Post Grid: An Arizona EMP Adventure

by Tony Martineau

  Little by little, the cattle coalesced into a herd. Down the canyon they sauntered, with Jess and Lynn steering from the sides. The steep canyon helped; the herd was pretty content just to follow the trails by the stream.

  When they got to the holding pen south of the highway bridge, everyone worked in unison to steer them into the pen.

  With the herd inside the fencing, Emma counted noses and looked for other ranches' animals.

  “Kelly, you go with Lynn; I'll go with Jess. Let's make another sweep. The way I count it, I have five head missing. 'Course, I won't know for sure 'til I can inspect those younger one's brands.”

  The wranglers scoured the canyons, hills and meadows for another couple of hours until finally the last of the wanderers was joined up with the herd.

  Now, the mini cattle drive home commenced. Lynn and Jess were a bit let down because they did not get to use their nascent roping skills.

  In Sunflower, the herd was simply driven into a holding pen. The teens watched, enthralled, as Kelly and her horse cut the other ranches' cattle from Emma's herd. Kelly and Pokey put on a masterful display of cutting skills. Pokey danced beautifully, shifting from side to side. Facing a cow head on, the horse would bob and weave, blocking the cow's forward movement, and finally turn the ornery critter through the gate, into another holding pen. Most of the time, the target cow complied and moved through the open gate readily. Some were not as helpful.

  “It looks like two basketball players,” said Jess to Lynn.

  “What are we going to do with the rest of these?” Lynn asked Emma.

  “They're mostly Bill's and the Barnards'. We'll tell them where they can find their cows when we pass their places.”

  The herd, now slimmed down by several extra head, was pushed home.

  Emma called ahead to Jose and Dennis out in the garden, “Open the gates to the corral, boys.” The cows were driven into Emma's corral, where she looked them over for any medical problems. Emma took Lynn and Jess by her side while Kelly sat up on the top rail of the corral. She explained to the teens how they were looking for anything out of the ordinary such as skin, eye, hoof or mouth problems. They were also looking for ticks, sores, and wounds. Emma's little herd seemed well enough.

  “A little salve on that calf over there for his leg wound and that should do it,” exclaimed Emma. ”When that calf weans, his mama will make a fine milk cow. I'm so hungry for butter and milk I can't stand it. We'll even be able to make cheese.”

  Everyone was tired and Dennis suspected they were hungry as well. “Hey cowpokes, lets get some grub,” he called. “The sun has been hot and heavy today and I've made several meals in the solar oven. I packed it full. Dinner will be ready in about an hour. Tonight it's canned beef and roasted vegetables, and tomorrow's lunch is vegetable lasagna sin queso—without cheese.” Dennis said this with a lilt in his voice. His meals looked good and smelled good, and he knew it.

  The whole lot put up the horses, praised them for a job well done, and then headed toward Emma's house. Blissful, hot showers were taken one by one while Dennis finished dinner and got it on the table.

  “Wow,” exclaimed Jess. “Meat, potatoes and corn pudding, yum!” he said like a true teen with a big appetite. Lynn looked happy and dished food onto her plate as well.

  Mealtime was truly a pleasure and the group was becoming more and more cohesive, more like family. Jess and Lynn went on and on about the roundup. Everyone could tell that the two were excited about their part in it.

  “I think it was pretty rare in our society for children to be able to do a day's work that truly impacted their families and their own well-being,” said Dennis. “The roundup today was useful and the kids can see that this will bring us meat and milk. I'm proud of everyone's hard work.”

  “I'm off to bed,” said Jose. I'm going to try to get a couple hours sleep, since I'm guarding down by the highway tonight.”

  “Goodnight, Dad,” Jess said. “Sleep tight.”

  “Thanks for covering for me on the Sabbath, Jose,” Dennis said, “I've got your Tuesday.”

  Chapter 15

  Rich and Jess volunteered to stay behind to guard the place while the others went to Bible study.

  After the meeting, on their way home, Dennis rode Buckskin alongside the donkey cart. “I was glad to see a couple of new faces in the crowd,” he remarked.

