Jessica said, “Half off isn't too bad. Now let me try. You wait here.” Mike could see through the window, and saw a side of Jessica he had never seen in the six years they'd known each other. She was bluntly flirting with the man that was helping her, letting him put his hand on her lower back as he showed her where the tanks were, and rubbing on his biceps. When she came out, she was smiling from ear to ear. “It helps to be a woman. You paid $250 each for your tanks, right?”
Mike nodded.
“I just paid $50 each. I think I'll take over most of the shopping.”
He could only agree, and figured that Stacy and Taylor were probably, hopefully, doing likewise.
When the day was over, they all gathered together at the barn to look over the day's take. Four-hundred gallons of gasoline, and three-hundred of diesel, topping off Mike's existing tanks, plus leaving the new ones filled. “We've got at least a two year's fuel supply even if we don't ration our usage,” Mike told them.
Taylor was extremely proud of the deal she got on marine batteries.
“Thirty-two batteries for $20 each!” she exclaimed excitedly.
“I hope you kept some dignity,” Mike responded.
“Of course. But we thought it'd be fun to compete to see who could flirt our way to the best deals.”
Jessica laughed as she gave Mike an “I told you so” look. “Don't worry ladies. Mike charmed his way into $5 cartons of cigarettes at a gas station.”
Mike looked puzzled. “What?! How'd I... I didn't... This is bullshit. Did anyone have any money left over?”
They pooled the remaining money together and counted out $136 and some pocket change left.
“What did you two get with the money you had?” he asked Brad and Taylor.
Brad was beaming as he talked about his new bike, extra inner tubes, a hand held CB radio, and a few sets of full camouflage clothing.
Taylor chimed in “I know it's kind of useless, but I got some dresses, make-up and shoes. And I picked up some new bikinis since I don't have any that fit anymore.”
Mike assured her that small things like that aren't at all useless. “Sometimes we all need something to have some fun with, and a smile can be worth paying for.”
“I'm exhausted,” Mike said with a sigh as he abruptly turned and walked off. Brad jumped on his new bike and took off toward home.
As the three women walked, they realized Mike hadn't been to town in several years. “I didn't even think about how hard this might be on him,” Jessica noted. “He's not seen anyone besides us and Phillip in forever.”
Mike had thought about it on the way home from his third trip, but was too mentally drained to think about anything now but getting some sleep.
The next morning Mike slept in past 9 am. Four hours later than his usual 5 am. When he got up, he found that the others had tended to the animals already. Brad was out on his bike to check on the fencing around the ranch and make sure no animals had gotten out. Jessica was cooking breakfast. Stacy was cleaning and doing laundry and had a new bar of soap waiting so he could shower. And Taylor was out weeding a garden and gathering some cabbage and broccoli to use in a lunch she had planned. Mike really didn't know what to think about it. But he was also still too exhausted to think about much of anything. As he finished up his shower, Jessica brought him clean clothes and told him to come eat.
Forks hitting the plates, and chickens squawking in the background were the only sounds at breakfast. Stacy and Jessica both broke the silence calling his name. “We just want you to know how thankful we are for you doing all you have to help make sure we'll be okay during this recession,” Jessica said.
“Yes, we appreciate everything more than we know how to say,” Stacy added.
“I like my bike,” Brad added, as he sat there on a warm summer morning, decked out in full camo.
Taylor got up with Stacy to clear the table and just gave Mike a long hug. A very odd silence from her.
Mike didn't know what to think. He'd never been really close to anyone before they came along. “Family takes care of family,” he said as he got up and walked outside. He hadn't really thought about it before then, but they had become his family. They were the only family he'd ever had. They weren't the irritating “bitches” he'd once called them for buying up that forty acre parcel, and then actually moving to it. His ranch was now their ranch too. He thought he'd found the ultimate happiness when he moved out to his secluded slice of heaven. Now, he really felt a peaceful warmth about life. Happiness was no longer an adequate word. No word was sufficient. His house was a home, and these four were family.
Mike was sitting on the porch reading a book when the others came outside. “After lunch I've got something to show you all,” he told them.
“Good,” said Taylor. “I'll send Brad up to get you when it's ready. I'm baking a rabbit and you're coming to our house for lunch.” Mike just nodded and went back to his reading.
They gathered again at the barn after lunch. “I want to get the batteries, ammo, and a few other things loaded up on the trailers. We're taking it to store somewhere else,” he told them. They all got a puzzled look, figuring the barn was where they'd keep everything.
With it all loaded up, Mike led them in the other trucks up the mountain, through a fence that they had thought was the end of his property line. They parked on a small flat area about a hundred yards from a peak. None of them had ever been up here. While the ladies took in the incredible views, able to see for nearly a hundred miles in all directions, Brad took notice of something peculiar. “What are those?” he asked, pointing up the hill.
“It's an antenna and wind generator,” Mike replied. “You'll soon know.”
He led them around the side of the mountain to a small metal door. Not a big heavy steel door, as it was just made of three layers of corrugated steel panels. It went about ten feet in, to a second metal door. When he opened that door, Brad yelped out “cool!” It was a cave Mike had built his second year of living on the mountain.
