After The Virus (Book 2): Homesteading

by Archer, Simon

  He lay quietly on the blanket in the large crate, watching us as we prepped his food and water.

  “I wonder if he’ll paper train,” Jackie mused.

  “That’d be nice,” I replied. “Hopefully, he’ll let you clean out the crate each day.”

  “I have an idea about that,” she said.

  I sighed inwardly. Jackie had a lot of ideas, and not all of them were good ones. I wasn’t that fond, yet, of the coywolf, but I was willing to give him a chance.

  “What is it?”

  “Another crate,” she said. “It’ll probably be a few days before he feels well enough to move far, but I might be able to hook two of these big crates together and rig up a divider…”

  I nodded along. It wasn’t the worst idea she’d had. Something outside with a dirt floor was out of the question. Our guest would just dig under it, and with everything else going on, I really didn’t have time to build a more permanent run with underground wire or something to keep him from getting out.

  “I’ll pick up another crate tomorrow,” I said.

  “Help me drag the bed down?”

  “Sure.”

  We broke down the Roberts’ guest bed and hauled it down to the garage for reassembly. When it was finally done, I gave Jackie a rather pointed look.

  “Are you okay, staying here by yourself?” I asked.

  “I think so,” she replied. “Though I’m really going to miss you.”

  “I’m going to miss you too,” I said. “But I’ve got a lot of work to do if we want to pursue your big idea.”

  “I know,” she said with a smile. “This didn’t really help speed anything up, did it?”

  “Well, it did deal with the coyote problem. I figure the rest of the pack has scattered by now,” I opined. “Especially since Goldeneye was barely holding it together.”

  “I was surprised his pack was that mixed,” Jackie said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “That sort of thing can happen, but dogs and wilder things like coyotes or wolves tend not to get along nearly so well.”

  “He must have forced it for some reason locked away in that trickster brain,” I said, then shrugged. “I’ll make sure to bring you breakfast tomorrow.”

  “Don’t forget the occasional conjugal visit while I’m in the pokey,” she said, grinning broadly.

  “Sounds like a plan,” I told her, then took her hands, pulled her up off the bed, and kissed her like I meant it. We both were breathless when we drew apart.

  “Definitely,” Jackie said. “I think I need more practice before we try for a kid.”

  “You’ll get it,” I promised. “See you tomorrow.”

  The dark shapes of the cows were all lined up along the pasture fence, with the big bull, Bob, looming behind them as I walked out to my truck and paused. It wasn’t really all that late, but the world was dark, the sky overcast. I could see the lights of our farmhouse, though, in the near distance.

  At that moment, it really, finally, hit me that there was going to be no return to normalcy. Months had passed with no sign of any government or military assistance, and despite the CDC having contact with other groups across the globe, they hadn’t suggested that things were any different in other countries than they were here.

  I stuffed my hands in the pockets of my leather jacket, closed my eyes, and just listened. Without sight, my other senses picked up the slack a little, extending the range of my hearing, in particular. There wasn’t anything weird or supernatural about it. Primarily it was a way to trick the brain and focus past the human dependence on sight.

  A friend of mine over in Afghanistan had gotten me to try it during the times when we were stuck waiting, with nothing really to do aside from pranks and general troublemaking. People say the Marines are bad about goofing off during downtime, and they really aren’t lying, but the Army wasn’t much better, or worse, depending on your point of view. All in all, we were all a bunch of bored post-teenagers when you really got down to it.

  A couple of coyotes howled in the far distance, but I really doubted they’d be much of a problem now. What I really listened for was any sign of people. After dark was a good time to hunt, and we didn’t really keep watch at the farm. We could trust the dogs to warn us of any real problems.

  The dogs, though, were used to distant gunshots at night, so they wouldn’t necessarily alert us.

  I stood like that for about five minutes, maybe more, and just before I opened my eyes, I heard the faint, distant crack of a hunting rifle.

  “Whoever you are,” I muttered to the night. “Why don’t you come over. Maybe we can trade some things.”

