Not Dead in the Heart of Dixie

by R Kralik

  I'm still a little nervous about what Pop might say if he ever decides to speak to me again.

  3:30 PM...

  I haven't seen Pop or Nana since early this morning.

  I made rice and baked beans for lunch and gave the kids a plastic baggie full of sweet apples slices I dehydrated last fall for dessert. They're staying inside by the fire 'cause it's drizzling rain outside.

  After cleaning the kitchen, I came in here to lie down and try to sleep 'cause I've been up since yesterday morning. I slept about two hours before I heard the family moving around in the house.

  I don't know what got accomplished on the fence or the water situation today, but I'm sure everyone will fill me in.

  I need to get up, go out there, and figure out what we're having for supper. My eyes feel like I glued them shut with gorilla glue before I closed them.

  10:00 PM...

  It's better now. I've been forgiven.

  Pop and Nana were both in the house when I left the bedroom. Pop motioned for me to come out on the back porch. I headed out there and Nana followed me.

  "You got anything else you need to say?" Pop asked. I looked at him and burst into tears. I laid my head on his chest and just cried. He put his arm around me and said "Now, now. It's all right there, sister. We know why you didn't wake us when Rona left, and we're tryin' to understand, but you gotta realize, ya'll are our babies and we'll be looking' out for you all 'til the day we die and afterward, if we're able."

  He's right and I know it, but I'd do it the same way all over again because I gave Rona my word.

  We went back in the house and I felt okay again. Man, here I am 50 years old and still cryin' on daddy's shoulder. I'm such a wuss.

  Supper was dee-licious. Hisa opened several jars of canned chicken breasts and stuffed them with a mixture of cream cheese, pesto, and sun dried tomatoes. She wrapped each one in a slice of bacon and put them in the cook stove oven. That took the last of our cream cheese, but it was worth it. That chicken dish melted in my mouth.

  Nana warmed up some of the asparagus I got on my crazy Super Walmart run. She mixed up a packet of hollandaise sauce to go over it. She also warmed a #10 can of whole kernel corn and we had the last apple pie from the freezer for dessert.

  I dipped my chicken in the hollandaise sauce that had run down beside my asparagus and I felt like I was eating a gourmet meal. It was divine. The kids gobbled theirs down, and I was surprised. Sometimes, it's hard to get those stinkers to eat any vegetable or food they aren't familiar with.

  Nana told us to "enjoy it 'cause tomorrow we're having beans and rice for lunch and supper." She wants to get the motorhome cleaned out so she and Pop will have more room, and she "won't have time to be in the kitchen all day." She's put the beans out to soak overnight.

  Mick said the pool is almost halfway full. Yay! He said everything's working like he thought it would and we'll start filtering water into our empty barrels day after tomorrow.

  Mick called me out to the back porch after supper. He led me towards the laundry area, and I saw that the coals underneath the trough were hot. He pointed to the second trough and told me to stick my hand in the water. It was warm. It was very warm. It was almost hot!

  He hung a sheet on tree branches to block the view from the house and told me to get in. I was out of those clothes so fast you wouldn't believe it.

  When I slid down in the trough, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. "You know it's about to get bad" Mick said, as he massaged shampoo into my scalp. "I know, but can we not think about it right now?" I asked. He nodded and said "We'll think about it tomorrow then" and he continued washing me clean. We didn't get out 'til the water was cold. It was heaven. I smell good again.

  There is nothing like a hot bath, in a horse trough, with your honey.

  Bye for now.

  Friday, January 24

  It's 3:18 AM and I'm in the closet with this computer.

  I can't go outside because we're under attack.

  The gunshots have stopped. I still hear voices out there.

  I sent Carisa and Merry to Caleb's house. They had to run through the woods in the dark. I told them to get in the tornado shelter. I was out there, shooting, with everyone but the kids.

  The trucks on the road drove away fast and I heard a motorcycle go with them.

  When they left, Mick told me to get in the basement 'cause he can't worry about me and the kids while he's looking for the rest of 'em. I told him I was coming in here, instead.

