After giving Lizzie a big hug, Cassie and Andy hung the deer in a nearby tree to cool. They let the deer cool for a few hours before skinning it and preparing to butcher. Cassie expertly broke the meat down into portions, cutting out the backstraps and the tenderloins and then removing the quarters. The kids watched with a combination of amazement, excitement, and disgust. Lizzie proclaimed the whole process was “gross!” but Benjy and Timmy both wanted to help. Cassie showed the boys how to slice the meat really thin and put the slices into one of the buckets filled with salted cold water. Cassie then showed everyone how to build a temporary smoker using branches with a spare blanket wrapped around it like a teepee. She built a tiny fire at the bottom and put several pieces of oak onto the fire. “The idea is not to cook the meat, but to smoke it. A low fire and lots of smoke will make some decent-tasting jerky for us,” she explained.
“Why did you use oak?” asked the ever-inquisitive Benjy.
“Oak gives the meat a good flavor and it’s safe to use. Some woods can give meat a bad taste. I like to use other woods too, like apple, pecan, and hickory, but I didn’t see any of those woods out here, so I used oak. It’s going to take a long time to make all this meat into jerky- about four hours for each batch and we’ve got about three batches. While we’re waiting, I’m going to go inside and cook the backstraps and tenderloins. We’ll eat those today and save the leftovers for tomorrow. We’ll stay here again tonight and leave first thing in the morning. Is that okay with everyone?”
When everyone agreed, Cassie asked Andy to keep his eye on the jerky while she tidied up in the barn for their last night there. Lizzie, of course, came with her, while Benjy and Timmy kept Andy company.
While they were monitoring the progress of the jerky, Andy helped both boys make bows and arrows out of wood they cut off the trees. He used a piece of string pulled from some paracord to make the string for the arrows. While the bow and arrows were flimsy and definitely not something they could use for hunting, at least it was something fun for the boys, and maybe even a bit educational. The kids were having a great time shooting arrows, even though the arrows rarely went more than a few feet. Suddenly, Timmy had a lucky shot: his arrow went about 20 feet towards the woods.
Benjy jumped up. “I’ll get it,” he called as he ran towards the woods. Suddenly, Benjy let out a loud blood-curdling terrified scream as he turned back towards Andy and his brother. As he approached, a large mangy-looking coyote ran out of the woods chasing him. Petra immediately jumped up and ran towards the coyote. As Andy got the two boys into the barn, he reached for his rifle. Petra attacked the coyote, and the two animals were snapping at each other, rolling in the dirt. Andy couldn’t get a clear shot without being afraid he would hit Petra. Suddenly, the two animals sprang apart and Andy was able to shoot the coyote. Once the coyote was down, he shot him again just to be sure the animal was dead. Cassie, who had come out of the barn when Benjy screamed, went over towards the coyote.
“He wasn’t acting like he was sick, just hungry. No foam around his mouth, so that’s good. He probably smelled the jerky smoking. That means we’ll need to be alert for other animals who may also be attracted by the smell, including two-legged ones.”
Just then, Petra gave a little whimper. Cassie turned to her and saw blood on Petra’s fur. “Oh, no, Petra, you’re hurt.” Andy helped her carry the dog into the barn and got warm water and a rag so Cassie could clean the bloody fur and assess for injuries. She found a nasty cut where it looked like the coyote’s claw caught her. She cleaned the cut as best she could and used some antibacterial ointment from the first aid kit. The bleeding had stopped, so she decided not to cover it. Petra gimped over towards the stove, and all of the kids cuddled up to her, petting her and telling her what a heroine she was for saving Benjy.
Chapter 17
After listening to Gus’ retelling of the events in town, Steve called all of the adults together. “We’re going to have to really beef up security. We can’t protect the entire ranch, but we need to be sure the areas around the buildings and the near pastures are secure. We need to keep all of the animals as protected as possible. Sven, you’ve been organizing security patrols. What do you think about us closing the perimeters so you don’t have as much empty land to cover, and then maybe adding some tanglefoot and some traps?”
