Not Dead in the Heart of Dixie

by R Kralik

  There's no telling what I'll wake up to tomorrow.

  I'm headed to bed. Bye for now.

  Tuesday, April 29

  Breakfast was served in the large mess tent. It was the usual affair and it was delicious. We are grateful for it.

  Mick leaves in three days. Good Lord, how it hurts my heart to write that. I'll be able to see him three days a month if the unit he's assigned to is in the area.

  Josie sat with us at breakfast and told us a little more.

  I asked her to make sure that Chris has Mick, Soo, Isaac, and Rick assigned to his unit. She doesn't know if he can request certain men in his unit but she thinks he might be able. She'll talk to him about it.

  Chris' unit will combine with a smaller unit and he'll be in charge of 600 men. I asked if it would be a supply unit, or a fighting unit, and she doesn't know. Chris hasn't told her. She suspects it'll be a fighting unit. GULP! On second thought, maybe I shouldn't ask that Mick be assigned with Chris.

  We left the mess tent together, and I saw Marisa and Jason several yards ahead of us with their hands over Amber and Michael’s ears.

  I was bewildered, because the machinery wasn't that loud. I understood their actions when Josie and I passed the well digging crew and heard all the swearing and cussing coming from the men.

  Hey, they're digging a well for us. They can curse and swear all they want and I don't plan to say a word about it. It's been my experience that a loudly cursing crew is either making great progress, or having a lot of problems. I hoped our crew was making great progress because I don't have the ability to run over there and throw magic well-digging dust over their heads.

  There's a line outside the door of Emma's building. There's a lot of soldiers with uniforms in need of a lot of repair. Josie and I saw Emma open the door, smiling as one soldier left and another entered. Emma' in hog heaven. I guarantee it.

  Josie laughed and wondered aloud if she should volunteer to be Emma's assistant. She said she wouldn't mind watching brave young soldiers undress and redress in front of her eyes. I smacked her on the arm and told her to remember that she's a married woman now. Secretly, I'm delighted to see that the “naughty” Josie's still in there.

  Deuce ate breakfast with Luke and Larson before heading to the meadow. Jesse went with him.

  Deuce believes the army will steal our horses away. I tried to reassure him that the army has plenty of vehicles and fuel to run them, but he's still suspicious and keeping his eye on things.

  This morning, I asked Jesse to take the goat’s milk and a cup to share it with the soldier's standing watch. He said one of the men drank a cup of milk and fell to the ground. It scared him 'til the others started laughing and the man on the ground stood up with a big smile. He told Jesse he'd fainted because he thought he'd never see real milk again. I don't think Jesse appreciated his humor and told me he didn’t want the “water boy” job.

  A small group, including Kevin and Tim Stein, have gone to pick up more little wooden buildings. We told Battle-axe (I REALLY need to start calling her Velma) they'd bring home two buildings for her and attach them. She can use one for private quarters and the other for a clinic until we can get something larger built.

  Tim Stein will be living in a wooden building as well. I've lost count of how many we have, how many we need, and where they all are. I plan to draw a map of the compound once the unit leaves.

  Mick and Kevin intend to take the teenagers fishing later today. Mick wants to spend quality time with Carisa before he leaves, and the teens have been aching to get off the compound. Ian says there's several boats at the marina and most of them have keys in the ignitions.

  I had visions of Carisa flying down the lake at a high rate of speed, fishtailing the boat and laughing up a storm before she hit a rock and was launched over the bow. I shuddered. You'd shudder too if you'd been in the car when we taught her to drive. I threatened to wear body armor and a helmet when it was my turn to ride with her. She likes speed. She likes speed A LOT.

  I told Mick and Kevin that none of the teenagers are allowed to drive a boat unless it's a little one with foot pedals. They looked at me like I was crazy. Mick said he had no intention of allowing any teen in the driver’s seat, and I should know that he well remembers Carisa's driving lesson days.

  I'm headed out to see what's been accomplished since last night. I heard gunfire several minutes ago. I suppose a group of HDI's were on the loose.

