Tic Toc ...
The next morning Jenny was making coffee and Linda came in to help get some breakfast together. Soon everyone sat down around the kitchen table, except for the teenagers who were sitting on bar stools at the kitchen island. Once everyone was settled in to eating, Rob cleared his throat.
“Bruce, Linda, Jenny, I think... hold on. Carl, Colleen, this affects both of you as well. Neither of you are independent adults yet, but even without having the experience of your parents, you two are smart enough to consider the options and offer a measure of input for your families' decisions. Anyway, I think there are enough touch-points between what my Dad had to say and what we are seeing with our own eyes, that we need to take his suggestions seriously.”
“Rob, you know I have a lot of respect for your Dad, I'm just not sure enough of anything right now. A decision to up and move is huge. Bruce and I talked a bit about that last night. That would mean leaving our home, our jobs, well Bruce's job at least, and the area we are familiar with. If we are going to have to adapt to big changes all around, you know it would be an advantage to thoroughly know and understand our surroundings.”
“That's exactly what I was thinking, Linda. Another part of that is I'm afraid if we were to cut and run to – I'm not exactly sure where your Dad is, Rob, He might get the impression that were were joining him in his religious beliefs and expected him to dictate what everyone there could and couldn't do.”
“Guys, guys,” Rob was holding out his hands with his palms forward. “Slow down. I'm not ready to run for the hills yet either. I'm just saying that maybe we need to rethink what is happening and what might be coming. We aren't preppers, but when there is a hail storm forecast and the clouds roll in followed but some serious wind gusts, it make sense to get the car in the garage, pick up the lawn furniture, and maybe even put a blanket over the windows on the storm side of the house. I'm just talking about thinking through what we can do to be better prepared for things getting worse.”
“Dad, How much worse are you thinking it's going to get? For that matter, what kind of worse are you thinking?”
“That's a great question, Carl. That is exactly what I meant when I said we need to talk.”
“Okay, now that makes sense. Like what can we do about making sure we have enough food if the supply chain is disrupted and gets taken over by the government.”
“Yes Bruce. What can we anticipate and prepare for if we don't assume that the government is eventually make everything all peaches and cream again.”
“I am so tired of hearing that we all have to cooperate and accept the new normal. That's become a PC mantra for 'Take whatever the government dishes out and you'd better like it!' I'm sorry, but the government is deciding so many things that affect our lives and sending police around to enforce their decisions even if it isn't a law. One of the uncertainties of traveling to other countries is not being familiar with where their laws are different from ours. We don't even know what the law is and isn't in our own town anymore!”
“Shhh, shhh, shhh. It's okay, Babe. We are all going to get through this together.” Rob put his arms around Jenny to comfort her. Linda came over to give her a hug, too.
“Rob you were right about asking us to stay over and getting us to talk more about this. Jenny is not alone in feeling that way. She just had the courage to say it out loud. I'm pretty certain we need to rethink our food plans. That's an area where I have some insight from the work I've been doing for the last fifteen years. Some of the other stuff I may not have much expertise to offer. I think we need to brainstorm and think through a number of subjects.”
Bruce got up and left the room, but he was back in seconds with pads and pencils. He mused as he came back how convenient it was to know friends so well that you already knew where they stored everyday odds and ends. By the time he sat down Jenny had calmed down and Linda was sitting down again. “Okay, everyone. There are lots of ways to brain storm, but for now how about everyone just make a brief note of things they have heard, read, or thought about that might point to a significant change in how we go about the business of living our lives. I know that sounds wide open and vague, but that is the purpose of this. We need to step outside of the familiar boxes we have kept around our thinking.”
- - - - -
“Friends, We have a good strategy, but we must get better with our tactical choices. We have made significant progress in a short time, but we must do better. The eagle has shown some moves we did not anticipate. There is still too much resistant sentiment among the people against the decisions of government leaders in a crisis. Vlad, is this next contagion really lethal enough to provoke acceptance of more extreme measures?”
