by Steven Smith
Entering the barn, they looked around at the stacks of food and supplies that filled the massive building. The loft was full and very little floor space was left.
Jim stood with his hands on his hips. "We're out of room here. The rest of the trailers will have to stay where they are, but we need to get an inventory of them so we know what we have. From now on, all trailers will go directly to the new Church Crossing location. We need to kick up our road salvage operations as many notches as we can. I want there to be plenty of work for people to do and plenty of things for them to buy to make their lives better. I'll cover that with Mike later."
He turned and led the men out of the barn and back toward the common area. "Bill, how long till the long house is done?"
"About a week," Bill answered. "We just need to put in the interior partition walls and hook up the drains in the bathrooms. Everyone currently living in tents will be able to stay in it through the winter, though it may be a little cramped and short on privacy."
"Okay. That takes care of the immediate need. As soon as the longhouse is done, let's get started on cabins ringing the compound. Go ahead and start platting out the locations now. Depending on the weather, we may be able to start putting people in them before it gets cold and have everybody in one by spring. That will help people get back to feeling like families again instead of refugees."
He continued walking as he turned to Mason. "Are you all squared away for winter, Mason?"
Mason gave his head a half shake. "I don't know, Jim. I thought we were, but now I'm not so sure. I hadn't really thought that far ahead and now I'm starting to worry."
"What do you think is your biggest need?"
Mason took several steps before answering. "I'd say housing. I think we're okay on food with the trucks we've snagged, but a lot of the guys have been staying at Boomers and the rest are spread out over a couple counties with their families. We really don't have a central place we can defend and live as a group."
Jim nodded. "We're going to need some permanent staff and security at Church Crossing. Do you think any of your people would be interested, and would that help you out?"
Mason shrugged. "Yeah, I think so. Some of our single guys might be interested, and maybe even some with families. You want me to ask them?"
"Yeah, ask them and let me know. We'll put them through our security training and put them on Stonemont credits for their work. I'd also suggest you get as many of your people in close together and start working on building a defensible central location."
"I will. After what I've seen here I'm going to give us a kick in the ass."
"Good. Let me know if we can help."
They had crossed the commons area, exchanging waves and greetings with those going about their daily work, and were now heading into the woods on the east side of the pasture. Following a narrow path through a mixed stand of oak and dogwood, they soon entered a clearing in which the national guardsmen who had accompanied Captain Collins sat on the ground. Mike, Tracy and Emily Rodriguez were standing in front of the group and Mike was speaking.
"So, the bottom line is that we will equip you if you want to try to get back home, or we will find work for you and you can stay here if you want to."
Emily spoke for a minute in Spanish, translating what Mike had said for those who didn't speak English.
Mike noticed Jim and the others, and motioned them forward. "Mr. Wyatt and some of our other leaders are here," he told the group, as Emily translated quickly. The group looked around, watching Jim and the others walk to the front.
Mike turned to Jim. "I had just finished telling them what we had discussed and was about to open it up for questions."
Jim nodded and stood beside Mike.
A young guy with blonde hair in the front row raised his hand. "My dad is overseas and I want to get back to my mom and little sister out in western Kansas."
"Good for you, son," said Jim. "We'll give you some more ammo for your AR and get you fixed up with food and gear for your trip. We'll pray that your family's okay and that you get to them safely."
"Thank you, sir," the young man nodded. "But I'm just wondering, sir, what happens if I get out there and can't take care of them. What do I do then?"
Jim looked at the young man and realized they hadn't considered this. What if these men made it back to their families only to find that their families were gone or dead. Or what if they found them alive but unable to sustain themselves much longer. He knew that this would be the case in many instances. He looked at the young man for a long moment, thinking before he answered, then raised his hands to indicate he was talking to all of them.
"For those of you who are going to try to get back to your families, we will give you enough food to get home and to also try to get your family back here if necessary." He looked at Bill, who nodded. "It won't be possible for you guys to carry enough water, so Mike will teach a short class for you all in survival, water purification and scouting."
Mike nodded.
Jim continued. "For anybody going to Mexico or farther south, you won't be able to carry enough food for the whole trip, but we'll give you what you can carry."
Emily translated, and some of the Hispanics nodded. The one to whom Jim had handed his plate two nights before spoke to Emily, who listened and then turned to Jim.
"Manuel says that although they would like to get back to their families, trying to make such a long trip right now might be impossible, especially when they get closer to the border and areas controlled by the cartels. He wants to know if they could stay here and work until spring before they try to go home."
"Of course," Jim nodded, looking at Manuel and the others. "The same applies to everyone. You are welcome to be a part of us for as long as you like and to leave when you like." He looked around at the entire group. "Our rules are simple. First, everybody works. Second, observe the Golden Rule; treat others as you would like to be treated. Third, our laws are the Ten Commandments. If you don't know them, a plaque is being attached to the front of the longhouse."
He looked at Emily, who translated.
"To those of you who will be leaving, we wish you the best of luck and a safe journey. We hope you find your families alive and safe, and you are welcome here any time. To those of you who will be staying, welcome to Stonemont."
