Dystopia Box Set [Books 1-4]

by Cooper, DJ

  Matt said to Rose, “Well Rose, I guess that is your decision and since you do not believe in guns we will respect that choice.”

  Rose nodded and looking smug she smiled as though she’d been elected president.

  Matt then went on to add, “And furthermore, not I nor anyone here will raise those guns in defense of you. Out of respect for your belief we will refrain from using them on your behalf. We will inform you when food is shot so that you can avoid that meal as well. We wish for everyone to have the ability to voice an opinion here. We will respect that opinion on these matters concerning you.”

  Rose’s smug look faded as she sat quietly.

  Dez and Tawny shared a slight giggle. Tawny already told Dez how she’d observed Rose demanding the biggest bedroom… which she was promptly kicked out of by Loel’s family.

  She went on to inform Dez that Janice told her she treated everyone in the house like servants and that no one could stand to even be in the same room with her.

  Dez pondered this for a while as they worked on the watch schedules. She, too, was getting annoyed by the fact that Rose seemed to demand power to charge her tablet yet would do absolutely nothing to contribute. As the meeting continued Dez had an idea.

  It was time to discuss duties and Dez said everyone should write down what skills and experiences they had. Along with that they needed to note what chores they might prefer.

  Explaining further she said, “For example, someone might be a great cook but not so good with babysitting. If we each note our areas of expertise and preference we won’t get stuck with tasks that are unpleasant to us.”

  Most of the folks thought this was great. Gathering the skills offered a view into where people would fit in. Giving them the chance to see this would make it easier on all.

  There was chatter as they wrote their skills and preferences. Rose just sat there refusing to write anything. They only spent a few minutes writing down likes and dislikes along with specific skills they each thought they could contribute.

  Dez then asked for three or four people to put together some schedules. It was not necessarily a timed schedule but just days saying who would have what responsibility.

  Joe volunteered to help with it. “I think we need at least one guy helping with the schedule or these girls are gonna have us out picking dandelions.” Then leaning back in his chair he smiled a big grin.

  Tawny was laughing and said, “Hey now, don’t be hating on the dandelions. I make one heck of a dandelion wine.”

  The barn erupted in laughter. Amidst the laughter, Janice volunteered to help, as did Toni and Rebecca.

  Rebecca said, “Since Y'all won’t let me do anything right now at least I can help with this.”

  Janice smiled at her and said she would be a tremendous help. Toni was collecting the papers. When she got to Rose there was nothing on the paper. She asked Rose if that meant she could do most anything.

  Rose replied with a sneer, “I don’t think I should have to participate in your forced labor. I can cook for myself.”

  Jim was becoming visibly angry with her. Leaning down to speak with her he said, “Rose, we all need to help out and it’s only right that each person does her share.”

  She replied that she shouldn’t have to be scheduled to do work. She was an adult and this was not elementary school.

  Matt was losing his patience as well and announced for everyone, “We live by a code, and that code is... If a man (or woman) shall not work, they shall not eat... We cannot spare food and supplies for a person who is unwilling to contribute.”

  Matt gave Jim a subtle wink to which Jim responded with a slight grin. Jim had been considering divorce since long before this happened. It was because of this attitude she had and he didn’t care what it took to make her do something… anything.

  She was angry and stood up and started yelling. “So, if I don’t agree to be your slave you won’t let me eat?”

  Matt replied, “No, ma’am, you may have all of the food that came from your home. You may also hunt or gather from the woods. The garden and other’s supplies are off limits. If you didn’t plant it and do not work for it, you have no right to it. But, by all means, do as you please. No one will force you to participate in any way.”

  She sat looking smug and said to Jim, “You need to go get our food and put it away.”

  Jim nodded a slow no and he said to her, “I choose to participate. These people were kind to us. I will help where I can and I will eat with them. You… go get it yourself.”

  She got up and stormed off, cursing under her breath.

  After she left, Janice said to no one in particular. “I for one am glad someone put their foot down. I’m sick of her crap. She’s always demanding the generator be used to charge her tablet and she orders people around in the house.”

  Matt turned and said to Dez, “No work, no juice.”

  Dez agreed and they all headed off to do their own thing for the evening. Sam and Tawny were on watch until midnight when Lynn and Joe would take over. Tonight’s schedule was set. They agreed to look at the scheduling to make certain that whoever was on an overnight watch would have light duty the prior day so they would be alert for their watch. They should do logistics or other light work and nothing backbreaking following overnight watch. Because of the loss of sleep they didn’t want any accidents.

  On their way over to the house Aaron approached them and told them he needed to leave.

  Matt said, “What’s up Aaron? Are you not ok with things?”

  Aaron replied, “No, no that isn’t it. I think y’all are doing great and have been more than generous with everyone, even that bitch Rose.”

  Matt shook his head saying, “Then what is wrong?”

  It’s just that my ex-wife and kids live up north of Lexington in Georgetown and I’m worried about them. I need to get there and check on them.”

  Dez looked sad as she reached out for his hand. “Oh Aaron, I didn’t know. We could have gone for them before and you wouldn’t be worried right now.”

  She looked at Matt saying, “We should ask for a volunteer or two to help you, right Matt?”

