Surviving Home

by Angery American

  “Nice to meet ya,” Jeff said shaking Thad’s hand. Then he looked at me and said, “It’s done and it works.”

  “Cool, you know how to use it?” I asked.

  “Oh yeah, nothing to it.”

  Jeff walked over to the laptop and showed me how to type a message in the text box. “It’s just like texting, just type what you want, hit enter, and it will transmit.” He hit enter on the keyboard and pointed to a little gray box sitting beside the computer. It had two LED’s that started blinking. “See? It’s transmitting now.”

  “Looks easy enough. Later I’ll figure out what frequency I need to be on and what to send and we’ll see if my guy is out there or not,” I said.

  “Sarge?” Thad asked with raised eyebrows. I nodded

  “Well, Thad, what’s your plan?” I asked as I leaned back on the bench.

  He looked down at the ground. “Don’t really have one. I just needed to get gone.”

  He didn’t elaborate any further, but he didn’t need to.

  “Let’s go see if we can find you guys a place to stay.”

  “Is there a deputy here named Mark?” Thad asked.

  That caught me by surprise. “Uh, yeah, how did you know?”

  “The sheriff asked me to turn over the truck to him.”

  Danny’s head cocked to the side. “You met the sheriff?” Thad nodded and Danny said, “And they let you drive away?” Thad nodded again, and Danny raised his eyebrows.

  “Well that makes it kinda easy. Let’s go see him and we’ll talk to him about a house,” I said.

  We walked as a group to the barricade. the Scout had been pulled in behind it and Reggie was keeping an eye on it. As we walked up to the truck, Thad motioned to the log barricade, “Y’all need to do some work on this; nowhere to hide.”

  “Yeah, we’ve already paid the price for that,” Danny said.

  “I’ve got an idea,” Jeff said.

  “We’re all ears, man,” I said and he told us he would show us later.

  I looked over at Reggie and said, “Hey man, what was with the body on your four wheeler earlier?”

  “I’ll tell you ‘bout it later. Can you drop by round supper time?” he said.

  “Yeah, sure, everything alright?” I asked, and he nodded.

  We got into the Scout and Danny directed Thad down to Mark’s house. I was looking over the back seat at the guns. I said, “You collected quite the arsenal on your way home.” He looked up into the mirror at me but said nothing.

  Mark came outside before we were stopped in the driveway, holding his AR. When he saw Danny in the strange truck, he relaxed. If it was possible, Mark actually looked worse than when I had seen him the other night. After we all piled out and made the introductions, Thad told Mark that the sheriff wanted him to turn the truck over to him. Mark stood there for a moment thinking then said, “And you actually brought it here?”

  Thad nodded.

  “You two walked home together?” Mark asked, and Thad and I both nodded. Then Mark asked, “These guys staying with you, Morgan?”

  “That’s the other reason we’re here. I was hoping we could let them stay in Pat’s house. There’s too many at my place to add Thad and Jeff.”

  For a moment he looked shocked. Even Danny looked at me like I was nuts. I said, “It’s not like they’re coming back.”

  Mark shook his head and let out a little grunt. “Yeah, I guess not, whatever, I don’t give a shit. And not for nothing, Morgan, but half the problems you got around here are because of the way you say shit like that. Something to think about.”

  I bristled at first, but I knew he was right. I wasn’t sorry about what happened to Pat and her family, but yeah, some diplomacy might be in order.

  We agreed to take the truck over to Pat’s old place and unload all the gear then we’d bring it back. As Mark turned to go inside he said, “Just leave the keys in it.” then he went inside, the door closed with a loud thunk, and the four of us were left in the yard looking at one another.

  Jeff looked over at me and said, “I gotta ask, why aren’t they coming home?”

  I looked at him for a moment, then looked at Danny, then back at Jeff and Thad. “They’re dead.”

  Thad said, “How’d they get dead?”

  Danny replied before I could think of anything. “Morgan shot ‘em, right over there,” and pointed at the spot in Mark’s yard.

  Jeff said, “Oh, those people.” He hadn’t liked the story when I told it, and it looked like he was liking the idea of living in Pat’s house even less.

  We drove the truck over to the house and unloaded all of Thad’s stuff. Jeff said he would ride the scooter down later with all his stuff. Inside, the house was untouched, much to my surprise. The outside, on the other hand, had been stripped of anything and everything that could be used. The wood shed had been nearly full and now was empty. All the feed was gone as were all the chickens. It was obvious that the place had been cleaned out as soon as we left that day.

  In the living room was a large stone fireplace, quite nice actually, and there was more than enough room for the two of them. I told them I would bring some wood down later and for them to come to the house later for dinner. We’d have to figure out what to do about food for them, water too. Danny and I left them to settle in and walked back to his house to continue on our project.

  Back at Danny’s house we finally settled on a design for the stocks. We used a couple of 8x8s for the upper and lower sections and mounted them on two 4x4 posts for the upright supports. A large strap hinge on one end enabled it to be opened. We cut the holes so they were snug on my wrists and neck, since Danny pointed out I had kind of a big head. A hasp for a padlock finished the piece off. It was getting late in the day and we decided to finish it the next morning and I headed back home.

