by Crane, J. J.
Another issue quickly arose, heat. People worried about the plummeting temperatures, and if their homes would become dangerous to live in. Since we all had fireplaces, I urged people to use them. Pops, Linda, and I offered our homes as overnight sanctuaries. We had generators hooked up to our heating systems.
My house had an added excellent heat source - our wood burning stove. I opted to use that than put added stress on our generator and fuel supply. However, its output was limited to the surrounding rooms on the lower floor, pretty much excluding our upstairs. By dinner, both Pops’ and Linda’s homes were full of people occupying spare rooms and floor space. The Jensen’s came to stay with us.
The next day the sun shone in a cloudless sky. June and Maya opened all the curtains in the house to let as much light in as possible. Also, June did have a moka pot, and she set it up to make some coffee. The sweet smell soon filled the air. Despite the lack of regular power, knowing that this one amenity was still available, gave me some peace.
I asked for everyone to gather in the living room for a family talk. I invited the Jensen’s to sit in with us.
“Listen,” I said after taking in a very long breath and exhale. “I have no idea what’s going to happen going forward but I know this, the electricity is going to be out for a long time.”
“You think?” Maya questioned.
“I’m afraid so. I wouldn’t count on it for several weeks.” I glanced at the others who knew I was sugar coating it. “For now, we have to realize that things are going to be… tougher going forward. Some tempers may flare. We just have to be understanding of it.”
“What can we do to make it better?” Curtis asked.
“Be the example of what solid, stable leadership should be,” I said. “Don’t criticize. Don’t complain. Don’t feed into the obvious negativity. If you do, you’ll see that you can fan that flame easily.”
“Rob’s right,” Doc added. “It’s a tough job. People will want to express their emotions, and that’s fine. But the key is to listen, not feed it.”
“Also, now that the power is gone, what frozen and refrigerated food we have is going to have to be consolidated,” I said. “Since we have by far the most supplies, it will be a natural emotion for some to feel animosity or jealousy towards us.”
I saw Curtis raise his hand and pointed to him.
“How about if we offer the responsibility to one of the other families to house the foods that need to be kept cold or frozen?” Curtis suggested.
“That’s an excellent idea,” Betty said.
Curtis said thanks and mentioned it was something he’d thought about, because of how tense people were about the food situation since the Peterson’s left.
“Who should have that responsibility?” June asked.
“If I may,” Belle interjected, “the Burrells or the Macians. Each of them owns a big freezer they have in their basements.”
“I would trust them,” June said. A worried expression then washed over her face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”
Doc grinned. “I understand your meaning. But that’s exactly what Rob is getting at. An innocent quip like that has the potential to light a fuse. That’s what we have to be wary of and sensitive to.”
“To be honest, I didn’t even give it a thought,” Ted said. “But I understand your meaning.”
I turned back to my kids. “You know what you guys can do for now. You can organize all those survival pages I asked you to print out. Put them together by season. Make sure the winter stuff is at the top. We may need to access them for information.”
“Will do,” Curtis said. “You know, instead of putting things into refrigerators, for now, we can use the snow. Pack stuff into coolers, secure them and jam them into the snow.”
Ted burst out with a laugh. “You must have been reading my mind.”
“That is a great idea,” June said. “It will preserve resources, not that there’s that much left in refrigerators.”
“But what we have will make it a psychological win,” I said.
I looked at my son, sitting upright, confident. He had the look of wanting to lead. He wasn’t shrinking away from the challenges but standing up to them. Pride swirled through me
thinking how much he’d grown in such a short amount of time.
“These ideas that are coming, keep them coming,” I said. “We need to have this kind of positive encouragement.”
“You know… people are not going to want to spend a lot of time in someone else’s house,” Doc said. “No offense. But
with our own homes just feet away, you know people are go-
ing to want to spend time there.”
“And, they’re going to need heat,” Ted said.
Doc put his finger on his nose.
