by P. A. Glaspy
“Well, to tell you the truth, the ‘not fighting’ thing is new. They used to be at each other all the time. I think losing Jackie got them to thinking about how they’d feel if they lost one another, too. If I am able to find anything good in this mess, that’d be one thing I’d pick. And thank you for the kind words.”
The sadness in Lee’s eyes whenever he mentioned his wife always made me feel like I was going to cry. I wished there was some way to find her and bring her here to her family, but I knew that couldn’t happen. We had to leave our own home because of the lawlessness that had manifested so soon. What would the city be like, with all those people trying to find food and water? And how would we find her in the vast sea of humanity that would have been there?
I cleared my throat to clear the tears and put on a smile. “Well, let’s see this new building of yours, Lee. Care to give us the grand tour?”
He laughed, surprising all of us. He didn’t do that very often. “I hope you didn’t carve out a lot of time for the tour. It’ll be over in about 30 seconds.”
We followed him in and again I was awestruck at his skill. The bunks were built similar to berths on a train. They were attached to the wall, with the ends closed off with plywood. That would give the inhabitants a little bit of privacy. The bottom was about eighteen inches off the floor, and I saw the guys were using that space for storage. They had totes and duffel bags under the bottom bunks. There was a short ladder attached between the top and bottom bunks for the top sleeper access. The beds were made up of a combination of sleeping bags, blankets, and sheets. While it wasn’t a mattress, it was clean and dry, and I would think much preferred to sleeping on the ground in a tent.
Ryan was laid out on the right side bunk closest to the front door. With a big toothy grin, he said, “Well, what do you gals think of the new frat house? Isn’t it awesome? Lee is a building son of a bitch. No offense, Lee.”
“None taken. Is it comfortable at all? There’s nothing I can do about the wood base.”
“Dude, are you kidding? I’ve been sleeping with a big honkin’ rock in my back for the past two days. This is heaven!”
He wiggled like he was getting comfortable, then closed his eyes and started fake snoring. We all laughed at our resident joker. Ryan seemed to always be able to find humor in any situation, including getting a face full of glass. His face was healing, thanks to the “farmacy”, as we called our healing herb plants. Seeing how much better his cuts were reminded me of the conversation I’d had with Kate the day after they got back from their neighborhood. She was learning stuff they didn’t teach them in nursing school. She was learning old school healing. With the state of things, this was a skill that would be priceless.
****
Kate wasn’t as well versed in the natural options, but she was working with Millie every day on learning them. Millie knew them all. Ryan’s specific issue called for twice daily applications of aloe vera. Aloe is a natural scar removal remedy due to its anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. It works as a natural emollient to help repair damaged skin and promote the growth of healthy skin. Kate knew about its use for soothing burns, but she was amazed at how well Ryan’s cuts were healing. She was also eager to learn other alternatives to traditional medicine. I had given her the ereader with the medicinal plant listings on it the day before.
“We have most of the important ones that will grow here in a portable tiered planter in the screen porch. They can get the sun they need but we can bring them in if it gets cold. We try to keep some already dried, too. Those are in the root cellar.”
She was really excited at the prospect of learning about the healing plants. “What all do you have? What are they used for? I know it’s in the ebook, but can you show me? I learn better by seeing and feeling than reading.”
“Sure. Let’s go to the drug store.” I grinned at her and headed out to the porch. When we got out there she looked hard at the far corner of the room.
“Oh my gosh, Anne. I saw the plant stand, but I just figured they were house plants. You can use all of these for medicinal purposes?”
“Yes ma’am. The aloe you know about and recognize is on top. They can get pretty big so we give it room to spread out. They have what I call ‘babies’ – they’re really called pups. They’re offsets that pop up in the pot. You can replant them. You already know about aloe’s use on the skin, but you can also use it internally, specifically for digestive issues. You can put it in water and drink it. I have not taste tested that yet.”
I shuddered a little, and Kate giggled. I went on, pointing to each plant as I moved down the plant stand.
“Burdock: great for skin diseases. Pot marigold: insect bites and sprains externally; fever and infections internally. Chamomile you have probably heard of for a calming sleep aid. It can also be used for tooth and earaches in a poultice. Echinacea…”
“That one I know! I kept it at the house in capsules all the time. If anybody started sniffling or coughing, everybody got it.”
“Excellent. We can skip that one then, but you’ll find more uses for it in the book. Lemon Balm: smells great, and makes a decent bug repellent. Infused it can help treat colds, fever, headaches, and more. Peppermint you may already know helps with digestion; that’s one of the reasons you get them free at a lot of restaurants. It can also help with fever. Sage: internally, stomach and nerve issues; externally, skin infections, mouth infections, bug bites. Dried and smudged it wards off evil spirits.”
We both snickered, and I went on. “Comfrey: it has a lot of uses, which I can’t remember all of, but I know we planted it specifically for compresses for bruises and sprains. This last one is called Feverfew. As the name denotes, it is used in the treatment of fevers, as well as colds, and can ease the pain of arthritis.
