by Eric Vall
“So, we wait for them to leave or die?” Cathy asked.
“Yup,” Tara shrugged.
“As long as we have food, water, a place to stay, and a good defense system, we will get through the winter just fine,” I nodded. “Everyone else won’t be as prepared.”
“We’ll come here,” Marla said, and she watched her boys run and giggle with Winchester in the courtyard.
“I appreciate you trusting us,” I told her.
“You haven’t let us down yet,” Justin smiled.
“Betty?” I asked. “What about you?”
“We’ll come here too.” She nodded.
“Thank you,” I told her, and I saw Rolly put his arm around the old woman. “Briar?”
“I’ll take my chances on my own,” the stubborn old man said.
“Okay,” I nodded. “If you’re okay with it, maybe we can still help each other get set up for winter.”
“That I’ll do,” he gave a curt nod.
“Winter will be hard,” I told the group. “But it will save us too. If we’re prepared, the winter will go by quickly. For anyone else it will be a death sentence or a cause to flee. If we outlast winter, we’ll have outlasted everyone else too.”
“So, what do we need to do to prepare?” Cathy asked.
“We’ll come up with a plan,” I said. “Everyone should meet back here at the same time tomorrow, and we’ll discuss preparations.”
The group nodded, and everyone moved to their vehicles.
“I just want to thank you,” Cathy said after everyone else got into the trucks. “You’ve been so kind to all of us, and we appreciate everything. We want to be helpful to the group, too.”
“I’m sure you will be,” I smiled at the sandy blonde-haired woman. “We just want everyone to be safe.”
“I know,” she nodded.
“Go get some rest,” I told her. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”
Cathy nodded and hopped in the truck, and I waved to the farmers and civilians as they started down the road, then I walked over to where my girls sat by the fire.
“Drink, anyone?” Anna asked as she came out of the dorm building holding a bottle of vodka, some soda, and cups.
“Good god, yes,” Tara groaned. “That shit was intense.”
“It went about as well as I expected,” I laughed.
“I figured everyone would be a bit more willing honestly,” Paige said, and she poured herself some vodka and Sprite.
“Nah,” Anna shrugged. “I figured they would take some convincing. I mean, when my parents wanted to sell my childhood home I freaked out.”
“Yeah,” Bailey agreed, and she took a drink of her booze. “When you find comfort in a place it can be really hard to leave it.”
“These farmers have been here for as long as I can remember,” Rolly nodded, and he poured some vodka straight. “I’m sure even longer than that, really.”
“It makes sense that they don’t want to leave their homes,” I said, and I poured myself some liquor. “But they trust us, and they know we’re just trying to help.”
“Except for Briar,” Anna chuckled. “That old man is stubborn as hell.”
“It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks,” I grinned and I reached down to pet Winchester who had laid down between me and Bailey.
“How old do you think Winchester is?” Paige asked.
“Hmm, let me see,” I said, and I lifted Winchester’s lip to look at his teeth. “He’s not very old, maybe a year or two.”
“How do you know?” Anna asked.
“Well his teeth don’t have buildup on them,” I shrugged. “But they aren’t puppy teeth either, and he doesn’t have any white on his muzzle. He’s still very active, so a rough guess is 1-2 years old.”
“The Guard must not have had him for that long then,” Paige said.
“They probably had him since he was a puppy,” I nodded. “He’s trained well.”
“He really likes Marla’s boys,” Bailey said with a smile, and she reached down to pet Winchester’s black head.
“Do you think Briar will come around?” Paige moved us back to the bigger issues.
“I’m not sure,” I mused. “But I think so.”
“I mean he’d be kind of an idiot not to,” Tara shrugged.
“Tara!” Bailey raised her voice and smacked the platinum blonde on the shoulder. “That’s so mean.”
“It’s true though,” Anna said from behind her drink, and Tara looked at Bailey with an ‘I-told-you-so’ face.
“I hope he does come,” Rolly said. “I’d hate to think about him out there all alone.”
“Me too,” Paige said, and she took another drink.
“I think it’s time for us to get to bed,” I said. Then I tipped my cup back, finished off my vodka, and stood up.
“Yeah,” Tara sighed. “That discussion took a lot out of me.”
“You barely talked,” Anna laughed.
“I did my part,” Tara said indignantly.
“You did good,” Anna chuckled, then she stood up and downed her drink. “I’m just teasing.”
“Come on,” I grinned, and I walked toward the dorm building. “Time for bed. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow.”
“Don’t we always?” Anna asked with a raised brow.
“Yup,” I laughed, and I led my team inside.
Chapter 3
I woke the next morning before the girls, pulled their arms off me, and got dressed.
“What time is it?” Paige groaned with her eyes still closed.
“You can sleep a while longer,” I said and I smiled at the brunette’s messy hair. “It’s barely dawn.”
“Okay,” Paige grumbled, and she snuggled closer to Tara.
I made my way out of the building and across the courtyard to the library. I needed my whiteboard to start making the plan, but when I entered the building, I found that Rolly was already there and he had made coffee.
“Smells good,” I grinned as I walked in.
