Forsaking Home (The Survivalist Series)

by A. American

  “Yeah, they’ll be good for breakfast,” I said.

  “Sure will. Go on, dude, I’ve got this.”

  I slapped him on the back and headed for my cabin. I managed to find my way in without a light and was quickly in my bag. Sleep came almost instantly, a heavy dreamless sleep. In the Before I often joked about this kind of sleep, calling it the darted-rhino sleep. I got it from one of those wildlife shows where they were darting white rhinos in Africa. Seeing how they acted as the drug took hold, I remembered thinking, I’ve felt like that before. It became a running joke in my family.

  What seemed like moments later, I was awakened by little feet dancing around my sleeping bag. “Wake up, rhino!” Little Bit said, giggling. “Breakfast is ready!”

  I headed out for breakfast and joined the others. As we ate the rabbits, I was deep in thought, remembering what Chase had said about the lemon tree. It would be great to have citrus, but I didn’t know of any lemon trees around here. Everyone thinks Florida is covered in citrus trees, but that’s not the case. The area we lived in was in the northern limit of their range. Suddenly, something hit me.

  “There’s a tangerine tree upriver,” I said, out of nowhere.

  Everyone stopped eating and stared at me.

  Looking at Danny, I said, “Remember that tangerine tree we found on the opposite side of the river up there?”

  Danny chewed his grits for a moment. “Oh yeah! Had those sour tangerines.”

  “Yeah, that’s the one. I want to go find it today. I totally forgot about it.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Danny said, then, looking around the table, added, “Anyone else want to go?”

  “What are we going to do with sour tangerines?” Jeff asked.

  “Don’t knock it, we could use the vitamins,” I said.

  “We could make jelly,” Bobbie said.

  “I know how to make marmalade,” Thad said.

  Everyone now looked at Thad.

  “You are just full of surprises,” Mel said.

  Thad smiled. “I know a thing or two.”

  “I want some marblade,” Little Bit said, doing her best to say the word. “Can I go with you, Daddy?”

  “Sure, I don’t mind, we’re going to take a canoe.”

  “I’m not going in any canoe. I’ll take a kayak,” Mel said.

  “Yeah, I wouldn’t want you in one either, it’s still too cold to go swimming,” I said with a laugh. Mel was famous for her ability to turn over a canoe. I couldn’t even count the number of times she’s turned one over at the launch, before we’d even begun a trip.

  “I’ll kayak too,” Bobbie said.

  “Aw, I wanted to take a kayak,” Taylor said.

  “Sorry, kid, you’re riding with us,” I told her, then looked at Lee Ann. “You want to go?”

  She was picking at her grits with a spoon and barely looked up. To my surprise, this time she actually answered me. “No, I’ll stay here.” Mel shot me a look, but I shrugged. We couldn’t force her to go.

  Noticing there was a bit of tension in the air, Jeff jumped in. “I’ll stay here, got a couple of things I want to work on today. Plus, you know how I am with canoes,” he said, getting a chuckle from us.

  “I’ll stay too. I’m going to get some more swamp cabbage for the pigs. I want to make sure all them little ones will make it,” Thad said.

  “Well, when are we going?” Bobbie asked.

  “As soon as I finish this rabbit,” I said.

  “Yeah, it’s good, nice job,” Thad said, holding up a leg.

  “I haven’t had rabbit in a long time. I don’t remember it being this good,” Bobbie said.

  “Hunger has a way of changing your perspective on food, doesn’t it? We need to keep our eyes open for them from now on,” I said.

  “Absolutely,” Danny said as he sucked on a bone.

  After we finished up, those who were going on the tangerine hunt headed for the boats. Mel and Bobbie got in the kayaks while Danny, Taylor, Little Bit, and I got in the canoe. I took the bow seat and Danny got in the stern.

  The morning was cool and the water like glass. I watched the eel grass sway in the current as we passed over it. Red-eared slider turtles sunned themselves on downed trees, looking comical with their feet held up in the air.

