Resurrecting Home

by A. American

“You got another one of those?” Danny asked. I nodded and pulled out the spare I had in my vest.

  “Thanks, man. Anything to help right now,” he said.

  “Man, I wish that would’ve worked. I wish we stopped up there on 40,” Danny said.

  “Me too, as if there isn’t enough shit to deal with. Like what Mel was saying earlier: What’s next, ya know?”

  “I know all too well, brother, it’s just one thing after another. I’d give anything to go back to how it was before. We used to bitch about working and all the other bullshit that went along with a normal life,” Danny replied.

  “No shit, I’d go to work today nailing shingles if things would just go back to normal, and you know how much I hate roofing,” I said with a chuckle.

  “Not as much as plumbing.” Danny laughed.

  “Sanitary, just drains.”

  “Well, if tomorrow doesn’t do it, we’re in for a hard time. Where do you want to go? I imagine the cabins will be gone, so they won’t be an option.”

  I shook my head. “I have no idea. We’re going to be like everyone else, I guess. On the road.”

  “At least we’ve got the trucks,” Danny replied.

  “If we can keep them. On the road everyone’s going to want them, and we’ll have no security at all.”

  “All the more reason to make sure we don’t have to leave. We have to get it done tomorrow. There’ s no other choice.”

  We sat there for some time in the quiet as flakes of ash fell around us. I looked up into the murky sky. “You think it’ll ever get easier?”

  “Easier? I thought this was easy.” Danny laughed.

  “Yeah, it’s easy. Between wildfires, raiders and murders, and trying not to starve to death, I can’t imagine it possibly being any easier.”

  “All we can do is what we can do,” Danny replied.

  “But there’s so much to do.”

  It seemed as if the haze hastened the setting of the sun, the looming dusk giving everything an otherworldly look. We went across the street, taking up a place on the fence. Out there, on the edge of the pasture, we could take advantage of what breeze there may be and get a little relief from the mosquitos.

  We sat in the eerie quiet in silence. Not even crickets were playing their evening arias. To the north the sky was angry and ominous in both attitude and appearance, as if the very earth itself was seeking its vengeance for some injury. And maybe it was: here at last, man was knocked down a peg or two. Without the benefit of all his technology, man was reduced to clawing at the earth for his own survival, nearly on par with most of the beasts of the wild.

  Danny was pulling up the seed stalks of St. Augustine and biting off the soft sweet tips, then throwing the stalks like arrows.

  “You know,” he said, nibbling on a stalk, “we have very little chance of stopping that thing.”

  “Yeah, but what are we supposed to do? All we can do is try.”

  Danny stretched his arms out and put his hands behind his head. “And try we will.”

  Chapter 13

  As the convoy approached Morgan’s neighborhood, Jamie could see someone waving. None of the drivers of the other trucks paid any attention as they’d been instructed not to stop for civilians, but to Jamie this was different—she knew these people. She pulled out of the line and stopped as Jeff jogged over. “Hey, Jamie.”

  “Hey, Jeff, what’s up?”

  He pointed to a woman with two kids standing behind him. “Can you give them a ride into town? She wants to go stay with her sister.”

  “Who is she?”

  Jeff leaned in a little closer. In a low voice, he replied, “Her husband was killed down the road here, Morgan and Danny got the guy who did it, and we buried both of them. She’s just kind of stuck here.”

  It wasn’t a hard decision for her. “Yeah, tell her to get in.”

  The Guardsman sitting in the passenger seat leaned over. “Hey, we’re not supposed to give anyone a ride.”

  Jamie shot him a disgusted look. “What the hell could it possibly hurt? It’s just a ride.”

  He was clearly annoyed by her answer, but he didn’t say anything more. Jeff waved Kathy and the kids over, helping them get into the truck. The two little ones shared one of the rear seats. To them it was a grand adventure to ride in the big army truck.

  “Thanks, Jamie,” Jeff said, waving good-bye to Kathy.

