Tsunami

by Benton, W. R.

  “You may end up eating a lot of fish then, but I hope your fish are in better shape than ours. I went out on my dock yesterday and hundreds of thousands of fish were floating dead in the lake.”

  “So, you're still at home then? I think the impact of the rock, dust, and the earthquakes killed your fish.”

  “I intend to stay here if possible. When the rock hit California, I had two hundred foot waves from the lake strike my home. I thought we'd float away it was so bad, and I felt the whole house move on the foundation. Scared me, and Melanie started praying before we were even hit. My German Shepherd was washed away and I loved her to death. I've found no sign of her and I've looked all over the lake. I'd just put her out to potty when it struck. Then the earthquakes have shattered many of my windows and I have nothing on shelves or my walls. As the windows break I'm covering most of them with Marine Plywood. I'm cutting large Xs in the center of them so I can shoot from every window if I have a need. What a minute, are you in your SUV or RV?”

  “Neither, why?”

  “Do you think you could drive here?”

  “We have motorcycles and almost a full tank of gas in each. I think it depends more on the condition of the bridges than the roads. I'd have to drive about five to ten mile an hour, just to be safe. If I left for you, I might take 20 to 30 hours, and maybe more, to get there.”

  “I heard that the hungry folks are blocking the roads to take any women or food they find. That's another problem, food.”

  Dan laughed and said, “Food I have, and on the hoof.”

  “Huh?”

  “It's a long story but I have over 300 head of cattle and about 50 horses, so meat I'll have for a long time. It might be better if you came to me. What do you think?”

  “Let me talk to everyone here and I'll call you tomorrow at about this time. I won't move unless they want to go too. I think we'd live longer with you and I can see now why you're in the middle of the woods like you are. You stay safe, big brother, and know we all love you guys. Take care.”

  “We love you too, Gene. Take care and we'll talk tomorrow.”

  He turned his phone off and placed it in the charger. The spare battery from the RV was in good shape and he'd started charging everything every 3 or 4 days to keep things running well.

  “Baby, Gene and his family may be joining us because of the cattle. I think and he agrees we can live longer together and sharing the meat.”

  “We need more people here with us for safety. It would be easier to stand guard 24 hours with more men. How is your family?”

  “Of my brothers and sisters, they're all dead but Lynn and of course, Gene. Lynn stole a motorcycle and drove it to Gene's house. He's to call me at this time tomorrow to give me more information. I can't believe most of my family are gone.”

  “I need to call my family too, if I can get someone to answer but they're in California and hard to say if they moved inland before the asteroid hit. Mom is the type to stay and say whatever happens is God's will.”

  “Well, she's right, to a point. Only we need to save ourselves if we can, and that is a way to survive that may be the only one God gives us. I think God provides us with options to do things or not. The choice is ours, but each decision has repercussions. Why don't you call your family, while Dave and I circle the cows with the motorcycles and make sure none have wandered off.”

  “Okay, but both of you be careful. I don't trust anyone now and I'll shoot a stranger in a heartbeat. I mean killed and dead as all get out.”

  Dan kissed her on the cheek and then walked to Dave.

  Most of the cattle were safe and no one had been around them, but Dave's quick count showed they were four cows missing.

  “I count 296 cows, which means four are missing.”

  “We got off light, if that's all they took.” Dan replied.

  “Did you hear that?”

  “No, what did you hear?”

  “Sounded like mom yelling.”

  “Let's hurry back, we could have visitors. When we return, if all is well, grab the drone from the supply and gear tent. It's time we make it earn its keep. Circle our position and use it to help you stand guard. One we eat, your mom will stand guard as we build cabins. The RV is gone, so we need semi-permanent shelters. We'll make two cabins. One for you and another for us. Now, lets hurry back and see what the problem is.”

  When they returned they caught June making supper and she was all smiles.

  “Were you screaming?” Dan asked as soon as he turned his motorcycle off.

