by Ron Foster
“We can’t leave here yet for good and I say it might be an awful big mistake for you to consider selling us out.” Ezra warned leaning on his cane and appearing to be considering pulling a concealed pistol.
“What’s all the yelling about?” Dee asked with Parker cautiously studying the group as they walked up from the woods evidently having managed to get the kayaks over here and coming for a parlay and a message from the island survivors.
“A major difference of opinion that needs settling now! Stay out of it.” Zack responded before telling Bobby’s workers that everything was ok and to chill out and let them talk in private a moment, helping matters along by raising his vest a bit as he turned around to show he had a holstered pistol at the small of his back.
“Boss we will go see about bringing the backhoe down here to clear off the causeway when needed.” Jose began before Ezra with a warning pat to his side on his concealed weapon, said he thought it might be better if they just sat down on a couple hickory stumps listening to the conversation and wait for further instructions.
“I suggest you calm down and keep your mouth shut regarding us Bobby!” Zack said pointedly.
“Don’t even begin to think that you can just come down here and tell us what to do no matter what’s going on. Nobody dictates to me! “Bobby said hotly eying Zack who seemed to have taken the ultimate offense that Bobby had even thought to threaten to turn him in to the law for purloining some extra free preps for the group, apocalypse or not.
“I ain’t telling you what to do, I am telling you what you ain’t going to do! You better think more than twice about selling out your new neighbor to the sheriff though. Keep in mind I have your best interest and everyone else’s in mind. Now if you’re not willing to listen to reason in the spirit of the moment things can go as they say rather badly.” Zack said evenly.
“You threatening me boy?” Bobby said nonplussed.
“Stating a fact buddy, come on now! You are normally much more reasonable than this. We need to put our heads together and figure out what a mutual agreement that we can both live with might be. Hear me out some more before you get all riled up.” Zack said with a “don’t push it” attitude.
“I am listening, but don’t think that you can tell me what I am or I ain’t going to be doing on my own personal property! That kind of talk you might say don’t sit well with me!” Bobby said flashing lighting in his eyes at the unwavering Zack who just stared back at him.
“Now this is plain crazy for us two grown men to be talking like this. Used to be my schoolboy response a hundred years ago the solution to this would be I would challenge you to an ass kicking contest in back of the barn and best man win. However, I am too old for that shit and so are you, so hear me out until we can consider taking a swing at each other on another day and settle our own personal pissing contests. It’s not about us now, it’s about the end of the world as we know and the fact of the matter is it has just occurred! I for one don’t need any extra dents or dings but I will tell you this right now, if necessary, I will think about taking you prisoner or shoot your happy ass if you get any more ideas of putting me in any jail during the apocalypse when I am trying to feed you and the others best I can. Now then I hope we got that shit between us out of the way and now we hopefully got an understanding of how things are going to be and what’s right and wrong here to be thinking about. I want us both to be friends and talk about several things that are more than apparent here needing our attention. We got to decide now as honorable gentlemen about to shake hands just how far this goes from here. I can’t be watching my back or worrying about your helpers knifing me or someone finding a shotgun for the duration of this shit but I ain’t the one you should be worried about. No, not by a long shot! Big boy you got an island full of guns and starving people over like it or not and this dumbass country boy and a few others over there spend all their time figuring out how to get along in a world without rule of law in the apocalypse as a hobby or lifestyle and you’re going to either work with us , or get special arrangements made for.” Zack said in a southern way of saying “Where the dead dog would lay” to end this stupid argument about his getting someone to voluntarily allow themselves to be looted for the greater good of the tribe that he was trying to help survive and form up. He hadn’t hijacked or held a gun on anyone yet, he was just warning he was more than capable of considering it though if it meant his freedom or surviving.
“Look at it this way Bobby and see the light. Now consider Zack over there might just be your greatest promoter and vote getter for keeping you in charge as mayor with your demonstrated political skills in leadership and getting everyone to show support for your undisputed landowner rights with the other campers. On the other hand, I bet he can be your biggest detractor and worse enemy if you piss on his parade while he is trying to get everyone prepared for the chaos that’s coming. I would strongly suggest that you listen to him well because I for one am all about seeing the wisdom in putting you under house arrest in your own home after we do a sweep of your house for weapons along with Jose and Pedro’s but that’s just my friendly interloper survival minded thoughts. Thing is, you either work with us or your working against us! Since we are talking plainly there is also the matter of them goats you got living on the island that need to be talked about and considered for the dinner plate.” Ezra said putting on his ‘I shoot ya’ if you don’t “war face and moving a bit closer to the man.
