SURVIVING ABE: A Climate-Fiction Novel

by O'Brien, J. Z.

  "You are a puzzle; first a geek turned happy-go-lucky-trespassing biker, then a warrior, and now a philosopher."

  "Everything after 'biker' happened since I got to Texas and met you, all the credit is yours."

  "And the blame, so we'd better get back or you'll be late for your cooking date this afternoon with Mom."

  "You're behind on the personnel changes in the kitchen, Sara is now the acting sous-chef. I'm the official kitchen-mascot that fetches things, like buckets of water. The best part is being invited to do taste-testing due to my discerning palate."

  "I'm sure the fact that you're enthusiastic about any food makes you popular with the cooks, and I'm glad we have enough food to be joking around about. Knowing there are people ready to kill other people for food—right here on the farm where I grew up—changes things for me. It's no longer just a concept that I can choose to either think about, or not. I woke up with a different attitude than I had yesterday morning."

  "I've been experiencing that very thing for over a week now. A week ago I didn't think I had a chance with you, now I don't think I have a chance without you."

  Jennifer pulled the Jeep to a stop in front of the house and looked at Andy sitting in the passenger seat, cradling an AR-15, and looking back at her with a steady gaze. "That's another aspect of why my attitude changed, I need to figure out what to do about you."

  "I'm confused about all of this, Jennifer. It was stupid to send you away to search for a stick, and crazy to shoot the guy holding you. I'm sure last night didn't improve my chances with you. Maybe you're right about trouble following me, and maybe I should take it on down the road?"

  "You didn't hurt your chances with me, and you couldn't leave if you wanted to."

  "Good, I'm just starting my in-depth learning about cows and how to butcher and cook 'em. I wouldn't want to leave before we get to the eating part, which should be soon. This morning your dad and Bernie explained the difference between an old cow and a young heifer, something about how their dispositions change with age."

  "Be careful how much you believe of what you hear when a couple of old farmers get together around here, they've been known to lie; especially to Yanks."

  The sound of running feet alerted them to Leo's approach. He wasted no time in figuring out how to crawl up into the Jeep and stake his claim, by standing between them.

  "Andy, Grandma Reb says you gotta come in and help, and Mama says I'm suppose to keep my eye on Aunt Jen."

  "Well then, you sit right here and take over watching her while I go in the house," Andy said, getting out of the Jeep. "Be careful, Aunt Jen's got an attitude today. Get her to tell you all about it, okay?" Andy gave Leo a wink and went into the house.

  "What's an a'tude, Aunt Jen?"

