Between Jim, Dave, and I, we were finally able to get the racket quieted down so I could address Stanley’s statement. I looked directly at him. "Well Stanley I'm not sure what you mean about making you eat shit, but yes. We are still in charge." Again, the clamor was instantaneous. This time, though, I didn't try to get them to quiet down. I just let them rant for a while hoping they'd burn themselves out.
I took the time to look around at a few of the faces I knew well to see what their reactions were. For the most part, the people I counted on for answers and help were staying out of the fray. The vast majority though were taking on the appearance of an angry mob. I had a feeling this was about to turn ugly.
I let them carry on for a couple more minutes and then started trying to get things under control. It finally took Dave's Marine voice to get them to settle down. Once I was able to speak again I said, "Now if you are all finished, I'd like to continue. As I said earlier I'd..." Before I could get any farther Stanley jumped up and interrupted.
"I don't think any of us want to listen to any of your shit anymore. We've let you lead us around like dogs long enough." I heard some agreeing shouts when he said this and I had a feeling I knew where this was going.
Remember I said earlier that it didn't matter how smart you are when it comes to leading a group like this? Now was maybe the time to demonstrate the brawn aspect of leadership so I encouraged him to continue, which he did in grand fashion. "I think it's time for somebody else to be in charge," he said.
Again, I heard the agreement from the group. "Maybe you? Stanley do you want to be in charge?" I asked sarcastically.
"Fucking A!" he said and started working his way out of the pew. I let him make it to the center aisle and start toward me. Dave started to step forward and I blocked him with my arm.
When Dave glanced at me I said one word. "Mine." Dave knew from the tone I was serious and stepped back. I came from behind the pulpit and hoped of the platform. Stanley came right up, very aggressive. He tried to make an impression and he was. He was leaned forward with his balled up fists still at his side. He stuck his face toward me in an attempt at intimidation and started to speak.
"I've had about all..." was as far as I let him get. My right hand snapped out with an open hand finger jab to his throat. I aimed for the little V notch at the base of the throat and I connected perfectly. He never saw it coming. I was even surprised at how quick it happened. Both his hands went to his throat and his face turned red. It took about three seconds for his knees to buckle and there he was, on his knees, unable to catch his breath. I knew I hadn't hit him hard enough to cause permanent damage but he would have a sore throat for a couple of days.
As soon as he went down, I grabbed his collar with my left hand and pulled his head back by his hair so he looked up into my face. Now eye to eye I gave him a lecture. "You stupid shit. You think you're tough enough to lead this group? You aren't tough enough to take me on. You're nothing but a little fucktard and if you ever come at me again I'll do things to you that Doc can't fix. Do you understand?" I gave him a vicious shake to emphasis my meaning. He tried to answer. "Don't try to speak. You aren't able to speak. Just nod your head," to which he nodded.
I turned him loose and stepped behind him to address the rest of the crowd. I raised my voice so there was no doubt I was angry, "Anybody else?" I looked around the room making eye contact with some of those I had noticed agreeing with Stanley. "Well? Is there anybody else that thinks they can do my job? Anybody else want to step up and try me?"
The important thing to remember when it comes to bluffing a bigger opponent or large group of potentially dangerous people is to act crazier than what they want to deal with. You have to push to a point where you get the attention of that one guy who’s considering taking you up on the challenge but not so far as to piss him off enough that he doesn’t listen to that little voice that's telling him, "Maybe I don't really want to do this."
I thought I had them there as I continued to look around making eye contact with the ones I thought were capable of challenging me. I was fairly sure things were turning back my way. All of them were looking down and avoiding eye contact.
"All right. Now if we’re done with this silly shit, I'll continue. My plan is to attempt to turn the governing of The Dell over to an elected leadership by the end of this coming summer if nothing happens to prevent it. If we can become mostly self-sufficient on food production. If we are secure enough we don't have to worry about attacks from outside. We aren't there yet, but if we can get there by late summer you can elect whoever you want to run the place with my blessing.”
I glanced around again. “I'll gladly hand over control to whomever you decide. But until then, I'm in charge. I make the decisions based on the best information I have at the time. I have never tried to do anything that would hazard any of you and your safety has always been my primary concern."
I paused to let that sink in a moment, then I continued, "I will never intentionally do anything to jeopardize your safety unless it is absolutely necessary. You already know this. As far as the crap I've been hearing since we got here, that’s over with. The decisions have been made and unless it has to do with loss of life I'm not changing them. It's done and I don't want to hear any more about it."
I turned and walked back to the front. Stanley was still on his knees in front of the altar and I hoped he was taking the opportunity to reflect on his actions. I ignored him as I remounted the dais and turned to look at the crowd again. "Now I want everybody to go home, get a good night’s rest, and let's get to work tomorrow trying to make this place our home. No more arguing over silly shit. Work together the way we always have and we can make it here." With that I turned to Dave and Jim and asked what they thought. I talked low but needn't have bothered because of the noise the crowd made as they were leaving.
