Since the head man seems to be addressing me, I tell him they can go back where they came from, we are not giving them anybody. At first I thought it might be a setup, but the fear in the women behind us is very real. I can tell they are thinking about jumping us, but with Billy here even I would think twice and maybe three times before I start anything. Apparently since there are six of them and only four of us they think they have the upper hand. They rush us and I see what they are doing right off. They send two of the six to grab the women, while four of them keep us busy. It may have worked if the first four were a lot tougher. With Tim and my martial arts training and Billy’s great strength they are just no match for us. Even Rod who hasn’t had much fight training beats the crap out of the one that came after him. Tim and I both use our legs and boots to stop the first two dead in their tracks while Billy picks the first one to him up and throws him at the two trying to get to the women.
They are all down, so we make a hasty retreat into the trucks, taking the family with us and drive out of there. Going through town the trucks are hit by rocks, bottles, and pretty much anything they can throw, but they do no real damage besides maybe denting the sheet metal a little. On the way through town we are talking to the people we just met. Three of them are in our truck and two went with Billy and Rod. They tell us that they have been living in a town about fifteen miles south of the city. All the food ran out so they decided to walk to the city to see if there was any food there. They say they got here a few weeks ago and found food, but they also found those predators. They have managed to hide from them until today, when they saw our trucks they came out of hiding hoping that we would take them with us.
They ask if there is another town nearby where they can be let out, they don’t want to be a burden to us. I think they are almost as afraid of us as they were those guys back in town. I know I probably would be in their shoes. We tell them we would be happy to take them to the closest town, but if they would like they could come home with us and at least have a good meal before going on. We tell them about our family and how we happen to be here in Virginia. They are either very impressed or they don’t believe us, because they don’t say anything until we are almost home. They are impressed when we pull into the yard and everyone comes to meet us and help unload the trucks. Naturally the women want to get to know the young ladies we brought home, and they also want to meet the young man, especially when they find out he is the girls’ brother.
The older man and woman are the young people’s mother and father. They say they lived on a farm when they were young, before the war. They both say they never saw anything quite like this though and they never expected to either. None of them have seen electric lights since the war and even the parents don’t remember what fresh meat tastes like. We proudly take them on a tour of our farm. We show them the barns, the greenhouse, the winter wheat we have planted, and the meat freezer full of beef and pork. Charity and Dayna are very excited to get the herb seeds and everything else we brought back. Later in the evening, after a very nice steak supper, Tim raises the familiar groups on the short wave. The ones in Texas are doing well as are the ones in California. The group in Illinois says they are leaving tomorrow to head south. They took our advice and did everything we told them. They now have four trucks and a small bus to bring them all out of the cold and snow. We wish them luck and tell them to make sure they get on the radio when they get where they are going. They say they are shooting for somewhere maybe on the coast, like North or South Carolina.
In the morning I ask the new family if they still want to be taken into town and dropped off. The parents ask if it would be too much trouble for them to stay here with us. I can tell from the way they ask that they are afraid we will say no. I tell them I will have to ask the others and Dayna hits me for making them wait to be told they can stay. I do explain that everyone pulls their own weight, I tell them even the newborns do their part by making sure we don’t have any milk left to throw away. I get smacked again so I figure I will quit while I am behind. The father, whose name is Frank, asks me if we think we have enough wheat planted. I tell him honestly that we have no idea, but we kind of went by the instructions on the bag.
He says that it will probably suffice if we don’t have any problems, but he recommends we plant a couple more acres. When he volunteers to plow it and everything, we are more than happy to let him. He knows how to drive that tractor and what all the equipment we have is for. That makes one of us, he is as happy as he can be driving that tractor around that field. His son helps by moving large tree branches that are in the field so he doesn’t have to stop. The girls are helping paint the insides of the houses, they get along great already. Tim, Rod, Billy, and I go back to get the gasoline tanker and the propane truck to bring them back here for when we need them. We already discussed it and we will keep them across the road so that if something should happen, we will not be in as much danger from an explosion.
By the time we get back Frank has the field plowed and is starting to disk it, I hate a showoff, don’t you? Actually we are very happy to have someone who knows something about farming. When he gets done for the day he asks if we would mind if he starts getting the other fields ready to be planted in the spring. I tell him I was hoping to do that myself and he actually believes me. I have to tell him he can plow the whole state if it makes him feel good. For the first time we decide we should probably define the property that we are going to use. We know that there are a couple of houses toward town that are just a little over two miles in that direction. The other way there is nothing for about five miles. We take a walk through the fields and the woods behind the houses and guess that it is at least two miles before we even see another house and all of those are deserted. We cross the road and go at least that far before we find another farm.