“You are right to bring up tactics, Christine, and we have anticipated this issue. Our delivery tactics are diversified and our assets are prepared to respond as needed. This time the plan is to respond to the acceptance of those resistant ones. If you followed the moves of the eagle you may have observed that most of the criticism and resistance among the people came from areas where the infection and mortality numbers were lower. This time we intend to implement the infection in phases. First the broad stroke distribution that will affect the more densely populated areas more noticeably then after the more independent minded areas start making noise, we will turn the media spotlight on them. Shortly after that we will assure a sharp increase in the infection rates where the resistance is most noted. That should allow us to turn the tide of sentiment and prove the need for more onerous measures.”
“An excellent stratagem, Vlad. Meanwhile, our useful idiots in the bureaucracies will be busy adjusting and expanding the use of regulation adjustments and directives to bring more and more industries to their knees. The eagle cannot stay aloft forever in a storm, and without legs, it will not be able to take flight again once it is down.”
“Might I suggest another fine point in the tactics? There is a major election only a few months away. If our timing is right, the measures implemented by their leaders should have a visible effect on the election results. Whichever way that goes, it will present opportunities for our minions to make a much stronger case for harsher measures of the kind we need.”
“That is a very astute point, David. We need to prepare well for the timing of our distribution, and also prepare guidance for our minions regarding possible responses to the developing scenarios.”
“Thank you, Jean Claude. We must keep in mind our goals. We must achieve those controls laid out by Saul before he died. It is also important that we remember his rule that a tactic which stretches out too long becomes a drag. Our success there must be consolidated gradually yet quickly. We will bring the eagle down to the level of the rest of the nations.”
“What about the effects on the other nations? Will this not weaken them as well?”
“Of course there will be collateral damage, but that is a necessary sacrifice. The essential point is to consolidate the control so all will see the advantage of a single government over everyone. Ironically, as Saul so cleverly stated, the proliferation of factions and divisions among the populous accelerates the acceptance of unified control. Building fear and frustration makes the people desperate for greater control by the government.”
- - - - -
“The sun is about down, Joann. We need to fix something to eat and call it a day. I'm glad Brother Ruben agreed to perform the ceremony on such short notice. It would make it a lot harder if I had to drive you all the way back to your house tonight.”
“I'm glad, too, Peter. I can't imagine having to find a chaperon willing to spend a whole day in the woods making sure you behaved yourself until you took me home.” Joann's demeanor was suddenly very coy. She noted that Peter was taken aback by her comment and continued. “Don't you give me that innocent 'What ever do you mean?' look. I've seen the way you have been looking at me all day. It's a wonder you haven't accidentally chopped a finger off with your hatchet, the way you have been stealing glances at me when you thought I wasn't looking.”
Pete's look shifted to a sly grin. “Tell me something, my dear sweet bride. How would you have known I was stealing so many glances at you, unless you had been doing the same?”
Now it was Joann's turn to feign her innocence. “Why, Mister Smith! Are you trying to impune my innocence?”
Pete threw his head back and laughed. “Mrs. Smith, I think it's about time for the two of us to explore some additional aspects of our relationship. What do you think?”
“Mr. Smith, I think that suggestion holds some delightful possibilities.”
- - - - -
“I think these handheld radios our Dads got are cool. I know we can't text or share videos on them, but I don't know it's kind of like we have a private link that no one else has. We can even set up a private sub group so you and I can talk without our parents listening in when you are at your house and I'm over here.”
“Yeah. We can still talk with our friends using our phones, but this is neat having a unique link just for us. It was kind of creepy the other night when the cops were talking to your Dad. I know some people are just bored and lonely with all the self quarantining and all, but the idea of neighbors watching us and trying to see if we are going next door even through the back yard?! That's just wrong!”
“I know, Colleen. Our Dads are right though about being extra careful, now. The plan is for us to come over there tonight after dark and to make sure even window lights are off toward the back yard. We'll have to figure something better soon when the moonlight becomes an issue.”
“Oh my gosh! I hadn't thought about that. This is really sucky. That's odd.”
Carl caught an odd inflection in Colleen's voice at that last random comment. “What's wrong?”
“I don't know. Carl look out your window, but don't let your self be seen, if you know what I mean.”
Carl's bedroom was on the second floor at the front of the house. He glanced at his window and saw that the curtain was mostly pulled back and the mini-blinds were closed. He managed to find a spot where he could peek through where one blade had been slightly bent from a tennis ball taking a wild bounce two years ago. As he peeked out he started to ask what he was looking for, but then he saw it. There was a black pickup with tinted windows driving slowly down the street and briefly pausing, almost but not quite stopping, in front of some houses but not others. “It looks like someone casing the neighborhood, doesn't it.”
