by Ron Foster
“You are thinking about them boys trapping some Squirrels?” Monica said arching an eyebrow at him because she was never quite sure what prepper trick he was up to.
“Yup, you got it! You want your half dozen Rat traps now or latter?” Dennis said grinning wickedly and holding up a big paper sack full of them.
“You always been one crazy man Dennis, but all your preps sure don’t seem very crazy to me now.” Monica said as Dennis bagged up some traps and peanut butter for her and Charles to use for trapping squirrels in their own backyard.
“Hey tree rats are good to eat. I will show you how to make squirrel fricassee and biscuits someday.” Dennis said laughing.
“I know how to make gravy!” Monica said grinning
“By the way I haven’t forgotten that when I gave you that knife last year you promised me and Charles if we caught it you would clean it if the poo ever hit the fan.” Dennis declared.
Dennis had given her a Schrade Old Timer woodsman model 165 OT a great classic knife that had stood the test of time in usefulness and reliability.
“I will skin and clean, you might have to show me how to do it a few times but I will help out and do my share.” Monica said not too pleased about the way she perceived Dennis was reminding her of that promise.
“We will all be sharing tons of chores we rather not be doing pretty soon; we will figure it all out as we go and we will all get through this ok.’ Dennis offered and returned Charles’s knowing nod of being in agreement that soon they would be all very busy indeed.
Both realized cleaning game with a shortage of water was a very nasty job indeed that Dennis would spend many hours teaching how to do it.
4
SAVING GRACES
Dennis wrapped up the rest of his morning conversation and libations with Charles and Monica and headed over to fetch the Gopher boys and cut a deal with them for digging out a root cellar. Their mom said they were out hunting and were not expected back home until late unless they got lucky. After a bit of chit chat about how things were and were going to be, Dennis was pleased to find out the family had bought lots of rice and beans over the past year and were not going to starve for awhile. Rather than bring all the trade goods he had brought over back to his house, Dennis went ahead and left them for the boys use and told their mom he would cut a deal with them later when he returned some other day.
Dennis went by the fire house on his way back to town in order to check on the water situation, but to his dismay nobody was around to ask any questions of. He saw a large National Guard convoy headed towards Montgomery on the highway but he couldn’t figure out what kind of specialized unit they were. They had a lot more trucks manned fully than he thought they could put together so quickly and wondered if they had been put on some kind of threat alert before the EMP event occurred.
“That’s something he really needed to find out about. The very next approachable Guardsman he saw he decided then and there that he would try to engage them in conversation and find out what they thought about was really going on. Dennis had been in the National Guard himself for many years before he got out and thought he would find it easy to talk to the younger soldiers and gain their confidence to speak plainly to him what they thought about it all.
Nothing for him to do now but watch the scenery on the way home and look for opportunities to spend some of his green cash at one of the little country stores dotting the highway if he could find one that was open along the way.
“GEEZ! There is a hell of a lot more traffic moving around today than I would have expected!” Dennis said to himself watching the highway. No eighteen wheelers at all though… which was weird because this highway was normally full of them.
“. Where were all these folks buying gas or getting some gas at? Or in all probability they were just running their gas tanks empty getting as far as they could go on what they had just like he was. Everyone must be trying to get somewhere to buckle in at and ride the coming storm out.” Dennis surmised.
The nation was literally peppered with preppers just like Dennis. The last published statistic he had seen had put the count at about 4 million preppers in the United States. How the media arrived at that number Dennis didn’t have a clue.
“I would bet about 20% of these cars and especially some of these trailers and recreational vehicles are preppers bugging out to parts unknown.” Dennis said to himself.
“Then there is about 70% traveling who are most likely normal folks going to move their family in unannounced with relatives like Aunt Sally or Grand Pa Fred out in the country and ain`t got a clue what to do when they get there. Well best of luck to them. Best of luck to them all. At least they had sense enough to get themselves out of the bigger cities. Those type of folks worried Dennis and he hadn’t thought about them until now. Hell everyone around him had plenty of kinfolk and relations around. Luckily the houses around him sat on small acreage and were small in size themselves so he didn’t think the neighborhoods population where he lived directly would expand much, but it was something to consider.
“Ten per cent of these drivers on the road were probably the clueless wonders that every disaster brings out. They are out on the road on some stupid errand burning up gas and sight seeing, or they are out looking for food because they had none stored and up to possibly mischief to acquire some.
“Then there are the displaced ones. The now huge class of homeless people that got caught up in the disaster from another city or state miles away from their support groups and these people would be soon a tragedy in the making. The new “Shut Outs” that would soon be trying to learn how to survive life on the streets in a world gone mad while they are trying to get home would be more people than he could count. Oh did Dennis’s heart go out and pity them poor souls!
