Resurrecting Home

by A. American

  “How do you put the hammer down?”

  I took a few minutes to explain the safeties on the weapon and how it functioned. Once she understood there was no hammer drop and that it wasn’t double-action, she said she was comfortable. She decided to keep the hammer down, for safety, understanding she would have to manually cock the weapon before firing it. I tried to explain to her that it was actually safer to have it cocked and locked but I just couldn’t get it through her head.

  She looked up and smiled. “Thanks, Morgan, I appreciate it. It’s the second time you’ve given me a gun.”

  I smiled and nodded. Mel was standing beside me. With a smile she replied, “Just don’t shoot him with this one.”

  Jess smiled and covered her face with her free hand. Shaking her head, she replied, “I won’t, promise.”

  I laughed. “Damn, I hope so!”

  “Good night, Mel, Morgan,” Jess said, and headed off for her house.

  As Mel and I went inside I jabbed her. “That was mean—funny, but mean.”

  “Pfft, whatever, you’re just mad I said it before you did.”

  The girls quickly got ready for bed, each grabbing a quick drink of cold water before settling down for the night. Since moving half of the solar setup to Danny’s house there wasn’t enough power at my place to run the big fridge, but we did have the DC one, which was very efficient.

  The house felt stuffy and warm. The thought of the heat heading our way depressed me. The summer would be miserable without AC. The only relief we would get would be from the summer storms, which of course would bring their own share of issues. Thinking about the summer storms made me think about rain and how long it’d been since it last rained. We were out on the creek the last time, I recalled, so it’d been a while. That explained the dust everywhere.

  Using only the sheet to cover us, Mel and I turned in and both were quickly asleep. That was another new reality—being tired. In the Before, I would stay up late, until the wee hours of the morning, regularly, just because. Even then, when I went to bed I would lie awake, having a hard time getting to sleep. But it was different now. Unless I was on watch, I would go to bed around nine or ten and sleep soundly until the light from the sun woke me up. I guess this was how it was supposed to be. Maybe this situation was forcing us into a more natural rhythm.

  Given that I could now sleep like a rock, I was surprised when I woke up in darkness, an uneasy feeling enveloping me. I lay there for a moment trying to figure out what had woken me up. It was deathly quiet. I sneezed once, and then again. Taking a sniff of the air, I could clearly smell smoke. Jumping up, I grabbed my flashlight and rifle and went to the porch, not bothering to put any pants on. I smiled when I thought of Thad, nekkid.

  Outside the smell of smoke was much, much stronger. The air sat heavy and motionless, not a leaf or a pine needle stirred. Walking out into the yard I scanned what I could of the horizon but couldn’t tell where the smoke was coming from, which was worrisome. How big was this fire? Where was it? More important, where was it heading? This last question was most troublesome.

  I couldn’t go back to sleep. When I got back inside, I got dressed and checked the time: 3:37 a.m. I decided to stay up and see the sun rise. Maybe the dawn would reveal where the fire was. It was killing me not to have the answer. Heck, even the dogs seemed worried. The three of them stayed on the porch with me, pacing back and forth. Drake sat staring to the north, issuing a low whine. Maybe he could sense where the fire was, I thought to myself.

  Mulling this over, thoughts of my dad’s days fighting wild fires for the state popped into my head. Before he retired a couple of years ago he more often than not worked on prescribed burns—wildfires were less of an issue through their use. He had taken some pictures of one of the fires he was on and showed them to me. I remember the equipment in those pictures. It was interesting to see them set the fire: what started out as a trickle of flame coming from a metal can soon turned into a huge inferno. What was that thing called? I tried to remember. Something torch—duh, drip torch, that’s it.

  I remember asking him then how they controlled what burned where. He said they could steer a fire where they wanted it to go using the wind and back burns, setting fires along the perimeter to use up the fuel before the fire reached it. The more I thought about what he’d told me, the more I thought it might turn out to be some very valuable information, though I hoped it wouldn’t.

