lot different right now if he hadn’t. We’d be out scavenging, looting (let’s call a spade a spade – stealing other people’s stuff) to feed our families, just like the raiders from earlier, just like the Scanlins. Food and water are basic life necessities. No food and water, no life. What would you do, what lengths would you go to, so you could live? So your child could live? I didn’t blame any of them, past the fact that they had made no preparations at all. The problem was sooner or later they would run out of other people’s stuff. Then, it was going to get ugly, especially for places like the farm. Everybody knows there’s food on farms. That’s where food comes from, after all. We were going to have to plan for that, as soon as we got out there. Security was going to be priority one.

“I don’t know how helpful they might be, but if we run into the Scanlins on the way to the farm, I’d like to offer to take them with us. I know they want to try to find their friends’ farm, but we can still offer, especially since they have no way of knowing if their friends are there. Sean was smart enough to be carrying the guns on him. He was smart enough to spy a car sitting in the parking lot that could, and did, provide supplies for his family. He was smart enough to figure out the gal who came back was going to try to take the rest of their stuff, with her bat wielding buddy. I think they could be assets. Sean will be motivated to find a place he considers safe for his family. Kate can shoot. When we get to the farm, to keep everything and everyone safe, it’s going to be a numbers game. My vote is if we catch up to them on the road, we make the proposal.”

Russ looked around at the group. No arguments from me. I told you I could see myself in their position. Brian was nodding.

“I thought the same, Russ. They seemed to be doing the best they could, under the circumstances – at least, once we got them off the road.”

Yeah, walking down the road, out in the open, was easier, especially with little kids; however, it also made you an easy target for the bad guys. I was glad they had stopped to help them.

“I vote for bringing them in. All I can think is where we’d be if we didn’t have the preps we do. Those guys who keep coming back are just the beginning of what the dregs of society will be throwing at us. How will they protect those little ones? I vote yes.”

I had almost worked myself into a crying jag. Good grief, what’s going on? Oh wait – it was almost time for my monthly visitor. Great – just what I needed. Yes, I had prepped for that too.

Bob and Janet made it unanimous. Russ was a good judge of character – look at Brian. We had all misjudged him. Russ saw something the rest of us didn’t, when he saw him in a different situation. I trusted his judgement implicitly.

“Okay, now that that’s settled, we need to get ready to pull out first thing in the morning. It’s not bad out there yet, and given the loss of the houses up by the mall, I think we’d be better off leaving sooner than we planned. Those people will get here at some point. It’s the natural path from where they are toward town, which is the natural instinct for the uninformed. They think more people, more chance for help. The reality is what we know – more people, less resources, more danger. There are also still people out there who think getting to a city or town is where the ‘government’ will assist them in this crisis. Brian and I have been out twice, and we haven’t seen any sign of government, or law enforcement, or anything resembling authority. Another reason to go ahead and get out, before something like that shows up and starts ordering people around, or worse, confiscating resources for the ‘greater good’.”

Russ looked at me. “What’s left to go in the trailers?”

I thought for a second.

“Whatever food we have left in the kitchen, and whatever you guys need to get loaded. The clothes we kept out. We emptied the faraday cabinets of everything but the generators, and any big power tools you guys had, and got all that in. The rest of the guns and ammo – we didn’t load any of that. The chickens and rabbits obviously. We’ll also have the bed of our truck and the back of Bob’s SUV.”

When I said it out loud, it was impressive how much we had gotten loaded. It was probably 90 – 95% of the stuff. Apparently, from the smile on his face, Russ agreed.

“That’s awesome, Babe! That’ll save us a boatload of time! What do you think, Bob? An hour, two tops?”

“If that. With Brian and the boys for muscle, we can finish in no time. Great job, Ladies!”

Janet and I fist bumped and grinned at everybody. Yeah, we rock.

“Okay, then let’s get going with—“ A knock on the door stopped Russ. “Who the hell could that be? If it’s the Baxters, I’m kicking somebody’s ass.”