  “Yes I was screaming. It seems most of my family survived in Newburg, Missouri, but many were injured by the quakes. Two cousins are so bad they expect them to die any time now. But the others still live and some are not hurt at all. I spoke to my brother Tex, who had just got home when the Tsunami struck.”

  “Good, are they all still in the town?”

  “They are all at a camping site we used to have fun at maybe 20 years ago. Dad and mom, both of which are still alive, used to fish there with us kids. According to Tex, they are living in tents and feeding off the fish in the stream.”

  “They're not far from us, less than 20 miles for sure. Did you ask them to join us?”

  “Yes I did. Tex will give it thought and let me know in the morning. He's been forced to steal to feed all of them and he hates that.”

  “He's an honest man, but if given no choice, I'd steal too. How did John get the nickname of Tex?”

  “Because after four years in the Army stationed in Texas, he didn't come home after discharge and instead bought a house there. He and his family were visiting here when the asteroid struck. No way he could get home with the bridges as questionable as they are, so he stayed here.”

  “I could live in Texas, if things were back to normal again. Now I'm sure it's a real mess with things like they are.”

  “Well, I'm getting tired. Besides being scared to death all last night, I was understandably unable to sleep. Every little noise made me think the drunk was coming. I was kept tied to the bed, so there was nothing I could have done, if it had been him. I never want to experience that ever again. Very nasty and horrifying for me.”

  “I need to sleep now too. With you gone, I slept poorly and I was eager to be up and gone after you. I'm just glad, sweetheart, that everything worked out for us. We need to always wear a pistol and like you did, look for other things that can be a weapon if needed. A pencil, fork, butter knife, or even dishes can slow or stop an attacker. We all need to remember that.”

  Early the next morning, right at dawn, Dan was out cutting logs for their cabin. Thanks to the two chainsaws, which they'd not kept in the RV, they downed about 30 logs and then began trimming them of limbs. The work was hot and slow, or so Dave thought. June was high in an oak tree, searching for intruders, while their camera mounted drone was zooming all over the place.

  During an afternoon break, Dave asked, “This cabin makin' is pretty slow stuff, huh?”

  “Actually we're faster than most because of the chainsaws. Can you imagine what it must have been like to only use handsaws and axes to build a cabin?”

  “I can imagine, and I don't like that thought at all.”

  “How are you holding out, working hard like this?”

  “Pretty good today, but ask me that question tomorrow. I suspect tomorrow I'll wake up sore, but I'll still work.”

  Dan sat on a stump and said, “Tomorrow is when most of the hard work starts. We'll start laying logs and notching them to fit. I suspect we'll both sleep well for the next four or five days. Once the logs are in place and the roof finished, we'll start plugging the cracks between the logs with mud mixed with straw or dried grasses.”

  “I wonder why mom hasn't said anything about losing the RV to fire? That was a major problem.”

  “She was taken by those horrible men, so losing the RV wasn't nearly as hard for her as it was for you or I, because she is thankful to be free. While both were major emergencies, we had b
ackup supplies and we rescued her, but to her, her freedom came first.”

  “Dad, will I live my whole life like this? I don't like killing people, but they leave us no choice. Anytime I have to fight and it's me or him that dies, I'll try my best to make sure I remain alive.”

  “That's the right attitude, so keep it. I think at some time in the future you'll come down with PTSD and that is when you need to pull me aside and talk. Not talking can lead to suicide or a sense of no self worth, and we don't want that.”

  “Did you have it from the war?”

  “No, because I refused to personalize my war. I fully accepted that some people would be shot, some killed, and there was utterly nothing I could do about it either. People die in wars. They always have and always will.”

  “I see, and in a way that all makes sense to me. I feel the same. I will try my best to make the other man die and not me.”

  “Lets get back to work. We need to finish our tree trimming and then we can call it a day.”