  As night began to transition to day, I walked out into the yard and scanned the sky. It revealed little. There was no visible column of smoke, no ash falling from the sky. Maybe it was far away or maybe upper-level winds were simply pushing the smoke away. With anxiety building, I went inside and sat down at the radio.

  “Stump Knocker, you out there?”

  After a pause there was a reply. “Go for Stump Knocker.”

  “Mike? That you?”

  “Yeah, what’s up, Morgan?”

  “You guys see any fire out there on the river? Smoke or anything?”

  “We’re not at the river, we’re at the camp, and yeah, we can smell the smoke but can’t see it.”

  “I don’t see it either, just smell it, but I’m worried.”

  “We are too.”

  “I’m going to take a ride up that way in a bit, see what I can find out.”

  “Come on up, we’ll be here, but don’t take too long. We’re pulling out of here soon.”

  I looked at the mic. “Really? Why?” That would explain the group, I thought to myself.

  “Orders.”

  “All right, I’ll see you guys in a bit.”

  I laid the mic down and went back outside. The sun was higher now, but it revealed nothing new, other than it looked like it was going to be a hot day. As I sat on the porch the dogs suddenly bolted off into the yard, tails erect. Meathead barked once and I stood up and stepped off into the yard.

  “I still say that dog is racist,” Thad said, big smile on his face as he walked up.

  I smiled. “He’s just a good judge of character is all.”

  Thad looked around for a moment. “Wonder where this fire is.”

  “Don’t know, I just talked to Mike. They’re at the camp, and they don’t see anything there but they can smell it too.”

  “I sure would like to know where it is. The idea of a fire right now scares me,” Thad said, squinting into the rising sun as he spoke.

  Knowing what had happened to his family, I could only imagine how he felt about fire. “I’m going to ride up to the camp in a bit. Wanna go?”

  Thad nodded. “Yeah, when are you gonna leave?”

  “In a few minutes. I’m going to go over and see if Danny wants to go too.”

  “Sure, let me get my stuff. I’ll be back in a few.” As Thad walked back home, I headed over to Danny’s place.

  Danny was sitting on the front porch when I walked up. “Something’s burning,” he said by way of greeting.

  “You don’t have to tell me, brother. I’ve been up since three thirty. I’m going to take a ride up to the camp to see what I can make out. You wanna go?”

  “Yep, let me get my boots on.”

  “Just come over to the house. I’m going to let Mel know we’re leaving,” I said as I headed back toward the house.

  Mel was still in bed when I got back. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I told her about the smoke, which alarmed her.

  “Do you think it’s close?” she asked. Fear shone in her eyes.

  “I can’t tell, but that’s why we’re going to check it out. Mike’s down at the camp, he said they could smell it but couldn’t see it.”

  She nodded, taking in the details. “How long are you going to be gone?”

  “I don’t know, depends on what we find.”

  She sat up. “Oh no, I can smell it now. I hope it isn’t coming this way,” she said, jumping out of bed and nervously pacing, pausing to look out a window.

  “Me too, babe, me too. I’ll be back as soon as I can. We w
on’t let you guys get hurt.”

  Giving her a kiss, I gathered up my gear, grabbing my pistol and vest on the way out the door. Thad was leaning on the hood of the Suburban when I got there, Danny busy securing his vest.

  “Let’s get this show on the road,” I said as I climbed in.

  Pulling out onto Highway 19, I turned north and pressed down on the gas. As we passed the Pittman Center, I glanced at the Forestry Service facility sitting off the road behind the Ocala National Forest welcome center. A lot of equipment used for firefighting would be stored there.

  “On the way back it might be worth a look around there,” I said, pointing out the window.

  “You think there’s anything left there?” Danny asked.

  “Only one way to find out,” I replied.

  As we passed the turn off to Grasshopper Lake, I noticed a dark look overtaking Thad’s face. He stared off into the woods as we drove. I know what we found out there really bothered him. My own memory was haunted by the sight of that body. I wished for him we hadn’t found it. To distract him from his thoughts I told Thad about my dad and firefighting.

