Colt was walking back with him, as Colt held the fence for Alden to climb through, he looked at Alden, “You really trust those dogs don’t you?”
Alden smiled a little, “Tonto, I trust with my life, if there was anything wrong, he’d come back, turn, and growled. Maximus would’ve have followed Tonto back but probably would have kept turning around and barking at whatever was back there.”
They walked up to the group. Alden was handed a bottle of water by Ceara, “There’s a school right over there and just past that a couple of houses and then a service road. That’s what we’ll use to get to the new airfield. Then out to the middle of the field and we will do an old fashioned wagon train circle of sorts. Park in a circle with your front ends facing out, so if we have to leave quickly we won’t be trying to back up into each other, we can just pull out.” They all nodded that they understood and headed to their vehicles.
Minutes later Alden had driven through the gate on the service road and was waving everyone by. Then he closed it and used a couple of heavy plastic zip ties to secure it. Following the rest he watched as Heath and Tabitha pulled up to what seemed the center of the runway and parked. The rest followed suit with Alden’s truck being the last to pull in. Everyone climbed out of their cars and met in the middle. Charlie looked at Alden “So this is it?”
Alden looked around and saw no movement, “If there were any Wanderers they would be coming our way by now. If there were any survivors, they would have fired on me and Colt when we did walk out. We’ll start setting up camp and I’ll send the dogs to keep watch and check the area out again.” Turning he snapped his fingers. Both dogs sat in front of him, Maximus looking at Tonto first then to Alden. “Search,” He said and both dogs took off towards the main building once more.
The group had the camp set up in less than thirty minutes. Alden was amazed at how fast and how well they all worked as team. Tabitha and Beth had the fold out table from Charlie’s van set up. Ceara had the Coleman stove on top of one of the wooden boxes and had the coffee going. Charlie and Colt had got the cooler of meat out along with the water and the sleeping bags, and then joined Heath on the perimeter to keep watch. Alden had perched himself on the roof of the pickup with his binoculars. Soon Beth and Tabitha called out that supper was ready. Alden watched as Heath, Colt, and Charlie did rock, paper, scissors to see who got to eat first. Charlie won. Colt and Heath split up and went to different ends of the caravan to stand guard.
Alden joined the rest grabbing a cup of fresh coffee. They sat and ate and talked about the sights of the day. Charlie finished and soon Colt was there. He ate quickly and soon Heath was having his meal. As the sun set the dogs had returned and taken over guard duty as Alden called them all together. “I’ll take last watch.”
He looked to the young men, “You cupcakes can do your little hand shaky thing I saw earlier, to determine how to divide up the other three shifts.”
Tabitha looked at Heath, “hand shaky thing?”
Heath mumbled with a smile, “rock, paper, scissors.”
Tabitha giggled and nodded, “Oh okay.” Then she mumbled “hand shaky thing,” and giggled again.
Alden took his coffee and lay down on the outside of his sleeping bag. The rest gathered in a circle and started to laugh then all called out in unison, ‘READY, SET, HAND SHAKY THING! They all laughed as it was decided that Heath and Tabitha had first watch, Colt and Beth second, and Charlie and Ceara third. Soon they were all on their sleeping bags except Heath and Tabitha, who were sitting on top of Charlie’s van keeping watch as the stars and a full moon came out. Heath smiled pointing at it. “God’s own spot light.” Tabitha nodded and smiled.
Chapter 17 – Restocking
The morning started with several groans of aches and pains, everyone had gotten use to the comforts of cushioned flooring. Alden had his coffee watching the others, and smiling. They had all been through so much, and there was so much more that they all would have to endure, the civilization, as they knew it, was gone.
The seven of them were their own little world, and even though sometimes they argued, they were becoming a very close knit family. Alden checked the maps once more and Charlie was standing beside him, Beth and Colt were stretching their legs by taking a walk, only a few feet from the rest of them. Tabitha sat quietly on the hood of the jeep as Heath went over to get a bottle of water. Tabitha smiled, seeing it as he walked back up to the front, “Can I have a drink?”
