by A. American
We hung out on the lake until the sun started to dip towards the horizon and the skeeters came out. They were the real reason we left the water. Because when they showed up, they did so in force! It wasn’t long before people were running towards the house, arms flailing at the tiny pests.
I backed the Suburban up to the boat and connected it before pulling back around in front of the house. Dave was out front with Sarge when I got out.
“That’s a fine boat, Morgan. She’s pretty fast too,” Dave said.
“I appreciate you letting me use it. It’ll make what I have to do a lot easier.”
Dave shook his head. “I don’t envy you the task. But anything we can do to help, we’ll do it.”
“What about the beef for the folks in town?”
“They’re going to deliver it tomorrow,” Sarge replied.
“We’re going to section up two beeves tomorrow and carry them up there. They’ll have to either cook it or start smoking it right away,” Dave added.
“I’ll take care of that,” Cecil said. “I have a big smoker and can easily fit one in it. I’ll put a slow cold smoke on it. It’ll just take some time to get it all cut up.” Thad and Mary had joined us, and Thad offered to help. “That’d be fine. I could use the help.”
Sarge held his hand out to Dave, “Thank you very much for the hospitality, Dave. You know where we are now, so if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”
Shaking Sarge’s hand, Dave replied, “It’s been truly great to meet you all. It’s good to know there are people out there trying to get things put back together. And we’re here to help in any way we can.”
“Dave,” Cecil said, “it was a pleasure to meet you. Since you’re bringing that beef to town tomorrow, how about we come out in a few days to work on that picker? It sure would make harvesting that corn a hell of a lot easier.”
“That’ll be fine. I’ll get the boys started on it. I don’t think it will take much to get it going.”
Janet made sure we had plenty of leftovers to take home with us. She knew we had some people that couldn’t make it out because they were on security. As we were all loading up, I saw Mike and Crystal holding hands as they walked towards the Hummer. Sarge was already standing at the passenger door and shouted at Mike.
“Get her number! It’s time to go!”
“Ignore him,” Mike said. “When can I see you again?”
Crystal shrugged, “Whenever you come over. I don’t leave the ranch. They wouldn’t let me go anywhere alone and I’m not going to ask someone to come and hold my hand.”
“I’ll hold your hand,” Mike said with a smile. “I’ll be back soon. I promise.”
“Saddle up!” Sarge barked again. Then he looked at Ted, who was still talking to Janet. “You too, lover boy!”
Ted gave her hand a squeeze. “I’ll see you in a couple of days.”
“Ok, take care of Milo there too. I think Crystal likes him.”
Ted rubbed his head. “Yeah. I really thought she would be smarter than that.”
Janet folded her arms over her chest, “Same could be said about me.”
“Not hardly,” Ted laughed. “I’m nothing like Milo there.”
“We’ll see.”
CHAPTER 8
After much discussion and deliberation, it was decided that Danny and the old man would go with me to Mom and Dad’s. I didn’t think we needed three of us to go, but Sarge insisted. I think his real motivation was to just get away for a few days. We planned for the trip to last three days, but with the understanding that no one should worry about us for five days. We had radios and would be able to stay in contact, we hoped. As a precaution, we were taking some extra antennas that could be thrown up into a tree to get a better signal.
Of course, we went heavy on weapons. For this trip, I added to the boat one of the new Kalashnikovs we’d taken from the Russians. It had a grenade launcher on it and there were piles of the VOGs to go with it. We also brought a couple of disposable rocket launchers, you know, for just in case. Enough food was added to see all of us through, both some fresh stuff and a couple cases of MREs.
Everyone assembled their own gear to be able to support themselves for however long we’d be on the river. I added a spare NVG to my pack and made sure I had plenty of charged batteries. As an afterthought, I tossed two light spinning rods into the boat as well. Might as well try a little fishing should the opportunity arise.
We were set to leave at daylight the next day. Thad was off in town; he’d taken Mitch and Michelle back when he went to help Cecil with the beef that Dave’s people delivered. Everyone else was around the neighborhood someplace. Sarge left standing orders that no one travel alone while we were gone. He knew the guys would want to go see their new lady friends and there was no way he could stop them. So, he made it clear that everyone should at least travel in pairs.
I talked with Dalton, Jess, Aric, Mel and the girls. I told them now that the major threats to us were gone, we needed to start focusing on the community. Or what was left of it. And that meant doing routine patrols. We planned it out so that the two markets would be visited every day, at least once. And there would also be a patrol all the way to Eustis to check in with Shane.
“We need to start showing more of a presence. Give people a sense that there is some kind of law,” I said.
“What do we do if we catch someone up to no good?” Jess asked.
“You go get Mitch. He will hold court right there. Any sentence he passes will be carried out by Dalton.”
“Don’t worry. We can handle this.” Dalton said. “You just worry about yourself and getting back here.”
“Yes,” Mel replied, “that’s all you need to be concerned with.”
“We’ll be fine. I doubt there will be any trouble on the water and we’ll have an escort to the boat ramp. There shouldn’t be any issues.”