  He slowly turned his attention to me. “He teach you anything?”

  “All I know is what he told me through some conversations, but hey, I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express once,” I replied with a grin.

  Thad smiled and stretched his arms out on the back of the seat. “Oh hell, we’re all right, then.”

  “Yeah, we’re saved,” Danny said.

  The three of us were stopped in conversation by what we saw. Up ahead, far ahead, the horizon was a black menacing mass that stretched high into the sky, where a gray cloud spread out like a malignant mushroom.

  “Holy shit, would you look at that,” I said.

  “Oh my God,” Danny said.

  Thad leaned forward to look through the windshield. “Damn, that’s bad.”

  “Look how high it goes,” I said, pointing.

  “That’s a massive fire. Damn, that’s a big fire,” Thad said, slowly shaking his head.

  “This is going to be bad. Shit. Shit. Shit. What the hell are we going to do?” Danny said.

  “I don’t know, but it looks far away. Might be up near Palatka. Maybe it won’t make it down here,” I said, knowing that was a long shot.

  “We need to be ready, though, just in case. Let’s definitely stop at the Forestry facility and see if there’s anything there on the way back,” Danny said.

  At the camp the guys at the gate waved as we pulled in. I drove quickly through to the command post.

  “Something’s up here,” Thad said, looking around.

  Danny was looking around. “Probably getting ready to evacuate the camp.”

  “Maybe,” Thad replied.

  “I forgot. Mike said they were pulling out of the camp, had orders from someone,” I said.

  “Orders? Because of the fire?” Thad asked.

  “I don’t think so. He didn’t say it was because of the fire, just said they had orders.”

  Ted and Mike were sitting in front of the bunker as we pulled up.

  “Hey, guys, what up an’ shit?” Mike said as we climbed out.

  “Trying to avoid this inferno. What’s going on around here? Y’all buggin’ out?” Thad asked, watching a group of civilians in an animated discussion.

  “We are, but they aren’t. Or at least, some of them aren’t,” Ted said, gesturing to one of the groups. “Trying to pick their new leader now.”

  “What, are you guys running out on them?” I asked.

  “Nope, they want to stay. We told them we were closing the camp and some of them protested. The Guard is pulling back to the armory in Eustis.”

  “No shit, why?” Danny asked.

  “They can’t feed ’em anymore. The gravy train has jumped the tracks, and they got orders to move out,” another voice announced. Sarge appeared, standing in the door of the bunker.

  “What are all of these people going to do?”

  “We told them we would give them what supplies we could, told ’em to hit the road, but they want to stay here, said they’ll figure it out for themselves.”

  “We came across a group last night on the road by our place. It was a pretty big one too. They were walking toward Eustis,” I said.

  Sarge nodded his head. “That fire’s prolly got ’em on the move. I bet you see even more.”

  “I hope not. They weren’t too friendly,” Thad said.

  “Things get ugly?” Sarge asked.

  “No, just words, but it could have. It was a little shaky for a few minutes,” I said.

  “Well, these people are in for the same,” Sarge replied.

  Thad pointed north. “Have they seen that smoke? They know what a fire like that will do to this place?”

  “I guess they do, but it’s on them now. Soon as the patrol gets back from the armory, we’re going to start bugging out.”

  “Why are you guys pulling out?” Danny asked.

  “Sheffield got orders to, told him to go to the armory and await further orders.”

  “I can’t believe they’re just going to abandon these people,” Danny replied.

  “It’s a hard truth to face, but what the command in MacDill said is everyone is a refugee and we aren’t in the refugee business. Sad but true,” Sarge replied.

  “So you guys are in contact with MacDill now? Get any news from them?” I asked.

  “I haven’t talked to them, Sheffield has. I don’t know more than I told you.”

  “It’s good to hear MacDill is still up and running, though. Maybe there’s a little hope there,” Thad said.

  “Not for any of us, from the sound of it,” Danny said.

  “You guys are doing all right. You’ve got it together over there,” Sarge added.