He pulled his pistol out and went to the door. Brian and Bob automatically followed with their guns drawn. Russ looked out the peep hole. He pulled back, with a completely baffled look on his face. We waited for him to tell us who it was, but he holstered his pistol, reached for the door knob, and opened the door.

On the porch was a woman who looked like she had been through every ditch and sticker bush in the state. Her hair looked like a bird had nested in it, her clothes were torn and filthy, and she had more cuts on her than I felt one person could have and not be bleeding out. She raised her head and looked in. Russ looked her in the eye and said one word.

“Marietta??”

****

Marietta Sampson was the epitome of a “rich bitch” in my opinion. She always had her makeup and nails done, never a hair out of place, even first thing in the morning. It was like she rolled out of bed looking like that. It wasn’t natural.

As I said in the beginning, I thought she had designs on my husband. She was one of those “touchy” women. When she talked to him, she would put her hand on his arm, give it a little squeeze. I wasn’t jealous, or threatened. My husband loves me, and I truly think he had no idea she was making passes at him. Actually, I kind of felt sorry for her. Widowed at 30 would suck. She seemed to be one of those women who needed a strong man in her life. Sorry Marietta, but you can’t have mine. Move along sister. But Russ had a soft spot for seemingly helpless women, so when she called, he went. I think he felt sorry for her, too.

Standing on our porch was a different woman. This woman looked like she had been through hell. She seemed to have nothing but the clothes on her back, but she turned slightly and I saw a backpack of sorts. Actually, it looked like a purse with strings instead of straps, and it looked like it was hanging on by only one or two of those. But then, I wouldn’t have expected Marietta to have a BOB. Her clothes were almost unrecognizable, but looked similar to jeans, a t-shirt, and a hoodie. Shoes that had once been top-of-the-line sneakers were caked with mud, no longer a fashion statement. There was not one trace of makeup, and her hair, the bird’s nest, looked to be pinned up in some fashion. This was a woman who had been on the road, for a while.

“Oh my God, Russ, I can’t believe I found you! I can’t believe you’re here! Everything went off, and I couldn’t call you to help me get it back on; and then I found out everybody’s went off, and no one came to help, not the power company, or the police, nobody. And people started breaking into houses on my street, and I was scared because I was alone, and I didn’t know what to do, but I knew I couldn’t stay by myself, so I got your card and a city map, and I figured out how to get here, because I knew you’d know what to do. I got some cheese and crackers, some dried meat, and some bottles of water and put them in this bag. I started walking a few days ago, and there were men out there, grabbing women and dragging them off to the woods, and I got scared again, and I ran to the woods, in the other direction, and I hid until the bad men got finished and left. I was afraid to leave the woods, but I didn’t know how to get here if I didn’t use the street, but I remembered the sun rises in the east, and on the map it was east to get to your house, so I stayed in the woods as long as I could, and ran when I had to get on the street. I had to run from bad men a couple of times, but I didn’t stop, because I needed to get here, to be safe. I slept in the woods, under leaves to keep warm, and there were bugs and mosquitos and it was awful. But I knew I had to get here, because you’d help me. I made it, so can you help me, Russ? I really don’t have anyone else to turn to, and I have nowhere else to go.”

I don’t think she took a breath through that whole thing. Bless her heart. That must have been hell. Then, as if we couldn’t be any more shocked, Brian spoke up.

“Marietta – er, Ms. Sampson? Is that you?” Now we all looked at Brian. How did he know her?

“Brian? Brian Riggins?? What are you doing here??”

So, they did know each other. We all looked to Brian.

“Ms. Sampson – Marietta – is a client. I’ve helped her with some estate planning.”

Marietta was nodding, and looking at Russ again. “Russ, can I come in? I feel very exposed out here.”

Russ gained control of his wits again. He hesitated, but then opened the door wider. “Yes, come in Marietta. Just don’t plan on staying.”