  See ya later.

  1:00 PM...

  The tunnel is 35 feet in the hillside and there's a large room at the end. The passageway has supports in place and the men are working on the large room right now. The roof is limestone and granite. Wooden supports are attached to the walls with huge spikes that remind me of railroad spikes. Huge wooden beams cut from logs are attached to the wall supports to secure the ceiling.

  The door to the tunnel will lift on hinges much like old garage doors without rollers. Dirt, Grass, and weeds will grow on the outside of the door and overlap the edges so it'll look like part of the hillside. Lord, please let me be able to know where the handle is and find it when I need to.

  A soldier grabbed me by the arm and led me to the side of the big room to show me a tiny, thread sized, strip of gold inside a thin layer of volcanic rock at the base of the wall. He was very excited about it. I had trouble actually seeing it.

  There will be two tunnels off the main room, one on the left and one on the right. They will not be directly across from one other. One will be at the front of the large room and the other will be near the tunnel entrance. I had visions of the vaults in the Egyptian Valley of the Kings.

  Those tunnels will also lead to large rooms where we can store supplies, or sleep, or whatever. Doors to the additional tunnels will be disguised to look simply like walls of the big room in case anyone gets inside.

  The men may be able to get one of the additional tunnels and room dug, but they won't have time to finish the supports. We've been warned not to camp inside the second room without supports in place. We've also been told that small ventilation ducts are in the big room. I have no idea how they did it. Maybe I don't wanna know.

  Soldiers and compound members are all over the place, and valuable lessons are being taught.

  I need to find my way into a few of those classes, along with everyone on the compound but, you know, some folks can learn and understand one thing while others cope to even get the concept.

  I'm a “hands on” type of learner. I need to get in the mud and play with it for a while before I'm able to come out with a gorgeous, one of a kind, vessel or vase.

  I loved my pottery classes in college. I wonder if the unit has a pottery wheel, 'cause we've got plenty of clay around here. Nah... Probably not.

  See ya later.

  4:30 PM…

  Get ready to peel Mick's brain off the ceiling.

  Jesse approached him this afternoon and asked if it would be okay for him to give Carisa an engagement ring. He wants to marry her when she turns eighteen, and he thinks she'll want to marry him too. He's waiting to ask her 'til he gets our permission.

  Mick had to walk to the pool and dunk his head before he could speak. Through gritted teeth he told Jesse he'd talk to me about it. I saw him walking fast and stiff-legged up the hill and knew right away that he either needed to pee, or something was up.

  He walked straight up the porch steps and asked me to follow him inside.

  We talked for an hour about how the world has changed, the options Carisa will have, and the choices she'll need to make. She just turned sixteen, for Pete’s sake. I know that my great grandparents already had babies at sixteen, but this is now, not 70 years ago. I had to give kudos to Jesse for approaching Mick before he asked Carisa without our permission.

  We finally came to the agreement to speak to Carisa before giving Jesse an answer.

  We spent 45 minutes talking to her. She didn't say a word until Mick and I shut our mouths and waited for her answer. She
said eight words, which were “Engagement ring? Umm, NO. Promise ring? Umm, maybe.” Then, she turned and walked out the door. We talked for 45 minutes and that's all we got? Geez!

  Anyway, I hope she's somewhere with Jesse, explaining her intentions and solution to Jesse desire to lay claim to her. I sent a thank you up to Jesus that we'd raised a smart daughter with good common sense.

  That was the end of that. Mick shrugged his shoulders and headed out the door to clean fish they'd brought home. I sat on the bed and cried. I can't imagine my baby considering this, much less seeing it through. Lord, help me get through. One minute I'm thinking about the handle on a tunnel door and the next minute I'm thinking about my youngest daughter getting' hitched. I think it's time for a shot of whiskey... maybe two.

  See ya later.

  10:30...

