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Post by mnn2300 on Aug 2, 2013 10:05:18 GMT -6
Get Busy Living Book 4 Quinn’s StoryThis is a continuation of my "Get Busy Living" story line the first 3 stories of which are in the Completed Stories section. I promised this quite a while ago, but life got in the way. I am still working on it but have it far enough that I will start posting. You can expect a couple chapters a week. (Now completed)Each of the stories in this series can stand alone, but they are all interconnected. It the story of a worldwide pandemic of the flu-like E2 virus, that has an over 99% kill rate. Since the world population is over 7 Billion currently that also means that 1% or 70 million people survived the ravages of the flu, however not all survived what came next. This series is their story: at least a few of them. Link to Book 1 pawfiction.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=finished&action=display&thread=364 Link to Book 2 (short story) pawfiction.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=finished&action=display&thread=366Link to Book 3 (short story) pawfiction.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=stories&action=display&thread=389As always comments are both welcome and encouraged, as is pointing out errors in spelling, grammar, etc. Get Busy Living Book 4: Quinn’s StoryChapter One“Anyway, that’s the story Grandpa, I’m in Texas for my last two months, should be home in mid August, in plenty of time to help with the harvest” Quinn told his Grandfather over the phone. “Texas is better than the Middle East where they had you last, I’m glad you’re home safe son.” His Grandfather said. “Yeah, two months in Texas should be a piece of cake after the Middle East Grandpa, anyway I’m going to let you go for now, I’ll call you again before I leave here.” Quinn said. “OK, your Grandma sends her love, bye.” Grandpa answered. “Bye” Quinn said hanging up the phone. Quinn had the weekend off before starting his temporary assignment and decided to see what the area had to offer. Monday morning he was not feeling well when he reported for duty. Being back in a safe, well this was Texas so change that to a mostly safe environment, after years in the worst hell holes the Army could send you to, he was able to relax and did a bit more drinking than he possibly should have. He awoke with a hangover and a slight cough that he attributed to the booze drying him out. He drank about a quart of water, downed a couple of aspirins and took a long hot shower and was feeling almost human again when he reported for duty. All day long the headache and cough persisted but he toughed it out for his shift and then went back to his quarters and skipped dinner and slept through the night til morning, he still was feeling lousy but again toughed it out, he started feeling feverish about noon. At some point he must have passed out because he awoke in the base medical facility with an IV in his arm and a nurse checking his vitals. The nurse was not too talkative but a few minutes later an Army doctor came in and asked about his last duty assignment and what symptoms he was having. They kept him over night and filled him full of fluids and antibiotics via IV and he was almost back to normal by the next afternoon. They released him to bed rest in his quarters and he was supposed to come back for a checkup in 3 days. Friday he reported for his checkup, before the doctor even came in they did a blood test. “What’s that for?” he asked the tech drawing blood. “New directive, just came through yesterday, anyone who complains of flu like symptoms gets a blood test.” the orderly replied. “What are they testing for?” Quinn asked. “Like anything, when the Army wants us to know, they’ll tell us, I just deliver the samples to the lab guys.” The tech said walking out of the room. Quinn waited about 15 minutes before the Doctor walked in. He listened to Quinn’s heart and lungs, asked him about any more symptoms, saw he was still running a slight temperature and gave him a prescription for more antibiotics and told him to have it filled as soon as he left the doctor’s office. The Doctor told Quinn that if his fever had not gone back to normal by the middle of next week to come back again. Quinn stopped by the base pharmacy in the same building and had the prescription filled then went back to the barracks, he didn’t have to be back to his work assignment until Monday and whatever he had caught had really did a number on him, he was sleeping most of the day away all this week. He was hungry tonight though and wide awake for a change so he walked over to the mess hall and got some chow, he noticed a few faces he had not noticed before, but since he had only been here a week he didn’t really think anything about it. The next day the barracks he was staying in for his last two months of active duty, which had been over half empty, was getting a few more residents. In talking with a few of the newcomers he found they had been hastily re-deployed from their bases in Europe back stateside. Their talk centered on E2, the flu that was ravaging Africa and now Europe and Asia. One of the guys mentioned that before they left they all had blood tests and a few of the guys must not have passed as they never got on the transport planes. That answered Quinn’s question about what his blood test had been for. By Sunday night the barracks were full. Quinn estimated that the population of the base had tripled in the last week. It was Wednesday before they got an idea of what was going on, but by then it was too late. The President gave a speech that he was closing the borders due to the E2 virus, there was much speculation that he would declare martial law if it actually broke out over here. Officially nothing happened until Friday when it was reported that E2 had indeed spread to the United States and martial law was being declared. At 8AM everyone was loaded on busses and taken to the Homeland Security building in Dallas about an hour and a half away from the base. They were led into a large auditorium with a large video screen in the front, newsmen on it were speculating on the upcoming Presidential Speech, at 10 AM the president came on: “My fellow Americans. I come to you today with a heavy heart subdued by the monumental challenges we face with this, the greatest crises the world has ever faced. The spread of the deadly E2 virus throughout the globe is devastating the human population but with your help we can yet best this challenge. Since my last broadcast to you, E2 has indeed spread to this great nation. In order to stop the transmission of this deadly virus, as of 6PM local time I am instituting a curfew and martial law for the duration. Please get to and stay in your homes. If you have not been infected you will be safe there, if you have been infected, if you start feeling sick, call your local emergency services and follow their directions. Emergency workers: nurses, doctors, police and fire departments, FEMA workers, are called to report to their emergency stations, we have also called up all active military units to assist local police to enforce the quarantine. Your local emergency broadcast system will have pertinent details for your area. With your cooperation, your obedience to this quarantine and Gods help, we can yet beat this virus and survive. Good luck and may God bless this great nation.” He then left the podium without taking any questions. They listened to the President’s speech placing the country in quarantine under martial law in an effort to contain the deadly virus, they then received their assignments. They were to support local authorities in securing their areas. Quinn, along with 9 others were assigned to a police department in the northern suburb of Dallas called Richardson. Quinn had never heard of it before. They, along with others, grabbed their duffle bags and got back into one of the busses headed to the north suburbs, Richardson was the first stop. They were taken to a local hotel where they would be staying for the duration, they met the police chief there and got their assignments, each would be assigned to partner with an existing police officer. Quinn’s partner was finishing a call and would be back in about 15 minutes which gave Quinn enough time to get his room key and drop off his duffle bag and use the restroom. He grabbed his canteen and filled it, clipping it on. He was carrying his M4 Carbine the preferred weapon of the Army Rangers rather than the slightly larger M16 that was normal for the Army, he was back in the Lobby just as his partner pulled up out front. “Quinn?” the officer asked. “Yes Sir.” Quinn answered. “I may be an officer but I’m not that kind of officer, I work for a living too. I’m Dietrich.” The policeman said holding out his hand. Quinn shook it, just then Dietrich’s radio blared, Dietrich listened then replied back into it and told Quinn ”No rest for the wicked Quinn, that’s us.”
