by A J Newman
We stopped before sunrise at an abandoned farm supply store on Highway 8 just off 45 for the night. There were no lights on in any of the houses, and we always had guards, so it should be another calm night.
Davi told me that her dad had contacted her and both exchanged statements that all was going well and so far, everyone was safe.
Aaron asked if we had found any groceries along the way and Davi replied that we had found some, but a bear ran us off before we could get our fill.
“Davi, I guess it gets kinda weird talking to your dad in code words.”
“Well, it used to be, but not so much now. Of course, we do have to change call signs regularly to help make sure no one is trying to pinpoint our position.
Dad and mom change up talking, and I use Ben to rotate up with me. I know how important the secrecy is so I don’t mind.”
“Well, I want to thank you for you for all your help. Most of us would be dead or slaves by now if we hadn’t met you.”
“Thanks. That’s what friends are for.”
Ally and I settled on top of our sleeping bags with mosquito netting above us. The further south we traveled the more the annoying little bastards tried to make blood withdrawals. The netting worked while we slept, but I wondered what we would do in South America when the insect repellent wore off.
“Darling, I was just wondering about our trip south and the diseases that we could encounter.”
I rolled over towards her and said, “Yes, we won’t have drugs for malaria, typhus or a dozen other diseases. Scares the crap out of me.”
“Zack, even if we stayed in the USA all drugs will eventually run past their usable lives. I wonder how far back this will set mankind.”
“I’m not sure how the rest of the world was affected. South America could be untouched.”
“I think that would be great, but will they want a flood of Americans, Canadians, and Mexicans flooding into their countries?”
“I guess we’ll find out in a few months.”
I was thinking about a most uncomfortable life in a Brazilian jungle when I fell asleep.”
***
I awoke to a gunshot and heard, “Dad, wake up,” being yelled at me.
My eyes opened, and I saw Callie standing over me.
“Dad, someone tried to steal some of our food and supplies.”
I bolted upright, wiped the sleep from my eyes and said, “What happened,” as I buckled my holster and grabbed my AR, Ally jumped out of bed and joined us.
“Some kids distracted us while someone tried to steal from the trailers. The kids were working too hard to get my attention, so I turned away and caught a glimpse of someone by one of our trailers. I asked Jacob to watch the kids while I checked on the trailers. The man saw me coming and pointed a pistol at me. I shot him.”
Ally asked, “What happened to the kids?”
“Jacob caught the smallest two, but the larger two ran into the woods.”
“Ben, Joan and Callie, check the trailers to see what is missing.”
I walked over to where Jacob had the two small kids corralled and found a small boy and smaller girl. They couldn’t be more than five years old.
“Jacob, it looks like you caught some master thieves.”
The boy replied, “We ain’t no thieves. Joe said we wuz just collecting taxes from people traveling on our road.”
“The road belongs to you.”
“No, Joe said it belongs to him.”
“Is he your dad?”
“No. He found us when some bad people killed our mom and papa. We work for him collecting taxes.”
“What happened to the bad people?”
“We never saw them. Joe said he run ‘em off. We were sleepin’ when they killed our folks.”
“Are the other two kids your brother and sister?”
“No. They were with Joe when he saved us. The girl is Joe’s wife, and the boy is her brother.”
Ben returned and said, “They only took a few packages of food. They dropped most of what they were stealing when Jacob and Callie surprised them.”
“At least we can be thankful that they weren’t very talented thieves.”
I caught Callie off to the side and asked, “How old were the other kids?”
“Dad, the boy, was maybe 15, and the girl was 12 or 13. I heard what the little boy said. That asshole is a pedophile. We need to shoot him again, maybe ‘bout ten more times. He has probably scarred that poor girl for the rest of her life.”
I walked back to the kids and asked, “Can you find your house where you stayed with the man, Joe?”
“Yes sir, it’s the next house on the left down that way.”
I hoped that we could catch the two teenagers and help them recover their lives, so I picked up my rifle and waved at Davi, Roger, Ben, and Paul to follow me to the house. We got closer to the house, but we were too late. There were tail lights a half mile down the road, and we could hear the engine roar as they drove away.
“They’re gone, but let’s check the house for other kids and maybe find what they stole from us.”
We carefully entered the house and cleared each room and the garage. There was nothing of value, but we saw signs that they had been living there for some time.
“Zack, the bastards are living like pigs. This guy was a filthy sumbitch.”
“Okay, there’s nothing we can do here. Let’s go back to the camp.”
We walked into the camp and saw Ally and Callie watching the two kids sleep. Ally told us they were brother and sister and their names were Johnny and Karen Swope. They are from Citronelle, Alabama. Their family was heading north to live with their uncle in Meridian when the bad guys killed their mom and papa.
The little girls head was in Ally’s lap, and she was stroking the girl’s hair.
Ally said, “These two will be okay. They never knew they were breaking the law and harming people. We can help them through this, and they will become good adults.”
