Not Dead in the Heart of Dixie

by R Kralik

  I was more enraged than I have ever been in my life and thought I could actually feel my blood boiling. It took a few minutes for me to pull myself together and go back for the rest of the story.

  Rick and Ian sat in the tree branches until after dark. They couldn't risk climbing down and being seen in the light of day.

  They quietly hit the ground and cautiously went back to their own little camp to plan Josie's rescue. Both men feared she would be killed before they could get her out of there.

  They spent two hours working on a plan. They ate MRE's, erased all signs of their camp, and covered themselves with mud, leaves, and debris. They laid down behind a fallen log and tried to sleep. They had gone days without sleeping and needed strength, energy, and level heads to execute their plan.

  Both men barely slept because they couldn't get images of what they had witnessed out of their heads.

  They rose with the sun and gathered wood for a small fire on the opposite side of the Interstate. They had their morning meal and began physically, and emotionally, preparing themselves.

  Ian said that, after lunch, they heard laughing and cat calls from the direction of the camp. They both believed that Josie was being tortured again, and their anger grew as they waited for darkness to fall. Rick had to tell his brain “calm and level head, calm and level head” over and over. As soon as dusk came, they began final preparations to execute the plan.

  It was completely dark when they quietly made their way back to the attacker's camp and climbed the tree to listen to three guards near the motorhome. All three guards were drinking and laughing, and Ian knew that one of them would have to relieve himself soon. He picked the guard he wanted and sat there, waiting.

  An hour passed before the guard left the group to take care of nature's call. The man began gathering leaves, and Ian was overjoyed in the midst of his anger.

  The guard went a little further back in the trees, pulled his pants down around his ankles, squatted, and started whistling. Ian was thankful because the whistling man was completely relaxed and had no idea what was coming his way.

  Ian quietly approached him from the back. He was two feet from him when the guard reached to wipe his rear end. It was now or never. Ian grabbed him by the hair, yanked his head backwards, and slit his throat without hesitation. He quickly threw the guard's body over a large rock so the blood would run down his face and away from his uniform. He removed the uniform and handed it to Rick who was already naked and standing nearby.

  Rick slipped into the uniform and stepped right out into the open. He coughed to disguise his voice as he told the other two guards that he would “be back in a minute.”

  Rick said that he “walked like a boss” through the camp. He cautiously sliced the tires and punctured the fuel tank of every vehicle there except the motorhome. Ian waited in the shadows for Rick's return. It took more than two hours for Rick to carefully complete his tasks without raising alarm.

  Rick motioned for Ian to come out of the shadows. Ian walked with his hands behind his back as Rick pretended to lead him to the guards beside the motorhome. When they got close, they each pulled their knives and caught the guards unaware. They slit their throats and dragged them into the shadows within a matter of seconds. They walked straight up to the motorhome door, opened it, and went inside.

  There were two men inside the motorhome, sleeping. They didn't get a chance to yell or call out for help because Rick and Ian broke their necks simultaneously.

  Rick led the way as they cautiously approached the rear of the motorhome. They saw Josie lying motionless on the large bed.

  Ian turned and headed to the driver’s seat. He turned the key, started the engine, and slammed his foot down on the gas pedal. He drove that sucker past several vehicles to a little dirt road leading away from the camp.

  Rick tossed a flaming lighter into a pool of fuel on the ground beside a vehicle they passed. They were already out of range when bullets began flying and explosions shook the earth.

  Ian breathed a sigh of relief and drove the motorhome several miles before he saw a large barn. He drove around to the back, cut the engine, and went to see about Rick and Josie.

  Josie was awake and Rick was washing her face with a damp cloth. He found a bottle of water the kitchen, and Josie took several sips before asking “What took you so long.” She told them to head straight to Kapper hill, and then she passed out on the bed.

  Ian started the engine and headed our way. They had to stop once for diesel fuel.

  They arrived here three hours later. Both men are shocked that their plan actually worked. Rick said he hated losing that lighter but was happy that it went out in a blaze of glory.

