by A. American
“You folks need a doctor for anything? Some of them little ones look like they may have some issues.”
He shook his head. “Naw. We’re good. Everyone is healthy. We’re just hungry is all.”
“We got a doctor in town. I can bring them out here for you if you need.” Sarge pointed at one of the little kids that emerged from the brush. “I’d hate to see them little ones get sick from something we could take care of.”
Just as Sarge said that, the little guy stopped and grabbed his belly. An expression came over his face and he quickly dropped his pants, squatted and shit. As soon as he was done, he hitched his pants back up and walked back over to Thad and smiled, showing his rotted teeth. “Can I have some more?” He asked as he wiped his nose with his forearm.
Normally, Thad would smile at a child. He was good with kids and liked being around them. But he didn’t smile. I could see the pain on his face as he carved another small piece off the bone and handed it to the little guy. He snatched it up and shoved it into his mouth as he walked away, where he was set upon by the other little ones.
Sarge watched this and looked the people over again. Then he looked back at Thad. Thad gave him a nod and Sarge looked back at the man who was sucking his dirty fingers. “Tell you what. We were about to leave. You folks can have this. We’ll leave it with you.”
The man sucked his teeth and looked at the meat. Without looking away from it, he asked, “You ain’t going to eat?”
Sarge sniffed. “Naw. We already ate some earlier.” Lying to the man.
The man looked back at him and asked, “Where’d you get the meat? Taste like pork. But it’s been a while since I had any. Could be dog.”
Sarge nodded. “It’s a pig. We had one wander into our place and we killed it.”
The man sucked his thumb again and pulled it out with a pop. “Didn’t think there were any pigs left.” He looked at Sarge and added, “That’s pretty lucky.”
“Lucky for all of us,” Sarge replied with a smile. “We’ll leave you folks to it. Good luck to you.”
Thad collected his utensils and stepped away from the smoker. As soon as he cleared it, the group rushed it and a fight began. It was a brutal encounter. As the group fought, we got everyone headed to the trucks and loaded up. Little Bit got scared because of the shouts and screams coming from the brawl. Even the little kids among them were darting in and out of the fray. It reminded me of a documentary I watched once about a band of chimpanzees that killed a monkey and fought over the meat. Very primal and animal-like.
As everyone was loading up, I kept an eye on the melee. Mike walked over to Sarge and asked, “What the hell did you do that for? We could have smoked them. We didn’t need to just give it to them.”
Sarge stopped and looked back. “Look at them people. Look what they’re doing to one another for a damn scrap of meat.” He looked back at Mike and added, “You’ll still get to eat tonight. If it wasn’t for them youngins though, I wouldn’t have.”
“Yeah, but you gave it all away. And it smelled so good,” Ted lamented.
Thad added, “Don’t worry, Ted. We still have one at the house. I’ll cook it tomorrow.”
Ted rocked his head back and forth. “I guess I can wait till tomorrow.”
“It’ll be worth it. I promise,” Thad replied.
“Come on, people. Load up. We got shit to talk about.” Sarge said as he opened the passenger door for Miss Kay.
“That was a very thoughtful thing of you to do, Linus,” Kay said as she took her seat. The old man just grinned and gently shut the door.
“Thoughtful, my ass,” Mike muttered.
“You should try thinking about someone other than yourself from time to time,” Sarge replied as he walked around the Hummer.
“What?” Mike asked. “I do all the time. I think about you every time I take a shit.”
Sarge stopped and leaned over the hood of the truck. Glancing at Miss Kay to make sure she was out of earshot, he said, “That’s gonna cost you. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But it will cost you.”
Mike thought about it for a minute. “No, no, no. Just do it now. I’m not going to wander around waiting for you to do whatever crazy ass shit is in that dried-up head of yours.”
Sarge smiled as he opened the door. “Keep it up. It just gets better and better.”
Ted shook his head, “You really should just shut your mouth.”
“Why? I didn’t do anything. I just have to live with a crazy man!”