  "Your buddy, Andy, is just trying to be funny. What's funny is he isn't funny, but still thinks he is, get it?"

  ~~~

  Andy carried in buckets of water to heat and refill the sinks to help with the clean up after a day of canning and cooking. Reb appeared flushed from the work, but in her element; he doubted there was any place she'd rather be. Melissa, now that Leo was with Jen, was in and out of the bedroom first aid items and making preparations to change Sam's bandages.

  "What happened to Sara?" Andy asked as he took over the washing and let Reb dry and put things away.

  "Two young children."

  "I wouldn't have understood the meaning of that before spending time with Leo. Mostly he's high energy in perpetual motion; but there's a sensitive little person in there too. He's my buddy."

  "You plan to have kids, Andy?"

  "I'm open to the idea, with the right person and place, to raise a child. Uncertain times like these may not be the best time, though."

  "We've talked about waiting for the perfect time. Nothing is perfect; so don't expect time to be. As old as I am, I've faced the fact I'm going to have to learn new ways to help my family survive, and one of them, I've decided, is to be up front. You are part of my family now, we didn't choose that, and neither did you, but fate has made it a fact. Now please go out and send your buddy Leo in here. Melissa wants to scrub a pound of dirt off him while we have hot water."

  Andy actually felt badly about sending an unsuspecting Leo to a scrubbing, but with rain starting again it made little difference, they all headed toward the house. He and Jennifer retreated to a bench under the front porch and watched the world being scrubbed, instead of witnessing Leo's ordeal, although they could hear it.

  "You and Mom get along," Jennifer said. "She enjoys you in the kitchen more than she does me."

  "No, I enjoy being in the kitchen with her more than you do, and I don't mind her asking me to do things. My chances of getting adopted are looking up."

  "I've never wanted a brother, all my girlfriends despised their brothers when growing up."

  "She didn't say I was to be a brother to you, just that I'm now part of her family."

  "I told you my parents would try to put you to work, this is the first step. They butter you up and then hand you a pair of work gloves."

  "You're not scaring me."

  "You've been warned. By the way, I talked to Ben earlier and asked what the official word is coming down through government channels. He told me that little progress is being made getting power restored. Floodwaters here, and snow to the north, are both blocking access to repair crews. They need a break in the weather to make real progress. Some relief supplies are being flown in, but due to the scope of declared disaster areas, supplies are thin on the ground, whereas the need is growing."

  "Out of curiosity, while we're watching the rain, let's say it stops, and in a week to ten days the power comes back on. Where does that leave us, Jennifer?"

  "Dealing with the aftermath. Life will go on around here, even if the lifestyle reverts back to subsistence living during the time it takes to rebuild. There's no way I can leave my family and this farm while there is a chance of holding on and rebuilding. That leaves 'us' with the ball in your court. Come January am I going to get a post card from Key West?"

  "No, but we could talk about going there together . . . on our honeymoon."

  Gus, Ela & Hank - Unaweep Canyon, CO

  After the door closed behind Gus, Hank turned to Ela, "Once he decides on something he get's after it, that's for sure."

  "I've noticed that too. Come here I want to show you something," Ela said, leading Hank to the safe and pulling down one of the plastic cases on the top shelf and then opening it.

  "Well, I'll be . . . be darned," he corrected.

  "The other cases have silver coins in them. This is the only one with gold coins. Plus there's a few thousand in cash," Ela said looking at Hank.

  "This makes me feel strange. I know Al and Beth didn't have children, friends came and went, but I know of no close family."

  "Well, if they show up we'll give it to them, but what are the chances? And if we leave it what happens? With it we may need to buy our way out of something. For now I care more about the three of us making it through this ordeal, we can straighten out what we owe any heirs after that," Ela said.

  "Okay with me. Another thing I want to talk with you about. I knew your mother almost ten years; we talked many times about the aging process and where it leads. Both of us agreed: no life support, and cremation instead of burial. Have you given any thought on how to handle your mother’s remains?"

  "No, I've pointedly avoided thinking about Mom, it has to be done though. What do you suggest?"

  "My suggestion is a joint cremation for your mother with Beth and Al, using the house when we leave," Hank said. "Make it look like we were attacked and killed to anyone that may be hunting for us."

  Ela looked at Hank, but he added nothing more and left the table. While looking out the side window Ela sipped the remaining coffee in her cup and tried to remember ever having a serious conversation with her mother about what to do in the event of her death. She felt the last thing her mother would want for a final r
esting place would be in a crowd. A hillside with a view, or a river to the sea, would be more like her. She went back to Hank with a thought.

  In the living room she found Hank rolling up rifles in rugs, "Hank, if possible I'd like to take Mom's body to her car and cremate her there on the property she wanted to share with you. Al and Beth can go with their house, if you really think it's necessary to burn this place."

  Hank gave Ela a hug, "That's a much better plan, Con would like that. As for burning this place, I think it's important. Since we know they have use of automatic weapons and a helicopter, we won't get a second chance to confuse or stop them if they decide to come after us. If they find a burned house with four bodies in it they may not bother looking further. I think I'll go out and run through this with Gus, and see what he thinks."

  "I'll see what food we can take with us and fix something to eat for supper while you do that." Ela smiled at Hank and added, "I'm glad you're here."

  ~~~

  Two 2x6-inch planks were well on their way to becoming the runners for the sled. Between the planks a piece of plywood formed the deck to carry their gear and supplies. Gus finished driving a sheetrock screw home and then looked up as Hank walked in and asked him, "Everything okay?"

