Considerable Destruction Series (Book 1): Evasion (

by Hernandez, Erica

  “You ready for breakfast?” I ask her. She nods. I head into the kitchen and start the teakettle.

  Gracie scoops Jedaiah off the floor, tickling him into fits of giggles.

  Morgan opens the fridge. “Do we have enough eggs so I could scramble some for breakfast?”

  “Probably if we have them with beans, or potatoes.” I look out the back window. “It’ll take a lot of eggs to feed 16. I’ll go check the chickens.” I walk out back with a small basket. Our chicken coup is directly back at the north west corner of the yard. I pluck four eggs out of the nests. Then I stroll to Jessie’s chickens, finding five more eggs. I cut chives and parsley before heading back inside, pricking my ears as I pass Nick’s room, hearing nothing.

  I take the eggs and herbs to the butcher block. “I found some more eggs outside. It might be good to save a few in case someone wants to bake but you could use 5 more.”

  “Wonderful!” Morgan turns around. “Ooh. You cut chives and parsley. Those’ll be great, thanks!”

  “I doubt Nick will be ready to eat, yet, so that’s one less,” I say, somberly.

  Jonathan appears. “He’s mumbling a little. I want to take some more medicine to him.”

  “If he stays out there, someone is going to have to run back and forth regularly, but it does keep the germs more isolated,” Katie points out.

  “True, it’s safer this way,” Jonathan adds.

  “But if he gets aggressive, we won’t know it until it gets bad.” I feel more comfortable with everyone close by.

  “That’s a good point, but keeping him isolated is safer,” Katie argues. “We really need to keep the germs out of the house.” She pointedly gets all our attention. “This illness is really severe. You guys weren’t at the hospital. As they get better they get really violent, throwing things, hitting, kicking, even biting. It’s very contagious. We don’t want it to spread.” Her voice is thick with emotion. I’ve never seen her so intense.

  “Maybe I’ll make scrambled eggs and pancakes,” Morgan mumbles.

  “Okay. It worked for Jonathan.” I give in. I look closely at her. “I hear that it’s really dangerous and contagious. It’s hard to absorb. I keep thinking we’re just having a gathering, that tomorrow I’ll get up, go to work, and it’ll be normal!” I realize it’s true as I say it. I’ve been living like it’s make believe, like we’re in this community off in the woods somewhere.

  Simon and Dixie walk in the back door, with Sam and Rob close behind.

  “Here.” Sam says. “I brought over some of what was in the refrigerator there. You got most of it, but we went to the other neighbor’s also, finding more food. She has a generator, which we connected to the refrigerator, until the food is used up.”

  “Hey, Simon, how’s your arm?” Jonathan jumps in while he’s got the chance. Simon follows him to the table.

  “This looks good,” Jonathan says, nodding.

  “So, I can help with breakfast. What’s the plan?” Sam asks. “I brought some sausage that should get used up.”

  Sam, Morgan, and I start cutting sausage for the eggs. We get out beans, which I realize we’re nearly out of. “I wonder if we should plan a trip to Hummingbird Wholesale and Grower’s Market?” It springs to my mind because we need beans, but their big walk in refrigerator would probably stay cold for some time even if the electricity was out. “I’ve coordinated Grower’s for years now and have a key.”

  “That’s worth considering. We could get large bags of dried goods if no one else has, right?” Sam asks, smiling broadly.

  “Right. With little foot traffic, it ought to be safer,” I point out.

  “Going anywhere right now is dangerous,” Sam adds. “We should propose this over dinner before making any decisions.”

  “Sure,” I agree. “Maybe over breakfast. It seems like we have a lot of food, but it also goes really fast with a group this size. I think we should go to Grower’s and Hummingbird.”

  “What about meat?” Morgan asks.

  “That’s a whole other issue,” I explain. “For meat we’d have to get into a butcher, or go to the farm. Meat isn’t going to be good unless the refrigerators are still working. It would be great to have a member of our community who knows about hunting, fishing, and butchering.”

  Jessie appears in the doorway. “My husband is out there somewhere. Maybe he’ll return to our farm. He’d need medicine, but he’s very skilled at wildcrafting.”

