by Tj Reeder
Several of the team took fishing tackle to the lake and soon found the place crawling with very hungry fish, bass and crappie seemed to fly out of the water begging to be next on the lines.
After putting out some trot lines they all came back to camp for bathing suits as the water was clear and not too cold, with armed guards surrounding the small lake we all took to the water and after playing got out the soap and secretly hoping we were getting any bugs that we might have picked up in the town which was rather silly because as fast as it seemed to move we would have been showing signs by now, but the human mind will do what it thinks best for the body.
We spent three nights in the little park and never saw a soul and the alarms never beeped even for deer coming to water and I have no idea how it can tell a deer from a man I guess a deer moves much different then a man …the geeks would have the answer.
We saddled up on the forth morning and scouts out a half hour ahead we rolled, so very glad and relieved that none of us were sick, I believe if one person had caught a sniffle from the swimming we would all have just died from fright.
We turned back to the East and meandered more or less towards home, we did find another small town with about 75 people living pretty well as it had been so isolated before it all went down that they were pretty self sufficient and had big gardens and green houses for the short winter, their security was good as they saw us long before the scouts saw them, and were waiting for us, it seemed they had a working short wave and had heard talk of us and our purpose and when we arrived they were more then ready to join the outpost plan.
Their “Mayor” was rather large ladies who had a smile and laugh as big as she was, but the big old colt 45 on her waist didn’t look like it was for decoration.
She was waiting at the edge of town with her advisers and welcomed us in and they already had a big dinner waiting in the small school cafeteria where almost all the town and our crew could fit less the guards of course, we feasted on pot roast, pork roast, new potatoes and creamed peas, fried okra and black eyed peas and all the sweet tea in glasses with ice that we could drink!!! Then after sitting a while talking out came the pies and cakes and home made ice cream.
Jody leaned over and said we best watch it or we will lose half our troops to this place!! And it was easy to see these folks ate this well all the time, none was thin or unhealthy looking but they welcomed Ellen to set up and check over any who needed to be seen, even the kids were as healthy as could be, Ellen said it could only be due to hard work, clean air, plenty of sun shine and a quiet life.
Whatever it was , these folks had it and in time maybe it could spread to the rest of the country, the next morning we set them up with better weapons and ammo and any thing they might need which was very little, they were the best prepared group we had encountered except maybe the Willis ranch, after a great breakfast we rolled out and decided to head home at the best pace we could maintain, we were ready to have a quiet spell in our own beds among our own people, Jody and I had spent the entire trip talking and planning on how to keep spreading the word and the offers of help and felt we had come up with a good plan which we would get moving on shortly, but for now, home was calling.
Our arrival back home was cause for a clan feast, all their men had returned from battle in good health, I thought this was a great idea, and these folks know how to throw a party.
This time it was not the 3 day wedding bash it was just a one day and night fling but a really good time was had by all, Jade dressed in her native clothing and looked so wild and beautiful it was hard to not just grab her and run for the tree line
The old Shaman / Elder made a long winded speech which caused a lot of drum beating and bamboo whacking, Jade and Jody translated for Ellen and I, it was more or less a welcome home boys and good killing of the hated “cong”…this raised an eye brow so Jody said all bad guys were Cong, I guess if you been fighting most of your life all enemy’s become the same in your eyes, all in all it was a great party and the people were happy because nobody so got so much as a scratch.
After being home a week and enjoying the peace and quiet of not bouncing in the stiff trucks Jody set up a meeting with Jim, Jody and I drove over there with a security team in 3 trucks.
The meeting was at the county building in the big conference room with Jim and his chief deputy and the three commissioners sitting in, Jody got right to it with a report of what our scout trip found and about the outpost’s we were setting up and arming .
One of the commissioners got all upset and started going off about how we had no right to go off and do any such thing and that this county was… (And here he screwed up. Bad ) he used the word “Ruled” in place of administered by the commission , Jody set back and asked him to enlighten us on how the people should be governed and the silly fool started spouting off about how the people needed to be controlled and kept in place and that we needed do something about all the guns people had that it was bad news waiting to happen and that the county had not had any problems , so it also wasn’t necessary to have such a large body of para military armed cops running around in their gas guzzling trucks and that most should be put to work doing stuff for the people.
We all sat there looking at this idiot for what seemed forever but was not more then 30 seconds before Jody looked at the other members of the county board who after looking at the fool nodded to Jim who nodded to one of his men who asked the man to please leave the room, the man went completely crazy, screaming and demanding the “cop” be arrested for treason, he kept screaming and fighting the deputy who was being very calm and then he just fell over dead, the poor deputy jumped back and got wide eyed and said “I didn’t do it” !!
