by Sage du Toit
The clouds outside were obscuring the sun so it was a lot darker in the house than it should be for this time of day. She still had her flashlight in the bag from yesterday so she took it out and switched it on, holding it down low and pointing it at the floor. She didn’t want to take a chance of stepping on a dead cat somewhere. The first door was wide open, it was a laundry room with clothes piled up on top of the dryer and a full basket against the well. She guessed someone hadn’t liked doing the laundry! She did a quick inspection of the laundry room and picked up a gallon jug of bleach and sat it on top of the washer. She might need that for decontamination. She then dumped the laundry out of the tall basket and put the bleach bottle inside, she could use the basket to help carry stuff back to her house. A clothes-drying rack leaned against the back wall and she put that out in the hallway to grab on her way out. She might need to hand wash some clothes since she was staying here for a while.
Moving down the hall there was a closed door on the left at the end and two open doors on the right. Coming to the first open door, she saw it was a small room with a single bed and an old sewing machine stand. It showed evidence of being the cat lady’s room. She rummaged through the closet and the lowboy dresser and didn’t find anything useful. She took some of the thread and a pack of needles from the sewing stuff. She went to the next open door on the right and saw it was a bathroom. She searched the cabinets and found a big pack of toilet paper and five hot water bottles that had various covers with cats on them and she wondered why someone would need that many, but maybe they were given to her as gifts.
Sam thought of the cold weather coming in and how helpful these would be and put them all in the basket. She opened the medicine cabinet over the sink and was not shocked to find a large quantity of prescription medicine and vitamins. She put the bottles of vitamins in her bag, she needed them for herself, even if they said over 55. She then looked through the Rx bottles but she wasn’t sure what half of the stuff was. But she knew that it might be valuable to someone so she put it all in the bag. She was glad to see there was also some ibuprofen and acetaminophen. Looking under the sink she found big bottles of alcohol and hydrogen peroxide, a bag of cotton balls, box of cotton swabs, and a big box of band aids. She took the liquid bottles and put them in the basket and the rest of the stuff in her bag.
The last door in the hallway on the left was closed. She stood in front of the door and hesitated before opening it...she had a bad feeling about this door. She reached in her jacket and pulled out the Sig Sauer just in case. She slowly turned the knob and opened the door. Well she was right about her feeling, but she wouldn’t be needing the gun.
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12 July 2020 (Continued)
Fort Jackson, SC
Sgt Timmons had straightened her nose, it was very painful but not any more than when it was broken. She was sure the injections had helped some. After straightening her nose, he took a long tube that was attached to a syringe and put it up her nose, he explained that he was drenching the inside of her nose with more lidocaine. He waited a few minutes then took a strange metal rod and pushed it up in her nose. The whole time he was explaining to her what he was doing in a very calming voice. He had a bit of a southern accent and she wondered where he was from. With the rod up her nose she could just feel the pressure of him pushing on the top part of her nose.
The whole time she was squeezing Tom’s hand, she never let up the pressure and he was just lightly squeezing back to let her know it was OK. She felt like she was going to go cross eyed trying to see what Sgt Timmons was doing, but the numbing effect of the lidocaine was working and she was just feeling slight pressures now. He finished what he was doing and said he was putting a nasal pack in her nose to help keep it stable and then he put a bunch of tape over the bridge of her nose and what he said was a splint. He explained that it could all be removed in a week and until then she needed to be very careful not to bump it, no PT for the next few weeks and to not get involved in any more fights. She immediately started to defend herself and tell him she wasn’t the one fighting but all she got out was “But I....” And then she realized he was teasing her.
The last thing he did was pop an instant ice pack, he wrapped it in a towel and gently placed it over her nose, he told her to leave it on for 20 minutes, he then handed her two pills to swallow and small paper cup with water. The water was cool and it felt good to rinse the taste of blood out of her mouth. Sgt Timmons said it was just ibuprofen and if she needed more to come to him later. He advised her that she could get up and move around and get cleaned up after the 20 minutes but to be careful because she could be dizzy. He also advised her that for the next couple of days she needed to be careful when bending over and if she showered, she should have someone help her. With a mischievous grin, Tom said he would volunteer to help with that! She smacked his hand and grinned. The thought made her heart beat faster and she felt herself blushing.
Now that the shock was wearing off, she could feel her stomach growling. She realized she must be a mess and wondered what she was going to wear while her clothes dried. She hadn’t cried the whole time but realizing she was going to have to depend on help to even bath or wash her clothes she felt tears starting to build in her eyes. She closed her eyes and leaned her head farther back on the couch. Sgt Timmons was asking her when her next Guard duty was. Since Tom was her team leader, he told the Sgt they had just had guard duty this morning and were scheduled for KP duty at breakfast. Sgt Timmons said she was excused from KP and the next Guard duty.
She realized she was going to have a lot of time on her hands over the next few days. Sgt Timmons closed up his medical bag and told her his team had Guard duty now and if she needed anything in the next 4 hours, she could find him there.
