by Eric Vall
We were going to start on the farm first and then we’d work on campus, because if we didn’t get our crops protected, then we wouldn’t be able to make it through the winter regardless. We could always move our things to the farm house and make do there, at least for the summer, but there was no way to move what was already planted in the earth. As much as I wanted to protect our home that we’d created, I knew that it was even more important right then to protect our livelihood, because without that we wouldn’t survive.
After everything was loaded into the truck, the girls and I squeezed into the front and I took off down the driveway after Rolly and Betty, and the rest of the civilians in the other two trucks.
The morning had brightened up since the wolf incident, and it was nice and sunny out, though I knew that sun was only going to bring a monstrous amount of heat with it. I had worn shorts and a tank top in preparation for the heat of the day, and the girls had as well.
The sky was light blue with a few fluffy clouds in it, and I knew that we were in for another scorcher. I used to watch the news quite a bit, but somehow I didn’t miss the weatherman telling me that it was going to be hot one bit. At this point I could figure that out for myself.
We were all quiet on the drive to the farm, and once we parked I went to the back of our truck and grabbed the spray paint out.
“Okay,” I addressed everyone. “Let’s have everyone get to your stations in the garden and finish that work for the morning.”
“What about water?” Betty asked.
“Right,” I said. “Betty, pick a few people to take with you and get to water duty.”
“On it,” the old woman agreed.
“Rolly,” I started, “I want you on fire line duty.”
“Already there,” he replied with a small smile.
“I’m going to be going around the perimeter of the farm and marking all the trees that will need to be cut down,” I announced. “After the main chores are done, then we’ll start chopping.”
Everyone nodded and split off into their groups to start their day's work. Betty got Dan, Jeff, and Joe to help her, and they loaded up the water tanks and headed back down to the creek to fill them up for the day.
“Anna,” I called out as the girls headed over to the carrot station in the garden.
“Yeah?” the redhead asked as she walked over to me.
“I’d like for you to help me with the trees,” I said.
“Okay,” she agreed, but her face was confused. “I don’t really know what I’m doing, though.”
“Don’t worry,” I told her. “You’ll walk with me first, and I’ll help you get the hang of it, then we can split off and the two of us will be able to have it done in no time.”
“Alright,” the redhead agreed, and I tossed her a can of the pink spray paint.
I heard the tractor start up in the distance as we walked over to the tree line, and I waved at Rolly as he took off further back into the field. He’d need to start there first since there was a decent amount of grass over there that was drying up from not being used.
“Are you happy Rolly picked your ring?” I asked my redheaded second in command as we walked.
“I’m just happy he’s happy,” she said, then she flashed me a wicked grin. “I am pretty stoked that he picked mine over Tara’s, though.”
“I figured you appreciated that,” I chuckled.
“Yeah, but she was super nice about it, so it wasn’t as satisfying as I’d have liked,” she replied with a scrunched up face.
We walked for a couple more minutes, and when we almost reached the tree line behind the barn Anna looked around, then she turned to me with green eyes full of concern.
“Do you think the fire lines will work?” she asked. “That fire was massive.”
“I can’t promise that they will,” I sighed. “But this is the best we can do to protect ourselves right now.”
“I’m so used to having enemies that are easy to battle,” the redhead said with a small smile. “This is a strange feeling. I feel helpless.”
I grabbed my second in command and pulled her close to me so I could wrap my arms around her and kiss her forehead. She was always so tough that sometimes it was easy to forget that she needed comfort from time to time as well.
She took a deep breath against my chest, then looked up at me with tear filled eyes.
“Thanks,” she whispered. “I needed that.”
“It’s okay to be scared,” I told her. “Everyone is scared right now, but you’re doing a wonderful job being my Major, and I need you.”
“I know,” she said, and she wiped her eyes then leaned up on her tiptoes to give me a kiss.
We got to the trees, and I explained that we needed to get rid of any that looked dead first off. Second, any brush and trees smaller than six inches within twenty feet. All needle bearing trees, with branches within six feet of the ground, will also need to be cleared, because we want to limit easy to burn fuel, that lets the fire reach into the leaves and upper branches. We also wanted to give ourselves some room in case the fire did get to us. We wanted to make it more difficult for the fire to jump to the actual farm, so if we cut down any conifer trees within ten yards or so of the farmland, then that would make it more difficult for the fire to travel.
The redhead got the hang of it immediately, and we began to mark trees with pink X’s.
As we worked I thought about how vulnerable Anna had seemed just then, and how badly I wanted to take away her feelings of anxiety. The girls were able to handle so much, but right now it was our home and our community that was at risk, and I knew that thought weighed on them heavily, especially Anna. As my second in command, she felt a certain obligation to remain in charge and control, and I didn’t blame her for that. It was what we had to do, but that didn’t make it any easier. Still, I knew she could handle it. She was a born leader, and even when things were stressful she was able to pull herself above the situation and make the best decisions that she could.