  He sent Marisa and Hisa to Caleb's house. Pop and Nana are in the basement.

  Oh God, please let my babies be alright. Please let them be safe. If I don't get to them soon, I'm going to lose my mi…

  We have injuries on this hillside, and we've lost one as well.

  There was nine of us shooting. The kids were hiding in the tornado shelter.

  The bad guys had sixteen in their little "gang." We killed two of them, and a third one died this morning. We know there were sixteen in their group because the man who died this morning told us.

  Diane is dead. She was shot in the leg and I think she bled out. Oh my God, how my heart aches from writing those words!

  We were sound asleep, and were startled awake by the sound of gunfire coming from somewhere near the road. Mick jumped out of bed, pulled on his pants, and stuck his feet in his boots.

  He grabbed a couple different weapons, including the AR-15, and ran out of the bedroom. He went out the kitchen door so he could sneak around to the front. He didn't even wear a shirt.

  There were gunshots coming from the road and Mick started shooting back. I woke Merry and Carisa and told them to run to Caleb's house, send all the adults back, and tell them to bring guns. I told them to take the little kids and hide in the tornado shelter.

  They headed towards the path and suddenly stopped in their tracks. They heard noises coming from the woods. Carisa turned to look back at me and find out if I heard the noises. I nodded my head and motioned for them to hide behind one of the laundry troughs. I saw Jason and Jeremy coming down the path, so I sent Carisa and Merry on their way.

  Jason and Jeremy were loaded for bear with every weapon they had. They were both wearing long johns and flannel shirts. Their boots were untied and made strange noises as they walked.

  They told me that Marisa and Diane would head this way as soon as the girls got there to take care of the kids. I told them to sneak around to the front of the house and find Mick.

  I headed to the motorhome to see about Pop and Nana, and I almost jumped outa my skin when I heard someone ask "What's going on?" Pop was already outside and crouching behind a huge tree stump.

  I told him to get Nana, take her to the basement, and stay there. He said he was "absolutely not going to hide when people were shootin' at his family." I said "Fine, meet me in the living room after you get Nana in the basement, and make sure the basement door is locked." There was no time to argue because my husband was being shot at and I wanted it stopped. I ran back in the house and grabbed Marley and my Glock.

  Pop came up the basement stairs as Marisa and Diane were coming in the kitchen door. We decided to sneak around to the front and find the others. The frequency of gunshots increased in volume and number, and I knew that Jeremy and Jason were shooting as well.

  We crept along the side of the house and past the bay window. We made it to the front left corner of the house and found Soo shooting toward three trucks on the road below. I could barely make out silhouettes of people running around the trucks, but I could see the flashes from their guns as they tried to kill us. The trucks looked like military vehicles.

  Soo told us that Hisa was beside the front porch, Mick was behind Soo and Hisa's motorhome, and Jason was in the woods half-way down on the left. He didn't know where Jeremy was, but thought he was on the right, somewhere near the pool.

  I turned and looked at Pop. I had no clue where the four of us should go. He said he was going to try and get down the hill b
ehind Soo's motorhome with Mick.

  He practically screamed at all of us "don't shoot someone you ought not to be shootin'!"

  He sent Marisa to the right side of the porch, and told her to lie down and steady her pistol using both hands before firing.

  He told me to go to the right front corner of the house and use it for cover.

  Diane was told to keep movin' and shoot from inside the tree-line on the right while she tried to get to Jeremy.

  Soo, Hisa, and Jason already had the left side of the property covered.

  We squatted, crawled, and duck-walked to our positions.

  I could still see flashes on the road, and could still make out a few silhouettes. It sounded like bullets were coming and going from every direction.

  I made it to my position and aimed Marley at the flashes on the road. I could hear bullets hitting the trucks, Marisa's trailer, and Soo's motorhome. I could also hear them hitting the house. One of our windows shattered into pieces.