“You leave our goats alone! I mean it!” Jackie, Bobby’s wife exclaimed over hearing the conversation and rushing over to add her objections.
“We don’t need to eat any of them yet but their will come a day soon enough it will be forced upon us to be necessary.” Zack said not sure just how quick that was going to be.
“Hey Bobby! Don’t you remember all told me just the other day you thought about getting rid of them goats once because they were too much trouble but decided not to!” Donna said reminding them Jackie and Bobby kept them around as a tourist draw to make money from rather than for just their cuteness.
“How does that work if you do decide you have to butcher a few?” Jackie asked considering what might happen to the lovable creatures.
“Can’t kill the momma goats because the little ones will die with no sustenance so we are all on short rations like shepherds eating sheep lambs first.” Ezra offered knowing some logical animal husbandry practices.
“Any of you want to be apocalyptic Yahoo farmers know anything at all about how to milk a goat or make cheese from scratch?” a much subdued but wise Bobby said explaining he had raised goats before as a kid and adult longer than anyone else present.
“I have milked one before a long time ago but I never tried the making cheese thing. I don’t know who has what kind of farm skills over there these days but I say it ain’t a stretch to say we are all lacking. Bobby you are going to have to teach us a whole bunch of things and consider we need you as mayor of the town as well as old skills teacher if you ain’t still got a mind to have the sheriff remove us.” Zack said.
“Dang boy, that’s valuable stock, you can’t just take it or abuse it because you are hungry. I talked to Sloan earlier and he came up sharecropping before he joined the military. Let me talk to him and you take a page out of both our books about hard living, raising chickens, goats etc. and only getting meat once a week on Sunday,” Bobby said switching back to the old country gentleman with great depression era applied knowledge he was known for.
“That’s the ticket Bobby! We are all friends and sharecroppers now or you still thinking I need to go to the county farm prison?” Zack said elated the man apparently had started to see it his way but still unsure if the big land holder and possibly devious Alabama politician if you listened to the wrong rhetoric might see the outcome of how his backyard marooned survivors would be getting by differently.
“Now Zack, I don’t take you to be no city boy but you got folks over there I know never set a foot in the deep south befor
e now and they know nothing about living the sharecropping lifestyle. If I provide all their, food, seeds, plots of planting ground and a job you owe me and can’t just up and walk away from an unpaid debt if things don’t work out! Old days it was share with the landowner half or thirds of the harvest depending on skills and investment, shit them fools will be falling out wanting it all the first shovel stroke they take. How you planning to contain them objecting to some hard ass work and no returns? You going to be threatening to shoot them like you did me?” Bobby said still miffed about Zack and Ezra’s alleged armed ambush on him and his helpers.
“You boys get your panties out of a wad! Jackie says raising goats is easy enough and if you old goats quit pissing on your beards trying to outdo each other we can all make it.” Dee interjected as Donna looked ready to give her an “Amen” and Rachel to second it!
Author note: male goats piss on their long chin beards to attract females and the stench of old goat piss on the cocky head butting rutting horny critters is where the “smell like a goat” exclamation people use to describe a non-bathing person comes from.
The grumbling, mumbling and threatening males jockeying for position at first looked like they wanted to say something nasty back but started all mutually laughing about such a great analogy and things calmed down immensely as they took a moment to get their patience back and listen to the ladies advisements on what they thought was appropriate and wise . All bad blood and hurt feelings were out of the way now and the grim business of just surviving anyway they could take over.
“I say we stay we need to stay in teams and Jose and Pedro can take me and Donna to go get Ezra’s truck. Zack can go back to the island and deliver supplies and see about Brent who is making sure the firewood doesn’t get swept downstream back at the landing.” Rachel declared and looking around to see if people were getting in agreement.
“We will get your truck for you Ezra, but I saw something on the way down here for us to consider thinking about getting. Bobby, who owns all them golf carts at that battery store on the side of the road coming here?” Donna asked.
“I don’t rightly know, I only been in there once when they first opened. They sure got a lot of them carts parked there. Ah come on now! You ain’t considering stealing some are you? We just got done with a stealing conversation here and I told you how wrong that was. “Bobby warned.
“I would say appropriating is a better word and if we are going to be using Zack’s boats to evacuate off the island those two marine batteries, he has for electric trolling motors ain’t going to be enough to get the job done without running out of juice.” Donna replied smugly.
“I got two gas outboards and fuel we can use, don’t you worry.” Bobby said before getting the your out voted look from his wife that seemed to want to go on some kind of solar and regular powered battery absconding as mission one of the prepper group’s ladies’ suggestions on improving their lot.
