When he’d first seen her in the field, he wondered how a woman, slender and obviously someone who had lived an easy life, could have survived as she had in the wild that was now the norm.
But over the days and weeks, he found she had a hardiness of the soul and no fear of working and getting her hands dirty. She was a highly-educated woman, but simple in her words and her likes. He wasn’t sure she’d stay at the farm, but not only did she stay, she began to fit in and help. She was excellent at reasoning and problem solving and without trying, she fit in with the people on the farm already, and helped the new people feel welcome.
Jerry sat in the chair Kayla must have placed there for him and he took Kellie’s hand. He didn’t know what he should say or was supposed to say, but he was happy to feel the warmth in her once delicate hands that during her time at the farm begun showing her first calluses.
He told her everything he’d done since he arrived back at the shelter with the astronauts. He did it all while holding her hand. When he was finished, he thought he felt her squeeze his hand, but wasn’t sure. When Kayla came in to tell him his time was up, Jerry told her about the squeeze. Kayla nodded and didn’t tell him it was probably just muscle reflex.
The best news the doctor gave him that day was Randy was being released. Jerry waited for his son as Monica helped him dress. He then helped his son down the steps of the motorhome, telling himself it might be a good idea to build a ramp for it.
Jerry and Randy walked around the shelter for just a few minutes because Dr. Kayla said the young man needed some exercise, but not too much yet. He discussed his gift for Kellie and Randy agreed it might be a very good idea. Randy respected Kellie, even though they had disagreed on Cheryl. He now saw how right the older woman was and wanted to find some way to apologize.
Jerry called Eddie on his walkie-talkie and the three met in the shelter. Eddie thought Jerry’s plan for Kellie’s recovery was “boss” and agreed to help. Danny, who was recovering nicely overheard the conversation and also wanted to do something for the woman he was unable to save from being knifed and shot.
With Danny came Jamal and from there, everyone who heard about Jerry’s plan wanted to contribute what they could.
It took three days for Jerry, Eddie and Danny and the others to find everything they needed. Then the real work began.
On the fifth day after Kellie’s injuries had been tended, when Jerry was sitting with her, her eyes fluttered awake. She had a new bandage around her head that hid the stitches Kayla had to put in her forehead. She opened her eyes and looked around. She realized she was in a rather well appointed-room in the medical motorhome.
Jerry called softly for Monica because Kayla was off checking on a child who had gotten hurt climbing a tree.
Monica hurried into the room and checked Kellie’s pulse and temperature. She relaxed and told Jerry that everything was fine.
“Jerry?” she asked through dry lips.
“Right here, Kell.”
“Oh Jerry. I’m so sorry,” she said and started crying.
He didn’t know what she was sorry about, but he was glad she was still alive and nothing she’d done wrong made any matter to him. He kissed her gently on the forehead, stroked her hair and told her nothing was wrong now. “As soon as you get out of here, I have a present for you.”
It was not a speedy recovery, but four days later, Dr. Kayla allowed Kellie, who had lost a lot of weight and was still weak from the ordeal, to leave the medical motorhome for the first time since the surgery to sew up the bullet holes Cheryl had inflicted on her.
Everyone was there, outside the motorhome as Jerry held her hand, helping her down the long ramp. No one had found a wheelchair, but Kayla said if Kellie leaned on Jerry, the exercise would be beneficial.
There was applause and cheers from everyone who lived on the farm. Even Boomer barked.
Kellie started crying again. She hadn’t realized how loved she was. No one had forgotten the story Katie and Mrs. deJesus had told them of how Kellie had sacrificed herself for Hannah.
Jerry escorted her into the shelter.
It wasn’t the shelter she had left. All signs of the blood had been cleaned up. Jerry and the others spent 18 hours a day, with everyone who could, helping to fulfill Jerry’s plan of a gift for Kellie. It showed Jerry how much everyone loved Kellie and re-affirmed how important she was to this shelter.
