No Normal Day III (West)

by Richardson, J.

  “Hard to tell, it's darn sure running fast,” said David.

  Shawna looked very nervous, “I don't really swim much.” She looked at David.

  Cody said, “We definitely can't ride in. We need a pole or a long stick that we can walk in and test the depth with. Even if it's not very deep, it's moving and dangerous.”

  They cut down a sapling from the road side and about every foot, they tied a strip of cloth. Cody took off his boots, dug his tennis shoes out of the wagon and put them on. They tied a long rope around his waist and he started wading into the rushing current. The water nearly knocked him over more than once. By the time he reached about the mid way across, the water was at the second strip of cloth on the pole, just a little above his knees. It was maybe only two feet deep on the road bridge, rolling and rushing, it was strong. He motioned for them to help pull him back to the edge.

  He showed them the stick and said, “Only about this deep but it will knock you over in a blink. I think we can walk the horses across, it could still sweep you over those sides. We will need to tie ropes on the wagon and once we are across with the ropes, the wagon can come. One of us will need to help guide the mules.”

  He looked at everyone, they were nodding okay. Except Shawna, she seemed frozen in place. David grabbed her arm, “Shawna...honey, can you do this?”

  She stood up straight and said, “Yes, I can do it.”

  They tied the ropes to the wagon. Cody took the reins of two of the horses, Ashley and Shawna followed with the other two. They begin to wade into the river. Cody had just about made it across and Ashley was close behind, pulling on her horse's leads. The sound of the rushing water was deafening and there was a sudden crashing noise. A long thick limb came rolling over the side wall. It caught the lower leg of Shawna's horse. The horse jumped and knocked her down, she dropped the reins and was pushed towards the bridge wall. The strong water banged her against the wall and she could not get her feet under her. David was instantly in the water. Cody was rushing to get the horse's leads. Shawna was sputtering, the dirty water washing over her face. Bull flew from the wagon seat and was running and barking, then paddling towards Shawna as David struggled against the current to reach her. Bull had grabbed her flailing arm and was pulling and paddling backwards. David reached them both, shouting, “I've got you...Shawna...I've got you”.

  PFC Pat had waded into the water and reached out to help them. Cody had led the horse out on the other side of the river. They were out of the water. Shawna was coughing and gagging but she was safe, cradled in David's arms. Pat was patting Bull, “Good boy, good boy.” Bull started licking on Shawna's face. She looked down at her torn shirt sleeve, only a scratch or two on her arm. She put her arms around the wet furry neck.

  “Thanks Bull,” she said.

  Pat looked out and saw one rope floating loosely in the water, the other was still stretched across to Cody and Ashley and the three horses. Cody put his hands at his mouth and shouted, “Okay?”

  Pat yelled back, “Okay.” She then said, “David, put little bit in the wagon.” Shawna was too exhausted to argue with that title. “You lead the mules. We are going to cross this som-bitch.” Bull jumped up on the seat beside Pat. With a go mules and a bark, they plowed across the creek that was a river and pulled up on the opposite side. Wet and frightened, they all had made it to other side. They rested a while and moved on down the road for another three hours or so. The made camp right in the middle of the country road.

  They followed the road for about another week, growing ever closer to turning west. There was a dreary sprinkling day or two, no more torrential rains or flooding creeks. Out from major highways and cities they were not encountering trouble. They all knew that their troubles would be far from over. They had all grown fond of their two new companions, PFC Pat and Bull. They were damn glad to have them along. Not that all of them, even Ashley and Shawna were not strong and competent but Pat definitely added to their strength.

