Ichabod

by Mark Goodwin

  Danny turned toward his sister. “How long did you guys hang around after the EMP?”

  Cami replied, “Three days. Looking back, we should have left right away, but like Nick said, we wanted to know what the military response would be so we’d have a better idea what we are all in for long-term.

  “We had bought dirt bikes, and rigged up jerry cans so we’d have enough gas to get home after the EMP. We even bought the bikes on Craigslist with cash so there would be no paper trail. But, as it turned out, the Pentagon took it upon themselves to search our house and take the bikes for ‘safekeeping.’

  “Friday morning after the lights went out, the Pentagon sent a Humvee to pick us up.”

  Dana asked, “They still have cars that work?”

  Cami nodded. “Oh yeah. Most all military equipment is hardened against EMP.

  “Anyway, back to my story. They told us to pack a bag, we’d be staying in government housing inside the wire. Government housing turned out to be barrack-style tents which they set up all around DC. By noon Friday, the military had an area cordoned off, extending from the Pentagon, across the river, around Capitol Hill and the White House, all the way back to the State Department. That whole area essentially became an extension of the Washington Naval Yard. Anyone without a government ID was evicted from the area. Anyone with a government ID wasn’t allowed to leave.”

  “How did you get out?” Danny asked.

  Cami sipped her coffee. “We got clearance to go back to our house to get some more personal items. Once there, we bribed our armed escort.”

  “With what?” Alisa quizzed.

  “Our rainy day fund.” Cami lifted her eyebrows. “We kept ten thousand in cash, inside the wall. It wasn’t going to be worth a dime once there was nothing to buy, so it seemed like a good deal. Our escort was probably thinking of deserting anyway. Nearly half of all the military and government workers had figured out that it was only going to get worse and decided to go AWOL by the third day. All the bigwigs, the president, senators, and upper-level staffers were all ferreted off to COG bunkers Thursday night. Everyone still in DC by the third day was expendable, and we all knew it.”

  “What’s a COG bunker?” Dana asked.

  “Continuity of government. The military has remote underground locations spread all over the country, with EMP-hardened communications equipment, food, water, power, and security.”

  “Sounds like they were prepared for this event. Why didn’t they tell the rest of us to get ready?” Steven crossed his arms.

  Cami held her palms up. “Like I told Danny before all of this happened, the Congressional EMP Commission, EMP Task Force, some media personalities, and a few politicians have been harping about this for years. No one paid attention.”

  “I never heard nobody say they was a-gonna turn the lights off till Danny had his vision,” Nana protested.

  Cami smiled. “Well, Mike Huckabee, Ted Koppel, former CIA director James Woolsey, they’ve all been sounding the alarm for years, but it didn’t get good television ratings, so the networks quit providing them a platform.”

  Steven smirked, “Ironically, the networks sealed their own fate.”

  “Along with the fate of the nation,” Alisa added.

  “And the world,” Dana commented also.

  “No point in dwelling on the past. We need to focus on how to prepare for when Genghis Khan decides to extend the mongrel empire into Miss Jennie’s farm.” JC sounded serious.

  Steven stuck a finger in the air. “I think you meant Mongol. A mongrel is like a mixed breed dog, like a mutt.”

  JC didn’t crack a smile. “I meant what I said.”

  Danny pursed his lips. It was a fairly accurate analogy for Bret, Travis, and the lot who had abducted Alisa. He figured their type would be the ones who’d excel in the present environment. “A mongrel empire, indeed,” he muttered to himself.

  Nick wiped his face with his napkin and set it in his plate. “We’ll have to pick a spot to defend. Speaking of Mongols, mongrels, and empires, one of Rome’s mistakes was trying to hold too much territory with too little resources. If we spread out too thin, we’ll end up losing everything. And by everything, I mean everything. We’ll lose every inch of property, and those of us who don’t die will wish we had. I recommend we scavenge everything we can to build as much housing as possible.” Nick picked up the salt shaker, pepper shaker, and several toothpicks from the holder. “This is Nana’s house.” He set the salt down. “Here is the barn.” He placed the pepper several inches away from the salt. Then, he began forming a box between the salt and pepper with the toothpicks. “We should form two rows of housing between the barn and the house. That will leave a common area in between for cooking, eating, and meeting together, like a fort. We’ll put our RV along this line, closest to the road. JC, you should move your travel trailer on the same line.”

