The Long Roll Home

by Anderson, Diana E.

  Andy knew she was right, and so he just nodded agreement with her and crawled into the sleeping bag, first putting his boots into a plastic bag to keep the dew off of them.

  Once she was sure Andy was asleep, Cassie slid out of her jeans and removed her prosthesis. “Just as I thought,” she muttered. “The stump sock is all wrinkled and sweaty and now my leg is irritated.” She dug through her pack for some cream to apply to her stump and then pulled a fresh stump sock from a plastic bag in her pack. She then checked the inside of the prosthesis to be sure it was clean and dry. Finally, she put the prosthesis back on and checked the surgical scar on her other leg. Satisfied that all of the walking didn’t do any damage to the incision, she put a bit more cream on the scar and pulled up her jeans. Glancing at Andy, she saw he was still sleeping, and so she made herself comfortable on the cart with her rifle in her lap and focused on the area around them. The peacefulness of the forest around her helped her to unwind a bit from the stresses of the day, although she stayed alert and attentive. Petra was curled up in her bed, although every so often she would lift her head and look around.

  After about four hours, Cassie began to feel sleepy, and was starting to think about waking Andy for him to take over the watch. Suddenly, the quiet of the night was broken by the distant sound of an engine starting. As she listened, it got louder as it came closer.

  “Andy,” she whispered. “Andy, wake up.”

  “What’s the matter?” he asked, sitting up quickly.

  “I hear an engine, and it sounds like it is getting closer to us.”

  Andy got up and put his boots on. Now he could hear it, too. He picked up his rifle and walked over to where Cassie was sitting. As they listened, they heard the engine pass by them on the road, the sounds beginning to fade way. After a few minutes, they could no longer hear the engine.

  “Do you think that was just someone passing by? Or do you think it was the same engine we heard earlier? Could they be looking for us?” Cassie asked.

  “I don’t think anyone is looking for us – we haven’t seen anyone, so who even knows we are here?” Andy tried to sound relaxed, but he had the same fear as Cassie. He just didn’t want to say it out loud. “I’m wide awake now, so why don’t you try to rest for a couple of hours and then we can get an early start?” Cassie nodded, yawning.

  “Wake me up in two hours and we can go.” She laid down on the sleeping bag and closed her eyes, falling asleep almost instantly.

  Chapter 7

  Les rode the ATV out onto the road and headed away from the airport. The roar of the engine made him feel very powerful, and as he headed up the road, he let the speed creep up. The faster he went, the more excited he became. The world may have ended for everyone else, but he was in a good place. When he got back to the house, he would finish off that idiot Pete. He did not need him around asking a million questions and getting in his way. He wasn’t sure about Emma.

  “She is supposed to be a good cook,” he thought to himself. “Maybe I should keep her around to do the cooking and cleaning.”

  His thoughts then turned to Tina, and he began planning all of the things he was going to do to her. She was young enough he could train her to his liking. If she didn’t work out, well, there had to be a lot of young women out there who needed a man to take care of them and keep them fed.

  Up ahead, Les saw a glint of sunlight flash off something in the road. Looking closer, he could see it was a person pushing some kind of cart. It looked like the dude with the rifle from the airport! Les pushed hard on the accelerator and the ATV leapt forward for about a minute until the engine died. Les tried over and over to restart the engine with no luck. When he was finished screaming curses at the machine, he remembered what Pete said about going too fast and the engine flooding. Resigned to having to wait for the engine to drain, he grabbed the bottle of scotch and sat down on the side of the road. Tired from all of his exertions, he chugged down most of the bottle and leaned back against a tree. Within minutes, he was sleeping.

  When he woke up, it was already dark.

  “This really sucks. I’ve got to catch up to that guy with the rifle, but I should wait until it’s light out so I can find him,” he thought to himself. “I could I’ll go back to the moron’s house for the night and try to find him tomorrow. Besides, that Tina is waiting for me and I do have some plans for her….”