  Mel and Bobbie were on the opposite side of the river, gliding past the low-hanging oaks on that side. It brought a smile to my face. It seemed just like a normal paddle down the river. Little Bit was hanging over the side, grabbing at the passing lilies. She latched on to something and I felt the boat tug.

  “Hey, let go—don’t do that, or you’ll get pulled out of the boat,” I warned.

  There was a little pop and she pulled a slender green stem into the boat. “Look, Dad.”

  She was holding a seed head of the yellow pond lily. It was a small bell-shaped pod containing a number of seeds. I was surprised to see it this early in the season.

  “Can we take them back and pop them?” Little Bit asked.

  I smiled. That was something we did for fun in the Before. We’d strip the flesh off and separate the seeds and put them in a hot skillet. They’d pop, and though they weren’t as good as popcorn, they had an interesting likeness to them.

  “Keep your eyes open for more,” I told her. She smiled and looked back to the river for the next one.

  We maneuvered the canoe over to the edge of the river to get into a patch of lilies. Feeling the canoe tip, I looked back to see Danny pulling something out of the water. He held up a large apple snail. “Check it out.”

  “Oh, let me have it!” Little Bit said, holding her hand out.

  I looked over into the water. “See any more?”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “Hey, me too. Let’s collect them,” I said.

  We spent the next fifteen or so minutes collecting snails. Little Bit piled them all in the bottom of the boat. Even Taylor helped, plucking several from the weeds in the slow-moving water.

  “What are you going to do with these?” Taylor asked.

  “Eat ’em,” I said.

  “Eew, I’m not going to,” Little Bit said.

  “Are they good?” Taylor asked.

  “I don’t know, never had them, but I know they’re edible. We’ll have to try them out,” I said.

  “We’re getting all kinds of stuff!” Little Bit exclaimed, holding a handful of snails and seed pods.

  “Let’s see what else we can find,” I said as I pushed the bow of the boat out into the current.

  Mel and Bobbie were ahead of us, in the middle of the river, where it opened up and the current slowed. They were sitting there talking, waiting on us. As we glided up, Mel pointed toward the trees.

  “Is that your tangerine tree?” she asked.

  We moved the boat toward them. From there, we could see the top of the tree, its orange fruits shining in the sun.

  “Yep, that’s it. It’s late in the season for them, but let’s go see what they look like,” I said as we paddled.

  It was a bit of an event getting everyone out of their boats. We had to pull the kayaks up onto the bank so the girls could get out of them without tipping. Once everyone was on dry land, we checked out the tree. The only fruit still on it was high up in the top. Naturally, Little Bit volunteered to climb up.

  “No, you stay here. Dad will figure something out,” Mel said.

  I looked at her. “Let her climb it—it’s a tree! She’s a kid. That’s what kids do.”

  While not thrilled with the idea, she relented and Danny helped Ashley into the tree. Of course, as soon as she was in it, she got scared.

  “Go on up and pick some, kiddo,” I said.

  “I can’t, Daddy! Can I come down?” she asked, panicked.

  “Yeah, come on,” I said as I reached for h
er and set her on the ground.

  “Now what? How are you going to get them down?” Bobbie asked.

  “Let’s see what we can find,” Danny said, scanning the woods.

  I moved off the shoreline to look as well. There was a decent trail and I started walking down it, looking for something long to reach up into the top of the tree.

  “Hey, Morg,” Danny called.

  I walked back down the trail toward him, and saw him waving a long limb. As I got closer, he held out a handful of tangerine peels.

  “How was it?” I asked.

  “Don’t know because I didn’t eat any. I found these peels on the ground.”

  “Hmm, that may not be a good sign.”

  “Yeah, well, look at this,” he said as he turned and started to walk. He stopped at a wide portion of the trail that was littered with an assortment of trash.

  “Looks like someone’s been camping here,” I said.

  “Yeah, and I found this.” He handed me a spent shotgun shell.

  “Someone must be moving up and down this side of the river. Could be our friends who visited the other day,” I said.

