by R Kralik
It'll be at least a month before I see Mick again. THIRTY FRICKIN' DAYS! I've never spent more than two nights away from him. When Carisa was born, he slept on a cot in my hospital room. Three or four times during our marriage he had an overnight stay at a hotel in Atlanta to attend conferences for work. I spent one night sleeping on a chair outside Marisa's room when Amber was born.
We didn't eat breakfast in the mess tent this morning. Mick wanted cold cereal and he wanted to stay home with his family for as long as possible. That's what we did.
The front door was open and I saw the mess tent come down. It was like a sudden awakening, watching that tent slowly fall to the ground. Two hours later, the unit was ready to go and I watched as Josie said goodbye to Chris from the front gate.
We were watching the vehicles pull out when Mick turned to me. It was the moment I'd been dreading. It was 10 seconds before he walked down the driveway and joined a huge number of Patriots who'll fight for our survival if nothing else.
We watched every step he took. Carisa held my arm as he exited the gate and turned to wave. We all waved back. He climbed inside a drab olive truck that melded with the line of drab olive trucks on the road.
Rick, Isaac, and Soo waved when they exited the gate and we all waved back. I swore to Soo that I'd take good care of Merry while he's gone. He said he'll be back anytime he's on leave.
I watched Mick’s truck until it passed the tree line.. It felt surreal.
My darling Mick... My heart just walked down that driveway. He’ll be spending time with someone else. He’ll be with strangers who don’t love him like we do.
What can I do? How can I make sure he’s fed, and safe, and has shelter over his head? I can’t.
What if he gets injured? Who’ll sit by his side, waiting for him to open his eyes? Will he die, trying to crawl home to me?
What if he’s killed? Will his body be thrown on a flatbed trailer with dozens of others? Will he be left to rot? WiIl his name be written on a list and taken back to home base. Will they contact me? How long will it take?
This doesn’t seem right. It’s a bad dream. I don’t know if I can take it. Lord, I miss him already.
I went down on my knees and prayed when he disappeared from sight. Marisa and Carisa had to drag me back up on my feet.
They followed me to my bedroom and we cried together. We held one another, assured one another, laughed through our tears, and promised to be there for one another while he's gone. I cursed him, and swore my undying love for him, in the same sentence. Both girls nodded, and we cried some more.
I seriously need to throw myself into some kind of work, but my back is keeping me from it and I'm ticked off. I'm furious, and grumpy, and my blood pressure's probably high.
Carisa crawled into my bed to sleep on her daddy's pillow. She said she didn't get a bit of sleep last night and she was finally worn down both mentally and physically.
Marisa left to take care of her children. She promised to drag me out by the hair of my head for lunch if I don't appear on my own. She may have to do just that. I'm not sure I wanna leave this room. The smell of him lingers.
I hear lots of gunfire from the road as the rear guard takes out HDI's trying to follow the unit. I'll probably hear gunfire all day. Our men will take over when the rear guards disappear down the road. It's gonna be a long, long day. If I can make it through today and wake up tomorrow, it'll be twenty-nine days 'til I see him again. It sounds like an eternity.
I'm gonna crawl in beside Carisa and try to nap. I feel like I'm living in a different world now. Mick's gone and I miss him already.
See ya later.
2:00 PM...
Marisa almost had to make good on her promise to drag me out of the bedroom. Carisa left before I woke up, and I was sound asleep when Marisa knocked and hollered “time for lunch.”
I pulled myself awake and raised up on my elbows to shake the cobwebs from my brain before crawling off the bed and looking for something to help me walk. I'm still having trouble with my back, but I've graduated from the metal walker to the cane.
Nana and Rebecca made baked beans with hotdogs sliced up to pour over rice for lunch. Nana said the hotdogs came from the frozen supplies the unit left inside the reefer trailer. She had to soak the packages in warm water to thaw them out in time for lunch.