Heath smiled, “Sure, I will get me another one.” Tabitha didn’t feel comfortable taking another’s bottle of water, because she didn’t know if there would be enough to go around. Taking the bottle, she took a quick sip and then handed it back to Heath, “No thank you. I just wanted a quick drink. I will let you know if I need another one, but thanks for offering.” Heath sort of reluctantly took back the bottle; quickly he took a drink and then put the cap back on it. “Yep, one quenching drink is good enough for me too,” he said while he made his way back to put the bottle back where he had gotten it from.
Ceara headed to the back of the van to get cleaned up. She slid into a pair of the clean jeans. “Oh holy hell, I forgot how good clean jeans felt!”
Ceara climbed out of the van whistling as she joined Alden and Charlie, “So is the plan still on? Is it still me, you and Heath?”
Alden set his cup down and looked at the map, “Yep, that’s still the plan.”
Charlie stepped over to Ceara, “Can we talk for a second?”
Alden looked up, “Make it quick, I want to be on the road as soon as I finish this cup.”
Ceara leaned over looking in the cup, “We better hurry, it’s half gone.”
Charlie led her a few feet from everyone, “I want you to promise to either stay with Alden or Heath, no going anywhere alone.”
Ceara kissed him on the cheek, “Charlie, I don’t think that Alden will let me go wandering around… no pun intended.” She didn’t get the smile she was hoping for, “Ok fine, I promise that, if I can help it, I will not be alone, OK?” Charlie slid his hand into hers as they rejoined the group, “That’s all I ask.”
Beth needed a little time alone and felt that right now was the best time to regroup with things. If only there were some way that she could get back to her facility, or get with some members of the CDC, she thought that there might be some kind of cure out there. However, Alden, along with the others, did not want any attention being drawn to them. For the most part Beth thought Alden was right, but the ‘what ifs’ still played on in her mind.
Sneaking off away from the group Beth needed to go relieve herself. Out of the corner of Tabitha’s eye, she saw Beth take off and Tabitha looked over to Heath and said, “Beth’s taking a walk, I’m going to go with her.” Tabitha slid off the hood of the jeep and jogged up behind Beth. “Hey girl! You alright?”
Beth turned around and continued right on walking, “Yeah, I just needed some air.”
Tabitha laughed, “Honey, we are out in the open and there is a shit load of air out here.”
Beth chuckled as she walked up against a tree and brushed her fingers through her hair, “That did sounded pretty lame huh?”
Tabitha found a log and popped a squat, “Yeah, it did. So out with it, what’s up? It’s not like you to just walk off?”
Beth shook her head, “I just think that there has to be another way of finding help or some other solution out there. I don’t feel like I should voice my opinions, that seems to cause chaos and that is not needed right now.”
Tabitha stretched her legs out in front of her and crossed them at her ankles, “I get that Beth. Maybe later, when we get to where ever it is that we are going, we can all sit down and hopefully there will be some time then that we can explore further options.”
Beth looked over to Tabitha with all sorts of thoughts running through her head, it wasn’t fair to bring her into this and it definitely wasn’t the time. She smiled at Tabitha, “I have to pee, keep watch for me.”
B
eth went around the tree and began relieving herself. Then when she was finished she got her clothes situated again, and then went over to where Tabitha was sitting on the log. “Tabitha, I am about the most level headed person out here and I got a lot of experience in my field. Alden is good at what he does, and the rest of them are just fine too. But the thing that is bothering me the most is how long will we have to keep running? Will we ever be able to find a place and start anew? For Christ’s fucking sake Tabitha, all we know right now, is that we may have to keep going and going until God who knows when!!!”
Tabitha put her arm around Beth’s shoulder, “Honey, those are questions that I am pretty fucking sure are running through everyone’s mind….. Not just yours. But for right now, we just have to stay focused on what is important, and right now, what is important are the people we have together as a family and move forward. I guarantee, once we get to where we are going, there will be something maybe even better than where we were before.”
