American Revenant: Hometown Exodus
Page 6
Rick, Mike and Tam worked together to get tents up, forming them in a semi-circle around a dug out fire pit. They left plenty of distance between the pit and the tents, so no errant spark would start a fire.
The water they had brought with them wouldn’t last long, so Gordy, Jack and Jimmy worked on securing a long term source of water. Going through their supplies they realized that they could take the one fifty-five gallon plastic barrel they had and make a sand and charcoal filter with it.
They began by puncturing a few small holes in the bottom of the barrel, then placed the barrel on sturdy supports so a container to catch filtered water could be slid underneath the suspended barrel. They took large scoops of sand from their small stretch of beach, creating a layer of about three inches inside the bottom of the barrel. Several bags of charcoal had made it into the supplies they had brought with them. The thick briquettes they smashed up into smaller and smaller pieces fine as pea gravel, and layered that on top of the sand two inches thick. Alternating layers of sand and finely smashed charcoal briquettes filled the barrel over half way. After running out of bagged charcoal they took large blackened chunks left behind in the cold fire pit and broke those up.
Continuing this to the top they filled the barrel. They tested it with dark river water from the lagoon, pouring buckets of water over the top of their sand and charcoal filter. Though it took a while, they soon had a full gallon of nearly perfectly clear water. This water they boiled over a fire for ten minutes, to ensure that no organisms that could make them ill had gotten through the filter.
Gordy, Jack and Jimmy stood around the filter, beaming from their accomplishment. This would allow them to filter several gallons of water per day for the group.
Mike walked up to the men admiring their handy-work. “You guys make a water filter system?
“Yep,” Jimmy said, smiling, “sand and charcoal, then boil the water for ten minutes. Good to go for drinking after that.”
“Oh hell yeah, that’s bad ass,” Mike said. “By the way, if you guys ever want to use this just let me know.” Mike held up the Katadyn camp water filtration system he always carried in his pack, and laughed one of his big bellowing laughs.
The other three men only stared at him for a moment, then began laughing along with him. “You dick, you knew we were making this thing. Why didn’t you say something earlier?”
“And where would be the fun in that Jack? Plus, it works, saving this one for a time when we might really need it.”
Several days went by, each day proving productive for the group. Camp was set, fish were caught, and water was filtered. Evenings were spent around a fire, talking, laughing, and enjoying the company of friends and family.
On the morning of the fourth day Jimmy, Mike, and Gordy set out for the north end of the island. They were looking for the perfect spot to put up a platform, a crow’s nest in the trees to give them a long vantage up the Mississippi.
“It’s only been four days here but everyone seems to be settling in well,” Jimmy said as they picked their way through the woods.
“Yeah, maybe too well. We all know that this island is a great place to hide out from the nightmare going on out there.” As if to illustrate his point they heard gun shots far off in the distance, from the direction of the tiny river town of Saverton. “But I really don’t think we can make this a long term stay.”
“It’s too easy to attack, difficult to defend; especially with such a small group of people. Am I right?” Mike asked.
“Yes, exactly right, Mike.”
“That’s what the river is for, keep the zombies away.”
“It’s not the zombies I’m worried about, Jimmy. It’s the living, breathing bastards that have no respect for human life that concern me. Once they find us here, and they will find us, we’re screwed. Even setting up an early warning system won’t help much. I’d say that we have maybe a month on the outside to find a more secure place to move to, as long as we keep our evening fire shielded from the shore.”
The men walked on in silence for a while, stepping carefully through the thick woods. Each man was lost in his own thoughts, none of them pleasant. They had hoped for a reprieve from the madness that had engulfed their tiny part of the wide world, someplace to escape too, to not have to worry about the shambling, grabbing, face eating zombies. A place of quiet hope, where evil men who wished to take advantage of others wouldn’t find them so readily. Gordy had just dashed that hope against a sharp, bloody rock.
They reached the trees that Jimmy thought would work well for a crow’s nest. Gordy and Mike spent a few minutes examining the area. The trees were close together, the limbs of both trees would allow them to build a platform for one or two people to sit and watch out over the river. They were twenty-five feet from the shore, with a good clear view far up the Mississippi River.
Gordy lifted a large pair of binoculars he had hung around his neck, and spent a few minutes looking up-river. The water glinted and shimmered in the brilliant light of the sun, momentarily blinding him.
“I think this will work fine,” Gordy told his companions. “Tomorrow we can get a few guys up here to start working on the platform and ladder. By the way, I want to talk about going back to Hannibal, see if the Mark Twain steamboat is still moored there. If that thing still runs, it would make a great mobile base, at least for a while.”
“That’d be pretty cool actually,” Mike said, “maybe we could check into that boarded up store you guys were talking about, too.”
“I’m game; it would be worth a shot,” Jimmy added.
Gordy nodded, raising the glasses for one last look up the river, before heading back to camp.
He brought the glasses down, then back up to his eyes, making sure he wasn’t seeing spots. Far in the distance he could see what looked like a boat on the water, then two boats. He watched for a moment more, the distant spots on the water slowly coming closer.
Thank you for reading my book, and I certainly hope you enjoyed your experience. Are you ready to dive right in to the next story? Click
This is where I ask you, the reader, to go write reviews. Reviews are helpful to both a new reader, and to a new author. So read (that part is done), enjoy (I hope), and leave your review here, American Revenant: Hometown Exodus
Thank you.