by Stalter, D
He turned to Mary. “How is the family that stopped them faring?”
“They are good. The younger kids didn’t want to sit in here with nothing to do so they joined the team picking corn. The parents are much better than they appeared when they got here. Neither one had serious injuries. The man got grazed by a bullet across his head. That knocked him out for a bit, but he’ll be fine with a little rest. The wife got shot twice, we’ve cleaned her up and we’ll watch to make sure she heals. But, I think they’ll be up and around in a few days.”
“They gonna join the group here?”
Allison shook her head. “Not sure. They seem like a great family. The two younger kids were more than willing to go help in the field. The older daughter seems like a great kid – and she’s one hell of a shot to have taken out that whole gang by herself. The parents are grateful and appear to be good people. We’ll see what the next couple days bring. Then we’ll decide whether to invite them to join us. They may decide not to even if we do invite them.”
“What about all these supplies?”
“If they don’t join us, we will help them return the supplies to the Hayson place,” she said.
Don turned to Steve. “Let’s go get that other load.”
“Hold on a minute,” said Riley. “I want to go say ‘hi’ to the parents and introduce myself. Will and I will come along and help you.”
Steve went to the arena to get the appliance dolly. When he returned, pushing the dolly in front of him, a door opened on the top floor.
“Hi, Steve,” Kim called. She wore tight fitting jeans and a body hugging sweater. “What are you doing? Can I help?”
Steve’s eyebrows shot up and he turned to look at Allison.
Allison looked up to the second floor. “I’m counting on you to help with lunch, Kim. Steve has plenty of help.”
Kim looked disappointed. She made her way down the steps and shot a glare at Allison.
“Are you staying for lunch?” Allison asked Frank.
“If you don’t mind, I’d love to.”
When the sound of Don’s truck faded away, children’s laughter reached them. The door opened and the group of children followed by Jaden and the two new children tumbled in the door.
“Come on,” Jaden told the two newcomers. “I’ll take you to your parents.” She led them to the infirmary.
Allison assembled sandwiches while Kim carefully filled bowls of soup. Mary and Jaden carried soup and sandwiches into the infirmary.
When the children had been served, Kim filled her own bowl and grabbed a sandwich from the table. Allison noticed that Kim’s bowl of soup was fuller than any of the other bowls she had passed out.
Allison filled her own bowl and sat next to Frank. Bella padded over and lay under the table at her feet.
“So, are you working with FEMA now?”
“I wouldn’t say I’m working with them. They were a bit pushy in the first few days, but, once we got to know each other, they’ve been easy to work with. They’ve helped out a few times.”
He sipped his soup, took a bite of his sandwich, chewed for a minute, and then said, “You know, we’ve been able to keep in contact with other law enforcement offices. Not everyone is happy with FEMA. That’s one reason I don’t trust them as far as I can throw them. Some areas up by Chicago say that the FEMA guys are trying to run everything. And, they’ve resorted to shooting people who want to be left alone. If you ask me, it depends on the FEMA guy in charge and we got lucky that this Jensen is in charge here.”
Allison blew on her spoon. She watched the juice in it ripple like a stone tossed in a pond.
At the next table, Jaden jumped up. She hurried to the front of the room. Allison saw her reach the table where Kim was fixing another sandwich. Jaden whispered something and Kim shoo’d her away.
Allison excused herself and made her way to the front of the room.
“Tell this kid to leave me alone,” Kim complained.
“What’s the problem?” Allison asked.
“She’s making another sandwich,” Jaden said. “All the people haven’t eaten yet. We’ve still got people coming in to eat plus Will and Riley and Steve and Don.”
Allison turned to Kim. “She’s right. You’ve been here a week. You know that food is limited and if you have seconds, someone else may not get their meal. Please leave the food for people who haven’t eaten yet.”
Kim slammed the knife on the counter. She glared at Jaden before stomping up the steps and into her room. The room full of children was quiet until Allison picked up a roll from the table and threw it across the room to Frank, who caught it and took a bite. The kids erupted in giggles.
As the children finished their lunch, two of them gathered the bowls and brought them to the counter. One of the women moved to the back of the room and pulled a whiteboard out, placing it on a narrow shelf built for holding it. “Come on, kids,” she called. “Younger ones first. Older ones can help if they want.”
Four children settled into the table nearest the whiteboard. The woman was writing addition problems. 1+4=, 2+4=, 3+4=, 4+4=. One of the older children set a small whiteboard in front of each little one. Dry erase markers were placed next to the small whiteboard.
Allison added water to the pot on the stove and moved it to a spot that would allow it to heat. She moved to the infirmary and tapped on the door before entering. “I’ve come to collect your dishes if you are finished.”
“Thank you so much!” The woman, Bell, smiled. “That was amazing.”
Allison beamed. “We’ve been lucky to have Mary and Jaden here. Mary is teaching Jaden so much. And speaking of teaching, we’ve got an open classroom right now. The younger kids are working on math at the moment. In a little while, the older kids will be working on whatever they had planned for today. Your kids are welcome to join, if you’d like.”