Jim said he hoped it worked and we'd see tomorrow. Dave's only comment was, "Damn. That shit looked like it hurt. You're going to have to teach me that move." I drew my hand back and asked jokingly if he wanted a demonstration and he held his hands up in surrender.
I noticed Reverend Ballard at the doors wishing people well as they left. George Ballard was a Baptist preacher and one of our two clergy, the other being Father Sims, our Catholic priest. Oddly enough, they had joined our group together as we passed through Memphis on our way to Lebanon. They were both good men and had helped with the losses we had all faced. Kat and I were the last to leave and I shook Rev. Ballard’s hand as I passed through the door. He held my hand for a moment. "Scott,” he said, “I've always thought you were doing a good job as our shepherd and I'm still behind you. I do wish you would refrain from using profanity in the Lord’s house though."
I looked down sheepishly. "Sorry Reverend. I got carried away. I'll try to watch it from now on."
He smiled as he released my hand. "I am glad you kicked that punk’s ass, though. Now you two have a good evening and I want to start seeing you at services on Sunday."
Kat looked down at her feet, trying to keep from laughing. I tried hard not to bust out myself. "I'll try and thanks for the vote of confidence," I said. He smiled and patted me on the back. Kat and I started for home as Rev. Ballard went back in to close the church up.
It was dark as we walked home hand in hand and there was nobody else out. We had the road all to ourselves. Kat hadn't said a word since we went into the church and I was still deep in thought. Now Kat was no newcomer when it came to violence and she knew that I was capable of extreme violence. It’s part of being a cop. You have to be ready to respond to any kind of threat, sometimes with force. She had seen me fight before and had often cared for my bumps and bruises that resulted. So I knew she wasn't shocked by what she'd seen me do and I waited for her to comment on the meeting.
As we started up the hill toward our home she looked over at me and asked, "Fucktard? Really?" I immediately burst out laughing and the release felt good.
We both laughed the rest of th
e way home. We made love that night for a long time. It was the first time that we both felt relaxed enough to attempt anything other than a quickie in months. We both fell asleep exhausted and satisfied. The last thought I had as I drifted off was that the future is ours ... maybe.
The next several days raced by as we tried to build The Dell into our home. The electrical problem was figured out, ground wire, and the community cheered now that they had electrical power for part of each day. There were a few small incidents as the power came back on. A couple of small fires from bad wiring that had to be extinguished. One of the unoccupied houses did burn down because no one caught it in time. This also highlighted the fact that we were going to need some type of firefighting apparatus to keep this from happening in the future. Jim took the job immediately and started trying to solve that problem.
I also found out that Stanley Hooten had been the one agitating everyone at the beginning. It seems that when we moved he and Dawn Taylor had decided they wanted to move in together and wanted a house of their own. Jim had originally assigned him space in the single men's dorm and Dawn was at home with her parents. Rick Taylor, Dawns father, had gone to Jim and told him Dawn was still underage, she was seventeen, and he wanted her at home. He also told Jim in no uncertain terms he didn't want her with Stanley. Jim kept the housing assignments as they were and this didn't sit well with Stanley and Dawn. They had come up with the idea that causing a lot of hate and discontent would be the way to get what they wanted. It didn't work; Stanley was in the men's dorm and Dawn was at home with her parents.
As I walked around the village checking on the status of projects and inspecting work I spoke to everyone I came in contact with. There was still a few who acted as if they were upset but they did return my greetings. I saw this as a good sign. We were getting along again if grudgingly in some cases.
Things were looking up again. Winter’s coming and we had to be ready. Everyone was focused again on what had to be done. We were putting the trouble behind us. As we moved into the last half of October I once again felt cautious optimism. Maybe the future was ours, only time would tell.
Chapter 14
New Arrivals
A lot went on the first two weeks at the Dell. All the little finishing touches were completed on the projects so that we were able to function. The guard towers were completed and manned and a roving patrol was established along the inside perimeter twenty-four hours a day. With the electrical system running we were able to provide power to the homes for six hours a day. Three hours in the morning and three hours in the evening. I asked Jim to start looking ahead at the wind turbine project we had discussed several months earlier so we could have full time power with the generators as back up.
He estimated we could run two to three houses full time off of each turbine. That would require us to erect around forty of the wind driven electrical generators. I told him that sounded like a lot and he said it would be the only way to do it without using the generators. I told him I wanted this to be a renewable system and not be dependent on diesel fuel. The fuel would eventually run out and there would be no way to get more. I wanted us to be ready with a solution long before that happened. If we were going to make it we were going to have to do it on the resources we could provide.
Jim nodded and said he'd get started. He also informed me that L.B. Davenport had his HAM radio up and broadcasting again. So far he hadn't heard anything. I nodded and said we had to face facts. There might not be anybody to hear him. Jim said he hoped that wasn't the case, there had to be somebody else out there. I agree, there did have to be someone else out there. The question was; was they anybody we really wanted to talk to? He nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean."