The day had grown hot in just the last half an hour since we arrived at the farm, and it was growing even hotter. Sweat beaded on my brow as I marked trees, and I was grateful for every little bit of shade that was provided by the oaks and maples.
I kept an eye on the area around me and noticed more birds flying south. That meant that the fire was still going, still moving, and from what we’d seen the day before, it was headed straight for us.
Once the civilians had finished watering and checking the plants for the day, Betty came and found me and asked what our next step was. I had Anna continue to mark trees, and I followed Betty back to the house to tell everyone the plan and to get some water.
I got to the porch, grabbed one of the bottles that had been brought with us that day, and downed nearly the entire thing in one go. I pulled the thing away from my mouth with an audible pant as I caught my breath.
“Okay,” I said after I’d finished my bottle off. “Everyone grab an axe or a saw and head over to the tree line. Make sure that you’re close to others. If animals do happen to come through, then I don’t want anyone by themselves. Keep your pistols on you and start cutting down any tree that has a pink X on it.”
Everyone agreed, and they started to head over to the truck to grab axes, but Marla hollered for them to get water and everyone quickly came back to grab a bottle before they headed out.
“You look tired already,” Betty observed as she put her hand on my shoulder.
“I’m alright,” I told her with a small smile.
“I’d tell you not to push yourself too hard,” she sighed, “but I think we’re all gonna push ourselves until this thing is over.”
“We’ll do what we gotta do,” I told her with a playful wink. “I’m going to head to the opposite side of the field and start marking trees over there.”
“Do you want me to send Anna over to you?” Betty asked.
“No, I’ll be alright,” I assured her.
“Okay,” t
he older woman said with a nod. “Just be careful.”
“Always,” I told her, then I grabbed another water bottle and started across the huge lawn of the farmhouse toward the tree line that was closest to campus.
I knew that nobody really liked it when I didn’t follow my own rules, but I had far more experience paying attention to my surroundings in stressful situations than they did. Besides, I had planned to split up with Anna earlier, I had just gotten into the rhythm of things, and we had continued on around the same area without thinking about it. It had been nice to have some company, too, for a few minutes, but this way some of the civilians could come over to this side shortly, and we could work both sides at once.
I started to spray the trees around me, and I slowly worked my way further into the woods until I was about ten feet away from the perimeter. After a few minutes, though, I heard a familiar snort, and I felt my body tense in response.
I carefully set the spray paint on the ground and unholstered my weapon, then I spun around as slowly as I could and looked for the beast.
About thirty feet away I spotted her. It was a mother black bear and two cubs.
Chapter 9
The bear had seen me, and she snorted once more to let me know that she was not afraid to protect her cubs at any cost. Usually, a well fed bear in summer like this wouldn’t be extremely aggressive. Even with her cubs there, she wasn’t usually so defensive as long as you didn’t act like a threat. But she was scared already and probably well out of her territory.
She was gorgeous, probably about one hundred and fifty pounds, and she had a sleek black coat that made me think she was a young mother instead of an older bear. Her cubs couldn’t be more than a few months old. They had probably been born in the winter time, and they’d managed to survive through the hibernation process and suck all the nutrients from her body. She was fairly thin still, but as long as she could find plenty of food before winter then she’d fatten up again and be able to feed her cubs for another hibernation season. She’d already put in so much work, and I knew she wasn’t going to tolerate any threat toward her babies. The phrase ‘mama bear’ didn’t come from their nurturing ways after all.
“It’s okay,” I whispered more to myself than to her. “We’re gonna be okay.”
I wasn’t about to shoot her, but I’d fire a warning shot to scare her off if I had to. First, though, I’d give her the opportunity to leave on her own.
I remained incredibly silent and still as the mama bear pushed her cubs behind her and looked to me again.
She let out a louder snort then, and I raised my pistol up into the air and fired off a round.
The black bear scurried backward but didn’t run off totally, so I fired another shot. After that, she let out a small screech and turned around to lead her babies far away from me.
This was new territory for her, and she was clearly confused about whether or not I was a threat. I wasn’t going to shoot the creature, but I also wasn’t going to take the chance to allow her to charge at me. Not only would that leave the two cubs motherless and ultimately dead, but I wouldn’t feel right about it. These animals were fleeing the fire, just like we were trying to save ourselves from it. I wanted there to be as little damage as possible. I didn’t like to kill unless I had the intent to, like when hunting, but I'd kill under threat and use the meat so it didn’t go to waste. Still, I think I'd eaten enough bear over the last year or so. I'd rather stick to fish, rabbits, and deer if I could help it.
I let out the breath I had been holding and re-holstered my pistol.
“Tav!” I heard Bailey’s voice call out, and I made my way through the trees to see the girls running toward me.
“What happened?” Paige breathed as they reached me.
“There was a mama bear,” I explained.
“Oh no,” Bailey said with a frown. “Did you shoot her?”
“No, of course not,” I assured the blonde with a small smile. “But she was confused and out of her territory, so I had to fire off a couple of warning shots.”
