by Ron Foster
“Did you talk to everyone about the possibility of maybe thinking about moving to town near me?” Rod asked.
“Well I talked to a few people and they had some ideas on that, but I wanted to wait on what you had to say about the conditions over there first.” Zack said watching other campers drifting over to join the conversation.
“Hey Rod…...Zack wanted to ask you about taking us over towards Troy.” Mack said impatient to be somewhere else until they made their minds up.
“I think that can be arranged. You not going to stay around Zack? I thought you would stick around a bit longer.” Rod said with a nervous smile wondering what Zack might be thinking about the days to come.
‘Mack needs to get home to feed his chickens and I need some more gear and food over here. I might even ride back with you once I check on my house.” Zack said assuring others he wasn’t just going to disappear on them and would be around for a while longer to give a little help.
“Well I can take you tomorrow morning or afternoon if that’s ok with you. That will give us some time to talk to everyone and find out how we going to handle this.” Rod said.
“That’s fine, Brent you all staying or going?” Zack asked.
“We need to get home and check on some things. We can get my brother or somebody to brings us back after our vehicles in a week or two.” Brent said considering where he would rather be at the moment.
“Go by Walt’s house and see what he says about this disaster. He watches all those prepper YouTube videos and monitors the space weather gurus. Maybe he has some thoughts or someone was issuing a warning before this crap hit. That man leaves his computer on just about 24/7 and I am sure he was watching something when the grid went down.” Zack said to Mack.
“I was surprised he didn’t come to this affair but I bet he is in full tilt spring planting and trying to get the neighbors to put prepping gardens in on shares.” Nubbie said thinking the old prepper probably had every gun in the house loaded to be on the safe side as well as the first one to lend you ammo if you asked for it.
“He probably suspected this crap would happen and stayed away the sorry so and so.” Brent remarked with a smirk.
“Hey Guys how we doing today?” Neil said walking up.
“I was discussing heading home for a few days or grabbing some grub and gear and coming back with Rod.” Zack said.
“I would prefer if you rode back with me. I will leave you there if that’s what you want or even hang out with you for a day if you need some time to get your place ready but I don’t relish the idea of riding back here alone.” Rod said.
“I will tag along and come back with you if want. Zack is going to lend me an Iver Johnson semi auto tactical shotgun and a few other things so it will be a good trip for me.” Earl said wanting the gun now and not wanting to wait for when Zack made it back.
“Sounds good to me.” Rod responded.
“Sounds good to me also! That takes some of the pressure off about what I need to be doing. Earl you can tag along anyway even if I don’t decide to stay home for a bit. I am also considering getting Ezra to drive his truck down that way but that’s going to depend on what Bobby’s final decision on selling any gas is going to be.” Zack said.
There had been a lot of conversation about what roles people would play around the camp and how to get the most out of various crews’ efforts. The role of leadership in The End Of The World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI) is a tough topic to tackle particularly in a group like they had because there are so many variables.
“Bobby doesn’t want to cut any trees across the road just yet but he sees the need we might have to.” Neil said as Knobby joined the group.
“I put all your boat gear by our tents. It’s a bit far away from the water if we need to use it but its safer and keeping all the solar and batteries together makes it easier to fool with the golf carts. Dee was telling me you might want to go check out some kind of house near here today?” Knobby said.
“You know somebody over this way or you going to try to make a trade?” Rod asked.
“No trading, nobody to trade with or anything much to offer. Dee and the ladies lucked out because they had a commodity with high demand that was very hard to get. I got something for a backup shelter I am considering that needs looking into but I ain’t publicly discussing where or what it is as of just yet. Having all these inexperienced and unprepared people around expose and endanger us somewhat. You still willing to take some of them folks off our hands Rod?” Zack asked.
“I am, but I am also considering the timing on it. The first two to three weeks of a disaster is the critical point. We are at a huge disadvantage because we have uncertainty as to when we can get vehicles off the island. I was thinking what it would be like if we moved some of the more needy people over there now. Could be some of the folks in the neighborhood would be charitable and share some food with them.” Rod replied.
“On the other hand, they might realize if you help one person you best expect to help many. You got a good point though; I hadn’t considered that angle. I was going to tell you to think about letting them shelter in place here two to four weeks and most of the others around living in town or that neighborhood would be too weakened to give us much grief.” Zack said.
“Well town is pretty quiet since the stores closed their doors and run out of most everything. The zombies haven’t got out and started roaming the streets yet if you know what I mean. People ain’t to the point where they totally lost it yet and are staying close to home and trying to figure this disaster out. Speaking of staying home, I plan on staying off the roads and close to mine after I get you guys dropped off.” Rod said.
