The Forgiven The Fallen The Forsaken

by S. M. Armstrong

  "So it sounds like it's real."

  "I wish it weren't," said Julie, "but on a brighter note, Helen’s dad is Air Force and the rest of the family is stationed in Germany right now, so she’ll be with us for the duration.”

  Susan said to Helen, “And we’re lucky to have you. I was an Army brat, myself.”

  Helen looked relieved, “Thank you!”

  Susan looked up at both the girls, and said, “So, it can't be kept a secret forever, and as soon as word gets out, the supermarkets will be empty, the roads will be gridlocked, and there won’t be much of a choice beyond FEMA camps and martial law.”

  Helen looked away, saying, “Until almost no one is left.”

  Julie pulled out an envelope. “Dad wrote a letter for you, too.”

  Susan opened the letter and started to read.

  Hi Susan and Jim,

  Like I expected, my friends and their families here are being closely watched. I’ll be staying in place for now. Julie and Helen will stay with you. Matt and Luke will take a trip to Mammoth with their church group sometime in the next few weeks and get lost on the way there. Don’t worry; everything is in place on that end, so there won’t be any fuss. They will have other teens with them. You should see them soon.

  Just in case they get there before I do, I’ll have several folks I hope can join us. They’ll call on the satellite cell phone Julie has for you before showing up. There will be a lot happening at once when this thing goes.

  I know you’re doing great with preparations. Think about setting up a quarantine area on some part of the property. If people aren’t showing symptoms after 10 days, they don’t have it. If they have it, it’s going to be frighteningly virulent. Distance is the only sure thing. Also, remember that birds can carry this. That means any poultry need to be kept away from other birds, preferably indoors. Water has to be treated before drinking.

  Julie has a box for you that will help with things.

  I need a helicopter pad set up. It needs to be a flat area with no big trees around. If I can pull it off, I may fly in. Aviation and Jet A fuel would be useful to have on hand.

  Start assuming that time is short. Any additional prep time from here on out is a gift.

  Love you guys. Thanks in advance for saving our butts.

  Rob

  Julie and Helen each brought in an 18 inch by 18 inch box and set them on the kitchen table. Susan opened the first one to find two way radios and satellite phones. The second was completely filled with envelopes. Julie said, “Dad said the envelopes had $10,000 each and the box has just over $1 million. I haven’t bothered to count. He also gave us a list, and our own funds to fill it as best we can. We’ll let you know if we’re running low.”

  Susan opened one of the envelopes and said, “You know I’m not buying that $100 bills from Saddam Hussein’s vaults story. All of these bills are new. Rob’s in deep, isn’t he?”

  Julie answered, “I don't know that part. He just said that what we were doing would be beyond important.”

  Susan looked at the ceiling for a moment and sighed. “I had a feeling.”

  They finished their drinks and Susan stood, saying, “Well girls, it looks like we’re going shopping. Let me bring Jim up to speed and we’ll head into town.”

  NOVEMBER 3rd

  The girls were up and out early the next morning. Aunt Susan had told them to take the day for themselves and they intended to make the most of it. They took the SUV in to Flagstaff and had breakfast at a restaurant that Julie had found online. It was delicious, but they both felt stuffed to the gills afterward.

  They were at a semi tractor dealer before the lot even opened. Once the sales staff arrived, they wandered the lot and had soon narrowed things down to two used Freightliner raised sleepers. When they asked to see the dark green two year old model, the salesman looked at them like they were pulling a gag on him. When he told them to piss off and turned to walk back into the office, Helen pulled out her cell phone and dialed a preprogrammed number. Seeing Julie staring at her, she said, “I thought I might run into some trouble and did a little research first.”

  Talking into the phone now, she said, “Hello Mr. Moore, sorry to use your cell number. My name is Helen and I’m at your Flagstaff store trying to buy a Freightliner with cash. Your salesman just told me to piss off. He looks pretty hung over. I was wondering if you could suggest any other dealers in Flagstaff that I might try? Sure, I can hold.”

