I partially agreed. “You’re probably right, but let’s not assume it wasn’t. Every one of us needs to keep our ears and eyes on our surroundings.”
Vikas said, “Tempest, you don’t talk or act like the normal girl. Much is different between you and other girls I have met here in the U.S.”
I didn’t know how to reply to his statement, but John jumped in.
“Tempest isn’t a normal girl, and thank god for it. Her Dad—…, Sam would’ve married her off to whoever might benefit him. She would’ve grown up stupid and uneducated, but her blood wasn’t his and because it wasn’t, rebellion brewed in her heart.”
Bella chimed in. “Tempest has a good heart in a distracted sort of way. When she’s aware of her surroundings and not daydreaming, she knows what’s right or wrong, what’s helpful or not.”
Preeja said, “She is what you say, ‘A Hard Cookie’, and I—.”
“She’s ‘A Tough Cookie’,” Vikas interjected.
Preeja smiled at him, “Yes, the tough cookie. With her, I feel safe. Sometimes in my mind, she is taller than I am, but she is not at all tall. I think also that on her we rely too much, take the advantage of her because she does what must.”
I said, “Hello, I’m sitting right here. Look it, I’m doing what I can to make things get back to what I wanted to begin with, a place on land of my own where I can be with nature. Study and get to know everything about it. I even thought of going to college for it, whatever it’s called, but I’d have to deal with people. I’ll settle for the land.”
Bella said, “Leave Tempest alone so she can eat her breakfast while it’s warm. We haven’t given her a moment to sip her coffee.”
I smiled my thanks to her. I didn’t know where half of what they were saying was coming from. I knew I had a few quirks, but sometimes I felt like a normal girl.
************
I reckon not having me to talk about ran them out of anything else to talk about. There followed the quietest time ever spent at a table with them, but the moment I lay my spoon beside my empty plate, Preeja had a fresh cup of coffee for me.
Returning to her seat, she said, “Now we will know what is happening beyond the rock road.”
“Gravel road,” Vikas supplied.
Preeja made a face at him. “Yes, beyond our rocky, gravel road we would know.”
I told it all, from meeting Missus Smelts to the barricaded community. I told them of the scattered dead and the piled up dead in Henderson. Telling of the boy chewing on a dead persons arm brought exclamations of disgust.
“Yeah, that was freaky, but he was starving and sick and didn’t know any better. After that, I’d had enough, started for home. Then I remembered Billy telling me that veterinarians used the same kind of medicines as human used. I went to the one just west of town, the one that is in a house close to the lumberyard.”
“I know it,” Bella said, “Doctor Robbins. We took out dog there. Poor Boxy’s buried in our backyard. Tempest, there was enough meds in the bags to last us a couple of months, some of them longer.”
“That’s good because he said not to come back for more. Like everyone else I met, he was ready to shoot me.”
Preeja said, “First the bombs blow up the cities and now the virus is everywhere. What comes now, the poison in the air? What is wrong with humankind that we do this?”
John answered her, “Humankind has been killing themselves throughout history, but now we have the means to do it wholesale. It was only a matter of time until we used those means. Humans have a built in ‘Death Wish’.”
“More like built in insanity.” Bella stood from the table. “I think I’ll go lie down. When do you think we can move back to our house?”
No one answered… Then I saw faces waiting for me to respond. I wanted to shout… Jesus crap almighty damn, how in the hell am I supposed to know… but the faces didn’t want that from me.
“I don’t know. I’m worried about the gang of survivalists near here. If it wasn’t them who checked out your house, they will sooner or later.”
“John said, “We should post guards at night.”
I shrugged. “We should post guards twenty-four hours, but to what purpose, an early warning that we’re going to be robbed, murdered, raped. What we need to do is… What we… Crap. I need to find that gang of bastards before they find us.”
Bella didn’t chide my cursing. “And do what when you find them?”
I gave the answer she knew was coming. “Kill em before they kill us.”