  To his surprise and delight, the ATV started right up when he tried it. He decided he would take a quick trip up the road to see if he could find the kid with the rifle. When he didn’t see anyone, though, he turned the ATV around and headed back to the Jessup household. He learned his lesson and kept his speed down. He drove past a number of cars stopped on the road but was fixated on getting back to the house and Tina.

  -

  The first thing Pete noticed was a splitting headache. As he struggled to wake up, he was disoriented for a few minutes, but then, suddenly, remembered what happened to his family. He opened his eyes and looked around, to see his mother and sister slumped down in chairs next to the kitchen table.

  “Mama? Tina? Are you okay,” he asked, his voice scratchy from his dry throat. He tried to stand up and realized his hands were tied behind his back. Emma lifted her head and looked around.

  “Pete, oh, son, I’m so glad you are awake. Are you okay?”

  “I think so, Mama, but my hands are tied together, and I can’t stand up. Did he hurt you?”

  “No, dear, not much. But I’m tied up, too,” Emma answered.

  “Is Tina. . . is she hurt?”

  Tina lifted her tear-streaked face. “I’m all right, Bubba. He didn’t touch me.”

  Emma was silent for a few minutes, then asked Pete, “Do you still have the knife your daddy gave you?”

  “Of course, Mama. It’s in my back pocket where I always keep it.” Realization of what that meant suddenly struck Pete, and he began squirming, trying to get his hands close to his pocket. After a good ten minutes of struggle, he was finally able to pull out the small Boy Scout knife and open the blade. A few minutes later, he had cut through his bonds and his hands were free. He got up and began to cut his mother and sister loose.

  Pete’s knife was not terribly sharp and he was not skilled using it, but eventually, he was able to free Emma and Tina. Emma immediately stood up and took charge of the situation.

  “Here’s what we are going to do. Tina, I want you to head out back and cut through the woods to Uncle George’s house. Tell Uncle George I said it’s time to activate the plan and he and the guys should bring the trucks right away.”

  “But Mama,” Tina said, “what if Les gets back before Uncle George gets here?”

  “Don’t worry about that. Just hurry and be very careful.” Tina gave her mother a quick hug and headed out the door.

  “What plan, Mama? You never told me about any plan.”

  Emma smiled at her son. “No, dear, I didn’t tell you. You are always so friendly and so trusting, I didn’t want you to be burdened trying to keep that kind of secret. A while back, your grandma, uncles and I put together a plan of what we would do if something bad happened. What’s going on right now is a perfect example of why we needed to have a plan.”

  Pete’s eyes opened wide. “You mean you’re one of them survivalists, Mama?” he asked with a look of wonder on his face.

  “No, I’m just someone who wants to be able to take care of my family if something happened. Now, enough talking. We need to get busy.”

  “What do you want me to do, Mama?”

  “I want you to go get that black tub and start filling it up with everything you brought from the airport, as well as all the food in the cabinets. I am going to go grab clothes, blankets, and some other things. When George gets here, we will load everything up in his truck and head over to Grandma’s place. She has lots of room and we’ll be a lot safer if we all stay together.”

  Less than an hour later, Emma’s brother George pulled through the back of the yard in a
n old noisy pickup truck pulling a stock trailer, with Tina in the passenger seat. He was followed by an ATV pulling a garden trailer and a second old pick-up truck. Everyone jumped out of the trucks and began helping Pete and Emma load their belongings. In a very short time, food, clothing, bedding, furniture, and even some heirloom treasures were loaded and they all drove back through the yard onto the dirt trail that would take them to Emma’s mother’s home.

  Emma’s mother, Grace Cooper, lived in a sprawling ranch house in the middle of nowhere. She was completely off-grid, relying on solar and wind turbines for her power and several wells for her water. Several years ago, Emma, George, and their brothers Keith and Brian sat down with Grace to develop a plan for the bad times they knew were coming. They worked together to prepare Grace’s home to be a safe refuge for Grace’s family. Large root cellars were dug and filled with home-canned products, root vegetables, cheeses and smoked meats. Grace’s cattle herds were allowed to grow a bit larger and other animals including rabbits, goats, and pigs were added to the chickens already resident. Over time, security was improved, including additional fences and traps. Emma and her brothers routinely brought food, clothes, and other supplies to Grace’s ranch to be stored, keeping only what was needed for daily life in their own homes.

