The Journal: Raging Tide: (The Journal Book 4)

by Deborah D. Moore

We left the construction site and drove the quarter mile to cross over to the other side. Part of the new construction was forming new dirt and gravel tracts on either side of the rift for the ease of monitoring the traffic. As far as the eye could see, the trees and brush had been cleared back for a hundred feet or so and a dirt and rock berm ran alongside the newly widened river.

  As we neared the bridge, I saw another guarded gate and a road leading due west, away from the river.

  “Corporal, where does that road lead?” I asked.

  “It takes any civilians back toward Trenary, Ma’am, away from the restricted areas,” he answered. I had been wondering how that would be handled.

  We crossed to the other side in silence, the turbulent water below us.

  CHAPTER 7

  “This is a lot slower going than I thought it would be,” Jim grunted. “Only twenty miles in two hours.”

  “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, Jim. Do you want to take a break? Maybe have some coffee?” I asked, reaching for the thermos I had filled at breakfast as we passed a small dirt road.

  Jim stopped the Hummer and we both got out. I handed him the thermos and walked back to the road.

  “What’s wrong, Allex?”

  “Nothing, I think we should do some exploring, that’s all. Let’s see where that road leads.”

  Not too far in another, much narrower road veered to the north: someone’s driveway. Jim slowed the Hummer as the house came into view.

  It was a peaceful scene with chickens scratching in the yard and sheets hung on a clothesline. A young blonde girl stepped out of the house, shotgun in hand. We stopped the Hummer and stepped out.

  “Hi!” I said. “We see you have chickens. Do you have any eggs for sale?”

  “Money’s no good anymore,” she said warily.

  “Maybe we can trade something.” I took one step closer and stopped.

  “What have you got?”

  “What do you need?”

  “A doctor….”

  “What’s the matter? Maybe I can help,” I offered, concerned.

  At that she perked up. “Are you a doctor or a nurse?”

  “My husband was a doctor and I learned a lot from him, and I helped him as his nurse. My name is Allexa. What’s yours?”

  “Annie,” she replied. “Glenn ate something and now he’s sick.”

  “Can we come closer, Annie?” I asked.

  “Sure, if you think you can help him,” Annie replied.

  “Jim, would you get that medical bag for me?” I said walking to within a few feet of the porch. I could see Annie was young, maybe sixteen. “Where are your parents, Annie?”

  “Out back.” There was that frown again.

  “How old is Glenn? Do you know what he ate?” I asked tentatively.

  “He’s seventeen and I think he ate some peaches,” Annie backed up as Jim came closer.

  “I bet he’s throwing up and has diarrhea, right?” I said. Her eyes widened. “Sounds like food poisoning. Can we come in?” When she didn’t move I said, “Annie, we won’t hurt you or Glenn. I just want to help.” I used my softest mom-voice to quell her fears. She lowered the shotgun and opened the door for us.

  The house smelled of sick. Annie leaned the shotgun in the corner and led me to a room off to the side. The smell was worse in there, even though a window was open. The young man on the bed, presumably Glenn, looked pale and gaunt. At the sound of us coming in he turned his head, and dry heaved into a bucket, which Annie picked up and took into the attached bathroom.

  “How long ago did you eat that can of peaches, Glenn?” I asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed. I pulled the stethoscope out of my bag, and a thermometer.

  “Two days ago. I only ate two pieces because it didn’t taste right,” he said, closing his eyes again. I stuck the thermometer in his mouth and listened to his breathing. The use of the stethoscope was to give them confidence in me and served little other purpose. His temperature was 102.1, high but not life threatening. My first thought was the best guess: food poisoning.

  “Was the can damaged at all, or leaking?” I asked.

  “It was a bit swollen, but peaches sounded so good to me. I guess I shouldn’t have eaten them, huh?”

  “You got that right.” I put everything back in the bag, with the thermometer upside down as a reminder to me to sterilize it. “Have you eaten or drank anything since?”

  “No, I can’t keep it down,” he said.