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Post by mnn2300 on Aug 2, 2013 16:35:41 GMT -6
Chapter 2
They both jumped into the squad car and Officer Dietrich peeled out of the parking lot. Interpreting the ‘police speak’ that had come in over the radio Dietrich told Quinn “Sounds like we have a fight going on over at the Albertsons Grocery store. We haven’t had time to work any procedure out so for now if you’ll just get out of the squad car, hold your rifle at the ready and back me up, I’ll do the talking, usually just showing up with the lights and sirens will bring a situation under control.” “Sounds good to me.” Quinn replied.
“We’ll have backup coming just a few seconds behind us.” Dietrich said pulling into the grocery stores parking lot, as they were pulling in a motor cycle with two people on it was pulling out, the biker had to do some fancy serving to avoid getting hit. Dietrich pulled to about the middle of the lot where it appeared a scuffle was taking place, Dietrich killed the siren and both men jumped out.
“Alright, knock it off!” Dietrich yelled, Quinn holding his M4 Carbine at the ready looked all around, he saw a second squad car pulling up near the front of the store about 40 feet from their location, a police officer and a guy from the base he didn’t recognize also jumped out of their vehicle. “He tried stealing my groceries.” One man yelled. “I just wanted your cart.” The other yelled. “Quiet down!” Dietrich yelled, the two men looking at him rather than each other. “Now unless you both want a trip to jail, you can calm down.” Dietrich said. “You.” He said pointing at the first man, “finish empting your cart.” When it was empty Dietrich told the other one, “Do you think you can act like a respectable human being?” “Yes sir.” The other said. “Then apologize to the man whose cart you tried to grab and then get in the store and calmly do your shopping. “ Dietrich said, emphasizing the word calmly. “Sorry” the man said to the other, then took the cart and walked, rather quickly to the store while the first man got into his car and started it. The man had enough room to pull out and did so, the other officer and soldier walked up to Quinn and Dietrich.
“You let them off easy.” The officer said, Quinn looked at his nametag and saw it said Levitt. “Yeah, I don’t really have time for paperwork today and besides, the guy is probably just scared. Shoot, I know I am, this E2 is a killer. Besides you don't have to lock everyone up, getting them calmed down and obeying the law is the ultimate goal.” Dietrich told his fellow officer. "Let me know how that works for you." Levitt said then turned to his soldier/partner and said “There’s supposed to be a couple guys from your unit here to keep an eye on things, any idea when they’ll be here?” His partner, a man named Moore, replied “Looks like they’re here now” Moore said just as a jeep pulled in with 4 soldiers in it.
Levitt and Moore took off while Dietrich and Quinn went inside the store with the soldiers. On the way into the store Dietrich told Quinn that Levitt had just joined the force this past winter, while his arrest count was high, his conviction rate was low, still he tried being a hard ass, he was 'by the book' with little common sense.
Dietrich and Quinn talked to the manager for a few minutes and decided that two men inside and two outside would be the best thing. The President had set the curfew for 6PM, it was now 2PM. The manager said they would remain open until 4PM to give people time to shop and then to give his people time to close up and then for his people to get home. The way things were going he said he thought they'd be completely sold out by then, people were filling their carts with everything and anything. Quinn and Dietrich took a slow drive around the parking lot and then left.
The soldiers would guard the store for that night and through the weekend, enforcing the quarantine, then be reassigned to other duties. That afternoon Quinn and Dietrich patrolled an area that was about a 5 mile radius of the store, they were called to back up other officers that found themselves in a similar situation, they were patrolling near a strip mall when they spotted someone coming out the broken front window of a electronics store with an X Box and a bunch of games, that earned him a one way trip to the police station all the time protesting that the manager told him he could have it, of course the manager wasn't there and the guy didn't know his name, nor did Dietrich and Quinn think he would have approved of the guy breaking the front display window.
The traffic got heavier for most of the afternoon then around 5PM started dying down, when 6PM hit the streets were eerily deserted; on a normal Friday night 6PM would be the height of rush hour, which really wouldn't start dying down until after 7PM, and on a Friday night the traffic would never totally let up until the early morning hours. Dallas played hard on the weekends, but now it looked like a ghost town. "So what's the plan Dietrich?" Quinn asked.
"Well the Captain wants us to go easy on anyone out after 6 for an hour or two unless they're causing trouble, then by 8pm if anyone is out without being an emergency worker we have the option, depending on their behavior of escorting them home if they live here or to the city border if they don't, or arresting them." Dietrich said. "You getting hungry?" he asked.
"Starving, we had breakfast about 7AM and nothing since." Quinn said. "You should have said something, we could have gotten a sandwich in between calls, let's take a break." Dietrich said.
"Great, but with everything closed now, where do we get some chow?" Quinn asked.
"Homeland Security has taken over the hotel where you're staying, the coffee shop will remain open 24/7 for all emergency workers. The hotel itself will keep running with a skeleton crew that will be staying on premises, no daily maid service but clean towels and extra soap will be available at the desk." Having the noon to midnight shift they went back on patrol for another five hours after their break. They had a few people out after they got back on the road from break, but Dietrich was fairly easy going and they were able to escort the people home or to the city line with little problem.
The next couple days were fairly easy, for the most part people were obeying the quarantine, those breaking the quarantine were mainly going to the hospital with sick family, these people were given an escort to the hospital but otherwise left alone. The hospitals filled up with the dead and dying and by the end of the first week the usual methods of body pick up and disposal got overwhelmed by the sheer number of deaths and the government issued decrees that for anyone dying at home, the dead were to be placed in body bags and placed at the front of the house and a number called for pickup, after that a large enclosed truck would come, two workers in HazMat suits would load the body into the back of an enclosed truck. The body bags were given to the police/military to hand out as needed. This caused quite a stir with the police and military, first because many of them, while understanding the reasoning felt it was too much like a garbage pickup but more importantly it meant they would have to come into contact with people who had been in contact with people who had died from E2. The parts of the internet that were still up and working were filled with blogs and posts about the military burning the dead, burying in mass graves, etc. Dallas County was in fact planning to dump bodies into mass graves in a remote part of the county since the hospitals had no more room and a lot of people were dying without making it to the hospital. The three funeral homes in the suburb with crematoriums were being worked 24/7 fueling the rumors of the city burning bodies. Even though they were only one week into the quarantine, E2 had already eaten into the ranks of the police/military with an estimated 30% of them were down with it and not expected to recover since it had a mortality rate of over 99%.
In the 2nd week people were running out of food and breaking quarantine to get some, there was no food left at the grocery stores but people didn't know that and wouldn't believe it until they saw it for themselves. Dietrich and Quinn patrolling the area around the grocery would usually let them check it for themselves, as the days went by there were less and less people checking, more people dead Quinn figured. There were a number of calls of people breaking into homes or apartments and if the residents were dead they would take all the food they could. A number of fights were taking place when the residents were still alive and a number of shootings and stabbings. In the second week that was the majority of their calls.
