The Event Series (Book 2): The Gospel According to Matthew, Margo & Lance

by Thomas Larson

  It was not oppressively hot today, no afternoon storm, which was good. Other than that, there is not much to report. Vespers were pretty normal tonight, no big stories or lessons on anything.

  (Matt) It has been a long time since I was on horseback, but it came back quickly. I was on a big black mare named Black Olive, she was a little nervous at first, but with a gentle touch and soft voice I made her comfortable. The riding was easy. The rest of the crew seemed to find the riding easy also, with the exception of Chelsea. She is acting a little weird, can’t put my finger on it, it is like she is suddenly this helpless little girl. That was very different from what I had seen of her recently.

  We were back to camp at about 7, had a quick bite and then the usual gathering around the fire at about 9. It was a nice night, clear and almost cool.

  I caught up with Lance after Vespers and I told him that when Tanya and I were on our pilgrimage we had passed by Schenectady Airport. I suggested that it might be a good place to look for fuel because we had seen a number of military transport planes, turbo props, maybe C-130s and the fuel they used would certainly work in the chopper and maybe in the trucks. If it were a military base, there should be a good sized supply.

  I talked to Tanya about Chelsea tonight, I told her what I had seen and how she seemed so uncharacteristically helpless. She listened, and did not say much about it, other than maybe she was intimidated by the horses. Maybe, I thought, but there is something else.

  June 27th

  (Lance) I caught up with Stephen over breakfast, as we sat enjoying whatever it is we drink under the name of coffee I asked. “Stephen, what is the difference between jet fuel and kerosene?”

  “Well, the best I can remember is that Jet fuel, particularly Jet-A has some additives, that makes it Kerosene on steroids.” He replied, “Why do you ask?”

  “See, I have been thinking about our fuel situation, and mostly about the trucks and SUV’s we have, that are mostly diesel powered. We are running low on fuel for them, and I was thinking about places where we might be able to find some more.”

  “Okay”, he said, sounding a little confused. “It is not like we could take gas from the chopper and using it to run the trucks, I don’t have that much to spare.”

  “No, right, and that is not where I am going for here. I am thinking about finding another source, a source for both you, and the trucks.” I said. “See, gasoline, even if we found a good supply, has a sort of shelf life of use, unless we came upon a supply of like, high test.”

  “Ah, and Kerosene, and most likely JP-8 doesn’t.” he said thoughtfully.

  “JP-8?”

  “Yeah, sorry, JP-8 is the military designation for Jet-A, same thing.” He replied. “You think you found some?”

  “Well, I have a couple ideas, and we might be able to get some, but I’m not sure.”

  “You gonna share?” he asked.

  “Of course I am, I wouldn’t horde it for the trucks only,” I said

  “No, I meant the where, where would you find some, I have checked all the little airports around and there was some, but we have sponged most of that up over time.”

  “Well, I was thinking about the bigger airports in the area. There is the one in Albany, and also there is a regional in Schenectady.” I told him.

  “Hmmmm, well, I might have enough left in the chopper to get us to Albany, but unless we were able to get some there, we would have a long walk home.” He said, kind of slow, like he was thinking about something.

  “I’m thinking that Schenectady might be a better shot, Matt said when he was on his pilgrimage he saw a bunch of small turboprop cargo planes there, Air Force stuff. Maybe, and you would know better, but I am thinking that there might be some kind of tanker trucks there. If we could get a couple of those….”

  He lit up like a beacon, “Yeah, they would, and we could get them back here pretty easy, one tanker would give me a lot of flight time, and one for the trucks would give you a lot of road time.”

  We talked a little more and decided that we would talk with The Three and set up a little expedition out to Schenectady and hit Albany on the way back. An inventory of what was there would be a good thing to have; it would give us some more range and mobility should we need it.

