by A J Newman
“Fantastic. Find some engineers and mechanics to get every emergency generator running to start powering essential services. Hospitals, food production and light manufacturing are the first targets. Start a major effort to get any vehicle running that can be found or converted. Strip the electronics off the newer diesels and get large trucks moving.”
“You need to be Mayor. These idiots are waiting on the federal government to come in and save them. Hell, everyone in town is on short rations. We even searched the old Civil Defense bomb shelters and passed out 40 - 50 year old rations. The crackers aren’t bad, but I won’t eat any of the canned shit. You are right; I will start losing my men if I can’t feed my deputies and their families. Hell their wives are doing all they know how to do. They have gardens and my men are hunting on their off time, but game is scarce around the city. Can you help us?”
“Yes, but it is limited this year. Next year we should be growing enough to feed the area. We are getting old tractors running and plowing as much ground as possible. We won’t have much food to spare until the crops come in. We’ll have vegetables in two weeks and potatoes in about three. We can’t feed Owensville, but we can feed any deputies and their families if they come out and help plant and harvest. With their help, we can triple the acreage being farmed. I know that sucks for the rest of the city, but it’s the best we can do until fall and even then, there won’t be enough. You can’t afford to feed these criminals your do gooder Mayor wants to salvage.”
“Thanks, I’ll push for getting the engines running, but don’t count on it happening. I’ll meet with my guys and make sure they keep this in confidence. I do agree with you, but half the town loves the Mayor because she is still able to feed them from the grain silos. That stops this week. There will be riots.”
“Bert, some of them will head out of town and try to steal food from the farmers. We can’t allow that to happen, if we want to ever recover from this disaster.”
“Perhaps FEMA will eventually arrive to help.”
“My theory is that FEMA got tied up in the big cities, got overwhelmed and took their supplies home for their families.”
“Could be, I have kept a person scanning all radio broadcasts and we only hear the same canned speech from the President. I think he is holed up under a mountain trying to survive and is not worried about his people.”
“I’ve never been political, but we were not prepared for this and I blame both parties for this disaster. The current party has been in power for 13 years and gave Iran the bomb. I think we found out what they could do with a few nukes. I’m worried someone will invade us.”
“I’m hearing a lot of chatter that most of the rest of the world is in the same shape. Only South America, Australia and some of the small island countries escaped the EMPs, however, none of this is verifiable.”
“Thanks for the update. How about joining us on Saturday for a barbeque at my place? Many of the farmers will be there. Bring your family.”
“My sons and grandkids?”
“Yes, if your sons are deputies.”
“They are.”
“See you Saturday.”
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Chapter 3
BBQ
The Farm
Saturday morning was calm until breakfast was over and then everyone had assignments for the big Bar B Que in the afternoon. The event was originally scheduled to be a sendoff party for Aaron, Sharon and Davi the day before they left for Alabama. Then they invited the surrounding farmers, the Sheriff, four of his deputies and their families. There would be over a hundred people to be fed, entertained and more importantly lobbied to help Zack set up a strong community. Only a strong community could drive out the criminals and drug addicts from the area and survive.
All of the farmers were bringing some type of meat and several side dishes. The women were having a baking contest with prizes for the best cake and pie. Callie and Carrie were in charge of the kid’s games while Paul and Susie had the cleanup detail. Mr. Nelson provided half a cow to barbeque and Mike and I would do the cooking. I already had a large barbeque pit and we would add chickens, pork, goat and sheep as the day progressed. Mike and I had started cooking before dawn.
Ally, Joan and Lynn had made large tubs of potato salad, baked beans and fried rice. The whole community delivered the meat and vegetables the day before. Ally brought all of her batches of ale from her old home earlier in the week and we chilled them in the lake. Our guests would be well fed and have a couple of drinks. Life would be somewhat normal for at least one day.
“Zack we need to find more seasonings. We have plenty of salt, but are short on most other spices until the garden can be harvested.”
“Callie, go check with Roger. I think they found some spices when they checked out some stalled trucks on Highway 60. Damn, that reminds me, I forgot we have a truck load of canned goods that will be delivered tomorrow. Sam’s boy found an overturned trailer on a sharp turn just about five miles from here. He contacted Jim Mattingly and asked him to deliver a pickup load to every farm. Jim was glad to be of help and to get his share.”
***
People started arriving at 11:00 and kept filtering in for the next three hours. I had freed myself up enough to drink some ale with the ones I wanted to lobby for support. I asked the farmers to choose someone to be responsible to balance out our crops and make sure we weren’t all growing the same crops and another person to be in charge of a team of scavengers to find more seeds, fertilizer and farm equipment. Sam and Jacob said they would jointly handle the scavenging tasks. I already had Roger looking for food in trailers, warehouses and shipping containers and they would work together. I made sure everyone had a say in the farming and gathering efforts.
