Not Dead in the Heart of Dixie

by R Kralik

  1:30 PM...

  I've just come from the burial of Soo, Kenny, and the Wilkerson's. I feel numb. I can't cry anymore.

  Both Merry and Valerie were inconsolable and I admit, I left the job to Josie, Marisa, and Elaine. I simply cannot deal with it. I feel like I'm shutting down.

  I've heard children cry for parents who are gone from this earth. I've heard people cry for the loss of a good friend or loved one. I've heard familiar voices changed by pure agony.

  I've thrown out furniture, books, and other inanimate objects that meant nothing to others but held precious memories for me.

  I've picked up human feces from the corners of our home.

  I've washed walls and mopped up who-knows-what from my floors.

  I've watched my husband, soaked in blood, drags tarps covered with dead bodies to the hillside for identification. He's mourning for Soo, who'd become one of the best friends of his life. Soo? Oh, you know. You can always depend on Soo.

  I've seen Mick's eyes follow Merry as she struggles to deal with the loss of both parents. I know in my heart he's thinking “what if that was Carisa?”

  I've watched as scavenger HDI's roamed the onion field and were taken out by men standing watch.

  Stand watch. Guard duty. Watch duty. Kill HDI's. Guard this. Death. Guard that. Guard towers. Stand watch. Go to funeral. Stay alive. Stand watch. It's too much standing and watching.

  I've watched as brave men became covered with the blood of their fallen comrades as they were forced to go through pockets and “bag and tag” the contents.

  This is madness, and I need to “step out for a minute.”

  All of the bodies are off the hillside but I can see splotches where they fell and bled.

  I can see small chunks of grass torn from the once smooth lawn where boots swiveled, twisted, and turned to change direction and fight off enemies.

  There's a hand print smeared in blood on one of my porch posts. Dark red spots dot a couple of the steps.

  I saw the bloody handle from a knife that must have broken from a blade left inside someone.

  Patches from uniforms, both ours and theirs, litter the ground.

  The air smells wrong. It has a bitter, metallic smell. I can almost taste salt in the air. The blood has grown cold, and it smells different. It smells like “hope” has been removed.

  We are preparing to head out to a little church about 7 miles from here where the US Military soldiers are already buried. Several soldiers will be left behind to guard to compound.

  Chris will speak, and the minister will speak. The remaining troops will stand at attention as each name is read from a scroll.

  When all names have been called, the scroll will be rolled and placed inside a leather tube and taken back to home base by a group of four soldiers. Personal belongings will travel inside a small trailer behind them.

  I am so thankful Mick's personal goods are not traveling is some tiny trailer along some dusty road. I pray that his body will never be buried with dozens of others in a field beside a little church I may never see.

  There, I've gone and done it. I've caused myself to become even more depressed than before.

  I'm gonna finish getting ready and head out to join the living souls in the line of vehicles on their way to the ceremony.

  See ya later.

  10:30 PM...

  The number of Military soldiers lost in battle is 246.

  The number of unknown soldiers is 42.

  The number of missing soldiers is 26, and no one knows their names because of the 42 who were unidentifiable.

  The number of NK bodies found is 317. They're burning. I didn't ask where and I don't wanna know who's getting the job done.

  The unit will be here for six more days to merge with the Mississippi unit and help us get the compound back in order.

  I am done for the day.

  Bye for now.

  Thursday, May 15

  Okay, I'm better today. I haven't fully recovered. Isn't that laughable?

  Who am I to say I have anything to recover from when little Merry has lost both parents, Valerie has lost adopted parents, the Wilky Place kids have lost adopted parents, and we've all lost dear friends? I'm one of the lucky ones left alive, right? My family's still alive. I should have no need to “recover” from anything.

  Anyway, I'm not crawling back into that hole again. I got “stuff” to do. There's people to feed, lootin' to do, cleaning to do, and a lot more.

  Before dawn, Mick, Dane, and several soldiers refueled the gasoline tanker and took it to the truck stop to fill the big tank. We need gasoline to get the generators up and running.

  We've decided to take it one building at a time.

  We started before breakfast with the kitchen, since we prepare all our meals there.

  The women shooed the men outside and went to work. We scrubbed that kitchen from ceiling to floor and then some. It's cleaner than it's ever been.

  We sent the teenagers to retrieve pots, pans and food from the tunnel so we could start a couple of huge pots of oatmeal. Nana cooked muffins in the motorhome oven and we cooked biscuits in here. I have no idea how we did it, but we fed whatever number of soldiers there is left.

  The floor of every building was covered with sleeping soldiers.

  I had to find a way through the maze of sleepyheads in the living room just to get to the kitchen.

  I thought I'd step out on the back porch for some air, but it was covered with sleepyheads as well. It wasn't long after the sounds of pots and pans began banging around that the sleepyheads rose and began their respective day.

  We need to start on lunch as soon as the kitchen is clean, or we'll never get it done in time. We're making beans and rice for lunch and supper. We have lots of green onions ready to harvest, so we'll add those on the side. No meat today. We don't have time. We've got cleaning to do.

  Let me say that I've gained all the respect in the world for military cooks. Oh my Lord, their job never ends. They're either cookin' it up or washin' it up all day long.

