by Sage du Toit
She had come to say goodbye to Tabitha and the kids. They were packing their gear and would be pulling out early tomorrow morning. Tabitha had already started crying and it was upsetting the children. She hugged her and told her they would be careful but she couldn’t promise they would come back, Sam was hoping her family was still alive. Crystal was standing in front of Sam with a sad look on her face. She knelt down and signed to her, “What’s wrong?” Crystal said she was sad Sam was leaving, who was going to talk to her? Sam knew that most adults didn’t think to bother to stop and talk to kids, especially one that required them to use sign language. But John had made it mandatory that everyone in the community learn at least a little sign language and Sam hoped this would expand even more.
Sam thought and then she said, “You could talk to Rick!”
But Crystal shook her head no and said, “He spends all of his time talking to mommy or kissing mommy, yuck!”
Sam grinned, happy to hear they had advanced to kissing. She said, “You can talk to Miss Belinda.” Belinda had started coming to help in the Day care. Sam thought that being pregnant was mellowing her out and she seemed happier in a lot of ways. Sam had been teaching her some signs and she hoped she would keep up after she was gone. The kids seemed to really like Belinda, she could be loud sometimes, but so were the kids and they thought she was funny.
Sam walked Crystal over to Belinda and introduced her in sign language. Belinda attempted to sign back, but instead of saying “Hello, nice to meet you” Belinda said, “Hello, nice to milk you.” Crystal laughed and actually fell down and started rolling in the sand laughing. Sam chuckled and showed Belinda the correct motion and explained what she had said. Belinda let out a huge laugh at herself and tapped Crystal and made the exact same motions again and they both laughed. Sam had a feeling that was going to be their greeting from now on and she smiled at both of them. Sam hugged each kid and said good-bye, then hugged Belinda and Tabitha and left to finish packing.
Tom was in the lobby and he asked how things went with the Day care and he hugged her tight, because he knew it was hard for her to say good-bye. They headed out to the warehouse tent and Maria already had a stack of stuff ready for them. She first took them outside and showed them the Bronco was ready to go. The group had decided they didn’t need it and told Tom and Sam to take it. Hernandez had worked on it and tuned the engine. Bronco already had two jerrycans of gas and two boxes of MRE’s. There was a big four-person tent, camp stove with propane canisters, cold weather sleeping bags, pillows, two large jugs of water and even a small stack of wood. Sam and Tom both hugged Maria tight and they went back inside of the warehouse tent.
Maria said, “Tom, you still owe me the favor you promised.” Tom’s head jerked up in shock and he said, “Yes! You are right! I said anything, what do want?” Maria said that her family lived in Atlanta and since they were going that way, she wanted them to see if they could find them and give them a letter from her. Tom’s reply was “Of course!” Maria pulled out a detailed map of the Atlanta area and she showed them where she had marked her family’s house. She told them her parents and five siblings should still all be there, at least she hoped. Sam saw she had tears in her eyes and she put her arm around her waist and hugged her as she continued talking. Sam looked at the map and saw the mark was north of the downtown area and in a crowded suburban neighborhood. Sam looked at Tom and saw the worried look on his face.
They had planned to avoid Atlanta and were going to take a southerly route through Macon, they didn’t want to go through any of the really big cities where there would be crowds of dead bodies and the possibility of running into any hostile groups that might have survived, but he had promised Maria. They re-planned the route and decided they would skirt around the north side of Atlanta and try to stick to the outskirts until they got close to her parents.
Maria told them her father was a preacher and they lived in a house next door to the church so once they got to the area it shouldn’t be hard to figure out which house to go to. Sam was a little shocked to hear Maria’s father was a preacher, she had never seen her attend any of the religious services, but of course that didn’t mean anything. As far as Sam was concerned you didn’t have to go to church to be religious and you didn’t have to be religious to be a great person!
Once they were finished planning their route she took them to the pallet where she had their other gear stacked. She had MOLLE standard rucksacks for both with the attached assault pack, hydration pack and sleep system. Waterproof bags for their clothes, fire starters, flashlights and headlamps, water filtration and test kits, ponchos and poncho liners, rain gear, gloves, 50’ paracord for each, sleeping pads and two more smaller sleeping bags, ground cover and small tent. She had more MRE’s as well as some dehydrated food and snacks for them as well. The had their clothes and other personal items upstairs still. She had them check to see if there was anything else they needed and Tom brought out a list, after checking it over he said, “Compasses, large hunting knives, Night vision goggles, and some camp pots and pans.”
Maria gathered the rest of the items and put them on the pallet, then she wrapped it up and had it put through the check system to go inside where they could pack it. The whole pallet was delivered to their room and they started packing everything. As they packed Sam often asked Tom for his advice on where to put something in the ruck. She saw he added an E-tool that he already had and a few other items. She forgot that he had a kit with him when all of this started. He had put it in the bottom of the closet and she forgot it was there.
