One Man's War

by Thomas J. Wolfenden

  “G’day, Tim, how ya’ going, mate?”

  “I’m doing good, Ian. I brought some tools,” Tim said, holding up the toolbox, “so we should have this knocked out in no time.”

  “Then let’s get to it then, Mr. President!”

  “I wish everyone would stop calling me that.”

  “Ah, come on, mate. It’s all harmless.”

  I just don’t like it, Ian,” Tim said, setting down his toolbox and leaning against the porch railing.

  “Just think of it like you said on the plane, it’s just to help those folks back in Hawaii feel good.”

  “I do keep on telling myself that. I still don’t like it,” Tim said, frustration evident in his voice. He looked out at April again, playing in the meadow. She was chasing around an early spring butterfly.

  He then noticed another figure, standing in the shadows just inside of the tree line. It was a big bear of a man, and Tim remembered his name was Colin. He’d been one of the men who volunteered to leave the HMAS Newcastle. Like Ian, he’d come from Australia. When the man saw that he’d been seen, he smiled and waved, and walked off towards the house he’d taken over. Something just didn’t seem right to Tim.

  “What’s the story with that guy?” he asked Ian.

  “He’s kind of a loner, really. Name’s Colin something or other. He came up from Victoria when everything turned to shit. He’s supposed to be some kind of tradie, electrician or something,” Ian said.

  “I just wondered what he was doing over there is all. It seemed odd,” Tim said, tilting his hat back on his head and scratching the back of his neck.

  “Yeah, it does seem odd, him hanging around like that,” Ian agreed, now looking at the place in the woods where the man had been standing. “He’s gone now, though.”

  “So he came over on the Newcastle with you? What was he like?”

  “A loner, like I said. Always looked busy, but I never saw him do anything, actually, now that you bring it up.”

  “That’s interesting,” Tim said, and then shook the dark feeling aside. “Let’s get cracking on these pens.”

  Something didn’t seem quite right with the man’s behavior, and he wished he’d had more time to get to know everyone who had come over with them a little better. He’d keep his thoughts to himself for right now, so as not to alarm Ian, but decided he’d keep a close eye on this Colin character from now on.

  Ian called April back to the house, and the two men went to the rear and started working on the enclosures for the animals. They finished late in the afternoon, and after politely declining an invitation to stay for dinner, Tim packed his tools up and headed back to the house. Halfway back, he stopped and looked up into the clear, cloudless afternoon sky for any signs of the returning Hercules, but only saw a few birds. Upon reaching home, he stored his tools in the barn behind the house, entered the home, and went directly to the military satellite radio set up in the study. He tuned to the agreed upon frequency and called Holly. Robyn’s cheerful voice replied right away.

  “Hi, Dad! We’re okay out here!”

  “Are you on your way back?”

  “No, we’re still in San Francisco. Holly and I agreed to help Ensign Johnson in getting to the ship.”

  “Did you find it?”

  “Yes, sir! We’re on it right now. Taco wants to help them get the electricity on, so Holly and I should be back on our way tomorrow,” she said, and then added, almost as an afterthought, “That is okay, right?”

  Tim laughed a little, then depressed the push to talk button again. “A little late to ask me that, young lady. You just be careful, you hear?”

  “Wilco, Sar’ Major! I’ll keep us at fifty percent tonight and set out an over watch!”

  “You do that. Let me know when you’ll be heading home tomorrow, okay?”

  “Dad, don’t worry. I’ve got everything under control.”

  “That’s what scares me,” Tim replied.

  “I’ll call you on this same frequency at zero nine hundred tomorrow.”

  “Roger, out,” Tim said, and shut the radio off. He sighed loudly, and leaned back into his chair. He looked over at the fireplace and thought of lighting a fire, but decided against it. He fumbled with his pipe, filled the bowl, lit it, and stared off at nothing as he puffed away. He was running out of tobacco and would have to scare up some more from someplace soon.