The younger girl looked towards Bell. “Can I, mom?” Her eyes were bright.
“Of course, if you want.”
The girl stepped out of the room but made no move to get closer to the group of students until Jaden called to her. “Come on, Taylor. There’s room for you too. I’ve even got a white board for you to write on.”
Bell smiled. Tears filled her eyes. “Thank you,” she whispered. “It’s amazing that you even continue school after what’s happened. How do you manage it?”
Allison shook her head. “It was just something that I wanted to make sure we didn’t lose. A week after the flare, I was able to get a few books from the local school. We’ve got three or four books from each grade level including a teacher’s edition. I just started sitting down with all the kids once a day. Lisa Grant offered to take over. She’s got a ten-year-old and an eight-year-old. She put the program together and keeps it running. Karen Smith has two eight-year-olds. She helps. They’ve done a great job. The younger kids get classroom time first. Often the older kids help out, then they get their time.”
Bell pushed down on the mattress so that she could sit upright. “Would you pull that pillow up a little, sweetheart?” she asked Beth. Beth hurried to adjust the pillow.
“So what kind of classes do the younger kids do if you don’t have an experienced teacher? How do you manage to teach different age children in two classes?”
“It actually works better than I thought it would,” Allison said. “The younger kids stick to reading, writing and math. Once or twice a week they have a life skills class. It could be fire making, gardening, archery, any number of things. Classroom training is at least three days a week. For reading and writing, the teacher might say a sentence out loud. Maybe something like ‘My family moved to a farm north of Princeton, Illinois after the solar flare.’ The kids all have whiteboards. They write the sentence on the whiteboard. By seeing how they’ve written it, we can identify which child needs more help in spelling. So, an older child will work with the younger child while the teacher engages the rest of the class. We’ve found that the kids are learning amazingly
fast. Even the eight-year-olds are reading and writing at close to high-school level.”
“And the older kids have the same type of classroom setting?” Bell’s eyes were round.
“Yes, basically. Once a week we have what we call Journal Day. They are encouraged, but not ordered to write in a journal once a week. It serves three purposes. First, it allows the student to write out what’s going on in their life and work through the difficulties we face. Next, it allows us to get an idea of the mindset of the student. It’s been a difficult time and this helps us see if perhaps one student might need extra help handling things. And, finally, it helps us see if further help in spelling or writing is needed.”
She bit her bottom lip. “Actually, there’s another benefit. We will have a complete history of what the flare did to our community for future generations.”
Bell looked over at her husband. She turned back to Allison. “What happens to us after we heal? Do you have room for us here or will you be sending us away?”
Allison smiled. “We’ll talk about that after you are up and around. We may offer you a spot here and then it will be your choice. If we don’t offer you a spot here, we’ll help you find one and help you move your supplies.”
Chuck closed his eyes and smiled. “Thank you,” he said. “I’ve been worried about what’s going to happen from here.”
“You just get better,” Allison said. “I’m going to take these dishes out and get the kitchen cleaned up. Mary will be baking a cake this afternoon. You remember Jaden that was in here helping Mary this morning?”
Chuck nodded.
“Well, today is her thirteenth birthday. We’re going to celebrate at supper tonight. I’ll see you guys later. We’ll save you a slice of cake.”
Riley, Will, Steve and Don were at the table when she emerged from the room. As she carried the tray of dirty dishes to the counter, the door opened and her husband, James, walked in with Matt and Frank McCall.
James’ smile grew when he saw her. “I haven’t seen you all day,” he said. “I was hoping I’d catch you in here.”
“Well, you did. What have you been doing all morning?” She grinned.
“We got the rest of the split wood hauled into the arena and stacked. We’re going to go out this afternoon and cut more wood. We can stack it outside until we need it. We may not need more than we already have, but I’d rather have too much cut than not enough.”
He filled a bowl with soup.
Allison said, “You guys go sit down, I’ll make your sandwiches.”
They sat by Will and Riley. When Allison brought sandwiches over, the table shook with laughter erupting from the men.
“Okay,” Will said. “I can do better than that.” He leaned forward, folded his hands and put them on the table.
“A duck walks into a bar... “Got any bread?”
The bartender says, “No.”
“Got any bread?”
The bartender says, “No.”
“Got any bread?”
The bartender says, “No, and if you ask me again, I'll shoot you.”
“Got any bullets?”
“No.”
“Got any bread?”
Allison found herself laughing along with the men. She actually liked Will and trusted him as much as she trusted any of the other members of the group. But, Riley gave her another feeling. She didn’t know what it was, but she certainly didn’t trust him and never would.
She’d never claim to being physic, but she trusted her feelings. They had never steered her wrong. The feeling she got around Riley wasn’t exactly danger, but it was extremely uncomfortable. When things settle down, she thought, he’s got to be the first to go.
She checked the jar of elderberry syrup she’d made for Frank, and satisfied that it was cool enough, added a cup of honey before screwing the lid on and taking the jar with instructions to Frank.
“Jaden wrote all the instructions for you.”
“Thanks,” he said, taking the jar from her hands. “Is there anything you need out here that I can bring next time?”
