Home Invasion

by A. American

  I laughed, “You got a better idea? I know this works. I’ve never done it, but it is real.”

  “So just put some hickory into a pot and boil it?” Cecil asked.

  “There’s a little more to it than that. You need to chip it up, the smaller the better. But too small and it’s hard to strain. And the roots are better than the timber. But the that will yield results too.”

  One of the men said, “I’m up for it. These hot days are killing me. My legs cramp real bad at night.” Looking at another man, he said, “Darrell, you want to help me? I know where there’s several hickory trees right here in town.”

  Darrell nodded. “I’m willing to try anything at this point.”

  The other man looked back at me and offered his hand. “I’m Hank Johnson.”

  Shaking his hand, I replied, “Good to meet you guys. Let me know how the salt production goes.”

  My radio suddenly crackled to life. “Morgan, you there? It’s Livingston.”

  Rolling my eyes, I keyed my mic and replied, “I’m here. What’s up?”

  “We need you and Linus down here at the armory. We need to talk.”

  “About what?” I asked.

  “We’ll talk in person. You two need to come here.”

  Looking at Cecil, I asked, “What do these guys think? I’m just sitting around with my thumb up my ass?”

  Keying the mic, I replied, “I’m at the farm. The old man is back at the ranch. I’m not going back to get him and then drive all the way back down there. You guys have more fuel than I do, why don’t you come to us for a change?”

  Sarge’s voice rattled over the radio. “I agree with the Sheriff. You guys come up here for a change. I’m busy right now.”

  Thad cocked his head to the side and asked, “What’s he doing?”

  I laughed, “Probably sitting on the porch drinking a cup of coffee.”

  There was a long pause before Livingston replied. “We’ll meet you guys around noon. Make sure you’re not busy then.”

  I shook my head. “Whatever,” I replied to no one.

  “Hey, Cecil. I have something for you. Come over to the truck,” Thad said.

  Hank and Darrell said goodbye and got back to work on the hoes they had. Thad, Cecil and I walked back to the truck.

  “What’cha got, Thad?” Cecil asked.

  Thad took out the eggs and milk he had traded for in Altoona and gave them to him. “These are for you. We need to make sure you’re strong enough to keep up with all you’re doing.”

  Cecil smiled. “I really appreciate it. But you guys don’t have to go out of your way for me.”

  I put my hand on his shoulder. “You are an important part of things around here, Cecil. We need you, buddy.”

  Cecil was a man that did things because they needed doing. Not for atta-boys or recognition. And someone taking a minute to actually put it to words made him uncomfortable.

  With a slight jerk of his head, Cecil replied, “I’m just doing what needs done. Same as you boys.”

  “How bad is this salt thing?” I asked.

  “It’s pretty bad, Morgan. There isn’t much at all in town now. The folks out working in this heat is getting cramps an such in their legs and arms. We need to get some in a bad way.”

  “How about you? You have any?” I asked.

  He nodded. “I have a shaker full that I use very sparingly.”

  Looking at Thad, I said, “Let’s bring him some next time we come down.” Then looking back at Cecil, I said, “We have some. Not enough for the whole town, but I can get you some.”

  Cecil smiled broadly. “That’d be fine. I’ll share it around.”

  I nodded, “I knew you would. Just go sparingly. There isn’t much.”

  “Morgan, if you’re going to meet Livingston at noon you won’t be able to go to the plant on the way home.” Thad said.

  “Yeah. I thought about that. We’ll just have to go home and then check on them tomorrow. Maybe we can stop by real fast on the way.” Shaking Cecil’s hand, I said, “Keep up the good work, my friend. Hopefully this will turn things around for the folks here in town.”

  He nodded. “All we got to do is let it grow. It’ll get there.”

  We said our goodbyes and got back in the truck. I told Dalton about the change in plans, but that I still wanted to stop by real quick. We dropped in on the plant for a brief visit. Baker said it would be some time this afternoon before they would be ready to begin start-up. I told them we had a meeting and would try and come back.