  Jamie pulled off at the rear of the convoy, the last truck in line. As they rode along, Kathy didn’t say anything and Jamie didn’t press her. From what Jeff said she’d had a rough time lately and there was no sense in making her relive it.

  As they approached the barricade on the edge of town, Jamie asked where her sister lived. Kathy directed her past the armory, getting some curious looks from some of the other Guardsmen as they continued on. Kathy eventually told her to stop in front of a small house. She quickly got out and walked up to the house and rapped on the door. After a moment it opened a crack, then swung wide-open as a woman rushed out and they embraced in a hug. The two women, still holding each other, walked out to the street. Kathy opened the door and the kids hopped out, both hugging their aunt.

  Kathy stepped around to the driver’s door. “Thank you for bringing me here. I can’t thank you enough.”

  Jamie smiled, warmed by the interaction. “No problem. Hope you and the kids are safe here.”

  “Oh, we will be. Thank you again.”

  Jamie gave her a smile and waved as she pulled away. The ride back to the armory was short, and in no time she was parking the Hummer with the others in the lot. As night began to fall, all the vehicles were crowded into the small fenced yard. It was alive with rumbling engines as the drivers attempted to jockey them into position. People moved through the clouds of exhaust in a dangerous unscripted choreography. Jamie sat on a large metal box, an open canteen in her hands. Seeing Ian walking through the yard she waved him over.

  “Hey, Jamie.”

  “Hey, got a question for you.”

  “Sure, what’s up?”

  Jamie looked around for a moment, then asked, “Do you want to stay here?”

  “Or go where?” Ian asked with half a laugh.

  “Sarge and those guys are staying over in that neighborhood where Morgan lives. We could go there.”

  “That place is probably going to burn down. Why aren’t they coming here?”

  “You really think it’s going to burn? Damn, I was thinking it would be better.”

  Ian removed his cover and scratched at his head. “You don’t want to stay here?”

  “Not really. We’re going to be packed in here like sardines, way too many musty balls for me.”

  Ian started to laugh. “Musty?”

  “Yeah, you dumbasses stink,” Jamie replied with a smile. “I was going to see if Perez wanted to go too.”

  “I guess we could.” Ian looked around. “There isn’t going to be much going on around here.” He looked at her seriously for a moment. “You’re not worried about being AWOL?”

  “AWOL? Hell no, there’s no DOD anymore.” Thinking quickly she added, “Besides, we could just say we’re attached to Sarge and his guys. He’s got actual contact up the command chain. Long as we’re with him, we’re not absent.”

  “You got a point there.”

  “Think about it. Just don’t say anything to anyone. I’ll talk to Perez,” Jamie said.

  “We have to wait and see what happens with the fire. If that works out, I’m good with it,” Ian replied.

  Jamie found Perez by accident. Walking through the parked trucks, she smelled smoke of a different variety and pulled the canvas flap back on one of the trucks. Perez was sitting there smoking a cigarette, which he quickly tried to hide.

  “Where the hell did you get a cigarette?” She asked.

  “You scared the shit out of me.” Perez smiled. “I got my ways,” he said, taking a long drag on the smoke.

  Jamie climbed up in the truck with him. “Give me o
ne of those.”

  Perez squinted at her and reluctantly pulled a pack from his blouse pocket, shaking one out. “Didn’t know you smoked.”

  “I don’t, but I could use one right now.” Jamie stared at him for a second. “Light?”

  Perez produced a lighter and Jamie leaned in and lit her cigarette, taking a long drag. “Oh, that’s good.” She looked at it. “Where did you find these?”

  “We found a shit ton of them at the camp when we were going through stuff.”

  “You get your share?”

  Perez smiled. “Plenty.”

  “I wanted to ask you something.”

  Perez looked over and Jamie went into her offer. Perez listened intently without interrupting her, staring at the floor. When she finished, she asked, “What do you think?”

  “You don’t want to stay here?”

  “No, do you really want to stay here? What do you think we’ll be doing, packed in here like we are? It’s going to suck.”

  “Yeah, I was already thinking of camping out here. That damn hall is going to get rank quick.”

