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Post by iamnobody on Jan 19, 2023 12:17:00 GMT -6
I've already contracted with a local company to put in an airstrip for me.
That way Jeremy can land here with presents for me.
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Post by gipsy on Jan 19, 2023 13:00:07 GMT -6
Thanks for the update.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Jan 21, 2023 12:13:01 GMT -6
Chapter 187
Jeremy made several more trips to Flat Creek and Legion Cove.
In many of the meetings for the Flat and Piney Creek residents the subject of sustainability came up. No matter what, they all depended on electricity of some amount. Plans were made to stockpile replacements for their energy systems, i.e., solar panels, inverters, EMP modules and wind generators. They all had a suspicion that the energy grid of the U.S. would collapse for some reason or another and whether it was by terrorist attack or natural causes, they planned to be prepared to maintain their status quo. All ordered replacement wind turbines and PV panels and stored them in one of the tunnel containers for that distinct possibility. Research had even gone in to using the creek to generate electrical power. Charlie was working on that problem. It wouldn’t be a huge hydroelectrical setup, they had only so much room and fall for something like that. However, they began gathering components. It also gave them a head pool to irrigate from. The one thing they did stay clued to…You couldn’t depend on the government to help you out. When the stuff hits the fan, you are on your own.
Brandon used the pontoon boat to pull under the hovercraft to provide a work platform to mount the transducer for the Echomap Chartplotter. Because of engine vibration, he’d had to have a custom mount built for the transducer. Now, instead of having to rely on paper lake charts, they were built in and could be called up on the 12” screen.
That evening, Brandon was watching the news when his phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number but answered anyway.
“Do you know an Eric Chandler? Jeremy asked.
“If it is the same one you’re talking about he’s living up in Bumfucked, Wisconsin running a canoe charter business on a river.
“It’s Winneboujou, Wisconsin and he’s turned the business over to his brother. He’s relocating to Arkansas down below Calico Rock.”
“Why?
“Because I asked him to.”
“Well, I guess that explains it all.” Brandon said, sarcastically.
Jeremy chuckled. I’ll need you two to get together when he gets here.”
“Okay. Just give me a shout.” Brandon replied.
Jeremey ended the call and Brandon got up, went over to the computer and searched for Calico Rock, Arkansas on Google Earth. Calico Rock was situated on the White River about 80 miles to the southeast toward Memphis. A lot of nice areas to put in airstrips along the river.
Hank laid the last of the moss on top of the dugout. Against the mossy bank of the bluff, it was barely visible. It was high enough if the creek overflowed or the lake backed up, the hut wouldn’t be in danger of flooding. Two more to go.
For the first time, Mike and Jerry plowed the garden with mules. It was a real learning experience.
“Let’s make sure we have plenty of fuel on hand.” Jerry said.
“I’m with you there.” Mike agreed. “I’m thinking of getting another tank installed.”
Brandon watched the four ton Skyvan flair and set down gently on the runway.
It pulled up to the apron in front of the hangar and Brandon lifted the pallet off the aircraft and set it in the hangar.
“Ready to take a ride?” Jeremy asked.
“Sure.” Brandon said, parking the forklift inside the hangar and securing the door.
“They boarded the aircraft and were handed headsets and took seats behind the pilots. Brandon kept his eyes on the instruments and after take off quickly deduced they were going to Calico Rock, or somewhere thereabouts. Jeremy took out a folder and showed Brandon an aerial photo of a site next to a river with a long field running along beside the river. There was a farmhouse on a bluff above the field and a railroad track between the field and the house. It looked as though they could put in a 2500-3000 foot runway in the field.
“I’ll leave this packet with you.” Jeremy said. “Eric will fly in Thursday and come to your house. I’d like you to fly him down here. He’s got the keys to the house already. Just drop him off, everything else is set up.”
Brandon nodded and picked up the rest of the packet then returned the photo to the envelope.
Matt’s first hay cutting sold quickly and at great prices. Beef on the hoof was bringing premium prices and the ranchers were clamoring for his quality hay. 1% of the hay was kept back for their livestock on Flat Creek. Mike had quit buying yearlings and was breeding their own cattle now. With Matt raising the swine and Mike the beef and both farms their own poultry, They weren’t lacking in meat nor vegetables.
Eric showed up at noon in an Uber. Aspen called Brandon on the radio. He was down at the boathouse adjusting the transducer mount on the hovercraft. Aspen showed Eric to the guest room and made a pot of coffee while they waited on Brandon.
“Long time, no see, Eric” Brandon said, holding out his hand.
“A lot warmer down here, isn’t it?” Eric asked, shaking Brandon’s hand.
“In more ways than one. In some ways, I liked the cold better. It kept the riffraff off of the streets.” Brandon replied.
“Didn’t have much of them in rural Wisconsin. How is it around here?”
“We’ve had a couple of problems but nothing we couldn’t handle. Are you packing?”
“Nothing right now. I could have used my Air Marshal’s creds but decided not to. All my stuff is on the way to Calico Bluff.”
You want to borrow something until you get settled?”
“I’d appreciate it Brandon.”
Brandon took Eric into his office and took a plate carrier out of the gun safe. Told him to pick out a rifle and pistol and stood back. Eric picked up a Glock 21 with mags and an AR-15 with 7 loaded mags.
“That rifle going to be enough? It looks like you have some range across those fields.” Brandon said.
“It’s enough for now. My things should be here pretty quick.”
Brandon took out a .30 Caliber ammo can filled with loaded AR-15 mags and set it on the desk. “We’ll fly down in the morning.”
“Sounds good. Looks like you have a nice place here.” Eric said.
“Thanks, come on, I’ll show you around.”
“Nice hovercraft!” Eric exclaimed. “I’ve got a 21’ cargo jet boat with bow doors. When we fly out I want to check out Hydro plant #3 on the river. That’s my southern limit.
“I wonder why you are covering that area.” Brandon commented.
“Lots of State and National Forests for training, buddy.” Eric replied. “All I’m doing is resupply runs and fishing. There’s supposed to be some fantastic trout fishing down there. I need to upgrade the electronics on my boat though.”
There’s a couple of good marine outfitters in Branson where you should find what you need.” Brandon offered.
“Yeah, I’d like to get a high-Def scanning sonar. It’s good for finding fish and submerged bodies. I figured I could add my services to the local authorities.”
“Not a bad idea.” Brandon said. “We could run up there this afternoon if you want.”
“I’d like to do that.” Eric said.
“Let me call Aspen and tell her where we are going. Let’s take the hovercraft. It will be quicker than going by the roads.”
“While Brandon was talking to Aspen on the phone, Brandon moved the Sun Tracker out from under the hovercraft and back into its own bay. After he lowered the hovercraft into the water, They slipped on life vests and Brandon maneuvered the hovercraft out of the cove and onto the lake. Brandon opened the throttles up and they were soon flying up the lake.
“Jesus! I think this thing is faster than my jet boat!” Eric yelled. “How fast are we going?”
“52 Knots.” Brandon replied.
Within 15 minutes, they pulled up to the dock at Davis Marine. Eric got his CHIRP Sonar and a digital copy of maps that covered the White River in Stone and Izard counties to upgrade his GPS. Brandon picked up two more 5 gallon fuel tanks for the hovercraft. They were soon on the way back to Legion Cove.
The next morning, Aspen and Brandon were up early to make breakfast. Eric came down with his bags when he smelled the coffee.
“I looked up the hydro dam and have the coordinates so we can fly straight there then fly up the river so you can look it over.” Brandon said.
“Thanks, that sounds good Brandon.” Eric said.