“I figured I’d get a jump on the day,” the old man smiled, but he lacked his usual gusto.
“Something the matter?” I asked as I poured a cup of joe.
“I’m just worried about Betty,” he frowned and took another sip of his coffee.
“What about her?” I asked. “She said she would be coming here for winter.”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “But I think she’s still upset about it. I don’t want her to resent us for making her leave her farm.”
“She won’t resent us,” I assured him. “Besides, this will be your opportunity to help take care of her.”
“That’s true,” he smiled wider than he had before. “It will be nice to have her here all the time.”
“I’m sure it will be,” I chuckled.
“What about the farms though?” he asked in a low voice. “I’d hate to have them ransacked and destroyed.”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “We’ll do what we can to try to prevent that, but that will be secondary. We need to focus on getting the college fortified right now.”
“Right,” Rolly sighed. “What’re you doing up so early? I couldn’t sleep, but I figured you all could use the extra Z’s.”
“It’s hard to sleep when I don’t have a plan in place,” I said. “I was antsy to get up and get going.”
“That I can understand,” the old man nodded, then he pointed to the whiteboard. “Should we get to it then?”
“I think we should,” I smiled and I took another drink of coffee. “You know, I didn’t want to admit it, but your coffee is better than mine.”
“Yeah, well, you don’t get to be my age without knowing how to brew a mean cup of joe,” Rolly smiled.
“Let’s hope you can teach me then,” I laughed. “I’d like to make it to your age.”
“Oh, you will,” Rolly chuckled. “But I’ll give you some pointers, nonetheless.”
“Much appreciated, old man,” I said and I took the last drink of
my coffee and headed to the whiteboard.
I began to lay out a plan and write down things that we would need for preparation, but then the girls came in looking a bit tired, and I was surprised they hadn’t slept in longer. Even Winchester seemed sluggish to me as he followed the girls in and then laid in front of Rolly.
“Is that coffee I smell?” Paige asked. She was dressed in a college t-shirt and dark jeans.
“It is,” Rolly smiled. “Help yourselves.”
“Oh yes,” Tara sighed. “I used to hate that nasty bean juice, but I totally see why people love it now.”
“Pour me a cup,” Anna called out to Tara and Paige, who were filling their own cups.
“Me too, please,” Bailey smiled, and she took a seat next to Rolly.
“I’ll get you a cup, Bailey,” Tara said. “But Anna didn’t say please.”
“Oh my god,” Anna rolled her eyes, then made big pouty lips at Tara. “Please sir, can I have coffee.”
“Well now you called me sir,” Tara laughed, but she brought Anna a cup and took a seat next to her.
“So, what do you have so far?” Paige asked, and she took a seat and a sip of her coffee.
“I have five focuses,” I said, and I pointed to the board. “We need a place for the livestock, we need to finish our water purification system, we need to stockpile food, we need a wood stove for the dorms, and we need to fortify our defenses.”
“How are we going to stockpile the food we harvest?” Anna asked. “Won’t it go bad?”
“We should can it,” Paige smiled.
“Do you know how to do that?” Tara asked with a raised brow.
“I do,” Bailey smiled. “We had to can stuff in Home Ec class in high school, plus my mom always made canned jams and stuff.”
“Paige is right,” I smiled. “We’ll can as much food as we’re able to, and we’ll have the farmers do the same.”
“Okay, so what about the livestock?” Bailey asked, and she took a sip of her coffee.
“I had Rolly draw up plans for a barn,” I said. “We’ll need someplace to put them come winter.”
“Why don’t we use one of the buildings in town?” Paige suggested.
“Well we need a large open building for them,” Rolly said, and I noticed he was rubbing Winchester’s belly with his foot.
“Isn’t there a barn in town?” Tara asked.
“Yeah,” Bailey agreed. “I think you’re right. Somebody was using it as a garage or something.”
“Okay,” I nodded. “If we can fix up the barn in town, then we can put the animals there.”
“How are we going to water them?” Paige asked.
“Yeah, they already drink way too much,” Anna said, and she shook her head.
“Can we run another pump from the stream?” Tara asked.
“That might work,” I said with a smile. The girls had gotten really good at this, and I was proud of all their suggestions.
“Someone will have to go down in the winter to let them out during the day though,” Bailey said.
“We can all take turns taking care of the livestock,” I nodded.
“We should make a chart of some sort when everyone gets here,” Paige said with a smile. “That way everyone can know what they’re doing each day.”
“You would be excited about a chore chart,” Tara laughed.
“It’s a great way to keep track of things,” Paige grinned.
“Okay, but let’s get to that stove,” Tara said, and she bit her lip with excitement. “I’m so stoked to not be freezing again this winter.”
“We’re probably going to need to find a couple wood stoves that we can move,” I said. “Making one ourselves might prove to be difficult.”
“I can do some research on it,” Paige offered.
“That would be great,” I nodded. “But you have another focus first.”
“What’s that?” Paige asked with a raised brow.
“You’re in charge of finishing our water purification system,” I told her.
“Okay,” she smiled. “I can do that.”
“We’re going to need a lot of wood if we’re using a woodstove all winter,” Anna commented.