  On my way back I saw the Scout was back at Mark’s house. Thad hadn’t wasted any time in returning it, and I knew that would go a ways with Mark.

  I thought about Thad’s family, and that got me to thinking about losing my own. I pushed those thoughts away and focused on the practical things we had to deal with. Our food would go a lot faster with Jeff and Thad around, and I knew it was past time to start looking at the long term, something I should have done as soon as I got home. Thad and Jeff were coming over for dinner, and it would be a good opportunity to see what we could come up with.

  As I got to the paved part of the road, the sound of an axe brought me out of my thoughts. Looking off to the right, I saw the old man that lived there—I didn’t know his name—trying to split wood. I wondered where his dogs were; they were usually out barking at whoever was in front of his place, but not today. The air was crisp as dusk started to fall, and the smell of wood smoke filled the air. It really made it feel like winter.

  Mel was in the kitchen, again, poor woman; it seemed like she lived in there now. I said, “Hey good lookin, what’cha got cookin?”

  “Salmon patties, macaroni and cheese and green bean casserole.”

  “Damn, sounds good. We should have company over more often.”

  “No we shouldn’t. I’m starting to get worried about food. Are we going to have to feed those two now?”

  “I was thinking about food on the way home. We’ll have to for a little while, but I’m going to start looking at some alternatives.”

  She got a sour look on her face. “What kind of alternatives?”

  I just shrugged my shoulders. “Whatever I can come up with.”

  That statement didn’t improve her mood any. “That’s what I was afraid of.”

  “Where’re the girls?”

  With her spatula in one hand she pointed towards the door to Lee Ann’s room. I found the girls gathered around the iPad still. It looked like they were drawing or so
mething on it. They didn’t even look up, though Little Bit and Lee Ann did say, “Hi, Dad.”

  “Hey Taylor, when did you come home?”

  Without looking up from the iPad, she replied, “Earlier.”

  “I know that. How did you get home? I told you to wait for me, remember?”

  She looked up at me, her mouth hanging open, then said, “Rene fell asleep, so I left.”

  “And you just walked home alone?”

  “No, her dad walked me home.”

  “Did he come up to the house?” This worried me; I didn’t want anyone getting near the house right now.

  “No. When we got to the gate, he turned around and went home. He told me to tell you thank you for the food.” She swiveled around so she was sitting. “They were all crying and stuff.”

  “Did they give Rene the Ensure?”

  “Yeah, they were giving it to her. She liked it a lot. Can I go back over there tomorrow?”

  Before I could answer, Little Bit piped up, “I wanna go!”

  Taylor looked at her with a scowl on her face. “You can’t go, she’s my friend!”

  They began to argue, Little Bit complaining that she didn’t have any friends to play with and was tired of being at home all the time, Taylor, being a typical big sister, didn’t want her little sister tagging along. I’d heard enough though and said, “Knock it off! I don’t want to hear it. You guys do what you’re told. If you’re told to wait for me, then you wait; if you’re told not to leave, then don’t leave.”

  As I turned to walk out, Lee Ann asked, “When’s dinner gonna be ready?”

  “Soon,” I said as I closed the door.

  Passing through the kitchen, the smell was wonderful, Mel asked, “Are we stuck here in this house forever?”

  “Oh come on, not you too. You know we can’t just go running around.”

  “I know, but I was thinking about my mom today.” I looked over just in time to see the tears start. I had wondered how long it would be until she started to worry about her mom. She probably had been for some time and I was only just hearing about it. I walked around the island to where she was and wrapped my arms around her. She wiped the tears from her face.

  “Babe, I’m sorry but there’s no way we can go to Orlando. We’d lose the truck on the way to either cops or bandits, and who knows what else could happen. There’s just no way.”

  “I know, but I can’t stop thinking about her.”

  I just stood there holding her. She knew there wasn’t anything I could do, she just needed to talk about it. I really felt like shit knowing there was nothing I could about it. Her mom lived in downtown Orlando, and I mean right downtown. It’d take a damn tank to get down there and once we did we’d probably find she was gone. At least this way she could think of her as she was and not how we might find her. That sounded cold even to me, but the thought of finding her mom dead in her house was worse in my mind than wondering how she was doing. That’s the logic I use about my mom and dad, and so far it had worked.

  They lived on the St. John’s in Debary. I guess I could have gotten there on the river, but it was a long trip and who knows what would happen. I just hope the small community they lived in had come together. They were actually in a pretty good spot, or so I hoped.

  I was stoking the fire when I heard Meathead start barking. I looked out and saw Thad and Jeff coming down the drive. Meathead was on the porch with raised hackles. I stepped out on the porch and waited for them.

  Thad was looking at the dog as he walked up. “He gonna eat me?”

  “Not in one sittin’,” I replied, and they laughed.

  “I think it’d take a herd of ‘em to eat him in one sittin’,” Jeff said.

  “Come on in,” I said.

  As Thad stepped through the door he said, “Man, it smells good in here.”

  “After dinner we’ll take a load of wood down to the house for you guys,” I said.

