Tsunami

by Benton, W. R.

  Dan's hand, still on her shoulder, gave her a big squeeze and then went back to eating.

  “Jonas, how long do you think a single steer will feed all of us?”

  “That's impossible to say, maybe a month. I know how to make jerky out of the lean cuts of beef, so we can save some against hard times. The jerky can be used in soups or stews, as long as it slow cooks.”

  June grinned and said, “I have a slow cooker in here and we have two tanks of propane, so the stove will work for a long time. I also know how to cook on an open fire, so I'll keep us in good meals. Dan, what is on the agenda tomorrow?”

  “These two will start on our fences and I'll be cleaning out the sand from the carburetor on this beast. I found sand all over the engine block and I'm sure the air filter is clogged.”

  “That doesn't sound serious to me.”

  “It's not if that is all that's wrong. If sand got in the carburetor bowl, I'll have to take it apart to clean it and that will take some time.”

  “Do we still stand guard?” Dave asked.

  Dan grinned and asked, “Do you think we need to?”

  “Yep, because we don't know who our nearest neighbor is or if anyone has followed our tracks.”

  “You’re correct, so we'll continue with a guard. We'll all sleep in the RV, but the guard will be outside. In the event someone comes near, alert us. You can knock on the door. Obviously if they attack us, fire at them and we'll know we have bad guys coming to visit.”

  “Oh, you'll hear me, my shotgun is loud.” Jonas said.

  “I want Dave on the first shift, then Jonas, and June on the 3rd shift, while I'll take the last. The last shift is when most will attack us, if they seriously want to overrun us. However, tonight I expect it to be quiet, because I don't think our nearest neighbor is even close. But, we'll assume the worst and keep watch. I think tomorrow we'll start building some cabins too, but under the trees, so we're hard to see from the air.”

  “Huh? No one will be flying airplanes, fuel is likely used up.”

  “What about the small drones?” Dan asked.

  “Oh, wow, that never entered my head.” Jonas said.

  “We have one too, or did, in the RV here, but I've not used it in a year or so. I think I can find it tomorrow. It has a camera and it has a huge flight radius too.” Dave said and then grinned.

  “Cool,” Jonas said, “I can sit in the RV tomorrow and use the drone to help me stand guard. I can't fly it to the farm, but I can look on our back trail and see if anyone is looking for us.”

  “I don't think those two idiots from Rolla are looking for us, because they're probably still licking their wounds. We lost two people in that fight, so I know they lost many more, because the attackers always get their clocks cleaned, even if they win. I'll bet we killed five or more of them. But, no, they're not up and moving around yet, so let's hope they stay that way for a while.” Dan said.

  “I'm going to make the bed here and need you three to get up. Once I have the cushions down with the blankets, we need to get to sleep. I suspect we'll all be up at dawn, since we have so much to do, so let's get a good nights sleep. Remind me in the morning to put many of our supplies and gear in a shelter outside of the RV. If we lose this place, we'll lose everything in it too. I never keep all supplies in one spot. Separating our stuff may save our lives one day.”

  “Mom's right, so I'm going out to pull my guard duty. I'll be back in two hours to wake you, Jonas.”

  Jonas stood and said, “I need to use the bathroom before I go to sleep or I'll be up to pee in an hour or so. I'll walk out with you.”

  After the two boys left, June said, “They've really changed. They're good young men and they'll be even better fully grown. Jonas knows we have a bathroom in here, so I suspect he wanted to talk with Dave about something.”

  “Young man talk, I suspect, but they’re both good to have around. If I was alone, the job of keeping us in food and safety would be a full time job. I know if we'd not met the Bakers, we'd be needing food before long and I suspect I would have stolen what we needed. A man with a family to feed will do anything to care for them. That's why I feel sorry for those that don't have much.”