After breakfast, Eric and Brandon loaded Eric’s bags, the sonar, guns and ammo into the Gator and headed to the Hangar. They loaded the equipment in the plane then rolled it out on the apron and Brandon did his pre-flights. After entering the coordinates for the dam into the GPS, he cranked the plane and taxied to the north end of the airstrip. He did a STOL takeoff and was in the air before they reached the band of trees the airstrip went through. He climbed to his requested altitude and set the autopilot.
“I like this plane.” Eric said.
“It’s nice to get around in. I flew it to Las Vegas on our honeymoon.” Brandon replied.
“Well, Jeremy said they would be building an airstrip at Calico Bluff so don’t be a stranger. You and Aspen should come down and go fly fishing.”
“We’ll do that.”
When they got to the dam, Brandon banked around and let Eric get a good look then they flew up the river so Erick could check it out. When they got to Calico Bluff, Brandon eyed the grassy field and did a low and slow to see if there were any ditches or other obstacles.
“I can put it down but I’m going to go in short.” Brandon said.
“He came in from the northwest and as soon as he crossed the tree line, he floated into the field, the big tundra tires bouncing once then rolled to a stop.”
“Nice!” Eric said over the intercom. Brandon taxied up as close to the barn as he could get and shut down.
Eric went into the barn and came out driving something that looked like a Hummer that had shrunk.
“What the hell is that?” Brandon shouted.
Eric chuckled. “It’s an 800cc Military Farm UTV, or that’s what I am told its called. I can load it up and it fits in the jet boat just fine.”
They loaded the gear into the UTV and headed to the house.
The house looked more like a lodge and Brandon said so.
“They company that owned it used to run fishing trips out of here for their company personnel in Little Rock. I guess you could call it a ‘corporate retreat.’ This place has freezers out of the Yin yang. I’ve got plenty of storage and Jer is having more shipping containers delivered.”
Eric had the guns and ammo in his hands and took them over to a gun vault and locked them away, except for the Glock. He took and ran his belt through the holster and added two mag pouches.
“How big is this place?” Brandon asked.
“It’s a little over 80 acres, most of it in pasture. They figure they can put in a 5,000 foot airstrip too.”
“It’s only about 40 minutes flying time from Legion Cove.” Brandon said. “I do believe we’ll be down to relieve you of some of those trophy trout.”
“Anytime. We can clean them and flash freeze them for you to take back.” Eric said.
“You’re on!”
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Post by iamnobody on Jan 21, 2023 12:52:29 GMT -6
The one thing they did stay clued to…You couldn’t depend on the government to help you out. When the stuff hits the fan, you are on your own.
But but but they are from the government and they are here to help me......
Right after they take all my food, all of my livestock, all of my guns and ammo and all of my property and vehicles for the common good of all people.
Then they will ship me off to a re-education camp, er luxury resort where they will let me dig burial trenches, er latrines all day and then in the evenings show me propaganda films, er wonderful films about wokeness.
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Post by sniper69 on Jan 21, 2023 13:17:04 GMT -6
<snip>
Plans were made to stockpile replacements for their energy systems, i.e., solar panels, inverters, EMP modules and wind generators. <snip>
ncsfsgm, thank you for the excellent story. Quick question on the wind generators. If I recall correctly from past chapters, they have the ones with vertical blades/impellers? Is there a particular brand that is being used by the stories characters? Also with the retractable setup, is there a particular model for that too?
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Post by ncsfsgm on Jan 21, 2023 13:36:51 GMT -6
<snip>
Plans were made to stockpile replacements for their energy systems, i.e., solar panels, inverters, EMP modules and wind generators. <snip>
ncsfsgm, thank you for the excellent story. Quick question on the wind generators. If I recall correctly from past chapters, they have the ones with vertical blades/impellers? Is there a particular brand that is being used by the stories characters? Also with the retractable setup, is there a particular model for that too? It depends on the location, wind flow and the likes of the user. THe retractable setups were mainly for concealment.
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Post by gipsy on Jan 21, 2023 22:21:42 GMT -6
Thanks for the update.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Jan 23, 2023 21:33:48 GMT -6
Chapter 188
Eric was pleased with Calico Bluff. The setup was a dream. The stately house was rustic but still stylish. The kitchen was what he had always dreamed of. He loved to cook and had plenty of room to do it. He ate trout at least twice a week, sometimes for breakfast. He was constantly searching out new recipes to try. One thing he did change after fishing a couple of days was his favorite fishing spot. He cut down two trees that he kept hanging his line up in it when it was windy. The place was really off the grid. To get to Calico Rock, you had to either drive 5 miles through the back roads or go up the river and dock at the Calico Rock Trout Dock. Then he had to have transportation to get around town. Eric bought a street-legal Artic Cat Prowler he could drive on the jet boat and offload it next to the dock for use in town.
There were solar panels but most of the power was supplied by two 600W 12V/24V Vertical Axis Helix Residential Home Wind Turbine generators on the bluff. The battery bank had to have cost a fortune. The bank would supply power for a week without any sun or wind, but that was unlikely. There was always a breeze. Eric liked the vertical Axis turbines. The noise off these things weren’t as nauseating as it is with the larger turbines used everywhere and didn’t make a landscape an eyesore while making those that live nearby ill from the infrasound.
Not only was there plenty of fish to eat but also some great hunting lands with Deer, boar, turkey, rabbits and quail also. It was a hunter’s/fisherman’s paradise.
Eric’s first resupply was to the Trestle over Wideman Creek. His orders were to load the Military Farm UTV with the supplies and load it aboard the jet boat. Putting on NODs, he pulled away from Calico Bluff at 1030 PM.
Eric slowed when he got near the coordinates. He slowed the throttle to a dead slow when he saw the laser flash “Yankee” in morse code. He answered with “PaPa.” He turned on the IR spotlight on the roof of the cab to Illuminate the entrance to Wideman Creek and pushed the bow into the bank on the right side, After Eric released the bow door, a man walked board and unstrapped and started the UTV, driving it onto the bank of the creek. Another man backed an identical, unloaded, UTV aboard and secured the tiedown straps. When the man was off, Eric closed the bow door and backed away from the bank and into the river channel then headed back up river. ”That was easy enough.” Eric thought.
Eric Chandler was in his element. He was once called paranoid, gun nut, wacko. That’s what his ex-girlfriend said as she threw her last suitcase into the back seat of her car, just before she drove off, never to be seen again. He had spent time as a bodyguard, fought for private armies and spent more time in the field than he did in towns. This was a dream job, if you could call it a job. He hired a local woman who reminded him of his late Aunt to keep and run the household. Her niece came out to help her on the “cleaning” days. After all, there were six bedrooms and bathrooms and dust filtered in from somewhere. He was going to look into a different HVAC system that could provide more positive pressure in the house in order to keep some of the dust out.
Looking around the property, Eric found two interesting things. He found a room in the basement used to cool game. The room was in the basement that was divided into rooms with limestone walls. The room was cooled by vents in the walls that actually blew in his face when he opened the doors. He found out the air was coming from a cavern on the other side of the basement walls. It looked as if the basement had been excavated down into the cavern. The other thing was there was a producing gas well that provided gas for heating and cooking. After checking with some property records he had found in the office, the well was from the early days of liquid petroleum exploration in Arkansas. He could deal with free gas. Now, if he could get vehicles that ran off LP gas and a way to fill the tanks, he would be sitting pretty.
The Arava arrived at Mike’s to drop off two pallets and pick up one. Mike wondered, as did Jerry, what they needed a full pallet of MOPP protective gear for. "Mission Oriented Protective Posture"; pronounced "mop") is protective gear used by U.S. military personnel in a toxic environment, for instance during a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear (CBRN) attack.