Those words came from my mouth. Yep, humans have built in insanity and I have my dose. I’m going to find them, but I’d be damned if I was killing them by myself. Once I found em, I’d try to enlist the men at the community to help with that part.
John cleared his throat. “Those men aren’t survivalists; they’re nothing more than marauders taking advantage of those they consider weaker. Probably weekend warriors from the city talking big and doing little to prepare. Even so, we’re ill prepared to take a group on. Bella and I get to huffing and puffing with any exertion. Vikas and Preeja have never handled firearms, and they have children to care for.”
I agreed. “I am thinking more along the lines of finding their headquarters and talking some of the men at the blockaded community to help.”
John cleared his throat again. “I remember something. Bella and I were having breakfast in town a month or so ago, Remember Bella, at the Market.”
I knew the Market, a diner inside a convenience store was a place where mostly old people gathered to eat and gossip.
Bella still stood where she was when she first left the table. “I remember. Those men in the booth beside our table were talking about a group of men… they called them preppers. The men rented some land for hunting and target practice.”
John nodded, “Yeah, but preppers could translate to survivalists. I remember they said the land they rented was the old Forest Ranger Station, the abandoned one that sits on a hill.”
I knew where they were talking about but checked to be sure. “Is it the one with the fire watchtower over on Rock Hill Road?”
John nodded, “That’s the one, but it’ pure conjecture on our part that that group is the ones who attacked the community. The station is nearly twelve miles from here.”
I did a quick calculation. “That’s a six hour walk. I reckon I’m up for it, but not for a couple more days. There’s a blister on my right heel with a scab. That comes loose and I’ll be right back to limping.”
Bella said, “God forgive me for wishing them dead, but if they are the gang maybe the plague found them… John, you’ll walk with me. I need my bed.”
Preeja called to her children. “Sunia, Sunil, Your Father and I will be outside. Before your games, for you the dishes and cleaning, please, the leftovers go into the refrigerator.”
Turning to me, she said, “Vikas has ideas on his mind. It is pleasant outside for conversing, don’t you think?”
“It is nice, much better than the last few days.”
Vikas stood. “Let us bring our chairs.”
In the yard of their cabin, sitting in a three-corner circle, Vikas voiced his ideas… well his, wants and concerns.
“I think first it is more of the solar panels we need. The past days clouds and the ice on the panels prevented the charging of the power station. Two times, the power drain from the refrigerator caused it to shut down because of low charge.”
My mind flashed to several homes not far distant that had rooftop solar. “There are a few places where we can possibly scavenge panels. I say possible because it will depend on if the residents of the homes are dead or missing. Let’s hold off on those for now until we are sure we can take em.”
Preeja said, “It would be welcome to have power for other things. Electric blankets are preferable to tending the charcoal stove at night. A bread machine and other devices for the kitchen will make meal preparation easier.”
Vikas voiced a concern. “S
oon it will be time to think of planting the garden. Near here are no clear places. By the road are spaces, but I feel you will not want such exposure.”
I gave that a nod. “We won’t be planting here because we won’t be here when spring comes. Anytime I’m out I’ll be on the lookout for an isolated farm, one not visible from a road.”
Preeja made an odd noise. Her following words made me think it an Indian version of ‘Whoop’. “It is we will not be with the small house. That is well to know, to make plans over. The little house has blessed…, No, the little house blesses us, but to have more space is better. A husband and wife need privacy.”
Vikas continued with concerns. “To move to another place where we can farm is good for something else. We need more than us to work and to guard. Always I worry someone with bad intentions will come whom we do not see in time. When we make the move it will be well if you discover other people to join with us.”
I could see my dream of living alone in a cabin in the woods, evaporating. Short of abandoning people I had grown to care for, I was stuck.
Answering Vikas’s concern, “I understand your fear. One thing we should do today is try to make the trail we’ve made from the barn to here not so obvious.”
“How can we do that?” Vikas asked.