  His mind raced at everything that had happened, and wished he didn’t have to make these decisions anymore. He thought about talking to Izzy, but that thought quickly passed since he could hear the older man snoring peacefully in his bedroom. It was getting late, so he placed his pipe in the oversized ashtray on the table next to his chair, rose, and went up to his bedroom, where he stripped and readied the shower. His muscles ached from the work he’d done earlier, and he let the hot water stream over his back. The water loosened the knots and his thoughts melted away with the mist. He shut the water off, toweled dry, and climbed into bed. He fell asleep immediately.

  The next morning he was awakened by the smell of freshly brewed coffee. He got up, threw on a pair of sweatpants, and followed the aroma down the stairs and into the kitchen, where he found Izzy pouring a cup of the brew.

  “Good morning, Tim, would you like a cup?” Izzy asked with a smile when he saw Tim enter.

  “Yes, please, Iz,” he said, taking a seat at the breakfast counter. “What have you got planned for today?”

  “I was thinking of heading over to Flagstaff. I need to see if I can stock up on medical supplies and drugs. Most of what’s left here is woefully out of date, and there’s not enough of it.”

  “Won’t everything be out of date?” Tim asked, taking to offered mug from Izzy. “I mean, it’s not like anyone is making new stuff.”

  “Yes, you’re correct. At the hospital there may be a good stockpile of things that have been better stored. Beggars can’t be choosers.”

  “I think that time is running out for a lot of things just lying around now. We’ve had it good for the last few years since the Event, but what’s left is really starting to deteriorate.”

  Izzy sat down on a stool opposite Tim. “Is that’s what is on your mind?”

  “Look around, Iz. With the exception of these few houses here, everything is starting to fall apart. Without people to do the everyday maintenance, nature is taking everything back. In a few years, even the roads and highways will be swallowed up by vegetation.”

  “That’s why now is the time to amass as much as we can. The houses here that aren’t being occupied can be turned into warehouses.”

  “Yep. We’re going to have to start being more self-sufficient, and soon.”

  “We’re well on the way to becoming that, Tim. Ian has the animals, and everyone has started to plant vegetables. Even our power is renewable, with all the solar panels and wind turbines.”

  “Even those will need cleaning and regular maintenance. I don’t want everyone to be complacent. I need for everyone to take a good look around and see what we all can do to help,” Tim said, taking another sip of coffee.

  “Everyone here is doing just that, Tim. Sometimes I think you worry too much,” Izzy said playfully.

  “I know, Iz, but…”

  “What? What is troubling you?”

  Tim thought for a moment, trying to find the right words. “Iz, you’re right. We’ve all got to work on making this work here. I can’t help but think that yes, we do have it damn good here. What if someone else out there, who isn’t willing or able to work at it, wants to come here and take what we’ve got?”

  “Aren’t you just being a wee bit paranoid?”

  “How can you not be paranoid after everything we’ve been through these last few years?” Tim sighed, holding his hands out pleadingly.

  “What is your solution?”

  “I don’t have one, Iz. That’s my worry. And now Holly, Robyn, and Taco are off in California.”

  “You want them back here. Yes, I understand. Ar
e they coming back today?”

  “That’s what they told me yesterday. Robyn said she’d call on the radio at zero nine hundred,” Tim replied, then looked at his watch. “About an hour from now.”

  “They’re all adults, and they can take care of themselves. They’ll get back today, and when they do, we can have a meeting and make some plans.”

  “We’ll do that, but it doesn’t stop me from worrying,” Tim said, and then went on to tell him about what he witnessed at Ian’s place the day before, and his feelings about the man Colin.

  “You think he was up to no good?”

  “I don’t know, Iz. It just struck me as odd, the way he was lurking inside the tree line. It certainly didn’t look right to me.”

  “Keep an eye on him. I know what you mean though; something didn’t seem quite right with him when I met him in Hawaii.”

  “That’s not helping to ease my mind at all.”

  “I’m sorry, Tim. I didn’t mean to add to your worries. How is everything else going?” Izzy asked, hoping to change the subject.

  “As well as can be expected. Our good ensign and his crew are now in San Francisco and have found the ship they were after, so Holly and the rest will be back today, I hope. Ian has gotten everything in order at his place, so we should start getting some fresh eggs soon, and maybe goat’s milk, pork and bacon.”