  I pitched the plan to The Three and they bought it, but not without reservations. I told them that it would require taking about 6 people out of camp for a day; they saw it as 6 good defenders away, and told me that I could take 4, one truck and that was it. It would work, because if we could get one truck, we could fly back in with a small crew and grab another, maybe two. This could work. Stephen, Fred, Del and I will be off in the morning.

  Margo) Jan and Charlene played Bo-Peeps this morning, while Matt, Code, me and Chels headed out to the horse farm. We took the bikes, it will be hot coming back, but we really don’t have much of an option.

  Teckla and Tay were glad to see us, although there seemed to be a little tension between Tay and Chels. I am remembering something from a conversation with Tay and think I know what is going on there.

  We took the usual horses, I was on Lemon Drop, and we had the other horses that we didn’t usually ride and had them follow along like a little train. We wanted to get them used to that kind of riding. Then even if the person at the back was a terrible rider, the horses would follow the leader.

  I was right; it was hot riding back to camp on the bikes, at least with the horses we were in the shade and woods. The bugs were a pain, but it was cool. (Note to self, next scavenger opportunity, insect repellent.)

  I think that Teckla and Tay must have talked because Teckla kept getting in between Chels and Tay, I could see some frustration on Chels’ face.

  Vespers tonight were pretty much standard. Matt told us about a spirit animal. I never considered a mouse to be a spirit animal, and yet, as he explained it, I could see it. Mouse was the watcher, it had to be constantly looking around, seeing what was happening, and what was close by. Mouse was often the meal of so many predators that it had to be looking all the time. Scrutiny is its trait. I thought of Tom and his “situational awareness.” Although I don’t think mouse was his animal guide.

  After Vespers, as Code and I were walking back to the cabin, Jan caught me.

  “Margo, do you feel something is watching you when you are out there with the sheep.” She asked.

  “Yeah, I think it is the mountain lion, but I’ve never see her.” I answered.

  “Yeah, okay, I felt it and well, just wasn’t sure if I was paranoid. Charlene said she didn’t feel it. Thanks.” And she and Fred started to their cabin.

  I know that Charlene was aware of the something that was out there, we have talked about it. She was probably just trying to calm Jan down.

  (Matt) What a boring day, the tedium is sometimes brutal, and yet a blessing. Visit the crops, catch the bunnies, pick some greens, that was it. It is peaceful, and I like that. I actually took a nap this afternoon.

  I had a dream about a little mouse, I was that mouse, and suddenly there was a bunch of snakes coming at me. I sensed and saw them in time, and was able to get away. Funny, I don’t often remember my dreams. I will use this at Fire Pit tonight.

  After Fire Pit it was still warm. I talked Tanya into a late night visit to the lake. It was a full moon, and we sat on the beach for a bit watching the stars. We saw a couple of shooting stars (I hate the term meteors) despite the brightness of the moon. We were alone, just the two of us. Suddenly, Tanya got up and took off her clothes and started toward the water.

  “You coming, Father Sky?”

  “Oh Yeah, Earth Mother!” I answered leaving a trail of clothing behind me.

  The water was refreshing, not cold, we just kind of half floated in the lake, like a couple of sea otters, holding hands, and later….

  June 28th

  (Margo) It was a Bo-Peep day for me today; I would rather do that than play “Mushroom Hunter”. I was off early with sketch book in hand. Code was taking car
e of some things that The Three had asked him to handle. Del and Lance were going out on a scout mission of some kind. So it was just me.

  I settled under the tree and just enjoyed the day; it was not super-hot which was nice considering the time of year. But once again, I nodded off, the quiet, the birds, the peacefulness of it all, I couldn’t help it.

  I dreamed, or is it dreamt, never finished HS English, I have an excuse. Anyway, the Mountain Lion, she was there, and we stared at each other. Finally I said to her. “Are you my spirit guide?”

  In that enigmatic cat face she stared for a moment, and then said, “I am not sure, I could be, I have yet to determine if you are for me.”

  “I, ah,” I didn’t know what to say.

  “Don’t worry little one, you will be tested, and when you are, I will know.” The big cat said.

