by Ron Foster
“Like I said I got money or barter Hogan, would a hundred do you for the lot, maybe a hundred fifty?” Dixon said seeing Annie go to get what looked like a huge bag of rice and beans.
“Hang on to your money; you are going to need it more than me. Tell you what, Dixon and Marylyn, how about you two doing us a favor by agreeing to do some house sitting for us while we are gone?” Annie said to the confused couple.
“What is it that you are proposing, Annie?” Marylyn queried.
“We weren’t sure if you guys had any guns or not until now so we didn’t mention an idea we had yet. I have moved in with Hogan for the duration of this problem and since we are going out camping on the river for awhile, we figured maybe you could do us a favor and watch the house and vehicles for us. You would be doing us a big favor guarding our stuff and we are willing to pay you a little bit for your trouble in food goods for doing it.” Annie said.
“Well maybe we could do that, I don’t know what kind of guards two old duffers would be for you to deter thieves, but I am interested.” Dixon said.
“Are you interested, Marylyn?” Annie asked to which she got an immediate “yes” response from the woman.
“Me and Annie got to thinking about the situation around here, Dixon. You know one day the house next to you can be completely safe and then the next day there might be someone inside right next-door who wants to harm you. I don’t mean that weird couple next to you. I mean simply everyone is going to be trying to do their best to be survivors now and you can never be sure how safe and secure your surroundings are from this point on. That’s another reason for you to try to team up with those big old boys next to me for a bit. I don’t know if they got any guns of their own or not but I am sure an extra armed citizen or two on their side would be useful to them. Particularly one nice well armed couple I know in possession of a trotline and the old style fishing skills to use it properly. It is going to get pretty dangerous around here because you’ll have a lot of people in a relatively small area and you’ll have higher demand for (very limited) resources. Now that the ‘system’ is gone, it is going to get a bit crazy. Might be good for you all if you can maybe find someone to help watch each other’s backs. It might also be good if you were living closer to the river which just happens to be where we park our vehicles.” Hogan said.
“Now that makes plenty of sense to me.” Marylyn said with Dixon agreeing.
“Pretty soon the way we see it around here in regards to daily living, is that just plain survival will become an all day, every day task. Everyone is going to need to be constantly hunting, scavenging, gathering, finding information, looking for things and checking on things. Right now, you two can watch Hogan’s apartment and our vehicles and keep an eye on that trotline you got from the apartment. Kind of guard the home front for both of us, if you know what I mean. If you’re hanging out over here maybe you can get friendlier with the folks back here in these buildings and do the same for them. Kind of be like the neighborhood watch commander or something. I have no idea if anyone has firearms around here but I think not many do.” Annie said.
“Well I don’t know what to say to that kind offer but yes we will sure do it, Hogan... Annie be honest with me now. You are never coming back are you?” Dixon said regarding the pair more closely.
“Now what makes you say that? We are going to be back but since you will be around to guard the place it might be more like a month that we will be gone.” Hogan said.
“Well giving us all that food and your house don’t sound like you are coming back.” Marylyn said skeptically.
“He didn’t say he was giving it to us, he said we could just stay there for awhile to guard his stuff.” Dixon offered.
“That’s an awful long camping trip; you think that you’re going to just live off the land?” Marylyn began.
“Oh I know better than that, we got plenty of food to see us through. If we get lucky and get a deer, you might see us back here for a visit and I will give you some venison.” Hogan said loading the last of his gear.
“Go ahead and park your car, Annie.” Hogan said indicating she should go to the apartment and walk back and then he would move his van.
Annie left and Hogan stood with Dixon and Marylyn on the river bank.
“Sounds like you’re going to have the camping trip of your life, Hogan. You all be careful out there and watch out for hooligans.” Dixon said as Hogan handed him some keys to the apartment.
“Oh we will, you do the same here. There is a propane camp stove with three canisters on the kitchen counter, feel free to use it and anything else you find in the house. Get Annie’s key off her when she gets back to her apartment, I don’t think there is much of anything left there that you might want but help yourself, you never know.” Hogan said.
“You all try to come back in a week or two.” Marylyn said already missing her new friends and starting to worry.
“No problem, we will try. We are going about 20 miles downstream but you might see us riding in one morning when you’re out fishing.” Hogan said with a smile not really planning on coming back by that soon.
“I guess if we don’t see you in a month we will know you are truly gone.” Marylyn said still wondering about Hogan’s true intentions.
“We will be getting back here eventually, well let’s put it this way. When we come back THEN we will be leaving for good. The plan is that we go on vacation now and wait on the roads to clear and for things to settle down around here some.” Hogan said confiding in them.
“Well I hope and pray that they get the roads cleared up some in a month but you know things ain’t going to settle down around here that quickly. Things will probably actually be much worse around here then. You know full well why I wanted more ammunition, Hogan, I bet.” Dixon said being cognizant of the coming chaos and lawlessness they both expected.