I bit my lip and said, “We’ll check with a few people in Meridian as we pass through to see if anyone knows their uncle, but it will be lucky if we find him. Perhaps we can find a good home for the kids along the way to Mobile.”
Ally replied, “What if we can’t find good homes for the kids?”
I replied, “We have picked up one wounded man and five children this week. We simply can’t keep saving everyone in this screwed up world. We have to save ourselves before we can save anyone else.”
“You’re not proposing that we drop these kids off with the first people we see. Are you?”
I saw the look in Ally’s eyes and replied, “Of course not, but we can’t keep adding children, or adults, to a boat that we don’t even know the size of.”
“We can take two boats.”
Damn, she had me there, so I replied, “We need to find more food on the way, or these kids will starve on the trip to South America.”
“We need to find some ocean fishing gear. I heard the Gulf of Mexico has fish.”
I could only choke down my usual smart assed reply and said, “Yes dear, great idea.”
***
Air Force Base
Aaron and his wife checked out the military semis, and none would start. The batteries were dead, and there was no way to recharge them. He walked back to their truck and drove it over to where the semis were parked. He tried to jump start one from the truck’s battery, but the truck’s starter only clicked. He disconnected the trailer. Sharon checked each semi and discovered that every single one was an automatic shift…no push start.
“Sharon, let’s hook the jumper cables up to the semi and charge the batteries with our truck. It will take a while, but I’m sure it will work.”
While the batteries were being charged, they filled up the fuel tanks, five gallons at a time, from the fuel depot.
After several hours, Aaron tried to start the semi, and it cranked over a couple of times and then started.
He drove the semi and S
haron followed in their truck. As much as they hated the MREs, it still made sense to take them since they had years left on their shelf life and were much lighter than the can goods.
“I’ll back up to the trailer, and you be prepared to jack up the dolly wheels after the truck and trailer are hooked up. Keep your rifle handy in case someone gets nosy. We’ll both get the gear we need from the Hazmat trailer, load it up and drive away. The whole operation should only take ten minutes.”
“I’ll follow you until we find a place to load our supplies and gear into the trailer.”
“Let’s do it.”
Aaron drove straight over to the trailer parking lot and right up to the trailers with Sharon following. He started backing up to the trailer they wanted. He backed under the trailer, climbed out of the cab, locked the trailer to the semi and hooked up the air brake hoses.
“Lights came on in a couple of houses. We have someone’s interest. Let’s hurry.”
They opened the Hazmat trailer and quickly grabbed the hazmat suits, decontamination equipment, and signs. They loaded them onto the back of their trailer and quickly drove off.
Sharon followed him down Highway 373 over to Highway 50. They pulled off the road and into a deserted barn, they had found earlier that day. This allowed them to hide while they transferred their goods and prepared the semi for the remainder of their trip.
“Sharon, pull guard duty for an hour or so to make sure no one followed us.”
“Sure, I was heading outside in a minute anyway.”
Sharon left the barn, walked up to the road and immediately saw lights heading their way. The vehicle turned off the road about a half mile away and then a few minutes later headed her way again only to pull off the road again.
She ran into the barn and said, “There is a vehicle about a quarter mile east of here, and they appear to be searching for us.”
“Well, we’ll just have to make them sorry they made that decision.”
He grabbed his M4 and several extra magazines, then followed his wife out to the road.
“If they turn into the barn, kill them all.”
“It’s a shame they followed us. They could be sleeping instead of dying.”
The truck slowed and turned into the driveway to the barn and house. It moved very slow, then stopped in front of the barn and two men got out. They were armed with shotguns and pistols. There was no cover, so Aaron knew he had to shoot them. He aimed the M4, squeezed the trigger, and the closest man fell to the ground. He heard Sharon’s gun bark and the other man died as he fell. They dragged the bodies into the barn and Aaron parked their truck in the barn.
“I have an idea for these bodies. We will take them with us.”
“Damn, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Yes, I’m going to make small burns on their faces, and they will be our quarantined sick patients.”
“Great idea. A bit macabre, but should be effective. Let’s transfer our gear and supplies quickly. The locals heard those gunshots, and we don’t need more company. I’ll move the supplies while you prepare the semi and trailer.”
It took over two hours for Aaron to transfer their supplies to the trailer. He even had to secure a large part of it to the top of the trailer because he ran out of space.
Sharon finished her work attaching signs on the trailer before Aaron finished moving the supplies, so she helped him finish his task. They left their pickup in the barn and drove the semi south on back roads until they cleared the city of West Point and headed south on Highway 45.
“Darling, do you think I might have overdone it with the biological hazard signs on the semi and trailer?”
“You sure are scaring the hell out of everyone manning the roadblocks. The last man nearly crapped his pants when you stepped down from the truck in the full hazmat suit and offered to show him the patients in the back of the truck.”
Chapter 16 - The Boat
Safe House
Bayou La Batre, Louisiana
They drove night and day straight to Mobile, only stopping for restroom breaks and to get diesel fuel at an abandoned truck stop.