  Chapter 18

  Matt was so angry that June got away, he'd threatened to kill everyone on duty when she'd been rescued by Dan. Isaac had convinced him that murder would not bring the woman back and no one had erred to start with. Dan had simply used a good approach against a much superior enemy.

  “If you're so concerned about the woman, lets all load up in the truck and fetch her back.” Isaac said.

  “She's not worth the effort or loss of men. I think over this coming month, I'll gather up around 200 men and take the cattle and horses as my own. Of course that Dan man and his son will be killed if nothing else.”

  “Which is more important to you, killing them or getting the cattle and horses to eat?”

  “Food, we can always get more women. 300 or so cows can feed a group like ours for years. If we only kill one cow a month we'll do well, very well.”

  “I'm going to the traders market tomorrow to get rid of some beef we have before it goes bad. Is there anything you need or seriously want me to pick up there?”

  “No, I need nothing, except for Wolf to be dead, him and his useless wife. You watch your rear-end at the market, because they want you badly.”

  “They'll be killed, just give us some time. They don't have many people there and we greatly outnumber them, or will once the new men are hired. As for the market, I'll do what it takes to survive. I'll even take a guard along.” Isaac grabbed his ball cap and moved from the door.

  “You see any guns or ammo, get all you can.”

  “I will.” Isaac said and then left the house in the pickup truck.

  He took two of the new men and once at the market, he had the two positioned to guard him, in case some of them remembered his truck and the white “pork.” He positioned his meat so it was with the best cuts out, so he'd quickly get rid of all of it in no time.

  An older woman, near 70 years old neared and then asked, “How much for the beef?”

  “It depends on what you have to trade and how much meat you want.” he said.

  “I have gold coins and they are one ounce of 90% pure gold. I need 10 pounds of beef.” She replied and then smiled at him.

  An ounce of gold was worth about $1,541 an ounce before the emergency, so it must be worth twice that now. Two ounces would be $3,082 and that's for sure enough for ten pounds of beef, he thought and then said, “I can give you 10 pounds of choice beef for the two coins, if they are solid.”

  “Check it if you wish. My late husband died when we could no longer get his blood pressure medication. He was an avid coin collector and you can determine if this is real by weighing the coins. These coins are not measured in regular ounces but in Troy ounces. A troy ounce is a bit heavier than a regular ounce. One regular ounce is 28.35 grams, while a troy ounce is 31.1 grams. So with two golden coins you're getting 62.2 grams of gold. If you used a standard ounce, you'd only get 56.70 grams of gold. The troy ounce is a little heavier, is all.”

  Taking the two coins from the old woman, Jones placed a drop of battery acid on both and then sat them aside. If minted of real gold the surface would show slight injury and it would be real gold under the small hole in the coin, but if fake, it'd burn down to the base metal underneath. Fakes were easy to determine and usually just by weighing with a postal scale, which he kept on the truck when he worked the market.

  After passing both tests, the woman said, “See, I knew it would pass. If you like silver, I have a lot of that at the house too.”

  “I'll take both gold and silver, but it takes more silver to buy with that precious metal than it does gold.”

  “That makes sense to me. Now, can I get my meat?”

  The old woman took her old newspaper wrapped meat and was moving away when two men neared.

  “See, I told you he was here.”

  “Well, I'll be. Mister Jones, you're not a very smart man, are you? You dare to show your face around here after selling human meat?” he said and then pulled out a 1911 .45. “Mark, run and get the others. They are selling veggies about a half a block down. Tell them I have the “Meat Man.”

  The younger man took off running hard.

  “What is this about?” Isaac asked, not liking the way the questions and conversation were going.

  “We have decided to hang you, if you ever showed back up and today is our lucky day.”

  “This is America, you can't hang me without a trial!”

  “No, it's not America, this is nothing. No one exists to make the laws or enforce them, so we are enforcing our laws with guns. You, you piece of garbage, have been sentenced to death by hanging.”