The shelter, which had been a hodgepodge of make-shift accessories, plywood walls, well-used furniture and small rooms, had been remodeled to every extent Jerry could imagine.
Still holding on to Jerry’s arm, Kellie was escorted slowly through the doors of the shelter. The kitchen, had all new appliances on a brand new, real hardwood floor over the concrete which she’d grown used to.
There were real counters with marble tops and all new matching dinnerware, pots and pan and a dishwasher. The living room had been gutted and rebuilt. All of Tony’s electronic equipment had been moved to his motorhome. In its place were comfortable furniture and a real desk for her computer and tablet.
There was a large flat screen TV for watching DVDs in one corner and music playing softly from speakers hidden in the ceiling. There was another large screen which had the feed of the 16 surveillance cameras around the farm.
Tony had installed a base station CB within easy reach for her, right next to the player for her music.
Jerry let her take it all in; everyone else had stayed outside, watching through the doors, not wanting to intrude on this special moment for Jerry.
He helped her up the 10 new and wider spiral steps to what used to be Eddie and Randy’s room. She wondered if Jerry had re-modeled the room for her personal use, but when he opened the door, she started crying again.
All three bedrooms had been converted into one split-level room. There were real walls and real pictures of scenery. He’d built in a real closet and real dressers and a real bathroom with a tub. The inside and outside walls were curved and lighted along the ceiling and baseboards and each of the three levels were separated by five wide steps to the next higher level.
There was just one bed in the room, a king-sized bed with real linens between night stands with individual lamps.
The bed and everything else in the shelter had been scavenged from the wrecked motorhomes in Anniston, and a home improvement store that hadn’t been totally destroyed in Harrisburg, transported here and installed.
Molly jumped off the bed when she saw Kellie enter the room. Molly, who had been punted by Cheryl had recovered and was thrilled to see her owner. The little dog was yipping and running in circles. Jerry had made the dog stay in the bedroom because it had a way of climbing on Kellie’s lap given half a chance.
“Welcome home, Kellie. You like it?” Jerry asked, picking up Molly so Kellie could pet her little mutt.
“Oh you dear man, I love it,” she said through tears. “And I love you, too,” she told him as she kissed him. She finally had to admit to him and to herself that Jerry was the man she was destined to be with.
“Can I stay here now? Do you think Kayla will let me?”
“I don’t think Kayla could stop you, even if she wanted to,” Jerry told her, as he helped her sit down on the bed. It was the most comfortable bed Jerry could find within the specifications Kayla had given him.
She would have suffer many visits from Kayla every day for a while, but she was permitted to stay in the shelter as long as she took it very easy, didn’t lift anything and was careful in her movements around the grounds.
“I think she’s had enough excitement for the day,” Kayla told them, coming up to the bedroom and checking on Kellie’s condition. “Now I think she needs to rest for a while then see if she can eat some solid food.”
Jerry agreed and told Kellie he had some work he needed to finish, but he’d bring her something to eat in about two hours. He helped her get comfortable on the bed and pulled the blankets over her. Molly curled up beside her.
; As Jerry leaned over to kiss her forehead, Kellie reached up and pulled on his tee shirt. “No sir. Now you kiss me like this.” She pulled his lips to hers and kissed him with a fiery passion that was only tempered by her state of recovery.
Chapter 5
Once they were back on the road Amanda told Shep they could probably drive 200 miles at a time and stop for a break and fuel. At 60-65 miles per hour, they’d go about three and a half hours at a time and that would eat up the miles. “If you sleep when I’m driving and I sleep when you’re driving, we could make it to the states inside of a week, allowing for breaks and fueling and both of us being too tired to drive.”
Shep agreed with her and the two former soldiers from Ft. Wainwright got on the road. They had a long day ahead of them.
