Universal Mass

by Coleinger, Ronnie

  As they talked for a minute or two, the pain medicine kicked in and Robert fell asleep. After Kathy kissed him on the forehead, she headed out to help the others get the truck and tractor parked in the center of the driveway and covered with the heavy oilcloth tarps. They still did not want to risk parking the vehicles in the barn or garage. One ember from a hot meteorite could quickly destroy the aging barn.

  When they closed up the front of the house and settled into the mineshaft for the night, Britney had a pot of chili simmering on the stove. James poured them some coffee and then began to task of putting Timothy back into his bed. He was all excited over Robert’s broken arm. He stood beside Robert’s bed and stared at the white cast. As James explained about the broken arm and explained how the doctors set the bones into their proper place, he could not keep still. He seemed uneasy over the broken bones, yet he was excited to hear how the doctors twisted Robert’s arm and put the bone ends together. The explanation of how the doctors made the cast from plaster and bed sheets made him giggle. As James tucked Timothy into bed, the boy said, “When I am big, I want to be a doctor and fix broken people.” James giggled with the child and then kissed him on the forehead. As he pulled the covers up to Timothy’s neck, he said, “Being a doctor is a good thing to do. There are a lot of broken people in this world who need fixing.”

  Chapter 16 – Planning for Long Term Survival

  Randy and James parked the pickup truck in the driveway and then headed into the Mountain House for some supper. As Randy poured a cup of coffee, he said, “The power company workers have restored power to most of the city. They only have two of the generators online for now, but they say they could have the remaining four generators online within a month. The reservoir behind the dam is full from all of the heavy snowmelt. One of the fishing fleets has a boat on the lake checking the depth of the water. It appears that the heavy water runoff from the mountains carried a large quantity of sand, silt and debris into the lake. All of the junk at the bottom of the lake is taking up space that the hydro company had for water storage in past years. They are concerned they might have to have the lake dredged. Since they have not had any income from the sale of electricity for the last three years, they could not fund such a project if needed. For now, they will gradually put on more generators as their customers consume power and see how the water level in the lake holds up. The workers are also struggling to work on the huge machinery. They are trying to purchase more heavy lifting equipment. Being tiny humans in a world once made for big people is posing some real struggles in this world we now live in. When you consider the hardships this clan has endured due to our smaller size, try to imagine working on equipment that is three stories tall and weighs hundreds of tons. The power company wants to run all six generators if they can get them ready to run and if they have enough reserve water in the lake. The hospital and clinic have turned off their generators and switched over to the grid, but the power company is asking Hillsburg’s residents to only use electricity for emergencies, at least for now.”

  As the guys sat at the kitchen table enjoying a hot cup of coffee, Jenna ran into the front door of the Mountain House screaming for help. The guys jumped up and ran towards the sound of her panicked voice. When she saw her husband running towards her, she screamed for him to get the rifle and shoot the bears. The men all grabbed their rifles behind the door and checked to be certain they were loaded. As they ran towards the barn, they saw Kathy lying on the ground near the barn door. A large black bear was standing a few feet from her and was looking back into the barn. Robert shouldered his rifle and took careful aim at the bear. Randy and Rodney also took aim and waited for Robert to shoot. They would follow up his shot with two more to insure the bear did not attack Kathy. They had no idea if Kathy was still alive, but they had to assume she was.

  The first shot from Robert’s rifle rolled the bear onto its side, but it quickly regained its footing. The rifle shots from Randy and Rodney’s rifles dropped the animal in its tracks. It dropped on its stomach with its front paws stretched out in front. The sound of the gunshots brought the second bear running out of the barn towards Kathy. Three gunshots dropped the bear to the ground within six feet of where Kathy laid prone on the ground.

