by R Kralik
Shawna said they’ll make a bedroom in one of the buildings and a living room in the other. They need beds, and Jeremy plans to take them to the Masterson house tomorrow to get furniture.
Soo finished laying the tile and boarding up all the windows at the Stang house. He's prepared to move in and plans to start gathering furniture. They're anxious to have Merry back where she belongs and live like a family.
Pop and Mr. Hobbs planted a lot of seeds and seedlings in the big garden. They have plastic ready to cover them if we get a cold spell. They also planted a lot of seeds in the small garden near the trailer fence.
Kevin got the trench dug across the entire back of the property and the men got 25 more feet of fence up and concreted in. They already have two sections ready to put up tomorrow.
Deuce and Buttercup moved a lot of logs with the aid of Mr. Hobbs and the Kubota late this afternoon..
I have no cooking duty tomorrow, thank goodness.
I'm nodding off in this chair.
Bye for now.
Saturday, March 22
Everyone’s draggin' their feet except Rick and Ian. They're accustomed to this kind of physical labor. They plan to dig and build an outhouse between their little houses today, unless they're needed for something else. I'm sure Dane will let them know.
We're all tired and I could have slept another three hours.
I sent Marisa to sit with Josie while Hisa makes breakfast with Merry. It's Hisa's turn. She wasn't able to help with all the canning work yesterday 'cause she was caring for Josie. She's the only one of us with enough energy to cook this morning. I thought I heard her say that we're having some sort of rice pudding for breakfast. That's okay with me as long as it fills our tummies.
All of the men except Pop and Mr. Hobbs are lounging around in the living room, waiting for breakfast. Pop and Mr. Hobbs are in the garden, of course.
The men are discussing plans for looting one of the stashes Josie told us about. They have the map from the motorhome and they're passing back and forth, trying to agree on a location to start with. There are six stash locations marked in red on the map. The closest one to us is 25 miles east. The second closest is 30 miles west. I don't know which one they'll choose to hit first.
They’re also discussing leaving all the women at home. If I get to lay in a horse trough full of hot water with a nice smelling bar of soap and a couple of mixed drinks, I'll be happy to stay home.
Shawna and Lisa are chomping at the bit because they wanna go along, Shawna challenged any man here to a wrestling match. The men had the audacity to laugh at her. Ian actually said he'd take that challenge in a couple of days. I can't wait 'til she pins him on the ground and makes him holler “uncle.”
I saw her doing back flips the other day and went outside to watch. She was practicing her martial arts skills. She's limber, fast, and dangerous. Me thinks you don't mess with Shawna.
She was embarrassed and stared at the ground when I clapped for her. She looked up at me and smiled, and I was relieved because I was afraid that I'd hurt her feelings or bothered her in some way.
The food is ready and I'm headed out to try my first rice pudding breakfast. See ya later.
1:00 PM...
The rice pudding was delicious and sweet. I'm absolutely positive that it's fattening. We all had our fill and Hisa made enough rice to serve with pinto beans from the restaurant haul for lunch.
Months ago, when I thought I'd gone overboard on storing beans and rice, I was wrong. I wish I'd stored a thousand pounds of each. Remind me to do that in my next life.
The men decided to hit the stash location 25 miles to the east on Wednesday. That's the day after tomorrow! I immediately felt nervous when they told us.
Jason and Soo will stay behind to protect the women, children, and our home in case anything happens to the rest of the men. Mr. Hobbs and Pop are staying as well.
The stash crew is Mick, Dane, Jeremy, Ian, Rick, and Kevin.
They are taking the Jeep and the delivery truck they used to haul concrete from Lowe's. Dane says the big rigs are too loud and clumsy. If something happens, all six men can fit in the Jeep and leave the delivery truck behind.
They'll work on the fence and other projects today.
Tomorrow they'll be cleaning weapons, sharpening knives, checking and re-checking gear, packing backpacks, changing fluids in both vehicles, and preparing to head out before dawn on Monday. With Ian and Rick's help, each man will pack his own proper emergency backpack.