On Wednesday, the crew to scrape out the airstrip arrived at Calico Bluff. They actually used a sod cutter and rolled up the pasture grass. They used a timber harvester to cut out a gap in the 60’ tall line of trees at the north end of the strip so when landing, you threaded the notch and landed. The gap was too narrow to land a C-130 but the smaller cargo aircraft would be able to use it. The final airstrip length would be 3,993 feet. Yes, he could do well out here. He just needed to stock up on some things, along with food and he could outlast just about anything.
Mike had purchased two liquid manure spreaders and they were pumping out the holding tanks at the dairy barn and spreading it on the hay fields. The fields were greening up and looked like the second cutting would be good too. The strawberries liked the liquid manure also and were getting more berries than ever before. Ellie had seen on one of the DYI TV channels how to grow strawberries in gutters so Jerry and Charlie had set 4x4 posts into the ground next to the garden and attached four ten foot gutters on the posts. After putting end caps on the gutters and drilling drain holes, they were filled with peat moss and compost. The strawberries had to be picked just about every day. The freeze dryers were getting a workout.
Gary was back to milling timber with at least one person helping him each day. Matt and Mike both had projects they wanted to finish before fall and Jerry needed a structure at his spring site.
Cultivating the garden with mules became the most detested chore on the farms. Both Matt and Mike ordered another large diesel tank each and had hem filled. When worse came to worse, they would use the mules. That would become their plan “B.”
While the crew was finishing up the airstrip, Eric continued his explorations of the property. He saw some nice outcropping of stratified limestone and got an idea. Later, he asked Margaret if there were any stone masons around. She and Sandra discussed it and came up with a name. Walt Benson. She said he did good work, of what she had seen, so Eric asked her if she would contact him and have him come out to talk about a job.
“Hmmph!” That coot doesn’t work that much but there hasn’t been that many jobs around for him either.” Margaret said.
Eric left the house. He was glad when Sandra showed up. She and Margaret would come up with a good meal for him. He’d stay out of their way. He went to the cabins to see if there was anything that needed to be done to them. They weren’t very big. One bedroom, a bathroom and a small living/dining/kitchen area. It looked as though they all emptied into the same septic system, separate from the house. Hell, he wouldn’t mind living in one of them. There was a separate power house that had all the batteries equidistance between the solar array and the wind turbines. The power lines to the house, cabins and out buildings were all underground.
The airfield crew ran the compactor up and down the airstrip for a full day before they were satisfied, All off a sudden they were loaded up and gone. The next day, Walt drove up in an old dodge pickup. Eric showed him the rock outcroppings he had found and told Walt what he wanted. Walt nodded and said it wouldn’t be a problem. He said he would be back the following day with his tools.
Walt showed up the next morning towing a trailer with a water tank to supply cooling water to his rock saws. In the back of the truck were his saws and other tools. Walt stopped by the well and filled the water tank before driving over to the rock outcroppings. Eric helped him unload the truck and brought A UTV with a trailer over to haul rock. It wasn’t long before Walt was making deep cuts into the outcropping then took his chisels and began breaking off slabs of limestone using the strata as a guide. Eric loaded the slabs into the trailer as they came loose.
They had the trailer loaded to capacity in no time so he drove it over to where he wanted them laid and carefully tipped the bed of the trailer and pulled forward as they slid out. Eric finally left and took the tractor with the bucket and went down to the river and picked up a load of gravel off of a bar then returned for load of sand. He did that twice before he had enough sand and gravel for Walt.
Eric and Walt marked off the area for the patio and dug it out, laid the gravel and Walt began laying the flagstones. Eric spent the rest of the time sifting sand to mix with calcarenite to fill in between the stones. By the end of the day, the flagstones were laid and Eric swept the sand mixture between the stones then misted it down with the sprayer on the garden hose.
“That will harden, keeping the stones in place.” Walt Explained. “It also keeps the weeds and grass and sycamore seeds from sprouting in between the flagstones.”
“I thought they used polymeric sand for that.” Eric said.
“You can, but this lasts longer.” Walt replied. “Now, where do you want the grill base?”
Eric took a piece of sidewalk chalk and marked where he wanted the grill section built.
“It’s gonna take me a few days to cut the rock, But I’ll get ‘er done.” Walt said.
Margaret called from the back door for them to wash up, that supper was ready.
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Post by gipsy on Jan 23, 2023 22:10:51 GMT -6
Thanks for the update.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Jan 28, 2023 12:22:51 GMT -6
Chapter 189
Eric called Jeremy and asked if he had a warehouse he could ship some things to and have delivered. He was over two hours away by road from Little Rock. Jeremy gave him a shipping address and Eric began stocking up on food and medicines. Four shipping containers arrived and some of the same men who had built the airstrip. They buried the containers and the next day a Arava 201 arrived with a pallet of MREs and a pallet of ammo Eric recorded in what container the pallets were stored and filed the paperwork in his office until he could add it to the inventory on his computer.
He took the tractor up to the limestone outcropping and picked up a load of limestone bricks Walt had chipped out and took them down to the patio. Margaret stepped out and asked if he could use some help around with small chores, like stacking the bricks. Sandra’s brother, Henry, would be glad to help out to make a little money. He told her to have him come out the next day after school.
“Margaret, what does Sandra normally do? Does she have a job?” Eric asked.
“Oh yes! She is an RN and is a home healthcare nurse. She only comes here when she doesn’t have a patient to see.” Margaret replied.
“I should hope so. She doesn’t really need to be here unless you need her.” Eric said.
“Oh, but she loves to come here to cook you a meal.” Margaret said, smiling.
“I thought you were doing the cooking!”
“No, she cooks every time. How did she say?....you don’t have any ‘Love Handles’.”
“Jesus!” Eric said, going back to the tractor.
Beth overflew the runway and checked it out. She should have no problem landing. She’d rather land on the river but Jeremy wanted to use the runway anyway, there was no dock. She came back around and set the flaps and trimmed the Kodiak 100 and aimed for the slot in the trees. There was a ten knot crosswind according to the windsock and she had to be careful. She was 20 feet above the ground when she exited the tree belt. Keeping the nose up, she sat the pontoon wheels down flat on the runway and taxied up to the barn.
Eric watched the Kodiak land as he waited next to the barn. Jeremy had called the night before and said he was coming in. The plane taxied up to him as he went out to greet them.
“Hey Eric, how’s it going?”
“Good Jer. Getting settled in.” Eric replied. “Why didn’t you land on the river?”
“No place to tie up.” Jeremy replied.
“I’ll put something in then. Eric said. Tuning to Beth he asked, “What do you need?”
“Just sink a telephone sized pole in the ground on the bank, back about 6 feet from the water.” Beth replied.
“You got it.”
Are you ready to start receiving some supplies?” Jeremy asked.
“Sure!”
“Good there will be a Skyvan in here in the morning. Is there anything you need?”
“Not right now. I’m pretty well stocked. Harter’s is a bright spot in this area.” Eric replied.
Jeremy chuckled. “Yeah, there’s not much to do unless you are a tourist.”
Gary was up on a ladder greasing the bearings on the line shaft when Mike walked in.
“What’s up Gary?”
“Greasing the bearings before I start running boards to make lap siding.” Gary replied.
“When you get ready, the guys and I can help you.”
“I’d appreciate it. The shavings and sawdust build up quickly.”
“No problem. Just point us at what you want us to do.
Eric walked into the house and it smelled like a bakery. He headed to the kitchen and there were four loaves of bread and what looked like two pound cakes cooling on the counter. “My goodness! That smells good!” Eric said.