Ted stepped right up in front of Mike. “You really are your own worst enemy. You do know that, don’t you?”
The best Mike could muster in return was a sophomoric, “Shut up, Ted!”
Ted laughed and climbed into his ride. Mike of course followed him. I waited and watched until everyone was in their respective transports and moving before pulling out at the rear of the column. Looking in the rearview mirror, I could still see the people thrashing one another for the scraps. From what I could see, the only thing left were the bones. These, I imagined, would be picked clean and probably broken open and the marrow sucked out.
On the short ride home, I thought about how hungry they must be. But I was repulsed at their behavior. I wondered how many more people across the country were in the same condition. Most of the people I saw on a daily basis were indeed hungry. But none of them looked as desperate as these folks. It made me thankful for what we had.
I was relieved when we turned into the ranch. It felt good to be home. It felt safe. And not just in a physical security kind of way. It was more than that, this little collection of houses and people. Here, I knew there was food and water. There were good friends I knew I could depend on. I didn’t have to look over my shoulder, wondering if they were going to try and steal my food or worse.
Pulling up to the house, Mel said, “I’m going in to change. Ashley, you need to go change too.”
Little Bit hopped out of the truck and replied, “Ok.” She stretched and yawned and started towards the house.
I smiled at her. What was it about swimming that made you so tired? I knew in no time she would be asleep on the couch. Taylor and Lee Ann passed me up the steps to the porch. I could see they too were tired. Their faces were red from the sun and their asses were dragging. It looked like it would be an early night for everyone this evening.
I dragged my gear into the bedroom and dropped it on the bed. Mel was in the bathroom changing and I caught sight of her through the partially open door. I whistled at her and smiled broadly. She was not amused and gave me a look of annoyance before closing the door.
“Your loss!” I said to the door.
Stripping down, I put on a clean pair of shorts and shirt before heading out to the kitchen. I stopped by the sofa to rub Little Bit’s head. Just as I’d predicted, she was curled up, asleep. She didn’t’ stir, so I left her alone. After pouring a glass of tea, I was putting the pitcher back when Mel came in. She leaned against the island and looked at me, not saying anything.
“Having second thoughts?” I asked. “You had your chance.” I said with a smile.
She rolled her eyes. “No. That’s not it. I’m worried about what we heard on the radio.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Me too. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to nuke us now. There’s nothing left hardly. It would be a total waste.”
“But what are we going to do if they do?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know.” I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and said, “Honestly, it all comes down to where they hit. We can’t really dig a shelter and stock it. There just isn’t enough food around to do it. We’ll just have to hope that it doesn’t happen.”
“That doesn’t really make me feel any better,” she replied.
Hugging her tightly, I said, “Don’t worry about it. If it happens, it happens. There’s nothing we can do about it.” I didn’t tell her I was far more worried about the thought of Cuban and Russian troops rolling into town. That was much mo
re likely.
CHAPTER 8
Mel said she was going to relax with the girls. Everyone had changed their clothes and deposited themselves in a horizontal position somewhere in the house. I told Mel I was going over to Danny’s to talk with Sarge. I wanted to get his take on things. Slipping on a pair of Crocs, I walked next door.
He was sitting on the porch with Miss Kay. Mike, Ted and Doc were there as well. I could hear Bobbie and Danny inside; and the kids were fussing, probably because they were tired. As I walked up on the porch, Mike shook his head.
“What the hell are those on your feet?” He asked.
I looked down at the shoes. “Uh. They’re shoes.”
“No. No they’re not. They’re gay. That’s what they are. Fucking gay.”
I shook my head, “What the hell do you care what I wear on my feet? Don’t look at ‘em if you don’t like ‘em.”
Mike rolled his eyes and stretched out on the porch, putting his hands under his head. “Still gay,” he muttered.
I pulled a chair over and sat down. Looking at Sarge, I asked, “So what do you think about that Russian and Cuban crap?”