  One night the travelers camped out in an old farm house. In a way, it was as if a family just walked out of it. But, if you touched the drapes or any fabric, it disintegrated in your fingers. It was eerie, all those trappings of lives once lived. There were actually a few usable items in the house. Some medicines in the bathroom cabinet, a few jars of preserved food in the pantry. And in the closets, where most of the clothes hung in shreds, they found a small bright yellow rain coat. It fit Shawna, though she wasn't crazy for it. It had a rain hat with it and they tried not to laugh when she put it on her curly dark hair. She also found a pair of tennis shoes, she had lost one of hers in the water. If they got in weather like before, they would be glad to have any rain gear. There was also some old plastic ponchos and a long slicker type man's rain coat. They would all have something, it was important to add the rain gear to their supplies.

  Even though water was everywhere right now, Cody knew that would not be true as they headed more west and the summer heat built. They had filled every container they had with water and used what was available, to save what they had, whenever possible. They watered the animals from a full pond behind the house. They all washed in the cool water. They filled some jugs and added a drop of bleach to the water. That night, they lit a lantern that had been left on the kitchen table and studied the map. Cody felt like they must be only a day or two from the road west.

  Chapter Six

  FAR OUT, MAN

  The big wooden sign was painted in rainbow colors and right in the center was a peace symbol. The circle with an upside down “Y” was heavy black. This was at the outskirts of the town that lay only about two miles from the western road. It was not dark but late in the evening when the riders and wagon slowly pulled into the streets of the city. There was some sort of music that seemed to be getting closer and closer.

  Another block or two and the music was loud and clear, drifting out of the open door of a building. From the door and the windows, flames of candles flickered. They tied the horses and the wagon to old parking meters that lined the street. The cowboys and girls and the soldier walked through the open door, the German Shepard right at Pat's heels. It was smoky and lit with a mellow glow. It wasn't all that was mellow. Pat said, “I smell pot.” Bull had his nose straight up, snuft, snuft. All the friends had smelled that aroma before but it had been a lot of years.

  There were tables and chairs crowded around and a small stage on one side. Cody could swear that mugs of beer sat on most of the tables. On the stage, a girl in a long wildly printed dress was playing a flute. Her sandal clad foot was tapping to the rhythm. A guy sat on a stool with a guitar and sitting on the floor, a guy was thumping on a set of bongo drums. The music was not like anything that any of the friends had ever heard. It was interesting and a little soothing, however. A thin man with long hair and a head band on, approached them. “Hey man, welcome. What'll you have?” He reached down to Bull and said “Hey, lil buddy.” The dog growled and Pat said s-s-st to him. He tilted his head sideways and let the man pet him. Some of the people at the tables murmured, yeah...welcome... peace man.

  David and the others had removed their western hats. It had been a warm day and sweat trickled from the tips of their hair. He said, “Is that beer? It looks like cool beer.”

  “Oh, yeah-h, Dude...straight from the brewery. We keep it down in the root cellar, not cold, but not warm.

  “How much?” said David

  “Five pennies,” said the welcome wagon man.

  Just about that time the bongos ripped out a loud thumping series. David raised his voice, “What?...did you say pennies? Five pennies!?”

  The man spoke over the bongos. “Yeah, I know that is kinda high when you get paid 100 pennies a week. I don't make the prices, I just pour the beer.”

  Pat, whose mouth was literally watering, said to the others, “Wait just a minute. I will be right back.” She told Bull to stay. Shortly, she came back through the door and was carrying a long dirty sock. Reaching down in the sock, she pulled
out a roll of pennies. She looked at the friends and grinned, “Makes a hell of knot on somebody's head.”

  They sat down at a table and said, “Beers, please.” The weird music floated around, the air was thick with marijuana and the beer was good. The roll of pennies bought them all two beers. Cody looked around and had a flash of memory of an old movie from his teens, Star Wars. It was already an old movie at the time he saw it. There was a scene on another planet, in a bar with all sorts of weird characters and music.

  They made conversation with some of the very laid back patrons. It seemed the town had a brewery and gardens where nearly everyone worked. Obviously, one of the big crops was pot. But then folks have to eat, especially tokers, so there were other crops. There was the bar, a cafe and what you might call the company store. Everyone got paid 100 pennies a week for whatever work they did. You lived wherever you wanted for free, the beer and weed and food were priced out at the company store. Like most new cities they had a leader. The citizens of this one called their leader, the Guru.