“Yes,” I nodded. “We’ll give everyone the task of chopping down and splitting two trees every day so we can start a stockpile.”
“That seems fair,” Bailey nodded.
“Let’s move on to defenses,” I said. “We’re going to need to fortify this place. That includes roadblocks, sentry duty, and people on guard at all times.”
“What’s sentry duty?” Tara asked, and her blonde eyebrows pulled together.
“It’s where you’re out farther from the compound and you alert the group if there’s trouble,” I told her.
“How do you alert them from far away though?” Bailey asked.
“We’ll set up a fire pit that can be seen from the campus,” I said. “If the sentry runs into trouble, they’ll light the fire, then we’ll know to come and assist.”
“Oh, like in Mulan,” Tara grinned.
“Now all of China knows you’re here,” Bailey impersonated a male voice, and all the girls laughed.
“Yes,” I chuckled. “Like Mulan.”
“Okay,” Anna said, back to her business tone. “We can do that.”
“We can’t block the roads until we have enough supplies though,” I said. “Once we block it, we’re locked in for the winter.”
“So, we’re making supply runs?” Paige asked.
“Yes,” I nodded. “We’ll make runs to gather whatever supplies we can since we won’t be able to leave after winter hits.”
“What about the farms?” Tara asked. “Are we going to barricade them too?”
“They’re pretty out in the open,” Anna said, and she pursed her lips. “I don’t think we can really defend them.”
“We’ll try if we can,” I said, and I looked to Rolly. “But right now, we’ll focus on the school first since everyone will be here. We need to make sure this place is protected.”
“So, who’s doing what?” Bailey asked.
“We’ll start making runs today,” I said. “Anna and I will go on the first run.”
“Sweet.” Anna grinned.
“Paige, you’re working on our water filtration system, so make a list of everything you’ll need,” I said.
“On it,” the brunette grinned.
“Tara and Bailey, I need you on trap duty this morning,” I said.
“Lame,” Tara pouted. “Next time I call dibs on a road trip with Tav.”
“I’ll try to get everyone a chance,” I laughed, then I turned to Rolly. “Can you check out the barn in town? Make a list of anything you’ll need for repairs, and a list of things for a wood stove.”
“On it,” the old man replied. “I’ll check the houses for wood stoves we can move too.”
“If we don’t have lists yet then what are we looking for on our run today?” Anna questioned.
“We’re going to look for canning supplies,” I said. “If we can get things going, then the farmers may feel better about leaving their homes, and one good way to do that is to show we have a way to preserve food for winter.”
“Okay,” Anna nodded.
“Tara and Bailey, once you’re done with traps help Rolly and Paige,” I said.
“We won’t take long,” Bailey smiled. “Rolly, you should wait for us to get back before heading into town. I’ll go with you.”
“Oh, I think I’ll be alright,” the old man waved.
“I think Bailey is right,” I smiled at the old timer. “We should use the buddy system.”
“Don’t worry, Betty can be your buddy soon,” Tara grinned at the old man.
“I don’t think I’d mind that,” Rolly laughed, and it seemed like maybe he was finally growing accustomed to the girl’s dirty jokes.
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s break for the day and head out.”
“Can we take the horses to check the
traps?” Tara asked with a grin.
“I don’t see why not,” I smiled. “Let them get a good drink from the stream too. It might save us on water trips.”
“Oh yeah, we have to take them down there a few times a day, right?” Paige asked.
“Yes,” I nodded. “I want everyone to get used to riding. Since Bailey, Tara, and I have the most experience you’ll all ride with us your first few times.”
“Okay,” Bailey said, and she stood and followed Tara out the door.
“Couldn’t even say goodbye,” Anna muttered with a laugh.
“They’re excited to ride,” Paige said with a smile. “It’s kinda cute.”
“It is,” I agreed. “Paige, before you start on the water, can you go over a map with Anna and I?”
“Sure,” she nodded. “What are we looking for?”
“We need to find some towns that weren’t hit by the bikers,” I said.
“Okay,” Paige pursed her lips, then she stood up and retrieved some maps and laid them out on one of the library tables. “Brownsville will probably be a safe bet.”
“It looks pretty small,” Anna commented.
“Yeah,” Paige nodded. “But it shouldn’t have been hit by the bikers, and if it’s untouched, then probably more southern towns are too. I figured we should start small and work our way up.”
“Good thinking,” I smiled at the pretty brunette.
“Thanks,” she smiled back.
“It looks like we just follow Highway 7 all the way down,” Anna said.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Let’s get ready to go.”
“Just a day trip, right?” Anna asked.
“Yeah,” I nodded. “We need to be back before the farmers and civilians get here later.”
“Right,” she said. “I’ll go grab my pack.”
“Make sure you grab your vest too,” I told her. “We’re not taking any chances out there.”
“On it,” Anna called out, then she exited the library.
“I think we should build more showers,” Paige said.
“That’s a good idea,” I nodded, and I added it to the board.
“There’s going to be a lot of people,” she said. “I don’t want anyone getting smelly.”
“Good call,” I chuckled. “Anna and I will be back later, try to have your lists ready.”