by Ron Foster
LowBuck had a serious thought on his mind he had been waiting for the right time to bring up and now was as good as ever he had decided.
“Donald, I was talking to Michael about another problem you might have not closely considered. Those neighbors of yours seem to be watching us walk back and forth between your homestead and his. A couple wheelbarrows of supplies heading in his direction the other day did not go unnoticed and he thinks it might be a security concern. He said that whole family has been to prison at one time or another and might be the sort of people to be thinking of stealing some supplies if you let your guard down. We don’t know if they are armed or not, but let’s just assume they got at least a Saturday night special pistol available and an inclination to try another armed robbery and are desperate for food. I don’t want to piss anyone off by being overly un-neighborly but we need to keep them at a distance so we don’t get a surprise stickup when they come around to pretend to talk about the weather. You know it won’t be just the food but your life they want to take in that scenario, so heads up and start planning how you are going to deal with them when they “just come to say hello”. Another thing is that I think you and Michael need to only travel between houses at agreed upon times. As short as the distance is between your houses is, if the two of you look out for each other you can’t get surprised very easily. That brings me to my next point; Cat and I are going to head out. Now don’t start the objections until you hear me out, Donald. I got a fellow prepper I can go see in South Carolina that has a hundred percent better prepped location to bug out to than you and has a standing invite for me and my wife to bug in there. You did well, better than most preppers trying to get yourself established here, but you don’t have enough food stores for yourself let alone all the adopt a puppies you’re still trying to pick up along the way. Man, don’t look so glum. I will be increasing your survival rate by months if you don’t have to share supplies with us and to be honest, increasing my own survivability by the same measure if I go move to a better location. Now then, down to the dirty and nitty gritty. Michael thinks you might want to consider a little preemptive dealing with them if you know what I mean before they get a chance to attempt to set you up. We both agreed to play grim reaper if they attempted anything more than petty thievery while you were gone as long as you went along with it and I told him that was highly unlikely you would agree, so what do you think.” Lowbuck said, looking like a farmer sharpening his ax for a turkey dinner and smiling at the gobbler that strutted about the yard unawares of the threat.
“Well, you got that right! I ain`t up for no cold blooded shit unless we are truly threatened and I don’t think neither of you are either, if we got any other possible way out. Let’s think about both scenarios for a min.” Donald said brooding.
“Well, Michael and I talked about just being firm and secretive with the neighbors. You ain’t ever met any of them Donald so you can be as bitchy as you want when first meeting them if they come around if you like. Problem is that first meeting most likely will have a note of desperation about it and it ain`t like they don’t smell your cooking some good food over here. You can smell their efforts to eat too and maybe predict when they run out of chow, so that you have some warning to get your guard further up. Here is another thing you ain`t thought of dumb ass, I mean that kindly by the way and I am sure you got some kind of contingency plans going on I am unaware of, but you been preaching preps and prepperdom in that bar up the street for the past year and them barmaids that live on the road leading in here and their boyfriends are going to be thinking about you when times get rough. As Michael tells it, they are all kin around here so you in prepper deep do do when they think of the last place they might be able to get a meal from. You might want to consider following me to S.C. and leaving this little place behind.” LowBuck said hoping to overcome Donald’s most likely blusterous refusal to do so and leave his home.
Donald looked at his old friend for a moment with quite a few mixed emotions furrowing his brow as they crossed his mind and then he settled his thoughts on the response he wanted to give to his now departing prepper buddy. It was a horribly tough decision to abide by because he could see many outcomes and sides in the conversation they were having that could mean life or death for him and his charges.
“That is some profound shit you laid on the table there Mr. Bubba and it is duly noted.” Donald replied. ” This is something Michael and I have given some thought and conversation about in the past and it basically boils down to a localized war of attrition amongst the neighbors. Who lasts longer because they had some food stored survives for a bit longer and then maybe there is some game left to hunt or it becomes more plentiful after a season. Let me tell you from a military viewpoint how I came to some of my conclusions. Starvation makes people stupid and weak. Desperation that tempts people to commit crimes comes to good people later than criminals who plan on having things before they are needed by any means possible, so we are on a timing thing. It’s like this end of the road is a big cell block but without a set schedule. I will draw water from that creek in back of us at certain times and if food is available most likely cook at certain times. That is when anything sneaky about attacking will come. If you want to take out the most soldiers, catch them at chow or crap time. Speaking of crap just to make you smile about my way of thinking, if I know you were my enemy collecting water downstream from me at a certain time and I ain’t wasting bullets and a devious yutz I can take a dump at a appropriate time. If you are too tired or crazy thirsty to boil water fully, I got you. Michael will be running that water wagon of his delivering to the community if we get proper support, enough said on toad stools and other plants that might somehow get into a threats water supply. Dysentery, food poisoning etc. is already going to be taking its natural toll on humanity and most are going to be too weak to present a threat once disabled by hunger and disease. You see that giant log I got positioned out there next to the orchard? It takes me 10 minutes with a machete to get myself a clear field of fire through that wood line for anyone approaching my encampment and they would never see me and I got solid cover to hide behind if I get a little bit of warning something is headed in my direction. Watch this shit, Bubba, I am about to wake up the neighborhood!” Donald declared as he picked up and “bump fired” the AK he was going to be lending to Michael towards the great pine log in question.
