by Chesla, Gary
The feeling pasted when he saw Doug heading his way.
“George has his guys setting up the new bows already. He really likes his new toys.” Doug laughed. “I hope this means more coffee tomorrow.”
“I wouldn’t count on it.” Shaun laughed. “In fact I would keep quiet about what we have. We might have to give that back.”
“Not after how happy Bill looked today. I think he might just make you his personal assistant.” Doug added.
Shaun laughed. “Just like you don’t like to dig holes, that personal assistant stuff is not my cup of tea. I’m more of a hands on type of guy.”
“You could be the construction foreman!” Doug said. “Get in with the guys up at the main fort, you just might be able to find out what other treats they have up in the supply shed.”
“You want to get us kicked out of the fort.” Shaun laughed. “Between you and Meg, maybe I better start planning on living in the mountains.”
They arrived back at their cottages. The girls had lunch sitting on the chairs outside the cabin, in the shade.
“Guess what we are having for lunch today?” Megan asked.
“Ham!” Shaun replied.
“Did Bill tell you?” Megan asked.
“Just a guess.” Shaun laughed. “How is it prepared today?”
“It is cut up in little cubes and mixed with rice.” Megan answered. “It looks good.”
They all sat and opened their lunch containers.
Megan took a bite of her lunch. “I went to see Lilly today. There was no one at her cottage. I saw a guy walking down the fort road and asked him where Lilly was. He said he thought she had been relocated early this morning.”
“That happened fast.” Shaun replied.
“I thought that was fast too. She didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye. Now I know how she felt when she said no sooner then she had made a friend, they would disappear.” Megan said.
“I hope she is with some of the people she had made friends with before.” Shaun said taking another bite of his lunch.
“I miss her and I hardly had a chance to get to know her.” Megan said sadly. “It just feels strange.”
“Maybe some new people will come in soon and you can make a new friend.” Shaun said.
Megan looked at Shaun. “I don’t think there are too many people coming here. I took a walk around the fort today. I only saw three other cabins that had anyone living in them. I didn’t wear my green dress like you suggested. I’m glad I didn’t. We didn’t see any other girls here, only a few guys.”
“They looked strange.” Lisa said. “They gave me the creeps.”
“I thought Bill said that most of the people that came here were families or husband and wife.” Doug said.
“I haven’t seen a single family here and now I don’t see any women other than us.” Megan said. “Are there any women up in the main fort?”
“I don’t know, now that you mention it.” Shaun answered .
“I’m sure there is a good reason. Maybe we should ask Bill about that?” Doug said.
Shaun thought about how Bill had reacted when he had asked to borrow the bows. Something was starting to have an uneasy feeling in the back of his mind.
Megan interrupted. “Did you find a job for me?”
Shaun looked up. “Oh yes. You and I are going to practice using the bow and arrows after I finish up on the wall today.”
“That sounds like fun.” Megan looked excited.
“I thought it would be fun. As soon as I get back I’ll get George to set up some targets for us.” Shaun said.
“How long will you be gone?” Megan asked.
“A couple of hours at the most. I just have to check over the work the boys are doing on the wall.” Shaun smiled. “I have to admit, I’m feel good about the ideas I’ve come up with. It also feels good to have all these helpers that don’t expect to be paid.”
They finished up their lunch and were relaxing, when one of the boys that Shaun had working on the wall attaching the gutters, ran over to where they were sitting.
“We have most of the gutters up. Would you be able to come and see if it looks OK?” The boy asked.
“I’ll be up in a few minutes.” Shaun answered. “You boys sure work fast.”
“It’s fun. This is the best job we have had in a long time!” The boy beamed.
“What job did you do before?” Megan asked smiling at the teenager.
“I’ve been making arrows for a few weeks. Before that I had to clean out the outhouses.” He answered.
“Oh Gross!” Lisa shrieked.
The boy laughed.
“I bet that was a stinky job?” Megan said.
“It wasn’t too bad. Not as bad as when we had more people here.” He smiled at Megan.
“We noticed there doesn’t seem to be too many people in the cottages. Where is everyone?” Shaun asked.
“Hasn’t been many people coming in the last month or so. In fact you are the only new people I’ve seen for a long time.” The boy answered.
“Where the other people relocated?” Shaun asked.
“I don’t know. They were just gone. I don’t know where, nobody tells me stuff like that.” The boy replied.
“Aren’t there any girls around?” Shaun asked and then smiled. “Do you have a girl friend?”
“No!” He blushed. “We don’t see many girls around here.”
“Go tell the guys I’ll be up in a few minutes.” Shaun said.
The boy smiled and turned and ran off up to the main fort.
“You get the feeling things might not be as good as Bill told us?” Megan asked.
“I don’t know. He’s just a kid. He probably doesn’t know what is going on around here. I’m sure Bill doesn’t discuss the fort with him.” Shaun answered. “But stick close to the cottage until I get back.”
“OK.” Megan said.
Shaun and Doug walked up to the inner wall.