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Post by kaijafon on Aug 2, 2013 19:50:09 GMT -6
Thank you, i look forward to more!!
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Post by mnn2300 on Aug 6, 2013 20:31:24 GMT -6
Chapter 3
The next day Quinn and Dietrich were called out to an apartment complex, apparently there had been a fight that ended in a death.
When they arrived, there was a man and a woman on the 2nd floor landing of the apartment and a dead male at the bottom of the steps. Dietrich told them to keep their hands where he could see them as he walked up the stairs, Quinn covered him. The woman was crying and had marks on her neck and a torn blouse; the guy had been stabbed in the arm and had a neck tie tied around it to staunch the bleeding, Dietrich called for one of the cities paramedic squads.
Talking to the man and woman separately, both stories jived. He found out that the deceased had attacked the girl, she knew that he used to work at the grocery store but had no other information on him, the male from across the hall had come to her rescue, the two males fought and the one got stabbed and the other fell down the stairs and broke his neck as they were fighting. The paramedics had arrived and treated the male stabbing victim, it was more of a slice than a stab, the paramedics bandaged him up and told him to change the bandage every other day til it healed, they left him a week’s worth of bandages. They then checked the woman’s bruises out, found nothing too serious and left. Dietrich and Quinn were convinced the two had done nothing wrong, especially since the deceased reeked of booze. As they turned to leave, the young woman spoke up.
“How bad is it out there?” she asked. “Officially?” Dietrich asked. “I’d prefer reality as opposed to an official statement” she said. “Unofficially, its real bad; E2 is very good at what it does.”Dietrich replied. “How many people who catch it recover?” the male asked. “Less than one percent.” Dietrich answered honestly. “Oh my gosh!” the girl exclaimed. “How many people are dead?”
“I don’t know exact numbers but from the number of body bags we have seen, I would guess the population is down by well over 50 - 60%, possibly more, there's probably a lot more dead inside their homes or apartments that we don't even know about.” Dietrich said, the woman gasped, the man put his arm around her.
“Best thing to do is to stay indoors, avoid other people, eventually this will die out and then we’ll have to put everything back together again.” Quinn added and motioned for his partner that they should leave.
Back in the car Quinn asked “Are you sure you should have been that honest with them?” “Yeah, our bosses may not agree, but I won’t lie, this is bad, real bad and getting worse.” Dietrich answered as they drove by one of the funeral homes with a crematorium, smoke was coming out the chimney and there was a truck full of bodies waiting to be unloaded.
The next day at their morning briefing a change of procedure was announced, the bodies would no longer be taken to the funeral homes for cremation, they were just piling up too fast, there was a quarry on the north east side of Dallas where the bodies would be taken to be cremated. That’s all the captain said. On their way out of the meeting Levitt claimed to have talked to one of the drivers yesterday and said they were dumping the bodies into the quarry and hosing them down with gasoline from a tanker and burning them.
Two days later Dietrich came down with it, 5 days after that Dietrich was dead, as was almost everyone at the hotel that Homeland security had put them all in 3 weeks ago. On the day Dietrich died only 4 people arrived for the morning briefing, the police captain obviously ill himself told them to do what they could and dismissed them, he died later that day himself. Communications, both military and civilian, had fallen apart in the last few days, the power had gone out the day before. Quinn had patrolled alone after Dietrich came down with it, but now Quinn decided he had had about enough. He went to the Police Station to see if anyone was still in charge there, but found no one alive, there were however a few dead bodies, he looked around, back in the cells amid a number of dead bodies there was someone alive.
“Mister, you got to let me out.” The man said when he saw Quinn at the door to the cells. “I didn’t do anything wrong, I was just trying to get home.” He said. “How’d you end up here?” Quinn asked. “I’m a trucker, I was out on the west coast when this started, I was just trying to get home when this cop, Levitt was his name, pulled me over and arrested me, he wouldn't listen, I wasn't hurting anything, I was just trying to get home, but he threw me in the back of his squad car and here I am. Please Sir, you have to let me out.”
“Where’s home Mr.…….?” Quinn asked. “Lloyd, Hank Lloyd, and I’m headed just a bit north of here to Sherman, TX.” He replied. “Well Mr. Lloyd, you may find the world a different place now.” Quinn said unlocking the cell door. “You’re free to go, Good luck.”
“Do you know where my truck is?” Hank asked. “I doubt anyone moved it, where’d you get stopped?” Quinn asked. “On Highway 75 near Arapaho.” Hank replied. “Does it have a Rochester logo on the trailer?” Quinn asked. “Yeah” Hank replied. “I’ve driven by it every day, it was still there 30 minutes ago. Go left out of the building and then 2 blocks down to the highway and then just up the northbound ramp. Good luck.” Quinn said opening the door and pointing to the exit. It was the last Quinn saw of Mr. Lloyd, the semi was gone when Quinn went back to the hotel.
Quinn decided he had done everything he could for both the City of Richardson and for the U.S. Army and it was time to head out for home. Back at the hotel he filled his duffle bag and looked around the hotel for any food he could take with him, most of it required refrigeration though. He grabbed a phone book in his room to see if there was any place nearby that he could pick up some dehydrated food or MRE’s or something like that. Great, there was a Cabala’s that appeared to be just a short ways up Highway 75, now if he was lucky it hadn't sold out or been looted. He decided he would take the squad car, he was less likely to be seen as a looter that way.
Quinn filled the squad car with gas from the pump behind the City Maintenance Department that they had been using to fill the squad car the last few weeks, he looked around but could not find any gas cans to fill, probably just as well he thought, he didn’t like the idea of carrying cans of gas in the trunk. He’d have to figure a way of getting gas out of station tanks as he figured he would need about 5 tank full’s to make it to Minnesota to his grandparents place.
As he pulled into the Cabala’s , he saw 2 of the newer Can-Am 3 wheeled motorcycles on the sidewalk near the door, these had become popular the last year or so, with two wheels in front and one wheel in back, they were easier to ride than a regular motorcycle, they had built in storage and were very sporty looking. Not a bad idea for travel, he thought. He had seen ATV’s on display outside of a Cabala’s before but never this type of motorcycle, they didn’t look like they were on display, just parked there by someone who wanted to get close to the door. He would have to be careful.
The doors into the store had been forced open. He grabbed his carbine from the passenger seat of the squad car along with a flashlight and walked to the doors, he didn’t want any problems.
Technically he was looting also and he’d have to keep his eyes open. He walked in and grabbed a cart, it was fairly light near the front of the store with all the windows, but he would need his flashlight for the sides. He had never been in this particular Cabala’s before but he had been in others and he figured they would probably be laid out similarly. He heard voices from the left rear of the store and saw the light of one, no, two flashlights, the voices were low so he couldn't make out what they were saying. His idea about layouts of the store being similar to ones he had been in before that was probably the gun and ammo section. He turned right, at the first main aisle, hoping he was correct and the freeze dried foods were there, he already had a number of weapons and ammo and was hoping to avoid whoever was back there.