“In extreme conditions like we will all be facing intel and circumstances are going to dictate all our next moves. I was planning on going back to my home when I can pull my trailer out but I want to talk to Bobby first some more. I think anyone considering long term survival should also. Bobby has or will have access to something we all need and that is animal protein if his talks with a couple farmer friends bears fruit. I got enough preps at home to last a year but that’s not the same as being part of something here.” Sloan said thinking a sharecropper economy of sorts and having access to beef, hogs, chickens and goats was a game changer if something could be worked out. This fact made everyone think on things a little deeper.
“Well I am agreeing with you on that note. I was going to have a talk with Mack about moving back over here in a few months maybe. I was also considering coastal Florida and playing apocalyptic beach bum but this weather and pole shift chaos crap or whatever it is has me a bit worried on current and future conditions there.” Zack said.
“If we can work out housing, we might be able to make a go out of it. Right now, it looks like Rod’s idea of the gated community might produce some immediate shelter and Bobby’s land is a short shuttle commute away for workers to come help with the fields and animals.” Sloan said.
“I got another option I want to put on the table. It is kind of radical in a way and I do have my reservations about it, but I don’t see we have very many choices other than what I am going to propose. I have advised a few of you that I would look out for you best I could equipment wise and so far, I have done so. You know that I will offer you a little bit of my expensive long-term stored food but I haven’t promised you anything or said I would offer do any specific amount and that causes me some mental and moral issues. I could grab Ann, bug out and to attempt sit at home in the country trying to defend my house and my food for a year, I got the preps and ammunition to do that. I could come back and share a small bit of what food I have with people over here and leave everyone on their own over here but I tell you now that ain’t happening. For one thing, I am only willing to share with a select few people over here. I am sort of selfish in my ways and don’t apply to that group think mentality of a communal larder I see going on that needs to occur at the gated community. The fact is there is just us, and those other peo
ple outside my group are going to do what they are going to do. I am not going to spend my time worrying about people that I don’t have any control over. We have a lot of control over ourselves and which direction we take and if we can all agree that sticking together on our own is the wisest course of action now, then we can deal with the other two settlements in the future as an independent versus a dependent entity. I got a place in mind we can do that all together if it checks out.” Zack said.
“What kind of place have you got in mind Zack?” Sloan asked.
“Well I will tell you in a minute but you aren’t really in this plan unless you want to be. I think your too valuable staying right over here where you’re at and being next to Bobby for helping getting the sharecropping going as well as providing us intel and a voice over here.” Zack replied.
“I got no problem sticking around here awhile but I would sort of like to know what I am turning down before I agree to it. “Sloan said regarding him.
“Well I know some landholders during the sharecropping era were so stingy and miserly would if they could, raise the dead make them pay rent. I don’t like to get myself in a position where I am beholding to someone like that. Now I ain’t saying Bobby or you are going to be acting like that over here but I kind of like to have my own say so about what is best for me or what I am going to do today. You don’t get that kind of choices very often sharecropping because your boss, the weather or the bugs all play a role in telling you when you need to be in the fields. That gated community idea gives me my own reservations and Rod I ain’t quite sure how you are going t handle that bunch over there. You looking a bit spiffy today by the way.” Zack said outlining his thoughts on conditions in what looked to be two survival camps already being set up.
“Ok I am game, What’s the spiffy remark about? You come over to the house and I will be happy to lend you my tankless propane hot water heater and you can take a shower like I did.” Rod said regarding one of the cool preps he had and most others didn’t.
“What he means is you need to be dressing more gray man and blending in. Hell boy, you wouldn’t be out pf place playing golf at a country club!” Sloan said.
“Could I get Dee to ride me around on that?” Rod quipped back pointing at the Cadillac golf cart parked on the periphery of their discussion.
“That’s the point, it doesn’t blend in. Let me tell you a saying I learned in the Middle East. It has nothing to do with your weight. It’s just a saying I use when talking to folks about what it takes to be a grey man in the apocalypse. The saying is “Beware the fat man in the skinny land.” Don’t get all cleaned up to go out in public, put on some dirty cloths instead if that’s what you need to do. Look tired, look hungry, look dirty, in other words look like the people you’re seeing the most of in your surroundings. If people are out looking for supplies or going to a relief station, make it look like you are needing to be doing the same and needing the same.” Sloan advised saying wearing drab clothes and not drawing attention to yourself by looking too different was best. That included camo and combat gear.
