by David Achord
We kept running into group after group. Ultimately, we ended up having to fire several times, maybe forty or fifty precious rounds. It took us almost an hour to cover less than six miles, but we stopped suddenly at Broadway and Fourth Avenue.
“Holy shit,” Andie exclaimed. I groaned in agreement.
Everyone got out of the vehicles and gathered around.
“This is bad, isn’t it, Zach?” Felix said.
“What do we do now?” Michael asked.
“We go home.” I said belatedly.
Chapter 44 – Journal Entry, July 20th, 2 A.Z.
Yesterday, we conducted a mission with our new friends, or should I say Zach’s new friends. Their names are Felix (Zach’s best friend from high school), Michael, Kelvin, and Sue. They’re all from Nashville. Zach seems to think very highly of Felix. Quite frankly, I don’t trust any of them. Neither does Fred. There’s something in the way they look at us and our stuff that sets off warning bells with me. When Zach showed them the new root cellar we recently built, they looked at the shelves filled with fresh vegetables and mason jars with the look of at least one of those deadly sins my grandmother always preached about.
The results of the mission: We busted at the National Guard Barracks. No guns and only five hundred rounds of 7.62 ammo, but it got worse. We made our way toward the fuel reservoirs only to be stopped by water. Yeah, water. Downtown Nashville was flooded. Zach believes the Wolf Creek dam finally gave way. He said the dam held back almost two trillion gallons of water. I’m not sure how he knew that, but it’s a shit load of water.
So, the bottom line: no more fuel from the reservoir. Hell, most of downtown Nashville for that matter, everything within a couple of hundred yards from the Cumberland River is now under water. Zach said the water level will eventually return to normal, maybe in a year, but in the meantime…
There’s more bad news. The place out on River Road that Konya told us about, Zach said they would have been flooded out as well. So, if there are any survivors, they’ve been displaced and may be a potential problem for us.
Everyone was quiet on the ride back. Quiet and dejected. It didn’t help that Chet’s fucktard friends were waiting for us when we arrived home and had the nerve to say we should share the gas with them. Zach tried to be polite and tell them what went wrong. One of them actually walked over and looked into our empty tanker. Zach and Terry finally had enough. They ordered them to leave and not come back. They weren’t happy, but they’re no match for us and they knew it. I think we should’ve killed them. I know their type. They’re going to do something sneaky one day.
Okay, enough about them. Our status is as follows: We have plenty of food and barring any unforeseen disasters, we’re going to be fine in that department. Our livestock population is good. Bo has given us more horses, we now have six. He said if we prove we can take care of them, he’ll give us more.
Our supply of fuel will last us through the winter, if we don’t share it with anyone, but then we’re going to be in a pickle. Zach says all of the existing fuel out there is nearing the end of its shelf life anyway, so we need to adjust. It seems like this is the last thing we have from normal times, and even it is slipping away from us.
Our stock of ammunition is tight. Zach said we are completely out of primers, which prevents us from reloading. All of the gun stores we’ve previously visited have been completely looted, so we’re going to have to go house to house, looking for ammo and reloading products.
Julie and Penny’s pregnancies are progressing as well as can be expected. I don’t know of anyone else who is pregnant, I’m certainly not. - Andie
Chapter 45 – Macie
It was a cool crisp morning and the fog was lying thick along the Harpeth River. Fred hadn’t said anything in over an hour, even when he caught a nice five pound small mouth bass. I adjusted my jacket and cast my line again.
“It’s going to be a pleasant fall, I’m thinking,” I said as a way of breaking the silence. Fred mumbled a quiet assent. “I wonder how bad the winter will be this year. If we don’t have a lot of snowfall, I think the flooding will go down significantly.”
“How is the food inventory?” he finally asked.
“We’ve got plenty. The silo is full of feed corn, and if I’ve calculated correctly, we have more than enough hay for the livestock. I’ve spoken with Bo and he says he’s got plenty stored away as well, but we’ve got enough to share if he runs short.”