  I'm no good. I fell on the hill and rolled into the corner of the outhouse, hitting it with my lower back. My back is screaming. Mick and Jason had to carry me to the bed and I have the computer on my lap. I'm a little woozy from some variation of concoction, but it's not the happy kind. It's the “O M G I'll throw up if I move” kind.

  Velma has ordered me to bed for three days. She gave Mick a bunch of those Thermacare heat pads from my coupon queen totes to place on my back and alternate with icepacks. The heat pads feel wonderful, but I despise the ice.

  I can't do this. Mick's leaving in three days and, I swear, I'll be on my feet to hold him and watch him go. I'll walk all over Velma if I have to. She's not the boss of me!

  Jeremy and Rebecca were married tonight. I couldn't walk to the living room and attend.

  Note to self: loot for some of those rolling hospital beds.

  I cried every time I heard laughter. Jeremy's like a son to me. I can't believe I missed my adopted son's wedding. I won't be able to see video’s or pictures. This sucks.

  I did get to see him in his tux and he looked like a beautiful angel with a huge grin on his face that extended to his kind, caring eyes. He looked truly happy. He laid his well-groomed head on my stomach, talked to me, and called me Mom.

  I cried. It hurt to cry, but I couldn't hold it back. He left the room with happy tears and I reached out to hold his hand one more time before he belonged to another woman.

  Several minutes later, Rebecca came in to show me her dress.

  One of the dresses Ian and Rick brought home fit her perfectly. Emma had to let out a little in the bodice, but she placed a sheer piece of fabric over Rebecca's cleavage so the dress would be elegant and decent.

  The dress was strapless, and Rebecca had taken apart several pieces of diamond jewelry from her mother. She glued the diamonds to a thick sash around her waist. The skirt was solid white satin. There was no lace, sequins or pearls dotting the fabric. She wore a choker of her mother's pearls around her neck and a pair of pearl studs in her ears.

  Marisa used satin ribbon and wove it through her hair. Teeny, tiny flowers in many colors were glued to the ribbon so they would show off their colors while riding the white satin waves around her head. The flowers were the only colors, other than white, she was wearing.

  She didn't want a veil, and she didn't need one. She looked like a photo from a bridal magazine. Marisa styled her hair in an "up do," and ringlets fell over one shoulder to meet the top of the dress. I was in awe. I still have a picture of her in my head even though I'm a little loopy from the shot Velma gave me.

  God, please bless Jeremy and Rebecca. They're young and need you now more than ever.

  Mick brought in a piece of cake and a few cookies after everyone left. I was able to take a few bites before my stomach began churning and I pushed the rest to the side. I felt horribly guilty about wasting food and told Mick to gobble the rest of it down. That actually made me laugh a little, and it hurt to laugh. I had to force myself to stop.

  Mick's rubbing my feet with lotion and hitting all the right spots. It feels heavenly.

  Tomorrow morning, Emma will be here to fit Mick for his uniform. I told him to ask her to work here so I could be with him and watch as he's measured and fitted. Besides, Emma flirts with every young soldier she sees. It'll tickle me to watch her flirt with Mick and see his face turn red with embarrassment.

  When I wake up in the morning, it'll be two days until he leaves. I want every spare minute of his remaining time to be spent with me, Marisa, Carisa, Jason, Amber, and Michael.

  I've asked that someone report to me, in detail, everything that happens while I'm flat on my back. I need to know. I mentally NEED to know it all, down to the last detail.

  Everyone agreed to do as I asked. They're probably out there now, writing up a schedule with time assigned to certain folks to come in and report to me.

  Carisa's an organizing maniac and she'll eat your lunch if you don't follow her schedule. She remains brave and strong about Mick leaving. That may change once he's walking down the hill, but for now, it's her way of coping. I'm proud of her.

  I'll ask Mick to move the computer back to the desk and try to lie down and sleep. He offered to sleep in the other room so he wouldn't hurt my back.

  I told him absolutely not. I'd rather have a sore back than a lonely heart.

  Bye for now.

