That had been four months before.
Since then, Rhett and the others took John’s advice and moved into a block a mile away. There was only Bill and Mary Bennett, a set of grandparents, trying to raise five grandchildren after the parents were killed by marauders. They were in pitiful shape.
But Rhett, Mike and Andy were hard workers. So was Rhett’s girlfriend Scarlett, Mike’s wife Anne, and Andy’s wife Gloria.
And now the block had promise. Planting season was coming up, and soon the front yards would be full of corn, wheat and a dozen other vegetables. In the meantime, the band of three was able to scavenge enough food to sustain all of them.
And the grandkids loved Mike’s homemade flour tortillas.
-21-
In the process of moving from the apartment building into three abandoned houses, side by side on Baker Street, the group became good friends with John. Baker Street was in John’s district, and he’d been making a habit of taking food to the grandparents every couple of days and checking on their well being.
After a month, Rhett and Scarlett finally felt comfortable enough with John to ask him about his prosthetic leg.
“Oh, it’s nothing, really. Just a chapter of my past that’s closed now. Like a lot of other young men, I was sent to Iraq with the U.S. Marine Corps. And like a lot of other young men, I left some pieces of my body over there. But the Marines took good care of me, and so did the VA hospital until the world went dark.
“It’s slowed me down just a little bit. But not much.”
John was modest. He never talked about winning the Congressional Medal of Honor for dragging his wounded buddies to safety even though he was gravely wounded himself.
He never mentioned that he had to fight to get a job with the San Antonio Police Department, and that he was their first officer ever to have an artificial leg.
And he never mentioned that to prove himself at the police academy, he worked twice as hard as everyone else, and was able to smoke the rest of the field on the academy’s obstacle course.
But he did share a lot of stories about what life was like as a cop, both before and after the disaster struck.
Enough stories to pique Rhett’s interest.
One day a couple of months after Rhett’s group moved onto Baker Street, John came by to check on them.
He asked Rhett, “How do you like the house?”
“Oh, we love it. It’s four times the size of the apartment. We never bought a house because we couldn’t afford one on our income. If we’d have bought one, though, I think it would have looked a lot like this. Scarlett says it’s her dream home. It’s just too bad it’s only temporary.”
“Do you know anything about the history of it? What became of the owners?”
“Bill and Mary said it was a family of four. A couple and their two teenaged children. They said when things went really bad, they had a family meeting and decided to commit suicide together.
“Bill said he didn’t agree with their decision, but that at least they went about it the right way. Before they did it, the father dug a big hole in the back yard. He had his wife and girls take a lot of sleeping pills, and they all sat together in the living room, held hands and prayed for forgiveness.
“He said one by one, the wife and daughters died, and the father carried them to the mass grave and laid them inside it. Then he laid down beside them and shot himself.
“Bill said they made a deal beforehand. If Bill agreed to cover the bodies with a blanket and then fill in the grave, he could have anything in the house he and Mary needed. He said he did what they requested, but that there was nothing in the house he wanted. All the food and water was exhausted by that time.”
“Does it bother you at all that four people died in this house, and are buried in the back yard?”
Scarlett said, “It did at first. But not anymore. Maybe because of the way they died. They didn’t leave any blood behind for us to look at, and they were at peace with themselves when they died. In fact, I know it sounds crazy, but we’ve come to consider them friends, of sorts. I made a marker for the grave, and I go out there sometimes to pray for their souls. And to thank them for letting us stay here for awhile.”
“Why just for awhile? If you like the place, why not stay here permanently?”
“Well, because it’s not our house. And since the economy pretty much doesn’t exist anymore, there are no jobs and no money. We can’t buy it. And who would we buy it from, anyway? The owners are dead and the bank who holds the deed no longer exists.”
John said, “Actually, it belongs to the city now. But if you like it, it can be yours.”
Rhett looked puzzled.
“How so?”
“The city has been looking for employees. For all kinds of jobs, from police officers to firefighters to people at the water plant and such. What did you two do before the blackout happened?”
Rhett said, “I drove heavy equipment for a construction company. Scarlett was a kindergarten teacher.”
John looked at Scarlett.
“I understand they’re going to start reopening the schools in a couple of months. But because nearly all the residents are gone now, and the ones left are on foot, they’re going to make some changes. Every neighborhood has an elementary school that’s close enough to walk to. They’re trying to hire thirteen teachers and a principal for each school. One teacher for each grade level, kindergarten through twelfth grade. The teachers will build their own curriculum, and I suspect will teach just the basics. The closest school to you is the old Sanders Elementary School, two blocks west of here. If you’re interested, I can put you in touch with someone who can interview you for the kindergarten position.”
Then he turned to Rhett.
