by Wilson, Cal
“Alright, I’m sorry, David. I’m really sorry. I was dumb. Are you OK?” They shook hands. “And Lawson, I apologize to you too.”
“That’s quite alright,” Lawson answered gently. “But for the record, I have been shot at before.”
*****
Wallace and Kathy found Lois, who had just finished stitching up the wounds on both sides of Mike’s left arm. Lois looked up. “Oh no -- was he shot too?”
“Yeah, just a few minutes ago,” Wallace reported as he brought Bill to Lois.
“Let me see him.”
Wallace went to one knee next to Lois so that Lois could look at Bill’s temple. Kathy lifted the bundled shirt she had been using to stop the bleeding.
“It doesn’t look like the bullet penetrated his skull,” Lois reported. “We still need to stop the bleeding. Has he been passed out since this happened?”
“In and out,” Kathy said. “He said a few things after it happened and then he passed out.”
“What do you think? Will he make it?” Wallace asked.
“I don’t know. I hope so, but it doesn’t look too good. We won’t know for a while.” Lois looked behind her. “Kathy, could you hand me my bag please?”
“I don’t see it.”
“That black leather bag over there.”
“Oh, I got it.”
“Thanks.” Lois looked at Bill. “Why don’t you put him down,” she said to Wallace. “You’re Wallace, right?”
“Right.” Wallace laid Bill onto the ground, and put the rolled up shirt under Bill’s head.
Lois reached into her bag and pulled out a small bottle and a bandage. She poured some liquid from the bottle onto the bandage and then patted the wound with the wet bandage. The wound had stopped bleeding. Lois then pulled a needle and dark thread out of her bag and started stitching the cut.
Jesse, Andrew and several other people walked towards Lois. “Remember everyone,” Jesse announced, we’ll have a camp-wide meeting today after lunch.” Jesse looked at Lois, stitching Bill’s forehead. “How’s it look, Lois?”
“I’ve seen worse. But it would be nice if he came to.”
Jesse looked at Kathy. “It looks like Kathy did a good job of stopping the bleeding.”
“Thanks.”
One of the teenage girls nearby said to Andrew, “Pretty exciting stuff up here, huh Andrew?” Andrew looked at her. “I mean, getting shot at and all. More exciting than the days when you were homeless and hooked on meth.”
Andrew looked down. Jesse was outraged. “I did not just hear that, did I?” Jesse looked at the girl. “No way you just said that.” The girl turned away.
“Hey, shut up.” Wallace angrily said to the girl. “Andrew’s a good man.”
Jesse looked at everyone around him and raised his voice. “Will everyone here please keep their heads on? Please? Is that asking too much?” He shrugged his shoulders. “You know, we get shot at, we survive it all, but now we’re turning on each other. Let’s keep our wits about us, people. Let’s stick together. OK? Try to remember that we’re on the same team!”
“Yeah, leave Andrew alone.” Wallace sounded angry. “When I leave here I’ll remember this camp as the camp that fought off a helicopter attack but then turned against itself. This is ridiculous.”
“Why? Where are you going?” Kathy asked.
“I’m going to check on my friend. The guy whose house I built. You know, the one whose wife’s necklace I found in the chopper.”
“Oh yeah.”
“I might also check out what happened in town. From a distance.”
“You’re welcome to stay here for a while,” Jesse suggested. “I was hoping you could be at the meeting and talk with us about some military issues. You know, stuff we should do. We don’t really know where to start.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Wallace answered. “I could wait a few days.”
“Hey, what are you doing?” Bill woke up and asked Lois. He sounded annoyed.
“Oh, good to see you’re awake,” Lois said. “You are awake now, right?”
“I guess.”
“Bill, do you have any allergies? We’re going to have to give you some antibiotics.”
“None that I know of.”
“Good.” Lois cut the dark thread and finished the stitching.
“It stings,” Bill said. “And I’m thirsty.” Bill looked at the group of people nearby. “Could someone get me some water please?”
“Those are good signs, right Lois?” Kathy sounded hopeful.
“Oh yes. Awake and thirsty are good signs.”
****
CHAPTER 22
Everyone except DJ and Andrew, whose turn it was to be at the observation post, was at the meeting. DJ and Andrew were told to use the walkie-talkies and listen to everything discussed.
The group met at the location of Kirk’s funeral, less than 24 hours earlier. Some of the group members were still in shock from the gunfire a few hours before, and dabbed the tears on their faces with rags and handkerchiefs. Various small groups conversed as they waited for the meeting to begin.
Jesse stood in front of the group, and all chatter stopped. He held up a walkie-talkie and talked into it. “DJ, can you hear me?”
“Yes,” DJ could be heard in the speaker.
“OK, I’ll get someone here to keep the button pushed so you can hear what is said.”
“OK.”