  Then, with that, I hopped in my truck and drove back across the way to the farm. Angie waited in the porch swing for me and held out an open beer as I came up and sat down beside her.

  “Exciting day,” she mused as I took the offered drink and gulped down about half of it.

  “You could say that,” I leaned back and let out a loud, satisfying belch that made her giggle. “Where’s the doctor and the kids?”

  “Bed,” Angie replied, pointing towards the cottage.

  Inside the house behind us, Sasha started barking, then Charlie went off, too. The other dogs outside suddenly went on alert, and I looked around, scowling.

  “What now?” I grumbled.

  “They’ve been like that for the past hour,” she replied. “The little dogs bark, the pack all rouse up and go on patrol, then nothing actually happens.”

  “There’s someone around here, somewhere,” I told her. “We heard gunshots and found four-wheeler tracks at the trailer where we caught the coywolf, and I heard another shot just a little while ago.”

  “Maybe some backwoods survivalist or something,” she suggested, shrugging.

  “I’m not sure,” I said, taking another slug of my beer. “There were some guys, and even a few families, that lived off the grid out here. We had hunting camps, fishing camps, all sorts of places to just get the hell away from everything.”

  “Who the hell knows,” I continued. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it was somebody walking the rail after the trains stopped.”

  “What do you want to do about it?” she asked. Angie was an action girl.

  I just leaned my head back and stared at the porch ceiling and closed my eyes, thinking. I saw two options, neither of which I really liked. Maybe there was a third, which was, as usual, to do nothing.

  “Sleep on it?” I suggested, not opening my eyes.

  Angie leaned against me, her body a warm and comforting presence against mine. “Is that all?” She purred.

  “I’ve been getting that from Jackie, too,” I said. “Are you two in heat or something?”

  “Maybe,” she leaned in and nibbled on my ear.

  “I think I just need to relax,” I said. “I’m going in too many directions.”

  “Talk to me,” Angie said. “Maybe that’ll help you get things straight in your head. I’ll just listen, I promise.”

  “You don’t ask for much, do you?” I asked.

  “Henry, love,” she replied. “I am a chick who was badass enough to make it as a Marine. I don’t ask, I fucking demand, and I want it all.”

  I opened my eyes and looked sidelong at her. She leaned against me, her teeth glinting white with the reflected light from the kitchen window.

  “Yeah, yeah,” I said, smiling faintly. “You know I really can’t deny you or Jackie anything, right?”

  “I know perfectly well,” she replied. “I just wanted to make sure you understood that I’d play dirty if you didn’t open up.”

  “Oh, I know that quite well.”

  “Then talk to me,” she said softly. “Talk to Jackie.”

  “Alright, then,” I said. “Help me answer this question, then. How do I keep from turning this place into a fort? I don’t want to change it, but look at the trouble a bunch of wild dogs and coyotes caused us. We could tighten everything up, go full military and post watches, set traps, shore up our
defenses, and then sit behind them and watch the world go by. I watched that happen during my tour in Afghanistan, and I grew to hate it. There were positions that we pulled back to and just held. We didn’t do any good. We didn’t get out and help anyone.”

  “We just held the position.”

  I took a deep breath and sat up in the swing next to Angie, then drank a bit more of my beer.

  “I don’t want to do that. I want to create a home and a community, not a compound,” I finished the thought and looked over at her.

  “I like that,” she said simply. “It sounds like something worth fighting for.”

  I paused and studied her.

  “You’re right,” I said after a long silence. She’d cut right to the heart of the matter. I had gotten caught up in details and minutia and lost sight of the bigger picture. “We have a chance to build a better world, even if it’s a small one.”

  “Exactly,” Angie said. “Look at Jackie. She finds a bright side in every damn thing, and it’s annoying as hell, but in the end, she turns out to be right.” She shook her head and chuckled softly. “That animal is going to be her pet within the month, and she’ll have worked everything out with Suzy and the rest of the pack so that they put up with him.”