  With that taken care of, we headed back towards the house. On the ride back, I was thinking about what Sheffield could possibly want. It wasn’t like we had enough to do as it was. He had a tendency to get on my nerves. They had plenty of people at the armory. More than enough to take care of whatever they needed done. So why mess with us?

  We were just passing the Altoona fire station when a blur came off the right side of the road. Before I could say anything, it was in front of the truck. Dalton slammed on the brakes but we still hit the deer.

  “What the hell?” Dalton asked.

  “I think you just hit a deer,” I said.

  Before we could get out, a pack of dogs emerged from the same path the deer had been running. They immediately jumped on the stricken animal. There was no way I was letting them have the deer though, and I quickly got out. There were four dogs. They all looked mangy, with tangled and matted fur and were dirty. When they saw me, they started to growl and bark.

  “Get!” I shouted. But they weren’t about to back off.

  “You’re going to have to shoot them,” Thad said over my shoulder.

  Keeping my eye on the mutts, I replied, “That’s what I was thinking. They look like crap. And if they’re out running deer down, then they could attack people too.”

  Thad stepped around me as they continued to bark and snarl, keeping themselves between the deer and us. Thad reached back and pulled the shotgun from its scabbard and said, “I’ll take the two on the right. You get the two on the left.”

  Raising my carbine to my shoulder, I nodded. It was over in a couple of seconds. The dogs were all dead. Thad was reloading his shotgun when another shot rang out that startled both us. I looked up to see Dalton standing beside the deer with his Glock in his hand.

  Dalton looked at us and said, “What?” Pointing with the muzzle of the pistol, he said, “The deer wasn’t dead.”

  “Is now,” Thad replied.

  The doe was fat and healthy. She would be good meat for sure. Looking down at her, I said, “I wouldn’t have believed this if I wasn’t here when it happened.” Then I laughed and added, “What are the odds of a car hitting a deer now? I mean, we’re the only car on this road.”

  Dalton holstered his pistol and looked at the doe, adding, “Hmm. I think it committed suicide. Better to be run over by a truck than torn apart by a pack of dogs.”

  I looked at the front of the truck. It wasn’t good. “Oh, man! It broke a headlight. Look at the bumper!” I said. Then I looked at Dalton, “How fast were you going?”

  He wagged a finger at me. “Don’t blame me for this. You said yourself you wouldn’t believe it if you weren’t here. I mean, what are the odds?”

  “My poor truck. It’s like the world is out to get it.”

  Thad grabbed the deer by the back legs. “Come on. Let’s get this loaded up. No sense wasting it.”

  Slinging my rifle over my back, I replied, “Hell no! I’m going to make Biltong out of it. We’ve got plenty of meat right now. Some of this is going to dry.”

  As we carried the animal to the back of the truck, Thad asked, “What’s Biltong?”

  Dalton dropped the tailgate and he hefted the carcass up into the truck. “It’s a kind of jerky made in South Africa. It’s really good.”

  Once it was loaded, I went back to the front of the truck to take another look. With a sigh, I shook my head. Maybe I can find another headlight, I thought. Unlikely, but maybe.
r />   “Come on, Morgan! Get in!” Dalton shouted.

  “I’m coming, I’m coming!”

  We stopped at the bunker where Aric, Fred and Jess were taking their turn on watch. Jess came up to the truck and leaned on Dalton’s window. “Where you guys been so early?” She asked.

  In a deep Johnny Cash voice, Dalton replied, “Hello, darlin’.” Jess palmed his face and pushed it to the side.

  From the back seat, Thad added. “We been out deer hunting.”

  Confused, she replied, “Huh?”

  Jabbing my thumb at Dalton, I said, “Richard Petty here hit a deer a minute ago.”

  She stretched to look into the back of the truck. “Really? Did you get it?”

  Thad reached over the back seat and patted the animal. “Oh, we got it.”

  “Just for you,” Dalton added with a smile. Jess looked at him. He was still smiling at her. She shook her head without saying anything.

  “Where’s the old man?” I asked.

  “I think he’s at Danny’s house.”

  “Alright. Livingston and Sheffield are on their way here. Just send them to Danny’s when they get here,” I replied.

