by N. C. Reed
“If all three of these routes prove impassable then we will return to base,” he finished. “Sorry Samantha,” he offered.
“It is what it is,” she shrugged.
“It's starting to get light outside, so let’s get spun up and ready. Ideally, I'd like us on our way by the time we can see well enough to travel. The Cougar will lead, followed by the Beast, then the second truck, and finally the Hummer. Everyone has their assignments, yeah?” Heads nodded around the room.
“Okay then, let’s make this happen.”
Ronny had volunteered to drive the second truck, as he had experience with large rigs, and Clay had readily accepted. It let them leave another experienced soldier behind for security at the farm.
Clay would lead in the Cougar with Zach Willis driving and Victoria Tully on the gun. With him would be Samantha, Gordy and Corey Raynard. Ellen Kargay and Tandi Maseo would follow in the Beast, with Ronny and Kade Ramsey in the second truck. Jose Juarez would bring up the rear in the Hummer with Nate Caudell and Titus Terry.
This arrangement would leave Jody Thompson and Mitchell Nolan behind with Heath Kelly. With Greg Holloway and his class being present that should be plenty if anything happened, especially when combined with everyone on the farm having been trained to use a rifle. At least Clay hoped so.
Clay looked at the sky and noted that the dawn was creeping up. He climbed aboard the Cougar and keyed his radio.
“Bossman up.”
“Beast up,” Tandi replied at once.
“Trailer up,” Kade answered for the second semi.
“Drag up,” Jose called in at the last.
“Move out,” Clay said simply and nodded to Zach. The Cougar began rolling, followed by the others, and soon they were out of the gate and on their way.
-
The trip up the Interstate was slow but it was possible. Cars that had died the night of the Storm littered the freeway and it was necessary to occasionally push a dead vehicle aside or use the side lane to pass, but they were able to eventually make their desired exit and leave the Interstate for a county back road. It was after that when things became. . .interesting.
“Is it me or is it hazy through here?” Ellen Kargay asked as she expertly followed the Cougar through the countryside down the narrow roadway.
“No, it does look hazy,” Tandi agreed. “But I don't think. . .” he trailed off as he rolled the window down.
“What are you doing?” she demanded. “It's too cold to have that window down you idiot!”
“Yeah, yeah,” he waved her off. “I…you smell that?” he turned to look at her.
“Smell what?” she asked, then sniffed the air. “Smoke? Is that what's causing the haze? It's a fire?”
“I don't know,” he admitted even as the convoy began to slow. “I 'll use a drone when we get there and take a look around.”
-
“Seems almost foggy,” Zach muttered as he followed Sam's directions and turned onto a narrow roadway that turned out to be her drive way.
“More like smoky,” Tully added from the turret. “I smell wood smoke. A lot of it, too.”
“Where are your closest neighbors, Samantha?” Clay asked, instantly on guard.
“We don't really have any to be honest,” she replied. “We have a bunk house of sorts, really more like a lodge, but. . .we usually only have anyone there in the summer time. My father will usually hire students for the summer who are majoring in animal husbandry or agribusiness or something of that nature. It lets them get hands on experience plus it qualifies for school credit.”
“Closest neighbor then?” Clay repeated. “How far is the nearest house?”
“Maybe three, four miles,” she answered, thinking.
“So, we could smell their smoke from here if they were heating or cooking with wood,” Clay was estimating.
“Well we could, I guess, but I've never smelled anything like it before,” Samantha informed him. “But that doesn't mean they aren't using it now,” she added.
“True enough,” he nodded. “Is this you?” he pointed to a winding, tree lined drive.
“Yes,” her voice was soft as she looked through the windshield. “I had feared my house might be gone,” she admitted.
“Well, it looks as if someone has been here,” Clay told her, seeing the front door knocked askew. “All right,” he spoke into the radio. “Trail hang back and provide security for the trucks. Me, Chip and Ray will check the house. Once we've cleared it, back the Beast into the door. We leave the guns manned and everyone else is loading. After that we look about livestock.”