Surprisingly, I'm doing okay right now. I don't wanna see anyone's face other than my children or grandchildren, but I have no choice. I'll wither and die if I don't carry on. Carisa wouldn't be able to handle me becoming a recluse.
While we ate, everyone updated me on what the unit finished before they left.
The second tunnel has all supports up. Part of one wall in the big room has supports as well.
The well is full, and Dane thinks he can figure out some way to pump the water up the hill. He began slinging terms and names of equipment toward me and finally figured out that I didn't understand a word he was saying by the blank look on my face. He went back to his beans and weenies so that anyone else with a report could speak.
While Jason was describing the gate, I was wondering why they all thought of me as the “Godfather” of the group. I don't want that position. I wonder who I can pass it off to. Maybe Pop will accept. He's good at that kind of stuff. Yep, I think I'll ask him to step up and be the President of Kapper Hill while Mick's gone.
Lunch was over and Marisa wouldn't let me return to my room. She told me to sit on the chaise and talk while the kitchen was cleaned and dishes were washed.
Carisa was moping around the room and I told her we needed a full and complete list of exactly what supplies we have and where they're located.
I asked Jesse to make a full and complete list of all the ammo and weapons we have and where they're located.
I finally stood and told Marisa that I had a duty to write in my diary everyday around this time as I walked down the hall and into my room. It felt good to close the door behind me.
I have Mick's pillow on my lap and I can squeeze it and smell it anytime I wish. This pillow and pillowcase will not be washed while he's gone. It's my security blanket.
Since I can't physically work, I intend to throw myself into planning what supplies need to be taken to which locations, and try to figure out how to get them there without Josie or Velma finding out.
We hadn't considered Ian. I wonder if his loyalty now lies with Kapper Hill or if he still feels a duty to the military. We need to meet and discuss it before telling him our plans.
It won't be long before someone comes to drag me out of here for supper. I think I'll look through my wedding album while I wait. I feel useless. See ya later.
11:30 PM...
How dare I believe this would be a quiet night? I must've been crazy to even consider the idea.
It's Mick's first night away from home and the HDI family reunion decided to hold their annual event in the big field around the onion garden fence. They looked like spectators at a baseball game. The entire perimeter was surrounded by HDI's looking in.
The worst part? Pop and Emma were inside the fence with the Kubota. The days are longer now, and we have a couple hours of daylight after supper. Pop thought it would be a grand time to start work on the onion field.
Emma was there with him, carrying a rifle across her shoulders, to stand guard. Pop jumped off the tractor and took the rifle from her. He began shooting HDI's through the fence.
We could hear the fence rattling from here as the “live ones” were driven into a frenzy,
The men headed to the trailer fence and were halfway down the hill when Deuce ran in from the back screaming that he'd seen an HDI fly on one of the horses. I heard ringing in my ears as I yanked him into the kitchen and asked if he'd been bitten or if he'd killed the fly. The answer to both was “no.”
I didn't know what to do.
I tried to get Deuce to run to the tunnel and tell Jeremy and Jesse to get here as soon as possible but he refused to go back outside. Valerie sai
d she'd do it and threw one of the beekeeper hats over her head as she went out the door.
Jeremy and Jesse arrived within five minutes. I threw beekeeper outfits and fly swatters toward them and told them what Deuce thought he saw. They donned the outfits and headed to the meadow.
I headed to the front porch.
Suddenly, our sweet, mild-mannered Pao jumped inside the Humvee we got from the fake military and drove it to the bottom of the driveway, stopping at the gate
I saw Carisa jump out of the passenger side and my heart almost exploded. She unlocked the gate and slid it open enough for Pao to drive the Humvee through. Then, she closed it behind him. He drove the Humvee straight through the onion fence and came to a halt beside the tractor. Pop and Emma jumped inside and Pao drove back to the gate.
The folks on top of the trailer fence shot HDI's while Carisa opened the gate to allow the Humvee to enter. By that time, HDI's were crossing the road and trying to climb the trailer fence.
