by P. A. Glaspy
A woman from the back cut him off. “What do ya think we’ve been doin’? We ain’t had nothing but chicken broth and liquid Jell-O for a week or more at our house! We ain’t got no more resources to pool, Sheriff! The last soup I made was more like water that a chicken walked past. There is nothing left in my cupboards. Not a grain of rice, not a pinto bean to be seen. My kids ain’t eat in two days, and it’s been closer to four for me. We need food now!” She shouted the last word, and the crowd rallied around her with their own cries.
Gary waited for the group to calm down some, then spoke again in an even tone. “I understand. I want to help. I’m trying to set things in motion for all of our futures. We don’t know what’s going on with Washington. We haven’t heard anything. We don’t have any magic contact with the outside world. We lost everything the same as you all did. The only things we know are what has been told to us by folks with ham radios. If they weren’t plugged in, a lot of them made it through the pulse. No one has reported seeing anything even remotely resembling our government or our aid agencies. And, in all likelihood, we won’t. We’re just a small community of about a thousand people now. If there are any branches of the government still operating, they will be focusing on big cities with hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of people. The needs of the many, as they say. Honestly, I don’t think anyone from our government is doing anything to help the people of this country. And no one knows how long this is going to last. It could take months, even years, to get the power back.”
At that, the crowd roared again.
“Years? We’ll all be dead by then!”
“How are we supposed to live that long without power?”
“What are we going to do?”
Gary held his hands up for quiet. As soon as they complied, he went on. “I am working on a plan with one of the farmers in the area who still has equipment running. He agreed to let us farm a section of his place for the town. There’s a couple of old artesian wells just outside of town we can haul water in for folks to use. But that’s still not an overnight fix. Since no one has anything at all, we have some emergency rations that we can hand out. It will only be enough for one meal a day per person, and only for three days. However, in that time, I want the names of at least six men or women who hunt—successfully.” There were a few laughs from the crowd, whose eyes lit up at the prospect of a meal.
Doug broke in. “Where are these rations, Sheriff? How come you ain’t offered them before now?”
Gary looked Doug in the eye. “One, we don’t have many. Two, because of that, we needed it to be a dire emergency, because, three, I refer you back to one. It’s not a fix. It’s barely a Band-Aid. That’s why I want hunters who will agree to hunt for a community food larder. That should help ease some of the hunger pangs.”
The group of townsfolk seemed to like the idea of getting food. There were small smiles and nods. Gary continued. “This is not free food we’re working on. Everybody—every adult and every child over thirteen—will be expected to contribute in some way. The thirteen-year-olds can watch the kids whose parents are working the crops. We gathered all the available seeds at the co-op, and have sorted them out by how fast they grow. Everyone with a yard will be required to dig it up to plant food. We can have leafy greens like arugula and lettuce, as well as radishes, in less than thirty days. Spinach and bush beans in forty-five to fifty. In two months, we can have turnips and cucumbers. That’s a nice variety of veggies right there, y’all.”
A man named Ben spoke up from the center of the group. “How do you know all that about how long it takes them plants to grow, Sheriff? You a farmer, too?”
Gary smiled at him. “I’d love to tell you I am, Ben, but no, I’ve never grown anything but a yard. But I can read. I looked at the seed packets, and grabbed some books from the library on gardening. They’ll be available to anyone who wants to use them. We all need to know how to grow food now.”
Another woman asked, “But, if we have a piece of farm land we can work and use for growing things, why do we have to dig up our yards to plant vegetables? Do you have any idea how much money we spent on sod for our yard last year?”
Ben turned and looked at her. “Unless you’re planning on eating that pretty grass, I’d say yeah, you need to dig it up.”
The crowd laughed as the woman turned red with embarrassment. Gary grinned at Ben, then looked at the crowd. “Exactly. We need food and lots of it. Besides, it’s not like you can mow your lawn now. Might as well put that spot to a valuable use. By the way, the money you paid for that nice lawn won’t entirely go to waste. The soil should be in really good shape for growing vegetables.”
Angie stepped through the door Gary was holding open. She had been listening to the conversations and was ready to address a portion of her people. “Folks, there will be a town meeting at noon today in the square. We are going to lay out the plans for right now, and then for longer term. Please help us spread the word. Anybody who wants to eat any time soon needs to be there. We’ll answer any questions we can. Thank you all for coming. Please go tell your neighbors about the meeting, and we’ll see you all then. Sheriff? Can I speak to you for a moment?” She inclined her head at him, and he nodded.
Gary was turning to go inside when Doug accosted him. “What about them rations, Sheriff? I thought we was getting them now.” There were murmurings of dissent among the group.
Gary replied, “Rations will be distributed at the meeting. Anyone who needs them will get them then.”
Doug retorted, “But we’re hungry now!” Several others in the crowd began raising their voices to join him.
“I know you are. Lots of folks are. But we have to be fair to everyone. Again, they’ll be handed out at the meeting. Now, please go spread the word.” Gary turned and closed the office door, making a point of loudly turning the deadbolt. He looked at Angie. “I sure hope this doesn’t turn into a riot when we start giving out those rations.”