“I can-” Samantha started to rise.
“Not until we clear the house,” Clay shook his head. “Stay here until then. Let’s go, fellas.” Gordy and Corey were right behind him, moving to his flanks as they headed for the house. Behind the Cougar the other vehicles sat waiting. No one noticed as Tandi Maseo opened the passenger side door of the Beast and set a four-engine drone atop the truck.
-
“What will that show?” Ellen asked as she watched Tandi maneuver the drone into the air.
“It will let us have a bird-eye view of the surrounding area,” he told her, watching the monitor closely. “We can use it to see if we can spot where the smoke is…” he trailed off as studied the monitor.
“Holy shit,” he breathed more than spoke.
“What is. . .is that. . .where is that?” Ellen asked, getting a look at the monitor herself.
“North of here,” Tandi said. “North and a little west,” he corrected. “Holy shit.”
“Yeah,” Ellen nodded her agreement. “I'd say so.”
-
“Someone's been here at some point,” Gordy mentioned as the three of them finished checking the house. “Maybe not recent, but since the Storm hit for sure.”
“Yeah,” Clay nodded, looking at what had once likely been an immaculate home. “Damn shame”, he muttered.
“Go and get Samantha,” he ordered Gordy. “Bring the others. Warn her that things are a bit. . .rough, okay?”
“Got it,” Gordy nodded and headed out. Corey shook his head.
“You know, this here. . .there just ain't no point in this shit, man,” he settled for saying.
“No, there ain't,” Clay agreed. “These are the kind of people we're better off without.”
-
“Sam, I need to warn you before we go in,” Gordy said quietly as the rest trooped by. “Someone has been living here, probably over the winter, and they left a mess. I'm sorry.”
“It's all right,” Sam took a deep breath. “I expected it to be gone entirely so whatever I can find will be a bonus, right?” she smiled up at him a bit weakly.
“I suppose so,” Gordy nodded, grinning back at her. “C'mon. We need you to check that safe room and then while they're loading it I 'll go with you to gather your things. What I assume was your room didn't look too bad.”
“Lots of stuffed animals?” she asked, a hint of red at her cheeks.
“Yeah,” he smiled gently. “Looked nice.”
“Thanks,” her face turned even redder, but secretly she was pleased that Gordy hadn't laughed at her penchant for stuffed animals. He kept a careful watch as the two made their way to the house. Behind him Victoria Tully smiled slightly, remembering what it was like to be a teenager.
-
Sam's worst moment was looking inside. Gordy was right. Her house, her home for all her short life was a mess. Someone had indeed been here and had left plenty of obvious and in some cases disgusting signs of their visit.
“Animals,” she hissed softly and no one disagreed with her. She went straight to her father's safe and entered a combination into the lock. Red numbers flashed green and everyone heard the heavy sound of the lock disengaging. She swung the door open and stepped inside.
“Damn,” Gordy said as he got a look inside.
“What he said,” Zach nodded, eyes wide.
“This is my father's
pride and joy,” Sam sounded sad. “He loved this stuff. Loves,” she corrected herself.
“I'd imagine you are his real pride and joy,” Gordy touched her shoulder lightly and earned a bright smile, teary though it might have been.
“Thanks,” she nodded. She moved to pick up two packs and one red bag which she stacked to the side. She then gathered two rifles, a shotgun and three handguns along with various other tools and boxes, and a military ammunition box, all of which she piled in with the bags.
“Leave that,” she ordered. “If my parents ever make it home, this will help them get where they need to go next. Hopefully to where I am.” She scribbled a brief note which she tucked into one of the bags in an outer pocket before standing and gathering one final bag. She picked up a bolt action rifle along with a pump shotgun and placed them in a gun carrier, then set it with the bag outside the door. She added a few other goods to the pile, including a small compound bow and large quiver full of arrows before taking a deep breath and turning to Clay.
