“Are you still getting help from the government?”
“Well, I was telling Joyce that FEMA has abandoned us. They were doing a real good job of handing out MREs and food kits for awhile, but they finally said we were doing better than some of the other cities, so they were refocusing their efforts elsewhere. They brought in several truckloads of MREs and planting seeds and turned them over to the National Guard. They’re trying to do a good job of distributing them, but they’re not as experienced as FEMA was. Some days they show up at the distribution centers, some days they don’t. I suppose they’ll get better at it over time, but so many people are surviving just on that food. So it’s disheartening when they’re hungry and the truck doesn’t show up.”
“What about the community gardens? Are they helping feed the neighborhoods?”
“Yes, they help tremendously. But there aren’t enough to go around, unfortunately. And I know it’s maddening for these folks who are starving to have to look at these crops each and every day waiting for them to mature.”
“Have I told you much about my friend Tom?”
“No, I don’t believe so.”
“He’s the one who helped you guys get your cars working again. I think I’d be lost without his knowledge. He’s a farmer and a rancher, old school. And he’s been teaching us a lot about farming. One of the things he taught me that I didn’t know is that if you plant early enough you can bring in two harvests in the same year.”
“Well, I didn’t know that either.”
“You might spread the word to the neighborhood gardeners to save some of their seeds and plant a second crop right away. If San Antonio doesn’t get a freeze until late October or November, they should be able to get a second crop for their efforts.”
“Well that’s definitely worth knowing about, and we’ll for sure get the word out to the block supervisors. Hannah’s heading up the garden for our block, by the way. She’s doing a great job. She’s got wheat planted on one side of the street and corn on the other. Prettiest plants you ever saw.”
“I hope it feeds you and your neighbors for a long time. We’ve planted an acre of wheat as a second crop. It wasn’t something we planned to do, and can get by without it for our own use. Tom and I are planning on bringing it down your way if we can figure out a safe way to do it. And I think I know a way.”
“Oh, wow, Scott. That would be great. And it would be good to finally meet you, too. What’s your plan?”
“I don’t want to say my last name over the air. I don’t know who else is listening in. But I told you my last name in one of our first radio calls. Do you remember it?”
“Yes. Don’t you remember? I told you it was my Aunt Millie’s maiden name, and asked if you two might be related.”
Scott smiled. He had forgotten that.
“That’s right. So you know my full name. I know you cops relied on big computer systems that don’t work any more. Is there an old fashioned way you can find out my address in San Antonio without your computers?”
“You had a telephone, right? Were you in the phone book?”
“Yes! But there were two or three other guys with the same name, as I remember. The first two digits on my house number were 64. That’ll help you find the right address.”
“Okay. Got it.”
“When you’re on duty again and have some time, go by my old house and check it out. We left the front door unlocked, so it’s almost certainly been looted of all its food. But if you go through the house and into the back yard, look closely at the back fence. There’s a section I cut out, and it’s being held into place by six slide bolts. It can be removed in about ten seconds. On the other side of that fence is a big grassy field that connects with a long line of Southwest Electric’s power lines.”
“Okay, I’m writing all of this down, and I’ll check out the house tomorrow so I’m familiar with it.”
“I’ll let you know in advance when we’re coming. Our crop will be ready in about four weeks, and it’ll take a week or so to harvest it. Then we’re going to put it in the back of a big Walmart truck and drive it down there. We’ll back it right up to that back fence and leave it there, if you can get some volunteers to unload and distribute it.”
“Volunteers are no problem. I can borrow half a dozen soldiers from the National Guard. They’ll be happy to help, because it’ll get them off the body gathering detail for a couple of days.”
“Sounds good. I’ll let you know at least a day in advance when we’re coming.”
“That’s great news, Scott, and thank you. I’m signing off, now, my generator’s almost out of fuel and getting ready to cut out.”
“Okay. Take care and be safe, my friend. Scott out.”
-31-
“Mom, Dad, Joyce, after dinner can we all get together out in the garden? Sara and I have something important we want to tell you about.”
Linda said, “Well, sure, honey.” She looked questioningly at Scott, and then Joyce. They just shrugged.
Zachary, ever the smart ass, said “What are you going to do, tell them you want to get married? We all know that already. We can tell by the way you’re always looking goo-goo eyed at each other.”
Jordan said to Zachary, “Shut up, twerp.”
Then Linda, in a show of support for her oldest son, looked at Zach and said, “Yeah. Shut up, twerp.”
Everyone at the table laughed. Except Zach. He sulked, but he couldn’t hide the smile on his face.
Tom was pulling security duty, and called over from the console.
“Hey, little man. We don’t want to hear any old mushy secrets anyway. You hang out with me and help me watch the monitors, and I’ll teach you how to tie some fishing knots.”
“All right! That’s more fun anyways.”
After they’d cleaned their plates and placed them in the sink, Jordan and Sara waited outside. Sara sat on a lawn chair that he carried over to the tomato patch for her. He chose to stand next to her and hold her hand.