“There’s more information and uses on all of these in the books. There’s more than one book on medicinal plants, by the way. There’s a whole section on the ereader for them. Without doctors and hospitals, we have to go back to the old ways of the medicine men and women and use what nature has to offer. We have supplies to last a while but we should probably start working some of these in from time to time, to extend the preps we do have. You can start with the easy stuff, like cuts and scrapes and bug bites. If you’re comfortable with their effectiveness, you can move on to using them on the bigger booboos.”
She grinned. “This is so awesome. I’m ashamed that I am in the healing industry and never thought to learn alternative methods. They brainwash you in school that modern medicine is the only real option, and the ‘old ways’ are ineffective. I can’t wait to find out what all we can use these for to keep our people healthy.”
Oh, there’s one more plant I need to show you. Come outside with me.”
We walked out into the yard a bit to a patch of fuzzy leaved plants. I plucked a leaf and handed it to her. “This is called lamb’s ear. It grows REALLY well. I don’t think you can truly kill it off. It is very prolific, like spearmint. They’re actually in the same family, I think. It has great medicinal properties. It can be used as a bandage. It’s absorbent, and it has antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antibacterial properties. It’s been called ‘nature’s bandage’. They can also be used for ‘that time of the month’ in place of pads. This one plant will cover a LOT of areas for us.”
Kate stood there looking at the leaf, running her fingers over the velvety softness, with a look of sheer amazement. “All that from this one plant? How come I’ve never even heard of it, much less what all it can be used for?”
“Because you grew up in a time when band-aids were in every home; when if you needed anything for feminine hygiene or a stomach bug you ran to the store and bought it. You didn’t need to know about things like this then. We all need to know it now. Knowing alternative ways to do things is the only way we survive in this world. Speaking of alternative ways, we should probably get Sean to get the still set up soon. Depending on how things go, we may need that alco
hol sooner than we had planned, if the last few days are any indication.”
“We’ve partaken of plenty of his moonshine, and frankly it was awesome. I never once considered it might be used for something besides a good buzz.”
I smiled at her. “I’m sure we’ll use it for that, too. I just hope we can come up with whatever he needs to make it. I’ve read about it, but since we didn’t have a still, I don’t know a whole lot about it – although I think there’s a book on making moonshine on one of the ereaders.”
Kate laughed. “Imagine that. You having an e-book on it. I’m pretty sure all he needs is corn, sugar, and water. He can use livestock feed, like sweet feed you get for horses, or the cracked corn you feed chickens. He’s bought more from the feed store than the one that specialized in home distilling. Much cheaper. It takes a few days for the fermentation to start, so yeah, we should probably start gathering supplies to get him set up. Thank you so much for all the info, Anne. It looks like I’ll be going to school in the mornings, too.”
I had an idea. “You know, we could add learning the uses of the medicinal plants to our laundry and learning sessions. That will be just as important as learning what plants we can eat. Yep, I think that’s a great idea. You learn it, then you can teach it.”
“Are you sure I’m the right person to do that? I mean, I’m learning as much as everyone else.”
“Yes, I’m sure. Once you look them up, and find out what all they can do, you’ll be able to ‘dumb it down’ so to speak to those of us who aren’t as well versed in the healing arts as you are. You know something like ‘if you get a cut, grab one of these leaves and stick it on it’ and show them the lamb’s ear. Heck, we could tell that one to everyone. ‘Grab a fuzzy leaf, slap it on the cut and go see Kate.’ Might make your job easier. Anyway, you’ll do great. Just don’t teach one until you are confident you know what all it can do. Then, just share.”
She looked apprehensive, but she nodded. “Okay, I’ll give it a shot. If I suck at it, we’ll call in reinforcements – namely, Millie.”
I grinned at her. “Sounds like a plan. Now, how about a nice glass of lukewarm tea? Man, I miss ice.”
CHAPTER 18
The next few days were quiet, so we should have known something was coming. In this kind of world, peace doesn’t last long.
The bunkhouse was done. Luke and Casey were set up in their camper, with Casey well enough to stand security watch. Sean had some of the cracked corn we used to feed the chickens soaking in a big cooler to start the fermentation process. Pete had gotten us another acre tilled up with the tractor, after much berating from Monroe.
“Ain’t you ever plowed a field before?? Them rows are as crooked as a politician on votin’ day!!”
A group of us were standing off to the side watching. Snickering.
“Well, to tell you the truth, no sir, I haven’t ever plowed a field before. I said I could drive it. I didn’t say I was experienced with the accessories for it.”
“You ain’t gotta say it! I can see it!! Get off my tractor and let me see if I can fix this mess you made!”
Pete looked crestfallen, but we were all laughing so hard we could barely stand up straight. He climbed off the tractor as Monroe was climbing on the other side, mumbling, “City slickers don’t know a damn thing about farming. Without farmers, they’d starve for sure!”
Bob walked over to Pete and laid an arm across his shoulders. “Don’t take it personal, bubba. He ripped me a new one the first time I tried to drive it, too. Except I took out a whole section of fence over by the barn. Took me the rest of the day to fix it, and he made me fix every inch of it. He still gives me hell about running over his horse pen.”