“They’ve got four huge all-terrain forklifts working now. They’re capable of picking up abandoned cars and then carrying them into the closest wooded area. They’re planning to just leave them there, drain the gasoline and oil, and let the weeks and plants grow over them. In fifty years, they say, there will be few traces of them. They’re working to clear all the roads, but it’s a big job because they estimate there are well over a million abandoned vehicles clogging the roads and streets. Think about it, and if you’re interested I can take you over to the city employment office to apply.”
But Rhett had a better idea.
“I don’t know. That sounds like fun and all, but tell me this: what does it take to qualify to become a police officer?”
John smiled.
“Well, obviously not much. They hired me, after all. There’s no academy to complete any more. And they’re not looking for experienced officers because there’s just not a lot of former cops out there. Chief Martinez will want to meet with you to interview you and make sure your head’s on straight. He says he only has three requirements. First, you can’t have a criminal background. Second, you have to be in shape, and it looks like you are. Third, you have to be willing to work twelve hour shifts and do some pretty disgusting things.”
“Like what?”
“Essentially, body removal. There are a lot of bodies still out there, in varying stages of decay. We search for them and move them into the street. Then the fire department comes out and burns them.”
“What about the marauders and bad guys? We still hear gunshots almost every night.”
“The marauders and bad guys are mostly gone now. Killed by homeowners or each other. And many of them have given up their evil ways and blended back into society. It finally dawned on them that we’re all in the same boat now. The good guys simply have nothing left worth stealing. So the bad guys have rejoined society and are just trying to survive like everybody else. There is very little police work involved in what we’re doing. The jail isn’t manned anymore and the courthouse is abandoned.”
“So what about the gunshots?”
“Those are people giving up. It’s slowed down a lot, and I pray the day will come when they stop altogether. But even though the
y’ve been through the worst of it already, some people are still seeing that as a better way.”
“Okay, this is all well and good, but you said something about being able to buy our house. How can we do that if the banks are gone?”
“The bank doesn’t own it anymore. The city has seized all properties whose homeowners have died, by eminent domain. Your house belongs to the city now.
“And since the city can’t pay its workers in cash anymore, since cash is worthless now, it came up with a new idea.
“If you go to work for the city, they’ll ask you to sign a contract. It will say, in effect, that you’re working as a private contractor for the benefit of the city. You expect no weekly paycheck or other compensation from the city, and any work you provide for the first 364 days on the job will be considered volunteer work.
“However, the contract also states that once you complete day number 365, and have completed a full year of service, it will reward you by giving you one of its seized homes, free and clear. It even lets you pick it out ahead of time, and lay claim to it, so that there’s no dispute if two people want the same house.
“And here’s the deal. If each of you complete a year, then each of you will get a house. Bill tells me the house next door to yours, and several others on the block, have also been seized. So if you chose to do that, you’d have a second house you could eventually turn into a rental whenever the world finally gets back to normal again. Or, you could pass it on to your children someday.”
“Is that what you’re doing, John?”
“Yes. You see, I was already a cop when this whole thing started. My wife Hannah was a midwife.
“Before the blackout, a cop’s salary wasn’t that great. But we got by because Hannah was also doing her midwifery thing, and because I had disability checks coming in from the VA every month.
“But the VA no longer exists. Hannah may or may not go back to work someday. So when I heard about this program, I figured it would be a great way to get the deed for our house, and maybe a couple of others, so we never have to worry about mortgage payments again. We figured that someday, the world will return to normal, and the bank will want people to start catching up on their mortgages.
“But not us. Our plan is to tell the banks to take a hike. By that time we’ll own our homes outright.”
Scarlett took the bait immediately, and was accepted for a position at the nearby elementary school, to start ten weeks later.
Rhett took a little longer. He and Scarlett debated the pros and cons of him becoming a cop. And whether or not they really needed two houses instead of one.
But he really liked the idea and wanted to try it.
So a week later, when John came around again making his rounds, Rhett asked him to set up a meeting for him with the police chief.
John smiled, shook Rhett’s hand, and said, “Welcome aboard, my friend.”
“Hey, I haven’t got the job yet.”
“Not yet, but you will.”
“How do you know?”
“Because you’re a good man. I can tell. I’m a better judge of character than anyone else I know. And Chief Martinez, he’s almost as good as I am. He’ll see the same qualities that I see.
“You’ll make a fine officer.”
“I’m a little bit nervous, to be honest.”
“Don’t be. Once you’re accepted, since there’s no academy anymore, you’ll be hooked up with a veteran officer. He’ll train you on everything you need to know. And I’ll be sure you’re assigned to someone who will have mercy on you.”
Rhett laughed a nervous laugh.
“Meaning what?”
“Meaning veteran officers ride rookies and give them a hard time. It’s a tradition that goes back at least as far as the blue uniform and the nightstick.
“But some veteran officers are worse than others. I’ll make sure you get one that’s gentle, and lets you keep just a little bit of your dignity.”
-22-
John and Randy hadn’t been just cooling their heels during the two weeks they left Scott and Robbie behind at the compound.