  “Yes, it was heartening,” agreed Emma, “and I was surprised to see some of the handcarts coming in already.”

  Her words came to an abrupt halt as everyone on the cart flew into the air, landing with a thud on its bed.

  “Sorry,” Jose called. “I tried to miss that one, but it jumped out in front of the wheel.”

  No one responded.

  “The families with the handcarts look better than I thought they would,” remarked Dennis. “A bit thin perhaps, but otherwise in good shape. Leaving a decaying city and traveling five days with those handcarts, even in this heat, doesn't seem to have affected them much.”

  “Can you believe the travelers invited us to a dance tonight?” exclaimed Kelly, glancing at Jared expectantly.

  Kelly glanced up at Lynn, who was riding Pokey next to the cart. Lynn saw the look on Kelly's face. Both broke out in a smile the way young women do when they are going to a “ball.” Kelly then looked up at Jared, who sat in the front next to Jose, but there was no change in his expression.

  When they reached the house, Jess seemed disappointed because there was no insurgent activity to report, but he perked up a bit when he heard the news about the evening's gathering with the Mormons.

  After a light lunch, Kelly and Lynn started planning their outfits for the dance. Kelly flopped on the bed as Lynn came in to model her best pair of jeans and one of Kelly's white shirts.

  “What do you think?” asked Lynn as she twirled slowly so Kelly could see the whole effect.

  “Nice,” she said with an approving smile. “But a little boyish for a dance, I think.”

  Lynn's expression went blank. Surely, Kelly knew that she didn't have any other “look” more appropriate for a dance.

  Kelly said quickly, “I have an idea.” She flew off the bed and bolted from the room down the hallway, Lynn trailing close behind. “Mom!” Kelly hollered.

  Emma appeared in the hall from the living room and Kelly almost ran into her. “What is it, dear?”

  “Do you still have all that fabric up in your closet? You know, the pieces I used to sort through for school projects and stuff?”

  “Yes, but why?”

  “Lynn and I need skirts.”

  Lynn's face lit up. Her expression turned to one of excitement and her eyes sparkled.

  Emma led the two giddy young women into her bedroom. Way up on the top closet shelf was a stack of fabric folded into neat rectangles. Some of the pieces were very small and some were of very bright colors, but both Kelly and Lynn found a fabric they liked in lengths long enough to make skirts. Kelly's was a light blue with small white flowers; Lynn chose a deep purple tone-on-tone with swirls. Both young women were thrilled at the notion of having a new piece of clothing to add to their small wardrobes.

  “I think these skirts should be a little longer than we would usually wear them,” remarked Kelly. “The Mormons tend to wear modest clothing.”

  “I agree,” said Lynn with only a hint of disappointment. “Some of my friends are Mormon and most of them wear their skirts well below the knee.” Lynn draped the purple fabric around her waist, positioning the fabric so that it dropped about six inches below the knee. “Like this.”

  “Smashing,” Kelly said sarcastically with an accent that was supposed to sound like an old Hollywood film star.

  Emma took down an old wooden sewing hamper from the shelf. It was the kind that opened up and out from the middle, revealing two shelves on each side with a larger compartment down below. The lid was padded and topped with an embroidered fabric. She removed needles and thread of appropriate colors.


  “I can't sew on the Sabbath,” Lynn announced. “Not that I know how to sew anyway.”

  Kelly and Emma looked at each other, not knowing what to say. The silence was embarrassing until Emma stammered a little and said, “I'll make yours, Lynn, this time. We'll have some sewing practice later.”

  “That would be wonderful, Emma.” Lynn's face beamed.

  All afternoon, patterns were made, measurements taken and needles flew until the skirts were finished. The girls looked feminine, almost delicate, dressed in their light cotton skirts. Kelly and Lynn emerged from the back room into the living room. The Sabbath had ended; it was time to leave for the dance. The whole Wise clan was now assembled. No one wanted to miss the big social event. The house would have to watch itself during the dance.