Their first stop was in Palmer Alaska, less than an hour after leaving Anchorage. They were passing a sportsman’s club and Amanda wanted a hand gun and rifle to go with the M-60 that was mounted on the roof of her truck. They broke into the building and found more than she could have hoped for. She found a Baretta 92 and enough ammunition to fill five clips. She also picked up a 12 gauge shot gun and two boxes of slugs and 00 buck shot.
Shep said he wasn’t much of a gun enthusiast and let Amanda find one he could easily use. She chose the Marlin 336 30-30. She showed him how to load it with five rounds. When and if he needed to shoot, all he’d have to do cock the lever and it would load. Then it was aim and shoot. She told him it would kick more than an M-16, but if he pulled it tight into his shoulder, he’d never notice.
They also stopped to fuel the HUMVEE and take a rest break. Amanda wanted to drive as many miles as she could the first day so she suggested Shep try to get some sleep. She’d wake him if anything exciting happened.
He adjusted his pillow and closed his eyes before saying. “If what has happened over the past few weeks and this morning hasn’t been exciting, there’s something seriously wrong with you sergeant.”
Amanda drove for almost five hours before stopping at the intersection of Highways 1 and 2. Shep had slept most of the time and was ready to get out and stretch. She saw that everything to the west had been destroyed by fire. The visitor center had also been burned to the ground, but the Chevron gas station and restaurant were still standing.
Best of all, was the semi at the Chevron station. It was a tree-hauler nearly full of diesel fuel and it took Amanda and Shep less than 20 minutes to top off the HUMVEE. Amanda was still wearing her combat boots, but took a short run a couple hundred yards down the highway and back. Five hours was along time for her to sit and she was feeling a few of the cramps she got every month. Amanda drove three and a half more hours before giving over the truck to Shep. He’d slept on and off and was wide awake when Amanda pulled over beside a wrecked semi. The truck had slammed into some construction equipment and the two found enough diesel to fill their truck back up.
It was dark now, but the snow had stopped and the moon was bright in the sky. It would be easy for Shep to drive through the next few hours. Amanda was finally feeling tired and with her blanket and pillow, by the time they were five minutes back on the road, she was asleep.
They continued the process until arriving in White Horse.
In White Horse they found a restaurant with a big sink. They noticed they were beginning to smell. They filled it with water and heated some over a fire so they had reasonably good water to wash their bodies. There was a clothing store so both found clean underwear and socks. Amanda kept her Army jacket because it was well-made and very warm, but she found some jeans and flannel shirts she could change into.
During their entire stay in White Horse they saw nothing move except a bear in the distance and many smaller animals already reclaiming the town.
Before getting back on the road, they pulled out of the truck everything they packed at Ft. Wainwright. They aired it out so the truck wouldn’t smell so bad. They also found some stuff, like empty MRE bags, they wouldn’t need and left it there in White Horse.
The sun was just setting as they finished and they decided to spend the night if they could find a house with a wood burning stove. They did and Amanda fired up the potbelly stove after making sure there were no bodies in the house.
An hour after dark, the house was reasonably warm. The HUMVEE was parked outside, fueled and ready for the next day. They had plenty of food and water and for the night, two queen-size beds with heavy comforters.
Both slept surprisingly well after talking for a little while about their respective families.
Amanda was up first and stoked the stove. She heated water and washed again and put on all clean clothes. She looked out the window as saw no new snow had fallen over night.
They would be driving with clear skies at least to start out.
Shep woke up and except for stoking the stove, did the same thing Amanda had done. They had a light breakfast and got back on the road. Both had slept well so they were ready to continue their crossing of Canada. By the end of the day they would have crossed the half way point and from there, Amanda had convinced Shep, things were all down hill.
It was their third full day and two nights of driving when they entered the city of Edmonton. From there they would drive straight south to Calgary then to Spokane.
Amanda was beginning to feel like they might make it to the United States without any problems. The HUMVEE was running smoothly. She checked the fluids every three breaks, the tires every break and kept fuel in the tank above a quarter filled. They’d seen no other signs of people.
