by A. P. Texan
Chapter 5-Homecoming
Steadfastness: To be resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering when facing adversity.
1000 20 September 2021
The Farm
It has been nine days and six hours since the event that caused the fall of modern society. As a whole, I would say my family and friends have fared well. We have had a few minor arguments but nothing major. We have food to eat and fresh water to drink. We have sturdy shelter and each other. All in all, I would say we are doing well, probably better than most. However, we also know that in this new society, what you have is never enough and so plans for the future must be made.
“Chase, can we talk to you for a minute?” Cynthia calls, as her and Elizabeth come walking up to me.
Calvin and I have been working on a couple of old ford tractors that have been sitting in disrepair for probably thirty plus years. The current one we are attempting to tear down is a 1954 Ford Golden Jubilee 32HP.
“What’s up?” I ask, as I stand up from the engine of the tractor.
“Well, we were thinking, it has been almost a week and a half since the blast. Why don’t we head into town and start hitting some hospitals? If we don’t, someone else will and we could use the meds.” Cynthia says. Elizabeth is standing in the back and you can tell by the look on her face that she wants Cynthia to do the talking.
“I think that is a great idea, but we are going to need to plan it out properly and not go off half-cocked or someone could get hurt. The masses are going to be reaching the point of starvation and desperation now. Elizabeth, you look like you want to say something, speak up.” I respond.
“Well, I know we need the medical supplies and other stuff that can get from the hospitals, but I want to stay here. Eddie should be arriving any day and I think I should be here to referee with your mom when that happens.”
I nod my head in agreement, “I agree, having him show up without you or me here would probably be bad. I know him and he would want to take over in my absence and that isn't going to happen. He won’t be taking over while I’m here either, by the way. Just to be clear, I want you to be here for the kids, but I have no qualms about putting him down. Especially since we have Nick now.”
“Cynthia, I have a bunch of maps at the house of all the surrounding areas. Most of them should list all the hospitals and medical centers around here. Ask Kerri if she can point you in the right direction.” Calvin says.
“Great. Cynthia, get those and start planning it out. We will all talk about the plan tonight after dinner. I want myself, Nick, and Charles on the scavenging team, we will take the big truck. I also want to load up all of the empty fuel cans. We can syphon from any abandoned vehicles that we come across.”
“Alright little brother, you got it. Thanks.” She says as she turns to leave.
“Calvin let’s get back to work on this old beast.” I kneel back down to continue stripping down the engine of the almost seventy-year-old tractor.
As the day wears on, the weather starts to turn. We are getting our first cold front of the year and although it is a mild one, without the advantage of the local weatherman, it catches us all a little off guard. It starts with the temperature drop it goes from ninety-two degrees down to eighty-two degrees in a matter of fifteen minutes. Then the winds pick up, gusting at about forty miles per hour. Then we hear it, the distant rolling thunder. We hear it before we can even see the clouds and we know what is in store. We are about to be facing a North Texas fall storm and everything that comes with it. Within thirty minutes of us hearing the first thunder, the sky has deepened to a dull grey. Then the rains start, not the nice shower type rain either, the torrential downpour kind of rain. The sound of the rain on the metal roofs of the barn and the cabin is almost deafening, but we have no choice, we either have to deal with the sound or be outside getting drenched.
“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m going to take full advantage of this situation and get clean and do some laundry” I say; as I run out of the barn and head to the cabin. By the time I make it the fifty feet to the front of the cabin I am already soaked to the skin, not a stitch of clothing is left dry. I head inside and change out of my wet clothes into a pair of shorts and flip flops. I then dig through our bags until I find a bottle of shampoo. With the shampoo in hand and carrying all of Sandy and my dirty clothes; I run back out into the rain.
Casually, I walk over to the Ford pickup and drop the tailgate. The rain is cold, but it feels good beating on my sore muscles. The non-stop work, stress and less than optimal sleeping conditions over the last week and a half have been taking a toll on my out of shape body. After dumping the clothes on the tailgate of the truck I just stand there and let the massive rain drops pound into me. I then grab the shampoo and start to wash. Squirting some out onto a sweat stained t-shirt; I begin to use it as a body wash. Up to this point we haven’t been doing a lot of bathing. It is a lot of work and uses a lot of resources to heat the water and bath, so it is a luxury we have to limit. We wash the necessary areas to maintain hygiene, but we still get pretty gross and stinky. After I wash down, I begin to use the shampoo sparingly on the clothes that have been getting soaked in the bed of the truck. After I scrub each article as best as I can, I wring the soapy water out onto the pile that was still sitting in the truck, then lay them out on the bed of the truck or the edge of the trailer. It takes me about twenty minutes. I am feeling refreshed and have all of our clothes somewhat washed. That’s when I notice that my idea had spread. Scattered around our little compound it appears everyone is standing in different degrees of clothed, washing themselves and their dirty clothes.