We went home and spent a quiet evening there. Mel fixed a light supper at the house and we hung out, lounging around the living-room and watching a movie on the TV. I’d found a blue ray player in a house still in the box, and it worked; so, we could watch some of the DVDs we had. It had been part of our preps, to buy lots of movies as a distraction should this very thing we’re living through happen. And now, with a working player, we were watching movies.
It’s funny the sort of thing you want to watch when you’ve been living such a different life than what you were used to. The first movie we watched was The Wizard of Oz. We moved on from there to Super Troopers when Little Bit was in bed. Comedies are what everyone wanted to see, and Caddy Shack was on deck.
Hearing the laughter from Mel and the girls was like music. Sure, there was the occasional reason to laugh. But having everyone in the room all laughing hysterically was amazing. And we kept it going until late into the night. Little Bit fell asleep, as did Taylor. Once they were asleep, Lee Ann said she wanted to watch something else. I tossed her the remote to the player and told her she could watch whatever she wanted as I was going to bed.
I picked Little Bit up and carried her to her bed and Mel woke Taylor up and got her headed to bed as well. Once we were in bed, Mel asked how long I really thought it would take to go to Mom and Dad’s.
“Looking at the map, it appears to be about twenty river miles. I figure it’ll take five or six hours to cover that distance, depending on what the river is like. It could happen quicker, but I’m planning on there being problems.”
“What kind of problems?”
“The river being blocked and having to stop and chainsaw out blowdowns, that sort of thing. I’m sure there will be people on the river. Hopefully they’re just trying to scratch out a living and won’t be interested in us. But if they’re looking for a fight, we’ll have plenty of shit with us for that too.”
“Danny is going with you?”
“Yeah, him and the old man. I wanted to spend some time with Danny and I think Sarge just wants to go on a Hobbit adventure. Can’t say I blame
him.”
Mel rolled over onto her back and stared at the ceiling. “I think it’s good to get Danny out. He’s been really withdrawn lately. You two spending some time together, away, will be good for him.”
“That’s what I was thinking. I could use a little break too.”
“What are you going to do if they’re not there?”
I thought about that for a minute. It’s something I’d considered as a worst case. “I don’t know. I don’t where they would go. I just hope they’re still at the house. I want to bring them here.”
“It would be good to have them around. I know the girls would like it.”
“And I can stop worrying about them.”
Mel reached out and squeezed my arm. “Get some sleep. You have to get up early and you have a few long days ahead of you.”
“What are you guys going to do while I’m gone?”
“The girls and I are going to keep an eye on the kids for Danny. And I’m going to try and ride on the patrols to town. I think we really need to do more of that. Get out there where people can see us, so they know we’re around.”
I patted her thigh. “I’m really glad to hear you’re getting more involved in this.”
“You’re not worried about me and the girls going out and doing patrols?”
I laughed. “No. I think you gals can handle yourselves. I know Lee Ann can.”
“I’ll probably spend some time with Janet too. I like her. Not having Bobbie to talk to has been rough and Janet kind of fills that void. She’s easy to talk to and we have a lot in common.”
“That’s great. I think you should talk to Erin too, Travis’s wife. She’s a nurse and they seemed like a great couple. I really liked Travis. He seems to be one of those guys that can do anything.”
“Like Dalton,” Mel replied.
With a chuckle, I replied, “Yeah, like Dalton. But not nearly as dangerous. Which reminds me. On your patrols, take him with you. Not that I don’t think you can do it, but he’s been doing it longer and he’s wicked good at it. Remember what we said, you want the deck stacked in your favor. And Dalton is an entire deck of aces.”
“If he’ll listen to me, I’ll take him along.”
“Just tell him you’re going. He’ll go along. I’d feel better about it.”
Mel leaned over and kissed my cheek, “Get some sleep and make sure you get your ass back home to us. We need you.”
“And I need you guys. Love you, babe.”
“Love you too, goodnight.”
I was up long before sunrise navigating the house by the glow of a red headlamp. I didn’t want to wake anyone up, so I moved quietly. Since I already had everything packed, the only thing I really needed to add was my thermos of tea. After filling it, I grabbed the gear by the door and slung it over my shoulder before gently closing it.
I was walking up the driveway when I saw another light heading my way. It was Danny, wearing a headlamp. I waited for him and we walked out the gate together.
“Feels like we’re going hunting this morning,” I said.
“Yeah. Hunting doesn’t feel the same now. You know, it used to be fun. Something you did to get out in the woods on the weekend. To get away.” He looked around and added, “That’s every day now.”
“I feel you. But this is still a little exciting. For me anyway. I’m really hoping Mom and Dad are there and we can find them.”
“I hope so too. It’s been a while since I’ve seen them.”
“As long as we don’t run into any problems on the river, this should be a pretty easy trip. Just go up river and pick them up and bring them back.”
“Let’s hope it’s boring.”
The Hummer was waiting at the bunker for us. The boat was connected to it and one of the MRAPs sat idling behind it. It would be our escort and provide fire support should someone get a little frisky.
As we walked up, Sarge asked, “You put that chainsaw in the boat?”
“Yep,” I replied. “And a gallon of mixed gas and a spare chain.”
