2nd Earth 2: Emplacement

by Edward Vought

  The biggest advantage to being as large a group as we are is that we can have several projects going at once. As soon as we mention the tunnel project out to that shed, we have more than enough volunteers to do the project. Billy’s wife Ramona can run a backhoe as well as anyone I ever saw, and so do several of the other women in our group. Many of the teenagers in the family enjoy driving the trucks, and are more than willing to do whatever they are asked to do. In this case, we will need to get quite a bit more of the conduit and the connecting joints. We figure it will take just about a mile, plus a couple hundred yards. Fortunately we know of several places we can get what we need.

  We hold a meeting to decide where the tunnel should originate, and everyone says that they feel it should come out of three of the homes in our group, and have them join into the one main tunnel running into the woods. The crews begin working on the basement walls to connect to the tunnel in our house, Tim and Charity’s house, and Ken and Carries house. The other houses all connect to ours, so everyone at least in our group should have access to the new tunnel, if it is required. I think I told you that we have started putting weapons and caches of ammunition and food supplies in the tunnels. The point came up that what if someone else accidentally finds the tunnels, and uses our own weapons against us?

  We decided that is a distinct possibility, so we have been getting the locking type of gun cabinets or gun safes, some of them are called, and have been locking the guns and ammunition in them, in the tunnels. I know what you are thinking. Now we have to memorize a dozen different combinations. Not really, we have the combinations hidden in the room with the safe. It is scratched into the bottom of the battery powered lantern we keep in the room with the other items in there. This particular project is going to take us most of the summer. Once the ground is dug up, and the tunnel set in place, we will have to be very careful to cover the ground over, so there is no trace of what lies beneath it.

  We are also putting in vents because of the length, and we will hide them in bushes, so that they are not readily visible to someone in the vicinity. Luckily for us there is a trail just about wide enough through the woods for us to build the tunnel without having to remove more than a couple of trees in the path. Ken, who was in the Army Corps of engineers in the other world, is intrigued with this project. He says even they never did anything like this, at least while he was with them. He is our project leader, and has spent many long hours drawing up the plans, and calculating just what we will need to accomplish it. As with the other tunnels, we will be running electricity and lights the entire length of this one. We will keep battery powered lanterns at intervals, and even oil and propane lamps along the way as well.

  Some of the people on this project suggested that we start at both ends and meet in the middle. We feel that is an excellent suggestion, and perhaps if we had more experience with projects like this, we would feel more comfortable doing that. Unfortunately we are afraid we may have to wind up moving the shed in the woods as it is, mainly due to some large trees along the route we have to follow. Plus, we have no idea what we will encounter, when we start getting farther out from the houses. Even digging between the houses we have found some extremely large rocks that took us a couple of days to be able to move.

  All three houses are now fitted with an entrance to the tunnel, and those are now connected to what is going to be the main shaft. If anyone is watching us they will know exactly what we are doing. It is impossible to hide the kind of activity that is going on with a project of this magnitude. We have volunteers from all the groups to get this done, and it is going to take all of them. We are working on a section approximately a hundred yards long at a time. That way two back hoe operators can be digging at either end, and working toward each other. While they are digging the trench, others are going to the places where we get the conduit, and are putting it and the connecting joints along the path we will be going. That takes more heavy equipment operators to get them off the trucks and place them in the proper orientation to be put into the completed trench.

  While this is being done, others are bringing large dump trucks full of gravel, to be dumped into the trench, to level the tunnel and to keep water from gathering around the bottom. The first couple of days it seems like not much gets accomplished, because the backhoes have to get the trench dug before much else besides preparation can be done, but once the first section is ready, the backhoes can move to the next section, and the others can do the work of building the tunnel. I have to admit that it sends chills down my spine to watch our extended family work together like this. For most of them, less than a year ago they were struggling to stay alive in cities, and now they are working together, building whatever we need to make our lives better and safer for all. We can all see the pride in their eyes, and in the way they carry themselves as well.

  Even while we work at projects like this one, we all have guns close to hand, just in case we are attacked while we are working. I’m sure it was much like this when they built the railroads across this nation. The days go by, and the teams keep building the tunnel. Even Ken, who is pretty much a perfectionist when it comes to building, is impressed with the work that we are doing. I enjoy very much helping with this project; even if I go home every evening just about totally wore out for the first couple of weeks. Ken seems to be everywhere at once; making sure no detail gets left undone. Even as we are building this tunnel, the other teams are planting crops and cultivating them, so that we will have plenty of food for the winter. Our hunters help with the other projects until we start to run low on meat, then they go out and bring back enough to last until the next time.

  We have had three small groups of between four and eight, come to our little community in the past month. They all say that they heard about us from the Colonel, who is still traveling around with his two compatriots. They tell everyone they meet about us, and how to find us. They all tell us he warned them that if they are not willing to work, then they may as well stay away. He also warns them that if they are looking for trouble they should avoid us as well, because we will give them all the trouble they could ever want. So far everyone that has come to us is pitching in wherever they are needed. We know they will need to be taught, and that is never a problem, because we all have had to learn many jobs since coming here.

