“I’m ready,” She responded with a big smile.
Kim walked around the corner with a frown on her face but didn’t say anything. She knew it wouldn’t do any good anyway. I knew she worried about the takeoff from our tractor bladed strip that we had built but it was something I felt we really needed to do. I had to see what the towns were like around us.
Chapter Eleven
I woke up to a sound I’ve heard several times, both while in the Army and living here. A-10 Thunderbolts, nicknamed “Warthog” were flying over the house. No matter how many times I’ve heard them, I’m still fascinated by them. There were no better words to describe the “Warthogs” but badass. Part of my love for them may have been that they saved our butts in our past and they also made you feel like you had an extra guardian angel around you when you knew they were close.
I jumped up, threw on my pants and ran out the front door to watch them. They appeared to be escorting four Boeing C-17 Globemaster Transport planes, obviously to Whiteman Air Force Base. As I watched them maneuver, I thought how glad I was that they were on our side.
“You too, huh?” It was Red who had also come out to watch them.
“Yep! They bring back some memories don’t they?”
“The good ole days.”
“Well, most of 'em, anyway.”
“Yeah, no kidding. So what’s in store for today?”
I laughed, “Well, I guess I ought to get dressed at least. After breakfast, a few of us need to go negotiate with Pine City and get them into the fold.”
“Do you think they’re ready?”
“Well, there is no better time to find out. They know what Orville was all about and we didn’t shoot anyone that wasn’t a real threat, so hopefully, the food we’ve provided is enough to help them realize that we’re not the bad guys.”
We both walked in and saw Mia and Paul giggling and whispering to one another. Red and I just glanced at each other and then I looked at Mia, who had a shit eating grin on her face.
Paul looked up and asked, “Where were you guys?”
Red rolled his eyes and asked but it was more of a statement, “And you guys were on guard duty? Hell, Vince, we better check, we may have been invaded last night. They wouldn’t know if we were.”
“Yeah, did you notice if the jeep or the plane are still here?”
Paul turned red, “Hey, I take my duties seriously,” and turned towards the radio. Mia just smiled and flipped me off.
I made a high-pitched grunt sound and walked into the kitchen to get some coffee.
Soon, Kim, Brandy, Angela, and Mia were in the kitchen cooking breakfast. I told the ladies that we would fix breakfast if they’d like but of course, they just laughed saying, “Go drink your coffee,” along with some other snide comments.
I heard the back door slide open, and Santiago came walking in.
“Good morning.” He said with a big smile on his face. I could see through the door that Lulu, Sofia, and Isabella were standing out at the fence petting Lucky and Ornery.
“Morning. Are you ready for another day?
“I sure am. I think Tag and I can get a lot knocked out on that other side today.”
“Well, I have something else for you to do today if you don’t mind. It’s really important.”
“Sure, whatever needs to be done. What is it?”
“I need you to be one of our representatives today. We’re going to have a meeting after breakfast.”
He nodded his head in agreement just as the rest of the gang came walking into the house.
For breakfast, the ladies made oatmeal and toast. I gave them a hard time saying that we could’ve done that. They scoffed and made comments like they didn’t want their toast burnt. That started a back and forth of jabs to one another within the group, which was good because it keep morale high.
We had made the rule that we’d never discuss business over a meal but there had been exceptions in the past, but Kim would usually nix it pretty quickly. I was always glad she did because it kept everyone’s spirits up and high morale is crucial in any type of survival situation, but unfortunately, Red and I were about to throw cold water on those high spirits.
After breakfast, I asked everyone to go to the living room, that we needed to have a meeting. I could tell that more than one knew that at least part of it was going to be bad news.
“Girls, if it’s alright with your folks, I can set up the laptop so you can watch a movie or cartoon.”
Angela said, “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.” Santiago agreed.
The girls got all excited and finally came to the conclusion that they wanted to watch “Finding Nemo.” I set the laptop up in our bedroom, and soon they were into the movie.
I cleared my throat and was hesitant to bring up the first topic that I wanted to get out of the way, but I felt it was really necessary. I think everyone could see my hesitation, but I knew it was time.
“Before we start, I’ve come to a personal decision. On an individual basis, you all need to decide what you need to do and how you need to handle it but for me, I have to handle it like I always have in the past.
We lost one of our own. Carmen was very special to many of us, and her death is hard to accept.” I could see a shocked look came over a few of them, but I continued. “But Kim has told me that everyone is reluctant to bring her name up for obvious reasons. Yes, she was dear to all of us, but especially to Brandy. Brandy, I’ve never seen more love between sisters than you and Carmen had for one another.” Brandy started tearing up, so I walked over and squeezed her shoulder. “She was also special to Mia and Kim.” I then walked over to Mia and did the same to her.
“Mia was Carmen’s best friend and has been for over six years, and they were like sisters.” I then grabbed Kim’s hand, “Kim and Carmen spent most of their time together during her visits. If she wasn’t teaching her how to do something that Carmen wanted to learn, they were checking out all the restaurants in the area.” I squeezed Kim’s hand, who had tears in her eyes but smiled as though she was remembering.