Pete was listening to Bob, but he was paying more attention to what Monroe was doing. He seemed to be trying to absorb the actions needed to keep the tractor, and thus the discs behind it, moving in a straight line. Monroe made it look easy. Of course, he’d been doing it for most of his life. He got to the end of the row Pete had made and turned around and looked back at his work. The rows were now straight as an arrow. Monroe had a smug look on his face.
“There, you see how easy that was? You think you can follow that last one to make the next set, or is the oldest guy out here gonna have to do all the work while all you young’uns stand around in the shade laughing?”
Pete now had a determined look on his face and started for the tractor. The rest of us were doing our best to stop laughing – at least so far as Monroe knew. Coughing and throat clearing were rampant at that moment.
“Yes sir, I think I can handle it now. Would you ride along for the first few passes, just to make sure I get it right this time?”
Monroe grinned at him. “I love watching other people do my work. Hell yeah I’ll ride with ya.”
Under Monroe’s tutelage, Pete managed to plow the new field in a few hours. We’d give the dirt the rest of the day to dry out some and be back out there first thing in the morning pulling grass out of it and getting some more food in the ground. We couldn’t wait if we wanted to get things like potatoes and corn started. We were coming up on the first of May, and while we have a pretty long growing season in Tennessee, a drought or an early frost could take out everything in the ground. The more we had planted, the better our odds of having something to harvest. The more we could harvest and put back in storage, the better our chances of making it through the coming winter with the mouths we had to feed.
At supper that evening, we got into a discussion about what might have caused the pulse and what, if anything, our government was doing to get things back online. We had been so busy planning and preparing we had completely forgotten about the radio broadcast we had heard while we were still at our house. I asked Russ if he wanted me to pull out the little handheld ham radio we had up in our room, but Monroe interrupted with a derisive snort.
“You don’t need that baby radio. I’m surprised you even picked up anybody with that puny thing. My big rig is set up upstairs in our room. I heard that broadcast early on, too, but to be honest there’s been so much going on since y’all got here, I ain’t even thought to turn it back on again. It didn’t matter anyway – wasn’t nothin’ on there anybody could say to change what we had to do. I reckon now that it’s gotten a little quieter and we’re pretty much settled in, we should probably find out what’s going on out there. We’ll fire it up tonight, after the sun goes down.”
Monroe was a licensed ham radio operator. He had gotten his license after returning home from Viet Nam, so that he could stay in touch with his Army buddies who were lucky enough to have made it home as well. They decided as they were shipping out for home they would all get their license when they got back, so they could talk to each other without having to pay long distance phone charges. There was no such thing as “free long distance” back then, and it was very expensive.
As many ham operators do, Monroe built his set himself, to defray the cost of a brand new unit. He could build it in pieces cheaper than he could buy one complete. He bought a kit that allowed him to build the receiver first, then the transmitter. The final piece was the antenna, which was basically an antenna wire thrown up in a tree. He could run it from a wall plug, but he also had an inverter set up so he could use a 12-volt deep cycle marine battery as well.
On clear nights, he could reach people hundreds of miles away, and had. His Army buddies were all gone now, but he had “met” other hams (as they called themselves and each other) through the years and, until everything went down, talked on his radio at least one or two nights a week. With his set, we should have no problem getting the broadcast – if it was still out there.
****
It was decided they would bring the radio equipment downstairs, so we could all hear what was said without cramming 20 adults into Monroe and Millie’s bedroom. With the kids settled in the screen porch playing, Monroe connected the radio to the generator the guys had brought onto the porch. He had kept the radio turned off and unp
lugged when he wasn’t actively using it, which is probably why it still worked. The components of his 40-plus year old radio were not as susceptible to the pulse, and unplugged had pretty much guaranteed it making it through, just like the older cars and trucks. He’d tossed the antenna out the upstairs window, so Bob picked it up and handed it to him through the living room window they had run the power cord out of for the generator. As he flipped the power on, we heard talking immediately. He had obviously left it on the same channel we had found.
“Look, I don’t know who’s behind this either. All I can tell you is what I saw – not heard from someone who heard from someone else – SAW with my own eyes. It was a line of armored vehicles with the UN symbol on the sides. They were headed to DC from up north – possibly New York City. I don’t know if they had supplies or food, but I didn’t see any Red Cross or anything like that. It was all armored vehicles, with machine guns on top. It looked like an invasion to me.”
“An invasion by the UN? Sounds all tin foil hatty if you ask me.”
“Then take yours off so you can hear what I’m saying. We were set up for this by that illegal small arms treaty that was signed, along with allowing the UN ANY say in what we do as a nation. The administration and the UN have been chomping at the bit to get in here and start taking away our liberties and freedom. Some radical whack job country sets a nuke off in our atmosphere, sends up back about 200 years technologically, and guess what: we’re now a third world country. We have no utilities, no food or clean water, people dying in the streets due to illness or lawlessness, and no one is doing a damn thing about it. Did you hear that ridiculous address from DC today? I recorded it.”
We heard the sound of a recording start playing. Man, that guy must have had some really good faraday cages – or some really OLD equipment.
