by R Kralik
After we get all the water containers filled, I plan to use one of the above ground pools for what it's meant to be. I have a feeling we're all gonna need it.
To hell with my back. I'm heading out to visit the big room at the end of the tunnel and find out if it's cool in there. Summer’s gonna make me crazy.
See ya later.
10:30 PM...
I was walking up the hill toward the tunnels.
I was almost past the garden when Pop hollered for me to come over and take a look.
Right there, on a beautiful green vine hanging from the weight of the fruit, was a gorgeous ripe tomato about the size of a tennis ball. I pulled it to my mouth with the vine still attached and took a bite. It was divine.
I saw several more red beauties, so I picked a couple, kissed Pop on the cheek, and took them to the cave.
As I walked down the tunnel, I could feel the darkness grow cooler with every step. I heard tiny clumps of dirt crunch under my feet and a few pebbles scoot along the floor to rest against the walls. I went inside the big room and waited as long as I dared before turning the switch on the solar lantern. I sat on the ground and ate my tomatoes.
The sound of my movement and scuffling of my feet echoed slightly in the large room. I knew I'd found my haven. I plan to spend as much of the summer there as possible.
I'm guessing its sixty-five degrees in there, and that's perfect for me. I felt safe, and I turned off the lantern to soak up the cool darkness. I thought I could feel Mick there with me even though I knew he wasn't. I knew he was somewhere thinking of me. I was sure of it.
I knew I'd better get back but I loitered for several more minutes in the cool air. It was divine. I'm sure I looked like a different woman when I emerged from the entrance. My new favorite place is that tunnel room.
Kevin and Dane returned with three more beekeeper suits. The see-through bee hives are still alive and kickin' on the walls. They brought home several books so we can learn how to move the hives. I would love to have fresh honey on homemade bread.
They also visited a couple of antique stores and came home with a lot of old-timey gadgets along with several crocks in different sizes. They stripped all the linens off the antique beds and wrapped several sets of china in them. I hope there's no lead in the patterns on that china because we need intend to use it.
I asked Kevin to put away an elegant, solid white set for Marisa so I can give it to her for her birthday in July. I don't think she has anything other than a few old chipped plates and saucers at her house. We have a small section in the basement reserved for gift type items and he said he'd put it there.
Emma canned tomato chutney this afternoon with the small harvest they got from the early tomato plants. I've never eaten chutney. Since it has tomatoes in it, I'll probably love it.
We have so few members who can stand watch that we're beginning to wear ourselves out. We always have two guards at the front of the property and two in back. We have 19 members who can reliably stand watch if you include Luke and Larson.
We need at least four guards per shift and we need to work on other projects like looting, catwalks, towers, tunneling, gardening, preserving, laundry, water filtering, and getting our secret supplies to the proper places.
We're working from dawn 'til dusk, and there's always something extra that pops up like repairing the onion fence where Pao busted through.
I'm trying to stay busy and avoid thinking about how much I miss Mick. It's impossible. He's in my head all the time and I can't shake it. I don't know how Josie handles it. Maybe she has it easier because she and Chris have only been together for a short while.
Maybe she's stronger than me. If she has some sort of secret about how to handle this loneliness, I wish she'd share it with me.
It's hot in here because of the warm weather and because Nana and Emma were canning most of the day. I'm tempted to take Mick's pillow and blanket to sleep inside the tunnel room. If folks wouldn't freak out because I'm not in the house tomorrow morning, I'd already be on my way there.
Goodnight Mick. I love you and miss you terribly.
Bye for now.
Sunday May 4
The first thing on my mind when I woke this morning was Mick and the fact that it's only 28 more days 'til I see him again.
I crawled out of bed and thought of him while I dressed. My back's feeling better but I'm still a little sore. I abandoned the cane.
I took care of nature and came inside to talk with Nana and Valerie as they mixed up muffin batter for breakfast.
That's when I saw it.