  I'm in here to get out of the way and sit in front of the fan.

  There's a bunch of ornery women in the kitchen, cleaning dishes and wiping down counters and tables. I can't squeeze in.

  While we were cleaning this morning, I thought of chain gangs with really short chains. That's how it felt having scrubbing buddies on both sides of me, behind me, and sometimes overhead.

  Pop, Emma, and Nana are harvesting in the garden and we plan to get everything preserved as soon as possible.

  I was shocked when Pop told me the garden wasn't damaged. I was a little fearful about the food, thinking the NK's might have poisoned it.

  That topic is still up for debate and a couple of “expert's” from the unit are looking in to it.

  The men left after breakfast with several trucks and a lot of soldiers to find furniture. We all need beds and anything else they can find. There's a lot of soldiers still on the compound. They're carrying out destroyed furniture and gathering trash to burn.

  Ian stayed on the compound and recruited help from several members of the unit to set up the gas grill and propane cooking thingamajig with the giant pots we got from the truck stop restaurant.

  Chris and several of his staff retrieved radio equipment from the undamaged vehicles and the tunnel room.

  They're in the radio building. The door's shut and the window is closed. It's already eighty-nine degrees outside. I don't know how they can stand it in there.

  Marisa's house and Pop's motorhome were still locked and untouched. I have no idea why. It may have something to do with the location of Marisa's house and the fake chicken feet Pop hung above his door to ward off “those that believe in such a thing.” I didn't asked where he got those chicken feet and I probably don't wanna know. I'd guess he used them to prank some of his old fishin' buddies. Maybe he used them to fish for alligator. With Pop, you never know. He saves the strangest things.

  Rona's and Josie's
motorhomes were ransacked.

  Our beautiful sectional and chaise was gutted and raped. It's beyond repair. I asked Emma if she wanted to save the leather but she declined and I don't blame her. Pop said “hold up a minute,” and he pulled the sectional from the wall and cut the leather off the back. I'm sure he has plans for it.

  Everything we left in the refrigerator and both freezers was devoured by the North Korean's.

  We took most of the meat to the tunnel and put it in coolers full of ice before they came, but we didn't have room for it all.

  The reefer trailer was left empty and the switch was off. We hoped they'd believe it was just an empty trailer. I guess it worked, because there was no damage. The only thing they did to it was leave the door open. Anyway, it's on and cooling down.

  The reefer trailer for the unit is still good. It's still full of meat and other frozen products. Thank you Lord!

  One of the supply trucks carrying dry goods survived as well. The other was destroyed and it makes me sick to see all the little food packages ruined and laying around on the ground. We need to get out there and go through those packages. I'll bet some of it's still good.

  I've been sitting in front of the fan and typing on this thing for 30 minutes now.

  I need to get my rear in gear,

  See ya later.

  2:45 PM...

  The big propane cooker is amazing. We were able to make enough beans and rice for everyone with two pots on the cooker and two pots on the stove in the house. The pots on the propane cooker make our big stock pots look tiny. That thing is truly made for mass production.

  The large grill is hooked up as well. We'll be able to make a lot of sausage, bacon and powdered eggs in the morning.

  We're still getting over three gallons of milk a day from the goats and we've been sharing with the soldiers as best we can. You should see their faces when they taste real milk instead of powdered stuff. It's priceless and makes me happy to have the goats, again.

  Those does deserve an extra cup of food every once in a while, but we just can't do it. We must pay close attention to efficient rationing of the animal feed.

  I have a new bed. Well, not a new, new bed, but it's new to me.

  The furniture stores still have furniture inside, but a lot of it has been damaged and vandalized not to mention that HDI's have broken the windows and black goo is all over most of the floor model stuff.

  The men were able to get a good bit of furniture from the storage areas, but there wasn't enough to fill our order, so they began looting houses and second story apartments. The crew headed back out after lunch to get the last of what we need.

  They came across two furniture stores that had already been looted. They also came across a lighting store that was missing all the lamps. Mick guesses that the folks from Times Nine Farm or another group have been busy in town.

  Mick said there are still HDI's in town, but you have to look hard to find them. The residential area between town and the rock quarry is more populated with HDI's than downtown proper.

  They also ran into a few HDI's inside houses.

  Rona, Elaine, Marisa, and the teens went to look through the remains of the dry goods truck that was destroyed in the battle. Marisa had to leave and come back up the hill because she felt nauseous and light-headed, probably from her pregnancy.

  The “experts” say the garden produce hasn't been tampered with. Pop said he could a told 'em that because there were no foot prints or evidence of someone trying to hide footprints in the garden. They may have missed the garden completely. There's several trees and a lot of weeds between here and there and the garden is on a little plateau. They may have ignored it because their bellies were full from eating the cows. Who knows? I'm just thankful it's still there.

  Chris let it slip that a large truck from home base will arrive sometime during the night.

  Josie said it'll be full of gas masks. Here we go again.

  I'm tired of the damn secrets. If we need gas masks, I wanna know about it now. What reason is there for holding back until the truck arrives? It's ridiculous and I told Chris that I didn't appreciate it one little bit. Of course, he didn't give a hoot about what I thought and I got no more information. I guess we'll find out more when the truck arrives.