  “I know. Over there we can stay in a house, away from all these people who think we’re here to save them when we don’t have shit for them. Soon as they figure out we’re not giving them anything, they’re not going to be so nice anymore. I’d rather be out in the woods.”

  “What’d Ian say?”

  “He was up for it.”

  Perez sighed. “What the hell, I’m in too.”

  “We’ll have to wait and see what happens with the fire. There is a chance their place could burn. Once that’s over we’ll see. I’m going to go look for Ian.”

  Perez pulled the pack from his pocket, shaking out another. “You do that. I’ll be right here.”

  As Jamie walked through the yard, members of the unit were setting up their spots for the night. Small tents and combat shelters were being put up on any available ground. Jamie worked her way through the chaos looking for Ian. Occasionally she would ask where Ian was, but it quickly became obvious no one knew. After searching the yard she went into the hall where others were laying out sleep mats and bags. In the admin section of the building she heard Ian’s voice coming down the hall. Not wanting to interrupt, she paused at the end of the hall and leaned against the wall.

  After a short time, Ian appeared in the hallway. As he walked up, Jamie asked, “What was that about?”

  “I told them we were going to leave if the fire doesn’t burn the place to the ground,” Ian replied matter-of-factly.

  “What? Why would you do that?”

  He looked at her like she was nuts. “Because it was the right thing to do. What was your plan, steal a Hummer and drive away?”

  Jamie shrugged. “It was a thought.”

  “Yeah, a bad one. Right now it’s just wait and see.”

  Stunned, Jamie stepped in front of him. “Really? They didn’t care?”

  “They cared but understood. There’s already too many people here and getting rid of a couple of us will ease the burden a bit.”

  “I can’t believe they let it go so easy.”

  “Well, I told them having us out there would serve as a remote post. With us and Sarge and his guys it’s a decent squad,” Ian replied.

  “I thought they didn’t want them around anymore.”

  “No more than the regular army generally wants SF types around. You know, those guys generally don’t play by the rules and can be a bit of a pain in the ass. But they know they’ll need their help at some point.”

  “This worked out better than I thought it would.”

  “Yeah, and we don’t burn any bridges here. We’ll probably need their help someday too.”

  “That’s good—better. I sure hope they get through it,” Jamie said.

  “Let’s just hope it goes well.”

  “Cool, I’ll go tell Perez. He’s set up camp in the back of an empty truck. I’m going to stay there too.”

  Jamie went to the Hummer and grabbed her pack. Perez had his gear in the back of the truck and she decided she was going to stay there with him—out of sight, out of mind. When she climbed in, Perez was stretched out in his sleeping bag.

  “Well?” Perez asked, looking up.

  “It’s a go. They’re actually going along with it. Ian sold the captain on the idea of having us as a squad out there.”

  Perez lay back. “Good.”

  “I’m staying here tonight.”

  “Whatever blows yer skirt up.”

  “Nice, Perez, real nice,” Jamie said as she unrolled her bag.

  * * *

  Dylan was worried about leaving Gena home alone, but he didn’t know what else to do after being faced with day after day of intimidation from these troublemakers. He was relieved when the house came into view as they bounced down the dirt road. Sarge swung the truck in a loop, stopping with it facing back the way they’d come. Dylan quickly hopped out and walked to the house.

  At the door he knocked. “Gena, it’s me.” A muffled voice replied and the door opened. “Is everything all right?” he asked.

  “I’m just happy you’re back.” Gena looked past him at the Hummer. “Who’s that?”

  “They’re friends of Morgan’s. They’re going to stay here and help us. I’ll introduce you to them.”

  Looking at the Hummer, she asked, “Are they in the army or something?”

  “I don’t know, but they sure look like it.”

  Mike and Sarge were leaning on the hood of the Hummer. Seeing Dylan and his wife approach, they stood up.

  “Ma’am,” Sarge said with a nod.

  “Sarge, Mike, this is my wife, Gena,” Dylan said.

  “Hi, Gena, nice to meet you,” Mike said.

  Sarge smiled. “Call me Linus.”