The medics were called and he was taken to the hospital where it was determined he had a tumor in his brain, we all went from anger to pity, but it also showed that anybody these days could get the idea they were King.
We went on with the meeting and Jody’s point was that we were going to mount a large long range patrol, we would be heavily armed and would be taking all the 18 wheelers we could get up and running along with a tanker truck of diesel, this would be a recon toward the bigger city’s with the purpose of gaining information and salvaging anything we could use for the outpost plan.
I sat back watching as Jody talked and could see the change in the faces of the commission when it dawned on them that he wasn’t asking permission but was informing them of what was going to be done, when one asked him that if he had already decided to do what he wanted , when he wanted , what was their place in the picture, Jody looked at them and said your place is right where it’s always been or should have been, and that’s taking care of your citizens and making sure things run smoothly, the place of true leaders is not to rule , but to serve .
But most politicians seem to lose sight of that shortly after gaining office, this didn’t seem to set well with them but they had no idea of what they could do about it, one looked at the Sheriff and said Jim you’re the elected sheriff in this county how do you feel being left out of Mr. Browns plans?
Jim smiled and said well Charley, Jody has always been in charge ever since things went to hell, he’s the reason this county didn’t have the problems everywhere else did, he’s the one who helped train the force of men who allow you to sleep at night in peace, he’s the one who made sure there was clinics set up to help people with medical problems, He and Sam are the ones who spent a large fortune stocking up on many tons of things they knew would be needed. Bought and paid for by them with no help from the county or the commission.
The vehicles we use daily to maintain a better way of life then 90 % of the survivors out there were repaired in his shops or with the help of his crew of top notch mechanics, so I guess I have to ask you a question now.
What have you done for the people of the county? What gardens have you watered and hoed, what food have you helped cook and serve in the mess halls, how much food have you delivered to the elderly and those unable
to get out and about? In fact, what have you guys done besides sit here in this building and hold meetings that solve nothing and build nothing?
Jim then smiled and said gents I work with Jody and Sam to keep the people safe, when not on duty you should have notice that my men are serving food or cutting wood or any of the other tasks needed to keep “our” people alive, all of whom are working their asses off 7 days a week from first light to no light. With that he sat back and just looked at them, that was the most I ever heard Jim say before and since.
The two men looked at us then each other and then back at us then both looked sheepish and finally one cleared his throat and said, thank you Jim for reminding us just what our real job is or should have been, from now on speaking for me and I think Charley, we will be found out moving thru the county checking up on the people and Jim if you’d allow it perhaps we could do so with your regular patrols? Jim smiled and said Walter my guys would be happy to take you along, just as soon as you get thru the weapons training course and learn some EMT skills, it’s an on going program so it won’t have to be done in one jump but the weapons training will have to be done before you can ride along, both men looked a bit worried but Jim said, hey not to worry, shootings fun!
Two weeks after the meeting in town the patrol was about ready for the big trip, when one of the radio watch girls called Jody, saying there was a call on the big radio for him, we took off for the comm. shack and when Jody said he was ready to receive I heard a voice speaking something I didn’t understand at first, then I realized he was speaking in the clan language, it had to be Song!!!
And it was, he said he was an hour out and would be landing at the county airport and could use some help and transport, Jody spoke back to him and signed off and we bounded out the door with Jody calling Jade over the walkie, he told her to meet us right now at the truck in front of the house, she was there when we got there and bless her heart she had her AK and her battle harness on and blood in her eyes, he told her what was going on and she burst into tears, I knew Jody and she had been worried about Song but it never showed like the joy I was seeing now.
We jumped into the truck with me calling a security crew at the entrance to the ranch to get moving as we hit the highway there was a truck with 4 men in it on the road in lead and one tailgating us, we really moved, Jody called Jim and told him to meet us at the airport that our air force was landing shortly!
We got there and made a quick run down the runway to make sure there wasn’t anything that might be a problem for the landing.
We had been working on the air craft located at the small airport getting them ready to use and with the Jonas brothers mechanic crews along with the one mechanic from the airport they had several small planes ready to fly, all we seemed to be lacking was more pilots, most of the craft had been owned by people who parked them at our airport simply because it was not as crowded as the ones near the city’s and much cheaper, so far none of the owners had showed up.
