The new refugees were doing their best to contribute and make life easier at the farm. They knew they had nowhere else to go. The least they could do is make themselves useful.
It looked like an ordinary night at the farm house. The night sky was clear. The breeze was cold. The serenity of the farm was still highly evident. Grandpa Taylor whiled away his time by smoking his tobacco at the porch.
As everybody else was getting ready for bed, Grandpa Taylor invited Benjamin over so they can talk. When Benjamin got to the porch, he saw Grandpa smoking his pipes.
“Welcome, Ben. Have a seat,” he greeted him. Benjamin settled on a seat right beside Grandpa Taylor in his rocking chair.
Benjamin let out a deep sigh. “You said you wanted to talk,” he got down to business right away.
Grandpa Taylor and Benjamin have always been open with each other. Their relationship had a rocky start. Grandpa Taylor did not approve of him to be with his daughter Mary at first. When they first met, Benjamin was an idealistic medical student. He had his dreams of pursuing such a noble job as a general surgeon. But Grandpa Taylor thought that it was not enough to feed and provide for his daughter.
They would snide at him, Aaron included. Benjamin did not speak to them for a long time. But when Mary insisted to marry him, and when they eventually had their first son, the ties were glued back together. But those early days were still, and will always be, at the back of Benjamin’s mind. Like a wound that left a lasting scar. The wound might be healed but the scar was always there to remind him that the wound once existed.
“Yes, I do,” said Grandpa. Benjamin studied his face closely. He can tell that Grandpa Taylor wasn’t up for a friendly chatter.
He went on to share what he and Aaron had discussed earlier that day. Grandpa expressed his concern about the family’s ability to survive. “We do not know how long this will go on, Ben. It’s hard enough keeping our family in check. Now, we have more people to take care of,” he added.
“The situation is clear to me, dad,” he said while adjusting his seating position. “It is not getting any better. From what I’ve been through so far, I believe things are bound to get worse,” he explained.
“But while there are setbacks, I also see a lot of benefits to having more people around,” Benjamin pointed out. Grandpa Taylor studied him like an investigator in a criminal interrogation.
“Security for instance,we have to do our best to defend the farm – it’s all we have right now. With these groups of marauders invading properties to loot supplies, we could easily get outnumbered by them,” Benjamin added.
This made Grandpa lean further back on his rocking chair. Benjamin looked at him. His thoughts looked deep and far away. He was pretty good at reading Grandpa Taylor’s mind. But this time he couldn’t.
“But is it worth losing our supplies for? We’ve tried our best to ration, but supplies are still degrading at a rapid pace. We cannot afford it anymore,” Grandpa pointed out.
“We’re in Martial Law, dad. These people think differently in this kind of environment. Even law-abiding citizens will hurt or inflict pain on others for their own survival,” he said.
“Shouldn’t we do the same?”
“My point is - violence is spreading like wildfire in the city. It is only a matter of time until it spills over here. In fact, it has! Look at what happened yesterday,” Ben remarked. “If it happened before, rest assured it will happen again. We can always get supplies. But we can’t afford to lose one of us,” he lamented.
Grandpa Taylor fell speechless.
“I am not instigating false fears, dad,” Benjamin explained when he saw the look of worry and fear in Grandpa Taylor’s face. “This is the truth. I’ve seen it, been on the thick of it – to a point where I can say I’m lucky that I get to see my family again.” A brief pause followed as Benjamin gathered his emotions. Tears also started to well up the corner of Grandpa Taylor’s eyes.
“We need these people to survive. We need each other.” Benjamin said as he looked him in the eye.
Grandpa sighed. “We’ll talk more about this tomorrow. I’m exhausted. I am off to bed now. Need to leave early tomorrow morning to get supplies from town with Aaron,” he said.
Benjamin was left on the porch on his own to reflect on the conversation.
Aaron was driving 60 miles per hour on the freeway. They had been instructed by Walter to maintain their speed. If they drove too slowly, they could be blocked by marauders attempting to loot or hijack vehicles on the road.
They were back to town to get new supplies for the farm house. Benjamin insisted on going but both men refused. They wanted to have enough warm bodies to defend the farm, just in case a new break-in was attempted.
Aaron noticed that Grandpa Taylor had been unusually quiet throughout the entire drive. In fact, he looked out to the window and his mind was somewhere else.
“Dad, are you okay? Are you sure it’s a good idea to go to town today?” he asked, his curiosity finally got the best of him.
This snapped Grandpa Taylor back to his senses. “I’m fine,” he said.
“Well, you don’t look it,” insisted Aaron.
“Let’s just get to town so we can get what we need,” he instructed. Aaron smirked at his father’s stubbornness. He stepped on the accelerator to go from 60 to 70 mph.