The Kansas guys nodded appreciation as Emily translated to the others. When she had finished, Manuel rose to his feet. "Gracias, senor Wyatt. We are with you." The other Hispanics rose to their feet as if on cue. "Gracias," they said in unison with a collective nod of their heads.
Jim nodded back to all of them. "You're welcome."
As they walked back to the commons, they could hear the sounds of kids playing and the hammering coming from the longhouse where the interior partitions were being installed. Each family would have a room measuring twelve feet by twelve feet; not large, but large enough for them to sleep comfortably and have some private space. Since the walls were not meant to be permanent, the construction was going quickly and the rooms would be ready in just a few days.
Jim and Ann had designed the building to be heated with a combination of passive and active solar, with four wind turbines installed on the roof to help charge the building's battery bank during the winter when sunshine decreased and the winds got stronger. Large windows on the long south side allowed sunlight to heat the stone floors of the south facing rooms, as well as large black water-filled barrels at the exterior corners of each room. Heat would be stored in the thermal mass and radiate into the room as the temperature dropped. Additionally, heat would rise from the open ceiling of each room to collect in the apex of the vaulted ceiling of the longhouse, where low voltage fans powered by the batteries would blow it back down to the living level throughout the building. As the sun set, insulated panels would be set into each window frame, preventing the heat from escaping back through the windows. In each room, a two-foot square sheet of aluminum set in a vertical frame stood in a corner about s
ix inches off the floor. A heat lamp, running off the batteries, would shine on it from the back, causing the heated aluminum to radiate heat into the room. When the cabins were finished and the partition walls were removed, the aluminum radiators would stay to help heat the hall.
Jim explained all of this to the others as they entered the longhouse. At the east end, workers were busy laying stone for a massive fireplace and chimney that would dominate the wall.
"It's called a walk-in," he said, demonstrating the term by walking into the fire box and extending his arms out from his sides. "Seven feet high and twelve feet wide. They were common in castles and some of the old mansions back east. It will take massive logs that will burn for days and will heat this end of the hall by itself, plus you can roast a whole hog or half a cow in it."
“Damn, are they getting ready to cook you, Jim?”
The group turned to see Mike walking in with a smile on his face. “No offense, but you look a little tough to me. I think I'll wait for the pig."
Jim stepped out of the fireplace shaking his head. "You sound like you've been hanging around Christian too long. You used to be such a nice kid."
Mike laughed. "I thought I'd go ahead and get started on training this group if it's okay with you. I can get them geared up in about an hour and head up to secure Church Crossing in preparation for tomorrow. That will give them a day and a half of training instead of just one day, and I can cover additional environments with them."
Jim nodded. They were going up to the new location the next day to start getting it ready for re-purposing. Ralph was coming over with his truck, and, with one of the scout team leaders driving Stonemont's rig, they were going to push their road salvage operations out farther into the country. "Sounds good. Who are you taking?"
"I'll take the Kansas guard guys and the Mexicans, Tracy, Emily and a couple of our scouts."
"Mind if me and my guys go along?" asked Mason as they left the building and headed back toward the house.
"Not at all," Jim answered. "That's a good idea."
"Here comes Aedan," said Bill. "He looks like he's trying to outrun something."
The group turned in the direction Bill was looking and saw Aedan running toward them over the recently harvested field, his pellet rifle in one hand and a rabbit hanging by the ears in the other, with Max and Pink loping along beside him. They stopped, waiting for Aedan to reach them.
"Dad, dad!" Aedan yelled breathlessly as he got closer. "There's two ladies in the woods! I saw them! I think they're hurt!" He rushed up to the group, stopping and trying to catch his breath, his face flushed with exertion and hair wild from running.
Jim put his hand on Aedan's shoulder, looking down at his son. "Where are they, buddy?"
"In the little gully just over the no-go hill." Jim had told him he was not to go past that hill without an adult with him, and they called it the no-go hill.
"Why do you think they're hurt?"
Aedan took a deep breath. "Because one of them is laying down and the other one is sitting next to her crying."
"Did they see you?"
Aedan shook his head. "I don't think so. I just peaked over the hill to see what Max was barking at and saw them down at the bottom of the hill."
Jim patted Aedan on the shoulder. "Good job, buddy. We'll go take a look. You'd better get that rabbit up to mom so she can get it in the stew." Then he looked at the others. "Let's get our rifles. Mike, go get Tracy."
Thirty minutes later, Aedan was leading the group through the woods to the place he had seen the women. As they approached the hill he had peeked over, he looked at his dad and whispered, "Right over this hill."
The group stopped and switched on their headsets. "Everybody on?" Jim whispered. Everyone whispered back in the affirmative.
He moved slowly up the hill till his eyes cleared the crest. Seeing the two women as Aedan had described, he backed away and rejoined the group.
"Okay, they're there. Mike, take the right and Tracy take the left. Let us know what you find."
Mike and Tracy both nodded and slipped off quietly.