“You’re right. They are fast.” Doug said.
Shaun laughed. “If they did work like this for me I would fire them! But since no one is worried about how it looks, they do have the gutters attached to the walls pretty solid. It’s definitely not going to fall off.”
Doug laughed as they walked completely around the wall and examined the gutters.
Bill came over as they completed their walk and were now back at the front inner gate.
“How’s it look?” Bill asked.
“It looks solid.” Shaun said. “It didn’t take them long to rip all the gutters off those old houses today.”
“There is this old warehouse up over the hill above us. I sent them up there. The building was big and there was enough on that one building so they didn’t have to jump around from house to house. They got them all at one place. If they would have had to go looking for gutters, it would have taken those bozos a month.” Bill laughed.
“Smart thinking.” Shaun laughed. “They will like the next part of the job.”
“What’s the next part?” Bill asked.
“Putting holes in the gutters.” Shaun smiled.
Bill laughed. “You’re right. They like putting holes in things.”
Shaun called the boys over and had them follow him up on the platform used by the archers.
He brought a hammer and a metal stake. “I want you to punch a hole like this.” Shaun raised the hammer and tapped the metal stake and drove it half way down through the bottom of the gutter. “Make sure the hole is no bigger than half an inch wide.”
The boys studied the hole.
“Go get a hammer and Tim will give you some metal stakes. This shouldn’t take you very long.” Shaun told them.
They ran off to get their tools.
Shaun looked at Bill and Doug. “Let’s take a look at the pump and see how we can get the water up to the gutters. Do you have any hose?”
“There is a short hose on the end of the hand pump. I think we have some more hose in the shed.
I’ll go get it for you. The pump is over by the back wall.” Bill said as he left.
Shaun and Doug were examining the pump when Bill came back with a large rolled up hose. “This was in the shed from the days when they used to run a hose down to water the flowers. It hasn’t been used in a long time.”
“That looks perfect” Shaun said as he took the hose and attached it to the pump. He unrolled the hose as he walked over to the nearest platform and climbed up on the wall. “Is it OK if I cut the hose? We won’t need all of this. It will work better if I can cut it so it just reaches the gutter and isn’t all rolled up?”
Bill tossed Shaun a knife.
Shaun cut the hose then called down to Doug. “Doug, would you go ask Tim for two of the braces we used to attach the cable to the bows?”
“On it!” Doug said happily and walked over to Tim’s shed.
Shaun laughed as he watched the boys punching holes in the gutter. They seemed to be having fun.
The boys had worked their way over next to Shaun by the time Doug returned with the braces and four nails.
As Shaun tapped the nails into the wooden posts to secure the hose in place so the water from the hose would flow directly into the gutter, the boys watched with interest.
Shaun looked at the boys. “You guys ready for another job?”
“Sure!” They all said in unison, causing Shaun to laugh again at their excitement. If only he could have found helpers that were this excited about working when he ran his own business.
They followed him down to the pump. He checked the hose connection. “I want you to start working the pump handle. You can take turns. One of you can take twenty pumps, then let someone else take twenty pumps. Keep taking turns, but don’t stop until I tell you. OK?”
The boys quickly formed a line. The first boy grabbed the handle and started eagerly pumping.
Shaun climbed back up on the platform and watched the water flow into the gutter. The boys were doing a good job and the water quickly began running down the gutters and around the fort wall.
Shaun climbed down and looked at Bill and Doug. “Let’s go out front and see how it is working.”
They walked out the gate and looked up at the gutters. The water slowly began to drip from the holes.
“Give it a few minutes for the water to get around the walls and fill the gutters.” Shaun said.
They watched as the water started to flow out the holes. In a few minutes the water was freely flowing from the holes the boys had put in the gutters. Soon the water was steadily flowing down the fort walls.
“I think this is going to work. It would be hard for anyone to set the wall on fire with the water running down like this.” Bill said. “It’s sure a lot more efficient than having ten guys running around with buckets.”
They walked around the wall to be sure all areas were being drenched.
“If you put gutters like this on the outer walls, it wouldn’t work like this. The water would all run out through the holes before it could get the whole way around the wall. But if you boxed off each section, say every two hundred feet, it would work just like this, but you would have to do one section at a time.” Shaun said.
“That would still help.” Bill said. “Like you said. We could use it to soak the walls and keep them damp if we were ever worried about someone trying to sneak up and set them on fire.”
Bill looked at Shaun. “Another good idea and another good job. I think you just earned the right to sleep in again tomorrow, that is unless you think of any more good ideas for us.”
“A day to sleep in with Meg sounds nice.” Shaun smiled. “Talking about Meg, she was excited when I told her we were going to practice shooting a bow.”
“I told George to set up for you.” Bill said. “In fact I can see the targets have already been set up down near the gate.”
“Bill, I was wondering. I haven’t seen too many people in the cottages. Where is everyone?” Shaun asked cautiously, not wanting to make Bill feel he was questioning the way he ran things.