  JC nodded and picked up the toothpick representing his travel trailer and moved it to the second row. “Good plan, but I’ve got a wife and a baby. I want my trailer on the back line, furthest from the road.”

  Nick picked up the toothpick and toyed with it in his hand. “I understand, but the housing we’ll be able to build will be little more than ramshackle shacks. You’ll be better protected in that trailer than most anyone else.”

  JC pulled the toothpick out from between Nick’s fingers. “With all due respect, I’m walking away from my farm and a very well-constructed house to go along with your plan. I figured we might have to circle the wagons when I heard about Danny’s dream, so I’m okay with abandoning my property. But, if you want me to go along with your plan, my trailer stays here.” He put the toothpick back in the second row. “Otherwise, I’ll take my chances at my house.”

  Nick said nothing, but put both hands in the air as a symbol of his acquiescence.

  Danny tried not to let it be too obvious, but he let out a gentle sigh of relief. Nick and JC were the two men in the group who might be able to put a plan together that could keep everyone alive. Given the circumstances, their combined skill sets were crucial elements to the viability of the entire community. Danny looked over at JC. “Do you think the Reeses will go along with the plan?”

  JC leaned back in his chair. “They have to. This is going to be an all-in or all-out kind of thing. Anybody who wants to tough out the zombie apocalypse on their own is welcome to do so. We’ll be their friend; we’ll trade with them, whatever, but they have to know we can’t offer them any support or charity once they walk away.”

  Nick crossed his arms and nodded. “I agree with JC.”

  Steven looked at Nana. “Do you think Catfish will move to the farm?”

  “Faster than a chicken on a Junebug. I’d sooner sleep under a tree than set foot in that man’s house. It looks like a bunch a hogs’ve been livin’ in there.” Nana stood to begin clearing the table. “You could put him in the hay loft and it’d be a step up from where he is now.”

  Nick handed his plate to Nana. “Would you be open to having more people sleep in the house? We could probably move the stuff from the back porch out to the barn. And maybe have some other people bunk up together.”

  Danny caught Steven and Dana looking at each other out of the corner of his eye. When he looked to confirm what he was sure he’d just seen, they had both looked away.

  “I reckon,” Nana said. “As long as that filthy heathen Catfish don’t think he’s sleepin’ in this house.”

  Alisa raised her hand. “It would be tough to fit another bed in our room, but we could stack storage items up against the wall to make more room in the rest of the house.”

  Nick shook his head. “Good idea.”

  Danny immediately saw the play she’d just made to ensure their privacy. He gave her a wink and a smile to show his appreciation. Tight quarters were fine, as long as they had a place to get away from it all and be alone.

  Cami held Nick’s hand. “In fact, Alisa, maybe we’ll bring some of our stuff out of the RV and
stack it against that wall in your room later today. Once we get moved into the RV bedroom, the couch will be available for others, maybe the Reeses.”

  “We’ll help you,” Danny said. “How will you move the RV?”

  Nick shook his head. “I’m not sure. I was hoping that Rocky’s tractor still worked. Otherwise, we’ll have to hope Catfish’s truck can push it.”

  “I’m going home to get a couple hours of sleep. I’m beat after my night watch shift.” JC stood up and pushed his chair under the table. “I’ll go get Catfish in the morning and have him come over to move my trailer. Afterwards, I’ll have him drive me out to the Reeses’. I’ll try to convince Korey to bring his family over here. It would help if I could give them an idea of where they’re going to be sleeping. It’s hard enough to uproot a family, but if they feel like they’re going to be an inconvenience or there’s no room for them, we might not be able to get them out here. We need every trigger finger we can get if we want to survive. You guys keep that in mind when you figure out where they’re going to sleep.”