He was right, there was a display of Mountain House freeze dried meals in one aisle, a few aisles over were displays of coolers, he grabbed a couple of coolers and filled them with a variety of packages of food, not that he’d need the cooling ability, just that it made it easier to carry. With two coolers he figured he had enough to last himself for a couple weeks, plenty of time to get home, if nothing went wrong he should be able to make it in two to three days.
He had already grabbed 5 cases of bottled water he had found at the police station and had those in the trunk of the squad car. He paused trying to see where the people he had heard were now, if possible he wanted to sneak out before they saw him to avoid any possible problems. The flashlight beams were still in the back left side of the store, near the guns and ammo so he turned and quietly exited the store, he put the coolers in the squad car and pulled out.
Having looked at the map earlier he decided to continue north on 75 until he was almost to the Oklahoma border and then cut over to Interstate 35 and take it all the way into Minnesota. Through the rest of Texas he never saw a moving car and very few stalled cars, the quarantine had prevented most people from being out on the roads. When he got out from the suburbs and into the countryside a ways he saw a smoldering fire and a number of the types of trucks the city had been using to transport the bodies, Levitt had been right about burning the bodies he thought to himself.
Reaching a town the sign told him was Sherman he briefly wondered about the trucker he had released earlier but didn’t see the tractor/trailer. At Highway 82 he headed west, this would take him near Gainesville Texas to Interstate 35, he made it to the Oklahoma border on Interstate 35 and eased the speedometer up to 85 mph which was what he felt comfortable at on the interstate, the police car was one of the big Crown Victoria’s with a big 8 cylinder engine and good suspension so he had no worries there.
A few minutes later he started seeing advertisements for a Beef Jerky and Smoked Ham store in Marietta Oklahoma, the turn off was just a mile ahead. After seeing the billboards he was getting a bit of a craving for some beef jerky which, in better times, was exactly what the owners of the store wanted, plus it would be a good source of protein. He slowed down and took the exit curving east toward the small town. There were a couple of gas stations and a few fast food joints and down on the left was the Beef Jerky store, looking around as he was driving, he saw no one out and about.
As he pulled in he saw an SUV in the parking lot with the door open, there was a woman slumped in a chair on the porch of the store, grabbing his carbine from the seat beside him he walked up the two steps to the porch, she was obviously dead, though from the lack of decay and insects, obviously she had not been dead for long. He didn’t have anything to cover her with and after a minute he then walked up to the door, it was locked, of course. He walked around the back to see if there was another way in, as he walked around the corner, he spotted a small child playing with a couple of toy trucks on the grass behind the building, he had really never been around kids but he judged this one to be 4 or 5 years old.
“Hi” he said. The kid looked up at him but didn’t say anything. “My names Quinn, what’s yours?” he asked. “Ben” the little boy said. “How old are you Ben?” “4 and a half" Ben replied. “Is your Mom or Dad around?” Quinn asked him. “Mommy’s sick, she’s sleeping on the porch, she’s been sleeping all afternoon.” He said and pointed towards the front of the building.
‘Oh Crap’ Quinn thought to himself. “Where’s your Dad?” Quinn asked the child. “He’s with Jesus.” Ben answered. Quinn, 20 year veteran of the Army Rangers that he was, still was touched by the child’s answer. “Were you driving somewhere?” Quinn prodded. “We’re going to Grandma’s and Grandpa’s.” Ben replied. “Where do they live?” Quinn asked, Ben just shrugged his shoulders. ‘Wonderful’ Quinn thought. “Are you hungry?” Quinn asked, trying to buy some time, Ben nodded his head that he was.
“Are you in the Army?” Ben asked connecting the uniform Quinn was wearing with being in the Army. “Yes, I am, I’m a Sergeant in the Army, Sergeant Quinn.” Quinn told him. “Did you ever shoot anyone?” Ben asked. “Only if I had to and only if they were bad guys.” Quinn answered, uncomfortable with this new line of questions from a 4 ½ year old.” “Cool” Ben said. “Ben, see this door here?” I’m going to break the window and we’ll go inside and see if we can get some food. OK?” Quinn told him so he wouldn't startle or scare the child. Ben nodded his head in agreement.
Quinn took the butt of the carbine and broke the window; he then reached in and unlocked the door and opened it. “You coming?” he asked Ben. Ben followed Quinn in.
Quinn chose a table on the side, away from the front of the building where Ben's dead mother was sitting, Quinn moved behind the counter where he found the smoked hams, they were wrapped and since they were smoked he figured they’d be ok even without refrigeration, he also found some buns that didn’t appear to have any mold on them, so he made himself and Ben each a sandwich, grabbed a couple bags of chips and some now warm sodas from the display case, he found a couple paper plates and brought everything over to a table and he and Ben ate in silence, Quinn trying to figure out what to tell Ben. Obviously Quinn couldn't leave a child alone, but what did he know about children.
Ben was pretty smart for a 4 ½ year old, as they were eating he asked Quinn “Mommies with Jesus now too isn't she?” Quinn swallowed hard “Yes, Ben, she is, but don’t worry I will take care of you now and both your Mommy and Daddy can watch from Heaven, ok?” “OK” Ben replied. “Are we going to bury Mommy like we did Daddy?” “If you want to we can.” Quinn said. Ben nodded his head in agreement. Quinn had seen a shed in the back, hoped it would have tools in it, luckily it did.
Together they found a nice spot in the back where there was some grass and Quinn spent the next hour digging a grave in the tough Oklahoma clay. It wasn't as deep as it probably should have been but it would do, he had Ben go sit inside while he wrapped the body in an old tarp he found in the shed, then gently placed the body in the grave and then covered it with dirt. He spotted some wild flowers a little ways away and scooped up a shovelful of the flowers and added it to the head of the grave.
While he was finishing the grave he was debating switching to Ben's Mothers SUV, a Chevy Suburban, it had quite a bit of stuff in it, including a child seat that Quinn assumed was for Ben. After finishing the grave he went and got Ben, he had no clue what to say over the grave to make a 4 year old feel better. He took a clue from what Ben had said before. “Jesus, please welcome Ben’s Mom into Heaven and let her and his Dad and you watch out over all of us, Amen” he said. “amen” Ben mimicked.
“Well buddy, let’s go to your Moms car and see if we can’t figure out where your grandparents live, ok?” Quinn said. Ben nodded his head in agreement. Just then Quinn heard the sound of motorcycles.
‘I don’t need this’ he mumbled to himself then said to Ben “Tell you what buddy, let’s get you inside for a couple minutes while I see who this is.” He sat Ben down in the same booth on the side where they had lunch, out of sight of the front door. Quinn moved to the side of the door where he was hidden from the outside but could yet see.
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Post by patience on Aug 7, 2013 12:25:10 GMT -6
This is a very compelling story! Can't wait to see where it goes.
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Post by freebirde on Aug 11, 2013 11:30:39 GMT -6
My crystal ball is showing what looks like a couple of Cam-Ams riden by a couple of apartment dwellers, the man with a bandage and the woman with healing bruises.