She looked at him resolutely. “It won’t, because the first thing we are going to tell them is that if it does, no one gets anything. You should probably have a couple more deputies though. Any word from the other ones under your employ? Did they ever get in, or try to contact you?”
He shook his head. “Sheila and Randy were seeing each other, although they didn’t want anyone to know, since if that got out, I’d have to let one of them go. From the rumors I heard, they were staying out at his place most of the time, which was on the very edge of the county. Another half mile and he wouldn’t have been eligible to work here. By the time I got out there, there was no one anywhere to be seen. It was probably a good week and a half after everything went down. I have no idea what became of them.”
Angie had a sad look on her face. “Well, if we haven’t heard anything by now, we can only imagine the worst. One would hope that a couple of sheriff’s deputies might be able to make it in this world, but nothing is certain, is it?”
Gary closed his eyes for a moment, then looked at her. “No, it sure isn’t. Marry me, Angie.”
Angie went from sad to shocked. “What? Did you just ask me to marry you? Where did that come from, Gary?”
He glanced at the door and saw there were still people outside, so he took her hand and led her around the corner into his office. He wrapped her in his arms and stared into her eyes. “From my heart, that’s where. We aren’t guaranteed anything in this world, especially now. I love you. I have for a long time. We’ve been dancing around each other for months, hell, years, and I’m tired of it. If we only have a month, or a year, or ten years, that’s fine by me. Say yes, darlin’.”
Angie melted at that sweet expression and smiled, a smile that lit up her whole face. “Yes, I’ll marry you. Now, when would we …”
“Today. In the square, in front of everyone. The first preacher I see gets the pleasure of making you Mrs. Angie Burns.”
“Well, um, okay then. I better go see if I have a clean skirt.” With that, she leaned up to h
im and closed her eyes. He met her halfway with a kiss that took her breath away. When they came up for air, she grinned at him. “Yeah, let’s make this quick. I want more of that and … other stuff.”
He laughed out loud and picked her up in his arms. Just then, Tim walked in the door. “Oh shit, I’m sorry Sheriff. I didn’t mean to interrupt—”
Gary put Angie back on her feet. “No problem, Tim. You’ll be the first to hear the news. Angie and I are getting married. Today. In the town square at the meeting.”
“What meeting?” Tim seemed slightly put off at that, probably that something had been planned that he wasn’t included in. He didn’t even acknowledge the wedding announcement.
Angie addressed him. “We are getting the townsfolk together to lay out the plans for growing food here in town and out at the Warren place. Everyone is going to have to pitch in and do their part if we are to have a chance of not starving this winter. We’re also going to hand out three meals from the emergency rations here to the most needy people, to try to tide them over until we can get some real food coming into town.”
Tim didn’t even try to hide the disdain on his face. “No offense, Mayor Hale, but what is three meals going to do to help anyone? That’s one day. What about tomorrow, and the next day? They’ll just come back for more, and probably not too politely. We’ll have a riot on our hands for whatever is left.”
“There won’t be anything left, Deputy. We’re distributing it all.”
“What? Are you crazy? What are we supposed to eat then?”
Angie looked him in the eye. “The same thing everyone else does. Whatever we can grow or hunt. The free food train is pulling out of the station, Tim. We’re all in this mess together and we lead by example. Now excuse me, I have to go find something decent to get married in. I’ll see you fellas later.”
Angie walked out of the office. Tim stared after her, then turned on Gary. “Sheriff, you can’t do this. We need those supplies. How can we protect the town with no food to keep us going?”
Gary looked at Tim with disgust. “Protect the town, Tim? The only thing you’ve protected since this whole thing started is your own interests. You looked out for you and no one else. That stops today. Angie’s right. We have to send the message that we are no better than anyone else in town, and will be working just as hard as they are to get by. Part of our job, besides helping with the food stores, will be protecting the people and our supplies from marauders. Once we get some food laid by, we’ll need round the clock security to protect it. I intend to deputize about a half dozen people to help with that. We also still need to get out to the Callen place and see if those men are still there. I doubt it, I mean that would be stupid to stay there knowing we’d find out from Clay where they were, but I wouldn’t take them as particularly smart. Unfortunately, that will have to wait. We need to get these rations handed out. Some of those folks are in real bad shape. Start boxing up anything that’s not already packed. And don’t even think about stashing any for yourself. I know almost to the pack how much food and water is here. It all goes.”
Tim turned without another word and headed for the break room.
****
When the items were counted, there was enough for three meals for a day for twenty-five hundred people. Rough guesses put the current population in town at around a thousand, but there were a lot of trailer parks and small subdivisions just outside the city limits. Angie stretched her back and looked around the room.
