2nd Earth 2: Emplacement

by Edward Vought

  We are only about fifteen miles from home, so we make sure we know how to get back and finish our journey. As soon as we are close enough to raise the base stations at home we let them know we are on our way and that we have six trucks full of supplies and seven new family members. The twins must be with Tim because we hear their little voices asking if any of the new family members are their age. Dayna tells them that there are three young people within a year or two of being the same age, so they will have some new playmates. Tina and Tammy are excited about that, especially when they hear that one of the little girls is the same age, and is named Tina also. We spend the rest of the journey telling Tim and the others about our adventures.

  When we pull into the yard the twins, accompanied by Zeus and a couple of his brothers and sisters, are right here to welcome us back. It feels so good to have the girls jump into my arms and tell me how much they missed me. Our new friends are not sure how to take the dogs, but they are so friendly that the children wind up playing with them in no time. As I said, I am afraid that what we have accomplished will seem pretty primitive to James and Jenna. They come walking up kind of sheepishly because of the crowd that is beginning to form around us. I can see they are looking around and talking to each other. I can even see them pointing out different things so I work my way over to them with Robin, Melissa, Tim, Ken, and Billy. I introduce everyone then tell them we will be happy to give them a tour, but we would like to get at least some of the supplies put away.

  As we do with all the supplies we bring back we take them into the large meeting building we have and lay everything out so we can see what kind of treasures we have. By the time the first two trucks are unloaded the rest of our family is getting here. Much of what is on the first two trucks is food and clothing along with a lot of canning supplies. The new group needs more than the rest of us so they get first pick and then everything is divided amongst those who need the clothing or coats or whatever it is. That includes the newest members who have been invited to stay with Tim and Charity at least until they know everyone better and can decide where they may wish to live.

  The canning supplies will be kept with the others to be used when we need them. We all get together when it is canning time and split whatever it is we are canning. When we open the two trucks that are loaded with guns and ammunition the young men and just about all of the not so young men say they could use a new gun or five. When I show everyone the case of fifty’s I brought back, Tim says that Zeus has risen from the dead. We have to explain that to many of our family members. Each of our basements, as well as most of the other groups basements, have been fitted with a small room that can be locked where we store the extra guns and ammunition. Like everything else we divide the guns up and each group takes their share. The men that would like one of the new guns for their homes can have them as well as an ample supply of ammunition. We make sure that guns and ammunition are kept out of reach of little hands.

  Most of the grenades and plastic explosive will be stored in the barn farthest from the homes. We found a large root cellar that was dug right into the hill that the barn was built up against. We found the door totally by accident when we were cleaning the barn one day last spring. The K-Bar knives are a huge hit, all of the men and most of the women in our group’s carry some kind of knife with them at all times. We brought back enough for everyone who wants one and some extras. I can see that Teddy wants one about as badly as he has ever wanted anything. I ask Robin if she would mind if I give him one. She tells me he is my son too, but if he gets hurt she will kick my butt and not his. Jenna overhears our conversation and asks me just how long have I been in this world. The girls laugh and explain our marriage arrangements. Jenna must like to tease James because she asks the girls if that works both ways. She thinks two husbands could work out nicely sometimes. She is going to fit right in here with our wives.

  6

  When we can finally show James and Jenna around properly, I am a little nervous, because these people are experts in their fields and what we have done here may appear somewhat primitive to them. Ken is along for the tour and explains why we are using the windmills the way we are and how we have tried to make our homes as electric as possible, because that is a renewable resource as long as we have wind. From the way Ken is explaining everything I think he is as nervous as I am. We show them the fields of winter wheat we have planted and the other fields that are waiting to be used in the spring. We even walk over to the river and show them our mill with the paddle wheel.

  During the tour both Jenna and James keep shaking their heads like they are agreeing with what is being shown and what is said. Finally I can’t take it any longer and I tell them we realize that what we have done is pretty primitive compared to what they are used to, but if they would like to make some suggestions to improve our systems, to please let us know. James looks at Jenna and says he doesn’t know about her, but he is very disappointed. She nods her head in the affirmative and says so is she. Ken starts to get a little defensive, and Jenna holds up her hand, asking him to let her finish.

  “I’m disappointed alright. I figured we would come back here with you all and find some rundown farm buildings, with antique windmills, barely cranking out enough voltage to light the houses. What we find is a magnificent settlement that looks like you have lived here all your lives, and have done as good a job as I could have done with the windmills. I’m even more jealous about the mill, you people are amazing. I’m sure James and I will be able to help you some, but you definitely don’t need us.”