Sam softly said, “Thank you SSgt. Timmons”
As he was walking out the door he replied, “It’s my job Tham, and you can call me Jerry.”
Tom was laughing so hard he almost rolled off the couch. It made her smile and she realized that it would probably be a never-ending joke and she better get used to being called Tham.
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Chapter 8
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18 December 2020 (Continued)
Douglasville, GA
Sam stood staring into the room. Once again, she was glad of her gas mask and made a note to herself to check the filters tonight. She shined the light around the dim room. The back of the house was darker and not much light was coming in the window. There were cages and kennels lined up all along the walls. And most of them had dead cats inside. There were two tall cages next to each other and the doors were open on them. Those two cages were different, they looked more like bird cages than cat kennels. But they had been set up for cats because there were litter boxes in both of them. The cages had a simpler flip latch, unlike the other kennels. As she surveyed the room, she counted 10 occupied kennels and it looked like some had contained more than two cats, several even had kittens. She detested breeders that locked all of their animals in cages and left them there for extended periods of time. This was not a cattery, it was a Kitten farm and it was over crowed and it made her mad. Sam also felt sick to her stomach, plus these cats didn’t die from the Nerve gas...they died of starvation! Maybe before N-day they were better taken care of than she thought, but most likely they were cared for just enough to make them look good enough to sell.
There was an empty and torn bag of dry cat food on the floor and the two litter boxes in the open cages were overflowing with feces. It looked like two cats broke out of their cages and lived off of the bag of food while the other kenneled cats died of starvation while watching them eat. They must have run out of food at the end but, where were they? Was one of them Lucky? It had to be..but how did she get out? Sam shined the light around and checked the window. It was closed and secured. There was an open door leading to a bathroom off this room. Sam shined the light at the window in there and it wa
s also closed tight. She then noticed a hole in the floor behind the door. There was a floor vent in the bathroom. The front door and windows in the front were open, so the cat lady must not have had her air conditioner on and that’s what saved the cats in this back room.... only for most of them starve to death. Sam wondered how many people starved to death before it was safe to go outside? She was almost starved herself.…
The cheap linoleum around the vent was ripped and torn and there were even little blood streaks where they must have torn their nails. She must remember to check Lucky’s feet tonight. They must have worked hard to get that vent out of the floor...then they crawled into the duct and found a way out of that. Where was the other cat? It must have been a male cat and Lucky came into heat while they were trapped in the room together. Sam hadn’t thought about it until now but it was kind of odd for a cat to have babies this time of year. Sam sadly nodded her head, but happy that Lucky had made it out and that she had found her. What were the odds? She noticed the toilet seat was up and the bowl of the toilet was still full of water. Just then she heard the toilet run for a few seconds and shut off. So... the toilet had a leak and it was to the cat’s benefit. Without food and water, they never would have survived that long.
She searched the cabinets in this bathroom and found it was all cat related stuff. Some canned kitten milk, tiny milk bottles, hair ball treatment, cat vitamins, nail clippers, brushes, combs, scissors and a large bucket of cat litter. There were more bags of the kitten food, they were just small bags, she probably gave them away when a kitten was purchased. From the looks of the bodies in the kennels she must have had several litters that were about ready to be sold. Hence why she had so many of the small bags of kitten food. She put all she could in her backpack and more in the overflowing laundry basket. She almost forgot about the closet and opened the door and shined her light in. Here was enough cat food to last Lucky for a long, long time. There were two 20 lb. bags of dry cat food, 4 cases of canned cat food, another bucket of litter and stacks of beds and even a basket of cat toys. There were some big boxes stacked in the back and a small dorm sized fridge but she didn’t want to take the time to see what was in it. Whatever was in it was either already rotten or it could wait.
This stuff wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon so she grabbed a couple of the toys and put them in her stuffed bag. She had a heavy load going back home, the litter bucket was over half full and the laundry basket was overflowing. There was no way she could carry anymore, she would even have to come back later for the drying rack. The basket was awkward to carry with the handle of the litter bucket in one hand but she managed to make it out the door and back home just in time for the rain to start falling as she unlocked her front door. She realized she didn’t even check the area before heading back home... that type of lack in safety could get her killed. She looked around and down the street just to confirm that no one was out there. But the rain was starting to come down in torrents and she ducked inside and re-locked the door.
It took her some time to get everything put away. Her watch showed 1:15 but it was dark outside because of the storm so she couldn’t really tell how close to actual time that was. She had gotten used to looking at the sun to estimate the time of day and to living without knowing the time but there was some comfort in having a way to see without looking outside.
Sam wanted to work on the shutters for the window but first she wanted to eat some lunch. The wind and rain were blowing full force outside and it was very dark in the room without any light coming from the window. She lit all of the candles and placed them around the room. She would need light to work. She also hung up the lantern from the ceiling fan and that helped to brighten the room a lot. She decided to keep lunch simple and put some canned beans on low and reheated her coffee. While it was heating, she took one of the boards and held it up to the window. The board was square and it just fit the height of the window, but the two boards would overlap by a lot. She decided to leave the left board full width and cut the right board down so that is just overlapped by about 2 inches. That way when she needed to vent the room from cooking, she could just open the smaller right side. But it bothered her that it would open that whole side and then she remembered there were more hinges and she could make a small section of the right side flip up and she would have a mini hood on her stove. She measured the board for cutting and turned the burners off on the stove.
