by A. American
It reminded me of a story from when I was little. My dad let me get honey all over my hands and face. Then handed me a cotton ball. From the way he told it, he got a really good laugh out of it. Mom, however, didn’t think it was so funny. Looking at Little Bit covered in stickiness made me really want to hand her a cotton ball to wipe it off. But she was a little older than I was when it was it was done to me and probably too smart to fall for it.
“I’m going to get with Thad and see about butchering a hog,” I said as I collected my gear by the door.
“Okay,” Mel replied. “We’re headed over to town in a bit and will be gone all day.”
“Dad,” Lee Ann called out. I knew what she wanted.
“Yes, kiddo. We’ll look at it in a little while.” She and Taylor shared a giggle, causing Mel to ask what we were talking about. “Oh, nothing. Just a little project for the girls.” But I wasn’t fooling her; she knew what was up.
I left the house and went over to Danny’s. He was out in the garden doing a little weeding. “Yo,” I called out.
He stood up and tossed a handful of weeds over the fence. “Yo. How’d it go yesterday?”
“We got everything we could carry and blew the rest of it up. Those Russians brought a lot of shit with them. They planned on being here a while. We found three alive and brought them back as well.”
That got Danny’s attention. “Brought them here?”
I nodded. “Yeah. They’re at the old man’s place. Hey, I’m going to get with Thad about butchering a hog. We’re out of pork and we need to make soap again.”
“I’ll help. I just have something to do first.”
“Cool. I knew you would. Let’s go up onto the porch. I got something else I want to talk to you about.”
We walked up to the porch and took a seat in the rocking chairs. Almost immediately, Miss Kay came out with two Mason jars of iced tea and handed them to us. “It’s hot out here and you two look like you could use a cold drink.”
Taking the offered glass, I replied, “You’re an angel. Thank you.”
Taking a sip of his tea, Danny asked, “What’s up?”
I rocked for a moment, then said, “I was thinking about Mom and Dad today. With all those Russians and Cubans gone, I was thinking of taking a couple of days and trying to get to their place. Check on them, maybe even bring them back here.”
“You want to do it by boat, take the river?”
“I think it’ll be the safest way. Probably the quickest too.”
“Probably would be. We could probably do it in two days. Three tops,” Danny replied.
“That’s what I was thinking. Hell, we could probably get there in one day. Barring any trouble on the river. We’ll take sufficient hardware so that any trouble we do encounter can be squashed pretty quick.”
“I’m in. When do you want to go?”
“In a couple of days. There’s a lot to do first. I want to get this hog butchered and make damn sure there are no surprises waiting for us anywhere. Then we’ll go.”
Danny stood up and drained his glass. “Where you want to butcher the hog?”
I looked over at the shop and said, “Figured we’d set the tub up over there and do it like before. I want to scald this one, get every ounce off it we can.”
“Alright. Let me take care of a couple of things and I’ll meet you guys over there.”
I left Danny to go find Thad. As I was walking down the road, Mel passed me in the Suburban and slowed to wave and say, “I love you.” I waved, and they continued on, turning to go to the old man’s place. All those Russian medical supplies would come in very handy in town. I knocked on Thad’s door, but there was no answer. So, I opened it and called out. The house was quiet, and it was obvious he and Mary were not there.
Leaving his house, I walked to Sarge’s place. There were a lot of people there. The gear we captured was still being sorted and they were trying to decide on a place for an armory. Seeing the stuff now, I was shocked at just how much there was. Thad and Mary were there helping, and I got Thad’s attention.
“You want to butcher a hog today? We’re out of sausage and soap.”
He smiled, “Sure. When do you want to do it?”
“The sooner, the better.”
As we talked, Mary walked up. “Thad, I’m going to town with Mel and Jess to help at the gym. We’re taking the medical supplies there and going to spend the day doing what we can.”
“Ok, just be careful.”
