The Long Roll Home

by Anderson, Diana E.

  After a while, Les decided to get up and check out his new digs. He wandered around the house, not particularly looking for anything, but more familiarizing himself with the layout. He was surprised to see that there did not seem to be a lot of food and supplies stocked up. He had gotten the impression from comments Pete made in the past that his family members were preppers, but the house sure didn’t look like it. After opening all the doors looking for a secret closet or basement stairs, he finally wandered into the kitchen to check on the two women still canning meat. Emma gave him a dirty look, causing Les to laugh.

  “Where do you keep all of your food and supplies, old woman?”

  Emma just looked at him. “Whatever we have is in the cabinets and closets.”

  “No, I mean all of your prepping supplies. The moron made it sound like you were preppers.”

  Emma let out a harsh laugh. “What you see is what we have. We live on my disability and what Pete earns at the airport. That doesn’t allow for putting anything aside.”

  Les shook his head. “I guess that’s what I get for listening to a moron.”

  “Stop calling my son names!”

  Les laughed. “I’ll call him whatever I want. Be glad you still have a son.” Les turned and walked over to Tina. “I’m sure glad you have a daughter,”

  Tina studiously avoided looking at him, until he came close to her and turned her face towards him.

  “You are one hot babe. How old are you?”

  Tina, eyes downcast, whispered, “I’m 15.”

  Les laughed. “15 is old enough. You and I are going to have some fun later.” He reached out to stroke Tina’s face.

  “Get your hands off her,” Emma cried. Les turned towards Emma and sneered.

  “Or else what? Old woman, don’t make me have to hit you again, because next time it won’t be just a love tap. Now hurry up and get this finished. I’ve got plans for later when you’re done.” He looked back at Tina, winked, and left the room.

  Seeing Pete still asleep on the living room floor, Les went over and kicked him.

  Groggy, Pete sat up. “Hey, why’d you kick me?” he asked.

  “Get up and come help me. You told me you had an ATV. Where is it? I need you to help me get it started.”

  “Are you leaving?” Pete asked.

  “No, you moron, I’m going to check out the road and see what I can find. If I’m lucky, I’ll find that dude with his fancy rifle and take it away from him.”

  The two men went out to the garage, and Pete pulled a tarp off an older model ATV.

  “I don’t know if it will start, but it has gas in it already.”

  “Get out of my way,” said Les as he pushed past Pete and climbed on. “How do I start this thing?”

  Pete showed him the starter and patiently explained how to drive it. “Make sure you don’t give it too much gas at one time, because it stalls out and you have to let it sit for a couple of hours before it will start again.”

  Les nodded. “Yeah, yeah, okay. Now before I go, we have a little job to do. Grab that rope and come with me.”

  Pete picked up the pile of rope and followed Les back into the house. He found the women taking the last of the meat out of the canner.

  “Gee, that was great timing!” he said. He grabbed two kitchen chairs and put them back to back. “Get over here and sit in these chairs.” The women were slow to move, and so he grabbed Emma’s arm and slung her into the chair.

  “Hey, Les, leave my mother alone!” Pete yelled. Les turned to Pete and hit him hard enough to knock him out. He then turned back to the two terrified women. “I said sit,” he barked at Tina. Crying, she sat in the chair with her back to her mother.

  “I am going to tie you both up while I am gone. If you are not here when I get back, I will kill the moron first, and then find you both and kill you, too.” He smirked at Tina. “You’ll die slowly, because I have plans for you.”

  He quickly tied the women to the chairs and to each other, making many knots knowing it would be impossible for the women to free themselves. He used the end of the rope to tie Pete’s hands behind him, so when – or if – Pete woke up, he wouldn’t be able to help the women.

  “See you later, girls! Get some rest while I’m gone- you’ll need it when I get back!” He gave an evil laugh, grabbed the half-empty bottle of scotch, and left. A few minutes later, they heard the sound of the ATV as it headed down the driveway.