He rocked his chair for a minute before replying. “The Ruskies working with the Cubans only makes sense. They’ve got a base of operation right in our backyard.”
“But if they’re headed this way, it could be a real issue for us,” Ted said.
“Ain’t much we can do about it. Just have to wait and see what happens. They may not even come up through here. I’d imagine Orlando and Tampa will see them. But little places like this, out in the woods, may never see them,” Sarge replied.
“I doubt that,” Ted said. “If they’re making a push up the state, we’ll see them eventually. It’s just a matter of time.”
“Have you told Sheffield yet?” I asked.
Sarge shook his head. “No. I figure we’ll let him know tomorrow. I’ll ride into town and have a talk with him.”
“What do you think he’s going to want to do?” I asked.
Sarge snorted. “Probably run and hide.”
With a grunt, Ted replied, “Won’t be no hiding from this.”
I sat back in the chair and looked out at the field across the road. Thinking out loud, I said, “I guess time will tell. We’ll just have to deal with it as it comes.”
“Like we do everything,” Sarge responded.
“Those people at the lake were so sad looking,” Miss Kay interjected. Maybe she was trying to divert the conversation away from the military type of unpleasantness.
“Looked and acted like damn animals,” Sarge acknowledged.
From under his hat, Mike said, “Did you see that little one just squat and shit, right in front of everyone?”
The old man kicked Mike’s foot. “Watch your language.” Mike didn’t bother replying.
“I’m sure you noticed how swollen their bellies were,” Doc said. “They’re eat up with intestinal parasites.”
“How do you know?” Sarge asked.
“I looked at the feces from that kid. It was crawling with worms.”
Miss Kay fanned her face with her hand. “Oh, that is just vile, Ronnie.”
He shrugged. “I was curious. Malnutrition can make the abdomen distend like that for a time. But I figured they were beyond that stage, and I was right. I saw round worms and tapeworms. So whatever food they are managing to find is being consumed by the parasites. Those kids will probably die of malnutrition later. Though it will take a while.”
“That’s just awful,” Kay said. “We should do something.”
Sarge patted her hand. “What could we do? They probably aren’t going to come into town. We offered to bring them a doc out and they said no. Hard as it is to say, we just can’t save everyone. People are going to die.”
Kay looked visibly upset. “But to just let the children die. That’s horrible.”
“From what I saw out of them yesterday, I don’t think they much care if the kids make it.” I offered. “That band looked like it had one rule, every man for himself. Did you notice the kids would run off and hide when they got their piece of meat? I think that in their world you have to fight for every scrap.”
“The world is a tough place,” Sarge replied.
“Sounds like chili three-way from Steak and Shake,” Mike said.
“What?” Doc asked.
“That kid’s heap. Round worms and tapeworms covered in chili,” Mike muttered from under his hat.
“That’s disgusting, Mike!” Kay admonished.
Sarge shook his head. “Ignore him, Kay. He was shaken as a baby.”
Kay was shocked. “Linus! You boys are so mean to one another!”
Mike was laughing under his hat and asked, “Imagine what it would be like if we didn’t like one another.”
Doc was picking at his fingernails. It looked like he was thinking about something. After a minute, he looked up. “Quieter. It’d be a lot quieter.” Then, changing the subject, he asked, “You think we should build a fallout shelter?”
“For what?” Sarge asked.
“In case there’s a chance we start swapping nukes.”
“Wouldn’t do us a bit of good.” Sarge replied. “Sure, we might survive the initial blast and whatnot, if we’re in it when it goes off. But we couldn’t stock it with enough food to make a damn bit of difference.”
“I had this same conversation with Mel a minute ago,” I said. “Came to the same conclusion. We just have to hope they don’t lob any in our direction if it happens.”
“I don’t think they would,” another voice said. It was Dalton walking up to the porch. “The return wouldn’t be worth the investment.”
“How’d you hear about it?” I asked.