  After unloading everything at Grace’s home, Emma had a chance to sit and consider all that’d been though that day. When the EMP happened, Emma was ready – except Pete was still at work. She was happy when Pete arrived home, but the appearance of Les complicated things. Of course, when Les turned out to be such a creep, that uncomplicated things. She wondered very briefly what Les would do when he got back to the house and found them all gone, then she realized she didn’t care. Her family was safe for now.

  Chapter 8

  Cassie woke up two hours later and startled Andy when she sat up.

  “Is it time to go yet?” she asked?

  “As soon as you are ready,” he answered. Cassie looked around the camp site and saw that everything had been packed up except the tarp and her sleeping bag. The fire was out, but Andy handed her a cup of hot chocolate to help her get warmed up and awake.

  “It was quiet while you were sleeping. Not even any animal sounds. It was pretty creepy, actually. The only thing that kept me from really being on edge was watching Petra. I knew if there was anything out there, she’d hear it before me.”

  Cassie laughed. “Yes, Petra would have barked her fool head off if there was anyone around. Let’s load up and get on the road,” she said, attaching her sleeping bag to her pack. Andy took the folded tarp and stuck it into his pack. Five minutes later, they headed down the trail back to the road to resume their journey.

  Before they left the trail, Andy scooted ahead to check the road.

  “It’s clear,” he whispered to Cassie. She pushed the cart out onto the road, and they started walking.

  “I always loved this time of day,” Cassie mused. “The sun isn’t up yet, but you can start to see the pine trees all around us. It reminds me of those early mornings in basic training, where we would be in our formations before dawn and march to the mess hall. At first, all you could smell was the pine trees, but as you got closer to the mess hall, the air would be filled with the heavenly smell of bacon and pancakes. Breakfast was always my favorite meal in basic.”

  “Yep, I remember that, too. I learned a whole new culinary vocabulary in basic – I always thought SOS was a distress signal, but now I know better.”

  Cassie started laughing. “Yeah, I loved having that ‘stuff’ on a shingle – creamed chipped beef on toast. That’s still one of my favorite breakfasts. Back home, I’ve probably got five or six cases of the little jars of dried beef so I can keep making it forever!” Andy laughed with her.

  “I really enjoyed biscuits and gravy, too. Being a city boy, I had no idea how amazing biscuits could taste, especially covered with a thick gravy full of hunks of sausage. Until I joined the Army, breakfast was always a cup of juice and either a bowl of cereal or a pop tart. I didn’t even drink coffee until after I enlisted.”

  “So, what is your favorite breakfast?” Cassie asked, grinning.

  “This is no fair, because you’re making me hungry! My favorite would be, let’s see, scrambled eggs with cheese, floppy bacon, an English muffin with lots of butter, all with a big cold glass of orange juice and a couple of cups of black strong coffee.”

  “Floppy bacon? What is floppy bacon?” Cassie asked, laughing.

  “Hey, don’t be making fun of my bacon. I like bacon while it is still soft and juicy. Please don’t tell me you like your bacon crispy! I will be devastated if you do.”

  Laughing, Cassie answered, “OK, so you like wimpy bacon. I will eat bacon no matter how it is cooked. I like it when it is more than floppy, but not yet crispy. Kinda chewy.” She paused for a minute. “I can’t believe that we are out here in the middle of nowhere after the world as we know it has ended, and we are drooling over bacon.”

  Andy stopped smiling. “Oh, my gosh, you’re right. No more stores mean no more bacon. Oh, damn. I’m not sure I can live in a world without bacon.” Andy pretended to pout.

  “Well, City Boy, it’s a good thing we’re headed to my ranch where we have pigs – and we know how to make bacon!”

  “Well, at least we have our priorities right,” said Andy, laughing.

