by T J Reeder
After the meal was done, I tapped the glass in front of me and got everybody’s attention. I just laid it out that I was thinking about borrowing the hummers from the Texans and take a tour of the Deep South while we were in the area.
We could maybe open some trade routes- we were the coffee kings for now but hell, anybody could do what we did, but so far nobody has. I had no idea what we might get from the south but then that wasn’t my bag. We had folks who could deal with that part.
We could maybe have the hummers brought here along with the Jeep, but that would leave our other vehicles sitting in Springfield, unless we had them driven home by some of Charley’s people. With three hummers and the jeep we would have major firepower, and with four per rig we would have 12 shooters. We would tow the jeep or better yet, send it home.
I opened the floor to discussion. May said right off that if Beth and Kid weren’t coming she was voting no, and Sandy seconded it. Charley sat a moment and said if they could haul three hummers, why not have them bring the big ford with the jeep on its trailer and the Dodge without the camper as one load with extra stuff like food and ammo filling the empty places. I agreed that sounded good. That gave us room for my whole family plus Charley and twelve shooters for the hummers.
Several of the others said they were up for it. Some of the Texans said they would love to go along and if need be would just take some of the vehicles from the compound. A few wanted to head home for many reasons. In the end we had 18 shooters plus my bunch and Charley. Several of his scouts were going. We would work it all out when the rides were here.
Sandy nudged me and tipped her head toward Blain, who was sitting quietly looking glum. I asked him if he didn’t want to go with us since he hadn’t spoken up. He looked shocked and blurted out, “You mean I can go?” I said, “Well, it’s still being considered” which got me an elbow in the ribs from each side. I said, “Fine! Damn it! Stop hitting me!” They looked so hurt and innocent it was sickening. And as usual the unwashed were applauding them. I quit. That got me a kiss on each cheek. At least that didn’t hurt.
Bed felt wonderful, and when I woke up somebody was gone. It didn’t matter because whoever was there was supposed to be. Later Sandy and I showered and headed for the cafeteria and breakfast. May was sitting with Blain who was listening to her every word and nodding. I figured he was getting a lesson on life in the canyons and the tribe and how to get along with the old grump whose daughter he had his eye on. So far he had shown a lot of strength and decency and a will to do right. And I was impressed with him, time would tell though as it always does.
We got our food and sat away from them so as to avoid interrupting the lesson. Charley came in and got some coffee and joined us. He looked over at May and Blain and said, “Boy’s getting a survival lesson?” We all smiled at that. I said, “Yeah, and he’s gonna need it. Kid is a tuff babe and will eat him for lunch if he’s not careful.”
He nodded at that. He was her main teacher besides shooting and he knew her spirit. They joined us and Blain said, “Good morning, Sir!” Sandy said, “Don’t call me Sir! Your highness is good enough.” All good for a laugh.
I had a feeling Blain would come thru with flying colors. Now if I could figure out how to get the girls to steal a chopper for him to fly we were good as gold. They both smiled at me and May said to Sandy, “We need a road trip to Salt Lake!” I choked on my coffee and Charley had to pound me on the back. “No!” I managed to shout. “Stay away from Salt Lake City! You’re gonna get me killed!” Sandy called me an over-reacting little girl, May said Marines were pussies. I asked her why she didn’t get new material, and she said why bother when truth wins all?
I reminded them that there was a General in SLC that would love to have a talk with them. Sandy said, “Fuck him”, and May said he was a Pussy. I gave up. Charley sighed and Blain said he was confused. I told him to get used to it. He said, “No, I mean what’s wrong with Salt Lake?” I explained to him that nothing was wrong except that the girls had stolen so much gear from the Guard up there that their General was likely to shoot them on sight. He asked what they wanted in SLC, and I explained that having an extra chopper for him to fly was icing on the cake. He sat there a moment and said, “I have a chopper. In fact I have several choppers.”
I looked at him until he explained that with the end of the military in the area, all the hardware was there for anybody who wanted it. I took a moment and asked where all this stuff was; and he said, “Right here.” “Here?” said I. “Yep, right here in an underground bunker.” I asked him to explain.
It seemed that the government had built the compound and the homes for the leadership, and the whole thing was sitting over a huge underground warehouse. Blain knew where it was and how to get in. We left right away. The main entrance was behind the shelter and was hidden by a decorative wall. Behind the wall was a huge door painted to look like more wall. Blain raised what looked like a brick and exposed a number panel where he punched in a set of numbers. With a rumble, we watched the door move back and to the side. The opening was big enough to get most anything thru it. We felt small walking into the cavern where the auto lights came on to reveal rows of equipment.
Vehicles of every type, at least ten Blackhawk choppers and several smaller choppers set up for two people; scout units was my guess, since they were too small to haul anything else. We walked past Hummers and the huge vehicle called Mrap, which I know nothing about. There was a side room filled with crates by the hundreds of weapons of every kind. I was dumbfounded, and knew there was no way we were leaving this stuff here. I didn’t trust these people that much. With weapons comes the desire to control and power. No, this place was getting emptied; we had a major job ahead of us.