  “Well, I doubt this food poisoning will kill you or it would have already, but the dehydration might. You need to start drinking fluids. I’m going to give you a shot of antibiotics and that should help combat the gut infection.” I swabbed his arm down with an alcohol pad and injected the antibiotics like Mark had taught me. “I’ll help Annie mix up some rehydration fluids that will bring your electrolytes back in line.” I stood up and moved toward the door, motioning for Annie to follow me.

  “He’s sick, but he’s not going to die, Annie. We need to stop the dehydration though, and soon. Do you have any kaopectate? And we’ll need some baking soda for the electrolyte solution.”

  “I… I… don’t know,” she stammered.

  “Let’s go into the kitchen and see what we can find.” Once in the other room, I turned her toward me. “Annie, where are your parents?” I could see Jim had followed us and was leaning against the door jamb listening.

  “Out back,” she repeated with her lip quivering. “We buried them in the backyard under the apple tree.”

  “What happened, Annie?”

  “About a month or so after the big earthquake some men came around. They were very mean and they wanted all of our food. My dad had to shoot one that was trying to come in the house. That’s when everyone starting shooting, even my mom. First she made me take the twins into the basement to hide. When everything was quiet for maybe a half hour, I came upstairs.” Her mouth scrunched up and the tears slid down her cheeks. “They were lying on the floor, all bloody. The men were dead too, but dad made sure they never came in.” She lifted her chin and swallowed.

  “Did you bury them by yourself, Annie?” I asked softly. This poor girl had been through a great deal.

  “No, Glenn heard all the gunfire and came over. His place is down the road a bit. He helped me move them out of the house so Jared and Jodi wouldn’t see them. Then I mopped the floor before I would let them out of the basement.” Annie looked up at me with pale, spiky wet lashes.

  “You did real good,” I said and gave her a hug, catching Jim’s eye as I did so. “Now we need to make Glenn better. Where did your mother keep the medicines?”

  “There’s some in the bathroom cabinet, but there’s not much,” she said, leading me to a different bathroom than the one Glenn was using. I opened the mirrored door and found a bottle of aspirin, a box of Band-Aids, some Neosporin, and some toothpaste.

  “Any place else she may have kept things, Annie?” I asked. She looked down at her feet. “Annie?” I repeated.

  “Mom said we should never tell anyone about what she had saved for us. She said most everyone would try to take it from us.”

  “Let’s go back to the kitchen for now and mix up something for Glenn to drink,” I wasn’t going to push her, not yet. “We need some baking soda, sugar, salt, some powdered juice drink and water.”

  “We ran out of bottled water a few days ago. I’ve been bringing some up from the creek, but it’s dirty and the twins won’t drink it unless it sits for a couple of days,” she said.

  “Jim, would you get that gallon of water from the cooler and bring in the Berkey Traveler, please?” I turned back to Annie. “Okay, so do you have the rest?”

  “Oh, sure,” she said, opening cupboard doors and setting things on the counter.

  With the water Jim brought in, I mixed one pint with one teaspoon of salt, and one quarter teaspoon of baking soda, and stirred it. “Here, give this to Glenn and make sure he drinks all of it,” I said, handing it to Jim, then
I set the water filtration unit on the counter. “Where is the creek water?”

  Annie’s eyes widened. “What’s this?”

  “This makes any water drinkable by filtering it.”

  “We have one of those!” She reached for a door off the kitchen and stopped. “You’re not going to take our stuff, are you?”

  “No, Annie, we are not. We have our own and don’t need yours,” I reassured her, and she opened the pantry door. We both stepped in.

  “Oh. My. Your parents were preppers, weren’t they?” I said, glancing at all the supplies.

  “That’s what Mom said they were, and reminded me they were not hoarders!”

  “No, preppers are not hoarders, Annie. They are people who want to take care of themselves and the ones they love and believe in being prepared for bad times. And that’s very good. Now, show me where you saw the water filter.” She opened another door and we stepped into a smaller room. I spotted the Berkey immediately, and lifted it off the shelf and handed it to her. I took the cover off the top to see the ceramic filters were missing. On the shelf beside the now empty slot was a stack of what I needed. I took three and we went back to the kitchen.

  “Didn’t you know what this was for, Annie?” I asked.

  “No, my mom said I didn’t need to know yet, that she would show me when it was time. Then she died.”

  “Do you know how to use any of those things?”