  “How does it feel knowing your husband is out there somewhere sick?” I often think about how people feel. Our culture seems to find feelings a weakness but I consider them a strength.

  “I feel kind of lost. We were practically separated but I still care about what happens to him,” Jessie tries to explain her feelings.

  Eventually, we’re all at the table, eating and talking. “I want to present the idea of going to Grower’s Market, Hummingbird Wholesale, and Polyrock Ranch.” I use my professional voice, wanting to influence agreement. I can’t do this alone. “A breakfast like this uses almost two dozen eggs. The chickens won’t lay all winter. We could take things to trade out to Polyrock if there are still people out there.”

  “When you put it that way, it sounds pretty urgent.” Rob hears my concern.

  “We’re running low on dried goods as well.” I add. “If we wait I think we fair a worse chance of finding bags of dried staples. In the winter months, we could eat dandelions of we had too, but we’re going to need more than vegetables to keep us alive.” As I talk, I realize we need to gather more food for our community.

  “If we need more food, then we have to go.” Jose places his vote, always concerned about not having enough to eat, after being a hungry child in Guatemala. “The real question is, do we go out to the country in hopes of getting meat or do we head into town for grains?”

  “I’d suggest we go for meat first,” Jessie says. “If there isn’t anyone out at the farm, I know how to butcher an animal. I’d need a meat cleaver, a miter saw, and a sharp 8” knife.”

  “I can give you a meat cleaver and an excellent knife. Jose, don’t you have a miter saw?” I remember my knife collection from my dad. Most of them are less than eight inches, but a few are longer.

  “Claro. I have one of those in my shop.” Most of his tools are still here. “So, we go for meat today?”

  “What can we take to trade in case they’re still okay?” I ask.

  “Medicine,” Jonathan suggests. “Your herbal medicine and we could take some surgical supplies, pain medicine, and antipsychotics.”

  “So, we’re back to who goes and who stays?” I ask.

  “I’m going this time,” Simon insists.

  “I’d have to go in case we have to butcher an animal,” Jessie points out.

  “Can you shoot a gun?” Rob asks.

  “Yes,” She assures him.

  “So, me, Sam, Jessie, Simon, Nadir? Jonathan?” Rob suggests. “I think we need several strong men to help Jessie with the butchering.”

  “You’re not chauvinistic at all,” I harass him.

  “Not my husband. Noooo!” Sam teases.

  “I’m in,” Jonathan and Nadir agree.

  “How many can we fit in your truck?” Rob asks Jessie.

  “We can probably get six in,” Jessie says. “It’ll be tight, but it will work. We could stop by my place on the way back for grains and vegetables. We could also store meat there since I have a generator. Morgan, you can milk the goat without me, right?”

  “I can, but you guys come back!” Morgan is emphatic.

  “I’ll take a walkie talkie. You have one, here right?” Rob checks.

  “I do.” I step over to the kitchen drawer, getting it out, and attaching it to my waistband.

  “I’m going to make sandwiches,” Sam offers. “It’s always important to have food. Remember what happened last time?” Jonathan gets his first medical bag.

  I head to the pantry to look for my dried comfrey. It seems like a significant p
ossibility that we’ll have to make more salve to get through the winter. “Get oil if you see it anywhere, please!”

  “Mom, I’m going to run out back to check on Nick.” Jonathan strides through the kitchen. “Katie will you please take care of him while I’m gone?”

  “Of course, I will and I’ll go check on Faith.” She touches his arm, almost a caress.

  I measure the ingredients for comfrey salve, putting them on the stove to simmer, then head out back looking for Jonathan. I listen to the quiet movements of Jonathan tending to Nick. “How is he?”

  “His fever is lower.” He passes me the thermometer. “Other than that, there’s no real change. We just need to keep him hydrated and get herbs into him.” He gets up, walking back towards the kitchen.

  I hug him. “Come back safely,” I tell him quietly in his ear. “I love you!”

  “I will, I love you too.” He turns around. “Are we ready?”

  “Yes. It’s time to kick ass,” Sam exclaims.

  They head out to the truck with their packs. “Come back safely.” I call out.