“I can bring wood over to people’s homes,” Curtis volunteered. “Maya and Samantha can help.”
“The kids doing that would be a great gesture,” June said, looking at Maya.
“I’m in,” Samantha said.
“Okay,” Maya offered, less enthusiastically.
“You know… we’ve talked about training the high school age kids and college ones about the weapons,” Samantha said. “I can do that. I’ve hunted.”
“And, she’s a pretty good shot,” Ted added.
“Keeping busy,” Doc said. “That’s going to be key. Too much sitting around and the mind often goes to dark places, and we don’t need that.
“No, we don’t,” I said. “Let’s see how this day unfolds. The Body I’m sure is going to want to hear about all this. As soon as we can get a better handle on how people are feeling, let’s get some wood over to houses that want it.”
Everyone agreed. Smiles creased a few faces despite our position. Then there was a ‘ding.’ Someone’s phone sounded. Though phone service was still up, it was dodgy reception. We never had great cell service in our location – two bars maximum. It’s why the wi-fi was such a big deal.
“Oh my God,” gasped Maya.
“What’s up, dear?” June asked.
“Hannah,” she said as she began to sob. They’re freezing. No heat.”
My heart poured out for them.
“She says they have no food left. Haven’t for a couple of days,” Maya said, read the text. She turned to me. “Dad, we have to do something.”
“What can we do, we’re snowed in, honey,” I replied.
Maya put her hand to her mouth. “Her dad and her brother tried breaking into some homes.” Maya began to sob harder and let the phone fall to her side.
June took the phone from her hand and began to read the
text. I watched as June’s eyes welled up with tears. When her eyes finished their little darts back and forth reading, she looked at all of us.
“Hal, her dad… was stabbed after entering a house,” June barely managed to say. “He’s not well. Sick. So’s the son, Jackson.”
“Dad, we have to do something,” Maya said, pleading.
I couldn’t rightly answer. I said nothing for what felt like an eternity. “We can’t. There’s nothing for us to do.”
“What!” Maya shouted. “They need help. They might be dying. They’re starving and cold.”
“And if we go over there, they may infect us,” I answered as gently as I could.
“Mr. Bartleson was stabbed. He probably has an infection,” Maya said.
“He may,” I said. “But we have nothing for him.” I looked over at Doc who answered with a slight shrug.
“They need help. They might die, Dad!” Maya said her words vibrating with every breath. “She’s one of my closest friends. I can’t let her die.”
“Sweetie,” I said. I couldn’t offer anything more.
“It’s not like they have the virus,” she said, her eyes swollen, her expression desperate.
I curled my bottom lip in.
“Dad,” she cried.
“Baby, I’m sorry,” I said.
“But they are
n’t sick,” she pleaded.
“Honey, Jackson is sick,” I said. “That’s what the text said.”
“So,” Maya countered.
“They might be infected,” I said.
“But they might not. Maybe it’s something else. Maybe they lost power sooner. Maybe he’s sick with pneumonia or the fl… No… we have to help,” she said.
I could only shake my head. I couldn’t risk it. The journey
was too far through all this snow anyway. They were three
miles away. In normal times, it was nothing. Now, with nearly two feet of snow. We didn’t have the resources to get to them.
“I’m sorry honey,” I whispered.
While Maya cried, June held her. She looked at me and understood but felt helpless. I mouthed to her, turn off the phone.
I glanced at Ted and Doc who silently agreed. What were we to do? If this was another situation of merely the power being out, we could help. Now? Couldn’t risk it.
I breathed a sigh of relief when June took Maya out of the room. She was still questioning why we couldn’t do anything, but I knew deep down she understood why we couldn’t help. It didn’t ease the pain.
I looked over at Curtis. “Son, please turn off your phone. We don’t need any more news like that.”
He nodded. “Done.”
“Have you heard anything from friends?” I asked.