Fred nodded silently. I cast my line further out in the stream. I hadn’t even had a nibble. We heard the report of a small caliber rifle coming from upstream.
“If he’s hitting his target, that makes six,” I said. “I guess he wasn’t having any luck with his new compound bow.”
Fred responded by casting his line a few feet from a log floating in the water and was rewarded a moment later when his line went taut. He reeled in another smallmouth. It looked like about a three-pounder this time. I recast my line near where he caught it. We heard another gunshot, which caused me to stand and look around. Fred glanced at me as he worked the fish off the lure.
“You getting nervous?” he asked. I kept my anxiety hidden with a casual shrug.
“Eh, I guess so.”
“She’ll be fine,” he said. “I’ll bet you’ll be a daddy again by the time we get home.”
I sat back down on the bare ground and crossed my legs. He was right. When Julie started having contractions last night, she suggested the men find something to occupy our time rather than standing around outside the house. So, Fred and I went fishing, Terry opted to do some squirrel hunting.
“Have you thought about starting another family?” I asked. Fred glanced at me.
“I’d say I’d need a woman before thinking about a family.” He turned back toward the river and cast his line. “And no, I’m not hooking up with Janet.”
I chuckled, but stopped short when I heard some rustling through the bushes. I started to stand before Terry sounded off with the password. A moment later, he emerged from the morning fog. I sat back down by Fred and Terry joined us.
“Well, how many?” I asked. Terry opened his shoulder bag and dumped the contents. I smiled in appreciation.
“Those are fat ones,” I said, looking at the six dead squirrels. He grinned proudly.
“I only missed one. Do you think she’s given birth yet?” he asked.
“Well, I just don’t know,” I said and cast my line. It went awry and the lure landed in the middle of an overhanging tree branch.
“Shit,” I muttered and struggled to pull the lure free. Terry snickered and began gutting the squirrels. Fred watched me struggle with my line before setting his pole down and relieved me of mine. After a minute of gentle manipulation, the lure pulled free from the tree limb. He reeled it in and handed the pole back to me.
“Why don’t we head on back,” he suggested, “you’re ruining my fishing.”
The fog had almost completely dissipated by the time we got back home. Konya was sitting on the back deck with his dogs. Number Two ran out to greet us and instantly became aware of the dead squirrels in Terry’s bag.
“How’re the puppies doing?” I asked Bo.
“Playful and a pain in the ass, but Number Four is being a good mama to them. They’ve taken up residence in the old barn, which incidentally is now home to a feral cat as well.”
“Won’t it try to eat one of the puppies?” I asked. Konya shook his head.
“I think it was tame at one time. I’ve been feeding it and got close enough to look it over. He’s a neutered male tabby, about four or five years old I’m guessing. I think we’ll be okay.”
Andie walked out the back door during the middle of our conversation and crooked a finger at me. I walked inside hurriedly and followed her to the bedroom. Julie was sitting up in bed. She looked a lot worse than when she had given birth to Frederick, but she was still smiling.
“I told you we were going to have a little girl,” she said w
ith a loving smirk. I sat beside the bed and looked at the bundled little mass she was holding. She was small and pale, with a slight tuft of blonde hair peeking out. She was sleeping peacefully and I thought she was beautiful.
“Have you told everyone her name yet?” I asked. Julie looked around the room. I caught Janet staring intently, maybe even a bit hopefully. I kept a disgusted look from forming on my face. The woman honestly thought we were going to name our daughter after her. Andie brought the men in and everyone stood waiting.
“Everyone, this is Macie Marie Gunderson,” Julie said. Everyone oohed and aahed. “Macie was a person who was very special in our lives and died too soon. Marie was the name of my grandmother,” she paused and looked pointedly at Janet, “on my father’s side.”
The look on Janet’s face was very special and would be imprinted in my memory for the rest of my life. My old buddy, Rick, would have described her expression as looking like a cat trying to shit a persimmon seed.
