Our End Of The Line

by Ron Foster

  “When you go hunting, Walt?” Yoshi asked understanding Walt didn’t need him around for that careful task he was going to be doing on his own.

  “That’s a good question, you got to understand how those predator cats operate. Bobcats tend to be most active (hunting) from right before dusk until about midnight, then again right before dawn until an hour or two after (daytime bobcat hunting is a waste of time). It is best to always try to be settled into your position a couple hours before their likely movement times. I am thinking that I will probably get up very early in the morning and watch the sun come up from the deer stand.” Walt considered.

  “What you want Yoshi do while you get missing tail cat for dinner?” Yoshi said causing Walt to choke on the orange drink beverage he had been sipping at.

  “I wish you wouldn’t put it like that!” Walt said chuckling thinking Yoshi talking about the bobcat to his friends in the future was going to cause him some embarrassment.

  “It’s a bobcat, not a cat named Bob. Think a little tiger the size of a dog. You know what a Lynx is? No? Oh well don’t even try to say that word I know it will give you trouble.” Walt said knowing L’s and R’s gave him fits to pronounce.

  “Anyway, it’s a big cat on steroids with a very short tail and great big claws. I have another .22 around here that you can use and do some porch hunting or take a short walk if you want. You can see my little orchard from here and I don’t want any pesky squirrels or birds messing with my peaches or plums that are trying to make.” Walt said rising to go get a different rifle off the gun rack on his bedroom wall.

  “I no understand, you say must be quiet for you to hunt bob tail cat thing with big claw feet. If Yoshi shoot at squirrel cat animal, how you say it will OOOK (spook) when gun goes bang!” Yoshi said trying to wrap his tongue around one of those S’s that gave him difficulty saying.

  “Oh don’t worry about that, you will be using my GAMO pellet gun that you saw Thomas with. It has a silencer built into the barrel!” Walt advised.

  “I no hear about pellet gun before. It shoot big pellet or lots of little pellets?” Yoshi asked.

  “It shoots one pellet not very big but plenty powerful for hunting small game. It is .22 caliber but the pellet weighs less than a gunpowder .22 bullet.” Walt said with a sparkle in his eye watching Yoshi closely.

  “It only one shot? I never use one before, maybe I miss too much.” Yoshi said.

  “Well, it is a 10 shot repeater but you have to break the barrel every time that you want to take another shot. You can get a follow up shot off really quick though. I will get it and you can practice with it before dinner. Don’t worry about using up ammo, I stockpiled a bunch for it.” Walt said starting to rise to go get it.

  “Won’t small tiger cat smell gunpowder and run?” Yoshi asked being a good student of Walt’s advisement on how to hunt such wary creatures.

  “No, he won’t smell it. It’s an air rifle, pneumatic. Uses air pressure only to propel the pellet.” Walt said enjoying toying with Yoshi once again.

  “Air Rifle? What make pellet go bang but no bang? It has air filter like noise no more thing in barrel?” Yoshi said trying to understand this marvelous new type of gun Walt was describing.

  “No it uses compressed air from you cocking it to push a .22 caliber lead pellet as fast as a standard velocity gunpowder one only the pellet’s lighter.” Walt advised with a smirk reaching over on the table to get a tin of pellets to show Yoshi one.

  “Like a .22 short?” Yoshi asked still amazed at that particular new round, well to his knowledge anyway, effectiveness.

  “Well .22 shorts weigh less than long rifles, they run 27-29 grains and a regular long rifle weighs around 38-40 grains. These are much lighter, they run around 18 grains but they come out the barrel of that particular gun moving around 900 feet per second (FPS) which is smoking fast for that caliber air gun.” Walt said advising how high powered it was.

  “You say no smoke? Now you say less powerful than .22 short, why you all time want to use mini bullets, Walt?” Yoshi said disgustedly still thinking bigger bullets were always better.

  From left to right: .22 Magnum, .22 Long Rifle, .22 Super Coliberi, .22 CB Short, .22 Pellet, .177 Pellet

  “Air rifles are the perfect survival weapon, Yoshi, they are quieter than regular guns, they are deadly accurate, highly effective and the best thing I like about them is that this little can of 500 rounds only cost me 10 bucks and they are way lighter both in weight and price than the equivalent amount of .22 bullets! They are perfect for small game hunting and don’t destroy meat near as bad as a gun powder round often does.” Walt said handing Yoshi the can of pellets.

  “It child’s BB gun! Toy! Not a real hunter weapon! Best for shooting rubber ducks at carnival.” Yoshi exclaimed exasperated and confused once again.