Jesse looked to those sitting in front. “Chuck, could you please be in charge of this walkie-talkie?”
“Sure.”
“And check back with DJ every few minutes to make sure that nothing is going on at the roadblock.”
“Will do.”
“Alright,” Jesse addressed the group. “Before we start the meeting let’s go to prayer.” Everyone bowed their heads. “Heavenly Father, we thank You for this day and the protection You have given us. We thank You for our group of fellow Christians we have up here, the food we have and the comforts we have, none of which we would have thought that we would have up here at this time. We ask that You continue to bless our group, bless our fellowship, and bless the planning and training that we have ahead of us. We also hold up and ask for a special blessing for Mike and Bill, who were shot in the attack. We ask for Your healing for these two men. We also ask for reuniting with family members, like Bill’s parents, and a few others. I also want to thank You that my hearing is back. We also ask that You keep us close, keep our emotions positive, and calm the nerves of all of us up here, as we have just gone through an attack that most of us has ever experienced, and it has left our nerves pretty raw. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Several group members said “amen” out loud, and everyone looked up at Jesse.
“OK, everyone, we’re entering our second month of being up here, and as with other meetings, I encourage everyone to keep your wits about you, and stay positive. Laughter is good, so long as you are not laughing at someone else and hurting them. In fact, I cannot emphasize this enough: stay positive and laugh whenever possible. Ease up on the talk of the past, as it is pointless and will only bring you down. I know I have said this before, but I’ll say it again because it is so important: morale is extremely important. Treat morale as part of your survival supplies. Stay as positive as you can, all of the time. A person with bad morale will make stupid mistakes.”
“Amen,” Lawson said from the outskirts of the group.
Jesse looked at Lawson and then continued. “Another thing. I have had a few hours to digest what just happened to our group, and believe it or not, I’m feeling pretty good. Really good, in fact. We had this helicopter attack us, and apparently it was flown at gunpoint by the same guys who killed Kirk. They might have thought that they would fly up here and pick us off one by one, but I count six guns that shot back at them.”
“Six guns?” Jose asked.
“Yes,” Jesse answered. “David, Gloria, Melissa, me, Wallace and Kathy.”
“Oh, I didn’t hear ab
out Gloria,” Jose said.
“Oh, and Bill took a few shots at the chopper after it had landed. So I guess that makes seven. And sure, granted, Melissa’s 22 rifle might not have brought down the helicopter.” Jesse looked to Mary and Melissa. “But Mary told me that Melissa took several shots at it. Not bad for a nine year old.” Melissa smiled and looked around.
“But the point is,” Jesse continued, “for a group of Christian preppers with little or no weapons training, we did pretty darn good. I’m really proud of us. Honestly. Good job, guys.”
“I didn’t really know what I was doing,” Kathy said. “At first I couldn’t move at all. I just shot at the helicopter. Then it flew away, I don’t know,” Kathy looked around. “The helicopter flew away and I would have just stood there for hours, in shock. But Wallace shook me out of it and we hunted down the guys who were shooting at us.”
“And I have to say,” Jesse interrupted and looked at Wallace, sitting nearby. “You and Wallace were great. Bill too.” Several heads in the group nodded in agreement. “I feel like Kathy, Wallace and Bill saved our lives. And I’m not exaggerating. I mean it. You guys saved our lives.” More heads nodded. “Thanks. Thanks a lot.”
Kathy looked at Wallace, sitting next to her. “Thank you,” she said softly. Wallace held up his hand as if to say “it was nothing.”
“In fact, Jose,” Jesse continued. “As the person in charge of food, could you please get that canned tri-tip that is stored way in the back of the second shipping container, and serve it for dinner to Wallace and Kathy here? As much as they can handle. Oh, and for Bill too, if he feels up for it.”
“Will do,” Jose answered.
“And some desert, either some canned desserts or some of that Mountain House freeze-dried stuff we have. I hear that that blueberry cobbler is pretty good."
“I’ll get it.”
“And let’s open a bottle of some of the cabernet that I made a couple years ago.”
“OK.”
“Thanks you guys,” Wallace answered to everyone. “This is way too much.”
“Not at all,” Jesse said. “It’s the least we can do.”
“Thanks,” Kathy said to Jesse.
“One last thing about the attack,” Jesse continued. “Even though we fought off the attackers in the helicopter, we let our morale slip. Earlier today we argued a lot and the insults flew, and I even snapped at Jim, for which I apologize. We need to make a concerted effort to stay positive, despite the hardships that confront us. Myself included.”
Jesse looked at Peter. “Regarding the attackers, Peter and Sean went out and checked for anyone else who might have fallen out of the helicopter. They found no one.”
“Right,” Peter spoke up. “According to Sean and David, there were five armed men who killed Kirk, and there are now five armed men accounted for from the chopper. And they’re all dead.”