“Oh, I understand what you are saying. Really this is my blend in clothes at the moment because I have been visiting some official type folk getting intel for us but point taken. Around here I do stand out.” Rod said looking at Zack who had been camping out here days before anyone arrived and was unshaven and pretty scruffy looking grinning at him.
“I say if you don’t know what your doing, do it slowly, or for that matter look back on history for an answer. You know one of my favorite writers who I don’t read nearly enough of is also the owner of Sea Eagle Inflatable Boats and Panther Martin Fishing that made that cool bass lure I caught that whopper with? He has been more than instrumental in your survival by the way people other than just that support for my writing and marketing efforts this event providing us with that cool inflatable dingy. Cecil its CEO writes a WordPress blog called “Tangled Tales of An American Family” https://tangledtalesofanamericanfamily.com/ that records and immortalizes his fascinating families unique history and it’s one particular piece he wrote that gave me the answer to what I think is our surest bet to get through these hard times. It seems that during the Great Depression era in order to keep up appearances and keep the wolf away from their door a small number of formerly wealthy families banded together and rented various mansions to move in together and share expenses. Great story, well worth the read! The different named families made it through that awful era and some of them even regained their wealth by pooling their resources under one roof! I propose to do the same but with a slight twist. I know where a river mansion is not far from here that we should be able to move into no problem and we can all tribe up there and just come over here to visit off and on.” Zack said with a conspiratorial smile .t
“Now this is getting interesting!” Donna said as Rachel and Parker moved closer to listen better.
“Well the place is basically a big farm house built in 1912 but it has eight bedrooms, a basement, sewing room, a ball room sized living room with a great fireplace, separate butler and cook quarters, main kitchen, outside kitchen and some out buildings. It is really close to the water and has its own dock facilities that are hopefully still usable. Me and Ann get the master suite and you all can fight over the other bedrooms. Anyone interested?” Zack said expectantly.
“Me and Neil are! We can park our RV next to it and you all don’t need to even give up a bedroom.” Nick said as Knobby excitedly concurred.
“That still leaves the matter of food Zack, of course we got the same problem here.” Parker said.
“Well here is the deal, I am inviting you to my Mac Mansion as like-minded friends but it’s my house, so my rules if you can live with them or you can go to the sharecropper or the gated community if you like. I think you will like it better with me and can leave at any time but no matter where you go it’s pretty much nothing but hard times and hard work every day. I figure I got enough food to put in the house’s mutual larder to be the equivalent of one person for a year or an easy 10 people for 40 days. We should be able to stretch that to 60 days if we are augmenting our diet with fishing and hunting. That would be time enough to get our vegetable garden put in the ground if Bobby lends us a tractor and have it producing in 90 days if we are lucky. I doubt he will balk at doing it but I got a roto tiller we can drag down here that will save us a bunch of hand work this year. You can pretty much see they had a big kitchen garden there for many years so I bet its good soil.”
“I can bring my chickens back with me. I only got 6 but it’s a start.” Mack said offering to start back up the old farm’s poultry shed.
“I got a few rabbits I have been raising. I ain’t got the art of raising them down just right yet but I been practicing on it.” Brent said thinking if he had more time to tend to them maybe he would have more success. Maybe Bobby would know someone local to that had better rabbits to start with than he had that didn’t have weird genetic mothering traits. Brent considered having discussed some animal husbandry parenting behavioral problems some of the past pairs of new mothers had exhibited.
“I was going to bring my canner back with me. I got about six unused cases of brand new canning jars and a few boxes of lids,seals and some other stuff.” Zack said.
“I know how to can and put up stuff, so does Donna!” Rachel said beaming.
“Good, I don’t have a lot of experience with it and neither does Ann. I was going to suggest to Bobby after the majority of folks are gone, we cull his goat herd a bit and put up some meat up for our pantry’s. That’s a whole bunch of jars I got but not in the big scheme of things and being able to put meat in jars ought to be an even trade with him if we give him half of butchering and production.” Zack said imagining stretching their food supplies to get through the hardest of times ahead when nothing was growing.
“I am all in! You want to go look at the place today before you need to leave out in the morning?” Ezra asked.
“Your read
ing my mind! Ann is going to come along and I guess Parker and Dee can ride in the back of the truck if they want to come. ´ Zack said.
“I want to come!” Donna said and Rachel voiced the same.
We can’t take everyone this trip. This is just a look see for us to check out the roads and the house’s availability. No telling if we are going to run into any trouble at the house or on the road either.” Zack said saying that there was plenty of people to go on this mission already and he didn’t want any more riders.