by Pete Thorsen
One day around noon we were in the kitchen having a small bit of lunch when we heard a noise and thought maybe it was a car on the road. We went to the window to see and then we realized it was the refrigerator running! We ran and tried a light switch and were just like kids playing, turning the lights on and off!
The power did not stay on all day but we were both ecstatic about it anyway. Two days later the power came back on and after a few flickers it has stayed on. Of course we both knew that just because the power was back on the whole nation was not back to normal. But it sure was a giant step in the right direction for getting us back to our old ‘normal’.
With the garden about done and the apples winding down we had plenty of spare time. So with the power back on for a couple weeks now we decided to walk down to the highway and just observe what went past us, if anything. We stayed in the trees near the highway where we would hopefully not be seen but we had a good view of the road.
This watching the highway for traffic turned out to be like watching grass grow, not very entertaining. But we did stick it out for two days (we went back home at night). We saw a few Army rigs go past but that was it. No normal cars or trucks, at least while we were there. We were a little let down but decided it might take more time for things to get up and running again.
After some discussion we decided I would try to cut the grass around the house. It was a fire hazard and looked awful. There was a riding mower in the shed and a gas can with gas in the shed also. We had found all the owners manuals for everything Ed owned (and had owned in the past) and I read the mower manual because I had never mowed grass before. The mower started just like a car and though it cranked for a while it did start and I commenced my first mowing job.
The grass was very tall and tough and I had to go slow and have the mower set as high as possible to cut the grass. I got the lawn done and ran up and down the driveway also. At this point if the military came back there would be no doubts about people living here. Amy found a rake and she raked the yard because the cut grass was really clumped up. After the raking it looked much better.
Neither one of us had a driver’s license but Ed’s car was in the garage and we started it one day and each of us took turns driving it out to the highway and back a couple times each. It had about three quarters of a tank of gas and though we had no idea how far that would take us it was comforting to know that the car was usable anyway.
We had a very large stock of canned vegetables but there was no meat products left at all. We both knew that meat was a staple dietary need and we discussed how we could fill that need. The obvious answer was to hunt like man had done for eons. We had both seen deer in the area fairly often so it was not a matter of no animals available. It was just that neither of us had a clue about hunting or what to do after the animal was killed.
In one cook book it explained about cuts of meat and where each cut came from on an animal and it even had diagrams but we knew it was the details that really counted and this was only a generalized description. We paged through countless magazines and looked in every book that we though might give us some directions but found nothing. Among the guns Ed had was what he had called a ‘deer rifle’. We had both shot it and it had kicked and was certainly powerful so we thought we could kill a deer with it.
Well desperate times call for desperate measures so we decided to go hunting together. This was to be a joint venture every step of the way. We would take turns carrying the rifle and whoever had it when we saw a deer would be the shooter. We knew (or thought we did) that you would shoot a man in the chest to kill him so that was the plan for a deer also.
Early one morning we started sneaking around where we had seen deer in the past. Not surprisingly we saw three deer fairly soon. I happened to be the one that had the rifle so I was the one to shoot. None of the deer had horns so we assumed they were all female. Two of them were smaller and likely were mostly grown babies. We had talked about this and had decided to shoot a small deer if possible. So I put the scope sight on the chest of one of the innocent baby deer and when I got the nerve I pulled the trigger.
The two other deer ran away and the one I shot fell down and was trying to get back up. It was making a terrible bleating sound (I had never heard of deer making any sounds). I got closer and shot it again in the head and the bleating thankfully stopped. Now we had a dead deer lying on the ground that we were both looking at.
We had both seen hunting pictures that had shown hunters near deer that were hanging up from a tree so that was our plan. I handed the rifle to Amy and I was going to pull the deer back to the house where we would hang it up. At first I did not know how to grab the deer then I just took the front legs and drug it back near our house.
We had found a rope that looked strong so I tied one end around the deer’s neck and threw the other end over a big branch of the tree we had picked out. I was able to pull the deer up and off the ground this way and then realized we had not thought about what to do to hold the rope in place. After a couple of moments just holding the rope I was able to tie it to the tree trunk to hold the deer off the ground.
I had the hunting style knife that I had taken from one of the guys I had killed to use on the deer. I won’t go into any details about how we removed the hide and guts from this poor deer but I will say it was horribly gross and difficult to do, both physically and emotionally.
When we finally had the now naked deer hanging there I cut off one hind leg section and we took that into the house to cut up into chunks. The actual meat cutting went fairly smooth and we both did that using kitchen knives. We did the same with the rest of the deer meat. We did not know how to cut the bones so we just cut the meat off the bones.