  You don't mess with Ian and Rick.

  I brought them inside to eat and told them to pull out the futon in Mick's office and get some sleep. I don't know if they'll be able to sleep. They're both wired up, waiting for news about Josie.

  I tried to go in Clinic Diane to see Josie, but Hisa told me to “get out,” and she would let me know when I could come back.

  So, here I am, waiting and worrying about Josie.

  Ian is twenty-six years old and he's from Idaho. He's single, and his parents and grandparents are in Canada as far as he knows. He has an older brother and two older sisters. Each of his siblings serve in a branch of the military. He's heard nothing from his siblings or parents since the world fell apart. His parents told him that they were heading into the Canadian wilderness to wait out the threat. He's been in the Army since he was eighteen years old and is pure soldier at heart. He's pretty darn easy on the eyes, just ask every woman here.

  Rick is thirty-six years old and has been in the army since he was twenty-two years old. He was headed home several days after the world fell apart. He found his wife and two children dead when he entered the house. A surviving neighbor said that they were killed by several men three days prior. His family was shot to death and the house had been looted. He buried them in the backyard, loaded all his gear into the family van, and went back to his unit.

  Rick is also easy on the eyes. I am now positive that God doesn't make ugly babies or ugly soldiers.

  Neither man knows what to do or where else to go. They asked to stay here until Josie is able to travel. Of course, we said yes.

  The motorhome is still parked at the top of the driveway. The mattress in the bedroom is bare of sheets and blankets. It’s covered in Josie's blood. I asked Mick to take it out and burn it.

  The rest of the motorhome looks like an average motorhome except that it's filthy inside. There's quite a bit of food and alcohol in the cabinets and refrigerator. There's about a quarter tank of fuel left. It's a diesel motorhome with a large propane tank attached.

  Pop says his soreness is “working its way from the inside out.” I saw him heading to the greenhouse about an hour ago with Mr. Hobbs helping him along.

  The fact that Ian and Rick were able to drive the motorhome straight to the top of the hill has Dane rattled.

  Dane and Soo are out to pick up the gate from the trucking company. They took a big rig and the large flatbed trailer. The bulldozer is still there and they can use it to pull up the gate posts.

  Mick planned to head to Lowe's after breakfast, but Shawna told him that they would prefer to have one of the small wooden buildings like the one Jeremy and Rebecca have. He promised to get it for them when Dane gets back with the big rig and trailer.

  Kevin's on backhoe duty and he'll finish filling in the trailer fence and begin digging the trench at the back of the property today.

  Marisa and Elaine have lunch duty and I have supper duty tonight with Shawna. I don't know what we'll make.

  Shawna and Lisa will be doing laundry after breakfast. Nana told them she’d show them the ropes and then get out of their way,

  I'm going out to the kitchen and eat, then I'm taking my last pack of cigarettes and sitting in the lawn chair outside Clinic Diane.

  I'm sure that Ian and Rick will
join me soon enough.

  See ya later.

  11:00 PM...

  Sorry I didn't write at mid-day. I was at Clinic Diane, talking with Josie. She spoke with Rick and Ian first, and then asked for me.

  The first thing she said when I walked in the door was “Stop feeling sorry for me. I made it, didn't I? I'm not feeling sorry for myself. The only thing those idiots took from me was a pound of flesh. They got nowhere near my heart and soul, and I consider those my most prized possessions, besides, I always wondered what it was like to be a porn star. I've decided to leave that career for someone else.”

  My jaw hit the ground. Josie Minor is one super-duper tough cookie. I have no idea how people find such inner strength.

  Josie said that she'd like to stay here with us and become a member of Kapper Hill Compound. She doesn't want to go back to the military and be responsible for hundreds of lives. She says she'll live in the motorhome just to spite the men who abused her. She'll need a new bed 'cause Mick already followed my orders and burned the mattress.