  She shook her head. “I’ve been cooking a lot of macaroni and cheese, tuna fish, and soups. The twins haven’t complained.”

  “Okay, then you need some lessons. Watch how I do this.” I took one of the filters and fitted it into a hole in the top unit and attached it with a plastic wing nut from underneath. “The filters can break so you have to be careful. Try it.” I had her do the next two. “This unit looks like it will do two gallons. The first water to go through can’t be used for drinking, since it’s washing out loose particles inside the filters. After that though, it will be good. You will only have to do this once for every new set of filters, and each set is good for ten thousand gallons. It will be a long time before you have to replace these unless they break.” I poured the creek water into the top unit.

  “Oh, thank you, Allexa, the twins will be so happy!” She turned and gave me a hug.

  “Now, while that drips through, let’s mix up another batch for Glenn to drink to rebalance his electrolytes. We need three-fourths a teaspoon of salt, one teaspoon of baking soda, four tablespoons of sugar, three-fourths quarts of water, and one cup of juice, or all water and a tablespoon of powdered juice mix.” Annie measured while I stirred. “Where are the twins, Annie?” I asked casually, seeing Jim at the door again.

  “Oh, I told them to stay upstairs in their room until I call them down. They play for hours by themselves.”

  “Can I see you for a minute Allex?” Jim said.

  “Sure. Annie, why don’t you take a glass of this into Glenn?”

  Jim and I stepped outside. He leaned against the front fender of the Hummer, crossing his arms. “Does this mean we’re sticking around here for a few days?”

  “I think we should. Her mother left them stocked really well, and with many manual appliances that Annie doesn’t even know what they’re for much less how to use them. When it comes to protecting their children, preppers are no different than anyone else, Jim, but not showing Annie how to use what is in that room has jeopardized their lives. One or two days, Jim, that’s all I need to show her most of what’s there,” I pleaded with him.

  He sighed. “I suppose I can busy myself cutting them some firewood.”

  *

  “That dripped through really fast!” Annie said when she saw the top unit almost empty of water.

  “Fresh filters are like that. It will slow down some over time. You won’t have any problem getting ten gallons of drinking water every day as long as you make it part of your routine,” I told her. I had her lift the second bucket of creek water to pour in, and then stopped her. “This looks dirtier than the first bucket.”

  “Yeah, I just brought it up this morning and it hasn’t settled yet.”

  I asked her to get me a pillow case, which I fitted over the top unit of the Berkey, and we poured the dirty water in.

  “Wow, that caught a lot of the dirt, didn’t it?” Annie exclaimed.

  “Yes, so remember that. Depending on how dirty the water is it might need to be pre-filtered. These ceramic filters will filter that out, however it will clog them up quicker and they’ll need cleaning more often. A little extra work now will save you a lot of work later.” I turned to her and said, “And Annie, remember too, that no matter how clean the water looks, it must be run through this filter before drinking, understand?”

  “Yes, we learned about microbes, germs and such in school.”

  While Annie went down to the creek for two more buckets of water, I wandered through the pantry and selected a couple of appliances to show her their function. I also spotted a shelf with various over the counter medications and thankfully found some kaopectate which I gave to Glenn to help stop the diarrhea.

  “I’ve been wondering what those are for,” Annie said, setting the buckets of water on the floor.

  “This one is a grain grinder, this is a pasta press, and this is a pasta drying rack,” I explained, setting up a tinker-toy like device. “I know it’s only four o’clock, however I think it’s time we start working on dinner.” I could hear Jim outside with the chainsaw and knew he would be hungry soon. Glenn would soon be ready too for some solid food.

  I showed her how to mix up fresh pasta, and while it rested, we selected a couple of jars of home canned meat and veggies. We then ran the pasta through the press, cutting it into ribbons, which Annie carefully draped on the drying rack.

  “I wish I could make us some pizza,” she lamented, putting the last of the pasta in place.

  “You need cheese for that,” I said.

  “There are more things down in the cold cellar. You want to see? I’m sure there’s some cheese too. Can you make us a pizza?” she asked in awe, sounding much younger than her sixteen years.