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Post by kaijafon on Aug 11, 2013 15:27:45 GMT -6
Thank you! I look forward to more story
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Post by mnn2300 on Aug 12, 2013 11:04:35 GMT -6
My crystal ball is showing what looks like a couple of Cam-Ams riden by a couple of apartment dwellers, the man with a bandage and the woman with healing bruises. Stop staring over my shoulder! Guess I was too obvious, that's good to know, I'll have to throw in a couple other possibilities to mask my intentions.
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Post by mnn2300 on Aug 12, 2013 11:06:15 GMT -6
Chapter 4
“I’ll be da…” he started to say as the same two 3 wheeled Can Am motorcycles he had see a few hours back at the Cabala’s pulled in next to his squad car, the two riders got off and took off their helmets. It was a man and a woman, the woman pointed at his squad car and said something to the man, they both looked around, they seemed kind of familiar looking to Quinn, had he seen them before? He spotted a bandage on the guys arm and it came back to him, the couple from the apartment complex where another guy tried jumping the girl but ended up with a broken neck. Still carrying his M4 Carbine, although holding it down rather than at the ready he opened the door and said “Hi, how’s the arm?”
The woman gasped “You scared me.” The man looked at Quinn then recognized him “It's doing ok, thanks” Then turning to the woman “It's the soldier from when that creep attacked you.” “Oh, Hi” she said. “I’m Quinn” he said holding out his hand. “I’m Jeff and this is Becca” he said, shaking hands with Quinn. “And who’s that?” Becca asked seeing the little boy in the doorway and waving at him. “That’s Ben, we just buried his Mother, she pulled off the highway and died while trying to take Ben to his Grandparents. I pulled in to get some chow and found him.” Quinn said. “Poor little guy.” She said walking up to the door and introducing herself to Ben. “So where do his grandparents live?” Jeff asked. “No clue, and he doesn’t know either, I was just about to go through her car to try to find out. "Need some help?" Jeff asked. "No, I assume you two stopped to get something to eat, why don't you go ahead and maybe keep an eye on Ben for a bit while I dig through her SUV." Quinn said, hoping his problem of what to do with a 4 year old might be solved with this young couple.
Jeff went inside with Becca and Ben while Quinn searched the car and sorted out things that Ben wouldn't need; his Moms clothes for example, he kept some pictures for Ben, one was a wedding picture, the woman in it looked like the woman he had just buried he assumed it was of Bens Mom and Dad, although the ravages of E2 had not helped her looks. Her purse was on the floor of the back seat, looking through it, he saw that her name was Claudia Blakely and they had lived in Fort Worth. He found a card in her purse with 'Mom and Dad' written on it, a phone number and address, the address was in Kansas. He carried the suitcase of items to discard to the side of the building and went back into the store. Becca and Jeff were on the floor with Ben, all three were playing with the toy trucks Ben had been playing with when Quinn found him.
"I think I may have found them, Ben's Grandparents, of course who knows if they caught E2 though, but I do want to check it out." Quinn said holding the card in his hand. "Where is it?" Becca asked. "Eastland, Kansas, although I have no clue where that is yet." Quinn said. "I'll get our map book." Becca said, standing up and going out to the cycle. "Where are you two headed?" Quinn asked Jeff. "Northern California, near Napa Valley." Jeff replied. "You do realize California is west and not north?" Quinn said just as Becca walked in. "We know, we want to avoid the desert and take the northern route: I-35 to Kansas City then I-29 to Omaha then I-80 west to California, it'll also take us through Salt Lake City, I have an Uncle and Aunt and a bunch of cousins that live there that I want to check on." Jeff answered while Becca came back in with a Rand McNally map book. OK, let's see, Eastland, Kansas……… here it is, about 30 miles off of Interstate 35 about 50 miles south of Kansas City." She said after studying the map for a few minutes. "Well you two are traveling the same way as I am up to Kansas City, how would you feel about changing vehicles?" Quinn asked.
30 minutes later, Becca and Jeff had transferred their belongings to the Chevy Suburban that Ben's mother had been driving. Since Bens Mother had been sick, they had taken the precaution of wiping it down with a bleach solution from the storeroom of the Beef Jerky shop. The reason they had started with the Can Am's was twofold: they didn't know how the roads would be and for gas mileage. The roads, thanks to the quarantine were remarkably clear, and as far as gasoline, both Jeff and Becca, and also Quinn, had siphon hoses with them. They filled both vehicles before they got back on the interstate; Quinn also gave them a handset police radio out of the trunk of the police car he was driving so they could communicate. The Suburban had a DVD player in the backseat and a number of videos for Ben to keep him occupied. They drove another 4 hours, the sun would be going down in another hour or so when Quinn pulled into a Roadside Inn just south of Wichita, Kansas. Jeff and Becca with Ben pulled in next to him.
“Figured we would stop for the night, I don’t want to be driving in the dark.” Quinn said. “Sounds good.” Becca said stretching backwards, getting the kinks out of her back, her shirt pulling up quite a ways. Quinn wondered what Becca and Jeff’s relationship was, she was a very good looking woman. “So, let’s get a couple rooms and get something to eat.” Quinn said. He walked up to the automatic doors and realized just before he looked foolish that they were not automatic when the power was off, he caught his mistake and pulled the doors apart, they all walked in, Becca found a restroom just off the lobby for Ben who had to ‘go potty right away’. Quinn and Jeff tried to figure out how to get a room key, they saw the stack of keycards on the front desk but the scanner to encode them was hooked up to a computer which was not going to be working any time soon.
“Well there are 4 couches in the lobby and 4 of us…..” Becca said when she and Ben came back. She walked into the room behind the counter and found a storeroom with spare items for the guests, including extra pillows and blankets. They made a meal out of what they had brought after seeing the food in the attached restaurant was mainly spoiled and sat around talking until after the sun went down. Ben was sleeping shortly after sunset and having a long day behind them the three adults were not that far behind.
The next morning Ben woke up about sunrise, which meant that everyone else was up early and they were on the road by 8AM. The roads had been very clear, with just the occasional vehicle off on the side, so when Quinn saw a couple of vehicles apparently in a wreck under a bridge his internal alarms went off. He put on his brakes and the two vehicle stopped at least a mile before the ‘supposed’ wreck. “Turn around and go back to the last exit.” Quinn said through the radio. “What’s up?” Jeff’s reply came through. “Something wrong here, there havn't been any wrecks all the way from Dallas to here and now there’s a wreck blocking the road right at the bridge – something is going on and I want to see what. Lets pull back to the previous exit and then sneak up the frontage road as far as we can without being seen, you stay behind me and then stay with the cars while I reconnoiter.” Quinn said.
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Post by kaijafon on Aug 12, 2013 19:08:52 GMT -6
excellent chapter!!! thank you!!