Beth laid her head on Tabitha’s shoulder, which kind of shocked Tabitha, but made her feel more comfortable than she had ever felt before. “Thanks Tabitha, you’re quite right. Back at the camp in the beginning, we didn’t want to leave there, and then we got to Alden’s. That was great except for what took place with Biff and his kin. It’s just my mind is racing right now, and I need it to just stop and shut down.”
Tabitha looked back over to see the others walking around the vehicles, “Well, maybe when we get to where it is we are going, you can have some down time.”
Beth shook her head sadly and smiled softly, “I sure as hell hope so.”
Alden was looking at the maps as the others were packing up. He had made the decision that the team of three would enter and get what they could, while the others stood guard outside the gate. He was looking back down at the maps when Heath walked up, “What’s the plan boss?”
Alden looked up, “Just looking at the escape route when we leave. I want to get in and out as fast as possible and I don’t want to come back this way. We need to keep going forward, as Patton said, I hate paying for the same real estate twice.”
Heath grinned at him, “Yeah, I saw the movie too.” The two laughed a little. Alden emptied his cup and rolled the maps up, putting them back in their tubes. Getting up he saw Beth and Tabitha coming back.
Charlie walked up to him, “We’re all packed and ready when you are.”
Alden looked around then whistled. Tonto came running along with Maximus and sat by his side. “MOUNT UP!”
Alden turned headed to his truck and opened the door to let Tonto jump in. He stood watching the others get in their vehicles and start them up. Once he was sure they were ready he climbed in and started his. The group drove along a small two lane highway for about an hour and half. Reaching the turn off for Pittsburg Oklahoma, Alden took the fork for a small county road then turned north on another one.
Ceara called him on the walkie, “Are we taking the scenic route?”
Alden was chuckling as he responded, “Yes sort of. I want to get up to Ashland Rd which will run just south of where we’re going. I figured you and Charlie would like to see some more cows and barns.”
Ceara put down the radio and looked at Charlie, “I can’t tell sometimes if he’s joking or serious.”
Charlie winked “I’m pretty sure he’s joking about the barns.”
Twenty minutes later, they had come to the long chain link fence that bordered the depot. The depot sat off the Oklahoma turnpike, it covered about 45,000 acres and had been well guarded at one time. Now only dust and jack rabbits seemed to be patrolling the fence.
Alden pulled up to the fence and everyone else pulled in behind him. Getting out they all met in the middle of the caravan, as Alden stood looking through the fence surveying what was in front of him. He stood for about five minutes then turned around. “Okay this is how I see it, Ceara, Heath and I will take the Jeep. I want to have four-wheel drive, if I need it; we’ll head north, northeast till we get to the main plant. Then we locate trucks or warehouses and see what we can scrounge.”
“I don’t want to take all day we need to get in and out as quickly as possible. We’ll have a radio, so the rest of you need to keep watch and let us know of anything, and I mean anything you see. I don’t care if you think it’s a damn dust devil in the distance, I want to know about it. Any questions?”
Everyone either said no, or simply shook their head. Ceara climbed in the back of the jeep with Maximus following her, “Ummm Alden are we taking the dogs?”
Alden whistled, “Yep, so scoot your skinny butt over.”
Tonto jumped into the backseat on Alden’s side and Ceara now has about twelve inches to sit in. Heath climbed in the passenger side laughing, “Good news is we only got a short ways to go.”
Alden climbed in, “If it’s all clear, we will send the dogs back to the caravan on foot, we will need the space for whatever we find.”
Heath watched the dogs squeezing Ceara over. “Why don’t you make one of them get in the very back?”
Ceara smirked at him, “Gee you don’t think I thought of that.” She looked at Maximus, “Get in the back, go on in the back.” Maximus just looked at her and licked her face.
Alden chuckled, “Tonto, in the rear.” Tonto half jumped into the small place behind the back seat and then lay down. Alden smiled at Ceara, “Comfy now cupcake?”
Ceara stuck her tongue out at him, “Thanks Dad.” They were all chuckling as Alden started the jeep as Colt and Charlie cut the chain on the fence.