The belt from Deuce's robe was laying on the floor, halfway under the recliner. I almost jumped through the ceiling thinking it was a snake, just for a split second, but that was enough to make my skin crawl. Then, I began thinking about the outhouse, and the tunnel, and the big room where I'd sat in the dark.
I can't believe I walked right in that dark tunnel and sat down to have a snack without checking all the way around. O M G, a snake could have fallen on my head from the ceiling above. Shudder! I'm praying there's such a thing as snake repellant and I'm praying that someone here says “Oh yeah, we have that.”
Anyway, I need to move on to something else and give the chill bumps on my arms a chance to recede.
I had a talk with Merry this morning. She doesn't seem to be bothered at all that Soo is gone. She misses him, of course, but she's still grieving over the loss of her mother.
I felt so bad for her. She' such a tiny thing and looks so sad. I told her that I promised her dad to take good care of her. I also told her that her mom wasn't “really” gone and she was probably watching from heaven right now.
I asked that she think of her mother in a truly happy place with no fake military, HDI's, hunger, or pain. I told her what a strong woman her mother was, and that I'm sure she'll grow up to be a strong woman herself.
I shared a secret that I'd heard from Marisa. If the new baby is a girl, she'll be named Selene Hisa Black. I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned Jason's last name, but now you know that his name is Jason Black, just like the color.
Between you and me, if it's a boy they plan to name him Caleb Luther Black after Caleb and Mr. Hobbs. I hope Elaine and Jesse won't mind.
Merry accepted several hugs and then wiped her eyes and climbed out of the recliner where she'd been sitting curled up next to me. She was heading down the hallway when she suddenly stopped and turned around. She asked if she could call me “Grandma” with Amber and Michael, and of course, I said yes. God, bless that child.
Dane and Jason are working on the supports for the walls in the second tunnel room. They're moving slow and checking everything twice so as not to make any mistakes.
Kevin and Rona are at TSC taking apart more shelves. They plan to drop off half the load at Beggar Cave before returning home with the rest.
Elaine promised to teach me to make yeast rolls for lunch today. I wanna serve them with honey butter to go with the pasta salad we're having for lunch. I have no idea what's in the pasta salad other than pasta and English peas. I suppose I'll get a lesson on that as well.
See ya later.
2:00 PM...
Rona and Kevin brought home a man. He seems like a nice man, and they know him. His name is Kenny and he's twenty-two years old. He was a student at Georgia University and was trying to make it home to Moulton, Alabama.
They met him when they were looking for Luke and Larson. He was a member of a small group of survivors near Anniston, Alabama. There were 13 members in the group and they were living off things they could hunt and scavenge.
Kenny met up with a woman from his hometown when he was staying with the group. She told him that their hometown had been wiped out by massive numbers of HDI's. He decided to stay with her group for the winter and continue heading home once the weather got warm. When he felt the time was right, he left the group.
He made it as far as our little town when the threat of fake military and HDI's forc
ed him to take refuge on the top floor of a grocery store. He saw everything that happened when Mick and Dane were captured.
He watched as HDI's were called by some unknown force to the rock quarry.
He watched when Chris' strike team came to town to scout out the area and rescue Mick and Dane.
He stayed in his little office sanctuary and ate food he looted from the store while the HDI's were in town. He said he had plenty of food and water because no one was looting in town while the HDI's were there. He had lots of time to haul non-perishable supplies up the stairs and into the office.
When the HDI's began heading to the rock quarry and the real military took control of the fake military camp, looters began appearing in town. There were good looters, and not so good looters.
Kenny had to climb out the second story window and onto the roof to escape a rough group of folks who was looting the store from top to bottom. He was able to grab his well-prepared bug out bag and sneak out of town.
He was on the outskirts of town when night fell and decided to make camp inside TSC. Rona almost blew his head off before she realized he wasn't an HDI, nor was he fake military. He'd grown a beard since he last saw Rona and Kevin, and it took a moment for them to recognize him.