He thought sadly to himself about how forlorn and miserable those folks would be after having been stuck out on highways and in cities as the gas ran out and made travel impossible. Most likely these people were already destitute and without means or survival gear thus putting them in them very desperate straits indeed.
Dennis slowed his truck down some before he got to an old tin top café and looked over at it for any signs of life. The café was sort of a gathering place for locals and the owners had a small farm and several houses for the family in back of it. They raised all the vegetables served in the joint and the place looked like it been there a 100 years.
Dennis didn’t see anyone around and no cars were parked out in the café’s lot.
The same owners had a gas station and general store about a mile up the road and Dennis sped up to go check it out.
“Store looks open to me. Let’s hope it is!” Dennis thought to himself as he turned off the highway on to a huge pothole littered gravel parking lot leading up to the store.
“Cool they open!” Dennis thought seeing movement behind the stores glass doors as he pulled by the front.
Donald got out of his truck and greeted the stores ancient owner.
“Hi Pops! I didn’t expect to see you folks open today. You are open aren’t you?” Dennis said eying a large pot bellied man sitting over in the corner with some Real Tree camouflage overalls on who seemed to be studying him a bit more than would be considered normal if he had wondered in on a different more normal day.
“Yea we are open son, come on in. You been doing all right? Haven’t seen you come around for a good while.” The craggy faced and weathered looking little old man asked
“I have been helping my mom out in Montgomery some. Looks like you have been doing a good business.” Dennis said joking with man.
“Yea can’t complain much, don’t know when I will see another delivery truck though. Seems there is a problem getting gas these days” The old man that went by the name Pops wryly joked back.
“You find out when a delivery truck is coming you tell me!” Dennis’s said engaging in the normal friendly banter he and the old man did when he came in the store regularly but albeit infreq
uently.
“That big boy over there is my grandson Silas. I forgot your name boy; I remember you said you lived down by Kings Mountain though.” Pos said pointing at the stout bearded man who gave Dennis a gap toothed smile and shook his hand with a big leathery one as he introduced himself.
“Silas here is my watch dog. Lots of strange goings on these days don’t you know?” Pops said adjusting his wire rim glasses on a beak of a nose.
“Tell me about it. Hey I just saw a big convoy of military trucks, you have many passing this way since the lights went out?” Dennis asked leaning on the wooden store counter.
“It has been busy as a beehive for the last day or so, but nothing coming by before that but a couple military vehicles here and there.” The old man said looking up in the air and thinking back in to his ever vigilant memory of watching the traffic flow.
“You think they are carrying any relief supplies on them trucks?’ Silas asked cocking his head towards Dennis.
“You know we are kind of far out in the country and county for them to remember us and I told daddy we might need to think about going to town to get a share of some relief goods.” Silas said as he raised his, must have been 380lbs by Dennis’s eyes estimation of his bulk, off a rusty old iron barstool whose padding had seen its better days.
“Those trucks are usually only carrying supplies and equipment specific for and assigned to the brigade, division or whatever unit they are a part of. My old self used to be in the Guard and we always had to off load our unit gear and go to a warehouse if we were using one of our trucks to distribute relief to the civilians. Usually, they just used to have us stand guard on a civilian painted truck while things like ice or water are distributed at shopping centers to the populace after a hurricane. I tell you, I sure am damn glad I am out that crap now and won’t be required to be doing no food truck guard duty any time soon.” Dennis said flashing back to his long enlistment with the National Guard responding to many years of hurricanes, floods and tornados all along the Gulf Coast.
“We had us a couple of them young buck officer types stop in here today. The way they were strutting around and not wanting to answer any questions you would have thought they worked for the CIA!” Pops said putting on his best old sour puss face.
“I tell you them danged boys acted like they had stick up there butt and I should be pleased to meet them!” Pops said evidently still fuming over the encounter.
“You set them straight though! Ha! Ha! Didn’t you Paw Paw?” Silas said laughing and waiting for his grandfather to tell Dennis some humorous tidbit about Pops probably giving them a piece of his mind about lack of southern manners.
“Well I told them; sort of like I am going to tell you right now Dennis that this store has new rules. Let me sit down a minute. Just thinking about them asshole officers got me in a tizzy.” Pops said as he sat down on an old clerks chair behind the register.
“Grand Pa was a sergeant in the Marine Corps in Iwo Jima during World War two.” Silas said proudly as he was leaning forward beaming great admiration at his veteran relative and maybe wishing to hear a piece of a war story that hadn’t been said yet.
“I didn’t know that Pops. Honored I am sure. Thank you for your service.” Dennis said extending his hand to grasp the old mans.