“You scared the hell out of us,” Tara panted.
“Sorry,” I told her. “This is why everyone needs to have their weapon on them at all times and be extremely careful. The woods are filled with creatures right now. That bear was only fifty feet or so from the perimeter.”
“Wow,” Paige said. “That’s close.”
“If they’ve come from any distance, then they don’t know this area,” I explained.
“I bet there aren’t a lot of people around for them to worry about nowadays anyways,” Anna said.
“I’m sure that’s true,” I agreed. “They’re probably a bit less scared of us than they used to be already.”
“You’re okay, though?” Paige double checked.
“I’m fine,” I assured her. “How’s the tree process going?”
“A few have come down already,” Bailey said. “Some of them are thicker than others, though.”
“I know,” I said with a nod. “Chopping trees isn’t the easiest thing to do, but with as many people as we have the process should go fairly quickly.”
“Do you want us to send anybody over this way?” Anna asked.
“Yeah, let’s send at least ten people or so over here,” I said. “I can get this area marked fairly quickly, and there’s a few for people to start on already.”
“Okay,” the redhead agreed.
“Actually,” I said. “If you want to show Bailey how to mark the trees, and the two of you finish off the perimeter, then I think I could help out more with the chopping.”
“Sure,” Anna said, and I smiled and handed my spray paint can over to Bailey.
“We’ll send somebody over with an axe for you,” Paige assured me, then the girls headed back across the field.
I looked up at the sky. It wasn’t even afternoon yet, and we’d already had a wolf encounter and now one with a bear. We had to get these trees chopped down, but part of me worried about everyone being out in the woods, and the livestock at the house. Usually, we allowed them to graze behind campus, but it seemed that would be out of the question without supervision, at least for the time being.
We didn’t want to risk our cows and horses being eaten or attacked by hungry wolves. I made a mental note to talk to everyone about the livestock when we got home, then I grabbed my water bottle out of my shorts pocket and took small sips as I watched a group of civilians make their way toward me from across the lawn.
“Hey,” Jeff called as he walked up and handed me an axe.
“Hey,” I greeted him. “You guys ready to chop down some trees?”
“We’ve already got three down on the other side,” he told me with a wink. “You’re behind.”
“Well, we can’t have that, can we?” I chuckled and followed them into the trees where I’d marked the trees that needed to be cut.
Soon the chopping became a sweet rhythm, and I let muscle memory take over while I thought about our situation. It was possible that we would need to move everyone to the fort. There was room there, and they still had electricity and water just like we did on campus, but the thought of leaving my home made my heart ache. On top of that, we needed these crops to survive the winter, it was a bit late in the season to try to plant more at the fort, and even if we could there was no guarantee that they would produce as much as we were going to produce here.
We needed to protect the farm at all costs, but I also couldn’t put my citizens into harm’s way. We needed an evacuation plan, and that would include going to the fort. I’d stay on the farm myself to try to keep the fire at bay if I had to, but if it got close enough I’d send everyone to the fort so I knew that they’d be safe.
Nobody was going to like that idea, though, especially not the farmers. They’d lived on these lands basically their whole lives, and the Millers had already lost their home since the cannibals had taken it over and left it a disaster not worth fixing. Briar’s home still stood in good condition, but
Betty’s land was where we’d decided to plant since her soil was most prepared for fruits and vegetables. Still, none of the farmers would want to leave this area. They were all stubborn as hell, and I knew I’d have to get Rolly to drag Betty to safety before she’d give up her farm.
I heard myself sigh as my arm swung again, and the small tree in front of me went down with a low thud. We were all far enough apart that I didn’t have to worry about hitting anybody, and I turned around to see that the other guys were fairly close with their own trees, so I grabbed mine, dragged it into the huge yard of the farmhouse, and moved to the next tree.
The sound of the chopping was almost soothing, and I allowed it to clear my mind as I continued to allow my muscle memory to do the work for me. The day was hot as hell, and every now and then I stopped to wipe away sweat from my brow. When I paused for water and looked down at my shirt I could see that it was a much darker shade of gray than it had been when the day had started. The whole thing was drenched in sweat, so I took it off and tossed it nearby with the intention of grabbing it later.
Time seemed to fly by, but after a while I heard Betty calling out from the house for everyone to come up there, so we all finished the trees we were working on and headed up to the old farmhouse.
“Ow, ow,” Tara called as she saw me walking toward the house, and it was then that I realized I hadn’t put my shirt back on.
“Lookin’ good,” Anna remarked, but as I got closer to the girls I could see that all of them were drenched in just as much sweat as everyone else, and I was sure that if they felt comfortable taking their own shirts off they would jump at the opportunity.
“Everybody grab some more water and some lunch,” Betty instructed as we all gathered around the porch. “Leave your empty bottles over here and we’ll pack them up so they can be refilled.”
“Thank god,” Tara said as we walked up the stairs. “I’m starving.”