Dane said it was like shooting fish in a barrel. Thirty minutes later they were almost out of HDI's and most of them were out of ammo. Dane and Ian stayed to take out the remaining HDI's and Luke ran to the basement, grabbed ammo and headed back down to resupply them.
When I went back inside, Elaine asked where Jesse was and I told her I'd sent him to the meadow to kill an HDI fly Deuce thought he saw.
She drew back her hand to slap me and I caught her by the wrist. Through clenched teeth I dared her to try it again. She lowered her arm and walked into the kitchen to stare at the door and wait for Jesse to return. Several minutes went by before he and Jeremy came inside to tell us what they'd found.
Nothing. They found nothing. The sun was setting when they headed back to the house.
Jesse said the beekeeper outfits spooked the horses and they wouldn't come near either of them. They wanted to check each horse, but the big babies wouldn't go near those beekeeper outfits and Jesse said he and Jeremy weren't about to take them off, so they came inside.
Josie asked to spend the night at the house because she feared walking back to her motorhome in the dark with an HDI fly on the loose. That caused us to postpone our little meeting we had planned for tonight to decide when to begin carrying food and supplies to our hidey-holes.
Flies are holding us hostage. This is like a curse that a wicked witch would put on a beautiful princess.
I was ready to head in here, and looked for Deuce to tell him goodnight. Carisa told me he was in his room and wouldn't come out.
I knocked on his door and got no answer so I entered the room and saw that he had clothing and towels stuck in the crevices between the wall and the plywood over the window. He also had a towel stuffed along the bottom of the door. He was in his closet, cutting a “door” in the back so he could climb inside to hide and pull the sheetrock back after him. He was scared.
I held him and talked with him for a good 30 minutes before he told me he'd be “brave” and come out of his room in the morning. I told him I was proud of him, closed the door, and headed in here.
We'll need to clean up HDI bodies and take them to the power lines to burn in the morning. It'll take all day because I'm sure they'll be covered with flies and no one will want to work on the project unless they're wearing a beekeeper suit. We have only four suits.
What a mess.
I'm sending someone back to the specialty store tomorrow to see if they can find more suits.
I wonder if we could spray the outside of the house from top to bottom with insect repellant.
I wonder what Mick's doing right now. My heart hurts.
Bye for now.
Saturday, May 3
I woke up this morning with flies on the brain. Finally, I had an idea and I asked Carisa to run downstairs and bring up the book with the colored photos of flies with HDI and every known mutation.
I remembered that the book also contained photos of several other flies like house flies, horseflies, dragonflies, etc.
Deuce was true to his word and came out of his room for breakfast. While we were eating, I asked him to go through the pictures and show us which fly he saw. He pointed to the photo of a regular old horsefly.
The entire room sighed with relief while I explained to him that the horsefly photo was in the book so we could identify the bad flies from the “not so bad” flies, and that he'd seen a normal horsefly.
I figured it looked huge to him.
Heck, horseflies look huge to me and I've seen plenty. I know how quickly a twelve-year-old imagination can run wild, especially when someone's told you that mutant flies are out to get you. He understood, and his face turned bright red. I had to give him the old “better safe than sorry” and the “we’re so proud of you for keeping a watchful eye out” spiels.
Everyone there told him they were glad he was aware of what was going on and keeping a watch out for unusual flies. That made him feel better. In fact, he headed straight to the meadow after breakfast.
Dane, Jason, Ian, and Jeremy took two loads of HDI bodies to the power lines before breakfast
I miss Mick so much. I'm sure my heart is bleeding. The feeling is almost like jet lag. My whole body misses him. I can't go 10 minutes without thinking of him and wondering what he's doing. I'm trying to send unlucky vibes to any enemy he faces.
Josie said she didn't sleep a wink all night, and she headed to her motorhome after breakfast. That made me happy because we'll be able to load the delivery truck with a few things and take them to the cave. We'll have to be careful and not move too much at once in case Josie or Velma are actually aware of what we have.
