Michael and Maria finished their inventory and began making plans for that evening’s meal. From their supply of MREs they selected some Salisbury steak dinners, complete with mashed potatoes, green beans, and fruit cup for everyone. Maria began preparing the dough to bake fresh rolls but wouldn’t put them in the oven until just before dinner.
As the sun began to recede over the western hills, indicating there was only about an hour of twilight left, everyone gathered at the swimming pools to relax, tell stories about their day’s activities, and take a refreshing bath.
Jason and Kathleen were the last to arrive, after having been radioed by Bishop to come on in, and they walked down the trail from Duwa to the creek hand in hand, to the knowing smiles of all the adults. It was Kiera who stated the obvious: “Look at the two lovebirds holding hands!” Kathleen blushed brightly and Jason let go of her hand.
“I was just making sure she didn’t slip on the steep trail,” Jason blurted, also blushing. Philip and Jessie, however, shared a secret smile between themselves, as they knew they shared a similar spark.
“I plan to do some more work on the trail and stairs shortly,” Tanner said, stating a truth but giving Jason a bit of cover.
Michael and Maria left before the others, and it wasn’t long before the smell of freshly baked rolls was wafting on the early evening breeze. That was all it took for everyone else to dry off and head up the hill.
That night everyone expressed exhaustion and the evening campfire was foregone. Jason and Kathleen, and Philip and Jess, however, found places to sit where they could admire the stars and the remaining aurora before reluctantly going to their separate tents.◘
Chapter 25
From Campsite to Home
With each passing day, the village was becoming a more comfortable home. Rugs had been spread on the canvas floors of the tents, furniture arranged in comfortable patterns within the tents’ family areas, and potted plants added color and a touch of home. Everyone knew where everyone else lived and, when free time allowed, the ladies and children would move from one location to another visiting and doing common chores, like mending clothes.
Each day found the Duwanians in a routine that would continue until the cold weather forced them to change the pattern: they rose with the sun; used the restrooms and washed their faces with hot water provided by Michael; congregated for breakfast and Bishop’s updates; discussed the projects for the day; and, set about doing their respective assignments.
The women rolled up the tent sides each morning to allow air to circulate within the tents. When they suggested they needed clothes lines to air their bedding on and to use for drying clothes, Bishop and Tate set about digging the post holes and installing the aluminum clothesline tee-poles they had “salvaged” from the Ace Hardware. They used stones in the holes to wedge the posts tightly, rather than concrete, knowing they would most-likely move them up to the pueblo at a later date. They added lines of vinyl-coated wire, tightened them, and the job was done, to the delight of the women who quickly hung bedding on the lines to air them out; the first time they’d been able to do that since moving from their homes.
Everyone would break from their projects to have lunch together and then go back to their projects. They quit work every day in the late afternoon to meet at the swimming pools in the creek and take advantage of the day’s last rays of sun before heading back up to the village for dinner. Each night they gathered around a small campfire to talk, sing, or just stare at the stars, each in their own state of reverie. And, almost every evening, Jack would spend an hour moving through the various wavelengths on the short-wave radio in hopes of picking up new, helpful information.
Chloe also became part of the routine. Carly had decided that she couldn’t be cooped up in the tent all day and night and at first began letting her out of the tent while everyone was eating. Chloe would join them in the Meeting Hall, rubbing up against everyone’s legs and begging for some table scraps, which were slim pickings, except for Kiera, who thought it was her duty to share her meat with Chloe. She would follow Kiera around and made herself at home wherever the children were gathered. Within days she was given free rein of the village and was only closed up in the Westin’s tent at night. Carly couldn’t stand the thought of Chloe becoming some coyote’s dinner.
◘ ◘ ◘ ◘ ◘
The week following the episode at Tequa Plaza was especially busy as the men had determined that a return of the Scorpions, at least for now, was unlikely and they needed to use the time before the monsoons to finish retrieving things from their former homes, while they could still get across the fairly dry stream bed by the Ranger Station.