  “Yoshi you got a whole lot to learn old man. That gun can take down a coyote out at 50 yards with a well-aimed shot. And before you ask, yes, it’s also good for hunting ducks if they are not flying around. Ha! I know how to show you its power. I got a bleached-out deer skull mounted on the front of my shed. I will take it down for a target and prove a few things to you! Be assured it will penetrate the hard bone, no problem. I also got what you would call a kid’s BB gun too to show you the difference in penetration but I have killed many a squirrel with one just like it growing up at standing at the base of a tree distances. You are going to learn to love the practicality of air guns, Yoshi! They are great practical survival tools. When I get some spare time to teach you their real values and various applications, you will be most likely providing us with some lunch or breakfast all on your own. I tell you another thing, when this grid down crap started, all I had was that old cheap bb/pellet gun I had stored in my van to make it home with and I would have starved to death without it, but I will save that story for another day. Meantime, let me get that gun and get you familiarized with it. That’s another thing, I ain’t got anything I would call extra regular .22 ammo for you to waste on learning my rifle with but I can make you a crack shot with that pellet rifle in about an hour and only have a few bucks invested in you and ammo to spare.” Walt said finally going to get the guns to show Yoshi and then walking outside to the picnic table.

  “Ok, Yoshi, this is a Gamo Swarm Maxim and it is considered by many to be one of the best hunting air rifles made. You see that green band on the buttstock? That is how the company tells customers it’s recommended for small game hunting. Now this particular rifle uses 10x quick-shot technology which enables you to shoot up to ten pellets without reloading. All you got to do is simply break the barrel and fire. This feature allows for lightning-quick follow-up shots and you will learn to appreciate and value that unique feature that you will not find in any other break barrel. Now I have another spare scope with me which I am going to show you how to do adjustments on but don’t mess with mine that I have mounted on the rifle. I got that rifle sighted in just the way I want for my eyes.” Walt said and allowed Yoshi to examine and get the feel for the unique air gun.

  “I like it! Feel good, not too heavy.” Yoshi said shouldering it and getting a feel for it while aiming it high and low.

  “Where bullets go in at, Walt?” Yoshi asked, turning the receiver this way and that trying to figure it out.

  “This rifle uses a magazine, Yoshi. And they are pellets, not bullets, so get it right, buddy!” Walt said and then showed him how simple and easy it was to load. He also showed him that it had a counter on it so that the operator always knew how many rounds it had left in it and explained that when empty it would show a warning, but not to worry if you missed the flag and dry fired it because it was built very strongly and the engineers had taken that kind of oversight into account..

  “OK, where magazine go, Walt?” Yoshi asked not seeing any place to load it on the receiver where you would normally find it on a semi auto rifle.

  “It goes in the front here, just over the barrel. This type of rifle would be called
a repeater, not a semi auto because as I told you, you have to break the barrel to cock it each time and that process also pumps air and charges the mechanism to power the pellet down range.”

  “Here, Yoshi, shoot at that empty beer can on the far side of the garden over there. You see it? I got it strung up over there to try to keep deer away some or mess with the birds and squirrels heads by it reflecting and making noise when the wind blows.” Walt said pointing at one attached to a fence pole about 30 yards away.

  Yoshi took aim, lined up the crosshairs on the 3x9 scope and “TINK!” went the can as Yoshi gushed excitedly that he had hit it first time no problem!

  “Good Shot! Break the barrel and do it again!” Walt advised and Yoshi happily shot it again and again before he tried his luck sighting in on targets further out.

  “This number one fine rifle, Walt!” Yoshi said happily and broke the barrel to fire again as Walt picked more difficult targets for him to try.

  “Good hunting rifle, boss! Yoshi can bring home dinner with this!” Yoshi said admiring how the pointed hunting pellet went straight through the beer can and imbedded itself about an inch into the pine fence pole.

  “I told you, I also got a .177 caliber you can play with later back at the house. Even though that number sounds bigger it shoots an even smaller pellet but it is still very effective.” Walt said dismissing Yoshi’s anticipated questions and teaching him a thing or two about air rifles saying it was an age old question of light and fast versus big and slow for gun or caliber choices but the overall consensus was that the .22 was best for game and .177 was better for birds but was still great on squirrels.

  “That scope I like very much, it bright and clear. I bring my pistol with me hunting but just so I know, can this not so puny pellet gun bring down strange fierce cat named bob?” Yoshi asked concerned he might bump into such a vicious critter as Walt had described to him.

  “It is a Bobcat, Yoshi, a big short tail cat like a Lynx but smaller. To bob something means cut off and no, somebody didn’t cut its tail off it’s just that nature built it that way. That kind of northern cat I mentioned, called a Lynx, has what we call snowshoe paws to keep it from sinking in snow drifts, southern ones are smaller but got great big paws for their body size also. And yes, that air rifle can kill one with a well-placed headshot but you go ahead and shoot him center of mass with that hand cannon of yours if you see one, ok? I doubt that you see it or a coyote but shoot either one if you see any skulking around here. You know the difference between a coyote and dog? No? Well, that doesn’t matter, nobody has any pet dogs around here anymore but Thomas shot a rabid coyote last week; that scary business has all of us scared a bit that other rabid animals may be about. You might see a fox but I prefer you not to mess with it, it sort of lives around here and I don’t bother it and it doesn’t bother me. You probably won’t see more than a flash of the brush of his tail if you do at all, but leave it be. I sometimes try to track him to see where he is hunting at when I can’t find game on my own.” Walt said.