  "Yes, just checking up on you to see if you need help."

  "Nah, I got this, just making a simple skid. I gassed up both machines with what Al had stored, so we'll leave with both tanks filled, and we'll bring the last two gas cans on the sled."

  "Gus, I talked to Ela about what to do with Con's body. Years ago both Con and I agreed that cremation would be our choice. I mentioned burning the house with all three of the bodies in there. She decided to use Con's car to cremate her mother, leaving the house for Al and Beth. I suggested burning the house because it hides our tracks better if someone is after us."

  Gus thought that over for a moment, "I can see why Ela thinks Con would want that, Con would probably like to go in her own vehicle rather than someone's house. And it's fitting that Al and Beth would stay with their home. I hate burning perfectly good buildings and cars, but this time I guess it makes sense."

  "You know about those cases full of cash and coins in the safe?" Hank asked.

  "No, I didn't, the guns and ammunition was all I looked for."

  "I understand, but just so you know, there are 18 one-ounce gold coins, and lots of silver in pre-'64 coins, and some one-ounce silver pieces. It gives us some trading material if we need it."

  "Well, if the gold won't make 'em blink, I'll see if lead will," Gus said with a grim smile. "Give me a few more minutes and I'll be done with the sled, then I'll bring it to the house, so we can load it."

  "Ela's fixing something to eat, I'll tell her you'll be there in about twenty minutes?"

  "That'll work, over supper we can figure out what's left to do before we leave tomorrow," Gus said and returned to his project.

  Day 10

  Andy, Jennifer, Tye & Reb - East Texas

  "Well, I think you should go to Paris instead of Key West on your honeymoon," Tye said as he digested both breakfast and the announcement from Andy and his daughter.

  "Don't listen to him, Andy. He's not talking about France," Reb said.

  "You'd need a boat to get to either one, so what's the difference?" Tye said, delivering his punch line.

  Andy laughed mostly from nervousness. He had seen Paris, Texas on a map and knew Tye was probably joking around to cover for his nervousness too. Andy appreciated Tye's injection of humor; easing the gravity of announcing his intention to marry their daughter. He smiled at his blushing bride-to-be with pride, hoping in his heart she would carry the conversation long enough for him to do a mental restart and clear the glitch in his linguistic circuits.

  Jennifer read his mind and came to his rescue. "Daddy, you're confused, I'm going with you to Paris, Texas. I need to pick up a few things before the wedding, while you make the wedding arrangements as father-of-the-bride. You've seen the movie, right?"

  "Right, I'm thinking a raft-up with you and Andy on the center raft, if it keeps raining. All fun aside, Reb and I are happy about this and already consider you part of our family," Tye finished meeting Andy's eyes.

  "Thank you both, that means a lot."

  "I should have thought of this before. For now, until things get back to normal, we can break out the 'bunkhouse' and you can hang your hat in there," Reb said to Andy.

  "Jennifer mentioned a bunkhouse awhile back, but I guess I missed it. Where is it?"

  "It's an old Airstream trailer we used as an extra bedroom when Jen was growing up. It hasn't been used in years and is down by the storage shed covered with a tarp. We need to pull it up closer to the house and clean it out, but it's a comfortable setup once that's done," Tye said.