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Post by freebirde on Aug 13, 2013 18:35:36 GMT -6
My crystal ball is showing what looks like a couple of Cam-Ams riden by a couple of apartment dwellers, the man with a bandage and the woman with healing bruises. Stop staring over my shoulder! Guess I was too obvious, that's good to know, I'll have to throw in a couple other possibilities to mask my intentions. I will put it away and not say anything about the circus or the buffalo hunt.
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Post by mnn2300 on Aug 14, 2013 7:16:49 GMT -6
Stop staring over my shoulder! Guess I was too obvious, that's good to know, I'll have to throw in a couple other possibilities to mask my intentions. I will put it away and not say anything about the circus or the buffalo hunt. Just for that I will work a circus and buffalo hunt into this story somehow
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Post by freebirde on Aug 14, 2013 19:08:14 GMT -6
I don't care what you work in, just keep working on this fine story.
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Post by nancy1340 on Aug 16, 2013 21:04:05 GMT -6
Very good story so far. Thank you.
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Post by mnn2300 on Aug 17, 2013 6:58:55 GMT -6
Chapter 5
“I could go with you and help.” Jeff said. “No, no offense but I’ve been trained for this kind of thing.” Quinn said.
To anyone watching from the bridge or near the wreck it appeared that the cars had turned around and left, in reality they drove back to the previous exit and then got off and drove up the frontage road a bit. Quinn got out and snuck up until he was about 50 feet from the wreck, hidden by some bushes. Up on the frontage road near the bridge was a motor home, he spotted one person with a rifle, it took him another 3 or 4 minutes to spot a second person, he continued searching, 5 more minutes and he hadn’t spotted anyone else, he did hear part of a conversation between the two which decided his course of action, he had a suppressor on his Carbine so if he was extremely lucky, the two would not know what was going on before he got a bead on them. His years in the Rangers paid off, two shots and two down. He waited 10 more minutes, watching, before moving just in case he missed someone, he hadn’t.
He moved cautiously towards the men and checked for a pulse, nada, they were dead. He slowly crept towards the motor home and stopped next to it listening, he heard nothing. He backed off to the ditch on the side of the road, found a rock and tossed it at the door and waited to see if it would get any reaction but it didn’t, a minute later he tossed another one still nothing. He crept up to the door and opened it, standing off to the side, still nothing, he jumped into the motor home at the ready, suddenly two high pitched screams pierced his ears, tied up in the rear were two little girls, there was no one else in the vehicle. “It’s ok, I’m a good guy, I’m in the Army and I’m here to save you.” He said.
He turned on his radio and called for the others to come up. Five minutes later he told Jeff and Becca what had happened and their group grew by two more kids, both were female, it took a few minutes but they found out that Bella was 7 and Lakeisha was 5. Bella told them she had been taken by the bad men from her house after her parents got sick. Lakeisha was taken on the road from her Daddy’s car but she didn’t know where her Dad was now, he was sick while they were driving. “You two make sure they’re ok, I’m going to check out the cars down below and then go back for the squad car, keep your guns handy, in fact I want one of you on lookout at the door while the other helps the kids.” Quinn said. “Yes Sir” Jeff said with a salute. “Funny, but straighten your hand out if you’re going to salute, you look like you’re shading your eyes” Quinn said then turned and trotted down to the interstate.
Quinn halfway expected to find Lakeisha’s Dad, dead of course, but there was no sign of anyone. God knows what those guys were up to, and why’d they keep two little girls captive – he didn’t want to follow that thought any further. Ten minutes later he pulled the squad car up to the motor home, Jeff was still standing outside the door, but his pants were ripped at the knee’s and his nose looked bloody. “What the….” Quinn said grabbing his carbine and jumping out of the vehicle.
“Hold it right there or the boy dies!” he heard a male voice from inside the motor home say. “Drop the gun and get your arms above your head.”
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Post by kaijafon on Aug 18, 2013 0:58:27 GMT -6
thank you!
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Post by patience on Aug 18, 2013 18:43:09 GMT -6
Cliff is back...
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Post by mnn2300 on Aug 20, 2013 17:41:22 GMT -6
Chapter 6
Jeff saw the indecision on Quinn’s face and very slightly nodded his head and counted backwards from 3 silently, Since the man was behind him only Quinn was in position to see his lips, and at ‘one’ suddenly dropped to the ground, giving Quinn a clear shot at the guy who was holding a gun to Jeff’s head, Quinn didn’t hesitate and suddenly the guys head exploded as the bullet from Quinn’s Carbine hit him between his eyes. The guy dropped, the children screamed, Quinn yelled “Anyone else?”
“No" Jeff said getting to his feet and jumping into the motor home to check on Becca. She had been on the receiving end of a blow to the head from a rifle handle and was out cold on the floor, she was still breathing but was also bleeding from where the butt of the gun got her.
“He apparently snuck under the motor home and grabbed my ankles and jerked, I was down on the ground before I knew what was happening, Becca got knocked out, it all happened so fast..” Jeff said as he was holding Becca in his arms. “Are you ok?” Quinn asked the children while he hastily threw a blanket over the dead man. They were crying but not hurt, Becca was another matter though, she had been knocked out and her head was cut, knowing that head cuts always look worse than they usually are, he grabbed a couple of paper towels that were on the counter and patted at her face, there was about a 2” gash on her forehead, he applied pressure to it and told Jeff to get the first aid kit out of the trunk of the squad car. When Jeff got back Quinn asked him “You going to live?”
“Yeah, I’ll be ok, what about Becca?” Jeff replied. “Well, when she wakes up she’s going to have a heck of a headache and probably a black eye too. In normal times I’d get her to the hospital to make sure there was no damage. Get me two of those large bandages and the tube of anti-microbial ointment for Becca” Quinn said. After putting some ointment on the cut he used the two large bandages. “Ok, nothing to do until she wakes up. Now let’s take a look at you.” “I’ll be ok.” Jeff replied.
“In the old days if you got an infection you could go to the doctors or the hospital and get fixed up, that’s not the case now, so let’s take a look and that’s not a request.” Quinn said. “Ok, OK.” Jeff said. “My knees are scraped where I hit the pavement and I think my nose is broken from the fall.”
“Grab the hydrogen peroxide out of the first aid kit and clean up your knees, we’ll bandage them if necessary. As far as your nose, you’re not going to like it and we’ll send the kids out to the SUV before I set it for you. Unless you want a crooked nose and some nasal issues the rest of your life. Don’t worry, I’ve had some experience with this.” Quinn told him. After Jeff got his knees cleaned up he took the 3 kids out to the SUV, Ben knowing how to work the DVD player started a DVD and the children settled down. Jeff had issues with people using the TV as a babysitter but in this case it worked out very well. When he got back to the motor home, Becca was sitting up, holding her head, she had obviously been sick and her eyes were not really focusing. “Becca, are you ok?” Jeff said. “No, uh I hurt.” She replied slowly “Just sit there and relax” Jeff told her. “I think she’s got a concussion.” Quinn said. “Great, what do we do?” Jeff asked. “We’ll we do what they advise against and that’s moving the victim. I want to get her lying down in the back of the SUV, we’ll transfer all the stuff that’s there now to the backseat of the squad car. Modern practices say sleep is ok, but to wake them every 15 - 20 minutes or so and get them to respond. We’re about 15 miles from the turn off for Bens Grandparents. I want to get there and see if anyone is alive, if not I’ll get rid of any bodies and we can hole up there for a while if it’s safe. If not we’ll find a hotel like we did last night and take it from there.”