“I thank you for your service also son. Our nations free because we both decided to wear the uniform and serve the country. Anyway a butter bar and most likely a sneaky newly promoted captain came in here with an attitude wanting driving directions to Montgomery. They said they were going to the headquarters building over by the coliseum and could I tell them an alternate way because they had heard on their radio a big rig had jackknifed at the bypass. I told them I might be able to tell them a few possible routes but as long as that 18 wheeler wasn’t carrying any hazardous material the road should be clear time they got there. Told them it happens all the time and that CB radios seem to be working fine so a wrecker would probably still be going out handling stuff for the city. Well that butter bar got pretty snotty then and told the captain he would go get a map. The captain told him to go ahead said he rather try a alternate route rather than depend on a wrecker appearing seeing that everyone had no electricity and all the communication problems going on, which was more than reasonable so I told him there were two ways around the wreck right at the intersection and a turn off into the city 5 miles before. That didn’t seem to please him either and started asking about other county highway routes as soon as that 90 day wonder lieutenant got back with a map. That’s where Silas got in on the fun.” Pops said pointing to his grandson.
“Yea Man, that’s the ticket! What they were asking about made no sense what so ever to me. Why do you want to go by L.A. by way of Omaha if you don’t have to?” Silas replied looking at Dennis sure that he picked up on the old famous singer song writer and musician named Charlie Daniels whose fiddling and song lyrics highlighted the point he was referencing.
“Well I guess they are the ones that flipped like in the song because they kept wanting to know if there were any dirt road short cuts or such I knew about.” Silas said looking exasperated. But looking pleased that now he could hand the conversation back to his grandfather who took up the rest of the story.
“I asked them boys straight out then and there! I said to them that they sounded like a bunch of government revenuers looking for a still and what the F word was wrong with that so called truck as well as what they were doing!” Pops said sternly.
Dennis glanced at Silas with mock disbelief on his face.
“Oh he said the word and then some!” Silas said smugly and waved his hand towards his Grand Pa giving him back the floor to continue this tale.
Pa, Pa or Pops as non family members knew him was an old curmudgeon and a half when it came to cussing in his presence or establishment. You shouldn’t even think about uttering a curse word. He was hell on wheels if you ever even thought about or made the ultimate mistake of ever cussing in front of a lady or a juvenile. That old man was feisty and profoundly outspoken and took he took great delight in shaming you if you transgressed one of his taboos.
Pops took a minute to calm himself and then turned his rheumy old blue eyes towards Dennis and said “listen up my friend and boy you listen close”.
He explained how he had been born right in the back of this store 87 and half years ago and at his age he had nothing better to do but come to work and he planned on doing it as long as the Good Lord would let him and he had stock enough in the establishment to sell. His pleasure in life he said was not making the money, but waiting on and interacting with the customers and community. Because of his ties with the community he said not everything in the store was for sale. If Dennis or them damned Army officers wanted to buy something for cash they were welcome to as long as it wasn’t reserved for a customer or they wanted too much of any one commodity.
He apologized to Dennis for lumping him in with the military cadre and went on to explain that since he considered Dennis a local he would also offer him some store credit because times were tough and you couldn’t even show a dollar if you had one in the bank. The deal was, don’t take it or buy it if you could get by without it because lifelong customers in the community who had no where else to shop depended on what goods he had and as long as they lasted.
Dennis gazed at the man for a second and said “I guess I am pretty well fixed for food at the moment, I would like to buy a six pack of beer for old time sake though.” Dennis replied.
“Buy as much as you want. I would love to run out of beer before I run out of food.” Pops proclaimed.
“Make it two cases then and thanks” Dennis replied and paid for the merchandise and left.
“I am not even going to bother with the stores. If I ain`t got it by now, I guess I won’t ever get it.” Dennis thought to himself.
The intersection coming in town was clear and no signs of wreck appeared.
“I wonder what those two officers were up to. Usuall
y the only reason you would need to know all the back roads to a city was if you wanted to quarantine it. Either they were just taking precautions or somebody decided to amplify the disaster by realizing some kind of bio weapon was probably being used. This was not looking good. Stupid trucks radio don’t work, oh hell I forgot my 9 band world receiver radio.” Dennis was thinking to himself as he was approaching the intersection before the only grocery store on the way home.
“Well they ain`t open and nobody has tried to loot them it appears. The grocery store probably has got a dumpster full of stinking maggot ridden rotting meat in the back unless they somehow got the city to pick it up. Most likely the city government is diverting all the gas they got to police cars and such. I know residential garbage isn’t being picked up and this city is starting to reek. I sure will be glad to get my happy butt out of here.” Dennis mused as he pulled up into his driveway.
“Hey Mom! I am Home!” Dennis called out as entered the house.
“You made very good time, glad to see you made it back early. Did you come back early because of the news?” His Mom asked.