One by one, the others came out. If any of them saw Sara sitting down resting next to Jordan as a clue, none of them let on.
“Mom, Dad, Joyce. I have to apologize to you all. I feel that you all trusted me. And I let all of you down.”
He looked at Sara, who had tears in her eyes.
Linda’s hand went to her mouth, but she said not a word.
Joyce’s mouth dropped open. She said, “Oh, my…”
Scott, perhaps because he wasn’t a woman, was still clueless. He looked puzzled at Jordan and Sara, expecting Jordan to finish explaining exactly what he was sorry about.
Then Sara stood, and without saying a word, lifted up her loose fitting blouse as high as the bottom of her bra. All three saw the baby bump, which was becoming quite prominent.
Linda sighed and went to hug Sara. Joyce was right behind her to do the same. Neither of them could find words yet.
Scott seemed in shock.
“But how…”
Joyce gave him a certain look.
“I mean, not how, but… I mean, we thought we were watching you like hawks.”
“You did at first, Dad. But then you began to trust me. And you eased up a little. And I took advantage of your trust, and I’m so sorry.”
Sara squeezed his hand and looked at him. Then to the others.
“It’s not just Jordan’s fault. I kind of played a role in it too. And I’m sorry too.”
Linda held her.
“How far are you, honey?”
“I honestly don’t know. Four months, I think. Maybe four and a half.”
Scott finally found more words. And he meant them sincerely, to both of them.
“It’s okay. It would have happened sooner or later. The timing isn’t the best, but we’ll deal with it, just like we’ve dealt with everything else.”
Jordan audibly breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t that he expected rage from his father. It was just that he needed so much for his father to forgive him. It was the
biggest betrayal he’d ever made to either of his parents, the biggest secret he’d ever kept.
Joyce said, “Well, you certainly did a good job of keeping it a secret. I for one didn’t have a clue.”
Sara smiled through her tears and said, “The secret was getting harder and harder to keep. This is the last pair of jeans I can get into.”
Joyce smiled and wiped her tears. Come on into the house and take those off. I’ve got an elastic panel I can sew across the front of them. Should get you through your last few months.”
She looked at Jordan and said, “And you, Mister. I know you’ve got a couple of pairs of gym shorts you can loan your wife, now don’t you?”
“My… wife?”
“Well, there aren’t any preachers around to say the pretty words and sign the papers, but I’d say that baby in there makes it pretty official, under the circumstances.”
She began to tear up too, and Linda was struggling. Scott went over and hugged his son and Sara at the same time. He looked at Sara and held her tiny face in his hands.
“Don’t you worry, honey. We’re going to take good care of you and make sure that you and this baby are as healthy as can be.”
At the end of it all, the day that Sara had been dreading for so long wasn’t traumatic at all. It was joyful. And she was happy. Because this was the last secret she’d had. Her last bit of deception. And she’d sleep better at night now, knowing that everything was out in the open. She’d never again have to worry about someone finding something out and sending her away.
She’d finally found a family and a home.
-32-
“How are you going to get there?”
“On Bonnie, of course.”
“Is it safe to tie her to the back of the truck? Won’t she spook?”
“Don’t plan to, Scott. Shoot, Bonnie’s been out of her corral more times than I can count. And she’s wandered a lot farther than that truck, and always found her way back. I purposely fed her a little less than normal this morning, so she’ll be getting hungry soon. She always comes home when she’s hungry. My guess is, she’ll be less than an hour behind me.”
“Okay. Did you put fresh batteries in the walkie talkie?”
“Yep. They’re plenty strong.”
“And you’ll call at the first sign of trouble.”
Tom looked at his friend and smiled.
“Stop it. You’re as bad as a nervous old wife. You keep this up and people are gonna start getting the impression you’re sweet on me or somethin’.”
Linda and Joyce couldn’t help but laugh.
“I’m just concerned for your safety, is all.”
“Well I appreciate that, little buddy. But I’ll be fine. You’re going to be out there and vulnerable too. You worry about your own safety, and I’ll take care of my own. Fair enough?”
“Yeah, okay.”
“Now, then, let’s make sure we’ve got this down. Give me one hour after I ride off. I should be about at the truck by then. Everything is all hooked up and ready to go.
“When I’ve been gone for an hour, take that Bobcat of yours down to the end of the dirt road and move that berm out of the way for me. That truck is only eight feet wide, but it don’t turn on a dime. So give me a break in the berm of at least ten feet. Twelve would be better.
“Then go back to my place and park your Bobcat in the shrubs, where you’re out of sight. I’ll call you on the walkie when I’m getting close so you can watch out for me. As soon as you see me roll by, you put that berm back into place as quick as you can and get your happy ass back here pronto.”
Tom turned to Joyce and said, “I’ll let you know when I’m five minutes out. Have one of the boys standing by the gate. He’ll hear me when I roll into the yard. Tell them not to open the gate until they hear the truck, okay?”
“Got it.”