  “Okay, anything else?”

  “Yeah, that other Aussie guy, the railroad dude? He’s got a highrail truck running, and he’s supposed to be heading out this morning, west I think he said, to start checking the tracks. He said he might be a while.”

  “Excuse me, highrail?”

  “That’s what he called it. It’s a pickup truck, with these special wheels that fold down so he can drive the thing right on the tracks. He was packing up yesterday morning, taking a few weeks’ worth of food and some camping gear. He said he’s going to go as far as he can.”

  “So he’s really serious about running a train between here and San Francisco?”

  “That’s what he plans on doing. It will be interesting if he actually does it.”

  “Then we’ll have a direct overland route to the coast. In the summer only, I guess.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I think. It’ll only be a summertime thing,” Tim agreed, thinking of the huge snowfalls over the mountain passes in California. “And one more thing. One of the men from Jerry’s group, a guy from the 25th Infantry Division, says he wants to try to find my old friend Dawn Redeagle. Apparently he used to be some sort of cowboy in Montana before he enlisted.”

  “And start another war with the hated redskins?” Izzy asked, wide eyed, and Tim let out a good belly laugh.

  “No, he heard me talking about the huge bison herd and his eyes lit up. He’s got some notion of finding Dawn, and maybe getting a few of the buffalo to bring back here.”

  “To do what?” Izzy asked.

  “It’s really not all that farfetched. I know that Dawn had a few horses, the only ones I’ve seen since the Event. He thinks he might be able to trade or barter with him for a couple of horses. That is, if Dawn was ever able to get his two to breed, then get a few of the buffalo back here and start up a new herd.”

  “Domesticate them?”

  “He says it can be done. They had them on his ranch where he grew up, so he tells me. I’m all for it, if he can actually find Dawn in the first place. It’s been years since Robyn and I met him, he might be long gone by now.”

  “That’s true, if he holds to the nomadic lifestyle of the Native Americans. That is an interesting idea, though. It would add a little more variety to our diet if he can pull it off.”

  “That’s what I thought too, Iz. Not that I don’t like venison and rabbit,” Tim said with a grin.

  “We’re down to only a handful of people again,” Izzy said, turning grave.

  “Now you sound worried,” Tim said.

  “I’m not. But if what you said earlier holds true, there is safety in numbers.”

  “I just know that there’s going to be someone else out there, like our recently late Captain Kangaroo.”

  “If that’s the case, what can we do?” Izzy asked, then rose to get them both another cup of coffee. They sat silently for a few moments, and then Tim spoke up.

  “For starters, we can use the terrain as a natural defense.”

  “How?”

  “Like I said before, it won’t be long until all the roads are impassable. There are several gorges east and west of here. We can block the passages so the town isn’t easy to get to.”

  “That’s a start. How do we get out if we need to?”

  “Leave that to me, Iz. I’ll go over the topo maps of the area, and once Holly and the crew are back from California, we’ll get everyone together and have a meeting. I should have a rough plan together by tomorrow evening.”

  “I trust you to make the right decision. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to head off to the hospital in Flagstaff. I should be back around time for supper,” Izzy said.

  “Are you going alone?”

  “Yes.”

  “Want some company?”

  “No, I should be fine, Tim. I’ll take a rifle with me. I do still remember how to use one. I’ll be okay,” Izzy stated, politely reminding Tim that prior to him becoming a doctor, he’d served in the ‘Brown Water Navy’, on PBR’s in Vietnam.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Tim, I’ll be fine. I’m going to take one of the Hum-Vees and a carbine, and I’ll have a radio with me. I’ll be back before sundown.”

  “Just be careful,” Tim said with worry in his voice.

  “I’ll be fine,” Izzy said, placing his used mug in the sink and picking up a backpack that Tim hadn’t noticed before. “I’ll call if I get into trouble, Sergeant Major!”

  Tim laughed and watched him leave. Before the door closed behind him, Izzy called out, “It’s a brave new world, Timothy!”