Jack said he required one of the 30-foot telephone poles cut in half and brought up to the pools, and Colby indicated he needed all of the remaining poles up at the village so he could use them at will in his construction projects. So, that became their number one project.
Moving the poles would be a major undertaking. At 30 feet long, and weighing approximately 700 pounds each, they would be unmanageable and there were at least 25 poles stacked against the fence. Quick discussion determined all the poles would be cut in half, using a chainsaw salvaged from the fire team storage shed, and then moved up to the village on the small flatbed trailer behind Colby’s four-wheel drive truck.
Matt was to continue digging the water line trench and Jason and Philip were assigned to the two watch posts to keep an eye open for anyone coming along the highway from either direction. They knew the sound of the chainsaw would be heard from quite a distance so Tanner assigned himself to the hill above the Ranger Station to keep an eye on the access from Tequa and the Hilton Resort. Colby, Bud, Jack, and Bishop would cut the poles and restack them on the trailer.
Once the fence had been reopened and the large truck moved so they could access the yard, they quickly went to work and, without mishap nor the appearance of unwanted guests, they were able to complete their task in time to return to the village for lunch, though it took three trips to move all the cut logs up to the village. They moved the large truck back across the fence opening but did not re-secure the fence. They had more salvage work to do.
After lunch, they moved two of the cut poles out to the pools for Jack and carried the remaining poles up to the pueblos where they would be readily available to Colby. Even cut in half, the poles were still heavy, almost 350 pounds each, and it took three men on each pole to carry them up into the ruins. Considering all the loading, unloading, and carrying of the poles, the men were exhausted and decided they were pushing the edge of their physical endurance. And they were covered in sawdust and sweat. They decided an early swim break and some relaxation time in the sun was in order, and they did so; all except Jack, Philip, and Matt, who continued to do whatever they were doing on the water project.
That night the men retired early while the women sat in the Meeting Hall and talked. They were making their own plans for the next couple of days. The children played quietly at some card game Mattie and Tess had taught them; Chloe curled sleepily at Carly’s feet.
◘ ◘ ◘ ◘ ◘
At breakfast the next morning the men who had moved the telephone poles were moving a little gingerly, with just the proper amount of groans to let the others know they had over-extended a bit. Mel came to the rescue with some liniment from her medical stores, which she generously applied to their shoulders, upper arms, and lower back. They professed to feel better immediately following her ministrations.
Bishop who, as the oldest of the group, seemed to ache the most. He, however, seemed to be the least deterred and got the groups attention by announcing, “yesterday’s hard work will, I’m afraid, need to be matched today and tomorrow if we’re going to keep on schedule before the rains come.
“Jack has indicated that we need to remove all the solar panels from our houses and bring them up here. We can’t afford to have them harmed or pillaged before we can move them. And, they’ll be important in generating electricity for o
ur village in the future.
“In addition, Colby tells me we need at least 10 sets of sliding glass doors from our homes to enclose the new greenhouse and his vision of the Meeting Hall he’ll build next year. And, last but not least, he needs the large plate glass panels that provide that beautiful view of the red rocks in Carly’s and my home. They will become part of the south facing roof of the greenhouse.
“All of these things are fragile and heavy, so we’ll need to use the large truck and long trailer to haul them to the trailhead so we don’t have to make so many trips between the houses and the Ranger Station. Every trip we make is just another chance for us to be spotted by those we’d just as soon not know we’re around.
“Colby will load all the power tools we’ll need into the truck, along with a generator and extra jerry can of gas. We’ll take food and water with us so we can work through the day.
“We’ll want our usual lookouts and Jason, Kathleen, and Tate can handle that. Matt should keep working on the waterline trench and then clear out the old cistern as a water retention area. Jack and Philip will go with us because they know how to best handle the solar panels and how to remove the inverter/controllers, whatever those are, that Jack says we need in order to make the solar system work.