Margaret took down bread plates and cut thick slices of the pound cake and brought the butter bell over to the table. She got him a butter knife and the three spread a thick layer of soft butter over the pound cake and took a bite. Sandra brought Eric a glass of cold milk and he immediately took a drink. Jeremy and Beth had coffee.
“You women are spoiling me!”
“A man has got to eat!” Margaret said.
“You’re going to make me fat!” Eric complained.
Margaret smiled at Sandra.
Jeremy and Beth left and after supper that night, Eric sat out on the patio and watched the sky. He checked his watch and looked at a certain point in the sky and there it was…the GOES satellite was reportedly up there to observe weather formations but It also had a hidden purpose, to monitor UFO activity between the 35th and 43rd parallels north. He doubted they’d spot much in Arkansas, maybe up around Whiteman AFB in Missouri but there just wasn’t that much for the aliens to be interested around here unless they developed a taste for trout. Eric finished his beer and went inside to take a shower and get some sleep only to awaken at 04:00 the next morning. The cargo aircraft would be arriving that morning.
A sunrise through a forest doesn't have the same impact as seeing it rise over the ocean, but it's impressive, just the same. A miracle that occurs daily and is ignored by most people. The air was refreshing as Eric took in a deep breath. He went and got the tractor and hauled the rest of the bricks Walt had carved out and took them to the patio. It looked like Walt had enough to build the grill and counter stand. Taking the tractor to the shed, Eric mounted the backhoe attachment on the tractor to dig a trench for the water line from the well to the sink in the outdoor kitchen. He was going to have hot and cold running water to his outdoor kitchen. Walt was installing a copper coil in the grill firebox to heat the water. Later, he would mount the fork blades on the bucket to unload the aircraft.
Sandra Gibson stood at 5'7" and her brown hair fell just past her shoulders. Her eyes were somewhere between brown and hazel and there was a speck of yellow in each one. They sparkled as she looked at you. Eric glanced over to the kitchen door as she stood watching him checking out Walt’s stone work. She went back inside and filled a quart jar with ice and water to take out to Eric. Eric stopped digging, shut down he tractor and got off. Sandra handed him the water and after he had taken a deep drink, Sandra put her arms around his neck and kissed him.
Whatever's better than dynamite, that's the kind of kisser Sandra was. And it wasn't just her lips. The woman kissed with her whole body, pressing and grinding her front into Eric while her hands roamed all over his back and butt.
“Whoa!” Where did that come from?!” Eric asked her.
“Well, you won’t make a move so I decided to help you along.” Sandra said, smiling. “I’ve tried cooking and everything else I could to show I’m interested in you, and you ignore me.”
You don’t need to be cooking for me Sandra. I can cook for myself.
Sandra whirled around with a look of determination on her face. I will NOT allow you to take something away I enjoy! I spend all week traveling from home to home helping those who have little to no hope. I need a break from the depression. Cooking for you makes me happy.
Eric had learned that when a female has her mind made up about something, the best thing to do is go with the flow. ”You'd think I'd remember that. It's been proven to me so many times.” Eric thought as he turned and got back on the tractor. “Walt will have my grill ready by Friday. What do you say you and I have a little cookout Saturday evening?”
“Sandra’s eyes brightened. “Okay, Do you want me to pick things up at Harter’s? Aunt Margaret are going grocery shopping this afternoon.
“Yes, pick up a couple of beef tenderloins and some baking potatoes and whatever else you want.”
Sandra whirled around and went back to the house.
Jerry and Gary ran the boards through the planer and shaper as Charlie kept the sawdust and shavings cleaned up. Every so often, they would rotate positions and each got their turn to clean up. The shavings fed the boiler for the steam engine, keeping up a good head of steam. Gary was glad he had greased the bearings in the line shaft because it was definitely getting a workout today. . He stopped and went to check the oilers on the steam engine and had to fill two of them.
Walt showed up at 09:00 and got the mortar tub and began mixing mortar mix. Eric helped him snap the chalk line, laying out the perimeters Walt wanted.
“I’ve got to run and pick up the pallet of fire brick. Do you need anything else?” Eric asked.
“No, I’m good. I’ve got everything else. What about the cabinet doors?” Walt asked.
“I’ve got some barnwood I’m making them out of. I’ll line the inside with some plastic sheeting to keep them partially waterproof.” Eric replied.
“Don’t bother. Just go by Hanson’s. He’s got that FlexSeal stuff. Pick up a couple of gallons of the white. It will fill in the cracks and lighten the inside of the cabinets.”
“Okay, good idea. I’ll be back in a while.”
Eric picked up the bricks and the FlexSeal then stopped to pick up lump charcoal for cooking Saturday and made a stop by a retail outlet for the Cove winery and bought two mixed cases. They had started out with making muscadine wines but had branched off to more common varieties also. They made a pretty good red and of course their sweet muscadines were good too.
Eric delivered the bricks back to Walt who began lining the grill area and the fire pit with them. He had already mortared in the uprights that held the gaucho grill in place. There was a separate flat grilling area that Walt was installing the fire brick in now. There was a guy up in Mountain Home that welded stainless steel and Eric had him weld up a grate for him out of stainless steel rods. Eric was also having him make a stainless steel fry pan so he could fry fish out in the outdoor kitchen.
When Eric checked his e-mail that night he had a message from Jeremy that a tower installation crew would be in the next week to put in a communications tower for long range communications and would be shared with KLRT out of Little Rock for them to emplace meteorological equipment on. Eric shrugged. He guessed Jeremy had something in the works.
While Walt continued to lay the limestone block and fire brick, Eric went down to the shop and began building the doors for the outdoor kitchen. He made the doors out of siding from an old, dilapidated shed at the edge of the property. He built the doors with “Z” braces. A Little overdone but they would last. He had some reproduction wrought iron hinges, handles and latches to mount them with. Cutting weather worn 2x4s for framing the door, he loaded everything in the back of the truck, he carried everything back to the patio, he was back in time to help Walt mount the rest of the gaucho grill. Laying out some saw horses and boards, Eric began painting the backs of the doors with the FlexSeal, first filing the cracks between the boards with caulking it took a little maneuvering to get inside the cabinet to paint it, even though the top hadn’t been put on. The last thing to go on was the stone top, which was sealed to help waterproof it. The old farm sink had come from out of one of the sheds and looked great. Once the top stones were laid, they put up a tarp to keep any rain off of it . Tomorrow they would seal the top and be done with it.
“You know Eric, you should cover the whole thing so it would always be out of the weather. I can help you with that.” Walt said.
“I was just thinking that Walt. I’ll probably have to go into Mountain Home and get everything.”
“Pick the stuff up this afternoon and we can get started as soon as we seal this top.” Walt replied. Eric had to wait first for the plane to arrive.
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Post by gipsy on Jan 28, 2023 13:35:53 GMT -6
Thanks for the update.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Jan 31, 2023 12:34:43 GMT -6
Chapter 190
Saturday morning, Eric was up before the sun and placed two bottles of wine in the fridge. He took his notebook computer out to the patio after breakfast and began planning the shelter over his outdoor kitchen and patio. The combination CAD and builders program automatically figured out the materials list as far as lumber. A popup screen would allow him to add in screws and nails. All he had to do was fill in the number he was going to use for each board. He had to design the reinforcing plates for joints but that didn’t take that long. By 10:00 he had his list ready. Eric checked his e-mail and found a message from a Steve Morrison from TowerSystems introducing himself and said he would be there Tuesday to begin work on the tower. In that case, Eric would need to get the materials for the patio on Monday. They opened at 06:00 AM so he could be leave here early and be back, hopefully, before noon. He and Walt could work on the shelter while the installation of the tower was going on. Eric called Walt and asked him if there was a scrap dealer anywhere where he might find some flat scrap steel to make reinforcement plates. Walt told him not to worry about it. He had some scrap replacement blades for a grader he would bring, his cutting torch and his welder. They could make what they needed. Eric told him how many they were going to need and their dimensions and Walt answered he had enough steel.