“I’ll get everything out of the back of the SUV.” Jeff said. 10 minutes later he had everything moved from the SUV to the squad car except for the kids who were interested in what was going on, but also in the DVD that was playing. “I got everything out of the back except for a couple of pillows and blankets we took from the hotel last night.” Jeff told Quinn.
“First let’s take care of your nose and then we’ll get Becca out to the truck.” Quinn said. “Ummm” Jeff started. “That wasn’t a request, I won’t lie, this is going to hurt like hell when I do it but it’ll immediately feel a whole lot better, it may bleed a bit so grab some paper towels.” Quinn waited til Jeff had the paper towels and then grabbed Jeff’s nose between his index and middle finger lightly. “Hold your head stiff for me, at the count of 3 I’m going to pull your nose straight. Ready?” he asked Jeff. “I guess” Jeff replied. “1…” and he pulled Jeff’s nose straight out and let the cartilage and bone snap back into its correct position. “Arrrrrgh!” Jeff yelled as it happened. “What happened to 2 and 3?” “You would have just tensed up.” Quinn told him. “Feel better?” “Umm, yeah, actually it does.” Jeff said. “Not even bleeding.” Quinn added. “OK, let’s get her on her feet, if we can.” Quinn said, moving to the far side of Becca. “Becca, we’re going to stand you up and get you out to the SUV, think you can stand?” Quinn asked. “Yeah” she mumbled. They helped her past the dead guy and out of the motor home, Quinn standing outside and pretty much lifting her down the step to the ground, one on each side they maneuvered her into the back of the Suburban. Luckily it had the third row which folded down, they were able to get her lying down at an angle.
Less than an hour later they pulled into a house in the country, long driveway leading up to an old but well kept 2 story house. Quinn got out and walked up to the SUV, he told everyone to stay put while he checked it out. Ben recognized the house as Grandpa and Grandma’s and want to get out, but Quinn asked him to wait and let him check it out first. Quinn walked up to the porch and was about to knock when the inner door opened and an older woman holding a shotgun said “What do you want?”
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Post by patience on Aug 20, 2013 21:23:50 GMT -6
Great chapter! I like how this is going. It's a real adventure, but down to earth, too.
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Post by idahobob on Aug 21, 2013 7:01:22 GMT -6
Excellent stuff!
Keep it coming!
Bob III
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Post by mnn2300 on Aug 24, 2013 15:06:29 GMT -6
Chapter 7
“Whoa, don’t mean you any harm Ma’am. We’re here looking for Ben’s grandmother, would that be you?” Quinn asked. “Who wants to know and why?” the woman asked still pointing the shotgun at Quinn. “I’m Sergeant Robert Quinn, Ma’am, US Army, now retired.” Quinn told her. “What do you know about my Ben?” She asked. “He’s out in the truck Ma’am, are you his Grandmother?” he asked her. “Yes, I am.” She replied lowering the gun a little. Quinn turned his head towards the SUV and hollered, “Ben, come on out.” Ben came running up the porch, his Grandmother set the gun down and opened the door and hugged Ben close. She looked up at Quinn and asked “My daughter?” Quinn shook his head.
“Ma’am, we got ambushed a few miles back, I have a young woman with a concussion I think and we picked up a couple of other kids the ambushers had captive, would it be possible to bring them all in for a bit.” Quinn asked. “Mercy, yes, I’m sorry, my name is Betty, yes please bring them in. What makes you think she’s got a concussion?” She asked. “She was hit in the head with the butt of a gun, she’s having trouble staying focused, or even awake, she's thrown up and only gives one or two word answers.” Quinn said as he turned to get everyone. Jeff already had the other kids out of the back seat. “Come on.” Ben called to Lakeisha and Bella, running to the side of the house where there was a swing set. Ben’s Grandmother, Betty followed Quinn out to the back of the SUV, which Jeff already had opened. “Becca, Rebecca, wake up.” Jeff said, Rebecca only groaned her eye lids fluttering. “Definitely a concussion, hopefully nothing worse, get her in on the couch.” Betty said. “You know what to do?” Jeff asked. “I was a nurse for over 30 years, I’d like to get x-rays and a CT Scan but that’s not going to happen the way things are now, let’s get her in on the couch.” Betty replied. Quinn and Jeff lifted her out of the SUV, but she was not standing up, finally Quinn picked her up and carried her. Betty turned and told Jeff to bring the pillows and the blanket and just caught the frown Jeff flashed when Quinn picked Becca up.
“Rebecca, Rebecca, wake up dear.” Betty said. Becca’s eyes opened but they were still not focusing too well. “How many fingers am I holding up?” Betty asked, holding 2 fingers up about 10 inches from Becca’s face. “Huh? Oh, four, no three, no…….” and faded out again. Betty moved away to the two men and said “If it’s just a concussion she should get better in a couple of days and be back to normal in a week or two.” “And if it’s worse?” Jeff asked. “Brain damage, or if her brain is swelling she could even die. I’m a nurse not a doctor and I’ve got no equipment here to check for a brain injury and no way to treat one if that’s what it is.”
“In the Bible, in the Book of James it says ‘Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord’ I am an elder in the Church, if you don’t mind…….” Jeff said pulling out his key chain and unscrewing a small vial of consecrated oil. “Go right ahead.” Betty said, having seen various religious people do this before a number of times at the hospital she had worked at. Quinn wondered what the heck Jeff was doing – sounded like kind of religious hocus pocus to him. He watched Jeff put something on her head, he couldn't quite see what, then he placed his hands on Rebecca’s head and started praying. Quinn didn’t hold an opinion on God, if there was one, Quinn felt He wasn't doing a very good job, he backed out of the room and went to check on the kids. He shook his head it was a bunch of religious mumbo jumbo to him. About 30 minutes later Betty called to Quinn that lunch was ready
“Come on, let’s eat. You go get the kids. I put a bucket of water and some towels on the porch, you and Jeff clean them up a bit before you get them to the table.” She continued. Five minutes later everyone was at the table, before Betty would let anyone dig into the hot dogs, beans and potato chips she asked Jeff to bless the food which he did. “I was worried that the food would spoil, I ran out of gas for the generator last night, so the freezers been out for about 8 or 9 hours now, stuff will stay frozen for a while but maybe you two can get some gas and some groceries from town after we eat.” Betty said. “We’d be happy to Ma’am, in fact I can siphon some out of the vehicles before we go to get the generator up and running right away.” Quinn said. “Please, you can call me Betty.” She told him. “I’ve been in the army since I was 18 Ma’am, it’s hard to call anyone anything other than Sir or Ma’am, but I’ll try, Betty.” Quinn said.