  Danny got up and walked JC to the door. “Thanks again for taking my shift last night.”

  “No problem at all. Talk to you later.” JC closed the door behind him.

  After helping Nana get the kitchen cleaned up, Danny and the others began helping Cami and Nick clear the supplies out of the RV.

  Nick instructed them where to take each box and bin. Some items were brought back to the house to be stored upstairs in Danny and Alisa’s room, but much of it was taken to the hay loft.

  As Danny hoisted the last bin up the ladder and into the loft, he said to Nick, “We have all of our supplies stashed along the wall in Dana’s room, so we’ve still got plenty of space in our room if you want to clear out some more bins from the RV.”

  Nick smiled. “Thanks, we’ll manage with what’s left in the RV. We just needed to get the boxes cleared off the bed. But I’ll take you up on letting us use the space. I’ve got some critical items in that metal shed that I’d like to keep in the house.”

  “Oh, like what?” Danny began climbing back down the ladder.

  “A bunch of stuff. We’ll start pulling it out tomorrow. I think Cami and I still need to rest up for the remainder of the day.”

  “Yeah, you probably need a week of R&R after your trip. I know how tired we were after just a few days.”

  It had taken less than an hour to clear out all the boxes with everyone’s help. Cami and Nick went back in the RV for a nap while Danny and the others finished the daily chores.

  Steven grabbed an ax from the tool area of the barn before they left. “I guess Danny and I will go collect firewood if you girls want to take care of the chickens and the rabbits.”

  “Sure,” Dana said.

  Danny kissed Alisa on the forehead. “Stay close to the house. And make sure one of you has a shotgun, even around the house.”

  “I’ve got the revolver.” Alisa pulled her jacket up to reveal the handle.

  “Good, but you should always have a long gun nearby as well. Steven will have his shotgun, and I’ll have the Glock. If we see any small game, we might take a shot with the shotgun, so don’t be alarmed. If we have trouble, I’ll take two quick shots with the Glock. If you hear that, get Nick and come find us.”

  Alisa nodded and stole another kiss. “Okay, be safe.”

  Danny grabbed the saw and retrieved Steven’s shotgun from the corner of the barn. “Let’s go get some wood.”

  Steven walked beside Danny toward the forest. “Nick and JC seemed like they were in a bit of an alpha-male competition back there.”

  Danny handed the shotgun over to his friend as they walked. “I think they’re just trying to find their respective places in all of this. They’re both leaders, and they seem to respect each other, but I suppose it’ll be a process to figure out how different leadership roles are going to be delegated going forward.”

  Steven nodded. “And I totally understand JC’s point, not wanting to put his family on the front line. I suppose I’d get an alpha syndrome if I were in his shoes.”

  Danny chuckled. “We’re blessed to have them both. We wouldn’t stand a chance without them.”

  “Have you given any thought as to where we should put the wood?”

  “I was thinking of ricking it up alongside of the propane tank. It would provide some protection against an attack. I’d hate to see that thing blow up because it caught a bullet.”

  Steven glanced over. “Good idea. We could use firewood to form defensive firing positions all around the camp. It has to be stacked somewhere, might as well make use of it while it’s in storage.”

  “Good plan. I like it,” Danny said. “I thought I saw you and Dana look at each other when Nick was talking about bunking up.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Steven tested a small, barren tree to see if it would bend or break.

  Danny grabbed a twig from the tree and folded it in his hand. It snapped. “Looks pretty dry.”

  Steven swung the ax at the base of the tree a few times. “If I notch this out, I think we’ll be able to push it over.”

  Danny watched as Steven chopped. “You still sound pretty certain that there’s nothing between the two of you. I thought the only problem before was that she wasn’t a believer. Now that she’s accepted Jesus, what’s the deal?”