“I think it’s a great idea. We don’t want to close the perimeters too much, though, because we need a buffer area to keep any intruders well away from the buildings. I like the idea of putting in some traps, especially if they are the kind of traps that will alert us to someone trying to get in.” Sven looked thoughtful for a minute. “I think I have a couple of boxes of shotgun primers. We could use those along with trip lines and something like rat traps to create a loud bang when someone sets them off.”
Lilly stood up. “We have boxes of rat traps in the barn we can use. I also read something once about taking old pieces of wood, putting rusty nails in the wood and leaving them on the ground pointy side up and covered with leaves. The bad guys don’t see it until they step on it. Cassie told me once that when you injure one enemy combatant, it takes two or three fighters out of the fight because they try to help the injured one.”
“Yeah, unless they are all complete animals and don’t care about their fellow fighters,” Steve interjected. “I suspect any crowd that could do the things Gus reported, in a church no less, will not be too worried about leaving their injured behind to suffer. But, it’s still a good idea, and I think one we should try. I also think we ought to put up some hidden deer stands at strategic places like the front gate, the back tree line behind the barns, and places like that.”
Hank nodded. “We can move a couple of the ones we have farther out – Billy, come on, let’s us take down the stands near the far pasture and we’ll bring them back here for Steve and Sven to decide where to put them.”
“Erik, you go with them to be their security so nobody sneaks up on them while they’re working. Don’t forget to take a radio.”
The three men left and conversations about improving security continued. Suddenly, Lilly jumped up and ran out of the room. Steve looked at her, perplexed, but then turned back to the discussion. A few minutes later, Lilly came back holding a small box. She reached into the box, pulled a short cord, and an extremely loud and piercing siren went off. Lilly reached back into the box and quickly disabled the alarm.
“I forgot all about these. Cassie bought them a few months ago to hook them up to trip wires to scare anyone trying to come in. They are so loud; I could hear it from the kitchen when she set one off on the other side of the barn. With no other artificial sounds out there and our security folks out patrolling, these could surely help!” Lilly set the box down in front of Steve.
“Holy cow, how many of these are there?” Steve asked.
“I think there are three dozen. You know Cassie, one is none, two is one, and three is good. She also bought a bunch of fishing line to use with these. I’m going to go check her room. There’s no telling what else she may have come up with. I just wish she was here now.”
-
Cassie yawned and stretched when she awoke the next morning. The group had accomplished a lot the day before. Not only did they make a large amount of jerky, they ate a filling dinner of venison and had enough left over for a couple more filling meals. Even better, Petra seemed to be better. She nuzzled up to Cassie as Cassie checked her wound. Thankfully, it was not as deep as Cassie thought the day before, and there were no signs of infection. After cleaning it, Cassie applied more triple antibiotic ointment and pronounced her good to go. As Cassie was finishing with Petra, the kids and Andy began to wake up.
“Rise and shine everyone!” Cassie called out cheerfully. “We’re going to have the last of the oatmeal this morning for breakfast, and then we hit the road. If we can keep up at the rate we’re going, we should be home in three days!”
That proclamation was enough to get everyone cheering. Even Petra adde
d a few happy barks. While Cassie cooked the oatmeal, everyone else began packing the cart to get ready to go. After Cassie dished up the oatmeal, she sprinkled a little bit of trail mix on each bowl as an extra treat. She knew that everyone was energized and ready to hit the trail, and the extra calories from the trail mix would give them a bit of extra energy.
The weather was perfect for hiking. The sun was out, the sky was clear, and most of the snow from the last storm was almost all melted. The break while waiting for weather to clear gave everyone a chance to rest and regain their energy. Before they left, Cassie showed everyone the map and where they hoped to be by that evening. She warned them that even though the path had been pretty flat so far, there was one really big hill they would need to climb, but they would probably stop for the night soon after that.
