No Normal Day

by Richardson, J.

  Jason spoke to them, “Now that you are all here, we feel a lot better. With old goliath out there, still running, I think we have a chance to get away from here and make it to your Poppa and Gram's house. I think that is what we need to do.”

  Dianne said, “I agree”.

  “My truck has a full tank of gas and your mother's probably has at least three quarters. I also have about three gallons in a can for the mower. We can siphon that and fill the station wagon. If we stay off the interstate and take that back way that we like to travel, we will go real close to Hughesville. Matt, I want to try and get your brother. I don't think your little sister will leave your mother but I know that your brother will want to be with us. The baby will have to ride in someone's lap and when we get David, he will have to pile in the back with the gear.”

  All the voices chimed in, “We don't have our clothes, we don't have...what about?” Dianne said, “Shh-ssh”. I am sure you brought diapers Kat and I have some more here, Gram probably even has some. We can gather what we can from here. All of you still have some clothes around that you have left here. We definitely have to get all the food that we can load. I have two cases of bottles of water. We better pile all the blankets and pillows that we can squeeze in.”

  Jason takes charge, “Tate, you, Matt and Dane, come with me and let's start siphoning that gas. Dianne, you and Kat start gathering in here. I want to go through my gear and see what I have that I should take. I will get the pistol and the .22 and there's that pellet gun that I bought for running off varmints.”

  It is a little over an hour and they are loaded, looking like homeless vagabonds, with things tied on the roof and the car packed full. The station wagon was full of fuel and there was still the gas can. Jason and Dianne gave a sad look at the house that they were so proud to have and hold each other a minute. Jason asked, “Tate, when you passed the base, what did things look like?”

  “Well, nobody going in or out, lots of soldiers with guns at every gate we passed. Tanks were pulled up behind the gates,” said Tate.

  “Yeah? Well, okay.” Jason pushed down the last of the guilt he had about being at his job. There had been some emergency type training that made him a little uneasy. Some manuals that detailed how, in a disaster situation it would be necessary for the military to move citizens into compounds for their safety. How there could be no food or supply hoarding and guns would need to be confiscated. Jason thought of the latest gun laws. He knew there were plenty of records of who has registered and owns guns, but in a massive breakdown of communications, not to mention society, would any of that even matter? Even though it is not something that anyone would openly discuss, he knew that some of his fellow soldiers had been just as uncomfortable with the details of Marshall Law and what they would be expected to enforce on American citizens. At this moment, he saw everything he really loved in his life and they were counting on him. This is where his loyalty had to be now. “Let's get moving”. Even with the best of luck, they would be traveling way into the night, that somehow filled him with dread.

  Jason drove, the pistol in the elastic pouch on the door beside him. Tate came from a family of military, even though he chose not to go that route. He was trained in using firearms, so Jason had given him the .22 rifle. The young man sat in the front passenger side, the rifle pointed down beside him, with Dane in the middle. Kat, Dianne and Matt sat in the back seat. The hulking station wagon, reminded him of the tanks he was trained to drive. He drove slowly on the shaded gravel road and reached the first of the rural roads that, in the past, had taken them on many holiday trips to Jack and Beth's. The baby was in Dianne's lap for now, and he could hear his wife softly humming to her grandson.

  About seven years earlier, he and Dianne had both somewhat given up on love and marriage when they met. They knew before the first evening...they both were at the same party, not really wanting to be there... that the two of them were right. Dianne had gone through some really tough years. She just hung on to a bad marriage, thinking that she would be a failure. After all, her parents had a great longtime romance and marriage. She had been the middle daughter, the somewhat wild child, she had been the one that clashed with her father, wanted to do and try it all. Finally, when Kathryn and Dane were pre-teens, she realized she was doing them all harm by staying. She worked two jobs, seven days a week for two years. Of course, she was receiving no child support and she was struggling to keep them going. That night that she and Jason met, they had sat all night long and just talked. He thought she was the smartest, most beautiful and strongest woman he had ever met. He still felt that way. One of the things that he really admired about her was that she fit the definition of a mother. All of the kids and little BJ adored her. She even mothered him and he let her because no one ever did that for him before. They were a family.