Both rucksacks were stuffed, including the assault pack and sleeping system that was attached to the bottom. Sam could barely pick hers up and Tom’s was much heavier, plus he had the small tent attached to the top of his. Sam watched him as he flipped the bag over on its front and upside down, he then reached his hands through the straps and grabbed the frame and lifted the whole thing over his head and settled it on his back as the straps slid down his arms and over his shoulders. She didn’t think she could do it like that. She sat hers up on the bed and sat down in front of it and pushed her arms through the strap and buckled everything and then stood up by leaning forward and pushing up with her knees. She pulled the shoulder straps so the pack was riding higher on her back and adjusted the waist strap. Tom was doing the same thing. They then removed the sacks and made sure all of their straps were tucked in tightened. They didn’t want anything hanging loose.
Dinner was a tear-filled meal and everyone stopped by the table to say goodbye. They were the first ones to strike out alone but Sam had a feeling they wouldn’t be the only ones. There were several others talking of leaving and going to check on friends or family in distant places. Tom had offered to let others join them, safety in numbers after all, but no one else was ready to go yet. Most said they would wait until winter was over then they would go. Sam’s only thought on that was that it might be too late by then if their families needed help. But she was sure others would follow once Tom and Sam lead the way. She just hoped it was safe out there.
Sam had told John about the X marks on the buildings and the big Snack truck she saw. There were plenty of other supply teams so they would do fine without her. Her team had picked up her knack for knowing where to look so she wasn’t worried about that, besides they would have fresh food soon. Tom had finished the solar panel project and they now had a large set of power converters connected to the solar panels on the roof. They also had a battery room to store the energy not used. It was a complicated system that was organized and set up by an electrician from Columbia they had rescued. As long as they had at least partially sunny days they would have enough energy to power the building. If the gas went out they could convert the kitchen to electric, but they would have to cut back on power usage elsewhere to power the kitchen too.
16 November 2020 N-day +129
Fort Jackson, SC
Tom and Sam took one last look around their mini-apartment. They needed to make
sure they hadn’t left any personal items in the rooms because someone else would move in when it was needed. They already had their rucksacks downstairs and gave Maria their extra gear and items to use as needed. Sam found a couple of her hair ties and bobby pins in the bathroom and slipped the ties around her wrist and put the bobby pins in her pocket.
She was standing just outside of the kitchen looking over the living room area, Tom came up behind her and put his arms around her and nuzzled her neck. She was reminded of their first night in the apartment. She grinned and turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck and jumped up and wrapping her legs around his waist. He laughed and said, “Ohh I like this” and kissed her hard as he hugged her body close to his. Sam considered how long they might be on the road, anywhere from three days to seven days was their estimate.
She pushed herself against his crotch and moved up and down a little. She could already feel him getting hard through his pants. He turned slightly and pushed her up against the wall, grinding into her through their clothing. They were both already breathing hard as they kissed passionately. Sam dropped her legs and quickly undid her pants and Tom helped her push them down. She then helped him free his large hard rod from his pants and before she could react he had pushed her down on her knees and pushed the hard knob against her lips. She willingly opened her mouth and he pushed himself inside. She loved to suck on him and she especially loved it when he was a little rough.
He held her head and pushed in and out of her mouth a few times, grunting his pleasure. He then picked her up off her knees and spun her around, pressing her against the wall. Her pants were down around her knees and while she was sucking him she had been rubbing her little nub and fingering herself. He knew she liked to do this and he pressed her hand against herself as he pushed his hard member up from behind searching for her hot slit.
She felt it pressing against her hand and she guided his shaft up inside of herself and he started pumping hard into her. Her right hand was up against the wall and her left was down between her legs rubbing her nub as he pumped into her harder and harder. She could feel the tensions build and suddenly she felt him twitch just as she exploded. She cried out his name just as he moaned hers. When he was done pumping his load into her he spun her around and pushed her hard against the wall as he kissed her hard and then tenderly.
He looked Sam in the eyes and she felt herself mesmerized by his green eyes, he was still pressing her against the wall, holding her hands above her head. He gently rubbed his nose against hers and kissed her lips. He said, “You’re amazing, do you know that?” She smiled and slowly shook her head, “No, you are!” He let her hands go and moved back a little and said, “Well let’s just agree that we both think the other is amazing!” They laughed and went to clean up.
They had decided to eat breakfast before leaving and Sam was glad. The kitchen staff had been absolutely thrilled when she came back with the stuff from Denny’s. All of the food, including the eggs and milk were still good. They assured her they wouldn’t be around much longer to go bad now. The potatoes and sweet potatoes ended up having a few rotten ones in the bottom but they were able to salvage the rest for planting. Joshua was just as thrilled about the potatoes as he was about the play equipment.
The very next day after they got back another supply team went out to check her tip about the Snack trucks. They came back a few hours later with their trucks and the two snack trucks and they were both loaded down. They said there were actually two storage lockers full of the snack foods and they loaded them all up in the trucks that turned out to be drive-able.
When they got down to the dining area, Sam was thrilled, there were waffles made to order, since they had electricity they were using the waffle irons. There was a variety of syrups and jelly or peanut butter to choose from. The buffet also had scrambled eggs, bacon and hash browns. There was a refrigerated milk dispenser and she tried the milk and it tasted fresh, so she got a small glass to go along with her coffee.