“Ian and Jamie came to take over at the bunker and told us about it.” He replied. “If they nuke anything, it’s going to be somewhere like DC or New York. Maybe even Colorado Springs, trying to take out some of NORAD’s capability.”
“Trying to hit Cheyenne Mountain would be a waste of time,” Ted replied.
“Depends on what they dropped,” Sarge said. “IF they dropped one of those Tsar bombs, it could probably take the mountain out.”
“Mmmm, yes. Vanya could probably leave a hole where the mountain once was. But they only tested one of those, and that was in ’61.” Dalton said. “Plus, they’d have to get bombers through to do it, and that’s unlikely.”
Sarge looked at his empty coffee cup and stood up. “All this shit is theoretical. The most likely scenario is some of the commie bastards making their way up the turnpike and finding us here. They’ve already lost some boys this way and they may come looking for them.”
“Or for revenge,” Doc added.
“Potato, tater. It’s all the same thing,” Sarge said. “The end results would be the same. We’d be fighting the bastards. I need coffee.” He said as he headed for the door.
“How much of that shit do you have left? You’ve got to be running out,” Mike asked.
“Don’t you worry about it! I’ve got enough for me!” Sarge shot back.
Mike laughed under his hat. “You’ll run out one of these days. Then what are you going to do?”
Sarge turned towards him and stomped his feet on the porch. In a flash, Mike rolled off the porch and was running across the yard. Sarge laughed as Mike looked back over his shoulder and headed into the house. Ted and I were laughing at Mike when he finally stopped and headed back to the porch. “I thought that old man was going to stomp on my dick.” He said as he snatched his hat from the ground.
“He didn’t need to,” Ted replied. “You nearly killed yourself.”
Dalton looked at Miss Kay and asked, “Miss Kay, is there any chow ready? I’m kind of hungry.”
She stood up. “Oh, you poor thing. I have a chowder on the stove. Let me get you some.”
“You don’t have to get up. I’ll get it,” he said.
She waved him off. “No sir! You come in and sit down and I�
�ll fix you a bowl.”
Looking at Kay, I asked, “Chowder? How in the world did you make chowder?”
She smiled. “You guys aren’t the only ones full of tricks.”
“Well, I got to try this,” I said as I got up and headed into the house.
Several of the women were inside. Mary, Fred and Jess were clustered in the kitchen, talking while Thad and Aric sat at the bar with bowls in front of them. I walked up to the bar and looked at the empty bowls. “How is it?” I asked.
Thad looked down at his empty bowl. “What do you think?”
“Mmm. That bad, huh?” I asked. He smiled and nodded.
I sat down as the rest of the guys filtered in. Sarge was in the kitchen filling his stained mug. Once topped off, he stuck his head over the pot and inhaled deeply. “Damn, that smells good. You ladies never cease to amaze me. What you can do with so little to work with.”
“We try,” Bobbie said as she handed out bowls.
We sat and ate and discussed the watch rotation for the night. It turned out that I wouldn’t have a shift tonight and could actually get a full night’s sleep for a change, something to look forward to. Dalton was sitting at the table on the back porch, and I carried my bowl out there and sat down.
He paused, spoon in his mouth and raised his eyebrows in anticipation. I made a show of settling myself and looked at him. Rocking my head to the side, I asked, “Sup?”
He sucked the spoon as he pulled it out and chewed what was in his mouth. Stirring his bowl, he replied, “Worry and apprehension from the sounds of things.”
I shrugged. “I guess so.” Taking a bite of my chowder, I replied, “It’s always something these days.”
Dalton nodded. “It always has been. There’s always something to worry about. The issues may be a little different. But there’s always something. It may not be the mortgage and car payment now, but there is always something to be dealt with.”
“True. But the things we worry about today are a little more severe. They can actually kill you. Missing a mortgage payment wouldn’t kill you.”
“No,” Dalton replied as he scooped another spoonful. “But these issues are real. Unlike all the other bullshit we used to sweat over. These things make you feel alive. Keep you closer to your true self. Nothing makes you feel more alive than being closer to death.”