Not Dead in the Heart of Dixie

by R Kralik

  Soo is checking the garden and greenhouses, and he'll water the plants if needed. Deuce will help him after he milks the goats and makes sure all the animals are fed.

  I have several packages of English muffins in the freezer downstairs. Rebecca and I will toast them to serve with butter and pineapple jam for breakfast. We'll plug the toaster into the power strip for the generator. I'm glad we bought that four-slice toaster, otherwise, it'd take twice as long to get them done, ha ha.

  I hate English muffins, but the rest of the family likes them. I'm having cold cereal for breakfast.

  Marisa’s standing watch at the front of the property and Jason’s standing watch out back. The kids are playing board games at the dining room table. Valerie's the head babysitter this morning, and she's making sure they follow all the rules.

  I'm headed out to toast English muffins (yuck). See ya later.

  11:30 PM...

  First of all, I apologize for not writing at my usual mid-afternoon time today. Please forgive me.

  I should start at the top, but the "most exciting news" occurred after the "good news" and the "very good news." There's also "bad news" and "very bad news"... oh hell... I'll just start at the top.

  Valerie and I finished cleaning up from breakfast, and she was ready to take the kids back to their house to play with toys. I was getting ready to head out and help Rebecca and Marisa with laundry.

  Carisa came to tell us that the bullet was out and that everything went fine. Hisa had finished stitching him up. He was sleeping soundly from the pain medication.

  She headed back to Clinic Diane to wait for him to wake up. I remember thinking that Carisa cares a lot for Jesse.

  Dane, Mick, and Jeremy hadn't shown up for their "bag 'o breakfast," and I was beginning to worry. I've never seen Dane skip a meal.

  I heard a big rig down at the road and sighed with relief because I knew they were finally here.

  When I opened the door, I saw three big rigs. Two of them were pulling trailers for the fence, and the third was pulling a flatbed trailer with two little "buildings" on top. It took me by surprise, so I started down the hill to find out what was going on.

  About half a mile from Lowe's, they found a trucking company with a plethora of empty trailers. There was a heavy duty fence with a heavy duty chain and lock around the perimeter. Mick pulled out his handy dandy bolt cutters and snapped the lock.

  Upon entering, they saw two large dog carcasses lying near the small office building. They were badly decayed and the smell was awful. He figured they were guard dogs who'd starved to death.

  The side lot held eight enclosed trailers and three flatbed trailers. There were also several trucks, and most of them are at least half full of diesel fuel. The key to each truck was in the ignition and a numbered plastic tag was hanging from the key chains.

  Mick said that Dane "squealed" with delight, and that he almost squealed right along with him. I thought that was absolutely hilarious. Mick waited for me to stop laughing, and catch my breath, before he continued the story.

  Since there were three men who could drive large vehicles, they decided to bring home three trailers at once. They were trying to guide Jeremy while he backed up to one of the trailers.

  Jeremy started pointing and talking. The window was up and they couldn't hear a word he was saying, so they motioned for him to roll down the window.

  Jeremy told them where to look and they had to climb up on the step of the truck to see what he was pointing at.

  There were several trucks in a large wooded area behind a residential home. Jeremy said he thought they were logging trucks, but he wasn't 100% sure because of the distance. They decided to check them out.

  They went out the gate and around the fence. They didn't try climbing over the high fence because of the razor wire on top.

  Mick said it took about five minutes to get from the rear of the trucking company to the wooded lot. They walked through several residential back yards to get there.

  They found four trucks and a bulldozer. One of the trucks has a crane for loading logs. Jeremy loudly "woo hoo'd" and gave Mick and Dane a high five.

  The three of them were chuckling, and talking about their luck, when Dane pulled his pistol and aimed it straight at Jeremy. Dane screamed "LOOK OUT!"

  Jeremy was standing with his back to a dump truck when Dane saw feet moving on the ground behind the truck. He was just in time to remove half the face of a logger HDI that came around the back. Their attitude's shifted back to "dead serious." They decided to thoroughly check out the inside and outside of each truck.

