Resurrecting Home

by A. American

  “They’re treated. They won’t catch just from an ember,” Neil shot back.

  Sarge looked at Livingston. “This is a waste of time.”

  Sheffield nodded. “I agree.”

  “Let’s go, then,” Sarge said as he moved for the door.

  Neil went to stand up, but Mike pushed him back into the chair. Sarge looked at the man. He was obviously pissed.

  “Mike, secure him to that chair, I don’t want any shit out of him while we’re trying to get out of here.”

  “Wait a damn minute! You’re not going to tie me up here! You’ve got to give me the key to the weapons!” Neil started to pull against Mike’s hand and Mike drew his Taser.

  Sarge looked at Mike. “Mikey, get him tied up.” Then he looked at Neil. “You keep it up and he’s going to light your fire.”

  “I’ve already told you you’re not getting any weapons,” Sheffield replied.

  Mike pulled out several sets of flex cuffs and secured Neil’s wrists to the armrests and legs to the center post of the chair. He pulled against the bindings.

  Sarge looked down at the man. “We aren’t giving you any weapons—we’d be stupid to do so. You’re a menace. Morgan wanted to kill you, and he was probably right.”

  A venomous hate boiled out of the man. With wide eyes and flared nostrils he began to scream, “You can’t do that! You can’t leave us without weapons! You will regret this! You have no idea who you’re fucking with!” Neil rocked against the bindings as spittle flew from his mouth.

  Sarge laughed and looked at Sheffield. “Yep, special kind of stupid. We can’t leave this guy here. There’s no way.”

  “What do you want to do, take him with us?” Livingston asked.

  “What? Hell no,” Sarge replied and looked at Mike. “Put him to sleep. Forever.”

  Sheffield moved to protest, but Mike was quick. Wrapping his forearm around the man’s neck and locking his hand in the crook of the opposite elbow, Mike placed the other hand on the back of Neil’s head and applied pressure. Neil tried to struggle for an instant, then with a twisting motion and a violent pull up, Mike broke the man’s neck and his body went limp.

  “Jesus Christ!” Sheffield shouted. “What the hell is wrong with you guys?”

  “What’d you want to do with him? Some people just need killing. There’s just nothing you can do about that.” Sarge pointed to the body tied to the chair. “He needed killing.”

  “Who are you to decide? What makes you God?” Sheffield shouted back, incensed.

  “Captain, with all due respect, you need to get your head out of your fourth point of contact,” Sarge fired back. Sheffield looked stunned as Sarge continued, “You need to get with the now. Things are different. We have to make decisions that suck, ones we wouldn’t ordinarily make.” Sarge pointed at the bound body. “He should already be dead. He sure as shit ain’t no fucking civilian. He is a mad dog, and there’s only one way to deal with a mad dog.”

  “People like you scare me. I hope there’s not too many of your kind in the world,” Sheffield spat back, then pointed at Mike. “And you’re really fucked in the head.”

  Mike shot back, “Why? Our government, the same one that pays you, spent a lot of time and money teaching me to do that. Like Sarge said, some people just need killing. I don’t like it, I don’t look for the opportunity, but when the time comes I accept it as my job—nothing more, nothing less.”

  Sarge stood up to go. “We’re done here. Permanently. We’ll help you wrap up the evacuation of the camp, then we’re going to get with Morgan. We need to try and save his place if we can.”

  Sheffield didn’t reply. Staring at the body for a moment, he turned and walked away.

  Outside, the camp was buzzing. Many of the civilians, seeing the fire was so close, had decided to abandon their plans and get out as quickly as possible. Livingston ordered some of the men to hand out any packs they could find to these refugees, and Kay was distributing what food she could.

  “Where are we supposed to go?” a woman asked as Kay filled her empty pack with MREs.

  Kay looked at her for a moment, ash collecting in her hair. “Home, go home.”

  The man looked north. “We can’t.”

  “Then just get away from here,” Kay replied.

  “I don’t know what we’re going to do. I don’t know where to go,” the woman replied frantically.