  “Looks that way. Let’s go get some fruit and get out of here.”

  “All right, don’t say anything to the girls right now. They’ll probably get scared and want to leave. You go after the fruit and I’ll keep an eye out,” I said.

  Little Bit and Taylor occupied their time collecting more snails in the slack currents by the bank. Mel and Bobbie were sitting in the sun, relaxing and chatting. It almost felt like normal times, for a moment. Meanwhile, Danny went to work with the limb he found. It was a comedy of errors of sorts, watching him try to piñata tangerines out of the tree, but after a bit he got the hang of it and actually managed to get quite a few to fall. I picked up one. It was on the dry side, but they weren’t as sour as I remembered. Overall, I’d call it a success.

  • • •

  Thad pulled the axe out of the splitting stump, putting it over his shoulder. Jeff followed behind him as they headed into the woods in search of another swamp cabbage. Jeff was plodding along behind Thad when Thad stopped short, causing Jeff to walk into him. He was just about to go off on him when he looked out past Thad to see a doe standing not twenty yards away. Jeff knelt down and took aim with his AK.

  Wonder if I can hit her? he thought as he squeezed the trigger, causing Thad to jump. The doe jumped as well and ran off.

  “Shit, guess I missed her.”

  “I was hoping you’d take a shot, but a little warning next time might be nice. You scared the hell out of me. Let’s go take a look. Maybe you hit her.”

  They both searched the area, looking for blood or any other indication that she had been hit. Moving in the direction the doe ran, Jeff called out, “Over here.”

  Thad came over to see a thick, dark blood clot. “That’s good. Let’s see if we can follow the trail.”

  The trail wasn’t hard to follow, and they soon found her lying under a palm tree. The round had entered her right shoulder and exited on the left side, taking a substantial piece of rib with it. Thad rolled the deer over, examining the wounds. “Good shot. For a full metal jacket round, it did a good job.”

  “I was wondering what it would do. I thought the wound would be a lot smaller.”

  Thad pointed at the missing section of rib. “Hitting that bone there really did a number. Let’s take her back to the cabin and get her cleaned up.”

  They each grabbed a front leg and dragged her back to the cabin. Dropping her near the tree line, Thad went to get his knives. On his way back, he asked, “You ever dress a deer before?”

  Jeff shook his head. “No, never was much of a hunter. I’ve been missing out. It’s fun.”

  “Well, the real fun’s about to start,” Thad said as he lifted one of the front legs. “Hold that.”

  With Jeff holding the leg, Thad slit the belly and set about gutting the deer. He removed the organs, setting the heart and liver aside. Next, he made a cut behind the tendons on the rear legs and stuck a sharpened stick in both sides. He then tied a length of rope to it, and together, he and Jeff hoisted it up into a tree.

  “It’s a lot easier to work on it this way,” Thad said as he hung it.

  “I’ve seen pictures, you know, but it’s really neat to see in person.”

  Thad smiled. “First time for everything.” He went on to explain to Jeff how to skin the deer. He wanted to save the hide and talked about the process of removing it properly. Thad then discussed the quartering process, showing Jeff how to remove the backstrap and tenderloins.

  “This here is some of the best meat on a deer,” Thad said, holding up a tenderloin.

  “I didn’t even know that was there.”

  “You sure don’t want to leave it behind. It’s really good.”

  Once the deer was quartered, they moved over to the table and started to cut the meat from the bone, removing every usable piece of meat and dropping it into a clean bucket. When they were done, all that was left was a pile of bones and the spine. The dogs had sat patiently watching the process and were finally rewarded when Thad took an axe and cut the spine into three pieces, tossing one to each of the dogs.

  “What about these bones?” Jeff asked.

  “We’ll save them. I’ll boil some of them to make broth and I’ll smoke some, for the dogs later.”

  Jeff looked around. “Damn, the only thing you threw away is the head.”

  “We can’t afford to waste anything right now. Can you find something to cover the bucket of meat with? I’m going to go throw this to the hogs,” Thad said as he picked up the bucket of guts.