  Our vehicles were behind the house, and I sent a 'thank you" up to Jesus. Then, I had a gut-wrenching thought. What if a bullet hits the tanker of gasoline? Chills ran down my spine, and my knees felt weak. I didn't know if a bullet would cause it to blow up, but I'd seen it happen on fictional TV shows. I prayed it wasn't possible.

  I heard a loud crack and something hit me on my right cheek. I felt blood running down my face but I didn't care, it wasn't even hurting, and I kept shooting.

  A man screamed somewhere near the pool area and I knew that scream. It woke me once before. It was Jeremy.

  I tried to squint my eyes and look in the direction it had come from. I saw a dark figure but I didn't know if it was Jeremy or one of the bad guys, so I didn't shoot, but someone did.

  There was a tall shadowy figure that came from the trees on the right. It shot the other figure, and I saw the first figure fall. The figure that was still standing began walking up the hill and I saw it bend over, stand back up, and suddenly fall right back down. I believed it was either Jeremy or Diane.

  I realized I could no longer see Mick's shadow up against the back of Soo's trailer. My heart almost jumped out of my chest to run and find him. I started getting dizzy and took a couple of deep breaths. I was afraid to continue shooting at the shadowy figures, so I chose to shoot at the flashes because I knew those were the bad guys.

  Bullets were still flying all over the place.

  Finally, the flashes from the road stopped and I saw dark figure's jumping into the trucks. They flipped on the headlights and put the pedal to the metal trying to get outa there. I heard a motorcycle as well, but I didn't see it.

  We shot several more times toward the fleeing trucks. I saw someone running up the hill toward the house, so I aimed Marley until I could see who it was.

  It was Mick. He saw me and pulled me in for a quick hug and told me I was bleeding, duh! He started barking orders at the women, telling us where to go.

  He told me to go to the basement, and I told him I was going in the house. I ran inside and jumped in the closet with my computer so I could at least have light in there 'til the battery went dead.

  I was typing in this diary when the battery died. Then, I was alone in the dark. I worried about my children, my husband, my parents, and everyone else I'd come to love.

  I don't know how long I was in the closet before I heard Mick come in the house and call my name. "Robin, Where are you?" he yelled. I opened the closet and was making my way to the bedroom door when it flew open, seemingly on its own.

  The room was filled with light from a solar lantern. It was Mick. I stood, ran to him, and collapsed in his arms, but only for a few seconds because I had to find my children.

  I took off running toward Caleb's house as fast as I could. Jason was on the porch, and he said he was going to help Mick find the rest of us. He had his coat and pants over his long johns and was headed through the woods before I could say a word. I noticed that he was limping.

  I could hear voices in the house, so I went in. When I opened the front door, I saw Hisa and Merry cuddled up together on the couch. Merry immediately asked if I'd seen Soo. I told her that Mick and Jason was looking for him right now.

  I grabbed each and every one of my babies and hugged them all in a momma bear embrace. Marisa, Hisa and I were all crying. Carisa and Merry were crying too, and the kids started crying right along with us.

  We hugged them and told them we were crying because we were happy that they were okay, and that our tears were "happy tears." They were good with that and straightened themselves up.

  Hisa had a bloody chin because she'd fainted on the path to Marisa's house and hit her chin on a rock when she fell. Marisa had to grab her by the arms and drag her. She laid her on the porch and went to get the kids out of the tornado shelter.

  By the time Marisa and the kids got back from the shelter, Hisa was awake and stumbling into the house. She has a chipped front tooth and scratches from my heirloom rose bushes to go along with her bloody chin.

  Marisa has rose bush battle wounds as well. She also has a big bruise that's already turning black from hitting the top of her foot on the front porch steps. Otherwise, she's a little shaky and has a headache from the loud gunshots.

  After making sure everyone there was okay, I headed back through the woods to find out about the rest of the group. I asked Hisa to come with me and render aid to anyone who might need it.

  When we got around to the front of the house, we saw that everyone was on the front porch. Mick had carried Diane's body up the hill and laid her on the end of the porch.