Marietta walked in with a shocked look on her face. I don’t think she expected Russ to respond that way. Of course, she didn’t understand that everything had changed since she last saw him. Well, she knew everything had changed, she just didn’t know how much he had. She stopped just inside the door, as Russ closed it behind her. She looked at Brian again, then back to Russ.

“I know I wasn’t invited, but Russ, I can’t go back out there, not alone. Do you know what it’s like out there? There are no police. Assholes are just doing whatever they want to whoever they want. The stores are all empty, there’s no food. I have nowhere to go. I can pay you, I have cash.”

Seems she understood a little bit of it. Russ looked at her and shook his head.

“What can I do with cash? Where can I spend it? You said yourself, the stores are empty. If cash will still buy you something, it won’t for long. I have to think of my family first, Marietta. I can’t take from them to give to someone else.”

From her perspective, he sounded like an asshole, but from mine, he was a hero. Nothing came before his family.

She started crying. “Then tell me where I should go, what I should do! I don’t know what’s going on! I don’t know what happened! I’m all alone!! Please, help me!!”

She half cried, half yelled. Brian stepped up. “Russ, can I talk to you a second? In private?”

Russ nodded, and the two headed out to the sunroom. The rest of us stood there, kind of awkward like.

I went over to Marietta. “Can I get you something to eat? Drink? Would you like to clean up a bit?” She looked at me with eyes full of tears, but assented.

“Yes, please – Anne, right? Russ talks about you and Rusty all the time. I haven’t eaten since yesterday. The food I brought ran out. I was metering the water, and it ran out a couple of hours ago. So, yes, food and water would be about the best things that could happen to me at this moment.”

I led her to the kitchen and fixed her some leftovers. I offered to heat it, but she declined.

“I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse, so cold is fine.” She all but inhaled the food, and acted like the glass of tea was the finest vintage wine ever. “Oh Anne, thank you so much. I had no idea cold pasta and iced tea could taste so good. Did you say something about being able to clean up?”

I smiled at her, nodded, and led her to the basin in the downstairs bathroom. I told her if she needed to use the toilet, just let me know and I would show her how to use the bucket of water on the floor to flush it. Believe it or not, not everyone knows how a toilet works. Another one of those things we take for granted.

She looked so grateful, I almost cried for her. “Thank you again for your kindness. I won’t be a minute.”

****

Brian and Russ went out to the sunroom and closed the door. Russ had a feeling he knew what Brian was going to say, that he was going to ask that Marietta be allowed to stay. Not that he was totally against it. Marietta was one of, if not the, best customers he had. In her own way, she had paid for some of the preps we had. He also had a newfound respect for the woman. Walking here, alone, with the clothes on her back, and some peanut butter crackers and a couple of bottles of water? Not that he knew she had carried peanut butter crackers, but he doubted she had much food at her house that was bug out worthy. She was definitely one of the last people he expected to see standing on the porch.

“So, what’s on your mind, Brian?” Russ sat on the edge of the table.

Brian started slowly. “Russ, I know you have rules about who comes into the group, and I’m very thankful you included me. I didn’t have nearly as many supplies as you all have, and I will be working to repay your kindness for years – maybe the rest of my life, since I’ll likely have one now. And I know Marietta, Ms. Sampson, isn’t bringing anything to the table, but I’d like for the group to consider bringing her in. She and I met at my office. I helped her set up some long-term investments with some of her inheritance, not that that’s going to do her any good now. We went out for coffee a couple of weeks ago. Turns out, she and I have a LOT in common. She grew up with nothing, like me. I was going to call her this week, to see if she’d like to go to dinner. The thing is, if we’d had the time, she and I could very easily have been dating in the not too distant future. So, my question is, if she had been at my house, when this all went down, would you have included her in the invitation to join your family?”

Russ considered what Brian had told him and what he was asking. It never amazes me how small the world can be.

