Katherine cut through all of the ribbing, walked into her father’s embrace while yawning, and gave him a hug. “Morning, Daddy. Thanks for letting us sleep in.”
“Good morning, girls. So, what works over at Three Sisters?”
“We have heat and hot water, but the electricity is out,” Layla replied as she took her father’s coffee cup and sipped at the contents.
“So it appears that all of the well pump shrouds worked perfectly. Everyone has running water. The underground fuel oil and propane tanks are still working as well. We’ll check the diesel and unleaded when we fill up some of the tractors and trucks later today. We can deal with the lack of electricity in a little bit, maybe tomorrow. Until then though, you girls will need to get the lanterns out of the barn.”
“Dad, I’ve been thinking about the greenhouses,” Layla said without preamble and she gave her dad’s coffee cup to Heather to finish off.
“Oh, what about them?” her father asked as he returned his focus on the structures.
“It seems to me that with all of the power out, the timer settings on the lighting will act like a beacon in the morning and evening hours. Since there isn’t any other ambient light from the nearby towns to wash out their glow, it might attract people. I don’t think we want that.”
In a bit of play-acting he said, “Damn,” under his breathe. “I hadn’t thought of that. Anything else?”
“Actually, yeah. We don’t need to run all of these bays anymore either. Nobody’s going to magically show up in a delivery truck. Since we are only providing for ourselves by and large, I think we could grow enough with some extra for the root cellar in only one, or maybe, two of the bays. That’ll keep the strain off of the deep cycle batteries. Those need to last as long as possible.”
Gregg started slowly shaking his head.
“What,” Josh said.
“It’s nothing. I’m sure you’ve already thought about it,” he replied.
“So far, I’m a big fat ‘oh-fer’ this morning. Spill it,” he ordered continuing the charade.
“It’s just that these things aren’t that defensible from the cabin or from Three Sisters. There’s too much ground to cover in an emergency. The Martinez family is the closest and when people see the glowing on the horizon they’re going to head to their house first,” Gregg answered. “Can we move the one or two bays that we need closer to the cabin, further away from the road. They should be tucked behind a couple of thick hedgerows.”
Heather instinctively raised her hand.
Josh sighed as he exhaled.
“Yes, Heather?”
“Shouldn’t we sell or barter the other bays instead of leaving them here to go unused? We are bound to need something sooner or later,” Heather stated. “Maybe somebody wants them. The controls and pumps and stuff that the hydroponics required are pretty useless. It’s essentially a hot house or an over grown cold frame after all. At a minimum it’ll allow someone to extend their growing season.”
“What the hell,” Josh exclaimed incredulously. “The power’s been out for less than a day and you four are just full of ideas.”
His daughters and Gregg looked at him somewhat sheepishly.
“Tell you what. I am assigning you guys with the task of solving each and every one of these questions. Heather, I’ll give you some names so you can try and line up a couple of buyers. Negotiate a fair trade, no paper money. Also consider that we may need to hold on to a few of them disassembled for a couple of weeks until people realize the power’s not coming back. So don’t be too eager to advertise their availability or the quantity just yet.
“Gregg and Katherine, you guys work on location and defensibility. Layla, grab Juan and his sons and you three handle the movement of two bays to a spot designated by them.
“Before any of that can be done though, every single piece of ripe fruit and vegetable in there has to be picked and stored in the root cellars. Take all of the plants that aren’t ready and consolidate them into one bay and we’ll continue to let them grow until there isn’t any more to pick. Save me the last five or ten percent of each variety for seed harvesting. Those will be extremely valuable for bartering as well.”
The three girls started walking up to the greenhouses to begin picking the produce and start the planning process for the move, but Gregg lingered behind. That was far too easy, he thought.
As if he was suddenly remembering, Josh yelled from behind them, “Grab some of the engineers and have them help out. It’ll give them something to do.”
The girls adjusted course and began working their way to the haylofts to collect any ‘volunteers’.
“Wow. Four little questions generated all of that? I don’t believe for one second that you hadn’t thought of any of that.”
His new friend smiled and then answered, “That’s what they get for sleeping in. Come with me. I’ll show you where I want the two bays put and then we’ll go check on that train.”
“Train? What train.”
“You’ll see,” he replied. “Today is gonna be fun.”
Before turning to follow, Gregg motioned toward the root cellars. “What do you have the Tin Hatters doing out there?”
Josh glanced over his shoulder, “Oh, them? Alysin is a carb junky. They are collecting some fruit to start making yeast water.”
“This day keeps getting stranger by the minute,” he muttered as he fell in line and started walking. “Okay, I’ll bite. What’s that?”
“Uh, yeast in water… just like it sounds,” he answered.
Gregg stopped and stared at him with a look on his face that said, ‘really’?
“Fine. Everybody is so serious today, geez. Take some pieces of fruit, cut up, with the skin on. Fill a jar about half way with that. Then pour a couple cups of spring or filtered water over top until it’s about three quarters full. Just don’t use alkaline water. Put the lid on loosely, or some cheesecloth, and then let it sit somewhere warm for a few days. The yeast and the carbohydrates that are already in the fruit will start to react to one another. After a couple of days there should be bubbles, that’s how you’ll know if it worked. If you have some sugar you can add some to force a faster reaction. When you want to make some leavened bread, replace the individual yeast and water ingredients from the recipe with the yeast water and voilà, you’ll get a nice fluffy loaf... with a hint of apple, or pear, or peach, or raisin, or whatever you used.”