  “Will do.” She turned back towards the bunker and shouted, “They got a deer!”

  “Woohoo, fresh meat!” Aric shouted.

  We left them and went to Danny’s house. And sure enough, Sarge was sitting on the porch with Miss Kay drinking a cup of coffee. Dalton stopped the truck near Danny’s sheds, where all butchering took place. As I got out, Thad said he’d take care of the deer and Dalton said he’d help.

  “Cut the hams out whole for me. I want to use those for Biltong. The rest we can use for whatever,” I said.

  “Right oh!” Dalton shouted as he dropped the gate on the truck.

  As I walked up to the porch, Sarge barked, “Where the hell have you been?”

  Stopping, I eyed him, “Some of us have shit to do.”

  He held up his cup and replied, “Some of us have important shit to do!”

  Shaking my head, I replied, “Like sitting on the porch drinking coffee?”

  He took a noisy sip from the cup and gave a quick nod. “Nothing is more important than coffee. What’s that booger-eater Livingston want?”

  Walking up on the porch, I sat in one of the rockers. Shrugging, I replied, “I have no idea. He wouldn’t say.”

  Holding the cup up, he said, “Some sort of bullshit, I’m sure.” Then he took another sip.

  “Morgan, are you hungry?” Kay asked.

  “Always.”

  Getting up from her chair, she said, “Mel and Bobbie are inside. We’ll get you something.”

  “You ain’t got to fuss over him, Kay.” Sarge said.

  She looked back and swatted at him. “Oh you stop, Linus.”

  With a broad smile, I added, “Yeah, Linus.”

  His right boot flew out and connected with my knee. “You know damn good and well not to call me that.”

  “Oww, shit that hurt!” Rubbing my knee, I added, “What? Call you by your name?”

  He nodded. “Exactly.”

  “How about I just call you asshole?”

  Sarge cackled. “You can’t be first, but you can be next.”

  “I would imagine that line is long as hell!” I replied.

  “How’s things up at the farm?” Sarge asked.

  Rocking back in the chair, trying to forget about the pain in my knee, I replied, “Looks good. That field is full. Everything looks like it’s growing fast.”

  “Let’s hope so.” Sarge stabbed a thumb in the direction of Thad’s little garden. “If it’s growing anything like Thad’s little patch of dirt, we should be covered up in veggies.”

  “Let’s hope.” I said and added, “Oh, we got a deer this morning.”

  Sarge cocked his head to the side. “A deer? What’d you get it with?”

  I pointed at the Suburban. “That truck.”

  Sarge’s head rocked back in his chair as he started to laugh. “You hit it with the truck? What are the odds of that today? Only damn thing on the road and that crazy-ass deer manages to run out in front of it!” He slapped his knee as he roared with laughter.

  “Yeah, Dalton said it committed suicide.” The old man laughed even harder. “It was being chased by a pack of dogs and ran out into the road.”

  Getting himself under control, Sarge asked, “A pack of dogs?”

  “Yeah. Mangy looking things. We had to shoot them. They were really aggressive. They wanted that deer.”

  Taking another sip from his cup, Sarge said, “Guess I’d jump in front of a truck too if a pack of crazy dogs was after me.”

  I pointed over towards the shed where Thad was working on the deer. “They’re over there now, dressing it out.”

  “Fresh meat. That’ll be good.”

  Taylor came out on the porch with a plate in her hand. “Here, dad,” she said as she handed it to me.

  “Thanks, kiddo.” There was a pile of fluffy scrambled eggs on the plate.

  “I made them for you.” She replied.

  “They look great!” I said, then took a bite. “And they taste even better!” She grinned ear to ear and went back into the house. I was happy to see her out and about. She was getting around now without issue. She’d taken some time to get back on her feet, but now she was back to normal.

  “That’s a good girl,” Sarge said.

  Nodding as I scooped up a forkful of eggs, I replied, “They all are. I’m just glad she’s back up and at it again.”

  Sarge rose to his feet. Looking into his cup, he said, “Time for a refill. But first, I’m going over there. Want them boys to do something for me.”