  It was just like the documentary Cody had seen on TV about the Woodstock Hippie generation that existed over seventy years ago. A town of peace and love and....oblivion.

  The friends had already had a long day. By the time the beers soaked in, they were ready for camp. The beer server told them that they could bed down anywhere in town that they wanted, long as it was unoccupied. Whether it was the day or the numbing air in the bar, Bull was laid out like a dead fish at David's feet. They roused him and gathered the horses and wagon. It was a moonless night so they made their way to an open area and stopped. They took care of the animals and bedded down, counting once again on the dog to watch for them. After a couple of hours, Cody was awake and he decided he would take a watch. This was a strange place. He rummaged around in the wagon and found some dried meat, leaned against the wheel with his rifle at his side.

  Pat was awakened by Bull's heavy tail slapping against her face. The flute player was standing over her and patting the dog on the head. Pat sat straight up. The girl said, “The Guru wants to meet you all.”

  Cody rose from the ground, where he had fell back asleep during the night. “The who?” he said. “We aren't all woke up yet.”

  She shrugged, “Whatever. When you get ready, go over there to the church on the corner.” She pointed across the street, “He is there.” She moved away in a swirl of paisley.

  The friends shook the sleep off. They really had not eaten since earlier in the day before. They dug around in the supplies, made some coffee and pulled together something that would do as breakfast. They all moved across the street to the old brick church with a wooden cross on the top and stained glass windows down the sides.

  When they walked through the doors, a melodious voice said, “Welcome friends, come in.”

  The sun shining through the leaded glass windows made multi colored light spears bounce around the rows of church pews. The small group went down the aisle and sat down on the front bench like children attending Sunday School. A man walked from behind the pulpit and sat in a heavy wooden chair. His flowing gray hair was encircled with a braided headband. He was wearing jeans, a loosely fitting shirt and sandals. “I am Guru John,” he said.

  They each repeated their name and said nice to meet you.

  “What brings you to our city?” asked Guru John.

  Cody was getting pretty good at a brief telling of where they came from and where they were going. The Guru listened and said, “Far out, man. Well, we have a great city here, perhaps you would like to stay around for a while.”

  Pat said, “I have a question or two, ah-h, Mr. John.”

  “Guru John,” the man corrected.

  “Oh yeah, sorry. Anyway, what's the deal with the pennies and where does the beer come from?” she said.

  The Guru was up and pacing around now, “The beer comes from our own home brew distillery. Some of the citizens work there. The pennies...well, it wouldn't make much difference if was pennies or rocks. It is just a way to pay folks for their labor and for them to purchase what they need. It means nothing outside of this community. We are not interested in the world outside of our city.”

  Pat looked thoughtful. Cody said, “It is very kind of you to welcome us. We have a destination and we will be continuing on to the west.” The others nodded in agreement.

  “Well, you can have a look around and stay as long as you need. If you change your mind, the offer of work and shelter is open. If not, if you travel on, may the gods look after you,” said the man with a flourish of his arms.

  Shawna elbowed Ashley, “The gods?” she whispered. Ashley smiled and shrugged.

  The travelers stayed around the rest of the day and the night. They explored the city, the gardens and the brewery. In the gardens, the pot farm and the vegetable garden, dozens of people worked. There were lots of children in the fields. They didn't seem to belong to anyone in particular. They worked along side the adults. More citizens working in the brewery and more in the company store. None of the houses around town looked inhabited. It was like the citizens didn't really claim any one home, they just stayed wherever, whenever. It wasn't that the people of the town seemed unhappy. Yet, they didn't seem happy. They seemed nearly robotic, just numbly going through the motions every day that kept them alive.