  Two minutes later another man came running out to the lot. “Helen spoke back into the phone. Okay, here’s someone now. Oh, he’s the manager. Thank you. I’ll let you know if I have any problems. Bye now.”

  The man was balding on top and had a shape that screamed a love of beer matched with a loathing of exercise. He said, “I’m John, and I’d be more than happy to help you.”

  Helen said, "I need a rig like yesterday and I’d like to stick with a Freightliner. Can you grab the keys for these two and help me figure out which one I want?”

  After the test drives she said, "I can't make up my mind. Tell you what, if you'll fire that asshole right now, I'll pay cash for both of them today. And I'll throw in a five thousand dollar tip for you." She opened her purse and let him see the bundles of hundred dollar bills.

  He looked at the cash, looked at her, and said, "Not a problem."

  The three of them walked into the office together. John yelled, "Frank! Pack your shit and get the fuck out of my dealership."

  Frank said, "What?!"

  "You heard me. Get out. Payroll will mail your final check this afternoon. If you come back on this property I'll have your sorry ass arrested."

  Frank grabbed a few things out of the sales office and stormed out the door.

  "How was that?" asked John.

  Helen and Julie could barely talk, they were laughing so hard. Helen said, "That was perfect!"

  She drove off the lot a half hour later with the dark green one. Julie followed in the SUV to their next stop, a RV dealership. When they got out of the vehicles Julie asked Helen, “Where the hell did you learn to drive one of these?”

  “Dad was always big on being prepared.” There was a gleam in her eye. “I have a fixed wing pilot’s license, too.”

  Things went much smoother at the RV dealership. They spent a half hour touring the lot and settled in on a one year old 43 foot unit that was like a palace inside, a five year old fifth wheel in good condition, and a 42 foot a toy hauler trailer that could be towed behind Julie's SUV.

  Helen paid cash and a good bit extra to have all three prepped for them with all new batteries, full tanks, and all preparatory maintenance done. Helen had also paid for extra spare tires to be placed in the storage compartments along with chains and covers for all the wheels.

  They ate lunch at a well reviewed pizzeria and picked up the second Freightliner afterward. Their timing was right on, with the first fifth wheel and toy hauler prepped and ready to go by the time they returned. Helen made arrangements to leave the second rig on the RV lot and to pick up the second fifth wheel the next day.

  She was thrilled to hook the Freightliner up to their new RV. "How do you like our new home?" she asked Julie.

  Julie answered, "Love it!"

  Julie was shocked at how much money they had already spent, but was not least bit surprised when Helen said, “So, are you ready to go shopping?”

  “What’s first?”

  “How about shoes?”

  They towed both the fifth wheel and the cargo hauler to a nearby mall to take advantage of the large parking lots.

  Once there, they started off with high quality hiking boots, buying several pair for each of them, and moved on to cold weather gear, including sleeping bags. They also bought jeans, t-shirts, robes, socks, shorts, underwear, sandals, flip-flops, swim suits, and other such items. Soon the clothes closets and drawers were filled.

  Next they shopped for cooking wear and dining sets that would be appropriate for the RV. Before long they
had the kitchen fully stocked with kitchenware, including several can openers. Julie did insist on good wine glasses, tumblers, and shot glasses, but these they left in their boxes. Helen picked up a high end coffee and cappuccino machine.

  The large department stores were only too happy to have staff load their huge quantity of purchases into the toy hauler trailer for them. It was almost too easy.

  The young women soon moved on to less practical items. They spent a small fortune on DVD’s and Blue Ray disks, along with several players. They also picked up two large plasma screen TV’s. The rationale was that they could set up a library that everyone could use and maybe even a movie hall for movie nights. Throw rugs were a must given the amount of dirt that would get dragged in at the camp site. Julie bought several vacuum cleaners. When Helen asked why, she answered, “One to use, the others to loan out to the others you know are going to be pestering us to use ours every time we turn around.”

  Cleaning supplies filled the area under the sinks. Julie didn’t want to think about the headache they would have trying to keep things clean. They bought extra dish soap, laundry detergent, and window cleaners.