  She said that Ian and Rick would like to stay as well, if we'll have them. I said I would need to talk it over with everyone else but I'm sure we'll all agree that we’d love to have them here.

  Hisa says that Josie will be fine, but she has a lot of healing to do. Hisa has cleaned all of her wounds, bandaged and stitched those that needed it, and started her on a 14 day antibiotic regimen. She wants to keep her at Clinic Diane until she’s eating well and her wounds show significant signs of healing.

  Josie says that she has information for us. She overheard the “big guy” telling with the “number two big guy” about several locations where they have food and ammunition stashed, and the map to these locations is in the motorhome. She was very pleased with Ian and Rick.

  We will raid those stashes and take everything we find. We have three more mouths to feed. I'm praying we find tons and tons of food and ammo in those stashes.

  For lunch, Elaine brought in cheese quesadilla's made with canned cheese for me and Hisa. A little bowl of my home canned chunky salsa was on the side. The tortillas were made from scratch and taste a lot better than store bought tortilla's. She said Lisa showed her how to make them.

  Josie had chicken noodle soup because she's only had bottled water for the past three days and Hisa wants her to take it easy before eating big meals or spicy food.

  We have a gate across the driveway now. Dane and Soo used the bulldozer to dig out the posts and brought the entire contraption home without taking it apart. Kevin quickly dug holes for the fence posts near the front corners of the trailers. They’re concreted in and we'll fill in around them with dirt and rock tomorrow.

  They also found a machine shop and Dane went inside. They brought home several tools including a big drill with a huge drill bit for drilling bolt holes through the logs.

  Dane said they'll use Pop's little generator to run the drill since its electric. I have no idea what all of the tools are for, or why we need them. I'll leave that to them.

  They had room for a wooden building with a porch that Mr. Hobbs requested. Kevin leveled a place on the hill between the garden and the outhouse and Mr. Hobbs will be sleeping in his new bachelor pad tonight.

  During the conversation, Rick told us that we could probably find all the bolts we need at the service area of the electric company. I hope he's right, because it's dangerously close to town and Dane plans to go there tomorrow. I hope it's worth the risk. It'll save a lot of time if we don't have to take bolts from utility poles.

  Mick, Soo, and Jeremy plan to go to the wooden building display lot to get buildings for Shawna and Lisa as well as Ian and Rick. I gave them directions to two display lots I remembered seeing.

  We'll take all the beds we can find from the Masterson and ckd's house if we need to.

  Shawna and I made white bean soup for supper. It wasn't fancy, but it was good, and it filled our tummies. We used canned navy beans, bacon, dehydrated onions, water, spices, and milk. We didn't make anything for dessert because we were too darn tired.

  It feels like today was two or three days rolled into one. I'm yawning, so I'm climbing in with my snoring hubby.

  Bye for now.

  Wednesday, March 19

  I got up around 7:00 this morning and found Ian in the kitchen making coffee. He and Rick had been up since 5:00, working on the outhouse. They wanted to get the inside finished so they could go looking for barrels after breakfast. I told him that breakfast would be ready by 8:00. He swallowed the rest of his coffee and headed out the door. I had no clue what they were doing in that outhouse.

  I re-hydrated a bunch of banana chips and made three loaves of banana bread for breakfast. Deuce brought the milk bucket in just as I was pulling the last loaf from the oven. I can't believe how fast we’re going through food. We need more... lots more.

  Everyone came inside to eat including Rick and Ian. I told Mick that I was gonna ask them to take me to the truck stop later so I could get dishes, glasses, coffee cups, and any paper goods I could find. Mick said it was fine with him. I sarcastically thanked him for his permission. Several of the ladies, including Rebecca and Elaine, offered to go along. Hmmm.

  Mick, Jeremy, and Soo headed out in a big rig and the large flatbed trailer for more wooden buildings.

  Dane and Kevin have already pulled out to go to the electric company and look for bolts. Rona and Elaine are nervous about that because it's very close to the city.

  Valerie has lunch duty with Nana today, and she asked if they could make something really good so she could prove to Luke and Larson that she can cook. Again, hmmm.