  "Sounds good, I'm still too tender in places from my experience with a tent in Texas; a trailer will be a welcomed upgrade."

  ~~~

  Leo could barely contain his excitement at seeing Reb put the last pizza from the freezer into the oven. He ran through the rain headed for the little silver trailer in back of the house that Aunt Jen called the bunkhouse. She and Andy had been out there cleaning most of the day, but he'd watched them wrestling and playing with each other too. He found them with their heads almost touching and whispering about something when he skidded to a stop at the trailer's door.

  "Guess what," he said as he stepped out of the drizzle and into the trailer.

  "You saw an elephant?" Jennifer asked.

  "A whale?" Andy asked.

  "No, pizza."

  "There was only one left," Jennifer said, a look of consideration wrinkling her brow. "Mom must be celebrating the end of worrying about having an old maid for a daughter."

  "Probably, I'm dang sure celebrating getting her as a Mom."

  "I'm supposed to bring you guys to the house, so you can wash up," Leo said.

  "Well then, lead the way, Buster," Jennifer said, handing out rain jackets before taking Leo's hand and Andy's arm. Inside the house they were greeted with the sight of Sam upright and moving with a crutch Tye and Ben built for him.

  "Hey, it's a party for your dad, Leo," Andy said, kneeling down beside him. "This is a special day, so take a good look and remember what you see, okay?"

  Leo nodded, and ran to help his dad. In the kitchen Sam slowly maneuvered into a chair with a footstool to prop his wounded leg on.

  "Hey Sam, good to see you mobile," Andy said. "How's the leg?"

  "I feel fine except for this darned itching going on inside the bandages, it's best not to talk or think about that," Sam grimaced, as all the others chuckled. Then he continued, "Seriously, we all ought to thank our lucky stars to be here in relative comfort, with a source of clean drinking water, a generator, a community of good people working together, and most important we're celebrating Andy and Jen's wedding announcement. We are fortunate to have all of that."

  Gus, Ela & Hank - Unaweep Canyon, CO

  Ela got out of Con’s car and approached Hank. "Mom and I had a good laugh when I found this," Ela said, holding the can of Copenhagen.

  "Bless your heart, Young Lady," Hank said and smiled sheepishly as he reached for the can. "What did Con have to say?"

  "She mostly laughed. To tell the truth, I think she was relieved; your bad habits offset hers."

  "Con gets more interesting the more I hear about her. She gave the impression of being exactly where she wanted to be when I first crashed your party. Actually, my first impression of her came from how steadily she kept her aim right between my eyes. Once she put the gun away, I thought you two were on an adventure vacation from all the jokes," Gus said.

  "Mom loved to banter and had been teasing me about the wild Indians that still roam around here. She had to go out in the blizzard before bed, when she got back in she told me she had damn near gotten lost, and had had a vision of an Indian. Then you ran into the car and, at first, I thought she'd shot you."

  "In my mind it was close. When I
opened my eyes to find her pistol looking like a tunnel to oblivion, it had my undivided attention," said Gus.

  "Then she ended up nicknaming you 'Chief,' " Ela said, regarding Gus with a contemplative eye.

  "She did at that," Gus returned Ela's gaze and smiled.

  "Con, I suspect you're impatiently watching us, expecting Gus and I to get busy protecting Ela and ourselves, not wanting us to waste time fussing over you. Allow us this moment to acknowledge our loss, and honor the beauty you brought to our lives. We all benefited from the wisdom and the wit you offered us. As long as we live, you will live—in our hearts," Hank said.

  "Thank you Con, memories of you will ride on my shoulder for the rest of my days," Gus said.

  "Mom, I love you. You will always be my hero."

  Hank went to the back of the car and emptied a container of kerosene on the pillows and blankets left inside. Then the three of them laid Con's wrapped body in the back of her car. Hank recited the Lord's Prayer, lit the glass lantern he'd brought from the house and then tossed it into the car.

  From a distance they stood silently as Con joined dawn's light.

  ~~~

  Ela put a pot of coffee on while Hank and Gus finished loading the snowmobiles and sled with the contents of the gun safe, boxes of food, and some tools from the shop.

  Before departing they gathered in the kitchen to eat some of the food they couldn't find room for on the sled. Each of them chewing and considering what they had just done and what lay before them.

  "If conditions aren't any different than when I left, we're in for some rough times, I'm grateful to be with the two of you," Hank said.

  "Thanks, I felt the same when you first showed up, Hank. If you don't mind going first, I'll follow and keep an eye on the sled."

  "Okay, I can follow my track in, so we should be able to make good time to the turnoff," said Hank.

  "Since Hank is pulling the sled you should ride with me, Ela. You will be our lookout for trouble, especially coming from behind us. Okay?" Gus asked.