BRRRRRRRRRRRPPPPPP! Thirty rounds of 7.62x39 went thundering down range sounding exactly like full auto and breaking the stillness of the day.
“Ok, how about that? Now the whole world knows I can rock and roll and am well armed, so folks now are officially put on warning that I got some serious firepower around here. When Michael comes to visit me, he will be toting that Romanian AK 47 and I am pretty sure some convict armed with only a .25 caliber piece of junk pistol is not going to even think about popping a cap in his direction when he walks in front of their house carrying that thing. Now, if they got a rifle or shotgun, well then that’s another matter and one I can personally take care of if needed or I decide it to be required if I see things are going to get out of hand and am threatened. In that case, somebody just might forget to duck if they bother me too much, but I ain`t going out and playing sniper just to reduce chances of a confrontation. I got too much heart and soul for that, Bubba, and I know we all feel similar when it comes to avoiding harming anyone if it can be helped. I hate to say it, but I am hoping they just die off somewhat naturally, but it does take time to starve to death and I wouldn’t wish that painful horrible death on anybody.” Donald said gloomily and began to wander back to his house.
“Well, just be very careful. Wish I could stick around buddy but you how it is.” Bubba said regretfully.
“”Hey, I totally understand, man has got to do what a man has to do.” Donald concluded.
24
Prep Utilization
Donald said an emotional farewell to his prepper buddies, LowBuck and Cat, who would be most likely be leaving out
in the next few days headed for South Carolina. He stopped at Michaels’ on the hill and gave him the spare keys to his kingdom so that he and Amy could guard the prep stash after Lowbuck left out. Even though it made perfect sense that Michael and Amy change houses temporarily to guard the bigger stash it vexed Donald a lot to have to suggest it, but he saw no other alternative for collective security and survival sake.
Michael wasn’t too pleased either about having to leave his house vacant and it also required moving his preps to this more centralized location. All of Michael and Amy’s food preps could easily fit in to his car and he and Donald had decided that even though it would be nice not to even unload the car for such a short period of time, they were worried the hot Alabama sun would play hell on them in a closed up car oven.
Donald was mildly pissed off that he had no control over how much he showed of his food stores, let alone let someone else decide the dinner menus and proportions they were going to be partaking of his food, but it was an all or none decision that had to be made. Giving someone a crash course in how best to utilize the preps on hand and telling someone that low calorie diets start now when what looked like a stash of plenty was available was hard.
The specialty items for a few meager holiday dinners and particularly the less plentiful expensive cans of meats had to be rationed strictly. Donald explained to him that the drink mixes and the Pilot crackers were the key to even being able to live off the Mountain House dehydrated foods. Two crackers equaled a 100 calories, one 8 ounce glass of drink mix was about 110. Everyone was limited to this once a day with a meal instead of twice because Donald just did not have enough stored to support such a large group. Vegetables from the garden and bread they baked would make up the second meal along with some rice and beans would have to do until he got back and started running trap line. Michael knew a lot of the basics already from his military training about how to survival snare, but Donald wanted him to leave his commercial traps snares alone until he had time to formally teach him a trick or two. He also had visions of someone catching their hand in a 220 conibear and in these days and times that could be damn near fatal to get a broke hand and no medical help to mend it.
Donald had checked out Amy on the two .22 rifles he had and he and Michael had decided she should have a Ruger 10/22 for her daily carry weapon. It was light, fast and she was pretty accurate with it. Amy was often out by the garden or just sitting outside doing some quasi guard duty watching the neighborhood while Michael worked on a project and she could take a pot shot at squirrels when they decided to come out in the open and offer a target. Michael had told her though to try to leave the ones in the front yard alone and just concentrate on the orchard and garden areas for collecting a squirrel dinner. The ones living in the front yard were tamer and likely candidates for a slingshot if the need arose and it saved ammo and noise. This type of hunting intrigued her and she tried to practice with one of the wrist rockets Donald had stowed until much to his dismay the band broke from dry rot and he couldn’t remember where he had stowed his replacement bands. That’s the problems with preps, crap deteriorates and is unknown until needed if you don’t try out or check on your supplies regularly.
“Hey Man, hurry back, I want in that dehydrated gulf shrimp you got.” Michael said jokingly. “You stay out of my Shrimp! That stuff is a delicacy we might not ever see again for sometime. If you are good, I might give you some for your birthday,” Donald said laughing.
“Ok then, gimme a can of that turkey flavored Spam you got as a going away present for guarding your stuff. You are the one that said we needed to watch how much we are using the cook fire and that stuff tastes good cold.” Michael said grinning.