About 20 minutes after we arrived we heard the sound of the plane and a few minutes later we spotted it and what a shock! It was huge and looked way too big to be landing here but the head mechanic said it was a C130 and was made for STOL meaning short takeoff and landing. I was worried it was just too damn big but the pilot greased her right in like it was a piper cub and stopped with plenty of runway left.
After turning he taxied it up to the largest hanger (which was way too small for the giant craft) and went thru the shut down procedure, Jade was bouncing like a rubber ball until the props stopped and the ramp lowered and Song trotted out, Jade hit like a tackle heading for the quarterback and almost knocked him down, both were laughing, then they headed over to us when Jody hugged his son and spoke into his ears both men showed the love they had for the other, it was a very happy scene, then Song came to me and hugged me and said he was so happy to see me and Jade.
We then headed to the plane just in time to greet the people coming off of it, several men and women and several children , one of the ladies held a small baby, all looked tired and half starved but healthy, Jade offered to take the baby with a big smile ..This put me on guard!
The woman and the baby were the Pilots family, all the others were people who were trapped at the airport they had flown from , Song asked Jody if all but the pilot could be moved to the ranch right away and the rest of us could start unloading the plane, Jody called the head of the security group over and explained the needs and told them to contact the ranch for some cargo movers and some help, the passengers and the security detail left and we went into the plane, it seemed huge to me as I had never seen a C 130 except in pictures, and it was in fact huge!! And full!
The pilot said it was over loaded but that his craft could forgive all but the most stupid things, like landing in a mortar attack.
We didn’t ask what was crated up nor was any information offered but it all looked heavy and well packed.
An hour later the crew and trucks showed up and we went to work using a propane powered fork lift and lots of elbow grease we got the trucks loaded and headed for the ranch, the plane would just have to sit right where it was but Jim would have it guarded and the plane mechanic lived there also and had two big mean nasty people eaters running around inside the fence at night.
That evening we had a family reunion at the house after getting the new people settled in, all were so happy to be out of the east and it’s problems, they all ate a good meal, and went to their quarters and went to bed , for some the first restful nights sleep since the trouble started.
We set aside the evening for just our family and would hear Songs report the next day, Song did spend some time in the village and agreed to a feast in his honor but not until the full moon giving him time to get settled.
After breakfast John, Bob and Mary came in to hear Songs story with the four of us.
He began about the time the Presidential chopper was shot down, he didn’t know who all was aboard it but the word was that it was the president and his advisers, nobody knew where the VP was but it was believed he and most of the members of congress were killed in the rocket attacks that took place the day of the EMP attack.
Song was at work trying to get the rest of the data he was mining down on disks when that took place, where he worked was almost as secure as a max security prison with a large guard force, the place was almost empty except for the guards and maybe 100 people still trying to do their jobs while Washington burned, all they could do was just batten down and wait for it to blow up or blow over.
The building had been built to house a lot of people in event of a surprise nuke attack so there was living quarters and food mostly the emergency type food but it was plentiful as the stocks had been meant for a lot more people then there was there, they were secure and had back up power from EMP proofed generators and with the guard force on hand, although many decided to try to make it home.
Song kept busy mining the stuff he thought might be useful down the road, he also used the time to look in areas that held information above his pay grade, that was where he found out about the hidden underground supply warehouse complete with it’s own C130, all he had to do was find a pilot when the coast was clear to make a run for it, they laid low for months and had no trouble with the looters because entry to the building was all but impossible, they watched the area around them burning to the ground and people fighting and dying all on the hidden security cameras outside.
After several months Song told some of the others he was making a run for it and thought he could make it home to Texas if anybody wanted to try it they were welcome to come along, only two wanted to attempt it, they helped him load a 2.5 ton truck with the boxes of disks he was taking along with some weapons from the security section and enough food for a week and they following the route Song had laid out based on the least populated part of the former area.
They had no problems for the first several miles until they ran into a barricade with people behind it who just opene
d fire on them, Song stopped and hit reverse so fast the shooters missed most of their shots but one of the people with him was hit in the chest and while they were racing away he died, that was the worst thing that happened and after finding another route they made it out of the city and into the open country, they took time to bury their fellow traveler who they really didn’t even know making it even more sad.
After three days of driving and dodging bullets and people hell bent on trying to take the truck and it’s contents, Song made it to the area where the hidden warehouse was at the local airport but it took several hours to find it even knowing where it was , and then more time to find the doors into it, having the combination was a big help once it was found, they got the big doors open and drove the truck into what was a large hanger bay, filled with the C130 as well as trucks and mountains of crates.
Now all he had to do was find a pilot which turned out to be easy compared to getting to the place at all.
