by AJ Newman
Lowes – Smyrna, Tennessee.
The trip the next day to fetch the wire and meet with the new family was uneventful, except for the bitching and grousing about traveling to Lowe’s during the dark and arriving at four in the morning.
I looked at my motley crew and said, “Look, I’ve told you a dozen times. We needed to be in place long before the meeting to sweep the area and make sure it wasn’t a trap. Suck it up and watch for any intruders.”
I sent them to their positions after we checked the area and didn’t see anyone. I walked over to Kat. “Thanks, babe, for not joining in with the bitching.”
“Oh, I was bitching to myself. It wouldn’t look good if you didn’t get my full support. I was pissed because Mom and Michelle kept us up so late, and then you woke me up at two.”
“Thanks for the support. I need you to buddy up to the women and, if possible, ask the kids some questions. After finding that spy in the other group, I’m a bit jumpy.”
“Hon, you haven’t mentioned Jay. What are you thinking?”
I gazed into her eyes. “Babe, I don’t know why, but I just don’t have any feelings for the boy. I’ll do my best to make him ours. I know that sounds terrible. I know he’s mine, and I want to feel something, but I don’t. I guess I’m a terrible person.”
“Hon, you didn’t know me and look at us now. No one expects you to go from zero to full-blown fatherhood in a few days. Talk to Jay and find common things between the two of you. He’s a block of clay you can mold into a mini Jason. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”
I kissed her on the forehead. “Babe, I love you and need your help with this parenting stuff. I can teach him how to fish, fight, and survive, but I’ll need help with the touchy feely stuff.”
“You know I’ll be right there with you. Besides, that'll be a great experience for raising our brats. Look at your son, MMax. You’ve done a great job with him.”
MMax lay on his back while I scratched his belly. He was happy and content to have his tummy rubbed. I scratched his ears, and he wiggled all over. I’d never thought of MMax as my son. He was my best friend. I said, “Yes, I’ve done good by MMax. He obeys me, hasn’t been busted for drugs, and never knocked up a teenage girl. He’s a good son.”
Kat slugged me on the shoulder. “Raise the bar a bit higher for Jay.”
We saw a dozen coyotes, a bunch of dogs, and a zebra amble by the store. Yes, it was a real zebra. It came back a few minutes later, being chased by the coyotes. The only thing worth noting was we saw a plane high above Smyrna. Ross was the first to see the plane. It was about an hour before sunrise, and he pointed out a shiny object moving in the dark sky.
I said, “That’s a plane. It’s high enough for the morning sun to light it up. We should see the vapor trails when the sun is up. I wonder if it’s ours? Could our government be regrouping and attempting to get the country back on its feet?”
Kat replied, “I just hope it’s not another country invading us.”
“Bummer, darling. Let’s pray they’re the good guys.”
Even though I found out later that some folks had working radios, we didn’t have a radio that worked. News about the USA or the rest of the world only came from strangers wandering through the area. Since most people were afraid to be seen, we didn’t discuss current events with very many. No one we met had a clue what had happened, but rumors ran amuck. Even the General only had scuttlebutt from the remnants of other Army units. Our world had ended, and that’s all we knew, and we knew there wasn’t a darn thing we could do about it anyway.
We waited for another two hours, and nothing happened. Then MMax alerted us to something or someone approaching our position. The man walked into view. I walked out from behind a truck and greeted him. “Hello. Alex, I don’t see your family.”
“I left them back in the woods for safety. We saw some huge ass cats in the area a couple of days ago and have been afraid to venture out.”
“Have you made up your mind about joining us?”
He laughed and said, “Yes, twice. I made it up to not join you the day we met you and made it up again to join you when we saw those big cats tear into a pack of dogs.”
I shook his hand, went over the community rules, and then reiterated my favorites. “In our group, everyone works, and everyone above twelve fights.”
Alex smiled. “I would expect no less.”
I clarified my statement, “That means men, women, and children twelve and above. Are you okay with that?”
“I’m okay assuming they’ll receive proper training.”
I said, “Well, let’s fetch your family and get them safely to our place. My girl and I were treed by a pack of dogs, and the lions came and ate the dogs. Scared the piss out of us, and we had to sleep in the tree that night. The lions are to be feared, and we must always keep an eye out for them.”
I motioned for the rest of my team to join us. I introduced Kat, Maria, Billie, and Michelle to Alex. He looked disappointed and said, “Where are the men? I’d be more confident if there were more men in the group.”
I turned to my lady warfighters and said, “Please forgive him. He doesn’t know you and your skills.”
Alex glared at me, and I responded. “Look, Alex, these women have been trained by two battle hardened and tested veterans. What they lack in size, they make up for in skill, determination, and badassery.”
He said, “I guess I’ll have to take your word for it. Follow me to our hideout.”
It turned out that Alex’s hideout was only a few blocks away and was in a large Ford Transit van. He pointed ahead of us to the top of the van and said, “That van has been our home for several months. We hide in it when the dogs or humans threaten us.”
Maria walked ahead of us, followed by Kat, Billie, and Michelle. MMax tested the air for any dangerous scents. Alex asked, “What are they doing?”