After spending an hour just walking around in there I knew this place was a dictator’s wet dream. I knew in our hands it was fine- anybody else I had doubts. We headed for the chow hall for coffee and to talk. The outcome was that the C-130 was going to haul in warm bodies; every person who could drive was needed. When we had everything loaded we would convoy it home, we would deal with it once it was there, in the dry desert things stored better than most anyplace. But this stuff needed to be gone.
Charley took care of the communications and was told the bird was down for a day for some maintenance. That would give our people time to figure out where the bird could pick them up. That done, we just had to wait. I asked Blain how it was that he had access to the warehouse. He said as one of the few chopper pilots he was given access to help prep the birds for flight. He said that he was the only one left who had done so; the others bought the farm in Springfield.
I asked him who had taught him to fly and he said it was one of the guard staff. He was the pilot of the bird I took down- the one Blain was in. I told him I was sorry about his friend and he said the guy was an asshole who helped plan the attempted massacre of the people in Springfield. Blain said he had asked why it was being done and was removed as pilot in command and was stuck flying with the jerk. I told him I was the one who took his chopper down and was glad he got out alive. He was glad too.
We all went to bed early and spent a quiet night. I woke up again with one warm body. After showering, May and I went to breakfast where we found Sandy entertaining Blain, so we sat at a separate table. Charley joined us and said, “Poor Blain.” I had to laugh at that one. I figured if these two didn’t scare him off he might work out.
We had nothing to do but just hang out. We hadn’t seen anything of the Mayor or any of his crew. They seemed to be avoiding us, which was fine with me. Blain said he thought the Mayor was a straight shooter and would do the right things to keep the city working and the people safe.
After another quiet night we were informed the plane was on its way with a load of warm bodies, ETA in a couple more hours. We got into our battle rattle and headed in to the airport to make sure things went smooth. We found a lot of activity there but nothing out of line. I told the man running things we had our
bird coming in and it was leaving as soon as it was fueled. He acted like he was gonna object to us fueling up, but wisely kept his mouth shut. I wanted to be out of here and away from these people. Regardless of why, they were all complicit in the things that happened here. They could have stood up to the fools but chose not to. As Sandy was so quick to say, “Fuck ‘em!”
The plane came in, and with window-rattling noise it announced it was here. I loved this big old beast; they had been in service for more years than I could remember…a long time for sure.
The ramp dropped and I saw smiling faces from home and Texas. We had drivers and mechanics and this job was gonna get done. The pilots ran down the ramp and around out of sight where they “checked the tires”, Sandy and May were whooping and clapping. The red-faced plane drivers walked toward us flipping the two off. They do beat all.
They said they would be back tomorrow with another load of people. They would remain here tonight and after returning, they would stay until we knew what was going on. Also they could haul a lot of stuff out of here. I asked if they could haul choppers, and they said sure. I said they had the job. Sandy said if I worked it out right I wouldn’t have to lift a finger, and called me Tom Sawyer. I told her to kiss my ass, and she said to move my nose coz she didn’t like working in the shade, which got laughs and a high five from May. I looked at Charley, who just shook his head. Sandy and May leaned over and sighed with him. I took the high ground and ignored them all.
Sandy popped up and said, “Hey, let’s search the houses the hacks lived in, and we might find a 1911!” So off she and May went dragging Blain along. Poor kid, first I shoot his chopper down and then they turn him into a burglar. Kid wasn’t gonna be pleased with the Momsters.
I looked at Charley and asked if he thought they could get into trouble. He looked at me and said, “No, John. To get into trouble they would have to not be in trouble and those two have been trouble since you brought them home.” It was harsh, but I tended to agree. The pilots both agreed, as did most everybody there. I did say, “Yes, but they are so damn cute” and everybody agreed with that. Mostly everybody had them figured out. Admire them, love them, and just don’t try to pet them.
I decided that I was going to take a nap. Charley said that was a good idea, and the pilots said they were gonna find empty rooms and crash. I had a good nap until I woke up being crushed by warm girl parts. Why they can’t just lay on the bed like normal people is beyond me. The bed is huge but they have to lay on top of me. I said, “Screw it” and went back to sleep. When I woke up the shower was going, so I joined them. Showering with any one of them is wonderful, and showering with more than one is slippery. Then it was coffee time. Charley was sitting with his lads so we settled at a nearby table. Sandy and May were trying to understand what was being said, but it was just too fast for them.
Soon the scouts got up and left, and Charley joined us. He said he had them watching the road to the compound from the city…no reason, just making sure. The first load of people had sacked out where they could and were soon drifting in for supper; tomorrow was going to be a big day. The pilots said they were rested and were heading out to get the jump on tomorrow; a couple of scout units took them to the airport.
Not an hour after the big bird headed out we got word that our plane was coming in to land. Not having a clue what was going on, the girls and I (along with Charley) headed for the airport and watched “our” plane coming in. After it turned and rolled up to the terminal building the door opened and Kid bailed out followed by Beth who was smiling real big. We all met her at a run. Kid was looking around like I wasn’t standing there, so I said, “Oh sure. Somebody new comes along and ol’ dad is history.” She turned red, hugged me and mumbled something. I asked her to repeat it, and she said, “Daddy, what am I gonna do?” Well, I was stumped and way out of my league so I just held her and said, “Just keep talking to Beth and you’ll be OK.” She nodded, but I could see it wasn’t working.