  I sat on the porch and finished my eggs. The sun was getting high and the lack of any kind of breeze made the air feel heavy, almost oppressive. But it was a nice morning even if it was hotter than the hinges of hell already.

  Mel came out on the porch and sat down beside me. “Wow, it’s hot out here,” she said.

  “Yeah. I hate the summer.”

  “It’s not much better inside. We’ve got every fan we could find running in there.”

  I looked at her. “You didn’t take our fan did you?”

  She looked at me like I was nuts. “Hell no! I wouldn’t be able to sleep without it.”

  I snorted. “I can barely sleep with it!”

  She started to rock in her chair. “I don’t have any issues sleeping. But if we didn’t have the fan, I would for sure.”

  I looked sideways at her. “You never have an issue sleeping. I wish I could sleep like you. You lie down and you’re asleep. That’ doesn’t happen for me.”

  She got up and took my plate, then leaned down and kissed me. “That’s because you worry too much.”

  “It’s not like I want to.” I replied, then looked around. “Where’s Little Bit?”

  She nodded her head towards the house. “She’s out back with the kids and Danny.”

  I chuckled. “It’s funny how much time she spends outside now. Even on a day as hot as this. Remember how she used to fuss about playing outside?”

  Mel looked out from the porch. “Well, things are different now. And some things for the better.”

  Sarge walked over to where Thad was working on the deer. He was just hoisting it up into the air when the old man walked up. “Hey, Thad, do me a favor. Don’t cut that thing open yet.”

  Thad looked at him. “Okay. What’s up?”

  “Let me find a jar.”

  Thad looked at him cautiously. “A jar for what?”

  Coming out of Danny’s shed with a quart jar in his hand, he said, “I want to catch the blood.”

  Twisting his face, Thad asked, “For what?”

  Sarge knelt down beside the hanging deer and pulled his knife out. He quickly and smoothly cut the deer’s throat. As the blood began to flow, he held the jar out to catch it. “The Maasai tribe in Africa use it as a food.”

  Thad looked disgusted. “
I ain’t about to drink no blood.”

  Sarge laughed. “I know you ain’t. I’m just doing this to see how they did it.” When the blood stopped flowing, Sarge stood up and set the jar on one of the sawhorses. Taking his knife, he opened the animal up. There was a lot of bruising on the left flank. He cut the chest open and reached in and removed the heart. Taking it over to the jar, he drained it into the container as well.

  Thad watched the macabre scene in complete revulsion. He shook his head. “That’s just nasty.”

  When the heart was empty, Sarge set it on the sawhorse. “It’s all yours now.” Looking around, he picked up a stick and started to stir the blood.

  “Now what are you doing?”

  “This removes all the platelets and coagulants,” Sarge replied.

  He continued to stir the jar. As he did, a buildup started to cling to the stick. Thad stepped over and looked at it. “That just ain’t right.”

  Sarge chuckled. “You should watch a little Maasai kid do this.” He removed the stick from the jar and held it up. It had a pink glob on it. “Then pull this out and eat it.”

  Thad turned his head to the side and closed his eyes. One hand went to his mouth and other to his stomach. “Get rid of that before I puke. Swear to God. I’m gonna be sick.”

  Sarge laughed even harder. Getting control of himself, he whistled. It didn’t take long for one of the dogs to show up. Drake was there in no time. He sat politely in front of Sarge and licked his chops. “Look. He wants it,” Sarge said with a chuckle.

  Without looking over, Thad waved a hand at him. Sarge asked Drake, “You want this?” Drake licked his chops again. “Yes you do, don’t you?” Thad made a gagging sound. Sarge laughed again and held the stick down to Drake who eagerly licked the substance from it. It was gone in an instant and Drake looked at him as if to say, that was good. Where’s the rest?

  Sarge patted him on the head. “That’s it, boy. That’s all you get.” Drake seemed to get the message and walked over and lay down at the base of one of the large oak trees. After all, there was still a whole deer hanging there.

  Sarge picked up the jar and said, “I guess if you don’t want this, I’ll take it.”

  Thad wouldn’t look over, but replied, “Get that jar of nastiness out of here.”