Aaron kept driving for another 30 minutes until they finally got to city center. They went to the same supermarket where they bought their supplies a few days ago.
The city looked oddly different from the last time they were there. Several vehicles were flipped upside down from across the street. A few vehicles were burnt to destruction. Lamp posts were down, too. Smoke billowed from atop a building a few blocks from where they were. Grandpa Taylor cringed as he bore witness to the sight. Benjamin was right, he thought to himself.
Southcrest looked like an abandoned city with no signs of life. There was no power. The supermarket was quiet but it looked like there were still items left inside.
Aaron and Grandpa Taylor stepped out of the vehicle. They stood still for a minute or two as they surveyed the surrounding. Last time, someone tried to steal their supplies. They were prepping themselves up for a bigger, more serious threat. Aaron decided to hold onto his gun. He secured it in the gun holder at his hip.
“What’s the plan?” Grandpa Taylor asked Aaron. They stood at the opposing sides of the vehicle.
“It looks abandoned but it’s open. We might be able to get in and find some supplies we need,” responded Aaron.
“Wouldn’t that be too dangerous? We have no way to tell if there is anyone in there,” he said.
“Only one way to find out,” Aaron said haughtily. “Besides, we’re here anyway. We can’t go back to the farm empty-handed,” he added.
Grandpa Taylor smiled to acknowledge.
“Do you have your gun with you?” Aaron asked his father. They were inching their way towards the supermarket entrance. Grandpa Taylor showed his right hand already holding the gun.
They proceeded to get inside. Aaron stepped in first. He walked slowly so as not to make any noise. The inside of the supermarket was dark as the power cut off all the lights. However, the light coming from the outside made it possible for them to see along the aisle.
When Aaron had finished surveying the inside of the supermarket, he signaled for Grandpa Taylor to follow him inside.
“You get all the canned goods and food supplies, while I take care of the propane, batteries, matches, and flash lights,” he whispered. Grandpa Taylor was off to one end of the supermarket to get what they need. Meanwhile, Aaron went straight ahead to find the supplies he needed.
Aaron quickly scanned the shelves on his designated aisle. He grabbed as many of each item as he could. It took him three minutes. They had previously discussed to take no more than five minutes. When his basket was full, he quickly ran back to the entrance of the supermarket. But Grandpa Taylor was not back yet.
It has
been over five minutes. He knew that they need to get out of there in a hurry. When Grandpa Taylor still did not show up in the next minute, he started calling for him. Aaron, however, made sure to keep his voice low. It was just barely audible.
“Dad! Dad!”
Still no response.
“Dad!” He called a third time.
There was a stifling noise from two aisles away from him. He reached out for his gun. His other hand held the basket filled with supplies. His hands were tense but he kept his stance. This will enable him to quickly fire the weapon when he needed to.
The stifling noise continued. There was also shuffling on the floor. Aaron slowly backed up.
A silhouette started to form from the darkness. As he kept backing up, the silhouette also kept moving forward.
As he was right by the door, the light coming from the outside illuminated the figure. “Aaron!” It was Grandpa Taylor.
“Whew!” Aaron heaved a sigh of relief.
“What’s wrong?” Grandpa Taylor remarked.
“Let’s just get out of here,” he motioned for his father to get back on their vehicle.
They dashed towards the parked vehicle. Grandpa Taylor carried two full baskets of canned goods and food supplies. As they were almost to the vehicle, Aaron paused. He could hear indistinct chatter from afar. He turned to his father behind him, “hurry dad, someone’s coming!”
Grandpa Taylor quickened his pace. They opened the doors at the backseat and placed the baskets there.
As they were about to get into the vehicle, a group of marauders saw them from afar. They were entering the supermarket compound.
“Hey! Hey!” shouted one of the marauders. There were four men in the group. They each held a weapon. One held a baseball bat, the other held a pick, and the remaining two each carried a shovel.
They ran as fast as they could towards the vehicle.
“Hey! You trying to steal from us?!”
“You bastards trying to take our stuff!”
They raced towards the vehicle. But at that point, Aaron had already stepped on the accelerator and drove away as fast as he could. Aaron looked at the rear view mirror. The men were still chasing behind them. They wielded their weapons and raised them in the air. All looked infuriated.
Aaron’s heart beat raced. He was driving erratically for the first few miles since they drove off. It was not until he could no longer see them through the rear view mirror that his drive was back to normal.
Grandpa Taylor was left speechless too.
“That was a close one!” Aaron declared. He managed to let out a nervous laugh.
“A few seconds more we could have been in a pretty bad shape,” said Grandpa Taylor. Aaron let out another sigh, as if to release the tension off his body.
The mild laughter suddenly felt silent. The mood inside the vehicle turned somber. Meanwhile, Aaron slowed down his driving a little.
“What are you thinking?” he asked to break the silence.