Charlie and Jerry were hauling lumber up to Jerry’s spring and distilling site. Mike already had the Bobcat up there boring holes for the posts. Jerry opened up the 5 gallon bucket of wood sealant and waterproofing and painted the posts they’d brought with them. Charlie went back down the hill and brought back the trailer with the concrete tubes, bags of concrete and a mixer. They could pour the concrete and set the post brackets today and have everything ready to erect the building in a few days.
Next to come up was the trailer of gravel.
Eric set the tenderloin out to come to room temperature and checked the house out to see if anything needed straightening up. All he had to do was put fresh hand towels in the bathroom downstairs.
Sandra would be there in a couple of hours. He made and tossed the salad then put it back in the fridge. The potatoes he wet, rolled them in Kosher salt and wrapped in foil, then a potato nail shoved into them. Eric went out and got the charcoal burning and set the timer on his phone. He would put the potatoes on in a while.
Eric opened a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and poured a glass, retiring to the patio to wait. As he got up to add a little more charcoal to the grill, added the potatoes and covered the grill as Sandra drove up. He finished adding the charcoal to the gaucho grill and poured her a glass of wine.
“Thank you. The patio looks great!” Sandra said.
“Thank you. Walt and I are putting a roof over it Tuesday.” Eric replied.
“I love the stone. It came off your land?”
“Yes, I just pointed Walt to it and he started cutting.”
“I need to go prepare the meat.” Eric said, standing up.
Sandra followed him inside.
Eric washed his hands and started massaging the tenderloins, roughly shaping them. Wiping his hands on paper towel, he got out the thick sliced bacon and took two strips off. He began wrapping each filet with a strip of bacon and secured them with a couple of wooden skewers. Eric covered the plate of steaks with plastic wrap and taking up his glass of wine said, “Let’s go back out on the patio.”
When the alarm on Eric’s hone went off, he took the lid off the smaller grill and checked the potatoes with a wooden skewer. They were done so he shoveled coals from the fire box and spread them out under the gaucho grill. After laying some split oak on top of the burning coals, he laid the filletes on the grill and lowered it to get the steaks seared. After searing both sides, Eric raised the grill slightly and let them cook over the smokey fire. Using a wireless meat thermometer with dual probes, Eric monitored the temperature of the meat and took the steaks off when the alarm sounded for medium rare. Sandra set the patio table and brought out the salad and condiments.
This smells so good! Sandra said, putting butter and sour cream on her potato.
“Well, I can’t say you can’t cook, steak, at least.” Sandra said after taking a bite of the filet.
“Well, I cook what I like, like probably every other man in the world. I need to get Margaret to show me how she makes the bread loaves. I can cook biscuits and cornbread, but I never learned how to make bread loaves.”
“It’s not hard, just a more lengthy process.” Sandra replied.
When they finished eating, the two cleaned the dishes and the kitchen. Eric checked the grill and scattered the coals so they would burn out quicker. He opened another bottle of wine and they sat on the patio and talked until Sandra left to go home.
Walt was there early Monday. They laid out the post hole locations and Eric used the tractor auger to bore the holes. They soon had the posts braced and concreted in. By the end of the day they had the headers bolted in and soon had the ties on. The patio cover was going up quicker than Eric realized it would. Soon, the smell of fresh baking bread was wafting out to them.
“Are you guys ready for a break?” Margaret called from the door. “I have fresh bread and iced tea.”
“Heck yeah!” Walt said, laying down a ratchet wrench.
She had laid out a loaf of fresh, warm bread, dishes, and glasses of iced tea on the patio table.
It’s too bad you didn’t make an outdoor oven when you built the kitchen.” Margaret said. “Fresh baked bread from a wood-fired oven is the best!”
“Still can, if you want. I can add one to the end of the counter.” Walt said. I made one for a woman up on Owl Knoll about a year ago.”
“Well, let’s do it then. If the bread is better than his, I’m all for it!” Eric said.
“You can cook pizzas too.” Margaret added.
“Walt, what will we need?” Eric asked.
“Just more mortar mix. I still have my frame to make the dome and we have fire brick left over.”
Steve Morrison showed up in time for early coffee Tuesday morning.
“You found us?!” Eric said.
“Well, Jeremy gave me the coordinates and I checked the roads and wrote down directions from looking at Google Earth.” Steve said. “I’ll need to go and check out the antenna site.”
“I hope you have the coordinates where Jer wants it, because I have no Idea. You can use the UTV while you are here.” Eric said.
“Yeah, I have the coordinates and thanks for the use. I need to make sure our utility truck, a concrete truck, concrete pumper and the crane can make it up there. On the satellite image, it looks a little precarious. If I have to, do you mind if we grade a road up to the site? It will help in the future because maintenance will have to be pulled on the antennas.” Steve asked.
“No, not at all.” Eric replied.
Walt and Eric finished the rafters and purlins on Tuesday and the roof and gutters on Wednesday. Steve had a bulldozer come in and scrape a rudimentary road up to the antenna site by the time for Towersystem’s utility truck with its auger and bucket to get there. They marked out everything and dug the holes for the anchors and base of the antenna.
Walt began working on the oven and Eric decided he’d go take the jet boat for a ride.
Eric backed the boat trailer into the river and locked the truck’s parking brake. After winching the boat into the water, he tied the bow line off and pulled the truck and trailer off the ramp. As he pulled the boat closer to the shore with the bow line and got on, he heard a rumble and the boat trailer seemed to bounce on the ground. He heard another rumble and crashing noise from down the river and looked in that direction. The large bluff a half mile away, filled with trees on the west side of the river began sliding down into the river along with the two houses on top of it. Eric quickly started the engine and whirled the boat around to face the ten foot wave heading toward him. As he reached the mini Tsunami headed up the river the boat was launched into the air and went sailing. Eric managed to keep the boat straight and the only thought he had in in mind was ”Evel Knievel has nothing on me!” Eric turned the jet boat around and followed the wave upriver. He was sure a few boathouses and docks were going to be wrecked. When he got to Calico Rock, The Calico Rock Boat dock had a few boards missing and the Bridge over the river looked damaged, or at least the bridge supports had big cracks in them. He didn’t bother going on up river any farther and returned to Calico Bluff. but did go a little further south and checked out how much the river had been closed. Of the about 400 foot width of the river, there was only about 50 feet that was opened to flowing water and that was quickly widening as the water rushed through. He pushed the throttle fully forward and raced through the turbulent channel and checked out downstream for a mile before turning back home.
When he returned to the house, Margaret had the TV on a Little Rock station and the news readers were talking about the latest quake on the New Madrid fault with the epicenter being near Tiptonville, Tennessee. The initial estimates said the earthquake was in the 7.4 magnitude. Tiptonville was a wasteland.
Margaret was excited and worried because she couldn’t get in touch with Sandra.
“No used to get worried just yet.” Eric said. “Communications will be down and probably overloaded until things calm down. She’ll call. Just have patience. If need be, I’ll go get her.”
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Post by gipsy on Jan 31, 2023 16:11:38 GMT -6
Thanks for the update.
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Post by feralferret on Jan 31, 2023 19:49:26 GMT -6
ncsfsgm,
Thank you for the new chapter. Things could get real interesting with the New Madrid fault acting up.