Once we had the meat cut into what we thought were usable size chunks we put it into freezer bags and put it all except two nice sized pieces into the freezer. We were surprised that the deer was reduced to such a small amount of meat. I used a wheelbarrow to haul all the hide, bones, and guts well away from the house before I dumped it. With having electricity now we had running water and I used a hose to thoroughly wash out the wheelbarrow.
That evening we tried out Ed’s gas grill for the first time. I would say we did a rather poor job of both cutting and cooking the deer meat but we both ate all of our portions anyway. After this first time eating the deer meat we tried different recipes from the cookbooks (we used the beef recipes because there were none for using deer meat) and maybe we got good at cooking the meat or we got used to eating it but we both started to enjoy the meat.
With all the vegetables we had we often made simple stews and cooked everything in one pot (usually the slow cooker). After all this time there was still plenty of our canned vegetables and now we had a source of meat but all the other stuff called for in many of the recipes we wanted to try we did not have. Spices, sugar, flour, and other rather simple items were gone.
Chapter Fifteen
We had electric power now and so we switched to using that as much as possible instead of using the limited supply of gas we had on hand. We used an electric fry pan and a slow cooker for many meals now. It was certainly helpful now that we could freeze or refrigerate any leftovers and use the microwave to reheat them. There was even a toaster oven that we used once and a while instead of the gas oven.
We had no idea how much gas we had and how long it would last. Ed said he heated with gas but never said how often they had to come and fill the tank or how he knew when it was getting low (we did figure that out when we looked at the tank and there was a gauge that now was pointing at forty).
After finding the gauge we breathed a little easier because we still had close to a half tank so we would not run out right away anyway. We did not know when it was filled last but we had been using the kitchen range all the while we were here and Ed had used it at least some before we came so the tank must last for quite awhile.
Though we had food and could survive it would be nice to go shopping and buy a bunch of th
ings to help even out our diet and give us some variety. There was a small town fairly close and we thought we would chance going there. We could take the car but thought we would walk instead as that would draw much less attention to us. We could very easily walk to the town and back in a half day or so. We would not take our wagon and would take our packs instead.
For weapons Amy would carry her Fubar and I would have the hunting knife visible and carry Ed’s pistol under my shirt. That way we would not look intimidating but would show that we could defend ourselves, plus have the firepower of the hidden pistol if it was needed.
So the next bright sunny morning we left our home and walked towards the town. Our packs were mostly empty with only a couple of refilled water bottles and some dried apples to eat in each pack. We walked down the highway to town without seeing anyone along the way.
When we got to the business part of the small town I called out to see if anyone was around.
“What do you want?”
“We would like to buy a few groceries if possible. We do have some cash. Otherwise we would just like any news that you might have heard.”
“Both of those things are mighty hard to come by. Guess we might be able trade some news though.”
An older man walked out of one of the stores and slowly approached us. He was carrying a rifle (I was now way smarter about guns thanks to Ed’s teaching us).
“You don’t live around here. Are you just traveling through, your packs look pretty empty?”
“We do live nearby now. We are staying at a friend’s house. And our packs are just about empty because we had hoped to buy a few things but we can get by without if need be.”
“I ain’t never seen no pack like you have on. You make that yourself?”
“Yes. I have worn this pack since I left my apartment on Long Island and started walking. It has served me well.”
“You guys married?”
“No we are just friends that were traveling together and when we stopped we decided to stay together. So what’s the story about this town? How many people are left here?”
“There are just a few of us left now. Some left when the power went out and many went with the Army when they came through here with their promise of food, water, and shelter. So why did you not go with the Army guys, they must have contacted you?”
“We just trusted each other and not the government. We thought we would rather try to make it on our own and stay free.”
“For young people you seem to have your wits about you. You likely made the right choice ‘cause you both look healthy. You are welcome to look in the grocery store but all the food has long since been looted out of there.”
“We could use some spices, toothpaste and toothbrushes, some odds and ends like that.”
“You could likely find that in there. I’ll just tag along with you.”
“We would like the company.”
We made our way to the grocery store with the man directing us. He was right and the shelves were bare but we did find many small things that we could use. Amy was happy finding many things she wanted. While we were looking over things at the store we kept up a steady conversation with the older man. I think he was lonelier than we were.
When we were satisfied with what we found I asked him if we could pay him for the items but he said it wasn’t his and the owner would likely rather have us take the stuff if it would make our lives a little better. We again walked back out on the street and I asked the one question that I was curious about.
“So have you talked to anyone that has been in those Army camps?”
“Nope. Saw a lot of people go there but I have seen none ever come back. ‘Course maybe it is nice there and they want to stay for all I know.”
“I don’t think you believe that anymore than we do.”