  “I can understand that. Everyone knows stealing is bad, but when you have family crying from hunger, well, desperation can change a good man into a bad one, and in less than a day. I suspect many people are dying attempting to protect what they have or getting what they need.”

  Dan yawned and replied, “I'm heading to bed. I'm tired, and today was rough.”

  “I'll be there in a few minutes. I have to break the table down and turn it into a bed for the boys.”

  Dan nodded, stood and walked toward the bed. Usually, before the emergency, he'd shower every evening, but no longer. Times had changed and water was not as available as before. Now he showered when he was dirty.

  The bed felt good on his tired back and he stretched out, feeling the coolness of the sheets. He moaned in comfort and then before he realized it, he was asleep.

  Chapter 15

  Dawn found Isaac and Matt talking in the kitchen as a two beef steaks cooked in a big cast iron skillet and eggs in another. A man everyone called Alice was cooking, and he used to own a restaurant. His name came from his ability to cook anything as well as a woman, and he did an excellent job, especially when compared to the other men. He also kept the damaged house cleaned and in good shape. While some thought he was gay, Alice, his real name was Andy, wasn't. The name had been given to him years ago by his now deceased wife, Joan. They'd been married 25 years when Joan fell ill one weekend and by Monday morning, she was dead. An autopsy indicated brain cancer had killed her, but she never had a symptom until the weekend she died. He'd noticed she didn't remember well, she ate poorly, and she lost weight, but at the time she was dieting, so weight loss and eating little was the norm. He was concerned about her memory, so when the family doctor said memory loss was normal for people her age, in her low sixties, Alice had forgotten about it.

  Then, when the world as we know it disappeared with the asteroid striking California, he’d been left homeless, his home of 40 years gone. An early quake had torn his home to pieces and left him to sleep in the street. Even his shed and garage were gone, victims of the quakes. So, when Matt discovered the restaurant owner was without a shelter, he hired him to cook for the men.

  “So, what about the farm?”

  “I'm sending two men, Larry and Bill, to scout the area, count the people there, and to bring back other details they may find important.”

  “I think if we don't take that place this next time, we need to leave it alone. I know we have close to a 100 men, but we don't need that many, unless you intend to take the whole town over.”

  “By God, I might do just that.” Matt answered and then grinned.

  “Nothing much here. If we could steal some horses from the farm, we could raid other towns and take what we want. It would be like in the old days, when Jesse James rode through here.”

  “I've given that some thought. Just stealing the women alone would make it worth the effort.”

  “Have Bill and Larry look for horses while they are there. If they're going all the way out there to have a look see, let them look the animals over too. I saw close to 50 horses when I was there last time looking around.”

  “I'll tell them. So, Alice, hows the meat holding out? The beef.”

  “I have enough until the end of the week and then I need more, if y'all want to keep eating steaks like you do now.”

  “How muck pork do we have?”

  “Thanks to the generator you have, we have about two weeks of real pork too, and not some the white pork Mr. Jones was selling around town. They're still looking for you, Isaac. One day, Isaac, if you're not careful, they'll corner you and then introduce you to the short end of a long rope. They are terribly mad at you. One woman killed herself because she went crazy when she discovered she'd been eating humans.”

  Jones
gave a dry laugh, but the thought of hanging made him shudder. Hang? He thought and shivered.

  “Here's breakfast for both of you. One steak and three eggs, with two biscuits. I can't give you anymore than that because it's all rationed.”

  I understand, and this is a lot more than most people are getting.” Matt said, as he picked up his steak knife.

  “I think,” Matt said from around his steak as he chewed, “You need to go with Bill and Larry, because you know what you and I are looking for. But, I don't want you to take any risks. Anything that might be risky, you have one of those two idiots to do the job.”

  “I can do that. Also, instead of taking the truck, I bought three small motorcycles yesterday. All three are dirt bikes, 250 CC, and they'll work fine on a mission like this. They're cheap on gas, and we can leave individually in the event we are spotted and go three different ways. I'll use them today.”