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r80rt
New Member
Posts: 19
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Post by r80rt on Feb 1, 2023 12:05:48 GMT -6
Well done. I know that country, we might be neighbors.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 6, 2023 11:02:25 GMT -6
Chapter 191
“This is so horrible!” Margaret said.
Mother Nature is vicious, almost as bad as mankind, so death and destruction happens,” Eric said. “There’s not much we can do about natural disasters except to make sure we have the means to come out the other side as well as we can.”
Eric went into the combination library and office. There were books on two walls in shelves that reached up to the ceiling. The place smelled of old leather. A desk was against one wall and there were three sturdy oak tables with cushioned chairs for reading or writing. The desk and tables had several note pads and pen holders. He took a quick look at the books and didn't see any authors he recognized. Most were all leather bound, first editions. He set up his laptop and sent Jeremy an e-mail telling him about the landslide but they were all well.
Eric went up on the bluff the next day when they were putting together the main antenna on the tower. It was an OptiBeam HF Directional Antenna. An installation crew from the TV station was there also as well as three guys that weren’t introduced putting in some other domed equipment. They had received a ditch witch trencher from somewhere and were digging a trench to bury the coax and control cables to the house. Using radios, they adjusted the control box and rotated the beam antenna to different azimuths. There was an HF radio set up on the table at the side of the room and the control cable was attached to the control box and the coax to the radio. Steve changed the radio frequencies and was talking to someone on his phone and getting strength readings when he said something in the radio microphone. He was also compiling a list of stations starting with “1” and ending with “7” according to the antenna controller box. Once all stations had been contacted. Steve brought out a new laptop computer that had software that could control the antenna instead of using the manual control box and you could send messages to the marked stations. He said Jeremy would explain everything else to him.
When Steve and his crew left, they soon returned because a small bluff on AR-13 into town had slipped and buried the road. There was no way else to get into Calico Rock. Margaret and Eric got the crews situated in the cabins and spare bedrooms in the house and Eric called the Sheriff’s Department and let them know the road was out. Eric had to pick up Sandra at the Calico Rock Trout Dock in the jet boat. Overnight, the water backing up from the landslide came over the riverbank and flooded the field where the airstrip was with about 6 inches of water, but by the next morning the river had washed enough of the landslide away the water drained back down. Eric, Sandra and Steve took the Jetboat out the next morning after breakfast and took depth readings at the slide area and let the Department of Conservation know the change in in water depth at those coordinates. It was an interesting month at Calico Bluff.
The worse that happened at Table rock lake was the trout ponds sloshed over at the fish hatchery and some fish were lost. That was the least of their worries. The dam attendants were too busy inspecting the dam and kept watch that no leaks appeared. A warning went out for people living on the White River to stay on the lookout for mud and landslides.
This little hiccup with natures forces got Eric to thinking. He was situated pretty good here. Isolated except for the occasional fisherman, In the middle of the country where there were few nuclear targets, No one really interested in the area except for maybe a land developer or two, no resources that big companies would try to wheedle you out of. This was the place to make a stand. The way he figured it, it was only matter of time before some more idiots would dream up another uncontrollable virus concoction and start a zombie apocalypse. Who the hell knew? He began ordering things to stock up on so he didn’t have to leave this oasis often. He decided to buy an enclosed trailer and make a trip to Little Rock on a shopping spree. Maybe take Sandra and Margaret with him. He could store a large amount of things in the basement as cool as it was. You almost had to put on winter outer clothing to go into the cooler room.
Eric asked Walt and showed him the cooler room in the basement and both looked through the vents with a flashlight.
“Yep, you have a cave there. I could probably cut you a door into it with a rock saw, if you want.”
“Yeah, I’d like that. I want to be able to use it for more storage.” Eric said.
“I’ll bring my tools over tomorrow.”
They went back upstairs and Walt finished grinding imperfections off the dome of the outside oven.
“I’ll put some sealer on this and that’ll do ‘er!” Walt said.
When can we start making bread in it?” Eric asked.
“I’ll put the sealer on and you can start using it tomorrow.” Walt replied.
Eric went into the kitchen and looked for the ingredients to make pizza. Margaret came in and asked what he was doing.
“Walt said we will be able to use the oven tomorrow so I want to make wood-fired pizza.”
“I’ll go to Harts.” Margaret said. “You have everything for the dough but no pepperoni, peppers and other things. What do you want?”
“I guess some Italian sausage, peppers, onions, pepperoni, Let me check on the net for some pizza recipes and see what we need. What kind of pizza does Sandra like?”
“Call her and ask her.” Margaret said, grinning.
Eric shook his head and called Sandra. When he asked what she liked on her pizza she asked, “Are you going to make pizza tonight?”
“Not until tomorrow, but Margaret’s got to go and pick up topping ingredients.” Eric replied.
“Put her on. I’m near Hart’s now.
Margaret and Sandra talked for a bit, Margaret telling her what she had on her list and then ended the call. Eric walked out on the patio and a County Sheriff’ car drove into the yard.
“Are you Eric Chandler?”
“Yes Deputy, I am.”
“How’s that slide going?” The Deputy asked.
“About half of it has washed out downstream.”
“Good! The reason I came out here though is to ask for your help.”
“What can I do for you.
“Well, I see you have a radio tower up and I was wondering if the Department could put repeater on your tower. This area has poor coverage because of the hills and this would greatly help us. It is solar powered so we wouldn’t need to use any of your electricity.”
“Certainly! Anything I can do to help out local Law Enforcement. You’ll have to have someone come out to install it though. I know jack about that stuff.”
“We’ve got our electronics people who can do that. My name is James, James Davenport.”
“Well, I guess you already know I’m Eric Chandler.”
“Yes sir, pleased to meet you.”
“Let me give you my cell number. If your people could give me a call before they came up to make sure I am here, I’d appreciate it.”
“Sure, no problem.”
When Sandra arrived, Margaret checked out what she had purchased and gave her the money out of her stash Eric gave her. Sandra had picked up a nice pizza stone at Hart’s so they were set for dinner the next day.
The only thing we’re missing is a long-handled peel.” Sandra commented.
“What’s that?” Eric asked.
“It’s a shovel like thing you take the bread and pizza out of the oven. You can slide the stone out and pick it up with gloves but a peel is better.” Sandra explained.
“Can you order one for me?” Eric asked.
“Sure, no problem. I doubt you’ll find too many long handled peels around these parts unless there’s a bakery opening up I don’t know about.” Sandra replied.
The pizza was delicious, the oven and the wood fire giving it a unique flavor. Margaret said she was making bread the next day so Eric needed to make a fire again the next day in the oven.
The next morning Eric was up early splitting wood when he glanced toward the river and saw three coyotes in the field between the airstrip and the railroad track. He went inside and got his Remington Model 700 BDL, chambered a round, rested the fore stock over a limb on a dogwood tree and dropped the first coyote. He wounded another and was able to finish it off after moving positions.
Eric took the tractor and buried the carcasses then went back and built the fire in the oven.
Sandra found a pizza peel, ash rake and other tools for outdoor ovens on Amazon and ordered them. They wouldn’t be in for another week so they would have to use the grilling gloves and the pizza stone to bake the bread.
While the dough was proofing, Eric sat Margaret down and talked to her about the place. He told her about the improvements he wanted to make in power, food, arms, defenses, meds, personnel, and communications.
“Shouldn’t we wait until Sandra is here to get her perspective?” Margaret asked.
“What do you mean?” Eric asked.
“Well, she’s becoming a fixture out here too, unless I’m missing the signs.”
“Well, maybe so. I’m concerned about her wellbeing also.” Eric replied. Okay, what’s her schedule look like?”
