Miracles

by Thomas A. Watson

  “This is the one we drive out on with the ATVs. It’s eight feet wide and the others are sixteen. This one was going to be six and the others twelve, but your mom said she would blow up my moat if I didn’t make the bridges wider and put a twelve-inch lip on the side so it wasn’t so easy to drive off.”

  Looking down in the water, “How in the hell did you get the current so fast?” Joseph asked, and saw the sides were concrete but the bottom was lined with gravel.

  “Twenty pumps. They’re all mounted on the inner wall, the wall closest to the house,” Arthur chided.

  Groaning, “I should’ve known that,” Joseph said. “It is wide, but it’s not really deep enough to stop an attacker.”

  “Oh, its first job is stopping critters, ants and rats to be specific, then dogs and coons. At the four corners there are sump traps to suck down insects and rodents. I’m going to put in a tank near the back, so we can dump fuel oil in and light it if human attackers try us.” Walking to the end, Joseph saw the bridge didn’t touch the outside ground. The lip extended over a foot past the moat but there was a four-inch gap. “Yes, there’s a gap on the big ones also. That’ll stop insects if the bridge is down. The second vehicle bridge is at the back on the road going to the textile barn. There’s another smaller bridge like this one on the west side.”

  “There’s my big man,” Wendy sang out, walking out the front door. She trotted over and Arthur was glad to see that. Reaching Joseph, Wendy put her arm around his waist.

  “I’ve seen the ants, but you think rats will be a problem?” Joseph asked, and felt his mom shiver when he’d mentioned ants.

  Nodding slowly, “By the end of September, you’ll see waves of them near towns,” Arthur answered, making mother and son shiver. “I’m hoping the fence will keep most from the valley, but I’m not going to hold my breath.”

  “We’re staying home in September,” Wendy informed him.

  “If we can, doll,” Arthur shrugged.

  “So,” Wendy beamed, turning to Joseph. “Should I tell Captain Becky Reynolds to put her stuff in your room?” his mom asked, giving Joseph a sly wink.

  Rolling his eyes, “Oh, Mom,” Joseph sighed. “She’s a friend I’ve known for a year and I’ve flown with her a few times when we worked with the Air Force.” The joy fell off Wendy’s face so fast Joseph felt bad.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  Feeling very weary, Joseph started. “Oh man, when I landed, I got orders to start ferrying troops from the Middle East and Africa to Diego. The Navy had ships pull near and load up. There just weren’t enough planes but what they could, they flew them stateside. It was two weeks after I talked to Dad, I was heading to Saudi to pick up troops when I heard Diego had confirmed cases of Rudolph. I radioed to make sure they wanted me to return and they ordered me to return with the troops I was picking up. Later, I found out they knew Rudolph was already in Saudi.”

  Pausing as he took several deep breaths, “After I landed I was grounded and the infirmary was already packed. They called all pilots that had been flying out of Diego to return and grounded us so we couldn’t spread it. It was two weeks later my nose started itching,” Joseph shivered. “I wanted to call but knew it was useless because we’d already been told phone service was shut down stateside at the end of March.”

  Wendy hugged Joseph from the side and gave a heavy sigh listening to her son. Several minutes passed before Joseph continued as he just stared into the clear water of the moat rushing past. “Three days after my nose started itching, I started coughing so hard I was spraying blood. I didn’t want to go to the infirmary, but I was ordered to. I had been on body detail hauling bodies out of the infirmary and didn’t want to go there. When I walked in, I saw them taking a dead airman out of this examination chair. One of the orderlies wiped it down, kind of, and grabbed me before setting me in the chair. I realize now that I was very lucky because there were people on the floor. The orderly started an IV and put a nasal cannula on me. That is truly the last thing I remember coherently. There’s a gap of sixteen days I don’t remember, just coughing and feeling like I was drowning.”