Jessica, in a spell of wittiness, commented “Holy survivalist, Batman!” which Stacy found to be hilarious.
“What is all this for?” asked Taylor.
Mike answered “Well, it's kinda just because it was fun to build it, and kinda for the unlikely event I'd actually need it.”
Inside the first room of the two-thousand square foot cave was a large rack of batteries, coils of wire, and shelves with inverters and other electrical items on it. Over on the back wall was a corner hutch desk that looked to them like a military command center in a movie. It had a pair of computers, a TV, and radio equipment.
“I'm not quite as cut off from the rest of the world as you thought. I don't use it often. Haven't been up here in months. But with this, I can monitor news across the world, and just about any radio signal, whether it's someone's private two-way radios, weather, shortwave, police, and even most military frequencies. I can also send data and voice messages worldwide, though I've not done any of that since I was in the Navy.”
“There's a whole side of you we know nothing about,” Stacy said, somewhat nervously. “Before now, I would have guessed you'd never even owned a cell phone.”
“Nothing for you to be scared of. But yes. In a former life I was an electrical engineer in the Navy, working primarily with communications equipment. There's obviously a lot I learned there. I was good at something I didn't like doing.”
Mike reached down and flipped on a switch, and suddenly the corner work area they were standing by was lit up with little LED lights and the glare of old CRT computer monitors. He sat down and began pushing a few buttons, and after a moment, the news could be heard coming out of a small speaker.
“NPR Breaking News... In response to China and Russia selling off their U.S. Treasuries for $.08 on the dollar, the president has signed an executive order nationalizing all banks in the United States. Calling the actions by China and Russia an act of economic warfare, all Chinese and Russian assets held in the U.S. have been
seized, and the Coast Guard is working with the Navy to also seize all known Chinese and Russian ships within a hundred miles of American shorelines.
“In response, China and Russia have begun seizing American assets, including those of American based businesses. The president is expected to sign another order later today nationalizing critical supply lines of food and fuel, using The Department of Homeland Security and National Guard to implement rationing. Many are speculating that we are witnessing the beginning of a new Cold War.”
Mike pushed a button to mute the radio. “Well, glad we stocked up on toilet paper, because it's just hit the fan.” That was the first time they'd ever heard him attempt to make a joke, and no one was laughing. The American economy, as it had existed for more than two-hundred years, was dead.
“Let me show you all around so you know what supplies I keep in here, and where. Then we'll bring in the stuff we just bought.”
“There's no where near enough room in here for all that,” Taylor snapped. She was a bit annoyed, thinking she knew all about the ranch and all of his little secrets.
“See this shelf over here,” he said, pointing to a shelf that looked like it was secured to the wall of the cave. “Grab it right here, and pull slightly up and out.”
Mike demonstrated that the shelf was also a door to three more rooms. “On the right is a small bathroom. Behind that is a storage room with food, guns, water, solar panels, some wind generators, a gas generator, and several other things that could be useful in a disaster. There's also extra CB radios identical to the ones we already use. Off here to the left is a small bunk room. There's three sets of bunk beds, with bedding and pillows.”
“Why did you put this way out here, just under the mountain peak?” Stacy wanted to know. “Why not just build another root cellar for it? Or even easier, just put it in your house and barn?”
“Reasonable questions. Up here my antennas get the best range without obstruction. Up here is hidden and away from the house. I know our homes are pretty well hidden from the rest of the world, but if anyone desperate enough followed the right dirt roads, we're found. From up here I can see anyone coming long before they can get close enough to be a threat. And underground because when I worked as an electrical engineer in the Navy, I learned that the biggest threat to our country, aside from our own politicians, was what's called an EMP. Electromagnetic Pulse. It's a type of nuclear weapon that can kill most things electrical. Underground, this stuff should be protected from one of those, though that's very unlikely to ever happen.”
Taylor, still showing her irritation, wanted to know “Why are you showing us all this? Why are you just now telling me?”
“Well, because like I said this morning. Family takes care of family. And that's what you four have become to me. You've become something I never had. Something I never thought I'd have or want. This stuff is for disasters, and our country is in a disaster. It shouldn't really change how we live way up here. But it could. We'll need to monitor the news more.”
“Great!” Taylor said with a hint of mischievousness in her voice. “So, now that we're family, can we know when your birthday is?”
Mike just sighed, and walked out of the cave.
For the last four years, they had decided that since Mike wouldn't tell them when his birthday was, they were going to celebrate it on June 1st. He loathed the idea, but consented. He'd grown to care about them enough to not want to hurt their feelings.
That night, Jessica and Taylor brought Mike up some fresh bread they'd just finished baking. It was still warm, and the smell filled Mike's house quite nicely. As they were leaving, he called out to Taylor, “June 22nd. Y'all have been three weeks early.” A huge smile spread across her face as she headed out the door. Jessica stared back at Mike with a slight grin, and shouted to Taylor that she'd be home later.