“I’m not sure. You’ll have to ask her.”
“Okay. I’ll call her then.”
Sandra had one more patient to see that day and she would be back out to Calico Bluff in about three hours.
Margaret pull some venison steaks out of the freezer and boiled some potatoes. Eric went and started the charcoal on the gaucho grill. Margaret had a couple of loaves of bread ready on the baking stone and Eric placed them in the oven after moving the coals back and sweeping away some ash. By the time Sandra arrived the bread was done and Eric was taking the steaks off the grill.
“Do you ladies know of a gunsmith in town?” Eric asked as they were eating.
“Isn’t there one across from the laundromat on 56?” Margaret asked.
“Yes, there is.” Sandra answered.
The next morning Eric went to the gunsmith with a 16 gauge pump shotgun and had the gunsmith cut the barrel down to 20 inches. The gunsmith also had a 1977 K5 Blazer parked beside the building with a 4-Sale sign on the windshield. Eric took the shotgun back home and worked with Margaret the rest of the afternoon familiarizing her with shooting the shotgun. It was to be her house gun.
“Eric, why are we doing this?” Margaret asked.
“Margaret, we are isolated out here. Anyone could come down that road.” Eric replied.
The next day Eric went back to the gunsmith to talk to him about the Blazer. Eric had talked to a guy there in town that would get the Blazer up to like new condition and Eric asked him to install a LNG conversion kit on it with an ANG tank. Eric had already located a company that could install Fast-fill compressed natural gas (CNG) station pump to fill vehicles.
Eric finally got Margaret and Sandra together to tell them the preparations he was making. He also told them if they wanted to convert vehicles to LNG then they could fill up free from his tank. The only problem was both of their vehicles were late model vehicles that had computers. It was tricky converting those. Older model vehicles were easier to convert. Margaret had an older pickup at home she could get converted and Sandra said she would purchase something older. She found a 1978 Chevy Suburban Silverado in Melbourne and had it restored and converted.
There were still problems attributed to the quake that plagued the area. Soil and rocks on slopes had been loosened and rains caused many mud and landslides in the area. No one was hurt but it was a nuisance to the Highway Department keeping the areas cleaned up.
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Post by gipsy on Feb 6, 2023 15:00:19 GMT -6
Thanks for the update.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 10, 2023 18:14:16 GMT -6
Chapter 192
Shut down all your communications relating to us!” Jeremy said.
“What’s up?”
They Chinese are sending so-called “Weather balloons across the country and the President is letting them do it!” Jeremy replied.
“I wonder how much they are paying him or what do they are holding over his head.” Eric said.
“Just stay off the air, even handhelds.”
“Roger that. I can go fishing.”
“I’ll drop by.” Jeremy said, ending the call.
Eric went to the office and turned on his computer and searched for “Chinese balloons” and the screen was filled with articles. He read a few then went out to one of the shipping containers and took out four CBR masks then returned to the house. This was bullshit! The ancient do-nothing politician was sworn to protect the United States and he was taking chances a Private in the Army wouldn’t do. What if the Chinese were using the balloons to release and even more virulent strain of some virus soup over the U.S.? The Democrat politicians were acting like they wanted to destroy the country. Most of Congress should be hung from gallows erected along the reflecting pool in Washington.
People were starting to panic. Too bad they didn’t panic before the last election. NOW they were worried about the direction the country was headed in. You reap what you sow.
Eric read the Bible infrequently but he did remember something about King Solomon saying, “Those who plant injustice will harvest disaster.” Well, the people of this country voted the evil in, now they can atone for it. The bad thing was, the innocent suffered more than the guilty. Eric finished installing the bio filters in the masks and set them aside.
Walt came over with his rock cutting tools and began cutting a doorway into the cavern. The old coot was more sophisticated then Eric knew. Walt put an instrument up on a tripod and began punching buttons.
“I’m going to measure the thickness of the wall here. Since I know this is limestone, I’ll enter the density constant of limestone. This will send radio waves through the wall and read back to me the thickness in centimeters. This will give me an idea of what saws to use first. This is a karst region. Normally, you won’t have lakes and rivers in a region, but karst is made up of porous rock. The White River, over time, has dug its way through the porous area down to a less porous layer. People who build ponds have to line them with clay or a pond liner to keep the water from draining out. Hell what lakes we have are here because the rivers pump more water in than drains out. Another thing, if you're planning to use the cave for storage, you’re probably going to find it a little damp. It might spoil anything you store there. Keep that in mind. As cold as that air is coming through the vents in the cold room, I wouldn’t be surprised to find water source in the cave not far away.”
Jeremy flew in with a delivery. Most of the things were things Eric had ordered for his own or the lodge’s use. This time though, Jeremy called ahead of time and told Eric to expect a helicopter. That afternoon a man showed up with an excavator and dug two more spaces in the hillside where they had buried the other shipping containers. Eric asked the operator what was going on and he told Eric Jeremy called and told him to do it.
The next morning a helicopter did show up, in fact, two of them, an S54 Skycrane carrying a shipping container and a Bell 429 carrying Jeremy. Jeremy got on a handheld radio and directed the crew on the S54 to place the container in one of the cutouts in the side of the hill a hundred yards to the north of the lodge. As soon as the container was cabled into place, the helicopter flew back off to the south.
“He’s going to go pick up another container.” Jeremy explained.
“What all is in them?” Eric asked.
“Some of the first one is some of my stuff. The rest and the second container is all yours.” Jeremy Replied. Here is the inventory.” Jeremy said, handing Eric a sheaf of papers. Thirty minutes later the S54 was back and placed the second container into position.
Eric and Jeremy walked around and Eric began telling Jeremy some of the things he wanted to do, like add more cabins for people if things went haywire.
“That’s a good idea.” Jeremy said. “I’ll go in halves with you if you allow me to shelter people here occasionally. I know a group of men who specialize in tiny houses. They can build them at their place and I can bring them in with the 54, or they can build them on site.”
Eric had it in his mind to have Margaret move out there because there was found to be slippage of the terrain her house was on and they were talking about condemning her house. It would be a win-win for her and him if she move out.
“Well I’d like it if they could build them on site. I think it would be better if we didn’t have so much helicopter traffic in and out of here.”
“You’re right. I’ll have Harold come out and meet with you so you can select the floor plans.” Jeremy said.
Harold Wilson was there three days later and Eric had Margaret pick out a floorplan for an 800 sq. ft. tiny house and told Harold he wanted five of them. Each house needed to have the sill plates no less than 18” above ground and each cabin would have live edge natural siding. Next Eric would contact a local plumbing company to design a common septic system to service the five houses.
“Last Nail!” Charlie shouted as he finished nailing on a fascia board on the shed.
“Well, that looks pretty good.” Mike said.
Can you move the tables in now?” Ellie Asked.
“Yes Dear,” Charlie said.
The men moved the sorting tables in and set them up the way Ellie wanted them. They needed extra workspace to sort vegetables when they were harvested. They easily sorted out what they would can and store and feed the rest to the hogs. This gave them more room in the production house.
On Monday, the first vertical block of the door Walt was cutting fell through the opening after the fourth blow of the sledge hammer. Cold air gushed through the opening.
“Let me knock this next section out and you can go in.” Walt told Eric.
Eric donned his headlight and waited for Walt to knock the section out. The block soon fell with a thud and Walt stepped out of the way. Eric went through the opening and swiveled his head around, looking at the dimensions of the chamber. He guessed it was about 20 meters wide and his light wasn’t strong enough to estimate the length of it. He went to the center of the chamber and began counting his paces. When he reached the end he did the math and estimated the chamber was, on the average, 20 meters wide by 70 meters long. Quite a chamber.