Ian and Rick have been taking turns, listening to the radio they set up on their first visit here.
We are terrible people. We should have been monitoring the radio this entire time. If we had, we might have known about the attack on Josie's unit.
Mick wants the radio building attached to the house right outside the kitchen window. He'll cut a window in the wooden building and build a tight wooden structure, like the one he built around the doorways for Shawna and Lisa, attaching the kitchen window and the shed window. I have no idea what to call it. He just says he'll “attach and enclose it.”
When no one is in the shed, the window will be up and anyone in the house can hear the radio. When someone is in the shed on monitoring duty, we can pass food to them through the kitchen window. Ian and Rick thought it was a great idea.
They said that the radio building needs to be turned into a Faraday cage. Yes, I know what that is, but I'll leave it in their hands.
Mick and Soo are at the Masterson house right now. Shawna and Lisa are with them. They're getting furniture and beds for Shawna and Lisa as well as the Stang house. Deuce said there is a “bunch of junk” in the attic, so they'll check that out as well.
Mick plans to move a gas oven up to the kitchen and get it hooked up to a propane tank. Thank goodness! It's already too hot in the house for the cook stove.
Hisa says it's hot in Clinic Diane and Josie is uncomfortable, but doesn't complain. Hisa has the windows wide open and asked for our old generator to run a fan.
I didn't even think about keeping the Clinic cool. I asked Mick what we should do about it. Hisa says that patients need to be comfortable while healing. I almost asked her how they did it in the good old days, but she was on a rant and I kept my mouth shut.
Dane has the idea that we can bring the second refrigeration trailer from the trucking company and somehow cut holes in it to run a large hose to a vent inside the clinic.
I can imagine putting that refrigeration trailer in the middle of the yard with the wooden buildings around it. It would look like a mother ship with hoses running from all sides to the wooden buildings surrounding it. If that works, I'll be asking for my own little wooden building. Have I told you that I hate summer?
The remaining men are at the back of the property, working on the fence. They already had 20 feet up when they came in for lunch. I was impressed. The boys are helping.
Of course, Pop and Mr. Hobbs are in the garden. Our garden is coming to life. I wonder how long it'll be until we can harvest something. Pop and Mr. Hobbs are taking care of that garden like it's their favorite child. I plan to stand right there in the garden with a salt shaker and eat the first beefsteak tomato while it's still on the vine. Anyone who wants to fight me for it is welcome to try.
I think I'll head out to see what they're doing in the garden and check out all the seedlings.
See ya later.
11:00 PM...
I have a gas oven in the kitchen now. Hallelujah! Carisa and Valerie carried the wood boxes out to the garage for next winter.
I'll make breakfast on the gas stove tomorrow morning. I think I'll make sausage gravy and biscuits. That ought to make everyone happy. It'll use up half of the milk we get tomorrow morning, but it's worth it.
Shawna and Lisa have furniture in their buildings and they plan to stay there all day tomorrow. They took bunk beds from the Masterson house so they could have enough room in the bedroom building for a couple of dressers.
They have a loveseat, recliner, small bookshelf, and two end tables in their living room building. They brought home an oil painting and haveit hung on the opposite wall as the couch. I told them I was proud of them for their sensible choices.
Lisa's birthday is next week and she'll be seventeen, so I need a visit from the gypsy traders. They're due to return sometime in the next three days. I'll ask Shawna to help since I'm just getting to know both girls and have no idea what either of them like..
The men finished 45 feet of fence today. With all of them working except Mick and Soo, they got a lot accomplished. They said that Luke, Larson, and Deuce were invaluable, and they were the reason they got so much done. They ran it like an assembly line.
Everyone left pretty fast after supper was done. I guess they want to get quality time with their loved ones. I wonder if Mick wants to kiss me goodnight.
Bye for now.
Sunday, March 23
Breakfast was a hit. The gravy turned out perfect. Mick ate three biscuits covered in sausage gravy. Nothing was left.