  “I can’t thank you guys enough for coming here. I had no idea we’d get this kind of help. I’m really getting worried—the way they look at me, the crude comments they make . . .” She shuddered visibly.

  “We’ll do what we can for you. We should be able to convince them to leave you alone,” Sarge replied.

  “That sure would be nice. At first I didn’t mind helping them, but now they come back every day wanting more.”

  “Kinda like a stray dog. Once you feed it, it’ll keep coming back.”

  “She has a soft spot for dogs too,” Dylan added.

  “Well, the big dogs are here now,” Mike said.

  “It’s been hard. They come at night, every night. And they’ve been threatening. Every day they want more, always more. Been hard to sleep,” Dylan said.

  “You folks can get some sleep tonight. We’ll keep an eye on things,” Sarge said.

  “Would you guys like some coffee?” Gena asked.

  Sarge perked right up—just hearing the word had a stimulating effect. “Coffee? You got coffee?”

  “Well, it’s not all coffee. I grow chicory in the greenhouse and I cut my real coffee with it. It’s still pretty good,” Gena replied.

  “Like Café Du Monde in New Orleans?” Sarge replied.

  Gena smiled. “That’s where I got the idea. We spent a week down there a few years ago and really enjoyed it.”

  “Yeah, I had them little pastries every day we were there,” Dylan said with a smile.

  “Be glad you’re not there now. I can only imagine what that place looks like,” Mike added.

  “Can you imagine? Every day would be like the aftermath of Katrina,” Dylan replied, shaking his head.

  “How do those poor people live? Not just there but in any big city?” Gena asked.

  “Wouldn’t be easy. Nothing to hunt and not too many places for a garden, not to mention once you planted a garden you’d have to guard it twenty-four hours a day,” Sarge said.

  “There’s plenty to hunt: pigeons, squirrels, all manner of cats and dogs. Delicious,” Mike said.

  Sarge shook his head. “You’ll have to forgive him—he was kicked in the head as a child.”

  L
aughing, Gena said, “You boys are silly.”

  “Miss Gena, if you wouldn’t mind bringing out some of that coffee, you folks can go on and get some rest,” Sarge said.

  “Sure thing. I’ll put a fresh pot on,” Gena replied and headed back for the house.

  “Thanks for coming over here. I know this is going to get worse. They started saying things about Gena, nasty things. She’s got MS and isn’t well, and the things they were saying . . .” Dylan trailed off.

  “Don’t worry, Dylan. We don’t take to people that try and bully others or people that hurt women. The two together is at the top of my shit list,” Sarge replied.

  Dylan looked up. “Well, tonight, in all probability, you’ll see some shit. These people are horrible, and I think they’re doing some terrible things to the kids they’ve got.”

  “We’ll have to see about that too, then,” Sarge replied with a stern face.

  “I’ll go help Gena with that coffee,” Dylan said and went to the house.

  “What do you think? Just sit here and wait or do you want to move off where they won’t see us?” Mike asked.

  “I was thinking of sitting here and letting them come up. The truck might scare ’em off. Plus I want to see what they got to say when they get here. After they bring the coffee out, move the truck around back. Let’s see how this plays out.”

  “Roger that, boss.”

  Dylan came out carrying a thermos and two coffee cups. He set them on the hood of the truck. “Here you guys go.”

  “Thanks,” Mike said as he picked up a cup, looking into it. “Hey, can you drink coffee out of something this clean?” he asked, looking at Sarge.

  “I can drink all this coffee from a clean cup.” Sarge smiled back, pouring himself a cup.

  Mike looked at Dylan. “You should see the cups he uses—our medic wouldn’t even use them.”

  Laughing, Dylan replied, “Nothing like a seasoned cup, is there?”

  “You got that right. Now, Dylan, we got you covered tonight. Go get some rest,” Sarge said and watched Dylan walk to the house. After he was inside, Sarge looked at Mike. “Give ’em a few minutes and move the truck.”

  Mike leaned against the hood and poured himself a cup. He took a sip, smacking his lips. “Well, that’s different.”