  I awoke with a start. Lucy was looking at me, did she sense something?

  The rest of the day was quiet; I drew what I saw in my dream. I hadn’t noticed it at the time but there were two cubs behind the lion, I did not recall them from the dream, yet when I drew it, they were there.

  (Lance) We loaded up into the Hummer this morning, Fred and Stephen in the back, Del called shotgun, and we were off to see what we could find at the airports. We decided to try Schenectady first, just because.

  It was a pretty easy drive once we crossed the Menard Bridge; the entire trip took about three hours. It was weird, interesting weird. I really never knew that much about Stephen, I mean other than he was a military guy who flew helicopters. I didn’t know much about what he saw or experienced. So when he started telling us about what it was like over there it was an ear full.

  “I always loved to fly, it was my passion, I wanted to do the fighter planes, but was not smart enough for the Air Force Academy. When I joined the army, I went for choppers, and they took me.” He started,

  He really got into telling us about his training and joked about how the first day at flight school his instructor told him “when flying, remember, control stick goes forward, trees get big, control stick goes back, trees get small.”

  We laughed at that.

  “What they don’t tell you in flight school is that you can’t save everybody.” And at that he became quiet, and kind of sullen.

  As we drove, Del asked me, “Do you know where you are going?”

  “Yeah, sort of” I answered. Jokingly I suggested she program it into the GPS.

  “Okay,” and she turned it on. “What is the address?”

  We had not used, or even considered using it since the meteor, we just figured all that stuff was gone. I stopped the truck, looked at her, at the GPS and then cursed myself. I should have known, why not, the satellites weren’t dead, why wouldn’t they work.

  We continued on listening to the periodic comments by the GPS to turn right or left at the next intersection. As we drove I was distracted, thinking about what else obviously would work that I had considered to no longer function. GPS, maybe land line phones, although we might need to create a power source. I wonder about natural gas lines, or even, perish the thought, satellite TV….well maybe that one was a little unlikely unless there was still power to the up-link they were sending programs up.

  Anyway, we got there, to Schenectady County Airport and with very little trouble we found 4 tanker trucks. One was completely loaded and ready to go. Okay, it needed a jump start. There were two that were partially full and one that needed to be filled. They were all diesel so we were good to go. We also found the main refuel depot so we could fill the empties and come back for more when we needed to.

  We took a look around the facility to see what else was available to us. There was not a lot, the food was spoiled, and the books and magazines were nothing special. Of course, we could have taken souvenirs from the place but who wants a T-shirt from Schenectady?

  We started back about 1 pm, and were back at the camp for 4:30. When we drove in with the tanker, the place became like a disturbed ant hill with everyone scurrying around. Most had not known of our mission. We tend to keep those kinds of things under wraps to not bring people down if it fails. This was not a failure, but rather a big hit.

  (Matt) My day was just more Farmworld. The usual, headed out and did a little riding on Black Olive. I had Tanya come along; I wanted to try to get her used to the horses and maybe up on to one. I was sure she would resist a little, but was surprised that she was good with it. By noon time she was up on Lemon Drop, the horse that Margo usually rode, and was actually reasonably comfortable on it. My city girl is going country, sounds like a country western song.

  After dinner tonight Margo stopped by, she told me about a dream she had today. Actually she claimed it was last night, but in the course of our chat it came out that it happened while she was tending the flock.

  “Matt, I, would the animal spirit test you? Make sure you are worthy?” she asked.

  “Yes, it might, but I think that it is more a case of you testing yourself, you deciding if you’re worthy of the guide. He or she is already in you, it is just you trying to figure if you can release it.” I answered.

  “Wow, I, okay, I see, it makes sense, I, I need to think about this.” She replied, and after a few moments of silence, “Thank you Matt, Thank you.” And she walked away.

  Lance and the Hummer are back, they have a truck of diesel fuel, which will be a game changer for sure. We can cover so much more area now, find things, and do things. What was also surprising was the GPS, they still work, it kind of makes sense, but I would never have thought of that, or even tried to use it.