Mary smiled, “Sarge is sending an escort with us. Ian and Jamie are going as well. Plus, we’re all armed.” I felt better hearing they were going to have an escort. And it struck me as I thought about it. I’d never seen Mary armed before. I remembered her being so fragile when she came here. This was no longer so. Maybe she was absorbing strength from Thad. Whatever the reason, I was glad to see it.
Leaving Thad and Mary, I found Mel and asked if they had a radio. She held it up and replied, “Yes. Everyone keeps asking. We have a radio.”
I smiled and patted her ass, “Just checking, babe.”
As we were discussing their trip, Danny walked up. He looked around and headed for the garage. Watching him, I said to Mel, “I’ll be right back.” And I headed towards the garage. As I stepped through the door, I saw Danny talking to Wallner. The three prisoners were sitting on the floor, paying very little attention to the two as they talked.
Then in a swift motion, Danny drew his pistol and shot one of the men in the top of the head. Wallner jumped and I ran forward and wrapped my arms around Danny. The garage was quickly filled with people as everyone came running to the sound of the shot. Danny didn’t struggle and remained quite calm. I took his pistol without resistance.
The old man came running in. “What the hell is going on?” He shouted as he came in. Then seeing the dead man, he said, “Oh for fuck sake!” He looked at me, holding the pistol, and said, “Dammit, Morgan! Would you stop killing all of our prisoners! I told Eglin I had these people and they want them! How the hell am I supposed to explain this?”
“It wasn’t me!” I shot back.
“I shot him,” Danny replied calmly. “They owed me a life.”
Sarge shook his head. “I get it, Danny. I really do. But if you’d been at the auction, you’d see they paid dearly for every person they killed or injured. This is all that’s left of them.” Sarge looked at the Colonel and asked, “How many men did you have?” But he wouldn’t answer. “It doesn’t matter now. They’re all dead. If you want to stay alive, I suggest you answer the question. Or I’ll just let this man have your ass.”
“This is how you Americans treat prisoners of war?” The Colonel asked.
“Fuck you, Ivan.” I said. “You’re an invading force. Besides, you have no ground to talk about how to treat prisoners. Look at what your people did to the Germans after the fall of Stalingrad. You’re lucky to be alive, so shut the fuck up.”
He smiled at me and replied, “As you wish, bureaucrat.”
“Colonel,” Sarge said, “you might want to stop fucking with him.”
I pointed at the Colonel. “You’re going to talk your way into hell. Maybe I should take him to the pig pen for a while.”
“No dammit!” Sarge shouted. “I’m turning him over to Eglin!”
“You better do it quick,” I replied and turned to leave. Danny followed me out and I handed him his pistol back. As he holstered it, I asked, “You feel better now?”
“Not really. I wanted to set him on fire. But I had to do it, an eye for an eye.”
I slapped him on the back. “I know, buddy. We’re going to get a hog and we’ll be over shortly.”
“I’ll get the tub set up and a fire going under it.”
I glanced sideways at him and asked, “Is this what you said you needed to take care of earlier?”
He nodded. “Yep.”
Mel, Jess, Mary and the girls loaded most of the medical supplies into the Suburban before heading out. Jamie an
d Ian would escort them in a Hummer there and back. Once they were gone, Thad and I headed for the hog pen.
We were leaning on the fence looking at the hogs. Whenever anyone came to the pen, they would come running, anticipating food. Feeding the pigs was just another of the never-ending tasks that needed tending to daily. But they were a valuable resource and certainly worth the effort. Thad kept a close eye on them, and as litters were born, he would cut out some of the boars for butchering later. We were keeping all the sows to breed more, and the system was beginning to pay off in a big way. So much so that we were discussing trading out some of the hogs. We could trade breeding pairs or even single hogs.
“I think we should give a breeding pair to Gina and Dillon,” I said.
“That would be a good idea. They’ve always been there to help us.”
“Mario too. I’d like to give him a pair.”
Thad pointed to a large boar rooting around in the dirt and said, “Let’s take that one. He’s been cut and should make some good sausage.”