  Steven paused and pushed on the tree. It still needed a few more good chops. “There’s a lot going on right now. We’ve got to build a fort, raise our own food, provide our own security, learn to get along with everybody; besides all of that, I’m responsible for coming up with a message for church every week.” Steven resumed chopping.

  Danny waited for Steven to pause again, then gave the tree a good push. It began to creak over. It wasn’t big enough to come crashing down, but it eventually fell. “But, we have a lot of down time, also. Once the sun sets, we can’t get much accomplished. Any night you’re not working security, you’ve got time . . . for friends . . . or whatever. Dana doesn’t strike me as the needy type.”

  Steven took a couple more whacks to break the tree free at the base. “She must; you put a lot of effort into getting her hitched.”

  Danny pulled the tree to confirm it was completely severed from the stump. “I’m not worried about her. She’s got options.”

  “Like who? Catfish?” Steven’s voice suddenly got defensive.

  “Like Jack. That kid looks like an Abercrombie model.”

  “He’s seventeen!”

  Danny looked at the tree. “We don’t have any way to haul the wood back. I say we drag the whole tree to the house and cut it up there.”

  “That’s fine. Why did you bring up Jack? Did she say something about him?”

  Danny grabbed a limb and started pulling. “It’s just the way of nature. He’ll be eighteen soon, then there will only be four years between them. He’s mature for his age, and smart. If I saw the two of them out together at the movies, I wouldn’t think anything of it. He could pass for twenty.”

  Steven huffed as he struggled to hold the ax and the shotgun in the same hand so he could pull a limb from the tree. “Who’s to say he’d have any interest in a cougar five years older than him?”

  Danny fought back a grin. Steven was confirming what he already knew. “Four, but then there’s the brother. He’s about my age. He’ll probably be back soon.”

  Steven’s voice became more irritated. “You don’t know that.”

  “Bro, relax! I’m just saying.” Danny had to really work at not laughing out loud. Even so, he wasn’t finished goading his friend. “And suppose he shows up wounded.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Dana has a natural instinct for being a nurse. She took very good care of your leg when you were injured. If Chris comes home and needs a little medical attention, the Florence Nightingale Effect might take over.”

  Steven dropped his end of the tree. “Are you just making this garbage
up to manipulate me into dating Dana?”

  Danny could see that Steven was becoming seriously upset. He released his end of the tree as well and paused. “Steven, I care about you. I know that you and Dana had a connection before. I’m simply trying to point out that she’s a very pretty girl amongst a possibly growing number of eligible bachelors. If you don’t feel that way for her anymore, that’s fine, but get it figured out now. I don’t want to see you wallowing in regret once that ship has sailed.”

  Steven took a deep breath and looked across the field toward the house where the girls were tending the rabbit hutches. “I do like her, Danny.”

  “Then what’s the hold-up?”

  Steven bit his lip as he stared at Dana in the distance. “Savannah.”

  “I don’t get it. Did you guys do something I don’t know about? We all make mistakes. You ask God for forgiveness and move on.”

  “No. It’s not that.”

  “What then?”

  Steven shook his head and looked down toward the ground. “I was going to leave her when the EMP went off. I insisted that we walk away and leave her to die. What would have happened to her if I’d done that?”

  “That didn’t happen.” Danny put his hand on Steven’s shoulder.

  “Thank God. Thanks to Alisa insisting that we bring her.”

  “Okay, but now she’s here, and you’re here. She likes you, Steven. She doesn’t blame you.”

  Steven began to cry. “But how could I have abandoned her? The girl I love. I don’t deserve her, Danny. She’d be better off with Jack or Chris. I just want her to be happy and safe.”

  Danny hugged his friend. “Bro, you need to think about what you are doing right now. You’re blaming yourself, punishing yourself by not letting Dana know how you feel. In the process, you’re punishing her too. The person you’re trying to shield from the evil monster you think lives inside you; she’s getting hurt by your imposed protection.”