All their closest friends had come down to have one last breakfast with them. They were all very excited and some kind of envious that they were going. They were also sad to be saying good-bye. There were even more tears at breakfast and Sam had to keep telling Tabitha to stop because she was going to make her eggs runny! They laughed and held hands. As they were finishing up the kitchen staff came out and told them good-bye too. Julie, the baker, handed Sam a paper bag and when she looked inside there was a small loaf of bread and some muffins. She hugged her and thanked her and showed Tom.
They had asked and received permission to take as many guns and ammo as they thought they would need. The armory was now overstocked because they had broken into and emptied every armory room on the base. After breakfast they went straight to the armory. They both wore tactical vests and load belts. They loaded the vests with extra ammo clips for their M16’s and 9 mm pistols. They had flashbang grenades and tear gas. They took two ammo cases of bullets for both weapon types and a case of the grenades each. Tom considered taking a rocket launcher but he decided that would just be overkill for the two of them, they were already overburdened.
They no longer felt the need for MOPP suits, but they had them in their kit bags, but they still wore their gas masks. They masked up and walked out to the Bronco with all the guns and ammo. The back of the Bronco was full of supplies with the tent on top for easy access. They loaded the back seat with their extra ammo and rucksacks on top so they could be pulled over the backs of the seats in an emergency. They had installed a rack in the center of the seat to hold their M16’s and it even had cup holders. There was a spare tire on the back of the Bronco and Tom had made sure there was a jack and lug wrench in the back before they loaded everything up.
Tom and Sam both gave Maria a big hug and kiss goodbye and got in the Bronco. Sam opened the glove box to get the atlas so she could check the route, she saw it was stuffed with Tom’s favorite candy bars, Twizzlers and beef jerky. She looked at him and said, “Did you do this?” He looked at her quizzically and then in the glove box. He turned around and looked at Maria, she was smiling and crying and started pointing down. Sam looked down and, on the floorboard, next to the seat was a big thermos. She opened it up and smelled coffee! There was also a small backpack and she pulled it out and found a jar of instant coffee, creamer and sugar and two blue travel mugs. She showed Tom and they both turned around and gave thumbs up. Maria waved to them both as they pulled out onto the road.
They were both quiet as they left Fort Jackson. They were both thinking about the great friends they were leaving behind and what was ahead and the dangers they might face. They were also thinking about their families back in Texas and hoping they were alive and well.
Chapter 19
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They hadn’t gone as far as they thought they would on the first day. Just pass I-26 where Sam had gotten off to go to Academy Sports there was a pileup of cars and trucks that they couldn’t get around. There was a semi with a box trailer turned over on its side on the bridge and cars were piled up against it. They had to back track and find an exit, then they got on the eastbound side of the highway and a few miles pass the previous pileup they encountered one on the eastbound side. This one with several Semi’s and one of the had been a tanker. There were burned bodies and cars all over the road. They had to back track again and switch back over to the westbound side. There were other spots where they were able to drive around the cars in the road but it was slow going.
They were constantly on the lookout for signs of other survivors, but they had yet to see any. If there were any, they hadn’t been through this area yet. They had gone about fifty miles and it had taken them almost five hours. Up ahead Sam could see an overpass and it looked like there was another 18-wheeler turned over on its side, this time under the overpass. Tom slowed down to see what their options were, there wasn’t an off ramp to go around it, the median was grass and had a fence in the
middle of it. There were trees and bushes going up the slope to the overpass, and the last turn around was about 5 miles back and they would have to snake around accidents again. Tom said, “It looks like we might be able to squeeze by it if I went off road under the bridge.”
Tom pulled forward slowly and they could see a space between the guardrail that went around the pillars of the overpass and the cab of the truck. The space wasn’t very big and Tom said he wanted to get out and check it to make sure it wasn’t too muddy, he didn’t want to get the Bronco stuck. They both grabbed their M16’s and stepped out of the Bronco as soon as it came to a stop. They had done some drills previous to leaving. He had taught her what she should do if they had to stop like this. They both ran up to the turned over truck and put their backs to it. Tom indicated for her to go around the other direction and they both edged around the truck and checked the other side. Sam gave the all clear sign for her side, Tom did the same.
Tom was walking off in the grass and stomping his feet, it looked solid to Sam. She was wondering what was in the truck, because the doors were still closed. Of course, it could just be empty. When Tom walked over to her she said she thought they should open the doors. The tractor and trailer were both laying on their side and she couldn’t see the logo on the side of either. They eased the trailer door open and shined their flashlights inside.
The trailer was full of cases of bottled water. They extracted a few cases and threw them in the back of the Bronco. It was always good to have some extra water that you knew was clean. They continued on down the highway and everything was clear going except for a few stalled cars here and there. Sam told Tom they were getting close to Augusta, Ga which was a pretty good-sized town right on the States borders. They decided to find a place to stop for the night before they went through it. The atlas they were using showed there was a Welcome Center right before the river on the eastbound side just inside of the South Carolina side, so they got off and crossed over an overpass to get on the eastbound side.