“Well, I’m getting ready to bring the boys some iced tea, and then we’ll pull out the bushel baskets and start picking. Is it just us?”
“Nope. Joyce and Hannah are both changing into old clothes. They said they’d be out in a minute. Zachary’s manning the security console and Rachel is going to keep him company. Misty said she would help us pick, if she can eat a strawberry occasionally.
“So we’ll have plenty of help. It should be lots of fun. Oh, and can I help you do the canning, too? I want to learn how to do that.”
“Sure, honey. The more people who know how the better.”
-48-
Summer took its last gasps and then surrendered to fall. The nights turned cool enough for light jackets, and Duke and Duchess started seeking out the sunny spots to lay, instead of hiding from them.
Thanksgiving came and went. Everyone sat together and held hands around the table as Tom said an old cowboy prayer handed down from his grandfather. At the kids’ table, Zachary continued to hold Rachel’s hand even after the prayer had ended, until she noticed and pulled it away. But she didn’t mind. She thought it was kind of sweet.
Everyone in turn talked of something they were grateful for over the waning year. In a year where the world was in such chaos, it was still possible to find some joyful things. Tom said he was most grateful for finding Linda, and she blushed. Linda said she was most grateful that her family was given a chance to survive, when so many others couldn’t. Scott was most thankful for Joyce and the help she gave him to make the compound possible. Joyce was most thankful for such a wonderful group of people that God had brought together.
Hannah, of course, was most grateful for Tom and Scott plucking her and her daughters from a dreadful situation, and for God watching over her sick husband and keeping him safe. Sara was most happy for the baby inside of her, and she glowed as she spoke of it. Jordan seconded her sentiment, and threw in that he was lucky to have found someone as wonderful as Sara.
Zachary said he was most grateful that everyone present was healthy and seemed to get along well together. Rachel thanked the group for making her feel so welcome and said she was grateful to have a safe place to sleep at night. Misty generated some smiles when she said she was most grateful that not all the doggies died. “And for strawberries,” she added.
All in all, things were going fairly well. Because that’s the way life usually goes, just before something goes terribly wrong.
On the Monday after Thanksgiving, Scott and Tom moved several of the dead mesquite trees that stood guard between Scott’s place and Tom’s.
They cut the barbed wire and took out a fence post to allow free access for the equipment they’d need to move back and forth between the properties. And then they drove Scott’s Ford tractor over to Tom’s place to hook up to Tom’s mower.
The mower wasn’t powered. It was made to drag behind the tractor, and the turning of the wheels cranked two huge blades. Tom kept the blades almost sharp enough to shave with, and they did a very effective job of cutting Tom’s hay field, as well as the tall grass that grew wild in the region.
Scott didn’t know beans about using a hay baler, so he ran the mower across Tom’s whole property. Tom followed closely behind with the baler, which dropped bales every forty to two hundred feet, depending on how thick the growth was.
Jordan and Zachary had the hard part. They each drove Gators in tandem, right up to the bales. Jordan lifted half the bales onto the back of the Gators, and helped Zachary with the other half. Zach couldn’t quite get them up high enough on his own.
“There’s got to be a better way to do this,” Jordan announced after he helped his little brother lift the tenth bale.
“I’ll tell you what. If I put them on the Gator, can you drag them off back at the barn?”
“Yes. It’s a whole lot easier getting them off than getting them on.”
“Okay. Instead of loading both Gators at the same time, I’ll load one, and you can take it back and off load it while I’m loading up the second one. Then you can come back and get it, and we’ll just keep swapping out. Okay?”
“Sure. Sounds like a good plan.”
And it was. It seemed to work quite well.
Around mid afternoon, Zachary came back from the compound with a thermos full of iced tea and some plastic cups. He waved down his father and Tom, who drove their equipment over to the boys and took a break.
“Joyce gave me this and said to bring it back, that we were probably ready for it. And there’s something going on back at the house.”
Scott suddenly got concerned.
“What do you mean?”
“All the women are crying. Even Sara. I asked Joyce what was the matter. She just shooed me away.”
Scott looked at Jordan, and knew exactly what he was thinking.
“No. I’m sure the baby’s fine. I’ll go check it out. You go get on the tractor, and just drag the mower back and forth over the grass. The mower will do all the work.”
Scott jumped on the full Gator and drove back to the compound.
Linda was standing at the kitchen window and saw him pull into the yard. She met him outside.
“What’s wrong? What happened?”
“It’s John. Hannah got a call from their friend in San Antonio. Robbie, I think. He said that John has gone into a coma. That they were so short of amoxicillin that they weren’t giving him as much as he needed. And that he took a turn for the worse.”
“Oh, no.”
Scott kicked hard at the dirt beneath his feet.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen. John is a strong man. A combat veteran. A wounded warrior. He lost a leg in Iraq, and still came home to serve his community. Was fighting very hard to save people he didn’t even know, day in and day out. This shouldn’t happen to a man like John. It just isn’t fair.”
“I know, Scott. It isn’t fair. None of this is fair. It hasn’t been fair for a very long time. John’s not the only one. Millions and millions of good people have died. At least John’s still alive.”