  The two continued laughing for a few minutes, but soon fell silent as they walked, each one thinking about the changes in the world that they would need to face because of the EMP.

  Soon, they saw a road sign that indicated they were coming close to the small town of Seagreaves.

  “I’m not sure it is a good idea to go right through the town. There is a hiking trail that cuts off to the west for almost a mile. It crosses a fire trail that leads back to this road just past the town. What do you think about taking that detour?” Cassie asked, handing the map to Andy. Andy peered at the map for a minute.

  “Do you think we’ll be able to push the cart on the trails?”

  Cassie nodded. “I’ve not ever hiked this particular trail, but I know there are not too many hills around here, and most of these public trails are pretty well maintained. If we run into problems, we can both push if we have to.”

  “I guess that would work. Let’s wait until we get to the fire road before we think about stopping for lunch.”

  Fortunately, the trail was packed and dry, so the cart moved fairly well. After pushing the cart for a while in silence, Andy stopped suddenly.

  “What’s wrong?” Cassie asked.

  “Nothing is wrong – no, everything is wrong. Here we are pushing a cart through the woods to try to stay safe from unknown people who might want to hurt us. It’s just so, so ludicrous. I mean, we’ve all been though power outages before, but this one is so massive, I’m having trouble wrapping my head around it all.” He looked at Cassie with a somber expression on his face. “A lot of people are going to die because of this, aren’t they.”

  “Yes, people will die. Some will die from the plane crashes that probably happened all over the country, some from other accidents. Many will die from lack of food and clean water. People who relied on power for medical equipment like oxygen, people who need prescription medications to stay alive, diabetics, people with chronic diseases, all of those people will probably die. Then, violence will also kill a lot. From the research I’ve done, it’s estimated approximately 75% to 90% of the population will not survive the EMP.”

  “That many? Oh, my God, that is horrible.” Andy shook his head and began pushing the cart again.

  “Andy, think of it. We’re a week away from Thanksgiving. Winter is coming, and if people have no power and no way to stay warm, they won’t survive. If they don’t have some alternative to electric heat like a fireplace or a wood stove, what will they do when the temperature hits way below zero? And even if they have a fireplace or stove, if they don’t have firewood to burn, they’re still in trouble. Of course, around h
ere, almost everyone has at least a fireplace and plenty of wood, but in the cities? It will be bad.”

  Andy gave a weak smile, attempting to lighten the mood. “Well, it won’t be us, because I am betting you’ve got ten years’ worth of firewood stacked up, right?”

  “Well, maybe not ten years, but we do have quite a bit. We also have some areas of forest that are protected just for growing firewood. A few years ago, I read an article about a way of renewing wood production called coppicing.” Seeing Andy’s confused look, she continued, “Coppicing involves cutting the tree down, but leaving a very short stump close to the ground. Then, shoots are allowed to grow up around the stump, so instead of having to wait for a new tree to grow from seed, several new trees can grow in the same spot, a lot faster. Once the shoots start to grow, you trim off all but a few of the strongest shoots. If I remember correctly, it said that it could cut the time in half for how long it took to grow new trees, and the trees never die of old age because they get cut down before they are so big that the wood needs splitting. I shared it with Lilly and Steve, and we set up several areas to try it out. We’re pretty selective in which trees are cut, and so far, we’ve got a bunch of new trees that will be ready in a year or two.”

  “That is amazing. I never knew that, and I’ll bet a lot of other people didn’t know either. Too bad, though, because if more people knew about things like that, they’d have a better chance to survive.”

  Cassie sighed. “Yes, it is too bad. The information is out there, but most people don’t care or aren’t interested. Coppicing has been around for centuries, but it is a lot easier to just call your local firewood delivery company or go cut down deadwood than it is to come up with a plan to not only have the wood to use now, but to be sure it grows back so you have it to use later, too. There are so many things that our grandparents knew that we’ve forgotten or lost because we as a society are so busy trying to be modern and technological. Those of us who’ve taken the time to learn some of these skills are in a lot better position to survive when modern technology fails us.”