“My wife tells me that the ladies have already agreed on a few projects. It’s all yours Carly.”
“Thank you, dear,” Carly began. “We have decided we need some things that will make the future more comfortable for all of us and help with the children’s education later.” She smiled broadly at the ladies as they nodded in agreement. Bishop winked at the men as if they were to somehow intuit what Carly meant.
“The first thing we’ll do,” Carly continued, “because it’s the most handy, is to go to the Administrative Building and salvage any equipment or supplies there that might be useful for our school program. Then we need to go to Weber’s to see what might be left there that we can use, and then over to the Big Park Community School, again for school supplies. The last place we need to go, and it may have to be tomorrow, is the Hilton Hotel at the Resort. Oops, I almost forgot, and we want to go to the branch library in Tequa.
“We’ll need Tanner’s Cherokee and one of the utility trailers for these trips,” she concluded.
Tanner spoke up, somewhat alarmed; “What about security?” he asked. “I don’t like the idea of you ladies, as capable as you are, traipsing around the Village without an armed escort.”
“What, you don’t think we can defend ourselves?” asked Jenny. “I’m as good a shot as some of you men and probably better than most.”
“She’s right,” offered Colby, “she can shoot hunting rifles with the best of them.”
“I don’t doubt that,” Tanner replied, “I guess I’m just worried she won’t shoot when she has to. Besides, maybe a man would be helpful in lifting things.”
“Just about everything we’ll be getting won’t require any brute strength,” Carly answered, “but I understand your concern, son.” Carly looked around at the ladies and then said, “All right, if it will make you feel any better, one of you he-men can come along with us ladies as a security escort.”
Everyone laughed, including Tanner, and the point was settled.
“Why don’t you let me go along with them as the security escort?” asked Jason. “Mom and Dad and Grandpa Bud know I’m a better shot then they are—and believe me, I won’t hesitate to shoot anyone who appears threatening.”
“I thought you were going to be our lookout on the mesa,” responded Carly.
“He was,” replied Bishop, “but if it’s acceptable to you ladies he can join you, and Kathleen and Tate can handle the lookout duties without him.”
“Well,” said Jen, “he wasn’t kidding about being the best shot in our family, so it’s all right with me if it’s all right with the rest of you ladies,” she concluded.
“Well, it would appear that you’re to be our escort, Jason,” said Carly. Jenny smiled, knowing that Jason would be just fine and that she wouldn’t go anywhere without her own trusty hunting rifle.
“Okay,” continued Bishop, “that means that our group going to the houses will consist of Colby, Jack, Philip, Travis, Tanner, and me. Michael, Ellen, and Maria told me earlier this morning that they would like to work on moving all the other supply items, like household supplies and cookware to the food tent and include the consumable items as part of their inventory. That will help clean up the big supply tent for storage of our lumber and construction equipment, especially during the monsoon and winter snow.
“That leaves Jessie and Mattie to keep an eye on the children until we return, if you two won’t mind,” he said.
There were no objections and apparently no questions. Michael and Maria began giving water bottles to everyone, along with some snack bars. Michael gave Bishop’s group MREs for lunch that they could heat on one of the barbecues still at the houses. Mel gave them all medical masks to wear while they were in the Village. “I know these may seem cumbersome,” she said, “but they’re far preferable to the disease that might be airborne down there.”
◘ ◘ ◘ ◘ ◘
The ladies’ mission to the Administrative Building was successful and uneventful and yielded so much booty that they had to make a trip back to the village to unload it all before they could proceed to Weber’s and the school. They grabbed a bite of lunch before departing and Jason took the opportunity to visit for a few minutes with Kathleen at the lookout post before Carly’s group picked him up on the way back down the hill.