  They took out two more HDI loggers before they were sure the area was clear.

  Jeremy said there was a male HDI banging up against the glass patio door of the house they were standing behind. They decided to wait and see if he broke through the glass before shooting him. They had no idea if there were numerous HDI's inside, just waiting to come at them, and they didn’t want to shatter the glass door and make it an easy exit.

  Mick said the worst part was searching the dead HDI's for keys. The smell was horrible. Pieces of their skin and flesh fell off when they were moved around, and bones could be seen sticking up underneath their clothing.

  Jeremy pulled a set of keys and a handful of black goo from one of the HDI's inner jacket pocket. He used the corner of the HDI's shirt to wipe the sticky goo from his hand. It stuck to him, almost like tar. He had to call Ralph at the side of the lot. Mick said he was pretty close to calling along with him.

  They found keys to the crane truck, the bulldozer, and a log truck. There were 10 or 11 splitting wedges in the floorboard of the log truck. With the wedges Jason got from the Peterson shed, we can have two or three people splitting logs at once.

  They found no keys for the other log truck or two dump trucks. They drove the crane truck and bulldozer back to the trucking company.

  Mick had an idea.

  They drove the bulldozer and a big rig with a flatbed trailer attached down the street to a wooden storage building sales lot.

  They used the bulldozer to lift two wooden storage buildings onto the flatbed trailer and tied them down with large straps they found inside the big rig. Dane said it was a tricky and dangerous procedure to get the buildings loaded onto the trailer.

  Mick says there are still seven or eight small buildings there and some of them have little porches on the side or front. I knew exactly what he was talking about and pictured them in my head. They'll make wonderful "bachelor pad's," storage buildings, barns, and gate houses inside the compound.

  I threw my arms around his neck, gave him a big kiss, and told him he's "brilliant!"

  Dane said the most important find was the crane truck. We now have a way to load the logs at the lumber company. None of the men know how to operate the crane truck, but they'll learn.

  They left the loaded flatbed and trailers in the field beside the Hobbs house.

  Dane said they were heading back out for more. Rebecca brought out a backpack full of canned tuna, fried apple pies, and several bottles of water to send with them. I asked if she'd remembered to add a can opener. She smacked her forehead and said "nope." I hoped they had their multi-tools with them.

  You guessed it. The rest of us had tuna on homemade bread along with fried apple pies for lunch.

  Rebecca was cleaning up after lunch and I was out back with Marisa, trying to finish up the laundry, when Deuce came bursting out the kitchen door, screaming "THE ARMY'S HERE!"

  I felt immediate fear. I told Marisa to get all of the kids, including the older ones, into the tornado shelter.

  My Glock was already on my side, and I headed in to grab Marley. I wanted to be one of the first on greetin' duty.

  When I stepped out on the front porch, I almost fainted. There were military vehicles and motorhomes all the way up the driveway and on both sides of the road.

  Soo, Jason, Marisa, Rebecca and Mr. Hobbs joined me. We all had our weapons, and we all were shaking
in our boots.

  I quietly asked Marisa if the kids were safe and she nodded.

  Soo said "What do we do?" and I said "Right now, we wait."

  No one got out of the vehicles and no one rolled down any window to talk to us. I think we stood there for a good five minutes, looking at all the vehicles on the driveway and the road below. The entire time, I was praying and trying to send out psychic vibes to Mick so he'd head home as soon as possible

  Finally, two people exited a motorhome near the road and began walking up the driveway. I wasn't about to leave the porch to go meet them.

  I thought that I recognized the gait of the one on the left. When they were halfway up, I knew who they were. I ran down the driveway and into the arms of my sister! I couldn't believe it!

  I was still scared outa my mind. I had her in a death grip hug when she whispered that everyone with her was "good people," and that I should relax. I'm here to tell you, it took me a good three hours before I could "relax."