  “So many animals I never hear of. I never used to be scared of woods, Walt, now I worry.” Yoshi said anxiously and instead of messing with him Walt assured him that anything that he was likely to encounter was more scared of him than he should be of them except for poisonous snakes that were uncommon but to be always on the lookout for. It was a rare occurrence to see one and if they could get out the way they would, except for water moccasins or cotton mouths that Walt hated which were known to be a bit ornery and aggressive to stand their ground. Walt said he would teach Yoshi about those later and not to worry because as far as he knew there weren’t any around here by his creek, well at least any that he had ever seen.

  4

  Duck Dinner

  “Walt, I have little packages of duck sauce in my bedroll that I bring from my restaurant.” Yoshi said referring to some little packets of the tasty Asian condiment addition.

  Duck sauce (or orange sauce) is a condiment with a sweet and sour flavor and a translucent orange appearance similar to a thin jelly

  “Huh! Well that’s quite interesting but save it for now. If this duck tastes anything like it smells, we are not going to need anything extra on it!” Walt said enjoying the heavenly aroma arising from his sun oven solar cooker https://www.sunoven.com/foster-coupon (special reader savings!)

  “Walt, you are number one cook! You work in my restaurants anytime!” Yoshi said salivating as Walt grinned and put the juicy duck on a ceramic platter to reverently carry it back to the house for them to feast upon.

  “Yoshi, do you ever pray? You know, to a higher power or something” Walt asked as he took a large butcher knife and cut the duck exactly in half to share with his new friend.

  “I pray a lot, Walt, but you no understand my ways or my prayers. You want to say Christian words over duck for dinner? Is ok by me. Right now I am praying you shoot another duck real soon.” Yoshi said spooning his rice dressing mixture on to Walt’s plate.

  “No, I never been one to pray much except growing up to say blessings occasionally on a holiday before a family meal; I was just wondering what you believed in. I do want to however take a minute to give thanks for a new friend and luck in battle and the hunt today, though. Yoshi, it’s hard times like these, as you know, that a man gets lonely and despondent sometimes or misses having somebody around to share a meal with or watch the garden grow. It ain’t no fun being alone and not having somebody praise your work growing big tomatoes in the garden or know how hard a hunt was to bring food home so I thought I would mention it.” Walt said somberly.

  Yoshi sat back for a minute and eyed Walt with a heart filled mutual compassion to be a loner in this apocalypse and voiced his thankfulness also for sharing these miserable days and said, “Walt, you my only friend now, I thank you!” and did a brief Japanese bow to him. Walt nodded back and they both started devouring the meal and laughingly cautioning each other not to eat so fast.

  “Yoshi, I am about food drunk right now, damn that was good eating! However for desert I got some wine I tried to make that ain’t aged enough for taste yet to be palatable but it still has plenty of alcohol content to maybe give us a little buzz. Thing is, I grow magic berries that we can eat a couple of to fix that beverages taste. What, you don’t believe me about having some magic berries? I am about to show you something amazing!” Walt said heading for his garden slowly rubbing his formerly shrunken belly in pleasure and still talking about how stuffed he was from that luscious duck dinner and Yoshi’s fine rice stuffing.

  “Walt, I got duck grease all over face and fingers, what good for clean that? You say for me to be careful with wash water and save for drinking.” Yoshi said dreamily following him and thinking he needed a nap but he didn’t want to offend his host.

  “We ain’t done being messy just yet but I got something for that cleanup job and other things. I will introduce you to witch hazel water later. I got some rags we can use for now.” Walt said walking over to a very short bush laden with small red berries and gathering a few.

  “Here, try one of these berries.” Walt said offering one as Yoshi skeptically eyed it.

  “There is nothing wrong with them, see I am eating one.” Walt said popping one in his mouth.

  “You remember that I told you that Lovage plant leaves got bitter with age and only pick the new ones or particularly try to pick out the shiny small ones inside the bush of leaves? Well, try this big one that’s been in the sun for a while!” Walt said looking mischievous.

  Yoshi took a small nibble and said yeah, very bitter tasting he said making a sucking a sour apple face. “Now eat one of these berries.” Walt advised.

  Yoshi tentatively chewed the berry watching Walt closely. “So what magic? Not much taste, no tingly magic.” Yoshi said.

  “It not sour, taste sweet?” Yoshi said confusedly after a moment.

  “Now taste the wine.” Walt said passing the bottle to him for a sip.

  “Taste good, Walt, sweet not
sour. You no like?” Yoshi asked.

  “It tastes just like vinegar without eating one of those berries first. That’s the magic.” Walt said with a grin and went on to explain how the effects of this strange berry would only last 30 minutes or so and to gather more if they were going to drink that bottle of wine.

  Author note on Miracle Berrys: Synsepalum dulcificum is a plant known for its berry that, when eaten, causes sour foods (such as lemons and limes) subsequently consumed to taste sweet

  “I must be blind, Walt, I thought you going to show me another Goji berry, what this one called again?” Yoshi asked eying the plant.

  “You call it a Miracle Berry, it’s the only one I know commonly called that but some folks call Goji miracle food also so don’t confuse it with that. I considered messing with you and pulling a prank the first time you tried one but I think it’s a lot better to teach you why this grows here and the amount of thought I put into planting it as my permaculture.” Walt said as Yoshi closely examined what Walt was calling a miraculous plant.