by D Stalter
Her forehead creased with wrinkles. “A couple scythes. Maybe?” She added that to her farm store list. “Even if we don’t need them, it can’t hurt to have them.”
“What else?” She tapped the blunt end of the pen on the counter.
“Soap?” James asked.
“Ha! I’ve probably got three years supply of soap. Hand soap, laundry soap and dish soap.”
“Toothpaste? Toothbrushes?”
“Got plenty.”
“Buckets?”
Allison grinned. “We’ve probably got a hundred buckets. After Halloween and Easter every year, Walmart knocks the price of their buckets down from $5.00 to 50¢. I usually pick up fifteen or twenty. There’s probably more than a hundred stored in totes in the hayloft.”
James shook his head. “I never knew,” he whispered.
“You knew,” she said. “You just didn’t pay attention. When I started putting things away, it was only because I wanted to be prepared if the business hit some hard times. I wanted to make sure we would have food. But, the more I learned, the more sense it made to also stockpile for any disaster. I’m glad I did. But, that still doesn’t make me a prepper.”
James leaned back in his stool. “If this really does last a long time, I know the pantry is full of canned goods. But what about meat? And, if the freezer isn’t working, how do we store it?”
“There’s 1600 pounds of water softener salt in the basement and another 500 pounds of barn salt in the barn.
“Also, in one of those green notebooks are instructions on preserving meat. We can salt some and we can smoke some. We have chickens. We can eat them fresh.”
Bella whined and went to the back door where she stood and looked at them. Her dark eyes were soft and full of hope.
“Will you take her out?” Allison asked.
James walked to the closet, reached in and pulled out a holster. He wrapped it around his waist, lifted a 9mm Glock out, checked the chamber and then slid it back into the holster. He reached back into the closet and pulled out a shoulder holster with a stainless steel .357 LadySmith.
He handed it to Allison. “I’d feel better if you started wearing this.”
She held his gaze for a few seconds before silently taking the holster and slipping it over her shoulders.
Allison was standing in the pantry with her black notebook balanced in the crook of her arm, using the end of her pen to count cans of condensed milk. Bella’s claws clicked on the hardwood floor and she joined Allison in the pantry, her tail high and wagging, her mouth stretched in a doggy grin.
James walked in behind her and Allison turned. They both spoke at once.
“We need to dig an outhouse,” said James.
“We need to cut a lot more wood for winter heating,” said Allison.
Allison laid the notebook and pen on the shelf in front of her and sighed. “If Don is right, and I’m starting to think he might be, we will definitely need more people. We just can’t do this ourselves.”
James wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close. Resting his chin on the top of her head, he gave her a squeeze. “We’ll start in the morning and just do what needs to be done. We can do this. It’s been a long day. Let’s try to get some sleep tonight.”
Allison pushed herself away from the embrace. “Get serious, James! We cannot do this alone. There’s no way. How do you expect to survive when we can’t keep up with the things that need to get done and defending against what we know is probably coming? We aren’t ready! We don’t have time to get ready. We’re doomed before we even start.” Her eyes filled with tears.
James opened his mouth and then closed it.
Allison stepped around him and walked into the living room, Bella on her heels. Allison settled on the couch, leaned over and picked up the remote for the TV and then flung it across the room where it hit the wall with a bang. Bella ran over to sniff it before picking it up and carrying it back to Allison.
Allison removed it from Bella’s mouth, set it on the coffee table, put her face in her hands, and let the tears fall. James quietly walked past her to close the curtains and check the window locks. He walked to the kitchen and did the same thing. Then the bedrooms.
When he was sure the house was locked up, he sat next to Allison and again wrapped his arms around her. She raised her head, her eyes still full of tears and her cheeks wet.
“We can’t do it, James. I thought we were ready for anything, but there’s no way. We can’t do it. We need help. We don’t have anyone.”
“We’ve got Don.”
“Don has six adults to help him, and even then he says it will be hard. We aren’t ready for this. We can’t do it.”
James didn’t say anything. He just held her. He held her until her crying stopped and her breathing slowed. He held her until her shoulders relaxed and she leaned into him.
She turned her red-rimmed eyes to his. “I’m so sorry I lost it. I just feel so helpless.”
“I know.” He gently brushed the hair from her face. “I feel so bad that I wasn’t by your side helping you prepare. I feel bad that I teased you. You were so strong to keep doing it on your own. If I’d helped you, we would have been more prepared. This is my fault. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t know what to do,” she whispered. “I’m so scared.”
“Me too.” He settled back into the couch pulling her with him.
“We’ll find a way. We’ll be OK. We will help Don and he will help us. If anyone can pull all our neighbors together, it’s him. We’ll figure this out and be fine. Come on, let’s go to bed. Tomorrow we can tackle this head on.”
Day 2 - Allison
James found Allison sitting in the kitchen early the next morning drinking a cup of coffee. A red thermos sat on the counter.
“How?” he asked.
“I went to feed the horses and thought I’d see if the motor home generator would start. It did. I made coffee while I did chores. Here, have some. It’s really good!”
