Unable to sleep, Brad went into the garage to see what he could scrounge from there, which turned out to be little. There was a hundred feet or so of coaxial cable all rolled up and hanging neatly on a hook from the pegboard. He looked on the of the radio and unscrewed the antenna and breathed a sigh of relief. The antenna connection was for a coaxial antenna. All he had to do was work his way to the roof, rig up a makeshift antenna and he should be able to make contact with someone. He took the coil and went back into the house, checking on the horse on his way.
Three floors. Who in their right fucking mind has a three floor house?, he thought as he made the turn for the final flight. He was glad this wasn’t his place, because he was pretty sure he’d figure out a way to torch the place, collect the insurance money, and start over. At least they could have put in an elevator. These idiots probably ate nothing but veggies and trail mix. It wasn’t normal to him. Meat, eat meat people. Bologna is some good stuff sometimes, he muttered under his breath.
The access to the attic, that he just knew was going to be hotter than a ship’s boiler room, near the equator, but there was nothing to be done for that. Just thinking about that kind of blast furnace heat reminded him of the time when a Boiler Tech on the USS Tripoli (LPH-10) in the early part of 1982 had stayed outside his protective cooling station too long and passed out. Brad had the duty that day and when they’d called “Medical Emergency”, grabbed his Unit-1 and ran from Sickbay to the Boiler Room. The door on the water-tight door leading down into the bowels of the ship was painted “Welcome to Hell”, and he’d chuckled when he saw it. It was so hot that he felt his knees weaken the instant he was through the door. They guy lived, but he was not allowed back in the space for twenty-four hours. And the other branches think the Navy has it easy.
Brad located the attic access and pulled the spring-loaded door down, extending the steps and grimacing as he thought about the heat that lie ahead of him. He switched on the flashlight and ascended the stairs. It was surprisingly cool in the attic and it wasn’t until he spotted the automatic attic fans that he understood why.
Five minutes later and he’d located the access door that lead out to the aluminum roof. Opening the door, he looked out, getting a look at the steep angles of the roof.
“ Shit.” He muttered and made his way gingerly outside, holding onto the roof for fear of slipping. He figured that would be his luck; survive a damned apocalypse only to kill himself doing something stupid. Again. He was always doing stupid shit and that always got him hurt, then Julie would get pissed at him for getting hurt. One day he’d learn. Yeah, right.
Fortunately, his boots were able to get a good bite and he slowly made his way to the top of one of the three spires that made the house look really medieval. Using a multi-tool, he was able to strip one end of the coax and wrap it around the lightning rod/ weather vane at the top. That done, he carefully worked his way back to the open door, pretty sure that he’d sharted at least once when his footing started slipping.
Tossing the cable through the open door, he scrambled in behind it, wishing he had some scotch, Jack, or hell, he’d go with moonshine at this point. When his hands stopped shaking after his near death experience, he unscrewed the antenna that came with the unit and screwed in the coax, flipping on the power button. Taking a second to get a drink from his CamelBak to wet his impossibly arid mouth, he thumbed the PTT switch.
“Anysta, Thumper215. Anysta, Thumper215.” He said and waited. He almost fainted when he heard Julie on the other end.
“Thumper, the farm. Where the hell are you?” she asked and he smiled.
“Stuck for the moment. Do you remember the castle on 11 North?” he asked and sat back to relax a little.
“Yeah, the creepy place. You there?” she asked.
“Yeah. The place is a fort. There’s about seventy-five crazies knocking on the front gate, but they can’t get in.” Brad reported.
“That’s good. Now how are we getting you out of there?” she asked. Brad was at a loss for words. He had absolutely no idea.
“Yeah, I got nothing here at the moment. There’s only one way in or out. They’ve got it covered. I’ll figure something out.” He said and released the PTT.
“Okay. We’ve been trying the radio; did you have it off or something?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’d rather not talk about that right now. You guys know the drill. I’ll meet you on the channel and time tomorrow. Gotta save the batteries babe. Everything okay there?” he released the button.
“It is now. Had to clean up a couple of messes, but yeah, everything’s fine.” Julie replied and he smiled. He had no doubts that she could pull things together. Now if she could just pull his ass outta the fire, things would be fine.”
“Did you hear from Tanith and Walt?” he asked.
“Yep. They’re fine. I’ll tell you more tomorrow. Time. Farm is out. Love you.” She answered.
“Copy. Castillo de Locos out. I love you too.” He said and flipped the radio out. He wondered why he stuck to the radio schedule since most of the world was dead, and decided that it was still a good idea. He thought about returning to the nice comfy bed downstairs and realized it was actually cooler here than downstairs, so he made his way to the access, folded the door up and closed it behind him. If the crazies did somehow make their way in, they’d have one helluva time finding him, much less reaching him.
As he was drifting off to sleep he thought of the perfect name for the horse; Chesty, as in Lt. General Lewis “Chesty” Puller, the most decorated Marine in history. Chesty it was, then. He smiled before exhaustion overtook him and his eyes closed for the final time.