“Bert, join Aaron and me for a discussion on our security for our new community. I know Aaron is leaving tomorrow, but I want you two to compare notes and help me deliver the best possible security plan for our group.”
“Do you mind if I add Chuck into the conversation? He has military police experience.”
“Please ask him to join. This should be a good fit for him.”
“I’d like to start a remote Sheriff’s station out in this community and I want Chuck to move out here and oversee the station and its officers. Of course, we’ll need some volunteers from your group to help man the station. I will provide Chuck, Frank and two other officers.”
Aaron replied, “I think that is a great idea.”
I spoke up and said, “I like the idea and of course they could be back in town in twenty minutes if needed.”
“Yes and support from town could be here in 20 minutes if needed.”
We went on to discuss the security needs and a brief outline of how to achieve our goals. I caught Bert off to the side and told him it was a slick move to give us support while we feed Frank, Chuck, Bert’s two son’s and all of their families.
“Zack, you are one sharp fellow. I can’t get anything past you, can I?”
“Nope, but seriously we need your help and we will help you as much as possible.”
“Thanks, I’ll keep you posted on our wacky Mayor’s plans and let’s meet to discuss your attack on the criminals over in Ohio County. Perhaps I should say I want to unofficially hear about your plans and be able to say I didn’t know anything about them. You can trust these four officers, but be careful around my other men. The Mayor can’t act on guns or anything that effects ya’ll without my support, so don’t worry about Owensville.”
“Thanks, I’ll focus on the gang south of here. I promise we won’t intentionally harm any innocent people and will still be able to eliminate the drug trade and criminals.”
“Thanks for the reassurance and I’ll stay in touch.”
***
“Zack, I need a word with you before we leave in the morning.”
“I’ll catch you on the road.”
“We’re leaving before the ass crack of dawn and I want you and my escort sober
.”
“I was drinking my last drink. Why, so early? I thought we were leaving at dawn.”
“We want to get as close to Nashville as possible before sunup. I suspect that word of our trip has leaked out and I don’t want an ambush to kill us and take the Humvees. We can drive using the NVG headsets and can see the roadblocks and traps before they see us. We will make most of the trip at night. I want to give you this military radio. It has a range of 100-150 miles depending on the weather, hills, buildings and such. I plan to have Davi contact you once a week. She will be the main contact with our group. We intend to set up a relay of radios until we can get radios that are more powerful in operation. She will send you the channel when that happens. We will come to your aid if TSHTF and expect the same from you. Goodbye my friend, I’m going to catch a nap.”
“You and your family have saved my life on several occasions. I will do anything for you.”
We hugged and Aaron went to his room.
***
Joan and I were dancing when Davi broke in and asked me to dance with her. Joan said okay, but had daggers in her eyes.
“Of course you can have a dance with my husband.”
“Ex," I replied as Davi grabbed me and moved us out to the middle of the dancers.”
“Your ex is a jealous woman.”
“That is true and this won’t help.”
“Does that mean you are getting back with her?”
“Hell no. Every time I think about making love to her I see Todd’s fat ass on top of her.”
Davi broke out laughing and said, “TMI. Picture, go away.”
“Exactly. I can’t get that picture out of my mind. I don’t hate Joan and it would be good for Callie, but I can’t get over her cheating on me with Todd.”
Davi replied, “Good,” and kissed me right in front of everyone.
“I guess that was my goodbye kiss. I will miss you and hope to see you again.”
“You will.”
“I will what?”
“See me in your dreams.”
She was right.
***
“Mike, could you have Callie and the girls start lighting the kerosene lanterns? It’s going to be too dark to party in a few minutes.”
“The lights will come on by themselves in just a minute.”
He waved towards the house and suddenly all of the Japanese lanterns and fifty hidden light bulbs came on. They weren’t as bright as normal outdoor lights, but they lit up the darkness. Callie came out of the barn and took a bow.
Callie addressed the gathering, “That’s what can be done with an old exercise bicycle and generator from an old car. We will have light until Paul runs out of steam or perhaps some of you would sacrifice a few minutes of peddling to generate some light.”
I gave her a big hug and whispered, “I’ll get you a bunch of car batteries we can run the lights from and then we only peddle to keep them charged.”
“That's why you are the Dad and the electrician in the family.”
“Darling, you are the inventor. No one else thought to do this simple thing that will take us forward a hundred years in lighting technology. We’ll eventually get some generators running, but this will bridge the gap for people who can’t obtain a real generator. I need you to go back to the drawing board with Mr. Nelson, improve the prototype and begin mass production. I’ll help you with the electrical work.”
Mike and I raised Callie on our shoulders and paraded her around the dance floor while everyone applauded. A simple thing like working light bulbs had given new hope to a hundred people. I knew that we could spread this around to the farms and even to the city.
“I’m proud of you. Keep inventing and repurposing. Go girl go.”