  Aaron shook his head saying, “No, I don’t think I’ll try to come back down here. I’m planning to take them to my parent’s house. It’s much further out than where they are right now; about fifteen miles east of I-75. We’ll be safe there.”

  Matt told him to see them in the morning and they could top off his gas tank and get him supplied for the trip. He thanked them and said he would see them in the morning.

  The next morning at breakfast, Rose came strolling into the mess hall expecting her breakfast. Like nothing had happened she reached for a cup of coffee to which she was summarily denied. Pointing to the job lists she was told to choose a job, anything from the list posted to help with for the day, and then she could help herself to anything she liked. She flatly refused and left. Later in the day the others saw her eating cheerios from the box. Although no one said it everyone thought she deserved it and went on to tend to the needs of the day.

  Aaron was fed a hearty breakfast and given sandwiches for the trip. There was soda, water, and chips as well. Although Georgetown was only about an hour away they didn’t know how the roads would be and wanted to be sure he had supplies. He was loaded with a tent and other camping gear, along with four boxes of food, one of which was MREs.

  The guys topped off his fuel tanks and goodbyes were said. Everyone was sad to see him go and they wished him luck.

  Matt pulled him aside and told him that if it didn’t pan out or they had issues to come back. He reminded him of the CB code for the days. He also told him how to find the property in case they had to leave. Aaron said he was grateful for all they’d done and headed down the road. No one knew if they would see him again. His leaving made for a quiet day amongst all.

  While Janice, Charleigh, Toni, and Rebecca oversaw the preservation of all the things that could be preserved, Dez, Tawny, and Lynn tende
d the garden and began planning a cold frame to extend the growing season for some of the heartier crops.

  Matt, Sam, and Connor looked over the property for defensive issues and made plans to address any they found. Sam mentioned earlier in the day that they’d not seen the last of George and that they’d better be ready. Jeremy and Loel took to working on some of the water and heating issues. They noted that the main house and the barn had wood stoves, but the back house had no heat or water.

  Jeremy showed Loel a design he and Herb were trying to make work and explained how they could build solar convection heaters on the windows. They went off to find Herb to get them rolling with it.

  Loel was amazed after they built the first one. They used pieces of foam board insulation, black paint, and some liquid nail. Herb said that while permanent installation on the windows was not ideal, they didn’t have all the materials they needed to make ones that could be removed.

  They measured a few of the windows that had the best sunlight and cut pieces to fit snugly into the window frame. They then cut more pieces of insulation about 4 inches wide to make a sort of maze flowing upward. It had a hole in the bottom of the big piece on the right and another at the top left. The maze made it so that the cold air would be drawn in the bottom and as it was heated it would naturally rise through the maze and be forced out the hole at the top. All were painted black to increase the heating of the air and they were fitted into their respective windows and secured with the liquid nail.

  They immediately began producing heat but this would only work if there were sunlight. The temps would drop at night but for now it was not that cold and this would work to warm the house in the afternoons.

  They set some goals for themselves and made a list of projects. These included using the two new rain barrels to catch the rain from the roof. This would help with water needs if there was no sunshine for the solar water pump. They’d been using the generator for the well pump for the past few days but knew that long term this was not going to last.

  Tawny was working on setting up the solar pump. Being an electrician came in handy quite often. Dez was getting the solar panels she had in the shed. She had plans to set them out for charging small electronics. With an inverter and the two car batteries they’d purchased plus the two they already had on hand there was quite enough energy. She enlisted the help of Tawny to set up the batteries saying something about stringing them in series.

  Dez mumbled as she walked over to Tawny, “Series increases volts or is it amp hours?”

  Shaking her head as she came over she yelled out to Tawny, “Is it series or parallel?”

  Tawny smiled, shouting, “You will never get the two straight, will you?”

  Dez shrugged, calling back, “That’s what I have you for.”

  Tawny put her hand up and bowed her head as if to indicate no applause needed. “For this we will hook them up parallel because we only need 12 volts.”

  Dez was hoping to surprise everyone with a TV and DVD for some movie nights in the barn. She wasn’t sure if it could handle a larger TV but opted to try as it would be easier for everyone to see. Tawny was pretty sure it would hold up just fine.

  She got Janice, Herb and Toni to help her and Tawny with the project and hoped they could have it done and reveal a movie after dinner.

  Joe and Cameron were out in the woods collecting firewood for the big cook stove in the mess hall. While walking they came across something under a tarp. It was a few boxes of food and some other things. What surprised them was that they were missing from the house they were staying in.

  They had a thief in their midst. Cameron wanted to bring the things back but Joe cautioned to leave it just as they had found it. When they told Matt, he also cautioned for them to keep silent. “Say nothing to anyone.”

  Matt asked them both to help him with this issue. Figuring they already knew and could, therefore, be trusted, this issue needed resolution immediately. He went to talk to Jeremy and Connor because they would all have to watch and see who was doing what in the night.