“They’re looking for any threats or dangers before we go toward your place. All of them have compound bows with arrows ready. We always try to use arrows to save valuable ammo. Arrows are silent and won’t alert the General’s men,” I said while I watched Alex’s reaction.
A minute later, there was a loud uproar, and I heard, “Cats!” yelled.
I took my bow from my backpack and said, “Get in that car and wait until we kill or run the cats off!”
I ran into the fray and nocked an arrow on the run. The fight was over before I arrived. Two of the enormous beasts were writhing on the ground in agony as they drew their last breaths, and I saw another running like his ass was on fire with two arrows sticking out of his side.
I motioned for Alex to join us when I saw his wife open the van’s back door. “How did you women get so good with the bows? That was very brave but scary dangerous.”
Kat tapped me on the shoulder. “I just saw something lurking in the shadows.”
Kat nocked an arrow and waited for whatever it was to get closer. “Jason, it’s another one of those big cats.”
“Watch out for another. Lions hunt in groups.”
The big cat charged at me, and arrows flew in its direction. My arrow hit the cat, but it wasn’t a fatal wound. Kat shot the last arrow into the monster’s heart. The cat’s inertia carried it to me and knocked me down as it died.
I stuttered as I yelled, “Help! Pull this damned thing off me!”
MMax thought the lion was still attacking me and bit deep into its throat. He shook it a while and then proudly sat down beside it with a satisfied look on his face.
The ladies laughed. Kat pointed to another dead cat. She laughed. “Jason, we were busy killing another cat. Now we can take the little pussy cat off you. Oh, don’t let MMax know that we killed the kitty. It would hurt his feelings.”
My heart raced, and I had trouble catching my breath. “Well, there can’t be too many of them left. Anyone know how many lions the zoo had?”
Alex spoke up. “They also had tigers, cheetahs, ocelots, cougars, bears, big snakes …”
�
��Okay, okay,” I interrupted, and then added, “I get it. Our lives won’t be safe until we kill all of them, and we’d better do it before they have a bunch of kittens.”
Alex’s wife and kids ran to him and hugged him. Alex looked at our women. “Ladies, I apologize for doubting your ability. I feel much better now.”
We led them to Mom’s farm and introduced them to the others. Mom shook their hands and said, “I know my son covered our community rules with you. Do any of you have issues with any of the rules? Because we’re not kidding? Everyone pulls their own weight in this little community.”
The boy, Paul asked, “Do we get to work with the animals? I love farm animals.”
Alex and his family were overwhelmed by the progress we’d made and had big smiles when Father James led them to their own trailer to get cleaned up before supper.
***
Later, Father James was excited to see the large spools of wire and electrical supplies we’d scavenged from Lowes and the Home Depot. There were already several of the wind-powered generators constructed and waiting to be wired to our new electrical grid. The priest led the project, and we soon had three of the windmills in operation. By the time we finished, it was twilight, and the wind barely turned the blades. The smallest one with the smallest generator only yielded a glowing string of bulbs that didn’t light up the area around it.
“I must remind you we don’t want to only rely on wind power. When the wind blows, they’ll provide plenty of electricity for the farm, but most of the year, they won’t turn fast enough to charge the batteries. We must place some turbines in the creek and the spillway from the lake,” Father James said.
This was like a kick in the nuts. We’d done all that hard work, and there wasn’t any electricity to show for our sweat and toil. Father James said, “Folks, the wind power just has to work enough to recharge the batteries. The batteries will only power several small LED lamps in each home, so there isn’t much drain on the batteries. Have faith.”
I said, “The creek at the back of the farm flows year round. Shouldn’t we concentrate on building a dam and a water turbine?”
“Yes, but in good time. The wind powered generators were easy to install and will work about half the time. We’ll start on hydroelectric power when we finish the windmill installation.”
I wanted to argue with the good intentioned priest, but I knew absolutely nothing about wind or hydro powered turbines. This realization slapped me in the face. I’d always taken pride in my survival skills, but now realized I only knew how to fight and find edible plants and animals. There was so much more to survival than just existing.
☆
Chapter 8
Percy Priest Lake - The old Youth Camp
“Why the hell would anyone join a sociopath and his rogue army?” I asked.
The leader of the Smyrna group angrily replied, “Jason, they have us surrounded. We don’t have a choice.”
I was pissed at the news that several of our neighboring groups planned to join the General’s forces. “You could pull out and join us in Walter Hill. The General hasn’t bothered us.”
“The General told us you would be the last one to join, but you or your replacement would eagerly join his team,” said Smyrna’s leader.
“Do what?” I said.
“Apparently, you and the General were once friends in the Army. He said you’d be stubborn, but would join when you swallowed your pride and joined his Mutual Assistance Group. Now, Jason, before you speak, we had gangs raiding our farms until we joined the General. The raids stopped the minute the General’s men began their patrols around our area. Jason, we gladly joined.”
I couldn’t believe they would fall for this mad man’s BS. “What does the General expect in return, ninety percent of your crops?”
“No, he only wants ten percent the first year and five percent extra each year afterward to a maximum of twenty-five percent. The tax in food is to feed the troops and any unfortunate people until they begin farming. The fee is in crops, seeds, and live animals.”