  Jesse actually walked in the door for breakfast. Carisa was cheering him on the entire way. He says he is feeling great and wants to get back to work. Hisa told him she would let him do a little work after two more days. Thank heaven, because we need more hay and Jesse's good at finding it.

  Rebecca said she wasn't feeling well and went back to her little house right after breakfast. She thinks she has a stomach bug because her tummy hurt all night and she called Ralph this morning. My first thought was that she's pregnant. Holy crap, what if she is? Can Hisa deliver a baby? Can I?

  Pop has abandoned the walker and is using his cane. He's trying to “work the soreness” out of his shoulder and thigh, and is currently in the garden with Mr. Hobbs. Nana seems a little lost and she's sitting at the table, making lesson plans to begin school on Monday.

  I'm off to the Clinic to visit with Josie for a little while. See ya later.

  3:30 PM...

  Dane and Kevin brought home a truck bed full of bolts and other gadgets from the electric company. They said there are HDI's all over town and groups of them are making their way out of the city and into residential areas. Kevin said he saw at least fifty HDI's less than 100 yards from the electric company. He told Dane to park at the back of the building.

  They didn't kick in the door because of the amount of noise it makes, so Kevin climbed on the roof and found an entrance. He went down into the dark building and unlocked the door for Dane.

  They carried the bolts out quietly by rolling them in curtains from the offices. They didn't want the metal bolts to clang together and make a lot of noise in the truck bed. It worked, and they slipped out of there without attracting attention.

  You should see the outhouse. Ian and Rick built the sittin' bench and it's made for two people. They bolted cushioned toilet lids they took from the Masterson house to the top. They built individual stalls using wood from the walls of a shed behind the ckd's house.

  They went out after lunch and came back about two hours later with six big plastic barrels. Yay! I grabbed two of them for additional water storage.

  The outhouse is now open for business and it is, indeed, a deluxe outhouse. I'll have Carisa paint 867-5309 with artsy style inside one of the stalls (wink). Yep, I'll have to explain it to her.

  Rick said the barrels were easy to find. They looked for a bakery or specialty fo
od business.

  They found a bakery and took the barrels from the back. They had to clean icing out of two of them, but the other four were already empty and only needed rinsing out. They also brought home a 50 pound bag of cake flour. There was no other food left in the place but there were plenty of HDI's in the area. Those two men are sneaky and quiet. I'm glad they're on our side.

  They said they'd take me to the truck stop tomorrow because most of today is already used up. Sounds good to me.

  Mick, Jeremy, and Soo brought home two wooden buildings. They left them on the trailer, and headed back to the trucking company to get another flatbed trailer and two more buildings before dark. I expect them home within the hour.

  Dane wants to load up Mr. Peterson's wood shop and bring it up the hill for Elaine, Jeremy, and himself. It's about twice as big as the wooden buildings. He wants to attach two little wooden buildings to use as bedrooms. He'll probably have to put it in the front yard behind the remains of Marisa's old house trailer. That'll give him about thirty yards between his “house” and the trailer fence. He'll need to build an outhouse as well.

  I have supper duty with Elaine tonight. She's making chicken pot pies and I'm making peach cobblers to go with them. I feel like I'm working in a cafeteria. We're cooking large amounts of food every day. If we don't find more very soon, we may have to cut down to two meals per day.

  We are using every drop of milk the goats give us. I think Luke, Larson, and Deuce drink a gallon a day between the three of them. They want milk at every meal.

  The chickens can't keep with up, so we have to use powdered eggs from the pantry more often than not.

  I think we're at our limit for taking in people. We simply do not have enough food to feed any more than the ones we have now.

  We must loot the stashes Josie was talking about, and soon. We also need to hunt. I think I'll give Luke and Larson hunting duty for the coming week if it's okay with Rona. I'm sure Mr. Hobbs will teach them to make snares.

  Mick and the guys are back. I'm heading out to see what they brought home.