He pulled a cup from the cabinet and filled it. “I don’t understand how the generator is working out there. If we had an EMP, everything should be out. But some cars run and some don’t. The cell phones work sometimes, but sometimes they don’t. It doesn’t make sense.”
Allison shrugged. “I figure that it helped that our shop is double walled steel and eight inches thick. I’m not going to lose sleep over actually being able to make coffee this morning.”
James rubbed the top of his head, mussing his already-mussed hair even more. “I hear you. It’s just weird.”
He sipped his coffee. “Got your lists ready? Peter should be here in a little while.”
“Yes,” Allison tapped her back pocket. “I’ve been working on something I want to show you real quick.” She slid her notebook over. “The shop is 50 X 60. If we could get the lumber, we could build rooms to house extra people. Like a bunkhouse.”
She pointed at the drawing. “Look, the back wall of the shop is 60 feet. The ceiling is 18 feet. If we built a mezzanine, we would get 5 rooms. Each would be just under 12 feet wide. We could either use the space under the mezzanine as an open area or we could make 5 more rooms.”
“How many people are you planning to invite?”
“I don’t know. At least five. We need help with labor. We need help with security. If we had three or four extra guys, it would be do-able. But I think if we had eight or ten extra people, we could actually pull this off without wearing everyone down.”
“How do we feed ten extra people? You said last night that we have enough for two people.”
“Food wise we have more than enough for two, but certainly not enough for ten. The garden will add quite a bit to our supplies. Hunting will add more. But, I think when I talk to Chief McCall, I’m just going to flat out tell him that anyone coming will need to bring supplies.”
“And guns and ammo,” James said.
“And guns and ammo,” Allison agreed.
“And you
think you can entice people out of their homes in town to live in our barn?”
“I think there are good people in town who understand that they can’t survive in town. We have no room in the house and we can’t offer them privacy either in the house or here unless we do something like this. This is a nice barn. People actually build barns like this to live in.”
James looked at the drawing. “I see what you are doing, but how would we heat it?”
“The shop is well insulated. We could use a couple of those 50-gallon drums out back and make a wood burning stove. I’d need to get some stovepipe. I think it would work. I’m going to talk to Chief McCall. I was going to look for him today anyway to see about getting some supplies, but I also want to see if he knows who might be looking to bug-out in exchange for room and board.”
“Bug-out?”
“Yeah, bug-out... as in leave home to a safer spot. Our place is the safer spot. We have potential. We just weren’t quite prepared. I never thought anything like this would happen. I had thought about an economic depression or a partial collapse of our government. We could have ridden those out just fine. But this is not something I ever imagined. We won’t survive without help.”
James smiled. “That’s the Allison I know and love. You always get the handle on the situation. I love you.”
“I love you too. Now, help me out here. I’d like to carry my LadySmith, but I don’t want to get arrested or get attacked. It’s too warm to wear a coat so I can’t wear my shoulder holster. Suggestions?”
James wrinkled his nose. “Um. When was the last time you shaved your legs?”
Allison leaned back. “Really? Yesterday. Why?”
“I’m thinking we could take the gun pocket off your shoulder holster and duct tape it to your leg. Wear your baggy pants and you’ll be fine.”
“Peter will be here soon. Let’s do it.”
When the gun was securely strapped to her calf, Allison walked across the living room a few times. “It’s not very comfortable, but it’ll do. Can you see any bulges when I walk?”
“Nope.”
“Good then. And what are you going to be doing while I’m gone?”
“I’m going to start on the outhouse. I think I can get the hole dug in a few hours using a post hole digger. I’ll use a couple pallets to build the base and the seat. I should have something usable by this afternoon. It won’t be great, but it will be sanitary.”
“Where are you putting it?”
“As far away from the well as I can and still make it close to the house.”
“So, in the front yard?”
“Either there or between the house and the barn.”
“If I can find a couple guys to join us, that might be a great spot. Easy for everyone to get to. Plan on that, OK? Put it on the east side of the barn.”
“If we have more people join us, we’ll need a bigger outhouse. Or even two outhouses.”
“Just get us something to start out with. If we have more people joining us, we’ll have more hands to help build another outhouse.”
Day 2 - Allison
Peter’s truck bounced across the field behind the house. He was driving the one-ton Ford. Allison couldn’t tell if the truck was supposed to be gray or if it was just primer. She gave James a quick kiss before turning to meet Peter. James grabbed her hand and pulled her back.
He hugged her tight and whispered. “Be careful. Don’t talk to strangers and don’t go anywhere alone.” He kissed the top of her head.
“I’ll be careful. Promise.” She squeezed him quickly and then turned back to meet Peter’s truck.
She was unlatching the pasture gate when Peter rolled the window down and called out. “Close the gate. We are going the back way.”
He was dressed in a black AC/DC t-shirt and jeans. He wore laced up Red Wing boots. He wasn’t what Allison would call handsome, but he wasn’t ugly either. About 30 years old, he wore his hair a little longer than Allison liked to see on a man. It was brown and wavy and just touched his shoulders.