The group had not seen any other people, at least not close by, but expected to encounter others at Weber’s. They saw no one outside but left Jason to keep an eye out as they went in. The group made a beeline for the area of the store that had the ladies personal hygiene products. Carly, Jenny, Celeste, and Mel had previously shopped at Weber’s at least weekly and knew exactly where each item was shelved, though now the shelves were mostly bare and the unwanted products littered the aisles. They could hear voices in other parts of the store.
They were busy searching through the piles of product when a voice from behind them said, “Well, what do we have here?” The voice came from a disheveled man who looked to be in his forties, wearing a backpack obviously filled with product from the store. He glared at the women in a most uncomfortable way—at least to Jen’s way of thinking.
Jen had momentarily leaned her rifle against an empty shelf while they dug through the litter on the floor, but she stepped around Celeste, who was the closest to the man, separating him from the other women. “Why don’t you just go on about your business and leave us alone?” she asked.
“Well, little lady, now you are my business,” he replied with a lascivious chuckle, taking one step toward Jen.
Jen was no wilting flower and had seen all kinds in the construction business. As the man stepped toward her she pulled a small 9mm Beretta from a holster tucked into the rear waistband of her jeans and cocked the hammer. The Beretta was Jen’s favorite handgun because it was small, easy to carry in her waistband, and packed a wallop. And, she knew how to use it.
The man didn’t seem to be fazed. “Well, now, little lady, you don’t really mean to shoot me with that little pea-shooter, do you?“ he asked. “I don’t think you have the nerve to pull that trigger.”
“Maybe she does and maybe she doesn’t,” came a voice from behind the man, “but I do.”
The man turned to find Jason standing just a few feet behind him with his hunting rifle aimed right at the man’s chest.
“But, just so you know,” Jason continued, “she does have the nerve and I’ve never seen her miss a target she was shooting at.”
The man’s face dropped and the bravado went out of his posture. “I was just having a little fun, son,” the man said. “I didn’t mean no harm.”
“I’m not your son and you’d better go have your fun somewhere else, preferably away from this store, if you know what’s good for y
ou.”
The man turned his head toward Jen and mouthed, “I’m sorry,” and then turned and quickly walked past Jason and out the front door of the store. Jason tracked him with the rifle until he was sure the man was gone.
Jen gave Jason a big hug and thanked him for showing up when he did. “I didn’t want to shoot him,” she said, “but you know I would have. You saved the man’s life and he doesn’t even know it.”
Jason went back toward the front door to keep an eye out and the women went about their mission of collecting all the feminine products, diapers, pampers, clothespins, laundry detergent, disinfectant, and cat food they could find. It appeared that most other scavengers had been after food stuffs and weren’t worried about non-food products. And Jen retrieved her rifle.
When they headed back to the car and trailer, stopping to grab all the toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, and toilet paper they could find, each one of them was pushing a shopping cart overflowing with products, except Carly and Tara, who were pushing and pulling two carts. They had checked out the store’s storeroom and found unopened cases of toilet paper and Kleenex, which were now stacked high in the extra carts. They also had several cases of Similac, canned baby’s milk. They dumped it all into the trailer but before they left, Carly and Tara took baskets back into the store and loaded them up with all the dry cat food and cat litter left in the store. Then they headed for the Big Park Community School, which was just a quarter mile away, up Verde Valley School Road. No one radioed the men’s work group. Carly, who had the radio, thought, there’s no sense worrying them when everything is just fine.
At the school they found the front door had been shattered, evidently by someone wanting entrance. Jen carried her rifle in her hand, just in case, while Jason again watched from the front door. They didn’t want to lose all the goods they had gotten from Weber’s. But, the school was empty, though there were signs someone had been living there.
They quickly gathered all the crayons, colored markers, white board markers, drawing paper, rulers, coloring books, and children’s books they could carry, making several trips back to the Cherokee, before Tara indicated she thought they had enough for many years to come. As they were leaving, Tara grabbed a large globe from one of the classrooms as well as a mounted map of the United States.
Sinagua Rising: A story of survival after a worldwide catastrophe Page 29