  Chapter 5

  Lilly Jeffries was sitting at her desk in the ranch office going through paperwork when the lights suddenly went out. She figured the outage was probably weather-related, so she got up and walked out the kitchen door to the porch. To her surprise, the afternoon was sunny, clear, and there was no wind to speak of. She looked around and did not see any reason why the power was off. Just then, she saw her husband come around the side of the barn at a run.

  “Steve,” she called, “what’s wrong? Why are you running?”

  “We have problems, Lilly, big problems.” Lilly stared at her usually level-headed husband, and saw he was in a near panic.

  “What’s going on? What has you so upset? Did you know the power is out? Is that what you are upset about?”

  “It’s more than the power, dear. I was using the new tractor behind the barn, and it quit, too. I tried to call you on my radio, and… nothing but static. My cell phone is dead. What does that sound like to you?”

  Lilly’s eyes opened wide. “Oh, my gosh, Cassie was right. It’s an EMP, isn’t it. I tried really hard to believe her that it was possible, but I still had a little sliver of doubt in the back of my mind that she was making a big deal over nothing. And now it’s happened…” Suddenly, Lilly put her hand to her mouth.

  “Oh, my gosh, Cassie! She is down at the airport picking up Jen. What if her van stops working? How will she get home? Her wheelchair probably won’t work either.” As tears filled her eyes and spilled over down her cheeks, Steve put is arms around her.

  “Cassie is really resourceful. She will find a way. We will just have to pray she makes it OK. Now, though, we need to get everyone together and figure out what we are going to do. Where are the kids?”

  “They’re out back playing with the puppies.” A look of shock crossed her face. “Thank God today is Saturday, or else they would be miles away in school and we would have to go looking for them.”

  “I’m going to go round up the hands. Will you get the kids, Mom, and Dora? I believe Hank is in the barn, so I’ll get him when I get my horse. Let’s plan on meeting right here in the side yard in about 20 minutes.”

  The two took off in different directions to gather everyone, both with their minds full of thoughts of the many things that needed to be done right away. Lilly and the three girls were the first to get back to the side yard, and she parked the kids on the porch steps while she went inside to find Dora. After telling Dora what happened, she picked up a notebook from her desk and headed to her mother’s room. The door was closed, so she knocked lightly. When there was no answer, she became a little alarmed and opened the door. Her mother was lying on the bed looking very pale.

  “Mom, are you all right?” Lilly asked as she rushed over to her mother.

  “No, dear, I’m not. I don’t feel well at all. I came in here to put away some laundry, and the power went out. I went to get my flashlight from the nightstand drawer and all of a sudden, I felt really dizzy and nauseous. I took one of my nitro tablets, and it helped a little, I think. What did you need?”

  “Mom, Steve and I believe we were hit with an EMP. In addition to the power, cell phones and newer engines are not working. Oh, my gosh, Mom, I wonder if it affected your pacemaker?”

  “I expect so, dear. When the power went out, I felt a strong burning in my chest. It went away quickly, but it was right after that I started feeling bad.”

  “We need to get you to the hospital,” Lilly exclaimed.

  “No, we don’t. Just think, the hospital probably won’t have a l
ot of power other than emergency generators. I doubt they’ll be doing any kind of surgery, even if there was a working pacemaker to replace this one. I managed for a long time before this pacemaker, and I’ll manage now. I am really tired, though, so I am going to rest for a while.”

  Lilly leaned over and kissed her mother on the forehead. “You call me if you need anything, and I’ll come check on you in a little bit.”

  When she got to the porch and saw her daughters sitting quietly on the steps, she had a fleeting thought of how different their lives would be. That thought was interrupted as Steve and four of the six hands came riding up. They tied off their horses to the corral fence and came over to sit on the benches of the picnic table. Just then, Hank came walking over from the barn. Dora came out the door right behind Lilly.

  Steve looked around and not seeing Lilly’s mother, asked, “Where’s Estelle?”

  “She’s laying down right now. I’ll tell you later.”

  Steve nodded to his wife, then stood to talk to the assembled group.