  Toiletries and feminine products took up a lot more space than they had considered. In the end they decided to stock the toy hauler with such things, and use it like a mini warehouse, rather than trying to keep everything in the RV.

  For towels and sheets, they went to a specialty shop and forked out what would have previously seemed to be big bucks on very high end items. Somehow it didn’t feel as much like hoarding that way.

  For the final stop of the day, Julie found a discount wine and liquor store and cleaned them out of their favorite brands. Maybe the end of the world wouldn’t be so bad, thought Julie. They picked up the SUV, loaded it with food at the supermarket, and carefully drove back to the ranch, pulling in after 10PM.

  Uncle Jim looked like he was going to stroke out when the girls told him that they wanted to set up the fifth wheel and a storage trailer around the corner from the cabin, close enough but far enough out of the way for a little bit of privacy and quiet. Aunt Susan intervened and said, “Jim, it’s only reasonable. You know the view over there. And what's one more water and septic system to set up? You like this stuff, remember?”

  Helen picked out that time to pull out two bottles of 18 year old scotch. “And we found these for you.”

  “I don’t know…”

  Julie pulled out a box, and said, “Dad sent these along for you, too.”

  Jim looked at the box. “Cuban cigars?”

  “Oh, is that what those are?” Julie said, looking as innocent as she could manage. Julie and Helen both leaned up and each kissed him on a cheek.

  “I can see I don’t have a chance with this much estrogen around,” Jim said.

  With a laugh, Susan said, “Wow, you’re figuring it out this soon? You must be gaining wisdom with age. Who knew?”

  Jim groaned, but held the cigars protectively.

  NOVEMBER 5th

  The crew to set up the steel RV garage arrived just before nine in the morning. Helen and Julie had leveled the site the day before and were on top of things from the start.

  Jim told Susan, “I feel like I’m being outmaneuvered here. They must have ordered that at least two weeks ago. And how does she know how to drive a big rig?”

  Susan kissed him and said, “Get used to it, you now have two nieces and double the trouble. Now go brush your teeth. Next day, stale cigars smells are difficult to get rid of.”

  “But I did brush them.”

  She leaned into him, sniffed twice, and raised her eyebrows.

  “Okay! I get it,” said Jim. He stormed off grumbling something about, "Can't flippin' win around here!" Susan enjoyed a good laugh.

  November 6th

  The girls’ RV is sweet, Jim thought, and I can't believe I'm actually feeling a little jealous! The fifth wheel had more slide outs than his and the girls had bought a toy hauler and set it up as a supply vehicle. They essentially had a well organized little store in there for all things female. They even had various candles and scented soaps, or so he was told. Susan loved it and they wouldn’t let him in to look, so he knew they had not held back. He could tell when he was outgunned.

  They did let him help with the water tanks and septic system, though. At least I’m not completely extraneous around here, he thought.

  The RV garage could hold two RV’s easily. Layers of thin wire mesh covered with rubber mats made up the flooring, and there were no windows. A second green semi tractor was taking up the left bay. When he asked Helen about it, she said, “It’s for backup.” He couldn’t argue with the sense in that.

  What he wasn’t prepared for was the revelation that they had rented a warehouse in Flagstaff and had even hired 24 hour security to protect it and accept deliveries. Helen explained it to him, “Look, we can have truckloads of deliveries offloaded at the warehouse, load them up into trailers, and drop them in parking lot at the ranch. Anyone tracking deliveries will have to actually work to determine where it’s going, and that means spending resources which, for them, are scarce right now. Some of what we’re buying will be tracked, but they’ll get an industrial address connected to a bogus business run by a Kim Kwan out of Phoenix.” Jim just shook his head in amazement.

  If Jim was a little annoyed at how many trees he had to take down and how much area he needed to level to make room for them, but he knew he would be glad for the supplies later. It had reached the point at which he stopped asking what they were buying. He couldn’t help but think, My God, Rob must have sent them with a fortune.