  Just as the men moved towards the bears to insure they were both dead, Bonnie came running out of the barn. She ran straight into Rodney’s arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. She only spoke two words before turning and running to where Kathy lay bleeding on the ground. When Bonnie kneeled down beside her friend, they all saw Kathy stir and try to raise her head. As Randy got down on the ground and began trying to assess Kathy’s injuries, Jenna joined him. It was then that Britney poked her head out of the barn door to see if it was safe. Once she could see that both bears were dead, she gathered up Timothy and James and brought them out of the barn. She handed Donald to his father and Timothy ran to where Jenna and Randy were working. Britney quickly turned around and ran back into the barn to check on James.

  The moment Britney turned and ran back towards the barn was the moment that they all realized James was missing. Robert handed his rifle to Rodney and followed Britney into the barn. He found Britney sobbing over James body, which now lay over a bale of straw. From the angle he was laying, it was obvious that his neck was broken. Robert quickly stepped up to James and put his fingers on the boy’s neck. There was no pulse and James body was already turning a bluish grey color. Britney put her head down on her dead husband’s chest and began to sob. She had known he was dead a moment after the bear had slapped her huge front paw against the side of James head. She had heard the sound of her husband’s neck bones giving way to the powerful strike delivered by the hundred and fifty pound sow.

  When Robert walked outside to check on his wife, Kathy, he found her sitting up and talking. He sat down beside her on the ground and took hold of her hand. As they sat, Kathy turned to her husband and asked, “Is James dead?” Robert squeezed her hand and said, “Yes, his neck is broken. He died quickly.” They all heard a gasp from Jenna and then she began to cry. Randy stood up and embraced his wife; trying to calm her emotions. As Jenna cried in his arms, he realized he felt the same way as Jenna and could use a good cry right about now, but he needed to be strong. Kathy was alive, but would need medical attention as soon as they could get her inside the mineshaft. Her wrist was broken and she had a nasty goose egg forming over her left ear. The bear had bit and chewed her arms and hands, but the wounds did not seem very deep. Infections would be her worse enemy.

  Once they had Kathy inside and sitting in a recliner, Randy quickly set her arm. After the arm was set, he worked with Jenna to get a cast on Kathy’s arm. As they worked to create the many layers of cotton cloth soaked in Paris of plaster, everyone except for Robert and Rodney came inside and sat down. Bonnie took Timothy into the kitchen and made him hot chocolate to help settle his emotions while Britney sat down in a chair and nursed baby Donald. Britney’s eyes were red and swollen, but she still managed to talk baby talk to her son while he nursed.

  When the guys came in, Jenna asked, “Did you build a nice casket? James deserves the very best. He did all he could to protect us. He managed to get Timothy and Donald between two bales of straw where he hoped the sow could not see them. James hit the bear with a shovel when the animal tried to drag the boys out from between the bales of straw. When the bear attacked James, he fell over top of the bales of hay, keeping the sow from gaining easy access to the children. Kathy yelling at the bears drew on of them out of the barn and towards her. They would have also killed Kathy if you guys had not shot them.” Jenna started to cry all over again and Bonnie had to take her into the other room where she would not upset Timothy. The child was already frightened enough over the bears attacking James and Kathy. Jenna’s sobbing was only adding to his anxiety.

  After an hour or so, Kathy got herself up and out of the recliner, trying her best to care for herself without the others help. Randy wanted her to be careful wit
h the new cast until the plaster had time to finish hardening. Kathy finally settled at the kitchen table and Robert fixed her a plate of food and tried his best to get her to eat some of it. As she picked at her food and tried to forget the events of the day, Randy said, “I know we are all upset over what has happened here today, but we need to discuss the bears. Today, we discovered that two more of the animals roaming these mountains did not reduce in size as we humans have. If you all remember, Kathy shot a mule deer right after we first moved into the Mountain House, which was also full size. Those two bears we killed weigh around one hundred and fifty pounds each. I am very concerned over this discovery. Either those animals were immune to the resizing, or they have returned to normal size for some unknown reason. For whatever reason, we all need to be mindful of more attacks. I suggest that no one go outdoors unless accompanied by three others with rifles. Being so small in comparison to the full size bears, we puny humans are nothing more than a snack for full size bears.”