Callie made sure everyone knew Paul had done a lot of the work with her and deserved half the credit. Everyone thanked her and patted Paul on the back. She was on cloud nine for the next month. Joan and Ally were proud of their children. Paul’s legs were sore the next day because while we were celebrating the new lights, he was peddling for all he was worth. Callie remembered and rounded up a bunch of recruits to share the work. Many of the kids got a kick out of actually making light from their own work.
I seized the moment and gave my planned speech, “Friends and fellow farmers, we have met several difficult challenges and have many threats lurking out in the shadows around us. I have met with many of you and we agree we need to band together to help each other grow our food, secure our farms and, yes, to develop some old technology to make our lives better. I propose we develop a leadership council made up of people you select and serve at your pleasure to focus our efforts. I also propose we meet again in two weeks to vote on who is on our board of directors, who heads up our security and other important leadership positions.”
Most of the group cheered, but a few had questions.
“Zack, is this just a play for you to become our leader?”
“Hell no. I will assist any of our elected leaders and any of you that need my opinions, advice or labor, but I’m not running for any office.”
“Will we have to join this new group?”
“I can’t speak for the others, but if you don’t contribute to the group, why would the members want to assist you when you need help?”
“Because, it’s the Christian thing to do.”
“Yes, helping our fellow man is the right thing to do, but helping someone who won’t help themselves is not high on my list to do.”
My last statement brought a round of cheers.
Mr. Nelson spoke up, “I know most of you to be hard working people that would give the shirt off their back to help a person in need. That’s not what we are discussing. Zack was trying to get to the point that everyone would be expected to pull guard duty, help plow fields, invent new ways to light a dance, and many other ways to contribute. No one gets a free ride. That’s what we mean.”
“Okay, that makes sense. I just don’t want anyone telling me what to do and what I can grow.”
“As long as you don’t intentionally harm anyone, do your fair share and help others as they help you, everyone here will be there for you when trouble comes your way.”
“Sheriff, the Mayor of Owensville wants to take away our guns. Do you support gun confiscation?”
“First, the Mayor only has control of the city, but she has no say in county politics other than being a private citizen like all of you. I am against gun control and think we will only survive if good citizens are willing to take up arms against criminals and tyranny as our forefathers have done repeatedly in our history. The Sheriff is elected by the citizens of Daviess County and serves at your pleasure. The Sheriff must stay out of politics and perform the duties as prescribed by law. Those are to serve and protect you the citizens from outlaws, criminals and crooked politicians.”
The Sheriff received a round of applause and was about to speak when one of the diehards asked, “If you are supposed to serve us why are most of your deputies stationed in Owensville?”
“That’s a great question. There was rioting and outsiders trying to steal food from the stores and warehouses in town. Had they succeeded they would have eventually grown in power and been a major threat to you out in the country. You are self-reliant and I knew I had time before you needed help. We eliminated over 200 criminals during the attacks and riots. We lost thousands of citizens and twelve policemen and women during the conflict. I have informed the Mayor I am pulling most of my deputies out of town and stationing them in communities like yours all around the county. I will keep the main office in Owensville, but 80 percent of the officers will be spread out in groups of three to five as needed. Frankly, I have over 40 officers that want to help protect you full time, but that means they can’t farm or do more than help farm part time. I don’t want them to desert you to provide for their own families.”
A farmer spoke up, “We should all pray for the souls lost in Owensville and make sure we understand so we help feed the dep
uties and their families and gain fulltime police protection. I like that.”
No one disagreed with the concept.
“I have brought Frank, Chuck and my two sons, Jeb and Josh, tonight to introduce them as the deputies who would be domiciled in this community. Several of you have already offered to house them until permanent arrangements can be made.”
Everyone wanted to meet the new deputies serving our community and gave them a warm welcome.
***
“And why should Mayor Bonner want to meet with your leader?”
“Tell her we have common enemies and there is a plot against her and Owensville. My boss wants to help and form a mutual alliance against all of the lawless and problem people in the area.”
“But we hear he has taken over Anderson and is ruling with an iron fist.”
“Everyone in Anderson is well fed, there is no crime in the city and we are spreading out to the county to clean it up of all threats. I hear your people are starving. See those trucks? They have over two tons of food to show our good faith. We can show you how to feed your city and to form mutual alliances with all of the farms in your area.”
“They aren’t starving, but the grain will be gone in a week or so. How did you get the farmers to share? They are being stubborn over here.”
“That is one of the many things Todd will be discussing with the Mayor.”
“Thanks for the gesture of good will and I will pass on your request for a meeting.”
“A word of advice; speak only to the Mayor and don’t let the Sheriff or his men learn of our meeting.”
“What?”
“Trust me.”
“I was approached by the new Sheriff of Anderson County. He says this Todd character wants to meet with you. They gave us over two tons of canned goods, bags of flour, and rice as a gesture of good faith. He says their citizens are well fed and working together for the betterment of their community.”