“What did the doctors say?”
“They said not to give up hope. They said if they can find some more amoxicillin to give him, to finally kill the infection, that he may have a fighting chance. Right now they just don’t have enough to fight his infection. And if they give him penicillin, it’ll kill him.”
“Where’s Joyce?”
“Inside, trying to comfort Hannah and the girls.”
Scott turned on his heels.
“Hey, where are you going?”
“I’ve got to talk to Tom.”
“Why?”
“Because Tom did his shopping in Junction. I didn’t. Tom will know where the pharmacies are in Junction. He can draw me a map.”
-49-
Tom was adamant.
“No, Scott. I’m not going to let you go. It’ll be safer this way, I swear.”
“Safer for me, maybe. But not for you. This isn’t your problem. John is a friend of mine. You’ve never even talked to him. This is my mission to go on. Not yours.”
Tom smiled. He was only twelve years older than Scott, but sometimes his demeanor made it easy to think of him in a grandfather role, or as a wise statesman. And when he took that tact, he was usually able to speak calmly and rationally, and to bring others to his way of thinking.
“Look, Scott. I know you want to rush off and help your friend. But we have to look at this rationally. If you drive into Junction on your Gator looking for a pharmacy, somebody is going to shoot you right off of it and take it from you. If you’re lucky, you’ll die right away. If you’re not lucky, you’ll lay there and die a miserable death. Either way, they’ll have the Gator and you’ll be dead and you won’t do John a damn bit of good.
“The same thing will happen if you drive my Ford in there. Whoever is left alive will be hungry and desperate. They’ve probably been raiding Walmart trucks at the truck stop for months, just to stay alive. A working vehicle will
give them mobility. A chance to venture out for better food and other provisions. They’ll be desperate. And they probably won’t ask. They’ll probably just take.”
“How about if I ride in on horseback?”
“Seriously?”
“Yes. You used Bonnie to go into town to get your auto parts. Why can’t I do the same thing to get medicine?”
“Well, partner, I hope this doesn’t hurt your feelings, but you can’t ride a horse worth a damn. Oh, you do okay when the horse is walking down the road or moving along at an easy gallop. But if somebody starts shooting in your direction and you have to high-tail it into the brush you’ll fall off the damn thing for sure.
“It makes much more sense for me to ride in. I can take off on Bonnie like a bolt of lightning if I need to. But here’s the deal, partner. I’ve lived up here for a lot of years. Done my shopping and other business in Junction since I was a whippersnapper. I know most of those people. And even if they’re desperate, I think I can deal with them. I’ll take some food in a knapsack. I can trade it for the medicine if I need to, or exchange it for safe passage. If I have to, I can promise to bring more back. They know me, and they know I’m a man of my word. They don’t know you from Adam.”
“Well, what if we both go together?”
“No. You on horseback is still a bad idea, even if I’m with you. And we shouldn’t be going anywhere together. The two of us together is a bad idea, because we don’t want to risk these women folk losing two of their men at the same time. We come in handy around here, you see, for lifting heavy things and stuff like that.”
He smiled at Joyce and Linda, who were listening in but not saying anything.
Tom turned back to Scott.
“Look, I know we went down the mountain together to deliver the wheat and to pick up Hannah and the girls. But that couldn’t be helped. You couldn’t have gotten the truck down there and into position without me. And I couldn’t have found the right place without you. So we had no choice but to team up.
“But this is different. There’s absolutely no reason for two of us to go after medicine. I can do it on my own.”
Scott thought for a minute, and then relented.
“Okay. You go to Junction and get it. I’ll stay here and keep an eye on things. And after you get back with it, I’ll go down the mountain and deliver it, and you can stay back. Fair enough?”
“Now you’re talking sense, little buddy.”
Scott had to admit, Tom was very good at thinking things through instead of going off half-cocked.
“Now, let’s go finish up that hay before we lose the daylight. I’ll set off for Junction first thing in the morning.”
Tom and were pleasantly surprised that the boys had made good progress during their debate. Jordan didn’t know how to run the baler, but he’d stopped mowing long enough to load the second gator for Zachary, and Zach was headed back with it. He waved as they passed each other along the way.
Jordan was back on the tractor, making short work of the tall grass.
Scott said, “How about showing me how to use the baler? After we finish up here, we’ll move the equipment over to my place and do it while you’re gone tomorrow.”
“Sounds like a good plan to me. Climb on board and I’ll show you how it’s done.”
-50-
It was just after daybreak when Tom walked out his door and over to the stables to saddle Bonnie. Bonnie loved to get out, and started pawing at the ground as soon as she saw him opening up the door to the tack room. They’d been together for going on ten years, and were quite close. If horses were capable of feeling love, then she surely felt it for Tom.
While Tom was at the stables, Linda went to the kitchen and fixed him some bacon and eggs. Everyone else in the house was sleeping except for Sara, who was on the security desk.
“Would you like some breakfast, honey?”
“Sure. That sounds wonderful. Thank you.”