It didn’t take long for Julie to fall asleep. Wanda shooed us out of the room with her usual scowling expression. I looked at my watch and then looked at Andie.
“What do you say we cook up some lunch?”
It was a beautiful day outside, so we ate at the picnic tables. The mood was jovial and everyone, well, except for Fred, was cutting up with each other.
“Well, you’re now the father of two children. How does it feel,” Konya asked.
I smiled. “I’m thinking I’m not going to get very much sleep for a while.”
“You’re right about that,” Konya said. “My son was a quiet child, he didn’t cry very much, but his sister was the opposite and was very, very loud,” he said with a sad chuckle. “I don’t think I slept much more than a couple hours a night for the first year.”
“Zach, may I ask a question?” Jessica asked tentatively.
“Of course,” I replied with a smile.
“How are you going to address childhood illnesses?”
“Well, I’m not a doctor, but Julie and I have been reading up on the matter. There are homeopathic remedies for various illnesses, and in the event either one gets sick, we’ll be keeping them quarantined and trying the treatments recommended in the books.”
“That doesn’t sound too promising.” Janet opined. I shrugged.
“It’s all we’ve got. Do you have any better suggestions?” I asked. Janet didn’t bother answering. Andie glared and pointed a finger at her.
“You’re always quick to criticize other people and tell them how wrong they are, but you never have any better ideas. You should practice on keeping your mouth shut. That way nobody will realize how stupid you are.”
Janet didn’t like it, but since Andie was holding a kitchen knife at the time, she knew better than to get sassy with her.
The truth of the matter, I was very worried about the welfare of my children. Before the advent of modern medicine, the infant mortality rate was very high. I saw Jessica looking at me thoughtfully. I gave her a reassuring smile.
“Our advantage is that we are not in the close confines of a major population. Therefore, the odds of diseases spreading through our group are very low. Otherwise, I can only hope and pray.”
“I would like to have children one day,” Jessica said quietly. “I would like to find a good man and raise a family.”
“Me too,” Kelly added, and looked over at Andie. “Are you two planning on children?” Andie responded with a noncommittal shrug.
“I’m sure we will one day,” Terry said. “It’s certainly not for a lack of trying.”
Everyone burst out laughing. Well, except for Janet.
Chapter 46 – The Drone
I finished mucking the barn as the afternoon turned to evening. Kelly and Jessica came in as I loaded the last of the apples into the wheelbarrow.
“Can we help out?” Kelly asked.
“Sure. I’ve just got them wormed,” I said, pointing to the horses, “now they need some loving. Why don’t y’all grab some brushes and curry combs. Be careful though, they might be in a bad mood and decide to give one of you a kick.”
Hank nickered and snorted. He liked human attention, especially from the women. They started in and I pushed the wheelbarrow outside. I listened to the girls talk and laugh while I dumped the manure in the compost pile and used a pitch fork to work the pile. After gently working it, I paused and looked over some of the worms I had dug up.
“What are you doing?” Jessica asked. The two of them had come outside and were watching me curiously.
“You seem enthralled with this pile of shit with worms wiggling through it,” Kelly said with a giggle.
“They aren’t just any old worms,” I replied, “they’re compost worms.”
“Okay,” Kelly drawled out, “what exactly does that mean?”
I pointed at the large trough I had built which contained the compost. “When Tommy and Joe were still alive, they collected a bunch of earthworms and put them in here,” I pointed at a couple of them who were wiggling around in manure ecstasy. “They eat and excrete. The result is vermicompost. With this,” I gestured and pointed at the valve on the bottom of the trough, “I take the liquid run off and use it on the greenhouse plants.”
“Where did you learn that?” Jessica asked.
“In a book about organic gardening,” I replied. “It’s a fascinating topic.” The two of them laughed at me.
“You’re something else, Zach,” Kelly said with a grin.
“I want to learn how to garden,” Jessica suddenly said.