“Yeah, you're right, Carl. I saw that same pickup, I think, a couple of days ago doing the same thing only on our side of the street. Do you think they're really casing our neighborhood for burglaries?”
“I don't know, but just guessing it is more likely they are watching for signs of people like us who might be violating the stay at home orders. What is this, anyway? Both our Dads work and I have a part time job that are all classified as essential for rather ambiguous reasons. Even our Mom's are allowed to go buy groceries and other 'essential' supplies, but people are being watched for violations and can be fined for not obeying random directives from so-called officials!”
“Uh, Carl. They're gone now, but look at the curb across the street. What do you see?”
“What am I looking for?”
“Look along the curb at the other side of the street. Scan down along the street. That wasn't there yesterday.”
Carl was confused at first but then he spotted something. He could only see the curb clearly for about four or five houses on the other side of the street. On the curb in front of three of those he saw a small black spot of sprayed paint that caught a glint of light like it was fresh. “Are you talking about those painted spots on the curb, Colleen?”
“Yeah! They weren't there yesterday. Do you think that pickup could have shot a quick spurt of paint where it slowed down?”
“I don't know. I don't remember them before, but who knows, it could have been some kind of utility company marking where the lines have junctions or where the cable company is wanting to put in fiber optics. There is enough anxiety about what is happening. We don't need to give in to paranoid thinking. I gotta get ready for work. I'll see you tonight.”
“Your probably right, Carl. Have a good day at work and be careful.”
Carl could tell she wasn't totally convinced by his comments, but he needed to focus on getting ready. He had spent more time than he planned chatting with Colleen. When he was pulling out of the driveway and heading to his job at the construction sight, he glanced over and saw one of those spots in front of his own house as well as the Cooper's house. As he drove along leaving his neighborhood he noticed a few more scattered randomly along the curbs. Less than half of the houses had marks. On some streets there were marks only on one side but not on the other side of the street.
Carl was working hard at his job, soaking up knowledge like a sponge. His boss was moving him frequently from day to day sometimes working in the office trailer and sometimes placing him to assist with whatever was needed on one work crew or another. He was getting exposed to the whole process of building a house. The ground and basement preparations had been months ago. At this point they were building the roofs on several houses at once. By the time the crew knocked of in the evening Carl was tired, but it was a satisfying tired. As a part of the crew he had worked hard, but he was gratified by his contribution and their accomplishments of the day.
When Carl was easing back into his neighborhood, something new caught his eye. There were a few purple spots that had been sprayed along the curb. They were far fewer than the black spots, but clearly they had been sprayed the same way. There were still some houses with no markings on the curb. Carl had no idea what the markings were for, but there had been a lot of effort put into marking hundreds of homes over a wide area with some kind of color code.
Carl got a shower and changed clothes after work. His family was planning to eat with the Coopers tonight, but they couldn't go over until after dark. This time of year with Daylight Savings Time that meant it would be almost 9:00 before it was safe to go over. His Dad had realized that the house across the street had an upper floor window that someone could use to see just far enough over their privacy fence to see the tops of their heads as they went through the gate to and from the Cooper's back yard.
Carl checked with his Mom to see if she needed any help getting things ready to go to dinner. She and Mrs. Cooper had adjusted to splitting up the dinner preparations since they could not work as easily in the same house during the day like they had been doing before. He was pretty sure however, that they managed to sneak back and forth from time to time by scrunching down as they passed through the gate. They also managed to coordinate when they went to get groceries, but they were careful to maintain social distancing so their time together was not so obvious. The two of them had done quite a job of accumulating a growing supply of non-perishable food and other essentials. That was a big decision their families had shared from their brainstorming sessions.
Since his Mom had everything ready, Carl went to his room to talk to Colleen about what he had seen in the neighborhood. “Songbird, are you there?”
“Hey, Mockingbird,” Colleen giggled, “How is the wind blowing?”
“It looks like the mad painters have been busy.”
“Come on, Ca...Mocking bird. Tell me what did you found out?”
“Well on the way to work I saw those spots scattered all through the neighborhood. It's kind of random with some blocks having more and others having very few. I'm guessing that less than half the houses all together had those black marks. It was when I was coming home that it got really weird.”