“A few,” He said, his voice somber. “My friend Zack and his family left for the Berkshires. They have a vacation house there. Haven’t heard from them. Tom… his family stayed. Haven’t heard anything. I tried a week ago to reach out but nothing. And, Callie, the girl I wanted to date…” his voice trailed off. He worked to fight off the tears.
“I understand,” I replied. “Just turn it off. Put the thing away. If we need access to it, we’ll use it then. You’re going to be okay?”
Curtis scrunched his face. He took a big deep breath then exhaled. “Not much choice, really.”
“No. There’s not,” I said.
“You know what I would like, Dad?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“I would like to participate in the watches,” he said. “I’m up for that. So are others. It’s better than sitting around.”
“Okay,” I responded. “Let me bring it up with The Body. I’m sure they won’t have any issues with it. We’ll get you started as soon as we can.”
Chapter 16
Three mornings later, after a long cold night of howling wind beating against the house, revealing every crevice a draft could seep through, a thundering knock pounded on our front door. I jumped up from the layers of blankets covering me. The knock came again. I grabbed my handgun and went to see who it was. Looking out the window, I saw Jason. His face flush with uncertainty.
“What’s going on, you okay?” I asked.
“Tracks,” he said, his voice excited. “Curtis and I went for a walk beyond our road to see… not far, maybe a hundred feet or so beyond Pam’s house and we saw definite tracks made by a person, maybe more than one.”
“How do you mean?” I asked. “And where’s Curtis now?”
“Up near Pam’s, keeping a watch,” Jason said pointing up the street.
“What? Alone?” I half shouted.
Jason looked at me puzzled. “He’s fine. Bobby Kenderdine is up there with him.
Bobby K was Casey’s and Charlotte’s grandson. He graduated from high school the year before and went to do mission work in Africa before returning to start college. He was a tall kid, six-four, thick dark hair, but couldn’t have weighed more than a hundred and fifty pounds. He also wanted in on the watches, and this was his second shift. We (The Body) figured that a snowed in night shift wouldn’t be a bad way to begin.
Once I settled my nerves about my son, I asked Jason to continue with what they found.
“We spotted these big holes like someone came lumbering through the snow. You can see where they struggled, where
someone may have fallen.”
“Did you follow it?” I asked.
“Yes,” Jason said. “I wasn’t sure what the protocol on that was, but we decided to see if we could find the source.”
“Circle Estates?” I asked.
Jason nodded.
“Did you follow the tracks in?”
“No.”
“How fresh are the tracks?” I asked.
“I’m guessing they must have ventured out prior to last night,” Jason said looking sure of his answer.
“How do you figure?” I asked.
“The overnight temperature dropped a lot, and with that wind, I can’t imagine anyone venturing out for too long. When Bobby, Curtis and I decided to take a short walk just after sunrise, we noticed the surface of the snow crusted up real stiff. We didn’t go dropping into the snow like it was earlier in the day. So… while walking along the road in our snowshoes, we didn’t fall through that much. The tracks we found looked as if a person or persons struggled to get as far as they did, lots of post-holing,” Jason said.
By this time, Ted joined me at the door having heard enough of the conversation. “We need to investigate this, Rob.”
“Yeah, I know. We’ll call a meeting and organize a scouting party,” I said.
“Make the scout for tomorrow, early, before sunrise,” Ted said.
“In and out under the cover of darkness, hopefully, the snow will have that crust to it, so we aren’t lumbering through exhausting ourselves,” Jason added, eager to want in on the expedition.
“Sounds good to me,” I said.
The Body green-lighted the scouting expedition unanimously for the next morning. We proposed to follow the tracks as best we could, observe its origin and return. We did not intend to wander off course, entering homes or anything of the like. I wanted to return by breakfast.
Our team consisted of Ted, Jason, Dave Burrell, and me. Curtis and Bobby wanted to come, but that was voted down.
We gathered at 4:30 am. Max and Bruce manned communication with the Walkie-talkies. We also needed people with weapons experience to help hold down the fort and act as backup.