Linda put the eggs into the fry pan and then slipped away for just a moment with Sara. She walked up behind her and hugged her.
“How are you feeling this morning?”
“Fine. The baby kicked again last night. I’m starting to love that feeling, even though it hurts a little sometimes. It reminds me that there’s a tiny little person in there. I hope he looks just like Jordan.”
Linda chuckled.
“I don’t know. I kinda hope she looks just like you.”
Sara smiled.
“Well, whether it’s a boy or a girl, it’s going to be the most loved baby ever.”
“Yes indeed. I’m so looking forward to being a grandmother. At first it scared me a little bit. The term ‘grandmother’ conjures up visions of little old gray haired ladies in my mind. But then I remembered something my own grandmother said to me once. She said that grandchildren don’t make you old. They bring such joy that they keep you young. I hope she’s right.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t tell you what Jordan said last night.”
The mischievous smile on Sara’s face made Linda curious.
“Just what did my son the big turd say?”
“He said he was going to teach the baby to call you ‘Granny Goose.’”
Linda went back to the kitchen, calling over her shoulder, “Oh, you just wait until he gets up. I’m going to beat that boy silly.”
“Don’t be too hard on him. When I got up to relieve Joyce he stirred a bit and then woke up. He’s all stiff this morning, and in a lot of pain.”
“Why?”
“From lifting hay bales all day yesterday. He said he used muscles he’s never used before.”
“I’ll be sure and give him some ibuprofen with his coffee this morning.”
Tom tied Bonnie to the hitching post by the back door and came inside.
“Smells good in here. Nothing like the smell of bacon frying to get a man moving in the morning.”
He looked around.
“Everybody else still sleeping?”
“Most of them. Seems you and Scott wore everybody out yesterday.”
“Ah, hard work’s good for ‘em. They’ll get up, as soon as that bacon smell starts drifting down the hallway. It’s like a pretty girl in a short skirt. It’s kinda hard to resist.”
“Oh, listen at you, mister feisty pants. Didn’t last night get it out of your system?”
Sara, from the other room, reminded Tom and Linda they weren’t alone.
“I’m here, you two, in case you’ve forgotten.”
Linda blushed and Tom chuckled. “You’re cute when you’re red.”
Tom was right about the bacon smell. Before he finished his breakfast, everyone except Joyce had stumbled into the kitchen for coffee and food. Joyce had just gotten off security detail two hours before and would sleep right through breakfast, bacon smell or not.
It was a good thing Linda made plenty of extra.
After breakfast, Linda walked Tom outside to tell him goodbye. The rest of the group gave them their privacy, except when Hannah rushed outside to hug him and thank him for what he was doing.
“Ah, shucks, it ain’t nothing. John’s one of us now, he just ain’t here is all. And I’m sure he’d do the same for me.”
Linda kissed him goodbye and told him to be careful. Then she opened the gate to let him out. Scott had already moved the mesquite tree at the end of the drive, and he and Linda waved at him as he rode off into the early morning sun.
-51-
An hour and a half later, Tom slowed Bonnie to a walk and drew closer to a checkpoint blocking the road.
A sheet of plywood leaned against two sawhorses. Spray painted across the plywood were orange letters.
STOP! OUTSIDERS NOT WELCOME.
Behind the barricade were two armed men. Tom didn’t recognize either one.
“Hold up there, mister. State your business.”
“I’m headed to Johnson’s Drug Store to buy some medicine.”
“Johnson’s Drug Store is closed. Has been
for a spell. Are you familiar with it?”
“Tony Johnson and I have known each other for years. And I shopped there even before he ran it. When Frank, his father, was still alive. What’s with the roadblock?”
“Trying to keep out strangers from San Antonio. They been coming up on horseback, or on bicycles. Some on foot. Coming up here looking for provisions. We ain’t even got enough food for our own families, let alone strangers and theirs.”
“Well, I ain’t after no food. Just need some medicine is all. And I ain’t from San Antonio. I live eight miles from here, off Highway 83.”
“Before or after the Cutler Ranch?”
“Just east of it.”
The two men whispered between themselves, obviously debating whether Tom was enough of their own to pass by.
A third man walked up behind them.
“Let him through.”
He was obviously the man in charge.
Tom rode past the barricade and up to the third man, then leaned over to shake his hand.
“Hello, Keith. How have you been?”
“Been better, Tom, but it don’t do no good to complain. I’d have guessed you to be dead. Haven’t seen you since this whole ruckus started.”
“No. Had some trouble at my place one night. A couple of fellas trying to take stuff that didn’t belong to ‘em. Since then I’ve just been hunkered down and laying low. I’m just coming to town now because I need medicine.”
“Well, the Walgreen’s been busted into, and so’s the CVS. They’ve both been picked at, but if you can find what you need, just help yourself to it.”
“Thanks, but I’d rather deal with Tony Johnson if he’s still around. He still lives in the house next to his drug store, right?”
“Last I heard. He’ll be happy to see you’re still alive. We’ve lost so many of our own, Tom, it’s nice to see an old face.”
AFTER THE DUST SETTLED (Countdown to Armageddon Book 2) Page 17