“Mostly just spread leaves and other natural debris in the ruts so it doesn’t look recently used, maybe move a section of a fallen tree to make it seem blocked. We’ll take care to make what we do look natural.”
Vikas agreed. “Yes, let us do that today. I have much worried since you found the footprints at the vehicles.”
“Will you need my help?” Preeja asked.
“Only if you want to; Vikas and I should be able to get it done in a few hours.”
“I think not. Today is warm for a washday at the stream. Our clothing needs attention, as do the children.”
Now that she mentioned it, my clothing and my body needed attention. Dang it, now I felt stinky and my underarms were sticky. I couldn’t remember when I’d last bathed. The stream and I had an afternoon engagement. Standing, I said to Vikas, “Let get to it and we’ll probably finish before noon.”
It took us a long while to disguise the trail. At first, we tried using leaves from near the trail, but all that did was enlarge the disturbed area. Carrying armloads from farther away was laborious and time consuming.
Another thing we discovered was simply tossing the forest debris directly on the ground made for an unnatural appearing cover. Tossing it into the air and letting it fall gave a better result. We had nearly seventy-feet of trail before it entered the trees and curved. By the last twenty-five feet, we were sweat drenched and worn out, but we labored on.
Standing at the curve, we looked back at our effort. “Do you think we need to put the dead tree across the trail?” Vikas asked.
“No. We did such a good job, I hate to change anything.”
He agreed. “It does not appear recently used. I think it is well done.”
At my cabin, I gathered my dirty clothing and soap. I had towels and facecloths, but what the heck, a tee shirt would serve as a washcloth and other clothing for a towel. After I washed my body, my clothing would get a good scrubbing.
From my time wandering the WMA I knew of a deep pool some distance from the cabins. The day was warm, but not hot. The water in the pool was not chill, but freezing cold. Once in, which took a plunge rather than an easing; I had to force myself to take time to wash. Dipping my head to scrub and rinse was pure torture.
Maybe the cold water addled my brain, or maybe I just felt good being naked in the woods, but I made a goofy mistake. When I finished, I found that I had washed all of my clothing and had nothing dry to wear back to the cabins.
Entering the clearing, carrying my basket of wrung out clothing and wearing wet jeans and tee shirt that clung to my skin, John and Bella, sitting in folding chairs soaking up fresh air and sunshine, cast questioning stares my way.
My chattering, “Yeah, I’m stupid,” probably didn’t satisfy their curiosity. Inside my cabin, I stripped, wrapped up in a blanket and lit kindling under a pile of charcoal in the stove.
It took a long time to heat the space comfortable enough to string a line to dry my clothing. I strung another line over the stove to quick dry something to wear.
Sitting in a chair, soaking warmth from my heater, I almost fell asleep thinking how nice it felt to be naked. When my dream of a lonely cabin in the woods came true, I could be naked anytime it pleased me.
I had to fade from my daydream. The reality was that my dream of being alone with nature was on hold for the immediate time.
The thought that followed struck my mind a blow It wasn’t expected, but it revealed that deep-down I must have a… I fought the word problem, but that’s what it must be. The thought that bothered me was “I will never realize my dream until all threats are nullified.”
Perhaps Billy had too much of an influence on my thinking. ‘Nullify threats’’; Translated; Eliminate em, take em out …, Words substituted for kill em.
That’s what I discovered resided in the back of my mind concerning the gang that attacked the community. They represented a continuing threat in our area. I had decided to investigate the Ranger Station, determine if the gang resided there and if so, find the means to kill em all.
The years spent, absorbing Billy’s worldview had become mine. Billy; “People say things aren’t black and white. Important things don’t have grey areas. An insult is an insult. Theft is theft. Cheating is cheating. Lying is lying.”
On the surface, he was correct, but going deeper, perhaps there are grey areas. Murder, yes murder plain and simple was the decision I’d made. Is an insult an insult if it reveals a truth? Is murder ‘murder’ if you’re killing murderers? Lying, heck, that was my middle name, lying when it suited me. There were levels of lying and I knew em all.