Colleen waited for at least two seconds, maybe three, waiting for Carl to continue. “Tell me! What was weird!?”
“Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about it. I'm still trying to figure it out.”
“Figure out what?”
“By the time I was coming home there were a few more marks that were done the same way, like just a quick shot of spray paint, except the new ones were a kind of purple. The purple marks were only at houses without the black, but there were a lot fewer purple ones than black ones.”
“So everyone is marked either black or purple?”
“No. That is what threw me. Almost half the houses have no marks at all. Again, some streets have very few houses marked either color at the curb, and some streets have most houses marked one way or the other. I just don't have enough information to make any sense out of it, but some one is going to a lot of trouble to mark that many curbs.”
“So what color are we?”
“Oh, both our houses have... the same marks.”
“Huh. I don't like the way that sounded. Both of us have the same marks? At least we are both in the same group. So who else on our street have the purple and who have the black marks?”
This time Carl was quieter and sounding distracted in his answer to Colleen. “Hey, I gotta go. We'll be... I'll see you soon, Songbird.”
- - - - -
“Well good morning Mister Smith. I thought I smelled coffee. I could get to really like being married if it means you're fixing coffee every morning before I even wake up. Thank you.”
“You're welcome, but I'm not promising that from now on Mrs. Smith, unless of course you make a habit of sleeping in and waking up later than I do every morning,” Peter replied with mock seriousness and a smirk. “I'm about to start breakfast, if you think you're about ready for it. After that we need to talk about how we are going to lay things out on the land. I have some ideas, but I want your input, of course.”
The rest of the day was spent walking over the land together and mapping out, literally mapping out., where they wanted to place things like a small water reservoir, the leach field, where they wanted to build a house, barn(s) for the goats, chicken coops, chicken runs, compost piles, a water line from the reservoir, and much more. By the end of the day they were excited but seriously overwhelmed by the magnitude of what they were starting. They were talking through how to stage their work so they could properly prioritize what to do first. They were going to need to set up for feeding themselves off the land at the same time they were building a permanent place to live that included the necessary requirements of shelter, water, sanitation, comfort, and the like.
Pete and Joann finally agreed on a practical location for the house and where they needed to dig a well. With the timing considerations they agreed to bite the bullet and hire someone to drill for a well. Building a house before winter looked like it would become a serious challenge. In the mean time they decided to spend as much time on the property as possible with occasional trips back to Beaver Creek until they had a decent house built. If push came to shove Joann could, hopefully, keep teaching until they were ready to sustain themselves on the forest property. For now they were enjoying the summer break having a working honeymoon camping out in the forest.
They had left enough feed to last the chickens several days back at Beaver Creek. Pete had rigged up a small trough inside the coop with a water hose set to trickle. He was now setting fence posts to attach fencing for a large area run. IF they could move them to the new property it would make caring for them a lot easier. He planned to make a lean to shelter first and a more secure coop as he could get to it. As for the eggs they laid in this first week, He and Joann agreed they should just let them sit and maybe they could hatch a few chicks.
It took almost a week for the well digger to get to them. Pete walked part of the property showing him where he hoped to put in a well. There were a few higher hills or mini mountains very near the property to the northwest. Since there were no surface streams, Pete suspected there might be underground water that seeped through the upper layers of soil and gravel that gradually worked its way down to the lower elevations. If they could find a spot where the seepage was caught or slowed by a layer of clay or impermeable rock a water well could tap into the mini aquifer. After walking the property the well contractor was confident he could find plenty of water. The only question was how much water Pete wanted to be able to draw per day.
Meanwhile Joann was busy marking areas for thinning the under stories of trees and bushes. She wanted to try introducing more fruit and nut species to the area. Here at the edge of the national forest the land had been clear cut about seventy years before, and carelessly reseeded with a limited number of species. The species selected had been chosen strictly for producing more timber rather than providing a variety of species for a healthy forest mix.
By the end of the week, Pete had begun accumulating a collection of logs and also formed a chicken run measuring roughly fifty by one hundred feet. There were a couple of larger trees plus a number of scattered bushes within the enclosed space. He was careful to avoid putting the fence too close to any bushes so the chickens would not try to clear the fence from an elevated perch. The lean-to also had a cross bar made from a long branch under it where the birds could perch. Now that things were better prepared they could return to Beaver Creek to gather their chickens.
