by Steven Smith
They drove up the street slowly, watching the windows of the houses for any movement. Driving a bit past the house, Jim stopped, put the Excursion in reverse and backed into the driveway, stopping a few feet from the garage door. He looked in the rearview mirror at Ralph. “You're up.”
“Okay.” Ralph got out of the Excursion and walked up the front walk calling Rebecca's name as he approached the door. He kept calling as he knocked on the door and soon heard the noise of bumping and dragging from behind the door, along with Bobby yelling "Papa! Papa!" In a moment, the door opened and all three rushed out to hug him.
Rebecca wrapped her arms around his neck, almost choking him in her attempt to hug him tightly enough. Becky held onto his side while Bobby took turns hugging him around the waist and jumping up and down yelling, "We thought you were robbers!"
Ralph hugged them all tightly, closing his eyes in a silent prayer of thanks and waited until he could speak without choking up. Then he peeled Rebecca and Becky off and looked them up and down. "So, you're all okay?"
Rebecca nodded. "It's been a tough few days and I was starting to worry. We were down to drinking the packing water in the canned vegetables." Then she looked around him. "Whose truck is that? Is mom with you?"
"Nope. It's Jim Wyatt, his nephew Christian and an Osage County deputy named Glen. We came to take you back to the farm. Come on, let's go open the garage and get you loaded up."
As they walked through the house, Ralph saw the exterior doors all had furniture stacked against them. "Have you had trouble? " he asked, nodding at the doors.
Rebecca shrugged, "Not really, but we wanted to be ready. Dad, what's happening?”
"I can't really explain it, but Jim says it's something called an EMP. Short answer is all power is out, maybe for years."
She looked at him, stunned, unable to make such an unthinkable scenario real in her mind. "Years?"
"That's what they say. Come on, let's get started."
They went through the garage and rolled up the double door, only then seeing the men getting out of the Excursion. Ralph made the introductions and the men entered the garage." Rebecca hugged her dad again. "I can't believe you're here." Then she turned to the others. "Thank you so much. I don't know what to say except thank you."
Jim nodded and smiled. "It's our pleasure, Rebecca. There's no way we'd leave some of our own out here." He looked at the two women and young boy. "Now, we're going to have to hurry so we can make it back before dark. We don't have a lot of space, so I'd suggest you pack up as much as you can of the most durable clothes you have, especially winter clothes. Also, any medications you have and all your important papers like birth certificates, licenses of any kind and property deeds or mortgage papers." He thought for a moment. "And all pictures and any small things with sentimental value. Weapons, ammo, gold, silver and any gemstones, too, and may as well bring any cash you have, though I don't know what good that will be."
Becky spoke up. "We have some food stocked up. Should we bring that too?"
"We'll see what kind of room we have left after everything else is packed, but you're going to be okay for food when we get back. Maybe you can bring some favorites."
"And bring some of Bobby's favorite toys." said Christian. Everyone turned to see him smiling at the boy.
"Thank you, Christian." said Becky quietly.
"Is there anyone in the neighborhood you want to leave your extra food with?" asked Ralph.
Rebecca scoffed. "Not a single one has come over to check on us or see if they could help, except for the jerk across the street who was always trying to put the moves on Becky and I whenever he thought his wife wasn't looking. And he made it real clear what payment he expected."
"Okay," said Jim. "Then let's see how fast you can get ready to go."
It took a little over an hour for the women to collect what they would take and load it into the Excursion. In the meantime, the men kept watch and loaded the family's bicycles onto the roof and tied them down.
The hour had been an emotional roller coaster, especially for Rebecca. The excitement of escaping from a disaster she did not fully understand to returning to the safety of her parents and the family farm, coupled with the sadness of leaving the home she and Robert had built, caused such a mixture of emotions that she had a hard time concentrating. She had decided, at Jim's suggestion, to leave her extra food on the front step. Jim had said that it might keep people from breaking in, but in any case, to keep food she wasn't going to need from people who would soon be starving wasn't the right thing to do. She agreed.
As they got into the Excursion, Rebecca stopped and turned for one last look at the house that had been her home through so much happiness and so much sadness. Maybe it was time for a new start, she thought, as she climbed into the middle of the second-row seat between Glen and her dad.
As they pulled out of the driveway, Becky, who was sitting on top of the cargo in back with Bobby, saw the jerk across the street come out of his house to watch them. Distracting Bobby to something else, she flipped the guy off with a smile.
7
The trip back had been quicker than the trip to Topeka. Dropping Glen off at the Caterpillar roadblock and taking a rain check on Sheriff Freelove's invitation to supper, they had arrived at the Samuels' place at dusk and were able to unload and get to Stonemont just before dark. Everyone had been waiting up for them, but they had been tired from a long day and Jim had told them to hit the sack and they would talk in the morning at breakfast.
Now, Jim stood on the stone veranda looking out over the field at the rising sun and drinking his first cup of coffee of the day. Max and Pink came running up for their morning pats on the head, then ran off again to continue their playful patrol.