  Joseph paused and turned to his parents, “Remember Colton I introduced, the guy with salt and pepper hair?” he asked and they nodded. “He’s a doctor, civilian doctor that was on a base in Saudi. He pitched in and he filled in one of those missing days because he’s the one that literally taped me to the chair so I couldn’t slide out and lie down because I wanted to lie down so bad, I do remember that. But by then, he was sick and he lost days. Like I said, I’m missing days, but I was still sick and coughing up blood. I’ve never been so thankful you two were nurses. There was a cart beside me that held IV fluids. I knew how to change the bags and reset the pump. It was only infusing a hundred cc’s an hour but I kept hanging. I never left that chair, and it was packed with shit when I finally became coherent.

  “It was the second day I was in the chair before I lost track of the days. I heard people, and then saw the orderly and he told me the Navy was pulling all uninfected off the island,” Joseph stopped and had tears in his eyes. “There were two guys across from me, one on my right and a woman on my left, all in chairs. I watched two undo their IVs and lay on the floor, the others died in their chairs with their IV pumps beeping.”

  Pushing the images away and taking a breath, “I sat in that chair for eighteen fucking days till I wasn’t coughing out chunks of blood. I had to use my IV pole like a walker. I found Colton on the floor and somehow managed to pull him up and get him to my chair. I saw an IV in his arm and took one of the pumps from a corpse that was beeping. Stringing up a bag, I started his fluids and headed off, and everywhere I looked were bodies.

  “I found the bathroom and washed up. Oh man, I’ve never felt so funky in my life,” Joseph moaned. “Knowing I needed food, I walked my buck-naked ass outside and went looking for food. That’s when I saw one of the new body piles. When I reached a mess hall, I found some of the kids they had left and before you ask, no, the kids weren’t sick, but their dependents were dead and I guess they had no room on the last boat so the kids were left.”

  Shaking his head, “I got food and went back and changed Colton’s IV bag and put my nasal cannula on him because I couldn’t find any more. Then I found a lounge chair outside and put the back up and slept. The days dragged on and I kept checking on Colton till he was able to get up. The other adults we found in other makeshift infirmaries. It took another month before I could walk a hundred yards and not cough up a lung.

  “It was a month later when Becky and I went to the hangers and were shocked to only find a few planes on the entire base. The KC-130 I flew in was down for maintenance. That’s the only reason it was left behind. Those cocksuckers left us there to die. Becky and I started on the maintenance and the kids started wandering in from around the base and I got them to help. Then as people recovered, they left the infirmary and joined us. Routine maintenance that should’ve taken five days took us a month. Even then, Becky and I knew we couldn’t fly, so we started searching the base. The government may have left us, but we weren’t leaving any.”

  Out of breath, Joseph panted until he could breathe easy again. “Oh, I’m getting so much better, that out of breath even a week ago and I would have coughed up a lugie that could kill a man.”

  “Anyway,” he said continuing, “those that got off with me here weren’t all I found. There were three more adults and five kids that got off in Jackson, Mississippi. They were going to get off in Florida, but someone started shooting at our asses. Thankfully, we were almost done refueling, so we just yanked the line, jumped in, and hauled ass. I told them I would drop them in Mississippi. I did try hard to get the kids to stay, but they were all older. Two were seventeen, one sixteen, and the other two were fifteen. They thought they were tough enough to check on family and make it through. Why, I don’t understand because they could listen to the military bands at the chaos over here. But they didn’t and got off. The th
ree adults that got off, I wanted off. I told them I was flying to Canada to an airstrip in the middle of nowhere, and after we landed it was doubtful we could get airborne. They were ready to jump out. The ones here and all the kids, I told them that was just a story and I wasn’t going to Canada, but only Becky knew where the destination was. I know they were fellow troops and two were officers, but I wasn’t telling them where I was headed.”

  Reaching over and pulling Joseph and Wendy into a hug, “We are just glad you’re home, son,” Arthur said, and Nicole let out a whine as they squeezed her. “Oh, blue eyes, I’m sorry,” Arthur gasped, leaning down to Nicole.

  Watching his dad, “Okay, you’re making me feel, like, really guilty,” Joseph admitted.

  “You hear that, princess? You make Joseph feel bad for not giving up the babies.”

  “Told you we should’ve just grabbed a kid,” Wendy grunted as she hugged Joseph.

  “Dad, honestly, did you shave your beard for Nicole?” Joseph asked, and saw Arthur pull a bottle from his thigh pocket.