Eric heard Walt walk up behind him and stop.
“Good size chamber.” Walt said.
“Yeah, let me go and see what’s on down the passage over there.” Eric replied.
The breeze Blowing through the chamber was almost icy, even though the outside temperature was in the high 70’s.
“Whomever built this place knew what they were doing when they used the natural temperature from the cave to cool the house. They went on down the narrower section and Walt stopped suddenly.
“There it is!” Walt exclaimed.
Eric’s light swept over the water, reflecting onto the far wall. The pool looked to be maybe fifteen meters by 30 meters, Walt estimated. You could even see the sandy bottom.
They returned to the basement and Eric began cutting out the framing for the door while Walt did some further work on the door opening for the framing. They had come out of the basement for lunch when Jeremy landed in an aircraft. Eric jumped in his truck and drove down to the airstrip.
“I wasn’t expecting you Jer. Care for some lunch?” Eric said greeting Jeremy said.
“Sure. I’ve got some urgent information for you.”
The Space Force’s Space Surveillance Network (SSN), which monitors deep and near space objects has detected a change in the trajectory of an asteroid, probably an impact event with another object. The Sentinel software calculates the asteroid will impact the United States sometime next year. I’m getting all our people ready for it.
“Is it going to be bad? How big is this asteroid?” Eric asked.
“Well, the Space force, working with NASA, will designate missiles to try to blow it apart or maybe use a NASA Double Asteroid Redirection vehicle to throw it off course. Anything bigger than a mile can be an extinction event, but they feel they can break it apart. That means if they are successful, instead of one big rock hitting us, there would be a one of lesser size and a whole bunch of smaller ones hitting us like a shotgun blast.”
“Where is the asteroid headed for now? Do they know of the present impact site?
“South-central Illinois, around 100 kilometers east of St. Louis, near the town of Salem. Of course, if they blow it apart, God only knows where the pieces and parts will land.” Jeremy said. “Either way, that will probably kick the New Madrid fault into action.” Eric said.
“Probably.”
“When is the government going to announce anything.” Eric asked.
“Later this week. The president is going to address the nation.” Jeremy said. “This is going to cause a run on everything, so I’ve got in orders for extra food and ammunition. Clothing and personal items you’ll have to take care of yourself. Do you need any weapons?”
“You can never have too many weapons.” Eric said, grinning.
“I’ll have a few of cases dropped off then.” Eric said. “Some of the stuff will be delivered by truck.”
“Okay, that’s fine.” Eric said. “Let’s go get something to eat.”
They got the pilot and headed to the house.
After Jeremy left Margaret asked Eric what was going on.
“Wait until Sandra gets here. She doesn’t have anything tomorrow does she?” Eric asked.
“I don’t think so.”
“Let’s wait for tomorrow at lunch. I want you, Walt and Sandra here when I give out the information.” Eric responded.
The rest of the day was relatively quiet. Eric and Walt finished up the door and put weather stripping around it to keep the breeze from coming in.
Margaret fixed liver and onions for lunch the next day. That morning, Eric went to Mountain home and picked up two chest freezers and was back by lunch to place them in the basement with Walt and Sandra’s help. After lunch, Eric told them what was going on. The three were shocked.
“Margaret, Sandra, I want you two to move out here.” Eric said. “ I’ve got plenty of spare bedrooms or you can move into one of the cabins. Walt, that goes for you too. Four minds are better than one when going into something like this. I don’t know how crazy the people are going to get around here. We need to make regular runs to Sam’s Club down in Little Rock starting tomorrow. The President will address the nation later this week and who knows what’s going to be left on the shelves after his tells everyone what is going on. Start making a list of what you think we’ll need and let’s start gathering. Whoever wants to go, I’m leaving at 08:00 in the morning.”
“My son and his wife are headed this way.” Walt said. They owned a Bed and Breakfast up in Kelowna, on Lake Okanagan in British Colombia. They sold and are moving back here to open a B&B on the river, got tired of the Canadian government, although it’s not much better down here. I found them the perfect place on River Breeze Lane that will be perfect for them, right on the river with access. Two or three of those little cabins would flush it right out.
“Well, they are welcome here while they get their B&B ready.” Eric said.
“Thank you, and I will accept the offer of one of your cabins. Margaret doesn’t like me chewing tobacco in the house. Also, I’ll go in with you tomorrow. I want to start gathering stuff for my boy.”
“Of course.”
“I’ve got a box trailer I’ll bring also.” Walt said.
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Post by sniper69 on Feb 10, 2023 18:44:07 GMT -6
Thank you for this great story. Also wanted to point out in one section Eric and Jeremy were talking but Eric's name appears in place of Jeremy's (near as I can tell)
You can never have too many weapons.” Eric said, grinning.
“I’ll have a few of cases dropped off then.” Eric said. “Some of the stuff will be delivered by truck.”
“Okay, that’s fine.” Eric said. “Let’s go get something to eat.”
They got the pilot and headed to the house.
After Eric left Margaret asked Eric what was going on.
Should it be:
You can never have too many weapons.” Eric said, grinning.
“I’ll have a few of cases dropped off then.” Jeremy said. “Some of the stuff will be delivered by truck.”
“Okay, that’s fine.” Eric said. “Let’s go get something to eat.”
They got the pilot and headed to the house.
After Jeremy left Margaret asked Eric what was going on.
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Post by CountryGuy on Feb 10, 2023 22:36:56 GMT -6
With the news of potential planet killing event looming in a year or less, seems like Walt wouldn't much be worried about his kids B&B getting set up. I'd think once the herd gets thinned by say 80-90%, there won't be much call for get away vacations or AirBNB's .
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Post by freebirde on Feb 10, 2023 23:14:51 GMT -6
With the news of potential planet killing event looming in a year or less, seems like Walt wouldn't much be worried about his kids B&B getting set up. I'd think once the herd gets thinned by say 80-90%, there won't be much call for get away vacations or AirBNB's . No, but if transportation of goods and people is by water, that could be a handy place to be. Maybe a set-up like the latter part of Jerry D. Young's story "Scavenger". pawfiction.proboards.com/thread/166/jdy-fiction-scavenger
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Post by feralferret on Feb 11, 2023 0:11:04 GMT -6
Ncsfsgm, I see you've been reading the news headlines again. Spy balloons? Who would dare do such a thing? /s
Thanks for the chapter.
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Post by feralferret on Feb 11, 2023 3:31:56 GMT -6
"No, but if transportation of goods and people is by water, that could be a handy place to be. Maybe a set-up like the latter part of Jerry D. Young's story "Scavenger". pawfiction.proboards.com/thread/166/jdy-fiction-scavenger" Freebirde, thanks for the link. I originally read that story about a year ago and reread it tonight. I highly recommend any who have not read it to do so. Of course I'm looking forward to more of "Retreat To the Ozarks". It looks like things are starting to get real interesting (as in the Chinese curse "may you live in interesting times").
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Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 11, 2023 7:07:41 GMT -6
With the news of potential planet killing event looming in a year or less, seems like Walt wouldn't much be worried about his kids B&B getting set up. I'd think once the herd gets thinned by say 80-90%, there won't be much call for get away vacations or AirBNB's . No, but if transportation of goods and people is by water, that could be a handy place to be. Maybe a set-up like the latter part of Jerry D. Young's story "Scavenger". pawfiction.proboards.com/thread/166/jdy-fiction-scavengerHe key point is Walt is thinking first of where his family is and where they would be in the future. Not a bad idea about the location being tied into future trade.
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Post by gipsy on Feb 11, 2023 8:27:14 GMT -6
Thanks for an interesting update.
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