“Unfortunately we haven’t had many people moving to the fort recently. We have just about everyone who was here relocated. I guess things are worse out there than I had thought. Maybe there isn’t that many people left to come here. I’m not sure.” Bill answered.
“Where are the people that were relocated? How come they don’t come back and visit the fort?” Shaun asked.
“We have them way out at the farms and on the far outskirts of Ligonier. It’s too far and still too dangerous for them to come back for a visit without an escort. Things are secure there. They don’t have any real reason to come back unless there is a major invasion of the dead. In that case, a lot of them would come back to the fort for protection.” Bill replied.
“I was wondering why all the houses around the fort are empty. Why didn’t you put people in those houses?” Shaun said. “I’m not questioning your decisions, I’m just curious.”
Bill smiled. “As I look back on things now, that was a mistake on my part. I wanted to get the farms working and secured. Then I planned on relocating people to fill the houses between here and the farms. I should have filled some houses every half mile or so between the fort and the farms. I concentrated on making the farms secure and self-sufficient. Then the number of people coming to us for protection slowed. Very few have come in lately. I might have to re-evaluate our goals until more people start coming to the fort again.”
“Would it be possible to visit the farms? I think that would be interesting to see how they operate?” Shaun asked.
“I was thinking that I might send you to one of the farms soon.” Bill smiled. “To see if you had any ideas to make them more secure. Have you ever done any farming?”
“No.” Shaun laughed. “I’m more of a city boy.”
Bill laughed. “Go have fun with your wife. I’ll see you tomorrow sometime, but if you have any more ideas, please come find me.”
“I will.” Thanks Bill.
Bill walked back towards the main fort.
Shaun called after him. “Be sure to tell the boys they can stop pumping.”
“Maybe I’ll let them work off a little more energy first.” Bill laughed.
Shaun and Doug walked back to their cabins.
“We’ll see you and Meg later. Enjoy you bow practice.” Doug said.
“You and Lisa want to join us?” Shaun asked.
“If you ever saw Lisa shoot a bow, you wouldn’t be asking that question.” Doug laughed. “I try to keep her away from power tools and sharp objects. Power tools are no longer a problem, but there are still plenty of sharp objects.”
“Got you! We will see you later.” Shaun laughed.
Shaun and Megan were walking down to the front gate to see George so they could get started.
“I talked to Bill today.” Shaun said.
“What did you ask him?” Megan asked.
“I asked him where was everyone and why didn’t anyone from the farm come back and visit the fort?” Shaun replied.
“Got right to the point?” Megan laughed. “What did he say?”
“He said the farm is too far out of town for them to come back to visit and it’s still not safe enough for them to make casual visits. He admitted that not very many people have come to the fort. He has relocated everyone and is starting to run short of people to do what he had planned to do. He said he might have to re-evaluate his goals. He said he thought more people would come and he probably made a mistake by sending as many people as he did to the farms.” Shaun replied.
Megan thought for a few minutes. “I guess that makes sense and explains why we don’t see many people here now.”
“Bill also said he was thinking about sending us to one of the farms for a few days.” Shaun said.
Megan perked up. “That’s great. I think that would be neat. Maybe we will see Lilly at the farm.”
“He was hoping I could come up with some ideas to help the farms.” Shaun added.
/> “When are we going?”
“He said maybe next week.” Shaun replied.
“Good. That makes me feel better. I was starting to think something was going on around here. I guess the last six months have made me a little paranoid.” Megan laughed.
“I wonder why?” Shaun laughed.
Megan smiled. “Let’s go shoot something!”
Shaun hoped George wasn’t interested in watching them practice and stayed on the other side of the gate. If George was curious, Shaun was sure he would go back outside the gate after he saw Megan handle a bow.
Chapter 14
Bill walked into the gathering hall. Ed was sitting at the table and looked up at him.
“I looked at the gutter system that Shaun set up. I think that could change a lot of things for us. That solves a very big problem for us. I think that might be what we need to take the next step.” Ed said.
“I think so too. I couldn’t believe how simple it was. It has been right in front of us for months. I can’t believe we never thought of it ourselves.” Bill replied.
“Did you give anymore thought to using one or both of them to fill our quota. We are running out of time.” Ed asked.
“I think we are going to have to use both. That Shaun is starting to ask too many questions. I honestly like him, but he is starting to become too dangerous.”
“I have another possibility for you to think about.” Ed said. “If we believe our biggest problem is behind us and we are going to move on to the next step, why not keep those two. We could use a few more women around here. Keep them. If the two men disappear, the women will stick around. They won’t go off by themselves. After a while, I’m sure they will be willing to move up here to the main fort.”
“I thought about that too. If the walls are no longer our ‘Achilles Heel’, we can tell Bear to piss off, the deals off.
Our next problem is going to be what to do since no more people are coming to us looking for protection. I think that vein has finally dried up. We have a large enough group here to hold off any backlash we get from Bear, then we are going to need to start thinning our numbers. In another six months we will have to start sending people out to scrounge up supplies.” Bill said.