Tom smiled his big country boy grin and asked “Okay, everybody know what they need to do?”
Everyone nodded or said yes.
“Well, then. In that case, let’s get ‘er done.”
-33-
Tom was more than an hour overdue. They tried him several times on the walkie talkie, but he didn’t answer.
It was entirely possible, of course, that his walkie talkie was merely out of range.
Or that he saw something he didn’t like and had to take a circuitous route to get where he was going.
Or that he had a little bit of trouble getting the truck started.
Or a thousand and one other things.
But they just didn’t know, and they started to panic.
Scott had been sitting anxiously in the Bobcat for a full twenty minutes now. The berm was cleared, and he just knew that something had gone terribly wrong. He called Joyce and Linda.
“Would one of you check and see if Tom left his keys in the Ford? It’ll move twice as fast as the Gator. I’m heading back to the compound to get it. It’s been way too long and I’m going after him.”
Even Joyce, the most level headed of the three, was getting nervous.
“I’ll go check.”
Linda, who’d developed feelings for Tom over the previous months, was beside herself, nervously pacing back and forth. She was certain that Tom was dead, and was close to tears.
Then Tom came on the radio.
“Okay, Scott. I hope that door is open in that berm. I’m about five minutes out. Joyce and Linda, do you copy?”
Linda fell to her knees, overcome with emotion. Joyce, running through the compound toward Tom’s old Ford, stopped dead in her tracks, looked to the sky, and said, “Thank you Lord.”
Then she got on the walkie and said, “We copy, Tom. We’ll be ready.”
Jordan was pulling security duty. His mom told him, “Watch those cameras extra close, son. That driveway will be unblocked for at least another half hour, until your dad finishes putting that berm back together and gets back here.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Zach, go stand by the gate. But don’t open it until you hear Tom’s truck.”
“Got it.”
Six minutes later, Tom came bumping along down the dirt drive in a big blue Kenworth Tractor, towing a long white trailer with the Walmart logo emblazoned across each side. Zachary, right on cue, opened the gate, and Tom eased the rig into the compound.
Once he was fifty feet inside the gate, he applied the brakes, turned off the engine, and stepped down from his cab.
And into the waiting and anxious arms of Linda.
“You old coot! Don’t you ever scare me like that again!”
The group walked en masse down the drive and waited for Scott to replace the berm at the end of the road. Five minutes later, they could hear the Bobcat headed their way.
But beating the Bobcat by at least thirty seconds was Tom’s chestnut bay Bonnie.
Bonnie went right to Tom and huffed loudly as she scratched the ground with her hoof. She obviously wasn’t very happy about being left behind, and she wanted him to know it.
He patted her shoulder in delight, and said “Atta girl! You made real good time. I’ll make it up to you come feeding time, I promise. I’ve got a handful of sugar cubes in the barn just to show you how much you mean to me.”
He turned to the girls and explained, “I saw in my rear view mirror how she took off at a full gallop behind me. I knew she wouldn’t be long.”
Scott drove into the yard and stopped the Bobcat. He jumped out of the cab and he and Tom worked together to remove the bucket attachment from the front. In its place they quickly installed the tree cutting attachment. Scott jumped back on and used the new attachment to gently work the two dead mesquite trees onto the end of the driveway, once again sealing them off from the outside world.
It was only then that the group felt comfortable enough for a round of high fives and hallelujahs.
“Did y’all miss me?”
Scott was finally relieved enough to laugh.
“Miss you? Hell, we were a
lready planning your funeral, and arguing about who had to be your pall bearers and lug your big butt to the grave.”
-34-
Tom explained to the group that he’d reached the truck on schedule and was ready to pull out but couldn’t get enough air pressure to release the brakes.
“I crawled under the trailer and found a gash in the air line. It was totally shot, and the air was coming out as fast as the compressor could charge it. I was out of radio range and couldn’t let you know what was going on, and I had no tools to swap out the line with the other trailer.”
“So what did you do to fix it?”
“I didn’t. I dropped the busted trailer and used cargo straps to drag the dead tractor off the other trailer. And then I brought the other trailer instead.”
“You brought the full trailer?”
“Yep. And I have no more money in my checking account to pay for these goods. This one is on you.”
Jordan asked, “Like it matters?”
Scott pondered the question before answering.
“It probably doesn’t matter a hill of beans, other than the whole morality of the thing. After we drop the trailer in San Antonio and bring the trailer back, we’ll put it back on the highway and I’ll put a check under the visor. I don’t need the money anyway, and I doubt if Walmart will ever be able to cash the check. But at least my conscience will be clear.”
“Well, then, can we open it up and see what’s in it?”
The metal seal had been snapped off the trailer door, and the first couple of pallets had been rifled through. A few boxes were almost certainly missing, although there was no way of knowing for sure without a load manifest. And it didn’t matter anyway. The truck was still over ninety percent full with a little bit of everything, from food to clothing to electronics.
AFTER THE DUST SETTLED (Countdown to Armageddon Book 2) Page 12