The men plan to use the entire day, preparing to leave tomorrow. I told them that the women are taking tomorrow off. The only thing we'll do is cook. Meals will be simple and easy to make. We'll have muffins for breakfast. We’ll have home canned chili for lunch, and home canned hamburger soup for supper.
I told everyone to start using more of our home canned food so we can re-use the jars for new produce this summer.
We need canning jars and we're not gonna find a place that has tons of them waiting for us to come along and grab them.
I still have a few cases of lids. The lids can't be re-used, so we need to find more lids as well. I never bought any of those re-usable plastic ones. They were expensive and probably wouldn't save me a dime in my lifetime. Now, I wish I'd bought some.
We have fava beans, scallions, kale, lettuce, rosemary, oregano, parsley, radishes, rhubarb, spinach, and strawberries ready to harvest. That sounds great!
The only thing I know about fava beans is that Hannibal Lecter wants them with “a nice chianti” and your liver.
I'm a mom, not a chef. I don't know all those fancy recipes.
I'll make several large jars of strawberry jam and I'll freeze what's left over since we're desperate for canning jars. I'll plug my big dehydrator into the generator power strip and dry the herbs.
Well, I think I'll head out and see what the men are doing. I dread their leaving. I'll be on pins and needles until they get back safely. See ya later.
2:00 PM...
Pop and Mr. Hobbs went to TSC for bushel baskets and clothing. They were throwing blue jeans into bushel baskets when a loud “Hello” came from the front of the store. Pop whispered to Mr. Hobbs to sneak around the shelving and cover his back while he went to find out who was there.
Pop went toward the front and peeked out from behind a shelving unit. He saw a man standing at the front doors. The man had a long rifle and was ready to aim and fire if he needed to.
Pop shouted from behind a shelf full of Mane and Tail, “Who's there?” The man quickly replied “I'm Willy Spears. My family lives around here and we're not lookin' for trouble. We just wanted to find out who you are. I saw your truck up here last week.”
Pop answered “I'm Pop, and my other friends can introduce themselves when they come out from behind all these shelves. Are you friendly? Is your family starving?” Mr. Spears took a couple of steps back and said “We're friendly and we're not starvin'. Like I said, we just wanted to find out who you are. If I'm botherin' ya, I'll be on my way.”
Pop said “Hold up, I'm comin' out.” He could see Mr. Hobbs crouched behind a shelf, and motioned for him to move up a few rows. Pop took a deep breath and got ready. He stepped out from behind the shelf of Mane and Tail just in time to see Willy Spears lying on the ground, being gobbled up by a woman HDI.
Willy Spears was kicking and trying to scream, but the HDI had removed his voice box with her teeth. Pop drew his pistol and took her out of this world. He ran to Willy Spears and bent down beside him. Mr. Spears pointed down the road before his hand dropped to the pavement and the light faded from his frightened eyes. Pop stood up and shot Willy Spears through the forehead. He looked around for more HDI's. There were none to be seen
Mr. Hobbs came up to join Pop outside the front doors. He was looking around the area when he saw movement from a small bundle of cloth a few feet away from the “eliminated” woman HDI. He used the end of his rifle barrel to push aside a flap on top of the wiggling, snarling bundle. It was an infant HDI.
Pop walked up beside him and said a little prayer. Then, he shot the infant HDI in the head. There was almost nothing left, and Mr. Hobbs called Ralph right there in the parking lot. After he pulled himself together, Pop said “We gotta find that man's family and tell 'em what happened.” Mr. Hobbs said his knees started knocking right then and there.
They loaded the baskets and clothing into the truck bed and headed in the direction Mr. Spears had pointed.
They slowly drove down the road, yelling “We’re lookin' for Ms. Spears” out the windows. They shot three HDI's before a voice stopped them about a half mile from TSC. 'Who's lookin' for her?” the voice yelled. Pop yelled that he had a message from her husband.
A slim young woman stepped out the door of a little brick house on the left. She motioned to someone at the side of the house, and a young man came around to join her. They began walking toward the truck. Both of them were loaded for bear.