  Wednesday, April 30

  The calico cat woke me this morning by jumping on the bed and startling me. The fire in my back quickly demanded attention and I remembered everything.

  I woke Mick and sent him out for a bucket because there's no way I could make it to an outhouse. He jumped up, ran out of the room, and was back within two or three minutes with a nice, clean, potty bucket. He helped me on top and I did my business.

  He left the room to empty the bucket, and several minutes later he returned with "Emma the seamstress" who was bright eyed, bushy tailed, and covered in sewing gear. She had a uniform over her arm. Mick held the bucket in one hand and a portable sewing machine in the other. He plugged the machine into the generator cord and sat it on my desk.

  We were interrupted twice when Josie and Rona came in to make the reports I'd demanded.

  Mick got sick of jumping and covering himself, so he and Emma went in the master bathroom to work. I could still see them, and they could simply close the door when my reporters knocked. I heard him yelp several times when Emma stuck him with a pin.

  She brought all the right patches and took special care to sew them in place His designation is “Civilian Rank Five” or C5.

  Anyone who has experience fighting HDI's and/or fake military will automatically rise to C3 or above. Wouldn't it be funny if your initials were PO? You could be “C3PO” from the “Star Wars” movies. Yep, I'm a little loopy.

  I guess the army has a new set of rank codes for civilians who volunteer. It'll sound funny to call someone “C4.” Actually, that's ridiculous and I wondered what idiot came up with it.

  Anyway, Mick wore pieces and parts of the uniform while Emma ran out of the bathroom and made adjustments using the sewing machine.

  When he finally emerged in full uniform, drool ran out of both corners of my mouth. He looked absolutely stunning. I wanted Emma to leave the room while he did a strip tease for me. That didn't happen, and even if it had, I couldn't have done a thing about it because of my stupid, worthless back.

  I received several reports today. My first visit was from Josie.

  Chris agreed to send solar panels, batteries, and parts to the compound with each quarterly allotment and when he's home on leave.

  It may take a year to get the compound up and running on full solar power. We'll need to use the cook stove and fireplace for heat this winter, and the other homes will use propane if we can find enough.

  We won't abandon cook stoves and propane heat. Some days, the sun won't be enough to charge batteries. Josie says we should have emergency batteries charged up to see us through those days. Since I have no experience with solar power or making it work, I can only tell you what I know. Mick will return to Lowe's where we found the Hobbs/Halston family to see
if the boxes of solar panels are still there.

  We'll also send looting crews to remove every solar panel we can find from neighborhoods and businesses in town. Hopefully, we can speed the process of getting the compound "solarized." Josie says we need a crew to head out for every vehicle battery they can get. Okay, if she says so, we'll do it

  My second report came from Rona.

  Tomorrow's Luke and Larson's birthday and she has no idea what to do or what to give them.

  I told her to go to Nana immediately after we talked and tell her she'll need a birthday cake and some kind of special supper. Rona says their favorite meal is spaghetti with meatballs full of garlic and chopped onion along with Worcestershire sauce in the mix. We have ground beef in the freezer from our allotment, so I told her to head out there and grab enough to feed the compound. It'll thaw before tomorrow night.

  As far as gifts go, I told her to head to the basement and find M16's or whatever she wants for each of them. I bought a few sets of throwing knives several years ago and I remembered exactly where they're stored. I told her to take two sets for the boys. There's a new dart board and darts that Rick, Ian, and Josie brought home when they went to Walmart, and I told her to grab that as well. She thought those were great ideas and headed out to take care of it.

  My third report came from Jason.

  Five of eight guard towers are up and the floors are finished in three of them. The top floor will have mounted, good old M2 “Ma Deuce” .50 BMG caliber belt fed machine guns, also known as a Browning .50 Caliber Machine Gun. It's been around since WW1. It was being manufactured in America before the world collapsed. I'm just gonna nick name them “badazz guns.”

  The second floor will be manned by guards using their weapon of choice.

  Jason headed out the door with a hop in his step. I'm pretty darn sure he wants to be the first to test those machine guns.