“Those are mine,” she said flatly. “There rest, other than what I've left them, can go. I've unlocked everything. Those,” she pointed to numerous plastic tubs, “contain months and months of freeze dried food. Mom didn't like keeping the cardboard they came in so she used these plastic boxes. Everything there can go. Now,” she straightened herself. “I need to go check my room.”
“Right,” Clay nodded. “Gordy,” he ordered and the teen nodded before following Samantha to her room.
“All right, lets grab something and start hauling,” Clay ordered, taking one of the plastic boxes himself. “This stuff won't carry itself.” Clay made the first trip out, handing the box to a waiting Juarez who had climbed into the trailer with-
“Where is Doc?”
-
“Dude, we got like a major problem,” Tandi said two minutes later when Clay found him standing atop the Beast. As he watched the small medic deftly caught the auto hovering drone and cut the power, placing the machine on the roof as he climbed down
“You mean compared to how well things have been going?” Clay asked.
“Look,” Tandi keyed the playback and let Clay look at the video the drone had shot.
“Holy shit,” Clay exclaimed after a look at the video.
“Yeah, that seems to be the phrase of the day,” Tandi nodded, no trace of humor in his tone. “Look, I can't tell yet which way this is moving, but. . .yesterday may have been a good mission after all, yeah?”
“If that's moving our way, then yeah,” Clay exhaled. “Looks like Abby will get a chance to be useful like she wanted. We need to get moving and wrap this up as quick as we can. You have a HAM radio in there don't you?” he indicated the Beast's cab.
“Yeah.”
“Call the farm and let them know what you found. They need to be alert in case it is moving our way. And Abby and Jake need to be working on that plow sooner rather than later.”
“What do you think?” Tandi asked. “This thing looks like several hundred acres to me.”
“Probably,” Clay nodded. “But I don't have a good eye for that kind of stuff. At least now we know why everyone has smelled wood smoke the last several days.”
He looked at the video screen one more minute, where the images the drone had captured showed the smoke from a massive wild fire just over the horizon from where they stood. With things the way they were nowadays, he doubted anyone was fighting the blaze on an organized level. Sure, people would be fighting to keep their homes or towns from being inundated, but that kind of effort would never equal a dedicated firefighting effort by a professional crew or set of crews.
“I hate to wish anything bad on other people,” Tandi said as he stored the drone. “But this is trouble we can do without. I hope it ain't moving our way.”
“So do I,” Clay nodded, already moving back inside. “So do I.”
-
“All right gang, we need to expedite this operation and get moving back to the ranch!” Clay called as he entered the house. “We have a major situation brewing in the form of a giant wildfire just a little north of here. It looks to be on our side of the Interstate and it's quite possibly moving south so the faster we get home is definitely the better!”
“Fire?” Zach and Corey both looked at each other. Kade and Titus were outside. “Again?”
“No,” Clay's voice was firm. “It won't be like that if we can help it. For all we know it's moving north, not south. Tandi just noticed it on a drone pass not five minutes ago. We don't know nearly enough to be in a panic just yet, okay? So, let’s-”
“Damn man, there's a big fire out there!” Titus exclaimed as he and Kade returned from taking a load to the trailer.
“-not get carried away,” Clay finished. “Thank you, Mister Terry,” he added.
“You're welcome,” Titus said reflexively. “Wait. . .what are you thanking me for?”
“Never mind,” Clay waved it off. “Double time where you can fellas and let’s get this gear loaded. Miss Walters was kind enough to let us have it so let’s don't waste it, yeah?”
“What about looking for livestock?” Zach asked.
“We're probably going to have to pass that one by,” Clay admitted. “It was a good idea though.”
-
“-Plate this is Short Stop, come back. Over.”
Robert took several seconds to realize that someone was actually calling on the HAM radio. It took a few more to remember that Short Stop was Tandi Maseo and that Clay, Tandi and several others were out on a job today.