  “First of all, thank you for dropping what you were doing to come when I called you. We have an emergency on our hands, and we need to make some plans.”

  The hands and kids began asking questions, but Steve put up his hand.

  “Let me tell you what’s going on and what we need to do and then we can get to questions, OK? About a half an hour ago, the power went out. Usually, that is not a big deal- it happens a lot when it is bad weather or snowy. This is not an ordinary power failure, though. The weather is fine and I don’t see anything that would have caused this. I believe it will be a long time, if ever before the power comes back on.” The hands looked at each other, and again began to talk.

  “Hold on. Let me finish. I believe we’ve been hit with an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP. This usually occurs when a nuclear weapon is set off high in the atmosphere, and the resulting power surge fries most everything electric, especially things that need a computer to work. Check your cell phones. Do they work?” The hands all pulled out their cell phones and none would power on. They began shaking their heads no. “I didn’t think they would. Our radios are fried, the new tractor is fried, and I’m sure the power grid is fried. Now, before you ask me, I have no idea who did this to us. The world is a mess these days and it could be almost anyone. Right now, that is the least of our worries!”

  “Boss, what are we going to do? What about radiation and fallout?” asked Billy Slidell, the youngest ranch hand.

  “First, Billy, we’re gonna stay calm. If this was a nuclear EMP, the bomb is set off really high in the atmosphere, so there shouldn’t be any fallout or radiation. At least, that’s what all of the studies tell us. As for what we’re going to do, believe it or not, over the last couple of years, Lilly and I have worried about a crisis such as this and we’ve made some preparations. We will be fine if we all work together.”

  Billy raised his hand. “Shouldn’t Wayne and Tank be here for this?”

  Steve answered, “I already talked to them and sent them to the far pasture to start driving the cattle out there closer to home. They’ll be here soon. Okay, so the first order of business is making sure you all are safe and situated. I know some of you have families you are worried about, and you may be thinking about leaving to go protect them. There is safety in numbers, though, and so I’d like to extend an invitation to bring your families here where I think we will all be a lot safer than in town.” He saw several people nodding agreement. “Do any of you have any family members that you want to bring out here?”

  Several of the men nodded. Juan answered, “I’d like to bring my wife, kids and in-laws here.”

  Steve nodded, and turned to another man. “How about you, Sven, do you want to get your parents?”

  “Yes, and also my two brothers if that is okay with you.”

  “Of course,” Steve answered. “Billy?”

  “I just have my sister and her baby. Is it okay to bring her here?”

  Steve smiled. “Of course, Billy. Make sure she brings plenty of diapers, bottles, and formula and stuff!” Turning to the fourth hand, he asked, “Sean?”

  Sean shook his head no. “My parents are back on the East Coast, and I don’t have anyone around here.”

  “Can you help me with some things then, while the guys are getting their folks?”

  Sean nodded. “Whatever you need me to do.”

  “Thanks, man. He then turned to his foreman, he asked, “Hank?”

  “If I can contact my daughter and her family, I would be most grateful if they could come here.”

  “Good. I hope you can get hold of her. Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. First, we are going to get all of the animals as close to the barns as we can, and we are going to lock all of our gates. Then, we’re going to see if any of your trucks run. Hank, I’m betting your old Ford will work. We will send you out in a group to go get your family members. Bring back whatever food you have in the house, as well as sturdy clothes, medicines, bedding, and if you’re bringing back kids, don’t forget to let them bring some toys. As you are selecting things to bring, don’t forget any guns and ammo you have, as well as anything else you think we will need. If you’ve got camping gear, bring that too, although for right now we’ve got enough space to put everyone up.”

  He turned to Lilly. “Hon, please pull out our inventory lists so as people come back, we can log the food they bring into inventory. Dora, can you take the three girls and go fill up the water bobs and any other containers you can find with water?” Dora nodded yes and gathered the girls and went inside.

  “Steve, are you sure the well won’t work?” asked Lilly.