“With what happened back there, I have come to a realization,” Grandpa Taylor said.
“Like what?”
“Benjamin might be right…”
It was Aaron’s turn to fall silent.
“Those people were mad because we took away something of value to them. It was their means of survival. It makes us no different from those marauders who tried to break into our farm house the other day.”
“I don’t get it…”
“These people will do anything to survive. Anything! Even if it meant hurting the other people - even killing. They will protect that one thing that enables them to survive.”
Grandpa Taylor continued, “It opens my eyes to the possibility that the break-in the other day won’t be the last. If situation does not get better soon, we will have to split our focus between survival and security. We need to have enough people to help us defend the farm. Or else, we could end up losing both our supplies and our lives.”
Aaron could only shake his head. Grandpa Taylor raised some valid points. But he was not ready to accept the reality that things can get any worse than it already is.
“I’ll follow your lead on this one, dad,” said Aaron.
Later that day, Grandpa Taylor called for a meeting. Tension was high. Most of them at the farm had not been to the city for a long time. And they were wondering what Aaron and Grandpa Taylor had experienced in the city.
They were gathered at the living room. Grandpa Taylor addressed the entire group, “Good evening,pleased that everyone could join us.”
Upon hearing of the meeting, Victoria expressed her concern towards Walter. They both feared the worst. But they were preparing themselves for the worst. But that does not in any way, subside her fear.
“I spoke to Benjamin last night. We discussed the situation here at the farm with you, folks,” he looked at the corner where the Southcrest folks were. They listened intently with a mixture of expression on their faces.
“The trip to town earlier today made me realize and confirm what Benjamin has shared with us,” Grandpa continued. Benjamin heaved a sigh of relief. “We decided that it might be for our best interest to stick together.” An indistinct combination of cheer and sigh followed.
“But please, remember,” Grandpa Taylor interrupted the small celebration. “This isn’t charity house. Everyone is expected to do work. And we want to keep our ration as small as possible to last us a long time.”
The group nodded in agreement. There was a lot of whispering and muttering, but the overall response was fairly positive.
“Any comments or negative reactions?” Grandpa Taylor asked for a consensus.
Walter raised his hand. “Yes?” Grandpa Taylor acknowledged him.
“I used to serve in the army and know of a few people from the militia. I can radio some of my friends so we can join forces with them. As you have seen a few days ago, military presence is important for our added security,” Walter suggested.
Grandpa Taylor turned to Aaron. “If you can make it happen, we would welcome it,” Aaron responded.
“Great. I will radio them tomorrow,” Walter said.
Benjamin observed silently. Mary looked at him and they exchanged smiles.
“That’s it for now. I hope we all take this seriously. From now on, we depend on each other for our survival,” reminded Grandpa Taylor. He declared the meeting over so they can go to bed. It was almost 10PM. Aaron volunteered to join Anthony guard the farm for the night.
***
Chapter 21 – Presidential Directives
Early Monday morning on April 21st, a week since the Vice President enacted an executive order declaring Martial Law in the country, she called in the cabinet members for a meeting at the White House. The cabinet members were given short notice about the meeting. The Vice President’s assistant informed them to prepare reports for the current status of the nation.
Within the next hour since they were informed of the meeting, the cabinet members slowly flocked the West Wing conference room. Senator Peters, who previously expressed his opposition to the Martial Law decree, was also present for the meeting. The overall mood was somber. The senators were quiet and each one studied their own reports.
Not long after they had arrived at the conference room, Vice President Christie walked in. “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,” she said as she walked past in front of them.
“Thank you for being here despite a rather short notice,” she said while feigning a smile. Senator Peters looked her sharp in the eye. But she did not look back at him. Her eyes scanned the entire room - a couple of seats to his front, Senator Lee was also in attendance.
Vice President Christie asked one senator to provide a report on the status of the riots. The said senator detailed how the riots had significantly subsided. A few were still being staged in various parts of the city, but they were considerably in smaller groups and happened less frequently.
Then, it was Senator Lee’s turn to provide his report. Vi
ce President Christie asked him to give a status report on the military presence in the major US cities. “About 90% of the military forces had been dispatched to the top cities in the country, namely Washington DC, New York, Charleston, and Chicago. Military forces dispatch is estimated for completion this week until the riots and other sources of violence had been fully contained.”
Vice President Christie listened in intently. “What about the looting? I’ve been hearing plenty of reports from the General on that. How is it being addressed?” she asked.
“Incidentally, I had just spoken with the General regarding that matter earlier today, right before we had this meeting,” Senator Lee started. “He told me that they are increasing military presence in the city, as well as the suburbs. From what I’ve heard, the riots and looting had gradually slowed down in the city. But it does not mean that they are gone for good. The supplies in the city are quickly dwindling. They decided to move somewhere else.”
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