Temperatures that morning dipped into the high teens. Everyone dressed in proper layers and wore snowshoes. We also brought two bottles of water each and some dried deer jerky. We all had weapons. Jason and I brought shotguns. Ted and Dave carried bolt-action rifles. Ted and I also brought our side arms, a Glock 17 for him and the Ruger SR9c for me – the one Ted gave me. Jason and I also brought five additional shells to complement our fully loaded magazines. Ted and Dave brought an extra loaded magazine apiece. We didn’t think we’d need to use any rounds, but we certainly didn’t want to go unprepared.
The night’s cold air kept the snowy surface hard enough that we never post holed too deep on our snowshoe walk. At first, we bunched together, which contributed to some destabilizing of the hard surface. We quickly adjusted and spread out to cover the whole width of the road. We stopped every fifty feet or so to catch our breath and listen. Silence. It felt eerie. The bare trees stood at attention like silent sentinels guarding the stretch of road before us. Ted pointed out the oddity of seeing no small game trails on the frozen snow surface.
“Usually, you can see some signs of activity,” he said.
“But it’s so fucking cold,” Dave shot back. “Who the hell would want to be out in this?”
We spotted the area where Jason noticed the tracks and the disturbance in the snow. It indeed looked as if the people walking hit a soft spot in the snow, fell into the depths of it and struggled to get their footing back. As we continued, it didn’t take long before we saw the entrance of the development, the intruder’s tracks always staying towards the shoulder as if ready for an escape into the woods. A small uphill rise led into Circle Estates and hid our immediate presence.
“Two forward, two rear,” Ted said in a hard whisper directing with his arms. “Two up front a little closer together, the two back take the wings.”
Dave turn
ed to him, “Who does what?”
“I’ll take the lead,” I said stepping ahead.
“Me too,” said Jason. He looked at me, “How far apart?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “At least two or three arm-lengths. Let’s move on; we’ll figure it out.”
The crunching of our snowshoes seemed to get louder as we made our way up the entrance road, echoing off the wall of trees to either side of us. We began to walk slower, stopping briefly to listen before continuing.
“Psst!” I heard Ted sound. “Belly crawl,” he whispered pointing to the ground. “Best to stay low.”
Lying on our stomachs, sliding along the snow proved easier than I anticipated as our bodies glided along the iced-over surface. When I came to the crest of the road, I stopped. The others soon caught up. We surveyed the area. Darkness still enveloped us, though we could see the first traces of daylight turning the evening black into a hue of deep purple in the cloudless sky. The houses stood as boxed shapes with little detail revealed. The tracks we followed went left along the road that looped the development, Circle Drive.
“Listen, we can’t belly crawl the whole way,” I said as we lay there overlooking our environment. “I say we get up and dodge around the back of these homes and use them as cover. We’ll make better time and hopefully stay hidden,” pointing at the houses to my left.
“Jason and I will take the rear. That’ll give us a rifle shotgun combination,” Ted said. “We’ll keep an eye out for any faces that might appear out windows. We don’t need to surprise anyone nor have anyone surprise us.”
I acknowledged the idea and told Dave to follow me.
A strange, uneasy feeling overcame all of us while traversing through people’s backyards. Snow covered swing sets, pools, dog pens, it all seemed surreal as our crunching steps bashed through the snow. I couldn’t help but wonder how many lost lives were beyond the walls of the homes we passed? Or, if people were watching us, wondering what in the hell we were doing.
With every backyard we entered, we’d stop and listen before proceeding. Every time we stopped, silence greeted us. The wild whistling winds of the night before ceased, but not the cold, as it began to chip away at our fingertips and toes. After the third house, we began leaning against homes to catch our breath. My heart felt like a blacksmith was pounding a hammer against an anvil. Also, it was hard not to peer into a window or two of the homes, but each time we did, we saw nothing, just darkness.