  “Head south. Eustis is down there. Hopefully the fire won’t make it that far,” Kay said, dropping another can into the bag.

  “I know some people there, maybe we can stay with them . . .” the man said, trailing off. He looked in his bag, and then up at Kay expectantly, gesturing for her to continue.

  “I’m sorry, but that’s all I can give you. Be sure and get some water before you leave.”

  The man nodded slowly, sadly, as if defeated. Kay watched them go, and her heart hurt, thinking about all the people that would be on the road. Compared to them, she was fortunate, for now.

  The last of the trucks were now in line. Sheffield and Livingston walked up and down the line as a constant snow of white ash and hot cinders fell around them, checking on the contents, making sure that everything they intended to remove from the camp was loaded.

  “It looks like we’ve got it all,” Livingston said.

  “These guys are going to be tired. They must have worked all night,” Sheffield replied.

  “Yeah, they did a hell of a job, but leaving anything here would be a waste. This place is going to go up.”

  “I’m afraid you’re right,” Sheffield replied and looked again at the encroaching wall of flames. “Get a head count, get ’em loaded up, and let’s get the hell out of here.”

  Livingston nodded and ran toward the head of the column, blowing a whistle. Trucks began to rumble to life, adding diesel exhaust to the already suffocating cloud in the air. The Guardsmen were throwing their personal gear onto the trucks and helping civilians and their family members aboard. Many of them had stayed to help with the demobilization, though the women and children had already been moved to the armory.

  Sarge and his crew were helping to get a drum of fuel onto a truck, the last one. Hearing the whistle Jamie looked up. “Sounds like it’s time to go. I’ve got to get to my ride. See you guys later,” she said.

  “Take care of yourself,” Sarge said with a smile.

  “I’ll be fine. I’m worried about you guys, though. Where are you going?”

  “We’re going to try and help Morgan again, see if we can keep the fire off his place,” Mike said.

  “I wish I could help. You guys be careful,” Jamie said.

  “We will.” Mike smiled, and Jamie moved in and hugged him. Mike returned the embrace and they held each other for a moment.

  Jamie pulled back and wiped her eyes. “Damn ash.”

  She then hugged Ted. “Keep him out of trouble.”

  Ted smiled. “It’s a full-time job.”

  She looked at Doc. “Thanks for everything you’ve done for me.”

  He smiled. “No worries.” Then he gave her a hug.

  Jamie looked at Sarge. “Take care of yourself, and these three,” she whispered into his ear.

  Sarge squeezed her tight. “We’ll be fine. If you ever need anything, we’ll be here.”

  Jamie smiled at them. “Time to go.” With a wave she turned and jogged toward her waiting Hummer.

  Ted disappeared, returning in a Hummer, “Time’s a-burning, boys! We gotta get the hell out of here.”

  “When yer right, yer right, Teddy. Come on, boys. We’re off like a prom dress,” Sarge replied as he got in.

  Mike climbed up into the turret, once again wrapping his face and pulling his goggles down. Pounding on the roof, he shouted, “What are you waiting for? Let’s go!”

  Ted put the truck into gear and they rode down the line of trucks heading for the gate, the several dozen civilians that were staying lining the road. Sarge watched them as they passed. They hav
e no idea what they’re in for, he thought, shaking his head.

  “If you’re gonna be stupid, you gotta be tough,” he said.

  Ted glanced over. “These must be some tough sumbitches here.”

  Ted stopped when they got to the gate. He looked north, where the fire raged on both sides of the road and flames leapt nearly a hundred feet into the sky.

  “I don’t think anyone’s that tough,” Doc nearly whispered.

  After a moment Ted turned out onto the road and headed south.

  Chapter 12

  Back at the house, the focus was on getting the trailer put together. We were discussing what needed to be done. I was bent over a bin of PVC fittings looking for the right ones when Mel came out.

  “Morgan, Kathy wants to leave. She wants to go to her sister’s place in Eustis.”