“Well, Brian, there’s no knowing how differently this would have turned out had Marietta been at your house. Would you have been as open to what I told you in that situation, about what was happening? Maybe you would have approached us to take you both in, had you had her wellbeing to think about, too. Maybe you never would have come over that first day, so as not to appear weak, or less knowledgeable in front of her. I’m surprised you haven’t brought her up since this went down, wanting to go check on her, something.”

Brian looked down, face full of remorse. “I didn’t know her address. Everything was on my phone or computer. I didn’t think there was any way to find out. What were the chances you knew her, even better than me? And honestly, I have no idea how different the situation would have been had she been in the picture already. I hope I would have been smart enough to ask somebody what the hell was going on. I’m just really glad it was you.”

Russ smiled at that. “You know the decision is not totally mine. I need to talk to everyone, without Marietta there. Another mouth to feed and another life to protect is what it boils down to. We need to have a meeting.”

Brian looked hopeful. “Thank you, Russ. I want you to know that, if you choose to accept her, I will do whatever I can to pay both our ways. If that’s extra security duty, hunting for food, you name it, it’s done.”

Russ headed for the door. “I don’t think that will be necessary. Let ‘s get inside. If you’ll bring Marietta out here and fill her in, the rest of us can talk in the house.”

They headed into the kitchen. As they came in, we all looked their way. Marietta had cleaned up as best she could in a basin and at least gotten a brush through her hair, which was now pulled up in a much neater pony tail. Brian smiled at her and spoke first.

“Marietta, can you come outside with me?” She nodded and followed him out to the sunroom.

Russ motioned to the living room. “We need to talk. Come sit with me, all of you.”

We all filed into the living room. Russ shared Brian’s story with us. I was empathetic to his plight. Janet seemed to feel the same. We’re chicks – it’s the whole new love thing. We’re suckers for it.

Bob spoke up. “That would put us to eight. Not that we can’t feed that many, easy. I thought she was a hoity-toity, can’t break a nail gal. Is she going to be dead weight? Can she cook, clean, shoot?”

“I don’t know, Bob, but Brian said he’ll do whatever he needs to do to ‘pay’ her way. Brian has been completely loyal since the day he moved in. He hasn’t asked for anything from us. He’s stepped up, without being asked, every time we’ve needed him. I have no issue with giving him this one. Personally, I’m impressed as hell she got here. There’s obviously more to her than we first thought.”

We all agreed and voted unanimously to add another body to our household.

Bob offered another question. “Where’s she gonna sleep? I don’t think we should expect them to automatically ‘shack up’ just because they had coffee together. He’d have to buy me dinner first, for damn sure.” That cracked us up.

“Okay, Romeo, calm down. We still have the sofa in the living room, and it will only be for tonight. We are still heading out first thing in the morning. I think the time is now, before there are raiders and marauders on the road out of here. Let’s get them in here.”

Russ went to the door to the sunroom, opened it, and called them in. They both looked nervous, with Marietta bordering on panic. Again, I could commiserate with her. If I were in her position, I would be too. He brought them into the living room and motioned for them to sit. Once they were perched on the edge of the couch, he began.

“We talked it over, and if you’d like to stay with us, Marietta, you’re welcome.”

Brian broke out into a huge grin, and Marietta jumped up and squealed. Russ smiled, but motioned for her to calm down.

“I need to let you know the rest. We are heading out of here first thing in the morning. This place is not safe, and we’re not staying to see how bad it gets. We have a place to go, and you can join us there. We’ll probably be there for a long time. If that works for you, then we’re good.”

She was grinning, nodding, and trying not to bounce up and down like a little kid on Christmas morning.

“Yes, yes, yes! I’d love to join you all, wherever you go. Brian told me how you brought him in, and I’m so grateful you are willing to let me in as well.  I don’t have a lot with me, but I do have a few of my late husband’s guns in my other bag, with ammo. I would be more than happy to donate them to the community arsenal.”

Bob asked the question I think we were all considering.

“What other bag?”