He looked at Allison. “We had a talk this morning and decided that we didn’t want to risk driving past the FEMA guys who’ve taken over the motel. No need to take chances. We’ll take County Road 2200 and come in on the east side of town.”
“But that means we will pass under the Interstate rather than over it. What if there are bad guys above us?”
“We talked about that. Still think this is the safest choice. If someone hassles us going under the Interstate, at least we can speed up or turn around or fight back if we are cornered. If the FEMA guys decide to hassle us... well, their guns are bigger and they are more organized.”
Allison nodded. “I understand. Are you going to help me find Chief McCall before you go to the farm store or do you want to take care of the farm store first and then go find Chief McCall?”
“I’ll deliver you to Chief McCall at the Walmart parking lot. He’s going to take you to the lumber yard and then we’ll meet back up at the Walmart parking lot in an hour or so.”
Allison’s mouth formed an ‘O’. “How do you know all this?”
“Talked to Chief McCall on the ham radio last night.”
“And he agreed to take me? I didn’t know that you knew Chief McCall.”
“He’s my dad’s cousin.”
“What!”
Peter grinned. “It’s a pretty good story if you want to hear it.”
“Sure,” Allison said. She turned partway in her seat to face him.
“OK,” Peter began. “My grandfather was born and raised in the house my dad lives in. So was my dad. So were me and my brother.”
“Anyway, my grandfather had a twin sister. They say that she was the most beautiful girl in the state. My grandfather and her were really close when they were younger. They went to school in Kasbeer until they were in fifth grade. They were both popular and had the same friends.”
“After fifth grade, all the kids had to go to Princeton to school. I think Grandpa went for a few more years before he quit to stay home and help on the farm. This was back in the forties and it wasn’t uncommon for boys to do that.”
“His sister, though. Well, she was having too much fun. All the boys wanted her and all the girls wanted to be like her. She was like a princess. Everyone loved her. But nobody loved her as much as she loved herself.”
“She hated living on the farm. Now, back then, my great-grandparents were considered wealthy. They owned a lot of farm ground and hired a lot of the neighbors at certain times of the year. But, Grandpa’s twin sister hated the farm. Said it stunk and was dirty. By the time she was seventeen, she was all but living with a family in town.
She was the belle of the ball. She was invited to all the parties. If you read any old newspapers from back then, her name was mentioned several times in every paper. She was that popular.”
“On the few occasions that my great-grandparents would make her come home, she made fun of them and called them country bumpkins. But, in front of other people, she was all smiles and loving to her family. No one in town had any idea what a bitch she was. She hid her evil mind behind sweet smiles.”
“My great-grandpa was getting older and Grandpa was taking over more and more of the farm work. One day his twin sister showed up in a fancy car, didn’t say a word to her parents or brother. She went straight to her room, packed everything she owned and left. They didn’t hear from her for several years.”
“She married a local judge’s son and didn’t even invite her family to the wedding.
“Then, my great-grandpa got sick. As soon as grandpa’s sister heard how sick he was, she drove out to the farm to see for herself. She demanded to know what was in the will. When she found out that the whole farm was going to my grandfather, she hit the roof. She said that her husband was a powerful man and she’d make sure that she got the whole farm.”
“They finally came to an agreement. My great-grandfather had his attorney draw up papers giving her 40 acres sout
h of the homestead. That’s the forty acres that you have now. Her father had told her that he didn’t want to see the farm broken up and hoped that if she ever decided she didn’t want the land, she would sell it back to him.”
“Within three months, she had sold the land - without telling her family or offering to sell it to them. She just walked away with the cash. Great grandpa died the next year and left everything to my grandfather. His twin sister went crazy. Accused my grandpa of stealing her inheritance. By now, her husband was a lawyer and she had him sue the estate.”
“She lost. She was really pissed then. Refused to speak to my grandfather. She called him a thief and a liar. When he would stop for coffee in town, people would give him looks. Most of the people still liked him and respected him, but a few believed his sister and would shun him.”
“Grandpa got married and my dad was born. His sister had a son. That son is Frank McCall. Neither Frank or my dad even knew the other existed until Dad went to school in Princeton. They became great friends on the very first day of school. They hung around together for a couple of months - until someone let it slip to Frank’s mom that he was hanging around with her brother’s son. She had a fit. Told her son to stay away from that lying little thief.”
“The next day, Frank went up to my dad at school and asked him what was going on. Neither one of them had any idea that they were cousins. My dad came home and got the story from Grandpa and told Frank the next day. They thought it was cool that they were cousins but agreed that it would only cause trouble if they hung out together. So, they attended school and talked, but didn’t carry on the friendship outside of school.”
“Until summer came, of course. Then, Frank showed up at the farm one day and asked if he could see what it was all about. He ended up working on the farm until he graduated from high school and went in to the service. After he got out of the service, he’d come out to help bale hay and at harvest time. He still comes out when we bale, but he drinks more beer than throw hay.” He laughed.