  When the sun had set and the Mountain House got dark, the clan sat in the mineshaft and discussed where to bury James. They finally decided to dig a six-foot deep hole behind the barn with the backhoe. Then they would lower the wooden casket, fill the hole with wood and create a funeral pyre. None of the clan could stomach the thought of the bears digging up the coffin. Cremation was the best solution. As they finally all got into bed and tried to get some rest, they soon realized that sleep was not going to be an option this night. They spent the night discussing their plans for the upcoming winter. Cutting firewood without putting any of the clan members lives in jeopardy was now a problem. They were still unsure if other large predators roamed the mountains looking to score an easy meal with one of the resized humans. One thing was certain; they now needed to make a trip to Hillsburg for ammunition for their large caliber rifles.

  When they rose in the morning, it was not even daylight yet. No one could sleep and the smell of freshly perked coffee and bacon cooking brought everyone to the kitchen. As they helped Kathy finish the breakfast preparations, Rodney said, “I thought about those two bears we killed yesterday. I was thinking that we might want to load them up and take them into the city to show the sheriff. He might be interested in the discovery of such large predators roaming around the mountains; any thoughts?” Randy said, “We could do that. We should also ask if anyone knows where James parents are living. We should notify them of James death.” Britney sat down at the kitchen table beside her father and said, “James parents were killed in a train derailment during the resizing. With no human engineers capable of controlling the train, it crashed while traveling over the Mississippi River. Some of the passenger cars burned and the passengers in those cars went unidentified; what was left of their remains washed down the river. The sheriff notified James of their death before we were married. James kept that bit of information between us, not wanting the clan to feel sympathy over his loss. I promised to remain silent on the matter, but now you all need to know.”

  Rodney leaned over and hugged his daughter. Then he asked, “Daughter, I don’t understand why James felt the need to keep the death of his parents a secret. He was marrying into a family that loved him, why would he keep such a thing from us?” Britney shrugged her shoulders and said, “He was adopted, but his parents loved him and doted over him whenever I was around. I tried to question him about his silence, but he made me swear to keep silent on the matter. I never did understand his reasoning. Now that James is dead, I intend to frame a picture of his parents and keep it out so Donald can always know who his Grandparents were.”

  They all agreed upon making the trip into Hillsburg. They would take the club cab truck and the small Ford half-ton pickup so everyone could go. The girls had not spent any amount of time in the city in over a month and they could do with a little distraction after attending James funeral. The clan decided that they would take care of James funeral first thing and then make the trip into town. There were some supplies they needed along with the ammunition.

  Randy brought the backhoe around to the barn and loaded the two bears into the bed of the pickup. Then he moved the tractor around to the back of the barn and began digging his friend’s grave. While he worked, the others cut up some of the dry hardwood from the barn and piled it where Randy could place it into the grave with the backhoe. When Randy finished digging the grave, the guys wrapped two nylon straps around the casket and hooked the ends to the bucket on the backhoe. As Randy started lowering the casket into the ground, the girls all huddled up together and began to cry. Once Randy moved the backhoe away from the grave, he shut off the engine and climbed down to join his friends.