“Good. Let’s hope we don’t need it. But better to have it with us.”
“I agree. Let’s get this show on the road,” I said as Danny and I got in the truck.
We left the neighborhood and went south to forty-two. We were going to take it east until it connected with forty-four, then take that road to Crows Bluff and launch the boat there. We’d discussed putting the boat into Blackwater Creek, but Danny and I decided against it. Even during good times, that little waterway was very prone to being blocked by fallen trees and it could take forever to get out of there. There was far less chance of the river being blocked along its main channel, so we opted for Crows Bluff. Here, we’d put directly into the river proper and should have clear sailing.
The MRAP led the way with Jamie driving and Ian manning the thermal weapons sight mounted to the turret on top. He could sit in relative safety inside the truck and still offer fire support. Mike and Ted were there as well to drive the Hummer back. It felt strange to be driving down this road. I hadn’t been on it since getting back home, at least, not this section.
We were passing through Paisley and I wasn’t seeing any sign of life anywhere. Paisley was a small community in the best of times, and now it seemed deserted. It reminded me of the many trips I’d made down this very road on my way to the county transfer station, getting rid of trash and junk around the house.
I had to look at the little store, Paisley Discount Beverage, that I had often stopped at for a cold drink or maybe a can of Cope. It didn’t look so good now. The front doors were broken out and there was trash all over the small parking lot. Even the two old gas pumps out front had been torn open in someone’s determination to get some fuel. It reminded me of just how desperate people were….or are.
Leaving Paisley, there was nothing else to see for quite a while. Lake Kathryn was the next small neighborhood we’d come to. It was a small neighborhood of several dozen homes. It’s pretty far out and there isn’t really anything around it. I always found it to be an odd place. While it was out in the middle of nowhere, it was also a conventional neighborhood which would preclude you from doing many of the things that living in the sticks gives you the freedom to do. But to each, his own.
As we passed the houses that lined the side of forty-two, I looked for lights or any sign of life. There was none. No lights, no people seen anywhere. Just another place where people once lived and were now gone. And it made me wonder, as I often did seeing these little abandoned hamlets, where did they go? Where are these people now? How many bodies were lying in houses out there? All of these are just sadly the signs of the times now.
Aside from my ponderings on the whereabouts of the locals, there was no issue on our ride and before I knew it, we were turning onto forty-four. It was less than half a mile to the bridge over the river. A bridge we’d need to cross because the boat ramp was on the eastern shore. The bridge was an old drawbridge that I had rarely ever seen in action.
After crossing the bridge without incident, we pulled into the parking lot of the ramp. There were a couple of people there fishing from the seawall. They looked up very curiously at the sight of the two armored vehicles pulling up in front of them. They continued their pursuit of dinner as we got out to get the boat ready.
Sarge lined the truck up on the ramp and Danny and I got out and released the straps securing the boat to the trailer. I climbed in and prepped the boat as the old man backed it into the river. I’d checked the motor last night. It started right up then, and I expected it to now. I had been surprised when it did start last night. I figured after sitting for so many months, the battery would be dead. It made me think about what else Dave had going on over there if he had the ability to keep the battery charged on something he had no real use for.
As the boat floated from the trailer, I hit the starter and backed off. Having reverse on this motor was a huge plus. Many of these mud motors didn’t have it and that made it difficult at times t
o run the boat. I nosed the boat up to dock where Danny was waiting. He grabbed the bow and held it while the old man talked to the guys. When Sarge was done giving his final instructions, he grabbed his thermos and walked down the small dock.
Jamie and the guys stood on the ramp and waved as I backed the boat away from the ramp and turned it up river and opened the throttle. We settled down for the nearly twenty-mile trip down to Mom and Dad’s. Sarge sat in the front of the boat with his Minimi between his legs and a cup of coffee in his hand.
It was a great feeling being on the river, the wind rushing by, the smell of the water as it sprayed past. Seeing the birds and other wildlife was also a treat. Herons, egrets, coots and cormorants were easily spotted and seemed to be everywhere. Not to mention the gators. I was surprised at the number of them we saw. I figured they would have been hunted out by now. But maybe people found it wasn’t quite as easy as the TV show portrayed it.
The St Johns river can be confusing to navigate. There are numerous drainages that empty into it and many of them are wide and can be very easily confused for the actual river channel. But I’d fished this river for years and while I wasn’t intimately familiar with it, I knew where the major traps were. When we came to Hontoon Landing, I took the cut to Lake Beresford, leaving the main channel as I headed towards the lake.
Seeing a channel marker pass him, Sarge asked, “What are you doing?”
“We’re going to go into the lake and take a channel out of the south end,” I shouted. “It runs straighter than the river proper and will save miles. There are a lot of blind curves on the main channel.”
Sarge nodded, “Good idea. I don’t like blind corners.”
As we passed Hontoon Island, I remembered a lazy day of fishing with my dad. We were anchored across the river from the landing, using fishing as the excuse to get out of the house. Mostly what we were doing was talking shit and generally having a good time hanging out. There was quite a bit of boat traffic that day and the landing was crowded with boats launching and coming back in. As well as people just dropping into the store.