“Jeff tells me you have family in Minnesota?” Betty asked. “I hope so Ma’am….er Betty. About 50 miles north of St Paul, I talked to my Grandfather just before this thing came down, but that was it, the Army kept me busy and then I got sick, not E2, well, now I don’t know that, I may have had a light case of it, I wonder if that’s possible?” Quinn said. “The people at the hospital where we took my companion said that some do recover.” Jeff said. “So what are your plans Quinn?” she asked. “Well I was thinking about that while I was out watching the kids. We were going to split up at Kansas City anyway, so maybe I could use today to make sure y’all have everything you need and that Rebecca is out of the woods and then I would take off.” He said “No Sergeant Quinn, you can’t leave” Ben whined. “Hey buddy, we found your Grandma, now I have to go find mine, that’s fair right?” he told Ben. “I don’t want you to leave.” Ben said. “I know buddy, but you want me to find my family don’t you?” Quinn asked the young boy. He nodded his head rather sheepishly. “What about us?” Bella asked. “You all will have a home, maybe Ben and his Grandma can come with all of us out to California, we’re not going to leave you two alone, we’re a family now.” Jeff said reassuring the little girls.
“Nobody’s leaving anyone” Rebecca said from the doorway. Quinn and Jeff both jumped up to help her. “I’m ok, just get me a chair.” She said. “How are you feeling dear?” Betty asked. “I have a real bad headache and I really need someone to tell me where a bathroom is.” She replied. “Its back here, one of you guys help her walk to it.” Betty said. “I put a couple of buckets for flushing, although the tank should be full right now. Check before you flush dear, make sure there's no blood.” Both Jeff and Quinn stood up to help but Jeff was closer and put an arm around her and helped her to the bathroom. “I’ll get the generator going.” Quinn said, heading out the door.
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"That should fix the power for a couple hours, I was thinking of maybe picking up another generator too, that would give us some extra power." Quinn said as he came back into the house. "Well if you do that, pick up a few more extension cords and some box fans, the upstairs bedrooms get pretty warm in the afternoon sun." Betty said. "OK, what kind of food do you want us to pick up?" Quinn asked. "Well that’s going to depend on whether the food in the stores freezer is still frozen or not, I'm assuming most of the refrigerated stuff is a loss because of the power being out………." Betty started. A few minutes later the two men had an idea of the kinds of food that Betty wanted and after getting directions into town, they left. Betty took charge of the children and had them help her clean up; she had Bella who was the oldest rinse the dishes off while Ben and Lakeisha cleared the table, then she sent them to get all the suitcases out of the squad car where Quinn’s group put them after the ambush, then she and the children went upstairs to get the bedrooms ready. Once the house was ready for the evening she sent the kids back out to play while she finished up in the kitchen, she’d wait to plan that evenings meal until the two men were back.
Quinn and Jeff took the Suburban into town, following the directions Betty gave them, they were only about 15 minutes away from a small town, they stopped off at the hardware store first, which of course was locked. Quinn dug around in the back of the SUV and got the tire iron out, he was able to get it in-between the double doors and pry them open. It was afternoon and there was enough light coming in the front display windows to see with. Their list for the Hardware store was pretty easy: 1 or 2 generators (the largest possible), as many heavy duty extension cords as they could get, a few large coolers to carry back any frozen items from the store, flashlights and batteries, and a couple of box fans. Quinn also picked up a couple of heavy duty pry bars and 8 - 2.5 gallon cans for gasoline. He had previously grabbed a couple of siphon hoses for each vehicle so at their next stop, the gas station, they filled all 8 gas cans and the suburban also. They left the cans of gas at the gas station so they wouldn’t be sitting in the back of the SUV while they were in shopping.
At the grocery store Quinn tried out his new pry bar and was able to open the doors with no problem, they walked to the back to check the freezer and refrigerated items, the refrigerated section, as Betty thought was out of date and starting to smell. She told them to grab 10 – 12 cartons of eggs and a bunch of varieties of brick cheese, then they checked the freezer, most of the stuff in closed cases was still mainly frozen, apparently the store had a spare generator that kept things running for a while after the power went out. Another couple days and it all would have been lost, but they found frozen chubs of hamburger and sausage, they filled 3 of the big coolers that they had grabbed from the hardware store with those and then moved down to the frozen chicken and picked up a number of 3 and 4 pound bags of that and filled 2 more big coolers. Lastly they found a couple hams and some frozen hot dogs and butter and filled the last cooler with that. They pushed the carts with the coolers inside up to the front of the store and grabbed a couple more carts each and a bunch of boxes they found in the front of the store. Betty had asked for: cereal, flour, yeast, sugar, chocolate chips, peanut butter, jelly, spaghetti, macaroni, egg noodles, and lasagna noodles, jars of spaghetti sauce, rice, and dried beans, a couple jugs of cooking oil, and as much fresh fruit and produce as was still good that they could carry, and then whatever else caught their eyes, which turned into chips, candy and soda and beer. They were lucky that the Suburban was such a large vehicle, they had filled it so full that they didn’t have enough room for the gas cans they had left at the gas station , as it was Quinn held a couple boxes on his lap as Jeff drove. Quinn said he’d come back for the gas later.
Back at the house they unloaded the items and brought all the groceries into the kitchen. “That’s amazing!” Betty exclaimed seeing all they grabbed. She started planning out some meals as she put the stuff away. “You want to help me with the generators?” Quinn asked Jeff. “Sure” Jeff replied. “I’d like to put the generators on the far side of the garage to cut down on the noise, then we’ll use the extension cords to get the power where we want it, I saw an extension ladder in the garage earlier, why don’t you grab that and we’ll run an extension cord into every bedroom on the 2nd floor cut a small hole in the screen and push 4 or 5 feet of the entension cord through, then take that roll of duct tape with you and put it over the hole you made to keep the bugs out, we’ll put a power strip in the end and plug in a fan and a light in each bedroom." Quinn said. About 45 minutes later they were all through, they made sure that if there were any connections outside they were wrapped in plastic, taped up and off the ground in case it rained.
“OK, so we just need the gas, I’ll take the squad car in and fill that up while I pick up the gas cans” Quinn told Jeff. “Do you want me to come with you?” Jeff asked. “No, you can stay here, I should only be gone about half an hour.
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Post by freebirde on Aug 24, 2013 16:03:13 GMT -6
Very dangerous words. “No, you can stay here, I should only be gone about half an hour."
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Post by kaijafon on Aug 24, 2013 16:25:17 GMT -6
somehow I'm thinking that it will be longer than a half hour! lol! I'd take the big truck again and load up from the grocery store one more time at least. And some canning supplies to can up a bunch of that frozen meat and the fresh produce.
thanks!
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Post by idahobob on Aug 24, 2013 17:07:44 GMT -6
Nice continuation of the story!
Keep it coming.
Bob III
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Post by freebirde on Aug 25, 2013 7:28:13 GMT -6
It would be a good time to pick up another vehicle, or three, and leave the van with Betty.
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