  “We do, but it’s a lot of work, ain’t easy,” I replied.

  “Life’s hard,” Sarge said with a smile.

  Calvin and Shane walked up as Sarge was talking. I greeted Calvin and asked him his opinion on the situation. “What about you guys? You staying here? I thought you’d be long gone by now.”

  “We’ve been wanting to go home since those DHS bastards were stopped, but my injuries were healing and that captain said he can’t spare us a ride home,” Calvin said.

  “He’s a lot better now, though,” Shane added, and smiled at his dad.

  “Your camp up near Lake Kerr?” I asked. Calvin nodded.

  I looked at Danny and Thad. “You guys want to take a ride up that way? We can see get a better idea of where the fire is.”

  “I’m in,” Danny said quickly.

  “Me too,” Thad added.

  “You guys going to give ’em a ride home?” Sarge asked.

  I nodded. He looked at Ted. “Get us a Hummer ready, we’ll go with them.” Ted nodded and he and Mike left to get a truck ready. “Hey, Sarge, can I get some fuel for this thing?” I asked, patting the hood of the Suburban.

  “Sure, pull around to the tanks and fill it up. I’ll ride with you.”

  We got back into the truck and I drove back to the motor pool. Sarge got out and had the guard on duty unlock the pump. He handed me the hose while Thad raised the hood and connected the wires to the pump to the battery. Fuel was quickly flowing into the old truck.

  “How much is left in this tank?” Sarge asked the guard.

  He took a clipboard out of a box on the side of the pump. After doing a little quick math he replied, “Six hundred gallons or so.”

  Sarge nodded, clearly thinking about all the trucks they were going to have to move to the armory. After filling the Suburban, we drove back around to the bunker. Ted and Mike were there with a Hummer ready to go with us. Calvin and Shane would ride with us, and Sarge and the guys would take the Hummer. As we were sorting all this out, Jamie and Doc walked up.

  I did a double take, surprised at her appearance. “Holy shit, Jamie, what the hell happened to you?”

  “I fell,” she replied.

&n
bsp; “How many times?” Thad asked, a disturbed look on his face.

  “We had an incident with the DHS when we were loading them up,” Doc said, “but Jamie got the better of the deal. They had to bury the other gal.”

  Jamie looked a bit smug. “Anywaaay,” she said, drawing out the syllables. “What’s up?”

  “We’re taking a ride up the road to check on the fire,” Mike replied. “Gotta figure out the best way to avoid being burned to a crisp an’ all.”

  “Let me get my stuff. I’m going too.”

  Doc started to protest, saying she should stay behind and rest more, but the look she shot him this time had plenty to say so he relented. Holding his hands up, he said, “Guess I’m coming too.”

  Jamie quickly returned with her gear and we all loaded up. Driving through the camp toward the gate, we could clearly see the billowing cloud of smoke rising up into the sky. Calvin let out a low whistle. “It’s like looking straight into hell.”

  “It is nasty-looking. Calvin, if your place is over by the lake, it’s right in the path of that mess. What are you guys going to do?” I asked.

  “We’ll figure that out when we get there. I just want to get home.”

  “Yeah, I’m worried about Mom,” Shane added.

  “Not nearly as much as she is about us,” Calvin said.

  Once we got out to the road, we headed north, moving fast. We quickly crossed over Highway 40, the smoke now even more menacing. Approaching the take out on Juniper Run, we noticed the parking lot that was crowded with people, all milling about. They were gathered in knots talking and gesturing toward the wall of smoke.

  The parking lot and the surrounding woods were crowded with tents and makeshift shelters, several small fires were burning, and a great number of kids were running around playing.

  “Hey, Morgan, pull in there,” Shane said.

  I slowed and flipped on the blinker so the guys behind me would know we were turning in. Naturally our sudden appearance garnered considerable attention. Many of those gathered suddenly bolted for the woods. At first I didn’t understand why, but then I caught a glimpse of the Hummer in the rearview mirror as I turned. Mike was in the turret manning the SAW.