  Someone's calling for help outside!

  See ya later.

  10:00 PM...

  We have Isaac back and he's in rough shape, but Velma says he'll live.

  He was walking down the road toward the compound when he was spotted by a guard in the left guard tower. The guard saw a man, stumbling down the road, and was just about ready to take him out. He thought Isaac was an HDI before he looked through the sites on his rifle.

  He sent a truck to pick up Isaac and drive him the short distance back to the compound and up the hill. Velma had to examine him because the unit doctor was killed in the battle.

  He's dehydrated and suffering from dysentery. He has a through-and-through gunshot wound in the palm of his left hand. His shirt was wrapped around it. Velma removed the shirt, and the hand looks and smells terrible. Velma believes she can save his hand if she can get the infection under control.

  He's hooked up to IV antibiotics and fluids found in the remains of the unit's medical tent. She's fully prepared to remove the hand if she needs to. Isaac says she'd have to do it over his dead body.

  While she worked on him, he told us what happened and where he's been.

  He left with Ian, Rick, and “a bunch a other guys” to take care of a few NK soldier's who'd escaped. He has no idea how many men are with them, but he says they're taking out NK's left and right.

  There was a gunfight with four NK soldiers who had stopped to rest on the other side of the mountain. Rick found them, and the group planned their attack. The four NK's were killed but not before one of them put a bullet through Isaac's hand. Several hours later, Isaac became ill and knew he needed medical attention.

  Rick sent two men to escort him back to the compound.

  He told them to stay out of sight, get Isaac back, and return to the group. The men escorted Isaac over the mountain and through the woods until they were about 50 yards from the compound.

  They stayed inside the tree-line and sent Isaac walking down the road, knowing that our guards would look through their sites before shooting.

  I suppose they've headed back to Rick and Ian now. Isaac says that Rick and Ian are both doing fine but they're crazy determined to kill every NK they can find. He has no idea when they'll return.

  The looting crew returned with the rest of the furniture we needed.

  Carisa got bunk beds in her room because Merry belongs to us now. I intend to treat her as my own. I owe it to Soo and Hisa. They saved us so many times.

  Valerie's very attached to Lisa and will be living with her.

  Tim Stein has recruited a group of men to use the lumber mill and build a new little house for Lisa since she was living in Isaac's old building and it was damaged beyond repair.

  Tim needs help getting the frame up. He plans to take siding, insulation, and sheetrock from the ckd's house or the home where we found the canning jars. It'll have two rooms and be larger than her previous building. She and Valerie will be living with Ian and Shawna until the house is complete.

  Mick says they'll be bringing home little buildings to replace Pao's and the two buildings the Wilkerson’s were using.

  Isaac said he'll need a new building because there's no way in hell he's leaving with the unit.

  Velma will need a new building for Clinic Diane.

  The attached building she was using for living quarters made it through, but the clinic with all the rustic cabinets was destroyed.

  Three soldiers have asked to join the compound instead of leaving with the unit.

  There is one young woman and two men who were either retired, or close to it.

  We said we'd love to have them because we need more hands, and having ex-military folks around won't hurt
a bit.

  Chris will allow them to stay. I'll have Josie see to that. Anyway, that's three more little buildings we need.

  Most of the space left in the basement has been taken up by furniture awaiting new owners. Carisa isn't happy about it because it makes it hard for her to get around down there, but she'll just have to live with it for now.

  Three military cooks survived the battle and they'll take over the cooking with the aid of Nana, Emma, and Elaine. The rest of us will rotate as assistants if needed.

  Most meals will be prepared in the new little kitchen building. Thankfully, they'll be using supplies from the unit's reefer trailer and surviving dry goods truck.

  Jeremy's building, hidden in the tree-line and covered with new growth provided by Mother Nature, was undamaged. I'll bet he's snug as a bug in a rug there right now.

  Tomorrow's another day and we'll be concentrating on fixing ourselves and welcoming our new members. I'll introduce them as soon as I get their names.

  Mick's already asleep on our new bed and I'm heading there myself. I wanna touch him as much as possible before he leaves again.

  I'm ready for the gas mask truck to arrive. That news has been bothering me all day.

  Bye for now.

  Friday, May 16

  The gas mask truck arrived while I was sleeping. I didn't even hear it come in.

  Chris scheduled a meeting for 1:30 PM. Every member on the compound and every soldier not on watch has been ordered to attend.

  Four wooden buildings arrived before breakfast. The looting crew took it upon themselves to go out for them before dawn and left Mick sleeping in my bed. I love those soldiers! Anyway, they're back out for more so they can make it here in time for lunch and the big meeting.

  Chris took a crew to check out the rock quarry for himself and decide if it's ready for bombing. I expect him back any minute now.

  We haven't heard from Rick and Ian's group. I'm worried about them and Shawna is royally ticked off at Ian. I wonder how long they'll chase NK's. Please Lord, don't let them get killed.

  I hear the lumber mill going strong on the hillside. I'll bet they have that sucker framed up by tomorrow afternoon, maybe sooner.