  We still rest on the Sabbath, no matter how much work we have to do. We also make sure we make time to have a dance, or a get together of some kind, so that we can all socialize and relax at least once a week. Our family is growing from within as well, it is now June and our family has increased in size with the birth of six beautiful baby girls, and seven handsome baby boys. The girls all teased the new moms, telling them they don’t remember the winter being that cold last year. All the new people are always telling us how happy they are to have found our community to live in. We always tell them how happy we are that they found us.

  Speaking of happy, yesterday which was Saturday and Ramona was working on the trench for the tunnel, and she was the farthest one out from the group. Usually, there are at least a couple of the men with the backhoe operator, but in this case they were moving large stones away from the edge of the trench, about fifty yards away. She got down to check something out, when she heard a loud grunting fairly close behind her. She turned to see a huge wild pig coming straight at her at a full run. Naturally she tried to get back up onto the backhoe, but her feet were muddy, and she kept slipping on the tracks in her haste. Just when she thought she was going to get gored by the tusks on that beast, she heard the report of a large caliber rifle fired twice, and turned to see that pig go down no more than ten feet from her.

  She looked up to see Teddy walking toward her carrying his .307. He told her he was hunting about a quarter mile away, when he had this overpowering urge to come over this way. When he came out into the clearing, he saw the pig running at the backhoe, so he shot it. The first shot took the pig in the neck severing the spinal column, and the second took him in the head,
killing him instantly. The shots brought all of us running with our own guns, but by that time all we could do is help load the beast into the bucket on the backhoe, and get it to the barn to be processed. Teddy just recently turned thirteen, but most of the time seems to be closer to twenty. He does have his moments when he is still a young man, and we all appreciate those moments as well as the others very much. He seems to be in the right place, at the right time for us all the time.

  The summer goes on, as time has a tendency to do. The crops are growing great, and the individual gardens are growing well. This is the first time many of our family have ever had the opportunity to grow their own food, so they are as excited as they can be watching the vegetables grow. We have run into some problems running the tunnel into the woods, but we have been able to work our way through them. Many of the members of our groups have started asking why we are even bothering to put the tunnel in. They say that we have not had any trouble in almost a year now, and as strong as we are, we will be able to take care of any trouble that may come anyway.

  It is easy to see why they may feel that way, but for those of us who came from the other world, or whatever it was, we have no reason to believe that we will be left alone to live our lives peacefully. It has been our experience that there are always those that think they have the right to take anything they want. Those of us with a military background agree that we will never feel totally safe from people like that. We also agree that we will do whatever it takes, to prepare our families to defend ourselves against that evil.

  Our shed in the woods had to be rebuilt to accommodate having the tunnel come up inside it. We actually had to dig a basement level, and build a block and concrete room under the shed. The underground room is large enough to hold food and other supplies in case they are ever needed. We made a trip back to the outdoor store, to get as much of the supplies as we can from there. We have also made trips to military bases to get anything that we feel will be useful to us. The tunnel is complete, just about the same time that we have to start picking and canning most of the fruits in the orchards.

  We thought that we had a great crop last year, but after trimming the trees last fall, the crop this year is almost double what it was then. No one is complaining though, and it is really cute to watch the children who are old enough to help pick especially the cherries and apricots. It seems like they eat almost as many as they put in the container they are carrying. It was the same way when we were picking red and black raspberries and strawberries earlier in the summer. We have so much fun, it hardly seems like work. The wheat mill is running pretty much every day, to keep flour ground for making bread, cakes, and other treats that the very creative ladies in the family experiment with. So far they have not made anything that went to waste, even if it didn’t turn out to be quite as good as it looked in the cookbook.

  My personal favorite is strawberries, we found a very large field of them growing wild last year, so we trimmed them out some, and this year they were fabulous. Tomatoes are another of my favorites, and it seems like the tasty dishes we make from them are fast making them a favorite for just about everyone. Dayna and Robin have learned how to make spaghetti sauce, just like Ma Horton made it. They also found recipes for making spaghetti, and many different kinds of macaroni, so spaghetti and meatballs is one of the favorite meals we can have around here. James and Jenna, who seem to know just about everything there is to know, found an area where apparently the people who lived here before we did, grew mushrooms under two of the barns.

  I saw the trap door in the floor, and when I checked it out it looked like a whole mess of toadstools to me. They saw them and were as excited as the children when they were picking strawberries. I was with them when they discovered them, so I asked them what good toadstools are. You can’t eat them, they are poisonous. They told me I’m pathetic if I can’t tell the difference between a mushroom and a toadstool. I informed them that I have never had trouble telling them apart before. All the mushrooms I have ever eaten have come from a can. I’ve never seen canned toadstools. I do have to admit that the mushrooms really add to the taste of the spaghetti sauce, and sautéed, they are great with a steak.