  Cody found himself thinking of Unity. Thinking how each of the compounds was always busy with the work of the day. How clean and organized Jack and Beth's family compound always was. He remembered the strong connection of the families and the children, how much he felt loved and part of the family. He thought of how much pride all of the citizens took in protecting and preserving the small town. On any given day, not only were people working in the community garden and caring for the livestock, someone usually was pulling weeds and or doing maintenance in the cemetery. Respectfully caring for not just their loved ones but for all of the grave sites. There was a purpose and an energy in Unity. They too, might have been isolated from the rest of the After world, the difference was that their town was vital and full of life.

  They actually went to the company store, took one of Pat's rolls of pennies and purchased some fresh vegetables and six bottles of beer. The plan was to try to save them for bartering. That might be a challenge, however. One thing they just didn't get, was the penny thing. When they were resting at their campsite that afternoon, Shawna kicked up a penny in the dry dirt. She held it up and said, “Look, that's an hour's pay. Remember how pennies used to be laying around everywhere. You hardly ever took the trouble to pick one up. Why don't they just dig around and pick them up?”

  “Maybe they do or maybe they have picked up all the easy ones,” said David. “I don't think anybody here cares much about more than just what gets them by. They sure aren't interested in leaving. They are content to just exist, it seems.”

  That evening, Pat pulled out the last roll of her “head knocker pennies” and they had some cool beers. Right at daybreak, they pulled away from the city with no one taking notice. Keeping the speed of the wagon they were already within view of the highway that stretched to the west. David started laughing and shaking his head back and forth, “That was one freaky place.” They were all in complete agreement.

  Pat said, “The beer was good.” They laughed and turned the caravan to their left. They were on the old four lane highway, heading so due west that when the sun moved towards setting, they would be looking right into the fiery globe. It would be nearly two hundred miles on this highway, before they completely left the forests of eastern Texas behind. The road would lead through several small towns. Though, there would be stretches of open fields, the road would often dip back into thick tree lined miles. The woods would slowly become less dense and the trees would become shorter and scrubbier. It would be gradual and way up ahead, when the forests finally gave way into wide open spaces.

  Chapter Seven

  DUE WEST

  June arrived, the heat came with it and the heat would get
worse as the next two months progressed. Already, the rains were mostly gone, the days were longer and sticky hot. The caravan had traveled through one small town. Before they reached the town and on the other side were small communities, the town proper seemed completely abandoned. They did see a ghost, a glimpse of life peeking out from a couple of windows in the communities. It was like the survivors lived outside the town. It was probably easier to manage and live on the land. The ghosts offered no sign of wanting contact and there was no appearance of an organized compound. The travelers just kept on moving.

  The map showed that about another day ahead was a fairly good size town. It lay at the intersection of Jack's westward road and an Interstate highway. They had no idea what they would find in the town, it was unpredictable and certainly could hold danger. They made camp at a location about a half a day from the town. Since they had not moved into the really dry open expanses, their luck was holding and water was still available. You could see the ponds had begun to shrink from their banks, they were not as full as they had been the month before. Some streams and creeks were only mud holes. So far, they were able to find a water source at least once a day. Making camp in a field near a small stock pond, they let the animals graze.

  They checked out their weapons and ammo, making sure they were in good working order. Later, after they were settled in and had a meal they would discuss some strategies. They would make some plans for dealing with trouble that they might encounter in the town. Across the meadow surrounding the camp, the loud sound of Bull's barking erupted. Pat looked across the grass and spotted one of the horses rearing up and pawing at the air. She could just see the tip of the shepard's tail rapidly swishing back and forth. She ran towards the animals, shouting, “Bull, stand down!” The dog did not stop his frantic barking. The others followed Pat, rushing to the animals. Then came a shrill yelp. Pat reached Bull as he was backing up, yelping in pain. A large copperhead snake lay coiled on the ground. David had reached the horse and got him backed away. Pat said, “Stay back, it's a snake.” She took out her pistol and shot three times into the coiled viper.