They went back to work immediately, working twelve hour days. John was right about Chief Martinez. He had a soft spot for John and considered him a real hero. So it was relatively easy for John to explain why his missing co-workers were long overdue for a two week vacation. Especially when the chief heard of the circumstances at the compound.
“And guess what else we did,” John said on their way back to San Antonio. “We found another working ham radio.”
He was grinning like a possum eating poop.
“Really? Where?”
“Randy remembered a couple of months ago when we were sweeping through houses on Windy Plain Drive. We went into one house and found a guy dead on his couch. Self inflicted gunshot. A woman was nearby on the floor. She also was self-inflicted. Pretty obvious too. They both still had the guns in their hands, and they left a note saying they couldn’t take it anymore.”
“Okay, so…”
John had a way of turning a five cent story into a fifty dollar monologue.
“So, turns out the guy and his wife were preppers. We saw a couple of boxes of freeze-dried food and some books on trapping and killing wild dogs and cats.
“The note said they weren’t having any trouble surviving, but that they missed all of their friends and loved ones who didn’t survive.
“I guess that despite all their preparations, they decided that when their loved ones were all dead there was no reason to go on after all.”
“Okay, okay. So what’s the point?”
John enjoyed egging Scott on.
“You’re an impatient little twerp, aren’t you?”
“Only because I want to find out the point of the story sometime before next winter sets in.”
“Okay, whatever. Anyway I never saw a ham radio sitting in the corner but Randy did. He never said anything, though.
“Then two weeks ago when he and I were driving back to San Antonio, we were trying to figure out how we could monitor the situation on the mountain twenty four seven. And Randy suddenly remembered that ham radio he’d seen. We figured that since the couple were preppers, they might have known about Faraday cages prior to the blackout.
“And if they knew about Faraday cages, they might have protected the radio from the EMP.”
Scott was finally on the same sheet of music.
“So, what did you do with it?”
“That’s the sweet part of it. I took it to the police station, to the dispatcher’s office. They were able to wire it into their antenna array on top of the building. And I pulled some strings with the dispatch supervisor.
“Anyway, long story short, they will leave the extra radio on the compound’s frequency, and their dispatchers will monitor any traffic that comes over it. If the compound calls and we’re on duty, they’ll call us on the police radio and tell us about it. And they can relay messages to us if they need to until we can get to the station to see what’s going on.
“So we’ll run the generator at the house and monitor my radio whenever we’re off duty. Whenever we’re on duty, they’ll call us on the tactical radio if anything ever happens.”
“John, I have to say, you’re nowhere as dumb as you look.”
Robbie mumbled, “Of course not. Nobody could possibly be that dumb.”
“Hey, I never said I wasn’t dumb. I just said I could get things done. And now someone will be monitoring that radio every minute while we’re on duty. Now all we have to do is come up with some kind of schedule for when we’re off. We need someone monitoring it while we’re sleeping. Maybe we can break into shifts or something.”
Robbie said, “Hell, there’s no need for that. You guys are always bitching and moaning about having to tiptoe around and whisper when I’m asleep because I’m such a light sleeper.”
“Yeah, so?”
“So, nobody else uses that frequency so there’s no other traffic. If any
thing comes across it on that frequency, it’ll be them. So I’ll just move my bed into the den close to the radio. When I go to bed every night I’ll turn up the volume to the max, and if anything comes over it, it’ll wake me up immediately. All you three have to do is split the time between when we get home from work and when I go to bed. I’ll pull the sleep shift.”
It was a plan that worked surprisingly well. Of course, Robbie came out ahead because he knew the compound would call them at night only under the most dire of circumstance. So he essentially talked himself out of the radio monitoring duty.
But his friends and roommates either didn’t figure out what he’d just pulled, or didn’t care.
And it really didn’t matter. They were ninety minutes away from the compound now if they were ever needed again, twenty four seven. And that’s what really mattered.
Scott said, “Hey, John, I’m curious. I’ve met Sergeant Sloan, the dispatch supervisor. She’s a real ball buster. How in the world did you talk her into doing this for us?”
John looked offended.
“You don’t think I could just use my good looks and charm to sweet talk her into it?”
Robbie and Scott looked at each other and started laughing hysterically.
“No, seriously, John, how’d you get Sloan to go for it?”
“Well, the truth is she pretty much hates my guts. And she said she can barely tolerate either of you. But she’s had the hots for Randy for a very long time. I know because I overheard her talking to one of the girls in dispatch about how well he filled out his uniform. I’m not sure what that means, and I was afraid to ask. But from the sound of her voice I assumed it was a good thing.
“Anyway, I told her if she would do this for us, I’d start laying it on thick about how Sloan was a very good and very passionate woman, who’d lost her husband in a car accident two years ago, and hasn’t been with another man since. I said I’d tell him that she’s got all this womanly passion built up inside of her just bursting to get out, and that she could make him very happy.”
“And is any of that true?”
An Undeclared War (Countdown to Armageddon Book 4) Page 8