  “We don’t have time for that right now,” I replied.

  “Why don’t you have them come out to the barricade and wait for the convoy that’s heading into town? I’m sure the boys wouldn’t mind giving her a lift,” Thad suggested.

  “Good idea. Tell her she can walk down there and wave them down. They’re going into Eustis anyway,” I said.

  “And tell her to hurry. They’ll be coming by any time,” Danny added.

  “Sure thing. And I’ll give them a little care package for the road,” Mel said with a smile.

  Thad left to go get the truck and Danny helped me get the pumps out. Once the tanks were loaded we planned to plumb the pumps in. It wouldn’t be much of a fire truck, but it was the best we could do. Thad quickly returned with the truck and we hooked up the trailer. Thad and Danny went to get the two tanks, and while they were gone I went through the PVC fittings we had. As I was rummaging around in the bins Little Bit showed up with the other kids in tow.

  “What’cha doing, Daddy?”

  “Looking for some parts. What are you guys up to?” I asked. They looked like something from Lord of the Flies. Each of them was festooned with an assortment of crude bows and palmetto arrows. “You’re a wild bunch, aren’t you?”

  “We’re playing!”

  “Be careful with those arrows.”

  “We will!” they yelled.

  Mel came out with Kathy and she called her kids over. Little Bit asked where they were going, a look of curiosity on her face.

  “They’re going into town to stay with their aunt,” Mel said.

  Putting on a pouty face, Little Bit replied, “Aww, I don’t want them to leave.”

  “Sorry, kiddo, but they need to go stay with their family.”

  “They have cousins there to play with,” Kathy said.

  “But I like to play with them.”

  “Maybe one day we’ll come back and visit,” Kathy said, kneeling down. “I know the kids would like that.” Little Bit nodded and waved good-bye to her friends.

  “Good luck, Kathy,” I said as she stood up.

  “Thank you. And thank you so much for everything you’ve done for us.”

  “No problem, it was the least we could do.” I shook her hand. “Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to get back to being an amateur firefighter.”

  The guys pulled up in the truck and we quickly got to work on the plumbing. Yet again Danny’s habit of collecting all manner of hardware really paid off. We were able to reduce the large fitting on the valve down to fit the inch-and-a-half pipe that Danny had. Using a T fitting, the two tanks were tied together and one of the suction hoses was cut and attached to the pipe with clamps. This way we could take the pump off the trailer and set it on the ground to prime.

  Once everything was ready, Thad drove the truck back to the pond behind Danny’s house, where we used the pump to fill the two tanks. Danny tossed the small basket on the end of the suction pump into the water. I started the pump and used the manual prime pump to get the pump drawing water. As it started pumping it created a small vortex on the surface of the pond.

  “Hope it doesn’t suck up any of my fish,” Danny said.

  “It’d be some small fish if it did,” Thad replied.

  The small pump filled the two tanks with surprising speed. Once full, they took on a brownish hue from the tannin-filled water of the pond.

  “That’s about all we can do for now,” Danny said.

  “No, there’s one more thing we can do,” Thad said. “Meet me over in the field back there, on the other side of the pasture.”

  Danny and I headed around the house, where we ran into Taylor and Lee Ann in the front yard. “What are you guys doing?” Taylor asked.

  “We’re going over there to meet Thad to finish our makeshift fire truck project,” I said, pointing at the field.

  “Can we come?” Lee Ann asked.

  “Yeah, come on,” I said, throwing my arm around her shoulder.

  Together we walked across the road and through the pasture. At the back of the pasture we had to hop a fence. In the Before, this land belonged to the state, excluded from development and maintained as a preserve. From the pasture there was a grassy field a couple hundred yards wide before reaching a tree line. The grassy strip extended the full length of our little neighborhood.

  “This is nice over here,” Taylor said.

  “Makes for a good buffer,” I added.