  Jeff nodded and headed for the cabin as Thad moved off toward the pigpen. When he got to the pen he went to turn off the solar hot wire, but it was already off. Curious, he rounded the corner with cautious steps. He was surprised to find Lee Ann sitting in the pen, holding a piglet on her lap. She held a pistol in her other hand, and was staring at it.

  “Hey, girl, what’cha doing out here?”

  She looked up, startled, and dropped the piglet, quickly raising the pistol toward Thad. “Don’t come near me!”

  Thad set the bucket down and raised his hands. “Whoa, whoa, I’m not coming any closer. I’m right here. What’re you doing with that pistol?”

  Lee Ann was shaking, still pointing the pistol. “You can’t stop me! Leave me alone!”

  “You’re right, I can’t stop you, but you can’t make me leave either.” Thad lowered his hands and slowly knelt down. “I’m gonna sit down here.”

  “No! Just leave. Leave me alone!”

  “No, I’m not going to leave you alone. I can’t stop you from doing whatever you’re gonna do, but you’re going to listen to me in the meantime,” Thad said as he sat down.

  Lee Ann kept the pistol on him, but said nothing. Tears ran down her face. For a long time, it was quiet, save for the sound of Lee Ann sniffling.

  Thad cleared his throat. “I know you’re upset, and I understand—”

  Lee Ann cut him off. “How can you understand? What do you know?” She practically spit the words at him.

  “Little girl, I know more than you can imagine. Your dad told me you were upset, that you think life as you knew it is gone.” He paused for a moment. “You don’t see any reason to keep going, do you?”

  “Why should I? No one cares. Everything is gone forever.”

  “You think no one cares? You know how much your momma and daddy talk about you?”

  She didn’t say anything, so Thad continued. “You don’t think I can relate? Let me tell you how I can, and how I do. Did you know I had a wife and young son?”

  She didn’t say anything but lowered the gun into her lap.

  “You know why they aren’t here with me?” Lee Ann slowly shook her head. “’Cause they’re
dead.” Thad let that sink in for a minute. “They were killed by some government men. Some sick, sick men killed my beautiful wife and my son, my baby.” Now tears began to roll down Thad’s face. “I had to dig them out of the house. I found them together, holding on to one another. I had to dig a grave for them. I buried them like I found them: holding each other.”

  Thad paused to regain his composure as Lee Ann started to cry even harder.

  “After that happened, I was thinking the same thing that you are now: that my life was over, that there was no sense in going on. I wanted to end it.” Thad paused again.

  After a long silence, Lee Ann wiped her nose and asked in a quiet voice, “Why didn’t you?”

  “Because of them. Because I knew deep down that they wouldn’t want me to. I live for them even though they are dead. You think your life is over, but it’s just the silly little things from the Before you’re thinking of—cell phones, the Internet. You’re right, those things are not worth living for.” The last part got her attention, and she looked up at Thad. “It’s your momma and daddy, your sisters—that’s what you have to live for. You have any idea what your daddy went through to get home? I mean, really?”

  Lee Ann gave a little shrug. Thad continued, “You know he almost died, that he was shot in the head?” She looked stunned. “There was nothing in this world that could’ve kept your daddy from getting back to you. He talked about you girls and your momma. He loves you more than you know.”

  She started to sob. “But it’s so different now. I want to go to school, I want my friends back.”

  “And it will all come back. The world didn’t end, it”—Thad looked for the right words—“it’s just on pause. Everything is still here. It’ll get fixed.”

  Wiping her nose again, she replied, “That’s what Dad says.”

  “Of course he does, and he’s right. Now think about it for a minute: you do what you’re thinking about doing and you’ll never see it. How do you think your parents would feel if you did this? How do you think it would affect them? What about your sisters? You really think no one would care, no one would miss you?” Thad paused again, letting the words sink in, then added, “I know I would.” Lee Ann looked up at him. “Little Tony and Anita are gone, but I’m here with you and your family now. And you, all of you, are my family now.”