  Vespers tonight, it was very upbeat and the Grace singing rounds was well received and even overdone.

  June 29th

  (Lance) I did not trust the new jet fuel / diesel completely so I filled up one of the diesel trucks and let it run all day, just to see what it would do. It ran fine. Stephen is going to do a similar test on the helicopter tomorrow. Better to burn a little fuel and be safe rather than be up a thousand feet and have the engine quit.

  It was a quiet day other than that, we had the humidity but the heat was not so bad. A storm rolled in this afternoon and it looked like it was going to be a bad one, but overall it was no worse than usual. But you could sense that everyone was a little nervous about it after our tornado adventure.

  Del and I did the Vespers tonight, pretty standard, and then did a nice walk, the woods at night is kind of neat, with the almost full moon it is kind of fun.

  (Matt) A normal day, I guess that is what I would call it. We just did the same old stuff, in the same old way, with not much in the way of drama or mayhem. I think back to the early days after the world as we knew it ended and there was so much going on, so many distractions. Now, it was easy, well, sort of easy, we still need to be on our toes because there were things that could happen. We saw that with the tornado. But we have not really had much contact with Changed in months. We have one wander in every once and again but it is usually just one, and that is quickly resolve. With the deflector device we got from Waterviet there is no worry of the Hunter robots coming for us. And we really have had no other groups like the bikers arriving to give us grief. Overall life is good.

  It is funny how many things were once a big deal, and are now nothing, and so many things that were once nothing are now a big deal. Anyway, I ramble, time to think about Fire Pit and what to talk about.

  (Margo) Code and I did a run this morning, I figured it would be a good morning for it, it was not too hot. After that we headed off to the horse farm and spent the day out there. Code is really getting comfortable on Chuckles. The Major and Michelle came out with us. He did a little time on Grey and Michelle rode Rascal. Chels did not come out, and I guess I understand.

  We have been pretty much living on salads over the last month, the crops and gardens are all doing well I guess, and I have to admit I am a fan of rabbit “Caesar” salad. But then anything that isn’t deer stew is wonderful.

  At Vesper
s tonight Matt talked about another animal spirit or as he calls them, totems. Tonight he talked about squirrels. I always kind of thought of them as fluffy tailed rats, and I guess that is sort of what they are. But as he spoke I thought more about them, with their twitchy little tails. They are always going, moving, running from tree to tree, flying through the air, actually they are kind of cool.

  “But the thing about the squirrel was that it is always looking at putting things away, for the future, gathering acorns and stashing them away,” explained Matt.

  “Kind of nature’s hoarders” Code whispered to me. I almost broke out laughing.

  But the entire idea of this little animal, collecting, gathering being ready for the future, the bad times, the cold time, it was something to think about. That was how we were in the early days, hoarding what we could, scavenging. We have gotten away from it a little only looking to get things we need at the time, and leaving the rest for later. We don’t take so much anymore, it is more just find it, and remember where it is.

  June 30th

  (Matt) HH&H, hazy, hot and humid today, and it was not much fun. Tanya and I were up early and off to the veggie garden, we took some lettuce, there were some radishes that seemed ready and also two bunnies in the trap.

  We also checked on the big fields, the corn is coming along well and the beans are just starting to be ready for picking. The squash, I am guessing another three or four weeks.

  I am not sure about anyone else but I am thinking that there will be no riding for me today, and Tanya has made it clear that it is too hot for that. I am almost thinking it is 100 degrees.

  Tay and Mom rode over and took advantage of the lake, although they had the horse in an area away from the swimming hole part, just in case.

  Storm in the afternoon, as usual, and it did help a little.

  Vespers tonight were well attended; I think it was a case of being still too warm in the cabins from the sun beating down on them earlier in the day, even with the fans. No topics from me tonight, just a social thing. S’mores would have been nice, I miss S’mores.