As luck would have it, just as everyone was finishing up their business the hail starts. We all make a mad dash back for the security of the barn to wait out the hailstorm. It has been a dry summer and we definitely needed this rain but could have done without the hail which gets me to thinking about the spring. Come springtime, the hailstorms will become more frequent. Really not a big problem except, our lives will depend on the output from our garden plot. One severe hailstorm could spell our doom. The hail stones will destroy the young plants that would be trying to grow. We have a limited number of seeds and won’t be able to afford to replant. This is definitely something I'm going to have to discuss with the rest of the group.
After the hail stops, we break off to our different sleeping quarters. We might as well get dried off and get clothes back on since most of us are in underwear or swimsuits. I feel a thousand times better than I did an hour ago. The cold pounding rain has me feeling really clean for the first time in over a week and I am completely refreshed. The biggest problem is, it’s getting towards evening and we haven’t prepared a meal. On top of that, all of our cooking methods involve a fire outside.
I take a glance over in Sandy’s direction, as she is peeling her wet underwear down and slips them off her legs. “Looks like we will all be eating Army style, with MREs tonight, or we could just stay here in the warmth of the cabin” I say with a sly grin.
She looks over and sees me watching her. She throws her wet unmentionables at my head, barely missing her intended target. “Easy mister, maybe later.” She returns my mischievous grin with one of her own, then gets out clean, dry clothes for the both of us. After we get dressed, we hang our wet things up on a line I stretched in the main room near the fireplace.
I sit down in an old wooden rocking chair on the front porch of the old cabin. Light up a smoke and watch the rain, it has begun to slow now and is more of a gentle shower. The ground has soaked up all that it will hold, and a multitude of mini creeks and rivers have formed in the mud flowing downhill on the path of least resistance. The whole scene is very mesmerizing and before I realize it, I have finished my smoke, tossed the butt, and drifted off to sleep in the chair.
When I drifted off to sleep the temperature was still in the mid-eighties. However, the rain must have been a precursor to the first major cold front of the year because when
I wake up, I'm shivering and the temperature feels as if it has dropped off a good twenty degrees. I know what you’re thinking, that is still a temperature in the sixties and this is true, but this is also Texas. I have been living in the eighties and nineties for the last month and in the hundreds before that. The sudden drop of twenty degrees is significant and my body isn't enjoying it. Lifting my worn-out body up out of the rocking chair; I hurry back inside and wrap up in the blankets on my bed, with my wife and quickly drift off back to sleep.
The dreams come back, flooding back into my head. The smell of blood and cordite mix in my head and a fuzzy image of a QT gas station solidifies and becomes vivid like I’m there. Floating above and behind myself as if in a third person video game; I see myself walking moving through the store in a half crouch pistol in a two-handed grip in front of me. Gunshots ring out from the other-side of the store and I see two African American men coming out of the restroom laughing. It is the two men from the maintenance yard, only this time the larger one has a pistol in his hand. They are laughing and joking. As they come into the main room of the QT. Then the gunman sees me and raises his pistol and fires. I am frozen and can’t react in time and start to feel the bullet enter my chest as I wake up screaming.
0600 21 September 2021
The Farm
“Babe, babe! Wake up!” Sandy is shaking me awake.
“I’m awake. Holy crap that felt real.” I am patting down my chest where the bullet had begun to penetrate and trying to catch my breath.
“What happened?”
I describe the dream and as I do I begin to settle down. Looking out the window I can see the sun is beginning to lighten the sky and the room is significantly cooler than it was when I went to sleep.
“I think this life is really starting to effect my mental stability. I have always thought I was born to be a warrior, but now that the killing has started, I am not so sure I can handle it.”
“Mi Amor, you will be fine. In just over a week, you have killed four men. Seen a man shot to death on the toilet and ordered another man shot. That would affect any normal person. It doesn’t mean you are any less of a warrior or a man it simply means you are human. It means you are not one of the bad guys. It means you don’t have an evil spirit. It reassures me that I fell in love with the right man.”
“That reassures me I love and married the best woman ever. Love you deeply and forever.” I roll over and embrace her in a hug that engulfs her small body. “Now I must get dressed and get ready to go. I am heading out with Cynthia and a team to head back into Keller, to see what we can find at the hospital.”
“Okay Babe, be careful and hurry back. I'm going stay here and work around the farm; we need to turn the garden again and we need to get hay and feed the cattle.”
“Sounds good. Get the girls to help you, they need to be doing something besides babysitting and collecting manure. I love you Babe and I’ll see you in a day or two.” I say, as I give her a kiss, grab my pack and other gear by the door and head out.
The rest of the team consisting of Cynthia, Barbara, Nick, and Charles are standing next to the trucks ready to roll out.
“Okay, here is what we will do.” I announce as I walk up.” Barbara and Nick take the Chevy. Charles, Cynthia and I will take the Ford. This will also be our search teams. With Nick’s training, he is the equivalent of Charles and I together, so you should only need two. We will take both trucks and when we get to the hospital, my team will start in the ER and work our way up. Barbara and Nick will head up stairs and work their way down. Grab anything and everything that could be useful. Nick and I will both have radios, and we will stay in constant communication. Take your time and be as thorough as possible.”