  Rubbing his nose to Nicole’s, “You bet I did,” Arthur sang out in baby talk, with a smile. “The princess didn’t like the stickers, did she?”

  “Okay, I’m going to knock up a girl,” Joseph vowed.

  “He promised you a brother or sister,” Arthur cheered at Nicole, making her wiggle in the carrier as she smiled at him. When Nicole settled down, he put the bottle in her mouth.

  Turning to Wendy, “I trust this isn’t for my benefit?” Joseph asked.

  Shaking her head, “No, and I want you to remember, your father says he shows no favoritism,” Wendy huffed.

  “Mom, do you know if Heather Turner survived?” Joseph asked.

  “No, why?”

  “She was a fu…” Joseph stopped. “Um, a special buddy. I need to drop by her place and see if she made it.”

  Rolling her eyes and not being bashful in the least, “Becky’s inside and she’s pretty,” Wendy scoffed.

  “Mom,” Joseph sighed, looking into her face. “You’d have a better chance of sleeping with Becky than I do.”

  Giving a groan, “Oh,” Wendy said.

  Cradling Nicole tenderly in the crook of his arm, “We need to head into town tomorrow and get beds and supplies for the rooms that the new people are in,” Arthur said.

  “I’ll be ready,” Joseph nodded, and Wendy took a breath to protest but never had a chance.

  “No,” Arthur stated flatly. “Son, I know you’re an adult, but I need you on heavy machinery as soon as you can.”

  Turning to Arthur, “I’m good, Dad,” he tried to sound convincing.

  Shaking his head, “No, son, and it really hurts me to ask but the day after tomorrow, I want you to try running some equipment,” Arthur told him.

  “I’m not saying! I’m telling you! Joseph is taking time off!” Wendy snapped at Arthur.

  “Wendy,” Arthur moaned, feeling a fight brewing.

  “We’re running the equipment to build the fence, asshole! Joseph needs to rest along with the people in his group!”

  Taking several deep breaths, “Wendy, I need Joseph to start on the lake. He can run heavy equipment and guide the others doing it from the cab of a dozer or excavator. This will move us ahead by months,” Arthur told her, knowing if he yelled, Wendy would get louder. Knowing his parents well, Joseph kept his mouth shut.

  “We’ll get to the lake so you can make hydroelectric power, but Joseph rests. If it’s that important, I can take some of the kids down and start the lake. They’re getting good and I can run equipment just as good as Joseph!” she finished in a yell.

  Leaning to the side and seeing Shawn walking across the yard, “Shawn,” Arthur called out and Shawn ran over. “Take Nicole inside to Little Momma so she can burp her.”

  Knowing that wasn’t good, Joseph took a step back but knew better than to leave. Wendy just looked at Arthur, not intimidated by the action. “We can’t stop the fence or take people off. It all has to be completed. I’m seeing too many animals that’ve been taken down by predators. Most are dogs, but I swear one cow looked like it was taken down by a large cat,” Arthur told her as Shawn ran back to the house.

  “Then we can do the lake after the fence,” Wendy growled. “Joseph stays in the house or I break your knees.”

  Giving a sigh, giving up on reason and committing to the fight, “God damn it, I know what needs to be done! I outlined this shit! We need power and we need it fucking bad!” Arthur bellowed, shocking Wendy only for a second. “We’re maxed out on our grid! All the animals we’ve brought in, all the water we’re having to pump, buggies to charge, new refrigerators and freezers, the list goes on! This moat alone takes ten thousand watts to run all the pumps! We need power and with the new people, we need it more! Think! I’ve had to run the generator to charge the battery banks every three days, now I’m sure it’ll be every other day! I’m telling you now, the moat stays running and we’ll shut down the greenhouses first! I’m not waking up covered in ants or rats!”

  “Our solar panels make 20kW a day and you have the little hydro generator at the side of the house!” Wendy screamed much louder than Arthur.

  “Yes, and we are fucking maxed out! Aren’t you listening?! That little hydro station only makes four thousand watts! That isn’t shit to what we’re using!”

  Taking a deeper breath to get louder, “Hook the fucking battery for your shop into the grid and you wouldn’t have to charge so much!” Wendy screeched with her voice breaking.