  The girls drafted Susan for a run into Flagstaff to pick up a fifth wheel for Rob and Denise. They went to the same lot again, and picked out a similar Fifth wheel that Julie thought her parents would like, then a second older one with twin beds for her brothers when they arrived.

  They outfitted both of them much as they had their own, with some adjustments for the tastes, or lack of tastes, of the intended end users. Naturally, a lot more care went into Rob and Denise’s fifth wheel than the boys' RV. Julie suspected that the boys wouldn't even notice anything beyond the videogame consoles.

  NOVEMBER 8th

  Julie loved their fifth wheel RV when they bought it. Compared to living in a small college apartment, it was downright palatial. She asked Helen, "So what should we do next?"

  Helen thought for a few seconds and said, "What would you think of a bar?"

  "What?"

  "You know, a village pub. If we're going to have a community, we really should have a place to let off steam," said Helen.

  Julie was cracking up. "You have got to be kidding me!"

  "Hear me out." Helen started drawing on a pad of paper." We put two large nine foot high shipping containers next to each other, cut out sections of the walls here and here to make a large room. Maybe have another for storage of booze? Build a roof across the top and put in a bar and couches. Maybe even a pool table and darts."

  "It's completely crazy. Let's pull in Aunt Susan and keep it a secret from Uncle Jim. It will make him nuts!"

  They brought in three shipping containers and placed them about 50 yards from their RV with two next to each other and the third offset by a half. They bolted the three together next to each other and Helen went to work cutting out sections of walls with a plasma cutter while Julie welded supports into place. By the end of the day they had sprayed the first layer of sealant inside and had started on the roof.

  When Susan looked at it she said, "I love it! What would you two think of adding a gas grill?"

  Julie said, "I don't see why not. We can add another forty foot container to accommodate the grill, refrigerators, and freezers, but we're going to have to vent it well."

  "It's a piece of cake as long as we do it now," said Helen. "It will be a royal pain if we try to do it later."

  "We'll do it," said Julie. "This will be fun!"

  The next morning Helen went out to purchase a
twenty foot long, nine foot high shipping container while Julie and Susan continued to work on the skeleton of the roof. Once Helen arrived with the container on a sliding axle trailer, Helen and Susan stopped to assist with removing the doors and placing the container to connect with the others.

  The three of them dove into finishing the framing of the roof and put in several layers of insulation before adding plywood.

  They were all exhausted by the time they finished the raw roof. Helen opened a bottle of wine and they shared the first drink in the unfinished bar.

  "I never thought being a construction worker could hurt so much," said Susan.

  "No doubt. My blisters have blisters." said Julie. "But we'll wrap up the roof tomorrow."

  Helen said, "Everything else will be fun. Really." The others just moaned.

  The next morning they worked to lay down the tar and shingles. They finally agreed to let Jim help with bringing up the bundles of asphalt shingles, but still wouldn't tell him the purpose of the building. The roof looked beautiful when they finished, but by then, the women were all so exhausted that they decided to spend the rest of the day doing as little as possible.

  Jim cooked up a delicious barbeque meal. Susan said, "Now I remember why I married you. Throw in a massage and I think you might just get lucky."

  Julie and Helen both thought it was hysterical, but Jim looked as awkward as could be. Finally, Helen said, "My God, man. Give the woman a massage and go get laid already. We'll clean up here."

  Jim finally had to laugh and he and Susan left for their RV.

  "You can tell those two never had kids," said Helen.

  Julie said, "Now that was funny."

  "I'm thinking we need a hot tub."

  "How the hell are we going to pull that one off?"

  "I don't know yet, but I'm thinking," said Helen.

  "All I can say is it better not need a stinking roof!"

  Helen just laughed and said, "No promises!"

  NOVEMBER 11th

  Jim knew Susan and the girls were enjoying their secret and he was trying not to ruin it, but he was starting to get very curious as to the function of the new building. Susan had sent him to Phoenix to buy more supplies, and he was sure it was to get rid of him for the day.