Tanith and Walt
Chickamauga Lake, TN
Norm brought the boat to the mouth of the Hiwassee River just as the sun was starting to set. It had been a busy day and the anxiety of it raining crazy people on the boat while going under the bridge had been stressful to everyone onboard. He throttled back the engines and looked at Walt.
“Okay, Skipper, we’re almost at the final leg. All we have to do is navigate up this river and figure out how in the hell we’re getting this crew to the final destination. So, what do you want to do?” Norm favored Walt with a smirk, glad that he didn’t have to make this decision on his own.
“How about we anchor off and figure out our next move. We might want to try the radio because we should be within range.” Walt said and Norm hit the switch to drop the anchor.
“Thought you’d never ask.” He grinned.
Tanith figured out the frequency that the farm should be on and dialed it into the radio.
“Farm, are you there?” she radioed and waited.
“Hey sis, we’re here.” Jess answered and Tanith breathed a sigh of relief.
“We’re on the water and from what I can figure about fifteen miles away. We’re shutting down for the night so that we can rest up. If we figure right, we’ll be in for a ten mile walk by the time we leave the boat tomorrow.” Tanith told them.
“That’s a bit far to walk with the baby. Is it still you guys plus two?” Jess asked.
“Plus three now. What are you thinking?” Tanith asked.
“Well, I was thinking about bringing you horses so that we can get you here quicker and be able to use their speed, if we have to.” Jess said.
“That might work. Just remember, we have a couple of little guys that have to double up with us.”
“Mom said wait. She’s got a better idea. Call back after you get to town. You’ll know the place, you can’t miss it.” Jess said and signed off.
“Tanith smiled. She was happy to be so close to family and reasonable safety, although she was worried about the last few miles. The Hiwassee was a lot narrower than the Tennessee, shallower too, but Norm assured them that the boat could navigate it easily.
Using some canned soups, canned chicken and some uncooked biscuits that Delores made up, a makeshift pot of chicken and dumplings was soon heated up and dispatched to the
hungry crew. It had been a very long day and lunch was a long time ago, and yet no one realized they were hungry until the smell of the food reached the salon from the galley.
Delores ladled it into bowls found in the galley and Tanith brought them up to the salon because they were hot and she didn’t trust the kids not to burn themselves. Now was not the time for any type of injury. Paul took the flybridge watch while everyone ate, Tanith brought him up a bowl so that he wouldn’t have to wait before going to get her own dinner.
She looked out at the mountains in the distance.
“This isn’t so bad, is it?” she asked Walt, who took a second to take in the view.
“I could get used to it.” He smiled.
“Way better than St. Louis is now.” Tim said and everyone chuckled.
“Don’t kid yourself.” Norm said, “This place is every bit as deadly, but there’s probably less infected around, so it might be easier. Just never let your guard down.” He smiled.
“I put tonight’s watch list on the wall over there. Make sure that you look at it so that you know when your watch is. Since we’ve had people almost falling asleep, would the outgoing watch please make a fresh pot of coffee for the oncoming? It’s tough enough for most of us in the middle of the night to get up, staying up is worse.” Tanith said and everyone agreed.
The blinds were drawn in the salon, blocking out most light and the kids threw on a DVD that they’d found and relaxed wherever they felt comfortable as the sun slipped below the Cumberland Plateau on the far side of the Tennessee Valley. Walt noted that his name was on the midnight to four watch, so he opted to get a little sleep. As he drifted off, he thought that the new normal meant someone always being awake to keep them alive. This strange new world was filled with challenges that he hoped he could win. Nothing meant more to him than his family.
A hand, not so gently, shook his shoulder.
“Dad, time to get up.” Lexi whispered.
“Okay, I’m up.” He whispered back. Curtis slept in the space between himself and Tanith, so he slowly made his way out of the bed, grabbed his boots and went down the passageway to the galley. He was just putting his boots on when Lexi thrust a cup of fresh coffee in his face.
“Gimme a sec.” he mumbled and she smiled, knowing that she’d secretly irritated him. He tied his boots and snatched the coffee.
“Thanks. Gonna need this. I’m beat.” He admitted.
“We all are. It’ll be nice to get to the farm and hopefully get a good night’s sleep.” She smiled. Walt could see that she was on the verge of exhaustion herself. He went up to the flybridge to find Beth on watch.
“You coming or going?” Walt asked.
“Coming. I’ve got watch with you tonight. Tanith thought that maybe you could teach me something.” She said, glassing the far right bank with the night vision glasses.
“Not much to teach. If you see something, no matter what it is, let me know. If we determine that it means all hands on deck, then we wake everyone. Otherwise we wake our reliefs at four A.M.” he said, sipping the still hot coffee.
They sat in silence, with only the frogs and crickets making any noise, outside of the occasional jumping fish. The splashing spooked Beth until he explained what it was.
“How do you know all of that?” she asked.
“I spend a lot of time outdoors. My whole family does, especially in the summer and fall.” Walt said.
“Why then?” she asked.
“Well, outside of a few baseball games, those are fishing and deer seasons. The girls aren’t much for deer hunting, but they are all about fishing.” He said.