  “You’re probably right,” I said, then laughed and shook my head.

  “As for this place,” she said thoughtfully. “We need more people. You’re right about that. I just don’t know how many…”

  “Four or five would be a good start,” I said. “Right now, the four of us are having to juggle kids, caring for animals, and watching over this place and the Roberts’. Extra hands and eyes would be a hell of a boon.”

  “Would that be enough?” Angie asked.

  I nodded. “More would be better, of course, but I’m thinking minimums. Of course, that would clean out all the new blood Bruce managed to find for the CDC. Who knows, they might want to try farm life.”

  “It was a lot better than I expected,” she said with a smirk. “Probably because of the sexy farmer that I followed out here.”

  “Who is this farmer?” I asked incredulously. “How do I fill his shoes?”

  “Go inside and get a shower,” she told me. “I’ll show you.”

  10

  She definitely showed me, I thought as I stood on the front porch of the house, leaning on the wooden rail and drinking coffee. I’d left Angie tangled in the blankets and snoring happily. Despite everything that happened, I still couldn’t sleep late.

  The animals were fed, and I’d looked in on Jackie with a thermos of coffee, more sugar, almost, than liquid, and enough cream that it just looked like milk. I had no idea how she could drink it like that.

  “I’ll be down to the house for breakfast,” the young woman said with a smile.

  Goldeneye didn’t seem discomfited or anything by his new surroundings, sound asleep on a pile of blankets. She’d put the water and food bowls in there with him, and he looked fine if a bit sleepy.

  I’d nodded and grunted something to the effect of, “Love you. See you soon,” and trudged my ass back to the house. Two cups of coffee later, I was more awake and back to dealing with my usual rampaging thoughts.

  Every damn thing I wanted to do depended on bringing in more people. I was good, but I only had two hands. Same with Jackie, Angie, and Estelle in a pinch. The Amish could apply a bunch of people to raise a barn in a day. I’d seen the corps of engineers perform similar feats, and harbored a desire to achieve something similar, now.

  I yawned and rolled my neck to the tune of a series of satisfying pops. Hopefully, I wasn’t getting too old for the vigorous and sometimes acrobatic sex Angie and Jackie preferred. With that thought in mind, I arched my back and coaxed out a few more pops and cracks.

  Estelle, with Irene in her arms and Tommy following along, came out of the cottage. I waved to them and lifted my mug in salute to the doctor. She grinned back and ambled over.

  “Mornin’,” I said.

  “Good morning, Henry,” Estelle said, smiling. “There enough coffee for me?”

  “Should be,” I replied. “Jackie’s not here, and Angie’s still asleep.”

  “I’m not surprised,” the doctor opined. “She needs to sleep more regularly than she does, military training or not.”

  “Hi, Henry!” Tommy waved. He’d diverted from following Estelle and was playing with our dogs. All of them were running around frantically in a confusing game of chase that didn’t really seem to have any clear rules.

  “We’ve got to find some homeschool materials for that boy,” she observed after going inside and returning with a cup of her own. “He’s sharp, but I don’t have any sort of plan.”

  “I know that feeling,” I said, shaking my head. “The further ahead we get, the further behind I feel.”

  Estelle looked down at the baby she had tucked in the crook of one arm before sipping her coffee.

  “You’re doing fine,” she said. “I expect anyone around here, or at the CDC, will tell you the same.” Her warm, dark eyes met mine. “Now, I do have a serious question for you.”

  “Shoot,” I told her, then took a sip of my own, nearly empty, cup. What did she want to know, I wondered. My mind ran in dozens of different directions, including the possibility that Angie and Jackie had somehow talked to her about joining our little family. Hopefully, I was ready to give the right answer.

  “Are you taking care of yourself?” she asked, studying me. “You look like you’ve lost a little weight, and I would bet that you aren’t sleeping nearly enough, especially with those two.

  The doctor shook her head in bemusement.