“Now, I can’t speak for them, but I have to handle this the way I have when we would lose a member of our team.” At this point, I was addressing Mo, Tag, Red, and Wit.
“Even though it is different in an obvious way, Carmen died a warrior. Now the five of us have lost friends in combat and we always honored them by continuing to tell stories about them or situations we went through involving them. That was always our way of keeping part of them with us forever.
My point is, I’m going to honor Carmen just like we’ve done for our fellow brothers in the past and I hope all of you can do the same. You need to do what you need to do, but I just want you to know that you don’t need to be gun shy around me if you want to mention or remember Carmen in that way or some conversation.
Now, I have lost people under my command years ago and a day never goes by that it doesn’t haunt me in one way or another as I felt responsible for everyone of them, just like I do now. I thought those days were long past but…..”
I realized that I had teared up and tried to wipe my eyes inconspicuously. Mike, who never showed any emotion, even had teared up a bit, even though I know he’d never admit it.
Mo spoke up, “That’s right! Carmen died a warrior, and we need to honor her that way.”
All the guys agreed, and I could tell that even Mike and Paul understood what we were talking about. Santiago, on the other hand, had a puzzled look, as he didn’t know Carmen or any of our backgrounds, but out of respect, he didn’t ask any questions.
After we had talked among ourselves for a while, I decided to go on with our scheduled meeting plans.
“I hesitate to tell you guys part of this because we all have some work we have to do today that’s really important but this is something you all need to know. So what I’m going to do is tell you what needs to be done first and then Red will give you the news that he heard on the ham radio.”
I could
see a little worry on everyone’s face, except for Kim and Mo, who had overheard Red giving me the news…….and unfortunately my rant.
“First of all, I think it’s time we try to get Pine City into our community. If we can do that, they would be a lot better off, and that would give us more security as we could have roadblocks up at the three roads that intersect on the north side of Pine City.” At that point, I saw Mike give a look.
“Alright Mike, don’t you think we should even attempt it?”
“No, it’s not that. I was just thinking about building barriers to cover three roads and having to schedule the guard shifts. That’s going to be one hell of a lot of work if you want them like the other two are. I agree bringing them in would be great as far as manpower goes.”
Wit spoke up, “I think we ought to limit their access though. If they agree, I’d suggest that we take it one step at a time to make sure we can trust them.”
“Santiago, you know these people better than any of us. What do you think?” I asked.
“Well, I really don’t know them that well as I was only up there for a short time roofing some houses, but I think the people that are left are decent enough people. Those that are left hated Orville and I’m sure some of them are very grateful.”
“One wolf in the fold though could cause some serious problems.” Tag said.
Paul spoke up, “When Mo and I were up there, most of them did seem very grateful and outgoing after they discovered that we weren’t going to be aggressive. I think they would tell us if anyone is a problem.”
We sat there and discussed it for a few minutes, and everyone came to the conclusion that it was time to at least try.
“Ok then, Mo, Wit, and Santiago do you mind being our diplomats so to speak? Mike can be your security.” They all nodded their heads in agreement.
“Mike, at the same time you can take a look at how you want to set up the roadblocks, temporarily anyway.”
Wit spoke up again, “How about we take Brandy along and that way we can check out anyone that may need medical assistance?”
“That’s a good idea. If anyone is still apprehensive, that may make the difference. Brandy do you mind?”
“No, it sounds like fun and I’m sure there are some people that need medical attention.”
“I don’t like the idea of so many people being gone at the same time,” Mike stated.
I thought for a few moments, “I think we’ll be ok. Things have been quiet lately, and we have the barriers manned.”
He reluctantly agreed.
“Santiago, I don’t like the idea of you going unarmed. Are you familiar with firearms?” I asked.
“Believe it or not, I’ve never shot a rifle or a shotgun, but I’m pretty good with a handgun. A friend of mine was a police officer, and he’d take me out with him when he practiced. He taught me to shoot using his old revolver that he used to carry before he started carrying a semi-automatic.”
“Well, that will work, hold on,” and I went to my dresser drawer and grabbed my seven shot, six inch Taurus Tracker .357 Magnum along with its holster and a pouch with two-speed loaders. “Take this,” I said while handing it to him.
“Wow! With a six inch barrel, I should be pretty accurate with it.”
“Well, hopefully, it will just be for show.”
“I hear that.” He said while examining it.
“Are there any other comments, concerns or questions before we go to the next item?”
No one spoke up, so I continued. “Ok, next, what are our plans on bringing in the two-mile section? We need to find out who wants to come aboard.” I looked at Mike and said with a laugh, “Yes Mike, that means even more barricades.” He just shook his head and gave a look of disgust.
Everyone chuckled, and Red spoke up, “Wit, and I have checked all the houses on the east-west road out of Pine City and they all seemed abandoned, but they could have been hiding inside out of fear or killed by Billy and Thatcher. We didn’t see any bodies around but we didn’t search inside the houses.”