Frank recommends what I am thinking anyway, he thinks we should put markers at about the one mile mark or halfway between the existing farms to be fair in case someone decides to do what we are. Since there is no real hurry to do that, we attend to more pressing matters like supper. We discuss it at supper that Frank is going to teach Rod, Dan, and Don how to plow and get the soil ready. There is plenty to be done so they can take turns while we, that being Billy, Tim, Ramona, Charity, Dayna, and I go to start taking down that metal building we found. The other men are staying home to make sure nothing happens.
Taking the building down is going to be slow going, at least getting the roof and the upper sections off. The women work on the lower sections while we work on the roof. We manage to get about a third of the roof off and the girls disassembled the kitchen walls portion of the building. We mark everything carefully and load it on the truck as we take it down. It is almost dark when we get home, but we can see that they plowed a pretty good section of the fields around the houses. Frank also showed the guys how to cut the deep grass in all the fields and bail it to be used as feed and bedding for the cattle. From the smell of it they learned how to mix water with the manure that is collected from the barns and spread that on the fields for fertilizer. Tomorrow is Sunday, but Billy, Tim, Rod, and myself agree that we need to get that building as soon as possible so we tell the others to rest for the day, but we are going to work on that building.
Dayna says she is going to stay home tomorrow, and along with several of the other wives, they are going to cook a pot roast with all the fixins. In this case that’s potatoes, carrots, and fresh homemade apple sauce for dessert. I forgot to mention that we found an orchard when we went for that walk through the woods and the fields. In the morning we get up early to get an early start, we are surprised when Eric, the new people’s son, and one of our young men, Todd, want to come along and help. They are a huge help because that allows two teams to work on removing the panels and then they can be handed down to the ground crew who mark them, then load them on the truck. By lunch time we have the roof completely off and loaded, we still have room for some of the wall panels, so we dismantle what we can car
ry of those, then head for home.
We have plenty of help unloading the truck. Then we eat the best meal that any of us have had for quite a while. Before we eat, Frank and his family stand and want to thank all of us for letting them become part of our family. We assure them all that we feel as fortunate as they do that they have joined us. The work they have done over the past few days has helped tremendously. That’s what’s so great about our family. We all appreciate each other for what we are. Not for what we think the others should be.
On Monday we are able to take down two full sides of the wall panels. On Tuesday we finish the walls and start on the frame for the walls. Frank and the farming team have plowed as much land as we can see from our porch. They have already done a lot more than I thought we would do. In talking with Frank we agreed that we should definitely plant at least twice what we will need just in case someone comes along who is also in need. It will also come in handy for barter if we find more settlements by the time the crops are ready. On Wednesday we have the entire building down and transported to our yard.
Since Monday, some of our men have been working on pouring a foundation and base for the building. One group stayed to work on the base, while the others went to the farm store in town to get more concrete mix. Frank has fallen in love with the farm store, there is so much he thinks we should get that we didn’t realize we can use it isn’t funny. He and dad have become great friends already. They work together all day, and then play cards or some other game in the evenings to pass the time. The wives always join them as well so it is working out great. They had to pour the base in sections because of its size. The first couple of sections are ready on Thursday morning so we begin putting the building back together again.
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We have found a couple of communication tools that I neglected to mention in my excitement about getting that building. We added an old fashioned triangle bell, like they used to show on movies that was used in the old west as a dinner bell. It works great. When someone rings it you can hear it almost a mile away. We also found out that we have nine citizens band base stations, one in each house, and our trucks now all have CB radios in them as well, so we can talk wherever we are. Around mid-afternoon on Thursday we are working on the buildings wall when we hear the alarm bell sounding rather urgently. It only takes a moment to see why. There are four trucks and a bus off the main road and heading for our yard. Several of the men already have weapons in their hands and our guns are only a few short steps away.
The first vehicle is a truck about the same size as ours, the driver stops on the road rather than pull in and sits in the truck with his passenger both keeping their hands where they can be seen. That’s a very smart move with at least twenty loaded guns pointing in their direction. Tim and I tell everyone to stand down, but to be ready just in case and walk up to the first truck to see what they want. The driver tells us they just came south from Michigan and just happened to see us as they were going by on their way farther south. They thought they would at least stop and ask if we know anything about what is farther down this road. They ask if their women and children can get a drink and stretch their legs for a minute. We tell them that will be okay, but please don’t start any trouble because they can’t win.
They say that starting trouble is the farthest thing from their minds. They are very much impressed with what they can see and would like to talk to us about how we accomplished all this. The people in the bus are getting off and are looking around. It appears without counting them that there are about thirty people in this group, there are more men than women, but they look like working men not predators. A couple of them look dirty and untidy, but that could just be because of the long trip. One of the other men goes by us and says hello cheerfully, Tim and I look at each other because that voice sounds familiar. Tim says something to him and then we are sure when he answers. This is the group we were talking to that said they were in Illinois.