  Jeff asked, “Hey Morgan, you got anything we could use for light? It gets freakin’ dark in that house.”

  I hadn’t thought of that. “I have some oil lamps, a bunch actually. We’ll take a couple of them down too.”

  “That’d be nice. He’s right, it gets damn dark in there,” Thad said as he passed through the living room. “Evenin’, ma’am,” he said when he saw Mel behind the stove.

  “Hi, Thad, you guys get settled in?”

  “We’re getting there.”

  Jeff walked in behind Thad, trying to look around the big man. “Man, what smells so good?”

  Mel looked up with a smile. I was surprised at how at ease she was. Before, she had hated to have people just drop by. But then again, she hadn’t been around too many people and maybe it was nice to talk to someone, anyone, besides me. “I hope you guys are hungry,” she said as she took the last salmon patty from the skillet.

  “Oh yes, ma’am,” Thad said, followed quickly by an “Oh yeah!” from Jeff.

  Mel called the girls out. Since Jeff and Thad were over they had to sit in the living room in front of the fireplace. The three of us guys sat at the table. Mel made plates for the girls and they took them into the living room and then she fixed plates for the rest of us. Once everyone had a plate, Mel took a seat and we talked while we ate. The talk centered around my concerns about food. Now that we had even more mouths to feed, we needed to come up with more. I asked the two guys if they had any ideas. Jeff said he was clueless; he was from desert and didn’t know shit about what you could eat in Florida, ‘cept maybe alligators.

  Thad was a little more help, though he didn’t think of anything I hadn’t already and didn’t mention a bunch of things I was pondering. The result was that things were about to get serious. The menu was going to start to suck and everyone was going to have to work to find enough food for all of us. There wasn’t much more to say about it right then and the conversation tapered off.

  Jeff brought things back around. “Mel, this mac n’ cheese is awesome. Is it from a box?”

  “It started out that way, but I do my thing to it, gotta spice it up,” she replied.

  “Whatever you’re doin’ it’s workin’. I really like the bread crumbs on top.”

  Thad held up a forkful of pasta as a salute and grunted.

  I said, “ It’s great, Mel.” I had to hand it to her; she did a good job on it. Mel had taken time to learn from some books like Making the Best of Basics or something like that, and a website called Hillbilly Housewives. It had all kinds of really basic recipes on it.

  The girls all came in about the same time wanting more mac n’ cheese as well. Mel was eating so I got up and spooned them each some more out, then carried the pot over to the table where Thad and Jeff immediately set upon it. I watched Thad and Jeff as they ate, thinking about the pretty basic dinner we were having. I remembered the day we had found those cans of French fried onions on sale. Mel bought a bunch of them. It was a simple thing, one you wouldn’t give a second thought to. But tonight, here for the small group of people gathered around my table, it made a big difference. It made me think about what other things that we had acquired on a whim that would make a difference, be it food or something else.

  When everyone was done I helped Mel clear the table. The guys offered to help but I told them we’d get it. As I was setting the last of the plates in the sink, Mel carried a stack of the paper plates over to the table. I hadn’t heard anything about a dessert. She went to the fridge and came out with a cake, of all things. It wasn’t very big, maybe eleven inches square, but it was two layers and frosted.

  I said, “How in the hell did you come up with that?”

  She smiled as she set it on the table, to the obvious delight of Jeff and Thad, “It’s a Coca Cola cake.”

  “A what?”

  �
��A Coca Cola cake. It’s basically a box of that Jiffy mix and I use Coke for the liquid. The frosting is some of the Jiffy powder as well.”

  Thad had a curious look on his face. “Never heard of that, but it sounds good.”

  With talk of cake in the kitchen, it wasn’t long before the girls arrived. Mel cut the cake and handed out pieces to everyone. Little Bit naturally wanted a bigger piece, or to lick the knife used to cut it, or to scrape the crumbs off the plate or anything she could think of to get some more. I finally shooed her out of the kitchen so we could eat ours. I had never heard Mel even mention Coca Cola cake before, but it was excellent.

  Once the table was cleared again I sat back in my chair. Everyone was feeling fat and happy.

  “Only one thing could make this any better,” I said, pausing for a moment before continuing, “ a drink.”

  Jeff looked up. “I would kill for a drink.”

  “Well, I have some medicinal whiskey in the shop, and right now I think it would be good for my health to have a nip,” I said.

  I went out to the shop and returned with a bottle of Jim Beam and set some glasses out on the table. I dropped some ice into each of them and poured a couple fingers of whiskey. Mel said she didn’t want any and went to our room. The girls were gone to one of their rooms, so Thad, Jeff and I sat there and enjoyed our Beam. The first one went down so well we thought another was in order, so I passed the bottle for another round.

  Before things got out of hand, I suggested we go out and load some wood in the Suburban to take back to their place. We donned our coats and collected our weapons and went out to the wood shed. I grabbed the old green cart on the way and we loaded it full of nice seasoned oak. While Jeff and Thad took it to the back of the truck, I went to the shop and grabbed a couple of oil lamps and two half-gallon jugs of oil. After putting them in the back seat, I grabbed a double handful of lighter wood from the old ammo can on the front porch.