“Peter and I hiked where we think the chopper went after being shot by members of our group,” Sean reported. “We hiked to the east, then south, ending up where the chopper landed on the road about half-way to the Alexes. We didn’t find anyone else.”
“Good work,” Jesse answered. “Thanks.”
“Of course,” Peter continued, “I still have no idea how those guys got military-issued weapons. Those M4’s are not legal outside of the military.”
“I noticed that,” Wallace agreed. “And the high-capacity magazines. Totally illegal.”
Jesse looked back at the group. “OK, now I have a few minor issues to bring up here, and then I will give the floor to Wallace.”
Jesse paused, gathering his thoughts. “Whoever was working on the roof of the shed up the hill here left some board and nails pointing up. Someone could step on those nails and really hurt their foot.”
“Sorry, that’s my fault,” someone from the back of the group spoke up.
“Well, let’s learn from this,” Jesse said. “Nails on the ground, whether they are in board or not, are always a safety issue, even before all of this started happening. And now, there are no hospitals we can go to, so we have to be extra careful.”
“Understood.”
“I have also noticed that the people at the observation post have slacked off rotating the batteries of the walkie-talkies. It’s been haphazard. These batteries, the Eneloops, are the best rechargeable batteries ever made, but they need to be recharged in order to work. So let’s remember to get a new set of batteries whenever there’s a shift change at the observation post, and make sure to put the old batteries back into the solar charger.”
“One other thing,” Jesse continued. “Before everything started happening with Kirk and all, I noticed from the telescope that the cattle ranch across the valley might be unattended.”
“You mean the ranch all the way over near the foothills on the other side of the valley?” Jose asked.
“Yep, that’s the one. It looks to me as if the cattle have been trying to live off of grass and weeds, and maybe drinking from the pond, unattended. I haven’t seen any human activity over there in weeks. Usually I see a pick-up truck dropping off straw bales or something.” Jesse looked around for the news to sink in. “But lately I’ve seen nothing going on over there.”
“Interesting,” Jim said. “I’m getting a little hungry here.”
“I’m bringing it up because, well, let’s face it, if the owner of the cows is dead, which might be the case, then we can either leave those cows down there all alone, unattended, or we can bring a few up here to feed, then slaughter, or just get the milk. I’ve seen a calf down there nursing, so there is at least one cow producing milk.” Jesse looked at Mary. “We might not have everything needed to make cheese, but we have lemon juice, and that will help make some kind of cheese, right?”
“Yeah,” Mary answered. “Cheese made with lemon juice will produce kind of a gentle, white cheese. Almost a mozzarella cheese.”
“Well, I love cheese, and it’s something we should check out. Our food situation is pretty good for now, but we need to keep our eyes and ears open for more food, and some beef and cheese would be nice.”
“Wait, are you saying we should get some people together and go out to that ranch?” Beth asked.
“Yes. A quick recon over to the cattle ranch. Just to check things out and then return. Off-road hiking only, so no one will be seen. Then we will meet back here and decide what do to.”
There was some talking in the group. “I may have something to say along those lines later,” Wallace announced.
*****
“I guess that brings me to our newest member here, Wallace Sturges. You all might remember Wallace from church,” Jesse smiled. “As I recall, he sat way in the back of church, usually wearing camo. From all that I heard, Wallace, Kathy and Bill single-handedly killed off the guys in the helicopter. Those guys would have killed us all if they were able to. That is, if they hadn’t come across Wallace, Kathy and Bill first! Wallace has agreed to give us some pointers on military matters. Thanks Wallace, take it away.”
Wallace stood up and walked to where Jesse had been standing. Jesse walked over to a chair nearby and sat down. “I can’t say I’m actually a member here, but ...” Wallace was interrupted by a few claps in the crowd.
The clapping became louder as more camp members joined the clapping. Eventually the entire group clapped and everyone stood up. Wallace smiled at the group.
“You guys are beautiful,” Wallace said. He stood there and looked back at the clapping crowd. “Kathy and Bill deserve this too,” he spoke above the clapping. “And Bill still needs our prayers.”
As the clapping died down and people sat back in their seats, Wallace resumed his talk. “Thanks, guys. As I was saying, I’m not a member here but if you can put up with me resting here for a few days, I plan on going to check on my friend, whose wife’s necklace was in that helicopter. He was a client of mine but we got to be good friends and I’m concerned that his wife’s necklace was found in the helicopter. I
can also go check on the cattle ranch across the valley. And while I’m at it I also want to go and check on the town and see what happened there. From a distance. I will be staying off the roads and staying off of everyone’s radar screens. Strictly off road, in-the-brush travel, which will be very slow but safe and unseen.”
Wallace looked at Kathy, who was sitting next to his chair. “Kathy wants to come with me, and I can take a couple others.”
“You mind if I go too?” David asked. Gloria looked annoyed and whispered something to David.