  Slowly, people began climbing out of the vehicles and standing beside them. They were dressed in both military garb and civilian garb. I still don't know exactly how many people are here.

  I tried to grab Rona and drag her in the house but she wouldn't come. She asked me to go back down the driveway so I could say hello to my nephews who were still in the motorhome. I almost screamed with joy! She got them back!

  I asked if they were going to stay this time, and she said "yes!" I was so happy that I started sobbing and my knees felt weak. I thought I was gonna pass out. I was scared to death and extremely happy at the same time. My body was confused, and I had to sit down on the ground right then and there.

  Marisa came off the porch and landed in Rona's arms. She sat down beside me to see if I was okay. I said I didn't know yet.

  Rona pulled me up off the ground, motioned to someone beside the lead military vehicle, and we all headed inside. I felt like I was dreaming.

  I finally came to my senses when Rona introduced the woman in military garb with a bunch of shiny medals standing beside her. "This is Major Josephine Lynn Minor," she said, "we call her Josie and her troops call her Major Minor, and she's one of the good guys." Rona's eyes twinkled as she waited for my response. She knew that I wanted to crack a joke about Major Minor’s name. Sisters know these things.

  I wanted to laugh so bad that I had to pinch myself to keep from running to my room and bursting out in uncontrollable giggles. There was a military officer in my house, and she was called "Major Minor." I still giggle every time I say that name.

  Major Minor told me to go ahead and laugh because she's heard every joke imaginable. It wouldn't bother her a bit, and sometimes she laughs about it herself. She loves to introduce herself by her title and watch everyone squirm. I knew I liked her already.

  I'm gonna leave out a few long-winded details to try and shorten the story, but I promise not to leave out even the smallest bit of important information.

  Rona and Kevin's crew were aware of the gang that was following them. One night, they turned the tables and eliminated the gang. Cheez got the gang's location from one of the scouts who he had threatened to scalp and meant it. You don’t mess with Cheez.

  Rona said that getting rid of the gang was easy. Their numbers were low and they were caught off guard.

  The Major's group found Rona and her crew when they were both fighting the same enemy at a military base in East Tennessee.

  Kevin and Rona knew that their boys were being held at the base and they planned to get them back as fast as possible.

  Josie knew that the men guarding the base were members of the "wrong" National Guard and under orders from the power-hungry dictator.

  Rona was captured and taken to meet Josie to explain why her crew was there. Josie decided to use Rona's crew to aid in taking control of the base. In return for their help, Josie agreed do her best to get their children safely off the base.

  The bad guys and good guys were fighting one another, as well as hundreds of HDI's that had been attracted by the sounds of battle. Both groups had automatic rifles and weapons of war.

  The base was just outside Chattanooga, and HDI's had come in large groups from the city.

  At this point in the story, Nana came running in the house crying. She threw her arms around Rona, and began yelling at me that Pop wanted to see Rona and the boys right away. Rona told her she would go to him in a little while and tell him what happened.

  Back to the story...

  The battle raged for several hours. Another military troop came at dusk to join Josie's unit. By the following morning, the entire base had been taken and Rona and Kevin had their children in their arms. Glen and Teri had Mitchell back as well. Nathan wasn’t there and no one knows where he was taken.

  Rona felt that she couldn't thank Josie enough. Both women cried and clung to one another in Josie's private tent. She didn't want the troops to see her crying.

  Josie told Rona that the unit was heading to Mississippi to take control of another illegal National Guard base. She said they had supplies, and could render a small amount of aid to any survivor group they come across. Rona asked if her crew could travel with them until they arrived near our area. Josie said yes and told Rona they’d leave a few supplies with us.

  I don't know what supplies Josie plans to leave, but I'll find out in the morning before the unit heads out to take Glen, Teri, and Mitchell home. Cheez and Sarah are headed to Mississippi with the unit, hoping to find Nathan at the base there.