She sat for a few minutes and listed to the rain beating on the windows while she ate her beans and drank her coffee. Lucky had come out of the closet to see what she was doing earlier and when she saw she wasn’t getting more food she went back into the closet to snuggle and nurse her kittens. The room was getting colder and she remembered the hot water bottles. As soon as she was done with the window, she would put some water on to boil. She laid the boards down flat on the floor and lining up the cut mark for where she wanted to trim, she drew a straight line using the side of the other board. She didn’t have a saw but she did find a box cutter in the drawer with the hinges when she went to get the other two smaller ones. She drew the sharp blade down the line still using the side of the other board as a guide. She continued to slowly but steadily draw the blade down the line gouging a shallow line. She then flipped the board over and did the same thing on the other side. Once she had a shallow line, she pulled up on the bottom panel and it snapped the board breaking it down the line she had gouged.
She used the box cutter to plane the board where she had broken it. It wasn’t perfectly smooth but it would be fine. She attached the hinges to the sides of both boards and then on the bottom of the right-hand board she marked a line six inches up and did the same thing she did previously with the box cutter to break the board. She then added the hinges to the bottom part that she just broke, making sure the two parts would be flush when it was closed. Using the step ladder so she would be able to reach the top hinge she reached up to pull down the corner of the taped garbage bag and tucked it into the side of the window. She then put a screw in the top hinge, made sure the board was level on the window and put in a screw on the bottom hinge. She then put in the other two screws and opened and closed the shutter to make sure it worked right. The board fit inside of the window sill like a glove. She had placed the hinges so it could be opened all the way flush against the wall. She then put up the other board, which was a lot easier because it was smaller. She flipped up the small bottom piece and there was just enough room for her to reach her hand through and unlock and open the window. She used her pencil to act as a prop and propped the vent open.
She decided she would leave the black garbage bag behind the boards, it would block light if she had to open the shutters and with the boards there, she didn’t have to worry about it falling down while she was cooking. She stood back and looked at it, the paneling was the same as on the walls and it made the window look like it was just framed paneling. Happy with her project she left the vent open so she could heat some water.
She took down the lantern and blew out two of the candles. The temperature had dropped even more. She put water in the kettle to heat up for the hot water bottles. She then took the water she boiled this morning and carefully poured it into the CamelBak. The kettle made a low whistle and she rushed over to remove it and shut the window and vent. Taking two of the hot water bottles out of the bathroom, where she had stored them, she put them on the table and pulled the cover back and unstopped both. Carefully she poured the hot water into each bottle and replaced the stoppers. She put one under the covers on her bed and the other tucked under the side of the blanket next to the kittens. It should help to keep them warm through the night.
She took a few minutes to pet each kitten and then put them back in the tub. Lucky seemed to be enjoying the warmth of the Hot water bottle and she had moved where her back was against the bottle. Each time she put a kitten back in the tub Lucky would check it over and lick it, often rolling the kitten over and licking its bottom. Sam remembered when she was twelv
e, she had gone over to her friend Nancy’s house and Nancy’s mother had a cattery. They raised Egyptian Mau cats. One of the queens had just birthed a new litter of kittens and Sam was so excited to go see them. She had never seen such small kittens. She was grossed out when Nancy told her the mama cat was licking the kitten to make it go poop. But Nancy was so matter of fact about it and explained that they couldn’t go unless they did that. Nancy knew all about cats because her mom let her help with the cattery and it all fascinated Sam.
Sam refilled Lucky’s dry food bowl and opened another can of cat food for her as well. She checked the kettle and there was just enough water in it to fill a cup. She added some of the creamer and Ovaltine to the cup and stirred it around. The malt drink was sweet and smooth and hot. It was getting so cold that she could see her breath in front of her face. Her watch showed 6:00 and the storm was still raging outside. She took the lantern and went to the living room to check the back door. She was hoping that the tarp was holding and the living room wasn’t flooding. A wet room would lead to mold and she had enough problems as it was. She had put that tarp up just in time for this storm to come through. It appeared to be holding and she could hear the rain and wind beating on the tarp but she didn’t see any water coming inside.
Back in the bedroom she put ½ a cup of rice and ½ a cup of water in a small pot and set it aside. She would let the rice soak overnight and hopefully it would cut down on the cooking time. She was using a lot of the propane and she didn’t know what she would do when it ran out. Picking up a box of Bacon Cheeseburger Hamburger Helper she read the directions for cooking. Well she obviously didn’t have ground beef or milk but she could add some of the non-dairy creamer to water. The box suggested adding cheese and pickles before serving, she could go for the cheese if she had some, and she did have pickles... so maybe. She had only eaten Hamburger Helper as a kid a few times, her mom said that it had too much sodium in it and reading the label she had to agree.