“Well, I’m glad you guys didn’t search them by yourselves. Not that you couldn’t handle it, but I’d like to see you guys at least have outside security when you do. We need to check them out though, and as soon as we can. If they’re abandoned, we need to see if there is anything useful in them but also make sure they are still livable, in case we have someone that needs to live in them in the future. I’m sure the Lebowski’s cleaned them out of any good though.”
Mike jumped in and asked, “What about the homes that are on the opposite side of the road on these border areas? How do we handle those? Do we include them?”
“Good question. I’d say that if they’re right on the road, include them but if they're down some private drive, don’t. Not yet anyway. Don’t you all agree?”
Everyone nodded or said, “Yes.”
“Ok, does anyone else have anything before I have Red fill you all in on the news?”
Mia looked over at Paul and at the same time he was glancing at her and acted as though they were worried about asking something. Finally, Paul spoke up.
“It’s been several years since I’ve had any tactical training and I could use a refresher course. I know a few of us could probably use it.”
“Well, that’s not a bad idea. Let us get the Pine City thing done, and we’ll do that.” I replied.
“What about me?” Mia asked.
A flashback hit me of Carmen asking me to let the women patrol the farm, and the feeling of fear almost overwhelmed me.
I was just about to object to it when Kim spoke up, “Yes, us girls have been talking, and we think we should at least learn the basics because we don’t know what is going to happen in the future. Someday we may need it.”
Just then I had an overwhelming desire for a cigarette as I knew this was going to come up sooner or later. I was just about to find a reason to put it off when Angela spoke up saying that she’d like to learn as well. I had to act a little shocked that Angela was asking, as I remembered how she was when she first arrived and didn’t even want to carry a gun. I looked directly at Mo, and he just gave me a look like he didn’t know what to say either but I had the distinct impression that she had already mentioned it to him.
Then I thought, maybe if we had given the women more training, things would have turned out different with Carmen. Maybe we would have instilled in both of them what and what not to do. Everyone stayed quiet while I was thinking, but Mia, Angela, Brandy, and Kim were all staring at me with anticipation.
“Alright,” I said reluctantly.
“Alright?” Mia asked with shock in the tone of her voice.
I looked at Kim, and she had a sweet smile on her face and was nodding her head, “Yes,” like I was making the right decision.
“Yeah, I see why you need it and I know you’re all capable of doing it.”
Mia and Kim jumped up at the same time and gave me a hug and Brandy looked at me and mouthed the words, “Thank you.”
I could see Mo and Angela talking but couldn’t make out what they were saying due to the celebration of the other ladies.
“But listen up! If you guys are going to do this, you’re going to do it right and you damn well better pay attention. Whoever does the training isn’t going to have any mercy on you, you are going to be treated like a recruit while receiving basic and advanced training. If you want to do this, you better learn it well.”
I just prayed I wouldn’t regret the decision.
I watched the women celebrate a bit then said, “Now we need to get to the news. I’m going to turn this over to Red, but before I do, I want to say one thing. I want us all to understand how good we have it here. We have our inconveniences and sometimes have to bathe in cold water and eat canned food most of the time, but I want you guys to understand that the large majority of other people are living in hell. For those that didn’t prepare and for those that thought some government agency was going to come riding over the hill lik
e the old Cavalry did on westerns to rescue them are now either dead or dying, and many probably wish they were dead.” A few made comments like they understood that and I said, “After Red fills you in, I think you’ll understand it even more. Red.” I said, giving him the floor.
Red started out by saying that some of what he was about to say were rumors from other ham radio operators but at the same time, it wouldn’t surprise him that it was true. He proceeded to tell how from Southern California to well north of San Francisco might as well be considered a wasteland. He reiterated that California had finally been hit by “the big one,” and between it and the wildfires, the cities were basically destroyed. He mentioned how the death toll was estimated to be in the millions and that the people that were still living in the bigger cities were living like animals, and the conditions were probably as bad as any apocalyptic book ever made.
I looked at Mia while he was talking and I could see her starting to cry, so I went over and sat down next to her and put my arm around her. She started to say that she was alright, but before she could get the words out, she broke down crying and put her head into my chest to try and muffle the sound. I could only imagine what was running through her mind. All the friends that she had in California could all be dead or worse. Many of them were well off, but that money wouldn’t do them any good now as the dollar was worthless. She had said in the past that if she wouldn’t have come out here, she would more than likely be dead and for that, I know she was grateful. But still, the memories of all her friends had to be overwhelming. Kim got up and sat on the other side of Mia, and immediately Mia reached over and put her arms around Kim and hung on.
“It’s also rumored that the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant in Pendleton, California had a melt-down. They say that when the EMP hit, there was a malfunction of the emergency shutdown procedures and they think it was caused due to severe damage from the original earthquakes. How much radiation is being released, no one knows for sure, but it is rumored that several have died already from exposure to the radiation.”
Into the Apocalypse Page 16
