by A. American
“What the hell is all this?” One of them asked.
Wallner nodded at the tanker and asked, “Is that fuel?”
I smiled, “Damn straight.”
He was laughing. “I can’t believe you got all that! A Stryker! Diesel! I can’t believe it.”
“What’s in that truck?” The other Guardsmen asked.
“That’s all kinds of stuff. I’m not totally sure. I gave them a list of what I wanted. We’ll have to open it up and see.”
As we were talking, Sarge’s Hummer rounded the corner as well. The rain had stopped, though the evening sky was heavily overcast. But the reprieve was nice. Word was getting around we were back and people began to show up. Perez was one of the first ones.
He went straight to Jamie and wrapped his arms around her. “I was worried about you, chica.”
She patted his back. “I’m fine, poppie. It was a milk run. No trouble.”
He smiled. “Good.” Then he rubbed the stubble on his chin. He’d given up shaving. “You, ah, got anything for me in there?”
Jamie took a deep breath and let it out. “You know how hard those are to find? I mean. It’s like looking for a virgin in a whorehouse.” Perez’s shoulders dropped. Jamie smiled and climbed up onto the side of the truck and reached in, retrieving a bag. She hopped down and handed it to him.
Perez opened the bag and his face lit up. “Holy shit!” He exclaimed as he pulled a carton from the bag and tore it open. In an instant, he had a cigarette clenched in his teeth, holding a lighter to it. He took a long deep drag, holding the smoke in for a moment before letting it out through his nose. “Thank you, chica. I was out. I was dying.”
“You were an asshole,” Wallner said.
“You were grumpy as hell!” Jess announced.
Seeing her, I smiled. She was with Taylor and Lee Ann. “I wish you’d been with me,” I said to her. “We drove back on our route. I saw the rest area and Perry. The spot where we found Thad. All of it.”
She was thinking about what I’d said. After a moment, she shook her head. “No. I’m glad I wasn’t there. I don’t need to see any of that again. But I’m glad you guys made it back.”
I smiled at her. “Me too.” Then I looked at Taylor and asked, “How’s mom?”
“She’s good. She’s at home. She knows you’re back.”
“You guys got a lot of stuff,” Lee Ann said. “That tank is super cool. Can I get in it?”
“You want to see inside?” Mike asked. With a huge smile on her face, she nodded. He waved them on, “Come on. You can check it out.” Taylor went as well, and Mike opened the rear doors and started explaining the ammo storage system and showing them the inside.
I leaned against the truck as everyone talked. Doc walked up to me and leaned beside me. “Man, am I glad to be back here. I don’t like doing shit like that anymore.”
“Yeah, me neither,” I replied.
He reached into a dump pouch on his belt and took something out, holding his hand out to me. “Here. Got you something.”
I held my hand out and he dropped a can of Copenhagen into it. I was stunned. “Damn. Where in the hell did you find this?” I was inspecting the can. It was still sealed. Turning it over, I saw it had a manufacture date that was nine months old. But I didn’t care, as I pulled my knife and cut the can open.
“Just a little horse trading. I saw it and thought of you. Guy that had it kept it stored in a freezer. They said they salvaged a truck off the road that was packed with product from the US Tobacco Company. He had a lot of it.”
Putting a pinch in, I said, “I really appreciate it, man. Thanks. What do I owe you for it?”
He waved me off, “You don’t owe me.” He stood up and slapped me on the back. “Happy to do it.”
He walked away towards the Stryker and was intercepted by Jess. Even from where I stood, I could see the excitement in her. She made a bad job of hiding it. She laughed and leaned in, bumping him with her shoulder. It made me smile. Doc was a good guy and I thought of Jess as another daughter. A step-daughter that was kind of annoying. But a daughter, nonetheless. For his part, it was obvious Doc was just as interested. But he was respectful and didn’t do anything inappropriate, which increased my opinion of him.
I walked out to where everyone was gathered up. Sarge was talking to Wallner. I could hear him cussing about Sheffield’s visit. I interrupted his tirade, “I’m going home. I’m tired. This shit can wait until tomorrow.”
“I’m with you,” Sarge replied. “We’ll go through this load tomorrow, then take it to town.”
“Sheffield’s going to give you an ear full,” Wallner said.
“That’s alright. I got something for him. But he should be happy with everything we’ve brought. We’ve got food for the folks in town.”
I didn’t know what he was talking about and didn’t care. I was tired and just wanted to go to bed. “Alright. Tomorrow then,” I said.
The air smelled especially clean as I walked towards the house. With all the rain the last several days, the air was scrubbed clean. But there was also an earthy aroma as well rising up from the ground as my boots squished into the sodden earth. It made for a pleasant mix. It was also very quiet. The only sound was the drips from the trees thudding into the saturated ground.
As dusk fell early because of the cloud cover, the dogs came trotting past me on their nightly patrol. They paused for a moment as they strode by. Just long enough for me to pat their heads before continuing on their way. They may be useless, but they did manage to bring a smile to my face whenever I saw them. Even if it was just them lying on the porch.