I looked around the room and then asked, “Who else has made up their mind to join General Long?”
I was shocked; the LaVergne, Almaville, Gladesville, and Murfreesboro groups had all joined General Long’s team. Three of them were the largest and strongest groups I’d counted on for our Mutual Assistance Group (MAG).
The Murfreesboro leader stood up. “Jason, you must join with us, or it means you’re against us. The General told me to tell you that if you don’t join with us, you will not be harmed as long as you stay east of Murfreesboro Road, south of Central Pike, and north of Highway 70.”
I said, “That’s bullshit. That cuts out scavenging for supplies in all the larger cities.”
The Murfreesboro leader said, “That’s correct because those supplies are needed for our survival.”
I raised my voice. “You mean the General’s survival.”
“No need to yell. Yes, we have hitched our wagon to the General's team, and our survival is mutual. You need to get that through your thick head. The General has a soft spot for you, even though you betrayed him and tried to kill him.”
Maria spoke up. “I saw what the fake FEMA camp did under the original General and Long. Long is a sadistic killer. Men or women are no matter to him. He’ll kill anyone who gets in his way.”
Uncharacteristically, Kat had stayed calm and quiet until she heard the last comment. “And you believe that load of crap from a murderer? Jason and some of our team had to rescue over a thousand slaves from the General’s fake FEMA camp up in Kentucky. He killed anyone who wouldn’t work on the slave farms! I’m only sorry Jason didn’t succeed in killing the bastard.”
Kat finished yelling at the man when she was only about six inches from him. I had to hold her back when her hand went for her knife. The man’s hand slowly slid toward his pistol when I said, “MMax, watch ‘em.”
MMax squared up against the man, who raised his hands in the air and said, “General Long told us about how the previous General had forced him to do bad things. He also told us that instead of working with him to get rid of only the General, you killed over fifty innocent men just following orders.”
I was disgusted. “And you believed him?”
“Jason, he has over fifty armed soldiers, and at least that many more citizens have joined his force. They occupy the entire southwestern area below Nashville and will soon take over Nashville. He said he won’t work on getting your group to join until after Nashville has joined the team. We don’t have a choice, and you don’t either if you stay in this area.”
We left the meeting with a dark cloud above us. I told the groups still on our team to stop the chatter until we were safely away from the Youth Ranch. We headed south and stopped for a short meeting in an abandoned aircraft hangar just north of Sam Ridley Parkway. I could see the Smyrna Executive Golf Course from the window as everyone grabbed a bite of food and a drink.
The Lascassas, Milton, Kittell, and Norene groups were still with us. I asked for a private meeting with only their leaders. “I know this was a big surprise to all of us. We need to regroup and develop a new plan. What do the rest of you think?”
The Lascassas leader stood up. “Jason, this is a losing fight. I’m going to recommend that my group join the General at least until the crops are in.”
The Norene leader said, “We won’t join them, but we’ll decide what to do when we get home.”
The other two said they were in favor of joining the General, but would have their people vote on what to do about joining the General’s team. Frankly, I was demoralized and in a daze after the rest of the groups left the hangar. I sought answers from my crew. “Kat, Maria, Ross, Billie, what do we do now? We have no one we can count on, and leaving only means we could face the same situation at any place where we try to settle down.”
Maria said, “We can’t fight them. They have the numbers and superior firepower. We can’t conduct a guerilla campaign
against them because they know where our base is located. We’re screwed on options.”
Ross said, “I vote for us to pack up and leave the area ASAP. Jason, the bastard will have your head on a pike as a warning to others.”
Kat said, “What if we join them and pretend to be model citizens and then kill the General later and take over their operation?”
We discussed the issue for an hour and then left for home.
***
Mom wasn’t happy about the news from the meeting. Even though I had seen a new, angrier side of Mom, she was still a calm and thoughtful person. She went out to the porch and came back with a bucket full of peas still in the shells. She handed two bowls to each of us and started shelling peas. I had experienced this kind of problem resolution a couple of times and winced when I saw the bowls and peas.
I had taken the family car out after midnight without permission and got it hung up on a muddy farm road making out with Syd. Dad had never told Mom about Syd, so the question was how to dole out punishment to me for stealing the car. I was suspended for a month and had to meet Syd at the farm. Now that I think about it, it wasn’t a good idea but had felt awful good at the time. The memory also put an idea in my head and gave me insight into another issue in my life. Let’s stick to the General for now.
Michelle, Maria, Kat, Billie, and I sat around the kitchen table while we all hulled the peas. “Son, we could leave, but chances are the world is full of groups like ours, fighting groups like the Generals. We can’t take enough food with us to survive the winter. We don’t have much food, for that matter. We have a shit pot full of food growing in the fields and will plant more any day now. Beets, broccoli, carrots, lettuce, peas, and spinach can be planted for the next month. Corn, beans, cucumbers, cabbage, onions, peppers, squash, and tomatoes will come in over the next two to three months. Jason, I think we should try to avoid the General until the crops come in or Nashville is conquered. Only then can we decide what to do.”