“Alright. You know, I’ve been thinking. Cecil has that field of corn. And there’s far fewer people here now than there was. We can probably use some of that corn to feed these hogs.”
“That would be great. They’d taste better and finish off good on corn.”
“We’ll give Cecil a pair too if he wants them. That’ll spread the hogs out some. Give other folks the ability to produce their own pork.”
“I’ll go get the tractor.”
When Thad returned with the tractor, I dumped a bucket of swamp cabbage over the fence, away from the gate. While the hogs were focused on the food, Thad pulled the tractor into the pen. Using a stick, I swatted the hogs on the ass, breaking them up. When the boar we wanted was clear of the others, I shot it behind the ear with my pistol. It dropped and kicked as the other hogs ran from the sound of the shot. Thad set the bucket down and I rolled the pig in. After closing the gate behind the tractor, I stepped up onto the three-point hitch and held onto the roll bar for the trip to Danny’s.
Danny had the tub set up and a fire going under it when we got there. Using a chain, we slung the hog under the bucket to make dunking it into the scalding water easier. As we waited for the water to heat, we talked about the job ahead. I said I wanted to keep all the organs to make dog food.
Miss Kay came out with a tray with glasses of tea for us. She inspected the hog and nodded her approval. “That’s a fine animal. You’re going to get all the fat off it too?”
“Oh yeah,” I replied. “We need to make some soap.”
“I’d like a little lard too if there’s enough.”
“I’m sure we can manage that,” Thad replied.
“Are you guys going to want lunch now? Or wait until you’re done to eat?”
“I’d rather wait,” I replied, and Thad and Danny agreed with that.
“Ok then. If you need anything, just let me know.”
“Yes ma’am,” Thad said with a smile.
Once the water was hot enough, we got to work. It took several dunks and pouring hot water on in a couple of stubborn places to get all the hair scraped off. This was by far my least favorite part of the butchering process. But a necessary one. When we were done, the hog looked like a newborn baby. Pink and smooth.
With the hard part completed, the rest of the job went quickly. Once the pig was gutted, Thad cut the belly off and set it aside for bacon. The loins were cut out and saved, and the rest of the pig was going to be ground into sausage, save one ham. Thad wanted to try making a salt-cured ham. If it worked, it would be a great addition to our food supplies and if it didn’t, we’d only loose one ham.
Sausage was popular fare. Everyone had it for breakfast or in the meatloaf Miss Kay made. We used a lot of it and it was work to stay ahead of the demand. Plus, there was the fat on the animal. All of this was saved in a bucket. Some would be used for the sausage, and some would be used for soap. Having the ability to produce our own soap was a blessing beyond words. There was no other supply and it meant being able to keep everything from dishes and clothes to our bodies clean. Something I really noticed when I went to the markets and got around a group of people. There was certainly a deficit of soap in our world.
Thad cut the skin away from the animal with great precision. I noticed he was taking extreme care and asked why. “I want to make cracklins,” He replied.
“Oh, that would be good,” Danny said.
“Hell, yeah it would!” I added. “Why haven’t we made them before?”
Thad shrugged, “I don’t know. Just thought about it. Momma used to make them, and I always liked it.”
“Damn,” I lamented. “Wish we had some pimento cheese, real pimento cheese, to go with them.”
“Some what?” Danny asked.
Thad laughed. “You ain’t never had pimento cheese with your cracklins?”
“I don’t think he’s ever had real cracklins,” I offered.
“They’re just pork rinds,” Danny replied.
Thad and I both laughed at that. “Oh no they’re not!” I shouted.
Thad reached out and patted Danny’s shoulder. “If you like pork rinds, you’ll love what I’m gonna make.”
“Well, aside from not having pimento cheese to go with it, I’m really looking forward to it,” Danny replied with a smile.
“Looks like this is about done. Can you guys handle the grinding?” I asked.