  “Good, that's real good. The only problem I see is the noise they make, but maybe after this ride, you can fix the exhaust system to be quieter.”

  Isaac grinned and said, “I'll speak to Daniel Stock, he got 'em for me and I only paid him 50 pounds of beef for all three. I'm sure if I have beef, he'll get them to make less noise.”

  “Go, because we owe that farm, and every person there will die a slow death, if we take any alive.”

  “Charles, I want you and Henry to come with me.” Isaac said, then grabbed his long gun and strapped on his sidearm.

  Thirty minutes later, the three turned their motorcycles off on the hill above the farm. They watched for an hour, using binoculars Jones brought.

  A flash of bright light brought the loud crack of thunder. Looking west they saw a storm moving toward them and all three put on ponchos.

  Finally, Isaac said, “I don't see any movement down there, do either of you?”

  “No, nothin'. Maybe with this rain storm coming they're all in the barn.” Henry said.

  Charles eyes narrowed as he said, “Something isn't right. I don't see anyone either, but the RV is gone and I don't see any animals around, except for a bunch of chickens. Ya reckon they might be gone?”

  “Gone for how long? Forever or just for an hour or two?” Jones asked.

  “I think we need to check it out, see if they have gone, and then gather up all the chickens we can carry home on our motorcycles.”

  “We'll near the place and check it out. If we don't see anyone or any movements, we'll go in and check it out. Let's go.” Jones said and then started walking.

  Less than 100 feet from the place, two old dogs began barking as they ran around the barnyard. They'd obviously been trained not to leave the farm. When Jones stepped from the brush, the two dogs ran right for him. Henry raised his double barrel shotgun and fired twice, killing both dogs.

  “Well, if anyone is here, they know we're back again. We wait for a while.” Isaac said and then thought, I need to use these two to check the place, like Matt said. It won't help us much if I get killed.

  After about an hour had passed, Henry asked, “Can we check the place out?”

  “You two move forward as I cover you. Take no chances, but we need to know if they're here or not.”

  Charles gave him a mean look, but said nothing.

  The two men moved forward quietly, and minutes later, they arrived at the barn. Looking around closely, Henry said, “Let's go inside and keep your guns ready at all times. They could be gone, but I don't think that has happened. Be safe and take no chances.”

  “Okay, I'll take the right side. Let's go.” They both heard a loud clap of thunder and then rain began falling on the tin roof.

  Ten minutes later, the barn cleared, Henry called out, “Isaac, the barn is clear!”

  “I'll be right there.” Jones said and began moving for the barn.

  “I think they’re gone for good. The tack room has been ransacked, no animals around except those chickens, and I found two big puddles of dried blood in here. I think during our last attack we killed at least two of them. There is a cemetery on the hill behind the house. I suggest we go there before we get too excited about finding this place empty.”

  “Yep, if we killed two of them that lowers the odds a great deal.” Jones said and then added, “Before we go walking to the cemetery, let's walk back for the bikes. We can then ride to the graves and then back here. We'll look this place over well, then go and let Matt know what we found.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Henry said.

  Charles scratched his beard and then added, “I'll stay here until you two return. Then I'll go get my motorcycle. I think now that we're here, we should protect this place, since we're the new owners.”

  “Good, we'll be right back.”

  *****

  “So, the farm is completely empty of people? How many horses and cows did you notice?” Freeman said as he poured two glasses with whiskey and handed one to Isaac. He picked his glass up and took a drink. He then sat in his chair.

  “We saw no horses and no cows, but the RV left the farm moving toward the National Forest and they'll be impossible to find in there. They may have turned off before they entered the woods, but the rain had washed their tracks away.” Isaac said and then gulped about half his booze down.

  “It's possible they took the horses and cattle if they did leave for good, we won't know that for sure until we move there and begin looking the place over. Any tracks will be washed away after this rain. I don't see them going into the National Forest, but that doesn't mean they didn't go there. Right now, we need to move to their barn and get organized. Some people don't need others to survive.”