  I distract myself from their dangerous mission. “So, what do we need to get done today while they’re gone?” I ask, my stomach tightening.

  “I don’t know. We don’t have any bread. Could we make some?” Gracie loves bread.

  I survey the kitchen, the buckets, and containers of food. I don’t see any more canning. “We can. Do we have any whole wheat flour? We can make a loaf of that and one of gluten free bread.” Gracie and I pull out ingredients. Fortunately, I have yeast and honey. “There isn’t very much flour,” Gracie expresses, concerned.

  “We could look for more flour in the next houses. I can’t be picky about whether it is whole grain or not.” I take a few deep breaths to calm my nerves.

  “It looks like enough whole wheat flour for two loaves,” Gracie informs me.

  “What about the gluten free?” I ask.

  “I’ve got enough almond flour for two loaves,” Morgan chimes in.

  “We can make two loaves of almond bread. We’ll keep working on these while you’re out,” Gracie assures me.

  I head to the garage, finding boxes and bags lining the walls. I start unloading a box, then decide organizing what we have would be wise, so I head back inside. “So, there is actually a ton of stuff in the garage and I didn’t even go down to the cellar. Jose, Eli, come help! Alex, can you get up and help?”

  “Whatcha need?”

  “We need a crew in the garage and cellar, organizing food we’ve picked up,” I explain.

  “I could play secretary, a food inventory would be helpful,” Katie suggests.

  Katie and Morgan follow me down to the cellar.

  “This will be easy,” Katie laughs, beginning a ‘cellar list’. “There’s not much here yet.”

  “I see some flour!” I express, excitedly.

  A couple hours later we’re back inside getting the bread in the oven.

  “I’ll go check on Nick and Faith,” Katie says, heading out of the kitchen.

  “Hey, what’s that?” I pull the walkie talkie up closer.

  “Eliana? Come in Eliana!” It’s Sam’s voice.

  “I’m here. Are you guys okay?” My stomach clenches again.

  “We’re okay. We had a scare at Jessie’s place. We decided to go there first. We found her husband, he was violent but we got some medicine into him before he did more damage than punch her in the face.”

  “Oh my God! Is she okay?”

  “So far, so good. We had a skirmish at Polyrock but we’ll tell you about it when we get back. We’ll help here and head home around dinner. How’s everyone there?”

  “Nick is still sleeping. Alex is awake and helping. We’re making bread and organizing the food stores here. We should sign off. Be careful, okay?”

  “We will.”

  “They’re fine and will be back for dinner!” I tell the household, taking a deep breath and letting it out.

  “Gracie and I are making sandwiches with the leftover bread.” Morgan tells me.

  In minutes everyone is eating sandwiches and drinking tea. Thank God there’s water. I wonder how long it will last. “Jose, has it occurred to you that our water tank isn’t going to last forever? Could you dig us a well?”

  “I’ve been thinking about that,” Jose says. “I could. We talked about this years ago and now it’s necessary. We’ll need a backhoe and a well driller.”

  “Fortunately, you did the research when we still had the internet!” I am grateful we thought of it.

  “It would majorly suck to have to walk to the creek to haul water!” Gracie laments.

  “No kidding! Not even safe!” Dixie adds.

  Morgan is so motivated to pull her weight that she’s motivating the other girls to be more helpful.

  I punch down the rising dough. “One more hour and we can bake it. You want to help put it in bread pans?”

  “Sure,” Katie takes over like she’s done it before.

  We put the dough in bread pans, laying clean towels on top to rise. I put the almond bread in the oven. “This’ll be out when the others are ready to go in.”

  Jose walks through the kitchen, coming in from the back yard. “Ooh! It smells good in here. Our fall crop stuff looks good.”

  “What were you working on out there?” I ask.

  “I watered the seeds.” He pauses. “I was looking for my notes about the well. The key is doing it in the right spot.”

  “What about gas for the stove?” I ask. “At some point we’re going to run out. Can you figure out how to connect it to tanks?”

  “I’ll give it a shot. Otherwise we’ll have to move an electric stove here from another house.”