Jim returned to the crest of the hill and took his small binoculars out of a side pocket. With them, he could make out more details of the women. Both appeared to be in their twenties or thirties and dressed in shorts and halter-tops, not adequate for the cooling weather. Both were wearing flip-flops, though the one laying down was missing one. An orange backpack lay on the ground beside the one sitting down, her head on her crossed arms resting on her drawn up knees. Both women remained motionless as he watched.
After about ten minutes, Mike's whisper came over the headsets. "Nothing on my side."
A minute later, Tracy's voice came through. "Nothing on mine, either."
"Okay," Jim whispered into his mic. "We have two females, one sitting next to another one laying down. Neither is moving. No weapons visible. Mike, come take an over-watch on them. Tracy, come in from your side and approach them. Sling your rifle and go in with your hands empty. If either of them move on you, we'll take them out."
"Okay," both whispered back.
It was several minutes before Mike whispered, "Ready."
Tracy acknowledged, and a minute later came around a small stand of scrub pine to approach the women.
Jim and Mike watched as Tracy slowly approached the women, hands a bit out from her sides with the palms facing toward them.
When she was about twenty feet from them, she stopped and spoke. "Are you okay?"
The sitting woman slowly raised her head, looking for the voice. Her head moved languidly, as if she were very tired or drunk. She tried twice before she was able to move her blonde hair away from her eyes to continue looking for the voice.
Tracy started walking very slowly toward the women. "I said are you okay?"
The blonde woman saw Tracy and started to shake her head slowly, gesturing toward the woman lying on the ground.
Tracy moved more quickly to the woman, checking for signs of a weapon before getting close enough to touch her. The woman was covered with cuts and scratches and was quietly crying.
“Where did you come from?” Tracy asked.
The woman just kept shaking her head. “I…I don't know.” Her voice caught. “A school.”
Tracy put her arms around the woman and held her while Jim, Mike and the others came down the small hills. Jim continued covering the woman Tracy was holding while Mike checked the woman lying on the ground.
Mike shook his head. "Dead. Not long."
Jim looked around. "See if you can follow their back trail and find out where they came from. We'll get them up to the house."
Mike nodded and left.
Jim knelt down and opened the backpack. Candy wrappers. A bottle of water, half gone. A pair of men’s underwear, a blue work shirt and a pair of socks. A flashlight that didn't work. A pair of wire cutters. He zipped up the bag and stood up, looking at the others. "We can take turns carrying her," he said, indicating the dead woman, then turned to Tracy. "Tracy, can you get her on her feet and help her walk?"
Tracy nodded.
Jim knelt beside the dead woman. Her face bore bruises both old and new. Dried blood trailed from her mouth and nose, and one discolored eye was swollen shut. He pulled her torso up by her wrists and put a hand on her back in order to steady her, feeling wetness.
"Oh, my god," breathed Bill, staring at the woman.
Jim laid the woman back down and turned her over. Dark brown stains covered the back of the shirt and shorts, and the backs of the woman's thighs and calves were sliced and torn with dozens of what appeared to be whip marks. He lifted the back of the woman's shirt. If anything, the damage on her back was worse, and he knew it would be the same under the shorts.
The brutality of it hit him like a punch, with the sickening sadness that comes with witnessing the brutalization of another human being. It reminded him of a case he had worked many years before in Kansas City where a pimp had beaten one of his girls to
death with a fan belt.
He turned her back over and lifted her to his shoulder in a fireman's carry. It wasn't the most dignified or respectful method, but he didn't want to take the time to construct a stretcher and use two men to carry her since they didn't know if anyone might have been following the women. Rigor had not yet set in, so the body draped limply over his shoulder with that singular heaviness a body acquires when the spirit has left it. He settled the body on his shoulder and looked at Tracy, who had the other woman on her feet. Tracy nodded and he turned toward the compound. "Okay, let's go."
Between the weight of the dead woman and the unsteadiness of the woman Tracy was helping, it took them almost an hour to get back to the compound. The men took the body to the barn in preparation for burial and Tracy took the woman to the house where Kelly and Ann helped get her into bed.
Kelly brought a bowl of soup, to which she had added a shot of bourbon, but the woman was already asleep so they covered her with a light blanket. Kelly and Tracy went back downstairs while Ann stayed with the woman.
"Where did you find her?" asked Kelly as they walked into the kitchen.
"About a mile southeast of here in the woods. Actually, Aedan found them and came back to get Jim."
"Them?"
"Uh huh. Another woman. She's dead. The guys took her to the barn."
Tracy took a spoonful of the soup Kelly had set back on the counter. "Wow, so that's what my soup has been missing all these years. Bourbon."
"Did she say anything?" asked Kelly. "Do we know where they came from?"
Tracy shook her head. "Not yet. She hasn't said anything, but Mike is looking for their back trail." She paused, then continued in a quieter voice. "The other one was beaten up really bad. It looked like she was whipped with something for a long time."
Kelly looked at Tracy for a minute, then turned to look out the window. She and Jim had talked about how bad things would get, but this was the first time such brutality had come so close to them. She knew they had been lucky. They had worked, planned and prepared in order to insulate their family as much as they could from the animals they both knew waited at the bottom of this disaster, but they had both known they would have to deal with it eventually. Eventually had apparently come.