Beth was watching the by-play and just smiled. She looked sad but happy. She hugged me close and said, “I missed you, ya big lug and it looks like everybody else missed you too, for a change.” That took a moment to translate, then I laughed and said, “Baby, I didn’t fire a shot and the only ones I actually heard or saw was the girls doing their thing.” She kinda of grimaced and shook her head. I told her it was as usual because I was too slow to handle it myself. She sighed and said, “Baby, let’s retire, let the world heal itself and we’ll just stay home and make babies.” I loved that idea, but it did kind of sound boring- not the baby-making part, just the sitting home part. I’d have to get a job or a hobby, plus how would ‘they’ deal with not shooting assholes? Beth sighed, and I smiled a sad smile. We were saved by a nudge from May. We all turned to see Blain walking toward us with Kid working at ignoring him. When he got there he said, “Hi.” She said, “Oh, hi- I didn’t see you.” We all busted out laughing. They turned red. I said, “Blain, why don’t you take Kid to see the shelter complex?” They almost ran to a vehicle.
Sandy said, “I just hope he don’t show her his bedroom.” May said, “Yeah, coz she might trip him and land on her back.” Both were laughing to beat the band. Beth said, “Girls, I’ve had long talks with her and she understands what’s going on.” Sandy said, “Good! Then they know to use protection?” I gave up and said, “Let’s head for the shelter so Beth can see it.” As I walked fast, May said, “Yeah, maybe you can show Beth your bed!” Laugh, laugh… Sandy said, “Well, I think she’s seen it from the looks of her tummy.” More laughs… Beth was laughing with them. I felt beat up.
We got to the shelter and saw the two young people walking around holding hands; they were not looking at the wonders of modern shelter design. In fact I don’t think they knew we were there. We showed Beth the whole place and she was both amazed at the place and saddened that our government leaders thought so much of their personal well-being that they would expend billions of dollars to make their safety so comfortable while millions upon millions of their fellow citizens died needlessly. Trust Beth to get right to the bottom of it.
The rest of the day passed quietly. We spent it telling Beth how things went down and was glad we hadn’t burned anybody to death and were able to save so many lives instead of having a big shoot-out. Beth is the calm, peaceful spirit of our family and is needed to offset ‘Them’. They believe there is no problem that cannot be overcome by the use of an overload of high explosives. They are truly dangerous, as often to themselves as much as to others. They have no fear and damn little bothers them outside of a fear of running out of ammo. God, I love ‘em.
I remember one time I came into the kitchen where they were gathering pots and pans and had all kinds of stuff in bags and bottles. When I asked what they were doing they showed me a copy of the old book “Anarchist Cook Book” which was crammed full of shit guaranteed to enable you to blow yourself up…booby-traps more dangerous to the builder than some poor schmuck wandering by. I asked, “What the fuck?” Their reply was they were going to use common household stuff to make C-4. I was stunned. This was crazy even for them. I finally remembered to ask, “Why?” Wanna guess the reply? You got it.
“Well…because.” I took a moment to point out that we had a bunker full of the stuff at the fort. But they both had smug looks when they said, “What if we run out?” I truly was stumped as to how to handle this when Beth came in and asked, “What the fuck?”
After they explained it again, Beth said, “Let me get this right. You’re planning to cook up some toxic shit in our kitchen with the babies sleeping in the next room?” Now, that brought it to a stop, right quick.
Then they blamed each other but in the end, of course, it was my fault, which got me slugged as they headed out the door to go on to their next plan which involved blowing up a boulder for some reason. Beth told me I needed to man up and take charge of them. I told her she was right and carried her into the bedroom and shut the door.
Meanwhile bac
k in the compound shelter, the newcomers had been taken on a grand tour of the whole place, including the weapons bunker. They all agreed that this shit needed to be in the hands of somebody responsible. May said, “Yeah.” They all looked at her, then Sandy, then at me. I shrugged.
With the sun the big bird arrived and another load of smiling faces walked down the ramp. ‘They’ were waiting for the crew to make their run for the wheel inspection but were disappointed when they walked out smiling at them. Life in the nuthouse.
We headed right to work. The mechanics from the first load had already been at it and several of the vehicles were outside with more coming by the minute. They said it was mostly just- hook up a new batter that was sitting right beside the rig, add fuel and fire them up. Some low tires to deal with, but that was it. This stuff hadn’t been down here very long.
Another surprise was several of the Texas Guard chopper pilot had come along with their mechanics to assist, but between the big bird and the lowboys we could haul them out of here.
The presence of four Mraps (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles) was a problem. They are huge and very heavy. I could see no need for them, but the Texas boys were drooling over them. I guess they could use them to run over armadillos or something. I told them to take ‘em but they were on their own as far as getting them home. No problem, they said. They would drive them. I pointed out that the paperwork said they weighed somewhere like 20 tons and got five MPG. This didn’t bother the Texans at all, so I smiled and said, “Have fun.”