  As the clan grieved over the loss of their friend, the sun came from out behind a cloud and began to warm the cool air. A gentle breeze kicked up and they heard the sound of geese flying overhead, which brought comfort to their hearts. After a few minutes, Britney walked over to the grave and dropped a handful of dirt onto the top of the coffin. When she stepped back from the grave, the others followed her lead. When little Timothy headed towards the grave, Randy quickly grabbed his hand and held on while the boy stepped up and dropped his handful of dirt onto James grave. When Timothy returned to his mother’s side, he took hold of her hand and spoke to her. Jenna kneeled down beside him and pulled him into her arms. As he cried and hugged her, he asked why they were putting James in the hole. Jenna began explaining that the bear had killed James and they would have to bury him beneath the ground, as they did all humans once they died. After a few minutes, Timothy seemed to grasp that his friend was no longer with them and would be going to join his God in heaven. Randy picked up his son and carried him to the cab of the backhoe. He sat Timothy in the seat between his legs and wrapped the seat belt around both of them. After Randy carefully covered the grave with the dry wood the clan had gathered, he moved the backhoe out into the driveway and walked alongside his son back to the gravesite. Randy carried Timothy and walked a short distance from the grave with the others while Robert and Rodney poured some kerosene on the wood and tossed in a lit rag. As the fire grew in size and intensity, they all decided to return to the house and prepare for the trip to the city. The pyre would burn for many hours and no one wished to stand around and watch. They had lost an incredible member of their clan and his spirit would now return to its creator. Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

  ***

  As they drove down the mountain towards Hillsburg, Britney breeched the subject of James and explained that her soul felt empty. She managed to contain her tears for the most part, but she needed to discuss her feelings. The clan had taken James death in stride while they tended to Kathy and the wellbeing of the other clan members. The survival and health of the remaining clan was paramount to their survival. James death would stress the clan to it breaking point if they did not address each person’s emotional needs and their individual method for grieving. Britney would now have to raise her son without a father, something she would have to learn to cope with. The clan would support her in every possible way, but she would have to deal with James death on her own terms for the rest of her life. She promised herself that even if she did one day remarry, she would keep a picture of her son’s father on her nightstand where her son could see it every day of his life. She wanted Donald to understand the love his father felt for him.

  Kathy had joined her husband, Robert, as he drove one of the pickup trucks down the mountain. Timothy had wanted to ride with them, so they put him in the middle of the bench seat and buckled him in. They had sat him on some catalogs before fastening his seat belt, but he still could barely see out of the windshield. As they drove, Kathy talked to her grandson about James death and let him know that it was okay to talk about James even if someone cried. She explained that everyone would miss James, but the clan would never forget him or stop thinking about him. By the time they arrived at the gas station in the city to fill up the truck, Timothy seemed able to grasp that James was not coming back and all they
had to remember him by was their memories.

  Robert pulled the truck into a filling station behind where Randy was already filling up his truck. The girls came back to talk to Kathy and Timothy and began teasing Robert and Kathy about their broken arms. The joke seemed to revolve around the fact that Robert’s right arm and Kathy’s left arm were in casts, so they would have to wipe each other’s butts with their good hands. Kathy took the teasing in stride and simply said, “We are well practiced using whichever fingers are close to complete our goal whether it is butt wiping or orgasm. We will manage quite nicely, thank you.” Bonnie got to giggling so hard she finally put her hand on her crotch and headed off towards the restroom. Rodney laughed and said, “Thanks girls, I did not bring any dry underwear for Bonnie. I remembered diapers for Donald, but no underwear for my wife. Guess a diaper will work in a pinch.” Britney stepped up beside her father and asked, “Who is in need of a diaper?” Rodney laughed and said, “I believe your mother may have to borrow one of Donald’s diapers. Her laughter may have played havoc with her full bladder.” Britney giggled and said, “I have some clean blue jeans behind the truck seat if she should need them.”

  After Randy paid for the gasoline and Bonnie had returned, they discussed where they would meet up after everyone finished shopping. They decided to meet back in the gas station parking lot around six o’clock. Randy said, “I will put enough money back so we can afford dinner in Hillsburg before we begin the trip back home if everyone would like a restaurant cooked meal.” Kathy giggled and said, “I think a large beef steak and a baked potato would help heal my arm and my spirits.” A man standing near them pumping gasoline said, “The best steak dinner in the city is at the Belmont Hotel just down the street. You can’t go wrong with their food.” Randy thanked the man and then turned back around to his friends. They quickly decided upon the Belmont for supper. Kathy said, “Let the healing begin.”