Within a few minutes, they were driving up to the main building, Alden parked the Jeep. He wanted where they would be able to leave in a hurry, if they needed too. They all got out and Alden sent the dogs to check things out, Tonto ran to the side entrance and sat. Ceara looked at Alden, “Is he warning us or just wanting in?”
Alden held his finger to his mouth, and in a low voice, “Warning, we go in a different way.”
Ceara looked back the way they had come, “Should we even try this?”
Alden motioned for Tonto to follow him; the next entrance was a loading bay. “Ceara, to answer your question, the odds of us running out of ammo soon is high, but the odds of finding another ammo plant are low. I don’t like those odds. So no we don’t just leave.”
She hadn’t really thought Alden was serious about them running low, but they must be if he was willing to go in somewhere they knew Wanderers were. She swallowed hard and nodded, “Ok, let’s do this.”
Tonto sniffed the door but remained on alert, Alden reach for the side entrance by the large bay door, “Use knives, no shots… got me?”
Both Heath and Ceara nodded, Alden let Tonto in and told Maximus to guard. Ceara was shocked that Maximus sat right down. Once the door closed, all light was gone, Alden held both Ceara and Heath where they stood, “Let your eyes adjust.”
Charlie was sitting on top of the van with the binoculars scanning the horizon in all directions. Colt was down below holding the radio, as Beth and Tabitha were busy just trying to check tires and what they knew about the vehicles. Colt suddenly called up to Charlie, and pointed back east the way they had come in. “What’s that? Look at that dust cloud?” Charlie turned and looked but all he saw was a small dust devil.
He looked down at Colt, “It’s nothing, just some dust I can see right through it.” Charlie went back to looking north where the group had gone. He caught a glimmer of something off to his left and looked that way. At first, there was nothing, and then suddenly he spotted a couple of Wanderers. One was wearing glasses and the sun kept reflecting off the lens. “Damn it, we got two over there.”
Pointing in the direction he was looking, Beth Tabitha and Colt moved around to the fence. At first they saw nothing.
Tabitha looked up at Charlie, “Where, I don’t see them?”
Charlie kept pointing “Just wait they come over a small hill in just a few seconds. OH HOLY SHIT!”
Beth looked up, “WHA
T? WHAT THE HELL IS IT?”
Charlie looked back at them “those are just the first of many.”
“HOW MANY IS MANY?” Colt yelled back.
Charlie was looking through the binoculars and trying to count, “I don’t know about fifty I’d say.”
Beth looked at Colt, “You need to call Alden. He needs to know.”
Tabitha was watching the herd come into view. The whole group was just wandering straight east. “If we keep quiet, they might just pass us by.”
Beth looked at them then at Tabitha, “Yeah, and what if Alden and the rest come back and run right into them. We have to do something.”
Colt was about to call Alden when suddenly Charlie was right beside him, “No Colt, we need to do our part, so they can do theirs.”
Colt let go of the walkie and looked at all of them, “But Alden said…”
Tabitha broke in, “Alden said he wanted to know. So when he gets back we’ll tell him.”
Colt looked at her then to Charlie, “Okay it’s your call, how do we do this?”
Charlie looked like Alden standing at the fence just looking at the herd passing by. “I… I..” Just then he kicked a glass bottle by the fence.
He watched as it spun in the dirt then started to look up and down the fence. There were a lot of old bottles and cans and trash. Spinning around, a grin came across his face. “If we shoot them the amount of gun fire will draw more, but… if we burn them, that’s nice and quiet. A Molotov cocktail makes an explosion, but not like a grenade. It will be loud, but if we can get them bunched up we can get away with one or two and get rid of all or most of them.”
Beth looked at him and then the Wanderers. “Just how do we get them bunched up?”
Colt smiled, “That’s easy. We just drive up the road a little, and yell just long enough to get the attention of a few. The rest will follow. They’ll come right up to the fence, right?”
Charlie nodded, “We take some of these bottles and put some gas in them. When they bunch up we light a rag or something and just toss them over the fence.”
Surviving Day By Day (Book 2): Fears, Flames, and Future Page 32