  “Yeah, but I’m not sure I’m digging this brave new world all that much,” Tim said to the door.

  He heard the Hum-Vee parked out front start and pull away, leaving him alone with his thoughts. He looked at his watch and saw that he still had some time before Robyn’s promised check in, so he placed the Motorola radio on the counter, and made himself some toast to go along with a third cup of coffee.

  When the unevenly sliced homemade bread popped out of the toaster, he spread some strawberry preserves on them and took a bite. Maybe someone would figure out how to make butter with the milk they’d soon be getting from the goats in Ian’s pen. His mouth watered at the thought.

  He sat back down with his breakfast and coffee, taking mental notes on the things that they would soon run out of. There was still plenty of diesel fuel lying around in storage tanks all over the area, and there was virtually an endless supply of propane, thanks to a stalled unit train of tanker cars filled with it, slowly rusting to the tracks outside of Flagstaff. That would last everyone there indefinitely, or as long as the tanks held up.

  There was still plenty of flour in storage in every house, but even though it was stored in plastic containers, it was a finite amount and would have to be replaced at some point if they wanted to continue to have freshly baked bread. Maybe they could make one of the meadows into a wheat field. He wasn’t even sure if the climate or elevation would even support it. One more thing to think about.

  They could grow corn, which he knew, because he and Robyn had had several crops behind his house in the last few years, and also potatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers and tomatoes, so food wasn’t a problem. Even the wildlife around their settlement was plentiful, so they’d have plenty of meat.

  He took a final gulp of his now tepid coffee, grimaced, and then the final thought of his short mental list popped up, and made him laugh aloud: toilet paper. They were going to run out of toilet paper at some point, and that, he thought, would be very, very important indeed. He laughed again at the thought of going out in an ever-widening se
arch for asswipe.

  He looked at his empty mug, and decided against having another one. He turned from the counter and heard the radio crackle to life. He picked up the handset and replied excitedly, not able to hide his anxiety. “Are you on your way back?”

  “Yes, Dad, we’re slightly northwest of Las Vegas. We should be back in Tusayan in about an hour,” Robyn replied over the encrypted radio in the Hercules.

  “Good. I was getting anxious.”

  “Really, Dad? I couldn’t tell,” Robyn’s voice came out of the speaker with good natured sarcasm and Tim laughed.

  “I don’t know where you get that mouth, young lady!”

  “Dad, I get it from you!”

  “Okay, okay,” he conceded. “I’ll meet you at the airstrip.”

  “Alright, see you soon! MacFarland Air One, out!”

  Tim went back upstairs to the bedroom and got dressed. Going back through the living room, he took an M4 carbine from the rack he’d put there, locked and loaded a magazine and pocketed two more, then headed out the front door.

  Hopping into the Hum-Vee parked by the porch, he put the carbine in the rack, and started the engine. Before he pulled away, another thought crossed his mind. He’d better let someone know where he was going. He headed up through the trees along the red dirt road towards Ian’s house. He pulled up in front, and Ian, hearing the vehicle pull up, came out to greet him. Tim gave him a radio, told him where he was going and about what time he would be back. Ian reassured him that all was in order. Tim made a U-turn and headed back out onto the road, passed his house, and made a right hand turn onto the deteriorating blacktop road into Williams.

  Weeds were sprouting from every crack in the asphalt, and to stress what he was talking to Izzy about earlier that morning, he saw that every house passed as he got nearer to town showed pronounced signs of neglect now, and two he saw had collapsed roofs, one already had trees growing up through it. Yes, nature was taking back what was hers, and it wouldn’t be long before it was all swallowed up.

  He drove through town, and took a good look around. Cars that were parked along Main Street were now covered in dust thick enough the windows looked opaque, tires were dry rotted and flattened, weeds were sprouting from masonry in desperate need of brick pointing. Several buildings had trees growing on their flat roofs. Curbs, corners, and alleyways were clogged with paper and plastic refuse long forgotten and blown there by winds and storms over the last six years, and it saddened Tim to the core.