“You got it! We only got a dozen cans of that though. It’s going to put a new meaning to club sandwiches when four or 5 of us have to divvy up a can. I know you hate oatmeal but that shit is a lot better if I cube up some spam or ham flavored TVP in it upon occasion. That won’t be very often, we are down to having rolled oats for breakfast or six grain cereals to start a day with if we are working out on the farm. That’s the thing; we got to think like we are living in a fallout shelter back in civil defense cold war times. Do you know they only had you eating 800 calories a day back then? The Government stored a wheat based biscuit and cans of water back then and that was it. The reasoning being they figured was that if you were sitting on your ass in a shelter you were not burning calories so it sufficed. We got to think about the energy we expend from now on and do or not do things based on calorie expenditures. That is going to be a bitch when food gets low. Can you tell Amy she can’t have breakfast because me and you gotta go cut firewood and we need the calories more than her?” I certainly got a problem telling my Mom that but I see it coming this winter.” Donald said ominously.
“Shit, I ain`t thought about that. I sure hope that wheat we are planting makes a good crop. She could be real understanding about something like that right now, but later on it might not be so easy to bring that fact up. Could be we just share our food equal anyway, Donald?” Michael asked hating to contemplate such a scenario of denying food to his lover for any reason.
“Brother, I hate it also but me and you can’t be getting starvation stupid and swinging an axe while burning twice or three times the calories of our loved ones because we are trying to keep them warm next season. We are going to be getting weak enough in mind and body to do the task anyway. With no fat reserves the body burns muscle. That’s why some hunter gathers let the men adults eat first, then the women, then the children. It seems cruel but it was based on starvation survival. Men had to hike to hunt. Women could eat while they gathered roots and herbs and also put aside food for the men folk to carry with them on hunting and trapping trips. Young children that were not useful for tasks of food gathering or raising unfortunately had the hardest burden or suffering when it came to sharing food in hard times. A sentient lifestyle of only working about 4 hours a day and having lots of leisure time for other pursuits was how we both became civilized as well as survived in prehistoric times. The more meat the body takes in the smarter a human brain becomes. When we domesticated animals and became more agriculture oriented we became smarter and burned fewer calories to obtain meat for proteins. More time on our hands and smarter brains created the arts and philosophy, etc.” Donald said, laying out a bit of history to contemplate.
“Well as hot as it is and it will be getting a lot worse, I can’t see us even wanting to do more than water the garden let alone be cutting timber for winter. However, just daily living of hauling water, getting wood to cook with, washing clothes, etc., is a chore in itself that is time consuming. That reminds me, that creek is too shallow to do more than take a wash cloth bath in and I don’t see Bernie letting everyone jump in his fish pond for a bath when ever we like. That solar shower we got is 5 gallons so that’s 35lbs or so of water to tote every time and excuse me if we are going hunting before you take off, we are both getting kind of smelly.” Michael said stating the obvious about their hygiene.
“I got a couple cans of that rock crystal based 30 day deodorant the Russians come up with for their troops but it won’t last long amongst this group. Telling the girls to quit using regular deodorant didn’t work no matter how much I explained that shit closes your pores off and if you quit it you stink less. That’s homeless knowledge 101. We get in tight quarters this winter is going to get funky anyway. We cant get enough tallow to make soap so I add that to my list of to find stuff but if we’re hunting a lot, they going to have to get used to a wood smoked animal scent for everyone and no perfumes unless it’s a long holiday and the larder is full. That’s another thing, if you ain’t noticed your sniffer has gone back to war sense mode. The Vietnamese could smell that Aqua Velva or American cigarettes and we could smell that damn fish sauce they put on everything in their rice bowl. Talk to the women and explain it is like a dog smelling a stranger if some different human sweat comes to their noses as well as frigging snakes. I don’t
care what anyone says, I usually smell a rattler before I see one.” Donald responded and offered to split a last cigarette he tripped over when checking out his prep cabinet in the house.
“No thanks, Ah hell, I might as well. Weird how even if you quit smoking you still get tempted to want one of those damn things.” Michael said taking a couple drags off the proffered cigarette.
“I haven’t thought about the sights and smells of things in years. You know that A-1 steak sauce has anchovies in it?” Donald asked, retrieving his cancer stick.
“Yea, I read the label one day, but it doesn’t stink like that fermented Vietnamese Moc sauce. I noticed you got a bunch of hot sauce prepped in your stores. Tabasco is the soldier’s cure all too bland or repetitive food, huh?” Donald said grinning.
“I ain’t one for hot stuff but it damn sure changes up the palate or lets you choke something down easier. That rosemary bush needs trimming by the way if you can get Amy to see to it while I am gone. I ain’t keen on the taste of wild food and anything I can do to disguise the taste is fine by me and the spice rack will get depleted sooner than I would care to contemplate. By the way force yourself to eat some of that Wheat. You have to get yourself and your stomach to tolerate it if you are not used to it in your diet. There is a book on cooking it in there. Did you know you can make it taste like meat?” Donald said, wistfully stubbing out the last cigarette he might ever see but not necessarily ever want.
“No, I never heard of that. Does it actually resemble meat?” Michael asked.
Wheat Meat Patties These wheat meat patties are vegetarian burgers. Try using a meat substitute. It’s a delicious, inexpensive way to use your food storage.