He's the only person we've come across who's actually says they've gained weight since the world collapsed.
Kevin and Rona are driving him 15 miles to Moulton now. I don't expect him to find his family, so he'll probably return with Kevin and Rona. Will he stay at Kapper Hill? I hope so. We can use the extra hands and eyes.
Anyway, he helped Rona and Kevin take apart shelving inside TSC and load it on the truck. Kevin says that he and Rona unloaded half of it in the basement while Kenny was washing up and getting drilled with questions from the girls. They closed the door to the truck and headed out to take Kenny home and unload the remaining shelves at Beggar Cave on their way back.
I asked Pop about snake repellant and he says they mixed cinnamon and lime to spread around the area. They put the mixture in one of those large sugar shakers and went all the way around the perimeter. I plan to mix up a good sized batch and pour it around the entrance to the tunnels as well as the base of the walls. Then, I'll climb to the top of the hill and spread what's left on the ground over the tunnel. I'm hoping this works.
This is Alabama. We have rattlesnakes, copper heads, and water moccasins just to name a few. We also have “black racers” and rat snakes.” I hate all snakes. I might like snake stew but, if they're hissing, slithering (shudder) and sticking out that forked tongue, I wanna kill 'em. I can't help it.
Dane and Jason stopped working on the tunnel room and they're now working to finish the floors in the remaining towers. The teens loaded the finished towers with ammo and supplies. Each tower has its own blue barrel of filtered water and several days of emergency food just in case one of the folks on watch has to lock him/herself inside and wait it out.
Those towers are blazing hot already. The sandbags help quite a bit, but I spent about 10 minutes inside before I started sweating like crazy. I may request to Dane that all my shifts be at night because I'm a wuss and can't stand the heat.
I believe we're having bean burgers for supper and I'm supposed to be on supper duty, so I'm heading out to make bean burger patties.
See ya later!
11:00 PM...
Kevin and Rona weren't back for supper and we were worried.
We ate in silence, listening for the sound of the delivery truck coming down the road and up the driveway. I almost willed myself into believing I actually heard it once or twice, but I was wrong.
When supper was done and the kitchen cleaned, we went out to the front porch to wait.
Luke and Larson along with Jesse, Deuce, Jason, Carisa, Rebecca, Jeremy, Valerie, and Elaine formed a bucket brigade from the well to the empty barrels beside the house. We've been filtering the water from the barrels and pouring it into the big white water tanks.
I was irritated because they were loud and I couldn't hear well enough to satisfy myself that no sounds were coming down the road to reach the hillside. Finally, the last barrel was filled and I could focus my ears on the road again. Several minutes later I heard a very strange sound. I thought it sounded like metal scraping on the road. Pop agreed.
The sound got louder and louder until the delivery truck came into view from the right side woods. It was moving slow. One side of the trailer had a huge, 12” wide slice stripped from the front to the back and it was dragging the ground. Little sparks were flying.
Along with everyone there, my heart dropped to my stomach.
The truck turned into the driveway and waited at the gate. I heard a voice yell from the driver’s side and saw Jason run to the gate and unlock it so the truck could enter. It came slowly up the driveway and we all rushed toward it.
Rona was driving and Kenny was in the passenger seat. Kevin way lying across Kenny's lap and his legs were on Rona's lap. The front of his shirt was covered in blood and the original color of his shirt was indistinguishable. Kenny and Ian carried him to Clinic Diane and left him in the hands of Velma “Battle-axe” Dodson.
Rona jumped out of the truck and I noticed blood running down the side of her head, past her ear, and down her neck. She was hopping on one foot, trying to get to the clinic to be with Kevin. Dane scooped her up in his arms and headed to the clinic. Nana almost beat him there and I wasn't far behind.
Luke and Larson stood outside the door with me while Velma worked on Kevin and Rona. The three of us ended up in lawn chairs, waiting for news. It seemed like it was taking forever.