- - - - -
When the Smiths and Coopers gathered for supper, the two teens were unusually quiet. Jenny was the one who called them out. “What's on your mind, Carl? I know there's a lot going on that's troubling, but neither you or Colleen have said a word since we sat down. You need to talk to us. We may not be able to fix everything, but we need to help each other where we can.”
Carl glanced at Colleen and then looked at his plate for a moment. “Maybe we're just being paranoid with all that's going on. Colleen and I saw a pickup truck with dark tinted windows creeping down the street. Pardon the pun, but it was pretty creepy. Because it kept slowing down to almost a stop every few houses. Anyway, Colleen noticed some spray painted spots on the curb after it passed that weren't there before. So, when I went to work today I was looking and there were a lot of those spots on other streets at some of the houses. When I was coming home today there were more spots but a different color.”
“Son, do you mean that some houses had spots of two different colors or that every house had either one color or the other?”
“That's what I don't get, Dad. Some of them had a black spot, others but not as many had a kind of purple spot, and a still other houses had no spot painted on the curb. I don't know what it's about, but it gives me the creeps.”
“It's creeping me out too, but he won't even tell me what color our marks are.” Colleen was Half serious and half mocking in her complaint.
Bruce asked the next question. “Okay, spill it Carl. If we've been marked; How have we been tagged; black or purple?”
“Both our houses have black marks.”
“Oh, now that just sounds bad when you say it that way.”
“Hold on let's keep cool heads here. We don't know what this is about, so we have no reason to think it is something sinister.”
“Well I can tell you something that is sinister. I saw on the internet today that at a church in San Francisco the cops were knocking on the door during the posted Sunday morning worship time and warned them that there were too many people in the building. Then they started photographing everyone who had showed up.”
“Are you saying you think Rob's Dad may be on to something?”
“What does it sound like to you, Bruce?”
“Right now, I am more concerned about someone marking houses. I've only got speculation without real foundation about those markings, but someone went to a lot of trouble to sort out houses into three different groups.”
“On a different note, I have gathered a little more information about those food shortages. It seems that a few workers at a number of meat processing plants tested positive for the virus, and the government agencies shut them down until they had sanitized the whole facility. All the product on location had to be wasted. Then they imposed a waiting period to see if any of the workers developed the virus. They couldn't re-open until all the employees and their families were given the all clear by health authorities. In the meantime all the farmers with contracts to supply chickens, beef, or swine to the processors were jammed up on their livestock production cycles, and most couldn't afford the cost of feeding and caring for their animals until some unknown day in the future. Our supply chains are very complex and a significant disruption anywhere along the chain creates havoc.”
- - - - -
“David, would you please explain why so much effort is still being expended toward degradation of the eagle's education system? We have all agreed that our new strategies are intended to bringing the rapid reduction of the eagle's influence and independence among the world communities. The old strategy of gradually crippling them through the education system was deemed too slow and imprecise. The imminent introduction of the next plague is certain to break the eagle's strength.”
“Yes that is true, Jean-Claude, but we must also not lose sight of our long term goals. Your people had a revolution to claim democracy, but it occurred among a people who had lived under despots for many centuries. These people threw off the heritage of living under the absolute rule of monarchs and benevolent despots almost from the beginning of their migration across an ocean of separation. Those who migrated there were making deliberate choices to reject or at least greatly distance themselves from their legitimate rulers. Their delusions about democracy were in fact an effort to claim personal self rule. That has been a core value of their culture for over three centuries. In spite of the radical changes we are about to impose on them, those values have been literally bred into them and will need to be bred out of them for several generations for the changes to be sustainable. The education system is the best place for that re programming to be accomplished; as a part of their developmental process.”
“David is quite correct about this, my friends. Vlad's people recognized this a century ago, and my own people learned from their example as well as their missteps. Even with our millennium of living under warlords and despots our revolution presented the illusion of rule by the people. It has taken great effort to sustain that mental delusion among our people. Have none of you read even the tactical handbook that Saul composed?” Zhao briefly closed his eyes to compose himself. The education system must be transformed, and these plagues present exceptional opportunities for gaining acceptance for radical changes that are absolutely necessary in their education system.”
- - - - -