  At dinner everyone noticed something in the back corner of the barn with sheets hanging. They covered the whole corner like a curtain on a stage. Everyone was curious about it. Many could be heard asking one another questions. Janice, with a smirk, just informed everyone it was something to be discussed after dinner. She caught Dylan a few times trying to peek, but otherwise, no one dared disturb it. After all, no one could miss the fact that Dez and Toni were on guard.

  When dinner was almost over Janice announced that she had a surprise for everyone. The murmurs were about the sheet. Everyone was looking in the direction of the sheets waiting to see what it was when she held up a knife proclaiming. “I baked a cake so tonight we will be having dessert.”

  They all cheered and waited for the desert to be dished up. It was starting to get dark so Toni walked around and placed a candle on each table. She lit each of them as Charleigh helped pass out the desert and drinks. There was coffee and hot chocolate all around. Janice had previously made a large amount of popcorn and was placing bowls of it on each table. The excitement was gaining ground and the volume of the chatter increased with it.

  Thanks to Tawny’s knowledge on how to set up the batteries and solar system everything was ready. Toni and Dez already set up the TV and tested it. They chose a movie and had it all ready to go, mostly for the kids. Tonight’s movie was to be “Ice Age.”

  Dez was busily setting it up behind the sheet curtain and when the sound hit the air the sheet was pulled down and they all sat in shock. The kids cheered and they enjoyed their first movie night since the power went out. Movie night was a hit and it helped bring their spirits up.

  The guys had not forgotten about the hidden stash. Later that night they waited. Jeremy was quietly sitting in a tree watching the pile while Connor and Cameron watched the house for movement. Matt and Joe watched the barn.

  It was not until about 3 am that Cameron saw movement in the house. He poked Connor who keyed the walkie-talkie twice. This was the signal that there was movement going on. They didn’t want to risk someone hearing them talk so they just keyed the walkie which would make a sound on all the others.

  Two figures crept out the back door of the house with a bag and walked to the barn. One stayed outside while the other went in. Matt keyed the walkie indicating that he could see them. They heard some shuffling around inside the barn and the figure came out with a box. Still too dark to see who it was they waited. The pair made their way to the stash in the woods.

  Connor and Cameron crept over to where Matt and Joe were. Matt motioned for them to move to the far side of the barn. As the pair made their way to the bounty they’d already stolen earlier the others followed them quietly. They talked in whispered tones. Matt strained to listen but couldn’t hear what they were saying. He could tell that one of them was Rose. He would know that shrill voice anywhere. Matt keyed the walkie three times and that meant to move in. As they closed in upon the pair, Jeremy shined the flashlight right on them from the tree and bellowed out, “Hold it.”

  Dropping the box and other things they turned to run but found the other four men standing there. Matt was shocked when he shined the light to see who the thieves were only to find Jim at his wife’s side.

  He asked, “Why Jim? Is there a problem?”

  Jim hung his head. “Rose wanted to leave and we didn’t have any supplies at home. She doesn’t like it here. I’m so sorry but I just didn’t know what to do.”

  Connor was angry and spat on the ground in front of him.

  Rose looked defiant and began to speak. “Jim helped gather these with you and we are entitled.”

  Jeremy was down from the tree and was losing his temper. He got right in Rose’s face and with gritted teeth the words like venom hit their mark. “These things came from the homes of people here. As we were not entitled to your measly items, so you are not entitled to theirs.” He looked to Matt as he continued, “They don’t wa
nt to be here, and we don’t need thieves in our midst. They must go… now.”

  Matt agreed and brought them and the stolen items to the barn. Herb was sitting in the barn by now, having been awakened by the noise. When Rose noticed him she was mostly concerned with what people would think. Jim was just unusually quiet with his head hung down as Matt spoke.

  First to Rose, “Be quiet.” She began to object, and he said, “Or I will wake everyone and we will have a vote.”

  She looked down and Matt began by asking Jim how he’d intended to haul the stuff home.

  Jim replied he hadn’t figured that out yet. “Maybe I’d go get our car?”

  Matt instructed Conner and Cameron to remove everything from the boxes and bags to see what they’d stolen. There were lots of canned goods and other things. But what surprised Matt was that he recognized a necklace he’d given Dez. He was angry now and demanded to know what they felt they needed that for. Jim was shocked. He had no idea Rose had stolen other people’s valuables.

  Rose said nothing and continued with her defiant look. Jim and Rose were told to have a seat. Matt told them he would take them home with the supplies they had come with. Herb motioned to Matt that he wanted to speak to him and Matt went over to hear what he had to say.

  Herb said, “I know you’re angry, but they can’t possibly last long with that. We have to be better than they are.”

  Matt thought about it and after a pause, thinking of just how meager it was, added, “Plus you can have a box of food for each of you.”

  Matt instructed Jim to look in the boxes and retrieve anything that was theirs. Jim said they’d not packed their stuff yet and that none of the stashed items was theirs. He was told to go into the house and pack what was theirs and that Joe would accompany him.

  While they were gone, Matt and Jeremy packed a few boxes of food, and they added a small first aid kit and some matches and toilet paper. There were 4 boxes packed into the truck when Jim arrived with their belongings and stowed them as well. Matt and Jeremy took them to their home and helped them unload the things. While no one had anything but disgust for Rose, they were all sad that Jim had chosen this path.