We hadn’t seen anything with her other than the flimsy purse bag she brought in. She grinned and went to the door. Out front, she reached behind the boxwoods in front of the house and pulled out a big duffel bag that looked pretty loaded down.

“I didn’t know for sure if you would be here, so I didn’t want to take the chance someone else was here and might take this. I got most of his guns and as much ammo as I felt like I could handle. The bag weighs a ton, but it has rollers on one end, so I rolled it a good bit of the way. I made sure to hide it when I saw or heard other people, but I had this on me the whole time.”

With that, she lifted her jacket and shirt to reveal what appeared to be a Colt 1911. Damn, big gun for a little gal. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who thought so.

“Can you shoot that? Have you shot it?” Brian looked skeptical.

Marietta kind of smirked at him. “Yes to both, and quite well. Tim, my husband, made sure I knew how to load and shoot every gun he owned. I can’t tell you how many hours I spent at the range. The range officers said I was a natural. Oh, and I have my concealed carry permit, not that it matters anymore.”

Marietta turned out to be someone completely different than we had first assumed. While she wasn’t much for DIY and maintenance, she had experience and a history that could both be valuable in the days, weeks, months, and possibly years to come. I think Russ had another recruit for security detail here. She opened the bag and pulled out pistols, revolvers, a Mossberg 500 tactical shotgun, a 30-30 rifle with a scope, along with ammo for all of them. Not a lot – she was right about the weight. But all the guns were fully loaded, and she had at least one full box of ammo for each caliber. The guys’ eyes all lit up when she pulled out the case. Inside was a Desert Eagle 1911, stainless. Beautiful gun.

“I couldn’t just throw this one in the bag. It had to stay protected. It was his favorite.”

The sad smile told of the love she had lost when her husband died. I’d have to ask how that happened one day. Not today though. We had other things to do today. Sadly, that was getting ready to leave our home.

****

We spent the rest of the afternoon doing just that. They pulled our truck out of the garage and into the back yard. They put the rotor button back on Bob’s SUV. The trailers were hooked up to the vehicles and pulled out so we could get them open to put the rest of the stuff in. Rather than keeping them back against the fence, they set the rigs up so that all we had to do was load the animals and us in the morning, and head out. They did pull the distributor caps back off both of them, removing the rotor buttons again – redneck anti-theft practices in a post-apocalyptic world.

We loaded everything that was left from the cabinets. We loaded all the food we still had out. Tonight would be a buffet of anything we had left in the freezer. We kept two camp stoves out for heating multiple foods. We kept out instant oatmeal for breakfast, and coffee of course. Everything else was loaded up. We decided to use disposable dishes, so we wouldn’t have to worry about dish duty, and packed up the regular stuff to go. The trailers were stacked and packed as full as we could get them. There was no wasted space and very little left over space.

We didn’t have room inside for the bikes and Brian’s bike trailer, but the bikes were strapped to the top of the trailers, and the bike trailer was actually collapsible. They broke it down and put it in the back of the truck.

We had roof cargo haulers for both vehicles, and those were filled with clothes, shoes, linens, everything we had been using in the house. The sheets and blankets on the beds now would be stripped as soon as we got up in the morning, and added to the top of the pile. Yes, we had these things out at the farm, but it’s not like there was going to be factories making new ones any time soon. Same with the clothes and shoes – we were bringing a lot, but we had no way of knowing when, or if, we’d be able to get replacements. We had to plan for if not.

With everything pretty much loaded, we decided to get cleaned up as best we could. We didn’t know if we’d have trouble getting to the farm tomorrow, so it could be a while before we were in a position to bathe. We brought in the four sun showers. Four bags, with four gallons in each one for eight people – that’s two gallons a piece. That was going to be tight. Get wet, lather everything up, rinse off, and make it quick. Janet and I decided to heat water from one of the waterBOBs and do it the old fashioned way. We also made an offer to Marietta to join our “girls’ night”.