  “Well I'll be,” declared Jared, seeing Kelly in a skirt for the first time. He grabbed her around the waist and twirled her in a circle. “I'll be with the prettiest girl at the dance tonight,” he announced and then gave Kelly a big kiss on the lips that lingered.

  “Get a room, you guys,” said Rich, rolling his eyes at the two lovebirds disapprovingly.

  Jared broke it off, realizing that he might have gotten a little carried away. He twirled Kelly again, holding her arm up over her head, and admired the way the skirt floated away from her legs as she spun.

  “Miss Lynn, over here, looks beautiful as well,” Jared said, grabbing her arm and giving her a twirl in the same manner. Lynn blushed, but it was obvious that she enjoyed the attention.

  Emma picked up her picnic basket. Not having much to share, she had loaded two loaves of bread and a pint of her strawberry jam in a basket to take to the dance.

  “I don't know if there will be food and drink because of the circumstances, but if there is, it won't be me that has nothing to share,” said Emma.

  “Mom, you are taking food for the party when we wouldn't share any with that starving couple last night?”

  “There is a difference between sharing and being stolen from,” said Emma. “Letting those two, who snuck up on us in the night and fired on us, think they could manipulate us into giving them food would have been an invitation for them to come right back here and steal us blind. I'm still not convinced that they won't. We had to make a strong show of force. I think we did that.”

  “Yes, you're right. That whole thing just makes my gut ache,” said Kelly.

  “I know, me too, but it had to be done.” She paused and let the negative feelings drift from her body. “Let's get on to the party. Parties are for forgetting one's worries.”

  Jose opened the front door and held it for the women to exit. Rich had brought the donkey cart around and it was time for the second ride into town that day.

  “Now don't get all over those fiddle and guitar cases,” Rich cautioned the girls as he assisted them onto the cart's platform. Lynn got in first and took the smallest case into her arms. She held it tightly to her chest and closed her eyes in sheer joy. Lynn could play the fiddle and tonight she would.

  As the group approached Sunflower, there was a pale orange glow in the valley, south of the highway bridge, as the cliffs reflected the light. Behind them, the stars shone brightly in the sky and dipped into the saddles and valleys between the surrounding mountains. The smell of smoke hung in the air. It wasn't only from the cooking fires, but also from the bonfire, whose glow they could make out as they got closer to the dance.

  Music was wafting up the canyon. Instruments and voices joined together as hundreds of people gathered for the party. There were men and women, mostly in jeans and T-shirts, mingling with others dressed like cowhands and pioneers. There were so many people there that the little band from Sunflower wasn't even noticed. The men stayed behind to secure the horses and cart. Emma and Kelly picked out a little patch of ground on the embankment and laid out a blanket. Jess glanced over at Lynn and they were off like a flash toward the many young people dancing. Their forms were silhouetted by the fire until they became lost in the throng.

  Emma and Kelly soon abandoned the blanket to visit with the other women who were gathered in groups. The young mothers gathered with babes in arms and toddlers close at hand. The older women had also gathered, a group that appealed to Emma.

  “Hello ladies, I'm Emma Wise from Sunflower.”

  “Hello, Sister Wise, we're so glad to meet you. I'm Carol Clark.”

  Emma did not correct this church courtesy of calling each other sister or brother. She thought the whole evening might be lost explaining her connection, or lack thereof, to the church.

  “How is your journey going?”

  Many voices all spoke at once until the women again yielded to Sister Clark. “The Lord has been kind to us so far,” she said. She proceeded to introduce the seven other women, then began to explain what had happened. “The church immediately gathered its members for protection. We chose one house with a pool in every neighborhood and moved in together, assigning cooks, moving crews and armed watches.

  “Was it that bad right away?” asked Emma.

  “No, not right off, but we weren't sure when it would turn bad. One of our neighbors was an engineer and it didn't take him long to figure out it was an EMP. We figured when people ran out of water to drink and the sewer situation got bad, say two or three days, we would start seeing acts of desperation, and we did. Making the decision to take action early helped us in so many ways. We weren't moving supplies when people were thirsty and hungry, and security measures had already been finalized. It wasn't hard to identify the stronghold of the neighborhood. You might say we were the big dogs.”