  “I connected it before you even got back, dumbass!” Arthur bellowed with his face turning purple. “It’s going to take months for the lake to fill up, so just listen for once!”

  “FUCK YOU! Just use the generators and we’ll get to the fucking lake!”

  Narrowing his eyes as he panted, Arthur spoke in a low trembling voice. “We don’t need to waste that fuel and this winter is going to be bad, so the animals, greenhouses, and fence are going to need much more power.”

  Putting her hands on her hips, “Oh, you can kick my ass but you have to sleep sometime, shithead!” Wendy barked.

  Throwing caution to the wind, “Guys,” Joseph coughed, but neither turned as they glared at each other. “You both have valid points, but Mom, we’ve always trusted Dad’s judgement and for the most part, he’s been right.”

  “You’re taking his side!” Wendy shouted, but never took her eyes off of Arthur.

  “Not really, but I don’t like seeing you two fighting the first day I get back,” Joseph reasoned.

  Curling her lip up in a snarl, “I can start on the lake and Joseph can take my place on the work crew. Why do you want him to start on the lake?” Wendy asked.

  Rocking his head side to side, “Because he can read and understand my diagrams,” Arthur snapped. “You make changes that are stupid, thinking it’ll save you time but end up costing me more time and headache to fix what you’ve fucked up. There’s a huge difference to your good ideas and you changing shit on the fly because you get a wild hair up your ass, never thinking out what you’re doing.”

  Glancing away as she thought about that, Wendy tried to remember once when her spur of the moment changes to Arthur’s plans had worked. Not thinking of anything offhand, she turned back to Arthur. “He needs rest,” Wendy finally threw out.

  “BITCH!” Arthur bellowed and that time, Wendy jumped back and brought her arms up to block. “If you think I WANT my SON to work after what he’s been through, you have lost your fucking MIND! I know he’s physically weak and his body is drained, but he can sit in a chair running machines. He just flew halfway around the FUCKING planet. If I see it’s wearing him down even one day, I’ll strap his ass to his bed myself and spoon feed him myself. I want us SAFE because this shit is going downhill faster than I predicted, and we need to be ready for the bad shit coming!”

  Sticking his finger in his left ear, Joseph shook it trying to stop the ringing. He wasn’t worried about the blows. True, he had s
een them throw punches at each other but all were blocked, and they’d even wrestled a few times. Dad had strength, but Mom was limber and had very sharp teeth. The only time he actually remembered blows landing was when he was ten and Dad had wrestled Mom down before bending her over his knee and spanking her butt rather hard.

  When he’d let Wendy go, Arthur had bolted out the door into a raging storm and knew Wendy wasn’t going to follow him outside. It was the storm that had started the fight.

  “Mom, I’m not stupid,” Joseph said. “If I can’t do it without getting weaker, I’ll stop. Did I just take off flying? No, I waited months till I knew I was stronger. Becky had Rudolph before I did and she was ready days before me, but I waited.”

  Dropping her hands, “I’ll take that,” Wendy said rather calmly.

  Looking from one to the other, Joseph nodded in understanding. He had seen that look in their eyes before. “I want you two to go for a walk. Just you two and no kids,” he told them. Very slowly, they both turned to glare at him. “I’m not kidding, if you two don’t go for a walk right now, I’ll become a monk.”

  The anger dropped off their faces in shock at the threat. “Go!” Joseph barked and pointed down the hill to the barn. Glancing at each other, Wendy and Arthur turned and headed for the small gate. “Hold hands!” Joseph barked and they didn’t. “We have a doctor here and I’ll get him to do a vasectomy on me now!”

  Their hands shot out to clasp each other. “Walk closer!” Joseph ordered when they’d reached the gate and they moved shoulder to shoulder.

  When they walked out of sight, Shawn creeped timidly over to Joseph, “Are they going to be okay?” he asked, really worried.

  “How long have you been here?” Joseph asked.

  “Right after this started in March, a few weeks before Momma, Ms. Wendy, got back.”

  Turning to Shawn, “Have they had any alone time? I saw tons of kids’ clothes and baby stuff in their room so I know they have kids in the bed, but have they been alone any time at all?” Joseph asked.