  “So, you want us to relocate there?”

  “Yep, it's safer for everyone. Safer especially for you. They have increased the reward to 100 pounds of beef for you. The cows or horses may be hidden on the farm someplace and we'll need to look the whole place over closely, once there. How many chickens did you see?”

  “I didn't count them, but a good three dozen or so.” Issac said and then thought, a 100 pounds of beef for me is a lot, so I need to watch myself around the square in town. Some men would turn their own mother in for that much beef.

  “Good. That will be a welcome change from beef or pork.”

  “I left Henry and Charles there, so we could keep control over the place in case the RV returned.”

  “Smart.” Matt said, “Let's move and do it now. Alfred, you and some of the boys load everything we have here and take it to the farmhouse. I'll ride out with Isaac, as a passenger on his motorcycle, so you can start loading the truck now. Make sure all of the furniture goes with you. I want nothing left behind and you'll have make a few trips to get the job done. On your last trip, bring all the men out with you.”

  “No, problem, boss, I'll see it's done.”

  “Oh,” Jones said, “They buried old man Baker and a woman by the name of Carol, but she was the young daughter of one of them, I think. We saw their graves were freshly made and they were both in the cemetery. Some wood from the old barn was used to mark their graves.”

  “That should only leave two men, a boy, and the one man's wife.”

  “The last name on her marker read Wolf, like the animal. Carol Wolf, daughter, born 2009, and died, 2027.”

  “Okay, so we'll assume one family of them is named is Wolf. Anything else?”

  Grinning, Isaac said, “While I'm gone I had the men kill two chickens and start roasting them on a fire. By the time we get there, it'll be time to eat or close to it.”

  “Good, my last chicken meal was over two months back. Chicken will be good for a change.” Standing, Matt grinned.

  “You ready?” Jones asked.

  “Yep, let's move then.”

  *****

  Matt found the barn and farm strange and he had the feeling he was yet in serious danger. For some reason, the security of the men guarding and the simple fact no one was found deeply concerned him. He felt like eventually the people would return. He sent his men
out in all directions, scouting and looking for Baker and his friends, but not one man so much as discovered sign they had passed through the area. That in itself was strange, but knowing he'd done all he could do, he then sent the men out looking for cattle or horses; the mounts could be eaten if times turned rough.

  They were having coffee a little after dawn when one of the men scouting returned and said, “I have a general idea the direction they moved when they left here. I found some very faint horse hoof marks in the dirt. It's about 3 miles from here, only I can't guarantee they moved that way very long. We'll have to follow the tracks and hope we see when they change directions.”

  “What's your name?” Matt saw the man kept his blonde hair and beard trimmed short and his blue eyes spoke of intelligence, and his posture indicated he'd been in the military at some point in his life. He was of average size and weight, meaning he was thin. He estimated the man was in his mid-30s and he looked to be a leader to Freeman.

  “I'm named Clay, sir. Wilson Clay, and I'm a newly hired man.”

  “Mister Clay, you just earned you a permanent man or woman, if you want one.”

  “I'm not into men, so a woman will suit me. The tracks are fine, but faint. The last rain almost washed them away.”

  “Where were they headed, using the last tracks you saw?”

  “Deeper into the woods. They were making a straight beeline to the Mark Twain National Forest and at one point I thought I saw the tracks of the RV or a large truck, but I'm still not sure. It rained hard, the last rain did, and there is little sign of them left.”

  “Take ten men in the morning and try to find where they are. If you can, grab one of them and return, so we can asked them a few questions. In no cases, except to seriously protect yourselves, do I want you to get into a firefight with them, understood? I want you in and out, fast and unseen.”

  “I'll do it and no one, except the one we take, will know we were there, if we can grab one of them. If we can't get one, no one will know we were there.”