“Yea, I knew what you wanted it for. I guess you could call me being either a chicken shit or a smart man for leaving and wanting to go on vacation now upriver for a bit. I don’t know which one to call it myself, I don’t really care. I know one thing though and that is we are going to go avoid some BS around here by moving into the woods for a short bit. I know the woods are going to be filled with gun toting fools also but I have got me a spot all picked out that is secluded and I doubt I will even see anybody at all. Hopefully, after a little bit of time passes, I can take my van out on the highway and go to my little farm in Alabama and start scratching in the dirt and growing me a garden.” Hogan said wishing that he could be back home in his garden working on planting some things to eat later.
“I got some houseplants and a couple big pots of dirt for you on my patio that you can have, Dixon. Here is a pack of tomato seeds and herb seeds I was going to get around to planting but never did.” Annie said handing a few small packages to Marylyn that she had remembered to grab when she went to park her car.
“Well we won’t have any tomatoes for you all to eat when you get back but we will hopefully be able to show you some fine starts on some tomato plants!” Marylyn gushed as she received the seed bounty from Annie who in turn beamed her back a pretty smile.
“You two are some darn good people to be giving us this chance, don’t you worry none about your stuff,
Hogan. I am going straight home to get my shotgun and me and Marylyn will move into that apartment as soon as you all cast off.” Dixon said with a sly wink and then shook Hogan’s hand.
“Well I guess then this is goodbye for now! Oh I hate to go like this… Be careful and catch lots of fish!” Annie said and hugged both the old people goodbye and went down to the river teary eyed with Hogan after he finished saying his own emotional farewells.
7
Camping On The Hooch
The Chattahoochee River (often called the ‘Hooch’ by locals) is generally speaking, at least around here not that dangerous of a river. But Hogan knew in a SHTF situation almost everything is a threat to you. Oh it is easy enough to under
stand that in the city you have threats like gangs, angry neighbors and bad people in general etc., but the same goes for many parts of the woods. He also worried about possible pirate activity starting up on the river at some point. There were many other threats on Hogan and Annie’s mind, like other campers desperation and lack of food, the lack of normal hygiene, any levels of contamination coming down river, theirs as well as others risk of injury just by chance meetings, being found, being informed on, being tricked by others, really more threats than most people ever consider to think about.
It was a new shocking reality to them and the relative seclusion they sought was the only thing that gave them any kind of solace to think about.
You can be hoping for the best and preparing for the worst but it’s not easy to prepare for the consequences of the worst and the best of humanity being thrown together and the consequences of all them trying to survive differently during a disaster. Who was it that said “Our Generation is better prepared for a zombie apocalypse than for an hour without electricity.” He bet it was someone that could only conceive of the dangers of this disaster from watching the TV show “The Walking Dead.”
People like that had an unrealistic outlook as well as false expectations of what it would take to truly survive these days and times. For most people in the city, they had two choices: either to die in huge numbers, (which they will end up doing anyway) or to look for food and other resources in a way that looks the ‘easiest’ to them and that unfortunately becomes actually taking goods by force or theft from one another.
What Hogan and Annie were doing was trying to avoid the presence and demands of people in general and not get caught up in the mindless turf wars of controlling resources and the thievery and robbery to survive that was bound to happen.
Hogan was just using his trolling motor to pull Annie’s Kayak along and he had left his cumbersome and noisy gas motor back at the apartment.
He had his eyes open and expected a surprise on the river just like he always did when boating but he hoped it would be a pleasant experience like seeing a deer or something. I bet the animals didn’t know hunting season had just started and anything goes now. A lot of the wildlife around the parks was used to seeing people and would become easy prey at first, he reasoned.
“We will be at the “boat cave” shortly. I still think that name you came up with for the entrance is awful funny.” Hogan said.
“It just seemed like it fit. I can’t wait to see it in person!” Annie said excitedly.
“It is right up there ahead just on the edge of that bluff on the left.” Hogan said pointing towards where the little inlet was hidden by some bushes.
“I am guessing that it is on the bank where that dead foliage is but you can’t tell it’s even there other than that.” Annie said scrutinizing the shoreline.
“Looks like my camouflage is getting old and needs replacing.” Hogan said spotting the golden brown dead vegetation and thinking he could have chosen better plants that didn’t dry out so brightly to do the job with.
“Just reach over there and swing those bushes back like a gate or better yet just hold on to them and I will back up with the motor.” Hogan said as Annie swung the gate out of the way as Hogan was backing away from it.
“Open Sesame!” Annie joked and then remarked how cool she thought Hogan’s little scrub brush gate rig was.
Hogan guided the boat into the narrow little ditch like affair and they beached and dragged both the boats to shore.
“I hate this part; I need to rig me a string or something to that gate so I can pull it closed from here. I don’t like fooling with brush over water because of poisonous water moccasin snakes and this is pretty muddy and leechy looking water if you ask me back in here.” Hogan said not so much worried about a snake at the moment but cringing at the thought of emerging from the water maybe with several slimy blood suckers attached to him. Thinking about parasites of any kind on land or water, made him itchy and filled with dread about removing ticks or something like a fat leech from his body.