  We took a battery lantern and descended the wooded stairs into darkness. In a glass closet, obviously meant to keep the humidity regulated, were a couple of wheels of cheese coated in wax and several blocks of creamy white mozzarella still in air-tight wrappers. I handed one of the blocks to Annie, and then checked out the second glass cabinet to find ropes of smoked meat.

  “I’m impressed, Annie! Where did your folks get all of this?”

  “They made it. Dad did a lot of hunting last fall. He and mom made lots of sausage and she canned a bunch of it too,” she replied, pride lacing her words. I cut one of the narrower links off and we went back upstairs.

  I decided the pasta dish could wait until tomorrow. These children needed something to give them more confidence in us.

  *

  “Can we come out now, Annie?” a little voice called from behind a closed door sometime later.

  Annie walked over to the door and opened it. “Yes, you can. We have company, so both of you behave!” she instructed the two redheads peeking out. “Allexa, this is Jared and Jodi, my brother and sister. They’re seven years old.”

  “Well, hello!” I said, smiling at the two youngsters. Obviously not identical twins, they still looked a great deal like each other.

  “It sure smells good in here!” Jim said as he walked in. The two kids scampered behind Annie.

  “Allexa showed me how to make a pizza on the woodstove!” Annie exclaimed, and the twins jumped up and down in excitement, obviously forgetting their wariness of Jim. Jared was the first to pause.

  “You two are soldiers!” he said in awe.

  “Yes we are,” Jim replied. “I’m Colonel James Andrews, and this is Lieutenant Allexa Smeth.” He walked up to the little boy and held out his hand. Jared tilted his head back and stared. Jim’s six foot two frame towered over the little boy. To his cre
dit, Jared stuck his hand out too, which made Jim smile.

  The military fatigues were so comfortable to wear I had forgotten I was wearing them. No wonder Annie was a bit submissive: we intimidated her. Just then, Glenn staggered from the other room.

  “Your color is better, Glenn, how are you feeling?” I asked.

  “You stink!” Jared interrupted, wrinkling his little nose.

  “Perhaps you can get some water for Glenn so he can wash up,” I said sternly. Annie took the twins by the hands and helped them fill buckets of creek water. As they walked out the door I heard her chastise Jared for being rude.

  “Yes, ma’am, I’m feeling much better. I don’t know what you made me drink, but it sure did the trick,” Glenn finally answered.

  “Good, because I think you’re very much needed here and those three can’t afford to lose you!”

  *

  It was a very shallow bath for Glenn with two buckets of cold creek water and one of hot I had heating on the stove for washing dishes. He definitely smelled better when he was done though. Later, when there was more time, I would see what else was in the pantry that could be used to make a bucket shower for these kids.

  The six of us sat at the big kitchen table and ate the pizza covered with jarred spaghetti sauce, mozzarella cheese, and what turned out to be summer sausage, not the pepperoni I thought it looked like. The little ones guzzled the clean water and ignored the tomato sauce on their chins. Glenn had more of the electrolyte mix and Annie sipped her water. Jim retrieved a bottle of wine from the Hummer and the two of us enjoyed the relaxing meal. It almost felt…normal.

  “Glenn, where are your parents, if I may ask?” Jim said casually.

  “Well, sir, a couple of days before the men attacked here, they attacked our place. I had been out hunting and my dad was there alone. He didn’t stand a chance; those guys in the orange jumpsuits overwhelmed him. When I got home that evening, the men were sitting on the porch drinking my dad’s hooch, smoking his cigars, and wearing his jackets. I saw they had just tossed my dad in the yard, so when they were inside and it was really dark, I snuck in and took his body to bury it. I’m sure they thought a coyote had dragged it off.” Glenn paused to sip his drink. “I have another hunting blind that’s not too far from the house, and I took the deer I had back there and hung it high in a tree to cure. I stayed in the blind for three days, cooking only at night after those guys drank themselves to sleep. I would watch them from a thicket of brambles during the day. Then one morning they left, taking all the rifles my dad had and the rest of the food. Several hours later I heard all the shooting over here.” He took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling. “I’ve been sweet on Annie since we were kids,” he looked at her and she blushed, “and the thought of those men hurting her made me mad! By the time I got here though, everyone was dead. I dragged their bodies into the woods for the wolves.”