  Mick, Dane, and Jeremy saw the vehicles on the road when they were bringing trailers back. They parked at the pull-off and scouted the property and house from the tree-line until they heard us talking and laughing in the back yard. They came walking out of the trees and almost got shot by armed guards before Josie yelled at them to "stand down."

  We had a big ol' fashioned pig roast for supper, courtesy of what's left of Uncle Sam. There’s two refrigeration trucks packed with meat in Josie's convoy. Everything was delicious, and tasted even better because we have my sister and her family back.

  At this time, Mick and Dane are in one of the little wooden buildings they brought home. A communication center is being set up by Josie's troops. They’re supplying all the radio equipment and giving basic lessons to Mick and Dane. They'll leave manuals with more detailed information. They named two channels that they regularly monitor.

  They said it's best if we use the equipment mostly for listening. Anything we broadcast can be heard by bad guys as well as good guys.

  Luke and Lawson are a little on the skinny side, but other than that, they're fine. Rona and Kevin's motorhome is parked in the woods beside the path to Marisa's house. Rona, Kevin and the boys are sleeping there now.

  I have to tell you what we found out about HDI before I head to bed.

  Flies.

  Flies brought HDI. They are a special kind of flies. They're huge, and pass the virus when they bite. They are cold resistant and very hardy. They're larger than horseflies and can be identified by green spots on their wings. This is why we've seen HDI's with maggots in the middle of winter.

  Anyone who's been bitten and infected can pass on the virus to anyone they bite. The virus is carried in the saliva of infected people. Scratching does not transmit the virus unless there's saliva under the fingernails of an HDI who scratches someone.

  Saliva from an infected person must come in contact with an open wound to pass the virus. No one knows how many flies were generated, or where they are located. They could be anywhere and everywhere.

  High-ranking military powers and some of the smartest scientists in the world believe the flies were bred and engineered by a small, radical nation, trying to cleanse the world.

  They believe that the flies were released on purpose and immigrated to all parts of the world by traveling on cargo ships, cruise ships, and commercial airplanes. They're working 24 hours a day on an antidote and hope to have something by summer.

  They are s
till experimenting with regular horseflies that have been bred to HDI flies. I don't know how they’re experimenting. I pray that they aren't using humans as guinea pigs.

  There are two good bits of news.

  1) Animals are not infected by the fly bites. They’re almost positive that products like eggs, meat, and milk from bitten animals will not infect the humans who partake in these sudden luxuries.

  2) The flies are repelled by products with deet on the ingredient list. I am thanking Jesus that we got all that insect repellant from Lowe's. We need more, and we'll get more if I have to go after it by myself.

  The front yard and field across from us are sparkling with lights from motorhomes, military vehicles, candles, and lanterns. Numerous armed guards are walking the perimeter of the camp as well as our compound. None of our people are on guard duty tonight.

  Summer is coming and we're all scared to death of flies. This is going to be bad.

  Bye for now.

  Tuesday, March 11

  I heard a lot of gunfire last night and I can only assume that the guards were killing HDI's or hunting deer. I didn't poke my head out and yell "whatcha'll shootin' at out there." I believe that Josie will tell us what was going on if we get a private moment to talk.

  We didn't cook this morning. We were fed by the Army.

  We had a buffet of powdered eggs, hash browns, sausage patties, bacon, hot cereal, cold cereal, oatmeal, banana muffins, biscuits, pastries, powdered milk, coffee, tea, and orange juice. It was pretty darn good for military food. Hey, every meal they feed us means we have a meal to extend our survival time in the pantry, right? We are grateful and can't thank them enough.

  Mick spent the entire meal with Kevin, letting him in on what we have, what we plan, and what we need. Those two will be thick as thieves before you know it.

  I overheard Kevin telling Mick that there are two huge generators in the big pole barn at his and Rona's place. They're older generators, and are used mainly in his large racing garage or for backups to the new one they've been taking on racing trips. Their newest one was "requisitioned" when the fake National Guard took the boys. He also has an enclosed car trailer that we can use to get them here.