“We should go get whatever stuff we expect we might be needing in town now wherever we can, as quick as we can and grab as much as we can while the getting is good!” Dee advised, ready to go this instant and have some nefarious fun. That is, only if it sounded safe enough to do without confrontation and hopefully if the original owner couldn’t be contacted for asking emergency permissions.
“I guess Bobby you can call this fiasco we find ourselves in a full-blown train wreck of apocalypse now. I agree we Dee. We got to get it and get it done scavenging pretty much everything before the rest of the other likeminded survivor type people think about it.” Zack said half way considering retrieving his own well-armed post-apocalyptic salvage it all crew from the island and getting stuff from town using their own small army of scroungers while the getting looked like it seemed good.
“I think it’s way too early in the game to go all out foraging or looting. That gets us all back to needing to be talking to Rod back on the island about communications! We got to get situational awareness and find out what Law enforcement is doing while they are thinking about our own plans to deal with all this. “Ezra stated.
“I say they already got plenty on their hands at the moment with traffic jams, minor looting and saving their own asses but it could very well be they got a disaster continuity plan in action and one I don’t know about that they have considered and table topped and maybe even practiced earlier.” Zack said considering his emergency management skills and his awareness of how an EOC operated.
“I am more worried about that damn island sinking! I don’t even have my bug out bag with me and we got a lot of people of panicky stranded people to consider needing our help.” Donna said still concerned the water seemed to be rising exponentially getting higher and appealing to Zack to hurry up and make a decision to warn or evacuate them before a fatal error was made.
“You got a hell of a point their Donna! That electrical power generation dam upstream is unregulated and on emergency flood gate over ride as far as I know. I have seen pictures of the town looking like it was going under water before.” Zack said and stared at Bobby for better advisements and judgements. They weren’t just dealing with one boatload of folks to have to get off the island today but something that would be an all-day affair attempting even if the worst wasn’t happening.
“I say we need to get them off the island now then! I can’t guarantee what’s going to happen if all the flood gates on the other tributary river damn are open also. We can find room for all them people around here somewhere but tell them to be sure they carry their tents and any tarps they might have with them. We don’t have any kinds of shelter for them to share.” Bobby said as Jackie nodded her agreement that it just seemed too dangerous to operate otherwise.
“Women and children first to get off the island?” Donna interjected ready to help organize where people should sty at once they got to this other side.
“I’ll look them folks over for fitness and decide who needs to come over here first when we get back. Don’t forget we got some old and infirm special needs people to see about and it ain’t a life or death situation yet of saving the younger ones just because they got a supposed future ahead of them.” Zack said getting ready to go start doing a mass evacuation in case it did indeed turn out to be a hell or high water completely flooded island situation they were about to have to deal with. The place had never gone all the way under water before, perhaps they had time to evacuate or better yet it wouldn’t get any more flooded at all.
“Let me go get my two boats in the water and try to help you get folks striking tents and grabbing their sleeping bags to get on over here a bit quicker just in case. We can go back after their other camping gear later on if it looks safe enough but right now, we just relocate them as speedily as we can I guess.” Bobby said directing Jose and to help when he got back from helping retrieve Ezra’s truck.
“Take one more minute to chat with me before we get moving full tilt Bobby” Zack said wanting to have a few private words..
7
Talking To The Mayor
“Bobby you got any political ambitions or aspirations for this disaster? What I mean by that is are you figuring on trying to work with the government any?” Zack asked.
“What are you suggesting?” Bobby said suspiciously.
“Hell, I don’t know, I am not a politician, you are. I used to be in Emergency Management and you might say that’s all about politics but I don’t have a clue what is you might be thinking or going to do about a situation. I was just asking if you were going to be staying around here or thinking city county state government relief political responses or something. I know your sort of retired from it at the moment but that don’t mean anything. If you all had a plan in state government for reconstruction or some kind of continuity of government gig going on, I figured you would be considering doing it or staying here was all. I might want in on reconstruction but you and I both know there is not much of a chance anyone can do about whatever it was that just happened soon enough to make much differ
ence before the societal egg cracks.’ Zack stated thinking he might could use his disaster management background in some way possibly to better his situation before crap really got bad and martial law was attempted to be imposed.
“Well I got some people in power I want to talk to about things of course but the plan for me and the missus is stay right here. I sure wasn’t planning on being stuck with so many people around here though. What’s your emergency management thoughts on them? How are you going to feed them?” Bobby asked.