“Expect death” Cynthia speaks up. “As soon as the power failed all the life sustaining equipment quit as well. No oxygen being pumped. No respirators or defibrillators. Patients will be dead all over the hospital. We may also run into patients trying to desperately hang on to life or that had relatively minor injuries or illness, who have partially recovered and may be wandering the halls. But the big thing is, it is going to stink and stink bad. Rub some Vicks Vapor rub under your nose and cover your mouth and nose with something.”
“Also,” Nick Says, “Keep in mind that junkies, crack, and meth heads might be there. They are going to be needing a fix. Which means they are going to be crazy, desperate, and dangerous. If you see anybody that is acting out of their mind, shoot first and ask questions later. This is the apocalypse, and we cannot afford to be careless.”
“Alright, if everyone is ready, let’s get out of here.” I say breaking up the meeting.
In the bed of the truck Cynthia, Charles and I deposit our packs. In the cab, we have half a case of water bottles. My AR, Charles has an AR, and we both have pistols on us. Cynthia is only armed with her Beretta. I also have the M1 SOCOM strapped to my pack just in case.
The drive from the farm to the hospital under normal circumstances shouldn’t take more than an hour but these are far from normal circumstances. We know from our trip up here, that the highways are fairly clear of dead vehicles. Though we don’t know what else has happened in the six days since we've been here. Other than what’s going on between the farm, Calvin’s house, and Jimmy’s property we are completely shut off from the outside world. In all the apocalyptic fiction books I have read there are scores of desperate refugees crowding the streets looking for food or safety. So far, we haven’t seen any of that, we are hoping it is because we are far enough off the beaten path that people won’t get this far. However, this run into town for supplies, will be our first experience on what to expect in the future.
The drive down 114 was a whole lot worse than what I expected. We had to drive through the downtown area of two small towns and both were straight out of a nightmare. Most of the buildings along the street were burned down or in such disrepair, that they might as well be burned. Windows were busted out; doors were missing from hinges. Several had, what appeared to be bullet holes all over the front facades. Every piece of ground that didn’t have a building or disabled vehicle on it, was some sort of makeshift shelter or camp. In the city park of one town, it appeared that the town had come together and opened a community soup kitchen. There were tables and chairs set up all over the grass and a breakfast serving line was going up to a large gazebo type structure in the middle of the park.
“Smart”, I say to the other two occupants of the truck, “get the community to come together and stop destroying everything”.
“Yeah”, Charles replies “but from the looks of everything it took them a few days to figure that out. This place is a hell hole.”
Several heads turn to look towards the sound of the two trucks as we approach, many of the women pull small kids back behind them as if to protect them from something.
Just as we were about to come by the park, five men step out into the road. All armed with long guns of some kind and all of them are pointing at our truck. I quickly brought the truck to a stop and put it in park.
“Okay, this doesn’t look good.” Keying my PTT for my radio. I tell Nick what is going on and then I slowly show my hands out the driver’s window as Cynthia does the same out the passenger side. Between us, Charles reaches down and flips the safety off on his AR and then raises his hands up above the dash where they can be seen by the men.
“Slide over, be prepared to give me cover fire or take off and drive through them.” I say to Charles and I reach down with my left hand and open the door from the outside and begin to step out.
“We don’t want any trouble!” I announce to the men,” We are just passing through. Headed back into Fort Worth. We haven’t been out since all this started and we are curious what it’s like in the cities.”
“Step away from the truck, turn around and walk backwards towards me. Keep your hands on the back of your head where we can see them.” One of the men yell back to me.
Following his instructions, I slowly
start to walk backwards towards the armed men. When I get about halfway there, he yells out more instructions.
“Stop there. Get down on your knees and keep your hands on your head.”
These guys are obviously cops or they were anyways. These are the exact commands cops give when making suspects get out of a vehicle. I imagine they are just trying to protect their town and I get that.
I can here footsteps approaching me from behind and I hear handcuffs being opened and readied.
“Listen man, I know you’re just trying to protect your town and your people I get that. From the look of things, you guys have had a rough fight. But I promise you we are just passing through.”
“Shut up. We will decide what you’re doing.” With that, he placed the handcuffs on my wrists tightening them just enough to be uncomfortable.”
As he is helping me get back to my feet, I hear the loud crack of a high-powered rifle as the canteen on the man’s hip explodes in a shower of water and plastic.
The man screams and jumps back, losing his grip on my arm and I take off at a dead sprint to the truck luckily, only about ten yards in front of me.
Charles steps out of the truck his AR up on his shoulder and Nick steps out from behind the rear truck his AR-10 up and ready.
“We are passing through; we mean no harm. If we wanted to hurt anyone, I would have blown up your head, not your canteen. Step out of the road before anyone gets hurt.” Nick bellows from his position in the street.