When they were within two or three feet of the truck door, the woman asked what the message was. The young man had his finger on his pistol trigger and Pop got nervous, but tried to remain calm. He told them what happened and asked if they were okay.
“Thank you for lettin' us know, sir” the woman said. Pop could see tears welling up in her eyes.
She turned her back to the truck, grabbed the young man by the arm, and walked toward the house. She whispered something to the young man and he turned and shouted “We're fine, don't worry about us.” They went in the door of the little brick house and the area was silent. Pop sat there for about 30 seconds before he put it in drive and headed home.
Mr. Hobbs didn't come out of his bachelor cabin for lunch.
Pop sat down and ate his lunch in silence. He told me what happened while I was sitting on the back porch, smoking a cigarette, after lunch. I couldn't speak. I put my cigarette out and went back inside to clean up from lunch. Pop stayed there.
I'm curious about the family, but I'm not planning to visit. We couldn't feed them and I don't wanna give away our location.
We have lots of jeans and shirts in lots of different sizes. We have novelty socks and underwear with names like “John Deere” and “Remington” on them. Most of the shirts are long sleeved, but we can cut the sleeves off for summer.
Rick and Ian were jumping for joy because they were still wearing the uniforms they arrived in. They've been washing their underwear in the creek and hanging them to dry t night. I wondered if they were turning red from the Alabama dirt and clay in the creek.
Pop and Mr. Hobbs got quite a number of bushel baskets. I saw Pop grab one and head to the garden a few minutes ago.
The stash crew is all over the place, getting ready to head out before dawn tomorrow. They're checking and re-checking their weapons, vehicles, and backpacks. Mick has a battery operated GPS and it actually works. I guess HDI's didn't fly to outer space and gobble up the satellites.
They took CB radios from the big rigs and set them up in the house, Jeep, and delivery truck. I have no idea how long we'll be able to communicate. There's a long list of “code words” sitting on the desk beside the CB and Carisa decided to join Rebecca as an official radio monitor.
Soo, Jeremy, and Jason will take turns on watch and one of the women will be with them.
I'm going out to the garden to see what Pop is harvesting.
See ya later.
10:30 PM...
Mick's lying in
bed but he's not asleep. I can tell by the rhythm of his breathing.
He's a little nervous about heading out tomorrow, and he’s been clinging to me for the past couple of hours. I've been clinging back. I'm already worried sick and probably won't sleep a wink.
Luke and Larson brought three fresh and two frozen bunnies in the house before supper. Mr. Hobbs showed them how to clean the fresh ones, but the frozen ones need to thaw overnight. Marisa asked if I'd stop calling them “bunnies” and start calling them “rabbits” 'cause it sounds weird to say we're having bunnies for supper.
The boys also brought in six large quail and a baseball hat full of quail eggs. We cleaned the birds and put them in the freezer downstairs. We put the eggs in the refrigerator.
The pile of meat in the refrigeration trailer looks tiny. I began thinking about freezer burn and put the plastic wrapped venison in a few of the tubs we took from the restaurant. There's no such thing as a freezer bag fairy... darn it.
I told Luke, Larson, and Deuce to hunt and set more snares. They seemed happy to have a mission all to themselves. I also warned them to stay together because there’s probably HDI's in the woods. They looked a little frightened. I think they'll stay together.
Jason will still be hunting deer, but don't tell the boys.
Pop got almost two bushel baskets of fava beans. They're sitting in the kitchen waiting for me to go through my canning books and figure out what to do with them. I'm hoping we can dry them and store them in the pantry. It'll save canning jars.
I have the dehydrator loaded with basil leaves and they should be done tomorrow morning. I can store them in plastic Rubbermaid containers. I have lots of those containers. I think I have several packs that haven't even been opened. They're not the freezer kind so we'll use them for spices and other stuff.
Josie's doing better but she has a little problem. I asked her if it would be okay for me to write about it because I'm trying to keep an accurate record of what we're going through. She said she didn't give a hoot.