When they came to a creek crossing the path, they stopped to refill all of their water containers. It took a little while to filter all of that water, but it was also a good opportunity to teach the kids how to use the filter. While Andy and the kids finished collecting and filtering the water, Cassie got busy fixing lunch for the group. She had just sliced off a chunk of meat when suddenly, Petra growled.
“Get over here by me, kids,” Cassie said, dropping the meat back into the small cooler and picking up her rifle. Andy stood next to her, his rifle also at the ready. Through the woods, they could hear people talking. When the people in the woods stepped onto the path, they were surprised to see Cassie’s group, rifles up. Benjy and Timmy were each holding one of the handguns, as well. The man in the lead of the other group put his hands up in front of him.
“Whoa, friends, we mean no harm to you,” he said. “We’re just passing through on our way home. We have no intentions of hurting anyone. As you can see, we have kids with us, too.” Sure enough, as Andy and Cassie looked at the group, they saw two men, two women and four kids, the smallest one still in diapers. They were pulling two game carts loaded with supplies. Although all of the adults in their group were armed, none of them had touched their weapons. Slowly, Andy and Cassie lowered their rifles.
“Who are you and why are you on this path?” Andy asked.
The man laughed. “We could ask you the same thing. My name is Ed Cooper, this is my wife Sally, her brother Tom Williams, and his wife Mary. Three of the munchkins are mine, and the baby belongs to Tom and Mary. We’re headed to my grandmother’s ranch south of here. How about you folks?”
Andy answered. “I’m Andy, this is Cassie, and these are our kids. We’re headed home north of here.” The two men shook hands as everyone relaxed a little.
“We were just about to have some venison for lunch. Would you all like some?” Cassie asked.
Ed looked at her, obviously surprised. “Are you sure you have enough?”
“Yes, we’ve got a little to spare.” She began slicing the meat.
Sally reached into the game cart and pulled out a loaf of bread wrapped in a clean cloth. “Here, the meat will go farther if we put it in between a couple of slices of bread.”
Cassie looked at the bread in surprise. “Where in the world did you get fresh bread?”
“I made it last night. We have a folding camping oven and I used that.”
Andy laughed. “Great! Now Cassie won’t rest until she has a camping oven to bring with her on our next apocalyptic journey!” Cassie made a face at Andy and everyone else laughed. Soon, all were sitting comfortably together sharing lunch and discussing what each had been doing since the power went out.
“You don’t want to go anywhere near Newcastle,” Tom stated. “Mary and I came through there on our way to meet up with Ed, and it was awful. Most of the town has burned, and some pretty rough folks appear to be living there now. Lucky for us, we went through in the early hours of the morning and stayed outside the city limits, so no one saw us, but we could hear a lot of loud yelling and carrying on. The next morning, when we looked back, we could see a lot of smoke and a few fires still burning.”
“How long ago was that?” Cassie asked nervously.
“Oh, about a week ago. Once we got to Ed’s place, it took us a few days to get ready for this part of the trip. I have no idea what it’s like there now.” He noticed Cassie’s worried expression. “You’re not headed into Newcastle, are you?”
“No, but I know the town and I’m just sorry to hear it is in bad shape.”
Ed jumped in. “If you’re headed north of Newcastle, you’d be better off going to the east of town. That’s how we came, and the countryside was pretty empty.” Ed pulled out his map and showed Cassie and Andy the route they had taken. Cassie could see they had taken the same route she and Andy were planning to take. It was a huge relief to them to know there wasn’t anything major happening on the trail ahead, at least not that their new friends knew about.
After a while, lunch was finished and everyone began to clean up and get ready to move on. After shaking hands again and wishing each other luck, the two groups set back out on the trail. Cassie was concerned that the other group might try to follow them, but after the first mile or so, she relaxed and told Andy she was glad they met other good people, because so far, all they had seen was bad stuff.
The weather continued to cooperate and before long, the group found themselves at the top of the big hill Cassie had warned them about. Surprisingly, it was only midafternoon. They decided to press on and try to make as many miles as they could. Before they left, though, Cassie used the scope on her rifle to survey the areas ahead.