There was only one narrow escape at Meridian when an over eager policeman ordered them to open the back of the semi to see the patients. Sharon told him that Ebola was very difficult to treat and he ran off like a little girl when he saw the two bodies.
Upon arriving at Bayou La Batre, they immediately scared the few locals out of eight of their nine lives.
Aaron led the way to their safe house and drove the semi into a warehouse on a nearby property. Initially, the place appeared to be deserted, but a man walked out of a house down the street and waved at them.
“Mort, oh, my God it’s good to see you. Where is everyone?”
“I’m glad to see you too, Aaron. They all flew out of here two days ago, headed for Uruguay. The fact is that we didn’t have enough planes for everyone. People kept adding people who were friends of friends. We’re leaving as soon as possible.
The U.S. is being invaded, and it sure looks like Mobile is offloading troops and supplies.”
“Why did you stay behind?”
“Someone had to. I sure as hell hope you are still a champion sailor?”
“I’m sure I can still hold my own on a sailboat.”
“Good. See that mast sticking up above the houses?”
“Yes.”
“Well, you are sailing it to South America while I follow you in a motor yacht.”
“How big is the sailboat?”
“It’s a Beneteau 62 that we have added extra fuel tanks for the iron sail and extra water tanks.”
“How many horsepower is the auxiliary engine?”
“165 HP, you can cruise a long way on 365 gallons of diesel when the wind is calm.”
“How many people do you have here that need to go with us?”
“There are 10 of us poor Jews left here that, like the boll weevil are searchin’ for a new home.”
Smiling now, Aaron looked at Sharon and said, “Personally, I prefer an analogy of Moses, yet again in search of the Promised Land.
Then again, I do like Mort’s sense of humor…”
Mort laughed and asked, “When will your group arrive?”
“They should arrive tomorrow night.”
“Aaron, that’s cutting it very close. Boats are already landing in Mobile. If one warship strays over here we could all be captured or killed.”
“I can’t leave my friends.”
“Ok, ok, I get it, but we’ll have to sneak out of here at night. Don’t be such a mensch.
I see you drove up in a semi with Hazardous Biological markings on it. I’m guessing that’s how you managed to deliver a 53-foot trailer filled with food to Bayou La Batre without being robbed.”
“Yes, it scared the crap out of the gangs and police.”
“Perhaps we may have to tow a barge to take all of the food.”
“Sorry my friend, but most of it is MREs that we liberated from an American air force base. So calling it food is a bit of a stretch.
One of my friends arriving tomorrow told me that the letters M. R. E. really stand for Meals Rejected by Ethiopia. Oh well, what the hell, they do fill the void.”
“A hungry belly will grow to appreciate MREs.”
Aaron sighed knowingly, “Let’s see the boats and start loading so we can leave as soon as our friends arrive.”
Mort introduced them to the rest of the group before they started loading. There were eight adults and five children. All but two of the adults and one child were Israelis. The three had lived next to Mort, and he couldn’t leave them here.
Aaron made a mental note that there were 16 people here now and 20 to 30 arriving soon. He would ask Davi how large her flock was. They might need another boat.
***
“Angel, what is your ETA and how large is your flock?”
“Soonest, 16 hours with 24 sheep.”
“I have new coordinates.”
Davi checked her map and replied, “Add 20 minutes to that ETA.”
“Angel, speed it up. You may be arriving in a hot LZ. The wolves are close. Come in prepared, but as fast as possible. Be ready to depart this location as soon as you transfer your gear.”
“We’re always ready.”
The motor yacht was an older 80-footer with twin diesels that had been stripped of anything not necessary to get them a thousand miles to their new home. Beds, couches and game tables were tossed for cots and sleeping bags. Food, other supplies, and drums of fuel were stored on the open deck. The boat was ready to head out at a moment’s notice.
The Beneteau was the most beautiful sailboat that Aaron had ever seen, even with the cabins and lounge area stripped out to make room for cots and supplies.
Both boats were stripped of anything that added weight to the boat or reduced their ability to hold supplies and fuel. The once beautiful sailing ship now looked more like cargo ships on the inside. Aaron, a historian, was reminded of the Queen Elizabeth after being converted from a luxury liner to a troop transport in 1942.
They spent the day loading the boats with supplies from the trailer and mounting two SAWs and two, caliber .50 MGs on each boat. The .556 SAWs were stored on the deck but had mounts on the rails so that they could be brought to bear quickly. The .50 caliber MGs had mounts on the front decks, and they covered them with tarps. Mort and Aaron stored two Stinger missiles and five LAWs on each boat in case they needed heavier firepower. Mort placed several Russian RPG 9’s below deck in reserve.
The boats had no armor but could unleash hell on anyone trying to screw with them. They weren’t worried about military, naval ships attacking them once they got out of port, but pirates may be a huge concern.
“Mort, has there been any pirate activity around Mobile?”
“Yes, they began rearing their ugly heads shortly after the Navy, and Coast Guard pulled out and headed to Florida to help fight the Cuban invasion.