They stopped before taking the 216 bypass around Edmonton to refuel. They found a diesel tanker parked under the Century Road overpass. It had parked there and wasn’t wrecked so they assumed the driver’s body was still in the cab. While they were fueling, there was something about getting on the bypass and heading straight south that lifted their spirits more than the break. The highway was clear of snow with the temperatures rising above freezing during the day time. They felt safer driving 60 – 65 miles per hour now.
The 180-mile drive to Calgary was as pleasant as any part of the trip. The sun was out, but not blinding with the high clouds. They both knew that from Calgary to Spokane was about a 10-hour drive so they were going to fill up after driving through Calgary and drive until sunset. Then they’d find a place to stay that had beds and a wood stove and get a good night’s sleep before driving the last four hours through Southern Canada, Northern Idaho and into Washington State.
They stopped for the day in a town in the mountains called Coleman. They got fuel and found a house near the interstate that had a nice fire place and no dead bodies they could find. They didn’t search the house, just the main floor, believing ignorance was bliss in this case. Amanda started a fire in the fireplace to warm the house. There was no running water, but they had seen 5-gallon water bottles at a nearby gas station. Amanda drove to get a few so they could bathe while Shep cooked. She had to pick up some iron cookware to heat the water in the fireplace, so they were able to have a hot meal and a hot bath that night.
While they were talking, Amanda told Shep that any number of young men would have given five years of their life to have an evening like this with her. Shep told her of the troubles he’d had getting together with his girlfriend, who was white. Mississippi had come a long way in the past dozen years, but being a mixed couple in the south was not quite as acceptable as in places like California and New York.
There were two bedrooms on the main floor and Amanda took the master for the night. She looked at the pictures of the family who had lived here. They had left family photos on the dresser and walls. They must have been elderly because they had adult kids with children. She hoped they were all together when the end came for them.
As she lay in bed, she thought about how tomorrow they’d be back in the United States she was familiar with. Maybe she’d find out about her mom or maybe they’d find other people. She hoped for both but expected neither.
Sleep came easy t
o her with nothing but the sound of the fire in the fireplace and Shep’s snoring in the next room.
Morning came cold and clear. All the driving had left Amanda feeling out of sorts, so she went for a run while Shep made them some breakfast and stoked the fire. The temperature was in the teens, but her mittens and hat kept her from freezing while she worked up to speed. She ran about 20 minutes from the house and turned around to return on the same street. She did not want to get lost.
She was reflecting on the miles she and Shep had put behind them in the last eight days and hoped the next two days went just as well. She looked forward to getting back into the United States.
Two blocks from the house she and Shep had been staying in, she slowed to a fast walk to cool down. She almost felt like singing a cadence while walking. It would have echoed in this dead town where there was no one left alive. That was what she was thinking when she heard the gun shot.
* * *
The first new external building went up for storage on Jerry’s farm. It was built into the side of the same hill where Jerry had planned to put his second windmill back up. Both windmills had been destroyed in the hurricane, but they were still finding parts to re-build and re-erect the second one.
No one staying on his farm had ever been a contractor, but Jerry and Rusty had both done some construction work. Months earlier, Jerry and Mike had raided a lumber yard and they still had a lot of the wood stored in the garage near the front of the farm. The garage and barn had been severely damaged during the hurricane, but both had been salvageable.
Eddie and Cleve took the SWAT truck with trailer to a lumber yard they’d found to scavenge more of anything they could use to help build a storage shelter. Most of the lumberyard was gone but they were able to garner a pallet of cement, a dozen railroad ties, a man door and some insulation from what was left.
Cleve wanted to drive through the town of Trussville, looking for more electronics. The strip mall where Monica, Eddie and Randy had been attacked months before was gone except for foundations. The building where they’d gotten guns and the shortwave radio Tony still used was gone as well. Fire had ripped through the town of Trussville and it was being overgrown quickly, to be reclaimed by Mother Nature.
Hell Revisited (Hell happened) Page 8