Off in the distance, their attention was beckoned by a fingered whistle from the cabin. The two turned to see Sam and Emily standing on the front porch waving them in.
“Any idea what that’s about?” Josh asked.
“Actually, I do. Betcha all my swear jar donations that it’s something you didn’t think of.”
The Simmons family patriarch replied with a, “Hmm.”
The pair progressed toward the house while Gregg started playing twenty questions regarding the train. To Josh’s credit, he gave non-committal answers in order to preserve the surprise. Just for fun, and to distract him, he mentioned an out of the way metal barn tucked in the corner of the property. By all appearances, it looked dilapidated and unused. The height of the weeds had the desired effect of it being empty and abandoned.
To take Gregg’s over active mind off of the train, which he was now regretting the mention of, Josh made a request for him to assemble the engineers and the remaining members of his old squad to meet at the barn after lunch.
“What’s up?” Josh asked casually as they neared the porch.
“We need to talk to you and Gregg about some things,” Sam replied. “Have a seat.”
“This ought to be good,” Emily’s husband stated from under his breath.
“I heard that,” retorted his wife.
The pair ascended the front steps, but the farmer in him paused to take in Gregg’s handiwork at repairing the damage from his .50 cal fueled rampaged.
As he surveyed the repair and put pressure on various parts of the step,
he turned and said, “Not bad, Sergeant. We’ll make a carpenter out of you yet.” With this he shifted his focus to his fiancé, “So what’s going on?”
“Family,” she stated bluntly. “Specifically, ours,” she concluded while motioning to herself and Emily.
Josh arched his eyebrows, but didn’t say anything.
“If everything is about to go to hell in a hand basket in the next few days like you say, now is the best time to head over to Springfield and retrieve my aunt and Em’s parents. People are still confused and nothing’s organized... it’s only been five hours. Plus, it was so early in the morning that the roads should be practically empty. There shouldn’t be any logjams out there. This is a six hour round trip deal max, assuming they can pack with any degree of urgency.”
Josh was starting to form his reply, but was cut off before speaking. He did manage to retrieve his wallet and remove a ten dollar bill and hand it to Gregg.
Sam waved off the anomaly and continued. “I know this is going to put an extra burden on us, but they are all the two of us have left in terms of family outside of the people already here. And that brings me to my next point, which is, what are we out here? What I mean is, are we a military compound or is this more of a communal type of living? Are we all civilians adhering to the Constitution and existing state law or is the UCMJ in effect? Or is it both?”
Josh smiled and said, “All of the above… for now. Anything else?”
Surprised at the lack of debate, Sam stammered, but managed to eke out, “Well, yes, actually. We’ve completed our task of going through your lists and comparing it to of all of the crap you squirreled away in the barns and in the basement and there were some minor deviations. However, it seems to me that they were accurate as of a month ago. We couldn’t make heads or tails from the cryptic reference of “MB” though. What’s that, where is it, and what’s in it? It wasn’t broken out in list form.”
“That’s part of the surprise. Have I ever told you about government liquidation auctions?” Josh replied.
“Nooo,” she answered in a hesitant tone.
“You’d be amazed at what the fed is willing to sell to civilians. Are Dallas and James in there?”
“Yeah, they’re fixing some lunch, Why?” Emily asked.
“Would you do me a favor and go in and tell them to bring it with them. I’ll give the five of you a quick preview before we head out on our little road trip.”
* * *
Josh spent the next several hours answering questions, taking advise, and generally being inundated by various requests. His brain could hold no more data. To that end, he assembled the family’s, Tin Hatters, Sarkes and his lone remaining Secret Service Agent, as well as Lt. Stokes from the Combat Engineering platoon and Captain Rayna. The group went point by point through each item presented throughout the course of the morning.
Once everything had been hammered out, Josh looked over at Samantha, who had been taking notes, and said, “Okay, I think that’s it. Sam can you please read back the decisions we’ve made so far.”
Sam stood with her notepad in hand and started ticking off the items, personnel, destinations, and time tables.
“Basically, we are going to fan out for the next twenty four to ninety six hours while the window of opportunity is open,” she declared to the assembled group. “In Juan’s truck, Emily, Gregg, and I are headed to Springfield for our remaining family members. Greg’s concession to Josh will be to utilize back roads for the return leg. We are planning on being in and out and return here by noon tomorrow, dinner at the latest.
“James, Dallas, and Brent are in the railroad truck along with ten jerry cans of fuel. They will head to their school in Virginia. Anything of use in terms of gear, food, weapons, reloading supplies, etc. is to be loaded up and brought back or cached. The structures there will be prepped for our relocation should the need arise. They are due to return in two to four days’ time depending on the state of the rail lines.”
Samantha paused for a moment to review her notes to see if she missed anything, then flipped the page.