“You guys are lucky. We went camping once a year for a week, maybe. Everyone was always buried in their devices, so there wasn’t much communication, unless it was in the form of a text or email.” She scanned the banks again, finding nothing, she lowered the NVG’s.
“I feel bad about Jake.” She admitted.
“The boy on the other jet-ski?” Walt asked and she nodded, “Were you close?” he asked.
“Not really, they lived just down the road from us and we camped with them when we did camp. He was a good guy, but he didn’t always listen to reason, which was why he charged your boat.” She paused for a second, “I can’t help but feel like it’s my fault.”
“It’s no one’s fault. He charged the boat and I felt threatened, so I fired. I had no way to know whether he was a good guy or not, so I just assumed. I felt bad about killing him until I realized that this new world calls for different rules. He didn’t get that yet. No one’s fault, just a bad timing on both sides, so please don’t hold it against me.” Walt said.
“I don’t. Like I said, we weren’t very close and he was kind of an asshole anyways. I’m just glad that you didn’t leave me to fend for myself. I’m not sure I would make it on my own.” She admitted and Walt nodded in agreement in the dark, hoping that she could see him.
“We’re always open to those that agree with our way of thinking. By that I mean; those that want to protect the group. Anyone else can take their chances. I’m not risking my family for that. If you agree, you might as well consider yourself family.” Walt said and could see her nodding in the dark.
“I don’t have a family anymore, didn’t have much to begin with. Thank you for letting me stay.” She sniffled.
“Welcome to the family. Just a note here; my father-in-law, is not a people person. He’s old and grumpy, so you have to deal with that. He probably won’t bitch about you joining us, so long as you pitch in.” Walt said and she agreed with him.
“I’m not afraid of work. I am afraid of being left alone with all of this going on.” She said pointing to the banks.
Walt nodded in the dark, thinking that one more person to help was not a bad idea. He’d just have to watch her closely and see she if she was for real. He’d give her the benefit of the doubt, but he would definitely be watching her.
They chatted quietly through the four-hour watch. Outside of the occasional scream from the infected, there was little noise, as if everything left alive was in hiding from them. Walt couldn’t blame them, he had a feeling they attack anything moving.
“How are we going to get to your father-in-law’s place from here?” Beth asked.
“Not real sure tonight. One option is walking, but I really don’t want to do that. Jessie told Tanith over the radio that they had some horses, but that’s going to be tough with Everett and Curtis if we get attacked. Her mom has another idea, but didn’t relay it, so we’ll have to wait until morning.” He sighed, “To make it this close and yet it feels like we’re so far still.”
“And Jessie is?” Beth asked and Walt chuckled.
“Tanith’s sister. There are ten kids in this family, most of them married with families of their own.” Walt informed her.
“Holy shit, that’s a lot of people!” Beth said and Walt laughed.
“Yes, it is. But fortunately most of them live far enough away that getting here might pose a problem. One was in D.C., one on the Gulf Coast, two in Texas, one in Colorado, two near Seattle, two here, and us.” Walt explained.
“So the ones far away probably won’t be coming?” Beth asked, “I just don’t want to put a strain on y’all.”
“Pop’s never said so, but when he set the farm up, I’m pretty sure he did it with a lot of people in mind, so I doubt you’d make much of a difference in food supplies.” Walt explained, trying to put her at ease without giving away too much. She didn’t seem to notice as she scanned the banks on both sides around the boat. She swung past something on the left shore behind them and stopped.
“What the hell is that?!” she asked, handing Walt the NVG’s. It took him a second before he spotted the moving thing in the light and he had to study it a moment before he figured it out, laughing as he handed them back to her.
“A bear. There are a lot of them in this part of Tennessee.” He explained as she sighted back in on it.
“Oh shit! I didn�
��t know that. Bears? On top of those infected things? Life suddenly got more complicated.” She continued her scan.
“Then you probably don’t want to hear about the mountain lions that have been making a comeback around here.” Walt chuckled.
“Seriously?” she lowered the NVG’s and looked at him to see if he was teasing her.
“Yep. There have been several caught on people’s game cameras, but according to Pops, the state has been slow about verifying them, and for good reason; bears are common and folks around here know to leave them alone. Mountain lions are ambush killers, they’ll wait for you to walk by and then pounce. With tourism being big bucks in East Tennessee, they didn’t want to scare people and their dollars away.” Walt explained.
“So we really have to keep our eyes open.” Beth stated.
“You bet. With people dying all over the place, the meat eaters will welcome the easy meal. With the lack of human activity, the animals will be coming down from the mountains in record numbers. This has a chance to be very bad on the uninfected as well as the infected. Always look around you, it’ll keep you safe.” He told her and went downstairs to start a pot of coffee for Tim and Lexi, their relief crew.
Brad
Cleveland, TN
Brad awoke in the middle of the night, surprised at his surroundings at first, then it all came slowly back to him. He made his way to the window that overlooked the driveway only to see several of the crazies still lingering at the gate. The crowd, however, had dissipated to places unknown. That made him a little happy.
After downing a cup of the dreadful, yet absolutely welcomed, MRE coffee, Brad made his way into the attic and the homebuilt antenna. He screwed the radio in it and turned it on.
Three Days From Home Page 27