“Is that you Chicago?” Tim asks the young man.
“South Carolina, is that you? What are you doing in Virginia?”
“I imagine the same thing you were doing when you said you were in Illinois. We don’t blame you, there are a lot of predators out there and you definitely don’t want to tell them where you are.”
He agrees and we talk to several of them about the things we have done here and the things we are still planning to do. The women seem to be getting along fine and everyone is impressed with what they see. They ask if there is anywhere near here where they may be able to settle. I don’t waste any words telling them what will be expected if they move close to us.
“You are all more than welcome to stay in the vicinity, there is a farm about two miles from here that would fit you all nicely, but I have to warn you that we make our own law here. We treat each other with respect and everyone pulls their own weight. We have no trouble with any of our family members and we won’t tolerate it from anyone else either. As long as you remember that we will get along fine.”
They say that’s all anyone can ask for and want to know where the farm is that we are talking about. Tim, Billy, and I, along with our wives, show them where the farm we are talking about is. We have looked this place over and it is pretty much like the farm we have, but only has four houses in the group. There is a windmill that has blown down, we tell them we can help them get settled and show them the town where they can get a lot of needed supplies as well. From the looks on most of their faces we can tell they feel like we did when we found our farm, they have come home. The women say there is no time like the present to get started cleaning, so with the help of our wives, they start sweeping and cleaning the houses out. We help the men put the windmill back up and reinforce it with some heavy piping we found in the barn.
By the time we get that done it is just about supper time so we invite them back for supper and tell them if they would like the men can sleep in one of our barns and the women can sleep in a couple of the houses. One of the dirty looking guys asks me if we don’t trust them.
“As a matter of fact, I don’t trust anybody that I don’t know. If you don’t like the sleeping arrangements we have offered then go somewhere else. I couldn’t care less where you sleep, but if you get caught in the yard or around one of the houses at night, every man here will shoot first and ask questions later.”
The rest of the group says it sounds more than neighborly to them, the barn will be much better than the places they were living in up in Michigan. Some of the people say this is the first time they have seen electric lights. Dayna and some of the other ladies in our family show off a little and get out the record player and play some music for our guests. They ask how long it will take to get the windmills hooked up so that they can have electricity. We assure them that unless there is something drastically wrong with the wiring, we should have it hooked up tomorrow. They can hardly wait for that. We spend a very pleasant evening getting to know each other. Just in case though we set up watches from among the men to make sure no one tries to take advantage of anyone.
We are relieved when nothing happens and in the morning we greet our guests with a bacon and wheat pancake breakfast. We found some recipes for breakfast sausage, but we don’t have the spices we need. We are planning to try to find some when we go to town again. We get an early start on their windmills and have the two of them working by mid-afternoon. Dad helps them get the pumps for the wells working and the women have the houses just about spic and span by supper time. They come back to our farm for supper, but leave to go to their home shortly afterward. They seem like very nice people except for the dirty two, I asked Ryan, alias Chicago, if he knows those two well and he said they are just different. I will take his word for it, but we will all be watching for anything out of the ordinary.
On Monday I go back to work on the building with the rest of the guys working on this project. We hope to have it done this week, some of the guys are working on the wiring and plumbing while we work on the walls and ro
of. Everything is going well, it is Thursday and our neighbors have been here for a full week now. We have some of our people go over to help them out and Billy, Tom and Frank, took them to town on Tuesday. While they were there they picked up another truckload of food including the spices we need for sausage. Our neighbors got a truckload of food and a bunch of stuff from some of the other stores as well. For some reason I get a feeling that something is wrong. I used to get these feelings when a mission was going sour or something wasn’t as it should be.
I am working on the roof of the new building fastening down the sheet metal when I decide to see what may be bothering me. I noticed Jessica and Jenny heading into the woods a couple hours ago and they very seldom stay out this long. I ask a couple of the men working in the barn closest to the woods they went looking for chickens in and they say they saw them going out, but haven’t seen them come back yet. I decide to go looking for them. There are a lot of things in those woods that can hurt you very badly. Look at what happened to Dan when that bull charged them. I am about two hundred yards into the woods when I hear someone running through the woods sobbing loudly as they come. I run to meet them and it turns out to be Jenny. She is totally out of breath from running and is openly crying almost hysterically. I take her by the arms and ask her what is wrong.
“Those men from the other farm were in the woods, when we started walking toward home they chased us and mama fell down. She told me to keep going, but those men have her and they already said they were going to rape both of us when they were chasing us.”
2nd Earth: Shortfall Page 11