  “It will work once I get the solar out of storage and hook it up, but that won’t happen for a while.” He looked back at the four hands. “Make sure you go armed and don’t go anywhere alone. I am counting on you three to get your families here safely. Sean, once we have all the animals secured, we’ll need to get the solar out of storage to hook up the wells.”

  While Steve was talking, Hank walked over to his old F-150 Ford. He bought the truck new in 1974, and he was pretty sure it would start. Sure enough, after grinding for a minute or two, the engine turned over, causing everyone to cheer.

  Steve called out to Hank, “Go ahead and hook up the empty stock trailer so you guys can get more stuff.” Hank backed the truck up to the side of the barn and began hooking up the trailer.

  Sven caught Steve’s attention and said, “I just have a car, but it’s a station wagon and it’s old, so it might also run. I’ll check it as soon as we’re done here.”

  “Thanks Sven. If you or Hank need gas, take it from the farm tank. No point to getting there and running out of gas, and with the power out, gas stations won’t be working right now. Okay, everyone, let’s get started!” Sven ran over to the parking lot next to the bunkhouse and tried his car. Much to his joy, it started. Hank and the three men going into town to get families began assembling the things they would need for the trip while Sean and Steve began herding animals back to the barns.

  Lilly, left alone on the porch, closed her eyes for a moment and offered a silent prayer, not only for Cassie’s safety and her mother’s health, but for all of them. She knew after all of her reading and her discussions with Cassie and the folks on her forums that they were in for a very difficult time.

  Chapter 6

  Cassie opened her eyes, and was disoriented for just a minute, until she realized where she was. “Dang, I was hoping it was all just a bad dream,” she thought. Looking over at Andy, still sleeping on the floor of the van, she grinned and thought, “Well, at least there are some good parts to the bad dream.” She rolled over and looked at her watch. Seeing it was almost two thirty, she gently tapped Andy on the shoulder.

  “Rise and shine, sunshine,” she called out. Andy woke with a start, looking around until he saw Cassie.

  “Good morning, Cowgirl. Is it time to get ready?”

  “You betcha, City B
oy. We’ve got a lot to do if we want to hit the road by three.”

  Andy grimaced. “I need to step outside for a minute to…um…take care of some business.”

  Cassie grinned. “Knock before you come back in.”

  When Andy came back in, Cassie already had her little stove lit and was boiling water. She poured hot water into two cups and handed one to Andy. “I have sugar and powered creamer if you need it in your coffee.”

  Andy sipped at the hot drink. “Nope, black is fine with me.”

  Cassie then poured the rest of the hot water into a freeze-dried meal packet. “I hope you like biscuits with sausage gravy, since that’s what I pulled out.”

  “Works for me – I’m hungry enough I could eat Petra’s dog food.” Petra growled at that, and Cassie quickly filled Petra’s bowl. Tail wagging, Petra began eating her breakfast, while her humans did the same. Cassie and Andy ate quickly, knowing they had a lot to do before they could begin their journey.

  “Would you check over the cart, and make sure the wheels are sturdy enough? I’ve got some oil in the toolbox if you need it to keep the wheels from squeaking.”

  “Good idea. I’ll check the wheelchair wheels, too.”

  While Andy was checking the wheels, Cassie was gathering everything they were planning to take with them.

  “I’m going to load all of the food and small things into your trunk. That will keep them all together and I can sit on the trunk.”

  “Good idea.” Andy gave the wheels on the cart a last squirt of oil and wiped his hands on a rag. “Okay, I think the cart will roll without squeaking. What goes on first?”

  “Let’s fold up the wheelchair and tie it to the front handle of the cart, then we can put the trunk in front of it. I’ll wear my pack while I am riding, and there should still be enough room for your duffle and pack on the back of the cart. We’ll also take the cooler I used for lunch – if nothing else, it can hold water for us.” The two quickly got the cart loaded. Once everything they were taking was on the cart, Cassie went through the van one last time to make sure she wasn’t forgetting anything. She grabbed the vehicle registration and insurance papers from the glove box and checked the now empty totes on the shelves. A quick look in the console and she was done.