  All the others chattered at first, now quiet, they looked out the windows and wondered what would be up ahead. They moved along the paved road, Jason felt very uncertain about the events of the last few hours. One thing he was sure of, the day was unlike any he had ever experienced.

  Along the country roads, they made their way around a few cars or trucks stalled in the way and once he spotted an old tractor, pop-pop-popping across a plowed field. When the road took them over the Interstate, they stopped for a stretch. As far as they could see in both directions, vehicles filled the six lanes of pavement. People were milled around, some sat in the median and punched on cell phones, some were walking. Jason said, “Take care of what you need to. There's a restroom on the side of the convenience store, see if you can get in. Tate, you take the .22 and go with the girls. You boys go around back, don't stop and chat with anyone, just get back here. If you need a drink from the ice chest, get it. I think Dianne made up some sandwiches, we can eat on the move. In fifteen minutes they were back on the road.

  They had reached Hughesville less than an hour later, on the road a little over two hours. Jason didn't find David, his mother and her new husband at their house, so he went to the ex-wife's mother's house. They were all there, along with Jason's little daughter, who was born right after Jason and the mother had divorced. Just as he thought, the daughter did not want to leave her mother. They made a spot for David in the stuffed back of the goliath. He hugged his daughter. At least, this little town was away from any big cities, he had to hope for the best for them.

  With David and a minimum of his gear loaded they were on the road, the wagon eased along in the dark, they were cramped and weary. Jason kept his eyes on the road ahead, at this speed, it may take us another two hours but so far, so good. Something bounded across the road, just in the edge of the headlights. S---! Jason hit the brakes. Was it a dog, a deer?

  Tate said, “Jason, something is in the road.”

  Jason slowed and moved forward, he saw what looked like a big dual axle truck, jack-knifed across the road. A guy was standing beside the truck, with the door open. Is he military, he's got a rifle? Three other guys came from behind the truck and the guy raised the rifle. Jason slammed the wagon into reverse and started screeching and spinning and backing up. There was a BANG! water started pouring down the windshield. “Tate...roll down your window and shoot that damn pea shooter at them! All of you, get your heads down!” Tate fired a couple of shots from the .22. Jason couldn't see a thing behind him, he was afraid to get off the road and turn around. This hunk of lead would probably get stuck. He was trying to stay on the road and kept driving backwards as fast as he could. He yelled at David, “Son, find that flashlight, it's right close to where you are sitting. Shine it out the back window and to my side, so maybe I can spot a turnaround.” The guys had stopped for a moment and now they ran towards them again. Tate popped another shot.

  David was stretched out across all the gear piled in the back, squeezed nearly to the headliner and the big spotlight was making a poor beam but it was showing the side of road. “There! Dad.” Jason was able to see a gravel entrance. The car whipped back into the entry, the
old metal bumper pushed into a gate. “Whoa-o-a” shouted David. Gravel spraying and the wheels spinning, Jason pulled out and started backtracking down the road, quickly leaving the strangers behind. He realized that a shot must have hit the bottled water tied on top of the car and turned on the wipers. BJ was crying loudly now.

  “Dianne, is everyone okay?” yelled Jason over his shoulder.

  “Yeah, we are fine.” There was an outburst of exhaled breath and nervous chatter. Matt takes the baby and made faces at him, settling down his screaming. Kat was digging around for a cookie for him and one for her, too. The old wagon rocked along and moved at a high speed.

  Dane raised up from between his step dad and Tate. “O-M-G! Good thing I didn't need to pee, that was like hell.” Everybody started to laugh.

  “Hey David, you see anything behind us?”

  “No, Dad. I have been shining the light still. I can't see very far, but I don't see anything.”