  After a few minutes, the sound of the tractor drifted on the breeze. Thad came into view on the western end of the field, bouncing along on the tractor. We started walking toward him, meeting him in the middle of the grassy strip. He’d mounted a disk on the tractor, an implement with a series of round blades on it in several rows, used to break up the ground. I knew immediately what he was thinking and it was a great idea.

  “Let me guess—you’re going to disk a break in the grass?” I asked.

  “That’s what I’m thinking. Cut a line just outside of the tree line and do another one out in the middle here, just in case it gets past the first one.”

  “Good idea, that’ll keep it from burning across here. This grass is high and would catch easily,” Danny said, nodding approvingly.

  “Can we help?” Taylor asked.

  Thad looked at her. “You want to drive the tractor?”

  “Sure, if you show me how.”

  “You guys watch me for a while, then I’ll show you how to drive this thing.”

  Thad drove toward the tree line and dropped the disk. The girls walked over to watch him as the blades cut and folded the sod over. It took a couple of passes to actually get to the dirt because of the length of the grass. Danny and I watched them for a minute, then he said, “We’ve got some time to kill now that Thad’s handling this. What do you want to do?”

  “Let’s call the old man and see when he’s coming, then fill in the girls on what’s going on.”

  Danny and I went over to his house. Mel and Bobbie were sitting on the back porch with a large pot on the table. Lifting the lid, I looked in. It was full of beans soaking.

  “Soaking the farts out of ’em?” I asked.

  “Yeah, this many people around we figured it’d be a good idea,” Bobbie said, stirring the pot.

  “You get Kathy down there in time?” I asked Mel.

  “Yeah, just in the nick of time. They were coming down the road as we pulled up. At first they didn’t want to take her, but that girl Jamie put her and the kids in a Hummer she was driving.”

  “That’s good. I hope she finds her sister.”

  “Does she even know if they are still there?” Danny asked.

  Bobbie shook her head. “She just assumes they’re there. She said, Where else are they going to go?”

  “That’s a hell of a gamble,” I said.

  “Hope she makes it,” Danny added.

  “We’ve got to make a call on the radio real quick,” I said. With most of the solar setup now at Danny’s place, we’d moved the radio to one of the upstairs bedrooms. The antenna was strung out to a large pine tree, giving us very good reception.

  I sat down at the radio. “Stump Knocker, yo
u out there?”

  “Go for Stump Knocker.”

  “You guys headed this way?”

  “Roger that, just wrapping up a couple of things and we’ll be on the way.”

  “Was that the last convoy from the camp that passed a little while ago?”

  “Affirmative, camp is empty of our people. You guys getting prepared for the worst?”

  “We are, see you soon,” I replied.

  “Stump Knocker out.”

  “I wonder how many people stayed behind,” Danny said.

  I shook my head. “Who knows? It’s foolish to stay there, though. Let’s go talk to the girls . . . They’re not going to like this,” I replied.

  * * *

  “What’s happening with the fire?” Mel asked as soon as we walked in.

  “It jumped the road and is heading this way,” I said.

  “We just got settled. I don’t want to have to leave,” Mel said, her eyes welling with tears.

  I grabbed Mel’s hand. “I know, I don’t either.”

  “But what are we going to do? It’s burning this way, can it be stopped?” Bobbie asked.

  “I don’t think we can stop it, but we’re going to try and turn it, steer it away from us. Sarge and the guys are coming. They’re going to help us. In the meantime we need to get ready to bug out, just in case,” I said.

  Tears were now running down Mel’s cheeks as she silently wept. “Why? Why all of this? Why’s it got to be so hard?”

  I sat down beside her and took her hand. “Hey, you know we’re going to do the best we can. If we have to leave, then we’ll just find another place. As long as we’re all together, we’ll be all right,” I said.

  She looked up. “But are we always going to be running? Running from something—people, fire, what’s next?”

  “Babe, whatever comes, whatever is next, we’ll face it together.”

  “All of us,” Danny added.

  Mel looked up at him, then at Bobbie. She nodded and wiped her face. “We’ve got work to do. Let’s start getting things ready to go.” Mel looked back at me. “Just in case.”