  There was an unfamiliar man lying on his left side, crying out in pain and rocking back and forth while holding his stomach. I could see blood coming through his fingers and he had his knees pulled up to his stomach. Mick was standing over him with a big hunting knife in his hand. I heard the man ask Mick to forgive him.

  "I forgive you, and I'm gonna get your knife back to you here in a little bit, but I want to talk to you first." Mick said, as he knelt down on one knee and quietly started questioning him. A few minutes later, Mick stood up and told us that the man died.

  Mick has a long, shallow wound on the left side of his ribcage where a bullet grazed him. He has a lot of cuts and scratches all over his chest and arms with a lot of grass and dirt mixed in. He has a big goose egg on his forehead. It's already turning color and it has a tiny cut which is open pretty wide, probably from the swelling. He has a cut on his left shoulder but it isn't very deep and bled only a little.

  Jeremy was laying on the stairs. He has a huge gash from the top of his thigh almost down to his knee. It was bleeding badly and Hisa made him take off his shirt and press it against the wound. He also has two deep cuts on the palm of his hand and a bloody nose. He has an assortment of cuts and bruises on his face and arms, but nothing as severe as the one on his leg.

  He said that Diane came out of the woods and shot the man who cut him. The man fell to the ground and was either unconscious, or dead. Diane was trying to get Jeremy back into the woods when someone shot her. She was still alive when he crawled over to her.

  Blood was gushing from a bullet hole in her leg and she was fading fast. Her last words were "Hey J, I see my Momma," and then she died. Jeremy used his fingertips to close her eyes, and then crawled back into the tree-line. He ripped a strip of cloth from the bottom of his shirt and tied it above the long cut on his leg. Soo had to drag him up the hill. He said he almost passed out several times along the way.

  Pop has a goose egg above his forehead. He hit his head on the door frame when he was going into the basement to check on Nana. His right knee is almost double in size because he fell on the concrete floor and landed hard. He also has a cut on his shoulder that came from the bottom edge of Soo's motorhome. It’s a mirror image of Mick’s shoulder wound.

  Jason has scratches, bruises, and bumps all over him. He looks like he fought a wildcat in a briar patch. He's says he turned his ankle over while sneaking down
the hill behind the tree-line, but he doesn't think it's broken. He slid on his butt a little way down the hill and has scratches and cuts on his rear end that he plans to let only Marisa see.

  I have a slash across my cheek from a big chunk of brick that was knocked off the corner of house by a bullet. Hisa says I need butterfly stitches. I'm lucky that it didn't hit my eye. I have little scratches and scrapes on my fingers and hands from crawling around on the ground.

  We can't find Opie or Tig. We called for them almost an hour before giving up and heading inside.

  Jeremy will need to have his leg stitched up, and maybe the cuts on his hands as well. Hisa will use strong quilting thread because we don't have medical sutures. She'll use a small fishing hook with the barb removed and the end sharpened to a point.

  All of the goose eggs will get ice packs, and so will Pop's knee, Marisa's foot, and Jason's ankle. Everyone with a head injury will be watched carefully for signs of concussion.

  We have to bring up all the alcohol and peroxide we have in the basement, along with the plastic totes of bandages, gauze, tape, and other first aid supplies.

  Our pool has two or three bullet holes in it and we've lost all the water we had from about a third of the way from the bottom. Mick found two mangled bullets in the bottom of the pool. He said they were disfigured when they hit the water and fell to the bottom. I'm amazed at the way a large mass of water can stop a bullet.

  There's a bullet hole through the plywood covering my living room window. The window shattered and glass is lying on the windowsill and on the ground beneath it. The plywood kept the glass from coming inside.

  This is gonna be a long day. Those of us still walking will have to be "gophers," cooks, and potty bucket emptiers. Hisa will be busy doctoring, and Soo and Mick will be busy burying Diane and standing watch over the hillside.

  We plan to have a memorial at Diane's grave tomorrow and everyone will be there. We've decided to use the area where Mr. Peterson is buried as a graveyard. We'll put Jeremy, Jason, Pop, and Marisa in the bed of the truck and drive them over.