“Short Stop this Home Plate, go ahead. Over,” he replied. This was nowhere near how they should be speaking on the HAM frequencies but. . .he hadn't heard much traffic on those frequencies since the Storm. Much? He hadn't heard a peep that hadn't come from some of them.
“Plate, be advised that our drone activity has spotted a massive wildfire north and west of our position here. Repeat, massive wildfire north and west of our posit. Unable to determine direction of travel or speed of movement, or discern exact distance from Plate. We are expediting our mission here but recommend you advise Smoky of the situation so that she can examine for herself. Deuce can get her a bird's eye of it. Copy?”
“Plate copies all ShortStop,” Robert replied, writing furiously even as his mind considered what he'd just been told. Wildfire? He wondered what 'massive' meant to Tandi Maseo.
“Will monitor this frequency if you need to contact us. Short Stop out.”
“Plate out,” Robert answered idly even as he finished writing. He didn't hesitate more than a few seconds before he was up and gone, using the small handheld to contact his daughter and his nephew. This needed their immediate attention.
-
“I knew it,” Abby shook her head slowly as the father relayed Tandi's message to her. “I've been smelling smoke for two or three days.”
“Looks like it was a good coincidence, you going to get your plow,” Robert nodded.
“No, it was smelling the smoke that made me think of it,” Abby admitted. “I hadn't considered it otherwise. I had thought far enough ahead that I took the electronics off just before the storm hit, but other than that…” she held her hands up, out to her side, palms up. “Hadn't thought of it at all.”
“Well, apparently-” Robert cut off as Deuce arrived.
“What's up?” he asked.
“I need you to fly a drone for me,” Abby told him. “We got a message from the crew that went to Sam's place that there's a huge fire north of here. I need to get a look at it if you can manage it. Try and decide where it's headed and if it's a threat to us.”
“I should be able to do that,” Deuce nodded. “Give me about fifteen minutes and then meet me behind building Three.” Before she could answer he was gone.
“Well,” she stood. “I guess I better let Jake know this so he can expedite the work on the plow. If we can't get the truck running we can always use the lowboy hauler.”
“Let me know if
I can help,” her father told her. “And if you think of any preparations we need to be making.”
“Will do.”
-
“You have got to be kidding me,” Gordy groaned as he listened to his uncle tell him about the fire.
“Don't I wish,” Clay told him. “But I seen it myself.”
“Of all the things,” Gordy shook his head. “You know, I had thought that the end of the world would look different. I mean. . .a wild fire? Ain't that kind of, I don't know. . .normal?”
“World doesn't stop just because. . .well, the world stopped,” Clay finished lamely. “You know what I mean. Normal things happening don't stop just because we lost our technology. Think about it. They still had wild fires in pioneer days. For that matter they had wild fires when there were no people here at all. Lightning strikes and what have you.”
“I actually hadn't thought of that,” Gordy admitted. “Things have been so hectic for the most part that when I do have a free minute I'm using it to try and relax. Thinking about normal stuff like that isn't relaxing.”
“What do you think about to relax?” Clay asked with a grin.
“Well, just. . .stuff, you know,” Gordy shrugged. “What did you think about at my age?”
“Girls, beer, partying,” Clay recited off quickly. “And by your exact age, how to get away from here,” he admitted. “Other than that? Where I was gonna get the money for the girls, beer and partying,” he laughed.
“Well, yeah,” Gordy nodded. “Pretty much the same then,” he laughed. He and Clay were outside to carry goods to the truck. Clay looked around to ensure they had some privacy before looking back at his nephew.
“So what girl are you thinking about?” he asked seriously.
“What?” Gordy's face reddened a bit. “Where did that come from?”
“C'mon,” Clay snorted. “Everyone on the farm can see how she,” he nodded his head toward the house, “is looking at you. Don't tell me you haven't looked back. She's a doll. And a good girl to boot,” he added.