Billy was wrong. Life isn’t black and white. To survive one must weigh action and reaction. I thought about my murders. The man in Lexington, I shot him based on Vikas’ affirmation that the man would shoot. Sam and his gang… fuck em. They came armed to take what wasn’t theirs.
Billy, “If you need to draw you weapon, shoot to kill”. It would’ve pissed Billy that I wounded the man at the Amazon parking lot. In that situation, a man with a weapon threatening us was a man I should’ve dropped rather than wounding, but at that time, the unrecognized warrior inside of me wasn’t so strong. Now I felt the presence of the beast bent on survival. I wanted the gang out of our area and couldn’t rest easy until they were.
Strange thoughts, but stranger still was recognizing that I was in every sense of the word, a little girl. I’m five-foot-six and weigh maybe a hundred-twenty pounds, but I feel big, not small. I feel strong, not weak.
It came to me that most people feel small and weak, but I am sure the gang members feel strong, strong because of weapons and numbers. I am stronger because people will mistake my age and size as someone to minimize and misjudge, not consider a true threat.
My mind went back to the overheard conversation near the community. I have an excellent memory. I pulled up the names; Bob, the leader of the survivalists, Brent, a member of the group; Roberto, the leader of the Memphis group that didn’t meet up with them.
Those names gave me an idea as to how to get the gang, but first I needed to locate them. If they weren’t at the Ranger Station, it might take a few days, but if they were still in our area, I’d find em.
I reached to touch my jeans hanging over the stove. Finding them damp, I settled back into my chair, warm and comfortable in my nakedness. This time I did fall asleep. Strong I may be, but strength doesn’t keep nightmares of flesh eating children at bay. I woke, muscles clenched, sweating in the chill of a cabin with a dead fire. At least my clothing was dry.
************
The deep blister on my heel took four more days to heal. The weather remained unseasonably warm for January. Vikas and I used the
time to stockpile firewood for the cold that would return. I had grown to respect Vikas. He was a hard worker, loved and spent time with his children and adored Preeja.
Tomorrow I will leave to check out the Ranger Station, but today, another firewood day, I was the chainsaw operator, Vikas, the axe-man. Cutting firewood is two minutes standing to fell the tree and then thirty minutes bent over in awkward positions to cut the trunk and larger limbs to stove length.
Taking a break to stretch my sore back, I watched Vikas work. His lean brown form swung the axe, chopping smaller limbs from the tree I’d fallen. Shirtless, his muscles rippled as he worked. I decided that he was a good looker for sure. Preeja had a good man.
Shifting my attention to the children loading the rounds from a previous tree to wheelbarrow to our splitting block, I saw that they had muscled up as well. Good food and hard work in the outdoors builds health, and it showed in them.
John and Bella, armed; him with his shotgun and her with a pistol sat in folding chairs watching for encroachers, but mostly they watched us work. They couldn’t do anything about being old and in ill health, but they did what they could.
Preeja was inside their cabin preparing a meal. Yesterday at breakfast, she’d voiced concern that our supplies would last only another month. Later that day I enlisted the children to help me load the trailer with the rest of my supplies hidden under the hay bales in the barn. We should’ve moved them sooner. If the temperature had dipped too far, the canned goods would have frozen and burst.
The children insisted on unloading the trailer. When they finished stacking the load inside their cabin, Preeja’s concern for supplies had vanished, replaced with wondering where to put the mounds of boxes, cans and buckets. Preeja is a squealer. Discovering several cans of dehydrated shrimp brought a good one from her.
Vikas finished the tree and came to stand with me. “This work is different, delightful, better than what was Amazon. Sometimes I envy you the freedom to go where you will, but not so much. I would miss my Preeja.
I’d never considered cutting firewood “Delightful”. I would’ve chosen peaceful, but him having voiced it, it was a delightful way to spend a rare warm day in winter.
Tempest of Tennessee (Episode 1): Tempest of Tennessee Page 13