  “I think not.” The biggest of the two guards said as he flipped the safety off his AR-15 rifle.

  “You'll not stop us, and we will hang this man.”

  The guard fired once, followed by another shot from the other guard and the man fell. He fell with his pistol in his hand and after he hit the concrete, his arm came up and one of his shots struck the new threat in the face and other in the center of his chest. Both men fell as Isaac ran to the truck, started it and was driving away when a van pulled front of him sideways and the road was blocked. In the panic mode now, Jones began firing at everyone. Most he struck, but a few he missed and they all returned fire. Feeling a bullet burn through his chest, he staggered and leaned against the truck door as he placed a full magazine in his pistol.

  People were screaming now, with all of them wanting a piece of bloody Isaac, so they neared and fired again. He then stumbled to the van, and saw the keys to the vehicle in the ignition. He climbed in, turned the ignition and as the van started, a huge hand reached inside, grabbing him by the neck. Shifting the car into gear, he tried to get away, but the grip on his neck would not leg go. He pointed his pistol at the man's face and pulled the trigger. The large .45 slug took the man in the mouth and it exited out his right jaw, struck the cobblestone street, and then ricocheted into the crowd, where it pierced two people before stopping in the spine of the last victim. Firing two more shots into the man's face and head, he finally felt the man's grip failing. Just as the man fell to the street, an automatic assault weapon opened fire, sending a good five rounds into the door and then out, to strike Isaac in the side. The van crashed into a telephone pole and a group quickly surrounded him. He hurt so badly he lowered his pistol and when commanded, he dropped it. There would be no more fighting from Isaac Jones. Severely injured now in the chest and the side, he knew he was dying anyway.

  He was placed in on the bed of a flatbed truck. A rope was tied firmly around his neck and at the next light pole, the other end of the rope was thrown over and secured on the pole where the American flag usually was mounted.

  An older man neared from the crowd and said, “You, Isaac Jones, have been sentenced to hang by a group of your peers, for selling human meat for consumption. I'm suppose to ask you if you have anything to say, but I'll skip that for right now. I want to hang you before you bleed to death. Driver, when I tell you to, pull forward about ten f
eet.”

  “I hear you, Mister Green.”

  “Don't hang me, please.” Jones pleaded in a little boys voice.

  “Is the rope tied good in both places?”

  A man checked the tying at the pole, then jumped on the flatbed, and checked the noose around Isaac's neck.

  “Good to go, Mister Green.”

  “Driver, pull forward about ten feet now!”

  Suddenly, Isaac ran out of truck and fell hard. A loud snap was heard and his neck bent at an awkward angle. Not a sound had he made, and Isaac Jones was dead. His body twisted and turned as it spun on the stretched rope. His body quivered and jerked, but his neck was broken instantly, so he was dead. The crowed screamed in victory as Mister Green shot Isaac twice in the head.

  “Put a sign on him, “Sold human flesh as pork. He was sentenced to hang. Warning, don't let this happen to you.”

  An hour after dark a newly hired man returned from visiting his wife and asked to speak to Matt. Matt had him brought into his office.

  “You need to speak with me?” Matt asked from behind his oak desk.

  “Uh, yes sir, I do.”

  “What do you have that is so important?”

  “Your partner, Isaac, is dead, and hanging from a light pole near the market. He's been hanged and shot, which is how the people kill those who have wronged them. Half his head is missing and he bit his tongue in two. I counted two chest injuries and a shot in his side. He couldn't have lived after being shot like that. I hate to bring you bad news, boss.”

  Freeman laughed and said, “I expected it sooner or later. His greed got him killed today. Any sign of the two guards who went with him?”

  “They are dead and their bodies were thrown on the sidewalk near Jones. To make sure they stayed dead, both had their throats cut.”

  Reaching into his desk, Matt removed a bottle of whiskey and tossed it to the man as he said, “What is your name? The whiskey is yours.”