Finally, I could no longer handle the waiting. I barged into the clinic just in time to see Velma pull a bullet from the area near Kevin's collar bone. She cleaned the area and stitched it up quickly. Then, she gave him a shot and turned him over to remove another bullet from his left lower back.
I saw Rona lying on an extra bunk and Nana was standing beside her, holding her hand. I went to check on them both. Rona was out cold and I screamed at Velma to let her know.
I sent Nana out to be with Luke and Larson. She's not good with the screaming stuff, and I could see she was already frazzled. I knew I had to get her out of there, and caring for the boys made a good excuse. She went outside to be with them and closed the door behind her.
I talked to Rona, shook her a little, and continued to try and wake her as Velma hooked up an IV, removed the bullet from Kevin's back, and stitched him up. She'd already given him something for the pain but he screamed at the top of his lungs while she was digging around in there. He screamed again while she was sewing him up. Then, she gave him another syringe full of something and told him to try and rest. He was breathing fast but I saw his body slowly relax as the medication took effect.
Velma turned her attention to Rona who was finally regaining consciousness, probably from the ear-splitting sounds of Kevin's screams.
Luke and Larson opened the door. They leaned against the door frame and their eyes were begging to be allowed inside. I motioned them in before Velma could say a word. They saw that their mother was awake and sitting up, so they walked to the bedside of their Father.
They stood there for several seconds before Larson turned to Velma and asked if his father was going to live. Velma told him the truth. She said that the odds were in his favor, but she could guarantee nothing. Larson nodded and turned back to grab his father’s hand.
He touched it gently at first, and then he wrapped all four fingers around Kevin's hand and squeezed. He put his arm around Luke's shoulders. Luke sniffed and stood up straight before he turned and walked toward his mother.
Rona had tears running down her face and she couldn't say a word because of the emotion she was feeling. Both boys laid their heads on her thighs and she stroked their hair for a minute or two before Velma gently asked them to move aside so she could care for their mother.
The boys went outside to sit in the lawn chairs and wait. Velma asked me t
o leave, but Rona wouldn't let Velma touch her unless I was there. I took a seat on the end of the bunk. Rona talked while Velma cleaned and stitched a huge gash on her head, wrapped her bruised ribs, and wrapped her fractured ankle in five or six plaster bandages. Rona didn't scream. Her injection of divine concoction worked well.
She told me what happened.
Kevin was driving when they approached a small roadblock on the
edge of town. Kevin and Rona were leery of continuing on to the roadblock and were contemplating their next move when Kenny pointed out a man beside a white panel van and said he knew him.
He assured Kevin and Rona they'd be safe and could drop him at the roadblock because he was sure that “Bennett” could take him home.
Still leery, Kevin slowly approached and stopped 25 feet from the roadblock, beside the driveway of an apartment building so he could use it to turn around and head back. He told Kenny to walk from there.
Kenny climbed out of the truck, grabbed his bag, said thanks to Rona and Kevin, and headed toward the roadblock. Rona saw him raise his arm, wave, and yell “Yo, Bennett. It's me, Kenny Armstrong. Can you gimme a ride?”
Bennett stood perfectly still and didn't say a word. As Kenny got closer, he noticed the barrel of a long gun sticking out from behind the van, and it was pointed directly at Bennett.
Kenny stopped in his tracks, turned, and began running back toward Rona and Kevin in the delivery truck. He was waving his arms in a way that Kevin interpreted as “get the hell outa here.” Kevin quickly backed into the driveway and slammed it in drive as Kenny jumped in the door and landed on Rona's lap.
Several men dressed in military uniforms came from the back of the van and began shooting as they ran toward Kenny, Kevin, and Rona.
A bullet flew through the window and hit Kevin in the upper chest near his collar bone. He pulled the truck out of the driveway and headed away from the roadblock, gritting his teeth and trying to get away from there. Kenny was sitting between Rona and Kevin when the white van pulled up beside them.