  Jason slowed his speed a little, damn, he was going to kill them all, at this speed. “We will have to go all the way back into the edge of Hughesville and take the other highway. I hate to waste the gas, we can't take a chance on getting lost. If everything looks right, we'll stop and take a break. Fuel is still about half a tank. Maybe this old monster is more efficient than I thought. Of course, it's probably got a fifty gallon tank.” Nobody laughed this time, but Tate. Fear still hung inside the car and Jason tried to shake it off of himself.

  The excitement had left everyone, as well as Jason, exhausted. It was late and he was beginning to doubt the wisdom of going on in the night. He had just about rather be beat on the head than consider it, but if they could stay on his ex-wife's mother's farm the rest of the night they could head out in the morning. He felt like it would give them a chance to re-group. His ex-mother-in-law really detested him, still she probably wouldn't refuse them. Instead of turning on the highway at the edge of Hughesville, he made his way back to the farm. He explained to everyone and they seemed a bit relieved. Actually, Dianne and his ex get along fine, probably a mother thing in common. He turned up the long drive and hoped he wouldn't get shot, either on purpose or unintentionally.

  ***

  This was day three, since the mystery event. Beth sat with Jack and Lynn, Lee and Cody at the dining table for their “status” meeting. Jack sipped his coffee. “Beth, why don't you give us an idea of what our food situation is?” Beth had been the one to actually take prepping for disaster seriously and she knew what was stocked in that storage closet.

  “Well, we will add what you brought from Lynn's, today. I always based my inventory on four. Of course, we have more mouths now but we have added some food, too. We are still eating out of the everyday pantry right now and the freezer, which hasn't ruined yet. I guesstimated that we have food for about three months that would maybe stretch to four. I actually have seed. We might try a small garden. I am no expert, I have some guides that I printed out. We will have to see what is appropriate for the time of year. It will take some of our water, but we can try.”

  Lynn spoke up, “Three months...a garden? How long do you and Daddy think this will last?”

  Jack patted her hand, “Lynn, we don't know. It's going to be a lot longer than three months. Maybe things won't ever be back to what they were.” We are going to have to be very frugal. We are also going to have to try to be as self sufficient as we can. Eventually, we will have to be resourceful.” He gave Lee a steady look. “By resourceful, I mean we will have to explore every possibility for keeping us fed. That might mean some looting of our own”.

  Lee nodded in agreement, he got it. Lynn's bruised face had a deer caught in the headlights look.

  “About water. Of course, that is going to be where we have to be stingy as Scrooge. I went out this morning and the plastic can was about a third full. That is a great idea, Beth, but of course rain won't keep us in water, even if it is a rainy Spring. We have that 55 gallon barrel and the water in the storage shed.”

  “You know, Joel has the pond, he will share if he can” said Beth. “I have that water filter and several gallons of bleach. Some will go for cooking, some will be good enough for other uses, flushing, bathing, etc.”

  Jack said, “If we can keep the mower and trailer going, it will be very handy for trips to Joel's. We will see how things are going. There's hundreds of cars out there on the road, with fuel still in the tanks.” It's quiet for a few minutes. Jack looked at the faces around the table. He was torn between his need to protect his family and his long held values. I can't believe I am talking about siphoning out other people's gas and looting.

  “My biggest concern right now is our safety. It is going to be real important for us to make this place more secure and ...”

  A growling engine is pulled up in the drive. Jack peered out the edge of the blinds. He turned and had a big grin on his face. “Beth, you have company.” She pushed him over and looked out. She raised her face to the heavens, her eyes closed and a tear slipped down her face. Looking over to the twins, she said, “Girls, your aunt Dianne is here.”