He enjoyed these morning minutes alone, and this morning it was even more important to him than usual. What he had seen yesterday had surprised him. He had not expected the brutality of the police officers' murders so soon. And he had expected neighborhoods like Rebecca's to be more united and mutually supportive. Instead, it seemed as if families were holing up as individual units when they should be working together, building mutual support groups and developing sustainability plans.
Yet, in his heart, he knew he shouldn't be surprised. Society, particularly urban and suburban society, had long been moving in the direction of personal isolation. The more densely you packed people, the more distant they grew from each other psychologically and emotionally, and the more superficial their relationships became. Even the children had become more isolated from their parents as a result of public school curriculums, an increasing importance placed on sports and other non-family activities, and laws infringing on parental rights. Too many parents had turned into chauffeurs instead of guiding and nurturing moms and dads. Moms had been replaced by pre-school and school teachers, dads by soccer coaches and taekwondo instructors. In the cities it was worse, where jobs had been replaced by government checks and fathers replaced by nothing.
Under the veneer of neighborhood groups and friendships, competition and jealousy lurked and drove much of the consumerism that had supported the economy while driving individuals into debt. Now, with a real disaster to deal with, this was going to cause these people to turn on each other soon, and then become easy victims for stronger and more organized groups which would surely find them. He thought about the horror he knew was coming, and when he thought about the children, a crushing sadness came over him. He had to force himself to stop thinking about it.
The sound of the kitchen door made him turn to see Kelly coming out. He always liked the way she looked in the morning, wearing one of his t-shirts and barefoot, her blue eyes still sleepy and blonde hair a semi-mess.
"Hey sexy," he said. "I see you're wearing one of my favorite outfits."
He held his free arm out for her to step into. He had met her when she was twenty-six, twenty years his junior, started dating her after she had joined his martial arts class at twenty-eight, and married
her when she was twenty nine. That had been fifteen years ago, and she looked better than ever. "What are you doing up so early?"
She snuggled into him. "Max woke me up barking at something. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, he probably just saw a coyote or something. I'm afraid he dug up one of your hydrangeas."
She snuggled deeper into his side. "That's okay. Why are you up so early?"
Jim shrugged. "Getting to be a habit, I guess. Just thinking about yesterday."
"Was it bad?"
He nodded. "Worse than I had expected this soon. But we went through a couple of small towns that had it together. I hope most are like that."
They saw Mike step out of the woods to the east and watched him walk toward them, his AR slung across his chest.
"Morning Jim, Kelly." he called out when he got within talking distance.
"Hey, buddy." Jim responded. "How's everything?"
Mike unslung his rifle as he stepped up onto the patio. "Max and Pink had something over in the east woods. I'm not sure what it was, but I'm going to go back in a bit when there's better light and look at the tracks."
Jim nodded. "The Eddington place is on the other side of our fence. I'm going back over there today to see if they're back."
Kelly stretched up to give Jim a kiss. "I'm going to go get dressed and get breakfast started."
Jim poured another cup of coffee and sat down at the table. "So, how did everything go around here yesterday?"
Mike cleared his rifle and placed it in a rack on the wall, then sat down with a cup of coffee he had poured himself. "Pretty well. Bill is a quick learner on the weapons. I only had him fire a few rounds because I didn't want to call too much attention to us, but his weapons handling is good and he's already pretty good on the target."
He took a sip of coffee and looked out over the fields. "I can see why you picked this place. It's the highest ground in the area, with natural defensive features everywhere except on the east. And I went down into your bunker for a minute while they were doing inventory. It's amazing. You really planned for this."
He paused for a minute, then continued. "There's something I'd like to say while it's just you and me here."
Jim looked at him over his coffee cup. "Go ahead."
Mike looked into his coffee cup, then back up at Jim. "I want to thank you for taking me in. I've been thinking about what things might have been like if I hadn't hooked up with Christian, and I'm afraid I might have reverted back to what I became in Iraq."
His eyes became distant for a moment, then he focused back on Jim. "Uncle Sam taught me some good skills for a situation like this, but the price was a big slice of my humanity, if you know what I mean. I just wanted to tell you that I think that being here with you and your family saved me from backsliding to something I never want to be again, and to thank you for that. And I want to tell you that I'm here to do whatever I can, whatever you need me to do."
Jim looked at him for a minute, then nodded. He could well understand the younger man's feelings, as his own years in law enforcement had carried much the same cost. He reached his hand out and placed it on top of Mike's two hands holding the coffee cup. "Until the day comes when you want to try to make it back to your own family, we're your family, and you're ours."
Mike nodded, his eyes serious. "Thanks."
The kitchen door opened and Christian came out. "If you two are done holding hands, I'm going to get a cup of coffee."
Breakfast became a meeting. After the platters of eggs, bacon, biscuits and pancakes had been devoured, Jim asked Kelly about the supplies inventory, to which Kelly answered they had a little over two years of food for the current group, following a normal diet.
"The problem," she said, "is that we're going to be doing more physical work than usual, which means we're going to need more than the normal daily calories."