“Okay, given the fact that we have two squads of combat engineers, we’ve decided to divide and conquer with those assets too. Lt. Stokes,” she stated as she turned to address him directly. “The final assignments are yours, but in a nut shell, the units will be broken into four separate five man teams.
“Team One will take the equipment out of the metal barn and start assessing its viability and make any repairs, if possible and if needed.”
“I still can’t believe you had a 10kW diesel generator and a field kitchen in there. That stuff must have cost a fortune!” Hoplite interjected emphatically.
“Nope, government liquidation auction,” Josh answered. “All told, I only spent three fifty apiece on those. I had a monthly budget of five hundred for various ‘necessities’ and those were too good to pass up.”
Ignoring the blip in her synopsis, Sam continued. “Team Two will recon Lake Hope while Team Three heads to the old Hotel McArthur downtown.
“Lt. Stokes?” Sam asked as she flipped a page and tore out a separate sheet of notes.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied.
“Here’s the list,” she said as she handed the slip of paper to Dallas so it could be passed down the line of attendees.
Before it reached him at the far end of the table, Sam began detailing the contents of the note for the others.
“Team’s Two and Three will need to verify Josh’s intel. There should be over sixty cabins available for use by the engineers and any refugees. The hotel should be in good shape as it was repurposed for office space. We believe there are at least fifteen to twenty rooms there as well.
“Oh, and there is also a lodge and a laundry facility at the park so don’t forget to look for those and assess their viability. Should the need arise, the portable chainsaw mills are at your disposal too.”
“Okay, that about covers it,” Josh started to say before Sam cut him off.
“I wasn’t done with my debrief, honey,” she said curtly.
“Oh, my apologies. I thought you were,” he answered sheepishly. “Please continue.”
Sam glared at him.
“Lt. Stokes has agreed to move the engineers over there once it is prepped for their relocation. As an added bonus, once refugees arrive, it will allow the squads, with Gregg and Captain Rayna, to more easily train new personnel and comply with Rayburn’s request to monitor the collapsed tunnel passively. We should be able to make weekly deliveries of produce so no one gets scurvy until the greenhouse and cold frames can be assembled.
“Once the full platoon arrives, they will begin assisting any campers that are currently stranded. Given the fact that it’s a Monday and winter, the park should be empty. From there they’ll start making preparations for the refugees should they make an exodus from the cities and larger towns.”
“We are still gonna need fuel for all this stuff,” Rayna offered.
“Fear not Captain, I have that covered… in spades,” Josh answered cryptically. “But that reminds me. All three houses are now on heat oil rations, no exceptions. I’m talking Navy showers, and supplemental heat from wood. If we’re lucky, we might be able to locate a wood burning stove.”
“Uh, what’s a Navy shower?” Heather asked.
Hoplite offered a response, “There are two types of showers. You, my dear, are used to the Hollywood variety. That’s where you lollygag and leave the water on while you lather. A combat shower is where you have enough to get wet and rinse. They’re about two minutes max and they’re cold as hell.” Carlos then turned toward Josh and stated, “In light of this new directive, I’d like to suggest shoulder length haircuts for the women, sir.”
“You didn’t date much, did you?” Heather asked rhetorically as she playfully and seductively ran her fingers through her new non-regulation hair. “Maybe you just weren’t showering with the right people, Captain.”
The man was transfixed.
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Dallas leaned over to him and quietly said, “Eyes on your work, son.”
“You two done playing verbal grab-ass?” Sam asked Heather and Carlos. The pair immediately straightened up.
“Good. Now, as for the farm, the Tin Hatters with Heather, Layla, and Katherine will remain here and continue their various tasks and canning operations. Basilia is set to join them once she’s inventoried all of the medical supplies from her office and the three houses. Juan and his sons, along with any volunteers, take down the designated greenhouse bays and reassemble two more at the designated location near the cabin. The remaining bays are to stay in place and functioning until the last of the crops are harvested.
“Chester,” she continued as she turned.
“Yes?” he replied as he started listening in earnest.
“You’ll oversee the movement, placement, and disbursement of the battery banks currently housed in the greenhouses. All deep cycle batteries are to be divvied up and placed, along with an appropriate amount of solar panels, at each of the three houses. Once the greenhouses are moved, you, along with Juan, Jesus, and Abelardo get on horseback and begin removing all of the previously identified remote DOT panels. These collectors will be used for barter or for distribution to locals for communication and recharging purposes.
“Then lastly, Josh, the President, Special Agent Monahan, Hoplite, Lieutenant Stokes, and Engineering Team Four take the three deuce’s, once emptied of their contents, back to Columbus and procure as much as humanly possible from the Defense Supply Center (DSCC). Sarkes has already called SecDef Fielding and made him aware of our various needs. They are expected here by nightfall.”
Josh looked at Sam expectantly.
“Now I’m done,” she offered.
“All right people, let’s get to it,” he said as he pushed off from the table.
“Not so fast,” Hoplite started to say.
“Walk with me, Captain,” the former Officer replied cutting him off and dismissing the others with a wave. He and Samantha met in the doorway as they both headed toward the kitchen.
By the Dawn's Early Light Page 5