There was a dim glow coming from the windows as I came through the gate. I thought it odd. Then I remembered it had been raining for days. The solar system was probably very low. Coming through the door, I was greeted by the dim yellow light of oil lamps. There were two burning in the living room. Little Bit was lying on the sofa with a stuffed bear in her arms, asleep.
Mel was sitting in the chair with her feet up on the ottoman, also asleep. She looked up at me, bleary eyed, and smiled. I leaned my rifle in the corner and went over to her, leaned down and kissed her head.
“Are you hungry? You want me to fix you something?” She asked, always willing to feed me.
I kissed her head again. “No, babe, I’m tired. I want to go to bed.”
“I’ll put Little Bit to bed and I’ll join you.”
“You get ready, I’ll put her to bed,” I replied.
As she got up, I went around and picked Little Bit up in my arms. She half woke up and looked at me, smiling and hugged my neck. I kissed her head and carried her to her bed and laid her down. “I love you, daddy,” she said as I pulled the sheet up over her.
She rolled over on her side, facing away from me, already back asleep. I kissed her head, “Love you too, Little Bit.”
I stayed to watch her for a moment before quietly leaving her room. Mel was coming out of the bathroom when I came into our room. She was carrying one of the LED lanterns. As I took my vest off, I asked, “Are the batteries dead?”
“They’re really low,” she replied as she placed the lantern on the nightstand. “I had to unplug the fridge.”
“I’ll hook up a generator in the morning to charge it back up,” I replied as I sat down on the edge of the bed.
“How was your trip?” She asked as she slid under the cover.
Untying my boots, I said, “It was actually good. Very uneventful.” I stood up and slid my pants off before lying down on the bed. “We drove back on the same route I walked to get home.”
“Really?” She replied, leaning on her elbow.
I was staring at the ceiling and shook my head. “It was really weird. Seeing all those places again. I mean, I saw my car. It was still sitting on the
side of I-10.”
She reached over and rubbed my chest. “Really? What’d it look like?”
I snorted, “Like shit. The doors were open. It was dirty as hell.”
“Well, you’re home now.”
“Again,” I quipped.
She laid her head down on the bed beside me. “All that matters is that you’re still here.”
I leaned over and kissed her. “Yes it is. Yes it is.”
Chapter 6
I slept in a little late. Mel was already up when I came out of the bedroom. Little Bit was sitting at the table eating a pile of pancakes. I had to take a second look to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was.
“Where’d those come from?” I asked.
“Mommy made them. I have honey on them,” she replied as she stuffed an overloaded forkful into her mouth. Adding, “They’re so good!”
I stepped into the kitchen to see Mel at the stove cooking yet more griddle cakes. “You hungry?” she asked.
I hadn’t considered it, but the smell of them was indeed making me ravenous. “Yes, I am,” I replied as I returned to the table and took a seat.
Mel slid a pile of cakes in front of me and I picked up the jar of honey and poured a generous portion on top of them. “Where did this come from?” I asked.
“From the stuff you got yesterday. Everyone is out there going through it. There’s so much. Things I didn’t think we’d see again.”
I packed the hot cakes into my mouth and asked, “Like what?”
“Feminine pads. Disposable pads. I can’t believe you remembered.”
I looked at her sideways. “I’m married to you and have three daughters. Why wouldn’t I remember?”
She smiled and replied, “I guess you’re right. Want some tea?” With my mouth full, I couldn’t talk, but nodded my head. She went to the fridge and poured me a glass.
Noticing the light was out, I swallowed the wad of dough and said, “I’ll go out and start the generator in a minute.”
“Finish your breakfast,” she replied as she set the glass down in front of me.
I pointed with my fork towards the door. “Who’s out there working on that?”
“Everyone. They’re going through it to see what’s in it, setting some aside for us and loading the rest to take to town.”
“Why didn’t someone wake me up?” I asked.
She shrugged. “There’s enough people out there. You were asleep, so I left you alone.”
“Daddy, I want these for breakfast every day!” Little Bit shouted.
“I told you,” Mel replied to her, “we can’t have them every day.”
“But I love them!” Little Bit replied as she forced another forkful into her mouth, smearing honey on the side of her face as she did.
I smiled at her and rubbed her head. “They are good, aren’t they?” She smiled broadly and her head bobbed up and down in an exaggerated display of agreement.
I finished my breakfast and carried the plate to the sink. When I turned on the water to rinse the plate, nothing happened. “Water’s out too,” Mel said.
“Alright. I’ll go start the generator right now. Then I’m going to see what’s going on.”
Little Bit began to wiggle out of her chair. “I’m going with Daddy!”
I went outside and pulled the generator out of the shed. The gauge showed it was about half-full, enough to get the charge back up now that the sun was shining through scattered clouds. I checked the oil quickly, then started it, relieved when it fired up on the second pull. While it warmed up, I connected the cord to it and flipped the breaker on. The generator took up the load nicely and was soon running smoothly.
Back inside, Little Bit was dressed and ready to go. She had on a large straw hat, much too big for her small head. I smiled at her and asked, “You ready to go?”
“Yep!” She replied.