“I believe we can help some people a little here. If we can get the farm going quickly, maybe get some community hunters lined up for those folks that don’t know how, we might be able to make it. Once the crops start coming in, I think we should put half to three-quarters of it back—anything that can be canned, and possibly dehydrated, and even smoke or sugar-cured meats. Perhaps Barbara Manchin has some room in her basement to hang country hams. We’ll just have to see what the need is, how many people we’ll be providing for …”
She paused, seeming to gather her thoughts. Tim asked, “Do you really think we can help anybody with just three meals? One day’s worth of food is nothing. All you’re going to do is make them hungry for more.”
Angie sighed. “Tim, I’m trying very hard to understand your actions thus far in this catastrophe. The survival mode is a very powerful part of our makeup. I get that you want to survive. Seriously, if you only want to look out for yourself, feel free to walk out that door and go hunting. That meat, that food would be yours to do with as you please. This,” she waved her hand to the rations, “is not. All of it belongs to the community. The only reason we don’t open the doors and invite people in to take it is they would act exactly the way you have. They would take as much as they could and hoard it. The slower among them would get nothing. So, we have to meter it so that it is spread out equally. What you get on your own is yours. What belonged to the town is everyone’s. I believe you have been more than compensated for protecting these provisions up to this point.” She crossed her arms and waited for his response.
Tim eyed the rations then looked from her to Gary. “Exactly how am I supposed to perform my duties with nothing to eat? I can’t protect and serve with no food.”
Gary looked thoughtful, then replied, “Can you hunt?”
“Yeah. I haven’t since I was a kid though. My grandpa took me.”
Gary nodded. “It’s been a while for me, too. Tell you what. We’ll take turns hunting each morning. Take my truck out toward the east. There’s a lot less people living that direction, so hopefully there will be less competition. Squirrel, rabbit, a deer if we’re lucky; that would feed us for a few days. We’ll work together to feed those of us here. I’m going to the library today to see if there are any books on wild edible plants and living off the land. I know you can use every part of a cattail, but I don’t know how to do it. There’s dandelions everywhere and I know for a fact we can eat those. I just don’t know what all the edible plants are or what they look like, but I’ll know soon. We’ll share that knowledge with the folks in town, too. We can do this, Tim, but we have to work together, all of us. Are you willing to try?”
Tim didn’t answer at first. He considered what Gary had said. After a moment, he took a deep breath, stood tall and answered, “Ya know, I think I am, Sheriff. I’ve been looking for the easy way my whole life. I hung out with the wrong people growing up. Getting on with the department is the best thing I ever did, even though I still wanted to find the path that took me the least amount of work. Looks like everyone is gonna be doing a lot of work now. Being a deputy is something I love, and I think I’m good at. I want to help. I would ask that you let me keep on staying here. My house is ten miles away and I don’t have a vehicle that runs. If I stay here, I’ll be close if I’m needed in town.”
Gary smiled. “Yes, that’s fine. I’ll be staying, too. My house is further out than yours. No sense burning gas if we don’t have to. That will run out eventually just like everything else. We’ll need every drop for transporting folks to the farm to work the crops—if there’s still a farm to go to.”
Tim felt a twinge of guilt at the fact that he knew the men who had caused that problem. At one point in his life, he had called them friends. Now, he realized they were traveling down two different roads. Theirs was a road of evil intent. He might even have joined them not too long ago. But now, his road was going to take him toward being a better person, a value to his community, a trusted deputy protecting the people of his town. That sounded a whole lot better than wanted killer. Safer too.
****
“How many of you know how to preserve and keep food without refrigeration?” Angie broached the question to the crowd of about two hundred people in the small park beside the courthouse. A dozen or so of the attendees raised their hands, mostly older women, but a few men and a couple of younger people. Angie nodded at them with a satisfied smile on her face. “I would like some of you to volunteer to teach classes on your chosen method of food prese
rvation to others in town. I’m assuming we’re talking about canning, possibly making jerky, those types of things. Are there others?”
An older man named Clint raised his hand. “I know how to salt cure meat.”
“Excellent. Anyone else with alternative methods?”
“How about smoking meat? That ain’t the same as making jerky,” another gentleman spoke up from the back.
A woman beside him replied, “And dehydrating fruits and vegetables. Not exactly the same as making jerky either. But also, not as easy to do without electricity to power a dehydrator.”
Angie went on. “Perfect. I’m sure by now you’ve all figured out that life as we knew it is gone for the foreseeable future. We have had no contact with any government entities. I think it’s pretty safe to say we are on our own. With no electricity, we need to use alternative methods to preserve food for months, possibly years.”
Another woman with two small children at her side and one on her hip, all looking as if they hadn’t bathed since the pulse, commented aloud. “What food? There ain’t no more food. It’s all gone. The stores are empty. Where are we supposed to get this food? Hell, if you know where some is I ain’t interested in preserving it. I need to feed my kids. We ain’t had a bite to eat in two days.”
Angie addressed her directly. “I understand your concern. We are working on some arrangements with local farmers right now to try to get some crops planted as soon as possible. We just have to hold on—”
She was interrupted by a portly man. “Hold on? With what? Sally there just told you—there ain’t no food nowhere. No food, no water, at least none you could drink without killing yourself. But you look like you’re in pretty good shape, Mayor. Don’t look like you’re doin’ without …”