  We are all happy to hear that, we are proud of what we have accomplished, but we also realize we still have a long way to go. Now that we know we are doing things right, we begin planning how we are going to get those pre-fabricated homes back here. The general consensus is that we try to bring one back, and if we are successful we will get the rest of them. This is one area that Jenna and James say they can help us. Jenna’s dad was a mason before he passed away, and Jenna worked with him building basements and even houses out of cinderblock and bricks. James worked for him to put himself through college, that’s where he and Jenna met. We discuss our idea about building homes to join the groups, rather than spread out any farther than we already are. Everyone agrees it’s a good plan, but will take a lot of houses to fill in the gaps.

  Billy, who usually doesn’t say much at meetings like this has been acting like he really wants to say something, so I ask him if he has a question or a comment. He asks if when we get some of the new houses ready to live in, could some of us who have been with the group from the beginning and already live in a house, possibly move into one of the new houses. It takes a minute for what he asked to sink in, I tell him I am hoping some of the solid working and fighting men in the groups will want to move into the new homes. He explains that he is not complaining about the living arrangements now, it’s just that if we have enough houses, maybe some of the families can live separately.

  Ken who is married to Dayna’s sister Carrie and lives in the house next to Billy and Ramona tells him he will help him move. Maybe then he can get some sleep. Billy asks him why his moving will let him get more sleep. Ken tells him that he snores so loud he can hear it through the walls. Billy who is moving when he says it, tells him that is not him snoring, that’s Ramona. She is much too fast for him and hits him before he can go a step. We all tease each other like a real family, actually the only family I ever had was Gunny and Ma Horton. They were always teasing each other and me so I really enjoy our big family here. It’s decided that since we have nothing better to do anyway we may as well start the project of getting one of those houses home. Billy, Tim, Rod, and Ken will go to see if they can get the trucks started and get one of the homes ready to bring here.

  I will not go into great detail of how they accomplished this task. I will say however, that every day as they recounted their adventure, it was becoming more obvious that they are having way too much fun with this project. They started the pro
ject on Monday and by Friday afternoon they have two of the trucks running and the tires at a point where they will hold air. The first move is scheduled to take place tomorrow. James has been going with them every day and is still fascinated with the effects of the neutron bomb radioactivity on the metal objects and even much of the wood. He has been studying everything he can get his hands on and comparing it to what he knows from the world we came from.

  While the guys have been working at the homes, some of us have been working on the sawmill getting that ready to start cutting wood. The blade we have is large enough to cut a twenty-four inch in diameter log into boards for building. In our mill building we also put a large radial arm saw that will cut up to a four foot wide board. It hangs and pivots allowing it to be drawn across the boards. We are going to start cutting timber for making wood for building. Jenna has fallen totally in love with Tammy and Tina. She loves all the children, but they are so much fun and you never know what they are going to come up with next. Zeus, their dog, is their constant companion, at least when they are outside. He is so friendly and watches those children like a hawk. If they try to go anywhere they shouldn’t, he barks and gets between them and where they want to go. He watches all the children the same way, along with his brothers and sisters of which there are now seven more. Prince and Princess are proud parents again. With as many families as there are in our extended family, all the puppies found good homes as soon as they were weaned.

  On Saturday morning we go to the yard where the houses are and get ready to bring the first one back. They are in two pieces and it is easier than we thought it would be to move them. They already have axles and wheels under them so all we have to do is hook up to them and tow them to the farm. The guys have been clearing the road between there and home, as well as getting the trucks ready. At least we can make the move before rush hour, which will cut down on the traffic. That’s okay, no one here laughed either. No traffic is one of the benefits of being the only living people within sixty miles. We are still deciding whether or not we want a full basement with a foundation under the homes, or if we want to put a temporary foundation under them. First things first, let’s get a complete home here before we worry about the foundation.

  Tim and Gary are going to drive the big trucks that are towing the two halves of the house. They have both driven eighteen wheelers before and know what they are doing. We were able to fill the trucks from a tank on the home site that has diesel fuel. When we are getting into the vehicles to leave, Sara asks if we think we need an escort vehicle to keep traffic back. Sure, everyone laughs at her, I tell almost the same joke and all I get is people rolling their eyes at me. The trip is very anticlimactic, the guys drive the two halves of the house right to the farm and park them approximately where we want them permanently. We decide to go ahead and put in a basement at least in the first couple. Teddy and I take James and Jenna into town to show them the kinds of gravel, sand and other supplies that we found at the department of public works facility.

  We are walking around looking at what we can use for our project when Teddy notices some conduit that looks like it was used to carry water under roads and possibly through hills. It is in sections that are approximately twelve feet long and it must be six feet in diameter. There is also some that is around two feet in diameter, but Teddy tells me the large conduit would make great tunnels between the houses. That way we could get to each other without having to go outside. I am about to tell him that he has a good idea, but that it is not very practical when I stop, because I can’t think of any reason we couldn’t do that. Jenna and James who have been hearing stories about our adventures since coming here, both say that it sounds like a great idea to them. They say that we may even be able to find some larger conduit if we look around. Now we are getting excited about the possibilities.