She walked over and sat on the swing on his porch, looking at him in a manner that told him to join her. "Why have you kept your birthday a secret all these years?"
"You know, in all honesty, I really don't even know when it is."
"So you just flat out lied to us? Taylor adores you, and you lied to her?"
"Not exactly. Any legal paperwork for me has always said June 22nd. But that's the day someone left me on the porch of a children's home. They assumed I was about two years old."
Jessica looked stunned. She didn't really know what to say. "So they celebrated your birthday on that day when you were a kid?"
"Oh yeah, it was exciting," he replied facetiously. "Celebrating a birthday meant you got to go first in the cafeteria, get a cupcake, then get beat up by the other kids because they didn't get a cupcake too. Thankfully they pretty much quit acknowledging it by the time I turned thirteen."
"Damn, Mike," was all Jessica could come out with.
"Don't feel sorry for me. My childhood may have sucked, but it led me to living here and I wouldn't trade this life for anything."
"So is that why you joined the Navy? To get away from all that?" she asked.
"Yeah, kinda. I knew I'd have no where to go when I turned eighteen. That, and I just wanted to find a place I could fit in. I was always the oddball kid. I didn't care for sports. Spent almost all of my time with my face in a book. So, when I was sixteen, I faked my birth certificate, diploma, and high school transcript, to join the Navy."
"You forged all your records to join early? And got away with that with the federal government?"
Mike laughed. "Yep. Actually you're now the second person to ever know that."
"Who was the first? An old boyfriend?"
"Boyfriend?!" Mike exclaimed. "What the hell do you mean boyfriend? I'm not gay. I said second because I'm the first."
"Oh. Um, you know there's nothing wrong with being gay, Mike."
"I'm not gay dammit. Why the hell do you think that?"
"Seriously? You're not? Oh wow, um, I feel like and ass now. I thought you were gay because you always ran off when Stacy came on to you."
Mike felt as weak and vulnerable as ever. His voice slightly trembled. "I ran off because intimacy is probably the only thing in life that scares me, Jess. I never had a mom to hug me when I cried as a kid or kiss my forehead before bed. I've never had a girlfriend. Stacy was the first woman I'd ever seen undress like that. I don't even know what it feels like to kiss someone."
"Oh my God, Mike. You're telling me you're a virgin? You must think we're sick for what we used to do."
"No, no, I don't. I don't judge anyone. Actually, I really admire how y'all chose to give it all up. I have a lot of respect for you both."
"So me and Stacy are the only two women you've ever seen naked?" Jessica said, laughing. "I would have never changed clothes in front of you if I'd known you were straight."
"Um, I've seen Taylor too. Kind of like with you, she's changed and showered in front of me a few times, just 'cause it was convenient. Lucky for me I guess, every time I've seen you I had on loose fitting pants, or was half under water at the reservoir, so you couldn't tell anything."
Jessica just laughed and blushed. They were quiet for a few minutes before Jessica spoke up. "You know, Mike, you need to get past this. You're still young and might find someone you want to marry one day. How would you deal with that?"
His demeanor finally lightened up some and he chuckled. "Sure, now that our country's collapsing, the hermit in the mountains will find a bride!" Mike laughed harder. "You know, what would I even need a wife for?"
She hesitated for a moment. "I guess you're right. You've actually got that type of companionship with all of us, except for the intimacy." They both laughed more at the thought. "But I still think you need to get past this fear. If nothing else, then you could truly say nothing scares you, and all five people who know you would believe it."
“Yeah, well, I'd never be willing to go get married anyways,” he stated.
“Why not? What if you found that perfect woman you want to spend the rest of your life with?”
&n
bsp; “Then I'll spend the rest of my life with her. But I don't need some damn license involving the government in our relationship to do that,” he answered.
"So you all have thought I was gay all this time?" he asked, laughing again.
"Stacy's not sure. I've told her you were several times, but she's kinda insecure so part of her thinks you ran off because she's not attractive anymore. I don't know if Taylor has ever thought about it or would care. I'm certain Brad's never thought about it. Me, yeah, I thought you were totally gay. I told Stacy she better learn to accept being single because the only man around didn't like women."
A few minutes passed as they sat quietly, enjoying the peacefulness of the mountains. "Well, I probably need to head home." Jessica started to get up, but paused. She turned to Mike and kissed him on the lips. "There, now you can't say you don't know what it's like to be kissed," she said, as she smiled real big. He froze up, with a long blank stare on his face. "Good night, Mike," she said softly, as she started her walk home.
"Hey, Jess," he said. "Don't say any -"
"No," she replied shaking her head. "You'll tell them when you're ready."
Chapter 3
Friends Become Family
Almost a month had passed and life went on perfectly as normal. Mike's birthday, his real birthday, was sincerely being celebrated for the first time in his life. He was sitting on his porch having a glass of warm mint tea when the others showed up.
"Good morning birthday boy!" Taylor said excitedly. She went inside to get herself some tea, refill his glass, and returned to join him.
Crashed: The Death Of The Dollar Page 3