“Ugh! I hate Leeches! I am glad you told me about them! Is there any in there?”Annie asked looking at the murky water.
“No, but experience tells me to get in and out quick and have underwear on.” Hogan said wading out into the swampy looking edge.
“Wait a minute, tie this paracord onto it if you can.” Annie offered digging into a pouch on her bug out bag and throwing Hogan a 50 foot hank of green nylon cord.
“Thanks, I will give it back to you when we leave.” Hogan said.
“I don’t care about the cord; just don’t stay out in that water long.” Annie said watching the water get even muddier as Hogan walked along the bottom trying to keep the silt and the gumbo like red clay from sucking his boat shoes off.
Hogan messed with the brush gate and tried various methods of pulling it closed with the cord until he finally got it right and waded back to shore with caked shoes and a distinctive dirty waterline half way up his shorts.
“You’re a mess!” Annie said looking at Hogan whose shins had an orange muddy tint and his thighs were covered in bits of dirt and floating twigs and such.
“Yea it’s fun to have to wash off in the same crap you got on you. Gimme your canteen cup please, that will make it easier.” Hogan said and sort of sluiced off with it after she gave it to him.
“It doesn’t look like to me you got any leeches on you, thank God.” Annie said watching to see if any of those twigs Hogan had on him wiggled.
“I am glad for that, I haven’t seen any mind you but that water wasn’t that low when I rigged that gate. Hopefully we will get some rain and raise the water level again.” Hogan said.
“Do you want to unload the boats first or can we go exploring a little? I don’t like to make camp without having a look around sometimes.” Annie said picking up the 9mm rifle and its backpack of caliber conversions and ammo.
They decided to scout the area around the campsite before pitching the tent and Hogan led her up the sketchy trail to the bluff and showed her the unique overlook of the river and their proposed camp.
“That smoke from the city stinks really bad, I noticed coming up here to the top. I thought it was going to be worse once we hit the summit but it’s not.” Annie remarked as Hogan showed her this special place.
“I noticed that too… It’s got me worried now because I remember my army chemical weapons training about heavy gasses concentrating in foxholes and such when the general ground at the surface is fine to breathe. We might want to sling my hammocks up here to sleep in and leave the tent setup down there.” Hogan said pondering what gases from burning city debris and fuels might concentrate in low lying areas.
“You got hammocks? As in two?” Annie said never ceasing to be amazed at what Hogan had in his bag of tricks.
“Oh yea, I got two of the best selling famous ones on the market. They are Hennesey Hammocks, You might call them the industrial strength where-with-all of hammocks that reinvented the concept of hanging between two trees to rest. I use them for river camping mostly where it’s hard to find a cleared space on the bank for a tent or when lightweight hiking a forest.” Hogan said beaming his pride with a smile that he had the handiest dandy way that anyone could ever want to overcome this vexing problem of what they should be breathing at night.
“So you think we will be better off sleeping up here rather than down close to the water?” Annie asked trying to not consider just fog on an early morning could obscure the water on the river 10 feet in front of you.
“I have a hard time answering that question, before we came up here I was convinced it was safer below the peak because I was scared a wildfire might catch me snoozing up here at night. Now I don’t know what to tell you. Let’s wander and ponder on that notion for a minute while I show you my camps other features.” Hogan said moving around a big boulder and showing her the skree of smaller rocks and big stones poised above the river about 50 yards from the trail to the camp.
“This pile of rocks is easy to collapse or you can just pick up rocks and throw a river full of headaches from here!” Hogan said.
“I can’t envision why we would ever want to do that but point taken.” Annie said to Hogan’s unexpected boy like exuberance at playing at childish forts from his youthful upbringing.
“I bet you my bottom dollar that we won’t have to speak to no one but each other for the next two weeks.” Hogan said leading Annie down what he called the back path that went from the other side of the bluff and back down to the barely seen Indian trail to camp.
Both sides of the river contained for centuries a network of Indian trails before the white man came connecting trade routes and villages. The State Park offered these trails to tourists also but where Hogan had chosen to camp was many miles from marked trails.
The Chattahoochee River is where at least 32 ethnic groups came to live in the 1700s. They assimilated to become the Creek Indians by the end of that century. Two thousand years before then one of the earliest known permanent, agricultural towns, north of Mexico, was founded along its bank. Hogan wasn’t the only one to ever like this place as a point of refuge.
Hogan and Annie set up housekeeping and bonding closer together and the land for the next week and a half before Hogan, tiring of commenting on and evading the occasional groups of kayakers going by they watched secretively from the bluff ceased and he declared a cautious holiday from playing “survival school.”
He and Annie were going to take his bigger boat out and fish just for the fun of it.
He had himself plenty of time and absolutely no pressure to catch a fish so escaping the monotony of living on shore was a welcome respite. Hogan reminded Annie as they launched his Sea Eagle craft, that today should be just another day and to quit nervously clutching the TNW survival rifle so hard. He doubted they would need rifle or shotgun at all unless they saw a deer.