“Miss Kay is going to do it,” Thad replied and raised his eyebrows and added, “she insisted.”
I laughed at the thought. Kay was an incredible woman and queen of the kitchen. “I bet she did. If you guys can handle this, then I’ve got another little project I need to get to.”
Danny nodded, “We got this.”
Mel and the girls arrived at the gym without incident. Jamie and Ian helped them carry the medical supplies inside. The gym was beyond words. It was hot and muggy. The air was still and thick with the odor of putrid flesh, feces and urine. The few staff tending to the wounded looked nearly as bad as their charges. Some of them were also suffering from injuries sustained in the rocket attack. Chris Yates, the medic, came over when he saw the group arrive.
“What’s all this?” The weary man asked.
“It’s Russian medical supplies. We’ve got all kinds of stuff here and more in the truck,” Ian replied. “We’ve also got some rations to help feed these people.”
“Clean bandages,” Chris muttered as he looked over the items. Picking up a small box, he said, “This is morphine! Where did you get all this?”
“We just got it,” Ian replied. “Can you get a couple of people to help unload all of it?”
“Absolutely!” Chris replied and waved a couple of people over.
Once all the supplies were inside, Mel told Chris they were there to help for the day and asked what she and the girls could do.
“I’ll pair you up with our people. They know what needs to be done and an extra set of hands will be greatly appreciated.”
While he went off to get his people together, Mel and the girls looked around the gym. Those that had family members had them at their side, many of them fanning flies away from wounds. There were pans and buckets of what had to be human waste in several places and people could be heard begging for water or painkillers.
Holding her nose, Taylor said, “Mom, this smells awful.”
“I know. But we can help for a day. Imagine having to be here all day, every day. Imagine being one of the wounded.” She looked at her daughter and added, “we’re lucky. We get to go home when we’re ready. Where we have running water, hot food and ice. Look at these poor people. Like Dad says, suck it up, buttercup.”
Chris came back and paired each of the girls up with one of his people. Using the fresh supplies, they set to work cleaning wounds, changing dressings, and trying to comfort the suffering. Lee Ann was helping a female nurse with the Guard change the dressing on a woman’s leg. The entire leg had been burned and was
wrapped in pink gauze.
“Here,” the nurse said, handing Lee Ann a large plastic bottle with a long nozzle. “Squeeze the water onto the gauze where I’m removing it. It’ll make it come off easier.”
Lee Ann did as instructed, and the woman cried in pain at having the dressing peeled from her. The wound was horrible looking, with skin hanging in ribbons or coming off with the gauze. The fetid gauze was placed in a bucket as it was unrolled. The nurse looked into it and commented, “At least we don’t have to boil those again.”
“What do you mean?” Lee Ann asked as she carefully drizzled water onto a stubborn piece of gauze.
“We’ve been boiling and reusing the gauze. We didn’t have anymore. You’ll see some wounds are wrapped in bed sheets, or strips we’ve cut from them, boiled and used as dressings.”
Lee Ann looked down into the bucket and asked, “How many times have those been reused?”
“Three,” came the flat reply.
Mel worked with Chris. They were at the bed of a small child, no more than seven years old. The little girl’s head was wrapped in a puffy bandage that Chris was unwrapping. Tears ran down Mel’s face as Chris worked.
“She’s already dead, you know. But her heart hasn’t got the message yet,” Chris said as he removed the bandage to reveal a hole the size of a golf ball in the child’s skull.
Mel choked on a breath and covered her mouth. “Oh, no, I, I, can’t look at that,” she said, before turning away.
“It’s ok. You wouldn’t be normal if it didn’t bother you. It bothers me too, but I’ve been doing this for a long time and can deal with it. Just take the new bandage out of the wrapper and hand it to me.”
Mel did as he asked and waited what she thought was sufficient time for Chris to have the wound covered before turning back to look. She was relieved when she saw the clean white dressing covering the hole. Chris finished dressing the wound and checked the child’s pulse.