Dane has the delivery truck backed up to the basement door. We plan to tell anyone who asks that he's getting ready to go on a lootin' run with Ian and Pao.
I told everyone that I'd let Carisa in on our plans right away because she keeps a sharp eye on the supplies and she'll notice something missing in a heartbeat. I'll have a talk with her after the crew leaves.
Kevin, Rona, and Shawna are actually the ones going on a real lootin' run. They're headed back to the specialty store to pick up beekeeping suits.
Even though Deuce's HDI fly turned out to be a false alarm, we still want to have as many suits as possible. I wondered aloud if we could find HAZMAT suits at the hospital. Kevin said they'd stop and check it out if there aren't too many HDI's on every floor.
Luke and Larson are standing watch in the front guard towers today. Pop will be spending time with each one of them in each tower. Rona feels safe enough to let them handle it because of the locks on the inside of the doors.
Luke and Larson would take out any fake military folks who try to make the jump from the top of the trailer fence to the middle floor window of the towers. I think that area's our most vulnerable spot and I asked the men to come up with some sort of plan to make the top of the trailers beside the towers dangerous.
I came up with two ideas. My first idea was to stick long spikes through the top of the fence trailer, but Pop reminded me that the hay inside would get wet. I suppose we could use the hay from those trailers first so we can employ the spike idea.
My second idea is to add metal shutters on the inside of the watch tower windows that can be closed and locked if entry is threatened. Plus, there's always the badazz guns on the top floor. Anyway, I'm no good at stuff like that so I'll give Dane my suggestions and leave it to him.
I just heard the truck engine start up. Dane's probably ready to head out. I'm gonna grab Carisa and fill her in.
See ya later.
3:00 PM...
Carisa listened to everything I told her and replied “It's about time.” She completely agrees that we needed to stash and cache. She said she'd work on a dummy list in case someone wants to check the food and supply list.
Rona, Kevin, and Shawna came back from their lootin' run pretty darn fast. They brought nothing home except information and fear.
They were sitting in the Dodge, about ready to open the doors and head inside th
e specialty shop when Kevin noticed movement in the rear view mirror.
Military vehicles were headed towards them, and they all three ducked and laid down in the seats praying the vehicles would pass them by. They had no idea whether it was real military trucks or fake military trucks.
Rona swears that she held her breath for two minutes as the small convoy slowly passed them by.
All three of them were afraid to raise their heads to make sure every vehicle had passed. Shawna finally said “what the heck” and slowly raised her head until her eyes were above the windows. She saw no vehicles on the street at the rear or the front.
They decided to take the scenic route home. They didn't get out of the vehicle. I prayed that the convoy passed the pull-off and wouldn't run into Dane on his way back from the cave. Thankfully, he didn't see them.
Kevin decided they had acted ridiculous, running after the danger had passed. He and Dane are in town now, getting what they need to get. I hope they remember the beekeeper suits.
Josie said they radioed in about half an hour ago and told her the noise device is loud and clear, and it's working. They've seen several HDI's headed toward the rock quarry.
We're due to check the quarry in a few days. I think I'll go along. Surely I can't get into trouble staring at a bunch of HDI's in a deep hole.
I wonder what Mick's doing right now. I'm imagining him in a martial arts class with his shirt off and wearing sweatpants. He's barefoot and throwing some mean karate chops toward his instructor who's praising him for his ability to catch on fast.
Maybe he's on a shooting range, firing at moving targets. He's wearing his uniform and his brow is furrowed as he concentrates on his targets. I can almost smell his shaving gel on the wind.
I need to get out of this funk. It can't be good for me.
Elaine and Lisa have been filtering water all day. They're working on filling the two large white tanks behind the house.
It's eighty eight degrees outside and I'm miserable. Have I ever mentioned that I hate bras? Well, I hate bras. I think of them as torture devices, especially in the heat of summer.