  13

  It is now September, the weather is still beautiful, but the nights are starting to cool off a little, which actually helps us sleep better. It’s Saturday night and we had a really nice get together in the meeting hall at Ryan and Carol’s group. This spring and summer they were able to add six houses to their group, and they are really proud of the success they are having with their crops this year. All the groups are, even though we consider ourselves one big family and community, there is still a feeling of ownership to our individual groups. Barbs group has grown the most in the past year. With the help of Josh, Isaac, Jake, Adam, Ben, and Hank, and some help from the other groups, they added sixteen homes to their group. They are now totally able to take care of just about any emergency that may come up.

  We are just getting ready for bed when we get a call on the CB from Doc McEvoy saying that they have some strange men riding around their property on motorcycles. It is too dark to make out exactly who they are or how many there actually are. So far they are just riding around making noise and making verbal threats to the people living there. Some of the others of our group must be hearing this message, because we see lights go on in at least seven of the twelve houses we have in our area.

  We hear Gary’s voice come over the radio telling Doc that he and some of the other young men will be right over to see what is going on. There are similar messages from all the other groups within a few minutes. I decide to at least see what is going on, if there is no gunfire then maybe it’s just a bunch of people passing by, just wanting to irritate someone. I don’t really believe that, but I can always hope, can’t I? Just as I get to the bottom of the stairs and start to reach for the door knob taking me outside, I hear automatic weapon fire coming from our barns. I look out the window to see the bursts of rounds being fired at our houses, and the men that are heading out to the barns, to get the motorcycles. We are walking into an ambush in our own yard, and it sounds like they may be using the weapons that we have out in the barns, just in case we need them.

  The women come running downstairs to see what is going on. I have a rifle in my hands, but I don’t want to use it until I can absolutely identify a target. Teddy, Jerry, and Steve have their rifles and are coming downstairs cautiously. Actually, Teddy stops at the first landing and asks me if I want him to go up into the attic to get high ground, and see if he can pick out any targets. I tell him to go ahead, but don’t shoot. We don’t want to draw fire at the house with the women and children still in harm’s way. I am trying to see if any of our men are down out there in the yard, but the lights that are usually on, have either been turned off, or have been shot out.

  We have a radio downstairs as well as the one upstairs, and we are starting to get calls from some of the men in our group telling us they are okay, but that was a close one. We are also getting calls from the other groups telling us that they ran into the same thing we did when they started to go to the Docs aid. While we are talking, trying to figure out what is happening; a voice comes over the radio that I have never heard before. He is telling us that we are surrounded, and have no recourse, but to surrender. He tells us if we do that, he will allow us to take our personal belongings and leave. That is everyone, except the women they decide to keep. The voice tells us that they intentionally fired not to hit the men the first time, but from now on they will shoot to kill, if they see anyone or if we try to resist.

  Apparently they have every group covered, because we have heard from all of them, except the newest group that started the new farm, when we came back from Rochester last winter. Come to think about it, we have not heard anything from them. Tim and Charity were going over there tonight, because Ken and Carrie, along with Dan and Cassie, moved there this summer, to help them out with the electrical work that was badly needed. Don and Olivia are
there as well, he has been helping them hunt, and get enough meat processed for the winter. A new voice on the radio tells us we have until daybreak to make up our minds, then they will start shooting into the windows. He says he doesn’t want to do this, because then he will have to keep some of us men around, to fix the broken windows before winter. He has one nasty laugh, I have the feeling I have heard it before, but I simply can’t place it right now. I know it will come to me.

  The tunnel system is working great right now. Gary and Sara, as well as Billy and Ramona, come to our house to see what I think we should do. Gary says he recognizes one of the voices. It’s one of the guys that got away when we stopped those guys from attacking Barbs group the day they came here. That’s when we met Gary for the first time. We are trying to figure out how these guys know so much about us, when Jerry says that some of the younger men have been talking to different groups on the shortwave radio that is kept out in the barn. He says they got to bragging about everything we have done here, and when the other guys didn’t believe them they told them about the guns in the barns and other things they realize now that they shouldn’t have.

  The first question we ask them is if they told them about the tunnels we have. He assures us they didn’t. We start to formulate a plan to get the women and children to safety in the tunnels. While that is being done, I am planning to use the tunnel out to the woods, to get free and see if the new group is indeed under siege as we, are or not. Teddy calls downstairs and tells me he could take out at least two, maybe three, in the big barn. He says he has been watching all the barns from the attic by moving from window to window, and so far has counted ten men. He couldn’t see all of them directly, but he saw shadows and could see some of them turn to talk to someone else. I have been on missions with trained soldiers that couldn’t give me a report that detailed. I compliment him for being as observant as he is, and tell him I need him to stand guard for his mom and the others while I go after help.