  Jack went out and herded the seven, plus baby in through the front door. There was a commotion of hugs and tears and questions and laughs. Beth took her great-grand-son and hugged him to her. Lee and Cody stood over to the side. Jack pulled them right over into the crowd and introductions were made. He moved past the hall full of folks and reached for the door handle. He said, “Lee, will you and Jason come out with me? Beth, lock up” The three men moved out to the drive. “I don't know for sure why this monster of a car is running, but I am damn glad. Listen, you see those guys standing around about two houses down?” Lee and Jason looked in that direction. “I have never seen them before. You know, a running car is a bit of a rare thing these days. I am going to go around and manually pull up this garage door. I want you to pull the car in the garage.”

  “Isn't that little travel trailer in the way?” said Lee.

  Jack said, “We can move it enough by hand to get the car by. I have an idea about the trailer. You know we just added seven people to the house, plus little BJ. I'll tell you later, when we all talk some more about security.” They moved the small trailer and Jason barely managed to pull the long old car into Jack's garage.

  When everyone was back inside, Jack gathered them in the living room. Our population just exploded. If Trish and her family were here, I might could breathe a bit and handle this craziness...can't think about that right now. On the sofa and chairs they sat, now they numbered fourteen, plus little BJ. The kids on the generous area rugs, cross-legged or sprawled. There was Lynn, the oldest daughter and her twelve year old twins, Mindy and Michelle. There was their middle daughter Dianne and her husband Jason. Their daughter Kathryn and her husband, Tate and their baby, BJ. Their sons, Dane, age 21, Matt, age 18 and David, age 16. And, there was Cody and his uncle Lee.

  The boys punched at each other, typically until Dianne snapped, “Stop it boys.” Dianne and Jason, told everyone the story of their journey here. The described how the military base and the big military town had looked and the Interstate. Jason, like Lee and Jack, noticed no law or military on the roads. “Except” he said, “the usual military vehicles that travel on the Interstate and roads around the area. Every one we saw was abandoned”. Dane joins in and tells about the dangerous encounter. When they had reached the farm of Jason's ex-mother-in-law, it had been necessary to stay the whole next day. They changed a tire that had gone flat, also managed to top off the gas tank from some fuel in the barn. They had got up early on the third day. The “old biddy” had actually fixed them breakfast...chickens were everywhere on the farm, even on the back porch, “Maybe, she doesn't completely hate me,” mumbled Jason.

  “More proof of the danger that is increasing,” said Jack. He asks everyone to quiet down and begins, “We got the station wagon pulled into the garage. We can unload later. Before you all arrived, we were discussing the food. Jason tells me that you brought all the food that you
could from home. That's good we can add that to the stores. We will do some more talking about water, as you all get settled in. Beth, looks like you and the girls are going to have a lot of sleeping arrangements to work out.”

  Beth says, “I am already thinking about that. I think we will have to set the boys up, out in your garage.”

  There was a buzz of grumbling. Jack says, “Look, you little farts...house, garage,...it's not going to matter much. If you haven't noticed, there is no TV, no air conditioning, no phones. You all have just been hired for new jobs. It is going to take a lot of work to keep this family just fed and safe. We are going to have to stick together and pull together. Got it?”

  They all smiled a bit and Dane spoke up, “Sure Poppa, we are with you.”

  Jack continued, “Lee, I want you to help Jason and I. After we get all of the stuff out of the station wagon, we are going to hook up the little trailer to the car. On the other side of the house next door is a short street that dead ends into the back church lot. We are going to go in there, take down some of our back yard privacy fence panels and pull the trailer into the back yard. We will replace the panels. Actually, the septic tank is in the west corner of the yard, we will dig it up and put the trailer portable potty drain in it. Lee, if you agree, I think it will make a bedroom for you and Cody. It's tiny, but it's a decent bed. As far as security, which is still my main concern, I like the idea of you being out back.”

  Beth says, “What do you think, Lee? That would free up the garage for Dianne and Jason. And when Trish and her family arrive...”

  Jack stops her, “IF, they arrive. Look, you know this all went down on Saturday. They would have been at the lake house that morning. That's a pretty good place, Beth. They can make it there for a while”.