  “Thanks. I’m so glad you can!” In our old life, he chose his projects based on his priorities rather than mine. Now, maybe our priorities match.

  “Está importante.” He agrees, heading back outside to work.

  Loud noises erupt from out back. I grab some Seroquel, fearing the worst. I peer around the door frame. “Katie?”

  “Over here. Be careful.”

  I see her laying on the floor, trapped under Nick’s weight while he practically snarls at her. “You’re trying to poison me! You’re out to get me!” He’s yelling at her, pounding the floor by her head.

  I’m terrified at what he’ll do next. “Nick, I have something that will help. It’s the antidote which will stop the poisoning. Nick, do you hear me?” I’m walking slowly towards them but I’m not ready to get close. He glances my way.

  “Nick, this will help. It’s the antidote for the poison. I can get you some plain water. Watch me!”

  He peeks my way again.

  “Look, I’m going to get some water from the hose. Watch! See the hose?” If he craned his neck, he could see the hose. I pull it into his line of sight. He is watching now. I fill the glass half full, putting it on a shelf which is near them, but not so close that he could grab me. I set it down with the pills. “If you take these, you’ll feel better. It’s the antidote to the poison so you’ll feel peaceful inside.” I back away, motioning, urging him to take the pills.

  “You’re trying to trick me!” He yells at the top of his lungs.

  I hear footsteps behind me, glancing back to see Eli. “Look, Nick, your good buddy Eli is here. He’ll get you a glass of water.” I motion to Eli and mouth, ‘carefully’ at him. Eli gets the glass, dumps it outside the door, and heads to the hose to refill it.

  “See, you know you trust Eli. He’s getting you fresh water. He’ll be right back. See? You know Eli’s your friend.” I mouth, thanks at Eli. “There now. You can use that glass instead,” I encourage.

  “Hey, man. That medicine is the antidote to the poison,” Eli says. Thank God he heard me, backing up my story. “Take them man, you’ll feel much freer.” Nick doesn’t move. He’s looking back and forth between the pills and Eli.

  “You don’t feel good, now, do you?” Eli asks, gently.
“You’re scared. You know that poison is getting into your blood. If you wait too long, man, it’ll be too late. You can leave her there. We won’t let her get away, man. Save yourself.” Eli is weaving a good tale.

  Finally, Nick starts to get up. “Don’t move.” He says to Katie.

  “I won’t.” She says quietly.

  Nick crawls over to the shelf. He picks up the water Eli left.

  “Get those pills, man. Don’t wait until the poison gets you. You haven’t got much time!” Eli sounds urgent. Nick grabs the pills and swallows them in one gulp.

  “How long?” he asks.

  “About 45 minutes to an hour,” I tell him. “Look, see the clock? It’s 2:45. By 3:30 or 3:45, you should feel a lot better.” I am praying now, that this medicine works as well on him as it worked on Jonathan.

  “I’m hungry!” He says then. “I want food. Get me food!” He demands.

  “Eli, can you go make him a sandwich. He knows you won’t do anything to his food,” I ask him, partly because that’s our story and I don’t want Eli here right now.

  “I want food, now!” Nick demands. “This place isn’t safe. They’re trying to poison us. She’s been poisoning me!” He points at Katie.

  “We’re going to put her in lock-up to protect you,” I continue the story. “Why don’t you sit down and drink the rest of your water until Eli comes back with your sandwich? The water will help,” I urge him. Water could help. It’s not likely but it won’t hurt. Exercise might help. “Let’s do jumping jacks together. Exercise will help get that antidote into you faster. Come on.” I start doing jumping jacks. He doesn’t move. He continues to hold one of Katie’s wrists.

  “Don’t worry about her,” I say. “Why don’t you let me take care of her. I’m on your side, Nick. We’re here to help you. Drink your water. We need to know you can be safe so we can bring you food.” He drinks some more of the water, watching me. I start taking deep, obvious breaths. “Try taking some deep breaths with me. They’ll help you too.” I breathe deeply in a noisy fashion, so it’s apparent what I’m doing. “Come on. Breathe with me.”

  “I can’t let her go. She’ll poison me again. There won’t be enough antidote for more poison.”