  “How did you talk to each other, organize?”

  “Most of us went to the church or sent a neighborhood representative to the church building,” said Sister Clark. “Right away the Bishop set up a nightly meeting at 4 p.m. to talk about anything members thought was important. Our young people relayed messages between neighborhoods, wards, and stakes on bikes. Groups of people would sit around kitchen tables and write copies of memos to go out, stuff like meetings, water purification, how to get a hold of nurses and doctors.”

  “Kelly and I are both nurses. Have you had any deaths?” asked Emma.

  “A few, but they were pretty sick to start with. Sister Sessions is a nurse.” She motioned to a kind-looking woman in the back, who gently raised her hand and waved. “The third night after the attack, we all went to a class at her house where she taught us a little about field medicine. She made a list of items that would be most useful in treating the sick or injured and had us collect over-the-counter medications and prescriptions.” She took a breath and grinned at the woman. “She was very specific on things we should bring—like soap, bleach, sheeting for bandages, bedpans and wash basins, toothbrushes, lots of things.” It was clear to Emma that Sister Sessions was somewhat of a local hero and an old-time nurse.

  “Kelly here was working at the hospital in Mesa when it burned down. What did the other hospitals do?”

  “I don't know about other hospitals because we lived too far away, but the nursing home a few blocks over shut down and let their people out on the street. It was a nightmare. Someone said that after awhile the staff went home to care for their own families. No water, no food, no toilets, no medicine. I wonder what they did at the jails?”

  There was talk of those who were ill. They spoke about those who were too old or chose not to go for other reasons. Everyone in the group seemed amazed that they had been put into this situation and that those kinds of decisions had to be made.

  “It took a few days, but after we decided that nothing was going to get any better, we knew we had to leave the metropolitan area, get to somewhere that had water, someplace more remote. Preparations were made for the journey. We made carts and wagons from anything we had access to,” stated one woman.

  “Everyone gathered their supplies and much thought was put into what would be most beneficial to take,” explained another.

  Emma looked around at the group in w
onder, curious as to how they selected what they would take along and how everyday life was prioritized. She said as much, in awe at how organized and comfortable they seemed on the road.

  An older woman, who introduced herself as Sister Wilke, continued the tale. “Of course, food was the top priority, and then we had to identify items that could help us grow more food. Some of us keep stockpiles in our homes, but most everyone has two or three months of food for their family. When it came to growing new food, everyone worked together to gather seeds and gardening equipment. Someone even said that Brother Ellis broke into a plant nursery or feed store or something,” she said it more quietly than the other information she had imparted.

  Another woman chimed in. “We decided against pipes for running water simply because they would take up too much room. We did bring some flexible piping for siphoning from irrigation ditches if we need.”

  “We all needed shelter, so tents, bedding, and tarps were a must,” said a young woman in a blue dress. Her long hair spilled over her shoulders and Emma wondered what life had been like for her before she started on this journey.

  “Every family made a cooking kit. We were told specifically to bring pressure cookers and solar ovens. Most everyone who camps had Dutch ovens,” she shrugged. “The fact is, this whole trip has been like a huge camp out. Someone tried to bring propane bottles, but we decided they were too heavy and we could gather wood and debris along the way to burn for cooking and warmth. Let us show you our rocket stoves made out of stones, they work great and you don't have to haul them, you just use new stones.”

  “You're very organized,” Emma replied. “Did you find yourselves missing things?”

  “More clothespins,” everyone said simultaneously, causing the group to erupt into laughter. “Everyone seemed to have rope or twine for the line, but few of us hang out clothes any more.”

  “Matches,” said another woman. “Even our barbeques had instant starters. So few people had actual matches.”

  Emma and Kelly were lost in the conversations. Each topic was more engrossing than the one before it. The talk went on and on.