“Just saying I don’t know. Seems a little bit strange that not a single person has come back to town here. Especially now that the power has come back on. Though I admit that even though the power is back on that certainly did not fix everything. We have water now but still no food.”
“I agree that does seem a little strange. But we don’t know how far away the camp was and if they had to walk it might be a long walk.”
“Yes, I don’t know where the camp is either. Everyday that no one comes back makes me wonder more and more though. Neither of you seem sad that you did not get any real food. You got enough to get along apparently.”
“I think we will make it. Since the power went out we have both learned to get by with a lot less food and we are no longer picky eaters by any stretch of the imagination. Have you heard anything on the radio or on the TV?”
“No I haven’t and I try both everyday since we got the power back. I have walked all over this town shutting off the electric breakers on many homes and businesses to not waste any power and to hopefully stop any from catching fire. Plus it was something to keep me busy, at least for awhile.”
“That was a good idea. By the way I’m Lee and this is Amy.”
“Pleased to meet you. My name is Sam.”
“Do you have enough food to get by?”
“I have some that should last me for awhile anyway. I’m sure I’ll be OK.”
We talked for quite some time before we left town and headed back home. He invited us to return and we said we certainly would be back. On the walk back home while we were on the highway a regular car went past that looked to have a man and a woman inside. It gave us added hope that things were improving by seeing at least that one car on the road. Overall we were both pleased with our trip into the small nearby town.
Chapter Sixteen
Over the next couple weeks we occasionally watched the highway off and on for traffic of any kind. We never stayed all day but would sometimes take a walk out there and sit for a couple hours and have a picnic while at the same time keeping an eye on the road. There was an Army rig go by once and a while and we saw a couple of regular personal cars go past. The most exciting was two large commercial trucks that we saw go past but we later realized those could have been contracted or seized by the Army for there use.
Things were not yet showing too much progress towards being back to normal. The more we thought about it the more we realized that things would never go back to the way it was before the power outage. There were just way too many dead for things to ever be ‘normal’ again. There was no way for us to know but we both guessed the death toll had to be in the millions. And we were both reasonable sure the number was still going up. We were both very curious about life in those ‘camps’.
Things like were the people in the camps required or at least asked to go on work details? There was a huge amount of work that had to done. Things like getting all the stalled vehicles towed away. Finding and transporting the huge number of dead bodies for burial. Water, gas, and electrical services had to be shut of in now vacant or damaged homes, businesses, and government/commercial buildings.
City water lines would need to be flushed out and sanitized after being stagnant or dry for so long. Just about every single business had been broken into and damaged. Many areas in the cities and likely many rural areas had been burnt and water, gas, and electric services in those areas had to be shut down.
Trucks and truckers to drive them would have to be located so goods could be shipped to where they were needed. To do that people would have to man the gas stations so those trucks could get the fuel they needed to pick up and deliver those loads of goods. Fall was coming fast and much work would have to be done in the northern areas to prevent further damage from the soon to be freezing weather.
Once winter started snow plows with drivers and fuel to run the big plows would be needed. Would there be any schools open this coming school season at all? Or would all the students in the United States skip a year of school? One of the biggest problems had to be all damage done to so many of our buildings, places like hospitals would have surely been looted for drugs and likely suffered a lot of d
amage because of that. I’m sure city halls and police stations had suffered heavy damage in many places.
Thinking about all the work that had to be done made me wonder if it all could even be done in one or two years. With so many people likely dead would there even be enough manpower to do all the work? How could people even start shopping for needed items when every store had been so heavily damaged?
Had the nation’s farmers been able to go the crops we needed for everyone to survive the coming winter? Would transport be found to move those crops to the canneries and packaging companies? Would there be people to man those canneries and packaging companies when the produce showed up? How would people pay with all the banks shut down and no one except the military even working?
The problems facing this nation even with the power now back on (at least right here) were almost endless. And many of these problems would not be resolved or fixed very quickly no matter how much effort was put into it.
Two of the main things I thought that had to be done first were food and fuel production and distribution. We all needed food to survive and there was none to be found in most places. Fuel was needed for both food production and for food distribution. Heating fuel would be needed in the northern areas this winter or many more people would die from freezing to death.
It could give you a headache just trying to think about everything needed just to get things started up again enough to prevent more deaths from continuing to occur.
And was all this trouble just here in the United States? If it is just here would other nations send us aid for a change? Do we want to accept foreign aid if it is offered? Would there be strings attached to this aid? With the USA hurt so bad right now would another country or a group of countries take advantage of this situation to attack us?
Amy and I would sometimes talk about things like this until neither one of us could stand the thought of everything that was wrong and still could get even worse for the citizens of the once great United States of America. Talking about it was just to depressing to continue for very long. The fact that her and I could do nothing about what was going on was maybe even more depressing.