“I’d be happy to teach you.” Jessica looked at me gratefully. I felt myself blushing and changed the subject.
“Okay, let’s go check out your work,” I said and headed back toward the barn.
“So, you’re a daddy again. Aren’t you excited?” Kelly asked with a grin. I chortled.
“Excited that I won’t be getting any sleep for the next six months?” I asked rhetorically but grinned anyway. “I won’t say excited would be the right word, but I’m happy. Well, Julie has me changing diapers at all hours of the night, but other than that, I’m happy.”
“That’s so sweet,” Kelly said. “How’s Julie holding up?”
“I’m not sure. She’s not recovering as quickly as she did when Little Rick was born,” I replied with a frown. “I wish we had a real doctor around here.”
“Wanda’s actually quite knowledgeable,” she said.
“Yeah, but she never went to medical school.”
“Penny is due in a couple of months. Have you seen her lately?” Kelly asked.
I chortled. “Yeah, she’s as big as a house. I wonder if she’s going to have triplets or something.”
One of the donkeys came wandering up while we were talking and followed us into the barn. He looked us over and nudged Jessica. She stroked his face, and to my surprise, stood quietly when she started brushing him.
“Shithead seems to have taken a liking to you,” I observed.
Jessica smiled. “Why did you name him shithead?”
“Oh, when we first rounded him up he was a real mess. He had shit all over his face, like he had stuck it in a pile of fresh manure or something, and he did not want to come home with us. He was being a shithead, both literally and figuratively.”
She smiled warmly at Shithead. “Well, I’m glad he changed his mind,” she said as she stroked his neck. “He’s very sweet.”
His eyes were half closed in pleasure of Jessica’s caressing strokes, but suddenly his ears pricked up and his eyes opened wide. As we watched, he turned and ran out of the barn, braying as he went. I grabbed my rifle and followed Shithead out of the barn.
“Are there zombies?” Kelly asked as she followed me outside. I quickly scanned the area, but saw nothing. Kelly gasped.
“What is that?” she asked, pointing skyward. I looked up and saw something I had only seen on television, back when there was television. It looked like a little UFO with four rotors and a camera
in the middle enclosed by a plastic dome.
“It’s a drone,” I said in wonder. In another time, under other circumstances, I might have continued watching it curiously, or would even have taken a photo of it with my cell phone, but things were different now. I grabbed Kelly by the shoulder and pulled her back inside the barn. She looked at me in surprise.
“What’s wrong?” she whispered.
I held up a finger and tried to peek at the drone through one of the dirty windows. It was hovering now, about a hundred feet in the air, making it quite obvious whoever was controlling the drone had spotted us, or more likely the crops, tended fields and livestock. I didn’t have a shotgun, only an assault rifle. It took me three shots to bring it down. When it crashed, I ran up to it and made sure it was no longer operating.
“What did you do that for?” Kelly asked as she ran up. Jessica watched us tentatively from the barn door before deciding she wanted to see it too and joined us. I took my time inspecting it before answering.
“It has a video camera on it,” I said, pointing. “Whoever was operating it saw us, and more importantly, they saw what we have.”
“Is it military?” Jessica asked. I frowned.
“I’m not sure. It looks civilian, but there’s no rule that says the military can’t use a civilian product, especially nowadays.”
“So, what’s going to happen now?” Kelly asked.
“It means somebody is going to pay us a visit soon.”
“Is that good or bad?” she asked. I looked at the two of them.
“I don’t know.”
I told everyone else about the drone over dinner.
“Terry,” Fred asked, “did you have any experience with drones when you were in the Army?”
Terry shook his head. “It was a totally different MOS,” he looked at us and clarified the acronym. “MOS is an acronym for Military Occupational Specialty. I’d seen them flying around on occasion, but I never had any training with them.” He finished his glass of water before continuing. “The range on them can be quite far. Since it was hovering over the farm instead of merely flying by, I’d guess the video was a real time feed rather than a recording.”