“It’s gone!” she said in shock.
“What’s gone,” asked Andy.
“The steeple from my church, Saint Theresa’s. You can usually see it from here, along with the other taller buildings in Newcastle. I don’t see the steeple, but I do see a lot of smoke. Oh, this is not good. We really need to hurry.”
Andy came over and put his arms around Cassie, who appeared to be on the verge of tears. “Calm down, honey. You said yourself that the ranch is 18 miles from Newcastle. Do you see smoke in the direction of the ranch?”
Cassie peered through the scope. “I do see a little smoke, but nothing like the town. Let’s get going. The sooner we all are home, the safer we’ll be.”
Andy gave her a little squeeze and let go. “Okay, troops, let’s hit the road again!”
Chapter 18
Steve and Lilly were sitting in the ranch office poring over a map of the ranch when Sven and Hank came in.
“I hope we’re not interrupting something,” Hank said.
“No, not at all. Have a seat, gentlemen. What’s up?”
“We just wanted to let you know we’ve now got five deer stands placed for security around the perimeter,” Hank replied.
“That’s great! I didn’t know we had so many.”
“We didn’t,” explained Sven. “Hank here is a miracle worker. With a little scrap wood and some old metal panels, he built us two really sturdy stands. Best part is you have to really look hard to see them. We need to mark them on your map so you know where they are.” Steve handed Sven a pencil and he marked the locations on the map on Steve’s desk.
“We also wanted to let you know when we were putting up the last one, we heard a number of gunshots in the distance. I’d place them somewhere near the Baggart’s ranch to the east. Do you want us to send a team over to check on them?” asked Hank.
Steve looked at Sven. “You’re the security guru. What do you think? The Baggarts are good people. I want to help my neighbors if they need help, but I don’t want to call attention to us or put us at risk.”
Sven looked at the map for a moment, scratched his head, and pointed to the map. This is about where we heard the gunshots. According to the map, that looks like it is near the road by their ranch. I’ll take a couple of guys and we’ll head through the woods to see what we can find out. We’ll go now, and I’ll come back later and let you know what we saw.”
-
Cassie, Andy, and the kids walked until it was too dark to
see. They pulled off the trail into the woods and set up a cold camp – no fire, just a tarp to sleep on. The kids were tired out from all of the walking. Cassie had ridden the last few hours, so she took first watch. Andy was so tired he fell asleep sitting on the ground leaning on the cart. Cassie woke him and helped him to the tarp where he and the kids crashed. Cassie was too excited to sleep. She knew if they pushed it, they would be at the ranch the next day. She couldn’t wait to see her family, and to introduce her new family. “Who would have though that I’d go to the airport one day and come home weeks later with a whole new family!” she thought. She looked at the kids and Andy, all fast asleep, and felt like her heart would burst. “Wait until I see Lilly. She always said I’d never settle down and have a family, and all of a sudden, guess what! I can’t believe how quickly I fell in love, not just with Andy, but with all of them. I think this was just meant to be. If nothing else good comes of this EMP, at least it can take credit for this.”
The night seemed to pass very quickly. Soon, dawn was beginning to streak across the sky as Andy woke up. He came over to Cassie and hugged her. “You weren’t supposed to let me sleep all night!”
She smiled at him. “It’s okay, I am too excited to sleep. We’re so close, I just can’t wait.”
“Well, I’m excited too. I’m going to push the cart first so you can nap. Then, when we start getting closer to the ranch, you can either push or else just give directions.” When Cassie nodded and smiled at him, he tightened his hug and kissed her lightly. “Now, let’s get the munchkins up so we can be on our way!”
-
Sven, Tank, and Wayne crept through the woods towards the Baggart Ranch. As they got closer, they could faintly smell smoke. Suddenly, Tank put his hand out and signed the men to stop. Speaking very softly, he turned to them and said, “I see some movement up there through the trees. It looks like kids, or maybe small adults. Let me get a little closer, and I’ll whistle if I want you to come up. If you hear me shooting, you’d best cover my butt!”
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