I went into the bedroom and put my shoes on. I didn’t feel like wearing that vest, and instead, I put a holster on my belt and secured the Springfield in it. Walking back into the living room, I called out, “We’ll be back in a little bit. The generator is running, so you should be able to run water.”
“Okay,” Mel replied, “see you later.”
We walked down the road, holding hands. The sun felt good on my face after not seeing it for so many days. I hoped it meant the tropical depression had moved on. As we made our way up the road and the bunker came into view, I could see the trucks. And it was quite a sight. There were mounds of goods stacked around them. More than I thought could possibly fit in the trucks we carried it here on.
Pallets had been scrounged up from somewhere and all the supplies were being sorted and stacked. Sarge was sitting on the hood of his Hummer watching the work. It was Kay who was in the thick of it. She was directing where to put things and keeping a running tally on a notepad. And it seemed everyone was there.
I went over and leaned on the hood of the Hummer. Little Bit didn’t hesitate and dove right into the work. “Damn,” I said. “I didn’t think there was that much.”
Sarge looked over and said, “You told him to give until it hurts. Looks like he did.”
“If they gave us this much, can you imagine how much they actually have?”
He pointed at a pallet of fifty-pound flour sacks. “This is a good sign, that there’s this much coming in.”
I looked at the bags. On the side of one of them, it read, A Gift from America. That struck me. It was the sort of thing you’d see on TV in disaster regions around the world. Or where a population was starving. And yet, here it was.
“Looks like that was already here.”
Sarge nodded. “Maybe. It could also have been stored overseas someplace. But that rice,” he pointed to another pallet full of huge sacks of rice, “that came from Japan.”
“Kind of funny how things come full circle. After WW2, we helped feed them. Now they’re doing it for us.”
Sarge spat onto the ground and replied, “The world ain’t all bad, Morgan ole buddy.” I grunted in reply and walked over to see what all we’d been given.
The variety of items was impressive. I had asked for a lot of it, but some, I hadn’t. There was yeast and baking powder from England, as well as beans. There was sugar from India that I was sure found its way here through England as well. In addition, there were sacks and sacks of beans labeled with India as the country of origin. It was interesting to see.
There were also sacks of Costa Rican coffee and Mexican corn. That one kind of confused me as I was sure they weren’t in the mood to help us at all. But who knows how it found its way here. There were also stacks of boxes of diapers from Turkey. The boxes had a company label on them, Vora; but other than that, they were generic looking. The same label appeared on boxes of sanitary pads. And the amount was impressive. Obviously, they wouldn’t last forever, but in the near term, they would make the women’s lives in the area easier. Along the lines of diapers, there was also powdered baby formula. Something I’d thought of because of Fred.
Mike was cutting open a case and I walked over to see what was in it, as I couldn’t read the writing on the outside of the box. He removed a can and looked at it, asking, “What the hell is this?”
I looked at the can. It was a little bigger than a tuna can and had a picture of a horse on it. I took one from the case and examined it. It was from Romania. There was no pull top; it would require a can opener. But I had a pretty good idea what was in it. “I think it’s horse meat,” I said.
“No shit?” Mike mumbled while he examined the can. “I’ve never had horse meat before.”
“It’s good. I had horse steak once in Wyoming.”
He looked at me, “Really? What’d it taste like?”
I shrugged, “Kind of like beef. But it
was way more tender. You could cut it with a fork.”
He grunted and dropped the can into his pocket. “I’m going to try this shit.”
And there was more. Doc and Jess were going through the medical supplies. Everything from bandages and bottles of alcohol to bags of IV fluids and infusion sets. Doc was busy sorting the items into different stacks. One for dry goods and one for wet.
“Hey, Ronnie, are these antibiotics?” Jess asked, holding a small box in her hand.
He took it and looked at it. “No. This is a steroid. Didn’t expect to see any of this.”
I reached into the open box and removed a package. It was made in Israel and was just the beginning of the drugs we found that had been made there. In the end, there were indeed antibiotics. As well as anti-inflammatory drugs, pain killers, muscle relaxers, anti-diarrheal medicines and one that surprised even Doc.
“Holy crap,” he exclaimed, inspecting a small box.
“What is it?” Jess asked.
“It’s chloroquine. A malaria drug.”
“I didn’t think we had malaria here in Florida,” I said.
“There were a couple of cases back in the 90s. But I thought they had it under control. Kind of weird they sent this.”
“Maybe they just had a lot of it. Sent it as a precaution,” Jess said.
“Maybe,” Doc replied as he tossed it into a box of medications.
“You know, with all this rain, in a week or so the mosquitoes are going to explode,” I said.
“Yeah. But that doesn’t mean there will be a malaria outbreak. It has to be here first, and I really don’t think it is.”
“Look at this!” Fred shouted as she looked down into a very large box. She reached in and picked up a pair of white sneakers. They were simple canvas shoes, much like the old school Converse All Stars. “Anyone need shoes?”
Sarge hopped off the Hummer and walked over to inspect them. “We need to look through there and get a pair for these youngins. A size or two up for growing years too.”