“I can’t think of anything. We can always use more notebooks and pens or pencils. We have plenty, but someday they will be gone and that’s one thing I don’t think anyone here knows how to make from scratch.”
He lifted his hand and made a check-mark in the air with his finger. “Ask and you shall receive.”
She turned to Don. “Will you and Jean be able to make it down for supper and birthday cake?”
“Wouldn’t miss it. And I think both boys are free as well. They don’t have security duty this week. So, with their wives, it will be six. Do you want us to bring some food?”
“Nope. We’ve got this covered.”
Chapter 8 Riley
A dark shape slinked across the path in front of Will. He froze and raised his hand causing Riley to stop. Will focused on the spot he’d seen the shape. Three yards to the right, a full-grown coyote moved through the trees.
“There,” he pointed.
Riley nodded. “He’s a big one. Healthy looking too.”
“That’s a good sign. Healthy critters means nature is doing its thing.”
They watched it move way, through the trees.
“How much further til we get to Curt and Linda’s?” Riley asked.
“Shouldn’t be far. It’s time to start watching for their traps.”
The first trap was barely thirty yards from where they’d run across the coyote. Deadfalls on both sides of the animal trail they were following looked natural enough. The average person coming through would, by nature, take the easiest route. They would stay on the path. The trip line was cleverly hidden. If Will hadn’t been looking for it, he would have missed it.
The second trap was similar to the first except this trap was next to the river. Several thorn bushes forced a hiker to stay on the trail close to the river. A skillfully hidden trip wire made from fishing line would only be discovered by someone who knew what they were looking for.
“Ouch!” Will yanked his hand back and glared at the thorn that had embedded itself into his thumb. He pulled it out and stared at the spot of blood that formed. He raised his head. “Hey,” he grinned. “Why did the vampire give his girlfriend a blood test?”
Riley rolled his eyes. “I give up. Why?”
“To see if she was his type. What?” he asked looking over at Riley. “You didn’t think that was funny?”
“I thought it was stupid. Like everything out of your mouth. Stupid.”
“I don’t know why I hang with you,” Will grumbled. “You are such an asshole sometimes.”
“Well, just so you know,” Riley muttered. “I plan on being an asshole tomorrow too.”
Will took a step forward, then stopped and knelt. He whistled in admiration at a trap located just three feet beyond the trip wire. A hole had been dug about eighteen inches square and six inches deep. In the bottom lay a board. Nails had been nailed onto the board and the wood set in the hole, nail spikes up. Then someone had filled the hole with leaves. Anyone stepping on that trap wouldn’t be stepping for a long while.
Thirty feet further, Will stopped. He could see the clearing ahead where the house stood. The yard in front of the house was filled with guinea fowl. Their “chi, chi, chi” calls were annoyingly loud.
The front door opened. Will called out. “It’s Will Mead and Shane Riley. Curt? Linda?”
Linda stepped onto the porch.
From behind them, a quiet voice drawled, “Why, yes, it is Will and Shane.”
“Holy shit!” Riley yelled. “How the hell did you get behind us?”
Curt chuckled. “You saw the trip wires?” he asked.
“Yeah. And the snake pit.”
“You missed one wire.”
“Where?” Riley looked from Will to Curt.
“Come on, I’ll show you.”
He led them a short way back. He bent over and lifted a thin fishing line. He followed that line from tree to
tree where round hooks had been painted flat brown and screwed into trees. They followed the line until it ended at a can.
Linda stood next to it waiting for them. Under the can was an aluminum pie plate that contained rocks. She pointed at the pie pan. “As soon as the guineas hear that, they go on alert.” She pointed a thumb at Curt. “He was out the door and coming around behind you before you reached the clearing.”
Will smiled. “Nice. I should have you come by Allison’s and give me some ideas.”
“Happy to. So, what are you guys up to?”
“We wanted to go check on Phil and we had extra time today so we thought we’d swing by and see how you guys are doing.”
“We’re doing great, thank you,” Linda said. She moved towards the house. “Come on in. I’ll put some coffee on.”
“No, don’t put coffee on for us. We just wanted to stop by and see how you’re doing. Can’t stay,” Will said.
“How are James and Allison doing?” she asked.
“Great. I don’t know how they pulled that together, but they sure did a good job. It’s not what I would have expected after a solar flare.”
“Yup,” she replied. “But, you have to keep in mind that these are all people who have either lived on farms all their lives or have friends and families that do. They understand the need to work together. They understand that no one can do everything and there is strength in numbers.”
She leaned her shotgun on the steps. “I’m sure it’s a totally different story in the big cities. Not just Rockford, but every major city is full of people who have never had to do what is required now. They don’t have a clue. It’s not their fault. They simply never had to learn. It’s like when a country kid moves to a big town for college. There’s a big adjustment. Life is totally different. But, a college kid is lucky because he has peers to help him.”
“Yeah,” Riley said. “We were in Rockford the day this went down. I still can’t believe how fast things went to hell. We’re talking hours. People get scared and they do terrible things. Once that starts, it just snowballs.”