  “I can’t imagine how you keep up with them, from the way they talk,” she continued. “I swear. All night, every night.”

  “It’s not like that,” I said with a nervous laugh.

  “Well,” she said. “Now, I’m disappointed.”

  I looked sharply over at her, but she was looking down at Irene.

  “You see,” Estelle continued thoughtfully. “Rumors run rampant, you know? The girls were suggesting that you might be able to handle a third, or maybe more.” Then she paused and looked out at the yard where Tommy had taken a break from playing with the dogs and gone to watch the goats.

  “They talk a lot, don’t they?” I asked.

  “Oh, indeed they do,” she replied, finally looking up at me with an enigmatic smile. “Indeed they do…”

  “Estelle,” I said quietly, reaching up to rub the bridge of my nose. “If you’d like to join our little collective, you’re more than welcome.” With that said, I smiled at her. “I’d been meaning to talk to you about it, but…”

  “Life got in the way?” she asked, smiling faintly. “You need to learn to relax. I about killed myself during my residency, until I learned that while I needed to work hard, I also needed to play hard.”

  “I play pretty hard,” I said, with a glance back towards the house.

  Estelle laughed quietly at that.

  “Invite me sometime,” she said, then looked down as Irene stirred and mewled. “I’ll see about getting some time off.”

  “I was thinking about making a run to Atlanta for supplies, pay a visit to the CDC in a few days,” I suggested.

  She nodded and smiled.

  “Sounds good to me. Try not to wear yourself out between now and then.”

  I watched her go inside with the baby, then looked out at the young boy.

  “Hey, Tommy,” I yelled. “Go inside and get some cereal. Try not to wake up Angie.”

  “Yes, sir,” the boy called back before pulling himself reluctantly from watching the goat. His little legs worked as he ran to the door, pulled it open, and hurried inside.

  I looked over at the field of solar panels glittering in the sunlight and reached up to scratch my growing beard. There was only one way to get everything done that needed doing, and that was to start. First, though, I needed to check a few things.

  Rather than go insid
e to fire up the main radio, I went out to my truck, started it up, and dialed in the frequency we’d chosen for communication between us and the CDC. Hopefully, it wasn’t too early for someone to be listening.

  “This is Homestead to Bug Town,” I said into the open mic. “Are you there, Bug Town?”

  Not a moment later, Bruce Gassler, expert survivalist and troubleshooter, answered with a chipper, “Bug Town here, Homestead, go ahead.”

  “I’m thinking about making a supply run, Bug Town. How are the newbies settling in, over?”

  “Honestly,” Bruce came back. “Not so good. Compound life doesn’t seem to appeal to them. Over.” There was honest disbelief in his crackly voice, and I chuckled to myself. Mister Gassler definitely thought that his chosen lifestyle was the best, although he was tolerant of the misguided.

  “Think a rural lifestyle might appeal, over?”

  There was a long pause before Bruce came back on.

  “You know, Homestead, it just might. Bring your sales pitch and your best smile. Over.”

  “Sounds like a plan, Bug Town. Any word on that shopping list? Over.” I said.

  “What’s your ETA, Homestead?” Bruce asked.

  “I reckon I’ll hit the road in about twenty-four hours, Bug Town,” I replied. “Think you can get me that list in two, so I can do the shopping? Over.”

  “Will do,” Bruce replied. “Call back at ten-hundred. Over and out.”

  The radio clicked one last time, and I nodded slowly to myself. He’d get me that list in two hours, but between now and then, I needed to see who I could recruit to help with the shopping. Considering that Jackie was playing veterinarian caretaker, and Estelle usually watched the kids, I suspected it would be Angie and me.

  I took a minute and set my watch. Bruce was a punctual kind of guy, and I was too. I got out of the truck and went over to check the battery. The charge was good.

  What should I do next, I wondered, letting my eyes wander over the yard. One of the older generators drew my eye, and I focused on it thoughtfully. The motor on it was a bit unreliable, but the alternator and the voltage regulator were good. I had plenty of parts.