  All the way home we are formulating a plan to put a series of tunnels underground, leading from basement to basement and maybe even out to the barns. We would have to be very careful to disguise the entrances in the barns, and even in the homes, in case someone got into one of the other homes. By the time we get home we are getting carried away thinking about running a tunnel between the groups, but that would take several miles of conduit and probably a couple of years to accomplish. When we get home I tell Robin and all the others what a great idea Teddy has. We let him present it to the others, which he does very well. By the time he gets through telling them pretty much everything we talked about on the way home, everyone is in agreement. Ryan and Doc McEvoy are visiting and they think it is a great idea as well. With most of the farm work on hold until spring, we have plenty of willing men and women to help on the project.

  We decide the best way to do this project is to dig a trench large enough and deep enough to drop the conduit and the concrete box like connectors into and fasten them together. Naturally we will have to cut a hole in the basement wall making sure not to weaken the foundation any. We decided that the six foot conduit is plenty big enough, even though most of us will have to duck to walk through it. We decide to start with the house that is the farthest away from the others and join it to the next farthest one. We have two backhoes going, digging the large trench that is required. We also have two crews working on the basement walls, to get them ready. We decide to set the tunnel slightly lower than the floor level in the basements so that the conduit will be totally covered by at least a couple feet of dirt on the surface.

  Jenna and James are proving to be very valuable on this project and on the other building project we are doing at the same time. The basement is being dug for the home we brought over, and the first trench is just about dug, when we realize that it is Thanksgiving. I have been so busy that I totally forgot about it. I should have noticed from the weather, but to be honest, I have been wearing some of the uniforms we got from the Marine base and haven’t even noticed that it is getting colder. For Thanksgiving we have a huge feast of turkey, compliments of Don, Dan, Andrew, and Teddy, who is now learning how to be one of our hunters. He is learning very fast according to his teachers. We also have a couple of great hams to go with the turkey. All of our friends from the different groups come to our place, to share a meal and great company. They are all sharing the work that is going on, so we may as well all eat together on special occasions like this.

  All of the new members of our family get up and say how thankful they are that we found them, and how grateful they are that there are people willing to share with others. They all say they feel bad about receiving so much and giving so little at this time, but they are looking forward to being able to do their share when the time comes. When the day is just about over Tim decides to see if he can raise any of our friends from around the country on the short wave radio. He talks to the group from Texas who say they are doing much better than they were and that they are growing in numbers. There is a group in California that is doing well also, but we hear from a group we have never talked to before. It is a woman’s voice, saying that they just found the radio and were wondering if there is anyone else out there.

  They ask where we are calling from and to be careful we are vague about our exact location. The lady says she understands, but she is just trying to figure out if there is any way that they might be able to join us or if we would be willing to help them. She says there are twenty people in their group and they are running out of food. This lady doesn’t sound like the survivors we have found. We ask how many men, women, and children they have. The lady says three older men, eight women, and nine young people in their teens and younger, five young ladies and four boys. She says she overheard our conversation with the other groups and it sounds like we have a pretty good settlement going.

  I have to know where they are calling from. I know that the women have already decided we are going after these people. Tim asks and they say that they are in a city that according to the map we have is about a hundred miles to the southwest of us. After we hang up we discuss the possibility that it could be a
trap. Dayna, Robin, and Melissa all say that we can’t just leave those people to starve to death, just because it might be a trap. Charity tells Tim that he is always telling her about ambushes and close calls we had when we were with the teams. She says she understands that we have to be careful, but the bad guys we have seen so far are very tame compared to the fighting men we faced in our own world. We have no doubt we are going, we just want to know who is going with us. We decide that Tim and I will go, along with Billy, Sara, Gary, Don, and Olivia. We want the women along so that the people there don’t think we are predators. I get to take my new fifty caliber with the infra red scope, so I don’t care who else goes.

  We spend the next day getting ready for the trip. In the world we came from, a hundred miles would be a short trip, but we have no idea what we are going to run into. Besides, according to the map, there are some cities between here and where they say they are and we want to take a look around. There may be more people than just those we talked to. That goes for bad people as well as good people. Tim is able to raise them on the radio again on Friday evening and we tell them we will be coming tomorrow to get them, and that if they know of anyone else who would like to join us they are welcome, as long as they are willing to abide by the rules. The lady we spoke with last night is the same one talking this time. Dayna and I both get the distinct impression that she doesn’t talk like a survivor. She sounds too educated, and is very tuned in to detail. She gives us excellent directions once we get to the city they are in. We caution her to be careful. We may not be the only ones listening.