The days went by quick those first weeks. There was still a lot to do and everybody had ideas to make things better. Some of the ideas were worthwhile and we immediately started looking at ways to implement them. Others were not so great and we had to explain to the presenters why we couldn't do whatever they were advocating. I tried to do it in such a way that I didn't leave the person feeling unappreciated. Just because one idea wouldn't work, you never know, the next one might be a hit.
One idea that we did start working on was a wind driven water pump. Many of the electrical pumps on the wells at the houses didn't work. I guess sitting for over five years with no power had damaged them. We were able to salvage some parts from the unoccupied houses and a trip into Lebanon netted us a few new pumps but many people still had to carry water from the artesian spring. One of our people had noticed a wind mill at a farm down the road from The Dell and we sent a crew out to inspect it. Turns out, the thing was built to last. It still worked and all the pump parts would fit into the well casings in the valley.
It only took two days to move the wind mill to The Dell and get it set up on the new well. Another trip into Lebanon provided us with all the plumbing hardware and a twenty-thousand gallon tank. We chose a well as high up the side of the valley as was possible so that the water was gravity fed down to the houses. This was a big improvement and pleased everyone. I felt satisfied with the direction we were going and encouraged folks to keep up the good work.
We had a crew that went out each day and cut wood. We were going to need a huge stockpile to make it through the winter and I didn't want to wait until freezing weather before we go it. Jim and I agree that for the time being no live trees were to be cut. This was a simple conservation measure and was intended to ensure that we would have ample wood for as long as we had to be here. He and I decided that we needed to look at this place as our home for the rest of our lives and beyond. If we used up every resource trying to make it through the first winter, what would we do next year and the year after that? So our wood cutters roamed the woods around the valley cutting all the dead wood they could find.
We also had hunting parties out in the woodland and fields surrounding the Dell. We had several avid hunters in the group and their experience was invaluable. They went out each day and took game that went toward feeding the entire group. Rabbits, squirrel, deer, and turkey were plentiful in the hills around us and hunting was the only source of meat we had at the moment. One discovery made by the hunters would pay off long term. They found a group of feral hogs living in the hills south of the valley. These were not wild hogs but domesticated hogs that had escaped from some nearby farm and had turned wild. It took some doing but the hunters managed to trap several of them and brought them back to our growing little farm. Judy Aikens had a sty built and the hogs are happily growing fat on the scavenged feed corn from the abandoned farms around us.
Things were progressing well and I relaxed a little more each day. Our luck was holding and we hadn’t seen any Stinkies since the one encounter in July. If we could avoid detection by the Road Gangs for a while longer, I felt sure we would be at a point that they couldn't harm us. With enough supplies stockpiled when they showed up, we could close the gate, sit back, and let them exhaust themselves trying to get at us.
Time passed and we were falling into a routine. Jim had his office in the old Post Office and Dave had his in the old Community Center. They both worked out of their offices and went out as needed to supervise their respective workers. Everybody had a job that helped further our chances of surviving. I didn't want an office, I worked out of the little cottage that Kat and I shared. We were still having a daily situation meeting in the Community Center each morning to discuss what we were doing that day and any problems we were encountering. I had started this at the Lebanon compound and kept it going here. I spent the rest of my day wandering around checking on things and looking at ways to improve our situation. I always carried one of the radios we had so that I could be reached, if needed. I found that the guys were able to get more done if I wasn't always around asking questions or pestering them with advice. I told them what I wanted and they made it happen.
Before I was aware of it, October had passed and it was November. Where October is a dry month, November is
marked by frequent rain. The weather became colder and we were having to burn wood to heat the houses. The pleasant smell of wood smoke wafted through The Dell and brought back memories of my childhood. Warm evenings gathered around a roaring fireplace with my family as the winter wind whistled outside. Hot chocolate and my grandmother’s cinnamon sprinkled fried apple pies. The people I met on my strolls around The Dell thought I'd finally gone bonkers as I walked along with a silly smile plastered on my face.
As I walked past the church, I could hear singing and paused to listen. The high-pitched strains of children singing 'Over the river and through the woods, to grandmother's house we go' could be heard coming from the closed windows. As Thanksgiving drew near, I thought this year might be the first we truly had something to be thankful for. Our new home, secure, and with the possibility of being able to build some kind of future for these same children.
I walked over and opened the door to the inner sanctum. A young woman standing at the front noticed me as I came in. She smiled and motioned for me to come forward. This was Heather Lee, one of the volunteers to run the school. We had started the practice back in Lebanon of getting the children together for a few hours each day for 'school' and now that we had a building for them to meet, the practice was expanded.
We used the church during the day four days a week as a school house and our two pastors split time to conduct church services for both the Protestants and Catholics. For the children, the normalcy of having to get up and go to school added an anchor to what had been up to this point a mostly nomadic existence. They seemed to enjoy the fellowship and this brought back the feeling of nostalgia as I remembered my childhood and how big a part school played in it.
We Go On (THE DELL) Page 16