Jim nodded. "That means more protein and fat, which means animals, which means hunting for the short term and breeding for the long term."
He turned to Mike. "Mike, are you a hunter?"
Mike nodded. "I used to do some before I went in the military."
"Good. You're in charge of hunting, and teaching hunting and weapons to everybody. The kids can be trained on pellet rifles when you get the time.
“The deer population has exploded around here over the past few years due to a decrease in hunting, so there are plenty around. Start taking a few, but not close by. Go out a ways so they don't learn that this is a danger area, because we might need them closer in later on. In addition, we'll plant some corn along the tree lines so they'll get used to coming here to eat. I want everyone to get familiar with the process of hunting, shooting, dressing, cooking and eating game."
He looked around the table to see if anyone looked squeamish, but no one did. Good. "Also, train everyone to take some smaller stuff like rabbits and squirrels. Again, not close by."
Mike nodded. "Will do."
"For fruits and vegetables, we planted peach, apple, plum, pear and cherry trees a few years ago and they're starting to produce pretty well. The extra acres I tilled a few days ago will let us plant a lot more vegetables, and hopefully we'll be able to get a good crop to put up at harvest."
Jim turned to Christian. "Christian, you're in charge of security. All the lighting at Stonemont is low voltage LED, so the solar panels and wind turbines can run them all and still have reserve. We have more lights in the bunker and plenty of wire. Plus, we have solar powered lights, trail cameras and battery operated wireless surveillance cameras and alarms. I'd like you to do a complete security survey of the place and add what's needed to get us sewn up tight. Let me know if we need anything else."
Christian nodded. "You got it."
Jim addressed the group as a whole. "The women will be responsible for supplies, inventory control, meal preparation and physical maintenance of the property. That means keeping everything running. I would like all of you to be armed whenever you are outside your home. And from now on, we will consider the main open area around the main house, the guest house and the barns as the security zone. No women or children outside the zone without an armed man." He started to continue, but Tracy raised her hand.
"No offense, Mr. Wyatt, I mean Jim, but you seem to have the women doing all the cooking and cleaning like in the old days. As much as I appreciate what you've done for us, if this is going to be a throwback to 'Little House on the Prairie', where the women do all the work while the men go running around, then I'm afraid I'm not interested."
"Tracy!" a shocked Ann exclaimed as the table fell silent and Bill put his face in his hands.
"Well it's true, mom. Women can do anything a man can do, and I'm not going to throw away all my hard work to revert to a second-class citizen."
The table remained silent as everyone stared at Tracy, then looked at Jim.
He thought about going through all the reasons for such a separation of labor, but knew that words never changed anyone's personal perspective like experience and reality did. He leaned back in his chair and smiled. "Well, Tracy, if you think that so-called woman's work is less important and more tedious than the running around we men do, I assure you it's not. Actually, the traditional roles reflect the high esteem and value a culture places on women who themselves value those roles for the sake of their families. However, if you would prefer to join us men in our jobs, and can do everything we do, we welcome you to join us. Can you tell us what your particular strengths or specialties are?"
If the table had seemed silent before, it seemed even more silent now. Everyone turned to Tracy, who seemed both surprised and confused. "Well, I uh …"
Jim let the silence last for a moment, then waved his hand and smiled. "That's okay. We'll find out as we go along."
8
The next week was busy, and spent solidifying the things Jim had laid out at the breakfast meeting.
In the compound, Kelly and Ann had developed a regimen that brought daily life to a level
as close to pre-event as they could. Meals were planned out a week in advance, with attention paid to variety and proper nutrition.
Kelly had started a medicinal and culinary herb garden in some raised beds Jim had built next to the patio, and made daily work schedules for Aedan and Brody, which included emptying trash cans, collecting eggs from the chicken house, feeding the dogs, and setting the table for each meal. Morgan stuck to the boys like glue, trying to do everything they did and learning in the process.
Jim and Mike had gone to the Eddington's again, only to find that they had still not returned. Concerned about the animals and potential looters, they broke open a large bag of food for the family's dogs and entered the house to secure the guns, which they took with them. They saddled the Eddington's three horses and two ponies and Mike rode one and led the others back to Stonemont where they were turned in with the Wyatts' horses. Jim left a note on the kitchen table, letting the Eddington's know what they had done.
Christian completed his security survey, and had added lights and cameras to several areas, including the barn. For fire suppression, and Kelly's request for more household water, he had installed a second two hundred seventy-five-gallon caged water tank on the roof of the main house, bringing the total amount of gravity fed water to five hundred and fifty gallons. He also added a second fifty-five-gallon barrel to the guest house.
Mike had made a wide-ranging tactical assessment of the surrounding area out to a mile from the compound and had prepared a plan to maximize their defensive capabilities and develop approach channels.
Jim, Bill and Tracy helped as each job required, with Jim constantly making mental notes to himself about things that needed to be done and possible improvements to be made. Together, they all planted the acres Jim had recently plowed in corn, beans, peas, beets, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, squash, zucchini and wheat.